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CREDITS Creators Murray Cammick Alistair Dougal Publisher Grant Hislop Editorial Manager Tyler Hislop - tyler@harkentertainment.com Designer Greta Gotlieb - greta@harkentertainment.com Sub-Editor Louise Adams Sales Director Grant Hislop - grant@harkentertainment.com Distribution Jamie Hislop - jamie@harkentertainment.com Accounts Gail Hislop - accounts@harkentertainment.com

Contributors Jamie Wynn, Tim Gruar, Sebastian Mackay, Ren Kirk, James Manning, Riccardo Ball, Nick Collings, Amy Dyson, Angus Deacon, Reagan Morris, Matthew Codd, Laura Weaser, Sarah Thomson, Gary Steel

Rip It Up Magazine is published by Hark Entertainment Ltd

Postal PO Box 6032 Wellesley Street, Auckland 1141, New Zealand Phone (09) 366 4616 Website ripitup.co.nz Printers Webstar | Blue Star Group Limited | Shit Hot Printers

Rip It Up is subject to copyright in its entirety. The contents may not be reproduced in any form, either in whole or in part, without written permission of the publisher. All rights reserved in material accepted for publication, unless initially specified otherwise. All letters and other material forwarded to the magazine will be assumed intended for publication unless clearly labeled “NOT FOR PUBLICATION�.

Opinions express in the magazine are not necessarily those of Hark Entertainment Limited. No responsibility is accepted for unsolicited material.

ISSN 0114-0876

CONTENTS

22.

30.

32.

23.

21.

35.

8. What Goes On/On The Rip It Up Stereo, 10. Devilskin, 12. So What.../Tweet Talk, 14. YouTube Vs. Independents, 15. This Month in Metaland, 16. Who’s Next?, 18. This Month in Clubland, 20. Style Like La Roux, 21. Style Like Morrissey, 22. Gadgets, 23. La Roux, 24. Geeks, 26. Film Reviews, 27. Artist Q&A - Jana Castillo, 28. Album Reviews, 30. Lana Del Rey, 32. Old Crow Medicine Show, 34. Pennywise, 35. Marlon Williams, 36. Melody Pool, 37. #Winning

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NICK CAVE BILLIONS AUSTRALIA PRESENTS

LIVE IN CONCERT

SAT 06 DEC CIVIC THEATRE, AUCKLAND SUN 07 DEC CIVIC THEATRE AUCKLAND MON 08 DEC ST JAMES THEATRE, WELLINGTON TUE 09 DEC ST JAMES THEATRE, WELLINGTON TICKETS & INFORMATION NICKCAVE.COM

WHAT GOES ON BIG DAY OUT 15

BOBBY WOMACK Bobby Womack, the legendary soul singer, has died at the age of 70. The cause of death has not been given, but representative from his label, XL Recordings, confirmed his death. Womack’s music career started when he was only a child, performing with his four brothers as The Womack Brothers. In 1954, when Bobby Womack was only 10. Sam Cooke then discovered the group and eventually sign them to his SAR label. Renamed The Valentinos. Womack worked as a session musician, writing songs and playing for artists including The Box Tops, Janis Joplin, Sly & The Family Stone, and Aretha Franklin.

New Zealand Big Day Out promoter Campbell Smith has confirmed via Twitter that Big Day Out festivals have been cancelled throughout New Zealand and Australia for 2015.

The music festival returned to Auckland in January this year after being cancelled in 2013 due to low attendance rates in 2012.

“Big Day Out on hiatus for 2015.

A real shame for Auckland and NZ after an awesome 2014 gig, but we will be back. #BDONZ #westernsprings”

SHIHAD Shihad have announced the release of their new album, FVEY (pronounced, Five Eyes), on Friday 08 August. The album, the ninth studio album from the band, is also available to pre-order at all digital and physical retailers now.

Recorded in December last year at Auckland’s legendary York Street Studio with Killing Joke frontman, Jaz Coleman at the production helm, FVEY sounds unlike anything Shihad have

done before. When frontman Jon Toogood, drummer Tom Larkin Larkin, bass payer Karl Kippenberger and guitarist Phil Knight reconvened in Melbourne during the winter of 2013 for a lock down writing session it was a natural move to conjure up a brutal set of songs.

PAUL SIMON/STING

SEE THEM PERFORM: NZSO

Sting and Paul Simon will bring their critically-acclaimed On Stage Together tour to Australia and New Zealand in January and February 2015. The tour kicks off Friday 30 January at Vector Arena in Auckland and will continue on for a seven-date Australian tour. As long-time friends, the concept for the On Stage Together tour originated at the Robin Hood Foundation benefit in 2013 where they performed together for the first time. Both artists, who are known for exploring world rhythms, have pushed the boundaries of popular music and continue to speak to generations of fans.

NATIONAL YOUTH ORCHESTRA

SEE THEM LIVE: PAUL SIMON AND STING

FRI 18 JUL MICHAEL FOWLER CENTRE,

FRI 30 JAN VECTOR ARENA,

WELLINGTON (TICKETEK.CO.NZ)

AUCKLAND

SAT 19 JUL ASB THEATRE, AUCKLAND

TICKETS ON SALE: MON 07 JUL, 10AM

(TICKETMASTER.CO.NZ)

TICKETMASTER.CO.NZ

NZSO NATIONAL YOUTH ORCHESTRA The NZSO National Youth Orchestra celebrates Richard Strauss’ 150th birthday with a large Romantic-sized orchestra performing two iconic works by the great German composer.

Ninety-six talented young musicians will perform Strauss’ famous ‘Also Sprach Zarathustra’, which immediately evokes Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, and Strauss’ tone poem ‘Don Juan’.

British conductor Alexander Shelley will lead the young musicians.

ON THE RIP IT UP STEREO DOPRAH DOPRAH EP (2014) JACK WHITE LAZARETTO (2014) LP FOREVER FOR NOW (2014) SIA ‘CHANDELIER’ (2014) POPSTRANGERS FORTUNA (2014)

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THE SMASHING PUMPKINS MELLON COLLIE AND THE INFINITE SADNESS (1995)

THE PHOENIX FOUNDATION TOM’S LUNCH EP (2014)

LEE FIELDS & THE EXPRESSIONS MY WORLD (2009)

SHARON VAN ETTEN ARE WE THERE (2014)

LANA DEL REY ULTRAVIOLENCE (2014)

SEBASTIAN MACKAY

DEVILSKIN

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JENNIE SKULANDER IS probably one of the most metal names in metal and it’s the name of Devilskin’s commanding vocalist. Her growl is unmatched in its ferocity and so the bubbly and happy woman that answers the phone is a touch surprising. In conversation she may be a world away from her performance on debut album We Rise but she’s nonetheless metal for it and her and the band [drummer Nic Martin, bassist Paul Martin and lead guitarist Tony “Nail” Vincent] are already fending off criticism for being too mainstream with a decidedly punk approach.

Three of them have already in been in bands so that pressure comes from a little bit of that and wanting to please the fans.

“‘Little Pills’ has been on the radio for a while now,” she muses reflectively, “and I saw a comment saying how mainstream and pathetic [new single] ‘Start A Revolution’ is.” The bubbly side has succumbed for a moment to a slightly jaded voice that sounds a little pissed off.

But, and in this case, it’s a fairly big one.

“And you think ‘fuck them’. Not every song is going to sound like ‘Little Pills’, we want to do heavy and we want to do ballads.”

Skulander’s flared up a little and she speaks a truth that may just have the Bogans throwing their Double Browns at the wall.

“People will say, ‘you’re not as heavy as Metallica’ and Metallica are mainstream as fuck. They’re not even that heavy.” (Oh, so true).

For anyone looking to take pot shots: Devilskin don’t deal in Norwegian black metal. They’re, as Skulander says, “[a] rock band and we have an element of metal because of the screaming.”

The criticism hasn’t helped the nerves and, leading up to the release of the album, there are a lot of them. “Yeah, I am [nervous]. We’re all really excited and we’re dying to have the record come out but there is a pressure.”

Sure, they’re excited and nervous but it’s been a long and hard road to get to this point and Skulander turns a little confessional and her voices softens. “There have been [I want to quit] moments and times where I’ve asked myself ‘why am I doing this?

It’s not going anywhere’. We’ve been working our arses off and working shitty jobs and two of us have mortgages. If you’re away with the band for a weekend you miss work and you miss payments. It does get tough.”

“Having the album about to come out we feel closer to where we want to be.”

(The endgame is world domination with Europe, Japan, Australia and the US locked in their sights.)

Despite playing for the better part of four years and having songs on the radio, Skulander admits, she still freaks out when people know all the words.

“I do freak out. It’s crazy. I try not to but I see videos on YouTube of people singing the songs themselves and I think ‘that’s my song, I wrote that’… it’s a cool feeling.”

She’s also, interestingly enough, not always one to share her lyrics.

“It’s your personal life,” she says about laying everything out on We Rise, “and that’s daunting, even with the band. They’ll ask me what a song’s about I’ll say ‘oh, it’s not ready yet’ or ‘I haven’t finished it’ and I’ll come up with an excuse because I don’t want them to know. But then I’ll go and play them to thousands of people.”

“And you think ‘fuck them’. Not every song is going to sound like ‘Little Pills’.”

There’s a disconnect to playing to a room full of strangers and to reading your lyrics out to your band mates. And as Skulander says, nothing is quite what it seems when it comes to her lyrics.

“A lot of songwriting comes from personal experience but I do try to mask it. I love the Deftones and I used to love that Chino [Moreno, vocalist] would write songs in a way that sounded like they were about something else. I do try to do that but if someone asks me what the song is about, I’m going to be honest…I’ll tell them.”

There is something to all of this, a message, a simple one: Skulander showing people that New Zealand music, in New Zealand, is alive and kicking. “[I want to say that] if you want to do it, you can do it. It’s a lot of hard work, we haven’t been given any favours and we’ve been turned down by so many people…you have to try your hardest, you can do it.”

love the dressing up.”

The performance is just as important as the songs.

“We’re not just a band that goes up and plays a set - we put on a performance!”

The seasoned cynic is probably thinking, “that’s what every band does to agree.” But you didn’t see a fire breather coming, did you?

Did you? No. Of course not.

“We had a fire breather on stage with us and it was insane. I also have a confetti gun that I bring out sometimes.”

We Rise is the debut album that is going to kick and claw its way into the forefront of New Zealand’s rock scene. It has dirt under its fingernails and has well and truly paid its dues. Devilskin have risen.

SEE THEM LIVE: DEVILSKIN THU 17 JUL - SAT 23 AUG NATIONWIDE SEE TOURS AND EVENTS FOR DETAILS NEW ALBUM: WE RISE OUT FRI 11 JULY

Yes, there are nervous, yes there’s been criticism (but if people are taking the time to complain, they’re obviously doing something very right) and it’s easy for that overshadow Skulander’s playful side. She hesitates for a moment before laughing and saying if people take one thing away from the album, she wants it to be another copy. What she gets from being on stage unveils another layer of the charismatic frontwoman that audiences have come to adore.

