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MOZART MEETS THE WHITE STRIPES, CLASSICAL MEETS CONTEMPORARY Never experienced the thrilling charge of live dance? Start with Chroma.

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rock music news welcome to the frontline: what’s goin’ on around town...with Chris Martin, Emily Meller and Sarah Corridon

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ANGIE HART, DEAN MANNING AND STELLA MOZGAWA FROM HOLIDAYS ON ICE ’80s synthesizers and sequencers and occasionally myself on tambourine – usually under a table.

2.

Inspirations DM: My first serious music crush was Nick Drake. I found a vinyl of Bryter Layter in 1982 and brought it home purely ’cause I liked the cover. The sky kind of opened when I heard it. His music gave me license. Other seminal bands include VU, Sparklehorse, Yo La Tengo, Smog. I love the new Warpaint album. These days I’m probably more inspired by art and films. I really enjoyed the Adelaide Biennial this year.

1.

Growing Up SM: There were a lot of instruments around the house, [it was] more playing than listening. My folks were both musicians; my mum was a pop star in Poland and Dad

was a bass player that was hired to play in her band. How romantic, I know. After they immigrated to Australia, they played weird residencies in restaurants; Mum on vocals, Dad on a plethora of late

Your Band DM: The Holidays On Ice 3. recording lineup has been the same for about eight years now – Angie Hart sings and Stella Mozgawa and I do the rest. We’re just pals who like making music. That’s what keeps us together. We live in different cities and countries so we work in intense

Music, Right Here, Right Now AH: The scene in Melbourne is 5. ridiculously healthy. There are always

bursts. It keeps it fresh and frees us from the day-to-day hassle of a ‘group’, which we’ve all endured at some point. Angie and I have always come from the same place, wherever that is. Stella is like a comet zooming by.

The Music You Make DM: This is our third album.

4.

We recorded it ourselves in my living room, mostly on an eighttrack reel-to-reel. It’s minimal and moody with a few early morning jams. We worked with French electronic duo Machine Est Mon Coeur on some tracks and had a few friends and guests in. Stella’s on the road with Warpaint in the US this month but we’ve drawn together some great players for the album launch tour and found some interesting venues – a church hall, a creperie, a bookshop and an old ice factory. In Sydney we’ll premiere The Luxury Of Wasted Video – a collection of films set to the new album tracks.

Royal Blood

new bands that I have never heard of, or on most nights of the week, you can see a local legend playing in one of your nearby pubs. There are always the issues of gentrification vs live music, copyright infringement, and the lack of national radio play for most artists. I do not encourage the next generation to get into music, but they seem to go ahead and do it, regardless of the tough terrain. Music is just too good not to do. It would be better if it were acknowledged as the essential that it is by those that could make our lives a little easier, but then maybe the music wouldn’t be as good as it is.

What: The Luxury Of Wasted Space out now through Cloudy But Fine With: Martha Marlow Where: Glebe Café Church Hall When: Friday April 25

Gabrielle Aplin

EDITOR: Chris Martin chris@thebrag.com 02 9212 4322 ARTS + ONLINE EDITOR: Hannah Warren hannah@thebrag.com 02 9212 4322 STAFF WRITERS: Alasdair Duncan, Jody Macgregor, Krissi Weiss, Augustus Welby NEWS: Sarah Corridon, Chris Honnery, Emily Meller ART DIRECTOR: Sarah Bryant PHOTOGRAPHERS: James Ambrose, Mark Boado, Katrina Clarke, Ashley Mar ADVERTISING: Georgina Pengelly - 0416 972 081 / (02) 9212 4322 georgina@thebrag.com ADVERTISING: Les White - 0405 581 125 / (02) 9212 4322 les@thebrag.com PUBLISHER: Rob Furst MANAGING DIRECTOR, FURST MEDIA: Patrick Carr - patrick@furstmedia.com.au, (03) 9428 3600 / 0402 821 122 DIGITAL DIRECTOR/ADVERTISING: Kris Furst kris@furstmedia.com.au, (03) 9428 3600 GIG & CLUB GUIDE COORDINATORS: Sarah Corridon, Naz Jacobs, Ed Kirkwood, Emily Meller - gigguide@thebrag.com (rock); clubguide@ thebrag.com (dance, hip hop & parties) AWESOME INTERNS: Sarah Corridon, Emily Meller, Ed Kirkwood, Naz Jacobs, Erin Rooney REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS: Nat Amat, Ian Barr, Keiron Costello, Marissa Demetriou, Rachel Eddie, Christie Eliezer, Blake Gallagher, Chris Honnery, Cameron James, Tegan Jones, Lachlan Kanoniuk, Pamela Lee, Alicia Malone, Adam Norris, Daniel Prior, Kate Robertson, Amy Theodore, Raf Seneviratne, Leonardo Silvestrini, David Wild, Harry Windsor, Stephanie Yip, David James Young Please send mail NOT ACCOUNTS direct to this NEW address 100 Albion Street, Surry Hills NSW 2010 ph - (02) 9212 4322 fax - (02) 9319 2227 EDITORIAL POLICY: The views and opinions expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the publisher, editors or staff of the BRAG.

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A ROYAL VISIT

Winter is coming, and with it are Royal Blood. You’ll recognise the name from latest single ‘Little Monster’ – AKA the best air drumming song out of the UK since ‘I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor’ – and they’ll hit Oxford Art Factory on Tuesday June 3. Currently prepping their debut album, Mike Kerr and Ben Thatcher do the garage-rockin’-duo thing like The Black Keys, except with a bit more of the southern English stick-it-to-authority attitude that brought us Band Of Skulls. Tickets go on general sale through Moshtix at 10am Tuesday April 22, but a Frontier Members presale begins 4pm Thursday April 17.

SMOKIN’ HOT

Frankie’s Pizza, with Shady Pines, have scoured the nation to find you Australia’s cutest country acts. And they’ve put them all together for one unique night of honky music love: the Sthn Smoked Swillfest. It goes down on Sunday April 27 – there’s bound to be moonshine, line dancing and a crowd of outof-towners hungry for their country music fix. With nine bands playing over as many hours, including Adam Eckersley Band, The Brokeback Mtn Boys and Skyscraper Stan and the Commission Flats, it’s sure to be a ‘swill’ evening.

TWINS, BASIL

Twin Beasts (previously the Toot Toot Toots) are one wacky outfit. They’ve changed more than just their name in recent months, finetuning their sound and video production with the help of some psychedelics. The Melbourne band has been in lockdown working with new producer Burke Reid (The Drones, Oh Mercy) to bring you Badlove, set for release on Thursday April 24. With stints at Meredith and Rock It Festival under their belt, these boys know how to stir up a crowd. They’ll be cruising round the country on a seven-date tour. See Twin Beasts at FBi Social on Friday May 30.

After selling out her upcoming Sydney gig, Gabrielle Aplin has announced a second all-ages show this June. Known for her powerful voice and acoustic melodies, there is no better venue to showcase Aplin’s talent than St Stephen’s Uniting Church, selected as a part of her Heavenly Sounds tour. Aplin will be supported by the Hunter Valley’s Melody Pool, a name that doubles as a description of her soothingly melodic music. This time really is your last chance to get tickets, so don’t miss out. They go on sale through Ticketek on Tuesday April 22, for Aplin’s show on Monday June 2.

C.W. STONEKING

Celebrated storyteller C.W. Stoneking has announced a Heavenly Sounds show at St Stephen’s Uniting Church. The guitarist, banjo player and singer-songwriter has brought the blues to the masses, and is set to return with a new album soon. The intimate church setting will be the perfect place to check out some of his fresh material as well as old favourites. See Stoneking at St Stephen’s on Wednesday June 11, with support from Kira Puru.

TOURISM ON TOUR

Brisbane band Tourism have released their new single, ‘Supermodel’, and will tour next month in support. They may not sound Australian, but don’t let their swoon-inducing UK accents fool you.

Tourism are as Aussie as you can get, though brothers Joe and James do have English roots. The result is indie rock that’s guitar-heavy and percussive, but still uses lyrics like “scallywag lad”.

Confused yet? You should probably just go ahead and check them out for yourself. Tourism will be playing at Easy Tiger in Paddington on Saturday May 10.

xxxx

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rock music news

free stuff

welcome to the frontline: what’s goin’ on around town...with Chris Martin, Emily Meller and Sarah Corridon

head to: thebrag.com/freeshit

speed date WITH

ANNA BUCKINGHAM FROM NOVA & THE EXPERIENCE love the idea of no work the next day when you party like rock stars. The next few months will be action-packed with recording our new EP, which is obviously very exciting for us and hopefully for all you peeps out there.

Best Gig Ever That time we supported 3.

Coldplay on their international

all walks of life. Our fans are the coolest cats around.

beating in time. We enjoy long walks on the beach, candlelit dinners and moonlight swims.

We look for anyone that owns an awesome pair of dancing shoes, comes with character and is colourful [laughs]. In all seriousness, our music is colourful, captivating and cheery.

We like to create memories and not just moments, and hope our music is relished by people from

Keeping Busy I think the only time off we 2. all have is between the hours of 12-6am where our heads are rested on a pillow and our eyes shut. We have been very active, doing a bit of everything lately. Gigging, writing, filming.

Really looking forward to our gig this Thursday the 17th at the Beresford in Surry Hills. It’s James’ birthday that night and I

Earth

Playlist All our taste in music is very 4. Current

Your Ultimate Rider I would personally say a 5. savoury banquet fit for a king!

Oh, and of course a neverending supply of fruitful cocktails.

Although somehow every time we get a rider it usually always consists of one or two bottles of bourbon, which is my least favourite spirit, because the boys love it and my choice is always overruled!

Where: Marble Bar / Upstairs Beresford When: Wednesday April 16 / Thursday April 17

Temples

TEMPLES

Psychedelic rock band Temples have been hailed by Noel Gallagher as the best new band in Britain. Alright, so Noel shoots off his mouth quite a bit, even since Oasis’ demise. But he knows what he’s talking about: only last year he was singing the praises of our own Jagwar Ma. So we’re pretty excited Temples are coming down to Sydney next month on the back of stunning debut album Sun Structures.

They’re playing the Metro Theatre on Friday May 9 with support from Deep Sea Arcade, and we want to send you along to the show. To be in the running for one of three double passes, head to thebrag. com/freeshit and tell us whether or not you trust Noel Gallagher and why.

show just how prolific he was. In 1970, Nilsson recorded Nilsson Sings Newman in tribute to a hero of his own, Randy Newman – and now Freedman is stepping in with the live Freedman Does Nilsson concert. See the show at Lizotte’s Kincumber on Thursday June 5, Lizotte’s Newcastle on Friday June 6 and Lizotte’s Dee Why on Saturday June 7.

IN HEARTS WAKE

Byron Bay hardcore/metal band In Hearts Wake will hit Sydney on their Earthwalker national tour.

You might expect a band hailing from Byron to be more chillwave surf than metalcore, but In Hearts Wake have been bringing the metal to the beach, and following the release of their Earthwalker LP in May, they’re packing the van and touring the country. They will be supported

by Melbourne’s Dream On Dreamer, who played Soundwave this year following a European show with Silverstein. Catch them at the Bald Faced Stag on Friday June 13 and Saturday June 14.

GET DOWN TO EARTH

Ernest Ellis

Drone metal trendsetters Earth will tour Australia this June. The band came to prominence in the early ’90s with three albums that defined a genre – Earth’s singular take on reverb and repetition captivated fans everywhere until they went on hiatus at the end of the century.

Dylan Carlson revived his group in the mid-’00s, and now Earth are working on an eighth studio album. In the meantime, they’ll come our way to play Manning Bar on Thursday June 19 as part of a four-date national tour.

Janelle Monáe and Kimbra

JANELLE MONÁE AND KIMBRA

New BFFs Janelle Monáe and Kimbra have come together for a joint tour, for which tickets go on sale this Thursday April 17 through Live Nation. The Golden Electric Tour is the fruit of a friendship between the two artists who met at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 2013. And their fans are the winners: this is sure to be a stunning collaboration between two of the finest voices in contemporary music. See them at the Hordern Pavilion on Monday May 19.

EVER SEEN A SASKWATCH?

Fresh from releasing their new album, Nose Dive, Saskwatch have added headlining dates to their upcoming Bluesfest and John Newman tour engagements. The nine-piece Melbourne soul masters are led by frontwoman Nkechi Anele, who told the BRAG in an interview last week that Saskwatch are “trying to prove we’re not just a niche at the moment, that we are a credible, and incredible, band.” Will they succeed? There’s only one way to find out. Saskwatch headline Newcastle’s Small Ballroom on Thursday June 19, and Oxford Art Factory on Friday June 20.

FREEDMAN SALUTES NILSSON

The Whitlams’ songwriter and frontman Tim Freedman will tour in tribute to another great songwriter: the legendary Harry Nilsson.

Nilsson’s immense body of work from the ’60s and ’70s included songs like ‘Everybody’s Talkin’’ and the later John Farnham hit ‘One’. A 17-disc box set, The RCA Albums Collection, goes to 8 :: BRAG :: 558 :: 16:04:14

ERNEST ELLIS AND SHINING BIRD

Ernest Ellis and Shining Bird will host a unique show at St Stephen’s Church Hall in Newtown next month, combining live performance with visual art. The show will take place as part of their joint national tour, and the callout is on for visual artists to contribute works related in any way to the titles of their respective recent albums: Cold Desire and Leisure Coast. The works will be exhibited on show night as an accompaniment to the live sets. For more information, visit ernestellis. com.au or shiningbird.net. The St Stephen’s show/exhibit will take place on Saturday May 17.

DALLAS CRANE: GET OFF THE DOPE

Melbourne rockers Dallas Crane have a new single, ‘Get Off The Dope’, and are set to launch it on a brief national tour. The Crane have been a fixture on the Oz rock scene since coming together in 1996. Does the title of their latest song suggest a newfound social conscience?

Or is it just some handy advice? Either way, catch up with ’em at Newtown Social Club on Saturday May 17.

PHONCURVES

Acoustic pop dreamers Phoncurves will be pulling on our Heartstrings live this May. If you’re not already familiar with the eerily enchanting folk-pop that Phoncurves have been creating, brace yourselves. Having already floated to the top of the triple j Unearthed charts with ‘Heartstrings’, their new EP of the

same name is set to capture attention all over the nation. Add that to their upcoming Australian tour, and you can guarantee this is not the last you will be hearing from the duo this year.

They’ll play Brighton Up Bar on Friday May 30 with support from Achoo! Bless You and Julia and The Deep Sea Sirens.

LA BASTARD

Melbourne surf rockabillies La Bastard will be launching new single ‘Promise Me/In Deep’ in Sydney this May. Known for their energetic live shows and punk take on classic surf rock, the foursome is back and ready to roll.

Expect pipeline-heavy riffs, ambling basslines and whacked-out guitar solos. They will be supported by garage punks Los Tones. La Bastard promise to bring the best of rockabilly meets the sea if you bring the Hawaiian shirts and salty attitude. Hit up Frankie’s Pizza on Sunday May 11. thebrag.com

Nova & The Experience photo by Carsten Burmeister

Your Profile Our music is an attraction, 1. like the sound of two hearts

tour… I wish. One time we played at Marrickville Festival and a man came to the stage very suspiciously and gave me a brown paper bag with something large inside that I thought was a head or something – turned out to be a large spiky fruit of some kind that none of us had seen before, but that was definitely memorable.

Recently though we played at Mountain Sounds Festival alongside other amazing artists like Ball Park Music, Jinja Safari, Snakadaktal and more. That was a fun day for all of us – except James lost his memory for about three hours and we found him in a car at the end of the night – but the crowd were freakin’ awesome.

I love playing festivals.

broad but similar. James’ and my favourite band of all time is definitely Coldplay; we’ve been to a couple of their live shows and words cannot even describe how incredible they are. When the new album comes out (which is so soon) we are going to do a shot per song and take pleasure in the euphoric melodies – hopefully it won’t be a 15-song album as we may not get to hear all of it.

Love Ball Park Music, Foster The People, Jungle Giants, Arctic Monkeys – the list could go on, but there is a few.

S yd n ey O p e ra H o u s e by a rra n g e m e nt w it h A r t i st Vo i c e p re s e nt

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Industrial Strength Music Industry News with Christie Eliezer

THINGS WE HEAR to turn the 1994 LP, Caustic Window, into a digital release. * Among those nominated for the World Music Awards in Monaco are Kylie Minogue, Missy Higgins, Tina Arena, Samantha Jade and Iggy Azalea. * Speaking of Minogue, Brit band Atomic Kitten claim that â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t Get You Out Of My Headâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; was offered to them first. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a robber!â&#x20AC;?, they quipped jovially. * Sydney DJ Dan Slater is the buzz for remixes: heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s just done Cherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;I Walk Aloneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; and is working with Britney Spears, Carmen Electra and Ultra Nate. * Eskimo Joeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Stuart MacLeod has joined Perth station 96FMâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s drive

* After threatening to kick Ultra Music out of Miami following assaults, the city has allowed the EDM festival to return next year. * Two weeks from Groovin The Mooâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s start, the Maitland show has sold out (for the eighth time), and added Gang Of Youths, The Gooch Palms and Thief.

The Victoria event in Bendigo, which sold out earlier, has added D.D Dumbo, Lurch & Chief and My Echo.

The first ever show in South Australia, in Oakbank, now has Bad//Dreems, Jimblah and Tkay Maidza. * The test pressing of a lost Aphex Twin album is up for sale for ÂŁ8,000 (A$14,300), while a Kickstarter campaign has been launched

INXS MANAGER LAUNCHES RIGHTS VENTURE Five years ago, INXSâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; intellectual copyright had little value. Then their manager Chris â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;CMâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Murphy returned to the fold and started working on their brand, leading to the telemovie Never Tear Us Apart and their return to the top of the charts. They reportedly generated $4.5 million in retail activity this year. Murphy is now working on a Broadway musical of INXS songs to generate more money from their rights. Murphy reckons itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

show, presenting its weekly Rock List.

It is a countdown of Perthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s best new rock songs compiled from download charts and 96FMâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s online music panel. * Actor Hugh Sheridan, who played Garry Gary Beers in the INXS telemovie, is cutting his second album in the US. His first was Speak Love in 2009. * Debbie Harwood of NZ girl band When The Catâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Away is relocating to Sydney, to join her new husband Paul who works as a sound engineer. * NSW blues singer (and dancer and actor) Goori Knox has begun his studies at the International Screen Academy in Sydney after getting a $45,000 scholarship.

His mentor Tony

Barclay did the honours for Cate Blanchett and Russell Crowe.

Goori still plays with his father Buddy Knox. * The owner of Tamworthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Central Hotel made $20,000 from an auction of 350 items including glasses, jugs, an old wheat bag trolley ($360) and an antique ashtray ($200). The building is becoming a motel. * After appearing on 360â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s single â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Impossibleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, Daniel Johns will be on two other tracks on Sixtyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s second album Utopia, due mid-June. Meantime, the Newcastle Herald reported that Ben Gilliesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; wife Jackie let slip on Instagram he is collaborating with US singer-songwriter Michelle Branch.

time Australia launched another INXS, so heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s started Murphy Rights Management and is signing bands and songwriters. The first signing is Sydney band Lepers And Crooks (he loved their writing, presence and camaraderie), who are recording with producer Mark Opitz and will do dates overseas by the end of the year. Acts will do a three-month workshop to learn about the business. These will also be open to young managers and bookers. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s always been crucial,â&#x20AC;? Murphy told this column. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve always

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MORE WOES FOR CBD, KINGS CROSS CLUBS

GUM BALL TO TAKE HIATUS

Late-night venues in Kings Cross and the Sydney CBD will cop a new liquor licensing fee system from July â&#x20AC;&#x201C; where the most â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;at riskâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; can expect to pay up to $24,500 a year. At present, operators pay a oneoff fee. The new fee varies between $100 and $500 a year. Three-quarters of NSWâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 18,400 licensees would pay this. The figure rises depending on the venueâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s location, size, trading hours and how well it keeps to its license conditions. A loading of $2,500 is added to clubs operating between midnight and 1:30am, and $5,000 for those open after 1:30am. Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing executive director Paul Newson said the scheme was a call-out to â&#x20AC;&#x153;rogue licenseesâ&#x20AC;? to clean up their game. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Do the right thing and you will pay a modest annual fee,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Do the wrong thing and you will pay more.â&#x20AC;?

Meantime, Sydney hoteliers told The Shout website the new lockouts and closing times are having a â&#x20AC;&#x153;disastrousâ&#x20AC;? effect on their businesses. One claimed it was down 30%.

Others have cut staff. AHA NSW Director of Policing John Green told the site that obviously a reduction in customer numbers would mean a reduction in the number of assaults, and that the bigger picture would emerge when damage to employment, income and tourism combined was taken into account. â&#x20AC;&#x153;But that will be too late to save some businesses.â&#x20AC;?

STUDY: â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;BOOZE SONGSâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; ENCOURAGE BINGE DRINKING Hearing alcohol brands mentioned in songs is as strong an element in teen binge drinking as parental behavior, peer pressure and sensation seeking, according to a new US study. Published in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, it surveyed 2,541 people aged between 15 and 23. 59% drank alcohol and 18% binge-drank at least once a month. They were given the titles of songs that referenced alcohol brands like Kanye Westâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Bittersweet Poetryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; and 50 Centâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;In Da Clubâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. Those who identified the brands in the lyrics were twice as likely to have had an alcoholic drink and more likely to drink to excess.

ABC LAUINCHING DOUBLE J The ABC and triple j is launching a new station called Double J, which will focus on new music. It will also have access to triple jâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sound and interview archives. The full program and list of presenters is yet to be revealed, but Myf Warhurst will present a daily music show between 11am and 3pm.

The station kicks off on Wednesday April 30 and will be available to access on mobile via the ABC Radio app, online and on digital radio and TV. The ABC spent six months in consultation with listeners and the music industry on the new stationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s direction.

STUDIOS 301 OPEN DAY First Sounds feat.

More

Flying Circus feat.

Thu 17 Apr

Diva Fever feat.

Deborah Cox Sat 19 Apr

Skid Row & Ugly Kid Joe Sun 27 Apr

Sat 28 Jun

Karnivool Tue 29 Apr

John Newman Thu 1 May

D.R.I

Fri 2 May

DJ Premier & Pete Rock (USA) Sat 3 May

Studios 301 (18 Mitchell Road, Alexandria) will hold an Open Day on Saturday May 3 from 12-4pm. The public can try the latest gear and check out the recording, mixing and mastering studios. Studios 301â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s facilities have been used by the likes of Kanye West, Coldplay, Muse, Skrillex and Flume. 301 has teamed with Avid, CDA Pro Audio, Shure, JLM Audio and MI Audio to demo the latest gear. Highlights include Avidâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s In Conversation with Steve Smart and Guy Gray, and hands-on demos and discussions with in-house producers Eric J Dubowsky, Lachlan Mitchell, Tim Carr, Ben Feggans, Sameer Sengupta, Simon Todkill, Jack Prest and Simon Cohen. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s free, but RSVP at studios301.com/news/301-open-day.

EMINEM TOUR BUCKS

Children of Bodom

Jonny Craig (USA)

Sat 10 May: All Ages

Misery Signals (USA) Fri 16 May

Kingswood Fri 30 May

Fri 9 May

Billboard reports six shows Eminem did in Australia (three dates), South Africa (two) and New Zealand (one) grossed US$31.9 million and drew 290,967 people in total. No specific figures were published for Australia but the Auckland date made $6.9 million from a capacity crowd at Western Springs Stadium.

