The Brag #741

HOW DILLY DALLY RETURNED FROM THE DEAD

IS TIME TRAVEL POSSIBLE?

COURTNEY BARNETT MITSKI, LET THE CORPSES TAN, PAPER THIN, KANYE WEST, TROYE SIVAN, TKAY MAIDZA, AND MUCH MORE!

Evolving with you.

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#! % # ! ) # " ( ) ## % ' % & ! "# $ %$

“side-splitting laughs�

HEAT (UK)

EVENING STANDARD (UK)

METRO (UK)

I was so in need of a good laugh.

Thank you, @Baddiel, for your brilliant, funny, emotional show xxx J.K. Rowling @jk_rowling @Baddiel Thanks for a stunning night of big laughs and the occasional teardrop.

My Family - not the sitcom is brave brutal and brilliant. Graham Norton @grahnort Just back from #MyFamilyNotTheSitcom and want to go back and see it again already Mazeltov @Baddiel Nigella Lawson @Nigella_Lawson

TOURING AUSTRALIA IN SEPTEMBER FINAL TICKETS ON SALE NOW! frontiercomedy.com Tickets from $49.90 @Baddiel 4 :: BRAG :: 741 :: 05:09:18

frontiertouring thebrag.com

2018 AUSTRALIAN MUSIC WEEK

Cronulla Beach November 7-11

MUSICCONFERENCE | NOV 7-9

Listen and Learn from music industry leaders.

Interact and participate in relevant panel discussions.

Meet like-minded people and build your network.

LIVESHOWS | NOV 7-10

150+PERFORMANCES 10VENUES 5DAYS

Australian and International artists playing multiple venues over 4 nights, buy a ticket and venue hop to see as many great shows as possible.

FILMFESTIVAL | NOV 10-11

Tickets on sale 2nd August

More information and applications at australianmusicweek.com

australianmusicweek.com SUPPORTED BY

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MUSIC AWARDS

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THUrsday 4 OCTober ENMORE THEATRE NEW ALBUM LAY IT ON DOWN OUT NOW KennyWayneShepherd.com thebrag.com

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this month

ISSUE 741: Wednesday September 5, 2018

what you’ll find inside…

12

EDITOR: Joseph Earp joseph.earp@seventhstreet.media NEWS: Nathan Jolly, Tyler Jenke, Bianca Davino, Lars Brandle ART DIRECTOR: Sarah Bryant PHOTOGRAPHER: Ashley Mar COVER PHOTO: Maisie Cousins 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 SUB EDITORS: Sarah McManus, Geordie Gray, Brandon John, Georgia Moloney GIG GUIDE COORDINATOR: Belinda Quinn - gigguide@seventhstreet. media REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS: Arca Bayburt, Lars Brandle, Tanja Brinks Toubro, Alex Chetverikov, Max Jacobson, Emily Gibb, Emily Meller, Adam Norris, Holly Pereira, Daniel Prior, Natalie Rogers, Erin Rooney, Anna Rose, Spencer Scott, Natalie Salvo, Aaron Streatfeild, Augustus Welby, Zanda Wilson, David James Young. Climate change is at this stage unstoppable. The human race is facing a mass extinction event within a generation.

Please send mail NOT ACCOUNTS direct to this NEW address Level 2, 9-13 Bibby St, Chiswick NSW 2046 ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE: Carrie Huang accountsseventhstreet.vc (02) 9713 92692, 9-13 Bibby St, Chiswick NSW 2046

“The singers I really love are those who give more of themselves in their music than maybe is healthy.” regulars

12-14

Anna Calvi

46-47

Liars

16

The Rise Of Alt-Country

48-49

Mitski

18-9

Paper Thin

50-51

The Best Soundtracks

The Frontline

20

Harmony

52-53

Hideous Restraint

63

Drawn Out

21

Yamaha Speaker Review

54-55

Let The Corpses Tan

65

Game On

23

Kanye The Mentor

56

25-26

Troye Sivan

Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich

69

The Watcher

28-29

Honey Hahs

57

Sam Twyford-Moore

70-71 Sounds Like

30-32

Phantastic Ferniture

58-59

Who Is America?

34-35

Spiritualized

60-61

Rhett And Link

36-37

Tkay Maidza

62-63

The Paradoxes Of Time Travel

72-74 Gig picks

38-39

Bully

66

Searching

74

40-41

Maddy Ellwanger

67

Mission: Impossible – Fallout

42-43

Dilly Dally

68

The Breaker-Upperers

44-45

Rabbit Island

69

You’re On An Airplane

71

The Defender

Giveaway

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DISTRIBUTION: Wanna get the BRAG? Email jessica.milinovic@seventhstreet.media PRINTED BY SPOTPRESS: spotpress.com.au 24 – 26 Lilian Fowler Place, Marrickville NSW 2204 EDITORIAL POLICY: The views and opinions expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the publisher, editors or staff of the BRAG. follow us:

like us:

@TheBrag

THE BRAG

23 “Kanye isn’t only a prodigious, almost unstoppable talent – he’s a surprisingly generous one too.”

Anna Calvi photo by Maisie Cousins

10

DEADLINES: Editorial: Thursday 5pm (no extensions) Ad bookings: Last Wednesday of the month 12pm (no extensions) Finished art: Last Thursday of the month 5pm (no extensions) Ad cancellations: Last Wednesday of the month 12pm Deadlines are strictly adhered to.

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

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the frontline

With Poppy Reid, Tyler Jenke, And Geordie Gray

FOR IAN, FOREVER AGO Never once have we doubted that Sir Ian McKellen is the purest, most wholesome being to grace this earth, but this just solidifies our belief. Recently a performance of King Lear had to be cancelled after McKellen, set to play the lead, injured his leg running for a train. He responded in the most wonderfully McKellenian way imaginable – by hosting an impromptu Q&A. The show was cancelled 30 minutes after it was supposed to start, but McKellan was determined not to let the punters down.

Instead of sending the people home, he pulled up a chair and started answering audience questions, performing scenes from the King Lear off the top of his head, and even whipped out a couple Gandalf impressions. Oh, and everyone was completely refunded. To be honest, I can’t tell what my favourite facet of this story is: Sir Ian McKellen being an absolute angel, or the fact someone of his stature catches public transport.

WHAT A WASTE Aldi’s attempts to reduce food waste appear to be failing, with the supermarket chain having been found to throw out excessive quantities of perfectly good food. Ever since the German supermarket chain opened its first store in Sydney back in 2001, Aldi has managed to carve out its own niche in the world of Australian supermarkets, becoming one of the more popular choices over the years. In the past few years though, the company has come under fire for the disproportionately large amount of waste that they produce. While the recent decision to ban plastic bags highlighted just how much plastic the chain uses when it comes to packaging items and produce, it appears that their attempts to eliminate food waste still have a ways to go as well. Taking to Facebook recently, Carmen Will, who runs the Foodshare Melbourne Facebook group, shared images of the excessive amount of perfectly good food that she retrieved from two of Aldi’s bins. “Last night I went on my first real dumpster diving mission,” Carmen began. “Most of this haul came from two Aldi bins alone. It’s absolutely disgusting the amount they throw away all because they package their produce in plastic and label it with a use by date.”

OH SHARON! Margot Robbie

A(I)N’T THAT SOMETHING ELSE?

Norway has always done things a little differently. From breaks every 45 minutes during school lessons to legislating policies after oil was found to give Norwegians long-term wealth, to its sustainable culinary traditions, its a country of preservation and local empowerment. And while its capital city Oslo is famous for its eco-friendly approach to food, there is one restaurant taking the term ‘locally sourced’ to a new level. Maaemo, the first Norwegian restaurant ever to receive three Michelin stars, serves ants in place of lemons. That’s right, lemons don’t grow in Norway, so its head chef and co-owner Esben Holmboe Bang, uses local ants instead. “Yes, we do serve wood ants; they have a delicious acidic lemongrass flavour that we are unable to get from anything else,” Bang told The Bob Edit. “Luckily we live in a city that is so close to nature that we can have a relationship with our produce,” said Bang in an interview with Visit Oslo. Bang says the ants have a lot of the same qualities as lemons – “it’s just they’re a bit more aggressive than lemons.” Unsure of who would pay to have ants on their meal? With only eight tables seating 30 guests, it’s an exclusive affair for those able to spend upwards of AU$870 for the degustation and wine pairings – hence Martha Stewart’s glowing review of the restaurant in February this year following her nearly 20-course dinner.

BURGER TIME In case you missed it – like I, for example, most definitely missed it – Hungry Jacks now has a vegan burger. That’ll be perfect for desperate vegans trying to find something of substance to chow down on at 2AM. The burger was launched in June and is compromised of “a 100% vegan patty made with carrots, peas, corn, potato and capsicum, plus veganaise and non-dairy vegan cheese”. To be honest, from sight alone it just looks like a vegan-ified version of the chain’s Veggie Whopper – but who’s complaining about that? The burger is available now for a limited time, so get in quick and hit us up with an official review because quite frankly, there are so many vegan burgers to try and so little time.

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Quentin Tarantino’s next movie, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood is set to recount events that took place in late ’60s Los Angeles.

Revolving around a struggling actor (Leonardo Dicaprio) and his stunt double (Brad Pitt), it’s all set against the memorable backdrop of the gruesome Manson cult murders. Margot Robbie will portray Sharon Tate, the actress, model and wife of director Roman Polanski, who was one of the nine murder victims brutally murdered by Manson’s followers.

Now, to the delight of Tarantino acolytes the world over, the I, Tonya actress has shared a first look at herself in character in an Instagram post. The film will also star Dakota Fanning, Burt Reynolds, Timothy Olyphant, Damian Lewis, Al Pacino, Emile Hirsch, and Tim Roth. It is set to be released on July 26th, 2019. Tarantino has stated that Once Upon A Time In Hollywood is stylistically “probably the closest to Pulp Fiction that I’ve done. It has two lead characters and a ton of supporting characters.”

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T H US OSL DE OPUTT S A TS OSL DE OPUTT S U NS OSL DE OPUTT S I KT S TETP F RLI A S S A TS OSL DE OPUTT S U N S EP T T H US OSL DE OPUTT F RSI OSL DE OPUTT S A TS OSL DE OPUTT S A TS OSL DE OPUTT S U N S EP T S AT S E P T FR I D EC S AT D E C S U N D EC

0 0 0 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1

6 8 9 4 5 6 0 1 2 2 3 9 4 5 6

O D E O N T H E AT R E P A L A IS T H E AT R E R O YA L T H E AT R E E N M O R E T H E AT R E E N M O R E T H E AT R E U C R EFEC TO R Y TH E TR IFFID TH E TR IFFID TH E TR IFFID TH E TR IFFID N IG H TQ U AR TE R O N E T R O P IC AL D AY FR EM AN TLE AR TS C EN TR E FR EM AN TLE AR TS C EN TR E C AV E S H O U S E H O T E L

H O B A R T (ALL AG E S ) M E L B O U R N E (ALL AG E S ) C A S T L E M A IN E (1 8 + ) S Y D N E Y (ALL AG E S ) S Y D N E Y (ALL AG E S ) C A N B E R R A (ALL AG E S ) B R IS B A N E (1 8 + ) B R IS B A N E (1 8 + ) B R I S B A N E ( A L L AG E S M AT IN E E B R IS B A N E (1 8 + ) G O L D C O A S T (ALL AG E S ) D A R W I N (ALL AG E S ) F R E M A N T L E (1 8 + ) F R E M A N T L E (1 8 + ) YA L L IN G U P (1 8 + )

2 PM )

N EW S ON G R E L E A S E D M O N T H LY S E P TE M B E R : L A S IR È N E

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COVER STORY

“I really wanted to take my time to write something I could stand behind.”

COVER STORY

Becoming The Hunter Allison Gallagher learns acclaimed musician Anna Calvi is done with enforced binaries

“It’s about imagining a woman as a hunter, as opposed to how we usually see them – as the hunted.”

A

nna Calvi isn’t concerned with binaries. In fact, on the British guitarist and songwriter’s third album, Hunter, Calvi defiantly explores the in-betweens, the grey areas, and the complexities of the body, pointing towards the revolutionary potential of somatic pleasure.

Anna Calvi photo by Maisie Cousins

Originally a classically trained violinist, Calvi first began to garner widespread attention with her debut album, the eponymous Anna Calvi in 2011. Released to critical acclaim, it was shortly followed by One Breath in 2013.

With her distinctive voice and virtuosic guitarplaying, both albums would go on to receive Mercury Prize nominations. Prior to Hunter, Calvi’s most recent release was 2014’s Strange Weather, a collection of covers by the likes of David Bowie and FKA Twigs, with David Byrne of Talking Heads collaborating on a number of tracks.

Writing Hunter was a long project for Calvi, who began writing for the record back in 2014, taking the time to develop the songs. It was important, she explains to take the process slowly, allowing space to articulate how she felt.

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“I felt that there was so much noise in the world,” says Calvi. “I really wanted to take my time to write something I could stand behind.

I was almost imagining that, if this were to be the last thing I ever wrote, I wanted to make sure it really expressed something honest and true. Something that I’m passionate about.”

Freedom is one of the record’s most visible recurring motifs, both in a personal sense and on a societal level. Through this, the body becomes a site of resistance on Hunter – spitting in the face of rigid social constructs by actively seeking out bodily agency and pleasure.

“I feel language is a really important way of how we see the world. It kind of mirrors our culture, the language we use. I feel frustrated that strength has always been considered a masculine trait, when a lot of the strongest people I know are women. Women often have to be very strong. The idea that a hunter shouldn’t necessarily be seen as a male was important, I felt.”

Calvi is critical of the pressure by society to perform gendered stereotypes, expressing a desire to be shapeless; an energy rather than a solid.

“It’s about looking for pleasure and feeling free; trying to find a sense of freedom from any kind of restraint you might feel. It’s about imagining a woman as a hunter, as opposed to how we usually see them – as the hunted in our culture. It’s about a woman who is the protagonist in her own story.”

“For a woman, the pressures to perform her femininity are very restrictive. It’s the idea you have to be a certain way; you have to perfect and mild and accommodating. It’s very restrictive, in the same way that I think a lot of the pressures to be on men to be strong and never vulnerable are very restrictive. They’re so unattainable, these notions of what women can be.”

Indeed, the album’s title Hunter is an attempt to subvert a term often associated with masculine predation and dominance into one that refers to individual autonomy, and the idea of searching, regardless of one’s gender.

These archaic notions are directly challenged on lead single ‘Don’t Beat The Girl Out Of My Boy’. With its rousing cry “I shout out / let us be us”, it’s a powerful anthem to the rebellion of living openly in

BRAG :: 741 :: 05:09:18 :: 13

COVER STORY

Becoming The Hunter rather than two discrete categories is still contentious for many.

“Anything that could deconstruct this structure we’ve all learned to live in, this heteronormative patriarchal structure, is scary for some people,” Calvi explains.

“Maybe it’s because people need to see things in a very black and white way, in the same sense we need to believe there’s good and evil, and anything in a grey area to some people is hard to quantify and hard to understand.”

As a whole, Hunter feels noticeably more amplified, more visceral than the more polished, refined approach Calvi took on One Breath.

Embodying the album’s themes of vulnerability as strength, Calvi’s guitar and voice feel like they’re being pushed to their limits on this record – they’re free and unrestrained while retaining the guitarist’s trademark art-pop sensibilities.

It’s hard to believe that Calvi didn’t begin singing until the age of 23, having forced herself to conquer a life-long shyness.

“I definitely wanted this record to feel visceral,” says Calvi: she wanted the album not to feel cerebral, instead prioritizing emotionality and rawness. “Because of the album’s [lyrical] themes, of wanting it to be wild and free, I really wanted the music to be something primal too. I really tried to make the voice and guitar express a sense of freedom.”

That primal nature is present throughout the album. Tracks like ‘Alpha’ emanate with a raw and subversive sexuality, Calvi crooning over a swirling, smoky backdrop of guitars and piano.

Given the epic, dramatic nature of the songs on Hunter, it makes sense that it’s important for Calvi to translate that energy into a live environment. She recently debuted a number of songs from the album across a handful of European shows. “It’s been really great”, says Calvi about the performances.

“For me, the record’s very much about contrasts: between extreme strengths and extreme vulnerabilities, beautiful and harsh. I really wanted to take those extremes onto the stage. Because it’s a record about the body, I really wanted to express that onstage and use my whole body.

“The singers I really love are those who give more of themselves in their music than maybe is healthy.”

“It’s about the defiance of happiness,” says Calvi of the song. “How when you’re with someone that you love and you feel happy in that moment, it almost feels like a shield from any negativity. The idea of just being free to define yourself however you wish and not how society has decided to assign you.”

14 :: BRAG :: 741 :: 05:09:18

In 2018, making loud, bold declarations about finding power in existing in the unknown feels more needed than ever. As conservatives set their sights on gender non-conformity as the new target for moralistic outrage, art that affirms the breaking down of those barriers has been vital.

However, while there has been a cultural shift towards recognizing the ambiguity of gender expression, the idea that gender is a spectrum

When it comes to inspiration, Calvi has previously cited singers like Edith Piaf and Maria Callas – artists who threw everything they had into what they were singing. They are not unrealistic comparisons to Calvi herself, whose distinctive voice has never sounded better than on Hunter.

“The singers I really love are those who give more of themselves in their music than maybe is healthy. Singers who really push themselves.

You feel that you’re hearing their humanity, and that seems quite primal in the way they sing.

I want to be that kind of performer myself – otherwise it doesn’t seem worth doing.” ■ thebrag.com

Anna Calvi photo by Maisie Cousins

one’s body, dedicated to the joy of existing outside of society’s arbitrary, pre-conceived ideas about identity.

“Before now, I used to stand quite still and deliver the songs. This time I have a runway going into the audience, so I’m very intimate and very close to the audience. It’s very powerful, but very vulnerable for both the audience and for me. It’s gone down really amazingly: it feels like a very powerful show.”

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FEATURE

The Simple Joy Of

AltCountry Bekki Green investigates the allure of alt-country, one of the most enterprising and exciting musical trends of the moment

A

lt-country, like pop and indie, is a difficult genre to pin down. Its artists often combine folk’s aptitude for moving storytelling, country’s structural simplicity, and blues music’s ability to meet struggle and sorrow with resilience. In other words, it’s a genre that’s better off felt than talked about.

While the U.S. considers itself the veritable home of alt-country, claiming pioneers like Uncle Tupelo (a Wilcopredecessor band), Gillian Welch, Townes Van Zandt, and Neko Case, Australia has its own deep ties to the genre, from Australiana-inspired acts from Midnight Oil and Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds to highly esteemed protesters of indigenous rights like Archie Roach and Kev Carmody.

And now, we can hear the genre rising in our country’s ever-diversifying indie scenes. It’s there in the take-noshit attitude, and the rough and ragged blues of Courtney Barnett and Cash Savage and The Last Drinks; in the softening sentimentality of Dick Diver and Thelma Plum; and in the charming folk of Julia Jacklin and Emily Wurramara – which is only to name a few acts that are storming the country right now.

One artist in particular who plans to make waves within the genre is Charlie Collins, the ex-frontwoman of Tigertown.

She recently released ‘Wish You Were Here’, a breezy, starry-eyed track lifted from her forthcoming debut solo record. Collins has been itching for the opportunity to express herself in the form of alt-country balladry. “I picked up acoustic guitar for the first time in a long time and just started writing – I couldn’t stop. I wrote my record in a week,” she explains over the phone.

“One artist in particular who plans to make waves within the genre is Charlie Collins, the ex-frontwoman of Tigertown.”

16 :: BRAG :: 741 :: 05:09:18

“Having spent a lot of time in country pubs around adults, Collins didn’t have many friends her age growing up.”

Even in the midst of Tigertown’s success, the desire to make an alt-country record was playing on her mind. “The people that we came across [in Tigertown] really helped shape who I wanted to become. I don’t ever regret it – those were some of the best years of my life. But there was a part of me, I think towards the end, where I felt like I didn’t feel like I’ve been true to myself musically,” she says.

“I loved the music we were writing, I loved what we were doing, but I could tell that it was coming to an end purely just because of how I felt being on stage – it just didn’t feel real.”

Having grown up in Australia’s capital of tradition country music Tamworth, Collins started performing in pubs and bars since she was just 12 years old, learning how to play guitar by keenly listening to Alison Krauss and practising bluegrass. Her songwriting is influenced by the likes of Gram Parsons, Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, and Patsy Cline.

“I’ve never heard a voice like Patsy Cline,” she explains.

“She paved the way for a lot of women in country music – she was quite bold. And her songs, I mean are just so beautiful. They’re heartbreaking. It’s that storytelling that I love about country music.”

When asked what inspired ‘Wish You Were Here’, she says, “It sounds like a love song, but it’s not necessarily.

I find it really hard to connect with people. So it’s about meeting someone that you just connect with and everything seems so easy.”

Having spent a lot of time in country pubs around adults, Collins didn’t have many friends her age

growing up. She notes that she still struggles to connect with people. “A lot of people think when they meet me that I’m an extrovert, but actually, I’m an introvert. I get bad social anxiety, meeting new people freaks me out,” she explains. “When you meet someone and when you just click straight away, it’s like, ‘Oh my god, this is so good.’”

Storytelling through songwriting can be a boon for people with social anxiety –it allows artists to selfedit and tidy up their thoughts, so that they can communicate clearly. “When something’s wrong I find it so hard to actually explain to people what’s [going on],” explains Collins. “I just write songs to talk about my pain, and experiences – or just life in general. I find it so much easier to write things down than to actually verbalise them.”

Artists in particular that excite Collins are Middle Kids, Courtney Barnett, Soccer Mommy and The War On Drugs: “Their new record, A Deeper Understanding, it’s just honestly been such a big influence for me,” she says.

Her record covers a bulk of Collin’s life experience over the past 15 years: from witnessing a family member’s divorce to how she felt towards the end of seven years with Tigertown. “I went through a point of being like, ‘Do I just give up [making music]?’ I mean, I’d been doing it for so long,” she says.

She rekindled her passion in merging alt-country music with an experimental, indie sensibility; she enjoyed the way it holds sadness in a delicate, beautiful manner and the simplicity of country’s lyricisms. “I remember when I started out, country wasn’t cool,” says Collins.

“And I still don’t understand why country wasn’t cool, because personally, I think it’s the most honest, real genre. It’s really exciting to see that new wave come through. It excites me a lot.” ■

“In other words, alt-country is a genre that’s better off felt than talked about.” thebrag.com

THE NEW ALBUM 14 SEPTEMBER 2018

FEATURE

Living The VB-Best Life Joseph Earp chats to Spencer Scott of the band Paper Thin about success, struggles, and the magic of the VB Hard Yards competition

B

y this stage, the members of emo titans Paper Thin are old hands. Sure, they might have only had their first band practice together a little over two years ago, but they have each been around the block a fair bit separately; bassist and vocalist Spencer Scott has been a stalwart of Newcastle’s burgeoning music scene for yonks now, for example. “I had been playing as a solo performer for a few years, and was looking to start a band,” Scott explains. “Even from the first band practice, everything felt really natural, so we knew we wanted to do something from the get go.”

The band were lucky to have the weight of experience on their side – as Scott tells it, going about this industry as a fresh-faced newbie can force one to climb an extraordinarily steep learning curve. “I think if you’re just starting out, it can be really confusing figuring out how the music industry works, even on a small local level. We’re all lucky in the sense that we have all been in bands before, and kind of knew what to do.

But I remember being 15 and starting my first band; the idea of booking a show seemed impossible.”

Not, mind you, that it’s all been some casual, crisis-free dream. The bandmates – Scott, guitarist and vocalist Aidan Roe, and drummer Liam Tobin – have to juggle day jobs in order to make their music, and they sometimes struggle with having to keep their fingers in quite so many pies. “It can be tough,” Scott explains. “We’ve had to turn down some good opportunities so we don’t miss work, and we’ve had to skip a few family events to make shows work. I think we’ve found a good balance now though: we definitely try to do our best to work with what we’ve got.”

