ISSUE NO. 607 APRIL 08, 2015
FREE Now picked up at over 1,600 places across Sydney and surrounds. thebrag.com
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This Week
ALICE COOPER
He's still alive and kicking, now its tribute time.
DEAN RAY
Not generic but still stirring hearts across Australia.
THE PRODIGY
New stuff from these dance legends and it's damn angry.
SOAK
Get soaked with lyrical beauty.
G A Z I N G A W AY
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rock music news
the BRAG presents
welcome to the frontline: what’s goin’ on around town... with Meggan Turner, Ayla Dhyani and Lauren Gill
THE GIPSY KINGS
speed date WITH
DAVID ROGERS FROM NANTES chosen sonic elements, and how they react with the lyrical content. Keeping Busy While we’ve been bringing this record to 2. life we have been working full time in café’s
1.
Your Profile Nantes is a band made up of two mates who like to make music. Our sound could be described as melancholic, introverted, moody – pop. Our approach has a big focus on the textures of the sounds and fitting them together in interesting ways. We like to make music that represents who we are and how we perceive the world around us. And we like to share that with anyone who is interested on going a bit deeper into a song to work out why we have
Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House Wednesday April 8
making coffee and cooking, trying really hard not to cut any fingers off before we get to rehearsal in the evenings. We’ve got a tour coming up in April and we’re really excited to bring these new tracks to a live format. Throughout December we also played some local shows where we would show up and improvise with whoever was able to make it; with a different line up and band name every time. We ended up doing a show for new years, playing some of our favourite jams from those shows.
3.
Best Gig Ever There was a show that we played on the Gold Coast a few years ago. We had some time to kill so we went to the beach. It was storming at the time and there may or may not have been a sign saying that the beach was shut, so we all went in for a swim except for the guy who was playing keys for us at the time. Needless to say the ocean was pissed that day
LOS CHICOS
and didn’t want us getting back to land, so we had this weird few minutes where we were all floating there, getting pulled further and further out and towards the rocks to certain doom. We did end up being rescued near the next beach. There was a lot of verbal abuse from the lifeguards, then we dried off and played a show. I can’t remember if the show was any good. The sea is a cruel mistress.
Newtown Social Club Wednesday April 8 and Wollongong Uni Wednesday April 10
JIMMY CLIFF
4.
Current Playlist I am currently listening to Let Love In by Nick Cave. We listen to and love a lot of music, but while working on this record we’ve listened to a lot of Interpol, Gotsa, Nick Cave, Radiohead, Rowland S Howard, Brian Jones Town Massacre, Bowie, Warpaint.
Metro Theatre Thursday April 9
THE OCEAN Factory Floor Friday April 10
Your Ultimate Rider Our ultimate rider would be a six-course 5. degustation with matching wines designed by Marco Pierre White, and one live cheetah … Our current rider consists a case of beer and a food platter.
VOYAGER Factory Floor Saturday May 23
Where: Goodgod Small Club When: Saturday April 13
The Controllers
MANAGING EDITOR: Chris Martin chris@thebrag.com 02 9212 4322 ONLINE EDITOR: Tyson Wray SUB-EDITOR: Sam Caldwell STAFF WRITERS: Adam Norris, Augustus Welby NEWS: Sarah Basford, Sam Caldwell, Ayla Dhyani, Lauren Gill, Meggan Turner
Fleetwoood Mac
GO YOUR OWN WAY… TO THE HUNTER
ART DIRECTOR: Sarah Bryant PHOTOGRAPHERS: Katrina Clarke, Ashley Mar COVER PHOTO: Rahkela Nardella ADVERTISING: Georgina Pengelly - 0416 972 081 / (02) 9212 4322 georgina@thebrag.com ADVERTISING: Les White - 0405 581 125 / (02) 9212 4322 les@thebrag.com PUBLISHER: Furst Media MANAGING DIRECTOR, FURST MEDIA: Patrick Carr - patrick@furstmedia.com.au, (03) 9428 3600 / 0402 821 122 DIGITAL DIRECTOR/ADVERTISING: Kris Furst kris@furstmedia.com.au, (03) 9428 3600 GIG & CLUB GUIDE COORDINATORS: Sarah Basford, Sam Caldwell, Ayla Dhyani, Meggan Turner - gigguide@thebrag.com (rock); clubguide@ thebrag.com (dance, hip hop & parties) AWESOME INTERNS: Meggan Turner, Ayla Dhyani, Sarah Basford REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS: Nat Amat, Ian Barr, Prudence Clark, Tom Clift, Keiron Costello, Christie Eliezer, Fergus Halliday, Cameron James, Tegan Jones, Lachlan Kanoniuk, Mina Kitsos, Emily Meller, Annie Murney, Adam Norris, Kate Robertson, Erin Rooney, Raf Seneviratne, Leonardo Silvestrini, Krissi Weiss, Rod Whitfield, Harry Windsor, Tyson Wray, Stephanie Yip, David James Young Please send mail NOT ACCOUNTS direct to this NEW address 100 Albion Street, Surry Hills NSW 2010 ph - (02) 9212 4322 fax - (02) 9319 2227
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THE BRAG
4 :: BRAG :: 607 :: 08:04:15
MONTGOMERY STRIPPED BACK
Montgomery has released a gorgeous, stripped-back piano rework of her single, ‘Pinata’. She’s also announced that her Melbourne show is sold out, which is exciting for her, but unfortunate for any Melburnians that don’t have tickets. She does, however, still have some left for her Sydney show. The acoustic version really exemplifi es Montgomery’s voice and talent. She’s playing at GoodGod on Thursday May 7.
for Sydney’s annual festival Vivid Sydney and will allow diehard Radiohead fans a chance to view some of the band’s most
recognisable visuals. The exhibition will be hosted at Carriageworks from Thursday May 21 until Saturday June 6.
Serena Ryder
STRAND OF OAKS TO PLAY IN SYDNEY
Strand of Oaks will play a run of shows around the country when they hit our shores for their first Australian tour this month. Led by songwriter and producer Timothy Showalter, the American band have been touring on the back of last year’s widely praised, Heal. While they’re in Australia they will perform headline shows as well as gigs with Gary Clark Jr and an appearance at Boogie Festival. They’ll play a free show at Frankie’s on Thursday April 9, and will also open for Gary Clark Jr at Metro Theatre on Friday April 10.
RADIOHEAD
Stanley Donwood’s exhibition The Panic Office will be heading to Australia from late May until early June, showcasing some of Radiohead’s most iconic visuals. Famous for his collaborations with Radiohead lead singer Thom Yorke, Donwood’s The Panic Room will feature 5,000 pieces of artwork ranging from Radiohead’s album covers for classics such as OK Computer and Kid A as well as works from Yorke’s solo project and his other project, Atoms For Peace. Showing at Carriageworks, it comes just in time
SERENA’S SIDESHOWS
Canadian songstress Serena Ryder has announced a number of sideshows to surround her appearance at Bluesfest this weekend. With support from fellow Canadian Matt Andersen, Ryder will be touring nationally through three states. The return to Australian shores follows the recent release of her record, Harmony, which has since reached platinum in Canada. The tour is titled Stompa, which is also the name of her first single off the new record. ‘Stompa’ has already exceeded triple platinum sales in Canada and is shaping up to be Ryder’s biggest ever. Her tour with Andersen is something no blues enthusiast will want to miss. Catch her at The Basement on Friday April 10.
thebrag.com
xxx photo by xxx
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Melbourne boys The Controllers are heading up the east coast. To celebrate the launch of their new EP Animals The Controllers will be bringing their melodic, punk rock to Sydney, Newcastle, Adelaide and Melbourne in April. For their Sydney show they will be joined by The Goldhearts, Bronte, The Blenhelms and Josh Chamberlin. The unique and well crafted arrangements that the four-piece produce have the tenacity and fervour of tracks by the likes of Queens of the Stone Age, but still manage to sneak in a few melodic choruses here and there. They are sure to be a hit live. Catch them at Oxford Art Factory on Friday April 10.
Xxx
EDITORIAL POLICY: The views and opinions expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the publisher, editors or staff of the BRAG.
CONTROLLING THE EAST COAST
The rumours are true. With all five members reunited for the first time in 16 years, it’s no wonder ticket sales are in such high demand. Fleetwood Mac have now confirmed a second and final show at Hope State Winery in the Hunter Valley on Sunday November 15 for their On With The Show world tour. Be sure to catch them will be playing at the Allphones Arena in Sydney on Thursday October 22 and Saturday October 24. Tickets on sale now.
Take a sneak peek at the first 25 films from this year’s program at sff.org.au
FLEXIPASSES ON SALE NOW
Buy today to save on ticket prices
FULL PROGRAM RELEASED 6 MAY
3-14 JUNE WE BA ’R CK E !
SLOW WEST
54: THE DIRECTOR’S CUT
THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY 99 HOMES
World Cinema Grand Jury Prize winner at Sundance, this darkly funny and unconventional western is both thrilling and romantic. With brilliant performances by Kodi Smit-McPhee, Michael Fassbender and Ben Mendelsohn.
A new cut of the 1998 cult classic about legendary New York disco Studio 54 reveals the director’s homoerotic original vision. The all-star cast includes Ryan Phillippe, Mike Myers, Salma Hayek and Neve Campbell.
This chronicle of a lesbian S&M relationship that becomes increasingly more intense through ritual games of dominance and submission, is a stylish homage to European erotica: kinky, funny, sensual and romantic.
During America’s 2008 housing crisis, a desperate construction worker (Andrew Garfield) reluctantly accepts a job with the ruthless real estate broker (Michael Shannon) who evicted him and his family from their home.
DEATHGASM
BEATS S OF THE ANTONOV
GOING CLEAR:
BIKES S VS CARS
This fabulously funny and gory Kiwi horror was the talk of the 2015 SXSW Film Festival. Metal-thrashing teenage misfits Brodie and Zakk accidentally summon a hideous entity from hell. Carnage and hilarity ensue.
Winner of the People’s Choice Award at Toronto, this eloquent documentary celebrates the resilience of Sudan’s war-torn Blue Nile and Nuba Mountain communities through their rich musical culture.
This eye-opening look at the Church of Scientology from Oscar-winning director Alex Gibney, tells the story of L. Ron Hubbard and his church’s rise to power, with a little help from A-listers like Cruise and Travolta.
The joy and potential of two-wheeled transport, in an era when the design of our cities is determined by the automobile, is explored in this globetrotting (São Paulo, Toronto, Stockholm and LA) documentary.
NECKTIE YOUTH
LOVE & MERCY
STRANGERLAND
ESSENTIAL BERGMAN:
In this visually stunning tale of disaffected youth, Jabz and September take a drugfuelled trip through the affluent suburbs of contemporary Johannesburg, a year after the live-streamed suicide of their friend Emily.
Starring Paul Dano and John Cusack, this moving portrait of the musical genius Brian Wilson, explores his life’s seminal moments: The Beach Boys’ hits, the recording of “Pet Sounds” and his battle with mental illness.
Nicole Kidman makes a welcome return to Australian independent cinema in this striking film about the disappearance of her two teenage children, and the cop (Hugo Weaving) who tries to solve the case.
David Stratton presents 10 of the most iconic works of cinema from Swedish auteur Ingmar Bergman, including The Seventh Seal, Wild Strawberries, Persona, Cries and Whispers and Fanny and Alexander.
SCIENTOLOGY AND THE E PRISON OF BELIEF
SELECTED BY DAVID STRATTON
SFF.ORG.AU BRAG :: 607 :: 08:04:15 :: 5
live & local
free stuff
welcome to the frontline: what’s goin’ on around town... with Sam Caldwell and Ayla Dhyani
speed date WITH
head to: thebrag.com/freeshit
BRITISH INDIA
ASH ROTHSCHILD FROM GRAVEYARD ROCKSTARS Keeping Busy We finished last year 2. off supporting Sepultura and releasing our debut album Doomsday. We are going out on the road with Kiss guitar legend Ace Frehley for his Australian tour in June, then we head back out on the road for our own national tour in July.
to a lot of 90s’ guitar bands like Swervedriver, Therapy, My Bloody Valentine, Deftones. Nothing currently is exciting me that much besides Baroness, so I’ve been revisiting old albums. I went and saw Ministry play at The Metro Theatre a month ago and it was absolutely nuts. After all these years they still tore the roof off the place!
Following the panic of the Black Keys’ drop-out at this years Bluesfest, many names were thrown in the air as to who would fill such big shoes. It was with great pride that the prize wheel hit its mark on Melbourne’s own indie rock band, British India, a somewhat perfect timing for the lads’ upcoming Australian tour showcasing their fifth studio album Nothing Touches Me. British India will be playing at the Metro Theatre on Saturday May 22, and we’re giving away a double pass to the show to celebrate. To be in the running, visit thebrag.com.
Best Gig Ever I would have to say touring 3. Your Ultimate Rider with Misfits would have to be one The ultimate rider would 5. of the highlights of the band’s definitely come with a masseuse,
Your Profile Our sound would be 1. best described as slamming groove-based hard rock with an extremely dark overtone. Or, quite simply, the sound of the apocalypse. I like to spend my days locked away from
the world trying to work on my moon-tan. The band as a whole usually spend our time trying to find a colour that is blacker than black (yes we know black is not technically a colour). We’re just happy to have fans; we don’t discriminate.
shows. The Brisbane show was pretty bizarre as a large bunch of girls down the front of the sold out show thought we were Misfits through our set. Not even my terrible Aussie drawl threw them. We gathered a huge amount of new fans and fiends that night, which is always a bonus. I’m not sure we’ve had a worst gig yet … ask me again in a year.
Who: Graveyard Rockstars Where: Frankies’ Pizza When: Sunday April 12
British India Xxxx
Playlist I have been listening 4. Current
as we’re old rock dogs and need readjusting. I guess if we had a choice, some fine gourmet food and wine would be nice. In all honesty we don’t pay that much attention to the rider. We’re just happy to have one, which is usually a case of beer and some soft drinks.
Baskervillians
Them Bruins
xxxx
BASKERVILLAIN TO HOUND THE EAST COAST
Brisbane rockers Baskervillain have announced the release of their debut EP and a string of east coast tour dates. The EP, titled Modern Love, blends a range of musical influences to create a unique and colourful sound. Not defined by any particular genre, Baskervillain draw influence from rock’n’roll, blues, psychedelic, soul and pop, exploring the constraints of genre and breaking down the barriers. To date, they’ve performed alongside some impressive names, including The Cairos, Lurch & Chief, Moses Gunn Collective & WAAX. In support of Modern Love, Baskervillain will be embarking on a road tour of the east coast, including one stop in Sydney. They’ll be at the Standard Bowl on Friday April 10.
FORESTS WILL FALL
Forest Falls have announced they will be hitting the road this May to celebrate the release of their new EP, Hounds. The Melbourne folksters will be playing shows in Sydney, Melbourne and Geelong. The band’s sophmore EP was recorded and produced alongside five-time ARIA award winning producer, Wayne Connolly (Paul Dempsey, Josh Pyke and Cloud Control) at Alberts Studio in Sydney. Catch Forest Falls when they play Gaelic Club, with Bears With Guns
CLOWNING AROUND
6 :: BRAG :: 607 :: 08:04:15
To celebrate their latest single ’Walk A Line’, Them Bruins have announced an east coast tour, kicking off this April. The Melbourne four piece have not only been getting big love from triple j for their previous two singles, but they have also received air time on Californian and Netherlands radio. They also charted in the top 10 on the FMQB SubModern singles and album chart. Of the six shows they’re playing, they’ll take over Spectrum on Friday April 24.
Jernny Broke The Window
NOTHING’S SHOCKING ANYMORE
There’s a new event on at The Standard Bowl. Thursday’s will now host ‘Nothing’s Shocking’ (not the Jane’s Addiction album), with this Thursday April 9 featuring performances from Cheviot, Light Pressure, Jake Stone and Dave Rennick. Not to mention it’s free. Not that this is anything shocking.
Clowns
A DAMN RARE FIND
Sydney-based PR agency, Rare Finds, has announced the launch of a new indie club night showcasing Australia’s most promising emerging talent at The Sly Fox in Enmore. The first event will feature a vast array of local up-and-coming indie artists, with Jenny Broke The Window headlining, and local favourites Food Court, Hedge Fund and Winston Surfshirt gearing up to support. The free event will take place on the last Friday of every month, launching Friday April 24.
thebrag.com
xxxx xx
Clowns have returned home and announced a three month national tour, kicking off this May. The Melbourne four-piece have wrapped up things in the US, having already played 40 shows across Indonesia, China, the US and Australia this year, not to mention appearances at SXSW in Texas and MIDI Festival in China. Now they are set to play 20 shows across the nation. Along for the ride will be fellow Melbournians Summer Blood. See it all at Valve Bar on Friday June 19. Tickets on sale through oztix.
on Saturday May 16.
