W W W. B E AT.C O M . A U
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B E AT.C O M . A U
multi grammy award winner
D’ANGELO
“The best effing voice I’ve ever heard.”
An artist of uncompromising power and originality... “ consequence ” of sound
MTV
could well “ D’Angelo be the most singular, visionary star to emerge from - and then transcend R&B since Prince.
”
“King… has a voice you don’t forget in a hurry, a big, booming thing with a Janis Joplin-esque rasp at the edges”
rolling stone 2015 #4 album of the year
WHO MAGAZINE
THU MAR
31
THE CORNER
BLUESFEST
SIDESHOWS
TUE MAR
22
THE CORNER
SATURDAY 19th MARCH PALAIS THEATRE
ON SALE NOW!
TICKETS: BLUESFESTTOURING.COM.AU 02 6685 8310 & THE VENUES MORE INFO FROM BLUESFESTTOURING.COM.AU
FIRST TOUR IN OVER 20 YEARS
“Lord Huron’s music is so impressionistic; it sometimes sounds like it emanates from a dream.” BOSTON GLOBE
“A master of the guitar”
FIRST AUSTRALIAN TOUR
THE NEW YORKER
MONDAY MARCH
21
THE CORNER
“No sooner does he jump on the stage than he’s wailing away, singing his heart out and ain’t afraid to be the showman to boot, jumping into the crowd, sitting among ‘em, and playing his brains out” ACOUSTIC MUSIC
MONDAY MARCH
21
NORTHCOTE SOCIAL CLUB “you feel every sweaty note, a full-tilt, damn the torpedoes showcase” STAR TELEGRAPH
“He’s a cat that can do an Otis Redding.” KEITH RICHARDS
THURSDAY MARCH
24
THE CORNER
“A joyous rude-boy revue from an act as slick and brash as their shiny silver suits” NOTTINGHAM ROCK CITY
FRI MAR
25
THE CORNER
WEDNESDAY MARCH
30
THE CORNER
BLACKBERRY SMOKE THE BLIND BOYS OF ALABAMA BRIAN WILSON THE DECEMBERISTS w. SHAKEY GRAVES DON MCLEAN JACKSON BROWNE MELISSA ETHERIDGE NAHKO & MEDICINE FOR THE PEOPLE NATHANIEL RATELIFF & THE NIGHT SWEATS THE RESIDENTS RHIANNON GIDDENS SONGHOY BLUES STEVE EARLE & THE DUKES TAJ MAHAL TEDESCHI TRUCKS BAND THE WAILERS B E AT.C O M . A U
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BAR WEDNESDAYS
OPEN MIC
Show the Boogie Man what you’ve got! THURSDAY 4TH FEBRUARY
SAVI BOMB
LITTLE MURDERS ELLEN ROSE FRIDAY 5TH FEBRUARY
BLIND MAN DEATH STARE POLYGAMISTS CHUCK THE COMMONLY INSANE SATURDAY 6TH FEBRUARY
BLACK BETTY FIRE SUITE SANS SHERIFF SUNDAY 7TH FEBRUARY
SHAKEDOWN SHAKES SOUTHBOUND TRAM POWERHOUSE BLUES BAND CRAFTY ANNE AFTER WORK HAPPY HOUR FROM 5PM:
WED, THURS & FRI 160 HODDLE ST ABBOTSFORD
Monday Residency 7.30pm
MORELAND CITY SOUL REVUE
Get on board the soul train and check out this all-star cast of musos playing old soul and soulful funk. PLUS: Check out the dinner special: Moreland City Soul Revue fried chicken dinner. Every Monday night at the Union!
Sat 6 February 5pm
THE PHEASANT PLUCKERS Sat 6 February 9pm
PATRICK WILSON & THE BARE RIVER QUEENS Sun 7 February 3.30pm
AMARINA WATERS & LUKE RICHARDSON Sun 7 February 5pm
THE STETSON FAMILY
M E L B O U R N E R E C I TA L C E N T R E P R E S E N T S
WITH SPECIAL GUEST OLYMPIA
‘TEN NEW ARTISTS YOU NEED TO KNOW.’ ROLLING STONE In her first ever Australian tour, American singer-songwriter Natalie Prass brings her spellbinding-country soul to Melbourne. Prass has mesmerised fans and critics alike through her refreshing music, lush melancholic narratives and beautiful arrangements with her stunning self-titled debut album drawing comparisons with Dusty Springfield and Carole King
‘SPELLING BINDING COUNTRYSOUL.’ THE GUARDIAN (UK) MON 29 FEB 7.30PM TICKETS $55
STEVE EARLE & THE DUKES WITH SPECIAL GUESTS THE MASTERSONS Fri 18 & Sat 19 March 7.30pm
Grammy Award-winning Steve Earle is one of the finest and most versatile songsmiths to emerge from America’s south.
Tickets from $79
Earle and his band The Dukes, play bluegrass, roots, rock, folk, blues and country with equal panache and skill. Don’t miss this master storyteller and band in a rocking live show.
‘A F O R M I D A B L E P E R F O R M E R .’ The Guardian
CNR SOUTHBANK BLVD & STURT ST, SOUTHBANK
BUY NOW: 9699 3333 MELBOURNERECITAL.COM.AU
PRINCIPAL GOVERNMENT PARTNER
A transaction fee between $5.50 and $8 applies to orders made online and by phone. A delivery fee of up to $5.50 may also apply.
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NATALIE PRASS • PG. 30
#1510 • FEBRUARY 3 14 20 22 24 25
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HOT TALK / FREE SHIT UPCOMING TOURS & GIG OF THE WEEK COVER STORY: CAT POWER WHAT’S ON LITTLE MERMAID ART OF THE CITY THE COMIC STRIP CALENDAR PAUSE FEST BEAT EATS QUEER COLUMN BEATS ECCA VANDAL ASIAN DUB FOUNDATION NATALIE PRASS JADE ALICE ROYAL HEADACHE HITCHCOCK & HERRMANN ALPINE PORCHES DIIV AREA-7 BALLARAT BEAT ROCKABILLY FESTIVAL THE SWORD TOEHIDER HOLLOW WORLD CORE & CRUNCH COLUMNS FILTH FEST LIVE ALBUM OF THE WEEK SINGLES / CHARTS ALBUMS GIG GUIDE / ALL AGES BACKSTAGE INDUSTRIAL STRENGTH
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H E A D T O B E AT.C O M . A U F O R A L L T H I S S T U F F & H E A P S M O R E
PUBLISHER: Furst Media Pty Ltd. MUSIC EDITOR: Cara Williams ARTS EDITOR, ASSOCIATE MUSIC EDITOR & ONLINE EDITOR: Tyson Wray SUB EDITOR: Augustus Welby ADVERTISING EXECUTIVE & EDITORIAL COORDINATORS: Thom Parry EDITORIAL ASSISTANTS: Cassie Hedger, Gloria Brancatisano, Jess Zanoni, James Di Fabrizio, Kate Eardley. MANAGING DIRECTOR, FURST MEDIA: Patrick Carr BEAT PRODUCTION MANAGER: Michael Cusack GRAPHIC DESIGNERS: Michael Cusack, Andrew Rozen, Lizzie Dynon. COVER DESIGN: Michael Cusack ADVERTISING: Cara Williams (Music: Bands/Tours/Record Labels) cara@beat.com.au Thom Parry (Hospitality/Bars) thom@beat.com.au Keats Mulligan (Backstage/Musical Equipment) mixdown@beat.com.au CLASSIFIEDS: classifieds@beat.com.au GIG GUIDE SUBMISSIONS: now online at www. beat.com.au or bands email gigguide@beat.com.au ACCOUNTANT: accountant@furstmedia.com.au OFFICE MANAGER: Lizzie Dynon ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE: Luke Forester: accounts@furstmedia.com.au DISTRIBUTION: Free every Wednesday to over 2000 points around Melbourne. Wanna get BEAT? Email distribution@beat.com.au CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS: Mary Boukouvalas, Ben Gunzburg, Anna Kanci, Charles Newbury, Tony Proudfoot, Laura May Grogan, David Harris, Emily Day, Lucinda Goodwin, Dan Soderstrom. SPECIAL PROJECTS EDITOR: Christie Eliezer SENIOR CONTRIBUTOR: Patrick Emery SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER: Ian Laidlaw COLUMNISTS: Emily Kelly, Peter Hodgson, Lachlan Kanoniuk, Anna Whitelaw BEAT TV/WATT’S ON PRESENTER: Dan Watt CONTRIBUTORS: Kelsey Berry, Graham Blackley, Gloria Brancatisano, Chris Bright, Avrille Bylock-Collard, Alexander Crowden, Liza Dezfouli, Jules Douglas, Jack Franklin, Emma Gawd, Chris Girdler, Joe Hansen, Nick Hilton, Peter Hodgson, Lachlan Kanoniuk, Cassandra Kiely, Billy Killing, Jody Macgregor, Nick Mason, Denver Maxx, Krystal Maynard, Paul McBride, Miki Mclay, Rhys McRae, James Nicoli, Adam Norris, Jack Parsons, Leigh Salter, Sisqo Taras, Kelly Theobald, Tamara Vogl, Dan Watt, Augustus Welby, Garry Westmore, Rod Whitfield, Jen Wilson, Thomas Brand, Alex Watts, Tyson Wray, David James Young, Bronius Zumeris, Simone Ubaldi, Natalie Rogers, James Di Fabrizio, Tex Miller, Emily Day, Matthew Tomich, Matthew Woods, Matilda Edwards, Lee Spencer Michaelsen, Joe Hansen, John Kendall, Bel Ryan, Izzy Tolhurst, Isabelle Oderberg, Navarone Farrell DEADLINES: Editorial copy accepted no later than 5pm Thursday before publication for club listings, arts, gig guide etc. Advertising copy accepted no later than 12pm Monday before publication. Print ready art by 2pm Monday. Deadlines are strictly adhered to. © 2015 Furst Media Pty Ltd. No part may be reproduced without the consent of the copyright holder.
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Free $hit LE1F RECORD
Kadavar
CHERRYROCK016 ANNOUNCE MASSIVE LINEUP Cherry Bar have just announced an immense tenth birthday edition of Australia’s only dedicated rock’n’roll street party. Kadavar (GER), Richie Ramone (USA), Supersuckers (USA), Gay Paris, Polish Club, Dead City Ruins, Power, Clowns, Dallas Frasca and Mesa Cosa are among the names that have just been revealed on the lineup for CherryRock016. Happening across two stages with no clashes, you’d have to be a flamin’ drongo to miss this one. It’s happening on Sunday May 1 with tickets strictly limited to 700. Jump over to Cherry’s website to grab yours.
BIG DADDY WILSON ANNOUNCES DEBUT AUSSIE TOUR German-based American blues artist Big Daddy Wilson has announced his long awaited debut Aussie tour in support of his latest album Time. Blues icon Eric Bibb, who co-produced the album, describes Time as a piece of work that is ‘reminiscent of a bygone era, when music came from people’s front porches instead of their iPhones.’ If you’re wondering whether his unique style will translate to the stage, Wilson has recently established himself as a great performer by committing to a solid touring schedule across Europe, Scandinavia and the US. Catch him at The Flying Saucer Club in Elsternwick on Saturday March 16 at 8pm. Tickets are available through the venue’s website.
HA THE UNCLEAR
GARETH LIDDIARD TO HEADLINE ROAD TO REFUGE CHARITY CONCERT Gimme Shelter! will be pulling together artists, musicians and comedians for a noble cause. All funds raised will go towards Road to Refuge’s projects and workshops planned during 2016, which includes community education and engagement for refugees and those seeking asylum. The lineup features the likes of Garreth Liddiard, The Harpoons DJs, Nhattyman, Arthur Penn and The Funky Ten, Cable Ties and Tom Ballard, along with spoken work poets and comedians. All artists are waiving their performance fees for the event. It all goes down on Saturday February 6 at The Shadow Electric.
New Zealand’s Ha The Unclear will be heading to Australia for the first time ever. The four-piece band, lead by the enigmatic Michael Cathro, provide a cathartic blend of jangly indie-folk and off-kilter, hook driven pop. Cathro’s witty songwriting plunges into absurdist narratives including a love song from the point of view of a coffee table and break up through intercom. These unique tracks are all delivered with Cathro’s trademark Kiwi twang. Their debut record Bacterium, Look At Your Motor Go, caught some well-deserved attention, pleasing the likes of Entertainment Weekly and BBC Introducing. Catch ‘em at The Tote on Friday, February 19.
Touted as ‘the future of hip hop’ by the likes of Pitchfork, eclectic NYC rapper Le1f has been defying expectations since first emerging as a beatmaker for Das Racist. Having recently given the audience at Sugar Mountain a taste of his new album Riot Boi , now you too can experience that music, in the comfort of your own home. Thanks to our pals at Remote Control Records, we have a signed copy of the new Le1f album on beautiful vinyl, head to beat.com.au/freeshit and score yourself a copy.
WU-TANG CLAN DOUBLE PASS GIVEAWAY
GILLIAN WELCH & DAVE RAWLINGS HEADLINE DREAM A HIGHWAY With the recent announcement of Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings’ return to Australian shores resulting in instantly sold out shows, fans will be rejoicing at the announcement of another opportunity to see these country heroes live. Dream A Highway features a lineup of Gillian Welch, Dave Rawlings Machine, Willie Watson and Haas Kowert Tice, equalling over four hours of music and will be your last chance to catch the duo on this tour. The event is being held at Festival Hall on Saturday February 20, tickets are onsale this Thursday Febtuary 4.
The infamous W logo of the WuTang Clan looms large over the history of popular culture. The story of the Wu is one of legend, full of mystery, controversy and of course, some of the most exciting and genre-defining hip hop ever produced. And now, after an absence of five years, the original instigators of the movement, the undisputed masters of the genre, the Wu-Tang Clan return to Australia in 2016. We have a double pass to giveaway for their Tuesday February 23 Melbourne show, head to beat.com.au/ freeshit and make it yours today.
TINY RUINS ANNOUNCE HEADLINE SHOW THE SUGARCANES SERVE UP SWEET RESIDENCY It’s been said that a spoonful of sugar helps the residency get down, and during February The Sugarcanes will be serving up all the soulful sticky sweetness you could desire. The Melbourne soul outfit will be presenting a varied star-spangled lineup every Sunday evening at The Old Bar for the venue’s legendary Beersoaked Sundays Residency. Music kicks off at 8pm each week and entry is a smooth $6 with $10 jugs all night. BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 14
Following the release of her new EP, Hurtling Through, New Zealand’s Tiny Ruins will be heading back to Melbourne to support Jóse Gonzales at Zoo Twilights. If you’re kicking yourself about not nabbing tickets to the show fast enough, don’t fear. Tiny Ruins has announced a separate headline show for Saturday February 6 at The John Curtin Hotel. She’ll be performing songs from her 2014 release Brightly Painted One, as well as Some Were Meant For Sea, Haunts and of course, the all new Hurting Through. Tickets available through the venue. HOT TALK
BASEMENT TO TOUR NATIONALLY IN MARCH Ipswich grunge boys Basement have announced a national tour to launch their new record Promise Everything; the band’s first full-length release since going on hiatus in 2012. Despite years spent apart, Promise Anything is their first true cohesive document and proves that their musical conversation and connection has stayed strong. Check out Basement at The Corner Hotel on Sunday May 29 with supports from Turnover and Break Even.
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This Week:
Beaches
WEDNESDAY 3RD FEBRUARY - 8PM $8
FACE FACE
TRASH FAIRYS, ALSO, DRAGONS THURSDAY 4TH FEBRUARY - 8PM $8
MOANA (WA)
THE BACKS, DANNY KRANSKY, JAMES SEEDY FRIDAY 5TH FEBRUARY - 8:30PM $10
TED DANSON(SYD) WITH WOLVES
ERIC BURDON AND THE ANIMALS ANNOUNCE TOUR
DIPLOID, DIECUT, GERYON
SATURDAY 6TH FEBRUARY - 8:30PM $10
WITCH HATS
LALIC, SHAME BROTHERS, GIRL CRAZY SATURDAY ARVO - 1PM FREE: BOOK CLUB FOR GENTLEMEN: MR TICKLE SUNDAY 7TH FEBRUARY - 8PM $6
BEERS OAKED SUN DAYS:
BRIXTON BROADCAST IS COMING TO THE TOTE
LA BASTARD, THE EIGHTY 88’S
For the very first time, esteemed clothing label Brixton have locked in a special Melbourne incarnation of their global series, Brixton Broadcast. The global free event will touch down in Melbourne on Saturday February 27 and’ll feature an all-star lineup, including Beaches, The UV Race, Ausmuteants, The Living Eyes, ORB, Swim Team and more. It’s all free and kicks off from 6pm. Visit www.brixton.com for all the details.
SUGARCANES
MONDAY 8TH FEBRUARY - 8PM $5
MU NDANE M ON DAYS:
SCURVYLICIOUS
SHADOWCASTERS, JACK WILLIAM TUESDAY 9TH FEBRUARY - 7PM $6
ALL FRONT TAT TO O ART E XHIBITION
Legendary frontman of The Animals and a successful solo artist in the years since, Eric Burdon and band are returning to Australia in May for the first time in a decade. A Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame member who helped kick start the British Invasion of the early 1960s with timeless numbers such as House Of The Rising Sun, We Gotta Get Out Of This Place and Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood, Burdon’s place in musical history is well assured. The band will be joined by special guests Renee Geyer and Joe Camilleri and The Black Sorrows at The Palais on Wednesday May 18. Tickets are available via Ticketmaster.
PLUS LIVE BANDS:
SWEET GOLD
RUSSET BURBANK, DANE TUTTY & JAMES BUNN
$10 JUGS MON - SAT UNTIL 7PM, ALL NIGHT SUNDAY $5 CANS ALL THE TIME
KIM SALMON RELEASES NEW ALBUM AND ANNOUNCES AUSTRALIAN TOUR Kim Salmon, one of the founding members of both The Scientists and the Beasts of Bourbon, considers his brand new album My Script to be his first real solo record. It’s been described as a candid, largely autobiographical work comprising of 20 tracks that range from full band productions to stripped back, minimalistic tracks. You’ll be able to hear him perform his new material, which is due for release in March, at either the Northcote Social Club at 8.30pm on Saturday March 19, or The Flying Saucer Club in Elsternwick at 8pm on Saturday April 16. Get your tickets through the venue’s websites.
74 JOHNSTON ST, FITZROY | ph. 9417 4155
theoldbar.com.au OPEN 4PM - 3AM MON-FRI 2PM - 3AM SAT-SUN
SHADY COTTAGE MUSIC AND LEISURE FESTIVAL REVEALS LINEUP Shady Cottage is a new three day event held in the picturesque fields of Trentham East that celebrates the finest music and leisure that Melbourne has to offer. The lineup features Andras & Oscar, GL, Ara Koufax (DJ set), CC:DISCO, Crepes, Broadway Sounds, Leisure Suite, Flamingo Jones, Albert Salt, DIET, Jesse Young, Alice Ivy, The Neighbourhood Watch, Youngs, Senpolo, Girth, Wind & Fire, Alex Lahey and Alphonso. Shady Cottage music and leisure festival will take place from Friday April 1 to Sunday April 3. You can grab your early bird tickets now by visiting their website.
JEMMA NICOLE ANNOUNCES RESIDENCY AT THE TOTE Doomfolk artist Jemma Nicole is cramming the front bar at the Tote with a rowdy bunch of Melbourne’s gnarliest bands including Hotel Wrecking City Traders, Grim Rhythm, Masses, Levitating Churches, Motherslug and The Birdcages. On top of the already hectic lineup, Jemma and her band will be carrying the night away with her dark, twisted sound that is something reminiscent of Tarantino and David Lynch’s love child. If that doesn’t sound tempting enough, there’ll be $5 herradura tequilas and free tattoos by Ruby Kuberz. The event will run every Sunday in February from 5pm, totally free of charge.
RUFUS REVEAL COLOSSAL NATIONAL TOUR Those blokes over in RUFUS just never seem to rest. They’ve just released their latest album Bloom to major acclaim, nailed their huge headline slots at the Falls Music and Arts Festival over New Years and smashed this year’s triple j Hottest 100. Wouldn’t ya know it; now they’ve announced a huge national tour. This time around, the RUFUS boys will be hitting up Festival Hall on Friday May 6, where they’ll be showcasing a selection of bangers from their aforementioned release Bloom, and their chart topping 2013 release Atlas. RUFUS shows sell out in milliseconds, so you’d be a fool to wait around for tickets to this one. Catch RUFUS when they take over Festival Hall on Friday May 6. Tickets are available via Ticketek.
THESE NEW SOUTH WHALES These New South Whales are heading back on the road for the first string of shows since the release of their six part mockumentary series, which premiered on triple j’s ‘Breakfast with Matt and Alex’ in November of 2015. The four comical underdogs from Newcastle will be riding the bullet train across the east coast throughout February and March, ending the tour at Melbourne’s Shebeen on Friday March 11. Tickets are $10 online, or $15 on the door.
MILK! RECORDS ANNOUNCE GOOD FOR YOU TOUR Those kids over at the Milk! Records camp have announced a tour. Courtney Barnett, Jen Cloher, Fraser A. Gorman, The Finks, East Brunswick All Girls Choir and Ouch My Face will hit the road for an extensive east coast tour this March. Milk! Records will release their second compilation album, Good For You, on Sunday February 14 on vinyl, which will also be available on all digital platforms from Friday February 12. Check out this stunning travelling road show Saturday March 5 at Howler. Tickets via milkrecords.com.au. BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 16
ALICE IVY UNVEILS TOUR PLANS Alice Ivy, aka Annika Schmarsel, has announced details of her first ever Australian tour in support of her newly released single Touch. Alice Ivy grew up on the Victorian Surf Coast and has relinquished the clarinet to turn to her own style of soul and electronic music, channelling the likes of The Avalanches and J. Dilla. See what Alice Ivy is all about when she plays The Workers Club Thursday February 18. HOT TALK
HINDS TO TOUR NATIONALLY THIS MAY Off the back of their new LP Leave Me Alone, Spanish foursome Hinds have announced their return to Australian soil. In the past year, the band has acquired an incredibly devoted international fanbase. Leave Me Alone encompasses personal lyrics based around some of the women’s past relationships. Get down to the Northcote Social Club on Friday May 6. Doors open at 7pm. Tickets are out now and are available through the venue’s website.
375 INKERMAN ST, ST KILDA EAST PH. 9527 2176 INKERMANHOTEL.COM.AU FEB
ALL PARMAS $13
FEB
$7 PIZZA, $10 JUGS
FEB
$13 FISH’N’CHIPS
WED WITH CHIPS & SALAD 3 SHIT PUB TRIVIA @8PM THU OPEN MIC 4 WITH DAN HALL @7.30PM FRI
LIVE MUSIC @8PM:
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FEB LIVE MUSIC @4PM:
SUN
7 FEB
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(ACOUSTIC COVERS) FREE ENTRY
ALL BURGERS $13
MON WITH CHIPS 8 POOL COMP@8PM FEB TUE $13 RUMP STEAK 9 WITH CHIPS & SALAD
DAILY HAPPY HOUR! 4-6PM
$3.50 POTS, $5 BASICS & HOUSE WINE
Wesley Anne - Bar • Restaurant • Etc -
MONDAY
Wednesday 3 February -------------------------------------------------
TRIVIA
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with Sparx
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FREE
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EDINBURGH CA STL E HOTEL
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WED
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POT & PARMA - $ 1 5
FRI 5
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Kerryn Fields FREE & The Dudettes
Mon Shelford 6pm, Front Bar
FREE
Rowena Wise and “the Guys”
S AT 6
8pm, Band Room, $15
Open for lunch middays Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays
6pm, Front Bar
250 High st, Northcote Hill, 9482 1333
FREE
SUN 7
K NAVE K NI XX, 9
PM
LOUIE & THE PRIDE , 5 DJ
Sunday 7 February -------------------------------------------------
Jackson McClaren
SMITH ’S TRIV IA 8 PM FR E E
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BOB HUTCHINSON BAND, 5PM
LIVE DJ’S
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B E AT.C O M . A U
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OD GO ES TIM
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[ Formerly The Hi-Fi Bar ]
FR
World’s End
FEB
AREA
E 1 FEB - SELLING FAST
NCE STA LES USA THU 11 FEB
THUN ERCAT USA
RETURN OF THE CAT EMPIRE
FR 12 FEB - SELLING FAST
BATTLES USA
DAUGHTER ANNOUNCE HEADLINE SHOWS
SAT 1 FEB - SELLING FAST
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ŽELJKO BEBEK BAN
COME TOGETHER MUSIC AND ARTS FESTIVAL Come Together Music and Arts Festival, an event that aims to raise money for Beyond Blue, have just announced their lineup for 2016. The versatile bill will showcase the city’s best reggae, soul, jazz, blues, African funk, electronic outfits and DJs. Acts include World’s End Press, The Seven Ups, The Public Opinion Afro Orchestra, Miss Colombia, Cumbia Cosmonauts and a truckload more. It’ll all take place on Saturday March 5 at Edendale Farm in Eltham. Hit up the festival’s website for ticket information. It’s all for a great cause, so show your support.
For the first time in two years, London trio Daughter are returning to Australia to perform headline shows in Melbourne and Sydney. Not To Disappear is the perfect follow up to their widely acclaimed, gloriously dark, 2013 debut If You Leave, and was recently made Feature Album on triple j. This time around the band are going flat-out and turning up the volume with renewed urgency and purpose. Catch Daughter at 170 Russell on Monday April 11. Tickets via Secret Sounds.
Coming off the back of their inclusion in triple j’s Hottest 100 with Wolves at #79 comes the announcement of The Cat Empire’s new single Bulls and a national tour. Bulls is the latest track to be taken from their upcoming sixth album Rising With The Sun, a collection of songs made to be performed on a big stage and sung along to en masse. Don’t miss your opportunity to do just that as The Cat Empire play for two nights at The Forum on Friday May 27 and Saturday May 28. Tickets are available via Ticketmaster.
MON 22 FEB
THE S OR
USA
TUE 2 FEB - SOLD OUT
OCEAN COLOUR SCENE UK SAT 2 FEB
1
NOR
RACK OFF! FESTIVAL UNVEILS FULL LINEUP
TUE 1 MAR
EA
USA
E
MAR
THE MUMM ES USA THU 1 MAR
BE FRE
FRA/CUB
SAT 12 MAR
E
BBS USA
E 16 MAR - SELLING FAST
SUNN O
USA
FR 1 MAR - SELLING FAST
E
RETT
SAT 21 MA
ELU E T E SUI RA
SAT 11 JUN
O B R MAN
SUN 12 JUN
EATH
THE WEEPING WILLOWS ANNOUNCE INSTORE Melbourne’s alt-country duo The Weeping Willows are poised to deliver their sophomore record Before Darkness Comes A-Callin’ and are embarking on a huge national tour to celebrate. The album, out Friday March 4, was tracked with Grammy Award winner Ryan Freeland ( Justin Townes Earle, Bonnie Raitt) and features some of Americana’s foremost players. In recent times, The Weeping Willows have graced the stage of Tamworth Country Music Festival, Tasmania’s Cygnet Folk Festival, Victoria’s Newport Folk Festival, JamGrass and more. They will be celebrating the launch with an in-store performance at Basement Discs on Friday March 4 and a gig at Caravan Music Club on Sunday April 17.
TRIVIUM ANNOUNCE APRIL TOUR With a swag of awards and sold out stadium tours left in their wake, US metal monoliths Trivium have announced they’ll be shredding across Australia this April. Widely tipped for greatness after their massively successful sophomore release Ascendancy, Trivium have rode the fame train all the way to the recent release of their new album Silence In The Snow. They’ll be tearing down the stage at 170 Russell on Wednesday April 13. Tickets are available through the venue.
Presented by the YWCA, RACK OFF! Festival will celebrate International Women’s Day by hosting an array of female-dominated bands, artists and DJs alongside markets, food, beauty services, tarot readings and more. The lineup boasts the likes of Beaches, Holy Balm, Lucy Cliché, Red Red Krovvy, Deep Heat, Mollusc, Masses, Stations, Pleasure Symbols, Simona Castricum, EN V, Sleepless Nights, Theta, Two Steps on the Water and Hi-Tec Emotions. The event will raise funds for YWCA Victoria’s housing services, providing support to more than 250 at-risk and marginalised women in long term facilities around Melbourne. RACK OFF! will run on Saturday March 5 at The Tote. Tickets via Oztix. Mutemath
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A GAZILLION ANGRY MEXICANS ANNOUNCE SOPHOMORE ALBUM AND TOUR Melbourne’s alternative rockers A Gazillion Angry Mexicans have announced their much anticipated sophomore EP and their upcoming east coast tour dates. The recently released Rattle My Cage, the first single pulled from the self-titled EP, has scored airplay on over 100 radio stations across Australia. They’ll be ending their extensive nine date tour back home in Melbourne at Cherry Bar on Saturday March 26. Tickets are available on the door.
RYAN BINGHAM IS COMING Grammy and Academy Award winning troubadour Ryan Bingham will return to Australia in April with a run of east coast dates. Last here in 2014, the Texan singer/songwriter will again captivate audiences with tunes from last year’s Fear and Saturday Night. Recorded mostly live with a brand new backing band, the new album finds Bingham facing his past with a poetic grace, while happily looking forward to a future with his wife and child. Catch Bingham in semiacoustic mode at The Northcote Social Club on Wednesday April 27. Tickets are available on Monday February 8 via Live Nation. HOT TALK
GROOVIN THE MOO REVEAL 2016 LINEUP Australia’s favourite (and, uhhh, only) regional touring festival is back for another year. The 2016 incarnation of the festival will feature Alison Wonderland, Boo Seeka, Boy & Bear, British India, Client Liaison, Danny Brown, Drapht, DZ Deathrays, Emma Louise, Golden Features, Harts, Illy, In Hearts Wake, MS MR, Mutemath, Ngaiire, Odesza, Ratatat, Remi, The Rubens, SAFIA, Twenty One Pilots, Vallis Alps and Vic Mensa. The Victorian edition of Groovin The Moo will take place on Saturday, April 30 at the Prince of Wales Showground, Bendigo.
