20.07.16 Music / Arts / Lifestyle / Culture
Brisbane / Free / Incorporating
“I WANT TO SPREAD MYSELF A LITTLE MORE” FIRST STOP SPLENDOUR
JAMES
BL A K E more splendour with JACK GARRATT SPRING KING BEACH SLANG
Issue
122
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THE MUSIC 20TH JULY 2016 • 3
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THE MUSIC 20TH JULY 2016 • 5
Lifestyle Music / Arts / Lifestyle / Culture
Bels Are Ringing
After postponing a national tour in support of their latest LP Synthia earlier this year due to illness, Sydney outfit The Jezabels have today announced rescheduled dates that will see them perform headline shows throughout October.
The Jezabels
Poncho Weather NSW-based soul/hip hop artist PON CHO continues to keep the ball rolling from last month’s New World Artists signing by unveiling a run of headline dates around the country throughout August and September.
23 The number of Emmy nominations that Game Of Thrones received, the highest for a TV show this year.
Team Players Canada’s premier pop-punks Simple Plan are heading to Australia this September. The band have a new album to showcase called Taking One For The Team and will be hitting the bitumen for three east coast shows.
6 • THE MUSIC • 20TH JULY 2016
Simple Plan
e / Cultu Music / Arts / Lifestyle / Culture
Space Riggs
Melburnian quartet The Delta Riggs have unveiled plans to release their third fulllength Active Galactic this August, as well as ploughing full steam into a massive 20-date tour in support of the new record come September.
The Delta Riggs
TUE 16 AUG
Pon Cho
On-Fleek
KLP
PIERCE THE VEIL
FRI 26 AUG
HIGH SCHOOL REUNION
Roadshow
SAT 3 SEPT 90ÊS MANIA
Multi-talented musician and triple j host KLP is dusting off her acclaimed 2015 KLParty DJ roadshow for an extensive follow-up run of 17 stages all around Australia this and next month.
WED 14 SEPT
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18 & 19 NOV ARJ BARKER
BoJack Horseman
Mullum Music Festival A Series Of Closing Doors Everyone’s favourite dysfunctional, sad, washed up, fictional cartoon horse BoJack Horseman (Will Arnett) returns for Season Three on Netflix on 22 Jul.
Applications for the ninth installment of the Mullum Music Festival are now open. Prospective performers have until 29 Apr to throw their hats in the arena for the beloved November event.
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THE MUSIC 20TH JULY 2016 • 7
Music / Music / Arts / Lifestyle / Culture
No ReGretzky
Hockey Dad’s debut album Boronia is hitting the public sphere in early August and the two besties have announced a sixdate national tour throughout September and October in support of the release.
Hockey Dad
Woodlock
Woodlock, Stock, Three Smoking Barrels Melbourne trio Woodlock, who recently performed at Nannup Festivl and supported Elle King, have announced The Only Ones tour, a three-date run down the east coast in support of their latest single.
1 Not only the position The Avalanches landed on the ARIA album chart, but also the number of #1 albums the group has ever had. Yep, despite the hype, Since I Left You never scaled to the top.
8 • THE MUSIC • 20TH JULY 2016
These Dark Satanic Hills West Australian blues/country/swamprock troupe The Kill Devil Hills have announced a stretch of August tour dates around the nation in honour of their recently released fourth studio full-length, In On Under Near Water.
The Kill Devil Hills
Arts / Li Music / Arts / Lifestyle / Culture
Frenzal Rhomb
Songs By Request
Sydney punk rockers Frenzal Rhomb are raising their pints to a quarter of a century in the job this year and they’ve planned a helluva party when they head out on tour this September.
L-FRESH The LION
Fresh / Fierce Hot on the heels of his broadly acclaimed new fulllength, Become, venerated Australian rapper L-FRESH The LION has announced an extensive run of shows all around the country in support of the record this August and September.
Gunn On The Run
Moses Gunn Collective
Brisbane’s Moses Gunn Collective have released Dream Girls, the first single from their second album which is due out early 2017. The band have also announced east coast tour dates to support the release in August.
THE MUSIC 20TH JULY 2016 • 9
Lifestyle Music / Arts / Lifestyle / Culture
The Levellers
Lay Of The Land
Brighton-bred folk-rockers The Levellers are heading Down Under this October to tour their seminal second record, Leveling The Land, giving the time and focus it deserves a quarter-century after the fact.
Sun’s Out Caravana Sun are ramping up towards the September release of their third studio full-length, Guerrilla Club, by releasing new single Open Up and announcing a September/October tour concluding at Granite Town Festival.
There are two types of good songs 1. Songs about Satan 2. Everybody’s Workin’ For The Weekend @DBAnthony
Q The Music
Bleach Girls
Grammy-nominated rapper ScHoolboy Q has announced he’ll be heading to Australian shores once again this year, both for an appearance on Newcastle’s This That Festival and also for a huge headline tour in November.
Schoolboy Q
10 • THE MUSIC • 20TH JULY 2016
e / Cultu Music / Arts / Lifestyle / Culture
Count Down
Falling In Reverse
Post-hardcore act Falling In Reverse have announced they’ll be heading our way for a tour this October, having dropped their latest record Just Like You last year. The Count Rockula tour will hit Perth, Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney.
RELEASE WATCH
Here’s a wrap of who’s just announced a new release:
Alex Lahey has announced her debut record B-Grade University out 29 Jul via her own label Nicky Boy Records in conjunction with Caroline.