THEM BRUINS
COURTNEY BARNETT SOMETIMES I SIT AND THINK, AND SOMETIMES I JUST SIT LP • CD • DL
MAY 7 & 8 • THE METRO T OU LD O S
BRAG :: 607 :: 08:04:15 :: 7
Industrial Strength Music Industry News with Christie Eliezer
THINGS WE HEAR * Which major songwriter composing in a remote farmhouse was reportedly the victim of a home invasion attack by local thugs? * Which publicist’s strange public outbursts have people wondering just who she is working for? * The story that Sacha Baron Cohen was playing Queen’s Freddie Mercury in his biopic was in fact a quip by Queen’s manager at an industry function. * US fetish magazine Girls And Corpses granted Kim Fowley his final wish –
to be on its front cover, photographed in a body bag. * In between penning his memoirs, Johnny Marr has also written the screenplay for a movie. * Motley Crue’s Nikki Sixx is working with 5 Seconds of Summer, writing some lyrics for them. He tweeted his congrats for their winning Best Fan Army at the iHeartRadio Music Awards in LA, and also the fact that one of them (Michael Clifford) was sporting a Crüe T-shirt when he accepted the award. * Danish EDM act, MØ says she’ll be in Australia in midJuly. * After seven blistering shows at SXSW, Sydney’s Jack Ladder & The
JAY-Z’S TIDAL STREAMING HITS OZ SHORE… The Scandinavian Tidal high-fidelity streaming service has launched in Australia. Its owner, Aspiro, was bought last month by Jay-Z for US$56 million. Co-owners of the service are a host of big names, such as Alicia Keys, Win Butler and Régine Chassagne of Arcade Fire, Beyoncé, Calvin Harris, Chris Martin of Coldplay, Daft Punk, Jack White, Jason Aldean, J. Cole, Kanye West, deadmau5, Madonna, Nicki Minaj, Rihanna and Usher. Tidal says CD quality streaming is what something they want, and which the other services don’t provide. It has 25 million tracks and 75,000 music videos. It costs $23.99 a month in Australia, go to tidal.com or download the app from iTunes App Store or the Google Play Store.
Dreamlanders were acclaimed as the best act there by Philly’s The Districts. US radio programmers pricked up their ears, and the Sydneysiders were asked to play two live sessions at key tastemaker stations WXPN in Philadelphia and WFUV in New York and online station Tune In Radio. * George Maple also created a buzz in the US. Her debut LA headliner at The Lyric was sold out, as was a show with Broods in New York. She’s returned home to find that her Melbourne and Sydney shows were sold out, and she’s had to add a second Sydney show at the Oxford Art on April 30.
users to manage their Spotify tracks and playlists on their consoles, listen to Spotify tracks if they’re playing on PS4, and pay for Spotify through their PlayStation Network (PSN) account.
LIVE NATION, EUROPCAR, DRIVE A DEAL Tour promoter Live Nation Australasia has made Europcar its exclusive car rental partner in both countries in a three year partnership. It is the latest in Live Nation’s local brand partners, alongside Qantas, Spark, Rdio and NSW Health, with international partners American Express and Hilton Hotels and Resorts. In addition, Europcar customers get Live Nation benefits as exclusive content, money-can’t-buy experiences and VIP ticketing at its shows.
…WITH PLAYSTATION MUSIC ARRIVING MAY 30
VIOLENT SOHO, HALFWAY, WIN AT QLD MUSIC AWARDS
The PlayStation Music service in partnership with Spotify will be launched in Australia on May 30. It replaces Music Unlimited, which closed last week. PlayStation Music allows
Violent Soho took out album of the year for Hungry Ghost at the Queensland Music Awards, while Halfway won song of the year for ‘Dulcify’, as well as the country
category. Other winners were The Medics (indigenous), Dubmarine (urban), Airling (pop), The Grates (rock), The Kite String Tangle (music video), Michelle Xen (EDM), Leanne Tennant (blues/roots), Guards of May (heavy), Lacque (jazz), Mzaza (world) Quintessential Doll (folk/singer-songwriter), The Kangagang (children’s music), The Vernons (regional) and Saskia (schools). In the People’s Choice section, The Amity Affliction took most popular group, Bobby Alu (male) and Sahara Beck (female). Also announced on the night was the $10,000 Billy Thorpe Scholarship, which went to 19-year old Sunshine Coast based Ayla. Her debut single ‘Wish I Was’ was the 15th most played on triple j last year, and went top 10 in the Italian iTunes chart after she signed to Italy’s Ego Music. At 16, Ayla won the Teen section of the International Song Writing Competition. The Grant McLennan Lifetime Achievement Award went to Mick Medew of The 31sts, Screaming Tribesmen, The Bluebirds, The Rumours and currently The Mesmerizers.
POP BIGGEST GENRE IN THE UK SINCE ‘90S Pop overturned rock as biggest seller in the UK last year, reports trade body BPI. It made up 34.5% of album sales, helped by Ed Sheeran, Sam Smith, Paolo Nutini and Paloma Faith. Pop made up almost half (48.6%) of compilation albums and a third (36%) of singles. Rock boasted a third (33.2%) of all album sales, four times as popular as dance (7.7%). But dance singles were 16.2%, the biggest since 2008, and second (23%) to pop in the compilations market. Easy listening sales made up 6.5%, R&B 5.6%, classical 3.2%, country 2.3%, jazz 1.2%, folk 1.1% and new age 0.1%
HERMITUDE SIGN TO NETTWERK Hermitude have signed with Nettwerk Records for the rest of the world (they are with Elefant Traks for Aus/NZ) and will soon release their new album Dark Night Sweet Light. After playing SXSW and BUKU Music + Art Project, the act will play more overseas festivals this year including Lollapalooza, Governor’s Ball, Lightning In A Bottle, Wakarusa and Counterpoint.
LITTLE DEED AT HARBOUR AGENCY Sydney-based industrial/acoustic solo act Little Deed, whose debut single ‘Neon’ set a buzz online, signed her booking to Harbour Agency. She will be repped by agent Dan Sant.
NINE BUYS STAKE IN PEDESTRIAN.TV
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SATURDAY AFTERNOON
sat
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SUNDAY AFTERNOON
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(4:30PM - 7:30PM) (8:30PM - 12:00AM)
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MUSICIANS LAUNCH ANTIVIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN CAMPAIGN Over 50 musicians have thrown their support behind #notON, a new campaign to stamp out violence against women. They include Katie Noonan, The Grates, Courtney Barnett, Dallas Frasca, Pete Murray, Busby Marou, The Church, Troy CassarDaley, Urthboy, Hermitude, Violent Soho, Bliss n Eso, L-FRESH The Lion, Emma Louise, Boy & Bear, HITS and Suze De Marchi. They noted that the music biz can reach young males, and “start conversations about what is a real epidemic in our society” (Murray) and that it’s “so important to break the silence that surrounds men’s violence against women” (The Grates).
TIM KELLY NEW MD OF INERTIA
tue
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Nine Entertainment has beefed up its presence in the youth market by buying a major chunk of youth online brand pedestrian.tv through its digital division, M19. The brand retains its offices and staff. Nine was coy on the stake size and price, but reports suggested it was a 60 per cent stake for $10 million.
Apr
(9:00PM - 12:00AM)
Tim Kelly is the new managing director of Inertia, reporting to CEO Colin Daniels, who held that post until last month. Kelly was GM of Marketing at Sony and Universal in Australia. In the UK he co-founded One Little Indian, Head of International at Rough Trade and Managing Director of Pinnacle.
UNIVERSAL PUBLISHING SIGNS TIMMY TRUMPET Universal Music Publishing Australia have signed Sydney producer, DJ and trumpeter Timmy Trumpet to a global music publishing deal. His breakout single with Savage, ‘Freaks’, topped the ARIA 8 :: BRAG :: 607 :: 08:04:15
Lifelines Injured: Norman Greennbaum, 72, who had a hit in 1969 with ‘Spirit In The Sky’, in a car crash in North California where a motorcyclist was killed. Hospitalised: folk legend Joni Mitchell after being found unconscious in her home in California. In Court: Jay-Z looks like he’s heading to trial over the long running issue over whether he and Timbaland legally sampled from ‘Khosara, Khosara” from the 1960 Egyptian film Fata ahlami in his 2000 hit ‘Big Pimpin’. The composer contends that the record company who licensed the track had no right to. Charged: a Sydney-based one time Christian hip-hop producer (name suppressed) with murdering his New Zealand girlfriend’s seven-year-old son after months of alleged abuse. The case is heard in October. In Court: Prince is charged with “interfering” in former The Voice US contestant Judith Hill’s deal with Sony. He had sent out an email asking people to listen to Hill’s album and asking them to pass it on, and is accused of offering a link to download it for free. The case was brought by talent scout Jolene Cherry (she discovered Lady Gaga) whose The Cherry Party signed a four-album deal with Sony for Hill, and says she can’t sell the album now Prince allegedly “gave” it away free. In Court: Arian Berisha, 21, pleaded guilty at Downing Centre Local Court to assault, throwing a glass at Redfoo at the Golden Sheaf pub last August. The singer, who was with women in the VIP area, had a cut above his eye. Sued: A$AP Mob by a woman who claims a crowd surfing incident at a 2013 gig in Hollywood left her injured. Died: Jeremy Brown, guitarist in Scott Weiland’s new band Wildabouts.
Club Chart, went 4 x platinum, had 9 million YouTube views, and cracked the charts in France, Sweden, Finland and Belgium. He does a 37-date tour there this month. The single is released in North America shortly on Casablanca/Universal.
HOOK N SLING SCORES U.S. DEAL Sydney DJ/producer Hook N Sling has signed with US label Insomniac /Interscope Records. His new single ‘Break Yourself’ with LA based Far East Movement, is hailed as an example of the rising G-House sound.
NOVA COMP SCORES AT SUNSET A WARNER DEAL Three-year-old Adelaide pop/rock band At Sunset have landed a deal with Warner Music Australia after winning the Nova/ Warner Music Fresh Discovery competition from 1500 applications. They also get a mentoring session with Ed Sheeran. The band has previously had airplay on Nova and evenings on Today/Hit, as well as on KIIS FM Los Angeles after playing the Cinco Festival and Z100 New York. At Sunset have 900,000 Facebook fans, 250,000 Twitter followers and 73,000 following their Youtube channel.
GIRGIS LAUNCHES BE LIKE CHILDREN Artist manager Luke Girgis has launched a new company called Be Like Children, which he explains is set up “to be a hub”. It includes his own Careless Management (which looks after Little Sea), Difrnt Music and Publishing for which it will serve as label management and digital marketer, Spitfire Music (Dead Daisies) I Forget Sorry (Chance Waters, Mind Over Matter) and will also oversee a documentary on Michael Hutchence and coordinate remixes for a relaunch of the late INXS singer’s solo album. thebrag.com
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REDEMPTION THROUGH ART
BY AUGUSTUS WELBY
GANG OF YOUTHS
F
rom inner turmoil comes bountiful creative energy; it’s an age-old scenario. While it’s an outright contradiction to suggest that suffering can be enjoyed, the causal link between misfortune and works of artistic merit nearly makes it worthy of celebration. Next weekend, Sydney four-piece Gang of Youths will release their debut LP The Positions. Frontman and lead songwriter David Leaupepe makes no secret of what inspired the record. “In short, it’s about this relationship I was in with someone who had a terminal illness,” he says. “We were together for four years before our relationship broke down. The whole record was about that for a long time. In a way, that’s still the thematic foundation, but it extended more to how I was dealing with these things in my life and I had these three guys in my band propping me up.”
“There wasn’t any intention to be a band or to tour or become famous or to make a record,” he says. “I just wanted to hang out with my buds. I’d quit playing music for so long to concentrate on this relationship and being a well-adjusted, well-rounded adult. Then I realised that the healing component and the quality of music that makes us feel whole again was a big part of that. “The record became more about my buddies propping me up, holding me together after stumbling drunk down the road, throwing up blood trying to figure out my shit,” he continues. “There’s a hugely emotional component related to what we are. I think in most alternative rock bands it’s a mix-matched bunch of people that met at a share house and make cool music. But as human beings, they were my best friends before we started this fucking thing. They’re the best human beings I know. I’m, in contrast, one of the worst human beings I know.” The project’s insular and deeply personal nature goes a long way towards explaining why The Positions took more than two years to make. Gang of Youths might be signed to a major label (a true
rarity for contemporary Australian rock bands), but Leaupepe was determined to get this thing right, no matter how long it took. “Sony can’t tell us what to do or when to do it, which is really nice,” he says. “I actually started writing the album in 2012. Then we recorded some stuff mid-2013. The bulk of pre-production was the end of 2013 in New Paltz, New York with Kevin McMahon. That was pre-production and most of the beginning part of the recording, but I’ve been writing the fucking thing for so long that I was recording here and there before that. I like to say that we’ve been working on it for nearly three years. “It was such a close reflection of the shit that was going on in my life,” he adds. “With a rapidly changing sonic palette, and all the thematic concerns were always in flux. So I felt taking our time with the LP was probably the best approach.” In virtue of the lengthy lead-up, several album tracks – namely, ‘Knuckles White Dry’, ‘Poison Drum’, ‘Restraint & Release’ and ‘Radioface’ – have already been aired over the last couple years. While it was a long time coming, though, Leaupepe didn’t lose sight of his overarching vision. “There was a very concerted effort to make the most cohesive record
“I’D QUIT PLAYING MUSIC FOR SO LONG TO CONCENTRATE ON THIS RELATIONSHIP AND BEING A WELL-ADJUSTED, WELL-ROUNDED ADULT. THEN I REALISED THAT THE HEALING COMPONENT AND THE QUALITY OF MUSIC THAT MAKES US FEEL WHOLE AGAIN WAS A BIG PART OF THAT” 10 :: BRAG :: 607 :: 08:04:15
possible,” he says. “It would be a shame to squander three years worth of blood, sweat and tears to come out with this weightless tome of facile garbage. We really wanted to emphasise the cohesion of the record as a body of work, not just a selection of mishmash songs. They’re all about relatively the same shit and there is a non-linear narrative running though the record.” Along with the thematic content, two other key factors help to disguise the record’s drawn-out preparation. First of all, even if the rhythmic insistence of ‘Restraint & Release’ is far removed from the orchestral calm of ‘Kansas’, Leaupepe’s vocal gravitas holds the spotlight throughout. Secondly, in contrast to the idiosyncratic influence of Leaupepe’s vocals, production-wise The Positions is a very-polished modern rock record. “I didn’t want to make some fucking scungy punk, lo-fidelity cliché, inner Sydney-sounding thing,” Leaupepe says. “I talked to the guys. I’m like ‘I want to fucking reach the stars with this thing. I want to create a record that sounds sonically beautiful and might have broad appeal.’ We’re already influenced by enough old music, so I wanted to create something that’s sonically beautiful, expensive and warm, and can be received by middle-America as well as the gentrified suburbs of the inner city.” That said, it’s not utterly immaculate. “I’m a punk rocker and metalhead kid,” Leaupepe says. “In my adolescence, I had a taste for Pavement and a taste for Wilco, so I put emphasis on leaving this punk rock energy about it. For example, I used a dictaphone for a lot of the vocal takes. It was really important that we maintained a sense of our garage roots.
“I wanted to make something that was democratic, not fascist,” he adds. “You know how in Bull Durham, Kevin Costner’s like: ‘Stop throwing fast balls, they’re fascist. Throw more curve balls, they’re more democratic’? I want to throw more curve balls with this one.” On the subject of fascism, it’s fairly obvious that Leaupepe is Gang of Youths’ unchallenged leader. The tragic personal circumstances that preceded the band’s inception would’ve impacted heavily on anyone, but his leadership seems borderline tyrannical. However, in Leaupepe’s defence, he’s not oblivious to this dictatorial streak. “I’m an angry control freak on a bad day,” he says. “On a good day I’m a recalcitrant agitator. For me, this process was so deeply personal [that] I was very reluctant to let anybody in. But they put up with me, they dealt with my moodiness towards my relationship and my selfdestructive, addictive behaviours. “I don’t treat them like plebs as I probably did a couple of years ago when I was so consumed with expelling all this angst and terror that I had in me. But I made no apologies in initially establishing the ground rules. I was like: ‘This is a deeply personal project and I don’t intend for anything to happen with it other than being heard,’ and they still facilitate that. I set parameters initially and they respected them, which has helped me give them a lot more leeway as well. I’ve become more secure in letting them function in their prime responsibilities as best as they can.” What: The Positions out April 17 through Sony. Available to preorder now.
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Gang Of Youths photo by Rahkela Nardella
The three guys Leaupepe’s referring to are guitarist Joji Malani, bass player Max Dunn and guitar/keys man Jung Kim. The four-piece formed in 2012 and within a few months FBi were spinning their early demos. Blog reviewers soon caught on, rattling off comparisons to The National and Springsteen on a dreamy day. Then in mid-2013 came Gang of Youths’ first official single ‘Evangelists’, which not only received triple j airtime, but also led
to a record deal with Sony Music Australia. It’s an enviable trajectory, no doubt, but Leaupepe didn’t set out in search of esteem-boosting plaudits or commercial backing.
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SOAK I Guess This Is Growing Up By Tom Clift
“I wasn’t a young person thinking I was going to be Beyonce. I just kind of did it as a thing that I enjoyed doing. It was a way for me to sing songs and write things that I wouldn’t say normally.”
T
he history of music is full of individuals who got their start at an early age – from an Austrian composer who wrote his first symphony at the age of fi ve to a bright-eyed Canadian teenager whose YouTube cover songs made him a star. While traditional wisdom would suggest that talent comes with experience, the truth is that plenty of artists make waves well before reaching adulthood. And frankly, it’s a little embarrassing for the rest of us. Sure, you might be a half decent guitar player, but Michael Jackson had a number one single before he was 12. The latest musician to make us ashamed of how little we’ve accomplished in life is 18-yearold Bridie Monds-Watson, better known by her stage name SOAK.
Since releasing her first EP Trains back in 2012, the Irish singersongwriter has garnered plenty of attention for her beautiful, enigmatic vocals. The BBC, iTunes and Spotify all recently included her on their lists of artists to watch out for in 2015, and her debut album Before We Forgot How to Dream is scheduled to drop in May. “It was never like a plan,” says Monds-Watson. “I wasn’t a young person thinking I was going to be Beyonce. I just kind of did it as a thing that I enjoyed doing. It was a way for me to sing songs and write things that I wouldn’t say normally ... just stuff I made in my bedroom.” Monds-Watson is on the phone from New York City, where she’s
in the middle of her first US tour. Although she’s no stranger to live shows, she admits that her schedule has gotten a lot more hectic since signing a record deal with Rough Trade Records. “I think just before Christmas last year it got really quite intense and busy, and everything has gone quite fast.” she says. “I feel like I should feel more pressure than I actually do. But I’m a pretty relaxed person in general and I don’t take things too seriously ... I love being busy, and there’s so much opportunity, which is great.” While it’s shaping up to be a colossal year for the young singer, the reality is that music has always been a big part of her life. “Growing up, my parents played tons of Pink Floyd and
Joni Mitchell and Led Zeppelin and Bob Dylan,” she says. “Some nights, one of my parents would look after me and my siblings and put on really aggressive Beethoven or Mozart, and we’d all run around the living room ... so I’ve been subjected to tons of music growing up. A lot of the people that my parents made me listen to have been massive inspirations for me, and are artists and bands that I still listen to now.”