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PIKNIC ELECTRONIK MELBOURNE Federation Square January 17-April 3 PBS DRIVE LIVE 2016 PBS Studios February 1 – 5 KALACOMA The Evelyn Hotel February 3, 10, 17, 24 GRIMES 170 Russell February 3 JAMES BAY Festival Hall February 3 TOBIAS JESSE JR The Corner February 3 SHAMIR Howler February 4 X The Tote February 5 GILLIAN WELCH Palais Theatre February 5 TINY RUINS The John Curtin Hotel February 6 MSO PRESENT HITCHCOCK AND HERRMANN Hamer Hall February 5, 6 THE CITY OF STONNINGTON’S CLASSIC CONCERTS Victoria Gardens February 6, 13, 27 ST KILDA FESTIVAL Various venues St Kilda February 6 – 14 JESS RIBEIRO Howler February 6 FUCK YOU CANCER – A DAVID BOWIE TRIBUTE The Gasometer February 7 FAIRFIELD SUMMER SERIES Fairfield Ampitheatre February 7, 14, 21, 28 JEMMA NICOLE The Tote February 7, 14, 21, 28 CHVRCHES Forum Theatre February 9 THE INTERNET The Corner February 9 BEACH HOUSE 170 Russell February 10 PUNK ROCK KARAOKE The Corner February 10 COLLIE BUDDZ Prince Bandroom February 11 SAL KIMBER & JOHN FLANAGAN The Toff In Town February 11 DIIV The Corner February 11 PURITY RING + MAJICAL CLOUDZ Forum Theatre February 11 THUNDERCAT Max Watt’s February 11 HEALTH Howler February 11 SOUL FLATS MUSIC & ARTS FESTIVAL Deniliquin, NSW February 12 – 14 TOEHIDER Ding Dong Lounge February 12 MIGHTY DUKE & THE LORDS The Gasometer Hotel February 12 ROUNDTABLE The Tote February 12 HIGH HIGHS Northcote Social Club February 12 SEAN MCMAHON AND THE MOONMEN The Spotted Mallard February 12 MAJICAL CLOUDZ The Toff In Town February 12 THIEVERY CORPORATION The Forum February 12 BATTLES Max Watt’s February 12 METZ The Corner February 12 GIDEON BENSEN Shebeen February 12 JOSH PYKE Melbourne Zoo February 12 RADIO MOSCOW Cherry Bar February 13, 14 LUNATICS ON POGOSTICKS The Worker’s Club February 13 COMMON KINGS The Corner February 13 LANEWAY FESTIVAL Footscray Community Arts Centre February 13 GURRUMUL Max Watt’s February 15 AT LAST – THE ETTA JAMES STORY Arts Centre Melbourne February 16 – 21 SOILWORK 170 Russell February 16 A$AP ROCKY Margaret Court Arena February 17 DAN POTTHAST Northcote Social Club February 18 THE PEEP TEMPEL Shadow Electric February 18 REGGAE ROYALTY Palais Theatre February 18 WAXAHATCHEE Howler February 18 ALPINE Estonian House February 19 CERES Northcote Social Club February 19 URBAN SPREAD Pelly Bar February 19, York on Lilydale February 20 COSMO’S MIDNIGHT Howler February 19 DAVE RAWLINGS MACHINE Palais Theatre February 19 TINA ARENA Hamer Hall February 19 PARTY IN THE PADDOCK Burnscreek, Tasmania February 19 RIVERBOATS MUSIC FESTIVAL Murray River, Echucha February 19 – 21 HIGH ON FIRE Max Watt’s February 19 JD MCPHERSON Corner Hotel February 19 FAT FREDDY’S DROP The Forum February 19 HA THE UNCLEAR The Tote February 19 WHITE NIGHT MELBOURNE Various Venues February 20 DEKMENTAL FESTIVAL Caulfield Racecourse February 20 SECRET FESTIVAL Yarra Valley February 20, 21 DALLAS CRANE The Corner February 20 GOOD LIFE FESTIVAL Melbourne Park and Hisense Arena February 20 ROB THOMAS Rob Laver Arena February 20 KATE MILLER-HEIDKE Estonian House February 20 DREAM A HIGHWAY featuring GILLIAN WELCH Festival Hall February 20 JEREMIH Trak February 21 LEFTFIELD Yarra Valley Estate February 21 ALBERT HAMMOND JR The Corner February 21 THE SWORD Max Watt’s February 22 HORROR MY FRIEND Old Bar February 22 WU-TANG CLAN Margaret Court Arena February 23 BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 20
A R T I S T S
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OCEAN COLOUR SCENE Max Watt’s February 23 THE GAME The Forum February 24 MANGELWURZEL Northcote Social Club February 26 SPIDERBAIT 170 Russell February 26, 28 THE JEZABELS The Forum February 26 GBH The Bendigo Hotel February 26 CHI WAH WOW TOWN TBA February 26 – 28 SUFJAN STEVENS Hamer Hall February 26 ALITHIA Cherry Bar February 27 PRETTY CITY The Gasometer February 27 HOMESHAKE The Curtin February 27 MOSES GUNN COLLECTIVE Northcote Social Club February 27 ECCA VANDAL Howler February 27 MARCS FESTIVAL AC/DC Lane, Duckboard Place February 28 SUFJAN STEVENS Hamer Hall February 28 NATALIE PRASS Melbourne Recital Centre February 29 RAVI COLTRANE Bird’s Basement March 1 - 6 PASSENGER Palais Theatre March 1 G-EAZY Max Watt’s March 1 CALEXICO Hamer Hall March 2 GLEN MATLOCK, EARL SLICK & SLIM JIM PHANTOM Ding Dong Lounge March 4, The Flying Saucer Club March 5 MAX FROST Northcote Social Club March 4 SENSES FAIL Corner Hotel March 4 THE SNOWDROPPERS Howler March 4 COME TOGETHER Edendale Farm, Eltham March 5 BOOTLEG RASCAL Northcote Social Club March 5 CHAPTERFEST 24 Gasometer Hotel March 5 PALMS Shebeen March 5 CLUTCH The Forum March 5 ALVVAYS Northcote Social Club March 6 SYDNEY RD STREET PARTY Sydney Rd March 6 THE JESUS AND MARY CHAIN The Forum March 6, 7 THE NECKS Melbourne Recital Centre March 7 GODSPEED YOU! BLACK EMPEROR Melbourne Recital Centre March 7 PEKING DUCK The Forum March 8 MICHAEL GIRA Melbourne Recital Centre March 8 THE MUMMIES Max Watt’s March 9 SLEATER-KINNEY The Croxton March 9 RUBY BOOTS Northcote Social Club March 10 IBEYI Max Watt’s March 10 ART VS. SCIENCE 170 Russell March 11 THESE NEW SOUTH WALES Shebeen March 11 ASH The Gasometer March 11 A FESTIVAL CALLED PANAMA Lone Star Valley March 11 - 13 PORT FAIRY FOLK FESTIVAL Port Fairy March 11 – 14 GAYTIMES FESTIVAL Kinglake March 12 - 14 FREDDIE GIBBS Max Watt’s March 12 BEN HARPER AND THE INNOCENT CRIMINALS Sidney Myer Music Bowl March 12 BUILT TO SPILL The Corner March 12 MADONNA Rod Laver Arena March 12, 13 GOLDEN PLAINS Meredith Supernatural Amphitheatre March 12 – 14 PURE POP FOR NOW PEOPLE Rochford Wines, Yarra Valley March 12 TOTAL CHAOS The Reverence Hotel March 13 JOHN GRANT The Forum March 13 BUZZCOCKS The Corner March 13 THE CHARLATONS 170 Russell March 13 BUCKCHERRY 170 Russell March 14 ST GERMAIN The Forum March 14 ACTION BRONSON The Forum March 15 BRUNSWICK MUSIC FESTIVAL Various Venues March 15 - 20 BIG DADDY WILSON Flying Saucer Club March 16 HIGHLY SUSPECT The Evelyn March 16 LUKA BLOOM The National Theatre March 16 DON MCLEAN Hamer Hall March 16 SUNN O))) Max Watt’s March 16 SONGHOY BLUES Melbourne Recital Centre March 16 THE FUMES The Gasometer March 17 MARY BLACK The Forum March 17 THE VIOLENT FEMMES The Corner March 17 THE JENSENS Shebeen March 18 DIED PRETTY Max Watt’s March 18 SEVENDUST 170 Russell March 18 BRYAN ADAMS Rod Laver Arena March 18 STEVE EARLE & THE DUKES Melbourne Recital Centre March 18, 19 THE STIFFYS The Old Bar March 19 STRUNG OUT The Corner Hotel March 19 D’ANGELO Palais Theatre March 19 TEDESCHI TRUCKS BAND Forum Theatre March 19 KIM SALMON The Northcote Social Club March 19 THE PENINSULA PICNIC Mornington March 20 LORD HURON The Corner March 21 LUCKY PETERSON Northcote Social Club March 21 KENDRICK LAMAR Rod Laver Arena March 21 TWEEDY Melbourne Recital Centre March 21
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Gig Of The Week
THE MSO PRESENTS HITCHCOCK AND HERRMANN The master of suspense and the maestro of music feature in this unique screen and symphony event featuring the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Associate Conductor, Benjamin Northey. Immerse yourself in scenes from Alfred Hitchcock’s classic films on the big screen and hear Bernard Herrmann’s astonishing scores performed live by the MSO. A special light show provides a visual play between lightness and darkness, further extending the cinematic world of Alfred Hitchcock beyond the boundaries of the physical screen. This special event is happening on Friday 5 and Saturday 6 at Hamer Hall, tickets are available online. ELLE KING Corner Hotel March 22 KAMASI WASHINGTON Prince Bandroom March 22 STURGILL SIMPSON 170 Russell March 23 MODEST MOUSE Margaret Court Arena March 23 RHIANNON GIDDENS The Corner March 23 THE RESIDENTS The Croxton March 23 YEO Howler March 24 HOUNDMOUTH Northcote Social Club March 24 ST. PAUL & THE BROKEN BONES The Corner March 24 BLUESFEST Byron Bay March 24 – 28 WAFIA Northcote Social Club March 25 COLD WAR KIDS 170 Russell March 25 BOOGIE FESTIVAL Bruzzy’s Farm March 25 – 27 TOM JONES Hamer Hall March 25 THE SELECTER Corner Hotel March 25 A GAZILLION ANGRY MEXICANS Cherry Bar March 26 THE HILLS ARE ALIVE South Gippsland March 25 – 27 LEGION MUSIC FEST Melbourne Showgrounds March 26 LEFTÖVER CRACK Bendigo Hotel March 27, 28 (AA) NAHKO AND MEDICINE FOR THE PEOPLE The Corner March 27 THE WORD The Corner March 28 NOEL GALLAGHER’S HIGH FLYING BIRDS Margaret Court Arena March 29 JASON ISBELL Melbourne Recital Centre March 29 THE DECEMBERISTS Hamer Hall March 29 TAJ MAHAL Melbourne Recital Centre March 30 NATHANIEL RATELIFF & THE NIGHT SWEATS 170 Russell March 30 LUKAS NELSON & PROMISE OF THE REAL Howler March 30 MELISSA ETHERIDGE Palais Theatre March 30 VINTAGE TROUBLE The Corner March 30 STIFF LITTLE FINGERS 170 Russell March 31 ALLEN STONE The Corner March 31 SHADY COTTAGE East Trentham April 1 THE BENNIES The Corner April 1 THE BLIND BOYS OF ALABAMA Melbourne Recital Centre April 1 JACKSON BROWNE Palais Theatre April 1 THE TIMBERS Yarra Hotel April 2 ED KUEPPER Melbourne Recital Centre April 2 CITY AND COLOUR Sidney Myer Music Bowl April 2 BRIAN WILSON Palais Theatre April 3 LOW Melbourne Recital Centre April 4 MONTAIGNE Howler April 8 SKYSCRAPER STAN AND THE COMMISSION
S O . M A N Y. G I G S .
FLATS Cherry Bar April 8 SASKWATCH The Corner Hotel April 8 CALIGULA’S HORSE Ding Dong Lounge April 8 CITY CALM DOWN The Corner April 9 DAUGHTER 170 Russel April 10 CHRIS ISAAK Margaret Court Arena April 13 TRIVIUM 170 Russel April 13 WEDNESDAY 13 Corner Hotel April 14 SONS OF ZION The Croxton April 16 BLACK SABBATH Rod Laver Arena April 19 GANG OF YOUTHS 170 Russell April 22 HILTOP HOODS + MSO Rod Laver Arena April 23 VANCE JOY Margaret Court Arena April 23 SARAH BLASKO The Forum April 23 JOSH GROBAN Palais Theatre April 25 RYAN BINGHAM Northcote Social Club April 27 GROOVIN THE MOO Prince of Wales Showground, Bendigo April 30 SUPERSUCKERS Cherry Bar April 30 CHERRYROCK016 Cherry and AC/DC Lane May 1 MILLENCOLIN 170 Russell May 3 OF MONSTERS AND MEN Palais Theatre May 4, 5 HINDS Northcote Social Club May 6 IRON MAIDEN Rod Laver Arena May 9 TINASHE The Forum May 25 THE BEARDS The Loft May 25, The Golden Vine May 26, Karova Lounge June 23, Barwon Club June 24, The Corner June 25 ERIC BURDON AND THE ANIMALS The Palais May 18 THE CAT EMPIRE The Forum Theatre May 27, 28 CHERIE CURRIE The Corner May 28 TOTALLY 80’S Palais Theatre July 15
BEAT PRESENTS RUMOURS: THE SOFT MOON, BECK, FUZZ = NEW ANNOUNCEMENTS
TUESDAY 9 FEBRUARY
LIVE N LOCAL WEEK FREE LIVE MUSIC Come down to any gig during Live N Local and you will find great emerging and established artists playing in venues and some unexpected locations, right across Melbourne’s legendary seaside neighbourhood. The best way to plan your week is to download the official St Kilda Festival smartphone app – available through iTunes and Google Play.
THURSDAY 11 FEBRUARY
5PM The Bean Project
Where: Sorsi e Morsi, 29–31 Blessington St, St Kilda
7PM Dreamcoat SUPPORTED BY
Where: Monarch Lane (off Acland St), St Kilda
7.30PM Rebecca Cardamone
Where: Bay City Burrito, 4–7 Shakespeare Gve, St Kilda
8PM Barely Standing
Where: Lona, 64-66 Acland St, St Kilda
Fitzrovia Double Bill
Where: Fitzrovia, 2/155 Fitzroy St, St Kilda
Live N Local Pop-Up House Party Kick off your week of free live music at the Live N Local launch party in a pop-up backyard party setting. Bring a picnic or enjoy one of the food trucks on offer, sit back, chill out or rock out to some our best local talent. Where: St Kilda Triangle Car Park (beside the Palais Theatre, St Kilda) 4PM Dear Plastic 5PM Pataphysics 6PM EMPRA 7PM Mangelwurzel
4PM Vic Meehan 5PM Simon Phillips 7PM Southbound Snake Charmers
Where: Cnr Fitzroy St and Jackson St, St Kilda
MONDAY 8 FEBRUARY 4PM Jake Fehily
Where: Surabaya Johnny’s, 47 Blessington St, St Kilda
6PM Young Poets
Where: Republica, 10–18 Jacka Blvd, St Kilda Seabaths, St Kilda
7PM Slow Burn
Where: Falafel Extra, 139 Acland St, St Kilda
1PM Moss
Where: The Clock Tower, St Kilda Esplanade Market, The Esplanade, St Kilda
Ambient Electro Dreaming
Where: Sacred Heart Church, 83 Grey St, St Kilda
3PM Zac Goldberg
8PM The Gaza Stripper 9PM Yakini
Where: Continental, 117 Dundas Pl, Albert Park
W/ ANJO, MIKE STEVA, MIKE GURRIERI & EDD FISHER SAT 6/2
KERSER
18+ doors 7pm
U18 doors 12pm
THURS 11/2
COLLIE BUDDZ LauncH
PRINCE PUBLIC BAR NOW AN OZTIX RETAILER
PUBLIC BAR free live entertainment every week!
$10
PUB MEALS FROM MIDDAY ALL WEEK!
$2.50 POTS - MONDAYS
@PRINCEBANDROOM
Where: The George Hotel, 139 Cecil St, South Melbourne
7PM Timmy Knowles
Where: Metropol, 5-6/60 Fitzroy St, St Kilda Where: Laika, 9 Fitzroy St, St Kilda
Big Mouth Double Bill
8PM Greeves 9PM The Shakes 10PM Slim Jeffries
Where: Big Mouth, 168 Acland St, St Kilda
WEDNESDAY 10 FEBRUARY 6PM Zikora
Where: Chakra, 179 Acland St, St Kilda
8PM Slowjaxx & The Kozmik Brothers 9PM Centre & The South
Rock It Out
Where: Roving St Kilda
6.30PM Tillerman Pete
Where: Limerick Arms Hotel, 364 Clarendon St, Sth Melbourne
7PM Fiona & Her Holy Men
Where: Freddie Wimpoles (formally known as The George Hotel), 125 Fitzroy St, St Kilda
7PM India Jade
8PM Duo Agogo – Brazilian Guitar Masters
3PM Mango Retreat
Where: Eclectico, 163a Acland St, St Kilda
Where: West Beach Bathers Pavilion, 330A Beaconsfield Pde, St Kilda West
Hip Hop Night
Where: Cushion Lounge, 99 Fitzroy St, St Kilda
5.30PM Mick Coleman
8PM Dex 9PM Archangel 10PM Eloquor
5.30PM Chaos Magnet
Where: Secret Garden, 60 Fitzroy St, St Kilda Where: Roving St Kilda
Rock Stars & Roller-Coasters
7PM Klezmania
7PM New Dub City
7PM The Originals 8PM FnR - Follow No Rules 9PM The Deadlips
8PM Horace Bones 9PM The Hunted Crows 10PM Destrends
Where: Monarch Lane (off Acland St), St Kilda Where: Cnr Fitzroy St and Jackson St, St Kilda
Rockabilly Night
Where: Prince Public Bar, 29 Fitzroy St, St Kilda
8PM Leanne Kingwell
Where: Rydges, 35–37 Fitzroy St, St Kilda
Pop-Up Party
Where: Shakespeare Gve Car Park, St Kilda
5PM Chris Watts 6PM Once Were Wild 7PM That Gold Street Sound 8PM PASSERINE
8.30PM The Hosies 9.25PM Rosie & The Mighty Kings 10.20PM Mission Brown PLUS PERFROMANCES BY SWING PATROL
PLUS A FREE ARTIST DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM— FORUMS AND WORKSHOPS ON FRI 12 & SAT 13 FEBRUARY Visit the website for program details and events.
Where: The St Kilda Branch, 204 Barkly St, St Kilda
Where: The Elephant and Wheelbarrow, 169 Fitzroy St, St Kilda
Where: Luna Park Moon Deck, 18 Lower Esplanade, St Kilda
8PM Sylas Palms
Where: Robarta, 109-111 Fitzroy St, St Kilda
Live At Habitat HQ
Where: 333 St Kilda Rd, St Kilda
8.30PM Up Up Away 9.30PM King Spirit 10.30PM Quantum Milkshake
SATURDAY 13 FEBRUARY Live At Linden
Rock The Night Away
2PM African Star Dance & Drumming Company 3.30PM Funkalleros
9PM Transience 10PM I Am Mine
Where: Linden New Art 26 Acland St, St Kilda
Where: The Elephant and Wheelbarrow, 169 Fitzroy St, St Kilda
FOR ALL EVENT INFO VISIT
LIVENLOCAL.COM.AU
sun 14/2
st kilda festival
feat. FALCONA AFTERPARTY w/ HAYDEN JAMES (DJ SET), SOSUEME DJ’S, I OH YOU DJ’S, FALCONA DJ’S, DANNY CLAYTON
wed 24/2
Barely Standing
6PM Belle Roscoe
7PM A Whale Called Phoenix
Where: 333 St Kilda Rd, St Kilda
fri 5/2
paul johnson (u.s.a)
Where: Basement at Alliance Française de Melbourne, 51 Grey St, St Kilda
6PM The ishs/Allen Project 7PM Justine Jones
Let’s Rock Habitat HQ
SUNDAY 7 FEBRUARY
Jazz Night
FRIDAY 12 FEBRUARY 5.30PM D2Drumline
#LIVENLOCAL
Tues 22/3
KAMASI WASHINGTON THURS 24/3
GRIZ (U.S.A) FRI 1/4
THE CHERRY DOLLS FRI 8/4
GRAHAM BONNET
sat 12/3
SUBLOW
FEAT P-MONEY (U.K) AND ROYAL T (U.K)
just announced!
thur 28/4
VIC MENSA 29 FITZROY STREET, ST KILDA
#THEPRINCEBANDROOM
/THEPRINCEBANDROOM
just announced!
INFO - PHONE 9536 1168
sundays
tuesdays
fridays
saturdays
saturdays - late
A TASTE OF INDIE
WATT’S ON PRESENTS:
GUITAR LEGEND
CHAMPAGNE INTERNET ELWOOD BLUES CLUB (EX- YACHT CLUB DJS) FROM 10.30PM SATURDAYS • every sunday! • FREE ENTRY • PaRTY uNTil laTE
ORIGINAL MUSIC FROM 7.30 FREE ENTRY
LIVE BANDS, ROCK’N’ROLL DJS, FREE ENTRY
PHIL PARA!
SATURDAY’S 6PM TO 9PM
B E AT.C O M . A U
BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 21
CAT POWER B Y T Y S O N W R AY
W
hen I reach Chan Marshall on the phone from her home in Atlanta, Georgia, the world is slowly learning of the death of David Bowie, with his legions of fans worldwide going into both shock and mourning. It seemed haunting apt, Marshall’s mother was a huge fan of Bowie. She adored him. There was no greater influence on her life. This adoration was something that Marshall inherited from her mother. “You’re the only person that knows that,” she laughs slightly mystified at my knowledge of her mother’s infatuation with Bowie. “I don’t know how you found that out. I was always quite moved by that record [The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars]. It came out when I was born, so I didn’t really understand it until I was a teenager when I was given it to my mother. He was all over the place when I was growing up. There were a lot of uncool things in the ‘80s, and a lot of really cool things. He was one of the really cool things. He was a gamechanger. I was young so I didn’t quite understand the artistic directions he was presenting at the time. When I was recently asked that question, ‘If you were to take one record to a deserted island what it would it be?’ I always thought to myself ‘Oh, it’d be Ziggy Stardust’.” While the Starman had a great effect on Chan, she’s come to terms with the mortality of her inspirations. Most notably now that of Bob Dylan, who she refers to as God Dylan. “When I was younger I lost a lot of friends,” she notes. “A lot of my friends died: two to AIDs, four overdoses, three BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 22
suicides and others to illnesses and accidents. It’s what happens after losing so many people that you love. When it happens to you once, the first time, it’s devastating. By the 20th time you understand quite well that one day your heroes are going to dead. So will your best friend. So will you.” Indeed, Marshall has lived through some traumatic incidents over her lifetime. She’s had multiple mental breakdowns over her career, one caused by the death of a boyfriend and another after a cocaine and alcohol binge, leaving her often suicidal. In the late ‘90s and early ‘00s she was better known for her shaky live performances better than her actual music. Once at the Bowery Ballroom in New York she left the stage, sat on the floor and played her track Cross Bones Style with her face perched on the ground, audience members trying to comfort her while patting her back. In 2012, following the release of Sun, she was diagnosed with Hereditary Angioedema - a potentially fatal rare blood disease that causes swelling around the throat, oesophagus and internal organs. Unlike most artists of any form, B E AT.C O M . A U
Marshall’s presence of social media is rarely used to spruik her own creations. In fact, for the most part, she’s highly politically engaged. In November 2014 she weighed in on the Michael Brown saga, when Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager, was shot and killed by a white police officer, in Ferguson: “PLEASE COME FORWARD TO SPREAD WORD FOR PEACEFUL PROTESTS AFTER MIKE BROWN VERDICT IS ANNOUNCED AS KKK WILL LIKELY APPEAR.” While most recently she’s been sharing statistics over the current water poisoning scandal taking place in Flint, Michigan and campaigning relentlessly as an advocate for Bernie Sanders to win the upcoming USA presidential election. “I feel the same way about the election as anyone who has a heart would,” she shares. “It’s forced on you - the whole election game. It’s shoved down your throat in almost every western country. It’s sad, it’s really sad. But it’s inspiring to see that someone like Bernie Sanders has stepped up to the plate. It’s a huge job, but he’s not in it just to be a ‘celebrity politician’, he’s in it for the right reasons.” A regular on Australian shores for the past 18 years, since the release of her last studio album Sun in 2012, in 2013 Marshall co-headlined Golden Plains and performed three shows at The Forum in full-band mode, before returning in 2014 for four nights in solo mode at the Thornbury Theatre. This time around she’ll be bringing her fragileyet-enigmatic live performance for two intimate solo shows at the Melbourne Recital Centre, where fans can expect to hear beloved classics and a smattering of new material. “Probably a quarter of the songs that I’ll be playing people will never have heard,” she shares. “Half of them people have heard but they’ve never been recorded, and the rest people have heard all I have released. I like to play a lot of songs that
“When I was younger I lost a lot of friends. A lot of my friends died: two to AIDs, four overdoses, three suicides and others to illnesses and accidents. It’s what happens after losing so many people that you love. When it happens to you once, the first time, it’s devastating. By the 20th time you understand quite well that one day your heroes are going to dead. So will your best friend. So will you.” people have never heard when I tour before I go and record them. That’s the way I’ve always done it.” Looking further into the upcoming year, I quiz Marshall on what she plans to focus on for the rest of the year. “Studio and health,” she notes of her current priorities. “And obviously my child, my son. I had a baby. Last year in April. It’s great. It makes me so happy, I love being a mum. He’s #1, my health is #2 and studio is #3.” NOTE: Cat Power’s upcoming tour is currently being rescheduled. All tickets for this tour will remain valid for the rescheduled dates which will be advised shortly.
ND U O R D R THI LINE-UPED! NC ANNOU
LINE-UP INCLUDES 47SOUL PALESTINE/JORDAN/SYRIA • Acrojou UK • Ainslie Wills AUSTRALIA • Ajak Kwai SUDAN/AUSTRALIA • Alpine AUSTRALIA • Angélique Kidjo & the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra BENIN/AUSTRALIA • Asha Bhosle INDIA • Asian Dub Foundation UK • Australian Dance Theatre AUSTRALIA • Calexico USA • The Cat Empire AUSTRALIA • Cedric Burnside Project USA • Choir of the APY Lands AUSTRALIA • DakhaBrakha UKRAINE • De La Soul USA • Debashish Bhattacharya INDIA • Diego el Cigala SPAIN • Djuki Mala AUSTRALIA • Edmar Castañeda Trio COLOMBIA/USA • Eska UK • Ester Rada ETHIOPIA/ISRAEL • Hazmat Modine USA • Husky AUSTRALIA • Ibeyi FRANCE/ CUBA • The Jerry Cans CANADA • John Grant USA • Kev Carmody AUSTRALIA • Ladysmith Black Mambazo SOUTH AFRICA • Marcellus Pittman USA • Marlon Williams & the Yarra Benders NEW ZEALAND/AUSTRALIA • Miles Cleret UK • The Miraculous Theatre Company UK • Mojo Juju AUSTRALIA • Mountain Mocha Kilimanjaro JAPAN • The Once CANADA • Orange Blossom FRANCE • Osunlade (DJ) USA • Radical Son TONGA/AUSTRALIA • Ripley AUSTRALIA • Sadar Bahar USA • Sampa the Great ZAMBIA/AUSTRALIA • Sarah Blasko AUSTRALIA • Savina Yannatou & Primavera en Salonico GREECE • Seun Kuti & Egypt 80 NIGERIA • Spiro UK • The Spooky Men’s Chorale AUSTRALIA • St Germain FRANCE • 숨[su:m] KOREA • TEK TEK Ensemble AUSTRALIA • Tulegur CHINA • Violent Femmes USA and many more! Plus: Taste the World, The Planet Talks, a Global Village, KidZone, visual arts, street theatre and much more.
11-14 MARCH 2016 W BOTANIC PARK W ADELAIDE
SEE WEBS FOR F ITE U LINE-U LL P
B E AT.C O M . A U
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WOMADELAIDE.COM.AU
This Week: Finland’s Pekka Kuusisto will lead the Australian Chamber Orchestra Collective in a series of performances covering Beethoven, Sibelius and 21st compositions. Kuusisto is a highly regarded maverick of contemporary classical music; engaging, personal and exquisitely talented. Along with works from Beethoven and Sibelius, Kuusisto will lead the ACO Collective through compositions from 21st century innovators such as Bjork and Philip Glass-collaborator Nico Muhly and The National’s Bryce Dessner. Pekka Kuusisto and the ACO Collective will perform at Arts Centre Melbourne on Sunday February 7. The Australian Art Orchestra and Ensemble Offspring have joined forces with experimental American composer Alvin Lucier alongside celebrated pianists Austin Buckett and Simon James Phillips to create Exit Ceremonies - an immersive piece that manipulates the unique sonic effects of large pipe organs. The historic Melbourne Town Hall Grand Organ will be used in conjunction with reel-to-reel tape machines, turntables, electronics, percussion, vocals, trumpet and strings for a series of specially commissioned compositions. Lucier’s work, Swings, will explore the hallucinatory effects of sound in a piece written for two violins, cello, double bass, trumpet in C, female vocals and an additional three players physically manipulating the mouths of the organ pipes, causing pitch bending and audible beating. Moreover, Buckett’s Aisles will create looped conversations between turntables, vocals and pipe organ while Phillips’ Flaw explores an intersection between electronic music, using the organ to create mechanical and layered sounds. Exit Ceremonies will take place at the Melbourne Town Hall on Saturday February 6. Now in its sixth year, Pause Fest has made a name for itself by embracing and disseminating technology. This year’s festival is no exception, bringing a slew of bright minds together to discuss how to turn fledgling ideas into successful products. Events at the festival include ‘Meet the Expert’ sessions, giving insight into some of the most innovative and industrious entrepreneurs from around the globe including Girls in Tech CEO Adriana Gascoigne, Google Zoo Creative Director Iain Nealie and Bibop Gresta of Hyperloop Transportation Technologies the most advanced transportation system ever conceived. Elsewhere, a comprehensive start-up expo is on offer alongside a rapid prototyping hub, creative and pitching workshops and afterhours networking parties. Get one step closer to becoming the next Zuckerberg by heading to Pause Fest at Federation Square from Monday February 8 - Sunday February 14.
PICK OF THE WEEK
Due to popular demand, MTC’s critically acclaimed adaption of the classic Hitchcock film North By Northwest has returned for a strictly limited season. The premiere was staged to standing ovations and glowing reviews. Adapted for stage by Carolyn Burns and directed by Simon Phillips, North by Northwest charts Roger O. Thornhill’s case of mistaken identity from New York to North Dakota. The original cast will reprise their roles, giving Melbourne audiences a final chance to catch the successful production. North By Northwest will run until Wednesday February 10 at the Arts Centre Melbourne.
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With Tyson Wray. Got thoughts, news, gossip, complaints or cat photos? Email tyson@beat.com.au or send by carrier pigeon before Friday 12pm.
Meow Meow’s Little Mermaid BY ADAM NORRIS
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t’s quite a splendid affair chatting with cabaret chanteuse Meow Meow. Hers is a seductive wit, and her banter bubbly (with just a touch of decadence). When I speak to the world-touring artist she is en route to an early-morning rehearsal in preparation for Meow Meow’s Little Mermaid at Sydney Festival, having recently wrapped a long performance run in Boston and now neck-deep in Seven Deadly Sins for the Victorian Opera. Now she’s brought the show down to Melbourne. It seems there’s rarely a dull moment for Meow Meow, though despite her current proximity to vice, establishing her own favourite sin is no simple task. “Oh, I wish I could give you a quick answer to that, but because it’s an ironic treatment of these vices it actually subverts your expectations of what those vices are,” Meow Meow explains as she flings herself into an Uber. “And it’s pretty bleak, I have to say; there’s no pleasure to be had. From the start of the journey, these sisters are prostituting themselves to survive, basically. It’s the capitalist dream. So it’s not a joyous exploration of the sins. It’s a journey that just goes deeper and deeper, and I forget while I’m performing – because I love it so much, and love Kurt Vile’s music – that it is such an intense and political piece. They’re quite intense to perform, because the world vision is so brutal. “I guess when I’m approaching The Little Mermaid, I’m trying to slip between brutality and sensuality. They’re good ways of getting into people’s hearts. So I couldn’t say I have a favourite sin. I’m just awash with them.” Meow Meow has become somewhat synonymous (sinominous, perhaps?) with debauched and somewhat damaged characters. Damaged not in the sense of being fatally flawed or deranged, but in that there is some shard of their personality that needs redemption or reassurance; something gregarious yet troubled.
Though she’s naturally quite a flamboyant figure, you can’t help but ponder her difficultly slipping into the skin of such creations, and of course, sliding back into her everyday life once the curtain has closed. “I never really step out of my performing skin, I suppose. I think we all perform all the time, and I’m perhaps just more honest about it,” she laughs. “I like performing in that more heightened way, because you’re not pretending to be normal. I think it’s all costume, it’s all pretend. So there’s a freedom in living in a heightened way both on and offstage. It’s very honest, I think. “I like the profile pieces where you need to be reintegrated afterwards, because the world there is so dark. At the end of Shakespeare there’s often a dance or celebration to bring the audience some catharsis. Something that brings them out in some ritualistic way, that you show or emote for them yourself. You take them with you. The ‘If we have offended…’ speech. There’s something that features through the history of theatre and performance – you want to have taken people on this journey, you want them to be thinking and feeling, but you also don’t want to send them out so disorientated or broken that they can’t
EVERYTHING MELBOURNE
engage. The whole idea is to be able to go out again with new strength into the viciousness of the world. I really do think that’s the artist’s job. However light or deep it is, that’s what you want to do.” Little Mermaid comes with some notable expectations. In addition to Meow Meow’s usual verve and stagecraft is the knowledge that Meow Meow’s Little Match Girl (which began the trilogy that Mermaid continues) won three Helpmann Awards, including Best Cabaret Performer for Meow Meow herself. It promises to be a rare, dark and enthralling delight, based at least in part on real-world observations and experiences. “I think you always bring that on,” she says. “It doesn’t mean you have to physically experience something to perform it. I think across all of my work, that comes out in my songwriting and in the topics I’m interested in. With The Little Match Girl, I was very influenced by a documentary I saw of Oasis, the Salvation Army sanctuary in Sydney for homeless kids. That really influenced a lot of what I was writing. Similarly, I’m feeling very affected by what I’m seeing in the world right now when I think of The Little Mermaid story. You can’t help it. In my offstage life I’ve had a lot of grief in the last few years, and it changes you. Of course. As much as I’m super heightened onstage, it’s a super honest performance, and I think you still need to keep it based in craft. You can’t make it all into therapy, to be indulgent in that way. “I’m always trying to provide simultaneous assault of the serious, the light, the beauty, the destruction. And you can’t always guarantee what the audience will perceive as beautiful or ruinous. It’s a juggle. You’re trying to solve the problems of the world in 70 minutes, and you have to come in with grandiose expectations, because what’s the point otherwise? It’s ridiculous, and you’re aware of your ridiculousness. But if you’re not invested, then it is an indulgence. Music is the key all the time, I think. That’s the healing balm.” Meow Meow’s Little Mermaid is currently being performed at the Malthouse Theatre until Sunday February 14.
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For more arts news, reviews and interviews visit beat.com.au Programmed to Reproduce
THE COMIC STRIP CRAB LAB
Blak & Bright
Thursday February 18 - Sunday February 21 The Wheeler Centre
Another huge and free show tonight at Crab Lab with Luke McGregor, Dilruk Jayasinha, Nick Capper, Greg Larsen and a big special guest. Kicks off at 8.30pm at the House of Maximon, 16 Corrs Ln CBD.
