ISSUE NO. 677 AUGUST 24, 2016
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MUSIC, FILM, THEATRE + MORE
INSIDE This Week
M A RG A R E T CHO
How do you stay funny when the world's falling to pieces?
SIMPLE PL A N
An iconic band talks staying sane after years on the road.
F L O W E R T RUCK
A fresh Aussie band moving from strength to strength.
MIK E NOG A
The legendary drummer steps into the spotlight.
ALAN CARR
Chatting with the chatty man.
Plus
SK EG S S T HE V E IL S HORSE S IN T HE SK Y BR END A N M A CL E A N A ND MUCH MOR E
TREVOR
NOAH OUT ON SHOW
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rock music news welcome to the frontline: what’s goin’ on around town... with James Di Fabrizio, Joseph Earp and Alex Chetverikov
five things WITH
JAMIE COYLE FROM SELAHPHONIC and running around the lounge room pretending to play that riff at six-years-old, convinced thousands were watching me. Dad played a bit of guitar but I think them taking us to a church on a Sunday morning and hearing all the singing encouraged me to see maybe I could actually sing. Inspirations Radiohead was the band 2. that took my idea of music and
1.
Growing Up My dad played records to us all the time – it’s how I first
heard The Knack’s ‘My Sharona’. I remember getting a broom stick, acting like it was a guitar,
blew it apart. I remember a mate playing me OK Computer while sitting in his crappy Toyota Corolla. We sat there for hours just repeating the album. I think it was their song structures, the sounds, and the emotive movements that mesmerised me, and it was their sweet little hooks that kept me going back. I can’t help myself when it comes to songs with massive choruses and breakout sections that make you dance or make your mouth drop.
MANAGING EDITOR: Chris Martin chris@thebrag.com 02 9212 4322 DEPUTY EDITOR: Joseph Earp ONLINE EDITOR: James Di Fabrizio SUB-EDITOR: Sam Caldwell STAFF WRITERS: Joseph Earp, Adam Norris, Augustus Welby NEWS: Alex Chetverikov, James Di Fabrizio, Anna Wilson ART DIRECTOR: Sarah Bryant PHOTOGRAPHERS: D.A. Carter, Katrina Clarke, Ashley Mar ADVERTISING: Tony Pecotic - (02) 9212 4322 tony@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
AWESOME INTERNS: Anna Wilson, Emily Norton, Alex Chetverikov, Angela Antenero REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS: Nat Amat, Prudence Clark, Tom Clift, Anita Connors, Christie Eliezer, Emily Gibb, Tegan Jones, Lachlan Kanoniuk, Sarah Little, Emily Meller, David Molloy, Annie Murney, Adam Norris, George Nott, Daniel Prior, Tegan Reeves, Natalie Rogers, Erin Rooney, Spencer Scott, Natalie Salvo, Leonardo Silvestrini, Jade Smith, Lucy Watson, Rod Whitfield, Harry Windsor, Tyson Wray, Stephanie Yip, David James Young
DOWN IN THE DUNGEN
Swedish psych-rockers Dungen are back with their first headline Australian shows since 2006. The band have been entrancing audiences with their multi dimensional music for nearly 20 years, with their breakout record Ta Det Lugnt elevating the group to international acclaim. After taking a step back, the group returned with 2015’s Allas Sak, picking up where their previous albums left off while jamming with greater focus and crafting subtly transfixing arrangements. They’ll hit Oxford Art Factory on Wednesday December 7.
SEEING SHEILA
Iconic singer-songwriter, percussionist and long-time Prince collaborator Sheila E has just locked in a headline Sydney show. For four decades Sheila E. has been an influential force on the international music stage, with seven studio albums under her belt, along with multiple Grammy Awards, American Music Awards and MTV Music Award nominations. Her debut solo album The Glamorous Life, released in 1984 and produced by Prince,
The Music You Make We love the epic quality of 4. the ’80s, the rawness of the mid
’90s and the rhythms that are coming out right now. We listen to Jack Garrett, Bruce Springsteen and The Bleachers. We recorded in Jamie’s Bungalow in Coolum Beach. We really wanted to
Music, Right Here, Right Now 5. The music scene is what you
make it: if you’re prepared to work hard then it will pay off some day, whether that be in relationships you build, the places you travel, or if you’re lucky, the career you have to live off. Also, we’re playing at ‘The Steyne’ in Manly so that must be a good place for music. Ha! Also, we love the Oxford Art Gallery. Who: Selahphonic Where: The Steyne Hotel When: Saturday August 27
Baroness
BOW TO THE BARON
American hard rockers Baroness haven’t performed in Australia since appearing at Soundwave in 2014, but now they’re back with a much anticipated debut headline tour. Formed in 2003, the Georgia four-piece slugged it out on the local Savannah scene while adhering to a DIY punk ethic, booking their own tours and silk-screening their own shirts. Over their 13-year history, Baroness have released a colourful assortment of albums, specifically the Red Album, Blue Record, Yellow & Green and most recently, Purple. They are renowned for their dynamic live shows highlighted by lead singer John Dyer Baizley’s extensive head-banging segments. Baroness will unleash on the Metro Theatre on Wednesday December 7.
garnered her international acclaim, with the lead single of the same name topping the American Dance Charts for two consecutive weeks on release. She’ll hit the Metro Theatre on Sunday December 11.
ALL’S FAIR IN LOVE AND WAR
Fairgrounds Festival have announced their 2016 lineup, and oh boy it’s a doozy. The
festival, only in its second year, has revealed itself to be a very desirable proposition indeed, with the likes of Angel Olsen, King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard, The Drones and the sugar man himself, Rodriguez, rounding out the 2016 instalment of the Berry-located fest. Tickets are on sale now, so get ready to slap down your cash, and the festival runs from Friday December 2 through to Saturday December 3.
Bec Sandridge photo by Will Edgar
GIG & CLUB GUIDE COORDINATOR: Sarah Bryant - gigguide@thebrag.com (rock); clubguide@thebrag.com (dance, hip hop & parties)
After three years of silence, Vancouver duo Japandroids are set to make their triumphant return to the stage. The small, sweaty and intimate shows in Melbourne and Sydney will be the duo’s only headline shows for December 2016. Does this mean new music? Who knows? There have been no official announcements, but a sudden burst of international shows sure does make you wonder, doesn’t it? The band will play the tiny confines of Red Rattler on Tuesday December 13.
Sunshine Coast to start a youth work organisation that focuses on using music and fi lm to engage with high school-aged people. They write a bunch of songs with no intention to use them outside of their job. People begin to hear these songs and say, ‘You guys should push these songs further than schools?’ So they thought, ‘Hmm, OK lets dabble a bit.’ So in 2014 they meet a couple of other guys, a bass player and a drummer, and give it a crack.
capture a raw drum sound and vox, yet match that with some classic ’80s analogue synths. When you see us play, expect to have a smile on your face, expect to want to dance, expect that you will walk away sweaty and stoked!
xxx
THE DROIDS YOU’RE LOOKING FOR
Your Band The story goes: two guys 3. from Melbourne move to the
Cass McCombs
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 EDITORIAL POLICY: The views and opinions expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the publisher, editors or staff of the BRAG. ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE: Kris Furst: accounts@furstmedia.com.au ph - (03) 9428 3600 fax - (03) 9428 3611 Furst Media, 3 Newton Street Richmond Victoria 3121
CARE ABOUT CASS
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Jazz pioneers BadBadNotGood will be heading our way on a headline east coast tour. Back with their new record IV, the band continues to challenge the rulebook on improvised instrumental music by meshing it with inventive hip hop and production. Winning praise from giants in the game, including BBC broadcaster Gilles Peterson and Tyler, The Creator, the four-piece have gone from strength to strength in recent years by winning accolades across the globe. They’ll hit the Metro Theatre on Thursday December 8.
Cass McCombs, the nomadic troubadour, has announced a string of shows for Australia in December. He will be returning to Sydney with an intimate show at Newtown Social Club, which will follow the release of new album Mangy Love, slated for release on Friday August 26. Understated, efficient, wandering, wondering, socially-conscious – with such deliberate descriptors, we might even be doing disservice to the wonderful talents of McCombs, a musician who ranks among North America’s very best singer-songwriters. You’d be silly to miss it, so make sure you get on tickets for the Tuesday December 6 show.
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live & local
free stuff
welcome to the frontline: what’s goin’ on around town... with Emily Norton, Alex Chetverikov and Joseph Earp
five things WITH
2.
Growing Up I grew up in a musically 1. noisy household. Being the
Inspirations Rachel’s, Arvo Part and The Necks. All three artists were given to me as gifts by different friends in my formative years. Each first listen was undertaken late at night in my room and they became a staple after that. Nighttime, open natural spaces and seeing other artists emotionally charged when performing live inspires me too. Your Band Violinist Jay Kong and 3. I met through my brother
Jamie [Hutchings, lead singersongwriter of Bluebottle Kiss] who always had him as a guest musician on Bluebottle Kiss
albums. He also played in indie rock outfit Starboard with my other brother Scott on drums, so we used to hang out a bit. Cellist Peter Hollo and I circulated in similar music circles, crossing between indie and ambient. Our musical chemistry is pretty special, and I really value their input and understanding of me as a musician. The Music You Make I’d say it falls somewhere 4. between neoclassical, ambient
and cinematic. Tim Whitten (The Necks) has been a long-standing family friend who I’ve recorded with from the start. My debut Becalmed also had my friend and artist Tony Dupe onboard, engineering down at his studio in the tranquil surrounds of Kangaroo Valley. The album launch for Wide Asleep will be a little bit different, performed by candle light and set to beautiful
visuals. It’s a BYO venue so you can bring whatever poison you fancy and settle in for the evening. It’s an anything-goes kind of venue. Music, Right Here, Right Now 5. I think the music scene here
can tend to struggle, more so for artists like myself. My music doesn’t fall into jazz or pop. Not a huge number of venues cater to it, though with artists like Nils Frahm and Olafur Arnalds touring Australia lately the interest is increasing. People are keen, but getting the word out can be slightly tricky. My favourite venues at the moment are Camelot Lounge and Glebe Justice Centre, because they’re very open to a wide mix of acts.
Metalcore enthusiasts, this one is for you. Groundbreaking pioneers The Amity Affliction have just released their brand new album, This Could Be Heartbreak, their fifth slab of screams and scintillating, pumping grooves. As the title implies, the work is a heartfelt, horrific serving of tragedy, but it’s not without its melodic elements too, and the balance between the pop and the pummelling will be familiar to any fan of the group. To celebrate the release of the album, we’ve got five copies of the album on CD to give away. Enter the draw at thebrag.com/ freeshit, so head on over and get entering.
Where: Glebe Justice Centre When: Saturday September 10
Xxx
youngest, I was pretty much a sponge, observing all my family members’ choices of music and art. With my dad being a passionate musician and my mum’s extremely open approach
THE AMITY AFFLICTION
SOPHIE HUTCHINGS
to art, we were all given the freedom to make as much racket as we wanted, though funnily, despite being one of the loudest in nature, I was extremely shy about joining in.
head to: thebrag.com/freeshit
xxx xxx
Lepers And Crooks
Ruth Carp And The Fish Heads
FEELIN’ A BIT CROOK
LEADBELLY LEGENDS
Following on from a whopping 250 shows played across two years, Lepers And Crooks are continuing their hard-hitting funk-rock trajectory with the announcement of new single ‘Reflection’. Distilling the attitude of rock’n’roll into a single, raucous shot, the band are heading to an exclusive Sydney show that will see the group focusing on heavy riffs and all-round attitude. It all goes down on Thursday August 25 at Leadbelly.
The Peep Tempel
Warning: what follows is graphic content that some may find disturbing-ly awesome. Leadbelly in Newtown is popping its cherry this year and joining a list of other legendary venues in hosting the King Street Crawl. On Sunday September 4 head over to Leadbelly for free live music, burgers, pizzas, and beers. (Or, if you’re feeling a tad more fancy, they make some wicked cocktails.) The killer lineup includes: Twin Fires, Pat Capocci, Good Counsel, Ruth Carp And The Fish Heads and Colin Jones And The Delta Revue. There will also be DJ sets from the likes of Glenn Boyce, Nic Puertolas and Josie Leitch, so get on it, eh? The King Street Crawl will go down on Sunday September 4 from midday to midnight.
HAVING VISIONS
Forget about The X Factor and forget about The Voice: there’s a new player in town, and they’ve got game. Sydneyvision, Sydney’s version of the internationally loved Eurovision, is now in its seventh year and stepping back into the limelight. This music video contest is
guaranteed to bring out an incredibly diverse selection of songs and film-making genres. Fun fact: all songs must refer to a Sydney suburb in the lyrics – so keep your ears and eyes out. Take a night on the town and go see this: you won’t regret it. It’s all going down at Dendy Opera Quays on Wednesday August 31.
Hey Violet Mister Ott
OTT STUFF
Sure is Ott in here, isn’t it? The rising heat could have something to do with the fact local legends Mister Ott have announced a show at favoured locale Venue 505, taking an important break from writing and recording their new album. Inspired by the mesmeric Eastern grooves of Ethiopian jazz, and playing in a way similar to pioneers Mulatu Astatke and Getatchew Mekurya, the band has cultivated its memorable brand of funk over a number of gigs around Sydney. With the seven-piece live outfit helmed by saxophonist Matthew Ottignon, you’d best loosen your straps, as it’s sure to be a powerful ride through the realms of jazz and African music. Get funky with the band at Venue 505 on Saturday September 3 as part of this year’s annual Fringe Festival.
TAKE A PEEP
Hey, you: hear the news? The Peep Tempel’s long awaited LP Joy is due to be released. The Melbourne trio wrote the record in their west Melbourne studio last summer, again collaborating with engineer Anna Laverty, who recorded and mixed the album at Sing Song Studios. The band are arguably best known for their killer tune ‘Carol’, a pathetic and punchy love song with one of the finest choruses around. Take a listen, then get excited for the new LP. Joy will be released Friday October 14 and The Peep Tempel will be performing at the Oxford Art Factory on Friday December 2, so make sure you sort tickets sooner rather than later, eh?
YOU’RE TURNING VIOLET, VIOLET
Hey guys, your favourite colour is violet right? Well if it isn’t, change it, because Hey Violet are playing a one-off special show just for you. Coming fresh off a tour with the 5SOS lads, your favourite new colour band will be performing their headline show at The Metro Theatre’s The Lair. Buy some tix and go check them out because this is not a show you will not want to miss, particularly given the success of the group’s Brand New Moves, an EP that will make you want to move your body in all different directions – also known as dancing. Hey Violet will be performing at The Lair on Thursday October 6. xxx
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Industrial Strength Music Industry News with Christie Eliezer
THINGS WE HEAR • Which rapper, making a comeback, admits his new record producer turned down most of his ideas? • Is Pandora to launch an on-demand streaming option next month? • Whose wedding ended with the groom going off with the ex-girlfriend? • Are we closer to an original Smashing Pumpkins lineup tour after Billy Corgan reconciled with bassist D’arcy Wretzky? • LCD Soundsystem’s Australian tour at the end of the year was cancelled before it was announced, as part of a run through Asia. They’re apparently running late recording their next album. • Melbourne band Cookin’ On 3 Burners’ ‘This Girl’ Kungs remix continues its European success. It’s remained at number one for 12 consecutive weeks on the European Border Breakers chart after spending 18 weeks overall in the chart.
AUSSIES DEMAND FOR MUSIC FESTIVALS GROW
Australians can’t seem to get enough of music festivals. Research by self-service ticketing agency Eventbrite showed that 65% of Aussies caught as many festivals this year as in 2015 and 49% plan to see more next year. On average Aussies attend two to three festivals a year and spend $150 a ticket. 67% figure they’ll still be attending such events over the next few years, with 59% saying festivals give them a sense of community. Location, cost and friends are reasons for going, but the acts are the most important reason according to one in three. Of the hardcore attendees, 40% will go intestate and 18% abroad to get their fix.
CALVIN HARRIS TOPS HIGHEST PAID DJ LIST
Calvin Harris was the highest earning DJ last year, making US$63 million from gigs ($400,000 per gig in Las Vegas alone), songwriting, record sales and streams and endorsements. He’s $3m down from the year before says US business magazine Forbes, but he’s virtually doubled the earning capacity of second person on the rung, Tiesto, whose $38m earnings included a seven-figure deal with soft drinks company 7 Up. David Guetta was at #3 with $28m, mostly due to his Euro 2016 soccer tournament theme song and Vegas residency. They were followed by Zedd ($24.5m), Steve Aoki ($23.5m), Diplo ($23m) and Skrillex ($20m).
ARIA AWARDS EXTEND TEN, STAR WORLD, DEALS
The 30th ARIA Awards, to be staged on Wednesday November 23 has extended its broadcast partnerships. Ten Network will screen the awards and red carpet around Australia. Last year, the ARIAs was the number one show for 16- to 39-year-olds, and achieved the most social #ARIAs ever, generating 109 million Twitter impressions around the world. The ARIAs will also continue to be broadcast through Asia with STAR World taking Australia’s best artists into the homes of
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• Another allegedly illegal rave got shut down in regional NSW before it got started. Last weekend it was Pretty Vibes in the Pillar Valley state forest, which was expecting 3,500 ravers. Coffs/Clarence officers warned there were no traffic management or safety processes in place, turned up at the site and reportedly found there were no toilets, just an open pit. • The Exchange Hotel in Balmain is the second live music showcasing venue to be protected by a music fan from being turned into apartments. Jon Adgemis of auditing firm KPMG paid $5m to redo the pub and encourage the community to get involved. Recently Justin Hemmes bought the Alexandria Hotel for the same reason. • Drake got 14 nominations at the 2016 BET Hip Hop Awards. • Rihanna almost didn’t record ‘Work’ according to its producer, Canadian rapper PartyNextDoor. He says her record label “didn’t care for Caribbean music at the time” but came around “when it was all that she
could sing around the house”. In any case, he was set to give the song to Drake or Alicia Keys, but Rhi-Rhi insisted to the label she wanted it. • A British man told TV’s Catfish: The TV Show he thought he was phone-dating Katy Perry for six years, even buying her a diamond engagement ring. He was actually chatting to a “Harriet” from Gloucester who claimed to be the singer. • Corey Taylor had yet another fan thrown out of a Slipknot gig. • Green Day bassist Mike Dirnt had bass lessons for the first time before recording their new album Revolution Radio. • Taylor Swift donated $1m to Louisiana flood relief after the US state suffered extreme flooding. • At nightclub/ hospitality operator Justin Hemmes’ annual staff awards for 2,000, taking up two levels of the Ivy and featuring a live set by Furnace and The Fundamentals, he announced ten million visited his 60 venues in the past year.
millions of people across the region. To ensure ratings stay high, the awards inevitably have to reach for international superstars. According to News Corp, Robbie Williams is at the top of the wishlist, along with P!nk, Justin Timberlake, Justin Bieber, The Weeknd and Michael Bublé. The ARIAs also extended its naming-rights partnership with Telstra, and financial support from the NSW Government for events as part of ARIA Week.
concerts are happier and than those who don’t. “Engaging with music by dancing or attending musical events [is] associated with higher subjective wellbeing,” sums up If You’re Happy And You Know It: Music Engagement And Subjective Wellbeing, which studied 1,000 participants. “Regular” is the key word here.
NEW BOOK ON NEWCASTLE MUSIC SCENE
Streaming has cut into the Australian sales of downloads and online purchases of CDs, according to new figures from market researcher Roy Morgan. Online shopping has skyrocketed in Australia, with 41.2% of Aussies making at least one purchase via the internet in an average four-week period (up from 31.6% in 2012). But in comparison, in the 12 months to March 2016 only 4.6% of the population downloaded music in any four-week period (the figure was 6.1% in 2012) and 1.1% bought CDs online (2.1% four years ago). In the meantime, the percentage of Aussies who streamed music online in an average four weeks leapt from 10.3% in 2012 to 19.7% in 2016. Streaming radio was also up to 9.6% from 6.1%. The Morgan research also noted that those who download movies and TV shows are also ten times more likely to download music.
Rock This City: Live Music in Newcastle, 1970s-1980s by Gaye Sheather documents the city’s music scene, where bands played seven days a week, and which spewed out acts like Rabbit, Heroes, DV8 and The Globes. It was written by Sheather, a researcher and historian, who at that time was a singer with Timeworx and 7th Heaven. She has been researching for the book since 2005.
HIDDEN MESSAGES IN YOUR DANCE TRACKS?
A new algorithm can hide messages in your favourite dance music, encoding data by subtly varying the tempo in a way that is completely inaudible to human listeners. Prof Krzysztof Szczypiorski of Poland’s Warsaw University of Technology used the StegIbiza, an algorithm for hiding information, on the trance-like beat of Ibiza music. He developed a code by which the dots and dashes representing letters are converted into a faster or slower tempo for a particular beat. He used Apple’s Logic X Pro music production software to create covers of ‘Lily Was Here’ by Dave Stewart and Candy Dulfer, ‘Miracle’ by Queen, ’Rhythm Is A Dancer’ by Snap!, ‘So What’ by Miles Davis and ‘Bylas Serca Biciem’ by Andrzej Zaucha. He embedded the message “steganography is a dancer!” in each song, placed randomly.
STUDY: CONCERT GOERS ARE HAPPIER A study by Victoria’s Deakin University found that those who regularly go to
STUDY: STREAMING BITES INTO ONLINE BUYING
ELEVEN GET MUSICNSW FUNDING
11 of a total of 28 applications from all over NSW were successful in landing $35,034 worth of funding as part of Round One of the Opportunity Development grant scheme. The funding will support 34 artists and six managers to attend Bigsound conference and showcase in Brisbane. They included Wallace, Bec Sandridge and band, Wishes, Allan Smithy, Rainbow Chan, Buoy, The Ruminaters, Gideon Bensen, B-Wise, Coda Conduct and Australia. MusicNSW administers the program on behalf of Arts NSW. The original 28 applications totalled $84,000 in funding requests
Lifelines Married: Australian R&B singer Prinnie Stevens and pro-US basketballer Patrick Sanders, who’s currently playing for Club Ferro Carril Oeste in Argentine after three years in Japan. Recovering: former UFO bassist Pete Way released from hospital following a heart attack due to a blood clot on his lung. Injured: former Grateful Dead keyboardist Tom Constanten broke his neck after a fall on the way into a post office. Arrested: a man for breaking into David Guetta’s Ibiza home for a second time, throwing away a knife as he fled. The first time he tricked a maid into believing he was a friend of the DJ and letting him in. Arrested: California-based British DJ Mark Lewis in South Korea for allegedly smuggling drugs after being caught at airport customs with a 1.5L water bottle containing rave drug GHB. It happened in June but only made the media now after police told they suspected Lewis of sneaking in 3.78L of GHB (worth $340,000 and equal to 1,000 doses) into South Korea between January and June, and the trips were paid for by a Korean pharmaceutical company. Died: Gary Watson, 22, guitarist with rising Scottish band Lapelles, from injuries after falling into the River Clyde. Died: Peter Read, co-founder of Sydney ‘80s noisenik bands such as Thug and Leather Moustache. The cause is unknown but he was recently cleared of cancer. Died: former Nine Inch Nails keyboardist James Woolley, 50. After leaving in 1994, he worked on sound effects for The Simpsons, with his wife joking “Those fart sounds were authentic”. Died: Preston Hubbard, bassist with Austin-based blues rock outfit Fabulous Thunderbirds from 19851993, aged 63, after a rough life including a stint in jail and a neardeath experience following years of alcohol and drug abuse. Died: Tom Searle, guitarist with UK metalcore outfit Architects, after a three-year battle with cancer. He was 28 years old. Died: Lou Pearlman, who created boy bands Backstreet Boys and N’Sync, 62, in jail after being found guilty of fraud. He suffered ill-health, especially with diabetes.