Need 4 Tweed Tweed Valley Country Roots Festival has released a massive line-up. Kasey Chambers, Tim Rogers, Tex Perkins, Vika & Linda Bull – all up 16 of Australia’s best country roots acts are coming together in October
Beach Slang are dropping their second album A Loud Bash Of Teenage Feelings on 23 Sep via Cooking Vinyl. Jagwar Ma are back with their second album Every Now & Then, set for release Oct via Future Classic. AlunaGeorge have announced album number two I Remember is out 16 Sep via Interscope/Universal.
Kasey Chambers
Banks is dropping her second record Goddess on 30 Sep via EMI. Banks
Gypsy & The Cat
MIA had a post on her website that ended with the phrase “A.I.M 9/9”, which as it turns out meant her new album A.I.M will drop 9 Sep.
Caravana Sun
Of Montreal will drop their 14th LP Innocence Reaches on 12 Aug through Creative/Control. Agnes Obel will release her new album Citizen Of Glass on 21 October 2016 via Play It Again Sam/[PIAS].
Double Shaka The Gold Coast’s newest street festival, Shakafest, has released its second line-up announcement. Seven acts have joined the bill including Planet, Jurassic Nark, Lotus Ship, Trapdoor, Bleach Girls, Radolescent and the GD FRNDS DJs.
Virtual Gypsies Electro-poppers Gypsy & The Cat have announced a five-date national tour in September and October. Kicking off in Threbo, the tour supports their upcoming third album Virtual Islands.
NY’s The Frightnrs will release their debut LP Nothing More To Say on 2 September on Daptone Records via MGM.
THE MUSIC 20TH JULY 2016 • 11
Music
BLAKE’S DISCONNECTION International game-changer James Blake - who routinely avoids press - opens up to Cyclone about his very human struggles and vulnerabilities.
J
ames Blake may have emerged from the UK’s electronic music underground, but today he’s one of the game-changers in R&B and hip hop. Kanye West has declared Blake his favourite artist. And the avant-soul auteur contributed to Beyonce’s Lemonade. But it hasn’t all been rosy. Following 2013’s Mercury Prize-winning Overgrown, Blake experienced a creative block induced by anxiety. His latest album, The Colour In Anything, is about him surmounting it. The North Londoner was born James Blake Litherland, being named after his father - a member of the cult prog-rock band Colosseum. An only child enamoured of the piano, Blake attended music college. Meanwhile, he discovered clubs - and dubstep. Now a bedroom producer, he circulated 2009’s Air & Lack Thereof. However, Blake, his sensibilities expansive, would transform into a new kind of postdubstep balladeer on airing that otherworldly cover of Feist’s Limit To Your Love. In 2011 Blake’s eponymous debut, on Universal, saw him apply dramatic - and disruptive - production techniques to a hybrid of melancholy R&B, soul and gospel. (Some facetiously classified it as ‘blubstep’.) Refining his songcraft, Blake next presented Overgrown, intimately chronicling his ill-fated first epic romance, with Warpaint’s Theresa Wayman, across the Atlantic. Blake reached out to Brian Eno as mentor, the ambient pioneer co-producing the clubby escapade Digital Lion. His stature growing Stateside, Blake received a Grammy nod for Best New Artist. The Colour In Anything, initially entitled Radio Silence, has been designated Blake’s coming-of-age record - its artwork ironically by (the unrelated) Quentin Blake, children’s illustrator.
There were so many things in my life that weren’t right and I needed to sort them all out, and, instead of sorting them all out and confronting everything... I buried my head a little bit.
12 • THE MUSIC • 20TH JULY 2016
Blake has said that, listening back to his old songs, he was struck by their unhappiness, indicating that this wasn’t apparent as he continued to play them live. “Mmm, yeah, true,” Blake considers. “I hadn’t thought of that. I don’t think that I always connect with the original headspace I was in when I perform a song. I think that I connect with the lyrics and the musicality of the song.” Yet, distressingly for a prolific artist, Blake found himself in stasis. The reserved producer silently struggled with the scrutiny of success. Blake’s anxiety, and isolation, was compounded by his insistence on autonomy and control. Seeking resolution he eventually sought the guidance of Rick Rubin, travelling to California. In the studio he also partnered with old ally Justin Vernon of Bon Iver and, astonishingly, US soulster Frank Ocean. Consequently, The Colour In Anything is Blake’s most collaborative project. In fact, he’s credited his new mystery girlfriend (reputedly presenter/model Jameela Jamil) with challenging him to switch things up - and let go. “There were so many things in my life that weren’t right and I needed to sort them all out, and, instead of sorting them all out and confronting everything that I needed to change, I buried my head a little bit. It took somebody very strong to walk in and show me that changes were possible to be made - and that they should. So I made those changes and I feel a lot happier now.” Blake had been unable to appreciate his achievements. “When I talk about The Colour In Anything - that song is about somebody else, actually. It’s not about me, but it’s about depression and how the colour can be drained out of the world in front of you and how it can make you disengage with things that you would otherwise have enjoyed. You can feel disconnected - almost as if you’re looking at somebody else living a life that other people would describe as a great life, or a shit life,” he laughs, “However you look at it. I am very, very lucky as a person - I’m incredibly lucky. At the time, I technically had everything, in a lot of ways. [But] I felt disconnected and I felt like I wasn’t able to enjoy it - because of pressure, because of anxiety, because of all sorts of things.” The theme of The Colour In Anything is that self-negotiation. “Loads of tracks on that record came through those breakthroughs and those changes and those reconnections with the life I actually want - and, then, it’s not the life I want, it’s the headspace I want.” Blake pens poetic lyrics - and The Colour In Anything’s have garnered particular attention, the title of Modern Soul, the lead single, a subversive misdirection. He admits to journaling, “but in a very 2016 fashion”. “I keep it on TextEdit or notes or whatever on my iPhone.” But Blake’s sonic influence on urban and pop is profound. This year’s breakout
