Brag#715

ICE-T'S MESSAGE FOR DONALD TRUMP / NEW MUSIC FROM HUSKY ALSO INSIDE:

CHASTITY BELT / BENJAMIN BOOKER / REPRESSED RECORDS / LEURA GARAGE / CHRISTIAN HULL / GAME ON AND MORE!

SHOWCASING THE BEST NEW CANADIAN CINEMA FOCUS ON CANADA

MALIGLUTIT

MAUDIE

Sydney Film Festival is proud to present a showcase of the best of new Canadian cinema, which demonstrates the creativity and craft of Canadian storytellers from the Pacific to the Atlantic.

THU 8 JUN 6:15 PM DENDY NEWTOWN SUN 18 JUN 6:30 PM DENDY OPERA QUAYS A thrilling Arctic version of John Ford’s classic western The Searcherss (1956), made by Inuk filmmaker Zacharias Kunuk (Cannes winner Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner). r

SAT 10 JUN 1:35 PM EVENT CINEMAS GEORGE ST THU 15 JUN 6:15 PM HAYDEN ORPHEUM CREMORNE Sally Hawkins and Ethan Hawke shine in this true story of gifted, arthritic Canadian folk painter Maud Lewis and her unlikely romance with the reclusive Everett Lewis.

RUMBLE: THE INDIANS WHO ROCKED THE WORLD

THE SUN AT MIDNIGHT

THOSE WHO MAKE REVOLUTION HALFWAY ONLY DIG...

WED 14 JUN 6:30 PM DENDY NEWTOWN FRI 16 JUN 6:00 PM EVENT CINEMAS GEORGE ST A stomping tribute to Native American musicians, crammed with concert footage, celebrating their weighty yet unheralded contribution to music, from Hendrix to Metallica.

SUN 11 JUN 12:45 PM EVENT CINEMAS GEORGE ST SAT 17 JUN 11:45 AM EVENT CINEMAS GEORGE ST An urban teen encounters a mystical hunter in this charming debut feature shot in Canada’s magnificent, remote Northwest Territory.

THU 15 JUN 7:30 PM DENDY NEWTOWN SUN 18 JUN 6:40 PM DENDY OPERA QUAYS Best Canadian Film at the Toronto Film Festival: an extraordinary, audacious film about four Quebec students who take protest to the verge of terrorism.

WINDOW HORSES - THE POETIC PERSIAN EPIPHANY...

ANGRY INUK

SAVE TODAY WITH A FLEXIPASS

FRI 9 JUN 2:35 PM STATE THEATRE SAT 17 JUN 4:00 PM DENDY OPERA QUAYS A charming feature from one of Canada’s best loved, award winning animators, Ann Marie Fleming, voiced by Sandra Oh, Ellen Page and Don McKellar.

SAT 17 JUN 12:35 PM DENDY OPERA QUAYS SUN 18 JUN 4:15 PM DENDY NEWTOWN The anti-sealing movement’s adverse impact on Inuit communities is exposed in this Hot Docs Audience Award winner from First Nations director Alethea Arnaquq-Baril.

The cheapest way to book lots of tickets is to buy a Flexipass of 10, 20, or 30 tickets. Share with friends, flatmates, colleagues, the one you love, or just keep it for yourself!

1300 733 733 SFF.ORG.AU

She’s The Driver (melb)

‘THE GONE CLUB’ ALBUM LAUNCH

with

Anatomy Class

Friday 9th June @ Waywards

(The Bank Hotel 324 King St Newtown)

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‘The Gone Club’ out now on Black Garage Records via

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in this issue what you’ll find inside…

4

The Frontline

6-7

Back To Business

8

Sydney Film Festival 2017: Nashen Moodley, OtherLife

9-10

SFF 2017: Spookers, Game Of Death, Fashionista, The Levelling

11-12 SFF 2017: To Stay Alive – A Method, Five Must-See Music Documentaries, win a Flexipass 10

17

13

Husky found themselves in Berlin, and found a new album waiting at home in Melbourne

14

Repressed Records

15

Benjamin Booker

16

Chastity Belt’s Julia Shapiro is embracing new-found freedom

“There are more possibilities and more we can do, which makes songwriting way more fun because there’s less restriction.” (16)

13

“Sydney Film Festival creates a time and a space for us to reflect on what is important, good and bad and scary and hopeful.” (8) 17

Ice-T has a message for Donald Trump ahead of Body Count’s visit to Australia

18

Arts reviews: 20th Century Women, The Ham Funeral, Songtourage

19

Game On

20

Leura Garage is a great excuse for a weekend getaway from Sydney

21

Off The Record, Out & About

22

Album reviews, First Drafts

23

Christian Mulls… The Spice Girls, Pirra

31

24-28 Live reviews, test your knowledge: how many artists can you name?

30

Gig guide

31

The Simpsons do Coachella: get your free poster

20

the frontline with Chris Martin, Poppy Reid and Nathan Jolly ISSUE 715: Wednesday May 31, 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, Brandon John ART DIRECTOR: Sarah Bryant PHOTOGRAPHER: Ashley Mar ADVERTISING: Josh Burrows - 0411 025 674 josh.burrows@seventhstreet.media 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

SIA HITS THE STADIUMS

GIG GUIDE: Anna Wilson - gigguide@ seventhstreet.media

THE NEWSAGENCY RETURNS

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, Augustus Welby, Jessica Westcott, Zanda Wilson, Stephanie Yip, David James Young

Sydney’s self-described “tiniest live music venue”, The Newsagency, has found a new home. Venue owner Alison Avron closed The Newsagency’s Marrickville space earlier this year after difficulties with the landlord, having operated in the intimate location since 2011.

Now, The Newsagency is set to reopen a few suburbs over in Camperdown, where Avron will continue to support some of Australia’s finest emerging artists and bigger names looking for a tiny place to play. The new space will host 100 people, doubling the venue’s old capacity of 50.

Please send mail NOT ACCOUNTS direct to this NEW address Level 2, 9-13 Bibby St, Chiswick NSW 2046 EDITORIAL POLICY: The views and opinions expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the publisher, editors or staff of the BRAG. ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE: Carrie Huang - accounts@seventhstreet.vc (02) 9713 9269 Level 2, 9-13 Bibby St, Chiswick NSW 2046 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 DISTRIBUTION: Wanna get the BRAG? Email george@seventhstreet.vc PRINTED BY SPOTPRESS: spotpress.com.au 24 – 26 Lilian Fowler Place, Marrickville NSW 2204

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DREAM OF CALIFORNICATION

One of the most influential pop stars on the planet is coming home. Sia will set out on her first-ever Australian stadium tour this year, and it’ll be a rare chance to see the publicity-shy performer on our shores.

It’s all in support of ‘Reaper’, Sia’s new collaboration with Kanye West, and her number one album This Is Acting. Sia has written hits for the who’s who of pop music today, including Beyoncé, Rihanna, Kylie Minogue, Katy Perry and Camila Cabello, and her own music has dominated the charts globally. Charlie XCX, MØ and Amy Shark will join her at Allianz Stadium on Saturday December 2.

SENSATION COMES TO SYDNEY The organisers behind some of the biggest music festivals in the world, including EDM juggernaut Tomorrowland, are bringing the world-renowned Sensation to Australia this year. Presented by Dance Nation Australia – and announced at a launch party at Sydney’s Marquee last week – Sensation will take over Sydney Olympic Park on Saturday November 25. With the ethos “celebrate life”, Sensation is the brainchild of Dutch entertainment company ID&T, which launched Sensation in 2000 as a one-off event in Amsterdam. Now an international phenomenon, the festival has toured 34 countries across five continents, welcomed over two million visitors and hosted acts like Armin Van Buuren, Laidback Luke, Zedd, Sebastian Ingrosso and Tiësto. The concept of the festival, which connects millions of people across the globe through the universal language of dance and music, has won awards for Best Event of the Year in the Netherlands, Germany, Brazil and Denmark.

If ID&T’s global reception is anything to go

Depending on your specific television tastes, you either know David Duchovny from his iconic role as Fox Mulder on The X-Files, or as slutty alcoholic novelist Hank Moody on Californication. You’ve maybe also seen him in drag on Twin Peaks, or hunting Charles Manson in Aquarius (or as Tea Leoni’s handbag in The Entire ’90s) but you’ve most likely never heard his 2015 album Hell Or Highwater. It’s good, moody ’70s-sounding rock, and he means it, man. Duchovny has decided that a run of shows up the Australian east coast is the best way to road-test the tunes from his upcoming second album, and frankly, we tend to agree. He’s playing the Metro Theatre on Saturday February 24 next year.

The Scientists

Andrew McLellan

SCIENCE IS GOLDEN Legendary Aussie post-punk band The Scientists are back for a 2017 reunion tour. The pioneering Perth act (later of Sydney, then London) were the cult band of all cult bands, embarking on a nine-year career that inspired the hordes of Seattle grunge acts who would go on to define the ’90s. Following last year’s compilation of their work, A Place Called Bad, The Scientists’ classic 1985 lineup will play four dates around Australia this October and November. See them at the Factory Theatre on Saturday November 18.

by, registration for first access to tickets is necessary – in 2013, tickets to Tomorrowland sold out in one second. Visit facebook.com/ sensationaus for more.

EVERY YOU EVERY ME Placebo are the latest band to celebrate 20 years since the release of an album – their self-titled debut, in this case – with a national tour. It’ll be their first headline tour of Australia in 11 years (they last came out for Soundwave in 2014), and they promise a ‘greatest hits’ set: “If you want to see us play songs like ‘Pure Morning’ and ‘Nancy Boy’ which we haven’t played in almost ten years and may not play again, then you’d better come along to these shows!” See them at Qudos Bank Arena on Saturday September 9.

EARS HAVE EARS ON THE ROOFTOP FBi Radio’s dedicated experimental music program, Ears Have Ears, is back with its first live event for 2017. Ears Have Ears Soundtracks is taking over 107 Projects’ rooftop bar in Redfern on Friday June 16 with a showcase of new audio-visual soundtrack works from musicians and sound artists. But it’s not just about the music alone, with a troupe of experimental dancers in attendance to help interpret the sounds. The performers include Andrew McLellan, Angela Goh, Austin Buckett and Monica Books Ensemble (with Prophets and Broads To Men Choir), and with a limited capacity, you’d better jump on the $10 tickets fast.

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Back To Business Music Industry News with Lars Brandle

breaking biz The concerts business has moved quickly to assuage fans’ fears after the disturbing events that took place on Monday May 22 in Manchester, where more than 20 lives were lost in a suicide bombing at an Ariana Grande concert.

Grande postponed her Dangerous Woman Tour, which was meant to touch down in Australia this September, and a bunch of European dates have been scrapped entirely, while a string of UK concerts from Blondie to Take That, KISS and others were quickly cancelled in light of the tragedy. Grande’s friend Mac Miller also nixed shows in the US. It’s hard to imagine the live music experience won’t be profoundly changed.

The signs can already be seen Down Under, where security measures were

tightened ahead of this year’s Vivid Festival kicking off in Sydney, while Frontier Touring told News Limited that backpacks and large bags will “strictly not be allowed” at Ed Sheeran’s 2018 arena tour.

Ariana Grande

Live Nation, the promoter of Grande’s tour, is reportedly offering refunds to ticketholders of its shows throughout the UK, which include Katy Perry, Iron Maiden, Phil Collins and Depeche Mode. Australia’s terror threat level continues to be graded at ‘probable’, while the UK’s current threat level was raised from ‘severe’ to ‘critical’ and back to ‘severe’. At the time of writing, Greater Manchester Police have arrested 13 people in connection to the Manchester Arena blasts. Grande has vowed to return to Manchester for a benefit concert later this year.

Chris Cornell

CHART GEEK ‘Despacito’ means ‘slowly’ in Spanish, but the song has very quickly taken control of singles charts around the globe. The Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee collaboration, which features Justin Bieber, is number one for a third week in the UK and enjoying a second week atop the survey in the US and Australia. The official video is the most watched clip on YouTube this year with more than 1.65 billion hits.

Ariana Grande’s fans have turned to her music as they struggle with the shock of the Manchester bombing. Her latest album Dangerous Woman leaps from 62 to 30 on the latest UK chart, and her single ‘One Last Time’ vaults back into the top 40, for a new peak at number 11.

Meanwhile, Chris Cornell’s music floods the Australian albums charts in the days after his untimely death.

Seven albums on which he performs have returned to the top 50, led by Soundgarden’s Superunknown at number seven.

GATHERING NO MOSS

The Rolling Stones just keep rolling along, despite the band’s latest bout of bad health. Guitarist Ronnie Wood had a lung lesion removed, but is expected to make a full recovery, according to a rep for the band. The Stones are due to hit the road again in Europe this September and the 69-year-old Wood (the youngest in the band) is expected to join his bandmates. Each of the The Rolling Stones

Stones has gone down at some point, but they always seem to bounce back.

Drummer Charlie Watts underwent chemo for throat cancer in 2004, and Keith Richards nearly lost his life when he fell from a tree in Fiji in 2006. And just last year, the Stones cancelled a show at Hanging Rock when Mick Jagger suffered a throat infection. Wood has previously attended rehab to deal with his alcoholism.

movers & shakers Danny Hannaford is now the head of the Australian operations for Twickets, the fan-to-fan ticket resale platform celebrating its first expansion outside the UK. Hannaford is based in Melbourne and previously served as head of ticketing at UK promoter Global Live.

Tidal is scouting for another CEO after Jeff Toig departed less than 18 months into the job. Toig is the streaming company’s third CEO in two years. He succeeded interim CEO Peter Tonstad, who assumed duties from Tidal’s original leader Andy Chen.

TALENT AHOY

Congrats go out to Charlotte Abroms, the latest recipient of the Lighthouse Award. Established by APRA AMCOS, the prize supports the professional development of a female manager or self-managed artist based in Victoria.

Abroms, a Melbourne-based music manager who guides the careers of Haarlo, Ainslie Wills and Gretta Ray,

departures The International Live Music Conference’s (ILMC) longtime producer Alia Dann Swift passed away Tuesday May 23 at her home in Melbourne after a battle with cancer.

The much-loved producer joined the ILMC in 2000, having carved a career in tour management, production coordinator and artist liaison, working with the likes of Paul McCartney, David Gilmour, R.E.M. and Peter Gabriel along the way. According to IQ, Swift played a role in the historic reunion of Roger Waters and David Gilmour for a Pink Floyd performance at London’s Live 8 in 2005. ILMC is inviting friends and colleagues to contribute to a permanent page on the ilmc.com website.

Gregg Allman, the legendary Southern rocker who was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame with his band The Allman Brothers, died on Saturday May 27 at the age of 69. The pioneering blues rockers were known for such songs as ‘Dreams’, ‘Whipping Post’, ‘Midnight Rider’ and ‘Revival’, and enjoyed life at the summit of the Billboard 200 for five weeks with 1973’s ‘Brothers And Sisters’. Allman’s brother and fellow founder Duane died in 1971 but the group went on with various lineups, earning Rock Hall induction in 1995 and famously reuniting in 1999 for an 18-night stand at New York’s Beacon Theatre in celebration of their 30th anniversary. The singer and songwriter battled crippling heath issues in recent years. He was diagnosed with hepatitis C in 1999 and underwent a liver transplant in 2010.