Being away from home is never easy for anyone, including Monds-Watson, especially given what most people her age would normally do. “I miss my friends,” she says. “Every opportunity I get to be home, I spend all my time with them. And I obviously miss my family. I think just in general, because I’m doing such a different thing to most people my age, I miss out on like classic Friday and Saturday night parties.”
From these early beginnings, Monds-Watson soon began writing songs of her own. “I don’t stick to any formula,” she says. “Sometimes I write the guitar first and then I write the lyrics, and sometimes I do it the opposite way. Usually I just carry notebooks and write loads of stuff down. I write a lot about everyday experiences, or experiences that meant something to me ... A lot of my music is about growing up and things that happened between me and my mates or me and my family.”
Honestly, it doesn’t seem like things are going to get less busy for Monds-Watson any time soon. “Half the time I don’t really know what I’m doing the next week,” she says. “I’m definitely doing one day at a time at the moment ... I don’t really have like a specific month off or anything. Not for quite a while, especially in the lead up to my first ever record. There’s going to be a lot of touring.”
Growing up is certainly a major theme of her upcoming album. A collection of songs written over the course of her entire adolescence, it’s a very personal project that she calls “a good representation of my life”, and one that covers “a lot of things that people my age go through”. At the same time, Monds-Watson readily admits that hers is not what you’d call a typical teenage experience. “When I think about it in a calm moment, it’s quite amazing and unexpected and incredible,” she says with a chuckle. “Everyone who’s my age usually just spends all their time with their mates. I guess that’s not my life at the moment, and hasn’t been for quite a while.”
Still, it seems like the trade-off is well worth it. “I’m having a really good time,” she assures us. “Like obviously you start doing it for the love of it, and then you fall into this system where you’re doing it for your income and as a career. But I don’t think there’s a career I could do if I didn’t love it because my songs are all about honesty and real life. If I couldn’t convey any emotion then there’d be no point in what I’m doing at all.” What: Before We Forgot How To Dream out May 29 through Rough Trade Records. Where: Paddington Uniting Church When: Thursday April 16 With: Jesse Davidson
Dean Ray Moving On By Augustus Welby
O
K, let’s get this out in the open: Dean Ray came second in the 2014 season of TV talent show X Factor. Participating in such a contest inevitably divides an audience. Simply put, it attracts a considerable mainstream following while simultaneously scaring off potential indie/alternative listeners. Ray’s not oblivious to these ramifications, but five months on from the show he believes the divide is dissipating.
Ray’s spent the first three months of 2015 on the road and next week he’ll arrive for a series of NSW dates. Just weeks after X Factor wrapped up, Ray released his self-titled debut album, which rocketed to number five on the ARIA Charts. The record includes all the songs Ray performed on the show plus the single ‘Coming Back’, which was written for him 12 :: BRAG :: 607 :: 08:04:15
“I play probably four songs from the album,” he says. “The others are all originals and old classics. It’s a massive variety. It’s like a rockabilly showdown, and very blues-y/folky. It’s fun. “I’ve been playing covers for years,” he adds. “[Even before X Factor], if it was one of my own shows, there’d be probably still two or three covers in there in an hour set. It’s fun to play other people’s songs and put your spin on it.” In the context of X Factor, Ray’s song choices – which included Nine Inch Nails’ ‘Hurt’ and Nick Cave’s ‘Into My Arms’ – were deemed boldly left-ofcentre. However the songs weren’t a great summary of his artistic ambitions. “That selection of songs doesn’t show my taste whatsoever,” he says. “But what I did with the songs shows me. Every song I was given, I had to put my brand on it so it would sink into people’s mind what my sound might be or what my groove is.” Ray’s been writing his own material for several years now. The immediate
plan is to just keep gigging, but he says his next release will aptly depict his aesthetic outlook. “A lot of the stuff will be written by me or co-written with somebody else. I don’t mind; if it’s a great song I’ll sing it. As long as it’s a great song, I think people should hear it and I’m a vehicle for that. I’m not sure if I’ll do an album. I think albums are dying and people don’t have time these days to get through the 12 tracks. I’ll probably just release single after single.” Having already charted highly and sold out shows, Ray’s set a hell of a precedent. Nevertheless, he’s not stressed about maintaining his commercial good fortune. “I like the songs, so at the end of the day that’s the main thing,” he says. “If people don’t like it, that’s OK. If people do like it, that’s a bonus. When I play a live show, I’m playing for me. Then if I’m enjoying it, the people who come to watch enjoy it as well.”
AlabamaShakes_byAutumn de Wilde.tif
“Word’s starting to spread that I’m not a talent show junkie,” he says. “I’m not a kid that was playing in the lounge room then got on TV and now I’m famous. I was a broke musician who played the game and now it’s working. You’ve just got to go to a live show to see that. I’m one of those artists who’s got to be seen to be understood. A lot of people that come to these shows are like ‘OK, I get it now. He’s not generic.’”
upon making it to the final. Despite the album’s commercial success, his setlists aren’t focused around that stash of material.
What: Dean Ray out now through Sony. Where: South Sydney Junior Rugby League Club/ Oxford Art Factory/ Rooty Hill RSL When: Thursday April 16/ Saturday April 18/ Sunday April 19 thebrag.com
The Ocean Diving Deep By Augustus Welby
W
ords are abstractions; symbols designed to communicate what we experience in life. In some ways, music serves the same function. However we tend to think musical compositions are capable of encompassing deeper feelings that words can’t capture. According to this view, music taps into the sublime, the unfathomable, and the feelings evoked give us an indication of the limits of our rational understanding.
The ocean is a simple symbol used to denote the enormous body of water that occupies two thirds of the planet’s surface. The ocean itself is by no means simple – its vastness, immense depth and complex ecosystems are the source of endless fascination. The Ocean is also a progressive metal band from Berlin, who have a predilection towards dense instrumentation and conceptual subject matter.
“I wrote the album in a house on the Spanish coast looking out to sea – an incredibly inspiring place”
“I wrote the album in a matter of three weeks, pretty much,” says Staps. “That sounds quick, but it was three weeks of doing nothing else but writing music, so it’s a lot of hours. I’m a crazy perfectionist and I want to really be in control of everything when it comes to writing. So I do drive myself crazy, but it’s a rewarding experience. “It’s not that I’m stressing myself the whole time,” he adds. “I wrote the album in a house on the Spanish coast looking out to the sea – an incredibly inspiring place [that] I’ve been going to since I was a child. When I’m there, things flow and happen naturally. When I get tired, I jump in the sea and take a swim and then I get new ideas.” Staps’ relatively relaxed approach to this gargantuan project could be explained by the fact that Pelagial isn’t The Ocean’s first concept album. However the nature of this project did put him up against a brand new challenge. “Pelagial’s different from any of our previous records, mainly in this holistic approach to it,” he says. “The ‘centric’ records [Heliocentric, Anthropocentric] were also conceptual records, but more from a lyrical, philosophical point of view. Pelagial was the first record that was really written as one piece of music from the beginning to the end.” Interestingly, Staps planned Pelagial as an entirely instrumental work. It wasn’t until late in the recording process that The Ocean vocalist Loïc Rossetti expressed interest in making a contribution. “All the vocals were written very rushed after the album had been done,” Staps says. “That’s
what a lot of people don’t really see, and that makes me happy because that means it’s worked out well.” At first, the addition of vocals posed something of a dilemma for Staps. Having fleshed out the album’s concept in the instrumentals, he feared that lyrics would blemish his vision. To evade this danger, Rossetti’s lyrics portray a separate conceptual journey, which looks into the depths of the human psyche. “I really couldn’t even imagine vocals on the record by the time the instrumental songwriting process was finished,” Staps says. “Part of the decision why I wrote this to be instrumental is that Loïc was very ill. The other thing was that the whole album concept didn’t really seem to allow for vocals. It’s a journey from the surface the bottom of the sea. What are you going to sing about? Sperm whales fighting giant squid?
the visuals and the lighting. It has a bit of film score feel to it, which is intensified by there being visuals. That’s what we were after, to not leave any pauses where people can applaud or get a beer at the bar. We like to perform this as one block of music. You get into it and then you get out at the end, but not in between.
“Then Loïc recovered and wanted to be on the record, so we decided to record vocals for the last two tracks of the record. We did that and it sounded great, then we started fooling around, trying out bits and pieces here and there and had some really cool ideas. Loïc and me together have really cool creative feedback in the studio. By the end of the week we had a bunch of awesome vocal parts and we were like ‘This has to be an album with vocals.’”
“It’s a very predictable show if you know the record,” he adds. “But it wouldn’t make sense, really, to move stuff around. It was a huge challenge to write an album like that and then to perform it like that. I’m very happy we’ve managed to do it in a way that’s satisfying for us.”
The Ocean will head to Australia this month for a run of club shows, where they’ll perform Pelagial in full. Given its holistic nature, Pelagial leaves very little room for attentions to waver.
What: Pelagial out now through Metal Blade With: Caligula’s Horse, Lo! Where: Factory Floor When: Friday April 10
“It’s a really visual show,” Staps says. “We want to suck the listener into our little cosmos that we’re roaming in. That is by means of the music first and foremost, but also
IF YOU WERE THERE, YOU’LL KNOW. IF YOU WEREN’T, YOU’LL WISH YOU HAD BEEN.
“Uplifting ”
“Remarkable”
“Joyous”
The Radio Times
OK Magazine
CineVue
© 2014 Stubborn Heart Films (Heart Of Soul Productions) Limited. All Rights Reserved.
The Ocean photo by David Robinson
For the band’s latest record, 2013’s Pelagial, songwriter Robin Staps wanted to craft a musical analogue for the band’s namesake. Pelagial is one hour of continuous music that unfurls as a journey through the separate layers of the ocean. At times it’s a delicate and serene listen, at others it’s aggressive
and remorseless. It’s safe to say that composing an album of such ambitious scope requires a certain obsessive tenacity.
OWN IT APRIL 15 & RENT IT APRIL 22. EXCLUSIVELY ON DIGITAL thebrag.com
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Benny Walker Ease Of Expression By Adam Norris
B
enny Walker is not an emerging artist. He hasn’t been for some time, despite winning the 2012 Victorian Indigenous Performing Arts Award for Best New Talent. In fact, by then he already had several albums under his belt and was slowly developing a style that is still evolving today. Yet speaking to him is one of those rare interview pleasures; an artist who is very open about his fears and anxieties, someone whose musical map remains enticingly unexplored. “I’ve found myself in plenty of dark moods over the years,” Walker admits. “Or I could be talking with a friend who shared a similar experience, and from that I might be able to take those ideas and develop a story. That’s the challenge, to tell a good story in three to five minutes. I guess others are going to be the judge if it works or not. I’ll try to have some story that needs to be resolved somehow, songs that overcome something. In saying that, it’s also fun to just leave things open-ended. You always try and give people a bit of a mix.” His latest album, Through The Forest, finds Walker wearing his struggles on his sleeve. You suspect there is
little separation between singer and creation, and that the catharsis of sharing personal insights and observations must be quite strong. Yet even when these songs were little more than a melody in Walker’s head and some words on a page, there was perspective to be had. “Usually there’ll be that kernel of truth you find that I try and build a song around. You try not to make things too personal of course, but I try to write songs that a lot of people could relate to, but still have quite a bit of intimacy to them, if that makes any sense. But it can be a challenge. Any one who has gone through [anxiety] knows how hard it is to make something constructive from it. “With the title track, I was in a bit of a … a bit of a down period. But I had my stuff set up and felt like playing guitar, so I just started playing, hit record, and caught what came out. I played it start to finish and just sang the words off the top of my head. Then I went back, put headphones on, wrote it all out. I felt like that gave me a chance to look at the words on paper, and realise that a lot of the time you can get yourself worked up over nothing at all. People can have plenty of legitimate reasons to get
anxious, but I was finding if I could write it down, it made things easier.” Finding a way to steer those doubts and fears into songs that resonate with an audience is no simple task, but after four albums, Walker’s songwriting prowess has come a long way. In a very real sense, it has grown confident with experience. “I think I’m just [more] comfortable in expressing myself lyrically than I was in the past. I think with each album I’ve found that. Maybe in the past I wouldn’t have necessarily shared certain songs, certain points of view. But I like who I am as a person more now, and I’m looking forward to exploring more. I don’t want to find myself doing the same record twice. But that said, I also don’t want to see myself releasing that bubblegum pop record any time soon. Who knows?” Walker laughs, and for now, at least, he doesn’t sound anxious at all. What: Through The Forest out now through Black Murphy Records. Where: Newtown Social Club When: April 12
Ace Frehley Past The Milky Way By Peter Hodgson
“I just picked up my brother’s folk guitar one day and started learning chords... It’s been a love affair ever since” he jokes – as well as four or five different Fender Telecasters and Stratocasters, plus acoustics by Gibson, Taylor and Guild. His old Fender Precision bass, the same one used on his first solo album in 1978, was also called into service. “I always like to double the Gibsons with the Fenders because they have different harmonic ranges and when you blend them together you get a thicker sound,” Ace says. “Live I pretty much use Les Pauls exclusively but in the studio I’ll use anything to get an effect or thicken up a track. I don’t want to limit myself in the studio by using any one guitar exclusively.
F
“I’m really happy with the way Space Invader has been received,” Ace says. “I had a lot of fun recording it and I think that in some way that’s come through on the record. A lot of the reviews have cited that too. They say it’s kind of a feel-good record. My head was in a
14 :: BRAG :: 607 :: 08:04:15
good place while I was recording. I broke some new ground.” Part of this involved collaborating with other writers; two of the songs were co-written with Ace’s fi ance, Rachael Gordon, while he wrote with his assistant John Ostrosky on ‘Gimme A Feelin’. And Warren Huart, who mixed the record, was even given a co-producer credit on the title track for his work in bringing the song to life. “You may have read or you may not have read that that song was an instrumental while we were mixing,” Ace explains. “While Warren was mixing other tracks I went back to my hotel room and wrote the lyrics and melody. And Warren is actually singing the high harmony on the choruses. So it was a lot of fun. Everything just came together beautifully and I think that came through on the record.”
“I’m really excited about touring in Australia,” Ace continues. “A lot of good things are happening since the record has been so well received. Tickets are selling well and I’ve got a good line-up. I’ve got the bass player from The Cult, Chris Wyse. I’ve got my old guitar player back, Richie Scarlet. And I’ve got my drummer back, Scot Coogan.” Frehley grew up in a musical family – his parents both played instruments, as did his brother and sister. As the youngest of three children he was able to listen and absorb from everyone around him, showing an early skill for identifying scales by ear long before he ever learned to play them. “I just picked up my brother’s folk guitar one day and started learning chords. That Christmas my dad got me an electric guitar and it’s been a love affair ever since. And I just realised I’ve been playing guitar for
50 years now. I don’t really dwell on time much … God, I’ve been in this business now for 40-plus years … but every day feels fresh to me. This new record feels fresh.” Ace is well known for his triplehumbucker Les Paul Customs, usually with a DiMarzio Super Distortion in the bridge position. “To be totally honest with you, live I only use the treble pickup, the bridge pickup,” Ace says. “And for simplicity I always disconnected my other pickups, because if I ever tried to do the toggle switch effect, which I do from time to time, if the volume isn’t off on the other pickups, it will negate that effect. So I never switched to the other pickups live anyway. I would always disconnect my pickups to make life easier. And three pickups look great!” On Space Invader, Ace used plenty of Les Pauls – “about eight dozen”,
So what gets Ace Frehley excited about playing guitar after 50 years? “Well, for me it’s playing these new songs that I wrote. I didn’t realise I could still write the way I write. At this point in my life I thought I’d lost it, and y’know, the fact that I threw this album together in ten months, and during that time wrote 11 songs, made me realise that I still have it, and it was mainly effortless for the most part. And I record today the same way I recorded in 1978 – just me and a drummer. We’ll cut the basic tracks, I’ll throw on a scratch bass line and we’ll build it from there.” Where: The Metro Theatre When: Thursday April 30
thebrag.com
AlabamaShakes_byAutumn de Wilde.tif
ormer KISS legend Ace Frehley is about to return to Australia in support of his 2014 album Space Invader. Following on from the success of 2009’s Anomaly, Space Invader is a raucous, energetic, loud rock album oozing with killer tones and stinging solos. It also achieved the unprecedented feat of debuting at #9 on the Billboard 200 charts in the USA – the only time a solo album by any KISS member ever has hit the US top 10. With a new covers album in the works and a successful world tour under way, the Spaceman is flying high right now.
“Gibson and I have a great relationship. They just called me up a couple of months ago and they want to put out another Ace Frehley model. So that would be my third that’s coming out … and it looks like it’s going to be my flame-top from 1978. That’s going to be an exciting thing.”
Alice Cooper Dead and Loving It By David James Young
V
incent Furnier (better known as Alice Cooper) is one of rock’s truest survivors, with a list of hits as long as your arm and a live show that will drop your jaw even after all this time. At 67, Cooper keeps busy with not only his usual suspects – golf, touring, his long-time radio show Nights with Alice Cooper – but with new, interesting projects to keep him on his toes. The latest is a new album, his first in four years, in which he enlists some living friends to help pay tribute to the dead.
