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contents what you’ll find inside‌
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the last ever letter from the editor
ISSUE 749: Wednesday 4 March, 2020 EDITOR: Michael Di Iorio michael.diiorio@thebrag.media ART DIRECTOR: Sarah Bryant COVER ILLUSTRATION: Erin Sutherland
And so, this is it. The last ever letter from the last ever editor of the very last Brag Magazine to ever hit the streets. Michael Di Iorio (that’s me) tries to find the words to say in this final goodbye to the readers of one of Sydney’s most iconic street press magazines. The time as come to say goodbye to The Brag Mag. Joining the team as the Editor of this magazine in January of 2019, I couldn’t even imagine how far this pristine collection of pages would come over the months. Ever since jumping on board this ship I have made it my mission to feature incredible art from young artists, passionate stories from the LGBTQ+ members of society, and also to tackle mental health issues at any chance I can take. I’m proud to say that as the Editor, with the exceptionally talented Sarah Bryant the Art Director at my side, we have featured some of the most diverse, exceptional and bold content that the Brag Mag has ever seen. Queer wrestlers, non-binary fashion lines, articles on coping with depression, creative writing stories from Australian queer writers, interviews out the wazoo - we’ve done it all, and now we must say goodbye to this little window into the diverse world of music and arts that we have been peering into for so many years. To measure the legacy of The Brag Mag would be to disregard the entire point of Mag itself. This isn’t an empire. It isn’t a creation that thrives off of sales. The Brag Magazine is a key to keeping up with culture, that thrives off its readership. You could lead a diverse and multi-faceted life and never have even heard of the magazine, but the fact of the matter is, for every single person that picks it up, we have been there to provide access to the splendour of Australian culture, and they have been there for us. Thank you to the readers. To the writers. To the artists. We’ve been free from our beginning to our end, filled to the brim with content that costs not a single cent. Every single person who has driven this ship has done so with the people in the mind. It’s all we think about when crafting these pages. This is for you. It’s always been for you. And now that this is all over, I know for a fact that we’ll always have you in mind. We hope that you’ll keep us in mind too. Yours forever, With editor’s love, Michael Di Iorio.
ADVERTISING: Steph Robertson steph.robertson@thebrag.media PUBLISHER: The Brag Media CEO, THE BRAG MEDIA: Luke Girgis - luke.girgis@thebrag. media MANAGING EDITOR: Poppy Reid poppy.reid@thebrag.media THE GODFATHER: BnJ GIG GUIDE SUBMISSIONS: gigguide@thebrag.media CONTRIBUTORS: Michael Di Iorio, Geordie Gray Dylan Van Ommen, Sharona Lin Augustus Welby, Tyler Jenke, Benjamin Piñeros, Alasdair Belling, Poppy Reid, Adam Guetti 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 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 DISTRIBUTION: Wanna get the BRAG? Email jessica.milinovic@thebrag.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.
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THE BRAG
This Issue’s Cover: Illustration: Erin Sutherland
Illutration by Rosemary Vasquez Brown thebrag.com
12-14 Australia Fights Back
36
Find the Artist
58
Odd Future
16-19 Apple Music Playlists
46
Erykah Badu
59
20-21 The World Is Always Watching
47
The National
Bat for Lashes / Spiritualized
22
Why I Won’t Celebrate Genocide
48
Ice Cube
49
N.E.R.D
24
Evolver and The Brag
50
Marilyn Manson
51
60-61 KISS 62
Queens of the Stone Age
The Vengaboys
63
KISS Part 2
52
The Worst Gig I’ve Ever Played
66-67 Seven Film Soundtracks 68-69 WAAX
54
Bjork
72-75 Snaps
32-33 The Brag Mixtapes
55
Queer Resolutions
77-78 Gig Guide
34
Tech + Gear 2003
56
Sneaky Sound System
Snaps from the Past
57
Janelle Monae
26-30 The Contributor’s Last Goodbye 31
35
Dappled Cities vs Red Riders Comic
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COVER STORY
Illustration by Erin Sutherland
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COVER STORY
AUSTRALIA FIGHTS BACK:
THE AUSSIE MUSICIANS WHO TOOK A STAND AGAINST THE CATASTROPHIC BUSHFIRES Michael Di Iorio explores the ways that Australian musicians have banded together to fight against the Australian Bushfire Crisis, using a handful of examples of artists who truly went above and beyond for the cause.
D
isastrous bushfires have been ravaging the Australian landscape since early November 2019, and although they have now been contained by our incredible firefighters and volunteers, the toll on peoples lives and homes has been devastating. Patches of forest and grassland were set ablaze, destroying the homes of so many of our unique wildlife, and in some tragic cases, taking the lives of the animals themselves.
Amidst the destruction, panic and anger, musicians around Australia and even across the pond have been utilising their voices to aid those affected by the fires. As part of this, the final ever edition of The Brag Magazine, we wanted to take a moment to acknowledge and thank the multitude of artists who have used their platform to raise funds for those in dire need. Ultimately, there was such an incredible number of artists who offered their time and money, that it would be almost impossible to thank them all - so to anyone who we have missed in this piece, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all that you have done for this country in a time of crisis. So without further ado, here are some of the incredible artists who volunteered their time, energy, creative minds or money to assist the country during the Australian Bushfire Crisis.
GG
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The lyrics of the track were bold, brazen, and just what we needed in times of anger and crisis. Here is a snippet of some of the lyrics for the incredible track ‘Coal Mine’: “All those children Bitter and wintered I can’t keep my hatred in It’s better at the coal mine Come across your wet field With mud on your dress hem Lining up in single file Convicted at the coal mine”
Grace Cummings and The Teskey Brothers Fresh off the heels of one of the most incredible albums from 2019, Refuge Cove, Grace Cummings has consistently captivated our attention with not only her mesmerising voice, but also her generous contributions to the Australian Bushfire Crisis. Cummings joined The Teskey Brothers and Cash Savage and the Last Drinks at the Thornbury Theatre in Melbourne, for a Bushfire Relief show in which 100% of the profits were evenly split between The Australian Red Cross, Fire Relief Fund for First Nations Communities and Wildlife Victoria. (The Teskey Brothers even set up a GoFundMe for extra donations, just in case any fans of theirs couldn’t make the night of the performance.) Together the three acts joined the likes of John Butler, Megan Washington and The Amity Affliction, who all raised money through putting on shows. Beyond her gig however, Grace Cummings also put a signed edition of her album Refuge Cove on sale for $255 dollars, where all the profits went straight to the Bushfire Relief.
The Wiggles Reuniting for a set of 18+ Bushfire Relief shows, the iconic childrens entertainment group, The Wiggles, used the power of nostalgia to bring people together and raise money for an important cause. All original members of the group, Greg Page, Murray Cook, Anthony Field and Jeff
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With a sophomore EP coming out on March 6 titled Midsummer Colour, Aussie pop artist GG has been making a name for herself with her incredible brand of unique and addictive songwriting and sound. On January 3, GG released a song called ‘Coal Mine,’ a protest song which had all proceeds going to the Bushfire Disaster Appeal. Alongside the song, she posted a note defining her stance on the issue. Here is but a snippet:
“My protest song. I wasn’t going to release this song as a single. The last couple of days, however, have brought up the same emotions in me as when I wrote it. Maybe you might connect with it too. I wrote this song at a time when I felt sad and angry and overwhelmed about the decisions Australia’s political leaders were making. Australia’s stagnation and conservatism on issues like climate change and refugees made me feel physically ill. I was in Berlin at the time, and through the European lens our politics felt selfish and unfathomable. I felt misrepresented and ashamed. Right now, I’m in Sydney. Our country is on fire. I feel sad and helpless. I feel misrepresented and ashamed about the federal government’s lack of leadership.”
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COVER STORY
Fatt joined together on the stage, with all proceeds going directly towards the Australian Red Cross and the wildlife organisation WIRES. It was the first time that the band has played together since 2012, when Lachlan Gillespie, Simon Pryce and Emma Watkins took over from Greg, Jeff and Murray. Unfortunately during the first fundraiser event, Greg Page the Yellow Wiggle suffered a heart attack which then lead to a cardiac arrest. Thankfully he is in a much better condition now, but his persistence to get onto the stage for the victims of the Australian Bushfires was remembered as an incredibly selfless act from one of Australian music’s most generous and kindhearted figures.
The Melbourne Shows In the midst of the crisis, there was absolutely no shortage of gigs going on to support the Bushfire Relief, raising money for Country Fire Service (CFS), Rural Fire Service (RFS), and the Red Cross over multiple weeks. A string of Melbourne shows however stood out as being incredibly beneficial to the cause, and these shows were fronted by Julia Jacklin, Tones and I, Gang of Youths, Ruby Fields and Gooch Palms just to name a few. Firstly, there was the Music That Matters Bushfire Benefit at The Gasometer, which had breakthrough Australian singer-songwriter Julia Jacklin as the headliner. Despite selling out completely, the show still made donations available for those who missed out on purchasing tickets. Joining Julia was GL, Good Morning, Romy Vager (RVG), Loose Tooth, Jade Imagine, Elizabeth and Bitch Diesel just to name a few, and 100 per cent of funds raised were donated to the RFS, CFA, WIRES and The Fire Relief Fund For First Nations Communities. Then there was Down to Earth – A Fire and Climate Relief Concert at Sidney Myer Music Bowl. This benefit gig didn’t just raise money to combat the bushfires, but also successfully set aside money for organisations to look at long-term solutions for the effects of climate change, including Emergency Leaders for Climate Action, Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal, and Firesticks Alliance Indigenous Corporation. Contributing artists included Gang of Youths, Tash Sultana, Angus and Julia Stone, Jack River, Thelma Plum, Briggs and Ruby Fields.
Last but certainly not least there was the Tones And I Bushfire Benefit Concert at 170 Russell, which saw Tones And I taking full advantage of her massive success by encouraging her fans both young and old to put money towards the Bushfire Relief. With support from Adrian Eagle, Tones And I sent all proceeds from both ticket and merch sales to the Australian Red Cross, RFS and CFA.
Amyl & The Sniffers To do their bit for the Bushfire Relief, Flightless Records listed up a whole heap of goodies on eBay to raise money for those affected by the fires. One ad however caught everyone’s attention, with it reading: “Absolute legends Amyl and the Sniffers have donated chunks of their ARIA winning mullets to raise money for victims of the bushfires! Chuck em on your wall, get some fresh extensions or clone your own punk band! It’s all for a good cause!” Starting at $26.50, the auction for the mullet clippings proved the pieces of hair to be a hot commodity, and the price continued to increase past $200. As well as selling off their luscious locs, the band also sold a ‘Starfire Pink’ copy of their selftitled LP. You have no choice but to just smile at how creative the band is with their bushfire donation strategies. Also, 100 per cent of the proceeds from the auctions were donated to Wildlife Victoria, Fire Relief Fund for First Nations Communities, Community Enterprise Foundation Bushfire Disaster Appeal, Seed and WIRES.
Fire Fight Australia and the NSW Shows You can’t talk about Bushfire Relief shows without mentioning the incredible Fire Fight Australia show, which raised millions in the name of Bushfire Relief. Queen, Daryl Braithwaite, Delta Goodrem, Guy Sebastian, Icehouse, Jessica Mauboy, John Farnham, Olivia Newton-John, Peking Duk, Tina Arena and so many more legendary Australian names gathered for one evening of stellar performances all in the name of fighting the good fight. The show completely sold out the ANZ Stadium, with tickets becoming sold out within 24 hours of going on sale. 75,000 people were in attendance on that evening, all gathered under the same sky to put their money towards a cause far greater than all of us combined. The show featured a poignant speech from Celeste Barber, who on her very own raised $52 Million for the Australian firefighters, volunteers, families and wildlife that were affected by the blaze. By the end of the night, Fire Fight Australia had raised a total of nearly $10 Million for Bushfire Relief. Apart from the absolute gravity of Fire Fight Australia, there was a slew of NSW shows that also cannot be ignored for the impact they have had on the lives of so many. “Make It Rain” hosted a funding night purely for the firies, and saw Wolfmother give an incredible performance of their classic hits, “Sydney Festival Bushfire Appeal” gathered the likes of Art vs Science and Regurgitator together for a night at the Metro, “Sweet Relief” brought on DJ sets from the talents of Winston Surfshirt and Cosmo’s Midnight and “An Acoustic Bushfire Relief Concert,” hosted by The 1975’s frontman Matty Healy, brought the masses together for an intimate night for a beautiful cause. Matty was of course supported by Australian talents Ruel, Mansionair, E^ST and KUČKA. ■
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MUSIC
APPLES TO APPLES, ART TO ART
A
lbum art has been an iconic staple to the music-listening experience for years. A perfect album cover can make the perfect album even more special, and a terrible image on a failure of an album can make the project reach iconic levels of bad. The point is, imagery is important to the experience of music consumption, and knowing this to be true, Apple Music have hired thousands of artists to create unique and distinct artwork for each and every playlist on the streaming service’s entire archive. The goal is to bring the same instant recognition we get from iconic album covers over to the playing field of playlists. To do so, the company enlisted everyone from the creator of the iconic AC/DC logo to the person who designed the art for Migos’ chart-topping album Culture to make it happen.
Michael Di Iorio chats with Leif Podhajsky, Sean Hogan and David Foster, the artists behind some of Apple Music’s brand new playlists. 16 :: BRAG :: 748 :: 04:12:19
I spoke to three of these artists who are based in Australia: Leif Podhajsky, Sean Hogan and David Foster, to discuss how important music is to their creative process, and the creative intent behind some of the most incredible and homegrown pieces of art to grace your Apple Music library as of right now.
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MUSIC
Leif Podhajsky - Visual Artist - Byron Bay. Currently living in Berlin, Leif is well-known for his distinctive album art and working with artists including Tame Impala, Kylie Minogue and Foals.
1. How important is art to your own music listening experience? I’ve always felt that music and visual artwork go seamlessly together. Something about connecting those two senses just adds to the overall experience. Personally I’ve always loved pouring over vinyl sleeves, it’s a window into a different world and one which can free you from the everyday. I think it’s changed a lot with digital music and how connected we are now, but there’s still something that fascinates us about the visual element to the music. In my practice it’s something I really invest a lot of time in, creating an environment that matches the emotion of the music. I want to create art that gives the listener a jumping-off point to begin a musical journey, setting them up to form their own unique interpretation of the music. Music plays a massive part in the creative process also. I usually start by listening to the music I’m creating artwork for, really living with it. I also really love working to songs that are more long-form, mediative and without vocals. I find they allow the brain to slow down and free itself from overthinking, allowing the process to be front and centre. 2. What was your inspiration when creating the artwork for the playlists; name them and the individual thought process behind them. indie + chill - For this playlist, Apple Music was keen to focus on the Hypnagogic State, the transitional state between wakefulness and sleep. I set about trying to create something which referenced this transition. Reflecting the playlists hazy, warm and mellow feel, I developed an artwork which has this soft breezy motion to it. With both warm orange and yellow tones interplaying with softer blues. There’s a purpose there, but it’s not too specific to what that is, which I think helps the listener fill in the blanks with their imagination. It’s going somewhere but taking the scenic route. Sort of like the dreams you have after falling back to sleep in the morning.
CLEWS photo by Maya Luana
With the typeface, we captured the attributes of the playlist artwork and created a mark which reflects this slow journey. The letters melting and distorting in the summer heat. Soundcheck (Apple Music Country) - This was a really fun one to approach as the playlist focused around nontraditional country songs. A genre which is quite new and undefined in some respects. Apple Music wanted to use the camouflage pattern as a jumping-off point. A pattern which spans different genres, from hip hop, R&B to country. I’d done some work developing my own
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modern camouflage patterns in the past which I was keen to expand on for this project. Where normal camouflage at its core looks to break up the form of the body and act as concealment, for this playlist we wanted to create a more modern approach. Using a contemporary colour palette and forms which referenced pop culture, we created a pattern which mimics the songs new and diverse sounds, whilst also in a sense giving this new genre an identity of its own. Late Night Menu - This playlist offers up a selection of late-night indie songs, focused around the mood of an afterparty. I created an artwork which explored this dark, late-night palette, mysterious tones intermixed with a soft glow of neon lights puncturing the shadows. It has a real sense of the afterglow of a big night out, where the dynamic has shifted into a more seclusive and intimate sphere. The type I gave a soft orange glow, like a distant street sign fading into the morning dawn. 3. What challenges did you face in channelling your art style into a specific genre of music? For me, it always comes back to communication. Not being too rigid in the approach to different projects and singling out specific themes and traits which will help give life to a project or musical genre. Working with Apple Music was really great as they came to the table with a lot of great ideas, but also allowed me enough freedom to explore my own angles. I think this really helps deliver quality creative. 4. What songs currently inspire your artistic process? I usually listen to mixtapes a lot, this sense of discovery really appeals to me. Hearing something new, a song you’ve never heard before. My daughter is up early so I start the day with a bit of BBC World Service, once I’m in the studio I’ll put on The Do!! You!!! Breakfast show on NTS with Charlie Bones, I love the mix of stuff he plays, also I get a nice taste of English banter which I miss being in Berlin. Then if I’m working on creating something new I have some go to’s that always help me get in the flow, stuff like Om, Brain Eno, Neu!, Sun Araw. Or I’ll listen to a mixtape, I find these sounds are good for freeing up the mind and letting you wander. I run Melt (visualmelt.com) which as well as being a wellspring of visual information, also showcases interviews and mixtapes from contemporary artists and musicians. I just went through a massive Young Thug phase, listening to all his mixtapes, on the flip side Blood Incantation..some psych death metal is always a good idea.
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of harmony and discord, the shared vocabulary between music and art, is an idea I exploited in the creation of the playlist artwork and was an important consideration in the overall compositions. Electronic music has an artificiality about it (in a good way) and it felt important to include what I call ‘artificial’ colours, or hyper-real colours, into the palette. They form part of the digital colour palette of our screens, colours that are backlit with a white light that give off a unique glow or iridescence not found in print. By selecting colours like neon green, or a Klein-like blue, a connection is immediately made between the electronic music, the colour palette and the platform in which you are viewing and hearing these works. For each individual artwork, it was then a matter of figuring out a suitable composition using the relationships between the geometric forms, the linework and the colour configurations to respond to each playlist. As you can imagine, it takes time, and a single design may go through hundreds of iterations before it speaks the same language as the music. 3. What challenges did you face in channelling your art style into a specific genre of music? I think Apple Music specifically chose artists whose work they knew was sympathetic to a specific genre of music.
Sean Hogan - Graphic Designer - Melbourne Sean is an established Graphic Designer from Melbourne who has created the cover arts for many of Apple Music’s electronic playlists including: Classicaltronics, Headspace, Next Tracks, Vibes and Signal to Noise.
1. How important is art to your own music listening experience? Art and music go hand in hand for me. On an average day, I spend around 10 hours in my studio either making art or designing for clients, and I listen to music the whole time. But I think a better way of re-framing this question is: ‘how is music important to my art?’ I say this because music helps me make art. Because my work is minimal, geometric and non-representational, listening to music acts as a facilitator that instigates thoughts and ideas. There are also parallels between the two forms of music and visual art. In the language we use to describe them: harmony, balance, composition, discord, movement and rhythm, for instance; and in the way both forms can transcend description, but can still communicate; a colour has to be
seen to be truly understood, a melody or beat has to be heard for a song to connect. Transcending description makes these languages totally abstract and therefore open for interpretation to the individual and this non-prescriptive, ambiguousness is something I’m very drawn to. So, as a visual artist, music is incredibly important as a complementary language that I use to help drive inspiration in my work. 2. What was your inspiration when creating the artwork for the playlists; name them and the individual thought process behind them? I have created five different playlists for Apple Music. Four of them are for the electronic playlists and one for the classical (electronic) playlist. For all of the playlists: Next Tracks,
Headspace, Vibes, Signal to Noise and Classicaltronic, the inspiration was always the music. The process involved listening to the playlists and really trying to understand the structure and mechanics of the music to create the visuals. Music is a system of organising sounds and I work using a similar system-based methodology, just in the visual realm. Responding to the music, I translated musical notes as colour, and scales or shifts in tone as gradients moving from one colour to the next. The way we ‘read’ colour is something I’m interested in. We learn to read colours in many ways and one of those readings is to equate colour with emotion. A pastel colour palette is read as being softer (and perhaps safer), calmer or less abrasive than a palette of bright opposing colour, which may be read as harsh or garish. This idea
My work has always been interested in the exploration and interface of the dual worlds we now find ourselves in — the electronic/digital world and the natural world. So I was delighted when I was appointed the electronic playlists, as it is a genre I know well and that aligns with my work. The biggest challenge was trying to come up with one image that would be responsible for representing an entire genre or subgenre of music. A playlist is made up of many different tracks and these playlists change, so the difficulty was in trying to find a visual language that echoed the genre of music rather than a specific track. Another consideration in the design process was thinking about how these visuals would be viewed. For most people, they are viewing the images on a phone which makes the image smaller than a postage stamp so I was aware of keeping the artwork quite bold so it was easily recognisable and no detail would be lost in the reduction of the work. 4. What songs currently inspire your artistic process? There are many and it’s a constantly revolving list. At the moment I would list: ‘Vortrack’ - Squarepusher, ‘Hypokondriak’ - Plastikman, ‘What You Don’t See’ - Ike and Tina Turner, ‘Slow Slippy’ - Underworld, ‘We Share Our Mother’s Health Shaken-Up Version’ - The Knife, ‘Target Line’ - Rødhåd, ‘Journey in Satchidananda’ - Alice Coltrane, ‘Invincible’ - Tool, and many more.
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MUSIC
David Foster - Type and Lettering Designer - Sydney David Foster created the type and lettering for the Apple Music playlists: Trap Kingz, Puro Jefe, Dale Reggaeton and Easy Rock.
1. How important is art to your own music listening experience? Some of my earliest memories of listening to music are to do with the album artworks. I think it’s a common experience shared by many people. Back then the packaging was defi nitely a lot more tactile than now but it doesn’t diminish the impact of the art on a listener. I fi nd playlist art helps me the same way a book cover, a movie poster or a wine label might help me navigate a space I’m unfamiliar with and jump out at me, or help me connect with something where I already know I’m looking for. 2. What was your inspiration when creating the artwork for the playlists? My inspiration largely comes from researching the broad visual language of whatever kind of music or subculture I’m trying to help communicate. I try to listen to as much of the music as I can and get
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the vibe of it and try to understand why people connect with it. I also look at the fashion, the design work and whatever else I can fi nd. When I did these playlists for Latin music, it was all completely new to me, I really had no clue that they even existed. But by researching, it opened up some ideas I could begin sketching with. 3. What challenges did you face in channelling your art style into a specifi c genre of music? One of the challenges about playlist art is that it can’t really fall back on some of the typical ways an album for a particular artist might be designed. For example, you can’t use photography or illustrative work of one particular artist. In addition, you don’t want to patronise the audience by bringing up tropes or stereotypes. One of the best things about type and lettering specifically is that it can be like a chameleon. Type is around us all the time, and every style of music has type styles you can reference. It doesn’t need to be overtly obvious and yet it can communicate
really clearly what the playlist is about while also showing the name of it. 4. What songs currently inspire your artistic process? The songs that influence my creation of the playlists are literally whatever is on that playlist directly. My personal taste in music doesn’t play a large part in it. Outside of any work I do album art, I’ve been loving the work and general outlook of Paul Kalkbrenner. There are strong parallels between his approach to creating music over a long career and type design. The quality he expects of himself but also the understanding he extends to himself. He understands that not everything he can make over a lifetime will be perfect or as good as he wants, but he continues to create anyway. With any creative pursuits, including my own, I think many people should be kinder to themselves because they hold back things from the world because they think they’re not good enough, but they’re necessary steps to get to the good creative outcomes.