DISNEY CHECKS DEADMAU5â&#x20AC;&#x2122;S LOGO

Band of Skulls (USA) Fri 20 Jun

The Crimson ProjeKCt Fri 27 Jun

Tankard (GER) Fri 11 Jul

Rebel Souljahz (USA) Sat 27 Sep

The Disney Company has 90 days to oppose Deadmau5â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s move to trademark his mouse logo. Disney believes it shares similarities with its own Mickey Mouse logo. The DJ applied to the US Trademark Office to place his mouse on â&#x20AC;&#x153;electrical and scientific apparatus, vehicles (specifically

Hunter Valleyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Gum Ball is going on hiatus next year after founder Matt Johnston attained his aim of hitting its tenth year on the weekend. It drew its largest crowd (2,000) with the Hoodoo Gurus headlining the 30-strong bill. Johnston told The Maitland Mercury he wants to travel and marry his fiancĂŠe Jess.

The first Gum Ball, at his parentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; farm, starred Bomba and drew 200. It took him seven years to pay off his $70,000 debt.

GIBBS JOINS OATEN SOLICITORS Amy Gibbs has joined the team of lawyers at Brett Oaten Solicitors. Gibbs is involved in FBi Radio, being a board member and presenting its Canvas show.

Lifelines Married: Tom Busby of Busby Marou and Huma Panjwani, in a three-day celebration at a Queensland resort with 1,000 guests.

Engaged: rapper A$AP Rocky and model Chanel Iman, apparently in secret.

Split: Big Sean and Glee actress Naya Rivera are no longer engaged.

Ill: after Avicii underwent surgery to remove his gall bladder and a ruptured appendix, forcing him to cancel headlining Miamiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Ultra Music Festival and delay the start of a US tour, doctors have ordered him to cancel more US shows.

Injured: Naomi Brophy, 32, operator of Dubboâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s live music venue The Pastoral, received burns to her face and arm. She was lighting a barbecue gas bottle in the rear garden when a two-metrehigh flame erupted.

Hospitalised: US songwriter and guitarist Karl Cochran, a KISS and Joe Lynn Turner collaborator, is recovering from a stroke. He collapsed unconscious onstage.

Cochran co-wrote on KISSâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; 1998 album Psycho Circus and played in Ace Frehleyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s and Eric Singerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s solo bands.

Injured: WSFMâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Brendan â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Jonesyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Jones was involved in a motorbike accident while riding from Port Macquarie to Sydney.

He fell off the bike before it cartwheeled and crashed, leading to a 24-hour stay in hospital.

In Court: Joey Kadmiri, who was arrested after an incident backstage at a Thunder From Down Under male dance troupe show in Las Vegas, was indicted on 17 criminal counts including attempted murder and robbery.

In Court: 50 Cent was ordered to pay US$16 million for copying a headphone design that belonged to manufacturer Sleek Audio. He invested $1 million with Sleek to start a line of headphones for him. Sleek claimed he used his knowledge of their design to create Sync By 50 with another company.

In Court: raids on Gold Coast nightclubs Club Liv, Shuffle, Sin City and Vanity led to 150 arrests, including Jamie Pickering, owner of SinCity and Vanity; Club Liv part-owner Ivan Tesic; and DJ Joseph â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;JoeyMojoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Sandagon.

Tesic, who was arrested at Sydney Airport, was named the alleged ringleader of a syndicate which supplied methylamphetamine oil from Sydney to the Coast.

Died: Chicago rapper Blood Money, a cousin and collaborator with Chief Keef and who just signed with Interscope Records, was shot on a sidewalk.

Died: US folk singer-songwriter Jesse Winchester lost his threeyear battle with esophageal cancer.

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The Murlocs Space Cadets By Jody Macgregor thing started off as a sloppy group that kind of got our shit together.”

saved that one because that one was probably the most completed.”

What finally motivated them was realising how much other people actually liked the music they were messing around with, especially once they started “being played on triple j and crap like that,” KennySmith says. “We didn’t think anyone would really particularly enjoy our style just ’cause I’ve always been obsessed with blues-based – with a bit of psych and whatnot, but mainly blues-based – stuff, and never really thought of it being too publicly enjoyable. Other than to our parents.”

He says losing most of their work turned out to be a blessing in disguise, since being forced to go back and re-record so much of the album made them realise how necessary that was. “It’s kind of good redoing a lot of the main bed stuff because we always do things a bit sloppy at first, like almost demo versions. Then we don’t get to hear mixes or anything for a while… by the time we do, we go, ‘Oh shit, could have done that a bit better.’ It kind of worked out alright in the end.”

He’s not kidding about his parents being into it. Kenny-Smith’s father, Broderick Smith, was the singer and harmonica player for ’70s Oz-rock group and ARIA Hall of Famers The Dingoes, and he comes to most of their shows. His mother shows her fandom as well. “I’ve been trying to tell my mum to relax a bit lately – she just discovered Facebook, sadly enough, and has been sharing too many statuses.”

T

an early age, listening to Muddy Waters when everyone else was into Hanson. In a primary school art class he made a clay diorama of musicians playing harmonicas, saxophones and guitars, and called it The Blues. His teacher didn’t quite get it – seeing the name, she asked if he barracked for Carlton.

In high school, Kenny-Smith joined bands with names like Blu-Tac and Sambrose Automobile, mostly playing covers. He’s pretty disparaging when he looks back on those days. “We didn’t really know what we were trying to do,” he says. And Kenny-Smith admits The Murlocs didn’t have much of a goal in mind at first, either: “This

What: Loopholes out Thursday April 17 through Flightless/ Remote Control With: Spirit Valley, The Friendsters Where: The Factory Floor, Factory Theatre When: Saturday April 19

Strung Out Back For More By Augustus Welby most important thing that happened.

We were made to feel that we still have a place in people’s hearts and people care. It’s awesome to feel that way.”

In the interim Cruz kept busy, writing and releasing music with his Jason Cruz and Howl side project. The outfit’s country-tinged tunes prove he’s comfortable exploring alternate stylistic territory, but that doesn’t mean his enthusiasm for Strung Out’s distinctive style has waned.

“I’ve always been satisfied with every single thing [Strung Out’s] created.

It doesn’t leave our hands unless we’re satisfied with it. I just needed to do other things. I’ve been doing this since I was 17 and I think it’s important to show growth as an artist. It’s your obligation or your duty to explore other avenues. You need to do other things and you need go get lost and find yourself again.

“First and foremost, you need to live a life and you need to experience relationships and do things that people do. If you’re on tour all the time and you’re just making records [after] being on tour all the time, what do you have to say? What it’s like to spend your time in a backstage room and be around five dudes?”

T

he 1990s US punk resurgence maintains beloved significance for a lot of people. Playing a unique brand of high-speed punk, laced with pop melodies and aggressive tendencies, Southern Californian five-piece Strung Out signed with the iconic Fat Wreck Chords label in 1994 and quickly became key figures in the movement. The band has consistently released music ever since, but its early material still has a major presence in the setlist.

However, lead vocalist Jason Cruz doesn’t exactly spend his time onstage reliving the glory days.

“Sometimes I don’t remember anything about the headspace I was in or who we were when we wrote 12 :: BRAG :: 558 :: 16:04:14

it,” he says. “There’s songs that I haven’t listened to in ten years. I hear them and I don’t remember writing it, I don’t even remember being there. It’s almost like somebody else wrote it.”

The unfamiliarity doesn’t leave Cruz feeling indifferent towards the older songs, though. He uses it to his advantage.

“When you’re writing something you’re so swept up in whatever you’re writing about, and all the drama going on surrounding the recording of it, that you don’t get to enjoy it. It’s only when you revisit something and forget about all that bullshit [that] happened or all the stuff it took to write that song [that]

you can actually really appreciate the song from a fan’s viewpoint.”

In late 2013, details surfaced online regarding Strung Out’s long-awaited eighth album, Transmission Alpha Delta. Cruz confirms the record is due to be released this September, almost exactly five years after their last LP, Agents Of The Underground.

The extended interval gave the band a much-needed chance to take stock.

“Everything’s been so regimented for the past 20 years,” Cruz says. “I think it was important to step away from it for a while to figure out where we were at in life and figure out how people felt about us and [if] our impact was known. I think that’s the

Indeed, four of Strung Out’s five members have been sharing backstage areas, tour buses and recording studios ever since the group’s 1994 seminal debut Another Day In Paradise. After more than two decades of making music together it’s inevitably become difficult for the group to continue surprising and challenging one another.

“We can almost finish each other’s sentences or know what note one of us is going to hit before you even hit it,” says Cruz. “It’s awesome when we surprise each other. I think that’s been a big thing on this [new] record – surprising each other.”

Another crucial factor in Strung Out’s creative process is never fearing

“We were made to feel that we still have a place in people’s hearts and people care.

It’s awesome to feel that way.” they’re going to step on each other’s toes.

“A friend – who’s much wiser than me – told me, ‘The song is the boss, you don’t mean anything.’ We’re all just vessels,” Cruz says. “The theme of this whole record is that you have to let your ego go and be a conduit to a message. Things that you see and feel every day will float through you and they’ll come out of your mouth or they’ll come out of your fingers or the way you dress.

We just transmit these things that we see and feel. You owe it to the song to tell somebody, ‘That’s not working, that doesn’t sound good.’

The whole point of being in a band is to abandon your ego and your expectations and do what’s best for the song.”

After all, Strung Out aren’t in it for the plaudits, even if fame has descended on them along the way.

“The whole act of making [music] is where the thrill is. Not the reward or whatever you think comes along with it. It’s the act of doing it with your friends and the communication involved and the camaraderie and the intimacy.”

What: Hits And Pits 2014 With: Unwritten Law, Face To Face, The Casualties, Ten Foot Pole and more Where: UNSW Roundhouse When: Sunday May 11 thebrag.com

xxx

he Murlocs are atypical members of Australia’s burgeoning retro garage rock scene, ones who mix psych, surf, and especially blues rock together in an unholy blend. The wailing harmonica played by their frontman Ambrose Kenny-Smith is an essential part of their sound – he’s been a fan of blues music from

Kenny-Smith is also a member of fuzzbox sorcerers King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard, whose lead singer Stu Mackenzie helped The Murlocs record their debut album, Loopholes.

Tragedy struck when Mackenzie’s laptop was stolen with the only copy of three-quarters of Loopholes on it.

“We were pretty shattered,” KennySmith recalls, “but we managed to save [first single] ‘Space Cadet’ because we had that mixed and mastered, and put that out. Lucky we

‘Space Cadet’ was inspired by the guys who come up to bands after shows thinking that’s the best way to get their demos heard, or “begging to be signed to a big label.” Kenny-Smith is too laidback to have ever tried that kind of hustle, and the whole concept seems alien to him. “Everyone gets that at some point; you get random people throwing shit at you. It’s always kind of weird. I think if you just make good music and sit back and see what happens, more or less… I don’t know how to put it without sounding like an arsehole! We’re the bipolar opposite, not really giving much of a shit.”

LIFE IS NOISE PRESENTS

AUSTRALIAN TOUR 2014 with special guests

SATURDAY MAY 3 MANNING BAR Tickets from lifeisnoise.com, oztix and the venue.

sargenthouse.com / russiancirclesband.com

BRAG :: 558 :: 16:04:14 :: 13

The Used The Power Of Imagination By Jody Macgregor

B

of being a huge fan of melody, so to be able to control that from the other side is really cool.

Also, just taking that approach frees you up to experiment and play around with different transitions. It’s nice that way.”

ert McCracken of The Used is now officially an Australian resident. He’s just received his papers on the same day I talk to him and he’s excited enough to demonstrate just how Australian he is: “Aussie Aussie Aussie, oi oi oi, ’Straya, mate!” Although he lives in Sydney, right now he’s in Milwaukee as his band is one-third of the way through a run of sold-out dates on a co-headlining tour with Taking Back Sunday.

While he admits that “‘pop’ is a kind of tricky word,” especially in the context of hardcore music, there is definitely an element of pop in The Used’s most anthemic and catchy singalongs. McCracken says he likes the way these straightforward structures allow him to communicate his ideals – he really does believe revolution is just around the corner – even when it’s what he calls an “almost cringingly simple message to absorb.”

Today he gets a day off from touring to do press and catch up on some light reading. “I’m reading Hannah Arendt’s The Origins Of Totalitarianism,” he says. “It’s quite interesting I guess, if you are interested in that kind of thing.” McCracken’s also been diving into the heady work of Italian writer Umberto Eco. “His essay book, Inventing The Enemy, really inspired a lot of the lyrics and the content for this record,” he says.

All of the songs on the album came quickly this time around, as the band tried a new approach to writing and recording. Working in reverse to the full-band approach they normally take, guitarist Quinn Allman laid down some basic

skeletons of the tracks and then McCracken wrote lyrics and melodies to suit them, before finally bringing the rest of the band in to record using as few takes as possible.

phone, so it was cool to be able to work the songs backwards. Start with the melody and a lyrical idea first and see what we had to play with.”

“Quinn had sketched out hours of just rough ideas,” McCracken says. “I had a massive amount of melodies. When I’m sitting around at home I’ll hum a melody and record it on my

In a way, he was getting closer to the music he loved as a kid. “I grew up listening to Michael Jackson and a lot of what you would consider pop music back then. I really come from a place

What: Imaginary Enemy out now through Hopeless/UNFD

Story Of The Year A Decade And Counting By Blake Gallagher

Morbid Angel 21 Years Of Covenant By Peter Hodgson

N

ot that it’s a competition, but if it were, Morbid Angel would be considered one of the most significant bands in death metal history. They would already have earned that title on the strength of their songs, their musicianship and their attitude, but their status as legends was solidified with the release of their third album, Covenant, in 1993. Covenant was the very first death metal album to be released by a major label (Warner, through Giant Records), selling over 130,000 copies in the United States alone and breaking the door down for heavier genres – and also achieving the rare feat of packing a major label album full of occult and satanic lyrics (and without the sense of theatre that accompanies bands like Ghost). To celebrate the 20th anniversary of their landmark album last year, Morbid Angel hit the road for a few months to play Covenant from start to finish, followed by a selection of classic cuts. And now they’re bringing the show to Australia, playing a handful of dates in April.

“Word got around about the Covenant shows,” explains vocalist/bassist David Vincent. “And we’d been getting lots of calls to do that same thing around the globe. So it’s a good excuse to come down and visit with you guys for a while.”

Vincent notes that the album seems to have weathered the years quite well. “It feels good to play it,” he says. “Thankfully I’m in a band with some very good musicians, so it sounds good and feels good. And even more importantly, the reaction we’ve been getting from fans has been wonderful. It’s always good when a plan comes together.”

So where does Vincent see the album’s legacy? Did the band realise 20 years ago it was recording something that nobody 14 :: BRAG :: 558 :: 16:04:14

else could beat? “Well, I don’t know about ‘beat’,” he says. “We never thought of it as a competition. We always did what we wanted to do and we weren’t looking at what other people were doing to set a course for what we were going to do. We always looked inward for inspiration. I’m thankful for that. Probably at the time we were all very determined and we were confident in what we were doing, but I don’t know that we knew that it would do what it ended up doing. But again, I’m thankful for it.”

Vincent is thankful, as well, for the opportunities that being signed to a major afforded his band. “Opportunities like that are hard to come by. There are a lot of great musicians out there and we just happened to be a part of a really good scene and there were a lot of label folks behind us.”

Vincent’s bass of choice is a Dean Signature line of instruments – the same brand favoured

by Pantera’s late Dimebag Darrell, Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine and Arch Enemy’s Michael Amott. “It’s really cool. I’m really happy with it. I love the instrument. It was not something that was in the line that I just said, ‘Oh, I’ll take this one.’ I was very hands-on in developing it with their head luthier. They were only ever going to make a couple of one-offs for me but when the president of the company saw the finished thing he said, ‘Man, can we put this in the line?’ and I said, ‘Sure, why not!’ And it’s done well. There are different colours, limited editions, and we’ve done a few different things over the years. I mean, a bass is a bass. And it plays really well, it’s well balanced, and it’s comfortable for me. It’s really all I play.”

Where: Metro Theatre When: Thursday April 24

J

ust over a decade ago, a St. Louis post-hardcore quintet by the name of Story Of The Year recorded debut album Page Avenue with Goldfinger frontman John Feldmann in his Marina del Rey home studio. The outfit’s first major label release, it peaked at number 51 on the Billboard 200 Charts, featuring the likes of ‘And The Hero Will Drown’ and ‘Anthem Of Our Dying Day’, and would go on to be certified gold.

“We had so little money. I was eating one candy bar a day for my meals,” says guitarist Philip Sneed, reminiscing on the recording process for that 2003 album.

“We had nothing. No history, no records sold, nothing like that. The crazy thing is, though, that was probably the best time of my life. I had no concept of success, no concept of failure – we were just kids making music and having fun, memories that will stick with me for the rest of my life.”

The album’s commercial success saw Sneed and his cohort maintain a relentless touring schedule over the next eight years, putting out three more albums along the way. In 2011, understandably exhausted, the band took a hiatus that saw each member explore alternative creative endeavours and take time to relax.

“It was beyond refreshing. It was something that was sort of inevitable; we toured so long and so much. We needed to recharge on every level – creatively, physically, mentally – and it was a good time to slow down and just see what happened. It gave us an opportunity to get out the ideas we were scared of forcing into Story Of The Year that we knew didn’t belong – and that way, when we came back to Story Of The Year it felt fresh and exciting to write music that we hadn’t been writing in a while.”

To commemorate the ten years since Page Avenue’s release, the band released 10 Years And Counting, which featured reworked versions of each track on the original record.

Rather than being a simple acoustic affair, it ranged from the balladry of ‘Dive Right In’ to the piano-led ‘And The Hero Will Drown’ and the synth-driven aesthetics of ‘In The Shadows’.

Sneed says the creative release of trying the songs in different styles was hugely appealing.

“Whether you’re in a bar or an arena, it’s fun to see people’s takes on a song that everybody knows twisted in a different way. It seemed like a project we could do quickly, that maybe people who lived their youth with that record like we did could find an interesting, fresh take on songs that meant a lot to us back then. We wanted to experiment – take heavy songs and really pull out the mellowness of them, or take a more mellow song and put some aggression to it. We thought that taking that approach would be at least more interesting to us, and hopefully more interesting to other people, and I think we really hit the mark.”

Story Of The Year have spent the past year touring as part of the Page Avenue anniversary, playing the album in its entirety. According to Sneed, “a really nice change of pace” is performing songs they’ve never played before in some cities and countries. They’ll hit Australia this June for a trio of dates before likely heading back into the studio to record album five. Of the past ten years, Sneed says there’s not much he’d change.

“What it has given me as far as education and philosophy about life, travelling, people, and how beautiful this planet is – this last decade has been an absolute miracle for me, because of this band, and music in general.”

Where: Metro Theatre When: Friday June 27 thebrag.com

xxx photo by xxxx

That record is Imaginary Enemy, The Used’s newly released sixth album. The politics are central to songs like ‘A Song To Stifle Imperial Progression (A Work In Progress)’, which also happens to be one of the heaviest songs they’ve ever recorded. “That one came really quick,” McCracken says. “I wanted maybe a soapbox to stand on a little bit.”

For someone who can tend towards the dogmatic, he’s very open with regard to how people can best enjoy his band’s music. “I like people to listen to music any way that they can,” he says. “Get a hold of it, stream it, download it for free, steal it from a rich person, give it to a poor person, enjoy the message, absorb the lyrics, read them over and over and over, read my essays – or not. Just enjoy the drumming, or the bass. Jeph [Howard] went crazy on this record; the bass is simply fantastical, funkadelic rock. Amazing. And Quinn just continuously blows my mind. His skill on the guitar is so unique, he plays unlike anyone else.”

BRAG :: 558 :: 16:04:14 :: 15

Record Store Day Australia is back again for another year. It’s fast becoming one of the most anticipated days on the musical calendar, with a slew of limited edition releases, in-store appearances and performances, and of course one-off deals on the best in physical music from your trusty local store. But Record Store Day isn’t an effort in empty nostalgia. It’s not about your audiophile uncle who used to drag you along to Mr. Sifter’s Discs to help him carry home another dozen unnecessary additions to his collection of dusty Bee Gees and Jefferson Airplane records. Well, maybe it is a little bit about that. But the vinyl resurgence is in full swing, and while CDs aren’t in fashion now, we’re betting they’ll be back eventually. Being part of Record Store Day 2014 means being part of something in the here and now – so we checked in with some proper recordheads to find out the best way to get on board with all the excitement in Sydney this Saturday April 19.

Tim Dalton L

ike the vinyl record and the roadie’s one-two mic check, Tim Dalton is a lasting fixture on the music scene. Cutting his teeth as a recording engineer and later front of house engineer to Public Enemy and Beastie Boys, Tim later moved into management for the likes of Elvis Costello, Faith No More and Atomic Kitten. Dalton is a Record Store Day Ambassador this year, and in this special feature, he talks us through his love of PE and the albums that bear their name.

It’s 1988 and I’m working for Roadstar P.A. Systems when I’m told my next tour will be a Def Jam Records package tour of Europe. Back in 1988 very few people, me included, had heard of Def Jam Records and their star signing, Public Enemy. On paper this wasn’t a very appealing act: one bloke playing records, two blokes shouting. Production rehearsals kick off before the tour and we have a problem when the second band on the bill, the Beastie Boys, take an instant dislike to Roger ‘The Hippy’ who was supposed to be mixing sound. On the spot they fire him and promote me to front of house engineer; result! I spend the next few years touring the world as live engineer for Public Enemy and almost all the other Def Jam acts, Beastie Boys included. Little did I know how culturally important Public Enemy would become at that time.

Just over 25 years on from the release of their debut, Public Enemy have taken their rightful position as a seminal and hugely influential band. To coincide with their 25th anniversary, Island/Def Jam have

reissued Public Enemy’s entire back catalogue, spanning from 1987’s Yo! Bum Rush The Show right through to their 1998 soundtrack to Spike Lee’s He Got Game. Packaged in a stunning box set and on 180-gram vinyls, the presentation certainly holds up. What a fantastic purchase to make on Record Store Day this Saturday April 19.

So 25 years on, does this music still have any relevance? Of course it does, it’s Public Enemy. In a world where an African-American man is now residing in the White House, it may come as a shock to some younger listeners how important a band like PE were. N.W.A blazed a trail for the more ‘gangsta’ grassroots style of hip hop, throwing a light to the rest of the world what was going on in certain areas of the States, but it was Public Enemy who educated many African-Americans (and the rest of the world in time) on what had happened in their past and what they should do about their future.

Bursting out of the traps with Yo! Bum Rush The Show, PE made their

intentions clear with searing tracks such as ‘Public Enemy No. 1’ and ‘You’re Gonna Get Yours’. The album not only ushered in a new way of rhyming, but also a new production method created by the now legendary Bomb Squad. Following up Yo! Bum Rush The Show would be difficult for many artists, but oozing confidence, swagger, and buckets of self-belief, PE created the seminal sequel It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back. Opening with a sample of British DJ Dave Pearce introducing the band onto stage at the Hammersmith Odeon – I was there mixing the live sound – and then bursting into the seismic classic ‘Bring The Noise’, Nation was a much more fully formed record than their debut. Even the artwork for the LP had PE behind bars, making the point of the band absolutely crystal clear.

PE’s third album, Fear Of A Black Planet, follows much in the same vein as Nation. This album’s production is more finessed than previously and contains one of their most famous tunes, ‘Fight The Power’.

Used to great effect in Spike Lee’s masterpiece film Do The Right Thing (1989), it was aided with a fantastic video and an incendiary lyric which included the verse: “Elvis was a hero to most / But he never meant shit to me, you see / Straight up racist, that sucker was / Simple and plain / Motherfuck him and John Wayne”.

You can just see and hear middlewhite America’s chins hitting the floor.

Brilliant.

Resist Records

Egg Records

294 King St, Newtown. resistrecords.com

3 Wilson St, Newtown. eggrecordsonline.com

The team: Resist is a small operation with just two staff – myself (Graham Nixon) and our store manager Mel Kraljevic.

The team: Baz (me), the head Egg: Jack of all trades, master of none; lover of power-pop. Stephen, who needs more space to hold his collection; has an encyclopaedic knowledge of most genres. Nic D.; legend and lover of all types of music and thinks he knows all the B-sides of The Bee Gees’ singles.

The history: The store started up in 1996 with the aim to focus solely on punk and hardcore music.

