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
‘PROVES THAT INTELLIGENT POP MUSIC STILL HAS THE ABILITY TO SEDUCE AND ENTHRAL.’ MOJO
Selling Fast
The enigmatic Chan Marshall (Cat Power) returns to Australia to perform solo, intimate and up close. Renowned as one of the most acclaimed singer/ songwriters to emerge from the 1990s indie rock scene, Marshall’s fragile-yet-enigmatic live performances are legendary – from her soulful and idiosyncratic performance style to her heartfelt and emotionally charged lyrics.
Dark and dazzling American electro-pop band Poliça returns making its Melbourne Recital Centre debut after dominating festival line-ups around the world. Experience live their bewitching vocals, keyboard and percussion arrangements in their only Melbourne performance.
‘AN ARTIST AT THE PEAK OF HER POWERS FACED THE CROWD AND HER DEMONS ARMED ONLY WITH A GUITAR A PIANO AND HER COURAGE’. THE GUARDIAN (UK)
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‘It’s their expressive range – in Washburn’s nostalgia-tinged voice and Fleck’s insouciant solos – that made the evening so compelling.’ The Guardian (UK) Banjoists Béla Fleck and Abigail Washburn have mastered the deceptively intricate art of the duet with performances that embrace a diversity almost unthinkable — coming from just two banjos and one voice. Washburn’s beguiling composing, playing and singing blend with Fleck’s riveting and virtuosic musicianship to create music both unique yet familiar in texture.
The critically-acclaimed Punch Brothers return with their brilliant musicianship and a brand new album The Phosphorescent Blues. The Brooklyn bluegrass band push boundaries with their innovative mix of bluegrass, roots, rock, pop, jazz and classical – creating their own contemporary sound.
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PUBLISHER: Furst Media Pty Ltd. MUSIC EDITOR: Cara Williams ARTS EDITOR, ASSOCIATE MUSIC EDITOR & ONLINE EDITOR: James Di Fabrizio ASSISTANT EDITOR / SUB EDITOR: Augustus Welby EDITORIAL ASSISTANTS: Cassie Hedger, Gloria Brancatisano, Jess Zanoni, Kate Eardley, Bel Ryan, Christine Tsimbis, Abbey Lew-Kee, Tom Parker, Rochelle Bevis, Jacob Colliver MANAGING DIRECTOR, FURST MEDIA: Patrick Carr BEAT ART DIRECTOR: Michael Cusack GRAPHIC DESIGNERS: Michael Cusack, 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 Tom Brand (Indie Artists/Beat Eats) tombrand@beat.com.au CLASSIFIEDS: classifieds@beat.com.au GIG GUIDE SUBMISSIONS: now online at 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 Proudfoo t, Laura May Grogan, David Harris, Emily Day, Lucinda Goodwin, Dan Soderstrom, Zo Damage, Lee Easton SPECIAL PROJECTS EDITOR: Christie Eliezer SENIOR CONTRIBUTOR: Patrick Emery SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER: Ian Laidlaw COLUMNISTS: Joe Hansen, Peter Hodgson, 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, Holly Pereira. 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. © 2016 Furst Media Pty Ltd. No part may be reproduced without the consent of the copyright holder.
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THE CURE ANNOUNCE AUSTRALIAN TOUR Five years since their last Australian appearance, The Cure will make their long awaited return with an arena show. The band are currently deep in rehearsals for the tour, which will see them dip into a discography that stretches back over 35 years, including both deep cuts and hits. Don’t miss The Cure when they hit Rod Laver Arena on Thursday July 28. Tickets via Live Nation.
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dIESEL IS PLAYING 21 SHOWS AROUNd AUSTRALIA Legendary rock’n’roller Diesel has just announced 21 regional shows in support of his latest album, Americana. With the album set for release on Friday July 1, the latest tour comes straight after the nine-show Pieces Of Americana Tour earlier this year. Diesel will be “road-testing” songs from the album on tour, including covers of Here Comes My Girl by Tom Petty and Queen Jane Approximately by Bob Dylan. Diesel’s busy schedule includes shows at the Village Green Hotel on Saturday June 4, Chelsea Heights Hotel on Friday June 10, Shoppingtown Hotel on Saturday June 11 and York on Lilydale on Sunday June 12. Tickets are available from Moshtix.
BRANdY TO TOUR AUSTRALIA FOR THE FIRST TIME Grammy-award winning performer Brandy will be bringing the sass to Melbourne on her first ever Australian tour. Her debut self-titled album is considered a classic to this day, and the five to follow ± Never Say Never, Full Moon, Afrodisiac, Human and Two Eleven saw her work with everyone from Frank Ocean through to Kanye West. Brandy will play Hamer Hall on Tuesday June 21. Tickets via Ticketmaster.
STEVEN WILSON REVEALS SHOW dATES Visionary musician Steven Wilson has locked in a Melbourne show. In 2013 Steven Wilson toured Australia with an elaborate audio-visual production that was lauded for creating an immersive sensory and musical experience. Now Wilson brings Hand. Cannot. Erase. to audiences with a show aiming to reach new heights all together ± featuring a full band and quadraphonic sound to bring his music to life. Don’t miss Steven Wilson when he hits up 170 Russell on Friday October 28. Tickets via Tombowler.
QUEENSRYCHE ARE COMING dOWN UNdER American metal legends Queensryche have announced their return to Australia. Having sold over 30 million albums around the world over the course of their storied career, the band’s revitalised lineup have continued to take stages with widespread touring to much acclaim. Catch them Friday October 14 at the Prince Bandroom. Tickets via Metropolis Touring.
Canadian singer/songwriter Chris Luedecke is currently in the country, celebrating the release of his latest album under the moniker Old Man Luedecke. Domestic Eccentric is a folk and roots collaboration between Luedecke and Tim O’Brien, emulating the atmosphere of a cabin in the snowy Nova Scotia woods where it was recorded. Beat has some free double passes to the gig at The Spotted Mallard on Thursday May 5 on offer for some lucky punters. If that’s not enough to get you excited, we’ll also be chucking in a copy of Domestic Eccentric to keep you satisfied. Head to beat. com.au/freeshit to win.
THE MELBOURNE CABARET FESTIVAL REVEALS THEIR 2016 LINEUP Boasting over 40 shows from around the country and overseas and featuring over 100 performers, the Melbourne Cabaret Festival is slated for a huge 2016. On the cards for this year’s festival is Joe Stilgoe with his Songs on Film, paying tribute to some of the most memorable moments in cinematic history as well as Amy G with her Entershamement show featuring musical moments as well as stand-up and improvised comedy. Elsewhere on the program comes Steve Ross, the hilarious Otto & Astrid, Yana Alana Covered, Imogen Spendlove, Jennt Wynter with her show Viking Mama and more. Further highlights include Geraldine Quinn with Bang On The Strillers Live, Ash Flanders with Playing to Win and Rod Davies in That ‘70s Child, taking a nostalgic look back into the past. Rounding it all out will be The Opening Gala hosted by Artistic Director Mike McLeish and The Closing Night Party, billed as Australia’s biggest piano bar shindig. Melbourne Cabaret Festival goes down from Tuesday June 14 to Sunday June 26 at this year’s Festival Hub, Chapel Off Chapel.
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TOGETHERAPART ANNOUNCE A FREE SINGLE LAUNCH Melbourne trio Togetherapart are set to launch a new single, offering free entry to get the party started. After the debut of their promotional demo EP in 2014 and the launch of independent events group Harmonic Divisions in 2015, Togetherapart are keen to showcase their new single, Too Far. They’ll be joined by True Plastic. Don’t miss Togetherapart when they hit The Retreat on Saturday May 7.
OWEN RABBIT LOCKS IN AUSTRALIAN TOUR dATES Owen Rabbit’s first single of 2016 comes in the form of Weeds and he has followed up the track with a run of national tour dates, kicking off this July. Featuring his signature looping sounds made with toys and rubbish, as well as combining themes of pop, jazz, soul, post-hardcore and electronica, Weeds follows on from what was a breakthrough year for Rabbit. 2015 saw the multi-instrumentalist play shows alongside SAFIA, Boo Seeka and JOY and garner worldwide support for past singles Holy Holy and Denny’s. Owen Rabbit will play the Workers Club Saturday July 2. HOT TALK
EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST OPEN FOR MELBOURNE MUSIC WEEK 2016 Melbourne Music Week is gearing up for their 2016 instalment in November, and are calling on promoters, venues, record labels and individuals to get involved. MMW has become an important fixture on the Melbourne music calendar, acting to collaborate with and showcase the thriving local scene. This year’s edition is set to run from Friday November 11 through until Saturday November 19. You can express your interest for jumping on board with The Hub, Live Music Safari, Self- Made and Satellite via applying through the MMW website. Applications close on Friday June 10.
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SUMMER FLAKE DROPS NEW VIDEO AND TOUR DATES The insanely talented Stephanie Crase, aka Summer Flake, has unveiled a cracking new video for the track Tumbling Down, lifted from the recent LP Hello Friends. The album has already attracted steady acclaim, securing album of the week spots on radio stations across the nation from Melbourne to Perth. To celebrate the success of the album, Summer Flake is embarking on a tour around the country. She will play on Friday May 20 at The Tote, with support from Terrible Truths and Superwines. Snap up your ticket via Oztix.
Enigmatic producer Zhu has announced his return to Australia with a spectacular new show coming to Melbourne this June. Fresh from performances at Coachella, audiences can anticipate his live show to be a visual and audio spectacle. Known for his Grammynominated single Faded, Zhu has had a run of hits including Superfriends and Paradise Awaits. His debut EP The Nightday peaked at #1 on the Australian album charts and one of his newest singles Working For It was certified Gold in Australia. Zhu will take over The Forum on Monday June 13. Tickets go on sale through Ticketmaster.
DESTROYER 666 ANNOUNCE AUSTRALIAN TOUR European metal legends Destroyer 666 have confirmed an Australian tour for the tail end of this year. Unleashing five studio albums in their 20 plus year career they have cemented their reputation within the metal community. The tour arrives in celebration of their latest LP Wildfire, which was dropped back in February of this year. Don’t miss Destroyer 666 at Max Watt's Friday November 11. Tickets via Oztix.
BRUNSWICK HOTEL ANNOUNCES SPOOKY SOUNDS SHOW We all know what it means when the 13th day of any month falls on a Friday, and the Brunswick Hotel is proving the place to be when it happens this month. Providing tunes on the night will be I Am Duckeye, The Balls, Pegbucket, Chico Flash and Saturn 3. Don’t forget to dress up either, as there will be vinyl giveaways for the best dressed zombie flesh eaters, wolfmen and witches. It’s like Halloween has come early. Spooky Sounds will be unleashed at the Brunswick Hotel on Friday May 13.
BLANCK MASS LOCKS IN 2016 SHOWS
LADYHAWKE ANNOUNCES TOUR DATES Alt-pop icon Ladyhawke has announced a return to Australian shores for her first tour in three years. It comes in support of her forthcoming album, Wild Things, slated for release in June. The first single lifted from the album is A Love Song, which has been turning heads since its release. The upcoming album is her first full length offering since 2012. Catch Ladyhawke at Howler on Saturday July 16. Tickets through her website.
UK’s Blanck Mass is set to make his debut in Melbourne this June. Blanck Mass is the moniker of Benjamin John Power, who is also well known for being one half of Fuck Buttons. Under Blanck Mass, Power has achieved enormous success, with his track Sundowner being used in the 2012 London Olympics Opening Ceremony, and tour slots with the likes of Sigur Ros and Jon Hopkins. You can catch Blanck Mass in Melbourne on Thursday June 9 at The Curtin.
KITE MACHINE GEAR UP FOR HEADLINE SHOW Geelong’s premier funk rock export The Kite Machine have announced that they will embark on a run of tour dates to celebrate the release of brand new single, Charlotte. The trio’s latest track follows on from their 2015 EP Lunatics. The group recently boasted a support slot for a short leg of the Pierce Brothers tour, but are fired up to play their very own headline show. Catch The Kite Machine when they hit The Penny Black Friday June 10.
AMY WINEHOUSE TRIBUTE SHOW FOR 2016 Hot off a sell-out show at this year’s Adelaide Fringe Festival, an acclaimed Amy Winehouse tribute show is headed to Melbourne this June. ExBlack Sorrows vocalist Atlanta Coogan will perform her tribute to songstress Amy Winehouse with the help of the All Star Little Big Band. Together they will take the audience on a journey through Amy’s short but extraordinary life, performing her classics including Valerie, Rehab and Back To Black, while telling her incredible story. Originally put together as a one-off event for the first anniversary of Winehouse's passing, The Amy Winehouse Show – Back To Black has continued to find a growing audience whilst celebrating the life and music of Amy, highlighting the biggest hits and showstoppers she was so well known for. The Amy Winehouse Show – Back To Black will hit the Yarraville Club on Saturday June 11. BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 14
LEPERS & CROOKS CONFIRM MELBOURNE SHOWS To celebrate the release of their latest single, Lepers & Crooks have locked in back-to-back Melbourne shows. It’s been a meteoric couple of years since the band first came together, with the Sydney based five-piece garnering a reputation as one of the country’s hardest working bands – tallying up an impressive 200 shows across over 2014 and 2015. The band will be touring off the back of their latest single, the ripping Let You Go. Lepers & Crooks will play Sooki Lounge on Thursday May 26 and the Workers Club on Friday May 27. Tickets via their website. HOT TALK
SAD GRRRLS FEST UNLEASHES THEIR 2016 MELBOURNE LINE UP Australia’s largest female-fronted music festival Sad Grrrls Fest have announced a huge lineup for their Melbourne edition. Headlined by Jaala, Jess Ribeiro and Camp Cope, the festival includes performances by Simona Castricum, Miss Destiny, Dark Fair, Kt spit, Claws & Organs, Beloved Elk, Beatrice, The Girl Fridas, Chelsea Bleach, Shiny Coin, Denim Owl and Dogood. Also performing are acoustic artists Tellar Addiction, Rachel Maria Cox, Samara Cullen, Sandy Hsu, Eli Cash and Jo Neugebauer. Boasting three stages, market stalls, food and DJs, the event aims to contrast the overall trends of representation of female and non-binary musicians at music festivals. A recent report from triple j’s Hack program found bands with at least one female member made up on average only 26% of Australian festival lineups – which is something Sad Grrrls Fest is attempting to rectify. Sad Grrrls Fest will be held at the Reverence Hotel in Footscray on Saturday October 1. Get your tickets from the Sad Grrrls Club website.
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TWIN PEAKS ANNOUNCE A NEW SINGLE AND NATIONAL TOUR SUPPORTS Previously announcing their debut national tour, Twin Peaks are back at it with new music and some handpicked supports for their forthcoming shows. Their latest single, Butterfly, arrives as the second offering from their third album and follows on from the groove-fronted Walk To The One You Love. The album itself was conceived by a murky lake in Western Massachusetts, where the group could experiment and record on their own terms in the warm living room of a good friend’s house. It was recorded on reel-to-reel with the band learning studio tricks on the fly. In support of their new album, Down in Heaven, they’ll be playing a raucous Melbourne show joined by Ouch My Face and garage rockers White Bleaches. Catch them at The Curtin on Sunday May 8.
The Grammy-winning, American jazz vocalist Kurt Elling has booked in a trip to Down Under to play a string of exclusive Melbourne shows. Elling has built a reputation as a man of many talents ± scholar, an explorer, a poet, a historian and a photographer before he is a musical virtuoso. His technical mastery is spellbinding, and after last year’s collaboration with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, the upcoming performances will be an intimate solo affair. Elling will be doing a three night long residency at Bird’s Basement from Tuesday May 31 until Thursday June 2.
Following on from the release of their singles Reset and Untethered, Melbournebased indie alt-pop trio Halcyon Drive have announced national tour dates and unveiled their new track Books For The Holidays lifted from their forthcoming EP, Untethered. After touring the country relentlessly over the last twelve months, playing a slew of club shows and boutique festivals, Halcyon Drive are psyched to promote the new EP with an even more extensive run of shows. Catch ‘em at Shadow Electric Saturday June 18.
THU 16 JUN - SOLD OUT
THE SMITH STREET BAND FRI 17 JUN - SOLD OUT
THE SMITH STREET BAND SAT 18 JUN - SOLD OUT
THE JAMAICA JUMP-UP RETURNS
THE SMITH STREET BAND FRI 24 JUN - SELLING FAST
THE BENNIES TUE 05 JUL
THE FALL OF TROY USA THU 14 JUL - SOLD OUT
COG
SAT 16 JUL
WEEDEATER USA + CONAN UK SUN 24 JUL - SELLING FAST
SNAKEHIPS UK SAT 30 JUL
DROWNING POOL USA SAT 06 AUG
SLEEPMAKESWAVES
ROLLING BLACKOUTS COASTAL FEVER TO PLAY THE TOTE Melbourne five-piece Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever have dropped a new single and will be celebrating the release with a headline tour along the east coast. The new track, entitled Career, comes as part of a limited edition double-A side 7” record which Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever put out earlier this month. Join in on the good times Friday June 17 at The Tote. Tickets via the venue.
THE BENNIES LOCK IN URBAN SPREAD SHOWS The Bennies will helm the latest incarnation of Urban Spread, joined by the Clowns, Axe Girl and Bombs Are Falling, along with late night DJs for a killer lineup. Following their recent Wisdom Machine Australian tour in Maroochydore on the Sunshine Coast and the success of their latest single Party Machine, The Bennies are now back in Australia for their biggest tour to date. The Bennies will play the Pelly Bar in Frankston on Saturday June 25 and the Village Green Hotel in Mulgrave on Saturday July 2.
SAT 20 AUG
After a huge party celebrating the first event’s birthday, community radio station PBS has announced that Jamaica Jump-Up will be heading into their second year of monthly celebrations at The Gasometer Hotel on all things rocksteady, early reggae and ska. Hosted by guest MC Gentleman Conor ‘Pearl’ Healy, nine-piece Jamaican-groovers The Ska Vendors will be playing alongside Resident DJs and radio presenters Mohair Slim (Blue Juice), Jesse I (Babylon Burning) and Stryka D (formerly of Break the Chain). Systa BB (from The Good, The Dub & The Global show on 3RRR) and Buddy Love are also locked in acts. It all kicks off on Saturday May 21 at the Gasometer. Tickets will be available on the door, with a discount for PBS members.
STEEL PULSE UK SAT 10 SEP
FROM THE JAM UK FRI 23 SEP
IMMOLATION USA SUN 09 OCT
THE LEVELLERS UK THU 13 OCT
LACUNA COIL ITA FRI 11 NOV
DESTRÖYER 666 SUN 13 NOV
THE MISSION UK TIX + INFO
MAXWATTS.COM.AU 1300 724 867
125 SWANSTON ST, MELBOURNE
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BAND OF HORSES ANNOUNCE HEADLINE SHOW Band Of Horses have just announced a Melbourne headline show. It comes in support of their forthcoming album, Why Are You OK, which was brought to life with the help of Jason Lytle, Rick Rubin and Dave Fridmann. Catch them at The Forum on Sunday July 24. Tickets through Handsome Tours.
LACUNA COIL ARE GEARING UP FOR AUSSIE TOUR Lacuna Coil are gearing up to return to Australia for their first ever headline tour in support of their eighth studio album. Delirium sees the band take full creative control over every aspect of the release. From production, concept and artwork, the record has been conceptualised and executed entirely by the Italian metal gods. They’ll tear up Max Watt’s Thursday October 13. Tickets via Destroy All Lines. HOT TALK
SHIHAD ANNOUNCE TOUR DATES For their first time since their 2014 tour, New Zealand rockers Shihad will take to stages around the country this June and July. This year is extra special for the band, celebrating the 20th anniversary of their self titled album, a record now affectionately known as the Fish Album. Expect to hear loads of tracks from it, as well as the rest of their whopping 28-year spanning back catalogue on this tour. Shihad will take over The Croxton on Saturday July 16. Tickets on sale now through Oztix.
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ELLA HOOPER Gasometer Hotel May 4, 11, 18, 25 OF MONSTERS AND MEN Palais Theatre May 4, 5 BLACK CAB Howler May 5, 6 OLD MAN LEUDECKE Spotted Mallard May 5 THE TEMPER TRAP The Forum Theatre May 5 LYALL MOLONEY Shebeen May 6 RUFUS Festival Hall May 6, 12 COMMON & TALIB KWELI Trak Lounge May 6 SCREAMING JETS Hallam Hotel May 6, Corner Hotel May 7 THE PRETTY LITTLES Shebeen May 7 BLACK CAB Howler May 6 HINDS Northcote Social Club May 6 OCDANTER The Gasometer May 7 TINPAN ORANGE The Toff In Town May 7 HARVEST FESTIVAL Bicentennial Park May 7 COHEED AND CAMBRIA Max Watt’s May 7, 10 TWIN PEAKS The Curtin May 8 IRON MAIDEN Rod Laver Arena May 9 M83 The Forum Theatre May 10 RUDIMENTAL Margaret Court Arena May 10 STONNINGTON JAZZ FESTIVAL City of Stonnington May 12 – 22 SPOOKY LAND Shebeen May 12. DARLING JAMES & MACHINE AGE The Workers Club May 12 THE WONDER YEARS Corner Hotel May 12 THE UPBEATS The Roxanne May 13 ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE & ROCK ‘N’ ROLL FUNDRAISER 170 Russell May 13 CAMP COPE John Curtin Hotel May 13 BOB MOSES Revolver May 13 MELODY POOL The Shadow Electric May 13 LITTLE MAY Max Watts May 13 MELODICROCKFEST Elephant & Wheelbarrow May 13, 14 PURE GOLD LIVE Palais Theatre May 13 MATHAS Northcote Social Club May 14 HENRY WAGONS & THE ONLY CHILDREN Howler May 14 THE VANNS The Evelyn May 14, 15 VIOLENT SOHO Forum Theatre May 14 L7 170 Russell May 17 RENEE GEYER & ERIC BURDON AND THE ANIMALS The Palais May 18 TIRED LION Northcote Social Club May 19 SUMMER FLAKE The Tote May 20 SCREECHING WEASEL & MXPX Prince Bandroom May 20 HOODLUM SHOUTS John Curtin Hotel May 21 REMI Howler May 21 PIKELET Hugs & Kisses May 21 THIS IS HIP HOP Festival Hall May 21 POLARIS Wrangler Studios May 22 CAT POWER The Melbourne Recital Centre May 22, 23 CLARE BOWEN The Corner May 25 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, 26 ALEX GOW & DAN KELLY Thornbury Theatre May 27, Caravan Music Club June 17 HOT DUB TIME MACHINE 170 Russell May 27 LEPERS & CROOKS Sooki Lounge May 26, Workers Club May 27 A WILHELM SCREAM The Reverence Hotel May 26 URTHBOY Howler May 27 IVAN OOZE Northcote Social Club May 28 MELBOURNE SKA ORCHESTRA Max Watt’s May 28 THE LOVE JUNKIES The Workers Club May 28 ANGELUS APATRIDA Bendigo Hotel May 28 THE DRONES 170 Russell May 20, The Tote May 28 THE CAT EMPIRE The Forum Theatre May 27, 28 CHERIE CURRIE The Corner May 28 POLICIA Melbourne Recital Centre May 31 KURT ELLING Bird’s Basement May 31June 2 ONEOHTRIX POINT NEVER Max Watt’s BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 18
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June 1 LAST DINOSAURS Northcote Social Club June 3, 4 BAD VISION The Old Bar June 3 DEAFHAVEN Corner Hotel June 3 CITIZEN KAY Workers Club June 3 SAFIA Mystery location June 3 DIESEL Village Green Hotel June 4, Chelsea Heights Hotel June 10, Shoppingtown Hotel June 11 and York on Lilydale June 12 ROBERT GLASPER TRIO Melbourne Recital Centre June 4 RICK DANGEROUS & THE SILKIE BANTAMS Croxton Bandroom June 4 FEAR FACTORY Prince of Wales June 4 HORACE BONES Grace Darling Hotel June 4 CLIENT LIASON Forum Theatre June 4 MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL JAZZ FESTIVAL Various Venues June 3 – June 12 THE ATARIS 170 Russell June 7 BLANCK MASS The Curtin June 9 KITE MACHINE The Penny Black June 10 SPLIT SYNDICATE Shebeen June 10 CULTURE CLUB Rod Laver Arena June 10 DITA VON TEESE The Forum June 10, 11 NATIONAL CELTIC FESTIVAL Portarlington June 10 - 13 PRIMAL FEAR The Northcote Social Club June 11 DMA’S The Corner June 11 HOSPITALITY Brown Alley June 12 ZHU The Forum June 13 MELBOURNE CABARET FESTIVAL Chapel off Chapel, June 14 - June 26 BIG COUNTRY The Corner June 15 ROLLING BLACKOUTS COASTEL FEVER The Tote June 17 THE SMITH STREET BAND Max Watt’s June 17 HALYCON DRIVE Shadow Electric June 18 ELEANOR FRIEDBERGER The Toff June 18 FROM OSLO Cherry Bar June 18 WE LOST THE SEA Old Bar June 18 OLYMPIA Northcote Social Club June 18 STEEL PANTHER Festival Hall June 18 SAVAGES Corner Hotel June 19 BRANDY Hamer Hall June 21 SWERVEDRIVER Corner Hotel June 23 THE PAPER KITES The Athenaeum Theatre June 24 THE BENNIES Max Watt’s June 24, Pelly Bar, Frankston June 25 URBAN SPREAD Chelsea Heights Hotel June 24, Village Green Hotel June 25 THE LIVING END The Forum June 24 THE JUNGLE GIANTS 170 Russell June 24 BONJAH Corner Hotel June 24 THE RUBENS Margaret Court Arena June 25 LEAPS AND BOUNDS FESTIVAL various venues July 1-17 PITT THE ELDER Bendigo Hotel July 1 OWEN RABBIT Workers Club July 2 MAT MCHUGH The Toff July 2 PARKWAY DRIVE Chelsea Heights July 3 GLASS ANIMALS 170 Russell July 6 SETH SENTRY 170 Russell July 8 THE STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN LED ZEPPELIN MASTERS Hamer Hall July 8, 9 BROODS Forum July 11 DUA LIPA Northcote Social Club July 14 BOO SEEKA Howler July 15 TOTALLY 80’S Palais Theatre July 15 COG 170 Russell July 15 JACK THE STRIPPER The Workers Club July 16 SHIHAD The Croxton July 16 LADYHAWKE Howler July 16 WEEDEATER & CONAN Max Watt’s July 16 TASTE Corner Hotel July 16 SPLENDOUR IN THE GRASS North Byron Parklands July 22-24 LEON BRIDGES Forum Melbourne July 19 JACK GARRATT 170 Russell July 20 NOTHING BUT THIEVES Ding Dong Lounge July 20 CRYSTAL FIGHTERS Corner Hotel July 20 PETER, BJORN AND JOHN Corner Hotel July 21
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Gig Of The Week
TWIN PEAKS Chicago’s favourite stoners are in town to provide some quality garage rock at The Curtin on Sunday May 8, in celebration of their recent album Down In Heaven. Twin Peaks are the kind of band that make you really jealous if you’ve ever had a crack at making music – since the spring chickens got started in 2009 they’ve seriously exploded on an international scale. All the more surprising considering when most people get high, their level of productivity extends to getting balls deep in a mountain of Doritos and every movie ever from the Friday franchise. Take a break from Ice Cube and check ‘em out when they play the Curtin Bandroom on Sunday May 8.