When Cooper and his band return to Australia in May, it will surprisingly not be as a headlining act. Instead, he will be joining hair-metal heroes Mötley Crüe as their opener. It’s how Cooper has toured for nearly a year, and will stay with the band until their final-ever show on New Year’s Eve. Although it came across as an odd pairing to many, Cooper insists that their union is one that makes perfect sense; allowing things to come full circle for the Crüe as they reach the end.
“I got to be friends with Johnny Depp,” begins Cooper, who nonchalantly delivers what would be an incredibly exciting sentence for most. “We did a film together called Dark Shadows and really hit it off. Johnny is a great guitar player and every once in a while, if he was in town, we’d get him up to play with us. One night, we got talking about all of my dead, drunk friends, and somehow it managed to turn into the idea of a covers album where I glorified and paid tribute to all of them.”
“Production at rock shows had gotten so big in the 70s, you definitely noticed when all the big bands in the 80s were incorporating it – Bon Jovi, Guns N’ Roses, Mötley Crüe, bands like that,” explains Cooper. “I looked at that as being quite a compliment, but in a way I viewed it as competition. ‘These kids are great,’ I thought. ‘But I’m still here. I still want to blow them off the stage.’ All these years later, the Mötley guys called me up and told me about their tour – not a farewell, a finalever tour. They said I was a huge inspiration to everything about the band... they wanted me to help send them out in style. I said yes immediately – it’s a great package. My band are bringing it every night, Mötley are bringing it every night... the audience is really the one that benefits the most from a tour like this.”
The album is set for release within the year, under the name of Cooper’s new supergroup The Hollywood Vampires – the name of the drinking club Cooper assembled during his wilder years. “There are songs on there by The Doors, Jimi Hendrix, John Lennon, The Who, Harry Nilsson, T-Rex... all of these people that I’d been friends with and that I loved,” he says. “Johnny ended up playing on every track, and Joe Perry ended up joining in too. We had so many friends and all of these different people come in and track with us... even Paul McCartney came in one night!” While he prepares the new album, Cooper is also looking back at the 40-year anniversary of the monumental Welcome to My Nightmare LP. The album officially marked the end of Alice Cooper the band, as well as the beginning of Alice Cooper the solo artist. The name may have stayed the same, but the circumstances surrounding it would never be the same from there on out. “It was really the epitome of what I was trying to achieve with the original band,” says Cooper, reflecting on the album and subsequent tour. “Each album was more and more theatrical; the shows kept getting bigger and bigger. It reached a breaking point – I mean, we were exhausted. We’d been touring for six years straight at that stage, and there I was pitching a two-year tour where we just kept going and going. I took every penny I had and I put it into this production, this show, called Welcome to My Nightmare. It was a total roll of the dice. I knew it was either going to be brilliant or idiotic. Luckily, it was a hit.” thebrag.com
Of course, this is far from Cooper’s first proverbial rodeo when it comes to touring Australia. He notes that it’s always been a place that he and his band and crew look forward to perhaps the most out of anywhere when plotting out world tours – even if his first time here proved to be a hilariously humble learning experience. “I was staying at a hotel in Sydney and I woke up after some major jetlag,” says Cooper. “I looked out of my window onto my balcony and there were all these people all the way down there. I could hear this...” Cooper then assumes the character of the collective, starting up a muffled chant. “AHH-RFF! AHH-RFF! “I thought that they were all chanting ‘A-lice! A-lice! A-lice!’ So there I am, waving at them like crazy... until I realised the chant was ‘ABBA! AB-BA! AB-BA!’ They were staying at the same hotel, one floor up from me. I looked up and waved at them. ‘Oh! They’re chanting for you guys!’”
9th -12TH APRIL
THURSDAY
Friday
Cheviot + Light Pressure
One Night Standard FT:
+ Dave Rennick
+ Fade In Mona Lisa + Bad Valley
+ Jake Stone (of Bluejuice)
Baskervillain EP LAUNCH 'Modern Lows' + Salvador Dali Llama
Saturday
Hip Hop @ The Standard
DJ Lou Lou + GUESTS Sunday
With: Mötley Crüe Where: Allphones Arena When: Saturday May 16
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Circa Waves
Iron Reagan
Chasing A Dream By Natalie Rogers
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rowing up in Liverpool, you’re forced to ask yourself one simple question – Lennon or McCartney? At least that’s the way Kieran Shudall tells it. Though it appears that the Circa Waves frontman and chief songwriter is in a quandary – he refuses to pick a side. “But for those two people to have found each other and started a band is such a fortunate thing,” he says. “It must have been fate – it’s so bizarre to think that it actually happened.” Shudall’s own chance encounter, however, would happen at the Liverpool Sound City Festival in 2013, where he met fellow band members Sam, Colin and Joe. Little did he know at the time that it would lead to the start of something big. “We all needed to be in a band at that point in time. We all sort of felt like lost causes,” Shudall says. “We were all in separate bands that weren’t going well and doing jobs that weren’t very good – in fact we hated them. So I think Circa Waves came at the right time for everyone. It’s been a salvation for us and has changed all of our lives drastically. From having zero money and working jobs that we hated, we’re now getting to travel the world and live our dreams.” And now they have a debut album under their belt; Young Chasers was released late last month. According to Shudall, they wanted to maintain the lo-fi quality that his home recordings produced, and did so by simply playing. “That’s something we admire about a lot of debut records, the fact that it sounds like a live band playing…we recorded these songs simply by all playing together, just like we would at a live show, and that’s why it sounds the way it does.” As simplistic as that sounds, Shudall believes that the raw power and authentic
Not A Supergroup By Rod Whitfield quality would have been almost impossible to recreate without the help of engineer, mixer and producer Dan Grech, who has worked with the likes of Radiohead, Lana Del Rey, Kaiser Chiefs and The Kooks. “In terms of a safe pair of hands, you don’t really get any safer than Dan Grech. He’s so collaborative. We both worked together on everything,” Shudall says. “He loves taking on everyone’s ideas and trying to work out how to get the sounds that are in my head onto the record, if you know what I mean.” While it may sound like everything was hunky dory during the recording process, Shudall hinted that there may have been a few rows over choosing the final track list. “We recorded about 18 or 19 tracks – it was quite difficult to whittle it down to those 13. So we decided the best way to keep the peace was to include four or five songs that didn’t make the cut onto the deluxe record and that way everyone was happy.” Young Chasers is brimming with English indie-rock anthems. Their singles ‘Get Away’ and ‘So Long’ have become instant favourites among fans of earlysounding Artic Monkeys, the Libertines and the Strokes – and their latest, ‘T-Shirt Weather,’ is no exception. “It’s horrible here in England, so I feel bad that I wrote a song about t-shirt weather when it’s freezing cold. Australia was defi nitely on my mind,” Kieran says. “We’ve been down to play for you guys twice in less than 12 months. We played at your Splendour in the Grass festival last year – that was a mad gig! I think we might be playing it again this year. I hope that we do.” What: Young Chasers out now through Dew Process/ Virgin Records
S
cary, extreme weather conditions are seemingly common in Australia. What’s less common, however, is scary, extreme cold weather conditions. But that’s something that Virginia-based hardcore punks, Iron Reagan, had to deal with during their US tour in support of Napalm Death and Voivod. And it must’ve been pretty scary to intimidate frontman Tony Foresta. “The weather in the east was just scary,” Foresta reflects. “[The tour] was great, it was one of the best I’ve ever been on despite the fact we got stuck some places. Once we drove off the fucking road and went into a ditch. About a week ago we drove into a jack-knifed semi trailer on the highway. “You just gotta be real careful, and drive really fuckin’ slow,” he continues. “We had to cancel a couple of shows because we wouldn’t have made it safely. We were definitely out there in the trenches.” Iron Reagan are heading to Australia in early April, and while we’ve bid farewell to our summer, it’ll still be a damn sight warmer in Oz than the conditions they experienced on the Napalm Death tour, and Foresta can’t wait to visit our shores. “I love Australia so much,” he says. “Iron Reagan have never been there yet, so it’s going to be a major time for us, and we couldn’t stop talking about it when we were out on the road. My other band, Municipal Waste, have toured there twice, but it’s going to be great bringing Mark, Rob and Ryan there. They’re all really excited about it.” Iron Reagan are often labelled a supergroup – the band features current and former members of high profile heavy acts
Municipal Waste and Darkest Hour, however Foresta seems very unimpressed with the term and the fact that they’ve been lumped with the label. “We never really tried to form a supergroup,” he says. “None of our bands have really been big or super. We’re just a bunch of dudes from Richmond who grew up together and started jamming. Me and the drummer, Ryan, have jammed together for ten years and we had all these ideas kicking around. And when he quit Darkest Hour we said, ‘Fuck it man, let’s finally do this band.” While Iron Reagan’s live set lives up to the notion of, ‘We’re here for a good time, not a long time’, they still manage to pack an awful lot into the time they’re onstage. “It’s a very high energy set,” he describes. “We only play for about 25 to 30 minutes, but we play about 30 songs in that time.” You would think that such a short stage presence wouldn’t allow much time for Foresta to connect verbally with the audience between songs, but this isn’t necessarily the case, according to him. “If I drink a lot, I’ll all of a sudden have something to say about everything,” he laughs. Following their Australian tour, the band will embark on an extensive tour of Europe. “We’re playing some really cool festivals that I like a lot,” Foresta says. “We’re playing Groezrock in Belgium and Hellfest in France. I’ve played them before and they were really cool, so I’m pretty sure they’re going to be good times.” Where: Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle/ Bald Faced Stag When: Thursday April 9/ Friday April 10
Guantanamo Baywatch Believable Performances By Augustus Welby
C
hest Crawl, the 2012 LP from Portland’s Guantanamo Baywatch, affirmed the band as passionate adherents of early’60s surf music. Despite what their name suggests, however, the Pacifi c Northwest trio aren’t hopelessly imprisoned in camp surf rock. In the last couple of years, Guantanamo Baywatch have released a run of singles pointing towards broader possibilities. First came the roots-rockabilly number ‘Love This Time’, then ‘Love Kin’, which welcomed in a country twang. Just last month, they premiered the smooth doo wop/R&B track ‘Too Late’, which is taken from the band’s forthcoming third LP, Darling…It’s Too Late. “I try to write songs that I like and [that] are the kind of music that I like,” says vocalist/guitarist Jason Powell. “I’ve always loved surf rock stuff, but I like a lot of different kinds of instrumental rock’n’roll. It wasn’t a super conscious decision to get away from that kind of stuff. We were just writing other things as well.” 16 :: BRAG :: 607 :: 08:04:15
On paper, the aforementioned stylistic offerings seem to anticipate a nostalgic throwback act. However, even though Guantanamo Baywatch actively channel the music they enjoy listening to, they don’t settle with a tired imitation. “When you’re making that kind music, you have to be super careful,” Powell says. “You just have to figure out what it is about those old songs that you really like. It can be so easy – the formula’s there, it’s been done a thousand million times – but you have to seek out the little bits, like, ‘Oh this is the key to the thing that I really like about this song or this genre.’ Use those old things as inspiration, but don’t try to re-do it.” On top of the stylistic diversification, Darling…It’s Too Late was recorded differently to Guantanamo Baywatch’s previous two albums. Namely, they waved goodbye to the home studio and hooked up with producer Ed Rawls (Black Lips, The Coathangers) at Living Room Recording in Atlanta. They haven’t embraced digital manipulation, but Powell says it was time to move beyond the lo-fi realm.
“A lot of people listen to [old rock’n’roll] music and they think it’s really lo-fi, so they try to record it in that way. The thing is, back then when they were recording that music, they weren’t trying to be lo-fi. They were trying to be as hi-fi as possible. They just had old gear. I think that’s a big mistake people make, trying to make it super lo-fi sounding. I know that in the past I’ve totally fallen into that. That’s one way to do it, but with the new album we tried to do it differently.” Before Darling…It’s Too Late hits stores, Guantanamo Baywatch will arrive on our shores for the first time. Having spent the last five years trekking all over the US, the band’s built a reputation for wild and unhinged live shows. Rather than an engineered approach, Powell says their rough-andtumble performance style is something of a happy accident. “When you’re on the road, you’re playing every night, you’re tired – you’re getting totally fucked up, playing drunk and a lot of us playing is just like muscle memory. A lot of your energy is being put towards
engaging the audience and having fun, then also trying to wrestle with some shitty gear or a shitty sound system. But the looseness is not on purpose. “I totally believe in performance,” he adds. “If you’re a band and you’re expecting the audience to really get
into your show, to dance and to have a good time, you should probably be doing the same thing.” What: Darling…It’s Too Late out May 12 through Suicide Squeeze Where: Oxford Art Factory When: Friday April 17
thebrag.com
arts in focus
free stuff head to: thebrag.com/freeshit
arts news...what's goin' on around town... with Sam Caldwell, Meggan Turner and Ayla Dhyani
Linda Cropper in Elektra/Orestes
five minutes WITH DANNY
ADCOCK, STARRING IN ORPHANS
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Orphans
As an actor, how much latitude does Lyle Kessler’s script allow you? As with all great texts, the playwright has given us all the pieces of the puzzle on the page. Then, put in the hands of a marvellous director such as Mr Anthony Gooley, the text can be reaffirmed and taken to new
levels of interpretation. We as actors seize the baton and run with it. What exactly constitutes a successful representation of the relationship between a father fi gure and his son or sons? Harold’s relationship with the boys is one of a father passing the baton of his life and experience on to his sons. He will live on through them having enriched their lives. You’re fi lling a role made famous on Broadway by Alec Baldwin. Did you take any notes from his performance? I never saw Alec play the role, but I always interpret a character solely based on what is provided to me in the text.
Throughout your career, you’ve regularly been drawn back to independent theatre. What’s the appeal for you? I keep returning to independent theatre like the Old Fitz Theatre because unlike the larger theatres that are governed in many ways by their subscription base, independent theatre works from a base of love for a particular project. This love has the exciting potential of moving the whole experience for artist and audience alike. Don’t miss Orphans. What: Orphans Where: Old Fitz Theatre When: Tuesday April 14 – Saturday May 9
SYDNEY FILM FESTIVAL FILM ANNOUNCEMENTS
ELEKTRA / ORESTES
It’s where Greek tragedy meets family drama. It’s highly acclaimed and even came with a warning about blood, violence, swearing and smoking. Belvoir Theatre’s Elektra/Orestes is certain to create a scene. It tells the story of Elektra, who is stuck living with her mother (who murdered her father), and stepfather (who stole her father’s position as king), and her little brother Orestes, who was exiled at 11 and is now ready to take back the throne. To celebrate what will be an awesome piece of theatre, we have five double passes to give away! It’s on now, and runs until Sunday April 26. Check out thebrag.com/ freeshit for entry details.
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Sir Ian McKellen in Mr Holmes
It’s a much more organic and inspiring way to work.
Cam Knight
In the lead up to 12 of the most exciting days of fi lm and fi lm-related antics from across the world, the Sydney Film Festival have given us a taste of what to expect by announcing a new venue and 27 fi lms to get excited for. In addition to the other venues we’ve seen in past years, such as the State Theatre and Event Cinemas George Street, we can confirm that the Newtown Dendy will host around 20 sessions this year. The Sydney Film Festival runs from Wednesday June 3 to Sunday June 14. Check out the full list of announced fi lms and links to their trailers at thebrag.com.
OLD FITZ 2015 PROGRAM
The Artistic Directors of Red Line Productions – Sean Hawkins, Andrew Henry and Vanessa Wright – have announced the program for the second six months of 2015. Seven main stage plays have been added, with an additional ten late night shows to be announced in coming weeks. The second half of the year will be kicked off with Men by Brendan Cowell, followed by Blonde Poison by Gail Louw, The Aliens by Annie Baker, A Steady Rain by Keith Huff, Dead Centre by Tom Holloway, Sea Wall by Simon Stephens, I Am My Own Wife by Doug Wright, and finishes the year off with Katy Warner’s Dropped. Three late shows have also been announced: Flame Peas by Nicole Shostak and Philippe Klaus, Eggs and Bacon by Chris Edmund and A Girl With The Sun In Her Eyes by Joshua Rollins. More information and tickets at oldfitztheatre.com.
A MAN MADE ENTIRELY OF BATS
A free event featuring some of Sydney’s best comedians will be held at the Bondi Pavilion as part of the Sydney Writers’ Festival. The event, ‘A Man Made Entirely Of Bats’, will include a theatrical reading of Patrick Lenton’s book, A
Man Made Entirely of Bats. The book is a collection of comedic short stories that are just as crazy as its title suggests. Presented with Rock Surfers Theatre Company, ‘A Man Made Entirely of Bats’ should make for a good laugh. Check it out at the Bondi Pavilion on Thursday May 21. While it’s free, you’ll need to book on swf.org.au.
Isabel Nolan ‘Spare Rug for Marie Lieb’s room’
ART GALLERY OF NSW FEATURE RONNIE TJAMPITJINPA EXHIBITION
In celebration of a career that has spanned some 40 years, the Art Gallery of NSW is paying homage to Ronnie Tjampitjinpa, one of Australia’s leading Aboriginal artists. The exhibition will feature major paintings and prints from the gallery’s collection, as well as a number of works from private collections. As one of the founders of the Papunya Tula Artists Group, Tjampitjinpa has shared stories of his distany homelands through his artwork. Offering constant innovation while still staying within tradition, his work has evolved to be some of the most iconic Aboriginal art in Australia. The exhibition will showcase Tjampitjinpa’s unique contribution to Australian art, juxtaposing his early paintings with his more recent works, allowing the audience to see the development in his artistic processes. It’s on at the Art Gallery Of NSW from Saturday April 4 – Sunday November 1. thebrag.com
MORE LAUGHS
PLENTY OF ARTSPACE
In their recently redesigned gallery, Artspace is exhibiting An Imprecise Science, a group exhibition featuring the works of thirteen Australian and international artists. An Imprecise Science showcases installations, videos, performances, sculptures, paintings, sounds and words that aim to explore how we determine our own processes for tracking our life and memories. Executive Director of Artspace, Alexi Glass-Kantor says, “An Imprecise Science underscores the ways that matter becomes immaterial; the harnessing of elements to create an impression of an encounter; frailty co-mingling with resilience; and forms of psychic endurance. The exhibition proposes that any approach is an imperfect act, experiment, convergence of elements or speculation.” The exhibition was opened this week with an installation by American artist Eve Fowler, who is known for her provocative posters and billboard works. The whole thing will run until Sunday May 24.