The history: My brother-in-law Ric and I started Egg Records in 2000 in a small store in Newtown but moved to a bigger store a few doors up where we are still today. We deal in new and used LPs, CDs, DVDs and memorabilia. Our aim is to offer our customers an experience of sights and sounds that you cannot get anywhere else.

What’s playing in store right now? Face To Face – Standards & Practices How are you celebrating Record Store Day on April 19?

Other than stocking what we can get our hands on from the RSD releases, it’s very much business as usual for us.

In the spirit of High Fidelity, what are your top five side one, track ones?

Gorilla Biscuits – ‘New Direction’ Judge – ‘Take Me Away’ Sick Of It All – ‘No Cure’ Turning Point – ‘Before The Dawn’ Avail – ‘Simple Song’ What was the first record you bought? INXS and Jimmy Barnes – ‘Good Times’ 7” What’s selling like hotcakes at the moment? The new La Dispute Rooms Of The House CD/LP; Converge Live At BBC 7”; Bl’ast The Expression Of Power triple LP; Luca Brasi CD/LP; and the new Chuck Ragan are all doing well at the moment.

The Vintage Record

What’s playing in store right now? Chris Von Sneidern – ‘Circles’

31a Parramatta Rd, Annandale. thevintagerecord.com

How are you celebrating Record Store Day on April 19?

We will have some goodies in store from the RSD list to sell, plus we are going to have performances in store all day from 12pm: Nic Dalton and his Gloomchasers, Luke Russell and the Proposition, John E (Nature Strip, Shaggin’ Wagon), Trent Marden (Holy Soul), Joseph Leonard (Machine Machine) and Beachfield (Glenn Thompson from Custard).

T team: Well Notts Forest is my team, but they The have had a rather lean decade and are probably unknown to anyone who reads this. You could drop into the shop and ask me (Phil), Michelle (wife), Jimi (Polar) or Tom (Good Groove) about pretty much anything, we got interweb, so we’ll probably be wrong. a The history: Right, the shop… Opened in the ’90s by the bass player of ’60s Aussie band The Atlantics, we bought it about nine years ago and continue to wonder what we’ve done.

What’s playing in store right now? The Church, Of Skins And Heart How are you celebrating Record Store Day on April 19? By opening on time – that’s 11am, sometimes it’s a struggle.

In the spirit of High Fidelity, what are your top five side one, track ones?

Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band – ‘Why’ The Modern Lovers – ‘Roadrunner’ Pere Ubu – ‘Non Alignment Pact’ Sunnyboys – ‘I Can’t Talk To You’ Kevin Ayers – ‘Joy Of A Toy’ What’s selling like hotcakes at the moment? I have been selling a lot of the new Frowning Clouds LP at the moment; it’s a great second LP from them.

In the spirit of High Fidelity, what are your top five side one, track ones?

1. Queen – A Night At The Opera, ‘Death On 2 Legs’ 2. Violent Femmes – Violent Femmes, ‘Blister In The Sun’ 3. Bob Dylan – Bringing It All Back Home, ‘Subterranean Homesick Blues’ 4. Albert King – Born Under A Bad Sign, ‘Born Under A Bad Sign’ 5. AC/DC – T.N.T., ‘It’s A Long Way To The Top (If You Wanna Rock’N’Roll)’ What was the first record you bought? Pink Floyd – The Dark Side Of The Moon What’s the one record you argue over most? I always battle with Michelle about Joni Mitchell.

What’s selling like hotcakes at the moment? Not just at the moment but always is: Jimi Hendrix’s Electric Ladyland.

16 :: BRAG :: 558 :: 16:04:14

thebrag.com

BRAG :: 558 :: 16:04:14 :: 17

Pigeon Ground Records And Clothing 102 Salisbury Rd, Camperdown. pigeonground.com The team: The team is me, team Tim Barber or King Pigeon, if you prefer! I run everything in relation to the records in the shop from quoting on vinyl collections to cleaning, grading, pricing and soaking up the vinyl digging scene through ongoing and interconnecting relationships with collectors, other dealers and lots of regular Joes and scallywags in between.

The history: Pigeon Ground has a long and convoluted history. We’ve been here ten years. The vinyl factor has been present for nine of those ten years. Originally opened by two fine women who went to the same primary school, Balmain Public (colloquially known as Pigeon Ground Public), the idea was to bring a select take on 20th Century culture in terms of fashion, music, film, art, literature, design etc.

The original ethos remains. Music on vinyl and cassette makes up a large part of what we do.

How are you celebrating Record Store Day on April 19? We’re not.

Record Store Day is for losers! Just kidding… sort of. We’ll be stocking a small selection of RSD-only releases, but will have our usual fine selection of quality vintage vinyl available for sale, which is refreshed and updated every week, regardless of what particular “day” it is.

In the spirit of High Fidelity, what are your top five side one, track ones?

Oh, right, a serious question!

The Smiths – The Smiths, ‘Reel Around The Fountain’ The Smiths – Meat Is Murder, ‘The Headmaster Ritual’ The Smiths – The Queen Is Dead, ‘The Queen Is Dead’ The Smiths – Strangeways, Here We Come, ‘A Rush And A Push And The Land Is Ours’ Survivor – Eye Of The Tiger, ‘Eye Of The Tiger’ What’s selling like hotcakes at the moment? Der… INXS – Kick and anything by Rodriguez or The Sunnyboys. And hotcakes!

Repressed Records 413 King St, Newtown. repressedrecords.com

T

he southern side of King Street in Newtown is the place to find Repressed Records these days, and it somehow feels just right in its environment – Repressed tags itself “the independent store for independent people”, and focuses on the best in Aussie independent music.

Owner Chris Sammut stepped out from another day behind the tills to talk about Repressed with the BRAG. Who’s on the team at Repressed Records?

Me, Chris, the owner and Nic from RIP Society and Bed Wettin’ Bad Boys run the joint. I hang the t-shirts, worry about money and vacuum. Nic liases with bands and goes out and stuff. It’s like we’re married and I’m being oppressed.

What is it about vinyl that keeps customers coming back?

Hopefully the music on the vinyl is the reason people shop here. I think it’s more the music lover we appeal to than the format lover.

In saying that, I think the genres we sell really do belong on vinyl – rougher 18 :: BRAG :: 558 :: 16:04:14

Do you remember the first record you sold? Do you remember the last?

I don’t remember the first one. I’m not very nostalgic, sorry. The last one was Grong Grong to a lady who also bought a Bathory shirt.

That made me happy.

Straightjacket Nation, Royal Headache, Kim Salmon, Holy Soul, Deaf Wish… loads hey. Royal Headache was cool, being a Sydney band and on RIP Society, launching their album and people buying loads. They’re good blokes and it’s good to see when things work out well.

What’s the one record the Repressed team argue over most?

We don’t really argue that much about music. I can usually see why Nic hates something. It makes me laugh really.

How are you celebrating Record Store Day on April 19?

Loads of exclusive releases for the day. Check our website close to the day for a complete list. I’m looking forward to the Dunedin Double Flying Nun reissue.

We might have a sale on second-hand stock too as we need some space.

You’ve had several in-store appearances over the years – who’s played at Repressed? Any highlights in particular?

Super Wild Horses,

What are you selling like crazy at the moment?

Ruined Fortune LP, Gutter Gods, Sacred Product, War On Drugs, Harmony. No real dickheads which is good! thebrag.com

xxx photo by xxxx

You’ve been in business for ten years. How has the business changed over the years? What are the biggest challenges?

It’s always pretty hard but rewarding. I think we offer a pretty unique experience here. We call our own shots and we don’t stock anything we feel doesn’t fit in with what the shop is about. It’s not about making millions.

It’s offering an alternative to the same old crap with nothing to say. And paying the bills too.

edged, longer shelf life sort of stuff that has that more classic underground appeal.

The MAN wants you to download!

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Essential FREE guide to stockists of new & second-hand vinyl records in Sydney and surrounding suburbs

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arts frontline

free stuff

arts news...what's goin' on around town...with Hannah Warren, Sarah Corridon, Ed Kirkwood and Naz Jacobs

head to: thebrag.com/freeshit

five minutes WITH

ANDREA GIBBS FROM 8 GIGABYTES OF HARDCORE PORNOGRAPHY

Andrea Gibbs and Steve Rodgers in 8 Gigabytes Of Hardcore Pornography

Tell us about Eight Gigabytes.

The show is about two desperate middle-aged strangers. One is addicted to porn and the other is drowning in credit card debt. Trying to overcome their loneliness they meet each other on an online dating site and their lives become entwined. I would describe it as a bleak comedy.

It’s a new work, written by the very talented Declan Greene and directed by Griffin Theatre’s own Artistic Director, Lee Lewis.

The characters have been called unlikeable – how do you feel about your character?

I don’t think the characters are entirely unlikable, they are just realistic. Coming to see the show will be like looking in the mirror for a lot of people, and if you’re anything like me you don’t like yourself everyday! Both of the characters are pretty miserable, but if we’re honest, misery finds us all at some point.

A

ndrea Gibbs is one of Perth’s most prominent comedians, actors and broadcasters, a co-creator of Barefaced Stories, and a core member of The Big HOOHAA! She is also one half of the cast of Declan Greene’s new play Eight Gigabytes Of Hardcore Pornography.

I have a lot of sympathy for my character.

She is drowning in debt, her children hate her, her ex-husband is threatening to hurt her – but still plugs away at life as best she can.

She’s lonely and desperate, but she’s really tough as well.

What can audiences expect from Eight Gigabytes?

I don’t think anyone is going to leave this show without being affected in some way. There’s so much humanity in it that not one person will get away scot-free without questioning their own lives. In saying that, don’t panic – there’s plenty of laughs – especially if you enjoy cringeworthy moments. Don’t come if you want to see porn or hot people, Steve and I are not hot.

What’s next on your radar?

I am the co-creator of Barefaced Stories, a performance night that features real people, telling real stories from their lives. After 8 Gigs, I will be working with the Mental Health Commission doing workshops for people who have suffered from mental illnesses to help them tell their stories. It leads to reducing stigma around mental health and I have so much fun hearing interesting stories along the way.

What: 8 Gigabytes Of Hardcore Pornography Where: Griffin Theatre When: Friday May 9 – Saturday June 14

Xxx

BIG! BAD! WIN! Israeli thriller Big Bad Wolves is a seriously intense looking film. A serial killer who targets little girls is on the loose. Three men, Miki, Rani and Gidi, believe that a schoolteacher, Dror, is guilty, and they each do their best to prove it by any means necessary. It's is dark, brutal and haunting and it’s had some awesome reviews; Quentin Tarantino himself called it the best film of 2013.

It’s due for release on May 21, but we have five copies of the DVD sitting in our office that we want to give you. To win, all you have to do is quick trot over to thebrag. com/freeshit and tell us what you think was the best film of 2013.

8 Gigabytes Of Hardcore Pornography photo by Brett Boardman

It’s an incredibly unique show that is both brave and confronting. I haven’t read or seen anything like it before.

Just reading that last bit, she sounds like me!

As a comedian, I guess I am having fun playing with her. I think most comedians have a dark side that lets them take a negative thing and turn it funny.

CAN HAS INTERNETS?

A Day Of The Next Day by Jai Du

MAY THE FOURTH BE WITH YOU

Star Wars fans and Jedis from both sides of the force can come together on May 4 to celebrate International Star Wars Day. Film screenings for the six-part epic space saga are happening over the weekend of May 3 and 4 in 52 locations across Australia, New Zealand and Dantooine. On Saturday you can see the chronologically first trilogy – The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith; and you can bring it home the next day with A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back and Return Of The Jedi.

Tickets are on sale now from Hoyts, Event and Village Cinemas websites. There will be prizes for best dressed, and for anyone who used to bullseye womp rats in their T-16 back home.

The internet has a hold on the weirdest, wackiest and most wonderful videos, images and sounds ever experienced. But often it’s so hard to decide whether something is genuinely groundbreaking, or whether its total garbage. How do you make content that affects the hearts and minds? This is where Affectors come into play, multimedia specialists who focus on embracing a wide spectrum of engaging content from all around the world. The latest installment of their show Affected showcases some of the most amazing nooks and crannies the internet has to offer, deconstructing the genius behind music clips and YouTube videos. Affected is on Wednesday April 16 from 6pm at HUB Playground. Tickets are from $22, with discounts for Loop and HUB members. And yes, Messina is included.

REACTIONS AND INTERACTIONS

Verge Gallery is soon to exhibit an intriguing display of new art media straight from Spain. The exhibition, called Reactions And Interactions, is a voyeuristic depiction of dislocation and the relationship between the viewer and those being viewed. It presents an engaging social commentary through a range of video performances, soundart and multimedia installations. The exhibition is curated by Txema Agiriano and showcases work by Pilar Baizán, Jai Du, Mauro Entrialgo, uh513 and Daniel Romero. Reactions And Interactions opens at 6pm on Wednesday April 23 and runs until May 9.

SLIDE CABARET

THE PIRATES ARE COMING

A mischievous new version of the Gilbert and Sullivan 1879 hit, The Pirates Of Penzance, will be playing at Zenith Theatre in May. The musical comedy follows the journeys of young Frederic who is mistakenly apprenticed to the Pirate King. When he falls for the ravishing Mabel, a hilarious tale of love and duty ensues.

Presented by the all-singing, all-dancing, all-star cast of Chatswood Musical Society, this is definitely a boat you don’t want to miss. Grab your tickets to come aboard from chatswoodmusicals.org Friday May 2 to Saturday May 10 at Zenith Theatre.

20 :: BRAG :: 558 :: 16:04:14

CHARMING

The Lindy Charm School For Girls is running an exciting vintage program centred around the fashion and style of 1930s Shanghai at Penrith Regional Gallery at 12pm on Sunday May 11. The exotic elegance of the era will be experienced through a lively three-hour workshop including hair and make up. The class is open to females 14+ and it’s a more interesting girls’ day out that the usual mani/ pedi experience. Bookings are essential so call 04735 1100 to secure your place.

TEDXAPP

TEDxSydney on Saturday April 26 just got a whole lot more interesting with the release of the companion app. The app uses real-time video tagging to give TED enthusiasts the chance to capture inspirational moments from the event, add personal notes and share the moments via social media. The app not only enhances the live experience for attendees at the Sydney Opera House, but also for the thousands of worldwide online viewers.

TEDxSydney is all about spreading brilliant ideas and the app does so perfectly. It also allows you to stay up to date with the program schedule, highlight must-see speakers, and connect with other viewers. It is now available for free download on iPhone and Android.

Nick Cave in 20,000 Days On Earth

20,000 DAYS ON EARTH

Sydney Film Festival has announced the Opening Night Film for this year’s festival will be the Australian premiere of 20,000 Days On Earth, about international cultural icon Nick Cave’s 20,000th day on Earth. It is the first feature-length film by UK visual artists Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard, who take a fascinating approach in this visually astonishing and highly stylised imagination of Cave’s 20,000th Day on Earth, narrated by Cave himself. 20,000 Days On Earth was recently awarded the Directing Award: World Cinema Documentary, and the Editing Award: World Cinema Documentary at the Sundance Film Festival 2014. In addition to film-only tickets, a limited number of film and party tickets are available, which include entry to the Opening Night Film and the afterparty at Keystone’s Bungalow 8. The full Sydney Film Festival program is announced on Wednesday 7 May at 10am. Tickets are on sale now via sff.com.au. 20,000 Days On Earth will screen at the State Theatre at 7:30pm on Wednesday June 4.

thebrag.com

A Day Of The Next Day image courtesy Jai Du

It’s back on Sydney – The Slide Cabaret Festival. Expect a late night piano bar, nipple tassels and voices that can blow your hats off. Globe strutting and award winning cabaret superstars Kim Smith, Uta Uber Kool Ja, Avigail Harman, Spanky and Debora Krizak are just some of the talent you can be razzled and dazzled by this May. Principle sponsor The Pullman Hyde Park Hotel have agreed to let diva Uta Uber Kool Ja continue her trend of performing for (or hosting) her audience in the hotel’s premiere suite. There’s a lot to see in not a lot of time, so start planning your cabaret escapades now. Book tickets at slide.com.au.

SATURDAY

JULY 12

ENMORE

20 YE AR ANNIVERSARY TOUR 2 SETS SPANN

ING 1994 – 2014

TICKETS ON SALE

APRIL 11 FROM SOMETHINGFORKATE.COM

I M A G I N E B E I N G M A D E TO

FE EL L IKE CRAP JUST FOR

BEING

LEFT

H A N D E D.

Okay, that’s hard to imagine? But being gay, lesbian, bi, trans or intersex is no different to being born left handed, it’s just who you are. So stop and think because the things we say are likely to cause depression and anxiety. And that really is pretty crap.

GO TO LEFTHAND.ORG.AU TO WATCH THE VIDEO

STOP t THINK t RESPECT

BRAG :: 558 :: 16:04:14 :: 21

T

he Sydney Comedy Festival is back, and it’s bringing all the LOLs. Seriously, all of them. How will you ever choose what to see? Well, we’re here to help out. Whether you’re a fan of puns, puppets, paradise, porn or lizards, we’ve got you covered with our comedy special, which is chockas with interviews with some of the funniest people at the festival from here and around the world. So get your diary out and start planning your Comedy Festival experience.

For the full lineup, see sydneycomedyfest.com.au.

Words by Hannah Warren, Tegan Jones, Cameron James, Adam Norris, Lee Hutchison, Liza Dezfouli and Stephanie Yip.

brand of comedy. No-one is arguing with US TV show host Conan O’Brien, who said to Simmons after he appeared on his show: “You’re a very weird man.”

Simmons has recently relocated, and now splits his time between Sydney and LA. “It’s sensational,” he says of LA. “I thought I’d hate the place. They are so enthusiastic there. I thought that would really annoy me but the people there, they’re not mean people. When they say they’re super happy to see you, here, we’re challenged and threatened by that sort of thing. It’s very different. I’m not being anti-Australian here, I love being Australian, but it’s different.

There isn’t that snarkiness in comedy rooms. They’re really receptive to what I do.

I imagined having a secondary career in the UK; I thought I’d go well there but I never thought I’d be able to break the US scene.

I’m really blessed to have a career in two places. I did not expect to have a career in the States.”

WHAT: Death Of A Sails-Man WHERE: Factory Floor, Factory Theatre WHEN: Tuesday May 6 – Sunday May 11

SAM SIMMONS S am Simmons is one of the most singular voices in comedy. His outlook on life, his way with words and his imaginative scope is unparalleled in its originality. He’s about to perform his new show, Death Of A Sails-Man, at the Sydney Comedy Festival and when the BRAG spoke to him, he was also about to have a newborn named after him.

“I had the most amazing show the night before last,” he tells us. “A couple came to the show and she went into labour 15 minutes after the end of the show, and they had the baby yesterday, which was my birthday, and they are seriously considering naming their baby daughter Samantha.”

Death Of A Sails-Man has been described as one man having a nervous breakdown onstage. With the help of a pre-recording of Simmons’ voice, a real-time dialogue with himself leaps across various subjects such as dolphin sexuality, Vodafone, population growth, mental health and a story in song

22 :: BRAG :: 558 :: 16:04:14

about a granny dying and ascending to space. These imaginative leaps are, unusually for Simmons, contained within a narrative – the story of a man marooned on a windsurfer swept out to sea. Simmons says he loves the show and reckons it’s his best yet.

“It’s totally my favourite show. I’m in love with it. I absolutely adore it,” he says. “It’s about a guy who’s having a midlife crisis. I thought, ‘What is the most douche thing someone having a midlife crisis would do?’ and the idea of a windsurfer came to mind. I turned 37 yesterday and perhaps I’m having a bit of a midlife crisis myself.”

Why does Simmons like this show so much?

“Number one – it’s a pun,” he says proudly.

(Those of you looking blank ought to Google playwright Arthur Miller.)

He does admit that he may have cut a few corners in preparing for the show. “No, I didn’t go windsurfing. I faked it. What I do is

definitely not grounded in reality … I wrote most of this show wandering around LA.” “It’s a basic story,” says Simmons. “There’s nothing snarky, nothing random about it. He dies at the end. You work that out pretty early in the show. It’s just what someone would go through if they were swept out to sea. You’d think about things like cannibalism. My stuff comes from a place of stupidity. It’s odd.”

Simmons doesn’t tie things up neatly or resolve his stories with heart-warming conclusions in his performances. “I hate shows with epiphanies,” he says. “I hate shows that are lectures. Or shows that want you to learn about yourself. Fuck that. It’s boring. I’m sick of leaving a show that’s too preachy. I don’t want lectures. We’ve got our own opinions and going to a show isn’t going to change that. Who do these people think they are?” He reckons there should be less worthiness and more daftness in comedy.

“There’s not enough silly. I’m hoping the tide is turning. We need more absurdity.”

Despite this demand, there is logic to his show. “It’s not random,” he explains.

“None of that. It’s scripted. There are a few moments I can ad lib if I want to but I’m not there just for laughs. I’d rather give you something.”

Along with paper cut-outs, Death Of A SailsMan includes original music and songs composed especially for the show, which, it must be said may leave audiences feeling a bit baffled. “It’s absurd,” says Simmons, redundantly for anyone familiar with his

There is a difference, albeit a small one, Simmons says, to how his comedy is perceived here in comparison to the States or the UK. “In the States, I am really encouraged to do what I do. I think I’m like the Jimeoin of comedy there, with the exotic accent. There’s a small sense that I’m a bit too weird here, my stuff is threatening to Australian men. It’s seen as an effeminate thing.”

Simmons says he would always prefer to be confounded and challenged when it comes to experiencing comedy than to get a laugh out of a performance. When asked to name his favourites, he brings up intelligent, wacky comedians. “I love the rage in John Cleese,” he says. “There are some great stand-ups in Australia. I love Tom Gleeson. I love him. He’s a master. He’s so measured and smart. He’s got the funny bones. He’s got delivery and timing and he’s just got his own thing. He’s like our Bill Cosby. His phrasing is sublime. I love him.”

He is equally enthusiastic about Zoë Coombs Marr. “She is extraordinary; I love her. She’s unique; she shares a similar mind to me. She’s quite odd, got her own thing up there.”

Outside comedy, being away for much of the year has given Simmons a fresh perspective on a mainstream representation of Australian culture and urban life in the media that he describes as “disgusting”. What he sees on TV particularly annoys him. “Where are the Tongans on Neighbours? You don’t see any Vietnamese on Home And Away. When is this going to change? It annoys me; it bores me.

And Ernie Dingo is the only representative of indigenous Australia you see on commercial TV. It’s really sad.”

Simmons has some simple advice for anyone wanting to emulate his success. “Just do it.

You’ve got to fail. Forget all these courses and classes – they might be an empowering thing if you do them as part of a work program or something but you can’t learn comedy. Get up there and fail and keep going. But if you haven’t got a funny bone, don’t do it. There are too many class smart-arses up there already.”

LD

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“Confrontational, dark, smart and

(most importantly), hilarious, Eddie Ifft is one of the most underrated American stand-up comedians around. - The Onion

THE FACTORY THEATRE APRIL 30 - MAY 4 BOOKINGS: 132 849 or sydneycomedyfest.com.au eddieifft.com facebook.com/eddieifft twitter.com/eddieifft BRAG :: 558 :: 16:04:14 :: 23

EDDIE IFFT WHAT: Train Wreck WHERE: Thatcher’s Cider House, Factory Theatre WHEN: Wednesday April 30 – Sunday May 4

“W

e only roast the ones we love.” So says the gloriously uncompromising Eddie Ifft, who comes from a long line of successful US comics born in the Comedy Cellar in New York City.

Ifft’s talking about the US tradition of ‘roasting’ comics in front of their peers, a kind of public scorning we in Australia are far too nice to do to each other. “It really is ugly in America,” Ifft notes. “It’s hard. We’re so callous. We’re not sensitive at all.”