ON TO SPLENDOUR
electro-soulsters Jack Garratt and Lapsley, Splendour co-headliners, are indebted to him - as is Lorde. He surely has his own “biters”. Blake is amused to hear that he’s inspired an adjective - ‘Blakeian’. Impressively, David Bowie’s Blackstar has a Blakeian aesthetic. Could the late Starman have been put onto Blake by his ‘70s cohort Eno? “I heard that he’d maybe heard of me,” Blake says. “That would be intensely flattering, if that was the case... I love that album.” Still, Blake downplays his impact on the current generation. “I’m not really sure what it is about my sound someone would be taking a cue from - there’s a lot of music that sounds a little bit like my music nowadays... They might just be copying each other!” Blake has identified Ocean as pivotal to The Colour In Anything, the pair co-writing My Willing Heart. “I just have learnt a lot from him as a son songwriter. To be honest, I actually could have stud studied his records from afar and probably similar, but seeing the way he obably learnt sim connects with songwri songwriting, and how important it is to him, made it incredi incredibly important to me.” Blake is supposedly heavily heav involved in Ocean’s forthcoming second a album Boys Don’t Cry. “I can’t really go into any de detail,” he demurs. Happily, Blake is freer to discuss his face-to-face exchanges with Beyonce. Notably for Lemonade he co-wrote, co-produced and
duetted on the transient Forward. In the accompanying film, it becomes a powerful memorial to young black male victims of police brutality. Blake speaks of Beyonce as a writer when the common assumption is that major (female) stars are remote from the creative process. “I always try to stress the importance of stuff like that ‘cause I feel that women especially in music - I mean, I’m sure it extends to most areas of life - get discredited by men for work that they have done, and for work that they very often can’t prove that they’ve done. It’s not really easy when you look at the writing splits on a record to determine who did what. And looking at the credits on a record doesn’t give you an insight into the recording process, beyond publishing splits and whatever.” Beyonce, Blake extols, is “on a totally different level where she’s in control of absolutely everything”. “But,” he adds, sounding worried, “maybe it’s not for me to speak on this issue at all, because I don’t know what it’s like...” Blake is sanguine about the future. He’s long pursued side activities - DJing, holding a BBC Radio 1 residency, and co-running the party-cum-label collective 1-800 Dinosaur. Recently, Blake has cut beats for cred Californian rapper Vince Staples. “I want to spread myself a little more and collaborate a little more. I think that that is really good for me as a person - it’s really social and it keeps me ticking.”
When & Where: 24 Jul, Splendour In The Grass, North Byron Parklands
James Blake is bound for Splendour In The Grass fresh from Glastonbury where, bolstered by regular guitarist Rob “Airhead” McAndrews and drummer Ben Assiter - he performed the West Holts Stage at the same time as Adele over on the Pyramid Stage. Blake’s secret weapon? He brought along Vince Staples to rap on The Colour In Anything’s tech-house banger Timeless (once set to feature Kanye West on record). Though Blake has twice hit Splendour before (not to mention the Sydney Opera House), this tour he’ll head his biggest ever sideshows in arenas. Supporting is Mark Pritchard, the expat Brit veteran DJ/ producer down with Warp. Coincidentally, Pritchard has previously collaborated with London grime MC Trim - who’s due to drop the first ‘artist’ album on Blake’s 1-800 Dinosaur.Blake can now draw on an album trilogy (and several clubbier EPs) for shows, but he’s looking forward to playing songs from The Colour In Anything. “I think it will revolve around the new record - I wanna play mostly that,” Blake says. “We’ll play a couple of old things that we feel like people might wanna hear as well.” At Glasto Blake revisited his Feist cover, Limit To Your Love, and Retrograde. Regardless, Blake’s shows are mythic. “I think we’re getting better all the time and my voice feels a lot stronger - and that comes purely through practice and through just playing a lot and also three years of recording constantly.”
THE MUSIC 20TH JULY 2016 • 13
Music
Is It Now? Midnight Oil mainstay Peter Garrett has returned from a political tour of duty to unveil his first solo album A Version Of Now, and he tells Steve Bell why he’s back with head held high.
A
s frontman for world-respected rock activists Midnight Oil Peter Garrett spent a quarter of a century trying to make people think and dance in roughly equal measure, before deciding to put his money where his mouth is and attempt to facilitate actual change in the political sphere. Eventually after a tumultuous decade spent as an MP for the ALP - including two separate high profile ministerial portfolios - Garrett left the cutthroat world of party politics and inevitably returned to his first love: music. Once he started flexing his creative muscles again to
A natural part of my life was to find places where I could throw my shoulder against the door.