WIN

“I get a buzz. I love being on stage and putting on a performance and seeing people in the front row singing your songs back at you. I feel like a different person and I

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SO WHAT...

Tom Cruise could make a cameo in Star Wars: Episode VII. The actor is close friends with the film’s director J.J. Abrams - who helmed Mission: Impossible III - and the pair reportedly met over the weekend to discuss a role for the A-lister. A source told The Sun newspaper: “Tom has been in London for over a week and met up with J.J. and some other people from Star Wars at the weekend.

On Saturday evening five of them met up for dinner and drinks at the Belgravia Hotel. J.J. loves working with Tom whenever he gets the chance.” The sci-fi production could use some star power after leading actor Harrison Ford, who reprises his role as Han Solo from the original trilogy, was rushed into surgery last week following a freak accident on set.

Mark Wahlberg says he got fat while filming Transformers: Age of Extinction in Hong Kong. The Lone Survivor actor is currently starring as mechanic Cade Yeager in the upcoming fourth movie in the series - directed

by Michael Bay - and he’s confessed it took him a while to get back into shape after gorging on the local cuisine. Speaking at the film’s premiere in the Chinese city, he said: “I’ve seen Hong Kong on TV before, but when I landed on the plane, it was just breathtaking.

And of course the food was fantastic, so I was eating way too much, Michael started to notice I was putting on a little weight.

Nicole Scherzinger is adamant she doesn’t have to “worry” about One Direction. The former X Factor judge, who has supported the band - made up of Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Zayn Malik and Louis Tomlinson - since they found fame on the talent show, insists she is not concerned after a video emerged of Louis and Zayn smoking a marijuana-laced cigarette. The stunning singer told MTV: “The last thing I need to be worrying about One Direction, okay! They are just fine. Those

T WEET TALK “i remember when eyebrows were made out of hair” daria ‫@ ‏‬dariatbh

“Ok. It’s uncomfortable enough to walk into a sex store. Why would I a: want you to recognize me openly.

And 2: pose for a picture. #lube” Pamela Adlon @pamelaadlon

“RT if you need something to do to procrastinate from doing something more important.”

Aziz Ansari @azizansari

“just went on omegle for the first time in years (james had never tried) and i conclude there are still way too many Ds on that dance floor” Lorde @lordemusic

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boys are floating on cloud nine, they have got everything in the world, they’ve taken over,” adding, “I think they’re just fine. I think they have it under control.”

Kim Kardashian wants to relaunch her pop career. The Keeping Up with the Kardashians star - who released a single, ‘Jam (Turn It Up)’ in 2011 - has been having vocal coaching and songwriting lessons and will be enlisting the help of her husband, Kanye West, when she enters the recording studio. A source told The Sun newspaper: “Kim has told pals she’s keen to be taken seriously as a vocal artist. Kanye will advise on the project, which he’s given his full backing. She’s started vocal coaching and songwriting lessons and set up meetings with record companies.”

P R I N C I PA L SPO N S O R S

ALE XANDER SHELLEY conductor

NEW ZEA LA ND SYMPHONY OR CHEST RA presents

NATIONAL YOUTH ORCHESTRA

All tickets

$10* *Booking fees apply

R. STRAUSS Don Juan BALLARD Sy n e rg o s R. STRAUSS Also Sprach Zarathustra

Fri 18 July WELLINGTON Sat 19 July AUCKLAND

nzso.co.nz For more details go to

JAMES MANNING

THE YOUTUBE AND INDEPENDENT MUSIC WORLD CONFLICT right now, apart from the corporate hubris. I don’t think they realise what a stupid thing they’ve done.”

Locally, Scott Muir, the deputy chair of Independent Music New Zealand, shares similar views as he worries the new service will undervalue independent musicians. “The threat of blocking or removing their content would have the negative effect of preventing consumers from enjoying a substantial part of the whole music catalogue.”

THE INDEPENDENT MUSIC world has recently been in conflict with YouTube as the Google-owned company threatens to block content if smaller labels don’t agree to new licensing terms.

users who pay a monthly fee to watch videos or listen to music without adverts on any of their devices, even when they are not connected to the Internet,” said Kyncl explaining the service.

The conflict is over YouTube’s paid music subscription service - rumoured to be named Music Pass - which it plans to trial in the coming weeks and unveil later this year. The new service will allow playback of videos without adds and allow for offline free playback on mobile phones.

Kyncl also asserted that it will bring YouTube’s music partners “new revenue streams in addition to the hundreds of millions of dollars YouTube already generates for the each year.”

As YouTube aims to govern all content under the new contractual terms, the company is claimed to have made unfavourable demands to independent labels including XL Recordings, 4AD, and Domino - the home of Arctic Monkeys, Radiohead, Vampire Weekend, Jack White, The Horrors, Adele, Animal Collective, Blood Orange, Daughter, Grimes, Deerhunter and many more.

The company’s head of content and business operations, Robert Kyncl, spoke to the Financial Times on Tuesday 18 June, revealing that the service has been in the making since last year and will see many independently licensed videos blocked if the new deals aren’t signed. The service will rival Spotify, Deezer and Beats Music.

“While we wish that we had 100% success rate, we understand that it is not likely an achievable goal and therefore it is our responsibility to our users and the industry to launch the enhanced music experience,” said Kyncl, claiming that YouTube has signed up labels representing 90% of the music industry, including the big three - Universal, Warner and Sony.

“The new premium YouTube tire will allow

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YouTube will be blocking content so users of the test version won’t be confused about which content they can access for free and which features require payment.

Members of the independent music world have since voiced their concerns and unwavering disapproval of YouTube’s intentions.

Alison Wenham, CEO of the Worldwide Independent Network, a company which represents the independent music community, says YouTube is “making a grave error of commercial judgement in misreading the market.”

“We have tried and will continue to try to help YouTube understand just how important independent music is to any streaming service and why it should be valued accordingly,” she stated.

“By not giving their subscribers access to independent music YouTube is setting itself up for failure. The vast majority of independent labels around the world are disappointed at the lack of respect and understanding shown by YouTube.”

Wenham organised a press conference earlier in the month to protest YouTube’s new service, and her criticisms reflect a comment made at the event by musician Billy Bragg. “I don’t know why they’ve opened this hornet’s nest

However, it was later clarified that the ban YouTube is proceeding to impose will not be a ‘blanket ban’, as videos released through Vevo - a separate company to YouTube that hosts channels for labels through the site - will remain up.

Still, part of the aggravation stems from the claims that YouTube has offered independent labels lesser deals when comparing the ones made to the larger, commercial bodies.

Radiohead guitarist Ed O’Brian accused Google of attempting to “strong arm” labels into accepting low fees, while a WIN press release also suggested that the terms “undervalue” Independents.

“According to WIN members, the contracts currently on offer to independent labels from YouTube are on highly unfavourable, and non-negotionable terms, and undervalue existing rates in the marketplace from existing streaming partners such as Spotify, Rdio, Deezer and others,” the press release read.

Shedding light on the new contract is European label Believe Digital, who after six months of negotiations signed in February this year. A memo from an industry official from Believe revealed that “the new contract includes a significant increase of the revenue share rate on UGC [user-generated content] for sound recording.”

The memo was also quick to support the WIN : “Aside from the anti competition issues raised

by WIN (blocking on the content by YouTube, which we cannot comment on other than to say that we have not experienced them ourselves), my personal opinion is that the views recently expressed by WIN address true, important, and very legitimate concerns.”

RICCARDO BALL

THIS MONTH IN METAL AND BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE METAL BAR. MONDAY’S 10PM JUICE TV SKY CHANNEL 112 METAL NEWS Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson will lead a World War I dogfight re-enactment above the Sonisphere festival, just hours before he takes the stage. He’s part of the Great War Display Team, a group of pilots who fly replica warplanes to commemorate the actions of those who fought and died in the 1914-18 conflict. Dickinson will be flying his very own Fokker DR1 triplane –the same model used by infamous German flying ace Manfred von Richthofen, the Red Baron.

Randy Blythe, frontman for Virginia’s finest Lamb Of God, posted on his Instagram page recently that he’d had an accident that involved a steaming hot cup of coffee, driving a car and his reproductive organs … we’ll leave the rest to your imagination.

5 MINUTES WITH VINNIE PAUL HELLYEAH 1. First album you heard that made you fall in love with heavy metal?

The first one I heard and fell in love with, put my hands on and actually bought was Kiss Alive.

It did it for me and still to this day I think it’s one of the greatest records ever made.

2. What’s your poison these days?

My number one go-to drink now is Sky Vodka, water and two limes; I like it tall, man. Does the trick and I never have a hangover.

3. Weirdest fan experience?

A guy comes up to me and said ‘Hey man, can you sign my leg’ and I was like ‘yeah no problem’.

So he goes to pull his pants up and then he takes his leg off and

Judas Priest’s new album Redeemer of Souls is out Friday 08 July. On their promotional tour around the UK Rob Halford when asked addressed his trademark of the “Metal God” moniker.

Asked about filing for a trademark of the name he replied, “I would never put myself on that pedestal.

That’s the title the fans started to give me after the famous British Steel album. It’s something I really cherish, I don’t want anybody else to be the metal god but me.”

Avenged Sevenfold are still putting the final touches on their new Hail to the King: Deathbat mobile video game. It’s been revealed that the band’s late drummer, Jimmy ‘The Rev’ Sullivan, will be included. Once you unlock his character, you can use him as your comrade to help you through the levels.” hands it to me. It was a prosthetic leg and it scared me to death. It had the Far Beyond Driven album cover spray-painted on it and it smelled absolutely awful. I signed my name and he grabbed it put it back on and took off running down the street.

4. The most disgusting habit of someone you’ve toured with?

Ah, most of my guys are pretty clean, pretty good cats. You know back in the day when I’d be out on the road on Ozzfest with Zakk when he wouldn’t bath for you know a month or two at a time it’d be kinda disgusting hanging out with him sometimes.

5. A kid asks you what Heavy Metal is – what album do you hand over?

I’m gonna give the kid Master of Puppets man, I mean that is heavy metal, that’s a band that’s important to everybody’s life that listens to heavy metal and they did it for me that’s for sure.

CORROSION OF CONFORMITY IX

MASTODON ONCE MORE ’ROUND THE SUN

Perhaps the most famous member of Corrosion of Conformity, Pepper Keenan, has sat out the last two albums from the band as he concentrates his efforts on Down.

This has meant original member Mike Dean resumes as vocalist and bass player and that the Southern influence so to the fore on Deliverance and Wise Blood takes a back seat to a more down tuned heavy blues feel. There’s more than a nod to the band’s second album, the influential animosity and as a three piece there seems to be more room for them to play.

The beauty is that the three guys on this record are the same three that started the band back in 1982 and that comfortable camaraderie can be felt churning away in the background on their ninth studio album.