When Ifft started out in the Comedy Cellar he’d be number 20 in a lineup that might include Jerry Seinfeld or Louis CK amongst others. Ifft can laugh now but it was a baptism by fire. “One night the MC said ‘we’d like to thank all the comedians and Eddie Ifft for coming here tonight.’”

Ouch. “I said ‘I think I want to quit’,” recalls Ifft. “Friends said ‘Are you kidding? They mentioned your name! They only do that to friends.”

Train Wreck is Ifft’s new show for Sydney Comedy Festival, about the previous year of his life. He reckons he’s something of a reformed character these days but that’s not what audiences want. “People want to know about the fuck-ups,” he says. “They want to hear about the time I got tackled by a midget, had a snowball thrown at me, when I set off a fire alarm or got into a fist fight or when a guy nearly pulled a gun on me.” A gun? Well, that’s the United States for you. “It happened in Australia,” says Ifft. “I was doing a show in Jindabyne and this out of control guy, who was mad at the act before me, said he was going to get a gun. I asked his friends if he was really going to get a gun and they said yes, he was serious. I was ‘show’s over’ and out the back door.”

The early years at the Comedy Cellar were good training, Ifft reckons. “We’re lucky in the US ‘cos there’s so much stand-up. You can

do 11 shows in one night. It gives you a lot of practice. You can write a joke a night and byy the end of the night you’ve got yourr joke crafted.

I feel bad for comics in countries where you don’t get as much stage time.” Being up against nst massive names at the Comedy dy Cellar helped Ifft form his own brand nd of comedy. “When you ou go on with those guys, ys, who are the best comics in the world, if you’re last in line, the audience has heard everything. People ople say ‘you’re so rude and mean. Your material’s so offensive’ ve’ but it was the only thing I could d do to elicit a response.”

Ifft says there’s a big difference between the US style e of comedy and what our comicss do here. “I’m a big fan of Aussie comics,” omics,” he says. “It’s a different style. In the US we have 500 TV channels nnels and no

attention span. We don’t tell such long drawn out stories. You have to have a laugh every 20 seconds.

The challenge is in writing a good show, with about a 100 laughs.

Boom, boom, boom.”

Ifft says the best advice he can offer aspiring comedians is not to

take advice. “You don’t want someone else’s creativity,” he continues. “The guys I’ve heard of who’ve succeeded didn’t take advice from other comics. Do what you think’s funny … I never

sit down and write with anyone.” Though now that Ifft is married he might be responsible for single-handedly bringing back the mother-in-law joke.

Literally. “My mother-inlaw thinks she should be my writer.” LD

KEVIN BRIDGES WHAT: Live WHERE: Enmore Theatre WHEN: Tuesday April 22 (two shows)

K

evin Bridges’ brilliant career trajectory is legendary. He thought he’d have a go at stand-up after leaving school before going off to work in a call centre or “some shite like that” in the real world. “Shite like that” never happened as Bridges went on to become one of the UK’s most successful comedians. “I don’t plan anything,” the Glaswegian says. “My first gig went well. I did another, and another. Once you get on TV you get a few breaks.” “A few breaks” included opportunities to write a screenplay, his own TV show, the offer of a book deal from Penguin for his memoirs, and led to fame as a stand-up supernova.

Envious, much?

Bridges is adorably unspoilt by a decade of sold out shows in arenas, television, red carpets, winning awards, meeting celebrities and travel, which may be due to an early experience performing at a prison. “I did a gig in a prison when I was 18, which was quite difficult, and one guy stood up and went back to his cell. It was like, ‘this guy’s shite; I’ll go back and fi nish

my life sentence!’” Bridges is well able to laugh at himself, which is pretty much his secret to success.

“Looking back, it was so brutal,” he says of the prison gig. “But if you take that sort of thing seriously, you’ll just go insane. You develop a thick skin and use it as material, take the opportunity to fi nd a joke in it. A lot of guys only one or two years into it are bitter and resentful, they say, ‘how does this guy get the breaks, how does he get on TV and that’, but you don’t take it too seriously.”

His is a natural talent, one which has been described as ‘frightening’ but Bridges says he doesn’t think about it too much. “You might tell the same joke but you try and tell it differently each night. I expand on ideas; if you come and see six shows in a row they won’t ever be the same. You speak to the crowd.

Try to fi nd the balance, be yourself.

A live stand-up show is a bit of yourself, your own opinions. If I have a funny idea, I’ll make it a bit more for the audience, as soon as you see comedy in something you overact it, do an accent, and put

on a voice.” Interestingly, Bridges says he’s not naturally extroverted.

“I’m pretty confi dent in the things I feel I can do but if I’m standing in the pub, I won’t be the one going crazy. I’ll be taking a back seat, just observing. But I’m not a weirdo; I’m not taking a back seat ‘cos I’m going to take the whole pub out with a machine gun weirdo.” That’s good, then.

Keeping it real is the most important element of stand-up, Bridges reckons. He knows better than to pretend to audiences that he still gets around on public transport.

“As long as it’s always you,” he explains, “you can talk about stuff.

If I say ‘I’m just like you, I catch the bus’, no-one’s going to believe it, but you can always find a new angle, you can talk about stuff, your experiences; it’s how you handle it”. Taking some advice from his dad helped. “He said, ‘If you want to keep it going, pull back, take a break, go to America and have some fun’, It was great advice,” Bridges notes. “I feel fresh and sharp. I’ve just done some shows in London and the buzz is back.” LD

CHRIS TAYLOR AND ANDREW HANSEN WHAT: One Man Show WHERE: Concourse Theatre / Metro Theatre WHEN: Thursday May 1 / Friday May 2 (two shows) sure what to expect, and then they get an hour’s worth of silly, old school British Review style sketches and songs delivered to them.

Fortunately, they’ve seemed quite pleased!”

S

ome people know them as two of The Chaser boys, while others refer to them as “Those dickheads on ABC.” Regardless of how you label them, Andrew Hansen and Chris Taylor are taking their comedic genius to the stage with One Man Show.

24 :: BRAG :: 558 :: 16:04:14

The show has been so popular that an additional Sydney show has been added to the bill. Hansen comments, “It’s been wonderful fun so far. I think people have been enjoying the silliness of the show. Chris and I haven’t done one quite like this before, so people are probably not

Taylor has also been thrilled with the audience response so far. ”We’re hugely relieved that people are actually laughing. I know that sounds simplistic, but we’ve being doing TV for so long; where everything is incredibly fake. You coach the audience to laugh and hold up applause signs. So we’ve come to take for granted that TV audiences will laugh, not because they’re enjoying the show, but because we’ve told them they have to. So to do a live show where none of that coaching goes on is terribly nerve wracking and scary. The first response we have every night, when we hear that first laugh, makes us relax and go ‘Okay, maybe the show is funny.’”

Part of the reason that the two paired up was their shared sense

of humour and not just because, as Taylor says “We were free and unemployed in a way the other guys weren’t.” Hansen comments that “[Chris] and I both have a real love of absurd and silly comedy and I think One Man Show is a chance for us to exercise that urge a little bit more than if we were with the other guys. They’re into more high fibre entertainment which is packed with information that’s good for you.” Taylor adds, “Of all The Chaser team, Andrew and I are very much the comedy nerds who grew up on a rich diet of Blackadder, Monty Python and The Goodies. All of that very British comedy.”

Audiences can definitely look forward to old school British comedy influences, which largely helped to inspire the show. Taylor explains “We said to ourselves, ‘We’re not stand-ups. We don’t want to do an overly political and topical show.

Remember the old live shows of Rowan Atkinson? Let’s do a sketch show like that.’” In addition to this, there will be plenty of the musical

talent that we’ve come to expect from the duo, particularly after their collaboration on Dead Caesar. “I’ve always loved writing songs but have no musical ability to compose. So it’s lovely teaming up with someone like Andrew who does have that ability...and use him to achieve my ambitions,” says Taylor. One of the most impressive of these songs is the opening number, which is customized for each city that they visit.

The show is certain to be a mixed bag of comedy gold, and audiences will undoubtedly enjoy the energy between Hansen and Taylor, who have no qualms trash talking each other. Hansen says, “I would love to take the opportunity to slander Chris, but I’m a bit worried that he might take legal action against me. I best remain quiet about his nefarious lifestyle.”

Taylor rebutted with, “Well all I’ll say about Andrew is that there’s a reason that Gwyneth Paltrow is now single.” TJ

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FACTORY THEATRE 29 APR - 11 MAY

BRAG :: 558 :: 16:04:14 :: 25

KHALED KHALAFALLA

FELICITY WARD

WHAT: Fresh WHERE: Harold Park Hotel WHEN: Tuesday May 6 – Saturday May 10 and Tuesday May 13 to Saturday May 17 “I’m trying something very different this year. I’m trying to shy away from the race thing and trying to talk a little bit more about myself and be a bit more transparent with my self examination ... I’m just diving straight in and telling people exactly what I’m thinking.”

WHAT: The Iceberg WHERE: Wild Oats Wine Bar, Enmore Theatre WHEN: Thursday May 8 – Sunday May 11

Khalafalla is also taking the audience into consideration more in Fresh and professes the importance of “Finding the point of divergence between your thought and theirs. That happens when you create the thought and you let them write it with you. That’s been a very different tactic, as opposed to me trying to write script-formulated jokes and counting the seconds between the comic timing spot that I’ve given myself.”

K

F

elicity Ward’s latest show, The Iceberg, has nothing to do with Titanic. A mere 10-20 per cent of an iceberg is above the surface. The majority of it lies beneath, and that’s what Ward wants to explore in her show; the concept of appearance versus reality. “The thing that actually got me onto the idea wasn’t anything to do with the show. It was basically that I thought I knew myself pretty well and then I got into a relationship and realised how damaged I actually was and how much stuff I still need to figure out. And so it was the idea of when you look at yourself or look at someone else you think you understand the situation but then the water drains and you realise how much more to it there is.”

One might question how the comedian was inspired by such a serious and thought-provoking topic. “Appearance vs. reality is a pretty broad concept and can be applied to almost anything.

The idea was to just write stand-up that I really like and figure out how those two relate and bring that stand up into the concept.”

Fans of Ward will notice that her material for The Iceberg differs a fair bit from her previous work, “It’s pretty different in that it’s the least personal show that I’ve done. There’s not a lot of stories about my family or stories about relationships that I’ve been in or any of that. It’s basically observational and if anything it’s a reflection of looking back at Australia while I’ve been overseas, because I’ve been away for the last year. So it’s looking back at how we are as a people from an outsider’s perspective.”

The Iceberg also ventures into the realm of politics and social issues in a way that Ward hasn’t explored before. “There’s a little bit about where we’re standing politically and our attitudes at the moment…where we stand with asylum seekers and our attitude towards racism in Australia. I’ve never talked about that stuff before. Someone came up to me after the show last night and asked, ‘Why haven’t you done it [before]?’ I said, ‘Because you need to be funnier than you are angry.’ [In the past] I’ve been too angry to talk about it in a funny way. I think my anger has now reached a tipping point and I can be objective about it now.” TJ

Despite the success of his previous work, Khalafalla felt the need to present himself with new challenges and to alter the way he approached his act. “I wasn’t happy.

I’m so aware that the comedy festival is a factory of comedians, and that I’ve come into a theatre. A show is two parts;

haled Khalafalla’s latest show, Fresh, is certainly an aptly named one. After being the runner-up in the 2011 RAW Comedy competition, the young comic is already looking to move away from his previous comedic styling.

one part comedian, one part theatre. The space that you’re in is really important because you have to be able to own it...but so many layers are taken away from the comedian, and that’s no-one’s fault, that’s just the circumstances of the industry. So I come in and the audience is a little bit nervous because they’ve never been in the room before and I’m a little bit nervous because I’ve never been in the room before. So by the time I really nail it and get to the 22nd show, I know the room a bit better, but it’s too late.”

The comic describes himself as an “absurd visionary” and believes that having more involvement in all aspects of the show will have a positive impact on his performances. “I felt like I reached the threshold of what I could possibly do with my words. I wanted more things. I wanted music, I wanted sound, I wanted lights…That’s what makes me take big leaps and go ‘I want to learn rap, I want to do sound, I want to do colours.’ It’s the need for a change. An insatiable need not to stagnate.” TJ

LUKE HEGGIE WHAT: Bush Week WHERE: Harold Park Hotel WHEN: Tuesday May 13 – Saturday May 13

L

generic so you can cram in whatever you want.”

uke Heggie has been described as cynical, unashamedly grumpy and a deadpan genius. Those of us who adore that style of comedy can look forward to his latest show, Bush Week.

Heggie is an inspiration for any aspiring comic who hasn’t lived and breathed the industry from the age of eighteen. Getting involved at a slightly older age, he says, “… was something to add to the list of stupid things I’ve done. I signed up for RAW Comedy and didn’t think I’d take it any further. But I went pretty well so I just kept going. Now I can’t imagine not doing it … Before I started I’d never set foot in a comedy club. I’d been to a few shows here and there, big names and that sort of thing, but I never knew what was involved. I never knew how many mentals were involved either. There are some crazy people doing it.”

Fans will be happy to note that the show revisits the style of his precursory work.

“It’s a very similar style to my previous two shows, just different content and different subjects. But pretty much exactly the same style. I’m getting up, telling the jokes and that sort of thing.”

Those who plan on seeing Bush Week can look forward to hearing about some of the comedian’s adventures abroad. “It’s pretty much based around dickheads I’ve met in hostels, but I thought against calling the show Dickheads I’ve Met In Hostels.

So it’s loosely based on travelling around the world and dealing with the filth of not having any money while you’re doing it.”

The name of the show itself seems to have little significance, which adds to the humour of the entire production. Heggie explains, “When you have to name a show, sometimes you’ll name it something

Not being saturated in the comedy world has had additional benefits for the comic.

“I haven’t allowed myself to get influenced, and I think subconsciously if you’re watching other comedians too much you might pick up their nuances and some of their jokes so it’s kind of nice not to have that in the back of my mind.” TJ

DAVE EASTGATE

AMOS GILL

WHAT: Bad Specimen WHERE: Happy Endings Comedy Club WHEN: Tuesday May 6 – Sunday May 11

WHAT: Extravertigo WHERE: Enmore Laneway, Enmore Theatre WHEN: Tues May 6, Thurs May 8, Sat May 10

just as much of a dude on stage. Clad in spandex pants, bandana, Flying V guitar slung low. So, is it a character, or is this really him?

Until the band kicked him out.

“I kept cracking jokes between songs,” he says.

“Apparently, I wasn’t serious enough”.

“In high school we had to say what we wanted to be when we grew up,” Dave remembers.

“Everyone was saying ‘doctor’, or ‘cop’. That sort of thing. I said I wanted to play rhythm guitar for Guns N’ Roses.”

As a solo comedian, he is a high-energy machine of improvised crowd work, physical stunts, and tonguein-cheek glam songs. And the industry is noticing.

The last year has seen him star in several ABC projects, including the critically acclaimed A Moody Christmas, and he is currently filming a new project to be aired later in the year.

“My teacher said I was stupid.

Well, look at me now!” he laughs.

D

ave Eastgate is a dude.

Ten seconds into our call, he yells “Do you need a jump?” It takes a moment for me to realise he isn’t asking me, but a man whose car has broken down.

Dave disappears to jump-start the guy’s car, then comes back to our conversation.

“Sorry about that,” the comedian says. “I just had to be a hero for a minute”.

And in case you haven’t seen Eastgate’s comedy, he’s 26 :: BRAG :: 558 :: 16:04:14

On stage, Dave Eastgate gets to be Izzy Stradlin AND Axl Rose every night. Eastgate isn’t playing rock n roll, he IS rock n roll. It’s just that his songs are hilarious.

Eastgate stands out from other musical comics because he was a muso long before he was a clown. As an angsty teen, Dave wrote earnest Jeff Buckley-esque songs about heartache, death and other depressing stuff, sang in real bands opening for real-er bands like Eskimo Joe, and george, touring Japan, and living his angsty teen dream.

But what he’s most excited about is the new live show, Bad Specimen.

“It’s me with a guitar playing a bunch of new songs and jumping around”, he says of the new show. “It’s an hour long party”.

At the end of the call, Dave leaves to further assist the guy with the broken down car. His show is called Bad Specimen, but maybe it should be called Good Samaritan. What a dude. CJ

A

t the age of 21, Amos Gill is one of the funniest young comedians in the country. His burgeoning star will rise all the higher in his latest show, Extravertigo.

Gill is no stranger to the entertainment industry, having already worked on a children’s TV show, recorded stand-up for TV and co-hosted a new show for ABC3. This workload may sound extreme, but Gill wouldn’t have it any other way. “I found the thing I want to do in my life and it’s the first time I think I’ve ever worked hard at anything, because I actually enjoy doing it. Once you’ve found what you want to do, you get a kick out of the work. If I could do it every day I would.”

The significance of being 21 plays a large role in Extravertigo. “A lot of this show is about 21st birthday parties and going back and catching up with old school friends. Seeing who you are now and remembering who you were then. And a lot of it is about who I thought I was going to be by my 21st. I thought I might be an AFL football player and then I realised that I actually don’t enjoy hanging out with a lot of those kind of guys. You know, because I like the whole ‘respecting women’ thing.”

There will be an abundance of awkward and hilariously humiliating material in the show that Gill has mined from his own experiences. “There’s a story about hearing my mum have sex when I was ten. I just recorded it for the ABC so it’ll be broadcast into my lounge room sometime soon. I have a joke in the show where I say my mum saw it and that she didn’t think that it was appropriate for me to do.”

If you think that’s awkward, clearly you haven’t been drugged in front of 10,000 people. “I was once competing in the world air guitar championships in Finland and I freaked out. I was talking to this guy from America and he said ‘Mate just relax, drink a beer.’ So I chugged it and just as was about to compete he said ‘I put MDMA in there’. So in front of all those people I’m just like ‘Oh my god, everyone’s looking at me. They know. Everyone knows.

What’s going on? Oh my god!’” TJ

I

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‘THERE’S A GLORIOUS SILLINESS AT THE HEART OF THE MOODYS... IT’S LAUGH-OUT-LOUD FUNNY’ Sydney Morning Herald

‘HILARIOUS, SOPHISTICATED AND BRILLIANTLY WRITTEN COMEDY’ Sunday Telegraph

‘AUSSIE COMEDY AT ITS BEST’ TV Week

‘HHHH GOD IT’S HILARIOUS’ Daily Telegraph

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NEW

Mature themes, sexual references and coarse language

ON DVD ANOTHER RIOTOUS COMEDY FROM THE MAKERS OF

A MOODY CHRISTMAS

BRAG :: 558 :: 16:04:14 :: 27

CAMERON JAMES AND JARED JEKYLL

ALEX WILLIAMSON WHAT: Dumb Things I’ve Done WHERE: Enmore Theatre WHEN: Friday May 2 that alive. I like to cook giant lizards and sit down.

Then I’ll make a video.”

WHAT: Paradise WHERE: Bunker, Factory Theatre WHEN: Tuesday May 6, Thursday May 8, Saturday May 10

“Y

ou will never truly know yourself until you come and see Cameron James and Jared Jekyll in Paradise.”

This bold statement is the unofficial tagline of Paradise – a show about two rival comedians who are invited to perform at the Paradise Island Comedy Festival and things go terribly awry. Will our unlikely heroes survive?

Paradise is already taking Australia by storm, having received rave reviews at both the Perth and Adelaide Fringe festivals. It hasn’t always been easy though, as James explains, “It’s been kind of hard getting people to come in to see a sketch sometimes. I think Australia is pretty used to traditional stand up so telling people on the street ‘you should come in and trust this sketch show, you’ll like it’ especially when they’ve never heard of you, it’s hard. But everyone that we’ve managed to con into coming has really liked it.”

around talking about music that we liked, bands that we liked and concerts that we’d been to.”

The true inspiration for Paradise came from a trip to a comedy festival held on Rottnest Island in WA. “When we were there we came up with the idea of two people being brought to an island and it became more of a story than just a collection of strange bits and musical things and sketches.” By “strange bits” he may be referring to the advertised ‘hot sexin’’ in the show which he says “Is not your

James and Jekyll met at Phuklub where they bonded over a shared love of music (“I wanted to be like David Bowie,” James confesses) and ridiculous improvisation.

What followed was a decision to write an hour of material, although he says, “For a long time we just sat

traditional sex scene, there’s no penetration, really.”

It’s no surprise, given there are several … wait, what?

Lizards?

Audiences can also look forward to the fact the show “is pretty audience interactive heavy, we don’t spend all of our time on the stage, quite a bit of it is spent moving around the room and amongst the audience and getting them involved.”

So if you’re in the market for what promises to be a literally sketchy show with plenty of music and hilarity, you need to check out Paradise. James promises, “The biggest antic is probably the one that happens inside the hearts of all the audience members.

Everyone who comes to this show will find love.” TJ

“In the live show, there’s elements of impro. You have to be open to that.

You know, sometimes when we touch? I’m happy to say that. It’s a really exaggerated conversation I had with a dragon in Vienna.”

A

lex Williamson seems like a nice guy. Happy to give real answers, doesn’t try and force humour (though it tends to slide that way anyhow). The only problem is, well, technological. So much of our conversation is incomprehensible that I worry Alex is speaking to me from beneath a river of mud, and there are several responses that, on reflection, probably aren’t what was actually said.

“Well, if I were a fireman I’d be taking fires out of people’s houses, which doesn’t sound as fun,” he reflects. “Usually you have to just take a bit of a gamble, put on your game face and pretend to be funny for two or three seconds.

Put on that impression, and they generally buy it. If not, if I can’t think of anything funny, I find you just act nice. People seem to dig that for some reason.”

Comedians must live a strange life. On one hand, they get paid (sometimes) to make people laugh. On the other, they must always be expected to have a quip or hilarious observation ready.

Makes you wonder if Alex would rather be a vet or fireman instead.

A large part of Alex’s success has come from his hugely popular YouTube films. “You know, the online material seems to just crop up here and there, though I haven’t been working on it as much lately. I’ve taken a bit of a step back, but I’m really committed to keep

I … see? Definitely a reptilian vibe I’m picking up here, though by now the phone connection is so muddy he could be propositioning my grandmother and I’d be none the wiser. I nod in stunned silence, then remember he can’t actually see me. I try asking about his upbringing; was comedy always on the horizon?

“I played footy back then, and a few of the older guys there were really good storytellers, they told anecdotes that probably aren’t suitable for any media outlet in Australia.

They weren’t able to go and tell these stories to the world, you know, since they all lived and worked in a small town, so I was kind of inspired to go and be a voice for them.”

Which is ironic, you know, because lizards. AN

“An amazing tale of real adventure and genuine exploration in the modern era”- Dick Smith WINNER audience award best documentary sydney film festival 2013

FINALIST foxtel australian documentary prize sydney film festival 2013

OFFICIAL SELECTION nz mountain film festival 2013

OFFICIAL SELECTION european outdoor film tour

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thebrag.com

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PAUL FOOT WHAT: Words WHERE: The Comedy Store WHEN: Friday April 25 – Sunday April 27

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matter isn’t his forte. “I listen to classical, I don’t know anything about popular music from the last 50 years.” He chuckles at my suggestion that he host a panel show on classical music. “It wouldn’t be very successful because not many people listen to classical music.”

wasabi, it was marvelous, a wasabi kick right all in my face, all in my sinuses, wonderful! I love the wasabi!” He screams again. “Ahhh, that’s another one, that was the last piece of sushi but I loaded loads of wasabi onto the fi nal one, it’s like a big treat.”

Foot makes regular appearances on UK music panel show Never Mind The Buzzcocks and, from my memory, is the only person I’ve ever seen make Mighty Boosh creator Noel Fielding giggle. “Oh that’s nice.

He’s a very generous performer…I recorded Spicks and Specks last night. It’s going out next week and again they were very generous on that program.”

While having one’s own TV show is often seen as the pinnacle of a stand-up’s career (think Louis CK, Simon Amstell, Marc Maron) it’s not something to which Foot aspires. “You’ve quite rightly pointed out that my career isn’t going as well as them,” he jests. “Lots of comedians do standup comedy because they want to get into TV or fi lm. I’m the opposite…I would do it because it would mean more people would come to my shows because my first love is live comedy.”