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FEATURE
The World Is Always Watching: T
he world is always watching, whether it be an Instagram post from Kim Kardashian or another stylish runway from a luxury sportswear brand brought to you by queen Beyoncé herself. But in the end, where does that leave the watchers? That’s right, you and me… the people who find ourselves comparing every face-tune and flawless figure to our authentic, raw and comparatively “ugly” selves. You may be asking yourself the question - why do we do this to ourselves? Why do we degrade ourselves like this in the face of celebrity posts and products? You may think its an unnatural way to process things, but the reality is a lot of us find ourselves in the same trap. Before the implementation of the Instagram setting that removed visible likes, and other social media settings which eradicated the ability to react to posts, this strange sense of online validation ruled the internet. Plainly speaking, these seemingly normal features were the mental downfall for some, while to others, who received hundreds or even thousands of views doing the things they loved, these platforms were a mineable source of instant gratification. Truthfully, we are all searching for validation in one way or another, and at times, that doesn’t have to apply to social media platforms at all. Sometimes all we need is the community or atmosphere around us to be accepting. While some look for validation online, others are looking just to be accepted in their own households in regards to sexual orientation or gender. This is where celebrity presence becomes truly important. It is the melding of the two worlds: the online and the household, the communal and the insular. For example, in 2019, Sam Smith came out as non-binary and the media was set completely ablaze. Celebrities and people like you and me began to feel more comfortable with declaring the pronouns that they felt fit them best. Suddenly a household name became attached to the idea of non-binary gender and the notion of the gender spectrum. Conversations were starting with but one simple embrace of the self. Sam Smith revealed to actor Jameela Jamil (who herself has recently come out as bisexual) on I Weigh Interviews a very brave, new and challenging perspective on not only their sexuality but their gender orientation too stating, “I’ve always been very free in terms of thinking about sexuality,
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so I’ve just been trying to change that into my thoughts on gender as well”. Vanity Fair expanded on the interview, and Sam Smith spoke about the general meaning of the term “Non-binary.” They continued with, “Non-Binary/ Genderqueer means that you do not identify in a gender. You are a mixture of all different things. You are your own special creation.” When someone fierce, strong, iconic and most of all present in the eyes of the public shows themselves being proud of their humanity, everyone benefits. Someone who strips back all the charades and shows their true selves while the world watches does so much for communities that it cannot be measured. These people has taken the time to understand and care for their identities while being constantly under the eye of the media, and everyone struggling with a similar image-related issue can see their happiness and pride and help foster their own strength in coming to terms with themselves. My friend James, who is a national IFBB (International Federation of BodyBuilding & Fitness) competitor, who I asked to be a part of this piece, has experienced Body Dysmorphia for the majority of his life, and fights his battles every single day to get to where he is now. There are days when he doesn’t feel worthy enough to fit into his own skin, and that is the unfortunate nature of Body Dysmorphia. What is important to him, and should be to everyone, including you, is to realise that there is no bridge between the fantasy of the online image and the realities we live. They are two completely separate worlds. It is only when the idea of the celebrity is broken down and shed away that we should begin to see ourselves in the bodies of the rich and famous. Otherwise, for the most part, they are not ideal bodies - they are abstract figuements constructed for the consumption of the masses. Now, I would like to elaborate and explore how openly androgynous our society has started to become in the last decade and how forward and moreso accepting we have become as we reach the beginning of a new era (2020). People are power, and society is starting to realise its raw, limitless potential more so now. With this, the colours of the spectrum inside of us are no longer just faded lights on a club floor anymore, the club of course being a place that has represented the closest thing to freedom that so many people had on offer to them.
The LGTBQI community have been and still are fi ghting with everything in their souls and with all the power in their bones, getting their voices to reach higher members of politics, and of course, getting the laws on Gay Marriage to be amended. A victory for the Australian LGBTQI community that resonated throughout the entire community. Gay marriage was fi nally legal and there were parades and rainbow fl ags fl ying in the streets. Finally, there was a sense of freedom coursing through the hands of the youths, and together the younger members of the community were able to feel a sense of euphoria that so many older members have been fi ghting for for so long. Since that time, androgyny in appearance has slowly become more acceptable, especially in the music industry where people like Paul Klein (LANY) and Ari Straprans (Lauv) have been stepping up to intertwine versatility and diversity with fashion. Eccentricity with colours in the face of the social norms of what is “acceptable” to wear, does more for those witnessing it that one outside of the LGBTQI community could possibly fathom. Challenging the constructs of male representation with something as simple as nail polish and neon hair dye can send waves throughout the entire population of queer youth. People start to feel safer in their expressions of identity, finding a new strength and discovering that taking care of yourself, and all the unique things that make you special, is allowed in places other than the club or your bedroom. You can do it out in the world and be defiant just like your favourite celebrity in music. Visibility is impactful. Of course, there is still a long, long way to go with all of the matters stated in this article, and there is so much more I could explore in each subject. I can only hope that my brevity influenced by word limit did it all some sort of justice. Illustration by Rosemary Vasquez Brown
Dylan Van Ommen explores the impact of the celebrity on the psyche of the everyday media consumer..
Media Influence ON Sexual Orientation & Body Dysmorphia
One day, we will all hopefully look in the mirror, pointing at ourselves and preaching the words of the famously catchy Garnier advertisements and say “because you’re worth it,” and we will mean every single word. One day, people will discover the power and passion in their decided pronouns and not be received with hate and confusion for simply wanting to be themselves out in the world, and maybe, just maybe, the bias straight, white, cis individuals and any other hateful person in the world will be able to drop their faded veil of insecurity and just let people love and keep on loving until their dying breath. ■
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FEATURE
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FEATURE
REPRINTED FROM THE BRAG #733 [24:01:2018]
WHY I WON’T CELEBRATE GENOCIDE
By Candy Royalle, Sydney-based poet
“I HAVE CLEAR MEMORIES OF HEARING MY PARENTS BEING CALLED ‘FUCKING WOGS’ BY WHITE NEIGHBOURS, LISTENING TO THEIR STORIES OF DISCRIMINATION IN THE WORKPLACE AND THE SUPPOSEDLY ‘LIGHTHEARTED’ RACIST JOKES WE’VE ALL HAD TO ENDURE OVER THE YEARS.”
“THE SYSTEMICALLY RACIST POLICIES OF EACH SUCCESSIVE WHITE GOVERNMENT HAS ENSURED THAT THE OPPRESSION OF INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIANS HAS CONTINUED UNABATED.”
People often talk about what Australia gives to immigrants, but we rarely hear about the positive impact immigrants have on Australia – their economical, physical and emotional contribution to a nation that without immigrants would flounder. Rarely do we hear the stories of racism either, but I have clear memories of hearing my parents being called “fucking wogs” by white neighbours, listening to their stories of discrimination in the workplace and the supposedly “lighthearted” racist jokes we’ve all had to endure over the years. What my father didn’t know, and couldn’t guess, was that he had fled a country occupied multiple times, only to put down roots in another occupied nation: one born of genocide in which the systemic oppression of First Nations People is still rife. Such language is often shied away from here in the great land of the Australian Dream, where one need only be a Great Aussie Battler in order to be successful; there’s nothing that a bit of hard yakker can’t achieve. And my parents are proof of that – they came from abject poverty and managed to work their way up to middle class. As a first generation Australian, I am reaping the benefits of living in a country that has offered me many opportunities, granted in part to my parent’s hard work – but at what cost? Off whose backs am I gaining these opportunities? How egalitarian is Australia actually? Each Invasion Day for the last decade, I have publicly acknowledged the suffering and resilience of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders and have been attacked for it. January 26 is fraught with tension; those who wish to change the date go up against those whose patriotism seems to blind them to the incredible insensitivity of celebrating the day that marks the beginning of a massacre so extreme that it’s not hyperbolic to call it a holocaust. During the Frontier Wars white men invaded Australia, bringing diseases that resulted in thousands of Aboriginal deaths. According to Cultural Survival Quarterly Magazine, the Indigenous population dropped from 250,000 to 60,000 by 1920 (figures vary from source to source, which is likely due to the destruction of records). This change in demographic is largely a result of planned massacres of entire tribes, where bodies were dumped in mass graves.
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“THIS RECENT HISTORY IS STILL VERY REAL AND RAW FOR MANY INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIANS WITH INTERGENERATIONAL TRAUMA.” This recent history is still very real and raw for many Indigenous Australians with intergenerational trauma, further exacerbated by policies that saw their culture all but decimated. Where once over 250 languages were spoken by First Nation’s People, now less than half that are still in use, with the number of speakers dwindling steadily. The systemically racist policies of each successive white government has ensured that the oppression of Indigenous Australians has continued unabated – even as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders continue to show extreme resilience in the face of a violent oppressive government. Recently, 300 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders gathered at Uluru to hold a First Nations Convention intent on pushing important reform on the constitutional recognition of Indigenous Australians. They developed a document titled the Uluru Statement From The Heart, which included requests such as: “We seek constitutional reforms to empower our people and take a rightful place in our own country. When we have power over our destiny our children will flourish. They will walk in two worlds and their culture will be a gift to their country.” These wishes for self-determination and the self-determination of their children were unceremoniously rejected by Turnbull and his government, a decision that inevitably translates into more black deaths in custody – and of the 1400 deaths in custody since 1980, an alarming percentage have been Indigenous Australians. We’re talking about a group that makes up three per cent of our population but 28 per cent of those incarcerated by the state. And it means higher sustained rates of black youth self harm. Suicide rates are higher for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders: 5.2 per cent of deaths amongst First Nations People are suicides, in comparison to 1.8 per cent for non-Indigenous Australians according to one 2015 government study.
It means the removal of Aboriginal children from their families at a rate higher than the first Stolen Generation; as of 2016, 15,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are reportedly in out-of-home care – that’s a rate nine times higher than non-Indigenous children. And let us not so quickly forget Don Dale Youth Detention Centre – one of multiple institutions dedicated to the abuse of Aboriginal children by the state, which is reportedly due to close next month after a Royal Commission investigation. How can I feel anything but shame to celebrate the nation I live in, knowing these statistics? Knowing the rightful, sovereign owners of this land have repeatedly expressed the negative impact that “celebrating” Australia Day on January 26 has for many, makes it impossible for me to show my love and gratitude to a country that offered my family a safe haven from war and opportunities we may not have been granted elsewhere. I love this nation so much – its vast seas and skies, its dense bush and colossal size, the opportunities it has given me. And it’s because of my love for this nation that I refuse to “celebrate” Australia Day on January 26. I believe we can do better as a nation. Let’s change the date to one that Indigenous Australians choose. I will happily be led by a people who have suffered the greatest injustices and degradations; who have fought for their freedom and that of their children; whose resilience is absolutely astounding. Only then will I feel comfortable and able to celebrate Australia, because it will mean we are stepping away from a white extremist state towards a more progressive, honest nation, finally willing to come to terms with its genocidal beginnings. ■
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Photo top by Kate Ausburn / Flickr, Photo bottom by David Jackmanson / Flickr
W
hen my father fled the civil war in Lebanon, he decided on Australia because he believed it to be a land of opportunity – and he made it that. He and my mother worked multiple jobs, sacrificing much so that my brother and I were able to reap the benefits.
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REPRINTED FROM THE BRAG #2 [28:04:03}
EMAIL: BRAG@THEBRAG.COM
SYDNEY WOLLONGONG CANBERRA CENTRAL COAST NEWCASTLE
APRIL 21 2003
ISSUE 001
PHONE: 9318 2226
THE DATSUNS
ED HARCOURT
SO WHAT’S THE DEAL WITH THE BRAG?
HEY BRAG TEAM, Congrats on getting the new magazine out under what must have been considerable pressure. You guys rock. James Johnson Annandale
TO THE EDITOR, You people think you have something to brag about eh, well damn right you do - your new magazine, The Brag , looks slick and informative. But can you give me an assurance that your name is not going to change again next week. Regards, Katie Mac Glebe.
HEY ADAM, Great news to hear you’re back personally for starters, while also wanting to wish all the staff the best of luck. Let’s hope your return coincides witha significant mag that doesn’t bow to advertiser dollars only. Like, we’re in business too, we know we all need income to survive, but prefer to look elsewhere for work rather than compromise our “art only” stance in what we do. We’ll always respect
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HI ADAM, It’s great to see you guys getting together. I look forward to seeing the second edition on my return back to Sydney this weekend. Good Luck Warm regards Francis Coady THE COADY GROUP PTY LTD
HI BRAG, Lovin the new mag. Lovin Sydney after movin’ down from Bris Vegas. And lovin email cause otherwise I would never write a bloody letter to a magazine, Keep on Rockin Emma Johnson
ILLUSTRATION BY MARTY SCHNEIDER WWW.MARTIANSTUDIO.COM.AU
With Revolver biting the dust, I was looking to pick up my copy of Evolver last week and couldn’t find it anywhere - then what do I see snuggled between Drum and 3D but Brag. Hmm, a new mag - I scooped up a copy and took to thumbing the pages and there were many of my old faves giving me my daily juice of what’s hot and happening in Sydney. Thank god, I won’t have to resort to those other mags to find out what’s going on. Ricky. Newtown.
you if you decide something we present to Brag isn’t suited to your pages. Having said that we wouldn’t want any amount of money to sway your opinion in such an instance because that wouldn’t be art either you would it! We’re looking forward to picking up a mag that we know has an opinion it would make for an interesting read in what is fast becoming a sea of advertising paraphernalia dedicated to Bardo and Scandalous type acts. We’d hope the people we are trying to reach though your pages would be turned off by such editorial and hope you would be also. All the best Stuart Craine Director, IntaVenus Agency
EDITORIAL OOOPS I DID IT AGAIN.
though I have dated most of their girlfriends as an attempt to get my southern shire chip of my shoulder.
My mum has always told me I should think before I speak and act, then once you have done this, do nothing, she begged.
I’ve been bashed at Bankstown, laid in Avalon, fed in Marrickville and forced to swim after dark in Bondi (please feel free to join my Fat People Like the Ocean Too, Club 6:30pm nightly and 8:30pm during day light savings).
So blind folded and with my cocksuredness tucked firmly between my legs I begin the crying game of street press once more.
I have grown my hair long and played bad two finger bass in bad bands around most of Sydney. For the record this does not qualify me as a suitable owner of a music magazine it just means I have 480 copies of a demo CD in my Dad’s garage (the other 120 are stopping my rusty old V8 from rolling down the hill outside my house.
With the demise of Revolver the magazine I founded 5 years ago, myself and Revolver’s talented little fucker staff and my business partner Rob Furst thought we would throw this mouthful of Sydney at you. We’ve taken what you might calling a rolling start with this new mag and so gradually we intend to slowly undress our intentions with the magazine over coming issues. Not that I wouldn’t want to drop my pants straight away but it’s cold and it’s takes me a while to warm up...all help is welcome. I was back yard birthed, suburban raised (Hurstville) and inner city tooled in Sydney. The fact that my mum is a blond Skippy the Kangaroo has tainted my ability to claim full wog credentials (and Malta doesn’t carry much chop anyway). Nonetheless I remain awkward and uncomfortable around rugby union playing boarding school boys from the North Shore even
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LETTERS
01 DANCE
SALMONELLA DUB
The Brag staff were born and or raised respectively in London, South Africa, Country Queensland and Sydney. So any traces of Hansonisms, pro-racial segregation and profiling, pro-Monarchisms, colonial elitism are not necessarily those of the advertisers. The Brag will try wherever possible to keep its head out of its own arse. We will not however promise to keep them out of yours. Put em up Zammit Editor in Chief adam@thebrag.com
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THE LAST GOODB THE CONTRIBUTORS OF THE BRAG MAGAZINE, FROM ITS FIRST DAYS IN THE SUN TO ITS FINAL STEPS IN THE MOONLIGHT, SHARE THEIR STORIES ABOUT WORKING FOR ONE OF AUSTRALIA’S MOST INCLUSIVE AND IMPACTFUL STREET MAGAZINES.
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YE Kirsty Brown aka KBro aka DJ Edit This Managing Editor from 2008- 2011? (I have no idea what year I finished... lol.)
Your favourite memory working with the Brag Mag? Well, I met several of my best friends in the world at Brag. Coming to work every day and being surrounded by the funniest, coolest people in Sydney was a rare treat. We had so many fun times together - many illegal, many wholesome. However, sometimes I think about the incredible number of people I interviewed and how privileged I was to speak to them. Highlights for me included Robert Smith, who called me himself and our receptionist Jess Tsui answered the phone and had a minor freakout. Once Josh Homme attempted to have phone sex with me during an interview! Karin from The Knife/Fever Ray pushed back her other interviews so we could keep talking about feminism in her music, Tool gave me a group-hug, a giant bag of swag and VIP tix to their show because they had heard I was a big fan, Seth Rogen and Danny McBride told me they were sick of everyone trying to smoke weed with them and then offered me a joint - I could go on but that would just be obnoxious. Your horror story working with the Brag Mag The biggest horror is how frequently the server would go down on deadline. Although, I once witnessed Les White have an actual acid flashback, which was hilarious for me but I think genuinely horrifying for him. But I was covering the ARIAs when they were out at Olympic Park one year, Zammit forgot he was my lift back to the City for the parties, so I was stranded in Homebush with no way back. It really sucked and I was cold and had no money for the $100 cab ride home. I eventually made it to the city for the afterparties and stress-drank about eleventy vodka red bulls, partied till the sun came up, caught a cab
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153 T: 02 Bridge Ro M: 04 9552 6618 ad, Gleb e 32 89 1 456 F: 02 9552 NSW 203 E: kirs 7 6 ty@th 866 ebrag .com
THE LAST GOODBYE
Kirs Editoty Brown r
to the office, slept under my desk then got up when it was time for work and attempted to not hurl on my keyboard. Someone went and bought me a triple cheeseburger and a coke and all was right with the world again. Also, I was often subjected to some extremely sexist behaviour, but that’s just what it’s like being a young woman in the music industry. Your proudest moment with the Magazine We threw 4 extremely epic Brag Christmas Parties, programming our favourite local bands and taking over entire venues like World Bar, OAF, Exchange, The Bourbon - these were such fun, both to put together and attend and I was always so proud that they’d sell out and be full of people who were genuinely all so nice and caring to each other!? Everyone was full of free booze and yet we never had a single incident. Something about that whole electro party scene around that time was just the best - it was friendly, inclusive, it was fresh, it was wild! I’m also proud of the hiring choices I made. Everyone has gone on to be so successful and have interesting, varied careers. I always thought I was good at picking people to work with us and I feel like a little mama bird when I see how far they’ve all flown. What do you love about The Brag Magazine, both past and present? I love how it documented a city. I love how it never took itself so seriously - being the underdog behind those stern Drum Media types was good for my sense of competition. I love how it celebrated creativity and fun. I love how it never minimised youth culture or talked down to its audience. The Brag was the best and I will forever be so grateful for my time there. Viva la Brag! Where are you now? In LA, taking a brief break from work, and living the taco-truck dream.
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THE LAST GOODBYE
Dee Jefferson Arts & Associate Editor March 2009-December 2012; Editor January-April 2013.
Your favourite memory working with the Brag Mag I cannot pick one, but the very favourite ones involve fellow editor/desk wife Steph Harmon. Your horror story working with the Brag Mag Early on I almost got fired for writing a negative review of a show that made the venue so mad it withdrew all its advertising spend for the year - tens of thousands of dollars. I can laugh now, but I remember turning up to work that day with the expectation of being fired (I was not, but it was certainly discussed). The bigger horror story is peanuts pay, crazy hours, often in extreme heat because there’s no aircon, offices that were sometimes filthy (including dog shit under desks from the publisher’s - admittedly adorable - dogs). People got tired and stressed out and there was yelling, general bad behaviour. If you can survive the work environment at the street press and retain your humanity and equanimity, you can maybe survive any workplace. Your proudest moment with the Magazine
Steph Harmon Editor from 2010-2013
Here is my mess of memories: I remember being very unprepared to take this job. I remember oscillating between extremely happy, extremely stressed and extremely hungover on deadline. I remember doing the greatest interview of my life with Sufjan Stevens and promptly losing the dictaphone. I remember being underpaid and overworked but thrilled to be there. I remember misspelling the name of a band our publisher managed - that week’s cover band - on the actual cover. I remember screaming at anyone who opened the magazine in front of me at the pub, because I couldn’t handle any typos after that. I remember changing the name of the magazine to Swag for a week, just to score an interview with Odd
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Future. I remember interviewing Odd Future; they were extremely wasted and will not recall this. I remember meeting my idols, and standing next to Bill Murray at Jack White’s label showcase at SXSW. I remember getting free tickets to the best gigs of my life. I remember seeing bands three or four nights a week. I do not remember all of those nights. I remember the dreaded pages of party photos (a photographer one time didn’t make it to the gig, and just submitted pics of a house party he went to instead; we printed them), and sub-editing the worst band names I have ever encountered in the gig guide. I remember Nathan Jolly hiding terrible jokes in the rock news pages, and wonderful Sarah Bryant hating us for filing late. I remember writing my worst articles under a fake byline - the name of a friend from high school. I told her about it five years later. I remember working with the greatest people - including the woman who would
My four final months where I was managing editor felt pretty good. Leaving with everything I’d learned felt pretty good. And across the years, getting arts on the cover felt pretty good. What do you love about The Brag Magazine, both past and present? I learned my craft - writing reviews and features, interviewing, telling stories, editing other people’s work - at The Brag. It was a pedalto-the-metal, thrown-in-the-deepend environment in which you had to write and edit a massive amount of content every week, to a non-negotiable print deadline, and to strict word limits. This particular set of circumstances was once the norm for emerging journalists and feature writers - and now it’s incredibly rare. It trains you to write concisely, to streamline your story to the essential elements, and to do that quickly - and reliably. These muscles in me worked overtime for four years - and that’s why I am where I am now. The other incredible opportunity for arts journalists is that you get to see everything. Who can afford to buy tickets to theatre, dance or music gigs? In my 20s, I found myself thrown into a world where I was seeing something most nights. I went from being a music and film writer to falling in love
with theatre and dance, and then contemporary art. I learned so goddamn much from what I saw and the artists and practitioners who I interviewed - it was like a degree in contemporary arts and culture. Again, I’m not sure this opportunity exists any more. I read writers emerging now, and while they have other advantages - the opening up of critical discourse and forms of writing, the democratisation of the media and access to information that the internet brought - very few have the craft and discipline and hands-on knowledge of the arts that street press built in a generation of writers. Inevitably, I’m sad in some ways that this era is over and more so that funding for arts journalism has been reduced so drastically - but I’m also excited by how arts writing has changed and continues to evolve. Where are you now? ABC - National Online Arts Editor.
go on to speak at my wedding, and me at hers. I remember meeting the worst people too. I remember pissing off advertisers and, sometimes, the people who sold ad space to them (sorry Les). I remember a lot of industry sexism, being called “little girl” by a big name promoter, and a lot of label folk who assumed my name was Steven. My colleagues called me Steven for a while as a joke. I remember editing some of the most talented writers I have ever worked with, who should have been paid a whole lot more and knew it. I remember all of our poor interns, who were paid nothing at all - and some stayed for more than a year. I remember everyone being happy to be there despite it all, because we knew the insane access we were getting, and the insane product we were making a print music magazine? In THIS economy? - Absolutely would not last. This job was excellent and terrible and I loved it.
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THE LAST GOODBYE Chris Martin Managing Editor: 2013-2017
Your favourite memory working with the Brag Mag There’s only one way to answer this: meeting my wife, Therese! When I arrived for my first day on the job, she was sitting on the office couch, churning through press releases. A real Almost Famous love story. Your horror story working with the Brag Mag Definitely the night our Art Director Sarah Bryant’s ancient Power Mac finally carked it. On deadline. We (well, mainly Sarah) had to start the mag from scratch, and I stumbled back home at 4 am, stone-cold sober. There are probably other horror stories about typos on the cover, but I’ve buried those deep in my subconscious. Your proudest moment with the Magazine Every time I encounter one of our writers who’s gone on to bigger things. As a journalist, especially freelance, you’re unsung and underpaid. To think we helped them make a start, and now they’re
Dom Alessio Arts Editor, (though I changed my own title and made myself the Arts & Assistant Editor) June 2016 – December 2018
Your favourite memory working with the Brag Mag I got to interview the singer of my favourite band as a kid: Chris Ballew from The Presidents of the USA. It was by no means the best interview I did, but that moment made me realise how amazing my job at The Brag was. Your horror story working with the Brag Mag There was a huge tank in the foyer of the building we were working out of in Glebe at the time, filled with all kinds of tropical fish. One weekend the filter stopping functioning, which meant becoming welcomed at work on Monday by a tank full of dead fish. The smell of that fish massacre will never leave my nostrils. Your proudest moment with the Magazine I was always proud of the mag we put out… unless, on Monday,
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earning a living from their words, just fills me with the warm and fuzzies. What do you love about The Brag Magazine, both past and present OK, deep breath. These pages were my first playground. A blank canvas for Sydney’s most talented musicians, writers, creators and mischief-makers. And somehow we got it out every week. Now the day’s finally come, our city will never be the same. To everyone in the BRAG family, and to everyone who picked us up, thank you. You know who you are! Where are you now? Stuck in an online queue for a gig ticket, wishing it was the good old days.
I found some dumb mistake we missed while we were subediting at 10pm on a Friday night, rushing pages off to the printer, then I was embarrassed. What do you love about The Brag Magazine, both past and present? At a time – a long, long time ago – when there was a burgeoning street press industry, The Brag was doing something different. 3D Mag was servicing the dance community, Drum Media was covering rock, and we would write about those scenes too, but we were covering the exciting, emerging indie scene in a way that the other magazines weren’t. The Brag felt fresh. I really believe we were representing the depth of Sydney culture better than the other publications at the time. I was really proud of the magazine we put out. Where are you now? After The Brag, I went onto host Home & Hosed, the Australian music show, on triple j for 8 years, and now I’m the Digital Export Producer for Sounds Australia. BRAG :: 749 :: 04:03:20 :: 29
THE LAST GOODBYE
Jake Stone Jake Stone, Staff Writer from the Golden Days of The Brag Magazine, mourns the loss of Australia’s most iconic street press magazine (if I say so myself).
Vale Brag Magazine, You Sexy Beast Dear Brag, You made my life so much better, from the first day I started working for free (and occasionally for beers and schnitzel), out the back of a print factory in Marrickville. That progressed through to smoking joints, writing 3000 words of music news (mostly fictionalised from press releases), and interviewing literally every single local and international band touring Australia from 2002 through to about 2008. I was a staff writer, and as such was lucky enough to interview Dizzee Rascal, The Strokes, Coldplay, The Black Keys, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, MSTRKRFT, Lorde, You Am I, Frenzel Rhomb, Ben Folds, Cat Power, The Klaxons, Gelbison, John Spencer Blues Explosion, Jet, The Mess Hall, Red Riders, Dappled Cities, Sparkadia, Faker, Art Vs Science and loads and loads more...