Once More ‘Round The Sun is the sixth studio album from the band out of Atlanta, Georgia and more of a cohesive effort than 2011’s impressive yet clunky The Hunter.

The smell of mother nature’s finest permeates the record and it sounds like the band have been immersing themselves in a lot of 70’s progrock, not that this sounds like 70’s prog-rock but the influence is definitely there stronger than ever before. ‘The Motherload’ stands out as a track that’ll become a staple of the band’s live set as will ‘Chimes at Midnight’ and the single ‘High Road’. Nick Raskulinecz produced and the feel he’s brought to recent Deftones releases is evident here too, there’s a sludgy epicness to the songs and the sound. Once More Round The Sun doesn’t quite scale the heights of Crack The Skye but you can just about touch it from here.

GIVEAWAYS WATCH THE METAL BAR TO WIN

Check out facebook.com/ themetalbarnz to win a copy of Mastodon’s new album.

WIN

THE METAL GIG GUIDE CORROSION OF CONFORMITY (US) FRI 18 JUL CHURCHILLS, CHRISTCHURCH SAT 19 JUL VALHALLA, WELLLINGTON SUN 20 JUL THE KINGS ARMS, AUCKLAND SEPULTURA (BR) WED 01 OCT STUDIO, AUCKLAND TOXIC HOLOCAUST & IRON REAGAN (US)

HELLYEAH’S NEW ALBUM BLOOD FOR

MON 24 NOV BODEGA, WELLINGTON

BLOOD IS OUT NOW

TUE 25 NOV THE KINGS ARMS, AUCKLAND

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AUTHOR

WHO’S NEXT?

PIP JOHN KÅM∆ND¡ Kåm∆ndi (Tyrone Frost in real life) started his music career as a bass player in various bands.

But after experiencing “funny politics” and a runaway drummer - “he was also the creative genius of the band and literally just went AWOL… I still don’t know where he is to this day!” – Kåm∆ndi wanted to do things on his own. Having friends already in the producing game meant he had good teachers at the ready, who he still regularly works with.

Hailing from Christchurch, Frost’s artist name is intriguing and the story behind it a famial one: “My step dad once showed me a comic book, Kamandi: The Last Boy on Earth. I thought it was so cool and I wanted to be that cool… so I used it. Now it’s just a name.” Not quite what you’d expect from someone who’s amassed thousands of soundcloud hits, support slots for the likes of Lunice, Julien Dyne, Mono/Poly and Tokimonsta, as well as headlining performances and festival appearances.

As a beat-maker/producer/live performer his gritty soundworlds draw influence from the Los Angeles beats scene as well as the reflective side of UK electronica - although he admits his creative process is always different: “I just see what comes out of me… but I do have a few

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go-to techniques that I use lots.

Just little things like fills and textures and sounds that I like.”

Using whatever he can get his hands on there are instruments, his voice, synths and samplers in the mix for Kåm∆ndi. And more often than not he’s working on his computer to make music: “I usually find myself starting songs in my room, or in airports, or places where I have some downtime, and then finishing them in my funny home studio… which is really a cold garage.”

With dark synths and chopped vocals, ‘Remember Me’ is an example of Kåm∆ndi trying to express his thoughts through music: “I felt a certain way when I made that and wanted to make harsh, distorted, angry/sad chords and ugly percussion with strange timing into something pretty. Following in this vein is ‘Yeah I Still Care’, which he says, “explains itself better than I could with words. So if the song sounds weird imagine how weird my description would be.”

Kåm∆ndi has an upcoming gig with American electronic extradonaire Shlohmo in September, “I’m really excited because he’s been a musical idol of mine for so long”, and an EP in the works too. Not half bad for a boy from lil’ old Christchurch.

SOUNDCLOUD.COM/KAMANDI-1

Cantaberian Pip John is the alter ego of classically trained singer Oliver Sewell, whose musical journey began at the tender age of four with the cello. He sung in choirs throughout primary school and at high school fell in with musically-minded mates Tim Hardie (Grey and Loot) and Miles McDougall (Pikachunes).

Sewell then studied music at the University of Canterbury and is now doing post-grad studies in vocal performance at the NZ School of Music.

But just like a superhero with mighty musical powers Sewell also transforms to create ambient soundscapes full of lush, emotional electronica as Pip John. And interestingly, Sewell’s sobriquet is the name his brother Richard chose for his at-the-time unborn sibling which he tried to convince his parents to use. Growing up Sewell says he always liked the name and was perturbed his parents hadn’t heeded Richard’s advice: “When I was looking for a name to release my music under Pip John just seemed perfect.”

After “giving up” pop music in 2009 Sewell committed to focussing on classical singing: “I found I had too many clashes between my then band, Tiny Paper Daggers, and my classical training and career.” But in the year following his undergraduate degree a realisation dawned - he

missed making music.

With no overarching process in crafting tracks, Sewell puzzles over how to describe his sound: “It is hard to describe as I am so inconsistent and pull upon so many different soundworlds… but dreamy does a pretty good job I think.” He also explains that Pip John is his creative outlet where he can, “let loose whatever ideas or sounds are crashing around in my brain.”

This discombobulation of ideas has resulted in three EPs, two from 2012 and most recently the three-track Emerald. Opening with the echoing ‘First,’ there’s layering and looping that is disorientating yet sort of soothing. A mere two minutes and twelve later it’s on to the next, title track ‘Emeralds’: “I wanted to make more of a popish song using dirty ‘80s synths, and for the vocal line to be more prominent than it would normally.” Finishing off the EP, ‘Dante’s Riddle’ has a haunting air and of the three tracks best showcases Sewell’s stunning voice and his classical training.

Sewell has a number of songs in the works and hopes to get out another five or six track EP later this year: “It’ll be one with a theme, like I did with the EP Thomas and I.” Definitely something to look forward to.

SOUNDCLOUD.COM/PIPJOHN

ESKE Eske (aka Shannon Duncan) explains that making his own music was the only logical decision after going to the Phat New Year’s festivals on the West Coast in 2009, 10 and 11: “The ambience of a forest surrounded by native New Zealand mountains, rivers and the milky way was (and is) something really memorable.

Learning how to make my own music came from a need to further the creative realms and landscapes of experience.”

Heading back for to Christchurch for his last year at High School in 2011, Duncan picked up some old school gear off Trade Me and started creating some “dnb vibes”.

Not long after he had to sell the gear to pay rent, so downloaded FL Studio, which he now uses with an M-Audio Oxygen 61 Keyboard, M-Audio Interface and a Shure microphone.

With lush soundscapes that layer shimmery synths and sparkling keys, Duncan aims to create art rather than music: “I guess you could get all beat-nick and say it’s like an Indian Summer where the gods are alive and well, tittering upon a train’s roof howling through a hot night of lucidity and quaint whistles of an ancient holy land resonating.”

More often than not Duncan’s creative process begins with melody, though he’s also inspired by visual elements when making music: “I source more ‘feels’ from watching the sunrise early in the mornings or watching and listening to the rain stream on the skylights.

I find there’s a natural cadence in things like water flows.“ ‘psalms of truth;’ is a good

example of visual inspiration, taken from an Oak tree growing over the skylight of Duncan’s bedroom and watching the colours change with the seasons.

“I guess the beginnings were visual and the musicality came with reflection.” Beginning by laying down a melodic structure he then built layers around this, which he explains, “kind of achieves a quality of like... articulated melody.” And when it comes to rhythm Duncan is a fan of alternative percussion and off-kilter drums.

While the pulsing ‘see true the seventh’ is pretty dark for Duncan (“I made it after losing three friends”), ‘summer stone’ is about exploring the drum and bass sound he used to listen to: “It’s kind of liquid I guess.

Musically I wanted to create something communicative and kind of journey-some, like the filter on the percussive melody is kinda reminiscent of an underwater dialogue… dolphins even. Just natural touches that can make something relative or even irrelative.”

Currently studying Landscape Architecture, finding time to create music can be a challenge, along with some, ah, technical difficulties: “My computer’s just packed up and I’m pretty keen to land a laptop to sus the live gig elements.” Duncan is also eager to head back to his drum and bass roots at some stage: “Maybe do some tracks around 85-88 bpm. 70 could be fun.” And there’s always vocal elements to explore, “Hopefully I’ll team up with a rad chicky bay in the near future, or maybe just get amongst it and sing.”

SOUNDCLOUD.COM/DREAMS-ARE

CHESHIRE GRIMM Cheshire Grimm is an eclectic Hamilton-based trio comprising Kat Waswo (vocals/bass), Lora Thompson (vocals/guitar) and Daniel Yarranton (drums/ keyboard/ipad). With music that crosses genres, Cheshire Grimm celebrate music past, present and future; as comfortable dishing out slabs of greasy hard rock as they are turning out a smouldering groove or a killer ‘90s alternative flashback.

It all begun with a few solo acoustic bass songs Waswo had created which Thompson “forced” her to play at a party in front of some friends: “Lora liked them and we jammed together the following weekend.

I’d worked with Dan on an earlier recording project and we were looking for a drummer… so a week later Dan also came to jam with us.”

The inspiration for their band name is quite literal, derived from Alice in Wonderland’s Cheshire Cat and The Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales. “I think we have always identified with dark fairy tales. But in having said that, we had a hard time deciding on a name,” laughs Yarranton.

Thompson hastens to add, “Our first gig was also the Down The Rabbit Hole event (an annual Alice in Wonderland themed party) so it was sort of meant to be.”

Combining alt-rock with pop, the band’s signature sound is a bit of a mish-mash, explains Thompson, then further clarifies with a tasty analogy: “It’s like

when you put cookies on a baking tray and as they bake they merge together and they become one.” But analogies aside, as a band their priority is having good energy and enjoying the creative process.

The band’s debut release ‘Sinn’ was Waswo’s creation, inspired by, “early relationship/dating stuff, which I played solo on my acoustic bass.” Upon forming the band Thompson added tremolo guitar which led to Yarranton’s percussive drumbeat and the rockabilly feel. Their follow up single ‘Poppy’ is about tall poppy syndrome: “The bass line just came to me one day and it sort of just happened in a night,” Waswo explains, adding that Yarranton’s drum beat is what finished the track and made it in to a cohesive package.

Recording for these early tracks was a low budget, in-yourbedroom affair, but they’ve started tracking their EP at The Porch Recording Studios in Hamilton, with further tracking and mixing from sound engineer Dave Cooper at Sound Machine studios in Melbourne.

Before the EP gets released is a NZ tour, which the trio are eagerly anticipating. “We did a mini Melbourne tour last year,” Yarranton explains, “but this will be our first official tour as headliners. We’re looking forward to playing new places and revisiting ones we already know. Should be challenging but will definitely be a good time!”

SOUNDCLOUD.COM/CHESHIREGRIMM

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NICK COLLINGS

THIS MONTH IN CLUBL AND FOR EXTENDED INTERVIEWS CHECK OUT RIPITUP.CO.NZ/CLUBLAND

TURNING THE TABLES WITH… ROCKWELL

MOTEZ You made a name for yourself in the clubs in Adelaide. How does Adelaide compare to the more well know clubbing cities in Australia such as Sydney and Melbourne?