He moves onto a bag of lollies, facetiously questioning why Australians don’t call them sweets. “So I’ve got some LOLLY,” he says. “A lady gave them to me in the street yesterday…she seemed like a nice lady and it’s got four lolly in so I’m having lolly.”

Although appearing on pop music shows is commonplace for Foot, the subject

My next question is interrupted by a deafening yell. “Ahhh, it was a bit of

lthough still relatively unknown in Australia, comedian Paul Foot is hard to overlook. With his distinctive hair, style and verbosity, his comedy is some of the most unique on the scene today. He’s currently on tour in Australia, and I catch him snacking on sushi in his Melbourne hotel room. “What I’m going to do to aid my enjoyment of the interview,” he explains, “is I’m going to get my sushi.”

He starts to explain his smorgasbord of lolly varieties, but gets distracted.

“Smorgasbord is one of three words that have entered the English language from the Swedish language. The other word is ombudsmen.” I’m musing on this piece of trivia when he interjects. “And the other word is IKEA.” LH

M A RY TOBIN PR ESENTS

“THE

GUY

COM IS A GENI EDY US”

THE

WES

TMOO

RLAN

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Plaything Factory Floor, Factory Theatre April 29 and 30 Part homage to and piss-take of the Theatre of the Absurd, part existential dilemma, part philosophical rant, lots of bodily fluid jokes and a murder mystery to boot! All in under an hour. Now that’s what I call a good night at the theatre. Plaything is the hilarious yet thought-provoking story of two weak-bladdered amnesiacs trapped onstage in a play – or is it?

ZETT

E

Everyone’s A Winner Matchbox, Factory Theatre May 6-9 and 11 After her debut show sold out festival seasons at Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney, Cambridge Footlights alumnus Alice Fraser brings you a new side-splitting, mind-blowing hour of comedy about winning, losing and the lies we buy. Alice is a performer, writer, comedian, word geek, academic, ex-corporate lawyer and bad musician. We’re talking banjo.

#hangover Enmore Laneway, Enmore Theatre May 9 and 11 “I’m never drinking again” and other lies… #hangover is for everyone who has pashed the wrong person, posted the wrong pic or pole danced in a police station. This show staggers through savfuelled adventures and trips over the chaos left in their wake; what drives you to drink? You can share your story on Facebook @Cielhangover – celebrate the nights and commiserate the morning afters.

No sudden moves, get that girl a can of coke and a cheeseburger stat!

ENMORE THEATRE 6 & 8 MAY 7.15PM

Cool Genes Man!

marytobinpresents.com.au obinpresents com au 30 :: BRAG :: 508 :: 15:04:13

Container, Factory Theatre May 13, 15 and 17 We all know about the birds and the bees but what if a bird doesn’t like bees? What if a bird likes other birds and wants to start a family? Or what if that bird’s eggs are scrambled but her nest is awesome for screaming chicks? Ponder these and more ridiculous metaphors with the super rad David Williams.

ADRIAN BOHM PRESENTS

SATURDAY 17 MAY • QANTAS CREDIT UNION ARENA FORMERLY SYDNEY ENTERTAINMENT CENTRE

ABPRESENTS.COM.AU JEFFDUNHAM.COM

BOOK AT TICKETEK 132 849 SYDNEYCOMEDYFEST.COM.AU A D R I A N

ADRIAN BOHM PRESENTS

B O H M

P R E S E N T S

FIRST TIME IN AUSTR ALIA SCOTLAND’S BIGGEST EXPORT

LI V E

“It’s his eye for detail that has elevated him to a MUST-SEE act” DAILY MIRROR

Julian is looking for love... ...and he’s not leaving town empty handed

“Side-splittingly hilarious” DAILY MIRROR

TUESDAY 22 APRIL STATE THEATRE

BOOK AT USUAL OUTLETS abpresents.com.au

KEVINBRIDGE S.CO.UK | ABPRE SENTS.COM.AU BOOK AT TICKETMASTER 136 100 SYDNEYCOMEDYFEST.COM.AU

JULIANCL ARY.CO.UK | ABPRE SENTS.COM.AU

JULIANCL ARY.CO.UK | ABPRESENTS.COM.AU

“Brilliant” BILLY CONNOLLY

TUESDAY 22 APRIL 7:30 & 9:30pm ENMORE THEATRE DUE TO POPULAR DEMAND, 3RD AND FINAL SHOW ADDED!

WEDNESDAY 23 APRIL 7:30pm BOOK AT USUAL OUTLETS FACTORY THEATRE abpresents.com.au

BOOK AT FESTIVAL BOX OFFICE 9020 6966 SYDNEYCOMEDYFEST.COM.AU OR TICKETEK 132 849 TICKETEK.COM.AU KEVINBRIDGES.CO.UK | ABPRESENTS.COM.AU

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DAVID QUIRK WHAT: Career, Suicide WHERE: Matchbox, Factory Theatre WHEN: Tuesday April 29 – Sunday May 4

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nyone who has caught David Quirk’s previous work knows that he has a penchant for injecting the darkest facets of his personal life into his comedy.

However, this year he is going in an entirely different direction with his latest show, Career, Suicide.

The aptly named comedian explains, “There were a couple of inspirations for this show. One was towels, in particular, the time I borrowed the wrong towel in Edinburgh. There’s a big story about that and it’s quite ridiculous. Apart from that, the themes are my career and how derailed it’s become, how weird it is and how poor I’ve been. That’s all discussed at length. Also the plight of animals, Morrissey, The Chippendales and things like that.”

Quirk is challenging both himself and the industry by changing his comedic styling and material in such an astounding way. As always, he’s prepared for any reactions. He states, “My last show was literally about the time I cheated on my girlfriend. You can only tell that story once, really. If I had any other stories that were as bad or upsetting or confronting, I don’t know about them. That’s why I call this show Career, Suicide because, can you write a show about towels? Who in their right mind would do that? Can you talk about animals and how we consume them? So I just thought maybe I’ll just write this show as though it might be my last.”

Quirk has been described by critics as “quietly devastating” and a letdown as a human but a triumph as

a comedian. This is exactly what is so appealing about his work. He is living proof that we’re not alone in our fuck ups and that we’re not the only ones with horrible thought processes. “Someone saw the show the other night and said that watching it made them feel like they were okay. They saw all of these things [that I say] and I’m just going ‘Hey, it’s okay to feel this way. Relax.’ I think that if you can get that from a comedy show then it’s quite good and I’m happy about that.”

Will Quirk’s change in comedic approach be a success, or will the title of his show be as prophetic as the self-deprecating comedian has predicted? Find out when he hits the stage at the Sydney Comedy Festival. TJ

MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL COMEDY FESTIVAL PROUDLY PRESENTS

REGINALD D. HUNTER (USA)

Deux Contrarian Enmore Laneway, Enmore Theatre May 1-4 Ever felt like society is an out-of-control car headed towards a cliff? Then you need to see this show. In 2013 The Contrarian pulled the handbrake on this speeding deathtrap we call life, but we’re still headed towards the effin’ cliff! Deux Contrarian, the dark and gritty sequel, goes beyond handbrake.... this thing is a bad-ass hilarity juggernaut. We’re all in this car together, go laugh your ass off while he jams it into reverse. It probably won’t change the world, but it’ll be a damn fun ride.

YES, YES, WHATEVER?

‘His presence and intelligence make him one of the most brilliantly unpredictable comics’ Sunday Times

THE FACTORY THEATRE 7.15PM TUE 13 – FRI 16 MAY

AND at The Comedy Store . . .

Milton Jones (UK) 7pm Tue 22 & Wed 23 Apr

Paul Foot (UK)

7pm Fri 25 & Sat 26 Apr 6pm Sun 27 Apr

Book now! sydneycomedyfest.com.au Ticketek 132 849 32 :: BRAG :: 508 :: 15:04:13

Enmore Theatre May 17 (two shows) Jimeoin is back with yet another hilarious show...

YES, YES, WHATEVER? One of live comedy’s masters. No gimmicks, just great craic!

Unassuming. Provocative.

Raw. Fresh. And funny.

Don’t forget funny.

I’m Josh Wade Harold Park Hotel April 29-May 3, May 13-17 YouTube sensation and comedian Josh Wade brings his debut show I’m Josh Wade to Sydney Comedy Festival. At the age of 19, Josh has already performed sell-out shows and created a huge online following with over 15 million hits throughout social media with his weird and wacky, yet truthful observations of society.

Accidental Pornographer Container, Factory Theatre April 30, May 2, May 4 Chris was raised in a deeply religious household as a god-fearing altar boy but somewhere along the way he managed to direct, produce and write softcore porn. His parents don’t talk to him anymore.

DON’T MISS THE HOTTEST STARS OF SYDNEY COMEDY FESTIVAL “He’s a f*cking star! I love him!”

ESELY JRO EA

C

JOAAN RIVERRS

“★★★★★”

Rock

THEE HERA TH ERALD LD SUN

A musical comedy of high end filth

“A rev eveel elat elat atioon! n!”” THE AG AGEE

HAROLD PARK HOTEL

God

TUES 29 APRIL – SAT 3, TUES 6 – SAT 10 MAY 8:30PM

NEEL KOLHATKAR

facebook ok.com/j/joelcreasey ey tw witi te ter.rcom//jo j elcr c eaase seyy

TWITTER.COM/NEELKOLHATKAR INSTAGRAM.COM/ NEELKOLHATKAR FACEBOOK.COM/NEEL.KOLHATKAR94

“Brilliant”

SYDNEY MORNING HERALD

YOUTUBE SENSATION

LIVE ONSTAGE!

DIIRE DI REECT CTTED CTE ED BBYY JA J NELLE KOEN KOENIG

n GENeratio comedY

HAROLD PARK HOTEL

WINNER 2013

15+ MILLION VIEWS

Adelaide Fringe

Tues 29 April– –Sat 3, Tues 6– –Sat 10 M May ay • 9:45 9:45pm Harold Park Hotel

‘HANDS DOWN HILARIOUS’ SYDNEY MORNING HERALD

jeFF GReeN All Guns Blazing ‘THE★★★★★ ’ METRO, UK

THE COMEDY STORE

FRI 9, SAT 10 MAY 7PM TWITTER.COM/JEFFGREEN007

TUES 29 APRIL – SAT 3, TUES 6 – SAT 10 MAY 7:15PM BEST ONLINE COMEDY SERIES

Critics Pick

FACEBOOK.COM/COMEDIANJEFFGREEN

I’M

YOUTUBE.COM/JOSH YOUTUBE.COM/JOSHWADE FACEBOOK.COM/JOSHWADECOMEDY FACEBOOK.COM/JOSH @JOSHWADECOMEDY

JOSH WADE “★★★★”

AUSSIE A USSIE COMEDY C O M ED DY Y LEGEND L E G END

PETERBERNER ON T SEEN O N S A

HERALD SUN

“left the crowd in stitches with his consistently solid gags” YAWP

HAROLD PARK HOTEL

TUES 29 APRIL – SAT 3, TUES 13 – 17 MAY 8:30PM

TV ly ricaLlE e t s y “h y”CHORT funn

“As Not Seen on TV is Berner letting it all out unfettered by the censorship rules of TV land. You’ll feel like a weight’s been lifted off your shoulders from laughing” AUSTRALIAN STAGE

HAROLD OLD PARK HOTEL 6 - 10 MAY 8.30PM

twitter.com/Peter_Berner

GREG FLEET

OVER 1,200,000 FOLLOWERS ONLINE

THE GAMES MASTER ★★★★★ THE SCOTSMAN “TALES THAT PULL THE AUDIENCE TO

THE EDGE OF THEIR SEATS ONLY TO BREAK THAT TENSION WITH PUNCH LINES THAT CAN CAUSE SNORTING SNORTING”” HECKLER

HAROLD PARK HOTEL TUES 6 – SAT 10, TUES 13 – 17 MAY 7:15PM

“AUNDER DYNAMITE TALENT” THE GUN

INSTAGRAM.COM/SHOOTERWILLIAMSON

ENMORE THEATRE FRI 2 MAY

AT 7.15 P M

BOOK NOW! Sydneycomedyfest.com.au 9020 6966 BRAG :: 558 :: 16:04:14 :: 33

SAMMY J AND RANDY

JEFF DUNHAM

WHAT: Difficult First Album Tour WHERE: Concourse Theatre / Metro Theatre WHEN: Thursday May 1 / Friday May 2

WHAT: Disorderly Conduct WHERE: Qantas Credit Union Arena WHEN: Saturday May 17

at One Bun For Fun,” Randy finishes. I’ve a suspicion I’ll be craving a subwich by interview’s end.

If you’ve heard any of their Difficult First Album, the tour is much of the same.

“The show is basically a live version of the album, but with us selling white goods between each song,” says Randy.

Okay, there’s a little more to their gig than shameless marketing and an album rehash. “There’s a special surprise that’s unique to every show of the tour,” assures Randy. Sydney’s comes equipped with insect repellent and a guinea pig.

“Because who else is going to administer the insect repellant?” “The guinea pig will be driving us across the Nullarbor in our 1983 Volvo,” says Sammy J – which frees him up to sculpt the sauerkraut Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle figurines promised for Perth’s stage.

“It’s an old family recipe,” he says proudly. “They’re incredibly lifelike.”

C

omedic duo Sammy J and Randy are both in attendance today.

Beneath Randy’s seat is a boom box, which, like the gun in a short story, he’ll pull out at the most opportune time. Beneath Sammy J’s seat is a One Bun For Fun Rancho Chickenito Insalata Caprese Subwich Ciabatta, which like the condom in a porn film, he’ll pull out right on time to cover his penis.

I wish I were kidding.

That’s what I get for asking if they’re intending on wearing underwear during their Difficult First Album Tour. “Who needs underwear when you’ve got one of these bad boys?” responds Sammy J, standing up to flash me his genitals, semi-concealed by the sub. “It’s all part of our special meal deal for this month only at our new regional sandwich chain store One Bun For Fun,” Randy pipes in. Look out for it in a suburb near you.

One Bun For Fun, that is, not Sammy J’s genitals. Though we wouldn’t rule the latter out.

After sitting on their first album for eight years, “waiting to get Daryl Somers to agree to play drums for the recording,” explains Sammy J, their dream finally came true and their first album was recorded. The catch? They’re now forced to tour the nation, including the 10th Annual Sydney Comedy Festival to pay their deficit.

“The tour is a shameless cash grab in order to pay off the massive debt we incurred during the production of the record,” says Randy. “Daryl Somers isn’t cheap, that’s for damn sure,” agrees Sammy J. Before I can get out my next question, Sammy interrupts.

“Have you tried our new Rancho Chickenito Insalata Caprese Subwich Ciabatta?” he asks. “It’s part of our special meal deal this month

As is their on-stage ritual sacrifice. “Each night we take a volunteer from the audience and sacrifice them live on-stage in a chilling reenactment of Scar’s death from The Lion King,” says Sammy. Randy plays a hyena. Sammy’s yet to be cast.

One thing’s for sure, they’re not playing this stage alone.

They’ll be sharing it with their peers for the annual shits, giggles and laughter ritual. But what separates the giggle-worthy from the laughter larrikins? Randy’s got this one: “Not being shit,” he says. Shit. The word reads like code for celebration and before I can blink they’ve high-fived each other and Randy’s retrieved that boom box from beneath his chair.

He hits play and the two start dancing to Savage Garden’s To the Moon and Back.

“I hope [our audience] gets out in the end,” chimes Sammy J as he wiggles uncontrollably, that subwich beginning to fail him and my craving for it disappearing.

“Totally,” says Randy in Dance-Dance-Revolution unison. “Otherwise we’ll be in there for hours.”

Good luck all. SY

O

f all the acts performing in the Sydney Comedy Festival, American comedian and ventriloquist Jeff Dunham is the only one big enough to command an arena.

Household names like Bob Saget, Jimeoin and Stephen K Amos have all been relegated to the Enmore Theatre and its 1600-seat capacity. But Dunham and his entourage of puppets will take on the 10,000-seat Qantas Credit Union Arena for their new show Disorderly Conduct – and if his previous stint in the same venue two years ago is anything to go by, he’s bound to sell out.

It’s been a long, hard slog to get to this point in his career, which includes being named one of Forbes’ Top 100 Entertainers in the world.

“I’ll be the first to admit, it’s pretty hard to do for a living,” says Dunham, who does his best to discourage budding ventriloquists from the trade to separate the starry-eyed from the dedicated. “When you’re an eight year old kid, I think it’s cute,” he says.

“But when a 35-year-old guy comes up to me and tells me he wants to be a ventriloquist I ask, ‘Have you looked at every other possibility in comedy?’ It was something that was popular during early TV because it was its own special effect, but it’s not a typical thing for people to do anymore.”

With no set structure to his performances which adjust according to new material and the city he’s in, even he can’t anticipate the “stuff” he refers to when on stage. Not least because, once placed on stage, the characters “don’t exactly behave the way I want them to.”

It’s as though they’ve a life of their own, and Dunham’s just a bystander. “I don’t think it’s me,” he says when asked the secret to his success. “People love the characters. What makes good comedy is that, unlike regular standup, I can create tension and confl ict on stage because there are two or three of us on at a time. Plus,” he adds, “developing different, highly identifi able characters.”

For example, Walter the Grumpy Veteran, one of

S AY W EA IV G

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he Moody family is back in the eagerly anticipated second series, The Moodys. This eight-part series follows the hilariously dysfunctional family over one year: Dan and Cora return home to set up a house together, but everything is topsy turvy – they’re struggling to make ends meet, and the Moody family home is up for sale, but Sean’s funeral fireworks business is going great guns (literally). Maree and Kevin are trying out the grey nomads lifestyle; Bridget and Roger are finding out if there can be friendship post-divorce; and Uncle Terry is tangled up with Yvonne, a woman to be reckoned with. The Moodys DVD also includes Extras: The Making Of The Moodys.

We have five copies of the new season to give away, and all you have to do to get your sticky paws on them is go to our internets at thebrag.com/freeshit and tell us about your strangest family member.

Exaggeration and embellishments are encouraged.

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He’s also looking forward to introducing his newest puppet: Coffee Guy. “I felt that the coffee craze had gone ridiculously nuts everywhere – so there’s a new guy who’s addicted to coffee,” reveals Dunham.

“I’m interested to see how he goes in other countries, but from what I understand a drug is a drug. He’s nuts and you have to see it. So come on to the show and tell me what you think.” SY

So how’d Dunham end up doing it? “I didn’t give myself an escape route,” he says. “I didn’t plan anything else, didn’t want anything else. As a kid I knew this was going to be what I was doing.” Being an only child with “nothing better to do” he learned to throw his voice at the age of eight and a month later, performed his first show. “It was a book report. I did two or three minutes on the report, and the rest of the time I picked on my classmates, the school, the teachers, the food,” he says.

“That game has pretty much stayed throughout my career: I do two or three minutes of meaningful things, and make fun of stuff after that.”

THE MOODYS! DVD! WIN! The Moodys

Dunham’s earliest and most beloved creations.

Or Bubba J, the beerfuelled redneck. “People in Australia love Bubba J,” says Dunham incredulously.

“I thought those kinds of people were isolated to (stupid me) a certain part of the US but no, everybody has a town they make fun of where people live in trailers. He goes really well in Australia, so I’m looking forward to bringing him back.”

WIN! thebrag.com

The Crossing [FILM] On Thin Ice By Harriet McInerney

A

lmost a decade in the making, The Crossing is an epic by all accounts. In 2005, Chris Bray and Clark Carter brazenly set out into the icy Arctic wilderness.

Two attempts, two homemade kayaks and 100 hours of footage later, the pair became the first to cross the 1000-kilometre-wide Victoria Island. Having already picked up the Audience Award for Best Documentary at last year’s Sydney Film Festival, The Crossing has gained attention in various international film festivals. Clark Carter and Julian Harvey, director and fellow adventurer, spoke of near disasters, never giving up and getting off the beaten track for all the right reasons.

The Crossing is, more than anything, about human experiences in an environment more trying and more ethereal than most. “One of the aims of the film was to get people immersed in the expedition,” says Harvey. “We’re trying to create

something which lets you feel what it’s like – the monotony, the pain, the suffering, the joy – all the things that become part of an expedition.”

This is not your man-conquersnature kind of documentary. When first viewing the footage, Harvey saw “a sort of stripping back, learning about the world. I think that’s why adventure’s really good for people. So when I realised that’s what this is about, and not many people do that anymore, it was just fascinating.”

The notion of the lone explorer, battling unknown territory far from civilization, has long been usurped by the tech-savvy adventurer.

“That’s an interesting thing within itself”, says Carter, “you go out there in the middle of nowhere and then remain in contact with everyone. It’s kind of this funny oxymoron. So it was nice, we felt very isolated and very remote, but we were also able to share our experience.”

The adventure destination is perhaps equal parts obscure and fascinating. “Victoria Island was kind of hidden in this in-between region,” says Carter.

Most adventure-seekers head for the North Pole, but the average person wouldn’t get that far into the freezing north. “Even though it’s a big island, just not that many people go there, so we did find ourselves quite often in places we knew people just hadn’t been before,” says Carter. “You’re so far from anyone that you really could just be on another planet.”

Victoria Island is home to a small menagerie of sub-arctic animals who became unlikely cast members. “We did get footage of the polar bears and the wolves, but a lot of the more dangerous moments you don’t tend to capture on film, you’re just trying not to die,” says Carter, with a laugh. One of Harvey’s favourite moments is when the guys encounter a pack

of wolves that were “wandering though camp and almost playing in it. It’s a different side of wolves, one that you don’t see in a David Attenborough BBC doco.” This is a big aspect of the experience that Harvey aspires to capture, “they (Chris and Clark) were just living in amongst it, sort of floating past. You get this real sense of the natural life of these animals, they were just curious, looking at these guys who rocked up for the night with these giant orange kayaks.”

This is perhaps an adventure only two young Aussies would ever attempt. “The idea was quite simple”, says Harvey, “you’re just going from here to here, but there is such a long distance and so many obstacles…” For these adventurers some obstacles just happened to include running from wolves and hiding from polar bears. And what does his Mum think of all this? “It’s been a long and arduous road to get my mum on side, but she loves it.”

What: The Crossing When: In cinemas Thursday 24 April

Film Reviews Hits and misses on the silver screen around town

■ Film

TRANSCENDENCE In cinemas April 24

■ Film

■ Film

JERUSALEM

LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON

At IMAX Darling Harbour now

In cinemas April 17

Filmed in the visually stunning 3D for IMAX, Jerusalem is a thoroughly immersive experience that both enthralls and enlightens. The 45-minute documentary will present you with an intriguing introduction to the ancient city that will pique your curiosity and whet your appetite for adventure.

Hirokazu Koreeda’s Like Father, Like Son begins with a scene in which Keita, six, and his parents attend an interview at a fancylooking elementary school. This must be par for the course in Japan, but to an outsider it looks astonishingly intimidating, far more inquisition-like than any job interview I’ve ever had.

At its core, Jerusalem is an exploration of a mosaic of cultures and beliefs. It details the city where Muslims, Christians and Jews live side by side but separately, in their own Jerusalems. It’s the gateway to God for three different religions, and audiences learn just how half the people on earth came to cherish the same small space, and why it’s the most fought over land in history.

The film boasts impressive sweeping shots of the city, including some of its most religious landmarks: Christianity’s Church of the Holy Sepulchre; Islam’s Dome of the Rock; and Judaism’s Western Wall of the Temple Mount. However, as moving as these experiences are, the city feels to be at its most visceral when the camera allows you to travel down the cobblestonelined streets of the 4000-year-old city and explore the twisting alleyways. It’s here that the feeling of community and euphoria is at its most prevalent. The sheer grandeur of the city is beautifully juxtaposed with the tales of three young female city dwellers, who each represent one of the major religions. Through their stories, the film truly taps at the unique core of ambience that the city exudes.

The board asks which parent Keita takes after, and Keita’s father nominates his wife, because, like her, Keita doesn’t mind losing.

