LostBoyZine #3

Lost BoY Zine Max Stern Crisis alert + more

A Music.Arts.

Literature.Zine.

ISSUe3APRIL14

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wtf iz in dis Records

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Nathan Seeckts Pentimento Jen Buxton/Lincoln le Fevre Initials

Interviews

Crisis Alert 6 Max Stern 8

Art

Artreal Gallery: Cherine Fahd and Miles Hill Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art: Dark Heart

Books

‘Autobiography’ - Morrissey ‘Monuments Men’ - Robert M Edsel ‘One Night In Winter’ - Simon Sebag Montefiore

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Thank YOU for buying LBZ and supporting the community it fosters.

Huge thanks to Max and Footy for contributing.

Infinite thanks to Wil and Bosma for being legends. all photos courtesy of the respective owners. all text: oliver dan-cuthbert - triangleshoe@hotmail.com all design: jasmin stengos - jasminstengos@gmail.com

HEAD OVER TO: www.lostboyrecords.tumblr.com 2

Yo, Put That Bag Back On’s new EP and debut 7” ‘Sometimes There’s Nothing You Can Do’

Stream available now @ yobagpunk.com Purchase from lostboyrecords.bigcartel.com or Beatdisc, Blackwire, Resist, Red Eye + Poison City Records 3

records

Oceans of Women and Wine – Nathan Seeckts Seeckts third release opens as it closes, with the gentle music of an acoustic guitar. Often it seems that Seeckts is almost talking to you, softly telling stories of travelling, of women, of cars. His lyrics have a tinge of nostalgia to them, with a warm glow that is never dull but always inviting. Amongst the emotive vocals there are delicately constructed acoustic and banjo lines that constantly compliment Seeckts voice. Perhaps most stirring is the repeated lines in the chorus of Heads, “Cause we’re the young, and we’re the dumb, and we’re the free, and you’re the wild, and the innocent, you’re the free”.

Bonus track ‘The 59 Sound’, originally from the much loved Gaslight Anthem album with the same title, was a great choice as Seeckts’ voice moulds into the song as if it was written for him. A simple release in construction – one man, his voice, a harmonica and trusty guitar – comes together perfectly to create a silencing harmony that makes you want to sit back with a drink and just listen.

Digital download available at: Physical CD available at:

nathanseeckts.bandcamp.com nathanseeckts.bigcartel.com

Inside The Sea – Pentimento After releasing a brilliant concept record in 2012, New York’s Pentimento have delivered again with a four track 10”, continuing the theme of nautical, beach and drowning related lyrics. Although a pretty overused and clichéd metaphor (thank fuck they don’t over mention ‘anchors’ like every other band) Pentimento make it work on a level that other bands just seem to miss. This is a band that know how to write music full of hooks, sing-a-longs and feelings. Stepping away from the ‘indie’/punk sound that held together the last record, the band push themselves for change, particularly towards a more pop-punk feel. Side A opens with Not So Young, a track that builds up to an explosive chorus before unrequited love song Just Friends follows, sure to be the catchiest damn thing you’ll hear all year. Any Minute Now begins quietly before launching into screams, dancing guitar work and ‘woah woahs’.

Closing the EP is vocal-driven It’s Okay, overtly displaying the underlying tone of honesty that runs throughout the record: “I hate myself / I hate my friends / So fucking what?”. Pentimento’s magic lies in their weaving of memorable lyrics with really, really tight musicianship – think Brand New, Smith Street Band and Dikembe. These guys are going to blow up, go see for yourself.

Stream, digital and vinyl available at:

paperplastick.limitedrun.com

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Split – Jen Buxton/Lincoln le Fevre The beauty of Jen Buxton is that every time you think she has released the best music of her career, she gives you a taste of something even more incredible. Listening to the two tracks Buxton delivers here is like a punch to the face, in all the right ways. Both centre around finding oneself whilst being an outsider, with the self-confessional and haunting Einmal Ist Keinmal as a devastatingly beautiful opening track. The far more upbeat It Says No Homers follows, and at its core relays how lame it is to be a female in music (but far more eloquently); summarised by the line “I don’t wanna be a loser anymore”. Let’s just say it’s a good thing Buxton isn’t standing in the back row anymore. It seems le Fevre took a leaf out of Buxton’s book, dropping the uplifting and inspiring atmosphere that was found on his last record in tracks like Hope And Crown and Get Drunk, See Bands. The no less fantastic, but far more disheartening tracks from le Fevre start with The Last Time, a more reflective, room quietening song than the roof-raisers of the past. le Fevre mourns “All this sadness made you sick” before the track later culminates in the deeply honest “Can’t you see / That I’m not well”. Half Light, featuring Buxton, is a more predictable le Fevre track, demonstrating his flair for story-telling, suddenly concluding the record at the songs peak, leaving listeners desperate for more.