Gregg Allman

xxxx

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the dotted line The Dutchess has a new crown. Fergie, The Black Eyed Peas’ rapper and singer, has signed with BMG ahead of the release later this year of her second solo album, Double Dutchess. The German music company has nailed a worldwide partnership with Fergie and her newly formed record label Dutchess Music. The deal is a “dream come true”, the singer said in a statement. “This next chapter in my career will allow me the independence to evolve both as an artist and as a businesswoman.” The first single from her new album, ‘M.I.L.F. $’, cracked the top 30 in Australia on debut last year.

Music Glue, the UK-based direct-to-fan firm, will power the online merchandise sales for a slew of top acts after sticking a partnership with independently owned music merch company Probity. Under the new arrangement, Metallica will be the first act to utilise the relaunched version of Music Glue’s e-commerce platform, with the likes of Red Hot Chili Peppers, Rage Against The Machine and Zara Larsson also now on board. Music Glue opened for business ten years ago and claims to work with more than 35,000 artists, with over 450 new bands signing up each week. The company, which says it’s growing by 15% quarter-on-quarter, allows artists to sell music, merch and tickets from multiple suppliers in the same place.

Fergie

presents

Pitch the Future Thursday June 1st, 6pm.

Vivant, Level 16, 55 Market Street A “Shark Tank” for young social entrepreneurs. Showcasing social, creative and technological innovation.

vividsydney.com/event/ideas/pitch-future Sponsored by

collects a $5,000 winner’s cheque and joins previous recipients including Jen Cloher, Bonnie Dalton and Bernadette Ryan. The prize honours the memory of the late, trailblazing artist manager Linda Gebar, who worked with the likes of The Killjoys, Frente and The Blackeyed Susans.

CROSSING BORDERS The international Neon Lights festival brand will take a hiatus from its Singapore event in 2017, organisers have announced. “There are a number of reasons for this and it’s not a decision we have taken lightly,” the NL team writes. Neon Lights launched with a festival at Fort Canning Park in November 2015 headlined by Chic and Daughter. Last year’s fest featured Foals and 2ManyDJs among its top bookings.

Organisers insist they’re “committed to ensuring the festival returns to its full strength and scale in 2018”.

THE BIG STAGE Is your band hot stuff live? Let the National Live Music Awards be the judge of that. The NLMAs are urging artists and their reps to show their judges what they’ve got. It’s simple: just fi ll out some paperwork and provide a link to some kick-arse live video (though fans need not apply).

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The application form can be found at nlmas.com.au and the comp is open until Monday July 31. The NLMAs have 100 judges around the country, with at least ten in each state and territory.

final word Ed Sheeran’s 2018 tour of Australia and NZ will be the biggest single stadium trek of all time (18 shows, beating AC/DC’s 14 shows), and when all the tickets have changed hands, the “super-busker” will own the crown as all-time ticketselling champ, moving past the 900,000 tickets Dire Straits shifted for their Brothers In Arms Tour in 1986. There’s a genuine chance Sheeran will chase down the big number: one million tickets sold.

Make no mistake, this guy has a fierce competitive streak. Earlier this year he told GQ, “Adele is the one person who’s sold more records than me in the past ten years. She’s the only person I need to sell more records than. That’s a big fucking feat because her last album sold 20 million. But if I don’t set her as the benchmark then I’m selling myself short.”

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COVER FEATURE FULL PROGRAM AVAILABLE AT SFF.ORG.AU ▼

THE BRAG’S GUIDE TO:

7–18 JUNE 2017

OTHERLIFE Speculative Hope By David Molloy

R

en Amari has just invented a cuttingedge piece of technology that could change the world – a “programmable nanofluid” that can fabricate memories inside the human brain, creating a virtual reality in the mind of the user that is indistinguishable from their waking life.

“Our incredibly brilliant main character, who’s a young programmer and scientist, is trying to secretly use it for medicinal purposes, but her business partner only sees much more fanciful applications – holidays, sex, that kind of stuf f,” says Ben C. Lucas, the director and co-writer of indie sci-fi flick OtherLife.

MY SYDNEY FILM FESTIVAL

By Nashen Moodley, Festival Director

T

he Sydney Film Festival is the culmination of a year of hard work, and in many ways, the Festival is the same as the films we screen. Both are the products of people with a wide range of knowledge, skills, talents and points of view all working together to create a cohesive whole. Now in its 64th year, SFF continues to bring together all those disparate and often-rarelyseen international points of view, opening a window into the lives of people and places you might never otherwise experience.

Hundreds of films from across the world come together in one place, to show all the world from every angle. It’s a multidimensional survey of who, what, where and why we are today: a status report on the human condition, the state of the planet and the hopes, fears and dreams of all who share it.

When you consider the festival as this kind of polysided, multiangled gem, it helps us realise what a powerful phenomenon it is. A true one of a kind, typified by the dozens of incredible films from around the world that Sydneysiders won’t get another chance to experience on the big screen.

This year we also proudly celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Sydney Film Prize, and all the wonderful films and filmmakers that have appeared in the Official Competition over this time.

Every year, Sydney Film Festival creates a time and a space for us to reflect on what is important, good and bad and scary and hopeful and, well, everything, to everyone, everywhere. Welcome once more to that special time of year.

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“There’s a lot of lowbudget, independent speculative science fiction floating around at the moment.”

“When we were first developing it, the two films that got referenced the most were either Strange Days or Total Recall.

People always go for those films that deal with recorded or fake memories.

We’re a very different beast – we’re not quite that kind of film. We’ve tried to go for the more contained, so character-driven, experience: it’s really about a girl trying to save her brother, and just how much she’s willing to sell of

“People always go for those films that deal with recorded or fake memories. We’re a very different beast.” her brilliance to make that possible.”

Tapping into the rich vein of speculative fiction was a natural fit for Lucas – though he’s best known for the acclaimed Wasted On The Young (nominated for Best Film at the 2010 Sydney Film Festival), Lucas has always leaned towards more futuristic fare.

“Growing up and through most of my life, I’ve always been a cyberpunk baby,” he says. “I grew up with all those films in the ’80s, Blade Runner of course being the king amongst them, and the work of people like William Gibson that has just kinda stayed with me forever.

“Sci-fi’s pretty popular at the moment, I’ve noticed. I had no intention of joining a craze, but it seems to be that I have. There’s a lot of low-budget, independent speculative science fiction floating around at the moment. I think that is less about a movement – none of us got together and talked about. I think there’s just something in the air where people are looking to branch out into genre a little bit and this is just fertile ground.”

For Lucas, it’s a welcome change of pace. Australian film has a tendency to bog down in the overly serious, failing to take advantage of the rich cultural tapestry and raw talent that define the country. An injection of

style and inventiveness is needed to lighten the mood, and that flair sweetens OtherLife’s challenging questions.

“I think it’s nice to remind audiences – Australian audiences, in particular – that filmmakers here can stretch their imaginations,” says Lucas. “I dunno why, we seem to be kind of addicted to true stories, and the minute you put in something that ‘couldn’t happen here’, people seem to cringe away from it a little bit. It’s all about what’s available – I think if more of this content gets made, more of it will be received.”

A defining factor of OtherLife is Lucas’ approach to science fiction that hints at a better world.

At a point when postapocalyptic sensationalism has reached market saturation, there’s at least one young filmmaker leaving dystopia behind and searching for that pinprick of light in the darkness.

“That’s also in our DNA, isn’t it? I guess it’s just the Mad Max tradition – it’s gotta be post-apocalyptic,” he laughs. “I’m actually a bit of an optimist, and I enjoy being an optimist because it seems to be a rare thing.

“I think the future’s pretty bright, so it’d be nice to make films, tell stories that promise things can actually be improved, through technology or through information.”

“I think the future’s pretty bright, so it’d be nice to make films, tell stories that promise things can actually be improved.”

WH E R E : E V E N T C IN EM AS GEORGE STR EET WH EN : FR IDAY J U N E 16 / S U N DAY J U N E 18 A N D : B EN C . LU CAS IS A LSO A PPEA R IN G AT LOW B U D G E T ? N O WOR R IES AT TH E FESTIVA L H U B , SYD N EY TOWN H A LL, M ON DAY J U N E 12 thebrag.com

7–18 JUNE 2017

FULL PROGRAM AVAILABLE AT SFF.ORG.AU ▼

GAME OF DEATH Game Over By Joseph Earp

A

film’s title is a kind of promise: if you call your movie Snakes On A Plane, you better make sure you put snakes on that motherfuckin’ plane.

Similarly, given they slapped the name Game Of Death on their new film, French-Canadian directors Sébastien Landry and Laurence Morais-Lagacé were pretty much committed to delivering a full-on gorefest – which, happily, they have.

The blood-soaked horror flick, their second full-length feature, is a messy love letter to the slasher films of the ’80s; a violent free-forall based around a deadly board game that coerces its players into offing each other.

“In 2013 we made a short film called Caged that got some attention from French producers and distributors,” the directors jointly explain over email. “They

“We stayed realistic and open about how to get shit done, knowing we didn’t have much money and time.”

asked us if we could write a new original story in the same genre – gory horror – for a younger audience. At first they wanted a series of ten episodes, about ten minutes each, but we come from an internet [filmmaking] background, and we were bored of telling small stories that needed to have a cliffhanger in each episode.

“That’s why we decided to say, ‘Fuck it, let’s write it as a movie and we’ll figure out the rest after we cut it. Let’s just not think about that episodic version.’ Now as a result, the movie is its own thing and is also an episodic series [in Canada]”.

Game Of Death has clearly been made with one of horror cinema’s most dedicated audiences in mind: adolescents. It’s the kind of film you can imagine a bunch of 15-year-olds downloading while on a sleepover, their parents snoozing upstairs, and it has a jubilantly youthful, almost puerile feel to it.

The film’s central band of heroes – old friends who transform from unwilling murderers into committed killers – are astonishingly wellwritten, and come across less like the usual pack of self-absorbed millennial tossers we are conditioned to expect, and more like a fully formed bunch of living, breathing human beings.

“We decided to say, ‘Fuck it, let’s write it as a movie and we’ll figure out the rest after we cut it.’”

“We wanted a real and authentic feel to this group of friends,” Morais-Lagace and Landry explain. “We didn’t want a classic horror movie cast; we more wanted them [to be like] the characters from the movie Kids, directed by Larry Clark … We got actors from all over Canada to audition through Skype in order to find the perfect performers, but also the perfect group of believable friends.”

That’s not to make the film sound like some kind of buddy dramedy, mind you. Although anchored

by its believable heroes, more than anything Game Of Death is defined by its splattery, textural set pieces; scenes of almost cartoony violence, shot with aplomb.

“We talked a lot about how to achieve what we wanted [with the FX] and managed to find solutions. Sometimes we were like, ‘OK, how can we kill this guy in a way that would be amazing but fits in with the budget and time constraints?’ We stayed realistic and open about how to get shit done, knowing we didn’t have much money and time.”

The budgetary constraints only helped Morais-Lagacé and Landry further enhance their vision, and they treated the restrictions they were faced with more as obstacles to be hurdled over than solid brick walls.

“Making the film was a big ride but a really fun one. We were prepared, so nothing surprised us and we were able to make compromises right there on the set. The fact that we shot in chronological order was also a blessing. The actors could really get in the mood of the killing spree for real.”

W HERE: E V E N T C I N E M AS G E O RG E ST R E E T / D E N DY N E WTOWN WH EN : WED N ESDAY J U N E 7 / TU ESDAY J U N E 13

SPOOKERS This Film Is Haunted By Joseph Earp

F

lorian Habicht did not want to make Spookers.

When the acclaimed documentarian first got the call from the film’s producers offering him the opportunity to make a movie about New Zealand’s most famous haunted house, he almost turned it down. He was too busy working on his own passion project, he said, a feature he was set to shoot last year. But fate – or whatever version of fate organises the production of films about affable New Zealanders who dress up as carnivorous clowns – had other plans.

“The Madman production company gave me a call out of the blue to see if I was up for making Spookers, as they wanted a New Zealand director,” Habicht explains. “Suzanne Walker from Madman dreamed up the idea to make a documentary about Spookers, the haunted attraction.

I wanted to say no and focus on my drama project, but decided to go to Spookers and shoot a test, as I’d never been there before.

But when I arrived and saw all the performers in action and getting

into their make-up and costumes, I knew that this place was for me.”

Indeed, Habicht and the hardworking crew at Spookers – a family owned and run business that has been in the business of scaring paying customers for years – have more in common than one might necessarily think.

“The fact that the performers were all amateurs is something that I gelled with. ‘Amateur’ comes from a Greek word that means to do something out of love. I make all my films out of love and discovered filmmaking at art school rather than at a film school where they teach you specifically how to make films.

So I felt like we had something in common as artists.”

That kinship is evident in every single frame of Spookers.

Whereas a lesser filmmaker might have poked fun at the Spookers crew, joshing them for their weird dedication to an even weirder job, Habicht treats them with respect, allowing them to tell their frequently moving stories of hardship and pain without

“I don’t like documentaries that make fun of their subjects and I can’t see how I would have made fun of the Spookers gang.”

“To get the funding to make the film, you have to pretend you know exactly what the film is about and what will happen.” judgement.

“I don’t like documentaries that make fun of their subjects and I can’t see how I would have made fun of the Spookers gang,” Habicht explains. “I’m a freak myself anyway. The Spookers gang come up with their own characters, and do their own make-up and prosthetics. I was blown away by their creativity, and was curious about what goes on behind the mask.”

The film was shot in instalments over 30 days, so Habicht had

the time to properly explore every facet of the Spookers story. “We edit[ed] the footage as we went along. That way the film evolved naturally, and the documentary was written during the edit. It’s what I’ve found to be a very organic way to make documentaries, so the films find themselves, but what’s a bit odd is that to get the funding to make the film, you have to pretend you know exactly what the film is about and what will happen.

In our funding application, I [the filmmaker] was going to play a monster covered in slime that

lands on Earth from outer space with a video camera.”

Although the finished project might be curiously devoid of slime-covered filmmaker monsters, what it does contain is a whole lot of hilarity, fake blood and heart – oh, and a bunch of nods to the world’s worst director.

“Spookers has quite a few Ed Wood references,” Habicht says.

“Did you spot them? I even wore a pair of women’s underwear when we shot the film’s opening title sequence.”

W HERE : E V E N T C I N E M AS G E O RG E ST R E E T / D E N DY N E WTOW N WH EN : SATU R DAY J U N E 10 / SU N DAY J U N E 11 thebrag.com

BRAG :: 715 :: 31:05:17 :: 9

FULL PROGRAM AVAILABLE AT SFF.ORG.AU ▼

7–18 JUNE 2017

THE LEVELLING

“I’m not a believer in punishing actors and making them stay in some emotional place to create an authentic performance.”

