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4 :: BRAG :: 405 :: 28:03:11
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rock music news
welcome to the frontline: what’s goin’ on around town... With Nathan Jolly
he said she said WITH
PAT FROM WATUSSI
I
grew up in the small town of Armidale, smack bang in the middle of Sydney and Brisbane; a tight community with not a lot to do but entertain yourselves. That’s where music came in. My dad is a drummer and he and my mum would always have a wide range of music playing at home, everything from classic ‘70s rock to experimental noise art that probably only seven people had ever heard of. Me and my friends used to spend our time forming as many bands as possible and putting on shows at the local PCYC and a decrepit old church outside of town. We would invite all of our friends and pretend we were rock stars and super cool promoters!
Watussi had been running for about four years before I joined. The old bass player left and I was lucky enough to get the audition! There are reggae, soul, rock and jazz aficionados in the band and all of it makes its way into the mix, but only if it sounds good!
I can remember the exact moment I decided I wanted to play bass guitar. I was riding in a car with a friend of mine - we would’ve been about eleven years old - and ‘Around The World’ by the Red Hot Chili Peppers came on the radio, the first single from Californication. When I heard Flea tearing it up with that face-melting flurry of notes in the breakdown before the second verse I thought, ‘That was the bass?! I wanna do that!’. Later I discovered other amazing players like Stu Zender, Willie Weeks, Pino Palladino, Family Man and Rocco Prestian - but Flea was the one who started it all for me.
Sydney is still recovering from the pokies invasion of the 80s in a lot of ways, but there’s a lot happening, and it’s exciting! We really love bands like Deep Sea Arcade and bluejuice who’ve been working their arses off for years doing their own thing!
An obvious comparison to make is Santana (who we’re touring with right now!). Early Santana. There’s a raw, rock energy that drives the rhythm section, with some Chili Peppers, Mars Volta and even AC/DC vibes in there, but the horn section bring a beautiful jazz and reggae sensibility to the mix, which gives the arrangements a lot of depth.
What: 1000% Handsome is out now, through MGM With: Tijuana Cartel Where: Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach / Queens Wharf Brewery, Newcastle When: April 2 / April 3
78 SAAB
78 Saab have a fantastic new single called ‘Warm Jets’. Hopefully, triple j will cling to it for dear life and spin it on high rotation for months and months so that you can say, “I was at that single launch… April 2 it was, at the Gaelic Theatre.” Then you can look wistfully into the distance and say, “Christ, I love the Saab.”
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Daniel Lee Kendall
ART DIRECTOR: Sarah Bryant GRAPHIC DESIGN: Dara Gill SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER: Tim Levy SNAP PHOTOGRAPHERS: Ben Kalgovas, Innerstyle, Ashley Mar, Daniel Munns, Thomas Peachey, Rosette Rouhana COVER PHOTOGRAPHY: Mclean Stephenson. SALES/MARKETING MANAGER: Blake Rayner 0404 304 929 / (02) 9552 6672 blake@thebrag.com ADVERTISING: Les White - 0405 581 125 / (02) 9552 6618 les@thebrag.com ADVERTISING: Jessie Pink - (02) 9552 6747 jessie@thebrag.com GIG & CLUB GUIDE CO-ORDINATOR: Conrad Richters - gigguide@thebrag.com (rock) clubguide@thebrag.com (dance) INTERNS: Liz Brown, Rach Seneviratne. Adieu, dear Rach. We shall miss you’re proofing prowess. REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS: Simon Binns, Joshua Blackman, Mikey Carr, Benjamin Cooper, Oliver Downes, Max Easton, Tony Edwards, Christie Eliezer, Murray Engleheart, Lucy Fokkema, Mike Gee, Andrew Geeves, Thomas Gilmore, Chris Honnery, Nathan Jolly, Alex Lindsay Jones, Amelia Schmidt, Romi Scodellaro, RK, Luke Telford Please send mail NOT ACCOUNTS direct to this address 153 Bridge Road, Glebe NSW 2037 ph - (02) 9552 6333 fax - (02) 9552 6866 EDITORIAL POLICY: The views and opinions expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the Publisher, Editor or Staff of The Brag. ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE: Stephen Forde : accounts@furstmedia.com.au ph - (03) 9428 3600 fax - (03) 9428 3611 Furst Media, 3 Newton Street Richmond Victoria 3121 DEADLINES: Editorial Wednesday 12pm (no extensions) Art Work, Ad Bookings Thursday 12pm (no extensions) Ad Cancellations Tuesday 4pm Published by Cartrage P/L ACN 104026388 All content copyrighted to Cartrage 2003
Papa vs Pretty
PAPA VS DINOSAURS
Some weeks ago, Papa vs Pretty played at this sit-down event, and absolutely tore the stage apart. They have two Mick Jaggers, the guitarist shreds like a beast, they have more energy than a van full of Monkees, and they write great songs. They have a new EP coming out May 29, United In Isolation, which Paul McKercher (You Am I) produced, with the first single pulled from it (‘One Of The Animals’) at radio now. And! They are currently touring with Last Dinosaurs, and will be bringing them back to Sydney on Friday April 1, to play Oxford Art Factory. Pretty great gig, that one.
INNER WEST SIDE
We are a city of heathens, I’m beyond saddened to report. Due to the sheer amount of people that shunned the traditional church/ chocolate/prayer/Olsen-twins-family-movie cycle of Easter last year and instead went to the Inner West Festival, the event has been expanded to two days, with the organisers forced to book a slew of extra brilliant acts. The Hard Ons, Zeahorse, Sketch The Rhyme, Reserve Polarities, Tuka (Thundamentals), The Green Mohair Suits, Fait Accompli, Hailer, Only The Sea Slugs, True Vibe Nation and about 20 others. See what you did?! They will be playing over the entire Easter weekend (April 23-24) at the Sandringham Hotel - and two day tickets are only $30.
DIE! BLEEDING! KNEES!
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Check our gig guides - April 1 ain’t a day for no fools, fool. There are a huge number of great shows happening, and one of the very best is sure to be the Purple Sneakers presented Last Night, which happens at the Gaelic Theatre and happens to feature a little NZ band called Die! Die! Die! - as well as Brisbane’s awesome Bleeding Knees Club. Last Night will play host to Parades the week after, too. Bam!
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THE OVALS
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6 :: BRAG :: 405 : 28:03:11
In my sports-shunning mind the world “Oval” is intrinsically prefixed with “do some laps around the”, which is why I am currently curled in a
corner pretending to have a limp. Turns out Melbourne band The Ovals aren’t the sportsloving types either - they play psychedelic progrock, so they named their band after a shape that’s like a circle, but not so square. Makes sense, yeah? They’re launching their debut EP Into The Eyes of Those Who Sleep on April 8 at Oxford Art Factory, with Zeahorse and Dark Bells.
APRIL FALLS DAY
Remember on Xmas Day when Damon Albarn released The Fall, a new Gorillaz album recorded entirely on an iPad, with each track written and recorded in a different American city and named thusly? Well, I’m not just chatting about an old album ‘coz I’m drunk (when that happens, it’s usually about Blue) - it came up because they’re releasing the record physically on April 15. It’s a great record, and a neat concept, from a ridiculously good band. So go buy it!
WHITE LIES CANCEL
White Lies have unfortunately had to pull out of their Australian tour. The Japanese disaster meant they had to cancel their Japan shows, and it’s an awfully long way to fly just for a few Australian gigs. They love us and can’t wait to get back by all accounts - and if you bought your ticket on a card, it’ll get refunded. If you’re the cash or Eftpos type, you’ll have to get thee to a Ticketek.
YOU ARE HOME
The weather is getting colder, so Georgia Fair and Daniel Lee Kendall thought, ‘what better time of the year to live on a bus?’ The three of them (Georgia Fair is two lads) decided to embark on a bit of a tour, which rolls into our town on April 30 (see how I made it sound like Almost Famous?), when they will quietly rock The Vanguard. It’s a co-headlining tour - so watch both of them!
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rock music news
free stuff
welcome to the frontline: what’s goin’ on around town... With Nathan Jolly
FREESTUFF@THEBRAG.COM
five things WITH
DIE! DIE! DIE! [NZ] ethos, the three of us, to make records and play shows with an emphasis on creating something positive, and something we find exciting to do. The Music You Make We recorded our last record Form with 4. our friend Nick Roughan, who used to be in a fantastic New Zealand band called The Skeptics. We recorded the album in Auckland. It was nice to be able to take more time, with recording being in the place we lived; there was a little more thought put to what we were recording than on previous albums. People can expect an intense and totally fun live show from us.
5.
Growing Up I grew up in a healthy house filled with 1. music, and I suppose that shaped me into always having a love for music. I remember my mum playing the piano early on - there was always music in my life.
2.
Inspiration My favourite musicians have always been local to New Zealand. As a teenager I got into
TOTALLY AUTUMN
If you’ve ever spent a deal of time in Newcastle and don’t side with Matthew Johns, you will have heard of and possibly been to a few Spring Break nights. They feature underground music so cool the makers scoff at the description “underground music” - and they’ve hosted some of the best bands in this country. Spring Break are now putting on a run of festivals - the next one being Totally Autumn, which happens April 9 at the Croatian Club. The massive lineup features East Skull (US), My Disco, Slug Guts, Angel Eyes, Holy Balm, The Laurels, Alps, Dead Farmers, The Holy Soul and more. www.totallyautumn.org for more.
amazing bands like Bailterspace, HDU and Snapper - just a whole lot of bands who I saw as a teenager growing up in Dunedin.
3.
Your Band Andrew and myself met at high school, and quickly gravitated towards each other with a similar musical passion. We met Lachlan about four years ago and instantly connected musically, too. We’ve always had a similar
Music, Right Here, Right Now I really like the music scene that’s happening in New Zealand at the moment; there’s a lot of support between a lot of individuals, which is always a great thing. When I’m in Sydney, I always spend a lot of time in Surry Hills - I think that’s a pretty good place to start for music in Sydney. With: Form is out now through Remote Control With: Bleeding Knees Club Where: Purple Sneakers presents: Last Night @ The Gaelic When: Friday April 1
The Kills
THE KILLS
Coolest guy and girl in the universe, aka Jamie Hince and Alison Mosshart, aka The Kills, are back with a fourth studio album, Blood Pressures. The classic Kills swagger and sass is still there (never fear), but with a fourth release has come a new side to The Kills: thoughtfulness, depth, and – shock horror – vulnerability. Their distinctive brand of sexually-vivid rock permeates through the adventurous eleven tracks, and after listening to this gem, you gon’ be begging for a tour! Fingers crossed… But for now your appetite can be whet with a copy of Blood Pressures – we have five to give away, just tell us the name of their debut album.
MY DISCO CANCEL SYDNEY SHOW
“It is with great regret that we have to announce some cancellations for our upcoming Australian tour,” read the first line of a handwritten note that My Disco slipped under our door yesterday. “Last week, Liam was involved in a traffic accident and was rushed to hospital for surgery. He is now in recovery, which is slow and painful. Unfortunately our Sydney, Geelong and Canberra shows will not be going ahead. Our apologies for the cancellations – we have a North American tour starting in just over a month’s time, and we are working towards being able to do that.” :’(
Strange Talk
Violent Soho
VIOLENT SOHO TO SUPPORT THE JEBS
A couple of Thursdays ago, Dew Process invited us to a party at the Oxford Art Factory, featuring Mosman Alder, Guineafowl and a little band called Jebediah. Their set was one of the funnest things that happened, ever – Kev hasn’t aged, Ness is still punk as fuck, and ‘Leaving Home’ is as good live as it was at Homebake 1998. We forgave them for the ‘Teflon’ oversight when they played a bunch of tracks from their forthcoming LP, Kosciuszko – which you, dear reader, will get to hear live when they launch it on May 27 at The Factory Theatre. They’ve just announced Brisbane’s Violent Soho as support, in one of the wisest supportchoices of the year - and you can pick up Kosciuszko on April 15.
SCORCHER FEST BEN SHERMAN’S BIG BRITISH SOUND
Ben Sherman’s clothing is visually peppered across the history of British music, what with all the mods and punks and such from rock’s back pages wearing them incessantly. So it makes sense for the company to scoop up a handful of the best bands, and host those Ben Sherman Big British Sound gigs. This year it lands on May 12 at the Gaelic Theatre - and if you’ve been to one of these, you’ll know it’s basically just awesome bands playing their awesome sets, with a few UK covers thrown in. Tame Impala, Art vs Science, Whitley, Little Red and many more have played Big British Sound in the past; this year’s lineup features Melbourne’s Strange Talk (“a star-crossed marriage of Phoenix and Passion Pit,” according to Flavorpill), Ball Park Music, Boy In A Box, Owl Eyes and Step-Panther. All good.
On Sunday April 10, The Annandale Hotel is hosting a huge party – one film, three stages and 25 bands, most of which you probably haven’t heard of. But - that’s the point! Now in its seventh year and touring the Aussie and New Zealand circuit, The idea behind SCoRCHeR is to find great new bands - all genres, all backgrounds - and bring them to you. Pretty nice idea. This year, you can check out Aeriae, Boston Shaker, Cass & Dougo, Contraban, Danny John Trio, Eliza Kate, Fifth Fiction, Harbinger, Jamma Page… and that’s just the first ten letters of the alphabet. Check out the rest of the bands and their profiles at
scorcherfest.com.au - and while you’re there, watch a neat little trailer for the SCoRCHeR documentary which will be screening on the night. Ticket are $20 a pop. New music! Yep!
GYPSY MAY
Our favourite Gypsy and our favourite Cat are teaming up once again, this time on their (Gypsy and The Cat) first ever national tour - in support of that excellent ‘Jona Vark’ track. The Sydney show takes place at the Metro on May 20, by which time the band would have played Coachella, returned to the UK and rehearsed for their June support shows with Kylie. We’re lucky they can fit us in, really!
“Lower the curtain down in Memphis, Lower the curtain down all right / I got no time for private consultation, Under the Milky Way tonight.” - THE CHURCH 8 :: BRAG :: 405 : 28:03:11
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dance music news
free stuff
welcome to the frontline: what’s goin’ on around town... With Chris Honnery
FREESTUFF@THEBRAG.COM
he said she said WITH
M
y parents were really not musical people at all. I think my mother might actually be tone deaf. But there was a scattering of musical items they had strangely accumulated over the years - the prize was two boxes of vinyl records and a Pioneer turntable, once the property of my mother’s high school sweetheart who died in a horrific motorbike accident in 1981.
GLOVES
Seriously horrific - he came off his motor bike at top speed and was flung off an embankment and found impaled on a star dropper (a metal fence post). Those records were a huge influence on me; I found them when I was about eleven and was soon busy making my friends mixtapes filled with Grandmaster Flash, Human League, Talking Heads and Devo. Musically, my biggest inspiration would be Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers, best known for their band Chic. They were a straight up hit machine in the ‘70s and ‘80s, lending their golden touch to a string of mega hits including Bowie’s ‘Let’s Dance’, Sister Sledge’s ‘We Are Family, MJ’s ‘Do You Remember the Time’ and Madonna’s ‘Material Girl’. Nile has recently won his battle with cancer, yew! My crew is mainly Bang Gang 12”s crew in Sydney and the Cutters crowd in Melbourne. Love goes out to my talented comrades Cassian, Shazam, Bag Raiders, Magic Happens, Graz, Cosmonaught, Radio Ink, Cut Copy, Midnight Juggernauts, Knightlife, Doom, Hoodrat, Nile Delta, Ben Browning, Architecture in Helsinki, Pikelet, World’s End Press, and anyone I’ve forgotten... The truest of the true - let’s keep on giving.
I’ve been studio-bound for some time now with a stack of production work. There’s some fresh material out in my remix of Bag Raider’s ‘Sunlight’ which has been getting massive support from everyone, not the least Mr. Alan Braxe who’s regularly dropping it. It sounds like a glass of cool strawberry milk. Also worth checking out is the track I wrote and produced for Catcall, ‘Swimming Pool’. It’s sounds like champagne on the beach. Amongst the huge pile of projects I have coming out soon, the single ‘The Woods’ that I produced for triple j’s newest darlings Gold Fields is definitely a really refreshing track - sounds like a straight soda water with lime juice. Next on the cards is relocation to Italy for four months, where I’ll be working on some new tunes with ‘Broke One’. I’m thinking acid tab in a can of Coke. Music in 2011 is definitely confusing. I’m staying positive, but at the same time it’s scary when you see such great labels like Institubes becoming bitter and throwing in the towel. For me personally though, I’m doing more music than I ever thought possible, working alongside some of my heroes and making sounds I could only dream of a few years ago. What: Late At The Loft presents GLOVES Where: The Loft @ King Street Wharf When: Friday April 1
SPARKADIA
After a dramatic line-up revamp and a few years out of the spotlight, Alex Burnett’s brainchild Sparkadia is back with a new album, The Great Impression – and EGAD!, is it a gem. With lush and diverse musical arrangements that glide under and over Burnett’s evocative lyrical imagery, the release will really come to life on the stage on the Great Impression tour. Sparkadia’s first Metro show sold out in a jiff, but thankfully they’ve put on a second, with Operator Please and Alpine for supports. It’s going down April 2 at the Metro Theatre and we have one double pass for the second show, which could just as easily sell out as well... If you want it, name a single from Sparkadia’s first release, Postcards.
CALIBRE + DRS
Ireland’s drum n bass talent Calibre is teaming up with versatile veteran English MC DRS for a night of sublime and sultry music from Calibre’s albums, and DRS’ lyrical bank. Calibre’s sound has progressed in his years and through his world travels, playing elements of jazz, funk, dub, techno and deep soul to audiences all around the globe. DRS has been in the game for 15 years, armed with a mic in one hand and a fistful of soul in the other. They’re playing a night together with support from Foreigndub and Alf at the Manning Bar on April 2, and we have just one double pass to give away. If you want it, tell us what Calibre’s birth name is.
ADULT DISCO TURNS ONE Miami Horror
It seems like forever, but Future Classic’s Adult Disco sub-brand has only been around for a year. Over the course of a mere 365 days, they’ve hosted some of the best in the biz, including Pantha Du Prince, Chez Damier, Tensnake, The Revenge, Dixon, Holy Ghost! and Joakim, so this Saturday’s official birthday part is a chance to celebrate a party which has been previously described as “a white whale swimming through a miasmic ocean of prosaic mediocrity”. With promises of cake and the Future Classic DJs themselves spinning an array of house, disco and techno all night long, you’d be a fool not to stop by the usual spot of the Civic Underground to pay your respects.
Rahzel
THE MAGNIFICENTS
Ryan Crosson
CIRCO LOCO EASTER
MIAMI HORROR
Melbourne electronic/indie outfit Miami Horror have revealed they’re relocating to L.A come August, but not before a final tour of their home country. Miami Horror will play The Metro on Saturday July 16 in a performance that will coincide with the release of ‘Summersun’, the fifth single from the group’s acclaimed full-length album, Illumination. Of the previous four single releases from the LP, ‘Sometimes’ proved the most successful, peaking at #2 on the ARIA charts. We wait to see whether ‘Summersun’ can go one better...
DAFT PUNK TRON FALLOUT
There’s been a fair bit of online controversy surrounding Tron Legacy R3CONFIGUR3D, a remix compilation of Daft Punk’s recent Tron soundtrack. Though the compilation featured reworks from M83, Boys Noize and the very little-known but highly-touted Com Truise, it was tarnished by the presence of some dubious remixers - namely living fossil Paul ‘Oakie’ Oakenfeld, The Crystal Method and The Glitch Mob - and was consequently slammed by Daft Punk’s former manager and close friend Busy P, also the man behind Ed Banger records. “Dear Disney people, You know i love you (we all do). But Walt! Come on! How can
you take my robots friends so far away from good taste?” he lamented on his website. “I am 100% sure the Daft boys were not involved in this side (sad) project. Of course some of it is nice, and you know there are some of my friends on this CD. But this is not enough! A masterpiece like TRON soundtrack deserved the best and I am sad to discover the A&R at Disney records is apparently buying most of his electronic music in airports stores…” Though it’s debatable whether the original soundtrack was a masterpiece, it’s hard to refute the thrust of Busy’s contention. And for the record, the post has since been taken down - perhaps Disney made ol’ Busy an offer he couldn’t refuse…
On the back of the Squillace affair in October, Circo Loco returns to Greenwood on Easter Sunday with a lineup consisting of international talismans like Visionquest’s Ryan Crosson (responsible for the excellent, Seth Troxler/Michael Mayer endorsed ‘Birds + Souls’ cut from last year), Circo Loco stalwart Andrew Grant and UK duo Audiojack. Furthermore, DFA’s Shit Robot is also on the bill after making his Aussie debut for Deep Impressions at GoodGod Small Club in a memorable romp last January. There’s also a strong local contingent representing led by Le Brond and Ben Korbel and the DFA-endorsed Aussie duo Canyons playing in various nooks and crannies of the Greenwood Hotel, which will be packed. Secure your attendance by purchasing a ticket through Resident Advisor.
The month-long extravaganza at CarriageWorks that is this year’s Platform Hip Hop Festival reaches its dénouement on Saturday April 2 with a performance from some of the most serious playas of the international hip hop milieu. Rahzel (AKA the Godfather of Noyze), Supernatural and DJ JS-1 will unite for a one-off performance as The Magnificents, with Aussie duo Koolism on support duties in their only Sydney show. Doors open at 6.30pm, with tickets and full details available through platformhiphop.com.au
DJ HARVEY’S LOCUSSOLUS
In news that should resonate with anyone who was in attendance when he played the Beck’s Bar for Picnic back in January – it already feels so long ago! – DJ Harvey’s recent spate of 12” singles under the name ‘Locussolus’ have been compiled for an album release. In addition to seven previously-released Harvey originals, there are remixes included from luminaries Andrew Weatherall, Lindstrom & Prins Thomas and The Emperor Machine. The album, simply entitled Locussolus, will be issued by Uruguayan imprint International Feel, which made quite an impact in 2010 with a string of releases from the likes of Harvey and Coyote. Locussolus isn’t out until June 13, so there’s still a while to wait yet - but given how fast the year has flown by already, it should be June in no time.
“Too dangerous to keep / Too feeble to let go / And you want to bite the hand / Should have stopped this long ago.” - THE CHURCH 10 :: BRAG :: 405 : 28:03:11
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free stuff
dance music news welcome to the frontline: what’s goin’ on around town... With Chris Honnery
FREESTUFF@THEBRAG.COM
five things WITH
RITUAL OF ROLLERS MUSIC Growing Up Dad was a DJ and a drummer, 1. and mum and her family were all heavily into soul and jazz (many of them are musos also), which meant for a fertile musical playing field. I was really fortunate in that way; the influence in the music I love, make and play is all extremely visible.
2.
Inspirations It will hardly be a surprise that, alongside Herbie Hancock and Hendrix, there is a musical genius called Calibre who I admire deeply. All these artists are intelligent and forward thinking but have a keen respect for the past, which for me is a must. A key inspiration is Hendrix’s Band Of Gypsys - it’s the reason I do music. It’s a man’s soul pouring out of speaker, using a guitar as his tool. That is the ultimate achievement in music.
You Rollers Music is myself and 3. A.L.F, with a somewhat new recruit in MC Antic. Antic is an amazing MC who I’ve shared many a stage with, and A.L.F and I are musically kindred spirits. I
SATOSHI... AND TANK CLOSURE?
