Brag#585 by The Brag

ISSUE NO. 585 OCTOBER 22, 2014

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

MUSIC, FILM, THEATRE + MORE

INSIDE This Week

T HE G A SL IGH T A N T HEM Their fifth album might be their best yet.

HUSKY CLOSER TO HOME

T HE CHURCH

Ian Haug tells us about joining these Aussie icons.

JEP & DEP

The duo's debut record has been a long time coming.

K ING GI Z Z A R D & T HE LIZARD WIZARD Do these guys ever stop?

Plus

HOT DUB TIME MACHINE THE BENNIES SCULPTURE BY THE SEA

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MUSIC AT THE HOUSE

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lorne marion bay byron VICTORIA

TASMAN IA

NEW SOUTH WALES

dec 28 2014

dec 29 2014

dec 30 2014

jan 01 2015

jan 03 2015

Until U n til

Until

Until U n til

IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER

ALT-J ÁSGEIR BIG FREEDIA THE BLACK LIPS BLUEJUICE COLD WAR KIDS DAN SULTAN DMAs GEORGE EZRA GLASS ANIMALS JAGWAR MA JAMIE XX JOEY BADA$$ JOHN BUTLER TRIO JULIAN CASABLANCAS & THE VOIDZ KIM CHURCHIL THE KITE STRING TANGLE MILKY CHANCE MOVEMENT THE PRESETS REMI RÖYKSOPP & ROBYN RUN THE JEWELS SAFIA SBTRKT SPIDERBAIT STICKY FINGERS THE TEMPER TRAP TENSNAKE TKAY MAIDZA TODD TERJE LIVE TYCHO VANCE JOY WOLF ALICE BOOGIE NIGHTS

ALISON WONDERLAND BADBADNOTGOOD CLIENT LIAISON DJ WOODY PRESENTS ‘HIP HOP IS 40’ AV SHOW SALT N PEPA TWERKSHOP COM E DY

DAMIEN POWER DANIEL TOWNES HARLEY BREEN LUKE MCGREGOR TOMMY DASSALO URZILA CARLSON

tickets on sale now fallsfestival.com

BRAG :: 585 :: 22:10:14 :: 5

rock music news welcome to the frontline: the latest touring and music news...with Chris Martin, Tyson Wray and Gloria Brancatisano

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THE BRAG

five things WITH

DAMIEN SUTTON FROM THE BON SCOTTS strange percussion and his ability to make you want to move. I also admire the standard fare of Lou Reed, Brian Wilson, John Lennon and Syd Barrett for their great, timeless pop songs. Your Band We are a messy seven-piece who are 3. all very different. None of us eat the same food, listen to the same music or have come from similar musical backgrounds so it makes for interesting road trips, and has interesting influences on the music that gets created. We are all just really excited to be getting back on the road – we absolutely love touring and gigging and I think it really shows when you come to see us live, as we always put on a show to (hopefully) remember.

4. Growing Up I grew up in a house of computers and 1. books, so I started using Cakewalk about the

ballet from about four to 14 and had a rather evil grandmother who had a doctorate in music.

same time I got my first guitar. I guess I always saw computers as an instrument or tool as much as a guitar or piano. I did, however, study

Inspirations I don’t think I listen to anything more than 2. Hauschka – I love the intricate sounds, the

MANAGING EDITOR: Chris Martin chris@thebrag.com 02 9212 4322 ONLINE EDITOR: Tyson Wray ONLINE COORDINATOR: Emily Meller SUB-EDITOR: Emily Meller STAFF WRITERS: Adam Norris, Krissi Weiss, Augustus Welby NEWS: Gloria Brancatisano, Lauren Gill, Roger Ma, Tyson Wray ART DIRECTOR: Sarah Bryant PHOTOGRAPHERS: Katrina Clarke, Amath Magnan, 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 GIG & CLUB GUIDE COORDINATORS: Emily Meller, Debbie Shankhar - gigguide@ thebrag.com (rock); clubguide@thebrag.com (dance, hip hop & parties) AWESOME INTERNS: Roger Ma, Debbie Shankar, Jacob Mills, June Murtagh

Neo-soul superstar John Legend has locked in an Australian tour. The announcement follows the release of his fourth, highly acclaimed album Love In The Future, featuring five-times platinum and ARIA number one single ‘All Of Me’. While in Australia, Legend will perform a series of arena shows alongside A Day On The Green winery shows. Catch him at the Qantas Credit Union Arena on Friday December 5 and the Bimbadgen Winery, Hunter Valley on Saturday December 6. A Live Nation members’ presale kicks off midday Wednesday October 22, while general public tickets are on sale 10am Monday October 27.

Kate Miller-Heidke

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GATHER ROUND THE CAMPFIRE

The new Campfire Festival, to be held at the Hunter Valley’s Hope Estate winery in 2015, has announced its first round of acts – and they’re all suitably campfire-friendly. John Butler Trio will headline the debut event, running over three days in March. Joining them are Lee Kernaghan, Kasey Chambers, Ash Grunwald, Beccy Cole, The McClymonts, Wendy Matthews, We Two Thieves, Greg Champion, Amber Lawrence, The Bob Corbett Band and Chelsea Basham. Hope Estate hosts the Campfire Festival from Friday March 13 – Sunday March 15.

Canadian cult metal act Anvil will make their much-awaited return to Australia this November. The three-piece last visited Australia in 2010, playing on the Soundwave circuit, and has since released two albums: 2011’s Juggernaut Of Justice and 2013’s Hope In Hell. Anvil will make stops in five Australian cities this time around. Catch them on Sunday November 9 at The Hi-Fi.

TONSTARTSSBANDHT ON TOUR

EDITORIAL POLICY: The views and opinions expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the publisher, editors or staff of the BRAG.

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John Butler Trio

THE ANVIL DROPS

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What: Modern Capitalism Gets Things Done out now through Cubcave/MGM Where: Little Features, Hibernian House / Shady Pines When: Saturday October 25 / Sunday October 26 And: Also appearing at the Grand Junction Hotel, Maitland on Friday October 24

NATIONAL FOLK FESTIVAL

Canberra’s National Folk Festival, held over Easter each year, has locked in its first round of acts for 2015. The event celebrates all things folk, roots and acoustic, and over five days next year will feature Scotland’s Alasdair Fraser and Natalie Haas, Central Coast singersongwriter Mark Moldre, Canadian fella Gordie MacKeeman and his Rhythm Boys, Canberra native Fred Smith and UK folk duo Dark Horses, with plenty more to be announced. The National Folk Festival will run from Thursday April 2 – Monday April 6 at Exhibition Park, Canberra.

REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS: Nat Amat, Ian Barr, Prudence Clark, Keiron Costello, Meg Crawford, Marissa Demetriou, Christie Eliezer, Blake Gallagher, Fergus Halliday, Cameron James, Tegan Jones, Lachlan Kanoniuk, Mina Kitsos, Emily Meller, Adam Norris, Kate Robertson, Erin Rooney, Raf Seneviratne, Leonardo Silvestrini, Rod Whitfield, Harry Windsor, Tyson Wray, Stephanie Yip, David James Young

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of Change policy has just been passed in Melbourne which protects live music venues by putting the onus on people living around them to soundproof their properties, not the venue itself. So that is absolutely fantastic for us; it’s going to save a lot of existing venues which would otherwise have been shut down. We have new venues opening that really support music; however, beer prices are becoming an issue. Beer unfortunately keeps live music viable and venues are having to charge more and more to cover all their expenses. It can make seeing live music expensive.

Xxx

LEGEND IN THE FLESH

The Music You Make We have built and have been adding to our own studio since the band began, so we now have a cosy setup with some great gear. It helps a lot with the recording process as we can really develop ideas and spend time on songs that aren’t instant winners. I think this shows with Modern Capitalism Gets Things Done, as we are all really happy with it.

Music, Right Here, Right Now I think music is really healthy at the 5. moment, at least in Melbourne. An Agent

WOODFORD FOLK FESTIVAL

Plenty of music tragics will be heading north for New Year’s in Queensland this summer, and for good reason: Woodford Folk Festival has dropped its 2014/15 lineup, taking over six days and nights with a stunning lineup of live music, art and good vibes. Leading the pack are the likes of Violent Femmes, Sticky Fingers, Husky and Kate MillerHeidke, while the schedule also includes Archie Roach, Bertie Blackman, The Cat Empire, Hiatus Kaiyote, Lior, Tiny Ruins and more. Woodford Folk Fest takes over the gorgeous Woodfordia location from Saturday December 27 – Thursday January 1.

Tonstartssbandht have announced that they’ll be heading to Australia for a run of shows this December and January. The Floridian duo, made up of brothers Andy and Edwin White, create psychedelic boogey rock which sees Edwin driving the percussion and Andy on his 12-string Danelectro. On their first trip to Australia the brothers will play five shows, starting in Brisbane and wrapping up in Sydney. Tonstartssbandht will take over the Red Rattler on Saturday January 3.

THE POP GROUP

Post-punk outfit The Pop Group have announced their first-ever tour of Australia, playing dates in Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide. The British rockers will play a set at Adelaide Festival as well as headline dates in Sydney and Melbourne for a three-date whirlwind tour Down Under. After splitting early on in their career, the band reunited in 2010, playing together for the first time in 30 years. The Pop Group will hit Sydney on Friday March 6 for a show at the Factory Theatre.

Billy Idol

NO FALSE IDOLS

Rock icon Billy Idol has announced that he will return to Australia for the first time since 2002 when he graces our shores next March. After releasing his autobiography and his first album of new material since 2005 this year, and jetting off around Europe and North America, Idol will head around Australia playing both indoor shows and A Day On The Green winery events. Support throughout the tour will come from Cheap Trick, with The Angels and Choirboys also playing selected dates. Idol will hit Qantas Credit Union Arena on Thursday March 19. He’ll also play A Day On The Green on Saturday March 28 at Bimbadgen Winery, Hunter Valley.

thebrag.com

BRAG :: 585 :: 22:10:14 :: 7

live & local

free stuff

welcome to the frontline: what’s goin’ on around town...with Chris Martin, Gloria Brancatisano and Lauren Gill

five things WITH

THE GLOAMING

JEFF ‘TAIN’ WATTS Throughout high school I was beginning to teach myself drum set, playing along with classic R&B and classic rock. Just before college I began to listen to more ’70s fusion, which would lead me to jazz. My parents were not involved in music but growing up my older brother Jimmy worked in a record store.

Growing Up I started playing drums through the public school system in the fourth grade, taking snare

drum lessons. In junior high school and high school I started playing more classical percussion and began to play drum set.

Your Band Troy Roberts (saxophone) is an Australian who now lives in New York and I started using in my band a little over a year ago. Chris Smith on bass I met when he was a student at the Brubeck Institute some years ago. Osmany Paredes is a Cuban pianist whom I met when he first moved to New York in 2010 through Cuban

musician friends of mine, Yunior and Yosvany Terry. Everyone in the group is on the same page musically so it is usually fairly easy to get inside the music and be creative. The Music You Make Our live performance 4. showcases my original compositions, mostly new and recent works that we are exploring. Thematically everything is accessible, with improvisation and musical conversation making up a big part of what we do.

As an Australian citizen, there is a real chance that you have never listened to traditional Celtic music, but that’s OK because The Gloaming are the perfect segue into the genre. The Irish-American supergroup is the sum of five different master musicians including Iarla Ó Lionáird of Afro Celt Soundsystem and Thomas Bartlett, chordist for well-known acts such as The National and Glen Hansard. Often compared to otherworldly breakthroughs such as Buena Vista Social Club and Sigur Rós, they are bringing their ephemeral take on traditional Celtic music to Australia for the first time. We have two double passes to give away to their maiden voyage to the Sydney Opera House on Monday October 27. To be in the running, head over to thebrag.com/ freeshit and tell us your favorite thing about Ireland.

Music, Right Here, Right Now 5. The scene is constantly evolving

The Gloaming photo by Feargal Ward

Inspirations Elvin Jones as a drummer is a big inspiration. Elvin’s flow has always come naturally to me and I’ve always felt free to utilise his feel in conjunction with ideas of mine. I love Elvin personally and musically forever; he was also very kind to me.

head to: thebrag.com/freeshit

and changing… Living in New York, we are able to check out a lot of live music, from the musicians who live in town, to the constant influx of touring groups, so we have it pretty good. Who: Jeff ‘Tain’ Watts Quartet Where: Foundry616 When: Wednesday October 29 and Thursday October 30

The Gloaming

Sea Legs

SEA LEGS ADD MORE DATES

Sea Legs have announced a further six stops to their ‘Christopher Strong’ single tour, taking the tally to 13 shows across the east coast this November through February. ‘Christopher Strong’ is the second single taken from the Central Coast band’s forthcoming second EP, due out in April. Sea Legs will play Goodgod Small Club on Saturday November 15.

Siskin River

SISKIN RIVER

Following the release of their debut album The Hours They Keep, country duo Shalane and Tullara, AKA Siskin River, have hit the road to launch it. The ladies play a groove-inflected style of folky blues, honed through two years of touring and writing since their self-titled maiden EP. Their Sydney launch show lands this Saturday October 25 at 107 Projects in Redfern.

RUDELY INTERRUPTED

In support of their new single and EP, I Am Alive, Rudely Interrupted have announced a national tour, kicking off this month. The ninestop tour features sets at three festivals and will see the band play right around the country.

LIZOTTE’S VENUES TO CLOSE

In 2008, Rudely Interrupted became the first indie band to perform at the United Nations in NYC. Since then they have completed 13 international tours, the latest seeing them play with the 80-piece Alberto Pio Orchestra in Italy. Rudely Interrupted take over Oxford Art Factory on Sunday October 26.

Joe Camilleri

THE BLACK SORROWS

FBi Social

FBi Radio’s own live music venue, FBi Social, will close its doors at the Kings Cross Hotel next month. Initially conceived as a pop-up venue, FBi Social has been hosting the best in live local music for over three years, including the likes of The Jezabels, DZ Deathrays, Ball Park Music, The Preatures, Chet Faker and many more. FBi intends to focus on its digital FBi Click and Northern Lights projects. Kings Cross Hotel will resume management of the vacated room, reopening it as The Bandroom on Saturday November 8. FBi Social will close with a final show on Saturday November 1, featuring World’s End Press, Mansionair, And (Dave Rennick of Dappled Cities) and FBi DJs.

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THE PHILLY JAYS ARE FREE

Sydney’s Philadelphia Grand Jury are back and they’ve locked in a national tour for this November. After touring around the country to celebrate the release of Simon Berkfinger’s solo album as Feelings late last year, the trio is hitting the road to raise funds for a new album. Tentatively titled Ulterior Motif, the LP will mark the Philly Jays’ first since 2009’s Hope Is For Hopers. They’ll play a free show at Bondi’s Beach Road Hotel on Wednesday November 12. thebrag.com

FBi Social photo by Cai Griffin

FBI SOCIAL ANNOUNCES CLOSURE, FINAL SHOW

The Black Sorrows are gearing up for a Coogee Diggers date this weekend as part of their national tour. Joe Camilleri’s crew is on the road following the release of new single ‘The Devil Came Knockin On Sunday’, taken from latest album Certified Blue. The record is The Black Sorrows’ 17th, and has held firm in the Top Ten of the ARIA Jazz and Blues Chart since its release in April. The Black Sorrows play The Bunker at Coogee Diggers on Friday October 24. They also play The Brass Monkey on Thursday October 23, Sydney Blues And Roots Festival on Sunday October 26, Lizotte’s Dee Why on Saturday December 20 and Lizotte’s Central Coast on Sunday December 21.

The owners of Lizotte’s have announced the closure of their Sydney and Central Coast venues. The live music and dining rooms, run by Brian and Jo Lizotte, will shut in mid-2015 unless the locations are sold prior to those dates. The flagship Newcastle venue will remain open. The owners say personal and family reasons are behind the closure. “It’s not with a heavy heart that either Jo or I have made this decision to simplify our lives,” said Brian Lizotte in a statement. “In fact, it’s extremely exciting for us to be embarking on the next chapter. Putting renewed energy and focus on the Lizotte’s brand in Newcastle with new customer experiences such as table-side cooking and unique events for and by the local community.” The final months at Lizotte’s Dee Why and Kincumber will include performances by Diesel, Josh Pyke, Dragon, Ian Moss, Ross Wilson, The Black Sorrows and many more. The Sydney venue is set to close on Saturday May 30, while the Central Coast venue will close on Friday April 24.

A-RESERVE TICKETS AT B-RESERVE PRICES! PROMO CODE : BRAG 2 NOVEMBER | CITY RECITAL HALL BOOK AT cityrecitalhall.com or TICKETMASTER BRAG :: 585 :: 22:10:14 :: 9

Industrial Strength Music Industry News with Christie Eliezer

THINGS WE HEAR * Which music video maker got a tongue-lashing from a band manager for initially getting their name wrong in the video? * Was Australian Radio Network (ARN)â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s three-year extension for WSFMâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hit breakfast hosts Jonesy & Amanda worth $6m? * Is Garth Brooks planning a three-month Australian tour in mid-2015? * Robin Thickeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s wife may be divorcing him, but he and Pharrell Williams have made up. They fell out over who wrote â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Blurred Linesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; (Thicke admitted he lied and Pharrell penned it). The two have written and recorded a sequel, hoping to repeat the

success of â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Blurred Linesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, which stayed on the top of US charts for 12 weeks. * Russell Morris is relocating to Nashville for a time next year to work on two albums, one of which is the third in his trilogy of blues records. * Nova Entertainment reckons its earnings for 2014 will be 20% over last year. * The US man claiming to be Iggy Azaleaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ex-husband says they got â&#x20AC;&#x153;marriedâ&#x20AC;? in Texas so she could stay in America. * After Bluejuiceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s split, Stavros Yiannoukas will teach high school and coach basketball. * Hilltop Hoods were pleasantly floored when, at a show in the middle of the Canadian prairies, fans told them, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Next time bring Horrorshowâ&#x20AC;?.

PERFORMANCE REVIVAL AT PADDINGTON TOWN HALL The City of Sydney wants to revive Paddington Town Hall as a hub for live music, theatre and comedy shows and cabaret nights. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s asking venue managers, organisations, producers, artists and musicians to submit ideas to transform the Town Hallâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 700-capacity auditorium into a performance space. Lord Mayor Clover Moore said the City of Sydney is committed to making Sydneyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s live music and performance sector more sustainable and supporting local business. Expressions of interest open Tuesday November 11 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; find more info at tenderlink.com/cityofsydney.

APRA AMCOS ROYALTIES OVERVIEW The Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) and Australian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society

* The Superjesus are writing new material, while Moving Picturesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; current set has three new songs. They want to make a new album, but arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t sure. * John Lennonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Gretsch 6120 guitar with which he helped Paul McCartney pen â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Paperback Writerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; is expected to fetch ÂŁ600,000 at auction. He gave it to his cousin David Birch in 1967 when Birch started his own band. * To avoid piracy, the first of the eight-part Foo Fighters doco Sonic Highways was screened in Australia on Go! an hour after its US debut on the weekend. * Southern Cross Austereo denies it will sell off the lowrating 2Day FM, and it will be part of its new Hit Music network.

(AMCOS) jointly paid royalties of $256.2 million over 2013/14. This was to 205,343 songwriters, composers and publishers worldwide for 783,070 songs. 35,464 of its 87,000 members from Australia and New Zealand got paid for public performances of recordings. APRAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s foreign income for overseas royalties from Australian/NZ songs increased by 24% to a record of $27.1 million. 124,000 businesses across Australia/NZ now hold APRA licences to play music in public. Digital revenue (downloads, streaming, video on demand, websites) remained static at $43 million â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a result of unlicensed sites. APRA allocated $914,875 to 117 grants for music industry projects.

FBI PRESENTERS CALL-OUT FBi Radio is looking for new summer presenters. Go to fbiradio.com/on-air/ summerschool. Entries close on Sunday November 2.

E HIFI 1300 THO M.AU

THEHIFI.C

Just Announced

This Week

BEN FACEY MOVES TO UNIVERSAL Ben Facey is new the senior director, marketing international at Universal Music Australia. He will co-manage its marketing team and oversee the breaking of international acts in this market. Facey was at Warner Music for six years in promotion and publicity before more recently being the overall event producer and head of marketing at Foxtelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s five music channels.