Adam Guetti Freelance Gaming, Food and Culture Writer: 2014 - 2020
Your favourite memory working with the Brag Mag Honestly too many to list, but I always cherished being able to interview and spotlight a wide range of homegrown talent, as well as shoot the shit with plenty of international composers and designers. Your horror story working with the Brag Mag Having to simultaneously play and juggle four games at once in order to hit a deadline on time. Who said video games aren’t work! Your proudest moment with the Magazine Helping introduce and promote the video game industry’s best and most creative endeavours to the Brag audience, who might not have originally given it the time of day. What do you love about The Brag Magazine, both past and present? The fact that it not only presented such wonderful, well-written printed content to the public completely free of charge (a rarity in today’s age), but also that it never shied away from the less conventional, more controversial topics. Where are you now? Currently an editor for Microsoft
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I attended the ARIAs many times, and met a lot of people who would go on to help my band, Bluejuice. It was an ideal intro to the music industry, and I’m forever grateful to my editors Dan Murphy, Kirsty Brown, Craig New and Steph Harmon, and owners Damien Wilson and Adam Zammit for the apprenticeship. I also remember making up a Powderfinger interview completely, because the dictaphone didn’t work. Such is the nature of music press. I also managed the single reviews and did a lot of live reviews, and constantly got myself in shit by being a precocious little c**t, but that seemed to work at the time. I would love to say I knew what I was talking about, but I also remember softballing Temper Trap’s ’Sweet Disposition’, so you know I was at least 60% full of shit. I remember being so under-researched for an interview with producer Wayne Connelly that he just patted my hand and said ‘...let’s do this another time’. Cringe. I tried to roll Dizzee Rascal a joint after making him an omelette. He wasn’t into it. So many good people and fantastic music professionals came out of that office, all of which did me the service of treating me well, and taking me seriously. Thanks to everyone, including advertising Les, who haunted the office like the New Zealandish ghost of Footrot Flats, but only after 11 am on a weekday. Brownie, Sarah, Tim Duggan, Dom Alessio, Lisa, Dee and everyone on that staff was a killer - just chilling in this comfortable little crew. We were all ambitious, but we weren’t whipping ourselves. We got it done, and also had a lot of fun doing it. It was the best job I’ve ever had. The Peer Group office was also a surprisingly good place to meet attractive single people. Bonus! It was a golden time, as they say. I felt inspired writing for the magazine. I was on a mission. So energetic that I did the robot in the office out of pure joy. That’s love, folks. Or mania. Either/or. Thank you Brag Magazine, thank you Brag staff and editors, and thank you, owners. They don’t make them like that anymore. x Jake Stone
thebrag.com
Dappled Cities vs Red Riders
ISSUE NO. # 214 MAY 2007 FREE $
ninja kicks fly thick and fast as the dappled team release their hidden karate skillz on an unsuspecting rider. (nunchuck skillz not Pictured)
Who: Red Riders and Dappled Cities What: Break Your Necks Tour Where: The Metro When: Friday June 15
thebrag.com
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THE OFFICE MIX-TAPE
WONDERING WHAT THE ‘EXPERTS’ LISTENED TO WHILE MAKING THE BRAG EACH WEEK? HERE’S JUST A SMALL SAMPLE...
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
BRAG :: #002 FRENZAL RHOMB Bucketbong THE WHITE STRIPES - Elephant AUDIO SLAVE - Like A Stone KRUDER AND DORFMEISTER - K&D Sessions THE STROKES - 12:51
BRAG :: #089 GRINSPOON - Hard Act To Follow FRANZ FERDINAND Take Me Out THE KILLERS - Somebody Told Me THE BEES - Chicken Payback RAMMSTEIN - Amerika
BRAG :: #130 THE PRESETS - Are You The One? WOLFMOTHER - Mind’s Eye/ women BATTLES - Mirrored KANYE WEST - Gold Digger GORILLAZ - Dirty Harry
BRAG :: #181 PHOENIX- Alphabetical SMASHING PUMPKINS Siamese Dream THE GRAND SILENT SYSTEM Everyone Lies Alone MINISTRY OF SOUND Mashed 3 CAT POWER - You Are Free
BRAG :: #224 CARIBOU - Andorra QUEEN - A Night At The Opera SHY CHILD - Noise Won’t Stop THIS IS ENGLAND - Soundtrack BEASTIE BOYS - Licensed To Ill
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
BRAG :: #384 MASSIVE ATTACK - Heligoland SEEKAE - Friendly Fires LIL WAYNE - I Am Not A Human Being BROKEN BELLS - Broken Bells BOY & BEAR - With Emporer Antarctica
BRAG :: #413 BJÖRK - Medúlla KING FANTASTIC - Finger Snaps & Gun Claps MEGASTICK FANFARE - grit aglow KELPE - Margins EP WHY? - Elephant Eylash
BRAG :: #481 KURT VILE - Childish Prodigy SOMETHING FOR KATE Beautiful Sharks RYAN ADAMS - Heartbreaker STEVE BUG - Noir GRIZZLY BEAR - Shields
BRAG :: #504 KIEREN RYAN - Kieren Ryan BLOOD ORANGE - Coastal Grooves WAXAHATCHEE - Cerulean Salt ANGEL HAZE - New York EP PHOSPHORESCENT Muchacho
BRAG :: #645 MANGELWURZEL - Gary MATT CORBY - Telluric OASIS - Definitely Maybe BEN FOLDS - Way To Normal AC/DC - Back In Black
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thebrag.com
REPRINTED FROM THE BRAG #136 [28:11:09]
2008
2009
BRAG :: #245 KINGS OF LEON - Sex on Fire EMPIRE OF THE SUN - Walking On A Dream MGMT - Electric Feel LILY ALLEN - Guess Who Batman? (Aka F**ck You) HOT CHIP - Ready for the Floor
BRAG :: #288 WU-TANG CLAN - 8 Diagrams DR. DRE - Chronic KATE NASH - Made Of Bricks JAMIROQUAI - Travelling Without Moving BLUEJUICE - Broken Leg
Welcome to SIDEWALK the new street talk column for The Brag. Think culture, creativity, self-expression as a vice, eclectic fashion, individual flair, street passion, indecent exposures and the MUST HAVES of the season. I’ll be taking you through the sexy threads, cool accessories and introducing you to all sorts of young, hip and local designers bringing you, all the lovely BRAG readers (yes, we’ve seen you in SNAP) right to the edge of fashion. As a celebration of our new column, SIDEWALK is taking you straight to the streets to the hottest fashion strip this side of Milan - Gould Street Bondi. Set against the backdrop of the infamous Bondi Beach, Gould Street Bondi is home to the likes of Tsubi, One Teaspoon, Jatali and many more fashion forward stores. Now let’s face it, even if you are too fast to live, you’re too young to die if you don’t get down to Gould Street Bondi for a shopping experience. The beach, the sun, the vibe, the taste for fashion and ofcourse the flesh bearing eye candy all set the scene for this summer’s hottest fashion spot. - Natalie M Piper
SAILORS OUTFIT FROM ST. XAVIER
F A S H I O N 2 0 0 5
Nookie Shorts & singlet, both $110 back in 2005. The Madame Mooi Belt would have set you back $170
For those days when you can’t find your own sailor boy, this outfit from From St. Xavier is the next best thing to get on your tanned body this summer. So drop the anchor because this outfit is a showstopper - from cruising the streets to every hot spot in town, this outfit will take you everywhere without letting you down. This number has been put together with a pair of sexy lemon summer shorts by NOOKIE, a stunning brown leather waist belt by Madame Mooi and a sailor-inspired striped singlet also by NOOKIE. Then of course you can’t forget about the soles (of your feet that is..) So this outfit has been topped off with strappy tie around your leg sandals (hopefully they won’t be the only thing that gets tied up...) by Cohen et Sabine. Combining some of the must haves of the season, this Sailor Outfit is so darn hot you’ll be fighting the boys off your lifeboat... Tsubi Test print singlet was $139 in ‘05
2015
2016
BRAG :: #603 R.E.M. - Automatic For The People DICK DIVER - Melbourne, Florida M.I.A. - Arular LL COOL J - Authentic THE KILLS - Blood Pressures
BRAG :: #645 MANGELWURZEL - Gary MATT CORBY - Telluric OASIS - Definitely Maybe BEN FOLDS - Way To Normal AC/DC - Back In Black
thebrag.com
TEST PRINT SINGLET TSUBI This singlet was first spoted on a boy so close to me I could almost see it in the dark... But you may recognise it from staring at the screen on SBS after hours, but I can guarantee you won’t forget this rockin’ test print singlet from TSUBI in any hurry... Made for both boys and girls (just the way we like it) this singlet will be a show-stopper whichever way you wear it and with summer well and truly showing its true colours already I am sure it will more often than not end up on the bedroom floor of your most wanted boy/girl in town. The boys from Tsubi have created a thread that you can team up with jeans, wear it loose, with some short, short shorts, on its own with a wee little belt around your waist, keep it in your beach bag and throw it over your best bikini to watch what the hot fluoro colors do to your well earnt tan this summer.
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REPRINTED FROM THE BRAG #2 [28:04:03}
TECH GEAR + GADGETS Samsung DVD C625 Maybe you like to watch a lot of DVDs or maybe you are a lazy slob like me, either way you'll get a kick out of this player from the folk at Samsung which features a 5 DVD stacker so you can load up for your viewing/listening pleasure. I features all the standard fare such as Dolby DTS sound and there are plenty of output options to satisfy even the most demanding viewer. Don't be put off by its size, just think of the energy you'll save slipping 5 discs into the carousel at once... www.samsung.com.au
Vodafone Live It's coming to a store near you this week and according to the folk at Vodafone it's going to change the way you live your life. Vodafone Live will launch in Australia on April 21 with handsets available soon after and with it will come a specially designed mobile phone from the crew at Sharp [the GX 10] that delivers PXT, 2D/3D colour games, polyphonic ringtones and a world of specially sourced content from horoscopes to local news to sporting tips. Having just had a go of the new service we can tell you that Vodafone Live will undoubtedly change the way you use your phone - if you thought your moby was indispensable before, just wait 'til you get a load of the services on VL. According to Grahame Mather, MD of Vodafone Australia, since launching overseas in October, the service has picked up more than 380,000 subscribers. Stay tuned for more details or visit the vodafone site for more info www.vodafone.com.au
Toshiba Portege 3500 Forget your standard notebook computer, the tablet computer has landed. The Toshiba Portege 3500 features a PIII 1.3GHZ processor, 256 MB of RAM on board and a 40GB harddrive. It comes fully loaded with Windows XP and you can use it just like a regular notebook computer or flip and twist the screen to change it into a Tablet computer and use a stylus to navigate the screen. Any notes you make are searchable by key word or you can doodle and save to your heart's content... Computing just got a whole lot more creative... www.toshiba.com.au
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snap sn snap ap
REPRINTED FROM THE BRAG #367 [21:06:10}
sosueme
PICS :: PS
up all night out all week . . .
twist and shout #3
wham
party profile
It’s called: Twist and Shout #3
It sounds like: Otis Redding sma shin Factory... while Aretha Franklin eats g Jimi Hendrix’s guitar in Andy Warhol’s some soul food.
PICS :: DM
11:06:10 :: Q-Bar :: 34-44 Oxford st, Darlinghurst 93601375
12:06:10 :: World Bar :: 24 Bayswater Rd Kings Cross 93577700
DJs/live acts playing: Milli Von Ill, Twist and Shout DJs. Sell it to us: Your favourite 60s danc extravaganza (on Friday, July 9th). e party is back with a belated Four th of July Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair as we celebrate all things 60s, Ame rican and danceable: from Motown and to Monterey Pop and Woodstock; from the Summer of Love and Andy Stax Factory to The Stones at Altamont; Warhol’s from doo wop to bubblegum pop to psych rock, you’ll be shaking your tail-feath ers and dancing in the streets, all night long. The bit we’ll remember in the AM: Like they say about the 60s: if you remember it, you weren’t really there . Crowd specs: Mods, Mad Men, Mop Tops and Motowners welcome . Squares, phoneys and wallflowers stay hom e. Hippies use side entrance. Wallet damage: $6 on the door.
renaissance man
PICS :: PS
Where: Brighton Up Bar (cnr Oxfo rd & Riley Sts, Surry Hills) When: Friday July 9, 9pm to 3am
candy’s apartment
PICS :: AV
11:06:10 :: The Civic Hotel :: 388 Pitt St City 80807000
ASHLEY MAR :: S : TIM LEVY (HEAD HONCHO) EE OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER NS :: PATRICK STEVENSON :: REN MUN IEL DAN :: RING BOW MY REW VIDLER AND :: NEL WES :: ROSETTE ROUHANNA :: JERE LIER COL ENZO :: MAJA BASKA :: JAY RUSHBROOK :: JULIAN DE LOR
11:06:10 :: Candy’s Apartment :: 22 Bayswater Rd Kings Cross 93805600 thebrag.com
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name the artists How many musical legends can you find in this picture?
Share your answers at facebook.com/thebragsydney.
ART BY KEIREN JOLLY
thebrag.com
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Gipsy Kings
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W W W. M O R C H E E B A . U K
SUN 12TH APRIL METRO THEATRE SYDNEY
Mon 13th April Enmore Theatre Sydney
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john mayall
SAT 18TH APRIL FACTORY THEATRE, SYDNEY
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ERYKAH BADU THINKING BIG
BY ALASDAIR DUNCAN
REPRINTED FROM THE BRAG #553 [14:03:2014]
E
rykah Badu’s live shows are the stuff of legend. The singer is known for her powerful soul voice and crack live band, but also for the versatility of her setlist, which can change at a moment’s notice depending on the night, the crowd and the vibe. She does old songs, she does new songs, and she creates entirely fresh musical moments onstage.
“If I could, I’d do every song I’ve ever written in the live show, but there’s just not time,” Badu says with a gentle laugh. “My band and I have been performing together for a really long time, long enough that they know everything, so we’re able to have a lot of versatility in the show. Things can just flow,” she says. “The energy is always different, the atmosphere is different, and so we always create the show in the moment. Playing a live show is the opposite of recording. Playing live is about creating a moment; recording is about perfecting a moment. You have to make everything perfect when you record, but playing live is more about taking chances.”
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Given that Badu will soon return to Australia, I ask about her experiences with crowds in this part of the world, and how her shows here generally go down. “I’m not saying this just because I’m coming to Australia,” she replies, “but I really love it down there. The air there is clean, the people are beautiful, and it feels very, very good to play there.” In fact, Badu’s last trip to Australia was the source of one of her most cherished memories. “I felt so good the last time I was there. I had a set of turntables in my hotel room, I had the windows open and all of my favourite tunes, and I was just watching people walk on the street below me while I played songs. When I want to picture a time that I felt really great, I close my eyes and think back to the time I spent in Australia. I felt very free.”
There’s one subject that hasn’t come up in our interview so far, but there’s no way I can let Badu go without asking about ‘Window Seat’. The video takes place the same street in Dallas where President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, and is presented in one continuous shot, with Badu gradually stripping naked as she walks. What was the initial inspiration for such a bold idea? “Well, when I was trying to think of something for the ‘Window Seat’ video, I really wanted to do something more special than I had done before, because I always feel like I’m in competition with myself. I thought back to artists like Nina Simone and Josephine Baker, people whose music goes beyond performance, who used their music to spread a message.” That message was one about the dangers of conformity. “I became interested in this term, ‘groupthink’,” Badu explains. “I hadn’t ever heard of it before, but it defines a group of people who are afraid to go out of the thought patterns of their group, of their community or church, say, because they’re afraid that being an individual will cause them to be ostracised, singled out for attack. This term was coined by a sociologist called Irving Janis, and a lot of sociologists and writers have played around with it, but his take on it is the first. I started really thinking on this idea, and what it means in a present-day sense.” The job of an artist, Badu says, is to create a a dialogue, and reflecting upon the concept of groupthink, she saw the idea of getting naked in the street as a way to both rebel and liberate. “Public nudity is not in fashion,” she laughs, “so I expected
“PLAYING A LIVE SHOW IS THE OPPOSITE OF RECORDING. PLAYING LIVE IS ABOUT CREATING A MOMENT; RECORDING IS ABOUT PERFECTING A MOMENT. PLAYING LIVE IS MORE ABOUT TAKING CHANCES.” there tthe re to be b a big dialogue around it, and there was.” video’s location was also The vide of great ssignificance to Badu, who holds hold JFK in very high esteem. “He’s a very important for the nation and for me figure, fo personally,” she says. “People personal really se sensationalise the idea of Camelot, but if you look at the Camelot that, he was not afraid man behind beh policy decisions. to make tough t That’s the th kind of person I wanted to. As I walked down to pay tribute tri street and started stripping off the stree my clothe clothes, I was very nervous. I mean, it i was just me and a walking this busy street, camera w and I was petrified at the start of the video, video but once I’d gotten out of the car ca and started walking, I was something I had to knew it w through with, because it would go throug be a liberating experience. As I libe took eac each piece of clothing off, I felt like I was shedding a fear, a judgement, a belief system, and judgeme I focused on those thoughts as I took each ea step, so I wouldn’t distracted by anything else. be distra demonstration, it was It was a d a conver conversation, and it was an exercise.” exercise. In a recent rece feature for Interview magazine, Badu spoke to young magazine Kendrick Lamar, and one of gun Kend questions was about what her first q he hopes to achieve in his career. It was an interesting question to pose to the t new kid, and I wonder: if someone had asked Badu the same thing at tthe beginning of her career when her 1997 Baduizm album was just coming comi out, what would she have told them? The singer, who has been in the game for nearly two deca decades at this point, takes a moment to reflect on this. someone had asked me that “If someo when my first album was coming have told them that I out, I’d ha would like to gather a collection of autobiographical memories to give autobiog my childr children,” she says. “That would be my aim aim, so they might listen to my words and think on me, and then one day ffeel compelled to create something for their children.” somethin With: H Hiatus Kaiyote Where: The Star Event Centre When: Thursday T April 17 And: Als Also appearing alongside John Ma Mayer, Dave Matthews Banhart, India. Band, Devendra D Joss Stone, Jake Bugg, Arie, Jos Passenger and many more at Passeng Byron Bay B Bluesfest, Thursday April 17 – Monday April 21 thebrag.com
Erykah Badu photo by Phil Knott
Years of touring have taught Badu that different places in the world have different needs, and her show each night is a response to an intangible something in the air. “When we’re in America, in a place like Denver, the air and the water there are really clean, so everybody’s going to be relaxed and having a good time,” she explains. “When “Wh hen I’m performing in a place like Detroit or Baltimore, though, it’s a different show. The water is not as clean there. Those cities are plagued with a lot of crime, and even if you’re living a decent life there, you feel the vibrations of those who aren’t.” She can’t perform
the same set in both places. “I’m kind of mutable, you might say – I feel what’s going on in each place, I watch how people behave, and I change my show to fit in with that. The most important thing to me is that I connect with the audience.”
The National
REPRINTED FROM THE BRAG #393 [20:10:10}
Going Global By Matthew Hogan
S
ince releasing their fifth album in May, the profile of crooning indie heroes The National has risen rapidly. The reception of High Violet afforded the Brooklyn-based band headline slots at some of Australia’s biggest festivals this summer – and this October, it even won them the Q Magazine award for Best Album. “We’ve gotten on year end lists from time to time, but this is the first time we’ve actually ever been given an award that’s made out of metal,” bassist Scott Devendorf begins. “It was a surprise for sure. Q’s a big English music magazine obviously, and they had a big music magazine event to go with the award ceremony, which was interesting. It was midday, but it was set up to feel like it was night - and Bernard Sumner handed us the award, which was awesome.” Meeting the New Order and Joy Division guitarist wasn’t the only honour of the year - they also got to do a ‘Fleetwood Mac circa 1993,’ and hung out with the leader of the free world. In 2008, The National were staunch supporters of Barrack Obama’s presidential campaign, selling t-shirts featuring Obama’s image and the words ‘Mr November,’ and even playing at a rally in their hometown of Cincinnati to encourage voting. And this year, during the midterm elections, they did the same.
him for a few years now because he lives in the same neighbourhood,” Devendorf explains. “We’ve shared studio space from time to time; he used our studio to record The Age Of Adz. We share equipment and while we were recording our record, he popped by the studio a few times and helped us out on a couple of songs – doing vocals, harmonium, things like that. So yeah, it’s been an organic relationship in that way. He’s a great guy and he’s been busy because obviously he’s got a new record and he’s been touring - but he happened to have some time off at the end of tour, so he came over for a few days to hang out in London, and he played a show with us.” Stevens will be arriving in Sydney three weeks too late to make it on stage with The National – but if past gigs are anything to go by, they won’t need any help to win over the crowd. What: The expanded edition of High Violet is out now on 4AD, through Remote Control With: The Middle East When: January 7 & 8 Where: The Enmore Theatre
“We were on tour in the States and we were going to be in Madison, Wisconsin, which is in the northern Midwest - it’s a big college town,” Devendorf explains, setting the scene. “It turned out that about a week before we were going to be there, we got a call from Obama’s team – his organisers – and basically they were doing a pitch about voting, for students. It was before the midterm elections, which kind of went badly in retrospect, but the president was going to be there and we were going to be there and they asked us, and we said ‘sure!’ We went to the rally and we played a few songs acoustic – we amplified them, but it was just a couple of guitars and some speakers, not the whole band thing. Ben Harper was there too and he did a couple of songs, there were a few speakers from local politics as well - and then Obama spoke.”
“Obama was very cordial - he had that thing about him, you know about presidents having a magical quality? We tried to make some jokes. He was super funny, and we probably weren’t...” Afterwards, the band got to meet President Obama for a couple of minutes, which Devendorf says was both awesome and bizarre. So what did the bassist say to the president? “Probably something really dumb,” he laughs. “We were kind of lined up in a hallway in a very secure area and he came up, and he was very cordial – he had that thing about him, you know about presidents having a magical quality? He was very charismatic and he was super nice. He shook each of our hands and said thanks for performing, and we tried make to some jokes. He was super funny and we probably weren’t, but it was an interesting experience for sure.” Devendorf concedes that when The National started out 11 years ago, he never thought theirs would be the type of band that met world leaders... “No way,” he says, incredulous. “In fact, even when we were asked to play the rally we were thinking that it wouldn’t happen. It was a bit of a surprise in the end, because obviously presidents have things to do that are a hundred times more important than talking to some band.” To top off the year for The National, they’ve just reissued High Violet with an extra disc of unreleased material. “We had b-sides that were released here and there which we kinda wanted to compile for people, and we also had a couple of tracks that didn’t make the record. We just put them together as a sort of end-of-year round-up,” Devendorf explains. “I think the record company wanted to put something together to let the record get more notice, but also we didn’t want people to buy it all over again. So you can buy the tracks individually – if people are still paying for tracks or whatever...” The National have played some of the biggest shows of their career recently, leaving them on a hot streak as they head to Australia in January. At London’s O2 Academy Brixton late last month, fellow indie rock royalty Sufjan Stevens joined them on stage. “He’s a good friend, we’ve known thebrag.com
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REPRINTED FROM THE BRAG #456 [01:04:2012]
ICE CUB E BE CHI LL By L ach lan Kan oniu k
I
n the two and a half decades since his thermonuclear breakthrough with pioneering gangsta rap outfit N.W.A., you’d be hard pressed to find a time when Ice Cube has been anything close to creatively dormant. By the age of 22, he had jettisoned N.W.A. and released landmark LP AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted – the first instalment of one of the finest solo rap canons of the ‘90s. Since then, the West Coast icon has gone on to enjoy incredible success – as a producer, record label owner, writer and top-billing Hollywood actor. Despite the many pitfalls and trappings associated with the industry, the Ice Cube on the phone today (who, at 42, is a relatively young veteran of the biz) is very much a free man. After releasing a string of blockbuster major label records throughout the ‘90s (culminating in the two-part opus War & Peace), Cube travelled off the beaten track to release 2006’s Laugh Now, Cry Later independently, under his own Lench Mob banner – a strategy he has employed every since. “There’s definitely a lot more creative freedom because I’m independent,” Cube affirms. “It’s my own label, it’s my own record. Just not having a corporation looking over your shoulder, not having to please people at a record company – all I gotta do is please myself! It is freedom; I don’t do records for the radio or for program directors, I do records for Ice Cube fans. That gives me a lot more freedom to pinpoint and do what I feel, not what I think I should do.