It’s been reported online that one of Sydney’s foremost club spaces, Tank Nightclub, is set to close in May. This is based upon the Moshtix listing for Fact’s Satoshi Tomiie bash, slotted for Tank on Thursday April 21, which states in fine print, “Sadly TANK is closing after Easter, ending an era as one of the best clubs in the world… make sure you attend what will be an historic event…and that’s a FACT!!!” Tank is a sleek and opulent club space below The Establishment in Sydney’s CBD that was doing big business five or so years ago when hosting nights for the Defected record label, which included sets from
ONE TAKE
Illusive have announced the launch of their new pop-up party brand, ‘One Take’, at Oxford Art Factory on Thursday April 7. The premise behind One Take involves one-off pop-up parties in intimate venues - and this Thursday’s ephemeral fiesta is headlined by UK rapper Tinie Tempah, whose latest single, ‘Invincible (Ft. Kelly Rowland)’, is a top five hit in the UK. It follows a string of other commercial successes like ‘Written In The Stars’, ‘Pass Out’ and, uh, the platinum selling Swedish House Mafia collaboration, ‘Miami 2 Ibiza’. Also representing will be Melbourne duo Diafrix and DJ Izm, along with an assortment of local jocks. Tickets are available only through your mobile, at moshtix.mobi
78 Saab
the likes of DJ Gregory and Bob Sinclar. Highprofile club events have become increasingly rare at the venue in recent years though, with John Digweed, Way Out West and Layo & Bushwacka! the only notables to have played at Tank over the past twelve months. Considering the shortage of quality club spaces in Sydney this really is a damn shame; although it wasn’t always utilised the way it probably should have been in terms of bookings and events in recent times, as a club space it is as good as any on offer in the increasingly barren clubbersphere of Sydney. First The Forum, now Tank – it hasn’t been a good month for clubs in our city. If you’ve never set foot in Tank, make sure you go check out Satoshi on Easter Thursday; he’s packed the venue out in the past, so it’s fitting the Japanese proponent of prog and tech has a chance to close the club in style.
MF DOOM RESCHEDULED
If you missed it, masked NYC rapper Doom aka MF Doom was forced to postpone his performance at The Metro last week due to poor health, with the gig rescheduled for this Tuesday. The promoter, Slingshot, issued the following statement: “Slingshot understands the
think we were happy to find each other as we have a special take on beats and bass, plus a love of food and all things Calibre. When we did our radio show, you knew you were gonna hear those vibes week in, week out - and it’s something we’re very proud of. The Music You Make Soulful DnB with a reggae / jungle 4. influence. Brother-in-arms is Spikey Tee, micand soul-controller for production. That man’s voice can reduce anyone to tears. As for Rollers, we have about 15 years or so each in the game and this gig is really special for us, so we will be pulling out all the stops and cherishing the moment like a first date with ‘that’ girl you love. We call her “Jungle”… Music, Right Here, Right Now The last two years have been the most 5. futuristic, successful and positive years for bass music in general. From James Blake to the autonomic sound, people are pushing boundaries like never before. With promoters like Foreign Dub, Niche and Void (there are definitely many more) really working hard to give this city back the underground flava it once had, more and more talent will emerge. With: Calibre + DRS Where: Manning Bar, Sydney University When: Saturday April 2
frustrations of fans and regrets the inconvenience caused. This is the first time in the 17-year history of Slingshot Touring that a show has been postponed during a tour… Doom sincerely apologises to all his fans and is committed to continuing his Australian tour.” All tickets for the original date will be honoured for the rescheduled show at the same venue (last we heard there were a couple dozen left, too), and there are also still tickets available for Doom’s encore gig at Oxford Art Factory this Thursday March 31.
78 SAAB
If you Google Image search ‘78 Saab’, you get an assortment of photos of the band 78 Saab, as well as a couple of pictures of a shitty orange car (which we assume is a Saab from the year of 1978). The good news is that the band’s a lot better looking and less faulty than their vehicular namesake, and they also play damn fine songs. They’re launching their poignant, euphoric single ‘Warm Jets’ at The Gaelic on April 2, a dynamic and infectious pop song with brooding verses and an anthemic chorus. Nice! We have three double passes to their show; if you want in, then tell us which country manufactures Saab cars.
Drapht
TONI TONI LEE EP LAUNCH
This Thursday night, the front room at Goodgod Small Club hosts a special edition of Club AL, where Levins will be joined by Toni Toni Lee for the launch of Lee’s new single ‘Body Heat’. The EP follows previous Lee party jams ‘Feeling Real Good’ and ‘Last Love’, and features remixes from K.I.M. of The Presets, AD Bourke, Playmode and Diamond Lights. It’s been described as a “very steamy release, certainly steamy enough to demand it’s own party on a motherfuckin’ weeknight” - and that should be steamy enough to make you curious at the very least, particularly as it’s a free event!
Calibre
COME TOGETHER LINEUP ANNOUNCED!
Come Together maintains its annual ritual and returns to Luna Park on the June long weekend - this year offering a lineup laden with Australian hip hop talent. Perth artist Drapht will be present in the Sydney leg of his Life of Riley album tour - he’ll be joined by Urthboy (performing alongside his two cohorts Jane and Elgusto), Illy, Muph & Plutonic, M-Phazes and The Tongue, amongst an array of other artists on what is a very solid lineup indeed. Tickets will be going for the very affordable price of $59 when they are released this Wednesday, through cometogether.com.au
VOORN AND OOSTERWAL AT SPICE AFLOAT
Tinie Tempah
CALIBRE + DRS
Niche and Foreigndub have joined forces for the debut Australian tour of one of DnB’s more elusive talents, Dominick Martin aka Calibre, together with MC DRS. From his first full length LP on Creative Source to his latest album Even If on his own label Signature, Calibre’s sound has continually evolved, traversing elements of jazz, funk, dub and techno sounds and establishing him as a distinct figure in the DnB milieu. Calibre apparently prefers not to sacrifice “valuable studio time” for extensive gigs abroad, so his appearance at Sydney University’s Manning Bar on Saturday April 2 represents a rare chance to see him behind the decks. Support will be provided by Rollers Music and Foreigndub.
After hosting the February triumvirate of Butch, Vincenzo and Trus’Me, Spice Afloat returns with its third midnight cruise of the season on Saturday May 14. This time around, the international drawcards are Joris Voorn and Edwin Oosterwal from the Green and Rejected record labels, with Voorn in particular expected to arrive in Australia amid plenty of fanfare. Having played some memorable sets at Lost Baggage and for Bread and Butter’s Easter boat cruise on past visits, Voorn has continued to grow in stature since he was last in Australia. His Balance 14 mix was a commendable addition to the esteemed compilation series, while his Donna Summer/ Giorgio Moroder homage ‘The Secret’ has been backed heavily by the Cocoon cognoscenti and follows the 2009 ‘home run’ that was his Ibiza anthem ‘Sweep The Floor’. Support comes from locals Murat Kilic, Matttt & Tomass, Nic Scali and Sam Roberts - and tickets are still available online.
“They say that at the speed of light the particles all get quite excited / But out here in this universe it’s bursting and we’re all so delighted” – THE CHURCH 12 :: BRAG :: 405 : 28:03:11
BRAG :: 405 :: 28:03:11 :: 13
The Music Network
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Industry Music News with Christie Eliezer
APRA SONG OF YEAR
Lifelines Expecting: former Spice Girl Mel B, her third child. Dating (rumoured): King of Leon’s Jared Followill and Twilight actress Ashley Greene, who recently spit from Joe Jonas of The Jonas Bros. Dating (rumoured): Tim Rogers of You Am I, and Megan Washington. Not divorcing: Billy Ray Cyrus and wife Tish are staying together. Recovered: Chic’s Nile Rodgers has been cured of aggressive cancer. Hospitalised: Melbourne experimental trio My Disco’s bassist/vocalist Liam Andrews, after a car accident. They’ve cancelled their Sydney show this week while he recovers. Ill: Masked hip hopper DOOM postponed his Sydney show to March 29, as well as his Melbourne dates (TBA), after getting sick in New Zealand. Ill: Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine collapsed six songs into a show in St Petersburg. He was suffering from a kidney stone and played against doctor’s orders. Sued: Lil Wayne, for $20 million by producer Dezzle, who says he co-wrote his hit ‘Lollipop’ but has not been paid for it. Sued: Rapper Slim Thug for pistol-whipping Clarence Evans during a business meeting at his house in Houston. Arrested: Lou Reed’s manager Tommy Sarig for allegedly threatening to kill consultant Adrian Smith, who claimed he was owed $11,500 for finding Reed a personal assistant. Arrested: Las Vegas district attorney prosecutor David Schubert, who handled the cases against Bruno Mars and Paris Hilton, was himself busted for allegedly trying to buy crack cocaine. Died: US disco singer Loleatta Holloway, 64, heart failure. Her ‘Love Sensation’ was sampled on Black Box’s ‘Ride On Time’ and ‘Good Vibrations’ by Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch. Died: Jet Harris MBE, 71, bassist with Brit ‘60s band The Shadows, cancer.
APRA unveiled the Top 20 contenders for its Song of the Year. The winner of this, and of nine other categories, are announced on Tuesday June 1 at Carriageworks in Sydney. The 20 are Pendulum’s ‘ABC TV News Theme’, Thirsty Merc’s ‘All My Life’, Graeme Connor’s ‘All The Money’s Gone’, Guy Sebastian’s ‘All To Myself’, Gyroscope’s ‘Baby I’m Getting Better’, Angus and Julia Stone’s ‘Big Jet Plane’, SIA’s ‘Clap Your Hands’, Hoodoo Gurus’ ‘Crackin Up’, Goyte’s ‘Eyes Wide Open’, Rowland S Howard’s ‘Golden Age Of Bloodshed’, Kasey Chambers’ ‘Little Bird’, The Temper Trap’s ‘Love Lost’, Thirsty Merc’s ‘Mousetrap Heart’, Birds of Tokyo’s ‘Plans’, John Butler Trio’s ‘Revolution’, Little Red’s ‘Rock It’, Tame Impala’s ‘Solitude Is Bliss’, Brooke Fraser’s ‘Something In The Water’, Guy Sebastian’s ‘Who’s That Girl’ and Birds of Tokyo’s ‘Wild At Heart’.
50 CENT LOOKS FOR AUSSIE TALENT
50 Cent’s G Unit Records has opened a London office to find remix talent from outside America, including Australia. UK DJ Dan Greenpeace, who runs the office, says, “I plan to do that throughout the rest of Europe and the world - to get French, German, Australian and New Zealand artists on remixes, which is something G Unit hasn’t done before. If I think the track is right, we will collaborate with artists in specific territories.”
THREE MORE FOR MAJOR LABEL
The General Pants Co’s singles-only Major Label added three more names to its roster. They are Sydney’s Camden & The Careless, Brisbane’s Misère, and Tessa & The Typecast from Ballarat. Of other acts that Major Label signed, Sydney’s Guineafowl joined Dew Process, while Circle Pit toured the US with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. If you want to be considered for Major Label, take your demo to any General Pants store or contact Sami Stewart at sami.stewart@peergroupmedia.com.
WHITFORD EXITS SHOCK
After 17 years, Shock Exports CEO Joel Whitford has left Shock Entertainment, and is about to announce a new enterprise of his own. Shock Exports became the only entertainment company to win an Australian Exporter of the Year Award and six Victorian Exporter of the Year Awards, for sending local music product to 70 countries. Whitford was the architect of its in-house purpose built ERP systems enabling B2C trade across multiple international marketplace platforms, and of its web based B2B trading platform, providing real time order processing mechanisms for its client base. In the past three years, he was also CIO across the Shock Group.
WINERY FINED OVER BARNES FANS
Port Macquarie winery Cassegrain Winery was fined after incidents during a Jimmy Barnes concert in January before 4,000 fans. Some fans sneaked in their own spirits and fights started. As a result, winery owner John Cassegrain is thinking twice about holding such major events like that in the future.
THINGS WE HEAR
* US online music video service Vevo, set up by Universal and Sony, will be launched in Australia in the second half of 2011. * After its Bendigo show sold all tickets some weeks back, Groovin’ The Moo’s Maitland date has also put out the “sold out!” sign. * Premier Kristina Keneally was singing Ben Lee’s ‘Into The Dark’ backstage before she debated Opposition Leader Barry O’Farrell. * George Michael turned down £75,000 (over A$120,000) to be a guest judge on the UK version of The X Factor. He said he couldn’t bear to be cruel to young talent, but wouldn’t mind having a mentoring role for them in the show. * Kate Moss’ wedding to The Kills’ Jamie
BIEBER MOVIE BEATS JACKSON Justin Bieber’s Never Say Never movie has grossed US$72.2 million in America since its release there last month, and has become the #1 grossing concert documentary of all time. It beat the $72.1 million of Michael Jackson’s posthumous This Is It. Bieber thanked his fans, adding “MJ is still and always will be the King Of Pop! And worldwide we got a long way to go.”
Hince has been called “Kate’s mini-Glasto”. She’s asked her buddies Kanye West, Led Zeppelin, The ‘Stones, Duran Duran, Primal Scream and Beth Ditto to play at the event. * Going back to the past sometimes just doesn’t cut it. Slow ticket sales and logistics of moving its marquee saw Xanadu The Musical close in Melbourne 2 weeks early, and cancel its interstate run. Meantime, the Nevermind tribute shows have been axed. Cracks appeared when Vasco Era’s Sid O’Neil announced he wasn’t involved, even though he had lead billing. * Dolly Parton is heading to Oz in September. Sum 41, here for Soundwave, will be back for their own tour “sooner than later” bassist Jason McCaslin. * Ruby Rose celebrated her 25th birthday at a Melbourne skate park, and then went clubbing with her DJ buddies.
SUBMISSIONS FOR SYDNEY FRINGE
The Sydney Fringe wants anyone with ideas to pitch to them - last year they got 350 submissions. Deadline is April 30; go to www.thesydneyfringe.com.au.
DO YOU LOOK LIKE TUPAC SHAKUR?
British DJ Chris Moyles set a new world record by broadcasting for 52 hours. 2.8 million listeners tuned in as he raised £2.4 million (A$3.30m) for UK charity Comic Relief.
Do you look like Tupac Shakur? Morgan Creek Productions is holding online auditions at Insearchoftupac.skeetv.com, for a movie on the rap pioneer’s life, directed by Antoine Fuqua. You have to download and perform a scene from the movie as well as your fave Tupac track. Auditions end April 30.
ANGUS AND JULIA: A YEAR LATER
VIRGIN, DMG, LAUNCH DIGITAL STATION
DJ SETS NEW WORLD RECORD
Angus and Julia Stone’s debut album Down The Way hit triple platinum for sales of 210,000, and has spent one year in the ARIA Top 20. It’s the only Australian album charting at the moment to attain both feats. In France, the album has gone gold, ‘Big Jet Plane’ was included in the movie Les Émotifs Anonymes, and five Paris shows sold out to 7,500 fans two months ahead. The duo were also nominated twice for Canada’s Independent Music Awards.
SEED DEADLINE LOOMING
The deadline for entries to the Seed Fund is Friday April 8. Now in its seventh year, the Seed has been giving emerging artists and art workers a leg up. Its management workshops have seen participants go on to form new projects. This year, the Fund has added a $5,000 grant for three acts to hire publicists to plug their tours and CDs, as well as a new partnership with New Wave Festival. See www.theseedfund.org for full details.
INDIGENOUS OFFICER GIG AT AFTRS
The Australian Film, Television and Radio School is looking for an Indigenous Project Officer (three days a week) with close ties with the indigenous community, for a national short course program for the indigenous industry. See www.aftrs.edu.au - deadline is March 28.
Virgin Mobile and DMG Radio Australia have launched a new digital radio station Radio Free, where Virgin’s Lounge Members decide what is played. The public can access via Ninemsn’s The Fix, Pagesdigital website, Pedestrian TV, an iPhone application and DMG’s online radio players.
UK GOVERNMENT SUPPORTS MUSIC BIZ
The UK government has set up the Creative Industries Council (CIC), a move seen by the UK biz as helping it move to become the world’s largest exporter of music. For the first time in 25 years, three UK acts (Adele, Marsha Ambrosius, and Mumford & Sons) held the top three positions in the Billboard Top 200 (March 19). Feargal Sharkey, CEO of lobbying organisation UK Music told Billboard, “We don’t want to wait another 25 years to achieve that again.” Last year, UK Music urged the government to set up a structured policy that covered all the creative industries including music, games, films, design and fashion. Sharkey, singer with The Undertones, said he hoped the CIC would be operating by June, and implement three key things; get the creative sector to gain access to financiers and investors, develop skills and training, and enforce tougher copyright protection.
is looking for an intern! MUST LOVE WORDS We’re looking for someone to come into BRAG HQ every Friday, to help with basic copywriting and proofing. You must love words, worship music, and have an obsessive eye for detail. You must be able to work quickly and accurately, with enough confidence to make the necessary corrections. If you want a career in the journalism, publishing or music industries, this is a great place to start. Our most recent intern is leaving for paid work in the music industry, and interning at BRAG is how triple j’s Dom Alessio got started as well. If you like awesome, and want this unpaid job, email dee@thebrag. com with INTERN in the subject header, your CV, and a brief cover letter explaining why you won’t suck.
“I know a mouse / And he hasn’t got a house / I don’t know why / I call him Gerald” - SYD BARRETT 14 :: BRAG :: 405 :: 28:03:11
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BRAG :: 405 :: 28:03:11 :: 15
I
t’s hard for Bow Wow to call any place home right now; the writing and recording, touring, acting and charity work seem to have him constantly hopscotching around the United States. Little wonder, then, that when the rapper slips onto the phone, he sounds exhausted. “I’m in New York right now. I just got in from Amsterdam yesterday,” he explains, with the air of a man still deep in the decompression zone. “I will be in New York for, like, the next month. I’m actually filming my brand new movie here, so I’ll be here for a little while.” The acting bug has bitten hard for Bow Wow. He may have just completed a successful month-long tour of Europe, but his name is increasingly being found atop a different type of marquee. “I love working in film. I love ‘em both, but acting is definitely… let’s just say I could see myself doing more acting in the future than music. It’s peaceful, less stressful, I’m at ease when I’m doing it, and I just have a passion for it. I love it. It’s challenging and I love challenges, and I just respect the craft a lot.” It’s all a long way from how it started for Shad Gregory Moss. Born in Columbus, Ohio, in 1987, Moss latched onto rap music when he was just three years old; by age six was already performing recreationally under the moniker ‘Kid Gangsta’. In 1993, he appeared at a concert in Los Angeles and was noticed by Snoop Dogg, who christened him ‘Lil’ Bow Wow’. A few months later Lil’ Bow Wow earned his stripes by appearing on Snoop’s seminal record, Doggystyle. It’s an experience that he can now only vaguely remember. “Just being in the booth, and Snoop and them telling me to ‘Say it
like this! Say it like that!’” he laughs. Bow Wow’s a little ambivalent when he looks back on that early start, unsure of whether it prematurely jaundiced his own career outlook, or if it was simply a case of getting a head start in the rap game. “I mean, yeah, sometimes I feel like I’ve been there and done that, because I’ve done it multiple times, you know? And once you win four or five championships you get used to being a champion, and it’s all great. That’s how I’ve been pretty much my whole career,” he says. “But when I look back over it, I feel blessed, and feel like I’ve accomplished more than a lot of artists have accomplished in a lifetime. On top of that, I’ve been able to travel around the world and do my thing all over, so that right there is enough for me, if anything.” That early start, combined with Bow Wow’s nomadic existence, has seen him miss out on a few of the routine definitions of American rap music. He may have lived in Atlanta for a number of years, but he doesn’t see himself as belonging to the burgeoning southern movement – or, for that matter, to any other geographical hip hop territory. “I definitely wouldn’t say I’m part of the south movement. I was signed with So So Def [Recordings, based in Atlanta] so I guess in a way I sort of was - but I dunno man, I mean it’s hard for me to really say. I think that’s more of a question for the fans, because it’s hard for me to really
throw opinions on myself, so I dunno. I always feel like I’ve stayed in my own lane.” Regardless of how he views his own rap career up to this point, Bow Wow is still busy writing new material, even as he juggles the ever-encroaching demands of his film work. Having recently signed with Cash Money, one of the most successful hip hop labels in the music business, all signs point towards a fresh Bow Wow release some time in the next 12 months. “It’s coming along great so far. I’ve just been in the studio writing, working and just putting a ton of records together,” he explains. “I really wouldn’t say I’m making an album. I would just say that I’m recording - and when the time comes for me to go ahead, I’ll have all the things I need to put together a classic album. I feel like this album will be the best one I’ve ever done; after I release these tunes, I honestly don’t know how I’m gonna top them,” he says. “My thing is just to make sure I put out a great album, to tell my story and get across the messages that I want to get across - and also [get across] something that I know my fans will want to hear from me. I think as long as I do that, I’m fine. Whatever else happens, happens; I ain’t really trippin’ off of it.” Still, that dedication to songwriting is ultimately overshadowed by a passion for the stage, as Bow Wow’s notoriously energetic live show sees him in high demand worldwide.
Chuck D noted recently that hip hop is a performance art that has gotten away from the passion and necessity of performance – but it’s a complaint that couldn’t be levelled at Bow Wow. “It’s important for me to put together a compelling live show every time I take the stage. Because, you know, it might be someone’s first time seeing me live, and you always want to leave a great impression. It might even be a person’s first concert, so I always go hard. Every concert I have, I always go hard.” This autumn, Australia gets its first taste of the Bow Wow live show when the rapper lands on local shores for Supafest 2011. He joins an all-star bill which includes Busta Rhymes, Timbaland and Nelly, as well as his own early career mentor, Snoop Dogg. “It’s been a long time coming and I definitely can’t wait. I’m really looking forward to it,” he says. “I think it’s important that we travel. We have fans all over the world, not just here in the States, and I felt like everybody deserves a chance to see us live… It’s going to be all about entertainment. Just entertainment to the full capacity. Just a lot of high energy - and I swear to God, once you see the whole entire show, I will stand out from any other artist, trust me.” Will Bow Wow make good on his word? Only one way to find out… With: Snoop Dogg, Timbaland, Nelly, Busta Rhymes, T Pain, Taio Cruz, Ciara, Game, Keri Hilson and more Where: Supafest @ ANZ Stadium When: Saturday April 9
“Emily tries but misunderstands. She’s often inclined to borrow somebody’s dreams till tomorrow”- SYD BARRETT 16 :: BRAG :: 405 :: 28:03:11
BRAG :: 405 :: 28:03:11 :: 17
Chris Brown Up Close And Personal By Annabel McLean
C
hris Brown shot to superstardom in 2005, off the back of his chart-topping self-titled debut album; since then he’s collaborated with T-Pain, Timbaland, Bow Wow and Diplo, supported Beyonce Knowles on her international tour, and released two follow-up LPs, Exclusive (which sold almost two million copies in the US) and Graffiti. Accomplishments abound for the 21-year old, but right now it’s his personal life that’s in the limelight. Brown pleaded guilty in 2009 to the violent physical abuse of his then-girlfriend Rihanna - and just last week, on Good Morning America, he reacted to a line of questioning about the criminal case and his anger issues by trashing his dressing room backstage. It’s been a dark few years for Brown but he’s putting together a comeback, with a new album, F.A.M.E, and a huge international tour set to launch in Australia next month. “Fuck All My Enemies” was the initial meaning behind the record’s acronym, but Brown has recently been switching it between two more muted options: “Forgiving All My Enemies” or “Fans Are My Everything.” The first single, ‘Yeah 3x’, was released late last year, topping the
singles charts in New Zealand and reaching the top ten in the UK, Ireland and in Australia. “Australia is incredible,” he says, hyped up about his third trip down under. “With all the success from my musical career, Australia has been the key market that has really been supportive of all my records... I just love to be a part of whatever Australia has to offer.” F.A.M.E features a number of guests like Lil Wayne and Busta Rhymes, with Brown collaborating with a host of other producers and writers too, including Benny Benassi, Diplo and Kevin McCall. “The best thing about collaborating with other musicians would have to be the ability to feed off their energy,” Brown says. “A lot of people have different vibes and chemistry; the way they approach music and the way they paint their own picture. Being able to work with some of the greatest, like Timbaland, Polow Da Don, Diplo, Benny Benassi, Jean Baptiste; it’s incredible to be able to feed off their energy and find out where their thought process is with music, and the way they’re skilled at writing as well as producing. I feed off their energy, and the camaraderie.” Brown also worked with music video director Colin Tilley on the street-grooving pop-party clip for ‘Yeah 3x’. “He has a magic way of bringing my concepts to life,” he says. “He depicted the video exactly how I dreamt it, so it was incredible to be able to work on the set. We had a lot of fun, a lot of energy, a lot of guys dancing, a lot of women out there… I had some of the greats on there like Poppin Pete - a couple of the breakdancers and a lot of guys who are doing the martial arts mixed dancing, called ‘tricking’.”