“WHEN WE FIRST STARTED, I THINK WE DEFINED SUCCESS AS PLAYING OUR FIRST SHOW AND HAVING And luckily, they have each other to turn to for support. They have only grown closer and more collaborative since the release of their first, self-titled EP in August 2016; they relish riffing together, and their music is the fusion of all of their distinct voices, likes and dislikes. “‘When You Call’ [From 2017 EP Living With. Being Without] was one of the first songs that really felt like a collaborative effort,” Scott says. “We had some bits and pieces, but the majority of it was created in the practice room. The bones of the song came very fast, but we were tinkering with it right up until it was recorded. We made a last minute decision to ask Grace Turner to come in and sing on it, which really makes the song, in my opinion.

“The more we play together, the more we end up writing as a group,” Scott continues.

“The first EP was mostly written by myself in my bedroom, but now it’s a much more collaborative process. Aidan has started writing songs, and we spent a lot more time working out structures and parts together.”

All that hard work and support is starting to truly pay off, with the band riding somewhat of a high at the moment – they have just recently been announced as one of the three finalists of the acclaimed VB Hard Yards competition, and will play a series of concerts alongside Tired Lion, Claws & Organs, and Being Jane Lane this October.

True to their hardworking nature, the band were toiling away at their day jobs when they found out about their Hard Yards success. “We didn’t really get the opportunity to celebrate together, but there were a few feverish texts in the group chat,” Scott says. “We were pretty blown away. There were so many entries this year; we’re quite honoured.”

Not, mind you, that the band are letting all this go to their heads. They are a group of singularly humble individuals, who relish every single aspect of making music for no other reason than it feels like the thing they were born to do. When asked, for example, what success means to him, Scott is quietly understated. “I find that it’s always changing,” he says. “When we first started, I think we defined success as playing our first show and having people there. We’ve just been moving the goalposts since then. I remember being asked to play Poison City Weekend in 2017 felt very special.”

And anyway, the band are keen to keep their successes in check, focussing only on the important stuff – like, for example, another of their recent wins. “Aidan and I won $500 at trivia the other week for correctly identifying a photo of Mem Fox,” Scott says. “God bless Possum Magic.”

What: VB Hard Yards 2018 With: Claws & Organs, Being Jane Lane, Tired Lion Where: Lansdowne Hotel When: Saturday October 6

18 :: BRAG :: 741 :: 05:09:18

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“THE MORE WE PLAY TOGETHER, THE MORE

WE END UP WRITING AS A GROUP.”

PEOPLE THERE. WE’VE JUST BEEN

MOVING THE GOALPOSTS SINCE THEN.”

“EVEN FROM THE FIRST BAND PRACTICE,

EVERYTHING FELT REALLY NATURAL,

SO WE KNEW WE WANTED TO DO SOMETHING FROM THE GET GO.”

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BRAG :: 741 :: 05:09:18 :: 19

FEATURE

“I COULDN’T SUBJECT MYSELF TO

ANOTHER MISERY FEST AGAIN.”

Emerging From Gloom Allison Gallagher chats to Tom Lyngcoln, Aussie alt-rock royalty and the brains behind Harmony

M

elbourne-based outfit Harmony have a reputation for gloom.

Fronted by veteran Australian musician Tom Lyngcoln of intense rock outfit The Nation Blue, the band’s melancholic dissonance is paired with its threepiece chorus. The vocal section, which includes members of Tropical Fuck Storm and Time For Dreams, creates a stark and funereal contrast to the sounds of Tom, Alex Lyngcoln and Jon Chapple.

On new album Double Negative, however, there’s a distinctive yet elusive brightness hiding in the shadows, peering out at the seams. After two albums’ worth of malaise, it was time to make a change.

“I couldn’t subject myself to another misery fest again,” says Lyngcoln.

“They’re hard on the heart and hard on the soul. I had to try something different after 10 years of pretty negative songwriting.”

Recorded at Kyneton Mechanics Hall by producer Mike Deslandes of High Tension, the natural acoustics of the setting add a lot of warmth throughout the album. It was the third recording Lyngcoln had done in the hall, the previous two being for The Nation Blue, which he admits didn’t quite suit the space.

“IT’S REALLY HARD TO

NOT SOUND TOO CHEESY.” 20 :: BRAG :: 741 :: 05:09:18

“It was one of the things we didn’t have to chase down, because we knew exactly the sweet spot of each room,” explains Lyngcoln, who turned the hall into a makeshift lodging. “I enjoyed it. I’d go up and sleep there in the hall –with a cricket bat, because we had about $80,000 worth of gear sitting in the hall. You get to sit there and write lyrics at night and I love it; recording’s my favourite thing.”

Another likely reason for the warmth found on Double Negative is the fact its subject matter, too, marks a significant break from previous work. Moving from the oppressively bleak themes on previous album Carpetbombing, the new album sees Lyngcoln and co turn to love and matters of the heart for the source material.

For Lyngcoln, there was a level of vulnerability in turning away from what comes naturally to him as a songwriter – that is, negativity. “It was a pretty hard decision, to be honest. It’s a lot harder to write within a positive context. Negativity is really natural for me and I can wallow quite happily.”

While Double Negative may feature a more positive subject matter, it also manages to retain Harmony’s idiosyncratic sensibilities. For all of its atrial focus, the album never feels overly sentimental.

“My heart is open and love comes pouring in,” sings Lyngcoln on ‘Two Sides Of My Heart’ – only to remind listeners that “love is a chemical high, a complicated structure” on the following track. There’s a fairly narrative arc to it. Opening track ‘I Love You’ makes the promise to “tag along” despite love being a “rough ride”. By the album’s close, however, Lyngcoln paints love as “a pulsing fat arrhythmical curse / my heart’s about to fucking burst”.

Refusing to ever look through rosecoloured glasses, Double Negative examines and meditates on things like tenderness and intimacy for what they are – deeply complex, and often as painful as they are wondrous.

“Trying to find positive things to write about, and particularly something as broad as love, it’s really hard to not sound too cheesy,” explains Lyngcoln.

It’s far easier, even in day to day conversations, to be self-deprecating rather than attempt to talk about these kind of things, he admits.

“I took it as a challenge. It was a completely different way of writing music for me. I’ve got a pretty long catalogue of pretty aggressive subjects and it’s not a challenge; that stuff’s really easy for me.

So I wanted to let my writing grow a little bit, and find a way of writing about things that have been written about probably more than any other topic.”

The lyrical focus wasn’t the only thing that changed when writing Double Negative. Lyngcoln explains that the first two Harmony records were literally all first takes. “It was the very first time the song was being performed. I really enjoyed that immediacy. You’re hearing something that’s formative.”

For this album, however, Harmony rehearsed and recorded the songs together, making for a far more collaborative experience. It’s noticeable on the record – it feels more like a cohesive ensemble than two separate entities. “It’s a little bit more like a band as opposed to a set of song sketches we pieced together and manipulated.”

Ten years in, and Lyngcoln – who released his first solo album earlier this year – says that the band’s collaborative aspect has hit its sweet spot. “I know to

“IT’S A LOT HARDER TO WRITE WITHIN A POSITIVE CONTEXT. NEGATIVITY IS REALLY NATURAL FOR ME AND

I CAN WALLOW QUITE HAPPILY.”

leave a certain amount of space and I know what the people involved are going to bring to it. I’m never disappointed – the people in the band have a unique way of doing what they do and that lends itself to the songs. I kind of rely on it.”

It’s somewhat surprising, then, to think that when Harmony first began, it was imagined without the vocal component which is now one of its most intriguing aspects.

“It transformed from what was a pretty run of the mill, meat and potatos ballad thing to something that reinvigorated it completely.”

thebrag.com

REVIEW

The Yamaha YAS-108 Soundbar Speaker, Reviewed

By Luke Girgis

“Let me start by saying my track record with home entertainment sound systems has been very poor.”

W

ant awesome sound for your home entertainment that’s also affordable? The Yamaha YAS-108 Soundbar may be your answer.

Okay, let me start by saying my track record with home entertainment sound systems has been very poor.

My first purchase was an $800 Samsung soundbar and bass box.

It was four years ago now, so I can’t remember the model, and I suppose it isn’t super graceful to name and shame it. I honestly couldn’t work out if the soundbar sounded better than the in-built TV speakers: it died on me after two years and I binned it.

My second attempt was no better: the LG 5.1 ch Blu-Ray Home Theatre System. It sounded amazing, but it would rarely connect to my TV. Every time I turned my TV on it was a total nightmare to actually have it play the audio.

Needless to say, having to muck around with the thing wasn’t conducive to a relaxing night in front of the telly. After a month of failed tech support from both the retailer and LG, I put it on Gumtree and moved on with my life.

My third attempt, thankfully was very fruitful. I tried the Yamaha YAS-108.

It did the two things every soundbar speaker should.

Firstly, it was super easy to connect to the TV. It really was plug and play: no fuss. Thank God. And secondly, it sounds awesome. It has a surround sound option at the touch of a button and an inbuilt subwoofer that put my previous speakers to shame. The YAS-108 is really powerful for its size and easily fills a room.

Yamaha have been around for 130 years, and in the sound game for 100 of those, during which time they have engineered pianos, keyboards, drums, guitars, audio equipment, and synths. Hell, even their motorcycles sound good. I guess what I’m saying is that I know the

brand: I equate it with high quality and sturdy musical equipment, and I imagine most consumers will feel that same level of comfort in backing a known name – especially with a purchase as important as a home entertainment set-up.

So often I have opted for a no-name brand for price’s sake, or a flash-inthe-pan brand because I have been seduced by advertising or reviews – and both these experiences have left a bitter taste in my mouth.

Specs-wise, the bar is favourablysized: at 35.5 inches wide, 2.5 inches deep, and 5.125 inches high, it’s aesthetically-pleasing and can either slide underneath the television or be bracketed on a wall (it comes with keyhole mounts) without seeming too intrusive.

That is until you turn it on. The thing packs a mighty punch, with 120 watts of power, two three-inch subwoofers, two two-inch mid-range cones, and two one-inch domes.

Additionally, it has an output port for more subwoofers should you wanna combine this with a stand-alone unit – although once you hear this thing in action you may not feel this is necessary at all.

Still, it’s nice to have the option, and it means that should you wish to upgrade in the future, you can keep the YAS-108, and save a bundle.

In terms of compatibility, the Yamaha YAS-108 can input Toslink optical, 3.5mm analog, HDMI and Bluetooth. There’s no Wi-Fi option, but with Bluetooth, this feels a little like splitting hairs. There is 4K Ultra

HD compatibility too, in both HDR10 and HLG HDR, which is great for pairing with the newer-model TVs. For the $349 price tag, I really cannot fault it. It’s proof that greater price doesn’t always equal better results.

When I got home from work I flicked on the AFL with the remote. The remote has a bunch of presets you can flick between, which make it easy to adjust the speaker to suit whatever you’re watching or listening to.

A sidenote: this is the first stereo or soundbar that I have ever seen with a dimmer-switch for the display. This is especially great when watching a film in the dark, or if you have the bar in your bedroom. Those lights can become inordinately maddening, so I am very grateful for this small but important inclusion.

I wanted to switch things up, and really test the extremes of the bar, so I played the Splendour live stream, and cranked the sound until I felt like I was standing next to the massive side-of-stage speakers at the festival.

Live sound is often a make or break deal when it comes to speakers, as it’s notoriously hard to get a good mix from a live show, and this often translates into muddy sound or that dreaded buzz, as the speaker struggles to keep up with the inflated bottom end. Not so in this case: the live stream was crisp, didn’t suffer from any digital fall out (another pet peeve of an audiophile) and basically sounded

“So often I have opted for a noname brand for price’s sake, or a flash-in-the-pan brand because I have been seduced by advertising or reviews.” like a speaker that would retail for triple the cost.

It makes sense that this thing sounds as good as it does.

A nice bonus (and something I was never was able to do quickly on both my previous systems) was that during dinner the Yamaha YAS-108 paired super easily with my phone via Bluetooth and we bumped the Splendour set with little effort.

Again, it’s 2018: playing music via Bluetooth shouldn’t be worth mentioning in a tech review – but how often do you pair with devices easily? Especially when home theatre systems; it’s always been a frustrating exercise for me, one that often finds me yelling obscenities at electrical objects, but the YAS-108 just worked. ■

“The remote has a bunch of presets you can flick between, which make it easy to adjust the speaker to suit whatever you’re watching or listening to.” thebrag.com

BRAG :: 741 :: 05:09:18 :: 21

FEATURE

CLOSER TO

Four Musicians Whose Careers Were Enriched By Ye

By Joseph Earp

KANYE

on’t let the biopics fool ya: the music industry can be surprisingly hostile and alienating. Often, there’s very little that motivates big artists to send the elevator back down after themselves, and they actively benefit from keeping the best producers, collaborators, and tips a closely guarded secret rather than sharing the spoils.

All of which goes to show that Kanye West really is one in a million. The man isn’t only a prodigious, almost unstoppable talent – he’s a surprisingly generous one too. Despite all that his self-aggrandising interview chatter might suggest, he understands the importance of helping those breaking out in the industry and over the years has come to serve as a mentor for a range of new, exciting talents.

To that end, here is a run-down of Kanye’s most beloved collaborators, ingenues, mates, and proteges, all of whom have been enriched by their proximity to Ye.

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Chance The Rapper For at least the last three Kanye album cycles, the music press at large has been anxiously searching for a successor to Ye. This is often how it goes in the biz – everyone’s always keen to pass on the mantle, and to establish emerging artists as cultural powerhouses by dubbing them new versions of yesterday’s titans. Hell, some rappers have tried to self- nominate; since pretty much his debut, Drake has anxiously emulated his hero Kanye, and has repeatedly called him one of the guiding forces in his own career.

But if there is any young gun who truly resembles Kanye in terms of sheer, exuberant, tactile talent, it’s Chicago’s own son Chance The Rapper. After all, few other youngbloods have Chance’s scrappily DIY attitude; a driving, all-consuming thirst for success that resembles Kanye’s gritty and energetic ‘Through The Wire’ era.

Indeed, Kanye proved a significant force in young Chance’s life before the two had even met – a devout Christian, the young Chance (born Chancelor Jonathan Bennett) listened almost exclusively to Michael Jackson, and soul and jazz performers of yesteryear, before he by chance stumbled across ‘Through The Wire’ on a college radio station. It was that song that redirected the course of his entire life, fostered in him an overwhelming love of rap, and directly led to the release of his acclaimed debut 2012 mixtape 10 Day. Since meeting in person in 2014, Chance and Kanye have continued to play a big part in each other’s careers, culminating in the ‘Blame Chance’ meme, and the younger rapper’s appearance on the ecstatic ‘Ultralight Beam’, the high point of The Life Of Pablo.

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Big Sean Of all of the rappers in the game, perhaps none owe Kanye a greater debt than Big Sean. A Californian-born, Detroit-raised prodigy, Big Sean (birth name Sean Michael Leonard Anderson) spent his adolescent years sharpening his bars and trying to make it big. Yet it wasn’t until a chance meeting with Ye that his ascendancy really began.

Having heard that Kanye was due to appear for an interview at a local radio station, Anderson decided to take his chance and accost the mega-star. Ye was initially resistant – perhaps he’d been stung by overeager young fans looking to show off their meagre talents before. But he acquiesced, granting Anderson the opportunity to perform 16 short bars for him.

“Of all of the rappers in the game, perhaps none owe Kanye a greater debt than Big Sean.”

Who knows which bars Anderson chose, but the risky stunt worked – as Anderson tells it, within moments Kanye was bopping his head and grinning along. Two years after that, Anderson found himself signed to Ye’s cutting edge label, GOOD Music, and not long after that, following the release of a series of excellent, stillunderrated mixtapes, Anderson began walking the path of critical and commercial success he is still on to this day.

“John Legend hadn’t even settled on a moniker when he met Kanye – back then he went by his birth name.”

John Legend John Legend is another performer who has benefited enormously from Kanye’s GOOD Music label. The international superstar and beloved crooner hadn’t even settled on a moniker when he met Kanye – back then he went by his birth name, John Roger Stephens. Having been introduced to Kanye by the acclaimed producer and all-around musical genius Devo Springsteen, Stephens quickly hit it off with the then only up-and-coming rapper and was hired to sing a selection of hooks for him.

It was the beginning of an important and fruitful relationship. Before long, Kanye had signed on as Stephens’ manager, and played a significant role in the recording of the young R&B artist’s debut record, Get Lifted. Not only did Kanye produce the record, he featured on the bumping, beautiful ‘Number One’, and co-wrote a number of the record’s best tracks, most significantly the debut single, ‘Used To Love U’.

In recent years, Stephens has attempted to return the favour, most notably by reaching out and contacting Kanye during Ye’s controversy-courting promotional lead-up to the drop of eighth album Ye. Kanye didn’t exactly do much to honour their decade-old friendship, posting Stephens’ messages publicly on Twitter, but hey, Kanye’s gotta Kanye, I guess?

Jay Z Okay, bear with me – sure, Jay isn’t strictly Kanye’s protégé. The two titans are, after all, on equal footing in terms of the cultural sway they both hold, and these days, following a series of rather public spats, they’re considered antagonists rather than collaborators.

But it’s easy to forget there was an era in hip hop history where Jay and Ye were friends, sharing their distinct and overwhelming talents rather than competing with one another, and in that golden age of contemporary rap, everyone benefited.

They were proteges together; one constantly learning and growing from contact with the other.

With Watch The Throne, that 2011 collaborative masterpiece, being the economic powerhouse that it was (it spawned seven singles, and was certified Platinum in the U.S.) hip hop was thrust even further into the mainstream. It was the beginning of a golden era that continues to this day; a rap renaissance that has seen the genre emerge as the most important and financially successful artform in America, and even the world. And it’s largely down to the friendship and collaboration between two of the world’s most dynamic musical talents.

“Kanye isn’t only a prodigious, almost unstoppable talent – he’s a surprisingly generous one too.” thebrag.com

BRAG :: 741 :: 05:09:18 :: 23

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24 :: BRAG :: 741 :: 05:09:18

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FEATURE

Bianca Davino chews the fat with Troye Sivan, a young performer on the cusp of an exciting new period in their career

no rules T

roye Sivan is a superpower. A YouTuber-cumactor-cum-pop-sensation, Sivan has spent the last three years moving from high to high, never once resting upon his laurels, or halting his astonishing creative growth.

Troye Sivan photo by Jules Faure

Bloom, his new album, is the triumph of that transformation. It is the work of an astonishingly accomplished singer-songwriter; a powerhouse collection of ballads and pop bangers that feels as personal and autobiographical as anything Sivan has ever released. It’s time we acknowledge the truth: Troye Sivan is the future of pop music.

The BRAG: Blue Neighbourhood came out three years ago and you’ve been through so much since then. I was just wondering; how did you take what you’ve learnt in that time through the writing process of Bloom?

Troye Sivan: That was probably the biggest force in writing this album: everything that I’d learnt since I released the last one. Just my whole life has changed so much. When I wrote the first album, I was really, really still finding my feet. And though I totally still am, I just feel a lot more comfortable and relaxed. I’m just way happier in my personal life and I’ve had all these crazy experiences work-wise.

“I’m just way happier in my personal life.”

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity thebrag.com

BRAG :: 741 :: 05:09:18 :: 25

FEATURE Bekki Green investigates the allure of alt-country, one of the most enterprising and exciting musical trends of the moment

“I’m really proud of my first album but at the same time, I know there is so much that I would want to try and do differently and want to change.”

no rules Also, I think knowing how to make an album really helped, because the first time I had no idea what I was doing. This time, it was about just feeling confident enough to be in the studio and suggest an idea that maybe sounds crazy or maybe is terrible. Like, having the freedom to be able to try stuff and know that’s how people make music. Because when I first started, I assumed everyone had this secret formula or something – these rules that I just didn’t know.

It took me a while to learn that everyone is literally just figuring it out. It was way different this time.

thing was being excited to try and do better than the first album.

Oh my god, I love Sky Ferreira.

TS: Me too.

It’s one thing if your first album is a masterpiece that you’re so proud of and everything. I’m really proud of my first album but at the same time, I know there is so much that I would want to try and do differently and want to change. I was really just excited to give it a go.

I want her to release a new album so bad.

TS: I know.

I guess in the three years since Blue Neighbourhood, you’ve been through a lot. Did you feel a lot of expectations on you when writing this album?

TS: I sort of did but honestly, I didn’t really have a lot of nerves or anything. I was mostly just excited because I was ready to get back in the studio. I felt that I had learnt so much and grown so much as a person that my main

Bloom is so musically diverse; there are some more guitar driven tracks and piano ballads, but you’ve got the dance elements still going with it. So, where did the inspiration for that come from?

TS: It came from all over the place. My musical inspirations this time around were so just all over the place. Everyone from the Velvet Underground and The Smiths to Sky Ferreira.

Then as well, I think almost above everything else, I feel like a songwriter. I have no perspective on the album because it’s mine and I made it, but I hope that it sounds consistent and that it make sense. But if it doesn’t, that’s because I was having fun and just trying stuff as a songwriter first and foremost. You know, not stressing too much about what’s the sound or whatever.

I was wondering – what’s your favourite track and why do you love it?

TS: I’m going to say ‘Animal’, because I think that one really checks off all of the goals that I had when I first started making the album. I wanted to write love songs and ‘Animal’ is a love song.

What: Bloom is out now through EMI Australia

“Music is a space that I feel really comfortable expressing almost anything in.

That part doesn’t intimidate me as much as playing it for my parents or playing it for my boyfriend.”

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thebrag.com

Troye Sivan photo by Heidi Slimane

I was talking to Amy Shark last week. She was like, ‘Oh, I worked with Jack Antonoff’ and you’ve worked with him in the past as well. She was like, ‘I felt weird to going to him suggestions because he’s Jack Antonoff.’

Did you feel similar working with these producers and collaborators? Did you feel like you bounced off each other’s synergy?

TS: Yeah, completely. Again, it was so refreshing to go in with these people that again, I once would have assumed have it all figured out. And literally all they’re doing is like, ‘The number one rule is if it feels good, do it.’ You know what I mean? Like, there’s no rules basically.

One of the songs that really stuck out to me was ‘Postcard’. Listening to the lyrics, I felt like it must have been so difficult to sit down and write, knowing people would be dissecting it. Did you feel that difficulty, knowing that once this is out in the world, your stories will be there for people to tear apart and make their own meaning from?

TS: The hardest part is playing it for the people in my life because they’re the ones who are really affected by it. When it comes to everyone else, I’m a fairly open person. Also, music is a space that I feel really comfortable expressing almost anything in. That part doesn’t intimidate me as much as playing it for my parents or playing it for my boyfriend. That’s the scary part.

It was kind of a bit of a mess of references and [producer Ariel Rechtshaid] actually was the first person I talked to about it.

I had this playlist that I talked him through. I was like, ‘I really want to try something like this and I really love this vocal production and I really love this guitar sound.’ He was the first person that was like, ‘Oh, I get it. This is going to be really cool.’ So, that was my thumbs up to keep going and try it.

thebrag.com

BRAG :: 741 :: 05:09:18 :: 27

MUSIC

“BUILDING A WALL BETWEEN TWO COUNTRIES? THAT’S JUST DUMB AND LIKE SOMETHING A KID WOULD DO.”

MUM PLAYED

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M

ade up of three sisters from Peckham, South London – all of whom are under the age of 16 – the Honey Hahs are sweetening political commentary with a cheery youthful optimism and unapologetic directness.

Their debut record Dear Someone, Happy Something is instilled with nuanced melodies, off-beat rhythms (11-year-old drummer Sylvie has an affinity for afro percussion) and a precious sincerity. Produced by Steve Mackey of Pulp, the studio was often ringing with laughter while they were putting the record together. “We giggled a lot because our voices sounded so loud through the headphones,” explains Sylvie and guitarist and pianist Rowan.

Dear Someone captures the little moments that fluttered past you while you were growing up; the moments lost to time. ‘Swallow’ was written by Rowan during a long car trip, while ‘River’ was inspired by the classic fantasy film Bridge To Terabithia. And ‘I Know You Know’ was a gift that Sylvie crafted for her father’s birthday (after being suggested by her mother, Dido, of course).

And their single ‘Stop Him’ reflects the sentiments of the UK’s recent Stop Trump protest, which saw thousands of demonstrators descend on the streets of central London in protest of the American president’s appearance at the Nato summit in Brussels. The sisters chant in unison, “Even though you have some power / one day they’ll realise you’re sour.”