Rüfüs Sydney’s Rufus are in the midst of a huge tour across both Australia and overseas, and on Friday May 6 and Thursday May 12 they’re taking over Festival Hall. Funny story, if you happen to live in America you’d probably know the trio by a different name – Rufus Du Soul. That’s because some tightarse decided they wouldn’t budge on the trademark, leaving the outfit no choice but to confuse people everywhere with an arbitrary name change. The guys didn’t let this little speed bump get them down though, and their upcoming Melbourne shows have punters quivering in anticipation.
AT THE DRIVE-IN Forum Melbourne July 22 MARK LANEGAN BAND Croxton Bandroom July 22 THE KILLS Forum Melbourne July 23 THE 1975 Hisense Arena July 24 BAND OF HORSES The Forum July 24 BEACH SLANG July 24 FAT WHITE FAMILY Yah Yah’s July 24, Cherry Bar July 25 TEGAN AND SARA 170 Russell July 25 THE INTERNET 170 Russell July 26 LAPSLEY Howler July 26 JAKE BUGG Palais Theatre July 27 THE CURE Rod Laver Arena July 28 DROWNING POOL Max Watts July 30 MACKLEMORE & RYAN LEWIS Rod Laver Arena August 5 TROYE SIVAN Margaret Court Arena August 9 GYMPIE MUSIC MUSTER Amamoor Creek State Forest August 25-28 BEN FOLDS WITH YMUSIC Palais Theatre August 26 BRING ME THE HORIZON Margaret Court Arena September 2 CRYPTOPSY Northcote Social Club September 3 BIGSOUND Fortitude Valley, September 7 - 9 HENRY ROLLINS Arts Centre’s State Theatre September 19, 20 SAD GRRRLS FEST The Reverence October 1 JOE BONAMASSA The Palais Theatre October 5 MAYDAY PARADE Arrow on Swanston October 8, 170 Russell October 9
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OF MONSTERS AND MEN Of Monsters and Men are coming all the way from Iceland to play a bunch of large-scale shows across Australia. The six-piece totally obliterates any preconceived notions about indie-folk. After recently playing at 2016’s Coachella, they have a big year ahead which includes stacks of international dates, in addition to slots at the Bunbury, Firefly and Glastonbury festivals. Swoon over Of Monsters And Men when they play at The Palais Theatre on Wednesday May 4 and Thursday May 5.
ELLIE GOULDING Rod Laver Arena October 8 LACUNA COIL Max Watt’s October 13 QUEENSRYCHE Prince Bandroom October 14 HOT CHOCOLATE AND THE REAL THING Palais Theatre October 22 BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE 170 Russell October 25 STEVEN WILSON 170 Russell October 28 THE VENGABOYS 170 Russell October 30 MSO - INDIANA JONES AND THE RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK Arts Centre November 4, 5 DESTROYER 666 Max Watts November 11 DISTURBED Margaret Court Arena November 18 DYLAN JOEL Prince Bandroom November 18 EARTHCORE Pyalong November 24 – 28 THE USED 170 Russell December 5, 6
Beat Presents RUMOURS: NEIL YOUNG, WHITE L U N G , B AT F O R L A S H E S = N e w A nnouncements
15 May, 7–9pM
Song of Myself
S o p h i e Ko h X a n i Ko l a c leah Senior ali Barter
WiTh / Darling James & Dan Parsons
A night of free music with melbourne’s leAding femAle Artists.
The Coopers Malthouse 113 Sturt Street Southbank VIC 3006
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IRON MAIDEN BACK TO THE BOOKS BY PETER HODGSON
W
e don’t have many true spectacles left in rock music. Motley Crue are gone. Pink Floyd aren’t coming back. David Lee Roth no longer surfs above the crowd or rides a giant inflatable microphone between two giant legs. Slipknot still have plenty of fire – both literal and metaphorical – but nobody puts on a show like Iron Maiden. Their stage production is so massive they require their own friggin’ jumbo jet to cart it around. The Book Of Souls tour, in support of the band’s 16th album, sees the UK heavy metallers playing in 36 countries across six continents, including their debut performances in El Salvador, Lithuania and China. Their customised Boeing 747-400, named Ed Force One and piloted by vocalist Bruce Dickinson, touches down in Australia this May. “We’ve been playing in Australia since the early-‘80s and we’ve had loads of really good memories and good tours there,” says bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. “It’s a country we all enjoy playing in and visiting anyway so it’s all good really.” A rock music lifer, Harris isn’t oblivious to the achievements of Australia’s great rock bands. “Obviously AC/ DC. I wouldn’t say there’s an influence, but they’ve been around,” he says. “I originally saw them at the Marquee – although they’re not originally from Australia, they’re from Scotland, but Aussies might get a bit miffed about that [laughs]. “There are some great bands. We’ve had some great bands support us over there. But because it’s so far and since the scene in the UK has been so strong I can’t really say I’ve been influenced by any Aussie bands. That’s not to say there BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 20
aren’t some good ones, because there is.” Similar to AC/DC, Australians tend to claim The Book Of Souls producer Kevin “Caveman” Shirley as one of our own. Shirley lived here between 1987 and the mid-‘90s, producing bands like Lime Spiders, Baby Animals, Cold Chisel, The Angels and Silverchair. “Yeah – he’s originally South African, but in fact I think he’s thinking of relocating back to Australia,” says Harris. Since moving to the USA, Shirley has produced albums for Aerosmith, Dream Theater, Black Country Communion, John Hiatt and Joe Bonamassa. He’s been working with Maiden since 2000’s Brave New World and while he doesn’t necessarily put an identifiable sonic stamp on the acts he works with, there’s a certain lack of bullshit about every project he takes on. “He’s very direct,” Harris says. “He just gets on and does the job and that’s what B E AT.C O M . A U
we want. No nonsense, really. We get on really well with him and work really well with him.” As the chief songwriter for Iron Maiden, Harris has shaped the evolution of metal itself. Many songwriters just bring a skeleton of an idea to their bandmates, but Harris is often very particular about what he wants from the other guys. “If you see a credit with just my name on it, that means I write absolutely everything,” he says. “Rhythm guitar parts, guitar melodies, vocal melodies, absolutely everything really. The only thing I don’t write is the guitar solos but even then I might suggest one or two things.” In 1999 Iron Maiden became a threeguitar band onstage, with Dave Murray and Adrian Smith playing alongside Janick Gers (who had replaced Smith in 1990, but was kept on when he returned). This has allowed them to better replicate the sound of their recordings. “There were things we’d done before where we did layer up the guitars so it meant we could do full melodies, harmonies and rhythms like we’d recorded,” Harris says. “And it does help when you’re writing stuff because you can bear that in mind as well. But I think the early stuff that we played with two guitars, you don’t really miss the other bits too much, but when you add them in it does make the band sound bigger and better.” One of Iron Maiden’s most enduring classics is The Trooper, about the Charge of the Light Brigade, a famous battle in the Crimean War. I recently found out that several of my ancestors fought in this battle, and one of them wrote about his exploits: his horse was torn apart under him by a shell, then fell on him, trapping him as easy prey. A Russian officer swung at him with a sword but my guy managed to stab him first, then grabbed the reigns of the dead guy’s horse, pulled himself out from under his own horse’s remnants and rode back to safety. He was permitted to keep the horse and later sold it to Prince Alfred. Harris’s lyrical inspirations are sometimes abstract and intuitive, but often he’ll find himself hitting the books to fully research a topic before bringing it to
life. “Something like the Light Brigade I knew about anyway just from school, and with something like that you just try to put yourself in the position as if you were there. It depends on the song though. Sometimes I do research, and I did that with a couple of songs here and there, like Isle Of Avalon from The Final Frontier. I just want to be absolutely correct before I say something.” In 2012 Harris dropped his debut solo LP, British Lion, a more rock-oriented affair than Iron Maiden. Turns out there are plans for more solo activity in the future. “I really enjoyed playing smaller places and they’re a really good bunch of guys. There will be more albums and more touring. I just love playing live anyway, so to be able to play big places and small places is fantastic. It’s great to be able to do both. Iron Maiden grew fairly gradually. We started playing clubs and then we played theatre-type places, and then when we went to Europe back in the day we started playing bigger and bigger places. We just sort of lapped it up and took to it like ducks to water, to be honest. It was just a natural progression. But these days both bands give me the chance to do both.” Harris seems like someone who feels most comfortable on a stage; though, not unless he’s fully prepared. “I do feel very comfortable on stage, once I’m comfortable that we’ve rehearsed enough. But I wouldn’t say I’m most comfortable there. I probably feel most comfortable on the football pitch, to be honest, because I’ve been doing that longer, since I was nine. Some people need all kinds of things like alcohol and what have you to come out of their shell, but I think if you’ve got a guitar in your hands and you’re confident you can be a very different persona offstage to on. I’m still me, but yeah, it’s just a way to express yourself in another way.” IRON MAIDEN are playing at Rod Laver Arena on Monday May 9. The Book of Souls is available now via Parlophone.
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This Week: Showcasing some of the most impressive costume and set pieces from a range of performing arts disciplines, Stage Presence: Design from the Australian Performing Arts Collection is now open. Established in 1975, the Australian Performing Arts Collection is the national leader of performing arts collections, and holds thousands of pieces from the fields of circus, theatre, dance, music and opera. The exhibition will showcase over 150 items, including the White Witch robe and headdress from The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe (2002) and set models from the 2006 London production of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. It runs at Gallery 1, Arts Centre until Sunday September 4. Entry is free.
With James Di Fabrizio. Do you have thoughts, news or time for a chat? Email james@beat.com.au.
All India Bakchod BY AUGUsTUs WELBY
A cult classic of both the screen and stage, Little Shop of Horrors opens this week at The Comedy Theatre. Following a sell out season in Sydney, the production makes its way to Melbourne backed by a swag full of awards. The story follows meek and mild mannered flower shop assistant Seymour Krelborn as he stumbles across a peculiar new plant species, which he names after his stunning but vulnerable colleague Audrey. The sinister plant seems like his ticket to fame and fortune, but the plant grows in size and smarts. Seymour discovers that feeding his ambition starts to require juicier and juicier ingredients, but before he knows it, Seymour and Audrey are battling both for their lives and the future of Earth. It runs from Wednesday May 4 through to Sunday May 22. The Human Rights Arts & Film Festival kicks off its 2016 festivities this week, featuring 31 feature films, 25 shorts, five forums and nine diverse arts events. The festival will open with the Australian premiere of the acclaimed film, Chasing Asylum. From Academy Award winning director Eva Orner, the film reveals the conditions asylum seekers are living in through never before seen footage of offshore detention centres on Nauru and Manus Island. Dreaming Of Denmark will add another perspective to the conversation around asylum seekers. The film follows 15 year old Wasiullah, who has spent his adolescent years in Denmark after fleeing Afghanistan. Other film highlights include psychological thriller The Stanford Prison Experiment, This Changes Everything and Out to Win ± a powerful documentary which chronicles the history of gay and lesbian sports professionals. It kicks off Thursday May 5 and runs until Thursday May 19.
pick of the week
Across 17 days, Next Wave Festival is set to showcase the intelligent, powerful and thought provoking work of the next generation of Australian artists ± kicking off this week. Rafaella McDonald and Natasha Gabriella Tontey come together for Angkot Alien, where a unique Indonesian-style ‘Angkot’ van will be parked in a secret location around the city, where costume, painting, video and performance overlap to create a textured live art experience. Other highlights include The Fraud Complex in which suspicions and doubt are created through an unusual copresentation of artworks, across performance, painting, photography, video, sculpture and installation and Annaliese Constable’s newest work, Mummy Dearest ± holding a magnifying glass up to families, addiction, mental illness and magpie attacks. It kicks off Thursday May 5 and runs through to Sunday May 22.
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A
ll India Bakchod are the most famous name in Indian comedy, but this week’s Melbourne performance marks their debut Australian outing. Two members of the four-man collective, Rohan Joshi and Tanmay Bat, have been to Australia previously. Though, it wasn’t for the purpose of performing subversive, politically potent comedy. “Two years ago Tanmay and I came down and we did some videos for Tourism Victoria,” Joshi says. “So we just spent ten days going around all of Victoria. We did Melbourne, we did Phillip Island, we did a bunch of other places. This is going to be the first time any of us are doing comedy of any form in Australia. It’s going to be pretty interesting, but it’ll be fun.” AIB have been presenting provocative live shows since early 2013. The four members had all performed stand-up comedy prior to banding together, as well as hosting various radio shows and podcasts. AIB’s major breakthrough came once they started utilising YouTube in late 2013. Their hugely-popular YouTube channel is a port of comedic activity, with regularly uploaded sketches and live clips, plus occasional social activism. A lot of the content is India-centric, so some alterations will be necessary to appeal to Australian audiences. “We’re aware of the fact we’re going to have to be a bit more universal in the way we address things,” Joshi says, “but I think our approach is still going to be very much who we are and what we do. That said, there is something inherently funny in being in front of an audience that is 95% Indian and 5% nonIndian ± occasionally you just see a look of complete bewilderment on the non-Indian faces that I almost crack up onstage. But that’s OK with maybe a few jokes, because that becomes funny for the audience as well, but you can’t do an entire show that way.”
Their material regularly casts a critical eye on social and cultural norms, religious presumptions and politics. But, even while it’s India-specific, it’s not inaccessible. “We deal with some pretty universal emotions in our comedy,” says Joshi. “We did a video called Honest Indian Flights, and the video is actually in Hindi, but we subtitled it and we put it online and the weird thing is it’s one of our most viral videos ever. Weirdly enough it’s been featured on a breakfast show in Australia. What we realised once we put the video up is the experience of a shitty flight is universal, and it’s the same everywhere. It’s people getting up before they should, it’s the entitled drunk guy on the plane, it’s people trying to stuff the overhead cabin with shit knows what, it’s the guy who won’t stop checking out the flight attendant. That really managed to transcend any sort of cultural values, so the hope is to do that with our [live] comedy as well.” Whatever the subject matter, when planning their next comedic target the aim is to find things with lasting relevance and mutual applicability. “If you write exclusively topical material the thing that happens is: a) it gets old really fast, and b) you find that you are always writing. There’s never any time to take in new material and then hone it, which is something you can do with a more timeless observation. So we always aspire to write for broader themes than just what’s happening in the headlines
EVERYTHING MELBOURNE
right now.” The four core AIB members ± Joshi, Bhat, Gursimran Khamb and Ashish Shakya ± are all coming to Australia, plus a fifth performer, Abish Mathew. The shows will encompass music, sketches and stand-up. “[Abish is] a frequent collaborator with us. He’s one of the funniest guys in India and we do a lot of work together. He’s as much a part of the team as any of us, it’s just that he’s too cool to be formally associated with us. So it’s going to be a nice mix of things, and something for everybody.” Working as a four or five person group, with each member an established comedian in his own right, means there’s a wealth of ideas coming in. And rather than one individual holding the reins, the input of each member is valued. “We’ve been writing collaboratively for over four years now, because we’ve been a group of four comedians for the longest time. We’ve done all of our writing collaboratively, so I think we’ve managed to do without stepping on anybody’s toes. And with Abish also we’ve collaborated so frequently that coordination is very easy and sort of an exchange of ideas.” The material constituting AIB’s forthcoming Australian shows should be entirely new to local audiences, even those who are keen followers of the group’s online activities. “The stuff that we do live is very, very different [to the stuff that we do in our videos]. I think it’d be cheating on some level to just re-present stuff that you’ve already done in another format and just bring that out live. Live comedy tends to have a very different cadence and a very different tempo and flow. So we try to keep them separate.” ALL INDIA BAKCHOD will perform at the Forum Theatre on Friday May 6.
For more arts news, reviews and interviews visit beat.com.au
DIRTY SECRETS COMEDY
Review
THE COMIC STRIP
JIM JEffERIES
KIngS Of COMEDY Kings of Comedy is back after an absolutely killer Comedy Festival run and now has a brand new home ± The Royal Melbourne Hotel. Kirsty Webeck arrives to headline, Michael Shafar is stepping up as MC and John Dore is taking a feature spot. Supporting them are Nicholas Capper, Wei, Danielle Walker, Joseph Green, Nicholas Stevens and Simon Hughes. It goes down Friday May 6.
COMEDY aT gEORgE’S The bar dedicated to George Costanza is now kicking off weekly comedy instalments. Helming their first event comes Rose Callaghan, Simon Keck (MC) alongside Sam Taunton, Tessa Ryan, Jono, Mastrippolito, Angus Brown, Nat Harris, Rob Caruana and Nick Capper. Catch it at George’s on Thursday May 5.
Club VOlTaIRE COMEDY Club Voltaire is set for a ripping night of comedy, featuring Rob Caruana performing his MICF show Silent Comedy, as well as stand up from Luka Muller, Alex Ward, Eve Ellenbogan, and more. Catch it on Sunday May 8.
St Kilda Film Festival Unveils 2016 Program
The St Kilda Film Festival has revealed a brilliant ten-day calendar, hosting a slew of filmic delights and special events. The St Kilda Town Hall will once again be transformed into a state of the art and purpose built cinema to host Australia’s top 100 short films, music videos, archival footage, international programs, youth screenings and an extensive filmmaker development program.The world class selection of short films is complemented by SoundKILDA, showcasing the best music videos of local and international musicians created by many of the country’s most talented filmmakers, with clips from Missy Higgins, Vance Joy, Boy & Bear and The Jezabels slated for the screen. Other special programs and screenings outside include Wild at Heart ± a showcase of films created by artists across Melbourne and Victoria ± the Under the Radar youth short film competition, the new edition of a Web Series program, a free program for developing filmmakers featuring forums, workshops and conversations and more. The St Kilda Film Festival will run from Thursday May 19 to Saturday May 28.
Coming Up SCORSESE
Thursday May 26 – Sunday September 18 ACMI
Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet
Friday June 3, Saturday June 4 and Monday June 6 Hamer Hall
Circus Oz’s TWENTYSIXTEEN June 15 – July 10 Circus Oz Big Top, Birrarung Marr
Degas: A New Vision
Friday June 24 – Sunday September 18 National Gallery of Victoria
An Evening With Henry Rollins
Monday September 19 & Tuesday September 20 State Theatre
Raiders of the Lost Ark Live in Concert
Friday November 4 – Saturday November 5 Hamer Hall
Nederlands Dans Theater Set
Sam Simmons Reveals
For Melbourne Performances
Melbourne Shows
Hailed as one of the most innovative dance companies of the modern era, the renowned Nederlands Dans Theater are set to perform a series of shows in Melbourne. Since its inception over 50 years ago, the company has built a rich repertoire of more than 600 unique dances, choreographed by masters of the craft including Jiri Kylian, Hans van Manen, Paul Lightfoot and Sol Leon. Their run of shows include three of their most distinct performances including Sehnsucht (2009), Solo Echo (2012) and Stop-Motion (2014). The performances will take place at the State Theatre from Wednesday June 22 until Saturday June 25.
After his sell out success at this year’s Melbourne International Comedy Festival, Sam Simmons will return for two special shows. Sam Simmons makes his way back to the Australian stage after winning the two biggest awards in live comedy in 2015 ± the prestigious Barry Award for Best Show at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and the coveted Edinburgh Comedy Award. Now in demand across the international stage, he’s relocated from LA to London, selling out shows at London’s Soho Theatre and writing for television. He’ll appear Friday June 17 and Saturday June 18 at The Athenaeum Theatre.
The DIG Collective To Present DoubleSpeak
Melbourne-based experimental theatre company The DIG Collective are set to bring their new Australian drama, DoubleSpeak, to Footscray this May. The play revolves around propaganda, language and power and is part of Footscray Community Arts Centre’s (FCAC) Art and Activism month. In conjunction with the performances, The DIG Collective will also be setting up a public office outside the theatre inviting conversations with communities about their public space, the way language is used, and who is excluded and included by it. DoubleSpeak will come to FCAC Performance Space from Thursday May 19 until Saturday May 21.
Arts Grants Applications Open for 2017
City of Melbourne’s 2017 Arts Grants Program is now open for applications from artists, musicians and creative organisations from a diverse variety of disciplines and backgrounds. The 2017 Arts Grants Program provides funding of up to $20,000 for one-off projects in the categories of Arts Projects, Indigenous Arts Projects and Arts Residencies. It also supports Melbourne artists to develop and test their creations that they’re passionate about, further enriching Melbourne’s cultural landscape. Applications are open until Tuesday June 14. Artists can apply via The City Of Melbourne’s website. G E T S O M E C U LT U R E U P YA
Regardless of Jim Jefferies reputation as being sexist, misogynistic and unapologetically crude, this gal was as eager as ever to see him live in action. When scanning around the audience, it was clear that all the women (secretly) wanted to be with him, all the men wanted to be him, and the others ± well, they shouldn’t have been at the show in the first place. Appearing on stage like the ultimate rock star, Jim Jefferies was set to entertain an audience made up of mostly middle-aged men, however there was definitely a newcomer energy in the air. Working us into it slowly, Jefferies started by bringing up blowjobs, anal sex and of course, “face-fucking”. While it’s not for the faint of heart, the comic’s content is wildly witty and there’s certainly no wonder that he’s attracted a mass amount of attention from around the world. Recently celebrating his favourite holiday, he asked his audience how they spent April 18th, an anniversary you’ll have to explore for yourself. Assuming his position in a leather armchair, Jefferies discussed his on-going love affair with porn, wishing all movies would end with such a “reliable ending”. Taking it a tad too far, it wasn’t long until he had reeled us right back in by belting out his first great one-liner of the night ± “Fuck off Melbourne, don’t be a bunch of cunts.” After some stellar self-deprecation about his sexual stamina, the tireless talent had to tell a few audience members to stop filming. With a knack for audience interaction, Jefferies speaks to his crowd the way he tells his jokes ± with an unwavering, no bullshit attitude. Pointing out the ridiculous nature of his semi-senile security guards, the Sydney man’s ability to improvise was unfathomable. While he is still a seriously Australian bloke, the stand-up comedian is now a fulltime American resident and rather unexpectedly, a fulltime father. From failing to sympathise with “the pregnant” to placing a positively hilarious all-chocolate diet analogy on the progression of a relationship, Jefferies had the entire room in a fit of laughter about his unplanned predicament. Unfortunately, due to some of his comical topics, Jefferies has been subject to several misinterpretations. Surprising to some, his show incorporates a level of depth not often seen in standup. Sitting on the stage’s edge, he shared his concerns about Australia’s current legislation regarding samesex marriage. Much more forward thinking than expected, Jefferies summed it up perfectly saying, “Who gives a fuck, just let them get married”. In amongst his accurate rant was his hatred towards US dentist James Palmer, commonly known as the man that illegally hunted Cecil the lion. Jefferies dislike to all “low life” hunters was met with the celebration of some and the silence of others, displaying a disconnect between the expectations placed upon him. Touching on the tyranny of Donald Trump and those alike, Jefferies declared, “The only thing you can cure hate with, is love”. After exploring the curious culture of Australian show bags and revealing some white lies he told in his infamous gun control bit, the “Donald Bradman of heckling” showed us just how fast he could bowl them out. Absolutely annihilating an interrupting audience member, he took pleasure in cheekily punishing a man who spoke out of line in hopes of impressing those in the arena. Insanely entertaining and incessantly unremorseful, he couldn’t have been more correct when he told us “I’m no good at sports ± but I’m damn good at this”. However, when it was time for the question part of the evening, Jefferies willingly took part, answering all types of queries from the crowd. Finishing up with a story about his passion for miniature objects and becoming a giant, the humbled, home-grown hero proved that while his description of himself is hilarious, he is much more than the comic that “says cunt more than anyone else”. BY PHOEBE ROBERTSON BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 23
For more arts news, reviews and interviews visit beat.com.au
Next Wave Festival BY ADAM NORRIS
Curators are the new black. At least, that’s how it seems of late. The voice of the curator has rarely been more recognised than in today’s cultural climate. As a result, it’s pretty neat having Next Wave’s Georgie Meagher sit down and discuss the shape of the 2016 festival, and what people can expect from this celebration of the unexpected. “I think the whole idea of the curator has become very cool in the last five to ten years,” Meagher considers. “There are a lot more courses and masters degrees, things
like that to produce curators. Though I have a little bit of a bugbear about the term, and how widely it has been used. Curating is about a lot more than making a list, or
The Orchid and the Crow
BY ADAM NORRIS
While Daniel Tobias isn’t exactly talking penis jokes, he is talking balls. The twist, however, is that this is comedy springing from near tragedy, after Tobias was diagnosed with stage four testicular cancer. Stage five is death. Spoiler: he lives! And thus was born the hilarious one-man show, The Orchard and the Crow. “I’m finding there are new things all the time,” Tobias explains of the production’s international appeal, having won rave reviews in Montreal, Ottawa and
London. “When you say that you’re doing a show about testicular cancer, people think it’s going to be really dark. But actually, no, it’s a lot of fun, and there are a lot
just saying, ‘You, you, and you’, and then it’s case closed, show curated. That’s more like a shopping bag. It’s much more about relationships with artists, about really longterm development of ideas. I think the best curators chase those long-term collaborative relationships, not to the extent where they are actually effecting the work, but it’s about a conversation developed around artist’s work that can help the art, can put it in the best context that it can possibly have.” Meagher’s own background as an artist no doubt helps realise this perspective immensely, and she is vehemently hands on with her practice. “When I started, the top thing on my to-do list was to go around the country and meet with as many young artists as I could,” she elaborates. “That was an amazing experience and gives you a really good sense of the different ways practices are working in different communities. But you also get the big picture of what people are thinking about.” The notion of a big-picture artistic conversation is interesting, and prompts me to ask if there are particular trends Meagher has noted from town to town, state to territory. “A lot of people in Perth were talking about the closure of a number of galleries, commercial and artist-run, so there seemed to be this spike in artists being curators [and] artists creating projects in public space, doing publishing projects, these things that are really outside galleries,” she says. “But then there are also strange things that people have in common that they’re thinking about. Science-fiction for instance is something that has come
through the festival quite strongly, and that’s something a bit unexpected.” The genre is often heralded as a landscape of inspiration and change, of pushing social borders and allowing us to synchronise hypothetical concerns with contemporary cultural practices. For Next Wave Festival, the questioning (and questing) narratives of sci-fi seem oddly appropriate. “I think the idea of surprise, or the unexpected, is what audiences seek from Next Wave. Particularly how much it can change every two years, it can be a totally different beast,” says Meagher. “But it’s always this interdisciplinary thing. You can go from a dance show to a theatre performance, to an exhibition, to a really immersive participatory event, but the journey between them is always a bit of an adventure. There are always a couple of Next Wave projects that are in really unexpected places, or places that you might not be able to access normally. As an audience member, I always saw Next Wave as a space for adventure, and so I’ve kept that in mind in curating this festival as well. There are 37 different people from around the country who have something they want to say to the world, and for me, that’s so reflective of this moment in time, of what the world is like, to try and unpick what those things are. What that space inbetween is, and what the questions that come up look like when you just let them stand on their own.”