200 Years of Australian Fashion Saturday March 5 - Sunday July 31 National Gallery of Victoria
THURSDAY COMEDY
Jurassic World: The Exhibition
Saturday March 19 - Sunday October 9 Melbourne Museum
Tony Martin headlines the comedy at the European Bier Café this Thursday night. He’s an absolute legend of Australian comedy. You’ll know him from ABC’s The Late Show and from Martin/Molloy and Get This on the radio, now see him live on stage. Plus there’s a big bunch of special guests that we’re not allowed to name. It’s all happening this Thursday February 4 at 8.30pm, at the European Bier Café, 120 Exhibition St, CBD, all for only $12.
Melbourne International Comedy Festival Wednesday March 23 - Sunday April 17 Various Venues
Degas: A New Vision
Friday June 24 - Sunday September 18 National Gallery of Victoria
COMEDY AT SPLEEN Mondays at Comedy at Spleen are always full, and this week will be no different. The only place to be on Mondays will be chockers full of laughs with guests and it’s the place where big names drop in. This Monday, there’s heaps of guests like Ben Lomas, Tegan Higginbotham, Nick Capper, Alasdair Tremblay-Birchall, some special guests and more. It’s this Monday February 8, at 41 Bourke Street in the city, at 8.30pm. It’s free to get in, but they appreciate a good gold coin donation at the door.
COMEDY AT THE WILDE Tuesdays at The Wilde some of Melbourne’s best young comedians join with sign up on the night open mic acts for one of the loosest nights in town. This week is no exception as all-time Wilde favourite Jack Druce is joined by Adam Knox, Danielle Walker and more. It’s this Tuesday February 9 at 153 Gertrude St, Fitzroy at 8pm. And, it’s totally free.
RAW COMEDY Karl Chandler
Festival of Live Art Returns For 2016 Designed for curious audiences of only one or two or several hundred, the second Festival of Live Art will make its way throughout Melbourne this March. A collaborative festival between Arts House, Theatre Works and Footscray Community Arts Centre, for 13 days over 50 surprising, participatory and interactive art experiences will captivate Melbourne. There’s a work for 16 iPads, a phone App for a walking event with two people, a crocheted and knitted installation, a traditional and virtual tea room, ‘erotic dance’, an invitation to undress and confess in a sound-proof booth, a smartphone procedural thriller, a series of performances on a podium, one on one encounters in hotel rooms, the launch of a new fragrance with a complimentary dog wash, a complete smut auction and a contemporary art exchange between Yogyakarta and Footscray Community Arts Centre. That’s just the beginnings. Local and international artists who have created work in the 2016 program include Tamara Saulwick, Luke George, Nicola Gunn and Nat Cursio, Yumi Umiumare, Leisa Shelton and Fragment 31, Sam Routledge, Triage Live Art Collective, Claire Cunningham, Aphids, Caroline Bowditch, Kate Hunter, Rully Shabara, Ahmarnya Price, Tamara Kirby & Kelly Ryall, Aseel Tayah and Black Hole Theatre Company. FOLA 2016 will take place from Tuesday March 1 - Saturday March 13.
Transitions Film Festival Announce Full Program Now in its fifth incarnation, Transitions Film Festival is returning with a slew of quality documentaries covering big ideas and world issues, ranging from activist grandmothers to pathways out of poverty. The program kicks off with pre-festival outdoor screenings at City Square, before officially opening with Catching The Sun - a film exploring the international race to build a clean economy. Continuing the theme of global innovation comes 10 Billion - What’s on your Plate delving into what is needed to sustainably feed an entire planet alongside Polyfaces, a detailed study on one of the world’s most famous and ingenious farmers. Gender and age is covered with Hip Hop-eration - the story of a group of senior citizens taking on an international rapping competition and Code: Debugging the Gender Gap examining the politics, controversies and untapped potential of women in the coding industry. Elsewhere, program highlights include architectural study The Infinite Happiness, The Price We Pay tackling the flow-on effect of global tax avoidance and Ice and Sky, a personal journey following scientist Claude Lorius unwrapping research and evidence pointing towards the human footprint of climate change. Rounding out the festival are special guests including filmmakers Shalini Kantayya and Lisa Heenan alongside artists, activists and sustainability leaders such as John Wiseman (Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute), Alex Kelly, Tom Dawkins (StartSomeGood) and Dr Angus Hervey (Future Crunch). The 5th Transitions Film Festival will run from Thursday February 18 - Thursday March 3 at Cinema Nova. Trilogy by Nic Green
Australia’s largest open mic comedy competition, RAW Comedy, is now back on weekly in the lead up to the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Past competitors have included some familiar faces such as Matt Okine, Ronny Chieng, Hannah Gadsby and Josh Thomas. Heats will be held in more than eight states and regional centres around the country to March, to determine who will battle it out for the title of RAW Comedy National Champion 2016. The national grand final will be held as part of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival next April. The winner will head to Edinburgh next August for the world’s largest fringe festival and a spot in the So You Think Your Funny? competition. To enter all you need is five minutes of original comedy material. Everything from stand up, sketch, double and triple acts and musical comedy are all welcome. Registration is open now. Head down to The Evelyn this Saturday February 6 MCs Dilruk Jayasinha and Karl Chandler.
Coming Up
Shadow Electric Outdoor Cinema Reveal 2016 Program Two Set inside the pristine surroundings of the Abbottsford Convent, the Shadow Electric has returned this summer with a gangbuster program certain to pique the interests of Melbourne’s music, arts and food cognoscenti. With their fifth film program handcrafted by the Human Rights & Arts Film Festival’s esteemed Lauren Valmadre, so far this summer we’ve seen an eclectic range of the world’s most groundbreaking contemporary releases, eyeopening music documentaries and, of course, your best friend’s favourite cult classic films. Some highlights of the part two program include The Revenant starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Quentin Tarantino’s latest masterwork The Hateful Eight, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler’s Sisters, the adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s novel The Price of Salt in Carol, plus classics Jaws, Blade Runner, Trainspotting and The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. With food offerings from the aforementioned Le Bon Ton alongside Longhorn and Chinghon, DJs and carefully curated events before and after all screenings, they’ve got you covered for all of your summer knock-offs and kick-ons. Head to shadowelectric.com.au for full details and tickets.
Flickerfest Returns To Melbourne Flickerfest is back for another incarnation. This year the program has been specially made for Melbourne to shine a spotlight on local filmmakers with the theme: South of the Border: Flickerfest in Melbourne. Some of the highlights are three films that recently won awards at the 2016 Flickerfest. These are Slingshot for Virgin Australia Award for Best Australian Short Film (Academy accredited) The Orchestra for Yoram Gross Award for Best Australian Short Animation and Woof! for Avid Award for Best Editing in An Australian Short Film. It’s happening at Kino Cinemas on Wednesday February 17.
Polyester Books In Fitzroy Is Closing Down Arts House Reveal 2016 Season One Program Arts House ensures our thriving creative industry goes from strength to strength, today announcing their 2016 season one program. As part of the larger scale Festival of Live Art program, Arts House will present more than 20 events taking place over 12 days at North Melbourne Town Hall and across the city. Read more about that above. Season one also comprises three performance works, including a large-scale participative work by UK artist Nic Green, a new work by the recently appointed Creative Director of the Melbourne Indigenous Arts Festival Jacob Boehme and a solo work by Berlin-based Australian artist Melanie Jame Walsh, as well as several co-presentations in the 2016 Next Wave Festival. Head to artshouse.com.au for more information and tickets. G E T S O M E C U LT U R E U P YA
In some sadder news, Polyester Books on Brunswick St is closing its doors for the final time. In a statement provided to Beat, the owners of the store said: “Our heart-felt thanks goes out to all the freaks, miscreants, perverts, psychonauts and truth-seekers for all your love and support over the last 30 years. In the words of Frank Zappa: ‘Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible’. As a final gesture, they’re clearing out all our stock (and everything else for that matter) at up to 50% discount for the month of February. Polyester Books is located at 330 Brunswick St, Fitzroy. BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 25
For more arts news, reviews and interviews visit beat.com.au
PAUSE FEST 2016
B R I N G I N G U N I Q U E E X P E R I E N C E S A N D S T I M U L AT I N G THE SENSES
Hey there. Who are we speaking with and what’s your role in coordinating Pause Fest and could you please tell us a little about it? My name is George Hedon and I’m the founder of Pause Fest. I wear many hats throughout the year, however I’m mostly responsible for the program curating and bringing it all together. Pause is Australia’s premier creative tech conference and the festival, with its mission to bring the world’s key influencers, acts as the innovation catalyst and positions Melbourne on the world map. Pause Fest is unique in that it provides a platform for creative, technological and business-oriented people to collaborate
and realise common goals. Why is there a lack of communication between these factions in the working world? Pause 2016 is split in three streams, because those represent three pillars of the startup – you need all three to run the business. All three also represent very different kinds of people and personalities yet they all need to work together. It’s fair to compare it to the left and right brain or in fact the irrational to rational. I wouldn’t say there is a lack of the communication within these factions of the business, I just think they can be improved as all of them need to be in perfect sync to run a successful business. In 2016, Pause is focusing on how our programming can improve your business
by providing engaging, inspiring and thought provoking content, hands-on upskilling, and specially engineered networking events. This year, your speakers include Adriana Gascoigne of Girls in Tech and Jillian Kenny of FYA. Can you tell us a little about these talented people? We couldn’t be happier to bring Adriana Gascoigne from Girls in Tech from San Francisco to open their Australian chapter in Melbourne. This is Pause giving back to the community of female entrepreneurs who are in the tech industry or wish to enter it. Girls in Tech will offer support and encourage women to reach their full potential and become successful. This is how we support gender equality, by
6.15pm SOUTH OF THE BORDER: Fl ckerfest 2016 Melbourne Shorts Screening & After Party Tickets: $25 / $20 FL ckerfest.com.au/tour Phone: 03 9650 2100
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providing a solution to the ecosystem and not just at the event. Adriana will be talking about the personal branding at the event and introducing GIT to all Melbournians. Jillian Kenny was named in 2014’s 100 Most Influential Australian Women, is the Founding Director of Machinam, and will appear in the panel with the Foundation of Young Australians alongside Jacob Lindsay and Mirai Kirsanovs talking about the future of work. The FYA panel is scheduled on the Business Day conference and it’s moderated by Andrew Brough, Director of Changemaking and Youth Enterprise, FYA. You guys have said that “Pause Fest stands for the content you can’t Google.” Can you elaborate on this point? Our audience is super smart so this is our way to say that Pause content is unique and of the highest quality that even Google can’t find it. We are very critical when picking the right speakers from the submissions and have strict guidelines of how we prefer content to be presented. We help our partners activate their brands
at the event as well. Having a logo on the media wall is just not good enough for us, our partners, and attendees. There needs to be bigger value than that. Pause is about bringing unique experiences and stimulating the senses. Three days is just enough time to soak it all in and form the new connections. As someone is in the know, what do you expect the world to look like in terms of technological advancement in 100 years? With the accelerating technological advancements we see at the moment and in the near future, predicting 100 years from now seems super scary to me. I think Bio-Tech will be so advanced that we’ll be experimenting and upgrading ourselves if not creating new living organisms and we’ll have advanced robots as pets. Travel to space and Mars will be like traveling to another continent. PAUSE FEST 2016 goes down from Monday February 8 – Sunday February 14. Check pausefest.com.au for more details.
W I T H T Y S O N W R AY - T Y S O N @ B E AT.C O M . AU
FRIDAYS $5 BEER, WINE & BASICS 2 FOR 1 COCKTAILS BOOK A TABLE OF 4 AND RECEIVE A COMPLIMENTARY BOTTLE OF WINE Casual dining, grazing and kids menu available. Open for all day breakfast & lunch 6 days a week. Serving you all your favourites. Group bookings & function enquiries welcome.
7 Station St, Malvern thegreengoose@iprimus.com.au Ph. 03 9576 0044
OUT OF THE CLOSET Queer happenings with Anna Whitelaw
Last Sunday’s Pride March was mired in drama when a group of queer and transgender anarchist protesters staged a sit-in on Fitzroy St to disrupt the start of the parade. The protestors claimed to be peacefully objecting to what they saw as the commercial appropriation of the event by major corporate sponsors like NAB and the police. While the protestors certainly have a point about the role of corporations in community festivals, especially LGBTIQ events where the events have their origins in protest movements, and it is good to draw attention to the morally questionable support of corporations and government for their support of things like asylum seeker detention policies while paying lip service to fashionable equal rights causes (like same sex marriage), many felt rightly that perhaps this occasion was not the time and place for such a statement to be made. Their tactics - including covering their faces - didn’t warm the rest of the LGBTIQ crowd to them. But the behaviour reported by some members of the crowd towards the activists - including spitting on them, hurling verbal abuse, shoving them and in some instances even throwing urine (which I can only imagine they brought with them pre-prepared for such an opportunity) was frankly disgusting. Perhaps we should be pleased there are still young radical queer kids willing to put their bodies on the
line to make a statement (even if you don’t entirely agree with their politics or their sentiment). In an era when everyone complains about the political apathy of Generation Z, with their faces glued to digital devices interested only in the Karadashians and their Instagram and Snapchat, that is something to be admired. What their moment of disruption overshadowed was two important announcements. Firstly, the Victorian Government led by Premier Daniel Andrews himself marching in Pride announced that the state government will formally apologize to Victorian gay men who previously were convicted of criminal offenses for homosexuality. Many older generations of gay men have already campaigned to have these past historical convictions for gay sex quashed and expunged from their records but for many men the damage was already done: In generations past gay men who suffered convictions under these laws have had to live with those marks on their criminal records for decades and it cost them jobs, made it impossible for them to travel and had a considerable impact on their lives. It is right and just that a formal apology should be made, and it illustrates how far we’ve come that this is going to happen. Secondly, the Victorian Government also announced that it will expand the current PrEP trial to include 2,600 more people in Victoria. While it won’t speed up
getting PrEP approved federally, it does allow thousands of people to legally access the HIV contraceptive. To register your interest in participating visit redcap. alfredhealth.org.au.
HAPPENINGS The final week of Midsumma still has some gems worth checking out. Gasworks is presenting Gone, a comedy about a gay man who wakes up on his 40th birthday to find his penis is gone. In 2015, Gone won the inaugural ‘Playtime New Theatre Initiative’, run by Midsumma Festival and Gasworks Arts Park, and appears exclusive at Gasworks for a very limited five show season until Saturday February 6. La Mama meanwhile is putting on the Ultimate Lesbian Double Feature, a double bill consisting of Love In The Time of Sexting and The Party. The first imagines what Virginia Woolf and Sappho might have texted their lovers had they been alive in the age of Tinder, the second is a take on a ‘50s instructional video. From playwright Zoe Brinnand and director
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Lucy Hotchin the play runs from Friday February 5 Sunday February 7. If you’re looking for a good perve and a celebrate of sporting prowess now that the Australian Open has drawn to a close, the National Waterpolo League’s 2016 Pride Cup is on this Friday February 5 at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre from 5.30pm. Tickets are $15 available. If you want a boat party, the annual his and hers night-time boat parties are back this weekend taking Midsumma to the high seas (or at least the murky waters of the Yarra River). Girls At Sea is an all-girl affair on Friday February 5 from 7.30pm and Bon BOYage is the men’s only affair. Tickets are $38 for either party and both are on the Victoria Star. On the final night of Midsumma on Sunday, if you’re not at Matinee (the GH’s official finale party), come down to Hares & Hyena’s Hare Hole for their free event We’ve Come A Long Way Baby, where prominent speakers and accidental activists will be reflecting on the last 16 years of the struggle for equal rights. Drinks are at bar prices. The event is hosted by Sexuality Commissioner Rowena Allen and kicks off from 6.30pm.
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snaps khokolat koated
club guide wednesday february 3 • COQ ROQ WEDNESDAY - FEAT: JENS BEAMIN + AGENT 86 + MR THOM + JOYBOT + BLABERUNNER Lucky Coq, Windsor. 8:30pm. • CURIOUS TALES - FEAT: DJ WHO + TIGERFUNK + TOM SHOWTIME + FLAGRANT Bimbo Deluxe, Fitzroy. 7:00pm. • REVOLVER WEDNESDAYS - FEAT: DANIELSAN + UMUT Revolver Upstairs, Prahran. 7:00pm. • SIMON TK + BIG RIG + MILLY DAVIDSON Ferdydurke, Melbourne Cbd. 7:00pm.
thursday february 4 • 3181 THURSDAYS - FEAT: HANS DC + DYLAN BATELIC + JAMES STEETH + MORE Revolver Upstairs, Prahran. 6:00pm. • DISCO VOLANTE - FEAT: FABRIS + TIM KOREN + SAMMY SWAYN + ALEX CRAM + JACK NELSON + PETER FOTOP + RYAN KEARY + MITCH BAIN + MANNY BUBOS + DAN BENTLEY + YASKI + RHYS BYNON + KHANH ONG + GEORGE KARA Onesixone, Prahran. 8:00pm. • LOCAL MOTION - FEAT: BILLUS MOON + NELSON + DAN FABRIS + SENPOLO Toff In Town, Melbourne Cbd. 11:00pm. • UPTOWN Trak Lounge Bar, Toorak. 10:00pm. • VARSITY - FEAT: PAZ + MATT RAD + PYZ Bimbo Deluxe, Fitzroy. 6:00pm. • WE ARE YOUR FRIENDS Carlton Club, Melbourne Cbd. 8:00pm.
friday february 5
faktory
• #MASHTAG - FEAT: NUGEN + MALPRACTICE + FLAGRANT Bimbo Deluxe, Fitzroy. 8:00pm. • B-TWO + HIJACK + KAHLUA Penny Black, Brunswick. 9:00pm. • CAN’T SAY La Di Da, Melbourne Cbd. 10:00pm. • CATZ N DOGZ + OLIVER KOLETZKI + NIKO SCHWIND + GERMAN BRIGANTE Brown Alley, Melbourne Cbd. 10:00pm. $35.00. • CIROQ FRIDAYS Cq, Melbourne Cbd. 8:00pm. • CLUK EPIK - FEAT: DJ DEAN The Croxton, Thornbury. 9:00pm. $5.00. • DJ KNAVE KNIXX Edinburgh Castle, Brunswick. 9:00pm. • DJ PAUL JOHNSON + ANYO + MIKE STEVA + MIKE GURRIERI + EDD FISHER Prince Bandroom, St Kilda. 9:00pm. $28.60. • FABULOUS FRIDAYS -
FEAT: VARIOUS DJS Co., Southbank. 9:30pm. $20.00. • FAKE TITS - FEAT: BOOGS + SPACEY SPACE + SUNSHINE + SAMMY LA MARCA + BUTTERS + ADAM BARTAS + JUNGLE JIM Tramp, Melbourne Cbd. 10:00pm. $15.00. • GOOD MANNERS - FEAT: BLACK VANILLA + DAZE + JENNIFER LOVELESS + SLIM VIBRATO + MORE Boney, Melbourne Cbd. 10:00pm. $10.00. • KEVIN HART OFFICIAL AFTER PARTY - FEAT: DJ MARK DA SPOT + THE ONE + DJ SEF + MORE Trak Lounge Bar, Toorak. 9:00pm. $65.00. • LUCK TRUCK FRIDAY DOWNSTAIRS - FEAT: 99 PRBLMZ + CONGO TARDIS #1 + LITTLE LEAGUE BOUNCE CLUB Lucky Coq, Windsor. 9:00pm. • OFF THE HEAZY - FEAT: LARRIE + TALI Laundry Bar, Fitzroy. 10:00pm. • PANORAMA FRIDAYS UPSTAIRS - FEAT: PHATO A MANO + MR.GEORGE + MATT RADD + ASH-LEE Lucky Coq, Windsor. 9:00pm. • PHIL GOOD FRIDAYS FEAT: PHIL K Railway Hotel, Brunswick. 6:00pm. • PIKACHUNES + SAATSUMA + AURA Workers Club, Fitzroy. 8:30pm. $12.00. • POPROCKS - FEAT: DR PHIL SMITH Toff In Town, Melbourne Cbd. 9:00pm. • REVOLVER FRIDAYS FEAT: MATRIXXMAN + HANNAH LOCKWOOD + MIKE CALLANDER + MORE Revolver Upstairs, Prahran. 10:00pm. $17.00. • SHAKE THE DUST - FEAT: MINDEX + BOGTROTTER + VINJA + HYPNOTECH + MORE 24 Moons, Northcote. 10:00pm. $35.00. • THE DISCO - FEAT: GREG SARA + LUKE MCD + JEN TUTTY + MORE Onesixone, Prahran. 8:00pm. • THE EMERSON CLUB FRIDAYS The Emerson, South Yarra. 3:00pm. • THE REAL 1984 - FEAT: MORGS + INKIMANN + MUGEN + MORE Railway Hotel, Brunswick. 8:00pm. $15.00.
saturday february 6 • ANDY PADULA Railway Hotel, Brunswick. 10:00pm. • ANYWAY - FEAT: VARIOUS ARTISTS Bottom End, Melbourne Cbd. 8:00pm. $25.00. • ARKAIK Grumpy’s Green, Fitzroy. 7:00pm. • AUDIOPORN SATURDAYS - FEAT: LE ZOK + JAMES WARE + GREG SARA + JACOB MALMO + TOM EVANS + ROWIE Onesixone,
Prahran. 9:00pm. $15.00. • CHAMPAGNE INTERNET Prince Public Bar, St Kilda . 10:30pm. • CQ SATURDAYS Cq, Melbourne Cbd. 8:00pm. • CUSHION SATURDAYS FEAT: COURTNEY MILLS + JESSE JAMES + J HEASY + MITCH COEN + BIG MAC + TOP DECK + MORE Cushion, St Kilda. 9:00pm. • DJ ERNIE DEE Edinburgh Castle, Brunswick. 9:00pm. • ELECTRIC DREAMS FEAT: VARIOUS DJS Co., Southbank. 9:00pm. $20.00. • HOT STEP - FEAT: 99 PROBLEMS + TIGER FUNK + SILVER FOX + ASKEW Bimbo Deluxe, Fitzroy. 6:00pm. • IN THE CARRIAGE - FEAT: DJ JNETT Toff In Town, Melbourne Cbd. 6:00pm. • JANK FACQUES Carlton Club, Melbourne Cbd. 12:05am. • LOST WEEKEND - FEAT: SECRET GUEST + LIFEWORLD + MERVE + CC:DISCO! + MORE Boney, Melbourne Cbd. 10:00pm. • NOT EVERYONE UNDERSTANDS - FEAT: AARON ARTHUR + DUNCAN ‘FUNK’ WYLIE Alia Arthouse, Fitzroy. 9:00pm. • PLATFORM ONE SATURDAY NIGHTS Platform One, Melbourne. 9:00pm. • PONY SATURDAYS La Di Da, Melbourne Cbd. 10:00pm. • SEVEN SATURDAY DISCOTHEQUE Seven Nightclub, South Melbourne. 10:00pm. $20.00. • TEXTILE SATURDAYS FEAT: KODIAK KID + D’FRO + JENS BEAMIN Lucky Coq, Windsor. 9:00pm. • THE EMERSON CLUB SATURDAYS - FEAT: FAMILIAR STRANGERS + KIN + ANDY MURPHY The Emerson, South Yarra. 9:00pm. • THE HOUSE DEFROST FEAT: ANDEE FROST Toff In Town, Melbourne Cbd. 11:00pm. • THE LATE SHOW - FEAT: REX + ELLE + RANSOM + MORE Revolver Upstairs, Prahran. 10:00pm. • TOMMY’S CLUB - FEAT: SCAT Matthew Flinders Hotel, Chadstone. 8:00pm. $10.00. • TRAMP SATURDAYS Tramp, Melbourne Cbd. 8:00pm. • ZAIN MITCHLAN + THE SERPENTINE + ZEBULAN + BABEL’S END Revolver Upstairs, Prahran. 7:30pm.
sunday february 7 • BEAUT CLUB - FEAT: NARCISSISTIC + LUKE AGIUS + CHIARA KICKDRUM + MORE Toff In Town, Melbourne Cbd.
9:00pm. $15.00. • BOP ART - FEAT: HAWAII + WHO + TIGERFUNK + MATT RADOVICH + LEWIS CANCUT Bimbo Deluxe, Fitzroy. 7:00pm. • DELTA HEAVY + MEEZY + SWITCHSTATE + COMMANDER RAY Grumpy’s Green, Fitzroy. 5:00pm. • DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE - FEAT: DJ NIGEL LAST Toff In Town, Melbourne Cbd. 8:00pm. • GOOD TIMES - FEAT: MATT RADOVICH Railway Hotel, Brunswick. 3:00pm. • HIDDEN JUMANJI - FEAT: FRAG MADDIN + JACQUES SCHOM + MORE Brown Alley, Melbourne Cbd. 10:00pm. $10.00. • JUNGLE - FEAT: HANDS DOWN + ZAC DEPETRO + PETE LASKIS + TRAVLOS + JOHN DOE Tramp, Melbourne Cbd. 6:00am. $15.00. • PIKNIC ELECTRONIK FEAT: DUBFIRE + KEVIN SAUNDERSON + THE HACKER + KODE 9 + MORE Federation Square, Melbourne Cbd. 1:00pm. $15.00. • REVOLVER SUNDAYS FEAT: BOOGS + SPACEY SPACE + T-REK + MORE Revolver Upstairs, Prahran. 7:00am. • ROOFTOP SUNDAYS - FEAT: KHANH + KEN WALKER + JESUS The Emerson, South Yarra. 12:00pm. • SPITROAST SUNDAYS Cushion, St Kilda. 10:00pm. • THE SUNDAY SET - FEAT: DJ ANDYBLACK + SHAGGIS Toff In Town, Melbourne Cbd. 4:00pm. • WAX ON WAX OFF Lucky Coq, Windsor. 7:00pm.
monday february 8 • CALL IT IN - FEAT: INSTANT PETERSON + DYLAN MICHAEL + ROBYN TREASURE Toff In Town, Melbourne Cbd. 8:00pm. • MONDAY STRUGGLE FEAT: TIGER FUNK Lucky Coq, Windsor. 6:00pm. • THE MONDAY BONE MACHINE - FEAT: STOCKHOLM SYNDROME DJS + T-REK Boney, Melbourne Cbd. 9:00pm.
tuesday february 9 • OASIS TUESDAYS Tramp, Melbourne Cbd. 8:00pm. • SEE YOU NEXT TUESDAY Bimbo Deluxe, Fitzroy. 7:00pm. • VOICES IN THE ATTIC 2 YEAR ANNIVERSARY - FEAT: DEBORAH EMMANUEL + NEEKO Ferdydurke, Melbourne Cbd. 7:00pm.
off the record with
tyson
wray
Donald Trump is really just the Kanye West of politics hey.
freedom town Crown Ruler and Wax’O Paradiso are returning with the next incarnation of Freedom Time with their biggest lineup yet. Parisian digger and DJ extraordinaire Jeremy Underground will make his Australian debut for the show after decades of tireless work through his now globally acclaimed My Love Is Underground parties and record label. He’ll be joined by disco don Sadar Bahar and Hugo Mendez who is celebrating 10 years of his UK based tropical record label Sofrito. It’s all going down on Saturday March 5 at the Coburg Velodrome.
sound of thought After over seven years of making party, Sound of Thought has outlaid its final outing with Canada got talent contestants, Hashman Deejay and PLO Man at The Gasometer on Saturday February 13. Though in the game for more than a minute, this finale will only be the eighth official outing for the Sound of Thought crew who have elected to focus on refinement over saturation. Each show has featured artists that had never ventured to our shores before, and are all so outstanding in their respective fields that to not mention one would be a grave injustice. In chronological order - Fred P., Levon Vincent, DJ Sprinkles, Lowtec, Amir Alexander, DJ Fett Burger, Mr.Ties and Dynamo Dresen - have all provided memorable experiences for the dancers in and around Melbourne town. With Hash and PLO at the helm for as long as they please, we expect nothing less than no holds barred antics for this special occasion. So be sure to get down to The Gasometer nice and early to get that full Sound of Thought experience one last time.
urban club guide wednesday february 3 • MELLOWDÍASTHUMP - FEAT: HUDSON JAMES JR + GEEZY + CAZEAUX O.S.L.O + SKOMES Boney, Melbourne Cbd. 9:00pm.
thursday february 4 • BEATS RHYMES LIFE - FEAT: ELFTRANZPORTER X MORGANICS + BASTIAN KILLJOY X SEEKA + MORE Grumpy’s Green, Fitzroy. 8:00pm. • HIP HOP KARAOKE (MID$UMMA EDITION) Boney, Melbourne Cbd. 9:00pm. $10.00. • HOUSE OF BEIGE - FEAT: MIZRIZK Railway Hotel, Brunswick. 6:00pm. • SHAMIR + GL + TOTAL GIOVANNI DJ Howler, Brunswick. 8:00pm. $46.20.
friday february 5 • BRIGHT LIGHTS BIG CITY - FEAT: DJ
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RCEE + KAHLUA + DJ SHOOK + DJ ANGEL JAY Chaise Lounge, Melbourne Cbd. 8:00pm. • FAKTORY FRIDAYS - FEAT: DAMION DE SILVA + K DEE + DURMY Khokolat Bar, Melbourne Cbd. 9:30pm. • FLOSSTRADAMUS + TROYBOI + BENSON 170 Russell, Melbourne Cbd. 8:00pm. $55.00. • PARTY & BULLSHIT - FEAT: SAVILIAN + RUKU + NEW MTN + SONIC VIBES + JADE ZOE Laundry Bar, Fitzroy. 9:00pm. • ROD PAINE & FULLTIME LOVERS Lomond Hotel, Brunswick East. 9:30pm. • THE IVY STONE ASSEMBLY Suttons House Of Music, Ballarat. 8:00pm.
• KERSER (U18) Prince Bandroom, St Kilda. 12:00pm. $34.70. • KHOKOLAT KOATED SATURDAYS FEAT: DAMION DE SILVA + K DEE + DURMY + TIMOS Khokolat Bar, Melbourne Cbd. 9:30pm. • RENELOPHUS + ESTRELA NOIR + MEELAF + THE CROOKS 303, Northcote. 7:00pm. • RHYTHM NATION SATURDAYS - FEAT: DJ TIMOS + DJ KAHLUA + DJ ANGE M & ANDY PALA Chaise Lounge, Melbourne Cbd. 9:00pm. $10.00.
saturday february 6
• GOLDLINK Howler, Brunswick. 8:30pm. $35.00. • THE INTERNET + JAALA Corner Hotel, Richmond. 8:00pm.
• BIG DANCING - FEAT: DANISH QUAPOOR + LARRIE + MIMI + CELERY HAM + MORE Laundry Bar, Fitzroy. 8:30pm. • KERSER Prince Bandroom, St Kilda. 7:00pm. $44.90.
electronic - urban - club life
tuesday february 9
route 94 Gaining momentum for his releases in 2012, Route 94 tracks were soon being played by tastemakers all over the world including Skream, Richy Ahmed and Seth Troxler, and his debut single My Love featuring Jess Glynne received over 127 million YouTube plays, regular plays on BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 1Xtra, and had Annie Mac add it to her 2013 mix compilation. Route 24 has also lent his remixing hand to the likes of Outkast, Katy B, P Money, Breach, Skream and recently MK, to pep up his track Always featuring Alana. Catch him on Friday February 19 at Brown Alley.
ASIAN DUB FOUNDATION B R E A K I N G
T H E
ECCA VANDAL
R U L E S
BY LIZA DEZFOULI
Chandrasonic, AKA Steve Chandra Savale, is the guitarist and leader of the seminal electronic group Asian Dub Foundation. With their intense focus on politics and social change, the London collective sing about issues such as racism, immigration and family violence, ideally positioned to play the closing set at this year’s Womadelaide festival. So, does Savale think of himself as an activist? “I’m more of an educationalist. I work with ideas,” he says. “I get ideas across to people who might not have otherwise think like that.” Given the globe-wide mourning during the last month, we have to ask Savale about the time David Bowie asked Asian Dub Foundation to perform at his Meltdown Festival in London in 2002. “He came to see us, two nights in a row in 1997,” says Savale. “We were his favourite community music band. He’d also asked us to work with him and tour with him but nothing came of it. The band on the whole were quite ambivalent about it at the time.” Sorry – what? “I know. The only two people in the world who don’t like Bowie were in the band; I don’t know anyone else who doesn’t like him.” Savale, on the other hand, became intensely engaged with Bowie’s music at a very young age. “He had a huge influence on me personally,” he says. “Before I was even 13 I was listening to him. I was the only one in the band who had a Bowie period in their life.” Contrary to the normal order of things, Asian Dub Foundation’s music seems to have influenced Bowie, rather than the other way round. “People said Bowie’s album Earthling was influenced by us,” says Savale. It makes sense – the 1997 release Earthling made a clear embrace of the electronica and drum and bass music prominent in the UK at the time. The music Asian Dub Foundation performed at the Bowie-curated Meltdown Festival was their live re-scoring to French filmmaker Mathieu Kassovitz’s cult classic, La Haine. The project was wildly successful for the band and they’re still performing the score, unchanged, 15 years on. Kassovitz was in the audience that night and was ecstatic with what he heard. He even made a point of meeting the band after the show. “He was jumping around in his seat,” says Savale. Interestingly, Asian Dub Foundation’s live re-scoring came about almost accidentally. “The La Haine project came from an off-the-cuff remark that became set in stone,” Savale says. “We’d
KALACOMA
been collaborating with an avant-garde classical composer and that wasn’t working. We were going to play for a festival at the Barbican – Only Connect, which was old films, new music – in 2001, where DJs played music to films. I had this insane idea of an insane experiment doing a live soundtrack to a film in front of an audience. What film would ADF do? La Haine. Such a significant and innovative film. And that was it. We had three weeks to create it and we pulled it off. No one had done anything like this before, not to a film like La Haine.” This bold experiment is indicative of Asian Dub Foundation’s divergence from predictable activities. “We break the rules. We’re the band that does things in reverse. Projects that we plan out are least likely to happen. Most of the things that have got us somewhere are unpredictable or unplanned.