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;GET LUCKYâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; WINS BMI SONG OF THE YEAR

Coming Soon

Fri 31 Oct

*+ (, % -

, . Mat Zo

Fri 7 Nov

Sun 9 Nov

Fri 14 Nov

Anvil

Ten Walls Live

Tue 25 Nov

Fri 5 Dec

Sat 13 Dec

Tue 6 Jan

Nahko & # The People

Wed 7 Jan

Fri 9 Jan

Joey Bada$$ & Run The Jewels

Glass Animals

Sat 10 Jan

Sat 17 Jan

Tycho Live

Inquisition

High-tails, childhood friends from Wagga who met up again in Sydney, have signed to Stop Start. Theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve released a new single, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Terrible Dayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, and their debut EP Sipping Tea To Make Music To Sip Tea To. Label head Andy Bryan said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s always about good songs,â&#x20AC;? adding that he was first taken with the pop band when he heard their last single â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Bending Over Backwardsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;.

NEW SIGNINGS #4: GEORGIA FAIR AT LITTLEBIGMAN

THE DOCTOR IS OUT

TWITTER MOVES FURTHER INTO MUSIC

Through a song titled â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m Fucking Offâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, Lindsay â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;The Doctorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; McDougall has announced he is leaving triple j after ten years to concentrate on his music. In that time, heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s done 2,200 shows with 6,100 air hours and conducted 3,520 interviews.

APPLY FOR CREATIVE LIVE WORK SPACE The City of Sydney has opened applications for its 2015 Creative Live Work Space program. Six one-bedroom apartments on William Street will provide affordable working studios and residential accommodation for creative practitioners for 12 months. For full details visit creativecitysydney.com.au/ opportunities/william-street-creativehub. Deadline is Friday November 14.

VENUES NEWS Kings Cross Hotel launches its Level Two as a band room for local and national acts on Saturday November 8, and includes a space for up-and-coming bands to practise, perform and play. The space has been used as FBi Social, which closes on Saturday November 1 after hosting 1,000 bands and 40,000 punters. Lizotteâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s will close its outlets in Dee Why and Kincumber in mid-2015, leaving only the Newcastle club operating, to allow owners Brian & Jo Lizotte more leisure time. Newcastle live music venue Maryville Tavern has been bought by The Blockâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 2012 winners Brad and Lara Cranfield with partner Michael Deer.

The Sofar Sounds Sydney crew, which puts on monthly secret gigs in venues around town with up-and-coming artists, is seeking volunteers to join the team. Positions are open for music-loving videographers, editors, photographers, reviewers, graphic designers, social media coordinators, guest list managers and venue scouts. Email sydneysofar@gmail. com with your details and examples of any relevant work to get involved.

Sat 25 Oct

% ' (NZ) with ( )) !

NEW SIGNINGS #3: HIGH-TAILS JOIN STOP START

Daft Punkâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Get Luckyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; took out Song of the Year at the US licensing body BMI Awards, which celebrate songwriters with the most airplay on US radio and TV. The Policeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Every Breath You Takeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; was honoured for 12 million plays through the years, as well as Van Morrisonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Brown Eyed Girlâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; (11m), Eric Claptonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Laylaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; (9m), The Rolling Stonesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Honky Tonk Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; (7m), Freeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Alright Nowâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; and Van Morrisonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Have I Told You Latelyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; (5m). Swedish DJ Avicii won the dance award for â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Wake Me Upâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, which went to number one in 22 countries, while Ed Sheeran and Ellie Goulding had three songs each.

HELP OUT WITH SOFAR SOUNDS Fri 21 Nov

featured on UK TV show Geeks.

NEW SIGNINGS #1: PAULINI BACK WITH NEW LABEL R&B/pop singer Paulini has signed with Robert Rigbyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Ambition Music Group. Rigby joint-ventured her album Comes Alive (due out February) with Universalâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Decca Australia, for which he is also executive manager of A&R. The record was made with names like Chris Rosa, Blue2th and Philippe-Marc Anquetil.

NEW SIGNINGS #2: MURPHY RIGHTS SIGNS NOVA AND THE EXPERIENCE On the eve of their showcase at CMJ Music Marathon in New York City, Murphy Rights Management signed Sydneyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Nova And The Experience. They were spotted by producer Michael Opitz by chance, and he was reportedly struck by their chemistry, crowd interaction and â&#x20AC;&#x153;musical freshnessâ&#x20AC;?. â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Dragonflies And Waterfallsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; will feature in a new US movie, Scout, and new Aussie-produced National Geographic show A Model Adventure along with their â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Shipwreckedâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;I Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t Play Quidditchâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

Local act Georgia Fair have signed with littleBIGMAN Records (Meg Mac, 44th Sunset), doing a three-city tour behind new single â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Breakâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. An album is due early 2015.

SOUNDCLOUD LOSSES GROW FASTER THAN REVENUE SoundCloud admits its revenue grew to â&#x201A;Ź11.28m in 2013 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a 40% increase on the previous year â&#x20AC;&#x201C; but net losses increased by 86% to â&#x201A;Ź23.11m. This comes as its negotiations with Universal, Sony and Warner reached a standstill.

Twitter has moved further into music, with the new Twitter Audio Card allowing podcasts, music and other audio content to be played directly through Twitter. SoundCloud partners David Guetta and Chance The Rapper are offering exclusive tracks.

Lifelines Recovered: NSW performance artist Candy Royalle has recovered from ovarian cancer to tour her new show Frida People next month. Hospitalised: 5 Seconds Of Summerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Ashton Irwin for appendicitis, forcing them to can a UK show on the weekend and postpone a Japan visit. Ill: The Rolling Stonesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; sax player Bobby Keys has been ordered to take a rest during the Oz and NZ shows, and will be replaced by Karl Denson. Arrested: 18 Russian Cannibal Corpse fans, after throwing bottles at cops when their show got shut down in St. Petersburg at the last minute. They face fines and up to 15 days in jail. In Court: Kesha and her mentor/ producer Dr. Luke are swapping lawsuits. She claimed his sexual and emotional abuse led to an eating disorder and rehab. He says she defamed him and extorted him into giving her a better record deal. Suing: Don Henley of Eagles took on US shirt maker Duluth Trading Co for advertising its Henley t-shirts with the slogan, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Don A Henley and Take It Easy.â&#x20AC;? In Court: former NSW radio identity Nick Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Callaghan is appealing an 18-month jail sentence for indecently assaulting a child and possessing 4,025 filesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; worth of inappropriate material. His lawyer told Port Macquarie Local Court, â&#x20AC;&#x153;He was collecting this material to remind of an erotic experience he had around the age of 15.â&#x20AC;? Arrested: Waka Flocka Flame, after a loaded handgun was found in his carry-on bag at Atlanta International Airport Died: Mark Bell of LFO, from complications after an operation. LFO were pioneers of UK EDM and techno. Bjork, whose albums Bell produced, called him â&#x20AC;&#x153;an absolute donâ&#x20AC;?. Died: Isaiah â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Ikeyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Owens, keyboardist for Jack White and The Mars Volta, was found dead in his Mexico hotel room during Whiteâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s tour.

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revious interviews with Husky Gawenda and his cousin Gideon Preiss (the frontman and keyboardist, respectively, of local indie-folk sensation Husky) leave the impression that although they’re super-polite and lovely lads, they err on the serious side. Today, while they sit at a boardroom table signing an endless pile of copies of their new album Ruckers Hill, they’re happy to let their guard down. For a start, while it’s well known that Preiss used to watch with envy while his older brother played guitar with Gawenda in the garage, it turns out there were certainly some awkward musical years for the singer. “There was a tiny little metal phase,” confesses Gawenda. “It wasn’t that tiny,” Preiss laughs. “I remember when Husk got his first electric guitar, which was a B.C. Rich. It’s a metal guitar and it’s set up for shredding and playing fast. I used to go around there and Husk and my big brother would be working out Guns N’ Roses and Metallica solos – ‘Enter Sandman’, that kind of thing. I could not have been more jealous.” “But that phase didn’t last long,” Gawenda interrupts, trying to regain some ground. “That guitary, wanting to shred thing lasted a couple of years and then I went back to Leonard Cohen songs.” He then lets slip that Preiss’ mother (along with so many ladies of the era) had a little thing for Ricky Martin. “And you loved it,” he adds gleefully, before Preiss makes him take it back. The boys have made no secret of the fact they’re influenced by singer-songwriter greats (not to say anything against Metallica or Martin). They draw on Crosby, Stills & Nash, Bob Dylan, The Beach Boys, and of course, Cohen. This was the stuff playing in their parents’ cars when they were kids, and they’ve always connected with it. “They’re

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HUSKY A MOMENT IN TIME BY MEG CRAWFORD

artists that you grow with as you develop,” Preiss says. “But I loved Dylan, Neil Young and Cohen as a kid. I loved them then and I love them in a different way now. I guess we were lucky to have good musical influences early on – good records playing in the lounge room.” Cohen comes up in conversation a lot with Gawenda and Preiss, partly because he’s just released his 13th studio album, and partly because Gawenda was reading bits of his last novel Beautiful Losers in his local café during the recording of Ruckers Hill. Neither Gawenda nor Preiss wishes to compare their band to Cohen or any of the other greats listed above, but they do provide a yardstick of sorts for their songwriting. “If the song’s not taking me away,” says Gawenda, “I’m thinking, ‘Man, what’s the fucking point, when guys like them can make this kind of music and these kind of songs?’ On the flip side, you don’t have to write the greatest songs ever written and make the greatest

albums. You can just aim to do something good and move people. Most of the time, I feel like if we are achieving that at all, we’re achieving plenty. I’m still jealous of Leonard Cohen though. He’s a once-in-a-century kind of guy.” As a unit, Husky described the experience of recording their 2012 debut album Forever So as unique, insofar as they had complete creative control over the process. They recorded it in a shed out the back of Gawenda’s rented Fitzroy abode, which also meant they weren’t fettered by constraints of time or money. If holding the reins is something the band values, how did the experience of recording Ruckers Hill compare? “I think we did have the same degree of creative control,” says Gawenda. “The difference this time was that the label and other team members invested in what we were doing. That creates some pressures and expectations that we hadn’t dealt with before, but essentially, we were totally in control of what we were doing

and I still feel that the greatest expectations and pressures came from ourselves, as they did on the first record.” Similarly, the fellas have said they didn’t write Forever So with any particular audience in mind, and it was equally true this time around – the band’s musical integrity is not up for grabs. “You’ve got to answer to yourself on all of these things,” says Preiss. “In 20 years’ time you want to feel like you created something that you’re happy with. When we made the first record, we never really had any expectations around how people would receive it. I was actually very surprised that it was well received. I feel like I don’t have a choice about it. You have to set those standards for yourself. There are certain things that you don’t compromise and authenticity is one of them.” “It can be a little bit like chasing shadows with a fl ashlight, though,” qualifi es Gawenda. “If you’re trying too hard for authenticity, that’s not authentic. You need to let go of trying too hard for anything. Often,

“YOU DON’T HAVE TO WRITE THE GREATEST SONGS EVER WRITTEN AND MAKE THE GREATEST ALBUMS. YOU CAN JUST AIM TO DO SOMETHING GOOD AND MOVE PEOPLE.”

it’s best just to let go of all of that stuff and just write and record.” Did they achieve that with Ruckers Hill? “An album’s a snapshot,” Gawenda says. “Forever So was a snapshot of three years ago and Ruckers Hill’s a snapshot [of now]. If the album sounds different, that probably has more to do with the fact that time has passed and life has changed and we’ve read different books, listened to different music.” “And spent time touring,” Preiss adds. “That has an effect on the things you write and what you want to do going forward.” They say you should never work with friends and family, and Preiss and Gawenda are an exception to prove the rule. It’s obvious that they’re not only good mates but their shared history is an advantage. Preiss has a nice spin on it. “I feel that it makes at least parts of working together easier,” he says. “The best example I can think of is when you’re touring, because when you’re away for long stretches and you’ve got family there, you feel like you’re taking a bit of home with you, and there’s a lot of comfort in that for me. “If someone had said to me when I was a kid that I’d get to tour and work and play music and do all of the things we’ve done together with my big cousin, I would have been the happiest little kid in the world. It’s nice to remember that.” What: Ruckers Hill out now through Liberation Where: Oxford Art Factory / The Brass Monkey When: Thursday November 13 / Sunday November 16 And: Also appearing at The Small Ballroom, Newcastle on Friday November 14 More: Husky headline Sip & Savour at Sydney Craft Beer Week, Carriageworks, on Sunday October 26

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The Gaslight Anthem Evolution Theory By Meg Crawford

“You have to adapt. It’s tough if you’re just regurgitating the same stuff and it’s not rewarding creatively.” they conveyed. Man, they are the greatest rock band ever. They’re always going to be an infl uence on us – it’s always going to be there, because they were a huge part of the reason that we wanted to play music in the first place.” Thinking about the band’s beginnings, Fallon has been heard to say that a sense of frightened urgency kick-started the outfi t, and Levine doesn’t disagree. “We all had very humble beginnings,” he recalls. “None of us had a real way out, other than for doing this. We all fell on the same page – this was what we really wanted to do and we really wanted to make it. We weren’t necessarily the most talented, but we were certainly driven – it’s an important part of success.”

lex Levine, The Gaslight Anthem’s bassist, is in a New Orleans casino playing poker and on a winning streak – he’s $1,000 up when his arse is dragged away from the table for this interview. Um, is now the best time? Really? All things considered, Levine’s pretty affable about the interruption. It raises an interesting question, though. The Gaslight Anthem’s frontman Brian Fallon is famous, or maybe infamous, for not boozing and getting high – he even goes to church. Given that we’ve just pulled Levine out of a gambling den, is he on the opposite end of the partying spectrum? The answer is no: in

fact, the whole band has cleaned up its act. “I got sober in recent history,” Levine says. “I’ve cooled down a lot – I’ve got a family now. In fact, the whole of Gaslight Anthem have kicked drugs and alcohol to the back seat.” Same as The Boss, The Gaslight Anthem were borne out of New Jersey. Keeping in tight with the locals, Bruce Springsteen’s actually joined them onstage a few times. Levine describes the first cameo as the biggest ‘holy fuck’ moment in his career. “It was like being blasted out of a fucking rocket ship,” Levine hoots. “Seriously, he was suddenly there and it was like, ‘How the fuck did this happen?’ That one is going to be hard to top.”

Even though Fallon’s voice is not dissimilar to Springsteen’s, traditionally his band has sat more on the punk side of the fence. With that in mind, it makes sense that The Clash occupies a special place in The Gaslight Anthem’s heart. Even now Levine holds Joe Strummer aloft as his number one singer-songwriter and veritably perks up with the mention of his name. “My father was into The Clash,” he recalls fondly. “He actually got to see The Clash and The Who at the Chase Stadium in New York back in the ’80s. I just pretty immediately fell in love with everything about them – their style, their songs, their vibe, what

Going back to The Clash, one of the things that Levine admires about Strummer was his ability to evolve. Guided by this ethos, there’s been a musical change in tack with Get Hurt, The Gaslight Anthem’s fifth studio album. It’s still very recognisably Gaslight, but it’s different to prior releases – it’s more straight-down-the-line rock’n’roll, with barely a whiff of punk, and even goes a bit country on ‘Red Violins’. This shouldn’t be a surprise – Fallon has said that unless you invented a unique sound, like the Ramones, you’ve gotta change at some point. “Well, that was a wise call,” laughs Levine. “I wish I’d said it – because you do have to adapt. It’s tough if you’re just regurgitating the same stuff and it’s not rewarding creatively.” Part of what helped the band mix it up on Get Hurt was working with producer Mike Crossey – he was sought out specifi cally on the basis that the chances of him

disagreeing with the group were high. “I wouldn’t say that we’ve worked with yes men before,” Levine says. “We defi nitely wanted to work with someone this time who had a different style from us, though. We’d never really explored before what it would be like to record with someone who wasn’t focused on the singer-songwriter aspect – Mike’s more focused on the sound and how it’s recorded and we wanted to have some fun with that.” It’s an encouraging fact that there was some fun to be had, because it wasn’t the happiest of times for the band when it went into recording – particularly given Fallon had just divorced his wife of ten years. “I think that every artistic experience is cathartic,” Levine says. “It’s always an escape from everyday life. Making music has absolutely always been my release and escape.” As unlikely as it’d be, if the whole thing ever goes to shit for Levine, at least he’s got a job to fall back on: he’s a barber. “Yeah, I started out by cutting my own hair when I was a teenager, because I didn’t like how anyone else was cutting it,” he laughs. “I’ll cut people’s hair now when we’re on tour. I was thinking about setting up a barbershop too, but I haven’t had time to get around to that yet. I have set up my own clothing label, though, which is kind of barbershop-inspired. It has that essence and vibe of how men used to dress.” What: Get Hurt out now through EMI Where: Enmore Theatre When: Saturday January 31

Slow Chase The Exorcists By Denver Maxx

“The last 12 months have been pretty difficult with life just getting in the way a bit. We found it hard to maintain the momentum and stay in the spotlight.” toured with Stonefield previously, including playing the Big Day Out and regional tours. And we have Alex Hingston on bass who we met through The Quarters, who he played drums for.” While the ominous tones elicited by the title and the corresponding lyrics in ‘Exorcism’ relate to darker personal times for Gresty, the title also acts as an allegory for Slow Chase’s 12 months leading up to the release. “The last 12 months have been pretty difficult with life just getting in the way a bit,” Gresty says. “We found it hard to maintain the momentum and stay in the spotlight, but this new song was recorded with Jonathan Burnside in Mixmasters Adelaide, where we recorded The Blind Spot EP, and we all have really good feelings associated with this song and the process of writing and recording it.

ritish expat Adam Gresty is the frontman of the slow-burning, stoner-rock-infused three-piece Slow Chase; a band whose latest single ‘Exorcism’ instantly captures the ears and minds of listeners as it slays along with smoky guitar and 14 :: BRAG :: 585 :: 22:10:14

Gresty’s laidback vocals. The project has been active for almost five years and previously released The Blind Spot EP in 2010, but now, with a lineup change – the addition of drummer Emily Shaw –

Gresty feels as though Slow Chase have hit a sweet spot. “Everything musically and otherwise is going so well at the moment, and we can’t wait to play both old and new material,” he says. “Emily has

“It was a difficult pregnancy because it took us a while to get our ducks lined up, and we had learnt a lot from our experience with The Blind Spot EP, so we just wanted to make sure that we had our live set ready to go

for the release of any new material.” Production man Burnside is no stranger to deep-textured rock music, having previously produced Clutch, Fu Manchu and Grinspoon, but the CV gets even more intimidating when you consider his engineering work with the likes of Nirvana, Faith No More and Melvins. According to Gresty, collaborating with a certified expert in alternative rock came from a twist of fate. “I was working in a recording studio in Melbourne and Jonathan was running Eastern Bloc Studios in Hawthorn,” he recalls. “I was checking out studios to record in and he was in the process of selling the studio and moving back to San Francisco. But before he left I played him a couple of demos, and he said, ‘I like it, you have either two options: you can come and track it before I leave, or you can record in San Francisco.’ So that’s how it came about. Looking at his history he has some great stories, like how Kurt Cobain still owes him pizza money.” Where: Frankie’s Pizza When: Thursday November 20 thebrag.com

Ben Ottewell Rattle And Hum By Adam Norris

en Ottewell has one helluva voice. It’s something of a contradiction – sometimes smooth, sometimes bracing in its jagged edges and raw expression. The kind of voice that would be equally at home in some dim-lit underground bar as it would in a forest. Since winning the Mercury Prize back in 1998, his band Gomez have established themselves as one of the most unique (and unexpected) groups around, thanks in no small part to Ottewell’s roaring vocals. With the release of his second solo album, Rattlebag, that voice continues to grow – not that he has ever been particularly driven to develop it. “Perhaps when I was younger,” he considers, sipping at his drink as the witching hour ticks away. “I may have been a little more conscious of how I was trying to sound back then. Listening to bands like The Doors or Led Zeppelin. But I sing the way I sing, I open my mouth and it’s there. A lot of times, you know, it comes down to what you’ve been doing the night before, how long you’ve gone without sleep.” He laughs, and on cue I can hear the sound of chinking ice as he pours himself another drink. “I think quite naturally this is just how I sing,” he continues. “It strikes a lot of people as odd because I certainly don’t look the way I sound. I guess it’s left me trying to grow into my voice. It’s really not a self-conscious thing. I think people assume I’m kind of trying to sound a certain way, but honestly, knowing how singing works, the amount of gigs I’ve done, if this wasn’t the way I naturally sound I wouldn’t have been able to keep doing it anywhere near this long. I’d be straining something up there.” Ottewell’s speaking voice gives little indication of the force behind these songs: he is an amiable guy, and