Waterlogged By David Molloy

A

fter the catastrophic Somerset floods of 2014, which destroyed hundreds of acres of land and property, prodigal child Clare is returning to a broken home. The damage goes deeper than the house itself: her brother, Harry, is dead. Her estranged father terms his death “a stupid accident”, but the gun to Harry’s head suggests otherwise.

It’s brutal emotional terrain, especially for a director new to feature-length production, but Hope Dickson Leach has managed to keep a smile throughout the process of The Levelling. She puts it down to two factors: hard work, and an incredible team.

“I have been trying to make a feature film for a long time,” she says, fighting off an opportunistic cold in preparation for her journey to Sydney Film Festival. “I haven’t left the industry and come back, I’ve been working away [since 2007]. I’ve had two children during that time, which has helped me develop as a person.

“I’ve been preparing for this for years. [I’m] kinda the Hillary Clinton of debut feature makers

– I’ve been writing feature-length scripts and developing featurelength concepts and just having no one push ‘go’ on them. It was a question of, ‘Please just let me make a film and I can show you I can do it,’ so it was great to finally make one!”

In her debut, Dickson Leach has taken on an intimidating task, touching on recent history and a story heavy with emotional weight.

“We go for ‘emotionally powerful’, rather than ‘heavy’,” she says.

“People who’ve seen it, of all ages, have responded to the emotional stuff and they’ve found it hard, but they’ve also really enjoyed having that emotional experience. That’s something I think cinema has shied away from recently – that idea of sort of grown-up cinema that’s actually saying things about things that matter. Why shouldn’t there be stories that are emotionally powerful about real people’s lives?”

For an audience, that experience is limited to 83 minutes; the viewer achieves their catharsis and goes to grab an ice cream. For Dickson Leach, the story has been her

“Why shouldn’t there be stories that are emotionally powerful about real people’s lives?”

“I’ve been preparing for this for years. [I’m] kinda the Hillary Clinton of debut feature makers.” constant companion for two years, as both writer and director.

Naturally, she’s developed working methods for dealing with the weight of her responsibility.

“I probably won’t make a film this emotionally intense for a while, but you’re not on your own doing it; it’s a team sport. Most of [the cast and crew] come in and do four weeks on this. They don’t mind going to the dark place and saying, ‘How can we create this?’, and the art department’s saying, ‘We need more blood’,” she laughs. “It’s the creative challenge, as long as they understand the creative vision from me – that’s my job, to make them understand exactly what it’s for and why. It’s

not just gratuitous misery porn – what’s the heart of the project?”

Given her extensive experience in filmmaking, Dickson Leach has developed a deft touch for working with performers – a skill that has seen her film lauded as “incredibly assured” and “fiercely truthful”. She’s been blessed with uncompromising performers, among whom is Ellie Kendrick (Game Of Thrones) in the role of Clare.

“My actors are so incredible and so generous,” the director says.

“I’m not a believer in punishing actors and making them stay in some emotional place to create an authentic performance. I think they

have the skills and the talent to do that, and my job is to create the environment that will allow them to do that best, so for me, that was very deliberately an emotionally secure safe space. And that meant having a happy crew and a united crew and having people who would look after them.”

Ultimately, Dickson Leach is conscious that the project rests on her shoulders, and takes the responsibility in her stride – the years of hard work have paid off.

“As an indie filmmaker, [you understand that] you’re not just gonna have to lead the ship, you’re gonna have to start the engine every day.”

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FASHIONISTA Dress For Success By David Molloy

“I had this sort of brainwave, like, ‘Fuck it, why don’t I just write something for Amanda?’” actors are one of them,” he says.

“Cinematographers are another, editors are another. Every process of filmmaking can go wrong, so when you find people who are great, I tend to hold on to them. For example, my DP [the prolific Milton Kam] – Once Upon A Time In London was our ninth film together. And Amanda, she was pretty fearless in Red White & Blue. It was a tough psychological and emotional film, pretty raw; the subject matter was pretty harsh. It was not easy finding someone in America to do that role.

“It’s kinda crazy she hasn’t had more recognition, really, because her role in Red White & Blue was stunning, and her role in Fashionista is equally stunning, I would say.”

A

pril’s relationship is on the rocks. Her husband, the co-owner of a vintage clothing store, has been having an affair, and it has just come to light.

In an act of revenge, she torches some of their goods and slips into an affair with playboy Randall, little knowing that he is far more dangerous than he already seems.

As a maniacally structured rumination on obsession, Fashionista reunites writer/director Simon Rumley with actress Amanda Fuller, the star of his 2010 thriller Red White & Blue. In fact, he was so impressed with her turn

in that feature that she became something of a muse for his latest thriller, which is now being touted as their ticket out of festival-friendly genre filmmaking.

“Fashionista started its life as a different film, with a male lead,” says Rumley, speaking from the UK where he’s deep into the editing process for crime thriller Once Upon A Time In London.

“What I’d written I wasn’t happy with. It wasn’t great. So I had this sort of brainwave, like, ‘Fuck it, why don’t I just write something for Amanda? Do something closer to my heart?’

“I know what she can do, so I pushed the character knowing she can do all this stuff – the emotional stuff, vulnerable stuff, sexy stuff. We shot it in three weeks, so it was a pretty intense period for her, but she was fantastic and I hope to work with her many times in the future.”

Rumley is of the impression that good help is hard to come by, and so loyalty is a defining element of his approach to his ten-featuredeep career.

“There’s so many things that can go wrong in making a film, and

“Every process of filmmaking can go wrong, so when you find people who are great, I tend to hold on to them.”

The critics agree. Fashionista’s chronology-shattering sensory overload has garnered comparisons to Rumley’s icons and contemporaries, raising him (and his team) to the level of creatives like Nicolas Roeg and Nicolas Winding Refn. The comparisons to NWR’s The Neon Demon are the most natural, given that film’s focus on a young woman’s crumbling psychological state under the neon lights of America, and its focus on expression through couture.

“I think Neon Demon was less of a script, to be honest,” says Rumley. “As [Refn]’s gone on, some of the scripts he’s written himself feel more like mood pieces, really. Neon Demon was more an investigation of a state of mind or a state of being and a mood piece; less plot-driven cinema than an exploration of an emotional state. Anyone going into that film expecting a hardcore narrative like Drive was going to be disappointed. But it’s got lots of great imagery. Pretty hot girls in it, too, if you like that sort of thing.

“This film is a lot more narrativedriven – it’s non-linear, it jumps all over the place, so it’s still quite challenging in many respects, but I’d say it’s more obviously about a woman’s journey and what she goes through. It’s not about fame either … this is more about obsession, the peccadilloes of life. It’s garnered a few comparisons to Neon Demon; someone else called it a kind of demented Brian De Palma-type film, which I have to say, I quite liked.”

W HERE : E V E N T C I N E M AS G E O RG E ST R E E T / D E N DY N E WTOWN WH EN : TH U R SDAY J U N E 8 / WED N ESDAY J U N E 14 10 :: BRAG :: 715 :: 31:05:17

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7–18 JUNE 2017

FULL PROGRAM AVAILABLE AT SFF.ORG.AU ▼

“Iggy was even prepared after the shoot to do some extra voiceovers in a BBC radio studio.”

TO STAY ALIVE – A METHOD Survival Guide

By Joseph Earp

A

t first glance, Erik Lieshout, Michel Houellebecq and Iggy Pop don’t have a whole lot in common. Lieshout is a journalist and filmmaker; Houellebecq is the vicious novelist behind the startling best-seller Atomised; and Iggy Pop is the great punk stooge, the kind of abrasive talent who really needs no introduction.

So what, if anything, drew the three together? The answer is To Stay Alive – A Method, a by turns hilarious and haunting documentary helmed by Lieshout and starring Pop and Houellebecq, based on an essay written by the latter. The film takes an all-encompassing look at the intersection of art and survival, and features both fictionalised material and conversations between its two stars as they dissect their own success, and the cultural (and literal) starvation they had to endure to get where they are.

“Michel Houellebecq was raised by his grandparents,” Lieshout explains of his collaborator. “Not because his mother and father were dead, but because they thought they had more important things to do than to raise him. So Michel was not a very happy child … When he was 16 years old, he went to a record shop and bought the first album by The Stooges. It was just by accident – he liked the cover or something. He listened to it in the store, and by the end of the very first song ‘1969’, a deep emotion overcame him.

“Michel said to me recently, ‘At that very moment I realised I was no longer alone in this world.’”

And that love goes both ways, Lieshout explains. “I know Iggy has read everything from Michel that is available in English, and I know Michel has written a novel while playing a 12-minute

“When we shot the last scene, I was actually shocked to see that one of Iggy’s legs was way shorter than the other.” version of Iggy’s song ‘Open Up And Bleed’ on his computer on permanent repeat.”

Indeed, that connection between Houellebecq and Pop defines the film. To Stay Alive hinges on their relationship – on the odd, beautiful ways their works intersect. Happily, they proved to be as helpful collaborators as they are talented artists, and Lieshout was assisted to no end by their generous creative attitudes.

“You know, when you’re in the film business, there is always a lot of hassle … but these two guys, Houellebecq and Pop, were loyal. I could count on them. Iggy was even prepared after the shoot to do some extra voiceovers in a BBC radio studio.”

As a result of that loyalty, the film proved one of the most fruitful creative experiences of Lieshout’s career. “Every unexpected turn seemed to make the film better. And improbable shooting challenges, like

filming on a Parisian boulevard that was supposed to be empty, without any permission, went well. All kinds of quotes or images seemed to add up … I once read that everybody on the shoot of Taxi Driver had the same kind of feeling. A crew member of that film said, ‘We did it, and we knew we would never do it again.’”

The film does have a kind of miraculous feel to it – a sort of temporary wonder enhanced by even its smallest details. “When we

shot the last scene, I was actually shocked to see that one of Iggy’s legs was way shorter than the other,” Lieshout says. “‘It’s how I was built,’ he said. Simple as that. And then we did the shot, a long walk on the Boulevard SaintGermain, with Iggy walking in the middle of the street towards the sunrise, limping, and all the other poets and artists behind him and next to him. It was so impressive to see him limping the way for all these living suicidals. It really got me.”

W H E R E : D E N DY O P E RA Q UAYS / D E N DY N E W TOW N W H E N : F R I DAY J U N E 9 / M O N DAY J U N E 12

win SYDNEY FILM FESTIVAL The 64th edition of the world famous Sydney Film Festival is upon us. This year’s sprawling program features 288 films from 59 different countries, with a generous dose of features, documentaries, music films, shorts, familyfriendly fare and more.

Plus, 2017 marks the tenth anniversary of the prestigious Sydney Film Prize, worth $60,000 for its eventual winner. thebrag.com

The festival takes over venues around the city from Wednesday June 7 – Sunday June 18, and the full program is up at sff.org.au. We’re giving away a Flexipass 10, which can be redeemed for ten film tickets across the program (excluding special events). To enter the draw, visit thebrag. com/freeshit.

BRAG :: 715 :: 31:05:17 :: 11

7–18 JUNE 2017

FULL PROGRAM AVAILABLE AT SFF.ORG.AU ▼

Five Must-See Music Docos Screening At Sydney Film Festival This Year

By Nathan Jolly

M

usic documentaries are much like compilation albums: they can be a shameless cash grab slapped together without thought, or a meticulously planned document of a time and a place; a career-spanning tribute to artists that contribute to the

culture.

Sydney Film Festival 2017 is screening a mighty fine selection of some of the best classic and newly released documentaries about music. As is the case with the entire film festival, there is something available for every taste imaginable.

A

Whitney: Can I Be Me Wednesday June 7, Event Cinemas George Street / Friday June 9, Dendy Newtown

One of the greatest voices of our time, and one of the most tragic and frustrating downfalls. Whitney: Can I Be Me showcases both sides to Whitney Houston’s tale,

Friday June 16, Dendy Newtown

A

The Decline Of Western Civilization The first of the three ‘Decline’ documentaries made by director Penelope Spheeris is by far the best, focusing on the gritty LA punk rock scene in 1979 and ’80. Due to the nascent nature of the scene, Spheeris was granted amazing access to bands such as Black Flag, The Germs, Fear and X – and, as if to highlight the temporary and transient nature of the scene, the film poster features Germs singer Darby Crash lying topless on his back with his eyes closed. The photo was taken shortly before Crash died from suicide, after shooting up enough heroin to kill an elephant. Spheeris later directed the legendary Wayne’s World, which skewers many of the musical scenes she documented in her earlier years.

Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked The World A Wednesday June 14, Dendy Newtown / Friday June 16, Event Cinemas George Street

Unless you’ve thought hard about it, you’ve probably never considered the huge contribution Native American musicians have made over the years to popular music. This documentary attempts to rebalance the scales, highlighting everyone from The Band’s Robbie Robertson, who grew up on an Indian reservation, to Jimi Hendrix, who had Cherokee blood pumping through his genius veins. With talking heads from Martin Scorsese, Iggy Pop, Quincy Jones and many more, this is a documentary for music lovers.

A

The Go-Betweens: Right Here

Thursday June 15, Event Cinemas George Street / Friday June 16, Dendy Newtown Simply put, The Go-Betweens have one of the finest catalogues of Australian music ever created, with the twin powers of songwriters Grant McLennan and Robert Forster providing a

The Filth And The Fury

A

Sunday June 18, Art Gallery of New South Wales

When the Sex Pistols released a documentary in 1980, The Great Rock ‘N’ Roll Swindle, fans were expecting a no-holdsbarred look at one of the most controversial bands of the past five years. Instead they got a camp, highly stylised and mostly fictional account of the band’s dealings with manager Malcolm McLaren, with McLaren pushed

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complete with backstage footage, interviews with her friends and loved ones, and plenty of examples of her breathtaking vocal talent. The doco is directed

by Nick Broomfield, who helmed the salacious Kurt & Courtney, so expect something similar to that style – which is to say, something intimate, unflinching, and ultimately heartbreaking.

beautiful blend of the personal and keen-eyed observations of the Australian experience. Their story contains all the classic rock elements: personal fallings out between members, ill-conceived romances, indifferent reactions in their own backyard while they conquer cities overseas, and three decades of incredible music. Both sessions have sadly (gladly?) sold out, but you may be lucky enough to get in.

front and centre, and a baffling plot involving train robber Ronnie Biggs. Not surprisingly, this didn’t sate curious fans, and so director Julien Temple made up for this some 20 years later with the more measured, truthful and hilarious tale of the band’s quick rise and quicker fall. “Ever get the feeling you’ve been cheated?” sneered Johnny Rotten as the Pistols finished their final show in 1978.

Almost 40 years later, the Sex Pistols remain as entertaining as ever – and no, we don’t feel cheated at all.

thebrag.com

FEATURE

“Berlin is the city of nocturnal experiences.