Adelaide is a very small city, there aren’t enough people around to support niches but there is an awareness of what’s going on around the world and in the country. I just did a secret warehouse party in Adelaide to kick off the Own Up Tour, and it was sold out within three days of announcing the show.

How did you go from a bedroom producer to getting your material out into the general public and ultimately signed?

The best advice that I would give young producers is concentrate on work ethic and dedication to your music production; the momentum will drive you and propel your music.

Most of your releases to date have been solely produced by yourself. Is that a conscious decision to work alone, if not what is your process when working with someone else verses by yourself?

I do like working alone but that hasn’t stopped me from collaborating in the past. If the right ingredients and the right

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channels to collaborate are there, then I’m all for it.

One of your biggest remixes to date is of the Aussie produced dance classic Madison Avenue ‘Don’t Call Me Baby’. How much impact did the original have in your own upbringing of dance music?

I was aware of the track growing up. It was huge not only in Australia but around the world, see I grew up in Baghdad, Iraq and it reached there as well.

I remember clearly as a kid listening to the original track and going “wow, this is very cool”, little did I know that many years later I would be remixing that very track and it adds on to the success of the original, quite surreal.

What production highlights do you have coming up for the rest of 2014?

The Ellie Goulding remix was a highlight for me BUT I have another remix for another huge artist coming up which I am excited about and a lot more originals.

What is one track (any style) you would love to remix?

Jill Scott ‘A Long Walk’.

SEE HIM DJ: MOTEZ FRI 04 JUL PLATFORM, AUCKLAND ‘OWN UP’ IS OUT NOW ON SWEAT IT OUT MUSIC

1. Thomas Green a.k.a. Rockwell is one the UK’s most exciting drum and bass producers.

2. The first track he got signed was ‘Drums’. He sent it to people via AIM until his friend, drum and bass DJ/Producer, Alix Perez sent it to Shy FX. Who signed it to his label Digital Soundboy.

3. In 2010 he signed exclusively to DJ Friction’s Shogun Audio label.

4. Rockwell dabbles in production outside of the 170BPM range he is most known for.

KID CREME How long have you been DJing and producing?

I started producing professionally 20 years ago, then started DJing on the side 15 years, ago alongside Junior Jack.

What has been the highlight of your career?

Probably the remix of Shakedown ‘At Night’ for Defected. There is a clear “before and after” in terms of recognition from the scene.

How did you and Junior Jack meet and decide to start producing and touring together?

We met each other in a Belgian studio and realised we were the

5. Before making music full time he worked in a fashion consultancy company doing supply chain/accounts.

6. If he could collab with anyone he’d pick Ian McKaye from Minor Threat / Fugazi.

7. His track ‘Detroit’ was nominated for Best Track at the 2013 Drum & Bass Awards.

8. The first record he ever bought was The Simpsons LP. SEE HIM DJ: ROCKWELL WED 23 JUL UCSA FOUNDARY, CHRISTCHURCH THU 24 JUL PLATFORM, AUCKLAND

only two “aliens” making house music in that small country. From there, we started hanging out together, then naturally making things, sometimes producing, but mainly playing together as DJ’s.

You took a music hiatus for sixseven years – are you working on new releases?

Yes, two new EP’s should be released before November, and maybe one single made in India with a totally unknown Australian singer called Huntly.

SEE HIM DJ: KID CREME (BEL) SAT 05 JUL ACCESS NIGHTCLUB, AUCKLAND

SCRATCHING THE SURFACE FTAMPA

HELP DEFEND RESPONSIBLE PARTYING Whether you’re into House, Breaks, Techno or Dub the variety of niche music-focussed venues and events Auckland has is something we should be proud of. In the past two decades Auckland’s scene has grown into one which thousands of people enjoy on a monthly basis. This scene has also helped hundreds of local artists develop their careers, many of whom have earned worldwide respect.

Most will be aware of current laws which see nightclubs close at 4am. What many won’t be aware of is that the draft Local Alcohol Policy in progress by the Auckland Council recommends closing clubs even earlier at 3am with even earlier hours possible in the future.

These moves step too far into wowser territory and ignore that the vast majority of people who go to music-focussed venues and drink responsibly. There is plenty of evidence that clubbers drink less on-average than other bar-goers, yet earlier closing times will affect their night out the most. By contrast, far more major sources of alcohol such as offlicences will be subject to merely tinkering.

Many of Auckland’s iconic late venues are already suffering with 4am closing and further hour-based restrictions will

permanently damage the music scene. This is ironic given the marketing campaigns created to showcase Auckland’s nightlife to the world.

The idea of the LAP is to reduce alcohol-related harm but the tools offered to councils by the government are too blunt to be equitable, nor will they bring about a change in culture to those with harmful drinking habits.

Closing clubs at 3am is like putting a Band-Aid on everyone’s little toe instead of addressing the gaping wound elsewhere.

One of NZ’s leaders in alcohol harm reduction, Dr Geoff Robinson, chief medical officer of Capital and Coast DHB, agrees.

He said recently that restricting opening hours, “would not have a major impact on alcohol use.”

We agree. Closing music focussed venues an hour earlier ignores too much evidence not to mention youth culture and the thousands of people who cherish their nights out - the vast majority of who do so responsibly.

If you enjoy partying to your favourite DJs or live acts you can let the council know in a submission. They’re quick to do and you can even get some info on how at facebook.com/ dancetilldawnnz.

Help defend responsible partying for everyone who likes a good night out.

TOM MCGUINNESS AND ROB WARNER

What track of yours do you recommend to people who have never heard your music before?

‘Kick It Hard’. This track was the turning point of my career. I was really in dubstep/hard electro but with a ‘Kick It Hard,’ I found my own style.

What projects are you currently working on?

I have a new single called ‘5 Days’. I’m also working on several collabs with various producers, one with Kenneth G, just came out on Hardwell Presents Revealed Volume 5. I love

SCRATCHING THE SURFACE REID SPEED Coming up in electronic music, who was your DJ/producer hero?

Andy C. What tracks of yours do you recommend to people who have never heard your music before?

FS & Reid Speed – ‘Bass Monster Taso – ‘Kali OG’ (Reid Speed Remix) Proper Villains & Reid Speed - ‘We Love The Blunts’ What projects are you currently working on?

Aside from bass music projects, of which I have a bunch of stuff coming on that front, I have been working on a project with a singer/violinist that is slowly coming together. Really heady,

working with other producers!

Most memorable DJ moment to date?

When Hardwell played ‘Kick it Hard’ at Tomorrowland.

Everything changed after that moment.

2013 was the year of “Deep House”. 2014 will be the year of…. what musical genre?

I guess there is free space for every genre but EDM Festival is on fire. I think this is the new rock and roll and I’m loving it!

SEE HIM DJ: FTAMPA WED 30 JUL CODE NIGHTCLUB, AUCKLAND

lush, dance-pop vibes.

2013 was the year of “deep house”. 2014 will be the year of...?

Space bass.

What are your thoughts on the current commercialism of “EDM” in the world right now?

It’s a blessing and a curse. I’m happy to see more deserving artists get to make a living from their art, but the overzealousness with which corporations are pursuing EDM with money has lead to all quality control going out the window with respect to authenticity.

SEE HER DJ: REID SPEED FRI 18 JUL CODE NIGHTCLUB, AUCKLAND SAT 19 JUL THE BLOCK PARTY WINTER SHOWCASE, HAMILTON

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Radio Alarm Clock, $39.95, sony.co.nz . Wii Remote Plus Princess Peach, $84.99, ebgames.co.nz . CM2031, by LG, $198.00, jbhifi.co.nz Furby Boom - Pink & Blue Hearts, $84.99, mightyape.co.nz . Kambrook Brushed Stainless Steel Deep Fryer 3L, $179.99, thewarehouse.co.nz Eveready MK6 LED Dolphin Lantern, $23.09, briscoes.co.nz . Micasa Tie-Down Single Size Electric Blanket, $20, harveynorman.co.nz Phantom 2 Quadcopter W/H3-3D Gimbal, 1598.00, photowarehouse.co.nz . Nerf Vortex - Diatron Blaster $24.99, mightyape.co.nz Sniper Elite III, $69.99 - $119.99, ebgames.co.nz

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JAMIE WYNN

L A ROUX “Maybe it me who changed but whatever it was, we grew apart.” road apart from this one.”

On Trouble In Paradise she retains her ability to write catchy electro pop songs. ‘Cruel Sexuality’, ‘Kiss And Not Tell’, ‘Tropical Chancer’ and first single ‘Let Me Down Gently’ are immediate and addictive.

But there was a time when Jackson thought her career was over.

“I didn’t know if I’d been away too long, or whether I could even make the album I wanted to make. My engineer Ian Sherwin was a huge help and took on the producer role in many ways. But then I started to suffer from panic attacks when I was on stage - and it was more than nerves or stage fright. I felt like I was having a heart attack at times.” Jackson explains that her anxiety would strike at any time. “I’d open my mouth and nothing would come out. My vocals would literally freeze.

How could I sing and sing falsetto, when nothing would come out when I opened my mouth? I thought it was the end.”

For months, Jackson sought help off friends and family and after visiting speech and throat specials, found help in an anxiety specialist who through therapy has helped her recognise when an attack is coming on and how to take steps to alleviate it.

FIVE YEARS IS a long time in music but taking her time to make her second album was all that mattered to Elly Jackson.

never would’ve been another album. It’s been a difficult journey making Trouble In Paradise but I’m over the moon with the results.”

Her self-titled debut was released in 2009 and was an international hit. With huge singles including ‘In for the Kill’ and ‘Bulletproof’ picking up a Grammy award along the way for the Grammy Award for Best Electronic/Dance Album in 2011.

By changes, Jackson is referring to her bitter split with Langmaid.

But then La Roux were a partnership. While Jackson was the voice and face of La Roux, her writing partner and producer Ben Langmaid took a backseat, just working on their music in the studio.

“There’s been lots of change in my time away,” says Jackson. “Changes had to happen or there

“Maybe it me who changed but whatever it was, we grew apart,” she explains. “And Ben really didn’t want to go in the same direction as I did. It’s a cliche, yes, but he didn’t want to know or support the songs I had. He dismissed them and I knew we couldn’t carry on. Simple as that.”

“I wouldn’t say I’ve been cured but I can now keep it at bay.”

And so after the upheavals she’s been through.

How is she finding being back and on the road?

“I’m loving it,” she says with a smile. “I’ve got a great band, we’re a gang and I think we are playing the best we’ve every played.

There’s been a lot of growing up over the last five years but it was something that as needed to make sure I came back in the best form I could be in.”