Written between their home and their grandma’s house in Bristol, the track

was originally intended to be about those who bored them. “It started just vague about having to spend time with people you find annoying,” explain Sylvie and Rowan.

“And then when we heard about Donald Trump, we thought it would be good to write about him. Building a wall between two countries? That’s just dumb and like something a kid would do.”

Throughout their nascent career, the band have proved as frank in their lyricisms as they are in their answers: ‘Love Whoever’ was penned after Sylvie learnt at school that “gay people were not allowed to be with each other in the old days,” she explains.

The three sisters create aptly honeyed harmonies akin to that of ’70s-era The Roches (another sister three-piece), and their songwriting is sprinkled with subtle touches of style that set them apart from other folk-pop acts. They could easily be placed in the ranks of indie-folk rockers Lucy Dacus, Julien Baker, and The Lemon Twigs.

“We learnt to harmonise when Mum played a lot of Wally Whyton in the car – she loved to harmonise to his songs.

We were just messing about basically,” says Sylvie and Rowan. From there, they discovered viral sister duo Lennon and Maisy on Youtube. “We learnt songs they sang and started to busk them and it went down quite well.”

Their father, a poet and musician, Tim Siddall, told The Guardian that he wished that they’d play with bags over their heads to hold onto their anonymity. But the three young women aren’t fazed by fame. Asked what they love most about making

“WE LEARNT TO HARMONISE WHEN

A LOT OF WALLY WHYTON IN THE CAR. WE WERE JUST MESSING ABOUT BASICALLY.”

FEATURE

Belinda Quinn chats to Sylvie and Rowan Hallett of the Honey Hahs about Trump’s immaturity, falling asleep mid-gig and the boons of the music industry (namely free food)

“[MUSIC] CAN BE TIRING.

ONCE SYLVIE WAS ALMOST ASLEEP PLAYING DRUMS AT A GIG.” music, they reply enthusiastically (and with zero context), “The snacks!”

Their mother, Dido is an artist and director of Maverick Projects, a company that hires out London’s near-crumbling, but visually alluring heritage sites – and she had her own stint as a musician in ’90s pop group Tiger. The greatest lesson their parents have passed on to them, Sylvie and Rowan say, is “to just get on with it and not worry too much what others think of you.”

Since their initiation, the Honey Hahs have shared the stage with some killer acts: Insecure Men, Shame and Goat Girl, to name a few. Balancing state school and a multiplicity of extracurricular activities isn’t easy on the sisters. When questioned what the most challenging aspect of being in a band is, Rowan explains, “It can be tiring. Once Sylvie was almost asleep playing drums at a gig. And sometimes you can’t go out because you have a gig – but we always enjoy it, so it’s fi ne.”

What: Dear Someone, Happy Something is out Friday September 7 through Rough Trade / Remote Control thebrag.com

BRAG :: 741 :: 05:09:18 :: 29

FEATURE

Alway s

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thebrag.com

FEATURE

“WHEN WE FIRST CAME UP WITH THE NAME AND WE WENT IN TO JAM, I DON’T THINK ANY OF US HAD

Activ e

ANY IDEA OF WHAT IT WAS GOING TO SOUND LIKE.”

Belinda Quinn talks to Julia Jacklin and Liz Hughes of Phantastic Ferniture about their new record, Makeout Records, and the pros of activewear

O

ver the past four years, indie-pysch-folk act Phantastic Ferniture have been slowly yet persistently piecing a record together while its band members focused on their soaring solo careers. Originally made up of Julia Jacklin, Elizabeth Hughes, Ryan K. Brennan, and Tom Stephens, (Stephens is no longer playing live with the band) Phan Fern was designed as an excuse for them to pick up a new instrument and get a little bit silly onstage.

And now, the presence of a tangible record has them feeling content.

Finishing the thing has been nice.

After all, you can work on a song forever: rewriting, rearranging, tweaking this and that. “I think it can feel like you never complete anything,” explains Jacklin.

Being able to hold the record in their hands feels like an acknowledgement of four years of hard work and jumping through hurdles – not to mention a sense of finality.

Asked what acts influenced the record, they say it’s hard to pin down.

“I think that’s probably what is so special for us about the project; we all have really different music tastes,” says Jacklin. “When we first came

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up with the name and we went in to jam, I don’t think any of us had any idea of what it was going to sound like. It honestly could have been anything. We could have been a folk band playing like Gillian Welch-style music.”

‘Dark Corner Dance Floor’ sees Jacklin’s breathy and weightless vocals swell alongside Hughes’ thrashier, distorted guitar playing and Brennan’s thrilling rhythms. Having played softer, sadder songs in their solo projects, Hughes and Jacklin have found release in being able to easily sense when an audience is having a good time.

“That’s what we loved about performing as Phan Fern: there was just this immediate reaction of joy, of unbridled joy. People aren’t overthinking the music as much as we were,” says Hughes.

Tom Stephens’ swirling, effortlessly fun basslines call for special attention on the record. “He was really into reggae at the time [of writing them],” laughs Hughes.

“I think still to this day when I listen to this record and the music we made, it doesn’t sound like any of us,” adds Jacklin. “This doesn’t sound like anything that we listen to.”

BRAG :: 741 :: 05:09:18 :: 31

FEATURE

K IN H T T S JU E W T U B , D O O G REALLY ’S D N A B R U O Y , N E T IS L H “[PEOPLE] WERE LIKE, ‘O

” ’.

N E T S I L A N N O G E R A E L P O E P R E I IF YOU DRESS SEX

Amid their love of goofy dancing and dorky puns, they’re also avid fans of leisurewear, repping vivid, intense colour palettes sourced from op shops.

“We went through this sport jersey phase,” says Hughes. “People would come up to us after the show and be like, ‘Yeah, love that team, love that game.’ And we’d be like, ‘No idea what you’re talking about.’

“It’s nice wearing stuff that we didn’t take seriously: just big baggy clothes that we could jump around in. It just wasn’t about looking good, it was about being in comfortable activewear that you can actually move in,” says Hughes.

Indeed, when the band played a show in Manly at Hotel Steyne, some of its punters expressed a few grievances with Jacklin’s dress sense. “I was wearing this giant Dallas Cowboys jersey. You know, no make-up, gross pants, and sneakers, and having a

great time on stage,” explains Jacklin.

“And then I got off stage and was surrounded by these really like, nice men who were obviously trying to do me a big solid and tell me some information. And they were like, ‘Oh listen, your band’s really good, but we just think if you dress sexier, people are gonna listen. You’re gonna get more of a crowd.’”

“And they punked on your top?” chimes in Hughes.

“They were like pulling my jersey, yeah,” says Jacklin. “They were like, ‘Don’t wear that, don’t wear that.’ And they were saying it in this way where they’re like, ‘Oh, aren’t we just a nice bunch of blokes helping this silly girl out who’s clearly not realised that she’s gotta look sexy on stage.’ And that was really reaffirming to be like, ‘Cool, I’m gonna keep doing that’.”

The band’s main objectives are to have a good time; to feel good. The

project was an opportunity to learn, and to prove that passion is enough to produce something great, rather than simply being technically prolifi c.

They even decided to make their own label, Makeout Records.

“Representing ourselves feels really good and opens up the doors to be able to do something with other bands in future,” explains Hughes.

“I think sometimes we’ve been mischaracterised because the name’s silly,” Jacklin adds. “And people just get really confused about, like, are we a kid’s band, or are we just a total joke? We know what we stand for and what we are, and it just makes you feel like you’ve got a little more control over that narrative.”

Named after Jacklin’s favourite album, Bury Me At Makeout Creek by Mitski, Makeout is a bold new musical venture. “You know, making out is fun and we hope that our music will

encourage consensual making out sessions at home or at the show.”

Like the label name, it seems the band’s ethos is a fi ne-tuned balance between serious and not too serious.

Lyrics like “mamma you papa bear” were composed because they simply felt good.

And “Fuckin’ and rollin’ / Into the night” was a result of their original bass player’s rambling while showing them a riff. Jacklin says, “He was just like, ‘I don’t know, something like, ‘Fuckin and rollin’ and I remember being like, ‘Well that’s not gonna stick because I’m not singing that, that sounds ridiculous.’ And then I sung it anyway and never changed it. It’s fi ne.”

now What: Phantastic Ferniture is out line through Makeout Records / Caro Australia

“THAT’S WHAT WE LOVED ABOUT PERFORMING AS PHAN FERN: THERE WAS JUST

THIS IMMEDIATE REACTION OF JOY, OF UNBRIDLED JOY.” 32 :: BRAG :: 741 :: 05:09:18

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BOBEVANS.COM.AU FOR DETAILS thebrag.com

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FEATURE

Ladies And Gentlemen…

Doug Wallen and Spiritualized’s Jason Pierce investigate the source of hurt

I

t’s been six years since Spiritualized dropped the roundly acclaimed Sweet Heart Sweet Light, making for the English ensemble’s widest gap between albums. But And Nothing Hurt finds Jason Pierce and collaborators breaking that drought in robust form, revisiting their signature spectrum of sweeping chamber pop and swaggering rock ‘n’ roll. Pierce is Spiritualized’s only constant across all eight albums, and he had already been a cult hero for his role in Spacemen 3.

That prodigious discography didn’t mean that the new record was any easier to make, however. “It was done over a long period of time,” admits Pierce by phone from England. “My initial intention was to record a big band session, like a Ray Charles/Columbia Studios session. But I found when I started that I didn’t have the songs to do it.”

So he holed up with his laptop and stubbornly taught himself the finer points of modern home recording, ducking out to the nearest studio when had the money to record extras like drums, strings and horns.

“I always fall into the same hole,” he says, as frank as ever. “I keep saying I don’t want to do it again, but every time I’ve done it on my own, I obsess over things. I feel like there must be an easier way.”

Longtime fans of the band should appreciate And Nothing Hurt even before the opening track, ‘A Perfect Miracle’, has finished. The song’s lullaby-ish start, gradual build and eventual swell of orchestration and overlapping vocals circles back to the opening title track of the band’s 1997’s masterpiece, Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space.

“I missed the similarity between [them],” Pierce confesses. “It never occurred to me until people started pointing it out. The only way [‘Miracle’] seemed to work is if it got bigger. Every track on the album’s got the maximum number of recorded tracks, which I think is 260-something. I can’t stop filling all this space.”

While it took him a while to settle up on that ideal album opener, he always knew it was going to end with ‘Sail On Through’, another fullbodied crescendo that this time culminates in a surprise smattering of Morse code.

“I like the way that it’s the international distress signal,” he says. “It seemed like a real match for the song.” When he put words down in Morse, they reminded him of foreign-language records that historically have made him want to learn their meaning. A touch just as lovely as that fluttering Morse is the adoring mention of Big Star’s classic ‘September Gurls’ on ‘Let’s Dance’. But that reference only manifested after Pierce realised that his song resembled Kurt Weill’s ‘September Song’, a pop standard that’s been sung by Sinatra and similar heavy hitters.

“IT SEEMS LIKE PEOPLE, ESPECIALLY AT MY AGE, PUT OUT RECORDS JUST TO GET BACK ON THE ROAD – OR TO RELIVE PAST GLORIES.

THE WORLD DOESN’T NEED ANOTHER BAD RECORD.” 34 :: BRAG :: 741 :: 05:09:18

“THERE’S THIS UNWRITTEN RULE IN ROCK ‘N’ ROLL THAT

THE OLDER YOU GET, YOUR ALBUMS DON’T HAVE TO BE GOOD.” Other highlights on And Nothing Hurt include the archetypal road song ‘Here It Comes (The Road) Let’s Go’ and the nearly eight-minute ‘The Morning After’, which evokes such past Spiritualized rave-ups as ‘Electricity’. But again, all the album’s widescreen rewards came only after an arduous creative process.

“I really wanted to make these songs complete,” says Pierce. “There’s this unwritten rule in rock ‘n’ roll that the older you get, your albums don’t have to be good. I really felt under great pressure to make something that was worthy of being released.”

For that reason, he even talked at times about this being the final Spiritualized album. Not because he wanted to retire, but because he wanted to up the stakes enough to craft something truly of lasting value.

“Part of it was to put further pressure on myself to make something that was worthy,” he confirms. “I never wanted to stop making music, but I wanted to throw all the strings in and all this information, and it kind of drives me crazy. I find myself alone, just obsessing about these things.”

He also suffered from “crises of no self-belief.”

Listening to some of his favourite music from the past only made him want to work harder. “Now I listen to the music I love and it fills me with a kind of ‘What’s the point?’ [feeling],” he explains, “because it’s already been said so eloquently. So it puts this massive pressure on me to create something that’s worthy. It seems like people, especially at my age, put out records just to get back on the road – or to relive past glories. The world doesn’t need another bad record. It feels like I’d be cheating myself if I went that route.”

Catching himself at one point, Pierce says, “I feel like I’m complaining too much.” But his meticulous quality control is key to the immersive, wowing grandeur of so many Spiritualized albums, all the way back to 1992’s Lazer Guided Melodies. “People say, ‘You’ve made eight albums, why can’t you make another?’” he adds. “‘Just throw it together and put it out.’”

But that’s never been his way.

Because of the protracted process of making the new album, Pierce isn’t sure when the band might return to Australian for another tour. “But we will,” he promises. Returning just once more to his exacting vision for the gloriously realised And Nothing Hurt, he concludes, “I didn’t feel any fulfilment from not chasing all the possibilities – and chasing some of those possibilities away. Seeing where each song’s gonna go. I think it’s certainly a better album for doing that.”

What: And Nothing Hurt is out Friday September 7 through Bella Union / Inertia

thebrag.com

FEATURE

“EVERY TRACK ON THE ALBUM’S GOT THE MAXIMUM NUMBER OF RECORDED TRACKS, WHICH I THINK IS 260-SOMETHING.

I CAN’T STOP FILLING ALL THIS SPACE.”

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FEATURE

Learn To Grow Geordie Gray talks to Tkay Maidza about fun, the future, and faking it till you make it

T

kay Maidza is one of those quietly infuriating artists who can make you feel, simply put, as though you’re wasting your goddamn life. At the tender age of 21, the Zimbabwe-born, Adelaide-based hip hop prodigy is experiencing the kind of career high that most artists don’t reach until their mid-40s, if at all. Not only has she collaborated with artists as cool and cutting edge as Rita Ora, Charli XCX, and Troye Sivan, but she’s carved out a space entirely for herself, by herself too; she’s not just resting on the laurels of others.

Her 2016 studio album Tkay is a collection of certified, cotton candy boppers, she’s been nominated for BET Awards and a slew of ARIAs, and her newest release, Last Year Was Weird, is a new artistic highpoint in a career that hasn’t seen

“I’VE LEARNT THAT IT’S IMPORTANT TRY AND

DO AS MUCH AS YOU CAN.” “MY DAD WAS ALWAYS IN A LOT OF BANDS.

HE PLAYED BASS FOR FUN

– BUT HE’S A MINER, SO IT WAS JUST A HOBBY.”

the young artist drop off yet. Moreover, it’s certified proof that Maidza is here to stay. She’s no flash in the pan, hyped up flavour of the month; she is a stunningly versatile performer in her own right, one who deserves every single one of the accolades that will surely continue to be thrown her way.

Not, mind you, that Maidza is self-serious about anything that’s happening to her. “It’s important to have fun,” she says, simply, and that seems to be something of her mantra. She’s not getting high on the praise, or making music simply for the pleasure of her critics. She’s just quietly, emphatically living her very best life.

“IT’S IMPORTANT

TO HAVE FUN.”

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

THE BRAG: Could you tell me a bit about your songwriting process and what spurs your creativity?

Tkay Maidza: My songwriting process depends on the day. I get sent so many instrumentals, so I have tonnes of beats that I can just write to whenever I feel like it. Sometimes I’ll literally just have an idea and I don’t know where it fits. So I’ll write a melody in my head, then I’ll go to a producer and say, ‘This is what I’m seeing: can you make this come to life?’ Or if I can be bothered, I can just put chords underneath whatever I’ve been singing in my head, just to paint a really rough picture to start the song.

What have you learnt over the past few years and how have you implemented that knowledge in your creative process?

TM: I’ve learnt that it’s important to try and do as much as you can. If you try and do as much as you can, you have more outcomes and more possibilities. If you don’t and you’re not consistent, then you never know what’s going to happen, because you haven’t done the work. I think just being really consistent and working hard and just trying to put things forward helps you progress. In that way, you’re growing.

Another thing I’ve learnt is the best music I’ve listened to is a hundred percent comprehensible. Even if you don’t listen to music, or you don’t like that music, it’s like, ‘Oh yeah, I know what that person is saying and I can feel how the song feels.’ A vibe is important, but knowing what the person is saying is so important. That’s something I’ve learnt over the years, and I try to implement it.

What is your proudest achievement?

TM: My proudest achievement is finishing my EP. I felt like, I had a vision and the way it looks and feels and the songs are everything that I intended to do. It’s like my proudest moment right now. But also playing the Governor’s Ball is another proud moment. It was crazy.

Is there anything you hope people take away from your music?

TM: I just hope people can listen to it and feel like they’re not the only ones going through what they’re going through. But also that they have a nice time. It’s important to have fun.

You’ve just released a new record: Last Year Was Weird (Vol. 1). Do you have a favourite song off the EP? TM: There are so many songs off there that I like, but probably ‘White Rose’. It was that whole thing of me saying exactly what I thought. Every word is really intense. It’s exactly how I feel and exactly how I felt writing it. It’s just a really accurate depiction of how I felt. When I listen to it I just think, ‘Wow, this is so emotional but pretty, but cool.’

Did you grow up in a musical family?

TM: My dad was always in a lot of bands. He played bass for fun – but he’s a miner, so it was just a hobby. Every weekend we’d go to family gigs at pubs and family festivals. I have uncles that tour in Africa. My dad’s side love music; they’re self-taught.

What was the weirdest thing to happen to you last year?

TM: 2016 was the weird year. It’s hard to say because the actual title is really dark. It’s like when you have a bad situation, and you come out of it and you’re like, ‘Man, that was so weird.’ It was that kind of tone. It’s like, you know when you find out the true meaning of Rugrats, like the backstory; the fanfiction thing?

If you weren’t a musician, what would you be doing with your life?

TM: I was studying architecture before I started music. I feel like I’d be doing that still, but I don’t think I’d be enjoying it. I always felt like I should have been doing something else, which is music.

What: Last Year Was Weird (Vol.1) is out now through Universal Music Australia

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FEATURE

Feeling The Same

F

or Alicia Bognanno, the onset of each tour begins with a familiar ritual. She gathers her 16 distortion pedals (yes, you read that right: 16) and begins a process of elimination – “a distortion off,” as she likes to call it. Starting with a batch of five, she narrows down the winning gritty, aggressive tone and repeats the procedure until just three are left standing.

And, as always, her Greer Amps pedal is triumphant.

“For some reason in my head I’ll be like, ‘What if I’m not maximising my pedal tone.’ I hate myself for saying that, but it’s true.” She laughs. “It’s just such a waste of time. I go through it and every time it’s the same. What the fuck am I doing?”

“THE ELECTION IN THE STATES

AFFECTED EVERYBODY’S ART.”

38 :: BRAG :: 736 :: 04:04:18

[Top] Bully photo by Chad Kamenshine

Belinda Quinn chats to Alicia Bognanno of Bully about the depths of teenage friendship, annoying Youtube pedal demonstrators, and connection in the Trump era

I suggest it has therapeutic benefits. “Clearly it’s doing something for my mental health. So yeah, that’s my relationship with pedals. Maybe we leave that bit out,” she jokes.

The singer and engineer behind gritty punk act Bully eases into conversation gently. I can sense we’re both a little anxious, which is oddly comforting. She eagerly offers up pictures of her “ginormous” nine-year-old dog that she lives alone with in Nashville.

We discuss everything from the excess of over-the-top dudes doing pedal demonstrations on Youtube – “there’s a guy noodling on like a blues guitar and you’re like, ‘What the fuck?’ Like, does this translate? … He’s got his foot up on his amp, and it’s like, ‘Okay we get it’,” she says between laughter, – to the need for the representation of friendship between teenage women in film. thebrag.com

FEATURE

“AS A CULTURE WE’RE TOLD TO

HIDE OUR TAMPONS

WHEN WE’RE WALKING TO THE BATHROOM.”.

“I WORK

MY FUCKING ASS OFF.” gritty, high-velocity punk that it was destined to be. “I got my first SG when someone was like, ‘If you can fix this, you can have it.’ And it was just a soldering point in the input jack that was messed up, so I was like, ‘Perfect’,” she says.

[Above and this page] Bully photo by Erica Tra

She’s noted a sense of imposter syndrome in previous interviews. Asked if this feeling remains, she says it does, but Bognanno is thankful for the team behind the band and their manager, Ryan Matteson. “[He’s] constantly just like, ‘You’re worth more than that’,” she explains. “I’m [consistently] just in this headspace where I’m like, somebody is going to say what I’m doing isn’t fair or that I don’t do deserve what I’m getting, which I do. I work my fucking ass off.”

Since we last spoke in October, Bully have been constantly on the move, having played at least 85 shows across the States, the UK and Europe, and New Zealand before heading to Splendour in the Grass.

“I think that’s why Lady Bird was cool. There’s so much you need from [those friendships]. Like talking about getting your fucking period and what’s supposed to be normal,” she explains. The track ‘Focused’ was written about her best friend growing up. She reflects on what they went through as teens; how they confided in one another when they couldn’t speak with their families.

Asked how guitarist Clayton Parker, bassist Reece Lazarus, and herself prevent burn out on tour, she explains, “We are really independent. I think when we’re touring around other bands they get confused, because we’ll just get to places and scatter … Everyone really likes their alone time.”

“As a culture we’re told to hide our tampons when we’re walking to the bathroom, you know what I’m saying? When you’re kids you’re so embarrassed. You’re constantly being shamed for it in middle school,” Bognanno explains.

Small acts of thoughtfulness helps to ease tension. “It’s like, don’t crack open a hard boiled egg in the van,” she says, laughing. “We went out to band dinner last night.

It’s a lot of silence, but it’s good – it’s the thought that counts.”

She misses the depth of those youthful, devious and playful friendships. “Even just having sex when you’re young and being called a slut. I mean, guys don’t get that.

Ever. That’s an award for them.”

Her songs have always been personal, and instilled with whatever anxieties were playing on her mind at the time of writing. However, after Trump’s election, she decided to be more outright. “The election in the states, whether or not it was intentional or subconscious, definitely affected everybody’s art,” she says. “It’s just built up the need to more vocal about everything in general.

She wishes these dynamics were examined with a greater degree of wisdom in film.

And in a way that is truly accessible, so you’re not trawling through the deepest, darkest corners of Rotten Tomatoes to find a story that’s told well.

Having grown up in a small town in Tennessee, Bognanno didn’t start playing guitar until she was 20 after moving to Nashville. She wasn’t raised in a musical family. In fact, she was only exposed to one local band growing up.

“There was a lot of stuff that I kept more personal because I didn’t feel like I needed to talk about it, like my sexuality and stuff,” she explains. “I’ve brought it up this year because it’s just like, let’s just make a safe space for everybody … I think people are just searching for that connection a lot more.”

“Playing music was not a thing,” she explains. She dabbled with piano at home, but found the instrument limiting. “I was really bad,” Bognanno says, comparing it to sounding like the soft and polished pop singer-songwriter, Sara Bareilles.

As for how she’ll connect with her audiences in the future, we’ll have to wait and see: Bully are currently working with five new songs, and Bognanno plans to start demoing fresh material throughout September. “[Whether or not I’ll] think those songs are total garbage in five months is still up in the air.”

When she first picked up an electric guitar, her music started to translate into the

What: Losing is out now through Sub Pop / Mushroom Australia

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FEATURE

Maddy Ellwanger And The Mystical, Far-Out Search For The Self

By Joseph Earp

Y

ou can tell everything you need to know about Maddy Ellwanger’s music from her press images. Everything she goes for in her dense, multi-layered albums is there, from leery, Gonzo weirdness, to a peculiar mix of nostalgic innocence and the lingering, ever-sosubtle taste of darkness.

Records like Hunny, her latest, are tonally complicated, succulent little things, as invigoratingly discombobulated as a fullon bout of the ‘Macarena’ going down at a Swinger’s Club.

