Brag#575

ISSUE NO. 575 AUGUST 13, 2014

FREE Now picked up at over 1,500 places across Sydney and surrounds. thebrag.com

MUSIC, FILM, THEATRE + MORE

INSIDE This Week

BOY & BE A R

Hometown shows are the hardest shows, say the local faves.

HILLTOP HOODS

BUSBY M A ROU

On pulling in different directions and moving as one.

C OL DR A IN

A taste of Japanese metalcore at Soundwave 2015.

CANDYLAND

Experimentation paid off for the EDM duo.

THE UNIVERSAL TRUTH

Plus

JOSH KLINGHOFFER FRANK IERO JEFF GREEN

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WED 20TH AUG

FREE

TRUEVIBE NATION

+SURECUT KIDS +BEASTSIDE

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rock music news welcome to the frontline: the latest touring and music news...with Chris Martin

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THE BRAG

five things WITH

LINCOLN

Growing Up Your Band I remember the day well, as a Lincoln is basically dark, 1.

3. timid seven-year-old, walking to my brooding indie-pop, piano-fuelled

Music, Right Here, Right Now 5.

I love the passion that the public

first piano lesson. The connection and passion was instant and from that day I’ve always created music – I used to watch films on mute and sit at the piano and compose my own music to the scenes. That’s my first memory of ever writing music.

has for new artists and the way that complete strangers are open to embracing their tunes and maintaining an ongoing love for them.

What springs to mind is the DMA’s EP launch, a free gig they put on one night in Camperdown – there was a line down the street to get in and people turned away, and crowd surfing at their very first gig! That was pretty damn cool. I also just saw Ásgeir. What a genius. It’s pretty hard to silence the Metro but he did it. Full respect and admiration for that.

2.

Inspirations I have vivid memories of my dad singing the likes of Simon & Garfunkel and Cat Stevens. The muffled sounds coming from the lounge room are ingrained in me and must have had some influence, surely. Of late? I love Ólafur Arnalds, an Icelandic producer who is a wizard with string loops blended with piano and electronics.

Oh and Rachmaninoff, a Late Romantic composer. That dude is an absolute legend.

and laced with haunting vocals and wicked industrial/electronic sounds. It’s dark, passionate and complex. The live show is going to be amazing, a three-piece set-up plus the beautiful addition of a live cellist.

The Music You Make I recorded with producer 4.

Michael McGlynn at Vienna People studios, Annandale.

We just connected instantly over the track ‘Fading Light’. I feel like that was borne out of some weird, innate connection and understanding between us. No words were needed, the magic just happened. And from that, the dark, brooding yet slightly weird vibe emerged and here we are.

Monuments

SOUNDWAVE’S FIRSTWAVE LINEUP

By way of whetting our appetites for the mammoth announcements ahead, the minds behind Soundwave Festival have released the first five acts on their 2015 lineup. The headliners will come soon, along with the full bill, but for now it’s time to get your ears around Japanese rockers Coldrain, poppunkers Patent Pending, California’s Butcher Babies, UK progressive tech-metal outfit Monuments and punk group The Interrupters. Soundwave 2015 will be split over two days at Sydney Olympic Park on Saturday February 28 and Sunday March 1.

MANAGING EDITOR: Chris Martin chris@thebrag.com 02 9212 4322 ONLINE EDITOR: Tyson Wray ONLINE COORDINATOR: Emily Meller SUB-EDITOR: Emily Meller STAFF WRITERS: Krissi Weiss, Augustus Welby NEWS: Chris Martin, Nic Liney, Amie Mulhearn, Tyson Wray ART DIRECTOR: Sarah Bryant PHOTOGRAPHERS: 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: Furst Media 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

RADIO BIRDMAN

Cult rock icons Radio Birdman will return to the stage this year for a brief run of shows.

Founding members Rob Younger, Deniz Tek and Pip Hoyle will join Jim Dickson and friends on tour in support of the reissue of the full Radio Birdman back catalogue, including both versions of 1977’s Radios Appear and the 1981 record Living Eyes. The box set will include a live recording from the band’s 1977 Paddington Town Hall gig. Radio Birdman play Newcastle’s Cambridge Hotel on Friday October 31 and Manning Bar at Sydney Uni on Saturday November 1.

GIG & CLUB GUIDE COORDINATORS: Nic Liney, Amie Mulhearn, Emily Meller gigguide@thebrag.com (rock); clubguide@ thebrag.com (dance, hip hop & parties) AWESOME INTERNS: Amie Mulhearn, Nic Liney, Fergus Halliday REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS: Nat Amat, Ian Barr, Prudence Clark, Keiron Costello, Marissa Demetriou, Christie Eliezer, Blake Gallagher, Cameron James, Tegan Jones, Lachlan Kanoniuk, Mina Kitsos, Emily Meller, Adam Norris, Daniel Prior, Kate Robertson, Erin Rooney, Leonardo Silvestrini, Amy Theodore, Rod Whitfield, Harry Windsor, Tyson Wray, 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. ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE: Luke Forrester: accounts@furstmedia.com.au ph - (03) 9428 3600 fax - (03) 9428 3611 Furst Media, 3 Newton Street Richmond Victoria 3121 DEADLINES: Editorial: Thursday 12pm (no extensions) Artwork/ad bookings: Friday 5pm (no extensions) Ad cancellations: Tuesday 4pm Published by Furst Media P/L ACN 1112480045 All content copyrighted to Cartrage P/L / Furst Media P/L 2003-2014 DISTRIBUTION: Wanna get the BRAG? Email distribution@ furstmedia.com.au or phone 03 9428 3600 PRINTED BY SPOTPRESS: www.spotpress.com.au 24 – 26 Lilian Fowler Place, Marrickville NSW 2204

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What: Visions Of A Fading Light out now With: Polarheart, Paul Conrad, Callum Wylie Where: FBi Social When: Saturday August 16

YOU AND MIA Joan Armatrading

The singular voice that belongs to Mia Dyson is on show across the country this October. It’s all in support of her ‘Idyllwild’ single, the second

lifted from her album of the same name, after a Californian town near where Dyson got married.

The tour checks in at Lizotte’s Central Coast on Wednesday October 1, Newtown Social Club on Thursday October 2 and Lizotte’s Newcastle on Friday October 3.

DANIEL MERRIWEATHER

Soulful solo man Daniel Merriweather has locked in a one-night-only Sydney show this month. The ARIA Award winner and regular collaborator with the biggest names in the biz – think Mark Ronson, Adele, Amy Winehouse and Urthboy – will play an intimate set with his backing band, showing off new material from a forthcoming record. It’ll be the longawaited follow-up to his 2009 debut, Love & War. Merriweather plays Oxford Art Factory on Friday August 29.

JOAN ARMATRADING

British singer, songwriter and guitarist Joan Armatrading has decided the game is up – after 42 years on and off the road, this year’s world tour is her last. Since her 1972 debut Whatever’s For Us, Armatrading has put out 20-odd records, and last visited our shores in 2013 for a sold-out theatre tour. “I will never retire,” she says, “but this will be the last major tour I undertake.” It might be your final chance to hear ‘Me Myself I’, ‘Willow’ and ‘Drop The Pilot’ in the live environment, so catch Armatrading at the Enmore Theatre on Wednesday December 10.

Meg Mac

NOFX, NO WORRIES

Californian punk veterans of 31 years and 12 studio albums NOFX have booked an Australian tour that begins in Sydney this November. There’s no underestimating NOFX’s contribution to the contemporary rock scene, and not only thanks to their hard-hitting back catalogue – frontman Fat Mike is also behind anti-establishment imprint Fat Wreck Chords, which has put out releases

by Good Riddance, Propagandhi, Rise Against, Against Me!, Anti-Flag and many more. 2012’s Self-Entitled is NOFX’s most recent effort, and they’ll bring it to the Enmore Theatre on Friday November 7, then Panthers, Newcastle on Saturday November 8. Tickets go on sale 10am Friday August 15.

THE NEXT BIG MAC

Things are only getting better for Meg Mac, who’s added more shows to her EP tour. Despite this being her debut collection, the Melbourne singer has already shot to national prominence thanks to singles ‘Every Lie’ and ‘Roll Up Your Sleeves’, plus a name-making appearance on triple j’s Like A Version. Megmac is due out Friday September 12, and she steps up to Oxford Art Factory on Saturday October 11 (following a sold-out show at Newtown Social Club on EP release day). If you can’t wait that long, Mac’s on the bill at Dungog Festival in the Hunter Valley, which runs Thursday August 28 – Sunday August 31.

BRAG :: 575 :: 13:08:14 :: 3

live & local

free stuff

welcome to the frontline: what’s goin’ on around town...with Chris Martin and Nic Liney

speed date WITH

Kingswood

SEBASTIAN DE HAAS FROM ATARACTIC Keeping Busy We have been busy writing 2. and mixing our debut EP to be released soon! In June and July we were pretty absorbed with the World Cup, so maybe now it’s over sleeping patterns can return to semi-normal and productivity can go up a touch.

Best Gig Ever We haven’t played many 3. gigs together yet as Ataractic,

school and we’re pretty recently formed. We sound like the result of smooshing synths, vocals and drum machines together.

We like to blend some hip hop beats with jazz and electronica influences with soulful kind of vocals. When we’re not working on tunes we like to listen to music, eat, drink and be generally hedonistic.

but years ago Isabella and I played a one-off gig for a friend’s birthday in a band with some friends, just playing some covers and stuff. It was played in our PJs to make it even better. I was playing bass and she was singing, and last minute she decided to transpose the key for a song so I had to put a capo on my bass as I couldn’t relearn it that quick. This will always be special as it’s the first time we played together, just not in our current form as Ataractic.

4.

Current Playlist Isabella’s been listening to a lot of Paolo Nutini, James Blake

and Snarky Puppy. She’s digging Paolo Nutini’s new album and Sydney band Origami Birds. For me it’s been a lot of future R&B, hip hop and trap stuff like Rustie, Nomak, Lido, Webben, Robustt, Hudson Mohawke, Branchez, Childish Gambino and Cashmere Cat. I also can’t go past pretty much anything from Dirtybird and Soulection, and Motez and Friend Within are providing my house fix.

5.

Your Ultimate Rider For Isabella the ultimate rider is pad Thai and whisky, which is pretty much the same as the usual request anyway.

For me the ultimate rider would be something so intricate and complex that it puts Steve Aoki’s rider to shame, including a private jet for after the show and a single plum floating in perfume served in a man’s hat… but generally we’re pretty happy for some beers and some snacks.

What: The Australian Institute of Music hosts its Surry Hills open day on Saturday August 16

KINGSWOOD

The rock’n’roll juggernaut that is Kingswood has landed. The Melbourne boys release their heavily anticipated debut album Microscopic Wars on Friday August 22, headed up by the bumper singles ‘Ohio’, ‘Sucker Punch’ and the newbie ‘I Can Feel That You Don’t Love Me’. Recorded in Nashville, the record is all Zeppelin rhythms and shady Queens of the Stone Age melodies. Not to say they’re derivative – recently, guitarist Alex Laska told us, “You’ve got to try to find what is yours and sometimes that is really obvious and evident and sometimes it’s not.” Kingswood have added a second Newtown Social Club date to their album launch tour on Tuesday August 26, and we’ve got two double passes to give away. To be in the running, head to thebrag.com/freeshit and tell us why you’re excited for Microscopic Wars.

Xxx

Your Profile We’re an electronic duo 1. based in Sydney. We met in high

head to: thebrag.com/freeshit

Green Mohair Suits

GIG FOR GAZA

Taking a leaf out of John Lennon’s book, #GigForGaza is a fundraiser for humanitarian aid in Gaza. Non-political and non-religious, the event simply aims to spread the good vibes. #GigForGaza organiser Honida Beram put the call out for musicians on Facebook, with an overwhelming response from acts including Gang Of Brothers, Victor Martinez Parada, Darryl Beaton And The D1 Cartel and Declan Kelly of The Rising Sun, plus many others. Every dollar raised will be donated to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, which can guarantee the funds will be used solely and directly for humanitarian and medical purposes. #GigForGaza is taking place at Jam Gallery in Bondi Junction on Tuesday August 19.

Gang Of Brothers

THE DALE RETURNS

The Annandale Hotel is back. While it’s not quite the sticky carpet rock dog haven of its former days, that doesn’t mean the live music has been left behind – the stage now backs onto the Parramatta Road wall of the pub, meaning you can keep your eyes and ears on the gig from both the bar and the dining room. The music flavour now leans towards bluegrass, singer-songwriters and even swing, and this week’s lineup is a good’un. Green Mohair Suits continue their residency this Thursday August 14 – they’re an all-star local crew who put the twang in “this gang gives me the twang, man!” Then it’s The Dray Rollan Band on Friday August 15, Dead Marines on Saturday August 16 and Bridie King on Sunday August 17.

MUSIC BY MONTE

Sydney alternative rockers Monte are hitting the road in support of ‘Reminiscence’, a new taste of their debut album due this year. The four mates moved our way from New Zealand in 2011, and made their first mark on the local scene with 2013 single ‘Stay’. Catch ’em at The Exchange Hotel this Thursday August 14.

HEAVY METAL HOO-HA

They’re taking no prisoners at Frankie’s Pizza this week, with a ten-tonne lineup of heaviness beckoning this Sunday August 17. It’s Frankie’s Heavy Metal Hoo-Ha, featuring the likes of Thrashed, Whisky Smile, ResonancE, Flaming Wrekage, Before Ciada and Disintegrator. That means chugging guitars, flaming solos and those wholesome Frankie’s pizzas. All for the price of… well, free entry. Boom.

TAKE KARE

4 :: BRAG :: 575 :: 13:08:14

Seek, stumble, listen, live. It’s as apt a motto for life as we can think of – and it’s also the name of the local music enterprise that’s putting on a Seek Stumble Listen Live multimedia show on Friday August 29 at The Imperial Hotel in Erskineville’s Corner Store venue. The four music acts are Vanessa Caspersz, Twin Caverns, Fanny Lumsden And The Thrillseekers and Little Fox, and their sets will be preceded by a screening of two short films: Sarah Steel’s Meaningful Touches and Matthew Chuang’s Mathilda.

Fanny Lumsden

SHADY PINES

Yee-haw! What’s going down at Shady Pines Saloon this weekend? Why, the usual mix of country vibes, tasty swills and good company. It starts on Saturday August 16 with The Sweet Jelly Rolls, AKA Matthew Golotta and Andrew Cavalieri, who play a fun-filled brand of Americana. Their 2013 debut was called I Don’t Think You’re Ready For This Sweet Jelly, and if that’s not enough to put them in your good books, nothing will be. Meanwhile, the spectacular Lachlan Bryan And The Wildes arrive on Sunday August 17 – their latest album Black Coffee picked up the Golden Guitar award for Alternative Country Album of the Year this year, and you can bet that’s a mighty stamp of approval.

thebrag.com

xxxx

The City of Sydney is teaming up with the Thomas Kelly Foundation for four all-age live music gigs aimed at addressing the issues that have too often flooded headlines in recent years. 18-year-old Thomas Kelly was killed in an unprovoked assault in Kings Cross two years ago. Named Take Kare in recognition of Thomas’ initials, the initial gig will be co-headlined by local hardcore bands Vices and Elegist at Goodgod Small Club. The events are alcohol-free, so hone your conversation skills and practise your dance moves and it won’t be too awkward. Take Kare will include four gigs, the first taking place at Goodgod on Saturday August 16.

Lachlan Bryan And The Wildes

SEEK STUMBLE LISTEN LIVE

Industrial Strength Music Industry News with Christie Eliezer

creates a massive social and economic return,� and the loss will impact quality.

THINGS WE HEAR * How true are resurging rumours that Lollapalooza operator C3 Presents, which bought out Big Day Out, plans to stage it as Lollapalooza Australia? * What about claims by AC/DC biography author Jesse Fink on US radio that Malcolm Young won’t return to the band and nephew Steve Young is in permanently? * Slipknot frontman Corey Taylor told BBC Radio they are “definitely looking at Australia� next year. Meantime, tipped for Laneway 2015 are US singer Banks and British buzz name and neo-R&B performer FKA Twigs. * After three years at Nine’s digital channel Go!, this year’s ARIA Awards are returning to Ten. They’ll be

held either in late November or early December. * Angus & Julia Stone have become the second Aussie duo to land two number one albums (after Savage Garden), as their self-titled third album debuts at the top of the ARIA Albums chart this week. It is the 359th album to debut at number one and 38th self-titled set to reach the top, reports chart historian Gavin Ryan. * Despite rumoured marriage leaks in the good boat SS Jay Z and BeyoncÊ, they’ve just finished a 19-date North American tour that grossed just over US$100 million to 850,000 fans. 90% of the shows sold out, earning them $4 million a show. * Welcome to the nanny

BASS MUSIC MAKES US ‘FEEL POWERFUL’‌ Bass-heavy music makes us feel more powerful, says new research from Northwestern University in Illinois. Researchers played their subjects 31 pieces of music including hip hop and reggae. It found people listening to bass-heavy music reported and showed more feelings of power and dominance. Researcher Dennis Hsu suggested, “People might want to explore whether pumping up their favorite tunes can quickly ease them into an empowered mental state before going into a first date, an important client meeting, or a job interview.â€?

‌WHILE MUSIC VIDEOS CAN MAKE US SEXIST, RACIST A US report called Pornographic Performances studied music videos and found the clips confirmed stereotypes, which were

state: wristbands for New York festival Electric Zoo will not be activated until patrons first watch a short drug awareness film of the dangers of ‘Molly’ AKA MDMA. * Rick Springfield’s first Australian tour in 30 years in October is cancelled, after he got a role in the Jonathan Demme movie Ricki And The Flash with Meryl Streep and Kevin Kline. It starts shooting in New York next month. * Arcade Fire unveiled a new cover during a LA show: a funky version of the Beverly Hills Cop theme song, ‘Axel F’. * A TV pilot pitched to major networks, titled The Guestlist, is based around the Eve nightclub in Melbourne’s Southbank.

then adopted by viewers. Many portrayed men as characters with “power and dominance, and women as passive recipients of their ‘gaze’�.

Black women, in particular, are “commonly portrayed as hypersexual and with a focus and fascinated gaze on their bottoms, invoking ideas of black women as wild and animalistic�.

ANOTHER FUNDING DILEMMA FOR COMMUNITY RADIO, TV Community radio and TV will face the reality they have $3.093 million less of funding over four years from the Federal Government as a result of the federal budget’s indexation freeze on community broadcasters. The figure was confirmed by Finance Minister Mathias Cormann. Community Broadcasting Association of Australia general manager Jon Bisset said that while federal funding only made up 12% of revenue, “Each dollar spent

STRONG START FOR SXSW REGISTRATION Australian registrations for South By Southwest (March 2015 in Austin, Texas), had their strongest first week, reports local rep Phil Tripp. Over 70 acts signed up in the first 24 hours, and 110 by the end of the week. For the last event in March this year, 240 Aussie acts applied to showcase and over 1,000 attended – the largest local turnout. In the meantime, a free SXSW meet and greet and panel discussion is held tonight (Wednesday August 13) at Newtown Social Club from 5:30pm. Details at philtripp.com/south-by-southwestsydney-melbourne-free-meetups.