Stream and digital download: Vinyl available at:

poisoncityrecords.bandcamp.com poisoncityestore.com/estore

Leave Expired – Initials The beauty about punk/emo revival/post-hardcore/whatever you want to call it, is that if ever you think it’s getting a bit stale, you don’t often have to look very far to find an original and fresh artist.

Leave Expired is the debut LP from Melbourne trio Initials, and displays the cohesiveness in, and strength of, their song writing. Slowly opening with the title track, Initials sum up the rest of the record in one song – at its core, passionate and captivating ‘melodic’ punk. For much of the record, a crucial strength is found in Initials aptitude for creating music in an innovative way, rather than come across as simply novel, or even lacklustre. This is particularly seen in tracks like Drones, where the inclusion of a violin (courtesy of Kat from Ramshackle Army) creates a far more developed and mature sound. Guest vocals appear on two tracks, Call To Reason, with Grace from Kissing Booth, and Between Lands, featuring Jamie Hay. Again, these additional parts only add to the overall character of the record. The latter track, closing the record, displays guitar prowess, and the ability for the trio to have fun with their music, following on from the intense instrumental segment of River’s Edge. Striking guitar work and gruff vocals, reminiscent of Restorations, are held together by relentless percussion throughout, branding this record as its own. Sit down, put Leave Expired on and have your mind blown.

Stream at: Vinyl available at:

initialsmusic.bandcamp.com arrestrecordsaustralia.bigcartel.com

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crisis alert

You have recently put out your second release, the band’s debut LP. What was the process behind writing and recording, and was it different to the behind-the-scenes of your previous 7”?

The process for writing and recording for the LP was pretty much exactly the same to the 7”. Writing basically involved me writing all the songs at home, then getting together with our drummer Shaun, recording demo’s for everyone to learn and then getting together and jamming them. With the recording we did all the music in one day with Jonno Klynsmith (who also did the 7”) and vocals another day and then mixing. Everything is recorded live in a jam room, besides vocals. The main difference this time was that everyone played their instruments, whereas on the 7” I also played guitar and bass. Actually at the time of the 7” I hadn’t even asked Shannon to play in the band yet as I wasn’t sure if Crisis Alert would become a band. The recording session was make or break. JJ Golden mastered the 7”, and we got him to do the LP as well. I like making the whole process and quick and easy as possible.

Crisis Alert have a tendency to keep songs short and sweet, do you think this allows the message of your songs to come across straight up and with no fluffy filler bits?

When I listen to hardcore punk, I like my songs short, fast and intense and I guess that is reflected through the way I write Crisis Alert songs. Everything we do I want it to be straight to the point and no messing around. Being straight to the point with my lyrics helps me get any message across easier.

You guys obviously feel pretty strongly about certain social issues, with your music continuously displaying a sense of urgency in delivering catchy messages in songs like ‘Urban Decay’ and ‘Blinded’.

Was this an early, pre-mediated objective for the band, or did the lyrical content come naturally when writing?

Before Crisis Alert I had never sung for a band before so I had no idea what I was going to write about and I had no idea what I would even sound like when I opened my mouth to yell into that mic. The first time I actually knew what I sounded like was when those first words came out when we recorded the 7”. Therefore I’m not an experienced lyricist so the lyrics aren’t really pre-meditated. I find I really do have to sit down and concentrate on what I want to write about while listening to demo recordings of the songs, working on what words go well together. A lot of the stuff I sing about are the things I deal with every day and my experiences from what I see, do and hear. For Crisis Alert I feel I don’t have to do things like read a book or watch a movie to try and gain some extra inspiration for lyrics.

This record, however, steps away in places from social issues and becomes a much more personal depiction of members of the band, with songs like ‘Pressure and ‘Drowned’ representing passionate releases of emotion. What brought about this change in lyrical content?

The content of the 7” and LP contain both social and personal lyrical content and I guess it all comes down to how I am feeling at the time of writing each song. Something might have happened to me that day that triggered something off, or I might have seen something that put a certain thought in my mind. I know there were a few times I went home after a long day and smashed out a couple of songs. I find yelling into a mic is a good way of letting out some of that inner frustration and telling the word what you think of it.

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As a band, you guys wear your influences on your sleeve. Are there any unexpected or unusual bands that influenced Crisis Alert?

