Brag#708

MADE IN SYDNEY APRIL 12, 2017

FREE Now picked up at over 1,600 places across Sydney and surrounds. thebrag.com

MUSIC, FILM, COMEDY + MORE

INSIDE This Week

A L I B A R T ER

On the Californian influence behind her debut album.

KINGSWOOD

COLD WA R KIDS

Nathan Willett says LA Divine is their best album yet.

F U T UR E I S L A ND S

How it took them years to become an overnight success.

T HE 50 BE S T COF F EE S IN S Y DNE Y: PA R T T W O The suburb-by-suburb countdown continues.

T HE 2017 HO T CRO S S BUN AWA R D S Who's got the hottest buns in town? Our jury decides.

Plus

M A DNE S S BL A CK A R M B A ND ROYA L HE A D A CHE SPI T SY NDIC AT E A ND MUCH MOR E

THREE BY RON BOYS LE T TING THE GOOD TIME S ROLL

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in this issue

free stuff

what you’ll find inside…

head to: thebrag.com/freeshit

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The Frontline

6

Back To Business

8-9

Skegss have been blown away by their recent success, and things are only getting bigger for the Byron boys.

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Madness

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Cold War Kids

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Royal Headache are taking their music in new directions without abandoning their punk roots.

The BRAG’s 2017 Sydney Hot Cross Bun Awards

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Off The Record, Out & About

26

Album reviews, First Drafts

18

Future Islands

“Any self-respecting artist is going to get tired of playing three or four fucking chords.”

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20-21 The Dog / The Cat, The Popular Mechanicals, Colossal 22-23 Smurf In Wanderland is the story of a Sydney FC fan out of his depth, The 50 Best Coffees In Sydney: Part Two, bar of the week

10-11 Ali Barter, Black Arm Band, Spit Syndicate

22-23

“Half the reason we’re in the band is so we can all hang out and have a few beers and a laugh.” (8-9)

(14)

27-28 Felix Riebl, Los Scallywaggs, Toe To Toe, Sydneyvision Song Contest, Josh Needs 29-30 Live reviews 31

Gig guide

the frontline

SKEGSS: MERCH AND TICKET GIVEAWAY

Skegss are the cover stars of the BRAG this week, and to celebrate, we’re giving away a merch pack and double pass to their Sydney show. It’s all on the back of their new EP Holiday Food, released last week via Ratbag Records. Now they’re hitting the road and playing Oxford Art Factory on Friday June 16.

For your chance to win a prize pack including a Skegss T-shirt, socks, vinyl and double pass to the show:

1.

2.

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Take a photo of the cover of this week’s BRAG, featuring Skegss Post it to Instagram and tag @thebragmag Follow @thebragmag to find out if you’ve won!

with Chris Martin and Ben Rochlin ISSUE 708: Wednesday April 12, 2017 PRINT & DIGITAL EDITOR: Chris Martin chris.martin@seventhstreet.media SUB-EDITOR: David Molloy STAFF WRITERS: Joseph Earp, Nathan Jolly, Adam Norris NEWS: Nathan Jolly, Tyler Jenke, Ben Rochlin

State Government’s 30-minute compromise over the controversial Sydney lockout laws.

Famous Sydney live music venue The Basement will now be able to admit patrons until 2am and serve drinks until 3:30am, as will Kings Cross venue O’Malley’s Hotel and Pitt Street’s The Republic Hotel. The news was announced by Minister for Racing Paul Toole last week. The three new locations bring the number of lockout-exempt venues to ten, alongside the Palace Hotel, ArtHouse Hotel and Mr B’s Hotel in the CBD, Stonewall Hotel on Oxford Street, World Bar in Kings Cross and the Observer Hotel at The Rocks.

Sydney Writers’ Festival

ART DIRECTOR: Sarah Bryant PHOTOGRAPHERS: Ashley Mar COVER PHOTOGRAPH: Francisco Tavoni ADVERTISING: Tony Pecotic - 0425 237 974 tony.pecotic@seventhstreet.media

GIG GUIDE: gigguide@thebrag.com AWESOME INTERNS: Anna Rose, Ben Rochlin, Abbey Lenton REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS: Nat Amat, Arca Bayburt, Lars Brandle, Chelsea Deeley, Matthew Galea, Emily Gibb, Jennifer Hoddinett, Emily Meller, David Molloy, Annie Murney, Adam Norris, George Nott, Daniel Prior, Natalie Rogers, Erin Rooney, Anna Rose, Spencer Scott, Natalie Salvo, Leonardo Silvestrini, Jade Smith, Aaron Streatfeild, Jessica Westcott, Stephanie Yip, David James Young Please send mail NOT ACCOUNTS direct to this NEW address Level 2, 9-13 Bibby St, Chiswick NSW 2046

SYDNEY WRITERS’ FESTIVAL LINEUP

This year’s Sydney Writers’ Festival program has been revealed, with over 450 writers and guests taking part in the festival’s 20th anniversary. Focusing on the theme of refuge, the 2017 program features local and international writers including Roxane Gay, Ian Rankin, Clementine Ford, Peter Stefanovic and many more. 40 per cent of the 400 events are free, including a range of panels, discussions and workshops.

A day dedicated to young authors will take place on Saturday May 27 at Parramatta’s Riverside Theatres. The 2017 Sydney Writers’ Festival runs from Monday May 22 – Sunday May 28. Visit swf.org.au for more.

LIVE WITH DANDO FROM THE LEMONHEADS

The Lemonheads’ frontman Evan Dando is coming to Sydney in solo mode this Cream

EDITORIAL POLICY: The views and opinions expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the publisher, editors or staff of the BRAG.

OLIVER STONE IN SYDNEY

ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE: Carrie Huang - accounts@seventhstreet.vc (02) 9713 9269 Level 2, 9-13 Bibby St, Chiswick NSW 2046

DISTRIBUTION: Wanna get the BRAG? Email george.sleiman@ seventhstreet.media PRINTED BY SPOTPRESS: spotpress.com.au 24 – 26 Lilian Fowler Place, Marrickville NSW 2204 follow us:

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CREAM OF THE CROP

An all-star ensemble is landing in Australia next month to celebrate the 50th anniversary of pioneering rock trio Cream. Malcolm Bruce (son of Jack), Kofi Baker (son of Ginger) and Will Johns (nephew of Eric Clapton) will be joined by Deep Purple’s Glenn Hughes to pay tribute to the defining three-piece of the ’60s, performing songs from across Cream’s fouralbum catalogue including the likes of ‘Spoonful’, ‘Strange Brew’ and ‘Sunshine Of Your Love’. Experience The Music Of Cream at the State Theatre on Thursday May 25.

Academy Award winning film director Oliver Stone will make an exclusive Australian appearance in Sydney this year for the Vivid Ideas program. Stone, whose filmography includes classics like Scarface, Midnight Express, Platoon, Wall Street, Natural Born Killers, JFK, Nixon and The Doors, will speak at the Vivid Ideas Game-Changer Talks Series, and at the Semi Permanent creative forum. Stone’s appearance at Vivid Ideas will focus on his ability to tell difficult stories while addressing controversy and resistance.

Margaret Pomeranz will interview the director at the event. Meanwhile, his Semi Permanent ‘in conversation’ appearance will explore the power of film to create change and challenge perceptions. Stone will appear at the City Recital Hall for Vivid Ideas on Sunday May 28, and at Carriageworks for Semi Permanent on Friday May 26.

UP LATE AT THE BASEMENT

SPLENDOUR SIDESHOW BONANZA

Los Angeles siblings Haim are playing an exclusive Sydney sideshow at the Enmore Theatre on Thursday July 20 as part of their visit to our shores for Splendour In The Grass 2017. Este, Danielle and Alana Haim hit the big time in 2013 with their debut album Days Are Gone, and their much anticipated follow-up is set to land this year, making their lucky Sydney fans among the first in the world to witness the new material live. Haim are just one of the acts who have now locked in Splendour sideshows, with Sydney dates also scheduled for Queens of the Stone Age, Father John Misty, Bonobo, Stormzy, Ásgeir, Banks, Catfish and The Bottlemen, Two Door Cinema Club, Real Estate, Tove Lo, Lany, George Ezra, Rag’N’Bone Man, Maggie Rogers, The Lemon Twigs, Bishop Briggs, Oh Wonder, Lil’ Yachty and Bag Raiders. Find out more at thebrag.com.

Three more venues have been granted approval for later trading hours under the

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Sydney Writers’ Festival by Prudence Upton

DEADLINES: Editorial: Friday 12pm (no extensions) Ad bookings: Friday 5pm (no extensions) Fishished art: No later than 2pm Monday Ad cancellations: Friday 4pm Deadlines are strictly adhered to.

Published by Seventh Street Media Pty Ltd All content copyrighted to Seventh Street Media 2017

year. This master of irony and Australian fan favourite released his first solo record, Baby I’m Bored, back in 2003, so his Antipodean shows will take place as part of the rarely seen 14th anniversary album tour. But you can bet he’ll be drawing on other tracks from his discography too. Get down with Dando at the Oxford Art Factory on Tuesday May 30.

Haim

Smurf In Wanderland photo by Eric Berry

PUBLISHER: Seventh Street Media CEO, SEVENTH STREET MEDIA: Luke Girgis - luke.girgis@seventhstreet.media MANAGING EDITOR: Poppy Reid poppy.reid@seventhstreet.media THE GODFATHER: BnJ

ALL BLUESFEST TOURING ARTISTS ALSO APPEAR AT

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GRAMMY WINNER

“One of the hottest axemen.”

ROLLING STONE

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“It’s as good-hearted as all get-out.” NEW YORK TIMES ‘ P U T YO U R R E C O R D S O N ’ ‘ I S T H I S LOV E ’ ‘ L I K E A S TA R ’ 2 TIME GRAMMY WINNER

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THE HIT OF BLUESFEST 2016 !!

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Classic Stax hits:

TRY A LITTLE TENDERNESS HOLD ON I’M COMING’ GREEN ONIONS TIME IS TIGHT and many more

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Back To Business Music Industry News with Lars Brandle

BREAKING BIZ

Spotify, the leading streaming music brand, has struck a new multi-year global licence deal with Universal Music Group, the world’s largest music company. With any deal of note, the devil is in the detail, and this is one of those deals. As part of the new pact, Spotify will allow UMG’s artists to window their albums to its paid users only for the first two weeks of a release. By adding in those restrictions, Spotify gives users of its free service a real incentive to upgrade. “We know that not every album by every artist should be released the same way, and we’ve worked hard with UMG to develop a new, flexible release policy,” explained Daniel Ek, chairman and CEO of Spotify, in a statement unveiling the deal. Ek said the new partnership was built on a “mutual love of music” between UMG and Spotify, and was intended to create more value for artists.

For its part, UMG reportedly cut the royalty fees Spotify pays for its works. Spotify, which is expected to launch on the stock market in 2018, hasn’t yet announced similar licensing structures with Warner Music or Sony Music.

movers and shakers Warner Music Group has entrusted Max Lousada with responsibilities for its global recorded music operations.

Lousada, a Brit, has been named CEO of recorded music for Warner Music Group, with effect from October 1. He will continue his current duties as chairman and CEO of Warner Music UK while also taking on all global operations of WMG’s recorded music properties, including Atlantic, Parlophone, Warner Bros., Warner Music Nashville, Global Catalog/Rhino and Warner Classics. Lousada will fill a role last occupied by Lyor Cohen and he’s expected to

eventually succeed WMG CEO Stephen Cooper, the man he reports to. The incoming chief joined WMG in 2003 (via Atlantic UK) and quickly earned a reputation as a cut-above talent-spotter. He was promoted to president and chairman of Atlantic UK in 2009, a label that had Ed Sheeran, Clean Bandit and James Blunt on its books and helped develop Coldplay and Muse. He rose to CEO of Warner Music UK in 2013.

Veteran Republic Records exec Tom Mackay joins Sony Music Entertainment as president of Sony music,

film and television A&R, a newly created position. Based in Los Angeles, Mackay now leads the strategy and implementation of the music major’s film and television partnerships, including its soundtrack deals, and reports to Sony Music Entertainment CEO Rob Stringer. He worked with Republic Records since 1998, most recently serving as executive VP/GM of West Coast operations.

Mitch Glazier will succeed Cary Sherman at the helm of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The trade body

ALL WORK, NO JAY

Spotify’s execs might want to keep the champagne on ice for a little longer: Jay Z doesn’t want to play. The hip hop star and entrepreneur requested Spotify pull his catalogue, and he got his wish, as now none of his 12 studio sets are available on the service. Jay Z’s power play is all about business – it’s digital turf war, and it begs the question: why didn’t he do this sooner?

The rapper owns rival music streaming service Tidal, which has had waves of issues since its launch in 2015. Naturally, Tidal is now the go-to place for his music. the world to see great Australian music and we want to give them the best opportunity to see the acts they want to see in the best possible setting,” he explains.

Kendrick Lamar

CHART GEEK

Ed Sheeran is still the king of the charts. The English singer-songwriter’s Divide (Asylum/ Warner Music) enters a fifth week at the top of the UK albums chart, and he bags the top two on the UK singles chart again, with ‘Shape Of You’ on top for a 13th week. The space cowboy Jamiroquai returns to the UK chart with his eighth album Automaton, which debuts at number four.

It’s a similar story in Australia, where Sheeran scores a fifth week atop the ARIA Albums Chart and a 13th week at number one on the ARIA Singles Chart. ‘Shape Of You’ is now equal with Coolio’s ‘Gangsta’s Paradise’ for the most weeks at number one.

In the US, Drake’s More Life holds at number one on the Billboard 200 for a second week and should hang on for a third, while Sheeran’s ‘Shape Of You’ rules for a tenth week.

Sheeran’s hit is only the 34th number one to dominate the US singles chart for doublefigure weeks since the weekly tally was first published in 1958. Kendrick Lamar’s new track ‘Humble’ could challenge Sheeran’s title and is expected to open inside the top five.

‘Humble’ is the first release from Lamar’s fourth studio album, which arrives on Friday April 14 and is expected to shoot straight to number one in the US.

Bigsound will be held Tuesday September 5 – Friday September 8 in the Sunshine State’s Fortitude Valley, and for the first time a $100,000 prize pool will be made available to performers as a “financial leg-up”. Through the Levi’s Music Prize – the largest of its kind in Australian music history – $25,000 will be awarded on the final day as judged by a panel of visiting international music industry experts. The program will then be opened up to Bigsound alumni who have featured in the night-time music program over the last five years to apply for further $25,000 prizes.