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seems pleasantly surprised that people are interested in talking to him. His first solo album, Shapes And Shadows, dropped in 2011, and allowed him the opportunity to showcase material that would never have quite fit with the style or sound of Gomez. Three years later, with the help of crowdfunding platform Indiegogo, Ottewell has been able to continue building his own catalogue without the worry of label pressure influencing his direction. “It was nice having that transparent process, that direct relationship with people. Plus just getting the money together to do it, which is still a problem these days, believe it or not. And no-one’s asked for a refund yet, so that’s good. The downside is the bloody mailing you have to do. I’ve been sending CDs to Japan, Finland, Israel, Australia. All that bloody distribution and the time it takes. Otherwise it’s fantastic. It’s so difficult for musicians these days. The money is hard. You’ve got to be good, and you’ve got to be lucky.” It also doesn’t hurt if your upbringing is surrounded by music. Some of Ottewell’s earliest memories are of being taken to folk festivals by his parents (“Both hippies – I may have caught a little of what they were smoking”), and although he had no burning desire to ‘make it’ as a rock star, his high school days were filled with performance. “I’d always sung, and I’d played guitar, but only in snatches. Whenever someone started a band in high school I was always the singer. But there were never really any bands playing what I wanted to sing, which is why I started learning to play the guitar. There was never any real reason behind it, you know, I didn’t see any end point. I was never one of those people who stood in front of the

mirror saying, ‘You’re going to be a star.’ It was just purely something that I enjoyed, you know?” Mirror or not, Ottewell has since penned some outstanding material. He is that rare variety of writer whose songs don’t seem to diminish through repeated listening. Part of it is the strength of his voice, of course. But the songs themselves – his often dark and remorseful lyrics, his sombre yet catchy riffs – can stick in your head for days. It’s not a bad achievement given some of them have taken years to fashion into shape. “There are always snatches of material that will sometimes hang around for years, and you’ll never quite know what to do with them. You’ll be sitting there playing,

and suddenly fi nd some different perspective. Maybe you were drinking tequila the night before instead of beer, and that opens up some kind of synapse in your brain. Something clicks, a connection is made and a song suddenly starts coming together. Then all that’s left is to write the bloody lyrics. “A lot of my writing is based around riffs. ‘Rattlebag’ is a riff, ‘Patience & Rosaries’, ‘Shoreline’. The riff is a great thing. Some cyclical thing that gets in your brain and keeps nagging at you, that’s what I want. That’s the problem: it doesn’t just do that to your audience, it does it to you, too. When you’re writing a song, you know it’s good if that riff just doesn’t let go of you. I always have my songs in my head. I think that’s quite an achievement – if you

can happily live with something you’ve created yourself.” Though had Ottewell never found success either solo or with Gomez, he has no doubts about the direction his life would have taken. “Oh, I would have been some kind of occult, magus kind of figure,” he says matter-of-factly, finishing his drink. “Someone deeply in the dark arts. Lucky that the band happened instead, I suppose.” What: Rattlebag out Friday October 24 through Cooking Vinyl Where: Newtown Social Club / The Brass Monkey / The Bunker, Coogee Diggers When: Wednesday October 29 / Thursday October 30 / Saturday November 1

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King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard Fuzzy Logic By Lachlan Kanoniuk

’m sitting in a cosy North Melbourne bar, nursing a few pints with King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard vocalist/guitarist/flautist Stu Mackenzie and guitarist Joe Walker, an hour away from this year’s AIR Independent Music Awards – last year’s ceremony saw the Gizz boys pick up a tidy $50,000 grant. We’re here to talk about I’m In Your Mind Fuzz, the band’s fifth full-length LP in a career of dizzying proliferation. It’s the group’s final week in Australia for some time, with an extensive return to the US for the second time in 2014 looming on the weekend, backed up by a European expedition that will see out the majority of the remaining year. Continuing their jack-knifing stylistic resolve, I’m In Your Mind Fuzz doesn’t sound like any other King Gizz album; its experimental elements are more subtle than previous conceptual pursuits. “There are quite a few experiments in there,” Mackenzie explains. “The first few tracks are based on the one thing, a sort of song cycle. That was an experiment putting that together – they were all recorded separately and pieced together. We experimented a lot with production more than anything.”

“A lot of producers would say it’s the worst possible way to go about recording an album, traditionally,” Walker adds. “But this works with the aesthetic; you can hear all the weird out-of-phase, the clicks.” “Specifically by themselves, [those effects were] unintentional,” Mackenzie says. “But we wanted to make it sound mashed up. I wanted to make this record sound like a band, more than anything we’ve done before. It’s hard to make it sound like that when you’re not listening to it loud. I think you need those random, loose elements. Throughout the record, there are a lot of repetitive motifs. The same riff will come in on five of the songs, contextualised with a different timing or different key. Reimagining these ideas.” “It’s the most holistic thing we’ve done,” says Walker. “Oddments, hence the name, was more of an

idea and aesthetic. Float Along was ten songs, and that was the album. This is the longest we’ve worked on an album. We worked on our set, then toured America with it. It’s sweet, we’re very happy with it.” With grant money in tow, King Gizzard set off for the USA, not letting the geographical shift impede their prolific workflow. “We did half of the album before we left,” Mackenzie explains. “The songs weren’t finished. We did the rough outlines of half of them, and most of the other songs were vaguely written before we left. We did one half at the studio we always work at in Fairfield [in Melbourne], then the other half at Daptone in Brooklyn.” At a recent run of hometown shows, Mackenzie brandished his newfound skills on the flute – an instrument that features throughout I’m In Your Mind Fuzz. “I made a pact with myself that I’d try and learn a new instrument every year till I’m dead,” he deadpans. “I learned flute for a while, and it kind of crept its way onto the album. When we were living in America, I was practising it every day. That was the thing I had to do every day to fulfil my pact and maintain my sanity. Then it just filtered its way onto pretty much every song on the album.” History dictates that we shouldn’t be waiting too long for the next King Gizz offering. “Every time a record comes around,” says Mackenzie, “we’ve been talking about the record for six months. So when the time comes to put together songs, you know exactly what they’re going to sound like. When we’re in America this time around we’re going to do some more recording. One of the songs is already done. It’ll be different again. I don’t want to give away anything, because we’ll probably change our minds 300 times before it comes out.” With momentum still barrelling ahead for the mighty Gizz, Mackenzie is pragmatic when it comes to long-term ambition. “Personally, I just sometimes feel like I [want to be] more normal.

Just to have a normal life. I’m a simple kind of guy; I want to do basic things with my life, as well as creative things with music. I feel that decision in every classic rock autobiography where they have to choose between two things in their life.” Throughout their rise and with their current overseas traction, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard

are a band that operates on their own terms. “I think from really early on, we always wanted to be independent,” Walker says. “Then as time went along, we had these opportunities with labels, and we’ve decided to stick to our guns. Eric [Moore], our manager/drummer, has started his label, then we signed with Remote Control, and that’s been all on our own terms. Musicians can

be doing really well, but they might not have the creative control that we have. There’s no external force or pressure other than within the band, and that’s purely musical. And that’s kind of great.” What: I’m In Your Mind Fuzz is out Friday October 31 through Flightless/Remote Control

Jep And Dep The Grey Area By Denver Maxx “This was at the same time I was doing all this music at home, so we would be hanging out and I would just pick up a guitar and work out how to play a Townes Van Zandt song. Jess had never sung before but we decided to write a song about her sister getting married, and it was a kind of Kimya Dawson and Adam Green ‘marriage is a waste of time’ anti-folk song. Then I think Jess got a bug for it and we just started writing.” This “bug” resulted in Jep And Dep, and in a relatively short amount of time they were transformed from folk abstraction to performing act. It followed on from Cross’ experience as a recording artist and producer for most of his adult life as one-third of electro-crossover act Gerling, who went on indefinite hiatus in 2007.

ep And Dep are Jessica Cassar and Darren Cross. The Sydneysiders write music in a style that is both contemporary and nostalgic, and this week release their debut album Word 16 :: BRAG :: 585 :: 22:10:14

Got Out ahead of a lengthy launch tour. They’ve been performing around the traps for a while, including landing the support slot at The National’s Sydney Opera House concerts this year, and the

album has been some time coming. “I met Jess through a mutual friend and her sister, and then we started going out,” says Cross.

“After Gerling split up I started doing electronic music that was sample-based,” says Cross. “[It] was really weird and technologyheavy [under the name] E.L.F and I was touring around with Muscles and played a few shows with Midnight Juggernauts. I found myself playing dance music to all these young 18-year-old kids on pingers and I thought to myself, ‘I am 35, I don’t want to do this anymore – so stuff it, I am just going to learn to play the guitar.’” And learn it he did. There is a profound tenderness to the guitar

tones and vocals of Jep And Dep that swings the duo’s sound in the direction of alt-country artists Gillian Welch and David Rawlings. The two lead singles from Word Got Out were ‘Babe Come Down’ and ‘Granted’ – they’re stylistically very different, although the main drivers of the songs are simply voice and guitar. ‘Babe Come Down’ is punchy, playful and aggressive, like ‘Stagger Lee’ by Nick Cave, while ‘Granted’ has all the poignancy and tenderness of something from Welch’s Time (The Revelator). The clips for both songs are shot in a black-and-white fi lm noir style. Cross explains that this cinematic style is something he is fond of. “It’s across the board for everything from our album artwork to our fi lm clip. We really like fi lm noir, especially Wim Wenders and Jim Jarmusch – we just love black and white and feel it suits our music.” What: Word Got Out is out Thursday October 23 independently Where: Django Bar, Camelot Lounge / Lass O’Gowrie, Newcastle / The Midnight Special, Newtown When: Thursday October 23 / Friday November 14 / Sunday November 30

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The Bennies Somewhere Over The Rainbows By Augustus Welby pressed. And you learn that you just got ripped off and you push through and you play a Wednesday night and this can happen for fucking ages. The evolution to get anywhere is like a lot of small victories. I see it like this education that has only just begun. “Behind the scenes there’s a lot of hard work that goes into putting this stuff together,” he continues. “When the feedback from the people and the effort you’re putting in – when that ratio works, then you can’t help but be humbled and just really thank the people who are helping you do it.” Rainbows In Space was released through Melbourne-based punk rock imprint Poison City Records, whose roster includes other local successes The Smith Street Band, The Nation Blue and Clowns. Rozenbergs believes that raising the band in Melbourne has played a crucial role in developing both a fearless attitude and genre-blending sound.

t’s been a big year for Melbourne punk/ska party boys The Bennies. Since releasing second LP Rainbows In Space late last year, the foursome has conducted a series of sold-out Australian tours, supported the likes of Dead Kennedys and played shows in China, New Zealand and the US. What’s more, not only were The Bennies one of the few Australian acts on the Soundwave 2014 lineup, they’ve been invited back to play at next year’s festival.

on people and that they’re getting inspired. It’s fairly fucking rewarding.”

everyone’s just so fuckin’ lovely. We’re blessed, man.”

Several of The Bennies’ songs refer to getting drunk and high and pushing all worries aside. It’s safe to assume the band members practise what they preach and know how to make the most of tour life’s constant invitation to let loose. However, they basically haven’t had any time off in the past 12 months, so has the excess of fun taken its toll by now?

As the band’s job requirements become more demanding, the primary pursuit remains unchanged: to have a damn good time. “Spirits are high, the gigs have been great, no dramas,” says The Bennies guitarist Jules Rozenbergs. “Just setting ’em up and knocking ’em down. I’m totally stoked that it’s having a positive impression

“I could be at work and I could be dealing with customers,” Rozenbergs says. “The grass is super-green on the performance side. I never forget that. I’ve got a smile on my face because I don’t have to slave away today to pay my rent. We’re out on the road making our art. If we keep it in perspective, it’s just been kind of dreamy and

Further proof that The Bennies’ partyboy appeal now holds weight outside of the underground punk community lies in the fact they recently stormed through a massive regional tour. But while the band has made considerable advances in the last year, it’s not an overnight success story. The Bennies are an independently run operation and the band members have spent several years learning how to effectively do things themselves. “Each one of us has been playing music for quite a while now,” Rozenbergs says. “You start from like Tuesday night, Battle of the Bands, some fucking crook is trying to make you sell 200 tickets to go on a compilation that’s never going to get

“The music scene in Melbourne is extremely competitive and it’s a tight-knit group of really passionate individuals. But if you can cut your teeth against the Melbourne critics’ association, it toughens you up for sure. It’s not easy and a lot of people get discouraged, but once people see you’re really working for it, there’s encouragement, there’s people willing to pull you up. “There’s not a lot of money going around,” he adds. “It’s a passionbased industry. In Melbourne, where we’re blessed to have so many bands and live venues and music seven days a week, 24/7, the standard just keeps going up and as the standard goes up, you get better.” Being serious about your art doesn’t necessarily mean producing work that should be described as ‘serious’. Rainbows In Space features songs

such as ‘Let’s Go Get Stoned’, ‘Ice Cold Beers And Juicy Juicy Buds’ and ganja-soaked love letter ‘Sensimi’. While The Bennies’ commitment to their vocation certainly isn’t in doubt, the content being expressed is somewhat eyebrow-raising. However, Rozenbergs contends that they’re simply heeding to their own outlook. “Even if it’s dumb-head fun, it’s constructive. We are positive guys, that’s our vibe. You go listen to Lydia Lunch and that’s like fucking heavy, heavy shit and that’s going to resonate in someone. Our only pressure is to be true to where we come from. We write for us and [we’re] expressing our concerns. Even sometimes to make a fucking song that’s just about smoking heaps of joints, I want to fucking hear that song.” It’s plain to see that The Bennies’ core positivity isn’t dwindling. As far as Rozenbergs can tell, there are plenty of good times to come. “This is dream come true, 101,” he says. “We’re learning, we make mistakes and shit like that, but we really feel like we’re part of something together and that’s pretty powerful shit, man. That’s a fair old fucking booster rocket for our ambition and our ability and willingness to get better at our instruments and write better songs.” What: Soundwave Festival 2015 With: Slipknot, Faith No More, Soundgarden, Slash, Marilyn Manson, Incubus, Lamb Of God, Fall Out Boy, Judas Priest and many more Where: Sydney Olympic Park When: Saturday February 28 and Sunday March 1 And: Rainbows In Space out now through Poison City

The Church A New Disciple By Augustus Welby

ock fans often view a band’s classic lineup with a sort of sacred affection. Any disturbance to a longstanding combination tends to be met with severe disappointment. Sydney psychedelic dream purveyors The Church have just released their 25th album, Further/Deeper, and for the first time in the band’s recording career, guitarist Marty Willson-Piper is absent. In his place is former Powderfinger lead guitarist Ian Haug. He certainly has big shoes to fill, but Haug didn’t cower under the pressure. “Luckily the first jam and the whole recording process came where it was all new stuff,” he says. “I thought, ‘Yeah, I’ll bring it. I’ll try to step up.’ There was nothing to lose, really. If they went, ‘Nah, we don’t like what’s happening here,’ it would’ve been like, ‘OK, cool, that’s fine.’”

“It wasn’t like I was just coming in to be told what to do. They were extremely encouraging and nonlimiting to anything. There was no preconception of what it should be like. Because it’s new shit, nothing’s really technically wrong. We all seemed to be on the same page 18 :: BRAG :: 585 :: 22:10:14

While Haug’s previous band was one of the most commercially successful acts in the history of Aussie rock, his presence doesn’t mean Further/Deeper is a stab at mainstream success. Recorded earlier this year, the release is an hour-long journey, featuring 12 elaborately drawn and melodically lush compositions, with nary an obvious chorus in sight. “It’s by no means an easy listen,” Haug says. “I think there’s quite a bit of depth to it. We couldn’t stop ourselves. We wrote it all as we were recording it and it pretty much was just all a big jam session. It’s not going to be to everyone’s taste, which is fine. That’s the way art should be. I think it’s good if things polarise people.” Further/Deeper mightn’t include anything acutely similar to iconic Church singles, such as ‘Under The Milky Way’ or ‘The Unguarded Moment’, but it’s undeniably The Church. Right from opening number ‘Vanishing Man’, the constituent parts combine to generate a strikingly familiar and strangely comforting sensation. “I think there is a certain sound that The Church have, whatever it is,” Haug says. “It’s not even that it’s similar to something that they’ve done before. There are several moments on the record where it really strikes me as sounding very Church-y. Like, the bridge of ‘Pride Before A Fall’ and the whole of ‘Old Coast Road’ to me sounds pretty Church-y. “There’s definitely moments when Peter [Koppes] and I, our guitars

entwine to meld into one thing which sounds like The Church. And obviously [Steve] Kilbey’s voice is so iconic as well. When I would be playing and I heard him singing, it was like, ‘Fuck, this is The Church.’” Powderfinger weren’t quite vendors of soulless pop music, but a large portion of their material did possess radio-ready appeal. The Church, on the other hand, specialise in surreal soundscapes and sometimes dramatic sonic density. Despite the seeming contrast, Haug says this wasn’t entirely unchartered territory for him. “That’s what Powderfinger always wanted to do anyway, and we always did have a certain amount of songs that were a trip as well. Then there happened to be some radio songs, because there were certain people in the ban d and in the organisation that encouraged it.”

By all accounts, Haug’s transition into The Church has been largely seamless, but that doesn’t mean his perspective exactly mirrors that of his fellow band members. In fact, given he’s also a long-time fan of the group, his differing perception became an asset. “I probably heard it in a different way than the other three did. If we’d be playing something and someone would say, ‘Oh, that’s too much like the old Church,’ I was like, ‘That’s why people like you. Come on, let’s just do it.’ I think they were a bit reticent to do stuff like that and I was like, ‘Guys, this is awesome – it just sounds good.’” A national tour now follows the release of Further/Deeper, on which the band will perform the record in its entirety. While many among The Church’s devoted following are likely to approach Haug’s performance

with especial scrutiny, he’s confident that this journey’s only just begun. “I’ve been accepted as part of it and we’re going go and tour around the world next year together, so I’m definitely part of a unit. Hopefully we can do more records. It was definitely artistically inspiring for me and I think for everyone. “It is just music, when it comes down to it,” he adds. “There’s fucking bombs being dropped and Ebola and bad stuff everywhere, so if we can make this beautiful music that lets people have a trip away from all of that, then great. We couldn’t ask for anything more, and it’s great to be part of a band that does that.” What: Further/Deeper out now through Unorthodox/MGM Where: Oxford Art Factory When: Saturday October 25 thebrag.com

The Bennies photo by Rachael Barrett

Ever since The Church’s 1981 debut, Of Skins And Heart, intertwining electric guitars have been a prominent feature of the band’s sound. So for Haug’s entrance to be worthwhile, it was essential he made a creative contribution. Considering The Church’s long history, stately critical standing and avid global following, this could have been a rather intimidating task. But Haug says being invited to bring things to the table made the initiation fairly organic.

with where it was all going. I was put at ease pretty quickly.”

BRAGâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s guide to film, theatre, comedy and art about town

arts in focus

Vince Sorrenti happy days ahead

also inside: xxx

S C U L P T U R E B Y T H E S E A / WAT E R / A R T S N E W S / A R T S G I V E AWAY / R E V I E W S thebrag.com

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arts frontline

free stuff

arts news...what's goin' on around town...with Roger Ma and Tyson Wray

head to: thebrag.com/freeshit

five minutes WITH

ALEX BROUN, WRITER OF NOVEMBER SPAWNED A MONSTER through my darkest moments, when others didn’t make it. I think a number of survivors of those years are like that. Morrissey spoke to us survivors.

ovember Spawned A Monster is a fractured love story inspired by the music of Manchester icons Morrissey and The Smiths. We chatted to playwright Alex Broun about his script. Morrissey and The Smiths spoke to a generation of lonely indie kids – how autobiographical is November Spawned A Monster? Like Morrissey’s songs, it’s very autobiographical, and hopefully that is one of its strengths. It charts a time in my life when I was very raw and stupid, like a character in a Morrissey song, and caused a lot of carnage to myself and others. Looking back on that time, it was Morrissey’s music and lyrics that got me

Morrissey’s lyrics can be equal parts poetic, mysterious and obtuse. How difficult were they to translate to a specific narrative? Exceptionally difficult – and this is important to point out; the show is inspired by Morrissey’s songs and lyrics, and the amazing Felice Vaiani, but the narrative is drawn more from the title song. In a nutshell – that is the show. We feature about ten Morrissey/The Smiths songs in the show, sung live, including some of my personal favourites – ‘Stop Me If You Think You’ve Heard This One Before’, ‘Suedehead’ and ‘Sing Your Life’ (absolute fave) – but the songs are used more by William to explore/ explain how he’s feeling and to comment on the action or characters. It’s also a story of love – what should audiences expect from the play? To have your heart ripped out of your chest, kicked about like a football, trampled in the dirt (literally – wait till you see the set) and then re-inserted, in roughly the same place but feeling quite different. Oh, and with a

BILLY CONNOLLY

Billy Connolly

JUICE RAP NEWS LIVE

The gents behind the art-hop political comedy internet show Juice Rap News have announced a live tour, hitting stages this February and March. Two years ago Juice Rap News made

How closely does this one follow on from your earlier play, Half A Person: My Life As Told By The Smiths? It works both ways – if you saw the original you know the backstory but if you didn’t or don’t, you’ll discover it along the way. It’s the same character but in a completely different set of circumstances. The director, Rob Chuter, sees it more as a companion piece rather than a continuation piece, and that’s pretty accurate. Have you received much feedback from Morrissey or The Smiths fanatics about your work? Some love it – some (who have never seen either of the plays!) abuse me regularly online. I think all Morrissey/The Smiths fans respond to the songs on a very individual basis. The songs are deeply personal and very emotional and they mean something different for everyone. What: November Spawned A Monster Where: Old Fitzroy Theatre When: Tuesday October 28 – Saturday November 15

Hijinks

HIJINKS

Halloween is a night of horror and the supernatural; a night where you can project your deepest fears through interpretive costume design. If you were going to pick somewhere to party this Halloween, why not do it underwater? Sorta. Hijinks, the ongoing series of after-hours art parties thrown by The Festivalists, is calling you to search for the buried treasure at the Hijinks Halloween party this year. There will be a ‘Thriller’ dance-off, workshops on achieving the perfect zombie lurch, numerous pop-up bars and an infinite supply of tunes being supplied by DJ Dem Jeannes. Hijinks will drop anchor at the Sea Life Sydney Aquarium on Thursday October 30 for Halloween, and we have two double passes to give away. To be in the running, head to thebrag.com/freeshit and tell us what most creeps you out about the deep blue sea and why.