Not, mind you, that this is all some kind of alluringly odd distraction for Ellwanger; just a hobby.

“I honestly always knew,” she says, when pressed to reveal when the call to be an artist first lured her in.

“There was no doubt in my mind that I wanted to be a full-time musician.”

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

The BRAG: Did you grow up in a very musical household?

Maddy Ellwanger: It wasn’t an overly musical household when I was really young … I remember my mom singing every second she could get the chance – she still does – and my dad playing guitar occasionally, but to me it never felt like an overwhelming amount of music at all times.

It wasn’t until I really started becoming interested in music when I was around nine or 10 years old that I remember it changed drastically. Next thing you know, it felt like we were constantly getting new instruments and microphones and music equipment. As the years went on, the amount of things having to do with music would double and triple – and that’s been the main focus in our house ever since.

You have a real visual sensibility. Were you interested in movies and filmmaking before you were interested in making music?

ME: I can’t say I’ve ever been attracted to one more than the other; I’ve always just loved anything creative, whether it’s singing, filming, acting, sewing, painting... The list could go on and on. I chose music because it allowed me to do all those things at once. As a musician, I get to do it all.

“AS A MUSICIAN,

A song like ‘Loverboy’ is so layered; there’s such density to the sound. Do you fiddle around with songs for a long time before they’re finished?

ME: Recently I do mess around with different sounds a lot more, to a point where it’s probably a little excessive. I’ve become obsessed with layering as many sounds as my recording equipment allows.

I GET TO DO IT ALL.” “I HATE PIZZA

What was high school like for you? Did you enjoy it?

ME: The best word for me to use to describe my high school experience would be “short”. I actually dropped out when I was 14 to pursue music.

I don’t have too many memories, but [those] I do have were pretty bad. I never had a good time in school. Academically I was more than fine – I never got a grade below a B – but socially I was a mess and I had a lot of trouble getting along with people my age.

But every song is different. For example, I wrote my song ‘Hunny’ in under 15 minutes. The lyrics just popped in my head and I ran to my guitar and recorded myself singing. Whereas ‘Loverboy’ took me over a year to write just the lyrics.

WITH A BURNING PASSION.” “I HAVEN’T WRITTEN ANYTHING IN A VERY LONG TIME, BUT I THINK IT’S BECAUSE

At what point did you decide that you wanted to become a full-time musician?

ME: It wasn’t necessarily a decision.

I honestly always knew. My parents have always supported me in every single thing I do, so I’ve always had a very strong belief in myself. There was no doubt in my mind that I wanted to be a full-time musician, and that I was capable of being a full-time musician.

Luckily, I started playing music and performing so young that I could really learn a lot at a young age and use that to my advantage.

Was Roscoe your first record? How did you find the experience of making it?

ME: Roscoe was technically my first full record. I did have a four song EP come out before that. The experience was definitely very interesting, and frustrating, and confusing. Not only was I writing full songs for the first time, but also teaching myself to play so many new instruments as well as teaching myself how to record for the first time too.

I had never used any sort of recording equipment before and had no idea what I was doing [laughs]. I don’t think I’ll ever have a harder time creating a record than I did creating Roscoe.

How do you know when a record is complete? Is it sometimes hard to let go?

ME: I can’t really explain it. When I know I just know. I really don’t ever get nervous or scared or sad to let go of a record; most of the emotion that went into it is gone by the time it’s ready to come out.

If anything, I’m just excited to be done with all the tough work and get to the fun stuff like hearing what people think and performing it.

I’VE BEEN PRETTY HAPPY RECENTLY

AND I DON’T THINK I’VE EVER WRITTEN A HAPPY SONG BEFORE.”

Hunny, your latest record, has this real edge of melancholy to it. Was that something you had in mind for the project from the outset?

ME: That’s a very good way to describe it.

I never have a vision for what I’m writing, I let it happen naturally, so it definitely wasn’t planned, but that’s definitely how it turned out. I was going through a lot when I wrote it and was in a very confusing, odd point in my life which led me to feeling very depressed and melancholy for a good two years.

My true emotions come out through my music and my art, and it’s hard for me to hide. If I’m feeling sad I’m gonna sing sad.

I haven’t written anything in a very long time, but I think it’s because I’ve been pretty happy recently and I don’t think I’ve ever written a happy song before. So as much as I’d love to I’m not sure where to even start?

What was the last great movie you watched?

ME: Killer Klowns From Outer Space. I’ve

seen it a billion times.

When you’re writing songs, do you imagine how they might translate to the live environment?

ME: For me when I’m writing songs it’s never planned out: it’s a very go with the fl ow type thing. I’ve learned over time that I can’t force myself to write a song or have a certain vision before it’s done, otherwise I end up disappointed.

thebrag.com

Tell me something you’ve never told an interviewer before.

ME: I hate pizza with a burning passion and no matter how many people hate me for it I refuse to feel bad about it.

What: Hunny is out now

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FEATURE

A Heavenly Distraction

fter the success of the doomy grunge act Dilly Dally’s searing 2015 debut Sore – which was critically acclaimed for its unapologetic, razer-sharp outbursts of feminine and sexual desire – a monthlong tour caused seeds of existing tension within the band to bloom.

Post-tour, it took long spells of solitude, turning off social media, and working to slowly, delicately cleanse Monks’ mind for the band to return to making music.

“It’s really easy to not be grounded, because it is such a thrill. Like it is a total drug: showing up to a new city every day with a bunch of people who wanna be your best friend – it’s not real life,” she says.

“[But] what the biggest con is, when you come home from tour and when it’s all over, and when people stop applauding and the praise goes away – then you’re just alone.”

Monks learnt that this praise needed to come from within in order for her creativity to be sustainable: she had to stop relying on the crowds she was singing to night by night. “So, all of that other stuff, it’s an illusion of success. I mean, I don’t even need to get started on what my bank account looks like. It’s not pretty,” she says, laughing.

After touring Sore, Monks returned to Toronto to find friends had moved on and bands were “talking shit”, demurring Dilly Dally’s success. “You have to go, ‘Oh.

Dilly Dally photo by Vanessa Heins

LIKE,

MENTALLY DAMAGING TO NOT HAVE TIME WITH YOURSELF.”

“WHEN YOU’RE IN A VAN WITH THREE OTHER PEOPLE, IT DOESN’T MATTER HOW STRONG YOUR FRIENDSHIP IS. IT IS SO

Katie Monks of the excellent band Dilly Dally teaches Belinda Quinn the art of staying together on tour

“When you’re in a van with three other people, it doesn’t matter how strong your friendship is. It is so like, mentally damaging to not have time with yourself, and to not have time to think,” explains guitarist and vocalist Katie Monks, noting that often “taking a shit” was the only way they got some time to themselves. One show in England even saw Monks walk off stage crying mid-song: the band was built on love and friendship, and when those friendships started to deteriorate, it hit Monks hard.

Asked about the pros and cons of a swelling ego, Monks laughs. “Well, the pros of an inflated ego are that it feels amazing. The cons: people like my best friends in the band probably found me highly annoying.

42 :: BRAG :: 741 :: 05:09:18

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distorted, blistering melodies; it’s as if the sounds belong together, bolstering each other up in a whirl of electric, unified chaos.

This meant nurturing the friendships between co-founder and guitarist Liz Ball, bassist Jimmy Tony and drummer Benjamin Reinhartz. “It takes a lot of work to turn something sad and heartbreaking into something positive. But it’s so worth it, and at the end of the day you do become a better person,” she says.

A particular track that paved the way for Heaven’s realisation is ‘Believe’, a sonically grinding number that’s imbued with positivity. “Honestly, that song was my mantra for writing this album,” she explains.

Asked how she’s feeling about the release of their follow-up record, Heaven, Monks is effusive. “I’m excited because there’s so many different sides to this album.” There’s the “queer epic tragedy” in ‘Bad Biology’, which moves radically between eerie, soft simplicity and all-in noise; ‘Marijuana’, an ode to the drug’s therapeutic benefits, and ‘Sober Motel’, a denunciation of the pressure placed on musicians to overindulge in alcohol while touring.

“I think a lot of these songs on this record are little reminders for myself and for my bandmates to always remember to take care of yourself,” she says.

The frazzling tension in Monks’ voice often drawls out and twists into Ball’s chronically

“There were so many things I had to peel away in order to feel confident enough to have something to say, and I think as you get older, more and more of the world seems so complicated. The one thing that you thought was 100 per cent real and true, and that you would fight for for the rest of your life, suddenly it presents itself with a different side. Over and over again you’re having to re-learn things that you thought you knew.

“So, I think as an artist in order to feel like you can stand on stage and perform and sing a bunch of words to a huge audience, I felt like I had to dig really deep and fi nd some wisdom there,” she says.

This made Monks return to songs she grew up with. She sings me the chorus of S Club 7’s ‘Bring It All Back’, and points

to the Spice Girls as a point of inspiration. “[They] have lots of songs about like, self worth and having confi dence in yourself, so I suppose I wanted to present people with that in a way that would really acknowledge like, all the darkness in the world, hence the kind of doom metal punk in it and the very intimately sad guitar.”

For some, dilly-dallying is nothing more than wasteful procrastination. In a world where our self-worth is increasingly measured by the quantity of work we can produce in a single day, it’s becoming more and more difficult to hit the brakes and bask in seemingly insignifi cant, fl eeting moments. But for Monks, to dillydally is a fi ne art. In fact, her affinity for the practice may have been what helped to save her band from collapsing on itself.

“When you’re dilly-dallying, you’re actually using your time really, really well,” Monks explains over the phone from her home in Toronto. “[You dilly dally] because you get distracted by a beautiful fl ower on your walk to work, and you wanna stop and pick it and smell it.

It’s like, taking your time, living your life, shooting the shit. Just taking time for yourself. That… that’s really good.”

What: Heaven is out through Inertia on Friday September 14

ALWAYS REMEMBER TO TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF.”

Really in my life, for me, for Katie Monks, really all that matters is my best friends, and my family, and like, making sure that my soul is okay,” she explains.

“I THINK A LOT OF THESE SONGS ON THIS RECORD ARE LITTLE REMINDERS FOR MYSELF AND FOR MY BANDMATES TO

“THERE WERE SO MANY THINGS

I HAD TO PEEL AWAY IN ORDER TO FEEL CONFIDENT ENOUGH TO HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY.”

FEATURE

BRAG :: 741 :: 05:09:18 :: 43

FEATURE

Rabbit Island And The Simple Joy Of Being Yourself

By Joseph Earp

A

mber Fresh, the musician behind the Rabbit Island moniker, makes music that seeps into your life. Deep In The Big, her newest record – and possibly the finest she has ever made – is no exception. You put the thing on, and at first, it feels almost overwhelming; it’s this dense, beautiful knot of words, and spiralling piano riffs, and haunted insistent melodies. But then you listen to it again, and then again, and every single time it changes; it deepens. It is a record with the power to change the direction of your life, however gently.

And all it asks of you is that you listen.

“I THINK SUCCESS IS BEING

A KIND AND HAPPY PERSON.”

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

The BRAG: What is your creative process like?

Do you try to write music every day?

Amber Fresh: There are things I try to do every day like spending time in nature and getting wet (I’m trying to learn to surf at the moment) – but not writing music. For me music happens just when it wants to. Sometimes I’ll set up some gear and just make sounds and loops for a while, or improvised pieces on the piano if either no-one is home, or someone’s in the back yard who I am kind of secretly playing for.

Making songs really just happens whenever what’s going on in life and the planets align to pull a song out of the ether; sometimes I get to have the song come through me. If I’m heartbroken or near a piano it’s more likely I’ll make something.

My creative process is like this – I feel like I’m going to make a song, or am playing because things are full-on around and inside me, and then I press record on my phone or computer and do it all in one go. The studio recording and mixing part of things can happen every day just for a few weeks at a time though, but only every few years when I get the chance to do that.

EMOTIONAL TONES

BUT THAT’S THE PLACE WHERE THESE SONGS EXIST.”

I love it, and it’s very intense just being around teenage boys and sports-edge (that’s my term instead of straight-edge) type guys for a week and then coming back into my own and my friends’ world. I am so happy to be doing that as well as music right now.

How long did it take you to write Deep In The Big?

Rabbit Island photo by Matthew Saville

“I WASN’T THINKING ABOUT

Do you work a day job in addition to making music? If so, how do you find juggling the two?

AF: My job at the moment is taking private school boys on camps – hiking, kayaking, climbing, building fires, teaching them a few things about Indigenous culture and the real history of where we are, making jokes about Fortnite.

thebrag.com

FEATURE

“ADEN, WHO RECORDED THE ALBUM,

HAD A DREAM

BEFORE WE KNEW EACH OTHER ABOUT RECORDING MY MUSIC AND I THINK HE MIGHT HAVE HAD

A SOUND IN MIND.”

The Big differently to how you approach writing an album for children like Songs For Kids From Rabbit Island?

AF: Yes, recording and mixing when there’s a studio and other people involved is totally different, in a nice way. Writing the songs is the same though: I just press ‘record’.

Songs For Kids I made in an afternoon one time when my first niece was tiny and my friend was out and there was a tape recorder and an acoustic guitar in the kitchen. Deep In The Big was a few years of loves and friendships and spiritual experiences coming and going, and having some amazing artists and engineers willing to help me make a thing.

What’s the last great book that you read?

AF: I’m reading Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire on Instagram live to people at the moment when I’m not out of range in a tent on camp. Only a few people listen in though. [Laughs.] I’m also reading two amazing ocean-related books: Jack London’s Le Loup Des Mers (The Sea-Wolf, but I’m reading it in French to keep my French going) and That Deadman Dance by Kim Scott all about the Menang Aboriginal people of Albany-Kinjarling and European/ American invading arrivals all around the area I grew up. There’s parts about Rabbit Island in it even –the actual island in WA.

Rabbit Island photo by George Foster

I don’t know the traditional name for Rabbit Island yet.

It’s changing my life and mind; an incredible book.

AF: A very long time! Each song was written in the time it takes to play the song, but the space in between writing and recording, getting mastering done, label things, deciding on art, deciding on song order, deciding on songs to leave out was long.

Did you have an idea of how you wanted the album as a whole to sound before you started writing it?

AF: I just made songs and didn’t know what the whole album was going to be like. Aden, who recorded the album, had a dream before we knew each other about recording my music and I think he might have had a sound in mind.

But really I just do what feels right at the time and it ends up sounding like Rabbit Islan. I just like to experiment and go with whatever is happening in the moment, and if it’s good I’ll keep it. We did a lot of reamping of pianos and guitars through pedals and that was just something that opened up as a possibility during mixing and ended up being important to the overall sound of some of the songs. I like to plan as little as possible before creating, and then when you’re in that world everything presents itself to you and you pick and choose the best path.

Sometimes I feel it’s like maths in that sounds and songs are meant to be a certain way – until they get there it’s not right, and then suddenly everything is right, and 1=1.

Rabbit Island photo by Matthew Saville

There’s this mathematical symbol: an equals sign with three lines instead of two. It’s even maybe like that. When the songs sounded right to me I could feel it as a physical and energetic and physical thing through my body and in the air around me, and other people in the room could feel it too I think. When that happened it was weird, crazy, nice.

Songs on Deep In The Big like ‘Interstate’ or ‘Zigrid’ seem to avoid emotional binaries – they’re not exactly sad or happy. They’re more nuanced than that. Are you thinking about emotional tones at all when you’re writing?

AF: Usually if I’m writing songs I’m overwhelmed about some heartbreak, or in a meditative state – or just enjoying touching an instrument and hearing what comes out of it.

All these songs really are a mix of the emotional

states. I felt like these songs were in the place where deep heartbreak and longing – in a romantic sense, a friendship sense, a universal and earthly sense – are transformed into something greater, deeper, bigger; as though tapped into some possible place of things being okay even when they seem too much to bear.

I wasn’t thinking about emotional tones but that’s the place where these songs exist.

Do songs usually come out like you intend when you start writing them, or do they change a lot?

AF: If a song is going to be a song, it’ll just come out right all in one go – chords, words, melody, everything. Other friends of mine write in different ways but that’s how it happens for me.

Do you still love to snowboard?

AF: [Laughs.] Yes! I am so far from the snow though.

It would be a dream of all dreams to be on a board again cutting through powder – like true love, it seems too good to be true even though I hope with all my heart I’ll get to have both those things again.

What: Deep In The Big is out now through Bedroom Suck

All at once without intention, just with feeling: a whole song. When it comes to layering and making a whole piece, a whole song with many parts, I just follow the path that seems right and sounds right and pleasurable.

How do you judge the success of a project?

AF: This is a hard one! Friends and I who make music talk about this all the time. We are all a mix of confidence and total trepidation and self-doubt, except for... no, everyone is like that!

We look at each other playing or listen to each other’s music and are like, ‘Shit I’m a lame piece of shit who can’t make anything good, and this friend is a genius!

I’m never playing again!’

And then we’ll play a show ourselves one time and be like ‘Woah, I did it. I made something amazing and people were amazed and changed. This is what I’m made for!’

I think success is being a kind and happy person. For this project though, I think I’d be really happy if people got the vinyl and it was in their house like a nice piece of furniture – like something that gets regularly enjoyed – and also I hope it’s healing music for some people who listen to it.

It would be a success if someone puts it on at night with candles on and gets to live inside it and feel really, really good from something I got the chance to make.

Do you approach writing an album like Deep In

“I LIKE TO PLAN AS LITTLE AS POSSIBLE BEFORE CREATING, AND THEN

WHEN YOU’RE IN THAT WORLD

EVERYTHING PRESENTS ITSELF TO YOU AND YOU PICK AND CHOOSE THE BEST PATH.” thebrag.com

BRAG :: 741 :: 05:09:18 :: 45

FEATURE

WHICH IS A WHOLE NEW WORLD FOR ME.”

“MY STUDIO IS RIGHT ON THE WATER,

On The Waterfront

Via a scratchy Skype line, Angus Andrew of Liars tells Doug Wallen he’s finally ready to come home

A

s Angus Andrew prepares to play Liars’ first Australian shows in four years, he’s also promoting the last recorded evidence of the band as a duo. Before multi-instrumentalist Aaron Hemphill amicably exited in 2017, the pair soundtracked the indie film 1/1, starring Lindsey Shaw and Judd Nelson. In typical Liars fashion, the soundtrack is tough to pin down, spanning delicate melodies, channel-surfing experimentation, and body-moving electronics.

who started Liars with Hemphill around the turn of the millennium, emerged last year with TFCF, a Liars album made entirely on his own. Having lived in New York, Berlin, and Los Angeles since the age of 17, Andrew made TFCF after returning to his native Australia. He’s based in Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park north of Sydney, in a spot so isolated that it can only be reached by boat.

“It was the last time we actually holed up together,” says Andrew over Skype, reflecting on their time in Denmark cutting the soundtrack. “It’s nice that it’s mostly instrumental, because I think we both would like to have done more music like that.”

“My studio is right on the water,” he says, “which is a whole new world for me. The tides became this big factor, because my boat would get beached.

Also, the water would come up through the bottom of the studio. It’s a different environment than I’ve ever been in before. It made things that much more isolated, but more connected to the natural elements.”

Since Hemphill left Liars, he has returned to Berlin – where the band recorded 2006’s Drums Not Dead – and started his own project, Nonpareils. Andrew,

If the 1/1 soundtrack accommodates everything from the floaty, folky ‘Helsingor Lane’ to the dance-driven instrumental ‘Liquorice’, TFCF is no less volatile.

46 :: BRAG :: 741 :: 05:09:18

There’s a dank hip-hop edge to ‘Staring At Zero’ that reflects Andrew’s growing interest in sampling, while ‘No Help Pamphlet’ recalls the home-recorded ruminations of early Sebadoh and Guided by Voices.

For all its DIY feel, though, it’s a lovely record, balanced between glistening melodies and weird, wavering layers.

“It’s a balance I walk a lot,” Andrew admits. “It’s interesting to me where the line is between writing something just for the sound of it, or writing something that can connect with people on a more practical, song-like [level]. That’s why making that soundtrack was so fun – it was more of a sound project. The challenge is to try to do that but also engage [people].”

Beyond that central balance, there was the nagging fact that he was making the eighth Liars album as the band’s sole remaining member. “I was so aware that it would be seen as a kind of explanation of where thebrag.com

FEATURE

Of course, Liars have always evolved quite drastically from album to album, changing members and countries while embracing starkly different genres.

Their 2001 debut, They Threw Us All In A Trench And Stuck A Monument On Top, got lumped in with New York’s millennial dance-punk scene, only for the band to respond with 2004’s arty, divisive They Were Wrong, So We Drowned. Later albums such as 2007’s selftitled LP and 2012’s WIXIW often played like creative rebirths, with 2014’s Mess standing out for its focus on dance music.

thebrag.com

Now working on a split 7” single with the Drones offshoot Tropical Fuck Storm, Andrew is wondering whether to use all seven minutes of his side of the single or stick to something shorter, like many of the tracks from 1/1 and the bonus material from TFCF. “I’ve always had this issue with the two-minute mark,” he admits, “[where] either it’s going to do something else or it’s going to stop.”

And while TFCF hints at a more traditional sound for Liars in some places, Andrew still can’t bring himself to sit down with an acoustic guitar and write a song that way. His method is more like reverse engineering, starting from dislodged sounds and samples until he’s built his way back to a “proper” song.

“What’s it like to be a person who writes a song with an acoustic guitar and then makes it into a full song?” he muses. “Where is the beginning? I just look for any kind of sound that can start me off. It can be the sound of rain, or one droning note.”

Where: Oxford Art Factory With: Party Dozen, Buzz Kull When: Saturday September 29 Also: Liars will perform at Wollongong’s Yours & Owls on Sunday September 30 And: 1/1is out now through Mute / [PIAS]

“I’VE ALWAYS HAD THIS ISSUE WITH

Having just submitted a batch of leftover songs for an upcoming deluxe edition of the album, he’s glad to be airing those outlying ideas. “A lot of things were edited out that didn’t fit the pretty tight brief that I was going for,” he says.

Now Andrew is starting all over again with the live show, tapping PVT’s Lawrence Pike and a friend of Pike’s to play the upcoming gigs with him. “It was fun for me to have access to real musicians,” he says, after working alone on the last record. The plan for the shows is to include at least one song from each Liars album, “because I’d like to do a retrospective at this point.” As for the idea of performing live by himself, he quips: “I tried to convince some people once that I should do that, and they convinced me that I shouldn’t.”

THE TWO-MINUTE MARK.”

I was at,” he says of TFCF. “I certainly took more into account how people would read it.”

BRAG :: 741 :: 05:09:18 :: 47

FEATURE

By Allison Gallagher

T

here’s a line on ‘Nobody’, one of the first singles released from new Mitski album Be The Cowboy, that has stuck with me since I heard it. “I know no one will save me / I just need someone to kiss” is a kind of quintessentially Mitski lyric, encapsulating the pursuit of some impossible elusive feeling that, no matter how ephemeral, will be worth the chase.

For this, the fifth album from Mitski Miyawaki, loneliness is perhaps a more central songwriting topic than in any of her previous work; it’s a thorough examination of the ways in which a sense of isolation can embed itself in someone, and what that looks like in relation to intimacy; to vulnerability.

Having toured near-constantly for years, Mitski wrote much of Be The Cowboy while on the road. “I’ve been basically on tour the entire time between now and when Puberty 2 came out, and before that too,” Mitski says. “And so, time goes by really fast.

I don’t get as much of an opportunity to sit down and write because I’m always on the go. It’s writing around my reality, which is constant touring.”

As one might expect of that particular lifestyle, there’s a certain loneliness that is practically built into its ecosystem.

“I think it’s definitely coming from a place of being on the road constantly,” Mitski says. “But it’s less of a personal loneliness and more of a sort of structural and societal loneliness.

When you’re on tour, you’re surrounded by people all the time, but your daily schedule is completely different from everyone else in the world.

“You’re always in a different time zone.

You’re always far from people you might love… it’s hard to find a sense of community, and your experiences are just so vastly different from everyone else’s. That’s the kind of loneliness.

It’s not so much physical – because you are surrounded by people – but it’s a very solitary lifestyle.”