Keita’s father finds this attitude difficult to deal with. What seems like a throwaway, if harsh, assessment of a six year old is actually what Koreeda’s film, which might as well have been titled Blood Ties, is all about.

A couple of scenes later, Keita’s parents get a call from the hospital in which he was born. They’re informed that six years ago, a disgruntled nurse swapped their baby with another, and Keita is in fact somebody else’s child.

The rest of the film is spent teasing out the implications of this revelation on two families: Keita’s birth parents and the couple who have raised him as their own for the last six years. The film manages to be sad but not miserabilist, clear-eyed but low key.

Nothing is underlined or accompanied by strings, and there’s nothing slick about Koreeda’s technique. The performances are very fine, especially from the kids. Koreeda has form getting natural performances from child actors, and the ones here seem remarkably unaffected.

One of the most impressive features of the film is the balance it strikes between the three dominant religions of the city.

Neither is favoured above the other, and a resounding message of peace resonates throughout the documentary. The differences between these people aren’t the focus, rather their shared heritage and love for the land that has nourished their beliefs.

This is the kind of film – intelligent drama about the middle classes in the burbs – which we rarely make in Australia. We seem to have two reliable genres: gritty crime or the comedy of caricature. Like Father, Like Son, on the other hand, demonstrates that the small stories can feel the biggest.

It might not have the razzle-dazzle, but it exerts a vice-like grip.

Tegan Jones

Harry Windsor

See thebrag.com for more arts reviews thebrag.com

When Johnny Depp plays an ordinary person – the kind that works in an office and struggles to do up a neck tie – it’s a cause for celebration, if only because it’s become such a rarity. In the last few years, Depp’s medley of wacky panto types has begun to pale, partly because they haven’t been offset by any performances of actual flesh and blood. His preference for selfeffacement through makeup and costume has begun to look less like humility and more like a fear of playing emotions; the kind that real people might actually have to endure.

So the directorial debut of Wally Pfister, cinematographer on Chris Nolan’s films since Memento and on the occasional non-Nolan project like Moneyball, comes at an interesting time in Depp’s career. His two most recent films, Dark Shadows and The Lone Ranger, fizzled, and now, in Pfister’s Transcendence, Depp finally gets to play it straight. He plays Dr. Will Caster, a brilliant scientist at the forefront of research into artificial intelligence. He’s married to the beautiful Rebecca Hall, another boffin.

They’re on the verge of a breakthrough when Will is shot by terrorist activists who believe that AI will destroy the world. Will dies, but the assassination backfires when his devoted wife uploads his consciousness to the Cloud.

This new Will quickly becomes omniscient,

Transcendence and predictably his utopianism begins to feel distinctly sinister.

The anxiety over AI is a central theme of science-fiction cinema, complicated here by an interesting dilemma: what if the self-aware machine was indistinguishable from the love of your life? As in Spike Jonze’s Her, though, which burrowed into some of the same anxieties, the central romance seems rather contrived; tacked on to serve a thematic point, and thoroughly unconvincing.

But Transcendence has a more transparently hot button, political bent to it than Her. The government, embodied here by Cillian Murphy, joins the good guys to fight Depp’s all-powerful super computer. They’re fighting the encroachment of computer surveillance, instead of being its main exponents. Science-fiction indeed.

Justin Wolfers

Arts Exposed What's in our diary...

Romance Was Born and Rebecca Baumann Carriageworks, until May 11 This week we’ll be enjoying the last vestiges of fashion week with Romance Was Born, the fashion powerhouse comprised of Anna Plunkett and Luke Sales. The creative duo has become renowned for their ability to transform anything into a glimmering, chimerical paradise full of wonderment.

For Fashion Week they joined forces with Australian artist Rebecca Baumann and Carriageworks to present their first exhibition.

Baumann’s practice spans kinetic sculpture, photography, performance, digital animation and installation, and she is fascinated by the complex workings of human emotion and the pursuit of happiness.

There’s heaps of fashion and art for your eyes, so get the deets at carriageworks.com.au.

Romance Was Born At Carriageworks

BRAG :: 558 :: 16:04:14 :: 35

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

ALBUM OF THE WEEK LIARS

Mess Mute / Create/Control

The highly anticipated Mess Xxxx by experimental outfit Liars is exactly that – a beautifully coherent pile of sound.

They say you should never judge an album by its cover art, but with a sound that is layered, colourful and grungy, this one hits the nail on the, er, head. Notorious for switching up their sound with every release, fans are never quite sure what to expect from Liars. Their last LP, WIXIW (2012) was a sharp turn towards heavy, industrial-strength electronica, and Mess picks up almost exactly where it left off.

Gritty, intricate synths are pitted against dissonant falsettos, the result falling somewhere between Radiohead and Death

Grips. Opening number ‘Mask Maker’ starts with the sample, “Smell my socks / Eat my face off,” which is as weird as it is wonderful.

The immediately immersive ‘Pro Anti Anti’ brims with a dark, pulsing rhythm and Laibach-esque vocals.

Single ‘Mess On A Mission’ is the most upbeat cut from the LP. With glitchy synths, plenty of bleeps and a catchy hook, it is as close to a dance track as Liars get. Not quite a banger, but danceable, in a robotic, industrial-disco way.

Though an acquired taste, Mess is an album to get immersed in, and it only grows more and more intriguing on repeat listens.

Emily Meller

CHET FAKER

CHUCK RAGAN

FINK

THE BIRDS OF SATAN

HOLY HOLY

Built On Glass Opulent/Future Classic

Till Midnight SideOneDummy/Ten To Two

Hard Believer Ninja Tune/Inertia

The Birds Of Satan Shanabelle

The Pacific EP Sony

After two years of anticipation – including constant shows, collaborations and the magnificent teaser Thinking In Textures – Chet Faker has released his debut album.

The question on everyone’s moistened lips is: was it worth the wait?

With the bluesy Americana of his solo work, Chuck Ragan has established himself as a post-punk troubadour, with an emphasis on authenticity and storytelling that still makes space for solid arrangements and showcases the roster of topshelf musicians he gathers together.

In this case it’s his longstanding combo The Camaraderie, along with new drummer David Hidalgo, Jr. (formerly Social Distortion/Suicidal Tendencies) and backup from Dave Hause, Rami Jaffee, Jenny O. and Jon Snodgrass among others.

Once described as Jack Johnson with “soul and balls”, Fink’s Hard Believer is both familiar and surprising, though perhaps not as groundbreaking as fans hoped.

Foo Fighters’ Taylor Hawkins and Chevy Metal’s Wiley Hodgden and Mick Murphy go from touring cover band to tribute collage with a new side project, The Birds Of Satan. Their multi-faceted debut is particularly impressive for something recorded in under a week. Though hardly game-changing, it’s a hard rock record that makes for unpredictably pleasurable listening.

After the release of ‘Impossible Like You’ back in July 2013, I was sold. Holy Holy’s EP lives up to all expectations, and even surpasses them on so many different levels. Like a mug of hot soup ’neath a brimmed beanie on a cold winter’s day, the EP possesses an earthy warmness that makes your heart and mind feel healthy. It’s good for the soul.

We start with some slow piano, toppling chords and atmospheric reverb. Then Faker’s voice comes in… and we’re back. From the first 30 seconds of ‘Release Your Problems’, we are pulled into his universe of signature soul and looping dub, layered under sultry vocals and suggestive lyrics.

‘Talk Is Cheap’ is familiar Faker in both subject matter and sound; a heavily textured and masterfully produced flirtation. It is hard to imagine any other Australian artist who could pull off a line like, “I wanna make you move with confidence / I wanna be with you alone.” But oh, how he does. A less sultry, lighter ‘Cigarettes & Loneliness’ is a stripped-back showcase of Faker’s experimental side – choral and slightly strange. This is contrasted by ‘Melt’ featuring Kilo Kish, the duet smouldering over pulsing downtempo beats.

Built On Glass is an album that delivers what fans want, but leaves a little room for developing and filling out Faker’s sound. It’s soulful, it’s honest, it’s sex – it’s Chet Faker, matured.

The songs on Till Midnight are imbued with a rawness carried on from Ragan’s punk foundation, with lyrical insights woven together into non-typical love songs. Opener ‘Something May Catch Fire’ is a cracker, the twinkling guitar-picking and anguished “She said lay down / We only have ’til midnight” lyric blowing out to a forceful shout-along chorus that’s catchy as hell. On ‘Vagabond’ Ragan’s asphalt rasp is Springsteen caught at the wrong end of a dodgy bar (in the best way).

Single ‘Non Typical’ is a slow burn that Ragan’s voice sparks against like flint, crackling to life after the breakdown.

‘Wake With You’ has mournful pedal steel that honeys his rough-hewn vocals, and ‘Whistleblowers Song’ is hoarse and sweeping.

Till Midnight is a heaving heart laid bare, raw and triumphant.

Textured guitars, with an emphasis on heavy basslines and distorted rhythms, give this record more edge than 2011’s Perfect Darkness. The only resemblance to Jack Johnson is the lazy Sunday listening quality in Fink’s voice. A DJ in a former musical life, this LP is his densest slow-burner to date. The title track opens with an ambling bass part before building to Fink’s blues-heavy verse. It wouldn’t be particularly interesting if it were not slowed right down. The effect is something close to bluegrass with indie rock overtones.

The whole album feels like a build up to something, with slow, heavy riffs throughout. The exception may be ‘Looking Too Closely’, a lighter, more nimble track. Piano and an intricate guitar melody work in tangent to lift the vocals towards the crescendo.

The fragmented style of this album gives listeners a chance to experience different sides of Fink, but it also stunts the growth of a unique signature sound. That was the promise of Perfect Darkness, and while this record is still dense and enjoyable, it doesn’t quite follow through.

Hawkins is raring to deliver the goods, commencing with nine-anda-half minute ruckus, ‘The Ballad Of The Birds Of Satan’. Despite Dave Grohl’s co-writing, the self-portrait of an opener quickly dispels any preconceived notions of likeness to the Foos, past croons of “We’ve seen it all before”. It spirals into some jigworthy salsa, and a comprehensive mishmash of influences and musical styles. The Birds follow up by delving into rock’n’roll grandiosity with pianodriven ‘Thanks For The Line’, while ‘Pieces Of The Puzzle’ transforms from reggae-laced summer song to magnetic stadium rocker.

Guitar solos weaved into every track provide heavier transitions away from emotional leanings, from the softer ‘Raspberries’ that feels like an Aerosmith ballad, to the Queen-like chorales alternating with raw acoustics on ‘Too Far Gone To See’ – a hard-hitting finale that (literally) shuts the door on a satisfying conclusion.

The songwriting is simple but nostalgic and anthemic, and the EP as a whole is densely musical and texturally fascinating. Amongst the Jumanji chaos of today’s indie precinct, Holy Holy tear the veil of ‘same ol’, same ol’’ and set a new standard that’s going to be hard to match going forward. The opening track ‘House Of Cards’ is quickstepped yet calming in its consistent bass-and-drum conversation.

‘Impossible Like You’ was always a good track, but there’s something about hearing it amongst a sequence of others that ices the cake. The almost unnoticeable shuffling and offbeat snare provide a solid foundation for layer upon layer of echoey vocals and colourful guitar riffs. As with ‘Slow Melody’ and ‘Cincinnati’, the sound gets bigger and more intricate as it goes along.

Verdict? The EP is warm, comforting, peaceful. Pure quality.

Emily Meller Emily Meller

Natalie Amat

Laura Chan

INDIE ALBUM OF THE WEEK This band just won’t sit down. 13 years on and six albums later, they still seem to be going strong, and it feels like these guys might just be around forever.

THE USED Imaginary Enemy Hopeless/UNFD

36 :: BRAG :: 558 :: 16:04:14

When they first burst onto the scene, The Used came out blazing, sticking two middle fi ngers up to the modern rock’n’roll scene, and creating songs charged with evoking opinions. That fire still hasn’t been lost, as the band comes out with a new and more challenging album that takes The Used another step forward in their quest to help shape our world to be a better place. It’s shown in tracks like ‘Force Without Violence’, and even in their slower songs which

always manage to still pack a punch (‘Evolution’).

Sure, maybe their sound is arguably less punk rock then in their previous years, with songs like ‘Cry’ sure to prove more radio-friendly, but this is simply a sign of a band growing and changing over time. After all, for these guys, it is more about the lyrics and messages expressed in their songs than what genre they fit into. And there does seem to be a mix of the old and the new here.

Liz Elleson

OFFICE MIXTAPE And here are the albums that have helped BRAG HQ get through the week...

GAME OF THRONES - The Rains Of Castamere SINÉAD O’CONNOR - I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got PAOLO NUTINI - These Streets

DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE - Plans OWL CITY - Ocean Eyes

Here’s to another 13 fi ghting years of The Used.

Amy Theodore thebrag.com

live review What we've been out to see...

EDWARD SHARPE AND THE MAGNETIC ZEROS, MT WARNING Enmore Theatre Thursday April 10 The last time Alex Ebert and his friends rolled into Sydney, they had the 13,000plus Mumford fans crammed into the Sydney Entertainment Centre (as it was then called) standing on their tippy-toes, clapping feverishly and singing along karaoke-style to ‘Home’ in a cultish induction that would have them reconvene two years later for Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros’ own headline show.

Beards and gin at the ready, tonight’s sold-out crowd fills every corner of the Enmore. A seated back section harbours Woodstock vibes with unbrushed hair and thrifted wardrobes, while at the front the tweenies bop restlessly, a clumped amoeba of sorts.

Named after their hometown (fun fact: the first place in Australia to see the sun every morning), local indie rockers Mt Warning are the first phenomenon we witness tonight. The three-piece offers up a grunge-laden appetiser of a set, punctuated by silences and slinky guitar rhythms. Eventually, the crowd surrenders its attention, immersed in lead man Mikey Bee’s glottal-stopping vocal prose and stunning vibrato.

Grinning at his female counterpart, the footwear-forgoing Jade Castrinos, Ebert casually throws out a question to his wonderstruck spectators. “Well, what do you wanna hear next?” Their entire catalogue is fought for, ‘Give Me A Sign’ eventually winning and prompting the band into steady, beautifully organic a capella harmonies.

Castrinos waltzes down to the floor, pulling playfully at her long emerald dress, and all are entranced. With any hint of a pre-planned setlist down the drain, the band delivers a room-blitzing opener to ‘I Don’t Wanna Pray’, while Ebert offers the microphone to a ‘randomly selected’ audience member to sing whatever she likes. In true blockbuster form, she belts out a verse with a perfect Southern Americana twang, sending the audience into euphoric screams and applause.

The Californians prove themselves Jacks of all genres, from roots to reggae, folk-pop, classical jazz and even a bit of Rastafarian rap. By the time the cathartic ‘Home’ shakes the room, the entire top balcony is on foot, leaning over the rails with dangerous desperation to get a final glimpse. You can almost still hear them humming.

Mina Kitsos

“I am a man on fi re,” croons golden boy Ebert, looking every bit the folk messiah centre-stage in his comfy-loafers-andstriking-crimson-blazer ensemble. His messy top-bun is the epitome of grimychic, bouncing around as he gallivants from one side of the stage to the other, kissing fans’ foreheads and hunching over to catch some in warm embraces, mid-song. TMZ, in their ten-piece glory, command the room.

KE PHOTOGRAPHER :: KATRINA CLAR

WITH SPECIAL GUESTS

‘They bring it live; big sound, huge drums and a soaring vocal” - ZAN ROWE, TRIPLE J

TUESDAY 3 JUNE OXFORD ART FACTORY MOSHTIX.COM.AU | 1300 438 849

ON SALE 10AM THURSDAY 24 APRIL FOR EXCLUSIVE PRE-SALE INFORMATION GO TO FRONTIERTOURING.COM ROYALBLOODBAND.COM FRONTIERTOURING.COM thebrag.com

‘OUT OF THE BLACK’ EP AVAILABLE NOW BRAG :: 558 :: 16:04:14 :: 37

snap sn ap

live reviews

up all night out all week . . .

What we've been out to see...

ARCHITECTURE IN HELSINKI, WORLD’S END PRESS Metro Theatre Friday April 11 ‘Pop’ needn’t be a dirty word and it’s certainly not in the hands of Architecture In Helsinki. Excellent material from new LP Now + 4EVA was delivered with plenty of feel-good factor and just the right amount of kitsch.

World’s End Press must be one of the hardest-working bands in Australia right now, and their significant time on the road promoting their debut album has certainly been of benefit to their live show. They’re thrilling to watch and the energy of lead singer John Parkinson easily infiltrates a sparse crowd. If WEP are supporting at the next gig you’re due to see, you must get there early enough to enjoy them.

one of the few older tracks played, and stupidly catchy new track ‘I Might Survive’.

Kellie Sutherland’s voice has never sounded sweeter.

Architecture In Helsinki’s art school background is obvious in their attention to detail. The little touches – coordinating Kellie’s bangles with the rest of the band members’ clothing; the addition of the horns – really added to the sense of fun.

The band left any earnestness at the door and delighted in presenting an excellent set of new songs. It all rubbed off on a crowd which made for the exit probably taking life a bit less seriously than it did a couple of hours before.

David Wild PHOTOGRAPHER :: ASHLEY MAR

‘Escapee’ upped the joy levels among the audience, a great many of which were now in a silly enough mood to join Cameron Bird in singing the high-pitched, drawn-out refrain of “Taking me for a ri-ii-i-ide” with hands raised. A cod-reggae cover of Tame Impala’s ‘Feels Like We Only Go Backwards’ slotted in perfectly towards the end of the set between the cheesy line dancing of ‘Do The Whirlwind’,

sosueme ft glass towers

PICS :: JA

Architecture In Helsinki’s pastel wardrobe – echoing the colours on the new album’s artwork – was all the more arresting after WEP’s grungy look. It was an ideal visual accompaniment to cartoony electro opener ‘In The Future’.

A three-piece brass section (The Helsinki Horns) and some shoulder-and-stepping choreography added a Motown element to ‘Before Tomorrow’.

allen stone

PICS :: KC

09:04:14 :: Beach Road Hotel :: 71 Beach Rd Bondi Beach 9130 7247

13:04:14 :: Metro Theatre :: 624 George St Sydney 9550 3666 OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER

38 :: BRAG :: 558 :: 16:04:14

S :: JAMES AMBROSE :: KATRINA

CLARKE :: ASHLEY MAR ::

thebrag.com

snap sn ap

the corps

PICS :: AM

the maze

PICS :: AM

up all night out all week . . .

john butler trio

PICS :: AM

13:04:14 :: Frankie's Pizza :: 50 Hunter St Sydney

11:04:14 :: The Hordern Pavilion :: 11 Driver Ave, Moore Park 9921 5333

12:04:14 :: Upstairs Beresford :: level 1 354 Bourke St Surry Hills 8313 5000 thebrag.com

beth hart

PICS :: AM

red ink + i know leopard

PICS :: KC

12:04:14 :: The Standard Bowl :: level 3 383 Bourke St Surry Hills

13:04:14 :: The Basement :: 7 Macquarie Pl Sydney 9251 2797 BRAG :: 558 :: 16:04:14 :: 39

g g guide gig g

send your listings to : gigguide@thebrag.com

pick of the week Erykah Badu

THURSDAY APRIL 17

The Star Event Centre

Erykah Badu + Hiatus Kaiyote

ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY, BLUES & FOLK

Pulp Kitchen And Folk Club - feat: Live Rotating Folk Bands Soda Factory, Surry Hills.

5pm. free.

JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC Lionel Cole Imperial Hotel, Paddington.

8pm. free.

Supafly Jam Night (Open Mic) - feat: Gang Of Brothers Vintage Night Club, Sydney.

8pm. free.

Ben Gunn Fortune Of War, The Rocks.

7pm. free.

Concert On The Park - feat: Stuart Davey Campsie RSL, Campsie. 1pm. free.

Devendra Banhart + Yon Yonson Factory Theatre, Marrickville.

8pm. $71.50.

Fat Bubba’s Chicken 40 :: BRAG :: 558 :: 16:04:14

THURSDAY APRIL 17 ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY, BLUES & FOLK

Joanne Shaw Taylor + The Morrisons The Basement, Circular Quay.

9pm. $30.

Live Music Thursdays Bar100, The Rocks. 5pm. free.

Tim Pringle

ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY, BLUES & FOLK

Nag’s Head Hotel, 8:15pm. free.

JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC Cole Soul And Emotion feat: Lionel Cole The White Horse, Surry Hills.

8pm. free.

Erykah Badu + Hiatus Kaiyote The Star Event Centre, Pyrmont. 8pm. $89.90.

Hue Williams + The Roadrunners Lane Cove Club, Lane Cove.

7:30pm. free.

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS

10 O’Clock Rock Frankie’s Pizza, Sydney.

10pm. free.

8 Foot Sativa + Tensions Arise + Not Another Sequel Just Another Prequel + To The Grave + Foundry Road Valve Bar, Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 8pm. $20.

Brian King + Al Showman Chatswood RSL, Chatswood.

12pm. free.

Dee Donovan Revesby Workers Club, Revesby. 8pm. free.

Eleanor Dunlop Brighton Up Bar, Darlinghurst.

7pm. $12.

Elliot The Bull

JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC Jazz Hip-Hop Freestyle Sessions Foundry616, Ultimo. 11:30pm. free.

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS

After Dark Penrith RSL, Penrith. 9pm. free.

Animistic + Bayou - feat: Swamp Harlot + Festering Drippage + Burial Chamber + The Archaic Revival Valve Bar, Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 5pm. $10.

Big Radio Dynamite Revesby Workers Club, Revesby. 8:30pm. free.

Big Rich Club Engadine, Engadine.

5pm. free.

GTS Ramsgate RSL, Sans Souci.

8pm. free.

Kreator + Death Angel Manning Bar, Camperdown.

5:30pm. $59.

Live Music At The Royal The Royal, Leichhardt.

9:30pm. free.

The Lazys Lansdowne Hotel, Chippendale. 8pm. free.

The Spindraft Saga The Bald Faced Stag, Leichhardt. 5:30pm. $12.

SATURDAY APRIL 19 JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC Bird Yard Big Band Penrith RSL, Penrith. 2pm. free.

Hue Williams Hardys Bay Club, Hardys Bay. 7:30pm. free.

The Wailers + Sly & Robbie And The Taxi Gang Enmore Theatre, Newtown.

7:30pm. $96.60.

VR Productions Presents: Village Country Jam Gallery, Bondi Junction.

9:30pm. $20.

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS

Barry Leef Canterbury League Club, Belmore. 8pm. free.

Cath & Him Crown Hotel, Camden. 8pm. free.

Far Away Stables Factory Theatre, Marrickville.

8pm. free.

Groovology Revesby Workers Club, Revesby. 8:30pm. free.

Hunx And His Punx + Shannon & The Clams Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $33.80.

Shackles Valve Bar, Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 7pm. $10.

Step-Panther + High-Tails Standard Bowl, Surry Hills.

8pm. free.

The Almost + Young Lions + Drawing North Factory Theatre, Marrickville.

6pm. $37.50.

The Bandits Ramsgate RSL, Sans Souci.

8pm. free.

The Lazys Tattersalls Hotel Penrith, Penrith. 8pm. free.

The Spindraft Saga Small Ballroom, Newcastle.

8pm. $12.

The Widowbirds + I Know Leopard + DJ Kristy Lee Upstairs Beresford, Surry Hills. 6pm. free.

Hunx And His Punx Trixie Whitley The Basement, Circular Quay.

7:30pm. $44.

Video DJ Matt Whitelaw AKA Mister Styles Mounties, Mount Pritchard.

8pm. free.

ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY, BLUES & FOLK

An Americana Afternoon feat: The Weeping Willows + Caitlin Harnett + Katie Brianna Petersham Bowling Club, Petersham. 3pm. $10.

Kelly Hope Gladstone Hotel, Chippendale.

7pm. free.

Mark Wilkinson + Anabelle Keys Lizotte’s, Newcastle. 8pm. $30.