THE BIG STAGE

Justin Bieber’s latest world tour has a purpose: making piles of money. As Bieber’s Purpose World Tour enters its second year on the road, the trek’s total gross to date has climbed to almost US$200 million. According

has orchestrated a smooth transition where Glazier becomes president of the RIAA with immediate effect, and rises to CEO in January 2019.

Sherman, who has served with the RIAA in various capacities for two decades, is set to retire at the end of 2018. Glazier is no stranger to taking up the fight for the major label biz: he has more than 18 years’ experience with the RIAA and is currently senior executive vice president. Glazier’s appointment comes on the heels of the American recorded music industry reporting its first full-year period of double-digit growth in almost 20 years.

Jay Z

to Billboard Boxscore, Bieber’s five-city jaunt through Australia and New Zealand shifted 221,206 tickets, with the sold-out sign posted at Perth, Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney and Auckland. His date at Sydney’s ANZ Stadium on Wednesday March 15 grossed US$6.2 million and pulled a crowd of 65,836. Since hitting the road in March 2016, Bieber’s tour has sold more than 2.2 million tickets.

THE FINAL WORD

Another record for Adele! The British singer’s 21 has eclipsed Carole King’s Tapestry for the most weeks spent on the Billboard 200 chart for an album by a woman. Adele’s 2011 sophomore set clocked its 319th week on the list dated April 15. Tapestry is now in second place with 318 weeks. 21 has been on the albums chart every week since 2011 when it debuted at number one, a position the album locked up for 24 non-consecutive weeks. Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side Of The Moon holds the overall record for the most weeks on the chart at 92.

GET DAT PAPER STAT

Three of the world’s largest performance rights organisations (PROs) have banded together to prototype a new blockchain-based system for royalty collection. SACEM (France), PRS for Music (Britain) and ASCAP (US) are working on the joint project, which it’s hoped will streamline the licensing process and pave the way for faster, more accurate payments to copyright owners. Utilising IBM blockchain technology, the alliance plans to develop an improved system for managing the links between International Standard Recording Codes (ISRCs) and International Standard Work Codes (ISWCs) – standard data codes for identifying recorded works and compositions. “We see huge opportunity for beneficial industry change and collaboration from this initiative,” said PRS CEO Robert Ashcroft in a statement announcing the venture.

Tonight Alive

And just how big are these PROs? Last week ASCAP reported 2016 revenue of US$1.059 billion, up 4.44 percent from the previous year, while distributions to members grew by 5.83 per cent year-on-year to $918 million. It’s the third successive year ASCAP’s revenues have topped $1 billion.

BIGGESTSOUND?

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THE DOTTED LINE

With a new album on the way, Tonight Alive have signed recording agreements that will take their music to the world. The Sydney five-piece have signed with UNFD in Australia and New Zealand, and with Hopeless Records in all other territories, and they’ve shared a new song and music video for ‘World Away’. The new track, a rep explains, is “an introduction to the sound of the next chapter” for Tonight Alive, which will be revealed in full when the band begins work on a new album this winter.

Xxx

Bigsound is getting bigger. Brisbane’s annual music gathering will expand its showcase program to a four-night format with each artist offered the chance to perform twice across the Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights – and a huge chunk of cash is up for grabs. The extra night creates more chances for bands to win over industry guests and punters, explains Q Music executive officer Joel Edmondson. “We have dozens of internationals flying halfway around

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COVER STORY

“When we walked screaming at

BY

ANNA ROSE

S

kegss bassist Toby Cregan is feeling flustered. “Benny’s not here,” he says, excusing the tardiness of his bandmate Ben Reed for their interview with the BRAG. It’s no big deal, but his franticness can be forgiven – Skegss have spent so much time on the road together lately, they’re practically joined at the hip.

The Byron Bay punk trio have just wrapped up a national tour supporting their labelmates Dune Rats,

an enterprise that was well-documented on social media. The two bands’ respective summer jams gripped the nation and hinted at a promise of more touring to come, and when Reed finally joins our conversation, he’s looking forward to a fresh run of shows overseas before Skegss return to Australia for headline dates of their own.

The post-tour downtime has given Skegss the chance to reflect on what’s been a busy 2017 so far. “This is relaxing time,” Cregan says. “It was pretty much the most back-to-back tour you could do in Australia. Like, how many shows did we play, Benny?”

“Sorry, I was just doing some shit,” the frontman says by way of introduction.

“Maybe even more than that,” says Cregan, “because we were playing our own shows, doing our own gigs too. I swear every tour has been like – I don’t know, we always end up saying, ‘That was the craziest one!’ I can’t remember in detail a lot of shit.

“Bloody idiot,” Cregan laughs. “He didn’t realise this was a thing he actually had to do!”

“13 in 16 days,” Reed replies.

“Half the reason we’re in the band is so we ca

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up on the stage, I couldn’t hold myself back from everyone – like, ‘What the fuck? This is crazy!’”

Cregan’s statement provokes another round of laughter. It’s clear to us all what their real plan is.

“Defi nitely test out beers and bars, that’s pretty much all I mean,” he says. “If someone offers to put you on a plane to play a gig, you fucking may as well do it.”

It’s suggested to Skegss that their ‘why not?’ approach to touring might double as a great way to build their fan base around the world, but their motives are much simpler. “You’ve already thought about it more than us on the phone right now,” Reed says. “We’ve never even thought about it like that – we just think it’ll be fun to go play some shows.”

“We care if people want us to play there, of course,” adds Cregan. “But if someone is like, ‘Oh, come play a show wherever,’ it’s like, ‘Fuck it, we want to do that.’ It’s not like we’re doing only what we wanna do [either]. Like, if people in France were like, ‘Come play a show in France,’ and we can do that, then we’ll fucking try and do that.”

Suddenly, the discussion is put on hold – all this talk of overseas touring has interrupted Cregan and Reed’s chance to catch up after a few days apart.

See what we mean about them being joined at the hip?

“What have you been doing, Benny?” Cregan asks.

“Man, I was so past it this week,” Reed replies.

“Man, I was so depressed on Tuesday or whatever!” says Cregan. “Like, I had to lay down on the lounge all day. Fucking hell, that was a heavy night, hey?”

The message is clear: Skegss aren’t just three musicians who perform together, but with drummer Jonny Lani, they’re the greatest of friends; brothers in arms. And it helps to remain down to earth when the real world beckons on a daily basis.

“Jonny is a stonemason by trade, so he builds rock walls and stuff,” says Cregan.

“And a casual oyster shucker,” adds Reed.

“Yeah,” says Cregan. “He’s a casual oyster shucker as well because he has some oysters that he farms.

That’s what most bands do, I’m pretty sure, in their spare time – be oyster shuckers!”

For all the shits and giggles, Skegss know there’s no way to advance their dreams without the means to do so – and that means doing the hard work and maintaining a commitment to their craft. “It’s good to keep yourself busy all the time, just keep going and going,” says Reed.

Photo by Jack Bennett/Life Without Andy

Brothers In Arms “One big thing I do remember: the first show in Perth was the biggest venue we’ve ever played and I was like to the boys, ‘Let’s just go out and try and be these muso dudes who are like, plug in and play,’ but when we walked up on the stage, I couldn’t hold myself back from screaming at everyone – like, ‘What the fuck? This is crazy!’ Just seeing so many people there, it gave me shivers, chills.”

And the party isn’t over. Skegss released their new EP Holiday Food last week, and they’re taking their seasonal sounds to the Northern Hemisphere in time for the warmer European weather. “[It’s] our first time

over there – I’m gonna be pretty excited the whole time,” says Reed. “The shows will definitely be smaller for sure.”

“Yeah, excited and drinking beers the whole time!” Cregan says. “The shows will be shit – no one will know who we are,” he laughs. “But like, it doesn’t matter. I don’t know, it’s just amazing to get to play new places. We’ve always just tried to play as many different places as we can and not even necessarily play the places that bands ‘should’ do.

If an opportunity arises where it’s somewhere we wanna do, we’ll just do that. Holidays. Just go on holidays and, I dunno, experience the culture, bro!”

Cregan agrees. “I’m one of those people that doesn’t like having time to kill, because… well, I like chilling of course, but there’s a lot of spare time when you’re in a band as well. Like, there’s heaps of travelling, but then there’s the weeks off, you know?

If you can do [productive] stuff in that four days you have off, then you may as well do it. And we don’t make enough money in the band to live – all the money we make from shows, we put back into the band so we can do more. So we can go on these holidays!

“Even if we weren’t getting paid, we’d still be playing shows – that’s why we started it. It is about the music, but I feel like half the reason we’re in the band is so we can all hang out and have a few beers and a laugh, you know? And then the other half is the satisfaction you get from making songs you like, high-fi ving when you’ve fi nished recording, feeling like you’ve accomplished something.”

What: Holiday Food out now through Ratbag/Warner Where: Oxford Art Factory When: Thursday June 15 and Friday June 16

an all hang out and have a few beers and a laugh.” thebrag.com

BRAG :: 708 :: 12:04:17 :: 9

“It is very important to learn for the First Nations, our history of song rites – it’s like the constitutions of our lore.”

FEATURE

Yirrmal Marika is just one of the young talents set to appear at the anniversary event. Hailing from Yirrkala in Arnhem Land, Marika has performed with Black Arm Band around Australia and overseas. He says they’ve always been welcomed warmly, especially in multicultural cities like Sydney.

Black Arm Band

“It is very important to learn for the First Nations, our history of song rites – it’s like the constitutions of our lore, and that’s what we are. The people receive that experience in that music.”

Family Values By Anna Rose

I

t’s no secret that Aboriginal cultures rely heavily on the traditions of family, with generation after generation passing down stories and customs, often utilising music and song to document their

extensive and colourful histories. Black Arm Band’s mission is to do just that: preserve and educate through musical communication. For a decade, the group has been sharing stories from the heart of

Ali Barter

indigenous life, playing a role in pioneering new talent. And now, the country’s leading Aboriginal music collective is gearing up for a tenth anniversary celebration at City Recital Hall.

Black Arm Band’s music is so intrinsically connected with land and tradition, it’s a wonder whether Marika and his fellow performers ever feel a sense of disconnect

FEATURE

Girl, Interrupted By David James Young

M

elbourne singer-songwriter Ali Barter has been performing under her own name for around five years, releasing two EPs and a string of singles in the lead-up to her long-awaited debut album, A Suitable Girl. Although the LP finally saw the light of day in March, its writing was a long time in the works.

“I went on a trip to LA in the middle of 2015, where I wrote a lot of songs for the record,” Barter explains. “That’s where ‘Cigarette’ started, where ‘Light Them On Fire’ started and where I wrote ‘Far Away’.

That song in particular was a pretty big one for me, because I wrote it over there with two guys called Sydney Wayser and Harlan Silverman, and then brought it back home to work on with Oscar [Dawson, Barter’s husband and producer]. It was really easy – we just kept things really simple.”

‘Far Away’, which was released as a single at the start of 2016, allowed for Barter to gainfully employ the KISS principle – “Keep it simple, stupid” – while staying as far away from Gene Simmons as possible.

“That process really felt like a catalyst for the rest of the production of the album,” says Barter. “In the past, Oscar and I have tinkered around with things a lot. It’s taken us a long time in the past, because we’ve

“You never sit down and think to yourself, ‘I’m going to write a single now.’ It never fucking happens.”

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been going through all these guitar tones and synth parts and effects. By recording a song really simply over two days, that really influenced the direction of this album.”

It should be stressed that just because the production and arrangement approach to A Suitable Girl was simple, it’s not a plain record by any stretch of the imagination.

From downtuned riffs (‘Cigarette’) to bubblegum pop with a twist (‘Girlie Bits’), it’s a diverse and sprightly record that is indicative of both Barter’s inspirations and how she channels that influence through her songs.

“I think I really wanted to explore fuzz in terms of my guitar sound for this record,” she says. “I’ve always been enamoured by bands like Nirvana and the Pixies, so I wanted to look at how they use dynamics

– those quiet verses that make way for those huge choruses. The guitar plays a big part in that – playing very clean, very simple parts and then letting loose on the distortion. You can hear that in a band like Weezer, too, who I’m a big fan of. It all factored in.”

“I was having all of these feelings that I couldn’t move past and I couldn’t accept,” she says. “Writing this album was a very cathartic experience for me. It came at a time where I was feeling angry, frustrated and scared. I felt like the only way through it was to sit down and write it out.

The album takes its name from A Suitable Boy, the lengthy 1993 novel by Vikram Seth – which, coincidentally, is set to have a sequel with Barter’s own genderflipped name in the not-too-distant future.

For now, however, A Suitable Girl is very much about Barter’s own identity. It’s a reflection of who she is and why she is; an album of self-discovery and affirmation.

Barter explains that, although not an easy process, writing A Suitable Girl helped her fully comprehend her own emotional process – and she hopes it does the same for others.

“I wasn’t putting any expectations on what I was doing – you never sit down and think to yourself, ‘I’m going to write a single now.’ It never fucking happens. I just wanted to write honestly; straight to the point. I had to do it for myself. I feel like I don’t have a proper comprehension of what it is that I’m going through until I’ve sat down and written about it. I didn’t care if what I was writing was on the nose – that’s what I wanted it to be. Art is my outlet, and I know it’s that way for so many others too. There’s something so validating about hearing a really honest piece of music and relating directly to what they’re saying.” thebrag.com

Yirrmal Marika photo by Carlos Santone

“The audience, the response is positive,” Marika says. “We actually feel the land and connected to the land, and the fine lines of the songs of the creation times. We wanted to share [these] songs into a non-indigenous people and share that moment as well from the top surface that we feel of the Mother Earth.

from their native land when they’re touring overseas. “We went to Taiwan and Singapore, and of course my culture is still standing strong and all my generations is still receiving that knowledge in Yirrkala country, my [most] special country in probably the whole part of Australia.

You feel deeper when you come to play Yirrkala, because elders [have] fought against that for this generation so we can keep carrying our culture.

Spit Syndicate Getting Shirty By Zanda Wilson

FEATURE

“What I’m saying is, why the culture [is] so strong is because we [are] very, very strong in our culture – when I perform places like that, when I first performed in Taiwan, say, they were Taiwanese people, they have a culture as well, and when I sang in my language, they actually connected with it.”

And while Black Arm Band’s performances draw heavily on past traditions, they’re not bound to history. Marika explains that his own music is a marriage of what’s been passed down to him and what he’s experienced in his own lifetime.

“I listen to a lot of Western musics,” he says. “All indigenous music across Australia, it’s samesame, y’know? For me, [it’s important] to have two cultures – indigenous culture and Western kind of music – and blend them into two, to make it more deeper, earthy sound.”