Like the Bowie thing – he came to see us; we didn’t go to see him. And meeting Iggy Pop in Croatia – he just came up to me and said, ‘I’m Jim. Pleased to meet you.’ He was still with the Stooges then. He rang my house. I thought ‘What the fuck?’ I’m still gaga about that.”
N O ASIAN DUB FOUNDATION are playing at Womadelaide 2016, which runs from Friday March 11 – Monday March 14 in Botanic Park, Adelaide.
Q&A
Hey. Who are we speaking with and what’s your role in Kalacoma? I’m Alan, I play keys and operate a crazy mothership of buttons and knobs. It’s all very confusing. Your live performances are said to be incredibly innovative. Tell us about your onstage sonic manipulations. Basically our rig revolves around a setup of live looping a mixture of drums and electronic beats, which then runs through a bunch of effects, which we can mess with in real time on the fly. All this happens free of a backing track or a tempo set by a computer so everything you hear is built in real time and is incorporated into the composition of the track. This also makes it super fun to jam because we often create rhythms which are strange and unexpected, and every time we play things are a little bit different which keeps it interesting for us and the audience. Your sound almost seems contradictory to itself – it’s where experimental trip hop meets a vintage tone, where electronica meets acoustic. How does your unique sound complement your original performance style?
Our main aim is to marry contrasting elements into something that feels cohesive. Even though some of that stuff you mentioned sounds pretty disparate, the way that they work together is actually really great. Because our tastes are pretty eclectic too we like to take different palettes from different places and glue them together. In the words of Dave Chappelle playing Rick James on Chappelle’s Show: “Unity!” Can you name for us some of your greatest influences? Well I guess on a bigger scale, Radiohead and Portishead have always played a pretty influential role – yeah, on us and a million other bands. I could reel off a heap of different acts, but acts like James Blake, Battles and Grizzly Bear are pretty up there. We also listen to heaps of boom bap and beats stuff like Flying Lotus, Shlohmo, Lapalux, J Dilla, Madlib et al. They’ve got
such a sick tonal element that we love. Also local dudes like Hiatus Kaiyote, I’lls, Rat & Co and some of the cats on Good Manners and Solitaire are real awesome too. But hey, you could go on forever. What’s on the cards for Kalacoma in 2016? We’re kicking off 2016 with a residency every Wednesday in February at the Evelyn, which is pretty much our second home. We’re also putting some finishing touches on our latest EP, which we’re super excited to drop. We’ll definitely be playing things off that and trying some new material for these shows too. We might also be leaving our shores for a bit at some point. Catch KALACOMA every Wednesday in February at the Evelyn Hotel. W W W. B E AT.C O M . A U
T I M E
T O
WA S T E
B Y A L E X WAT T S
“Some people say there’s a toughness to the songs, and I’d say that’s cool. I’m glad that there’s a female representative of a tough voice. I do feel strong and I do feel tough and I feel comfortable in that sound.” These are the words of genre-defying Melbourne artist, Ecca Vandal. “I’m a jeans, t-shirt and sneakers kind of girl. I’m going to wear that, and it’s not necessarily because it relates to the music, it’s because it’s who I am.” Vandal has been challenging expectations since late-2014 when her debut single, White Flag, garnered immediate attention from triple j and beyond. Not only has she disregarded the expectation for female musicians to fit into various predefined stereotypes, but she produces music that does little to conform to any one genre. This is reflected in the diversity present on her debut EP, End of Time, which she surprised fans with last Friday. “It’s a reminder that whenever I get comfortable in a particular sound, that’s the time when I need to challenge myself to flip it,” she says. “I just like to keep it interesting, because when I’m inspired that’s probably when it’s better for everybody else. I’m influenced by those different sounds and don’t feel restricted. There are some heavier moments, there are some lush electronic moments, there are some hip hop moments and that is how it goes.” Vandal’s answers are eloquent and intelligent, demonstrating the same passion and clarity of purpose that underpins her entire career. She called in producer Kidnot to work on White Flag, and the pair have remained collaborators ever since, writing and performing everything on End of Time. “We actually played in a cover band together years and years ago,” says Vandal. “Then he was telling me that he wrote his own beats and played me some songs and I played him some of mine. “It’s a great blend of both of our backgrounds. He comes from punk hardcore and hip hop, so that’s kind of where it intersects; hip hop, soul and jazz. There was definitely the love of heavier music on both sides, and when it came together we pushed each other in different directions.” The attention given to that initial single meant Vandal was able to assemble a strong management, PR and booking team. However, she’s remained keenly hands on with the creative side of things. “I’m very particular about how I want the guitar sound to be, or a particular drum sound and that sort of stuff, so I’m pretty involved,” she says. “Same with editing, I’ve started getting in to try and edit my own videos. It just helps to have a bit of background knowledge. Even if you hand it to the pros, at the end of the day it’s just nice to know how it all works.”
Along with the more obvious references to skater punk subculture in her logos and EP artwork, elements of Vandal’s Sri Lankan background can be seen in the recent video for End of Time. “I think it’s had a huge influence, probably unknowingly up until now. Music is really strong in our culture and singing and dancing is a huge part of it. I learnt a bit of that when I was little. I’d go to watch those sorts of performances, but at the time I thought, ‘Wow this is so uncool.’ It was around me all the time and I must have been absorbing it somehow.” Born to Sri Lankan parents in South Africa, the family made the move to Melbourne when Ecca was four years old. She clearly identifies strongly with her family background. “I’m really proud of that culture and I love it. South Indian music itself is an amazing craft. I haven’t even scratched the surface of it, but I would love to dedicate some time to learn some proper South Indian vocals. They can be melodic and rhythmic as well, with all the ragas and chanting. The whole style of Carnatic music is very intricate and you really need to dedicate years to even master a tiny bit of it. I’d feel a bit like a hack doing it because I haven’t dedicated enough time, but I really want to explore more and I would love to integrate that into my music – at some point.” Last year Vandal and Kidnot recruited a drummer and guitarist in order to convey the dynamic energy of their tracks live. Since then the band have been turning heads, touring the country supporting the likes of Gang of Youths and The Prodigy, as well hitting up major festivals such as Splendour in the Grass. In February and March, Vandal and company will undertake their first national headline tour, giving fans a chance to hear the new EP live. “I’m really excited about that. It’s going to be a busy year with some new music coming out, so stay tuned.” ECCA VANDAL’s End Of Time EP is out now via Dew Process/Universal Music Australia. Catch her at Tasmania’s killer festival, Party in the Paddock, on Friday February 19, and Howler on Saturday February 27. BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 29
NATALIE PRASS F I N D I N G
T U L I P S
BY NICK MASON
Take a moment to collect your memories of first grade. It’s probably all Clag glue, Paddle Pop sticks and pipe cleaners, right? In the case of American singer/songwriter Natalie Prass, she was already scribbling down ideas and turning them into tunes. These days, Prass is a world-renowned recording artist, and she reflects fondly on her fledgling years as a songwriter. “Some of it’s really cute. The first song that I wrote, it’s about the last tulip on Earth and finding it,” she says. “I’m a pretty emotional person and I’ve always been a really imaginative, in-my-head kind of kid, and just thinking about stuff like that all the time. “I wrote about getting trapped inside a fish and I had to fend for myself inside a fish [laughs]. I was writing whatever, it was really fun for me. I used to do neighbourhood performances. I would perform all my songs on my neighbours’ front porch because they had a better front porch than we did.” A breakout star of 2015, Prass has gone from the porch next door to playing some of the finest venues in the world – a surreal transition by anyone’s measure. “If I think about it too much, I get freaked out,” she says. “It’s like, ‘Oh yeah. Of course I’m going to Australia. Yeah of course. Duh.’ I’ve been wanting to go to Australia forever. When I was in college in Boston I had a piggy bank that was an Australia fund. I would buy books on Australia because I was so miserable and cold.” Prass even convinced a close friend to make the infamously long trip. “I said, ‘We can go to school in Australia. Fuck Boston, let’s go to Australia.’ She actually went. I went to school in Tennessee and she actually did it. She’s still there and she’s going to open for me in Sydney. I’m just over the moon. Like, finally, I’m going.” Prass’ odyssey truly began when she found herself living in Nashville, eager to break into the music industry. “I was just trying everything out. I was like, ‘I want to be a musician, I want to be a songwriter, so I’m just going to do everything that I can until I can figure something out or something sticks. I really want to figure out where I fit into that world’,” she says. “I was naive and so eager, so hungry to do it. So I wrote a lot for other people and I wrote for commercials and stuff and just anything that I could. “I quickly learned if I’m doing that too much, where it’s not personal and doesn’t really mean anything to me, it doesn’t feel good to me. I feel kind of dirty or something, writing this music, because it doesn’t feel genuine. I just found out pretty quickly I didn’t like it. So I was like, ‘OK I really want to write my own music, from me. I want to make it work.’ Because that’s when I’m the happiest: that’s when it feels right, when I feel good.”
And so Prass began to pitch her vision for her debut album. She quickly learned, however, that she was going against the grain. “[I was] going around to producers, like, ‘I want to make a Dionne Warwick record,’ and this is when electronic music was just starting to get really cool. It was like, ‘No – when you record a record it’s just you, or you and one other person.’ I had done that kind of thing too and I couldn’t get the sounds that I wanted. I knew I wanted a lot of players. I knew I wanted this kind of throwback but still modern sound, and everybody in Nashville was just like, ‘Are you crazy? Hell to the no. You want to make a Dionne-who record? What are you talking about?’” Eventually Prass found herself reunited with an old ally, which helped to get the ball rolling. “A mutual friend hooked me and Matthew E. White back together again. He didn’t write me back right away. It really took until he saw me play live and he was like, ‘We really need to make this record work.’ I shared the same musical values. We were raised on the same music, which was pretty cool. We write from the same place and listen to the same kind of stuff. It was just really easy. “I sent him a ton of stuff and he was the one
that put the songs together. He produced it. He needed to pick songs that he thought he could do his best on as well and that he connected with. I had an idea of what I wanted, and Matt just took it to places I would never have imagined with his arrangements.” Ultimately, Prass’ self-titled debut album took the form of a breakup record. “I write about my stupid love life all the time. It’s not all I write about, but I write about it a lot. It just so happened those were all the songs [White] picked.” Prass is set to tour Australia throughout February and March, and has already spent plenty of time on the road preparing for her next project. “I’m writing a lot for the next record now, that’s my main focus.” What of her songs of tulips and fish – material for an experimental third LP, perhaps? “Maybe,” she laughs. NATALIE PRASS is playing at the Melbourne Recital Centre on Monday February 29, as well as the Golden Plains festival, from Saturday March 12 – Monday March 14, in Meredith, VIC. Natalie Prass is available now via Caroline Australia / Spacebomb Records.
Q&A
INDIGENOUS HIP HOP PROJECTS Nominated for multiple National Indigenous Music Awards, the Indigenous Hip Hop Projects are creating a stir nationwide. With highly engaging, energetic dance projects of hip hop to modern dance, the IHHP are growing significantly bigger and better each year. 1. Inspirations IHHP is centred on the belief that everyone can learn and teach each other. Having worked extensively with remote, regional and urban Indigenous communities across Australia, IHHP are working to close the gap and address the disadvantage faced by Indigenous young people. 2. Your Vision Founded by Dion Brownfield and Michael Farah, as a group IHHP promote specific community messages through dance, music, media and art. IHHP has employed over 45 professional BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 30
artists from culturally diverse backgrounds and is continuing to grow. 3. The Environment You Create The music and dance workshops held by IHHP are about promoting positive mental, physical and sexual health. Through hip hop music and dance, IHHP are encouraging younger people in remote, regional and urban Indigenous communities to talk about health, education and wellbeing. As a young artistic group who deliver 55 week-long projects and perform at over 30 festivals annually, the IHHP are giving young Indigenous people and their communities a voice, empowering them to
find their own solutions. 4. Music, Right Here, Right Now As music evolves constantly, it’s important IHHP maintain authenticity when communicating to local communities, all the while creating engaging and informative content through music and dance. INDIGENOUS HIP HOP PROJECTS are performing as part of Yalukit Wilum Ngargee at St Kilda Festival on Saturday February 6 at O’Donnell Gardens, St Kilda.
JADE ALICE K I C K I N G
O F F
S T R O N G
BY TEX MILLER
In late 2015, Jade Alice was on top of the world. Taking influence from acoustic troubadours such as Joni Mitchell and melding it with an electro pop aesthetic, Alice was crowned the winner of Bank of Melbourne’s Melbourne Music Bank competition. Looking back at the past couple of months, Alice feels like she’s been living in a bubble. “From winning the comp, we went straight into Sing Sing Studios and then shot the music video,” she says. “There have been some pretty amazing opportunities happening and it’s all been one after the other really. It’s like this amazing energy that hasn’t stopped since the beginning. “The press release was published and I’ve been getting international attention. The bubble that I am in at the moment is expanding quite rapidly, but it’s great to be along for the ride at the same time.” Although her career’s still fledgling, Alice’s music is already quite awe-inspiring. Her latest single Luminosity is a slice of uplifting and energetic electronic folk pop that’ll warm you heart in no time; while Kick Drum, the song that helped Alice take out the Music Bank competition, is indie pop at it’s best – it even features a sneaky bit of vocoder. Like many other classic tunes, Kick Drum was inspired by a dream. “I woke up and I had this instant idea for a melody,” she says. “The song is really about this feeling of happiness, and just this effervescent feeling, and I hope to reach out to other people with my music when they hear it. It’s got a good upbeat tempo and it was a really natural song to write.” Around the same time as the Melbourne Music Bank competition, Alice’s father encouraged her to enter an American songwriting competition, which he actually won himself a few years ago. Fast forward to now and Alice has three songs sitting in the top five in the pop category. It’s an impressive feat for an artist of any level, and suggests Alice is in for a stellar 2016. “It’s pretty nice to have my songs recognised by such a competition. I’m unaware of what the prizes are just yet. However, to get three songs in the top five with a couple of weeks to go, [it] feels that things are moving in the right direction.” As part of the Melbourne Music Bank, Alice found herself onstage at the Arts Centre’s State Theatre. It’s the biggest audience Alice has played for to date, trumping the crowd at the Victorian Schools Spectacular at Hisense Arena.
IF YOU ARE READING THIS YOU ARE TOO CLOSE
“It was quite daunting to be completely honest with you. The Arts Centre has such a great history to it and to be up there on the stage singing my own original music was a surreal experience I will never forget. I would highly recommend entering the competition to anyone wanting to take the next step with their career.” In the wake of the competition win, Alice created a video clip for Kick Drum, which can be viewed on YouTube right now. There’s plenty more on the cards this year, with Alice confirming that an EP isn’t too far off. Before any official release, however, she’ll launch her new single at Shebeen in mid-February – something she’s really looking forward to. “A lot of big name triple j bands have played there over the years, so to be able to get up there on that stage and play with a full band will be great. There is a fair few things on the calendar this year, so come down and boogie with us.” JADE ALICE is playing at Shebeen Bandroom on Thursday February 18.
ROYAL HEADACHE B E L O N G
I N
T H E
G A R B A G E
BY AUGUSTUS WELBY
Royal Headache fans had to be exceedingly patient when waiting for the band’s second album. The Sydney foursome released their self-titled debut in early 2011, and in spite of zero adjoining promotional activity it became cherished around the world. But a couple of years down the track – and with no follow-up to speak of – the band’s volatile frontman, Shogun, all but confirmed Royal Headache had broken up. However, destiny was unimpressed and eventually brought the band back together to complete their second album, High. Released last August, High features ten brand new tracks from one of Australia’s canniest rock bands. Ahead of their appearance on this month’s Laneway tour, Beat speaks to bassist Joe Sukit about the rocky road that led to album number two.
Considering Royal Headache came out at the beginning of 2011, the construction of High was rather drawn out. In an interview with The BRAG in mid-2014, Shogun revealed that the instrumental tracks for album two were recorded as far back as 2013. These original sessions survived onto the album. “About the end of 2012 we forced ourselves to go in and record a new record and tracked everything, tracked about 16 songs or something, and finished with it,” Sukit says. “I think we were all a bit exhausted by the year and we listened back to it and we all thought it was a bit shit. So we lost motivation to work on it and maybe just lost motivation for the band a little bit. Then we had that break and went back and listened to it and were, ‘Oh, it’s not that bad.’ So Shogun finished off his vocals and then we mixed it and that’s what it is.” Royal Headache are continually referred to as a garage rock band, and while it’s not an unfounded description, the performances and production on High don’t sound scrappy or rushed. “I don’t think we’re a garage band either,” Sukit says. “We just try to do whatever feels right and most of the time it seems to work out. “There was about two years where we just didn’t think about [High]. It’s easy for us to spend way too much time not thinking about a record after we record it. We do this thing where we rush through and record everything in a day or in two days and then just sit there and don’t really work on it until about a year later. I think we’re too embarrassed by our own band. We always think that we sound weird.” By the time they started working on High, the self-titled album had gained stacks of positive feedback, setting them up for major Australia tours and infiltrating other parts of the globe. However, this wasn’t enough to dispel the band members’ default insecurities. “It was just a weird time,” Sukit says. “We just finished doing all these entertainment centre gigs with The Black Keys where we had about 20 000 people telling us that we sucked, then you go into a studio… We were doing all these things that we wanted to do, but then also were like, ‘Well, why are we doing this stuff ?’ It takes its toll. At the best of times we’re not very confident. Basically it only takes one person to tell us that we’re shit and we’ll listen to them over a million people telling us that we’re good. We’re a bit weird like that. “Just overall it was a weird time and we were probably exhausted and needed to take a break from the band. It worked out for the best really because we’ve come back and we’re writing new stuff and it’s like the pressure’s gone. It’s like, ‘Who gives a fuck?’” Like its predecessor, the songwriting on High is pretty simple – technically and structurally there’s nothing overwrought or elaborate. But in this simplicity lies the magic of Royal Headache. The songs have a dynamic emotional character and inbuilt depth that makes them repeatedly rewarding. “The songwriting, that’s kind of the main thing we do as a band – just spend a bit of time and try different things. That’s what we did with all those songs. There’s stuff on there like Wouldn’t You Know where we basically just did a quiet lounge song, which we’d never really done before. It’s cool to try and do that different stuff.” The more time that passed between albums, the greater the anticipation became for the second Royal Headache album – at least among fans, many of whom are madly attached to the band. But despite the prolonged gap, removing themselves from public view was crucial for putting the band back on track. “The best part about when we stopped playing – and Shogun’s out there saying that we’d broken up or whatever – was the fact that it took all the pressure off. It was like, ‘Nobody expects us to be a band anymore so we can just do whatever.’ We started playing again for maybe about a year before the record came out, but just in our rehearsal studio just doing whatever ourselves. It was good. It was like starting again and just writing music for the fun of it. There was no pressure on anything really. It was like the start of the band again.” ROYAL HEADACHE will join Battles, Vince Staples, Goldlink, Silicon and heaps more at St. Jerome’s Laneway Festival, which comes to Footscray Community Arts Centre on Saturday February 13. They’re also playing at Golden Plains X, which runs from Saturday March 12 – Monday March 14, in Meredith, VIC. High is out now via Distant and Vague Recordings. W W W. B E AT.C O M . A U
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ALPINE T H E
S K Y ’ S
T H E
L I M I T
BY MICHAEL EDNEY
HITCHCOCK & HERRMANN G O I N G
B A C K
T O
T H E
S O U R C E
BY LIZA DEZFOULI
Think of any legendary film – Citizen Kane, for example, or Cape Fear or Taxi Driver –and chances are the film’s music was created, as with these three, by the phenomenal composer Bernard Herrmann. However, Herrmann, who died in 1975, is most famous for his long-term collaboration with Alfred Hitchcock. He scored the British director’s biggest movies, including The Trouble with Harry, Marnie, The Wrong Man, Vertigo, North by Northwest, The Man Who Knew Too Much and Psycho. Associate Director of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Ben Northey, is about to conduct a unique concert: Hitchcock & Herrmann – a live performance of six of Herrmann’s scores with segments from Hitchcock’s films projected on a large screen. “The scores make the films,” says Northey. Northey will be responsible for making sure the MSO keeps time with the film clips. Not an easy task, as you can imagine. “That’s one of the hardest things,” Northey says. “There’s so much synchronisation involved. It’s very difficult to cut to video and it’s so obvious if you get it wrong. I watch the screen very carefully while I’m conducting.” Scoring movies is actually an incredibly difficult thing for a composer to do, says Northey. “You have to make sure the music builds at the right time, subsides at the right time. It’s a real art form in itself. For some people in Hollywood, it’s all they do, all day long. Herrmann is credited with saying that ‘People listen to music in a movie with one ear.’ You subconsciously process information from the music. Music manipulates the feelings of the audience, gives them an insight into what might be coming up. Think of the great film scores then imagine replacing them with something else – it would be a completely different experience. Music can reveal things about a character’s psychology; it’s an extra language in a film. Herrmann’s music is unique in that respect. You can learn things about the character through the music, underneath what’s happening on the screen with action or dialogue.” There’s no mistaking the seductive saxophone theme from Taxi Driver, Psycho’s distinctive musical screams, or the twirling insanity of the Vertigo score (the inspiration for Lady Gaga’s Born this Way, apparently). The impact of Herrmann’s music on the cinematic history is immeasurable. “I’ve come to realise how incredible he was,” Northey continues. “His output was huge, he scored about 50 movies, and he also composed for TV shows, wrote for opera and composed symphonic music. It wasn’t all film scores. His music is so individual; he created new styles of music for film. The shower scene in Psycho – Hitchcock originally didn’t want any music in that scene and that became the most famous music Herrmann ever wrote. It’s downright scary. It’s incredible that he can make moments so powerful, so terrifying. He was the first to use electronic music in film and the first composer to use a theremin, to create that weird spooky sound in Psycho which is now the go-to sound for sci-fi films. He used only strings to describe action in that score, he pioneered that sound of slow shrieks. “These days the music for film can so often BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 32
sound generic – certain sounds for the car chase/romantic moment/heroic moment. Herrmann stands out as an original composer. His film music influenced everything that came after him. You can’t talk about late 20th century film without referring to him. He was also unique in that he did all his own orchestration, he didn’t let anyone else touch his music, which is unusual now as most composers have such a small amount of time in which to score a film that they write the theme and farm it to someone else to do the arrangements and orchestration. Herrmann said that would be like doing a painting and getting someone else to colour it.” Northey compares Herrmann to great classical composers such as Tchaikovsky and Prokofiev (who wrote the ballet Romeo and Juliet). “Herrmann’s harmonies are angular, his compositions have unexpected intervals, there’s something unresolved that leaves you uneasy when you listen to it, it leaves you hanging. A perfect marriage, Herrmann and Hitchcock, they were made for each other.” Herrmann’s music is also singular in its use of instruments. “He used some strange, interesting and wonderful percussion instruments and crazy, very rare combinations of instruments. For example, in Vertigo there is the sound of 12 harps. In a studio anything goes but you can’t always recreate that with a live orchestra. That score also calls for six flutes. We have four, including two alto flutes.” You don’t need to be familiar with Hitchcock’s films to enjoy the concert. “Herrmann’s music is very strong in its own right. It’s simply really first-rate music. There are many standalone moments of story without visuals. Great pieces of music do tell a story and these scores stand the test of time. This isn’t easy music; it doesn’t play itself. It’s a challenge for the listener and the players. And for those who know the scores, you’ll never hear it better than this. The recording on film, on video or DVD doesn’t offer quality. The live concert is a 3D experience, the music surrounds you. Hitchcock & Herrmann is a unique chance to hear a high quality version of the music in a live performance. We are putting the spotlight on one of the twentieth century’s greatest composers.” MSO presents HITCHCOCK & HERRMANN on Friday February 5 and Saturday February 6 at Hamer Hall.
The sky’s the limit for Melbourne pop sextet Alpine. After exploding onto the scene with their 2012 debut A Is For Alpine, the group picked up where they left off on sophomore release, Yuck. Released mid-2015, Yuck is a poignant and shamelessly romantic pop album, spearheaded by the catchy chorus lines of the group’s dual vocalists. In the midst of the summer festival season, Beat managed to squeeze in a chat with one half of the dynamic vocal duo, Phoebe Baker, ahead of Alpine’s first headline show of 2016 at Shadow Electric, Estonian House. Eight months after the release of Yuck, Baker reflects fondly on the album. “The response was lovely,” she says. “Last year seemed to go very fast and we were busy in a lot of weird ways. You really just don’t know what’s going to happen. It kind of felt like a slow, steady burner this one. It wasn’t like a crazy response. It was nice and consistent. Maybe that’s a weird way of describing it, but that is what it felt like. And it still feels like that. I think that with the first album the response felt quite crazy, because we were new and it was quite a shock. With the second album, we were a bit more established, people knew who we were.” There was a lot of hype surrounding the release of Yuck, with the expectations mounting after Alpine’s stellar debut. Although Baker acknowledges the perceived pressures of writing a second album, they didn’t overwhelm her. “I tried to totally ignore it,” she says. “For me, it’s been about writing music that we enjoy writing. The whole process of that is where the joy is. There definitely was that feeling of, ‘If we write a good album, then we will be able to tour and we can continue this momentum.’ “So there was definitely that playing on
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our minds. But no, I don’t think I felt the pressure. If you feel the pressure, it affects your writing and I didn’t want that to happen.” Like many Australian bands, Alpine were given their first breakthrough into the scene thanks to the juggernaut that is triple j. And with the Hottest 100 just passing, it’s only fitting for Baker to show her appreciation for the national broadcaster. “Triple j is like this massive, powerful hand in getting bands exposed,” she says. “I don’t know what we would be doing if triple j hadn’t played us when we first put our music up
S P L A S H
BY TEGAN REEVES
Porches, not to be confused with Sydney electro outfit Porsches, is the name of the melancholic synth-driven project from Aaron Maine. The New Yorker has been releasing music under this moniker for the past five years, and his latest album Pool has been eagerly anticipated by music critics and fans across the globe. “I recorded demos for a year and a half and then I started over, so I think it took about seven months after that to mix it and finish it,” Maine says. “I worked on Pool basically every day for those seven months. I get pretty immersed in the whole recording process. I recorded 90 per cent of it in my apartment in New York, and I did some of the live tracks – the drums and vocals – at a friend’s studio.” Porches isn’t the only moniker under which Maine works. Under the alias Ronald Paris he releases a style of music that is much more experimental than Porches, relishing the freedom that another pseudonym can provide. “I think it feels good to work on different projects using a name as a clean slate,” says Maine. “When I want something to be set aside from everything else, it helps me to do it under a different name. I called the project Porches five years ago and I don’t remember why. I don’t think there was ever any significance in it, I just liked how it sounded and looked at the time.” Maine’s musical inspirations aren’t exactly what you’d expect – they differ greatly to the sounds he produces as Porches. “I grew up listening to a lot of The Beatles,” he says. “My mum would listen to Annie Lennox, Steely Dan and a lot of classical music. In my teens I listened to a heap of The Strokes. These artists definitely influenced the direction of my own music, probably more B E AT.C O M . A U
melodically than anything else. I guess we all subconsciously regurgitate these things in a way.” Only three weeks ago, Pitchfork named Porches’ Be Apart as a Best New Track – a feat that would excite even the most accomplished of artists. The song, which was mixed by Chris Coady in LA, has
on Unearthed. I think they played us within a day of us putting our songs up. It was just a phenomenal response, and that’s how we got our record label, our publishing deals and our management. Triple j is incredible, but radio stations in general are wonderful forces of nature [laughs].” Alpine have spent the majority of the last eight months on the road spruiking the new album. A heavy touring schedule can be quite demanding for most bands, but Alpine have entered the summer festival season with a spring in their step. “It’s usually not too bad, because you’re playing on the weekends and then you have the week off,” says Baker. “It’s not too intense, and it has been great. I never want it to end; the summer festival season is just so fun. I just want to keep doing it forever, until I’m old and wrinkled.” As for whether she prefers a festival stage to a headlining set, Baker says the latter is more testing as a band. “I actually sometimes feel more nervous for them, because at your own show there are people coming just to see you, whereas at a festival they might have just rocked up and caught your set. I think there is more pressure to put on a good show, which is good. I love it either way. It’s always an exploration of space, and when you’re performing on stage you’re always making things up as you go. You kind of react to the space that you’re performing in.” ALPINE are playing at the Shadow Electric, Estonian House on Friday February 19. Yuck is out now through Ivy League.
been described as one of the more upbeat creations from Maine, who tends to dwell in a more sombre environment. “I do tend to pay attention to reviews, for better or for worse. I was so excited when I read that Pitchfork article. I’m a bit discerning when I read reviews, but with something like that I have a hard time not reading it, and because it was under the title Best New Track, I figured they would more than likely have something nice to say.” Be Apart is the latest song to be released from the upcoming album, and is accompanied by a cleverly constructed film clip from director Daniel Brereton. The video pans around a mansion, providing snapshots into the lives of its residents and making even the most everyday actions like vacuum cleaning look eloquent and artistic. Another notable collaboration is that between Maine and his girlfriend Frankie Cosmos (AKA Greta Simone Kline), whose vocals feature heavily on the latest Porches release. “Frankie Cosmos was in the band while I was making the album, and she’s probably featured more than any other guest. It’s nice that Frankie and I have that two-way collaboration. We live together and are constantly bouncing ideas off each other; the constructive criticism between us is such a good thing. A lot of the time we are so busy, and that can be really stressful, especially when both of us are dealing with the more stressful parts of a career in music, but it’s also really great support.” PORCHES will release Pool on Friday February 5 through Domino/EMI.
DIIV
F I N A L LY
F E E L I N G
L I K E
H I M S E L F
BY AUGUSTUS WELBY
After a somewhat messy three-and-a-half year interval, DIIV will finally release their second album Is The Is Are in early February. There’s been a lot of activity in the DIIV camp since their debut album Oshin came out, including scrapped recording sessions with Girls’ Chet ‘JR’ White, hundreds of songs getting written, and rampant drug abuse that culminated in bandleader Zachary Cole Smith’s arrest for heroin possession. However, despite all of the false starts and disappointments, listeners haven’t given up on DIIV. The response to the band’s recent singles, Dopamine, Bent (Roi’s Song) and Under The Sun, has been strikingly positive. Labouring over Is The Is Are for such a long time, and enduring volleys of press scrutiny, it’d be all for nothing if there wasn’t something powerful and worthwhile to express. “At first it wasn’t really the amount of time that had gone between records that really told me, ‘This has to be an important record.’ It was more just circumstances in my life,” says Smith. “I didn’t want for the rest of my life to be a footnote of, ‘Oh this is the guy who was arrested for drug possession with Sky Ferreira.’ I didn’t want to be a small little blip, one record, and then an arrest. It was so important for me to bring value back to my name.” From an external point of view, DIIV ascended to international regard with paramount ease. Having previously played drums in Beach Fossils, Smith’s bedroom demos caught the ear of that band’s label, Captured Tracks. DIIV soon signed to the label, and before long indie tastemakers Pitchfork were praising those very same demos. From there the hype swelled across borders, growing especially vocal upon the release of Oshin in mid-2012. However, Smith was determined to prevent the buzzband status from impinging upon the nature of DIIV’s second album. “Those types of bands so often are just like one blip and then they’re gone,” he says. “The number of bands that have a buzzy first record with an even better second record… very, very few bands accomplish that feat. And I knew that people were expecting us to fizzle out like all the rest. So I really wanted to prove people wrong – it was really important for me to follow up Oshin with something that wasn’t just Oshin part two. No matter how easy that would’ve been and how tempting it was, ultimately it wouldn’t have contributed anything to the world and it wouldn’t have done much to prove to people that I’m more than a flash in the pan artist.” Given Smith’s tumultuous few years, it’s no surprise that vulnerability is a big theme of the new record. It’s there in plain sight on the lead single Dopamine, which contains such lines as “Burning out, running in place / Got so high I finally felt like myself.” And it’s not merely a feature of the album’s lyrics. “If I’m speaking of my own vulnerability I think it is super important to make a record that itself is also extremely vulnerable,” Smith says. “The record came together as a double record and I conceived it as one from the beginning. When you make a double record you’re setting yourself up for failure, in a lot of ways, and that was kind of what I wanted to work with. “There’s nothing more easy to criticise than a double record. If you put one extra note on the record people are going to tear you apart for the rest of your life. So to make a record that was vulnerable – that was about failure and vulnerability and about being human yourself – I thought it was really important to make the record feel almost human. From the album art to the title to everything, I wanted it all to be easy to criticise. But another word for easy to criticise is ‘vulnerable’.” Although the album title might seem like an obtuse quasi-sentence, it’s a highly evocative phrase. On the one hand, Is The Is Are could be interpreted as a trivial inquiry or a nonsensical tongue twister, but it’s also grammatically ambiguous and logically jarring. “I wanted it to be slightly disorienting,” says Smith. “The title came before the album was totally 100 per cent written in stone, so in some ways the title inspired some elements of the record.” This active attempt to disorient listeners is indicative of Smith’s lack of concern for maintaining DIIV’s ‘hip’ reputation. “When bands try to be too cool all the time then it just messes up the whole thing. You’ve got to just take an identity and go with it. A lot of bands struggle to find a sound that is uniquely theirs and they struggle to find an identity. The identity I wanted for the band was just myself and being honest with myself and speaking honestly and openly to the press, which is hard to do but also it’s not much work because it’s just myself. Then in terms of sound, it was really important for me with this record for anybody to be able to pick up the record, put on any song and be like, ‘Alright, that’s DIIV. It has a recognisable sound,’ which I feel like it does have.”