pen 2015 memoir Big Blue Sky the songs began flowing naturally, and Garrett immediately knew that this batch of music would be best suited to his debut solo album, A Version Of Now, rather then being left for next year’s highly anticipated Midnight Oil reunion. “It seemed that they were very personal reflections that were happening to float around and I cradled them a little but tenderly to begin with and thought, ‘Well, let’s hold that as something which was pretty [much] just me just peeling back a layer of skin and sharing it,’” the singer reflects. “[Midnight Oil guitarist] Martin [Rotsey] came and played on it, and that was very cool because obviously we’ve played together for a very long time. And then just pulling other people together and getting 14 • THE MUSIC • 20TH JULY 2016
in and doing it, it never really felt like it should have been a holdover.” Once the songs began flowing it was like getting back on the metaphorical bike, the words and music often arriving together like a gift from above. “I had a couple of scratch lyrics - and I had a couple of songs as lyrics which I’d put at the front and back end of my memoir - and Kangaroo Tail I’d mucked around with a little bit but it was almost like a folk song, so I’d let it go,” Garrett recalls. “And with I’d Do It Again all I knew was that I had a bunch of words but I didn’t know what the tune would be. So I really started with those and another one that I wrote, Only One - it was almost like closing my eyes and seeing where my fingers ended up. “And guitar playing’s not my strong suit - I’m the original hack with a capital ‘H’ - but I kinda just found my way to things that I felt made me feel like this quiver of intense excitement in the fact that there was a note, a song, a word, and then I just kept on wrestling with it and going with them. “I did a bit of music throughout the [1981 Midnight Oil album Place Without A] Postcard era, but there’s [guitarist] Jim Moginie in the band and Rob [Hirst, drums] so there’s never any shortage of music, so basically I had other roles there - lyrics obviously and other bits and pieces - but I’ll always chime in if I think something musically needs to go in a certain direction. In this case I was starting from very much a blank page, so I thought the simpler the better and let’s just try and do justice to the idea and not overthink it.” A Version Of Now’s lyrics are requisitely thoughtprovoking, none more so than I’d Do It Again which forthrightly addresses his stint in the political arena. “I think there’s a lot of misconception about firstly politics generally - there’s a lot of suspicion and mistrust and people are often disappointed,” Garrett reflects. “And sometimes rightly - I’d strongly emphasise that there’s plenty of good reasons for people to be disappointed - but in many ways a natural part of my life was to find places where I could throw my shoulder against the door, and that happened to be one of them so of course I did. “I really made a decision while I was there to not spend too much time just simply responding to attacks and a universe full of pundits and social media commentators and critics and everyone else, because you could spend your whole life doing it and you wouldn’t get any work done. So I really just wanted to get the work done as best as possible, but it was obvious to me talking to people that they didn’t quite understand why I’d done it or really what had happened, so here was a chance to essentially just lay down my own thing and try to correct some misconceptions.”
What: A Version Of Now (Sony) When & Where: 29 Jul, The Tivoli; 30 Jul, Solbar, Maroochydore
Film
A Farting Human Jet Ski Paul Dano neither confirms nor denies to Hannah Story that Daniel Radcliffe in Swiss Army Man could fart on command.
“I
sort of don’t want to perpetuate a rumour that he can. Are you making a joke or is that out there? Because I tried to start that rumour.” The rumour is that Daniel Radcliffe, as Manny in Swiss Army Man, can fart on command. “I said that joking, I sort of said that deadpan jokingly in a few interviews now, so I’ll, yeah...” Is it true? “I can’t answer that... Shit. It’s funny,” Dano laughs. Paul Dano has retreated inside after playing a game of basketball on a “beautiful” evening in New York. He’s about to cook dinner with his girlfriend, Zoe Kazan, his Ruby Sparks co-star, but takes time out to talk to The
There was a boogie board and then Daniel Radcliffe laying on top of the boogie board, me straddling him, and then a speedboat pulling us.
Music about the DANIELS’ “farting corpse movie”, Swiss Army Man, which premiered earlier this year at Sundance. But the film is more than just an hour-and-a-half fart joke. Dano plays Hank, a desperate man marooned on an island. Just as Hank is about to commit suicide, having given up hope of rescue, a very flatulent corpse, who Hank later dubs Manny, washes up on the shore. The magical corpse becomes both a tool and companion for Hank as he journeys home, Hank teaching the speaking, singing, and still farting corpse the facts of life, and learning a few things himself. “What the directors said to me that really resonated was that they wanted to make a film where the first fart makes you laugh and the last fart makes you cry,” Dano says. “What I got from [the film] myself was, y’know I think being in the woods and playing make-believe
and singing this sort of beautiful music, and really abandoning yourself to absurdity, and risking a lot, and putting yourself out there emotionally as well, I felt like I was very in touch with a young part of myself. “I like that the film addresses things that we all do but somehow hide. There’s so many parts of ourselves that we hide in life and in the world. I’m not sure that always make sense and it certainly doesn’t to a kid. So when they ask — like a Manny — why would you not do that, it’s very hard to explain. And the answer’s not always good. We’re all still learning to always be ourselves, and I think that’s a good thing.” Swiss Army Man is Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert’s — collectively DANIELS — first feature-length film, the pair known for creating the video clip for DJ Snake and Lil Jon’s Turn Down For What, as well as for their innovative short film collaborations. “I was a fan of the Daniels already,” says Dano. “And I had actually, the first time I