Now is as good a time as any to familiarise yourself with Marika’s work, as he’s ambitious to pursue a successful career in music.

“Still more to come, songwriting,” he says.

“Mostly I want to study very hard on poetry stuff, to learn with Uncle Shane Howard, so he will teach me the songwriting so the people will listen and taste our lyrics, you know? Like the putting the ingredients on the food.”

What: Songs Of The Black Arm Band Where: City Recital Hall When: Saturday April 22

“There’s something so validating about hearing a really honest piece of music and relating directly to what they’re saying.”

Although Barter had already gathered quite the following prior to A Suitable Girl, it was the second single from the album – the aforementioned ‘Girlie Bits’ – that truly helped to put Barter’s name on the map.

Its infectious momentum drove it all the way into the triple j Hottest 100 of 2016, where it arrived at an impressive number 58. Funnily enough, Barter herself was blissfully unaware of what was happening at the time.

“I wasn’t even listening,” she says. “I didn’t want to sit around waiting for something that I honestly didn’t think was going to happen. I had other stuff to do, anyway.

That afternoon, I get a call from my manager and she’s squealing down the line. I was like, ‘What’s going on?’ and she said, ‘Well, this just happened…’ I was completely shocked.”

After that subsided, however, Barter was elated that her hard work had paid off.

“It definitely felt like a validation. You do things for so long, always wondering in the back of your mind if it will elicit any kind of real response. Having something like that happen really makes you feel as though you’re on the right track.”

What: A Suitable Girl out now through Inertia With: IV League Where: Hudson Ballroom When: Thursday May 25

thebrag.com

I

t’s not often that such a prolific songwriting duo as Spit Syndicate go over four years without releasing an album, but that’s how long the lead-up to Jimmy Nice and Nick Lupi’s new record One Good Shirt Had Us All Fly has been. The reasons behind the gap are complex, with their work in the One Day collective obviously being a key factor, but another obstacle to the release of their latest work has been their time spent in between labels and management.

By all reports, the creative material behind the new album has been finished for some time, so it was a relief when Spit Syndicate secured a new deal with Inertia in late 2016. “We just haven’t really had a team around us, just not having management or labels, and we’ve been doing it ourselves,” Lupi explains.

“The past few years we’ve just been navigating it ourselves, and that doesn’t really impact the creation of the music, and the writing and recording of the music, but it does impact the stage between finishing the songs and releasing the songs. So it definitely has had

an impact on that part of the process. Now we have a bit more clarity in terms of our team in that area, but we’re still very hands-on, we’re still steering the ship.”

One Good Shirt Had Us All Fly is Spit Syndicate’s fourth album together, and definitely stands out thanks to the sheer number of featured artists.

The guys worked with the likes of Remi, Joyride and Thelma Plum, among stacks of others, making the record one of their most diverse works to date – and it’s easy to tell how happy Lupi is with the final product as his voice swells with enthusiasm and pride.

“I think the One Day project definitely had an impact on the way we make music, this sort of collaborative spirit,” he says. “It just showed us how having this energy in the room when you’ve got different writers and musicians, how ideas can just flow and bounce and change shape.

That definitely affected us and the way we make music. We carried that through for this record as well.

“I guess one of the things that is different about this record is

“With this one we were a lot more involved in the process, and that results in a deeper connection.” that Jimmy and I were in the room with each of the different producers from the very start of each beat. You know, from the very first kick drum or the very first piano chord played, we were there – mainly backseat driving but still in the car.

With this one we were a lot more involved in the process, and that results in a deeper connection, and we find more meaning in the beats, being there from the start and watching the song come together.”

Although they’re hugely chuffed with the final result of their hard work on this record, Lupi and Nice are still constantly looking at fresh ways to get their music out there and connect with new audiences. They could be touring on their own, but instead have just wrapped up

an appearance on their good mate Illy’s Two Degrees Tour.

“For us, it [was] a great opportunity to be touring the country right before we put out our album – playing massive rooms with someone who’s been a friend of ours for many years,” says Lupi. “It was really just a no-brainer for us to do this tour. The whole idea of any support slot is to gain exposure to some different crowds, and maybe get our music in front of people who might not have heard it before or who have some familiarity with our name but aren’t across our live shows. We want the rest of the world, our fans and our public to hear this music.”

What: One Good Shirt Had Us All Fly out Friday April 14 through One Day/Inertia

“From the very first kick drum or the very first piano chord played, we were there.”

BRAG :: 708 :: 12:04:17 :: 11

Madness

FEATURE

The Untouchables By David James Young

“It’s like my two loves combined – I get to play with the band that I love and I get to sit around and tell stories on what’s otherwise a holiday.”

T

he saying goes that if you choose a job you love, you will never have to work a day in your life. In all honesty, you’re highly unlikely to find a man who loves his job as much as Graham McPherson.

Better known to the world at large as Suggs, McPherson has been performing for nearly 40 years – well over half of his life – and is still at it today, at the helm of one of ska’s pioneering acts, Madness.

This week sees the Camden Town hitmakers return to Australia for the first time since the ill-fated V Festival in 2009. Along with headlining shows and an appearance at Bluesfest, McPherson also has solo shows entitled Suggs: My Life Story In Words & Music. “I wrote a book [2013’s That Close] because I got to 50 years old, my kids had left home and I got to thinking about what a crazy ride it had been,” he says.

“Once it was out there, I decided it would be fun to see what would happen if I turned it into a one-man show. Basically, I just get up there and tell a few stories and maybe sing a few songs to go along with it.

It’s a nice thing to be able to have the opportunity to do both while I’m

in Australia. It’s like my two loves combined – I get to play with the band that I love and I get to sit around and tell stories on what’s otherwise a holiday.”

Now 56, McPherson has been sharing his stories throughout his native England on the back of his My Life Story shows. This will mark the first time that it’s been done outside of the UK, which means there will probably be even more stories to spin and share.

Of course, given the illustrious history of Madness, it’s no surprise that there are countless interpretations of that history out there. All McPherson is attempting to do, really, is tell the story from his perspective – and to the best of his own abilities. “There’s six people in this band, so I’ve got no doubt that the six other stories of Madness would be completely different to mine,” he says with a laugh.

“When someone like Peter Hook says he feels like he’s reading the story of a completely different band in Bernard [Sumner]’s book [Chapter And Verse], I completely get that. Ultimately, it’s about talking from your own

“It’s a very bizarre thing to be in a pop band … At times, it almost feels like a social experiment or something.”

12 :: BRAG :: 708 :: 12:04:17

experience and memory – you can’t really go off anything more than that.

It’s funny, though, that I’ve been doing a few of these one-man shows over in the UK. I’ve been telling stories there onstage, and then the guys in the front row will start heckling me.

It’s the guys that have been coming to see us for 30 years. They’ll be trying to correct my own story! ‘That’s not what happened!’ Memory’s a strange old business, really.”

The other members of Madness have an extensive history with the band in their own right – indeed, guitarist Chris Foreman, keyboardist Mike Barson and saxophonist Lee Thompson were all there at the group’s very beginning back in 1976.

There is a lot of history that comes with the music of Madness, which is something that is not lost on Suggs whatsover. As a matter of fact, he sees it as a key contributing factor to the group’s lasting power.

“Some of us have known each other since our school days,” he says.

“There are friendships in the band that are older than the band itself.

I honestly think that’s one of the greatest strengths of the band. It’s a very bizarre thing to be in a pop band – especially when you’ve been around for as long as we have and had the success that we’ve had. At times, it almost feels like a social experiment or something. Everything you go through, you have to go through together. We came out at the other end of it all relatively unscathed – I mean, we’re still friends, after all.

“When we get together, we still have a good time. There’s still a lot of joy in what we do.”

McPherson is particularly excitable when asked about his upcoming Australian visit. With both Madness’ shows and his own generating a big interest among fans new and old, it speaks to the timelessness of the band’s hits and the resonance their music still holds long after their genre has moved considerably into niche territory. He speaks fondly of his Australian tours – if geography weren’t such a big factor, he insists, he’d be here all the time. He pulls out a particularly funny anecdote from the band’s first visit as proof.

“It must have been around ’79 or ’80 when we came out. We had such a great time – in fact, I think we might have had too much of a great time. I remember we were supposed to go to America after we’d finished the tour, and we just didn’t get on the plane. We ended up just playing as many workers’ clubs and pubs that we could, just to cover the airfare back home. Our manager at the time just left without us – I don’t think we ever saw him again, now that I think about it!”

Where: Hordern Pavilion When: Saturday April 15 And: Also appearing at Bluesfest 2017, Tyagarah Tea Tree Farm, Thursday April 13 – Monday April 17 More: Suggs: My Life Story In Words & Music at the Enmore Theatre, Thursday April 20

thebrag.com

Cold War Kids Hold Your Home By David Molloy

13

years after emerging to clamorous acclaim in the indie scene, things are getting better and better for Cold War Kids. Following the chartsmashing success of their 2014 single ‘First’, they’ve embraced a whole new crowd of fans eager for the next serving of warm, tubthumping indie goodness. With LA Divine, the band’s sixth studio outing, released last week, frontman Nathan Willett is embracing the opportunity to reach new audiences.

Cold War Kids photo by Dan Monick

“It’s like hitting the ‘reset’ button,” he says, 2,000 miles from home in Madison, Wisconsin as the LA Divine tour kicks off.

“We had a lot of new fans, a new generation of fans because of [‘First’] and how well it’s done, and so to make a record with that is so invigorating and gives you so much energy – it’s inspiring.

“In a lot of ways, I felt like making this record is sorta like making the first one: you’re just excited, there’s people that are eager to hear it and you just want everything to be perfect and great, and at the same time, getting to really take what we’ve learned over the course of many years with the writing of music and knowing our strengths.

To my mind, it’s definitely the best Cold War Kids album that we’ve made, and I’m very, very proud of it.”

Given the title of the record, it’s clear that Willett and company have a great deal of affection for their Long Beach home – Los Angeles is and has always been a celebrated city of contrasts, serenaded time and again across the years by dozens of artists in dozens of genres.

thebrag.com

“The idea of calling it LA Divine is the two sides to it – it’s not a very divine city, in the sense that it’s very heretical or profane,” says Willett. “There’s so little history, so little preservation, there’s nothing central.

People don’t have a perspective of the geography and the history of it, like [they do with] so many big cities, like New York and London and Tokyo.

“It’s just a mess,” he laughs. “In a lot of ways, it’s one of the worst cities, but because we’re from there and that’s the lens that I see the world through, it does have a weird – and I guess it always kinda has – spirituality that people are going out west to seek. I guess in a lot of ways it’s similar to a lot of cities in Australia, that kind of newness and that ‘anything is possible’ feeling that’s there.”

The pride is unsurprising – after all, there’s been an East Coast/West Coast feud in US music since before the actual Cold War. Willett, with a hint of vanity and a tonne of ambition, feels the tides of that battle may be turning in LA’s favour – he’s spoken openly of a desire to culture-shape, and that desire is finding a home in the record.

“When we started, the bands that were being most talked about were from Brooklyn, and we had a group of friends in bands who’d moved to Brooklyn to be part of that scene,” he says. “We watched that happen, and now I think the pendulum has swung back our way, where all those friends are moving back to LA, and everybody in New York – and music in general, I think – are just like, ‘Wow-ow,

there’s so much happening in LA right now.’

“Restaurants, venues, culture, everything is kinda happening there. And that’s why I wanted to mark out this time as our time, to be that band from LA that sorta redefined whatever image people might have of it …

It is kind of an ambitious thing and I guess you just get started and run with it and see where it goes, and then those big ideas just reveal themselves as you go.”

Home is not the only thing Cold War Kids have held onto, nor the only thing to experience renewal. The band name they’ve performed under for 13 years has also found a strange new resonance, given the global tensions our generation is currently experiencing.

“It’s kind of insane how relevant it is,” says Willett. “It’s such a broad name – everything from post-World War II and now, currently. I guess I haven’t totally wrapped my head around that, how real and how recent the band name in reference to the news really is, but yeah, it’s wild abandon.

We’ve never been overtly political about big issues, [but] the band name definitely does bring a certain presence, like a statement that does feel very relevant at all times. It’s not just a throwaway name; it’s a big statement that is abstract, it can be interpreted a lot of ways.”

Willett insists that much of their politic is incidental rather than deliberate, but it certainly has a presence in LA Divine – in the interlude-esque ‘Wilshire Protest’,

FEATURE

“I wanted to mark out this time as our time, to be that band from LA that sorta redefined whatever image people might have of it.”

“It’s definitely the best Cold War Kids album that we’ve made, and I’m very, very proud of it.”

Willett recounts witnessing a post-election demonstration, and even goes so far as to take on the perspective of a “Snowdentype character”, an immigrant on the run from the state, in the stomping ‘Open Up The Heavens’.

But that’s big picture thinking – for now, with the album out and the tour under way, Willett is living in the moment, grateful for how far the band has come.

“It feels like we’re closer to where we should be than we ever have been, and it’s a really great feeling, to put out a sixth record and to have it come out on Capitol, and to have it be the most anticipated thing we’ve done after doing it for over 12 years – you really can’t ask for more than that. It’s incredible.”

What: LA Divine out now through Capitol/ EMI

BRAG :: 708 :: 12:04:17 :: 13

FEATURE

“We may be a shitty punk band in some respects, but we’re also lovers of music. And lovers of music always want to develop their craft, rather than just trying to pump things out.” we needed to stop and take stock and accept the fact that we’re definitely not playing backyards any more.”

Shogun does admit he missed playing live while the band took stock of itself and withdrew from the spotlight. But the short break wasn’t for show, or some way of catching breath before powering on: it was designed as an all-out reset, and a way to further bolster Royal Headache’s unique, beloved sound.

“I think what I missed more than anything was hearing the band gelling and having that musical satisfaction. As I’ve said a few times in other interviews, the songs from High for example – that record was released the year before last, but the songs were five to six years old. There was a lot of newer stuff that I needed to say, but in order to do that we needed to have a break and approach things musically again.”

Which is exactly what the group has done. In part helped along the way by multiinstrumentalist Gabrielle de Giorgio, a musical powerhouse who has been bumped up from part-time Royal Headache accomplice to full-time touring member, the band has returned with a new sound and a newer approach.

“We’ve got a shit-tonne of fresh stuff,” says Shogun happily.

“I think working with Gabby full-time, [who’s playing] organ and strings, it’s just been great.

I mean, I’m personally such a big lover of soul music. I’d say the newer stuff certainly has a lot of variety in it … there’s Motown and even some discoinfluenced stuff. There’s gonna be lots of strings and keys, just with lots of weird, funky ’70s sounds. It’s been really fun.