“WHEN YOU’RE ON TOUR, YOU’RE SURROUNDED BY PEOPLE ALL THE TIME, BUT YOUR DAILY SCHEDULE IS

COMPLETELY DIFFERENT FROM EVERYONE ELSE IN THE WORLD.” 48 :: BRAG :: 741 :: 05:09:18

“I CAN AFFORD UBERS NOW WHEN I NEED THEM.” Mitski’s career began with her selfreleased 2012 debut Lush, a primarily piano-driven record that laid the groundwork for her future material alongside Retired From Sad, New Career In Business the following year. Both albums were recorded while Mitski was studying music at Purchase College in New York, and have more in common with chamber pop than the guitar-heavy indie rock of her later work. 2013’s Bury Me At Makeout Creek was many listeners first exposure to Mitski, but it was the 2016 album Puberty 2 that solidified her presence as a bona fide indie star, receiving widespread acclaim.

“I can afford Ubers now when I need them, that’s about it,” she says when enquired about how life has changed since the album’s release. However, in March, Mitski embarked on a slew of dates supporting Lorde alongside Run The Jewels, in some of the largest venues she’s ever performed at.

“Oh my gosh, it was such a great learning experience. I’d never played in an arena before and those are completely different beasts. Behind the scenes there are hundreds of people making the show happen.

Every day, at arena shows, the crew comes in early, around dawn, and just starts building the stage from the bottom up. The universe of the show is created every day and that was amazing to see.”

As she’s grown more popular, Mitski has developed into a kind of icon for emotional honesty; of openly confronting the feelings that many would rather push down.

There is something of a universal understanding among her fanbase with regards to the affecting nature of her songs – the sort where saying you’ve been “listening to a lot of Mitski lately” serves as a genuine answer to being asked how you’ve been.

For many, there is a connection there that is unlike many other songwriters – the lyrics on a Mitski album feel at once intimate and deeply, deeply relatable. Last November, she tweeted: “i may not have a religion to keep me in check but I do have people with tattoos of my lyrics who will forever have an embarrassing band tattoo if I do anything dumb, god bless.”

That said – if listeners are connecting to the work, Mitski is doing the same.

Be The Cowboy’s first single (and album opener) ‘Geyser’ reads like it’s about romantic devotion, but is in fact a kind of love letter to the act of songwriting itself. “I will be the one you need / the way I can’t be without you,” sings Mitski, The track opens with a glitchy synth that can be jarring on first listen. “That was Patrick’s [Hyland, producer] idea. He tends to be much more liberal with torturing the listener than I am. I tend to want to be kind but he’s like, ‘No, they can take it.’

“The idea is that it’s an album opener and it’s kind of like a challenge to the listener. Are you in or are you out?

Can you take this? If you don’t want to that’s fine, but this is your cue.”

It’s an apt ultimatum for an artist like Mitski. While on the surface, her music is coated in a fairly inviting pop veneer, there’s an intensity that dwells just beneath. Personally, the moment Mitski’s music clicked with me most profoundly was listening to Makeout Creek cut ‘I Will’ on repeat while crying on a crowded city bus. For the record, I’m a firm believer and advocate in crying on public transport; there’s something about leaning into that feeling of vulnerability despite knowing on a rational level that it’s not maybe ideal.

That’s kind of what Be The Cowboy feels like – there’s a kind of confidence found in the messy, the imperfect, the mortifying throughout the album. On one track, Mitski narrates preparing to meet up with presumably a former love, so that she can “win” and gain a sense of closure – “Spend an hour on my makeup to prove something / walk up in my high heels all high and mighty / then you say hello, and I lose.”

However, if fans are looking for another album to cry to, they may be somewhat disappointed.

While much of Mitski’s music has revolved around a deep, all-powerful sense of longing, Be The Cowboy acknowledges these realities through a far more critical lens. If earlier work saw her being confronted by those feelings, this album sees her on an even playing field with them.

Acknowledging them, maybe even indulging them, but never in a way that feels helpless.

“I think a common theme on this album is having no use for something that’s toxic in you or in your life but still holding onto it, because you’ve just had it for so long, or it’s all you know,” explains Mitski. “It’s scary to let go of something you identify so strongly with”.

“IT’S

It makes sense, then, that the album’s title is a shortened version of a kind of inside joke mantra Mitski would repeat to herself when feeling uncertain – “be the cowboy you want to see in the world”. That cocksure approach of responding to things that are overwhelming is a presence felt throughout the album. Oh, things are rapidly deteriorating and falling apart? Who cares.

This is visible not just on the lyrical content of the album, but the musicality itself. Tracks like ‘Washing Machine Heart’ and ‘Why Didn’t You Stop Me?’ trade in any hint of demureness for goth-disco aesthetics, while ‘Remember My Name’ and ‘Me And My Husband’ have a kind of confident self-assured swagger.

Mitski photo by Bao Ngo

Mitski: “For most of my life, I’ve been someone no one wanted to hear”

thebrag.com

FEATURE

“THE POINT OF MY WRITING IS THAT

I WANT TO EXPRESS A FEELING

AND WHAT EXACTLY HAPPENS IN MY LIFE IS NOT IMPORTANT.”

SCARY TO LET GO OF

O

SOMETHING YOU IDENTIFY SO STRONGLY WITH.”

n Be The Cowboy, Mitski intentionally experimented with narrative fi ction to provide the lyrical backdrops – a conscious effort to critique the lazy way in which music by women is immediately categorized as confessional and raw. There’s an assumption that’s regularly made about the extent of the autobiographical nature of songs by artists like Mitski, and while her songs have become associated with emotion and vulnerability to a semi-ubiquitous level, it’s a folly to assume that there’s no craft, no genuine narrative-writing behind any of it.

“I think I made a point of writing things that obviously didn’t happen to me because I wanted to make a point of the fact that [these descriptions] of my music are very gendered. I wanted to express the fact – look, I am writing what’s true to me, but it is a craft.

thebrag.com

“I am creating these things and editing them, I’m thinking about them. They’re not just flowing from me, and I have some authority over what I make. I think that’s where it came from. Just because it’s a narrative that didn’t specifically happen to me doesn’t mean it isn’t true to me. The point of my writing is that I want to express a feeling and what exactly happens in my life is not important. If using a character or something that didn’t happen to me is what best describes a real feeling I had, I’m going to use that.”

Be The Cowboy is the fourth Mitski record produced with longtime collaborator Patrick Hyland – a continuation she explains is largely a matter of efficiency. “We’ve worked together so much that at this point we can kind of predict each other’s movements; we already know how we each work. There’s a lot of non-verbal communication where we can just work faster and I’ve come to depend a little on that.

“He’s very much a recording engineer, he gives me my space. I tend to kind of go crazy when I’m making a song.

He allows me whatever process I have; he’s just very accepting and open and allowing of things, and I think that’s why I keep going back to him. He makes a really hard process as easy as possible for me.”

Listening to Be The Cowboy, one can’t help but notice how much Mitski is able to make with relatively little.

There are 14 tracks over the album’s half hour, most of which clock in at around the two minute mark, and each feels as vital as the rest – it’s all killer, no fi ller. It’s a recurring element of Mitski’s work; many of her most succinct, stripped back tracks contain more potency than any bearded pseudo-troubadour’s sprawling, 6 minute wankfest.

“For most of my life, I’ve been someone no one wanted to hear,” she explains. “I’m not really the kind of

person anyone turns to for an opinion.

Maybe if I were a straight white guy I could noodle for 45 minutes and everyone would be like, he’s a genius… but that’s not my reality.”

Acknowledging this reality, Mitski says she began learning over time to try and fi t in all that she was trying to communicate through the brief window in which she has a listener’s attention. “Without really intending to, I kind of trained myself to be incredibly concise”.

In both its sound and subject, Be The Cowboy feels like a natural progression from Puberty 2. If there’s one thing to take away from the album, it’s that the good stuff is to be found in embracing – not shying away – from what feels uncomfortable, or difficult to talk about. Be the goddamn cowboy you want to see in the world.

What: Be The Cowboy is out now through Dead Oceans / Inertia BRAG :: 741 :: 05:09:18 :: 49

FEATURE

THE MOST ICONIC SOUNDTRACKS IN CINEMATIC HISTORY

“With 45 million copies of ’em out in the world, the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack is the highestselling in history.”

By Victoria Lucas

Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory (1971) Fun fact: Roald Dahl hated that this film featured musical numbers so much that he disowned it completely. That was a silly move, because the film is arguably the world’s main introduction to the wild, weird world of Dahl, and it’s the buoyant, psychedelic music that glues the entire thing together.

From the giddy ‘I’ve Got A Golden Ticket’ through to the dreamy ‘Pure Imagination’ – not to mention the legitimately scary/creepy ‘The Wondrous Boat Ride’ – this lush soundtrack stands alone as a piece of art in its own right, but really soars when coupled to the film’s technicoloured visuals.

Brand New in 2003

“Roald Dahl hated that Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory featured musical numbers so much that he disowned it completely.”

50 :: BRAG :: 741 :: 05:09:18

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Saturday Night Fever (1977)

Grease (1978)

Paris, Texas (1984)

With 45 million copies of ‘em out in the world, the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack is the second highest-selling in history. Hell, it sat at number one in America for 24 straight weeks, won six Grammys, and has been added to the National Recording Registry in the Library of Congress for being “culturally significant.”

It’s fairly clear that Travolta was in the middle of a purple patch during the late ’70s. While the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack sold bundles more, it was the Grease soundtrack that captured the hearts of multiple generations, despite the movie itself having a less-than-ideal message.

The soundtrack to the cult Harry Dean Stanton road movie, Paris, Texas, is one of the most evocative of all time: you can feel the heat, see the empty landscape, and feel the wind howling through your bones.

It’s surprising to learn then that this soundtrack almost didn’t happen at all, with The Bee Gees first turning down the opportunity to write songs for “this little film, low budget, called Tribal Rites Of A Saturday Night.” They soon acquiesced, and bashed out most of the songs in a single weekend, long after the film had wrapped shooting. “The Bee Gees weren’t even involved in the movie in the beginning”, star John Travolta explained. “I was dancing to Stevie Wonder and Boz Scaggs.”

The songs are so full of life, from the tune the heartsick Sandy Olsen croons about her hopeless devotion, to the sexual thrust of ‘Greased Lightnin’, to the primal joy of ‘You’re The One That I Want’, to the ebullient title track (which breaks with the film’s ’50s bend by sounding positively disco, thanks to writers The Bee Gees).

Legendary slide guitarist Ry Cooder performed the entire thing, and modern technology (Dolby 5.1; surround; whatever your bag is) only adds to the impact. Dave Grohl recently announced that this sparse, striking creation was his favourite album: “It sort of paints this barren desert landscape, but he does it with a slide guitar. It’s just so simple and emotive, and amazing.”

The soundtrack has been remastered many times throughout the following four decades, sounding crisper, sharper and even more full of life each time. For the full experience, go big screen, big speakers – and big hair.

“Regardless of what you feel about the Twilight movies themselves, you cannot deny the power of the songs.”

Romeo And Juliet (1996)

Almost Famous (2000)

While it’s the second of the two separate soundtrack CDs that features the film’s impressive score (also definitely worth a listen on high-quality gear), it was disc one that garnered the undying love of an entire generation upon release in 1996. It was the perfect storm of cool acts – Garbage, Everclear, and Radiohead all make appearances – breezy camp anthems, and artsy tunes, all soundtracking the romantic exploits of peakcool Leo and post-My So Called Life Claire.

Shakespearean tragedies were suddenly so cutting-edge.

“Music, you know, true music – not just rock ‘n’ roll – it chooses you”, opines Lester Bangs in this tender love letter to rock and roll.

Nonetheless, as true as that statement might well be, sometimes it’s nice to have writer/ director Cameron Crowe choose the music for you.

This article was created in conjunction with Yamaha Home Entertainment Australia, the longest-standing and largest sound company in the world. thebrag.com

The originals in this film – actually written by Crowe and his wife, Nancy Wilson of Heart, while on their honeymoon – are outstanding, swinging rock songs in their own right, but it’s the era-specific soundtrack that really slays.

Included are cuts from Simon and Garfunkel, The Who, David Bowie, Rod Stewart and, of course, Elton John: the film helped popularise ‘Tiny Dancer’ some three decades after it was written, and thrust it right back into John’s setlist. All of that musical joy gives this film its heart. As Penny Lane memorably says: “You are home.”

The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009) Although it is the previous film that houses ‘Flightless Bird, American Mouth’ – the tender Iron and Wine tune that has been inextricably linked to the Twilight franchise ever since, it was the second film in the saga that saw the soundtrack move from FM radio-friendly tunes to an impossibly cool indie soundtrack, featuring Death Cab For Cutie, Thom Yorke, Grizzly Bear, St. Vincent, OK Go and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, many of whom contributed original songs to the cause.

The soundtrack was desperately romantic, young and vital – much like the films.

Regardless of what you feel about the movies themselves, you cannot deny the power of the songs – and as a 2009 time capsule, it is pretty perfect, too.

BRAG :: 741 :: 05:09:18 :: 51

SHORT STORY

P Peter Allen is a

Melbourne-based writer.

He wrote Hideous Restraint six years ago.

Since then, he has been re-writing sections of the story obsessively.

“I couldn’t let it go,” he explains.“It’s been strangely cathartic in a lot of ways.”

Hideous R est raint

BY P E T E R A L L E N

F

our days after she announced she was leaving him, she returned, with a black eye, and three fingers on her left hand in a splint. It was the middle of the day, and he was behind the counter, flipping through the paper.

He had considered putting up the handwritten CLOSED sign on the front door – since she had gone, he hadn’t much felt like talking to people. But the days were so long. And with the door open, at least the breeze could circulate, the sounds of the street could seep in. That way, he didn’t feel like he was collecting dust.

He was looking at the sports column when she came in. It was as though every word he had ever been taught escaped him, all at once, like a shop full of birds freed. He looked at her, up and down, took in the splint, the nasty colored bruise spreading down to her cheekbone like a cracked egg, and kept quiet.

She shrugged. It was a painfully hot day – hot in that mean-spirited, vindictive way – and there was a film of sweat, up on her forehead. She looked tired, on top of everything.

“Hello,” she said. “Do you mind if I have a bath?”

He thought for some time, and then nodded, mechanically. It was as though she had risen from the grave. He had only just come to terms with the possibility that he would never see her again, and here she was, smelling only slightly sour, her pale skin flushed from the heat, and her journey. She mumbled some words of thanks, and then walked behind the counter, limping, ever so slightly, over to the set of stairs that led up to his flat. He stayed where he was, and listened to her make her way upstairs, step by step.

The shop went still again. The heat filled the space where she was, expanding.

He thought a little, then rose, and stuck the CLOSED sign to the door with a piece of yellowing tape. The shop was now his again, closed to the public. He rolled a cigarette from a little green tin under the counter, and then lit it, taking in short, burning puffs. The store would stink for hours. It no longer mattered.

He had met her 16 years ago, at a University pub. He wasn’t studying. She was.

He was there with some mates, one of whom was close to finishing his honors in Philosophy (what was his name? Derek? Mark?). She had been leaning at the bar, surrounded by her little flock of friends, as close knit as a barbed wire fence. She had been untouchable, impossible, and he had snuck tiny glimpses of her all evening (there she was, flirting with the barman. There she was making a joke – her friends burst into cackles of laughter. There she was, pushing the hair out of her eyes. There she was, not looking at him.) After as many beers as it took to unsteady him, he was up on his feet, and standing next to her, trying very hard to keep his eyes met with hers.

Someone peered into the shop window, their hands cupped against their eyes.

He shook his head at them through the glass; made some flippant gesture with his hand. Upstairs, he heard her turn on the tap. The pipes gurgled and clunked loudly, through the wood of the roof. Exercising some hideous restraint, he stayed where he was.

No kids. They’d never even tried. That was something that her bitchy friends found intolerable – as though they were announcing they planned to maim and torture orphans. He’d never been interested. While sober, she refused to give a reason, when drunk, she quoted some poem he’d never heard of – the one that started “they fuck you up, your parents do.” No, no kids. What did being childless mean? That they weren’t a real couple? That they weren’t serious about each other?

He’d always been serious about her. Serious in a way he’d never been about anything else. As a child, and then a teenager, nothing had ever really appealed to him in life. Not sports – although he was strong, his muscles tight across his chest – not food – not University – not books. Drinking, some, but that wasn’t something you could build a life around. It was a godsend that the shop and its upstairs flat had caught his attention at all – just some advert in the real estate pages that he’d stumbled upon. It made sense. With the shop, he could keep pretty normal hours, make his living, and devote himself entirely to his true passion: her.

“The shop went still again.

The heat filled the space where she was, expanding.”

When he first met her, she said she was going to be a writer. The years had silenced that ambition. She got so many rejection letters for her short stories that she could have papered a wall in their bedroom if she had wanted to. She still went to a book club every month – still read obsessively – but between the few hours she put in ordering the stock, and the occasional babysitting jobs she picked up, she did very little. Just sat in the bath, mostly, soaking in the bottles of lavender bath gel she took from the shop.

Upstairs, the pipes clunked again – the bath had been turned off. But she hadn’t been unhappy. No. You can pick an unhappy woman a mile away – but she showed none of the signs. She was chatty – she cooked for him, nightly – showed an interest in their joint finance account – talked to him about the phone bill, about the news, about the books he had never read. She talked, for God’s sake, and silence is the first sign that a woman’s going to leave you. That’s what the past had taught him, anyway.

But then she had announced that she was leaving him, and after a few tortured hours of tears, toppled bookcases, and screams, she had revealed that yes, there was another man. And that there had been for years.

He thought about rolling another cigarette, but his cough was getting worse these days, and besides, he was sick thinking about her, imagining her up there in the bath, nursing her wounds. Very slowly, he rose, and climbed the creaking stairs.

The door to the bathroom was open. She lay in the tub, her eyes closed, and for a split second, it looked like she was about to cry. He hovered back from the door. Her jaw tightened.

“He was looking at the sports column when she came in.

It was as though every word he had ever been taught escaped him, all at once, like a shop full of birds freed.”

52 :: BRAG :: 741 :: 05:09:18

thebrag.com

SHORT STORY

“She had been untouchable, impossible, and he had snuck tiny glimpses of her all evening.”

“You can come in,” she said, her eyes still closed.

gel into the bath – far too much – and it sunk like a dollop of margarine.

He came inside and sat on the toilet. She hadn’t run very much water – it only came up to her ribs, leaving her breasts exposed. He wasn’t sure where to look. The rules had changed, four days ago. He wasn’t even sure who she was anymore. But he looked enough to notice the bruises on her chest, the scratches up her arms.

“Are you going to stay the night?” He asked eventually. It took him a lot of control to phrase the sentence as a question, not a request.

“It’s not very full,” he said, half dipping a hand into the water.

“I might,” she said, and shrugged. “I’ve got all afternoon to decide.”

Hate flashed across his eyes, then disappeared. He sat on the toilet and rolled a cigarette.

“I didn’t want to run up the water bill,” she replied. He turned the tap back on, and hot water rushed into the bath. She didn’t say a word. He waited till the water came up to her neck, and then turned it off again.

“I don’t want you to ask what happened,” she said.

“Thank you for letting me use the bath.”

“Even if you do, I won’t tell you.”

“That’s alright.”

“Okay.”

“Did you close the shop?”

“Good. And I don’t want you to think…You know.” She closed her eyes. “I mean, you don’t even know. You don’t even know who did this to me.”

“Okay.”

“I closed the shop.”

“Okay.”

He yearned for a cigarette – the tin sat downstairs, on the shop counter.

“I feel like I should threaten to kill him,” he said, slowly.

“It could be anyone. I could have been mugged. I could have fallen down the stairs. So it’s like that – you’re not going to ask, and I’m not going to tell you.”

She opened her eyes. “Why?”

“Okay.”

“Because he hurt you.”

He lit the wrinkled end of the cigarette. For a little while, all was quiet.

She didn’t say anything. The bath water was pale, and still.

“I like watching the smoke,” she said, an ex-smoker for six years. “It’s nice.”

“I’ll go get you that lavender stuff,” he said, his knees creaking as he stood.

“Yeah?”

He nodded.

“Someone should write a poem about that.”

“That’d be nice,” she said. She opened her mouth to say something, and then bit her lip.

“What?”

She was silent for a moment. “Make us a cup of tea too, won’t you?” she said, eventually.

Ever since she had left, he had tried to picture this man, this Lover. He’d be a reader. Maybe a writer himself. Or a literary agent – someone offering her a leg up, a chance to be published, for the right price. He’d have facial hair – whether it be a pencil thin moustache, or sideburns, or both. And he’d smoke, too, but expensive cigarettes – he wouldn’t roll his own. And most importantly, he’d love her with the greatest delicacy, with the most tender words, the gentlest hands, the softest tongue.

There had never been a day when he hadn’t woke up loving her. It was his morning ritual – wake up early, and drink in the sight of her as she lay there, in bed wrapped in those pale sheets. A morning ritual for 16 years. A ritual like that can take a lot of undoing.

He had been to the secret parts of her – the lonely parts, where nobody had even guessed at. He had read the poems she didn’t even submit to the magazines – the ones about her father, and her bad dreams. He had listened to her as she had described herself as a ‘perpetual victim’ – although he had no advice to offer her. When she had quit smoking, he had offered to smoke all of his cigarettes outside, out of her field of view, and to cut down himself. But she had dismissed that final offer, saying she’d miss the smell. And then she had held his arm, tightly, and kissed him on the mouth.

She raised her chin slightly out of the bath, and looked at him.

He picked the lavender bath gel off the shelf, pocketing his green tin in the process. Upstairs, in the little kitchenette as small as a broom cupboard, he set the kettle boiling. It seemed to take a very long time. He kept feeling it with the back of his hand.

When it was ready, he took the tea and the gel into the bath. She was touching the puffy, dark space under her eye with her good hand. She didn’t look at him when he walked in, but she thanked him, quietly, for the tea. He poured half the

“When he first met her, she said she was going to be a writer. The years had silenced that ambition.” thebrag.com

“You’ve had other women though, haven’t you?” she said, in a voice as quiet as a child’s. “Haven’t you?”

It was only then he realized that something had been lost – truly realized it, and realized that it would never come back. It was better to think of her as dead. This was only some ghost, some ghost lying in his bath and watching his cigarette smoke with gently flickering eyes. A ghost with a voice. No more.

“Yes. I’ve had other lovers.” he said, trying hard not to sound like he was lying.

“Yes, I have.”

She visibly relaxed. “Good,” she said. “Make us another cup of tea, won’t you?”

And thus began the second phase of his life. M

BRAG :: 741 :: 05:09:18 :: 53

arts in focus ■ FILM

In The Realm Of The Senses Belinda Quinn chats to directing duo Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani about their astonishing new film Let The Corpses Tan

F

rench contemporary directors Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani – who also happen to be a very wholesome married couple – share a rare gift for building worlds that are fraught with chaos and CGI-free beauty.

Through frequent bursts of laughter and contagious excitement, Cattet and Forzani spoke to the BRAG over Skype about their most recent creation, Let The Corpses Tan, a psychedelic, Spaghetti Western adaption of the ’70s crime novel

by French authors Jean-Patrick Manchette and Jean-Pierre Bastid.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

The BRAG: I read that you met in Brussels in 1997. Can you share the story of how you met?

Bruno: We met during our studies and began to go to theatres to watch movies. At one point, we discovered some that we both liked, because we had different tastes at the beginning.

There were two films that we both liked: [one was] I Stand Alone by Gaspar Noé, a French director. It’s a genre movie, and the approach is very original and personal.

It was an [independently] produced film, which gave us the will to make a movie with our own little money, because we didn’t have much.

[Laughs]. We made some short films with 70 Euros or something like that.

We loved this movie, I Stand Alone, because it was shot on 16mm film and it was in cinemascope. So it was a strange mix between this very grainy image and cinemascope, which is more often used for blockbusters.

And after that, there was a second feature that we both loved: it was called Deep Red by Dario Argento. It’s a genre movie; an Italian movie.

Bruno and Hélène’s daughter: Gah!

And yes, just to finish that thought, you know, the Dario Argento movies were experimental movies too. The mise en scene and the directing; it’s very rich with the music and all of the elements of the cinematographic language. So this let us collaborate, in fact.