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COVER STORY
TREVOR NOAH
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THE DAILY GRIND BY DAVID JAMES YOUNG
I
f it’s true that there’s no rest for the wicked, Trevor Noah must be one of the most wicked men working in entertainment today. When he’s not at the helm of The Daily Show, Comedy Central’s successful satire staple that deconstructs the news of the world, he’s on the road working as an in-demand stand-up comedian – a trade in which he originally made his name with several years of prolifi c work in his native South Africa. At the time of our interview, Noah has just stepped out from a show recording in their studios on 11th Avenue in New York City. He’s overwhelmed by the amount of news that fl ows in from all parts of the world, but he argues having his cup overfl owing is a good problem. “Depending on which way you look at it, this election cycle has been one from heaven or one from hell,” he says with a laugh. “It’s a crazy time in the world, man. Just when you think America is the biggest circus on earth, something like Brexit shows up. That whole part of the world just feels like it’s imploding unto itself. It’s an opportune time to be making comedy about it for TV.” Noah is the third host of The Daily Show in its 20 years on the air – originally hosted by Craig Kilborn, the show was taken over by Jon Stewart in 1999. Stewart held down the fort for 16 years until his retirement in 2015, leading many to believe the show would come to a conclusion, given how inextricably linked the host was with the program. Nonetheless, Noah was brought in as a successor to the throne, where he has since given The Daily Show his own personal fl air and stamp of identity. As far as Noah is concerned, it’s not about fi lling anyone’s boots – it’s about rocking your own proverbial kicks.
separate in terms of my writing,” he says. “Some subjects are better lent to the show, others make more sense to use in my stand-up. Essentially, it’s about fi nding what is suited best to which arena, and then developing it from there. Jokes can come from anywhere, man. Chris Rock was really great in giving me advice about this. He said to me, ‘Don’t forget to live your life, because living is the best place to fi nd new material.’ That’s something I’ve focused on ever since – I live as much as I work.”
“It was never going to be done the exact same way that Jon did it,” he goes on. “That was never my intention. We’ve had fans coming and going in this whole transitional period, and a whole lot of new people have come in – especially a lot of young people. Maybe they feel like the show is more for them now, or maybe they’re at an age where they have a better understanding of what the show is. It’s an exciting time to see The Daily Show grow.” One would understandably assume that with the momentum of The Daily Show in the current political climate, it would be difficult for Noah to fi nd time to perform stand-up. In reality, it’s just as much a part of Noah’s life now as it was when he was starting out all those years ago. He often performs in the US, and most recently released an hour-long special, Lost In Translation. Noah also claims that he writes the exact same way as he used to – the only difference now is he has other things to take into consideration when experimenting with it. “Comedy’s what I’m thinking about and what I’m doing – I don’t like to keep it
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GOOD BOY
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If all his titles weren’t enough, Noah is about to add another feather to his cap and become an author. A memoir from the 32-year-old is set for release in November, which will detail various parts of his life through a series of personal essays. “It’s been in the works for a while now – I think it must have started at least a year before The Daily Show happened,” says Noah.
THE RUMINATERS + RAINDROP
“I saw it as another avenue for me to share stories about my life – about things that have happened to me and how I was brought up. I realised that a book would be the best way to share these to audiences that might not know all that much about me. I mean, I live a pretty open life. What I’ve done is what I’ve done: my views are my views. I’m open to changing and growing, but I don’t think I’ve ever been afraid or ashamed of those things. I feel like the more you share, the more likely you are to connect with people in similar situations.”
SUNDAY AUGUST 28TH
“I LET THE SHOW GUIDE ME. MY MATERIAL DOESN’T EXIST IN A VACUUM – IT GOES WITH THE PEOPLE EXPERIENCING IT.”
“I think the most important thing that you have to do in any type of show is build your own audience,” he says. “To think that you can simply walk in as a replacement and overtake someone else’s audience... it’s just naive really. It’s been the same with all the changes on TV the last few years. Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers, James Corden... they’ve all made audiences for themselves. They’re not in it to just adopt an audience – why would they be?
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Noah’s current hour of stand-up is tagged with the title Trevor Noah Live, a header that might give one the impression that the subject matter is a little broader and less conceptual than his more centrally-themed hours, such as African American or The Racist. To a degree, Noah is inclined to concede to that. Still, he makes pains to point out that every new show is different. “Often times I fi nd the show dictates itself,” he explains. “I’ll start writing with one concept or idea in mind, but by the time I get to performing it the show will have wound up being completely different. It all depends. I let the show guide me, in essence, and I’m doing it with the audience too. My material doesn’t exist in a vacuum – it goes with the people experiencing it. Their reaction determines what goes, what stays, what works, what doesn’t, what changes, what doesn’t... I think by the time I get to Australia, I’ll have the best version of what this hour can be at that point in time.”
Indeed, Trevor Noah Live is making its way to Australia and New Zealand for a run of shows as a part of the Just For Laughs festival. Several shows have already hung up ‘sold out’ signs, which is essentially the norm for whenever Noah comes to visit this part of the world. “I truly count myself as so lucky that a place like Australia has been there to show me love for so many years,” he says. “That’s been the greatest gift. That’s something I will never take for granted – having people there that will always come to my shows and will always be there to support me. As long as there are people like that, I will always make a point of coming back.” What: Trevor Noah Live as part of Just For Laughs Festival 2016 Where: Sydney Opera House / State Theatre When: Sunday August 28 / Monday August 29
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Gabriella Cohen What Strings Can Say By Patrick Emery
G
abriella Cohen has a career aspiration – and it’s not the one you might think. After a planned five years spent honing her songwriting and performing, Cohen says she’d like to retire to the forest and compose orchestral soundtracks. “I want to live in a forest and compose music for film,” Cohen says. “In five years after all the touring is done, I’ll live through the recordings and play three times a year with a symphony orchestra. Really big, but very rare. Ideally I’d just get approached to write soundtracks. I’m really into orchestras at the moment.” Composing orchestral soundtracks in a forest seems a long way from Cohen’s current status as leader of her own band and critical darling, a musician who has managed to court both a devoted fanbase and the interest of an armload of critics. Cohen started playing music at the age of seven, tinkering around on her father’s equipment and taking a stab at replicating the soul music in her parents’ collection. At the age of 15, Cohen took up guitar, with the opportunity to get onstage and perform proving a good enough surrogate for the teenager’s aspiration to join the dramatic arts. “I really wanted to be an actress,” Cohen says. “I think being on stage was a way I could act, or have that sense of acting.”
Mike Noga Hollow Crown By David James Young
I
t’s mid-morning on a Tuesday, and Mike Noga – balladeer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and man about town – has just woken up to a harsh realisation. “It’s my first day of promo for this record,” he says, “and I’m going to have to spend all day talking about myself. I honestly don’t know how to prepare myself for it. Thankfully this album is full of things to talk about.” From there, the Melbourne-based musician is eased gently into the process – mostly because the line of questioning shifts to the other people involved in the making of the album. King is the third solo record from Noga, arriving five years after its predecessor – 2011’s The Balladeer Hunter – and two years after he left the band that originally brought his name to such a high standing today, The Drones. It was made possible through a successful crowdfunding campaign, is being released in Australia by indie label Cooking Vinyl and was produced by one Paul Dempsey, the mountainous figure behind Something For Kate as well as two solo releases under his own name. “We’ve known each other for years,” says Noga of his production counterpart, who also plays guitar and a few other instruments on the record alongside him. “I had him in mind for a while in terms of having someone to work on this record with – we work together really well, and his approach is almost the exact opposite to mine. I can be quite lazy with recording and producing, and he’s a total nerd for it all. “The whole process of making King has taken over two years, and I was living in London in the initial stages. I clued Paul in as to what I was doing, and sent him some songs via email. He was immediately into it, and ended up having quite a lot of input into the songs themselves within their final stages. I think I need someone like him to tighten me up a bit – my songwriting can
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“DO YOU REMEMBER WHEN YOU WERE A KID AND YOU’D GET A STORY THAT YOU COULD READ ALONG WITH, AND IT WAS ALSO BEING READ TO YOU ON A RECORD OR A TAPE? I WANTED TO KIND OF DO THAT.” be pretty loose. The more we talked about it, the more excited we got about the concept of this record.” The album – a dark story about an estranged couple, Jack and Mary, who are lost in a world of rough nights and paranoia – is pulled together via narration from Noah Taylor, an expat Australian actor and musician who serves as an outsider, looking in on the world of the two main characters. “About midway through making the album, I could see it taking shape,” explains Noga. “The narrative in my mind is really strong, but I knew it wouldn’t be totally clear what was going on to the listener. “Do you remember when you were a kid and you’d get a story that you could read along with, and it was also being read to you on a record or a tape? You’d hear this ‘ding’ every time you had to turn the page. I wanted to kind of do that. I needed someone that would guide the album a little bit. I didn’t want to give everything away, of course, but I realised there needed to be some semblance of an idea there. Noah used to come to Drones gigs all the time when we were over in the UK, and he seemed like a perfect fit. The album is set in 1950s suburban Australia, and he just strikes me as having that kind of voice – like he’s a cricket commentator or something.
He can also sound really menacing, too.” As King developed, Noga would take several key tracks from the record and perform them live without their given context. Rather than being a confusing experience, Noga sees it as being a positive attribute of the songs themselves. “It says a lot that they’re able to work both ways,” he says. “They’re able to stand alone without the narrative, and that’s handy when I play solo shows. It’s going to be exciting to see how it all plays out live, though – when we do this album launch tour, we’re playing the entire record from start to finish. We’re even going to try and include the narration parts in a pre-recorded sequence.” Using the stage as an abstract yardstick, Noga has come a long way in his time as a musician. He began up the back, behind the drum kit for bands like Legends Of Motorsport and The Drones. He moved forward as a solo artist, slinging a guitar around the space once occupied by the singers he was backing. Now, with full-band shows imminent, Noga is taking the great leap forward – he will be a fully fledged frontman, with no instruments holding him back. “It’s actually a bit terrifying,” he confesses with an incredulous laugh. “I’m absolutely shitting myself! I just wanted to get out the front and test myself. You feel very exposed. We’ve done about ten gigs in Melbourne over the last few months, treating them as warm-up shows, and I’ve found myself enjoying it more and more as time goes on. As nerve wracking as it can be, it can also be really fun. Once you’re up there, you get into the music and you get to dancing. I absolutely love it – I’m finally right up front. I’m bringing the full band pretty much all around the country. I can’t wait.” What: King out Friday August 26 through Cooking Vinyl Where: Brighton Up Bar When: Friday September 16
Within a few years, Cohen was fronting The Furrs, a blues-rock inspired band she formed in Brisbane. When Cohen decided to move to Melbourne, The Furrs disbanded, leaving Cohen to start her own band in her adopted city. “Starting a band under my own name just happened naturally, just like the way you’d change jobs,” she says.
Cohen agrees that a singersongwriter’s music can be viewed as a prism into the songwriter’s state of mind and life. “Everything I write happens to be personal and it just happens to be recorded under my own name,” she says. “I think people can relate to that. I think that if Bob Dylan is writing a song about his personal life, everyone would want to be in on that.” But while writing a song is personal, Cohen tries not to labour the process. “I guess I don’t really analyse it that much because it comes straight from the heart to the head to the hand to the pen,” she says. The creative process is all about finding the right creative space, and Cohen often writes alone in her room with just a guitar, a microphone and some recording equipment. “I write pretty organically – I don’t put boxes or timeframes on what I do,” she says. “I write when I write. And I’d like to keep it that way. If I’m somewhere else and a melody comes into my head, I’ll take it home and record it when I get a chance.” The move from Brisbane to Melbourne was geographically and culturally important; artistically, leaving old friends behind and becoming immersed in a new community doesn’t appear to have been that significant. “I don’t really rely on friends for inspiration. [Songwriting] always comes from within. I think wherever I am, as long as I have a beautiful space, I can write.” Cohen’s first album under her own name came with Full Closure And No Details, released earlier this year. The album was recorded over a 12-day period at Cohen’s friend and bandmate Kate ‘Babyshakes’ Dillon’s parents’ house. With its rich, atmospheric sound, the record
Flowertruck Not Adele By Joseph Earp
“O
h, great story to lead with,” says Charles Rushforth, lead singer of Flowertruck, popping a lone hot chip into his mouth. Rushforth, liquorice paper-rolled cigarette tucked behind one ear, is glaring at the band’s guitarist Hamish Dobinson, who has kicked off an interview with a story about a female fan who called him “so pretty”. “Hamish knew we were recording, so he started with that story,” deadpans Sarah Sykes, keyboardist, shielding her eyes from the sun. Drummer Will Blackburn is the only one who doesn’t take the opportunity to pile onto Dobinson, largely because he’s not here: the band reckon he’s asleep, despite the fact it’s just gone two in the afternoon. “He’s always the one getting up early and raring to go usually,” says Sykes. “So this feels like karma.” It’s a warm day, a nice one to be spent at the pub. The trio share from a jug of Coopers, sitting close against a wall in the corner of a beer garden. But, despite the heat, there are clouds brewing somewhere over the horizon, and over the course of the interview they collect; grow. It’s fitting, really: after all, one of Flowertruck’s bestknown songs is called ‘Sunshower’, and the band’s meditative yet melancholic tunes perfectly suit the kind of day where rain seems a split second away from ruining everything. “We’re going up to Bigsound,” says Sykes, hand dropping away
from her face. “It’s going to be so cool. So many of our friends are going to be up there: bands like Big White.” Rushforth nods, plucking the smoke from behind his ear and spending the next few minutes trying to light it with half a dozen matches. “We’re driving,” he says, his vain attempts to get the cigarette to catch sending up little blasts of phosphorous into the air. “Could write a story on the road – a Jack Kerouac kind of tale.” Won’t the drive take them ages? “Ten hours,” says Dobinson. “It’s not that bad.” He turns to Sykes. “You should get your L’s so you can have a go on the road.” She stares at him. “Or you could just not drive?” he giggles. This is the trio throughout the afternoon: talking shit and taking the piss, jovial, save for Dobinson’s occasional side-of-the-eye glances over to a distant section of the bar. When the chat is over, he’ll admit some of his friends were sitting in that corner, watching the interview, “blowing kisses the whole time.” The kind of comradery Flowertruck have isn’t forced, or invented – Rushforth and Dobinson used to live together, and all that time spent rehearsing and playing gigs has solidifi ed the bond between the men and Sykes, who joined the group after watching them play a show and offering her services as a musician. It’s that unfaked friendship that will prove key as they play bigger and bigger shows and as they blast through Bigsound’s exhausting schedule.
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conveys a wider sonic experience than Cohen’s live sound. “I’d like to be able to recreate the exact [live] sound, but I think that takes time and a head full of gear, and I don’t really have that yet,” she says. Full Closure is a strange, beautiful album, a fluid work of art that calls to mind the discography of artists as disparate as Lou Reed, Cat Power and Arthur Russell, all while somehow never sounding like anything else than Cohen’s. No wonder it has received its fair share of rave reviews.
Gabriella Cohen photo by Irie Langlois
The album title itself is intriguing, suggesting the completion of a personal journey sans the blowby-blow narration typically of the social media age. But Cohen says the title has only really made sense with distance. “I didn’t really think too much about it,” she says. “I was just sitting there trying to think of a semi-decent album title. But I think with all the songs, the meanings of the names... everything makes sense with distance. Now the album makes sense to me.” Courtesy of Remote Control’s involvement, Full Closure will soon be released on vinyl in the United States on the Captured Tracks label. Cohen’s first sojourn overseas – as a tourist or as a performer – will follow later this year, with shows scheduled in Los Angeles, New York and Toronto. Before her departure for the US, Cohen will perform a string of shows in Australia, a tour undoubtedly scored with the orchestral genre with which she’s currently fascinated. “My parents listen to a lot of classical music, among a lot of other genres. I just love it. I’m obsessed with strings and I’m obsessed with opera. What you can’t say, strings can say.”
I DON’T REALLY ANALYSE [MY SONGWRITING] THAT MUCH BECAUSE IT COMES STRAIGHT FROM THE HEART TO THE HEAD TO THE HAND TO THE PEN.”
What: Full Closure And No Details out now through Remote Control Where: Brighton Up Bar When: Friday September 2
“In Brisbane, we’re playing more shows than there are days,” says Dobinson. “Yeah,” agrees Sykes. “It’ll be a test of our energy and resilience.” But Rushforth has a solution. “I’m gonna have a very clean diet,” he says with a shrug, finally-lit cigarette hanging out the corner of his lips. “Only quinoa, only kale.” He’d better. Rushforth’s distinctive, stiffen-and-stutter performance style is one of the keys to the Flowertruck live experience, and his deliciously over the top dance routine – part Ian Curtis, part Andy Kaufman – often looks physically exhausting. It’s surprising then to hear that he suffers more from nerves than his bandmates: nothing about his live persona seems hesitant, or halting.
Flowertruck photo by Luke Stephenson
“Charles gets nervous,” Dobinson says. Sykes nods. “Charles locks himself in the bathroom and listens to Death Grips.” It seems like a joke, but nobody laughs. “You get nervous before every show, in your own way,” Rushforth says, shrugging. “I mean, think about it: it’s some people’s worst nightmare. Trying to relate to 50 people at once. And that’s the trick – you gotta relate to every one there.” The band nod. Dobinson looks down: there’s a dog hovering around the pot plant next to his leg, doing those distinctive, “I’mabout-to-pee” circles dangerously close to where he sits. “You have this orgasm moment when you’re playing,” he says, eyes on the dog.
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“It’s this moment of release, and it’s like, great.” “Then you have to take the drum kit home!” Rushforth laughs. But suddenly his ear-to-ear smile softens, changes – the same way a Flowertruck song like ‘Tourmaline’ can snake through the hysterical to the painfully honest. And that’s the key, Rushforth says: honesty.
“When you tell the truth, that’s the key,” says Rushforth. “For me, the onus isn’t on consciously reaching out to the audience. You don’t think, ‘I’m gonna do an Adele and write these long songs about consciously relatable things like break-ups’. You don’t do that. You sing about the things that you relate to.”
Dobinson nods, then snaps his neck over to look at the pot plantcircling dog, who is pulling into a squat. Everyone turns to watch. “Is he weeing?” Rushforth wants to know. But the dog is not – it straightens and saunters back over to his owner. “Man, that would have been a great way to end,” says Rushforth. “So good: ‘They
all sit and watch the dog wee.’” He laughs, leans back. Smiles. “Oh well.” What: King Street Crawl Where: Miss Peaches When: Sunday September 4 And: Dirt out now through Spunk
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Simple Plan Raising The Bar By Amanda Sherring
I
n a world ruled by 140 characters and 30-second clips, staying relevant and maintaining attention is harder than ever. Yet somehow Canadian pop-punk legends Simple Plan are still filling out venues after years in the business, displaying a staying power rare in an industry where audiences seem ever hungry for the next big thing. Five albums, more than ten awards and countless hits later, the band has also managed to hold onto the original lineup of Pierre Bouvier (vocals), Chuck Comeau (drums), David Desrosiers (bass, backing vocals), Sébastien Lefebvre (guitar, backing vocals) and Jeff Stinco (lead guitar). Many other groups from their era haven’t been as lucky, making Simple Plan that rare thing: a band of mates, rather than just a gaggle of musicians.
“WHEN YOU’RE MAKING A RECORD YOU DON’T WANT TO PUT OUT ONE THAT GOES NOWHERE – YOU WANT IT TO BE AN ACCOMPLISHMENT. IT MAKES YOU WANT TO WORK HARDER.”
“That has worked for us for 17 years now, and I think more and more as the years go by, we realise how special that is and how much the fans really appreciate the fact that we’re the same five. It makes it even more precious to us and makes us want to protect it even more and keep going. We appreciate that we built a legacy and we want to protect that.” The relationship Simple Plan has with their fans runs much deeper than it
Skegss For The Love Of Little Dicks By Emily Gibb
B
en Ben Bograil, Toby Cregan and Jonny Layback of Skegss are sinking beers on a warm August afternoon at the Courthouse Hotel in Newtown, ahead of one of their few rehearsals for a national tour starting in Adelaide the next day. The boys deserve a breather, following on from some hectic tours in locales as disparate as Brazil and New Caledonia. “The two most random places in the world!” agrees bassist Cregan. “That was bizarre. As random and weird as it sounds, some dude just emailed us for the New Caledonia thing. We went over there and he put us in this flashy hotel. We were just tripping out. The whole time we were going, ‘When is this guy going to shank us in the neck?’ “But we were playing these fucking random little gigs in restaurants,” he continues.“They’re hell dorky, so the music they like is too. They just didn’t get what we were doing and they wanted us to play for like three hours or something.” He cackles. “Yeah, full proper sets, like a jazz band or something.” “We can’t even play more than 40 minutes,” says drummer Layback bluntly. Their time in Brazil was equally odd. “Yeah, we played two parties and they were both skitz,” Cregan enthuses. “One was in a warehouse underground in São Paulo,” says guitarist and vocalist Bograil. “They do live sex shows there – but ones that are like performance art,”
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Cregan explains. “You go there and it’s in this like concrete room – it smelt gross when we went down there to check out the venue. The guy was saying, ‘Oh yes, they come down here and this is where they have sex!’ They put the stage where the people literally lay on the concrete and fuck in front of all these people.” Cregan still seems a little taken aback. As for future overseas tours, Layback seamlessly suggests Fiji, although the reality is that less tropic and much more conventional European
shows are on the cards for the next year. On the local front, the trio are now deep into their first national tour, one that will have the group wrapping up in their hometown of Byron in September. Wollongong’s Yours & Owls Festival follows in early October, with the band returning to the lineup after playing last year. Not much will be different this time in the ‘Gong, though they admit they have altered their opinions on what playing to a young audience entails. “Jimmy from the Dumb Punts actually filled in for me last year, because I
couldn’t go,” says Cregan. “We’re fucking the same, except Jimmy’s not going to be there. I’ll be playing the bass not as good. “It’s so good playing to the kiddies,” he laughs. “I used to not want to play to the kiddies at all. Like the first time we were playing an all-ages show, I pictured all the kids this big.” He motions to about half a metre off the ground. “I just thought they were all little fucking idiots, and then I got there and the kids were so into it. Grown-ups suck compared to teenage people.”
Cregan continues, on a roll now. “Heaps of kids from Sydney are asking us to play an all-ages, so I think we’re going to do one in summer. We would’ve done ’em in every state [this tour], except it’s hard to get all-ages venues and stuff. It’s unfair for the kiddies.” On the subject of their next Sydney gig, Layback is blunt when asked why revellers should get there early to catch Verge Collection and Dumb Punts. “’Cause they’re better than us.” There’s laughter all round.
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Simple Plan photo by Chapman Baehler
“It’s kind of crazy to think about, because there aren’t many bands [that play] our style of music that haven’t had lots of lineup changes,” Comeau says. “I think first and foremost it’s because we’re all friends: we grew up together, we came from the same kind of place, had the same values and went to the same high school together. So on that very basic level we really understand each other, and I think that makes all the difference.
Ana Popovic Directions In Blues By Gem Doow does for most bands. They haven’t just remained true to their craft and consistently made good music: they have also created something that has changed people’s lives. Luckily for the group, they have been able to access this fan feedback directly, via social media and their time on tour. “We have so many [great] moments on the road and online,” Comeau explains. “There are so many moments of love that we get from our fans, and it makes it extremely awesome for us to be aware of it. “There are more ways now than ever to realise the impact music has on people, and that’s pretty special,” he goes on. “People get our lyrics tattooed, and write us these long letters about how our music has helped them with depression and to get through tough times in their lives. It makes you realise that it’s more than just songs on a CD – it actually means a lot to a lot of people and I think that’ll never get old. It’s pretty fucking cool to hear that.” The single ‘This Song Saved My Life’ was written as a result of this fan-band relationship, a way of thanking their legion of adorers for their dedication to the group. “I’m just really humbled they [like] our songs and our band,” Comeau says. “It makes me realise how important these records are for the fans, and makes me want to work harder for them. I don’t want to let them down.” The past two years have seen Simple Plan step in a new direction, allowing their fifth studio release Taking One For The Team to pay homage to unexpected reference points. Naturally the band developed different interests over the years rather than just sticking to pop punk, and those genres have infiltrated the newest release. That said, writing the record wasn’t necessarily an easy process.