“The biggest eyeopener is that you always have to be cautious. I speak as I feel at all times. Sometimes that is a bad thing...” Brown has always been inspired by soul music so, naturally, soul and the sounds of the past influence his work. “I was always engulfed in music from a young age; my father used to listen to so many different types of music, from Phil Collins to Elton John to The Beatles to Michael Jackson - The Jacksons - even to Naughty By Nature, and Tupac,” he says. “My dad had that sense of creativity when it came to music, so I got the best of both worlds. When I do different songs I don’t gear into doing hip hop or R&B, I just try to make music. Some days I might be feeling like being on some hip hop stuff, the next day I might just want to be R&B soul, or then alternative, or in the club techno feel-good.”
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PRGXODUSHRSOH FRP 18 :: BRAG :: 405 :: 28:03:11
And he’s certainly changed it up over the last few years. His single ‘I Can Transform Ya’ from 2009 album Graffiti was all about wanting to cross genres as an artist – moving away from the urban into new, experimental territory. “I never felt that I had to stick with one genre,” Brown explains. “I think that people get labelled a certain [way] because they only ever put out that certain type of music. I know that I’m early in my years as an artist - I’m only 21 - so when I came out I did the R&B stuff because that’s what my demographic was, I was a young black kid. As I got older and I progressed, all that other music was in me and I was just writing down the songs and trying to have fun.” Since signing to Jive back in 2004, Brown says he’s learnt a lot of things about the music industry - both good and bad. “The biggest eyeopener is that you always have to be cautious,” he reveals. “A lot of times, I have too much of a big heart and too much of an open mind, and so I speak as I feel at all times. Sometimes that is a bad thing and a good thing - people always know I’ll be straight up, but it can hurt people’s feelings. The industry is shady, it has its ups and downs - you love it, the passion, the music, your fans, and you get to do something you love, so you can’t complain about that. There are downfalls, but you need to focus on the positive.” As for his upcoming show, Brown doesn’t want to reveal too many specific details. “All the time, I try to do stuff that nobody has ever seen on stage,” he says. “I just want to bring a lot of energy and excitement to Australia and to all the fans, and let them get a great show.” What: F.A.M.E is out now through Sony Where: Acer Arena When: Tuesday April 26
BRAG :: 405 :: 28:03:11 :: 19
Motörhead 49% Motherfucker, 51% Son Of A Bitch By Toby McCasker
I
an ‘Lemmy’ Kilmister lives pretty modestly for a hard-rock icon. His cloistered bachelor pad is a two-bedroom Hollywood apartment, a horse’s cock from the Rainbow Bar ‘n’ Grill - the kind of place L.A. rockers go to grin at one another over their latest redundant record, before a black t-shirt hassles them for thumbs-up Facebook happy-snaps. When he’s not parked over there next to the trivia game, he’s at home. No mansion, no butler, no pool. “There is a swimming pool in the back of the apartment block,” he corrects me gruffly - gruffly only because he’s 65, and smashes two-thirds of a bottle of Jack every day from 1pm. Otherwise, Lemmy is an amiable sort of chap. “A communal pool - but I can’t swim.” 65 and you’ve never learnt to swim, I say more to myself than him. I’m feeling brave today, and it’s a good day for it. There are miles of broken bitumen recycling themselves over and over again in the van’s rearview mirror - Lemmy’s behind the wheel, and we’re on the road. To where? I don’t know, and I don’t ask. “In Britain, you don’t swim,” he reasons. “You do a lot of fuckin’ - it’s a damn
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“You can usually spot the dickheads, you know,” he says, of just about anyone who’s ever met him. “It’s fairly easy to spot the nodding donkeys. All you gotta do is say something that you know is wrong, and if they agree, and you know that they know it’s wrong too, then you have to pull ‘em up a bit, you know? I do it all the time.” Suddenly I’m a bit worried. Are you doing that right now? “No,” he croaks. “Not yet... You haven’t given me any reason to yet.” That’s alright, I blurt out - and that earlier bravado curdles into outright gumption when I tell him: I’m not really a Motörhead fan. We screech to a halt. Lemmy glowers at me from underneath his sepulchre cowboy hat. Oh, fuck. I’m going to die. Just tell him Ace of Spades defined your youth. No, shit, don’t do that; you’ll make him feel old. Just- “S’alright,” he grizzles, starting up the engine again. “I don’t know you either, you know. That’s fair.” Off we go again - and even though we’re going nowhere in particular, Lemmy seems to know the Hollywood Hills like the neck of his Rickenbacker. He should, too - he’s been living there for over two decades. “It’s no worse or no better than anywhere else, you know? It’s just that it’s Hollywood and it’s the States and it’s nice and warm, and England isn’t. Because of that, all the chicks wear less clothing which is always a plus, you know?” Stare out the window here and you’ll see lots to admire – but still, it’s nothing that Lemmy’d shed his infamous bachelorhood for. “I lived with chicks for long periods of time but I mean, it wasn’t me, you know? I couldn’t get into it. I couldn’t get into being… faithful to people. In the end, it always turned out they’d been unfaithful to me anyway, you know? If you’re on the road for three months you aren’t settled down, are you? It’s a contradiction in terms, innit.
“In Britain, you don’t swim. You do a lot of fuckin’ - it’s a damn sight better than swimmin’. I mean, swimmin’ is like fuckin’ on your own, innit? You do a lot of the same movements and that.” “It’s when you get married that people get fucked up a lot,” he continues, “it slows you down, and the wife makes you get rid of all your mates. If you leave her, you get married again off the rebound or go back to her, you know? It’s fuckin’ all downhill after you get married, I think. Marriage gives you cancer, everybody knows that.” The single life - there’s your cure? He nods sagely. “If it saves one life, it’s worth it.”
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sight better than swimmin’. I mean, swimmin’ is like fuckin’ on your own, innit? You do a lot of the same movements and that.” Just because it’s called the ‘breaststroke’ doesn’t mean you’d approach a pair of tits that way, I counter - and the old boy cracks a grin. He likes this. Not many people take Lemmy to task on anything.
We’re quiet for the moment and, out of the corner of his eye, Lemmy’s noticed me staring. “They’re not warts, actually. They’re moles.” ...No kidding? “I ‘ad warts,” he continues, matter-offactly. “I had 19 warts on one hand once. I was in the bathtub one night and they vanished. It was really weird. They’d just gone when I got out. Fuckin’ most incredible thing.” Maybe Ozzy Osbourne’s right, I muse, when he says you’re made of iron. This makes Lemmy cough-cackle uproariously. “A guy hit me over the head with a pool cue once, and it broke and I didn’t go down. I turned around and I said, ‘What’d you do that for?’ and he went, ‘Ahhh!’ and ran off up the road.” And your teeth are really, really nice for the amount of cigarettes you charf and the sheer volume of hard liquor you ingest... “I ate my wisdom teeth,” Lemmy affirms, and I look horrified. “I didn’t have ‘em out but they’re not there anymore, so I must’ve eaten them.” A reasonable assumption. See, Ozzy’s right: you are made of iron; with the impending apocalypse, you’ll have outlived the world. How unlikely. He cracks a grin that fades just as fast. “It does sound pretty good, doesn’t it?” What: The Lemmy Movie is out now through Hopscotch Films With: Regular John Where: The Big Top, Luna Park When: Monday March 28
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e s u u o y Do ? y s a t s Ec Researchers from the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre would like to speak to ecstasy users. Face to face interviews will be conducted between March and May. The interview takes around one hour and is held at a convenient location for you. Interviews are anonymous and conďŹ dential. You will be reimbursed $40 for your time. Contact Laura on (02) 9385 0407, email nswedrs@unsw.edu.au or sms details to 0404 786 677 (you do not have to use your real name). BRAG :: 405 :: 28:03:11 :: 21
The Holidays Holiday In Paradise By Stephanie Pickett
W
orking long studio hours, writing, recording and producing their own albums seems a little contradictory for a band who have chosen to title themselves The Holidays – but if there were no paradox, then their music would not be the eclectic delight that it is… So contradict all you want boys; we love what you’re doing - and we’re not the only ones. The Sydney band’s debut full-length Post Paradise was nominated for this year’s Australian Music Prize, and won the AMP Red Bull Award for Best Debut of 2010, paving the way for their appearance at South by South West in Texas a few weeks back. Although the band is led by Simon Jones, bassist Alex Kortt assures me that all members played a huge role in the record’s success. “We spent a bit of time in the studio with a producer, but we found that what we did in the studios didn’t sound as good as the demos we had done ourselves.” In the end, The Holidays wanted Post Paradise to mirror their ability with as little external input as possible. “It was really rewarding, creating exactly what we wanted without the touch of another producer.” For a band with such stylistic versatility, it’s obvious that there are a lot of musicians
that inspire them. A huge influence for Alex personally has been Primal Scream - in particular, their focus on writing songs that have a groove. “We’ve tried not to wear [our influences] too much on our sleeves, but when we were writing our record there were definitely a few albums that we were listening to,” he says. “We focus on writing music that is groove-based and then connecting it to the song, as apposed to just writing dance music. Taking away that dance element is sometimes important for the music to flow.” It’s this rhythmic balance that has set The Holidays in their own category, and carried them to such success – although Alex admits that they still get nervous playing alongside their idols. “You’re just chatting away with bands that you really love like it’s all cool, but secretly inside you’re like, ‘Oh shit! I can’t believe I’m hanging out with Bradford Cox right now!’” Back home from the States, The Holidays are hitting the road this week for a huge national tour, with Ballarat’s Gold Fields in tow. “We heard one of their songs on triple j, and it sounded like a good match stylistically and musically… but they also just seem like really cool guys.” Of the fifteen-date tour, Alex is most excited about
the big city performances; their music suits larger venues, with audiences who aren’t afraid to dance along. And with such a focus on percussion through Post Paradise, the band are bringing someone else on stage to help keep the energy up. “Dave [Zucker] is a classically-trained percussionist, and has brought another dynamic to the live show. It allows us to bring the energy while also maintaining all of the sounds that we had on the record.”
A national tour is not quite enough to satisfy the hard-working band; following Grooving The Moo, they have dates set for the UK that include The Great Escape. And they’re still rolling forward. “Our main aim at the moment is to try and write another album, to keep the momentum going.” With: Gold Fields Where: Oxford Art Factory When: Saturday April 2
The Beards Put A Beard On It By Amelia Schmidt
T
he Beards describe themselves as “more of a propaganda machine [than a band]”. Sure, they make music - but, more importantly, they have beards. That doesn’t mean their tunes aren’t both catchy and hilarious – it just means that this interview is not about music at all. It’s about beards. “I wouldn’t expect you to understand,” replies Nathaniel Beard, the band’s bass player, when I ask, quite simply, ‘Why beards?’ “Ask any bearded person and they’ll sort of give you a knowing nod. We bearded, we understand just how much a beard brings to your personality, to your manhood even. It’s almost like… I didn’t even really get life until I got a beard. Once I had a beard I thought, ‘Oh ok, that all makes sense now’,” he says. “You know how most people have a void in their lives? It’s like a normal part of human psychology, but people with beards don’t have that. The void is filled by the beard, and we’re happy people.” The Adelaide band write songs about beards (Growing A Beard, If Your Dad Doesn’t Have A Beard…, No Beard No Good, etc), wear extravagant beards and generally only speak about beards. They’re a comedic brotherhood, with an eternal straight face. “We formed in 2005,” Nathaniel remembers. “I don’t know exactly which one of us originally conceived of the idea. I like to think that the idea was sort of inspired by our beards.” And when he says beards, he means BEARDS: not moustaches. When asked whether there’s a tension between the two, Nathaniel is firm: “We in The Beards take the moustache to be a personal insult. We find that it’s an affront to our beliefs, really. If you have a moustache, what you are saying is that you can grow facial hair, but you choose to shave nearly all of it off… and that’s not acceptable. If you are blessed with the ability to grow facial hair then you have an obligation to grow facial hair. You can’t just go around shaving it off, playing God.” But what of women’s complaints? I mean, of course, there’s always pash rash. (I never thought I’d write that sentence.) “Biologically
speaking, feeling a beard against your face would be a natural feeling for a female,” Nathaniel counters. “It was only with the advent of the industrial revolution that this whole shaving fad got out of hand. Up until then, throughout the majority of history, beards were always fashionable and always the norm. It’s only recently that we’ve lost our way… It’s a sorry state of affairs – but it’s one that we’re correcting.” One way they’re correcting the world is through the iPhone app about to be unleashed. “If you’re considering growing a beard, but you don’t want to make the commitment because you’re worried you might look stupid or something, there’s a function on the app [‘Put A Beard On It’] where you can take a photo of yourself and then choose from a wide selection of different styles of beards, to see what you would look like with a beard.” (The app also provides info about the band to subscribers.) They’re not only ingenious marketers, but political types, too. “Just two weeks ago, Julia Gillard asked Rob Oakeshott to shave his beard off,” Nathaniel fumes, “so we wrote her a letter demanding that she apologise. She basically came right out and said that she objects to beards in general. I voted for this person who has turned around and betrayed my people, and I’m not okay with that. I won’t be voting for her again, that’s for sure – I’ll be voting for whoever has a beard. “People think bearded people have something to hide – but it’s not like that, the beard isn’t hiding,” he continues. “If you’re shaving, you’ve got something to hide - you’re trying to hide your beard. The beard is just trying to express itself in the way that nature intended.” With: Claude Hay & Gay Paris Where: The Vanguard When: Friday April 15 More: The Beards’ iPhone app will be available midApril - head to thebeards.com.au for more.
The Church Symphonic Psychedelia By Matt Petherbridge
T
here’s only one church in the world that thrives on unpredictability - and it happens to be a legendary neo-psychedelic Australian band. Celebrating 30 years of existence in grand style, The Church are getting ready to perform next week with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in their ‘Psychedelic Symphony Show’ at the Opera House. When I speak to the exuberant frontman and bassist Steve Kilbey, he’s pondering how successful the marriage will be between classical music, and the band’s hellacious live show. “It’s definitely a challenge,” he admits. “At the ARIA Hall of Fame Awards, we slipped with [the orchestra] a little on one song, on ‘Tantalized’, which was a bit jammy. I think if we do any jamming, what’s gonna happen is we’ll give the orchestra cues where they can re-enter - but it’s not what players in an orchestra are used to... “There are songs where I’ll just turn around and look at Tim [Powles, drummer] and we’ll have this agreement between each other, that ‘this song is gonna fucking end’,” he continues. “Everyone’s got looks they make to each other on stage, and things can happen on a whim. But you can’t do that with an orchestra - they’re counting everything in bars. That will always remain the challenge between classical players and people who play rock.” The Sydney Symphony Orchestra will be led by none other than George Ellis, who conducted the orchestra at the Olympic Opening Ceremony in 2000 to an international TV audience of 3.8 billion. Ellis came on board after running into drummer Tim Powles, who invited him to come along one day and watch The Church rehearse. “George was walking around looking at everyone play and he’s going, ‘Oh this is amazing, you’re playing an A over F# minor’ dissecting it all and commenting on everything
that we do just because we’ve stumbled into it,” Kilbey laughs. But it wasn’t the first time Ellis had come across the band. “George told me a story, that he bumped into me on the streets of Rozelle one day in the ‘80s when I was a young pop star and he was just a teenager, and we had a conversation. I thought ‘Oh no, I’m sure I was rude to him’ - but apparently I wasn’t,” Kilbey says, relieved. Kilbey describes Ellis as “a huge fan of The Church,” who’s well-versed on the band’s discography. “It’s not like we’ve got in someone who doesn’t know much about us,” he says. “It’s very much an experiment as far as I’m concerned, and I know everyone will be doing their very best,” he says, of the upcoming show. “The Church is finally able to do this now; if we did it twenty years ago, it would have been a disaster.” While the band is still uncertain about how Ellis will arrange their songs, Kilbey isn’t too bothered. “I’m really quite clueless about what’s going to happen - I guess we’re going to leave it up to George. No one is exactly sure what’s going to come out of [The Psychedelic Symphony], and that’s an exciting thing. None of us really know how it’s going to look and sound - it could be even better than we hope.” The Church will perform a cross-section of songs from the band’s career at the Opera House, with a couple of surprises throw in the mix. Kilbey challenges me to ask him what they will be, but then he laughs - “It wouldn’t be a fucking surprise now, would it?” What: The Church are playing with The Sydney Symphony Orchestra, conducted by George Ellis Where: The Psychedelic Symphony @ The Sydney Opera House When: Sunday April 10
“Reason it is written on the brambles stranded on the spikes - my blood red,” - SYD BARRETT 22 :: BRAG :: 405 :: 28:03:11
WIM x By x For It By Mikey Carr Working
H
ard work is not something a lot of people instantly associate with the music industry. Somewhere along the way, I’m guessing the 1980s, people got the idea that the life of a musician was one of indolence and indulgence; booze- and drug-fuelled parties giving way to crazed orgies with groupies, bookended by holidays in exotic locales with model/actresses and room service. Whether or not it was true back then, these days what lies behind the success of any truly great band is that not only do they work hard on their music, but they work even harder to control their creative identity. Formed in 2008, and having just recently signed to Modular, Sydney’s WIM are no strangers to hard work.
“We’ll take six months to get the nuances of a song fixed up,” drummer Harry Thynne tells me enthusiastically, over a frothy stein at The Excelsior in Surry Hills. “It’s this kind of neverending chase for, well, I wouldn’t say perfection, but this idea that what we’re trying to achieve isn’t as simple as banging out a rock number; this idea that everything we do should be very considered.”
greatest bands in the world have slaved for their talent, they’ve slaved for their work.” For WIM it is in the doing - in the realising of their goals, aspirations and their identity - that they find joy and satisfaction. “We feel very strongly about the way we are presented - and while the label has great experience and ideas of their own, they can’t just decide who we are,” he says. “For us, we have to decide who that is, or we have to help each other decide. We need to come together and ask, ‘How can we work together to make this amazing?’ “You have to work for it, you have to own it, and you have to believe in it,” Harry asserts. “No amount of contracts or money in your face, or publicity dollars or the image of success or the fantasy of fame - none of that, none of that counts for anything if you haven’t worked for it.” With: Grace Woodroofe, Emma Davis Where: Modular Presents @ The Basement When: Saturday April 2
The music of the Sydney outfit isn’t revolutionary, but there is a high degree of skill and craft in it, as they reinterpret classic songwriting styles and genres. Effortlessly hopping from emotive balladry to shiny bubblegum pop, and touching on a wide variety of diverse influences along the way, it didn’t take long for the band to build themselves a following, making the most of the early momentum by releasing an EP after only six months of shows together.
“This is a great learning experience for us. The project has taken on a new shape: the exciting new shape of WIM. We’re no longer WIM the boy; we’re WIM the petulant adolescent.” Soon after that, in late 2009, the band travelled to the United States to record their first album, completely independently. Working with Tony Buchen (The Whitlams, Sarah Blasko) and Bob Clearmountain (Bruce Springsteen, The Rolling Stones) in Berkeley, California, their self-titled debut album (due in late April or early May) catalogues the band’s beginnings; the journey from playing to a handful of friends at the Sando to working in a world-class studio with worldclass producers. “This album represents a lot of where we’ve come from,” Harry explains, “but where we’re going is another step for us - and we’re really eager to show that off.” With Modular now fully behind them, WIM are already eager to begin work on the follow-up to their debut. The partnership with Modular has had a transformative effect on the band, with their characteristically headstrong ways somewhat softened through compromise. “This is a great learning experience for us - of us thinking we know best, but accepting this new shift in dynamic. Because we are a group, WIM and Modular - we work together. We work together to put this out to the world and I think the world will love it regardless, but we accept now that there are certain compromises that need to be made in order to do that. The project has taken on a new shape: the exciting new shape of WIM. We’re no longer WIM the boy; we’re WIM the petulant adolescent - or tween, if you will,” he says with a laugh, as we knock glasses in recognition of this new era. No one can predict what the post-pubescent incarnation of the band might bring, but we can say that WIM-the-pimpled will work in a different way and with a different energy to the youth of yesteryear. Having now found a degree of recognition thanks to Modular’s support and advice, the band feel freer than ever to pursue their creative impulses, liberated from the trappings of second-guessing and insecurity. “It’s a great luxury for a band to be able to work in that way,” Harry explains. “Half the battle of being an independent band is having no idea how what you’re going to put out there is going to be received, because there is no validation or affirmation of it, other than from your immediate friends or fanbase.” That’s not to say the hard work is all done with though; not by a long shot, as Harry is quick to make clear. “We still have to work very hard, even harder than we have in the past. All the BRAG :: 405 :: 28:03:11 :: 23
Collarbones Interstitial Sounds By Jonno Seidler
C
ollarbones are the hottest new band you may not have heard of yet. Comprised of two guys from experimental music backgrounds (not to mention different states), the Aussie duo of Marcus Whale and Travis Cook are on the fast track to web (and hopefully literal) fame, thanks to some well-placed covers - Justin Bieber and Destiny’s Child among them - and a ‘Forkcast’ last July by indie rock bible, Pitchfork. Their first LP, Iconography dropped last week; a startling pastiche of jittery beats, soulful cuts and glitch, all wrapped up in something that could probably, in some alternate universe, be classified as ‘pop’. Released by indie label Two Bright Lakes (Hello Satellites, Otuoto), these guys were doing the whole James Blake thing back when he was still a tennis player. With so much hype, we thought we’d ask them directly whether they’re worth their own salt... Whenever I meet an online acquaintance for the first time, it’s always a bit weird. Was it like that for you guys, too? Travis: I’m from Adelaide and Marcus is from Sydney. We had 18 months of regular instant messaging behind us so we already knew
each other fairly well - and we posted the first Collarbones track online a month before we met in person. I can understand it being weird if someone is misleading about themselves, but we were quite upfront. Living in different states has never been a particularly difficult thing. There’s a bunch of tech wizardry on the album, but not a whole lot of live instrumentation. How do you guys perform? Travis: At the moment, our live setup is relatively minimal. I play with the components of each song and do live effects and processing on a laptop and MPD32. Marcus sings and uses a loop pedal to layer his vocals, and occasionally an old sampler. There’s a lot being made of the R&B elements to your sound - and apparently you guys throw down some pretty awesome/awful jams in your sets. What are the tracks that you know will always go down well? Travis: Anything that facilitates ridiculous dancing goes down a treat. Sassy, rapid-fire female rappers like Trina and Dominique Young Unique help maintain our energy. Well known 90s R&B like Destiny’s Child is effective because the crowd recognises it. I like it when people know every word to a song, even if they would prefer to deny they do. What are inhibitions, anyway? Marcus: We played this gig in Adelaide recently which was horribly attended, but I immediately felt better when it looked like most of the audience was singing along to the Beach House cover we do.
“Pitchfork was unexpected. Exposure is healthy as long as it isn’t burdened with too many expectations...” Was being Forkcasted last year a gift or an impediment? Travis: Pitchfork was unexpected. Australian music getting Forkcasted isn’t commonplace, but I suppose it is indicative of the fact that this all began on the internet. I don’t see it as an impediment; exposure is healthy as long as it isn’t burdened with too many expectations. What are both of your backgrounds – jazz, rock or something entirely different? Travis: My first instrument was a Casio keyboard at the age of three. I learnt classical guitar from the age of five, until I grew tired of it and learnt rock guitar for a few years. My first teacher wanted me to glue cut-up pieces of ping pong balls to my fingernails so I could reach my full potential as a guitarist - but I had an aversion to having to read music and practice, so I stopped. I had fun teaching myself to drum, but I haven’t touched that in a while. Marcus: I grew up playing classical piano from the age of four and classical saxophone from the age of eight, and started playing jazz and rock as well in high school. I have Tool’s ‘Schism’ painfully imprinted on my brain and fingers. I was also a bit obsessed with ambient music like Tim Hecker and Fennesz as a teenager, and did some of that too. I’m still at a classical music institution the Sydney Conservatorium [The Presets went here, too] - but I’m doing composition rather than performance which, interestingly, has almost nothing to do with what I do in Collarbones. You’ve gone with indie label Two Bright Lakes was that an intentional move, or were they the only ones who’d put up with you? Travis: We didn’t expect much from Collarbones to begin with. We’d been friendly with Two Bright Lakes previously, and Marcus had done a collaboration with Oscar Slorach-Thorn (from Oscar + Martin) in 2009. When we eventually decided on releasing an album officially, Two Bright Lakes seemed like a great option. The dynamic is interesting in that it’s artist-run. It’s fertile ground. We have time for an anecdote... Marcus: We played a show with Simo Soo at The Excelsior recently under a secret name (Katy Perry Suppression Ring), and this incredibly aggro, homophobic dude came in, being really intense, asking about the show. For some reason he thought this was a secret name for the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, and when informed that it wasn’t, he said we deserved a punch in the face for using “Suppression Ring” in the name. Bizarrely, the guy still paid $10 and went in, just as Simo was starting. After a song of Simo - hyperactive shouting over overdriven beats - the guy shouted “Is this fagtown or something?” He was roundly abused by the entire crowd and left... What: Iconography is out now on Two Bright Lakes With: Fishing, Cleptopeon, Dro Carey Where: Marrickville Bowling Club When: Friday April 1 24 :: BRAG :: 405 :: 28:03:11
WHO TOLD YOU TO SHAVE OFF YOUR BEARD?