It comes to life when the sun goes down.”

Husky A Knockout Blow By Natalie Rogers

I

n recent years, the vibrant city of Berlin has consistently topped the polls as the place to be for up-and-coming artists.

And while Melbourne’s Husky have no shortage of devoted followers across Australia, frontman Husky Gawenda admits he and his musical collaborator (and cousin) Gideon Preiss were seduced by the German city’s mix of splendour and spunk when they relocated there for the best part of 2015.

“Berlin is the city of nocturnal experiences,” says Gawenda. “It comes to life when the sun goes down. Pretty much anything you’re into, you can find there – and I mean anything.

“I think it’s important to have wild, adventurous, untethered times, to just move through the world and meet people, see places and have experiences, and feel things, both good and bad.”

Almost three years on from the release of Husky’s much-celebrated second LP Ruckers Hill, the APRA Award-winning songwriter seems to be content with life, and happy to be back surrounded by family and lots of new-found friends. “A lot has changed since [Ruckers Hill],” Gawenda says. “I really wanted to get away and just live life, but there was never any intention to stay away from Melbourne permanently.”

Indeed, Gawenda says he was keen to return home, inspired and armed with hundreds of fresh ideas, to begin work on their third album Punchbuzz, set for release this week. “For me it was important to come home and find a safe spot with a desk by a window, where there’s a bit more peace and quiet, and to bring all of those experiences and bits and pieces that I wrote together to start to form these songs.”

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He proceeded to search out new digs, and stumbled across a sprawling old house he affectionately named ‘the hotel’. “I’m speaking from the hotel now – I’m still living here,” he explains. “When I moved back from overseas at the beginning of 2016, I moved into an old mansion. It’s a share house but also a kind of artists’ collective, a late-night hang, and shelter for artists of all kinds, and troublemakers.”

As 2016 wore on, Gawenda and Preiss, along with long-time Husky drummer Arron Light and bassist Jules Pascoe, came to thrive artistically, embracing everything the new living quarters had to offer.

“I wrote the songs surrounded by creative eccentrics throwing parties and devising schemes late into the night,” Gawenda says. “It was an incredible environment to be in – we all enjoyed it, and it was great to have Jules a part of it.

“He came on board just after we recorded Ruckers Hill but he’s been touring with us for a while now and he’s also a very old friend of me and Gideon. We’ve played with him a lot over the years in other bands and projects since high school.

He had a big involvement in the demoing and the recording of the songs. He was great to have around – excellent ideas and beautiful playing. He’s definitely an integral part of Husky.”

Punchbuzz comes as a departure from Husky’s signature folk sound. The combination of darker lyrics and dynamic, driving melodies knocks you out on the

first listen. “It was a great experience to make this record locally, with a local producer and local musicians, and I think we will always lean towards doing it that way,” Gawenda says.

This time around, Husky chose the lauded producer/mixer Matt Redlich to join them on their burgeoning project. “First and foremost, working with Matt was fun and exciting. Those are two things I think are underrated when it comes to making records or being creative in general.

“For me it’s really important that everyone involved is super excited about what’s happening,” Gawenda adds. “He’s a guy who’s always thinking about the world or the universe and very much into the details. Often [Gideon and I] would arrive at the studio and spend two hours talking about anything and everything. It could be anything from the US election or an asteroid prevention plan,” he laughs. “Or we’d get the space station 24-hour live feed up on the computer and watch that for a while.

“We were all just excited to be working together, and I think that translated across to the music we were making, and ultimately the album. On top of that, [Matt is] an incredible engineer and a very creative producer. He knows how to run a studio and how to get the best out of you, and he’s someone that we will work with throughout the rest of our career.”

Punchbuzz is somewhat of a revelation for the already seasoned musicians that

“It’s important to have wild, adventurous, untethered times, to just move through the world and meet people.” make up Husky. Each song has light and shade, from the unpredictability of the lead single ‘Late Night Store’ to the mood-altering ‘Cut The Air’ and the dizzying heights of ‘Spaces Between Heartbeats’. Husky’s desire to throw caution to the wind moving forward is undeniable.

“In the past we may have limited ourselves. For example, before we would use the same instrumentation with different types of arrangements, whereas this time around we didn’t contain ourselves, and I think that Matt reinforced that attitude … [Punchbuzz is] a bit less introverted than our music in the past, perhaps. It was very enjoyable to make those songs and they’re really fun to play as well, so we can’t wait to bring them to the stage when we hit the road next month.”

What: Punchbuzz out Friday June 2 through Liberation With: Hot Spoke Where: Oxford Art Factory When: Thursday June 29

“I wrote the songs surrounded by creative eccentrics throwing parties and devising schemes late into the night.”

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Repressed Records

FEATURE

Bringing Down The House By Joseph Earp

“I think that Vivid really wanted to really represent emerging Australian music.” garage rock alone. The pair wanted to show off everything that the alternative scene can be; to buck away from the suggestion that it’s nothing but geeks dressed in black playing with distortion pedals.

R

epressed Records and the Sydney Opera House might initially seem like somewhat strange bedfellows. After all, one is an independent record store based out of King Street in Newtown and known for selling left-of-the-dial music, while the other is, y’know, the bloody Opera House. But despite their cosmetic differences, the two Sydney icons are both underpinned by an ethos that honours all musicians attempting something new, regardless of genre.

Indeed, between the Opera House’s gradual transformation into a venue just as likely to book a band like Deafheaven as a Shostakovich recital, and Repressed’s reputation as one of the Sydney DIY scene’s most essential hubs, there is

much more that connects the two spaces than that which divides them.

So given that thematic twinning, it stands to reason that the two spaces have a long and storied history.

“I was approached by the Opera House about doing a Five Years of R.I.P Society show, the record label I run,” says Repressed staffer Nic Warnock. “We did that in one of the smaller rooms at the House, back in 2013. And Vivid were really happy about all the local artists that were involved, and that the event was all about contemporary music. I think that Vivid really wanted to really represent emerging Australian music.”

“And [the relationship] really evolved from there,” adds Chris Sammut, Repressed’s

owner. “Now, a couple of years later, it being our 15th anniversary, they decided to give it another go, I think.”

Sammut and Warnock don’t think the folks at the Opera House are simply booking Repressed and R.I.P Society gigs for the shock factor, either.

Although the coming together of the House and experimental noise rock might sometimes have produced some hysterical media attention – the Royal Headache gig that culminated in a stage invasion and the presence of the police comes to mind – Sammut and Warnock describe the attitude of all those involved with the venue’s side of the shows as distinctly open and nonjudgemental.

“All the staff at Vivid and the Opera House are really

lovely,” says Warnock.

“They’re not patronising.

Like, this is by far the biggest stage a lot of these bands will have ever played, in the most official-feeling venue.

And these are acts that are really loved by a small group of people. I think that the Opera House people are very accepting of the fact these aren’t your typical people who would be playing in this type of environment.”

“People are just genuinely excited about it,” says Sammut. “Even with the [Royal Headache] stage invasion, they weren’t fussed about it. They were just telling us how great it was and what a great night that they had … I think these shows work for everybody. They give the bands on the bill a broader range and a further reach.”

“This is by far the biggest stage a lot of these bands will have ever played, in the most official-feeling venue.”

Total Control

For Sammut and Warnock, that diversity is an important way of moving the public perception past the overriding cliché that seeks to equate independent music with

“We wanted to reflect what our record store is with these shows,” says Warnock.

“We wanted to reflect what an independent music community, or a community stemming from punk ideologies, can look like in this day and age.”

“There’s so much stuff that’s based in DIY culture,” Sammut agrees. “It’s not just all based in shambolic guitar stuff. If you just look at the evolution of independent music over the last 20 years, you realise it’s crazy; independent music is everywhere. And we think that it all works together …

We want a variety, but we still have that DIY focus.”

This burgeoning renaissance in DIY music has also strengthened the communal feel within the scene, particularly here in Sydney.

Bands share space rather than trying to muscle each other out of it, and there is a unified sense of achievement when one group breaks out.

“Independent music is just an amalgamation of a million ideas now,” Sammut says.

“You just look at this lineup, and you just look at the family trees of those bands and how they connect – it’s a real web.”

What: Repressed Records 15th Anniversary With: Total Control, Lucy Cliche, Severed Heads, Miss Destiny, Angie and more Where: Northern Broardwalk, Sydney Opera House When: Thursday June 1

“If you just look at the evolution of independent music over the last 20 years, you realise it’s crazy; independent music is everywhere.”

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thebrag.com

Repressed Records photo by Damien Arkins

As far as the lineup for the upcoming 15th anniversary show was concerned, Sammut and Warnock worked hard to make it as sonically diverse as possible. Although headliners Total Control might be best known for their punky, guitar-based sound, the program isn’t just some pickfest – it also includes such aural experimenters as electro drone musician Lucy Cliche, folk maestro Francis Plagne and weirdo New Wavers Miss Destiny, and those tagging along would do well to turn up expecting anything and everything.

After all, throughout its 15-year history, Repressed has become famous for its all-encompassing gaze. You can stumble into the Newtown store and find just about anything, from Chicago rap to eerie blends of death metal and neo-folk. That’s the joy of the place – you can go in looking for records you love and walk out an hour later with half a dozen albums that you never even realised you loved; strange discoveries that you simply wouldn’t have stumbled across by yourself.

Benjamin Booker

FEATURE

Soul Searching By Anna Rose

T

he polluted haze of the Los Angeles sun is a far cry from the exotic places Benjamin Booker has experienced of late.

The New Orleans singer-songwriter, disenchanted and lost in his own world, took off for Mexico last year in a quest for some much-needed soulsearching. His second album Witness is a result of those experiences – a powerful record that’s heavily inspired by soul and R&B as well as garage rock. It’s a soundtrack to his thoughts and feelings circa 2017, and his fresh perspective on what is happening in the US right now.

“Go out there and be yourself, do something you love and it’ll be alright.”

“Good intentions aren’t good enough,” says Booker. “Being able to backpack, you are the sum of your actions, your good intentions. But you have to take a step back, think – work out how you yourself can be accountable for the state of things, of your life.”

The title track and lead single from Witness arrived in March, alongside an essay by Booker that detailed the issues important to him, and by extension, the inspirations for his album. Already, certain critics have interpreted Witness as a political record, but Booker disagrees.

“I don’t think it is [politically charged] at all. That’s just how people celebrate it. I think the message is kind of more selfish – the first [album, 2014’s Benjamin Booker] was about my relationship to other people, kind of like the problems I had with them, and I think with this one, it turned into me looking at myself, and addressing the issues in my own life.”

According to Booker, music and performance is ultimately an individual pursuit, and Witness is evidence as much. “I think they’re just personal songs,” he says. “They reflect what I’m trying to do in connecting to other people, like a group of people. These personal songs, I guess they spoke to a larger group that feel the way I do.”

To most people, the idea of dropping everything to relocate to a foreign country without even knowing the language – or even having an idea of what you want to achieve from the whole experience – is an intimidating one. Not so for Booker.

“I think it gets stale when you’re doing the same thing all the time.”

Benjamin Booker photo by Neil Krug

“That sounds like the best thing in the world,” he says firmly. “I enjoy being in uncomfortable situations and just taking off and putting myself in situations like that. I didn’t know what was going to happen. And being in Mexico, I was wearing a blindfold. I think it gets stale when you’re doing the same thing all the time, and for me, doing that opened up my eyes to a whole new perspective in life. I took away a lot from that trip.”

Aside from his international expedition, Booker says the songwriting process for Witness didn’t differ all that much from his self-titled debut release. “I just can’t sit down at the guitar and write – I try to do that every day and it doesn’t work for me,” he explains. “What I did when I went to Mexico – I got to know myself again, I took things as they came and wrote about them. I guess this album is a culmination of what’s happened to me over the last few years.”

Booker left the US a picture of confusion, dissatisfi ed and adrift, but he returned determined, inspired and able to pen some of his strongest work yet. Has the Witness thebrag.com

“I enjoy being in uncomfortable situations and just taking off and putting myself in situations like that.” experience changed how Booker will approach music from now on?

“I think it has, defi nitely,” he agrees.

“Generally I’m pretty anxious, like pretty on edge all the time, and I like to write music that makes me comfortable, that makes me able to take time to sit with the guitar – so that’s a lot of the time.

“I’m not one of these singers who can just sit down at a planned time and write a song – I’ve gotta feel it, it’s gotta be right. Going away was the

best thing in the world for me, and maybe I’ll need another experience like that to keep writing – who knows?

But for now, I guess Witness says it all. [I’m] trying to recapture that sense of aloneness, I guess.”

Of all the tracks on the new album, it’s opener ‘Right On You’ that resonates most closely with Booker.

“It’s my favourite to play and was one of the first I wrote after my trip,” he says. “I guess that was my ‘real’ song – I needed to get back to things

that are meaningful and I didn’t think I’d be happy with everything in my life, so the writing this time, it’s more profound.

“I just want everyone to not get overwhelmed and really educate yourself and know there’s more important things, and go out there and be yourself, do something you love and it’ll be alright.”

What: Witness out Friday June 2 through Rough Trade/Remote Control

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FEATURE

“It’s like your own little therapy session.”

Chastity Belt Things Are Different Now By Lee Coleman

“We’re sick of playing the same songs over and over again.”

T

here is a sense that Washington’s Chastity Belt are coming of age. Prankish at heart, their loose indie rock of albums past seems to be making way for reflective thinking.

On the cusp of their third studio album, I Used To Spend So Much Time Alone, the four-piece appear to be channelling life experiences in a more unfiltered way than before. Lead singer and guitarist Julia Shapiro sees stark improvement in their new record.

“We’re all much better musicians now,” says Shapiro. “There are more possibilities and more we can do, which makes songwriting way more fun because there’s less restriction.

“We’re able to play more complicated parts now,” she adds. “I think I’ve figured out what I want to sing about more too. It comes with more experience, growing up – we’ve gotten a lot closer from the amount of time we’ve spent together.”

Known for their wistful, guitar-driven dream pop and sun-flecked postpunk, the college-formed Chastity Belt continue to be a force for fun, friends and feminism: a highly refreshing – and endearing – challenge to pop’s incessant gender stereotyping. The band holds tightly to these principles

with ‘Different Now’ and ‘Caught In A Lie’, the first two singles from the new album. But it’s on ‘Different Now’ especially where things feel, well, different.

Shapiro found herself in a period of sustained creativity when it came to making the album as a whole, but her creativity wasn’t bound by a predefined goal.

“We wanted it to be the first single and the first track on the album because it felt like a bold statement,” Shapiro says. “It’s a theme for the album because we’re growing up and things are different now – things are always changing.”

“At the time it didn’t feel like we were writing an album,” she says. “It was more like, ‘Oh, here’s this new song,’ and it accumulated into a dozen songs, so we [thought we] should probably record. It wasn’t like we intentionally [set] out to write a concept album.”