Royal Headache The Shape Of Punk To Come By Joseph Earp

N

o band is a fixed prospect. Given the frenetic, fast-paced state of the contemporary music scene, if groups stay still for too long, they run the risk of stubbornly shepherding themselves into obsolescence.

If you’re not gonna move on, someone’s just gonna take your spot. And anyway, even without the pressure of changing audience tastes – who would want to make the same record twice? Who’d want to linger?

Certainly not Shogun, the lead singer of Sydney-based punk stalwarts Royal Headache.

And who can blame him? 2016 was, after all, the year that a lot changed for his band.

After years spent honing their craft in the local scene, Royal Headache veritably exploded in 2016. They played Primavera, wowed one of the most hardto-please crowds in the world at Pitchfork Music Festival, and even popped into Late Night With Seth Meyers, making their US network television debut.

“Lots of changes there,” Shogun says simply. Of course, that kind of massive alteration was bound to have its effect on internal group dynamics, and following a short hiatus, Headache have emerged with a new, reshuffled lineup. “The band began as one thing and then became another thing,” says Shogun. “In any kind of relationship and cluster of relationships, you’re going to get that between people when things kind of evolve. I think

“I think we just needed to stop feeling the obligation to be one kind of band. We wanted to just explore music a little more. We may be a shitty punk band in some respects, but we’re also lovers of music. And lovers of music always want to develop their craft, rather than just trying to pump things out.”

In that respect, Royal Headache are embracing the true spirit of punk. The genre has never been about restricting music to a single style, or even the one attitude

“Any self-respecting artist is going to get tired of playing three or four fucking chords.”

14 :: BRAG :: 708 :: 12:04:17

– it is a constantly evolving force, defined only by its subversion. After all, it’s not particularly punk to make the same record three or four times, or to limit groups to the stripped-back guitar/bass/ drums set-up.

“I’d actually say modern garage and punk music is actually getting pretty nichey,” Shogun says. “I find it kind of a gimmick for the most part, and I think I wanted to just kick down a few of those partitions and just do whatever the fuck we felt like. So we’ve got the soul songs, but we’ve also even got shoegaze songs, and still some vast punk burners.

Basically we’re doing what we feel like.”

In that way, Royal Headache are following in the proud tradition of some of the genre’s most enduring talents.

John Lydon moved from the Sex Pistols to Public Image Limited, The Pop Group went from post-punk to post-disco, and Pere Ubu went from, uh, whatever the hell you’d call their first album to whatever the hell you’d call their second.

Transition isn’t the antithesis of punk. Transition is its very heart.

“All the genuine punk bands ditched it,” Shogun says.

“Guys like Wire or Flux Of Pink Indians – they did [punk], they nailed it, and then they got tired of it because any selfrespecting artist is going to get tired of playing three or four fucking chords. In spite of what a wonderful thing that can be.”

Given the alteration, Shogun is aware that audiences might be a little bit taken aback by the band’s evolved direction.

And yet he has faith that, given enough time, fans will ultimately embrace it.

“I think there might be a few lifted brows from some,” he laughs. “There might be some stuff in there that could disturb people a little bit. There’s all sorts of sleazy ’70s stuff going on. It’s over the top, but I’m sort of into that … But artistically it’s been a lot of fun.

Hopefully people are ready to go with us.”

What: Bad Friday 2017 With: DMA’s, The Jezabels, Sampa The Great, Shining Bird and more Where: Railway Parade, Marrickville When: Friday April 14 And: Also appearing at the Factory Theatre on Friday June 30

thebrag.com

S T E K C I T T S O M AL E GON

21 -23 APRIL 2017 ST

RD

HELD AT BEAUTIFUL DASHVILLE, BELFORD, HUNTER VALLEY NSW

A supreme music and arts festival now celebrating its 12th year, perfect for the whole family or anyone looking to escape, relax, unwind and enjoy a quality soundtrack featuring:

REGURGITATOR // TRIPOD // KIM CHURCHILL // THE FUNK HUNTERS(CA)

BOO SEEKA // MICK THOMAS & THE ROVING COMMISSION // GARETH LIDDIARD THE PEEP TEMPEL // LIZ STRINGER // FELIX RIEBL(THE CAT EMPIRE) // THE GO SET THE MELTDOWN // CAITI BAKER // SHINING BIRD // HITS // FLYYING COLOURS THE OCEAN PARTY // IRISH MYTHEN (CA) // MICK HART // LEAH SENIOR THE STEELE SYNDICATE // THE SEA GYPSIES // AFRICA ENTSHA (ZA) // BAGHEAD FREYA JOSEPHINE HOLLICK // DAVE WELLS // THE BAD TIME BOYS ROSE & THE SEA // DASHVILLE PROGRESS SOCIETY

PLUS: SSKATE DEMOS // KIDS CRECHE // YOGA // SILENT DISCO // WORKSHOPS // GOURMET FOOD AND MARKETS // BOUTIQUE BAR

THEGUMBALL.COM.AU

MUSIC & ART

BYO NO GLASS

1,2 or 3 NIGHTS

CAMPING

BRAG :: 703 :: 08:03:17 :: 15

FEATURE

“We realised there was a new-found audience that came with Singles, and there’d be a lot of new ears listening to what we did next.”

Future Islands Field Of Dreams By David James Young

I

t took Baltimore synthpop trio Future Islands eight years and four albums to finally become overnight sensations. With the release of Singles in 2014 – which spawned a massive namesake in the form of ‘Seasons (Waiting On You)’ – the band had finally wormed its way into essential playlists, end-of-year bestofs and sold-out shows with its name on the marquee.

Of course, after taking so long to get to this position, one could safely assume that Future Islands had no interest in going back to their days in the underground. In certain key ways, their fifth LP – entitled The Far Field – saw them simultaneously trying to maintain their status while also not forgetting what made the band tick in the first place.

It was this motivation that took the band to an isolated environment in order to start work on The Far Field. It came off the back of nearly two years of touring in support of Singles – which saw them come to Australia no less than three times – and allowed Cashion, Welmers and Herring to get back to the heart of their sound.

“We got a beach house on the outer banks of North Carolina in the dead of winter,” Cashion explains.

“There was nobody there but us.

You could look out of any window of this four-storey house and you’d be able to see the ocean. We set up in the living room, we’d get up every day and start jamming after our morning coffee and just go all day.

We wrote about eight songs there,

“If we succeed, we succeed together. If we fail, we all fail together – and that’s OK.” 18 :: BRAG :: 708 :: 12:04:17

and about three of them made it onto the record. From that point on, we’d get together in chunks – we’d go to our rehearsal space in Baltimore, or over to Gerrit’s place or to my home studio. We tried to just write the way that we always have.”

Also sitting in on the sessions was drummer Michael Lowry. After touring extensively with the band since the release of Singles, and even appearing in a music video for The Far Field’s lead single, ‘Ran’, it made sense that he would have a role to play in the next phase of Future Islands’ recorded material. For Cashion, it was about establishing a sense of rhythm, as well as playing up to the band’s sterling live reputation.

“This is his first full-length with us,” he says of Lowry. “I think the big part of the sound of this record is the fact that we pushed the demos further than we’d ever done before. We were really thinking about the live drums, and how we wanted them to sound on the record. One thing that we did, which we’d never tried before, was tracking the bass, guitar and drums at the same time. We were recording live to tape. That was John [Congleton, producer]’s idea – he really wanted to capture a bit of that energy that we get when we’re playing live. When Mike started playing with us after Singles came out, he made the live show even more dynamic. The peaks of the show pop that much harder – he really adds a lot to our sound.”

Having originally met in their native home of North Carolina, the core trio of Future Islands have been playing in bands together for well over a decade. Following the demise of their original project, Art Lord and The Self Portraits, they took a chance on a new synth-driven sound and formed Future Islands in 2006 with drummer Erick Murillo. Upon his departure, the band carried on as a three-piece, which is the way it’s stayed since.

“There is a real sense of trust between the three of us and the decisions that we make as a collective,” Cashion says. “If we succeed, we succeed together. If we fail, we all fail together – and that’s OK. Whatever happens, we trust in one another to work it out.

“We’ve been doing this together, the three of us, for 11 years. We’ve had a couple of people come and go – we had a drummer for the first year of the band – but for the most part, it’s just been us travelling around in a van together. We’ve been through a lot together, and it’s all part of the band that we are today.”

What: Splendour In The Grass 2017 With: The xx, Queens of the Stone Age, LCD Soundsystem, Royal Blood and many more Where: North Byron Parklands When: Friday July 21 – Sunday July 23 And: The Far Field out now through 4AD/Remote Control

thebrag.com

Future Islands photo by Tom Hines

“I think that there was definitely a pressure of sorts that factored into this album,” says bassist/guitarist William Cashion. “We always put pressure on ourselves, but we realised there was a new-found audience that came with Singles, and there’d be a lot of new ears listening to what we did next as soon as it came out. We tried to push it to the

back of our mind and just work in our own way. We stuck with the formula that we’d worked with more or less for the last 14 years – which includes the band that Gerrit [Welmers, keyboards], Sam [T. Herring, vocals] and I were in before Future Islands.

We didn’t want to let anything get to us and distract from what we were writing.”

BRAG’s guide to film, theatre, comedy and art about town

arts in focus

The Dog / The Cat photo by Brett Boardman xx

the dog dog//the cat

two plays for the price of one also inside:

THE POPUL AR MECHANICALS / SMURF IN WANDERL AND / ARTS RE VIE W thebrag.com

BRAG :: 708 :: 12:04:17 :: 19

arts in focus FEATURE

[THEATRE] Old Friends Reunited By Adam Norris

67

years ago, Jimmy Stewart befriended an invisible six-foot rabbit named Harvey. In 2007, the foul-mouthed, beer-drinking dog Wilfred debuted on SBS. Come 2015, the Belvoir Downstairs Theatre saw Xavier Samuel tap into his feline nature for the Brendan Cowell/Lally Katz rom-com collaboration, The Dog / The Cat. Clearly, comedies about love and pets hold a special place in our cultural heart. Popular demand now sees this pair of short interconnected plays staged Upstairs at Belvoir, and Samuel can’t wait to step back into these hilarious, parallel worlds.

“It’s such great material to work on and return to,” Samuel says from a dark rehearsal room. “I’ve never done that before, to come back to a play. We just read it again yesterday. It’s a really surprisingly moving, funny piece of writing from both Lally and Brendan. The two plays complement each other, but they’re also very different. They reference each other in amusing ways. I think that was one of the things that Brendan and Lally really enjoyed, how they could incorporate peripheral characters back into each other’s stories. So that hopefully ends up being something quite satisfying for an

“Returning to this material is like returning to an old friend.”

20 :: BRAG :: 708 :: 12:04:17

audience. It’s like you have this in-joke. It’s just a pleasure to return to that material, and hopefully people enjoy it the second time around as well.”

Such was the success of the first season, not only did it see the production revived in the first place, but this current season has already been extended. Across two different characters – the eponymous Cat, and struggling writer Ben in The Dog – Samuel is rediscovering what drew him to the roles in the first place, and though conscious of the original season’s popularity (and what exactly made audiences laugh) he is adamant not to rest on his laurels.

“I think you can never make assumptions.

You still need to work hard to recreate the world. It’s nice to know people have enjoyed it in the past, and that probably takes the edge off in some ways. You’re not creating it for the first time, there are less of those questions. But we’re also bringing the show upstairs, so it has a different feel, it’s larger, but hopefully still retains the original intimacy we had. But I think naturally when you revisit something there’s going to be change, there’s going to be difference. It almost feels like it changes from night to night, so I’m certain it’ll be a new experience every time.

“Sometimes you’re jogging your memory, trying to remember what you did at certain parts,” Samuel continues. “Returning to this material is like returning to an old friend, for want of a better analogy. Feeling like there’s something comforting and familiar about this world that we’re creating. I was talking with Benedict [Hardie, who co-stars

alongside Sheridan Harbridge] earlier, and he was saying that it’s such a rare experience to finish a play and come out on an exuberant, joyful high. The night ends in an uplifting way, where sometimes you come out of the theatre sighing, ‘Oh, God!’” He chuckles, though the sentiment is certainly true; it’s an unusual contemporary show that sees an audience walk away buoyed by a happy ending. Given some of the darker film roles Samuel has embodied – movies such as The Loved Ones, Frankenstein and Twilight – a chance to flex his comedic muscles is a welcome move. It also allows him to explore a side of creativity he finds quite distinct from screen performance.

“I feel like in the theatre you have more of an opportunity for collaborations. I mean, there are no absolutes, but in my experience I’ve found that there’s a real community feeling, you’re creating something together and everyone’s opinion is valid. I really enjoy that process, where I find that film can be, ‘Well, we’ll just figure it out on the day.’ It can sometimes be a bit of a lonely experience. Not always, but if you’re painting in broad strokes, you can find yourself alone sometimes.

“They’re also very different staminas.

Theatre is like a marathon; film is like a short sprint, where you have to be constantly ready for that call to arms. They really couldn’t be more different.”

Stepping into one half of his characters – Ben, the writer – isn’t too much of a leap for Samuel. After all, there are few creative

“Theatre is like a marathon; film is like a short sprint.” folk out there who haven’t experienced frustration and rejection. Getting into character for the Cat, though, requires a different kind of insight.

“It usually comes when the zip on the cat costume comes up,” Samuel laughs. “The two plays have very different sensibilities.

It’s also not drama, so those shifts are… well, I wouldn’t say easier, but clearer.

Brendan and Lally are very different playwrights, so it’s not something you can really get mixed up. The lines don’t really blur, though I suppose there are some similarities between my character in both pieces.

“Regardless of how surreal or absurd or ridiculous a play might be, in order for it to work you have to ground it in some reality, some sort of truth. So here I guess it’s trying to keep it honest. The world might be magic, or something ‘other’. But what the play asks you to do is entertain this as a reality, so I don’t really treat it any differently from any other project. You still end up just as invested.”

What: The Dog / The Cat Where: Belvoir Street Theatre When: Thursday April 13 – Sunday May 7 thebrag.com

The Dog / The Cat photo by Brett Boardman

The Dog / The Cat

arts in focus ■ Film

COLOSSAL In cinemas Thursday April 13

I

mbuing monster movies with heart is a problem fi lmmakers have faced for decades – surprisingly, really, given that the genre’s roots are in hurt.

After all, the towering achievement of creature feature cinema, Godzilla, was born directly out of tragedy, conceived as a way for audiences to come to terms with the twin atrocities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Yet despite that history, recent attempts to humanise the crashing, tower-blockbashing spectacle central to monster movies have largely fallen f lat, give or take outliers like Big Man Japan and The Host.