Touring the country to launch their new iPhone App. 15th April @ The Vanguard, Sydney. $15. with Claude Hay & Gay Paris.
16th April @ Hotel Gearins, Katoomba. $12. with Kira Piru & The Bruise. www.thebeards.com.au
17th April @ The Grand Junction, Maitland. FREE ENTRY. with Claude Hay. BRAG :: 405 :: 28:03:11 :: 25
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brushstrokes WITH MYLES
HESKETT What kind of headspace were you in when you started creating this collection, post-tour in 2007? It was a strange time because I was so happy to be home and grounded, it was great to be back with family and friends, but at the same time I was dealing with the fallout of the band breaking up. Walking away from something we’d poured so much work into was extremely hard. So there were many strong emotions flying around, a lot of anger and sadness. I’m sure all those things are in the work somewhere.
Y
ou might know him as the drummer from Wolfmother, Palace of Fire or The Slew – but you’re about to know him as Myles ‘I can haz art’ Heskett. Myles started drawing when he was young, trained at the National Art School, and hasn’t really stopped since. His upcoming solo show began as a sideline in sketching during an overseas tour, and has evolved into a visually engrossing series of illustrations, prints and oil paintings… How/when did the art start for you? My dad was a self-taught artist and was great at drawing and painting, he taught himself screen printing too. When I was a kid I would ask him to draw something and then sit and watch him. I was a very shy, introverted kid and we moved around a lot so if I was at a new school and didn’t know anyone dad would tell me to take a sketchbook and draw something. I worked out pretty quickly that it was a great outlet and a good place to escape wherever you are. What did you major in at NAS? And what is your preferred medium now? I majored in printmaking, mainly because the painting department was so popular and full. But it was cool to learn the printing mediums like lithography, etching and screen printing. I generally like to paint with oils now, as well as drawing on paper with ink. I’d like to make
prints again but you need access to pretty serious facilities to do that. Did your art practise get sidelined by the band taking off? I was studying graphic design when the band took off, but I was really ready to jump headfirst into the music world. It was a kind of now or never opportunity to make a living from music. But I think they go hand-in-hand really well. When I realised how much time is spent doing nothing, sitting in transit etc. when you’re in a touring band I bought a sketchbook and went into that world, it really helped me get through it.
CANNABIS PREVENTION
Every year, the National Cannabis Prevention and Information Centre (NCPIC) runs a short film competition for filmmaker from 15-25 years old, with a theme connected somehow to cannabis use. This year’s theme is the negative effect of cannabis on sporting performance. Think about it: you think Cathy Freeman or Kieren Perkins would smoke pot? Nuh-uh. Entries can be any style, genre or medium, but “must creatively explore the issues associated with how the use of cannabis may impact negatively on sporting performance.” Prize money is $5000, with two runners-up receiving $2000 each. For more info, and an entry form, go to ncpic.org.au/go/ film2011
CRACK THEATRE
MAY’S X VEXTA
The May’s Lane Street Art Project has been kinda quiet of late, so we’re sort of relieved to hear about the upcoming show by Melbourne stencil artist and muralist VEXTA, who will be bringing her neon-lit, apocalyptic visions to the entire 34-metre length of May’s Lane… That’s a lotta cans. Writing about the show, VEXTA says “Sometimes we are so alienated from everything and everyone around us and yet sometimes I feel like the tiny atomic particles keeping our bodies together could fracture at any moment and it could all merge together...” If you’d like to merge with VEXTA and her mural, opening night is Friday April 8 at May Lane, St Peters. Mays.org.au
SMART ARTS
City of Sydney’s SmartARTS festival of youth arts kicks off this April Fool's Day with a party at Chippendale's Pine Street Creative Arts Centre – followed by two weeks of exhibitions, fashion shows, performances, live music, film screenings, workshops and ‘installations’, all made or presented by Sydneysiders between 16-25 years of age. And FREE. On Sunday April 3 you can take Chris Tamm’s Secret Street Art Tour of the innerwest, on Monday April 4 you can get competitive at the Let’s Doodle art games night, and on Thursday April 7 head to the Powerhouse Museum for Roll With It, a night of short films and free popcorn… For all the rest, and workshop details, check out pinestreet.com.au/smartarts 26 :: BRAG :: 405 :: 28:03:11
Our favourite part of This Is Not Art, Crack Theatre Festival is gearing up for this year’s instalment with a call-out for artists and theatremakers. If you have a show – or even just an idea for a show – or workshop, panel, forum, etc, then you need to get into the Crack action. The Festival Directors for 2011 are Jane Grimley (The Hideous Demise of Detective Slate; Faster Lady Godiva Faster!) choreographer Gareth Hart, and two-time Co-Director of Crack, Ben Packer. Applications are due by March 31, and Crack will run during TINA, from September 29 – October 3. Download the forms at cracktheatrefestival. com
TINY STADIUMS
Tiny Stadiums – the festival that puts artistic awesome into your street, where it can kidnap you as you stroll to the corner shop – have just announced a slice of this year’s kickarse line-up, and it tastes really yum: performance collective Applespiel (who did the Sexy New Urban Design Team project for TS 2010, Snail Piece for Underbelly 2010 and Appleloft for Sydney Fringe, and have artist residencies this year at PACT and P-Space); Nat Randall (of Team MESS, and Some Film Museums I Have Known) doing a one-woman tragic-comedy of camp, glitzy and epic proportions; TS veteran Lara Thom (Spat+Loogie) doing a masterclass in ‘unofficial expertise’. There’s more – announced mid April – so watch this space. Tiny Stadiums takes over central Erskineville on the weekend of May 14-15. Yip!
ART PARTAY
Firstdraft is having a party! You’re invited! Or maybe they aren’t, and you’re not, and it’s an elaborate April Fools prank… Head to Red Rattler on Friday night to see; doors open at 8pm, at which point $10cashmoney gets you a night with Brown Council (fresh off their four-hour Imperial Panda performance of A Comedy, but definitely keeping it short and sweet), Malcolm Whittaker (Team MESS),
Does the show’s title intentionally reference F. Scott Fitzgerald? I tend to not have a pre-conceived idea before I start a work, but generally some kind of landscape or strange world will appear. I was trying to come up with a title and ‘The Valleys Of Ash’ was literally what I was seeing in some of the images, I thought it sounded cool and then realised the Great Gatsby connection. In the book the valley of ashes symbolised the decay of the American dream – which resonated kind of nicely to me. What: The Valleys Of Ash When: April 7-30 Where: MART Gallery / Surry Hills More: martgallery.com.au
Nat Randall (mentioned above! Also Team MESS!), a magic show by Tom Strange, and plus tunes by the Jingle Jangle DJs and Clambake DJs, etcetera etcetera (word limits!) So facebook them, put it in your diary, see you there. firstdraftgallery.com
RED – DVD
RED is one of our guilty pleasures of 2010: a large-scale action-comedy romp about a group of retired assassins having one last hurrah – not to mention a cast that pretty much sells itself: Helen Mirren as a sniper, John Malkovich as a paranoid explosives expert, Morgan Freeman as the brains, and Bruce Willis as a killing machine who can’t work out how to ask his crush (Mary Louise Parker!) on a date… If the message is that these old dogs still got what it takes, then we hear it loud and clear. Based on the DC comic of the same name, this is anything but your run-of-the-mill fanboy adaptation. RED releases on DVD on March 30, with an audio commentary by retired CIA operative Robert Baer, on whose memoirs Syriana was based. Thanks to Icon Home Entertainment, we have 5 copies up for grabs; to get one, tell us the NZ action-man who also stars…
This is what Terry Pratchett looks like...
IN THE RAW
Set up by Dungog Film Festival in 2008, In The Raw is a script development program where actors read selected unproduced screenplays to a live audience. This year the program has been expanded, with a series of bi-monthly events in Sydney. For the second installment, a cast of readers that includes Tony Martin, Susie Porter, and Benedict Samuel (who is indeed the brother of Xavier), will do a live reading of John Lonie’s The Savage Garden, about an intimate friendship between a young boy and his teacher, that tears a small town apart. Monday April 4, 6.30pm sharp at Richard Wherrett Studio, Sydney Theatre. It’s FREE, but RSVP is essential, through sydneytheatre.org.au
RAZORHURST
Dust off your razorblades, and get ready to channel your inner Tilly Devine, coz 34B Burlesque is taking a dark turn, with Razorhurst: a tribute to the dangerous 1920sera Darlinghurst. Airing their vices on the night are hot Australian burlesque export Imogen Kelly, 34B regulars Lola The Vamp and Baby Blue Bergman, the explosive Donna Dynamite, rising star Electric Dreams, and Venus Vamp. There’s theatre, there’s cabaret, burlesque, and MC duties from Christa Hughes – this is going to be a very special 34B Burlesque. Put Saturday April 9 in your diary, and book your tickets before they sellout, through moshtix.com.au
MAP YOUR SUMMER
A while back we were gabbing about the YouTube Map My Summer project – a massive online ‘installation’ of short films made by Australians, capturing their summer experience. It launched in February, and to get all you punters into the spirit, Screen Australia chose three bright young filmmakers to make their own short segments: Luke Doolan (editor of Animal Kingdom and director of the Oscarnominated short Miracle Fish), Ariel Kleiman (aka the man Cannes can’t get enough of) and award-winning, polymath-ic filmmaker Amy Gebhardt (see our interview with her at brag. com). Map My Summer ambassador George Miller (Mad Max) announced he would choose one of these up-n-comers to mentor, as they compiled all the public’s footage into one long feature – and to our glee, he’s picked Amy. Don’t sulk, however: submissions to Map My Summer are being accepted until March 31at youtube.com/mapmysummer. Videos must have been shot after December 1, be under 3 mins, and be an expression of... summer.
TERRY PRATCHETT
When we were 11, we discovered Terry Pratchett and Discworld – and we thought he was just the bees knees; so we’re not surprised to hear he’s Britain’s ‘most shoplifted’ author (although we’re not sure how they test it). After entertaining his readers with his surreal fantasy adventures for about four decades, Terry sadly announced in 2007 that he had been diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's. The good news is, he's still way more entertaining, intelligent and hilarious than anyone you know. So get along to hear Sir Terry talk about his life, his work, and his new book: I Shall Wear Midnight. Sunday April 17, 5pm, Sydney Opera House Concert Hall. At only $20 for fulltime students, it's almost worth re-enrolling for. Tickets at sydneyoperahouse.com
THE TUNNEL
DEAN’S LIST Some of Festival Director Dean Bertram’s favourites from this year’s A Night Of Horror program…
A torrent of thrills in Sydney’s secret underground… By Joshua Blackman
ABSENTIA / USA / 2011
Still from Carlo Ledesma's indie horror debut, The Tunnel
What Dean says: “One of the best horror films I’ve seen in years. Clever original script, strong performances, tight direction, and a foreboding atmosphere of dread that builds throughout. Plus plenty of jump-in-your-seat scares make this monster movie a horror aficionado’s wet dream.”
The Tunnel photo by Nicolle Adrichem
DEAD HOOKER IN A TRUNK / USA / 2009
The hype: Director Eli Roth (Hostel) says, “the violence was incredible and the fight scenes are FANTASTIC.”
WOUND / NZ / 2010
A
t this year’s Sundance Film lm m Festival, Kevin Smith gave ve e film executives the finger by by stating to their faces that he would ou uld not submit to the traditional method etthod of distribution for his new film, Red Red State. Subsequently, he’s taken n the film out on the road to huge theatre ea atre houses in the United States to try and recoup his $3m budget – and maybe maybe even make a profit. It’s a brave and and not unprecedented technique, much much like the one employed by Distracted accted Media’s Julian Harvey and Enzo zo o Tedeschi, two local producers whose whose found-footage horror flick, The Tunnel, Tunnel, has sold-out the opening night of of A Night Of Horror Film Festival. The Tunnel was financed through gh what its producers call the “135k 5k Project,” a scheme that gives individuals the opportunity to invest nvest in the production by buying some me of the 135,000 frames that make akke up the 90-minute film, for $1 a pop. By circumventing the laboriouss and often fruitless fundraising process, it’s given the filmmakers ers extraordinary freedom and creative ative control. It’s also scared the bejesus je esus out of traditional studio executives ivves and investors: not only will the film not have have a conventional conv convent ention ional al cinematic cinem cin em matic ma
release, releas but it will be released online, online, for free, fre via the peer-to-peer fileesharing sharin protocol, BitTorrent. 'BitTorrent' and 'free' are not two 'BitTor wo words executives want to hear, r, and this th idea, at least initially, ruffled industry feathers. Tedeschi scchi tried at a least five times to get the th he film listed on the Internet Movie lis e Database (IMDb) – only to have Datab ve e it rejected, rejecte probably due to BitTorrent’s orrrent’s pronounced association with online prono on nline piracy. piracy And after announcing that ha at The Tunnel Tunne would be released online ne for free, no n distributor would go near ear the film for a theatrical screening. ng. But now, no almost a year later, director Carlo Ledesma is finding people plle are starting startin to come around. “As soon so as we announced it we we got a few calls from film festivals and an nd even a few distributors saying they wanted wante to explore the possibility ty y of showing showi it in a few cinemas here ere and there. We knew we were neverr going to get a widespread theatre release, le ease, but that’s okay with us, because th se e our main goal is to get the film seen g en by as many ma people as we can.” The film is a horror-documentary arr y about a group g grou roup p of of journalists journal jour nalist istss who who wh h
venture ventur into Sydney’s underground ou und tunnels. tunne (It’s based on 'Lake St. t.. James', James an unused, water-logged ge ed tunnel tunne that was for a time going g to be used by the government as a water water store.) It begins with them chasing assing a story about homeless people who’ve a who’ve gone missing; however (as perr the film’s tagline) it turns out the story to ory is chasing chasin them. “It is a found-footage horror movie ovie on the surface, but it's also a sort so ort of human hum drama documentary,” y,”” says Ledesma, a first-time feature L tu ure helmer helme whose short The Haircut ut won a special prize at the Short orr t Film Corner Corne at Cannes in 2007. “I think hiink what we w decided to make different errent with this th film is you actually get ett to see who lives and who doesn’t sn’t make it as the film goes on, because ecause we do interview shots with the survivors. We’re hoping the interest surviv erest in the film will lie not so much in n the unexpected but in the human drama.” unexp drama.” The DIY D shooting style was wellellsuited to the micro-budget, and d even without withou a traditional release, it looks looks like The Th Tunnel will recoup its costs. co osts. The industry has come around in d too – the film is now listed on IMDb, b, and the filmmakers lm mmake mm akers rs have have nabbed nabb nabbed ed a directd
to-DVD to-DV deal with Transmission and Paramount. As for the future of the Param 135k technique, the jury’s still out. t “I think thin it’s a way. I wouldn’t say it’s the way,” says Ledesma, with rising confidence. “The thing we’re adamant about telling people is, adam look, we’re not declaring to the world w that this th is the future, or this is the way to do things from here on. What we’re merely trying to do is present filmmakers with an option, for people lmma like us; us saying you don’t need a distribution deal from a studio or distrib from a big company to get your film made, made or to get seen.” “The internet is there to be used by i us. Data Da rates are getting faster. It is easier eas to download stuff. We’re exploring it as an option and we’re explor gladly raising out hands to be the guinea pig for this kind of model. And in the coming years, we’ll keep on honing it and refining it. Hopefully ho other people will do the same. We’ll see what happens.” w What The Tunnel – Opening Night What: for A Night Of Horror Film Festival When: March 31 – April 8 When Where: Dendy Newtown Wher More: www.anightofhorror.com More
The hype: Directed by controversial cult/horror filmmaker David Blyth, this exploration of the dark, distorted supernatural world that lurks within us all is not for the faint hearted, and is already having a divisive effect on horror fans. For the full line-up of films and session times, head to www.anightofhorror.com
THE TUNNEL! WIN! Opening this year’s A Night Of Horror Film Festival, Australian indie sensation The Tunnel has already sold-out the Dendy Newtown. Except for the sneaky 10 double-passes we scored, which get you into the film, and the Official After Party at Cooper’s Hotel on King Street. To get your hands on one of these, tell us the name of one other Australian horror film that features in this year’s program… www.anightofhorror.com
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E
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The Change It For The Better tour hits Sydney on June 3, at the Factory Theatre in Marrickville. Thanks to The Line, we have 5 double passes to the Sydney show up for grabs; to get your hands on one, tell us the name of Maya Jupiter’s latest album!
AY W A
According to stats, one in three Australian women will become a victim of physical or domestic violence each year. Don’t despair, however: a new anti-violence initiative called The Line has enlisted the help of three of Australia’s brightest hip hop stars to rep the anti-violence message, in a series of blazing shows around Australia. The Change It For The Better tour will see Maya Jupiter, fresh from her tour with Aloe Blacc, team up with Melbourne MC Pez (‘Festival Song’), and his Soulmate Records labelmate MC 360. Not only are they fully sick musicians, but they hate violence against women – which means they’re tops in our books.
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[THEATRE] Darren Gilshenan breaks new ground at Bondi Pavilion By Simon Binns
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n my first year at university, one of our lecturers discussed how the Sydney theatre scene had a venue problem. His theory was that independent directors get really good at directing shows in small spaces like the Old Fitz and Belvoir Downstairs, and then don’t know how to direct on large stages when they finally get a mainstage gig. What Sydney severely lacks is mid-sized theatres, around the 200-seat range – which is why the news that Tamarama Rock Surfers (TRS) theatre company have taken over programming the iconic Bondi Pavilion theatre, with a 230seat capacity, was so exciting. “[The Pavilion theatre] has been here for years but it’s used very sporadically,” says veteran Sydney thesp Darren Gilshenan. “But now that TRS have taken over running it, it’s got a real shot… I just happen to be lucky to be the first cab off the rank.” Gilshenan (last seen in Sydney Theatre Company's production of Our Town) will be presenting his new play Fools Island as TRS’ premiere work at the Pavilion. It’s a perfect fit really: a new beginning for an old theatre, and a new show from one of Sydney's most experienced theatre-makers. Created with the help of British performer Christopher Harris, Fools Island combines two of Gilshenan’s great loves and strengths: physical comedy and Shakespearian language. In the past two Darren Gilshenan in Fools Island
decades he’s had quite a bit of experience in both, from his old TV comedy days on Full Frontal to playing clowns in the majority of the 17 Bell Shakespeare tours he’s been a part of. “I became the resident clown of the company for a decade," Gilshenan acknowledges, "and I’m truly grateful for the experience.” In Fools Island, twin clowns Gooden and Baden (both played by Gilshenan) crash land on a Gary Larson-esque island, and have to learn to live in their new habitat. Complete with conflict, a love-story (Gooden falls in love with a tree) and mime, it’s a fairly broad story, reflecting Gilshenan’s desire to create a complete theatre work.
Shared Frequencies
“I’ve just done four plays that have all been dramas," the actor explains, "which has been fantastic, and I love drama – but I also love comedy, so I wanted to create a piece of theatre that’s got it all. The line’s paper thin between them anyway: good comedy’s based in pain and truth, and great villains always have a comic edge.”
n their anthemic ‘Nazi Punks Fuck Off’, seminal punk band Dead Kennedys reminded us that “punk means thinking for yourself.” Nothing makes me think of this so much as talking to choreographer Jacopo Godani, who seems to have modelled his life philosophy around this concept. Godani is, I suggest, a punk of the dance world. He laughs, “I hope so!”
While Gilshenan has walked the boards for a couple of decades, this is the first time he has written a show for himself. Luckily he had the help of a pretty experienced playwright: “It’s all Shakespeare’s words, from clowns and villains,” he explains, “but the story structure is written by Chris and I.”
I’m sitting with Jacopo on a bench outside the Sydney Dance Company foyer, during a rehearsal break for Raw Models, a new piece specially commissioned by Artistic Director Rafael Bonachela. Now 43 years old, and one of the most prolific and sought-after choreographers in the world, Godani was a young teen in small-town Italy when bands like Dead Kennedys, Black Flag and Bad Religion were hitting their stride. The punk movement furnished his first example of alternative identity – “A tool to establish myself as ‘something else,’” he recalls.
Gilshenan has enlisted a strong creative team to help him bring the work to the stage. In the director’s chair is Jo Turner, who (like Chris Harris) trained at the Jacques Lecoq School of mime and theatre, in Paris, and whose background in physical theatre matches perfectly with the physical requirements of Fools Island.
[DANCE] Anarchy reigns at Sydney Dance Company By Dee Jefferson
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“I really like European clowning, and companies like Théâtre de Complicité or Jonti," Gilshenan enthuses. "It requires a different skillset – and Jo’s got those skills.” The sound design is provided live, courtesy of Rose Turtle Ertler, a foley artist and ukulele queen, who also provides the voice of Gooden’s wooden lover.
Three decades later, Godani remains a rebel, railing against rules of dance, and systems of choreography; he has his own, independently funded dance company, and creates work that Bonachela describes as “in your face” and “full on.” However, his anti-establishment philosophy stretches further than his work. During our conversation he sidelines celebrity, commercial branding, popular dance and the modern education system as nonsensical examples of dogma and homogenisation.
Gilshenan has also given a great opportunity to new designer Jasmine Christie. “I’m always pretty keen to give those younger guys a go,” he smiles. With the theatre in new hands, and a new play from Gilshenan, it will be a special way to start a career, ushering a new era of independent theatre in Sydney.
Godani’s fight against the mainstream began at a tender age. An avid and cheerful whistler as a child, he remembers being screamed at by his teacher on the first day of kindergarten, after just a few notes. “I think in some ways the school system is like…” he pauses, and we try and find the right word. “Like with dogs – addestramento,” he suggests. It translates as training, or drilling.
What: Fools Island by Darren Gilshenan When: March 29 – April 24 Where: Bondi Pavilion Theatre Tickets: rocksurfers.org
A reluctant student, Godani was relieved to find dance, at the age of 15. He and his friends – “kind of the alternative group of the town,” he laughs – went to see Flashdance. “We were super excited when we came out of the cinema. There was a tiny village next to us, and two of the kids there were going to this modern
dance class, and they said ‘Come along!’ – and as soon as I walked into the studio, it was like ‘Woah.’ It was like tripping, but without drugs.” By the time he was 19, Godani was ensconced in Belgium, at Maurice Bejart’s Mudra school of dance. After years of training (“years spent attached to a fucking bar,” he says with distaste), capped by nine years as a principal solo artist with William Forsythe’s groundbreaking Frankfurt Ballet, Godani’s supreme individuality found its voice in choreography. “I try to bring dancers to the extreme of their potential, and get them in touch with their inner nature, by breaking down this armour of security that they build around themselves,” Godani explains. “Real freedom is a concept that you just grab, and make yours. There is no training that is going to lead you to understanding how to use yourself in a free way.” Raw Models reflects Godani's philosophy and methods. “It celebrates being conscious, and being able to make decisions for yourself,” he agrees. Rather than arriving in Sydney with a plan, he started with a blank slate, and created Raw Models in the studio, with the dancers. The result is animalistic, raw – a defiant ‘fuck you’ to blandness. The effect is heightened by the custom-made soundtrack by German electronica duo 48Nord, which menacingly scrapes, skitters, reverberates and groans, exploding into discordance in places, and throbbingly cinematic in others. It is as beautiful and exhilarating as it is unsettling. “My purpose is not to create stress or discomfort,” Godani smiles – “but just to give different emotions; excite people, surprise them.” What: Raw Models will premiere as part of the double bill Shared Frequencies, alongside Rafael Bonachela’s LANDforms. When: March 29 – April 16 Where: Sydney Theatre, Walsh Bay More: sydneydancecompany.com
Jack Charles V The Crown [THEATRE] Never too old for a second chance By Dee Jefferson n 2001, 58-year-old actor, cat-burglar and heroin addict Jack Charles agreed to be the subject of a documentary by 20-year-old filmmaker Amiel Courtin-Wilson. Titled Bastardy, the film took an intensive, seven-year process of filming – and after Jack watched the final product, he had an epiphany: he saw his life as it was, living hand-to-mouth, often homeless, stealing from rich neighbourhoods to pay for his daily hits… Charles is 67 now, has been sober for more than six years – and is back on stage, doing what he loves best.