There is no denying the quality of the lead single. Oddly galvanizing, it opens up to the struggles of solitude and ever-elusive hindsight. “Yeah it’s different now you’re old / And you try and you try,” codas the song, demanding we reflect upon life’s deterministic essence. While it’s not an about-turn sonically, it does feel like a decisive shift in tone for the band.

While Shapiro concedes that the songs are “all over the place”, she keenly points out that the absence of an endgame fails to fracture the album’s wholeness. “It does feel cohesive,” she says. “We do seem to have a certain sound just from playing together for so long.

“It is a little jammier,” explains Shapiro.

“While it has many different chords, it has two main chords in it the whole time. I feel like a lot of songs like that end up sounding really motivational or emotional. I know a lot of songs I like that I listen to over and over again are two-chord songs that have a lot of feeling in them and go on and on forever – it’s the kind of song that could go on forever if it wanted to.”

“There are more possibilities and more we can do, which makes songwriting way more fun because there’s less restriction.”

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“Some recurring themes on the album are coping with growing up, life changes, making mistakes, trying to be a better person – everyday things that people can relate to. How it is to be a person.” Shapiro laughs. “It’s like your own little therapy session.”

While Shapiro is responsible for each song’s overall viewpoint as the lyricist and vocalist, Chastity Belt’s long-standing bond and enduring closeness mean her personal poetry can be interpreted through the collective gaze of the group – a four-picture panoramic, rather than Shapiro’s singular snapshot of the world.

“All the lyrics I write are from my own personal experiences, but because we’re close friends we share a lot of similar thoughts and feelings and

ideas, so it’s a shared perspective in a way,” she agrees.

Aside from shared perspectives, Chastity Belt also have a taste for mixing it up musically, with guitarist Lydia Lund and drummer Gretchen Grimm trading their primary roles with Shapiro.

“Lydia recorded a song, ‘Bender’, one of the bonus tracks,” Shapiro explains.

“She sings that one and wrote the lyrics for it, and Gretchen has a couple of songs too (‘Stuck’, ‘Don’t Worry’) that I drum on and Gretchen sings and plays guitar.”

With a 27-day American, UK and European tour coinciding with the album’s release, Chastity Belt are looking forward to hitting the road once again. Kicking off in their spiritual home of Seattle this week, Shapiro and co. are eager to find that sweet spot in the setlist: performing new songs alongside those that people already know.

“While I think people appreciate hearing new music, they maybe don’t express that as much in the audience,” says Shapiro. “It’s a different feeling seeing them dancing and singing along to an older song than having them stare at you and really listen, but not sing along – it’s hard to tell if they’re enjoying it.

“We try to balance it, because we do enjoy playing new songs more. We’re sick of playing the same songs over and over again. It’ll be nice when the album’s out because we can play songs from that which are still pretty new and people will have heard them after listening to the album.”

What: I Used To Spend So Much Time Alone out Friday June 2 through Hardly Art/Inertia

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FEATURE

“Black people were getting shot down all over the country.

Shit was crazy. How could anyone make a happy album in such a chaotic time?”

Body Count Ice-T Spills The Beans By David James Young

“I

’m runnin’ ‘round here like a fuckin’ chicken with its head cut off, man!”

Never one to mince words, Tracy Lauren Marrow – best known to the world as rapper-slash-actor Ice-T – cuts to the chase as soon as his voice hits the phone line. It’s Friday morning Australian time, and news has broken overnight about the untimely passing of Soundgarden vocalist Chris Cornell.

Ice-T knows the band well (“They used to cover [Body Count song] ‘Cop Killer’ all the time,” he says) and met with Cornell many times over the years (he was “a really cool guy”).

The connection between Cornell and Ice-T’s band Body Count, however, is far more immediate than simply one covering the other’s signature song.

“So get this,” Ice-T begins. “My bass player in Body Count [Vince Dennis AKA Vince Price] is Soundgarden’s guitar tech. Vince was in Detroit with them. They were touring, and we were waiting on Vince to get back so we could start rehearsals for our upcoming tour. He’s coming back early now, and he’s just in shock. This tragedy happened, and my man was right there. They’d just done this show together – it was crazy.

“It’s a horrible thing to take your own life. You’re on tour, you’re doing all these sold-out concerts, and you go in a room and kill yourself… I mean, people that have never been through that sort of thing would never be able to understand that. It’s a whole other level of depression – it’s so sad.”

Ice-T’s rap metal pioneers Body Count returned in March with a brand new

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LP entitled Bloodlust, their sixth. It’s an album that’s just as enraged and disenfranchised at the world around it as any of the band’s classic output: the more things change, the more they stay the same.

“When the record came out, I had people asking me if I’d written the lyrics the week before,” Ice-T snickers.

“The whole thing was a perfect storm. It just so happened that we were coming into the primaries for the election when we were starting to write the record. The world started imploding, Donald Trump came out… it was wild. Black people were getting shot down all over the country. Shit was crazy. How could anyone make a happy album in such a chaotic time?

One of the things I never mention on the album is Trump. I didn’t think he could be President. I didn’t think it could happen. I was wrong.”

Body Count formed all the way back in 1990, when Ice-T and some high school friends decided to get together and explore their love of heavy metal after the rapper had made several solo LPs. Despite the band garnering critical acclaim and notoriety at the time, many younger listeners have only recently discovered Body Count’s music. It’s particularly shocking to those who only know Ice-T from his role as Sergeant Fin Tutuola on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, or from his cheesy 2010s reality show Ice Loves Coco. That’s not something

that’s lost on Ice-T at all. “Do the math,” he reasons.

“I been on Law & Order almost 20 years now. So, if you’re 20, then you were only a baby when I started on the show. You gotta understand that these generational things are real. The thing is, I’m just like everybody else. When you listen to Bloodlust, you’re probably mad at the same stuff. You just don’t have a vehicle to voice it the way that I do.

“Every time I say something, verse for verse, I want people to say, ‘That’s right! That’s right! I wish I said that!’

Whether I’m livin’ in the hills or I’m livin’ in the gutter, I know what’s goin’ on. I got two eyes! I see it! Why wouldn’t I be mad?”

Body Count will undertake a whirlwind tour of Australia this June in support of Bloodlust, and it marks their first time playing in Australia in over 20 years, following on from the ill-fated Alternative Nation festival in 1995.

That festival saw Body Count go up against ’90s heroes like Nine Inch Nails, Faith No More and Tool, as well as the legendary Lou Reed and an obscure young band by the name of Powderfinger. Ice-T has few memories to share from ’95 – “I can barely remember what happened last week!” he quips – but he is certainly excited to be performing on Australia’s east coast alongside the fiery A.B. Original.

“One of the things I never mention on the album is Trump. I didn’t think he could be President. I didn’t think it could happen.

I was wrong.”

“I’m a big fan of Briggs,” he says. “I’ve been on Twitter with him for a few years. When we were gettin’ the tour together, he hit us up and asked who was opening. I told him that was all on the promoter, and I guess somebody made the right call – because they’re on it now! I’m excited about that.

“I’ve been to Australia a few times, and it’s always a great response.

Sometimes, the further you’re away from home, the more excited people are to see you.” Ice-T laughs, and concludes: “And y’can’t get much further away than Australia now, can you?”

What: Bloodlust out now through Century Media/Sony With: A.B. Original, Void Of Vision Where: Big Top Sydney, Luna Park When: Saturday June 3

“This tragedy happened, and my man was right there.

They’d just done this show together – it was crazy.”

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arts reviews

arts in focus ■ Film

20th Century Women Is A Nuanced Film About Life, Family And Feminism

By Natalie Salvo

“This nuanced and warm film is beautifully shot, with great performances and an excellent soundtrack.”

Dorothea feels out of touch with the world – she has difficulty understanding punk music and some aspects of second-wave feminism – so she enlists her boarders to help raise her boy so that he may grow up and become a wellrounded individual.

2

0th Century Women is a slow-burning dramedy about humans of Santa Barbara. Or to put that another way, a pseudofamily of five individuals living amidst the social and

cultural changes taking place in America in 1979.

This semiautobiographical film by writer/director Mike Mills (Beginners) reads like a love letter to his mother.

Annette Bening stars as Dorothea and puts in a fine, emotional and fragile performance as an independent woman and the single mother to a teenage boy named Jamie (Lucas Jade Zumann).

A photography student with a Ziggy Stardustcoloured hairstyle named Abbie (Greta Gerwig) is one such helper. She is quirky and artistic, while William (Billy Crudup) is a sensitive handyman who is a hit with the ladies in the bedroom but can’t

deal with them after the fact. Elle Fanning plays the slightly troubled Julie, Jamie’s older and worldlier friend and confidante.

The lives of these individuals are quietly observed in separate vignettes. The plot is a tad thin, but the overall story is told from their different perspectives and the characters share narration and voiceover duties.

This nuanced and warm fi lm is beautifully shot, with great performances and an excellent soundtrack that features

Talking Heads and Black Flag, among others. Archive videos are also included, helping give context to the character’s worlds.

They also lend an air of authenticity to the story and its depiction of life’s fl eeting moments.

20th Century Women examines the idea of motherhood, friendship and family. It is rich with the ebb and fl ow of life, and certain quiet moments in the specifi c lives of a group of ordinary people. It’s also proof positive that it takes a village to raise a child.

20th Century Women opens in cinemas on Thursday June 1.

■ Theatre

The Ham Funeral Is A Well-Acted Production Weighed Down By Its Language

By Annie Murney

P

atrick White’s The Ham Funeral caused quite a stir when it was rejected from the Adelaide Festival in 1962. Under the directorial hand of Kate Gaul, Siren Theatre Co. has taken White’s script back out of the vault.

Soaked with post-war gloom, this tragicomedy is a “mad, muddy mess of eels”, in the words of the young man who takes up lodging in the play’s creaking, decrepit house. This young man (Sebastian Robinson), a poet with no past, delivers a prologue and declares the plight of the artist as one of “knowing too much and not enough”. Positioned as both a character and a commentator, he moves around the house of the bawdy Alma and jaded Will

Lusty (Eliza Logan and Johnny Nasser).

When Will suddenly drops dead, Alma and the poet rally together the relatives in anticipation of a ‘ham funeral’. The motley suburban circus that crawls out of the undergrowth is probably the strongest part of the story: Nasser, Jane Phegan, Carmen Lysiak and Andy Dexterity are like a tribe of oddballs from the world of Roald Dahl – twitchy, creepy and perfectly costumed.

Unfortunately, Robinson’s performance as the aspiring poet feels stilted, as if he’s labouring through White’s verbosity, while Jenny Wu appears as his ethereal muse echoing around the stage, dancing in and out of the spotlight. Logan, however, is a steady enough centrepiece as the brash

and outlandish Alma, building toward an attempted seduction of the young man.

The Ham Funeral is a difficult play to lift from page to stage. The language is rich and metaphorical – for instance, the young man describes the relatives as having “thin shoulders green at the seams”. But White’s script still feels contrived and overdone, as if ultimately an exercise in intricate lyricism, symbols and metaphors.

As a consequence, the writing seems to weigh down the action of the play and whatever motivations are driving its characters.

The Ham Funeral is playing at SBW Stables Theatre until Saturday June 10.

“The Ham Funeral is a difficult play to lift from page to stage.”

■ Comedy

Songtourage’s Dumb Song Night Was Actually Really Clever

By Erin Rooney

A

s far as comedy acts go, an allmale a cappella group singing stand-up is pretty niche.

But somehow, these five

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talented Sydney blokes managed to pull off a Dumb Song Night, leaving the audience in stitches with their cute but dark humour.

If anyone was in doubt about what the night would entail, Songtourage quickly cleared it up in their opening song, ‘Turn Off Your Phones’. The

“As far as comedy acts go, an all-male a cappella group singing stand-up is pretty niche.”

in a time when landlines were king. Meanwhile, ‘Six Fish’ called back to the cruel but also ridiculous games of the primary school playground, which were once law.

sweet ditty introduced the group in barbershop style, with each member taking turns at lead and the backing “doo-ahs”.

Songtourage’s interaction with the audience was very imaginative and one of the highlights of the show, with the group creating “would you rather?” songs on the fly that were so dumb they were almost brilliant.

The nostalgia of childhood and adolescence played a big role in the show, and this was cleverly tied into modern themes, and the perspective of being an adult. For instance, ‘Landline Bling’ was a hilarious spoof of Drake’s hit ‘Hotline Bling’, reimagined from the viewpoint of a teenager

Though they are all competent singers, the boys lost their pitch at times – but the technique wasn’t at all the focus of the show compared to the jokes. The true strength of this act was that everyone

in the group brought their own personality and charm to the performance.

Songs like ‘Confident By Email’ and ‘Ibis Song’ did what comedy does best: taking the mundane and making it noteworthy.

Songtourage made a genre usually performed

by Ivy League college students and male retirees uniquely their own, but more importantly, they brought a fun flavour to it – and that’s something worth singing about.

Songtourage were reviewed at the Factory Theatre on Saturday May 20 as part of Sydney Comedy Festival 2017.

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game on Gaming news and reviews with Adam Guetti

While E3 2017 might show you all the games you’ll be clamouring for in the next 12 months, there’s still plenty to enjoy throughout June. The first cab off the rank is Tekken 7 (PS4, XBO, PC), the long-running series that will finally end its own 20-year-long Mishima feud. It fights its way into your life from Friday June 2.

2017

Moving on, and Tuesday June 6 will be met with The Elder Scrolls Online’s Morrowind expansion (PS4, XBO, PC). Designed for newbies and veterans alike, the new content will allow any player to jump in without having already completed prior content.

Meanwhile, Nintendo Switch fans may have a future classic on their hands in the form of Arms. The quirky fighter drops combatants possessing extendable limbs into an arena for what is sure to be an incredibly enjoyable time. You can get in on the action and the laughs from Friday June 16.

Supanova Comic Con & Gaming Expo

Zedtown: State Of Emergency

You might not be able to afford international flights to get yourself along to this year’s E3, so why not visit Supanova 2017 instead?

Kicking off on Friday June 16 at Sydney Showground, there’ll be a little something for everybody. Video games, comics, movies, television and more combine for what is bound to be a memorable three days.

If you’re notorious for bringing your Nerf battles into the home, office or schoolyard, Zedtown is just for you.

A game of real-world zombie-themed tag on a massive scale, Zedtown: State Of Emergency starts with a whole lot of ‘survivors’ packing Nerf blasters. Over the course of an afternoon, survivors will be hunted by zombies (both obvious and secret) who hope to tag the opposition and turn the tide towards the undead. As the four-hour battle rages, the virus inevitably spreads, making it harder and harder for the remaining stragglers to stick it out. This year’s event will take place on Saturday July 8 at Sydney Showground and is bound to be a whole lot of fun, so for tickets and more information visit zedtown. com.