of songs in there. There’s an ‘80s rock song, a kind of John Cougar Mellencamp number, and something like Doris Day, this Hollywood Western stuff. There’s an Italian opera, all these different styles. What I’ve found with it is that people respond in quite different ways on different nights. Because the humour is dark, people don’t always laugh in the same places. So it makes it a little bit different to comedy that I’ve done before. It makes it more like storytelling.” There seems to be a deep-seated evolutionary response to brushing up against death, and that is to find humour in the situation. Given Tobias was already drawn to performance ± to musicals, to dance, to monologues ± combining these talents into a somewhat autobiographical comedy show was a bit of a no-brainer, and by devising it as a one-hander he is able to swing between platforms with ease. “[Solo shows] require a different kind of concentration, because you don’t really get a moment to hang back,” he says. “You always have to make sure you’re on top of things. There were several shows that were inspirations to do my own. One was Bryony Kimmings’s show, Credible Likeable Superstar Role Model. I liked the way she moved in different modes and genres without telling you where she was going.” Part of the unexpected scope of the show is Tobias’ connection with disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong. The notion of faith is an enduring theme throughout The Orchid and the Crow, and as Tobias began the road to his own cancer treatment and recovery, the journey of fellow cancer survivor Armstrong became a strong parable. “He really was a textbook modern messiah figure. He
was a classic Joseph Campbell hero’s journey story. You couldn’t write it better, and we were all living in it... I went through my treatment with a total brand of confidence that I couldn’t have gone through without his book.” Yet the burden of someone else’s success can be a difficult yoke. While the events of the show are now twelve years distant, the road from survival to living was not straightforward. Through performance ± and the hilarity the show provokes ± Tobias maintains a firm connection with those darker times. “Me going into hospital was the caterpillar going into the cocoon, and I was going to emerge like some wonderful butterfly,” he reflects. “When I came out, it was frustrating. I found myself a year later with depression, a kind of post-traumatic stress, because I hadn’t fixed everything. Things hadn’t magically gotten better. I think things started to change after that. That first year was hard, but it did give me a change to zero in on everything, to lie on a couch for a year and decide what was important. Armstrong was the same. He didn’t immediately get back on the bike and start winning tournaments, it took a lot of training to get back on track. Well, and taking a few drugs. “It’s really easy, if you do have a brush with death, to maybe make some changes. But as the years go on, we kind of forget about it. It’s like any motivation. It doesn’t last very long, and you really have to keep reminding yourself. So I’m grateful to explore my story, and keep retelling it. I don’t want to lose touch with it.”
La Bohème
NEXT WAVE FESTIVAL will run in various locations and venues throughout Melbourne from Thursday May 5 to Sunday May 22.
THE ORCHID AND THE CROW will run at Theatre Works from Tuesday May 3 to Sunday May 15.
The opera that inspired the movie Moulin Rouge and the musical RENT.
3-28 May
Arts Centre Melbourne Save $50 on A or B Reserve tickets when you book at opera.org.au with promo code BEATMAG. Tickets from $65* opera.org.au artscentremelbourne.com.au
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BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 24
EVERYTHING MELBOURNE
Listen Up
For more arts news, reviews and interviews visit beat.com.au
WITH CHLOE TURNER
cases, online life is a more authentic or, at least, much more comfortable place to be. Being a YouTuber is so much a part of their identity, that their entire world is influenced by that fact.
One Million Views WITH XANTHE dOBBIE
Australian video artists Xanthe Dobbie andTiyan Baker have launched themselves into the cyber-galaxy of YouTube to reveal the on and offline lives of six of the country’s biggest YouTube celebrities, crafting installations to run as part of the Next Wave Festival. We caught up with co-creator Xanthe Dobbie, for an insight into her process and creativity. Q: How did you come up with the idea for One Million Views? What made you pick these specific Australian YouTube celebrities? A: Tiyan and I came up with the idea for One Million Views in late 2014. We met as finalists in The Macquarie Digital Portraiture Award (which Tiyan won) at the National Portrait Gallery in Canberra. Upon meeting, I kind of flippantly suggested that we should do a project together and then a few beers and a few flights to Sydney later, we had the beginnings of what would eventually became One Million Views.
While our artistic styles as video artists are about as disparate as they come, we found common ground in our shared obsession with YouTube in all its vast strangeness. YouTube is an odd beast ± there is a place for literally everything and everyone ± and we wanted to sum up a broad cross-section of that within this project. We’ve got political ranters, teen idols, ASMR-tists, wildlife experts and budding chefs. We also wanted to explore how these people represent Australian identity through their existence as online ambassadors. Q: Without giving too much away before the exhibition, what interesting offline traits did you find in your subjects? A: I think going in to this project, we thought that we would answer some big philosophical questions about authenticity ± the authentic self being offline in real life, and the inauthentic self being this tailored version of the self developed for an online viewership. What has been interesting, going into these people’s houses and being party to their lived experience, is finding out just how little that divide actually means to them as individuals. Both their on and offline personas are so intrinsically linked, that, while they are different, they represent two parts of a cohesive whole. In some
Q: You and Tiyan are described as having contrasting styles ± you’re more about higher stimulation and the public output of these people, where as Tiyan focuses more on subtlety and their private lives. How have these opposing outlooks manifested themselves in your work? A: The total contrast between the two styles is very much representative of the overarching message of the project: one half conflicting with and simultaneously complementing the other. For each YouTuber, we have made one diptych portrait ± two parts which form one complete image of our subject. I think the most interesting part of working together has been acknowledging the similarities and the differences in our approaches to art making. My practice is very removed from the real world and relies exclusively on post production. I spend hours scouring the Internet for the perfect piece to fit into my elaborate puzzle. It’s almost psychotic. Tiyan’s practice is much more hands on. The work is in the organisation ± having to coordinate people, pick up gear, and set up lighting. Then it’s just a matter of finding the right take, polishing it up, looping it perfectly and making it look effortlessly intimate ± easy! It’s an odd thing to be a video artist that doesn’t know how to use a camera. Tiyan has certainly taught me quite a bit about how stuff works. Overall, One Million Views has been a hugely rewarding project. Getting this thing off the ground took a whole lot of time, work, and people-moving. We’ve learnt so much and we’re so excited to see it all come together. ONE MILLION VIEWS will run throughout North Melbourne Shopfronts from Thursday May 5 to Saturday May 21 as part of Next Wave 2016. They’ll also host a workshop, HOW TO GO VIRAL: ONE MILLIONS VIEWS at Arts House on Sunday May 8.
W I T H T O M B R A N d - T O M B R A N d @B E AT.C O M .AU
There are so many babes making amazing music in Australia right now. We are seriously overflowing with talent. However, it still astounds me when I hear festival bookers use the excuse “there just aren’t enough women making music” when they book a lineup full of male bands. I’m Chloe and I’m going to be writing this monthly column on feminist chats, interviews and upcoming events and opportunities. I do lots of things: I volunteer for LISTEN, run LISTEN Records, work at Music Victoria and I also work for Paradise Music festival. LISTEN is a collective that exists to initiate and foster change, using a feminist perspective to promote the visibility and experiences of marginalised people in Australian music. However, this isn’t a LISTEN column, this is just me writing on topics that you should coincidentally listen to. A few weeks ago I went and spoke at SQUAD Camp, an initiative run by The Push. SQUAD is a new mentoring program for women and gender diverse folk who play music. Being invited to participate in such an event was really empowering. Speaking to everyone and hearing their stories was an inspirational experience. We had discussions surrounding self care, domestic abuse and how to make your own space in a music industry that has been a boys club for too long. There were also practical industry chats from legal expert Jen Tutty (Studio Legal), and musicians Jo Syme (Big Scary) and Jelena Goluza (Outright). Through my work with Music Victoria, LISTEN and personal experiences, confidence seems to be a huge barrier for women and gender diverse folk who want to get involved in the music industry. Personally, it wasn’t until I found LISTEN, and surrounded myself with a supportive community that I felt the confidence to do things as simple as using a guitar amp for fear of doing it wrong and getting embarrassed in front of the boys club. That’s why this SQUAD initiative is so important to actually create change within the music industry. Not only are these young people being mentored by some amazing women throughout the year, but this group is creating their own spaces, and absolutely killing it in the process. Ultimately, when I see lineups and festivals using gendered excuses for not booking enough diverse talent, I get so frustrated, because in the Melbourne music scene alone there is so much talent. On that note, here are a handful of awesome femme and LGBTIQA+ gigs coming up in May. See you there.
COMING UP
What do you get when you cross one of Australia’s most renowned contemporary Japanese restaurants with one of Melbourne’s most loved gastronomic strips? The answer is the newly opened Saké Flinders Lane, the latest edition to the famed Saké Restaurant & Bar family. From spectacular food and drinks, to stunning décor and a stellar DJ line-up, this dining and entertainment destination has everything covered. Executive Chef Jean Paul Lourdes, with 3-star Michelin credentials spanning Paris, Hong Kong and Tokyo, has created a menu that pays homage to the Saké family but reflects his signature style. The menu celebrates locally-sourced produce, including artisan cheeses and heritage bred chicken and pork. Core ingredients are crafted in-house, including traditional spices and seasonings such as togarashi and furikake, tofu and miso paste, which takes six months to make. Soy sauce and salts are house-smoked. There are classic Saké dishes as well as those unique to Saké Flinders, including Yakitori (brined and slow cooked for a combined 24 hours), then glazed in tare and robata grilled over ancient binchotan charcoal. “We play with texture, temperature, flavour and fragrance to create a feast for the senses,” Jean Paul says. “For example, Niku Chazuke combines fragrant rice infused with
Osmanthus blossom, with green tea and simmered beef. While contrasting temperatures and tastes define our beef tataki with the beef served warm and seasoned with spicy togarashi, freeze-dried plum and salted plum.” The drinks menu is equally impressive featuring an extensive range of Japanese craft beers, including those from Coedo, Niigata and Hitachino, and the largest range of umeshu, sake and Japanese whisky of all Saké restaurants. The seasonal cocktail list includes a shiitake-infused Hakushu single malt cocktail; a cheesecake martini combining Appleton VX Jamaican rum, yuzu juice, mascarpone and blueberries; and a smoky BBQ version of a Bloody Mary. Downstairs, the bar features a spectacular shochu library of 80 gorgeous urns each containing 1.9 litres of shochu ± a traditional distilled spirit. Customers can buy urns and access their personal shochu collection from the library each time they visit. Late night diners are catered for until 2am at the downstairs bar from Thursday to Saturday, with the bar closing at 3am. Saké Flinders’ gastronomic pleasures perfectly complement the stylish two-storey restaurant, which features a mid-century palate of Japanese grass cloths, handmade Japanese tiles, green marble surfaces,
teak veneers, timber, cream leather furnishings, and bronze mirrors. The ground floor seats 119 people, including 17 seats at a wood counter that overlooks a sushi bar and robatayaki grill, and a private dining room that seats 12. The downstairs bar and dining area seats 174, including 24 on high-top tables by the bar, 48 in an exquisite outside courtyard bar, and a private dining room for 16. Adding to the lively ambience is a DJ booth in the downstairs bar and dining area. The opening weekend saw an all-female DJ line-up on Friday, including The Faders, KIN, Lavida, and Melbourne local Tess Vockler. All throughout May, there’s plenty of cracking DJs with a rotating theme each night. Thursdays features local legends, ladies take over on Friday night and Saturdays has a guys & gals line-up to keep your weekend pumping. DJs Mell Hall, Lauren Mac, Lavida, Claire Elliot, Mark John, Duchess Kay, Tess Vockler, Lucille Croft, Jolyon Petch, Jorj Pats, Beth Yen, Anyo, Andy Murphy and Piero take over for May, making for a month of partying not to be missed. Check out the newly opened Saké Flinders Lane, down on 121 Flinders Lane in the Melbourne CBD. Saké is open from Sunday to Wednesday from 11am to 12am and Thursday to Saturday from 11am to 3am. A bar menu is available until 2am Thursday to Saturday and features five types of yakitori and other snacks, which will keep late night drinkers satiated in those early hours. Reservations are encouraged, so please visit Saké’s website to make a booking, or call on 1300 670 910.
EVERYTHING MELBOURNE
SUI ZHEN W/ SUPERSTAR + SANPO dISCO Thursday 5 May @ Hugs&Kisses CABLE TIES 7” LAUNCH W/ THE PINk TILES, SYNTHETICS, kARLI WHITE + ASPS Friday 6 May @ The Old Bar TEk TEk ENSEMBLE Saturday 7 May @ Open Studio CAMP COPE ALBUM LAUNCH W/ WET LIPS, MOON RITUALS + TWO STEPS ON THE WATER Friday 13 May @ The Curtin COOL ROOM W/ LAILA SAkINI, dJ CAMOV + JENNIfER LOVELESS Friday 13 May @ Cool Room NEW LEASE #52 - TOTALLY MILd (SOLO), HI-TEC EMOTIONS + AVOId Saturday 14 May @ The Curtin CHELSEA BLEACH SINGLE LAUNCH W/ TWO STEPS ON THE WATER, WET LIPS + HABITS dJS Friday 20 May @ The Old Bar PIkELET TAPE LAUNCH W/ NINETYNINE + SUSS CUN^S Saturday 21 May @ Hugs&Kisses
HUNTLY EP LAUNCH W/ TWO STEPS ON THE WATER, JESSICA SAYS + THE CURSE Friday 27 May @ Shadow Electric SHRIMPWITCH W/ PLASTER Of PARIS + SHAG PLANET Monday 30 May @ The Old Bar
BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 25
LANCE FERGUSON P R E S E N T I N G :
B L A C K
F E E L I N G
B Y K AY E B L U M
Guitarist and leader of The Bamboos, recording engineer, songwriter, DJ, producer and radio broadcaster – Lance Ferguson wears quite a few hats these days. Next week he’s hitting the stage with a superb lineup of musicians to perform selected tracks from his three-album recording project, Black Feeling; a premiere gig for Stonnington Jazz Festival.
METROPOLIS NEW MUSIC FESTIVAL C R E AT I V E
R E S P O N S E S
TO
C I T Y
L I F E
BY AUGUSTUS WELBY
The theme of this year’s Metropolis New Music Festival is Music of the City. In one sense this refers to the city of Melbourne, however the festival programme features an international lineup of performers and works inspired by a multitude of global cities. For Recital Centre Director of Artistic Planning Marshall McGuire, the aim was to depict the many facets of a city – from what we value about them to their darker characteristics. “It does involve real cities and our city and city life and all of those things,” he says. “But we leave the palette wide open for all the artists and performers in this series to suggest their own ideas and their responses to the theme, and they’ve all come up with a fascinating array of responses to what a city is. Real cities, imagined cities, ancient cities, dystopian cities.” There is no set criterion for what makes a city, but cities are often identified for excellence in a particular cultural field. Melbourne is widely regarded as a music city, which is a notion that McGuire and the Recital Centre team wanted to explore. “We were talking about the title of Melbourne Music City and we said, ‘Does a city become musical because you’ve called it a musical city? Or is it a musical city just because it is a musical city?’ And I think Melbourne’s very much in the latter. Music just pulses through its veins and it has done forever and it’s been blessed with lots of great venues and lots of great artists. “One thing we wanted to do in this was look at expanding out from contemporary classical music into the music that in many ways defines Melbourne – the singer/ songwriters, sort of the urban tribes of Melbourne. For that reason we looked to artists like Jess Ribeiro and Cam Butler and Paddy Mann [AKA Grand Salvo] to give their view of life in the city and their creative response to that.” Butler and Ribeiro will both appear as part of the Metropolis free concert series. This includes a total of six separate performances, encompassing Butler’s post-classical guitar music and Ribeiro’s hazy folk rock, as well as contemporary jazz from Hue Blanes and Stephen Newton, conceptual art music from Atticus Bastow, and the malleable chamber music of The Letter String Quartet. “We wanted to really embrace the notion of a festival where you can wander from one gig to another, from one performer to another, from one space to another and maybe have some sort of accidental experience or some connectivity,” McGuire says. “Often we do one performance a night here, or two performances, and we’re opening that up so that you can have two or three different performances in the evening in very different spaces with a very different vibe. We hope that all our audiences are going to take away something new and unexpected.” That seems like an inevitable outcome of Immersion, a free concert happening on opening night. Led by Melburnian composer Nick Tsiavos, it’s touted as a “three hour vigil of ancient chant and modern instrumentation.” “Nick is a musician who creates big spaces
with his music. It’s often very contemplative, very rich in texture. This is a three hour measure of music and it’s a space to come in and out of if you like. The combination of Nick, Deb Kayser, who’s a phenomenal vocalist, Adam Simmons and the other collaborators is going to be a very special opening night event.” As for the major portion of the programme, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra with conductor Robert Spano will present Heavenly Cities, City Life and City Scapes – all three of which were designed especially for the Metropolis New Music Festival. “MSO initiated Metropolis about 20 years ago now, so it’s been a really rich and long contribution to contemporary music in this city. Robert Spano, for many years he was with the Brooklyn Philharmonic. He’s what I call a 21st century conductor. He’s not one of the old school maestros – he’s someone who thinks about community, who thinks about composition, who thinks about always reinvigorating the artform. So he’s a perfect collaborator for this one. “These programs they’ve put together [feature works from] a lot of really interesting composers who we don’t hear a lot of in this country. People like Unsuk Chin; Michael Daugherty is another one, he’s based in LA; and Jennifer Higdon, another American composer. There’s some Steve Reich there, which is always fabulous; the world premiere by Barry Cunningham, who’s a Melburnian from way back; and two works that have come out of the Cybec [21st Century Composers] program, by Alex Turley and Michael Bakrnčev. It’s always great to hear new voices, new works up against older more established voices, to put them in that continuum of orchestral composition.” Elsewhere there’ll be performances from Michael Kieran Harvey, Forest Collective, and Elision, the latter of which will feature McGuire as a performer. Pianists Aura Go and Tomoe Kawabata will close the festival with a performance of Olivier Messiaen’s Visions de l’Amen, a piece written after the French composer spent eight months imprisoned during World War II. Right across the board, Metropolis New Music Festival asks audiences to visit with an open mind. “It is a new music festival – there’s not music here that people will have heard before. And it’s really just opening ears and opening minds to all sorts of possibilities.” METROPOLIS NEW MUSIC FESTIVAL happens from Monday May 9 – Saturday May 21 at the Melbourne Recital Centre.
The album liner notes describe Black Feeling as “a rhythmic feeling, a soulful feeling”, but the project covers a diverse mix of genres, from deep funk to Latin folk. The threevolume series sees Ferguson re-working a number of carefully chosen originals, ranging from the obscure to the renowned, from around the globe to around the corner. The first Black Feeling album was released on UK label Freestyle Records in 2007, with the third instalment emerging last year to critical acclaim. As for the inspiration behind the project, Ferguson had a few different motivations. “A bunch of us are making music in the world of funk, soul, jazz and Latin with that kind of fusion which we cover on the records,” he says. “There’s this amazing canon of work out there, and I’ve picked some of my favourite tunes in those genres and I wanted to reverse engineer them to find out how they worked and what made them tick. Making an album of cover versions was just a great way to get inside these tunes and take the arrangements apart – work out what made them so great.” From a DJ perspective, Ferguson says some of the original recordings can be difficult to spin in a club setting because they either sound a little thin or have a solo that plays too long. “Not saying that they need to be fixed up,” he says, “but I guess [I’ve been] tailoring them for a modern dance floor just a little bit.” Given Ferguson’s passionate interest in
these genres, becoming intimately familiar with some of his favourite tunes was, of course, a lot of fun. And the fun grows when it’s shared. “I love this music,” he says. “I want to expose more people to it.” While the album artwork makes the records look like ‘60s rarities that you’d find in a loaded second-hand store, the Black Feeling albums were all recorded at John Castle’s studio, The Shed, which is tucked away in his parents’ backyard in Melbourne’s Eastern suburbs. “It’s where all The Bamboos’ records are made and where most of the records I’ve worked on have been recorded,” Ferguson says. Some of Melbourne’s top funk and
BLACK CAB T E C H N I C O L O U R
U N I F O R M S
BY AUGUSTUS WELBY
For musicians to attain enduring artistic appeal, it’s essential to maintain creative curiosity and keep finding artistically fruitful ways to explore that. There are plenty of bands that do some really great work but then spend years churning out recycled ideas, and this is exactly what Melbourne’s Black Cab didn’t want to do. After three records of guitar-centric psych rock, their 2014 release, Games of the XXI Olympiad, revolved around industrial electronic production and synth-pop hooks. Released in March, Black Cab’s latest single Uniforms upholds the aesthetic qualities of that album. However, they’ve recently overhauled their songwriting approach. “We’ve kind of started from scratch,” says vocalist Andrew Coates. “Now that we’ve got Wes [Holland] on drums, we’re actually writing with the same bunch of folks who have been playing these songs live for the last couple of years. That’s been really good.” This mightn’t seem like a drastic shift considering Holland does appear on Games of the XXI Olympiad (alongside Coates and his Black Cab co-leader James Lee), but he wasn’t a fully-fledged band member for W W W. B E AT.C O M . A U
much of the album’s construction. “He came in late on a few tracks, but he wasn’t there at the start for a lot of those tracks that have been in play for quite some time,” Coates says. “Sexy Polizei was released in 2009, and Combat Boots came out 2011. He was playing live on those tracks and he tracked a few drum lines on some of the later stuff on Games, but this is really a good reset. We really like the rock energy that he brings to the live sound, so we want to try to capture that on record – make sure that’s an important part of the recorded sound as well.” While Games of the XXI Olympiad was a
soul talent played on the three volumes, including members of The Putbacks, a band that Ferguson claims to have “one of the best rhythm sections in the country, if not the best for my money”. Hiatus Kaiyote’s Simon Mavin, who was previously a member of The Bamboos, played on the second volume; while Ben Grayson, one of the original members of The Bamboos, plays keys on the third volume. “And also a great keyboard player named Sam Keevers, who’s been a legend of the local jazz scene for quite some time.” Grayson will join The Putbacks’ Mick Meagher (bass) and Rory McDougall (drums) in the lineup for the upcoming gig. “And some of the horn players from The Bamboos will be there as well, so it should be good fun.” The gig goes down at Revolver Upstairs. Ferguson wanted to steer away from traditional jazz venues, given the Black Feeling tracks are suited to a dance club environment. “It’s great we can do it at Revolver,” he says. “Some of the very first Bamboo gigs were at Revolver, and some of my first ever DJ gigs way back in the day were at Revolver so it feels like a spiritual home to a degree, it’s going to be really fun to go back.” LANCE FERGUSON presents Black Feeling at Revolver Upstairs on Friday May 13 as part of Stonnington Jazz Festival.
distinct departure from the washy psych rock of the band’s earlier work, Black Cab sounded completely at home playing steely electronica with a pop-inclined melodic bent. Nevertheless, they didn’t want to sacrifice their onstage liveliness. “It’s really important to keep the sound that we’re doing kind of fresh and keep away from pure electronic,” Coates says. “Not that we don’t like pure electronic, it’s just not necessarily what you get from us live. So we want to try to keep that live vibe going, where we’ve got electronics with live drums. We like that; it seems to work. We’ve been honing that for the last couple of years live, so now it’s a great opportunity to start writing from scratch with that as the foundation.” Uniforms features guest keyboards from Mikey Young, who’s best known for playing in Total Control and Eddy Current Suppression Ring as well as working profusely as a recording engineer. Last year Young helmed a remix of the Games of the XXI Olympiad track Victorious, which paved the way for his appearance on Uniforms. Interestingly, despite hailing from the same city and sharing a similar musical outlook, this union wasn’t the result of personal friendship. “We didn’t know Mikey at all. I still haven’t met Mikey,” Coates says. “It’s all been through the interwebs. But Wes is totally comfortable to reach out to anyone at any time to ask them to do something. So he did that for Mikey, just reached out to him and said, ‘Do you want to do a remix?’ And Mikey did that amazing remix and we thought, ‘Holy shit. Let’s get more Mikey on stuff.’ So we sent him a rough demo of Uniforms and said just go nuts on it. So he just tracked some crazy Mikey stuff, and nearly all of it’s got some component of odd genius. When it came back we just went, ‘Holy shit this makes perfect sense.’ A lot of what he did features in the track. He made something that was a bit greyscale into this technicolour thing.” BLACK CAB are playing at Howler on Thursday May 5 and Friday May 6 (sold out). Uniforms is available now via Interstate 40 Music. BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 27
MILD MANIC LOOSENING UP BY JOSEPH EARP
It seems like nothing can dampen Sam Rees’ spirit. Despite the fact we find ourselves talking on one of the most horrendous phone lines imaginable, the Mild Manic frontman remains astoundingly cheerful throughout. “It’s probably on my end, eh?” he says upon the second or third attempt at the interview. “I just chose to live in the one place in Melbourne that’s like a dark circle of no reception.”