The Sound Of Music

Beloved Scotsman Billy Connolly will embark on an 11-city tour of Australia early next year. Originally a folk singer and banjo player in The Humblebums with Gerry Rafferty (later of Baker Street fame), Connolly moved onto comedy and first became a household name in the early ’70s after appearing on Parkinson. Since then, Connolly has spent the past four decades touring the world (first visiting Australia in 1978) and appearing in a plethora of television series and movies, including Lemony Snicket’s A Series Of Unfortunate Events, Gulliver’s Travels (with Jack Black), Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit films and more. He’ll hit the Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House on Friday February 6 and Saturday February 7. Tickets go on sale Thursday October 23.

its debut live performance at Woodford Folk Festival in Queensland, and now they will take over stages in Canberra, Sydney and Melbourne. Juice Rap News will come to Oxford Art Factory on Friday February 27.

GLORY DAYS Mandy McElhinney

few laughs along the way. Like any Smiths/ Morrissey song, really.

The Exclaim Theatre Company is presenting Glory Days, the musical by Nick Blaemire and James Gardiner. Made up of Australian Institute of Music alumni, the Exclaim Theatre Company is putting on Glory Days as its second production, following on from highly successful debut The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee earlier this year. Glory Days is set a year after four young men graduate high school, with the friends reconnecting on their old school’s football field. Glory Days is on at the Tom Mann Theatre in Surry Hills from Friday October 24 – Sunday October 26.

THE HILLS ARE ALIVE

Get ready for a special sing-along at the State Theatre for two nights only next year. 2015 marks the classic musical The Sound Of Music’s 50 years of brightening up homes everywhere, and to celebrate Sydney is coming alive for two very special sing-along screenings of the film. Celebrity host Katrina Retallick will be leading the pre-screening vocal warm-up and more on the night. The 50th Anniversary of The Sound Of Music is on at the State Theatre on Friday February 27 and Saturday February 28.

EYE SPY

With ASIO’s powers being expanded and the threat of terrorism on the very streets we walk, we all want to know just what the hell is going on. Only one man has the answers: David

Callan. Callan returns with new daring tales in the new Sydney show, I Spied. With the mixture of comedy and espionage, this show is bound to be a hoot. It’s on at the Giant Dwarf Theatre from Friday November 14 – Monday November 24. The Worst Kept Secrets

SUNSET CINEMA

Belvoir is putting a modern spin on the classic fairytale, Cinderalla. Matthew Whittet’s reinterpretation is complete with dodgy Chinese food, loneliness, missed phone calls, and a little bit of magic. Aussie favourite Mandy McElhinney takes the lead role as Ashley, a single Sydney woman in her 30s who flees in terror from a blind date to find herself with the reclusive Ash (Matthew Whittet). Cinderella is on at Belvoir St Theatre from Thursday November 13 – Sunday December 7.

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ZHENG GUOGU

Acclaimed Chinese artist Zheng Guogu is coming to Sydney for a free talk. Ahead of Actions For Tomorrow, a major contemporary art project by Yangjiang Group planned for 2015, contemporary Chinese artist Guogu will be appearing at the 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art for an exclusive public ‘in conversation’ talk with Aaron Seeto, director of 4A. Zheng Guogu is appearing on Thursday October 30 at the 4A Centre in Haymarket.

CAN YOU KEEP A SECRET?

The Worst Kept Secrets is a new play written and directed by emerging talent Thomas De Angelis. The production by Bontom sees television veteran Sonia Todd (McLeod’s Daughters, Home And Away) return to the stage alongside her real-life husband Rhett Walton as a feuding, high-profile political couple. The play is on for six performances only. The Worst Kept Secrets is showing at the Seymour Centre’s Reginald Theatre from Tuesday November 18 – Sunday November 22.

thebrag.com

Mandy McElhinney photo by Gary Heely

CINDERELLA

Western Sydney is getting its first-ever outdoor sunset cinema this November. Western Sydney Parklands is set to host the IMB Sunset Cinema, screening a mix of blockbusters and cult classics as well as live music throughout November and December. Opening the season is an exclusive Australian premiere screening of rom-com What If (starring Daniel Radcliffe), and The Voice 2014 finalist Sabrina Batshon will be performing. IMB Sunset Cinema is on at the Lizard Log Amphitheatre in Western Sydney Parklands from Friday November 7 – Saturday December 6.

Vince Sorrenti

Richard Tognetti and Jonny Greenwood

[COMEDY] The Business Of Pleasure By Tegan Jones

ince Sorrenti is one of Australia’s most successful comedians. The king of the corporate circuit, he has made a career out of forgoing traditional public gigs. Fortunately for Sydney, Sorrenti will be temporarily leaving the function room for The Star, where he will be unleashing a new and self-proclaimed hilarious show on the public. “You will laugh your clothes off,” the comedian says jovially. “There will be naked, sweaty people everywhere in fits of hilarity.” He sighs, “I’m just too funny. People often say to me after shows that they just cannot believe how funny I am.”

Water [CLASSICAL] Jonny Greenwood Goes Orchestral By Adam Norris

t age 25, Richard Tognetti was appointed artistic director and lead violinist for the Australian Chamber Orchestra. His career since then has seen many great shifts in the ACO – and within Australian classical music in general – and now with the arrival of Jonny Greenwood’s Water we may see a whole new shift again, as fans of the Radiohead guitarist find themselves ear-to-ear with Beethoven. For Tognetti, it’s a matter of education.

“If you’re just listening to the most contemporary, popular music, you’re just eating nothing but white bread. I mean, you can’t shove this kind of music down people’s throats, but you’re denying yourself the entire history of human artistic endeavour. You’re denying yourself entire other cultures. And that makes an interesting angle with Jonny Greenwood, where he’s part of one of the most exciting, popular bands, but he’s plugged into a very important and serious heritage that I would suggest should not be ignored.” While Greenwood may not be the first name that springs to mind when you think of the ACO, you needn’t look far to find his interests in the genre. His cinema scoring has been applauded around the world, and

In addition to his remarkable ascent in the ACO, Tognetti was also declared a National Living Treasure in 1989. He’s now been artistic director for 25 years, and when asked if he has plans for another quarter-century in the company, he chuckles.

One advantage of public gigs is that Sorrenti is afforded a kind of freedom that he isn’t usually at liberty to exercise. “There won’t be any specific theme like when you’re entertaining a corporate crowd,” he says. “For example, I’m hosting a finance conference tonight so I’ll need to be talking about sport, burgers or whatever is happening in society. But when I do a public gig, people will be hearing what I want to talk about, which could be anything.” Despite being free to explore a range of different material in his upcoming show, Sorrenti does admit there are a great deal of positive aspects to his usual corporate shows.

He also explains why the corporate arena is often a more attractive option for comedians such as himself. “Sometimes when you do your own shtick year after year, you kind of disappear up your own arse,” he says. “It’s incredibly self-indulgent, and people have to come along and cop you for whatever reason. They have to go along on your ride and either love it or leave it.” Sorrenti reveals that his love of structure and restrictions in the creative process quite possibly comes from his educational background. “I’m a graduate of architecture, which has actually been a real breeding ground for performers and people in the arts. In a way, it’s one of the only creative practical things you can do at uni.” After chatting more about architecture, the conversation returns to the idea of structured comedy. Being a literature nerd, I comment on how Sorrenti’s work ethic reminds me of Oulipo, the French practice of using constrained writing techniques to foster inspiration. “That’s where real creativity comes from – you have to be given some constraints. The hardest thing in the world of design would be a chair, because there are just so many ways of sitting on your backside,” he laughs. What: Rock With Laughter With: Mikey Robins, Dave Bloustein, Mick Meredith Where: Rock Lily, The Star When: Thursday October 30

“This has been a long, arduous trip, and I’m still not certain I was all that worthy of such an accolade. But all of these many years later, I am reminded of that old adage, that humbling reminder that you are only as good as your last performance. You can’t prophesise these things, but it’s taken a long, long time to achieve certain goals with this orchestra. And I feel at last that we’re scoring important goals, and that there are certain things that I know are going to take ten years to fulfil with the ACO. It will take a while. But I feel we’ll get there.” What: Water as part of the ACO’s Tognetti’s Beethoven Where: Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House When: Sunday November 2 and Monday November 3

Vince Sorrenti

Sculpture By The Sea [VISUAL ART] Walking Tall By Tegan Jones

or over 15 years, Sculpture By The Sea has transformed the iconic Bondi to Tamarama coastal walk into a stunning outdoor sculpture exhibition. This year it promises to be quite literally bigger and better than ever, featuring over a hundred stunning works by both established and emerging artists from Australia and overseas. Sculpture By The Sea may grace the Sydney coastline, but according to founding director David Handley, its inspiration came from far-flung North Bohemia. “I lived in Prague from 1993 to 1995 and I went with some of my Czech friends to a sculpture park in Klatovy,” says Handley. “It was there that I got the drama and theatricality of sculpture one night when we were playing a game that was a bit like Theatresports meets hide and seek. I just suddenly understood what sculpture was about and I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be wonderful to bring something like this to the coast of Australia?’” One of the best parts of the exhibition is that anyone can attend, regardless of budget. “I just thought that the world needed more free things,” Handley explains. “I really wanted to put on a major public event where anyone could turn up and enjoy the exhibition without having to spend a single cent.”

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“I thought that this was a very special way that we could contribute to people who are blind or visually impaired,” says the director. “It’s an aspect of the show that I would like to expand upon considerably. We don’t have the funds to do that at the level that we would like to. What we do with this and our Disabled Access Program is actually at a financial loss to our organisation, but it’s very important for us.” Unfortunately, this is an often-heard story when it comes to arts programs. Despite the fact that Sculpture By The Sea offers so much to both the general public and the Australian arts community, it can be a struggle to pull together. As Handley explains, “Sadly, in the last fortnight we’ve had three of our major sponsorship and philanthropic opportunities fall over. As we go into this year’s exhibition we’re not quite where we would like to be financially, which is always an added stress and burden.” Regardless of the challenges, Handley and his team are incredibly excited about this year’s program, which promises to be huge in terms of both the quantity of pieces, as well as the sheer size of some of them.

Michael Snape’s Breach at Sculpture By The Sea 2013 “There are a number of ginormous installations. Cave Urban’s work Save Our Souls is a 12-and-a-half-metre-high bamboo lighthouse on the sandstone lookout at the end of Marks Park. Then in the middle of the park Stephen King has an 11-metre-high tower called Folly. “On Tamarama Beach we have an installation by Alejandro Propato called Permanent Sunrise which is six kilometres of coloured

nylon fishing line to create the sense of vibrant colour. Then there’s a giant 15-[metre]diameter frying pan in which, if you want to bake and get melanoma, you can lie in the middle of.” What: Sculpture By The Sea 2014 When: Thursday October 23 – Sunday November 9 Where: Bondi to Tamarama coastal walk BRAG :: 585 :: 22:10:14 :: 21

xxx

This isn’t the only way in which Sculpture By The Sea gives back. In addition to grants and cash

prizes that the artists themselves are awarded, public programs are put in place to ensure that as many people as possible can enjoy the show. One of the most important of these is the Tactile Tours for the visually impaired.

Sculpture By The Sea photo by Clyde Yee

Water photo by Lisa Tomasetti

“We don’t have great music education in schools in Australia,” he tells me from somewhere in Slovenia. While he is invested in the conversation, he cannot help but stifle yawns throughout; a testament not to his disinterest, but to the gruelling schedule the production has undertaken already. “You don’t get to thoroughly learn an instrument there, and the exposure isn’t necessarily always present. The problem with defining classical music as such is that it doesn’t consider the timeline. Even discussing rock’n’roll, that’s just shorthand for popular music of the last 50 years. But the music that people define as ‘classical’ is music that goes back 500 years, and to deny yourself that history is an unfortunate thing.

his soundtrack for There Will Be Blood is a thing of grim beauty. Odd as it may seem for audiences to find their first exposure to classical scores through film – that is, through another medium entirely – Tognetti is happy regardless of how people find their way into this world. “I’m absolutely fine with it,” he laughs. “It doesn’t matter what the portal is. If you come to the concert hall because you’ve heard a bit of Radiohead, or you go to the cinema and find yourself blown away, as I was, by the music, it activates a curiosity to continue that line of listening. From there you’ll hopefully find yourself in a concert hall where the experience is completely different again. So, it’s an absolutely valid and interesting portal into the world of fine arts.”

Jokes and faux self-congratulation aside, the praise that Sorrenti has described in jest isn’t that far from the truth. “I’m a victim of my own success in a way,” he confesses. “Because I work so much on the corporate circuit and it’s so profitable and expansive, I hardly do any public gigs anymore. I’m rarely in clubs, theatres or casinos. I get feedback on the website all the time with people asking, ‘When can we see you?’I toured for years on end but I’ve found my niche now and I love working within it, but it is a shame.”

“Sometimes having too much freedom kills you. What I do is more like applied comedy. I’m given some parameters and I have to be funny within them.”

Film & Comedy Reviews Hits and misses on the silver screen and bareboards around town

■ Comedy

Jim Gaffigan

JIM GAFFIGAN

Force Majeure

Reviewed at the Playhouse, Sydney Opera House on Wednesday October 15, during Just For Laughs Sydney

For the entrée, the crowd is warmed up nicely by local-via-New-York comic, James Smith. Smith is a great choice to open, as his laidback annoyance at his own generation brings solid laughs to the already excited room. Now it’s time for the main course. Enter Jim Gaffigan: the everyman. The shlub. The comedy nerd hero. And in this case, the rock star.

Every touring act does the obligatory Australian references to open the show,

but Gaffigan’s takedown of Sydney’s counterproductive bar lockout law is by far the funniest and most insightful local reference gag I’ve ever seen. If you’ve never had a taste, Gaffigan’s setlist might look uninspired on paper. But like a good meal, it’s all in the presentation. Offhanded jokes about his weight become an absurdist museum tour of self-loathing, and an extended riff on fish is packed with so many jokes, twists, turns of phrase and asides that the audience is laughing as much at the material as they are at the shock that he’s getting so much mileage from the topic. And that’s what any Gaffigan connoisseur knows and loves about the guy; he takes a seemingly ordinary subject, and turns it into an absurdity. It’s this unique observational brain that has made him one of the most successful and respected comics in the business today. And for dessert? Hot Pockets, of course. Cameron James

■ Film

Hector And The Search For Happiness

HECTOR AND THE SEARCH FOR HAPPINESS In cinemas Thursday October 23 Hector (Simon Pegg) is a quirky London psychiatrist who has become increasingly dissatisfied with the monotonous routine of his life. Realising his own frustration is stopping him from helping his patients, he decides to set off on a round-the-world trip to find out what makes people everywhere happy (and sad), and whether there is such a thing as the secret of true happiness. As in the successful 2010 novel by Francois Lelord on which this film is based, Hector’s journey centers on the lessons he learns throughout his travels as recorded in his diary – for example, lesson number one: making comparisons can spoil your happiness. While in written form these lessons are earnest and thoughtful, their genuine nature fails to translate to the screen. As is the case with many book adaptations, the set-up required for an authentic narrative is completely rushed, which in this instance makes Hector’s lessons feel forced and insincere. What makes this film even more disappointing is the very capable cast. Rosamund Pike (Jack Reacher, The World’s End), Toni Collette (Little Miss Sunshine, Enough Said), Stellan

■ Film

FORCE MAJEURE In cinemas now Indisputably this year’s best and most painful comedy, Force Majeure plays like an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm filtered through the icy aesthetic sensibility of Michael Haneke, whose films could frankly benefit from the puckish sense of humour that Swedish writer/director Ruben Östlund displays here. Taking place at a Swiss ski resort, Östlund’s film uses an avalanche as both catalyst and metaphor for a rift that billows into a full-blown marital crisis, as Tomas (Johannes Kuhnke) flees on instinct from his wife Ebba (Lisa Loven Kongsli) and two children as a (soon revealed to be) harmless cascade of snow approaches them.

For a while, this act of cowardice goes unremarked upon, and a period of silence following the incident (as well as a scene in which the two laugh together at nothing in particular), suggests Tomas’ tacit acknowledgement of his cowardice and Ebba’s forgiveness of it. This is, of course, until both start talking about it in the company of two other couples, and it’s revealed that Tomas is in deep denial about his actions, threatening to uproot their marriage’s foundation of mutual trust. Force Majeure finds an endless source of cringey hilarity in its portrayal of masculinity as performance, but what makes the film so unnerving is its depiction of the extent to which any relationship is built on space for mutual projection – ignorance is bliss, after all – and susceptible to collapse from even the slightest spot

on the blank canvas (this psychological space finds an effective correlative in the resort’s blinding white, omnipresent snow). Östlund’s metaphors aren’t terribly subtle – in addition to that avalanche, there’s a child’s remote control toy plane that keeps veering off course – but his deployment of them is always self-effacingly funny, and his keen compositional eye complements the incisiveness of his observations on human behaviour. Capped off by a perfect provocation of an ending, designed to send you from the theatre in an anxious daze, it’s a film that could easily follow through on Östlund’s own facetious suggestion that he made the film to heighten society’s divorce rates. Ian Barr

Skarsgard (Nymphomaniac, The Railway Man), and Christopher Plummer (Beginners, The Insider) can do very little to bring their unsympathetic and unrealistic characters to life, resulting in over-the-top acting of this lacklustre screenplay. But it’s Pegg who’s the main let-down. Once again he’s fallen into the ‘feel-good film’ trap (as with Run, Fatboy, Run and How To Lose Friends & Alienate People) and chosen a screenplay that fails to highlight the wit and subtlety of which he’s capable. With its exotic locations and journeyman narrative, it’s clear to see what co-writer/ director Peter Chelsom (whose credits include Hannah Montana: The Movie – yikes!) was trying to achieve with this film. However, the end result is nothing more than a poor man’s version of The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty – which, let’s face it, was the poor man’s version of Forrest Gump. Lee Hutchison

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Arts Exposed What's in our diary...

Cirque Du Soleil: Totem The Showring, Entertainment Quarter, Tuesday October 28 – Sunday January 4 Cirque Du Soleil is back in town with Totem, a spectacular exploration of the evolution of the human species. The show begins as the species wanders the land and seas in its amphibian state, before moving through history and achieving its desire to fly. Some 45 performers take the stage in a dizzying exposition of acrobatics, wonder and desire. Tickets are on sale now; head to cirquedusoleil.com for bookings and more info.

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Xxxx

From the get-go, the audience is hungry for anything he says. And he wastes no time in delivering. Gaffigan serves a tightly written menu of anecdotes. Jokes fly by every few seconds, tossed out with his trademark conversational delivery – equal parts bewildered and tired. Gaffigan is a rare act in that he appeals to the alternative crowd and mainstream audiences. His bizarre perspective and character voices feel as at home in the Opera House as they would in a stadium, or a small club. He would be funny anywhere, for any crowd.