In terms of new material, Cube reveals that a new record is already well under way. “Well you know I always go into a record with a pure kind of mentality, I don’t try to go in any direction. I just record a few songs based on how I feel. That’s when the record really starts to take shape, then I know what to hone in on and start to make the record feel like it’s conceptual in a way. I’m about seven songs, six songs into it,” he reveals. “I wrote some hardcore rhymes – I wrote some political records and I wrote a few party records. So we’ll see what direction the record takes and how it starts to take shape.” With a stellar career under his belt, and as a family man (two of Cube’s sons are rappers in their own right, with OMG and Doughboy appearing alongside their father on 2010’s I Am The West), Cube isn’t shying away from the aggression that defined his earlier material, but sees it as less relevant today. “I could definitely go there, I just think that style has run its course in a lot of ways,” he suggests. “I think before the G-funk era” – the subgenre that defined most of mid-’90s West Coast hip hop – “the style of hip hop was much more aggressive; the delivery, the subject matter, even the beats and the sampling. Everything sounded edgier. Coming from the Run-DMC, Public Enemy, N.W.A., Ice-T kind of era, that style was more prominent for me. Since the G-funk era, when music became more original, more melodic, more singing in the hooks – the whole cross between RnB and rap, was when that style of being loud and aggressive became kind of played-out, in a way. So I think when we do it now, we have to be selective,” he reasons. “You couldn’t do a whole album like that.” As evident in his last album title, Cube
“Gangs, L.A.P.D., crack cocaine, Reaganomics and then rap music. There was an intersection of all of that, and it was N.W.A.. I think we need to make sure that when people see this story 50 years from now, they’ll be able to feel that.” remains a steadfast ambassador of LA’s prestigious rap history. “Well, you know, at first we were long shots. We were the new toy on the block. But now I think we’re underdogs, that’s the evolution,” he muses. “I still think we underdogs in a lot of ways, because to be a West Coast artist is an uphill battle, because there’s that stigma that goes with it – that all we could do is hardcore rap with little substance. It’s just not true.” The story of N.W.A.’s indelible impact on contemporary culture is soon to be immortalised in a biopic – a project that Cube is heavily involved with. “Well we got the first draft written, so it will take a few more drafts until it’s ready to be cast and shot,” Cube reveals. “So the movie’s coming along. I wanna do a movie that’s really dealing with the history of N.W.A.. We’re dealing with a lot of different volatile times. We’re dealing with LA when that music came out – we’re dealing with gangs, L.A.P.D., crack cocaine, Reaganomics, and then rap music. There was an intersection of all of that, and that intersection was N.W.A.. I think we need to make sure that when people see this story 50 years from now, they’ll be able to feel that.” Anticipation is also riding high for Cube’s involvement in a very different film project, with rumours circulating that he and Chris
Tucker will return for the final instalment in the hugely successful Friday films – the first of which was penned by Cube. “Right now we’re in the process of talking to New Line Cinema for me to write the next Friday movie. Everybody’s invited back, everybody will be written in, and hopefully everybody will be showing up,” he tells me. In the meantime, Cube is all set to bring his live show to Australia for Supafest – so what can fans expect? “Everything man. It would be sad for me to come out there and all we do is the new records. I’m gonna do the whole history, from N.W.A. through to I Am The West and everything in between – Westside Connection records. I’m gonna have WC with me, so we gonna pull out some of his songs. You’re gonna hear a little bit of everything from throughout my whole career My show is hip hop in its purest form. No band, just two turntables, a microphone, and a ferocious MC.” With: Chris Brown, P. Diddy, Kelly Rowland, Missy Elliott, Lupe Fiasco, T-Pain, Ludacris, Rick Ross, Trey Songz, Naughty By Nature and Big Sean Where: Supafest @ ANZ Stadium When: Sunday April 15 More: supafest.com.au xxx
“I’ll put it this way,” he continues, seguing into an unlikely agricultural analogy: “you go to work on someone’s farm everyday, some big corporation with all the equipment you need – but at the end of the day you’re only getting a little bit of what you [produce]. You’re probably having an easier time there than in your backyard, where you won’t grow as much – but you get more pleasure growing the food, y’see what I mean? It
makes it spiritually better. Working with these record companies is like a blind maze; you don’t know which way is up. You’re always explaining your position and your vision – but you’d probably sell a lot more records.”
“She’s well acquainted with the touch of a velvet hand like a lizard on a window pane.” - THE BEATLES 48 :: BRAG :: 749 :: 04:03:20
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N*E*R*D
REPRINTED FROM THE BRAG #393 [20:10:10}
Nothing To Hide By Hugh Robertson
D
espite having interviewed dozens of musicians over the past couple of years, as well as befriending a few, I still sometimes feel as though rock stars live on a modern-day Mount Olympus, swanning about on a higher plane and only interfering in the lives of mortals when they deign it absolutely necessary. So I get a small shock of the familiar when Shay Haley tells me he’s at home in Virginia having an early dinner with his six year-old daughter, who I can hear giggling in the background. Haley, of course, is best known as “the other dude” in N*E*R*D - an outfit he shares with Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo who, as The Neptunes, have dominated Top 40 radio for much of the past decade. It’s not just the sound of his daughter’s laughter that serves to bring Haley down to earth; it’s the faint hint of wistfulness, coupled with a healthy dose of awe, when he talks about touring with the world’s only cartoon band a couple of months ago. He seems a little bit lost for words. “Gorillaz, man... Wow”, he begins. “It’s like watching a Pixar film every night. It was incredible, man. Damon having the creative freedom to do whatever he wants was just a pure joy”.
rough,” he admits, “but we worked it out, and polished it up... So if you appreciate what the band does, you’ll definitely enjoy the show. “We still have that great, amazing band back there, and the sound is still superb. And Pharrell and I come out and put on a hell of a show.” A word from the wise, though – wear earplugs, or prepare for a world of pain: N*E*R*D play LOUD, punishing a venue’s sound system past the point of destruction. It’s something which clearly delights Shay. “We command the house engineers to really pump that sound,” he says, with a hint of mischief. “And so sometimes we do blow out the system – we’ve been known for that. That’s why a lot of club promoters don’t allow us to come back, after we’ve wrecked a multithousand dollar system.” Here’s hoping the Hordern will be adequately prepared... What: Nothing is out now through Universal With: Chromeo, Boys Noize, Tinie Tempah Where: The Hordern Pavilion When: Friday January 7
It’s interesting that “creative freedom” is the single aspect of the Gorillaz experience that has caused Shay’s breathlessness. N*E*R*D’s fourth album Nothing came out about six weeks ago, with the band branching out from their traditional rock/rap party boy sounds towards a much softer, even jazzier vibe that recalled early 70s soul and funk. And although they’ve never exactly received rave reviews from critics, Nothing did even worse - 4.1 from Pitchfork (“a parade of deliriously bad ideas”), 6/10 from NME, and this reviewer’s 2½ stars in these hallowed pages - with many commenting that N*E*R*D* only really works when sticking to the party anthems.
“ Pharrell and Chad thought it could work, but I just didn’t feel like the core N*E*R*D fan would really appreciate us putting out that kind of music... It’s not that it was bad, it’s just that it wasn’t us.” Almost in passing, Shay mentions that Nothing almost didn’t happen. Apparently, there was an entire album’s worth of material that was completed and poised for release long beforehand - but after a few internal disagreements, the project was ditched. “We were working on another album called Instant Gratification,” Shay explains, “where we went for a more ‘pop’ sound, and we tried to make music [that fit] with what was going on today. But it just didn’t resonate well with me. Pharrell and Chad thought differently, and thought it could work – but I just didn’t feel like the core N*E*R*D fan would really appreciate us putting out that kind of music... It’s not that it was bad, it’s just that it wasn’t us”. I respond that his assessment of the little album that couldn’t is actually quite close to how I felt about the album that was released - and to his credit, Shay is happy to discuss the poor reception of Nothing. He asks me why I didn’t like it, and listens to what I have to say – even if he does shrug it off, noting that the buzz on Facebook and Twitter has been positive. “Unfortunately”, he continues, “you can’t make everybody happy. But we wanted to break away from the norm, and I feel like we definitely accomplished that.” Still, it’s a stylistic excursion which will be short-lived for N*E*R*D; Haley casually mentions that the band are already back in the studio “putting together another masterpiece that the world will enjoy.” He won’t say much more about it - except that it will be released very, very soon. In the meantime, though, there’s an Australian tour to take care of – which will see N*E*R*D, Chromeo, Tinie Tempah and Boys Noize take over the Hordern Pavilion for one huge night. The new material demands more of him when playing it live, of course; it’s Shay’s job as MC to keep the energy up, even when the music kicks back to relax. “N*E*R*D is known for performing with intensity,” he explains, “but this new material shows more of a mellow, psychedelic side to the band. And so I try my hardest to maintain the energy, but still take people on that emotional rollercoaster.” After playing the new material a handful of times, the live show is starting to take shape. “The first couple of shows were a little thebrag.com
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PLAYING AT
REPRINTED FROM THE BRAG #450 [FEB 19:03:2012]
or those who’ve heard it, the name Marilyn Manson is synonymous with a brand of insidious, anger-fuelled glam metal, and a musical output geared to incite the deconstruction of such pillars of modern American society as Christianity, conformity and an obsession with violence. His tours in the late 1990s and early 2000s were explosive affairs, typically picketed and protested by conservative political and religious groups, climaxing with the blame assigned to him for the role his music (arguably) played in the Columbine tragedy of 1999. Compounding all this moral outrage was the fact that the conservative backlash only seemed to make him more successful. Yet the age in which an artist is able to shock based purely on live performances, stage costumes and lyrical content has long since passed and, thanks to the rise of the internet, Manson’s outlandish approach has been superseded by millions of citizens willing to say or do anything for 15 minutes of fame. Now with his eighth full-length record Born Villain on the way (the first not being released through major label imprint Interscope) Manson finds himself at a crossroads: is his shock-filled approach still relevant? And if not, what’s to become of Marilyn Manson? “A lot of times, a large portion of people – especially in America – aren’t interested in finding something deeper. Sure, sometimes I like the jingle on the commercial, but at
the end of the day, when you go to sleep, you’re locked in a moment when you remember certain images, songs, smells and sounds that stay with you forever,” says the remarkably chatty Manson from his Los Angeles home, which doubles as the studio where he laid much of the groundwork for Born Villain. “And that’s what allows me to have an attitude where I can objectify the fact that people treat what I made as a product, but not get mad and take it personally. I can treat it not as a product, but as something that comes from me. I can still be happy about making it. And I also know how to adapt to what I believe is a great new environment. A lot of people have never heard my music; I would never walk into a room or a situation and have the arrogance – or, actually, the ignorance – to assume that they know what I’ve done before. I want to play them [Born Villain] just as I would my first record, and have them like it for the same reason.” As the oft-reclusive 43-year-old speaks, he sheds the thick exterior he’s presented in the past. He is open when discussing not only his fears about his place in the world, but how he might overcome them. “I was struggling very hard to figure out where I would fit in this changing world – [as] someone that’s against everything and then suddenly, they’re a part of everything. And in that Warhol, Salvador Dali sense, I was just trying to make it out alive.” What Manson chose to do was get back to basics. “I can’t
say it was simple, but it was important to go back and give myself no other options. Limitations are a very strong thing for artists to have. I moved into a place and started painting, and only gave myself one colour: black, with white paper. We started making this record, and made it with the limitations of immediacy and urgency. It wasn’t so much improvisation as it was figuring out that when you only have a pencil and a guitar or a drumstick it’s almost reinventing the wheel. And I like limitations. They work for me. It worked for me back when I didn’t even have any songs, and I could only draw.” In 2012, Manson sees himself less as a crusader for a cause and more as an artist, born Brian Hugh Warner, who has finally gotten back in touch with what pushed him to start creating music under the Marilyn Manson & The Spooky Kids moniker over 20 years ago. “Over the past few albums, it didn’t start to become less passionate, but [it became] less fun for me. Art was always the thing that brought some fulfilment to me. And it had started to slip away.” With Born Villain, Manson has regained control of what he lost. He took his time, refused to rush the process and allowed his newfound creativity to take him wherever it could. The making of the album, which was jointly released on Manson’s own label Hell, etc. Records and Cooking Vinyl Records, was also an opportunity for him to look back on his time spent at a major label’s beck and call. (And amidst all of these changes to the man and his career, it’s refreshing to know that he never lost the ability to paint a vivid picture with trademark Manson wit…) “Here’s a profane reference, or metaphor: you’re having oral sex with a woman and you’re thinking to yourself, ‘Wow, this is wonderful!’ and you just want to keep doing it – but then
you think to yourself, ‘Wait, people have also told me that mustard is great,’ so you put mustard on it just to change it, and keep going. These labels, they love something but then they want to try something different because everyone’s telling them something else to do. They get afraid of just loving something, just because. It’s not the artist, they think – it’s the formula. But people identify with stuff that really hits them.” It’s Manson’s hope that Born Villain will indeed hit fans, without the mustard. While he’s ready to acknowledge his past, he’s more content to move forward; shocking those around him is not a concern for him, and he doubts it ever was. Turns out Manson, with his ongoing fight to be honest, may be more relevant now than ever. “Whatever I’ve done, it’s certainly led us to this conversation. I’ve always said that I can’t possibly be shocking – and believe it or not, I said that when I started out. What you can be is confusing, and interesting. It’s a form of communication. And all that added to the determination of making this record. I think this will be considered the best Marilyn Manson record. It’s the most true to how I wanted it to be.” What: Born Villain will be out in May, on Hell, etc. and Cooking Vinyl With: System Of A Down, Slipknot, Limp Bizkit, A Day To Remember, Bush, Machine Head, Bad Religion, The Used, Dillinger Escape Plan, Steel Panther and loads more Where: Soundwave @ Sydney Showground When: Sunday February 26 Sidewave: Wednesday February 29 @ The Enmore Theatre, with Coal Chamber, Wednesday 13 and Motionless In White
“What’s the matter, you dissentious rogues, that, rubbing the poor itch of your opinion, make yourselves scabs?” - CORIOLANUS 50 :: BRAG :: 749 :: 04:03:20
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VENGABOYS
S
ince its dirty old Spanish engine first revved in 1998, never has there been more anticipation of a single vehicle; a single vehicle in approach of a party-filled celebration-laden, traffic-light-burning destination. In 2012, the Vengabus is coming. The sound of Year 6 discos and every trashy Euro watering hole from Amsterdam to Scubar, the Dutch dance sensation needs relatively little introduction – certainly not for anyone who had Video Hits in the late ‘90s. The foursome blared into the spotlight with their ridiculously infectious anthem ‘We Like To Party’, followed by a succession of multi-Platinum hits: ‘Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom’, ‘We’re Going To Ibiza’, ‘Kiss (When The Sun Don’t Shine)’ and ‘Shalala Lala’, accompanied by some seriously bangin’ dance routines. The current lineup of Kim Sasabone, Denise Post-Van Rijswijk, Robin Pors and Donny Latupeirissa (aka Ma’Donny) are heading Down Under for the first time in ten years this month, to celebrate the release of their Greatest Hits – and if you’ve read this far, chances are you’re already humming the tune to at least one of them. You’ll have it in your head until the next financial year. You’re welcome. From a rainy and frostbitten Amsterdam, ‘sailor’ Vengaboy Robin Pors is quick to remind me that the upcoming tour is hardly a reunion – the Vengacrew have been consistently hard at work since their bus started honking almost 15 years ago. They’re back on the charts with the fist-pumping new single ‘Rocket To Uranus’, an
thebrag.com
REPRINTED FROM THE BRAG #444 [09:01:2012]
They’re Baaa-aaack! By Bridie Connellan
“We have a much better bus now, with seating and air-conditioning!” interplanetary disco sashay of blatant innuendo in your end, oh. Clad in silver lycra and dishing out more camp cheek than ever, the track is a return to Vengaroots, with an impossibly catchy hook and a series of Sasabone ‘WOAH-OHs’. “It’s craaaayyziness,” gushes Pors, who explains the appearance of the unexpected guest Perez Hilton on the track in a rapidfire story about a party, some more “craaaayyziness” – and something about not knowing who he was, and the scene being a riot. Essentially, Vengaboys have been ‘active’ since their inception in 1997, when the four original members met at sweltering probably-illegal beach parties in Spain, and producers Danski and Delmundo assembled the four singing-dancing hyperactives into a package of Dutch dance doom. It’s only fitting we check in with the group’s movements since then… Vengastyle. WOAH! Robin left the band and auditioned for X-Factor. WOAH! He was replaced by a dolphin trainer named Yorrick Bakker. WOAH! Cowboy Roy den Burger left the band in 2001 and is now a flight attendant. WOAH! Denise had a kid. WOAH! Kim stayed hot. WOAH! Robin came back. WOAH! The band had a party. WOAH! In the Mediterranean Sea. “I love my girls Kim and Denise so much, I’ve known them for a very, very long time,” says Pors, pondering his return to the group in 2007. “We still miss Roy and I wish we would still see him, but he has his own things and sometimes you just have to change something in your life.”
Pors is the original and current sailor of the four, a Village Peopleesque persona alongside his Vengababe compadres. “Early on we had the idea we were going to have characters onstage, and [the producers] were like, ‘Who do you wanna be?’ and I was like, ‘Oh, let me think about it’ – and then I saw a really really goodlooking sailor advertisement and I was like, ‘I wanna be like THAT.’ It was a really, really goodlooking model, and I was like, ‘That’s going to work out for me.’” Giggling at his own audacity, Pors is downright proud of his transition to ‘space sailor’, and assures me his 15 “transparence” outfits are masterpieces. He says rejoining the group was a no-brainer. “I did a lot of [solo] stuff for myself and that’s always nice to do, but of all the things I’ve done in my life, the crowd is always just so good when [Vengaboys] are onstage. It’s just the best. Having those crowds and they’re going nuts about the songs and singing along and dancing, it’s such a good feeling. I don’t want to miss that.” Whether one enjoys Vengaboys’ electronic pap-pap style of fistpumping dance-pop or not, the figures are hard to ignore. The band has sold around 20 million singles and five million albums worldwide, scored a slew of Top 10 hits across their 15-year career, seen their two studio albums go Platinum and Gold from the UK to Oz, and bagged a World Music Award for Best Selling Dance Group. And: they did it all wearing vinyl chaps. In India, Vengaboys are one of
the most popular foreign acts of all time, and a semi-serious joke goes around Holland about the band being one of the country’s most successful ‘export products’, beating cheese and tulips. “We’ve sold a lot, and in Holland everyone is really proud of us to achieve that,” says Pors. “It’s a great thing, that the world loves our cheeky dance music.” Take one look at the slew of covers YouTubing their way to memedom and it’s obvious Vengaboys fans are amongst the most positive batch of silly sods this side of S Club – and why shouldn’t they be? Vengasongs are consistently in a palatable and burlable key, drops are predictable, lyrics are simple, sassy and learnable. The only way to hate the band is to take them too seriously, or play them too much. One tweeting fan summed it up nicely: “Does that Adele bird ever cheer up? Always singing about depression and loss. I’d rather listen to Vengaboys.” Like the majority of dance-pop, the Vengaboys and their tunes are an exercise in musical hedonism: pure pleasure and partying is a pursuit the band has never been embarrassed about. As they assured us in ‘We Like To Party’, “Happiness is just around the corner.” 14 years on, Pors could not agree more. “You know the best thing about the music? Almost everybody could like it. If you’re four years old it’s like [sings ‘Boom Boom Boom Boom’ hook], or if you’re 60 and you go out it’s like ‘WOAH-OH-OH WOAH-OH-OH’ and you can sing along when you’re drunk. Everybody and every
age can like the music, and that’s a good thing. It’s great, strong music – and that’s why people still like it.” And that’s it; it’s about being in a sweaty Eurobar wearing hoop earrings after way too many Vodka Thingies, grinding to a favourite Vengahit and being able to swing your arms above your head and sing along without too much effort (or sobriety). Pors takes me quite aback with the simplest answer to what I foolishly thought might be a deep and meditative question, when I ask what he loves most about dance music: “Well, I love to dance, darling,” he chuckles. So with hopeless beatlovers already raising their hands in anticipation of Vengaboys’ first trip to Australia in over 10 years, just one pressing mystery remains: where is that infernal Vengabus? “It’s outside my house,” Pors answers, stifling a giggle. “No, no, that one’s still in Spain, the original Vengabus from the ‘We Like To Party’ video. We have a much better bus now, with seating and air-conditioning! [The Vengabus] is not nice when it’s really cold in Northern parts of Europe, it’s not really a good bus to tour in. It was a funny bus though, and maybe we’ll take it with us to Australia. Everybody wants to see the Vengabus, right?” What: The Best Of Vengaboys Australian Tour Edition is out now through Central Station Records Where: Selina’s @ Coogee Bay Hotel / Newcastle Panthers When: Friday January 13 / Saturday January 14
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FEATURE
REPRINTED FROM THE BRAG #723 [20:08:17}
Bully Our greatest disaster show happened in the summer of 2014. We were headed to Memphis by way of Arkansas at the end of a three-day run. We spent half the drive gritting our teeth through a tornadoproducing storm, arriving in Memphis to flooded, empty streets. The storm had knocked out the power to the venue so we left our gear onstage unable to soundcheck. Pools of standing water in the back of the room grew until the rain let up just before doors. Hospitality consisted of some PBRs [Pabst Blue Ribbons] and a separate room with a fan and one chair. After someone figured out how to fix the main breaker, we played our set to a solid 12 people, most of whom drove from other towns. Hurrying to leave, we discovered Reece’s pedals had gone missing off the side of the stage. We would have liked to spend the night hanging out with our tour mates and new buddies, but their hotel was openly being used for prostitution. We decided to get a few more miles towards home that night.
N
obody gets it right all the time. Our lives are punctuated by defeat: losing isn’t so much the endgame as it is part of the game itself, and every single hard-won victory comes riding on a wave of a thousand fuck-ups.
The Worst Gig I’ve Ever Played
The same applies for musos. Though we like to imagine our sonic heroes as crowdsurfin’, guitar-shreddin’ gods, forever forming one cool pose after the next, in actuality every rock dog on the planet has had their fair share of calamaties. After all, you can’t make an omelette without cracking a few eggs, and when the hard times come, they come… well, hard. In that vein, we reached out to some of our favourite failureembracin’ bands and asked them to offer up their very worst gig story. Though we did so in partto prove that the flaws make the masterpiece, and that disappointment and disaster are human, we also did it for less highbrow reasons: namely, to indulge in that sick shot of vicarious pleasure that fills us whenever we see people walking into stuff. Read on, and prepare to cringe.
Musicians Share Their Cringeworthy Stories From The Stage Gooch Palms The worst show would have to be our very first show we ever played in Sydney. It was our third ever show. We had friends catch the train down from Newcastle – which is a big effort – and we were so excited to be playing a proper venue in Sydney. The sound guy was so angry and hated us as soon as we turned up. We had backing tracks that he was in full control of making sound good through the PA and he didn’t care enough to make them sound good – so it just sounded like really loud static noise.
“I STOOD THERE ALONE ON THE STAGE TRYING TO TUNE, MIND IMPLODING, FOR WHAT FELT LIKE AN HOUR.”
We tried to make up for the heinous sounds coming out of the speakers by putting on a good show but it was just so bad and embarrassing and it was really hard to pick ourselves up and keep going after that moment. Our friends said ‘Um, that was good?’ as politely as they could but we knew it was the worst.
Georgia Mulligan It was pretty bad when my guitar kind of cut out in the middle of a set. I hadn’t set it up properly yet and the tuning pegs were ancient, so between songs it just started refusing to tune. I stood there alone on the stage trying to tune, mind imploding, for what felt like an hour, but it was probably only five minutes. Eventually, Julia Jacklin, who was headlining, called out from the crowd, ‘Hey, you wanna use my guitar?’ and rescued me. I rushed through the last songs on her Tele and couldn’t wait to get offstage to vomit from stress. Everyone there said it was fine but it felt pretty pathetic. Finally got my guitar fixed though.
Bleached A couple years ago we flew to NY to play a show on the pier in Manhattan. It was sponsored by Sailor Jerry’s new liquor so people were getting pretty annihilated – including us. Anyways, as we were playing a vending machine on the pier sitting right behind us caught on fire. We had no idea there was a fire happening so we just kept playing. They finally stopped the show and afterwards everyone was saying they thought we purposely lit it on fire. To make matters worse we all ended up getting kicked out of the after party.
It’s funny to remember now and I defi nitely remember Leroy smashing a glass and screaming at the sound guy onstage then running around the whole venue like a chook without a head midset. But I guess that was the beginning of the idea of us putting on show rather than just standing there. So maybe it wasn’t so bad in the long run.