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rphans is coming to the Old Fitz Theatre. What should audiences expect from the play? Audiences will fi nd Orphans thoroughly entertaining in the very best of ways. They will be taken on a roller coaster ride of emotion, intrigue and most importantly, humour, as we see the relationship between Harold and the boys take us on a journey of growth and salvation for all.
The Harold Park Hotel is hosting comedy showcases, The Laugh Stand, throughout April, every Tuesday. This means four opportunities to go and laugh yourself silly with some of Australia’s best comedians, complete with meal deals and specials on beer. The events, on Tuesday April 7, 14 and 21 will have you inevitably being picked on by the finest up and coming comedians in the country. The final show on Tuesday April 28 will see a special gala treat, headlined by Cam Knight and Umit Bali, who are sure to hit your funny bone. More info and bookings at haroldparkhotel.com.au.
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Psycho Strings [PERFORMANCE] Uncomfortable Audiences By Adam Norris
W
ith a name like Psycho Strings, you’d be disappointed to walk away from this unusual musical ensemble without having brushed against the macabre. Arguably the most famous classical cue put to film, Bernard Hermann’s searing, stabbing strings in Hitchcock’s masterpiece are still resounding half a century later. Now, coupled with Sam Dobson (AKA Shazza-T)’s hip hop narrative of a Sydney meth dealer’s last day on earth and the dark genius of composer Béla Bartók, Chris Pidcock is poised to deliver a performance quite unlike any other.
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“You see so many concerts where all you get are these entrees,” Pidcock explains, “All these contrasting pieces. So what I wanted to go for was this dark, almost depressing concert. To show the most brilliant examples from very different genres, but have a theme that brings them all together. And that theme is, well, that there’s really nothing light about it. It’s all about the darkness.” For a program that promises crime, horror and madness, Pidcock has called on some of the most disparate but talented performers you could hope to find. From the Sydney Symphony to the hip hop storytelling of Shazza-T, Psycho Strings is conjuring a wide palette of inspired unease, not least of which
is the addition of controversial composer Béla Bartók.
really the bad boy of Hungarian classical music,” Pidcock laughs.
“It’s a great opportunity for us to delve into a wider repertoire. Georges Lentz is the first violinist, and happens to be one of the most renowned composers in Europe and Australia. And then we have Sam Dobson’s hip hop excerpts, who’s also a trained double bass player from the Sydney Conservatorium. We all respect each other’s careers, and don’t see a real difference other than it’s a bit of a test to play hip hop as a classical musician. Sticking to the beat, the syncopations. We tend to lean on the expressive side, whereas this is all about keeping really rigid and making really tight sounds – having a bit of edge.
Such shocking imagery hardly seems fitting with classical music. Yet in an age where every video screen seems to depict some level of gratuitousness, one still needs to look no further than classical music for stories of such bloodshed and chaos that even Quentin Tarantino would blanch. Keeping an audience engaged, Pidcock feels, is best achieved by ratcheting up their uncertainty.
“The Bartók we’re using is called String Quartet #4, which sounds quite nice but is really more like some gruesome murder scene. He wrote operas and ballets that were banned in his time because they were considered so violent. The Miraculous Mandarin is about a Mandarin gentleman walking the streets who is seduced by a dancer, but there’s a gang of guys waiting to rob him nearby. They hang him, but every time they try to kill him he just keeps coming back to life. Bartók really wasn’t afraid to go for these bleaker story lines and images, he was
Mike Wilmot
“Audiences should never feel truly comfortable. Whenever I put on a concert, I really hope to challenge what the traditional experience is. You shouldn’t be sitting there in comfort, you should be shocked and challenged, you should be seduced by something unexpected. It should never be a cheap joyride, and it should never, ever be a kind of narcotic. It’s important to make it a memorable experience. And sometimes that means upsetting some people, but you inspire new ideas and gain new fans as a result. I get excited by that. I hope we get conflict. I hope that people are challenged.” What: Psycho Strings Where: Foundry 616 When: Thursday April 16
Psycho Strings
Jim Jefferies [COMEDY] Offensive Reputation By Tegan Jones oney is my motivation,” declares controversial Australian comedian Jim Jefferies as I guffaw in an undignifi ed manner down the phone. We’re talking work ethic ahead of Jefferies’ 2015 show for the Sydney Comedy Festival. Between touring, bringing out comedy specials every year and a half and writing TV shows, the man doesn’t seem to stop. Suffice to say, he has a lot to say on the topic.
up not knowing what to expect. But now people are just coming to see me, so I tend to have the same audiences wherever I go. Occasionally I’ll catch someone off guard with a new routine and they’ll storm out; I still have that happen at every gig. But with a few thousand people at every gig, two or three leaving isn’t a big deal.”
“I get bored of my jokes. Once I’ve recorded them I don’t think it’s fair to ever do them again. Besides bringing out an hour of new stuff a year and trying to write some TV shows, what else do I have to do? It’s my job.”
“I get threats every day from people into guns mostly, and some religious people. I can’t take it too seriously because I’m the guy telling people not to have guns and everyone is threatening to kill me. I’m probably the one person who should have a gun,” he laughs.
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Mike Wilmot [COMEDY] Benevolent Disorder By Augustus Welby
W
hen Mike Wilmot hits the Enmore Theatre stage later this month, there’ll be no ingratiating compliments for the audience, nor will the use of profanity, descriptions of sexual activity or details of prodigious drinking be limited. Likewise, Wilmot’s shows won’t encompass the premeditated arc of a finely sculpted narrative, nor build toward a mawkish resolution. Really, the chief focus of Wilmot’s stand-up is pretty straightforward. “My act has always been me – what I’m going through, even that day,” he says. “I’m a comic 24/7, so it’s usually brain to mouth. I’ve never been polished, ever. I go out and I sort of surf the audience for an hour. There’s a lot of old stuff and new stuff. It’s like water; whatever’s the easiest way it flows, it flows that way.” Having been a recognised comic for more than two decades, Wilmot’s application to collecting material is rather obsessive. “I felt guilty about that for years, “ he says. “And then about 15 years in I said, ‘Fuck it, I’m proud of being a freak and I’m going to bring my notepad out at funerals. I don’t care.’ It’s the way I do things and it doesn’t hurt anyone.”
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Given his typical embrace of edgy, more expressive stand-up, it’s no surprise that Wilmot feels at odds with the mainstream comedy environment. “I always thought comedy was a very underground, cool thing and sort of got off on that,” he says. “When everybody’s household is watching some fucking stand-up show, with three stand-ups and a celebrity host, or like it is in Britain now where it’s all game shows – I find that when comedy gets too popular, in some cases the audience has become fans of television shows, not fans of live stand-up people. In many cases I’m scared of those people.” In line with this aversion, Wilmot’s preferred performance scenario isn’t a giant theatre packed with thousands of ticket holding 18 :: BRAG :: 607 :: 08:04:15
punters. Oddly enough, he’s in his element in far from glamorous surrounds. “I have just as much if not more fun at open mics, where the audience hasn’t paid to get in and I’m not paid to go on,” he says. “To me that’s the natural comedy. I owe them nothing. I think what comedy should be is a benevolent disorder.” With this in mind, keep an eye out for Wilmot on the local open mic circuit while he’s in town for the Sydney Comedy Festival. Nevertheless, he’s not a belligerent man, so in spite of his noted preference for haphazard circumstances, Wilmot feels no repulsion towards comedy festivals. “Doing festivals isn’t like doing nightclubs,” he says. “You can slow down and take the audience on a bit of a stroll in an hour long comedy festival show, and you’re surrounded by positive vibes. There are a lot of wonderful comedians in [Australia] and they’re in it for the right reasons.” Wilmot’s not just bootlicking here. He’s been a regular visitor throughout the last decade, and in 2009 he joined the likes of Felicity Ward and Dave Thornton on a rural Australian tour. He hasn’t made the trip since 2012, so he’s looking forward to re-familiarising himself with the local crowd. “I’m addicted to festivals,” he says. “You meet all the new comedians and you meet all the old bastards like you. If they’re at festivals, 90 per cent chance they’re not bitter old cunts. They’re still positive, they’re still happy and still moving forward. That’s what everybody needs in life – to find as many people as you can that are like that.” What: Mike Wilmot Live as part of Sydney Comedy Festival 2015 Where: Enmore Theatre When: Wednesday April 22 – Saturday April 25
And what of the people he has offended?
He continues, “I don’t understand comedians who stay with the same set for years. I mean, haven’t they come up with new material by accident? They had to write that initial set. You have guys like Jerry Seinfeld who owned, and owned, and owned his jokes and I’m like, ‘Oh fuck!’ By the time I’ve done a joke a few hundred times, I’m fucking sick of it.” Since we’re on the topic of work, I ask whether he is writing any new TV material in the wake of his show Legit getting cancelled. “I just sold a new script over here, but I can’t tell you which network yet. But it’s still a long way from getting onto the television. It’s gotta get approved, then it’s gotta go to a pilot, then pilot has to go to a series – there are a lot of hurdles.” Despite his former reputation as one of the partying bad boys of the comedy circuit, Jefferies is now a father. It was interesting to hear how he was fi nding this endeavor. “Well he’s two, so they’re all pricks – him included,” he says. “It’s the terrible twos, so they’re not particularly nice people. They’re basically the same as an angry person with cerebral palsy; they can’t out what they want to get to and can’t quite talk. They live in a frustrated world where they can’t express themselves so they just throw tantrums. All of his friends are the same, they’re just assholes.” Jefferies is known for not shying away from material that may offend. In fact, it’s almost safe to say that he probably even enjoys baiting audience members. Some of his best work takes aim at religion and gun laws in the USA, but his offensive edge has almost been lost by his offensive reputation. “It would be different if I wasn’t famous,” he says. “If I was just doing those jokes at a comedy club, people would turn
Jim Jefferies What: Jim Jeffries Live as part of Sydney Comedy Festival 2015 When: Wednesday April 15 – Sunday April 19 Where: Enmore Theatre
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Film & Theatre Reviews Hits and misses on the silver screen and bareboards around town
LEVIATHAN
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■ Film
Leviathan
Opening to the unsubtle but forceful imagery of waves crashing against jagged rocks under an overcast sky, accompanied by a pulsing Philip Glass score, Zvyagintsev establishes an unforgiving backdrop for his story, as well the hierarchy it details – individuals at the mercy of nature; or rather, the whims of a cruel, godless universe. It’s the actions of corrupt mayor attempting to repossess Kolya’s land that set the latter’s plight in motion, but Zvyagintsev gives the film’s deterministic plotting a cosmic scope through his shrewd use of ellipsis and offscreen space – like the films of Robert ■ Film
GET HARD
Now showing at the Capitol Theatre
Bresson, key scenes of physical conflict are frequently suggested rather than shown, implying that the real struggle lies beyond the human drama that we’re presented with. If this all sounds like the recipe for a wristslitting downer, don’t worry – it very much is. And yet, Zvyagintsev’s control of tone is such that a mordant comic streak organically emerges from the hopelessness, in the tradition of the best absurdist comedy (Kolya’s endless, precisely inventoried alcohol consumption is the best example of this – I felt hungover just watching him). If the film isn’t quite the masterpiece that it’s been trumpeted as, it has a grace and conviction to its gruelling vision of a world gone to the dogs, that makes for hypnotic ‘glad I’m not them’ cinema. Ian Barr Get Hard
After making its debut at the recent SXSW festival in Texas, Get Hard, the new film from Will Ferrell, has come under fire from some critics. While it positions itself as a parody of gender, race and societal roles, it ultimately falls short on laughs.
It soon becomes apparent that King’s main concern about going to prison is avoiding sexual assault. The dubious politics continue when, after King fails to toughen up by picking fights with a bunch of strangers in the park, Darnell encourages the tycoon to offer sexual favours in return for protection. Cue an awkward scene in a gay bar and later a brunch café.
As horrendous as this does sound, I’ll admit that I laughed. Ferrell is, as ever, a great comic performer and the strongest parts of the film are where he is left to improvise. There’s a particularly great scene where King begins trash-talking Darnell from within his makeshift cell – harking back to some of Ferrell’s more revered Ron Burgundy lines. At times, though, it does feel like you are watching a bad case study from a media communications class, as the issues of homosexuality and race are dealt with clumsily at best. The parody isn’t as nuanced as it needs to be and falls flat, as King attempts to infiltrate a white supremacist fraternity and later bonds with a black gang whom he enthrals with advice on how to make a fortune on the stock market. The final quarter of the film staggers along as the real culprits of the insider trading crime are tracked down, action ensues on a boat and a series of bad puns are delivered. Get Hard is certainly engaging at times, and the original premise had the potential to make for a great film, but much of the humour does feel a little lazy and dated. Tim Armitage
There’s something quite cathartic about hearing the opening notes of Les Misérables blast from the orchestra pit as the house lights dim and the stage brightens for what is set to be one almighty and powerful performance. Opening with a strong chorus number and moving swiftly into ex-convict Jean Valjean (Simon Gleeson)’s ‘Soliloquy’, the musical is quick to establish its stirring and profound presence. The scene transitions are smooth and purposeful, and in no time at all the audience is transported from 1815 Digne to 1823 Montreuil-sur-Mer, where everything truly comes to life with the first major company number, ‘At The End Of The Day’. On the whole, the production design is cleancut and classic, with a beautifully made set and costumes that give vivid depictions of the characters and the world they inhabit. Often, the performances are set against projected backdrops that are somewhat reminiscent of the work of French Impressionist painters. On occasion, the backdrops spring to life into high-tech
animated scenes that are designed to give a sense of movement, such as when Valjean runs through the sewer tunnels. This, although impressive, can be a little bit distracting and detracts from the authenticity of the rest of the production design. Of course, the performances throughout the musical are nothing short of spectacular. Gleeson’s Valjean is heartfelt and true, and he maintains a strong chemistry with antagonist Javert, portrayed by Hayden Tee. Patrice Tipoki gives an honest and powerful rendition of ‘I Dreamed A Dream’ as Fantine, her voice meandering carefully between feelings of confl ict,
pain and innocence. Kerrie Anne Greenland claims the stage as Éponine with ‘On My Own’, as does Chris Durling as Enjolras. For a bit of comic relief, Lara Mulcahy and Trevor Ashley give it their all as the Thénardiers, their performances of ‘Master Of The House’ and ‘Beggars At The Feast’ receiving hearty laughs. When it comes down to it, Les Misérables is a pure success. With its triumphant orchestral arrangement, stunning visuals and stellar performances, it is a truly moving and highly entertaining work. Just make sure you bring the tissues. June Murtagh
NEW ALBUM FROM:
OUT NOW
See www.thebrag.com for more arts reviews
Arts Exposed What's in our diary...
Misterman At The Old Fritz Old Fitz Theatre, Tuesday June 9 – Saturday June 27 Enda Walsh’s acclaimed play, Misterman, will open at the Old Fitz Theatre this June. Directed by Kate Gaul and featuring a one man cast of Thomas Campell, Misterman is sure to have audiences compelled. The play follows the story of fierce evangelist Thomas Magill, who comes to a seemingly quaint little Irish country town and discovers sinners he feels it is his duty to save. A haunitingly devastating story, Campell is just the right person to portray such a dark and troubled character. Gaul is no stranger to Walsh’s work, having previously directed Penelope and The New Electric Ballroom. More info and tickets at oldfitztheatre.com
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Thomas Campell in Misterman AT
JBHI - FI & ALL GOOD RECORD STORES.
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Les Misérables photo by Matt Murphy
In cinemas now
Ferrell stars as James King, an entitled tycoon who openly flaunts his considerable wealth but is blinkered to the world around him. After being charged with insider trading, King receives a ten-year jail sentence from a judge who seeks to make an example of him. Staring down considerable time at the notorious San Quentin Prison, he enlists the help of Darnell (Kevin Hart), who washes his luxury cars, to prepare him for his prison stretch. Darnell is a young black man; King, a keen statistician, chooses him on the basis that a third of black men in America will be incarcerated in their lifetime, and assuming Darnell has done time already. Darnell is happy to run with the idea, despite being a law-abiding citizen, seeing the transaction as a way to earn some easy money to support his family.
Les Misérables
LES MISÉRABLES
In cinemas now Leviathan, the sumptuously bleak new film from Andrey Zvyagintsev (The Return), is an epic set in a small Russian coastal town; a Book of Job-echoing tragedy of a common man unravelling from the unregulated wealth and power, as well as less perceptible forces. It’s unmistakably a critique of Putin’s Russia, though its central character Kolya (Alexei Serebriakov) is too thorny to be reduced to a noble martyr, just as the film itself can’t be reduced to a single-minded screed. It’s a political film of blunt yet measured force.
■ Theatre
THE BRAG ♥s MARKETS GUIDE
On the hunt for a bargain? Need to buy some gifts? Looking for a fun way to make the most of the last few weeks of warm weather? The BRAG is heading to the markets, and we want to take you with us. We caught up with some of our favourite markets around Sydney to find out what goodies are around and where to get them... and hopefully pick up a bargain-hunting tip along the way. Time to get shopping!