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Jim Gaffigan is an essential comedian. He is essential viewing, and he writes about the essentials of life. Family. Love. TV. And, most prominently, food.

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

LL WINE AND DINE

Every Sunday is a good Sunday, thanks to the $30 All You Can Eat Yum Cha deal at LL Wine And Dine in Potts Point. For the price, you can feast on yum cha favourites and LL signature dishes like handcrafted dumplings, rice paper rolls, spring rolls, BBQ pork buns, kumara wedges, spicy kong bau chicken and more. The deal runs from 11am-4pm, alongside a Sunday drinks menu featuring $25 cocktail jugs and $10 bloody Marys. Live sounds kick off 1pm. And don’t forget the latest spring menu running every day at LL, where you can score crispy almond king prawns tossed with chilli, garlic and shallots; king salmon crudo with wasabi balsamic vinaigrette, fried capers and creamy garlic sauce; and heaps of other selections.

Watsons Bay Hotel

DISARONNO TERRACE MANLY’S DANIEL SAN LL Wine And Dine

ASAHI POP-UP BAR

Australia’s Japanese beer brand of choice, Asahi, is opening a pop-up bar in the Sydney CBD for summer. It’s called the Asahi Super Dry Extra Cold Bar, and comes our way after successful stints in Japan and Korea. The bar will open at 37 Bligh Street from Friday October 24 – Friday January 23. Expect to taste Asahi at the perfect negative two degrees Celsius, alongside a menu of bar snacks.

AROUND THE WORLD IN SEVEN WINES Zigi’s Art Wine Cheese Bar, located in Chippendale and run by Zigi Ozeri himself, is hosting a wine tasting and dinner this Saturday October 25.

There’ll be seven wines from around the world – France, Italy, Spain, Austria, Germany, Australia and New Zealand – matched with culinary creations by Zigi. Call 9699 4222 to book.

CHIP N’ TUNES

The Chip Off The Old Block, located in the back streets of Chippendale (where else), has prepared a summer program full of good drops and musical talent. Each Saturday, the venue is doing Brit-style summer cocktail specials – Pimms Cup, Tea Thyme, Piccadilly Caipiroska and more – with a soundtrack by local emerging musicians. The Chip opens its doors every Tuesday through Saturday.

The Island

Every suburb needs a good Japanese rock’n’roll bar, and now Manly has a fresh venue to call its own: Daniel San. It’s an outright homage to The Karate Kid, located on the stunning beachfront, and executive chef Benjamin Orpwood (ex Toko) has crafted the ideal menu for chowing down over the warmer months. Expect tunes pumping out of the stereo from INXS, Queen, Steve Aoki or Flume, and Japanese foody bits like crunchy tuna and salmon tar-tacos, sashimi, steamed buns with soft shell crab and kimchi mayo, and much more. There’s also a sake bar serving premium Japanese drops alongside beers, cocktails, wine and spirits. Daniel San is located under the Novotel, looking out to the beach.

Va bene. Disaronno, the world-famous Italian liqueur, opened its Disaronno Terrace at the Watsons Bay Hotel over the weekend. The new bar brings Australia into the fold of Disaronno venues around the world, from Italy to the UK, Germany, Spain, the US and more. It’s located on the hotel’s top deck, with an unbeatable view over Watsons Bay and the Sydney skyline. Check out the Italian treats, live music, DJs, and of course some classic Disaronno sour cocktails. The terrace is open from 2-7pm each Sunday from October 26 – November 30.

THE ISLAND

THE NEW GAZEBO

Sydney’s own floating beach club on the harbour, The Island, is getting into the full swing of its summer program – so expect not only great party times in the sun, but five-star service of drinks, food and good vibes. Following 2014/15 renovations, this summer is The Island’s fifth full season providing a party oasis on the world’s finest harbour, melding European beach club culture with great service and that iconic location. Book a ticket and you’ll be taken to the venue on a private 48-seat water taxi. Co-owners Adam Abrams and Julian Tobias, from hospitality company The Group, have also recently acquired a 95-foot motor yacht called The Boat, catering to local and international guests looking for something a little extra special. Tickets to The Island usually sell out a week or two before the event date, so check out theislandsydney.com.au, where you’ll find out more about their other events and private bookings.

BRUCE LEAVES 96 GLENAYR AVE, NORTH BONDI / 85-91 O’RIORDAN ST, ALEXANDRIA BONDI 11AM-8PM DAILY (CLOSED TUESDAY) / ALEXANDRIA 10:30AM3:30PM MONDAY-FRIDAY. It’s called: Bruce Leaves Who’s the cook/bartender? Johnny Mulligan, one of the partners, is Rockpooltrained and was known as the master sauce guy. He may have just become the salad dressing guru of our time! Eye candy: My other partner in the business, Liam Constantine, is the chief interior design guy; we did The Canteen at Bondi together too. Flavours: Salads, salads and more salads; salads you never thought possible. Prepare to have all pre-conceived ideas of a salad thrown out the window – oh, and we do one hell of a mean banh mi roll, too. Something to start with: You should pretty much start with a salad – maybe start with something like the kung fu chicken to get a feel of the place; it has the world’s softest, most tender chicken pieces mixed with Asian herbs and leaves, avocado, cherry tomatoes, green tea-infused soba noodles, edamame

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The landmark Elizabeth Bay venue Gazebo has had a revamp and is open now, following renovations that give tribute to the ’60s era in which the building was originally constructed. The new dining room is decorated with wooden fixtures and leather books, while a large courtyard bar is serving the specialty Chilcano de Pisco cocktail on tap. Head chef Jason Dean is making full use of a wood-fired oven, with smoky contemporary dishes and share plates, while live entertainment is also on the cards.

restaurant profile beans, Spanish onion, cucumber, mint and coriander. Be warned, the salads are huge! The main course: It’s hard to pick a favourite – the pork and spinach dumpling salad or the grilled haloumi with roasted pistachios and watermelon, or the Mexican-style chicken one really stand out. Some prefer the lamb or the Korean beef salad, but you should definitely give the salmon sashimi salad with the wasabi peas a go; it’s out of this world. Room for dessert? We have some raw balls (that’s what she said...) and some raw slices and stuff that both the purist and the sweet tooth seem to really like.

front of you. You can’t help but smile while you’re eating them, and you don’t feel like a slob after you’ve finished a big bowl. They’re actually really good for hangovers too! The bill comes to: The salads start at $13.50 and the most expensive, the salmon sashimi, is still only $17.50. Hardly makes a dent in the piggy bank. Location: We have one in Bondi on the corner of Glenayr and Warners, and one in Alexandria, in the little lane on the side of the Officeworks in O’Riordan Street. Website: bruceleaves.com.au

Care for a drink? We have a really good superfood smoothie range – they’re delicious – plus some fresh juices and activated waters. Make us drool: The ladies really love this place, cause it’s everything fresh and crisp and good for you, but just tasting better than ever before, and guys are starting to figure out that the salads are not only massive but so full of flavour, and for the real manly/hearty eater there’s still enough chicken or lamb or whatever packed in there to keep them more than happy. The salad dressings really set off all the amazing fresh food and new kind of food combinations that are in the bowl in

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Album Reviews

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

ALBUM OF THE WEEK BEN HOWARD

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I Forget Where We Were Island/Universal

It’s anyone’s guess as to exactly how he has done it, but London-based southpaw singer-songwriter Ben Howard has found himself the antidote to second album syndrome.

Three Xxxx years after his debut, Ben Howard has written one of 2014’s best albums.

Perhaps it’s the three-year gap separating this album and his debut effort, Every Kingdom, leaving him just enough space to develop and grow as a performer. Maybe it’s got something to do with his Dylan-esque shift to the electric guitar after humble beginnings as an acoustic troubadour. Whatever the context,

the most important factor of I Forget Where We Were is its execution. It’s a rarity in that, despite all but three tracks going over five minutes, it justifies its length and drawn-out progressions. Guitars shimmer, whisper and occasionally moan beneath stark confessions and achingly honest lyrics. It’s at once sombre, morose and desperate, yet laced with hope and a light shining distantly at the end. In other words, I Forget Where We Were is an immersing, breathtaking listening experience. It’s not only the single best thing Howard has put his name to thus far, it’s one of the most formidable contenders for the title of the year’s best album, without regard for nationality or genre. A completely unexpected triumph. David James Young

LANIE LANE

DAVEY LANE

DONNY BENET

HUSKY

C.W. STONEKING

From the first line of ‘Salute’ it’s clear Lanie Lane has veered from the straight-up blues and country pop-infused material of her previous releases into more alternative territory. Her voice is smoother and steadier than on earlier songs, alternately honeyed and silken.

Davey Lane has been honing his knack for crafting rough pop gems for a decade or so, whether in his own outfit The Pictures or with You Am I. Lane has never shied away from his musical taste – after all, he was the 18-year-old kid handplucked by You Am I after tabbing out their guitar parts and posting them online – and Atonally Young definitely wears its influences proudly.

On his third LP, Sydney’s discofunk king Donny Benet takes six guest vocalists back to a time before the invasion of smartphones and Facebook. Working with an extended cast of guests, what could’ve been a disjointed record is streamlined by Donny’s disco beam.

Usually the news that a band is chasing a ‘bigger sound’ on its second album is a cause for concern, but not in this case. Ruckers Hill, the follow-up to Husky’s 2012 debut Forever So, is an organic expansion of the band’s dreamy folk-rock and a welcome progression from its sometimes sparse arrangements.

It’s taken six years and a shiny gold Fender Jazzmaster, but C.W. Stoneking has gone electric, and I’ll be damned if he doesn’t carry it out with aplomb. Is there anything the man can’t do? Tongue-incheek humour? Check. Dust-blown troubadour sensibility? Check. Legitimately pull off wearing a cardigan? Check. Authenticity and commitment to the sound carried through the entire process for Gon’ Boogaloo: the songs were recorded directly to tape and mixed live.

Night Shade Ivy League

Night Shade has a melodic discordance that echoes Feist’s Metals, especially evident on tracks like ‘The Phantom’ with its deep horns, as well as the mournful guitar and gently layered vocals of ‘I See You’. Lead single ‘Celeste’, which sounded unusual on its own, is strengthened when surrounded by the other songs on the album. ‘You Show Me How I Should Like It’ is sultry and smooth, a contrast to jangly Western ballad ‘No Sound’. Lingering last track ‘Mother’ meanders into a hidden track for ten-and-a-half minutes. In fact, most of the songs are fairly long but they don’t feel drawn out, rather leisurely and gradually involving. While not immediately gripping, Night Shade, with its wistful warmth, poetic tales and gentle maturity, makes for an intoxicating slow burn. Natalie Amat

Atonally Young Field Recordings/MGM

Psychedelic opener ‘Komarov’ sets the tone by melding lush layering with heady riffs and appropriately spacey vocals. ‘She’s A Timebomb’ harpers back to The Pictures’ days of scruffy garage rock, amped up with a proggy breakdown and naff jabs of synthesiser. Clean-cut postpunk guitar cuts through the disco vibes of ‘Witch In My Mind’, while the moody ‘The Undergrowth’ feels like wading through fog. The brazen ‘The Last Of The Freakazoids’ is campy and glam, and the knowingly bratty ‘Smash Yer Head In’ is the scrappy missing track from Graham Coxon’s Love Travels At Illegal Speeds, coupled with a sweet chorus and a loopy descent. Branching out on his own, Atonally Young is exactly the album you want and expect Lane to make, full of excellently executed hooks underpinning big tunes and Nuggets-y headspins. Chiara Grassia

Weekend At Donny’s Rice Is Nice/Inertia

Some tracks just sound like Donny Benet plus a different voice (namely, those featuring Spod and Geoffrey O’Connor), others bear striking semblance to the featured guest’s regular gig (the Isabella Manfredi-helmed ‘Endless’ would fit The Preatures’ new record). Then there are instances where the two personalities beget a unique chemical compound (namely, the tracks with Jack Ladder and Kirin J Callinan). While the disco extroversion never subsides, it’s hard to picture Benet pulling off the sci-fi dance number ‘Sex Tourist’ on his own. Sung in Benet’s breezy register, the account of failing to find sex overseas could feel like light amusement. With Ladder’s earnest baritone, however, lines like “I gave you all my money, all I got was Thai pad prik” gather disturbing pathos. Like sneaking a sip from an unattended cosmopolitan, Weekend At Donny’s is a delicious guilty pleasure, which sufficiently obscures your worries… for the moment at least. Augustus Welby

INDIE ALBUM OF THE WEEK

BORED NOTHING Some Songs Spunk

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There is something strangely satisfying about hearing swear words over sweet guitar strums. It feels like rebellion, but you can kick back and relax instead of head-banging. Bored Nothing (AKA Fergus Miller) has mastered the art of lazy frustration, and he plays some very pretty melodies too.

Dancing With All Those Guys?’ echoes a lo-fi Elliott Smith.

Since Bored Nothing’s self-titled debut in 2012 (on which Miller played every instrument), he has developed his shoegaze stoner sound into something less insular but more absorbing. It’s still got his signature lazy guitar strums and introverted lyrics, but with more variety. Take ‘Not’ as an example of Miller’s mastery of intricate guitar melodies, while ‘Why Were You

It could be argued that with his prodigious talent, Miller doesn’t push his boundaries hard enough on this album. Still, Some Songs is the perfect escape for those dreary days when you feel like throwing something out the window, but can’t quite be bothered.

It would have been very easy for this album to fold under the weight of the existential angst from its helpless protagonist. But tracks like ‘Ice-Cream Dreams’ bring it back to lighter territory with upbeat drum kicks and quiet rock riffs.

Ruckers Hill Liberation

This progression is signalled from the very start, as the title track gradually grows from fragile and simple to rollicking and urgent. Singles ‘Saint Joan’ and ‘I’m Not Coming Back’ continue this theme, as the more prominent instrumentation blend beautifully with frontman Husky Gawenda’s delicate, honest vocals. Where Forever So positioned Gawenda’s voice front and centre as the strength of the band, here his vocals benefit from a fuller sound and more room to move, floating in and out as suits the track. It gives new depth to not only the singles, but deeper cuts like ‘Fats Domino’ and ‘Gold In Her Pockets’. At 13 tracks and nearly 50 minutes long, Ruckers Hill could benefit from cutting a couple of songs, particularly when there’s so little variation in style across the album.

Gon’ Boogaloo King Hokum/Caroline

From the spoken-sung intro of ‘How Long’ to the instructional “new dance” of ‘The Zombie’ – a kind of ‘Monster Mash’ for the modern age – it’s clear King Hokum is back and as fascinating as ever. ‘Get On The Floor’ is an absolute banger, playing into the mournfully offbeat ‘The Thing I Done’. The dancehall jive of ‘Good Luck Charm’ is twinkling fun, but ‘I’m The Jungle Man’ is a rare flat moment that just doesn’t quite stick amidst an otherwise rock-solid record. He’s soon back to artful storyteller though, spinning tales with ‘On A Desert Isle’, while ‘We Gon’ Boogaloo’ plays out the album with jangly rhythm.

But it’s a minor quibble for an assured second effort that feels like a glimpse into some secluded corner of nature; an excellent soundtrack for a lazy summer.

Stoneking is a master of the blues and Gon’ Boogaloo is a step forward in both sound and story. The legend of C.W. Stoneking continues to entertain and delight.

Keiron Costello

Natalie Amat

OFFICE MIXTAPE And here are the albums that have helped BRAG HQ get through the week... APHEX TWIN - Syro JOHN LENNON - Imagine SUUNS - Images Du Futur

THE VERVE - Urban Hymns THE HIVES - Lex Hives

Emily Meller thebrag.com

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stormcellar

PICS :: KC

up all night out all week . . .

the cat empire

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18:10:14 :: Shady Pines Saloon :: 4/256 Crown St Darlinghurst shadypinessaloon.com

19:10:14 :: Frankieâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Pizza :: 50 Hunter St Sydney thebrag.com

PICS :: AM

sabbath sessions

torche

PICS :: AM

18:10:14 :: The Hordern Pavilion:: 1 Driver Ave, Moore Park 9921 5333

19:10:14 :: Oxford Art Factory :: 38-46 Oxford St Darlinghurst 9332 3711 OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER

S :: JAMES AMBROSE :: KATRINA

CLARKE :: ASHLEY MAR ::

BRAG :: 585 :: 22:10:14 :: 25

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live review

up all night out all week . . .

What we've been out to see...

THE WHITLAMS, GOGARTY, TIM WHEATLEY Metro Theatre Saturday October 18

“All hat and no cattle” is a phrase from the American South used for those who talk the talk, but can’t walk the walk. It immediately sprung to mind when it came to Melbourne’s Tim Wheatley. It felt as though he put more effort into his inner-city boho-chic look than anything to do with his actual performance. Not only did his songs sleep on substance and technique, but at times it sounded as though Wheatley himself was going to fall asleep while singing them. Much like his harmonica technique, Wheatley managed to suck and blow at the same time.

the tea party

Perhaps the show’s greatest strength, however, came in the form of left-field surprises. The four-song bracket that opens the band’s debut, Introducing, was wheeled out for the first time in God knows how long, lighting up eyes of devotees. Elsewhere, a faithful take on Harry Nilsson’s ‘Everybody’s Talkin’’ was an unexpected highlight, performed purely on the basis Freedman “used to hear it on the radio all the time”. Why not? Sending us off with an all-in ‘You Sound Like Louis Burdett’ and a bouncy ‘I Will Not Go Quietly (Duffy’s Song)’, The Whitlams made a pleasant and welcome return. Such fun to have around. David James Young

PICS :: AM

Gogarty are an intriguing prospect. The songwriting vehicle of the eponymous Kate, they are clearly going for a light, fluttery take on indie-pop recalling Frente!, Art Of Fighting and Rebecca’s Empire. That is, of course, until you make it to the other end of the stage. Ed Rodrigues is the living, breathing embodiment of that YouTube clip ‘This Drummer Is At The Wrong Gig’. With impeccable fills and lightning-quick patterns, it wasn’t long before you were watching him for whole songs at a time.

There was a warm sense of familiarity as soon as The Whitlams locked into the groove of opener ‘Fall For You’. The majority of tonight’s songs have long circulated in the ether of Australian music, and were recognisable from the opening chord. Tim Freedman often couldn’t be heard over the audience singing back to him, turning out old favourites ranging from the still-pertinent ‘Blow Up The Pokies’ and two-thirds of the beloved ‘Charlie’ trilogy. That’s not even mentioning that it wouldn’t be a Whitlams show without the entire crowd bellowing “MORE SAUCE!” during a particularly loose ‘I Make Hamburgers’.

PICS :: KC

oka

miley cyrus

18:10:14 :: Paddington Uniting Church Hall :: 395 Oxford St, Paddington 9331 2646 26 :: BRAG :: 585 :: 22:10:14

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15:10:14 :: Enmore Theatre :: 118 -132 Enmore Rd Newtown 9550 3666

17:10:14 :: Allphones Arena :: Sydney Olympic Park 8765 4321 OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER

S :: JAMES AMBROSE :: KATRINA

CLARKE :: ASHLEY MAR ::

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Sure, it might be an imported American tradition, but Halloween in Sydney has turned into a party like no other. Plenty of venues are getting into the spooky spirit this year so you can do likewise. We’ve picked out a few highlights – all you need to do now is choose a costume...