“Every record for us just gets harder and harder, because you have to live up to the records before it,” Comeau says. “These records for us were successful and did well. When you’re making a record you don’t want to put out one that goes nowhere – you want it to be an accomplishment. It makes you want to work harder and produce an album that can stand up to your legacy as a band. The bar is high and the pressure is on, so we work really hard. “It’s all about balance,” he continues, “and I think that’s particularly why this album took so long. We had a full album, but looking back we were like, ‘You know what? It sounds like it is missing some old-school uptempo songs.’ And we went back and wrote some more songs and fixed the album, because we felt that it wasn’t right. So I think it’s really important to stick to our roots and our sound, because there aren’t many other bands who do that anymore. We wrote [those last three songs] pretty much on the deadline and it changed the whole record.” In addition to the new release, Simple Plan will be heading to Australia, their first visit since hitting our fair land back in 2013. After touring Mexico, parts of Asia and America, the band was itching to head back to Oz, the country for which it penned the track ‘Summer Paradise’, a tune bursting with optimistic lyrics. “I gotta fi nd my way back, back to summer paradise” goes the chorus – no doubt Simple Plan’s fans will be waiting for them with open arms. What: Taking One For The Team out now through Warner Where: Enmore Theatre When: Saturday September 10
A
na Popovic is a guitar-playing demon with a hell of a backstory. Born in Belgrade in 1976, she was forced to flee with her family to the Netherlands to escape war. Somehow she went from émigré to living in Memphis and sharing the stage with the world’s best bluesmen. Popovic owes her chops, in no small part, to her dad’s massive vinyl collection. More often than not the young Popovic didn’t understand the lyrics, but the music spoke to her soul. “I was listening to blues in my home ever since I remember music,” Popovic reflects. “I was maybe two or three years old, and on a daily basis he’d have on Stevie Ray Vaughan or Albert King, B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Howlin’ Wolf – all of them. Delta blues, Chicago blues, Texas blues – all of the different shapes of blues. I grew up with that reality. I was deep into the blues from a very early age. Then I’d hear him jam: he would have people around once a week and they would play instruments until very late and I would stay awake to hear them play. When I was about nine or ten, I would stay up and watch. It connected me with my music.” That said, it wasn’t the blues per se that inspired Popovic to pick up an instrument. “Yeah, the only wish I had was that I could learn an instrument so that I could have fun with my friends in a jam session,” she says with a chuckle. “I never thought I’d end up doing this for a living. But I thought it would be cool to learn something so you could jam with your friends.” From the moment Popovic picked up the guitar and started taking lessons, she went at it like a dervish. Popovic takes heed from the old adage that success is ten per cent inspiration and 90 per cent perspiration, and she’s not
afraid to sweat. “I’m a perfectionist,” she says. “But it means that when people come and see us they say, ‘How is this possible? You were great last year and it’s even better this year.’ The idea is that when my audience buys a ticket to see my band and they’ve already seen ten shows, they have a reason to come back next time. I choose people to be in my band who really want to improve. There has to be constant improvement, because I don’t want to be the same band as we were last year or bring less excitement.” Popovic takes the same exacting approach to recording, including during the sessions for her latest release, Trilogy, a three-album treasure trove of soul, funk and blues. “I record, then I listen back to it later and I don’t like half,” she admits. “It’s not a big problem, it just means that I have to do a little bit better next time. Especially with Trilogy, I wasn’t going to compromise. If I didn’t like a take, I decided that I’d do it all over again with someone else. Fortunately, I didn’t have to do this too often with Trilogy, but there were still songs that didn’t make the cut. These are 23 songs that are well chosen as the best of my best. I wasn’t afraid to take charge and say, ‘OK, that was close to what I had in my head, but not quite,’ so it didn’t make it.” Trilogy displays Popovic’s versatility – there are hints of soul, funk and rockabilly thrown into the blues mix, which she says was deliberate. “The idea was to showcase as many different styles as possible. Volume one is really a funk and soul record. I really wanted a dance record. I didn’t want to be worried about shuffles. Then, volume two is blues, featuring heavier guitar and some rock, and volume three is jazz. “On every record I do, I’m not a blues purist. I’ve done that ever since my first record came out. I
wanted to make sure that nobody would expect me to be a blues purist, but on every record, the few songs that I do that are the blues, I go very deep and go deeper with every record. I like to take blues in different directions.” Over the years, Popovic has played with just about all the greats, including Solomon Burke, Taj Mahal and B.B. King. She isn’t quite prepared to choose a favourite, but is happy to admit that Chicago bluesman Buddy Guy had one hell of an impact on her. “I met him when I was just 15,” she says. “I saw his show when I was just a teenager and I was so amazed – he was out in the audience with a long lead playing guitar; the show was just incredible. Afterwards, I asked for his signature – he was the only person that I’ve ever asked for a signature. To be able to later share a stage with him in the States was a dream come true – first, when you’re coming from Eastern Europe and second when you are a female playing guitar – and that time there were hardly any female guitar players out there.” Popovic is keen to hit Australia next month on tour, all part of a strategy to conquer new territory with her licks. “I’m looking forward to some sightseeing – hopefully I’ll have time, because it’s a very tight schedule. But really I’m looking forward to meeting people and seeing how they react to my music. For us, it’s necessary to open a new territory every year. We’ve played Japan, Indonesia and Dubai – Australia is our territory for this year.” What: Trilogy out now through Artist Exclusive Where: The Basement When: Wednesday September 21
“A TYPICAL SKEGSS GIG IS LIKE: GET TOO DRUNK BEFOREHAND TO PLAY THEN PLAY TERRIBLY, MAYBE HAVE A FIGHT, TELL EVERYONE WE HAVE SMALL DICKS AND THEN LEAVE.” As the boys’ schooners are emptied and taken away, we approach the subject of a typical gig and what to expect. “Um, like, you just start,” Bograil says free of irony. “Hopefully everything works … we sometimes have tuning problems.” “Technical difficulties,” Layback adds, before Cregan sums it up.
Ana Popovic photo by Ruben Tomas
“A typical Skegss gig is like: get too drunk beforehand to play then play terribly, fucking me and Benny will go out of tune for a little bit, maybe have a fight, kick my pedal over, hit someone in the head with my guitar, tell everyone we have small dicks and then leave.” They all laugh.
“’Cause they’re better than us!” Cregan repeats with his infectious cackle. More serious, Bograil praises the pair of acts. “Vergies are such a tight band and their songs, even if you’ve never heard them before, they’re real easy to listen to. They’ve got heaps nice songs. Dumb Punts are all real close friends, but the coolest people you could ever be friends with, ’cause they’re just so stoked and just have funny banter between ’em. [They] bounce off each other the whole time.”
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“We don’t have to be drunk to tell everyone we have little dicks,” Cregan continues. “But I think that’s like from my point of view. If you come to one of our shows, it could potentially be fun. Even though we’re not going to be the most technically sound band you’ve ever seen.” “We have the most hectic fights,” Bograil finishes, smiling the smile of a proud man. With: Dumb Punts, Verge Collection and White Blanks Where: Newtown Social Club When: Thursday September 1 Also: Appearing at Yours & Owls 2016, Stuart Park, Wollongong on Saturday October 1 – Sunday October 2
“THERE HAS TO BE CONSTANT IMPROVEMENT, BECAUSE I DON’T WANT TO BE THE SAME BAND AS WE WERE LAST YEAR OR BRING LESS EXCITEMENT.” BRAG :: 677 :: 24:08:16 :: 15
The Veils Surrealistic Preacher By Jade Smith
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here is a particular richness to The Veils’ music – an expansive, convulsing quality that is part caress, part claw. Their upcoming fifth album Total Depravity is every bit as cathartic and gut-wrenching as its predecessors, although in markedly different ways. Lead by frontman Finn Andrews, the New Zealand-viaLondon band has dispensed with melodic hooks and raw tenderness to create a record that is exactly what its title entails: a manic exploration of the nightmarish and macabre. Co-produced by El-P from Run The Jewels, Total Depravity hums and whirrs with an energy that marks an entirely new sonic territory for the band. Speaking about El-P’s presence on the album, Andrews says, “Initially we just met up for a drink, as we were both in LA at the same time. It just seemed natural to try and make something after that.” This meeting led to the electronic samples and loops that encircle the album, adding to the unsettling listen with increasingly abrasive ambience. Which, actually, makes you wonder: how will these tracks be recreated live? “We don’t want to use backing tracks, so it’s technically pretty challenging. There’s some very strange, vicious little sounds on this record, so it will be really exciting hearing them for the first time on a big PA.” These “vicious little sounds” are coupled with menacing themes
“I THINK STORIES ARE WHAT I’M IN THIS FOR ULTIMATELY – IT’S WHAT I FELL IN LOVE WITH FIRST AND IT CONTINUES TO FASCINATE ME.” and characters, like L. Ron Hubbard, Pope John Paul and Steve McQueen, all of whom come alive and wreak havoc in ‘Here Come The Dead’. Regarding his emphasis on storytelling, Andrews says, “I think stories are what I’m in this for ultimately – it’s what I fell in love with first and it continues to fascinate me even when the guitar feels like a very blunt instrument and my voice frustrates me. Stories keep me going in many ways.” Andrews also says he has always enjoyed writing from somewhat foreign perspectives, and gives examples from earlier songs. “I was an expectant mother on ‘Advice For Young Mothers To Be’, and an evil blackbird on ‘Birds’.” And yet despite the surreal nature of these themes, Andrews argues the songs “still feel deeply personal”. Total Depravity takes this penchant for vivid and surreal storytelling well
beyond the intensity of previous albums Nux Vomica (2006) and Sun Gangs (2009), deeply mining the territory of the religious. At several points throughout the album, Andrews becomes an enraged preacher, shrieking with fury and fear about the Lord, the devil, demons and the dead. “Most great music obviously has its roots in churches, and I suppose I’ve always had a fascination with religious devotion because in many ways it is so alien to me, and yet I totally understand the
impulse. There is also something quite monastic about being a songwriter at times.” These elements are incredibly evident on the record and resonate through the album, as ghostly organ seeps through reverent and repulsed hymns, coalescing with Andrews’ impassioned vocals and raw, jagged guitars. With The Veils’ last Australian shows riding off the back of Sun Gangs, diehard Aussie fans have no doubt seriously considered crossing the ditch to Andrews’ second home
of New Zealand to witness the band’s particular catharsis in the flesh. But there’ll be no need to take a holiday to catch The Veils, as Andrews confirms they will be returning for to our fair shores soon. “[We’re coming] in the new year for sure! Can’t wait,” he says. And with all the dark majesty the record promises, the live show is sure to be a humbling – and exorcising – experience. What: Total Depravity out Friday August 26 through Nettwerk.
Brendan Maclean Pop Is Not A Dirty Word By Joseph Earp Australians have when it comes to writing about other Australians, Maclean seems determined to break the ‘Strayan story stigma. “We get so cringey,” he says. “When’s the last time a place was said in a song as a lyric – an Australian suburb? You have to go back to people like Paul Kelly and The Whitlams. In pop especially, they still sing about being in America, or being in California. But what’s it like to live in Footscray or Marrickville? Why not write about that?” Nonetheless, despite any musical theatre plans that may or may not be brewing away in Maclean’s head, fans need not worry – it’s unlikely that he’s going to be slinking away to the world of thespians anytime soon. His most recent EP, the ARIA chart-climbing Funbang1, is in many ways his most successful record yet – a turn of events that took even Maclean by surprise. “Funbang did better than I thought it was going to, for sure,” he says. “I didn’t expect it to chart like it did. We just thought it might blip in the iTunes chart for a second. But it kicked some butt, and now we get to tour it.”
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rendan Maclean is a lot of things to a lot of people. He’s a singer, a dancer, a songwriter, a Twitter legend, and, apparently, musical theatre’s arch-nemesis – which is rather unfortunate, given he’s talking to the BRAG only a few hours before he’s due to attend the Australian premiere of Aladdin. “I hate musical theatre,” he says with a laugh. “It’s weird ‘cause I can dance and act and sing and stuff, but I don’t like the combination. At all. I just find it really painfully false – the singing style as well. I hate the idea that everyone tries to sound the same way. I mean, I did
two years of a commercial cabaret show [Velvet]… which was like, me and Marcia Hines doing disco. And we did 300 shows, and it was pretty painful. I gave it a shot. Nobody can say I didn’t give it a shot.” He laughs. “I’m sorry musical theatre, you’re not for me.” Nonetheless, it’s a testament to Maclean’s seemingly boundless creative energies that despite his dislike for the genre, he’s already got a few ideas for potential stage shows brewing. He is, evidently, the kind of creator who exudes projects: he is endlessly
writing, producing content at a speed that would make any other artist’s head spin. “I’ve kind of got a couple of ideas that I want to hang my hat on,” Maclean says of his musical theatre plans, secretively. “Maybe I will turn to musical theatre when I give up on trying to get triple j to play me. I’ll just go down that avenue. I can write it and Marcia Hines can just play everyone.” Maclean stresses that any story he writes for the theatre would be set in Australia. Even despite the widespread awkwardness
Its chart performance might have come out of the blue for the musician, but Maclean is singularly unconcerned with the connotations that the dreaded ‘pop’ word tends to have, and he is open about his desire to make a radio-friendly record. “I knew what I wanted to do with this record, for sure – I knew I wanted to make a pop record and just see if I could get some festival gigs. It was pretty calculated. It’s not to say that I don’t like the music – but this is why I’m doing the tour so differently … I’m picking all these beautiful theatres and taking the songs back to where I wrote them.”
“WHEN’S THE LAST TIME A PLACE WAS SAID IN A SONG AS A LYRIC – AN AUSTRALIAN SUBURB? IN POP ESPECIALLY, THEY STILL SING ABOUT BEING IN AMERICA, OR BEING IN CALIFORNIA.” 16 :: BRAG :: 677 :: 24:08:16
Indeed, location is already proving key when it comes to Maclean’s tour – he’s going to play Giant Dwarf when he heads our way, rather than one of Sydney’s staple touring venues, and during his time in Melbourne specifically chose locations hosting that rarest of beasts – a real piano. “[I like] actual instruments, so I’ll be using that rather than a fucking digi-keyboard for once,” Maclean says, his voice dripping with audible glee. “I’m doing a song cycle, which is really interesting – it’s kind of an absolute fraud of me to do it, because usually that’s a classical music thing. “But I’m kind of making a pop music song cycle,” he goes on. “So I don’t talk inbetween like six of the songs – it’s in two halves – and the audience don’t clap. You just get six songs, wham right in your face. But through that I’ll explore a couple of covers, and my pop songs and the Rufus Wainwright stuff I love. People were like, ‘Why don’t you do a big show, with like, backing tracks and dancers?’ and I was like, ‘I don’t really want to do that forever’.” Bastardisation of classical forms is in many ways the key to Maclean’s style – his music is about ruffling up the hair of established structures, simultaneously sullying and slotting into genres, all while singing earwormy songs with debauched titles like ‘Hugs Not Drugs (Or Both)’. It’s one of the many ways in which he invests pop sounds with true power, and for Maclean, music is about transforming the lived experience into sound. “If you don’t sound like you, why are you singing?” he muses. “I don’t know where the pleasure would come from. That’s why I sing. Like, playing the piano and singing is something I can do by myself and it makes me so happy every day and it never gets boring. That’s why I do it.” Where: Giant Dwarf When: Tuesday August 30
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arts in focus
free stuff head to: thebrag.com/freeshit
arts news...what's goin' on around town... with Alex Chetverikov, Emily Norton and Joseph Earp
five minutes WITH
JOHANNA ALLEN FROM THE SONGS THAT GOT AWAY
Arlen was an enigma. I started to research his life and realised there was a tremendous story there and a catalogue of incredible songs. Johanna Allen
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our show, The Songs That Got Away, is a celebration of the life of Harold Arlen. How did you discover Arlen’s work? A while ago I was preparing for a big band gig and needed to give the musical director a song list of standards. I had several of my favourite songs piled around me – ‘Stormy Weather’, ‘The Man That Got Away’, ‘Old Black Magic’, ‘One For My Baby’ and of course ‘Somewhere Over The Rainbow’. I suddenly realised they were by the same man, Harold Arlen. A man I might add, I knew very little about. I knew all his contemporaries – Gershwin, Cole Porter, Irving Berlin – and I had a sense of their life but
He’s the writer behind ‘Somewhere Over The Rainbow’, ‘Blues In The Night’ and more. What do you think it is about his writing style that makes those songs so enduring? There is a sass in Arlen’s music, an inherent melancholy and a strong sense of survival. He could never really say what he was feeling in life – one of the quotes I use in the show is, “All I want to say, everything I feel: I pour into my songs.” And he does. The music is timeless – emotional but never self-pitying. It’s rich with feeling and for me, the melodies are the best of popular music. How did you go about deciding which of Arlen’s songs to include?
There is a strong correlation between Arlen’s life and The Wizard Of Oz, for which he wrote the musical score. The Wizard said, “Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain”. In this piece, the man behind the curtain is Harold Arlen. I didn’t want to play myself in this piece – you can’t transport an audience to the 1930s Cotton Club and speak in an Australian accent. Hence I play a character from the 1930s called ‘the storyteller’. The stories dictated the song choices, but we’ve included all the famous ones because that’s what people have come to hear. Opening night is coming up. Are you nervous about the debut performance? I’m not nervous yet, but I will be. Aren’t nerves always there? But what I do want to work on is the nuances of all the characters I play within the same show. If I don’t get the physicality right: audiences don’t see who I am playing as clearly, and the story suffers.
What do you want the audience to walk away from your show thinking/feeling? I deliberately didn’t want to make another biographical cabaret piece. I wanted to make something that was an acting challenge as much as a ‘big sing’. The further I got into writing it, the more I knew I had given myself that. This is a piece of theatre. I want people to feel transported. But ultimately it’s all about the music – ‘Somewhere Over The Rainbow’ is the most recorded song in history. Its timeless appeal never fails to surprise me, and I want everyone to feel its magic. Aren’t we all searching for the magic at the end of the rainbow? Mr Arlen makes us feel it’s just there in sight.
EIGHT DAYS A WEEK: THE TOURING YEARS
You like The Beatles. You’ll notice that was not phrased like a question, because everybody likes The Beatles. This has been scientifically proven. For that reason, you’re going to be excited about the upcoming release of The Beatles: Eight Days A Week – The Touring Years, a new documentary helmed by the one and only Ron Howard. An intimate look at a worldclass group at the height of their powers, the doco is sure to appeal to Beatleophiles (AKA everyone) and cinemagoers alike. We’ve got five in season double passes to give away. Enter the draw at thebrag. com/freeshit, won’tcha?
What: The Songs That Got Away Where: Glen Street Theatre When: Thursday September 8 Sunday September 11
I’M FEELING THIRTY THREE
Thirty Three
Queen 3 by Paul Ryan
PLEDGE ALLEIGIANCE
My lords and ladies, I give to you the exhibition Queen And Country. Well technically, Paul Ryan is giving it to you – on display at the Olsen Irwin. Queen And Country is a two part exhibition of new oil paintings by Ryan, proving one part Queen Elizabeth and one part Northern Illawarra landscape, but two parts gorgeous (just don’t judge the math.) The exhibition includes five portraits of Queen Elizabeth, now in her 90s and still looking remarkably strong, while the landscape works are a continuation of a series Ryan has been painting for 30 years. Queen And Country runs Wednesday August 24 – Sunday September 11.
day of presentations, course information and networking with staff and students. The free open day will go down on Saturday September 3, offering a great opportunity for those interested in pursuing film to engage and interact with the school’s comprehensive program. The school enjoys an exceptional rate of graduate employment. Along with expert-led presentations and a detailed overview on the courses offered, teachers will provide demonstrations covering cinematography, sound and the overall filmmaking process. Don’t miss it, to be held at the Sydney Film School’s campus in Waterloo.
Red Line Productions is set to open the second level of the Old Fitz Hotel with the debut of Thirty Three, the new production from Michael Booth and Alistair Powning. The new initiative sees the hotel use the second floor as an intimate, dynamic performance space, seating thirty audience members. The debut production, Thirty Three, directed by Booth, has been designed to present a varied and engaging performance which will include live music and free-form dancing. The plot focusses on Saskia, celebrating her 33rd birthday with a low-key private party on her Sydney terrace for a night of music and laughter, but the arrival of her estranged younger brother ensues a chaotic turn in events. Featuring an all-star cast, this is sure to be an immersive experience. Thirty Three will run its season from Tuesday September 20 – Saturday October 8.
WELLS, WELLS, WELLS
A new exhibition by acclaimed artist Rachel Wells is heading to Sydney. The digital and mixed-media artworks in the Reverie – A Place to Contemplate exhibition were created from the Sydney based artist’s personal musings, and the exhibition will be opened by renowned mixed-media artist Susan O’Doherty. Wells’ inspiration struck when she unearthed the travel albums of her great, great aunts, who travelled around the globe between World War I and World War II. Wells utilised the tiny photographs and postcards and creatively
RETRO RETROSPECTIVE
Roll up, roll-up! Calling all patrons of the arts! If you’re an aesthete, or you just have some spare time to kill, head on down to Katthy Cavaliere’s posthumous exhibition Photographs And Drawings, which displays a selection of photographs and drawings curated by Grace Buzese. Katthy Cavaliere was an Italian born Australian artist who worked across performance, installation, photography, video, film and drawing. This posthumous collection has been specially curated, designed to highlight the stunning talents of this singularly impressive star. The opening night is Wednesday August 24, and the exhibition runs till Sunday September 18 at Galerie Pompom.
MAKE IT TO MANLY
For 14 days, Manly will host its 23rd annual celebration of art and culture, to be opened by esteemed violinist, composer and conductor Richard Tognetti on Friday September 16. Set against the picturesque surf beach, the festival offers a huge range of family-friendly events: exhibitions, concerts, presentations, dance, film and creative workshops. This year promises to be very special, with the launch of two new locally-inspired art exhibitions, while the Manly Art Gallery and Museum will also see a special cultural presentation of the work of Frida Kahlo. Attracting about 15,000 visitors annually, this is a wonderful celebration of both local and international art and culture. Bookings for many events are essential; visit manlyartsfestival. com.au.
FLICK OFF
The internationally recognised Sydney Film School is set to open its doors for a free full 18 :: BRAG :: 677 :: 24:08:16
combined these elements with scans of grainy gardening books from the 1970s to produce hyperreal digital photographic montages. The artworks feature ghostly, faded sepia images detailing landcapes and faces that were influenced by the artist’s ponderings concerning memory. The audience is invited to question whether memories simply disappear when a person passes, or whether they are stored somewhere. Rachel Wells’ Reverie - A Place To Contemplate exhibition will run from Thursday August 25 - Sunday September 18 at Kensington Contemporary.
Felix Johnson and Kate Cheel in 4 Minutes 12 Seconds
ONLY MINUTES REMAINING
The team behind last year’s highly successful season of The Aliens reunites for the Australian premiere of James Fritz’s Olivier Award-nominated play, 4 Minutes 12 Seconds. The Old Fitz stage is set for the debut of Fritz’s acclaimed production, with director Craig Baldwin overseeing this highly topical examination of technology and its varied effects on modern society. Directly provoking that which we’ve come to take for granted, 4 Minutes 12 Seconds opens a dialogue on not only the relevance and detriment of technology, but also takes a broad look at its impact on family dynamics and the overarching social caste system. 4 Minutes 12 Seconds will run its season from Tuesday September 13 – Saturday October 8 at The Old Fitzroy Theatre.
Katthy Cavaliere
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GRIFFIN THEATRE COMPANY PRESENTS THE WORLD PREMIERE OF
GLORIA
BY BENEDICT ANDREWS 26 AUGUST-8 OCTOBER ‘She’s a star, still a star, every inch a star.’