How do you both compliment each other’s vision when you’re making films together?

Bruno: We try always to have our two universes inside the movie, so that not one of the universes gets, uh…

Hélène: We try to be really fair, and for nobody to have any frustration. So we can compromise, but without frustration. [They laugh.]

Bruno: Sometimes…

Hélène: …it’s very hard [Laughs.]

Bruno: Uh, oh Hélène is taking our daughter out of the room. She

“We [love it] when characters are described only by action and not with didactic psychologies.”

54 :: BRAG :: 741 :: 05:09:18

was sticking her head in front of the computer, because she thinks you can watch her. [Laughs].

I read the film is based on a novel by two French authors.

What was it about the book that really drew you to it?

Hélène: In fact, those writers were a fan of the Western genre. So thebrag.com

FEATURE

“Each time we [make] a movie, I want to learn something new, and try something different, and live another adventure” that’s why, when I read the book, I experienced a lot of Western imagery. That’s one point I liked in this book. And as you can see in the movie, there is this game with the time, with this chapter with the clock.

Bruno: The hour.

Hélène: Yes. It’s in the book. We were interested in playing with time; with the chronology. We felt very close to these two writers, because they had a special way of writing. They created a movement, a literary movement called neo-noir. We loved that, when characters are described only by action and not with didactic psychologies and things like this.

I read that Jean-Patrick Manchette changed the way crime novels were written in the 1970s and that he moved away from formulaic storytelling, and explored the

human condition to provide social criticism. Was social criticism something you wanted to include in your adaptation?

Bruno: Yeah, we kept that dimension because in fact, JeanPatrick Manchette has been adapted a lot in cinema. He was adapted in France a lot by Alain Delon, a French actor who is very famous in France, and the last one was The Gunman by Sean

Penn, and each time the political aspect has been erased. It’s one of the spices of his writing, and it’s always missing.

We wanted to keep that aspect, because it reminded us a little bit of Italian Westerns where everybody is grey: everyone can be a bad person. In American Western, you always have the good sheriff and the bad Indians – it’s very good and evil.

“In American Westerns, you always have the good sheriff and the bad Indians, so it’s very good and evil. But in the Manchette style and Italian Westerns, the sheriff can be a bastard.”

But here, in the Manchette style and Italian Western, the sheriff can be a bastard and everybody is bad. It’s something that we wanted to keep, because it’s part of the Manchette universe.

One of my favourite scenes in the film is when one of the characters walks out into the night and there are embers floating around him – it was beautiful. How difficult was it to get that shot?

Bruno: It was the most difficult shot, in fact. It was very, very hard, because we were never happy with the result. And we had made so many tests, and at the end all we had to do was…

Hélène: No, no, we can’t say that!

Bruno: Oh, okay, I won’t say the trick. [Laughs.]

It would be like giving away your secret ingredient!

Bruno: Yes. And it was the morning of the shooting that we found that solution. And it was very scary, because it was an important part of the film.

Hélène: We wanted to have an organic, special effect, meaning most of the special effects [were produced] on the set, so I guess we were stressing.

What do you think drives you both to make films?

Bruno: Patience, because each time we try to find something that we’re passionate enough to work on for four years. You have to love it at the beginning. To really love it and be passionate about what you are going to do, because it will be so long and so repetitive.

When you do the first production, it’s like a total of nine months straight and it never ends. You have to be passionate at 200 per cent, because if it’s just 100 per cent, then in the end you won’t make it.

Hélène: And for me it is to learn, because each time we [make] a movie, I want to learn something new, and try something different, and live another adventure. So yeah, it’s about learning again and again, and experimenting. ■

thebrag.com

BRAG :: 741 :: 05:09:18 :: 55

arts in focus

FEATURE

■ FILM

Mean Little F*ckers Joseph Earp talks to Dallas Sonnier, producer of the deliciously uncouth Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich

“Charles Band has become one of my close friends through this process.”

t’s good to know that even in the era of “elevated horror”, there are still filmmakers out there making unremittingly nasty little pictures; the kind of sleazy, deliciously overbaked fright fests you might have found hidden in the darkened corner of your local Blockbuster back in the day.

I

Naturally, every literary manager in Hollywood – including me – started the process of trying to sign Zahler. A couple of years later, Zahler informed his agent that he was open to taking on a manager, and each of us was given about 20 minutes on the phone to make their case.

Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich is such a picture. A glorious resurrection of Charles Band’s Puppet Master franchise, the film revels in nasty details and stunning VFX tricks, as a small band of heroes must face off against a pantheon of flame-throwing, slicing and dicing marionettes animated by the vengeful spirit of a disfigured Nazi.

I treated this phone call as if I was already Zahler’s manager, and did not waste my precious opportunity telling him who else I represented or any of my accomplishments. I flew to New York City days later and won the signing derby. Zahler took a huge risk signing with a young guy who had his own tiny management company, but I think he recognized that I was going to hustle to no end to get his scripts sold and eventually his movies made.

Penned by one of the most exciting filmmakers to emerge in the last ten years, S. Craig Zahler, and produced by Dallas Sonnier, the man flying the flag for unconventional indie filmmaking, Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich is an unmissable barrage of excess; a melange of blood, and piss, and flesh that never takes itself too seriously.

“The entire cast agreed to play their roles totally straightfaced and deadpan.”

We talked to Sonnier about Band, Zahler, and the state of modern horror.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

The BRAG: How did you first meet S. Craig Zahler?

Dallas Sonnier: Zahler burst onto the scene with the sale of his spec script The Brigands Of Rattleborge to Warner Bros. While this script is currently a priority for Amazon to produce and finance next year, at the time of sale in 2006, the script was voted number one on Franklin Leonard’s Black List.

Were you a fan of the Puppet Master series before you got involved with The Littlest Reich?

Sonnier: Absolutely. My Aunt Missy let me rent the original Puppet Master from a Shreveport Albertson’s with a small video rental area near the front entrance in 1989 during a family visit for Thanksgiving. I was so brand-loyal to Full Moon as a kid that I would rent their movies from Blockbuster and Movie Gallery without even reading the box.

How did you and Zahler become involved with The Littlest Reich?

Sonnier: My wife was a publicist in Hollywood before we moved to Texas, and she focused on representing independent movies.

Somehow she got an email from Charles Band himself asking if she was opening to being his publicist.

She had no clue who he was, but when she showed me the email, I nearly fainted and told her she had to sign Band.

“My Aunt Missy let me rent the original Puppet Master from a Shreveport Albertson’s.”

56 :: BRAG :: 741 :: 05:09:18

A few weeks later, I got my chance to meet Band, and I pitched him on the idea of rebooting the franchise in a way that allowed Full Moon to continue making movies in their original canon.

Band agreed, and when I told Zahler that I had acquired the remake rights, he agreed to create an all-new mythology for “our” new Puppet Master universe. We found an investor to pay Zahler to write the script and away we went.

When did Sonny Laguna and Tommy Wiklund get involved?

Sonnier: Zahler kept telling me about these Swedish directors who were making these low-budget, highquality, super-intense horror movies in their hometown. Every time I suggest any director candidate for Puppet Master, Zahler would always say, ‘No, go call the Swedes.’ Finally, I called the Swedes, and months later, they were in Dallas, TX for the start of prep.

What was it like working alongside Charles Band?

Sonnier: Band has become one of my close friends through this process. I have so much respect for anyone that can survive in this complicated, soul-destroying world of indie movies. I took great care with Puppet Master, the crown jewel of his empire, because I wanted him to be proud, and I know he’s impressed – and he got paid!

Band and I already have our next project together, as we are rebooting the Full Moon title Castle Freak. But now I’m also rebooting Stuart Gordon, another person I am close to and respect enormously, so the pressure is ON! The Littlest Reich walks an excellent line between honouring the series and its fans, and breaking new ground.

Was that the plan from the outset?

Sonnier: Absolutely. We have some of the original-canon puppets, albeit

with new designs, and some new puppet creations. 10+ sequels in the original franchise where the puppets are “anti-heros” makes it hard sometimes to remember that the puppets were actually villains in the first and second original movies.

But we took it a giant step farther and made them nasty little fucks.

The film also has a brilliant, blackly comic streak. Was it hard to keep that streak without ever tipping into pastiche?

Sonnier: The entire cast agreed to play their roles totally straightfaced and deadpan. Combine this element with a group of genreobsessed filmmakers, producers, SFX makeup artists and other crew, and you have a movie that understands itself and its audience.

It’s such a joy to see Barbara Crampton onscreen. At what point did she become involved in the production?

Sonnier: During our casting process, I thought it would be great to feature a member of the original Puppet Master cast in our new movie. Barbara’s role in the first movie was brief, and we were offering her a lead role, so we all just loved this idea.

Barbara has since become a friend, just another example of how my own life has been so positively affected by making this movie.

How long did Littlest Reich shoot for? Was it a stressful shoot?

Sonnier: We shot for around 20 days, plus a few “skeleton crew” days where we just shot the puppets and their movements.

The shoot was stressful because we were on a tight budget and schedule (which indie movie isn’t?!), but everyone worked hard to make something special.

What: Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich is playing Sydney Underground Film Festival on Saturday September 15 thebrag.com

arts in focus

FEATURE

Ways Of Looking At Mania Doug Wallen talks to accomplished Sydney-based writer Sam TwyfordMoore about manic depression, movies, and redemption

“The book is more about looking at how these instances of manic depression or mania in the public form a cultural identity.”

W

hen Sydney writer Sam Twyford-Moore sat down to write a book about his experiences with manic depression, as well as the condition’s representation across the arts and media, he already had the perfect name for it: The Rapids.

As for the book’s unconventional structure, which corrals an uncommon variety of approaches into broader sections like “Ways of Reading” and “Ways of Seeing”, it feels like a necessary way for the author to connect so many different threads. “I wanted to play with it a bit,” he admits. “I always had it in my head that I didn’t want it to be straightforward. I wanted to keep as much of myself out of the start of the book and save that more [for] the end.

Obviously some of the chapters are more far out than others.”

“It just came to me and it was immediately like, ‘That’s the title.’

It was kind of a guiding feature,” he recalls. The phrase’s double meaning – referring to the feeling of riding rapids or acting at a rapid pace – appealed to him, and it certainly fits the winding, restless structure of the book. “It’s jolty,” he agrees with a laugh.

Indeed, one chapter takes the form of an imaginary audio commentary for John Cassavettes’ 1974 film A Woman Under The Influence. “That was the one I was most anxious about,” says Twyford-Moore, noting that his publisher, NewSouth, specialise in straight non-fiction. But it all worked out: “They loved it. I think they were happy it was short,” he says. “They could see what I was trying to do.”

An ambitious hybrid of memoir and cultural criticism, The Rapids is subtitled Ways Of Looking At Mania.

Making the most of that open-ended brief, Twyford-Moore ties together many books on the subject while reflecting on famous cases of people who have been diagnosed as bipolar or manic depressive, including Carrie Fisher and poet Robert Lowell. He also examines possible mania in the work and personal lives of Kanye West, filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson, and the late monologist Spalding Gray.

Twyford-Moore’s own biographical details come out gradually in the book, used sparingly and only when truly necessary. He describes a manic episode where he drove from Sydney to Melbourne overnight and later broke into a bed-and-breakfast, committing other crimes along the way. While he leaves the exact consequences of those actions as “an open-ended ambiguity,” he’s satisfied with the quantity of personal revelations that made it into the book.

Often told in short, sharp paragraphs, the book unpacks the modern echo chamber and the nagging stigmas around mental illness. Twyford-Moore references several books that link mania to creativity, though he writes that’s “the least interesting aspect of the condition” to him.

“I was trying to look at this from a literary and culture critic[’s] perspective, as well as my own personal perspective, and attempt a kind of cultural history,” he explains.

“But it’s more looking at how these instances of manic depression or mania in the public form a cultural identity. I hadn’t see that done [elsewhere]. Hopefully that has some sort of culturally useful function to someone who lives with the condition, or knows someone who lives with the condition.”

“I wanted to keep as much of myself out of the start of the book and save that more [for] the end.”

Twyford-Moore is well known in Australian writing circles, having previously launched the Digital Writers’ Festival and run the Emerging Writers’ Festival.

He’s contributed to The Monthly and The Lifted Brow, and some of the more memoir-leaning aspects of the book appeared in earlier forms in various lit magazines. Parts of the book were written up to a decade ago, but mostly Twyford-Moore wrote it in six months, following six months of research.

It’s a fascinating read, balancing the personal and scholarly while weighing the idea of manic depression as a public affliction. It’s also defiantly idiosyncratic, with Twyford-Moore asserting himself not just as someone living with manic depression but as an articulate critic with unflinching opinions on the texts he’s consulting – whether they’re movies, songs, novels, biographies or memoirs. “My background is mostly as a critic,” he says. “I couldn’t shake that off, I guess.”

thebrag.com

“With writing anything, there’s stuff you can’t say,” he observes. “It’s an intensely personal disorder, and I think I gave the right amount of myself.” As for his treatment, he doesn’t go into great detail but does pointedly write that “mental health services in this country are hugely inaccessible.” Whether someone is in an acute crisis mode or just living by day by day with a disorder, the high costs of medication and other treatment represent a very real barrier to recovery.

As he begins to do the publicity rounds for The Rapids, Twyford-Moore is already working on a second book, looking at Australian writers, actors and directors in America, and “how America impacts on Australian cultural production.” Again, it’s leaning towards cultural criticism with some “metabiographical portraits,” but he thinks it’ll be “a little bit more straightforward in its construction.”

At one point in The Rapids, near the end of a section called “The Reckoning,” he states, “Writing this provides no real relief, but opens an uncomfortable enquiry that will go on for some time to come.”

“With writing anything, there’s stuff you can’t say.”

But some degree of relief might yet arrive, he admits on the phone. “The next stage for me is how people react to it,” he says. “Maybe that will provide some relief. I don’t know. I hope it has some use at the end of the day.”

What: The Rapids: Ways Of Looking At Mania is out now through NewSouth

BRAG :: 741 :: 05:09:18 :: 57

arts in focus

■ TV

Who Is America? And The Changing Shape Of Satire The uncomfortable truth, pointed then and ubiquitous now, is that none of this really matters. At least, not in the way people seem to want it to. The promotional run up to Who Is America? featured some prominently aggrieved Republicans, which was presumably good for ratings but barely qualifies as novel.

Take Trump at his word and all it demonstrates is his addiction to publicity. If he’s a liar, then he’s a not-particularly-bright asshole who is addicted to publicity. It’s no less embarrassing than being handed a soccer ball like some neglected stepchild. Either way, he’s still the President.

By Liam Jordan

P

resident Donald Trump once appeared on Da Ali G Show for about two minutes.

In the segment, Ali G tries to convince Trump to invest in a product called the ice-cream glove, designed to prevent drips from getting on your hand. Visibly unimpressed, Trump barely makes it through the opening pitch before handing back his mic and walking off.

Nearly a decade later he would tweet, quote: ”I never fall for scams. I am the only person who immediately walked out of my Ali G interview.”

Sacha Baron Cohen made a name for himself by trading in the quintessentially English trait: civility. His thesis – that most people, most of the time, would be polite long enough for him to poke at their prejudices and get them to say awful things. The only flaw in his model was to underestimate just how well it would work. Ali G, Borat, and Bruno were outsiders, with just enough cultural coding for people not to get suspicious.

This presumption of innocence stopped working once his characters became icons in their own right. Then – and this is not a coincidence – the rich and powerful became very willing to be seen with him. To be mocked just enough so as to appear in on the joke. Cohen, thankfully, allowed those characters to retire.

At its best, Cohen’s work took great pleasure in breaking the veneer of respectability – particularly among England’s upper classes. That people with titles and little piles of acronyms at the end of their names would be so willingly racist, homophobic, and anti-Semitic remains shocking.

What’s unfortunate is that society at large doesn’t seem to care. In 2018, comedy is itself a veneer, an interactive barrier to social justice used for cynical ends. Police departments hire people to adapt memes; Nazis use image-board culture to recruit and maintain a viable market share. President Obama once responded to the Bush-era torture program, saying ”‘We killed some folks.”

“Sacha Baron Cohen made a name for himself by trading in the quintessentially English trait: civility.”

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Who Is America? feels immediately grotesque. Cohen’s disguises are far more elaborate, in part by necessity, the rubbery jowls and comical brows adding to the Grand Guignol atmosphere.

The first episode’s final and most successful piece features Erran Morad, an Israeli anti-terrorism expert. As a character Morad is his smartest creation, representative of America’s Greatest Ally, while being just enough of outsider to string them along. As gun lobbyists spruik deadly weapons designed for small children, spokesmen of the right complain of organised conspiracy – but their outrage is all part of the act. What they implicitly understand, but can’t seem to say out loud, is that this is just how things work now.

Everyone has a choir with which to preach. Any criticism or embarrassment, no matter how truthful or damning it might be, is just more evidence of their unfair persecution. His elaborate pranks will be part of the news cycle, and things will be keep on going as they were. This is not a criticism of Cohen, who can still wield shock like few others on television, but of our collective desire for television to matter. Nobody is going to jail, but at least there’ll be some good jokes along the way.

What: Who Is America? airs every Monday at 2pm on Stan thebrag.com

FEATURE

“Police departments hire people to adapt memes; Nazis use image-board culture to recruit and maintain a viable market share.”

“That people with titles and little piles of acronyms at the end of their names would be so willingly racist, homophobic, and anti-Semitic remains shocking.”

thebrag.com

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arts in focus

■ INTERNET

Friends Forever Doug Wallen learns what makes overwhelmingly successful Youtube pair Rhett & Link tick

R

hett McLaughlin and Link Neal are giants of the internet, whether you know it or not.

Hosting the weekday talk show Good Mythical Morning since the start of 2012, the North Carolina natives now have more than 13 million subscribers and average 100 million views a month.

Having come to Australia for the first time last month, they easily sold out all three dates of their live show.

The BRAG spoke to the pair a few days before they made the trip to our fine land. So perhaps inevitably, considering that some of GMM’s most popular episodes

involve food challenges and blind taste tests – which has seen the duo dig into crayon butter, gelato made from hair gel, and birthday cake comprising lipstick and other makeup – the conversation turned to Australia’s unique edible offerings. The question came up: did they have a list of food-related goals while here?

“That list is growing,” says McLaughlin. “We’ve had Tim Tams already, but I think having them on Australian soil will enhance the experience.” The pair each brought their families, so the Aussie debut doubled as a proper holiday. Nor were they shooting anything while here, but they did post Instagram

stories from the trip. And last year they devoted an entire episode to Aussie slang.

Now based in Los Angeles, McLaughlin and Neal have been best friends since the first day of Grade One, an origin story that’s recounted in both the live show and their 2017 book, Rhett & Link’s Book Of Mythicality.

The mythical theme comes the fact that the two were kept in from recess on the day they met – after scrawling profanities on their desks – and made to colour in pictures of otherworldly creatures.

Fast-forward to today, when their millions of fans proudly call

themselves “Mythical Beasts.”

If McLaughlin and Neal’s fame seems unlikely from the outside, even a quick glimpse of their show immediately teases out their broad appeal. Though the selfproclaimed “Internetainers” slid through fish guts in one recent episode, their spontaneous banter and contagious laughter is just as important as their conceptual stunts and left-field food play.

“We’re adults, and we’re making a show that adults would find funny,” says McLaughlin. Both 40, he and Link grew up in families where a lot of value was placed on making each other laugh.

“We’re adults, and we’re making a show that adults would find funny.”

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thebrag.com

FEATURE

“So it’s natural for us to do things that are accessible for the whole family,” he explains. “It happened unintentionally at first, but it’s become a real hallmark of our brand.”

Besides cutting across various ages, Good Mythical Morning translates surprisingly well across different countries and cultures.

Part of that comes down to what McLaughlin calls “the universal access that people have with YouTube.” He contrasts it with their short-lived terrestrial TV show, Commercial Kings, which aired in the US in 2011 but couldn’t quite crack the global market.

Of course, when you’re eating a scorpion on the internet, that’s fairly universal. “We’ve all been there,” chimes in Neal, who’s famous for his decorative barf bucket on the show. “We’re doing things that are really relatable,” agrees McLaughlin. “Some of our most successful content is physical. Eating food, and not being able to eat it, is something that anybody can relate to.”

It helps that they don’t really touch on current affairs, which keeps the show evergreen. In fact, if you watch any of their 1300+ episodes, the only clue to the specific year might be the opening sequence, which has evolved over time, or Link’s changing hairstyles, which have been closely watched by fans. The pair’s lifelong hair history also shows up in the book and live show, by the way.

“We chronicle our different hair journeys,” confirms Neal.

“Our hairas.” The touring show touches on other aspects of their characteristically quirky book, as well as a fan Q&A and live performances of their songs.

That’s right: McLaughlin and Neal don’t just host GMM. Their

thebrag.com

entertainment company, Mythical, spans their own YouTube Red comedy series, Buddy System, plus the podcast Ear Biscuits, and a deep bank of music videos based on their whimsical songwriting. Spinning catchy tunes out of everything from O.C.D. to brain freeze, their musical output has evolved from simple and folky to more polished electronic pop.

“Some of our most successful content is physical.”

“At first we were writing songs to perform on a stage,” says Neal. “As we developed an audience online, we started to write songs with the videos in mind. The comedy itself [became] more visually oriented, so doing the stage show has actually reinvigorated our appetite to write more songs with the stage presence in mind.”

“We got our start with musical comedy,” adds McLaughlin, “and some of our first videos were based on songs we’d written, originally intended for a live audience. So we’re going back to our roots. That’s one of our favourite parts [of touring], and seems to go over really well.”

The Rhett & Link empire extends into a robust range of merchandise, which includes mugs and clothing emblazoned with GMM catchphrases like “Boiled For Safety.” But it surprises the pair that one of their favourite mottos – “Dink it and sink it,” said while cheers-ing before trying some new food or drink combination – might make Aussies think of catching a ride on bicycle handlebars instead.

“That’s why no one in Australia is buying that mug,” cracks McLaughlin, as Neal joins him in a bonding laugh that’s been running, on and off, for around 35 years.

What: Rhett & Link’s Book Of Mythicality is out now

BRAG :: 741 :: 05:09:18 :: 61

arts in focus

FEATURE

Banana Peels, Dead Grandparents, And The “Paradoxes” Of Time Travel

By Joseph Earp

L

et’s say that at noon tomorrow, time travel is invented. A brilliant scientist – let’s call him Dr. Jones – creates a machine that harnesses a huge amount of energy to tear apart the fabric of space time itself, in the process sending willing punters to any and every moment of their choosing. Better still, Dr. Jones’ machine is one without restrictions: it can send you into both the future or the past, as far as you would like to go.

If the whim took you, you could travel back to the emergence of the universe; to the assassination of JFK; to your own birth. Or, you could fling yourself into the opposite direction: you could be there for the heat death of the universe itself.

Now, let’s imagine a time traveller named Tim. Tim isn’t interested in using Dr. Jones’ newly-minted machine to watch humans invent fire, or to stand, curiously unaffected, over his own deathbed. No. Tim wants to use the machine to murder his own grandfather.

See, Tim’s grandfather, a meanlooking bastard named Richard, was as awful as they came. Richard spent his twenties accruing notoriety as an arms dealer – he sold dirty bombs to terrorists, and machine guns to African warlords looking to slaughter women and children. From the age he could throw rocks at cats, to the very moment he died, hit by an errant rooftile shortly after conceiving Tim’s father, Richard made it his mission to make the lives of those around him hell.

“Let’s say that at noon tomorrow, time travel is invented.”

But there’s the rub. How on earth can Tim kill his own grandfather? If Tim kills Richard before Tim’s own dad has even been conceived, Tim will never have existed. After all, if Richard dies at his 12th birthday party, he won’t be around to conceive Tim’s dad. He’ll be long dead by then, an infant body rotting in a grave. Sure, Tim can kill Richard after he conceives Tim’s father, but what use is that to Tim? It seems pointless to take Richard out after his evil deeds have already been committed.

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A

t this point, some might feel like they have a solution: perhaps they’d like to suggest that Tim shooting his grandfather creates a “new” timeline.