Musos Club Jam Night The Bald Faced Stag, Leichhardt. 8pm. free.

Paul Hayward And Friends Town & Country Hotel, St Peters. 4pm. free.

SUNDAY APRIL 20 ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY, BLUES & FOLK

Chill Out Sundays Scubar, Sydney. 7:30pm. free.

Intimate Sessions Paragon Hotel, Sydney. 6pm. free.

Live Music Sundays Bar100, The Rocks. 1pm. free.

Sunday Blues And Roots The White Horse, Surry Hills.

5pm. free.

The Roadrunners Marrickville Bowling Club, Marrickville. 4:30pm. free.

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS After Party Band Revesby Workers Club, Revesby. 8pm. free.

Band Down Under St George Leagues Club, Kogarah. 8:30pm. free.

The Widowbirds

The Widowbirds by Andrew Meli

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS

Wednesdays Soda Factory, Surry Hills.

5pm. free.

Gang Of Brothers Jam Gallery, Bondi Junction.

8pm. $12.

Happy Hippies Ettamogah Hotel, Kellyville Ridge. 6:30pm. free.

Hitseekers Three Wise Monkeys, Sydney.

10pm. free.

Jimmy Vaughan + Nikki Hill Metro Theatre, Sydney.

7:30pm. $72.80.

Nova & The Experience + Enerate Marble Bar, Sydney. 7pm. free.

Owen Campbell Lizotte’s, Newcastle. 8pm. $20.

Tatler Sydney (Live Til Midnight) Tatler, Darlinghurst. 8pm. free.

Videview Valve Bar, Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 7pm. $5.

FRIDAY APRIL 18

Live Music Fridays Bar100, The Rocks. 5pm. free.

8pm. $89.90.

WEDNESDAY APRIL 16

Entrance Leagues Club, 8pm. $13.80.

Grooveworks Revesby Workers Club, Revesby. 12pm. free.

Joe Echo Dee Why Hotel, Dee Why. 9pm. free.

KC & The Sunshine Band + War Enmore Theatre, Newtown.

7:30pm. $60.

Luke Dixon Duo Coogee Bay Hotel, Coogee.

11:30pm. free.

Morcheeba + Chali 2Na Metro Theatre, Sydney. 8pm. $84.10.

Nova And The Experience + Tully On Tully + DJ Kristy Lee Upstairs Beresford, Surry Hills. 6pm. free.

Owen Campbell Old Manly Boatshed, Manly.

8:30pm. free.

Robben Ford (With Band) + Matthew Curry Factory Theatre, Marrickville.

7pm. $66.

Ross Maio Revesby Workers Club, Revesby. 12pm. free.

Straight Arrows + Roamin Catholics + Yo Grito DJs Standard Bowl, Surry Hills.

8pm. free.

Susan Jon Rose Revesby Workers Club, Revesby. 12pm. free.

The Delta Riggs The Roller Den, Erskineville.

8pm. $15.85.

The Firetree Vic On The Park, Marrickville.

4pm. free.

The Kamis Revesby Workers Club, Revesby. 8:30pm. free.

The Late Night Soda Social Soda Factory, Surry Hills.

5pm. free.

thebrag.com

g g guide gig g

send your listings to : gigguide@thebrag.com Curbside Twisters Penrith RSL, Penrith. 2pm. free.

Lance Link Ramsgate RSL, Sans Souci.

2pm. free.

Mini Mobile Farm Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Donoghues Irish Pub, Emu Plains. 12pm. free.

Suzanne Vega + Seth Lakeman Factory Theatre, Marrickville.

6:30pm. $66.20.

The Lazys Frankieâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Pizza, Sydney.

8pm. free.

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Latin & Jazz Jam Open Mic Night World Bar, Kings Cross. 7pm. free.

Mambo Mondays Bar100, The Rocks. 5:30pm. free.

Motown Mondays - feat: Soulgroove The White Horse, Surry Hills.

8pm. free.

Reggae Monday Civic Underground, Sydney.

10pm. free.

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS Frankieâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s World Famous House Band Frankieâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Pizza, Sydney.

9pm. free.

Gregg Allman + Govâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t Mule + Devon Allman

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Enmore Theatre, Newtown.

6:45pm. $60.

TUESDAY APRIL 22 INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS Ned Collette + Wirewalker feat: Rand & Holland + The Singing Skies Midnight Special, Newtown.

8pm. free.

Underground Tuesdays - feat: Declan Kelly + Kirrakamere + Luke Carra + Ryan Thomas Bar 34 Bondi, Bondi Beach.

8:30pm. free.

ACOUSTIC/

COUNTRY/BLUES/ FOLK Innersoul Live Play Bar, 6pm. free.

JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC

Ben Hauptmannâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Wes Montgomery Project St Lukeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Church And Hall, Enmore. 7:30pm. $30.

Bruce Cale & Don Reid & Guy Strazullo & Alex Masso St Lukeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Church And Hall, Enmore. 7:30pm. $30.

Greening From Ear To Ear St Lukeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Church And Hall, Enmore. 9pm. $30.

Kinetic Cinema + Sweet & Lovely + Jive Talk (The Nazz) St Lukeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Church And Hall, Enmore. 10:30pm. $30.

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Apr

(9:30PM - 12:30AM)

fri

(9:30PM - 12:30AM)

GOOD FRIDAY

18 Apr

(7:00PM - 10:00PM)

(3.00PM - 6.00PM)

SATURDAY AFTERNOON

sat

19

(4:30PM - 7:30PM)

Apr

EASTER SUNDAY sun

20 Apr

(8:30PM - 12:00AM)

(9:30PM - 1:15PM)

mon

tue

21

22

Apr

Apr

(2:00PM - 5:30PM)

thebrag.com

(4:30PM - 7:30PM)

(9:30PM - 12:30AM)

BRAG :: 558 :: 16:04:14 :: 41

gig picks up all night out all week...

Devendra Banhart

Devendra Banhart + Yon Yonson Factory Theatre, Marrickville. 8pm. $71.50.

SATURDAY APRIL 19 The Wailers + Sly & Robbie And The Taxi Gang Enmore Theatre, Newtown. 7:30pm. $96.60.

Jimmy Vaughan + Nikki Hill Metro Theatre, Sydney. 7:30pm. $72.80.

Hunx And His Punx + Shannon & The Clams Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $33.80.

Nova & The Experience + Enerate Marble Bar, Sydney. 7pm. Free.

Step-Panther + High-Tails Standard Bowl, Surry Hills. 8pm. Free.

THURSDAY APRIL 17

The Almost + Young Lions + Drawing North Factory Theatre, Marrickville. 6pm. $37.50.

Eleanor Dunlop Brighton Up Bar, Darlinghurst. 7pm. $12.

KC & The Sunshine Band + War Enmore Theatre, Newtown. 7:30pm. $60.

Morcheeba + Chali 2Na Metro Theatre, Sydney. 8pm. $84.10.

Robben Ford (With Band) + Matthew Curry Factory Theatre, Marrickville. 7pm. $66.

The Delta Riggs The Roller Den, Erskineville. 8pm. $15.85.

The Widowbirds + I Know Leopard + DJ Kristy Lee Upstairs Beresford, Surry Hills. 6pm. Free.

Trixie Whitley The Basement, Circular Quay. 7:30pm. $44.

SUNDAY APRIL 20 Suzanne Vega + Seth Lakeman Factory Theatre, Marrickville. 6:30pm. $66.20.

MONDAY APRIL 21 FRIDAY APRIL 18 Kreator + Death Angel Manning Bar, Camperdown. 5:30pm. $59.

Gregg Allman + Govâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t Mule + Devon Allman Enmore Theatre, Newtown. 6:45pm. $60.

Step-Panther

42 :: BRAG :: 558 :: 16:04:14

thebrag.com

Xxx

WEDNESDAY APRIL 16

brag beats

BRAG’s guide to dance, hip hop and club culture

dance music news club, dance and hip hop in brief... with Chris Honnery

five things WITH

SI JAMES AND BEN HALL FROM DELTA HEAVY

Fred P.

MAD RACKET FT FRED PETERKIN

Veteran house music proponent Fred Peterkin, known best for his output as Fred P. and Black Jazz Consortium, will headline the next Mad Racket on Saturday April 26 at Marrickville Bowling Club. Hailing from Queens, and having honed his DJ skills around the NYC club circuit, Peterkin’s sound traverses soulful house influences and tougher techno beats. Peterkin oversees the Soul People Music imprint and has a formidable discography that comprises collaborations with Move D, co-releases with Vakula and releases on Jus-Ed’s Underground Quality label. Earlier this year he launched a new series on his Boards label with an unmixed compilation of tracks on vinyl entitled Selected: Compiled By Fred P. As ever, the resident racketeers Jimmi James, Ken Cloud and Simon Caldwell will provide able DJ support. $40 presale tickets can be purchased via the interweb.

SALMONELLA DUB Growing Up SJ: My mother is a 1. music teacher so I was always around musical instruments as a child.

There were lots of random percussion bits as well as the traditional ones including the piano, violin and clarinet, which she sent me to lessons for unsuccessfully.

It wasn’t until I acquired a £25 electric guitar with a headphone amp from Argos that I became hooked with music. I taught myself by playing along to Blur every night after school for years and started a band with my mates for fun.

BH: I listened to stuff like Guns N’ Roses growing up until I asked for a set of Technics 1210s for Christmas when I was 15 and never looked back. I started mixing and buying fairly commercial house and trance on vinyl before swiftly getting interested in progressive house and breaks, a scene which was exploding at the time. After sneaking into my

YOUNG MARCO

first DnB night a year later I became instantly hooked by the energy of the music and the pace of the DJ sets and started avidly collecting DnB vinyl. 15 years later DJing is still my number one passion and the biggest part of my personal identity.

DnB tracks and another tune that can only be described as some kind of rave/trap/ jungle hybrid. Our sets are always an eclectic mix of tempos and styles and we try and take people on a journey, hopefully introducing them to something new.

Live favourites Salmonella Dub will step out as the five-piece Salmonella Dub Soundsystem when they play in Sydney, a show that coincides with their new single, ‘Same Home Town’.

The New Zealand dub exponents have been in the game for over two decades, blending

rock, jazzy horns, DnB, electronica and reggae throughout their discography. Their lauded live show, described by the Big Easy’s Lee Potter Cavanagh as “brilliant”, will comprise a horn section and percussion along with MC The Mighty Asterix on the mic and Andrew in the mix. They play Friday May 2 at Manning Bar.

HTRK

Inspirations Music, Right Here, SJ: Damon Albarn is Right Now 2.

5. one of my biggest influences.

Dance music is evolving The diversity and evolution of his music is inspiring and his songwriting is fantastic.

BH: To name a few – Quincy Jones, Prince, Giorgio Moroder, Richie Hawtin.

Your Crew We’re good friends 3. with Chase & Status, Sub Focus, Culture Shock, Wilkinson, Brookes Brothers.

We are all London-based.

4.

The Music You Make We make a range of dance music, from drum and bass, dubstep and electro to house and garage. Our new Apollo EP comprises of two

Dutch producer Marco Sterk, who plays under the guise of Young Marco, will headline a Good Friday warehouse party on Friday April 18 as part of his maiden tour of Australia. Marco has established himself as a crate digger and producer, with his discography including remixes of Soft Rocks, afro legend Francis Bebey and Heatsic and a few EPs that showcase his “zonked house” sound characterised by broken drum machines and ’90s synths. For the free edit series curated by Cosmo Vitelli’s I’m A Cliche label he delivered a delectable re-edit of the ‘telescope’ theme from Brian De Palma’s 1984 “torture porn” Body Double, a film the director made as a reaction to the censors’ attempts to edit Scarface that is heavily

at a ridiculous pace at the moment. It is an interesting time as I think you’ll see a lot of people really looking to find something new and experiment with new sounds, and possibly breaking away from moving in packs.

It would be good to see people following individual paths rather than following formulas to such a huge degree.

With: Kyphosis, Linken, Struz and more What: Apollo out now through Ram Records Where: Chinese Laundry When: Thursday April 17

referenced by American Psycho’s infamous protagonist Patrick Bateman. Young Marco’s tour coincides with the release of his debut album, Biology, which is out this month on ESP Institute. Comprised of seven instrumental tracks, Sterk did his best to counteract ESP’s description of the LP as “a passionate album” by dead batting that it “is not a huge deal… it’s just some music that fits together.” After a bit of prodding, he warmed up – a little. “There is more space for tracks to do less on an album.

You can have a track that doesn’t really go anywhere and that can be cool, not boring.”

Evidently not a natural-born salesman, Young Marco will be playing in an intimate venue that has a capacity of 200 people. Securing a presale ticket stat would be a wise move for prospective revellers.

HTRK

Highly touted duo Jonnine Standish and Nigel Yang, collectively HTRK, are back on their home shores to launch their new album Psychic 9-5 Club at The Civic Underground on Saturday May 10. Psychic 9-5 Club is the first album HTRK have recorded entirely as a duo – former band member Sean Stewart died during the production phase of their last LP, 2011’s Work (Work Work). After a period coming to grips with the situation and taking a break from the studio, the pair came together to create Psychic 9-5 Club. “We both really like the idea of that energy that can exist between the hours of nine to five, which for a lot of people are wasted hours, or hours of just going through the motions,” Standish said of the pair’s latest release, which is out now on the Ghostly International label. HTRK will be joined by Alba, Guerre, and DJs Spiral Sounds and Dave Fernandes.

BRAG :: 558 :: 16:04:14 :: 43

dance music news

free stuff

club, dance and hip hop in brief... with Chris Honnery

head to: thebrag.com/freeshit

five things WITH

JOELISTICS + DIALECTRIX

P-MONEY into their world is unmatched.

Also DJ Premier, RZA, Pete Rock, T-Ray, Dilla, the whole D.I.T.C. crew – these are the producers that inspired me to make beats.

and some DJ Mustard tracks. I mix them alongside beats by Mr. Carmack, HudMo, RL Grime, DJ Snake, Diplo/Major Lazer… that sort of thing.

Your Crew Most of my friends are 3. the artists and industry people

Music, Right Here, Right Now 5.

It’s a very creative time in music.

I’ve worked with throughout the years. I love all my crew, yet still at the heart of it I’m very much a loner type character. If it wasn’t for music I might not have any friends at all, ha! I love collaborating with different rappers and singers and also mentoring artists, helping develop their careers.

It’s the first time in history that (almost) anyone can access professional recording and production software and have the means to share it with the world.

The entire process can be done from your laptop in your bedroom.

So we have a lot of great, talented producers coming out that are young and giving their stuff away for free. On one hand, it’s great that you can do it yourself and reach a lot of people, but on the other hand we’re getting fooled into thinking that creativity no longer has any financial value and that your work must be freely distributed, and the public aren’t obliged to give anything back to the people making this music. That’s a false economy.

Good music has value!

The Music You Make I make hip hop and 4. occasionally I make dance Growing Up I grew up in Papakura, 1.

South Auckland, New Zealand.

My home wasn’t very musical besides whatever was playing on the radio. I think TV was influential on me as a kid. I was fascinated with anything hip hoprelated that came on television.

Rap videos, breakdancing, graffiti art; I was obsessed with the

Inspirations My favourites span across 2. many decades and genres but hip

records too. My biggest records are the songs I made with Scribe, Akon and Vince Harder. My latest single is called ‘Baddest’ featuring Gappy Ranks. It’s a killer.

hop from ’88-’94 was my biggest influence. Public Enemy was huge for me. The sound of their early albums just blew my mind, it still does. The way they created a wall of sound and brought you

My DJ sets are a mix of hip hop and club styles. Lately I’ve been spinning a lot of new rap; A$AP Ferg, ScHoolboy Q, Young Thug, of course Drake, Yeezey, Kendrick

culture from a really young age.

Chela

Melbourne artist Joelistics is kicking off a nationwide tour to celebrate the release of his new single ‘In The Morning’, co-headlining with fellow hip hopper Dialectrix. Bringing a mish-mash of English post punk and ’90s grunge influences to his work, Joelistics has a flair for creating simple yet rhythmic lyrics, all in a true blue Aussie voice. He is set to release his second album, Blue Volume, on Elefant Traks in June. In the meantime, we have two double passes to give away to his show with Dialectrix at The Roller Den on Friday May 23 – so for your chance to score one, hip hop over to thebrag.com/freeshit and tell us what your rapper name would be.

Joelistics

Where: Marquee When: Friday April 25

ANZAC EVE FRANKIE KNUCKLES TRIBUTE PARTY

Another week, another Frankie Knuckles tribute party, held this time on Thursday April 24 – ANZAC Day eve – at The Burdekin.

For anyone living under a very large rock, Knuckles passed away recently at the age of 59. Knuckles was responsible for classic cuts such as ‘Your Love’ and ‘Baby Wants To Ride’, while DJing at a range of celebrated NY and Chicago venues from the 1970s onwards.

Mad Racket’s Simon Caldwell, Ben Drayton and the Heavenly DJs will all spin and pay homage to ‘the Godfather of house’, with entry $10 all night.

SÉBASTIEN LÉGER

Veteran French tech house producer Sébastien Léger headlines a Strange

Clouds boat party on Saturday April 26 together with Argentina’s Martin Garcia, who will be making his Australian debut. Léger oversees his own label, Mistakes Music, and has notched up a number of club thumpers over the course of his 20-odd years in the game, including ‘Le Moustique’, ‘Majuro’ and a Michael Jackson rerub ‘PYT’. The other headliner, Señor Garcia, has shared the decks with the likes of Sasha, Jimmy Van M and Danny Howells. He’s backed up this success with his production output, which comprises solo works along with collaborations with Hernan Cattaneo and remixes of Paul Oakenfold and Bedrock head honcho John Digweed. Rodskeez Strange, Clouds DJs and Friendless will also be representing on the boat which departs at 4:30pm outside the Sydney Aquarium pier.

Tickets are available online for $50.

Shit Robot

KITSUNÉ LABEL PARTY

Frenchie Pyramid and Chela will headline a Kitsuné record label party at The Civic Underground on Saturday May 17. The Parisian label draws its name from a mythological Japanese fox, and has been churning out electro-tinged club anthems for over a decade. Frenchie Pyramid had his track ‘Wolf’ featured on the label’s Parisien 3 compilation and released an EP entitled So Far Gone with Crayon. Chela is a homegrown electropop artist who featured on Clubfeet’s single ‘Heartbreak’, Goldroom’s summer anthem ‘Fifteen’ and ‘Romanticise’ with D-Cup. There’s also the alluring prospect of further acts to be added to the lineup.

KÖLSCH

Half-Danish, half-Irish DJ and producer Kölsch is coming to town. Kölsch has been churning out tracks under various monikers – Rune, Rune RK and Ink and Needle – since the mid-’90s. He was responsible for the Balearic anthem ‘Calabria’ before he unveiled his Kölsch moniker. From this point, Kölsch has released a number of EPs along with the album 1977 on Kompakt records, while he has also remixed the likes of GusGus, Kris Menace and Australia’s own Panama on the Future Classic label.

Renowned for producing ‘big’ euphoric and melodic tracks that are tailored for the nightclub dancefloor, the Dane elucidates, “I want to make techno music, or club music, from the heart. I think it’s important to have this emotional thing.”

The support lineup is headed by Michelle Owen, who has recently returned to Australia 44 :: BRAG :: 558 :: 16:04:14

from Berlin. The party will run from 3pm to 11pm, Saturday May 17 at Flyover Bar.

HOUSE OF MINCE BIRTHDAY FT DEEPCHILD

The House of Mince turns three at The Imperial in Erskineville on Saturday May 3. Headlining proceedings will be one of Sydney’s foremost techno exports Rick Bull AKA Deepchild. Bull established himself in Sydney’s underground techno circuit before moving to Berlin about seven years ago, where the former FBi Sunset host has performed at renowned nightclubs like Berghain and Tresor. He also released the acclaimed Neukölln Burning album in 2012, his first LP since moving to Berlin. Bull will be playing a live set ahead of Melbourne’s Kiti, Ben Drayton and Pink Lloyd, with presale tickets online for $15.

GORGE + SHIT ROBOT

Two internationals from vastly different backgrounds, Gorge and Shit Robot, make up an international double bill for the last in Leased’s series of summer parties: a Good Friday public holiday bash at Ivy Pool Club. Shit Robot cut his teeth as a DJ in NYC alongside James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem, curating renowned nights like Plant and the Shit Robot party. He has released regularly on Murphy’s DFA label, putting out a string of acclaimed 12-inches as well as the album From The Cradle To The Rave, which featured guest spots from The Juan Maclean and Alexis Taylor of Hot Chip fame. Mannheim producer Gorge has been crafting tech house for nearly a decade, accumulating a discography that includes EPs on labels such as 8bit and Freerange along with a number of remixes such a smooth rework of Chelonis R. Jones’ ‘Pompadour’ from a few years back. The party will run from midday to 10pm on Friday April 18.

BRAG :: 558 :: 16:04:14 :: 45

Sable Feeling Good By Adam Knight

W

hile Perth has never been short of talented producers, 2013 seemed like a banner year for our most isolated city, something that continues this year with a new brigade of hungry young beatsmiths delving into all manner of sounds.

At the forefront of the charge is John Dewhurst, AKA Sable, who in 2014 has already played shows in most capital cities, released a single that has dominated triple j airwaves, and signed a record deal. Having just started his first solo national tour, Dewhurst continues to kick goals, but he says a few moments stand out as the most memorable. “The gigs I played with the Nina Las Vegas Presents tour were all amazing.

The crowds were all vibing and made it so much fun. The first show of the EP tour in Brisbane was [also] fantastic,” he says.

There is plenty more to come from Sable, and given his live set was barely six months old when he first started travelling the country, you’d be forgiven for thinking nerves would play a role for the fresh-faced youngster.

“It’s amazing how many people are vibing to ‘Feels So Good’ and the rest of my music,” says Dewhurst. “The response was surprising for sure. It’s all taking off so fast. Triple j have been super supportive and the team at Pilerats Records have done an incredible job.”

Both tracks feature on the Feels So Good EP. “The music I make is definitely a reflection of how I’m feeling at the time,” Dewhurst says.

“The EP was intended to be a mix of textures and rhythms all reflecting a happy, summer vibe. As for my sound, I’m always trying to mix it up.”

Not one to bask in the glow of his own EP release, Dewhurst recently released a freefor-download edit of Justin Timberlake’s mid’00s grinder ‘My Love’ to plenty of fanfare, alongside a jam with fellow WA producers Slumberjack – another act at the forefront of the burgeoning Perth scene.

“Those guys are killing it. Expect more with them. Sid Pattni is killing it right now. He’s such a good songwriter. Palace is on the

Myles Mac

up and up. Leon Osborn is the Perth bass god and national mystery man. The buzz is building. In another game, Coin Banks is making waves in Oz hip hop.”

This young crew is also – unsurprisingly – by and large a pretty smart bunch, many of them coming from university backgrounds but still maintaining a desire to succeed in music.

Dewhurst is no different, having finished an engineering degree last year. He’s since put that career on hold to focus on music – a big decision, no doubt.

“It was a huge risk but this is a rare opportunity and I think now is the best time to go all in. I always have the degree to fall back on. For now, the shows have been so good and I have such an amazing team working with me that I feel pretty damn good about it.”

What: Feels So Good out now through Pilerats/Warner Where: The Wall, The World Bar When: Wednesday April 16

Garry Todd

Doyen Of Deepcast By Augustus Welby

BPitch Please By Augustus Welby

I

f you’re already an obsessive music-seeker then why not share your findings with an audience? Well, that’s essentially what Melbourne DJ Myles Mac has been doing for the best part of the last decade. Like many DJs, Mac’s a longstanding music freak who’s found a way to put his record-collecting fetish to good use.

“Besides the actual DJing part, I guess that is one of the only jobs of being a DJ,” he says. “I spend more money than I should on records.

A lot of them I never even get a chance to play. Once you have the bug it’s pretty hard to shake it, I think.”