Plus, as usual there will be some truly stellar guests walking around the show floor. This year you can geek out to the new voice of Kratos and Stargate SG-1 star Christopher Judge, Supergirl’s David Harewood and Doc Brown himself, Christopher Lloyd. Great Scott!

If you’re after something for the little ones, however, check out Cars 3: Drive To Win. The game takes place after the latest film’s final big race, and should provide plenty of light entertainment when it races onto PS4, XBO, Switch, Wii U, PS3 and 360 from Wednesday June 14.

Jumping ahead to Tuesday June 20, dedicated players of Final Fantasy XIV (PS4, PC) have something to be excited about with the release of the Stormblood expansion, which increases the level cap and allows for new jobs and greater exploration.

Wrapping things up on Friday June 30 is a shot of nostalgia via Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy. The collection remasters the first three games in the series for PS4 gamers, and how it performs will determine whether or not a brand new game in the series is green lit.

WHAT’S ON

JUN

New Releases

Tickets start at $28 and can be purchased from supanova.com.au.

reviewroundup

By Adam Guetti

Review: Injustice 2 (PS4, XBO, PC)

I

njustice: Gods Among Us was a surprisingly competent fighter back in 2013 that won over a lot of fans with its gritty superhero versus superhero hook. Its sequel, on the other hand, fires on all cylinders, providing a superior experience in almost every way. Combat has been enhanced with a noticeably faster (and welcomed) pace, a lengthy campaign that engrosses, and a whole lot of loot to earn and deck out your characters with. This is a solo gamer’s dream, and with a wealth of classic DC characters to duel against, who needs snoozeworthy films when you can create your own 4.5 brutal fun?

Review: The Surge (PS4, XBO, PC)

Review: Prey (PS4, XBO, PC)

A

fter completely falling off the radar, Prey finally sees the light of day, and in Arkane’s hands has managed to become an impressively tense ride. The story of Morgan Yu and Talos-1 might not always hit the perfect notes, but still largely succeeds at luring you towards the next beat. It’s also an incredibly dangerous mission, with the highly adaptive mimics serving as a consistently unnerving adversary. Although more developed enemies occasionally feel like bullet sponges, and the journey is plagued with some serious backtracking, it doesn’t detract from Prey’s overall polish. Now with Dishonored and Prey under its belt, Arkane Studios is well worth keeping an eye on.

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S 4

et in a futuristic, sci-fi world, The Surge borrows a great deal of inspiration from the likes of Dark Souls and Bloodborne. But while it may feel like those games, this action RPG fails to share the same degree of quality, meaning it falters more often than you’d like.

The narrative – focusing on uncovering the shady secrets of a seemingly humanitarian corporation – exists purely to lead you from point to point, while environments feel admittedly repetitive. Yet what saves The Surge is enjoyable combat, which subverts the Souls formula just enough, allowing you to target specific parts of the body. So then, if you’ve been looking for a little variation in your Souls 2.5 games, The Surge’s outer space antics may just be your solution.

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FOOD + DRINK

REVIEW PRICE PER MAIN:

Leura Garage

$: $0-10 $$: $10-20 $$$: $20-35 $$$$: $35-50 $$$$$: $50+

LEURA

BY JESSICA WESTCOTT

A

s a relative newcomer to the city lifestyle, I am the first to admit that a retreat to the mountains is high on the list every two or three months.

So it’s really nice when I get the opportunity to show off to my city-slicker friends that incredible cuisine exists west of Penrith (it really does!).

My favourite spot in the Blue Mountains is Leura, and the newest eatery there that everyone is talking about is Leura Garage.

Just off the highway, and down a lane absolutely alive with autumn colours, is this renovated former mechanic’s garage (hence the name) that is as full of friendly faces as it is rustic charm.

The garage is pretty big, with plenty of large tables to bring a family, and equally as many smaller nooks off to the side where you may take a date. It offers a stellar, enormous menu throughout the day, and you can indulge mostly in tasting platters after 5pm.

We are seated for lunch, and chat to the wonderfully likeable waitress Denise as she brings us two flagons of the Orangebrewed Badlands beer (a pale ale and a seasonal draught). The Central West breweries are always knockouts, and this is no exception.

“

Leura Garage’s new autumn menu is a mixture of hearty, meaty flavours, with an emphasis on locally grown produce.

Leura Garage’s new autumn menu is a mixture of hearty, meaty flavours, with an emphasis on locally grown produce. We are treated to an appetiser of house-made grissini accompanied by locally fermented balsamic vinegar. All around me, plates of polenta chunk chips are being brought out – the dish is clearly popular with the locals.

A mushroom burger catches our eye, featuring a field mushroom with so much meat on it it could have easily passed for a chicken breast. An oozy, creamy, goats’ cheese sauce drips over our fingers, and gives the meal a hearty feel.

Next is the sausage roll. Technically, it’s not really a sausage roll – there’s no pastry involved here. It’s actually called a ‘sausage log’ – essentially a long, home-made pork sausage coiled tightly on a plate, served with a dollop of caramelized onions and Dijon mustard. The super casual feel of eating a giant coil of sausage just makes sense here, and the taste is superb.

For dessert the vanilla panna cotta, listed at the top of the menu, is an obvious selection.

One between two is just not enough, but next time we’ll know not to share. Flecks of vanilla and seasonal fruits adorn a bouncy, ice-cold panna cotta that melts in the mouth.

A star menu item, for sure.

Leura Garage prides itself on its laidback, casual approach to dining, while still managing to keep the entire menu classic, sophisticated and boasting a huge variety of local produce. If your shoulders are too tense from months in the city, and if you feel like you just need to take a deep breath and relax somewhere, then I highly suggest heading west. And stop in and say ‘hi’ to the cockatoos at the Garage on your way.

Where: 84 Railway Pde, Leura When: Mon – Sun noon-late

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thebrag.com

out & about Queer(ish) matters with Arca Bayburt

brag beats

Off The Record Dance and Electronica with Alex Chetverikov

The Best New Electronic Releases You Need To Hear This Week This week, we’re again taking a look at some fantastic new releases, with a focus on Australian producers and labels.

Why Coming Out In High School Was One Of The Scariest Moments Of My Life

L

ast week, a 17-year-old boy from Melbourne Grammar stood up on the stage during an assembly, and proceeded to tell his entire school that he is gay.

Reading this news made me tense up in a full body cringe, remembering my own quasi-public admission of homosexuality in front of my class when I was 16.

I didn’t feel the cringe because of shame, I felt it because I remember how freakin’ vulnerable I felt in that moment. I couldn’t have imagined doing it in front of 1,000 people – it was hard enough to do it in front of 30.

Also worth noting is that Melbourne Grammar is an all boys’ school. I went to an all girls’ school. The gay thing is huge at single sex schools. You can’t surround yourself with the opposite sex to ‘prove’ you’re straight or somehow drape yourself in hetero camouflage.

My own high school closet ejection was totally unplanned.

I was in a sociology class, and my 60-something-year-old teacher was talking to us about marriage. We went around in a circle and gave our thoughts about whether we wanted to get married.

Gay marriage wasn’t a topic that was in mainstream society’s consciousness enough for it to have filtered into the conversation as it would today. It was still ‘niche interest’ and existed on the fringes, so of course, nobody mentioned it.

For all I knew, everybody else in the class was heterosexual. I was second last in line to speak, and I felt my guts coil up in fear. I didn’t understand why I suddenly felt afraid; I felt like if I plain

On Friday June 2, head over to The Red Rattler in Marrickville for Queer Island, a hedonistic queer party hosted by DJ Homo Rainbow with DJs (including HipHopHoe, and more to be announced), drag queens and queer performers. All proceeds will be donated to Triple Care Farm’s music program. Tickets are available now.

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As each girl spoke of her potential marriage/non-marriage, I felt the adrenaline in my body intensify. By the time it came to my turn, I could barely control myself. My hands were shaking and my stomach was swooping around.

My heart was trying to escape out of me via my arse. My body was behaving like I was lining up to get shot.

“I LOOKED HER DEAD IN THE EYE, AND WAS SURPRISED

BY MY VOICE, WHICH CAME OUT LEVEL AND LOW. I SAID, ‘I CAN’T GET MARRIED.’”

This kid’s actions are important. This is what we need to challenge a collective homophobia that is so entrenched it’s become part of the paintwork. Each time somebody comes out like this, in a show of defiance and, let’s be real, shitloads of courage, it makes it easier for somebody else to do it as well.

this week…

lied and said I wanted to get married, it wouldn’t sound believable and that somehow, they’d know I was trying to cover my gayness. If I said I didn’t want to get married, I would basically be admitting my gayness. I was in a pickle.

As my adorable old lady teacher innocently asked me if I wanted to get married, I looked her dead in the eye, and was surprised by my voice, which came out level and low. I said, “I can’t get married.”

Melbourne producer Hymns debuted on the outstanding Salt Mines label with the EP Waves Of Nothing. I’m always most fascinated by producers who can amalgamate, hint at, blend or collage a variety of genres without aping the style or specific producers (I guess they call this uniqueness, right?). Hymns absolutely nails it, with breakbeat, electro, techno and acid crosspollinating across all four cuts. I recommend grabbing this one ASAP, it’s stellar.

Next, another Salt Mines release: Hybrid Rhythm EP from 92 Spacedrum Orchestra. This is crisp, chirpy deep house with more than a hint of the lo-fi aesthetic (and a mix

from lo-fi legend Route 8 no less, doubling down and kicking up the bass a notch and leaning towards a harder Prescription Records groove).

The perennial, everconsistent Sleep D released two great EPs in the last few months through their own superb label Butter Sessions. On Space Pillow/Confusion, side A works a muscular dub techno groove, while the flip features an intergalactic late-night techno cut with insistent clap and warped-siren synth pushing it further into the unknown. Their second release features a collaboration with Albrecht La’Brooy, one of Australia’s finest current exponents of electronic music.

Now, shift a little closer to deep house (and to Sydney!) with the label Post Pluto. Released in late 2016, T.hanks’ Café Bohemian EP features a title track that presents gorgeous string swells and a core sample from

She looked confused but didn’t ask what I meant. I knew in this moment I’d have to go all the way, and clarify.

“Because,” I said, “I’m gay.”

Dead silence.

“I’M ALWAYS MOST FASCINATED

BY PRODUCERS WHO CAN AMALGAMATE, HINT AT, BLEND OR COLLAGE A VARIETY OF GENRES.” Cinematic Orchestra’s ‘The Revolution’.

Underscored by a simple tambourine shake, this is exquisite deep house that slowly unravels its emotional fabric. And that’s just the title cut!

A little plug for Newtown’s Network Connection record store, too. Sat within an airy and relaxed top level space, with a refreshing limit to its collection, and specialising particularly in electronic music and off-kilter compilations, it’s a necessity.

THIS WEEK’S PLAYLIST

I felt like the air had been sucked out of the room.

Idjut Boys

The girls around me were unblinking, mouths open. The teacher stared at me for about two seconds, seeming to short circuit. I was like, “Oh God, please don’t say something nasty,” and then suddenly she rebooted and said, “Well, I don’t have a problem with that, not one iota!”

And with that, the pressure in the room stabilised and I could breathe again.

Years later, a girl in that class sent me a message thanking me for coming out. It had given her the courage to come out too. This was shocking to me, because I’d never have expected my actions to have any consequence for anybody but myself.

It was nice.

That said, congratulations to that Melbourne Grammar boy – who knows how many he’s saved just by being honestly and unabashedly himself?

On Saturday June 3, get down to The Shift Club on Oxford Street for The Reunion – Black & White. As the name suggests, the dress code is black and white, with prizes for best dressed announced onstage at midnight.

This is an over 30s event and features DJs Cadell, Jorgie Jay, Charlie Brown, Louie Diamond and Klimax.

Tickets are available now.

Also on Saturday June 3, as part of Vivid Music, eminent drag queen Vanessa Wagner is hosting Cosy Nook at the Captain Cook Hotel in Paddington. It’s is a night of music, dancing, art and exhibitionism, held without pretence, and dressing up is encouraged. Tickets are available now but will sell quickly, so get on it.

Idjut Boys! They’ve seemingly been around forever. Revisit their excellent compilations and edits, Saturday Nite Live Volume One and Two, for a disco boogie dub party pack with little Latin twists.

RECOMMENDED THURSDAY JUNE 1

The Ladies Network Harpoon Harry

Birthday – Day/Night Party Freda’s

FRIDAY JUNE 2

FRIDAY JUNE 16

Kim Ann Foxman Goodbar

SATURDAY JUNE 3

Vibe Positive Third

Rings Around Saturn & Mic Mills Freda’s Legowelt (live), Lipelis, Steele Bonus

Secret location

SATURDAY JUNE 17

Women In Electronic Music Masterclasses 2017 Marrickville

SATURDAY JULY 22 Oneman Civic Underground

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

ALBUM OF THE WEEK BERNARD FANNING Brutal Dawn Dew Process/Universal

Brutal Dawn serves as the companion record to Bernard Fanning’s recently released Civil Dusk, with the two albums working hand in hand to develop a fully rounded storyline. Brutal Dawn displays a level of realism that borders on cynicism at times, as Fanning expresses morose ponderings through lyrics detailing heartbreak, loss and regret.

This effort sees Fanning dabbling with acoustic and electric elements, making use of an array of instruments to develop intricate melodies. The record also includes a plethora of special guests, including Wolfmother’s Ian Peres lending a hand on

the keyboard, Clare Bowditch chiming in with spine-tingling vocal harmonies, and Midnight Oil’s Rob Hurst on drums. These collaborators undoubtedly influence the diversity of the tracks across the album.

Each song brings something different to the table. ‘Shed My Skin’ infuses a contemporary violin melody with Fanning’s classic acoustic roots sound, complemented by soft keys. ‘Isn’t It A Pity’ serves up a full band sound and upbeat melody juxtaposed with disheartened lyrics, creating a beautiful paradox that leaves you unsure how to feel.

Throughout the album, Fanning displays a genuine honesty and rawness, resulting in a strong set of evocative and emotionally driven tracks.

“This effort sees Fanning dabbling with acoustic and electric elements, making use of an array of instruments to develop intricate melodies.”

Kate Streader

INDIE ALBUM OF THE WEEK EMILEE SOUTH Motel Independent

When you record at The Aviary and you have Melbourne’s elite playing alongside you, then you can almost be assured your record will be nothing but gold.

Emilee South’s Motel opener ‘My Baby (Don’t Return My Calls)’ is a tremolo rockabilly guitar’n good time. It’s short, at two minutes, and features vocal harmonies that are sweet like Manuka honey. Catchy and fast-paced, it’ll make you want to swing your hips. As a guitarist, it’s easy to find comfort in a cool bluesy lick, but for music lovers of all persuasions, this is a call to arms.

Elsewhere, ‘Little Desert’ sounds like it could easily fit into an American TV soundtrack where the protagonist is about to seek revenge, driving through the Californian desert, while ‘Watch Out’ broods away with a solid rhythm section that would easily complement a slow shimmy.