DIIV are playing at the Corner Hotel on Thursday February 11. They’re also taking part in the Laneway tour, which comes to Footscray Community Arts Centre on Saturday February 13. Is The Is Are is out on Friday February 5 via Captured Tracks / Remote Control Records.
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BALLARAT BEAT ROCKABILLY FESTIVAL
V I N TA G E
C E L E B R AT I O N
BY LIZA DEZFOULI
Ballarat Beat event manager Beth Lamont is about to be right in the centre of four days of everything rockabilly. Along with the mighty music, the Ballarat Beat Rockabilly Festival includes a Valentine’s Day prom, a poodle parade, classic vintage cars, and an untold number of fabulous frocks, quiffs and dancing shoes. Curiously, Lambeth isn’t actually a lifetime rockabilly supporter. “It’s quite new to me,” she says. “This is good for the festival, because I come in without any pre-existing ideas of how things should be. I just walked into it, I came on to it quite late. I’ve been on the job since October, but people have been working on it since before then. There’s a team behind it. For me it was a matter of being in the right place at the right time.” This year’s event is the fifth Ballarat Beat Rockabilly Festival and will be taking place from Thursday February 11 – Sunday February 14. The program of events includes wonders such as Flukes Hot Rod Club vintage car show, some international bands and sturdy rock’n’roll bands from every Australian state, along with a burlesque show, fashion shows, tiki parties and DJ hop sessions, plus a street party over the weekend. It’s an exhausting roster. So how did Lamont put it all together? “I just listened to the experts,” she says. “There’s so much interest and support out there from people for things like the car parade and the fashion shows, and of course we talked to the musicians. Rockabilly is a big subculture in Australia and we have our own version of rockabilly. We have a lot of local bands. There are a lot of bands from Melbourne. And they all want to come. People are quite choosy. So we’ve made sure we’ve got one band from each state in the program.” How did they choose the bands? “We go with word of mouth, with people we know and favourites from our previous festivals. And you hear from their fans. We have a couple of international acts, the Kingcats and CC Jerome.” It seems there’s a huge love for the festival from locals and visitors alike. “Absolutely,” says Lamont, who also runs a local comedy club in Ballarat. “The first rockabilly festival was more like a casual get-together and now this is the fifth event. People are so into it, so into the fashion, they’re really involved and it sets the tone, along with the cars – it looks amazing. The whole thing’s incredible on the eye. And there’s that style of dancing. There’s so much going on in this regard, it’s hard to sum it all up quickly. The poodle parade is really popular. We had an Elvis poodle last year, it went down a treat. It was a big success. And so is the 1950s Valentine’s Day Prom.” While there are a lot of visiting acts from Melbourne and interstate, the burlesque girls are locals. “It’s a great atmosphere. I’m looking forward to seeing everyone on the street at the street party. There are market stalls, free live music and people dancing. A lot of the events are free, which is a real bonus. For the ticketed events you can get festival passes and wrist bands.” BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 34
Lamont’s put her own unique touch on the festival. “The kids’ band was my personal idea. We want to involve local families so they can come along and be part of it. There’s so much for them to be entertained by. The pin-up competition attracts a huge amount of people.” A pin-up competition? No complaints about objectifying women then? “No. People love it. Men are competing too. It’s more like a pageant. It’s such great fun. Everyone ends up with some great stories to tell.” The pin-up competition sees male and female pin-ups strut down the catwalk – categories include Mr Beat, Ms Classique, Mr and Ms Kustom Kulture. Will Lamont be getting dressed up? “I’m going to have a make-over session on the weekend`, so we’ll see how I look after that.” What is her vision for the festival’s future? “I want to grow the festival and take it to that global level,” Lamont says. “Make it more international, tap into the global rockabilly community. There are other rockabilly festivals in Australia, in Queensland, and one in Camperdown, which has been going for ten years. Rockabilly festivals are a big thing in the States, of course, and in Europe. The big festival is in Las Vegas, that one sets the bar, that’s the cream of the crop. “The great thing is that Ballarat Beat can become global but our festival will always have its own personality; it will grow naturally. We have a core group of die-hard fans. People come here for different reasons. Everyone is welcome, all ages. And it’s not that far from Melbourne, only an hour and a half. There’s plenty of parking.” Does Lamont think there’s something special about Ballarat that makes the festival so popular? “Ballarat does lend itself to anything vintage or retro. It looks so good with its beautiful old buildings that are in such good condition. The town looks good, the buildings are well-kept and people here have a lot of pride in Ballarat itself and in its history.” BALLARAT BEAT ROCKABILLY FESTIVAL runs from Thursday February 11 – Sunday February 14 on Lydiard Street, Ballarat. See ballaratbeat.com.au for more info.
AREA-7 B A C K
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Area-7 are one of the enduring acts of the Aussie ska/ punk scene, having released three albums and two EPs, and played numerous sold-out tours across Australia. The Melbourne septet take things at a more sedate pace these days, relative to their success in the late-‘90s to early2000s, but when they do bob up to play a show, they don’t mess around. They’re back onstage this weekend and eager to make the occasion as special as possible. “The criteria for us for when we do a gig is that it’s got to be a big party atmosphere for us,” says guitarist Charles ‘Chucky T’ Thompson. “It’s not so much about the scale of the show, it’s just about making sure that when we do it, it’s with bands we love and it’s either for a good cause or a particular reason.” They’re coming back from hibernation this time to help launch City Streets – the debut album from Thompson’s other band, The Outsiders. It’s going down at Max Watt’s on Friday night, and Thompson is very happy with the lineup. “This is our big kick off for 2016,” he says. “We’ve got The Outsiders doing our album launch, and we’ve got the guys from The Ramshackle Army who we love playing with because they’re just so much fun. And opening support is the 131’s, who are a straight-up punk band fronted by Luke [Yeoward] who was in King Cannons. So it’s a pretty big bill, and it’s non-stop from 8.30, first band on, right through till past midnight. We’ll be going pretty hard, and we’ve kept it nice and affordable too.” Thompson feels this show will help to appease the city’s punk loving punters after the recent loss of a certain rock, punk and metal festival – which, incidentally, Area-7 played last year. “From our perspective, it’s really sad that Soundwave’s gone,” he says. “There’s a little bit of a void at the moment. So we’re glad that we’re putting something
on that allows the guys and girls that might have gone to Soundwave to come and see a punk show.” Considering Thompson will be playing two separate sets on the night, he’s in for a heavy workload. But, although he is getting on in age, he takes it in his stride. “I sing and play guitar in The Outsiders, and just guitar in
THAT GOLD STREET SOUND F I V E
T H I N G S
W I T H
1. Growing Up One of my earliest memories is being in the car with my folks and them playing this JJ Cale Anthology tape they had. For some reason the bass parts really jumped out at me, and maybe that’s one reason I starting playing the instrument. Their taste was pretty eclectic, so sometimes we’d jump from that to Bob Marley or even ABBA. I think that exposure to a really broad range of music continues to influence my songwriting and taste. They definitely encouraged me to be a musician, but their method was to let me explore instruments and sounds rather than formal lessons early on. 2. Inspirations As a bassist I have a huge range of influences, but the two that jump immediately to mind are James Jamerson and Pino Palladino. They’re both players who play to serve the song, and try to reflect and augment the melody through B E AT.C O M . A U
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their playing. I think a common thread for everyone in this band is The Funk Brothers, as well as more modern soul and funk. Beyond that, there is a pretty diverse range of tastes. One of us even likes metal. 3. Your Band Late one night, whilst putting the bins out on Gold Street in Collingwood, our guitarist Jim Griffiths struck up a conversation with neighbour Steve Forss. Usually, neighbours take offence to the sound of pounding drums, cowbells, and timbales vibrating through the walls. Instead of making a noise complaint, Jim suggested they make funky noise together and That Gold Street Sound was born. Throw in an English bass player, a saxophonist from Canada, another one from Italy, a percussionist found on the roof of a houseboat, a couple of trumpet players, and the ultimate front woman, and you are getting down to That Gold Street Sound.
Area-7. I’m a bit of an old dog, but I think I can handle two sets in the one night.” Area-7 are fairly selective with the shows they play these days, but The Outsiders are planning to keep moving after the Melbourne launch. “It’s unlikely that we’ll do a tour which is 20 days straight or anything like that. We’ll just try to get around all the different cities.” As far as the future of Area-7 is concerned, they’re likely to carry on in laidback fashion, just picking the occasional gigs that they do want to play. However, we shouldn’t completely discount the possibility of new material. “We have talked about maybe writing a handful of new songs and maybe doing an EP or something like that. But it’s one thing to say it and it’s another to do it. We’re the type of band that, when we do that sort of thing we tend to do it properly. So if we do it, we’ll do a clip, put out some new merch and do a whole bunch of shows. We still want to be involved in some way.” AREA-7 and The Outsiders are playing at Max Watt’s on Friday February 5 with The Ramshackle Army and 131’s.
4. The Music You Make That Gold Street Sound is a party funk and soul band who will make you shake your tail feather. We love to put on a show and a typical live gig includes crowd participation, balloons, bubbles, cowbell solos, roving sax solos, confetti and a whole lot of dancing. We have recently recorded two new tracks on tape at The Aviary and pressed a 7” record. We will be launching it on March 18 at the Northcote Social Club. We have Vince Peach (Soul Time, PBS) DJing and it is going to be like Cherry Bar’s Soul in the Basement except on a Saturday night and with a few more bands. 5. Music, Right Here, Right Now The Melbourne soul scene is going ballistic and up there with the best in the world. Any night of the week you can go out and see rad soul and funk bands like Cookin’ on 3 Burners, Kylie Auldist, The Putbacks, The Meltdown, Bombay Royale, The Sugarcanes, The Seven Ups, Stella Angelico, Arthur Penn and the Funky Ten, Hey Frankie, Sex on Toast, Ultravibralux, Passerine, Fulton Street, Brooklyn’s Finest, Sugar Fed Leopards, 30/70, Mayfield, The Perfections, Stevie and the Sleepers, Stella Fauna and so many more. It is so inspiring to see these local musicians slay it on stage night after night. The biggest obstacle we all have to face is working full time jobs and cranking out the funk on nights and weekends. We only ever earn just enough cash to put into the next recording, but you do it anyway. You do it for the love. You do it for the funk. You do it because there isn’t a better feeling in the world than playing your own music to a crowd of people who are partying their arses off. THAT GOLD STREET SOUND are playing at Shakespeare Grove Carpark, St Kilda as part of St Kilda Festival’s Live N Local on Wednesday February 10. They’re also playing at Northcote Social Club on Friday March 18.
TOEHIDER T H E
R O B O T S
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R O C K
BY ROD WHITFIELD
THE SWORD
ARE YOU READY FOR THE COUNTRY?
B Y D AV I D J A M E S Y O U N G
Carrying on a time-honoured tradition of making manethrashing metal about weird, mythological and trippy shit, The Sword are one of the genre’s more popular contemporary proponents. 2015 saw the Texan fourpiece release their fifth studio album, High Country, to unanimous critical acclaim – which is just as well, considering positivity has characterised the album’s entire existence. “Making this record was easily the highlight of my entire year,” says John D. Cronise, the band’s lead singer, chief songwriter, and one of two guitarists. “The whole process of writing it, working on it, getting it out –it was one of the best experiences we have ever had as a band in terms of that side of things. “It’s a record we’re really proud of, and it’s a record that we really enjoy playing live. We went on tour through Europe a little bit after the record came out, and it was really great to take it to places we’d never played before. We got to play in places like Tilburg [Netherlands] and Norway, which was a really positive experience. Touring this album has been so exciting. We’re looking forward to sharing these songs with you down in Australia for the very first time.” Being 12 years and five albums into their career, The Sword were determined to venture into unknown territory on High Country in order to keep things interesting for both themselves and their listeners. This led to further use of synthesiser, a drum machine running through the track Seriously Mysterious, and various instrumental interludes throughout the song sequence. The palette expansion could well have left older fans out in the cold, or made for a more challenging live show, but neither has been the case. “People have been really cool about it,” Cronise says. “We think the record translates really well live, even the stuff that’s obviously very studio-centric. When we’re playing one of those different tracks, you’re always going to look up from your guitar and see a few doubting bearded faces in the crowd [laughs]. You just know that we’re the least gnarly band that these guys go and see. We’d like to think that, by coming to see us, you’re getting a bit of an education about a rock’n’roll show. It’s not all just about the volume or the intensity. It’s about the dynamics. It’s about letting the songs speak for themselves. Once we’ve done that, I know we’ll get those doubting faces to crack a smile.” High Country came out last August, and Australian audiences will get the chance to witness it live later this month. 2016 also marks a special anniversary for The Sword – it’s been ten years since they properly arrived on the scene with their debut album, Age of Winters. Cronise himself wasn’t actually aware of the fact, but when looking back on the album’s creation he associates it with the Spinal Tap dream of amps up
to 11 and attempting to truly embody their authoritative band name. “With making that record, we wanted it to be a really bold statement,” he says. “We wanted it to be as undeniable as we could make it – we wanted to make the heaviest heavy metal that we knew how to make. It wasn’t to the extreme of, say, death metal or anything like that. Without going to that extreme, though, we still wanted to try and reflect our name as best we could. We wanted to be a musical sword, chopping stuff up, sharp and dangerous. These days, I think that same sword is a little more tempered. We’re not running around trying to decapitate people anymore. Now it’s a little more ceremonial. It’s kept in a glass case in a cavalry somewhere – it never gets used, but it still looks really nice.” Australian fans have had only a handful of chances to see The Sword in action over the last decade, including opening for Metallica on their World Magnetic arena tour, as well as appearing at the Soundwave festival on two separate occasions. Next month, however, they’ll return for their own headline tour, ably supported by Melbourne tour-hounds Clowns and fellow Texan’s American Sharks. It’s not only a killer lineup, but we’ll finally get to see The Sword play an extended set, with tracks ranging from Age of Winters all the way up to High Country. “We’ve never done a headlining tour in Australia, so it’s certainly going to be interesting. By that same token, we definitely prefer doing headlining shows to doing a big festival. Doing something like Soundwave was definitely a unique experience, but nothing beats having a show with people that have specifically come to see you, playing a full set, playing a room with good sound. And at nighttime too. Soundwave always had us on during the daytime. We sound way better at night after a couple of beers, I guarantee.” THE SWORD are playing at Max Watt’s on Monday February 22 with American Sharks and Clowns. High Country is available now via Cooking Vinyl.
Mike Mills, the main man behind Melbourne prog rock band Toehider, has been having a grand old time of late. In September 2015 the band released a new EP, Mainly Songs About Robots. If that wasn’t exciting enough, Mills was able to attain the services of drummer Vinny Appice – a true percussive legend, and one of Mills’ heroes – to bash the skins on the recording. Appice played on Black Sabbath’s 1981 Ronnie James Dio-fronted album Mob Rules. Dio then recruited him to play in his solo band Dio, with whom he carved out an illustrious career in heavy metal until his departure in the late-‘90s. Vinny’s older brother Carmine Appice is also a world renowned drummer, having played with Rod Stewart, Ozzy Osbourne, Ted Nugent and many more. Beat speaks to Mills about the process that led to getting the great man to record drums for the EP. “I came across a contact on the net, and I sent him an email,” he says. “I sent him some of the rough demos and some of my previous [recordings], and to my great surprise he wrote back. And it was like ‘Fuck,’ you know?” It’s amazing to think that completely cold, unsolicited contact was enough to secure the services of a heavy metal legend. “I just thought, ‘It can’t hurt to try and track him down to see if he’d be keen’,” Mills says. “And he was. It’s not often you get to work with your heroes like that.” Mills also went on a European musical odyssey last year, which entailed both a Toehider tour and a chance to perform alongside yet more of his musical inspirations. “I got an offer to be in a rock opera stage show in the Netherlands,” he says, “Which was the [Dutch progressive
metal band] Ayreon thing. There was an album that came out in 2004 called The Human Equation, which had James LaBrie from Dream Theater and Devin Townsend on it. So Arjen Lucassen, the guy who writes it all, sent me an email and said, ‘Devin Townsend’s not available to be a part of it, and would you be able to do his parts?’ So
HOLLOW WORLD F I L L I N G
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Over the last 12 months, Melbourne metal heads Hollow World have been shredding up the national touring circuit and writing their first album, whilst also garnering a reputation as seriously nice blokes. “We’re just big geeks,” laughs vocalist Ben Roberts, after guitarists Theo Goslett and Michael Truscott share their thoughts on the best and worst games in the Zelda series. It’s a quiet weekend for these guys, after touring all over Australia last year. “We did a bunch of shows with Orpheus Omega,” says Roberts. “Brisbane, Adelaide, Hobart and Melbourne. The underage show in Hobart was off its head. There were kids there that knew some of the songs as well, and getting the words right. I was like, ‘What the fuck?’” “All of a sudden all these kids rocked up and went crazy, it was great,” says Goslett. “They were all in the front row windmilling.” “Then there was the Perth show with Whoretopsy,” adds drummer Michael W W W. B E AT.C O M . A U
Hodgson. “Perth was crazy,” says Roberts. “There was a huge turnout and the crowd was really receptive, which we were blown away by.” In December last year, Hollow World supported metal giants At The Gates at Melbourne’s Corner Hotel. “Playing that last year was a big moment for me,” says Roberts. Hodgson agrees, “I don’t get nervous before shows, but I was nervous before that.” Last year also saw the band commence work on their debut album, to be released later this year. “We’re pretty pumped. It’s
that show went for four sold out nights. It was James from Dream Theater and Anneke van Giersbergen [The Gathering]. Basically I was the only no-name singer in the cast. So when that came through, we put together a [Toehider] tour as well.” Now that all of the surreal excitement is out of the way, it’s time for the official launch of Mainly Songs About Robots, which takes place at Ding Dong Lounge next weekend. Toehider have been absent from the Australian live scene for quite some time, and they’ve put together an impressive lineup for their triumphant return. “It’s our first Melbourne show in well over a year,” Mills says. “So we’re really looking forward to playing there again. We’re doing Ding Dong with A Lonely Crowd and Orsome Welles, which are two of my favourite Melbourne bands. So it’s going to be a great night, it’ll be loads of fun.” Last year is going to be a pretty hard one to top, but Mills’ primary goal for 2016 is to release the band’s next recording. “I’ve got a bunch of different ideas about how it’s going to be released, but the aim is to get something out by the end of the year. It’s probably going to be a full length album at this point. I’m a big fan of bands from the ‘70s and ‘80s, how they put out an album every year. I like to stay as active as possible, it’s good for my brain to stay active and creative.” TOEHIDER will launch Mainly Songs About Robots on Friday February 12 at Ding Dong Lounge with A Lonely Crowd and Orsome Welles. Mainly Songs About Robots is available now via Bandcamp.
going to be a concept album with two storylines that intertwine with each other,” says Roberts. “One element is how human beings are a virus on the Earth and end up wiping it out. The other strand of the story is a virus that wipes out the human race”. It’s an elaborate concept, but work on the album is well underway. “We’re hoping to have 11 to 12 tracks, and I’d say we’ve done nine,” says Truscott. It’s clear that the success these guys are enjoying is helped by the fact they’re all on the same level. “With us, as soon as an idea comes up, someone is on it.” Roberts says. “Everyone seems to be involved in some aspect,” says Goslett. “It’s like a five way marriage,” laughs Truscott. As their profile expands, Goslett has some positive words about the Australian metal scene. “Everyone is very likeminded. It feels like extended friendship circles. It makes it so much easier when everyone has that real sense of community. There have been a couple of guys in particular who have given us really great opportunities and advice.” Roberts agrees, “The guys from Orpheus and Whoretopsy definitely deserve a mention. They’ve helped us out and given us a big leg up.” In terms of downsides, Roberts has only one major gripe: “I’d love to see more all age shows. That’s the one thing that bums me out. I feel like there’s a big gulf in that right now.” The next couple of months will see Hollow World attending to a hectic schedule. “We’re doing the farewell shows for Whoretopsy in March” says Roberts. This is in order to see off their good mates, before they embark on an international tour. Before this, they’re heading back down to Tasmania for back-to-back shows in midFebruary. “We’re doing Friday night in Launceston with Psycroptic and Whoretopsy. It’s going to be insane, playing Tassie with Psycroptic.” says Roberts. Hodgson adds, “Then the Saturday is the Metal Fusion festival, with 12 bands playing from all over Australia.” Melburnians can catch Hollow World, with their pals Zeolite and The Hazard Circular, on Friday February 5 at Pelly Bar, Frankston, and Saturday February 6 at Yah Yah’s. BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 35
CORE
PUNK, SKA, HARDCORE NEWS, REVIEWS & GOSSIP with EMILY KELLY ek1984@gmail.com
Trivium are on their way to Australia this April. They’re hitting the east and west coasts in support of their 2015 album Silence In The Snow. You’ll be able to see them at 170 Russell on Wednedsay April 13. Tickets are available now. Waxhatachee (AKA Katie Crutchfield) is
CRUNCH
METAL, HEAVY ROCK. CLASSIC ROCK LOCAL AND INTERNATIONAL GOOD SHIT with PETER HODGSON crunchcolumn@gmail.com
SOILWORK INCOMING
Visionary Swedish melodic death metal masters Soilwork are nearly here. Their most recent album The Ride Majestic was released on August 28 via Nuclear Blast, and their Aussie tour kicks off in Perth next week before wrapping up in Melbourne on Tuesday February 16 at 170 Russell.
COFFIN CAROUSEL RELEASES NEW EP
In 2015 Coffin Carousel whirled out two EPs (Fiend and Doom Pop), four music videos and an opening slot for the Misfits. Now the band have began to expand their mash up of heavy modern rock, punk and grunge with the new EP Predators, featuring four songs that each stand high
coming down with full band in tow this month and hitting Howler on Thursday February 18. It’s just been announced that Infinite Void and Camp Cope are going to lend their considerable skills to the lineup. Tickets are still available. Snap ‘em up. Even though Legion Music Fest was pushed to next year, the festival continues to add bands to their lineup. This week they added Lordi, Capture The Crown, Heard Of Cows and Polaris the 2017 event. You can get a ticket and contribute to the crowd funding effort by heading to the festival’s Pozible page. They are aiming to generate over $3m to make the festival a reality. Chicago-based supergroup The Falcon (featuring Alkaline Trio’s Dan Andriano, Lawrence Arms’ Brendan Kelly and Neil Hennessy and Loved Ones frontman Dave
in their own unique flavour. There are also alternate mix and remix versions of the song Predators, making it six tracks in total. It’s available worldwide at all digital music stores and as a limited edition compact disc gloss-gatefold with expanded artwork through the band’s website.
HEAR VOYAGER’S NEW SINGLE LIVE THIS WEEKEND
Australia’s favourite melodic masters Voyager take things up a notch with Misery Is Only Company, a catchy, groovy new single that they’ve been playing on their current Australian tour. You can catch them at the Evelyn Hotel with Teramaze on Saturday February 6.
IN MALICE’S WAKE & PALS AT THE BENDIGO
An all out thrash assault comes to The Bendigo Hotel on Friday February 5. Following up the bands incredible album launch for Light Upon The Wicked, the mighty In Malice’s Wake return to the stage alongside SA thrash/death legends Truth Corroded who are playing a last run of shows before entering the studio to record the follow up to The Saviours Slain. Power thrashers Envenomed will
Hause) have reformed and announced they’ll release a new album called Gather Up The Chaps on Friday March 18. It’s the first LP for the band since their debut album Unicornography almost ten years ago. Brissie band Columbia Buffet are gearing up to release their new album How To Survive An Atomic Bomb on Friday March 4 and have announced some east coast tour dates to help launch it. You can see them their stuff on April 8 at The Reverence with Maricopa Wells, Foley and Self Talk. Tickets will be available at the door.
Ceres are headlining one of their biggest shows to date on Friday February 19 and having one last hurrah before they head into the studio. They’re going to bring besties The Pretty Littles, Slowly Slowly and Max Quinns Onomatopenis along for the ride. You can get tickets from northcotesocialclub.com. Party time, excellent.
SHE BEAST LAUNCHES EP AT FILTHFEST
Local sludge/doom riff bearers She Beast will launch their EP Lactating at Filthfest on Saturday February 6 at The Tote. Also playing are Yanomamo, Lo!, Siberian Hell Sounds, Ithaqua, Greytomb, Brazen Bull, Law Of The Tongue, Pissbolt, Hailgun, Grvlls, Bog, Diploid, Merchant and more. Doors open at 1pm and tickets are $20 from Oztix or $25 at the door.
WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 3:
ALIAS ARISE, ENEMIES ALIKE at The Bendigo
THURSDAY FEBRUARY 4:
FOREIGN KINGS at Music Man Megastore
FRIDAY FEBRUARY 5:
The team behind Bang and the now defunct Next club nights are bringing you Stay Gold. The club night will launch on Thursday February 18 at Laundry Bar and feature the usual live bands and DJs every Thursday night. Launch night will no doubt be massive so put it in your diary.
be launching a new EP of shredding menace backed by the punching grooves of Decimatus. The show will also see the debut of black thrash act Blackhelm (formerly Metalstorm). Getting the party started will be SA crushers Headbore who are currently finishing up a new album due for release early this year through Truth Inc Records. A lineup featuring some of the best acts from Melbourne and Adelaide is an event not be missed and confirms that Australia has a lot of awesome bands making a noise in 2016. Get along and support the might of your homegrown. Doors open at 7pm, tickets are $15 and the event is 18+.
GIGS
years. Atlanta’s brutal hard rock kings are back as heavy as ever. Their blistering new album Kill The Flaw has received some of the best reviews of the band’s career, displaying a re-invigoration of creativity and signalling a rejuvenated take-noprisoners stance akin to their initial threealbum burst of mayhem. See them at 170 Russell on Friday March 18, with tickets on sale now from Metropolis Touring
NEW HOLY GRAIL ALBUM
Holy Grail are about to release the longawaited follow-up to their 2012 Billboardcharting Ride The Void. Times of Pride and Peril will be released on Friday February 12 and was recorded with Grammy award winning producer John Spiker (Tenacious D, Filter). Featuring ten tracks of solid, classic heavy metal, the album meshes the band’s definitive sound with even catchier vocals and shredding solos while conceptually showcasing the rise and fall of a kingdom.
HORIZONS EDGE at Yah Yah’s AREA-7, THE OUTSIDERS, THE RAMSHACKLE ARMY, 131’S AT MAX WATT’S FOREIGN KINGS at Cherry Bar DALLAS CRANE at Karova Lounge X, SUN GOD REPLICA, LEECHES at The Tote TED DANSON WITH WOLVES, DIPLOID, DIECUT, GERYON at The Old Bar IN MALICE’S WAKE, TRUTH CORRODED, ENVENOMED, DECIMATUS, BLACKHELM, HEADBORE at The Bendigo
SATURDAY FEBRUARY 6:
VOYAGER, LEPROUS, TERAMAZE at Evelyn Hotel JAY WARS AND THE HOWARD YOUTH, AUSTRALIAN KINGSWOOD FACTORY, ADMIRAL ACKBAR’S DISHONOURABLE DISCHARGE, SHADOW LEAGUE, LITTLE LAMB AND THE ROSEMARYS, THE SUICIDE TUESDAYS, JUNGLE BREED, JOSH ARENTZ, JMS HARRISON, JASON HATCHER at Public Bar WITCH HATS, LALIC, SHAME BROTHERS, GIRL CRAZY at The Old Bar GOLD CLASS at National Gallery FILTHFEST FEATURING YANOMAMO, LO!, SIBERIAN HELL SOUNDS, ITHAQUA, GREYTOMB AND MORE at The Tote DREAM ON DREAMER, PRIDELANDS, ALPHA WOLF at Bang HOLLOW WORLD, ZEOLITE, THE HAZARD CIRCULAR, ANNIHILST at Yah Yah’s
SUNDAY FEBRUARY 7:
SEVENDUST RETURN
MALICHOR, OLIGARCH, ORDER OF CHAOS, SCAPHIS, VULGOD at The Tote
Sevendust’s triumphant return to Australia marks the first shows on Aussie soil in six
FILTH FEST NOISY MESSY COMMUNITY
BY THOMAS BRAND
While deep in the midst of organising an Australian tour for Japanese psychedelic sludge act Ithaqua, Tim Jacka has been busy working away at another, more local project. Named Filthfest, the event spawned from Jacka’s personal love for extreme music genres and a drive to unite their various scenes. The event aims to create an inclusive space where everyone can appreciate blast beats, pig squeals, droning guitars and shuddering bass. One key thing Jacka wants to achieve with Filthfest is to break down the walls that separate the bands. The best way to do this is to a massive party that everyone can enjoy. “The beauty of the term [Filthfest] was that it stayed faithful to the concept, which was about bringing the filthiest, nastiest and most experimental music we can think of including grindcore, hardcore, doom and the whole big sludge sound,” says Jacka. “There’s a real community in these genres and I think there’s a tendency for bands to go into a mode and get a bit cliquey, peeling off and having groups form. I’m a bit old for it all myself so I’m coming at it with a new perspective – which is to simply get a big fucking party going. As Bøg, we’ve planted ourselves in the middle of the lineup and feel quite honoured to be playing with these cool bands from around Australia.
BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 36
“The rest was a bit of a challenge really. We asked people what they wanted to hear. We took a lot of suggestions, asked a lot of bands who might or might not have been available for whatever reason, and we came up with the lineup which was an interesting challenge since I haven’t put on a festival like this before.” Heavy music cliques tend to form out of a stylistic affinity between bands. These cliques grow in size after similar acts perform enough shows together. Jacka’s approach could potentially shatter the scene’s tight bonds, stretching and reworking them into something bigger and more inclusive. “There’s a really good feeling when
people want to get on board,” he says. “The compliments start rolling, people saying, ‘Fucking grouse. Band “a” is on board, or band “b” is on board’ and the like. I think if my role is of any significance whatsoever, it has to do with creating a feeling of inclusion and party. “With events like this at the Tote, the booze flows, the bands play and it unfolds into mayhem. Before you know it, you’re in another world, meeting people and it feels like brotherhood. At 2am you’re on a high. Maintaining that feeling is really important – just have to get messages across that we don’t want people getting bashed in the mosh pit whilst spreading good feelings around.”
B E AT.C O M . A U
One hurdle that Jacka faces in his quest for an all-inclusive event is a perceived gender gap in the heavy scene. A recent public announcement posted online by Jacka along with co-organiser Eric Prestonbury celebrated female involvement in the scene while also denouncing all forms of violence against women. “That post was addressing some of the factors that could put people off attending the festival,” says Jacka. “Bands like Cloud Rat, Diploid – bands that do such a great job of pushing boundaries with music. It brings something new, something different. It’s because of that variety you get better music happening. A lot of these bands I’ve heard, I’ve sat back and thought,
‘Shit that’s good, I love it. Why do I love it so much?’ and you realise later there’s a female vocalist or guitarist that gives it that special thing. “Part of the importance of extreme metal, rock, and music in general is that it has a very powerful transformative effect and it has the capacity to break with routine and conventional thinking whilst promoting massively good feelings of inclusion. It’s a community.” FILTHFEST 2016 comes to the Tote on Saturday February 6 featuring Yanomamo, Siberian Hell Sounds, Ithaqua, BØG, Diploid and more.
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JEFF MILLS, DERRICK MAY & THE MELBOURNE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA SIDNEY MYER MUSIC BOWL SATURDAY JANUARY 30
Photos by David Harris Is classical collaboration the future of techno? If the success of last Saturday evening is any indication, in decades to come the seemingly odd-couple of pulsing electronic sounds alongside brass, woodwind and string sections will continue to become even closer bed-buddies. As the audience slowly began rolling into the open-air venue, the two Detroit dons were joined onstage for a pre-show interview led by Shaun Keyt, best known under the moniker of Viridian. Also joined by arranger and composer Djizan Emin and Sarah Curro, first violin with the MSO, the duo proved elegant, insightful and wellspoken – a testament to their revered status as two of the most intelligent names in dance music.