saw their music video of Turn Down For What I thought ‘Whatever juice those guys are drinking, I want some,’ and I watched everything I could find of theirs online.” Dano noticed that Kwan and Scheinert were working at the Sundance Institute’s Directors and Screenwriters Labs — and coincidentally about a week later was sent the Swiss Army Man script. “I think I knew on like page two or three when my character rides the dead body like a farting human jet ski across the ocean that I was going to do it, because I thought that image alone was so funny and absurd, which made it kind of beautiful as well. It was something that was like the kind of thing I wanted to tell people about.” The farting human jet ski scene ended up being one of Dano’s favourites to film: “When we got to that scene, which was the third week of our shoot, that was a culmination of something. I was so excited by that, it was like just an image in my mind and it couldn’t have been more fun to film. There was a boogie board and then Daniel Radcliffe laying on top of the boogie board, me straddling him, and then a speedboat pulling us. And singing at the top of my lungs.” And that’s only the beginning of the intimacy shared between Radcliffe and Dano. Both Dano and his girlfriend Kazan have now kissed Radcliffe, Kazan playing opposite Radcliffe in romcom What If. And Dano has kissed Radcliffe’s girlfriend Erin Darke, in Brian Wilson biopic Love & Mercy. When asked about working alongside Radcliffe, Dano describes every day working on the film as “crossing a new barrier of intimacy”. “After talking for about an hour, he was like ‘Do you wanna put your hands in my mouth? Should we start sort of like getting used to this kind of stuff?’ And I was like ‘Yeah, well, y’know, I think we can wait a little bit.’ He was ready to go. It was super intimate. Obviously I spent five weeks carrying him around. He’s a joy to work with. He’s balls out and committed and super sweet... Every day was something. The grossest thing to me was when there’s water coming out of his mouth into a cup and I had to drink it. We had this hose rigged up that went around his ear and into his
What: Swiss Army Man THE MUSIC 20TH JULY 2016 • 15
Credits Publisher Street Press Australia Pty Ltd Group Managing Editor Andrew Mast National Editor – Magazines Mark Neilsen
Music
Gold Record
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16 • THE MUSIC • 20TH JULY 2016
It almost didn’t turn out at all, but Hollie Smith’s new album is some of her best work, writes Samuel J Fell.
O
ver the past decade, Hollie Smith has proven herself one of New Zealand’s most prolific, and successful, artists. Releasing her debut album, Long Player, in 2007, Smith has continued to hit the high bar that record set, regularly appearing in the Top Ten album charts under her own name, and in collaboration with the likes of Mara TK (Band Of Brothers Vol 1, 2011) and Anika Moa and Boh Runga (Anika, Boh & Hollie, Peace Of Mind, 2013). It’s back under her own name that we see her now however, with latest release Water Or Gold, which comes a good six years after her second ‘solo’ record, Humour And The Misfortune Of Others. It’s an album that carries with it Smith’s sonic MO, a very jazz/ nu-soul sound, but with an added blues and rock twist this time around, something Smith has been looking at for some time. “I was writing a lot on guitar for this record, and I haven’t really played guitar since I was a kid,” she says on how the blues influence came about. “My dad was a guitarist and I’ve been around blues/rock music my whole life, it was the first influence I grew up on. I’d picked up the guitar for the Anika, Boh & Hollie record, and that just extended through to what I was writing... in doing that, [the title track] and Lead The Way, I was writing with riffs.
“And the chords were a lot more simple, because I’m not as established on guitar. So I think some of the songs are simpler, in a good way... when I play on piano, I tend to get really carried away with voicings and noises and sounds. [That leads to a bit more] of a jazzier tangent, but I did enjoy this, I just wanted to have a bit more of a rockout on stage as well. A couple of songs where I could get dirty on, so I think it’s worked out really well.” It has indeed, the harder more bluesbased tracks adding a strength to the record. Not that the rest of it is weak — Smith’s voice is on point throughout, as strong and versatile as it’s always been; Water Or Gold is some of her best work, despite the fact Smith wasn’t sure, initially, how it would all turn out. “I kept going through the reference stuff, some Black Keys stuff, some Alabama Shakes stuff, and then that reference stuff got wider and wider and wider,” she laughs. “I was trying to establish a mood, but it didn’t feel like it was going anywhere close to what I thought it was going to sound like. “Then a bunch of stuff happened halfway through the year that just got crazy and I got quite disconnected with the progress of the record. So by the end, it was just a massive sprint to the finish — I didn’t think I was going to have anything I liked at all, but I was refusing to quit. I just need to finish it! But evidently, that could’ve been the best thing I did, because I just didn’t have time to overthink anything. And so by the time we went in to mix, it’d all come together. So luckily it all turned out all right.”
What: Water Or Gold (Independent) When & Where: 31 Jul, Black Bear Lodge
JULY 21ST
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NOWHERE TO RUN #10 (FREE ENTRY) JULY 23RD
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BIG DEAD EP LAUNCH JULY 29TH
MAJELLA JULY 30TH
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SUNDAY CRUDDY SUNDAY (FREE ENTRY) WWW.THEFOUNDRY.NET.AU THEFOUNDRY.OZTIX.COM.AU 228 WICKHAM STREET, FORTITUDE VALLEY
PRODUCERS THE CLU STIVALS THE GROUP HE TOURS THE FANS THE BLOGS THE ENC THE CLUBS THE REM OUPIES THE ALBUM NDUSTRY THE LOCAL CALS THE BLOGS TH RODUCERS THE CLU TIVALS THE GROUPI THE BLOGS THE ENCO THE CLUBS THE REM OUPIES THE ALBUMS DUSTRY THE LOCALS STRY THE LOCALS TH S THE PRODUCERS TH THE MUSIC 20TH JULY 2016 • 17
Theatre
Frontlash A Splendid Use Of Your Time It’s here again – The Music is off to Splendour In The Grass for another year, so be sure to check our website all this weekend for regular updates from the festival.