SBW Stables Theatre 10 Nimrod Street Kings Cross griffintheatre.com.au 02 9361 3817
Production Sponsor
Government Partners
THE STRIDES JOSEPH TAWADROS QUARTET GRACE BARBÉ AFRO-KREOL AJAK KWAI DECLAN KELLY PRESENTS DIESELN’DUB AFROBRASILIANA SOUNDSYSTEM MIRIAM LIEBERMAN TRIO EMILY WURRAMARA MIDDAY TO 8PM BICENTENNIAL PARK GLEBE book tickets at globalrhythms.com.au
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arts in focus “PEOPLE ARE JUST SO INTERESTING. I’M MUCH MORE INTERESTED IN CHATTING TO RANDOM PEOPLE AND
FEATURE
Margaret Cho
Julian Clary
[COMEDY] Still Crazy After All These Years By David James Young
[COMEDY] Honours From The Queen By Joseph Earp
better to take things head-on in that way. I was so grateful for the entire experience.” If that wasn’t enough, Cho has been lending her voice – literally – to an art form removed from the world of comedy. In April, she released her second studio album of original music, American Myth. According to Cho, it’s a chance for her to explore other ways to get her ideas out into the open – a dance between the elements of comedy and tragedy. “I make music for fun and for my own entertainment,” she says. “It’s a way of creatively expressing myself in a different way. I really enjoy the process – it’s really exciting and it’s fun to do. It opens itself up to a whole bunch of other stuff, too – I get to collaborate with other artists that I love, I get to make music videos, I get to make music videos with other people, I get to work with a whole different crew who are all amazing and creative.”
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he times, they are a-changin’ – and not always for the better. Margaret Cho is all too aware of this, with her Twitter feed often bemoaning the rise of Donald Trump, police brutality and the continued mistreatment of LGBTQIA people. How then does Cho face up to issues like these while also maintaining her role as an entertainer and a stand-up comedian? “I think that you have to find some way of coping,” she reasons, speaking from her home in Los Angeles. “Comedy and humour are coping mechanisms. With so many things going on in the world, it’s a way to come to terms with it all.” Unprompted, she jumps into a tirade directed against Omar Mateen, the former security guard who opened fire at a gay night club in Orlando, Florida. “I’m still not over what happened in Orlando – it was Latin night, it was an 18-and-over night, and you had this dumb queen who couldn’t handle rejection on his dick app,” she says. “He decided to take it out on a gay bar, and I consider the gay bar to be a holy place. It’s a place of peace, and it was maybe the first night that a lot of those young people were finding acceptance.” 2016 has been a very busy year for Cho – she served as a co-host on the late Joan Rivers’ Fashion Police, voiced a character on
Family Guy, continued the world tour she begun the year before (the punningly titled Psycho) and made an appearance on Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee, the web series hosted by Jerry Seinfeld that does exactly what it says on the coffee tin. In the episode, released back in June, Cho explains to Seinfeld about a haywire gig back in March where she had a meltdown of sorts at a New Jersey comedy club called the Stress Factory. From there, Seinfeld takes the initiative to set up a return to that same venue with Cho in order to moderate a discussion between her and the disgruntled attendees that walked out on that very night. “Jerry and I have had a great relationship that has lasted for 30-plus years,” Cho says. “He’s very parental and protective, even though he’s not that much older than me. I enjoyed doing that show, even though going back to that club was difficult. Clubs like these are very important places – they’re where comedy is born, and by having this spat with them, I really felt as though I had tarnished their reputation. It’s a small club, and it’s a venue owned by a comedian, and those places really need to be nurtured. I got that audience back to sort of discuss what it is that happened, and they were thankfully so lovely and so open to the idea. I find it’s
It would be amiss not to bring up Cho’s appearance in Peaches’ ‘Dick In The Air’ video, which saw them in full-body suits covered in fake fur that happened to have a – you guessed it – dick attached. “The suits were really itchy!” laughs Cho. “They got stretched, and everyone wanted to pull on the dick part – especially mine, which was very long. They got itchier and itchier and more bent out of shape as we went along – and we were shooting for three days. Peaches is a real innovator – she is a real visionary force in music.” Cho is set to return to Australia this September, with a run of capital city dates lined up and a key appearance at the Sydney Opera House booked in as a part of the Just For Laughs festivities. Cho has been coming to Australia for many years, but instead of seeing the Union Jack and the Southern Cross, all she sees on the Australian flag is the rainbow. “My initial experience was going there for Mardi Gras,” she says. “I got to see Australia – across all of its breadth and width – as a whole gay nation. I can’t think of it any other way. The culture, the cities... I mean you even have a state called Queensland. It’s a gay place in my head – I really love it. We haven’t seen marriage equality in Australia yet, but I just know that it’s coming. I know you guys aren’t gonna let New Zealand fuck you like that.” What: The Psycho Tour as part of Just For Laughs Sydney 2016 Where: Sydney Opera House When: Friday September 9
“WE HAVEN’T SEEN MARRIAGE EQUALITY IN AUSTRALIA YET, BUT I JUST KNOW THAT IT’S COMING. I KNOW YOU GUYS AREN’T GONNA LET NEW ZEALAND FUCK YOU LIKE THAT.” 20 :: BRAG :: 676 :: 17:08:16
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y his own admission, Julian Clary isn’t having the most exciting of mornings. “I’ve spent the last hour on the phone talking to people like you – though it could [be] worse, I suppose,” says the comedian/author/all-round media personality, with a laugh so dry it’s barely there.
FEATURE
Clary admits he has had his fair share of unpleasant journalistic encounters, which perhaps explains the guarded, ever-so-slightly removed tone he uses when talking to the BRAG. “There are sometimes tricky journalists, or ill-informed ones – people who can’t be bothered, or people who don’t like you,” he says. “It’s all nonsense, really. All I want to do is sell tickets to the show – to let people know I’m on. That’s my ultimate aim doing all this.” Given that seems like a cue to ask Clary about The Joy Of Mincing, the comedy show he is touring Down Under this year, the conversation is briskly hurried in that direction. Clary seems relieved. “The show is about – well, all manner of things,” he says, suddenly cheery. “But, having been around so many years … I’ve noticed that I haven’t been awarded an MBE, unlike many of my showbiz chums. I think that’s probably because I’ve been so terribly rude about the royal family over the years.” He laughs. “So I’ve decided to award myself an MBE. And then I’ve decided to hand out MBEs to the good people of Australia while I’m there, so I’ll be choosing those among you who I think deserve to be honoured. Then they come up onstage and they go away with the most beautiful diamond MBE that they can keep for eternity.” That level of audience participation is a daunting prospect, one that most other comedians might balk at – after all, it’s basically public improv with a partner who might not even have the most basic handle on live comedy. But Clary has spent years honing the mysterious art of plucking willing – and unwilling – colleagues from crowds. “There must be a [skill] to it, but I don’t know what it is,” he says. “It’s very hard to analyse.” “It’s sort of a psychic thing, I think. I make a lot of eye contact with people, then I can tell if they’re going to be good fun. I can tell if they’re mad too, or if they’re drunk. People are just so interesting. I’m much more interested in chatting to random people and improvising a comedy routine than I am in anything I might write, polish and hone. I just think it’s more exciting to do something that’s a bit dangerous.” For examples of Clary’s mysterious psychic art, one need make only the
most cursory of YouTube searches. There they will find clips of him calling out punters as diverse as an old woman in a pleat skirt – as on his TV show Sticky Moments – to a young, nervous looking boy sitting in the front row of the Rove Live audience. “People might think it’s humiliating, but it’s actually not – it’s actually good for people,” Clary says. “They might be petrified to begin with, but then I can reassure them. Then they have that experience. I think it’s something to talk about at dinner parties, if nothing else.” This element of Clary’s act is also helped by his indomitable reputation. Although he is best known in his native United Kingdom, where he is a household name, he has fans across the globe. “Because I’ve been around the block a few times now, people kind of know what they’re coming to see,” he explains. “They like me. I think back to the ’80s when people used to book to see comedy and they didn’t know who you were. But this is different. These are my kind of people. Everyone is out for a good time.” That said, Clary’s interest in spreading himself across every available medium has ensured that his audience is nothing if not diverse, and even he is often taken aback by the striking range of punters he has to pick from. “It’s very hard to define who the audience are. There are those who
have been around since the ’80s and then there are those who are there depending on what I’m doing. “So I did Strictly Come Dancing, which is the UK version of Dancing With The Stars, and then I got a silver-haired lady contingent coming [to shows]. Then I did Celebrity Big Brother in 2012 which brought in a whole load of younger people, but then there’s also the book crowd and the gay and lesbian crowd … You can’t say there’s one type. It’s ever so mixed. Which I like, really. I wouldn’t like it to be exclusive to one group or the other.” And yet no matter what kind of audience Clary is performing in front of, the sheer thrill he gets from stepping up to the stage remains the same. “All your energy is focused on those two hours onstage. So all I have to do is sit in a car and be transported from one location to the next. I don’t go out raving after the show like I might have done 20 years ago. It’s really the joy of making people laugh, and sending people home happy.” He laughs heartily – a far cry from the dry sound that kicked off the interview. “That’s the satisfaction. It always feels like a job well done.” What: The Joy Of Mincing as part of Just For Laughs Sydney 2016 Where: Sydney Opera House When: Thursday September 8
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arts in focus
Alan Carr
FEATURE
[COMEDY] Chatting Away By Tim Armitage
M
any people are suspicious of visiting psychics, but for TV host and stand-up Alan Carr, having his fortune told might have been a shrewd investment. After all, it was a chance meeting with a soothsayer that set him on his career path from an early age. “The psychic told me that my future lay in comedy. This was before anything. Everything she said was spot on.” That said, some of the medium’s predictions were a little too accurate for his liking. “I was going out with a guy at the time who was over from America. She told me I wouldn’t see him again after a month, and I was like, ‘No, we’re in love.’ But of course he bloody buggered off back to America.” Carr’s first tentative steps onto the comedy stage took place during an elective subject he took while completing his drama degree at London’s Middlesex University. “As part of the unit, you’d go to a pub and perform a routine in front of a load of people, and your tutor would be at the back incognito marking you. It was absolutely terrifying. But it went down well, and I thought, ‘Alan, you are hysterical!’” However, after a rough second gig in Camden where he got booed off stage, the comedian swore he’d never do stand-up again, and for the next four years comedy was the furthest thought from his mind. He took a “dead end job” at a call centre that made him “totally miserable”. But before long, Carr’s stories about his mishaps and misadventures in the call centre were cracking up co-workers, and it was time to give stand-up another shot. “The local pub
“I THINK I’M HONEST, AND I CHAT TO THE GUESTS LIKE PEOPLE AT HOME WOULD. I’M NOT CONDESCENDING AND I’M NOT A BROWN NOSE EITHER.”
The life of the touring comedian is a busy one, but surely Carr will have time to sightsee? Maybe even to indulge in some of Australia’s more extreme pastimes – perhaps some cage diving might be in order? “Well you can forget that,” Carr shrieks down the line. “I bloody hate sharks. I once asked Paul McKenna, the hypnotherapist, whether my fear of being eaten by a shark was irrational. He said, ‘Where do you live?’ I said, ‘Upper Holloway in Central London.’ He said, ‘That might be irrational.’”
had a stand up show,” he explains. “I did some new material and got a big laugh and thought, ‘You know what? I’ll have a go at this’.”
The multi talented comic is currently on location in LA filming a spin off from his successful talk show, Chatty Man. Now in its sixteenth season and closing in on 200 episodes, to what does he attribute its success and longevity? “I think I’m honest, and I chat to the guests like people at home would,” he says. “I’m not condescending and I’m not a brown nose either. The show’s not too pluggy – I think the balance is right. It’s nice when guests want to come back, because it shows you’re doing your job well.”
Carr will be in Australia early next month, performing his show Yap, Yap, Yap! as part of the Just For Laughs Festival. Given the intensely personal nature of the show, one can’t help but wonder: is it difficult to share secrets with total strangers? “It’s definitely challenging. I talk a lot about my partner Paul and my mother and they’re not always keen on being included. But as I say, ‘Look mum, I bought you a new kitchen – that money has to come from somewhere. I need new material for my show, so put up or shut up.’” However, this won’t be the comic’s first time in Sydney. “I was skint last time. I was one of those annoying pommies that come to Sydney with a backpack. I shared a room with two lesbians and four Irishmen in a Kings Cross hostel and worked as a ‘dishpig’ in a local cafe. This time it will be nice to have a room by myself and be able to go to a nice restaurant instead of pressing my nose up against the glass like Oliver Twist.”
Carr’s easygoing style is particularly disarming in an entertainment world where celebrities have been extensively trained to talk about their latest film/book/show/perfume, and interviews have increasingly become advertorial rather than entertaining. Carr doesn’t walk on eggshells around A-listers – he’d much rather pull the rug out from under them, and he’s a little more Austin Powers than Michael Parkinson. When it comes to ‘relaxing’ his guests, one of the many tools Carr has in his arsenal is the infamous globe-shaped mini bar that sits at the end of the show’s couch. As each guest arrives,
Carr offers them a calming beverage to kick off the proceedings, only for them to realise that he has filled the mini bar with an array of hideous alcopops. Where does he find such awful offerings? “I tell my staff that if any of them goes on holiday around Europe, they have a budget of 5 Euros to spend on alcohol to bring back for the globe. We recently drank something from Greece that was rainbow coloured and tasted like metal iron filings. By the fourth drink, I just wanted a kebab and a fight!”
Horses In The Sky
Before long though, Carr’s hyperactive mind begins to wander back to Australia’s formidable wildlife. “If I get bitten by a shark, I’m going to blame you,” he says playfully. “If you see me on stage with one leg, I’m going to sue you, OK?” But despite his concern, the auguries seem to predict Carr will be just fine. What: Yap, Yap, Yap! as part of Just For Laughs Sydney 2016 Where: Sydney Opera House When: Tuesday September 6 – Wednesday September 7
FEATURE
[DANCE] Surviving The Cold By Tegan Jones
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uring World War II, a young Jewish woman named Yehudit Arnon was imprisoned in Auschwitz. The Nazi guards discovered she was a dancer and asked her to perform for them at Christmas. In an inspiring act of defiance, she refused, stating that they would not be allowed to have that important part of herself. As punishment, Arnon was forced to stand out in the snow, but she survived the cold and vowed to dedicate her life to dance.
Horses In The Sky photo by Eyal Hirsh
This is the story of how the Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company (KCDC) from Israel was formed. Arnon made it through the war and founded the company in the 1970s. Over 40 years later, the company remains one of the most innovative on the planet, and is set to bring its latest show, Horses In The Sky, to the Sydney Opera House. Featuring music from Björk, Tim Hecker and Olafur Arnalds, it is set to be a night of contemporary dance that won’t soon be forgotten. With the company’s fascinating history in mind, it’s hardly surprising that KCDC has become an inspiration for others, including its artistic director, Rami Be’er, who fell in love with both KCDC and the art of dance as a child. “In 1948 my parents came from Hungary and decided to build a new life in the north of Israel,” he says. “In 1967 I was born, and my parents really influenced me because they were musicians. So I grew up in an AustroHungarian cultural home – there were a lot of books. My father was an architect, as well as a violin player. So I grew up with a lot of culture, paintings, poetry and music. All of these things very much affected me. thebrag.com
“The company was founded originally in 1973, and I came to it in 1981 as both a dancer and a choreographer,” he continues. “The founder of the company, Yehudit Arnon, recognised my talent and potential from when I was a child, and she knew how to encourage and support it. As soon as I finished in the army, I had to fight between the music – I was a cello player – and the dance. I chose dance because I could still include music and individuality: all of the things I was interested in. In 1996, I became the artistic director of the company and I have gotten to perform my work all over the world.” In addition to being the director of KCDC, Be’er is also responsible for the choreography, staging, lighting, costume design and sound editing of Horses In The Sky. This may seem like an overwhelming feat, but Be’er loves taking on multiple roles. Not only do all these artistic elements come naturally to him, they also enable him to truly fulfil his vision for each work. One gets the sense that Be’er is quite literally involved in the process of bringing his dreams to life. “I do it because I see something in my head or I hear music and want to create it. My source of inspiration comes from difference places. It could be the articles that I read, poems that I read, paintings, or inspiration from nature, from my dancers, from my animals. All of those are sources of inspiration for me. Everything around me – my family and my children, all of the people I surround myself with, are inspirations for my work. In the studio with the dancers I try to create something that serves the idea and the world I want to create.”
In this particular case, it is the world of Horses In The Sky that is being brought to life. Although not much has been said about what the piece itself is about, it does involve what Be’er describes as, “[something that] brings together dreams and a sense of impending apocalypse.” “I’m so happy to be coming to Sydney with our latest creation,” says Be’er. “It’s over an hour long without intermission and involves the whole company of over 15 dancers. I try to create the world onstage through every element: through the soundtrack, the stage design, the lighting, the costumes, and even the text.” As mentioned, Be’er doesn’t offer much in the way of storyline. But
with a lot of modern dance pieces, this isn’t the point. Audiences are there to experience something more than a linear voyage with a distinct beginning, middle and end – it’s really about so much more. “It’s not about a narrative,” Be’er explains. “The way that I like to think about it is as a journey. I invite people to come to the theatre and sit in a chair. The lights go down and the curtain goes up and I give them a certain look, but leave it to them to find their meaning through the piece. Everyone has their own interpretation, their own feelings and their own thoughts. When the curtains go up they will have their own question marks and things to think about. It’s not about answers.”
One of the most beautiful things about Horses In The Sky, and indeed even the medium of dance in general, is the universal nature of it. The KCDC may be a company from Israel, but its messages and expression continue to be felt and understood around the world. Be’er, with his lifelong love affair with dance, summarises it best, saying, “Dance is a way to create communication between different cultures, different languages. Without too many words you can create a dialogue between different people.” Where: Sydney Opera House When: Wednesday August 31 – Saturday September 3
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film reviews Hits and misses on the silver screens around town
never saw – an orgy of satire, an orgy of gore and, fancy that, a straight up sexual orgy, with intercourse featuring heavily in a plot that slides through the digestive system like a slimy and oozing rack of ribs.
■ Film
SAUSAGE PARTY In cinemas now “What the flying fuck?” is how any review of Sausage Party should begin. After all, that’s the general sentiment that flies around your head as the movie gets real deep inside ya. The movie, the brainchild-gremlin of Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill and Evan Goldberg, is being heralded as an animation fi lm for adults. Jam-packed with cameos from almost every Saturday Night Live comedian and Hollywood ‘it’ personality, co-directed by the guy that brought us Shrek 2 and scored by Alan Menken, the composer behind ‘A Whole New World’ and ‘Colours Of The Wind’, the fi lm quite literally bulges with promise. If Superbad, Pineapple Express, The Interview, South Park and American Dad were all to fall into a vat of expletives, food fetishes, atheistic principles and food porn – literal food porn, that is – the mix might just resemble Sausage Party. Rarely have horror and fascination been so closely in partnership. The fi lm is an orgy, the likes of which Rome
The score is mesmerising, all soaring melodies and charming harmonies, making you laugh, sing, squirm and choke. The animation too is stellar, but it’s in the layers of satirical dialogue, character quirk and the juggernaut of metaphor that Sausage Party fi nds the sweet spot. Our brain, moral compass and sense of self are all put through the grater, as verbal exchanges collaborate with impeccable animation to create constant dualisms. It’s also a surprisingly clever fi lm. The mind is consistently viewing, decoding and analysing the surface offerings to taste the saucier fl avours within the layers. Yes, this fi lm is out to shock you. It is out to be controversial. Seth Rogen has even been quoted as saying he’s mystifi ed as to why a studio allowed him to make this fi lm. Complete with heavy lashings of weed, ideological liberalism, profanity and enlightenment in all its forms, Sausage Party is a satirical stab at the innocent fl icks
they make over at Disney, even if the fi lm itself would not only make Walt roll in his grave but also revoke everything he contributed to make his empire. In summary: shit, fuck, balls and cracker jacks up the bleeding arse. That about sums the fi lm up. Amy Henderson
■ Film
■ Film
In cinemas now
In cinemas now
TICKLED
THE SHALLOWS
Take the red pill, stay in Wonderland, and see just how deep the rabbit hole goes in this year’s answer to Catfi sh – a journey that starts off seemingly innocent but rapidly dives into surprising and disturbing new realms.
As a summer blockbuster to sit back and switch off to, The Shallows delivers, featuring enough chills to convince the audience to overlook how snarkily well the content reflects the title.
David Farrier’s job is documenting pop culture and strange behavior, and when he stumbles upon a YouTube video about competitive endurance tickling, he can’t resist. But when he begins to investigate, he’s met with vicious, personally insulting emails from the sport’s organisers. Farrier and co-director Dylan Reeve set off on a journey to find out what’s at the heart of this bizarre phenomenon.
Nancy (Blake Lively) has been searching for a secret beach in Mexico, one her mother visited decades ago, and she’s finally found it. But as the sun sets over paradise, Nancy comes face to face with nature’s perfect predator, and finds herself forced into a battle of attrition after climbing to safety on an outcrop of rock. The set-up leaves its audience expecting a pulse-pounding blockbuster with a foxy leading lady, but director Jaume ColletSerra takes the higher ground. Early on, there’s some lingering shots of Lively’s athletic body, but once the shark comes
Arts Exposed
into the picture, the director turns his focus to survival alone. With perhaps the best intentions, Anthony Jaswinski attempts to write
What's in our diary...
some depth into the character, but his script is weak and overreliant on emotional crutches. The completely superfluous epilogue is the most cringeworthy moment: Lively’s pathos carries the film so well that the forced finale is near insulting. The Shallows is at its strongest when Lively has to step up and battle more pressing concerns. Collet-Serra and Jaswinski make the most of key setpieces in this game of cat and mouse: in one garish sequence, Lively is stranded on the back of a dying whale. Things get even more gruesome when Lively has to perform makeshift surgery on a deep bite, but outside of that, the film is mostly gore-free. After all, Collet-Serra knows he can induce revulsion merely by focusing on Lively’s face as she sees an unfortunate soul devoured. The whole ordeal is magnificently lensed by Flavio Martínez Labiano, the team’s greatest asset. The credit sequence alone is enough to recommend the cinematographer’s colour-drenched mastery, and he captures Lively’s desperation and physical prowess (she did most of the surfing and stunts herself) with great care and finesse.
One Hundred Aspects Of The Moon Art Gallery Of New South Wales, running now till Sunday November 20. Ukiyo-e printmaking, otherwise known as the intricate detailing of woodblock prints and paintings, was one of Japan’s foremost modes of artistic expression from the 17th century through to the 19th. Translated as “pictures of the floating world”, it represented a popular poetic commentary on subjects as varied as kabuki actors, the lunar cycle, local flora and fauna, provincial landscapes, and erotica. Each print is a vignette, a moment caught in time; together, the prints are an imaginative and highly technical mode of storytelling. Exhibited for the first time in its entirety in Australia, One Hundred Aspects Of The Moon was Tsukioka Yoshitoshi’s final collection of ukiyo-e, considered by many to be a masterpiece from the ukiyo-e master. The collection will encompass the entire exhibition space, with half the works to be displayed freestanding as an illustration of the lunar cycle, transforming the venue into an immersive and expressive space within which to appreciate the grandeur of the series.
The same can not be said for the effects team, whose CGI beastie is unbearably fake. When it’s seen in silhouette, it produces chills; obscurity lends it an air of menace that it doesn’t possess in full view. When The Shallows embraces the absurdity of its premise, it’s joyous. One crucial moment at the end produced whoops and applause from the audience, as did Nancy’s strangely accommodating seagull companion Steve.
What surprises most about Tickled is how unexpectedly dark it becomes – while we’re not talking murder and mayhem, the truth is not far off, and there’s certainly more to the world of tickling than you may have thought possible. Farrier and Reeve investigate the world of fetishism, how competitive tickling has affected the lives of its participants, and the disturbing origin of the sport. Like being tickled, it all starts off harmless and funny, but becomes more uncomfortable – and even alarming – the longer it continues. Throughout, Farrier displays a journalistic integrity that goes above and beyond. He and Reeve face threats legal and physical, and both weather the storm in order to see the truth uncovered. Their bravery and cordiality in taking on adversarial subjects is laudable, given just how personal their detractors get. Dominic Fryer’s cinematography is the defining factor, giving the film a sheen of professionalism and hypermodern currency. While the directors are off scouting out places to catch a mark in public, Fryer is in the snow capturing slow motion footage of hawks hunting prey, while editor Simon Coldrick lends poetic weight and space to Fryer’s lensing. The dust is not settled when the credits roll, and dissatisfaction with the narrative’s ‘end’ lingers. The danger of a documentary concept with legal ramifications and no concrete conclusion are that its final act falls away – we’re given so much new information, but we are not given justice or catharsis. To say any more is to spoil the twists and turns of the narrative, and just as the marketing promises, you won’t see them coming. Farrier is the perfect cypher for such explorations, always curious and unwilling to judge; how effortlessly this genial character must have secured a producer in Stephen Fry. Delving into fetish, fraud and felony with boundless curiosity, Tickled’s riveting journey into villainy is another triumph for the documentary form. David Molloy
Though it flounders when trying to dive deep, The Shallows succeeds as an entertaining genre flick executed with technical flair and loving touches of B-grade gratuity. David Molloy
The exhibition is free, and the gallery is open 10am – 5pm. 22 :: BRAG :: 677 :: 24:08:16
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OPENDAY 3RD SEPTEMBER 2PM - 5PM
Our students make over 180 short films a year. You learn by making films. And that experience translates into employment success with 85% of our Advanced Diploma Graduates currently pursuing careers in film, tv and online production. No wonder topuniversities.com rates us as the leading independent film school in Australia. Join us for the afternoon to see student films, take a tour and hear all about our two courses: Diploma of Screen and Media (CUF50107) and Advanced Diploma of Screen and Media (CUF60107).