Directors frequently make the mistake of prioritising big-budget special effects work over their stories, finding themselves too busy training their cameras on their CGI beasties to properly peer into the lives of their human characters.

Enter Nacho Vigalondo, the man behind the excellent Time Crimes, and a fi lmmaker who has found an ingenious way around such a conundrum. In Colossal, his subversive dismantling of everything from Hollywood blockbusters to the conventions of romcoms, human characters and

arts review monsters are one and the same, and the fi lm expertly intertwines the mythic with the startlingly mundane.

The set-up is thus: perennial fuck-up Gloria (played by Anne Hathaway, clearly having a lot of fun) can’t stay sober, keep down a job, or even hold the respect of her hard-to-like boyfriend Tim (Dan Stevens in full English prig mode). In order to get her life back on track, she heads back to her hometown, only to discover – via an expertly handled splash of magical realism – that she can control a monster decimating South Korea.

And… that’s about all one should know heading in. It’s best to approach Colossal largely ignorant of its twist and turns – particularly because, for once, the film’s promotional material doesn’t give away a pretty major tonal shift in the film’s second half. But suffice to say, Vigalondo has a few tricks up his sleeve, and though Colossal pays obvious homage to the Godzilla series (and particularly 1964’s underrated Ghidorah, The Three-Headed Monster) it’s equal parts Barfly, eventually becoming a powerful examination of addiction and abuse.

Indeed, by the film’s genuinely affecting conclusion, Vigalondo has revealed his true modus operandi, almost entirely swapping out full-scale destruction with pains and obliterations of a more personal, emotional nature.

To that end, Colossal holds the historic

distinction of being perhaps the first monster movie with the power to make you cry. And on that level, as on so many others, it is an extraordinary success.

Joseph Earp

The Popular Mechanicals [THEATRE] Meet The Misfits By Adam Norris

W

ho doesn’t love a play within a play?

We’re all babushka dolls at heart – break through one level, and you’ll find a competing form – and so it makes sense that the stories we tell have stories of their own.

In that regard, Shakespeare might be king.

The play within a play is used as a plot point in Hamlet, of course – and later down the line, Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead – while A Midsummer Night’s Dream has the rude mechanicals. After a celebrated season in Adelaide, the story behind these misfit thespians comes to Sydney in The Popular Mechanicals.

Director Sarah Giles discusses her involvement with this odd and engaging comedy.

“The script itself doesn’t feel like a script. It’s more like someone has notated down this really bizarre production.”

FEATURE

“A day in the life of me is, I’m either with my extremely incredible toddler, who is two, and so there’s a lot of pouring imaginary cups of tea and going to the museum. Or I’m in a weird rehearsal room. And this one kind of is a weird room. But you see, the history of this show is, we first did it when my baby was just three months old, and so my mum took long service leave; we all came to Adelaide to rehearse here. And I was sleep-deprived and breastfeeding during rehearsal, and it was completely hilarious and absurd. And this time around, we’re only back [in Adelaide] for about a week, throwing it together before we all schlep across to Sydney. But I’ve left my toddler back with my husband in Melbourne, so I’m a lady of leisure!”

The Popular Mechanicals photo by Kris Washusen

She laughs, and you can just imagine Giles reclining on a crushed velvet divan, all chiffon robes and champagne. The Popular Mechanicals first saw the light of day under her stewardship back in 2015 for the State Theatre Company of South Australia (STCSA), and proved to be such an outrageous success that a revival was surely just a matter of time. Written three decades ago by Keith Robinson and Tony Taylor (and premiering over at Belvoir under the direction of a certain Geoffrey Rush), it’s a comedy that has lost none of its absurd charm – although after all this time, certain jokes needed a bit of nudging along.

“We all mentioned the other day [in rehearsal], the difference in revisiting something is that usually, you know that it works. When you’re making something new, particularly in a script like this, you just don’t know if it’s going to work. It’s not like we’re doing Arthur Miller’s Death Of A Salesman. That play works. This one, it’s a really peculiar thing in that it came out of a bunch of people back in the day, mucking around, improvising, and using their own niches and talents to make a really…” She thinks, and then laughs. “Well, the script itself doesn’t feel like a script. It’s more like someone has notated down this really bizarre production.

“So when we picked it up, it was more like, ‘Oh, God. OK, that joke really doesn’t make sense any more, that line is clearly from the ’80s.’ So we had to find our own way through it, and work out, ‘Is this funny today? If it isn’t, how do we find humour through it?’ So the anxiety was just how to own this play and make it funny – how do the actors find their way into such peculiar roles?” thebrag.com

I’ve been fortunate to catch several of Giles’ productions now, and there seems something quite protean about the scripts she is drawn to. Perplex was absurd with lots of character swapping, and Mariage Blanc was full of magical realist transformations just as The Popular Mechanicals has magic and shapeshifting unfolding in the wings.

“I find it really hard to look at my own body of work and say, ‘What does it all mean?’ I feel any good director or artist sees the world through their own prism. They see peculiarities, things that pique your interest. I don’t know what I’m interested in, but I do know what I’m not interested in.

“I didn’t pitch this script to Geordie [Brookman, STCSA artistic director]. We gave him some ideas, and then he came back to us with this script thinking it would be worth a revival.

When I looked at it this time, the thing that intrigued me was the notion of modern-day clowning, and what that is. I’d seen some

work over in Germany, and there’s a particular director called Herbert Fritsch, and I found his stuff quite inspiring.

“Popular Mechanicals is really weird. We had this hilarious moment in round one, where we were doing this description of it for State Theatre subscribers. And we were saying it’s really funny, it’s stupid, there are fart jokes, puppetry. And at the end of this question time, someone put their hand up and said, ‘I go to theatre to be asked big questions, to wrestle with things, and I get that this sounds fun, but is there a greater meaning here?’ And I said, maybe a little sleep-deprived, ‘Well, no! There’s not. It’s just pure entertainment. This piece is about the theatre, it’s about the silliness and joy of the theatre, and that’s about it.’

“So I guess I’m always pulled to things that might expose the bleaker side of life, but in a very funny way. Comedy can be the best way to talk to people. If you get them laughing, they’ll listen to you.”

“Any good director or artist sees the world through their own prism.”

What: The Popular Mechanicals Where: Wharf 2 Theatre When: Until Saturday May 13 BRAG :: 708 :: 12:04:17 :: 21

arts in focus

FOOD + DRINK FEATURE

THE 50 BEST COFFEES IN SYDNEY Part Two: North Shore & Balmain

BY JESSICA WESTCOTT

Last week, we searched the Sydney CBD and inner city to find the best cup of coffee in each part of town.

But the search for that perfect cup of joe is never really over, is it? So now we spiral outwards to the Lower North Shore and Balmain area. Follow the full list of the best coffees in Sydney at thebrag.com.

BALMAIN

The Hunter Works 7/332 Darling St Rich single origin from the Huehuetenango region in Guatemala brings out some strong, fruity flavours.

Consistency is king here. Tucked away in a quiet arcade, the boys serve their Reuben Hills alongside brilliant bagel combinations. The customer service is top-notch.

Smurf In Wanderland [THEATRE] Make The Play By Joseph Earp

G

iven the title of his new play Smurf In Wanderland, one could be forgiven for thinking David Williams has been bingeing too hard on Saturday morning cartoons. After all, smurfs are those little blue folk dressed in white, right? Apparently not.

“A ‘smurf’ is a nickname for a Sydney FC supporter – it’s a [reference to] the sky blue colours,” Williams explains. “‘Wanderland’ is what Parramatta Stadium is referred to during Western Sydney Wanderers home games.

I’ve been a Sydney FC member for almost a decade now, and I was born in Parramatta. The show Smurf In Wanderland uses football to take a journey across the suburbs of Sydney to consider how the city is connected and divided.”

Williams’ new theatrical outing isn’t just some exercise in football terminology, or merely a confusing collection of buzzwords designed only for those who know and love the sport. “I think that football fans will understand a few more of the references in the show, but this is absolutely a show that will be accessible and enjoyable to audiences who have only minimal engagement with sport,” Williams says.

It helps that Smurf In Wanderland has also been designed as a kind of exploration of Sydney itself. It’s a humorous, well-researched jaunt through concepts as far-reaching and weighty as personal identity and tribal belonging – just with a good dose of footy thrown in.

For some, theatre, sport and considered examinations of the city we live in may sound like three of the most ill-

A local hideaway that’s sporting some dark currant flavours in their cup. Blended on site.

MILSONS POINT

Pompidou 3/48 Alfred St

That’s not to suggest Williams isn’t aware that theatre is often revered as a more ‘cultured’ brand of entertainment than sport, and he understands all too well the kind of folks who might turn their nose up at the idea of an uncouth rabble of sports fans descending upon the sanctity of the theatrical space.

“It’s true that the theatre rarely turns to sport for subject matter,” Williams admits. “It’s a shame, because the stories in this domain are so rich, and the passions that drive fans are fantastic territory for storytelling. I hope that this show encourages more work in this area.”

What: Smurf In Wanderland Where: SBW Stables Theatre When: Tuesday May 2 – Saturday May 13 And: Also playing at Riverside Theatres, Thursday April 20 – Saturday April 29

This is a great spot for a weekday brew. There’s not a heap going on in Milsons Point (surprisingly) but this place hits the mark. The milk coffees shine here.

LAVENDER BAY

Bay Ten Espresso 10 Middlemiss St Serving Honduran espresso from Sydney favourite White Horse. Full, roasted chestnut flavours with a hint of sweetness.

MCMAHONS POINT

Indulgent Sage 165 Blues Point Rd

Grand ambitions concerning how the show might change the shape of Sydney’s theatre scene aside, Williams also has smaller, more practical aims. More than anything else, he wants his audience to walk away enlightened and entertained – thinking as well as feeling. “I want the audience to think about how they belong to something larger than themselves. To consider the ways in which their lives are shaped geographically, and experience the joys of shouting out football chants with strangers. And, of course, just to have fun.”

“The theatre rarely turns to sport for subject matter. It’s a shame, because the stories in this domain are so rich.”

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Euforia Espresso 58 Darling St

This place has gotten a bad wrap because of its fairly overpriced food on a street where competition is king. But the coffee is the best on Blues Point Road.

Campos blend, nutty, drink-it-like-it’s water type coffee.

But if you want brunch, head down the road to Piato’s.

Cavalier Specialty Coffee

Smurf In Wanderland photo by Eric Berry

“The show is very concerned with what it means to ‘belong’ to a football club, and how people build identities for themselves around this desire to belong,” Williams says. “And this is a show about Sydney as much as it is a show about football, so there are a great many attempts to understand how Sydney ‘works’, and to untangle my own relationship to the city.”

BALMAIN EAST

fitting bedfellows ever assembled. Yet for Williams, there is no distinction between what is commonly considered ‘high’ and ‘low’ art, and writing Smurf In Wanderland allowed him to blur the lines between a whole host of varied creative forms. “I’ve been a member of a football club for nearly ten years, and working professionally in theatre for over 20 years. The two have always been entangled in complex ways for me – and lots of theatre people I know are rabid sports fans.”

thebrag.com

FOOD + DRINK

Bay Ten Espresso

NORTH SYDNEY

Walker & Jones Walker St

A short stop for the discerning North Sydney-sider: here, service is quick and the espresso is very nutty. Grab a bagel on your way out.

Botanica 61A Bay Rd

WAVERTON

Botanica is a haven for the young families of Waverton, with funky decor and an overgrown garden feel. The coffee is fair quality, but stay for the bacon and egg rolls. An honourable mention goes to the newly opened Third Rail across the road, where the cold drip is especially tasty on a hot day.

4 Beans Co 123C Greenwich Rd

GREENWICH

Greenwich is another suburb that doesn’t have a huge number of cafes vying for your attention, but when 4 Beans opened, the locals breathed a sigh of relief. Up until then, the best place to grab a coffee was the fish and chips shop down the road, which had invested in an espresso machine. 4 Beans does Campos, does it right, and does it every time. Plus, the brunch menu is legendary. A cool, whitewashed vibe indoors.

ST LEONARDS

Cavalier Specialty Coffee 1/34 Oxley St

bar

OF

ADDRESS: 305 CLEVELAND ST, REDFERN PHONE NUMBER: (02) 8322 2030 WEBSITE: THENORFOLK.CO OPENING HOURS: MON – SAT NOON-MIDNIGHT; SUN NOON-10PM

TH

EK

THE NORFOLK

E E W

Tell us about your bar: We are a unique American-style dive bar with a Mexican kick, chock full of kitsch knick-knacks, tongue-in-cheek artwork and a decor that combines the best of Baja California and a good old-fashioned Aussie pub! Our sports bar, a relic of what this great pub once was, takes you back to days of old and failed childhood aspirations where trophies line the walls. Our beer garden sets the scene for some light, bright but unforgettable Sunday sessions – and some very regrettable Monday mornings. We hold an affinity for all things tequila, and from Monday to Sunday we put on unique food and drink offerings to tempt your tastes.

Tucked away upstairs, you will find our other treasure, House of Crabs: a Louisiana-style crab shack, packed with character and one-of-a-kind design unique to the area and a staple among seafood lovers. But it’s not just crabs we’ll give you. We’ve got a vast offering that will have even the most avid nonseafood-eater drooling on their bib.

As a venue we hold fast to the drink and dine mantra and focus on providing great food and drink at competitive prices. We consider ourselves one of the OG pubs in the pokies-free movement and don’t ever plan to change.

What’s on the menu?

We boast a vast menu encompassing your classic Aussie pub staples such as schnitties and steaks through to our ‘world-renowned’ tacos and burgers.

Dining on a budget? Get on down every Monday for our two-for-one main meals special, or Tuesday for our classic Taco Tuesday $3 tacos, plus a weekly special taco – you can’t go wrong. Got meat on your mind? We do $12 steak every Wednesday from 6pm.

That all sounds great, but the one not to miss is our Wings ‘n’ Waffles every damn Thursday: delightfully delicious fried chicken goodness served up on golden waffles, available in three different flavours.

Care for a drink?

The classic margarita – c’mon, what type of Mexican

pub would we be if I said anything else? $12 from 6-8pm every Friday!

Sounds: From classic rock through to ’90s-era hip hop. We got this.

Highlights: In this old eclectic venue there’s one thing that stands out and that’s the beer garden. Colloquially known as Sydney’s Most Exotic Beer Garden, from the fairy lights through to the brightly illuminated centre fi g tree, there aren’t many other places you’d rather be. Taco in one hand, margarita in the other and the distant sounds of mariachi bands past. You know where you can fi nd me.