EMC MOVES TO KINGS CROSS After previously being held at Carriageworks, Electronic Music Conference has struck a deal to hold its conference and showcases in the Kings Cross entertainment precinct until 2018. The NSW Government’s Destination NSW is back on board to market it, expecting 10,000 delegates for the event being held from Tuesday December 2 – Thursday December 4.

The first keynote speaker is US DJ Steve Aoki, while other speakers so far are US booking agent Johnny Shockey, Flume’s manager Nathan McLean and Sony Music Australia’s EDM director Jon Hanlon. The changes were announced at last week’s InTheMix awards where Flume was awarded most influential name in dance, Will Sparks dethroned The Stafford Bros as Australia’s number one electronic artist, RĂœFĂœS took Album of the Year and Breakthrough Artist, Stereosonic was the fave festival, Hardwell fave international act and Peking Duk’s ‘High’ the best track.

MERCURY PRIZE TIPPINGS London Grammar are tipped by bookies to win the Mercury Music Prize with 16/1 odds – despite the fact their debut album is not eligible. It was out on September 9, 2013, a day before the qualification date of September 10. Kate Tempest is the real favourite (5/2), closely followed by FKA Twigs, Jungle and East India Youth.

STEREOSONIC IN BED WITH VIAGOGO

E HIFI 1300 THO M.AU

THEHIFI.C

Just Announced

This Week

In a move that has raised some eyebrows in the music biz, Stereosonic has signed a five-year deal with ticket exchange platform viagogo. It launched in Australia last year to accusations it was a glorified ticket scalper. Stereosonic’s John Curtin says the tie-up will “help us reach the global electronic music fan base and expand Stereosonic’s footprint across the world�.

Viagogo reported a 293% spike in ticket searches for the festival since it announced its bill two weeks ago. Australia has shown a 47% higher interest than last year, and there’s been strong interest also from Japan, New Zealand, Hong Kong, the US and Singapore.

IGGY ATTRACTS THE BRANDS Sat 18 Oct

Wed 13 Aug

Fri 15 Aug

Drum & Bass Tour feat: The Upbeats,

Hanson

UZ (Mad Decent)

Coming Soon

Sat 16 Aug

Fri 22 Aug

Sat 23 Aug

UNDRGRND

Justice Crew

Kid Ink

Thu 28 Aug

Sat 6 Sep

Rave of Thrones feat.

Kristian Nairn aka Hodor

DevilDriver & Whitechapel

Fri 12 Sep

Sat 27 Sep

Sun 5 Oct

El Gran Combo

Rebel Souljahz (USA)

Dead Kennedys

Being associated with no less than four hit singles at the same time in America, NSW-born Iggy Azalea is a magnet for brand involvement. Already she’s doing a cameo on Fast & Furious 7 and hosting MTV’s House Of Style. She’s set to earn between US$3 million and $5 million this year. Now major corporations are lining up to be part of her upcoming arena tour.

Billboard says she can command “mid- to high-six-figures� for tie-ups, chasing their customers via a white female rapper. Ryan Schinman, the head of music licensing and entertainment marketing firm Platinum Rye, told the magazine that in the past three months, she’s attracted more enquiries than any other female artist. Aside from ‘Fancy’ staying at number one in America for nine weeks and her cameo on Ariana Grande’s ‘Problem’ hitting number two, Azalea’s new single ‘Black Widow’ with Rita Ora and her cameo on mentor T.I.’s single ‘No Mediocre’ are also climbing the US charts.

EXPORT READY OR NOT At the Export Ready Or Not masterclass, Sounds Australia’s Millie Millgate, Glenn Dickie and Esti Zilber will discuss issues facing the breaking of the international market. Managers Claire Collins, Bill Cullen, Jess Beston and Matthew Kennedy will also provide advice, while MusicNSW and The Australia Council will provide info on funding available. It’s on Thursday August 28 from 6pm at Rover Thomas Auditorium, Australia Council of

the Arts, 372 Elizabeth Street, Surry Hills. It’s free entry but RSVP is essential to rsvp@ musicnsw.com with Sounds Australia in the subject line.

ACES OF BASS A poll by MusicRadar to find the 60 best bassists ever saw Duran Duran’s John Taylor at top with 30% of the vote, followed

by Geddy Lee of Rush. Others included Flea (six), Primus’ Les Claypool (12), Metallica co-founder Cliff Burton (13), Iron Maiden’s Steve Harris (16), Black Sabbath’s Geezer Butler (21), Phil Lynott (25), Lemmy (27) and Duff McKagan (32).

SONY MUSIC TO DISTRIBUTE RED BULL Sony Music Entertainment Australia will distribute LA-based Red Bull Records. The seven-year-old subsidiary of energy drink Red Bull has a progressive roster including Awolnation, Beartooth, Blitz Kids, Five Knives, Heaven’s Basement and New Beat Fund. The first releases in Oz are by Glasgow band Twin Atlantic and London singer-songwriter Itch.

KYLIE AND JESSICA’S SALES UP Appearances by Kylie Minogue and Jessica Mauboy at the closing ceremony of the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow paid off. Within 24 hours of her seven-song set, Minogue’s Best Of increased sales by 1,140% on Amazon. Up also were Fever (800%), Kiss Me Once (669%), Abbey Road Sessions (667%) and Body Language (500%).

Mauboy’s Beautiful leaped by 2,800%.

AND PUBLISHING SIGNS NICHOLAS ALLBROOK AND Publishing has signed Perth singersongwriter Nicholas Allbrook to a worldwide deal. He made a name in Pond, Mink Mussel Creek and Tame Impala. AND was set up in 2013 by Danny Rogers of Lunatic Entertainment (Gotye, The Temper Trap, Chvrches, D.D Dumbo, Laneway Festival) and Adam Tudhope (Mumford & Sons, Keane, Laura Marling).

Lifelines Married: Adelaide-born global smash Sia Furler and her filmmaker fiancĂŠ Erik Anders Lang at their home in Palm Springs. They got engaged in June.

Engaged: an Arcade Fire fan proposed to his girlfriend in the front row of a gig in California towards the end of ‘Neighbourhood #1 (Tunnels)’. When he realised was what happening, singer Win Butler handed his mic over so everyone could hear the proposal and her reply.

In Court: a lawsuit filed by late Slipknot bassist Paul Gray’s wife against his doctor for not helping him with his drug problems (he died of an overdose) was dismissed because she took too long (two years) to file the suit.

In Court: Levis Mulume Nawej, 20, was kicked out of Darwin nightclub Monsoon for “reckless dancing�, then punched the cop van, swore at the arresting officers, and threw a tantrum in the cell because the other prisoners were snoring. He got a $550 fine and 20 hours’ community work.

In Court: two Insane Clown Posse fans from Maryland were charged with attempted murder and assault for beating their housemate, who dissed the Detroit duo. They attempted to carve an ICP tattoo from his arm, saying he was not worthy of it, and then tried to set the arm on fire. It had to be amputated.

Died: Jake Hooker of Arrows, writer of ‘I Love Rock ’N’ Roll’, aged 61. It became a global number one in 1981 for Joan Jett & The Blackhearts.

Died: Robert ‘Bo’ Boehm, 55, a musician and producer who helped shape Melbourne’s underground psychedelic, industrial and electro-loop sounds.

ENTERTAINMENT QUARTER, BUILDING 220, 122 LANG RD, MOORE PARK, SYDNEY

BRAG :: 575 :: 13:08:14 :: 5

HILLTOP HOODS

“WHEN YOU GO AWAY FOR TWO YEARS AFTER YOU’VE BEEN PRODUCING FOR THE LAST DECADE, A LOT OF PEOPLE INSIDE THE HIP HOP INDUSTRY IN PARTICULAR ARE WATCHING CLOSELY TO SEE WHEN WE’RE COMING BACK. OR WHETHER WE’RE COMING BACK AT ALL.” “One song, ‘Cosby Sweater’, came together over two weeks, and that was a really simple song. Throw some drums over it, a bassline. We wrote that one really quickly, found the beat, knocked it out. But others can stretch on. You program these complicated drums, it gets really involved. Sometimes it can actually seem pretty overwhelming. When you see over a hundred tracks, you’re like, ‘Holy shit. Where do we even start?’”

“And you could really be mixing that for the rest of your life trying to get the right sound,” Debris adds.

“There comes a point where you just have to abandon it. A point where you’d probably start going backwards if you kept on trying to fix it.”

Now that the album is here, they all seem rather at ease with how it has taken shape and what the initial response has been. Although it’s the fans’ reactions they really care about, it is the industry itself that has put the greatest expectation on how – or if – Walking Under Stars will succeed.

“It’s the media who tend to be the ones mostly asking those questions,” Pressure muses. “I don’t know if they actually have any expectations about the album, but they sure ask those questions a lot.”

“Holding it up and comparing to the last album,” Suffa says resignedly.

“And the hip hop community is fucking full of critics.”

At this, they all nod and sigh. It makes me wonder if this is also true of the fans. After all, Hilltop Hoods have been around for 20 years now, and with the evolution of their music it’s almost inevitable to have lost fans who are only about how they sounded in the days of A Matter Of Time and Back Once Again.

BY THE LIGHT OF THE STARS

BY ADAM NORRIS

L

ocation, location. The room that’s been assigned for Hilltop Hoods to talk about their new album, Walking Under Stars, is a beguiling place. It’s all glass walls and transparent furniture, as though you are about to sit down for a chat with Hannibal Lecter. When Suffa, MC Pressure and DJ Debris arrive, they are all jokes and relaxed smiles – with the exception of Debris.

He is eyeing the table warily.

“He has a thing about people seeing his legs,” Pressure explains. “There was a gig where they didn’t have any kind of cover in front of the decks, and between every song some girl in the front kept screaming out something about his legs. You couldn’t work out what she was saying.”

an element of truth to this. “I think everyone wants to tell their story,” Pressure says. Though each bandmate is quick to run with a joke, it is Pressure who most often settles back and waits for the laughter to die down before laying out a straight answer. “I’ve always said that hip hop is like poetry but without the pretentiousness. It’s like ballsy poetry–” “Without the ambiguity,” Debris cuts in, and they all agree.

“I think one of the things that initially drew me towards it as well was the rawness,” Pressure continues.

“It wasn’t refined, especially in the late ’80s, early ’90s. It was raw; just people spilling out their hearts, saying their version of how they saw the world.”

“Or not saying anything at all. Just saying ignorant shit, which I love as well,” Suffa laughs. “I grew up along that ignorant route.”

It’s been said countless times that hip hop is a kind of contemporary poetry, and even the Hoods see

It doesn’t hurt that not only did Suffa, Pressure and Debris grow up when the big international artists were

“My dad’s a big jazz and blues collector,” he says. “My mum was a music teacher. A total musical family, so there was no rejection. By the way, time for a side note. Coolio’s bringing out his new album through PornHub. Every song is going to be a song on PornHub.” Instantly, conversation becomes incomprehensible as everyone starts talking at once about both how bizarre and awesome the move is.

“No more Spotify. Everything just comes through porn!”

“Masturbate to my new record!”

6 :: BRAG :: 575 :: 13:08:14

“Each CD comes with its own tube of lube!”

As marketing angles go, they could do a whole lot worse. The expectation for Hilltop Hoods’ new album has hit insane levels ever since last year’s delay, and the pressure for them to release has been steadily building. Suffa shakes his head.

“I’ve never been asked so many times when is the due date for an album. All because we were supposed to be back last year, and so now everyone’s like, ‘There’s something wrong.’”

“When you go away for two years after you’ve been producing for the last decade,” says Pressure, “a lot of people inside the hip hop industry in particular are watching closely to see when we’re coming back. Or whether we’re coming back at all.”

“The record is 12 tracks,” Suffa says, “but in that are the two or three hundred beats that are discarded; there are all the ideas that you follow that just fail. You know what I mean?

People are like, ‘Man, you took four years to put out 12 songs?’ And it’s like, ‘That’s not how it works!’

“If you change too much you piss them off,” Pressure agrees. “If you don’t change enough you get bored.”

I take it that means there’s little hope of seeing the Hoods drop their long-awaited country album anytime soon. Though as Pressure is quick to point out, the group has been branching into different genres for years now.

“I think because we’re predominantly sample-based music, we kind of borrow from so many different genres that I don’t personally feel the need to go out and make some other kind of album,” he says.

Suffa nods sagely and throws up his hands.

“And don’t forget, none of us have singing voices or can actually play an instrument. So there’s that.”

What: Walking Under Stars out now through Golden Era Records/Universal xxx

“But he wasn’t the same after that,” Suffa finishes, and everyone laughs, even Debris, who it must be said really is staring down through the table at his knees kind of sadly.

first gaining notoriety, they each came from musical families that supported their early forays into hip hop. I remember playing ‘Gangsta’s Paradise’ for my own family when that was actually an edgy thing to do, and the gentlest response was my old man’s assertion that he makes better sounds on the toilet.

Suffa laughs.

“When you’re new, people just accept you for who you are,” Debris says. “When you’ve been around for ten years releasing records, suddenly people place expectations on you that you never put on yourself.”

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BRAG :: 575 :: 13:08:14 :: 7

Scott Spark Songs From The City By Adam Norris me a very definite sense of purpose. That makes you more on track, which probably makes your life that bit more healthy.”

Healthy, and certainly more colourful. The notion of understanding and appreciating home only after gaining some perspective is one thing, but finding somewhere that truly fosters your development – creative, personal, social – isn’t as simple as it sounds. Each city has its own personality, its own eccentricities that you might build from. For Spark, this has been LA. “The great thing about LA is that you can achieve anything you want there. If you decide that a harpsichord is the instrument you’re missing, you can make a few calls and within half an hour you can find the world’s premier restorer of harpsichords, and there you are, on Skid Row in a basement. That’s what happens when you’re in truly genuine, world cities. We have this romantic idea that songwriters, or writers of any kind, escape to the bush or the outback, and somehow they experience this process of self-reflection out there. I think the same thing can happen if you throw yourself into an unfamiliar city.”

“I

’m just so glad I’m not in Melbourne,” Scott Spark says, and instantly alienates half of his fan base. He quickly realises what he has said, however, and begins back-pedalling at once. “Oh God, that didn’t sound good. What I mean is, I’m a Queensland boy, grew up on the Sunshine Coast and escaped as quickly as humanly possible. But there are some things you never escape. Mostly, that I am just atrocious at nearly sub-zero temperatures.

So, given that I’ll be down there performing soon, freezing my balls off, I’m just looking forward to the next couple of days left of sun.”

As he speaks, Spark’s replies are comprehensive, but always pleasantly and thoughtfully so. It is immediately clear that his musical success thus far has not come unexpectedly; he is a man entirely driven by his passion for songwriting, and has worked intently on developing a sound that truly reflects who he is. Having now lived in Brisbane, Sydney, Hong Kong, New York and Los Angeles, Spark has drawn influence for his piano-based musings from a wide, cosmopolitan base.

“I think I’ve always been a little bit restless when it comes to cities,” he says rather brightly. “I used to do a lot of camping as a kid, and much as the

bush is fine by me, where I truly belong is in the city. As a songwriter I think you need to expose yourself to different things, throw yourself into situations and see how you respond, see how that influences the writing. And it’s not purely a social science experiment, it also comes from a genuine place of, well, why does anyone travel, really?

Working over there [in the US], I think it makes it much easier. I think if you go anywhere with a purpose it immediately gives it a certain sense of mission. I went over to New York completely lucky – I still pinch myself that I had the chance to head over there based on the Grant McLennan Fellowship. I was very fortunate, and because essentially I was there to focus on music it gave

Difficult as it to resist romanticising these thoughts, as Spark talks a certain tone creeps into his voice.

He sounds whimsical, almost as if he is talking to himself. “You find yourself in rooms with an instrument at the end of a hectic day, or even at the beginning of a day that will become hectic, and you can still get that reflection or insight, you know? You’re cut off from all of that and have to make new relationships, and you can become, to a certain extent, a new person. You get the chance to play a different role, and I think that can translate into your music as well. You won’t necessarily feel as tied down to an idea of who you are, or what you do. You can be more liberal with your definition of yourself and what you should be doing. I think it’s an essential thing for anybody – everybody – to be doing, but especially people who are creators.”

What: Muscle Memory out now through MGM With: BigStrongBrute Where: The Vanguard When: Thursday August 14

Dot Hacker Josh Klinghoffer’s Personality Project By Adam Norris

D

ot Hacker are an intriguing outfit. With members plucked from a variety of different acts – bands like Red Hot Chili Peppers, Hella and neo-soul stalwart Gnarls Barkley – Dot Hacker are a kind of musical Avengers, coming together whenever schedules align to write music. Frontman Josh Klinghoffer, who’s also the guitarist in the Chili Peppers, finds himself in a rather unique position to reflect on the shift between emerging band and stadium superstars. Plus, he seems like an actual nice guy, to boot.

The most obvious downside to a band like Dot Hacker is simply finding the time for each member to be in the same room together.

There is no luxury here to take several months to slowly ease a record into shape; instead, speed is key.

“Everything that Dot Hacker does depends on availability or temporal things, on physical spaces,” Klinghoffer explains. “Sadly, this band is often challenged simply by my not being around. With this album, because of my being on tour, a lot of the songs were brought in not fully formed and then rearranged.

8 :: BRAG :: 575 :: 13:08:14

The band is rounded out by Clint Walsh and Eric Gardner – both former touring members with Klinghoffer for Gnarls Barkley – and Hella bassist Jonathan Hischke.

The new record, How’s Your Process? (Work), is Dot Hacker’s second album, and although they have certainly established themselves as more than some motley side band or pet project, the concern that people are only giving them notice thanks to their association with larger acts is still present. Not that Klinghoffer loses much sleep over the idea.

“You can easily say that people would come to the music because of these other acts, that they might look at our music through the scope of another act. At the same time, all the people in Dot Hacker are a little older now. I used to bemoan the fact that this band couldn’t just jump in the van and tour all over America, travel all year long like other bands that I love. But really, in this day and age, would this band survive that sort of thing? We’re all in other projects, so does that allow this band to not break its back, kill itself trying to get together and actually make the music that it wants to make? Everything that seems like a curse in this situation, if you examine a little closer shows a lot of positive. We can really bend any situation to our advantage, and it’s

because we all just really like playing together. We’re all influenced by so many different things, we’ve done so many different projects, but nothing we could really call our own. And I think the personal relationships, the friendship, is at the core of what we wanted to start, and what I had never found with people prior to this.”

A large challenge Klinghoffer faces – beyond simply finding time to sit down and jam with the band – is the mental gymnastics involved in switching in and out of the Chili Peppers.