Destroy The Audience
In Cog We Trust The veteran Aussie prog-rockers proved they’re as vital as ever at an absolute blinder of a show last week. Plus Broods, The Bennies and more in our Live section!
Straight White Men. Pic: Kate Pardey
Lashes
The Revival Is Real... Say what you will about Pokemon GO, but there’s no denying that being a PokeStop is about as big a boon as a small business could ask for right now. If you own a cafe or venue, capitalise on that shit.
Pokemon GO
Backlash
...But So Are The Risks If you’re a PoGO fan, please heed the giant warning when the game boots up that tells you to be aware of your surroundings.
Crushed Like A Bug So, the Beetle Bar is apparently no more. The circumstances of its closure are entwined in legal red tape so nobody’s saying much of anything, but it’s a huge blow to our city’s live scene. ‘
Drink Your Tears The Ghostbusters reboot is actually good. Time to accept it, boys.
18 • THE MUSIC • 20TH JULY 2016
Kim ‘Busty Beatz’ Bowers tells Dave Drayton about the power of inverting the gaze of Straight White Men.
I
n January of this year Kim Bowers was selected as an Artist In Residence at La Boite in 2016, offering the opportunity to work alongside fellow residents like Michelle Law, and with Artistic Director Todd MacDonald and Creative Producer Glyn Roberts. Having heard about the “moving and shaking” Young Jean Lee’s Straight White Men was doing in the States, and hearing whispers of a local production soon after her appointment, Bowers wasted no time in expressing her interest in the project. “I have quite an affiliation with Young Jean Lee and the work that she does, and most of her plays she has done all herself with her own theatre company, so I put my hand up straight away. The whole idea for her theatre company, the mission statement, I suppose, is Destroy The Audience, which is a really exciting idea for me. It’s really exciting to be working on a play by a woman of colour, especially about straight white men, you never see that perspective, it’s a totally different gaze.” Once arriving from South Africa, Bowers got her foot in Australian music’s door with her high school band Spdfgh. Later, alongside her sister Candy, Bowers founded Black Honey Company, a ‘production house and cultural consultancy team that collaborate on and create fearless sticky performance.’ Noting the parallels between her own and Lee’s artistic practices Bowers
gushes: “It was a perfect match! “It’s really interesting in this day and age that there’s still no discussion, or the discussions about the identity of whiteness are so false, because people don’t really like talking about that and what that means culturally as well as politically.” Imagine if Stuff White People Like had been written by one of the most daring playwrights working today, an Asian-American woman named Young Jean Lee. This is comedy that isn’t scared to question cultural privilege, not just chuckle at it. “As a woman of colour, every day is like an assault. You hear and see so much of these huge amounts of stereotyping and huge amounts of questioning of black women in society, and it’s almost like a default for white men to have to have that same assault, but it’s starting to happen, there’s talk about what whiteness is and how it effects everything we do.” Lee’s play is part of that conversation. The co-production between State Theatre Company of Adelaide and La Boite will be directed by Nescha Jelk, whose feminist politics Bowers highlights, alongside the contributions of Alexis West, a Birri Gubba woman who plays a stagehand that delivers the curtain speech in the play. “To have an Indigenous woman, both of us in the room to actually talk through the play, to have us in the room, and Nescha being a female and a feminist as the director of a play that, in a very interesting way has been set in a very conservative canon, is necessary. Necessary on all shows!” Bowers clarifies with a hearty laugh. “But it’s great to be on something so specific.”
What: Straight White Men When & Where: 27 Jul — 13 Aug, Roundhouse Theatre
Comedy
No Regrets
Comedian Maz Jobrani is a bona fide jack of all trades, and he tells Steve Bell that it’s all about chasing your dreams.
F
unnyman Maz Jobrani first made his name as part of The Axis Of Evil Comedy Tour before venturing solo into the stand-up comedy realms. He also possesses an extensive acting resume, is a published author and recently wrote, produced and starred in his debut feature film (the well-received Jimmy Vestvood: Amerikan Hero) — a pretty incredible effort for someone of humble Iranian-American immigrant stock. “My first challenge coming from an immigrant background is that immigrant parents don’t want their children to be comedians — they want their children to be lawyers and doctors and engineers,” Jobrani laughs. “There was many years of back and forth with my family until I finally realised that I’ve got to live my life for myself and not for my parents. “But once I got into it was actually a beautiful thing because I was in my mid20s — I started late for a comedian — and I realised that you live one life so you’ve gotta do what you love doing. So I enrolled in some improv acting classes and I ended up taking a stand-up comedy class, and one of the first things they told us was ‘you’ve got to get onstage as much as you can and write as much as you can’. So I took that to heart and I’d just show up wherever, and I’d make sure that the circumstances were stacked
against me and I’d just get on stage and make myself get through it.” That’s a rather inspiring worldview for someone ostensibly just trying to make people laugh. “I wrote a book called I’m Not A Terrorist But I’ve Played One On TV and I really tried to drive that point home, I said, ‘You only live once, follow your dreams,’” he continues. “I always say that you’re inspired by greatness and you’re inspired by mediocrity. I remember when I was in college before I decided to pursue this professionally I saw two comedians in a stand-up comedy competition and they were really bad, and I thought, ‘You know what? Next time there’s a competition I’m gonna do it!’ So I was inspired by mediocrity and just went for it. Life’s too short, man. We always say, ‘I’m going to do something tomorrow, I’m going to do it tomorrow’, then you wake up and you’re ten years older and you never got to doing it. So just do it.” A lot of Jobrani’s routines deal with subverting stereotypes, does he feel that popular culture can help affect change? “Yeah I definitely think so,” he reflects. “I grew up in America so I grew up watching a lot of the American comedians, and I think that my first goal as a comedian is just to be funny, but if there’s some sort of message underneath that comes with it then I think that’s kinda icing on the top. So if you look at somebody like Richard Pryor and what he did for black people in America, or you look at Cheech & Chong and what they’ve done for Latinos, I think it really helps to bring the foreign culture into the mainstream.”