Venue Name: Australian Museum What to see and do: Long on the forefront of Sydney’s afterhours culture scene, Jurassic Lounge went extinct with a bang a year ago. Or so we thought. The award-winning party returns for one night only to celebrate Day of the Dead. More than an alternative to Halloween, it’s a unique opportunity to learn about the culture and traditions behind this colourful Mexican celebration. Taking over the entire Museum, the event will feature a crowdsourced traditional Ofrenda by Mexican artist Sergio Plata, body painting, mariachi tunes by Hector Patricio & Fiesta Viva and a Day of the Dead photo exhibition by Mexican photographer Roberto Duran. Experience chocolate skulls at the arts and craft market, crafts workshops including papel picado and piñatas, traditional Mexican dance lessons, body painting as well as Jurassic Lounge favourites such as Silent Disco and Date Roulette. Tickets also include free entry to Aztecs, a new exhibition telling the rich and brutal story of the birth of modern Mexico. For our ears: Taking over the decks in the Silent Disco is Wildflower, getting you down to some funky classics and uplifting party grooves… in total silence. Known for her soulful deep disco and tech house, Kate Woolley will broadcast her eclectic tastes and infectious enthusiasm for good music through our wireless headsets and straight into your brain! The fuel: Mexican cantina by Guzman Y Gomez and a wellstocked bar with brews from Manly’s 4 Pines. The crowd: Strictly 18+ What’s the highlight: Lady of the Dead performances by Pickled Tink and 2014 Miss Burlesque NSW winner Memphis Mae. Cost: $16 Where: Australian Museum, 6 College Street, Sydney When: Saturday November 1, 6:30-9:30pm Website: jurassiclounge.com

Venue Name: Frankie’s Pizza By The Slice What to see and do: Frankie’s will be closing for one day only, reopening as Frankenstein’s Pizza By The Slice. Frankenstein’s will offer the same unbeatable vibe y’all know and love but will refuse entry to anyone hoping to enter with any prerogative other than to have an ungodly good time. For our ears: Sumeru – electrifying doom metal, these guys are engaging, all powerful and cool as fuck. Dave Eastgate’s Boner Contention – splicing live comedy and high voltage rock’n’roll. Frankenstein’s World Famous House Band – virtuosic musicianship and blindingly upbeat renditions of hard rock classics. DJ Goggles – the vinyl wizard. The fuel: Brand-new horror-themed menu available this one day only. Indulge in appetizing pies such as the Hammer Smashed Hawaiian, Sea Beast or the delicious Kill Fuck Repeat. Our renowned selection of outer-worldly craft beer and spirits will of course be flowing freely also. The crowd: Frankie’s ain’t no family affair. We’re a demographic-defying venue; every night’s swarming with suits, strippers, metalheads, nerds. The fucking works. Testament to the unifying power of pizza and rock’n’roll. Last year almost every single person in our 400-cap venue was in costume, this year the worst dressed wins. What’s the highlight: The countdown to midnight. By the stroke of midnight, the gateway to Hell will open and Frankenstein’s World Famous House Band will emerge to party like it’s 666. Cost: Free entry. Pizza $5 by the slice and full pies from $16. Tap, bottle and can beer from $5 to $120. Where: 50 Hunter Street, Sydney When: Thursday October 30, 6pm-3am Website: frankiespizzabytheslice.com

Venue Name: Sea Life Sydney Aquarium What to see and do: Sydney’s only underwater Halloween party takes over Sydney Aquarium for one wild evening. Against a backdrop of sharks, stingrays and dugongs, revellers will journey from one pop-up bar to the next, interacting along the way with magicians, performers and improv artists. The evening will feature a Frankenstein makeover crafts workshop, Thriller dance-offs, insta-wound face painting, a zombie lurch tutorial, underwater bingo, a haunted photo booth and spooky surprises aplenty. No word yet on what the resident penguins will be wearing (our money’s on mini tuxedos), but dressing up is definitely encouraged. For our ears: DJs Dem Jeannes, AKA sisters Ziggy and Leesh, who promise to be a little bit gangster, playing some classic ’90s tunes, some super-catchy new stuff and something a little Halloween-inspired. In other words, lots to love and get jiggy with. The fuel: Complimentary SKYY Vodka cocktail or Little Creatures beer on arrival, then a variety of drinks and delicious hot food at one of our four pop-up bars. The crowd: Strictly 18+. Hijinks is a chance for locals to reclaim the Aquarium from tourists and families for one night only. What’s the highlight: Drinking a vodka cocktail with grey nurse sharks! Cost: $25, includes complimentary drink. Where: Sea Life Sydney Aquarium, Darling Harbour When: Thursday October 30, 6:30-9:30pm Website: hijinkssydney.com

Venue Name: Pacific Penthouse Venue Name: Newtown Hotel What to see and do: We have Melbourne indie rockers Kingswood playing live, supported by local legend singersongwriter Andy Golledge. Kingswood played Splendour this year and are just winding up their national tour. Dress is Halloween so don your best get-up and get in early as drinks are on us from 6pm. For our ears: Kingswood and Andy Golledge. The fuel: Free drinks from 6pm. We have just installed a beer tank that will house the freshest Carlton Draught available. A big truck drives up the Princess Highway from the brewery in Melbourne and delivers the freshest beer available straight into our tank with a big fire hose. Drinks are for free so get on down and taste our tank. The crowd: Locals, regulars, lovers of Kingswood and ghouls. What’s the highlight: Hopefully Kingswood and of course the tank. Cost: Free, free and absolutely free. Where: 174 King Street, Newtown When: Thursday October 30 Website: newtownhotel.com.au thebrag.com

Feat: Ego (Halloween AV Set) Venue Name: Beach Road Hotel Bondi What to see and do: Ego is doing his Halloween special AV show, supported by Sydney electro sensation Jawz. Lots of venue surprises – think face painting, dress up, props and free popcorn. For our ears: Ego live visual show – Halloween themed. Spooky tunes and visuals beautifully meshed together to make one freaky audio-visual experience. Jawz’s dance/electro vibes for support as well. The fuel: $5 tinnies, $5 slushies, $10 burgers – amirite? The crowd: Everyone (18+) is welcome. Dress ups encouraged! What’s the highlight: Best dressed wins a substantial bar tab! Cost: Free, as always. Where: 71 Beach Road, Bondi Beach When: Doors open 8pm, Wednesday October 29 Website: beachroadbondi.com.au

What to see and do: Halloween High Tea with competition and prizes. Featuring a three-tiered platter of panna cotta brains, spider cupcakes, bloody fingers and more spinetingling items. The fuel: Eyeballs mini burger, Morticia’s fingers (chicken and almond); Hannibal’s infamous ribs, panna cotta brains with blood, warm scones (rose butter cream, cream), warm pumpkin scones (rose butter cream, cream), worms in soil (jelly, chocolate cake dust), witches’ broomstick and cauldron, RIP coffin sandwiches, dark spider cupcakes, T2 tea/coffee/cocktails. The crowd: Dress up to be eligible to win prizes at each session. What’s the highlight: Spooky Halloween High Tea will be hosted in the haunted Pacific Penthouse, home of the world’s only 11-metre fish tank bar. The whole floor is dedicated to the dark side and silly scary stuff will make you smile and cry… Cost: From $55 per person Where: Level 1, cnr Bridge Road and Glebe Point Road, Glebe When: Saturday October 25, Saturday November 1 and Sunday November 2 Website: pacificpenthouse.com.au More: Check out the Halloween Weekend Spooktacular party on Saturday November 1 BRAG :: 585 :: 22:10:14 :: 27

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

pick of the week SATURDAY OCTOBER 25

DZ Deathrays

FRIDAY OCTOBER 24

Factory Theatre

The Blurst Of Times

DZ Deathrays + Hard-Ons + Velociraptor + The Creases + Jeremy Neale + More

1pm. $58. WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 22 ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY, BLUES & FOLK Marty Stewart Optus Centre, Macquarie Park. 12pm. free. Mitch Anderson & His Organic Orchestra Coopers Hotel, Newtown. 8:45pm. free.

JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC GaDJo Guitars Album Launch Foundry616, Ultimo. 8:30pm. $16.50. Lionel Cole Imperial Hotel, Paddington. 8pm. free. The Social Jam - Gang Of Brothers Spring Street Social, Bondi. 9pm. free.

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS

28 :: BRAG :: 585 :: 22:10:14

THURSDAY OCTOBER 23 ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY, BLUES & FOLK

Mick Hambly Ruby L’otel, Rozelle. 7:30pm. free.

Ryan Thomas Manly Leagues Club, Brookvale. 4pm. free.

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS 10 O’Clock Rock - feat: Marshall Okell + The Pride Frankie’s Pizza, Sydney. 10pm. free. A Team Duo Crows Nest Hotel, Crows Nest. 9pm. free. Alex Hopkins Open Mic Night Northies Cronulla Hotel, Cronulla. 8pm. free. Black Diamond Hearts Soda Factory, Surry Hills. 10pm. free. Black T-Shirts - feat: Black Monday + Megasaur + Stone Release Valve Bar, Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 8pm. $10. Cambo Observer Hotel, The Rocks. 8:30pm. free. Comeback Kid + Rotting Out + Relentless The Bald Faced Stag, Leichhardt. 6:30pm. $42.85. Dan Spillane Dee Why Hotel, Dee Why. 7pm. free. EK - feat: Michael Ozone The Spice Cellar, Sydney. 7pm. free. Glenn Esmond Fortune Of War, The Rocks. 7pm. free. Greg Agar Scruffy Murphy’s Hotel, Sydney. 7:30pm. free.

ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY, BLUES & FOLK Iron Lion Towradgi Beach Hotel, Towradgi. 9pm. free. Stormcellar Town Hall Hotel, Balmain. 10pm. free. Ward’s Express Lewisham Hotel, Lewisham. 8pm. free.

JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC Emma Pask Foundry616, Ultimo. 8:30pm. $27.50. Jazz Hip-Hop Freestyle Sessions Foundry616, Ultimo. 11:30pm. free.

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK &

Bluejuice

COVERS

AJ Manly Leagues Club, Brookvale. 9:30pm. free. Alex Hopkins Wenty Leagues Club, Wentworthville. 9pm. free. All Our Exes Live In Texas Newtown Social Club, Newtown. 8pm. $18. Am 2 Pm Pittwater RSL, Mona Vale. 8pm. free. Armchair Travellers Duo Dooleys, Silverwater. 6pm. free. Axel P Town Hall Hotel, Balmain. 7:30pm. free. Beatnix - The Beatles Show Parramatta Leagues Club, Parramatta. 8pm. $10. Ben Finn PJ Gallagher’s, Enfield. 9pm. free. Big Rich Vineyard Hotel, Vineyard. 9:30pm. free. Big Way Out Ivanhoe Hotel, Manly. 10pm. free. Black Diamond Hearts Rock Lily, Pyrmont. 9:30pm. free. Bluejuice Metro Theatre, Sydney. 7:30pm. $33.70. Bno Rockshow Scruffy Murphy’s Hotel, Sydney. 9pm. free. Born Jovi - The Bon Jovi Show Bull & Bush Hotel, Baulkham Hills. 10pm. free. Cath & Him

All Our Exes Live In Texas

Quakers Inn, Quakers Hill. 8pm. free. Cherokee + Gyrate + HawkKestrel Ruby L’otel, Rozelle. 8pm. free. Comeback Kid + Rotting Out + Relentless The Bald Faced Stag, Leichhardt. 8pm. $42.80. Crooked Colours Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $15.40. Darren Johnstone Castle Hill RSL, Castle Hill. 9:30pm. free. Dave Phillips Harbord Beach Hotel, Harbord. 7pm. free. Dave White The Ranch, Eastwood. 5:30pm. free. Dave White Experience Crows Nest Hotel, Crows Nest. 10:30pm. free. David Agius Ingleburn RSL, Ingleburn. 9pm. free. Diesel + Steve Balbi Brass Monkey, Cronulla. 7pm. $48. Domino - feat: Gutter Tactic + The Shadow Embrace + Syraescope + Simple Stone + Passive Resistance + Room 13 Valve Bar, Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 8pm. $10. Eddie Boyd And The Phatapillars Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 8pm. free. Evie Dean PJ Gallagher’s Whisky Bar, Jacksons On George, Sydney. 5:30pm. free. Fallon Bros Trio Coogee Bay Hotel, Coogee. 10:30pm. free. Foreign/National Waywards, Newtown. 8pm. free. Forensics - feat: Defektro + Axis Trio + Louis Burdett Valve Bar, Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 9pm. $10. Frank Sultana And The Sinister Kids The Vanguard, Newtown. 7pm. $30. Geoff Rana Duo Hillside Hotel, Castle Hill. 8pm. free. Glenn Esmond Northies Cronulla Hotel, Cronulla. 9pm. free. Glenn Esmond Duo Rock Lily, Pyrmont. 9pm. free. GTS Ramsgate RSL, Sans Souci. 7:30pm. free. Hooray For Everything Penrith Gaels, Kingswood. 8pm. free. Imogen Clarke Town Hall Hotel, Balmain. 4:30pm. free. Jackson Holt Greystanes Inn, Greystanes Inn. 8pm. free. Jay Parrino Mona Vale Hotel, Mona Vale. 9pm. free. Keith Armitage The Grand Hotel, Rockdale.

thebrag.com

xxx

Andy Mammers Duo Maloney’s Hotel, Sydney. 9pm. free. Band Together For Arts Law FBi Social, Kings Cross. 7pm. $25. Captain Cook Captain Cook Hotel, Paddington. 8pm. free.

Evie Dean Hillside Hotel, Castle Hill. 7pm. free. Fat Bubba’s Chicken Wednesdays Soda Factory, Surry Hills. 5pm. free. Happy Hippies Ettamogah Hotel, Kelly Ridge. 6:30pm. free. Lepers And Crooks Frankie’s Pizza, Sydney. 9pm. free. Letters To Lions + Bexley De Lion + Jaguar Club Brass Monkey, Cronulla. 7pm. $12. Sarah Paton Observer Hotel, The Rocks. 8pm. free. Sex On Toast The Vanguard, Newtown. 7pm. $15. The Fallen Gentry Valve Bar, Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 8pm. free. The Happy Hippies Ettamogah Hotel, Kelly Ridge. 6:30pm. free. The Kin Newtown Social Club, Newtown. 7pm. $20.

Jamie Lindsay Hillside Hotel, Castle Hill. 7pm. free. Joe Echo Duo Maloney’s Hotel, Sydney. 9:30pm. free. Lola And The Captain Flinders Hotel, Surry Hills. 8pm. free. Melody Rhymes Northies Cronulla Hotel, Cronulla. 7:30pm. free. OGB + Fourth And Forever + Crossroad Y Hampshire Hotel, Camperdown. 7:30pm. free. Phil Gray + Andrew Kidd + Jess Tooth + Michael Crane + With Fox + Daniel Host + Tom Wakefield Gladstone Hotel, Chippendale. 7:30pm. free. Pierce Brothers + Bad Feeling Woman Moonshine Cider & Rum Bar, Manly. 9pm. free. Robert Ellis + Jonny Fritz Newtown Social Club, Newtown. 7pm. $27.50. The Black Sorrows Brass Monkey, Cronulla. 7pm. $49. The Chosen Few Pendle Inn, Pendle Hill. 7:30pm. free. The Late Night Soda Social Soda Factory, Surry Hills. 5pm. free.

g g guide gig g

Xxx

send your listings to : gigguide@thebrag.com

SATURDAY OCTOBER 25

Joce Moen + Chris Cody Foundry616, Ultimo. 8pm. $16.50.

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS

4 Seasons In 1 Night Rooty Hill RSL Club, Rooty Hill. 7:30pm. $30. Afterlife - feat: Buried In Verona + Justice For The Damned + Double Chamber + Skyon Collector Hotel, Parramatta. 8pm. free. Andrew Dyce New Brighton Hotel, Manly. 10pm. free. Angie Dean Castle Hill RSL, Castle Hill. 6:30pm. free. Beatnix Beatles Show Ramsgate RSL, Sans Souci. 7:30pm. free. Ben Finn Trio The Mean Fiddler, Rouse Hill. 9pm. free. Big Way Out R.G. Mcgees, Richmond. 9pm. free. Blake Tailor Panthers, Penrith. 5:30pm. free. Caitlin Park Newtown Social Club, Newtown. 8pm. $15. Cara Kavanagh And Mark Oats Duo PJ Gallagher’s, Leichhardt. 7:30pm. free. Cascade Revesby Workers Club, Revesby. 8:30pm. free. David Agius Duo The Mean Fiddler, Rouse Hill. 6pm. free. Diesel + Renny Field Brass Monkey, Cronulla. 7pm. $48. Evie Dean Crows Nest Hotel, Crows Nest. 7pm. free. Eye Of The Tiger Carousel Inn Hotel, Rooty Hill. 8pm. free. Floyd Vincent And The Temple Dogs Lazybones Lounge, Marrickville. 9pm. free. Glenn Esmond Crown Hotel, Camden. 9pm. free. Gold Fields Goodgod Small Club, Sydney. 8pm. $17. Hadal Maw - feat: The Shoenberg Automation + Daemon Pyre + Grim Demise + Autolysis Valve Bar, Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 7pm. $10. Harbour Masters Duo Coogee Bay Hotel, Coogee. 12am. free. Hitseekers Crows Nest Hotel, Crows Nest. 10:30pm. free. Jamie Lindsay Adria Restaurant, Darling Harbour. 4pm. free. Jamie Lindsay Le Pub, Sydney. 9pm. free. Jess Dunbar Brewhouse Marayong, Kings Park. 8pm. free.

Joe Echo PJ Gallagher’s, Moore Park. 7:30pm. free. Josh Mcivor Woolloomooloo Bay Hotel, Woolloomooloo. 9pm. free. Josh Mcivor Cock & Bull, Bondi. 6pm. free. Keith Armitage Kirribilli Hotel, Milsons Point. 8pm. free. Kick - INXS Show Kareela Golf Club, Kareela. 8:30pm. free. Kite Mars Hill Cafe, Parramatta. 8pm. free. Lawrence Baker PJ Gallagher’s, Enfield. 9pm. free. Loretta Wentworth Hotel, Homebush West. 9pm. free. Lowtide + The Zebras + Day Ravies + Miners + The Laurels DJs Lansdowne Hotel, Chippendale. 7pm. free. Macson Springwood Sports Club, Springwood. 9pm. free. Martys Place Courthouse Hotel, Darlinghurst. 10pm. free. Matt Price Castle Hill RSL, Castle Hill. 9pm. free. Matt Toms The Belvedere Hotel, Sydney. 8:15pm. free. No Secrets - The Angels Show Wentworthville Leagues Club, Wentworthville. 10pm. free. One Night Stand - feat: Canyons The Imperial Hotel, Sydney. 10pm. $15. Our Moment As Gods - feat: Once Remained + Pretty Rosca + Freesecks + More Valve Bar, Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 8pm. $10. Pop Fiction Castle Hill RSL, Castle Hill. 10:30pm. free. Redlight Ruby Northies Cronulla Hotel, Cronulla. 9pm. free. Ryan Thomas Sir Joseph Banks Hotel, Botany. 7pm. free. Seattle Sound Bull & Bush Hotel, Baulkham Hills. 10pm. free. Shihad + High Tension Metro Theatre, Sydney. 8pm. $38.90. Siskin River 107 Projects, Redfern. 7pm. $15. Space Dream Project + DJ Jimmy The Hand Brighton Up Bar, Darlinghurst. 7pm. $5. Studio 529 Huskisson Hotel, Huskisson. 8:30pm. free. The Blurst Of Times - feat: DZ Deathrays + Hard-Ons + Velociraptor + The Creases + Jeremy Neale + More Factory Theatre, Marrickville. 1pm. $58. The Church Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $45.

boneyard festival 2 party profile

5:30pm. free. Laura Jean Red Rattler, Marrickville. 8pm. $13. Leon Fallon Parramatta RSL, Parramatta. 5pm. free. Live Music At The Royal The Royal, Leichhardt. 9:30pm. free. Mandi Jarry Cyren Restaurant , Darling Harbour. 6pm. free. Max Power Duo St George Leagues Club, Kogarah. 9pm. free. Muddy Feet Horse & Jockey Hotel, Homebush. 7:30pm. free. Nicky Kurta Duo Kirribilli Hotel, Milsons Point. 8pm. free. One Man & His Orangutan Crown Hotel, Camden. 8pm. free. Rose Carleo The Oriental Hotel, Springwood. 8pm. free. Sarah Paton Massey Park Golf Club, Concord. 7pm. free. Shane Flew Observer Hotel, The Rocks. 6pm. free. Shy Guys Revesby Workers Club, Revesby. 8:30pm. free. Stephen Kelly Castle Hill RSL, Castle Hill. 6:30pm. free. Steve Crocker Chatswood RSL, Chatswood. 5pm. free. Steve Whitmore Mona Vale Hotel, Mona Vale. 5:30pm. free. Sugar Reef Windsor Leagues Club, Windsor South. 9pm. free. The Avery Height Band + Red Shift + Volky Gladstone Hotel, Chippendale. 8:30pm. free. The Black Sorrows The Bunker, Coogee Diggers, Coogee. 8pm. $30.60. The Harry Heart Chrysalis + Pretty City + The Riders World Bar, Kings Cross. 9:30pm. free. The Tribe Colonial Hotel, Werrington. 8:30pm. free. Tim Conlon Crows Nest Hotel, Crows Nest. 7pm. free. Tom Freeman Wentworth Hotel, Homebush West. 9pm. free. Tori Darke Cronulla Leagues Club Sharkies, Woolooware. 7pm. free. Victoria Avenue Moorebank Sports Club, Hammondville. 9pm. free. Winston Surfshirt Moonshine Cider & Rum Bar, Manly. 8pm. free. Zoltan Adria Restaurant, Darling Harbour. 5pm. free. Zoltan PJ Gallagher’s, Leichhardt. 10pm. free.