TWIN PEAKS
R I V E R D E E P, M O U N TA I N H I G H
B Y M AT T H E W G A L E A
“We’re just doing our thing, rocking and rolling,” says Twin Peaks singer/guitarist Cadien Lake James as the band make their way to Paris. With two critically acclaimed albums under their belt and an impressive tour history (including appearances at SXSW, Pitchfork Music Festival and Lollapalooza), the five-piece have evolved from the high school students who formed the band back in 2009. Now with their third record, Down In Heaven, Twin Peaks have created an ode to where they’ve come from and where they’re going. “We made the record when we were in a good position in our lives,” says James. “We were travelling the world, breaking even finally and in a really blessed position for dudes who started at 18 and wanted to be in a band. So being able to get there, you could say, is like being in heaven – but we’re still having to deal with a lot of the same issues, and shit still gets you down, and life can still be a bitch. So it’s kind of a duality, and Down In Heaven is a cheeky, sarcastic way to put it.” Staying true to the Chicago DIY scene from which they emerged, Twin Peaks’ new album was entirely written and recorded by the boys themselves, and co-produced with their friend and long-time collaborator R. Andrew Humphrey in his living room. “The recording process was really relaxing,” James says. “We were living it up at our friend’s plush estate, in a nice big house on the lake. It was like instead of clocking in at a studio, you’d wake up late in the day and when you’re not recording, you could go for a hike, write or just hang out, and just come in and play your parts when you need to. It was a much more organic and natural way to be recording and writing stuff. It was 20 times better than any way we’ve been able to record and make music before.” In their seven years together, Twin Peaks have always been adamant about overseeing the album-making process from start to finish. So anything less than co-producing an album was never an option. “The way that your record sounds is the most important thing – it’s like a work of art,” says James. “I’ve always been into the sonic aesthetic of a record and perfection has always been a big deal for me, so it’d be very tough for us to give it up to someone else, even if they’re qualified. If you haven’t worked with someone before and they just blindly go into producing your record, that is a scary thing. So we’ve always wanted to keep control of it.” Citing legends like The Beatles, The Stooges and The Rolling Stones as majoir inspirations, the vintage feel of Twin Peaks’ recordings is an intentional throwback to their rock forefathers. BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 28
“I hope we inspire people, especially younger fans, to go back and dig through some records that might have influenced these ones,” James says. “It’s funny because I’m influenced by a lot of classic rock shit nowadays, like being a Stones fan, but I didn’t really start listening to them until two or three years ago. I didn’t necessarily grow up with them. So I hope it gets people into older stuff and really, I hope people enjoy it.” For a group of friends who started out young and traded studying for the stage, the boys exhibit wisdom beyond their years and a work ethic to be applauded. But underlying all of the band’s successes is a passion and commitment for what they do. “It’s sort of a musicians’ record, and I think a large part of that is that it’s been at least two years since we recorded last and we’ve just played so much since then and got so much tighter as a band, and we’re a lot more aware of everyone’s strengths and our roles as musicians, so it feels a little bit more intentional and cohesive. “I mean, here we are still doing it happily together and making it work. But, you know, the road can be trying and people have this vision of it as like a very glamorous, wild lifestyle while on tour, but it takes a lot of energy mentally and physically. But we get along well because some of the guys have known each other their whole lives. We’re very used to each other and we know each other’s boundaries well. It’s a marriage.” Twin Peaks are hitting Aussie shores for the first time in May, coinciding with the album release, and as a country, our reputation precedes us. “Most bands I’ve talked to that have been to Australia have said that it’s the coolest place, so we’re super excited to see what it’s like. We hope that we have really good shows and get to soak up some of the culture.” TWIN PEAKS are playing at the John Curtin Hotel on Sunday May 8. Their new album Down In Heaven is out on Friday May 13 through Communion/Caroline.
This boundless optimism will undoubtedly serve the musician well during Mild Manic’s upcoming four-gig residency at the Tote. “This is turning out to be one of our biggest gigs yet,” Rees says. “The Tote is definitely one of the most popular places around Melbourne for the rock and punk scene. It’s pretty cool for up and coming bands to have a taste of [a bigger venue].” But despite the larger scale of the gig, Rees and his bandmates are most interested in the smaller, personal moments that get peppered throughout sets – moments when the veil of performance is lifted and audience and performer can share in a unique experience. “We just crave intimate shows, as much as they can get wild and your pedals can get stomped on,” Rees says. “We even like floor shows with everyone up in front of you. A lot of our music is inspired by that kind of vibe I guess – by everyone getting loose and rocking out.” Rees’ voice fills with surprising confidence when it comes time to discuss the act of live performance. Many bands, both established and rising, express a certain amount of fear about the strange practice of stepping behind a microphone and baring it all, but Rees takes it all in his stride. Indeed, the thing that most unsettles him is not a crowded audience – it’s their absence. “We put the time and effort in it and then when you play those shows where it’s a few
people there, or you get your girlfriends there and it feels like band practice, it kind of feels awkward to approach the microphone,” he says. “[It’s hard] to play to people who know you already. I guess the smaller shows get me nervous. As for the big ones… we’ll see.” The band will be using the residency to promote their self-titled EP, a raucous collection of tunes that stake out a claim in the place where punk, glam and cock rock overlap. The group are yet to tackle the work of other musicians, choosing instead to focus solely on the creation of original
material, meaning their upcoming sets will be bursting with highlights from that record. “We haven’t really branched into covers at all,” Rees says. “We have the theory that we could spend that time learning a cover, or we could spend that time, you know, creating another song. So we just weigh it up like that. In saying that, we haven’t really come across a cover that’s like, ‘Yeah, let’s nail that.’ We come from a lot of different musical backgrounds so it’s probably hard to settle on the one song.” Although he is intensely awaiting the Tote residency, Rees seems just as desperate to get back into the studio. He has mixed feelings about the band’s self-titled EP, regarding it with a curious mixture of selfdepreciation and unavoidable fondness, given what it represents for the band. “[It] was more or less about just having something to show – about getting something out there. We hadn’t been in a recording studio together before, so it was a bit of an experience. We didn’t really feel like we grasped the sound. We’re pretty much a live band, so I feel like recording is on the top of the list to capture our sound and recreate that live energy.” MILD MANIC are playing at The Tote on Wednesdays May 4, 11, 18 and 25, with support from Jurassic Nark, Plebs, Dear Thieves, Defects, Cherry Dolls, Neon Queen and more. Mild Manic is available now via Bandcamp.
Last time we spoke, you guys swore you’d be getting ready to write and record the first album. How’s that coming along, and how is it different from the writing process for previous releases? We promise, we’re working on it. In the meantime, to keep everyone sated, we’ve recently recorded a couple of singles that we plan to release in the coming months. Something tasty to keep everyone warm through the winter. But in terms of album writing, we’ve been trying to look at the big picture a bit more. Instead of just writing a bunch of songs and mashing the best four together, we’ve been trying to figure out what a Dead Heir album should sound like as a whole.
THE DEAD HEIR
CURBING HOMOGENEIT Y
Things have really been kicking into gear for The Dead Heir lately. They’ve been playing a shitload of shows, their psych rock recordings have been described as simultaneously “delightful and terrifying”, and they’ve also played alongside some respected names in the Melbourne scene. This is all culminating with a month-long residency at The Tote, which features some of the raddest rock bands Melbourne has to offer. Beat speaks to bassist Al Hancock about their residency. Some Melbourne scenes have been deemed incestuous, yet a residency with so many bands seems to disprove that. What do you reckon about the idea that Melbourne’s scene is incestuous? Does that idea hold any weight? And if so, do you reckon that a residency so broad is helping to smash that stereotype? Not incestuous. More like a nice, friendly circle jerk. When it comes down to it, a number of the bands on the bill are some of our best mates – wonderful, talented people who we’ve met through mutual excitement B E AT.C O M . A U
for each other’s tunes. But the term “incestuous” implies a level of homogeneity and exclusivity that we’ve definitely tried to avoid on this lineup. There’s no point rocking up to The Tote each week to see three bands that sound exactly the same. Each show is intended to have a different flavour, different tastes of shoegaze, country, punk, garage, funk and psych. You’re doing the hard yards at The Tote for the first four shows, then with the fifth show you’re taking it to The Curtin. Why is that? We had all five shows booked at The Tote. Then some clowns called The Drones announced an extra show in the band room on Sunday May 29. Obviously it didn’t make sense to have us crowding up the front bar, distracting the punters while they’re trying to get their pre-Drones bevvies in, so we made the switch to The Curtin. It’s probably for the best. Last time we went to see Gaz Liddiard at Workers Club, Paul got too drunk and started heckling him about football. We don’t know how we’d hold up if he returned the serve.
Gigging has been near constant for you guys. Has this included anything interstate or are you keeping it closer to Melbourne? There’s talk, there are dreams, there are schemes. Expect something later this year. We’re grounded for the moment; Melbourne never really stops delighting us. Unless this residency goes disastrously and The Tote exiles the six of us for life, we’re going to keep on playing on our favourite stages, seeing our favourite bands and drinking our favourite locally-named beers out of appropriate sized pints. No ponies or middies of XXXX Gold for us just now. What can you tell us about the band’s inside dynamic? What keeps you guys playing, gigging, touring and recording? The dynamic of the band varies day-by-day based on who’s drunk, who’s sleepy, who’s hungover and who has to go to work at 4am the next morning. We’re not always on the same page, but we hold it all together through a collective love of beers, double entendres and making and playing music. And each other. Most of all, we love each other. THE DEAD HEIR are playing at the Tote on Sundays May 8, 15 and 22, and the Curtin on Sunday May 29. The New Pollution, Team Love, Masco Sound System, Mighty Boys and more will support.
KINGSTON HARVEST FESTIVAL C O M M U N I T Y
S U S T E N A N C E
BY AUGUSTUS WELBY
Kingston Harvest Festival turns ten this year and they’ve rolled out a varied programme of musical entertainment, as well as a range of eco-friendly activities and plenty of food and drink offerings. The live music loosely falls under the umbrella of country, bluegrass and rockabilly, but it expands out to include classic rock revivalists Stonefield, Celtic punk rockers The Go Set and harmonising folk quartet All Our Exes Live In Texas.
ERIC BURDON E N D U R A N C E
A R T I S T
BY JOSEPH EARP
There is nothing casual about Eric Burdon. He’s the living, breathing, bellowing manifestation of Dylan Thomas’ lines about raging against the dying of the light – that rare musician who has remained unbowed by the years. Even at the age of 74, after a lifetime of making music with bands like The Animals and War, he shows no signs of reducing the massive work schedule that has dominated his life for so long. When asked what he does on his days off, for example, he admits he doesn’t really have them. “It’s rare to spend a day off without at least writing down some notes, especially as I have been working on a new book in every spare moment,” he says. For Burdon, playing shows isn’t so taxing as the filler in-between. “The most tiring part of being on the road is traveling from city to city, catching airplanes, sitting in airports, going through customs,” he says. “The time on stage is the reason for enduring the rest of it.” It quickly becomes apparent that few things give Burdon as much pleasure as getting up on stage, and he talks about performing with near-spiritual reverence. “I draw my energy from the audience and so whatever they put out there I soak it in and multiply it,” he says. “That’s why some gigs are more energetic than others. I become at one with the audience and with the rhythm and I feel tuned in to all of my senses. It’s the moment everything else is leading up to. I notice details around me, but my soul is possessed by the music. At the same time I feel like I’m traveling outside of my body and vulnerable to my fans. They can either devour you or feed you.” Several decades spent touring the world has equipped Burdon with the ability to note differences between audiences from different parts of the globe. He seems to relish separating the crowds from each other, tagging them as a scientist would a flock of migrating birds. “I’ve always noticed that European audiences tend to cut loose more than American audiences do,” Burdon says. “Smaller, intimate clubs are still my favourite, when all the people are cramped together in a sea of bodies, moving to the rhythm. Places where they don’t get as many shows, people are the most appreciative. It is interesting to see differences from country to country and even from city to city. It’s like having great sex. It’s all about the interaction. If I can hear myself, hear my band, see my audience, feel their enthusiasm, and connect with them, with no interference, that it is a great gig for me.” Although music takes up the majority of Burdon’s time, it’s not his sole pursuit, and over the years he’s moonlighted as a visual artist, author and actor. “Painting has some of the spontaneity and immediacy of singing,” Burdon says, explaining the difference between the art forms. “It is a
different experience every time and it’s all about capturing the moment’s inspiration. Writing is a more deliberate process and one can sit with it, rework it and perfect it over time. It also requires a lot of patience, which I don’t always have.” That said, not all of his artistic pursuits give him as much pleasure as others. While he is both an actor and a cinephile – he cites George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road as the last truly great film he has seen – he takes issue with the long hours required by moviemaking. “With film work, the days are long and start far too early and there is way too much waiting around,” he says. “Of all of the artistic disciplines, the one I chose as my life’s primary work is the one that involves all of the senses simultaneously. Music transcends them all.” Burdon is still writing and releasing music, and his last album ‘Til Your River Runs Dry was released to near universal acclaim. These days he likes to record music in a way that is simultaneously structured and spontaneous. “I go into a studio with a solid idea of what I want to achieve. With my notebook stuffed with scraps of paper, songs half written on the backs of matchbooks and hotel room stationery. Then, it’s a spontaneous act of creation in the studio. I don’t go for perfection but rather an honest representation of the moment.” For Burdon, music isn’t just a job, or even a hobby – it’s the source of his strength. It gives him hope when nothing else does, and although he seems painfully aware of the dark times facing the human race, he’s not giving up. “We have access to all the great minds, information, music, literature, history, and yet, we still disagree about so many basic things,” he says. “Humanity and the planet are at a crossroads and we’ve got to get it right. We need to stop fighting for long enough to solve the problems we’re facing, from hunger and disease to global warming and running out of water. If we can learn to live together, the future is bright. I still believe in love and music and the potential of human beings to address anything that comes our way.” ERIC BURDON & The Animals are playing at the Palais Theatre on Wednesday May 18.
“We find with our festivals we do have such a broad range of people coming of all ages so we do like to offer a bit of variety just to make sure we’ve got something to please everyone,” says Kingston media officer Tracey Cheeseman. There’s non-stop music all day Saturday May 7, spread across the Big Top and the Jam Café. The majority of main stage acts hail from Melbourne, while the Jam Café focuses on Kingston locals, such as William’s Cave and Daniel Cooper. “We like to have a mix of established artists, such as Stonefield, but also we want to support young up-and-coming musicians,” Cheeseman says. “The Jam Café is more locally-based, young up-and-comers looking for that next step. Obviously as a local council we do want to support our own local community, but also we’re interested in getting some great acts so we do look further afield.” Stonefield have become an internationally recognised band over the last five years, and their contemporary relevance and rural Victorian beginnings make them ideal headliners. “There’s still that buzz around them,” Cheeseman says. “They’ve got a strong following and we’ve seen through social media that people are keen and they’re probably coming from some distance away. On our social media page the other day someone was asking if young people, like
12-year-olds were allowed, because they really wanted it to be their daughter’s first concert.” If Stonefield are representing contemporary Australian music, Mick Thomas offers a look into the past. He’s been active since the early-‘80s playing with Weddings Parties Anything, and his appearance directly before the headliners will provide a nice juxtaposition. “Last year at the Harvest Festival our headliners were Boom Crash Opera, so that was that Gen-X generation revisiting their youth. We do try to keep it interesting.” There’s a lot going on outside of the music. It’s designed to be a family affair, and the kids’ amusements include face painting, theatre shows and a petting zoo. “I’m very keen to see the duck herding,” Cheeseman
MELODY POOL in
the
deep
end
BY CASSIE HEDGER
In a world of Justin Biebers and Iggy Azaleas, it’s refreshing to find artists that unabashedly write from the heart. Deep Dark Savage Heart is the new album from singer/songwriter Melody Pool, which intimately portrays the inner workings of Pool’s mind. Beat speaks to Pool while she’s on the road from Melbourne to her erstwhile hometown near Newcastle, NSW. “Lots of trees, fields and road,” Pool laughs, when asked how the trip is going. “[The drive’s] about ten hours, we left very early this morning.” Deep Dark Savage Heart is Pool’s second studio album. Her first, The Hurting Scene, was released in 2013 to great critical acclaim. “The first record was sort of like a heartbreak record, like a love record,” she says. “This one’s more of a life one, delving deeper.” The album’s lead single, Love, She Loves Me, embodies the feeling of unrequited love without reverting to the clichés so often found in songs about heartbreak. Original and beautiful, it showcases Pool’s authentic and emotive songwriting style with lyrics such as, “My god, see that ego / It slaps me W W W. B E AT.C O M . A U
in my chest / I wish that I could rip it out to show you / You’re just like the rest.” One might think such emotional depth could only surface after years of painstaking writing, working and reworking songs in order to find the perfect combination of music and lyrics. As it turns out, however, one couldn’t be more wrong. “It’s quite impulsive really, quite lazy I think,” Pool says. “I usually just write as soon as it comes to me and I don’t ever sit down and make time to write. I just bottle things up for a couple of months and then I’ll sit
says. “I’m told we’re going to have very cute little ducks wearing sweaters, and I think it’s a sheep dog herding them up and getting them in the right place.” The duck herding demonstration is part of the festival’s Green Hub, which is centred on getting people active and elucidating environmental sustainability in the process. A particularly eye-catching inclusion is the billy cart making and riding workshop, open to both adults and kids. “It’s about encouraging people to be thinking about reusing old items. So they’re sustainability messages presented in a fun way.” There’ll be a bevy of fresh food options, as well as cooking demonstrations in the Harvest kitchen. “There’ll be lots of food trucks on offer. We do try to keep it in support of local businesses, but we want to make sure we have an interesting mix of food. You need to always provide some vegan options and vegetarian options and some lower cost things.” This year’s Harvest Festival takes place at Bicentennial Park in Chelsea, moving away from its former location in Carrum. Entry is just $2 per person or $5 for an entire family, erasing any concerns about affordability. “If you don’t know the acts, well that’s OK because it’s not a big risk. And if you do love them and you’re really keen to see them, well you’ve scored an absolute bargain. So it’s the best of both worlds.” KINGSTON HARVEST FESTIVAL takes place on Saturday May 7 at Bicentennial Park, Chelsea, with performances from Stonefield, Mick Thomas, The Go Set, All Our Exes Live In Texas, The Stetson Family and more.
down and write a song in an hour at most. Just get it out. It’s quite impulsive. “I think it really does justice to the song. When I overthink it, over-edit or over analyse, I can get too caught up in it and it loses the emotion. It’s just very natural and I feel like if something needs to be written, it will be.” Pool will be touring Deep Dark Savage Heart around the country next month, starting in Melbourne on May 13. After years playing small solo shows and touring with artists such as Marlon Williams, this will be her first large scale headline tour. “I’ve done a few headlining tours before, but I guess this will be my first big one,” she says. “I’ve got my cellist and violinist playing and [travelling] with me on the road. I toured a lot solo for a long time. I don’t mind really, I like solo because you don’t have to rely on anyone else’s timing. But it’s nice to have people on the road, especially when it’s my cellist and violinist. They’re really good friends of mine, all girls – it’s a nice little chick tour.” As for that co-headline tour with Kiwi expat Williams, Pool has plenty of fond memories. “It was one of the best tours I’ve done. It was fun – we didn’t have one fight. We learnt off each other. He sort of introduced me to his fans and I sort of introduced him to Australia and my fans. It was really lovely. I think we learn most about touring when it’s with someone else. Being in such close proximity, there’s no boundaries, no secrets.” This time around indie rock artist Gena Rose Bruce and alt-country tunesmith William Crighton will be joining Pool on the road. “They’re two of my good friends. I love having connections to bring on the road who are friends. I really support them.” With her beautiful vocals, sometimes sweetly innocent, sometimes emotionally raw, and honest approach to songwriting, a live performance by Pool is bound to be a magical experience to behold. MELODY POOL will kick start her tour at the Shadow Electric Bandroom on Friday May 13, tickets available via the venue. Deep Dark Savage Heart is out now via Liberation Music.
BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 29
MT. MOUNTAIN R I D I N G
T H E
S N O W B A L L
BY ADAM NORRIS
It’s hard to imagine a more auspicious day for Mt. Mountain. Speaking with guitarist Glenn Palmer, the band is 22 minutes away from dropping the music video for Diablo, which happens to fall on the same day as the release of their debut album, Cosmos Terros. Better still, the celebration party is just hours away, and a series of album launch shows are soon to unfold. Not bad for a band that never expected to make it very far.
MAGNUS
C O N T R O L L E D
PA S S I O N
BY AUGUSTUS WELBY
Magnus released the album I in late March. Dutch expat Arne Heeres formed the band in Sydney in 2012, and while I is the second LP he’s produced for the project, it’s the first to include drummer Giulio Albanese and bassist Dennis Hionis. It’s now over three years since Magnus morphed from a solo outlet into a band, and Heeres feels I is representative of the ensuing hard work. “The first one came together just me by myself. It was just shortly after I quit my job as an architect,” Heeres says. “That was more trying to put something together and see if I could find a band that wanted to play along. Then about a year later when I had the band, we recorded a little EP, which was just five tracks. There have been a few lineup changes, but definitely we were working towards this, which is in my opinion a much more mature sounding record.” Some fairly explicit musical touchstones shine through on this new LP. Bands like Kyuss and Soundgarden contribute to a groovy stoner rock feel, while the moments of clean, funk guitar playing are reminiscent of Red Hot Chili Peppers. While Heeres is the chief songwriter, each member’s input impacts on the overall sound. “We try not to steer too much into a certain direction, and just let the influences that everybody has come through,” Heeres says. “For example the funky bits, I was listening a lot to James Brown at the time. I just love the guy. Everybody had their own influences, and quite different ones as well. The drummer was more into prog rock, doing quite odd rhythms and being very creative with the drums; myself, as I said, James Brown, Soundgarden definitely, Queens of the Stone Age, Nick Cave. That makes it quite rich, to let everybody put their own little bits in and see how we can cook up something nice.” By virtue of being a three-piece, Magnus can fuse their respective influences without it becoming too uneven. Heeres values the three-piece configuration for a variety of reasons. “A few years ago I went to see Queens of the Stone Age play at the Enmore here in Sydney,” he says. “They came with a whole band, it seemed like there were a hundred people onstage. There were a couple of songs where they played just three people and it just sounded so much bigger and spacier and more intense. So being a three piece is very much an intentional thing [for Magnus].” The album was recorded according to some fairly distinct principles. Namely, the band tracked everything live, right down to the effects on the guitars, in order to create an experience comparable to a Magnus live show. “We wanted to be quite raw and acoustic sounding,” Heeres says. “I think once you start down the road of doing separate takes and mixing them and editing them, the performance gets lost. And really the main thing as a band, you try to make it BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 30
onstage as interesting and as [close as] possible to what you do on the record. So [the album is] really what’s on the stage, bringing it into the studio and recording that experience.” Wade Keighran (Wolf & Cub, ex-The Scare) recorded and mixed the album. By recording live, they wanted to avoid tweaking things in the mixing process. Though, some intervention was necessary, as the live recording set-up couldn’t quite capture the dimensions of their live sound. “There are some [effects]. The funny thing is when you’re onstage, you’re in a big room and the three instruments really gel together, and that’s something that’s really hard to capture on a microphone. So you have to add something which gives back that atmosphere. But I think it’s pretty close to what we do onstage.” Keighran contributed additional instrumentation to one track, but there was otherwise minimal overdubbing. Keighran took control of the mixing procedure, but not without Heeres watching on very closely. “I gave him some feedback – I like to make notes, and he said it was the most detailed feedback that he’s ever had,” Heeres laughs. “But it worked really well because he was challenging me and I was challenging him. He mentioned to me that most of the time he just mixes it and bands are happy with it. For me I had quite a clear idea of what I wanted it to sound like.” The band’s recording ethos was partially triggered by their distaste for overproduced music that vies for sonic perfection. Magnus well and truly fits into the rock music category, and Heeres observes a prevailing resurgence in ridgey didge Australian rock bands. “Especially in the last year, you hear more and more rocky, more edgier music on triple j. From what I noticed this last ten years – I’ve only been in Australia for ten years – there was a lot of apathy, detuned guitars, don’t try to sing in key and don’t look like you want to be there. That was also for me a motivation to do this record and to do it the way we’ve done it. You have to be passionate about music and bring it out there and give it some balls and let people have an opinion on it – love it or hate it, but evoke something.”
MAGNUS are playing at The Last Chance Rock & Roll Bar on Thursday May 12, Whole Lotta Love on Saturday May 14 and Cherry Bar on Monday May 16. I is available now via Bandcamp, iTunes and Spotify.