Torres Last year I played Primavera festival in Barcelona alone, sans band. I hadn’t begun using in-ear monitors yet, and the stage was so massive that my guitarpicking ended up getting mushy and extremely reverbed out. It ended up being ok until the end of my set when I actually lost the key I was singing in because I couldn’t hear the guitar. Embarrassing! 52 :: BRAG :: 749 :: 04:03:20
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REPRINTED FROM THE BRAG #244 [14:01:2008]
BJöRK Is there life on Mars? By Simone Ubaldi
“I
met Brian Eno once in a steam room in London. I fell asleep and when I woke up, he was sitting next to me. He told me this theory about how singers make melodies that reflect how artistic their countries are. Countries like England and Japan have very hierarchical structures and the notes are always very close to each other; there are no big jumps. But people from Iceland, for example, sing melodies that are more anarchic. I thought it was interesting… but it could have been that I just dreamt it, you know. Maybe I didn’t even meet him.” Bjork chuckles gently and lapses into silence. For most of my adult life, this diminutive waif has loomed large on the alternative music landscape as an artist of curious, otherworldly charm. And here, for a brief moment, it seems that the Iife of the Icelandic pixie queen might be equal to the legend; that Bjork might, as a matter of course, fall asleep in a drowsy mist and wake to find Brian Eno has appeared, numinous and elusive, to impart some esoteric gem about the nature of song. Naturally, this would happen, because she is Bjork, and she seems only marginally connected to this world. Gnashing her teeth at photographers or turning out for the Oscars dressed as a Swan; tap dancing, screaming punk or wailing an ocean of noise from the bottom of her tiny chest; she is extraordinary and extraordinary things must necessarily happen to her… ergo Brian Eno. The truth, of course, is slightly less romantic but significantly more robust, much like the lady herself. Though she speaks quietly on the phone, with the sweet and doughy accent of her north European home, Bjork is clear and thoughtful at all times. Thirty years in the music industry, beginning with the self-titled record of 1977, has given her an immaculate polish in her approach to interviews. She answers every question as though it is the first time she has heard it and she peppers her responses with graceful frankness. Her
tour, her new album, her craft – these are not randomly evoked from a witches brew, but measured artistic choices that she can easily explain, even if the end product seems creative beyond comprehension. Volta, for example (Bjork’s sixth solo album) is a response to Medulla, which was a product of motherhood. “Medulla for me was really about domestic bliss and breast-feeding and the joys of that very small universe that a mother has with her child, but then when they get older the mother wants to go out and have friends as well. I think Volta is about that really, wanting to take the world on and wanting to tour and go to places that you’ve never been before.” Medulla, another landmark record in a career of constant reinvention, was built almost entirely from layers of Bjork’s voice. It was impossible to tour because, as she impishly points out, “I’ve only got one larynx,” so from 2004 until the release of Volta this year, Bjork remained at home with her young daughter. When she finally set about making the new album, she was unconsciously reconstructing her own life. “A lot of the time when you’re in the middle of it you can’t really tell where it’s coming from. All your friends can tell, but not you, so it’s hard for me to say what drove me… I was probably suffering a little bit from cabin fever. It probably came from having had a baby and being tied to the house for a long time. I was really excited about touring and I think in many ways I wrote the music thinking more about how it would sound live than how it would sound on the record.” A long-time devotee to the art of collaboration, Bjork brought in a host of guest artists to deliver what she has called “an energetic and fun album”. Antony Hegarty (of Antony & the Johnsons), appears alongside improv drummer Chris Corsano, Malian kora player Toumani Diabate, Chinese pipa player Min
Xiao-Fen and a 10-piece brass band. Always curious about the cutting edge of electronica, Bjork also invited Congolese “electro” outfit Konono No 1 to work with her (with the traditional likembé instrument wired for sound, Konono make beats from wholly organic sources). As she tells it, this collaborative process was part of her return to the outside world. “I guess 80% of the album I did on my own… it’s quite a solitary affair. I write and sing and write lyrics and it’s very introspective,” she explains. “80% of the album is that energy, so towards the end I’m always gagging for some other people, and it becomes just the opposite. When I collaborate, I don’t want to follow my rules, I want to do something wild and see where I can meet with this other person.” Perhaps the highest profile guest on Volta, super-producer Timbaland was also called in to work on the record, with three of his tracks ending up on the final product. This, it becomes clear, was a true test of Bjork’s commitment to the collaborative process – and the submission of her artistic will to that of another. “I did try at first to get him involved in the concepts of Volta and all the brass and the ideas I’ve been working on with my vocals, but he sort of sent them back to me and said that that wouldn’t really interest him,” she smiles, “I think, with Tim, you really have to do it his way. He’s very macho - in the nicest way possible. He has a very primitive and productive energy. He’d just walk into a room and in the space of three hours we’d have four songs from scratch. He’s sort of a person who likes to work from scratch, so you’ve got nothing that you’ve prepared and came with and it’s just you, that’s it, and you just write a song… He’s sort of like a race car driver – it’s very extreme, that one element, but it made me feel like a tango dancer getting thrown around.”
Afterwards, Bjork admits, she returned to the songs for some additional noodling: “I wanted a bit more embroidery added in, because I’m a chick. So I sort of sat down and added in some structure, some backing vocals, some instruments. So we got the best of both worlds – Tim got to be a race car driver and I got to be… embroidery woman.” The important thing, she insists, is to keep changing, and if she stays too long in an interior, secluded place, she is naturally inclined to fight her way out of it. Similarly – and this why Australian audiences have not seen Bjork since 1995 – too long out there in the world and she starts to lose her sense of self. “With The Sugarcubes, we would make an album for two or three months and then we’d go on tour for 15 months, and a similar thing happened to me with Debut and Post. When I started doing Homogenic in ‘96 or ‘97, I decided I wanted to change the balance and spend maybe 15 months making an album and four months touring it, because I felt I needed to progress more musically instead of just being a rock animal in hotel rooms and sound checks. So the last 12 years I’ve toured less, but I think it was worth it, because I’ve gone into categories musically that I would never have seen if I had toured as much as I did in the beginning.” This is all very practical, of course, and the result of her pragmatism is a career rich with massive revolutions. Still, as ever, there is something uniquely Bjorkian about her logic. Even if her choices are easy to understand, it is impossible to know how she does it. Who: Bjork What: Volta is out now through Universal When: January 23 / January 25 Where: Opera House Steps / Big Day Out
“I have been filled with steam for months, for years Same old cloud, claustrophobic me” - BJORK 54 :: BRAG :: 749 :: 04:03:20
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out & about
REPRINTED FROM THE BRAG #733 [24:01:2018]
Queer(ish) matters with Arca Bayburt
Queer Resolutions! (And Music Videos) Welcome to 2018.
“MY 2017 RESOLUTION WAS: ‘I RESOLVE TO RESOLVE MORE’.”
I guess I should have some pre-packaged wisdom to espouse about new beginnings, clean slates or starting over, blah blah. But I don’t have any of these things. 2018 is as much a mystery to me as 2017 was at its start. I know nothing and I’m comfortable with that. Not to say I haven’t tried to be thoughtful about it – in fact I tend to put a lot of superstitious effort into my New Year’s resolutions.
It also happens to be the case that I’ve never failed in any of my resolutions. That might sound impressive, but really, I just make them either extremely specific (or conversely, vague as hell) and quite achievable. Sometimes they’re just bits of wanky nonsense that sound glib or useless, but I try to imbue even the most ridiculous of resolutions with something meaningful and applicable to real life. 2017’s resolution was: “I resolve to resolve more.” It sounds like nothing, but because it fit my usual NYE resolution parameters, I found it easy to sneak into my life. It’s kind of like sneaking cardio into your life. Like, taking the stairs instead of the elevator, or taking frequent breaks from your desk, or making one trip with ten thousand grocery bags, or jogging in the shower, or leaping everywhere instead of walking, or sleeping standing up. I dunno, the point is I could apply this resolution everywhere. It was flexible enough that I adhered to it for the duration of the year.
“I’M SOMEONE WHO GETS ALL STARRY-EYED AT THE POTENTIAL OF THINGS, THEN GETS UPSET WHEN THE OPPORTUNITIES INEVITABLY SLIDE BY, NOT WAITING FOR MY SORRY ASS TO MAKE A DECISION.”
Anyway, the result of all these mental gymnastics was that I did things more decisively than I was used to. I’m someone who gets all starry-eyed at the potential of things, then becomes upset when the opportunities inevitably slide by, not waiting for my sorry
ass to make a decision, because I’m greedy and want everything. I resolved to resolve more, and so I did. It also made it easier to cope with the same sex marriage survey freakshow we all reluctantly had to be part of.
This year’s resolution has a similar ethos, although I almost did change it to, “Must see Cher or die” when I found out she’d be coming to town for Mardi Gras. Speaking of queer musical iconography, however, there is something that’s caught me by surprise recently, and that is Hayley Kiyoko’s music video ‘Curious’ from her upcoming debut album Expectations. I watched the video after a friend mentioned it was one of the gayest things she’d ever seen, so I checked it out. It’s pretty gay.
“QUEERNESS CAN BE SEXY: IT CAN BE CONFIDENT AND ASSERTIVE TOO. IT DOESN’T HAVE TO BE A DIRTY LITTLE SECRET, AND I FUCKING LOVE THAT.”
The song is about Hayley singing to a girl she’s been seeing (or hooked up with in the past, or dated?) who is dating a guy. Ten seconds into the video, Hayley is singing her lusty longings while laying beneath a pile of women sliding their hands all over her. Somehow this isn’t cheesy or creepy or weird.
What a time to be alive. I mean seriously, while I was midway through high school, I had faux-lesbians t.A.T.u. singing “All the things she said, wah wah wah” while hiding beneath a protective layer of rain, poor colour-grading and heterosexual palatability. Tegan and Sara never really did it for me (please don’t send me hate mail) so I made do with just substituting pronouns in songs to make them queerer in my head, while simultaneously, diligently, covering my binders with stickers of “hot boys” – y’know, hetero camouflage. But ‘Curious’ is something so distant to all of that it feels downright foreign. This music video, aside from the fact that it’s a little sophomoric for me now, has lyrics I immediately connected with, despite myself. I think this is what surprised me most. It’s not so much that the video has decidedly queer content, it’s that said content isn’t pandering to anyone. It’s for itself, and maybe that’s why the connection was made. This isn’t some Katy Perry-esque performance of lesbianism to titillate the straighties. It’s not Britney and Madonna chasing each other around the sweaty set of ‘Me Against The Music’, baiting the queers with insipid sexual tension and capitalising on the controversy of their 2003 VMA’s kiss. It’s authentically queer. With new, young queer icons who aren’t there to exploit or be exploited, comes a feeling of being seen. Queerness can be sexy: it can be confident and assertive too. It doesn’t have to be a dirty little secret, and I fucking love that. Happy New Year!
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BRAG :: 749 :: 04:03:20 :: 55
REPRINTED FROM THE BRAG #433 [25:09:2011]
A Leap Forward By Bridie Connellan
“W
hen did we forget about a onesie? You can do a legspread and your modesty is protected. One. Done.” It’s good to know that Connie Mitchell thinks practically about her onstage garments. Amidst a chirpy vocabulary of “darlings”, “dudes” and “amazeballs”, the frontwoman for Sydney dance smash Sneaky Sound System is all smiles, fresh off a plane from Ibiza and ready for a sly Monday beverage. But then, with a brand spanking new album and a return to the homeland from a long stretch abroad, Mitchell has every reason to be a bubble of joy. With partner in crime Black Angus (aka Angus McDonald) in one hand and the reigns to the world in the other, Mitchell is fluffing her ‘fro and smoothing her sequins ahead of the October release of Sneaky Sound System’s third album. Their first release through Modular, From Here To Anywhere is both a hark back to the original infectious hooks that Sneaky Sound System splashed back in the mid-2000s and a leap forward in dance-pop for the duo, a maturation in sound since the band lost their third arm Daimon Downey “amicably” in 2009. It was a transient type of recording this time round, an on-the-fly whirlwind series of sessions between hotel rooms, planes and studios from Sydney, London and Paris to Naples, Moscow and Ibiza and back again; McDonald describes the record as “a postcard from various dancefloors around the globe”, where the pair would find space to be creative wherever they could.
“The original plan was to collaborate with lots of people, but the ideas were flowing so freely that we ended up writing it all in a few months,” he says. “I tried to keep the production as simple as possible so Connie’s vocals could take centre stage, and we spent a lot longer living with the songs, test-driving them and letting them take their natural course. We were brutal at editing anything we deemed superfluous.” 2011 has been a year of vigorous reinvigoration for Mitchell and McDonald, the pair making a splash initially with their single ‘We Love’ back in May and following it up with a guerilla film clip for ‘Big’ on the Vegas strip. Despite toting that classic SSS disco drive, the new tunes are all Depeche Mode up in here – a vibe that’ll be made even more juicy when David Bascombe, the original producer for Depeche Mode’s 1986 LP Music For The Masses, mixes an acoustic version of ‘Big’ in coming weeks. But although their sound has grown in scope and depth, the duo have hardly lost their minxy edge; the film clip for ‘We Love’ totes silhouettes thrusting, cocks (roosters), melons, Eiffel Towers and other various objects of cheeky innuendo that are sure to raise a few eyebrows from prudish viewers. “Is it not the most sexy thing you’ve ever see in your life?” laughs Mitchell. While they both admit to being reasonably blushy on first watch of the clip, Mitchell’s infectious giggles over the public’s reaction give away her love of “a bit of raciness”. “I do have to tell you, when we got the first draft of the clip, it was hardcore. Even we thought [it
SNEAKY SOUND SYSTEM
was] borderline. Both our mouths dropped open – and you know you’re in trouble when the first thought that comes into your mind is, ‘What is my grandmother going to think?’” And McDonald agrees: “The so-called ‘raunchy’ bits were shot after we left the shoot in London, so it was a bit of a surprise when we got the first edit,” he says. “But if commercial television can give it a G rating, then it’s pretty safe to say it ain’t exactly scandalous. Each to their own.”
Mitchell assures me that such adventurousness is all part of the Sneaky process; she amused both herself and McDonald in her innovative and almost field recording-esque approach to this album. From singing in a fishtank to crawling along a long corridor to achieve the desired sonic effect, the vocalist left no experiment untried – and spooked her counterpart in the process. “Connie was really into creating different characters for each track, and sometimes it felt like she was crossing over. It was intense – she can be a very intense creature a lot of the time, it’s amazing to watch,” McDonald says. “We both knew exactly where we wanted each song to go and would push each other to breaking point at times – that’s when most of the magic would happen, when one of us was about to break. There was a lot of trust from both sides, but it was exhausting at times. It was the first time we really owned every single bit of every song together.” Since the release of their ARIA awardwinning, double Platinum, ridiculously-loved debut Sneaky Sound System and its similarly
“We’ve been so much in the public eye for so long, we really wanted to come in under the radar... But when we do kick off a proper tour – my God, that better be OUTSTANDING! There better be lasers, there better be dancing girls, smoke machines, pyros, and me arriving in a chopper...”
popular follow-up 2, Mitchell and McDonald have managed to kick out a bucketful of the biggest dancefloor anthems in the last decade of Australian beats, including ‘UFO’, ‘Pictures’ and ‘I Love It’. But with two albums that were Just Plain Massive on Australian shores and international dancefloors, the challenge to craft something fresh without alienating fans could have been, well, rather testing. “All we know how to do is make music that comes naturally to us; to make music we love,” says McDonald. “There was no master plan, no target audience, no clear directive except to capture whatever we were feeling at that time. To us, [From Here To Anywhere] is a leap forward. Time will tell what everybody else thinks.” With a small run of homecoming gigs to start them off, Sneaky Sound System are easing back into chart consciousness with all the grace of a crafty key change. “We’ve been so much in the public eye for so long, we really wanted to come in under the radar rather than make it wizz-bang,” says Mitchell. “But when we do kick off a proper tour – my God, that better be OUTSTANDING! There better be lasers, there better be dancing girls, smoke machines, pyros, and me arriving in a chopper.” With Ibiza, London, Russia, Dubai and Naples temporarily in their rearview mirror, a pit-stop home and a catch-up beverage with buds is just what McDonald and Mitchell need right now; but hand in hand, on the edge of the sand, these two are far from turning off the projector. “The record is called From Here To Anywhere [because] it feels like we’re just finding our feet now, and the possibilities for the future are endless... It’s a new phase for us, and we are very excited about where the road might take us,” says McDonald, whose band has surely had their fair share of peaks and troughs. “We’ve definitely been on one hell of a journey.” What: From Here To Anywhere is out October 7 on Modular, through Universal
“Employee of the Month, cause yo, I do work / The K-A-N-E is on the J-O-B / An expert, cause I get it D-O-N-E” - BIG DADDY KANE 56 :: BRAG :: 749 :: 04:03:20
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BRAG FEATURE:
Vivid LIVE 2012
REPRINTED FROM THE BRAG #462 [20:05:2012]
MAY 25 – JUNE 3
T
his year’s Vivid LIVE – the music component of Vivid Sydney – continued the tradition of jaw-dropping lineups, but discarded the curatorial model; from now on, rather than being programmed by seminal figures like Brian Eno and Lou Reed, Vivid LIVE will be put together by the Sydney Opera House team, led by Head of Contemporary Music Fergus Linehan. Linehan’s programming pedigree is well established – besides curating Sydney Festival from 2006-2009, he’s also the man we have to thank for the Opera House’s recent spate of covetable gigs. He says the decision to change Vivid LIVE’s curatorial format was simple: “We found that what major artists really wanted was a platform to do special projects at the House. The new structure gave us a chance to have many voices, rather than just one.” The result is a program rich with world premieres, and Sydney exclusives by some of the most creative minds in the industry: The National’s Bryce Dessner, composer Nico Muhly and Sufjan Stevens will guide us through the universe with their critically acclaimed Planetarium; Sydney Symphony will be helping Efterklang show off their new album for the first time (most of which was written with this particular night in mind); and Amon Tobin will present his ground-breaking and dimension-busting audiovisual extravaganza ISAM Live: Beyond 3D. Beyond this, the lineup is noticeably lady-centric. Karen O brings us her hugely ambitious Stop The Virgens “psycho opera” (seven years in the making and featuring over 50 artists, including Yeah Yeah Yeahs bandmates Nick Zinner and Brian Chase, and Beastie Boy Money Mark); Florence & The Machine will perform with an orchestra of over 40; Imogen Heap will share cuts from her in-progress crowd-sourced and innovative forthcoming album; and Janelle Monáe will finally bring her ArchAndroid Orchestra Down Under (having left fans panting after she cancelled last year’s tour). “At one point this year, our program was so driven by incredible women that we actually toyed with the idea of doing an all-female event,” Linehan has admitted. What made him change his mind? “Amon Tobin, The Temper Trap, Sufjan Stevens.” We got the chance to talk to some of our Vivid LIVE festival picks; for the full program and tickets, see vividlive. sydneyoperahouse.com thebrag.com
Janelle Monáe Show Us The Monáe By Caitlin Welsh
B
y the time you read this, we will know whether or not the rumours are true. A few weeks ago, Afro-futurist pop-funk-soul auteur Janelle Monáe tweeted a link to a SoundCloud post about a “Prince rehearsal… watch out Australia!” The Australian music media went nuts – the assumption made sense, given that Monáe (who owes no small musical debt to her fellow pint-size pop pioneer) and her ArchAndroid Orchestra had previously opened for the Purple One overseas, and will be in the country at the same time as him, performing in Sydney for Vivid LIVE. (The first show on Prince’s Welcome 2 Australia tour is Sydney on May 11; only one date, May 26 in Brisbane, clashes with Monáe’s Vivid schedule.) But when asked directly about opening for Prince, Monáe is coy almost to the point of defensiveness, repeating the same line to several journalists: she can only confirm May 26 and 27 at the Sydney Opera House. In fact, Monáe won’t be drawn on a number of seemingly innocuous details – such as what we can expect from the show she’s doing this interview in order to promote (“I guess you’ll have to come and see. I think that’s the purpose of me coming over there – to give you something that I have to plan, but not discuss it with you prior to me going over there”), or even where she’s speaking from (“Um, I’d prefer not to say. But I’m recording music, I’m focused on music”). Perhaps she was in character as Cindi Mayweather, the android-on-the-lam protagonist of her two releases, 2008’s Metropolis: The Chase Suite EP and dazzling 2010 LP The ArchAndroid. (Monáe has been known to answer journalists’ questions with fanciful references to the ArchAndroid concept, claiming in a 2010 Rolling Stone profile that she
"Once we start messing with androids, how will we all get along? Will we teach our kids to fear androids? Will we oppress them? Or will we work together to do something great?"
attended an “Android community church in Metropolis”, and only dates androids: “Nothing like an android – they don’t cheat on you.”) But she also won’t confirm or deny an old quote wherein she declared her intent to release two albums in 2012. “As an artist, I do things according to my soul clock, and right now we’ve recorded music, and we’re recording music, and whatever the timing calls for, that’s what I will release,” she says. “I don’t try to plan anything.” A frustrated interviewer could accuse the singer of trying to build up extra mystique around her clearly established image, but Monáe softens slightly as she explains that the soul clock can’t be reset forward or back for anyone. “I don’t like being mysterious,” she says, a little apologetically. “I just prefer not to speak when the timing isn’t right. Everything is all about timing. It’s very important for me not to speak out of turn.”
Part of her reluctance is that she relies on inspiration, divine or otherwise – and it seems that she hasn’t been given the ending to the story of the ArchAndroid yet. “Pretty much all of my concepts come to me in my dreams – a lot of the music, I’ll wake up in the middle of the night and record it on my iPhone,” she explains. “That [ArchAndroid] story was just truly an amazing story because it had so many parallels to the android, and what the android represents to The Other. And so it’s never-ending. Things that are going on in 2719 [when the story is set] are happening right now in the present day, just in different forms… And I couldn’t have planned that story – that was truly something that came to me as a gift from God, in my dreams. But it just had so many parallels, and it was such an empowering story – a story of courage.” The ArchAndroid’s breakout single, ‘Tightrope’, a gleefully frenetic fuck-the-haters anthem, was also said to have been inspired in part by President Obama’s 2008 campaign. But true to her justification for making a record inspired by Fritz Lang’s 1927 masterpiece Metropolis – which, she informed the Rolling Stone interviewer, was at its essence a tale of the haves and have-nots – she insists that it’s a universal message, applicable as much to the 99% as to the narrative of disillusionment being spun around the Obama presidency. “[Obama’s] was just one of the stories,” Monáe explains. “I try to stay as connected as I possibly can to the community, and my family, and what real people are going through every day when they are working, or going to school, or just trying to make ends meet. And I think balance is what we all yearn for; we all need to stay sane in this world – ‘Don’t get too high, don’t get too low.’ So just like President Obama, or the person working at the post office – that song was written for them too.” While she’s performed for Obama twice already this year, to rapturous praise from the President, Monáe is committed to keeping her image accessible. Her
trademark quiff never budges, and her gamine tuxedos are also sported by the members of the ArchAndroid Orchestra, who will join her for her Australian shows – the uniform is a nod to Monáe’s family members and friends in uniformed or public service jobs. “We wear black and white, we wear tuxedos, and music is our weapon,” goes their motto. “They are really talented musicians, and we’re just looking forward to bringing the album and the live performance together and creating an experience – not just a live concert, or a showcase, but an experience that you believe in, and one you’ll never forget,” she says, offering no more information on the personnel or stage show.
But it’s at the mention of the recent performance by Tupac Shakur at Coachella – beamed in from the afterlife via hologram – that Monáe really opens up. A hologram – a technological manifestation of a human being that is not human – brushes up against her pet concept, the Android. She’s a fan of Ray Kurzweil, a futurist and author who helped popularise the idea of the technological singularity: the “intellectual event horizon” where artificial intelligence will outstrip that of humans. And while a hologram is obviously not AI, the varied reactions to the visual resurrection of the dead remind Monáe of one thing: a human fear of the technological Other that fascinates her so much that the entirety of her recorded output revolves around it. “I always pose the question: once we start messing with androids, and computers that can develop human characteristics, how will we all get along?” she offers, almost with the air of a university lecturer. “Will we teach our kids to fear androids? Will we oppress them? Or will we work together to do something great, to innovate and help the world more? What example will we be showing to the next generation? So I think the hologram poses that question. Are we scared of that? How do we feel about that? And how will we feel if holograms can be employed, or have IDs? Will we look at them as though it isn’t a real person, or as though it’s not an idea we can believe in? If it’s bringing joy to somebody, then why do we think it’s evil, or why do we hate it? It’s good to talk about these things, because technology is going to progress with or without you.” One last stab at a personal question: would she approve of getting the hologram treatment herself? “Well I’m here – but if I pass on to a different frequency, you mean?” …She pauses a moment. “I would be very interested in seeing my hologram, absolutely. But I’d want to be alive to see that.” What: Janelle Monáe and The ArchAndroid Orchestra Where: Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House When: Saturday May 26 and Sunday May 27 BRAG :: 749 :: 04:03:20 :: 57
BRAG FEATURE:
vivid LIVE 2011
REPRINTED FROM THE BRAG #413 [22:05:2011]
MAY 27 - JUNE 5
CURATED BY PAV
ODD FUTURE WOLF GANG KILL THEM ALL Discography: The Odd Future Tape (2008), Radical (2010) Follow: oddfuture.com, oddfuture. tumblr.com, golfwang.tumblr.com, @ofwgkta, @oddfuture, #SWAG #GOLFWANG #FUCKSTEVEHARVEY
MEET THE WOLF GANG Tyler, The Creator
Role: Ringleader, director, producer, visual artist, solo artist, MC, member of EarlWolf Discography: Bastard (2009), Goblin (2011) Follow: @fucktyler, formspring.me/ wolfhaley, youtube.com/user/bloxhead
Earl Sweatshirt
Role: Solo artist, MC, member of EarlWolf Discography: Earl (2010) Follow: M.I.A
Hodgy Beats
Odd Future The Overachievers By Steph Harmon
I
f there’s one thing music critics love right now, it’s talking about Odd Future. And if there’s one thing Odd Future hate, it’s talking to the media. It’s a peculiar arrangement that’s fuelled the OF mythology to no end; without access to the buzzed collective, think-pieces about think-pieces are emerging, with rumours cast as facts before being spun into distorted expositions. “They lie a lot,” Hodgy Beats says of the music press, when I finally get the MC on the phone. “They’re losers. They have nothing else to do except lie.” There’s a long, pregnant pause as we both consider the implications. It’s taken me weeks to secure this interview, and a promise to name an issue of BRAG after their ubiquitous catchcry (#SWAG, if you’re playing at home). They certainly don’t need to talk to me – Odd Future (Wolf Gang Kill Them All, or OFWGKTA) sold out their three Sydney shows in minutes. When I tell Hodgy he’s a hard man to get a hold of, he replies with a deep voice and genuine pride: “Thaaa’s right.” Hodgy’s on a tour bus to Virginia with the rest of the Los Angeles collective; all up, the Odd Future gang is made up of ten-ish rappers, producers, skaters and artists, most under 21 years old. Until about eight months ago, they existed solely (and prolifically) underground and online; artist albums, mixtapes and countless videos uploaded for free, for a loyal but comparatively small following. But after their first and incendiary NYC show in November last year (which, judging by the breathless reviews that surfaced, was attended by every music writer that ever existed), they exploded with an incomparable velocity. There was the Jimmy Fallon appearance, the overblogged SxSW gigs, the covers on NME and Billboard, the European tour, and finally the deal they inked with Sony’s RED Distribution last month, to start their own label with 100% creative control. While this sort
Fuck 'hype' - I hate that word. It's stupid. When we're done with music, that's when some other 20-year-old kids that are doper than us take over. The next movement. 58 :: BRAG :: 749 :: 04:03:20
of hyper-sensation isn’t uncommon for DIY hip hop acts with social networking know-how (think Lil B and Soulja Boy), there’s something else about Odd Future that’s got everyone worked up. They’ve made a multi-faceted brand, all by themselves – and they’ve swagged it the fuck out.