Sell it to us: Remember that house party where came and set up in your lounge room and you your favourite local bands and all your best friends drank waaaaay too much and rocked out till the neigh bours complained for the fourth time and you had the best night ever? It’s gonna be like that, but with pizza. Everyone’s getting laid. The bit we’ll remember in the AM: Only some bits. And you’ll feel weird. But good. Crowd specs: Sexy, sweaty, tattooed misfits. Babes, everywhere. So many that you get a little overwhelmed and have to sit is too good and you rush the dancefloor. Then down, but that band playing someone buys you a beer. You chug it and it’s good. Wallet damage: Free entry!

The Good Stuff Scruffy Murphy’s Hotel, Sydney. 8pm. free. The Remixes Penrith Gaels, Kingswood. 7pm. free. The White Brothers Ettamogah Hotel, Kelly Ridge. 7pm. free. Tim Conlon Greystanes Inn, Greystanes Inn. 8pm. free. Tim Conlon Duo Oxford Hotel, Darlinghurst. 9pm. free. Toxic Dolls PJ Gallagher’s, Parramatta. 9pm. free. Triple Shot Harbord Beach Hotel,

Harbord. 7pm. free. Vanderaa Captain Cook Hotel, Paddington. 8pm. free. Wildcatz Orient Hotel, The Rocks. 9:30pm. free.

SUNDAY OCTOBER 26 INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS Blake Tailor Duo Cronulla Leagues Club

wed

- Sharkies, Woolooware. 2:30pm. free. Bluejuice Metro Theatre, Sydney. 7:30pm. $33.70. Boneyard Festival 2 - feat: Bonez + The Lockhearts + Eddie Boyd & The Phatapillars + Creo + Andy Golledge And Band + Colour Cage + Rigasauras + Narla + Drover Mad + Bonney Read Frankie’s Pizza, Sydney. 4pm. free. Deadly Visions - feat: Southpaw + Street War + Two Faced + Alignments + Staunch + Wilful Damage + Brown Paper Bag

thu

Oct

(9:00PM - 12:00AM)

fri

24 Oct (4:30PM - 7:30PM)

(9:30PM - 1:30AM)

SATURDAY AFTERNOON

(4:30PM - 7:30PM)

SUNDAY AFTERNOON

sun

Oct

ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY, BLUES & FOLK

Paul Hayward And Friends Town & Country Hotel, St Peters. 4pm. free. Satellite V Shady Pines, Darlinghurst. 6pm. free. The Beatels Easts Kingswood Sports Club, Kingswood. 8:30pm. free. The Lonely Boys The Mercantile Hotel, Sydney. 8:30pm. free.

Acts: Bonez, The Lockhearts, Eddie Boyd & the Golledge and band, Colour Cage, Rigasauras Phatapillars, Creo, Andy , Narla, Drover Mad, Bonney Read.

Where: Frankie’s Pizza By The Slice – 50 Hunte r Street, Sydney When: Sunday October 26 – early start, late finish.

sat

Lowtide

It’s called: Boneyard Festival 2 It sounds like: A day of mad-as-hell music from ten bands with a common distaste for Nickleback.

(4:30PM - 7:30PM)

Oct

(9:30PM - 1:15AM)

mon

(8:30PM - 12:00AM)

tue

Oct

(9:00PM - 12:00AM)

JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC thebrag.com

BRAG :: 585 :: 22:10:14 :: 29

g g guide gig g

gig picks

Xxx

send your listings to : gigguide@thebrag.com Valve Bar, Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 5pm. $10. Evie Dean Plough & Harrow, Camden. 8pm. free. Franky Valentyn Club Five Dock, Five Dock. 4pm. free. Joe Echo Duo The Mean Fiddler, Rouse Hill. 1pm. free. Kotahi Groove Time & Tide Hotel, Dee Why. 2pm. free. Leon Fallon Observer Hotel, The Rocks. 8pm. free. Luke Dixon Summer Hills Hotel, Summer Hill. 2pm. free. Luke O’Shea & Medicine Wheel + The Flood + Katie Brianna Brass Monkey, Cronulla. 7pm. $22. Matt Jones Duo Bull & Bush Hotel, Baulkham Hills. 2pm. free. Matt Price Coogee Bay Hotel, Coogee. 8:30pm. free. Matt Price St George Rowing Club, Wolli Creek. 1pm. free. Melody Rhymes Panthers, Penrith. 3:30pm. free. Paul Hayward & Little Jim + Gary Rowen The Gasoline Pony, Marrickville. 5pm. free. Peach’s Sunday Jam Garry Owen Hotel, Rozelle. 3pm. free. Raoul Graf Waverley Bowling Club, Waverley. 3pm. free. Reckless Northies Cronulla Hotel, Cronulla. 6pm. free. Renegades Of Munk Lewisham Hotel, Lewisham.

up all night out all week...

6pm. free. Rob Henry Henry Lawson Club, Werrington. 12pm. free. Rough Stock Penrith RSL, Penrith. 2pm. free. Rudely Interrupted Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 6pm. $18.50. Stefan Ramsgate RSL, Sans Souci. 2pm. free. Sydney Blues Society Botany View Hotel, Newtown. 7pm. free. Three Wise Men Observer Hotel, The Rocks. 4pm. free. Zoltan Harbord Beach Hotel, Harbord. 6pm. free.

JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC

ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY, BLUES & FOLK

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS

Alex Oxford Hotel, Darlinghurst. 2pm. free. The Grahams + The Morrisons + Marcus Blacke The Vanguard, Newtown. 6:30pm. $15. The Living Room - feat: Ollie Brown + Laura Zarb Lewisham Hotel, Lewisham. 6pm. free.

MONDAY OCTOBER 27 ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY, BLUES & FOLK

Caitlin Park

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

TUESDAY OCTOBER 28 JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC

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

Declan Kelly + Sam Joole + Tom Trelawny Duo Bar 34 Bondi, Bondi Beach. 8pm. free. Greg Agar Cock & Bull, Bondi. 7pm. free. Triumphant Tuesdays - feat: Dave Eastgate Karaoke Frankie’s Pizza, Sydney. 8:30pm. free.

ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY, BLUES & FOLK Blues Tuesdays Spring Street Social, Bondi. 7:30pm. free.

The Gloaming Sydney Opera House, Sydney. 9pm. $59.

WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 22

SATURDAY OCTOBER 25

Sex On Toast The Vanguard, Newtown. 7pm. $15.

Caitlin Park Newtown Social Club, Newtown. 8pm. $15

The Kin Newtown Social Club, Newtown. 7pm. $20.

THURSDAY OCTOBER 23 Comeback Kid + Rotting Out + Relentless The Bald Faced Stag, Leichhardt. 6:30pm. $42.85. Robert Ellis + Jonny Fritz Newtown Social Club, Newtown. 7pm. $27.50.

Gold Fields Goodgod Small Club, Sydney. 8pm. $17. Lowtide + The Zebras + Day Ravies + Miners + The Laurels DJs Lansdowne Hotel, Chippendale. 7pm. Free. Shihad + High Tension Metro Theatre, Sydney. 8pm. $38.90. Siskin River 107 Projects, Redfern. 7pm. $15. The Church Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $45.

FRIDAY OCTOBER 24 SUNDAY All Our Exes Live In Texas OCTOBER 26 Newtown Social Club, Newtown. 8pm. $18.

OCTOBER 2014 MONDAYS FROM 9PM

TRIUMPHANT TUESDAYS FROM 8PM

WENESDAY FROM 9PM

FRANKIE’S WORLD FAMOUS HOUSE BAND KEITH MOON CUP PINNIE COMP DAVE EASTGATE’S ROCK&ROLL KARAOKE

Bluejuice Metro Theatre, Sydney. 7:30pm. $33.70. Crooked Colours Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $15.40. Diesel + Steve Balbi Brass Monkey, Cronulla. 7pm. $48. Emma Pask Foundry616, Ultimo. 8:30pm. $27.50. Laura Jean Red Rattler, Marrickville. 8pm. $13.

Boneyard Festival 2 - Feat: Bonez + The Lockhearts + Eddie Boyd & The Phatapillars + Creo + Andy Golledge And Band + Colour Cage + Rigasauras + Narla + Drover Mad + Bonney Read Frankie’s Pizza, Sydney. 4pm. Free.

MONDAY OCTOBER 27 The Gloaming Sydney Opera House, Sydney. 9pm. $59.

The Black Sorrows The Bunker, Coogee Diggers, Coogee. 8pm. $30.60.

1 ST HURST 8 TH LITTLE COYOTE 15 TH STRANGE KARMA 22 ND TINNIE TAKEOVER + LEPPERS&CROOKS 29 TH ADAM ECKERSLEY BAND RED WINE ROSESS

THURSDAY

10’O’CLOCK ROCK FROM 10PM

SUNDAY

SABBATH SESSIONS FROM 6PM

2 ND 9 TH 16 TH 23 RD 30 TH

ROHAN RICK DANGEROUS TWENTY TWO HUNDRED MARSHALL OKELL & THE PRIDE FRANKENSTEIN’S HALLOWEEN

5 TH 12 TH 19 TH 26 TH

WORKINGHORSE IRONS BLACK LABEL THE DEAD LOVE BONEYARD FEST

frankiespizzabytheslice.com • facebook.com/stcfrankiespizza

The Gloaming

30 :: BRAG :: 585 :: 22:10:14

xxx

50 HUNTER STREET, SYDNEY thebrag.com

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

brag beats

inside:

plus: + club guide + club snaps + weekly column

uberjak’d

hot dub time machine let’s get loud thebrag.com

BRAG :: 585 :: 22:10:14 :: 31

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

he said she said WITH

MANTRA COLLECTIVE

De La Soul

DE LA SOUL GARDEN PARTY

ow did Mantra Collective come together? Sometime around summer 2012, we were just four bros trying to get booked to play music we love. We also wanted to see more of our favourite DJs/producers touring Australia, so we decided to take matters into our own hands. Two years later, we can proudly say we’ve booked some truly talented international and local acts to play our parties.

What’s been one of your biggest achievements? It’s been a steep learning curve but bringing out Keinemusik label bros Adam Port and &Me from Berlin to the Imperial was definitely the biggest achievement for us to date. September 13th also marked the birth of Aboutjack’s little girl Olivia, so we’ll be talking about this special date for a while, or what we remember of it at least.

Introduce us to the team. If each of you were one of The Beatles, who would you be and why? There’s no denying that The Beatles are one of the biggest music icons, but none of us want to end up getting shot so let’s steer clear of that comparison. Instead, how about we tell you which Ninja Turtle we always aspired to be? Whitecat – Donatello; Antoine Vice – Leonardo; Space Junk – Raphael; Aboutjack – Michelangelo. You’re throwing parties in the midst of a difficult time for Sydney nightlife given the lockout laws. Is the market tough, or have you managed to avoid the issues? We can’t say it hasn’t been tough for Mantra Collective, even before the lockout laws. But it’s particularly hard watching venues we consider our homes undergo so many changes to comply

FUTURE MUSIC FESTIVAL 2015

Future Music Festival is returning this summer, with the details of dates and venues revealed, as well as when we can expect to hear the full

Lil Jon

with these ridiculous laws. We’re being forced to adapt as well and the solution was simply to look for alternative venues outside of the lockout zones. This has pushed us deeper underground, which is where we always saw Mantra Collective going from the beginning. Who’d be on your dream Mantra party lineup? That would be an interesting lineup as all four of us have different tastes. I think the dream would be celebrating 15 years the way Fabric are, with 30 hours of non-stop music from our favourite house and techno heavyweights.

MARMALADE SKIES

Marmalade Skies, the new two-night camping festival being held in Goulburn, has dropped its debut lineup. The event found its genesis through a successful crowdfunding campaign, and is partially BYO. The first lineup announcement is heavy on the beats, including

Some Blonde DJ

What: Mantra Collective 2nd Birthday With: Sidney Charles Where: Secret warehouse location When: Saturday November 1

Acaddamy, Castlecomer, Fishing, Kilter, KLP (live), Olympic Ayres, Softwar, Mantra Collective DJs and Slowblow. Marmalade Skies takes over Goulburn from Friday December 12 – Sunday December 14.

EMC SHOWCASES ANNOUNCED

Sydney’s ever-growing Electronic Music Conference (EMC), set to take over Kings Cross in early December, has announced plans for EMC Play, a new two-night schedule of emerging artist showcases. The leading names in Aussie electronic music – and their rising stars – will represent at the showcases, planned alongside ARIA Week and EMC’s enormous lineup of speakers. Taking part in EMC Play this year are Astral People, Audiopaxx, Die High, etcetc, FBi Click, Future Classic, inthemix, #JDFutureLegends, Konkrete, Lucky Entertainment, Plastic World, Purple Sneakers, Pilerats, Purple Sneakers, Select Music, Sweat It Out, UNDR Ctrl, Vicious Black & Vicious Bitch and Yes Please. EMC Play runs throughout Kings Cross on Wednesday December 3 and Thursday December 4.

THE CHOP

Play Bar’s semi-regular The Chop night is back for its seventh edition this week, with live beatmaking on show this Saturday October 25. As per usual, the venue has dug up some of the nation’s finest and unheralded talent for this one, with the beats coming fresh out of the can from Cooking With Caustic, playing dancefloor-ready soul, funk and hip hop, plus Sydney’s own Waza, Raine Supreme and Benny Hinn.

lineup. The event will be back at Royal Randwick Racecourse on Saturday February 28 before heading around the country to Perth, Brisbane, Melbourne and Adelaide. The full lineup will be announced at 6pm Wednesday October 22. Stay tuned to thebrag.com for the lineup as it drops.

LIL JON DJ SET

PARTY WITH CHARDY LNDRY ACTION

This Saturday October 25, the LNDRY night at Chinese Laundry hosts a mean double bill. UK spinner Dave Clarke AKA The Man In Black AKA The Baron of Techno will headline the Cave room, dropping techno and electro like there’s no tomorrow. Meanwhile, the Laundry will host Melbourne’s Some Blonde DJ, who takes her cues from Steve Aoki and Fatboy Slim. Support from Methodix, Jesabel, Jaysounds, GG Magree, Fingers, DJ Just 1, Nightwalkers and Gemellini.

Bounce/electro/big room selector Chardy is hitting the decks again this weekend. The Ministry of Sound man has seen his productions shooting up the ARIA charts and his name appearing on the nation’s list of best DJs for some time, but a familiar face doesn’t mean a predictable night out. Chardy’s sets are known for taking unexpected turns, so there’s only one way to find out where he’ll go this Friday October 24 at Marquee – be there, of course.

KIMBERLEY AVISO

Wistful songwriter Kimberley Aviso crafts her music with the aid of loops and a range of live instruments, putting together a soulful and infectious sound. It’s the perfect formula for a midweek chill-out session, and that’s what brings her to Play Bar on Wednesday October 22. thebrag.com

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‘Turn Down For What’, you ask? Not for this Saturday October 25 at Marquee, that’s for sure. It’s when the one and only Lil Jon will be in town for his first-ever DJ tour Down Under, and if this isn’t the maddest party all weekend, we’ll be mighty surprised. Australian fans might know Lil Jon more for his rhymes, but he’s a high-profi le regular on the DJ circuit in his native US – and if you needed any further evidence of his cultural infl uence, see none other than US First Lady Michelle Obama borrowing his work last week to promote healthy eating (“Turnip for what?” she asked on a Vine post). So does Obama rock out to Lil Jon in the Oval Office? We’ll probably never know.

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Legendary New York hip hop stars De La Soul will play a one-off Sydney sideshow at the Chinese Laundry Garden Party in December. Best known for tracks like ‘Me Myself And I’ and ‘Saturdays’, De La Soul will give their Sydney fans a rare opportunity to see them in an intimate club setting. Joining them at Laundry are Miracle, Joyride and a host of DJs including Samrai and A-Tonez. De La Soul headline Laundry on Sunday December 14.

HOP INTO BED -OR-

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Uberjak’d In The Know By Augustus Welby

“I

t’s not what you know, it’s who you know.” The expression has deflating resonance if you happen to know a lot but don’t have any friends in high places. It’s also explicitly applicable to the music world, but it’s not a black-and-white condition for success. Simply put, if what you know is impressive enough, than you’re better positioned to get the attention of someone you need to know. Over the last couple of years, Adelaide-born, Sydney-based club producer Uberjak’d (AKA Ben Grzywacz) has gone from local curiosity to an artist capable of selling out shows both at home and abroad, thanks largely to support from Steve Aoki’s Dim Mak and Laidback Luke’s Mixmash Records. It’s true that certain influential parties have played a part in Uberjak’d’s enviable ascent, but that’s not all it took. “I played a show at Apple Bar in Adelaide, doing the closing set after Laidback Luke,” Grzywacz says of his first major breakthrough. “I opened up with this new track that I’d just finished. It was a remix of ‘Rattle’ by Bingo Players. The next day I got a tweet from [Laidback Luke] saying, ‘Love that first track you played, can you send me a copy of it?’ From there I just kept in touch with Luke.”

“I’m really excited to be involved with that,” Grzywacz says. “It’s going to be a really good opportunity, more than anything else, for young producers to get some real industry feedback on their music.” Providing helpful criticism to young hopefuls isn’t the sole purpose behind the Made For Music initiative. One act demonstrating especial flair will be selected for a rather tasty prize package. “I think I might enter myself,” Grzywacz jokes. “There’s a lot of studio gear, private listening sessions with the Universal guys, as well as [four finalists] get to support The Aston Shuffle in Sydney. If that isn’t motivation to get involved with it, I don’t know what is.” He’s right – these are prizes worth going to extraordinary lengths to get your hands on. However, Grzywacz doesn’t advocate adopting a competitive attitude to music generally. Rather, he emphasises how valuable it is to build a network of like-minded musicians. “Especially with the Melbourne sound that’s coming through at the moment, it’s not like you can tie it to any one person that owns that sound. What it

comes down to is everyone’s working together and everyone’s playing each other’s tracks and it creates a sound that people can relate to a number of DJs, rather than any one particular person. I think that’s a really cool thing.” Grzywacz has spent 2014 in a maelstrom of activity. While he’s already released two EPs, conducted multiple overseas tours and issued a stack of remixes, there are more new music and summer festival appearances to take care of before the year’s out. On top of all this, six months ago he launched the Uberjak’d producer forum on Facebook. As it turns out, appraising the work of budding producers is something he’s already familiar with. “[It’s about] getting new guys involved and helping people become better at what they do,” he says. “It’s the only way you learn.” Where: Stereosonic 2014 With: Skrillex, Calvin Harris, Alesso, Tiësto, Steve Aoki, Diplo and many more Where: Sydney Showground When: Saturday November 29 – Sunday November 30 And: Also appearing at Electronic Music Conference 2014, Kings Cross, Tuesday December 2 – Thursday December 4 More: Register with Budweiser Made For Music at budweisermadeformusic.com.au

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These days, Grzywacz too is in an influential position, which means he’s someone you’d want hearing your music. And the possibility of that happening just got a whole lot

easier. Along with Canberra’s The Aston Shuffle, Grzywacz has signed on as a Budweiser Made For Music mentor. Basically, this means their experienced ears will listen to every tune that gets uploaded to the Made For Music website before the end of the month.

Hot Dub Time Machine Playing It Uncool By Emily Meller as ‘good’ or ‘crap’ remains to be seen. In Lowndes’ eyes, making a distinction based on genre, or whether it belongs to a particular scene, can blind people. “I think that kind of snobbery is really pointless. It means that with a lot of great songs you don’t realise how great they are. I was, like, a ’90s metal guy and so it meant that there were a lot of ’80s songs I thought were just the worst things in the world.” It’s a fair point, even if a tough one for a music journalist to take. On the other hand, it’s impossible to deny that often a lot of guilty pleasure songs eventually become favourites, and no amount of criticism or argument can sway that steadfast devotion towards them.

usical nostalgia – intense feelings for music from your youth – is not just a cultural phenomenon, but also a scientific one. It’s the reason that music from past decades sounds so much better (objectively speaking, of course), and probably also explains the entire karaoke industry. It’s so powerful that it often warps an otherwise discerning critical ear so the listener might lose their minds to a song that is, if we’re honest, pretty terrible. Tom Lowndes, AKA DJ Tom Loud, is the man behind Hot Dub Time Machine, and he has been working hard to bring our shame-ridden love of hits into the (strobing) light. Gone are the days of secretly jamming out to ‘Rock Around The Clock’ or ‘Oops!… I Did It Again’ – now you can dance your heart out at a party that doubles as a time capsule; a safe space for lovers of cheesy pop.