“It seemed pretty unrealistic,” Palmer says. “None of us have really big musical backgrounds or anything, so for the most part this is the first band we’ve been in. We never considered ourselves musicians who could be in a band that tours, or who gets to play with some of our favourite bands. It’s pretty crazy, and it’s totally unexpected. I really feel like our first release was so unthought about at all. It came across really natural, and we all feel that then with the EP we kind of overthought it. And now it feels like it’s come together, through the different releases, how to do our thing the way that feels more together for us. It feels like we’ve found our way.” It’s been a winding road, but this has allowed the Perth psychedelic rockers to build an album from a wide and complex palette. The seeds for Cosmos Terros were sewn over a year and a half ago, back when the prospect of their debut album was still a distant dream. “Part of the reason why it took so long is because we went in to record a 7-inch, and maybe a little bit of the album,” Palmer says. “We were kind of testing the waters with recording something new, and it all snowballed that first time we went in. We finished the 7-inch with maybe one or two songs left over that would end up on the album, and released [that] in December of 2014. Then we went away and wrote
the rest of the album. So it wasn’t like we were sitting on all those songs that whole time. It was actually more [that] we were playing live a lot and not getting the time to write, so it took a little longer. It would have been much quicker if we could’ve directly focused on it. And not had jobs,” he laughs. “It’s six songs, but it’s over 40 minutes,” Palmer continues. “We’re looking at pressing on vinyl now. We’d love to just keep writing, keep writing, but putting out a double LP is pretty hard. One: For the
RED LIGHT RIOT O U T
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BY ROD WHITFIELD
Most bands that have a new release on the way will organise a launch show and tee up a couple of like-minded bands to support. But for Melbourne punk rock fourpiece Red Light Riot, that just wouldn’t suffice. To launch their latest single In Shadows, they’ve put together the 15band, two stage rock‘n’roll extravaganza, El Riot! Festival. Beat speaks to guitarist Nina von Johannsohn to find out what inspired them to throw their own mini-festival. “It’s one of those things where, especially in the Melbourne scene, you can’t wait around for yourselves to be put on festivals,” she says. “Admittedly when it comes to the local shows we do, we get approached to do them, but when it comes to doing something a bit more spectacular, you may as well do it yourself.” Another advantage of doing it this way is that it gave them the freedom to fill the lineup with many of their favourite bands. “It allows us to play with all the local bands that inspire us and that we think rock the hardest,” von Johannsohn says. “We think B E AT.C O M . A U
that’s an important thing in performance. Sometimes there’s a tendency to forget that you’re performing, or telling a story. The bands that stand out are the ones that really get with the audience and put all the blood, sweat, beers and angst into the performance. So we’re hoping it’s going to be a very impressive day for the audience.” El Riot! will be headlined by Dead City Ruins, which was a massive coup for Red Light Riot, as these Melbourne rock gods are serious crowd-pleasers. “It’s really good timing too, because they’ve just been in the studio recording their latest album,”
cost for us, two: it’s so expensive for people to buy as well. We’d prefer to do that, but the whole system doesn’t really let us go beyond that too far.” Mt. Mountain’s recent run of dates with Berlin heavyweight Kadavar marked the band’s first major foray into national touring, and to say the five-piece were excited is an obvious understatement. They’re continuing the fun over the next couple of weekends with album launches in Melbourne and Perth. For four years they have been crafting their sound and building a fanbase, and Cosmos Terros is certain to keep the snowball rolling. “Probably the most we’ve ever played before on the road has been, like, three shows. There’s defnitely a lot of excitement about finally getting [Cosmos Terros] out. The whole process, all the backend stuff that’s taken so long, it does kind of put a bit of a dampener on it. But this whole thing of going on tour for the first time, we’re all super stoked to finally do that. We’re all pretty excited about everything right now. I think our brief history is summed up in this album, so if we did all cark it tomorrow then this might be enough. All our steps along the way add up to this.” MT. MOUNTAIN’s debut LP Cosmos Terros is available now via Bandcamp. Catch them live at The Old Bar this Saturday May 7.
von Johannsohn says. “It’s part of the first bunch of shows they’re doing after getting out of the studio, so hopefully we get to hear some of their new songs.” The remainder of the lineup is just as impressive. “We’ve got the Captives boys, they’re second-headlining. They’re apparently training up a brass section, which is going to be pretty epic. They wipe the stage those guys; really, really impressive. Then of course it’s the Red Light Riot single launch; then we’ve got Wolfpack for one of their first shows back in Melbourne after their USA tour with DRI; Suiciety, who of course have been around since the early-‘90s, which is amazing; Blind Man Death Stare are on before they skip off to New Zealand for a tour. So there’s lots of little milestones for a few of the bands.” Von Johannsohn’s actually playing in another band prior to Red Light Riot’s set. “My new band Stay Sharp will be doing a digital launch of our EP, which is exciting. So I’ll be sweating it out twice on the night.” In Shadows itself may be a sub-two minute, scream-driven punk explosion, but it’s crammed with potent subject matter. “In terms of the theme of the song, it’s basically around the atrocities inflicted on the victims of war. One of the drivers behind the message of Red Light Riot is that we can never become complacent and there’s always a story to tell. It’s for people who think that their voice doesn’t matter.” This push to represent the underdogs and minorities in our society is another key tenet of the Red Light Riot message. “It’s a vicious cycle, where you get told by society that you’re not good enough, or you get trapped in things like religion. And of course there’s nothing wrong with having a belief system, but when it’s used as an excuse for fascism, for the right to tell me as a gay woman that how I live is wrong, that’s just fucked. It’s a message for people to break free.” RED LIGHT RIOT present the El Riot! Festival at The Tote on Saturday May 21, featuring Dead City Ruins, Coffin Wolf, Captives, The Fckups and more.
CORE
PUNK, HARDCORE NEWS, REVIEWS & GOSSIP with JOE HANSEN joesamhansen@gmail.com
Everyone needs to check out Uncle Geezer. Imagine if three dudes met at a Launceston skate park, bonded over an appreciation of bongs and grindcore, thought of some funny song names and then actually put a band together. If you can still find it, get their split tape with Sydney noisecore legend Michael Crafter. It’s an absolute belter. The boys have managed to put their beers and bongs down long enough
CRUNCH
to record a bunch of new songs that I can confirm are sounding brutal and raucous as hell. Their next show is on Saturday May 14 at The Tote supporting Sydney fastcore lords Disparo. Melbourne party lords The Bennies have announced yet another extensive Australian tour, covering every state and territory in a 27 date journey. With support from Melbourne’s Clowns and Perth’s Axe Girl, the tour follows the release of the band’s third LP, Wisdom Machine, and their current European tour. The Bennies play Max Watt’s on Friday June 24. Punk rock icon Keith Morris has announced the release of his autobiography, entitled My Damage: The Story of a Punk Rock Survivor. Former frontman of Black Flag and current vocalist of Circle Jerks and Off !, Morris’ journey through drug addiction and poor health and his involvement in the Southern Californian punk and hardcore scene has seen him
become a legendary figure. My Damage is to be released on Tuesday August 30 via De Capo Press. Sydney “sad, loud, angry, party DIY emo punx” Hannahband have released their album Quitting Will Improve Your Health as a free stream and pay as you feel download on their Bandcamp page. The album is also available as an LP from Black Wire Records. Sydney’s Hostile Objects have announced the release of their long awaited debut LP. Entitled Negative Space, the record is out on Monday June 6 through Arrest Records. Pre-orders are available now with a variety of packages available, including a limited edition skateboard deck. Melbourne instrumental surf rock duo Birdcage have released their self-titled debut album. Fronted by Blood Duster’s Jason PC, the band play twangy surf rock, perfect for big waves and car chases. The album is available now on Bandcamp and
also as special edition CD digipack with a patch. Led by former-Punch frontwoman Megan O’Neil, Super Unison have announced the release of their debut LP. Slated for release late this year via Deathwish Records, it follows 2015’s self-titled debut EP Long running US post-hardcore/skramz outfit The Saddest Landscape began their debut Australian tour last week. The band rose to prominence in the mid 2000s with an extensive discography, including critically lauded splits with Funeral Diner and Trophy Scars. The band will play The Evelyn Hotel on Friday May 6. Yet another supergroup has been formed, this time with members of Bad Brains, Cro-Mags and Deftones. Calling themselves Saudade, the band features Chino Moreno, Dr Know, Mackie Jayson, Chuck Doom, and Jason Medeski. The band has released one self titled track available to stream now.
BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE/ATREYU ADD EXTRA DATE
coming to Australia for a national tour, bringing his explosive guitar interpretations reminiscent of all that was breath taking and spellbinding about Jimi Hendrix. He’ll be at the Palais on Saturday May 21.
From 6pm catch Luke Laver (Falconio), Purroxide, MisSsta, Kill TV and Thrasher Jynx. There will also be a raffle. $10 entry with all proceeds going to Chi Rescue.
It’s a testament to the incredible domestic popularity of Bullet For My Valentine, Atreyu and Cane Hill that they have sold out their first Melbourne date at warp METAL, HEAVY ROCK. CLASSIC ROCK LOCAL AND INTERNATIONAL speed, adding a second and final show at 170 Russell on Monday October 24. GOOD SHIT with PETER HODGSON crunchcolumn@gmail.com
THE RETURN OF QUEENSRŸCHE
Seattle progressive metal legends Queensrÿche return to Australia for their first tour in nearly a decade, and first Australian tour with vocalist Todd La Torre. Having sold over 30 million albums around the world over the last 30-plus years, Queensrÿche’s progressive metal classics are some of the most celebrated in hard rock and heavy metal. The band’s revitalised lineup has consistently delivered highoctane live shows combining the hungry fire of a new band with the tempered experience of master showmen. See them at the Prince Bandroom on Friday October 14.
CHERIE CURRIE TOUR
The Runaways burst onto the scene in 1975 with a 15-year-old Cherie Currie out front screaming the instant classic Cherry Bomb. Currie released her first solo album at the age of 18, recorded a number of albums with her twin sister Marie and later embarked on a film career. Currie is also a wood-carving artist, using a chainsaw to create her works. She’s bringing her new band to Australia and New Zealand this month. Recent live setlists include Runaways tracks like American Nights, Is It Day Or Night, Heartbeat and Queens Of Noise, Lou Reed’s Rock and Roll, Do You Love Me by Kiss and David Bowie’s Rebel Rebel. Catch her on Saturday May 28 at the Corner Hotel in Richmond.
THE HENDRIX REVOLUTION TOUR
Randy Hansen, guitar virtuoso and one of the few guitarists in the world to be recognised by the Hendrix family, is
LEMMY:
THE DEFINITIVE BIOGRAPHY MICK WALL AND THE MASTER
BY JOSEPH EARP
When you reach a certain level of fame, suddenly everybody on the planet assumes they know you intimately. Certainly that’s how it went for Ian ‘Lemmy’ Kilmister, the swaggering, spit-and-soul-soaked renegade best known as the lead singer of Motörhead. But if there’s one thing that Mick Wall’s masterful Lemmy: The Definitive Biography proves, it’s that the real man was much more complicated than the onedimensional caricature paraded out by certain sects of the mainstream press. Not that Lemmy ever tried to deliberately disguise his true self, as Wall knows better than most. “Of all the books I’ve written, this was definitely one of the ‘easiest’,” says the celebrated British rock journalist. “Lemmy was a man [who] didn’t really have that many secrets. A lot of people you write about, their private lives are very secretive. They don’t like you to know who they really are. They [have a] person they want to present to the world. “Lemmy was the person he presented to the world. It’s like he says in the book: it wasn’t a costume. That really was how
he dressed, and who he really was. He was a man of many opinions. Instead of pussying around and trying to be all things to all people, you either took Lemmy or you fucked off.” Lemmy follows the rocker from his childhood in North Wales all the way through his time as a member of psychrock mind-melters Hawkwind and the years spent at Motörhead’s helm, coming to rest with his sad passing at the end of last year. Though the book features all the excess and debauchery one would expect from a biography about a man who
GERALDINE QUINN AND THE LAST GIG IN MELBOURNE
In 2011 Geraldine Quinn wrote and performed a show called The Last Gig In Melbourne with a full band. It’s about the live music scene in general, and Melbourne in particular. Now it’s been released as a full studio recording and it’s full of great local references and reminiscences. And how could you not love an album that features a prog rock tribute to Molly Meldrum?
THE CHARGE & MORE AT THE REVERENCE
It’s going to be a massive night of guitar fuelled rock at The Reverence Hotel on Friday May 6 as The Charge and Suiciety headline along with Red Sky Burial and The Hidden Venture. The night is kicking off at 8pm so make sure you get down early not to miss out.
CHIHUAHUA ROCK 2
Chihuahua Rock is a yearly concert that raises money for Chihuahua Rescue Australia. It’s back for the second year at Mr Boogie Man Bar on Saturday May 7.
wrote White Line Fever, it also investigates Lemmy’s sensitive, supremely intelligent side. “He was an old-fashioned gentleman,” Wall says. “Lemmy was born right at the end of the Second World War, and he was a man of manners. He was extremely well read. He knew the difference between the good stuff and the bad. He knew the difference between bullshitters and genuine folk. And there were no airs and graces. At the end of the day, he was a very intelligent guy.” In one of the many telling moments in the biography, a journalist gets shown around one of Lemmy’s temporary squats, only to notice a P.G. Wodehouse novel on the rock’n’roll demon’s bedside table. Wall laughs when the episode is recounted. “He had lots of things like that,” he says. “It’s like Stacia [Blake, dancer in Hawkwind] says. On the tour bus with Hawkwind, Lemmy was always at the back reading a book. Whenever I went to visit him, his place would always be full of books.” More than anything else, Lemmy is incredibly tender. Wall and Motörhead’s mastermind were friends for over 30 years, and every page bursts with affection and camaraderie. It’s not a book about a myth, or a monster, or even a martyr – it’s about a real human being, and for that reason, it’s not afraid to shy away from the more complicated side of his character. “I think like all musicians – like all of us, actually, but it’s a particular weakness of famous musicians – [there is] the tendency to blame other people for your career mistakes. [Lemmy] was very bitter in the latter years about his manager, Doug Smith. He could be a bit… what’s the word I’m looking for?” Wall takes a moment. “Lemmy was a wonderful, wonderful guy. W W W. B E AT.C O M . A U
BEING AS AN OCEAN AUSTRALIAN TOUR
Californian melodic hardcore crew Being As An Ocean will return for their first headlining tour of the country since 2013, and in tow will be Perth band Saviour and Melbourne’s Void Of Vision. Tickets are on sale now for their shows at Max Watt’s on Thursday June 2 (18+) and Arrow On Swanston on Friday June 3 (All Ages).
AN EVENING WITH STEVEN WILSON
Steven Wilson will tour Australia and New Zealand in October 2016. Back in 2013 he toured Australia with one of the most elaborate productions witnessed in rock venues. Fans who attended the shows were immersed in an audiovisual sensory experience, simultaneously overwhelming and uplifting, and you can expect something similar this time. With a band of gifted and inspiring musicians behind him, an immersive visual experience filling the stage and full quadraphonic surround sound saturating the room, this is truly a show not to be missed. See him at 170 Russell on Friday October 28.
He could also be a complete fucking arsehole sometimes. Like all of us.” The affection evidently went both ways. Lemmy once described Wall as “one of the few rock writers in the world who can actually write”, and it’s that mutual respect that makes the book’s finale so genuinely moving. Lemmy’s spirit stayed strong even as his health dramatically started to fail. He kept going. He kept playing gigs. Maybe it was because he didn’t want to stop. Maybe it was because he couldn’t. “He was one of these guys who became like a Charles Bukowski, or a Peter Cook, or a Dylan Thomas or a Hunter S. Thompson,” Wall says. “He reached that kind of level of exalted craziness, where there was a brilliant intelligence, but at the same time, a defiance – to rage against the dying of the light. It’s just a fantastic story … He defied all the rules, broke all the
GIGS
THURSDAY MAY 5 WIL WAGNER, GEORGIA MAQ, TWO STEPS ON THE WATER, JEROME KNAPPETT AT THE OLD BAR
FRIDAY MAY 6 DEBACLE, COUNTERATTACK!, BEYOND CONTEMPT, SHITWRECK AT WHOLE LOTTA LOVE BATPISS, GRIM RHYTHM, TTTDC AT CHERRY BAR THE SADDEST LANDSCAPE, RACCOON CITY POLICE DEPARTMENT, THE WORLD AT A GLANCE, STOCKADES AT THE EVELYN HOTEL DIVIDERS, LASER BRAINS, AS A RIVAL, THE POST AT LAST CHANCE ROCK N ROLL BAR CRYSTAL MYTH, LIQUOR SNATCH, RED LIGHT RIOT, SHIT SEX AT 24 MOONS COHEED AND CAMBRIA, CLOSURE IN MOSCOW AT MAX WATT’S MODERN BANANA, TOM BAKER, LILUZU, SENPOLO AT THE TOTE CABLE TIES, THE PINK TILES, KALI WHITE AND THE ASPS, SYNTHETICS AT THE OLD BAR
SATURDAY MAY 7 BATPISS, TOTALLY UNICORN, THE PINHEADS AT YAH YAH’S HOUND, COSMIC KAHUNA, CHILLERS, MILD MANIC AT LAST CHANCE ROCK N ROLL BAR I SET MY FRIENDS ON FIRE, AWAKEN I AM, BAYHARBOUR, SHE WOLF AT BANG THE NEWSLETTERS, JUNIOR FICTION, LOOBS, DEPARTMENT AT THE GRACE DARLING HOTEL SONS OF LEE MARVIN, THE EXOTICS, WRONG TURN AT BAR OPEN LEGENDS OF MOTORSPORT, THE ELECTRIC GUIYARS, THE BOWERS, CLAIRE BIRCHALL AT THE TOTE COFFIN WOLF, TANKERVILLE, PROFITEERS, SWHAT AT THE GRACE DARLING HOTEL
rules, made up new rules, and kind of put us all to shame in that respect. “He was a one-off,” Wall adds. “He really was. Long after I had given up staying up all night and running around chasing crazy women, and wanting to be on tour all the time … Lemmy was still doing it. Lemmy played his last show about two or three weeks before he died. There’s no fucking way I would want to live like that. “I’m not as old as he was, but I got off the road 20 years ago. And for good reason. There’s only one road, and you can only go around it so many times. But Lemmy was always out there.” He laughs. “You always knew when it was four AM, at least Lemmy would be up.” LEMMY: THE DEFINITIVE BIOGRAPHY by Mick Wall is out now through Hachette Australia. BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 31
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Photos by Zo Damage
CherryRock016 AC/DC Lane/Cherry Bar Sunday May 1
CherryRock’s tenth anniversary was a perfect reflection of Cherry Bar’s long standing mantra. After fighting for their right to keep holding the festival because of the new high rise buildings that loom over AC/DC Lane, CherryRock016’s ‘Too Tough To Die’ slogan was bloody perfect. The two stage setup allowed the entertainment to alternate between stages without more than second in between. There was no pushing to the front of the stage and no people taking photos of themselves – just a whole load of people
HILLTOP HOODS ROD LAVER ARENA
SATURDAY APRIL 23
Blending hip hop with a symphony orchestra; it’s the kind of innovative thinking that would have our Prime Minister drooling in his sleep. However, with pyrotechnics and heavy beats from DJ Debris and Plutonic Lab, sleep was the last thing on anybody’s mind at Rod Laver Arena tonight. This tour follows the February release of Drinking From The Sun, Walking Under Stars Restrung, a re-styling of the Hoods’ two latest albums in collaboration with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra and Adelaide Chamber Choir. The Hoods previously collaborated with the ASO on 2007’s The Hard Road Restrung, and they often bring small string sections on tour with them. However, for this run of shows they have stepped it up by involving each state’s top symphony orchestra, guided by conductor Hamish McKeich. As the massive black curtains were drawn back to reveal the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra with DJ Debris perched above them in a ghostly face mask, an ominous beat and an array of audiovisuals signified the arrival of the boys from the Adelaide Hills. The set started with new single, Higher. Alongside the MSO were the chamber choir, and they were in full flight from the outset. For anyone that had doubts about this tour, this track would’ve been BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 32
from the ages of 18-99 moving gently and respectably to the music. Melbourne’s Mesa Cosa kicked off the day, their dirty garage punk really booting CherryRock016 into action. Not long after, Sydney two-piece Polish Club rocked out with intense, all consuming energy, playing soulful music as loud as possible. Supersuckers took to the main stage halfway through the day, playing what main man Eddie Spaghetti described as “crazy, fucked up country music”. Their head-in-a-bottle-of-whiskey lyrics and Spaghetti’s constant references to his father’s disinterest in his music (he even dedicated one song to this “arsehole dad”) conveyed a palpable sense of angst. Sydney boys Gay Paris hit up the Cherry Bar stage, filling the room in a number
of seconds. The inability to move to the music created that real slimy, sweaty Cherry Bar feeling. The power went out, but vocalist Wailin H Monks treated us to some pseudo-philosophical rap and then challenged Kanye West to a rap battle. When things were finally worked out, the bearded boys filled the room with more energy than any other band of the day. The most anticipated rock’n’roll legend of the day was Richie Ramone, who casually waltzed on stage, telling the crowd he’d always wanted to play this festival. The former Ramones drummer jumped around like he was still in his 20s, alternating between drums and lead vocals. Though, he occasionally took a back seat to the lead guitarist, who looked like a mix between Alice Cooper and Sid Vicious. The headliners from Berlin, Kadavar,
wrapped up the night, with their nearperfect, almost photoshopped hard rock sound. The dreamier, psychedelic element of their music created an eerie, otherworldly feeling, putting the crowd in a rhythmic trance. Their flawless performance was a stark contrast to the rawness of the other bands that had played. But while they didn’t bring the same head banging feeling to the crowd, they allowed the festival to end on a satisfying high. LOVED: Gay Paris’ sea of red beards. HATED: Hearing about Eddie Spaghetti’s daddy issues. DRANK: Sailor Jerry’s and Cherry Cola. BY ROCHELLE BEVIS
enough to dispel them. The choir’s vocal support brought a richer sound that tickled you in all the good spots. A number of guests came out throughout the set. Montaigne took the stage for the recent hit single 1955, looking every bit the star she is sure to become. Remi came out during the encore to add a verse to Cosby Sweater, much to the delight of many. And support act Maverick Sabre came back onstage to add his honey-soaked vocals to Live and Let Go and the anthemic Won’t Let You Down. Meanwhile MC Pressure’s solo track Through The Dark has always been incredibly moving, and this was amplified in the live setting. But it wasn’t all about songs off the recent albums. There was a nod to the origins of the restrung concept with crowd favourite The Hard Road, before going even further back to Nosebleed Section; the track that initiated the Hoods’ stadium-dominating popularity. This was the biggest ever national tour by an Australian rap group, packing out stadiums usually reserved for global pop stars, and it was well and truly deserved. Not only do the Hoods have a knack for creating some of the catchiest hip hop music in the world, but they have a live show to match. LOVED: The restrung concept in action. Incredible. HATED: Stage selfies by performers. Can we make them illegal? DRANK: Boag’s. By Eben Rojter
Photos by David Harris IF YOU ARE READING THIS YOU ARE TOO CLOSE
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VANCE JOY
MARGARET COURT ARENA SATURDAY APRIL 23
Rocking a killer post-Friday hangover, there was nothing more appealing than a night of mellow melodies. When it comes to acoustic arrangements, it doesn’t get much better than Melbourne’s own Vance Joy. Kicking off an incredible showcase of Australian songwriters was Ainslie Wills. Filling us in on the tales behind a selection of her tracks, Wills captured the attention of the early arrivals. Running through the likes of Hawaii, Constellations and Never Know What To Say, the setlist included nothing fancy; just fantastic songs and a captivating vocal performance. Holy Holy got off to a strong start with Sentimental and Monday, but it was If I Were You that made the entire room gravitate towards them. All decked out in denim attire, the band’s faultless overall sound allowed each member to shine. Drummer Ryan Strathie smashed out a dumbfounding solo, and You Cannot Call For Love Like A Dog boasted an emphatic electric guitar arrangement. To close the set, the two frontmen paid tribute to late pop legend, Prince, before breaking into Nothing Compares 2 U. They were met with twinkling lights, heavy hearts and magnanimous applause. As a watercolour backdrop was unveiled, Vance Joy’s band took to the stage, setting the scene with a slow-building instrumental intro. Appearing ever so casually, the hometown heartthrob began with Mess Is Mine. Looking right at home in an arena setting, it was as though his voice became a part of the air as it danced around our excitable, tapping feet. With Red Eye, Joy spoke of lovers
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separated by Australian land and their ultimate reunion. Holding the room with every word, the singer/songwriter epitomised charm and charisma. He revealed that Winds Have Changed was the first song of his to pass the family test and to reach an open mic night. Afterwards, All I Ever Wanted had everyone singing “Da da da da” in unison. Beneath subtle spotlights, Joy sang Straight Into Your Arms, a song about “coming home to the person you love and everything is perfect and simple, as it should be.” After countless guitar changes, it was time for From Afar; an exploration of unrequited and forbidden love. The singer’s name was soon illuminated above him, bolstering the impressive light show. Serenading us with a stripped back version of Wasting Time, Joy erased the surroundings with the clarity of his fingerpicking and the depth of his lyrical content. Grabbing his ukulele, it was time for Play With Fire, Snaggletooth and Georgia. With the familiar and comforting sound of Riptide filling the arena, it was hard to differentiate Joy’s vocals from the sound of audience. After thanking the support acts, his band and his fans, he cracked out a cover of Paul Simon’s You Can Call Me Al mashed-up with Omi’s Cheerleader. Returning quickly for his encore, Joy sang My Kind Of Man before finishing with last year’s massive single, Fire And The Flood. LOVED: Ryan Strathie’s drum solo. HATED: That Emmylou was left off the set list. DRANK: Water. BY PHOEBE ROBERTSON
KADAVAR CORNER HOTEL
SATURDAY APRIL 30
On the eve of Cherry Rock, German headliners Kadavar put on a special sideshow at the Corner. The room was partly curtained off and one bar was closed, making the Corner even more intimate than usual. There were only a few heads in early, making one think that most people were holding out for Kadavar at Cherry Rock, but by the end of opening band Elbrus it had started to fill up. After Elbrus came the spatial soundscapes of Perth’s Mt. Mountain. The five-piece were sleepy yet captivating. With vocals coming from organ player Stephen Bailey on the side of stage, there was no central figure to watch, so you were better off closing your eyes and drifting away. Child woke the crowd up with their more immediate, blues-heavy sound. They seem to be the go-to support for any stoner-ish band that comes to town. Singer/guitarist Mathias Northway’s greeting, “Hi, we are Child.