Of course, there’s also the content. Odd Future’s three most prominent members – Tyler, The Creator, Earl Sweatshirt and Hodgy Beats (who also releases as Mellowhype, with producer Left Brain) – specialise in purposefully shocking, macabre and ultraviolent raps growled and spat over heavy, deformed beats, with surprisingly polished production. Couched in murder and rape fantasies, horror and homophobia, these are some of the most condemned lyrics since the early days of Eminem, an artist to whom all three are happy to pledge allegiance. Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All (or as Tyler sometimes refers to them, Oh Fuck Will God Kill These Animals) have been referred to as “a skating band of child demons”, “entrancing and repulsive”, “staggeringly creative, gleefully antisocial … and two-steps-ahead-of-you smart” by the media. Ultimately though, they’re just a close-knit group of supremely talented, supremely smart and supremely bored kids, who jostle in studio for the most shocking raps before hitting the road for skate pranks and slap contests. And they’re having the time of their lives. “I don’t even believe it’s hype,” Hodgy answers, when I ask how long he thinks they can ride this wave. “I just believe it’s people finding out about us. Fuck ‘hype’ – I hate that word. It’s stupid. I believe that when we’re done with music, that’s when some other 20-yearold kids that are doper than us take over. The next movement.” Until then, media frenzy and moral panic prevail. A week before we speak, the collective’s charismatic ringleader Tyler, The Creator has been arrested in LA and caused an alleged "riot" in Boston while promoting his second solo album, Goblin. Four days before we speak, Sara Quinn of Tegan and Sara has posted an open letter condemning Tyler as “repulsive and irresponsible,” and denouncing the media and the artists who glorify him. (Tyler’s Twitter response? “If Tegan And Sara Need Some Hard Dick, Hit Me Up!”). And two days before the interview, the infamous Earl Sweatshirt has finally broken his silence. A catch up on Earl: Right before the group hit cult hero status in the second half of last year, the prodigiously talented 17-year-old went AWOL. Rumours started flying, spurred on by Odd Future’s own ‘Free Earl’ campaign. Jail? Vacation? Boot camp? …Grounded? The campaign kept growing until just last week, when Earl allegedly sent The New Yorker an email through his mother, asking fans to stop chanting ‘Free Earl’ at shows – he’s not being held against his will and, with the chants quickly turning to 'Fuck Earl's Mum', he’s fearing for her safety. “Nobody
even knows who’s been in touch with him," Hodgy tells me. "Like, we don’t even know where that came from, honestly. I mean, it could have been Earl, or it could have been his mum speaking out [on his behalf], you know? We don’t know anything – we don’t speak to Earl – I’m tired of talking about Earl. There’s nothing we can say about him being gone.” He’s clearly got his hackles up, but that’s forgivable. Like much of the collective, Hodgy had a rough childhood; kicked out of school, in trouble with the law, and raised by a single mum. Only 20 years old, he’s had a lot to adjust to this year. “Honestly, with us being in this type of industry, our personal lives can and will be invaded,” he acknowledges with resignation. “And that’s what we can’t, like, defeat.” It’s hard to believe they hate the attention – after all, they’ve been courting it from the outset. They mobilise and engage with their fans continually, updating their Tumblrs, YouTubes, Twitters and Formsprings compulsively with a barrage of music, clips, skits and stunts, all wrapped up in a consistent and accomplished aesthetic. (Tyler is responsible for much of the group’s visual output, and the film clips are particularly compelling. Especially if you like watching a guy eat a cockroach and then vomit.) Just as compelling is the irresistible balance these guys have struck between outrageous content, undeniable talent and an apparently insane fanbase. The night before I call them, Odd Future walked off stage in Detroit after glass bottles were thrown at their beatsmith, the sole female (and sole gay) member, Syd Tha Kyd. “He missed horribly,” Hodgy deadpans. “But it was just – the fact that we’re performing and there’s someone throwing bottles that we clearly cannot see come at us. Obviously we got tired of it. Everybody got tired of it.” By all descriptions, their shows are explosive; BRAG’s own Blake Rayner came home from South by Southwest with a split lip he wore as a badge of honour. So what is it about Odd Future that makes people go so crazy? “We’re just punk rock,” answers Hodgy. “At least, our shows are.” Hodgy’s sick, he hates interviews, and he’s just announced he’s giving up weed (“I’ve been smoking since I was twelve,” he tells me. “I’m just tired of that shit.”). So it's safe to say he’s not in the best of moods. Our conversation’s cut short when he clearly loses interest, and I’m forced to finish with a stock standard question. What are Odd Future expecting from Australia? “Obviously a lot of kangaroos,” he answers, before a thoughtful pause. “I wonder if I’m gonna be able to ride one. I wonder if they have a certain location where I can get on a kangaroo and they can like, let me ride one.” After all of that, it turns out they're just a bunch of kids looking for fun. Where: The Studio, Sydney Opera House When: May 31, June 1, June 2
Role: Solo artist, MC, member of MellowHype Discography: Hodgy Beats – Dena Tape (2009), Ignorant (TBC, 2011); MellowHype – YelloWhite (2010), Blackened White (2010; re-release in 2011, through Fat Possum), Numbers (TBC, 2011) Follow: @killhodgy, hodgybeats.tumblr.com
Left Brain
Role: Producer, member of MellowHype Discography: MellowHype – YelloWhite (2010), Blackened White (2010; re-release in 2011, through Fat Possum), Numbers (TBC, 2011) Follow: vyron.tumblr.com
Syd Tha Kyd
Role: DJ, producer, sound engineer, sister of Taco Bennet Discography: N/A Follow: @sydOFWGKTA, friscotsc.tumblr.com
Domo Genesis
Role: MC Discography: Rolling Papers (2010) Follow: @DamierGenesis, domogenesis.tumblr.com
Mike G
Role: MC Discography: Mike Check (2009), Ali (2010), Screwed Up Sundays (2010), Gold (TBC, 2011) Follow: @MikeGKTA, moracularworld.tumblr.com, 100sounds.blogspot.com
Frank Ocean
Role: Singer Discography: The Lonny Breaux Collection (2010), nostalgia, ULTRA (2011) Follow: @frank_ocean, frankocean.tumblr.com
Jasper Dolphin
Role: MC, member of I Smell Panties with Tyler, The Creator Discography: I Smell Panties (2008) Follow: @jasperdolphin, dolphinlife.tumblr.com
Taco Bennett
Role: MC, brother of Syd Tha Kyd Discography: N/A Follow: @oddfuckingtaco, triplesixtaco.tumblr.com
Matt Martians & Hal Williams
Role: Producers, illustrators, The Super3 (illustration and production for OFWGKTA), The Jet Age Of Tomorrow Discography: Voyager (2010), The Journey To The 5th Echelon (2011) Follow: @TheSuper3, @PyramidHarrold, timemachinestudios.tumblr.com, thejetageoftomorrow.bandcamp.com thebrag.com
BRAG FEATURE:
vivid LIVE 2011
REPRINTED FROM THE BRAG #413 [22:05:2011]
MAY 27 - JUNE 5
CURATED BY PAV
Bat For Lashes
Homebody By Caitlin Welsh
I
n Bat for Lashes, Natasha Khan has created a powerful artistic persona. Darkly ethereal and steeped in intuition and mythology, as earthy and feminine as it is hauntingly alien; Bowie and Kate Bush and The Cure and something else altogether, trussed up in tribal headdresses and shadowy reverb and her sweetly husky voice, at once choirgirl-pure and world-weary.
“Oh, MOPSY!” ...So it’s hard not to marvel at the stark contrast between person and persona, hearing Khan scold her new kitten in a schoolgirlish, matter-of-fact London accent. Every now and then there’ll be a kitten-sized crash on the other end, and Khan will interrupt a serious discussion of the feminine divine to burst into exasperated giggles. “Every time I’m on the phone she’s like, [tiny kitten voice] ‘Play with me! Look at me! Why aren’t you talking to me?’” she laughs. “She’s all jealous.” It might not be glamorous, but chasing a mewling ball of grey fluff around her Brighton flat is exactly where Khan wants to be right now. She’s just returned from ten days in northern Italy, where she and “a whole bunch of [her] favourite musicians” have been holed up, working on and recording tracks for her third album. Before that, though, there were nearly five years straight of touring, recording, performing, writing and, in preparation for her 2009 sophomore record Two Suns, living in New York City as her extroverted, hyper-feminine alter-ego Pearl – just to see what would happen. “Well, this [new album] has sort of been a project of being at home, really, for the last year. Just being in Brighton with my old friends,” she explains. “I think the second album was definitely quite a transient record, it came out of quite a tumultuous place, and looking back on the sort of methods I used to get into it, they were also methods I used to sort of get through a lot of upheavals, a lot of travelling, a lot of distance between me and my loved ones, so that – [crash] Oh, Mops! Sorry! – But now I think I feel a lot more grounded. I’m not so much living the actual characters.”
Pav: on would he'd get to direct and star in a Bat for Lashes music video:
Joan of Arc.
Spiritualized The Spacemen Of Sound By Alasdair Duncan
Her first album, 2006’s Fur & Gold, received some of the most meaningful accolades available to a British musician, from a Mercury Prize nomination to a personal endorsement by Thom Yorke. But it was a product of a very different environment to that of Two Suns, Khan says. “I think no matter what you’re doing when you’re making creative work, you do sort of have to follow your psychic - your psyche’s needs, and already then [just after Two Suns], I was feeling this pull away from this really chaotic lifestyle and I was just really wanting to hibernate, hone it back in and come back into myself,” she muses. When she wrote Fur
Pierce’s hesitation came down to the fact that he wanted to do something new, not just relive a past glory. “I’d always been wary of those shows where a band perform one of their classic albums,” he says. “I mean, I’d seen The Stooges doing Raw Power and it was really breathtaking, one of the best shows I’d ever seen in my life - but I worried that often people’s motivation for doing that sort of thing was based around cash, or wanting to relive their youth; reforming a band and doing what you did when you were 19 with the same people.” He finally agreed, on the condition that he would get to do the show his way. “I didn’t want to revisit the past, I wanted to bring the thing kicking and screaming into the world we live in now - and to be honest, I think I did it the first time around. Then I got the call from the Sydney Opera House, and you can’t turn that down, can you? So now I’m doing it again.” thebrag.com
Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space was one of the most loved and lauded albums of the ‘90s, merging simple, throwback rock ‘n roll with celestial choirs, brass sections and guitar drone for an effect that was pretty close to transcendental. People’s familiarity with the album, Pierce quickly realised, was the first problem he would have to overcome. “People know the album. They know the running order, they know the next song, the next chord change before it happens,” he says. “The big thing for these shows, I decided, is that we’re not going to play a purely faithful rendition of the album. “I’m not sitting the band and the choir down and teaching them all the parts note for note,” he continues. “In fact, I’m picking up the choir and the string players when we get to Australia, right before we do the show. The shows are loose and free-form, and there’s a freedom about playing with people who don’t know their parts perfectly, who are finding their own way inside the songs. There’s an immense amount of power and glory that we can find in the songs on the night, and bring out in a different way.
On the new songs, Khan is looking within herself and into her identity as a product of various dualities – from the male-female relationships of her ancestors, to the interaction between her Pakistani and English origins and how that relationship is reflected in British society. “It’s like England is in me and it just feels like coming home, really - it’s not something that I have to go out to find and explore,” she explains. “It’s like actually regressing back into myself and my ancestral home.” As for the actual music of the new material, Khan’s mostly hoarding sounds that fascinate her, and seeing what emerges. “I’m really connecting with my ancestral links to England and to Pakistan, where my dad comes from. Going back to quite early folk music, whether it’s from Pakistan, or Ireland or England - it all starts to sound quite similar. There are these amazing scales, and things like that - old English folk music - but a lot of it’s really dancey, really up and quite liberated,” she says. She’s also exploring her interest in programmed percussion “and then getting live drums to come in and put really live, really human cross-beats over the drum machines. “So God knows what it’s going to turn out like,” she adds cheerfully, “but I feel like it’s coming from a much more grounded place, and I’ve really enjoyed that.” Khan’s interest in blending disparate styles is, she acknowledges, in line with a wider trend in music at the moment. “I mean, I’m not really on top of what’s happening in music all the time,” she admits, “but when I listen to James Blake I don’t think, ‘Oh he’s a white guy or a black guy’, I just think his voice is really soulful. And Kanye West is using piano sounds that hark back to old, folky English music... The world is becoming very small and tightly woven in some ways, and I think there’s only so far you can go with combining everything before a whole new genre will come about, or before people start regressing back to wanting to make more purist forms of music. And so that’s going to be another intriguing transition: what happens after you can’t mix it up any more? Like, if you mix all the colours they become this brown sludge," she explains. "People will want bright, primary colours again.” Where: Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House When: June 3 and June 4, 9pm
Pav - on the best way to listen to Ladies And Gentlemen… for the first time:
Mid-evening, next to a fireplace, under a doona, getting a blow job. That is not how I first experienced it - but I think it’s probably a good place to start.
J
ason Pierce, founder and main man of Spiritualized, likes to tell people he was high when he agreed to perform his bestknown album from beginning to end. What he goes on to say is that the high was purely the result of altitude; he was stuck halfway up a mountain at the time. “We were on Mt Buller, Victoria, playing a show with Nick Cave and The Saints and a whole load of other good Australian bands,” he says. “I got talking with the promoter that evening, and he just hassled me. I kept saying no, but he just kept going on and on about it, to the point where it was daybreak. I finally said yes, just so I could get some sleep!”
& Gold, Khan was living with her boyfriend and working as a nursery school teacher. “I think that [calm, domestic lifestyle] really gives life to the imagination - to me, anyway. It really works, gives you something to work against. But when your life is full of chaos and colourful characters and movement all the time, I feel like you don’t get that headspace and that reflection to let something really develop.”
“Albums are like time capsules," Pierce explains. "When you’re making one, you put everything about the last two years, or however long, on it. An album is about more than sitting down and playing the parts for an afternoon in a studio – everything about where you are musically and socially at the time goes into it. Then you push it away, and it’s no longer yours. That’s the deal. You can’t recall it, you can’t say, 'Oh, we fucked up a bit there’ or, ‘I want to improve that lyric, or that other little bit.’ You have to get it right, and you have to allow yourself the chance to get it right while you’re doing it, because you won’t get another chance,” he says. “That’s why I want to do a new interpretation of the album – I want to find a new way to move people who have already been moved by it.” My favourite track from the record is the dark, sexy ‘I Think I’m In Love’ - but to me, the most striking thing about that song is that, for a piece of rock ‘n’ roll music, it sounds more like a dance track than the Chemical Brothers remix that followed it. When I ask Pierce whether or not he sees any similarity between the music he makes
with Spiritualized and the repetitive, hypnotic energy of rave music, his answer surprises. “There’s possibly some connection,” he says, “but I can’t say one feeds off the other. Maybe the source is the same – Kraftwerk or Can or, in an odd way, even early rock ‘n’ roll. “It’s all based around simplistic things,” he continues. “Rhythms. I don’t think it’s that mysterious, music. People try and dress it up – the stories and the concept can be more important than the music. Sometimes people actually go out of their way to dress music up in concepts, to get away from how bad it actually is, or how unrealised. "Music’s quite basic at its core: a drumbeat that’s faster than your heart excites you, a drumbeat that’s slower than your heart relaxes you, and there are a million little factions that break off that. It’s not that hard to understand how you can go after it. It’s not some kind of mystery that’s beyond anybody," he says. "You don’t have to have great talent to understand that you can find something very exciting within it.” Where: Opera Theatre, Sydney Opera House When: May 27 and May 28, 9pm BRAG :: 749 :: 04:03:20 :: 59
REPRINTED FROM THE BRAG #499 [11:03:2013]
alking to Paul Stanley about Real Life Stuff, it’s surprisingly hard to imagine him as The Starchild. Of course, when he’s enthusiastically expounding the virtues of concentrated studio sessions in Los Angeles or casually name-dropping fellow rock stars (all friends) who’ve stood the test of time, there’s no denying this is the man behind the mask; but when the 61-year-old on the other end of the line swings from discussing touring America’s stadiums alongside Mötley Crüe, to happily recounting visiting his son at college, it becomes nigh impossible to picture him shirtless with full-on demonic makeup, pyrotechnics detonating around him as he tears strips off a stadium-sized guitar solo.
psychological and spiritual, so that’s what we were talking about... I’ve been entranced by Sydney for years, and I love everything about it. I might be at my happiest when I’m by the harbour with a glass of wine. It’s the simple stuff, you know? We work hard to meet all the challenges that get thrown our way, and we rise to those challenges. Then, as a reward, we get to come to Australia!”
“Oh, it’s definitely me!” laughs the man known to his mother as Stanley Harvey Eisen. “As a matter of fact I just got off the phone to Nikki [Sixx, bass guitarist for Mötley Crüe] about five minutes before you called. We were talking about the Australian tour. He said to say hi, and he’s looking forward to seeing you.”
KISS began in 1973, rising from the ashes of Stanley and Gene Simmons’ previous band, Wicked Lester. After recording an album that was quickly shelved by Epic Records (then home to Tammy Wynette, Boston and The Clash), Stanley and Simmons split from the others, and joined forces with drummer Pete Criss and guitarist Ace Frehley, rechristening themselves Kiss not long after. They then attempted to show Epic A&R executive Don Ellis their new image, complete with costumes and makeup, in November 1972. Ellis famously hated their look, and proceedings were given a further dose of rock‘n’roll when Criss’ brother, as drunk folks often do, threw up all over the office floor.
“Seriously, though,” he adds, “I’ve had this long term love affair with Australia that has been
A year later the New Yorkers recorded a five-track demo with producer Eddie Kramer, a South
60 :: BRAG :: 749 :: 04:03:20
African who’d previously recorded the Woodstock performances, including Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix. It was a turning point for the band: shortly afterwards they were picked up by the newly established label Casablanca Records, and opened for Blue Oyster Cult at the Academy of Music in their home town. This performance featured Simmons’ fire-breathing trick, which resulted in him accidentally setting his hair on fire. The fans didn’t know what to make of these four hard-rocking and bizarrelooking characters, but it was clear to Stanley that they were onto something big. “One thing that has always marked us as different is our commitment to the live show,” he explains. “We’ve been doing this for some time now – more than 40 years – and from the very start we knew that we had something special going on. There’s always been a desire within the band to do better... We feel like we’re getting pretty good at conjuring up the spirits of those great rock’n’rollers who’ve inspired us. And, honestly, why would we bother if we weren’t continually inspired by those great acts?” Stanley’s personal journey down the path to classic rock fame began when he was still a teenager, at one of Bill Graham’s iconic venues. “Every week I used to go down to the Fillmore East in Manhattan, and I could see anything and everything, twice a night for a couple of bucks,” he says, with a touch of that wide-eyed young kid creeping into his tone. “I saw Led Zeppelin, The Who, Jimi Hendrix, Derek And The Dominos – they were all there. I’d wander home afterwards with these impossible dreams, just inspired beyond belief. For a young kid, it was like going to electric church. We were all there together, worshipping and having the best time.”
“That’s the music that’s stayed with me, and the messages that have stayed with me,” he continues. “I am as much in awe of that classic music today as I was then; it still inspires me, and I think it inspires all of us, really. I’m guided by rock’n’roll as much as I was all those years ago, because it’s really still about celebrating life and freedom. And I know that I’m a lucky son of a bitch, but it’s like Mark Twain said, and I’m paraphrasing poorly here: if you find something you love doing, do it for life. I get to make music I really love, and that energy is contagious and I think it inspires others too.” Stanley and Simmons have been the only constant members of the band, with Black ‘n Blue’s Tommy Thayer officially taking over lead guitar duties at the KISS Symphony: Alive IV concert in 2003 in Melbourne. Thayer had spent a decade occupying a variety of roles within the KISS machine before his official assumption of The Spaceman’s look and character. Eric Singer (ex-Alice Cooper) served a similarly extended apprenticeship with the band – he played drums in KISS from 1991 until 1996, before working with legendary Queen guitarist Brian May for a few years and then rejoining the fold, in Criss’ full Catman regalia and persona, in 2001. The changes in personnel have occasionally divided fans, but Stanley argues that the band’s current incarnation is the tightest and most inclusive representation of the KISS brand. “You can’t have an ensemble where people don’t want to work as a vital instrument – it just will not work,” he says. “We’re very fortunate because we have four guys who are totally committed to our past. I mean that: this group is truly unstoppable because we have a no-holds-barred approach to playing, with an immense reverence to our past.”
The members of the band’s fanbase, The KISS Army, are world-renowned for their devotion. Parents will often induct their children into the fold, dressing them as their favourite member of the band and donning makeup as a family to attend the light and sound extravaganza that is KISS live. Theirs is a level of commitment that Stanley acknowledges with both admiration and determination. “I think our fans deserve the ultimate respect, and we have to give them our absolute best every time,” he says. “We’re proud of [latest album] Monster, because it’s based on our foundations, and on committing completely to what makes KISS great. There’s no room for messing around – people expect massive songs to thunder down, and we deliver. And when we get down there, with Nikki and the guys from Mötley Crüe and Thin Lizzy, you know it’s going to be special. There’s really nothing on earth quite like a KISS show.” With: Mötley Crüe and Thin Lizzy Where: Allphones Arena When: Saturday March 9 – SOLD OUT; Sunday March 10 – tickets still available
thebrag.com
KISS
REPRINTED FROM THE BRAG #251 [03:03:2008]
What say you, God of Thunder? Endured by Elmo Keep
“T
his is Gene Simmons,” says the voice on the phone. There I was, sitting - more correctly, innocently lounging - in the meeting room of my office, waiting for the call connect. “You were expecting someone else?” “Yes,” the usual, impersonal, serious-voiced connection service guy.
“Oh I hate assistants,” says Gene Simmons, born Chaim Witz on August 25, 1949 in Haifa, Israel and seemingly forever of KISS - the mega selling, greasepaint wearing, pyrotechnic-loving, glam hardrock/occasional disco band he founded with Stanley Harvey Eisen (now Paul Stanley) in New York City in 1974. “I haven’t had one in 34 years.” And so it was, that my starting the interview with a casual “Who’s this?” turned out to be a harbinger of doom. As Romeo said to Juliet - and I’m paraphrasing here - “This can only end in tears.” From assuming the usual position (So, I guess that last farewell tour wasn’t really a, well, farewell tour? Onstage blood is enjoying a revival: discuss), I quickly find that I am woefully unprepared to interview Gene Simmons. I’d caught this interview the previous afternoon. A cakewalk, it is not going to be. Like mostly everyone who speaks to him, what I really wanted to know about Gene Simmons was if or not Gene Simmons is just a massive wind-up. A shit-stirring, walking soundbite. An amazingly practiced publicity machine. Or, does he actually believe the hyperbole he espouses on every topic imaginable? Maybe I’m way off base. Maybe Gene Simmons is someone more in the tradition of Lou Reed and Bob Dylan, constructing elaborate personas in order to keep their true selves private - and in so doing leaving the public unsure of when, if ever, they are telling the truth. Also, Gene Simmons once dated Cher, when he wasn’t managing the career of Liza Minelli in the 1970s. Gotta be a good story there. “Tough love,” Gene Simmons says on the topic of raising children. “If you’re soft and mushy and you talk a lot to your kids, and you negotiate, you’re FUCKED. They will suck you dry like a vampire.”