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she trails off, you can hear the smile on her face.
The play is Jack Charles V The Crown, co-written by Charles and playwright John Romeril, who had previously written a play called Bastardy in 1982, also based on (and starring) Charles. Jack Charles V The Crown premiered in 2010 at Melbourne Festival, produced by Ibiljerri, Australia’s longest-running indigenous theatre company, and under the helm of actress/director Rachael Maza Long (Radiance; The Sapphires).
A large part of Jack Charles V The Crown is summarising Uncle Jack’s remarkable past for a new generation of theatregoers. Taken from his mother at just ten months old, Charles spent his childhood in institutions, where he suffered sexual abuse. In his late 20s, he co-founded Nindethana; in his mid-30s, he starred in Fred Schepisi’s The Chant Of Jimmie Blacksmith; and as he says himself, he has spent 30 years juggling theft and theatre gigs.
It’s both poignant and fitting that Maza Long and Charles should team up for this play: her father was Aboriginal activist Bob Maza, who, with Charles, co-founded Australia’s first ever indigenous theatre company, Nindethana, in the ‘70s. “[I was] more or less born into the theatre, and one of my earliest experiences in the theatre was seeing Uncle Jack up on stage,” Maza laughs, “so 30 years later, to be in this incredible position of working with him to tell his story…” As 28 :: BRAG :: 405 :: 28:03:11
In some ways, Maza Long is carrying-on the legacy forged by her father’s generation. “These guys were young adults, hitting the streets, marching the rallies, camping outside Parliament House, and lobbying politicians to make these changes. And they haven’t forgotten that – it’s unfortunately our generation [who have forgotten]. And that’s what I love about the arts: my job as an artist is to make sure those stories don’t get forgotten.”
These days, Uncle Jack is driven by an urgent desire to reach out to the next generation of people caught up in the destructive cycle of drug abuse and crime. “He’s literally having his second wind, and he’s able to reflect on that life quite philosophically,” Maza Long enthuses.” Prevented by his criminal record from working with minors or prison inmates, Jack uses this play to make a impassioned plea to the Government to expunge
'Uncle' Jack Charles in a still from Bastardy
his record. “He describes it as his ‘wet dream’,” Maza Long explains. “Basically what he talks about in the play is his passion to go out and work in prisons; he wants to set up workshops, and a place people can go when they get out of prison – he’s got lots of projects on the boil.” When I ask Maza Long if Jack is tackling his criminal record in a legal sense, she laughs with delight – “Funnily enough, after our season at the Melbourne Festival, he actually had lawyers coming up to him and saying ‘We actually think you might have a case!’ So we have yet to see if
anything comes of that…” In the meantime, however, the merits of the show alone mean that Uncle Jack will be on stage, doing what he loves most, for at least another year. What: Jack Charles V The Crown When: March 30 – April 17 Where: Belvoir St Theatre More: Bastardy is available on DVD through sirenvisual.com.au
Fools Island - photo by Sylvia Della Vedova / Shared Frequencies - photo by Peter Greig
Fools Island
Jacopo Godani in rehearsal with members of SDC
Film & Theatre Reviews What's hot on the silver screen and the bareboards around town.
Danish director Susanne Bier deservedly received the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film for this examination of violence that questions if we, in our ‘advanced’ civil societies, are impervious to chaos or are unwittingly teetering on its edge. The film’s action is split between an idyllic Danish town and an African refugee camp. Connecting these two worlds is Anton (Mikael Persbrandt, Everlasting Moments) who commutes between them in his work as a doctor. In the camp he is forced to bear witness to acts of extreme violence perpetrated by a local warlord. Back in Denmark, Anton’s 10-year-old son Elias (Markus Rygaard) is being mercilessly bullied – until new kid Christian (William Jøhnk Nielsen) steps in. A strong bond is formed between the boys, but Christian’s troubled view of the world pushes the pair into a dangerous plan of revenge (the film’s Danish title, Hævnen, translates as ‘vengeance’).
This film is blessed with an excellent British cast, including the ever impressive Charlotte Rampling and Sally Hawkins. Andrea Riseborough and Domhnall Gleeson (son of Brendan) only have small roles, but their subtle performances give the film one of its best and most distressing scenes. Expectations were high for rising young British and international stars Mulligan and Garfield, and they definitely don’t disappoint. Playing out the tragedy of Kathy and Tommy’s relationship, Mulligan and Garfield’s chemistry is a thing of beauty to watch. They bring out the gentle devastation at the heart of the story without falling back on showy or manipulative performances.
In A Better World sets up scenarios where its characters have to decide whether to retaliate with violence or to turn the other cheek. With particular focus on father-son relationships and masculinity, the film shows the characters' internal struggle to do what they believe is right, with the young characters confusing violence with power and passivity with weakness.
There is a second-hand texture and quality to this film with the visuals defying the sci-fi set-up. Contrasting well with the emotional complexity of the storyline, the imagery is simplictic and restrained. Never Let Me Go is a story about sacrifice and mortality, and ultimately it proves to be a parable for our own ordinary lives.
Persbrandt is brilliant as the emotionally wounded doctor who wants to do good. Playing a man with a firm moral centre, he successfully shows his character’s weaknesses as well as his strengths. Holding their weight against experienced actors, newcomers Rygaard and Nielsen are also very strong, their performances evoking both concern and sympathy from the viewer.
Beth Wilson
This film marks screenwriter Anders Thomas Jensen’s fifth collaboration with Bier (the most notable being After the Wedding and Brødre). It’s a pairing that brings out the best in both and consistently produces thoughtful and evocative films that garner international attention. With In A Better World they have created a morality tale of sorts showing that violence begets violence, and that ultimately forgiveness leads to redemption. Thankfully this is done in a way that avoids didactic undertones and is instead visually engaging and cerebral. Beth Wilson
■ Film
NEVER LET ME GO Released March 31
troy emery’s wildthings
PICS :: TL
Released March 31
school and its rules, the students are kept away from the outside world. Rumours and myths hold currency in this insular setting, with the truth never fully revealed to the pupils. As Kathy (Carey Mulligan), Ruth (Keira Knightley) and Tommy (Andrew Garfield) grow up together, their emotions become confused as the unsettling reality of their situation and destiny becomes clearer.
16:03:11 :: Firstdraft Gallery :: 116-118 Chalmers St, Surry Hills
■ Theatre
MISSING THE BUS TO DAVID JONES Until April 2 / Seymour Centre The elderly have a problematic place in our society. Our media focuses almost completely on youth, and apart from the occasional Meryl Streep movie, the voice of over 50s, let alone over 60s, rarely makes it anywhere near our screens or stages.
crossroads
17:03:11 :: Contemporary Russian Photography@ACP :: 257 Oxford St Paddington
Theatre Kantanka have well and truly thrown themselves at this problem with Missing The Bus To David Jones, a work that looks at the challenges of our aging population through the lens of a nursing home. In the opening scene, the six performers (including Katia Molino and version 1.0 regular Kym Vercoe) enter the stage as themselves, before stripping down to their underwear and redressing themselves in the clothes, and physicality of the elderly. It’s quite mesmerising to watch this transformation take place, as fit performers morph into fragile senior citizens. The prevailing sensation as an audience member is the inexorable passing of time within the nursing home, whose residents have all the time in the world but nothing to do, listlessly occupying themselves between scheduled meals, doses of medication and exercise sessions. The full range of experiences are displayed, with some characters absolutely resenting their lives of loneliness, abandoned by their family, whilst others affirm that it was their choice to live here, and this is now their home.
There are few things more cinematically delightful than watching a successful film adaptation of a beloved book. Screenwriter Alex Garland (author of The Beach) and director Mark Romanek (One Hour Photo) have given us an exquisitely bittersweet film focusing on the human fragility at the heart of Kazuo Ishiguro’s acclaimed novel. Moving and beautiful to look at, Never Let Me Go is a film adaptation to treasure.
Missing the Bus also skilfully portrays the impact of the nursing home on the younger people who circulate around it – the care workers, families, and cleaners. There are moments of humour, as when two nurses talk about their sex lives while dressing an elderly gentleman resident, and moments of absolute sadness, as a son desperately tries to reach through the fog of his mother’s dementia, and have a conversation.
The film is set in an alternate world where human clones are used as organ donors. The story introduces us to three characters – Kathy, Ruth and Tommy (played superbly as youngsters by Isobel Meikle-Small, Ella Purnell and Charlie Rowe) – who attend a seemingly idyllic British boarding school. Fully immersed in the reality of this
There are moments where the show loses its authenticity and the slow pace becomes tiresome; however for the most part, this is a hauntingly beautiful investigation of the lives of those the world has left behind. Henry Florence
See www.thebrag.com for more arts reviews
queen street studios
PICS :: TL
IN A BETTER WORLD
At the heart of the arts Where you went last week.
PICS :: TL
■ Film
Arts Snap
19:03:11 :: Queen Street Studios Open Day :: Kensington St, Chippendale
Arts Exposed What's on our calendar...
HEARTBEATS / LES AMOURS IMAGINAIRES Opens March 31, Dendy Newtown
Xavier Dolan directs and stars in Heartbeats
This sophomore feature from 21-year-old French-Canadian filmmaker Xavier Dolan was part of the official selection for Cannes’ Un Certain Regard program last year, and won the Sydney Film Festival’s Sydney Film Prize. Don’t worry though – it’s not one of these torturous ‘arthouse’ films about donkeys giving birth in the snow; Heartbeats is colourful, hilarious adventure in romance, as two best friends fall for the same guy. Set amongst the gloriously attractive hipsters of Montreal, and laced with vox-pop-style interviews with various young lovers, Heartbeats is so enjoyable because it’s all so fucking true. www.dendy.com.au
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Album Reviews What's been crossing our ears this week...
ALBUM OF THE WEEK PANDA BEAR Tomboy Mistletone
Back in 2007, Person Pitch - Panda Bear’s third solo record and big sloppy hug to the world - won accolades aplenty, while steering the band from which he was moonlighting (a little thing called Animal Collective) onto the sampler-laden trajectory that produced the exploding star highlight of 2009, Merriweather Post Pavilion. Panda Bear has a new album now. It’s called Tomboy. It’s very, very good.
While it’s possible to overdose on overwhelmingly euphoric, vibrant sounds, Panda Bear dares you to try.
Gone are the samples and random snippets that punctuated Person Pitch; the haphazard-collage-of-sonic-elements kind of approach is ditched, supplanted by lushly-rendered monolithic blocs of vividly shimmering texture. Similarly, the DJ and techno influences that riddled his previous album (particularly its sprawling centrepiece ‘Bros’) have been submerged within the pop structure that defined the songs of Merriweather Post Pavilion.
But Tomboy is certainly not Merriweather MK II; Panda Bear, AKA Noah Lennox, squeezes an extraordinary range of sounds out of his machinery, forsaking the samplers in favour of a simpler trick; playing his guitar through a synth module. ‘You Can Count On Me’, a message from father to newborn son, provides an intimately heartstring-tugging prelude, before the record is kicked off in earnest with the thundering anthem of ‘Tomboy’. A regal air is struck with the leisurely stroll along the promenade of ‘Last Night At The Jetty’, while a soft climax is reached with the wind chimeladen dirge ‘Scheherazade’, in which Lennox’ tendency towards minimalism reaches its apex with gently lulling style. Panda Bear has achieved a kind of sonic perfection on this record. The oft-made comparison to Brian Wilson has never seemed more apt, with his opulent sound achieved through an apparent compulsion to create Phil Spector-ish levels of production flawlessness. Oliver Downes
ELBOW
SNOOP DOGG
TIM & JEAN
HINDI ZAHRA
Build A Rocket Boys! Universal
Doggumentary Capitol/EMI
Like What Mercury
Handmade EMI
The career of English five-piece Elbow has been remarkably stretched; the group released their first album in 2001, a full eleven years after forming as band. Ever the slow-burning candle, it wasn’t until their fourth release, Mercury Prize-winning The Seldom Seen Kid, that the band finally went from critic favourites to international acclaim. Three years hence, their most recent offering requires of the listener the kind of patience that appears to be second nature to the band itself. Eight-minute odyssey ‘The Birds’ provides a fantastic opening, with a beautiful yet brooding melody whose measured steps creep grippingly toward a climax that is always just around the corner. But when, midalbum, the corner is still not turned, the suspense gradually fizzles into a background frustration, as precision lapses a little into formula... Yet if you can let go of that, there’s a lot to enjoy here. A cyclic piano pedal and nursery rhyme-style melody in ‘Lippy Kids’ sends one straight into a happy daydream, as lead singer Guy Garvey reminisces on adolescence: “…walking on walls, stealing booze and hour-long hungry kisses.” There are some large-scale moments as well; heavy vocal layering creating a dramatic effect towards the end of ‘With Love’, and a chorus style sing-along in ‘Open Arms’ that will go down a treat live. It’s all about Garvey on this record, but as charming as his voice and lyrics are, they’re relied on too heavily. With less orchestration, missing are those moments of majesty and euphoria that Elbow’s biggest hit to date – ‘One Day Like This’ – captured so perfectly.
Despite the reality shows, the movie roles and the coaching of his son’s gridiron team, music is still Snoop Dogg’s bread and butter. To his credit he treats his status seriously, lending his considerable heft to promote countless up-and-coming MCs. And even though he takes the money from pop tarts like Katy Perry and The Pussycat Dolls, he keeps it interesting, featuring on diverse records, from Quincy Jones’ bossa nova release to Gorillaz' Plastic Beach. Doggumentary reflects this variation, sounding more like a mixtape than a suite of related songs. There’s a healthy dose of vintage G-Funk, some Young Money swagger, some Top 40 dross and a strafing, ‘dub-lite’ contribution from Gorillaz. There’s some great production here, the best of it reinvigorating Snoop as MC rather than overshadowing him. Kanye’s minor key ‘Eyez Closed’ is genuinely moving, and Snoop drives the point home in his sixteen bars; ‘My Own Way’ recalls the bleak sonic landscape of DOOM or The RZA to great effect; ‘Peer Pressure’ and ‘Gangbang Rookie’ do their best to sound as much like ‘Nuthin’ But A G Thang’ as possible; ‘Platinum’ features Snoop’s most interesting flow in many years, and ‘Superman’ is an unexpectedly lovely, bluesy, acoustic duet with Willie Nelson. But a lot of it feels forced, perhaps because so much of the album is delivered by guest vocalists - 22 are credited over 21 tracks, and some of them are awful. Another problem: the album runs for almost 80 minutes, and many of them are awful, too.
Beautiful melodies on creativelyproduced tracks, that never quite develop how you want them to. But persevere; this album is a grower.
There’s enough variation here to keep everyone at least a little interested, but in casting a wide net Doggumentary drowns moments of genuine brilliance in moments of utter shite.
Jordan Smith
Hugh Robertson
Perth boys Tim & Jean are definitely not lacking in talent or enthusiasm. This much was apparent from the second their all-night-binge-cumfestival-anthem ‘Come Around’ hit the airwaves, and became a fixture almost immediately. The big question is whether that energy can translate across an entire album – and in a roar of analog synths, perfectly-mixed drums and faultless falsetto, there’s not much room to answer. So let’s get it out of the way: while the accomplishment of these young musicians is obvious, their musical diversity is not. And the biggest problem with that is that while both the guys come from backgrounds that encourage experimentation (jazz and blues for Tim, rock for Jean), Like What is pretty formulaic. Pleasant, wellexecuted party song follows pleasant, well-executed party song. To be fair, these are good party songs with heart, and by their very nature they shouldn’t be held under the microscope for too long. Those blissed-out arpeggios and romper bass figures don’t program themselves, and ‘Veronika’ and ‘I Can Show You’ are damn fine pop songs. A lot of hooks here aren't throwaway, and the quality and consistency of the output shows that Tim & Jean aren’t just scene kids looking for kudos or a quick buck. Even when Like What gets stuck in the ‘80s, it’s definitely the best parts of that decade that are being re-imagined. And besides, it’s hard to begrudge them for being upbeat when their regular audiences are at huge music festivals. For a debut, this is certainly impressive. Get to know them now; by their third album, they’ll be knocking you for six. Jonno Seidler
Hindi Zahra has enviable pedigree; Moroccan-born, French-raised and proficient in a whole variety of languages that I’m not. All of this would make for compelling listen already, so it’s a bonus that Zahra possesses a wonderfully expressive voice which, when coupled with her less-is-more approach to songwriting, works wonders on the ear. Zahra is a genuine chanteuse; she was picked up originally by the legendary jazz stable Blue Note Records in Paris, and she’s wellversed in the art of taking a simple blues melody (‘At The Same Time’) and making it entirely her own. It’s this approach, complimented by the rustic sounds of tablas, mandolins and a variety of unplugged instruments, that makes Handmade true to its title. This is world music that focuses on the little things; the tone of the guitar in ‘Beautiful Tango’, the arching melodies of ‘Fascination’ and the overall feeling that sometimes taking one’s time isn’t such a bad thing in pop music. Though she sings predominantly in English, Zahra manages to inflect her words and twist her phrases to sound like a cocktail of European and Arabic jazz bar performers. Inoffensive yet interesting and perfect for late nights, she utilises the foreign appeal of crossover artists like Yael Naim, but then injects into it some real, simmering sexiness. And you can tell she’d be a fantastic live proposition, because that’s essentially what this record is; it doesn’t take a lot of tweaking when the base material is so strong. Yet another reminder that we’re on a small island at the bottom of a very diverse globe. Jonno Seidler
Iconography Two Bright Lakes/ Remote Control The mp3 is a curious format. It assumes your ears are stupid, editing out all of the frequencies it thinks you can’t hear, and when this approach to compression is taken to extremes (as evidenced by the default bit rate on iTunes) it blurs and distorts musical texture. It’s this sound that envelops Iconography to varying degrees, but instead of rendering as a corroded facsimile, it casts each track in intimate warmth, a tape haze equivalent for the
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post-2000s. It’s possible this is a side-effect of how the record was constructed – online between Sydney and Adelaide, over the period of about a year – but the effect of it is surely too beautiful to be incidental. The first 15 seconds of ‘Don Juan’ are indescribably sublime, a synthetic multi-voice lilt that leads into a surreal world of shivering synths over a skipping beat, before the track is wrung slowly through the peculiar sonic shroud. ‘Beaman Park’ consolidates this feel, taking it to an almost absurdly beatific level of headnodding beauty. Modern R&B appears to be a shared passion between the duo; references are rife throughout the album.
How To Become Clairvoyant 429 / Universal Any aspiring musician who has been following all the hullabaloo surrounding the twentieth anniversary celebrations for Nevermind, or witnessed the rapturous reaction to Valleys of Neptune (yet another compilation of Hendrix leftovers), could only be left with the thought that the key to rock immortality is to die at an early age, leaving your potential forever unfulfilled. As the driving force behind The Band, Robbie Robertson played a crucial part in some of the greatest recordings of all time, among them Dylan’s Blonde On Blonde and The Basement Tapes, as well as their own Music From Big Pink and The Last Waltz. Bleak as it is to admit, had he shuffled off this mortal coil in the late 70s he would be mentioned in the same breath as the Cobains and Buckleys - but as it stands, How To Become Clairvoyant was never going to match the sheer genius of those early records. Like Clapton’s last album, this is an unassuming record; it gives the sense that its principals were content enough with simply still being around to make it, rather than needing to stretch their creative muscles. It’s not a bad album, but it is dominated by middle-of-the-road, mid-tempo bluesy shuffling that fails to excite. And despite a who’s who of featured guests - including Clapton, Steve Winwood, Robert Randolph, Tom Morello and Trent Reznor - there’s very little variation throughout. There are some lovely moments every now and again, but not nearly enough to hold your attention. And when so much interesting new music is being produced, you can’t expect people to care just because you made some amazing records fifty years ago. Hugh Robertson
INDIE ALBUM OF THE WEEK COLLARBONES
ROBBIE ROBERTSON
‘Kill Off The Vowels’ is weirdly danceable for all its anxious stuttering and ominously claustrophobic vocals, while tracks like ‘Id’ and ‘Yolko’ pose introspective ballads as a complement to the album’s intimate sound. But the real success of Iconography is that it’s woven together with pieces that reference the duo’s past experimental work. The eerily exhilarating ‘The Ghostship’ and the ebb of pieces like ‘Closed’ lend a narrative to the tracks that make it a cohesive work. Brilliant synth/dance pop tinged with the elusive bliss of contemporary improv. Luke Telford
OFFICE MIXTAPE And here are the albums that have helped BRAG HQ get through the week...
DAS RACIST - Shut Up, Dude ROBERT JOHNSON - King Of The Delta Blues Singers ANDREW BIRD - Armchair Apocrypha
ICE-T - Power SUPER WILD HORSES - Fifteen
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Remedy More than The Cure since 1989 with Murray Engleheart
Pinetop Perkins
EARTH HOUR
(UK)
Once again this year, in our humble bid to do our bit for decreasing power consumption, for Earth Hour on Saturday night we assembled every amp and speaker we could lay our hands on and hooked them all up (which was a technical nightmare) and played Earth 2 for an hour. Earth’s more recent Angels of Darkness‌ just didn’t have the mood we were after. It sure is a fine thing to be communityspirited though, and to play locally and loudly while thinking globally.
RIP: PINETOP PERKINS
While the rock world has been losing many of its big hitters and general treasures over the past few years (with no one in the next generation remotely capable of taking their place), spare a thought for the blues community, which just has a few original warriors left standing. That number fell further last week with the loss of former Muddy Waters band pianist Pinetop Perkins at the age of 97.
JIM JONES REVIEW
Speaking of piano players – which is something we don’t often do – Elliot Mortimer, the manic driving force behind The Jim Jones Revue, has officially left the band. Until a full time replacement has been decided on, the band are working with three ivories ticklers, depending upon where they’re playing in the world. In Oz they played with our own Clayton Doley, who did jest farn.
ANTHRAX
Scott Ian of Anthrax has announced that he won’t be playing the band’s scheduled Europe and UK shows between July 2-16, as his wife is about to give birth. His replacement for the dates is surprising: Andreas Kisser from Sepultura. “We feel he can do the gig better than anyone,� Ian said in a statement. “He has the fire, the attitude, and the crushing right hand to do the gig. I’ve played with Andreas and we are kindred spirits. We both play every show like we’re going to jail the next day, like it’s the last show we’ll ever play.�
ON THE TURNTABLE
(USA)
On the Remedy turntable is Ten Years After’s smokin’ Live at the Fillmore East, which was recorded in February 1970, around six months after they blazed their way through Woodstock. In too many minds, these guys never really got past their set at that massive event, where they most famously did ‘I’m Going Home’ and guitarist Alvin Lee earned the all-stifling tag of “the fastest guitar alive.� A real pity as they had plenty more to offer any fan of the tough late-‘60s British blues rock school, as the excellent A Space In Time would later demonstrate. While this has four very obvious covers – Sonny Boy Williamson’s ‘Good Morning Little School Girl’, Chuck Berry’s ‘Sweet Sixteen’ and ‘Roll Over Beethoven’ plus Willie Dixon’s ‘Spoonful’, it’s a far more cracking affair than the later official bootleg, Recorded Live.