NEW ALBUM: TROUBLE IN PARADISE OUT FRI 04 JUL

Known for her straight talking, she adds; “I know I’m a perfectionist and even a control freak in the studio, but I had these songs that I believed in and I couldn’t go down any other

WIN

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GEEKS

BATMAN: ARKHAM KNIGHT XBOX ONE/ PLAYSTATION 4/PC After a brief hiatus, Rocksteady Studios are back for what is supposedly their last game in the Arkham franchise. Over at E3, we got the chance to see what they have in store for their final chapter in the award-winning series, and also what the new generation consoles can bring to the table regarding larger map areas and increased model counts on screen.

In a darkened theatre at the Warner Brothers booth, we got to witness what this means when put into effect. The presentation opened up with the Dark Knight making a dramatic entrance with his Batmobile screeching to a halt in front of the ACE Chemical Plant in Gotham. Waiting outside is Commissioner Gordon, who informs Batman that there are multiple hostages inside and the impending threat of a chemical attack being launched on the city.

We soon learn that there is also a large underground army that is gathering, possibly under the command of the Scarecrow, who makes a return to the series.

But there is now a whole new threat to Batman in the form of a new character written specifically for the game, The Arkham Knight, created by DC Comics legends Geoff Johns and Jim Lee. The Arkham Knight resembles Batman in both physical stature and

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menacing presence, but is more militarised and appears to be cybernetically enhanced.

The level presented to us in the ACE Chemical Factory showcased a lot of what we can expect in Arkham Knight.

Bats still has his gadgets at his disposal and he is at the peak of his abilities, both mentally and physically. His detective skills still play a large part in the game, with hacking into security terminals and using sonar to scan for audio transmissions. All of his stealth abilities are also intact, hiding in the shadows and using underground grates to inject fear and confusion into his enemies. The critically acclaimed combat controls remain untouched as well, but they have apparently been fine tuned to make fighting multiple enemies even more seamless.

Graphically, it’s one of the best Arkham games to date too which is no surprise considering the new hardware Rocksteady have to play with. But it’s not only richer and more detailed, with incredible lighting effects and character animations; it’s also the biggest scaled Batman game with massive vertically designed maps for Bats to grapple-hook his way around.

The only bad news? We have to wait until 2015 before Arkham Knight sees the light of day.

ANGUS DEACON

FABLE LEGENDS XBOX ONE The Fable series is one with a long history, originally launching in 2004 for Xbox, though it has been a rocky one. Though well received by critics and fans, the first game didn’t manage to live up to the ambitious goals that Lionhead Studios had been spruiking - a game where you have complete control of your character, and the freedom to do more or less whatever you want. Subsequent games in the series faced similar problems, promising the world and then struggling to deliver.

Fable Legends, on the other hand, has seemingly done the reverse.

Legends is a fresh take on the franchise, one built primarily around co-op gameplay. Unlike previous games, which let you create and customise your own character, Legends gives you a selection of pre-determined heroes from which to choose.

When the game comes out, there’ll be in the order of 12 champions, but in the preview code there were four options: Sterling, a spoilt rich brat who fills the rogue archetype, the good-hearted tank Inga, the crossbow-wielding Rook, and the spellcasting Winter.

Or you could play a villain. For the most part, Legends plays like a reasonably straightforward hack ‘n’ slash RPG, except that each quest involves five players - a party of four heroes, and a playercontrolled villain. Rather than confronting the heroes directly, however, the evil player takes on a dungeon master role, laying traps and placing monsters throughout the map for the other players to contend with.

Presentation is perhaps where Legends is at its weakest. It’s a good looking game, to be sure, with a lot of fancy lighting effects and bright colours, but it the visuals aren’t quite up to what we’re expecting from Xbox One, at least at this stage. The UI is slick, but the lack of a map makes navigating a pain, even with the ability to draw a temporary line on the ground pointing you to your next objective.

These are all window dressing though. Legends isn’t mind-blowing, visually, but it still looks good, and more importantly, it plays fantastically. Get five Xbox One setups in the same room and four buddies, and you’ve got a recipe for some great game nights here.

MATTHEW CODD

GEEKS

NINTENDO TEASES N64 GAMES FOR WII U Nintendo 64 games could be coming to the Wii U’s virtual console service soon, according to the official website; “Check back regularly for the latest releases, including the future addition of titles from the Game Boy Advance and Nintendo 64 systems,” the page now states.

Nintendo has previously talked about the possibility of bringing Nintendo 64 and GameCube

THE ORDER: 1886 PLAYSTATION 4 The Order: 1886 is a steampunk inspired game set in an alternate history, that features people historians may recognise. In the game’s history, around the seventh or eighth centuries, a small number of humans took on bestial traits. The majority of humans feared these half breeds and war broke out. The demo I got to play didn’t feature any of the beasts but was instead built to showcase one of the weapons: the Thermite Rifle.

The Thermite Rifle is a two part weapon. Spray some thermite dust with R2, and light it by firing a flare-like object into the dust with R1. Once the thermite ignites, and hopefully injures or kills whatever you were targeting, you can continue spraying thermite dust to extend the area currently burning.

The Order: 1886 had what I considered the best graphics of E3. I’m still having a hard time understanding how the game looks as good as it does. From the lighting and rendering to the depth of field and seamless

transitions from cinematics to gameplay, my brain struggles to accept this as real. Apparently it looks this good thanks to the graphics engine that has been built from the ground up. While developers Ready at Dawn have been mostly known for handheld versions of the God of War titles, this shows that they’ve learnt some amazing tricks and are more than ready to compete in the AAA market.

As far as gameplay goes, I only got to play maybe 10 minutes, and those 10 minutes didn’t show off too much. It was designed around showing the weaponry and very little else. There were cover moments and I could switch to a pistol to try a more traditional way of eradicating the enemy, but for the most part it was a standard cover shooter. That is by no means a bad thing, but hopefully there’s a lot we haven’t seen that will extend The Order: 1886 into more than just a cover shooter with a pretty face. The Order: 1886 is set for a Feb 2015 release and will be a PS4 exclusive.

REAGAN MORRIS

MIRROR’S EDGE 2 TO MOVE FOCUS Mirror’s Edge 2, a first-person platformer / parkour game in development at DICE will focus more on combat than it’s predecessor, according to the developer’s general manager.

DICE GM Karl Magnus Troedsson said that the team are working to “refine” combat in Mirror’s Edge 2, and give it more importance than in the first game. “What I can say is

games to the Virtual Console, but has never mentioned any solid plans or time frames to do so.

This statement, however, suggests that N64 games, at least, could be on the horizon.

Currently, Wii U Virtual Console supports select Nintendo Entertainment System, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, and GameBoy Advance games.

GameBoy Advance titles are the most recent addition, having been implemented in April this year.

that if the last game focussed on first-person movement, it was definitely shown in the movie here that the DICE team will be focussing on first-person combat as well, to really nail and refine that,” he explained.

Mirror’s Edge 2 was announced at E3 2013, and a new trailer was shown at this year’s E3, but other details have been sparse.

However, EA Labels president Frank Gibeau has indicated that it will take place in an open world.

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FILM REVIEWS

LAURA WEASER

DIRECTED BY JEMAINE CLEMENT, TAIKA WAITITI STARRING JEMAINE CLEMENT, TAIKA WAITITI, JONATHAN BRUGH

WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS Kiwis are known for their quirky comedy and we pride ourselves on mixing a little bit of the darkness with the light. Black Sheep, Scarfies, Sir Peter Jackson’s repertoire – and now What We Do In The Shadows. Sure to become the next

cult classic, Taika Waititi/Jemaine Clement’s mockumentary places supernatural limitations on the everyday as four formerly formidable vampires struggle to integrate into modern life.

Living in a dungy Wellington flat, Viago (Waititi), Vladislav (Clement), Deacon

DIRECTED BY FRANK CORACI STARRING ADAM SANDLER, DREW BARRYMORE, WENDI MCLENDON

BLENDED All I can say is, Drew Barrymore – you’re better than this. A producer, award-winning actress and now a box-office bomb, submitting herself to Adam Sandler’s overthe-top, gross-out style of comedy capers. Lacking the chemistry from their former collaboration, 50 First Dates, Blended is an awkward and unfunny treatment of blended families and the challenges they face.

Jim (Sandler) and Lauren (Barrymore) are like oil and water – he’s a sports-mad fanatic with three daughters who he’s trying to mold into sons; she’s a control freak with two young sons. After a botched first date at Hooters, the pair keep running into each other and a series of unfortunate events lead them on a joint holiday to South Africa. Will this trip make

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or break their relationship?

Food spitting, masturbation jokes and awkward tension aside, there’s too much going on with Blended to make it a coherent film. There’s an adolescent coming-of-age undertone with Sandler’s teen daughter (played

by Disney star Bella Thorne), as with Barrymore’s young son. Then there’s the adult’s own inadequacies, coming to terms with why their respective marriages didn’t work and a side story of Barrymore’s workmate and friend (played by Bridesmaids’ Wendi McLendonCovey). For an average PG-rated comedy flick, it’s too much to think about and drags what little comedic moments there are down.

Best enjoyed in a sleep deprived delirium or sugar-induced high.

*****

(Jonathan Brugh) and Petyr (Ben Fransham) are just four normal, decrepit vampires who battle against everything from flat dishes to how to get into the hottest nightclubs because, you know, they have to be invited indoors. When fresh meat enters their tight-knit group, things get complicated and their friendships are put to the test.

With an abundance of well-cast Kiwi cameos, include Rhys Darby and Jackie van Beek in supporting roles, WWDITS plays on relatable experiences, then subverts them with the supernatural twist for comic effect. There’s nothing funnier than watching vampires attempt to vacuum the house or clean piles of blood-soaked dishes because they’re on duties. Although lacking a clear plot, the mockumentary style works in its favour for both the stylistic elements and the structure effect, feeling more like a series of comic events than an overarching narrative. A strong comedy loaded with wit and slapstick.

*****

DIRECTED BY SCOTT COOPER STARRING CHRISTIAN BALE, CASEY AFFLECK, ZOE SALDANA

OUT OF THE FURNACE DVD RELEASE With the hype of Oscar’s season, it’s common for little-known gems to slide in under the radar.

As award winner Christian Bale was drawing in the accolades for his portrayal of frumpy fraudster Irving Rosenfield, he was also on US screens as a blue-collar worker fighting to keep his little brother out of trouble in the drama Out of the Furnace. Heading up by an all-star cast, including Woody Harrelson, William Defoe and Casey Affleck, this sometimes emotive and often confronting film explores a world dominated by violence and one man’s struggle to redeem himself.

Dreaming of a better life, steel mill worker Russell Baze (Bale) works hard to make ends meet and trying to set his brother Rodney

(Affleck) on the straight and narrow after a series of gambling debts. But one fatal night lands Russell in prison and his family on a downwards spiral.