THE FINDERS KEEPERS
Speciality: Design, art, fashion, artisanal food, homewares and beauty products, all with a strong focus on good quality design, independent business and ethical production. There are over 200 sellers travelling from all around Australia to Sydney’s biggest and best design markets.
shopping for design lovers. What’s the fuel? Bars by Stone & Wood. Coffee stations by Allpress. Food trucks with delish hot and freshly made food, and plenty of food stalls with both ready to eat food and products to take home.
design
Find a bargain: The Finders Keepers are more about supporting good quality design and products that have often been made by hand or locally. That said, for $2 entry you can still have a pretty fun day out, and there are food and drinks for under $10, live music to enjoy and plenty of inspiring visuals to keep your peepers happy. What’s the vibe? A family friendly day of
Stallholder info: Applications have closed for this upcoming event! However if you’re interested in applying for our summer event December 11 – 13, we open them on August 7. Where: Australian Technology Park, Exhibition Hall, Locomotive Street, Eveleigh. When: Friday May 8, 6pm – 10pm; Saturday May 9, 10am – 6pm, and Sunday May 10, 10am – 4pm. Web: thefinderskeepers.com
THE ROCKS MARKETS
Speciality: Stroll along cobbled laneways through stalls where fashion, handcrafted jewellery, textiles, homewares, art, beauty products and photography, lure and inspire. Then stay a while to enjoy a variety of delicacies, the harbour breeze and the warmth of the sun.
SYDNEY FISH MARKETS
Stallholder info: Head to therocks.com/markets and download an application form. Where: Playfair Street, George Street, Jack Mundey Place When: Every Friday 9am – 3pm, every Saturday and Sunday, 10am – 5pm Web: therocks.com/markets
gifts
Find a bargain: What’s your best tip for nabbing a bargain? Any particular stallholders we should visit? If you had $10 in your pocket, what would you do with it? Check out these stallholders at The Rocks Markets: Doury Jewellery (doury.com.au), Lamb design (lambdesign. com.au), Nattivo, for wooden sunglasses and watches (nattivo.com.au/collections/ watch) or Evyie (evyie.com). What’s the vibe? Wander the laneways looking for treasures at this amazing open air market by, nestled between our picture-perfect harbour and Harbour Bridge the harbour, with the sounds of buskers in the air. What’s the fuel? There are plenty of food options at The Rocks Markets to tempt your taste buds, from mouth-watering burgers to traditional gozleme, plus a huge selection of cafes, restaurants and bars in The Rocks around the markets.
Speciality: The iconic Sydney Fish Market (SFM) is the largest working seafood market in the southern hemisphere, with a huge selection of fresh seafood available daily. Located in the heart of Pyrmont, the market is home to a range of retailers serving local favourites like oysters, rock lobster and sashimi. Visit for fresh seafood to cook at home or enjoy a seafood lunch on the waterside boardwalk.
fresh
Find a bargain: Best tip – walk around and visit multiple growers before you buy What’s the vibe? Down to earth, natural, local, healthy. If you came here as a kid, it’s how you remember it to be. What’s the fuel? Multiple cafes on site close to the Growers Market Stallholder info: Contact our Property Officer on 9325 6204 Where: D Shed, Austin Avenue, Homebush West When: Monday – Friday, 6am – 10:30am. Best to arrive before 9am. Web: sydneymarkets.com.au
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What’s the vibe? SFM is a bustling market with over 2.7 million visitors per year. It is a great mix of tourists and locals alike.
food
Find a bargain: To nab a bargain, shop around the different retailers. There is seafood to suit all budgets and tastes. There are plenty of options for $10, try three flamed aburi scallops or a pulled pork burger for something different. Cool tip: if you are taking seafood home, bring an esky or chiller bag to transport your seafood
What’s the fuel? As well as being Australia’s home of seafood, Sydney Fish Market is a great onestop shop, with a gourmet deli, bakery, greengrocer, bottle shop, kitchenware store and recently opened butcher, all located within the market. Where: Bank Street, Pyrmont When: 7am – 4pm every day except Christmas Day Web: sydneyfishmarket.com. au
PADDY’S MARKETS What’s the fuel? There are multiple stallholders selling food and drink at Paddy’s. Paddy’s Flemington Friday has a brand new food court area and Paddy’s Haymarket have food and drink vendors all throughout the market.
SYDNEY GROWERS MARKET Speciality: Sydney Markets’ very own farmers market, the Sydney Growers Market, provides a daily outlet for growers to sell their own fruit, vegetables and herbs grown and harvested on their farms within the Sydney area.
purchases, or ask your fishmonger to pack your purchase with ice.
Speciality: Fresh fruit and vegetables, seafood, meats, souvenirs, flags, hats, caps, CDs, leather goods, watches, sunglasses, cosmetics, toys, shoes, candles, luggage, jewellery, crafts, homewares, sporting goods, pets, manchester, swimwear, beach towels, mobile phone accessories, smallgoods, nuts, breads, cheeses, spices onesies –there are over 1800 stalls across both locations!
What’s the vibe? Is it an old-school car boot sale market, a familyfriendly day full of entertainment, a place to fi nd hidden treasures? Paddy’s is all of the above. Paddy’s Flemington Fridays has free kids entertainment on a regular basis.
bargain
Stallholder info: Contact our Property Officer on 9325 6204 Where: 9-13 Hay Street Haymarket/ Austin Avenue, Homebush West When: Haymarket, Wednesday – Sunday, 10am – 6pm/ Flemington, Friday 10:30am – 4:30pm, Saturday 6am – 2pm, Sunday 9am – 4:30pm. Web: paddysmarkets.com.au
Find a bargain: Best tip – download the Paddy’s Markets smartphone app before you go. $10 can go far at Paddy’s, from a box of oranges to a brand new outfit for the weekend.
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THE BRAG ♥s MARKETS GUIDE LIVERPOOL NIGHT MARKETS handmade item for your home from local Aboriginal women’s group, Guntawang Arts and Crafts. Then grab yourself a generous plate of mouth watering African or Arabic cuisine from the community enterprise World Café Kitchen; and sit back to enjoy the great free entertainment!
SYDNEY FLOWER MARKET Speciality: Sydney Flower Market is Australia’s largest flower market for fresh cut flowers. The diverse group of growers at the Sydney Flower Market primarily supply florists in the Sydney area, regional NSW and the ACT, but the market is also open to the general public. Potted plants and florist supplies such as ribbon, wrap, foam and other sundries are also sold. Find a bargain: Best tip – come early and try to come by train or car pool. What’s the vibe? Vibe – vibrant, colourful, cheerful
flowers
What’s the fuel? Multiple cafes on site near the Flower Market Stallholder info: Contact our Property Officer on 9325 6204 Where: Building F, Austin Avenue, Homebush West When: Monday – Saturday, 5:00am – 11:00am. Best to arrive before 9am Web: sydneymarkets.com.au
Speciality: We have fantastic stallholders at the Night Markets, offering clothing, giftware, photography, fl owers, foodstuffs including pickles and sweets, plus
night
street food vendors who cook their delicious fare fresh.
Find a bargain: Choose a beautiful, artisan soy candle from CandleBar or a bespoke
What’s the vibe? It’s a mix of great live entertainment, family friendly fun, moreish street food and a unique, boutique market place full of local and artisan vendors. So there really is something for everyone! What’s the fuel? We do change it up a bit each month so you can look forward to trying something new. Some of our popular eats include Turkish Gozleme, Jamaican Jerk Chicken, Argentinian BBQ, churros, crepes, coffee and more. Stallholder info: It’s easy! Just head to our website, fi ll out the form at the top of the page and submit your application. Where: Macquarie Street, Liverpool. When: The first Saturday of every month. Saturday May 2, 4pm – 9pm. Web: liverpool.nsw.gov.au/ nightmarkets
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Album Reviews What's been crossing our ears this week...
ALBUM OF THE WEEK ALYX DENNISON Alyx Dennison Popfrenzy
From mistress of experimental pop Alyx Dennison comes this stunning self-titled debut;
JOSH ROUSE Josh Rouse Embers of Time Yep Roc Records
“Countrypolitan” was a word used to describe this album. That is unbelievably maddening. Although, to be entirely fair, it’s not an inaccurate description of Josh Rouse’s Embers of Time. The sort of destructive introspection that results from such a devastating admission isn’t to be found on Embers of Time, as Rouse reminds us what’s good in the world with his upbeat, country-inflected folk. The obvious connection to make here is that the Spain-based American has a lot of common with City And Colour. But where Dallas Green’s solo project is steadily been subject to more and more over-production, Rouse’s efforts focus mainly on a man and his guitar. Of course there’re pianos, accordions, drums, steel pedal guitars, maracas even, but as in say, ‘Time’, where all these extra instruments factor, they merely flank Rouse’s main course – not overtake it. The steel pedal in particular gives the very accessible strumming an incredibly powerful mood to it.
We are yanked into Dennison’s relentless whirlpool of sound and colour halfway through opener ‘Triptych’, where utter chaos is suddenly sucked into faultless melody that washes over insistent tribal drums. Layers of disparate time and feel between voice and percussion are sewn together seamlessly and wound expertly into hallucinogenic soundscape, ‘My My’. It is as though Dorothy was shot out of a Kansas canon, sent screaming over the rainbow and landed head-first somewhere in rural West Africa.
POKEY LAFARGE There’s Something in the Water Universal Music Australia Pokey LaFarge’s seventh album There’s Something in the Water is arguably his most ambitious; channelling country blues, ragtime, jazz and swing music to create a dynamic collection that’s still quintessentially Midwestern. The opening track ‘Something in the Water’ has that same infectious rhythm and narrative as the Third Man Records hit ‘Central Time’ that propelled Pokey into international fame, but this time with a punchier drum beat and more attitude. It’s easy to see why it makes a great single, but it’s the New Orleans style jazz infused songs like ‘Underground’ that show LaFarge experimenting with harmonies and horn sections to create a fresh sound. ‘Goodbye Barcelona’ evokes a rich Spanish ballad, steeped in colourful imagery that you’ll want to click your fingers to. There’s also plenty to dance to on this album, with ‘Actin’ A Fool’ sure to become a favourite for those fans eager to showcase their rockabilly swing skills on the concert hall floor when LaFarge is in town.
We are stood frozen in the eye of a rhythmic storm, marvelling at gorgeous stretches of strings or hypnotic synth melodies, flying amid the twisted debris overhead. Percussive sounds and world instrumentation are the backbone of this record, and often the sole accompaniment (as in ‘I Don’t Love You Anymore’). Set against this exposed backdrop, Alyx’s vocal doubling is near spot on, and becomes obvious only in the odd split-second up high. Lyrically, Alyx weaves a web of thoughtful tales of the big wide world (she has travelled extensively). Her mastery of each instrument’s role in the mix is clear, and results in a delectable serving of sound that is overall more wonderful than weird. Sheridan Morley
MARINA AND THE DIAMONDS Froot Atlantic Records Welsh singer Marina Diamandis is unique. She thinks outside the box and lyrically explores elements of human behaviour like no other. The latest release from Marina and the Diamonds, Froot, is a mixture of indie pop and synth pop. Unlike its overproduced predecessor Electra Heart, which involved Diamandis’ adopting a fame-hungry alter ego, Froot is honest and authentic. The record is at its ripest when the vocals are stripped back, displaying Diamandis’ unique sound. However, there are times when Marina Diamandis’ impactful lyrics are lost among the musical production. Froot is ultimately a breakup album. It mostly celebrates independence and emphasises that you don’t have to rely on someone else to be happy; most heard in ‘Can’t Pin Me Down’. On the other hand, synth pop-rock track ‘I’m a Ruin’ conveys the guilt associated with ending a relationship.
HEADS.
IMAGINE DRAGONS
Self-titled Heart of the Rat Records
Smoke + Mirrors Universal/Interscope
One of the key features of Heads.’s self-titled debut is the touting of noise-rock/sludge act Young Widows as a main influence – a detectable feature in its structure and delivery. Despite doing many things right on this record, inspirations included, making a six-track album with stylistic similarities to Young Widows is a gamble that didn’t pay off.
There’s a rumour going around that the members of Imagine Dragons are Annunaki – flesh-eating reptilian humanoids – disguised as pop pins, who want to rule us or eat us. Or it could just be that the ‘lizard elite’ thing is an allegory for the parasitic nature of mainstream pop.
Outside of the mastering techniques of Magnus Lindberg from revered act Cult of Luna, the most impressive part is the strong, sludgy bass tone, driving the music as it dominates on a track by track basis (featuring some flashy and unexpected descending riff work). Unfortunately, the guitar is rarely exciting, taking a noticable influence from Lindberg’s Cult of Luna, but there are occasional blowout moments where the guitar is either dark and haunting or the key part of a cacophonic harmony.
The title track is a mash-up of disco and synthpop, which exhibits the quirkier side of Diamandis’ musical persona.
Trying to draw out a narrative but seldom coming close to anything other than dull, the lyrics on the album damage it – the attempts to sound brooding and tortured don’t succeed, although there are plenty of hooks and a heavy sludgy feel to the music that incites head-banging.
Smoke + Mirrors comes at an important time because Imagine Dragons’ are becoming less tolerable, and maybe something needs to make us stem our vitriol a little. Maybe the right synth-rock jam pudge will push us enough toward a hard reset. Honesty can be the only thing that could redeem a band Queens Of The Stone Age told to get fucked. In ‘Shots’, the boys start off apologising in peaky falsetto, but it seems they’re being more selfindulgent than self-aware. ‘The Fall’ is fodder for health insurance ads, and ‘Thief’ sounds like that one hit they had which I think actually was a health insurance ad. I’d like to apologise for ever advocating for Imagine Dragons, because what we’re dealing with here is something criminally dishonest.
The best track on this album, ‘You Walked Through The Door’, is the most refined example of what makes Embers of Time great: enjoyable and conventional pop tunes, squeezed from the finest musical citrus fruits of Americana.
There’s Something in the Water isn’t just a throwback to the golden age of American country and blues, it’s lively take on the Midwest and LaFarge’s genuine love for the region.
Froot is the strongest album from Marina and the Diamonds to date and showcases Diamandis’ unusual vocal delivery despite the few tracks that do fall flat.
It’s hard to shake off the idea that Heads.’s debut is a watered down copy of Young Widow’s amazing Easy Pain, which should be thrown on instead.
There may be a band and a record that unites the tribes of music appreciation, but it won’t be a record that makes cutesy winks at deception in its very title.
Nicholas Hartman
Nena Serafi m
Jack Lacy
Thomas Brand
Nathan Hewitt
INDIE ALBUM OF THE WEEK Halfway through the opening song on Lurch & Chief’s Breathe EP, I had to eject the CD from my computer to check it wasn’t the wrong one. That’s not to say that the song Echo isn’t a brilliant exercise in neo-grunge, but I had to make sure it wasn’t an unknown Alvvays or Warpaint album.
LURCH & CHIEF Breathe Illusive
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It’s clear Lurch & Chief’s six members are now all working from the same page. As indicated by the welcome sonic misdirection of ‘Echo’, female vocalist Lilibeth Hall has taken the roll of lead singer from male vocalist Hayden Somerville on three of the EP’s five songs. The first single released from the album is the highly accessible ‘Fading Out’. It captures the same radness of Sons & Daughters, with duelling male/ female vocals placed over the top of
a driving Celtic punk rhythm. Hall’s revelation as lead vocalist has not resulted in a lessening of Somerville presence on the record. The song that his slightly nasal intonation and brooding lyrics really comes to the fore is ‘Reasonable Man’, the yearning and hunger communicated by Somerville is stirring. As with all the tracks on this album, Anderson and Trevisan’s slightly post-punk guitar tweaking perfectly suits the mood created by the vocals. It’s deeply satisfying to hear a local band lift their songwriting and production value to that of an international standard.
OFFICE MIXTAPE And here are the albums that have helped BRAG HQ get through the week... CLOUD CONTROL - Dream Cave FAITHLESS - The Dance TH’ DUDES - Where Are The Boys
THE ASSOCIATION - Birthday SAM SMITH - In The Lonely Hour
Dan Watt thebrag.com
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up all night out all week . . .
live reviews What we've been out to see...