“There’s definitely a change in mentality, especially in what my role is from one band to the other. I think being someone who would often play in different situations – you know, I’ll be off on this tour to play with this person, then I’m suddenly off in a studio somewhere – I’m kind of used to changing roles. I’ve got to the point where both bands I’m in are very personal to me, and I can analyse what role I play in both and choose how I let that affect me.

“There are days where I’ll feel like I prefer being the shot-calling leader with Dot Hacker, and then there are days when I’m happy to be the

instrumentalist who doesn’t have the emotional, frontman weight that Anthony [Kiedis] has on his shoulders. I think it also allows me to understand where Anthony comes from a lot of the time, when he’s in the writing process and I’m doing the same thing with another band at the same time. It is hard sometimes, and it seems intense and crazy, but I’m able to do it, and they’re all facets of my being and my personality.”

What: How’s Your Process (Work) out now through Smack Face Records thebrag.com

Xxxxs photo by Xxxx

“For years and years I’d beat myself up about it, having tonnes and tonnes of songs that I never finish, that are left either as gibberish or thematically open-ended. I’ll wait until the right moment to actually make them a song. I feel if I finish a song but don’t have a band to play it with, by the time the moment comes it might not be what I want to say anymore, or where I am. I used to tell myself I was being lazy. While that might still be true, I think that when it comes to a song like

‘Whatever You Want’, well, I wrote some of the chords for that six years ago. I wrote some of the lyrics in Ethiopia when I went there with Flea at the beginning of writing the last Chili Peppers album, and only finished them once Dot Hacker decided to make it one of the songs for this album. So it can be an involved process.”

Boy & Bear The Dream Lives On By Augustus Welby

W

hether it’s their preference or not, a loaded touring schedule is an essential requirement for musicians in the 21st century. Boy & Bear’s second LP Harlequin Dream came out 12 months ago and the band has been on tour ever since. Ahead of the Sydney quintet’s Australian theatre tour next month – which falls in between a European festival run and their third US jaunt of the year – guitarist Killian Gavin weighs up the pros and cons of life on the road.

“We’re over the moon that we do get to do what we get to do,” he says. “Then also somewhat intimidated when you look at your schedule and realise how much more you have to get through.

We love getting to do this and playing shows and travelling around. At the same time, you do get those moments where you’re like, ‘You know what, I could just enjoy being at home seeing my friends, my family, have a normal coffee at a nice café, et cetera.’”

In 2011, Boy & Bear’s debut record, Moonfi re, established the North Shore group as one of the nation’s most loved indie bands. It often happens that artists with such auspicious career beginnings falter when it comes to album number two. But not only did Harlequin Dream please Boy & Bear’s existing fans, the record widened their listenership both at home and abroad.

Pearl Jam and Nirvana and Pennywise. We were just playing all this ridiculous ’90s rock that was still really awesome.”

When Boy & Bear bring their internationally honed live show back home next month, their tour will include two nights at the Sydney Opera House. Far from feeling like indomitable superstars, Gavin says hometown shows still impose unique pressure. “All of us in the band find Sydney shows the hardest show of the tour. It’s usually because we’re from Sydney, so we might have family and friends and it’s your hometown – these weird factors that make it more difficult. At the same time, because it’s your hometown, it’s also the most exciting show. I think if people in the crowd know that you’re a Sydney band there’s a different kind of warmth in the crowd. They’ve traditionally been really fun shows, but leading up to the show they’ve been quite nerve-wracking.”

With: Holy Holy Where: Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House When: Sunday September 21 and Monday September 22

“All of us in the band fi nd Sydney shows the hardest ... At the same time, because it’s your hometown, it’s also the most exciting show.” “[Moonfi re] obviously went so well for us here, but if I can be completely honest, artistically, had we had the benefit of time and experience, we perhaps would have made different decisions,” Gavin says. “So we were so focused on making another record and fixing all those little things that we didn’t really spend any time thinking about this being a follow-up record or the pressure associated with that.”

Despite Gavin’s slight criticism of the first record, Australian audiences have never found much to complain about when it comes to Boy & Bear. Ever since triple j picked up their debut single ‘Mexican Mavis’ in late 2009, they’ve been one of the station’s highest played acts.

However, prior to Harlequin Dream, overseas success was fairly limited. But if this year’s sold-out UK/European tour, US radio play and a spot on popular late-night talk show Conan is anything to go by, that’s no longer the case.

That last achievement jumps out as Gavin’s highlight for the year.

“To me, that was a different level,” he says. “It’s very hard to get those kind of shows and we were just stoked to be offered it. The thought of ever playing one never occurred to me. We were privileged and thrilled to be able to do it.

“As much as I’d like to say it’s just another day on the job – and it’s sometimes better you treat those things like that because it stops you getting nervous or building it up to be something it isn’t – it was very hard in this case to do that.”

While Gavin let himself soak up the prestige of that particular event, generally speaking Boy & Bear are a very relaxed bunch. It’s refreshing to hear that, even as their international profile continues its upward trajectory, intra-band relationships remain relatively unchanged.

“We get along remarkably well and the more time we spend [together] sometimes the easier it is,” Gavin says. “Not every band is fortunate enough to be in that situation. At the same time, when you’re touring it’s pretty natural to go, ‘You know what, I’m really getting along with this guy,’ and you spend a few days with him. Then it shifts a little bit and you end up spending more time with this guy. It’s full-grown men on a high school camp getting the shits with each other and also having a great time.”

As it happens, the band’s recent US run was conducted on a tour bus and it led to the discovery of a new favourite indulgence.

“We’ve recently become addicted to Spotify,” Gavin says. “On the bus we just put on Spotify a lot. We’ve actually been talking about music and looking up music and listening to things as a band – something we don’t do that often. We had a ’90s rock night. We literally were getting pissed on the bus and listening to all the bands in the ’90s that we all used to listen to, like early thebrag.com

BRAG :: 575 :: 13:08:14 :: 9

Alex Watts Sing, Strum, Strut By Rhys McRae have time for this.’ It’s admitting you’re willing to take [music] seriously without full-time income. Either you wait until you think you’re going to have time to do it and things are going to align properly or you just risk it and say, ‘Fuck it.’”

Although Watts’ first musical adventures were vastly different from his now mostly acoustic brand of slow-burning rock, it seems the seeds for it were starting to take root even back in his punk days.

“I still to listen to The Clash all the time and Joe Strummer is one of my favourite musicians of all time,” he says. “Back then I was always listening to Crowded House, Elvis Costello and Bob Dylan. It’s always been a part of my musical pedigree but I just got better at it. In Dirty Sanchez, the band had to convince me to sing and we actually had to audition other singers because I didn’t want to do it.”

Frnkiero Andthe Cellabration

Watts’ development continued with Alex Watts & The Foreign Tongue.

The Sucker Punch By Mathew Drogemuller

F

rank Iero has had a diversely successful music career. He has written lyrics and sung for post-hardcore group Leathermouth and toured with his electronic hardcore band Death Spells. That’s apart from his role as the rhythm guitarist in My Chemical Romance. Now soaring solo under the name Frnkiero Andthe Cellabration, he has signed to Staple Records and his debut album Stomachaches is out this month.

Despite his success and suffering a chronic stomach condition, Iero remains one of the nicest and most genuine musicians in the biz – and he’s psyched about the upcoming release. “I had a lot of fun experimenting and doing different shit – seeing what would work to make the emotions come to life,” he says.

Using songs he demoed in his basement studio, creating the album was a lengthy but rewarding process. “It took close to a year all up,” Iero says. “My friend Jarrod Alexander flew out from California and we did the drums over maybe four or five days. But then I had shit to do, and didn’t come back to getting the core tracks down until months and months later.”

The multi-skilled Iero played every instrument on the album apart from drums. “Except for one song called ‘Joyriding’, which didn’t come until much later so I had to play drums on that.

Which is why if you’re listening to it you might think, ‘These drums aren’t up to par!’”

Writing and recording the songs on Stomachaches was a particular experience for Iero. “In making them I didn’t feel like I was writing a record to put out. I just wrote because I needed to in order to keep my sanity and keep my mind off how I felt physically. The

good thing is that I never censored myself.”

Ultimately revealing the songs to the public is a confronting prospect. “It’s like letting people read a diary,” Iero says. “I’m excited about touring the songs but I’m also scared shitless.”

Indeed, some of Iero’s songs were too personal to release. “There are a few that I kept just for myself. A few I wrote just for my kids. I thought it would be really awesome if each kid and my wife had a theme song. Like a character in a movie where every time they come in this song plays. We have this amazing thing called Sonos. You put portable speakers in different rooms and then there’s a box that you hook up to your Wi-Fi and then you can control from your phone what songs play in all different rooms. So I have that and whenever my daughter Lily comes in, if I feel in the mood, I hit the button and her theme will play.

They are super into it. I would say they love it second to the Frozen theme song.”

One song that did make the album is called ‘She’s The Prettiest Girl At The Party And She Can Prove It With A Solid Right Hook’. “That’s a true story,” says Iero. “That was one of the earliest times I hung out with my wife. We were at this party and there was this drunk girl that she didn’t like. It just so happened that the drunk girl was walking around the party asking people to punch her in the face. She asked a bunch of people, they all said no, but when she finally got to my wife she couldn’t even finish the sentence and my wife cracked her so hard in the face. That was when I knew she was going to be my wife.”

What: Stomachaches out Friday August 29 through Staple Records/Cooking Vinyl

T

he trajectories of most musicians’ careers have ups, downs and roundabouts but occasionally you’ll fi nd polar shifts like that of Alex Watts’ journey to becoming a solo rock balladeer.

You may be familiar with his work in The Foreign Tongue, but for those big into their music trivia, Watts also knocked around the punk and ska scene playing in Dirty Sanchez and Trojan Horns. A far cry from those days, he’s now about to tour nationally his first solo EP, Sing, Strum & Strut, and is taking along one of Australia’s sassiest voices in Kira Puru to help him do it.

Like many of his generation, Watts chose to take a break overseas during his young adulthood. He spent some time in Italy making his bread teaching English, but when musical inspiration hit him he found a lack of outlets to explore – and that eventually brought him home.

“Where I was living in Naples there was no real music scene,” Watts explains. “It was just DJs in clubs or traditional Italian music, so if I actually wanted to play rock or pop music, where else would I go except back to Melbourne?

“I had a feeling like something was coming and I went home and wrote a song. That felt really good and it all just carried on from there. When I got back I got a job and at some point quit that job, which was another moment of thinking, ‘I don’t

“The idea of starting a band and putting my name in front of it meant I had the versatility of being a solo artist as well as being in a band. I could do solo shows and band shows and if the band broke up I wouldn’t have to start all over again. I would have done it earlier but I just didn’t have the confi dence. I thought, ‘I can’t sing like that, so I need to cover it up with all these drums and guitars.’”

Watts is unabashed in describing his music as “pop-rock”, which seems a daring move considering the genre doesn’t really have a grassroots support network to draw an audience from. While he concedes that point, he also thinks if you’re good enough then it doesn’t really matter what style you’re playing.

“People will fi nd you if you’re visible enough and good enough but you just have to work a bit harder. When I was playing in punk bands straight out of high school and hanging around the ska scene it was cool because you could have your first gig on a lineup with a bunch of other ska bands and play to a packed-out Arthouse [in Melbourne]. If you’re a guy with a guitar singing songs it’s not the case, but you just have to fi nd your audience and build.”

What: Sing, Strum & Strut out now through Astound Records With: Kira Puru, Lester The Fierce, Fanny Lumsden Where: Petersham Bowling Club When: Sunday August 31 And: Also appearing with Kira Puru and Emma Swift at The Great Northern, Newcastle on Friday August 29

Coldrain New Revelations By Augustus Welby

T

he hotly anticipated lineup for Soundwave 2015 began to unfurl last week. Instead of starting the roll-out with major headliners, the earliest announcements put five lesser-known acts in the spotlight.

First cab off the rank was Japanese metalcore five-piece Coldrain.

Coldrain might be an unknown name to Australian audiences, but that’s hardly the case in their homeland.

Formed in 2007, the band is a veritable linchpin of the Japanese metal scene. In fact, their success has had an important effect on the country’s growing heavy music scene.

A few other Japanese metal acts, such as Crossfaith and Pay Money 10 :: BRAG :: 575 :: 13:08:14

“The Japanese oriental style is somewhere buried there,” he adds.

“It’s not something that’s going to be standing out, but it’s definitely something that’s put in there at a small dose, [so] that people will feel a difference from Western bands.”

“I got into listening to heavy stuff when I listened to Limp Bizkit, Korn, Linkin Park, Slipknot,” says Masato.

“When we started out we were all big nu-metal fans.”

Although Coldrain’s third LP The Revelation was released in Australia just last week, it came out in Japan over a year ago (where it debuted at number seven on the national charts).

Recorded with American producer David Bendeth – who’s known for his work with Paramore, Underoath and Papa Roach – it’s no accident that this album is bringing Coldrain international recognition.

These days, Coldrain’s combination of heavy riffs, aggressive screams and cunning chorus melodies warrants comparisons to metalcore heavyweights like Asking Alexandria and Bring Me The Horizon. However, Masato says the melodic leaning stems from the Japanese pop music they listened to growing up.

“We always wanted the melodic aspect plus the heavy music. It’s cool because I think the Japanese influence towards pop music and the Western-style heavy music is what builds our sound.

“When we recorded The Revelation, [Bendeth] was like, ‘This record’s definitely going to be released worldwide.’ He said he was going to be ‘thinking about the world, you guys can think about the Japanese market. That’s what’s going to make the new sound.’ We did definitely aim for the world and I can’t wait to see how everyone reacts to the record in Australia.”

Aiming for broad accessibility encouraged the band to decorate the arrangements with synth lines and string parts for the first time. They weren’t seeking to make an altogether nicer album, however.

Australian listeners plenty of time to get acquainted with The Revelation before next year’s festival tour. To say that Masato is enthusiastic about their inaugural trip Down Under would be a major understatement.

“David tried to make the record sound darker,” says Masato. “He said, after listening to the tracks and after listening to the lyrics, he always aimed for us to sound darker. So it turned out a little darker than what we originally went for and I think it sounds cool.”

“We can’t wait to be there. So, so looking forward to it. I can’t wait until 2015 already.”

Coldrain’s early announcement on the Soundwave lineup gives

What: Soundwave 2015 Where: Sydney Olympic Park When: Saturday February 28 and Sunday March 1 And: The Revelation out now through VAP/Sony thebrag.com

Xxx photo by xxx

“Every year it gets a little bigger,” says Coldrain singer Masato David Hayakawa. “There’s more bands, more younger bands and more kids playing in bands covering those songs, so it’s getting wider and wider.

It’s cool to see kids that are starting to make their original stuff, trying to sound like us. That’s how genres are built.”

To My Pain, have made an impact during the last decade, but Coldrain didn’t start out surrounded by a thriving metal scene. The band members’ initial exposure to this style of music came via the late ’90s and early-’00s nu-metal boom.

Busby Marou Coming Alive By Augustus Welby

W

hat’s in a name, eh? Busby Marou might seem like a curious title for a band, but the inspiration behind it is rather straightforward. See, it’s derived from the surnames of the Queensland duo’s two constituents, vocalist Tom Busby and guitarist Jeremy Marou. However, aside from the name’s linear origins, it brings attention to the way the band functions.

“I’m the country-slash-blues, John-Mayerwannabe type person,” says Marou, “and Tom wants to be more of a Neil Finn, Paul Kelly singer-songwriter type person. [One day] we both just went, ‘Stop arguing. It should be like this.’ He does it his way, I do it my way.”

The pair’s separate personalities combine to produce music that not only encompasses folk, country, pop and blues, it tends to grow with listeners over an extended period. Busby Marou’s two full-length releases – 2011’s selftitled effort and last year’s Farewell Fitzroy – revolve around acoustic instrumentation and delightful vocal harmonies that convey a calming immediacy. The sound gains defi nition courtesy of Busby’s imagistic storytelling and Marou’s virtuosic guitar fi ddling.

conflation makes them a good fit for a variety of major festivals. “We’re lucky in the sense that we can play at CMC Rocks The Hunter and Blues and Roots Byron Bay, Splendour and Woodford Folk Festival. We’re one of the very few bands that actually can play at all of those.”

Even after doing so many gigs, the band is far from blasé about performing. Marou explains that embracing the singularity of each gig makes playing live a thrilling event, night after night.

“Nine times out of ten we’ll never stick to a setlist.

People are yelling out songs, we’ll do them, we’ll try out songs that we’ve never done before, we’ll throw in new stuff. It’s always fun.”

What: Farewell Fitzroy out now through Warner With: Darren Middleton, Karl S. Williams Where: Mona Vale Hotel / Collector Hotel, Parramatta / The Basement When: Saturday August 16 / Thursday August 21 / Saturday August 23 And: Also appearing at the Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle on Friday August 22

“Tom’s lyrics, people can determine them in a thousand different ways. I think that really gets people. What the songs are about, the harmonies, and I think my style of guitar playing is a little odd as well – put them together and it will play on people’s minds.”

Despite the music’s relaxed disposition, the band can’t escape the business side of the music industry. Busby Marou are signed to a major label, Warner, and while on the one hand, it’s thanks to this that they travelled to Nashville to record Farewell Fitzroy with producer Brad Jones and have toured with the likes of k.d. lang and James Blunt, there’s also a commercial criterion to satisfy, which applies heat during the albummaking procedure.

“We’re signed to Warner Music, so we’re obviously thinking if these songs are going to impact people straight away – are they going to like it, are they going to buy tickets, will this get airplay? You’ve got all of this in the back of your head.”

While these are distracting considerations, Marou can’t deny the luxuries afforded by the major label budget. But he also knows how fickle the industry can be.

“Working on new music now, we go into the studio to write a hit song,” he says. “At the end of the day, if you’re not getting radio airplay or you’re not on TV, people aren’t going to buy tickets to your shows.

“With the first album we had a lifetime to write those songs. When it came to Farewell Fitzroy we went, ‘OK, we’ve got to put 12 or 13 songs together. The label’s got to be happy with it; if it doesn’t sell we lose our contract, in a fortnight’s time we’re sitting back in an office.’”

Anyone’s who’s heard Farewell Fitzroy can confirm that the bureaucratic burdens haven’t marred the tunes with tacky radio gimmicks. The record came out last October and the band’s endearing warmth – responsible for securing the major label deal in the first place – stands strong.

The commercial imperative mightn’t completely dissipate, but when they’re in the creative zone, external pressure takes a back seat.

“When the song first comes into your mind it’s important not to be thinking about whether it’s going to sell or not,” says Marou. “When you’re recording the song, producing the song, that’s when you start to think about, ‘OK, for radio this needs to be between three and three-minutes30-seconds, so let’s cut this part out.’ But when you’re actually sitting down with a tune you don’t have a care in the world about what it sounds like.”