RAINBOW SERPENT FESTIVAL
LEXTON, VICTORIA FRIDAY JANUARY 22 – MONDAY JANUARY 26
While waiting for my daily veggie burger, I asked my friend how she’d describe Rainbow Serpent. “It’s like nothing else” is all she gave me. It’s all she needed to say. For many, Rainbow Serpent isn’t a festival. It’s a ritual, and few festival organisers manage to pull off what Rainbow continuously delivers from one year to another. Held in Lexton, 160 kilometres west of Melbourne, this fourday marathon is a special place for punters to express their inner weird. And how wonderfully weird it was. People pierced their own ear lobes on the dancefloor while others chopped up fruit and handed it to the crowds behind the Market Stage. Some ladies took Free The Nipple to the next level and Renegade Stages roved around
Standing amongst myriad drum machines on the right of stage, Mills led proceedings for the evening, laying down a series of compositions taken from his earlier work Light From The Outside World (which he performed with the MSO back in 2014), as well as some new creations composed especially for the evening, including reworks of his 1994 piece Utopia and an euphoric string-laden rendition of his 1996 classic The Bells. It was May, however, who perhaps received the most rapturous response of the evening. Seated within the centre of the orchestra, and flanked by soprano Michelle McCarthy and mezzo-soprano Cassandra Seidemann, he weaved through his vast back-catalogue as Emin began to conjure up a literal storm. the festival and surprised us with different genres every half hour. Those attending were in a constant, metallic haze of glitter all weekend; a landscape shot of the festival would probably show a mushroom cloud of sparkles over the site. Nothing but fun here. This year’s stage production cemented Rainbow as one of the best of its kind with the Market Stage demanding some serious attention under those colourful flags. An oversized beach ball graced the stage and the lights and lasers throughout the weekend were spectacularly immersive. 3D shapes wrapped around DJs, green patterns ran through the trees and Iboga Records’ 20th anniversary hologram light show floored us all. The audiovisual at this stage was often so good you needed to sit down to appreciate it. Once the rain had passed and everyone was in the full swing of things, Sunday became the day for music. Local favourite, Tornado Wallace offered up his usual great dose of house and set us straight for the afternoon. It wasn’t long before Late Nite Tuff Guy electrified the dance floor with his iconic disco mixes. This was a slot that set people on fire, where even the biggest sceptics of cheesy disco music were stomping, smiling, whistling and dancing their way back to Photo by David Harris
HOLY HOLY CORNER HOTEL
FRIDAY JANUARY 29
Tonight was all about Holy Holy – one of the year’s most talked about indie bands, and they definitely lived up to the hype. First up, however, were The Franklin Electric from Montreal, Canada. Fresh eyed and bushy tailed, these guys played an exceptionally high-energy pop rock set showcasing tunes from their debut record This Is How I Let You Down. They also played
a newbie that they recently recorded in Guy Sebastian’s Sydney studio. Old Piano, a favourite from their set, sounded fit for Ben Folds to cover for Like a Version. Next up was Olympia who, ogether with a bassist and drummer, gave us a jaunty set that got everyone in the mood for Holy Holy. With her green glittery onesie and blue Fender Jaguar, Olympia definitely
When the crowd recognised the beginning of his seminal 1987 cut Strings Of Life it felt as if the roof of the Sidney Myer Music Bowl stage might just fly off into the night sky. As Mills then returned onstage to join May for an ecstatic world-first collaborative performance the heavens truly opened up, drenching the crowd. But a saturated ending did little to spoil the evening; this had been a night from the future. BY TYSON WRAY LOVED: Those strings in The Bells. HATED: The difficulty of getting a cab home afterwards. DRANK: Very little.
the ‘70s. It was a stellar music choice for a Sunday afternoon. John Digweed owned his spot as one of the weekend’s headliners. This driving, progressive set that created layers upon layers on itself held a monstrous bass that took punters along for the ride. Equally impressive in the Progressive space was the machine that is Hernan Cattaneo. Despite dropping a few overdone tracks like New Order’s Blue Monday, he provided a monstrous three-hour set of subtle melodies and deep baselines to close out Monday in true Rainbow style. And just like that, in a puff of sparkle, the 2016 edition of Rainbow Serpent was over as quickly as it started. With next year marking the festival’s 20th anniversary, there’s no doubt people will again be flocking to make the yearly pilgrimage. The Serpent will deliver and rest assured, it’ll be like nothing else. BY ISABELLA UBALDI LOVED: Those lasers. HATED: People stealing things from other punters’ tents. Not cool. DRANK: Everything. looked the business up on stage. Despite having to endure drunken requests from a guy up the front, Olympia showed why she is one to watch in Australian music. With the room packed, Holy Holy took to the stage to play one ball-tearer of a set. Having played numerous gigs internationally in 2015, Holy Holy were brilliant from start to finish. You Cannot Call For Love Like A Dog off their debut When the Storms Would Come was bloody epic, spotlighting Oscar Dawson’s lead guitar playing. All-up Holy Holy were an amazing live experience and you should feel sad if you missed out. BY TEX MILLER LOVED: The Franklin Electric’s blistering open set. HATED: The notion that the international band headlined the night instead of the other way round. DRANK: Pints of Carlton. Mmm refreshing. W W W. B E AT.C O M . A U
SUMMER TONES TUESDAY JANUARY 26 SHADOW ELECTRIC, ABBOTSFORD CONVENT
January 26 is a confusing day, causing much ambivalence, fierce opposition and plenty of crass expressions of misguided patriotism. But Abbotsford Convent was a place of peacefulness. The sun beamed down on the lawn surrounding the Summer Tones main stage, where various Melbourne bands and American folk musicians wooed the genial and appropriately subdued crowd. Philadelphian-cum-San Franciscan songwriter Meg Baird sung in a shatterproof high register that seemed carried over from an earlier era. The likes of Vashti Bunyan and Sibylle Baier are suitable comparisons, but Baird isn’t a throwback folk nostalgist. Set against a backdrop of bushy hills, her performance inspired a feeling of freedom. Her music is at once cosmic and earthy, and her vocal radiance didn’t falter even when the crowd’s jovial mood was at odds with her introspective journey. More than half the sold-out crowd removed themselves from the outdoor serenity to enter the bandroom for Totally Mild. The Melbourne band’s billowing popularity is heartening to witness, especially on a day when mediocrity dominated the Hottest 100 countdown. Back outside, folk singing lifer Michael Hurley was a picture of never-give-up fortitude. Hurley’s been releasing music since the 1960s (he was an integral figure in the mid-‘60s Greenwich Village folk scene), and despite residing in the margins of popular regard, he’s continued to resolutely push forward. This was one of four Melbourne shows he played this week; a testament to Hurley’s ongoing commitment to making tangible human connections via music. It wasn’t a physically gruelling performance – allaying fears for the 75-year-old’s endurance – but his voice remains nimble and sweetly affecting. Montero stormed onto the bandroom
stage next. On a day dominated by ruminative sounds and stirring novelty, these guys were alone on the airborne end of the seesaw. Somewhere between Mercury Rev and Spinal Tap, it was a stuffy contrast to the pleasant twilight outside. Like Hurley, Kurt Vile has played multiple Melbourne shows during the last month. Today he was without his backing band The Violators, which gave us insight into how his songs sound in their nascent stages. Vile is many things – an amusing character, incisive and sharp lyricist, rambling soul man, curious vocalist, and compulsive songwriter. But it’s as a guitarist that he’s most technically advanced. He spent the majority of the set prodigiously fingerpicking an acoustic guitar, causing many an onlooking guitarist to feel lazy. The setlist grabbed broadly from his six-record catalogue, with the biggest applause going to material from the recent trio of Smoke Ring For My Halo, Wakin On a Pretty Daze and B’lieve I’m Goin Down. The latter’s Pretty Pimpin proved just as giddily addictive in acoustic form; while Smoke Ring’s lead track Baby’s Arms gained additional intimacy – its avowal of true of love resonating with the warmly receptive crowd. And that’s where we wound up. Despite the confusion, divided opinions and prevailing imbalances related to this date, Summer Tones was a place of warmth and mutual respect. BY AUGUSTUS WELBY LOVED: Abbotsford Convent. HATED: No hate. DRANK: Drink it till you’ve forgotten what you’re drinking it for. Drink it a little bit more.
BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 37
A L B U M
THI S W E E K AT
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Top Tens SYN TOP TEN
1. Far Away ALI BARTER 2. East Coast BILLY FOX 3. I Can’t Save You CUB SPORT 4. Up All Night LE PIE 5. In The Dark MONTAIGNE 6. I’m In Control ALUNAGEORGE FT POPCAAN 7. Keep On Keepin’ On BLEACHED 8. Swim EPISODE 9. Stepping Stone LEMAITRE FT MARK JOHNS 10. Chasing Shadows SANTIGOLD
T H U R S D AY 4 T H F E B R U A RY
WEEKLY TRIVIA
BY QUESTION 1 PRIZES & GIVEAWAYS! FROM 8PM. CONTACT THE VENUE FOR TABLE BOOKINGS. F R I D AY 5 T H F E B R U A RY MAIN BAR FROM 9.30PM
THE KAVA KINGS (SYD)
OFF THE HIP TOP TEN
1. Cubist Blues 2xLP CHILTON/VEGA 2. I Am The Cosmos LP CHRIS BELL 3. High LP ROYAL HEADACHE 4. In Triangle Time LP KELLEY STOLTZ 5. Teenage Fantasies Zine#2 TEENAGE FANTASIES 6. Warehouse Songs 2xLP HUSKER DU 7. Things That Play Themselves LP KING SNAKE ROOST 8. Rx CD/LP LOOSE PILLS 9. Suitcase 4 LP GBV 10. Teenage Crash LP LAST SONS OF KRYPTON
NEON QUEEN DJ’S
B-TWO/ TEE DUBYA / KAHLUA S AT U R D AY 6 T H F E B R U A RY MAIN BAR FROM 9.30PM
TIM WHEATLEY OSCAR LUSH
TYRANNAMEN
DJ’S FROM 5PM
S U N D AY 7 T H F E B R U A RY
LATINO SUNDAY M O N D AY 8 T H F E B R U A RY
WEEKEND WARRIORS: $4 BASICS, CORONAS, PIZZA AND TACOS. LIVE MUSIC AND DJS UNTIL 12AM! T U E S D AY 9 T H F E B R U A RY
FREE MOVIE NIGHT:
DEFINITELY, MAYBE
Like an episode of The Ren & Stimpy Show directed by Lars Von Trier, Tyrannamen’s self-titled debut is equal parts slapstick, sexual and surreal. It’s a deliberately off-kilter mess, with a thrilling disregard for the conventions of the album format. Even by the standards of punk and garage rock this is a defiant record. Choruses appear out of nowhere, and there’s a kind of contrarian cheekiness to the lyrics. The ironically titled Happiness is largely concerned with the shedding of tears, while the romantic implications of Diamond Ring are undone by the twangy perversity of the guitars that carry the song over the threshold. Everything feels held together with old gum and BandAids, and the threat of disintegration hangs heavy over
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BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 38
songs like anthemic opener I Can’t Read and album highlight Ice Age. Though the album is unashamedly lo-fi from the get-go, there’s an overstuffed glamour to proceedings that reminds one of glam and cock rock – a swaggering oversaturation that brings the piece ever closer to the point of total collapse. Like a rusty nail rising to the surface in a jar of baby food, Tyrannamen is an unexpected shock of the most perverse order. But perhaps most surprising is not its perversity or crudity; rather it’s how goddamn lovable the record turns out to be.
“A lot of live music out there… get amongst it.” – Lachlan Kanoniuk, 2016 JORDAN RAF What You Want (Independent) Pushing tropical melody through transmissions of white noise, Jordan Raf fills the place in our hearts left by Jai Paul while creating a distinct voice of his own. There’s a magnetic earnestness at play. Predicting a place on the Laneway 2017 lineup. FLUME FEAT. VINCE STAPLES & KUČKA Smoke & Retribution (Future Classic) There’s a rich dynamic in Smoke & Retribution, switching between Vince Staples’ syncopated bars
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and Kučka’s airy delivery. Holding it together is some of Flume’s tightest production yet. It’s a less is more approach, something not really found in Flume’s theatrics to date, pressurising the production desk. It’s a corker, an indication that Harley has some aces up his sleeve for LP number two. SUMMER FLAKE Shoot And Score (Rice Is Nice) It’s clear in the live setting, but even here on Shoot And Score it’s easy to tell Stephanie Crase is one of the sickest guitarists in the country. The spacious vocal leaves room for an ambiguous mood,
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while the undercurrent of guitar chimes creates a scene of heady, compelling unease. Taken from the upcoming LP Hello Friends. D∆WN Not Above That (Local Action) This is dangerous. Opening with a ridiculous 90-second build, Not Above That manages to destroy minds with a drop that doesn’t rely on bombast. It feels like postEDM, and while it might share some tonal characteristics with PC Music, it doesn’t feel like caricature. I don’t say this lightly: huge tune.
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LONTALIUS Glow (Pod/Intertia)
This feels like a love song. Lontalius’ preceding tracks might also be love songs, shrouded in melancholy. Glow soars with uninhibited triumph, those elements of yearning still present, but now in the context of major key uplift. It’s a song full of incredible ideas, all of them realised, confidence in character and composition. Glow arrives with the announcement of debut album I’ll Forget 17, out this March. HOW SICK IS MUSIC? HEAPS WICKED
1. Skeletons LP DANZIG 2. Zipper Down LP EAGLES OF DEATH METAL 3. Not To Disappear LP DAUGHTER 4. Dystopia LP MEGADETH 5. Nite Flights LP WALKER BROTHERS 6. Adore Life LP/CD SAVAGES 7. Emotional Mugger LP TY SEGALL 8. 4 1/2 LP/CD STEVEN WILSON 9. And Out Come The Wolves LP RANCID 10. Nevermen LP NEVERMEN
RECORD PARADISE TOP TEN
BY JOSEPH EARP
SINGLE REVIEWS WITH LACHLAN
FREE Popcorn + Candy Bar purchases available. 8PM
SUNDAY - $10 ROAST MONDAY - $10 CARNE ASADA TUESDAY - $10 NACHOS WEDNESDAY - $10 TORTAS THURSDAY - $10 PARMA
HEARTLAND RECORDS TOP TEN
TYRANNAMEN (Cool Death Records)
KODIAK KID / HYPERFOKUS / LEEMAN / AKIN
1. Cubist Blues ALAN VEGA,ALEX CHILTON,BEN VAUGHN 2. Adore Life SAVAGES 3. Tyrannamen TYRANNAMEN 4. No Life For Me WAVVES X CLOUD NOTHINGS 5. Not To Disappear DAUGHTER 6. Art Angels GRIMES 7. High ROYAL HEADACHE 8. Garden Of Delete ONEOHTRIX POINT NEVER 9. Elaenia FLOATING POINTS 10. Ratchet SHAMIR
BEAT’S TOP TEN SONGS ABOUT GETTING SICK 1. Sick, Sick, Sick QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE 2. Under The Weather MAC MILLER 3. Night Fever BEE GEES 4. In My Time Of Dying LED ZEPPELIN 5. Touch Me I’m Sick MUDHONEY 6. Lay Down Your Weary Tune BOB DYLAN 7. Television Sick GUM 8. Seasick Yet Still Docked MORRISSEY 9. Vomit GIRLS 10. Emotion Sickness SILVERCHAIR
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DIIV
LAZERTITS
IS THE IS ARE (Captured Tracks / Remote Control)
DIIV’s second album marks Zachary Cole Smith’s return from the brink of career suicide. Smith was labelled a heroin-addled waster following his September 2013 arrest for narcotics possession with his girlfriend, singer/ model Sky Ferreira. But the frontman and songwriter managed to kick his drug problems and re-apply himself to music, and this album is proof of his convalescence. The project’s debut album Oshin was a somewhat overlooked masterpiece, and Is The Is Are is an ambitious double LP that recalls much of the glory of Oshin while expanding deeper into the realms of indie rock, dream pop and prog. Droning, relentless riffs, jangling chord progressions, and a whiff of New York hobo chic are again the order of the day, providing many moments of majesty. This is especially true of the title track, first single Dopamine, and second track Under The Sun. Ferreira adds lead vocals to Blue Boredom, which never really gets going, while the feeling of Mire (Grant’s Song) is, as the name suggests, of a singer wallowing in misery. Take Your Time follows the same formula, albeit with a much more sombre tone. Overall, the record’s no Oshin, mostly due to a surplus of tracks and too much of the latter half sounding like a single, coagulated whole. Nevertheless, Smith remains both an intriguing figure and indie rock creative worth keeping an eye on.
Lazertits’ debut EP, Aubergine Dreams, is laden with temptation. It’s not temptation of the titillating kind, but of the wanky academic type. Lead track Ladies is a statement of female empowerment in our patriarchal world, a defiant assertion of opposition to the male-dominated institutions that continue to construct the dominant discourse of power. Shonen Knife is the subversive sexuality of rock’n’roll through a Camille Paglia lens; Dirty Brown Couch is a brown vinyl Luce Irigaray musing on sexual politics; and Very Berry Milkshake is to vegan culinary opportunity as John and Yoko’s Give Peace a Chance was to the Paris peace talks of the 1970s. But temptation aside, this is just honest to goodness punk rock, in a tradition as fresh as it’s ever been. Ladies is the best song the Go-Gos never wrote in their coke and booze stained Los Angeles lounge room; Shonen Knife is Bratmobile via Blue Oyster Cult and the Detroit Cobras; the grinding garage power of Dirty Brown Couch renders L7 a bunch of private school kids in comparison; and Very Berry Milkshake is a dairy free bubblegum garage track that’d send Kim Fowley into apoplectic excitement. The songwriting is taut, the precision of the lyrics augmented with a wry humour so often left at the garage door by over-earnest indie musicians lost on a self-indulgent journey of emotional self-discovery. You can listen to Lazertits on any level, and you’ll always be satisfied.
BY PAUL MCBRIDE
BY PATRICK EMERY
MEGADETH
MIGHTY DUKE & THE LORDS
DYSTOPIA (Universal Music Australia)
Ten seconds in and Dystopia is a million times better than Megadeth’s 2013 debacle, Super Collider. Main man Dave Mustaine’s been marinating in conspiracies, cowering in dark corners, waiting for the government to prise his well-clutched gun from him. This is a very good thing. Former Angra guitarist Kiko Loureiro is the kick up the arse Megadeth needed, akin to when legendary guitarist Marty Friedman ended Megadeth’s old man wanderings in the ‘90s. In that instance they got Rust in Piece out of it. Not that Dystopia is Rust In Piece or anything. Far from it. Anchored by David Ellefson’s basslines, the bottom-heavy Fatal Illusion is evocative of their classic sound, with twin guitars chattering away; mosh-ready fist pumper Bullet to the Brain tickles with the right amount of thrash; the thinly veiled endorsem ent for Donald Trump, Post American World, churns on through with Anthrax flavour; and Lying In State feels like a runaway Train of Consequences. There’s even bits of the band’s illfated Risk-era, spattering empty spaces with Mustaine’s mangled cat harmonies. And when all else fails, they return to their roots: punk suffused blues, played damn fast. Megadeth were first in line to try the new way, but it didn’t work that time. They needed a re-jigging of their definitive formula. After all, they’re a thrash band made up of over-50s. If Mustaine can maintain the suspicion he’s being watched, he (and the band) might yield a few more good’uns. BY TOM VALCANIS
LUCINDA WILLIAMS
AUBERGINE DREAMS (Independent)
MIGHT Y DUKE & THE LORDS (Bamboo HQ)
It’s time to get out your Hawaiian shirts and start mixing those cocktails: Mighty Duke & The Lords’ debut album calls for a calypso party. A tantalising tropical treat, the self-titled release will have all late converts to the band grooving in no time. Introducing themselves with a tribal drumbeat and a series of belting horns, Mama Rogee sees the five-piece asking “Are you ready?” to which listeners are sure to reply “Hell yeah.” Emulating the sound of a live performance, it’s almost inconceivable to think the record was created inside a studio. Trouble blends non-stop high hats, powerful trumpets and a cannon of comedic calls. Bringing humour to the many delicate situations of forbidden relationships, Phantom Panties sees the jokers advising their audience to, “Take care of your underwear”; whereas Two To Tango acts as a hilarious warning to those preparing to sleep with a seductive stranger. In the ultimate ode, Beyoncé has Mighty Duke & The Lords singing the infamous, “Oh-oh, oh-oh” of Single Ladies in a rather infectious manner. From expressing their love for her unmatchable talent to promising to “put a ring on it,” the boys are clearly enthusiastic fans. A bit tongue-incheek, the track is an incredible addition to a fresh, free-flowing album. Closing the party is Werewolf Calypso, which has enough punch to get the people moving out, but just as much rhythm to keep them dancing while they do it. Absolutely dominating their self-coined style of ‘trop pop,’ Mighty Duke & The Lords are a must-have at your next shindig. Your only regret will be that you didn’t listen to these guys sooner. BY PHOEBE ROBERTSON
ALBUM REVIEWS - BECAUSE YOU CARE WHAT WE THINK
THE GHOSTS OF HIGHWAY 20 (Thirty Tigers / Cooking Vinyl)
Now 63 years of age, Lucinda Williams is back with her 12th studio album. Like a fine wine that gets better with age, Williams has crafted another classic album. Full of country-infused folk tunes, inspired by people, time and place, The Ghosts of Highway 20 shows that Williams has nailed the art of storytelling. Commencing with the six and a half minute epic Dust, the 14-track album builds to a crescendo that leaves you on a massive high and craving more. Built around an old Woody Guthrie poem, House of Earth is a sorrowful emotive track, sure to send shivers down your spine. On I Know All About It, Williams’s vocals shift to another level, giving the track a sultry, jazzy feel. The record’s boosted by the talents of legendary guitarists Greg Leisz and Bill Frisell, who have played with Williams for years and are true masters at work. The majority of songs last for at least six minutes, which lets the arrangement breathe and the intimate and lush instrumentation sweep you away. With 12 studio albums under the belt, The Ghosts of Highway 20 proves Williams still has many more stories to tell. An impressive follow up to Down Where the Spirit Meets the Bone, it’s certain to take prime place in many album of the year lists. BY TEX MILLER
BLOC PARTY
HYMNS (Create Control)
If Bloc Party’s last album, Four, seemed like a comeback album, Hymns is more of an evolution. Prior to the album, two original members left, bassist Gordon Moakes and drummer Matt Tong, to be replaced by Justin Harris and Louise Bartle respectively. Released a few months ago, lead single The Love Within divided fans and critics alike. It’s extremely polarising due to a strange drumbeat and warped effects, but it grows on you considerably. Only He Can Heal Me is a little bit more subdued; a pulsing yet relaxed synth underpins the instrumentation, while Kele Okereke’s vocals shine. So Real pushes his vocals to the fore, and they are simply sublime. Try to not get lost when he croons, “What am I supposed to do / When the only good thing about me was you?” The album’s second single, The Good News, keeps in line with the album’s biblical theme (which seems to be a comment on the way the youth has substituted religion for other, often frivolous things). It’s one of the album’s strongest tracks, culminating in the lyric, “I used to find my answers in the gospels of Saint John / Now I find them at the bottom of this shot glass.” Different Drugs is about struggling to communicate and keep a relationship together when you’re not properly compatible; Into the Earth has a country vibe, but it also houses some of Okereke’s best wordplay to date; and Living Lux is a sonically diverse number to round out the album. Hymns is the sound of the new Bloc Party, and it’s fucking great. Bloc Party have evolved and are pushing the boundaries, and those who can get over the fact they’ve changed their sound will be handsomely rewarded. BY ALEXANDER CROWDEN
BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 39
GIG GUIDE
THURSDAY 4 FEB JOE GUITON + SANTINO SALVADORE
WEDNESDAY 3 FEB THE TARANTINOS
THE REVE REN CE HOTE L How do you like your music on a Thursday night? Free? Well, you’re in luck. The Reverence Hotel is hosting a smasher of a night in their front bar on Thursday February 4. Local punk balladeer Joe Guiton and Santino Salvadore will individually thrill and amaze from 8.30pm onwards, and it’s all free baby. Come get some.
CHER RY BAR The Tarantinos begin their February residency at Cherry Bar on Wednesday February 3. Inspired by their favourite director, the Melbourne five-piece formed based on their joint fascination with the incredibly versatile soundtracks that accompany his films. They play the best known, and some lesser known, songs from Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Dusk till Dawn and the rest. They’ll be playing two sets with $5 entry from 8pm. DJ Mermaid will spin thge discs until 5am.
ALIAS ARISE + ENEMIES ALIKE Bendigo Hotel, Collingwood. 7:30pm.
AMBER ISLES + DANIKA SMITH BAND + MON SHELFORD BAND Spotted Mallard, Brunswick. 8:30pm. $10.00. FACE FACE + TRASH FAIRYS + ALSO DRAGONS Old Bar, Fitzroy. 8:00pm. $8.00.
CHARLES JENKINS THE CHERRY DOLLS
TH E WO R K E R S C LU B ‘60s inspired no-nonsense rock and rollers The Cherry Dolls wanna get wasted with you every Wednesday at The Workers Club this month. Their debut EP Pearls was released in December of last year through First Love Records, and features their swaggering firepower that they’ll be sure to deliver each week. There’s only 100 limited tickets to each show so get in quick. Supports tonight are from Neon Queen and The Black Alley’s.
T H E R E T R E AT Charles Jenkins hits The Retreat for an all too rare solo residency. Jenkins has been busy in 2015 with an award winning Zhivagos record Too Much Water In The Boat, sold out festival shows, as well as reunion shows with Ice Cream Hands. These shows will feature songs from his large back catalogue as well as new material for a record slated for later in 2016. Wednesdays at The Retreat Hotel, Brunswick, two sets, free entry, from 8.30pm.
CHRIS MCNULTY Paris Cat Jazz Club, Melbourne Cbd. 8:00pm. $25.00.
GLOBAL SESSIONS - FEAT: LA MAUVAISE REPUTATION + REBERIKO SONGS OF THE UNDERGROUND Bella Union Bar, Carlton. 8:00pm. $7.00.
JOE RUBERTO TRIO + RUBY PAGE + BOB VENIER Rising
DANILO ROJAS Paris Cat Jazz Club, Melbourne Cbd.
Sun Hotel, South Melbourne. 6:30pm.
8:00pm. $25.00.
JULIAN BANKS TRIO Paris Cat Jazz Club, Melbourne
DIZZY’S BIG BAND WITH PETER HEARNE Dizzy’s Jazz
Cbd. 8:30pm. $20.00.
GIANT GIANT + GODS Grumpy’s Green, Fitzroy. 7:30pm.
THE NECROMANTICS + PAT BRUCE & THE
Club, Richmond. 8:00pm. $10.00.
MELBOURNE IMPROVISERS COLLECTIVE Uptown Jazz
JAMES BAY + JOY + HEIN COOPER Festival Hall, West
BACCHANALIANS + ARTY REDNECKS & THE HOLEY
JULIEN BANKS TRIO 303, Northcote. 8:00pm.
Cafe, Fitzroy. 8:00pm.
Melbourne. 7:00pm. $69.40.
SOLES + MIKE ERNEST Brunswick Hotel, Brunswick.
LOCAL CALL - FEAT: RINTRAH Railway Hotel ,
MIDNIGHT EXPRESS - FEAT: PREQUEL + EDD FISHER Toff
KALACOMA + NONAGON + ELKKKLE Evelyn Hotel,
8:00pm.
Brunswick. 6:00pm.
In Town, Melbourne Cbd. 10:00pm.
Fitzroy. 8:30pm. $10.00.
WINE WHISKEY WOMEN - FEAT: CELIA CHURCH + TANYA
COLLINGWOOD OPEN - FEAT: LIZ STRINGER + SUZANNAH
NEW IMPROMPTU QUARTET + ALEXANDER NETTELBECK
REBECCA BARNARD & BILLY MILLER (SING-A-LONG)
RANSOM Drunken Poet, West Melbourne. 8:00pm.
ESPIE Gasometer Hotel, Collingwood. 8:00pm. $20.00.
Dizzy’s Jazz Club, Richmond. 8:00pm. $10.00.
Caravan Music Club, Oakleigh. 7:00pm. $18.00.
BIG EASY SOUL SESSIONS Carlton Club, Melbourne
GIRLS ON KEY Open Studio, Northcote. 8:00pm.
PHAT SPARROW 303, Northcote. 8:00pm. $10.00.
RUBIX RADIO ON KISSFM Rubix Warehouse, Brunswick.
Cbd. 8:00pm.
OPEN MIC Mr Boogie Man Bar, Abbottsford. 7:00pm.
THE GOOD EGG THURSDAYS - FEAT: HENRY WHO + TIGERFUNK
8:30pm.
BOPSTRETCH Uptown Jazz Cafe, Fitzroy. 8:00pm.
OPEN MIC NIGHT Purple Emerald, Northcote. 8:00pm. .
+ LEWIS CANCUT Lucky Coq, Windsor. 7:00pm.
BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 40
B E AT.C O M . A U
GIG GUIDE SHAMIR
HOWLER 20-year-old Las Vegas artist Shamir Bailey burst onto the scene in 2014 with his EP Northtown, receiving heavy praise. Album opener If It Wasn’t True catapulted Shamir into the limelight, showcasing his modern take on soul, R&B, house, disco, rap and pop. Shamir’s recently released debut LP Ratchet garnered huge love from critics for his quirky and uplifting jams. Bringing a full band with outrageous costumes and stylised dance moves, Shamir’s live shows have been receiving similar acclaim. Grab your tickets through Howler’s website.
SWEETHEARTS
C H E RRY B AR Geelong’s biggest girl band Sweethearts are back to heat up Soul Night at Cherry on thursday February 4. It’s the 30-piece’s (you read that right) first show back at Cherry Bar for the year, and they’ll bring their girl power fusion of Motown, blues and doo-wop.They’ll be accompanied by DJ Vince ‘Prince’ Peach and Pierre ‘Soul Groove 66’ Baroni. Grab a Cherry Bon and get up the front. Doors at 8pm with $10 entry.
MOANA + THE BACKS + DANNY KRANSKY + JAMES SEEDY Old Bar, Fitzroy. 8:00pm. $8.00. SAVI BOMB + LITTLE MURDERS + ELLEN RUSSO Mr Boogie Man Bar, Abbottsford. 8:00pm.
SHOWCASE NIGHTS Purple Emerald, Northcote. 8:00pm.
FED SQUARE LIVE - FEAT: CHRIS PICKERING + LUKE
THE ARCANE FOLLOWING + BIG WINTER + JORDAN
THE HIP JOINT - FEAT: BEE AMPERSAND + OLIVER
BISCAN Federation Square, Melbourne Cbd. 5:30pm.
BAILEY + PIIE Evelyn Hotel, Fitzroy. 8:30pm. $7.00.
FRANCIS + TOMMY GROVES + ELLIOT OFMARCO Boney,
GIGI D’ALESSIO Palais Theatre, St Kilda. 7:15pm.
THE GOOCH PALMS + LL GOONS + TROPICAL SNAKES The
Melbourne Cbd. 9:00pm.
$125.00.
Eastern, Ballarat East. 8:00pm. $10.00.
THE SWEETHEARTS + DJ VINCE PEACH + DJ PIERRE
LOVEJOY + SPLENDID + SWAMP Workers Club, Fitzroy.
THE HIGH DRIFTERS + MOSEY JOKERS + SPIDER GOAT
BARONI Cherry Bar, Melbourne Cbd. 8:00pm. $10.00.
7:30pm. $6.00.
CANYON + FRIED GOODS Bar Open, Fitzroy. 8:00pm.
TIMBALERO THURSDAY La Di Da, Melbourne Cbd.
MEZZ LIVE Chelsea Heights Hotel, Chelsea Heights.
ALISON FERRIER Charles Weston Hotel, Brunswick.
9:00pm. $10.00.
5:30pm.
6:30pm.
BACKSTAGE - JAM NIGHT - FEAT: DAN DINNEN TRIO +
BACKWOOD CREATURES Lomond Hotel, Brunswick
THE SHAKE SHACK BOOGIE BAND + DJ BARRY MAXWELL
East. 8:30pm.
Musicland, Fawkner. 7:00pm.
CHRISTIAN BIZZARRI + FULL UGLY + LISA SALVO Grace Darling Hotel, Collingwood. 8:30pm. $5.00.
DAN LETHBRIDGE Yarra Hotel, Abbotsford. 7:00pm. EMILEE SOUTH + MATT DIXON Gasometer Hotel, Collingwood. 8:30pm.
NEIL HAWKER BAND OPEN SWIMMER
THE P O ST OFFICE HOTEL Open Swimmer is the embodiment of an array of songs, recordings and performances by songwriter Ben TD. Whether performing solo or as a band, the music is always engaging and generous in output. Two sets from 8.30, entry is free.