HOZIER + DUSTIN TEBBUTT The Metro Theatre Monday March 30 It’s a surreal experience to step into a theatre and sense that the act you’re seeing will soon be bigger than the theatre. Although Hozier has already proven himself worthy of this feeling from international performances on shows like Saturday Night Live and at the Grammy Awards this year, the passion and uproar he inspired at the sold out Metro Theatre on a Monday night showed that he is ready for much more. Sydney local Dustin Tebbutt delivered a beautifully mixed set to start the night, with a gentle sound produced by just him and a bassist. Unfortunately, the buzzing murmur of the crowd waiting eagerly for Hozier to appear drowned out much of the tenderness of Dustin’s music, and the vast empty space on stage accentuated this feeling, meaning that some may have overlooked the full talent of this local treasure. In contrast with Dustin’s subtler set, Hozier and his band burst onto the stage in a blast of polished blues guitar and gospel choir-like vocals. While Hozier effortlessly cruised through vocal runs with his wholesome voice, you could be forgiven for thinking that the whole crowd was
PAOLO NUTINI
rod stewart
PICS :: AM
The Enmore Theatre Tuesday March 31
01:04:15 :: Qantas Credit Union Arena :: 35 Harbour St Darling Harbour 9320 4200
life is noise by arrangement with Artist Voice presents
Streams of people weaving along the footpaths, snaking into various entrances of the Enmore Theatre like we were all suddenly part of some improbable musical anthill; a bar so congested that diamonds were beginning to form at its centre – clearly we were on the cusp of catching something memorable (and yes, by following the analogy through, Paolo Nutini is actually a monstrous ant-queen, what of it? We all need to make a buck). In truth, I was only familiar with a handful of Nutini’s catalogue, chiefly ‘Jenny Don’t Be Hasty’ and ‘Iron Sky’. While both of these numbers were brought to stunning life, the carve-you-to-the-quick, raw power of the Scotsman’s voice ensured that no matter the tune, you were going to be left impressed. Despite kicking off with a rather shaky, out of time ‘Scream (Funk My Life Up)’, and in the face of both sounds glitches and a noticeable ebb of energy from the stage as the show progressed, I imagine few in the crowd would have been disappointed. Nutini performs like he’s staging his very own revival tent, and the audience his unabashed proselytes. A fair contingent of patriotic, happily inebriated Scots cheered incomprehensible encouragement
singing the lyrics along to this first song in perfect tune, because his back-up vocalists exerted such force and precision that the sound filled the room. That said, the crowd really did start singing all the lyrics to his set. So loudly that at times it was difficult to make out his voice. His wider-known numbers such as ‘Take Me To Church’ and ‘To Be Alone’ were not necessarily his best for this reason, with much of their detail and heart lost in the sheer noise of the audience. Yet Hozier dealt with this with such grace, and took time to get the crowd to appreciate the variety in his music. He patiently told tales of moments in the landscape of Ireland that had influenced his lyrics, and swept the on-lookers into his more intimate melodies in songs such as ‘Cherry Wine’ and ‘In a Week’ – the latter of which was performed as a tender duet with fellow Irish songwriter Alana Henderson. By the end of the show, fans screamed and pleaded for him not to stop, perhaps because they too sensed that this might be the last time he would perform a show of this scale in Australia. Hozier’s humble attitude, gratitude and above all, talent, made this gig one to cherish over the coming years. Erin Rooney
throughout, and every girl (and a fair number of guys) was entirely swept away by the short, taut performer. Indeed, it took fan-favourite ‘Better Man’ for most of the audience to suddenly remember they had partners somewhere in the room before sheepishly re-coupling. Nutini was also backed by a nine piece band, including a three piece horn section, so his attempts at sustaining an epic sound were certainly at the forefront of his mind – this was not an intimate experience so much as a rollicking carnival. Yet a great many of his songs, though well intentioned, tended to fall flat. You suspect some of his bigger numbers left him somewhat exhausted, which is entirely reasonable given the man’s tour schedule and the impassioned, wild exuberance he tries to maintain. ‘New Shoes’ for instance was an entirely lifeless four minutes, while ‘Pencil Full of Lead’ threatened to blow the walls off the joint. Nutini is an artist to admire and seek out, however the opportunity arrives. Even at his most staged or listless – and his robotic gestures and tired mannerisms do tend to distract more than anything – he remains an overwhelmingly accomplished singer, whose voice can stand proudly beside that of James Brown and Otis Redding. And who doesn’t love a horn section? Adam Norris
PHOTOGRAPHER :: ASHLEY MAR
Friday 29 May Newtown Social, Sydney Tickets $44+BF from lifeisnoise.com, oztix and the venue OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER
24 :: BRAG :: 607 :: 08:04:15
MAR :: S :: KATRINA CLARKE :: ASHLEY
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g g guide gig g send your listings to : gigguide@thebrag.com
WEDNESDAY APRIL 8 ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY, BLUES & FOLK
Hunter Hayes Metro Theatre, Sydney. 7pm. $56. Muso’s Club Jam Night Bald Faced Stag Hotel, Leichhardt. 8pm. Free.
INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS
Dispatch + Benjalu Factory Theatre, Marrickville. 7:30pm. $47. Mark Travers Orient Hotel, The Rocks. 9pm. Free.
JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC
Adrian Cunningham Quartet Venue 505, Surry Hills. 6pm. $25. G&T Duo The Gasoline Pony, Sydney. 7pm. $5. Los Chicos Newtown Social Club, Newtown. 7:30pm. $18. The Sean Harlor Trio + Dom Robinson + Andrew Green Play Bar, Surry Hills. 8pm. Free.
THURSDAY APRIL 9 JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC Jimmy Cliff + Rebelution Metro Theatre, Sydney. 7:30pm. $83. Thirsty Thursday Jazz Special - feat: The Abstract Brotherhood Venue 505, Surry Hills. 6pm. Free.
ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY, BLUES & FOLK
Anthems Of Oz Orient Hotel, The Rocks. 9pm. Free. Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls + Jon Snodgrass + Jen Buxton The Small Ballroom, Newcastle. 8pm. $42.85. Muso’s Club Jam Night Carousel Inn Hotel, Rooty Hill. 8pm. Free. Oh Willy Dear The Annandale Hotel, Annandale. 3pm. Free. Terry Serio
The Gasoline Pony, Sydney. 7pm. $5.
INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS
Aaleatha And The Audio Fix Crown Hotel (Sydney), Sydney. 8pm. Free. Band Of Skulls Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $84. Circus Cannibals + Carter Roser + Ty Penshorn The Sydney Junction Hotel, Hamilton. 7pm. Free. Counting Crows State Theatre, Sydney. 8pm. $99.90. Lisa Caruso + Ben Horder Camelot Lounge, Marrickville. 8pm. $10. Mick Jones Honeysuckle Hotel, Newcastle. 7pm. Free. Righteous Voodoo + Daisy + Yum Yum Kings Cross Hotel, Kings Cross. 7:30pm. $12. Strand Of Oaks Frankie’s Pizza, Sydney. 12am. Free. Why We Run + Hannah Joy The Vanguard, Newtown. 6pm. Free.
FRIDAY APRIL 10 ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY, BLUES & FOLK
Continental Robert Susz + Liza Ohlback + Ali Penney Camelot Lounge, Marrickville. 7:30pm. $24.70. Craig Woodward Club Liverpool, Liverpool. 5:30pm. Free. Frank Sultana + Welcome Stranger The Gasoline Pony, Sydney. 7pm. $5.
INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS AM 2 PM Courthouse Hotel, Darlinghurst. 10pm. Free. Backlash Penrith Gaels, Kingswood. 8pm. Free. Baskervillain Standard Bowl, Surry Hills. 8pm. Free. Battlehounds The World Bar, Kings Cross. 7pm. Free. Bustamento Paddington Uniting Church, Sydney. 7:30pm. $40. Chadwick Stokes Newtown Social Club, Newtown. 7pm. $36. Counting Crows State Theatre, Sydney. 8pm. $99.90.
Daley Holliday The Belmore Hotel, Maitland. 9pm. Free. Gary Clark Jr. Metro Theatre, Sydney. 8pm. $54.20. Happy Hippies Time And Tide Hotel, Dee Why. 7:30pm. Free. Hornet The Sydney Junction Hotel, Hamilton. 7pm. Free. Marty Stewart Western Suburbs Leagues Club, Leumeah. 6:30pm. Free. Matt Bruce Pearl Beach Cafe, Pearl Beach. 7pm. Free. Matt Cornell Orient Hotel, The Rocks. 4:30pm. Free. Matt Gaudry Central Charlestown Leagues Club, Charlestown. 7pm. Free. Muddy Feet St George Leagues Club, Kogarah. 9pm. Free. Party Central Towradgi Beach Hotel, Towradgi. 9:30pm. Free. Paul Kelly - The Merri Soul Sessions - feat: Emma Donovan & The Putbacks Enmore Theatre, Newtown. 8pm. $100. Pete Gelzinnis Cessnock Leagues Club, Cessnock. 7pm. Free. Scratch Charlestown Bowling Club, Charlestown. 7pm. Free. The Controllers + With Special Guest Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 8pm. Free. The Ocean Factory Theatre, Marrickville. 8pm. $32.20. The Vee Bees + White Knuckle Fever + Seedy Jeezus Vic On The Park, Sydney. 8pm. Free. Tre Soul Honeysuckle Hotel, Newcastle. 7pm. Free. V.I.P. Orient Hotel, The Rocks. 9:30pm. Free.
JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC
pick of the week FRIDAY APRIL 10
The Ocean
Factory Theatre
The Ocean 8pm. $32.20. Chase Atlantic Metro Theatre, Sydney. 4:30pm. $21.50. Dane Fitzsimmons Pearl Beach Cafe, Pearl Beach. 7pm. Free. Funkapedia The Sydney Junction Hotel, Pokey Lefarge
Mister Ott + The Vampires Venue 505, Surry Hills. 6pm. $15. The Hp Coronados The Annandale Hotel, Annandale. 8:30pm. Free.
SATURDAY APRIL 11 INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS AM 2 PM Town Hall Hotel (Balmain), Balmain. 9:30pm. Free.
Hamilton. 7pm. Free. Guttermouth Factory Theatre, Marrickville. 7pm. $45.50. Iron Lion PJ Gallagher’s (Parramatta), Parramatta. 9pm. Free. Jimmy Bear Orient Hotel, The Rocks. 4:30pm. Free. Kagu Goodgod Small Club, Sydney. 8pm. $10. Mark Crotti Wentworth Hotel, Homebush West. 9:30pm. Free. Mark Wells Trio Honeysuckle Hotel, Newcastle. 7pm. Free. Marlon Williams & The Yarra Benders + The Morissons + Julia Jacklin Newtown Social Club, Newtown. 8pm. $25. Muddy Feet Penrith Gaels, Kingswood. 7pm. Free. Panorama Duo Courthouse Hotel, Darlinghurst. 10pm. Free. Perry Keyes + Caitlin
Harnett Factory Theatre, Marrickville. 8pm. $25. Pete Gelzinnis Central Charlestown Leagues Club, Charlestown. 7pm. Free. Pokey LaFarge Manning Bar, Camperdown. 8pm. $48.85. Presidential Sweet The Belmore Hotel, Maitland. 9pm. Free. Sam Marks Cock & Bull , Bondi. 4pm. Free. The Chosen Few Orient Hotel, The Rocks. 9:30pm. Free. The Gaudrys Cessnock Leagues Club, Cessnock. 7pm. Free. The Tribe The Mercantile Hotel, Sydney. 8:30pm. Free. The Years Belmont 16s, Belmont. 7pm. Free. Wildcatz Oaks Hotel, Neutral Bay. 9:15pm. Free.
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BRAG :: 607 :: 08:04:15 :: 25
gig picks
g g guide gig g
up all night out all week...
send your listings to : gigguide@thebrag.com
ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY, BLUES & FOLK
AJ Harbourview Hotel, The Rocks. 8pm. Free. Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls Metro Theatre, Sydney. 8pm. $42. Mikaela Dean Scruffy Murphy’s Hotel, Sydney. 10pm. Free. Paul Hayward Town & Country Hotel, St Peters. 4pm. Free.
JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC 20th Century Dog + Danaîdes Venue 505, Surry Hills. 6pm. $15. Nativo Soul The Annandale Hotel, Annandale. 8:30pm. Free.
SUNDAY APRIL 12 ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY, BLUES & FOLK
Fifty Million Beers The Gasoline Pony, Sydney. 7pm. Free. Sunday Courtyard Sessions - feat: John Vella Duo The Annandale Hotel, Annandale. 3pm. Free.
INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS
Benny Walker + Little Georgia + Tom Stephens Newtown Social Club, Newtown. 6pm. $18. Cool Change Belmont 16s, Belmont. 7pm. Free. Daniel Arvidson Honeysuckle Hotel, Newcastle. 7pm. Free. Elevation U2 Acoustic Orient Hotel, The Rocks. 4:30pm. Free. Mavis Staples Sydney Opera House, Sydney. 7pm. Free. Midge Ure The Basement, Circular Quay. 7pm. $65. Steve Tonge Manly Wharf Hotel, Manly. 3pm. Free. The Snape Trilogy Honeysuckle Hotel, Newcastle. 7pm. Free. The Viper Creek Band The Sydney Junction Hotel, Hamilton. 7pm. Free. UK Anthems Orient Hotel, The Rocks. 8:30pm. Free.
MONDAY APRIL 13 INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS Short Stack Metro Theatre, Sydney. 6:30pm. $40.
JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC
Venue 505, Surry Hills. 6pm. Free.
Band Of Skulls
TUESDAY APRIL 14 INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS Cracked Actor + Yoke + Shisd Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $10. Short Stack Metro Theatre, Sydney. 6:30pm. $40.
WEDNESDAY APRIL 15 JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC
Jimmy Cliff
Michael Griffin Venue 505, Surry Hills. 8:30pm. Free.
INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS
Dirt Picnic + Restless Leg + Mark Lucas The Gasoline Pony, Sydney. 7pm. $5. Justin Townes Earle + Sam Outlaw The Basement, Circular Quay. 7pm. $48. Nantes Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach. 8pm. Free.
Jazz Jam Session + Games Night
WEDNESDAY APRIL 8 Adrian Cunningham Quartet Venue 505, Surry Hills. 6pm. $25. Dispatch + Benjalu Factory Theatre, Marrickville. 7:30pm. $47.
I M A G I N E B E I N G M A D E TO
Los Chicos Newtown Social Club, Newtown. 7:30pm. $18.
THURSDAY APRIL 9 Band Of Skulls Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $84.
Camelot Lounge, Marrickville. 7:30pm. $24.70. Counting Crows State Theatre, Sydney. 8pm. $99.90.
SATURDAY APRIL 11 Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls Metro Theatre, Sydney. 8pm. $42. Guttermouth Factory Theatre, Marrickville. 7pm. $45.50. Kagu Goodgod Small Club, Sydney. 8pm. $10. Pokey LaFarge Manning Bar, Camperdown. 8pm. $48.85.
+ Rebelution Metro Theatre, Sydney. 7:30pm. $83. Strand Of Oaks Frankie’s Pizza, Sydney. 12am. Free.
F EEL LIKE CRAP J U ST FOR
SUNDAY APRIL 12
FRIDAY APRIL 10
Benny Walker + Little Georgia + Tom Stephens Newtown Social Club, Newtown. 6pm. $18.
Continental Robert Susz + Liza Ohlback + Ali Penney
Midge Ure The Basement, Circular Quay. 7pm. $65.
Counting Crows
BEING
LEFT
H A N D E D.
Okay, that’s hard to imagine? But being gay, lesbian, bi, trans or intersex is no different to being born left handed, it’s just who you are. So stop and think because the things we say are likely to cause depression and anxiety. And that really is pretty crap. GO TO LEFTHAND.ORG.AU TO WATCH THE VIDEO
26 :: BRAG :: 607 :: 08:04:15
STOP t THINK t RESPECT
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brag beats
BRAG’s guide to dance, hip hop and club culture
dance music news club, dance and hip hop in brief... with Ayla Dhyani and Chris Martin
five things WITH ALEX
Flying Lotus
360
NIGGEMANN Your Crew First of all Jona, whose 3. new album will be coming up on my label AEON. There are a few others I work closely with, like Francys, Denis Horvat, Locked Groove (who’s remixing my next EP), Speaking Minds and of course my mentor Steve Bug. I am lucky to have a great team around me, who support me and give me the opportunity to focus on production and touring. The Music You Make And Play 4. Is as diverse as my influences. For me, it needs to be something new. I like the challenge when producing music. Doing the same all the time is boring. Same, when it comes to the music I play. I like techno or house tunes that tell stories. I like melancholy and dark vibes the same as heavy beats, or just beautiful melodies.
1.
Growing Up I’m born and raised in Düsseldorf in the West of Germany. When my brother started playing piano at the age of 8, I would sit next to him listening. When I started playing, my mum would always make sure I practiced 30 minutes a day. I hated her for that sometimes, but it was the best thing that she could do. My father always supported me too – my first computer, synthesizer and soundcard were gifts from him.
2.
Inspirations I was inspired [by] all kinds of music. Playing Beethoven on
the piano, listening to hip hop as a teenager, to John Lennon, Kraftwerk or Gianna Nannini every Sunday morning [while] having breakfast with my parents. My favourite musicians were, and still are, artists like Dr. Dre, Pharrell, Nas, Depeche Mode, Daft Punk (the old stuff), but I also really like classical music – Schubert or Vivaldi. My first EP was the Funk Phenomenon from Armand van Helden. My brother brought me to my first techno party and I ended up with Sven Väth and Ken Ishii, who were the ones inspiring me to do techno.
5.
Music, Right Here, Right Now I’m not someone who’s complaining about EDM. I think the good thing about music is that everybody likes different styles of music, otherwise everyone would be on the same train, and we can’t all fit on that. I like musical diversity, even though I don’t understand some music. But it’s a democratic system so if someone likes this or that kind of music they should go for it.
MF DOOM AND FLYING LOTUS The indomitable MF DOOM and one of his greatest supporters, Flying Lotus, have announced that they will be joining forces to collaborate on their forthcoming Mask Of The North Star LP. The album is set to feature an astounding line-up of guests from hip hop and beyond including Thundercat, Quasimoto (Madlib), Jneiro Jarel, El-P, Thom Yorke, Carlos Santana and Gonjasufi. Mask Of The Northern Sky will be dropping in no time, landing on shelves on Tuesday May 5 via Lex Record.
NO FUTURE FOR FUTURE
Mushroom Group have announced the end of Future Music Festival. The decision, which they say was not made lightly, was put down to underperforming ticket sales over the last two years. Future Music Festival began as a one day event in Sydney in 2006, before expanding to an annual national touring festival in 2007. While Mushroom Group have expressed that they believe the days of the large scale travelling festival in its current form are numbered, they are developing a new festival concept which is planned for the same time period previously held by Future Music Festival, at the end of February and beginning of March. They will continue to focus on touring through Frontier Touring, A Day On The Green, boutique music festival Sugar Mountain and under 18 music event Good Life.
PULLING A 360
In what seems an uncharacteristic move for Australian hip hop artist 360, he has joined Chris Cheney from The Living End to collaborate on the new track ‘Early Warning’. The new live acoustic track showcases a rare side of 360, stripped back, raw and emotional. He is now preparing for his all new Retopia Australian tour kicking off this week in Queensland alongside local MCs Coin Banks and LEVA. He’ll also be in Sydney at The Metro Theatre on Saturday April 25. Tickets on sale now.