Tell your mum, tell your dog, and tell your friends, because Emilee South is soon to be the name on everyone’s lips.

Motel is a definite highlight of this year’s local releases and you need it in your life.

Tex Miller

“Tell your mum, tell your dog, and tell your friends, because Emilee South is soon to be the name on everyone’s lips.”

FIRST DRAFTS Unearthed demos and unfinished hits, as heard by Nathan Jolly The Beatles – ‘Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds’ imply put, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band is the most inventive, innovative pop album ever recorded. That it came from the biggest band in the world at the time (at any time) makes it even more of an amazing, unprecedented feat.

S

The Beatles were the perfect stenographers, tapping into the times, while simultaneously shifting them into what they wished the world to be. Sgt. Pepper is part Lewis Carroll, part kitchen-sink drama, and part Indian trek – a dazzling, colourful

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The trippiest song on the album is the lysergic dream that is ‘Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds’: its title influenced by a drawing John Lennon’s son Julian did of his friend Lucy O’Donnell, in the sky, surrounded by diamond-like stars.

It was meaningless, and perfect.

The lyrics dripped with surreal imagery, and the knock-knock of Ringo Starr’s snare hits burst through the doors of perception into a sunny, hooky chorus that no radio programmer could resist, despite persistent rumours that

the title was a coded reference to LSD – something which Lennon and McCartney both denied (considering their forthrightness regarding drugs, I tend to believe their protests of innocence).

Whether or not they intentionally put the initials in the title, the rest of the song is one big acid trip, all tangerine trees and marmalade skies.

The first iteration of the song, since unearthed, is an amazing insight into how collaborative the process between Lennon and McCartney was. The

aforementioned chorus is missing; Paul is on a Lowrey organ, sliding between various presets; and the snippets of chat suggest that The Rutles’ parody of the band wasn’t too far from how they bantered, even when away from the prying eyes of the press.

The song was built over four days, but the bones are already here in the very first take. So incredibly high.

Listen to the fi rst take of ‘Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds’ at thebrag.com. xxx

“The lyrics dripped with surreal imagery, and the knock-knock of Ringo Starr’s snare hits burst through the doors of perception.”

carnival ride, with artwork, sounds and lyrics that announce that this is 1967: the summer of love, the era when television and fashion alike suddenly burst into colour, a lilac- and weed-scented time that, as Paul McCartney noted in his autobiography, still seems like it was the future, many years from now. The Victorian-era touches added a certain quaint otherworldliness, while the reprise has a beat so forward-thinking, it sounds like it hasn’t come out yet.

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COLUMN

Christian Mulls…

The Spice Girls With Christian Hull

I

’m a 30-year-old gay guy, so it would come as no surprise that from the ages of nine to 13 I was a little obsessed with the Spice Girls. So in love with them that Mum bought me all their merchandise, including the Spice World VHS.

I was like a ‘Directioner’ – one of those next level, batshit insane 1D fans. By the time I got to high school I had moved on. I never spoke of or listened to the Spice Girls again. They seemed to disappear from my mind.

Now I’ve been asked to go back into the vault, relive their music and see if it has stood the test of time. JESUS H CHRIST, WAS IT AMAZING?!

I forgot how obsessed I was with them. As soon as I opened the video for ‘Holler’, all the words came flooding out of me like some sort of horrible suppressed memory. I knew every lyric.

‘Holler’ was my favourite song, even if it’s not one most people would remember.

‘Wannabe’ is the song people love the most. I FUCKING HATE IT SO MUCH! It has to be the worst. I’m no music nerd (obviously, as I have chosen to review the Spice Girls – what sane music nerd would choose to do that?) but it has to be said they were a bloody fantastic group.

You know when you loved something as a kid and then when you revisit it as an adult you are shocked at how bad it actually was? For example, I loved Party Of Five and was so excited when a channel started to replay episodes, only to end up questioning entertainment in the late ’90s.

Anyway, I went to the Spice Girls YouTube channel, to find it only has eight videos in total (so upset). I watched them all and here is what I noticed:

Their music is still just as enjoyable as when I was nine (to give you an idea of my music taste, Enya was in my top three when I was ten)

Baby and Sporty literally sing the majority of the lyrics on almost all the songs

The video clip for ‘Holler’ is all of the girls sitting around a table while different men are presented to them. Which is the storyline for Taken. The clip was an actual underground sex ring for women. Not joking!

And how did I not notice that Ginger Spice didn’t sing in ‘Holler’?!

We just need to stop for a moment here, because I didn’t realise that Ginger (Geri Halliwell) actually left the group in May 1998.

As an 11-year-old at the time, I must have found boobs so repulsive that I didn’t notice when a pair went missing. ‘Holler’ was released in 2000, so that means I went for at least two years without even knowing she was gone.

I LOVE YOU GERI I’M SO SORRY! Then I ended up in a click hole of YouTube videos about Geri’s departure. If you want to watch some amazing conspiracy theories about the Spice Girls, type in “Mel B & Gerri’s relationship”.

“As an 11-year-old at the time, I must have found boobs so repulsive that I didn’t notice when a pair went missing.”

I also watched a bit of Spice World.

Spice World, their movie made in 1997, was the most horrifically amazing film with no actual real plot. It was a mix between Austin Powers and Ab Fab. The girls basically had to get to a concert, and along the way wacky and zany things would happen. It’s got three stars out of ten on iMDB. But what did we really learn from this review? Not much! I’d invite you to go on Spotify and just re-listen to some of your favourite songs. They are still just as good as they were in the ’90s. The video clips, however – so bad. Can you believe in the late ’90s a star wipe – the scene transitioning via an expanding star shape – was actually a thing?

What I will leave you with is that in the early naughties, some good friends of mine went to a fancy dress party as the Spice Girls.

There were only four of them, so one convinced her mother to come along and they called her ‘Old Spice’.

Is it just me, or is that not an actual Spice Girl that needs to be a thing? I see a great brand/talent opportunity. ■

Christian Hull is a YouTuber who spends most of his time on Grindr and hates human interaction. Find him at youtube.com/artsider.

speed date WITH

JAMES MCKENDRY FROM PIRRA band.

2.

Keeping Busy We released our debut album Animal Kingdom in March, and we have been touring around the country playing music from the album as well as a couple of new songs. Between gigs, back in Sydney we’ve been rehearsing and writing new material. We are loving the new tunes and are hoping to record a second album in the near future.

3.

1.

Your Profile We are a four-piece psych-pop band from Sydney featuring Jess Beck on vocals, me on guitar, and twin bros Jeff and Curt Argent keeping it solid on

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drums and bass. We love to keep things upbeat for a good time, but we know when to be serious. We’re definitely not exclusive and want to spread our music far and wide with as many

people as possible. We’re looking to meet fans who love music, and like to stay out late dancing on tables, unless security asks them not to, then they just go to the dancefloor and watch the

Best Gig Ever It’s hard to pick a favourite, but one gig that stands out was playing with Bec Sandridge and Elki earlier this year in Byron Bay at the Great Northern.

Bec rocks hard, and the Elki crew are all friends of ours from Sydney, so it was a proper hoot to play together and watch each other’s shows. So far there haven’t been any total

disaster gigs… maybe the worst is ahead of us?

4.

Current Playlist Right now some of the artists we are enjoying are Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Middle Kids, Olympia, Kimbra, Matt Corby and Sampa The Great. They’re all artists that write great material with lush arrangements.

Some great gigs I’ve seen lately are Gang Of Youths and Methyl Ethyl. Jess and the twins caught Lianne La Havas play solo recently at Oxford Art Factory and talked it up so much I got jealous for missing it.

5.

Your Ultimate Rider An assorted case of delicious craft beers to keep our drummer Jeff happy; he’s a home brewer with a highly developed palate. A collection of Coonawarra’s finest reds to remind our singer Jess of home. A

bottle of pinot noir, so our bass player Curt can pretend he’s Miles from the movie Sideways. Some espresso martinis – truth be told I’m not really charismatic and sometimes need a vibe top-up before a show. Of course, some tequila for a band-bonding cheeky shot right as we go onstage. To eat we would like a few trays of fresh oysters, lobsters and some traditional woodfired pizzas. We would also require an above ground pool in the green room with some flotation devices and a trained lifeguard.

Realistically we are grateful for a few beers and/or a cheap bottle of red, a packet of chips and a place to sleep!

What: Animal Kingdom out now independently Where: Union Hotel When: Thursday June 1

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

VIEW FULL GALLERIES AT

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Crystal Castles’ Enmore Show Was A Haunting Journey Through Their Past And Present

By David Molloy It’s never nice to see a support act undercut. Tonight’s door times were advertised as 8:15pm, but New Jersey’s Farrows took to the stage at 7:30pm, faced with a severely reduced crowd. A damn shame, really, as their slow-burn electronica and tight live drumming were exceptional – as was their inspired (and timely) use of Laura Palmer’s theme from Twin Peaks.

Local boys Crooked Colours fared better, playing pulsing indie dance tracks to a half-full venue.

They were an oddly bright pick to support Crystal Castles, weaving an atmosphere of calm and elation soon to be cleft in twain by the headliners. That said, these three have a promising future on the festival circuit – they’d make a perfect addition to your Laneways and your Groovins.

“It’s been three years now since Alice Glass parted ways with Ethan Kath, and despite the years, she still haunts the space.”

For Crystal Castles, necessity is the mother of (re)invention – it’s been three years now since Alice Glass parted ways with Ethan Kath, and despite the years, she still haunts the space that vocalist Edith Frances now occupies.

Sunday’s set had the air of a seance to it: focused heavily on tracks from Crystal Castles II, it endeavoured to conjure Glass’ spasmodic, frightening energy and cage it within Frances’ form.

Where Amnesty (I) reared its head, it proved a better fi t to their back catalogue than it had in recorded form – ‘Fleece’ was an expected addition, but an unexpected highlight.

Frances herself seems lifted straight from a French extreme horror fi lm. All smeared lipstick, dog collars and vulnerability, she exudes an air of Stockholm syndrome – her act is fi nding empowerment within chains, a cornered animal wrapping the mic cord around herself like bondage tape. Much later in the set, in one incredibly endearing moment, the facade lifted when she skipped rope with the cable, and fi nally allowed herself to smile.

The crowd was unusually sedate, even as Kath sought to shatter the bonds between brain cells with his epileptic Game Boy beats.

Frances’ underwhelming take on Robert Smith’s vox in ‘Not In Love’ certainly didn’t break the tension, but the general disaffection cracked when Kath slid ‘Untrust Us’ into a venue-collapsing mega mix, pulsing with chopped and screwed trap runs and the kind of bass that could feasibly defi brillate anyone within a kilometre radius.

The set was strong, and Frances proved herself a formidable frontwoman, but the night did not impact the way previous Aussie sets from Crystal Castles have.

How they will exorcise their past remains to be seen, but for now, it’s enough that their music embodies a surrender and potency that clubbing in Sydney sorely lacks.

Crystal Castles played the Enmore Theatre on Sunday May 28.

PHOTOGRAPHER :: ASHLEY MAR

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name the artists How many musical legends can you find in this picture?

Share your answers at facebook.com/thebragsydney.

ART BY KEIREN JOLLY

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

PHOTOGRAPHER :: ASHLEY MAR

Fleet Foxes’ Vivid LIVE Performance Was A Rare Delight Of New Songs And Old

By Adam Norris First came the blackout that atrophied traffic from Kingsgrove to Mascot. Then came the trespasser on the train tracks at the airport. Then came the protest outside Central, and the teeming opening night crowds at Vivid. Suffice to say, actually making it to Fleet Foxes in time was just shy of a miracle – and would go quite a way to explain the conspicuous clusters of empty seats that were scattered about the first gig of a sold-out four-night residency at that most iconic festival canvas, the Sydney Opera House.

Ryan Adams’ Hordern Pavilion Show Might Have Been His Farewell To Australia

By Michael Hartt Throughout his career, Ryan Adams has been hell-bent on following his muse wherever it’s dragged him. It may not have always endeared him to fans, bandmates, critics or record labels, but it’s made for a sizeable catalogue of work that his contemporaries could only wish to match.

Adams’ 16th album Prisoner is one of his most personal and sonically diverse to date and provides the backbone of the 20 tracks performed by Adams and the four-man Unknown Band on the final night of their Australian tour.

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It was hard to think of another reason, as the band’s fans were out in wideeyed force; this was a return not to be missed. Following a quick run of warmup shows for their Vivid cavalcade, this was, remarkably, Fleet Foxes’ fi fth live date in as many years. Josh Tillman has moved on to more revered pursuits, but otherwise age has not wearied them. Robin Pecknold is singing at the peak of his game, and the rest of the band – rounded out by a lovely, understated string quartet and a suitably dramatic brass contingent – performs with such musicianship it’s like they never left the touring circuit at all.

shake that haunted garden folk sound if you put a musketoon to their heads. But Pecknold has defi nitely been expanding the reaches of his repertoire. New songs ushered in the night, leading with ‘Arroyo Seco’, which perhaps best bridged the gulf between then and now. Fleet Foxes are playing with overall form as much as individual song structure, and so much of their latest work segues quite effortlessly (which I’m not convinced is strictly a good thing).

That’s not to say that all has stayed the same. Fleet Foxes’ new material is still hallmarked by those incredible harmonies; I’m not sure they could

But Lord, Pecknold’s voice is intimidatingly accomplished. From the searing strength of ‘The Shrine / An Argument’ (“Sunlight over me, no matter what I do,” he cried,

Prisoner’s ‘Do You Still Love Me?’ engulfs the Hordern in a thunderous wash of guitars, pounding drums and whirling keys. This track, as well as ‘To Be Young (Is To Be Sad, Is To Be High)’ from 2000 debut Heartbreaker and ‘Gimme Something Good’ from 2014’s Ryan Adams showcase Adams’ continued uncanny ability to produce formidable album openers.

his definitive, incomparable cover of ‘Wonderwall’.

to call it quits early. It’s not clear what the situation is.

In the second hour of the show, the band stretches things out on a few tracks, highlighting Adams’ love for The Grateful Dead. The jam during ‘Cold Roses’ twists and turns in all directions, with smoke billowing from the stage to the point where none of the musicians are visible, before returning to Earth and the roots of the track.

Though it ends abruptly, the show has done its job. It’s a powerful reminder of the energising properties of a great live performance and how soaking up the sounds can make you feel more alive than before.

‘Stay With Me’ and ‘Two’ bustle and swagger, while both ‘Doomsday’ and ‘Prisoner’ beam defiance in the face of despair.

“It’s like they never left the touring circuit at all.”

“It seems like there was more left, but someone decided to call it quits early.”

Adams’ voice is soulful and soaring. Its potency really comes to the fore in the slower songs like ‘When The Stars Go Blue’ and ‘Tightrope’, not to mention

Heartbreaker’s ‘Shakedown On 9th Street’ has a guttural, snarling menace.