Mac’s distribution of unheralded music to the masses isn’t limited to his regular club DJ spots. In 2009 he and fellow music nut/ electronic producer Andy Hart kickstarted the Melbourne Deepcast website. Initially hoping to present obscure electronic music to a broader Australian listenership, the site quickly became an internationally revered resource.

Melbourne Deepcast functions as an online zine, comprising feature articles and a guestprogrammed podcast series, which has seen episodes presented by the likes of Groove Armada, San Soda and Eric ‘Dr. Dunks’ Duncan. Now that Mac’s record collecting has

a vindicated utilitarian purpose, can he still do it simply for pleasure? “Personal enjoyment is always the first consideration,” he assures, “but I’m usually listening to records to try to imagine what vibe they would create.”

In addition to Melbourne Deepcast gaining international esteem, Mac ventured over to Europe in 2012, DJing in some of Germany’s most iconic venues. Europe is generally considered the globe’s electronic music mecca, but Mac insists Australia’s underground scene holds its own.

“Although the scales of our scenes are so disproportionate, the community aspect of our scene here in Melbourne is as strong as it is anywhere I’ve been to. Good music attracts good people wherever you are in the world, though, from my experience.”

In fact, Mac believes the electronic resurgence seen in the last few years has now reached a point where audiences are beginning to outgeek him.

“I was recently at my local record store and the store owner told me that there had been a bunch of young kids coming in lately asking for the latest Theo Parrish records and the like.

It’s great to see young DJs and punters who have obscure taste and know even more about records than you do.”

It’s fair to say Mac’s club shows and Melbourne Deepcast both played a part in revamping the local electronic underground. Mac’s story might read like that of a studious investigator and conscientious presenter of good tunes, but his DJ gigs are still basically an opportunity to practically implement his ravenous habits.

“I’ve never really been into planning sets too strictly,” he says. “I like to just have enough options for whatever the mood is of the night, but usually it’s just the new records I got that week and whichever semi-random selection of old records I can squeeze into my bag.” Regardless of this casual approach, Mac has proved himself capable of upholding momentum in a club while also introducing the revellers to new sounds. He brings this loaded bag of records to The Spice Cellar this long weekend and there’ll no doubt be some fresh purchases to air.

“I really like some of the ‘new’ Afrobeat records floating around at the moment. They might not seem too club-friendly to some but the music is just so happy that people generally can’t help but to move around to it.”

What: Thursday Spice featuring Airspace With: Nic Scali, Bazil, Nic Pesto Where: The Spice Cellar When: Thursday April 17

46 :: BRAG :: 558 :: 16:04:14

I

n recent years indie labels have taken on renewed tastemaking significance.

This is particularly true when it comes to contemporary electronic music. The mainstream EDM invasion has directed curiosity towards the underground electro scene, but it’s easy to be overwhelmed by the vast quantity of music available.

However, a noted label’s catalogue of releases can provide a reliable point of reference. UK/Sydney artist Garry Todd has announced a brand new EP, Time To Get Onit – his first through the highly regarded Berlin techno label BPitch Control.

“A mutual friend who was also on BPitch, she was saying that Ellen [Allien, label founder] had been playing my stuff,” Todd explains. “I had these four tracks that I’d been working on and I sent her one just to play out, because I thought another label was going to take it, but then she really wanted it.”

Todd’s past releases have been handled by a range of labels, including the UK’s 20:20 Vision and Illusion as well as his own Contemporary Scarecrow imprint.

Teaming up with BPitch Control is likely to recommend the eccentric techno and house producer to plenty of new ears. With this in mind, Todd’s assembled together some of his strongest traits.

“I made one main-room techno track and then a more house music-style track, so I made something for the Berghain and something for the [house-oriented] Panorama Bar. Then the third one’s kind of an acid drum track and the fourth one’s more of a dub techno. So I touched on four different styles of music within one EP. I wanted it to show people that I can play different sounds of music, rather than just being one-sound-minded.”

Although Todd endeavoured to exhibit stylistic diversity with this release, the EP’s development wasn’t delicately mapped out.

“It’s just whatever mood I get in,” he says.

“I don’t really go into the studio with any preconceived [idea of], ‘I’m going to do a techno track.’ I have an idea of what I’m going to do or I’ve heard something that gives me inspiration and I just take it from there. I think I’ve got, in my subconscious, my own style of how I produce. So whatever comes out, if it’s a house track or a techno track, I know it’s got my kind of style to it.”

Originally from Sunderland in northern England, Todd has called Sydney home for the best part of the last decade. Ever since his arrival Down Under he’s been hell-bent on injecting a vital edge into Sydney’s underground scene. Accordingly,

his motivations have never been purely mercenary.

“I never, ever look at the flavour-of-themonth style of music, because it’s got a three-month shelf life. It’s fair play to whatever’s popular, [but] I’m just concentrating on what I’m making. I’m not really looking outside to see what other people are doing.”

So, where does Todd seek out inspiration?

Well, rather than being influenced by what’s occupying the spotlight, he prefers an oldfashioned search-and-discover approach.

“I find the quality of what you see in the record store is superior to probably what you get on Beatport. You go to the record store, a good one anyway, you get the best of the best. They might have an EP which is like a broken house kind of bass track or something. You probably would have never come across [something like that] online.

I’ve been collecting records since I was 16 – I’m 32 now. I’ve got quite a good collection.”

What: The Fibonacci Festival With: Paranoid London, Jef K, Shit Robot, San Proper, Acid Mondays and more Where: Broken Bay, Hawkesbury When: Friday April 18 – Sunday April 20 And: Time To Get Onit out Friday April 25 through BPitch Control More: Also headlining the BPitch Control Release Party at The Spice Cellar on Saturday April 26 thebrag.com

xxx photo by xxxx

Not so, it seems. “I don’t really get nervous in front of crowds. Before my set I might get a few butterflies. I’m always wondering how the crowd will respond to any unreleased tunes that I play, but generally I’m just having fun during the set. All of my recent gigs have been so much fun from the start that the nerves just disappeared.”

‘Fun’ is definitely one descriptor of Dewhurst’s music – a hypercoloured swirl of peppy synths, Jersey club bounce and pitchedall-over-the-place vocals. It’s no wonder his debut single ‘Feels So Good’ has garnered so much traction, with the second single ‘Foolin’’ dropping recently.

Deep Impressions Dance And Electronica with Chris Honnery

Matthew Dear

T

he Texan techno titan – he also makes offbeat pop music, but that spoils the alliteration – Matthew Dear returns Down Under in June on the Queen’s Birthday long weekend. The Ghostly International main man is an extremely dexterous producer, exploring techno, minimal and pop soundscapes throughout his varied body of work. Dear is known to work under a range of different monikers, with his sound shifting depending on which of his aliases he is using. Dear stands out as something of an anomaly in the musical environ as he’s revered by both the Pitchfork-reading hipsters for his indie output – his Asa Breed album is a must for anyone who hasn’t checked it out – and the techno cognoscenti for his work as Audion, False and Jabberjaw. His track ‘Free To Ask’, remixed by D’Julz, functions as something of a techno/acid pop hybrid that could serve as a gateway to lure unsuspecting pop fans into the club realm – or indeed vice versa. Dear’s single ‘Dog Days’ from his debut LP Leave Luck To Heaven was voted one of Pitchfork’s Top 100 Songs of the decade – I personally cannot believe ‘Mouth to Mouth’ didn’t also crack the list – and he has also completed remixes for the xx, Charlotte Gainsbourg and more recently Jagwar Ma. Dear heads a hefty lineup that also features Hot Chip in DJ mode along with Cosmin TRG, Henry Saiz and Guy J who will all throw down at Home Nightclub on Sunday June 8.

“Four-four time is a kind of diametrical baton. It creates structure and acts as a kind of hostel warden to keep the pubescent samples in line. This is important in order to conjure up a fitting little dress for the playful bumblebees and weeds that are the samples.” We’ve come in on a totally off-thewall conversation between two purveyors of abstract electronic music (and even more abstract conversation): sample and collage artist Dennis Busch, AKA James DIN A4, and German producer Jan Jelinek, who releases under a range of monikers including Farben, which is the banner he’s opted to use in his latest project. Last European summer, Jelinek remixed his way through a range of Busch’s material. He has since selected ten of his favourite reworks to make up the album Farben Presents James DIN A4, which drops this week on Jelinek’s label Faitiche. Jelinek rarely releases as Farben, which is all the more reason to give the new album a listen. I mean, if the pair combine to make music anywhere near as well as they talk smack, the album should be a masterpiece, right?

LOOKING DEEPER THURSDAY APRIL 17 Barnt Club 77

FRIDAY APRIL 18 Young Marco Warehouse venue

SATURDAY MAY 10 HTRK Civic Underground

SUNDAY JUNE 8 Matthew Dear, Cosmin TRG Home Nightclub

Magazine label co-founder Barnt will play at Club 77 to kick off the Easter weekend on Thursday April 17. Barnt’s distinct blend of post-minimal and post‘kosmische’ – eh? – has propelled him to a position of prominence among left-field techno fans. Barnt’s discography includes releases on the seminal Kompakt label and Matias Aguayo’s experimental imprint Cómeme along with remixes of Tale Of Us, Michael Mayer and Daniel Avery.

However, as good as those remixes may be, Barnt topped them all with a blissedout remix of a 2010 track called ‘HyBoLT’

by German band Von Spar, which is apparently going to be released later this year – it would be criminal if it isn’t! “We want to add another little sentence to the book of German electronic music,” Barnt said when discussing the philosophy that drives his acclaimed Magazine label.

“We live in 2013 and have grown up with house, techno, trance, etc. We just think that too few people in Germany are aware what paths and traces have never been wandered. We always look for a space in the void instead of trying to ride the latest Anglo-American deep house waves, as some of our German colleagues seem to prefer.” As for his DJ ethos, Barnt revealed that he tries “to imagine what has never happened on a dancefloor and try to start from there”. Support comes from two lads who have done more for the appreciation of German techno Down Under than anyone I can think of, Mike Callander and Matt Aubusson.

Just remember boys – save the AngloAustralian deep house for another night.

Barnt

Direct all Deep Impressions-related feedback, praise, vitriol and other proposals to deep.impressions@yahoo.com. thebrag.com

BRAG :: 558 :: 16:04:14 :: 47

club guide g send your listings to : clubguide@thebrag.com

Chateau Flight

SATURDAY APRIL 19 CLUB NIGHTS

SUNDAY APRIL 20 The Bella Vista

Spice Afloat Sunset Cruise Audiofly + Chateau Flight + Michelle Own + Murat Kilic + Robbie Lowe

Cakes - feat: 4 Rooms Of Live Music + DJs And International Guests.

World Bar, Kings Cross. 8pm. $10.

Dilf Outback - feat: Alex Taylor + Chip Imperial Hotel, Erskineville.

10pm. $30.

El’ Circo - feat: Resident Circus Act Performers Slide Lounge, Darlinghurst.

7pm. $109.

Far Too Loud + Kid Kenobi + DJ Just 1 + Fingers + Ra Bazaar + Daniel Farley + Morgan + Andrew Wowk + U-Khan Chinese Laundry, Sydney.

8pm. $20.50.

FBi Hands Up! - feat: DJ Clockwerk + Special Friends With Benefits FBi Social, Kings Cross.

11:30pm. free.

Hai Life Goodgod Small Club, Sydney.

9pm. free.

Hook N Sling Marquee, Pyrmont. 10pm. $28.60.

Hot Dub Time Machine + Furnace & The Fundamentals Metro Theatre, Sydney. 8pm. $22.

Masif Saturdays Space, Sydney. 10pm. $25.

My Place Saturdays Bar100, The Rocks. 8pm. free.

Pacha Ivy Bar/Lounge, Sydney.

7:30pm. $32.80.

Sienna Saturdays - feat: Resident DJs The Establishment, Sydney.

9pm. free.

Soda Saturdays - feat: Resident DJs Playing Disco And Funk Soda Factory, Surry Hills. 5pm. free.

Spice 19.04 - feat: Cassette & Sam Francisco + Michelle Owen + Space Junk + Langdon Cook The Spice Cellar, Sydney.

10pm. free.

SUNDAY APRIL 20 CLUB NIGHTS

Glitter Ball 2014 - feat: DJ Kitty Glitter + Special Guests Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 10pm. $40.

Harbourfest 2014 - feat: Aston Shuffle DJs + Sosueme DJs + Nanna Does Smack + Fingers + Devola + Six Fingers + Murray Lake + Slo Clo + Jon De Beer + John Glover + Bruno Cargo Bar/Lounge, Sydney.

5pm. free.

La Fiesta - feat: Samantha Fox + Agee Ortiz + Av El Cubano + Resident DJ Willie Sabor The Establishment, Sydney.

8pm. free.

Martini Club And Friends feat: Ocky + Tom Kelly Goldfish, Kings Cross. 10pm. free.

OPM Wow - feat: Van She DJs + Act Yo Age + Redial + Tom Budin + Saville Marquee, Pyrmont. 10pm. $20.

S.A.S.H Sundays - feat: Secret Guest + Jef K + Mia Lucci + Jon Jak + Kerry Wallace + Tom Witheridge Flyover Bar, Sydney. 12pm. $10.

Spice Afloat Sunset Cruise - feat: Audiofly + Chateau Flight Bella Vista, Pyrmont. 2pm. $59.

Sundays In The City - feat: Various DJs The Slip Inn, Sydney. 12pm. free.

The Rhythm Of The Night (A 90s Party) - feat: Levins + Captain Franco + Nacho Pop + Ariane Mckinley + Batesy Goodgod Small Club, Sydney.

10pm. $10.

HIP HOP & R&B

Decypher Us Presents 4/20 - feat: Sleepwalker + 316 + Smacktown + Jinz Moss + Kosmic Culture + Baskiat + Stephen Arhipoff Valve Bar, Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 8pm. $18.

MONDAY APRIL 21 CLUB NIGHTS

Crab Racing Scubar, Sydney. 7pm. free.

DJ Mattia Goldfish, Kings Cross. 11pm. free.

TUESDAY APRIL 22 CLUB NIGHTS

Chu World Bar, Kings Cross. 9pm. free.

DJ Robin Goldfish, Kings Cross. 11pm. free.

2pm. $59.

WEDNESDAY APRIL 16 CLUB NIGHTS

DJ Tom Kelly Goldfish, Kings Cross. 11pm. free.

House Party Scubar, Sydney. 8pm. free.

Simo Soo Flinders Hotel, Surry Hills.

8pm. free.

Snapback - feat: Various Artists Newtown Hotel, Newtown.

7:30pm. free.

The Supper Club - feat: Resident DJs Kit & Kaboodle, Kings Cross.

10pm. free.

The Wall - feat: Sable World Bar, Kings Cross. 8pm. $5.

Whip It Wednesdays - feat: Various DJs Whaat Club, Kings Cross.

9pm. free. xxx

THURSDAY APRIL 17

HIP HOP & R&B

Decypher Us The Loft (UTS), Ultimo. 8pm. free.

CLUB NIGHTS

$5 Everything Scubar, Sydney. 5pm. free.

Delta Heavy + Kyphosis + Linken + Struz Chinese Laundry, Sydney.

9pm. $22.60.

48 :: BRAG :: 558 : 16:04:14

Easter Bunny Theme Party - feat: Starfuckers + Smokin Jo Mekhael + Front To Back + DJ Nino Brown Australian Hotel And Brewery, Rouse Hill. 9pm. free.

Erykah Badu Official After Party - feat: DJ Lo Down Loretta Brown + Mo’Funk + DJ Libre Goodgod Small Club, Sydney.

8pm. $36.80.

Flying Circus - feat: Tiefschwarz + Audiofly + Alex Niggeman The Hi-Fi, Moore Park. 10pm. $50.50.

Goldfish And Friends - feat: Regular Rotating Residents Goldfish, Kings Cross. 10pm. free.

Kicks World Bar, Kings Cross. 9pm. free.

Lights Out Ivy Bar/Lounge, Sydney. 8pm. free.

Loopy - feat: Drty Csh + Daschwood + Generous Greed + Guest DJs The Backroom, Kings Cross.

10pm. $12.

Physical Education - feat: Various DJs Flinders Hotel, Surry Hills.

10pm. free.

Pool Club Thursdays - feat: Resident DJs Ivy Bar/Lounge, Sydney. 5pm. free.

Solarium - feat: Solarium DJs + Live Acts Goodgod Small Club, Sydney.

9pm. free.

Strange Signals - feat: Morphosis + Antonio Giova Imperial Hotel, Erskineville.

10pm. $25.

The World Bar Thursdays World Bar, Kings Cross. 9pm.

free.

Thursday Spice - feat: Airspace + Myles Mac + Nic Scali + Bazil + Nic Pesto The Spice Cellar, Sydney.

10pm. free.

send your listings to : clubguide@thebrag.com

Sable

Far Too Loud + Kid Kenobi + DJ Just 1 + Fingers + Ra Bazaar + Daniel Farley + Morgan + Andrew Wowk + U-Khan Chinese Laundry, Sydney. 8pm. $20.50.

FRIDAY APRIL 18 CLUB NIGHTS

Argyle Fridays - feat: Resident DJs The Argyle, The Rocks. 6pm. free.

El’ Circo - feat: Resident Circus Act Performers Slide Lounge, Darlinghurst.

7pm. $109.

Factory Fridays - feat: Resident DJs Soda Factory, Surry Hills.

5pm. free.

Frisky Fridays Scubar, Sydney. 5pm. free.

Infamous Saturdays - feat: Live DJs Scubar, Sydney. 7pm. free.

Loco Friday - feat: Various Live Bands And DJs The Slip Inn, Sydney. 5pm. free.

Moonshine Fridays Ivy Bar/Lounge, Sydney. 7pm. free.

OPM Fridays Marquee, Pyrmont. 10pm. $35.

Ship Faced Cruise - feat: Doctor Dru + Touch Sensitive + LDRU & Yahtzel + Lewi McKirdy + Unknown Associates + Eratik + Fiktion + Blow Out DJs + Perve + Kiss Kiss + Lemond + Parental Guidance + Them Again

SATURDAY APRIL 19

WEDNESDAY APRIL 16 The Wall - feat: Sable World Bar, Kings Cross. 8pm. $5.

THURSDAY APRIL 17 Erykah Badu Official After Party - feat: DJ Lo Down Loretta Brown + Mo’funk + DJ Libre Goodgod Small Club, Sydney. 8pm. $36.80.

Flying Circus - feat: Tiefschwarz + Audiofly + Alex Niggeman The Hi-Fi, Moore Park. 10pm. $50.50.

Thursday Spice - Feat: Airspace + Myles Mac + Nic Scali + Bazil + Nic Pesto The Spice Cellar, Sydney. 10pm. Free.

FRIDAY APRIL 18 Summer Series - Feat: Gorg + Shit Robot Ivy Bar/Lounge, Sydney. 12pm. $44.

Hook N Sling Marquee, Pyrmont. 10pm. $28.60.

Hot Dub Time Machine + Furnace & The Fundamentals Metro Theatre, Sydney. 8pm. $22.

Spice 19.04 - feat: Cassette & Sam Francisco + Michelle Owen + Space Junk + Langdon Cook The Spice Cellar, Sydney. 10pm. Free.

SUNDAY APRIL 20 Harbourfest 2014 - feat: Aston Shuffle Djs + Sosueme Djs + Nanna Does Smack + Fingers + Devola + Six Fingers + Murray Lake + Slo Clo + Jon De Beer + John Glover + Bruno Cargo Bar/Lounge, Sydney. 5pm. Free.

OPM Wow - feat: Van She Djs + Act Yo Age + Redial + Tom Budin + Saville Marquee, Pyrmont. 10pm. $20.

S.A.S.H Sundays - feat: Secret Guest + Jef K + Mia Lucci + Jon Jak + Kerry Wallace + Tom Witheridge Flyover Bar, Sydney. 12pm. $10.

thebrag.com

Xxx

club pick of the week

King St Wharf (Wharf 9), Sydney. 6:30pm. $58.15.

Summer Series - feat: Gorg + Shit Robot Ivy Bar/Lounge, Sydney. 12pm. $44.

Young Marco Mystery Warehouse Party - feat: Noise In My Head + Steele Bonus + Pelvis + Hole In The Sky DJs Secret Location, Sydney.

10pm. $25.

snap up all night out all week . . .

PICS :: AM

chinese laundry ft dj hype party profile

ag and total eclipse

It’s called: AG (D.I.T.C./Showbiz and AG) and DJ Total Eclipse (X-Ecutioners) It sounds like: New York underground hip hop

s.a.s.h website launch

PICS :: AM

11:04:14 :: Chinese Laundry :: 111 Sussex St Sydney 8295 9999

13:04:14 :: Flyover Bar :: 275 Kent St Sydney 9262 1988

Acts: AG, DJ Total Eclipse, Def Wish Cast, Dialect & Despair Three songs you’ll hear on the night: ‘Fat Pockets’, ‘Next Level’, ‘Soul Clap’ And one you definitely won’t: Britney Spear s (anything) Sell it to us: This is the first-ever Australian tour New York boom-bap sound. AG is an MC who for one of the pioneers of the has a long list of classic hits either with his D.I.T.C. stable mates or with his production partner Showbiz.

He’s joined onstage by DJ Total Eclipse from X-Ecutioners and promises to set the stage on fire with straight-up New York hip hop.

The bit we’ll remember in the AM: AG onsta ge as he drops the classic tune ‘Soul Clap’!

Crowd specs: True-school hip hoppers Wallet damage: $40 + bf presale, $45 at the door Where: Civic Underground

chance waters + brendan mclean

PICS :: KC

When: Friday May 9

12:04:14 :: Oxford Art Factory :: 38-46 Oxford St Darlinghurst 9332 3711 OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER

thebrag.com

S :: MARK BOADO:: KATRINA CLAR

KE :: ASHLEY MAR ::

BRAG :: 558 :: 16:04:14 :: 49

snap

marquee ft apl.de.ap

PICS :: MB

up all night out all week . . .

spice ft pepperpot

PICS :: KC

11:04:14 :: Marquee :: The Star Sydney Pyrmont 9657 7737

12:04:14 :: The Spice Cellar :: 58 Elizabeth St Sydney 9223 5585

party profile

spice afloat It’s called: SPICE Afloat Sunset Cruise It sounds like: A cross between an orgasm and a continuous musical epiphany.

Acts: Audiofly, Château Flight, Michelle Owen , Murat Kilic, Robbie Lowe, Garth Linton, Mantra and EK Collective Three songs you’ll hear on the night: Audiofly – ‘Excuse My Wildness’ (Carl Craig Remix) Château Flight – ‘La Pregunta’ Kruse & Nuernberg – ‘We Find Deep’ (Mich elle Owen Remix) And one you definitely won’t: Europe – ‘The Final Countdown’ Sell it to us: After the incredible sold-out Spice Afloat NYD Sunrise Cruise with Audiojack and Lovebirds, the reckless minds behind SPICE and the Spice Cellar have crafted another perfect playgr ound to immerse you in an atmosphere of bespoke music, true love and unadulterated celebration.

The bit we’ll remember in the AM: Nothin g Crowd specs: Lovers not fighters Wallet damage: first release – $59 + bf; secon d release – $69 + bf Where: Sydney Harbour, boarding from Star Casino When: Easter Sunday, April 20. Don’t forget to bring your most eggcellent bunny ears.

12:04:14 :: Chinese Laundry :: 111 Sussex St Sydney 8295 9999 50 :: BRAG :: 558 :: 16:04:14

PICS :: AM

PICS :: AM

PICS :: KC

chinese laundry ft dj sliink

boat party ft nick warren + jody wisternoff 12:04:14 :: Bella Vista :: Starship Sydney, Darling Harbour OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER

S :: MARK BOADO:: KATRINA CLAR

KE :: ASHLEY MAR ::

thebrag.com

Apply now Trimester 2 commences

19 05 14

Australian Institute of Music

Australian Institute of Music, 1-55 Foveaux St, Surry Hills NSW For more information visit aim.edu.au or call 02 9219 5444 CR C RIC COS OS 006 66 65 5C