The bill comes to: Get on down on a Friday between 6-8pm and get four tacos of your choice and a classic margarita for $32.

This place has stormed to the top of the Sydney coffee scene in the last 12 months, taking the crown away from Bean Drinking for best drop in the area.

Cavalier takes gourmet, fine dining, and the cappuccino and rolls it all together into an affordable, Instagrammable morning. The coffee is exceptional. Try a $15 tableside pour-over or any of the cold brew offerings.

NAREMBURN

Cream Espresso 292 Willoughby Rd

Brewing beans from Morgan’s Coffee Roasters, Cream caters to a sweeter palate, and is best suited to the piccolo or macchiato to bring out more of the flavour spectrum. Consistently great coffee tucked away on Willoughby Road.

thebrag.com

BRAG :: 708 :: 12:04:17 :: 23

FOOD + DRINK

FEATURE ere at the BRAG, we’re mighty serious about our hot cross buns.

We can’t wait until the Christmas decorations have been cleared out of the shops and those tasty baked goodies start appearing on the shelves. And that feeling when they come crisp out of the oven… mm-hmm.

Zumbo Patisserie

Black Star Pastry

Now we’re proud to announce the inaugural Sydney Hot Cross Bun Awards, judged against five criteria by our esteemed hot cross bun jury. Below you’ll find some of Sydney’s most renowned bakeries competing for the title of Hottest Bun In Sydney.

BOURKE STREET BAKERY’S HOT CROSS LOAF: THE RECIPE

++++++++++++++++++++ Volume + Appearance All things aesthetic: how does the bun look when it comes fresh out of the oven? Is the cross too thin or thick? What about the glaze?

BLACK STAR PASTRY

277 Australia St, Newtown

VOLUME + APPEARANCE

Texture The density of the bun: how does it feel on the teeth and the tongue? Is it soft and fluffy or hard and chewy?

ZUMBO PATISSERIE

Shop 58, 455 George St, Queen Victoria Building

Flavour/Spice What does it taste like?

How evenly matched are the spices, the sweetness and the savoury?

BRICKFIELDS 206 Cleveland St, Chippendale

Fruit To Bun Balance The golden ratio. How is the mix of raisins, currants, orange peel and bread?

BAKE BAR 67 Frenchmans Rd, Randwick

Originality Points for expression.

Is this a game-changing bun, or a trusted classic?

BOURKE STREET BAKERY

633 Bourke St, Surry Hills

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

TOTAL

TOTAL

TOTAL

TOTAL

TOTAL

TEXTURE

FLAVOUR/SPICE

FRUIT TO BUN BALANCE ORIGINALITY

38

JURY’S NOTES: Black Star’s vegan bun is by far the most distinctive of our entrants for the year. It’s heavy in spice and citrus peel, to the point of overpowering – but with a classic texture and rustic appearance.

Brickfields

34

JURY’S NOTES: Adriano Zumbo’s take on the classic hot cross bun doesn’t have the verve we were anticipating, and the texture is very much on the doughy end of the spectrum. It’s impressive on the eye, though; perfect for an Instagram moment.

41

JURY’S NOTES: A fantastic effort from this European-style Chippendale bakery. The fruits are the real feature of this easy-on-the-eye bun, wonderfully balanced with a citrus surprise.

24 :: BRAG :: 708 :: 12:04:17

JURY’S NOTES: By far the lightest and fluffiest bun among our entries this year, this creation has a satisfying appearance and is easy eating, but could have used some oomph.

This ‘hot cross loaf ’ is an enormous work of art...

One of these buns could serve as a meal for a small family.

44

JURY’S NOTES: The Hottest Bun In Sydney for 2017 is an exquisite achievement. This ‘hot cross loaf’ is an enormous work of art, sure to be the centrepiece of any Easter celebrations it appears at. The texture is airy yet voluminous, and the glaze adds just the right stickiness to a mouthful of a bun. Seriously, one of these buns could serve as a meal for a small family.

It’s a must-have.

Cross icing and spiced sugar glaze made separately Method: 1. Place the flour, egg, yeast, brown sugar and salt in a large mixing bowl for an electric mixer 2. Add half the milk, then start the mixer to incorporate the ingredients of the dough 3. Continue to gradually add the milk until the wet and dry ingredients are well incorporated, then add a splash more milk and repeat 4. After all the milk has been added and mixed, stop the mixer, then add butter and the spice mix 5. Mix the dough on a slow setting until smooth 6. Stop the mixer and add the fruit soak, then briefly mix on slow again 7. Remove the bowl from the mixer, cover it with a towel and let the dough proof for three hours until doubled in size 8. Place the dough on a flat surface, then shape it using a scraper to roughly ball it up and rest again for half an hour 9. Repeat the shaping process, put the dough on a baking tray and let it proof for three hours 10. Pipe the cross on top of the dough and bake it in the oven at 180C for half an hour 11. After the bun is cooked, paint it with the spiced sugar glaze before serving

Bourke Street Bakery

Brickfi elds photo by Fabiola Barazza @fabarazza

“

Bake Bar

35

Dough: 220g flour 100ml milk, slightly warmed 20g butter 1 whole egg 5g salt 6g yeast 25g brown sugar 5g spice mix 130g fruit soak (62g sultanas, 22g currants, 40g water, left to soak for min. 3 hours) 18g orange peel

thebrag.com

brag beats

out & about

Off The Record

Queer(ish) matters with Arca Bayburt

My Adventures In Sydney’s Sex Shops

Dance and Electronica with Alex Chetverikov

THE THREE BEST

Electronic Music Events IN SYDNEY THIS MONTH DJ Sotofett

DJ Sprinkles

W

hile a lot of people buy their secret nasties on the internet these days, there’s still a place in our collective queer hearts for the ol’ brick and mortar dildo emporium.

Sydney’s best sex shop, according to yours truly, is Max Black (formerly known as Maxxx Black; guess they’ve fancied up now).

It’s the Apple of the sex shop world, with a staff that is personable and well-equipped to deal with all types of everything. They walk around with an encyclopaedic knowledge of every product on the shelves. Shopping there feels positive, like you’re adding some good to the world. It feels fancy, but in a

way that manages to avoid snobbery. Most importantly, I never leave that place with a desire to hotfoot back to my house and run an acid bath.

I have on many occasions visited multiple sex shops throughout our fair city. I have on many occasions wished I hadn’t.

I’m not going to divulge any sex-on-premises antics or the like – just good old-fashioned consumerism.

In that spirit, here are some… standouts from my time wandering around Oxford Street.

The Toolshed

1.

DJ Sprinkles

At what is shaping up to be one of the events of the year thus far, DJ Sprinkles makes her return to Sydney for the first time since 2013. Sprinkles (real name Terre Thaemlitz) is an essential critical voice in the music industry, considering ideas of identity politics, traditional family structure, and music’s overall social contents and contexts. Musically, the ‘queer philosopher’ is tremendously interesting. With her three decades of music experience and a truly magical ear for crafting ambient soundscapes and idiosyncratic deep house alike, this is a rare opportunity to experience the difference of DJ Sprinkles. She plays The Red Rattler on Easter Sunday April 16, accompanied by an incredible support staff including techno stalwart Peter van Hoesen, a live ambient performance from Germany’s Material Object, and one of Australia’s most talented, Hannah Lockwood (live).

DJ Sotofett & DJ Fett Burger’s Trippp

2.

Enigmatic: that’s one very limited and reductive way of attempting to describe the Sex Tags Mania label brothers.

Their individual and collaborative productions and creative approach are akin to artisan; a distinct, memorable style (how often can you say that with much confidence?) hinged on bubbling percussion and dub, and flavoured by jungle and riddims. I hesitate to genre-classify their work, other than to say it’s very groovy, moody dance music that falls somewhere between house and techno, twinkling and fizzing away with the thump of a muscular bass pulse.

Last year’s performance in Sydney was ‘one of those nights’, so don’t miss out on what’s sure to be another one of those nights at Jam Gallery on Saturday April 22.

3.

Classic Album Sundays

20-odd people sitting in a room, listening to a classic album through quality hi-fi.

An introduction and album history aside, there’s no talking; simply listening.

The mere thought of a listening session raises any number of interesting questions and ideas about music – how and where we enjoy it, how we perceive it, and the cultural and social currency of music. First realised in London, Classic Album Sundays has gone on to spawn sessions worldwide, including the next Sydney instalment: Lauryn Hill’s classic 1998 debut The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill on Sunday April 30 in The World Bar’s Bordello Room. Aside from offering an intimate space within which to immerse oneself in high-definition album replay, Classic Album Sundays is an opportunity to experience the nuance and subtlety of the music in a casual, comfortable and unassuming environment with likeminded music lovers.

Because why the bloody hell not?! Bondi Beach Radio host and all-round top bloke Jim Poe is joined

by The Mancusian Circus’ Jean-Philippe Ducharne to present the album.

Right: Lauryn Hill

THIS WEEK’S PLAYLIST

Sex shop photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons

KiNK. It’s All about KiNK this week. What a legend. His live set-up and productions are off the chart. He moves seamlessly between house, techno and live performance, and breathes new life through his remixes. His Boiler Room mix in Moscow is easily one of the best sets I’ve ever seen, and his approach to music is admirable, fresh and original. Recent EP Valentine’s Groove showed he’s not averse to picking a banging house groove, with the flipside to the title, ‘Strings’, just as polished.

RECOMMENDED SATURDAY APRIL 22

& MC Tonn Piper DJ Sotofett and DJ Fett Ivy Burger’s Trippp (all Steve Bicknell night long) Portugal Madeira Club Jam Gallery

SUNDAY APRIL 23

Andy C, Culture Shock

thebrag.com

THURSDAY APRIL 27

FFS Presents Play Your Gender + Women

In Electronic Music Showcase Freda’s

SATURDAY MAY 27

Steffi, Magda Bytnerowicz Sydney Opera House

Ah yes, your personal silicone kingdom nestled within the armpit of one of the city’s gayest neighbourhoods. After walking past this place 10,000 times thinking it was a sad nightclub, I was taken there by a friend because he wanted to buy a care package in anticipation of his boyfriend’s return from overseas.

We perused the shelves like teenaged morons, giggling at everything. The smell of plastic was strong enough to make me feel like somebody was slowly enveloping my face in shrink-wrap the deeper I ventured in. I wouldn’t want most of these products anywhere near my body. A $17 phthalatefilled insertable made from

“WE PERUSED THE SHELVES LIKE TEENAGED MORONS, GIGGLING AT EVERYTHING. THE SMELL OF PLASTIC WAS STRONG ENOUGH TO MAKE ME FEEL LIKE SOMEBODY WAS SLOWLY ENVELOPING MY FACE IN SHRINKWRAP.” this week…

On Thursday April 13, head on down to the Imperial Hotel in Erskineville for Sinners & Saints hosted by Snatch & Grab and Departure Lounge. It’ll be a massive venue takeover featuring Bad Deep DJs, Cunningpants, Departure Lounge, Troy Beman x Dolly, Girlthing DJs, Hidden City, Josie Baker, Maple Behaviour, Marzi Panne, Miss Ellaneous, NatNoiz, Sarah Moany, James Smithers, Wild

melted alien plastic just ain’t my jam.

The guy behind the counter was pretty nice. His handsomeness startled me – I couldn’t take my eyes off him. I guess this contributed to the alarm I felt when he opened his mouth. He spoke vulgarly and at one volume: foghorn. My friend asked him how to use a Tenga product and the bloke went, “JUST SQUIRT SOME LUBE IN THIS LITTLE CUNT, STUFF YOUR DICK IN IT AND PULL. THERE YA GO.” I could appreciate the no-nonsense approach, I guess.

The Pleasure Lounge

I think the sleazier places hold a special place in my heart. I find myself wanting to peel back the layers of filth to get cosy with the real scum underneath.

Sometimes I just want to stand in a place full of “mould your own pussy and ass” kits and feel it erode my yuppy-leaning sensibilities into a more authentic self.

I’m kidding; it was just seedy and a little shabby.

The Pleasure Lounge doesn’t have the plastic superstore smell of The Toolshed, but I did find a dead rat in there.

Sunset and more to be announced. Earlybird tickets are available now.

On Saturday April 15, The Shift Club on Oxford Street is hosting what may be one of the gayest events of the month: Tina Arena’s album launch.

With the impending release of her Greatest Hits compilation album, The Shift has put together a night of dancing and giveaways to celebrate.

There’ll be shows by Pomara Fifth, Crystal Ball, Kara Divine and Karen Kardashian. You’ll

It could have its charms, but I don’t think I would have been able to dislodge the memory of the bloated rat corpse had I purchased anything from the store and taken it home to use.

RIP.

Adult World

Unimaginative name aside, this place is like the Kmart of sex shops. It has everything. The staff are friendly for the most part, and the products cater to a huge variety of persons, which is great to see – and it’s clean, but not too clean.

Visiting Adult World was my Goldilocks moment on Oxford Street. I didn’t feel overwhelmed by the sleaze, and I didn’t feel underwhelmed by the products on offer – it was just right.

I think I’d probably go back to Adult World. I had a lot of fun looking around and the sheer volume of random playthings they had on offer was admirable. It wasn’t a case of having a barrel at the front of the store full of three-dollar penis-shaped squirt guns or a hundred different types of feathered handcuffs, but rather, it seemed like an attempt to accommodate all sexual tastes, and that’s a winner in my book.

also have the chance to win a copy of the album.

Entry is free and all queers and friends are welcome.

On Sunday April 16, make your way to Oxford Art Factory for the Loose Ends Easter Sunday party.

It’s an absolute classic party for the queers, and you’ll be a fool to skip out on it. Join DJ Matt Vaughan, Ben Drayton, L’Oasis, HipHopHoe, Lorna Clarkson, DJ Meta Etc, Lillian Starr and Beau Kirq. Tickets are available now.

BRAG :: 708 :: 12:04:17 :: 25

Album Reviews What's been crossing our ears this week...

ALBUM OF THE WEEK SPIT SYNDICATE

One Good Shirt Had Us All Fly One Day/Inertia

It’s been four years since Spit Syndicate’s last LP release with Sunday Gentlemen, and for every classic, there’s always room for progression. Witnessing the growth of Jimmy Nice and Nick Lupi has been an incredibly rewarding experience for anyone who enjoys Aussie hip hop, which is why One Good Shirt Had Us All Fly is so unbelievably fi tting to the tale of their journey, for all its heartfelt messages and complexities combined.