With more smoke and fury, it closes the set; though it should be said that it doesn’t feel like the natural end. It seems like there was more left, but someone decided

and, goosebumps) to the more baroque structure of new songs like ‘Mearcstapa’ and the sublime ‘On Another Ocean’, the crowd was riveted. At times Pecknold would drop into a spoken-word register whose language and tone recalled Conor O’Brien from Villagers.

They seemed humble. They were charming. And ridding your head of ‘Helplessness Blues’ for the rest of the night just ain’t going to happen. Better to close your eyes, lie back, and dream of orchards and the inconceivable world outside.

Fleet Foxes were reviewed at the Sydney Opera House on Friday May 26.

In a social media post the next day, Adams speaks about how travelling to this end of the Earth exacerbates the symptoms of his Ménière’s disease to the point of “destroying” his body, his balance and his health. Thanking fans for the memories, the post could be taken as an announcement that Sydney’s show was his final on Australian shores. If it was, a performance like this is a stunning way to make an exit.

Ryan Adams played the Hordern Pavilion on Saturday May 27.

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The Avalanches’ Block Party Left Fans Waiting For More Of Since I Left You

By Benjamin Potter

with his hard-hitting “bangers”. It was amusing to watch him leave the stage halfway through his set to make the crowd endure DJ Total Eclipse furiously scratching on the decks to a hip hop classic, only to ruin it by mixing it into a track that could only be described as a meme these days: DJ Snake’s ‘Turn Down For What’.

The decision to host The Avalanches’ Since I Left You Block Party on the Northern Broadwalk of the Sydney Opera House was a clever one. The Opera House has experienced its fair share of noise complaints due to outdoor shows recently – from upset local residents who wanted the sound turned down to the Tame Impala punters who wanted it louder – but there were no such qualms on this side of the building.

The misstep was pretty much forgotten when the legendary DJ Shadow arrived to the applause of the many fans who would have been there solely to see him. “Some of it you’ll know, some of it you won’t,” he said – and from Endtroducing… until now, Shadow dropped track after track that had the now very lively crowd utterly mesmerised.

What immediately lifted the mood upon arrival was the soothing yet upbeat sounds of Jonti, who launched into a set teeming with an array of swirling, colourful synths before a fitting backdrop of a beautiful sunset over the harbour. In between the hip hop stylings of the enigmatic DJ Jnett – who didn’t actually appear once during the whole night, leading to personal speculation that it was probably the sound guy mixing songs through his downloaded DJ app on his iPhone – Briggs erupted

Alongside the Hudson Mohawke remix of Shadow’s live staple ‘Midnight In A Perfect World’ to the ear-crushing hip hop anthem ‘Nobody Speak’, a real highlight was his visuals – this is Vivid, after all. The crowd was taken on journeys through rugged mountainsides that morphed into any kind of animal you could think of, and back to sped-up cityscapes that came to life as the set continued. Closing out with a brand new track that could have been mistaken for one of his own classic songs, DJ Shadow

just about stole the show. A true hip hop legend absolutely in his element was always going to be tough to follow.

By now the Northern Broadwalk was packed, and one thing stuck out: this was a somewhat older crowd. The old ravers from the early noughties were out in full force to hear what has by now become a classic soundtrack to many of their lives – The Avalanches’ Since I Left You, which was advertised to be played in its entirety, start to finish.

Not only did this not occur, but the headliners launched into ‘Because I’m Me’, the opening track from comeback record Wildflower, to an odd reception from the confused crowd. The inclusion of Spank Rock and the baseball-bat-wielding Eliza Wolfgramm added the much-needed flair The Avalanches required to revisit some of the classics from Since I Left You, but there were audible groans when they dropped ‘Frankie Sinatra’ from the new record.

But not all was lost, and a surprise packet came when The Avalanches regained their rhythm for ‘Radio’. And at last, the two biggest gems of the show were the inevitable returns to The Avalanches’ signature psychotic experimentation on ‘Frontier Psychiatrist’ and ‘Since I Left

“The Avalanches disappeared behind the curtain, and just like they did for 16 long years, left their fans waiting for an encore.”

You’, which left the crowd swaying from side to side in union, hungry for more.

Unfortunately, The Avalanches disappeared behind the curtain, and just like they did for 16 long years, left their fans waiting for an encore. Their legendary sample-based record didn’t quite translate live, but what The Avalanches lack in performance, they make up for in studio production and composition.

Since I Left You was really their masterpiece, and it’s sad to see it had to be this way – but The Avalanches’ Block Party only reinforced the fact that it takes more than studio chops to win the admiration of the masses.

The Avalanches’ Since I Left You Block Party was reviewed at the Sydney Opera House on Saturday May 27.

PHOTOGRAPHER :: ASHLEY MAR

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What we’ve been out to see...

Julia Jacklin Might Not Know How Talented She Really Is, But Her Fans In Sydney Sure Do

By David Wild

“This was one for old and new school Townsend fans alike.”

Devin Townsend Project Defied Jetlag To Deliver A Generous Sydney Set

By Julian Ramundi What do you do when you have 25 albums of material? If you’re Devin Townsend, it seems, you don’t sweat it. Touring his latest, Transcendence, the Devin Townsend Project (the culmination of a number of different solo and side projects) played a career-spanning set, opening with previous album Sky Blue’s ‘Rejoice’ before rewinding way back with

‘Night’ from 1997’s Ocean Machine: Biomech.

Visibly jetlagged, the frontman apologised for his (albeit hilarious) ramblings and failing voice, but displayed a grand generosity. Pushing through the vocal acrobatics of ‘Deadhead’, ‘Ziltoid Goes Home’ and ‘Supercrush’, he didn’t skip a note.

Having toured the country since 1998, from smaller venues to larger crowds, he was humble for having enjoyed a lengthy career through a tumultuous time for heavy music, and showed a genuine gratitude to a loyal fan base that has followed him through a few decades of crazy experiments.

Concept albums about coffeeaddicted alien puppets aside, the band tore through a number of touchpoints from seven records before hanging out to shake hands with the entire front of the crowd.

Special note to Sleepmakeswaves for a brutally melodic opening set and a likely swathe of new fans, but this was one for old and new school Townsend fans alike. The only criticism would be that the set was too short. There were at least four other albums to cover.

Devin Townsend Project played the Enmore Theatre on Monday May 22.

It’s been a busy year-and-a-bit for Springwood’s Julia Jacklin. The thrill of touring an excellent debut album, shooting videos for a quartet of hits and delivering one of the most popular triple j cover versions ever (a downtempo take on The Strokes’ ‘Someday’) might go to a lesser pop star’s head.

Not Julia’s. You get the impression that Jacklin is as ‘normal’ as ever; aware that she possesses a standout voice but quite unaware of its power to induce tears or draw out that sense of longing or desire for something that you’d long since suppressed.

The excesses of rock life were seemingly embraced more wholeheartedly by support Cosima Jaala, singlehandedly representing her band Jaala. A promising artsyindie-folk opening suggested Little Dragon were high on the influence list, before Jaala put down her guitar for a turn towards the industrial. So far, so interesting, but the audience lost interest around the time it all descended into screaming and rambling.

This wayward interlude emphasised Jacklin’s understated control, honed via classical lessons when she was a kid. It’s not just beautiful in tone, but in delivery. No Australian Idol histrionics here, but an occasional semi-yodel to confirm that she could totally go full Mariah if that was her style (it’s not).

Besides, there’s no need to overegg it with delicate writing that gets straight to the point. “My heart is heavy when you’re high / So, for me, why won’t you try?” she pleads to an addicted partner on ‘Pool Party’.

Likewise, “Guess I was not made for your life” becomes a devastating realisation on ‘L.A. Dream’.

PHOTOGRAPHER :: ASHLEY MAR

Sampha’s Opera House show was a new highpoint for Vivid LIVE

By David James Young A haze overcomes the room, shrouding observants in darkness. As shadowy figures slowly appear behind their workstations of various pads, keyboards and synthesizers, the familiar noises that open one of the year’s finest debut LPs begin popping up. It’s then that the fourth and final figure appears.

The lighting is so dim that it’s not possible to detail these individuals by their faces, but as the last emerges and approaches the microphone, there’s absolutely no mistaking it – we are, at long last, in the presence of Sampha. A tour announced some six months prior, this weekend of shows – helping to kick off this year’s Vivid festivities in earnest – has been sold out for almost as long. Let the record

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show that what ensues is entirely worth the wait – a truly stunning showcase of one of pop music’s most resonant and profound vocalists.

Indeed, it’s the voice that strikes you first.

It might seem impossible for an artist to replicate such tone, soul and conviction as heard on Sampha’s recorded material, but when he rolls around to more tender moments such as ‘Too Much’ or ‘Incomplete Kisses’, it’s uncanny. It’s a jaw-dropping, mesmerising experience – and as hyperbolic as statements like that come across, they only barely do the man justice. His band is a fascinating ensemble – the musicians build up every song’s soundscape with military precision, yet it never feels overly calculated or artificial. Undeniable grooves like ‘Blood On Me’ are favoured in particular, the beat lasting well after its normal conclusion and spiralling into psychedelic joy.

Perhaps the most clever aspect of the show, however, lies in the stage set-up.

All night, a circle of drums stand on their own at stage left and are not touched

“It’s a jaw-dropping, mesmerising experience – and as hyperbolic as statements like that come across, they only barely do the man justice.” once. This all changes during the encore, in which Sampha’s entire troupe rallies around the circle to perform ‘Without’ as the explosive, all-in finale. As the rhythm takes over, many are driven out of their seats – a final burst of energy sending out the set on a full, natural high.

Consider the bar officially set for the rest of Vivid 2017.

Sampha played the Sydney Opera House on Saturday May 27.

A good chunk of country music is rooted in the mountains – be they Blue Ridge or just plain Blue – and Jacklin’s sound is no different. Yet, her hometown being barely 90 minutes out of the city, Jacklin’s is a very modern, relatable type of country music.

‘Hay Plain’ must be the sweetest (only?) song to reference the Western Distributor. Elsewhere she sings about sadness brought on by an episode of Dancing With The Stars, and on ‘Don’t Let The Kids Win’ of quarter-life angst: “We’re gonna keep on getting older / It’s going to keep on feeling strange”.

She’s unassuming and untouchable – a true talent.

Julia Jacklin played the Metro Theatre on Thursday May 25.

“Her hometown being barely 90 minutes out of the city, Jacklin’s is a very modern, relatable type of country music.” thebrag.com

KIRIN J. CALLINAN B RA V A D O T O U R

P R E S E N T E D BY B R AG , S I B E R I A R EC O R D S & S E L ECT M U S I C

S AT 1 0/6 OXFORD ARTS SYDNEY NEW ALBUM ‘BRAVADO’ OUT JUNE 9TH thebrag.com

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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.

Dappled Cities

Nick Murphy

Nick Murphy fka Chet Faker

Sydney Opera House, Bennelong Point. Thursday June 1 – Saturday June 3. 8pm. $79.

SUNDAY JUNE 4

Following his epic 2015 shows on the Opera House steps, Nick Murphy returns for a Vivid LIVE performance of his new Missing Link EP and more.

City Recital Cit R Hall San Cisco

Dappled Cities

The Preatures

The Preatures

A surprise late addition to the Vivid LIVE program, the hometown heroes are back with a slimmed-down lineup and a brand new album to preview in full.

7:30pm. $45.

WEDNESDAY MAY 31 Air Sydney Opera House, Bennelong Point. 8pm. $99.

Donny McCaslin The Basement, Circular Quay. 7pm. $56.

Shelley’s Murder Boys + The Villebillies Gasoline Pony, Marrickville. 7pm. $7.

THURSDAY JUNE 1 Bonnie Tyler + Rick Price + The Eurogliders Enmore Theatre, Newtown. 8pm. $89.90.

Donny Benet Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $15.

Emma Pask Camelot Lounge, Marrickville. 7pm. $25.

The Ladies Network – feat: Gussy + Lupa J + Phoebe Twiggs

+ Aisling Kissane + Ayebatonye Abrakasa + Carla Uriarte Harpoon Harry, Surry Hills. 7pm. Free.

Space Boys + Bleeding Gums + Deadly Deadly Valve Bar, Ultimo. 8pm. $10.

Mary Coughlan Petersham Bowling Club, Petersham. 8pm. $40.

Tim Wall (Royal Headache) Golden Age Cinema, Surry Hills. 9pm. Free.

Repressed Records 15th Anniversary – feat: Total Control + Severed Heads + more Sydney Opera House, Bennelong Point. 5pm. $59.

FRIDAY JUNE 2 Bill Callahan Sydney Opera House, Bennelong Point. 7pm. $59.

Elvis Presley – The Wonder Of You 2017 ICC Theatre, Sydney.

7:30pm. $80.50.

Fleshgod Apocalypse Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $56.10.

Enmore Theatre, Newtown. Friday June 2. 8pm. $52.10.

Fremantle’s favourite indie-popsters are touring the country with a mature new album, The Water, and their Sydney show is set to be one of their biggest yet.

Camperdown. 8pm. $49.50.

SATURDAY JUNE 3

Project Collective Ska Venue 505, Surry Hills.

8pm. $15.

Baby Animals + The Screaming Jets Metro Theatre, Sydney.

7:30pm. $55.95.

Rumpelstompskin + Formationz + Pakman + Phsiris + Porshac + Poseidon + Quadrapuss Valve Bar, Ultimo.

10pm. $10.

Body Count + A.B. Original + Void Of Vision Hordern Pavilion, Moore Park. 8:30pm. $96.84.

Touch Sensitive + Elizabeth Rose (DJ Set) + Annie Bass (DJ Set) Sydney Tower Eye, Sydney. 8:30pm. $49.

Cloud City + Brightness + Okbadlands Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $25.

Richie Hawtin: Close Spontaneity and Synchronicity Sydney Opera House, Bennelong Point. 5pm. $79.

SUNDAY JUNE 4 The Necks Sydney Opera House, Bennelong Point.

3:30pm & 7:30pm. $59.

Todrick Hall Enmore Theatre, Newtown. 6:30pm. $35.90.

the BRAG presents

Goldfrapp

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Paul Dempsey Manning Bar,

SAN CISCO

Enmore Theatre Friday June 2

San Cisco photo by Ebony Talijancich

Goldfrapp Carriageworks, Eveleigh. 8pm. $100.

Goodgod Super Club presents DJ Harvey Sydney Opera House, Bennelong Point. 9pm. $59.

San Cisco photo by Matsu

+ Red Riders

Sydney Opera House, Bennelong Point. Thursday June 1. 7:30pm. $59.

San Cisco + Thelma Plum

DAPPLED CITIES City Recital Hall Sunday June 4

thebrag.com

Rare Finds, Select Music, City Recital Hall, Pilerats, FBi and Brag Magazine present

Sun 4 June - City Recital Hall With very special guests

Red Riders & Tyson Koh (Keep Sydney Open) - DJ Set Tickets on-sale via www.vividsydney.com

M

NEW ALBU

OUT NOW!