REGISTER TODAY 82 Cope Street WATERLOO NSW 2017
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PH: 02 9698 2244
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BARS BRAG
A Work In Progress 50 King St, Sydney CBD (02) 9240 3000 Mon – Fri noon-2am; Sat 5pm-2am Ash St Cellar 1 Ash St, Sydney CBD (02) 9240 3000 Mon – Fri 8.30am-11pm The Attic 275 Pitt St, Sydney CBD (02) 9284 1200 Mon – Wed 10am-midnight; Thu 10am-1.30am; Fri 10am-3am; Sat noon1.30am Assembly
488 Kent St, Sydney CBD (02) 9283 8808 Mon – Tue 5pm-midnight; Wed – Fri noon-midnight; Sat 5pm-midnight The Australian Heritage Hotel 100 Cumberland St, The Rocks (02) 9247 2229 Mon – Sun 10.30am-midnight Bar Eleven Lvl 11, 161 Sussex St, Sydney CBD (02) 9290 4712 Mon – Thu 4-9pm; Fri – Sat 4-11pm The Barber Shop 89 York St, Sydney CBD (02) 9299 9699
Mon – Wed 4pm-midnight; Thu – Fri 3pm-midnight; Sat 4pm-midnight Basement Bar Basement, 27-33 Goulburn St, Sydney CBD (02) 8970 5813 Mon – Thu 5pm-10pm; Fri – Sat 5pm-midnight The Baxter Inn Basement 152-156 Clarence St, Sydney CBD Mon – Sat 4pm-1am Beta Bar First Floor, 238 Castlereagh St, CBD (02) 8599 8970 Wed – Thu 5pm-midnight; Fri midday-midnight; Sat 5pm-midnight
Bulletin Place First Floor, 10-14 Bulletin Place, Circular Quay Mon – Wed 4pm-midnight; Thurs – Sat 4pm-1am; Sun 4-10pm Burrow Bar De Mestre Place, Sydney 0450 466 674 Mon – Sun 4pm-midnight The Captain’s Balcony 46 Erskine St, Sydney CBD (02) 9299 3526 Mon – Fri noon-midnight; Sat 5pm-midnight deVine 32 Market St, Sydney CBD (02) 9262 6906 Mon – Fri 11.30am-11.30pm; Sat
TOKYO BIRD
Tell us about your bar: Tokyo Bird is a Japanese-inspired small bar in Surry Hills, with a focus on Japanese whiskies and beers, cocktails, saké and yakitori (grilled chicken parts on skewers). We aim to combine the best of Tokyo’s yakitoriya with the classic Japanese-style cocktail, mixing up styles in the setting of an intimate Sydney small bar. We’ve been open in Belmore Lane since December 2014. What’s on the menu? Yakitori, as well as other proteins like wagyu beef, pork belly and scallops as well as vegetables like miso eggplant and shiitake mushrooms. We also have a range of snacks like lotus root chips, katsu chicken nuggets
and gyoza, all of which are crowd favourites, perfect for sharing over a drink or two. Care for a drink? We have Asahi Super Dry and Asahi Dry Black on tap. Kaku highballs are very popular – they’re Suntory Kakubin whisky, soda and lemon. On the cocktail front, the Black Star Martini – gin, Aperol, lime, watermelon, rose and strawberry foam, pistachio crumble - is a current favourite, while the Japanese Hunter – whisky, cherry brandy, applewood smoke – has become a Tokyo Bird signature. That said, whisky enthusiasts usually can’t go past a whisky from the extensive back bar, served neat or on a crystal clear ball of ice.
bar bar
OF
BELMORE LANE, SHOP 2, 226-228 COMMONWEALTH STREET, SURRY HILLS PHONE NUMBER: (02) 8880 0788 WEBSITE: WWW.TOKYOBIRD.COM.AU OPENING HOURS: MON – SAT 5PM - MIDNIGHT
TH
EK
B R A G ’ S G U I D E T O S Y D N E Y ’ S B E S T WAT E R I N G H O L E S
5.30-11.30pm Easy Eight 152-156 Clarence St, Sydney (02) 9299 3769 Mon – Sat 4pm-midnight El Camino Cantina 18 Argyle St, The Rocks Mon – Thu noon- midnight; Fri – Sat noon-3am; Sun 11.30am-midnight Frankie’s Pizza 50 Hunter St, Sydney CBD Sun – Thu 4pm-3am; Fri noon-3am Gilt Lounge 49 Market St, Sydney CBD (02) 8262 0000 Mon – Fri 5pm-2am; Sun 5pm-midnight The Glenmore 96 Cumberland St, The Rocks (02) 9247 4794 Mon – Thu, Sun 11am-midnight; Fri – Sat 11am-1am Grain Bar 199 George St, Sydney CBD (02) 9250 3118 Sun – Fri noon-9pm Grandma’s Basement 275 Clarence St,
E E W
Sounds? We play a lot of classic hip hop – stuff we enjoyed listening to growing up – with a mix of classic motown, alternative and modern jazz. After hours, it’s usually ’80s power ballads: they help the mood when cleaning. Highlights: Tokyo Bird has a great vibe and intimate atmosphere, whether it’s a chilled Monday night or a pumping Friday night. We get the best customers: people are just relaxed and keen to learn about what we have to offer, whether that’s yakitori or cocktails or a whisky. It also helps that we have super friendly service. We have more than 80 Japanese whiskies on the back bar, making our selection one of the largest ranges in Australia. On top of that, I think people appreciate the flexibility of what we do: you can just come in for a beer or a cocktail at the bar, or do a whisky tasting, or bring a group of mates in for dinner and drinks. It’s all good times! The bill comes to: Start with a Kaku highball and lotus root chips – the chilli mayo is addictive – and then maybe some katsu nuggets, before getting into yakitori, negima (chicken thigh and shallot), arabiki (cheese sausage) and the wagyu beef. All up, it’s approximately $70 for two, with the food to share.
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Sydney CBD (02) 9264 3004 Mon – Fri 3pm-midnight; Sat 5pm-1am The Fox Hole 68A Erskine St, Sydney CBD (02) 9279 4369 Mon 7am-3pm; Tue – Fri 7am-late The Grasshopper 1 Temperance Ln, Sydney CBD (02) 9947 9025 Mon – Thu 4pm-midnight; Fri noon-1am; Sat 4pm-1am Hacienda Sydney 61 Macquarie St, Sydney CBD (02) 9256 4000 Mon – Sun noon-late Harpoon Harry 40-44 Wentworth Ave, Sydney CBD (02) 8262 8800 Mon – Sat 11.30am-3am; Sun 11am-midnight Kittyhawk 16 Phillip Ln, Sydney CBD Mon – Thu 3pm-midnight; Fri – Sat 3pm-2am The Lobo Plantation Basement Lot 1, 209 Clarence St, Sydney CBD 0415 554 908 Mon – Thu, Sat 4pm-midnight; Fri 2pm-midnight The Local Bar 161 Castlereagh St, Sydney CBD (02) 9953 0027 Mon – Wed 7.30am-10pm; Thu – Fri 7.30am-11pm The Loft (UTS) 15 Broadway, Sydney (behind 2SER) (02) 9514 1149 Mon – Fri 2-11pm Mojo Record Bar Basement 73 York St, Sydney CBD (02) 9262 4999 Mon – Wed 4pm-midnight; Thu 4pm-1am; Fri – Sat 4pm-1am The Morrison 225 George St, Sydney CBD (02) 9247 6744 Mon – Wed 7.30am-11pm; Thu 7.30am-midnight; Fri 7.30am-2am; Sat 11.30am-2am The Palisade 35 Bettington St, Millers Point 9018 0123 Mon – Fri noon-midnight; Sat – Sun 11am-midnight Mr Tipply’s 347 Kent St, Sydney CBD (02) 9299 4877 Mon – Thu 11.30am-10pm; Fri 11.30am-midnight; Sat 10pm-4am Palmer & Co. Abercrombie Ln, Sydney CBD (02) 9240 3000 Sun – Weds 5pm-3am; Thu 3pm-3am; Fri noon-3am; Sat 4pm-3am Papa Gede’s Bar Laneway at the end of 348 Kent St, Sydney CBD (02) 9299 5671 Mon – Sat 4pm-midnight Plan B Small Club 53-55 Liverpool St, Sydney CBD Wed 5pm-11pm; Thu 5pm-1am; Fri 5pm-3am; Sat 6pm-3am PS40 40 King St, Sydney CBD Mon – Sat 4pm-midnight Ramblin’ Rascal Tavern 199 Elizabeth St, Sydney CBD Mon – Sat 4pm-midnight Rockpool Bar & Grill 66 Hunter St, Sydney CBD (02) 8078 1900 Mon – Sat noon-3pm, 6-11pm The Rook Level 7, 56-58 York St, Sydney CBD (02) 9262 2505
Mon, Sat 4pm-midnight; Tue – Fri noon-midnight The SG 32 York St, Sydney CBD Tues – Fri 4pm-midnight; Sat 6pm-midnight Shirt Bar 7 Sussex Ln, Sydney CBD (02) 8068 8222 Mon –Wed 8am-8pm; Thu – Fri 8am-10pm Since I Left You 338 Kent St, Sydney CBD (02) 9262 4986 Mon – Wed 5pm-10pm; Thu – Fri 4.30pm-midnight; Sat 6pm-midnight Small Bar 48 Erskine St, Sydney CBD (02) 9279 0782 Mon – Fri noon-midnight; Sat 5pm-midnight The Smoking Panda 5-7 Park St, Sydney CBD (02) 9264 4618 Mon – Sat 4pm-late Stitch Bar 61 York St, Sydney CBD (02) 9279 0380 Mon – Wed 4pm-midnight; Thu – Fri noon-2am; Sat 4pm-2am The Swinging Cat 44 King St, Sydney CBD (02) 9262 3696 Mon – Sat 4pm-midnight Tapa Vino 6 Bulletin Place, Circular Quay (02) 9247 3221 Mon – Fri noon-11.30pm Tuxedo Bar 195 Gloucester St, The Rocks Mon – Fri noon-7pm Uncle Ming’s 55 York St, Sydney CBD Mon – Fri noon-midnight; Sat 4pm-midnight York Lane 56 Clarence St, Sydney CBD (02) 9299 1676 Mon – Wed 6.30am-10pm; Thu – Fri 6am-midnight; Sat 6pm-midnight
121BC 4/50 Holt St, Surry Hills (02) 9699 1582 Tue – Sat 5pm-midnight Absinthe Salon 87 Albion St, Surry Hills (02) 9211 6632 Wed – Sat 4-10pm Arcadia Liquors 7 Cope St, Redfern (02) 8068 4470 Mon – Fri 4pm-midnight; Sat noon-midnight; Sun noon-10pm Bar Cleveland Cnr Bourke & Cleveland St, Redfern (02) 9698 1908 Mon – Thu 10am-2am; Fri – Sat 10am-4am Bar H 80 Campbell St, Surry Hills (02) 9280 1980 Mon – Sat 6pm-11.30 Bellini Lounge 2 Kellett St, Potts Point (02) 9331 0058 Thu – Sun 6pm-late The Bells Hotel 1 Bourke St, Woolloomooloo (02) 9357 3765 Mon – Sun 10am-1am The Beresford 354 Bourke St, Surry Hills (02) 8313 5000 Mon – Sun noon-1am Big Poppa’s 96 Oxford St, Darlinghurst Mon – Sun 5pm-3am Black Penny 648 Bourke St, Surry Hills (02) 9319 5061 Mon – Sat 7am-midnight; Sun 7am-10pm Button Bar 65 Foveaux St, Surry Hills (02) 9211 1544 Mon – Sat 4pm-midnight
Café Lounge 277 Goulburn St, Surry Hills (02) 9016 3951 Mon – Thu 5pm-midnight; Fri – Sat 4pm-midnight; Sunday 4-10pm Casoni Italian Bar & Eatery 371-373 Bourke St, Darlinghurst Tue – Thu 5pm-11pm; Fri – Sat 5pm-midnight Central Tavern 42-50 Chalmers St, Surry Hills (02) 9212 3814 Mon – Sat 10am-2am; Sun 10am-10pm Ching-a-Lings 1/133 Oxford St, Darlinghurst (02) 9360 3333 Wed 6-11pm; Thu – Sat 6pm-1am; Sun 5-10pm The Cliff Dive 16-18 Oxford Square, Darlinghurst Fri – Sat 6pm-late The Commons 32 Burton St, Darlinghurst (02) 9358 1487 Tue – Wed 6pm-midnight; Thu – Fri noon-late; Sat – Sun 8:30am-late Darlo Bar 306 Liverpool St, Darlinghurst (02) 9331 3672 Mon – Sun 10am-midnight Darlo Country Club Level 1, 235 Victoria St, Darlinghurst (02) 9380 4279 Wed – Thu 5pm-midnight; Fri – Sat 5pm-2am Dead Ringer 413 Bourke St, Surry Hills (02) 9331 3560 Mon – Fri 5pm-midnight; Sat noon-midnight; Sun noon-midnight Della Hyde 34 Oxford St, Darlinghurst Thu – Sat 5pm-late Eau-De-Vie 229 Darlinghurst Rd, Darlinghurst 0422 263 226 Sun – Fri 6pm-1am; Sat 6pm-midnight The Forresters 336 Riley St, Surry Hills (02) 9212 3035 Mon – Wed noon-midnight; Thu – Sat noon-1am; Sun noon-10pm Gardel’s Bar 358 Cleveland St, Surry Hills (02) 8399 1440 Tue – Sat 6pm-midnight Gazebo 2 Elizabeth Bay Rd, Elizabeth Bay (02) 8070 2424 Tue – Sun noon-midnight Golden Age Cinema & Bar 80 Commonwealth St, Surry Hills (02) 9211 1556 Wed – Fri 5pm-midnight; Sat – Sun 2:30pm-midnight Goros 84-86 Mary St, Surry Hills (02) 9212 0214 Mon – Wed 11:30am-midnight; Thu 11:30am-1am: Fri 11:30am-3am; Sat 4pm-3am Hinky Dinks 185 Darlinghurst Rd, Darlinghurst (02) 8084 6379 Mon – Sat 4pm-midnight; Sun 2-11pm Hollywood Hotel 2 Foster St, Surry Hills (02) 9281 2765 Mon – Wed 10am-midnight; Thu – Sat 10am-3am The Horse 381 Crown St, Surry Hills 1300 976 683 Mon – Thu noon-midnight; Fri 11.30am-midnight; Sat noon-midnight; Sun noon10pm Jangling Jack’s Bar thebrag.com
thebrag.com
Tue – Thu 6pm-late, Fri noon-3pm & 6pm-late; Sat 6pm-late Riley St Garage 55 Riley St, Woolloomooloo (02) 9326 9055 Mon – Sat noon-midnight Roosevelt 32 Orwell St, Potts Point (02) 8696 1787 Tue – Fri 5pm-midnight; Sat noon-midnight; Sun 3-10pm Rosie Campbell’s 320 Crown St, Surry Hills (02) 9356 4653 Mon – Thu 5pm-midnight; Fri – Sun 11am-midnight Shady Pines Saloon Shop 4, 256 Crown St, Darlinghurst Mon – Sun 4pm-midnight The Soda Factory 16 Wentworth Ave, Surry Hills (02) 8096 9120 Mon – Wed 5pm-midnight; Thu – Fri 5pm-3am; Sat – Sun 6pm-3am Surly’s 182 Campbell St, Surry Hills (02) 9331 3705 Mon – Sat noon-midnight; Sun noon-10pm Sweethearts Rooftop 33/37 Darlinghurst Rd, Potts Point (02) 9368 7333 Mon – Thu 4pm-midnight; Fri – Sun noon-midnight This Must Be The Place 239 Oxford St, Darlinghurst (02) 9331 8063 Mon – Sun 3pm-midnight The Tilbury Hotel 12-18 Nicholson St, Woolloomooloo (02) 9368 1955 Mon 9am-10pm; Tue – Fri 9am-midnight; Sat 10am-midnight; Sun 10am-10pm Tio’s Cerveceria 4-14 Foster St, Surry Hills (02) 9368 1955 Mon – Sat 4pm-midnight Tipple Bar 28 Chalmers St, Surry Hills (02) 9212 0006 Mon midday-10pm; Tue – Sat midday-midnight Vasco 421 Cleveland St, Redfern 0406 775 436 Mon – Sat 5pm-midnight The Village Inn 9-11 Glenmore Rd, Paddington (02) 9331 0911 Mon – Sun noon-late The Wild Rover 75 Campbell St, Surry Hills (02) 9280 2235 Mon – Sat 4pm-midnight The Winery 285A Crown St, Surry Hills (02) 9331 0833 Mon – Sun noon-midnight
Anchor Bar 8 Campbell Pde, Bondi (02) 8084 3145 Mon – Fri 5pm-late; Sat – Sun 12.30pm-late Bat Country 32 St Pauls St, Randwick (@ The Spot) (02) 9398 6694 Mon – Sat 7am-midnight; Sun 7am-10pm Beach Road Hotel 71 Beach Rd, Bondi Beach (02) 9130 7247 Mon – Fri 11am-1am; Sat 10am-1am; Sun 10am-10pm Bondi Hardware 39 Hall St, Bondi (02) 9365 7176 Mon – Thu 5pm-midnight; Fri noon-midnight; Sat 9am-midnight; Sun 9am-8pm The Bucket List Shop 1, Bondi Pavilion, Queen Elizabeth Drive
(02) 9365 4122 Mon – Tue 11am-5pm; Wed – Sun 11am-midnight The Corner House 281 Bondi Rd, Bondi (02) 8020 6698 Tue – Sat 5pm-midnight; Sun 1pm-10pm Fat Ruperts 249 Bondi Rd, Bondi (02) 9130 1033 Tue – Fri 4pm-midnight; Sat – Sun 2pm-midnight Jam Gallery 195 Oxford St, Bondi Junction (02) 9389 2485 Tue 4pm-midnight; Wed – Sat 4pm-3am The Phoenix Hotel 1 Moncur St, Woollahra (02) 9363 2608 Tue – Wed 4-11pm; Thu – Fri 11.30am-1am; Sat 8am-11pm; Sun 8am-10pm The Robin Hood Hotel 203 Bronte Rd, Waverley (02) 9389 3477 Mon-Sat 10am-3am; Sun 10am-10pm Speakeasy 83 Curlewis St, Bondi (02) 9130 2020 Mon – Sat 5pm-11pm; Sat – Sun 4pm-10pm Spring Street Social 110 Spring St, Bondi Junction (02) 9389 2485 Tue – Sat 5pm-3am Stuffed Beaver 271 Bondi Rd, Bondi (02) 9130 3002 Mon – Sat noon-midnight; Sun noon-10pm
Bar-racuda 105 Enmore Rd, Newtown (02) 9519 1121 Mon – Sat 6pm-midnight Batch Brewing Company 44 Sydenham Rd, Marrickville (02) 9550 5432 Mon – Sun 10am-8pm Bauhaus West 163 Enmore Rd, Enmore (02) 8068 9917 Wed – Thu 5-11pm; Fri 4-11pm; Sat 2-10pm; Sun midday-10pm The Bearded Tit 183 Regent St, Redfern (02) 8283 4082 Mon – Thu 4pm-midnight; Fri – Sat noon-midnight; Sun noon-10pm Blacksheep 256 King St, Newtown (02) 8033 3455 Mon – Fri 4pm-11pm; Sat 2pm-11pm; Sun 2pm-10pm Bloodwood 416 King St, Newtown (02) 9557 7699 Mon – Fri 5pm-midnight; Sat noon-midnight; Sun noon-10pm Calaveras 324 King St, Newtown 0451 541 712 Wed – Sat 6pm-midnight Cornerstone Bar & Food 245 Wilson St, Eveleigh (02) 8571 9004 Sun – Wed 10am-5pm; Thu – Fri 10am-late; Sat 9am-late Corridor 153A King St, Newtown 0405 671 002 Mon 5pm-midnight; Tue 4pm-midnight; Wed – Sat 3pm-midnight; Sun 3-10pm Cottage Bar & Kitchen 342 Darling St, Balmain (02) 8084 8185 Mon – Thu 5pm-midnight; Fri – Sat noon-midnight; Sun noon-10pm Different Drummer
185 Glebe Point Rd, Glebe (02) 9552 3406 Mon 4.30-11pm; Tue – Wed 4.30pm-1am; Thu – Sat 4.30pm-2am; Sun 4.30am-midnight Doris & Beryl’s Bridge Club and Tea House 530 King St, Newtown Mon – Fri 5pm-midnight; Sat – Sun 3.30pm-midnight Earl’s Juke Joint King St, Newtown Mon – Sat 4pm-midnight; Sun 4-10pm Forest Lodge Hotel 117 Arundel St, Forest Lodge (02) 9660 1872 Mon – Sat 11am-midnight; Sun noon-10pm Freda’s 109 Regent St, Chippendale (02) 8971 7336 Tues – Sat 4pm-midnight; Sun 4pm-10pm The Gasoline Pony 115 Marrickville Rd, Marrickville 0401 002 333 Tue – Thu 5-11.30pm; Fri – Sat 3-11.30pm; Sun 3-9.30pm The Grifter Brewing Co. 1/391-397 Enmore Rd, Marrickville (02) 9550 5742 Thu 4-9pm; Fri – Sat noon9pm; Sun noon-7pm The Hideaway Bar 156 Enmore Rd, Enmore (02) 8021 8451 Tue– Thu 4pm-midnight; Fri – Sat 4pm-1am Hive Bar 93 Erskineville Rd, Erskineville (02) 9519 1376 Mon – Fri noon-midnight; Sat 11am-midnight; Sun 11am-10pm Kelly’s On King 285 King St, Newtown (02) 9565 2288 Mon – Fri 10am-2.30am; Sat 10am-3.30am; Sun 11am-11.30pm Kingston Public Bar & Kitchen 62-64 King St, Newtown (02) 8084 4140 Mon – Fri 4pm-midnight; Sat noon-midnight; Sun noon-10pm Knox Street Bar Cnr Knox & Shepherd St, Chippendale (02) 8970 6443 Tue – Thu 4-10pm; Fri – Sat 4pm-midnight; Sun 5-10pm Kuleto’s 157 King St, Newtown (02) 9519 6369 Mon – Sat 4pm-late; Thu – Sat 4pm-3am Leadbelly 42 King St, Newtown (02) 9557 9409 Sun – Thur 4pm-midnight; Fri-Sat 4pm-1am The Little Guy 87 Glebe Point Rd, Glebe (02) 8084 0758 Mon – Fri 4pm-midnight; Sat 1pm-midnight; Sun 3pm-10pm Mary’s 6 Mary St, Newtown (02) 4995 9550 Mon – Fri 4pm-midnight; Sat noon-midnight; Sun noon-10pm The Midnight Special 44 Enmore Road, Newtown (02) 9516 2345 Tues – Sat 5pm-midnight; Sun 5pm-10pm Miss Peaches 201 Missenden Rd, Newtown (02) 9557 7280 Wed – Sun 5pm-midnight Mr Falcon’s 92 Glebe Point Rd, Glebe (02) 9029 6626 Mon – Thu 4pm-midnight; Fri 3pm-midnight; Sat noonmidnight; Sun 4pm-10pm
game on Gaming news and reviews with Adam Guetti
SEPT
New Releases
For those of you preparing for the flood of video game releases, it’s time to crack open the piggy bank. 3DS owners score the first opportunity on Saturday September 3 with Metroid Prime: Federation Force, which switches up the series’ usual stylings for a fourperson cooperative shooter.