Bale is no stranger to stoic characters, as either big superhero Bruce Wayne or Dickie Eklund in The Fighter. As the movie focuses on his decline, the supporting cast tends to fade into the background and let Bale shine as only he knows how to do. Although slow at times, the narrative is punctuated with hard-hitting drama; Harrelson the driving force as a sociopath and a bad ass son-of-a-bitch. Strong performances by the leads make this an interesting character study, even if it doesn’t keep you hooked 100% of the run time.

*****

ARTIST Q&A

JANA CASTILLO DANCER Who’s in the dead supergroup for your dream hologram show?

Ray Charles, I love the keys mixed with passion and a beat I can dance too. As a teenager I was obsessed with Vivaldi so I would very much like him to come along and Nina Simone, her voice is sensational and she sings with honesty.

What’s an upcoming film you’re jazzed about?

Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes. I did some stunt work in it and had fun being an ape.

Where can your stalkers find you during the weekend?

In the country hibernating, playing my guitar or banjo writing a little ditty. Hmm… I will probably be armed with a strong black coffee.

In the evening I won’t say no to a glass or two of red wine, a film and good company.

Your fantasy spirit animal is…

Dragon, I want to fly. I was gutted when I fell short of being born in the year of the dragon. But I guess rabbits also have their place…

Your signature “I’m an amazing cook” dish is…

I love to cook, but have often been told I get a little excited with the variety of ingredients I use. However, I feel I can make a mean baked salmon steak with roast veggies, smashed potatoes and a yummy salad.

You’d get arrested if the police knew that you…

As a younger person my sister, brother and some other kids in our court would go on adventures. One particular adventure involved an open drain... I also used to eat the lollies out of the pick and mix and yes I like to taste a grape at the supermarket to make sure they are fresh.

People say you look like…

Actually, I often get stopped by strangers who say they know me or they have seen me before, I think I just have one of those common faces. Some people have said I resemble Sigourney Weaver, and also a mere cat.

Kittens or puppies?

Puppies.

What generic current affair has your blood boiled?

I can only pick one? I think it’s about time Australia legalised gay marriage. Yep, that’s right my kiwi friends the Aussies are a bit behind and sadly it’s still an issue. I am also disheartened about the mining scheme near the west coast feeding grounds of the Maui’s dolphin. Its in the shortterm interest of a few mining companies. It’s a tragic thing that we as people make detrimental choices for other species.

SEE HER PERFOM: JANA CASTILLO IN MANA WAHINE WED 02 JUL - WED 13 AUG NATIONWIDE

The best TV show around at the moment is…

Orange is the New Black and Offspring.

OKAREKA.COM

ALBUM REVIEWS *****

LEE FIELDS & THE EXPRESSIONS EMMA JEAN TRUTH & SOUL/SOUTHBOUND

The Expressions are the kind of supertight soul session band that don’t need to show off. Already at the height of all possible game with nowt to prove, they provide tone-perfect accompaniment to Lee Fields’ emotive insistences with a confidence appearing dangerously effortless.

Experimentation never strays far from an incredibly solid core of ‘60s soul basslines, percussion, shithot brass and perfect-match backing vocals, but itchy feet do treat us to some gentle ‘70s

*****

PARQUET COURTS SUNBATHING ANIMAL

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(WHAT’S YOUR RUPTURE?/ROUGH

GLASS OWLS OUT FROM THE DARKNESS

TRADE)

MONEY BEAT

[STAR RATING: 3]

*** *

LANA DEL REY ULTRAVIOLENCE

** **

blaxpoitation film soundtrack worthy freak-out, some Dusty/ Bacharach phrasing and some Tulsa sound crossover (courtesy of their cover of JJ Cale’s ‘Magnolia’). Atop all proceedings sits Fields, in the 45th year of his soul career, stretching from beautifully broken delivery to powerhouse assertions across the breadth of Emma Jean. [Added curiosity: hear what a Black Keys penned track, ‘Paralyzed’, sounds like when performed by an actual Southern soul singer. Has Auerbach slept this past year?]

SARAH THOMSON

WHITE LUNG DEEP FANTASY

*** *

INTERSCOPE/POLYDOR

DOMINO

Parquet Courts shine when they drag out the joke a little too long, but Sunbathing Animal feels like the three-piece is trying to land a killer blow through heady detachment. The disaffection often comes across more forced than felt, as frustrating as that is, it is an authentic gesture. The winking worship of the rock and roll paternity drizzled on the plate is believable. But to well-trodden ears, it means Sunbathing Animal fails to excite. The album rarely transcends being a clever deli slaw of ingredients curated from the last year 40 years of rock and roll. Vocals drifting around a halfoctave languor, chord progressions vamped to a pallor and unresolved guitar melodies dangling above beeline rhythms. Sometimes the elements come together and go beyond the familiar. But in the words of Pete and Manu, the dish needs more seasoning.

You know what’s cool? Hearing a male singer with a voice that sounds like a guy, not someone who wears his pants too tight, or has a fetish for budgie smugglers. Tomas Nelson sometimes sounds like a vocally enriched Ian McCullough (Echo & The Bunnymen) or a Jim Morrison if that rock God was less of a drama queen. His group makes an odd kind of rock/pop hybrid. Not odd as in weird, but because it’s so intentionally simple, leaving plenty of space for the standard rock lineup to breathe in the delightfully uncompressed mix.

Sometimes the music chugs along a bit like mid-period U2, which means it’s not exactly hipster cool, but who cares? And when it gets to the choruses, they’re often as not memorably sing-along, with the same hint of Spector that’s haunted popular music through its history. Somehow instantly familiar, there’s nothing really new here, but it’s nicely cooked.

Lana Del Rey’s third record sees the post-Tumblr darling teaming up with neo Man in Black, Dan Auerbach, on a project that floats somewhere between Sunday Session soul and reverb washed psychedelic rock. The hazy Ultraviolence maintains a steady amble. Full arrangements ride the gentle curvature of the record without the wheels lifting.

It’s musically accomplished as expected, but errs on the side of safety. Not that a wild departure from the echo chamber of Born To Die was ever on the cards.

Lyrically it’s too self-aware, any sense of empowerment is worn furtively. The believability of ‘Brooklyn Baby’’s cool is undermined by cliché and Del Rey’s pouty-lipped one-speed delivery. Ultraviolence is subtle enough to coddle someone through a rough Sunday morning.

But not being offended enough to get up and change the record isn’t always a selling point.

Ten cuts at barely over twenty-two minutes, White Lung don’t piss about. Melodic guitar lines sped up to thrash-metal-whittle wail high above their lower counterparts, drums chug through near-constant brute repetition while Mish Way’s open-ended vocals, delivered at an assured belt, excoriate with gasoline-drum subtlety the finer points involved with identifying as ‘the fairer sex’. Jesse Gander (also produces for Japandroids + countless Canadian acts) returns on production, rendering White Lung’s sound cleaner and more immediate than on 2012’s Sorry.

There’s little modulation of tone on Deep Fantasy, but this may also be key to its visceral strength. It’s one note, sure. But it’s a vital one. White Lung throw up some pretty sinister gender juxtapositions on Deep Fantasy, which may lead the misandry hashtag brigade to ask: in 2014, do we still need albums like this?

You bet your f*cking arse, we do.

SAM WIECK

GARY STEEL

SAM WIECK

SARAH THOMSON

RIPITUP.CO.NZ

ALBUM REVIEWS DOPRAH DOPRAH

*****

ARCH HILL

On paper and in discussion, Doprah run the risk of being all too easily categorized as ‘throwback’.

‘90s references abound: triphop, including reginae Bjork & Gibbons; calm Albarn cooing; early programming-era Radiohead; and parallels with that other ‘90s redux duo, The xx. But y’know what? Bollocks to all that. Steven John Marr & Indira Force may have undoubtedly robbed the (particularly British) ‘90s trope

***** VARIOUS ARTISTS A DAY IN MY MIND’S MIND VOL. 4

JACK WHITE LAZARETTO

*** *

*** NEIL YOUNG A LETTER HOME

*

bank, but the four tracks + remix collected onto this self-titled EP possess a newly hypnotic callof-the-void so powerful that next time ‘round we should just hand them the vault keys outright. Even ‘San Pedro’ owing a great deal to Radiohead & Zero 7’s 1997 ‘Meeting in the Aisle’ is forgiven here, guys - these are four great tracks. Only Race Banyon’s remix of EP opener ‘Stranger People’ is slightly misjudged, adding unnecessary air to Marr/Force’s otherwise intoxicating haze.

SARAH THOMSON

***** BRIAN JONESTOWN MASSACRE REVELATION

SONY

REPRISE

Neil Young is such a card. First he slams the poor fidelity of compact discs, which leads to the creation of his hi-res music player, Pono. And then, just to contradict himself, he goes and records A Letter Home on an ancient machine called the Voice-O-Graph. The first track is literally a mad audio letter to his deceased mother, which sounds uncannily like the two recent albums by film director David Lynch. Skip past that and it’s an effective covers album, with some surprising choices: Young pays tribute to the song that inspired his ‘Needle And The Damage Done’, along with raw interpretations of compositions by singer-songwriters that have influenced him, from superstars (Dylan, Springsteen) to country heavyweights (Willie Nelson gets two songs) to important but relatively obscure (and dead) artists like Tim Hardin and Phil Ochs. It’s a minor item on the Young checklist, perhaps, but an endearing one, and delightfully barmy.

A RECORDINGS

NZ music historian Grant Gillanders has done a sterling job on this series of Kiwi psych from the ‘60s and ‘70s, and Volume 4 is no exception. Subtitled Hurt, Love And Fire – Heavy Psych, Pop Psych & Sunshine Pop From NZ’s Psychedelic Period 1966-1972, it’s a generous 27song selection of archival finds that may surprise those who thought NZ pop in the ‘60s was all about ‘She’s A Mod’. There’s not much A-Grade material here, but like a B-Grade horror from the ‘50s, these tracks are hugely entertaining. Take for instance, mainstream entertainer Lew Pryme’s brief dalliance with psychedelia on the hilarious 1968 social commentary ‘Computerised Existence.’ There are too many highlights, but try the Gothic horror of Chris Malcolm’s ‘Hurt, Love & Fire’, or the very Beatles-like ‘Oh What A Day’ by a former Maori showband that got a makeover as The New Zealand Trading Company. Too much, man.

While Jack White will never rediscover the beginner’s luck of those punked-up early White Stripes sides, there are compensations. These days, he wields his slightly twisted take on Americana over dozens of productions and collaborations, and his solo work is so rare that the world still takes notice of his every move. Like the Black Keys, White is adept at a new kind of contemporary fusion, and he makes it sound like oldtime country and hip-hop (for example) are natural bedfellows on a record that emphasises the connections between American music, regardless of genre or racial inception. Having said that, those without any inclination towards hokey old country and western tropes are unlikely to enjoy songs like ‘Temporary Ground’, with its scratchy fiddle and female vocal accompaniment that sounds like it’s straight out of the Appalachians. And the songs themselves, it must be said, aren’t as compelling as the way he puts them together.