When & Where: 24 Jul, Powerhouse Theatre, Brisbane Powerhouse
BEST EMMYS Game Of Thrones
EVER? This year’s Emmy nominations – the annual US TV awards – have been dubbed the “Best Ever” by esteemed industry media outlet THR. And, LA Times celebrated the nominations’ diversity in contrast to the whitewash of this year’s Oscar noms. Why so good?
Cable and Streaming Once dominated by generic network TV, this year’s noms see the US broadcast networks outflanked by HBO, Netflix and the FX cable channels. Leading the charge are Game Of Thrones (HBO, 23 noms), The People V OJ Simpson (FX, 22 noms), Fargo (FX, 18 noms), Veep (HBO, 17 noms).
Ben Mendelsohn The Aus actor has scored an Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Drama Series nom for Bloodline (Netflix). However, he’s up against GOT’s Peter Dinklage and Kit Harrington.
Pleasant Surprises Outweigh The Snubs Bad: this year the Best Talk Show category is dominated by white guys while industry faves like OITNB, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and The Good Wife are MIA. Plus side: unexpected noms flooded in for Silicon Valley, Better Call Saul, Mr Robot, Penny Dreadful and Master Of None – shows that are definitely not Modern Family or Law & Order.
THE MUSIC 20TH JULY 2016 • 19
In Focus The Official
Splendour In The Grass Pre-Par ty
To get you in the mood for the festival, the Brisbane edition of the pre-party for Splendour In The Grass on 21 Jul takes place at The Triffid, with a line up to rival the main stage itself. Catch Years & Years, Lido, Moonbase Commander and Twinsy at this version of the traditional Byron Bay pre-party (which, for those who find themselves in Bryon on the same day is also taking part at The Northern as per usual). 20 • THE MUSIC • 20TH JULY 2016
at
VINYL, CDs AND SIGNINGS THROUGHOUT THE FESTIVAL! DMAs
FRIDAY 1:30pm
SPRING KING
SATURDAY
Alex Lahey
2.30pm
2.15pm
The Wild Feathers
3.15pm
Hermitude
2.45pm
Violent Soho (pre-show)
3.40pm
Urthboy
4:00pm
4.30pm
DMAs
5.15pm
Robert Forster
6:00pm
Band Of Horses (pre-show)
Ball Park Music (pre-order CD/ LP get signed slick and polaroid with band)
7:00pm
Emma Louise (pre-order LP get bonus poster to get signed)
Harts
4.45pm
Boo Seeka
5.15pm
Spring King
5.45pm
Kim Churchill
MARLON WILLIAMS
SUNDAY 2.45pm
The Jungle Giants
3.15pm
Melbourne Ska Orchestra
4.15pm
Little May
4.45pm
City Calm Down
5.30pm
Marlon Williams
7.30pmish TBC
Jake Bugg
* Times/bands may change so check daily announcements on Sonic Sherpa Facebook or the Daily Splendour onsite newspaper
* I Oh You sale campaign, $20 per unit or 2 for $30 on marked titles and EPs starting at $5
* Gang Of Youths CD/LP pre-orders available, all pre-order prices include postage
* We will hold purchases until COB Sunday or post them for a fee
21 • THE MUSIC • 20TH JULY 2016
Splendour In The Grass
I
S T I B A H G U R D Fat White Family’s lead guitarist Saul Adamczewski tells Bryget Chrisfield he can’t understand why crystal meth hasn’t “taken off” in England when “you can buy all the stuff you need to make it over the counter”.
“T
his is Saul, I’m gonna do the interview.” But we were allotted time with the band’s vocalist Lias Saudi? “Well I’m sorry; you’re just going to have to interview me instead... I write the music as well; it’s my band as well, you know?” Fat White Family’s lead guitarist Saul Adamczewski is in Paris at the time of our chat and, when not touring, he divides his time between the City Of Love, New York and “[his] mum’s sofa in South London”. Although he’s “really proud of the record” Songs For Our Mothers, Adamczewski admits “there are parts of that album that, like, I regret”. “There was certain points where I was just being really belligerent in the studio,” Adamczewski recalls, adding, “[I like to] see how far I can go with my friends, and just to see what I can get away with”. Adamczewski speaks in a slurred fashion. He also seems fascinated by word usage: “Funky? Man, I’ve never heard anyone use the word ‘funky’ for a long time”; “Oh, man, I love that expression ‘shithouse’”. Severin Black, Fat White Family’s drummer, actually lived in Melbourne “for a year just before he came back to join [the] band”. “I hear the music scene’s great over there,” Adamczewski commends. But he wants to clarify something: “I just hear the drugs are very expensive over there. Are you going to say crystal meth is cheap? Is that what you were going to say?” Well, we do have an Ice Epidemic over here. “We don’t have it in England at all,” he states. Why’s that? “Do you know what? I have no idea. I’ve really thought about it, because — I mean, it does exist in England, but in a very weird
22 • THE MUSIC • 20TH JULY 2016
way: the only people who take it are these kind of like very rich, in the kinda upper echelons of the drug scene — [it’s] the older kind of druggies that take crystal meth... There’s no tweakers. It’s weird.” When told crystal meth is a gutter drug in this country, Adamczewski continues, “I know, yeah, and you see it everywhere in America. I mean, it’s a fucking devastating drug; it’s as bad as crack or heroin, isn’t it? I really don’t know why it hasn’t taken off in England, because you can also buy all the stuff you need to make it over the counter in England, which you can’t [do] in other countries. All my Australian friends are like, ‘Wow, man, you guys should fucking like buy this shit, you know?’ You can make it here, but no one does it.” Could this be because cocaine is so cheap in England? “Yeah, coke is cheap and shit in England, and people like it cheap and shit.” When asked whether he thinks those who indulge feel fancy when they take cocaine, Adamczewski offers, “I mean some do. I don’t because I know that my coke costs, like, 40 pounds and is mostly made up of, like, stuff that they give to babies who are having teething problems.”