Right now Busby Marou are on a national headline tour in support of Farewell Fitzroy’s third single, ‘My Second Mistake’. In contrast to the strains of the studio, the stage is a completely concern-free environment. The two leading men are joined by a bass player and drummer onstage, and Marou says that’s where they truly thrive.

“Live for us is easy. If people start to say, ‘Your album’s better than your live performance,’ then we’d start to work on it, but we’ve never had that feedback and hopefully we never get [it]. Our live performance should always be a lot better than what our album is. I think last year we did twice as many shows as most touring bands would do.

That’s pretty much how you get it right.”

What allows Busby Marou to have such an expansive touring itinerary? First of all, hailing from Rockhampton in central Queensland, they’ve always been eager to play shows off the beaten track. Also, the band’s inherent stylistic thebrag.com

B U Y T I C K E T S N O W: http://mad.mn/20ktickets Strong nudity and sexualised imagery

IN CINEMAS AUGUST 21 BRAG :: 575 :: 13:08:14 :: 11

arts frontline

free stuff

arts news...what's goin' on around town...with Chris Martin, Amie Mulhearn and Nic Liney

five minutes WITH

G

ravis is a solo mixed media exhibition

by Chidzey that explores grief, loss and empathy. We asked the artist to walk us through it.

OZ COMIC-CON

CHIDZEY

What concepts are at play in Gravis?

The intimate emotions and reactions to loss and separation. The grief process is one of those taboo subjects that I generally don’t hear openly discussed, which often leads to misplaced and harmful responses. Gravis will assist this to become more open, with the use of visual language being able to express what is difficult in words.

Grief and loss can be a fruitful area for artistic inspiration, but also a difficult one. How hard is it to present your own experience of grief to an audience?

Our family, like many, has experienced some significant traumas, and despite immersing myself in ongoing development of work for over a decade there has been little quality progress. That was until the recent extended illness of my elderly parent. During a twoweek residency at BigCi in Bilpin, I was able to visit my mother’s birthplace, develop several temporal performance works, gather materials, and generally had a massive brainstorming session. To say this was both cathartic and profitable would be an understatement. Now, this expression of my difficult emotions will be shared, and should be shared with a general audience, both to assist them dealing with their own trying and often debilitating journey, but

head to: thebrag.com/freeshit

more importantly to show them they are not alone – that there are others willing and able to support and comfort during the hard times.

Are these emotions inherently individual or communal?

Both. I speak from my own story, so therefore these emotions are naturally inherently individual, but this is a shared experience of all humanity which we cannot escape, so my journey speaks directly to anyone in the community willing to listen.

What methods go into your work?

I always got in trouble for not sticking to and developing one particular medium, but that is just not me. My previous experience in casting and colouring in dentistry continually comes to the fore with bronze casting (particularly lost wax technique), and timber and stone carving. As well, I love to work in the land, using our wonderful natural environment as an intimate part of any artwork. These varied media are all on display with this current show, Gravis.

What: Gravis Where: Gallery Red, Glebe When: Friday August 15 – Tuesday August 26

Pop culture fans (and really, who isn’t?) are in for a treat in Sydney this year, as Oz Comic-Con comes our way for the very first time. It’s starting with a bang, too, as none other than William Shatner (AKA Captain Kirk AKA Denny Crane AKA a Jarvis Cocker impersonator for that dodgy ‘Common People’ cover) headlines the event. Shatner’s joined by Jason Momoa, who managed to fashion himself into a sex symbol on Game Of Thrones without speaking all that much in English (he’s Khal Drogo, for those of you playing at home).

Also on board are voice actors Bill Farmer (Goofy) and Rodger Bumpass (Squidward Tentacles of Spongebob Squarepants fame), plus a host of comic book artists.

The event takes over the Sydney Harbour Expo Centre on Saturday September 13 and Sunday September 14, and we’ve got two weekend double passes to give away. For the chance to win one, head to thebrag.com/freeshit and tell us your favourite William Shatner quote. xxx

Sydney Rides The Night

SURRY HILLS FESTIVAL PROGRAM TAKES SHAPE

Josh McConville in The Infinite Man

Fast becoming a favourite on the Sydney calendar, Surry Hills Festival is back for 2014, and the first program announcement has now been made. A theme for the festival this year is Stories, Love and Tales, and the Surry Hills Song Competition final will feature songwriters performing their songs around that theme.

Likewise, a series of intimate projections by Esem Projects will reflect the theme and the history of the suburb. Nigel Sense’s portraiture features in The Mills Of Surry Hills, an interactive installation that will roll out in Surry Hills up to and during the festival. Surry Hills Festival 2014 is on Saturday September 27. Local creative spaces can still apply to be part of the event up to the deadline this Friday August 15. For more info, head to surryhillsfestival.com.

INTIMATE LETTERS

NIGHT RIDERS

The City of Sydney is giving bikers a chance to ride through the night as part of the 2014 Sydney Rides Festival. Sydney Rides The Night is a brand spanking new event on the 2014 Sydney Rides calendar, taking riders on a loop through lighting installations, music and Sydney’s gorgeous harbour as a backdrop. After your ride, there will be plenty of space to park your bike so you can enjoy a bite to eat from the gourmet food trucks and live entertainment in the outdoor lounge with the best harbour views in the city. Sydney Rides The Night is open to everybody on Saturday October 25 from 6pm until midnight. Entry is via Mrs Macquarie’s Chair, and bike hire is available on the night. Sydney Rides Festival runs from Saturday October 11 – Saturday October 25.

STC WHARF REVUE

The Sydney Theatre Company’s famous Wharf Revue has locked in its 2014 seasons. Open For Business promises to conduct the audit on Australian politics circa 2014 in its usual irreverant and hilarious manner. Jonathan Biggins and Phillip Scott are joined by Amanda Bishop and Douglas Hansell for this year’s revue, packed with comedy potential (I mean, Clive Palmer, amirite?). Open For Business plays at the Riverside Theatre in Parramatta from Wednesday September 10 – Saturday September 13 before its STC run at the Wharf 1 Theatre from Wednesday October 22 – Saturday December 20.

12 :: BRAG :: 575 :: 13:08:14

The Australian Chamber Orchestra will perform a trio of pieces inspired by passionate and traumatic life experiences, brought to life by an accompanying performance from Bell Shakespeare actors Marshall Napier and Ella Scott Lynch. The actors will recreate the story behind 700 passionate letters written between Czech composer Leoš Janácek and his much younger married muse. Under the direction of London Symphony Orchestra’s concertmaster Gordan Nikolic, the ACO will perform Janácek’s unashamedly autobiographical second quartet, Intimate Letters, which explores his overwhelming, obsessive and ultimately unrequited love. It will be accompanied by Mozart’s Divertimento In F and Smetana’s From My Life. Intimate Letters will be performed at the Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House on Sunday August 24 and at City Recital Hall Angel Place from Tuesday August 26 – Saturday August 30.

DUNGOG FESTIVAL REVEALS FILM PROGRAM

The Hunter Valley’s new Dungog Festival has announced its feature film program for 2014. Adding to the already announced music acts on the festival bill is a film schedule covering comedy, drama, documentaries and more. The films begin on Friday August 29 with Aussie comedy The Infinite Man. Fell and Fantail will get the brains ticking, while latenight selections include the hilarious vampire mockumentary What We Do In The Shadows (by Taika Waititi and Flight Of The Conchords’ Jemaine Clement) and John Doe: Vigilante.

Music film fans will get their kicks from the Nick Cave doco 20,000 Days On Earth and King Sun. The 2014 Dungog Festival runs from Thursday August 28 – Sunday August 31 in the Hunter Valley. For the full program and bookings, visit dungogfestival.com.au.

ITALIAN FILM FESTIVAL

The 2014 Lavazza Italian Film Festival is coming to share some of that Mediterranean goodness with the people of Sydney. The festival is back for its 15th annual rendezvous and will include 33 screenings including new feature fi lms, documentaries, short fi lms and a classic from the archives. It showcases the charisma of Italy’s most engaging actors, from Kim Rossi Stuart, Raoul Bova, Monica Bellucci and Claudio Santamaria to Giovanna Mezzogiorno, Valeria Golino, Margherita Buy and Sergio Rubini. The festival will run from Thursday September 18 – Sunday October 12. Films will be screened at the Palace Verona, Palace Norton Street and Chauvel Cinema. The full program and tickets are available from italianfi lmfestival.com.au.

Monica Bellucci in The Wonders

thebrag.com

Jeff Green

Sun

[COMEDY] Hooked On Laughter By Kate Robertson

S

ince ditching his career in chemical engineering, the British-born, Melbourne-based comedian Jeff Green has made a living by making people laugh. For the Rock With Laughter event at The Star this month, Green promises “a broken-down version of my Sydney Comedy Festival show [All Guns Blazing!], which I did live at the Comedy Store – this will be a more succinct version of it I expect, plus all the new ideas I’ve got rolling around my head.”

Green insists that living in Australia has changed his work for the better (he’s now a permanent resident). “I think I’m a better comic now and one of the reasons for that is that there’s a mania often, an energy in UK comedy rooms, which tends to mean that you have to keep feeding the

Sun [DANCE] Hofesh Shechter Returns By Tegan Jones

W

orld-renowned choreographer Hofesh Shechter is returning to the Sydney Opera House this month with his latest work, Sun. An exploration of the duality of nature and humanity, Sun will take audiences on a journey that’s visually stunning, but also question the world as we know it.

“Sun had its premiere almost a year ago and it had a bit of an evolution during its run,” Shechter tells the BRAG. “I can now comfortably say that Sun is about dealing with the aftermath of a colonial world and the fallout of colonisation. It asks uncomfortable questions on the stage and deals with reality. On the surface, everything is visually beautiful but we slowly learn that something dark is bubbling underneath.”

Despite the seemingly unambiguous title, Shechter argues there’s a deeper meaning to the performance, particularly in regards to land.

Sun photo by Gabriele Zucca

“The title can carry so many meanings. The sun can carry life, but also danger. For me, because Hebrew is my first language, the word ‘sun’ is also related to the idea of territory – a place under the sun and people finding their place on Earth. The title will do different things to different people. I know that for some audience members there is something that is very empowering about the piece, but for some others it can feel very challenging. It’s the different sides to Sun that I really love.”

Shechter is known for presenting overtly dark and serious topics on his stage. Compared to his other work, Sun is subtler, but it’s also a terrifyingly accurate depiction of the Western world in particular.

“Sun is not a statement, it’s me responding to the world the way that I see it,” he says. “I live in London, which is a place with beautiful parks, houses and cars. We are richer than we could imagine and we have everything that we could

audience jokes, which is fi ne, but I feel like I’ve got more time onstage to explore things, which is making my stuff a bit more interesting.”

His comedy is very much grounded in his everyday experiences. “My stuff has always been about my life, and it’s about being authentic to an audience and so I like to bring the audience into my world … I don’t write surreal jokes, I don’t write necessarily satirical, political jokes; a lot of my stuff is in pointing out the everyday nuances and minutiae and giving it a twist for the audience,” Green says. He explains that his material comes from “stuff that I fi nd frustrating, stuff that I fi nd that makes my mouth drop open – anything where there’s emotion. My best jokes come from a visceral connection with an event that I think, ‘I wonder if other people have experienced this?’”

We delve further into this sort of everyday speculativeness when I ask: if Green were a kitchen appliance, what he would be?

“I’d be a mortar and pestle,” he answers.

“I like to mix things up. My wife would probably say that’s my debating skills – sort of bashing until I get a result, in a verbal way. Also, I’ve got a thing about mortar and pestles – I used to have a joke about them about getting one for my wedding present and just wondering what people thought I wanted, who they thought I was, whether they thought I was Merlin.”

ever need to live for a thousand years. But if you start scratching the surface and asking, ‘Why are we so, so rich? Where does it all come from?’ very quickly and very easily you’ll find answers that are pretty scary. They always involve acts of war and murder. But we don’t ask these questions, which is why I think it’s interesting to bring a piece like this to Australia. It’s not by chance that we all speak English and can understand each other.”

Although one might assume from Shechter’s words that his inspiration for the piece may have stemmed from a particular world event, it actually came more from a time of inward retrospection.

While he’s worked across various media – television, radio, writing and stand-up – Green readily admits he has a steady favourite. “Always standup. Stand-up is by far the best thing you can possibly do. It gives you everything: it gives you a buzz, it gives you a sense of worth, it’s a creative outlet, it’s why anybody who’s anybody wants to be a great stand-up. It’s raw, there’s no props, there’s no sets, there’s no actors, it’s just you and a mic and the audience. And all the applause is yours, and all the booing is yours too, if it comes down to it. There’s that immediate adrenaline rush – in fact, I haven’t done a gig now for a couple of weeks and I’m getting… I just feel like whatever it gives me, an endorphin rush, I’m missing and I’m starting to get a bit anxious that I’ve got to get back onstage. It’s like a physical dependency.”

“I suppose it was something that happened in my life; the search for more and more comfort and then asking, ‘Why?’ It was an alteration rather than being inspired by one event. It was a general thought that floated around in my mind during that period.”

In addition to choreographing the piece, Shechter was also involved in the musical composition, an equally demanding role.

“It’s very challenging and time-demanding [to do both], but also rewarding. I think I’d rather have these little inner arguments with myself than with someone else. It also depends on the moment. You have moments of inspiration where you’re just writing it and loving it but actually putting it together is a lot of hard work. It’s such a meaningful and powerful thing, and I’m happy to pay the price of the sleepless nights and the endless energy you have to have. I kind of hate it, but when it’s done it’s great.”

What: Rock With Laughter With: Mikey Robins, Jackie Loeb, Dane Hiser Where: Rock Lily, The Star When: Thursday August 28

What: Sun Where: Drama Theatre, Sydney Opera House When: Wednesday August 27 – Saturday August 30

Hiding In Plain Sight [DANCE] Body And Mind By Tegan Jones

H

ighly acclaimed choreographer Narelle Benjamin has created a new featurelength dance piece that will undoubtedly set hearts aflutter at Carriageworks this month.

Titled Hiding In Plain Sight, the story is inspired by the evocative work of American photographer Francesca Woodman and the philosophical writings of Romania’s Mircea Eliade. The show consists of two solo dance pieces which are performed in the same space, but during separate overlapping timelines. One of the performers, Helpmann Award winner Kristina Chan, talks about the show and the themes it explores.

“Hiding In Plain Sight is an exploration of beginnings and endings, life and death and identity in relation to the roots of who you are and where you’re from,” she explains. “It’s also ambiguous, because I don’t think Narelle, the director and choreographer, wants to be literal about the themes. She just wants to create a sense of home and identity, just touching on it so the audience can take what they want from it.”

Despite the purposeful ambiguity of the piece, one theme that undoubtedly shines through is the idea of life being transient. Considering that dance and theatre in general is also momentary, this makes the medium quite apt.

“Live performance is particularly ephemeral. thebrag.com

One moment you’re there and then you’re gone. The themes that Narelle works with really support the notions of being ephemeral, mortality, who we are, and what our identity is,” says Chan. “There are a few scenes that we’re working with. We’re still in the process of finishing the little scenes that will pull into the one core idea: home and identity.”

Audience members can also look forward to watching a creatively unique show, particularly due to the specific choreography developed by Benjamin.

“I’ve worked with Narelle for years, so we have quite a strong creative relationship,” says Chan. “She works quite differently to how most choreographers work these days. Generally, dance theatre is highly collaborative, and although Narelle does work in a collaborative sense, she also brings in her very highly tuned choreographic vocabulary in her body that she’s developed over many years.

“In one sense it’s challenging, because you’re almost learning a new physical technique. I love the challenges of working with different directors, and it’s great bringing your own sense of movement to a work. But then sometimes you just end up finding yourself doing what you’d normally do. Comparatively, Narelle really has a specific choreographic

Hiding In Plain Sight

Another fascinating aspect of Hiding In Plain Sight is the way the material it was inspired by informs the performance of the dancers themselves. They’re involved in the process before they reach rehearsals.

it will come out. I particularly relate to images more so than writing, although in saying that, writing can create imagery in my mind. I guess because dance is such a highly visual thing, you can create really abstract images that aren’t the norm through manipulating the body.”

“I’m loving the research aspect more and more,” Chan says. “You can saturate yourself with imagery, writing or whatever the research is, which is going to hopefully filter through physically somehow. The more you saturate yourself in that world, the more likely it is that

What: Hiding In Plain Sight as part of Performance Space: Score Where: Carriageworks When: Friday August 22 – Saturday August 30

language and she employs that in her work.”

BRAG :: 575 :: 13:08:14 :: 13

Theatre Reviews Hits and misses on the bareboards around town

Tartuffe

Hugo Weaving in Macbeth ■ Theatre

MACBETH Playing at the Sydney Theatre until Saturday September 27

■ Theatre

TARTUFFE Though people today are more likely to be familiar with Molly Ringwald than Molière, the French playwright was a pretty big deal in the 17th century.

While his name may not be instantly recognisable to those outside the world of theatre, Molière is considered one of the masters of Western comedy and several of his characters are as coveted as Hamlet or Lady Bracknell.

The eponymous Tartuffe (here played perfectly by the silver-tongued Leon Ford) is perhaps chief amongst these, a religious huckster charming his way into the blindly devout confi dence of wealthy family man Orgon (Sean O’Shea, in a splendid performance worthy of a Carry On fi lm). Despite the apprehensions of his wife, children and maid, Orgon quickly establishes Tartuffe as the authority over every aspect of his life, paving the way for a series of comic encounters and slapstick farce that has the audience onside from the moment the lights dim.

The play is in no hurry to reveal Tartuffe, who, like the appearance of all great monsters, benefi ts greatly from the anticipation. We know he is charming, so implicitly devout he is almost a saint; we

know that few in Orgon’s family are taken in. When we do at last lay eyes on the villain (quite literally, the tartuffe – the name has come to be synonymous with hypocritical virtue), we are ready to be impressed and Ford does not disappoint; he is in turns odious and enthralling.

Daughter Mariane (Geraldine Hakewill, hilariously dazzling) and her fi ancé Valere (Tom Hobbs, dazzlingly hilarious) are exceptionally cast, though the showstealing performance is provided by Kate Mulvany as the long-suffering, streetwise maid Dorine; she is pure comic gold, and her sarcastic asides are a thing of beauty.

Given the play is performed entirely in rhyming couplets (well, mostly), it does take time to tune your ear to the unusual delivery, and certain scenes stretch on a little longer than necessary. But Justin Fleming’s script is so delightfully spry that your attention is fi xed in no time at all. A memorable play (with a wardrobe like something out of Danielewski’s House Of Leaves) that is likely to be Bell Shakespeare’s production of the year.

Adam Norris

See www.thebrag.com for more arts reviews

Arts Exposed What's in our diary...

Oedipus Rex Belvoir St Theatre, Thursday August 21 – Sunday September 14 Once upon a time, the ruling classes had some empathy. Case in point, King Oedipus, who in Oedipus Rex believes he’s the cause for the plague that has stricken his city. Overcome with shame, he lives out his life in exile and blinded for his sins. Peter Carroll stars alongside Andrea Demetriades in this Adena Jacobs-directed tale of a man left to pick up the pieces.