2016
If you’re after a little more value for money, maybe hold out until Friday September 9 for The Elder Scrolls Online: Gold Edition (PS4, XBO, PC). The special edition of the online-centric game includes all previously released DLC packs. Meanwhile, jump ahead to Tuesday September 13 and Xbox One exclusive ReCore will finally get its time to shine – telling the tale of one of the last remaining humans on a planet controlled by robotic foes. Two days later on Thursday September 15 you’ll be able to get your hands on a collection that deserves a spot on every gamer’s shelf. BioShock: The Collection (PS4, XBO) squeezes all three fantastic games in the BioShock series onto one disc with a prettier coat of paint added in for good measure. Leadheads, however, should look no further than Forza Horizon 3, as the Microsoft-exclusive racer (XBO, PC) sets its sights firmly on Aussie terrain. It speeds into stores from Tuesday September 27. Closing out the month on Thursday September 29 is the one and only FIFA 17 (PS4, XBO, PC, 360, PS3). The game needs no introduction, but it’s worth noting that this iteration marks the first time the series is making use of the incredibly beautiful Frostbite engine.
Still Surviving
In some surprising Gamescom news, Metal Gear Survive, a four-player stealth co-op game set within the Metal Gear universe, has been announced for PS4, Xbox One and PC.
NEWS
& Grill 175 Victoria St, Potts Point Tue – Wed 4-11pm, Thu – Sat 4-1am, Sun noon-11pm Hustle & Flow Bar 3/105 Regent St, Redfern (02) 8964 93932 Tue – Thu 6pm-midnight; Fri – Sat 5pm-midnight; Sun 2pm-midnight Li’l Darlin Darlinghurst 235 Victoria St, Darlinghurst (02) 8084 6100 Mon – Sun 4pm-midnight Li’l Darlin Surry Hills 420 Elizabeth St, Surry Hills (02) 9698 5488 Mon – Fri noon-11pm; Sat 4pm-midnight LL Wine and Dine 42 Llankelly Place Potts Point (02) 9356 8393 Mon – Thu 5pm-11pm; Fri – Sat 5pm-midnight; Sun 11am-10pm The Local Taphouse 122 Flinders St, Darlinghurst (02) 9360 0088 Mon – Sun noon-9:30pm Love, Tilly Devine 91 Crown Ln, Darlinghurst (02) 9326 9297 Mon – Sat 5pm-midnight; Sun 5-10pm Low 302 302 Crown St, Surry Hills (02) 9368 1548 Mon – Sun 6pm-2am Mr Fox 557 Crown St, Surry Hills 0410 470 250 Tue – Wed 4pm-midnight; Thu – Fri 4pm-midnight; Sat 3pm-midnight; Sun 10am-10pm Moya’s Juniper Lounge 101 Regent St, Redfern 0431 113 394 Tue – Sat 4pm-11pm; Sun midday-10pm The Noble Hops 125 Redfern St, Redfern 0431 113 394 Mon – Fri 4pm -midnight; Sat 3pm-midnight; Sun 3pm-10pm The Norfolk 305 Cleveland St, Surry Hills (02) 9699 3177 Mon – Sat noon-midnight; Sun noon-10pm Old Growler 218 William St, Woolloomooloo 0458 627 266 Tue – Sat 5pm-midnight The Oxford Circus 231 Oxford St, Darlinghurst 0457 353 384 Wed – Sat 7pm-3am The Owl House 97 Crown St, Darlinghurst 0401 273 080 Mon – Sat 5pm-late; Sun 5-10pm Peekaboo 120 Bourke St, Woolloomooloo 0403 747 788 Tue – Thu 4pm-10pm; Fri – Sat 4pm-midnight Play Bar 72 Campbell St, Surry Hills (02) 9280 0885 Tue – Thu 5pm-midnight; Fri 4pm-midnight; Sat 5pm-midnight Pocket Bar 13 Burton St, Darlinghurst (02) 9380 7002 Mon – Sun 4pm-midnight The Powder Keg 7 Kellett St, Potts Point (02) 8354 0980 Wed – Thu 5pm-midnight; Fri – Sat 4:30pm-midnight; Sun 4pm-midnight The Print Room 11 Glenmore Rd, Paddington (02) 9331 0911 Thu – Fri noon-midnight; Sun – Wed noon-10pm Queenie’s Upstairs 336 Riley St, Surry Hills (02) 9212 3035
The first in the series without any involvement from its creator Hideo Kojima, Survive will take place in an alternate universe set directly after the events of Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes. Players must bandy together to battle a new zombie foe. “Metal Gear Survive will offer a fresh take on the series’ famed stealth elements,” said Konami Europea president Tomotada Tashiro in a press release, “but within a unique co-op setting that is designed for a truly engrossing multiplayer experience.” The game is due for release in 2017.
Next Stop: Hollywood
Just because Pokémon Go no longer dominates news headlines doesn’t mean the franchise is going away any time soon. In fact, in late July, Legendary Pictures announced that it would be developing a live-action Detective Pikachu film – following the Japanese release of Detective Pikachu: Birth Of A New Team for 3DS earlier in the year. Now, Marvel screenwriter Nicole Perlman and Disney alumni Alex Hirsch are reportedly in negotiations to join the project as lead writers. Perlman is perhaps best known for her work on Marvel’s beloved Guardians Of The Galaxy, while Hirsch is behind the Disney cartoon series Gravity Falls. Legendary has yet to release any concrete plot or character details for the film, but production is currently slated to begin sometime in 2017.
Review: Batman: The Telltale Series – Episode One (PS4, XBO, PC)
T
elltale Games is a fascinating company. Originally known for cutting its teeth on small-time adventure games like Sam & Max, the development studio bravely took hold of The Walking Dead franchise, blowing away fans and critics alike. Before long Telltale became a household name, obtaining licenses to some of entertainment’s biggest properties like Minecraft, Game Of Thrones, and now Batman. The first episode of the series, Realm Of Shadows, interestingly chooses not to focus solely on the caped crusader, placing heavy emphasis on Bruce Wayne instead. It’s here that Telltale sets up a version of Gotham that is close to securing a better future for itself, thanks largely to the involvement of both Bruce and Harvey Dent (who is currently run for mayor). Yet while the community may not be entirely sold on Dent, the Wayne’s public backing is distinct, a dynamic that the series looks set to build tension from. Much of this comes in the form of Telltale’s classic decision-making. You won’t find the lifeor-death calls found in The Walking Dead or Game Of Thrones (at least for now), but many choices will still weigh heavy on the mind. For example, do you shake Carmine Falcone’s hand at the risk of ruining your own reputation in order to ensure he won’t tank Dent’s campaign, or do you turn him away completely? Once Bruce dons the cowl, things become slightly unsteady. What’s most disappointing is that detective work – a core characteristic of Batman, and one that should lend itself best to Telltale’s playing style – is also one of Realm Of Shadows’ most underwhelming elements. That’s largely due to a lack of any substantial discoveries, most scenes simply requiring you to click on every point of interest in order to keep the story chugging along. The most challenging these asides become is when you have to work out which two points link together, but it still feels like busy work. Also a slight let-down is combat, which, despite attempting to change things up, still becomes a barrage of timed button presses. While necessary to the style of game, they fail to provide the feeling of inhabiting the Dark Knight like others have already successfully done. This is only the introduction, however, so there’s still certainly room for improvement. Crafting the type of Batman you want to see is a thrilling opportunity, so here’s hoping Telltale becomes the hero Gotham deserves. Adam Guetti
BRAG :: 677 :: 24:08:16 :: 25
out & about Queer(ish) matters with Arca Bayburt
The Queerlympics Kazuki Watanabe, Scott Clary and Ashley Delaney
But despite Rio’s competition, in reality the 2000 Sydney Olympics was actually the gayest ever, with 53 out LGBT athletes participating. I think Rio just feels gayer, simply because the media coverage has been fantastically inclusive without ever being weird about it and treating the athletes like exotic animals: “Oh look at that diver, it’s a homosexual. A homosexual at the Olympics! How funny!” It’s been refreshing to have the media treat gay athletes as complex human beings. In the past, raising the topic of an athlete’s sexuality led to the media allowing that to define them, jettisoning the rest of their career achievements in lieu of that fact alone. This attitude reduces gay people to their sexuality and nothing else: it ignores their athletic prowess, their achievements and goals. As an aside to all this good news though, there was one media incident that ended with a journalist being sent home from the Olympics, and led to him being dealt a social media lynching. A heterosexual, married journalist decided to hop onto Grindr and trick gay athletes into arranging dates with him so he could out them. Somewhere along the line, this gaybaiting man Nico Hines outright lost his mind, deciding to set up this bizarre lure-the-gays game with a total disregard for the repercussions. What he did was dangerous and wildly unethical. His original article has since been deleted, but the whole piece was impressively creepy. I’m reasonably certain he was aware of the 76,890 different reasons why what he did was wrong – I think he just ignored them. Among those reasons is the fact that his little exercise was definitely going to hurt real people: many of the athletes he outed are closeted at home, and many are from countries where homosexuality is a crime. By being outed, they run the
this week… On Friday August 25, pash.tm is launching Australia’s first sexual health campaign for gay, bi and queer trans men. It’s called Grunt and it’s hitting The Bearded Tit in Redfern. DJs Rub n Dub will be spinning tunes along with Fleetwood Crack. Space and catering is limited so please make sure you RSVP to pashing. tm@gmail.com.
26 :: BRAG :: 677 :: 24:08:16
risk of going home to be imprisoned, humiliated and ostracized. Hines’ unprincipled journalism was a nasty piece of work. The upside to all of this, though, is that the media didn’t paint him as a sympathetic character. They absolutely pulverised him. He’s been packed up and shipped home. The damage has been done, but the overwhelming narrative in mainstream media isn’t, “Did you know so and so is a homo?” but rather, “This piece of shit has been fired for causing direct harm to other human beings.” Justice. So today in 2016, though Sydney’s still got the gold for the gayest Olympics ever, I’m still hoping that by 2020 that record will be broken. This year, the media helped to broaden cultural acceptance by not “othering” the 44 out Olympians. That kind of added visibility is so important for those who need these sorts of role models – believe me, I spent the majority of my adolescence looking for some suitable LGBTQIA media representation and finding precisely squat.
Mon – Thu 6pm-11pm; Fri 6pm-midnight; Sat noon3pm & 6pm-midnight Timbah 375 Glebe Point Rd, Glebe (02) 9571 7005 Tue – Thu 4-10pm; Fri 4-11pm; Sat 3pm-11pm; Sun 4pm-8pm Wayward Brewing Co. 1 Gehrig Ln, Annandale (02) 7903 2445 Thu – Sat 2-10pm; Sun noon-8pm Websters Bar 323 King St, Newtown (02) 9519 1511 Mon – Sat 10am-4am; Sun 10am-midnight Wilhelmina’s 332 Darling St, Balmain (02) 8068 8762 Wed – Fri 5-11pm; Sat – Sun 8am-11pm The Workers Lvl 1, 292 Darling St, Balmain (02) 9555 8410 Fri – Sat 5pm-3am; Sun 2pm-midnight Young Henrys D & E, 76 Wilford St, Newtown (02) 9519 0048 Mon – Sat 10am-7pm; Sun noon-7pm Zigi’s Wine And Cheese Bar 86 Abercrombie St, Chippendale (02) 9699 4222 Tue 4pm-10pm; Wed 4pm-midnight; Thu – Sat 3pm-midnight
Crooked Tailor 250 Old Northern Road, Castle Hill (02) 9899 3167 Mon – Sun 4pm-midnight
Daniel San 55 North Steyne, Manly (02) 9977 6963 Mon – Thu 4pm-midnight; Friday – Saturday noon– 2am; Sunday noon-midnight Firefly 24 Young St, Neutral Bay (02) 9909 0193 Mon – Wed 5-11pm; Thu 5-11.30pm; Fri noon11.30pm; Sat noon-11pm; Sun noon-10pm The Foxtrot 28 Falcon St, Crows Nest Tue – Wed 5pm-midnight; Thu 5pm-1am; Fri 4pm-2am; Sat 5pm-2am; Sun 4-10pm The Hayberry Bar & Diner 97 Willoughby Road, Crows Nest (02) 8084 0816 Tue – Thu 4pm-midnight; Fri & Sat noon-midnight Sun noon-10pm Hemingway’s 48 North Steyne, Manly (02) 9976 3030 Mon – Sat 8am-midnight; Sun 8am-10pm The Hold Shop 4, Sydney Rd Plaza, Manly (02) 9977 2009 Tue – Fri 5pm-midnight; Sat 3pm-midnight; Sun 3-10pm Honey Rider 230 Military Rd, Neutral Bay (02) 9953 8880 Tue – Sat 4pm-midnight; Sun 4pm-10pm InSitu 1/18 Sydney Rd, Manly (02) 9977 0669 Tue – Fri 5pm-midnight; Sat 9am-midnight; Sun 9am-10pm The Hunter 5 Myahgah Rd, Mosman 0409 100 339 Mon – Tue 5pm-midnight;
Your bar’s not here? Email: chris@thebrag.com
Wed – Sat noon-midnight; Sun noon- 10pm Jah Bar Shop 9, 9-15 Central Ave, Manly (02) 9977 4449 Tue 5pm-midnight; Wed-Fri noon-midnight; Sat 8am-midnight; Sun 9am-midnight Manly Wine 8-13 South Steyne, Manly (02) 8966 9000 Mon – Sun 6.30am-late Miami Cuba 47 North Steyne, Manly 0487 713 350 Mon – Sun 8am-4pm Moonshine Lvl 2, Hotel Steyne, 75 The Corso, Manly (02) 9977 4977 Mon – Thu 9am-3pm; Fri – Sat 9am-2am; Sun 9am-midnight The Pickled Possum 254 Military Rd, Neutral Bay (02) 9909 2091 Thu – Sat 9pm-1am SoCal 1 Young St, Neutral Bay (02) 9904 5691 Mon – Wed 5pm-midnight; Thu 5pm-1am; Sat noon2am; Sun noon-midnight The Stoned Crow 39 Willoughby Rd, Crows Nest (02) 9439 5477 Mon – Sat noon-late; Sun 11.30am-10pm The Treehouse Hotel 60 Miller St, North Sydney (02) 8458 8980 Mon – Fri 7am-midnight; Sat 2pm-midnight
The world caters to the heterosexual experience. As a young gay, I found myself meticulously combing through films or TV shows, searching for the tiniest slither of gayness. If I couldn’t find it, I’d invent it, or I’d convince myself that it existed as subtext. I definitely wasn’t alone in this either. Watching shows like Queer As Folk and The L Word (with the volume on the lowest possible setting, and my ears straining to hear if my parents were tromping down the hall), really helped me understand how I fit into a culture I didn’t know how to access because I couldn’t see it anywhere. That’s just the fiction though. It was much harder to find an honest portrayal of homosexuality (much less one that wasn’t a raging stereotype) in the media. It’s why something as banal as a sports commentator talking about a gay athlete is so important. It’s a way of saying, “Here is this athlete doing this awesome thing”, while not shying away from their gayness, and simultaneously not making it the only thing about them. It’s listed as a detail, but it’s not all there is, and that’s just peachy.
On Saturday August 26, head over to The Shift Club for Hellfire’s Cartoons, Costumes and Cosplay Party. DJs Georgie Zuzak, Tokoloshe, Sveta and Estée Louder will be playing and prizes will be awarded to the smartest, craftiest, weirdest, sexiest and most lateral takes on this fun twist on fetish fashion.
Then on Sunday August 27, the Red Rattler will be hosting Daddy Dickie’s Dark Arts Club, described as, “A combination of the best of the worst of Dracula’s Theatre Restaurant and the worst of the best of the 2000 strip and burlesque explosion in Sydney town.” The performers include Adonis & Lexi Laphor, Imogen Kelly, Solid Gold, Willow Darling and many more.
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Kazuki Watanabe, Scott Clary, Ashley Delaney photo by JD Lasica - Flickr.
It feels like Rio has just had the gayest Olympics of all time, with 44 out and proud Olympians competing this year. In Beijing, 2008, only 12 openly gay athletes competed, among them our very own Matthew Mitcham (who went on to win gold).
Newtown Social Club 387 King St, Newtown (02) 9550 3974 Mon – Thu 4pm-midnight; Fri – Sat noon-2am; Sun noon-10pm The Oxford Tavern 1 New Canterbury Rd, Petersham (02) 8019 9351 Mon – Thu noon-midnight; Fri – Sat noon-3am; Sun noon-10pm Lord Raglan 12 Henderson Rd, Alexandria (02) 9699 4767 Mon – Sat noon-midnight; Sun noon-10pm The Record Crate 34 Glebe Point Rd, Glebe (02) 9660 1075 Mon – Thu 5pm-midnight; Sat 2pm-midnight; Sun 3-10pm The Royal 156 Norton St, Leichhardt (02) 9569 2638 Mon – Thu 10am-1am; Fri – Sat 10am-3am; Sun 10am-midnight Secret Garden Bar 134a Enmore Rd, Enmore 0403 621 585 Mon – Tue 7am-5pm; Wed – Fri 7am-11pm; Sat 7am-10pm; Sun 7am-11pm Staves Brewery 4-8 Grose Street, Glebe (02) 9280 4555 Thu 4-10pm; Fri – Sat 4pm-midnight; Sun 4-10pm Temperance Society 122 Smith St, Summer Hill (02) 8068 5680 Mon – Thu 4pm-11pm; Fri – Sat: noon-midnight; Sun: noon-10pm Thievery 91 Glebe Point Rd, Glebe (02) 8283 1329
Album Reviews What's been crossing our ears this week...
ALBUM OF THE WEEK SARAH MARY CHADWICK Roses Always Die Rice Is Nice
Roses Always Die is a powerful, shockingly sparse and sardonic record. Featuring singersongwriter Sarah Mary Chadwick accompanied by a keyboard and what sounds like its factory setting drum beats, the album challenges the listener with ever so slightly tongue-in-cheek bleakness, coming across like Morrissey on ketamine and green tea. Melancholy and yet mighty, this is a beautiful record from an underground legend.
MARILYN ROSE AND THE THORNS Antarctica Independent/Bandcamp
Douglas Mawson’s 1912 Antarctic expedition is an enthralling and harrowing story of human tragedy and endurance. With the explorers’ bodies suffering the effects of malnutrition, one of Mawson’s party went mad, and another fell to his death in a crevice. Mawson himself narrowly escaped the same fate. What does that have to do with Marilyn Rose and The Thorns’ album, Antarctica? Well, not a lot, other than Mawson’s Antarctica trip is a good story, and Antarctica is a good album. The adventure starts with a Killing Joke rumble and continues with a faithful cover of The Scientists’ ‘Set It On Fire’. ‘Fallen Angel’ is dark and intense – noir for the Dirty Three generation – and ‘Dead Radio’, originally performed by Birthday Party alum Rowland S. Howard, and ‘Wild Horse Plain’ are two sides of a dirt highway set somewhere between Neil Young and Siouxsie Sioux. ‘Silver City Highway’ is a taste of Morricone, while ‘Spiderwoman’ is the Divinyls on a quest to find their inner Sabbath. Douglas Mawson would’ve appreciated those musings, as he stared across the vast Antarctic landscape waiting for his adventure to end. Patrick Emery
Not to say that the music isn’t heartfelt or that sincerity is sacrificed for these stylistic choices. On the contrary, without production getting in
the way, there’s nothing to distract from the strength of the songwriting. Chadwick uses the bare-bones instrumentation to complement the comically bleak outlook of the lyrics. Her vocal delivery also plays into this. It’s often flat – not musically flat, just deliberately lethargic – and at other points stretched and emotional, dragging out syllables for effect. More than vulnerable, she sounds emotionally exhausted, and this suits the songs perfectly. This is a collection of supremely strong songs, and the downer tone adds impact when Chadwick delivers catchy hooks, mixing up pain with pop, like during the chorus of ‘Making It Work’. “It’s a big song ‘cause I’m happy,” she sings unconvincingly. But whatever the truth is, happy
THE VEILS
YOUNG THE GIANT
CRYSTAL CASTLES
Dynamic and emotive, And Then Like Lions begins with a reflection on the breakdown of singer/songwriter Israel Nebeker’s 13-year-relationship, and ends with a tribute to his father, whose battle with cancer and death is much of the album’s focus.
The Veils’ fifth record quivers and shouts. It gets under your skin like a bad dream, feeding you a chain of maudlin metaphors and haphazardly drawn-out instrumentals. A stream of dark imagery underpins Total Depravity, as lead singer Finn Andrews’ voice careens between a defiant snarl and a meek murmur, giving the album an eerie, ‘60s horror film feel. Ultimately, The Veils have crafted a sound more conceptual and less candid than their previous work.
The third studio release from southern California rockers Young The Giant takes the band’s sound in an unexpected new direction. In some ways, it’s as though they’ve lost the playfulness, optimism and naivety that was so striking in their first release, Young The Giant, and gained a more cynical, serious edge.
After Alice Glass’ dramatic parting with Ethan Kath of Crystal Castles in 2014, it seemed the dream was over. But Kath is back with new vocalist Edith Frances, in a discomfiting simulacrum of what once was.
And Then Like Lions ATO
Opening track ‘Umpqua Rushing’ announces a softer sound for the folk band. It’s a slow and hazy grower, gently building with a melancholic hum. Nebeker’s voice is sweet and earnest, floating around the textural melodies with a gentle strength and clarity. Sharply and beautifully produced, the album never comes across as formulaic or repetitive, repeatedly tackling themes of suffering and purpose, deftly avoiding self indulgence or pretentiousness. The final two songs end the album on a triumphant high. A symphony of strings begins ‘What Is Yet’, layered with a horn section and coming across like a Bond theme. The polished introduction to the penultimate track provides contrast to the occasionally wailing vocals, the rawest on the album. The anthemic ‘Like Lions’ compares human strength to that of lions, in a lush and uplifting finish to a dynamic album that at its core, explores the human spirit simply and honestly.
Total Depravity Footstomp Music
Very much the twisted love child of David Bowie and Nine Inch Nails, Total Depravity deals in every character from your childhood nightmares. First single ‘Axolotl’ marches through a bare, electronic marshland of references to amphibians and religion mixing up two odd opposites to singularly thrilling effect, while ‘King Of Chrome’ begins like a stock ’80s disco track and quickly descends into what can only be described as a morbid, musical frenzy. Final track ‘Total Depravity’ is a slow tantrum that grips you, gives you one last shake and ends in violent combustion. It’s as if Andrews is finally sick of everything after an album’s worth of intense reflection.
It’s not just the title – Sophie Hutchings’ Wide Asleep is, from beginning to end, a paradox. It’s somehow soft yet significant; gentle yet ginormous; an atom and the Earth. There is weight to the piece, tremendous weight, despite the fact that it requires surprisingly little of its audience. This is an album that is generous with its beauty, a record eager to impart its secrets to anyone willing to listen.
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The key is Hutchings’ masterful tonal control. Though the album always teeters on the verge of what in the hands of others might become melodrama, Hutchings keeps a track like ‘Dream Gate’ from falling over itself, and the layers of instrumentation push the piece higher, rather than dragging it down. Every time the album seems ready to hyperventilate,
Home Of The Strange Fueled By Ramen
‘Amerika’ opens the album and will grab your attention with its strange mix of contemporary hip hop and rock influences. This theme continues with ‘Something To Believe In’, one of the biggest tracks on the album. But this soon drops off as many of the tracks like ‘Elsewhere’ and ‘Silvertongue’ blend into one with a very similar, generic, rock feel. There is nothing to define any of these songs, and lead singer Sameer Gadhia’s usually distinctive vocals feel subdued – there’s no space for him to really show off his vocal chops. The album is strongest in tracks like ‘Titus Was Born’ and ‘Art Exhibit’, where the band offers us some powerfully employed storytelling techniques like soundscapes and descriptive lyrics to create vivid imagery.