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“I think people love it because they are hearing old stuff, but I don’t think it’s necessarily nostalgia,” says Lowndes. “I think the clubbing scene is very much one genre and it can often feel a bit elitist in some way – like if you feel you’re uncool or too old, too young, or maybe like you don’t have enough money. But Hot Dub Time Machine is not about that. It’s about playing every type of music and being shameless and not being embarrassed if a great song might be uncool. If it’s a great song, it’s a great song.” The concept is straightforward enough: play hits from each decade, countdown-style, from the 1950s until now. Add in some lights, balloons and a crowd of uncoordinated but enthusiastic dancers and you have yourself a show. As brilliantly simple as it seems, even Lowndes was surprised at how quickly the concept took off.

From venues with tiny capacities at the Sydney Fringe Festival to soldout shows at the Enmore Theatre, people clearly enjoy an excuse to ‘Shout’, ‘Jump Around’ and mosh like it’s… well, any decade they like.

the playlist can throw up some unexpected curveballs from time to time – and it’s only by playing shows that Lowndes gets a real sense of whether a song is right or not.

“I’m big on being anti-cool,” Lowndes says. “I just love playing good music and people seem to be enjoying what I do. I am really proud of the kind of DJing that Hot Dub Time Machine is. It’s not about me being a good DJ, or it being all about my skills; it’s about the best music and the best vibes, and to me that’s what partying is all about, you know? It’s not about how awesome my software is.”

“I am aware that what I do is a retro party, but in some way it almost gives itself its own sense of coolness,” he says. “But it is a fine line between that and it feeling like a bad wedding reception. Like ‘Summer Of ’69’ – for some reason that doesn’t work at all. But ‘Eye Of The Tiger’ is always great. ‘Wannabe’ by the Spice Girls? Absolutely kills. But I find if you put too many of those in a row it can really quickly get too cheesy, so, you know, we have Spice Girls into Tupac to avoid it tipping over.”

Even if ‘nostalgia’ is the wrong word, it is undeniable that Hot Dub Time Machine plays on emotion. It seems like certain decades do have a disproportionate power over the crowd’s reaction. So curating

Whether Hot Dub Time Machine represents a wider shift that means people are rejecting labelling music

“I kind of got over that whole [metal] thing,” says Lowndes. “Now I think that ‘Stayin’ Alive’ by the Bee Gees is an amazing song; it’s so well crafted and funky. And Whitney Houston’s ‘I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)’ is such a beautifully made pop song. And ‘Call Me Maybe’, that’s also a great tune. Now I like that as much as obscure German techno I listen to.” Lowndes’ unbridled enthusiasm for music is infectious. Anyone who has experienced Hot Dub Time Machine is aware of how much of its success is because of his talent for seeing through a song’s reputation to whether it holds up as a well-crafted piece of work in its own right. That said, he is far from stuck in the past. “I think good music is being made all the time. [For Hot Dub Time Machine] this is just the beginning, I think.” Maybe the Hot Dub Time Machine philosophy is something worth remembering next time you catch your nose upturned at a song that deserves a second chance. Where: Enmore Theatre When: Friday October 24 thebrag.com

Off The Record Dance And Electronica With Tyson Wray

DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist

J Shadow and Cut Chemist will bring their vinyl-only Renegades of Rhythm tour to Australia next March. The incredible show, which debuted in the USA last month, sees the two going head-to-head and playing cuts that are exclusively taken from Afrika Bambaataa’s epic record collection (we’re talking 40,000+) on six turntables. So far the only Australian date announced has been as part of Victoria’s Golden Plains festival lineup, but sources tell me that a Sydney date will be announced this Friday October 24. Also announced for Golden Plains was the return of Detroit don (and one of my all-time personal favourites) Theo Parrish. He’ll also be coming to Sydney, but don’t expect that date to be announced for a little while longer. Laura Jones and Gavin Herlihy are locking horns for an Australian tour. Jones is best known for her deep techno sets and productions (which have seen her play at Richie Hawtin’s Enter nights in Ibiza and the UK’s Warehouse Project), while Herlihy’s chameleonic house and techno talents have seen him release on seminal labels such as Cocoon, Cadenza and Buzzing Fly. They’ll hit S.A.S.H on Sunday November 23. One of the most in-demand DJs in the game, Prosumer has locked in a Sydney date early next month. Best known as a former resident of the legendary Panorama Bar, he recently relocated to Edinburgh and over the course of his career he’s released records on labels such as Potion, OstGut Ton, Playhouse

and Running Back and collaborated with the likes of Murat Tepeli and Tama Sumo. He’ll play an open-air show on Sunday November 9 (kicking off at 2pm) at Vic On The Park Hotel. Oh, and best of all? It’s free. Thought all of the tours for the NYE/ NYD period had been announced? Think again. A little birdie tells me we’ve still got quite a few internationals making the trek Down Under, including Ibiza legend and Balearic beat father DJ Alfredo, the don behind DC-based label Future Times Maxmillion Dunbar, Vancouver’s fi nest Pender Street Steppers and Glasgow native Scott Fraser. Dates coming soon. Best releases this week: I’d been hanging for AnD’s Cosmic Microwave Background (on Electric Deluxe) for yonks and hoooooboy it did not disappoint. Other stand-outs include Objekt’s Flatland (on Pan), S Olbricht’s A Place Called Ballacid (on Lobster Theremin), DJ Route 8’s Cruising (also on Lobster Theremin) and Edward’s Into A Better Future (on Giegling). Sad news: Mark Bell of LFO passed away last week. The news was confirmed via the Warp Records website, with a statement that read: “It’s with great sadness that we announce the untimely passing of Mark Bell of LFO who died last week from complications after an operation.” In addition to his work with Gez Varley in LFO Bell was a long-time collaborator with Björk and produced six of her LPs (including 1997’s Homogenic and 2011’s Biophilia). Rest in peace.

RECOMMENDED THURSDAY OCTOBER 23

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 14

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 28

FRIDAY OCTOBER 24

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 14 – SUNDAY NOVEMBER 16

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 29

DJ Godfather Goodgod Small Club

Astral People beyondblue Fundraiser Goodgod Small Club

SATURDAY OCTOBER 25 Dave Clarke Chinese Laundry

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 1 Sidney Charles Mantra Collective Sasha Chinese Laundry

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 9 Prosumer Vic on the Park Hotel

Ten Walls The Hi-Fi

Return To Rio: Ten Walls, Lake People, Laura Jones, Gavin Herlihy Del Rio Resort

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 22

Lost Disco: Seth Troxler, Âme, Pachanga Boys, Optimo Greenwood Hotel

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 23 Stimming The Spice Cellar

Laura Jones, Gavin Herlihy S.A.S.H

Powell The Imperial Hotel

OutsideIn: Pantha Du Prince, Seekae, Client Liaison Manning House, Sydney University

THURSDAY DECEMBER 5 Claude VonStroke The Spice Cellar

THURSDAY JANUARY 1

Spice Afloat: Space Dimension Controller, Trus’Me, Oliver Koletzki, Niko Schwind Sydney Harbour

SATURDAY JANUARY 10 Tycho The Hi-Fi

Got any tip-offs, hate mail, praise or cat photos? Email hey@tysonwray.com or contact me via carrier pigeon. thebrag.com

BRAG :: 585 :: 22:10:14 :: 35

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

club pick of the week Hilltop Hoods

FRIDAY OCTOBER 24

Hordern Pavilion

Hilltop Hoods + Thundamentals + K-21

El Loco Later - feat: DJs On Rotation Excelsior Hotel, Surry Hills. 10pm. free. El’ Circo - feat: Resident Circus Act Performers Slide Lounge, Darlinghurst. 7pm. $109. Frat Saturdays - feat: DJ Jonski Side Bar, Sydney. 6pm. free. Haters Club - feat: Shantan Wantan Ichiban + Joyride + Lazer Gunne Funke + Mike Who Goodgod Small Club, Sydney. 11pm. $5. Infamous Saturdays - feat: Live DJs Scubar, Sydney. 7pm. free. Lil Jon (DJ Set) Marquee, Pyrmont. 9pm. $25. Masif Saturdays Space, Sydney. 10pm. $25. Pacha Sydney - feat: We R Scndl + Zac Waters + Natnoiz + Baby Gee + Fingers + Spenda C + Matt Nugent + Jace Disgrace + Nanny Does + Sushi + DJ Just 1 + Kng Lee + A-Game + Dyland Sanders + Stu Turner + Eko + Trent Rackus Ivy Bar/Lounge, Sydney. 6:30pm. $35. Pukka Up Opening Summer Boat Cruise - feat: Alex Preston + Mark Pellegrini + Social Hooliganz + Kartello + Ben R Howard + Sam Whitmore + Wendell Hoten + Deeafro

Lady Rose Boat, King Street Wharf 7, Sydney. 12pm. $40. Sienna Saturdays - feat: Resident DJs The Establishment, Sydney. 9pm. free. Soda Saturdays - feat: Resident DJs Playing Disco And Funk Soda Factory, Surry Hills. 5pm. free. Something Else Burdekin Hotel, Darlinghurst. 9pm. $20. Spice 10th Birthday - feat: Murat Kilic + Robbie Lowe + Ant J Steep + Michelle Owen + Cassette + Sam Francisco + Mike Witcombe + Dean Relf The Spice Cellar, Sydney. 10pm. $25.

SUNDAY OCTOBER 26 HIP HOP & R&B

One Day Sundays Vic On The Park, Sydney. 1pm. free.

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 Home Nightclub, Darling

CLUB NIGHTS

DJ Tom Kelly Goldfi sh, 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 OCTOBER 23 HIP HOP & R&B

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

CLUB NIGHTS

Fear Of Dawn Goldfi sh, Kings Cross. 8pm. free. Full Up! - feat: Mikey Glamour + Nick Toth + Jimmy Sing + Prince Andrew + Guests Goodgod Small Club, Sydney. 8pm. free. Goldfi sh And Friends feat: Regular Rotating Residents Goldfi sh, Kings Cross. 10pm. free. Hot Damn Spectrum, Darlinghurst. 9pm. $10. Pool Club Thursdays feat: Resident DJs Ivy Bar/Lounge, Sydney. 5pm. free. 36 :: BRAG :: 585 :: 22:10:14

Red Bull Music Academy - feat: Godfather + Simon Caldwell + Typhonic Goodgod Small Club, Sydney. 8pm. free. Symbols And Cure Motel Candy’s Apartment, Potts Point. 8pm. free. The World Bar Thursdays World Bar, Kings Cross. 9pm. free.

FRIDAY OCTOBER 24 HIP HOP & R&B

Hilltop Hoods + Thundamentals + K-21 Hordern Pavilion, Moore Park. 7:30pm. $67.29. Hustler Fridays - feat: MC Shaba Hustle & Flow, Redfern. 7pm. free.

CLUB NIGHTS

Astral People Beyondblue Fundraiser - feat: Bradley Zero & Jimmy Sing + Simon Caldwell & Magda Bytnerowicz + Mike Who & Huwston + Pelvis & Noise In My Head Goodgod Small Club, Sydney. 10pm. free. Bassic - feat: UV Boi + Elk Road + Spenda C + A-Tonez + Hatch + Kyro + Matt Ferrier + Jace Disgrace Chinese Laundry, Sydney. 10pm. free. Chardy Marquee, Pyrmont. 10pm. $18.40. El Loco Later - feat: DJs On Rotation Excelsior Hotel, Surry Hills. 10pm. free.

MONDAY OCTOBER 27 CLUB NIGHTS

Crab Racing Scubar, Sydney. 7pm. free. Mashup Monday - feat: Resident DJs Side Bar, Sydney. 8pm. free.

TUESDAY OCTOBER 28 CLUB NIGHTS

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

send your listings to : clubguide@thebrag.com

7:30pm. $67.29. WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 22

Harbour. 2pm. $10. Soul Of Sydney - feat: DJ Adverse + Meem + Phil Toke + Raine Supreme + Paris Groovescooter + El Chino Secret Funk Oasis, Sydney. 1pm. $5. Sunday Sessions - feat: Cadell + Tom Kelly + Ocky Goldfi sh, Kings Cross. 4pm. free. Sunday Spice - feat: Cassian + Junglesnake + Yalerie Yum + Onn The Spice Cellar, Sydney. 9pm. free. Sundays In The City - feat: Various DJs The Slip Inn, Sydney. 12pm. free.

Dave Clarke

Factory Fridays - feat: Resident DJs Soda Factory, Surry Hills. 5pm. free. Feel Good Fridays Bar100, The Rocks. 5pm. free. Frisky Fridays Scubar, Sydney. 5pm. free. Hot Dub Time Machine Enmore Theatre, Newtown. 7pm. $44.80. JJ Duo Ettalong Bowling Club, Ettalong. 8:30pm. free. Loco Friday - feat: Various Live Bands And DJs The Slip Inn, Sydney. 5pm. free. Soul Control 24.10 - feat: Ben Fester + Preacha The Spice Cellar, Sydney. 10pm. $15. Thank Funk It’s Friday The Ranch, Eastwood. 9:30pm. free.

SATURDAY OCTOBER 25 HIP HOP & R&B

Izzy & The Profi t Valve Bar, Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 1pm. $10.

CLUB NIGHTS

Cakes - feat: 4 Rooms Of Live Music + DJs And International Guests World Bar, Kings Cross. 8pm. $10. Dave Clarke + Some Blonde DJ - feat: Methodix + Jesabel + Jaysounds + GG Magree + Fingers + DJ Just 1 + Nightwalkers + Gemellini Chinese Laundry, Sydney. 9pm. $22.60.

THURSDAY OCTOBER 23 Red Bull Music Academy - Feat: Godfather + Simon Caldwell + Typhonic Goodgod Small Club, Sydney. 8pm. Free.

FRIDAY OCTOBER 24 Bassic - Feat: UV Boi + Elk Road + Spenda C + A-Tonez + Hatch + Kyro + Matt Ferrier + Jace Disgrace Chinese Laundry, Sydney. 10pm. Free. Hardy Marquee, Pyrmont. 10pm. $18.40. Hot Dub Time Machine Enmore Theatre, Newtown. 7pm. $44.80. Soul Control 24.10 - Feat: Ben Fester + Preacha The Spice Cellar, Sydney. 10pm. $15.

Lil Jon (DJ Set) Marquee, Pyrmont. 9pm. $25. Pacha Sydney - Feat: We R Scndl + Zac Waters + Natnoiz + Baby Gee + Fingers + Spenda C + Matt Nugent + Jace Disgrace + Nanny Does + Sushi + DJ Just 1 + Kng Lee + A-Game + Dyland Sanders + Stu Turner + Eko + Trent Rackus Ivy Bar/Lounge, Sydney. 6:30pm. $35. Pukka Up Opening Summer Boat Cruise - Feat: Alex Preston + Mark Pellegrini + Social Hooliganz + Kartello + Ben R Howard + Sam Whitmore + Wendell Hoten + Deeafro Lady Rose Boat, King Street Wharf 7, Sydney. 12pm. $40. Spice 10th Birthday - Feat: Murat Kilic + Robbie Lowe + Ant J Steep + Michelle Owen + Cassette + Sam Francisco + Mike Witcombe + Dean Relf The Spice Cellar, Sydney. 10pm. $25.

SUNDAY OCTOBER 26 SATURDAY OCTOBER 25

S.A.S.H Sundays Home Nightclub, Darling Harbour. 2pm. $10.

Dave Clarke + Some Blonde DJ - Feat: Methodix + Jesabel + Jaysounds + GG Magree + Fingers + DJ Just 1 + Nightwalkers + Gemellini Chinese Laundry, Sydney. 9pm. $22.60.

Soul Of Sydney - Feat: DJ Adverse + Meem + Phil Toke + Raine Supreme + Paris Groovescooter + El Chino Secret Funk Oasis, Sydney. 1pm. $5.

thebrag.com

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

snap

up all night out all week . . .

SOULFEST

Victoria Park Saturday October 18 Soulfest was announced months ago with a lineup that had many scoffing. Common! Mos Def? D’Angelo?! As the date drew closer, people were almost waiting for artist cancellations to flow in thick and fast, but nothing. Maybe this was going to work out after all… Ex-flame of D’Angelo and incredible talent in her own right Angie Stone gave everything to her allocated 2pm set time, indicative of the fact that she deserved to be later on in the day. As one of only two women on the lineup of international artists for the day, she made a case for the women in neo-soul with an on-point set including her 2002 banger ‘Wish I Didn’t Miss You’ and the luxe ‘No More Rain (In This Cloud)’. The impending arrival of Yasiin Bey (Mos Def) was getting the crowd buzzing, but we were sideswiped when it was announced that due to “travel issues” he would not be playing. Negativity was flowing through the festival while the spirited local acts on the Spotify stage did their best to revive the vibes. Aloe Blacc was singing and dancing and being the well-dressed do-gooder he is. Unfortunately sound levels were an issue but he did his best to reignite the positivity, getting down to his soul/pop hits ‘I Need A Dollar’, ‘The Man’ and ‘Wake Me Up’. Common emerged next, wearing a Sydney Uni jersey and looking every bit the charming rap icon. Dropping the impossible-to-dislike ‘The People’, Common had us in the palm of his hand and Soulfest’s mojo was back. Going through his hits ‘The Light’ and ‘Blak Majik’ as well as his collaborations with Kanye, Kid Cudi and Nas, Common showed a genuine enthusiasm – even spitting a little freestyle about Australia. Hearing Common say “mate” and “youse” was a massive life tick. D’Angelo, as enigmatic as he is influential, took to the stage smoking a joint and draped in leather a good 15 minutes after he was meant to, resulting in an abridged set. Featuring Pino Palladino on bass (who’s played for Elton John, Nine Inch Nails, Eric Clapton, et cetera) and a healthy band, D’Angelo gave us a glimpse of his inimitable magic. With highlights ‘Left & Right’, his cover of Prince’s ‘She’s Always In My Hair’ and a sexy extended jam of ‘One Mo’ Gin’, the absence of ‘Brown Sugar’ and ‘Feel Like Makin’ Love’ were forgiven. Many were wondering why Maxwell headlined Soulfest over D’Angelo, but after his powerful and joyous set all doubts were quashed. While D’Angelo may be more iconic, Maxwell’s talent and humility won over Sydney. The lynchpin of his set was a cover of Kate Bush’s ‘This Woman’s Work’, a song that made Maxwell himself tear up and the audience hug their better halves a little bit tighter. Soulfest wasn’t without its hiccups, but it had clash-free set times, good food and it was only the notoriously slack Yasiin Bey who failed to show. Soulfest 2015 please! Raf Seneviratne PHOTOGRAPHER :: ASHLEY MAR

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snap

live review

up all night out all week . . .

What we've been out to see... BEYONCÉ DANCE CLASS Goodgod Small Club Wednesday October 15

Following the success of her first Beyoncé dance class for ‘Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)’, dance instructor whiz Amrita Tennant was back with another sassy class on the queen of pop. This time the steps were for the euphoric ‘Love On Top’ from the album 4. It was quite alien walking into a regular 2am Saturday night joint at 8:30pm on a Wednesday, especially when half the crowd were dressed like Xanadu extras. The benefit of having a dance class in a club, however, is the alcohol factor. People grabbed their preferred poison from the bar and started warming up.

redfoo

As we stepped and hopped and fumbled and lip-synced our way through the first verse and chorus, it was cool to see the Goodgod space being used in a different way to what it was normally used for. Perhaps this is a new kind of nightlife? You get to own the dancefloor, listen to good music and you’re in bed by 10:30pm. By the end, everyone was feeling confident with the routine. A great way to break a sweat on a Wednesday – and for a fleeting verse and chorus I think everyone in the room felt a little part of Yoncé rush through their soul. Raf Seneviratne

PICS :: AMT

Learning the routine from the ‘Love On Top’ music video, this beginner’s class was a great way for people to bust an embarrassing move in a safe place before

trying it out this weekend on the D-floor. Tennant was a lot of fun, and had moves that were as great as her voice was terrible. Her patience for a large group of hip hop dance novices was admirable and her enthusiasm was on point.

PICS :: KC

dusty allen

s.a.s.h sundays

18:10:14 :: Play Bar :: 72 Campbell St, Surry Hills 9280 0885 38 :: BRAG :: 585 :: 22:10:14

PICS :: AM

17:10:14 :: Marquee :: The Star Sydney Pyrmont 9657 7737

19:10:14 :: Home :: 101/1-5 Wheat Rd Darling Harbour 9266 0600 MAG NAN :: ASH LEY MAR S :: KATR INA CLA RKE :: AMATH OUR LOV ELY PHO TOG RAP HER

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