DANNY BROWN 170 RUSSELL
TUESDAY APRIL 26
The Tuesday after a long weekend is typically reserved for recovery, that is, unless you find yourself in a packed room of raging hip hop fans. Then it’s a case of topping up alcohol levels again just to keep up with the high intensity of Danny Brown’s epic live show. The support act ZelooperZ wasn’t at the high calibre most of us were hoping for, with fairly uninspired and repetitive lyrics, like “Your bitch gonna be fucked tonight” and “Bitch you got crabs, but I got cash”. Thankfully, he was much better as a hype man for the main act. Brown’s long-time collaborator DJ Skywlkr took to the stage first, getting the room heaving with excitement before the man himself arrived.
Photos by Charles Newbury
We’ve been here before,” came across as a little conceited. This was quickly followed by three false starts caused by technical problems. Despite this off-putting beginning, the trio soon hit their stride. New bassist Noah Martin ripped it up. Apparently an epic beard as well as serious bass chops is a prerequisite to play bass for Child. These guys have a smooth ‘70s sound that’s easy to like, but they rarely depart from their formula. After seeing them once you could say, “I’ve seen this before.” While also summoning sounds from an era full of fuzz and free-love, Berlin trio Kadavar were far from derivative. Excitement surrounded drummer Christoph “Tiger” Bartelt, who looked like an unemployed Ron Burgundy, but was a beast on the skins. He was throwing his arms around and striking in circular motion like a frantic composer. He was dressed in a see-through leopard skin skivvy, and the wind machine blowing his hair up from behind was an incredible addition. Next to this enigma stood bassist Simon “Dragon” Bouteloup, leering silently from near seven feet up. If Kadavar doesn’t work out for him, he could easily be St. Kilda’s third ruckman. The powerful rhythm section allowed guitarist and vocalist Christoph “Lupus” Lindemann to riff, squeal and wail. Stolen Dreams, followed by
Brown opened with Side B (Dope Song), and followed with a few more tracks from his 2013 album Old, including Smokin & Drinkin and Handstand. He also threw in some stuff from his infamous mixtapes, like Molly Ringwald. Brown showcased his impressive vernacular and ability to spit syllables quicker than most; case in point was the track Express Yourself. The crowd roared for I Will, singing along word for word, “Sixes on that Chevy with some hoes in it…” Although it hardly seemed possible, the ante only went up towards the end of the set, especially when the old-school beat of Grown Up finally dropped. 25 Bucks and Kush Coma were just as impressive, with a light show that dazzled the remaining senses, and the entire room was bouncing along in unison. Brown finished up with Attak, a Rustie song that he featured on, and finally Dip, which features one of the best
the epic Doomsday Machine, had the head’s at the front thrashing, and hips shaking further back. Lupus charmed the crowd with his humble demeanour. The last time they came to Australia was in 2013. “It’s great to be back. Let’s have a party tonight,” he said through tonnes of woolly blonde hair. And it was a party. No-one, including Kadavar, was saving themselves for CherryRock. The setlist rolled on well into the night. The chant of “One more song” rang out as they left the stage briefly, only to come back and play three more: Thousand Miles Away From Home, All Our Thoughts and Come Back Life. When the red curtain eventually closed, heads were picked up off the floor as many looked forward to doing it all again the next day. LOVED: The wild, hairy spectacle of drummer Christoph “Tiger” Bartelt. HATED: The realisation you’ll never be as cool as this psychedelic rock trio from Berlin. DRANK: Coopers Pale stubbies. BY JAMES RIDLEY
lines around: “Like Lieutenant Dan, I’m rolling”. At just under 50 minutes the set was incredibly short, but it was definitely sweet and well worth the aftermath on Wednesday morning. LOVED: How many people were getting loose on a Tuesday. HATED: Split between the short set and the guy behind the Macbar who kept changing beer prices on a whim. DRANK: All the beer. BY CHRIS BRIGHT
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Top Tens HEARTLAND RECORDS TOP TEN 1. Get Born LP JET 2. Assault & Battery LP ROSE TATTOO 3. Point Blank LP NAILBOMB 4. Electric Warlock LP ROB ZOMBIE 5. White Album LP WEEZER 6. Jomsviking LP AMON AMARTH 7. Birth Of Cool 2LP MILES DAVIS 8. My Script LP KIM SALMON 9. Roulette Sides 10” JOHN COLTRANE 10. Delilah 12” FLORENCE
PBS TOP TEN 1. Cosmos Terros MT MOUNTAIN
2. Camp Cope CAMP COPE 3. Two Places LUKE HOWARD 4. 99.9% KAYTRANADA 5. Deep Dark Savage Heart MELODY POOL 6. Nonagon Infinity KING GIZZARD AND THE LIZARD WIZARD 7. Sierra-Kilo-Alpha MELBOURNE SKA ORCHESTRA 8. Dub Them With Reality TIPPA LEE 9. Will JULIANNA BARWICK 10. Paradise WHITE LUNG
K Ay T r A N A DA
OFF THE HIP RECORDS TOP TEN 1. Crazy Pussy LP/CD GRINDHOUSE
99.9% (XL Recordings/Remote Control) Montreal-based producer Kaytranada has been teasing the world with Soundcloud mixes and Boiler Room sets for years now. And ever since the drop of his massive remix of Janet Jackson’s If in 2012, people have been begging him for an album. The 23-year-old, whose sound has been described as uptempo neo soul and black soul, finally and spectacularly delivers with 99.9%. You mightn’t become aware of how much you needed a Kaytranada full-length until you hear him working his magic. The entire thing is unbelievably well-crafted, encompassing vocal-led hits and instrumental wonders. The songs bleed into each other nicely, and he flits between genres with the sort of finesse that took Flying Lotus multiple albums to perfect. Bursting with a lineup of guest vocalists and instrumentalists, including AlunaGeorge, Anderson .Paak, Karriem Riggins, Little Dragon, Syd, Badbadnotgood and Vic Mensa, 99.9% shows off the best of these powerhouse talents while retaining
Kaytranada’s magic touch. Got It Good, heralding the re-emergence of Craig David, is a standout. It channels the lyrical sweetness of David’s Fill Me In with some extremely sexy bottom-end thrown in for good measure. Other notable bangers include One Too Many (feat. Phonte), Leave Me Alone (feat. Shay Lia) and the lead single Glowed Up (with .Paak). You can’t call yourself a neo-soul producer without some sensuality, and 99.9% has it in spades. You’re The One (with Syd) is smooth and moreish as hell; while the instrumental Bus Ride seamlessly moves from Dillaesque hip hop to the world of nu-jazz before you even realise what’s happening. 99.9% is one of those exceptionally rare albums where every single track ± even the more experimental ones ± could be re-purposed for multiple settings and fit in just as well every time. Seriously, Kaytranada is the newborn king, and 99.9% is his ascension to the throne. By ALI SCHNABEL
SINGLE REVIEWS WITH LACHLAN May the fourth live long and prosper (only true sci-fi fans will get this). BLINK-182 Bored To Death (Liberator) This isn’t too shithouse, but it sounds like Blink-182 trying their best to write the most Blink-182 song possible. The hedge-betting might work if not for a few lyrical clunkers that really should have been caught at every stage of the creative process. There’s potency in the general lyrical introspection. I guess this is growing up, still. rOLLING BLACKOUTS COASTAL FEVEr Career (Ivy League) There’s a feel-good air about the scope of Rolling Blackouts’ jams, anchored here by the almost spoken word delivery. It’s more akin to Parquet Courts than War On Drugs, standing in its
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own right. A breezy road trip soundtrack, a distraction from impending cold months. DrO CArEy FEAT. KUČKA Queensberry Rules (Soothsayer) An interesting move from Sydney’s Dro Carey, dipping toes in a more pop-oriented sphere with an onpoint collaboration with Perth singer/producer Kučka. It pays off, with dark early AM dance floor production marrying with Kučka’s R&B vocal. It’s a step up, without losing any character. Dro Carey is primed for a breakthrough moment. CLIENT LIAISON World Of Our Love (Dot Dash/Remote Control) You don’t need to look far beneath the aesthetic here to find emotional
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resonance, hitting the mark with the faux-gospel backing chorus. The ecstatic resolve is backed with a substantial sentiment. It makes you feel connected. But when it comes to Client Liaison’s search for a crossover smash, we’re not there yet, but we’re getting there. SUSS CUNTS Shit Friend (Independent) Recorded at a recent live show, Shit Friend begins with slow-burning classic rock sensibility, blasting into rollicking garage punk. Thematically, it finds a spiritual kin with God’s My Pal, an exploration of the complexity of mateship. Catch this live if you can, and bring your friends. Even the shit ones.
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TErry Don’t Say Sorry (Upset The Rhythm) Forming a wormhole between uplift and lethargy, Terry’s Don’t Say Sorry is a stoic anthem, driving with its stern repetition. It’s like the recurring dream where your legs fang it but you’re moving like molasses, but there’s comfort in that sensation here. The balanced raucousness leans more to band member Al Montfort’s work in UV Race, with direct riffs hitting the spot. Debut LP Terry HQ due to drop this July. BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 34
HOW SICK IS MUSIC? HEAPS WICKED
2. The Hunch LP THE MONSTERS 3. Four Love Songs 12” TANZER 4. Patch The Sky LP BOB MOULD 5. Divide & Exit LP SLEAFORD MODS 6. La Arana LP/CD KID CONGO 7. Please Be Honest LP/CD GBV 8. America Goddamn 7” KING KHAN 9. Bite Your Tongue LP SPACEJUNK 10. Eggnog/Lice 2xLP MELVINS
RECORD PARADISE TOP TEN 1. Nonagon Infinity KING GIZZARD AND THE
LIZARD WIZARD 2. Human Performance PARQUET COURTS 3. Feelin Kinda Free THE DRONES 4. Saturn Returns LOOSE TOOTH 5. The Hope Six Demolition Project PJ HARVEY 6. Same For Me / Walking Out 7” CABLE TIES 7. 8 Girls 7” TERRY 8. Post Pop Depression IGGY POP 9. Power POWER 10. The Dirt and the Sky DANNY WALSH BANNED
SYN TOP TEN 1. Clouds & Rain BUOY
2. Bubblegum DONATACHI FT ROSEBUD LEACH 3. Never Know GOLDEN VESSEL FT LASTLINGS 4. Books For The Holidays HALCYON DRIVE 5. The Beast JP KLIPSPRINGER 6. Casual Party BAND OF HORSES 7. Zonin’ Out KRIS CODY FT. ANYA SIVISKI 8. Stars & Shards LOYLE CARNER 9. Self Defined MAYA PAYNE 10. The Dead Are Dumb NOTHING
BEAT’S TOP TEN SONGS ABOUT THE DEVIL 1. PJ Harvey THE DEVIL
2. Race With the Devil GENE VINCENT 3. Devil Wouldn’t Recognize You MADONNA 4. The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here ALICE IN CHAINS 5. Me and the Devil Blues ROBERT JOHNSON 6. Devil In Her Heart THE BEATLES 7. Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea ELLA FITZGERALD 8. Devil Inside INXS 9. Sympathy For the Devil ROLLING STONES 10. Better the Devil You Know KYLIE MINOGUE
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Fear Like Us
MassiVe
The BUrning roaches
SUCCOUR (Poison City Records)
dESTINATION SOMEWHERE (Dinner For Wolves)
THE BURNING ROACHES (Independent)
In the nine years separating Fear Like Us’ self-titled debut and Succour, it’s more than just the outside world that has shifted dramatically. The entire band relocated to Melbourne from their native Newcastle, and they’ve recently added a fifth member, multi-instrumentalist Mark Jennings. What has remained at the core of Fear Like Us, however, is their nobullshit approach to perfecting the hybrid of folk, punk and rock. Succour is lean and cathartic, and equal parts brawn and brains. Vocalist Jamie Hay can still strip paint from walls with the best of them, but he’s raising his voice on pertinent issues, including the refugee crisis (Who Killed Reza Berati?) and the Reclaim Australia movement (The Lowest Form of Love). The album might consist of just over a half-hour of power, but these are the kind of songs that will stick with you for the rest of the year to come. Succour is a bold, resonant effort from a band that, after several years of being weekend warriors, are back with a vengeance. Bands half their age would kill to sound as hungry, vitriolic and flat-out good as this. BY DaviD JamES YOuNg
Blues-based hard rock has been around since dinosaurs walked the earth, and it’s virtually impossible to break any new ground in this sub-genre. The bands attaining reasonable notoriety in this scene are the ones that inject a little boogie or soul into their sound, and that’s what you get from Melbourne four-piece Massive. The soulfulness of the Massive sound mainly comes from Brad Marr’s lead vocals. He manages to howl and croon at the same time, and does so skilfully. The band behind him hustles along with forward, bluesy momentum. Throw in some serious hard rock swagger, and the whole package comes together rather nicely. There is some sweet variation across the course of the ten tracks, which is often hard to achieve in this style of music. From the uptempo crunch of Blood Money Blues, to the darker, broodier groove of The Fall (which actually fires up and goes hell for leather at the halfway point before getting moody again), to the swampy, minimalist blues of Beaten Dog, there are some excellent fluctuations between light and shade. Best track honours however, go to the emotional, soulful Made of Stone. BY ROD WHiTFiElD
Bad Vision
The Burning Roaches debut EP is a grunge-fuelled gem. The Melbourne trio deliver stellar instrumental arrangements and vocally powerful choruses while remaining faithful to a garage rock sound. Feeling Real Good is a body-shaking opening track. With catchy electric guitars, lush lead vocals and driving, abrasive drumming, the song introduces the strengths of band members Rob Haddow, Ace Chapman and Dion Kowalczyk. Featuring a full force breakdown and a bass line with no limit, it’s a beautiful start to the record. Led by a vicious vocal performance, My Only Prize is a killer track filled with distortion and dystopian dreams. With lines like “Working for my pay check, smoking all my cigarettes”, The Burning Roaches pay tribute to their typical listener. Next, Bad Things slides in with a catchy chorus and melancholy madness. Final track, Shivering On Fire, is truly tripped out. As you start to sink into your surroundings, the hazy guitar riffs threaten to vibrate you into oblivion. Creating a stark contrast are masked vocal tones and ferocious feedback. It soon grows to an intense level on top of a solid foundation of percussion. BY PHOEBE ROBERTSON
LUca Brasi
MikeLangeLo & The BLack sea genTLeMen
If THIS IS ALL WE’RE GOING
TURN OUT YOUR SOCKETS (Independent)
TO BE (Poison City Records)
Bad Vision’s new album, Turn Out Your Sockets, opens with the track Very Melbourne, and it’s salivatingly good. There’s drumming straight from the James Baker college of primal rhythms, a mesmerising Ramones-meetsFeelies guitar riff and slacker-on-speed lyrics. It sucks you in, slaps you around, pours beer on your head and gives you a rollicking punk rock ride. But could that just be a fluke? Shit no. Heavy Boy is power pop in a Chesty Bonds singlet; Swallow is a lazy Sunday afternoon sunbake after the shabby night before, with a hint of the grimy edge of LA rock over the horizon; Fairweather is The Trilobites for the modern generation; Shitspeak is all snotty Cleveland attitude and scatological vernacular; and Flick Flack has the sharp-edged sophistication of the Descendents in Socratic dialogue with the Dead Kennedys. You can hear a bit of X’s Dipstick somewhere in Blah Blah Blah, that is until it’s drowned out by the diffident lyrical musings. Don’t Don’t is a cautionary warning for anyone tempted to stray from any one of the true rock’n’roll paths and embrace insipid FM music that’ll turn your brain into blancmange. Mind the Gap is snarly and snappy, a dangerous night out with The Leftovers that leaves a smile on your face and scars on your body. Then there’s Sleep Standing Up, all Go-Gos punk pop licks, subtle harmonies and general good times. The great thing about rock’n’roll is that on any one night, it’s the best fucking thing in the world. And when it’s on the stereo, Turn Out Your Sockets could be the best rock’n’roll record around.
Even from across Bass Strait, Luca Brasi can be heard nailing the abrasiveness of punk rock to a tee. While their third LP is noticeably cleaner than the hard-hitting punk bands of Melbourne, the Tasmanian unit are sure to feel the force of punk rock popularity in no time. Opening track, Aeroplane, smashes in with a single hard-hitting drumbeat, as if the band are saying ‘we’re back’. It’s the first sign of Luca Brasi’s sheer determination and commitment to this record. Say It Back is perfect for punters that want to scream out a catchy chorus, and the gritty guitar riff creates the mould for some mammoth head banging action. Spin and Collapse induces the sensation of its title, featuring a zigzagging guitar tone backed by a belting drumbeat and some insane cymbal trickery. Treading Water brings in the depth of lost love and lingering perfume, hidden beneath a burst of violent vocals, whereas The Cascade Blues buries the worries of “wasted youth” under an unforgiving, forceful arrangement. Drop Out sees the four-piece graduate from being just another punk band to a group with dynamic production, diverse lyrical content and a neversay-die drum work. Man, This Is Living is a slower burning number, giving listeners a lingering taste with lines like, “Open up your chest / Steady, straight and breathing / not yet laid to rest”. Anything Near Conviction is a ticking, tightly produced track with more of an alternative sound than a punk rock punch. And closing up with Count Me Out, Luca Brasi have made sure listeners will want nothing more than to be a part of this record.
BY PaTRick EmERY
BY PHOEBE ROBERTSON
AfTER THE fLOOd (Independent)
Mikelangelo & The Black Sea Gentlemen are a gloriously dramatic unit of talented individuals, and long-time listeners of the band will be rapt by what’s on offer in their latest album, After The Flood. Known for telling theatrical tales of past eras and their jaunty take on traditional folk, this record sees the band amplifying existing personas and adding to their already huge pool of stories about toiling for a better life. After The Flood is based on the plight of the European migrants who slaved away on the Snowy Mountains Scheme in the ‘50s. It’s a respectful tribute to people who found beauty and whimsy amidst the daily grind, but it’s also daringly fun. Although the narratives are the chief focus, After The Flood is rooted in incredible musicianship. Various European styles (Irish, German and Italian, to name a few) synchronise to create a cheekily sinister vibe, not unlike the works of Tom Waits by way of Captain Matchbox. Mikelangelo has a bold, commanding voice that keeps you focused on each distinctly enunciated syllable. The Black Sea Gentlemen ± Rufino, Little Ivan, The Great Muldavio and Guido ± all contribute their own oddball tales, and their strange vocal stylings add to the album’s eclectic nature. Even at its most melancholic, this is an album about hope in the face of overwhelming odds. Each track captures the frantic escapism of the working class world within the grim context of a land on the scorched end of a world war. Although we may be back digging trenches in the morning, this night is forever ours, and it’s one thing this cruel universe can’t take from us. In keeping with the traditionalist nature of the album, it doesn’t really experiment with any new forms, but it does what it knows very well. Besides, there’s more than enough adventure infused within the stories themselves. Ultimately, After The Flood represents the characters that dwell within it ± a clash of quirky elements stitched together into a beautiful patchwork quilt against a harsh landscape. BY JacOB cOllivER
FRIDAY 6 MAY:
FRIDAY 13 MAY:
FRIDAY 20 MAY:
W/ THE OCEAN PARTY, HEARING, TOTALLY MILD (SOLO), RAY BORNER DJ - ON SALE NOW
SATURDAY 14 MAY - 3PM FREE IN FRONT BAR:
W/ MESA COSA + GOOD MORNING + PREGNANCY - ON SALE NOW
CREPES SINGLE LAUNCH CAMP COPE ALBUM LAUNCH SOLD OUT! SATURDAY 7 MAY - 3PM FREE IN FRONT BAR:
NEW LEASE :
TERRY + PAPPY + SWEET WHIRL
9663 6350 | JOHNCURTINHOTEL.COM
NEW KITCHEN RESIDENTS NOW SERVING! 1 2 P M - L AT E E V E R Y D AY !
SATURDAY 14 MAY:
HOODLUM SHOUTS ALBUM TOUR W/ HEADS OF CHARM
+ FRAUDBAND + BAD VISION
MISS DESTINY USA FUNDRAISING SEND OFF
BLANCK MASS (UK)
W/ VACUUM, MAKEDA, XAVIER IRVINE - ON SALE NOW
- ON SALE NOW THURSDAY 12 MAY:
MAIN LOGO
HI-TEC EMOTIONS + AVOID
SATURDAY 21 MAY:
TWIN PEAKS (USA) MY DISCO W/ OUCH MY FACE + WHITE BLEACHES SUNDAY 8 MAY:
2 9 LY G O N S T, C A R LT O N
NEW LEASE : TOTALLY MILD (SOLO) +
SCOTDRAKULA FAREWELL DOVE SHOW
W. WHIPPER + GELD + THE SKIDS
TUESDAY 17 MAY - FREE IN FRONT BAR:
DOMINIC BYRNE (LITTLE RED / NEW GODS) SOLO ON THE CURTIN PIANO THURSDAY 19 MAY:
FAN GIRL W/ SAND DOLLARS
- ON SALE NOW THURSDAY 9 JUNE:
SOLO PROJECT OF BENJAMIN JOHN POWER (FUCK BUTTONS)
W/ HABITS - ON SALE NOW
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ALBUM REVIEWS - BECAUSE YOU CARE WHAT WE THINK
BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 35
GIG GUIDE HIP HOP FOR HUMANITY
T H E EVELYN ‘Hip hop for Humanity’ is a charity gig with an aim to raise vital funds for Ethiopiad, an organisation that works to reduce poverty, and improve healthcare and education in Ethiopia. The night will see four vibrant local hip hop acts grace the Evelyn’s band room, each of them merging a classic and distinctive style. On the bill are Urban Problems, Yaw Faso, Black Molasses and Jay Nelly. With $2.50 pots, $5 vodka basics and four amazing acts, it seems a pretty darn painless way to contribute to global social justice. Bring your steeze to The Evelyn, Thursday May 5 at 8pm with $20 on the door, or it’s $14 through Oztix.
SPENCER NEEDS TO GET SOMETHING OFF HIS CHEST
SLEAZY LISTENING - FEAT: ARKS + RICHARD KELLY + HYSTERIC + K HOOP Toff In Town, Melbourne Cbd.
TH E OL D B A R The Old Bar is one of those venues that sees a lot of support, love and camaraderie. This will be exemplified Thursday May 5 when Wil Wagner, Two Steps on the Water, Georgia Maq and Jerome Knappett come together to play a special little show to raise money for a transgender boy named Spencer to get top surgery. On top of some sweet music, there’s also going to be a raffle and a bake sale, so you can get some goodies while having a boogie. Doors are at 7.30 with $15 entry towards an important cause.
5:00pm.
SOUL POWER - FEAT: MIKE STEVA Purple Emerald, Northcote. 8:00pm.
SWEETHEARTS + DJ VINCE PEACH + DJ PIERRE BARONI Cherry Bar, Melbourne Cbd. 10:00pm. $10.00.
THE BELLOWS + BONEWOMAN + YFFER Open Studio, Northcote. 8:00pm. $5.00.
THE COMPANY OF PIANOS - FEAT: ANDREA KELLER + TONY GOULD Melbourne Recital Centre, Southbank.
MANOR + COUSIN TONY’S BRAND NEW FIREBIRD + JP KLIPSPRINGER Shebeen, Melbourne Cbd. 7:30pm.
DANIEL ZISIN + JUDE PERL + DUVZ + THE JAZZ PARTY HORNS Paris Cat Jazz Club, Melbourne Cbd. 8:30pm.
$10.00.
$20.00.
5:30pm.
Brunswick East. 8:30pm.
KLUKE’S KORNER Dizzy’s Jazz Club, Richmond. 8:00pm.
THE JACKSON FOUR 303, Northcote. 8:00pm. $10.00. TIMBALERO THURSDAY La Di Da, Melbourne Cbd.
Kilda. 7:30pm. $79.90.
$10.00.
9:00pm. $10.00.
Collingwood. 8:00pm. $5.00.
PIKELET + HEARING + WINDARI Grace Darling Hotel,
Cafe, Fitzroy. 8:00pm.
MIDNIGHT EXPRESS - FEAT: PREQUEL + EDD FISHER Toff
BACKSTAGE - FEAT: ISIAH B BRUNT + THE SHAKE SHACK BOOGIE BAND Musicland, Fawkner. 7:00pm. $10.00. FREYA JOSEPHINE HOLLICK + TONY J KING The Rooks
Collingwood. 8:30pm. $10.00.
In Town, Melbourne Cbd. 10:00pm.
Return, Fitzroy. 8:30pm.
MEZZ LIVE Chelsea Heights Hotel, Chelsea Heights. OF MONSTERS AND MEN + GORDI Palais Theatre, St ORYGN + GLAMOURATZ + AVOID + EVIL CLUB Tote Hotel,
JESSE VALACH (BLUES MOUNTAIN) Lomond Hotel,
MELBOURNE IMPROVISERS COLLECTIVE Uptown Jazz
Q&A
7:00pm. $25.00.
THE GOOD EGG THURSDAYS - FEAT: HENRY WHO + TIGERFUNK + LEWIS CANCUT Lucky Coq, Windsor. 7:00pm.
HALF/CUT So then, what’s your name and what do you do in the band? My name is Jessie L. Warren. I sing and dance. What do you reckon people will say you sound like? We get the Cocteau Twins meets American Football a bunch. If I were to describe it, I’d say we’re that gold Jeff Koons sculpture of Michael Jackson and Bubbles, but covered in a layer of dust and soot. What do you love about making music? For a band of people who cannot stop talking, thinking and making ridiculous jokes, I think it’s a great opportunity to keep us all busy for at least the length of one song ± I find solace in that space.