“There is no one at this level.” “Oh right. How could I forget?” “Don’t worry, I’ll point it out.” “ - they never doubted it. Even right from the start, which must sound like the most arrogant thing in the world at the time.” “No, no, no! That’s when it’s the most natural to say it. That’s when you’re most blind to it. When you look back on it, you think ‘oh my god, I must have been out of my mind!’ And that’s the point. It’s this thing that makes jihadists so formidable – you believe it to the very core of your being. No matter what.” “That’s a staggering analogy. But yes, I take your point.” Stay tuned, for Part Two of the Wheel of Death Battle with Gene Simmons next week. Who: KISS When: Thursday March 20 Where: Acer Arena, Homebush
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“How does that differ, or not, from how you were raised?” “The same way. I come from a single parent family,” Gene Simmons says, son as he is to a Hungarian mother who, after the Holocaust, was the only surviving member of her family. Later she moved with Gene to the US when he was eight and she was newly divorced from his father. “My father ran out on us, which is not unique. It’s a sad commentary on the male of the species, but it seems to infer, no matter where you go around the world, that he doesn’t want to stick around. He doesn’t want the married state. He just doesn’t. And whether he has kids or not, he’s not gonna stay. He’s gonna run out. Because his freedom means more to him than anything. So that means, I didn’t want to become my father,” Gene Simmons says in a moment of uncharacteristic seriousness. “You didn’t want to sign up for something that you may or may not be able to hold to?” “Yeah! You never, never know. I don’t want to take an oath I couldn’t live up to - maybe. I actually believe in the Catholic notion, that once you take that oath, you should be held liable and you cannot get a divorce. Though I am far from Catholic. I don’t believe you should be able to take that oath, because I actually believe in the sanctity of words.” “Did you ever really have a doubt that you’d succeed at this mission (the all conquering KISS behemoth)?” “Never. Doubt is a self-fulfilling prophecy, it’s doubt itself that will help you fail. You’re a tightrope walker - and you can try and answer this for me as honestly as you can - before you take that first step on the rope, you make this point in your head, ‘this is child’s play. I’m getting right over to other side.’ The other mind set is, ‘what happens if I fall?’ Which one helps you get to the other side?” “Honestly I was just thinking about how I’d never walk a tightrope.” “That’s not what I asked you! That’s because you’re a woman!” “Aaah. Look – stop insulting me.” “I think the world’s great!” “Stop it. Please stop insulting me.” “And what time is it? Which one will help you?” “The blind, idiotic faith.” “Correct! You can be delusional about it. It actually makes you stronger. It’s called will. Medicine will tell you ‘this guy should be dead’. Why is he alive? He had the will to live. Period. It defies logic, it’s will. Mindset.” “Almost anyone I’ve asked at your level of success says that – “ thebrag.com
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REPRINTED FROM THE BRAG #399 [13:03:2011]
Queens Stone age
BY PETER HODGSON BACK TO BASICS
Q
ueens Of The Stone Age, Eagles Of Death Metal, Them Crooked Vultures – Josh Homme has always followed his creative muse in whichever direction it led him. Recently it led him back to Rekords Rekords, a label he founded in the mid ‘90s, but which had lain dormant for some time since. The first two new releases on the label have been by fellow QOTSA bandmates: Spark by Alain Johannes, and the self-titled psychedelic showcase by Mini Mansions, aka Michael Shuman. BRAG spoke with Homme and Shuman about their many projects, Queens’ upcoming Soundwave Festival tour, and the reanimation of Rekords Rekords… “I have no idea when the label started,” Homme ponders. “I think it was around 1996 or so, when I started putting out Desert Sessions records. It was basically a home for more esoteric stuff… You’re always fighting that fight when you want to release a record through someone else’s label. Earlier this year I heard some records, which were just so good and which I wanted to release, by Alain Johannes and Michael Shuman. I’d worked with them in Queens of the Stone Age (Johannes and Shuman) and Them Crooked Vultures (Johannes) and I said to myself, ‘I want to be around this music.’” Homme clearly holds his bandmates’ skill and creativity in high regard. “They’re both just so good… so incredible - both are great in spite
of me! Queens Of The Stone Age is something we all do because we want to, and that’s a great reason - but secondarily, I want to be around my favourite musicians. “The other thing that’s really important to me is using the label to recommend other stuff - not just stuff I made, but anything cool,” he tells me later. “Things I don’t own but which I can recommend on the website so you can own it. It’s not about what I can sell to you. It’s about all the best stuff I’m aware of, and sharing that with the family.” Rekords Rekords is also re-releasing the self-titled debut QOTSA album, from 1998. The album was originally released through Roadrunner Records, and has been out of print for years. “I wanted to remaster it, but we didn’t really want to do too much to it. It had that certain thing already,” Homme explains. “Some records really benefit from remastering but this has this dark thing; it’s not too huge compared to other records, but it’s as dense as heck. You hear everything. After the remaster it’s a little bit bigger, but not at the risk of anything.” The band will celebrate the reissue by performing the album in its entirety live during their Soundwave Festival sideshows. “We don’t have a new record out, but we’ll be able to do this,” Homme says. “So get the word out, motherfucker!” Alain Johannes’ album Spark is a touching
“ONE OF THE WEIRDEST THINGS WAS BEING ON TOUR WITH OTHER BANDS AND HAVING THEM SAY, ‘YOU ACTUALLY LISTEN TO YOUR OWN STUFF?’ IT SORT OF MADE US FEEL SORRY FOR THE OTHER BANDS BECAUSE I’M LIKE, ‘I LOVE OUR MUSIC. I LISTEN TO IT ALL THE TIME.’”
tribute to his partner Natasha Shneider, who passed away in 2008. He worked with her in the band Eleven as well as various other collaborations, including Chris Cornell’s Euphoria Morning. “When Natasha died, our whole family was dumbstruck and kinda didn’t understand it. Whenever someone passes away you’re forced to think about the questions in life that are so huge that the weight of them crushes you. Alain was faced with that ‘what do I do now’ moment… He came to me and said, ‘I made a record of what I’m going through,’ and it’s very hope-laden, captivating - a very inviting work. You’re sort of dwarfed by the size of it. And it just came out of him, he made it in like a week, and you can feel that vitality in it. It’s positive – it wasn’t like misery loves company. It was like, the sun coming up on the morning after. Like, ‘I know it’s not over.’ I said to Alain, ‘Who the fuck are you?’ That’s the only question that doesn’t get answered on that album!”
By contrast, the songwriting process of Rekords Rekords’ second release, for Mini Mansions, was more collaborative. The record is thick, soaring, harmonious pop with a psychedelic edge; the sound sits somewhere between The Beatles and Elliot Smith. “I wouldn’t say it was a hard record to write, but we definitely tried every possibility and every avenue for every song,” Shuman reflects. “We’d switch instruments until we found the right way to do each song; it’d take about a month and a half for each song to be written, but we’d be rotating around.” Shuman says that the strong psych edge of Mini Mansions comes from a more conceptual than musical place. “I wouldn’t say there’s a musical influence - a psych era that we’re basing our music off of - but definitely when you talk about cinematic elements, I think a lot of the lyrical content comes from film, books and even television. I watch a lot of dramatic
television, and I think a lot of the lyrical content creates a picture that you can see if you use your noggin. “They’re really just well-crafted pop songs,” Shuman continues. “A lot of our lyric content, there’s a story and there’s a basis behind each song, but there’s definitely a lot of fiction in there, which I personally prefer compared to, y’know, talking about what I did on Wednesday night…” Back to Homme, I ask the QOTSA frontman if he ever revisits his back-catalogue, purely as a listener. “Ever since I started playing, I’ve always been trying to play my favourite music that no-one else plays,” Homme says. “One of the weirdest things was being on tour with other bands and having them say, ‘You actually listen to your own stuff?’ It sort of made us feel sorry for the other bands because I’m like, ‘I love our music. I listen to it all the time.’ It’s not like I’m on a steady diet of Queens, but nothing feels better than an iPod full of music that’s only the stuff you like. If I didn’t have that, I wouldn’t have Queens, and I certainly wouldn’t have a label.” What: The Queens Of The Stone Age re-release, Alain Johannes’ Spark and Mini Mansions’ self-titled debut are available from February 25 on Rekords Rekords, through Liberation With: Iron Maiden, One Day As A Lion, Slayer, Primus, Gang of Four, Bullet For My Valentine, Slash, Rob Zombie AND MORE! Where: Soundwave Festival @ Sydney Showground, Sydney Olympic Park When: Sunday February 27 from 11am More: QOTSA’s sideshow at Enmore Theatre on Wednesday March 2 is sold out
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KISS: Gene Simmons
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Locking horns with The Demon, Round Two By Elmo “What In The Crap Is Going On?” Keep
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ometimes in our conversation, Gene Simmons truly shoots goals on point. You just need to sift through the Gene Simmons hubris to get to the Gene Simmons gold. And boy, is there a lot of hubris.
And therein lies the Gene Simmons paradox: like just about everyone, no matter their reputation, he has some very admirable traits. Despite ruling like a dictator, viewers of Family Jewels will well know how deeply and openly he loves his family, and that he is endearingly proud of his children, Sophie, 15 and Nick, 18. He won’t blink at being made fun of by any of them. He’ll call his 89 year old mother to tell her he loves her. He piggy backs a squealing Shannon around the carpark, and in another episode gets royally chewed out by her for ordering in burgers while on a diet, sitting robe-clad on his bed and scoffing them like a naughty kid. It would be a cold, cold heart that didn’t find this incongruous vision - well, cute. “So,” I ask. “What is one piece of advice you might give to your son, say, to try and impart what it is that’s made your partnership so successful?” “As a woman?”
“Have you always been this way?” “You just watch. This is nothing.” “What did you want to be when you were a kid?” “God,” Gene Simmons answers incredulously, as if he ever had a choice “Ok. Well, you know, everybody’s got their little pipedream.” “Ooh… I’m getting closer.” “Yeah?” “On that note I must run. My next interview will be very angry with me. I do wish you well though.” “And I you. Thankyou so much for chatting with me.” “My pleasure.” “It’s been…” I realise I’m not sure what it’s been. “Mind blowing.” Who: KISS Where: Acer Arena When: Thursday March 20
“Err, no. To your son.” “But you’re asking as a woman.” “Well, yes I am a woman.” “You’re asking as a woman and you want long term because by your middle years you’ll stop being able to procreate and you’re only making one or two eggs per month. The man is able to procreate his entire life until he dies, and until slightly after he’s dead too. And he makes hundreds of million of sperm in the time that it takes you to make one or two.” “Which is why women are so much more powerful in this equation, because women choose,” I say. I figure here, that I’ll play some ball too. You know, to make the fight fair. “What?” Gene Simmons demands. “We’re more powerful when it comes to this equation of the continuation of the species.” “Good luck with that,” Gene Simmons laughs derisively. “Men don’t think about the continuation of the species.” “Yes they do,” I say. “It’s why they want to fuck everything that moves. It’s just their evolutionary drive.” “I’m sorry. It sounded like I was finished, but I wasn’t,” Gene Simmons cuts it. “The phrase, ‘He’s a good catch’ or ‘I’m gonna get my claws in him’ doesn’t have a male equivalent. Biologically, she’s desperate. She wants to catch one, before she stops being able to make children. Women are desperate to find a mate before they are able to stop procreating.” “Yes. And that’s our evolutionary drive.” “That’s actually all I said. I said nothing else. Men don’t have that desperation. That’s my strong suggestion to my daughter.” “Are you positing perhaps, that we have to be able to rise above our biological urges to be happy?” “Yes! Get over it. Women – get a hobby. Stop defining yourself by men. The biggest insult a woman can give another woman is ‘you can’t even get a man.’ So fucking what? Get ten men. Become a strong human being, male or female.” This is really great advice. Really. It was balled up in an insult, but still... “Do you ever catch up with the other guys, you know, do you ever just hang out for a barbeque or whatever?” “Ace and Peter? Oh no. They’ve got their lives. Ace is trying to do a club tour and Peter is married to his wife. I’m not familiar with this married thing, but I’ve heard about it.” “Do you enjoy working on any one of your television shows more than the others?” “I don’t think in the menu of life you should have to choose. You should say ‘I’ll take it all’. I like them all. Cheesecake tastes different from steak, but I enjoy them both just as much.” “Do you ever have down time?” “When you sleep! You’ll have lots of time to rest when you’re dead! Working is a privilege. Every poor person in the world would kiss your feet to have a job.” “There’s some people who are lucky to do what they love. I’ll be working I hope, until I’m too old to type.” “That’s why people will continue to pick up my garbage, you see? If you don’t have ambition you will stay in the same place in life and that’s OK. Somebody’s got to wrap fish. And that’s OK. You make your bed, you sleep in it. I like golden beds. I have big visions and big appetites and this is just the beginning. Everybody’s allowed to have small dreams. I don’t.”
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FEATURE JONNY GREENWOOD – THERE WILL BE BLOOD In 2007, the phrase “I drink your milkshake” somehow managed to enter the general lexicon. While some were confused, others recognised it as a quote from the Paul Thomas Anderson film There Will Be Blood, a stark tale about Daniel Plainview and his quest for wealth during the American oil boom of the 18th and 19th centuries. Prior to the film’s production, Anderson had heard some of the music that Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood has composed for the documentary Bodysong. Enamoured with his work, the director asked Greenwood to compose the film soundtrack – and it’s a good thing he did, because the resulting compositions were as grand and brilliant as you’d expect. The soundtrack received some pretty hefty praise, including a nomination for a Grammy, but was sadly not nominated for an Academy Award since it happened to sample some pre-existing music, which, according to the Academy, is a big no-no.
ARCADE FIRE – HER Her is the story of a man who develops feelings for, and then falls in love with, a female operating system on his computer. If you think that concept is pretty far-fetched, you might be just as shocked to learn that Joaquin Phoenix was given the leading role for this film, and that he actually did a pretty decent job.
Of course, with a topic this outlandish and quirky, you need something to anchor the film and make sure at least the music side of things is accessible, right? Well, that’s exactly what director Spike Jonze attempted to do by recruiting Will Butler of Arcade Fire and Owen Pallett (who has also performed and toured with the group). The end
result was a beautifully ambient and dreamy collection of music that delightfully underscored the kooky plot line. In addition to the music performed by Arcade Fire and Pallett, Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs also contributed a song to the finished product: a track titled ‘The Moon Song’, which also saw some pretty decent success.
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Seven Of The Best Modern Film Soundtracks Made By Famous Bands When it comes to a blockbuster movie, the soundtrack can either make or break it. Plenty of film scores have gone on to become famous in their own right – for instance, who can listen to Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells without instantly thinking of The Exorcist? And what about all those composers, such as Danny Elfman or John Williams, who have gone on to be best known for their film music?
By Tyler Jenke
Sometimes, however, the artist in charge of a film’s music isn’t your run-of-the-mill composer, but a well-established touring musician. No, we’re not talking about the time when members of U2 were asked to create the theme to Mission: Impossible – we’re talking about the times when famous musicians have created soundtracks for films that not only serve as wonderful backings for the events in the movie, but also manage to moonlight as wonderful art pieces in their own right.
DECODER RING – SOMERSAULT If you were to remember just one thing about Australian popular culture from 2004 (other than Missy Higgins dominating the charts), it would have to be how successful the film Somersault was. The movie itself is about a 16-year-old girl and her relationship with the son of a local farmer, and was so well-received that it not only gained recognition at the Cannes Film Festival,
but also won so many categories at the 2004 AFI Awards that those in charge might as well have called the awards ‘The Saultys’ from then on. However, the backbone of the film is arguably the phenomenal soundtrack performed by the Sydney group Decoder Ring. Both the musicians and the soundtrack were instrumental in
launching the career of lead singer Lenka Kripac, but before that happened, the eponymous song ‘Somersault’ took the Aussie music world by storm. The delicate vocals from Kripac, in stark contrast to the electronic and ambient influences within the music, gained such great recognition that even the soundtrack won big at the AFIs.
NICK CAVE AND WARREN EL The Aussie band Dick Nasty once released a song titled ‘I’m More Australian Than A Book Full Of Bush Poetry By Russell Crowe’. However, we must disagree and say that the only thing more Australian than that would have to be a movie written by Nick Cave, starring Guy Pearce and David Gulpilil, and with music by Cave and Warren Ellis, leader of The Dirty Three, and one of Cave’s Bad Seeds for more than 20 years. While the film itself deals with the harsh reality of the events following the rape and murder 66 :: BRAG :: 749 :: 04:03:20
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FEATURE
AIR – THE VIRGIN SUICIDES This one might be cheating a little bit, because depending on how you look at it, The Virgin Suicides has two soundtracks. One is the more commercial, compilation-type record featuring a number of acts from the ’70s, while the film’s original score was composed by French act Air. Director Sofia Coppola was inclined to get Air to compose the soundtrack after hearing their previous record Moon Safari. The resulting compositions are less loungestyled jazzy trip hop cuts, and more of something that sounds like a waking daydream. The final score for The Virgin Suicides sees Air venture into some pretty nifty downtempo, ambient and psychedelic territories, using the soundtrack as an outlet to explore some of the sounds they wanted to use with previous records, but didn’t really get the chance to. The film’s soundtrack has proved highly influential, and even spawned a single, the classic ‘Playground Love’.
EXPLOSIONS IN THE SKY – FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS Friday Night Lights is one of the most overlooked films of the early 21st century. While you might remember the hugely successful TV show that it spawned, Friday Night Lights the movie is quite a bit different to the TV show, and features a far better soundtrack. The producers of the film decided to ask Texan post-rock group Explosions In The Sky to write the soundtrack. After laying down some phenomenal tracks, including ‘Your Hand In Mine’, ‘From West Texas’, and ‘A Slow Dance’, the band suddenly sounded as if its whole existence was leading to the sole purpose of soundtracking this film. While Friday Night Lights would soon be overlooked in favour of the TV spin-off, Explosions In The Sky went on to become one of the most well-known and beloved groups in post-rock music.
TRENT REZNOR AND ATTICUS ROSS – THE SOCIAL NETWORK Let’s be fair, if you’re going to make a movie about rich white kids forming their own billion-dollar company and the trials, tribulations, and backstabbing that occurred during that company’s inception, Trent Reznor probably doesn’t sound like the kind of guy to do the soundtrack. Well, at least on paper, anyway. But as it turned
out, Reznor and musical partner Atticus Ross basically created one of the greatest film soundtracks in recent memory. Reznor’s soundtrack to David Fincher’s 2010 film doesn’t exactly feature any of the drug-addiction-referencing or nightmarish imagery that your standard
’90s Nine Inch Nails song would include. Instead, it focuses on dark and brooding soundscapes that sound like they might as well have been leftovers from Nine Inch Nails’ Ghosts project in the previous years. It’s emotional, atmospheric, and one of the greatest pieces of work that Reznor has ever put his name to.
LIS – THE PROPOSITION of the Hopkins family by a gang of bushrangers, the film’s soundtrack is far more uplifting, yet still just as ominous. While Cave and The Dirty Three had previously collaborated, this was arguably the biggest project that Cave and Ellis had worked on outside The Bad Seeds. The brilliant violin work of Ellis manages to accompany Cave’s ambient soundscapes in such a way that audiences might just as well have gone to see the movie just to hear the soundtrack. thebrag.com
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FEATURE
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WAAX: Wild & Weak At The Movies Marie De Vita responds track-by-track to the post-punk group’s latest EP
2.
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“For this visual track-by-track, I’ve taken inspiration from movies and TV shows to represent each song. I’ve used a really strict colour scheme with POSCA pens.”
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risbane post-punk band WAAX have just released their new EP, and rather than deliver a simple track-bytrack, vocalist Marie De Vita has instead given us handdrawn artwork to represent each song. ‘Wild & Weak’
4.
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This song is about reckless pursuits – so the first thing that came to my head was Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. That movie totally encapsulates wildness and weakness. I drew Raoul Duke as a lady because I thought it would be interesting to imagine the story through a woman’s perspective.
2. ‘This Everything’
I picked Sideshow Bob from the episode ‘Cape Feare’ of The Simpsons. ‘This Everything’ is about feeling surrounded, overwhelmed and backed into a corner. You feel like you’re unable to move forward and you continuously step into toxic situations – hence the rakes. I don’t know – it just metaphorically describes how I felt.
5.
3. ‘Same Same’
I thought Girl, Interrupted was a revelation. The character Lisa Rowe was in a cycle of being detained, repeating the same behaviour and then escaping, only to then repeat the same thing again. This character represents being stuck in a behavioural pattern which she was unconsciously addicted to, which is essentially what ‘Same Same’ is about.
4. ‘Nothing is Always’
This song is about making peace with your inner Yoda or having a conversation with someone wise. It’s about learning to have faith in that you can turn things around. So I drew Yoda from Star Wars.
Wouldn’t 5. ‘You Believe’ This song is about reflection on what you’ve been through. I thought that Forrest Gump was a great representation of what the song is – I guess looking back and accepting what you’ve been through kind of forms who you are. The Wild & Weak EP is available now through iTunes, SoundCloud and Spotify. thebrag.com
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live reviews
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We went to Byron Bay Bluesfest (a lot)
BLUESFEST 2016 Tyagarah Tea Tree Farm Thursday March 24 – Sunday March 28 As far as contemporary music goes, Bluesfest’s 2016 lineup may have been the finest Byron Bay has ever seen. Of course, this is a family-friendly festival that caters for everyone from hip local teens to the bring-your-own-deckchair crowd, and with its retro attractions landing more on the pop side of the spectrum, the blues diehards may have felt under-represented. Still, predictability was out of the question at Tyagarah this Easter – and that can only ever be a good thing for a festival in the current climate. The spirit of unpredictability came to define Hiatus Kaiyote’s Thursday afternoon set, with Nai Palm leading the charge; so too the sundown performance by Kamasi Washington. This relatively youthful rising star and his band come with a jazz mindset but a glam rock execution – in what other jazz context would a tenor sax trade solos with a keytar, or a double bassist improvise through a wah-wah pedal? It’s not the type of thing Cold War Kids go in for, but then again, the Californians are far from orthodox. Some years ago, their avantgarde indie music moved in the direction of stadium rock, but not so far as to be self-defeating. They were made for festivals like Bluesfest; appealing to the masses, but never middle of the road. The same applies tenfold to Kendrick Lamar. Last time he toured Australia was in support of Eminem, a rap icon of the generation past, playing stadiumsized shows. Now, Kendrick is the biggest thing in hip hop worldwide, let alone at Bluesfest. He stepped up to the microphone to a massive reception, then walked away before speaking a word. A last-minute case of stage fright? No chance. Once ‘For Free?’ got going, the flow never ceased; not through 12 songs from To Pimp A Butterfly, nor another half-dozen from Good Kid, M.A.A.D City. This had always promised to be a mammoth performance, and Lamar made sure of it. A calming breeze blew through the Delta tent on the Friday afternoon as Bluesfest veteran Eugene ‘Hideaway’ Bridges performed graciously to an appreciative audience, joined briefly by local favourite Kasey Chambers. Graham Nash shared stories about Woodstock and Joni Mitchell, though they only really served to highlight just how literal his lyric-writing has always been. Unlike Nash, City And Colour may not yet have recorded any ubiquitous anthems, but the layers of Dallas Green’s writing run much deeper, and the reward was a gorgeously illustrated and overwhelmingly unifying performance on the main stage. The warmth of the afternoon translated into The National’s closing slot, their horns interplaying with the Dessner
brothers’ guitar lines as Matt Berninger was in particularly fine voice. This masterful band never fails to astound, and the festival set saw the inclusion of tender cuts like ‘I Need My Girl’, ‘Pink Rabbits’ and ‘Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks’ alongside the grander moments. The Saturday lineup saw Bluesfest in its more traditional mode, with sets from Joe Bonamassa, Tedeschi Trucks Band and The Mick Fleetwood Blues Band. D’Angelo was the king of the middle night – as evidenced not only in his marathon two-hour billing, but the repeated tributes paid to him by other artists at the festival; Lamar, Green and Frazey Ford among those who declared their excitement to be sharing the Bluesfest stage with a neo-soul legend. The inevitable Byron Bay storm came through on Saturday, so by the next morning, the festival site was caked in mud. Gospel was the order of the day for The Blind Boys Of Alabama, bringing a heavy dose of faith and harmony to their Easter performance. Modest Mouse dealt not in religion but in slightly contained anarchy; Isaac Brock’s jackin-the-box enthusiasm making up for a chaotic sound mix and over-deployed smoke machines. The Wailers had the Jambalaya tent heaving for their ‘in full’ performance of a compilation album, Legend, while The Cat Empire pulled a capacity crowd to the Mojo stage thanks partly to a new album of their own, Rising With The Sun – that which landed at number one this month, just in time for Tyagarah. The Decemberists followed with a slightly sparser audience, but they also brought with them the most impressive set of amps at the whole festival, and a surprisingly powerful sound to boot. Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds may have been billed as such, but the Britpop icon earned his headlining place thanks to the hits he wrote for his old band, Oasis – and unlike his brother Liam, Noel is nothing if not a crowdpleaser. ‘Champagne Supernova’ and ‘Wonderwall’ got a run, naturally, but it was on deeper cuts like ‘Half The World Away’, ‘Sad Song’ and ‘D’Yer Wanna Be A Spaceman?’ that the old-school devotees found their best rewards. After the farewell ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger’, he lapped up the ovation: “How good? I know. I’m the best” – and even with vintage stars like Tom Jones and Brian Wilson to come on festival Monday, you’d have been a killjoy to call Gallagher out on his arrogance this time around. It was all part of the fun. Chris Martin
BLUESFEST 2017 Tyagarah Tea Tree Farm Thursday April 13 – Monday April 17
Beware the Bluesfest rains, they told me. If there’s one constant in life, it’s that the Easter long weekend will see Byron descend into a maelstrom of music and mud, and your only chance of survival is to build an ark, or failing that, lash together a handful of Santana’s guitars into a makeshift raft and drift to drier ground. Or so they said. Though it was largely clear, open skies that stretched the length of Bluesfest’s 28th year, to be fair the region had certainly seen its share of rain in recent times. We found just one late-night sprinkle, whereas had we been camping out a week earlier the floodwaters may well have found us after all. As it is, the Bluesfest landscape is already a strange, sleek beast. Its celebration of music can hardly be disputed: from veterans still raging at a troubled world – Patti Smith, all eyes are on you – to younger musicians still staking their ground (Lucy Gallant, Little Georgia), the bill was a fine blend of sound and fury. Still, there existed a striking absence here: a lack of personality that can jar with the community that arises across multi-day events. Bluesfest sees you swing from stage to stage (the sound quality of which was generally gorgeous), perhaps stopping for food or booze between… and that’s really it. It’s about the music, above all else; there is little art or greenery in between. But the music, Jim! The music! You have to give Peter Noble and his team full points for an outstanding lineup, even despite the cancellation of Neil Young and Barry Gibb. The greatest struggle you’ll face at Bluesfest is which artist you have to reluctantly leave early in order to catch the next. Hence the need to slink away from The Strumbellas (who were, in retrospect, among the weaker performers) to find a good vantage point for Gallant, the California wunderkind who was quite simply phenomenal. Three songs in and I was convinced I was seeing the future of alt-R&B, and though the tone of his set could stand to see a touch more variety, this will surely come with time; the guy is still at the onset of his career. Speaking of the West Coast, The California Honeydrops will surely be recalled as festival favourite for a good many punters. Frontman Lech Wierzynski is the perfect blend of talent and comic extravagance.