GARY STEEL

GARY STEEL

GARY STEEL

GARY STEEL

FRENZY

Rock and roll has always been a seething cauldron of mythology, but in the case of the Brian Jonestown Massacre, the mythology around the band – and in particular its singer/ lyricist Anton Newcombe – completely and utterly eclipses the music. That wasn’t helped by the 2004 documentary, Dig!, which confirmed Newcombe’s spiraling drug problems for the few who hadn’t noticed that the groundwork had been laid years before with album titles. If Newcombe intended Revelation to rewrite the book on the BJM, the guy is deluded, but it’s certainly a long way from the shoegazing of their early music. Combining the atonal one-chord grind of the Velvet Underground with the kind of florid psychedelic filigrees Uncle Lou would have sneered at (flutes!) together with the same Stones influences Primal Scream tuned into on their seminal Screamadelica album, it’s an enjoyable hodgepodge, but one that never entirely convinces.

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AMY DYSON

L ANA DEL REY

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WHENEVER LANA DEL Rey starts something she’s always looking for a new experience.

So when it came to working on the follow-up to her seven million selling album Born To Die, she wanted a different journey.

“I’m always looking to inhabit a new lane,” she says as we chat.

“Ultraviolence is similar in a lot of ways to Born To Die in that I’m looking to be enveloped by a sonic world. But it is more tropically orientated.”

Teaming up with The Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach on the record was “a stroke of luck” says the singer.

She adds: “There is no overarching theme on this record but it is kind of a thick atmosphere, which I think is great and wasn’t really intentional at the time but worked out, really easily with Dan Auerbach. It was a happy accident getting to work with him.

“I’d been looking for someone to give me that fuzz and Dan had some of the same sick references that I had.”

Del Rey is an optimistic person she says despite her dark music.

“I’ve learned to look on the bright side,” she says. “My live shows have been going so well and I used to get terrible stage fright. But I’ve just toured across the US and I can say they are the best shows I’ve played.

“Of course the first shows were different. They were my first shows in two years in New York and I was nervous on stage - but I’ve grown into it. I know my place and when it works well.”

Del Rey admits Ultraviolence

was not an easy record to make but it was the only album she could make. As first single ‘West Coast’ suggests, it’s also a record influenced by her move from New York to Los Angeles, a place she says “calms her down and keeps her creative.”

“This record was hard and it took the best of me, so coming home to LA has helped me deal with it,” she says honestly.

“I have had the most calm here out of the last four years. That has been my circumstantial flow.

I don’t know what would be a reflection of my mind though.

Maybe calm amid the chaos.”

A “more cinematic and dark album,” first track ‘Cruel World’ was inspired by taking time out at home.

“The song definitely came from being down on the beach and thinking things over. Thinking about relationships and then coming to the conclusion that I just want to feel free,” she explains.

“That is my end goal, my end game. And that song has this really cool juxtaposition of having this thoughtful verse and a chaotic chorus. I just love the atmosphere in it and it really sums me up pretty well.”

Another song on Ultraviolence is ‘Money Power Glory’ which Del Rey says reflected where she was about a year ago.

“I felt a streak of aggression, which isn’t my natural go through state,” she explains.

“I felt that all they are going to let me have in the end is money, a little bit of power but not what I really want, which is a community, a writer’s community and respect within that community.

“I felt a streak of aggression, which isn’t my natural go through state...”

“I’ve often been told that my life is like a movie.

And it is - a dark and personal one...”

“So that song was sarcastic in a way. It sounds soulful but it was sarcastic.”

Del Rey is open when it comes to her critics and says she’s been misunderstood a lot.

“There was a lot of confusion about me, and that was hard to take,” she admits in reference to her personal critics that lashed out following the success of second album Born To Die. When her debut, self-titled album was released in 2010, getting recognition was a struggle for the young singer songwriter born Elizabeth Grant.

“I changed my name, I changed my hair. A lot of people do, but boy I got a backlash because of it,” she giggles nervously.

“I still feel like I’d said all I wanted to say on my second album. But realising this was a different approach, I was just getting to know myself a little bit more and needed to write.”

And is this now an ongoing process?

“Yes, I think there will be another record sooner than later,” she admits. “I am seeing scenes and films and songs all the time. I’ve often been told that my life is like a movie. And it is - a dark and personal one. But I’m ready to share more of it, as long as I find the right people to facilitate that like I have with Ultraviolence.”

NEW ALBUM: ULTRAVIOLENCE OUT NOW

“I think it is hard if you see someone in a particular way and you get an instant impression.

“Maybe they don’t really look like a leader or because I don’t have a very forceful personality, it’s lead to some confusion. I really don’t know but it wasn’t a nice thing to go through.”

Del Rey says she has got over self doubt ad learned to believe in herself while making Ultraviolence.

She says: “I’ve learned to listen to myself. And I definitely won’t write until I feel it is perfect. I am always feeling something and being lucky enough to meet some good people, who are really good facilitators. Being able to find good producers like Dan, have been central to this record.”

Having dismissed the idea of making a follow-up to Born To Die, Del Rey now says she is overjoyed to have changed her mind.

WIN

TIM GRUAR

OLD CROW MEDICINE SHOW

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NASHVILLE BASED STRING band Old Crow Medicine Show are quite remarkable. Labeled “oldtime”, “bluegrass”, “folk” and “alt-country” they push the boundaries between conscious, thinking music, revival and good ‘ol down home entertainment.

Recording since ‘98, they were discovered by famed bluegrass musician Doc Watson whilst busking outside a pharmacy in Boone, North Carolina back in 2000. It was their old-time string sound fueled by punk rock energy, that went on to influence acts like Mumford & Sons and Pokey LaFarge.

On their latest album, Remedy a few creditors are paid their dues, including the man that gave ‘em their big break. “Indeed there is,” comments Ketch Secor (banjos, harmonica, fiddle, and vocals), enthusiastically, down the line from Nashville, Tennessee. He’s talkin’ about one particular song, ‘Doc’s Day’ , which is a big nod to Doc Watson – nice little circle.

“Sorta finished a lot circles on that album. But that’s an important one – in the long tall shadow of Doc Watson, here. To say ‘thank you’ with a song. Doc gave us an incredible break,” And what would have happened if they hadn’t played outside that particular drug store on that particular day? “I dunno. It was meant to be, written in the stars.”

Had he been a fan of Watson prior to meeting him? “Doc Watson was (to me) the person who, more than anybody else, made music accessible to young people, to folk music. There was plenty of people singing protest songs in the 50’s and sixties, copying Dylan, you know? Doc Watson was this very pure voice of the mountain, of the tradition that had been passed

down. We were lookin’ for Doc. We actually ran into him because we lived six miles from his house at one time. If he couldn’t find us, then we were gonna go find him!”

Can he remember the first meeting. “Oh yeah. We were playing on a street corner. We were about to pick up the hat and move on. We’d done ok. Then his daughter, Nancy Watson came up and she said, ‘Oh, I just love this old-time music, and my dad will love it. Y’all gonna be here for awhile? I’m gonna go get him.’

“We didn’t think anything of that. We said ‘maybe-maybe not’. Well it all depended on how the money went. You know, she came back about forty-five minutes later in a red Jeep Cheroke and helped her daddy across the street, Doc Watson. We were just ‘black dogged’ and couldn’t believe it. There he was! Well he’s got these great big ears and he kinda ‘drinks us in’, kinda rockin’ on his haunches. And when we finish he says (Secor puts on his Doc Watson voice) ‘Well, boys, some of the most authentic music I heard in a long time!’ It was awesome, Ma. We should’ve had bumper stickers of that (quote) made!”

The boys also have Doc to thank for their recent induction into the historic Grand Ole Opry. “We were mighty chuffed, having started in as a filler act before the show and the radio broadcast began through to being the inductees!” The Grand Ole Opry is a legendary, weekly country music stage concert performed live in Nashville. Originally founded in 1925 as a one-hour radio “barn dance” on local station WSM, it’s among the longest-running broadcasts in history. “Hell, The Opry is “the show that made country music

“We should’ve had bumper stickers of that (quote) made!”

“I can talk about bringing the troops home but I gotta watch how I say it.”

famous,” “Home of American music”, notes Secor, clearly puffing with pride.

For the boys it was like going from little bro to grandfather, acknowledges Secor, “We were this wayward group. As a fiddle player, well you can’t shoot for anything higher. It’s incredible to be embraced by this family.

They are mainly this group with hits on the radio. We were this underground acoustic rock’n’roll band.”

I point out that someone like Woody Guthrie was never played on the radio either, but in time he earned respect. “Yeah, but he woulda scared the pants off (Opry Founder) George D Hay. I live in Nashville.

It’s a conservative town. Low education. Highest infant mortality rates in Mississippi, Alabama, etc. Fast- fries lined up by the dozen down the highways, obesity issues. I can talk about bringing the troops home but I gotta watch how I say it . They didn’t murder Dr. King in New York. It was Tennessee.”

available to him joining the army was his own solution.

Cannon fodder babies are born in Tennessee sometime, it seems but no one’s arguing differently.

Still Remedy is a just a “good ol’ ho-down of the highest order.”

We’ll go on tour round the world to promote this one. We should be down your way at some point.

I haven’t check the schedule yet but I think it’ll be an easier trip -especially around Auckland.

You’ll have that highway from the airport to the city built by then, won’t you?” Mmmm. Not sure about that. But if you get the chance, you should get along to see these guys, no matter how bad the traffic.

NEW ALBUM: REMEDY OUT FRI 04 JUL

I ask why that is. Sure the world has moved on. Surely were all more tolerant now. “It’s a conservative place. Protecting its resources. It has military might. It’s not apologising. The apartheid state makes sense to some here, still. It’s the home of country music, man. Where Elvis made his records. The home of Aretha Franklin. The home of Tina Turner. This is Tennessee.

The home of contradictions.” It likes tradition A good example of that is the picture painted in ‘Dearly Departed Friend’, which portrays the life of those left behind after a soldier falls. He’ll never attend any more lil’ league games or BBQs but as everyone knows, with the education

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SEBASTIAN MACKAY

PENNY WISE even true within our own band.”

Yep, they seem to being seeing eye to eye less and less but somehow they’re making it work.

Lindberg even jokes that he should have been a band therapist.

“In this day and age having an opinion and being opinionated about something can be very divisive and I’m trying to be a unifier. If I say that the republican tea party are frauds then I’m going to make a lot of enemies. Ultimately, people have to stand up for what they think is right for them, their country and the world.”

THERE ARE SOME things in life we don’t really want to think about: what’s in chicken nuggets and Rage Against The Machine’s raging against the machine, while being part of the machine.

The same applies to Pennywise.

Although they started off with the intention of being optimistic and inspirational, a couple of terrorists blew up a couple of towers, a couple of wars were ignited and they shifted their stance to a more realist one.

Now, they’re fighting against the Man (yes, capital M) and they’re spitting fire from a major label (Epitaph in the US and Warner over here).