Tickets start at $38. For bookings and more info, head to belvoir.com.au.

Pictured: Peter Carroll 14 :: BRAG :: 575 :: 13:08:14

this sacrifice clarity at the altar of thrift.

Weaving has the voice of the salaried Shakespearean actor, but his line readings are those of the ex-stutterer.

“Life’s but a walking shadow” becomes “Life’s. But. A Walking. Shadow”, with each word erupting as though forced out with great effort.

The other actors play up to three roles each, and it can be problematic. We see four actors slaughter Banquo, then, in the next scene, the same four actors sit down to feast with Macbeth. Banquo’s ghost appears and Macbeth turns to water, and his guests – the same actors we just saw do the deed – begin to suspect Macbeth of Banquo’s murder. This is a condensed version of the play, a scant two hours, but scenes like

At play’s end, Macbeth lies dead on the floor, the other actors depart stage right, then Weaving gets up and walks off. Then the lights go out, and he and the other actors return to take their bows. Why not have the lights go down on Weaving’s prone body? Like the stage switcheroo, director Kip Williams seems to want to pin his audience to their seats by sheer force of artificiality.

The empty theatre certainly has a stark, interrogatory power. But its use here feels like a case of cart before horse: a sexy concept hatched by a director before he worked out which text to unleash it on, and why.

Harry Windsor

five minutes WITH

HARRY T

H

arry T is one of Australia’s foremost spiritual coaches and mediums. But don’t take our word for it – we let the man himself tell us about his gift.

What does your work as a medium involve? What are your gifts, and how do you communicate?

I was born naturally gifted since childhood with the ability to communicate with the spirit realm and receive prophetic visions.

As a spiritual medium, I am able to read energy and can look into the past, present and future as well as connect to the ‘other side’.

Do you encounter a lot of scepticism from disbelievers?

It’s healthy to be sceptical about things we do not completely understand. Science has proven that we are energy and energy can never die. I do not force my beliefs on anyone and believe everyone has the right to choose what they believe in. Many people have had personal experiences themselves, which helps to open their mind to the possibility of spiritual phenomena.

Your bio describes you as a spiritual life coach – why is spiritual development important to one’s life?

From my understanding and belief system, we are a spiritual being experiencing life in a physical body here to grow and learn spiritual lessons based on our soul’s journey. To me, spirituality is all about doing good deeds, having no judgement and practising unconditional love. Those positive characteristics are quite rare to come across these days, hence why spiritual development is important to a person’s growth in consciousness.

It seems that for a long time throughout history the supernatural has captured interests – how far does the tradition stretch back?

Psychics, mediums and witches have been around for centuries. All religions of the world teach that there is a continuity of

life and mediums and spiritualism provide proof of that. Angels are pre-religion and have always existed. Supernatural experiences have always been around and always will be. I think one day spiritual phenomena will be accepted as something very natural in society.

What: Festival Of Dreams Where: Hordern Pavilion When: Saturday August 23 and Sunday August 24

thebrag.com

Tarfuffe photo by Pierre Toussaint

Playing at the Drama Theatre, Sydney Opera House until Saturday August 23

The Sydney Theatre Company’s new production of Macbeth, starring Hugo Weaving, comes burdened with the hype of its own conceit, which is to turn the Sydney Theatre inside out like a banana peel. The audience gazes out at empty seats while squeezed into scaffold seating at the back of the stage, underneath all the lights and pulleys, while the cast members have stormed the bleachers and stand with their backs to the empty auditorium. They wear civvies, and the only set to speak of is a long table around which the players

prowl. This is Macbeth unadorned.

G A L L E R Y

R E D

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OPENING NIGHT FRIDAY AUGUST 15, 6-8PM

supported by

Shop 11, 131–145 Glebe Point Road, Glebe NSW 2037 02 9692 0030 | art@galleryred.com.au | galleryred.com.au Gallery Opening Hours: Mon–Fri 10am–5pm, Sat 10am–4pm

BRAG :: 575 :: 13:08:14 :: 15

bread&thread Food & Fashion News...with Chris Martin

MEET MR TIPPLY

That’s ‘Tipply’, not ‘tipsy’, though where it ends is up to you. Mr Tipply is the latest Sydney bar set to celebrate its grand opening this week on the site of the old City Hotel (corner King and Kent streets). The venue has had a complete overhaul, and now tips its top hat to the fi ner traditions of CBD watering holes (come dressed to the nines if the mood takes you) while promising something different by way of an extensive food, cocktail, wine and craft beer menu. Executive chef Elaine Lee comes to town from the Westin Hotel group in Southeast Asia, and presents a swarm of seafood, beef, quail and more. Expect a fl avour of history and small bar charm in a spacious central location.

LOX STOCK & BARREL

Things are going from tasty to tastier at Lox Stock & Barrel in Bondi Beach. Now open seven days a week for breakfast and lunch, and four nights a week for dinner, the kitchen runs as close to ‘farm to plate’ as possible, with all the preparation done in-house. The dinner menu includes slow-cooked lamb shoulder, pan-fried snapper, slow-roasted eggplant and more, and you’ll want to try their specialist sandwiches and baked goods. It’s all influenced by dishes from pre-war Europe.

WINNER DINNER AT WOOLLOOMOOLOO

The Woolloomooloo Bay Hotel and Agnew Wines are presenting a five-course Audrey Wilkinson wine matching dinner on Thursday August 28, hosted by winemaker Jeff Byrne. Audrey Wilkinson is a Hunter Valley winery that’s been plying its trade since 1866, after founding brothers Frederick and John studied winemaking in France and Germany.

DANGERFIELD MAN

EAT STREET AT SOULFEST

Streetwear fashion label Dangerfield has launched its new spring 2014 collection for men, Dangerfield Man. Jumping on board is creative director Roy Christou, formerly of Honor Among Thieves.

The collection has been designed locally in Melbourne and aims to deliver “magnificent” style “in a rough and subtle manner”. Check out the new threads in Dangerfield and select Myer stores.

NEW EXEC CHEF AT CAFE SYDNEY

The greatly experienced James Kidman has taken over as executive chef at Cafe Sydney, the dining location at level five of Customs House, from the outgoing Matt Bates (who’s setting up his own business).

Kidman has cooked at Otto Ristorante, Doltone House and Vicinity Dining, and recently launched the Original Meatball Company on York Street. Cafe Sydney has focused on seafood since its 1999 inception, but time will tell what Kidman brings to the kitchen.

Music fans will be across the lineup for the inaugural Soulfest, to be held at Victoria Park on Saturday October 18 – but as food goes, this music festival will be one of the nation’s best. The organisers have

THE ANNUAL AUSTRALIAN BEER FESTIVAL

Returning for its tenth year in 2014, The Australian Annual Beer Festival is back from Friday October 17 – Sunday October 19. As the name suggests, it’s one great celebration of all things hops, barley and yeast, held at The Australian Heritage Hotel in The Rocks. The Home Brew Championship is on as well, with entries open now and the winners announced on Monday September 15. It’s not just about your boring uncle and his dodgy homemade ale – the first prize, selected by a panel of beer experts and enthusiasts, will win fl ights, transfers and a tour of the Cascade Brewery in Tasmania. For more info or to enter, email beerfestival@australianheritagehotel.com.

THE ANNANDALE HOTEL

TOBY’S ESTATE

The signature Toby’s Estate café in Chippendale has reopened following renovations. The revived spot promises visitors “a true Toby’s experience” – whatever that means – with an updated menu including dishes from Colombia, Brazil, Kenya and Panama in order to reflect the origins of Toby’s coffee. To celebrate the new-look café, Toby’s is also serving beer and cider from local breweries for a limited time. announced Eat Street, the food hub featuring cuisine from around the globe. When you’re taking a break from the tunes, get your tastebuds working at stands by Eat Art Truck, Soul Food, Cuban Street Food, Mamma’s Sweet Roasted Corn on Coals, American Dog House, Cane Juice, Brazilian BBQ Meat, Cantina Mobil, Jaffles Jaffe, Mini Beignets and Lemon Bar. We’ll have a side of soul with that, please.

restaurant/bar profile

17-19 PARRAMATTA ROAD, ANNANDALE MONDAY-THURSDAY: 7AM-MIDNIGHT, FRIDAY-SATURDAY: 7AM-1AM, SUNDAY: 8AM-MIDNIGHT Flavours: Pub food classics as well as Rankin’s unique spin on traditional pub grub.

Something to start with: Breakfast from 7am including buckets of spicy house-made hash browns with a selection of toppings, further enhanced by an accompanying Bloody Mary menu.

The main course: Southern fried chicken burger, butter, lettuce, carrot relish, chipotle mayo, fries.

John Rankin, executive chef at The Annandale Hotel Who’s the cook?

John Rankin, executive chef: ex-Waitan, Quay, Astral Restaurant and Sean’s Kitchen.

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Eye candy: Elaine Richardson did the interior design – her previous work includes Trinity Hotel, Bat And Ball and The Henson Park Hotel.

Room for dessert?

Baked s’more: cookies and crème biscuits, marshmallow and chocolate garnish delicately constructed and leaving you wanting s’more.

Care for a drink?

A traditional Old Fashioned is a highlight from the whisky-heavy cocktail menu, but if you’re after something a bit quirky have a go at a boozy milkshake – perfect with breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Fontina, kale and fennel toastie Sounds?

Soul music is the word at this venue, with blues, bluegrass and swing featuring strongly in the lineup.

Make us drool: The Annandale caters to a crowd who want everything the city has to offer in their own backyard – quality food, great vibes and live music. It’s your local, sans the gross carpet and boring taps.

The bill comes to: $30-$40 Website: annandalehotel.com

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BRAG :: 575 :: 13:08:14 :: 17

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

ALBUM OF THE WEEK THE GASLIGHT ANTHEM Get Hurt Island/EMI

Here we are: five albums and eight years in, The Gaslight Anthem have hit the ‘reset’ button. The band has made a bold departure in its sound, moving out of the heartland and into the mean city streets.

Fans of the band’s earlier, punkier days may throw off their cutoff denim vests in disgust, but Get Hurt isn’t an album for them. This album serves as a payoff to those that have duly noted The Gaslight Anthem’s growth and progressions across their discography – we are essentially witnessing a new pinnacle for the group’s creativity.

David James Young

xxx

The XxxxNew Jersey rockers have reinvented themselves with spectacular results.

The Springsteen/Petty worship has served them well until this point, but it’s the stylistic forays into blues, folk, ambience and grunge that drive the songwriting on Get Hurt. Some may even have difficulty figuring out if it is indeed the same band at points – that is, of course, until the

unmistakable howl of Brian Fallon enters the fray.

His heart-on-sleeve conviction and piercing voice still make their home at the album’s core – he’s one of the few vocalists in contemporary music who can deliver a potentially cringeworthy line like “I still love rock’n’roll / I still call somebody baby” and have it actually mean something.

OPETH

BENJAMIN BOOKER

LIKE THIEVES

BASEMENT JAXX

KINGSWOOD

Pale Communion Roadrunner/Warner

Benjamin Booker Rough Trade/Remote Control

Autumn’s Twilight Independent/Bandcamp

Junto Atlantic Jaxx/[PIAS]

Microscopic Wars Dew Process

Opeth’s roots may be steeped in death metal, but that hasn’t stopped them hurling the odd stylistic curveball when it’s least expected. “But they’re not balls-tothe-wall heavy anymore?!” cried old-school fans when confronted with the clean singing and vintage rock tones of 2011’s Heritage.

That said, if you’re yearning for the blackened death metal of yore, continue to look elsewhere – you won’t get your fix here.

Touring with Jack White and appearing on Letterman would be bucket list items for most career musicians, yet Benjamin Booker had ticked them off before even releasing his debut album. As such, the selftitled debut from the New Orleansbased Booker comes with quite some hype, and mostly manages to fulfil it.

Perhaps Australian rock fans are still hungry for something akin to The Butterfly Effect in their early days; that dark alternative rock sound that captivated us. Former frontman Clint Boge’s latest band Like Thieves seem very much poised to step up and fill that gap.

It’s been five years since club saviours Basement Jaxx last put out new studio material – two albums in a year, in fact, with 2009’s Scars and Zephyr. As is the case with many close-proximity double releases, the duo could have saved us all a lot of time by simply putting out one solid LP instead of two patchy ones.

Since releasing their debut EP Change Of Heart back in 2012, Kingswood have been working hard to capture our attention, and now they’ve arrived with a rocking debut album.

The Scandinavian gloom still lingers, but overall the picture is brighter on Opeth’s 11th studio album, Pale Communion. Vocalist Mikael Åkerfeldt’s guttural growl has been retired (again), replaced with a delicate croon that’s layered upon sprawling, midtempo grooves.

Ghostly acoustic passages, sizzling lead chops and ’70s-inspired prog are mixed together like watercolours on the epic ‘Moon Above, Sun Below’.

‘River’ is perhaps the prettiestsounding thing Opeth have ever written – and so the most polarising.

Melding Crosby, Stills & Nashinspired acoustic swing with dense finger-twisting riffs and wailing solos, the track shows Opeth are pushing forward, mixing a signature sound with a diverse range of melodic ideas.

Lead single ‘Violent Shiver’ gets things off to a rollicking start, establishing Booker’s muddled blend of garage rock, blues and old-fashioned rock’n’roll right from the beginning. The song opens with Booker’s guitar playing emulating classic Chuck Berry, before Max Norton’s drums take over and Booker’s vocals join in to transform the song into a punky, garage rock number. This is Booker at his most upbeat and impressive, and when he replicates this style on ‘Wicked Waters’ and ‘Old Hearts’, the album is at its most enjoyable.

Ballads ‘Slow Coming’ and ‘I Thought I Heard You Screaming’ showcase Booker’s versatility, as the songs chug along in the vein of very early Black Keys and his vocals gain an otherworldly depth.

Autumn’s Twilight features six finely tuned, beautifully crafted and kick-arse rock tracks that re-establish a very defined signature sound (following on from their debut EP of last year), but also stand alone as songs full of (dark) colour and character at the same time. This is an excellent way for a band to approach its career in a musical sense, as fans will know exactly what they’re getting from a new Like Thieves release, and they know they’re going to be dazzled with the quality of the tunes and the performances as well.

Speaking of performances, Boge has taken no time to put his stamp all over this band. It was this very juxtaposition of in-your-face rock power and dark ambience, with Boge’s emotive voice soaring over the top, that made The Butterfly Effect so compelling in their early days.

Pale Communion is the sound of a band drawing inspiration from the past while maintaining an outlook on the future.

It’s an entertaining debut that heralds Booker as a rising star of the blues rock scene and gives hope that he has much more in store for us.

Like Thieves are making a fine fist of recapturing that feeling, while at the same time creating something that’s all their own.

Jack Pilven

Keiron Costello

Rod Whitfi eld

INDIE ALBUM OF THE WEEK There must be some kind of musical fertiliser in the water up in Brisbane.

The ever-evolving garage-pop hydra Velociraptor have swollen into a monster that’s 15 members strong, and somehow they have managed to squeeze the lot into a weighty 11-track debut album. Barely.

VELOCIRAPTOR Velociraptor Dot Dash/Remote Control

18 :: BRAG :: 575 :: 13:08:14

An orchestra of guitars and gang vocals has a propensity to turn into the musical equivalent of multiplayer Mario Kart, but Velociraptor have developed a more sophisticated and structured sensibility compared to their wild, teetering past releases.

Songs like ‘The Right To Call You’ and ‘Ramona’ hold true to the band’s trademark raucous timbre, but shifting time signatures and tempos and well-constructed bridges hold the party together. The half-slurred,

half-shouted vocals delivering blasé I-don’t-care-but-really-I-do lyrics inevitably lead to you to sing along with a big smile on your face.

Most of the coherent chaos is penned by lead singer Jeremy Neale. Two tracks give respite from his onslaught – ‘All You Need’ and ‘I Don’t Know Why (It’s You)’ – but lacklustre vocals and vague progressions on these fail to provide any interesting alternatives.

Overflowing with energy and talent, as long as it keeps to the beaten path, Velociraptor’s debut album far surpasses what 15 musicians should be capable of doing when they’re all crammed together on one record.

Still, it’s a lesson learned on album number seven – in fact, the resulting LP goes even beyond solid. This could well be their best record since 2001’s global breakthrough smash Rooty. It sees their mojo well and truly back in action, refining both their oldschool tendencies and a handful of new tricks without coming across as desperate or out of touch.

Rather than rely on star power, the vocalists used throughout Junto are fresh up-and-comers – including, the story goes, singers they met in the car park of their studio. Of course, this ain’t no two-bit operation – every guest on the album adds their own spice and particular flavour to what is an already tasty brew.

Where’s your head at? If it’s not at the new Basement Jaxx record, then you’re doing yourself a disservice.

David James Young

From track one, Microscopic Wars proves that Kingswood are a band all about change and growth. While many acts choose to stick to a particular sound through their EPs and early albums, these guys like to fuse their inspirations, changing their sound throughout their brief career so far – not just across different releases, but even within individual songs.

Here, Kingswood launch straight into proceedings with the hard rock energy they’re known for (‘All Too Much’, ‘Ohio’), and there are more than a few tracks that bring back those old-school stadium rock vibes (‘Tremor’ is one), full of beautiful harmonic vocals. Your ears and emotions will be taken on a rollercoaster journey of passion as songs slow down, become smoother and melodic, letting you get those deep feels on (‘Eye Of The Storm’) before launching back up to some serious guitar jams.

While such contrasts could cause conflicts and clashes, Kingswood have constructed an album that brings them all together without a hitch.

Amy Theodore

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

PATRICK JAMES - Broken Lines POND - Hobo Rocket BOY & BEAR - Moonfi re

BEIRUT - The Rip Tide BEN FOLDS - Rockin’ The Suburbs

Nic Liney thebrag.com

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

PHOTOGRAPHER :: ASHLEY MAR

KASABIAN, THE DELTA RIGGS Hordern Pavilion Sunday August 10

HANSON

Enmore Theatre Friday August 8 If you weren’t ready for the sheer hysteria that these three brothers induce, you should’ve been: the fandom for Hanson is still very much alive, and a sold-out crowd of like-minded Hanson diehards indulged in their normally clandestine guilty pleasure.

I’d heard that Hanson now take themselves very seriously, spending a whole career trying to prove they’re not a one trick pony.

Striding onstage purposefully and dressed in all black, brothers Isaac, Zac and Taylor had the largely female audience in the palms of their boyish hands as they opened with ‘Fired Up’ from their newest release, Anthem. Playing a number of songs from that album as well as diving into their deep back catalogue, they started the show at a helter skelter pace.