Songs bend between style and genre in their own right, but standouts like ‘Mum’ are what shape this record to be a raw reflection of the gents maturing, in both music and their personal lives. A powerful Tupac-esque ode in ‘Dear Mama’ style is as bold as it is beautiful. ‘Hold On Me’ carries a pop influence that’s extremely well-delivered, while ‘Not In My Name’ is staunch in its social and political voice to balance things out.

xxx

“Witnessing the growth of Jimmy Nice and Nick Lupi has been an incredibly rewarding experience for anyone who enjoys Aussie hip hop.”

The production must also be heavily applauded.

Individuals like Melbourne producer Styalz Fuego are on board for this, and Fuego’s hand is behind the party anthems ‘Know Better’ and ‘Inhibitions’, but the brilliance from maestros like Adit and Jono Graham has given way to Spit Syndicate delivering some of the most defining work they’ve ever created.

Spit Syndicate have captured the essence of what it means to be musically free, and they’re so damn correct when it comes to crafting their art form. Just wonderful.

Ben Pearce

INDIE ALBUM OF THE WEEK SLUMBERJACK Fracture OneLove

Slumberjack’s single ‘Fracture’, featuring the powerful vocals of Vera Blue, was released at the beginning of 2017, and has, in a few short months, gained over a million streams on Spotify.

It’s no surprise that their new EP by the same name takes significant cues from the lead single, pitting various female vocalists including Sydnee Carter and KLP against hard-hitting drops and uncompromisingly bold percussion.

While the duo could definitely be accused of a lack of variety on

this EP, limiting your listening to this train of thought doesn’t allow you consider how well these tracks have been executed. Yes, three of the new songs feature a female vocalist, but there is an accomplished and subtle variation between them while still retaining that Slumberjack sound.

‘Take Me’, which sparingly features KLP’s vocals, is actually more like ‘Ra’ than it is Slumberjack’s more recent efforts, using minor and pentatonic-like chords to drive its haunting and dark production.

‘Paralyse’ is an excellent example of how talented the duo are at intercutting glitchy, spacious percussive samples with smooth, layered synths. And while it

is supposed to be merely an interlude, ‘Cradle To Grave’ is easily the most complex and captivating track on the whole record.

The best thing about this EP is that it sees Slumberjack start to define who they really are.

Zanda Wilson

“Yes, three of the new songs feature a female vocalist, but there is an accomplished and subtle variation between them.”

FIRST DRAFTS Unearthed demos and unfinished hits, as heard by Nathan Jolly GREEN DAY – ‘GOOD RIDDANCE (TIME OF YOUR LIFE)’

T

he success of ‘Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)’ can be tied to a few things. It’s perhaps most wellknown these days as an evergreen prom anthem, a song that many graduating classes have adopted and co-opted to be about them and only them. It also featured prominently in the hour-long Seinfeld clip show that preceded the program’s final episode, linking it forever with one of the ‘Big Moments’ in network TV history.

It’s clear the band never quite knew what to do with this song.

‘Good Riddance’ was written by Billie Joe Armstrong in 1990, and he kept this decidedly non-punk

gem up his sleeve until 1993, when he demoed it for possible inclusion on the Dookie album.

Green Day didn’t know how to tackle it, so they left it alone, later including Billie Joe’s acoustic demo as the B-side to a 1995 German import single, which is certainly one way to bury a song.

Despite its title, the song wouldn’t leave, and when it came time to record the band’s fifth album Nimrod, Armstrong decided to record it again, with producer Rob Cavallo this time suggesting a string arrangement, which he claims took “like 15, 20 minutes, maybe a half an hour at the most” to write and record. The strings are nice, although in truth the adornment adds little more than the illusion of gravitas (which is true of most string sections in rock music).

In reality, there were few changes made between the original demo and the version that sold millions

worldwide. An instrumental bridge was added, the aforementioned strings were draped on top, and the key was shifted from F# to G – a tuning change which now meant the song could be easily played by countless amateur guitarists around campfires and in dorm rooms worldwide. It was a slight alteration, but a vital one.

Like a lot of classic songs, it sounds like it came easily, and it appears somewhat unsophisticated. This is its charm, and it’s a relief the band didn’t ever try to ‘punk’ the song up or complicate the arrangement too much. Its place on the Nimrod album, sitting at track 17 of 18, suggests Green Day were still hesitant about it; the clumsy title ‘Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)’ suggests neither ubiquity nor radio play were on their mind; and even the fact they never actually released it as a single in America means it was one of those pure success stories.

The song simply speaks to many people on a gut level, becoming a musical marker of time, of ceremony, of nostalgia and hope.

It’s something unpredictable, sure, but it seems inevitable in hindsight.

Listen to the full ‘Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)’ demo at thebrag.com.

“It’s a relief the band didn’t ever try to ‘punk’ the song up or complicate the arrangement too much.”

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thebrag.com

five minutes WITH

KEN SAUNDERS, FOUNDER OF SYDNEYVISION SONG CONTEST

Dweeb City photo by Diana Shypula/Prema Photo

S

ydneyvision Song Contest is back for 2017. For those who don’t know it, what’s the concept?

It’s a music video contest where all entries have to refer to a Sydney suburb in the lyrics. The original motivation for creating Sydneyvision was that the Europeans had been beaming the Eurovision Song Contest at the rest of the world for over 50 years and no one had answered back. We thought Sydney, with its 500-600 suburbs, could outdo the paltry 50 countries of Europe. And it has certainly done that, covering everything from stop-action figurines of The Beatles wandering through Glebe to a science-fiction entry of aliens descending on Luna Park.

What makes this year’s contest the biggest yet?

Infinity! What could be bigger than that? Each year, we have a required element to the videos.

In Sydneyvision’s first years, we were closely rivalling Eurovision cheesiness and tackiness: all videos had someone shamelessly winking at the camera or wearing sequins.

This year we’re going profound and requiring a representation of the concept of infinity. This is open to

Dweeb City, 2016 Sydneyvision winners

professional or wildly enthusiastic amateur.

What is it about Sydney that lends itself so well to creativity?

First, it is the diversity and depth of the talent out there. Secondly, it is the willingness of Sydneysiders to give it a go. I always have a soft spot for the extras; the friends of the video makers persuaded, begged, bribed into helping out with the entries, sometimes in embarrassing costumes in very public places. Sydneyvision taps into the affinity we have with our own neighbourhoods. Whether you are from Croydon or Killarney Heights, there is something about your suburb to sing about.

When will the winner be announced?

The winner is announced on the night of the Grand Final, Wednesday August 16 at the Dendy Opera Quays.

wide interpretation – an allusion to the ego of Donald Trump, a graph of the curve of Sydney rental prices, the number pi stuck on the bass player’s T-shirt. It is up to the video maker.

How are the entries judged?

We get a panel of judges from different disciplines – music industry, filmmaking and journalism – and ask them to rate the songs in the

Eurovision “Douze-points-pourBurwood” style and we compile the results. The judges aren’t given a brief. They go with the song that works for them, whether polished

What: Sydneyvision Song Contest 2017 When: Entries now open until Thursday July 20 More: newtowncentre.org

songwriters’ secrets WITH

FELIX RIEBL

The First Song I Wrote Songwriting Secrets The Song That Changed My I think the first song I wrote There are no ‘secrets’ to Life 1.

3.

5. was ‘Let It Be’ by The Beatles… songwriting, though it is a secretive I feel about songs the same way I with other words. I’ve since let it go.

The Last Song I Released The last song I released 2. is called ‘Wasting Time’ from the

Paper Doors album, recorded at the late Sing Sing (North) Studios with some of my favourite musicians and produced by Andy Baldwin. Katy Steele duets with me and brings her unmistakable sound. It starts as something quiet and suddenly turns into something anthemic, courtesy of a left hand mistake on the piano that turned out not to be a mistake after all.

Lyrically, it begins with a tribute to Roy Orbison’s ‘The Only One’, which haunted me for a long time. The video is very odd; it has people holding framed pictures of other people over their faces.

business. It’s a funny combination of keeping everything to yourself and then telling anyone who’ll listen via considerable amplification. Songs can come from anywhere really. I write on piano mostly, and more recently on guitar (that I play badly enough for it to be a good stumbling block), but they can come from a sample, an idea, drunk, sober, whatever. It’s a lot of repetition, until something changes or sparks.

The Song That Makes Me Proud 4.

Two songs come to mind, and

they’re both album title tracks – ‘Steal The Light’ and ‘Paper Doors’.

They’re very different, but I’m proud of them because I don’t know what they’re about, but they resonate all the same. That’s something I find worth pursuing these days.

feel about personality – there isn’t just one, but a dizzying collective.

I’ve been moved by so much music in my life, and I could make an equal case about ‘Rachid Ouiguini’

by Toumani and Sidiki Diabate, as I could for ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ by Queen, or ‘The Future’ by Leonard Cohen. If you’re after a moment, I suppose the first time I was genuinely moved by lyrics, it would be the first time I heard ‘Wish You Were Here’ by Pink Floyd. I listened to that on repeat for months.

What: The Gum Ball 2017 With: Regurgitator, Tripod, Kim Churchill, The Funk Hunters and more Where: Dashville, Belford When: Friday April 21 – Sunday April 23

speed date WITH

LOS SCALLYWAGGS Your Profile Your mates Los Scallys have a sound that 1. kinda fits into the garage/surf/punk rock style,

and I guess the noises recorded in our songs are shaped off the way we live and experiences in our lives, whether it be drinking, being hungover, drugs, benders, people, normal everyday shit and good times. We lay it over with raw guitar, bass and drums which mould and stick it all together.

The people that come to our shows can relate to the music. The shows we put on are a good excuse to get loose and wild. Just a bit of fun, ya know?

Keeping Busy We have been taking it easy over the last 2. couple of months gig-wise, but have been writing a heap of new material which is rad. But now we have a big string of shows this April/May along the east coast, which will be hell. We are in the early stages of recording our new album, which is set to be released the middle of this year, and we have a national tour pretty well booked in.

So we will be jumping on the tour bus as soon as it goes out, which will see around 16 shows around Australia, which is bloody skitz as.

Best Gig Ever At the start of the year we went on tour 3. with our good buddies Skegss, and all the

shows we played with those dudes were crazy fun. We can’t even pick which one was the best thebrag.com

because they were all messed up in the best possible way. Also winning the triple j spot for opening FOTSUN on the main stage last year was a mental gig to play. It was that funny – all of our mates were crawling to the stage from their sleepless bender in the campsite to come watch.

There was a huge bunch of new faces there to watch us too, which was epic!

Current Playlist We’ve been thrashing Motörhead lately. It 4. just gets you in full rock’n’roll mode and gets you

so pumped to go break shit and drink beer. Also, we have been getting around The Meatbodies and Dead Ghosts from the USA – both of their sounds are definitely influencing us for the new album we are currently recording. Have a gander – you won’t be disappointed, ladies and gents.

Your Ultimate Rider Ah, this would be a couple of bottles of 5. mescal worm-induced tequila, lime and sodas, a live Mexican mariachi band to play background music to set the mood, a communal 50-gram tobacco pouch pre-rolled for the boys, cold beer and a couple of tally-wakkas to go! We just get beers, usually – those things will never let you down.

With: Crocodylus, Pist Idiots Where: The Chippo Hotel When: Saturday April 22 BRAG :: 708 :: 12:04:17 :: 27

five things WITH

OAKS

Your Profile If we were to describe 1. ourselves, we would probably be

Current Playlist We all have varied music 4. tastes. We’ve been spinning the

the biggest fan of every band you know. We love finding bands that are so genuinely talented; you’ll always see us at shows scoping out cool new bands. As a band, we take a lot of influence from bands like Neck Deep, A Day To Remember and Blink-182. We don’t look for anything in any of our fans except that they’d treat everyone else with respect, and we’ll also do the same. There’s no space for ignorance in music, especially in the local scene.

new Skepta, WSTR and Northlane albums, which we all thoroughly enjoyed. We also can’t count out local legends Vices and Zen Haircuts, who put out ripper releases recently, and we’re really excited for the new Blue Velvet EP. We all managed to catch Trophy Eyes together with Ambleside, Our Past Days and Columbus, and that was insane. The intensity was on another level and we honestly can’t wait to catch all the bands again. In terms of shows coming up though, we’re all very keen for the upcoming Hellions tour; that will be insane.

Keeping Busy Lately we’ve been focusing 2. on getting our EP out and we’re so

Your Ultimate Rider The first thing that came to 5. our mind was Little Fat Lamb. We

Best Gig Ever It’s probably a tie between 3. our last show at Valve Bar with

Satellites or our first MMRS show.

Both times the crowd was great

all drink it and it’s the reason we also find ourselves hanging on a footpath every now and then.

Every rider we’ve had so far has just been drink cards, which are swell, because who doesn’t like free drinks, right? Our pre-show routine is going through a box of Shapes and critiquing the flavour, so we’d love Shapes to become a regular feature of our rider. and we felt like we sounded amazing; it felt amazing. Not counting our first show, one of our most recent shows was probably

our roughest – we went through a lot that night and it got the better of us. It was probably the worst we’ve felt after a show and everything

leading up to it just affected us way too much onstage. It was definitely a learning curve though, and we’re all the better for it.

What: Space To Grow out now independently

Oaksphoto by POH Photography

excited that it’s finally here. The shows we’ve been playing recently have been amazing and have been with really cool bands, and it’s really humbling and fun. Besides that, we’ve also started writing again, and while we don’t want to look too far ahead, where we’re heading at the moment is really exciting.

songwriters’ secrets WITH

JOSH NEEDS

The First Song I Wrote I wrote my first song when I 1. was about 13 years old. I used to

walk my dog and take my guitar with me and play whatever came to me.

By the time I got back, I had half a song.

The Last Song I Released I’ve just released a five-track 2.

EP titled Vector. I’m so proud of all

Songwriting Secrets My process of songwriting really varies from song to song.

Sometimes I might have a lyric idea that sparks it, and start from there.

Other times it’s a guitar riff/hook that

3.

The Song That Makes Me Proud 4.

From the EP, my two favourite

songs would be ‘17’ and ‘All I Can Do’. Reason being is I love to play these songs live and I can do so much with them at a gig. They’re very different songs both musically and lyrically, however both have the same effect on me. ‘All I Can Do’ was one of the first songs I had written lyrics to, while ‘17’ was finished a couple days out from recording.

The Song That Changed My Life 5.

I don’t have one particular song that

has changed me but I do have quite a few songs and albums that have shaped me into the artist I am today.

AC/DC was the first band I was into, then The Emmanuel Brothers (Tommy and Phil) came next, with Chet Atkins and Jerry Reed in the mix too. Now I’m influenced by a lot of different music from Hilltop Hoods to Ed Sheeran, John Mayer, INXS, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Maren Morris, Zac Brown Band, B.B. King, Eric Clapton and James Bay and heaps more. I’m always listening to this stuff!