TOUR AND INDUSTRY NEWS
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The rise and rise of Lemmy is a curious yet wondrous thing. Back in 1980 we were literally laughed at for daring to wear what was one of the first – if not the first - MotĂśrhead t-shirts in the country. We paid through the arse for it, too, and it was much too big – but that was and remains beside the point. Some years later we were talking to the singer of one of this country’s biggest acts, and upon seeing my t-shirt he sneered that MotĂśrhead “look like our roadies.â€? Who’s laughing now, eh? Just as AC/DC have become the rock band that everyone – including those who don’t even like rock – love, just as Metallica have become the metal band for one and all (including those who aren’t metal fans), Lemmy and MotĂśrhead are something of rock royalty these days, minus the millions. And the Lemmster has done it without really moving from his stool at the Rainbow in West Hollywood, which is close to his small and anything-but-palatial apartment. The world has come to him. Maybe it’s been the enthusiastic advocacy of folks like Dave Grohl over the years that’s done it – or just sheer staying power. Or maybe just plain power. After all, it was hardly front-page news when he was sacked from Hawkwind back in the mid-‘70s; and MotĂśrhead in their early days almost starved to death, as they were considered too punk for the metalheads and too metal
for the punks. But by the Bomber slab they’d made their mark, and although they’ve never had a Back In Black or even a Number of The Beast, they’ve kept showing up ever since – to the point where now the band and their logo have become a brand, not just a band, with Lemmy front and centre as a proud standard-bearer for a largely lost-and-forgotten rock’n’roll age. The new movie on his amazing life – an existence that goes much deeper than just the tales of roadying for Jimi Hendrix, and the fact that he was due to audition to play with the great man the day he died – is a fitting tribute to the gent who is rock’s other last cool uncle (next to Keith Richards of course), who has seen and done at least as much as Keef, but just never had a limo driver to take him home afterwards. Anyway, go pay your respects on March 28 when MotÜrhead blast away at the walls of the Big Top at Luna Park with Regular John and Tabarah in support. Brit metal gods Uriah Heep are at the Enmore Theatre on April 1. Radio Birdman’s Deniz Tek, Leadfinger and Shit Creek are at the Sando on March 31. Oh, and come be our buddy at www. facebook.com/remedy4rock
Send stuff to remedy@ozemail.com.au by 6pm Wednesdays. All pics to art@thebrag.com www.myspace.com/remedy4rock
THIS WEEK
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snap sn ap
st pat's day
PICS :: AM
up all night out all week . . .
hot damn
PICS :: AM
17:03:11 :: Orient Hotel :: 89 George St The Rocks 92511256
mum
PICS ::TP
17:03:11 :: Spectrum :: 34 Oxford St Darlinghurst 93316245
18:03:11 :: The Gaelic Theatre :: 64 Devonshire St Surry Hills 92111687
19:03:11
:: The Metro Theatre :: 624 George St City 92642666
It’s called: Daniel Lee Kendall & Georgia Fair co-headline tour! It sounds like: The combination of two very exciting young artists. It sounds like pastoral narrative folk and inventive indie tunes. It sounds like exactly what you want to be doing on Wednesday night. Who’s playing? Daniel Lee Kendall, Georgia Fair & Brendan Maclean Sell it to us: Both acts share an affection for Bob Dylan - it's reflected in the vivid narratives translated through their textured tunes. As the man himself said: Seasons they are turning… Embrace the coming of winter as these stunning acts meander through March with stories of hope and heartbreak. The bit we’ll remember in the AM: Smiling quietly as the lush tunes wash over you. Crowd specs: Fine, friendly folks from all over, together to share some beautiful, intimate performances. Wallet damage: Only $13 on the door. Where: The Vanguard, Sydney / Brass Monkey, Cronulla When: Wednesday March 30 / Friday April 1
S :: :: INNERSTYLE :: BEN KALGOVA S : TIM LEVY (HEAD HONCHO) ROUHANNA :: OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER ETTE ROS :: Y CHE PEA MAS THO :: ASHLEY MAR :: DANIEL MUNNS
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imperial panda closing party
PICS :: TT
party profile
Daniel Lee Kendall & Georgia Fair
black cherry
PICS :: BK
last night
PICS :: IS
18:03:11 :: World Bar :: 24 Bayswater Rd Kings Cross 93577700
20:03:11 :: GOODGOD :: 55 Liverpool St Chinatown
snap
bootleg
PICS :: BK
up all night out all week . . .
pash
PICS :: RR
19:11:03 :: Oxford Art Factory :: 38-46 Oxford st, Darlinghurst 93323711
monster session
02:12:06
PICS :: BK
18:03:11 :: Exchange Hotel :: 34 Oxford Street Darlinghurst 93312956
:: Manning Bar :: @ Sydney Uni City Rd Chippendale 95636107
S :: :: INNERSTYLE :: BEN KALGOVA S : TIM LEVY (HEAD HONCHO) :: NA HAN ROU OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER ETTE :: THOMAS PEACHEY :: ROS ASHLEY MAR :: DANIEL MUNNS
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live reviews What we've been to see...
USHER
EDDIE VEDDER
Acer Arena Wednesday March 23
The State Theatre Friday March 18
RnB megastar Usher dropped into Sydney for the first of his six scheduled Acer gigs as part of his OMG tour. I took my 14-year-old sister and my iPhone to make notes. Here’s what happened. 9:20: Usher can most definitely sing. This is very exciting. There is falsetto all over the place. Oh, and he just dropped ‘Confessions’. 9:21: This guy’s feet never actually touch the ground. It’s like he’s permanently set the gear to ‘glide’. The choreography is hectic; sort of like *Nsync, if Timberlake was black. 9:21: Usher has just performed a slow striptease which involves taking off his leather gloves and jacket. He is now wearing a singlet and the two girls in front of us pretty much just fainted. 9:26: That big glittering ‘U’ chain just arrived out of a briefcase. What a smart move, he was rocking this before anyone even used the @ symbol. With enough resources, Usher could probably rebrand the whole internet. 9:30: Usher has a band. They’re sort of hidden below the runways, but they’re there. And they’re helping out with the vocals, too. Usher is a smart guy; he can move between ad-libbing and lip-syncing so well that my sister has to keep asking me what the hell is going on. No Britney Spears bullshit here. 9:35: Dancing is a very underrated art form. We are now at ‘U Make Me Wanna’ and Usher and his crew have gone into slo-mo krumping. Bono can’t do that. 9:37: Usher just wants to get comfortable with 20,000 people. That’s why we’ve seen his abs like, three times already. 9:47: There is a tragic Usher mum getting up on her chair two rows in front of us. She’s been here the whole time, but now she’s completely lost her shit. I feel a Tom Jones moment may come on soon, 10:00: This song is called ‘Trading Places.’ It’s not about understanding women. It’s about sex. He’s on the bottom tonight. What a gentleman. 10:01: Sister is texting ‘He can deffo sing, just not anything important.’ 10:03: I am thinking, ‘I liked this better when it was called D’Angelo.’ Which means I just tweeted it. Tragic Mum just threw a bra during that last song. 10:20: There is too much sex happening here. Even though Usher’s singing, he’s just playing out this fantasy where he bangs every female in the audience. 10:50: He played ‘OMG’. It was banging. Now we can go home.
STONE TEMPLE PILOTS Hordern Pavilion Sunday March 20
So here you are in 2011, with your Art vs Science there, and your Violent Soho here, and with your Strokes blandly dispatching poor facsimiles of the late 1970s in a cold backroom where new music has died, over there - and then you’ll be like, “Hang on, how did I walk into this vortex that just opened onto 1994?” …I don’t know, physics? In any case, it is terrific (forgetting the fact that Grinspoon are somehow still a band). Here at the Hordern Pavilion I am the youngest person by far - and I am ancient. It crosses my mind for only a microsecond that this show might be terrible. Which it most certainly is not. So I am right now giving it eleven 9/10s. STP have never toured Australia before now, so you can imagine what an arena full of oldish people who’ve waited more than fifteen years to unashamedly reconnect with their adolescence is like (not-ironic crowd surfing; elation). The band recognise that pretty much no one is here to hear songs from their most recent album, and so punch out a super tight set heavily peppered with their greatest hits; as the back-to-back ‘Plush’/’Interstate Love Song’ combo two-thirds of the way through the show demonstrates. LIKE A BOSS.
Scott Weiland is a walking advertisement for taking drugs. A strutting, sexy advertisement for taking lots and lots of drugs. So many drugs you get kicked out of two bands, including this one - but you will look like a god and your vocal chords will remain unchanged for twenty years, and you will bask in the undying adulation of crowds. So I think the overall lesson here is heroin. STP are a fantastic glam hard rock band; the sound they command from only three instruments is frankly monstrous (liberally plastered with frontman showmanship). Their genesis in 1992 birthed them closer to the sleaze and swagger of the Sunset Strip than it did to the gritty streets of Seattle, for which they were roundly savaged at the time – which, on reflection, was likely out of songwriting envy. A band I essentially got into because a boy in highschool I had a crush on thought they were cool managed to stomp over all the corpses of that over-hyped scene nearly two decades later, by having the one thing their contemporaries sorely lacked: fucking tunes. Elmo Keep
With Pearl Jam, Eddie Vedder was something of a 90s institution. Ten, the Jam’s unspeakably huge debut, became the voice of the Western World’s middle class adolescence, embodying all its associated bitterness and alienation – and its follow-ups, VS and Vitalogy, continued to mark their rise as one of the decade’s most important outfits. However in the last decade, although their albums continued to sell blockbuster numbers, Pearl Jam have struggled to find the same level of cultural relevance. It was Vedder’s solo debut (in the soundtrack to 2007’s Into The Wild) that returned him to the critical fore, launching him as a solo artist and, in a roundabout way, laying the foundations for the international tour that would bring him to Australia. Under the 80-year-old roof of the State Theatre, Vedder brought all the promise of Into the Wild in a grippingly intimate demonstration of the unique voice behind the record sales. Unaccompanied (bar one of his ‘strats, acoustics or electric ukulele), he reached into the depths of his past work to pluck out a handful of some of the finest moments that his name’s been attached to. The Pearl Jam set-list staples were all there; ‘Better Man’ received a down-tempo re-treat, ‘Porch’ stirred a deafening, encore-garnering reception, and ‘Elderly Woman’ was done with as much sincerity as it was on the record. His solo work (including a peek at one track from his forthcoming ukulele album) was understandably better-suited to the format, but it’s hard to claim any of the band tracks sounded out of place when they were so artfully done. Vedder was humble and earnest; somehow calm in the face of continuous heckled demands; somehow charming despite his habit of spitting on stage; always embodying the momentous occasion that this tour represented. On his own, Eddie Vedder is something entirely impressive to witness. He walks the same line that his voice does, drifting between the gritty and gorgeous with all the expression of the voices he covered on his way around the country – Dylan, Waits, Springsteen, Young. He may never again return to the importance he found as Seattle’s teen folk laureate, but Eddie Vedder will never cease to be one of the most expressive and interesting voices of modern rock ‘n’ roll; and if nothing else, that's what was showcased tonight.
Jonno Seidler
OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER :: Ashley Mar
Max Easton
back in the saddle after almost a decade, who spends most of tonight smiling like a doofus. Up in the VIP stands, even Erin McNaught is losing her shit. It’s full-blown mayhem - there’s ‘My Hero’, ‘Everlong’, ‘Stacked Actors’, ‘The Pretender’, ‘Big Me’ they’re coming so fast, the band just can’t wait to play them. Dave’s romancing the audience like a consummate professional while swearing like a teenager, Taylor’s whipping out these drum solos that defy all logic, and everybody suddenly really wants to be in a rock group again.
FOO FIGHTERS
Goat Island on Port Jackson, Sydney Harbour Thursday March 24 Do you know what’s really great? Falling in love with your favourite band all over again. Foo Fighters have been blasting out rock and roll for my entire adult life, and I’ve never been so enamoured with them as I am right now, watching them go well over schedule on what should be a brief promo gig. Dave Grohl, a man of more energy than the entire audience, has just rolled into his third straight hour of performing; still head banging, screaming and
36 :: BRAG :: 405 :: 28:03:11
chewing that lucky piece of gum as the band dig deeper into their seven-album-strong back-catalogue. Holy. Fuck. The Virginia quintet play their entire new album, Wasting Light, from front to back and it takes everyone back to 1995. There is a universal realisation rippling through the crowd, as Grohl roars straight into ‘All My Life’, that although it’s not trendy, this is music we can feel. It’s no better expressed than on the face of ex-Nirvana, Germs guitarist Pat Smear,
Covers? Sure, how about a slamming rendition of Prince’s ‘Darling Nikki’; or ‘Butterflies’, a rare track Grohl wrote when he was still in Nirvana? “Those other bands who play for an hour and twenty minutes,” says Grohl, “they fucking suck.” He’s right. This is like baptism by guitars – it helps that we’re right by the water – as every album gets a look-in, and songs that haven’t surfaced live for years (‘Hey, Johnny Park!’, ‘See You’, ‘Aurora’) smash into our skulls. Halfway through the encore, Grohl decides he’s going to play 10 more tunes. His manager is visibly distressed. All we can do now is gape in amazement. The sun has gone down and the Foo Fighters are still tearing it up. What a man. What a band. I’m never going to listen to dance music again. Jonno Seidler
OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER :: Channel [V] / Caroline McCredie
live reviews
Future Music Festival photo by Ashley Mar
What we've been to see...
off the screen, disappearing into darkness and then appearing again to mouth the lyrics. It was lights, music, and just about everything in between (with not one salmon in sight). While the inclusions of more alternative acts was a valiant attempt by Future to broaden the scope of the festival (with some notable successes), The Chemical Brothers well and truly established that all people really wanted was to dance. Hard.
FUTURE MUSIC FESTIVAL Randwick Racecourse Saturday March 12
Future Music 2011 was lauded as the biggest dance party to hit Australian shores this summer – but Tame Impala? Gypsy & The Cat? MGMT? Since when were they classified as great dance acts? Glitter girl Ke$ha was also an unlikely choice, yet her performance was one of the most hyped - if the cries of ‘OMGoshsheisgoingtobeAH-MAZIN’ in the huge queues outside were anything to go by (and not just because there were rumours that Ke$ha was going to shower the crowd with condoms that featured her face on the wrapper). Despite a noticeable lack of free contraception, the crowd lapped it up, singing along to ‘Tik Tok’ and ‘We R Who We R’. Not even references to the Po-po or lyrics like “We’re sellin’ our clothes, sleepin’ in cars / Dressin’ it down, hittin’ on dudes, hard” could keep them down. When she drank blood from a fake animal heart on stage, I experienced serious waves of Gaga déjà-vu – but no one else seemed to notice or care. Mark Ronson was also a bit of a surprise choice, yet he seemed to know what we wanted before we even knew ourselves. One moment we were dancing to ‘Ohh Wee’ and the next we were losing it during his brief DJ set, or his cover of The Kaiser Chiefs. He made The O.C. cool again with a rendition of ‘California’ that had the entire gen Y crowd attempting their best Cali twang (‘Caliiifawnyaaaa…). And just when you thought there were no more surprises left, Ronson brought out Miike Snow frontman Andrew Wyatt, who treated the crowd to ‘Animal’. He followed it up with mammoth hit ‘Bang, Bang, Bang’ and shit really hit the fan. I wasn’t the only one needing a gozleme to regroup after that one. Following MGMT, on the other hand, I didn’t need a gozleme. I needed a drink… ASAP. After the multifaceted performance of Ronson, MGMT sounded disappointingly flat, and even when Andrew VanWyngarden promised that we’d “move to Paris, shoot some heroin and fuck with the stars,” I still wasn’t convinced. MGMT finally drew decent cheers as they launched into ‘Kids’, but as soon as it finished the crowd dispersed quicker than you could say ‘who’s selling’, leaving MGMT to finish their set to a vacant field littered with empty vodka flasks and the occasional broken thong. It wouldn’t have taken a genius to foresee that the material from their second album, Congratulations (which formed a large part of their set), was never going to work with this crowd. The Chemical Brothers made up for it and then some. Words do not even begin to describe the sheer scale of awesome that permeated the set. It wasn’t dance music; it was art. Enclosed in a spaceship– like DJ booth on stage, the boys dropped heavy beat after heavy beat, accompanied by a mesmerising light and multimedia show. Regular household objects turned into instruments of trance horror; a nightmarish clown flickered on and
By Liz Brown
ELECTRIC EMPIRE Oxford Art Factory Friday March 18
I’ll be frank, Electric Empire were unknown to me as of last week - but today they stand atop my current list of favourite Australian bands. In fact, I’m surprised that the Melbourne soul trio evaded my attention for so long. If it weren’t for a Facebook popup - ‘you like The Bamboos and Fat Freddy’s Drop, you might also like this…’ - I might have missed the chance to experience this show. From the outset, it was a blaze of soulful glory. The lights dimmed and a mixtape came on, with James Brown, Curtis Mayfield and Earth Wind and Fire filling the room. The curtains opened to reveal the next progression in funk evolution; drummer and lead vocalist Dennis Dowlut propelling the audience into a state of groove satisfaction that would last for the next hour. For such a small group, the wall of sound they produced was simply astounding, with an abundant energy that was fuelled by a crowd who had nothing but love for them. The first words that left keyboardist Aaron Mendoza’s mouth were “shit, there’s a lot of you, huh?” - but he’s going to have to get used to it, with Glastonbury next up on their list. I realised what it was that made this band so unique when guitarist Jason Heerah introduced “The Electric Empire Choir” halfway through the first song, and the three of them exploded into a moment of rich harmonic a capella, before returning back to their instruments in a flurry of drum and keyboard fills. In a age filled with soulless artists, these boys have a raw talent that’s unmistakable. From the sexy ‘Baby Your Lovin,’ to the Al Green-inspired ‘Have You Around,’ the next hour was filled with uncontrollable foot-tapping and head-bobbing by all. Dowlut’s incredible drumming chops and golden pipes utilised simultaneously could only be seen to be believed - and once Mendoza pulled out the vocoder and Jay-Z’s ‘Empire State Of Mind,’ all hell broke loose.
NEON NIGHTS
I’ve been searching for years for a band that ticks all my boxes, and judging by the way OAF erupted into applause after an encore to be reckoned with, I guess I’m not the only one who’s found it in Electric Empire.