STAY GOLD Laundry Bar, Fitzroy. 7:00pm. THE SIGIT + DEVIL DRIVER Baha Tacos & Tapas Bar, Rye.
MORNING MELODIES - FEAT: AURORA MACKRILL: SHIRLEY BASSEY TRIBUTE Ferntree Gully Hotel,
7:30pm. $10.00.
Ferntree Gully. 10:00am. $17.00.
If you could travel back in time and show one of your musical heroes your stuff, who would it be and why? Most of my heroes are still living, but if I really do have to go back in time I’d really love to be in New York in 1973 hanging out and exchanging jams with Patti Smith and Todd Rundgren. I’d also have wonderful hair.
7:30pm.
SUI ZHEN
What can a punter expect from your live show? Pop hits, feelings and glitter.
SCHOOL DAMAGE + HITEC EMOTIONS + PAPPY Grace
JUMPIN’ JACK WILLIAM Labour In Vain, Fitzroy. 8:00pm.
Darling Hotel, Collingwood. 8:30pm. $5.00.
THE TEMPER TRAP Forum Theatre, Melbourne Cbd.
BLACK CAB
ALISON FERRIER DUO
TAGO MAGO On Thursday May 5, Tago Mago is hosting some of the best country and blues singer/songwriters for a night of chilled vibes and folk rhythms. Melbourne’s Alison Ferrier will be providing her charismatic and sophisticated tunes as the headline for the evening, with support from the indie and rock influenced stylings of Michael Plater. Entry is free and doors are at 8pm.
4TH MAY WEDNESDAY
ARTY DEL RIO & FRIENDS
ALISON FERRIER DUO, MICHAEL PLATER 8PM 6TH MAY FRIDAY
H OWL E R Fresh from their witching hour appearance at Golden Plains, Black Cab launch their new single Uniforms at Howler with very special guests, the excellent Friendships and Paradise DJs. This will be the Cab’s final Melbourne headline show for at least six months as they complete new material for a full length alum in early 2017. Previous Cab Howler shows have all sold out so get in now. Doors at 8pm with presale tickets $20.
14TH MAY SATURDAY
25TH MAY WEDNESDAY
15TH MAY SUNDAY
26TH MAY THURSDAY
THE DUFRANES MATT ALFORD COUNTRY
MAY MONDAY PLYMOUTH REVERENDS 16TH COMEDY NIGHT DAMON SMITH
(RESIDENCY) 9PM 7TH MAY SATURDAY
PRIMITIVE LANGUAGE
ALBUM LAUNCH, POPE’S ASSASSINS, VINCE KRAMER, KNIKO 8PM 8TH MAY SUNDAY
MIRIAM PULTRO & FRIENDS
10TH MAY TUESDAY
OPEN MIC - PRINCE TRIBUTE 12TH MAY THURSDAY
TWO CHEVRONS,
17TH MAY TUESDAY
OPEN MIC
JOSH SEYMOUR TRIO DAMON SMITH (RESIDENCY) 9PM
Catch HALF/CUT on Friday May 6 at the Workers Club with Post Dream and Sleep Decade.
“SOUND TRACKS FOR IMAGINARY FILMS”
ANDREW MCCUBBIN AND MELINDA PRITCHARD, DIRTBIRD AND MIDNIGHT SCAVENGERS, 7PM 27TH MAY FRIDAY
FILM NOIR TRIBUTE
21ST MAY SATURDAY
LUCY LOCKET
FEATURING RIPLEY HOOD, A NIGHT OF STEAMY POETRY STEVE SMART, PANMAN & MORE 7.30PM & MUSIC WITH STEVE SMART AND FRIENDS 28TH MAY SATURDAY 7.30PM JUNIOR FICTION 20TH MAY FRIDAY PAPER BACKS, HANNAH FRANCIS & BEN CARTER, AMARILLO TIME ROBB 8.30PM DAMON SMITH (RESIDENCY) 9PM 29TH MAY SUNDAY
POPE’S ASSASSINS, FLYING BIRDHOUSE 22ND MAY SUNDAY SAUCER TERROR, MATT GLEESON, NO STAR 7PM NERV 13TH MAY FRIDAY
What’ve you got to sell CD-wise? We just released our debut LP online. It’s called Ecco Locale and you can buy it now on Bandcamp. It’s on Spotify and all that too.
JACKRABBITS
19TH MAY THURSDAY
“STEAMY WINDOW”
HUGS & KISSES Dreambeat project Sui Zhen is the alias of Melbournebased artist Becky Sui Zhen, who has recently signed to Twosyllable in the US for the release of her record Secretly Susan. In order to raise funds for her overseas venture, Sui Zhen has organised a fundraiser which will also act as a farewell to Melbourne festivity. It’s all going down at Hugs & Kisses on Thursday May 6. Doors are at 7pm and tickets are available via the I Heard a Whisper website for $14.50.
24TH MAY TUESDAY
OPEN MIC
& FRIENDS
30TH MAY MONDAY
COMEDY NIGHT 31ST MAY TUESDAY
OPEN MIC
B E AT.C O M . A U
BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 37
GIG GUIDE
THE SADDEST LANDSCAPE
THE EVELYN The Saddest Landscape have made the trek all the way from America to treat Aussie listeners to a limited run of shows. On Friday May 6 they’ll be getting nice and loud at The Evelyn with their chaotic take on posthardcore. Raccoon City Police Department, Stockades and World At A Glance have snapped up the support slots. Take a trip down memory lane and get some good old ‘90s style screamo in your ears for the night. Doors are at 8.30pm, tickets are $20 on the door and also available on Oztix.
CABLE TIES
OL D B A R 370 days since their first gig, Cable Ties have announced the release of their debut 7” single Same for Me/Walking Out and they’re launching it at their spiritual home, The Old Bar on Friday May 6. Their dream lineup comes to life for this gig with 12-legged hit machine The Pink Tiles, a noisy collaboration between Karli White and ASPS, startling newcomers SYNTHETICS and Plaster of Paris DJs will keep the fire burning with bags full of riot grrrl, goth and punk curiosities. Get down early to grab a copy of the single, limited to 150 copies and lovingly housed in risograph-printed sleeves featuring artwork by Batpiss guitarist Paul Pirie. Doors at 8pm with $10 entry.
TERRASUR + THE NEW MONOS + JULIANA TENNUCI Bar Open, Fitzroy. 9:00pm.
TOP ACTS 2016 Melbourne Recital Centre, Southbank. 7:30pm. $28.00.
WHAT THE FUNK FRIDAYS Purple Emerald, Northcote. 9:00pm.
THE ALEISTER JAMES INCIDENT
T H E B.EAST The Aleister James Incident are led by one of New Zealand’s most exciting young guitarists ± Aleister James himself. Playing a combination of covers and originals, James will be joined by his band, made up of the classic combo of guitar, bass and drums. The outfit blend an eclectic mix of blues, rock and experimental Jazz, and there will be cheap Jameson Irish Whiskey on offer all night warm the blood alongside the smoky tunes. Catch The Aleister James Incident from 9.30pm onwards at The B.East on Friday May 6, entry is free.
DJ MISS BROWN The Rooks Return, Fitzroy. 5:00pm. FEM BELLING QUINTET Paris Cat Jazz Club, Melbourne Cbd. 8:30pm. $25.00.
NADIA RATSIMANDRESY Melbourne Recital Centre, Southbank. 6:00pm. $29.00.
PAUL WILLIAMSON’S HAMMOND COMBO Paris Cat Jazz Club, Melbourne Cbd. 9:30pm. $20.00.
BE GOOD TO YOUR MOTHER
2 4 MO O N S BAR 24 Moons Bar is playing host to a Mothers Day Fundraiser for the National Breast Cancer Foundation. On Friday May 6, Melbourne’s best punk and garage bands will join forces to raise money for a hugely important cause, because even punks have mums. On the bill for the night are Liquorsnatch, Shit Sex, Red Light Riot and Crystal Myth. Entry is $10 on the door with entry opening up at 8pm.
SANGRIA SERENADES Paris Cat Jazz Club, Melbourne Cbd. 7:00pm. $20.00.
STEPHEN MAGNUSSON TRIO Uptown Jazz Cafe, Fitzroy. 6:00pm.
CHRIS WILSON Cherry Bar, Melbourne Cbd. 5:15pm. DANNY STAIN Penny Black, Brunswick. 9:00pm. FRIDAY ACOUSTIC - FEAT: LUKE SEYMOUP + OSKAH LO + LOCKY BERESFORD On Top Bar, Ormond. 6:00pm. GARY EASTWOOD Carters Bar, Northcote. 8:00pm. JEMMA NICOLE + SAMUEL MARZOLA + JESS PARKER
THE COLLINGWOOD CASANOVAS The Rooks Return, Fitzroy. 4:00pm.
SATURDAY 7 MAY 50 YEARS OF TINTINITUS - FEAT: THE EXOTICS + SONS OF LEE MARVIN + WRONG TURN + CARMEN MARIA VEGA & MORE Bar Open, Fitzroy. 7:00pm. BALL PARK MUSIC Howler, Brunswick. 8:00pm. BAND WARS TV (SERIES 3 HEAT) Musicland, Fawkner. 7:00pm. $15.00.
BANG - FEAT: I SET MY FRIENDS ON FIRE + AWAKEN I AM + SHEWOLF Royal Melbourne Hotel, Melbourne Cbd.
10:00pm. $20.00.
BATPISS + TOTALLY UNICORN + THE PINHEADS Yah Yah’s,
Spotted Mallard, Brunswick. 8:30pm. $10.00.
CAROLINE NO + LEO MULLINS + HARRY HOWARD & EDWINA PRESTON DUET Yarra Hotel, Abbotsford.
JOHNNIE & THE JOHNNIE JOHNNIES + CHURCH OF BURT JULES BOULT Catfish, Fitzroy. 9:00pm.
GOOD MANNERS
Fitzroy. 8:00pm. $13.53.
9:00pm. $10.00.
B ON E Y Since December, Good Manner’s weekly parties at Boney have been going strong. In May, they’re changing it up a bit. From May 6 onwards, they’ll be hosting some of their favourite Melbourne producers as their resident DJs. On Friday May 6, a special guest is set to perform as well as resident DJ’s Amatuer Dance, Darcy Baylis, Friendships, Planete, Ooling and Grip. Downstairs will be The Harpoons and friends. Slim Vibrato will be pushing you on till dawn. Doors at 7pm.
COFFIN WOLF + TANKERVILLE + PROFITEERS + SWHAT Grace Darling Hotel, Collingwood. 9:00pm. $7.00.
COHEED & CAMBRIA + CLOSURE IN MOSCOW Max Watt’s, Melbourne. 8:00pm. $64.90.
DING DONG DEATH HOLE + DIPSTICKS + LOST TACOS + STRAWBERRY FISTCAKE Brunswick Hotel, Brunswick. 9:00pm.
KARLY JEWELL Mr Boogie Man Bar, Abbottsford.
EL COLOSSO Catfish, Fitzroy. 8:00pm. ELECTRIK DYNAMITE + ATOMIC RIOT + TWO HEADED DOG
7:00pm.
Cherry Bar, Melbourne Cbd. 5:00pm. $13.00.
MIKELANGELO & THE BLACK SEA GENTLEMEN Thornbury Theatre, Thornbury. 7:00pm. $35.00.
REBETIKA Retreat Hotel, Brunswick. 6:00pm. RIP RAWERS Pascoe Vale Rsl, Pascoe Vale. 8:00pm. $8.00.
SMALL TOWN ROMANCE Lomond Hotel, Brunswick
FUNDRAISER FOR NATASHA - FEAT: THE 80’S EXPERIENCE + DJ FRANK + MOCKINGBIRD Musicland, Fawkner. 7:30pm. $15.00.
JUNIOR FICTION + THE NEWSLETTERS + DEPARTMENT + LOOBS Grace Darling Hotel, Collingwood. 8:30pm.
$8.00.
THE CHARGE + SUICIETY + RED SKY BURIAL + THE HIDDEN VENTURE Reverence Hotel, Footscray. 8:00pm.
East. 9:30pm.
LEGENDS OF MOTORSPORT + THE ELECTRIC GUITARS + THE BOWERS Tote Hotel, Collingwood. 8:00pm. LYALL MOLONEY Baha Tacos & Tapas Bar, Rye. 7:30pm.
$12.00.
$12.25.
THE HORNETS Big Huey’s Diner, South Melbourne. THE RUSTICA PROJECT Open Studio, Northcote.
MADRE MONTE + VIBRAPHONIC ORKESTRA + COPPERHEAD BRASS BAND Evelyn Hotel, Fitzroy. 8:30pm. $15.00.
8:30pm. $8.00.
TIM ROGERS Sooki Lounge, Belgrave. 8:00pm. $29.60. TRADITIONAL IRISH MUSIC SESSION Drunken Poet,
MT MOUNTAIN + FOURTEEN NIGHTS AT SEA + THE DEAD HEIR + WARPIGS Old Bar, Fitzroy. 8:30pm. $10.00. MY LEONARD COHEN - FEAT: STEWART D’ARRIETTA St
West Melbourne. 6:00pm.
Kilda Memo, St Kilda. 8:00pm. $34.70.
SMALL TOWN ALIEN TAGO MAGO The Plymouth Reverends are gearing up to get bluesy at Tago Mago on Friday May 6. The outfit play only originals, and list their core influences as beer, girls and Nietzsche. They’ll be joined by Damon Smith as part of his May residency playing his signature brand if honky tonk, New Orleans and boogie. Get yourself there are 9pm, entry is free which means all the more coin for pints.
T H E G R A ND H OT E L M O R NI N G TON Tash Sultana is making waves generating massive street buzz and playing sold out shows nationally. Tash’s carefully crafted edgy fusion of multi-instrumental pieces beat boxing, unique guitar and percussion styled finger-tapping guitar has received huge applause, the young one-woman band powerhouse is set for a massive 2016 having already sold out three Melbourne shows and Sydney a month in advance. She’ll be celebrating her new single Gemini at The Grand Hotel Friday May 6.
Labour In Vain, Fitzroy. 7:00pm.
8:00pm.
THE PLYMOUTH REVERENDS
TASH SULTANA
NEW LEASE - FEAT: TERRY + PAPPY + SWEET WHIRL John
D RU N KE N P O E T After a successful album launch at The Rainbow Hotel last month, Small Town Alien are striving forth continuing to spread the word on their album Songs For Kids With Cool Parents. Small Town Alien like to give a controversial show, playing songs about the pain of mundane conversations and not wanting to have kids. Get dancey with Small Town Alien Friday May 6 at Drunken Poet. Music from 8.30pm.
Curtin Hotel, Carlton. 3:00pm.
OCDANTAR + QUEEN MAGIC + ALTA + COUTURE + KAIA WILLOW Gasometer Hotel, Collingwood. 8:00pm. $15.00. PRIMITIVE LANUAGE + K NIKO + VINCE KRAMER + PAN MAN + JEFF HOOKER Tago Mago, Thornbury. 8:00pm. $8.00.
ZERAFINA ZARA & ALLEGED ASSOCIATES Smokehouse
RAZORCUT + TRAUMABOYS + ROGUES + WILD SPEARS + MOTOVILIKHA Bendigo Hotel, Collingwood. 8:00pm.
101, Maidstone. 7:00pm.
$10.00. B E AT.C O M . A U
BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 39
Q&A
OLD MAN LUEDECKE 1. The First Song I Wrote: It was about stealing a duck from the Public Gardens in Halifax for Christmas dinner. I can still play it but wouldn’t. Yodelady, the first cut on my latest record Domestic Eccentric, is one of my oldest songs and the first songwriting eureka moment. I stayed home sick from work to write it in Dawson City, Yukon. I wrote it about the yodel that escaped from my sexual chakra when I fell in love in the same town a few years before. 2. The Last Song I Wrote: It’s called The Early Days, from the same record. I recorded it at home in a cabin in the woods behind my house that I built by hand. It’s about how fast the insane time when you have babies goes. It’s funny and sad. We had identical twin girls and a year and a half later another girl so the last five years are a blur. 3. Favourite Song I’ve Written: My favourite song has almost the least lyrics. Wait a While from Domestic Eccentric is not my biggest hit. I don’t have those particularly, but it does tap into the river of the music I love in a new way. I play it on a fretless gourd banjo and I loved the live recording of it with swampy African sounding guitar and west African percussion when we made it in the snowy woods in Nova Scotia. 4. The Record That Changed My Life: Closing Time by Leonard Cohen has been a good friend for a long time. Since I was in high school. Great lyrics and melody. It is the kind of song that values intelligence but it also has dumb jokes in it. OLD MAN LUEDECKE is playing at the Spotted Mallard on Thursday May 5.
GIG GUIDE VENDETTA
TEK TEK ENSEMBLE Open Studio, Northcote. 8:30pm. BLACKHILL RAMBLERS Lomond Hotel, Brunswick East.
WH OL E LOT TA LOV E Geelong’s heavy rockers Vendetta are celebrating their 20th anniversary with a show at Whole Lotta Love on Saturday May 7. These lads have basically done it all, offering up a sweet combination of metal, punk and rock. Vendetta have hand-picked some fellow metalheads to join them for the party, including Incrypt, Prophetess and Demonic Cowboys. Doors are at 8pm and entry is $10.
RETROMAX Ascot Vale Hotel, Ascot Vale. 8:00pm. RON S PENO & THE SUPERSTITIONS Flying Saucer Club, Elsternwick. 6:00pm. $18.00.
SATURDAYS R COVERED - FEAT: RADIO STAR Royal Hotel, Essendon. 10:00pm.
SSST + HEADLOPPER + DMOA + TARCUTTA + MORE Coburg Rsl, Coburg. 7:00pm. $5.00.
STEVE BOYD’S RUM REVERIE Retreat Hotel, Brunswick. 5:00pm.
TASH SULTANA + REUBEN STONE + RILEY PEARCE Northcote Social Club, Northcote. 8:30pm.
THE FAVOURITE GAME + THE CONTROLS + DANNY MCDONALD Workers Club, Fitzroy. 1:00pm. $10.00. THE PRETTY LITTLES Shebeen, Melbourne Cbd. 7:30pm.
9:30pm.
CHIHUAHUA ROCK 2 - FEAT: LUKE LAVER PURROXIDE + MISSSTA + KILL TV + THRASHER JYNX Mr Boogie Man Bar, Abbottsford. 6:00pm. $10.00.
ARBES
P O S T O FFI C E H OT E L Saturday May 7 2016 marks exactly one year since dream/psych pop trio Arbes released their debut EP Swimmer into the world, so to celebrate they’re having a little anniversary show. To help commemorate the release are good mates Ministry of Plenty who helped launch Swimmer at The Evelyn in May last year. Swimmer saw the group receive international praise and a signing to Sports Day Records who are currently based in Austin, Texas. The trio have been road-testing their new work at shows and are currently in the midst of recording their follow up release. Go have a drink or two with Arbes at Post Office Hotel this Saturday night, it’s free entry with doors at 8pm.
TINPAN ORANGE + JIM LAWRIE Toff In Town,
CISCO CAESAR Rainbow Hotel, Fitzroy. 9:30pm. COBRA 45S Bell Tavern, Belgrave. 8:00pm. CRAIG WOODWARD + WARREN ROUGH & FRIENDS Victoria Hotel (brunswick), Brunswick. 4:00pm.
DAN PARSONS Union Hotel (brunswick), Brunswick. 9:00pm.
SOULA
THE B.E AST Melbourne’s sizzling, high-energy outfit Soula will be taking over the B.East on Saturday May 7, providing their quirky mix of alt-rock with a splash of funk and ska. The five-piece wrapped up a national tour in celebration of the single Immune and the track’s accompanying video clip in December 2015, and they’ve showed no signs of slowing down since. Get groovy with Soula from 9.30pm, free entry.
DON HILLMAN’S SECRET BEACH Panton Hill Hotel,
$10.00.
Melbourne Cbd. 7:30pm. $25.00.
TOGETHERAPART + DEAR PLASTIC Retreat Hotel,
DR RIC’S DISHONOURABLE DISCHARGE Brunswick
Richmond. 8:30pm. $41.00.
Brunswick. 9:00pm.
Hotel, Brunswick. 5:00pm.
Brunswick. 9:00pm.
HUNTING DOGS + TRIPMONKS Old Bar, Fitzroy. 4:00pm. JUKE BOX RACKET Victoria Hotel Brunswick. 9:00pm. JULES BOULT TRIO Drunken Poet, West Melbourne.
THE SCREAMING JETS + MASSIVE Corner Hotel, THE SHOT GLASSES Inkerman Hotel, Balaclava. 8:00pm. TIJUANA CARTEL Torquay Hotel, Torquay. 8:00pm. $23.50.
MT MOUNTAIN
TH E OL D B A R Perth’s heavy psych chaps Mt Mountain have just dropped their sophomore EP Cosmos Terros and thought they’d squeeze in a little headline show on top of a run of shows supporting Kadavar. Cosmos Terros has already garnered much critical praise, don’t miss Mt Mountain show it off in the flesh at The Old Bar, Saturday May 7. They’ll join forces with Fourteen Nights At Sea, The Dead Heir and Warpigs. Doors are at 8.30pm with $10 entry.
TRIBUTE TO YIANNIS PAPAIOANNOU - FEAT: ACHILLES YIANGOULLI + CON KALAMARAS + DEAN GEORGALAS + MORE Caravan Music Club, Oakleigh. 8:00pm. $20.00. VELVET BOW + CHILDREN OF THE SUN Penny Black, ALINTA & THE JAZZ EMPERORS Paris Cat Jazz Club, Melbourne Cbd. 8:30pm. $25.00.
AURORA MACKRILL + ROGER CLARK QUARTET Dizzy’s Jazz Club, Richmond. 9:00pm. $16.00.
BARNEY MCALL QUARTET Uptown Jazz Cafe, Fitzroy. 8:00pm.
Panton Hill. 1:00pm.
FLYING ENGINE STRINGBAND Railway Hotel, Fitzroy North. 9:00pm.
9:00pm.
KARAOKE WITH ZOE Customs House Hotel,
Williamstown. 9:00pm.
MIKELANGELO & THE BLACK SEA GENTLEMEN Thornbury Theatre, Thornbury. 7:00pm. $35.00.
MOONEE VALLEY DRIFTERS Grandview Hotel, Fairfield. 8:30pm. $10.00.
STEPHEN KENNEDY Drunken Poet, West Melbourne. 3:00pm.
THE GROVES + KING PUPPY AND THE CARNIVORE + FOREVER SON + THE JIVES Brunswick Hotel, Brunswick. 9:00pm.
THE HOUNDLINGS Union Hotel, Brunswick. 5:00pm. THE SLIPDIXIES Open Studio, Northcote. 5:00pm. THREE KINGS Labour In Vain, Fitzroy. 7:00pm.
GODWOLF
T H E WO R K E R S C LU B Godwolf is the electronic/dub project of Joe Kosky and Tom Armstrong who are launching their new EP On Repeat at The Workers Club Saturday May 7. Godwolf are currently on a national tour, employing three other members to enrich their live experience. Go give the boys a pat on the back for their work. Get down early to catch The Mackinaw Peaches , Parks Development and Rollo. Tickets are $15 with entry at 7pm.
MIKE STEVA (THE LATE SHOW) + MIKE STEVA + LEWIS CANCUT + NICK THAYER + TEE DUBYA + MORE Revolver Upstairs, Prahran. 10:00pm.
A BLONDE MOMENT Ascot Vale Hotel, Ascot Vale. 8:00pm.
AT THE DAKOTA + OCEAN BONES + VINTEN + JARED ROYCE PRICE Workers Club, Fitzroy. 8:00pm. $13.00. CAIRO CLUB ORCHESTRA Flying Saucer Club,
Elsternwick. 3:00pm. $23.00.
FEARLESS MUSIC - FEAT: ROSS WILSON + SEAN KELLY + CASH SAVAGE + SHANE O’ MARA + MORE St Kilda Memo,
St Kilda. 3:00pm. $45.00.
HOLLIE JOYCE + LATREENAGERS + GIRL CRAZY Cherry
MOZART REQUIEM (100 VOICES) - FEAT: AUSTRALIAN BRANDENBURG ORCHESTRA + BRANDENBURG CHOIR
Bar, Melbourne Cbd. 8:00pm.
Melbourne Recital Centre, Southbank. 7:00pm. $33.00.
7:30pm.
NIC RYAN-GLENIE’S BIG EASY 3 Bar Open, Fitzroy.
JAM AT MUSICLAND SUNDAYS Musicland, Fawkner.
5:00pm.
NICHAUD FITZGIBBON QUARTET Paris Cat Jazz Club,
MIRIAM PULTRO Tago Mago, Thornbury. 8:30pm. MOTHERS DAY CELEBRATION - FEAT: SUZANNAH ESPIE + JULIE O’HARA + LORETTA MILLER + MORE Caravan
Melbourne Cbd. 9:30pm. $25.00.
Music Club, Oakleigh. 3:00pm. $15.00.
PHILA PARA Prince Public Bar, St Kilda . 6:00pm. RASTA UNITY + DJ ZARE DEMUS + ABE NOUK + BIROK HUETE 303, Northcote. 7:00pm. $15.00. SCOTT TINKLER + SIMON BARKER DUO Uptown Jazz
PROFITEERS + SWHAT Old Bar, Fitzroy. 4:00pm. SAINT HENRY + MACHINE GUN SUNRISE + SNARK + DANGER & PLASTIC Bar Open, Fitzroy. 7:30pm. SOULA + DJ MOJO JUJU The B.east, Brunswick East.
Cafe, Fitzroy. 6:30pm.
7:00pm.
SEDERGREEN & ALLAN Paris Cat Jazz Club, Melbourne Cbd. 7:00pm. $20.00.