TH E B.E A S T Neil Hawker has spent nearly a decade as an indemand sideman for many blues, country, R&B and soul acts around Melbourne. Influenced by the likes of Robben Ford, Muddy Waters, Keb Mo, all the kings and the singer/songwriters of the ‘70s, Hawker will play a set of his own brand of blues, with lots of tasty, tasty guitar work. DJ Mermaid will be spinning the wax from 7pm at the B.East and Neil Hawker and his band will be on at 9.30.
Q&A
ERIC MCGRATH + BEC GORING + MELANIE TAYLOR Open Studio, Northcote. 7:30pm.
HAPPY CAMPERS CLUB - FEAT: THE DUSTY MILLERS Caravan Music Club, Oakleigh. 6:30pm.
JANE CAMERON Wesley Anne, Northcote. 6:00pm. LACHLAN BRYAN & THE WILDES + THE WEEPING
SIBERIAN HELL SOUNDS Hey there. Who are we speaking with and what do you do in Siberian Hell Sounds? I’m Dan and I play the guitars for the band. Your 2015 release A Cult Will Rise garnered a lot of positive attention. What inspired you guys to create this record? We had a very keen German running a label called Abekeit who for some reason wanted to spend his hard earned money on committing our racket onto plastic for prosperity. We compiled and remastered three of our releases and Abekeit kindly pressed it for us. Cheers mate. Would you rather have someone write up an honest review about your music that was negative, or a positive one that wasn’t truthful? We intend to make music that’s a challenging listen. I’d love to hear why someone thinks we’re shit. Which rock star do you reckon you could keep up with when partying, (alive or deceased)? The deceased one, I’m not very good at partying. What’s in the cards for Siberian Hell Sounds in 2016? I’ll jinx it all if I give it away. SIBERIAN HELL SOUNDS are playing at Filthfest on Saturday February 6 at the Tote.
COMING UP SUNDAY EVENINGS’ IN FEB
CAT CANTERI ‘LATE NIGHT’
EP LAUNCH RES
TUESDAYS IN JANUARY
FACT HUNT TRIVIA
CHEAP TACOS + $16 JUGS OF THUNDER RD
Hosted by RRR’s Tristen Harris, this is a comfortably dumb trivia for music fans and couch potatoes, no sport, no politics and no book-learnin’. QUIZ FROM 8PM - RESERVATIONS - samanda@spottedmallard.com NO COVER
WEDNESDAY 3RD FEBRUARY
AMBER ISLES
+ DANIKA SMITH + MON SHELFORD BAND $10 ENTRY FROM 8:30PM
NO COVER CHARGE, SHOW TIME 7:30PM WED 10TH FEB
JAZZ ON A SUMMERS DAY PRESENTED BY MALLARD MOVIES + PBS 106.7FMS’ JAZZ GOT SOUL
THURSDAY 4TH FEBRUARY
LITTLE RABBIT
‘WATCHING OVER JOAN’ ALBUM LAUNCH + FAT COUSIN SKINNY
DOORS/DINNER 6PM, SHOW TIME 8:30PM PRE SALE $15 + BF
FRIDAY 5TH FEBRUARY
CYCLO TIMIK + TIM McMILLAN BAND NO COVER CHARGE, SHOWTIME 9PM
SATURDAY 6TH FEBRUARY
NO COVER CHARGE, SHOW TIME 7:00PM
THURS 11TH FEB
NEIL MURRAY & MATT WALKER DOORS/DINNER 6PM, SHOW TIME 8:30PM
ULTRAFOX
NO COVER CHARGE, SHOW TIME 9PM
sunDAY 7TH FEBRUARY NOLA SUNDAYS
THE GRUBS
PERFORMING 2 X SETS FROM 5:00PM NO COVER CHARGE
SIZZLING SOUTHERN STYLE CHICKEN & AUTHENTIC NOLA COCKTAILS
$8 Pints Craft Beer
4pm-6pm Daily but Fridays 4pm-7pm KITCHEN HOURS Tues-Fri open 4pm Sat & Sun open 2pm
TICKETS
For ticket sales visit www.spottedmallard.com 314 Sydney Rd, Brunswick
B E AT.C O M . A U
BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 41
Q&A
GIG GUIDE willows Retreat Hotel, Brunswick. 8:30pm. little rabbit + fat cousin skinny Spotted Mallard, Brunswick. 6:00pm. $15.00.
open mic night Drunken Poet, West Melbourne. 7:00pm.
woo who So then, what’s the band name and what do you ‘do’ in the band? We are Woo Who. I’m Rhys and I play a glittery guitar and sing the lyrics if I remember them. What do you reckon people will say you sound like? Some people tell us we’re like the Sex Pistols, some people tell us we’re like The Beach Boys, but my dad says we sound like garbage. What do you love about making music? I don’t. I am in music for the money and the ladies. What do you hate about the music industry? The lack of money and ladies. If you could travel back in time and show one of your musical heroes your stuff, who would it be and why? I’d love to go back to 2006 and show the Jonas Brothers where their music would eventually take their biggest fans. If you could assassinate one person or band from popular music, who would it and why? Gee Seas, they’re too good and keep showing us up. What can a punter expect from your live show? Plenty of songs about being unemployed, not being able to surf, girls, friends and bread. What’ve you got to sell CD-wise? Woo Who Recorded An EP: What Happens Next Will Blow Your Tits Clean Off is the name of our recent free digital EP, or you can buy hand drawn physical copies for $5 each. WOO WHO are playing at the Brunswick Hotel on Thursday February 4 with Gee Seas, Tiprats and Bad Shades. It’s free entry with $3 schooners.
Q&A
SHOCK WAVES What do you reckon people will say you sound like? A mix of Radio Birdman, Husker Du, Wire, Sonic Rendezvous Band, MC5, early Joy Division, Stooges, Saints, Sonics and ‘60s underground bands. If you could travel back in time and show one of your musical heroes your stuff, who would it be and why? To play with Television or Ramones at CBGBs, because why not? If you could assassinate one person or band from popular music, who would it and why? Anyone who calls themselves an artist but is really looking to make money from music should be loaded into a rocket and shot into space. What can a punter expect from your live show? A sonic overload of guitar driven sounds, along with thumping rhythms, and a very anti-establishment songwriting stance. What’ve you got to sell CD-wise? We released our debut six track EP Enough to Kill Ten Men last year, which can be purchased at gigs or at Off the Hip records. Anything else to add? Join a band, be creative, don’t grow up completely. The so-called normal people running the planet are insane. We don’t owe them anything. SHOCK WAVES are playing at the Brunswick Hotel on Friday February 5 with Wrong Turn, Green Circles and Jukai Forest. Then on Friday February 12 they’re playing at Off the Hip Records with Juliette Seizure and the Tremor Dolls. BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 42
open mic nite Inkerman Hotel, Balaclava. 7:30pm. rattlincane + wishbone Musicland, Fawkner. 8:30pm.
van walker + shane reilly Labour In Vain, Fitzroy. 8:00pm.
whole lotta blues - feat: matt stillert + elliot maginot + brendan forward Whole Lotta Love,
THE BEEZ
L A B O U R I N VA I N Berlin’s acoustic cabaret pop outfit The Beez are heading to Australia for their seventh tour and they’ll be playing the Labour in Vain on Friday February 5. The Beez excel on accordion, guitar, banjo and drums, all the while delivering impressive four-part vocal harmonies and showcasing an eccentric blend of covers and unique originals. It all kicks off at 7pm. Head on down.
AREA 7
MAX WAT T’S Area 7 are kicking off 2016 with a massive gig, returning to one of their favourite stomping grounds - Max Watt’s. It will be a very special event, as they’ll be supported by The Outsiders, a new band featuring Chuck, Andy and Ocker from Area 7. The Outsiders will be launching their debut album City Streets. Tickets are available online.
Brunswick East. 8:00pm.
traditional irish music session Drunken Poet,
luna grand + michael duchesne Shebeen,
zac saber + tim hulsman + miller Sooki Lounge,
West Melbourne. 6:00pm.
Melbourne Cbd. 8:00pm. $20.00.
Belgrave. 7:00pm.
upfront fridays - feat: one sixth + more Revolver
miriam pultro Tuxedo Cat, Melbourne Cbd.
FRIDAY 5 FEB
Upstairs, Prahran. 9:00pm.
5:00pm.
what the funk fridays Purple Emerald, Northcote.
bossa nights - feat: darius & noel mendoza + dj juan + dj nas Osti, Prahran. 7:00pm. dj steven montgomery Reverence Hotel, Footscray. 7:30pm.
heather stewart Paris Cat Jazz Club, Melbourne Cbd. 8:30pm. $25.00.
hitchcock & herrmann - feat: melbourne symphony orchestra + benjamin northey Hamer Hall (arts Centre Melbourne), Southbank. 8:00pm.
9:00pm.
The ALEISTER JAMES INCIDENT
T H E B.E A S T New Zealand bred The Aleister James Incident challenges the limits of what a classic guitar/bass/ drums combo are capable of. They’ll be showcasing their own tunes along with a repertoire from the far flung corners of Aleister James’ musical influences which include blues, rock and experimental jazz at the B.East on Friday February 5. The band’s philosophy is always intent on capturing the sprit of the music, so expect a lot of improvisation and mad joy. The band will play two sets from 9pm all for free.
BLACK VANILLA, MALL GRAB, DAZE
jam the funk Flying Saucer Club, Elsternwick.
arcane saints + foreign kings + audemia Cherry
8:40pm. $18.00.
Bar, Melbourne Cbd. 8:00pm. $13.00.
peter marjanovic + byzantine blue Open Studio,
captain spalding Customs House Hotel,
Northcote. 8:30pm.
Williamstown. 9:30pm.
sedergreen & allan Paris Cat Jazz Club, Melbourne
cat pirate + the sticking place 303, Northcote.
Cbd. 7:00pm. $20.00.
8:00pm. $5.00.
sleazy listening - feat: arks + richard kelly +
dallas crane Karova Lounge, Ballarat. 8:30pm.
BONEY The frantic force of Sydney’s Black Vanilla are coming to Good Manners Weekly at Boney, having proved at Golden Plains and Paradise Music Festival that they are capable of whipping crowds into a heaving frenzy, with their unique brand of hip hop and undeniable charisma. They will be joined by Newcastle’s up and coming producer Mall Grab, who has enjoyed a breakthrough year with a slew of successful releases through a number of influential labels. Being the only Australian DJ to resident at Berghain, it’s fair to say Daze has one of the stronger resumes in the Melbourne techno scene. He’ll will be finishing his two week residency with a late night two hour set for your pleasure.
hysteric + k hoop Toff In Town, Melbourne Cbd.
$15.00.
pitt the elder + foley! + shadow league + hot rod
5:00pm.
dj cassette walkman Workers Club, Fitzroy.
odyssey Whole Lotta Love, Brunswick East. 8:00pm.
steve sedergreen Paris Cat Jazz Club, Melbourne
8:00pm.
$10.00.
$45.00.
Cbd. 9:30pm. $25.00.
the glass moon Dizzy’s Jazz Club, Richmond. 9:00pm. $16.00.
the steve magnusson trio Uptown Jazz Cafe, Fitzroy. 8:00pm.
HORIZON’S EDGE
YA H YA H’ S Melbourne’s power metal six-piece Horizon’s Edge are on their Australian tour off the back of their new album Heavenly Realms. The outfit know how to shred a damn catchy ‘80s influenced chorus, with fierce vocal melodies down pat by front lady Kat Sproule. Don’t miss her kicking arse on Friday night with supports from Harlott, Espionage and Skarlet. Doors at 8pm with $15 entry.
einsteins toyboys + lamb boulevard Musicland, Fawkner. 7:30pm. $10.00.
finding isla Wesley Anne, Northcote. 8:00pm. $10.00.
OUCH MY FACE
Melbourne. 6:00pm. $12.00.
ted danson with wolves + diploid + diecut + geryon Old Bar, Fitzroy. 8:30pm. $10.00.
KAVA KINGS
THE PENNY BL ACK Sydney gypsy-reggae rockers The Kava Kings are currently on an 11 date national tour in support of their new EP No Time to Lose. They’ll be stopping by The Penny Black in Brunswick on Friday night for their only Melbourne show. Catch them with support from local boys Neon Queen from 9.30pm. Free entry.
finishing school Bella Union Bar, Carlton. 9:30pm.
the mcqueens + slowcoach + tom prettys Evelyn
$10.00.
Hotel, Fitzroy. 8:30pm. $10.00.
fuck the fitzroy doom scene Ding Dong Lounge,
the stiffys The Eastern, Ballarat East. 8:00pm.
Melbourne Cbd. 9:00pm. $12.00.
$10.00.
gooch palms + scotdrakula + lazertits John
T H E R E T R E AT Melbourne art-punks Ouch My Face hit the Retreat on Friday February 5 for their first show of 2016. They released their debut album Bunyip last year through Milk! Records, played sold out shows with Regurgitator and Jen Cloher, and will hit the road in March in support of riot grrrl royalty Sleater Kinney. Ouch My Face will be tearing things up at 10.30pm.
sally seltmann National Gallery Of Victoria,
Curtin Hotel, Carlton. 8:00pm. $15.00.
hey hey it’s friday - feat: astro boys Royal Hotel (essendon), Essendon. 10:00pm.
la danse macabre + brunswick massive resident djs Rainbow Hotel, Fitzroy. 9:00pm.
B E AT.C O M . A U
ARCANE SAINTS
CHERRY BAR Arcane Saints are bringing the good ol’ Aussie hard rock to Cherry this Friday Night. Their latest EP, In the Shade of The Juniper continues the Aussie legacy of musically diverse, hard hitting rock’n’roll. They’ll be joined by Canberra’s own Foreign Kings who will be launching their new EP as well as Worcestershire sauce flavoured rock pioneers Audemia. Doors 6pm, $13 entry.
GIG GUIDE IN MALICE’S WAKE
ROSS DE CHENE HURRICANES
T H E G RACE DARL ING Ross De Chene Hurricanes will rip through one last show this Friday as frontman. Mark is pissing off to Sydney to follow his dreams as a food blogger. This will mark the end of seven years of punk and surf jams from the two piece (more recently three piece) with a real life bass player. Legendary supports and fellow lovers of schoolie’s on the night are Chook Race, Dumb Punts & The Nugs! Doors 8.30pm, free entry.
TH E B E N D I G O H OT E L It’s an all out sweaty thrash spectacle at The Bendigo this Friday night. In Malice’s Wake are back after their album launch for Light Upon The Wicked alongside death metal legends Truth Corroded. Power thrashers Envenomed will also be launching a new EP of shredding menace backed by the punching grooves of Decimatus. The show will also see the debut of Blackhelm. (Formerly Metalstorm) Getting the party started will be Headbore who are currently finishing up a new album due for release early this year through Truth Inc Records. Doors are at 7 with $15 entry.
MELBOURNE ZOO TWILIGHTS - FEAT: JOSÉ GONZÁLEZ + TINY RUINS Melbourne Zoo, Parkville. 5:30pm. $65.00. STEVE LUCAS Mr Boogie Man Bar, Abbottsford. 5:00pm.
THE BAKERS DIGEST + GUY PARKMAN BAND Yarra Hotel, Abbotsford. 7:00pm.
THE PUTBACKS Catfish, Fitzroy. 9:00pm.
BLIND MAN DEATH STARE + POLYGAMISTS + CHUCK
TRACY MCNEIL & THE GOOD LIFE Post Office Hotel,
+ THE COMMONLY INSANE Mr Boogie Man Bar,
Coburg. 9:30pm.
Abbottsford. 7:30pm.
X + SUN GOD REPLICA + LEECHES Tote Hotel,
BLUE EYES CRY Baha Tacos & Tapas Bar, Rye. 7:30pm.
Collingwood. 8:00pm. $23.50.
CASSIAN Sooki Lounge, Belgrave. 9:00pm.
ZERAFINA ZARA & ALLEGED ASSOCIATES Smokehouse
CHRIS WILSON Yah Yah’s, Fitzroy. 5:30pm.
101, Maidstone. 7:00pm.
THE STREAMLINERS Big Huey’s Diner, South
CHUBBY RAE & THE ELEVATORS Black Hatt, Geelong.
Melbourne. 8:00pm.
9:30pm.
THE STU THOMAS PARADOX Dog’s Bar, St Kilda.
COLLINGWOOD OPEN - FEAT: CASH SAVAGE & THE LAST
9:00pm.
DRINKS + BIG SMOKE + HANA & JESSIE-LEE Gasometer
ANA MITSIKAS + ROGER CLARK QUARTET Dizzy’s Jazz
THE ’64 FALCON Inkerman Hotel, Balaclava. 8:00pm.
Hotel, Collingwood. 8:00pm. $20.00.
Club, Richmond. 9:00pm. $16.00.
WATT’S ON PRESENTS Prince Public Bar, St Kilda .
CYCLO TIMIK - FEAT: TIM MCMILLAN BAND + TIM
BOB MARLEY BIRTHDAY BASH 2016 - FEAT: RAS
8:30pm.
MCMILLAN BAND Spotted Mallard, Brunswick. 9:00pm.
JAHKNON & NATTY MAN + IRIE + KING RU + MORE
ABREACT + BRAZEN BULL + GRUDGE + IMPERILMENT +
DEBORAH CONWAY & WILLY ZYGIER + LAZYBONES
Corner Hotel, Richmond. 8:00pm. $25.00.
STRICT VINCENT Tote Hotel, Collingwood. 8:00pm.
Northcote Social Club, Northcote. 8:30pm. $20.00.
GRACE KNIGHT Flying Saucer Club, Elsternwick.
THREE QUARTER BEAST
GILLIAN WELCH Palais Theatre, St Kilda. 7:30pm.
8:40pm. $28.00.
JULES SHELDON Drunken Poet, West Melbourne.
HITCHCOCK & HERRMANN - FEAT: MELBOURNE
8:30pm.
SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA + BENJAMIN NORTHEY Hamer
KERRYN FIELDS & THE DUDETTES Wesley Anne,
Hall (arts Centre Melbourne), Southbank. 8:00pm.
Northcote. 6:00pm.
$45.00.
THE R EV ERENCE HOTEL Spend your Friday February 5 in Footscray as the Reverence Hotel hosts a night of swelling rock’n’roll. Three Quarter Beast, Saint Henry, Self Talk and Snark will all take the stage for a night of riff-tastic debauchery. Doors open at 8pm and tickets are a steal at $5.
Q&A
SATURDAY 6 FEB
ALARIIYA Sooki Lounge, Belgrave. 9:00pm.
LO! Hi. Who are we speaking with and what’s your role in Lo!? Sam Dillon, vocals. You’ll be taking the stage at Filth Fest 2016. The event is said to be giving punters “the rancid cream of Australian filth”. How do you expect it all to go? You’ll find no filler on this bill. All east coast states represented and Ithaqua from Japan. The Tote is going to be heaving. My personal favourites, Queensland’s Brazen Bull will slay. You describe your style of sludge inspired metal as something similar to the great Old Man Gloom, but with unique elements. Can you elaborate on this? We like to keep it versatile and bring elements of abrasive hardcore, sludge and metal with a strong focus on groove to the songs. Each release we want to expand on our sound, not clone it. Lo! is made up of four old hands of Sydney’s music scene. How have years of experience helped to add to Lo!’s sound? Being of a certain vintage and cutting your teeth in previous touring bands is an asset to Lo! Our backgrounds have given us firm friendships in the scene and confidence live. How does Sydney’s metal scene differ to Melbourne’s? Having recently moved to Melbourne, I find the scene here is colourful and thriving with the best metal venues in Oz. Sydney’s scene is also booming but with a shrinking pool of venues. This drought of live spaces for heavy music has sprouted many DIY gigs and tours to satisfy the hungry Sydney metallers. LO! are playing at Filthfest 2016 at The Tote on Saturday February 6.
‘Make visible what, without you, might never have been seen.’ (Robert Bresson)
INDIE FILM SCHOOL SHORT COURSES IN FILM & TV OTHER COURSES INCLUDE: THE CAMERA SCREENWRITING PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT & PRODUCING DIRECTING DOCUMENTARY DIRECTING DRAMA LIGHTING
COMPETITIVE PRICES NO PREREQUISITES REQUIRED WEEKEND & EVENING COURSES Phone: (03) 9417 1864 | Mobile: 0417 592 977 www.indieelmschool.com.au indieelmschool@abraelms.com B E AT.C O M . A U
BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 43
GIG GUIDE THE GROW SESSIONS - FEAT: CHRIS BOLTON + MILO GAFFNEY The Grow Cafe, Point Lonsdale. 6:30pm. $50.00.
THOMAS HUGH & SHANNON BOURNE Retreat Hotel, Brunswick. 5:00pm.
TINY RUINS
T HE JOHN CURTIN HOTE L Following the late 2015 release of her collaboration with drummer Hamish Kilgour, an EP titled Hurtling Through, Tiny Ruins is back on the road in solo mode to play shows in Melbourne with Jose Gonzales and an additional headline show Saturday February 6 at the John Curtin Hotel. Support comes from All Our Exes Live In Texas, tickets are available online.
TIM WHEATLEY + OSCAR LUSH Penny Black, Brunswick.
JESS RIBEIRO
HOLLOW WORLD
9:30pm.
JAZZ AT THE YAZZ! - FEAT: HORNS OF LEROY + THE
CONTROL ALT REPEAT - FEAT: TEN THOUSAND + DEAR
GRUBS + MORE Yarra Hotel, Abbotsford. 7:00pm.
THIEVES + NO WAVES + MORE 24 Moons, Northcote.
H OWLE R Melbourne’s hazy-rock songstress Jess Ribeiro saw an auspicious 2015 with the release her second album, Kill It Yourself which drew in massive critical acclaim garnering a bag of nominations and awards as well as performances at iCMJ, Meredith Music Festival and AWME. She is kicking off the year with a headline show at Howler ahead of another lot of festival performances before heading back to the U.S. Ribeiro is no stranger to critical acclaim as her 2012 debut, My Little River, was awarded ABC Radio National Album of the Year, Best Country Album at the 2012 AIR Awards and was shortlisted for the prestigious Australian Music Prize. Kill it Yourself, produced by Mick Harvey (The Birthday Party/the Bad Seeds) dives headlong into vivid landscape ambience and melodious ‘60s psych. Catch Jess Ribiero at Howler on Saturday February 6. Tickets via the venue.
JUSTINE JONES & THE PLAYBOYS OF RHYTHM The
8:00pm. $12.00.
VOYAGER & LEPROUS + SLOWCOACH + TOM PRETTYS
TRIBUTE) - FEAT: ALI E + CODA CHROMA + CLOSET
Luwow, Fitzroy. 8:00pm. $5.00.
DEAD CITY RUINS + TWO HEADED DOG + DEVIL ELECTRIC
Evelyn Hotel, Fitzroy. 8:30pm. $25.00.
STRAIGHTS + ANDREW MCCUBBIN + JMS HARRISON
MOOGY & BAND (FRENCH CHANSON) Rising Sun Hotel,
Cherry Bar, Melbourne Cbd. 5:00pm. $13.00.
WITCH HATS + LALIC SHAME + BROTHERS + GIRL CRAZY
+ MORE Northcote Social Club, Northcote. 1:00pm.
South Melbourne. 8:00pm. $25.00.
EL COLOSSO + CRAK The Eastern, Ballarat East.
Old Bar, Fitzroy. 8:30pm. $10.00.
$15.00.
PHILA PARA Prince Public Bar, St Kilda . 6:00pm.
8:00pm. $10.00.
ALLYSHA JOY Post Office Hotel, Coburg. 9:30pm.
CAT CANTERI Spotted Mallard, Brunswick. 7:30pm.
SO IT SEEMS WE HAVE MET BEFORE? (AN EVENING OF
FILTHFEST - FEAT: YANOMAMO + SIBERIAN HELL
BLACK BETTY + FIRE SUITE + SANS SHERIFF Mr Boogie
DEL BOCA VISTA + THEM HIGH SPIRITS + WEDDING BELL
RODGERS & HART) Paris Cat Jazz Club, Melbourne
SOUNDS + ITHAQUA + GREYTOMB + MORE Tote Hotel,
Man Bar, Abbottsford. 7:30pm.
RINGS Workers Club, Fitzroy. 7:30pm. $5.00.
Cbd. 7:00pm. $25.00.
Collingwood. 1:00pm. $20.40.
BLUES CRUISE - FEAT: ANDY PHILLIPS & THE CADILLAC
DUNCAN PHILLIPS THE LONG STAND Rainbow Hotel,
GIMME SHELTER
GEOFF ACHISON Rainbow Hotel, Fitzroy. 9:30pm.
WALK + JOHN MCNAMARA Shed 14, Docklands.
Fitzroy. 4:00pm.
GRETCHEN LEWIS + DOGGEREL Lost, St Kilda. 9:00pm.
5:30pm. $35.00.
FEAR LIKE US + NAKED WASTE Reverence Hotel,
KODIAK KID + HYPERFOKUS + LEEMAN + AKIN Penny
CRAIG WOODWARD + WARREN ROUGH & FRIENDS
Footscray. 8:00pm.
Black, Brunswick. 9:00pm.
Victoria Hotel , Brunswick. 5:00pm.
FUCK YOU CANCER (A DAVID BOWIE TRIBUTE) - FEAT:
LEECHES + MUTTON + SPACEJUNK + OLDER MEN + THE
HIRED GUNS Labour In Vain, Fitzroy. 7:00pm.
MISSY HIGGINS + ANGIE HART + HANNAH GADSBY +
FCKUPS Grace Darling Hotel, Collingwood. 9:00pm.
HORNETS Lomond Hotel, Brunswick East. 9:30pm.
MANTRA + MORE Gasometer Hotel, Collingwood.
$12.00.
KARAOKE WITH ZOE Customs House Hotel,
6:00pm. $18.00.
MARCELO + MEG SAMPSON Bella Union Bar, Carlton.
Williamstown. 9:00pm.
ITHAQUA + TSUGNARLY + DEAD + DEWEY & THE PANEL
2:00pm. $12.00.
LOUIE & THE PRIDE Edinburgh Castle, Brunswick.
BEATERS + CASTRATION PARTY Karova Lounge,
MIRIAM PULTRO Ruby’s Music Room, Melbourne Cbd.
5:00pm.
Ballarat. 6:00pm. $7.00.
SUE ANN JAZZ Jambo, Footscray. 8:30pm.
6:00pm. $15.00.
MELBOURNE ZOO TWILIGHTS - FEAT: JOHN BUTLER TRIO
JAM AT MUSICLAND SUNDAYS Musicland, Fawkner.
TAMARA KULDIN Paris Cat Jazz Club, Melbourne Cbd.
NEW LEASE - FEAT: PREMIUM FANTASY + MOON RITUAL
+ TINPAN ORANGE Melbourne Zoo, Parkville. 5:30pm.
7:30pm.
8:30pm. $25.00.
+ CASS & ZAYD John Curtin Hotel, Carlton. 3:00pm.
$80.00.
MALICHOR + OLIGARCH + ORDER OF CHAOS + SCAPHIS +
TEK TEK ENSEMBLE + DJ FLOYD Open Studio,
OH WHAT A NIGHT + BELLATRIX Musicland, Fawkner.
MON SHELFORD Wesley Anne, Northcote. 6:00pm.
VULGOD Tote Hotel, Collingwood. 4:30pm.
Northcote. 8:30pm.
8:30pm. $20.00.
ROWENA WISE & THE GUYS Wesley Anne, Northcote.
THE CRAVE Dog’s Bar, St Kilda. 8:00pm.
THAT GOLD STREET SOUND Catfish, Fitzroy. 9:00pm.
OLIVER SOL + YOUNGS + LACUNA + RUI Toff In Town,
8:00pm. $15.00.
TIGRESS MAGAZINE FOR GIRLS FUNDRAISING GIG -
THE CLASSICS (OPERA) - FEAT: SUZANNE CHAUNDY
Melbourne Cbd. 8:00pm. $13.00.
SCRIMSHAW FOUR + THE TWOKS + GEORGIA SPAIN
FEAT: ELUSIVE + SANDY HSU + DES CHIO Toff In Town,
Victoria Gardens, Prahran. 7:30pm.
REUBEN STONE Shebeen, Melbourne Cbd. 7:30pm.
Workers Club, Fitzroy. 8:30pm. $8.00.
Melbourne Cbd. 7:00pm. $5.00.
THE FURBELOWS Paris Cat Jazz Club, Melbourne Cbd.
$12.00.
TROUSER FORCE + HONEYBONE + MAJAK DOOR + BEN
9:30pm. $25.00.
SATURDAYS R COVERED - FEAT: RADIO STAR Royal
SWAMPMOTH
THE HANGI BOYS Ferdydurke, Melbourne Cbd.
Hotel (essendon), Essendon. 10:00pm.
12:00pm.
SAVE THE ORANGUTANS - FEAT: HARRY BLOTTER
THE KAVA KINGS Baha Tacos & Tapas Bar, Rye.
+ SMILK + TEKXTURE + MORE Rubix Warehouse,
7:30pm.
Brunswick. 3:00pm. $10.00.
THE MARK FITZGIBBON TRIO Uptown Jazz Cafe,
THE SHOT GLASSES Inkerman Hotel, Balaclava.
T H E R E T R E AT Swampmoth are Melbourne’s finest purveyors of swagger and groove, digging deep to find the best pysch rock jams of the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. With Hammond sounds, fuzz-driven guitar, wailing vox, pummelling Bonzo-esque drums they’re certainly a treat live. If you’ve ever wanted to hear live Captain Beyond, Atomic Rooster, Dust, Gun, Buffalo, Steel, Alamo and more, now’s your chance. Playing two sets, the night kicks off at 9:30pm, no cash required.
Fitzroy. 8:00pm.
9:00pm.
SMALL TOWN ALIENS Drunken Poet, West Melbourne.
FAIRFIELD SUMMER SERIES (SONGS AND STORIES)
BANG - FEAT: DREAM ON DREAMER + PRIDELANDS +
THEE WILD OSCARS + LANEWAVES + THE MOODY
9:00pm.
- FEAT: CLAMBE + SENEGAMBIAN JAZZ BAND + DAVE
ALPHA WOLF Royal Melbourne Hotel, Melbourne
SPOOKS + HOOPER CRESCENT Reverence Hotel,
SONGS IN A NORTHERN KEY - FEAT: STEPHEN J SMITH +
ARDEN Fairfield Amphitheatre, 5:00pm.
Cbd. 10:00pm. $20.00.
Footscray. 8:00pm. $5.00.
JANE CAMERON + RICH DAVIES + GREG STEPS Workers
KATE CEBRANO St Kilda Memo, St Kilda. 3:00pm.
COBURG RSL BAND NIGHT #18 - FEAT: POPE’S
VISION STREET + LIEUTENANT JAM + LIVING EARTH
Club, Fitzroy. 1:00pm. $10.00.
$33.00.
ASSASSINS + GIANT MOTHS + CAROLINE + RIO + YOU
SOUND SESSIONS + PETER DICKYBIRD Whole Lotta
THE ‘JOHNNY CAN’T DANCE’ CAJUN TRIO Some Velvet
PEPPERCORN JAZZ BAND Open Studio, Northcote.
MINX Coburg Rsl, Coburg. 7:00pm. $5.00.
Love, Brunswick East. 8:00pm. $7.00.
Morning, Clifton Hill. 9:00pm.
5:00pm.
IMPROV @ THE GREEN - FEAT: SHEPHERD + FERELLA + MCCONNACHIE + YSK Brunswick Green, Brunswick. 7:00pm.
T HE SH AD OW EL ECTR I C Road to Refuge is a non-profit, volunteer-run organisation dedicated to community education and engagement around refugees and people seeking asylum. On Saturday, they’ll be presenting an impressive line up for its summer fundraiser, Gimme Shelter! at The Shadow Electric. Gimme Shelter! will be headlined by Gareth Liddiard (The Drones), Ben Abraham, The Harpoons DJ’s, Nhattyman, Arthur Penn & the Funky Ten, Cable Ties plus spoken word poets and comedians in the courtyard; with a few surprises to be announced. All Gimme Shelter! proceeds will go towards the organisation’s projects and workshops planned in 2016 to further a more inclusive and constructive dialogue in Australia towards those seeking safety. Tickets via the venue.
BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 44
YA H YA H’S Melodic death metal outfit Hollow World are setting out on their ZeroWorldCircular South East Tour this weekend. After the disbanding of Wychbury Hill in late 2012, ex-members Michael Truscott, Michael Hodgson, Theo Goslett and Karl Steller began writing and rehearsing new material, and were joined shortly after by Josh Hynes. Hollow World released their second EP Wrath Kept Within in July last year and received keen support from their devoted fan base. Zeolite, The Hazard Circular and Annihilist will be joining in on the fun too. Doors from 8pm with $15 entry.
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ULTRAFOX Spotted Mallard, Brunswick. 9:00pm. VULGARGRAD + JOHNNY & THE JOHNNY JOHNNIES + FLOYD THURSBY + DJ DOCTOR POPALOTACORN Northcote Social Club, Northcote. 8:30pm. $17.00.
SUNDAY 7 FEB
1700 FUNDRAISER - FEAT: NEON QUEEN + TIBER + THE MILKY BISHOPS + DJ MIMI Evelyn Hotel, Fitzroy. 8:30pm. $10.00.
A STARMAN WAITING IN THE SKY (DAVID BOWIE
BENNETT Bar Open, Fitzroy. 7:30pm. BAKERSFIELD GLEE CLUB Yarra Hotel, Abbotsford. 7:00pm.