What: Vector out now independently Where: The Basement / Dee Why Hotel When: Monday April 17 / Saturday April 22

five things WITH

SCOTT MAC FROM TOE TO TOE

The Music You Make Growing Up We recorded our last album above a 4.

Doo-wop and Johnny Cash records mixed 1.

Vietnamese bakery that did $3.50 banh mi with the sweet sounds of factories and domestic disputes. Throw in punk rock a little later on top of all that. My dad dished out a bit of chin music in The Willy Lump Lump Band – my childhood affected me in many ways, being a musician… well, that wasn’t one of the ways; that would imply I have some sort of talent. I don’t have that, only perseverance.

Inspirations All the honest ones and the ones that are a little fucked up. I heard Discharge at a druginfused punk squat house when I was green to all this stuff; State Control at ear-shattering levels while everyone got high and the world was slipping into slow decline outside. I remember it like it was yesterday.

2.

Your Band 3.

We are blue-collar tone-deaf troubadours.

We hate posers and people that give up. We met in rehab and the organic farmers’ market; we ditched that place when we found out it was a hotbed of communism. Our music tastes are all the same – we all agree on what sucks. We love getting on the Jackie Chans, and a good game of Rugby League football.

28 :: BRAG :: 708 :: 12:03:17

rolls – yes, you heard correct – and they were amazing. You can expect a whole lot of frustration and energy to manifest itself into ‘fuck you’ anthems for the people that like ‘fuck you’ songs and fast bits that don’t overplay their hands.

Music, Right Here, Right Now We don’t like to think of music as 5. scenes. We are like David Carradine in

Kung Fu – we walk the Earth in search of wrongs to right, and on the right night and in the right circumstances, we might fi nd a like-minded bunch of fellow noise exponents; then we talk about the important things. All our favourite bands have broken up, so we are going on tour to fi nd new ones.

What: Housefox Fest 2017 With: Psycroptic, Black Rheno, Na Maza and more Where: Narrabeen RSL When: Saturday April 22

thebrag.com

Josh Needs photo by Robert Russell

the songs on the EP as they are a selection of a whole bunch of songs I’d written from 17 till now. I recorded Vector with producer Nathan Sheehy at A Sharp Studios in Sydney, which was a great experience. So much that I’m already working on getting the next one recorded there!

I come up with – I record it and loop it and get the pen ready and start writing. I would usually build a song by sections, although I have written songs going with the flow and doing both chords and lyrics at the same time. If I have an idea for lyrics or I hear a song that sparks inspiration, I’d put it into my phone for later reference if I ever get stuck or am looking for new ideas.

live reviews What we’ve been out to see...

PATTI SMITH State Theatre Sunday April 9

As something of a retrospective affair, Illy’s Two Degrees Tour showcased more than just the tracks on his latest chart-topping album.

Even if these aren’t the end times, they certainly feel like them: every day there’s another omen, from chemical weapon attacks to live streams of Tomahawks taking off from silent, ugly warships. So here’s the million-dollar question: what the fuck is art meant to do about it? And, more to the point, as civilisation seemingly slides towards the horror of a third global war, why should anyone spend a Sunday evening revisiting an album from the relative safe haven of 1975?

What sets Illy aside from others in the Aussie hip hop game are his ridiculously catchy choruses, usually performed by an up-and-coming vocalist. However, there was a disappointing lack of special guests tonight, with the support acts providing more features than the headliner. Illy did well and truly hold his own though, and didn’t need any gimmicks or clichés to draw in his already delighted crowd.

The answer, of course, is because the album in question, Horses, was penned by one Patti Smith. ’75 might look like an idyllic utopia now, full of creatives spinning genius in the corners of dive bars, but Smith has always known what’s up. And she proved it at her State Theatre show, taking to the stage clad in the black boots of a revolutionary to spit on the floor and blast through a set more powerful than any this critic has ever seen.

In that way, she was a far cry from the gentle, twinkling figure who appeared recently at a Nobel Prize ceremony in place of Bob Dylan. Instead, she was full of the fiercest kind of love, hurling expletives at a crowd member who accidentally left his flash on while snapping a photo, and barking out her beat poetry to a stunned, unprepared audience.

This was no nostalgia trip, and although Horses was played in full, it was less the case of airing an antique and more the reawakening of some ancient, terrifying force. After all, Horses is its own rebuke to the forces of oppression and violence: a trembling, tortured document that was written for this world, and for these horrors.

The end goal of the proceedings was nothing less than absolution. “Use your voice,” Smith screamed during set closer ‘My Generation’, pulling the strings off her guitar one by one. Out of anyone else’s mouth, the words might have seemed insincere; the kind of weak platitude printed on a Hallmark card. But from Smith, they seemed like real advice, shrapnel flying off the blunt force of a singer almost five decades into her career and still playing shows with all the intensity of a newcomer.

And though it might be too much to say the audience stumbled out into the universe ready to change it, certainly they found themselves changed – shocked into a state of profound, cathartic empathy, woken up to the world. That, after all, is what art is meant to do.

Joseph Earp

ILLY, PACES, SPIT SYNDICATE, MARIBELLE Enmore Theatre Friday April 7

With five albums under his belt across an eight-year-long solo career, Illy’s renown has grown with every release. But even he seemed to be taken by surprise by what the Enmore Theatre had in store. This was the biggest of Illy’s headline shows to date, and the merchandise-clad crowd was more than ready to enjoy itself.

The fans were as punctual as they were passionate. Impressively, many were already filing in to catch the first support act, Melbourne singer-songwriter Maribelle. Spit Syndicate were next on the bill, and playing to their hometown crowd, they really made the show their own. The lyrics “We represent the Inner West side of Sydney” were always going to go down a treat with the Enmore crowd.

In a change of pace from the night’s hip hop flavour, Paces brought his signature tropical electronica. With backup dancers and swirling graphics all in tow, the show had already proved to be quite the spectacle.

And then, on came Illy. The main man’s set was an absolute cracker of a good time – quite literally, judging by the fellow in front of me and his descending pants.

thebrag.com

The seven-year-old track ‘It Can Wait’ was received just as well as the recent ‘You Say When’. ‘Tightrope’, ‘Swear Jar’, and Illy’s Aus Music Medley were all fan favourites, and ‘Paper Cuts’ finished the show on a ludicrous high.

Illy’s latest efforts have certainly been more radio-friendly than his earlier work, and for this he has indeed copped criticism. But all those fans donning the tour T-shirt and singing every lyric – new and old – proved they were really in it for the long haul. In an earnest moment, Illy took the time to explain that he knows his music has gone from “community to commercial” – but he is still making the music he wants and he loves.

Abbey Lenton

THE MOUNTAIN GOATS, OH PEP! Factory Theatre Sunday April 9

Less than a month since they were last in town supporting the delightful Martha Wainwright, Melbourne duo Oh Pep! are back in Sydney. As a result of the close proximity, it’s business as usual for the altcountry/folk outfit, performing more or less the same mix of songs from their Stadium Cake LP as last time around. Still, to borrow a phrase from Megadeth, business is good: the two have an incredible knack for tessellating their vocals in just the right way that the harmonies get as close as possible without getting into bloodline territory.

While guitarist Olivia Hally holds down the solid foundations and conventions of the genre, violinist/mandolin player Pepita Emmerichs is there to swiftly throw them out the window by means of beautiful contrast. Let the record show that there are remarkably few players out there that can certifiably shred on a mandolin the way that Emmerichs can – it’s her inventive and masterful playing that truly elevates the music of Oh Pep! from pleasantries to par excellence. The duo will be back again within a matter of weeks as one of the final acts to play at the inexplicably departing Newtown Social Club. ’Til then.

With 15 albums and a 16th on the way next month, The Mountain Goats would realistically have to play double the length of your average Springsteen show in order to get through everything and please everyone. With this in mind, let’s address the fact that tonight’s set – even at nearly two hours – didn’t get around to many of their best-known songs (‘Dance Music’, ‘Going To Georgia’, ‘Woke Up New’ and ‘See America Right’ among them). But absolutely none of that mattered in the slightest.

A Mountain Goats show is exhilarating catharsis – a raised finger to accompany a raised voice; a rock’n’roll extravaganza for the introverted and bespectacled. It’s life lessons via professional wrestling and Super Mario. It’s wolves, brothers, stepfathers, vampires, goths and absolutely no children. It’s Jon Wurster beating his kit like it owes him money, while Matt Douglas somehow works his way across every conceivable instrument while being virtuosic on all of them.

It’s life-affirming, death-defying, heartwrenching and endlessly endearing. It’s love, love, love. You get the picture. The rest of 2017 has a lot to live up to gig-wise if this is the yardstick.

David James Young

BRAG :: 708 :: 12:04:17 :: 29

live snaps

VIEW FULL GALLERIES AT

09:04:17 :: State Theatre :: 49 Market St Sydney 9373 6655

illy

PICS :: AM

patti smith

PICS :: AM

thebrag.com/snaps

07:04:17 :: Enmore Theatre :: 118-132 Enmore Rd Newtown 9550 3666

wed

THURSDAY FROM 6PM

thu

12

13

Apr

(9:00PM - 12:00AM)

Apr

(9:00PM - 12:00AM)

TRIVIA in the Atrium

GOOD FRIDAY fri

14 Apr (2:30PM - 5:30PM)

Easter long-weekend EASTER SATURDAY

(6:30PM - 9:30PM)

EASTER SUNDAY

5:30PM8:30PM

sun

sat

15 Apr

5:45PM  8:45PM

(9:30PM - 1:00AM)

EVERY SATURDAY NIGHT

Party DJs 15

DJ Podgee

Apr in the Atrium 9:30PM  1:30AM

mon

17

(3:30PM - 6:30PM)

Apr

(7:30PM - 10:30PM)

tue

18 Apr

(8:30PM - 11:30PM)

alter bridge

PICS :: AM

(10:00PM - 1:15AM)

sat

16 Apr

04:04:17 :: Enmore Theatre :: 118-132 Enmore Rd 9550 3666 30 :: BRAG :: 708 :: 12:04:17

thebrag.com

g g guide gig g send your listings to : gigguide@seventhstreet.media

pick of the week

For our full gig and club listings, head to thebrag.com/gig-guide.

Bad Friday

FRIDAY APRIL 14

Josh Needs

Josh Needs

Railway Parade, Marrickville

Bad Friday DMA’s + The Jezabels

The Strumbellas

FRIDAY APRIL 14

Gregory Porter + Karen Lee Andrews Enmore Theatre, Newtown. 8pm. $77.

Melancholy Flowers The Record Crate, Glebe. 7pm. $10.

Spy V Spy + Urban Guerillas Toongabbie Sports and Bowling Club, Toongabbie. 8pm. $20.

Laura Mvula + Marcus Whale Metro Theatre, Sydney.

7:30pm. $61.40.

Trevor Hall Newtown Social Club, Newtown. 7pm. $43.50.

Vintage Trouble Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $60.40.

Scumdrops + Balko + Hotdad Captain Cook Hotel, Paddington. 9pm. Free.

Toot! + Dollar Brand + Weather Report Gasoline Pony, Marrickville. 7pm. $7.

Wild Honey + Creo Hotel Steyne, Manly.

5pm. Free.

Sweet Creeps And Outlaws – feat: Henry Wagons + Johnny Fritz + Ruby Boots Newtown Social Club, Newtown. 8pm. $42.43.

SATURDAY APRIL 15 Ash Grunwald Newtown Social Club, Newtown. 8pm. $33.50.

Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst.

Monday April 17. 7pm. $44.50..

Exhibition Park, Canberra.

Thursday April 13 – Monday April 17. From $79.

Fun-loving Canadian act The Strumbellas are making their Bluesfest debut this year, and they’re doubling down with what’s sure to be an exciting sideshow on Easter Monday.

The longest running Aussie festival of its kind, NFF is back for another year with a boom lineup including Fanny Lumsden (above), Aoife Scott, Flats and Sharps and many more.

Boyz Noise Metro Theatre, Sydney.

9pm. $66.70.

Butterfingers Hudson Ballroom, Sydney. 8pm. $28.60.

Dash Berlin Enmore Theatre, Newtown. 6pm. $65.35.

Good Dance – feat. Forest Hall + Plantface + Real Milk Captain Cook Hotel, Paddington. 9pm. $5.

Moore Park. 7pm. $99.90.

Quay. 7pm. $63.50.

Roland Tings Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 9pm. $20.

MONDAY APRIL 17

SUNDAY APRIL 16 Corinne Bailey Rae Metro Theatre, Sydney.

7:30pm. $73.60.

Davy Knowles Newtown Social Club, Newtown. 6:30pm. $44.

Jethro Tull by Ian Anderson State Theatre, Sydney.

8pm. $99.90.

Fatman Scoop Marquee, Pyrmont.

10pm. $28.70.

Madness Hordern Pavilion,

Joan Osborne The Basement, Circular

Gallant

Darby + Brendon Moon Hibernian House, Surry Hills. 7pm. $10.

Nikki Hill + Frank Sultana Newtown Social Club, Newtown. 7:30pm. $33.50.

TUESDAY APRIL 18 Gallant + Ruel Metro Theatre, Sydney. 8pm. $56.

Gretta Ray + Xavier Dunn Newtown Social Club, Newtown. 7:30pm. $17.74.

the BRAG presents

TREVOR HALL

Newtown Social Club Wednesday April 12

NATIONAL FOLK FESTIVAL 2017 Exhibition Park, Canberra Thursday April 13 – Monday April 17

CORINNE BAILEY RAE Metro Theatre Sunday April 16

NIKKI HILL

Newtown Social Club Monday April 17

THE STRUMBELLAS Oxford Art Factory Monday April 17

ST PAUL AND THE BROKEN BONES Metro Theatre Wednesday April 19

DAPPLED CITIES City Recital Hall Sunday June 4

Bad Friday photo by Sam Brumby

Roy Ayers The Basement, Circular Quay. 7pm. $73.50.

Nahko and Medicine For The People Metro Theatre, Sydney. 8pm. $56.

National Folk Festival 2017

Josh Needs photo by Liam Worth

The Strumbellas + Winterbourne

12pm. $70.40.

THURSDAY APRIL 13

One of Australia’s hardest-working songwriters takes to The Basement to share songs from his new EP, Vector.

Fanny Lumsden

+ Royal Headache + Sampa The Great + more WEDNESDAY APRIL 12

The Basement, Circular Quay. Monday April 17. 8pm. $5.