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What’s more, they broke out a washboard, so what else could you ask for? The vitality of these guys onstage is a delight, and certainly guaranteed them a repeat audience. Ditto St. Paul and The Broken Bones. I’d caught these guys before and was afraid I’d over-hyped the soul six-piece, especially when St. Paul himself began his second set on uneven vocal footing. But man, there are few performers out there who can hit such charismatic performative peaks, and they walked away with perhaps the longest ovations this festival had to offer (though you can’t mention charisma without tipping your hat to Vintage Trouble; Ty Taylor’s vocals are one thing, but given the near-faceplant he encountered while crowdsurfing, the guy has earned his stripes). Patti Smith was, of course, a powderkeg. Her first set, a performance of her 1975 album debut, Horses, resulted in actual weeping from many of those gathered at front of stage. She has a presence up there that is as hard to define as it is to deny, and it is encouraging to see someone so political and passionate embraced by such a wide sweep of ages. Her second set, in addition to several spokenword pieces, saw Smith revisit Bob Dylan’s Nobel Prize ceremony with a cover of ‘A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall’. Oh, Irish Mythen. A performer so inspiring and raw, so endearing, with a voice that sighs and roars like a shifting tide. Her charm and her songs are just exquisite. Ukulele master Jake Shimabukuro achieved the impossible by leading an audience sing-along to ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, while Santana were… well, Santana. Carlos and co. easily pulled the biggest crowd, and while they are all exceptional talents, Cindy Blackman Santana on drums was simply jawdropping. It’s hard to look past the strengths of The Mountain Goats (especially with a setlist that included ‘No Children’, ‘Up The Wolves’, ‘You Were Cool’ and ‘This Year’), but I’m a fanboy of old. Nahko and Medicine For The People were superbly atmospheric, Mary J. Blige brought the house down…
BYRON BAY BLUESFEST Tyagarah Tea Tree Farm Reviewed March 29, 30 and 31 There are a number of things that immediately stand out to a Bluesfest virgin. There are wide thoroughfares that encourage easy transition between stages, the bars are evenly and conveniently spaced, and the mix at each stage is near perfect. After nearly two days of sheeting rain the site is still highly functional; a benefit that is all the more noticeable after years of standing (and subsequently sinking) in the mud at Byron’s Other Big Festival. The 24th year of this annual institution has been described as a high water-mark due to the glut of top-notch established acts. Not that the apparent star power of the golden oldies seemed to bother Irishman Glen Hansard on the Mojo Stage. After burning through powerful tracks from his bands The Swell Season and The Frames – accompanied by the boisterous presence of the latter – he finished things with a new take on Van Morrison’s ‘Astral Weeks’. Reggae stalwart Jimmy Cliff had hands clappin’ on the same stage. Spirited stuff, but those wanting something a little less affected were gathering at the smaller APRA Stage for Michael Kiwanuka. The Brit has an obvious affection for Byron, having visited twice in the last year, and noted after ‘Home Again’ that the rain drumming down outside couldn’t possibly compare to the
cold back in his homeland. Steve Miller Band ripped into ‘The Joker’ and ‘Jet Airliner’ with a whole lotta bombast, while next door, softly-spoken Detroit survivor (and newly-mintd movie star) Rodriguez was helped on stage by two people to rapturous applause. Backing band The Break knew their place, with Rob Hirst’s drumming obviously restrained throughout a set that was heavy on classics amidst a thick fog of nostalgia. Day three of the festival was kicked off by triple j favourite Thelma Plum in the (completely indoors and sheltered from the rain!) Lotus Palace. She’s got some pretty rad tunes of her own, but the highlights were covers of Chris Isaak’s ‘Wicked Game’ and Jeremih’s ‘Birthday Sex’ (which might have been familiar to listeners of James Blake’s co-hosting of the national broadcaster’s breakfast show days earlier). Later in the afternoon Wilco played a set that ended far too soon. An aching version of spiteful anthem ‘I Am Trying To Break Your Heart’ led into Mermaid Avenue’s ‘Californian Stars’. Robert Plant was able to belt out some surprisingly high and sustained anthems, but the dramatics of his Sensational Space Shifters weren’t enough to attract many away from the lure of the creepy skin-father at the Crossroads Stage next door. Iggy & The Stooges’ primal screams
threatened to scatter the chairs of the scowling pensioners at the rear of the tent. Detroit’s favourite son wasn’t interested in adhering to any sense of decency: the shirt was off almost immediately, and as ‘Funhouse’ ripped into life Iggy started hauling fans up on stage for some dirty dancing. The festival’s second last day bore the scars of sustained meteorological and cultural drenching. Easter Sunday’s traditional signalling of new life was skewed slightly as proceedings evolved slowly on the stages. Luka Bloom’s set was inordinately dull, bar his cover of fellow Bluesfester Mark Seymour’s ‘Throw Your Arms Around Me’. He probably wasn’t helped by the ruckus on offer from Melbourne native (and Seth Sentry crewman) Grey Ghost next door on the Mojo Stage. Former Yes frontman Jon Anderson shambled on, before a passably hummable turn – including, of course, ‘Dreamer’ – from Supertramp’s Roger Hodgson. Rufus Wainwright offered dollops of drama and lush balladry, ahead of Denver’s The Lumineers. The American five-piece’s hype seemed justified during breakout hit ‘Ho Hey’, as they led one of the loudest, somehow tiredest, and final audience singalongs of the weekend. Benjamin Cooper
In short, Bluesfest is a true event for all tastes and timbres. You only wish they could find some way of making the festival more than a spread of stages, to make it feel like an unlikely home, however briefly. Adam Norris
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This page [clockwise from top]:
See full galleries at the tonedeaf.thebrag.com/photo/
Spank Rock at Sydney Festival, Sydney CBD 2008 by Tim Levy :: Uffie at Sounds on Sunday, Home Nightclub 2008 by Ashley Mar :: AllDay at The Big Top, Luna Park 2017 by Ashley Mar :: Slaves at Splendour In The Grass 2019 by Claudia Ciapocha :: Courtney Barnett at Byron Bay Bluesfest 2017 by Leah Hattendorrf :: Clouds at Frankies Pizza 2017 by Ashley Mar :: George Maple at Oxford Art Factory 2015 by Ashley Mar :: Gang Of Youths at Laneway Festival at Rozelle 2017 by Ashley Mar.
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This page [from top]:
Crystal Castle at Enmore Theatre 2017 :: Peter Garrett & The Alter Egos at Twilight at Taronga, Taronga Zoo :: Mac Miller at Metro Theatre 2017 :: Venga Boys at Big Top Luna Park 2016 :: All photos by Ashley Mar
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This page [clockwise from top]: Tropical Fuckstorm at xxx 2017 :: Panic At The Disco at the Hordern Pavillion 2016 :: SIA at Allianz Stadium :: Flatbush Zombies at The Big Top Luna Park :: Icecube at The Opera House for Vivid 2018 :: All photos by Ashley Mar
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This page [L-R from top]:
Elle King at Byron Bay Bluesfest 2016 by David Harris :: Spiderbait at Enmore Theatre 2017 :: Allen Stone at Byron Bay Bluesfest 2016 by David Harris ::The Preatures at ANZ Stadium 2018 by Ashley Mar :: Santana at Byron Bay Bluesfest 2017 by Leah Hattendorrf :: Charlie XCX at Allianz Stadium by Ashley Mar :: Tkay Maidza at Mountain Sounds 2017 by Benjamin Hunt :: DMAs at Mountain Sounds 2017 by Benjamin Hunt :: Confidence Man at Oxford Art Factory 2017 by Ashley Mar :: HAIM at Enmore Theatre 2017 by Ashley Mar :: Foo Fighters at ANZ Stadium 2018 by Ashley Mar :: Lany at Metro Theatre 2016 by Ashley Mar
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COLONEL HOMER SIMPSON PRESENTS
Springfield MUSIC
A ND
ART S
F ESTIVA L
Be Sharps
the
FRIDAY APRIL 14 & 21
Springfield Elementary School Band • Moe Szyslak Connection Rappin’ Rabbis • Alcatraaz • Grave Matthews Band • Roofi
the the
Beach Boys Experience •
the
Larry Davis Experience • Kovenant
Johnny Calhoun • MC Champagne Millionaire • Romeo Smooth • Funky C Funky Do the
Rolling Stones • U2 • Spinal Tap • Sex Pistols • Aerosmith
•
Dixie Chicks
Sadgasm
SATURDAY APRIL 15 & 22
Kirk Van Houten • Jazzy and the Pussycats • Ear Poison Les Rock Stars • Captain Bart
and the
Tequila Mockingbirds
Johnny Bobby • Red Breem the
and his Band of Some Esteem • Covercraft • Melvin and the Squirrels • Gary Ocean and the Motion
Crazy Old Man Singers Paul McCartney • the Who • Metallica • Green Day • Smashing Pumpkins the
White Stripes
•
Sigur Ros
•
Cypress Hill
Bleeding Gums Murphy
•
Phish
•
Los Lobos
•
Baha Men
SUNDAY APRIL 16 & 23
Party Posse • Lurleen Lumpkin • Hooray For Everything Doe-Eyed Boys Hettie Mae Boggs
• Pious Riot • Bascom Lee Boggs • Cyanide • MC Safety and the Caution Crew
Scab Calloway and his Non-Union Band Coldplay
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•
Red Hot Chili Peppers
• the
• the
Ramones
•
Wriggles • Sungazer • Der Zip Zorp Blink-182
•
N*SYNC
•
Fall Out Boy
thebrag.com
gig guide
Ari Lennox
WEDNESDAY 04 MAR My Chemical Romance
DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL 21 2020 SAT
MAR
My Chemical Romance, Deftones, Jimmy Eat World, Clutch Ministry, In Flames, Testament, Alestorm, Carcass, Lacuna Coil, Hands Like Houses, In Hearts Wake, The Hu, Baroness, Ne Obliviscaris Bodyjar, New Years Day, Clowns, Venom Prison Skynd,Thornhill, Disentomb, Stand Atlantic, Plini, REDHOOK, DREGG + MORE
The Domain, Sydney.
Robinson
SAINt JHN
WED
4 MAR
SAINt JHN
Max Watt’s, Moore Park.
With his most recent album Ghetto Lenny’s Love Songs, SAINt JHN cemented himself as a household name, and his live shows are something you absolutely need to witness to believe.
thebrag.com
WED
11
MAR
Robinson
The Lansdowne Hotel, Sydney.
Airy, dreamy vocals gliding over banging beats to make you feel warm and safe in your own bedroom, at a house party or even in the crowds at a concert. Robinson has a certain charm that cannot be denied and cannot be missed.
Adam Kuhn Factory Theatre, Marrickville. Aldous Harding Enmore Theatre, Newtown. Jorge Ben Jor The Big Top, Milsons Point. Karl S Williams Brass Monkey, Cronulla. SAINt JHN Max Watt’s, Moore Park. Sleaford Mods Factory Theatre, Marrickville. The Man From Atlantis At Lazybones Lounge Lazybones Lounge Restaurant & Bar, Marrickville.
THURSDAY 05 MAR Ainslie Wills + Leif Volebekk The Vanguard, Newtown. Bill Callahan State Theatre, Sydney. Charlie Collins Freda’s, Chippendale. Folamour Civic Underground, Sydney. Julia Jacklin Enmore Theatre, Newtown. Laura Marling Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. Lemon Row Brass Monkey, Cronulla. The Man From Atlantis With Araz Dehma At The Petersham Bowlo Petersham Bowling Club, Petersham. The Merindas Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst.
FRIDAY 06 MAR A$AP Ferg The Star Event Centre, Pyrmont. Alannah Russack Brass Monkey, Cronulla. Alex Cameron Factory Theatre, Marrickville. C.O.F.F.I.N Live At The Lansdowne The Lansdowne Hotel, Sydney. Caiti Baker The Argyle, Sydney. Elizabeth The Vanguard, Newtown. Evelyn Champagne King Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. Folamour Universal Sydney, Darlinghurst. Froggy Prinze Support Alannah Russack’s Entropy Band At The Brass Monkey, Cronulla Launch Brass Monkey, Cronulla. GAUCI The Bank Hotel, Newtown. Harmony Byrne Bridge Hotel, Rozelle. Hidden Presents Hordern Pavilion, Moore Park.
SAT
14 MAR
Ari Lennox
The Lansdowne Hotel, Sydney.
With her most recent album Shea Butter Baby, Ari Lennox proved that she is one of the most incredible voices in R&B at the moment. In fact, she is the moment, and you’d be a fool to miss her live.
Hot Chip Enmore Theatre, Newtown. Jess Dale With The Man From Atlantis (Melb) @ Butchers Brew Butchers Brew Bar, Dulwich Hill. Jinjer Manning Bar, Sydney. Made In The 90’s The Big Top, Milsons Point. Mashd N Kutcher The Argyle, Sydney. Molly &The Krells The Chippendale Hotel, Chippendale. Mustard Plug Factory Theatre, Marrickville. The Beautiful Girls Caringbah Hotel, Caringbah. The Blues Collective Brass Monkey, Cronulla. The Brave Crowbar Sydney, Leichhardt. The Poor The Bridge Hotel, Rozelle.
SATURDAY 07 MAR Approachable Members Of Your Local Community The Lansdowne, Sydney. Days Like This Festival Victoria Park, Camperdown.
Dune Rats The Big Top, Milsons Point. Fleetmac Wood Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. Glass Ocean + Ebonivory The Chippendale Hotel, Chippendale. JJ Lin ANZ Stadium, Sydney Olympic Park. Just A Number (Single Tour) With The Rucksacks + Royal Chant The Townie, Newtown. Mimi The Desert Pearl The Lansdowne Hotel, Sydney. Mono Metro Theatre, Sydney. One Ok Rock Enmore Theatre, Newtown. Pat Metheny State Theatre, Sydney. Red Hot Summer Tour The Lansdowne, Sydney. Reigning Metal The Vanguard, Newtown. Rock The Tavern Fundraiser For The Fire Fighters The Vanguard, Newtown. Seraphs Coal + More Manning Bar,
Sydney. To The Grave Crowbar Sydney, Leichhardt. Ultra Australia Parramatta Park, Parramatta. Weyes Blood Theatre Royal, Sydney. Xylouris White The Vanguard, Newtown.
SUNDAY 08 MAR Shake It Up 2020 The Lansdowne Hotel, Sydney. Stereolab Factory Theatre, Marrickville. The Ocelots Factory Theatre, Marrickville. Tony Sergi Factory Theatre, Marrickville.
TUESDAY 10 MAR FM Factory Theatre, Marrickville. Freya Ridings Metro Theatre, Sydney. Grace Petrie Brass Monkey, Cronulla.
WEDNESDAY 11 MAR Emily Wurramara Brass Monkey, Cronulla. Kip Winger Factory Theatre, Marrickville.
Pixies
SAT
14
MAR
Pixies
Sydney Opera House Forecourt, Sydney. SUN
15
MAR
This legendary band surely need no introduction at this point. Pixies have been putting on incredible live gigs since the very beginnings of their career, and they haven’t lost a single bit of their charm. In fact, they’ve just gotten better over time.
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gig guide For our full gig and club listings, head to thebrag. com/gig-guide. New Order Hordern Pavilion, Moore Park. Robinson The Lansdowne Hotel, Sydney. The Blind Boys Of Alabama Theatre Royal, Sydney.
THURSDAY 12 MAR Emily Wurramara The Vanguard, Newtown. Grace Petrie Brass Monkey,
Cronulla. Grace Petrie "Queer As Folk" Tour Marrickville Bowling Club Marrickville Bowling Club, Marrickville. Hand Habits Bridge Hotel, Rozelle. Irish Mythen Brass Monkey, Cronulla. Loretta Running Time Single Launch The Lansdowne Hotel, Sydney. Love &Other Ruse With Valerie King Low 302, Surry Hills. Mitchy + Kintsugi Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst.
Rage 3 Movie Tour - Newcastle Low 302, Surry Hills. Teenage Dads The Bank Hotel, Newtown. The Menzingers Factory Theatre, Marrickville. The Schizophonics Brass Monkey, Cronulla.
FRIDAY 13 MAR Amyl &The Sniffers Factory Theatre, Marrickville. Ari Lennox Max Watt’s, Moore Park. Blake O'Connor
Kingswood
FRI
20 MAR
Kingswood Oxford Art Factory, Sydney.
Whether Prince, Pauper, Queen or Court Jester, everyone is allowed into the Kingswood. Bringing their signature sound to the cities of Australia, this will be one experience that will blow away without a single doubt.
Marianas Trench
Max Watt’s, Moore Park. Dragon The Bridge Hotel, Rozelle. Gengahr The Lansdowne Hotel, Sydney. Georgia Fair The Bank Hotel, Newtown. Hard Dance Anthems - Andy Farley 30 Year Anniversary The Lansdowne Hotel, Sydney. Jesabel The Star, Pyrmont. Johnny Cash Tribute The Bridge Hotel, Rozelle. Lagwagon Metro Theatre, Sydney. Melbourne Ska Orchestra Manning Bar, Sydney. Morse Gang Factory Theatre, Marrickville. Pony Face Bridge Hotel, Rozelle. Selfish Sons Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. Slumberjack Factory Theatre, Marrickville. Sweet Velvet Factory Theatre, Marrickville. The Darkness Enmore Theatre, Newtown. The Lachy Doley Group + More Paddo RSL, Paddington. Things Of Stone And Wood The Vanguard, Newtown. Victor Valdes Mariachi Band Brass Monkey, Cronulla.
SATURDAY 14 MAR
SUN
5
APR
Marianas Trench The Metro Theatre Sydney, Sydney Infectiously happy and joyous tunes fill the entire discography of Marianas Trench, who are an absolute delight to catch live. Be sure to get your tickets while they last.
Dave Matthews Band
WED
First State Super Theatre, Sydney.
Dave Matthews Band has been slowly working their way into the minds of every music listener, and as they grow in popularity, so do they grow in their incredible live performance skills and vocal technique. Be sure to see them for yourself.
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Alanis Morissette
APR
Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney.
11
You Oughta Know that Alanis Morissette is coming to Australia and my god the crowd is going to go off at almost every song. Be sure to catch this legend while you can, because who knows when your next chance will come around.
The Lansdowne Hotel, Sydney. The Drop Kerlie Park, Manly. Tyde Levi Metro Theatre, Sydney. Wine Machine Roche Estate, Pokolbin. Xylouris White Bridge Hotel, Rozelle. Onesevenfour 002 - Sydney Manning Bar, Sydney.
SUNDAY 15 MAR David Strassman Factory Theatre, Marrickville. Dyson Stringer Cloher The Vanguard, Newtown. Petiguana Brass Monkey, Cronulla. Pixies Sydney Opera House, Sydney. Progaid Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst.
MONDAY 16 MAR Becky Lucas Sydney Sydney Opera House, Sydney. Livenation
TUESDAY 17 MAR Rhiannon Giddens Metro Theatre, Sydney. Tim Minchin Enmore Theatre, Newtown.
WEDNESDAY 18 MAR Aitch Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. Eleanor Mcevoy Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. Kip Moore Hordern Pavilion, Moore Park. Tim Minchin Enmore Theatre, Newtown.
THURSDAY 19 MAR Lanks The Vanguard, Newtown. Louis Tillett & The LT3 Camelot Lounge, Marrickville. Tim Minchin Enmore Theatre, Newtown.
FRIDAY 20 MAR Cedric Burnside Theatre Royal, Sydney. Chasing Giants The Lansdowne Hotel, Sydney. Coming Out Of My Cave And I'Ve Been Doin' Just Fine Max Watt’s, Moore Park. Dave Arden Bridge Hotel, Rozelle. Deathbeds Burdekin Hotel, Darlinghurst. Golden Pelicans The Eastern, Bondi Junction. Hayley Mary The Lansdowne Hotel, Sydney. Kingswood Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. Lindsay Low 302, Surry Hills. Liza Ohlback Band Factory Theatre, Marrickville. Louis Tillett & The LT3 Camelot Lounge, Marrickville. Mantell Factory Theatre, Marrickville. Marc Rebillet Metro Theatre, Sydney. Mi-Sex The Bridge Hotel, Rozelle. Mitch King Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. Slow Culture The Chippendale Hotel, Chippendale. Spacey Jane Manning Bar, Sydney. The Distractions + Bando Road Brass Monkey, Cronulla. The Exploited Factory Theatre, Marrickville. Tim Minchin Enmore Theatre, Newtown. Women In Pop Ginger’s, Darlinghurst.
SATURDAY 21 MAR Autosuggest The Chippendale Hotel, Chippendale. Bakers Eddy The Vanguard, Newtown. Boiler Room Ten Sydney
SAT
25 APR
Louis Tomlinson Big Top, Sydney.
Launching his solo career with beautiful success, Louis Tomlinson is coming to the Australian cities to prove that his voice is just as mesmerising as it always was, but this time it is free from distraction.
UNSW Roundhouse, Kensington. Butternut Sweetheart Golden Age Cinema & Bar, Surry Hills. Committed To Soul Factory Theatre, Marrickville. Concrete Surfers Factory Theatre, Marrickville. Download Festival The Domain, Sydney. Eilen Jewell &Band Theatre Royal, Sydney. Garden Party Factory Theatre, Marrickville. Gia Factory Theatre, Marrickville. Hollie Col The Bank Hotel, Newtown. Jasmine Beth Factory Theatre, Marrickville. Mi Sex Brass Monkey, Cronulla. New Years Day Factory Theatre, Marrickville. Open Air With Harrsion BDP Hermann’s Bar, Sydney. Sammy J Factory Theatre, Marrickville. Svntax Error Factory Theatre,
Marrickville. The Exploited Narrabeen RSL, North Narrabeen. The Quireboys Factory Theatre, Marrickville.
SUNDAY 22 MAR Fausto Leali + Matia Bazar Enmore Theatre, Newtown. Nebula The Lansdowne Hotel, Sydney. Salt &Steel The Lansdowne Hotel, Sydney.
TUESDAY 24 MAR The National ICC Sydney Theatre, Sydney.
WEDNESDAY 25 MAR The National ICC Sydney Theatre, Sydney.
FRIDAY 24 APR Daniel Kandi Candy’s Apartment, Potts Point.
TUESDAY 12 MAY Billy Bragg Metro Theatre, Sydney. Ásgeir Enmore Theatre, Newtown.
Lucy Spraggan
SAT
25 APR
Lucy Spraggan Oxford Art Factory, Sydney.
With one of the most incredible voices to hit the scene in recent years, Lucy Spraggan knows how to have a good time, and wants you to join her on her string of unmissable Aussie shows.
Xxxxx photo by Jxxxx
15 APR
Dave Matthews Band
Boomchild Crowbar Sydney, Leichhardt. Cell Block 69 Factory Theatre, Marrickville. Concrete Surfers The Eastern, Bondi Junction. Dulcie Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. Frank Sultana The Vanguard, Newtown. Huck Hastings Golden Age Cinema & Bar, Surry Hills. Jordan Brando B2B Luke Alessi Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. Mickey Kojak The Lansdowne Hotel, Sydney. Midge Ure Metro Theatre, Sydney. Mike Elrington The Lansdowne Hotel, Sydney. Objekt Universal Sydney, Darlinghurst. Pixies Sydney Opera House, Sydney. Reckless Love Crowbar Sydney, Leichhardt. Red Hot Summer Tour The Lansdowne Hotel, Sydney. Spfdj
Louis Tomlinson
Alanis Morissette
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