The irony isn’t lost on returned frontman, punk veteran and ocean saviour (seriously, they just raised $15,000 USD to clear up the Bay Area waterways), Jim Lindberg and he finds it more than a little amusing.

“There is that irony…there are a lot of compromises that you have to make as a band and that’s one of the huge reasons that I left in 2009.” He’s reeling, just a little. It’s a completely unexpected question after a good few minutes of why everyone that stands up for the working

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class is inherently anti-American (not something he agrees with, mind you).

He dives into a story about the time Pennywise toured at the behest of an alcohol company who threw hundred dollar bills at them, bound by rubber bands, as if it were going out of fashion.

Another thing Lindberg hated, but was out voted on.

“The other guys didn’t see anything wrong with it.

They said: ‘I drink beer, and I do this’…there’s so much compromise and you have to decide if you’re going to take corporate money.” He says slightly cautiously and perhaps with a hint of bitterness.

It, of course, grinds completely the wrong way to his antiestablishment ideas that have only strengthened since the band jumped the fence from positivity to head on world wide confrontation.

And mid way through 2014 it has almost nothing to do with the new album Yesterdays which is a collection of old songs (we’re talking pre ever having a label, old) but they’ve

ignited something furious in the collective loins of Pennywise which, no doubt, will spew forth onto the world some time in the next couple of years.

“Yesterdays is a real representation of the band, of what we were like, and what we believed at the time…it really refreshed the spirit of the band and reminded us of what we believe in.” He answers thoughtfully.

Some of these songs go back as far as 1989 while they were playing shows in people’s back lawns and others back to the Full Circle album cycle (1997).

They’re entirely original, almost (forgive a little tinkering here and a fix up there and they’re almost exactly the same as when they were written all those years ago). The loin-related fire comes from exactly what this has done for the band - something a little more than passion.

“There’s been a definitive shift [in America],” Lindberg begins again, “especially after 9/11, where if you stand up for the working class people then you’re called a leftist and a Communist and you’re anti-American. That’s

Part of it is America, scheemerica, and when you’re sitting in a cafe (if you’re not, I apologise, I can’t see you) in this glorious, if not rainy, land it’s a bit “who cares? That’s your issue.” But Lindberg reckons that we can all take something away from it and because of the re-ignition of the Pennywise spirit, we’ll be getting a bunch to learn from.

“You can write about things in your own backyard and there will always be situations where people can relate to that situation.

We’ve been to a lot of countries and I can’t think of any where the people and corporations with all of the money aren’t in power or have lobbyist groups.” *Cough* New Zealand *Cough* Oh, wait, never mind.

It really boils down to Pennywise and Lindberg being political af and if that’s not your jam, then their next record may not get you going. But! Yesterdays, as the man himself describes it, is for the hardcore, the long standing, Pennywise fan and he reckons there’s nothing more original or better suited.

NEW ALBUM: YESTERDAYS OUT FRI 11 JUL

REN KIRK

MARLON WILLIAMS RK: Is there a common starting point for you when creating a song?

MW: Usually it starts with one little block phrase, one little bit of a song will just pop in to my head as if I’m walking past a shop and hearing something on the radio. Then I sort of have to unveil it, like pulling away the covers to get to it. It’s not a very methodical process.

I’ve got to learn to write to task more, I need to be able to make myself write… that’s real talent being able to do that. It’s much more of a realists approach too, like, “Twelve songs by Friday, or else!”

DESCRIBED AS “THE impossible love child of Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison and Townes Van Zandt”, Marlon Williams is a two-time NZ Music Award winning singer-songwriter. At just 23 he has already built a successful career fronting alt-country legends The Unfaithful Ways, supporting Justin Townes Earle and Band Of Horses, as well as performing as one half of acclaimed duo Delaney Davidson & Marlon Williams.

After relocating to Australia mid-2013.

Williams has recently returned to his hometown of Lyttelton to record his debut solo album. Lilting, quirky and haunting, ‘Strange Things’ is the first taste of Williams’ dark sense of humour and going it alone. Ren Kirk chatted to Williams before his return to Australia, covering choirs, composers and Christchurch.

REN KIRK: What’s your first music-related memory?

MARLON WILLIAMS: Hmmm, probably going across the road from Nana’s house to a garage sale and buying a copy of David Bowie’s ‘Sound And Vision’ on 45.

RK: Wow, do you still have it? That’s a great first music memory!

MW: Actually it’s not really cause I was only about four or five and all I really knew is that it was a was a disc and was for sale. It’s only really relevant in retrospect.

RK: Ahh, right. So what’s a music memory that was relevant at the time… or was one of those formative moments?

MW: That would have to be singing for the first time in choir, this weird gospel song done by a bunch of white kids. I was about eight or nine and just the way the harmonies blended together… and being able to connect with

people in that way. It opened up a whole new world to me.

RK: How much do you think singing in choirs shaped your voice? And has it influenced the music you make?

MW: I don’t notice it as a tangible thing but I’m often asked by people, so it obviously comes through in some way. I reached this point where I had to choose, country or choir.

I still miss choir music but obviously it came with me.

RK: In terms of current singer-songwriters, who inspire you?

MW: Well, I’m really excited to be playing with First Aid Kit in a month or so… they’re amazing and I’m really looking forward to it.

But mostly the ones I like are dead - one of my favourites within country is George Jones and he passed away last year - I just don’t think there’s the same calibre of young country musicians coming through.

RK: Why do you think that is?

MW: The scene of mainstream country music isn’t what it was 40 or 50 years ago… which is probably also some nostaligia on my part.

And it’s a sound thing. A lot of it comes down to production and how the music sounded back then. Now it often feels over produced.

RK: Tell me about Harbour Union and making music after the Christchurch earthquake?

MW: All those guys I was getting to know around that time - Tiny Lies, Delaney Davidson, The Eastern, Lindon Puffin - just before the earthquakes was a really fertile time for music in Lyttleton. Then the big earthquake hit and it we were just about to come over this amazing peak…. so Harbour Union came together and we just jumped in a living room and recorded straight off the bat.

RK: So you’re not drawing from personal experience, or telling stories from what you see happening around you?

MW: I tend not to look too closely. I don’t look for points of familiarity in terms of lyrics and I don’t like writing stories. I prefer to write in the third person because it takes me out of the equation, it’s much simpler.

RK: That’s really interesting, because most artists I talk to it’s all about telling stories from their own and others’ lives. And in turn that honesty and sharing of self is where they derive a lot of their sincerity and connection with the fans.

MW: It’s sort of bullshit in a way. Hank Williams died when he was 29; he didn’t live it, at least not in the same way people have this idea you should. So it’s a pretty ridiculous notion. We have power as observational humans to read into things and put them into songs, nothing is beyond our imagination.

RK: Aside from the musicality, do you think this album shows personal progression since your earlier work?

MW: Yeah, cause the thing that holds it all together (well hopefully) is my voice. Lots of things change around it, like different orchestrations and instrumentations. But my voice is a sure enough tool that it will glue everything together.

RK: That’s a great ethos to have because it gives you a certain freedom doesn’t it?

MW: Let’s just hope it works!

SEE HIM LIVE: MARLON WILLIAMS FRI 11 JUL SAN FRAN BATH HOUSE, WELLINGTON SAT 12 JUL THE TUNING FORK, AUCKLAND SUN 13 JUL TASTE MERCHANTS, DUNEDIN WED 16 JUL WUNDERBAR, LYTTELTON

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TIM GRUAR

MELODY POOL “Don’t compare me to Kasey Chambers; I’m more folk I think.”

The phone line goes quiet... but I swear there’s a small girlish giggle before the reply. “Actually I was going for Patty Griffin, but ok.” Then the conversation turns to what it would be like to have a man cover her songs. A reverse perhaps of Tori Amos’ Strange Little Girls concept, where the singer covers a collection of tracks by ‘blokes’ like Joe Jackson and Eminem in a Nuevofeminist way.

21-YEAR-OLD AUSSIE singer/songwriter Melody Pool describes herself as “currently in limbo”, hanging out in her old bedroom at her parent’s farm in the Hunter Valley. Kuri Kuri - to be precise.

“We were originally in Perth before coming here and then I grew up in the Hunter Valley before moving to the big smoke.” That’s Melbourne she’s referring to, where she’s currently based. “I love it. It’s a real melting pot of culture, just right for me to grow.”

Pool is on a little R’n’R between tours supporting Californian duo The Milk Carton Kids in Europe and her upcoming gigs with Marlon Williams, which will kick off in early July across Aotearoa. “Chances are you won’t have heard of Melody Pool,” my publicity sheet tells me. Until now.

Pool is a self-starter, using crowd

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sourcing to fund her way to Nashville to record alongside US singer Jace Everett (his song ‘Bad Things’ is the theme tune to the hit TV show True Blood). It was almost a chance meeting that conjoined Pool and Everett. She was asked to help play along-side a friend who was opening for one of Everett’s shows Down Under.

Kasey Chambers; I’m more folk I think.”

“I think I was introduced to him in a backstage dressing room. I was helping Kirsty our on guitar, I was real gimpy and shy.”

Growing up, Pool tells me, she was deeply influenced by artists like Joni Mitchell. “I myself have been compared to Joni sometimes, which is flattering.

But while I love her I don’t want to be limited by her.” Pool loves Mitchell’s Blue period but acknowledges that even the singer herself transcended jazz, pop and folk seamlessly in an effort to stay fresh.

But something struck a chord and the two became fast friends. The resulting album, recorded at the home of Country Music, was The Hurting Scene. It’s an album with all the classic trace ingredients: lost love, infidelity, and the assertion of independence. A beguiling, bittersweet series of vignettes and tales, claims Pool. “I’m in love, and you’re to blame...” goes the opening lines. But does she identify with Country? “Don’t compare me to

Part of that was working with producer Brad Jones. “He worked with Missy Higgins and Justin Townes Earle. He has this, um, gentle touch to the sound which I love.” And indeed it works, giving Pool’s vocals far more maturity than her two-decade existence. I put it to her that sometimes she sounds a bit like a ‘female Ryan Adams’ especially on her ballad ‘Somebody You’ve Never Met Before’ and the new single ‘Xavier’.

“I don’t know about that, but I like it. Actually, Marlon and I have covered each other’s songs.” Williams covered Pool’s ‘Pretty Little End’; Pool played William’s ‘Heaven For You’. “We did (promo) clips for YouTube. It was amazing hearing his voice in my songs. I guess I imagined them sung by women. I didn’t have any comprehension of how that might work differently, in reverse. I don’t tend to change genders, but Marlon does.”

Now I was wondering if he’d be wearing a dress on stage when the two team up for their local tour. “No,” Pool laughs, “I meant that he makes the song more ‘manly’. A good suggestion, though. Would florals go with that hat?”

SEE HER LIVE: MELODY POOL W/ MARLON WILLIAMS FRI 11 JUL SAN FRAN BATH HOUSE, WELLINGTON SAT 12 JUL THE TUNING FORK, AUCKLAND

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