Then came the acoustic sensitive middle

bit, where they stripped that shit back, brought out three steel string guitars and sat at the front of the stage on boxes. Zac took out his hair tie so his flowing golden locks would catch the spotlight, and threw back his hair à la Flashdance, much to the arousal of the Fansons. We were treated to an acoustic version of ‘On And On’, the brothers took it in turns to do solo songs, and then they earned a bit of local kudos with an a capella cover of The Bee Gees’ ‘Too Much Heaven’.

The pop culture heavyweight that is ‘MMMBop’ was revealed as their fourth-last song, which unfortunately felt the same as if they revealed the culprit in an SVU episode 15 minutes before the end – the rest of the show became kinda pointless. However, seeing a crowd of fully grown adults literally crying and screaming during this threeminute dose of bubblegum nostalgia was a truly wonderful musical moment.

Raf Seneviratne

How can you spot a Kasabian fan? You can’t – they’re hidden everywhere, from your tall corporate office towers to your Thursday night life drawing classes, quietly head-nodding right under your noses. If the lines to buy the garish 48:13 merch were anything to go by, you’ll be seeing a lot more fans out in the open this week.

It was hard to think of a better opening act for the night than The Delta Riggs.

However much they are indebted to Kasabian as an influence, they more than made up for it by commanding the cavernous Hordern in style. Elliott Hammond swaggered across the stage with the best of them, and was so graceful with the mic stand I wondered if he’d practised manoeuvring it in his bedroom.

‘America’ was a highlight as Alex Markwell took centre stage to tear through a solo.

‘Rah Rah Radio’ went off without a hitch as did new release ‘The Record’s Flawed’.

I’m excited for the day they take over the Pavilion as headliners.

Kasabian entered to a roaring crowd and frenzied strobes. The crowd had high expectations, especially off the back of glowing reports from their headlining slot at this year’s Glastonbury Festival. It’s safe to say they delivered. Within a few chords of ‘Bumblebee’ people were on shoulders, a mosh was going and Sergio Pizzorno’s mesmerising hair was flicking in time to the bass. Lead singer Tom Meighan didn’t need to do much to amp up the crowd, and a few hand flicks while in his bejewelledsunnies-and-blazer combo had the desired rock star effect.

The setlist was a well-curated crosssection of old and new, with live trumpet giving tracks like ‘Shoot The Runner’ a dirty edge. Any fans who had been doubting Kasabian’s far more electroheavy sound on 48:13 seemed to be converted as ‘Treat’ morphed into an extended dance session, with Pizzorno working the stage like a pro. “That’s how we do it,” he told us triumphantly. But it was the encore of ‘Vlad The Impaler’ that really sealed the deal, as everyone jumped higher than they ever had and yelled “Get loose, get loose” with an enthusiasm bordering on hysteria. The secret is out – Kasabian are a mustsee, and shirt-buyers can wear 48:13 emblazoned across their chest with pride.

Emily Meller

PHOTOGRAPHER :: ASHLEY MAR

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BRAG :: 575 :: 13:08:14 :: 19

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live reviews

up all night out all week . . .

What we've been out to see...

WINTERFEST The Loft, UTS Friday August 8 As the adage goes, ‘those who learn hard must also play hard’. Or something.

Either way, the lineup for UTS’ Winterfest was good enough to coax reluctant students back to the dreaded UTS Tower outside of university hours, an almost unheard of occurrence.

Safi a took to the Loft stage with plenty of woozy synth beats and pumping bass.

It’s a testament to Ben Woolner’s voice that he managed to overcome some obvious sound issues to deliver a strong, energetic set. Sadly, the packed-out venue just didn’t feel quite right, with a lot of the crowd far more concerned with downing drinks than with the actual music.

melissa oliveira ft. jam

It was not until the clocks struck midnight that Violent Soho graced the stage.

From the opening chord, people started crowd surfing, fist pumping and generally losing their shit, as the youth of today are wont to do. The madness engulfed the entire Loft – by the time ‘Saramona Said’ arrived, the hysteria had grown to the point that it felt possible someone might actually start a fire, while ‘Covered In Chrome’ is the reason everyone has lost their voice this week. All in all, a pretty great start to what will undoubtedly be a very long, furry-eyed semester.

Emily Meller

PICS :: KC

By the time the DMA’s took to the stage, it was clear that most of the crowd were at least tipsy and ready to start a decent mosh. The band was backing up a hectic

touring schedule and recent Splendour performance, and it’s clear the practice has lead to a tighter live show. Everyone should be sick of ‘Delete’ by now, but Tommy O’Dell’s nostalgic voice is just as relatable as ever. Matt Mason’s nimblefingered guitar work carried ‘Feels Like 37’ and ‘Lay Down’ through some more sound problems, the picture of calm with a cigarette tucked behind his ear.

08:08:14 :: Foundry616 :: 616 Harris St Ultimo 9211 9442

09:08:14 :: Brighton Up Bar :: 1/77 Oxford St Darlinghurst 9361 3379 20 :: BRAG :: 575 :: 13:08:14

frankie’s ft. bruce!

PICS :: AM

nova and the experience

PICS :: AM

KE PHOTOGRAPHER :: KATRINA CLAR

10:08:14 :: Frankie’s Pizza :: 50 Hunter St Sydney thebrag.com

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up all night out all week . . .

Manning Bar Friday August 8

If a tree falls in the forest and no-one is around to hear it, does it still make a sound? Clowns answered this adage, proverbial chainsaws roaring in front of what was essentially the bar staff and the sound guy. They tackled the challenge of the support slot head on – quite literally, mind, as the band’s fearless frontman Stevie threw himself across the empty dancefloor with reckless abandon. Don’t sleep the next time this lot are in town.

As soon as Blueline Medic began firing off favourites such as ‘Over The Lawn’ and ‘Cathedral’, their absence from Sydney stages was instantly forgiven, leaving the devotees up front reciting lyrics with fists clenched and mile-wide grins. A cheap rush of nostalgia? Maybe. Still, just try denying the chorus of the anthemic ‘Making The Nouveau Riche’ when it hits. Few moments on the night even came close to how special that felt.

Samiam started early and finished late.

In doing so, they took ‘stretching the friendship’ into practically unforgivable territory. The boozy American imports were

initially fun, and their grizzled take on poppunk definitely had its fans. There came a time, however, where the orchestra had to start playing over the damn Oscars speech – even when two of the band members had started packing up, they played two additional songs apropos of nothing. At one point, a punter attempted a stage dive but ended up toppling over due to the sparse crowd. This perhaps summed up Samiam better than words ever could.

An 11pm start time meant Bodyjar had plenty of time to get acquainted with their rider, lending a loose, relaxed vibe to the set. The band performed its 1996 LP Rimshot! in full, and it was worth revisiting – from the punchy ‘Don’t Tell Me’ to left-ofcentre Police cover ‘Next To You’, it stands as one of the quartet’s finest moments.

After wrapping the album, there was just enough time to throw in half a dozen requests, including ‘Fairytales’ and old fave ‘Too Drunk To Drive’. It ended, though, as it always should – the knockout combo of ‘Not The Same’ and ‘One In A Million’ saw the entire room’s voices raised as one, slam-dancing the night away as if the wallet chain never went out of fashion. A mixed but overall greatly enjoyable evening for those old enough to know better but, for one night only, simply didn’t care.

David James Young

neurosis + adrift for days

PICS :: AM

BODYJAR, SAMIAM, BLUELINE MEDIC, CLOWNS

09:08:14 :: Manning Bar :: Manning Rd, Camperdown 9563 6000

the maple trail

PICS :: KC

KE PHOTOGRAPHER :: KATRINA CLAR

08:08:14 :: The Lansdowne Hotel :: 2-6 City Rd Chippendale 8218 2333 OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER

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MAR ::

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g g guide gig g

send your listings to : gigguide@thebrag.com

pick of the week sleepmakeswaves

SATURDAY AUGUST 16 Manning Bar

sleepmakeswaves + Breaking Orbit + Teal 8pm. $20.

WEDNESDAY AUGUST 13 ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY, BLUES & FOLK Mitch Anderson & His Organic Orchestra Coopers Hotel, Newtown.

8:45pm. free.

JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC Gang Of Brothers Jam Night Spring Street Social, Bondi.

9pm. free.

Hammerhead Venue 505, Surry Hills. 8pm. $15.

Lionel Cole Imperial Hotel, Paddington.

8pm. free.

Mike Moreno Trio Foundry616, Ultimo. 8:30pm. $21.50.

Shorts & Sounds - feat: Gabriela Soares + La Brava The Basement, Circular Quay.

7pm. $18.

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS

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THURSDAY AUGUST 14 ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY, BLUES & FOLK

G.O.D. Town & Country Hotel, St Peters. 7pm. free.

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

Moonshine Thursdays - feat: Papa Pilko & The Binrats Moonshine Cider & Rum Bar, Manly. 8pm. free.

The Folk Informal - feat: Dan And Amy + Big Smoke + Katie Wighton + Sweet

Jean FBi Social, Kings Cross.

8pm. $10.

JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC

Cole Soul And Emotion feat: Lionel Cole The White Horse, Surry Hills.

8pm. free.

Dig + The Nu-Grooves Foundry616, Ultimo. 8pm. $21.50.

The Late Night Soda Social - feat: Black Diamond Hearts + Dick Smithers + The Doo Wops Soda Factory, Surry Hills.

5pm. free.

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

10pm. free.

A Team Duo Crows Nest Hotel, Crows Nest. 9pm. free.

Alex Hopkins Open Mic Night Wenty Leagues Club, Wentworthville. 9pm. free.

Alkemie Night - feat: Live Music + DJ Sudek Spring Street Social, Bondi.

9:30pm. free.

Black Diamond Hearts Soda Factory, Surry Hills.

10pm. free.

Bones Atlas Brass Monkey, Cronulla.

7pm. $15.

Brian King + Jody Yares Chatswood RSL, Chatswood.

12pm. free.

Dave White Duo Maloney’s Hotel, Sydney.

9:30pm. free.

Down Royale + Daemon Pyre + Absolution + Dystopic + Ghost & The Darkness Valve Bar, Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 8pm. $10.

Favourites At The Flinders (Fait Accompli’s Skarlett Saramore D) Flinders Hotel, Surry Hills.

8pm. free.

Free The Beats Venue 505, Surry Hills. 8pm. free.

Gerard Masters Northies Cronulla Hotel, Cronulla. 7:30pm. free.

Glass Towers Mona Vale Hotel, Mona Vale.

7:30pm. $18.90.

Greg Agar Scruffy Murphy’s Hotel, Sydney. 7:30pm. free.

Hollwood Nights - feat: Goldheist + Jenna Murphy + Direwolf Hotel Hollywood, Surry Hills.

8pm. free.

James Reyne Plays Australian Crawl Panthers, Penrith. 7:30pm. free.

Jamie Lindsay Dee Why Hotel, Dee Why. 7pm. free.

Jess Dunbar Northies Cronulla Hotel, Cronulla. 7:30pm. free.

Luke Morris Bucket List, Bondi. 8pm. free.

Matt Price Hillside Hotel, Castle Hill.

7:30pm. free.

Monte Exchange Hotel, Darlinghurst. 9pm. $15.

Palms Newtown Social Club, Newtown. 7pm. $15.

Sarah Paton Observer Hotel, The Rocks.

8:30pm. free.

Scott Spark The Vanguard, Newtown.

8pm. $18.80.

The Aston Shuffle Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $23.60.

The Late Night Soda Social Soda Factory, Surry Hills.

5pm. free.

The White Brothers New Brighton Hotel, Manly.

10pm. free.

Tim Pringle Nag’s Head Hotel, Glebe.

8:15pm. free.

Zoltan Adria, Sydney. 5pm. free.

FRIDAY AUGUST 15 ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY, BLUES & FOLK Dylan Hartas And The Blues Martyrs Lazybones Lounge, Marrickville. 8pm. $10.

The Main Guy And The Other Guy + Unfit For Human Consumption + Vanishing Shapes The Lass O’Gowrie Hotel, Wickham. 8:30pm. free.

JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC Cambo Massey Park Golf Club, Concord. 7pm. free.

Cath & Him Ramsgate RSL, Sans Souci.

8pm. free.

Jazz Hip-Hop Freestyle Sessions Foundry616, Ultimo.

11:30pm. free.

Michael Deacon - A Night Of Fusion / Berklee Calling Foundry616, Ultimo. 8pm. $21.50.

Souled Out Scruffy Murphy’s Hotel, Sydney. 10pm. free.

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS

Chase The Sun + The Childs + Nick Saxon Brass Monkey, Cronulla.

7pm. $23.

Phil Slater + The Cameron Undy Quartet Venue 505, Surry Hills. 8pm. $15.

Alex Hopkins Wenty Leagues Club, Wentworthville. 9pm. free.

Am 2 Pm North Sydney Leagues Club, Cammeray. 9:30pm. free.

Andrew Dyce The Grand Hotel, Rockdale.

5:30pm. free.

Andy Mammers Harbord Beach Hotel, Harbord. 7pm. free.

Angry Little Gods Lewisham Hotel, Lewisham.

Palms

8:30pm. free.

Armchair Travellers Duo Courthouse Hotel, Darlinghurst. 10pm. free.

Baddies + Chickenstones + Haiku Town & Country Hotel, St Peters. 7pm. free.

Beast & Flood + Milkk + The Nuclear Family + Draining Pool Record Crate, Glebe. 7pm. $2.

Ben Bennett Chatswood RSL, Chatswood.

5pm. free.

Ben Finn Castle Hill RSL, Castle Hill.

9:30pm. free.

Benj Axwel Bald Faced Stag Hotel, Leichhardt. 8pm. free.

Big Rich Vineyard Hotel, Vineyard.

9:30pm. free.

Blake Tailor The Oriental Hotel, Springwood. 8pm. free.

Cabins + The Hollow Bones Standard Bowl, Surry Hills.

8pm. free.

Carl Fidler Observer Hotel, The Rocks.

6pm. free.

Chase The Sun Brass Monkey, Cronulla.

8:30pm. $20.

David Agius Duo Time & Tide Hotel, Dee Why. 7:30pm. free.

Deviation Belmont 16s, Belmont. 8pm. free.

DJ Marty Wentworthville Leagues Club, Wentworthville. 9pm. free.

Double Jeopardy Duo Pittwater RSL, Mona Vale.

8pm. free.

Elephant Man Metro Theatre, Sydney. 8pm. $44.76.

Evie Dean Mona Vale Hotel, Mona Vale.

9pm. free.

Glenn Esmond Northies Cronulla Hotel, Cronulla. 9pm. free.

Greg Agar Campbelltown Catholic Club, Campbelltown. 6pm. free.

Hooray For Everything Windsor Leagues Club, Windsor South. 9pm. free.

James Fox Higgins Duo Hillside Hotel, Castle Hill.

8pm. free.

James Reyne + Dragon Enmore Theatre, Newtown.

8pm. $65.

Jess Dunbar Crows Nest Hotel, Crows Nest. 7pm. free.

Joe Echo Duo PJ Gallagher’s, Leichhardt.

10pm. free.

Live Music At The Royal The Royal, Leichhardt.

9:30pm. free.

Los Hombres Del Diablo + Arrowhead Hermann’s Bar, Darlington.

8pm. $15.

Matt Jones Parramatta RSL, Parramatta.

5pm. free.

Matt Jones Duo Kings Cross Hotel, Kings Cross. 10:30pm. free.

Matt Lyon Duo Collingwood Hotel, Liverpool.

4:30pm. free.

Mesa Groove Revesby Workers Club, Revesby. 8:30pm. free.

Nickelback Cover Show Towradgi Beach Hotel, Towradgi. 4:45pm. free.

Nicky Kurta Northies Cronulla Hotel, Cronulla. 5:30pm. free.

Rachel Eldon Mona Vale Hotel, Mona Vale.

5:30pm. free.

Rob Henry Panthers, Penrith. 8:30pm. free.

Rock Of Ages Bull & Bush Hotel, Baulkham Hills. 9:30pm. free.

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Rich & Famous Belmont 16s, Belmont. 3pm. free.

City Slickers Valve Bar, Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 8pm. $15.

Cosmo’s Midnight Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach. 8pm. free.

Fat Bubba’s Chicken Wednesdays Soda Factory, Surry Hills.

5pm. free.

Gang Of Brothers Jam Night Spring Street Social, Bondi.

9pm. free.

Hanson The Hi-Fi, Moore Park.

7:30pm. $65.

Happy Hippies Ettamogah Hotel, Kelly Ridge.

6:30pm. free.

Kirsten Allison Duo Mounties, Mount Pritchard.

6pm. free.

Milwaukee Banks + Staunch Nation + Moonbase Commander + Mike Who Goodgod Small Club, Sydney.

8pm. free.

Shredders Lair Lansdowne Hotel, Chippendale. 6pm. free.

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS

g g guide gig g send your listings to : gigguide@thebrag.com

Xxx

Russell Nelson Orient Hotel, The Rocks.

4:30pm. free.

Safari Suits Colonial Hotel, Werrington.

9pm. free.

Soul Tattoo Quakers Inn, Quakers Hill.

8pm. free.

Spookyland Jam Gallery, Bondi Junction.

8pm. free.

Stolen Violin Easy Tiger, Darlinghurst.

7pm. $10.

The Aston Shuffle Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 7pm. $23.60.

The Jaded Vanities Burlesque The Vanguard, Newtown.

8pm. $36.80.

The Lazys + Psyrens + All The Wise + 30three Tattersalls Hotel Penrith, Penrith. 8:30pm. free.

The Lonely Boys Albion Hotel, Parramatta.

9pm. free.

The Shrooms Crows Nest Hotel, Crows Nest. 10:30pm. free.

The Sphinxes Crown Hotel, Camden. 8pm. free.

Three Man Captain Cook Hotel, Paddington. 8pm. free.

Twin Lakes Lansdowne Hotel, Chippendale. 8pm. free.

Uz The Hi-Fi, Moore Park. 8pm. $35.50.

Victoria Avenue Kirribilli Hotel, Milsons Point.

8pm. free.

SATURDAY AUGUST 16 ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY, BLUES & FOLK

Harmony + Tucker B’s Newtown Social Club, Newtown. 7:30pm. $12.

Khats Town & Country Hotel, St Peters. 3pm. free.

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

JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC Danny G Felix Proyecto 5 Foundry616, Ultimo. 8:30pm. $21.50.

Jeremy Costa Venue 505, Surry Hills. 8pm. free.

Soundproofed Bayview Tavern, Gladesville.

10pm. free.

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS

Am 2 Pm PJ Gallagher’s, Sydney.

9:30pm. free.

Armchair Travellers Duo North Sydney Leagues Club, Cammeray. 9:30pm. free.

Bam Bam Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $15.40.

Black Diamond Hearts Crows Nest Hotel, Crows Nest. 10:30pm. free.

Blake Tailor Duo The Mean Fiddler, Rouse Hill. 6pm. free.

Brad Johns Observer Hotel, The Rocks.

5:30pm. free.

Brown Sugar Campbelltown Catholic Club, Campbelltown. 9:30pm. free.