I personally have such a wide range of musical influences, and I know the other band members do as well. Owning a record store, and working in the record business for such a long time I get exposed to so many different types of music. When it comes to Crisis Alert, the influences are very obvious and I wouldn’t say there are many other unexpected or unusual bands that influence our sound other than the obvious.

The bands that influence our sound are certainly my favourite type of music to listen too.

In the past two years as a band, you have been included in several festivals, including Adelaide’s Here And Now Fest and Hardcore Fest, as well as support for Youth Of Today, Mindsnare, Ceremony and other prominent bands in the hardcore and punk community. Your first release, a self-titled 7”, was released through Resist Records. Did you expect the band to be picked up and received so well in such a short space of time?

Never did I ever expect Crisis Alert to gain the amount of attention it has. Out of the 14 years of me playing in bands, it is probably the band I have been the most stress free about, and the one I really didn’t expect to do much with. My reason for starting the band was so I could play more local shows when we can, with the great younger bands coming up through the Adelaide scene, open up the shows and just go nuts playing the style of music I love. When we recorded the 7” I decided to send it to Graham at Resist because he’s a good mate of mine and I wanted to show him my new project and perhaps maybe get on a show or two that he is bringing to Adelaide.

That week I got a call saying he really likes it and that he wants to put it out. I am extremely grateful and happy that someone who I really respect liked something I created. Thanks to Graham the 7” did really well and we have had a really great run of shows and tours and I look forward to doing more, because there is nothing I enjoy doing more.

The artwork for your new record, Urban Decay, is pretty striking. Who is the artist and how much input did the band have in its conception?

Glenn Smith is the artist for Urban Decay. I have always loved his style and I have used him for many art projects in the past, including the Stolen Youth LP, 7” and a bunch of Stolen Youth merch & posters. He is really great, super fast and reliable. I did the art for the 7” and I certainly wanted to step up the game from that (which isn’t too hard) and so I got onto Glenno and told him my idea. His style really suits what I was going for and after one phone call he sent me a nearly finished image of the cover and it was exactly what I was after. I wanted the art to be a reflection of the title “Urban Decay” and he definitely captured that well. Patrick Galvin (who I have also used for many Stolen Youth related design projects) laid it out and he is also great at what he does and it nailed it straight away.

I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out.

Patrick also helped create the moving tribute to my late son on the insert as well.

Thanks for chatting with us. Lastly, what are some of the local bands you have been digging lately?

Thanks for taking the time to interview me.

The local Adelaide bands I have been loving are The Weight, Crash, Weightless, Canidae and Search And Destroy.

Purchase ‘Urban Decay’ @ http://crisisalert.bigcartel.com/

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max stern

We spoke to Max before his recent Australian tour and got the hot gossip on all things music, touring and life.

I think it’s safe to say a lot of people are really excited to see you on tour with Wil and Pinch Hitter, marking your first visit to Australia. What can punters expect from the tour, particularly in regard to your setlist?

I’m gonna try to play a variety of things. Signals songs, Meridian songs, solo songs that I haven’t played before, covers… I’ve got a bunch of ideas. On the off-chance that people know my songs and want to hear something in particular I’ll play it for them. I imagine that Wil and I will play a song or two together, and I’ve talked to Dave from Pinch Hitter about backing me up on banjo for a few tunes as well. Maybe we’ll do it like the Revival Tour and we’ll all end up playing something together at the end of the show. Who knows?! I’m guessing each night will be a little different.

You’re already pretty good mates with Wil and Dave. How did you meet them and has the idea of touring together been in the works for a while?

I met Wil and the rest of the Smith Street guys in a liquor store in Pittsburgh, PA in October of 2012. Jon from Restorations had contacted me about putting on some shows for them in Pittsburgh and Cleveland, so I booked them a weekend and they came through on their first-ever US tour. Those were actually the first two full-band Meridian shows that had ever happened, and the Cleveland show was the “Aging Truths” CD release show.

As for Dave - I think it was actually another Restorations connection. He ended up at a Signals Midwest / Restorations show in Pittsburgh and we just clicked. He came along to a festival in Cleveland the next day and hung out all weekend, and even came back a few weeks later to open another local show that Meridian was playing.

I’d talked with Wil and Chris from Smith Street about what Signals coming over to Australia would look like, and Dave and I had discussed a potential Meridian / Pinch Hitter US tour as well. When the opportunity for me to come over to Australia solo came up, it just kind of made sense that we would all go together.

Under the Meridian moniker, you put out a 30 song digital record, The Harvest Month, in September last year. What was the idea behind the record, and what urged you to complete the challenge of writing and recording a song a day for a month?