Thundamentals Where: The Imperial Hotel, Erskineville When: Saturday April 18
Bam Bam
BAM BAM ALL AGES HIP HOP
THE EARLY BIRD CATCHES THE WORM
Following the hype from the initial announcement, Come Together’s early bird tickets have now sold out. Final release tickets are now on sale for the two day event over the June long weekend. Offering a day for all Aussie hip hop heads with featured artists Seth Sentry, Thundamentals, Horrorshow, Remi, Coin Banks and Ivan Ooze making an appearance, followed by another day offering the best of Aussie indie with Ball Park Music, The Jungle Giants, SAFIA, Elizabeth Rose, Montaigne and Ecca Vandal. Come Together hits the Big Top at Luna Park on Saturday June 6 and Sunday June 7. Final release tickets now on sale.
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Xxx
In conjunction with Youth Week in the City, the Sydney Youth Music organisation is set to host their third gig in collaboration with MusicNSW to support Sydney’s hip hop culture. The core motive of the ongoing youth events is to extend gig culture to younger audiences throughout Sydney. For a gold-coin donation, Sydney Youth Music are hosting the all-ages gig at Goodgod Small Club, headlined by Aussie breakdancer and rapper Bam Bam. The local Melbourne-based MC will be joined by nationally recognised Sydney rapper and spoken word artist, Joelistics, as well as local acts Sleepwalkers, Coda Conduct, Sarah Connor Music, Izzy and DJ Maniak. Check it out on Saturday 11 April from 12pm.
The Prodigy Furious Hearts By Augustus Welby
W
ithout even listening to The Prodigy’s new album, its vicious intentions are made clear. First there’s the resentful title, The Day Is My Enemy. Then there’s the cover image, featuring a poised red fox. Yet, even these foreboding signifiers can’t prepare listeners for the anger that erupts upon pressing play. “I wouldn’t say it’s dark, this album,” says lead songwriter and producer Liam Howlett. “It just feels really pushy and violent. It felt necessary for it to be like this. I don’t really know why it came out so much like that, but it steered itself really.” The UK electronic genre-hoppers have long been a lock-up-yourdaughters kind of act. The band’s third album, 1997’s The Fat of the Land, brought Keith Flint’s vocals to the fore, which injected spikes of fiery rage. This time around, however, anger dominates like never before. “I don’t consider myself an angry person. I don’t sit there getting angry about things I want to put into songs,” Howlett says. “But electronic music at the moment seems to have been hijacked by pop music all around the world. It’s got more and more commercial, more and more shit as time’s gone on. I felt like electronic music needs to have the other end, and it’s our responsibility to write the rebel soundtrack. It’s what we do.” The Day Is My Enemy comes five years after The Prodigy’s last record Invaders Must Die. Although Flint and co-vocalist MC Maxim have been present since The Prodigy started, Howlett initially featured on the recordings. These days, there’s no questioning The
Prodigy’s a band – anyone who caught them headlining this year’s Future Music Festival can confirm. Nevertheless, Howlett still assumes creative responsibility, which can provoke imbalance within the group. “Because I write the tunes, I sometimes forget how frustrating it is for the guys to just be waiting for it to happen,” he says. “Throughout 2012, we thought we had an album called How to Steal a Jetfi ghter. Those tracks, I just listened to them and thought, ‘These aren’t that good. I can do better than this.’ So I threw them all in the bin, told the guys and they were like, ‘OK, what have you got instead?’ I’m like ‘Nothing’. So that was a bad time.” Within any band, conflicts are bound to crop up here and there. Of course, internal tension is never pleasant to deal with, but that doesn’t mean it should be avoided at all costs. To illustrate: as far as Howlett’s concerned, The Day is My Enemy wouldn’t possess such power if it weren’t for certain niggles between himself and Flint. “It was all written at the end of 2013 and last year,” he says. “The tensions between me and Keith – we’re fine now because the music has reunited us – but that whole fucking time was quite intense. So there’s a bit of that in there. You can’t expect friends and business things to always be smooth. Me and Keith are intense people. Maxim’s very laid back. Keith’s a real motherfucker; he does not do anything he doesn’t want to do. But ultimately he really supports me and our band.” After eclipsing the confines of the UK rave scene, The Fat of the Land turned The Prodigy into international
chart-toppers. As mentioned earlier, it was the record that saw Flint promoted to frontman. Curiously, The Prodigy’s next release, 2004’s Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned, featured zero input from Flint or Maxim. However, when Invaders Must Die came around, Flint was back in the spotlight, backed by Maxim, which earmarked it as the long-awaited Fat follow-up. This configuration persists on The Day Is My Enemy. “We’ve almost been working towards this album for the last ten years,” Howlett says. “Invaders Must Die felt like it was a quite celebratory sort of album. The tracks from it that we liked playing live, like ‘Take Me to the Hospital’ and the more vocal tracks, that was the starting point for making this
The Day Is My Enemy isn’t entirely devoid of guests. On the title track, trip hop alumnus Martina Topley Bird interpolates Ella Fitzgerald’s ‘All Through the Night’. The record’s standout track is ‘Ibiza’ – a scathing criticism of lazy EDM DJs, which features vocals from Sleaford Mods’ Jason Williamson. “The ‘Ibiza’ thing is an observation that I needed to put into a song because someone has to say something about it,” says Howlett. “It just so happens that Jason felt the same. DJs run the electronic music scene, we’re an electronic band and it’s our right to talk about it. And for us, it’s a good, venomous, fun subject to write lyrics about.”
The irreverent Sleaford Mods are skilled at utilising bitterness to form amusing social commentaries. The Prodigy, similarly, excel at harnessing anger in order to stir up uninhibited primal energy. Yes, The Day is My Enemy does have a furious heart, but it’s also a damn good time. “That’s so important,” Howlett says. “That’s one of the reasons I’m not really into metal, because it doesn’t seem to have a certain comfortable-ness with itself. It’s not that it’s taking the piss out of itself, but it’s got a knowing wink, with a punch at the same time – that’s how I like my music to come across.” What: The Day Is My Enemy out now through Cooking Vinyl
Hollywood Film Institute’s DOV SIMENS’ 2-DAY FILM SCHOOL
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Presented By
SYDNEY
MELBOURNE
MAY 16 & 17
MAY 23 & 24
“I took Dov’s class, shot ‘Reservoir Dogs’ and ‘Pulp Fiction’ and launched my career as a writer who controls his scripts.” QUENTIN TARANTINO (Director of Kill Bill, Pulp Fiction, Django Unchained) 28 :: BRAG :: 607 :: 08:04:15
Limited Spaces For more information and reservations Phone: 02 8417 2322 WWW.ISAFOCUS.COM thebrag.com
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record and making it the most band record we could.”
club guide g send your listings to : clubguide@thebrag.com
club pick of the week The Bright Young Things
FRIDAY APRIL 10
Manly Wharf Hotel, Manly. 9pm. Free. The House Of Who feat. Rotating DJs + Levins + The House Of Who + Nacho Pop + Kato’S Wig Shop Goodgod Small Club, Sydney. 8pm. Free.
HIP HOP & R&B
Bam Bam + Joelisitcs + Sleepwalkers + Coda Conduct + Sarah Connor Music + Izzy + DJ Maniak Goodgod Small Club, Sydney. 12pm. Free. One Night Standard (Strictly Hip Hop) - feat: Hyjak + Big Hu$Tle + Sqz + DJ Vame + Beastside + 5 Finger Discount + Papa Tear + Bigredcap + Point1 + DJ Eveready + DJ Micks King Taylor Square, 6pm. Free.
SUNDAY APRIL 12 CLUB NIGHTS
Goodgod Small Club
The Bright Young Things 8pm. $10.
DJ Matt Meeler 5 Sawyers, Newcastle. 5pm. Free. La Fiesta - feat: Samantha Fox + Agee Ortiz + Av El Cubano + Resident DJ Willie Sabor The Establishment, Sydney. 8pm. Free. Reggae Sundays Kings Cross Hotel, Kings Cross. 5pm. Free. S.A.S.H Sundays
Joelistics Home Nightclub, Darling Harbour. 2pm. $10. Stuart Balfour, Husky + Stuart Balfour + Husky Manly Wharf Hotel, Manly. 5pm. Free. Sunday Sessions - feat: Cadell + Tom Kelly + Ocky Goldfi sh, Kings Cross. 4pm. Free. Sundays In The City - feat: Various DJs The Slip Inn, Sydney. 12pm. Free.
MONDAY APRIL 13 CLUB NIGHTS
Mashup Monday - feat: Resident DJs Side Bar, Sydney. 8pm. Free.
WEDNESDAY APRIL 8 CLUB NIGHTS
DJ Tom Kelly Goldfish, Kings Cross. 9pm. Free. Footsie + Skitz Beatz + DJ Bpm + Juzlo + Mc Kye + Rapaport + Max Gosford + Corner Store Superheroes Goodgod Small Club, Sydney. 8pm. $10. The Wall The World Bar, Kings Cross. 9pm. $5.
THURSDAY APRIL 9 HIP HOP & R&B
The Murlocs + The Dandelion + Los Tones Newtown Social Club, Newtown. 7pm. $23.
Katalyst photo by Michelle Grace Hunder
CLUB NIGHTS
Pool Club Thursdays feat: Resident DJs Ivy Bar/lounge, Sydney. 5pm. Free. The World Bar Thursdays The World Bar, Kings Cross. 9pm. Free.
FRIDAY APRIL 10 HIP HOP & R&B
Hustler Fridays - feat: Mc Shaba Hustle & Flow, Redfern. 7pm. Free.
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Argyle Fridays - feat: Resident DJs The Argyle, The Rocks. 6pm. Free. Bassic - feat: 12th Planet + Spenda C + Astrix Little + Beatslingerz + Laprats + Heirs To The Throne + Gomu + Eddie Shagg Chinese Laundry, Sydney. 8pm. $17.50. Blvd Fridays - feat: Ember Marquee, Pyrmont. 10pm. $18.40. Brenny B Side Manly Wharf Hotel, Manly. 8pm. Free. DJ Sean Andrews 5 Sawyers, Newcastle. 8pm. Free. El Loco Later - feat: DJs On Rotation Excelsior Hotel, Surry Hills. 10pm. Free. Factory Fridays - feat: Resident DJs Soda Factory, Surry Hills. 7pm. Free. Feel Good Fridays Bar100, The Rocks. 5pm. Free. Heavenly - feat: Ben Fester + T-Mingus + Adrian E Goodgod Small Club, Sydney. 11pm. $10. Katalyst, Sandro + Benny Hinn + Katalyst + Sandro + Benny Hinn Play Bar, Surry Hills. 6pm. Free. Loco Friday - feat: Various Live Bands And DJs The Slip Inn, Sydney. 5pm. Free. Phat Play Fridays - feat: Katalyst + Benny Hinn + DJ Sandro Play Bar, Surry Hills. 6pm. Free. The Bright Young Things Goodgod Small Club, Sydney. 8pm. $10.
CLUB NIGHTS
Chu The World Bar, Kings Cross. 9pm. Free.
WEDNESDAY APRIL 15 CLUB NIGHTS
DJ Tom Kelly Goldfi sh, Kings Cross. 9pm. Free. Felicity Groom Goodgod Small Club, Sydney. 8pm. $14.90. The Wall The World Bar, Kings Cross. 9pm. $5.
up all night out all week...
FRIDAY APRIL 10
Katalyst
CLUB NIGHTS
TUESDAY APRIL 14
SATURDAY APRIL 11
Bassic - Feat: 12th Planet + Spenda C + Astrix Little + Beatslingerz + Laprats + Heirs To The Throne + Gomu + Eddie Shagg Chinese Laundry, Sydney. 8pm. $17.50.
CLUB NIGHTS
Block Party After Party - feat: DJ Total Eclipse + Mk-1 + Russell Cole + Mathematics + Benny Hinn Play Bar, Surry Hills. 6:10pm. Free. Cakes - feat: 4 Rooms Of Live Music + DJs And International Guests The World Bar, Kings Cross. 8pm. $10. Cash Cash Marquee, Pyrmont. 10pm. $28.60. DJ Benny B 5 Sawyers, Newcastle. 8pm. Free. El Loco Later - feat: DJs On Rotation Excelsior Hotel, Surry Hills. 10pm. Free. Infamous Saturdays - feat: Live DJs Scubar, Sydney. 7pm. Free. Kiss My Tigerlily - feat: Tigerlily + The Squared Divison Ivy Bar/Lounge, Sydney. 6:30pm. $32.90. Lndry - feat: Jozif + Lo’99 + Baytek Chinese Laundry, Sydney. 8pm. $17.50. Northern Soul Movie After Party - feat: Dave Toolin + Peter Morgan + Agent 00 Soul + Keith Miller Spectrum, Darlinghurst. 9pm. $10. Sienna Saturdays - feat: Resident DJs The Establishment, Sydney. 9pm. Free. Something Else Burdekin Hotel, Darlinghurst. 9pm. $20. Super C
Katalyst + Sandro + Benny Hinn Play Bar, Surry Hills. 6pm. Free.
SATURDAY APRIL 11 Cash Cash Marquee, Pyrmont. 10pm. $28.60. Kiss My Tigerlily - Feat: Tigerlily + The Squared Divison Ivy Bar/Lounge, Sydney. 6:30pm. $32.90.
WEDNESDAY APRIL 8
Newtown Social Club, Newtown. 7pm. $23.
Lndry - Feat: Jozif + Lo’99 + Baytek Chinese Laundry, Sydney. 8pm. $17.50.
Footsie + Skitz Beatz + DJ Bpm + Juzlo + Mc Kye + Rapaport + Max Gosford + Corner Store Superheroes Goodgod Small Club, Sydney. 8pm. $10.
THURSDAY APRIL 9 The Murlocs + The Dandelion + Los Tones
Cash Cash
BRAG :: 607 :: 08:04:15 :: 29
Off The Record Dance and Electronica with Tyson Wray
Julio Bashmore
O
oooooh mumma. The next installment of Lost Disco has been announced and the lineup is damn tasty. Headlined by the bassy house heavyweight Julio Bashmore, he’ll also be joined by Adelaide’s finest Late Nite Tuff Guy and everyone’s mate Cassian. The local lineup is also all-killer no-filler, featuring Dreems, Softwar, COOP, B_A, Alan Thomas, Tristan Case, Louis Coste, Rouss, Tech No More, Mark Craven and Phil Kanis. It goes down on Saturday April 25 at The Ivy. Recommended. Marc Martinez Nadal aka AFFKT has locked in an Australian tour. The house and techno titan is one of the most experimental names in the game, is a regular on the seminal Suara label, and runs his very own imprint Sincopat. He’ll be joined on the night by locals Tech No More, Aaron Robins, Casting Out, Dave Stuart, Persian Rug, Nuendo and Aaiste. Get deep on the dance floor on Saturday May 9 at the Burdekin Hotel. Lucy Cliche is finally going to hold a belated hometown launch for her Drain Down EP. A stalwart of the Sydney DIY scene, over the past decade she’s been involved in groups such as duo Naked On The Vague, Knitted Abyss and Half High. Under her Cliche moniker, she weaves pounding drum sequences, synths and vocal echoes into annihilating techno. It’s already looking like she’s in for a big 2015, with FACT recently championing her as
one of the ‘15 Australian electronic artists to watch in 2015’. She’ll be supported by Public Possession’s Bell Towers and host Noise In My Head. Friday April 24 at Goodgod Small Club. Get involved. Later this months the legends behind Soul Of Sydney will pay tribute to one of most influential names in Chicago house – Frankie Knuckles. Knuckles, of course, passed away last year after a lifetime of shaping the sounds of house, disco and funk for generations to come. DJs on the day will include Phil Toke, Superbreak, Scott Pullen, Danny De Sousa, Terry A and Lloyd Ingram. Expect some heavy dance floor euphoria when ‘Your Love’ hits the soundsystem. It goes down from 2pm at a secret location on Sunday April 19. Hit facebook.com/soulofsydney for more details. Tour rumours: what’s that I’m hearing about a return of the inimitable DJ Koze later this year? You best believe it’s happening. And if you’re already planning your 2016, pencil in a tour from Boris Brejcha in January. Best releases this week: the new Palms Trax rekkid ‘In Gold’ (on Dekmantel) absolutely slays. Other highlights include Dax J’s ‘Imperial Propaganda’ (on Monnom Black), Endlec’s ‘The Abyss Gazes Also’ (on Mord), Basic Soul Unit’s ‘You Knew’ (on Dolly) and Donor’s ‘Against All’ (on Prosthetic Pressings).
y a d n u S y r e v E
AFFKT
RECOMMENDED SATURDAY APRIL 11 Developer The Sly Fox Hotel Milton Bradley Burdekin Hotel
SATURDAY APRIL 18 James Zabiela Chinese Laundry
Luke Vibert Goodgod Small Club Hector Burkedin Hotel Alex Niggeman The Imperial Hotel
2PM – 3AM HOME TERRACE 101/1-5 WHEAT ROAD, DARLING HARBOUR WWW.SASH.NET.AU 30 :: BRAG :: 607 :: 08:04:15
Young March, DJ Sotofett, DJ Fett Burger Oxford Art Factory
SATURDAY APRIL 25
SATURDAY MAY 16 Ø [Phase] TBA
Julio Bashmore The Ivy
SATURDAY MAY 23
SATURDAY MAY 2
FRIDAY MAY 29
Xxxy Chinese Laundry
SATURDAY MAY 9 AFFKT Burdekin Hotel
Kyle Hall The Imperial Hotel Carmada Oxford Art Factory Edu Imbernon Chinese Laundry
SATURDAY MAY 30
Steve Bug The Imperial Hotel
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c i s u m f o e t u t i t s n i N A I L A AUSTR aim.edu.au @ 5 1 0 2 r o f w o n enrol
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