Zac Seidler
OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER :: Rosette Rouhanna BRAG :: 405 :: 28:03:11 :: 37
g g guide g send your listings to : gigguide@thebrag.com
pick of the week
SATURDAY APRIL 2
Sparkadia
Metro Th M Theatre, Sydney
Sparkadia,
Operator Please, Alpine $28.70 (+ bf) 7pm licensed all ages MONDAY MARCH 28 ROCK & POP
Bernie The Observer Hotel, The Rocks free 8.30pm David Agius Duo Opera Bar, Sydney Opera House free 8.30pm In Pieces, Dave White Duo The Orient Hotel, The Rocks free 9pm Mandi Jarry Coogee Bay Hotel free 9pm Matt Jones Novotel Homebush, Homebush Bay free 4.40pm Motorhead (UK), Regular John The Big Top at Luna Park, Milsons Point $96.90 7pm Tom T Trio Scruffy Murphy’s Hotel, Sydney free 10pm Unherd Open Mic: Derkajam Downstairs, Sandringham Hotel, Newtown free 8pm
JAZZ
Jazz @ The Wall Live at the Wall, Leichhardt free 6pm Rob Eastwood Dee Why RSL Club free 6.30pm Steve Barry/Mike Rivett Quartet 505 Club, Surry Hills $10 8.30pm
ACOUSTIC & FOLK Songsalive!: April Sky, Chris Brookes, Donna Ng, Hugo Yap, Lance Whear,
P.J. Fothergill, Helmut Uhlmann Kellys On King, Newtown free 7pm Songwriter Sessions Excelsior Hotel, Surry Hills 7.30pm
TUESDAY MARCH 29
ACOUSTIC & FOLK
The Cottars Cat & Fiddle Hotel, Balmain $20–$25 8pm Rebecca Fielding, David Mark, Naomi Crain, The Shining Whites, Halfway Homebuoy, Shining Whits The Basement, Circular Quay $15 8pm Songsalive! Hugh Ealey, Laurie McGinness, Carolyn Crysdale Dee Why RSL free 6.30pm
ROCK & POP
Bonney Read, Bo Banta, Pilot Darcey Beach Road Hotel, Bondi free 8pm David Agius Novotel Homebush, Homebush Bay free 4.30pm Matt Jones The Observer Hotel, The Rocks free 8.30pm Plug Me In - Quarterpipe Records Showcase: Sophie Hanlon, Professor Malakai, Dylan Wright, Rachael & Derek Brass Monkey, Cronulla $12 7pm licensed all ages Steve Tonge O’Malley’s Hotel, Darlinghurst free 9.30pm They Call Me Bruce Maloney’s Hotel, Sydney free 9.30pm
JAZZ
Jazzgroove: The Sandy Evans Trio, Coffin Bros 505 Club, Surry Hills $10 8.30pm Peter Head Harbour View Hotel, The Rocks free 8pm
ROCK & POP WEDNESDAY x
MARCH 28
ROCK & POP
Ben Finn Duo Mean Fiddler, Rouse Hill free 6pm Blatherskite, Dirty Nice, H-Train, The Moose Test Excelsior Hotel $10 8pm Champagne Wednesday: Julia Daniels, Steve St Clair Workers Blacktown $12 (member)–$15 7.30pm Daniel Lee Kendall, Georgia Fair The Vanguard, Newtown $10 (+ bf)–$39 (dinner & show) 6.30pm Die! Die! Die! (NZ), Oceanics Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach free 8pm Gemma The Observer Hotel, The Rocks free 8.30pm Ghostwood, Bachelor Pad Spectrum, Darlinghurst $10 8pm
Goodnight Dynamite O’Malley’s Hotel, Darlinghurst free 9.30pm Inner West Fest Band Comp Sandringham Hotel, Newtown $5 8pm Itchy Moose, Dirty Grotto, Robosexual, Decision Was His Valve Bar, Tempe 7pm Jager Uprising: Katie Whyte, Broken Young, Hopefools Annandale Hotel $8 7.30pm Jamie Lindsay Northies, Cronulla free 7.30pm Kinetic Method Beach Palace Hotel, Coogee free 5pm Mandi Jarry Duo Ettamogah Pub, Kellyville free 6.30pm The Mango Man Downstairs, Sandringham Hotel, Newtown free 8pm Nag Champa Marble Bar, Sydney free 9.30pm The New Casuals, The Liberators, Brynstar The Basement, Circular Quay $12 (+ bf)–$15 9.30pm OMG Scruffy Murphy’s Hotel, Sydney free 11pm Steve Tonge Duo Maloney’s Hotel, Sydney free 9.30pm Yhan Leal Sugar Lounge, Manly free 7pm YourSpace Muso Showcase: Ken McLean, Sex In Mexico, The Julees, Captain Acoustic, Wolves & Pandas, Massimo Presti, Mimi Gilbert, Carolyn Crysdale Town Hall Hotel, Newtown free 7pm
JAZZ
Alison Penney Dee Why RSL Club free 6.30pm Peter Head Harbour View Hotel, The Rocks free 8pm Strelitzia Piano Trio St James’ Church, Sydney free 1.15pm Sunset Jazz: Sydney Uni Jazz Society Hermann’s, Darlington free 6pm Tom Vincent 505 Club, Surry Hills $10 8.30pm
ACOUSTIC & FOLK The Felas Macquarie Hotel, Sydney free 8.30pm
THURSDAY MARCH 30 ROCK & POP
Anna Salleh’s Bossa Boots The Funky Deli Cafe, Newtown free 8pm Benjalu The Vanguard, Newtown 8pm Craig Laird Duo Marlborough Hotel, Newtown free 8.30pm Cyndi Lauper (USA) State Theatre, Sydney $119– $138 8pm David Agius Harbord Beach Hotel free The Deer Republic Gallery Bar, Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst 8pm Deniz Tek (USA), Leadfinger, Shit Creek Sandringham Hotel, Newtown $15 8pm Dog Trumpet, David Lane Notes Live, Enmore $17.85– $40.30 (dinner & show) 7pm
Cyndi Lauper Hot Damn!: For Today (USA), For All Eternity, Renegade, Aftermath Spectrum, Darlinghurst $10 (guestlist)–$12 8pm Ian Blakeney Guildford Leagues Club free 10pm Indie Warhol: This Vacant Field, Nic Yorke Lansdowne Hotel, Chippendale free 8pm Jager Uprising Final: Bradley Cork & The Folklore Mantra, The Walking Who, The Mavens, Vienna Circus Annandale Hotel $8 7.30pm Joel Sarakula Dee Why Hotel free 8pm Johnathan Devoy Downstairs, Sandringham Hotel, Newtown free 8pm JP O’Malley’s Hotel, Darlinghurst free 9.30pm Live & Local Beach Palace Hotel, Coogee free 8pm Martin Mulholland Northies, Cronulla free 9.15pm Michael McGlynn Greengate Hotel, Killara free 8pm Mikelangelo & the Tin Star Brass Monkey, Cronulla 8pm Monii, Tori Drake & Shane Flew Excelsior Hotel, Glebe free 7.30pm Not Quite Sound QLD Flood Relief Show: Stu Larsen, Montpelier, The Former Love Pirates, Set Sail Event Cinemas George Street, Sydney $20 6pm all ages Pianoman The Loft, Darling Harbour free 6pm Radiant Live: Bed Wettin’ Bad Boys, Wintercoats, Donny Benet, DJ Huggs, Adam Lewis Kings Cross Hotel $10 8pm Replikant Scruffy Murphy’s Hotel, Sydney free 11pm Ross Wilson Lizotte’s Restaurant, Dee Why $53–$120 (dinner & show) 8pm Ruins Of An Empire, Letters Of Carnage, War Fiction, Putrefaction, Myrrhman Valve Bar, Tempe 7pm The Wildes, Jeremy Edwards & the Dust Radio Band, Chris Altmann Excelsior Hotel, Surry Hills $10 8pm
JAZZ
Jazz: Cool For School: Mike Nock Trio, Mark Isaacs Trio The Sound Lounge, Seymour Centre, Chippendale $15– $18.50 11am Lionel Robinson Dee Why RSL Club free 7pm Martinez Akustica The Basement, Circular Quay $15 (+ bf)–$20 9.30pm Peter Head Harbour View Hotel, The Rocks free 8pm Victor Valdez 505 Club, Surry Hills $10– $15 8.30pm
FRIDAY APRIL 1 ROCK & POP
2 Of Hearts Mosman RSL Club free 7pm The Affairs Mean Fiddler, Rouse Hill free Andy Mammers Castle Hill RSL Club free 9.30pm Angie Dean Greengate Hotel, Killara free 5pm The Australian Pink Show Engadine Tavern free 9.30pm Ben Finn Macquarie Hotel, Liverpool free 4.30pm BJ Thomas North Sydney Leagues Club, Cammeray $45 8pm Brad Johns Harbord Beach Hotel free 8pm The Break Manly Fisho’s $20 (presale)–$25 8pm Bright Young Things, Come Back to Earth, The Never Ever The Lair, Metro Theatre, Sydney $15 (+ bf)–$18 7pm Chartbusters Rooty Hill RSL Club free 8pm Collarbones, Fishing, Cleptopeon, Dro Carey The Marrickville Bowling Club $10 7pm Creedence & Beyond South Sydney Juniors, Kingsford free Crimson & Clover Scruffy Murphy’s Hotel, Sydney free 11pm Cutwing, Moth, F.R.I.E.N.D/S DJs Lansdowne Hotel, Chippendale free 8pm
“I embraced a machine, I went through the routine / And I hid from the people who were trying to find me” – THE CHURCH 38 :: BRAG :: 405 : 28:03:11
g g guide gig g send your listings to : gigguide@thebrag.com Cyndi Lauper (USA) State Theatre, Sydney $119– $138 8pm Daniel Lee Kendall, Georgia Fair Brass Monkey, Cronulla 8pm Daniel Lissings Crows Nest Hotel free 6.30pm Dave White Duo Pioneer Tavern, Penrith South free 9pm David Agius Duo Penrith Panthers free 6pm David McCormack & the Polaroids, We All Want To, DJ Smitty, B.Goode Sandringham Hotel, Newtown 8pm Deep Duo Robin Hood Hotel, Waverley free 9.30pm Drawing North Fitzroy Hotel, Windsor free 8pm Exit Strategy Customs House Bar, Sydney free 7pm Fallen Fortunes Tour: The Go Set, Attila The Stockbroker Live at the Wall, Leichhardt $15 8pm For Today (USA), For All Eternity, Northlane, The Bride, For Our Forefathers Campbelltown PCYC, Minto $16 (+ bf) 6pm all ages Goodnight Dynamite Brewhouse At St Mary’s, St Marys free 9.30pm Heath Burdell, Hat Trick, Natalie Conway Northies, Cronulla free 5.30pm Hip Not Hop Hillside Hotel, Castle Hill free 8pm Hue Williams St George Leagues Club, Kogarah free 8pm
Jed Zarb Ettamogah Pub, Kellyville free 6pm Josh, McIvor, Dave Stevens The Observer Hotel, The Rocks free 8.30pm Kim Chesire, The Zen Cowboys Lizotte’s Restaurant, Dee Why $23 8pm Last Night: Die! Die! Die!, Bleeding Knees Club, Papa vs Pretty DJs, Last Dinosaurs DJs, Sparkadia DJs, PhDJ, M.I.T., Randall Stagg Gaelic Theatre, Surry Hills $10 8pm Lunarcide, Lobster Man, Juan Cortez Gallery Bar, Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst 8pm Mandi Jarry Trio Woolloomooloo Bay Hotel free 7pm Marshall & the Fro The Vanguard, Newtown $8 (+ bf)–$12 6.30pm Matt Jones PJ Gallagher’s Drummoyne free 10pm Matt Price Parramatta RSL free 5pm Mikelangelo & the Tin Star, 49 Goodbyes Notes Live, Enmore $20.95– $43.35 (dinner & show) 7pm Moondance - A Tribute to Van Morrison: Bernie Segedin, Floyd Vincent, Jeff Duff, Rex Goh, Shane Flew, Clare O’Meara, Lloyd G, Steve Bull The Basement, Circular Quay $28 (+ bf)–$33 (at door) 9.30pm MUM: Oceanics, Bonfire Nights, Fix, Big Dumb Kid, Shiver Like Timber, Bin Juice, Making, Seabas, Sammy K, Gatsby, The
Cosmic Explorer, Nic Yorke The World Bar, Kings Cross $10–$15 8pm Naked On The Vague, Silver Moon, Low Life Excelsior Hotel, Surry Hills $10 8pm Neill Bourke O’Malley’s Hotel, Darlinghurst free 8pm Nightshift Ryde Eastwood Leagues Club, West Ryde free 8.30pm Original Sin INXS Show CC’s Hotel, Campbelltown free 8pm Papa Vs Pretty, Last Dinosaurs, Peppercorn Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst $12 (+ bf) 8.30pm Phonic Air, Under The 8 Ball, The Lavers, Fifth Fiction Valve Bar, Tempe 7pm Rapture Club Rivers, Riverwood free 9pm Ray Beadle Vault 146, Windsor 8pm The Rebel Rousers Cronulla Bowling & Recreation Club free 8.30pm Sam & Jamie Trio Kirribilli Hotel free 9.15pm The Sculptures, Sex In Columbia, Vanity Riots, Blox Annandale Hotel $15 8pm Sound Stream Camden RSL Club free 8.30pm Sparkadia, Operator Please, Alpine Metro Theatre, Sydney $28.70 7pm sold out Stormcellar Kurnell Recreation Club free 8pm Tall Pop Syndrome Crows Nest Hotel free 11.15pm They Call Me Bruce Engadine RSL & Citizens Club free 8.30pm
DIe! Die! Die! Thunderstruck - The ACDC Tribute Show Bull & Bush Hotel, Baulkham Hills free 10pm Tony Williams Guildford Leagues Club free Uriah Heep (UK), Supernaut Enmore Theatre $89.90 (+ bf) 8pm
Quartet The Sound Lounge, Seymour Centre, Chippendale $10 (member)–$20 8.30pm Twilight at Taronga: James Morrison Taronga Zoo, Mosman $56.50 (child)–$68.50 (adult) 7pm all ages Unity Hall Jazz Band Unity Hall Hotel, Balmain free 8pm Yuki Kumagai, John Mackie Well Connected Cafe, Glebe free 8pm
JAZZ
The Catholics 505 Club, Surry Hills $10–$15 8.30pm Jazz at 77: Rebekka Neville Trio Grace Hotel, Sydney free 6pm John Tikis Bankstown Sports Club $20 (member)–$25 8pm SIMA: Guy Strazz World Jazz
ACOUSTIC & FOLK
The Acacia Ensemble Humph Hall, Allambie Heights $25 (donation) 7.30pm Cafe Carnivale: Maria
Yiakoulis, Mandie Vieira Eastside Arts, Paddington $22 (member)–$28 8.15pm The Wiggles Penrith Panthers, Evans Theatre 11am
SATURDAY APRIL 2 ROCK & POP
78 Saab Gaelic Theatre, Surry Hills $15 (+ bf) 8pm Andy Mammers And Crash Avenue Crows Nest Hotel free 11.15pm
WWW.THEGAELIC.COM
(9:00PM - 12:00AM)
OPEN 10AM- 4AM
(9:00PM - 12:00AM)
SUNDAY NPL POKER
wed
30 Mar
thu
31 Mar
$10 STEAK & 12-3PM TUES TO ALE - FRIDAY
DRINK SPECIALS
JELLY WRESTLIING
2PM - $10 BUY IN - CASH PRIZES
TUESDAY ROCKSTEIN 7PM - MUSIC & MOVIE TRIVIA
fri
01
TUE 29
Apr
MAR
(5:00PM - 8:00PM)
ROCKSTEIN TRIVIA MUSIC AND MOVIE TRIVIA FROM 7:30PM
THE STUDY feat SOLO ARTIST
SUNDAY AFTERNOON
WED 30 MAR
RACHEL LAING + ELLEN MARA
SATURDAY NIGHT
Apr
sun
03 Apr
(4:30PM - 7:30PM)
PURPLE SNEAKERS & LAST NIGHT PRESENT FRI 01
SUNDAY NIGHT
APR
(9:00PM - 12:00AM)
ENTRY FREE
CHLOE TULLY + JULIAN SCOTT
(4:30PM - 7:30PM)
sat
FREE
(9:15PM - 1:00AM)
SATURDAY AFTERNOON
02
ENTRY
LIVE
: DIE! DIE! DIE!
BLEEDING KNEES CLUB & THE PURPLE SNEAKERS DJ’S
78 SAAB
SAT 02
(8:30PM - 12:00AM)
APR
THE MALADIES + THE BORDER THIEVES #/-).' 3//.
WED 06 APR
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FRI 08 APR
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SAT 09 APR
4(%2% 3 '//$ 2/#+). 4/.)'(4
BRAG :: 405 :: 28:03:11 :: 39
g g guide g send your listings to : gigguide@thebrag.com Asteroid B-612, 300 St Claire, Rodney Todd and the Rumours Excelsior Hotel, Surry Hills $15 8pm Atlantis Awaits Fitzroy Hotel, Windsor free 8.30pm The Bandits Duo Ramsgate RSL, Ramsgate Beach free 8pm Ben Finn Duo Ettamogah Pub, Kellyville free 6.30pm Blacklist Rock Club Notes Live, Enmore 7pm Brian Gillette, Roc-A-Tac Guildford Leagues Club free 10pm Chris Paton, Caramel Northies, Cronulla free 5.30pm Diamond Rhythm Regents Park Sporting & Community Club free 7.30pm Dragon Brass Monkey, Cronulla 8pm FBi Social: Ernest Ellis Kings Cross Hotel $10 8pm Funkstar Marlborough Hotel, Newtown free 10.30pm Glebe Hockey Clubhouse Fundraiser: Made In Japan, Betty Airs, Teenage Horse, The Faults, Richie Balmerino Glebe Hockey Clubhouse Grannyfist, Penguins (Melb), Michael Crafter, Thick Spunk, McLovin Valve Bar, Tempe $5 8pm The Holidays, Gold Fields Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst $15 (+ bf) 8pm sold out Hotel California Manly Fisho’s $20 (presale)–$25 8pm Hue Williams Wentworth Hotel, Homebush free 7pm
40 :: BRAG :: 405 : 28:03:11
An Intimate Night With Modular: Grace Woodroofe, WIM, Emma Davis The Basement, Circular Quay $25 (+ bf) 9.30pm Joey & the Boy Dooleys Lidcombe Catholic Club free 8.30pm La Vista Petersham RSL Club free 8.30pm Late Shift Scruffy Murphy’s Hotel, Sydney free 11pm Mandi Jarry Trio Opera Bar, Sydney Opera House free 2.30pm Mark Da Costa & the Black List Mean Fiddler, Rouse Hill free 10pm Mark Wilkinson Old Manly Boatshed 8pm Martin Mulholland Castle Hill RSL Club free 8pm Matt Jones Sir Joseph Banks Hotel, Botany free 7pm Matt Price Woolwich Pier Hotel free 6pm Mental As Anything Lizotte’s Restaurant, Dee Why $43–$98 (dinner & show) 8pm Miles Away Live at the Wall, Leichhardt 8pm One Hit Wonders Blacktown RSL Club free 8pm Original Sin INXS Show Gladstone Hotel, Dulwich Hill free 8pm Rebecca Johnson Band Maloney’s Hotel, Sydney free 10pm Rob Henry The Observer Hotel, The Rocks free 4pm
Rob Henry PJ Gallagher’s Drummoyne free 10pm Roc-A-Tac Rockdale RSL Club free 7.30pm Rock Monster Cat & Fiddle Hotel, Balmain $10 8pm Sierra Mountain, The Take, Monsieur Moon, The Terms Caringbah Bizzo’s 8pm Soul Deep Trio Peachtree Hotel, Penrith free 9pm Sound Stream Brighton RSL Club, BrightonLe-Sands free 8pm Sparkadia, Operator Please, Alpine Metro Theatre, Sydney $28.70 7pm licensed all ages Tales In Space, Louis London, The Bloodpoets, The Khanz Lansdowne Hotel, Chippendale free 8pm Tony Williams Ryde Eastwood Leagues Club, West Ryde free 8.30pm True Grit: The Momos, The Gilbert Gantry Union, Mick Hanna, Ranger Spacey, Jo Meares & the Honey Riders Annandale Hotel $12 4pm Watussi, Tijuana Cartel Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach 8pm Wintercoats, Cleptoclectics, Loopsnake Pablo’s, Epping $12 (+ bf) 8pm
Pugsley Buzzard 505 Club, Surry Hills $10– $15 8.30pm SIMA: Nick Garbett Quintet, 3ofmillions The Sound Lounge, Seymour Centre, Chippendale $10 (member)–$20 8.30pm Twilight at Taronga: James Morrison Taronga Zoo, Mosman $56.50 (child)–$68.50 (adult) 7pm all ages The Velvet Set The Factory Theatre, Enmore $20 (+ bf) 7pm
ACOUSTIC & FOLK Beecroft Bush Dance Beecroft Community Centre $12 (member)–$17 8pm Cool Room Australian Hotel & Brewery, Rouse Hill free 9pm
JAZZ
Peter Head Harbour View Hotel, The Rocks free 5pm
Papa vs Pretty
Frog Fest: The Crooked Fiddle Band, The String Contingent, Dave Carr’s Fabulous Contraption, Wyatt Moss-Wellington, Grand Master Monk, Mr Fibby The Red Rattler Theatre, Marrickville $15 6pm
SUNDAY APRIL 3 ROCK & POP
2 Of Hearts Crossroads Hotel, Liverpool free 4.15pm Andy Mammers Woolloomooloo Bay Hotel free 4pm Antoine O’Malley’s Hotel,
Darlinghurst free 4pm BJ Thomas Penrith Panthers, Evans Theatre $46.50 7.30pm Burns Bistro: Jamie Hutchings, Dave Challinor, Belle Of The Ball, The Sound Guy, The Mercy Bell, Sounds Like Sunset Excelsior Hotel, Surry Hills $10 5pm Dan Spillane Mean Fiddler, Rouse Hill free 1pm Finn, Keith Hall and Pat Dow band Sandringham Hotel, Newtown $12 7.30pm Harvey Swagger Band, Letters to Home, I Am Apollo Annandale Hotel $8 6pm HIStory-Michael Jackson: Kenny Wizz Penrith Panthers $66.50 7.30pm
gig picks
g g guide gig g
send your listings to : gigguide@thebrag.com
up all night out all week...
Motörhead
FRIDAY APRIL 1
Motörhead (UK), Regular John The Big Top at Luna Park, Milsons Point $99.90 7pm
Last Night: Die! Die! Die!, Bleeding Knees Club, Papa vs Pretty DJs, Last Dinosaurs DJs, Sparkadia DJs, PhDJ, M.I.T., Randall Stagg Gaelic Theatre, Surry Hills $10 8pm
WEDNESDAY MARCH 30
Mental As Anything Ivory Glare, Sun Cries Thunder, The Jerky Program, Bluebirdz Of Happiness Valve Bar, Tempe 3pm Josh McIvor Harbord Beach Hotel free Mandi Jarry Duo Mounties free 6pm Mark Lucas & the Dead Setters, Simon Bruce Petersham Bowling Club $15 7.30pm Matt Jones Novotel Homebush, Homebush Bay free 12pm Mike Bennett, Rob Henry, Neill Bourke The Observer Hotel, The Rocks free 4pm Nicky Kurta, David Agius Duo Ettamogah Pub, Kellyville free 1pm
MONDAY MARCH 28
Old Skool Woollahra Hotel free 6.30pm Ross Wilson Brass Monkey, Cronulla 8pm Soul Patrol, Benny Vibes, Adam Katz Beach Palace Hotel, Coogee free 5pm Steve Tonge Duo, Dave White Duo Northies, Cronulla free 2.30pm Sydney Rock ‘n Roll & Alternative Market: Danny & the Cosmic Tremors, Chickenstones Jets Sports Club, Tempe $1 11am all ages Tim Barry Downstairs, Sandringham Hotel, Newtown 8pm
JAZZ
Dan Barnett Big Band Unity Hall Hotel, Balmain free 4pm Shawnuff Swing Band Ryde Eastwood Leagues Club, West Ryde $10 (member)–$15 3pm
ACOUSTIC & FOLK
Andy Irvine (Ireland), Rens van der Zalm (Holland) Cat & Fiddle Hotel, Balmain $20–$25 5pm
COUNTRY
The Rockin Mustangs Marrickville Bowling and Recreation Club free 4.30pm
The Holidays, Gold Fields Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst $15 (+ bf) 8pm sold out An Intimate Night With Modular: Grace Woodroofe, WIM, Emma Davis The Basement, Circular Quay $25 (+ bf) 9.30pm
Naked On The Vague, Silver Moon, Low Life Excelsior Hotel, Surry Hills $10 8pm
Sparkadia, Operator Please, Alpine Metro Theatre, Sydney $28.70 7pm licensed all ages
Ghostwood, Bachelor Pad Spectrum, Darlinghurst $10 8pm
Papa vs Pretty, Last Dinosaurs, Peppercorn Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst $12 (+ bf) 8.30pm
Watussi, Tijuana Cartel Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach 8pm
THURSDAY MARCH 31
Collarbones, Fishing, Cleptopeon, Dro Carey Red Rattler, Marrickville, $12 (+ bf), 8pm
Not Quite Sound QLD Flood Relief Show: Stu Larsen, Montpelier, The Former Love Pirates, Set Sail Event Cinemas George Street, Sydney $20 6pm all ages
SATURDAY APRIL 2
Georgia Fair, Daniel Lee Kendall The Vanguard, Newtown $13 (on door) – $39 (dinner & show) 6.30pm
FBi Social: Ernest Ellis Kings Cross Hotel $10 8pm
SUNDAY APRIL 3 Sydney Rock ‘n Roll & Alternative Market: Danny & the Cosmic Tremors, Chickenstones Jets Sports Club, Tempe gold coin donation 11am all ages
ARTIST VOICE PRESENT
; SATURDAY 30 APRIL <
OXFORD ARTS FACTORY
; WITH SPECIAL GUEST < MOSHTIX: 1300 GET TIX 438 849; WWW.MOSHTIX.COM.AU
< WWW.TIMANDJEAN.COM.AU
< WWW.MYSPACE/WEARETIMANDJEAN
‘LIKE WHAT’ ALBUM OUT APRIL 1 ALSO AVAILABLE:
SPECIAL 2 DISC LIMITED EDITION
BRAG :: 405 :: 28:03:11 :: 41
club guide send your listings to : clubguide@thebrag.com
club pick of the week
THURSDAY MARCH 31
MF Doom
Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst
MF Doom (USA) $66.50 (+ bf) 8pm MONDAY MARCH 28 Sydney Acer Arena Usher (USA), Trey Songs, The Potbelleez $99.90–$150.50 8pm The World Bar, Kings Cross Mondays Mista Killa free
TUESDAY MARCH 29 Establishment, Sydney Rumba Motel Willie Sabor free 7.30pm The Gaff, Darlinghurst Coyote Tuesday 6pm Metro Theatre, Sydney MF Doom (USA), DJ MK, Simplex $66.50 (+ bf) 8pm Sydney Acer ArenaUsher (USA), Trey Songs, The Potbelleez $99.90–$150.50 8pm The Valve, Tempe Underground Tables Gee Wiz, Ato, Myme, Benji free 8pm The World Bar, Kings Cross Pop Panic Karaoke, Cris Angel, The Cosmic Explorer, Andy & Mike free
WEDNESDAY MARCH 30 Bank Hotel, Newtown Girl’s Night Sandi Hotrod free 9pm
The Gaff, Darlinghurst R&B 6pm Hive Bar, Erskinville Vinyl Club free 7pm Marlborough Hotel, Newtown DJ Moussa free 11pm The World Bar, Kings Cross The Wall free 8pm Zeta Bar, Sydney Yogi free 6pm
THURSDAY MARCH 31 11a Oxford St, Paddington Inhale Sweet Az Soundsystem, Johnny Faith, Typhonic free 6pm Australian Hotel & Brewery, Rouse Hill Nino Brown free 8pm Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Lotek free 8pm Cheers Bar, Sydney Cheers Nightclub Cheers DJs free 9pm Fitzroy Hotel, Windsor Top 40 Fitzroy DJs free 9pm The Gaff, Darlinghurst The College Party 6pm Goodgod Front Bar, Sydney Club AL – Body Heat Single Launch Toni Toni Lee, Levins free 9pm Home Terrace, Sydney Unipackers John Young $5–$10 10pm Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst MF Doom (USA) $66.50 (+ bf) 8pm
Tone, Surry Hills Gallery Burlesque - …Better Still… $10 7.30pm Woollahra Hotel DJ Rock Fan free 7.45pm The World Bar, Kings Cross Propaganda Urby, Mush, Johnny Segmentfree–$5 9pm Zeta Bar, Sydney Graham Mandroules free 6pm
FRIDAY APRIL 1 ARQ Nightclub, Darlinghurst United Colours of Trance Digital Control, Robbie Lowe, Scott Richardson, Ruby $15–$20 10pm Australian Hotel & Brewery, Rouse Hill DJ Retro free 9pm Bank Hotel, Newtown DJ Scott Tanner free 9pm Beach Palace Hotel, Coogee Alex Mac, Habitat, Shuffle free 8pm Bristol Arms Retro Hotel, Sydney Club Retro Club Retro DJs $10-$15 9pm Candys Apartment, Kings Cross Liquid Sky Knocked Up Noise, Slipperywhenwet, Bass Thiefs, Dos Bangers $10-$15 8pm Caringbah Bizzos Dance Club Acid Jacks, Three Fingers, Business