This, after all, is the solution that Hollywood tends to utilise. So much so in fact, that you can almost imagine how this would go down in a big budget studio movie: Tim, armed to the teeth, arrives back at his grandfather’s 12th birthday party, pulls out a shotgun, shoots the baby-faced Richard… and then suddenly disappears into a cloud of acrid-smelling smoke, having essentially murdered himself out of existence.

But this is no solution. This is a fallacy, one so common that it even has its own name: the second-time around fallacy. Tim can’t create a “new” timeline by murdering his grandfather. See, in a world where time travel is possible, backwards causation is possible. That means in a time travel world, cause can follow effect, not the other way around.

T

he above, put crudely, is the grandfather paradox.

Once upon a time, it seemed like a knock-down argument against the existence of time travel. We needn’t worry about whether or not time travel might be physically possible, some philosophers thought.

Such a paradox appears to prove that it’s not even logically possible.

After all, the world follows logical laws. To imagine that we might live in a fundamentally illogical world is such a big bullet to bite, many thinkers were happy to give up on the idea of time travel in order to preserve it.

Many – but not all. This is where the philosopher David Lewis came in. A great mind with a striking array of interest areas, Lewis loved ruminating on the apparent paradoxes others saw in time travel. And unlike so many others, he had a neat resolution to the puzzling grandfather paradox.

“How on earth can Tim kill his own grandfather?

If Tim kills Richard before Tim’s own dad has even been conceived, Tim will never have existed.”

By means of explanation, let’s say Tim goes on a different mission: say he goes back in time and slaps his 14-year-old self on the face. In this world, before Tim even steps into the time machine, he has necessarily already been slapped in the 14-year-old face. The slapping comes first; the getting in the time machine to do the slapping – the closing of the time travel loop – happens long after.

For that reason, if Tim has successfully shot and killed Richard at Richard’s 12th birthday party, that has already happened long before Tim has even been born.

All Tim is doing by stepping into the time machine is providing the cause for an effect that has already been the case.

But again, Tim necessarily can’t have shot Richard at his 12th birthday party. So what the fuck is going on here?

Here’s how he put it. According to Lewis, Tim can shoot his grandfather, but he necessarily doesn’t. That’s a lot to unpack, so let’s start first with that word ‘can’. What does it mean? Well, it refers to a little pool of facts that are all true in respect to each other – the technical term is that they are ‘compossible’ with each other. So, it is true Tim can buy a gun; it is true Tim can pull a trigger; it is true that Tim can travel back in time. These things are all true in and of themselves. And, more than that, they are true in relation to each other; they are all compossible. No one of these facts is impossible in the context of the others.

However, let’s add another fact into this pool: that Tim can murder his grandfather.

This is where the problem arises. Tim murdering his grandfather is not compossible with Tim being able to travel back in time. Suddenly, two facts start negating each other. After all, if Tim had succeeded in killing his grandfather, he wouldn’t be around to get into the time machine. He wouldn’t even exist. He would be a nonentity; a curiously unimaginable thing. So he can’t both kill his grandfather, and travel back in time.

S

o. What does this all actually mean? It means that Tim can indeed get into a time machine and travel back to Richard’s 12th birthday party. It means he can take a gun with him. It means he can raise that gun, point it directly and the young Richard, and fire the shot. But it also means that he must necessarily miss. thebrag.com

Clock photo by Eder Pozo Perez

So, the moment Tim learns of Dr. Jones’ time machine, he knows exactly what to do. He will travel back to Richard’s 12th birthday party, pull out a gun and shoot his own grandfather before his villainy can truly begin. He will save the suffering of thousands. He will rid the world of an unrepentant, murderous old sod of a person.

So, it seems like Tim can’t kill his grandfather. And yet the question remains: what exactly is stopping him? On face value, there’s nothing restricting Tim from travelling back to Ancient Rome and taking down Caesar with an assault rifl e, after all – that seems logical. In a world in which time travel exists, it makes perfect sense that Tim could shoot anyone from the past; he’s as able to do it as he is to step out of his house and shoot a random civilian. So what force is stopping Tim?

WITH HANDSOME 1.

Draw yourself

2.

Draw the cover of your EP No Hat No Play

3.

Draw your ideal rider

4.

Draw your dream audience

No Hat No Play is that impossibly rare thing: a true original.

The new EP from Handsome, due out Friday September 21 via Dot Dash / Remote Control, has a sense of life, and verve, and originality all of its own – it trembles with this fizzy power, as each of the five songs, mini celebrations of the self, fold gently into other. We asked Handsome some questions; they drew us some answers.

David Lewis

Let’s try and imagine it. Let’s say that just as Tim’s about to take out his young grandfather, he slips on a banana peel, and unloads a clip into the ceiling. He fails.

This is Lewis’ solution to the grandfather paradox. And to some then – and still some now – it seems utterly, unreservedly bonkers. After all, sure, it’s somewhat believable that Tim’s first assassination attempt might fail. But let’s not forget: he’s got a fucking time machine.

Tim has unlimited opportunities to go back and re-attempt to kill Richard at that party. Sure, he might slip on a banana peel the first time. But then he can simply get back in his time machine, re-arm himself in the present, and return to the party, looking out for banana peels this time.

But even then, this second attempt must necessarily fail.

You can stretch this example as far as you want: push it to the very boundaries of what seems to make logical sense. Hell, Tim can even hire a small army, give ‘em each an assault rifle, take them back to Richard’s 12th, line them up in a circle around Richard, and get them to pull the trigger at exactly the same time – and even in this case, every single one of them will fail.

“If Tim has successfully shot and killed Richard at Richard’s 12th birthday party, that has already happened long before Tim has even been born.”

This is the part some philosophers don’t want to swallow. This, they argue, is Lewis testing the very limits of credibility and sense. But again, some is not all, and the logician Nicholas J. J. Smith has a neat response to these objections in his excellently-titled paper ‘Bananas Enough For Time Travel?’

As Smith outlines it, the cries of illogicality only come when we read the story the wrong way around. So let’s do exactly that.

Here’s the wrong way to read the story of Tim and his mercenaries: something has had to stop Tim from murdering his grandfather.

A force – maybe chance – has come to Richard’s rescue. This force has placed a banana peel under the foot of every mercenary. And it has done this because it has been required that Richard must not die.

This version of the story is wrong for a simple reason; it doesn’t take into account backwards causation. After all, it’s not only that the banana peels have saved Richard’s life; it’s that the banana peels have themselves been required to allow Tim and his mercenaries to step into the time machine in the first place. If the banana peels weren’t there, Tim would have successfully killed his grandfather, and if he had done that, he wouldn’t be able to amass an army of mercenaries and step into a time machine. The banana peels have made Tim standing there in the past possible in the first place.

Which, of course, is still totally fucking bizarre. But, as Lewis himself put it, it’s not really such a stretch to imagine that a world with time travel in it might just well be a little bonkers. ■ thebrag.com

BRAG :: 741 :: 05:09:18 :: 63

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thebrag.com

game on Gaming news and reviews with Adam Guetti

SEP

2018

New Releases

With the latter half of the year upon us, video games are coming in thick and fast, so hopefully you’ve been pinching those pennies!

Infamous, already looks positively amazing, and is bound to become a smash-hit.

First up on Tuesday September 4 is the launch of Destiny 2’s latest expansion, Forsaken (PS4, XBO, PC). The release lines up with the start of the game’s “Year Two”.

If sport is more your thing, then why not check out NBA Live 19? You can find it for PS4 and XBO also on Friday September 7. Alternatively, NBA 2K19 also dunks its way onto PS4, XBO and PC from Tuesday September 11.

Swing on over to Friday September 7 and you’ll have one of the PS4’s biggest games for 2018. SpiderMan, developed by the team behind

Just a few days later on Friday September 14 the rebooted Tomb Raider trilogy comes to a close with Shadow of the Tomb Raider. The action-

AN INTERVIEW WITH: adventure title has switched developers, but will still head to PS4, XBO and PC. RPG fans, meanwhile, can embrace Valkyria Chronicles 4 (PS4, XBO, PC) on Tuesday September 25 as it tells a tale of sacrifice hidden beyond the snow.

As the month comes to a close, football fanatics will be holding out until Friday September 28. That’s the day they’ll be able to get their hands on FIFA 19, which is now touting a new Active Touch system.

reviewroundup

By Adam Guetti

World of Warcraft’s Senior Software Engineer, Gameplay, Darren P. Williams and Lead Character Artist, Dusty Nolting The BRAG: For a game that’s been around as long as WoW, how do you keep its gameplay fresh?

Dusty: We’re always adding something new. We’re constantly refreshing the world and we try to make content for everybody, from the most seasoned World of Warcraft veteran to someone who is just starting out. We’re very welcoming to new players and offer them all kinds of cool things to do; systems to try.

What is it about Battle for Azeroth that should attract newcomers?

Darren: I think World of Warcraft harkens back to that classic fantasy of orcs versus elves – that’s something that appeals to a lot of people. We’re bringing Warcraft back to its core conflict of Horde versus Alliance. The gameplay is very satisfying, the combat is better than it’s ever been. It’s easier than ever to get into the story.

What advice do you have for budding game developers dreaming of landing a Triple-A career?

Darren: For engineers in particular, a computer science background is a must for getting into gameplay engineering or other forms of engineering. It’s very important to have a demo or portfolio if you’re new, show passion for working on projects on your own, and use third party engines. Those are all be invaluable inclusions for your resume.

Dusty: Speaking as an artist, you’re going to have to work hard and stay creative. This is entertainment, you need to be able to show that you can captivate an audience with your imagery. Moving forward, getting a job in a studio or on a team, you’re going to need to be a creative driving force. Having a portfolio that demonstrates that is one of the best things you can do.

Review: Madden NFL19

Review: We Happy Few

(PS4, XBO, PC)

(PS4, XBO, PC)

I

fter stirring up some controversy with its initial banning, We Happy Few has now made it to our shores, and the final product is sadly a little underwhelming. The game’s concept is fantastic – a dystopian future that forces its citizens to take a drug that alters their perception of reality, but a wealth of bugs mars the experience. If the technical problems are ironed out though, it’s definitely a trip 3 worth taking.

Review: World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth (PC)

I

f you’re a devout WoW player, there’s plenty of content to keep you engaged within Battle for Azeroth, despite the occasionally tedious sidequest. If you’re a complete newcomer to the series, on the other hand, once you get past the initial confusion, you’re in for one hell of an adventure.

t’s becoming increasingly difficult to justify forking out the cash for yet another minor update to the Madden formula, but it’s hard to argue when Madden NFL19 remains as solid as it is.

The main compliment is just how much better everything feels thanks to Real Player Motion. Not everyone will see the worth, but if you’ve missed the last few entries, this one’s worth investing in.

4

A

4 Review: Guacamelee! 2 (PS4, PC)

Review: Overcooked 2

O

(PS4, XBO, Switch, PC)

vercooked 2 has an incredibly simple sounding premise: prepare, cook and serve as many completed meals to customers as you can within a time limit to earn a high rating. But what sounds easy in theory a chaotic mess in execution – as the game tries to interrupt your rhythm by switching up ingredient crates or forcing chefs to move to another location. With a group of friends by 4 your side, it’s an absolute riot.

thebrag.com

G

uacamelee! 2 takes everything that made the original Metroidvania platformer great, then refines it to something even more impressive. There’s new powers, new enemies and new environments to explore – all expertly done. The inherent humour that runs throughout has also remained firmly intact. Some might encounter frustrations with the odd difficulty spike, but there’s a lot of value in sticking it out.

4.5

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arts in focus

REVIEW

■ TV

Searching is a tense look at social media’s boons and evils

By Elena Lazic

C

ommercial cinema has by and large handled the omnipresence of social media in the lives of young people with the usual reactionary paranoia that society at large often adopts in the face of change.

To this end, several horror films entirely ‘set’ on computer screens have essentially transposed the

tropes of the slasher film into the digital realm.

In the tradition of slasher characters, teens in these movies have sex on the brain 24/7 and their lives are animated by the drama and horrors common to the typical on-screen American college life: reputation comes before homework, bullying is practically a given, and

humiliation a constant threat.

The physical distance and veil of anonymity allowed by technology and social media simply exacerbate those hostile attitudes at fever pitch.

These facts were used most effectively in the wildly commercial successful film Unfriended, which, despite taking a supernatural direction, started from the premise

“As time fast-forwards, the software of the computer goes from older versions of Windows to the now mainstream Mac OS.” of a classmate commiting suicide after being humiliated online.

One thing that is particularly refreshing about Aneesh Chaganty’s Searching is its relative resistance to these reactionary impulses and its more nuanced portrayal of the internet as a sort of double-edged sword, with good and bad sides. When Margot (Michelle La), the 16 year-old daughter of David (John Cho) goes missing, the internet is the father’s only tool for trying to find her — a blessing for him, but one tainted by the grim realisation of how easily one can hack into somebody’s computer, Facebook account, and more.

When the news media catches up with his story, so does social media, and the viral hashtag #FindMargot inevitably brings out unpleasant and hypocritical commenters, with negative real-life consequences.

Searching

“When David attacks a schoolmate of Margot’s, we are shown a Youtube video of the accident, but the gimmick does not take away from the dramatic implication of the event.”

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But rather than focus on this mob mentality and on the effect of public opinion, Chaganty’s film maintains a moving human dimension and concentrates largely on David and Margot’s relationship before and after crisis hits. When David, tired and desperate, attacks a schoolmate of Margot’s for posting an inappropriate status on Facebook, we are shown a Youtube video of the accident, but the gimmick does not take away from the dramatic implication

of the event. Technology and social media in Searching are simply tools used to construct a conventional but expertly crafted drama / thriller that relies heavily on characters.

The film opens on a video screen capture (or screencast) from the computer of David’s wife Pamela (Sara Sohn) retelling the story of this family from the birth of Margot to the premature death of Pamela from lymphoma. Off-screen, Pamela is uploading pictures and videos of Margot’s first words, first piano lessons, and other such pivotal moments, and as time fast-forwards, the software of the computer goes from older versions of Windows to the now mainstream Mac OS. It’s a canny and innovative effect, demonstrative of Chaganty’s invention when it comes to actually using the tools he is presented with.

It is touching to see what the late Pamela used the internet and her computer for: like most parents who were not born with these machines, she mostly used this technology to organise her IRL life. For Margot, by contrast, the internet has become a means to escape her painful reality. As the film goes on, David comes to realise just how deeply her mother’s passing has affected her, and how she sought solace in online friendships rather than in her distant, uncommunicative father. thebrag.com

arts in focus ■ FILM

“Unable by law to assist the policewoman assigned to the case, David has little reason to leave the house; in his obsessive search through Margot’s web presence, he essentially spends his entire time on his computer.”

Mission: Impossible – Fallout is a rich bang of joy

By Joseph Earp

Mission: Impossible – Fallout

But Margot isn’t into the most extreme or obscene aspects of social media, either. Like most sad teens, she has a blog on Tumblr, where users can take refuge in an online world of their own creation and a community of their own choosing. Even the live video website she used, a more intrusive networking website, seems relatively harmless.

However, and more than once, David is led down much more extreme, bone-chilling paths in his investigation, and while some of them are valid, many turn out to be red herrings stalling his search and affecting his mindset.

In most thrillers, when a lead is revealed to be entirely false and to have no bearing on the story at all, the viewer feels cheated – it seems like a cheap way for the director to create suspense and extend the film’s runtime.

Here, by contrast, such anticlimatic revelations brilliantly highlight the way in which the internet encourages our paranoid impulses. Unable by law to assist the policewoman assigned to the case, David has little reason to leave the house; in his obsessive search through Margot’s web presence, he essentially spends his entire time on his computer –something we all know is not very good for one’s personal wellbeing.

These moments are also neat feats of character-building, where David’s reasonable, ‘cool dad’ facade is challenged by an almost unhinged sense of panic. John Cho’s expressive and nuanced performance – with almost entirely playing out on his face, seen via the FaceTime app on his laptop – is genuinely moving and, together with the film’s focus on characters, helps carry interest well beyond that of the central gimmick. Watching the film does not feel like staring at a computer screen for 100 minutes; Searching is a true cinematic experience.

G

iven it’s the sixth fi lm in a series, you might expect Mission: Impossible – Fallout to get around to the long-awaited process of deconstruction. After all, its hero, a rangy force of chaos named Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) is peculiarly unsuited for these cinematic and political times. He’s not a brooding, haunted killer, or an alcoholic wrestling with demons and regrets – even when he fi nds time to mourn the forced life of exile his ex-wife must endure, this melancholy is quiet and subtle. No, for the most part, Hunt is a grinning,wide-eyed mastermind who coasts by on a mixture of superhuman skill and dumb luck – and appears to love every manic minute of it. Surely then it’s time for Hunt to get knocked down a peg?

Certainly, in Fallout’s shadow-soaked prologue, that seems to be the direction returning writer-director Christopher McQuarrie wants to poke proceedings.

Forced into a terrible choice between saving a life he knows and millions he doesn’t, Hunt does something uncharacteristic – he fucks up – and in the process upsets the status quo of the entire world. Suddenly, his arch nemesis Solomon Lane (Sean Harris, turning in another tremendous steel and gravel performance) has all the cards, a shadowy group of terrorists called The Apostles are looking to murder untold millions, and Hunt fi nds himself forced into the unwanted care of a granite-jawed CIA enforcer August Walker (Henry Cavill).

But despite all the initial hints to the contrary, McQuarrie has no interest in stripping Hunt of his charisma and selling it for parts. With a string of some of the most thrilling set-pieces put to screen in decades, the fi lmmaker reinforces everything that makes Hunt, Cruise, and this fi lm series so extraordinarily special.

Rather than creating an ersatz sense of stakes by bringing his main character down to the dirt like so many other franchise fi lmmakers have done before him (think the way The Dark Knight Rises

“This is a film that moves from a heart-stopping HALO jump, filmed for real, to a throbbing nightclub sequence, to a bone-cracking bathroom brawl.” transformed Batman into a blubbering wreck), McQuarrie doubles down on what audiences want from Hunt, and allows the world to come around to him, rather than the other way around.

But these are the things that soak in about Fallout afterwards, not during.

While the fi lm’s breezy 147 minutes are unspooling before your eyes, you’re not thinking very much at all, the same way you don’t think much while skydiving, or doing the loop in a rollercoaster. Fallout is sheer, unadulterated spectacle; kinetic fi lmmaking of the very highest order.

Indeed, it is difficult to remember the last time complicated action sequences have been pulled off with this much fl air, and intelligence, and sheer, audacious verve.

This is a film that moves from a heartstopping HALO jump, filmed for real, to a throbbing nightclub sequence, to a bonecracking bathroom brawl, to a knife fight in a crowded backroom. Every moment of it crackles, none of it ever starts to numb, and even as the double-crosses and twists that lie on top of twists begin to build up, plot fatigue doesn’t sink in for a second.

That’s largely because McQuarrie understands the importance of silence – of glimpsed moments of calm peppered throughout the chaos. A car chase that forces Hunt to become an unwilling protector of the hateful Lane is punctuated by these brief, extraordinary close-ups of the latter supervillain, as he sits, entirely still, his face drawn against the madness

“It’s a highpoint in a series that has been stuffed with them, and one of the wittiest, most exciting action films ever made.”

Maybe Mad Max: Fury Road – but Fury Road was, to borrow a line from Fallout’s Erica Sloane (Angela Bassett, full of sideeye), a hammer, and this fi lm is a scalpel.

As it nimbly jumps from Berlin, to Paris, to London, introducing new characters – chiefl y the White Widow (Vanessa Kirby), a sly broker whose motivations are enjoyably enigmatic – and juggling familiar faces, the control remains masterful throughout.

“Fallout is sheer, unadulterated spectacle; kinetic filmmaking of the very highest order.”

unfurling around him. And a heist sequence, shot without sound, culminates in a shared look so powerful it prompted gasps in the screening this critic attended.

It all leads up to one of the most orgiastic, overstuffed climaxes of recent cinematic memory – an embarrassment of action setpiece riches. And then it’s done, exploded in a rich bang of joy. If, as has been rumoured, Fallout is the last film in the Mission: Impossible franchise, what a way to go out. It’s a highpoint in a series that has been stuffed with them, and one of the wittiest, most exciting action films ever made.

What: Mission: Impossible – Fallout is in Australian cinemas now

What: Searching is in Australian cinemas Thursday September 13 thebrag.com

BRAG :: 741 :: 05:09:18 :: 67

arts in focus

REVIEW ■ BOOK

■ FILM

The Breaker Upperers is here to save comedy

By Ella Donald

Parker Posey’s memoir embodies her wry, quipping originality

By Doug Wallen

W

hen Parker Posey sits down to pen her memoir, you can bet it’s not going to be some by-the-numbers snooze. But even diehard fans of the veteran character actor might be surprised by her book’s sustained delivery of curveballs.

The Breaker Upperers

I

don’t know what it is, but comedy is being served a revival by the country of New Zealand. We don’t deserve it; don’t deserve this much new air, life, and imagination being pumped into a scene where maledominated, overlong, sluggish, regressive movies masquerading as comedies make hundreds of millions of dollars (I’m looking at you, Apatow). But we sure do need it.

The Breaker Upperers brings freshness in bundles; it’s a lightning-fast, sweetly shaggy, female-dominated (and gazed), incidentally queer-normative comedy about female friendship and what a bitch the socially-set bounds of romance are.

“We can all admit to cowardice about our own feelings.”

Jackie van Beek (Jen) and Madeleine Sami (Mel) pull triple duty, directing, writing, and playing the titular very conscious uncouplers, who have made a rather nihilistic business of doing the dirty work of breaking up for other people. This isn’t any ordinary singing card stuff (although, there is some of that in a perfectlypaced, sketch-like opening scene): this is hardcore, fake pregnancy, missing persons stuff.

You even don’t stop to wonder how this could be as long running in a place like Auckland, where six degrees of separation is collapsed to two or three.

But the detached harmony breaks when Jordan (James Rolleston, Boy), a 17-year-old looking to move on from his high school girlfriend Sepa (Ana Scotney), hires the duo, and Mel starts to question what they’ve built for themselves. Is there perhaps something wrong with tricking people into thinking their partners have died by falling into a ravine, when in fact they’re just too spineless to have a conversation with their significant others?

The movie manages to be both breathlessly funny and touching: Sami and van Beek bringing an authentic pathos and sweetness to a plot that (deceptively) turns quite serious.

Importantly, such moments feeling earned and not just an attempt to squeeze some tears from the audience.

They’re masters of the style of comedy that has become only more visible in recent years, popularised by the likes of Taika Waititi (who produced The Breaker Upperers) with his films Hunt For The Wilderpeople, Boy, and What We Do In The Shadows, as well as others, like his sometimes-collaborators Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie (Flight of the Conchords). It’s a style that’s uniquely so ruthlessly smart and effective from the top-down, that it can be dry, sarcastic, and teasing without making jokes at the expense of others, or using shock and offence as a delivery tool.

Sami and Van Beek deliver this same consistency in laughs and heart, proving empathetic even when their clients would otherwise be ridiculous or sad, or when Jen runs the risk of seeming ruthless and cruel.

Jordan, who has tried (unsuccessfully) to break up with Sepa entirely in emojis, is youthfully naive and endearing instead of annoying. Like their youthful contemporaries in films such as Hunt For The Wilderpeople, it’s a comedy style defined by a type of conversational irreverence, naturalism, combined with the faintest hint of surrealism that helps keep things grounded.

The exchanges that sing – the thwarted operation at Jordan’s rugby game, a disastrous dinner with Jen’s sex-mad and high strung mother who can’t handle her singleness, a lunch crashed by a stricken ex (Annie, played

by Celia Pacquola of Rosehaven and Utopia), even a Celine Dion karaoke on a party bus that dissolves into an elaborate dream sequence – all feel realistic. They’re just delivered by people gifted with a larger spark of wit than ourselves.

After all, we can all admit to cowardice about our own feelings.

But above all, what makes The Breaker Upperers so fiercely loveable is the friendship at its centre, forged over being broken-hearted by the same man. The movie closes with its version of the performative reconciliation scene (think Trainwreck’s cheerleading scene, or any of the countless others). By then, it’s clear that the great romance of the film is between Jen and Mel, and Van Beek and Sami’s shining chemistry. Other men and women will come and go, but they are forever.