Cara Kavanagh And Mark Oats Duo PJ Gallagher’s, Leichhardt.

10pm. free.

Compound + Zeus +

thebrag.com

Lincoln

education profile JMC ACADEMY ALUMNI PROFILE WITH DANA BROEKHUIZEN Bachelor of Entertainment Business Management (2007 graduate)

Rabbit Taxi Goodgod Small Club, Sydney. 11pm. free.

Corrosion - feat: DJ Xerstorkitte + Voodoo + Daze + More Valve Bar, Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 9pm. $10.

David Agius Coogee Bay Hotel, Coogee.

9pm. free.

Deadfest 2014 - feat: Na Maza + Domino + Threequency + Sodomiser + Not Another Sequel Just Another Prequel + Foundry Road + Acid Nymph + By The Horns + Upside Down Miss Jane + DJ Jizz + DJ Buddha + Many More Valve Bar, Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 12pm. $10.

Den & Loz Crown Hotel, Camden. 9pm. free.

DJ Marty Wentworthville Leagues Club, Wentworthville. 9pm. free.

Endless Summer Beach Party Orient Hotel, The Rocks.

9:30pm. free.

Errol Buddle Quintet Penrith RSL, Penrith. 2pm. free.

Filthy Seeds Town & Country Hotel, St Peters. 7:30pm. free.

Funkifi ed Riverwood Inn, Riverwood.

8pm. free.

Gang Of Youths Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $17.40.

Gemma Observer Hotel, The Rocks.

4pm. free.

Glass Towers Studio Six, Sutherland.

7:30pm. $18.90.

Glenn Esmond Fortune Of War, The Rocks.

8pm. free.

Greg Agar New Brighton Hotel, Manly.

10pm. free.

Groovology Penrith RSL, Penrith. 9pm. free.

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

Happy Hippies Wentworthville Leagues Club, Wentworthville. 9pm. free.

Heath Burdell Time & Tide Hotel, Dee Why. 7:30pm. free.

Jackson Holt Brewhouse Marayong, Kings Park. 8pm. free.

James Englund Australian Hotel And Brewery, Rouse Hill. 7pm. free.

Jamie Lindsay Stacks Taverna, Sydney.

6pm. free.

Joe Echo PJ Gallagher’s, Moore Park.

7:30pm. free.

John Field Duo Town Hall Hotel, Balmain.

10pm. free.

Kallidad Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach. 8pm. free.

Klay Cookie’s Lounge Bar,

Strathfield North. 8pm. free.

Lincoln + Polarheart + Paul Conrad + Callum Wylie FBi Social, Kings Cross.

8pm. $10.

Macson Courthouse Hotel, Darlinghurst. 10pm. free.

Mainline Carousel Inn Hotel, Rooty Hill. 8pm. free.

Matt Jones Duo Albion Hotel, Parramatta.

9pm. free.

Matt Price And Jess Dunbar Duo Petersham Bowling Club, Petersham. 8pm. free.

Mescalero + Steve Edmonds Spring Street Social, Bondi.

8pm. free.

Millions Goodgod Small Club, Sydney. 8pm. $14.

Panorama Rock Lily, Pyrmont. 9:30pm. free.

Party Mode Panthers, Penrith. 9pm. free.

Paul Hayward Town & Country Hotel, St Peters. 2pm. free.

Picture Perfect Hermann’s Bar, Darlington.

8pm. $10.

Pop Fiction Castle Hill RSL, Castle Hill.

10:30pm. free.

Rapture Kelly’s On King, Newtown.

9pm. free.

Reckless Northies Cronulla Hotel, Cronulla. 9:10pm. free.

Rob Henry Castle Hill RSL, Castle Hill.

9pm. free.

Rosenthorne The Belvedere Hotel, Sydney. 8:15pm. free.

Russell Morris Seymour Centre, Chippendale. 8pm. $58.60.

Ryan Thomas Harbord Beach Hotel, Harbord. 7pm. free.

Sleepmakeswaves + Breaking Orbit + Teal Manning Bar, Camperdown.

8pm. $20.

Steve Tonge Panthers, Penrith. 5:30pm. free.

Take Kare - feat: Elegist + Vices Goodgod Small Club, Sydney. 12pm. $10.

The Bandits Ramsgate RSL, Sans Souci.

8pm. free.

The Field Duo Town Hall Hotel, Balmain.

10pm. free.

The Tambourine Girls Newtown Social Club, Newtown. 8pm. $10.

The Vernons + The Strange Standard Bowl, Surry Hills.

8pm. free.

Tim Conlon Crows Nest Hotel, Crows Nest. 7pm. free.

Tori Darke Sir Joseph Banks Hotel, Botany. 7pm. free.

Uberfest Lewisham Hotel, Lewisham.

2pm. $28.

Vanity Macarthur Tavern,

Since graduating from JMC, what have you been up to in the industry?

After graduating from JMC I interned and worked at numerous jobs in PR and events management to gain further in-the-fi eld experience. I achieved an entry-level position with one of the biggest caterers in Melbourne thanks to my studies and experience, and began work in corporate events and weddings. Since then, I took on an events coordination role in the Whitsundays, took on my first management position with a startup events venue in Sydney, was taken on as groups and Incentives manager

by Club Med in their Bali resort, and I have just moved to Bintan Island, Indonesia in the same role with Club Med. What skills did you gain through your studies at JMC that are helping you on your current career path?

My course at JMC taught me a variety of skills in a broad range of subjects, none the least being resourceful and fl exible.

From basic accounting and bookkeeping to full-on tour itineraries and festival plans, we covered a lot of real-world

Campbelltown. 9pm. free.

Victoria Avenue Bull & Bush Hotel, Baulkham Hills. 9:30pm. free.

Video DJ Sloppy Mounties, Mount Pritchard.

8pm. free.

Wildcatz Brighton RSL, Brighton Le Sands. 8pm. free.

Winterbourne Metro Theatre, Sydney.

4:45pm. $15.

Ziggy: The Songs Of David Bowie Enmore Theatre, Newtown.

8pm. $79.

SUNDAY AUGUST 17 INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS

Ben Bennett Oatley Hotel, Oatley. 1pm. free.

David Agius Duo Bull & Bush Hotel, Baulkham Hills. 2pm. free.

Ed Manego Ramsgate RSL, Sans Souci.

2pm. free.

Elvis Cabaresque Vegas Show The Vanguard, Newtown.

8pm. $43.80.

Fabulous Rhythm Cats Penrith RSL, Penrith. 2pm. free.

Frankie’s Heavy Metal Hoo-Ha Frankie’s Pizza, Sydney.

4pm. free.

Gambirra + Revolution Inc + Mariam Sawires

scenarios that are easy to apply to my job. Doing the course helped build my confi dence and people skills, as we worked with the other departments in the school to create projects and the fi nal assessment task at the end of the year.

What did you like most about studying at JMC? The variety of topics, the real-world anecdotes and examples used, and the practical application of the skills we were learning in class. We learnt the benefi ts and nitty-gritty of website design – and then designed our own website. We discussed the rock’n’roll tours that our lecturers had organised and been on, and then created an in-depth real-world tour plan for across the US. We learnt about business plans and their importance, and then created one for our own business that we could pick up and put straight into use.

We explored research methods and topics, and composed a survey to judge the practicality of our business. Every topic came with a practical and realistic way that we could apply it to our own business or job. The setting was

Valve Bar, Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 8pm. $10.

James Fox Higgins Duo Ettamogah Hotel, Kelly Ridge. 1pm. free.

Jamie Lindsay Harbord Beach Hotel, Harbord. 6pm. free.

Josh Mcgivor Panthers, Penrith. 2pm. free.

Luke Dixon Coogee Bay Hotel, Coogee.

8:30pm. free.

Mandi Jarry Duo Commodore Hotel, Mcmahon Point. 2pm. free.

Matt Jones And Bruce Thorburn The Mean Fiddler, Rouse Hill. 1pm. free.

Matt Price And Jess Dunbar Duo Moorebank Sports Club, Sydney. 12pm. free.

Sunday Sinners Town & Country Hotel, St Peters. 2pm. free.

The Shout Bros Botany View Hotel, Newtown. 7pm. free.

MONDAY AUGUST 18 JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC

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

7pm. free.

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

8pm. free.

Reggae Monday

also very casual and informative, with our lecturers comprising of those that had worked with the likes of Icehouse and the big tour and publishing companies.

Again, they were able to tell us accurately how the industry worked and evolved, from an insider’s perspective. The theory we learnt was backed up with their experiences, and they were able to connect us to many contacts in the industry.

Any advice you have for anyone wanting to enter into a career in events?

It’s exactly what everyone says: work your butt off, gain experience in as much as you can, get to know people in the industry, love what you do and don’t give up.

There is no secret – it’s all about timing, people and persistence. Create favourable circumstances and make your own opportunities.

What: JMC Academy Open Day Where: JMC Sydney Campus, 561 Harris Street, Ultimo When: Saturday August 16, from 10:30am Contact: 1300 410 311 Website: jmc.edu.au

Civic Underground, Sydney.

10pm. free.

TUESDAY AUGUST 19 JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC Old School Funk & Groove Venue 505, Surry Hills. 8pm. free.

Swingtime Tuesdays The Basement, Circular Quay. 7pm. $9.

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS

Declan Kelly + Tom T Jennings + Tony Deveaux + Chris Smithson Bar 34 Bondi, Bondi Beach.

8pm. free. #GigForGaza - feat: Gang Of Brothers + Victor + Martinez Parada + Declan Kelly + Darry Beaton & D1 Cartel Jam Gallery, Bondi Junction.

8:45pm. $25.

Little Dragon Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $54.30.

ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY, BLUES & FOLK

Blues Tuesdays Spring Street Social, Bondi.

7:30pm. free.

BRAG :: 575 :: 13:08:14 :: 23

gig picks

up all night out all week...

THURSDAY AUGUST 14

The Tambourine Girls Newtown Social Club, Newtown. 8pm. $10.

Palms Newtown Social Club, Newtown. 7pm. $15.

Ziggy: The Songs Of David Bowie Enmore Theatre, Newtown. 8pm. $79.

Scott Spark The Vanguard, Newtown. 8pm. $18.80.

The Aston Shuffle Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $23.60.

FRIDAY AUGUST 15 James Reyne + Dragon Enmore Theatre, Newtown. 8pm. $65.

SATURDAY AUGUST 16

SUNDAY AUGUST 17 Frankie’s Heavy Metal Hoo-Ha Frankie’s Pizza, Sydney. 4pm. Free.

TUESDAY AUGUST 19 Little Dragon Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $54.30.

Little Dragon

Gang Of Youths Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $17.40.

Harmony + Tucker B’s Newtown Social Club, Newtown.

7:30pm. $12.

Lincoln + Polarheart + Paul Conrad + Callum Wylie FBi Social, Kings Cross. 8pm. $10.

Millions Goodgod Small Club, Sydney. 8pm. $14.

Russell Morris Seymour Centre, Chippendale. 8pm. $58.60.

Take Kare - feat: Elegist + Vices Goodgod Small Club, Sydney. 12pm. $10.

24 :: BRAG :: 575 :: 13:08:14

thebrag.com

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

brag beats

y l a d n n d a c sweet ’n’ sour

plus: + club guide + club snaps + weekly column

alex flatner thebrag.com

BRAG :: 575 :: 13:08:14 :: 25

brag beats

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

dance music news club, dance and hip hop in brief... with Chris Martin and Tyson Wray

five things WITH

Bombs Away

ZANNON Your Crew Most of my mates 3. are DJs or producers and I am currently part of Lucky Ent agency as one of their artists, so I’m working hard with all the people I know and associate myself with to get lots of work and make great music.

The Music You Make And Play 4.

I love playing a set that consists of what’s popular versus what I love. My new tunes are big room electro/ bounce so I throw a few of those in along with some trap, hip hop and deep house. I try and give the crowd the best that I can deliver. My new release ‘Gravity’ with Alex Preston is out soon along with my original ‘Party’ soon to follow.

Music, Right Here, Right Now 5.

The music scene is moving

Growing Up My parents always 1. encouraged my sister and I to listen to music rather than watch TV. No-one played an instrument but from an early age I started hip hop dancing and that was where I built my rhythm and love of music.

2.

Inspirations I grew up listening to a wide range of music. Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder were a favourite though; I

always hoped one day to be the guy who made the music for them. At the present moment I am inspired by all the Aussie artists and producers working hard and making it big: Stafford Brothers, Tommy Trash, Will Sparks, et cetera – it keeps me moving forward and motivated to follow in their footsteps. Special mention to Timmy Trumpet for always giving me advice and hope to be the best.

OUTSIDEIN RETURNS

The OutsideIn festival is back for round three, with a new venue and what organisers are calling their biggest lineup yet. The 2014 incarnation of the event will see performances from The Pharcyde, Seekae, Pantha Du Prince, Giraffage, Client Liaison, HNNY,

so fast with so many new great up and coming artists getting massive international support. With so much hype on being the next big thing we are receiving some amazing tunes and performances from artists that we have never seen in the past years. I love watching DJs Kronic, Ember, G-Wizard and Mashd N Kutcher perform as they always put on a show that I can relate to and enjoy.

Where: Marquee When: Friday August 15

DJ Spinn, Tornado Wallace, Wookie, Rome Future, Fishing, Jubilee, Guerre, Black Vanilla, Retiree, Sui Zhen, Preacha, Andy Webb, Moriarty and Ariane. It all goes down on Saturday November 29 at Manning House, Sydney University. Check outsideinfestival. com for more details and tickets.

SPRING BREAK FT. BOMBS AWAY

Spring Break isn’t just an American tradition – not if the crazy kids at Coogee Bay Hotel can help it. They’ve announced notorious party boys Bombs Away to headline this year’s edition of their Spring Break party, alongside DJ Oddular. The Bombs Away pair have been kicking goals on the ARIA and Beatport charts, and their live set at Coogee will come with beats and beach balls. Get down to Spring Break at Selina’s, Coogee Bay Hotel on Saturday September 6.

KIM’S NEW EP, TOUR

Kim, AKA Kim Moyes of The Presets, has put out his Kloser EP through Motorik! Records and announced a run of tour dates in support.

Kloser is the label’s 15th release and delivers an even dose of techno and ambience that’s not quite unrecognisable from Moyes’ band work but truer to his solo roots. Kim and his labelmates going by the moniker Motorik Vibe Council play a secret warehouse location on Saturday September 6.

RAINBOW SERPENT 2015

Giddy up – the countdown to the 2015 incarnation of Rainbow Serpent is officially on.

The first round of international artists has been revealed, and it includes Marcel Dettmann, Lee Burridge, Petar Dundov, Beats Antique, Desert Dwellers, Christopher Lawrence, Audiomatic, Electric Universe, Vaishiyas, Laughing Buddha, Broken Toy, Pena, Ben Coda, Odjbox, The Floozies, Kukan Dub Lagan, James Copeland, Solid Snake,

Symbolic, Treavor Moontribe and Amani.

“With five stages running almost continuously over four days there is plenty of choice for everyone attending,” says festival director Tim Harvey. “It’s a massive undertaking to program almost 180 hours of music but it’s also very rewarding when we discover new talented artists to present to the Rainbow faithful every year.” Rainbow Serpent will take place in Lexton, Victoria from Friday January 23 – Monday January 26. For more info and tickets visit rainbowserpent.net.

TRITONAL

US production and DJ pair Chad Cisneros and Dave Reed, AKA Tritonal, are in Sydney this weekend. The big-name boys landed with their debut album Piercing The Quiet in 2011, and more recently have been working the beats to create their Metamorphic series of EP releases. In support of those, Tritonal worked their way across a 40-city tour of the US – and now come Down Under to play Marquee on Saturday August 16.

Client Liaison

Morning Gloryville

THE MORNING RAVE IS ON AGAIN

Could this catch on? After the success of its inaugural event, Morning Gloryville – Sydney’s sober rave in the morning – is back this month. Over 300 eager souls packed into Paddington Uniting Church last month, clearly excited to have an excuse to wear fluoro in the morning. The next event features London’s Dr Cat and DJ A.S.K on the decks, promising an early injection of beats like you can’t get anywhere else. Morning Gloryville is back at the Paddington Uniting Church on Wednesday August 27.

26 :: BRAG :: 575 :: 13:08:14

CLIENT LIAISON

Melbourne dance duo Client Liaison are bringing their newest tunes (and their oldest hairstyles) to Sydney this month. The pair’s self-titled debut EP will be out through Dot Dash/Remote Control on Friday September 5. Client Liaison shot to prominence when they won the triple j Unearthed contest to appear at their hometown edition of Laneway Festival this year and haven’t looked back. Except at the barber’s. Anyhow, they play at Oxford Art Factory on Saturday August 30.

thebrag.com

Alex Flatner Full Circle By Augustus Welby

A

lex Flatner has no time to rest. In between constant DJ tours and respected production work, he’s the driving force behind the Circle Music label and works elsewhere as a booking agent and A&R manager.

It sounds like an overwhelming workload, but the German electro professional refuses to let this compilation of activities restrict his achievements in each field. It just means there’s no time for life outside of music.

“My time schedule is really very tight,” he says. “[I’m] doing the day at the office, then in the evening going to studio and on the weekends around in the clubs.”

It’s the latter vocation that brings Flatner our way this week for his second Australian visit in 12 months. On Saturday night he’ll occupy The Spice Cellar with a diverse array of house, disco and techno tracks. It’s only a brief stay, which makes it unlikely he’ll taste much more of the country than the clubs he performs at.

“I really love to see the country if my schedule allows that when I travel,” he says. “[In Australia] I have only three days and [am] doing three gigs, so I don’t think I would have loads of time for some travel experience.”

But that’s not so bad. See, Flatner’s life doesn’t revolve around electronic music purely by chance. “Well, either you love it or you hate it, nothing in between,” he says. “I love what I do and I do it with passion.”

Based in the outlying German city Mannheim, Flatner has been DJing for almost 20 years.

As you’d expect, after such a long haul spinning tunes for the masses, he’s become a master at the craft. His tastes, however, aren’t fixed in one place. “Back in the days it was trance and in general techno, then it changed to more tech house, house. My productions were also, in the late ’90s/mid-’90s, more techno.”

Basically, this suggests there’s no limit to what gets included in an Alex Flatner live show. The affable performer endeavours to put a unique spin on each gig.

“I react to the crowd. If the crowd is feeling more to have house stuff then I do that. Actually, I try everything a bit and then I learn what the crowd wants to have. I don’t really have a playlist when I play. Every set from me is different than the others I do on the night before. Sometimes people are asking me if I can play that or this. If the wish fits to the mood of the sound the crowd is running, then I could do that, but it’s also happening that some guests are asking for records which don’t fit at all to the mood of the crowd … I am trying as best I can to play a lot of unreleased stuff,

which will be released in a few months ahead – also some old records from the ’90s and ’80s or bootlegs, which I am getting from friends and producers.”

Although Flatner’s been spinning since the mid-’90s, his music industry involvement dates back a further five years. The initial focus was on studio production work.