SOUL-A-GO-GO - FEAT: MISS GOLDIE + RICHIE 1250 + VINCE PEACH + PIERRE BARONI Bella Union Bar, Carlton. 9:00pm. $15.00. BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 40
SUNDAY 8 MAY
B E AT.C O M . A U
STONE GRAVE + DANKENSTEIN + HEADLOPPER + MAGGOT BATH Brunswick Hotel, Brunswick. 8:00pm. TASH SULTANA + REUBEN STONE + RILEY PEARCE Northcote Social Club, Northcote. 8:00pm.
Q&A
GIG GUIDE
The Push PRESENT
Access All Ages WITH GRACE KINDELLAN
THE GROVES So then, what’s your name and what do you do in the band? My name is Leigh and I do the electrical bass guitar and the street press Q&As. What do you reckon people will say you sound like? A more experimental and less credible incarnation of Canned Heat. But we’re about as white as Canned Heat. What do you love about making music? Being able to draw tenuous analogies between ourselves Canned Heat. What do you hate about the music industry? Never being anywhere near as successful nor as popular as Canned Heat. If you could travel back in time and show one of your musical heroes your stuff, who would it be and why? Probably Canned Heat. If you could assassinate one person or band from popular music, who would it and why? Not sure, but defo not Canned Heat. What can a punter expect from your live show? Four nearly broken men trying to use instruments to fight their way through their respective quarter life crises, with varying degrees of success… and fuzz. What’ve you got to sell CD-wise? We have far too many copies of our two EPs. One is self-titled and the other is called Wine Dark Sea. They’re taking up a lot of space, so please buy several. Anything else to add? Seriously, we need to move those EPs. Catch THE GROVES on Saturday May 7 at their spiritual homeland, The Brunswick Hotel, with King Puppy & The Carnivore, Forever Son and The Jives.
TOOTH & TUSK
TH E E V E LYN Tooth & Tusk ± Melbourne’s delightfully fuzzy, ‘70s inspired pop six-piece ± are bringing some much needed love to the start of the week on Monday May 9 at The Evelyn. Their live performance is one not be missed, with their scintillating combination of synth and psychedelia culminating in an exceptionally raw and eclectic sound. They’ll be joined by Batz and Ferla, and if it helps to sweeten the deal there are $10 jugs of house lager on offer all night long. Entry is $6 and doors are at 8.30pm.
CABBAGES & KINGS
TH E OL D B A R Cabbages & Kings have a lineup of members that ranges anywhere between seven to ten depending on the night, so it’s anyone’s guess how many might rock up on Monday May 9 at The Old Bar. Their bluesfolk-punk-rock aesthetic is made more original by the fact that since their inception in 2012, they’ve been accumulating various members and peculiar instruments ± including buckets, chains and tin whistles. They’re providing the entertainment for the week’s edition of Mundane Mondays with Dicey’s Pizza House Band and Blood Burger. $15 jugs all night and $5 will have your entry sorted. Doors are at 8pm. REIKA + THE JIVES + BIRDHOUSE Workers Club, Fitzroy. 7:30pm.
THE SIGIT + MY LEFT BOOT + DEVIL ELECTRIC + HUNTED CROWS Cherry Bar, Melbourne Cbd. 4:00pm. TOOTH & TUSK + BATZ + FERLA Evelyn Hotel, Fitzroy.
EVANGELINE
T H E WO R K E R’S C LU B Evangeline is treating punters at The Worker’s Club to her dark electro pop for the first three Tuesdays of May. Tuesday May 10 will mark the second gig for the Melbourne songstress, who has been gaining steady momentum since the releases of her well-received singles Chemicvl and My Kingdom. Evangeline will be joined by some special guests on board for support. Doors are at 8pm, entry is $8.
TASH SULTANA + REUBEN STONE + RILEY PEARCE Northcote Social Club, Northcote. 7:30pm.
IRISH SESSION Lomond Hotel, Brunswick East. 8:00pm.
TASTE OF INDIE TUESDAY PR I NC E P U B LI C B A R
Taste of Indie Tuesday at the Prince Public Bar this week is hosted by songwriter/performer Lissa Jayne. She’ll be doing her thing from 7.30pm, with entry being free as always.
OPEN MIC NITE Inkerman Hotel, Balaclava. 7:30pm. SCOOT MOLLY Brunswick Hotel, Brunswick. 8:00pm.
8:30pm. $6.00.
DOC HALIBUT 303, Northcote. 8:30pm. FALLEN STAR Mr Boogie Man Bar, Abbottsford. 7:00pm.
TUESDAY 10 MAY SIENNA WILD
C H E RRY B A R If you’re feeling like some straight classic indie rock on your Tuesday night, we’re gonna let you in on a little secret and point you to Sienna Wild’s Cherry Bar Residency. The three-piece have been working hard since 2013 and are set to make some noise every Tuesday at Cherry, providing you with a star-of-theweek excuse to get out and have a bev. Even better, entry is free from 6pm with music kicking off at 8pm. Allow yourself a little treat this Tuesday.
ANNA’S GO-GO ACADEMY Bella Union Bar, Carlton. 6:30pm. $10.00.
BRAZILIAN MUSIC JAM SESSION - FEAT: JULIANA TENUCCI Open Studio, Northcote. 7:30pm. EARS WIDE OPEN 2 (RAVEL’S LE TOMBEAU DE COUPERIN) - FEAT: RICHARD GILL Melbourne Recital
Centre, Southbank. 6:00pm. $30.00.
MONASH JAZZ ORCHESTRA Dizzy’s Jazz Club,
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.
Richmond. 8:00pm. $10.00.
ACTS WANTED FOR SUNDAY ROCK SHOWS - contact: mark@gunnmusic.com.au
Centre, Southbank. 6:00pm. $29.00.
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
SACRED CITIES - FEAT: ELISION Melbourne Recital INDIE TUESDAYS - FEAT: JUNIOR UNDER THE MOON + HUNTLY + LITTLE ADVENTURES + PAMELA ST Toff In Town, Melbourne Cbd. 6:00pm. $10.00.
M83 Forum Theatre, Melbourne Cbd. 8:00pm. $79.00. MONDEGREEN + FRIDA + MAYFAIR KYTES TRIO Evelyn Hotel, Fitzroy. 8:30pm. $5.00.
PENGUINS + CONCENTRATION + OI*L + FLOODS Old Bar, Fitzroy. 8:00pm. $8.00..
SING OH DE MAYO - FEAT: PARADING + CIGGIE WITCH + THE ICYPOLES Gasometer Hotel, Collingwood. 7:30pm. $10.00. BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 42
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B E AT.C O M . A U
The first ever New Slang gig is this Friday. In case you haven’t heard, it’s our new monthly all ages event to be held at The Channel at the Arts Centre on the first Friday of every month from 6pm to 9pm. We have a killer lineup to kick things off. Noise-pop/folk band Tiny Little Houses are stopping in for the only all ages show of their Milo Tin tour and Alex Lahey is playing fresh from the release of her new single You Don’t Think You Like People Like Me, which is absolutely going off on radio around Australia. Plus there will be support from inner-south high school band Moss and DJ Elldaychubbygal. It’s going to go off so get down early. Check out www.thepush.com.au for more details. In other news, we’re looking for someone to work full time as part of our awesome team here at The Push. We are seeking someone to provide day-today office administration, bookkeeping and project administrative support at our office in Brunswick. The ideal candidate would have experience in office management and intermediate bookkeeping skills, including use of MYOB or similar accounting program. Find out more at www.thepush.com.au or email employment@thepush.com.au. Applications close 5pm Friday May 6. We have an absolutely stellar giveaway for any fans of The Drones. They’re playing an under-18s show at The Tote in the afternoon on Saturday May 28 as part of their Feelin’ Kinda Free album tour and we have a huge prize pack to give someone who wants to go. It includes a signed vinyl copy of Feelin’ Kinda Free, a T-shirt, tickets to the show for you and three mates and a meet and greet with the band. All you have to do is like the pinned post about it on our Facebook page (www.facebook.com/thepushinc) and tag a mate in the comments. It’s only open to under-18s and the competition ends on May 21. There’s another great all ages show that weekend with local champions Camp Cope playing for free at Polyester Records on Friday May 27. It’s part of their self-titled, debut album tour and it kicks off at 6pm. The album is out on Poison City Records and has been described as a “cathartic release of personal angst set to thumping bass lines and chiming guitars.” Into more experimental music? Signal is running a performance and workshop with Sisters Akousmatica, focused on the concept of ‘akousma’ - sound removed from its source. Using radio broadcast technology, sounds will be distributed to multiple listening spaces across the city on Sunday May 8, creating a sonic web of live performances. Through a workshop series at Signal on Saturday May 15 and Sunday May 16, you can explore this idea further with the head Sisters Akousmatica, Pip Stafford and Julia Drouhin. For more details head to www.melbourne.vic.gov.au. SYN 1700 diversity has a great range of grantfunded programs to help young people from different backgrounds access radio training for free. These include media mentoring for young ethnically diverse woman, training for differently abled young people and broadcasting opportunities for young people to talk about their faith. The greater the diversity of voices on the airwaves, the more relevant the station is so don’t hesitate to sign up if it sounds like you’re kind of thing. More information is available here www.syn. org.au/diversity.
All Ages Gig Guide F R I DAY M AY 6
New Slang w/ Tiny Little Houses, Alex Lahey, Moss, DJ Elldaychubbygal, The Channel at the Arts Centre, St Kilda Road, 6pm-9pm, $10, www.facebook.com/ thepushinc
Wednesday 4th @ 8.00pm
‘LOMOND ACOUSTICA’ Shannon Bourne, Hornets Trio, Tracy Bunn
Thursday 5th @ 8.30pm
THURSDAY 5TH, 8PM
JUMPIN’ JACK WILLIAM FRIDAY 6TH, 7PM
DOUBLE SINGLE LAUNCH
Wine Whiskey Women:
Jesse Valach presents
BLUES MOUNTAIN Friday 6th @ 9.30pm
SMALL TOWN ROMANCE BLACKHILL RAMBLERS
THREE KINGS
HELEN RYDER BAND
TERRY MCCARTHY SPECIAL
Sunday 8th @ 9.00pm
SUNDAY 8TH, 5PM
COMING UP:
BACKWOOD CREATURES CHARLIE MARSHALL AND THE BODY ELECTRIC
Jocie Jensen & Beth Cleary Thurs 5th May 7pm: Open Mic Night Fri 6th May 6pm: Traditional Irish Music Session 8.30pm: Small Town Aliens Sat 7th May 3pm: Stephen Kennedy 9pm: Jules Boult Trio Sun 8th May 4pm: Van Walker 6.30pm: Tracey Bunn 8pm:
(Soul blues)
JEMMA NICOLE SAMUEL MARZOLA WITH JESS PARKER SATURDAY 7TH, 7PM
Wed 4th May
(Country roots !)
Saturday 7th @ 9.30pm
(Country-a-billy)
Sunday 8th @ 5.30 pm
(Soul country)
KEN MAHER, TONY HARGREAVES & GUESTS (Acoustic roots)
Tuesday 10th @ 8.00pm
IRISH SESSION (Charmin’ tunes)
Tuesdays
weekly trivia
ALL GIGS ARE FREE EXCELLENT RESTAURANT & BAR MEALS
225 NICHOLSON STREET, BRUNSWICK EAST. PH 9380 1752
The Drunken Poet, 65 Peel Street (directly opposite Queen Vic Market), Phone: 03 9348 9797. www.thedrunkenpoet.com.au
B E AT.C O M . A U
mexican/pizza menu
Tues ($3 tacos only) 6pm - 9pm. fri/sat lunch 12 - 2pm (brunch menu only) wed/thurs/fri/sat 5.30pm - 9:30pm. sun 1 - 8pm
BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 43
BACKSTAGE
ORMSBY GUITARS
AUSSIE GUITARS TAKING ON THE WORLD
Perry Ormsby makes world-class custom guitars that comfortably stand toe-to-toe with the greats. Demand for his instruments is so high and his fanbase so rabid that Ormsby recently added the GTR line – guitars designed by Ormsby with input from a dedicated Facebook group of passionate guitarists, then manufactured at the World Musical Instruments factory in South Korea (the facility responsible for instruments by brands such as LTD, Schecter, Dean, Strandberg, Prestige and PRS SE). If you follow Ormsby on Facebook, you might occasionally see photos from his visits to the World factory to ensure production is running smoothly. And if you get your hands on one of these instruments, you’ll find that they’re great guitars with incredible attention to detail. So why can’t you find them in stores? That’s something that’s playing on Ormsby’s mind. “We have sold, literally – not including the recent release, which is another 350 guitars over a week – 2.8% of the entire Australian market for guitars over the last 12 months, and we did that in six days,” Ormsby says. “But retailers are not interested in the slightest in even talking to us, and I think that is absolutely crazy. We’re offering the same margins as everyone else, we’ve got the hottest product right now and we’re offering something that’s totally different to what’s in every store, and has been in every store for years. If you’re looking for a metal guitar and you walk into a store you’ve got a choice of black or black. We’ve surveyed our clients and we’ve got all the info of what these players want if they could get a custom-made guitar, and we’re
putting it in a production guitar and we’re selling them by literally the boatload, and yet retailers aren’t interested.” Ormsby makes a great point: walk into any store and you’ll find dozens of black, twin-humbucker metal guitars from different brands sitting happily side-byside. But none of them are offering what Ormsby does: multi-scale fanned-fret designs, custom-designed pickups, and finishes voted for by users rather than a marketing committee. Heck, there’s even a new headless run called the Goliath which looks incredible. “We’re coming in with multi-scales, which you can’t buy from a shop. They’ve got stainless steel frets, which every metal guy has heard about but hasn’t been able to feel how amazing they are. We’re giving them a case included in that, and we’re surveying them on what the hottest trends in colours are and what they want, and then we’re giving it to them,” Ormsby says. “If you were to ask me 12 months ago, ‘Would baby blue be an option for a metal guitarist?’ I would have said ‘Hell no.’ But that’s what they want, so we made them. We made pink
guitars and we sold a heap of them. I would never have thought that was something that was going to be popular. What was the least-popular colour? Black. What’s the most common colour you see on the wall in the guitar shops? Black. People are sick of it. We’re giving them something different and they’re buying them.” Currently you can get in on a GTR run via the Facebook group. “We sold 800 instruments in 11 days of selling,” Ormsby says. “Now, I’d much rather deal through retails so I don’t have to deal with the individual orders coming through. I’m sitting here looking at my desktop and there are 95 orders that came in today.
People are telling us, ‘If I could go down to the shop and try that out, I’d buy it today.’ Especially with something like we’re selling, it’s a multi-scale with a different feel and a different look, and it intimidates a lot of people, but as soon as they try it, a lot of guys find them easier to play than regular guitars – but they’ve got to try them. But retailers don’t jump on board so we do it. “We do barbecue days in each state. We organise a rehearsal space, we put on a barbecue and we invite everyone down and we make sure there are 20 guitars there and most of the guitars are gone before lunch. If a retailer wants to jump on board we’re going to absolutely help ‘em out. We do have
a store in Sydney that was entirely funded by presales of our guitars. He jumped on board, he ordered 40 instruments, he sold them within a couple of days and that gave him the capital to start his business. It’s crazy. And you’ve got long-established stores that won’t give them a look in. And it’s always the same thing: ‘Where are we going to put them on the floor?’ Mate, get rid of the stuff that doesn’t sell.” BY PETER HODGSON For more information on Orsmby Guitars, head to www.ormsbyguitars. com.
LINE & BOX PUZZLE THING Hi Dan McKay at the Old Bar, I totally know you are doing this crossword right now. I’m looking at you. Stop cheating.
ACROSS
BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 44
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NEW SIGNINGS #3: OUR GOLDEN FRIEND & POPPONGENE
Melbourne indie label Our Golden Friend reports that its second signing is Poppongene. It is the solo project of Byron Bay-bred Melbourne musician and artist Sophie Treloar, who also plays in Sunbeam Sound Machine. Her single Do It Girl is getting community radio airplay, and she’s currently working on her debut EP in the hills of Belgrave after which she’ll put together a live band.
NEW SIGNINGS #4: CHECKED LABEL & KOBALT
Owners of NSW-based Checked Label Services (CLS), Drew Doran and Will Osland, signed a worldwide administrative publishing agreement with Kobalt Music Publishing (KMP). CLS, CLS Publishing and WJO Australia have grown in eight years to oversee 15,000 works from pop, country, K-pop and Christian. They expect this to double in 2016-2017 as they expand staffing into other territories and finalise data management agreements with new labels globally.
NEW SIGNINGS #5: ELEFANT TRAKS & OKENYO
The mysterious lyricist and storyteller Okenyo has signed with hip hop label Elefant Traks, releasing a new single 10 Feet
NEW SIGNINGS #7: NICHE & BUOY
Sydney electronic act Buoy is now repped for bookings by Niche Entertainment. Buoy has gained airplay in Australia, UK and the US and her live shows use her jazz pianist training to create piano, vocals, synths and percussion arrangements. Her forthcoming Break EP was preceded by the single Clouds & Rain.
NEW SIGNINGS #8: DRO CAREY & SOOTHSAYER
Perth-born Sydney house, grime and electronica producer Dro Carey (Eugene Ward) is the second signing to new Mushroom imprint Soothsayer, after Roland Tings. His Dark EP is out on Friday May 20. Lead-off single Queensberry Rules features Perth’s Kucka. They discovered each other via Soundcloud, admired each other, and reached out when the track needed a vocal.
THINGS WE HEAR
• Which prominent music mogul ended up in hospital after a fall at his home – and sternly told not to turn his bed into a working table? • Which nightclub operator’s pet macaw caused consternation when she escaped again and had to be rescued by a good Samaritan? • Which celebs are putting it out there they “turned down” the role of judges for a reality TV series – but weren’t actually asked first? • Tinie Tempah, La Roux and Foxes have cameos in Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie due mid-year. • Weezer say they’ll be here in January 2017. • Gone viral is the angry emergency call Kid Rock made for an ambulance after his personal assistant was found dead from a car accident on his property as the operator dithered. • Jimmy Page’s Black Beauty guitar stolen at an airport in April 1970 has been returned
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Melbourne’s The Pretty Littles amp up their touring through 123 Agency. On the back of the triple j and community radio support for single Pride, they hit regional NSW with Kingswood, regional Vic with West Thebarton Brothel Party and The Harlots and headlined along the east coast. 123 founder Damian Costin says after hearing their “amazing” upcoming album, “we’ll be backing them 100% all the way. It’s time… we got nude and ate ice cream together.”
123 Agency added Melbourne dark electro pop purveyor Evangeline, a triple j face with tracks like last Chemicvl and My Kingdom, which have had 2.5 million streams. She has a Workers Club residency for the first three Tuesdays in May.
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NEW SIGNINGS #2: 123 AGENCY & THE PRETTY LITTLES
NEW SIGNINGS #6: 123 & EVANGELINE
z
Melbourne genre-bending heavy rock band Ocean Grove are the latest addition to the UNFD roster. They’ve just released a single Lights On Kind Of Lover and go out on the five-date national Equinox tour with Northlane, In Hearts Wake and Hands Like Houses from Friday June 10 to Sunday June 18. The band took six months deciding on a label, and singer Luke Homes says, “We are especially excited about the creative freedom [UNFD] have afforded us.” Last year they released the Black Label EP with drummer Sam Bassal overseeing the production process.
Tall produced with Badcop and a video with Josh Harris. Okenyo, described in the UK as “equal parts Frank Ocean, Grace Jones and M.I.A”, came to attention last year with the single Just A Story and this year issued the triple j and community radio fave Second Heartbeat with label-mate Urthboy and Sampa The Great.
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NEW SIGNINGS #1: UNFD & OCEAN GROVE
h h
MUSIC INDUSTRY NEWS & GOSSIP
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INDUSTRIAL
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to its owner. • The 1987 Californian slang term “hella” (“very”, as in she’s hella excited) is officially added to Merriam-Webster’s unabridged dictionary. • Australian documentary Punks For West Papua is up for its fourth US gong, last week selected for the LA Independent Film Festival Awards. • A Deezer survey of a thousand Britons under the age of 25 found they were more likely to identify Justin Bieber’s lyrics than famous Shakespearean lines as “to be or not to be”. • The funeral of former Melbourne booking agent Bill Joseph drew 800 people. Stories included him buying AC/DC their first van, being shot at by gangsters in the business, and pumping weights every day to such an extent that it was he, and not the bouncers that he paid, who’d sort out problems at the clubs he ran. The family also told how he took on a real estate agent’s licence and was once voted the best of the year, while his penchant for teaching dance saw the family ask the gathered to momentarily get up and dance to a bit of jazz swing. • It looks like pill-testing at music festivals will take place this summer but not in NSW. Australian Drug Law Reform Foundation president Alex Wodak and Canberra physician David Caldicott, who initiated the idea and moved it forward with crowd-sourced funding, ran into a wall with the NSW premier and police. However, Caldicott told the Sydney Morning Herald that talks have begun with other states, where the police and governments are “sympathetic” and “interested” and that ecstasy will be the drug to be tested at sites this year. • The Australian Road Crew Association (ARCA) held its second Melbourne reunion with 180 flying in from all around the country. ARCA provided each one with a list of contacts for all its members in case they had a need for a late night talk. Interestingly we noticed that such was their status that all the road crew members from the ‘60s sat at their own table and no one dared approach them. • Onstage collaborations at Groovin’ The Moo’s SA stop were Remi and heavy rockers In Hearts Wake, then electronic duo The Meeting Tree with The Rubens. Later SAFIA and Alison Wonderland joined for Take It To Reality. • Apple Music now has 13 million users; less than a year after it launched.
OBESE RECORDS TO CLOSE
After 21 years of popularising hip hop music and lifestyle, Obese Records in Prahran will close its doors on Saturday May 7. “We ruled the country for a beautiful moment,” owner Pegz posted on Facebook. The
S tu f f f or t h is co l umn to be emai l ed to ce l iezer @ netspace . net . au by Friday 5 pm
store, a creative hangout, expanded into a record label, which gave an early push to the likes of Hilltop Hoods, Bliss N Eso, Thundamentals, Dialectrix, Drapht, Kerser and Funkoars, as well as artist management and Obese TV.
HIATUS KAIYOTE WIN UK AWARD
Grammy nominated Melbourne band Hiatus Kaiyote won Album Of The Year at the JAZZ FM Awards in London. The band, currently on a UK and European tour, recently released the Recalibrations Vol 1 EP featuring remixes of songs from their two albums Tawk Tomahawk and Choose Your Weapon. They also make their debut at the Sydney Opera House as part of Vivid Live on Tuesday May 31.
CONCERT FOR COOKY
The music community is rallying around Melbourne singer and sax player Colin Cook who is undergoing therapy for severe throat cancer. He was in bands The Sapphires and The Thunderbirds before a series of solo hits in Australia and the UK, and was in the London productions of Hair and Jesus Christ Superstar. It is at Trak Lounge Bar in Toorak on Sunday May 15 from 7pm.
PUSH TELLS US TO ‘WALK THIS WAY’
Walk This Way is a series of free workshops for newcomers to Melbourne aged 18 to 30 looking at local culture, art and food. Currently running until Thursday May 19 it includes workshops in MCing, DJing, breakdancing and street art, mentored by pros. See The Push website for full details.
BAR OWNER FINED
Laneway Festival co-owner Jerome Borazio was fined $40,000 by Melbourne Magistrates Court because he allowed the team at one of his former bars, Sister Bella, to run a filthy rodent-filled kitchen. Borazio sold it last year for $75,000.
PORT FAIRY FOLK INJECTS $9.6M INTO ECONOMY
The Port Fairy Folk Festival injected $9.6 million into the town’s economy after drawing 15,000 to the site, according to data collection agency ITESA. It showed the festival made $3.2 million from ticket sales and bar takings among others. Attendees spent $1.2 million on food and drinks, $517,000 on merch, $2.7 million on accommodation and meals, $1.2 million in travel, and $394,000 with the town’s businesses. Only 8% of festival goers are locals: 38% are from Melbourne, 26% from elsewhere in Victoria and 2.8% from South Australia.
Lifelines In Court: an attendee of Groovin’ The Moo in Canberra faced ACT Magistrates Court on charges he assaulted a security guard who asked him to leave the site. In Court: a drunk who bit flesh off a bouncer at Adelaide’s Casablabla nightclub who was trying to throw him out, and did the same to another patron who helped, was spared jail on condition he obeyed his mother for the next 18 months. Sued: Las Vegas metal band Five Finger Death Punch by their record label Prospect Park for starting to work on a new album without its permission because they want to get it done “shamelessly attempting to cash in before the anticipated downfall of their addicted bandmate.” Died: influential Congolese soukous rock singer Papa Wemba, after collapsing onstage, 66. He inspired the Sapeurs whose members were young males who spent a huge amount of money on designer clothes. Died: US soul singer Billy Paul, best known for #1 single Me & Mrs Jones (1972), aged 81, recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Died: US cinematographer Donald E. Thorin, 81, whose work on Prince’s Purple Rain drew great acclaim. He also worked on the films An Officer and a Gentleman and Scent of a Woman. Died: acclaimed Melbourne sound monitor Greg Thompson, 54. He started out working with Broderick Smith’s Big Combo and worked for every major act working with Instant Stages and Gig Power. A keen fisherman, he also had a Bachelor of Science in Marine Biology.
NINE AUSSIE LABELS ATTENDING INDIE WEEK IN NYC
AIR (Australian Independent Record Labels Association), Sounds Australia and PPCA (Phonographic Performance Company of Australia) team again to lead a delegation to A2IM (American Association of Independent Music)’s Indie Week in New York, June 13 to 17. Attending are ABC Music, Barely Dressed Records, Bedlam Records, Chugg Music, Cooking Vinyl Australia, Hillsong Music Australia, HopeStreet Recordings, Onelove Recordings Australia, Rice Is Nice Records, Solitaire Recordings, The A&R Dept. and Zero Through Nine. Last year 850 indie label execs from 15 countries and 24 states attended.
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BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 46
MUSIC INDUSTRY NEWS & GOSSIP