BEETHOVEN & THE 21ST CENTURY - FEAT: AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER ORCHESTRA + PEKKA KUUSISTO Hamer Hall (arts Centre Melbourne), Southbank. 2:30pm. $42.00.
GIG GUIDE JOE GUITON
WH OL E LOT TA LOV E Double stacked Sunday with all the acoustic guitar you could possibly want from 3pm. Luke Seymour starts it all off followed by Sydneysider Josh Arentz and local lad David Grimson. Get your fill of grumpcore sadarse Joe Guiton of The Suicide Tuesdays before Jules Millis of White Widdow gets his acoustic out for what will be the first of three special Sundays in February. From 8pm, supported by Stiletto. Second show from 8pm. Free entry all day.
Brunswick East. 8:00pm.
T H E B.E A S T Pretty sure you’ve been dying for some New Orleans Funk on a Sunday, so The B.East are gonna give it to you every Sunday this month. The Horns of Leroy are one of Melbourne’s most recognisable street and party brass bands. After building their reputation through their raucous New Orleans inspired street parties, they’ve secured a rapid following through memorable performances such as at the Falls Festival, Dark Mofo, Brunswick Music Festival, The White Night Festival, MONA (Tas), Melbourne International Jazz Festival and many others. The music is a fresh blend of funk, soul and traditional New Orleans jazz music, drawing influence from artists such as the Rebirth Brass Band, The Hoodangers and Beyoncé. Music kicks off at 1.30pm.
JUMP DEVILS Inkerman Hotel, Balaclava. 4:00pm.
SUNDAY SESSIONS - FEAT: VARIOUS ARTISTS Lucky
MATT STILLERT + LUKE AUSTEN Drunken Poet, West
Coq, Windsor. 4:00pm.
Melbourne. 4:00pm.
THE GRUBS Spotted Mallard, Brunswick. 5:00pm.
JEMMA NICOLE + HOTEL WRECKING CITY TRADERS + GRIM RHYTHM Tote Hotel, Collingwood. 5:00pm. JULES MILLIS + STILETTO Whole Lotta Love,
THE SUGARCANES
THE O LD B AR It’s been said that a spoonful of sugar helps the residency get down, and to that end The Sugarcanes will be serving up all the soulful sticky sweetness you could desire. They’ll play every Sunday in February at The Old Bar for the legendary Beersoaked Sundays Residency, and will be presenting a varied star spangled lineup, kicking off this Sunday with The Eighty 88s and La Bastard, who are two of the wildest outfits this side of Frankston. From 8pm and only $6 entry with $10 Jugs all night.
MELBOURNE ZOO TWILIGHTS - FEAT: JOHN BUTLER TRIO + TINPAN ORANGE Melbourne Zoo, Parkville. 5:30pm. MICHAEL MEEKING & THE LOST SOULS Standard Hotel, MICHELLE GARDINER Customs House Hotel,
8:00pm.
Williamstown. 3:00pm.
SLIPPER 303, Northcote. 7:30pm.
MISS WHISKEY Royal Oak Hotel, Fitzroy North.
SUNDAY SOUL SESSIONS Purple Emerald, Northcote.
4:00pm.
9:00pm.
MOONEE VALLEY DRIFTERS Lomond Hotel, Brunswick
BILLY MILLER + REBECCA BARNARD + ANDREW
East. 5:30pm.
DUFFIELD Caravan Music Club, Oakleigh. 3:00pm.
FEAR LIKE US
TH E RE V E R E NC E H OT E L Great news everybody. Fear Like Us will return to the Reverence Hotel’s front bar each Sunday for a run of free gigs and a selection of sweet supports. They’ve just released their very first single The Lowest Form Of Love and now the band are eager beans to get their new songs out there and stuck in your head. Never fear though, Fear Like Us will still smash out a collection of old songs for the purists out there. It all costs a smooth zero dollars and music kicks off at 4pm.
COOKIN ON 3 BURNERS & MANTRA
ELWOOD BLUES CLUB Prince Public Bar, St Kilda .
OPEN MIKE SUNDAY Yah Yah’s, Fitzroy. 6:30pm.
8:00pm.
SAMMY OWEN BLUES BAND Daveys Bar & Restaurant,
GREG WALSH Pera, Brighton. 3:00pm.
Frankston. 8:00pm.
T H E R E T R E AT Cookin’ On 3 Burners are Australia’s hardest hitting Hammond organ trio – joining the dots between deep funk, raw soul, organ jazz and boogaloo. Six albums in and their new album Blind Bet more than delivers. Described as ‘classic soul sounds with a modern cinematic twist’, it features beautiful string and horn arrangements by Ross Irwin and special guest vocalists Daniel Merriweather, Tex Perkins, Kylie Auldist, Harry James Angus (Cat Empire) and Jason Heerah (Electric Empire) If you haven’t seen Cookin’ on 3 Burners live, you’re in for a treat. The band will first perform an instrumental set and then be joined by one of Australia’s best MC’s Mantra. Catch Cookin On 3 Burners at the Retreat Hotel on Sunday February 7. Entry is free, but get down early
HANA & JESSIE-LEE + LITTLE RABBIT Retreat Hotel,
SHAKEDOWN SHAKES + SOUTHBOUND TRAM +
THE LARGE NUMBER 12’S Labour In Vain, Fitzroy.
Brunswick. 5:00pm.
POWERHOUSE BLUES BAND + CRAFTY ANNE Mr Boogie
5:00pm.
HELEN RYDER Post Office Hotel, Coburg. 4:30pm.
Man Bar, Abbottsford. 7:30pm.
THE STEVE MARTINS Lomond Hotel, Brunswick East.
JACKSON MCCLAREN Wesley Anne, Northcote.
SUNDAY SESSION - FEAT: BRUNSY Ferntree Gully
9:00pm.
6:00pm.
Hotel, Ferntree Gully. 2:00pm.
BOB HUTCHINSON BAND Edinburgh Castle, Brunswick. 5:00pm.
CHRIS WILSON Big Huey’s Diner, South Melbourne. 4:00pm.
DAREBIN SONGWRITERS GUILD 303, Northcote. 3:30pm.
MANDEK PENHA 1. Growing Up I was born in 1803 where North Korea now exists. Today I reside in Melbourne Australia working tirelessly to lead The Church of Sarrean Alignment. Throughout my existence I have walked the Earth, travelled the seas, and lived among every faction of man. 2. Inspirations My greatest inspiration is the never-ending love supplied by Lord Mandek Penha. Everything outside his vision for mankind has been infected by the worst evil in the cosmos, a spirit called The Hish’ry Cosh’ry. It is our mission to change the world and lead humanity into South Sarra: The Father’s Multiverse Sanctuary.
Fitzroy. 7:00pm.
SHANTY TOWN & THE UNIT Open Studio, Northcote.
$23.00.
THE NEW ORLEANS FUNK FACTORY
Q&A
B E AT.C O M . A U
3. Your Band The Past Earthly Embodiments and myself perform music and bring truth to the community. The Next Earthly Embodiment was at a time also involved with these performances, although as the years passed she longed to return to our homeland on Earth, North Korea. 4. The Music You Make Devine music flows directly to me via Lord Mandek Penha. It fills my mind with knowledge and my heart with warm blistering joy. This music is the invisible mental capsule that contains our messages. Our first EP and music video was released in 2013 and features The Next Earthly Embodiment on vocals. She was 12 years old at the time. Since then we have released two other music videos, Must Reach IMZ (2013) and recently When I Touch My Leg (2016). 5. Music, Right Here, Right Now Besides The Hish’ry Cosh’ry’s influence, Melbourne seems somewhat resistant to our creating a Strong Sarrean community. All music outside of our church is destructive and should never be heard by anyone, the people who are responsible for this music are deranged and cannot be trusted. MANDEK PENHA is playing every Tuesday in February at The Workers Club.
BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 45
GIG GUIDE
The Push
the travis winters blues band The Water Rat
PRESENT
Hotel, South Melbourne. 5:00pm. $5.00.
Access All Ages
three kings + the new savagaes Cherry Bar, Melbourne Cbd. 3:00pm. $5.00.
tom dockray & the dockradoodledoo Catfish, Fitzroy. 7:00pm.
With grace kindellan
MONDAY 8 FEB BYO VINYL NIGHT
MARTEL CORPORATION
T HE RETREAT Melbourne Record Club lets you be the DJ at The Retreat Hotel Front Bar in Brunswick. Come down and meet like-minded music lovers and fellow record collectors. Impress your friends with your rare and collectable vinyl and book in a slot to play a set from your favourite LPs and 45s.
cherry jam Cherry Bar, Melbourne Cbd. 8:00pm.
TH E WO R KE R S C LU B David Martel moved to Melbourne from Montreal after collaborating with a local artists Patrick Watson and members of The Arcade Fire, Suuns, The Luyas to make his latest release, The Hopelessness of Having Everything. He formed The Martel Corporation in 2014 and has been going from strength to strength ever since. Come see them kick off the new year with a 5-week residency at The Worker’s Club, doors are at 7.30 and entry is $3.
monday night mass - feat: dead ithaqua + sulo/ eves Northcote Social Club, Northcote. 8:00pm. scurvylicious + shadowcasters + jack william
TUESDAY 9 FEB
Old Bar, Fitzroy. 8:00pm. $5.00.
alchemy 303, Northcote. 8:00pm.
the martel corporation + mango retreat +
anna’s go-go academy Bella Union Bar, Carlton.
king puppy & the carnivor Workers Club, Fitzroy.
6:30pm. $10.00.
7:30pm. $3.00.
irish session Lomond Hotel, Brunswick East.
world news records presents - feat: hearing
8:00pm.
+ caroline no + full flower moon band Evelyn
juliana tenucci Open Studio, Northcote. 7:30pm.
Hotel, Fitzroy. 8:30pm. $6.00.
omelette Conduit Arts, Fitzroy. 7:00pm.
b3 breakout 303, Northcote. 8:00pm.
squid nebula + bitterfruitt Retreat Hotel,
beethoven & the 21st century - feat: australian
Brunswick. 8:30pm.
chamber orchestra + pekka kuusisto Hamer Hall
black molasses Evelyn Hotel, Fitzroy. 8:30pm.
(arts Centre Melbourne), Southbank. 8:30pm. $42.00.
$5.00.
fat tuesday festival - feat: brian nankervis +
cat power Melbourne Recital Centre, Southbank.
mohair slim + bruce milne Argyle Square, Carlton.
7:30pm. $60.00.
4:00pm. $23.98.
chvrches + east india youth Forum Theatre,
john thorn & the roses Open Studio, Northcote.
Melbourne Cbd. 8:00pm.
8:00pm. $10.00.
collingwood open - feat: redspencer + good
omelette Conduit Arts, Fitzroy. 7:00pm.
morning + ciggie witch + pure moods Gasometer
silvie paladino (on my own) + david cameron
Hotel, Collingwood. 7:00pm.
Hamer Hall (arts Centre Melbourne), Southbank.
fifth friend Cherry Bar, Melbourne Cbd. 6:00pm.
11:00am. $16.00.
mandek penha + kakariko + hollywood models
silvie paladino (on my own) + david cameron
Workers Club, Fitzroy. 8:00pm. $10.00.
Hamer Hall (arts Centre Melbourne), Southbank.
sweet gold + russet burbank + dane tutty &
1:30pm. $16.00.
james bunn Old Bar, Fitzroy. 7:00pm. $6.00.
zappa in recital - feat: adam simmons + david
jules sheldon Yarra Hotel, Abbotsford. 7:00pm.
jones + alessandra garosi Melbourne Recital
taste of indie tuesday - feat: aspiring songwriter
Centre, Southbank. 7:00pm.
sessions Prince Public Bar, St Kilda . 8:00pm.
CLASSIFIEDS 33c per word per week (inc GST) Send your classified listing to classifieds@beat.com.au. Payment options include VISA/Mastercard or EFT (1.5% surcharge for credit card payment). Deadline is Monday 11am, prior to Wednesday’s publication. Minimum $5 charge per week. We do not accept classifieds over the phone - sorry.
BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 46
Acts wanted for Sunday rock shows Contact: mark@gunnmusic.com.au Bands/Duos/Solo acts wanted for Acoustic/Indie Fest Contact: mark@gunnmusic.com.au Rock/Metal acts wanted for local rock shows Contact: mark@gunnmusic.com.au
GOLDLINK
HOWLE R Washington, DC rapper Goldlink is hitting up Howler next week in support of his debut LP And After That We Didn’t Talk, released late 2015. Goldlink is renowned for his calculated, roller-coaster delivery rapping along with his distinct voice and unmeasurable cadence. His 2014 mixtape The God Complex is a polyrhythmic blend of ‘90s hip-hop, R&B and sophisticated EDM. Goldlink has previously worked with formidable producer Kaytranada, and toured with genre-bending mystique SBTRKT. The 21-year-old virtuoso wrote Song from Scratch with Australia’s own Chet Faker. Get your tickets through the venue.
ASPIRING SONGWRITERS NIGHT
PR I N C E P U BLI C B A R A great lineup of up and coming songwriters are stepping up to the stage this week, with the night being hosted by KAT O as the Taste of Indie Collective continues its bit to foster live local, original songwriting and performance in Melbourne. Music from 7.30pm and entry is free.
WANT YOUR GIG IN GIG GUIDE? EMAIL A SHORT BLURB AND PIC TO MUSICNEWS@BEAT.COM.AU
Keys/Synth/FX player wanted for original rock band with electronic edge. Think Kasabian, Primal screen/ QOTSA/ Kings of Leon. Text Pat on 0497 318 847 MODELING. We’re looking for confident women of all styles (aged 18+) for our pro-feminist photographic projects with an emphasis on style and creativity. Nude/undies, paying $100 to $500 per shoot. Don’t overlook this until you’ve found out more about it. Rebecca ph.9495 6555
B E AT.C O M . A U
Looking for a head-start and some good advice in the music industry? The 2016 FReeZA Mentoring Program matches up enthusiastic young people with established music industry professionals who provide one-on-one mentoring and support in areas as diverse as event management, performance, technical production, publicity, and music business. This program is open to people between the ages of 18-25 who live in Victoria and have an interest in working in the music industry. Applications close on Sunday February 7 and are available here: www.surveymonkey. com/r/Freezamentoring16. We have also added to our music industry mentoring opportunities with a new program for women performers in 2016. It’s called SQUAD and it will provide women performers aged 18 – 25 with the chance to be teamed up with industry professionals, attend special master-classes and an exclusive development weekend where participants will work on craft and career with a range of experts. There are ten places available for SQUAD with more details at www. thepush.com.au/squad. The deadline for applications is also on Sunday February 7 so get on to it! Fed Square Live is here to ease you into the summer music season with a series of free, outdoor performances every Thursday from 5.30pm at, you guessed it, Fed Square. Relax into a deckchair and unwind as the sun sets over some of Melbourne’s most talented acts. Head to www.fedsquare.com for more details. Tonight, and every Wednesday night until the end of March, you can check out music across three stages at the Queen Victoria Night Market from 5pm till 10pm. This week you can hear the joyful, traditional Kora music from The Senegambian Jazz Band, authentic, rootsy bluegrass from The Scrimshaw Four and the uniquely Brazillian genre of Choro from Tamandua. For more information and details of upcoming line ups, check out www.qvm.com.au/ entertainment-2. There’s plenty of other free live music happening in and around the city, with MPavillion’s summer program heating up the Queen Victoria Gardens. Tonight you can see an intimate performance of beautiful classical music from four of the Australian Chamber Orchestra’s finest soloists led by Richard Tognetti, the ACO’s lead violinist and artistic director. On Saturday February 6 Ladies of Leisure are hosting a good old-fashioned group hang to mingle with new mates over tasty treats and good tunes. Forget autocorrect, super-likes and swiping right: this is about hanging out, catching up and making like-minded friends IRL (but obvs insta is totes appropes.) Liquid Architecture presents Endless Bummer, a Sundayafternoon party with beats from Rites Wild, David Chesworth and Makeda from 4pm to 8pm. Check out these events and more at www.mpavilion.org/program. The Folk Alliance Australia Youth Award is open again! The award is open to young Australian folk musicians aged 25 and under, and aims to boost the profile of young performers and introduce, support and encourage them to the next level of their development. Solo acts and small bands that fall within the genres of traditional to contemporary folk will be considered. Selected acts will perform at the National Folk Festival in Canberra on March 27, where the winner will be announced. Prizes include 12 months of development support and the opportunity to perform at three national festivals! Applications close February 8, for more info go to www.folkalliance.org.au/faayouth-folk-awards
NOW BOOKING BANDS at Dane Certificate’s Magic Bar. Email danecertificate@yahoo.com.au * MUSINGS: Sphynx cats look like human ears.
All Ages Gig Guide F ri d a y F ebruar y 5
Megafoam Summer Party w/ Cardiac Chaos, Will Netherway, Corey Rule, Corey Mann, Nexus Youth Centre, 14 Pynsent Street, 7.00pm, $5, www. facebook.com/pages/Horsham-Nexus, U18
S atur d a y F ebruar y 6
Belgrave Pool Party, w/ DJ Ben Nicholas, DJ Riley, Belgrave Outdoor Pool, Best Street, Belgrave, 12.00pm - 4.00pm, $3.50, www.yarraranges.vic.gov. au/Lists/Events/Pool-Parties-2016, AA Barwon South West Skate Series w/ TBA, Warrnambool Skate Park, Pertobe Road, Warrnambool, Time: 10.00am - 4.00pm, Free, www. warrnambool.vic.gov.au, AA
Wed 3rd February
W I N E , W H I S K EY, W O M E N 8pm: Tanya Ransom 9pm: Celia Church Thurs 4th February
OPEN MIC NIGHT Friday 5th February
6pm: Traditional Irish Music Session 8pm:
Jules Sheldon Saturday 6th February 9pm: Small Town Aliens Sunday 7th February 4pm: Luke Austen 6.30pm: Matt Stillert Tuesday 9th February
8pm:
Weekly Trivia
The Drunken Poet, 65 Peel Street (directly opposite Queen Vic Market), Phone: 03 9348 9797. www.thedrunkenpoet.com.au
WEDNESDAY 3RD 7PM
SIMON TK + MILLY DAVIDSON + BEC RIGBY THURSDAY 4TH 7PM
JUNGLE FUNK
RESIDENT MANCHILD WITH SPECIALS GUEST AFROBEAT, CUMBIA, FUNK, SAMBA & LIVE PERCUSSIONS
FRIDAY 5TH 7PM
ROMANTIC TREATMENT SATURDAY 6TH 7PM
HUNGI BOYS POP UP KITCHEN! SUNDAY 7TH 7PM
CAMERON WITH HEADS W TAILS FRIENDS
EASTERN EUROPEAN STREET FOOD NOON UNTIL 9PM SUN - THUR. A LITTLE LATER FRI & SAT
B E AT.C O M . A U
BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 47
REHEARSAL STUDIOS
threephasemusic.com Weeknight rates from $65
8 Tinning St, Brunswick
PA HIRE Mastering for CD, Vinyl & Online Releases
thecabinmastering.com Ph-0408 565 121
Comprehensive PA systems delivered, set up and operated with crew. Compact, easy, sound systems you can pickup and assemble yourself.Components such as microphones, speakers and effects are also available separately. Lights also available. For details phone Mark Barry on 03 9889 1999 or 0419 993 966
www.bssound.com.au bssound@bigpond.com
18 DUFFY ST BURWOOD WWW.HYDRASTUDIOS.COM.AU
HYDRA REHEARSAL STUDIOS BOOK A ROOM! CALL: 0417 000 397 • 2000 WATT HK AUDIO/MACKIE PAs • TEN CLEAN, 30M2 ROOMS • STORAGE • DRUMKIT/AMP HIRE • AIR CON
… WHIP COMES DOWN IN SYDNEY Authorities are cracking down hard on drug taking at festivals. The first 11 of the 184 busted for drugs at Sydney’s Field Day festival on New Year’s Day felt the wrath of Magistrate John Favretto at the Downing Centre Court. They all copped criminal records, reported the Sydney Morning Herald. Most were first timers. But the magistrate said that most first-time offenders expected not to have convictions recorded against them, and hence took risks at music festivals. “These offences are too serious as people keep dying. It’s got to stop.”
THINGS WE HEAR Which opening act on a national tour got ticked off by the headliners’ manager for babbling online that the tour was adding BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 50
Meantime, Axl Rose is pissed that Aerosmith’s Steve Tyler is taking credit for bringing the sort-of original lineup back together by saying he told them, “You’ve got to get it together. There’s a place and a time where, if you don’t, you’re going to miss it.” A post on the Gunners’ account stated, “Guns N’ Roses would like to respectfully thank the many people taking credit for our upcoming shows and everything in between. Especially those whom we haven’t spoken to in numerous years who, through the power of media, have somehow served a pivotal, even if non-existent role. We and the fans thank you!” No definite announcement yet, but Sydney’s Club 77 posted on social media it will be coming back to hold club nights. So how did some of the music community who landed Order of Australia medals on Oz Day celebrate? Tina Arena was playing a gig in London. It was also Shane Howard’s birthday so he went off fishing. Bluesfest promoter Peter Noble neglected to open the letter from the Government advising him of the honour and spent the morning at a Survival Day event in Byron Bay. That didn’t stop Noble from getting into debate over The Rubens’ topping the triple j Hottest 100. While the Rubes and Church frontman Steve Kilbey exchange public barbs over the worthiness of their win, Noble was asked in a Facebook Q&A what he thought of the band relegating Bluesfest headliner Kendrick Lamar to #2. Noble said: “Who are The Reubens [sic]? Kendrick’s #2s will be more solid than anything that can be described by The Reubens as their #1s.” The lack of women in the list ignited a vigorous and essential discussion on sexism in the local music industry. Graham Wood, who runs the biggest jazz club in Perth, The Ellington, stated, “I’d rather be shot than read that crass rubbish”. All Our Exes Live In Texas were so pissed off they declared they’d never play the club again. Triple j says a record amount of people voted this year: 298,851 from 172 countries cast 2,094,000 votes. There were 2,089 Hottest 100 parties registered in more than 70 countries listening live, including Davis Base in Antarctica and the remote Saint Helena island in the middle of the South Atlantic Ocean. Port Phillip Council has knocked out Palais Theatre’s current operators from the bid to run the iconic St. Kilda venue, leaving Live Nation and Sydney venue operator Playbill in the shortlist. See beat.com.au for full story. The latest show to sell out in the Melbourne Zoo Twilights Series is that by San Cisco and Last Dinosaurs, joining the full capacity sign hung out for those by The Waifs and Ruby Boots, José González, John Butler Trio and Birds of Tokyo. More details at zoo.org.au/twilights. The LGBITQ festival ChillOut, happening in Daylesford in March, has unveiled 33 events courtesy of new festival director Merryn Tinkler. Carnival Day on Sunday March 13 is headlined by country performer Beccy Cole and The Blow Waves. In the run-up, Tinkler is forging close ties with local businesses to ensure the entire
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Police are trying to stop Lexton’s Rainbow Serpent festival from being held again, releasing a scathing report of crowd behaviour at the 19th instalment this month. An online poll by the Ballarat Courier found that 92% from 6000 responses wanted it to continue. The four-day festival attracted over 16,000 punters between January 22 and 26. Police cited 40 drivers detected with drugs in their systems on their way home, four sexual assaults and 950 needing medical attention mostly for drug and alcohol issues. Four people – an Italian national, two French nationals and a Healesville man – were charged with offences relating to drug trafficking and possession and face court on February 11. The Italian was refused bail as the magistrate deemed him a flight risk as he could not find his passport to present to police. Promoter Tim Harvey said, “Crowd behaviour in general this year was wonderful with the vast majority of our 16,000 strong Rainbow community contributing to a very special international gathering.”
Was Richard Fortus and Dizzy Reed’s decision to leave The Dead Daisies to do with the original Guns N’ Roses reunion?
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PUNTERS BEHIND RAINBOW SERPENT …
Could we see the UK’s Flamingo Pier pop up EDM festival in Australia? It’s already set up in New Zealand.
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For those of you wondering which acts swear the most in their songs, lyrics and data site Musixmatch have the answer. Hip hop has the most profanities (big surprise there) with Lil Wayne having “the highest count of swear words in his lyrics” (beating 2pac, Snoop Dogg, Busta Rhymes and T.I.) and Chief Keef uses them “most frequently”, averaging 1 every 20 words. Heavy metal is the second most potty mouthed, with Korn winning over Slipknot and Children of Bodom. Diplo leads in EDM with 21 words (a genre with not a lot of words, mind) and then DeadMau5 and Hardwell. Green Day and Red Hot Chili Peppers represent rock. Charli XCX is the pop music act you wouldn’t take home to mum, and that stands for Tove Lo and Mark Ronson too. The Neighbourhood swear most of the indie acts surveyed, then Modest Mouse and Kings of Leon. Folk has Loudon Wainwright III and Joni Mitchell and country (the least profane genre) Justin Moore, Eric Church and Miranda Lambert. It’s not a definitive list, as Musixmatch only chose from a pool of the most-Googled 361 artists, 3,573 studio albums and close to ten million words. “Motherfucker” was the most used word followed by nigga/s/z, shit, fuck and bitch. An average of 0.66% of all words in lyrics of these artists are swear words. One in every 152 words is a swear word. This is higher than the percentage of profanities in everyday speech (which is around 0.5%).
dates, before the official announcement?
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community is involved. Mojo Juju will play the Friday night opening event, while Mummy Queerest explores gay parenting through comedy, music and stories. The Newstead Live! festival attracted a crowd of 1000 during the Oz Day weekend to catch folk singers, English folk dancing and open air jam sessions. Most were repeat attendees, the festival’s Brendan Walker said. Multicultural Arts Victoria and the City of Yarra’s free Sunday evening Fairfield Summer Series is back at Fairfield Amphitheatre from this weekend. It covers music from all over the world, with themes including PBS presenter Jess Fairfax’s Songs and Stories on the narratives of songs, love songs in Love is in the Air (including a salsa class), Heatwave hosted by Triple R’s Chris Gill and the MC Neda Rahmanihosted Come Together. Full details at multiculturalarts.com.au. Rufus debuted for the second time at #1 on the ARIA chart this week, which puts them in an exclusive club. According to chart historian Gavin Ryan, they tie with Madonna, Boy & Bear and 5 Seconds of Summer who have also racked up two #1 albums this decade. The new Rufus album becomes the 191st chart topper by an Australian act and the 352nd by a group. Hot Chip and promoters Frontier Touring are donating $20 from each of their ticket sales to support WA’s bushfire-hit communities through the Lord Mayor’s Distress Relief Fund, which now stands at $4.5 million.
STUFF FOR THIS COLUMN TO BE EMAILED TO C E L I E Z E R @ N E T S PA C E .N E T. A U B Y F R I D AY 5 P M
also worked in the UK as Contemporary Culture Producer – Southbank Centre (producing the Meltdown Festivals curated by Jarvis Cocker 2007, Massive Attack 2008 and Ornette Coleman 2009) and the London Jazz Festival.
ECLECTIC BILL FOR ROAD TO REFUGE Performing at the Gimme Shelter! fund raiser for refugee-support group Road To Refuge at the Shadow Electric this Saturday are Gareth Liddiard, Ben Abraham, The Harpoons DJs, Nhattyman, Arthur Penn and The Funky Ten, Cable Ties, comedian Tom Ballard, plus spoken word poets and comedians. All proceeds will go towards Road to Refuge’s projects and workshops in 2016, “to further a more inclusive and constructive dialogue towards those seeking safety.”
MARCUS WESTBURY OVERSEES ARTS PRECINCT Festival head and TV presenter Marcus Westbury takes over this month as the inaugural CEO of new inter-disciplinary Contemporary Arts Precinct (CAP) on the grounds of the former Collingwood Technical College. He was founder of Renew Newcastle and Renew Australia. CAP chairman Daniel Besen hailed his “entrepreneurial spirit and desire to create something exciting and new.”
NXTGIG APP HEADING FOR SYDNEY, MELBOURNE
Only in Darwin: the good people of the Darwin Council are divided by an application from Discovery Nightclub to vary its liquor license so it can share premises with Honey Pot strip club. The latter will have private booths upstairs with separate access and bouncers to ensure the ravers don’t mix. But the word “sleazy” was mentioned during a Council debate.
Adelaide’s NXTGIG app, which provides data on gigs, venues, artists and times in real time, will expand to Sydney and Melbourne this year. Developer Karl Falzon said, “It’s free to list your performance and it’s free to access information about gigs and events. NXTGIG can also help with understanding the audience, crucial for audience development and the survival of industry and venues.”
Brisbane stoners Dune Rats’ new label Rat Bag Records signed fast rising 19 year old Rat Boy from Essex, UK.
BRUNSWICK STREET REMEMBERS GORDON HARVEY
After naming the last Muse album Drones, frontman Matt Bellamy has invested in the new Drone Racing League, which plans to turn drone racing into the latest sports entertainment phenomenon in the UK.
Blues artists and 40 local businesses take part in the inaugural The Beat of Brunswick Street event to remember Gordon Harvey. The Fitzroy identity who ran the T-shirt store Fetish was allegedly murdered. The event runs on Saturday February 27 between 1pm - 1am at Fetish.
PBS TARGETS PERFORMERS Coinciding with Drive Live, PBS 106.7FM is targeting performers via the Transform A Performer campaign. Through February performers are invited to purchase a $120 yearly membership. They can go in the running for a prize pack including 50 custom T-shirts printed by SoundMerch, 50 branded tea towels from While You Sleep screen-printing, CD duplication worth $1000 from Implant Media, your own music video produced by Fully Sick Film Clips and ten cases of Coopers for the wrap party.
NEW APPOINTMENTS AT MELBOURNE FESTIVAL Melbourne Festival’s new artistic director Jonathan Holloway has made two appointments for this year (October 6 to 23), Choreographer, director and Chunky Moves co-founder Gideon Obarzanek is Artistic Associate. Danni Colgan is Arts Programmer and Producer – Contemporary Culture. Colgan was most recently Program & Operations Manager at WOMADelaide 2015. She was a programmer at Perth International Arts Festival and Sydney Festival. She MUSIC INDUSTRY NEWS & GOSSIP
STUDY: GOING TO THE PUB GOOD FOR YOU Get out from behind the computer and hit the pub. According to a new study from Oxford University, you’ll expand the amount of people you know and with more depth, which in turn will add to your happiness and wellbeing. The report’s writer, Prof. Robin Dunbar said, “Making and maintaining friendships, however, is something that has to be done face-to-face: the digital world is simply no substitute. Given the increasing tendency for our social life to be online rather than face-toface, having relaxed accessible venues where people can meet old friends and make new ones becomes ever more necessary.”
KID KENOBI INVOLVED IN PRETTY SHADY DJ/producer Kid Kenobi is involved in Pretty Shady, the NSW government’s social awareness campaign to reduce skin cancer among young Australians. He has created a track Sunshine featuring singer Andrea Kirwin, which is initially being given away as a free download via SoundCloud
Lifelines BORN: daughter, Lola Rose Emma, to McBusted’s Harry Judd and wife Izzy. ILL: ongoing health issues saw Gurrumul cancel his TRIBE2tribe electro east coast tour in midFebruary. IN COURT: Peter Ling Zu Lessnau, who allegedly took $4000 in advance by claiming he had booked Mark Ronson for a Perth gig that the DJ knew nothing about, faces a hearing in May. He has already pleaded not guilty of fraud. SUED: The Roots’s Questlove and Black Thought by their former bassist Leonard ‘Hub’ Hubbard who alleges that he’s owed money from the band. DIED: Paul Kantner, co-founder and guitarist with seminal ‘60s San Francisco psychedelic band Jefferson Airplane and subsequent offshoot Jefferson Starship, 74, of organ failure. He suffered a heart attack last month, almost a year after his first. DIED: singer Colin Vearncombe AKA Black, 53, best known for Wonderful Life (1987). He was in a coma for a few days after a horror car crash in Ireland, which left him with head injuries. DIED: bassist Jimmy Bain (Rainbow, Dio, Wild Horses), 68. Close friend and Last In Line colleague Viv Campbell said, “Jimmy’s struggles with his demons were well documented.” DIED: the body of Hobart-born Melbourne-based musician Karl von Bamberger (Eli & Bev, Horsemania) was found at Merri Creek in North Fitzroy after he had been missing for a time. Police are not treating the 37year old’s death as “suspicious”. DIED: NSW singer/songwriter and guitarist Dave Craswell after a lengthy battle with cancer.
and Bandcamp before receiving an official release on Kid Kenobi’s record label Klub Kids via digital retailers and streaming platforms. Through social media, Kenobi documents how the song was created at his Sydney northern beaches studio, with regular updates to his followers.
CUB SPORT OFFER KARAOKE COMP As part of the release of their new single I Can’t Save You, Cub Sport are offering fans pre-ordering their forthcoming album This Is Our Vice the chance be flown to Brisbane to spend a night competing in a karaoke show-down against the band. See www. jbhifi.com.au for details.