Despite the acclaim and demand attached to his DJ profile, Flatner hasn’t abandoned these origins.

“I have been producing quite a lot of new stuff,” he reveals. “Lopazz and me have a few upcoming releases. I do as well have a solo release [coming up], including a remix by Hermanez. Also I have been taking piano classes for almost four years, just to develop myself in music. It helps a lot and [is] so interesting to learn.”

While he is restlessly productive, Flatner won’t settle for anything shy of what he deems perfect.

Before releasing music to the public, he customarily spends months fine-tuning minute production elements. His live sets are usually a combination of DJ selections and original music, and he explains how he utilises the live environment to help him complete tracks.

“It is the best way to try out your own production and to see the reaction from the crowd. [You can see] if your break is maybe too long or too short or the vocals are maybe too low – or whatever you are missing in your production.

Also you can check out your mixdown, if maybe a bass or the lead is too loud or low.”

Generally speaking, it’s through monitoring the atmosphere and taking heed of real-time reactions that Flatner has gained his primary distinction. Rather than slapping a formulated routine on club dwellers, he endeavours to make direct communication with those gathered in front of him.

“Before I start to play I am, at least one or two hours before my show starts, at the club and checking the crowd out, [looking] into what they are into and how I could get to them. I think a good DJ should feel the crowd and try to drop the right record right in time, but shouldn’t sell his soul, too. A DJ is not a jukebox.

“After almost 20 years of DJing I am pretty confident but also, for every single gig I do, nervous too.

Every single gig is a challenge and it should be. People want to be entertained, so here I am to give them a good time.”

With: Murat Kilic, Mike Witcombe, Onn Where: The Spice Cellar When: Saturday August 16 And: Also appearing at S.A.S.H, Home Terrace, Sunday August 17

Candyland We Want Candy By Augustus Welby

E

lectronic dance music is increasingly becoming the property of youth. The global craze for EDM in the last handful of years has encouraged many aspiring teenagers to dabble in electronic production. Hailing from Santa Barbara in California, boy-girl team Ethan Davis and Josie Martin form EDM upstarts Candyland. The pair got its breakthrough in 2011 after winning back-to-back remix competitions on internet music store Beatport. They were still teenagers at the time, so it’s easy to class Candyland as yet another young act hopping on the EDM express, destination mainstream. However, Martin says the scene wasn’t so fashionable at the project’s inception.

“When we started there wasn’t really anyone doing it and then two or three months after we got into it, everyone was doing it. It kind of became the thing people want to do and people want to listen to.

There’s people that defi nitely love the music, but I’d say for some people it’s kind of a fad.”

Candyland’s intentions may be pure, but when they did those initial remixes they weren’t exactly experienced DJs. In fact, prior to the competition victories, there was no distinct notion of a Candyland identity.

“We were more trying to fi t in, rather than make a name for ourselves,” Davis says. “We wanted to latch onto what was hot at the moment and try to build off of that.”

“We were experimenting,” adds Martin. “Every single genre that came by, we tried it out – whether it was trap or dubstep.”

The winning remixes – of Skrillex and Bingo Players tracks respectively – went on to be Candyland’s first official releases.

Subsequently, offers for DJ gigs came rushing in. It wasn’t long before the duo was travelling far and wide, playing festivals and club parties.

thebrag.com

Musicians of all ages commonly struggle with the volatility of life on the road. Being thrust into a massive touring schedule at a young age inevitably posed a number of challenges for Candyland.

“When we started out we were teenagers and we were kind of in our wild phase,” Martin says. “It was kind of weird being thrown into all that, when everything’s just around you.

But we’ve definitely grown up in the industry, so we’ve learned it. At first it was harder, but with maturity we’ve figured out what to do and what not to do on the road.

“You make friends with people who aren’t your friends and you do stupid things. But then you learn it and get used to it. At the end of the day it’s work. You’ve got to be professional and you’ve got to get the job done.”

“It’s definitely been unsettling at times,” agrees Davis, “but you definitely adapt.”

Candyland’s journey through the clubs of the world brings them down to Australia later this month. Their live show promises a party-oriented mix of trap, dubstep and house, thus evidencing their experimental origins.

“I think when we play live, Josie’s more of a DJ and I’m more of a hype man,” Davis says. “We definitely know our strengths and weaknesses and we try to stay in our own areas.

[Being a duo] does help a lot, for sure. That gives us the opportunity to get better at what we’re good at.”

Amid ongoing tour commitments, Candyland have continued to issue regular remixes as well as dropping their debut originals EP, Bring The Rain, early last year. The stage show still revolves around a DJ set, but Davis says they’re gradually transitioning into a performanceoriented set-up.

“Basically right now the live show’s Josie DJing and me playing drums.

Eventually we’re going to have more of where we put the songs

together live – drums and guitar and stuff like that. It’ll be more like a band thing.”

This shift in approach will be properly introduced on a forthcoming debut album. Davis explains that the near-complete LP will be “ten songs of original music, [which is] going to be fairly different from any of the remixes that we’ve done. It’s definitely going to be more radiofriendly and more listener-friendly, versus just making a bunch of club bangers.”

Having largely made their name through toying with other people’s music, it seems natural that Candyland plan to use this first full-length to cast attention on what they’re uniquely capable of.

“When you play a huge track that someone else made it’s awesome, people go crazy,” Davis says. “But I’d way rather have people go off to our music that they heard on the radio and they really connected to the album. I think the music doesn’t need to have necessarily as much energy if the songwriting is really good and the actual song itself is written really well.”

Davis and Martin seem determined to separate themselves from the masses of indistinct EDM and dubstep hopefuls. Even so, Martin says the album material is “all music that you can dance to”, and despite the embrace of live instrumentation, it shouldn’t be regarded as a definitive statement.

“I think we’re always going to make remixes and club songs every now and then, but we’re definitely going to focus on being more of a band. I think we’re never going to be just stuck in one spot. If this sound doesn’t work well with us, who knows what will happen? We’re always changing.”

Where: King Street Hotel, Newcastle / Marquee, Pyrmont When: Wednesday August 20 / Saturday August 23 BRAG :: 575 :: 13:08:14 :: 27

club guide g send your listings to : clubguide@thebrag.com

club pick of the week Alex Flatner

Return To The Dank Dad Dungeon - feat: Dank Dads + Sneak + Kade Drury + More Valve Bar, Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 8pm. free.

Voodoo Sydney Home Nightclub, Darling Harbour. 8pm. $25.

Zannon Marquee, Pyrmont. 10pm. $18.40.

SATURDAY AUGUST 16 HIP HOP & R&B

Bone Thugs N Harmony Tattersalls Hotel Penrith, Penrith. 9pm. $51.55.

Just Dropped Oxford Hotel, Darlinghurst.

8pm. free.

SUNDAY AUGUST 17

CLUB NIGHTS

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S.A.S.H Sundays Alex Flatner + Sean Patrick + Nox + more

Anklepants - feat: Doc Daneeka + Young Franco + A-Tonez + Fingers + Jace Disgrace + Just 1 + Gg Magree + Typhonic + Andrew Wowk + Blackjack Chinese Laundry, Sydney.

9pm. free.

Cakes - feat: 4 Rooms Of Live Music + DJs And International Guests World Bar, Kings Cross. 8pm. $10.

Club Vibrations - feat: DJ Nasser T + Con Andrews + Hany MC Polish Club, Ashfield. 8pm. $25.

El Loco Later - feat: DJs On Rotation Excelsior Hotel, Surry Hills.

10pm. free.

El’ Circo - feat: Resident

WEDNESDAY AUGUST 13 HIP HOP & R&B

Poly ** Live Music Play Bar, Surry Hills. 8pm. free.

CLUB NIGHTS

DJ Tom Kelly Goldfish, Kings Cross. 9pm. free.

The Wall - feat: Various Local And International Acts World Bar, Kings Cross. 9pm. $5.

Whip It Wednesdays - feat: Various DJs Whaat Club, Kings Cross.

9pm. free.

THURSDAY AUGUST 14 HIP HOP & R&B

Hip Hop Thursdays - feat: Bam Bam + DJ Lopez + Electric Element Tattersalls Hotel Penrith, Penrith. 9pm. free.

Joyride Lo-fi, Darlinghurst. 6pm. free.

CLUB NIGHTS

Fear Of Dawn Goldfish, Kings Cross. 8pm. free.

28 :: BRAG :: 575 : 13:08:14

FRIDAY AUGUST 15 HIP HOP & R&B

Hustler Fridays - feat: MC Shaba Hustle & Flow, Redfern. 7pm. free.

Fingertips + Michelle Xen + The Neon Wild + Selahphonic FBi Social, Kings Cross.

SUNDAY AUGUST 17

MONDAY AUGUST 18 CLUB NIGHTS

Crab Racing Scubar, Sydney. 7pm. free.

Mashup Monday - feat: Resident DJs Side Bar, Sydney. 8pm. free.

TUESDAY AUGUST 19 CLUB NIGHTS

CLUB NIGHTS

La Fiesta - feat: Samantha Fox + Agee Ortiz + Av El Cubano + Resident DJ Willie Sabor The Establishment, Sydney.

8pm. free.

S.A.S.H Sundays - feat:

Fingertips

Chu World Bar, Kings Cross. 9pm. free.

SFX (This Is Not A Rave) feat: DJ Snowflake + Stara + DJ Matticus + DJ Amy Maree St James Hotel, Sydney. 9pm. $10.

+ Jace Disgrace + Just 1 + Gg Magree + Typhonic + Andrew Wowk + Blackjack Chinese Laundry, Sydney. 9pm. Free.

Jagermeister Spice Presents: Alex Flatner + Murat Kilic + Mike Witcombe + Onn The Spice Cellar, Sydney. 9pm. $25.

8:30pm. $10.

Jazz Hip-Hop Freestyle Sessions Foundry616, Ultimo. 11:30pm. $5.

Pacha Sydney - feat: Joel Fletcher + Ember + Danny T + A-Tonez + Matt Nugent + Chris Arnott + Nanna Does + Fingers + Jace Disgrace + Just 1 + Samrai + Mike Hyper + A-Game + Deckhead + Pro/Gram + Trent Rackus + Pat Ward Ivy Bar/Lounge, Sydney. 6:30pm. $37.90.

CLUB NIGHTS

Argyle Fridays - feat: Resident DJs The Argyle, The Rocks. 6pm. free.

Bassic - feat: Mercer + Spenda C + Autoclaws + Phaseone + Bassriot + Chenko + Oski Chinese Laundry, Sydney.

9pm. free.

Cypher @ Brklyn - feat: Electric Elements + Decypher Us + Coming In Sideways + Ranford Bigsby + 26th Letter + DJ Tubz Brklyn, Manly. 8pm. free.

El Loco Later - feat: DJs On Rotation Excelsior Hotel, Surry Hills.

10pm. free.

Factory Fridays - feat: The Syphons + DJ Bernie Dingo + Friends Soda Factory, Surry Hills.

5pm. free.

Feel Good Fridays Bar100, The Rocks. 5pm. free.

Frisky Fridays Scubar, Sydney. 5pm. free.

Loco Friday - feat: Various Live Bands And DJs The Slip Inn, Sydney. 5pm. free.

Pelvis - feat: Forces + Lucy Cliche Goodgod Small Club, Sydney.

9pm. $10.

Alex Flatner + Sean Patrick + Nox + Daniel George + Thomas Lisse + James Petrou + Adam Stromstedt + Brendan Clay + Tim Francis + Matt Weir Home Nightclub, Darling Harbour. 2pm. $10.

Sunday Sessions - feat: Cadell + Tom Kelly + Ocky Goldfish, Kings Cross. 4pm. free.

Sunday Spice 17.08 - feat: Kato + Jaded + Scuba Stew + Onn The Spice Cellar, Sydney.

9pm. $10.

Sundays In The City - feat: Various DJs The Slip Inn, Sydney. 12pm. free.

send your listings to : clubguide@thebrag.com

2pm. $10.

Goldfish And Friends - feat: Regular Rotating Residents Goldfish, Kings Cross. 10pm. free.

Hot Damn Spectrum, Darlinghurst. 9pm. $10.

Kicks World Bar, Kings Cross. 9pm. free.

Loopy - feat: Drty Csh + Daschwood + Generous Greed + Guest DJs The Backroom, Kings Cross.

10pm. $12.

Pool Club Thursdays - feat: Resident DJs Ivy Bar/Lounge, Sydney. 5pm. free.

The World Bar Thursdays World Bar, Kings Cross. 9pm. free.

Thursday Spice 14.08 - feat: Jeremiah + Hedon + Nikolai + DJ Junglesnake + Declan Esau The Spice Cellar, Sydney.

8pm. free.

Circus Act Performers Slide Lounge, Darlinghurst.

7pm. $109.

Frat Saturdays - feat: DJ Jonski Side Bar, Sydney. 6pm. free.

Jagermeister Spice Presents: Alex Flatner + Murat Kilic + Mike Witcombe + Onn The Spice Cellar, Sydney.

9pm. $25.

Masif Saturdays Space, Sydney. 10pm. $25.

Pacha Sydney - feat: Joel Fletcher + Ember + Danny T + A-Tonez + Matt Nugent + Chris Arnott + Nanna Does + Fingers + Jace Disgrace + Just 1 + Samrai + Mike Hyper + A-Game + Deckhead + Pro/Gram + Trent Rackus + Pat Ward Ivy Bar/Lounge, Sydney.

6:30pm. $37.90.

Sienna Saturdays - feat: Resident DJs The Establishment, Sydney.

9pm. free.

Soda Saturdays - feat: DJ Crazy Caz + Friends Soda Factory, Surry Hills.

5pm. free.

Tritonal Marquee, Pyrmont. 10pm. $38.90.

FRIDAY AUGUST 15 Bassic - feat: Mercer + Spenda C + Autoclaws + Phaseone + Bassriot + Chenko + Oski Chinese Laundry, Sydney. 9pm. Free.

Tritonal Marquee, Pyrmont. 10pm. $38.90.

Anklepants

Fingertips + Michelle Xen + The Neon Wild + Selahphonic FBi Social, Kings Cross. 8:30pm. $10.

Jazz Hip-Hop Freestyle Sessions Foundry616, Ultimo. 11:30pm. $5.

Pelvis - feat: Forces + Lucy Cliche Goodgod Small Club, Sydney. 9pm. $10.

Zannon Marquee, Pyrmont. 10pm. $18.40.

SATURDAY AUGUST 16 Anklepants - feat: Doc Daneeka + Young Franco + A-Tonez + Fingers

thebrag.com

Off The Record Dance and Electronica with Tyson Wray

Pachanga Boys ast week Victoria’s Strawberry Fields festival dropped a huge list of international acts that it’ll be hosting in 2014, giving us an insight into some tours we’ll be seeing hit Sydney later this year. Highlights include Pachanga Boys, Superpitcher, Nightmares On Wax, Trus’me, Stimming and many more. The festival usually shares a few names with Sydney’s own Subsonic festival, too.

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Another Victorian festival, Rainbow Serpent, also dropped its first lineup on Wednesday. Highlights include Marcel Dettmann, Lee Burridge and Petar Dundov, who I’m told will all be coming to Sydney in late January.

Speaking of Marcel Dettmann, the techno heavyweight has just been revealed as the next selector in the illustrious Fabric mix series. Fabric 77 will see Dettmann mixing mostly unreleased material from his own imprint, Marcel Dettmann Recordings, with tracks from the likes of The Persuader, Norman Nodge, Francois X and Joey Anderson

alongside a few from the man himself.

It drops on Friday August 22 through Fabric/Balance Music.

Best releases from the past week: Anthony Naples continues his killer run with Zipacón (on The Trilogy Tapes), Wolfgang Voigt’s Rückverzauberung 9: Musik Für Kulturinstitutionen (Profan) sees him return to career-best form, while Lee Gamble’s Kuang (PAN) is a tasty primer ahead of the release of his double LP, KOCH, that will be released next month (also on PAN).

Tour rumours: a little birdie tells me that we’ll be seeing visits from quite a few techno luminaries in the next few months. Samuel Kerridge is set to visit in September, Peter Van Hoesen will be stopping by in October and Powell will hit our shores in November. Stay tuned for the official announcements.

Get yourself straight over to the Dazed Digital website right now. To celebrate the release of his latest album Wildest Dreams, the disco don DJ Harvey has dropped an hour-long mix full of his signature curveball disco and it is top notch. The album is killer, too.

For the disc jockeys reading, Pioneer DJ has just announced the launch of the DDJ-SX2 – the first controller with dedicated buttons for the new Serato Flip.

Other new features include performance pads with multi-coloured cue point LEDs, enhanced jog wheels with digital cue point markers and countdown, Serato DJ DVS upgrade-ready and a variety of inputs and outputs. Visit pioneer.eu for full details.

In some sadder news, an autopsy has confirmed that DJ Rashad’s death was due to a drug overdose. A deadly cocktail of heroin, cocaine and Xanax was found in his system, NBC Chicago has confirmed. Rashad Harden passed away in April this year at the age of 34.

Marcel Dettmann

RECOMMENDED SATURDAY AUGUST 16

Seekae

Anklepants Chinese Laundry

SATURDAY AUGUST 23 Clive Henry TBA

Seekae Metro Theatre

SATURDAY AUGUST 30

Astral People’s 3rd Birthday Goodgod Small Club

SUNDAY AUGUST 31

Xxx

Alexis Raphael Home Nightclub

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 6 Robert Babicz The ArtHouse

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 22

TBA

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 29

OutsideIn Manning House, Sydney University

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Got any tip-offs, hate mail, praise or cat photos?

Email hey@tysonwray.com or contact me via carrier pigeon. thebrag.com

BRAG :: 575 :: 13:08:14 :: 29

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funkdafied 45 sessions

PICS :: AM

up all night out all week . . .

clouds + indian summer

PICS :: AM

09:08:14 :: Play Bar :: 72 Campbell St Surry Hills 9280 0885

s.a.s.h sundays

PICS :: AM

09:08:14 :: Chinese Laundry :: 111 Sussex St Sydney 8295 9999

10:08:14 :: Home Nightclub :: 1-5 Wheat Rd Darling Harbour 9266 0600 30 :: BRAG :: 575 :: 13:08:14

OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER

:: ASHLEY MAR

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Pick Bradfield Senior College.

Open day

4.30–7.00pm Thursday 4 September Visit bradfieldseniorcollege.com.au Call 9448 4200

CRICOS Provider Code 00591E / RTO Provider Number 90011 / 140305 JULY 2014

Take the lead, with an HSC that allows you to play to your strengths.

Australian Institute of Music

OPEN DAY

10AM - 3PM australian institute of music 1-55 FOVEAUX STREET, SURRY HILLS, sydney Contemporary Performance y Classical Performance y Music Theatre y Dramatic Arts Audio engineering y Composition & Music Production y Arts & Entertainment Management young AIM y AIM high school y short courses CRICOS 00665 665C