Total Depravity is a deliberately provocative record, unnerving and black in its lyrical brilliance.
However, overall this release is lacking the flair and creativity of past releases, feeling mature but restrained, and for fans of their work, this is a disappointment.
Evie Kennedy
Erin Rooney
INDIE ALBUM OF THE WEEK
Wide Asleep Preservation
Alex Watts
BLIND PILOT
Claire Varley
SOPHIE HUTCHINGS
or not, we should all be pleased there’s an artist making such strange, beautiful music. A serious contender for one of the records of the year.
Hutchings draws a deep lungful of air, and the calm peppered throughout is stark, and powerful.
Amnesty (I) Fiction / Caroline Australia
Crystal Castle’s schismatic brand of assaulting electro bares its teeth in bangers like ‘Fleece’ and ‘Enth’, tracks that hint there may still be a pulse in this project. But by the time we’ve reached track three, ‘Char’, a sense of déjà vu has settled in. Amnesty (I) does not dive into new realms, instead content to recline in recognisable forms. Lead single ‘Chloroform’, indicative of their new direction, is where it all unravels, as Frances apes the opiateladen tones of Glass in III’s ‘Affection’ to half the effect. Here Kath’s ugly, invasive synth stings feel laboured. ‘Ornament’ and ‘Kept’ act as a microcosm for the record: Frances’ vocal samples fade along without any memorable impact. Where new beginnings were promised, a danceworthy yet underwhelming comeback tour is delivered. It’s everything you loved about Crystal Castles, as performed by a cover band who fail to see the irony in the shining veneer of their moniker being replaced with cheap glass. David Molloy
OFFICE MIXTAPE And here are the albums that have helped BRAG HQ get through the week...
Hutchings’ technical skill is selfevident, but the surprise is more that she manages to craft tunes that feel neither overtly show-offy nor dry and considered. Hutchings is not just a pianist: she is a profoundly talented composer, with the spiralling ‘Memory II’ perhaps the finest display of her skills.
DEATH GRIPS - Interview 2016 THE BIRTHDAY PARTY - Hee Haw FRANK OCEAN - Blond
More than anything, Wide Asleep is a rebuke to stillness. Ever expanding, it’s a Fibonacci sequence turned into sound, an escalating pattern with neither end nor limit. A supreme achievement.
BLACK SABBATH - Paranoid METZ - II
Joseph Earp BRAG :: 677 :: 24:08:16 :: 27
live reviews What we’ve been out to see...
GROUPLOVE, LISA MITCHELL
dustin tebbutt
PICS :: AM
Oxford Art Factory Tuesday August 16
18:08:16 :: Newtown Social Club :: 387 King St Newtown 1300 724 876
Is Lisa Mitchell doing okay? It’s a question left unspoken among the audience during her set, and left unanswered by the Albury-born Australian Idol alum by the time she finishes up. Granted, Mitchell has always been a reluctant star – she was visibly frightened by the screaming of her young devotees at her Enmore Theatre headliner many moons ago – but it’s accentuated tonight at her first public showing around these parts for years, playing in a venue in which she has nothing to hide behind and inexplicably toting a headset microphone. It will later be described by tonight’s headliners as a “Britney mic”, but let’s make no bones about it: Mitchell is no Britney. Instead, she meanders around her side of the stage and occasionally throws up her hands – all the while looking genuinely distressed and distracted. Her pillars on either side – drummer Dan Williams and guitarist/ keyboardist Luke Liang – do their best to hold down a solid foundation, and there’s brief respite in the form of throwbacks ‘Neapolitan Dreams’ and closer ‘Oh! Hark!’ It’s not enough, however, to alleviate the concern surrounding Mitchell’s shaky comeback.
In the opening minutes they’re on stage, thrashing through an extended intro to ‘I’m With You’ from 2013’s Spreading Rumours, Grouplove exude more energy than most bands will within an hour. That’s part of their raison d’être, if you will – to dance like nobody’s watching while simultaneously singing like the world’s ending. It’s served them well for years now, and tonight is no exception. It’s been a little while since the band were last on our shores – indeed Big Day Out still existed the last time they were – but as they power through favourites like ‘Itchin’ On A Photograph’, ‘Shark Attack’ and ‘Tongue Tied’, it genuinely feels as though they never left. Christian Zucconi and Hannah Hooper aren’t only real life lovebirds: they’re also a force to be reckoned with onstage. They trade hooks on ‘Ways to Go’ and ‘Lovely Cup’ effortlessly, but they also transform into badass MCs when the band unexpectedly turn in a cover of the Beastie Boys’ ‘Sabotage’, complete with a massive stage dive from Zucconi for good measure. A full-scale return is imminent, and theatres await. For now, however, it’s a real treat to get these happy song merchants back in sweaty club surrounds. David James Young
PHOTOGRAPHER :: ASHLEY MAR
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17:08:16 :: Big Top Luna Park :: 1 Olympic Dr Milsons Point 9033 7640
BEN FOLDS WITH YMUSIC Sydney Opera House Saturday August 20
Ben Folds has come a long way since his days as a 20-year-old walking around North Carolina with a tape of recordings in his pocket and a head full of dreams. He’s toured world stages, written an album with novelist/screenwriter Nick Hornby, and even collaborated with musicians as diverse as Regina Spektor and Weird Al Yankovic. But all those accolades aside, it was his performance with New York six-piece ensemble yMusic at the Sydney Opera House that truly proved testament to his evolution as a composer. yMusic opened the show with an intro that
set expectations high for the rest of the night. Made up of a string trio, a clarinettist, flautist and trumpeter, the ensemble was incredibly tight, technically brilliant, and showcased both creativity and flair. Ben Folds soon joined them and played the title track from his new album, ‘So There’. Jaws dropped around the room in sheer appreciation of all yMusic were doing. By complementing Folds’ piano with lush orchestral sounds, yMusic successfully adapted their classical sound to the rock format, and the mashed up styles proved instantly exciting. If part of Folds’ charm as a songwriter is in his relatable storytelling, as a live performer
paul dempsey
PICS :: AM
PICS :: AM
pierce the veil
up all night out all week . . .
18:08:16 :: The Metro:: 624 George Street Sydney 9550 3666
his skill lies in how easily he can form a rapport with the audience. Offering snippets of information about some of the songs, he easily drew laughs, tears, and pensive pauses from the crowd. This was most obvious during his intros to ‘Not A Fan’, a song about a partner’s habits losing their charm further into the relationship, and ‘I’m Not The Man’, a brutally honest tune about getting older. Folds and friends cheerfully indulged the crowd with a playful rendition of ‘Rock This Bitch’ – a tradition where Folds improvises a song onstage. Later, it was an absolute delight to hear the band rework Ben Folds Five classics like ‘Steven’s Last Night In Town’, with the clarinetist stealing the show with a mind-blowing solo.
Finally, Folds shocked everyone by delivering a rare rendition of one of his most well-known tracks, ‘Brick’. He explained the choice through an anecdote about an old Radiohead show he saw, where Thom Yorke said, ‘It doesn’t bother me’ in reference to playing one of their hits. Evidently, playing an old favorite didn’t bother Folds either. The night closed with Folds conducting a choir made up of the audience for ‘Not The Same’, giving the adoring crowd just a taste of what it’s like to perform with some of the world’s fi nest musicians. What more could any Folds fan possibly ask for? Erin Rooney
PHOTOGRAPHER :: ASHLEY MAR
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BRAG :: 677 :: 24:08:16 :: 29
g g guide gig g send your listings to : gigguide@thebrag.com
pick of the week Jaala
FRIDAY AUGUST 26
SATURDAY AUGUST 27
Various Venues, Oxford Street
Volumes
Friday from 7pm. Saturday from 3pm. Tickets from $45. WEDNESDAY AUGUST 24 ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY, BLUES & FOLK
Josh Johnstone + Joel Lefler Oxford Circus, Darlinghurst. 7pm. Free. Manouche Wednesday - feat: Gadjo Guitars Mr Falcon's, Glebe. 7pm. Free. The Spin Drifters The Basement, Circular Quay. 6:30pm. $18.30.
INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS
Adam Katz Tokio Hotel, Sydney. 7pm. Free. Chris Cooke Orient Hotel, The Rocks. 9pm. Free. Eüsh + Ben Panucci + Chuffy The Gasoline Pony, Marrickville. 7pm. $7. Sugar Jam Open Mic Night Sugarmill, Kings Cross. 8pm. Free.
THURSDAY AUGUST 25
Live At The Sly feat: Leon Spencer + Allysha Joy +
ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY, BLUES & FOLK
Anthony Charlton Australian Arms Hotel, Penrith. 8:30pm. Free. Ginger’s Jam - feat: Various Bands Oxford Hotel, Darlinghurst. 7:30pm. Free. Mark N The Blues Mr Falcon's, Glebe. 8:30pm. Free. Michael Gorham Manly Leagues Club, Brookvale. 4pm. Free. Out Of Nowhere The Gasoline Pony, Marrickville. 7pm. $7. Satellite V Miss Peaches Soul Food Kitchen, Newtown. 7pm. Free. Shake The Shackles The Little Guy, Glebe. 8pm. Free. Sunset Sessions The Bristol Arms Hotel, Sydney. 6pm. Free. Tim Walker Harbourview Hotel, The Rocks. 8pm. Free.
INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS
Andy Black Metro Theatre, Sydney. 7pm. $56.90. Cath & Him Manly Leagues Club, Brookvale. 7pm. Free. Damien Leith Brass Monkey, Cronulla. 7pm. $39.80. Dave Anthony The Bourbon, Potts Point. 5:30pm. Free.
30 :: BRAG :: 677 :: 24:08:16
Dorsal Fins Newtown Social Club, Newtown. 8pm. $12. Fresh "Malk" + The Cannons + Stiff Sox + More Valve Bar, Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 8pm. $10. Henry Manuell The Temperance Society, Summer Hill. 7pm. Free. Katherine Vavahea & Friends - feat: Olatundji + Kahlo + Lola Sola + Band + Katherine Vavahea Lazybones Lounge, Marrickville. 7:30pm. $10. Lepers And Crooks Leadbelly, Newtown. 9pm. Free. Liam Gale The Temperance Society, Summer Hill. 8pm. Free. Live Band Karaoke Unity Hall Hotel, Balmain. 9pm. Free. Matt Jones Duo Orient Hotel, The Rocks. 9pm. Free. Moonshine Thursday - feat: Good Boy + Babaganouj + Sweet Jelly Rolls Moonshine Cider & Rum Bar, Manly. 9pm. Free. Muso’s Club Jam Night Ruby L’otel, Rozelle. 7:30pm. Free. Nathan Allgood Tokio Hotel, Sydney. 7pm. Free. Residual Brighton Up Bar, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $10. Spookyland + Bare Minimums Marlborough Hotel, Newtown. 9pm. Free. Tourist Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $49.90.
FRIDAY AUGUST 26 JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC Hucker Brown The Bunker, Coogee. 8pm. Free. The Kava Kings + The Knots + Mvrks Brass Monkey, Cronulla. 7pm. $12.25.
ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY, BLUES & FOLK
Dave Anthony Chatswood RSL, Chatswood. 5pm. Free. Michael Gorham 99 On York, Sydney. 5:30pm. Free. Nick Payne + Jolyon Gra + Ben Thomas The Newsagency, Marrickville. 8pm. Free. Sunset Sessions The Bristol Arms Hotel, Sydney. 6pm. Free.
INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS
Anna Murphy - feat: Ivo Henzi + Merlin Sutter The Bald Faced Stag, Leichhardt. 8pm. $34.90. Battle Of The Bands Mona Vale Hotel, Mona Vale. 8pm. Free. Beatles Back2back (Sgt Peppers + Abbey Road) - feat: Russell Morris + Kav Temperley + Jack Jones + Jon Allen Sydney Opera House, Sydney. 8pm. $94. Black Heart Breakers
Makeda + Middle Kids + Morning Tv + Privacy + Rebel Yell + Thhomas + Wax Witches + Bv + Dro Carey + Koi Child + Charles Murdoch + Rainbow Chan + Alba + S I L E N T J A Y X Jace Xl + Htmlflowers + Deer + Milwaukee Banks + 30/70 + Christopher Port + Lupa J + Jaysways + Body Promise + Sidechains + Melty + Spirals + Godriguez Various venues, Oxford street, Darlinghurst. 7pm. $96.
SATURDAY AUGUST 27 JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC Anita Spring And The Soul Doctors Club Cronulla, Cronulla. 8pm. Free. Erin Badman & Gaia Scarf The Newsagency, Marrickville. 8pm. $11.50. Jonah And The Wailers The Basement, Circular Quay. 7:30pm. $32.50.
ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY, BLUES & FOLK
AJ Dyce Campbelltown Catholic Club, Campbelltown. 6pm. Free. Chris O'Connor The Gasoline Pony, Marrickville. 3pm. $7. Eddie Boyd Leadbelly, Newtown. 9pm. Free. Michael Gorham The Belvedere Hotel, Sydney. 7:30pm. Free. Red Slim The Bunker, Coogee. 8pm. Free. The Old Brown Boot Band The Bald Faced Stag, Leichhardt. 7:30pm. Free.
INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS
Agent 69 Revesby Workers Club, Revesby. 8:30pm. Free. Alfredo Malabello The Push Bar, The Rocks. 7:30pm. Free. Altitude Engadine Tavern, Engadine. 9:30pm. Free. Bain Marie - feat: Food Court + Pretty Littles Botany View Hotel, Newtown. 3pm. Free. Beatles Back2back (Sgt Peppers + Abbey Road) - feat: Russell Morris + Kav Temperley + Jack Jones + Jon Allen Sydney Opera House, Sydney. 8pm. $94. Beatnix - Beatles Show Rooty Hill RSL Club, Rooty Hill. 8:30pm. Free. Ben Wright Smith Oxford Circus, Darlinghurst. 8pm. Free.
Black Rheno The Hideaway Bar, Enmore. 8pm. $15. Blake Tailor Dural Country Club, Dural. 7pm. Free. Cambo Plough & Harrow, Camden. 8pm. Free. Chris Turner And The Cavemen Paddo RSL, Paddington. 8pm. Free. Cub Sport Newtown Social Club, Newtown. 8pm. $15. Festival For The Fallen - feat: Hammer + Tundrel + Enfiled + Freelance Fuckwits + Murder-World + Carbon Black + Terrorential + Kvlts Of Vice The Bald Faced Stag, Leichhardt. 2:30pm. $23.60. Hot August Night (Neil Diamond Show) - feat: 30 Piece International Orchestra Revesby Workers Club, Revesby. 8pm. $55. Hugo Race Lazybones Lounge, Marrickville. 8pm. $15. Immy And The Hook Up Tokio Hotel, Sydney. 7pm. Free. Infinity Broke + Yeevs Vic On The Park, Enmore. 10pm. Free. Jellybean Jam Penrith RSL, Penrith. 9pm. Free. Jimmy Barnes Enmore Theatre, Newtown. 8pm. $127. Jimmy Bear Orient Hotel, The Rocks. 5:45pm. Free. John Vella Duo Coogee Bay Hotel, Coogee. 11:55pm. Free. Maree Montgomery Penrith RSL, Penrith. 2pm. Free. Moonshine Saturdays - feat: Selaphonic Moonshine Cider & Rum Bar, Manly. 9pm. Free. Panorama Marlborough Hotel, Newtown. 11pm. Free. Paul Hayward And His Sidekicks Newtown Neighbourhood Centre, Newtown. 7pm. Free. Sam Lyon Duo Kelly's On King, Newtown. 8pm. Free. Stephanie Lea Royal Hotel, Bondi. 9pm. Free. The Amity Affliction Metro Theatre, Sydney. 7:30pm. $59.90. The Angels + Mi-Sex Wentworthville Leagues Club, Wentworthville. 8pm. $45. The Beatels Kareela Golf Club, Kareela. 8pm. Free. The Chosen Few Orient Hotel, The Rocks. 10pm. Free. The Matchbox Tribute Show North Bondi RSL, Bondi North. 8pm. Free. The On And Ons, Loose Pills, Chicanery Marrickville Bowling Club, Marrickville. 7:30pm. $15. The Turtlenecks Rocks Brewing Co, Alexandria. 2pm. Free. Unleash
Carousel Inn Hotel, Rooty Hill. 8pm. Free. Vanessa Heinitz Panania Hotel, Panania. 8:30pm. Free. Volumes 2016 feat: Buzz Kull + Corin + Felix Lush + Gussy + Jaala + Kato + Kimchi Princi + Low Ton + Makeda + Middle Kids + Morning Tv + Privacy + Rebel Yell + Thhomas + Wax Witches + Nicholas Allbrook + Slum Sociable + Fishing + Mall Grab + Donny Benet + Mossy + Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever + You Beauty + Cliques + Marcus Whale + Habits + Zero Percent + Good Boy + Orb + Unity Floors + Terrible Truths + The Harpoons + Hubert Clarke Jr + Null + Babs + Leo James + Scott & Charlene’s Wedding + Darts + Summer Flake + Angie + S>C>R>A>P>S + 100% + California Girls + Good Morning + Solid Effort + Us The Band + Xanga + Nite Fleit + Andy Garvey + Adi Toohey + Playful Sound + I Oh You DJs + Strange Yonder DJs + Rice Is Nice DJs + Bedroom Suck DJs + Noisey DJs + Thump DJs Various venues, Oxford street, Darlinghurst. 7pm. $96.
SUNDAY AUGUST 28 JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC
Performing Brazil Mr Falcon's, Glebe. 6pm. Free. Sunday Roots & Reggae - feat: The Strides + Drop Legs Moonshine Cider & Rum Bar, Manly. 4pm. Free. Swing Social - feat: Andrew Dickeson & The Blue Rhythm Band The Bald Faced Stag, Leichhardt. 3pm. $16.90. The Regent Street Big Band + The Starr Sisters Camelot Lounge, Marrickville. 6:30pm. $22.90. The Unity Hall Jazz Band Unity Hall Hotel, Balmain. 4pm. Free.
INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS
Elle May Tokio Hotel, Sydney. 7pm. Free. From Street To Stage Soda Factory, Surry Hills. 6pm. Free. Gordi + Xavier Dunn + Jake Meadows Newtown Social Club, Newtown. 5:30pm. $15. Harbours + Our Past Days Red Rattler,
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Jaala photo by Wilk
JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC
Colourfields Slyfox, Enmore. 8pm. Free.
+ Maids + The Powerpacks + Hentai Magi Brighton Up Bar, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $10. Blake Tailor Hornsby Inn, Hornsby. 7:30pm. Free. Cambo The Oriental Hotel, Springwood. 8pm. Free. Dame Joan’s Love Children The Gasoline Pony, Marrickville. 7pm. $7. Foam Waywards, Newtown. 9pm. Free. Geoff Davies The Push Bar, The Rocks. 7pm. Free. Georgia White Club Liverpool, Liverpool. 5:30pm. Free. JP Project Lord Raglan Hotel, Alexandria. 7pm. Free. King Of The North Factory Floor, Marrickville. 7pm. $16.50. Let’s Groove Tonight Penrith RSL, Penrith. 9pm. Free. Muso’s Club Jam Night Carousel Inn Hotel, Rooty Hill. 8pm. Free. Paper Hearts Marlborough Hotel, Newtown. 11pm. Free. Reckless Orient Hotel, The Rocks. 10pm. $5. Red Bull Sound Select - feat: Gold Class + Straight Arrows + You Beauty Plan B Small Club, Sydney. 8pm. $10. Rolling Stoned - The Australian Rolling Stones Show Revesby Workers Club, Revesby. 8:30pm. Free. Sam Lyon Duo Quakers Inn, Quakers Hill. 9:30pm. Free. Sean Mcmahon And The Moonmen + Adam Young + Mick Daley Marrickville Bowling Club, Marrickville. 7pm. $10. Stephanie Lea Dural Country Club, Dural. 7pm. Free. The Belle Havens + Trembling Giant + Off Planet Solutions The Bald Faced Stag, Leichhardt. 8pm. Free. The Frocks Colonial Hotel, Werrington. 9pm. Free. The John Steel Singers Newtown Social Club, Newtown. 8pm. $18. The Protestors Django Bar @ Camelot Lounge, Marrickville. 8pm. $20. The Ruminaters + Raindrop - feat: Ruth Carp & The Fish Heads Moonshine Cider & Rum Bar, Manly. 9pm. Free. The Sea Gypsies Leadbelly, Newtown. 9pm. Free. Two Steps On The Water + Moonsign + Skin Prison + Dog Dirt + Yung Brujo + Cinnamon Templeton Red Rattler, Marrickville. 8pm. Free. Urban Stone Tokio Hotel, Sydney. 7pm. Free. Volumes 2016 feat: Buzz Kull + Corin + Felix Lush + Gussy + Jaala + Kato + Kimchi Princi + Low Ton +
g g guide gig g
gig picks up all night out all week...
The John Steel Singers photo by Erin Strube
send your listings to : gigguide@thebrag.com Marrickville. 4pm. $14.30. Lazy Colts Oxford Circus, Darlinghurst. 8pm. Free. Matt Lyon Penrith Panthers, Penrith. 2pm. Free. Seventeen Big Top Sydney (Luna Park), Milsons Point. 5pm. $103. The Endless Summer Beach Party Penrith RSL, Penrith. 2pm. Free. The Loose Shreds + The Venus Alcatraz + The Daughters Agenda + Sarah Kills + Gypsy + Red Whiskey Valve Bar, Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 4pm. $10. The Salty Sunday Sessions - feat: DJ Sani Hotel Steyne Manly, Manly. 4pm. Free. U2 Elevation Orient Hotel, The Rocks. 3:30pm. Free. UK Anthems Orient Hotel, The Rocks. 8:30pm. Free. Vanessa Heinitz Macarthur Tavern, Campbelltown. 2pm. Free.
ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY, BLUES & FOLK
Andrew Samuel EP Launch - feat: Andrew Samuel +
Kahlo + Camden Manor Petersham Bowling Club, Petersham. 7:30pm. $10. Benj Axwel Commodore Hotel, Mcmahon Point. 2pm. Free. Bucket Lounge Presents – Live & Originals - feat: Olatundji Lola Sola + Claire Mcguiness + Cj Fairleight + Katherine Vavahea Grind Espresso, Cronulla. 5:30pm. Free. Dave Anthony The Rivo Hotel, Riverstone. 4pm. Free. Fifty Million Beers The Gasoline Pony, Marrickville. 5pm. $7. Glenn Esmond The Push Bar, The Rocks. 4pm. Free. Heath Burdell Unity Hall Hotel, Balmain. 3pm. Free. John Vella Rocks Brewing Co, Alexandria. 2pm. Free. Leroy Lee Bellevue Hotel, Paddington. 2pm. Free. Live & Original @ Grind Espresso - feat: Claire Mcguiness + Cj Fairleight + Katherine Vavahea Grind Espresso, Cronulla. 5:30pm. Free. Live Music Sundays - feat: Sydney Blues Society
Botany View Hotel, Newtown. 6pm. Free. Michael Gorham The Mill Hotel, Milperra. 12pm. Free. Satellite V Shady Pines, Darlinghurst. 4pm. Free.
MONDAY AUGUST 29 JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC
Latin & Jazz Open Mic Night The World Bar, Kings Cross. 7pm. Free.
ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY, BLUES & FOLK
John Maddox Duo Mr Falcon's, Glebe. 7pm. Free. Live & Original @ The Corridor Corridor Bar, Newtown. 7pm. Free.
INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS
Cavan Te Tokio Hotel, Sydney. 7pm. Free. Frankie’s World Famous House
Band Frankie's Pizza, Sydney. 9pm. Free. Jonathan Jones Orient Hotel, The Rocks. 8:30pm. Free. The Monday Jam The Basement, Circular Quay. 8:30pm. $6.
The John Steel Singers
TUESDAY AUGUST 30 ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY, BLUES & FOLK
Little Sundays feat: Local Talent The Little Guy, Glebe. 6pm. Free.
INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS
Lennox Lust Orient Hotel, The Rocks. 8:30pm. Free. Live & Originals @ M - feat: Justine Wahlin + Julianne Jessop + My Sisco Electro Mr Falcon's, Glebe. 7:30pm. Free. Live Rock & Roll Karaoke Frankie's Pizza, Sydney. 4pm. Free. Press Club Band Tokio Hotel, Sydney. 7pm. Free.
WEDNESDAY AUGUST 24
Ruth Carp & The Fish Heads Moonshine Cider & Rum Bar, Manly. 9pm. Free.
Eüsh + Ben Panucci + Chuffy The Gasoline Pony, Marrickville. 7pm. $7.
SATURDAY AUGUST 27
The Spin Drifters The Basement, Circular Quay. 6:30pm. $18.30.
The Amity Affliction Metro Theatre, Sydney. 7:30pm. $59.90.
THURSDAY AUGUST 25 Andy Black Metro Theatre, Sydney. 7pm. $56.90. Damien Leith Brass Monkey, Cronulla. 7pm. $39.80. Katherine Vavahea & Friends - feat: Olatundji + Kahlo + Lola Sola + Band + Katherine Vavahea Lazybones Lounge, Marrickville. 7:30pm. $10.
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Out Of Nowhere The Gasoline Pony, Marrickville. 7pm. $7.
25
Aug
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(9:00PM - 12:00AM)
(9:00PM - 12:00AM)
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26 Aug
FRIDAY AUGUST 26 (10:00PM - 1:40AM)
SATURDAY AFTERNOON
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27
SUNDAY AFTERNOON
3:30PM 6:30PM
28 Aug
(10:00PM - 1:15AM)
mon
(8:30PM - 11:30PM)
30 Aug (8:30PM - 11:30PM)
EVERY SATURDAY
Party DJs GROUND FLOOR - AFTER BANDS
Bain Marie - feat: Food Court + Pretty Littles Botany View Hotel, Newtown. 3pm. Free. Cub Sport Newtown Social Club, Newtown. 8pm. $15. Festival For The Fallen - feat: Hammer + Tundrel + Enfiled + Freelance Fuckwits + Murder-World + Carbon Black + Terrorential + Kvlts Of Vice The Bald Faced Stag, Leichhardt. 2:30pm. $23.60. Jimmy Barnes Enmore Theatre, Newtown. 8pm. $127. Jonah And The Wailers The Basement, Circular Quay. 7:30pm. $32.50.
SUNDAY AUGUST 28 Andrew Samuel EP Launch - feat: Andrew Samuel + Kahlo + Camden Manor Petersham Bowling Club, Petersham. 7:30pm. $10. Gordi + Xavier Dunn + Jake Meadows Newtown Social Club, Newtown. 5:30pm. $15. Gordi
Dame Joan’s Love Children The Gasoline Pony, Marrickville. 7pm. $7. Red Bull Sound Select - feat: Gold Class + Straight Arrows + You Beauty Plan B Small Club, Sydney. 8pm. $10.
tue
29 Aug
Anna Murphy - feat: Ivo Henzi + Merlin Sutter The Bald Faced Stag, Leichhardt. 8pm. $34.90. Beatles Back2back (Sgt. Peppers + Abbey Road) - feat: Russell Morris + Kav Temperley + Jack Jones + Jon Allen Sydney Opera House, Sydney. 8pm. $94.
sun
4:15PM 8:45PM
Aug
thebrag.com
Tourist Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $49.90.
The Angels + Mi-Sex Wentworthville Leagues Club, Wentworthville. 8pm. $45.
(8:30PM - 11:30PM)
Sean McMahon And The Moonmen + Adam Young + Mick Daley Marrickville Bowling Club, Marrickville. 7pm. $10. The John Steel Singers Newtown Social Club, Newtown. 8pm. $18. The Ruminaters + Raindrop - Feat:
BRAG :: 677 :: 24:08:16 :: 31
brag beats
BRAG’s guide to dance, hip hop and club culture
dance music news club, dance and hip hop in brief... with Alexander Chetverikov, Joseph Earp and Emily Norton
five things WITH
KALI
Buoy
HEY BUOY
Lovers of the cutting edge, rejoice: Sydney based electro pop sensation Buoy has announced the date for her EP launch. Buoy, the alter-ego of Charmain Kingston, has cultivated a dedicated, ever-growing fanbase, following on from the release of single ‘Clouds & Rain’ back in April. Now, she’s ready to take on the world, teasing news about her new EP Break, a scintillating selection of straight up bangers. Buoy plays the Newtown Social Club on Wednesday September 14. Growing Up From a young age I loved 1. turning my back to the world,
spending hours playing records, making compilations and dancing to music on my own. My dad had an epic record collection and was a massive hi-fi head, so everything sounded sweet, though I did get in trouble for trying to scratch on his turntable. Before smoking and all that stuff, that was the first thing I was ever grounded for: stuffing up a needle. Clearly didn’t act as a deterrent!
2.
Inspirations The first true inspiration came when I was around 15, when we moved from full-on country to the country masquerading as a city – i.e. Canberra. I only spent one year there, but my group of friends exposed me to punk and alternative rock: stuff like Nick Cave, The Birthday Party, The Cramps, The Jesus And Mary Chain, Joy Division, My Bloody Valentine, et cetera. My tastes are still pretty alternative, but maybe easier for people to wrap their head around ’cause now I like “dance music”. Your Crew I run Picnic in Sydney, which 3. has been running for over eight years and is a pretty trusted disco,
house and techno party. Just at Picnic alone I’ve had the pleasure of working with Andy Webb, a local Sydney DJ and writer, and for a shorter period with Adi Toohey, another local DJ making serious waves right now. Shout outs to Hubert Clarke Jr. and Lauren Hansom, as well as Jon Watts, Paul Jextra, Bobby Vibe Positive and Nadia Hernandez, all invaluable current collaborators.
to techno: if I feel it, I play it. I know it’s not a genre, but I really like sexy music, and to me the deeper something is, the sexier it is…
Good news: the Sydney Soul Weekender is set to return, and you can expect plenty of dusty soulful grooves from the local DJs on hand. The 19th annual edition of this wonderful celebration of northern soul will span over three days at three venues in Sydney, including Friday August 26 at Captain Cook Hotel, Saturday August 27 at Manning Bar, and a free all-day event at Bondi Bowlo on Sunday August 28. Affectionately monikered the “Nash”, the nights promise hours of soul in its many guises – whether that be northern, rare, philly, neo or otherwise.
Music, Right Here, Right Now 5. ...Is whatever you want it to be.
NAME’S FLEMING: JOHN FLEMING.
The Music You Make And Play 4. I play anything from disco through
It’s all out there and incredibly easy to access in all its forms and applications. The only thing that can possibly stop anyone tapping into what they want to experience is any limitations put on themselves by themselves. What: Bacardi Fuego Revolutions with Darshan Jesrani, Kali and more Where: Club 77 When: Saturday August 27
DEVOTE YOURSELF TO DARSHAN
Darshan Jesrani, perhaps best known for the wonderfully off-kilter house and disco he produced with Morgan Geist as Metro Area, will wrap up the Bacardi Fuego Revolutions series on Saturday August 27 at Club 77. With countless remix credits and productions to his name, along with an infectiously upbeat approach to his mixing and his craft, it’s well worth getting down to this one. It’s free and it’s fun, and who doesn’t like a bit of that?
Heads up dance and trance lovers: John ‘00’ Fleming is heading to Sydney. The critically and commercially acclaimed artist will be well known as the inventor of
what has since been called “the J00F sound”, a distinct mix of electro styles that has had fans dancing like mad people for years now. Better still, the show will be performed in conjunction with another New York house staple, Joeski. What more could you want? No, seriously: what more could you want? The pair play Chinese Laundry on Saturday September 10.
SIMPLY FLUMING
You know that Flume guy? He’s doing pretty well, eh? The young artist’s astronomical rise to fame is now the stuff of legends, and his blistering set at this year’s Splendour In The Grass proved him to be one of Australia’s most exciting live propositions. Given that kind of acclaim, how could you go past catching him in the live setting? You’d be a fool to miss his upcoming shows at the Qudos Bank Arena, particularly given that
TLC
he’ll be playing alongside fellow legends Vince Staples and the one and only Sophie. Tickets are still on sale, but it’s unlikely that they’ll last forever, so make sure you get on them, stat. Flume plays Sydney on Friday December 9 and Saturday December 10.
STICK WITH STOOKI
Not content with just making their names as a singularly impressive hip hop duo, Stooki Sound have expanded their show to also incorporate elements of bass and trap, creating a mish mash of styles that genuinely sounds like nothing else. The London-based production and DJ unit are fi nally heading to Sydney, preparing to play what will undoubtedly be a suitably danceable and deranged show at Max Watt’s. There aren’t many acts out there like these guys, so all are highly encouraged to attend. It all goes down on Saturday September 10.
CHASING WATERFALLS
Hang on to your hats, folks: pop sensation TLC are heading to Sydney. The supremely influential group is best known for their chart-topping hits ‘Waterfalls’ and ‘No Scrubs’, but to be honest every single one of their songs is a banger. This new antipodean trip will represent the band’s first time in New Zealand, and a welcome return to Australian shores following a long hiatus. The group has also announced details of a brand new album that will apparently emerge some time in 2016, so if you’re lucky, you might even be getting a squizz at some brand new TLC tunes. How’s that for exciting? TLC hit the Enmore Theatre on Wednesday November 16.
Darshan Jesrani
xxxx
32 :: BRAG :: 677 :: 24:08:16
STEAL YOUR SOUL
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club guide g
club picks p up all night out all week...
send your listings to : clubguide@thebrag.com
club pick of the week FRIDAY AUGUST 26
8pm. Free. Trap City - feat: Elwood + 6ftsound + Terabyte + Arbee + Black Friday Valve Bar, Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 10pm. $10. Voodoo - feat: Airwave + Adam Ellis Home Nightclub, Darling Harbour. 9:30pm. $20. Welove - feat: Various DJs Burdekin Hotel, Darlinghurst. 10pm. Free.
HIP HOP & R&B
Arrested Development
Enmore Theatre
Arrested Development 8pm. $77.30. WEDNESDAY AUGUST 24 CLUB NIGHTS Birdcage - feat: Various DJs Slyfox, Enmore. 9pm. Free. Queerbourhood feat: Seymour Butz + Friends The Bearded Tit, Redfern. 7:30pm. Free. SBW - feat: Jonski Babysham + Resident DJs Side Bar, Sydney. 8pm. Free. Sosueme 9th Birthday - feat: Yacht Club DJs + Paces + Alex Dyson + Tom Tilley + Sosueme DJs + Sports + Sideboob Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach. 7pm. Free. The Wall The World Bar, Kings Cross. 9pm. Free.
THURSDAY AUGUST 25
xxx
CLUB NIGHTS Corey Harris The Basement, Circular Quay. 7pm. $40. Femme Fetale The Argyle, The Rocks. 6pm. Free. House Keeping - feat: DJ Conor Boylan + Guests Side Bar, Sydney. 8pm. Free. thebrag.com
Mansion Lane The World Bar, Kings Cross. 9pm. Free. Thursday Mix Up feat: DJs + Bands Hermann's Bar, Darlington. 4pm. Free.
HIP HOP & R&B
Alphamama Bank Hotel, Newtown. 8pm. Free. Destructive Steps 8 Warm-Up Party - feat: Makoto + Benny Hinn Play Bar, Surry Hills. 6pm. Free. Rnb Takeover - feat: Horizon + Anfinity + K-Time + Wy-C Australian Hotel And Brewery, Rouse Hill. 7pm. Free.
FRIDAY AUGUST 26 CLUB NIGHTS Analogue Attic - feat: Albrecht La'Brooy + Udmo + Rimbombo + Heavenly Freda's, Chippendale. 6pm. $10. Argyle Fridays The Argyle, The Rocks. 6pm. Free. Bassic - feat: Spag Heddy + Ab The Thief Chinese Laundry, Sydney. 10pm. $28. Blvd Fridays - feat: A-Tonez Marquee, Pyrmont.
10pm. $12.30. DJ Lt Revesby Workers Club, Revesby. 8:30pm. Free. El Loco Later - feat: DJs On Rotation Excelsior Hotel, Surry Hills. 9pm. Free. Fatback - feat: DJs Adverse + Juzzlikedat + Caratgold + Amity + Makoto + Cman + Edseven + Vj Spook Plan B Small Club, Sydney. 9pm. Free. Feel Good Fridays Bar100, The Rocks. 5pm. Free. Friday Frothers feat: DJ Babysham + Guests Side Bar, Sydney. 8pm. Free. Fridays - feat: Bozo Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach. 8pm. Free. Left. Oxford Circus, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $11. Loco Friday - feat: DJs On Rotation The Slip Inn, Sydney. 5pm. Free. Memo Fridays feat: Resident DJs Cargo Lounge, Sydney. 5pm. Free. Prescription (A Night Of Caribbean Soca, Dancehall & Reggae) - feat: DJ Fasmwa + Deejay Koolbreeze + Free It Up Dancers Brighton Up Bar, Darlinghurst. 11pm. $10. Scubar Fridays - feat: DJs On Rotation Scubar, Sydney.
Afrobrasiliana Second Birthday - feat: Trevor ‘El Chino’ Parkee + Thomas Studdy + Raphael Ramires Brasil + Jon Mcculloch + Paris Groovescooter + Benny Hinn Play Bar, Surry Hills. 6pm. Free. Alphamama Mr Falcon's, Glebe. 8:30pm. Free. Arrested Development Enmore Theatre, Newtown. 8pm. $77.30. Freshly Pick'D Headz - feat: Listic + Benji Pk + Kaoe + Dolzy + B.C. + DJ Myme + DJ Porksac Valve Bar, Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 8:15pm. $5.
SATURDAY 27 AUG HIP HOP & R&B
On The Corner feat: Diola Mr Falcon's, Glebe. 8:30pm. Free.
CLUB NIGHTS Argyle Saturdays - feat: Tass + TapTap + Minx + Crazy Caz The Argyle, The Rocks. 6pm. Free. Bacardi Feugo Revolutions - feat: Darshan Jesrani + Kali + The Original Roman + Love Bombs 77, Darlinghurst. 9pm. Free. C.U Saturday feat: Dan Bayton & Scott Rotton + Sampson + Lawrence Daffurn + Stuart Hunter Aaiste Civic Underground, Sydney. 9pm. $22. Cakes The World Bar, Kings Cross. 8pm. Free. Comfort Club #7 feat: DJ Chango + Cherri Kandler + Señor Face + Bilsn + B&H Smooth Tokyo Sing Song, Newtown. 9pm. Free. DJ Ta$K Rooty Hill Rsl Club, Rooty Hill. 8:30pm. Free. El Loco Later - feat: DJs On Rotation Excelsior Hotel, Surry Hills. 9pm. Free.
Father Bass Club Weekly - feat: Myrne + Hatch + Luude + Holly + Many More Valve Bar, Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 10pm. $20. Frat Saturdays feat: Danny Simms + Jayowens Side Bar, Sydney. 8pm. Free. Homemade Saturdays - feat: Bonka Home Nightclub, Darling Harbour. 9pm. Free. Kanye Vs Taylor feat: DJ Levins Plan B Small Club, Sydney. 9pm. $16.90. Kick On Saturdays - feat: Guest DJs Cargo Lounge, Sydney. 6pm. Free. Kings Cross Saturdays - feat: Resident DJs Kings Cross Hotel, Kings Cross. 5pm. Free. Klparty + Nyxen + Sports Chinese Laundry, Sydney. 10pm. Free. Local Legends feat: Goodwill + Jesabel + Minx + G-Wizard Marquee, Pyrmont. 10pm. $26.60. Mantra Collective Presents - feat: John Dimas + Pepperpot + Dan Baartz + Mantra Collective + Mike Witcombe + Le Brond + Marley Sherman + Mike Watts + Variancé + Matt Crowe Bridge Hotel, Rozelle. 10pm. $27.50. My Place Saturdays - feat: DJs On Rotation Bar100, The Rocks. 8pm. Free. No Rest In August - feat: DJ’s S.H.E. + Xerstorkitte + Action Ant And Many More Valve Bar, Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 8pm. $5. Pacha - feat: Mightyfools Ivy Bar/lounge, Sydney. 6:30pm. $38. Saturdays - feat: Resident DJs + Special Guests Kit & Kaboodle, Kings Cross. 10pm. $10. Scubar Saturdays - feat: DJs On Rotation Scubar, Sydney. 8:30pm. Free. Something Else feat: Ben Fester + Andy Garvey + David Bangma + Aaron Robins + Brosnan Perera + Jimmy Galvin Burdekin Hotel, Darlinghurst. 11pm. $11. Stranger Familiar - feat: Kato + Alexander Luc + Sonic Cult + Sven + Cold Club Deejays Secret Location, Sydney. 10pm. $27.50. Yours <3’s Techno - feat: Ellie D + Rondon + Gee + Taras Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach. 8pm. Free.
Paces
WEDNESDAY AUGUST 24 Sosueme 9th Birthday - feat: Yacht Club DJs + Paces + Alex Dyson + Tom Tilley + Sosueme DJs + Sports + Sideboob Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach. 7pm. Free.
THURSDAY AUGUST 25 Corey Harris The Basement, Circular Quay. 7pm. $40.
FRIDAY AUGUST 26 Afrobrasiliana Second Birthday - feat: Trevor ‘el Chino’ Parkee + Thomas Studdy + Raphael Ramires Brasil + Jon Mcculloch + Paris Groovescooter + Benny Hinn Play Bar, Surry Hills. 6pm. Free. Bassic - feat: Spag Heddy + Ab The Thief Chinese Laundry, Sydney. 10pm. $28.
Trap City - feat: Elwood + 6ftsound + Terabyte + Arbee + Black Friday Valve Bar, Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 10pm. $10.
SATURDAY AUGUST 27 C.U Saturday - feat: Dan Bayton & Scott Rotton + Sampson + Lawrence Daffurn + Stuart Hunter Aaiste Civic Underground, Sydney. 9pm. $22. KLParty + Nyxen + Sports Chinese Laundry, Sydney. 10pm. Free. Mantra Collective Presents - feat: John Dimas + Pepperpot + Dan Baartz + Mantra Collective + Mike Witcombe + Le Brond + Marley Sherman + Mike Watts + Variancé + Matt Crowe Bridge Hotel, Rozelle. 10pm. $27.50. Something Else - Feat: Ben Fester + Andy Garvey + David Bangma + Aaron Robins + Brosnan Perera + Jimmy Galvin Burdekin Hotel, Darlinghurst. 11pm. $11.
Dan Baartz
SUNDAY AUGUST 28 HIP HOP & R&B
Sydney Soul Weekender - feat: Denny Johnson + Gail Smith + Agent 00 Soul + Rob Milton Manning Bar, Camperdown. 7pm. $15.
CLUB NIGHTS S.A.S.H By Day Greenwood Hotel,
North Sydney. 2pm. $15. S.A.S.H By Night Home Nightclub, Darling Harbour. 9pm. $15. Sin Sundays The Argyle, The Rocks. 7pm. Free.
MONDAY AUGUST 29 CLUB NIGHTS I Love Mondays Side Bar, Sydney. 9pm. Free.
TUESDAY AUGUST 30 CLUB NIGHTS Coyote Tuesdays The World Bar, Kings Cross. 9pm. $10. Side Bar Tuesdays - feat: Black Diamond Hearts Side Bar, Sydney. 9pm. Free. Terrible Tuesdays Slyfox, Enmore. 5pm. Free.
BRAG :: 677 :: 24:08:16 :: 33
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20:08:16 :: Chinese Laundry :: 111 Sussex St, CBD
PHOTOGRAPHER :: ASHLEY MAR
Off The Record
RECOMMENDED SATURDAY AUGUST 27
Dance and Electronica with Tyson Wray Sydney Pony Club on Sunday September 11 at Harpoon Harry.
Ricardo Villalobos
Straight up one of the best DJs in the world, Jackmaster, has locked in a Sydney headline show. One of the most in-demand selectors of the past five years, the Glasgow don is one of the only names in the game who has never even touched upon an original production or remix. The dude DJs – and that’s all he does. The dude DJs well. The Numbers co-founder (the label has released the likes of SBTRKT, Deadboy, Redinho, Jessie Ware, Sophie, Jamie XX and Mosca) is a favourite of Ben UFO, Mike
W
Xxx
ell hello there. Meet the newest festival on the Australian summer calendar: Tell No Tales. Run by the Hardware crew, the event is “inspired by the European summer” – whatever that means. Marketing/promo bullshit aside, the lineup speaks for itself. Headlining will be minimal techno maverick Ricardo Villalobos (let’s hope he doesn’t repeat the “car crash” set he performed last year at Cocoon In The Park – you know what I’m talking about) alongside Pan-Pot, Audion (AKA Matthew Dear), Agents Of Time and Nastia. Noiice. Very noiice. It’s going down on Sunday December 4 at the Royal Randwick Racecourse.
Oh my! It’s the return of a DJ so good that the last time he was here his set stopped my girlfriend and I breaking up (well, at least for a month, long story). Yep, having not returned to Australia since 2010, when I was dating Katie, the Chicago head Chez Damier is coming back our way. Having worked with the likes of KMS Records, The Music Institute, The Bellville Three (AKA Derrick May, Juan Atkins and Kevin Sanderson), alongside his seminal productions with Ron Trent, Damier is one of the few remaining pioneers of deep house that hasn’t sold out and relinquished the art of their craft for Ben Franklins. He’ll be supported by Anno, Mira Boru, Ben Fester, Kali, Stereogamous and
Jackmaster
Servito, Seth Troxler and Jamie Jones, and is a regular at the world’s most revered clubs such as Berghain and fabric. Head to his Soundcloud and give his 2015 Mastermix a rinse for a proper schooling. Catch him on Saturday November 26 at the Greenwood Hotel. Tour rumours: If you’ve even just stepped foot into a club this year then you’ve no doubt heard Midland’s track ‘Final Credits’ (on ReGraded). Those diva vocals: damn son. You’ll get to see the lad spinning it himself mighty soon. I also wouldn’t be surprised to see John Talabot coming our way in the near future. Oh, and a headline show from techno kingpin Function in January? You better believe it. Best releases this week: What’s that? You’ve realised that the record from Frank Ocean that has taken over the internet is kinda bourgeois and want to listen to something worthwhile? I gotcha covered. Will Long’s deep house debut Purple / Blue on Comatonse Recordings is luuuush. Both tracks are accompanied by an overdub from DJ Sprinkles, making this shit one of the most fire records of 2016 thus far. Highly recommend. Ukrainian deep house cat Vakula’s Cyclicality Between Procyon and Gomeisa (Dekmantel) is well worth your time, as is Kareem and Huren’s Le 17 Janvier Los Angeles, USA (Noiztank).
Darshan Jesrani Club 77
THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 8 – SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 11
Red Bull Music Academy Weekender: Mr. Fingers, Bok Bok, Peanut Butter Wolf + more Various venues
SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 10 Giorgio Gigli TBA
SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 11 Chez Damier Harpoon Harry
FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 16
Detroit Techno Militia Goodbar
SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 24 Rebekah Burdekin Hotel
SUNDAY OCTOBER 2 Bicep UTS
SATURDAY OCTOBER 29 Green Velvet Greenwood Hotel
FRIDAY NOVEMBER 11 – SUNDAY NOVEMBER 13 Return To Rio: Carl Cox, De La Soul, Eric Powell, DJ EZ + more Del Rio, Wisemans Ferry
SATURDAY NOVEMBER 12
Marcel Dettman Chinese Laundry
SATURDAY NOVEMBER 26 Randomer TBA
SATURDAY NOVEMBER 26 Jackmaster Greenwood Hotel
FRIDAY DECEMBER 2 – SUNDAY DECEMBER 4
Subsonic Music Festival: Lee Scratch Perry, Mad Professor, Josh Wink, Ben UFO + more Riverwood Downs Mountain Valley Resort
Got any tip-offs, hate mail, praise or cat photos? Email hey@tysonwray.com or contact me via carrier pigeon. Hit me on Twitter via @tysonwray. 34 :: BRAG :: 677 :: 24:08:16
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