She skips around freely and dwells on yoga and Ayurveda, even sharing a few favourite recipes and indulging in a semiinstructional chapter about throwing clay. Most striking of all, she illustrates the book herself with mood-lightening, photobased collages that feel like part scrapbook, part zine.

Of course, Posey is candid and charismatic enough to utterly own those counterintuitive touches.

Famously dubbed “queen of the indies” by Time magazine in 1997, she has spent the subsequent two decades cementing her loopy originality and left-field comic timing.

She’s spiced up Hollywood blockbusters and rom coms – from Superman Returns to You’ve Got Mail – as a scene-stealing supporting player while bringing her quipping, self-possessed presence to bigger roles in Christopher Guest’s improvised comedies, Hal Hartley’s Henry Fool trilogy and acclaimed dramas like Personal Velocity.

Now she’s starring as the deceptive Dr. Smith in Netflix’s Lost in Space remake, a creative piece of casting that plays on Posey’s signature unpredictability.

Her book is similarly volatile, with the first-time author quipping her way through playful puns and name-dropping while mocking smartphones (“There’s all this swiping going on, all this shoo-fly bullshit”) and gushing about dogs

Born with her twin brother to a 22-year-old mother and a military father, Posey grew up in the South, mostly in Louisiana and Mississippi. After making it through Catholic school (“Jesus was my first crush”), she dropped out of uni and shot Dazed and Confused at age 24 while appearing on the TV soap As The World Turns. She had wanted to be an actress since childhood, and those early few parts quickly led to her breakout starring turn in 1995’s Party Girl.

That heralded a slew of roles in indie flicks like The House of Yes, Clockwatchers, The Daytrippers and Drunks, plus parts in more Hollywood fare like Scream 3 and Josie And The Pussycats. She was especially memorable as a snarky vampire villain in Blade: Trinity, perking up the script with some one-liners of her own devising.

Though it’s great hearing anecdotes about the Guest movies – Best In Show, Waiting For Guffman, A Mighty Wind – Posey doesn’t go into her work with Hal Hartley, aside from living in Berlin while shooting Fay Grim. She also doesn’t mention Noah Baumbach’s cult comedy Kicking And Screaming or Amy Sherman-Palladino’s post-Gilmore Girls misfire The Return Of Jezebel James.

But then, she has such a depth of screen credits that there were always going to be omissions. Less comfortable reading, however, comes with a whole chapter on Louie CK that alludes to some character flaws but doesn’t directly address his downfall. And she only gushes about Woody Allen, calling him “the greatest living film director” after appearing in the back-toback Irrational Man and Café Society.

Posey comes across as a lifelong student of pop culture, seeing so much of life through the lens of film and television touchstones.

As for the book’s subtitle, A Self-Mythologizing Memoir, that applies more to the sections about her family – especially her largerthan-life father.

What: The Breaker Upperers is in Australian cinemas now

“It’s a lightning-fast, sweetly shaggy, femaledominated (and gazed), incidentally queernormative comedy.”

68 :: BRAG :: 741 :: 05:09:18

Let’s start with the premise: You’re On An Airplane is modelled on a flight during which we find ourselves seated next to Posey – and her emotional support dog, Gracie. Besides allowing for a regular stream of jokes about this shared experience, this device enables Posey to tell a discursive, stream-of-consciousness version of her life story that’s not beholden to chronology.

(“When people say, ‘I’m not really a dog person,’ all I hear is, ‘I’m not really a person.’”)

“You’re On An Airplane is modelled on a flight during which we find ourselves seated next to Posey – and her emotional support dog, Gracie.” thebrag.com

arts in focus “I know it sounds like I’ve been served a plate of dogshit and I’m smiling cause it’s hot, but it’s not until you’ve been served cold dogshit that you really begin to appreciate how bad life can get.”

A

fter you’ve been a film critic for a while, you can begin to lose sense of the lower bounds of what a film can be. You get comfortable with a certain level of competency – even a lot of egregious, irritating, and generally unlikeable movies are at least strung together in a somewhat workmanlike way.

I mean, my personal answer to that age old question – what’s the worst film ever made? – is Kevin Smith’s Red State, and I’m happy to admit that at least a third of the crew on that film appear to have had a vague idea what they were doing, even if Smith never did. The camera is always pointed in the right direction; the sound never cuts out; and the jokes, if unbearably glib, do have some kind of rhythm to them.

I know that all sounds like I’ve been served a plate of dogshit and I’m smiling cause it’s hot, but it’s not until you’ve been served cold dogshit that you really begin to appreciate how bad life can get.

Yet she casts herself again and again as an eccentric comic force in real life, whether shouting out car windows to ask if people are vegan or having her pants fall down in public. “I’ve slipped on banana peels several times in my life,” she writes, “and not as a joke.” She also has a lot of funny stories about vomiting – usually when she finds herself in LA rather than in her adopted hometown of New York.

Those snappy one-liners and priceless pratfalls only reinforce the book as a winsome extension of Posey’s most consistent on-screen mannerisms. Such individuality hasn’t always gotten her jobs, especially after she passed the age of 40, and she’s very open about her career struggles in recent years.

She calls herself an “impish woman-child” in temperament, and confirms her knack for colouring outside the lines of showbiz with the fact that she has rarely auditioned successfully for a

“Posey comes across as a lifelong student of pop culture, seeing so much of life through the lens of film and television touchstones.” thebrag.com

“Posey illustrates the book herself with moodlightening, photo-based collages that feel like part scrapbook, part zine.” role: “Auditioning feels like my real self has been punished and sent to my room, while my pretend self is forced to make nice…”

Anyone looking for behind-thescenes gossip will find some of that, too. Posey recounts getting her dog while dating Ryan Adams and seeing the future stardom of Matthew McConaughey right away on Dazed and Confused.

She also shares some lovely moments of camaraderie with Nora Ephron, Shirley MacLaine and Emma Stone, and describes bouncing around bars with characteristic spontaneity while living in Vancouver to shoot Lost In Space.

So here’s the thing: last weekend, I suddenly remembered about the existence of a pair of filmmakers called the Polish Brothers.

Identical twins, they made a strange, New York Times-praised little oddity called Twin Falls Idaho in 1999. I’m not going to say Twin Falls holds up today, because it doesn’t – it’s painfully saccharine, the start of a blood-boilingly kooky phase in independent cinema that culminated in Zach Braff’s burning pile of wank, Garden State.

But it has some charm to it; some sense of voice. On release, it seemed to promise that, given the time and space, the Polish Brothers could become something.

They were a pair of new quirky auteurs ready to rise to the top during a booming period in American indie cinema, and appeared custom-designed to succeed in a homogeneous scene that was already seeking to reward white middle-class Americans for peddling out their white, middleclass stories.

Yet after Twin Falls, the Polish Brothers spent the early thousands flirting with the studio system without ever fully committing to it.

The mainstream called to them, but they showed little interest – instead, they spent their time instead making strange, John Sayles-indebted

WITH JOSEPH EARP

What’s new to streaming? puzzle boxes like Jackpot and Northfolk.

Sadly, by the time they did seem interested in taking on bigger budget fare with sloping, uneven comedies like The Astronaut Farmer and The Smell Of Success, they showed signs of significant creative wear and tear. All that energy that made Twin Falls, if not good then at least interesting had given out for flat, uninspired storytelling, and jokes that landed with ear-splitting thumps.

But, as uneven and unsatisfying as both The Astronaut Farmer and The Smell Of Success are, they’re not bad. Not really. They are plates of shit you might be served at a Michelin-star restaurant; turds nestled around a minty, delicately arranged salad.

Consider then Hot Bot, the latest film from the Polish Brothers, available on Netflix now. It is the mountain to The Smell Of Success’ molehill. It is the terminal cancer diagnosis to The Astronaut Farmer’s stubbed toe.

And it is a stunning reminder of just how utterly unwatchable cinema can get.

The mere existence of Hot Bot elevates the entire cinematic canon that has come before it.

Every bad film you can think of, from Josh Trank’s disastrous Fantastic Four, to the chain clamped to poor Ben Affleck’s ankle, Gigli, have gone up slightly in value, dignified ever so slightly in comparison to this semen-splattered selfimmolation.

I could try to spell out the plot of Hot Bot, but I’m not sure that there’d be much point. And in any case, it’s not the plot that makes the film about as easy to watch as raw footage of dental reconstruction; it’s something else; something far more insidious.

Anyway, all you need to know is in the title.

It’s obvious that the Polish Brothers were led to believe what their ailing career needed was a shot of pure adolescent sex – Hot Bot is one long hideously bad taste joke, about as nuanced and complex as those 14-year-old baiting “kiss compilations” crowding up Youtube.

It opens with a brand of automaton offering to satisfy a reporter on national television, and only gets dumber and more insidious from there.

I watched it in my living room, my mouth agape, unable to tear myself from the alternatively dull and outrageously offensive horror unfurling in front of me. Halfway through, my roommate walked in. I think I would have recieved fewer questions if I told him I was watching a snuff film.

And yet I feel weirdly satisfied to have seen Hot Bot. By the time the final slimy, cold turd had gone down, I was renewed. Every so often, it’s important to reset.

To realise that though films like Suicide Squad and From Justin To Kelly might be inept, they have at least some craft to them. Hot Bot, by comparison, is as craftless as it is possible to get. And in its messy, hideous, spunk-heavy nonsense, it has the power to realign the boundaries of cinema. ■

That said, those are fleeting elements in a book that stands out as gleeful counterprogramming to the stock celebrity memoir. Stubbornly quirky, You’re On An Airplane is the off-the-wall, anti-tell-all that only Parker Posey could write.

What: You’re On An Airplane: A Self-Mythologizing Memoir is out now through Hachette BRAG :: 741 :: 05:09:18 :: 69

Sounds Like…

NEW ALBUM AND SINGLE RELE A SES WITH JOSEPH E ARP

Ella Hooper

In one of the more satisfying cultural victories of the last few years, we seem to have finally decided that pop is no longer a dirty word. Critics unashamedly gush over some of the biggest commercial powerhouses of our era; indie bands sneak into the mainstream without finding themselves tarnished with that dreaded ‘sell-out’ slur; and economic and artistic success are becoming increasingly married.

So trust Ella Hooper, one of the most accomplished pop musicians this country has to offer, to inject a different kind of ‘dirty’ into her new single ‘To The Bone’. Opening with a knot of drawn-out moans and sultry saxophone squirts, it’s one of the most gleefully tactile, accomplished paeans to pleasure released this year.

Hooper knows the pop machine inside and out by now, making her a master at deconstructing the thing. An intro as sensitive and glistening as sweat-soaked skin gives way to a classical pop bridge, before Hooper gleefully combines the two; by its conclusion, the song seems fit to collapse under its own rich weight.

And, never satisfied with sticking to the status quo, Hooper fills the track with invigorating, near-obscene left turns; “come on,” goes her bubble gum and barbed wire voice, percussion fanning out behind her.

“I’m ready.” This is a song that never stays still, from a songwriter who doesn’t either.

It might be the best thing she’s ever put out.

For something completely different – yet just as highly recommended – one would do well to check out the two decades in the making, self-titled masterpiece from Hobart punks Little Ugly Girls. A mainstay of the early -thousands, emerging as one of the most emotionally intelligent acts of the Tasmanian alternative scene, LUG never put out a full-length in their heyday. And yet, despite the delay, Little Ugly Girls feels thrillingly current. It’s not some dusty old relic, thrown messily into the spotlight; it’s a vicious little work of art, as cutting-edge as a barrel full of razor blades.

The key to the record is the way it insistently flirts with utter collapse without ever crossing that particular line. ‘Tractor’, which opens with a drum solo that sounds as though a kit has been kicked down a set of marble stairs, warbles between compact pop punk songwriting and total, unhinged catastrophe. Few acts in this country have exhibited such a commendable command of chaos; just as the chanted choruses, and dirty spears of feedback seem about to overwhelm, the band pull back from the precipice.

Highlights include ‘Slip’, which starts mean and gets meaner, and the joyfully unkempt ‘Baggage’, but to be honest, the whole thing’s such a singularly accomplished feat that picking out highlights is like choosing particularly nice brushstrokes from the Mona Lisa. Listen to it.

“Little Ugly Girls is not some dusty old relic, thrown messily into the spotlight; it’s a vicious little work of art, as cutting-edge as a barrel full of razor blades.”

Here’s a thing: we tend to overvalue singularity in music. Records don’t have to be thesis statements; sometimes, they can draw a wonky line instead of a straight one.

Case in point being Phantastic Ferniture’s aces debut record, a collection of songs that flirt with the raucous and the melancholy in equal measure. “I think still to this day when I listen to this record and the music we made, it doesn’t sound like any of us,” Julia Jacklin of Phan Fern told the BRAG’s own Belinda Quinn recently. “This doesn’t sound like anything that we listen to.”

And she’s right. A far cry from Jacklin’s own unique folk-rock blend, the erudite

“Opening with a knot of drawn-out moans and sultry saxophone squirts, ‘To The Bone’ is one of the most gleefully tactile, accomplished paeans to pleasure released this year.”

70 :: BRAG :: 741 :: 05:09:18

thebrag.com

albums

The Defender

BY CHRIS NEILL Each month, a BRAG writer comes out swinging for a pop culture oddity they feel has been hard done by. This time around, Chris Neill makes the case for the woefully underrated, Lovecraft-inspired Event Horizon.

“IF YOU’RE THE KIND OF PERSON WHO CHECKS ROTTEN TOMATOES BEFORE WATCHING A MOVIE (WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?), IGNORE EVENT HORIZON’S 26 PER CENT SCORE.”

W

hat if The Shining and Hellraiser, but in space?

“Records don’t have to be thesis statements; sometimes, they can draw a wonky line instead of a straight one.” songwriting of Liz Hughes, the production chops of Ryan K. Brennan, and the meaty bass stylings of original member Tom Stephens, the record sounds like a thousand things at once. ‘Fuckin ‘n’ Rollin’ stands out as the most focused track of the lot, but there are deeper, stranger pleasures on the record; ‘Bad Timing’ is a weighty, rollicking thing, perfectly offset by Jacklin’s melodic delivery, and ‘Gap Year’ boasts one of the catchiest choruses of the year so far. Don’t miss it.

Finally to Lithium Zion, the new record from Melbourne punks Deaf Wish.

Taking a similarly pluralistic view, the band churn through voices, styles, and tones; the deliciously straightforward ‘Easy’ melts into ‘FFS’, one of the most aggressively watertight singles the band have ever released. And even ‘Birthday’, arguably the strangest track on the album, has an efficiency of form; it builds to a climax so pointed you could sharpen knives with it.

There’s not a note out of place; not a lyric wasted. It’s like a bullet that comes straight out the other side; a wound so clean it takes a little while before it starts to bleed.

That’s more or less the plot of Paul W. S. Anderson’s Event Horizon. A rescue team, led by Captain Miller (Laurence Fishburne), is tasked with making contact with the Event Horizon, a space ship that has suddenly re-appeared over Neptune after vanishing seven years ago. With them is Dr. Weir (Sam Neill), the guy responsible for designing the gravity drive, an experimental engine that lets the Horizon travel huge distances by creating a black hole to fold space.

Things go awry when the crew realizes that the Horizon has jumped to and returned from a dimension that may or may not be actual Hell. Haunted house hijinks ensure; the crew begins to suffer paranoid hallucinations, one of them jumps into an airlock sans spacesuit, while another tears out their own eyes.

Where Event Horizon really shines is its production design and cinematography.

Released in 1997, it’s just on the cusp of that early 2000s period where every studio horror film was bogged down with clunky, over-the-top CGI. All the sets feel lived-in; real places that the characters can actually react with and to.

Production designer Joseph Bennett describes the film’s aesthetic as being “techno-medieval”, which explains why the gravity drive room looks like the inside of an iron maiden. Bennett envisioned the eponymous ship to be a gothic cathedral

Little Ugly Girls

thebrag.com

Flop Of The Month: No flops here, friend.

We only get a brief look of what happened to the Horizon’s original crew while in Hell, but those Hieronymus Bosch inspired glimpses are more than enough to scare the shit out of you (if you want to see those effects close-up, track down the behindthe-scenes feature from Fangoria #165).

The film’s cinematographer, Adrian Biddle, was also the cinematographer for Aliens, which explains a lot. The Horizon captures the claustrophobic, industrial nightmare of LV-426. You get the feeling that the ship is watching you. The giant corridor that joins the gravity drive to the front of the ship was designed to look like an all-seeing eye, and multiple scenes are shot with a fish-eye lens, which makes it look like the Horizon’s walls are closing in around the crewmembers. A scene set in a neon-green, circuit board clad service duct echoes the ventilation shaft scene from Alien.

“INTERSTELLAR HORROR HAS NEVER LOOKED SO GOOD.”

If Anderson’s name sounds familiar, you might know him better as the director of four of the Resident Evil movies (including the first one). That might be a red flag, but Event Horizon feels like the opposite of those movies. It never comes off as obnoxious, and nothing exists as an excuse to show off ludicrous special effects gore. It’s a genuinely creepy, sci-fi horror mash-up.

Highlight Of The Month:

floating in space (from above it looks like a crucifix, which is a nice touch).

If you’re the kind of person who checks Rotten Tomatoes before watching a movie (what is wrong with you?), ignore its 26% score. Sure, Event Horizon is not flawless; its final third does feel a bit rushed, but chalk that up to the halfhour of footage that was cut for time (and because some of it was way too gory for Paramount’s liking). The most disappointing part of Event Horizon is how Anderson’s talent as a horror director were later squandered.

If you want to play the RT game, Event Horizon should sit somewhere in the 60 – 70 per cent range. It’s a solid B-film; underappreciated in its time. Fishburne and Neill give solid performances – particularly the scene where Fishburne’s character explains why he’s such a strict captain – and most of the film’s shortcomings are diminished by Bennett’s incredible production design and Biddle’s cinematography. Interstellar horror has never looked so good.

“THE MOST DISAPPOINTING PART OF EVENT HORIZON IS HOW ANDERSON’S TALENT AS A HORROR DIRECTOR WERE LATER SQUANDERED.” BRAG :: 741 :: 05:09:18 :: 71

g g guide gig g Submit your gig and club listings, head to: thebrag.com/gig-guide.

PICK OF THE THE MONTH Angie McMahon

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 5

MONDAY SEPTEMBER 10

Moose Blood University Of Wollongong, Wollongong. 8pm. $52.89.

Elton John Tribute Enmore Theatre, Newtown. 7:30PM. $89.

THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 6

THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 13

Conrad Sewell Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $39.90.

Tech N9ne Metro Theatre, Sydney. 8pm. $70.

Dragonland Bald Faced Stag Hotel, Leichhardt.

8pm. $59.90.

Pist Idiots Rad Bar, Wollongong. 8pm. $16.87.

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 7

SATURDAY S E P TE M BER 8

Mammal Manning Bar, Camperdown.

8pm. $34.60.

Metro Theatre, Sydney.

Angie McMahon 8pm. $28.35.

Pist Idiots Marrickville Bowling Club, Marrickville. 6pm. $17.35.

Woodes Leadbelly, Newtown. 7pm. $17.85.

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 8 Unknown Mortal Orchestra

Angie McMahon Metro Theatre, Sydney. 8pm. $28.35.

Hockey Dad Enmore Theatre, Newtown. 8pm. $23.96.

Imogen Clark Leadbelly, Newtown. 8pm.

Free.

Lolo Lovina Brass Monkey, Cronulla. 8pm.

Free.

Plini Manning Bar, Camperdown.

8pm. $35.

SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 9 Hoodie Allen Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $51.02.

Unknown Mortal Orchestra

Enmore Theatre, Newtown. Sunday September 16. 8pm. $59.

The latest Unknown Mortal Orchestra record is a psychedelic melange of unique guitar sounds, beautiful harmonies, and deeply twisted lyrics. It’s like the Beach Boys put through a blender.

72 :: BRAG :: 741 :: 05:09:18

Slinky Red Rad Bar, Wollongong. 8pm. $10.84.

The Tin Knees Rad Bar, Wollongong. 8pm. $8.79.

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 14 Ball Park Music + San Cisco University Of Wollongong, Wollongong. 8pm. $69.90.

Diesel Bridge Hotel, Rozelle. 8pm. $40.

Thelma Plum Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $28.99.

Winky Dee Max Watt’s, Moore Park. 8pm. $66.85.

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 15 Diesel Bridge Hotel, Rozelle. 8pm. $40.

Fraser A. Gorman Lansdowne Hotel, Chippendale. 8pm. $17.85.

Peter Northcote Brass Monkey, Cronulla. 8pm.

Free.

SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 16 Unknown Mortal Orchestra Enmore Theatre, Newtown. 8pm. $59.

TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 18 A Night In Texas Rad Bar, Wollongong. 8pm. $19.50.

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 19 Sax Life Leadbelly, Newtown. 8pm. $29.07.

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Fraser A. Gorman

THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 20 DZ Deathrays Enmore Theatre, Newtown. 8pm. $54.90.

Stella Angelico Leadbelly, Newtown.

8pm. Free.

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 21 Approachable Members Of Your Local Community The Bank Hotel, Newtown. 8pm. $12.

Diesel Miranda Hotel, Miranda. 8pm. $40.

Prince Tribute Brass Monkey, Cronulla. 7pm. $34.70.

The Church Kingscliff Beach Hotel, Kingscliff. 8pm. $45.85.

Fraser A. Gorman

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 22

You only need to listen to about two notes before falling madly for Fraser A. Gorman. The highly prolific crooner makes the kind of beautiful songs that creep, slowly but emphatically, into your life.

Ball Park Music Luna Park, Milson’s Point. 8pm. $45.10.

Lansdowne Hotel, Chippendale. Saturday September 15. 8pm. $17.85.

Power Trip The Bald Faced Stag, Leichhardt.

8pm. $39.76.

SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 23 Rick Ross Enmore Theatre, Newtown. 8:15pm. $104.90.

Wolf Alice Metro Theatre, Sydney. 8pm. $69.90.

MONDAY SEPTEMBER 24 Bobby Kimball Enmore Theatre, Newtown. 8pm. $89.90.

TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 25 Booze And Glory Rad Bar, Wollongong. 8pm. $34.70.

The Black Dahlia Murder The Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle West. 8pm. $21.50.

Thelma Plum

Thelma Plum

Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. Friday September 14. 8pm. $28.99.

Thelma Plum is one of Australia’s true pop pioneers; a musician who has spent the last few years moving from strength to strength, attracting an army of fans along the way. Catch her at the OAF, won’tcha?

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g g guide gig g Submit your gig and club listings, head to: thebrag.com/gig-guide.

Have a gig or club listing to get in The BRAG?

Rick Ross

You can now submit your gig and club listings, head to thebrag.com/gigguide.

Listener The Small Ballroom, Islington. 8pm. Free.

Brockhampton Enmore Theatre, Newtown. 7:30pm. $81.50.

Sneaky Sound System Kingscliff Beach Hotel, Kingscliff. 8pm. Free.

THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 27

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 29

Lakyn Lansdowne Hotel, Chippendale. 8pm.

Free.

Liars Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $34.60.

Skepta Sydney Opera House, Sydney. 8pm. $69.

SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 30

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 28

Bassfront Ivy, Sydney CBD. 11pm.

Free.

Destroyer Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $49.90.

TUESDAY OCTOBER 2

Jack River Metro Theatre, Sydney.

8pm. $54.50.

Rick Ross

Enmore Theatre, Newtown. Sunday September 23. 8:15pm. $104.90.

Rick Ross is a fucken’ legend. What more could you possibly say about a man who has guided the careers of countless hip hop legends, all while keeping up an exciting, uncompromising solo career?

free stuff

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 26

The White Tree Band Leadbelly, Newtown.

8pm. Free.

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

> head to: thebrag.com/freeshit

WIN To celebrate, we have three vinyl copies of Runaway to give away. To enter, just head over to thebrag.com/ freeshit, won’t you now?

VINYL

PASSENGER English indie folk act Passenger (AKA Michael Rosenberg) can’t get enough of Australia. He toured here way back in 2009, bringing his joyous twangs on the road with him, and he’s stopped in our fair land intermittently ever since. And Australians can’t seem to get enough of Rosenberg either; his new record, a concept album called Runaway, has been highly anticipated for months – now, finally, it is here.

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