It wasn’t originally my idea. My friend Michelle from the band Little Big League did the same thing a few months prior, and I thought it was a great project. When I started, I was moving to a different part of the city and starting a new job. I’ve always looked at music as a way to process life events and understand what’s going on around me, so it just made sense to write as much as possible during a strange, somewhat tumultuous time. I thought it’d be a fun challenge and that I’d get a couple good songs out of it. I think now that I’m a few months out and with the gift of hindsight, I continue to play maybe two or three of them live. Still, three good songs in one month isn’t a bad ratio for me, and they probably wouldn’t exist if I hadn’t done the project.

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Shortly after The Harvest Month was put online, the third full-length record with your band Signals Midwest was also released, Light On The Lake. Like the record before it, Light On The Lake was quite conceptual in nature, containing symbols and metaphors throughout. Do you substantially differ your writing style for Meridian and Signals Midwest songs?

With Signals, we’ve figured out who we are as a band, which is kind of scattershot but loosely based around pop-punk and post-hardcore. We know how to work with each other, when to collaborate or push for something and when to step back and let someone take the lead on a song’s direction.

It’s a pretty collaborative process. Meridian isn’t really like that - it’s mostly just me writing melancholy pop songs and showing my brother and friends how to play them. It was supposed to be a solo project, but it kind of grew into this band with a rotating cast of characters. Now people will write their own parts, but I definitely provide a bit more direction than I do with Signals. I know my brother’s been working on some songs though - maybe we’ll try some of those out. Who knows?

All of your songs, regardless of group, contain an autobiographical or storytelling quality to them.

Is writing about your own life lyrically a way of dealing with it?

Yeah, completely. I’ve tried a lot of different processes, but I’ve decided that I’m not very good at writing fictional songs. Maybe I’m just not that imaginative. The thing I always attribute it to is that writing music helps me process things in my life. It’s a way to work through clouds of thought, to put them to music and put them on a shelf and say “okay, I think I got that one, what’s next?”

With both of the above releases put out in the latter stage of last year, will this year see more of your energy put into touring than writing and recording?

I think so. I have a lot of new material recorded, including a new full-length Meridian release, that I’ve got shelved until the time is right. I’ve pretty much accepted the fact that this makes me happier than anything else does, and that I’m prepared to live this transient, weird lifestyle for a while.

Your phenomenal first release as Meridian, Aging Truths, was a collection of songs written between 2008 and 2011. What made you want to put a physical release out with these songs on it, instead of writing new ones?

Thanks! Hah. I just liked the songs, but I had never recorded them very well. They had all existed in various poorly-executed forms. Most were laptop demos that I would burn to CDs and give out at shows. I went into the studio for a few days in March of 2012 and just knocked them all out as best I could.

I originally put the record up for free/donations on Bandcamp, and Scott from Youth Conspiracy liked it a lot and offered to do a small vinyl pressing.

In terms of Meridian, a lot of people have drawn comparisons to prominent artists like Frank Turner and The Weakerthans. What have been some of the most influential artists in your life?

There are a lot of them, but I’ll say this for now: I’m writing to you from an apartment in New York City right now because I flew here from Cleveland to see the last Bomb the Music Industry show. I’ve loved that band since they started, and I’ve gotten to know Jeff & co. decently well over the years through booking them in Cleveland and playing together elsewhere. Hugely important band to me for reasons musical and personal. Very sad to see them go.

Will you answer our prayers and say we can expect a Signals Midwest tour down under later this year?

I’d love for that to happen. We’re a small band, and I feel incredibly lucky to have been asked to come over to Australia, even as one strange American abroad with a guitar. I’d love to do a full-band Signals tour and we’ve talked about it at length, but it’s an incredibly expensive endeavour and a lot of things have to line up schedule-wise. I hope we can make it happen one day. Fingers crossed.

To wrap it up, could you give us some of the local American bands you think we need to know for 2014?

California X from Massachusetts.

Ma Jolie and Cayetana from Philly.

Saintseneca from Columbus, OH.

Stream Max’s music: http://meridianohio.bandcamp.com/ http://signalsmidwest.bandcamp.com/

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art

ARTEREAL GALLERY (Rozelle, SYD): CHERINE FAHD & MILES HALL Camouflage, Fahd’s latest exhibition, is packed with metaphor, predominately seeking to question and contradict the ‘age of the selfie’. Although a series of photographic self-portraits, each floating image denies the viewer a whole picture of the artist, instead exposing a small glimpse of her – a finger, an eye, a hand. Through clever and playful manipulation of her environment, formed from bright blocks of colour, Fahd both conceals and reveals, deliberately commenting on society’s growing narcissism.