Class, Awkwards Boys, Mattrad, Oscar The Grouch Dave Mackay, Paul Girbler $15-$20 8pm Cheers Bar, Sydney Cheers Nightclub Cheers DJs free 9pm Chinese Laundry, Sydney Cookie MonstA (UK), Spenda C, Doctor Werewolf, Blood Bank, Dos Bangers, Detektives $15-$20 9pm Club 202, Broadway Frat House $5-$10 9pm Cohibar, Sydney DJ Matt Roberts, DJ Jeddy Rowland, DJ Anders Hitchcock free Gaelic Theatre, Surry Hills Last Night Die! Die! Die!, Bleeding Knees Club, Papa vs Pretty DJs, Last Dinosaurs DJs, Sparkadia DJs, PhDJ, M.I.T., Randall Stagg $10 8pm The Gaff, Darlinghurst Fat Fridays 6pm Goldfish, Darlinghurst Funktank Mike O’Connor, Charlie White, Adrian & Fabz free 9pm Gypsy Lounge, Darlinghurst Gossip Theegs, Roc Boi, FlipZ, Xile, D-Kutz, Sonny (Singapore) 10pm Hemmesphere, Sydney Groove Academy free 10pm Home The Venue, Sydney Sublime Peewee, MC Losty, Nix, Energizer Bunny, Dirty Stopout, Bionic, Morphee, Flite, IKO, MC Suga Shane Jacksons On George, Sydney DJ Michael Stewart free 9pm Kensington Bowling Club, Kingswood Fortay 9.30pm Kings Cross Hotel Fools Rush In Purple Sneakers DJs, Chris Taylor, Catcall & Sweetie, Radge, Gus Da Hoodrat, Gay Bash DJs, Bad Ezzy, Season Of Sneakers, Lewis McKirdy & Tom Tilley, Hobo Gestapo DJs, Steph Carta, Daimon Downey & Vhugga, Future Classic DJs, DJ Husband Material, Lunch Money, Brooke Jackson, Krystal Ford & Anna Jatali free-$10 9pm Kit & Kaboodle, Kings Cross Falcona Fridays Falcona DJs $10 10pm Le Panic, Kings Cross Box Social MYD, 3Hundreds, Sotiris, Jamie What, 14th Minute, Jordan F $109pm The Loft, Darling Harbour Late at theloft Gloves (DJ set) free 10pm Macarthur Tavern, Campbelltown DJ Michael free 8pm Marlborough Hotel, Newtown Endless Summer DJs free 10.30pm Marrickville Bowling Club, Marrickville Collarbones, Fishing, Cleptopeon, Dro Carey 8pm Mr B’s Hotel, Sydney Week’s End Yogi, Husky free NSW Leagues Club, Sydney Mark Lines free 5pm Rahzel
Calibre
Phoenix Bar, Exchange Hotel, Darlinghurst P*A*S*H $5 10pm The Red Bar, Cambridge Hotel Hang The DJ Kid Mince, The Scorcher free 8pm The Rouge, Kings Cross Hollywood Gossip Deckhead, Coopa, Nat Noiz Vs Tigerlily, Astrix, Roco Bop $5 9.30pm Sting Bar, Cronulla Electro Sessions free 8pm Tank, Sydney RNB Superclub G Wizard, Def Rok, Troy T, Eko, Lilo, Jayson, Losty, Ben Morris, Matt Nukewood, Charlie Brown, Oakes & Lennox, Venuto, Adrian M $15 10pm Tone, Surry Hills Twist and Shout Mr Chad, La Simonje, Dylabolical $5 9pm The Watershed Hotel DJ Mike Silver free The World Bar, Kings Cross MUM Oceanics, Bonfire Nights, Fix, Big Dumb Kid, Shiver Like Timber, Bin Juice, Making, Seabas, Sammy K, Gatsby, The Cosmic Explorer, Nic Yorke $10-$15 8pm Zeta Bar, Sydney Husky, Liam Sampras free 6pm
SATURDAY APRIL 2 Bank Hotel, Newtown Alex Almeida, Stickybuds, Murray Hood free 4pm Beach Palace Hotel, Coogee Benny Vibes, Adam Katz free 8pm Bella Vista Boat, Sydney Harbour The Official Frantic Boat Party E-Motion $48.60 10.30am Bristol Arms Retro Hotel, Sydney Club Retro Club Retro DJs $20-$25 9pm Candys Apartment, Kings Cross Shake Shake Shake Disco Volante, Zomg! Kittens!, Slipperywhenwet, D.U.I., Moowho, Taboo $10-$20 8pm Caringbah Bizzos White Trash $10 8pm
CarriageWorks, Eveleigh Platform Hip Hop Festival -The Magnificents Rahzel (USA), JS-1, Supernatural $29 (conc)–$35 7pm Cheers Bar, Sydney Cheers Nightlcub Cheers DJs free 9pm Chinese Laundry Ian Carey (USA), Danny Moggs, (UK), Dirty D & Allan Humphreys, Nick!, Jeff Drake, Northie, Sam Scratch, Peeks, DJ Moto, King Lee, Marky Mark $15-$25 9pm Civic Underground, Sydney Adult Disco Turns 1 Year Old! Future Classic DJs $13.10 10pm Cohibar, Sydney DJ Jeddy Rowland, DJ Mike Silver free Dee Why Hotel Kiss & Fly Tenzin, Raye Antonelli, Kaiser, Olsen free 9pm The Forbes Hotel, Sydney We Love Indie Lone Wolf, DJ & Coke, Urby, Mick Jones, Miss Velveteen$10 8pm The Gaff, Darlinghurst Secret Saturdays 6pm Home The Venue, Sydney Homemade Saturdays Hotel Chambers, Sydney Red Room C-Major, K-Note, DJ Mac, Troy T, Naiki, Pachero, Mike Champion $20 8pm Hotel Sweeney’s Bump/Steamworks Daniel Steinberg (Germany), Ken Cloud + Simon Caldwell, Bump DJs, Hermens & Jones, Claire Morgan, Dave Slade, Le Brond, Diatribe, Disconnected DJs, Pocket $20 1pm Hugo’s Lounge, Kings Cross Dolso and Friends Hunter Bar, Sydney Daydreams 5am Hurstville RSL Memorial Club Hill Street DJ free 7.30pm Ivy, Sydney Pure Ivy Grant Smillie, Minx, Cadell, Graham Cordery $15-$20 5pm Jacksons On George, Sydney DJ Michael Stewart free 9pm The Loft, Darling Harbour Late at the loft Somatik, Noel Boogie, Noodles, DJ Huwston, Meem, The Swat DJs, Lippo free 10pm Macarthur Tavern, Campbelltown George B free 8pm Manning Bar, Sydney University, Camperdown Calibre + DRS (UK), Foreigndub, Rollers Music $25–$30 (+ bf) 8pm Marrickville Bowling and Recreation Club Versus Kenny Larkin (USA), Bleepin’ Jay Squawkins, Simon Caldwell, D&D, Jack Obsolete $25 8pm Phoenix Bar, Exchange Hotel, Darlinghurst Phoenix Rising Dan Murphy, Johan Khoury, Mark Alsop $10 4am
“Emily tries but misunderstands. She’s often inclined to borrow somebody’s dreams till tomorrow”- SYD BARRETT 42 :: BRAG :: 405 :: 28:03:11
club picks up all night out all week... The Polo Lounge and Supper Club, Darlinghurst Robopop Robopop DJs $10 10pm The Rouge, Kings Cross Le Rouge Axle, Matt Nukewood, Chris Fraser, Micko P $10 Tone, Surry Hills Space Is The Place Teebs (USA), 104 Collective, Monk Fly, Prize $15 9pm Valve Bar, Tempe DJ Frank 2pm Water Bar, Taj Hotel, Woolloomooloo Tikki Tempo free 8pm The Watershed Hotel Skybar The World Bar, Kings Cross Wham! Heavy Feet (UK), Pablo Calamari, James Taylor, Illya, Ben Morris, Matttt, Foundation, Boonie, Andy Webb, Negghead, Shamozzle, Jonesy, BJ, Bermuda P $15-$20 8pm Zeta Bar, Sydney Ian Drabble, House Solution free 8pm
SUNDAY APRIL 3 Cohibar, Sydney DJ Matt Roberts free Fakeclub, Kings Cross Spice presents Creamfields Launch Party Murat Kilic, Jordan Deck, Nic Scali, Sam Roberts, Mitch Crosher $20 4am The Forbes Hotel, Sydney Church Of Techno Mitch Crosher, Kerry Wallace, Joey Kaz, Jey Tuppaea, Jaded, Shepz $5 9pm The Gaff, Darlinghurst Quiz Day 6pm Gotham, Darlinghurst Sunday Soiree Gotham DJs free 4pm Hugo’s Lounge, Kings Cross Sneaky Sundays 8pm Hunter Bar, Sydney Daydreams 5am Jacksons On George, Sydney Aphrodisiac free 9pm Phoenix Bar, Exchange Hotel, Darlinghurst
Loose Ends Matt Vaughan free 10pm The Rouge, Kings Cross Cheap Thrill$ Barfly, J Smoove, Matt Nukewood free 8pm Sweeney’s Rooftop, Sydney Sundaes Hanna Gibbs, Ty, Josh Verdi, G-Banga $5-$10 12pm Tone, Surry Hills Oz Soul Collective – Sydney Launch Bella Kalolo (NZ), Darryl Beaton & The D1 Cartel, NFA Jones, Cazeaux O.S.L.O, Jade Macrae, Ngaiire and Marcello, Radical Son, Milan, Ella Thompson, Mirrah, Runforyourlife, Syreneyiscreamy, The Love Drug, Jess Harlen, Candice Monique, ALPHAMAMA, Billie McCarthy, Danny G Felix Project with The Leisure Bandits, Lotek, West Labz, Mz Rizk, SKB $15 6.30pm The Watershed Hotel DJ Matt Roberts The World Bar, Kings Cross Fortune Disco Punx free 6pm
club picks up all night out all week...
MONDAY MARCH 28
Sydney Acer Arena, Sydney Olympic Park Usher (USA), Trey Songs, The Potbelleez $99.90– $150.50 8pm
THURSDAY MARCH 31
Goodgod Front Bar, Sydney Club AL – Body Heat Single Launch Toni Toni Lee, Levins free 9pm The World Bar, Kings Cross Propaganda Urby, Mush, Johnny Segmentfree–$5 9pm
Usher
FRIDAY APRIL 1
Chinese Laundry, Sydney Cookie Monsta (UK), Spenda C, Doctor Werewolf, Blood Bank, Dos Bangers, Detektives $15-$20 10pm The Loft, Darling Harbour Late at theloft Gloves (DJ set) free 10pm
SATURDAY APRIL 2
CarriageWorks, Eveleigh Platform Hip Hop Festival -The Magnificents Rahzel (USA), JS-1, Supernatural $29 (conc)– $35 7pm
Civic Underground, Sydney Adult Disco Turns 1 Year Old! Future Classic DJs $10 (+ bf) 10pm Manning Bar, Sydney University, Camperdown Calibre + DRS (UK), Foreigndub, Rollers Music $25–$30 (+ bf) 9pm The World Bar, Kings Cross Wham! Heavy Feet (UK), Pablo Calamari, James Taylor, Illya, Ben Morris, Matttt, Foundation, Boonie, Andy Webb, Negghead, Shamozzle, Jonesy, BJ, Bermuda P $15-$20 8pm Tone, Surry Hills Space Is The Place Teebs (USA), 104 Collective, Monk Fly, Prize $15 9pm
- Weds 30th -
- Sat 2nd -
Gallery Burlesque
Teebs (LA)
...better still...
- Thurs 31st -
Space Is The Place
- Sun 3rd -
TV Party
Oz Soul Collective
w/ Nikki Thurburn
Sydney launch
- Fri 1st -
Twist & Shout Covers night! www.tone.net.au facebook.com/tonesydney twitter.com/tonevenue
16 Wentworh Avenue, Surry Hills NSW 2010 (02) 9287 6440 BRAG :: 405 :: 28:03:11 :: 43
Deep Impressions Underground Dance and Electronica with Chris Honnery
Kollektiv Turmstrasse
Soul Sedation
Soul, Dub, Hip Hop & Bottom-heavy Beats with Tony Edwards Soul Sedation goes live every Wednesday night on Bondi FM (88.0 or bondifm.com.au). Tune in 10pm 'til midnight to hear a deep and soulful selection of the tunes covered here, and plenty more that I don't have room for.
SATURDAY APRIL 2
T
FRIDAY APRIL 8
ouring US underground hip hop figurehead MF DOOM didn’t appear sat his sold-out Metro gig last week as scheduled. Postponed due to “DOOM’s deteriorating health,” the gig has been rescheduled for this Tuesday March 29, with the promoter Slingshot Touring stating they will honour all tickets already purchased. This sort of announcement is about par for the course for the controversial emcee, who has been known to send imposters out in his place to perform his live shows. It just wouldn’t be a real DOOM tour without a press release or two along these lines coming out. There are still tickets available for the second DOOM show at the Oxford Art Factory on Thursday March 31.
progressive, chillout and deep house influences in their sonic palette, the pair have steadily built up a substantial following after their breakthrough cut, ‘Grillen im Park’, hit shelves back in ‘06. Kollektiv Turmstrasse branched out last year with a hugely enjoyable remix of Hot Chip’s ‘Touch Too Much’ in the leadup to the release of their debut album Rebellion Der Traümer. An album that was best appreciated under a good set of headphones, and though it wasn’t aimed squarely at the dancefloor, Rebellion Der Traümer still resonated with the cognoscenti – and is compulsory listening to prepare for Kollektiv Turmstrasse’s debut visit to Australia. The pair will headline Shrug at Tone on Saturday May 14, with support from the evergreen Raffi Darkchild, Robbie Lowe, Mitch Croshner and your party host Dave Stuart. There’s a limited amount of $15 first release tickets available online; a veritable steal my friends, a genuine steal indeed, so snap yours up before it’s too late… Daniel Steinberg
T
his Saturday offers a sumptuous doubleheader of techno. First up in the afternoon the Bump DJs and the Steamworks crew are throwing a daytime party at Hotel Sweeney’s, headlined by highly-touted Berliner Daniel Steinberg. Anyone who attended his set at The Likes Of You last Easter will avow that the man can rock a party, with his vivacious brand of punchy, tongue-in-cheek tech house, encapsulated on his album Shut Up. But in addition to its international drawcard, this affair is noteworthy because of its lavish support cast. A veritable who’s-who of Sydney’s electronic music elite will also be spinning, from Racketeers Ken Cloud and Simon Caldwell and Melbourne’s Bump DJs throwing down on the rooftop alongside Steinberg, to the likes of Dave Slade, Diatribe and Claire Morgan representing inside the second room, the ‘Rave Cave’. Not a bad way to warm up for HaHa’s 6th birthday, at Marrickville Bowling Club later on in the night… …headlined by none other than Detroit luminary Mr Kenny Larkin, a chap who has released on labels like Submerge, Planet E, Peacefrog, and Rush Hour, and remains as relevant today as he was ten, fifteen years ago. Indeed, while Larkin’s 1994 debut album Azimuth is commonly regarded as one of the better dance albums of modern times, he illustrated that he hasn’t lost any of his magic by crafting two of the better tunes of last year: a collaboration with Shlomi Aber, ‘Sketches’, and a rollicking remix of Radioslave’s ‘I Don’t Need A Cure For This’. Support comes from the highly touted Bleepin J. Squawkins outfit playing live, Simon Caldwell, Jack Obsolete and HaHa residents. Not a bad way to celebrate a birthday, huh?! Most people who love electronic music seem to speak warmly of German duo Kollektiv Turmstrasse. Fusing jazz,
In addition to the above release, you’d be well served having a listen to the justreleased XI Versions of Black Noise, a collection of new remixes of tracks from German techno romantic Pantha Du Prince’s last album. Pantha, known to his mother as Hendrik Weber, toured our shores recently for Future Classic, and any recent converts ought to rouse themselves from their post-summer ennui and take note of the latest addition to the Rough Trade catalogue. A formidable roll call of artists has been assembled to rework tracks from the original Black Noise, which was generally lauded as one of the better albums of 2010. The likes of lo-fi Chicago house maestro Hieroglyphic Being and Pantha’s former Dial labelmates Lawrence, Carsten Jost and Efdemin all feature on XI Versions of Black Noise, while Animal Collective also contribute a remix, continuing their close ties with Pantha after Du Prince remixed Collective’s ‘Peacebone’ back in ’08. Discerning listeners will dig deeper still and tell you that the band’s Panda Bear also contributed vocals to ‘Stick To My Side’, which is remixed on this upcoming release by another chap who visited our shores recently, Four Tet. Until next week peoples, happy listening…
To new music, and the UK's Natural Yogurt Band are back with a second album of experimental, instrumental jazz-funk, titled Tuck In With… Pop music it certainly ain’t; quirky is much closer to the mark. The band have a history with Jazzman Records, but this release is out through Stones Throw’s sister label Now:Again. You’ll hear flutes, afro/world sounds, psychedelia, and strains of Bonobo and early Quantic in their sound. The artistically-inclined producer Amon Tobin has announced a new full-length release through UK label Ninja Tune. Due out late May, ISAM will be his first album since 2007s Foley Room. It would be hard to identify a more creative proponent of a sample based production approach, Tobin
SATURDAY APRIL 2 Daniel Steinberg Hotel Sweeney's, CBD
Kenny Larkin Marrickville Bowling Club
SATURDAY APRIL 9 Max Cooper GoodGod Small Club
SATURDAY MAY 14 Kollektiv Turmstrasse Tone
Teebs Tone
Calibre, DRS Manning Bar DMZ Oxford Art Factory
SATURDAY APRIL 9 Brazilian Funk Affair Tone The Herd Factory Theatre
FRIDAY APRIL 16
Ladi 6, Electric Wire Hustle Tone
THURSDAY MAY 5 th MURS & 9 Wonder Gaelic Theatre
SATURDAY MAY 28 Bliss N Eso, Horrorshow Hordern Pavilion
Horrorshow has always has his own unique, impossibleto-reproduce sound, and through it has earned piles of integrity. In this column’s humble opinion, the Brazilian-born producer has always managed to walk that fine line between listenable, rhythmical beats and experimental noise very skillfully, never quite resorting to the excess of self-indulgence that forces a time-poor listener to tune out. Tobin also has a back catalogue seven albums deep, all worth your time. There’s hype from all areas surrounding the new Burial 12” release on Hyperdub. The revered, game-changing producer will release three tunes – ‘Street Halo’, ‘NYC’ and ‘Stolen Dog’ – constituting his first solo release in over four years. Always digging in the archives, Soul Jazz Records have come up with yet another A-grade re-issue compilation. Hustle – Reggae Disco – Kingston, London, New York, tracks the reggae-disco output from a selection of late ‘70s bands. It showcases the Jamaican diaspora’s penchant for taking cues from US soul throughout that era, producing covers and further “do-over” versions of charting RnB hits. The release is loaded with laidback, blissed-out versions of classics like ‘Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough’, ‘I’m Every Woman’ and ‘Rapper's Delight’. Recently-opened Wentworth Street venue Tone keeps drawing in like-minded promoters, with Russ Dewbury’s Jazz Rooms signing up for a run at the space with his Brazilian Funk Affair series of parties. Built around the sounds of samba, soul and funk, the event – going down Saturday April 9 – will feature the I Like It Like That Orchestra and Samba Soul Kingdom, with DJ support from Dewbury and guests on the wheels of steel.
LOOKING DEEPER
Deep Impressions: electronica manifesto and occasional club brand. Contact through deep.impressions@yahoo.com. 44 :: BRAG :: 405 :: 28:03:11
This month’s XLR8R podcast is a mustdownload, pieced together by the UK’s Ben Westbeech. The drum n bass emcee turned singer, producer and DJ takes a journey through post-dubstep, deep house, UK funky, broken beat, electro-soul, and everything in between, with cuts from artists like DJ JusEd, Agoria, Peven Everett, Black Box and Westbeech himself. The mix telegraphs his second studio album, There’s More To Life Than This, due out through Strictly Rhythm in April/May. The producer also unveiled the new moniker Breach last year, with the wellreceived tune ‘Fatherless’. Westbeech’s debut record, Welcome to the Best Years of Your Life, (released through Gilles P’s Brownswood label) was this column’s album of 2007, so this new record comes highly anticipated. In a strange twist of the Australian music touring business, Westbeech’s only Sydney appearance to date has been at the Ivy Pool Bar, where about eight people knew who he was, and it took around half his set to supply him with a functional microphone for his live PA set. Hopefully that travesty – for both Ben and his Sydney supporters - can be reversed on his next visit to our shores.
ON THE ROAD
Amon Tobin
This Saturday April 2 you’re faced with two of Sydney’s quality promoters vying for your attention, and your coin. The drum n bass faithful will no doubt head to see Calibre and MC DRS at the Manning Bar, with Foreigndub and Rollers Music both on support duty. Alternatively the future beat, wonky, post-dubstep cognoscenti will likely be won over by the Space Is The Place party featuring LA import Teebs. Anyone who attended the SITP Flying Lotus or Gaslamp Killer parties would be able to attest to the run of quality gigs under that banner. Teebs plays at Tone, with supports from 104 Collective, Monk Fly and Prize.
Send stuff for this column to tonyedwards001@gmail.com by 6pm Wednesdays. All pics to art@thebrag.com
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teenage kicks
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up up all all night night out out all all week week .. .. ..
17:03:11 :: World Bar :: 24 Bayswater Rd Kings Cross 93577700
Chinese Laundry It’s called: Chinese Laundry Saturday prese nts… Ian Carey (USA)! It sounds like: If you’ve been stuck in a cave for the last couple of months, then you probably haven’t heard Ian’s massive smash hit ‘Last Night,’ featuring Snoop Dogg. If you have heard it, you know the sounds about to go down! Who’s spinning? Ian Carey (USA), Danny Moggs (UK), Jeff Drake, Northie, Sam Scratch, Dirty D & Allan Hump hreys, Nick!, Peeks, DJ Moto, King Lee, Marky Mark Sell it to us: With all the superstars on the lineup, this could go any and every which-way. All we can promise is top quality! The bit we’ll remember in the AM: Dancing ‘til the lights go on, and wanting more! Crowd specs: Music lovers and the fantastic-loo king Chinese Laundry crowd! Wallet damage: $15 before 10pm / $25 after.
Where: Chinese Laundry / corner King & Susse x Streets, CBD When: Saturday April 2, 9pm till LAAAATE!
chinese laundry
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19:03:11 :: World Bar :: 24 Bayswater Rd Kings Cross 93577700
19:03:11 :: CarriageWorks :: 245 Wilson Street, Eveleigh 85719099
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wham!
18:03:11 :: Chinese Laundry :: 111 Sussex Street Sydney 82959958 S :: :: INNERSTYLE :: BEN KALGOVA S : TIM LEVY (HEAD HONCHO) :: NA HAN ROU OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER :: THOMAS PEACHEY :: ROSETTE ASHLEY MAR :: DANIEL MUNNS
BRAG :: 405 :: 28:03:11 :: 45
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arabian prince
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upall allnight nightout outall allweek week...... up
optus one80project
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17:03:11 :: Tone Venue :: 116 Wentworth Ave Surry Hills 9267 6440
20:03:11 :: Prince Alfred Park :: Cnr Chalmers & Cleveland Streets
It’s called: Adult Disco Turns 1 Year Old! It sounds like: Disco, house, techno and bass. DJs: Future Classic DJs alllllll night looooong. Three records you’ll hear on the night: Hotflu sh’s new compilation, Joakim’s new album, a deep house remix of Nate Dogg’s ‘Regulate’! And one you definitely won’t: Anything from Dim Mak. Bad. Sell it to us: There’s dance music for danci ng, cake, balloons, flamingos, unisex bathrooms, a dancefloor, a smoke mach ine and some pretty lights. The bit we’ll remember in the AM: Meeting a bunch of great humans. Crowd specs: Girls, boys, men and women.
Wallet damage: $10 presale, more on the door. Where: Civic Underground When: Saturday April 2
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leftfield
PICS :: AM
16:03:11 :: World Bar :: 24 Bayswater Rd Kings Cross 93577700
17:03:11 :: Enmore Theatre :: 118-132 Enmore Road, Newtown 9550 3666 46 :: BRAG :: 405 :: 28:03:11
S :: :: INNERSTYLE :: BEN KALGOVA S : TIM LEVY (HEAD HONCHO) ROUHANNA :: OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER ETTE ROS :: Y CHE PEA MAS THO :: ASHLEY MAR :: DANIEL MUNNS