In a stark subversion of self-portraiture as both an art form and social medium, the artist delivers an abstract message in today’s culture of revealing oneself at all times.

Hall’s minimalist combination of painting and sculpture culminate in Related Parts, a group of colour-and-form based foam works. Shown as a collective group, the fourteen works immediately give the impression of an old building that is half destroyed, as random shapes of colour and texture appear across, and break up, the white walls they are hung on. The artist makes a premeditated attempt at creation through destruction, having to damage the foam in order to create his pieces, as well as having to disturb the environment in which they are displayed. In doing so, however, they are given a new function, one of an aesthetically pleasing nature in contrast with the material’s original purpose. With most of the works comprised of two complimentary colours (despite having many more undercoats), it is easy to be mesmerised by them, slowly moving from one piece to the next.

5 February to 1 March 2014. Free.

More information: http://artereal.com.au/

2014 ADELAIDE BIENNIAL OF AUSTRALIAN ART: DARK HEART (North Terrace, ADL) To coincide with the Adelaide Festival, the Art Gallery of South Australia is holding its annual Biennial, packed full of incredible local artists from across the country.

Highlights will no doubt be found in the works of Fiona Hall, Del Kathryn Barton, Rosemary Laing, Dale Frank and eX de Medici, among the 30 artists being displayed.

Look out for the appearance of Patricia Piccinini’s phenomenal Skywhale piece, shown in Adelaide for the first time after having visited Hobart and Melbourne last year.

1 March to 11 May. Free Entry and Tours.

For more information on the Biennial and special events: http://issuu.com/artgalleryofsouthaustralia/docs/connect_ issue_02

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Autobiography – Morrissey

books

With the controversy and rumours surrounding the book (apparently Mos insisted it be published in ‘Penguin Modern Classic’ format, among other requests) you would hope there was a tale worth telling. Luckily for Mr Morrissey, he has a way with words and has spun an enthralling and insightful history of himself. At times funny and equally depressing, often poetic and always egotistical in nature, Morrissey has no shame in denouncing his closest of friends whilst remaining fierce in his beliefs – vegetarianism, animal rights, abstinence from drugs and an unnecessarily pessimistic view of the world – throughout, which makes all for a more interesting read. As comparatively few pages are spent on recalling his time with The Smiths, Morrissey makes his childhood and post-Smiths life absorbing. If you want a history of The Smiths this might not be for you, instead giving a better depiction of Pop Culture and dreary Manchester in the seventies as well as a plethora of great tales from the vocalist’s incomparable life. You will inevitably fall in love with the man, whilst equally hating his guts.

Monuments Men – Robert M. Edsel Reading more like a mystery novel than a historical piece, Edsel has brilliantly recounted this incredible story, previously unknown to most. The book follows the lives of a niche department of the Allied forces during World War Two, given the seemingly impossible task of saving Europe’s ‘monuments’ – fine art and other cultural pieces. As they move from France to a shattered Germany, Edsel uncovers how men and women literally risked their lives over and over again to stop such monuments being stolen by the Third Reich, but also their destruction when German defeat seemed unescapable. Of particular surprise was the discussion of Hitler’s attitude to art and the value of culture in his vision for a new Germany, as well as the views of other Nazi officials. Having seen preliminary trailers for the current film-adaption of Monuments Men (directed, screen written and starring George Clooney), it is dubious as to how close to fact Hollywood will follow the book and ‘real life’. Nonetheless, this is a great and easy to read history that cannot be recommended enough for WWII, Art or general knowledge enthusiasts.

One Night In Winter – Simon Sebag Montefiore Though some works of historical fiction become more fiction than history, Montefiore’s novel does the opposite. Being a renowned expert on Soviet Russia, particularly regarding Stalin’s life and time period, the author has played to his strengths and written an excellent second novel set in Moscow 1945, after the defeat of Germany in World War Two. The story is steeped in factual basis, and focuses around a group of Bolshevik Elite teenagers, the children of military officials, famous actresses and government bureaucrats. Beginning with a double homicide, the book traces events before and after the event from the perspective of several characters. Montefiore successfully works in the political, social and cultural factors of the time, deeply enhancing the already engrossing narrative. Familiar Stalinist themes, such as purges and secret police, are central to the plot, but are brilliantly explained so as not to come across as a history textbook. With not a dull moment throughout, this is an unrelenting novel, combining mystery, crime and history that will leave you wanting more.

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