When & Where: 22 Jul, Splendour In The Grass, North Byron Parklands
R O V I V R U S SEATTLE’S Ahead of their return to Australia, frontman of the Mark Lanegan Band tells Tom Hersey how finding joy in sad songs and always looking ahead helped him survive the grunge years.
n the ‘better to burn out than fade away’ narrative often used to understand the grunge movement that sprang up in the late ‘80s, the parables of the Cobains and Staleys so often outshine that of the scene’s Mark Lanegans. Lanegan, who fronted The Screaming Trees when Sub Pop was only a cassette compilation, has maintained an illustrious and celebrated career as a collaborator (Queens Of The Stone Age, Isobel Campbell et al) and a solo artist. Now, he’s at a point in his career where he can spin the kind of anecdotes that make even the stoniest of music fans giddy with fandom. During our conversation he breaks off one such anecdote about being roommates with Dylan Carlson when the guitarist formed drone outfit Earth — a band whose latest release features vocals from Lanegan. He casually mentions what it was like to hear the band’s first jams coming from his basement, but mid-story the singer stops. He doesn’t really want to rehash the past. “You’ve got to focus on your daily life. Honestly I don’t do a lot of living in the past, I try to do a lot of living in the here and now. But I will say this, probably one of the most exciting moments that’s happened to me musically is when Greg Ginn of Black Flag called me at work to say he wanted to put out our records on SST. I remember I didn’t believe it was him, I thought one of my friends was playing a joke on me. Along the way there’s been a lot of other stuff that’s surprised me and was cool, but y’know, it’s there and you’re still here. You’ve got to focus on today.” Today has Lanegan in a very good spot. The singer even goes as far as to describe feeling “totally blessed” with his current position in life. It seems like a far cry from his lyrics, which often dwell on melancholy, addiction and death. But Lanegan doesn’t see the disconnect between feeling
Splendour In The Grass happy with his station in life and writing sad songs. “I guess the music that’s uplifting to me is the music that I connect to because I relate to it. I’m not sure why the lyrics I write are the way they are, but that’s just the way they come out of me. I don’t really question it. I don’t do a lot of soul-searching or agonising over lyrics. They just are what they are. And I would say this, a song is not real life, it’s a song. They start from a personal place, but that place may be something I’ve read about, or something that’s happened to someone I know or something I’ve dreamt about. They start out as that, but then they get turned into a song. Some songs are more specific than others, but they’re still not real life... they’re fiction... pieces of dreams really. “And I know that the people who seem to connect with the songs in a deeper way always express that they somehow make them feel better. And that’s what the songs I connect to do to me. Not that I naturally feel bad to start with, but I find Nick Drake, Joy Division and a lot of old blues songs to be uplifting. They make me feel good. So I guess one man’s misery is another man’s Disneyland.” The gravel-throated raconteur confirms that, as is pretty much usual for him, he’s planning another trip to Disneyland. He doesn’t know if it’s another solo record, something for the Mark Lanegan Band or material that will
ON HIS OWN Annabel Maclean chats with Jake Bugg about rapping, music videos and learning through music creation.
J be used in an upcoming collaboration, but it’s there. “I have a lot of music recorded... I mean, the vocals and lyrics always comes later but I’m at the stage where I’m trying to put that together, which when I’m on tour I do sporadically. So it’s tough to say where it’s going. “For me, creating music is not that big a deal. Maybe I’m delusional but I think I’ve gotten better at it as I’ve gotten older. When I used to make a record I would record a lot of songs and then mess with them, drop songs, add new ones. Always fucking around with them. But nowadays I write as many songs as I need for a record, record ‘em and then, bang, I’m done. I guess anything you do for long enough sort of becomes a bit easier.”
When & Where: 24 Jul, Splendour In The Grass, North Byron Parklands
ake Bugg may sound softly spoken and understated but make no mistake, the 22-year-old lad is passionate about the process of experimenting and learning through creating music. His recently released third record, On My One, was written, produced and recorded almost entirely by himself (Garret ‘Jacknife’ Lee produced three tracks) and takes listeners on a journey from blues to pop, rap to folk and soul to country. “I knew I wanted to write it myself,” Bugg says down the line from the UK, in the middle of touring. “I didn’t actually think I’d be producing most of it though. I never thought I’d get into producing at all. On the writing side of things, it was just something that I felt I just had to do for my development as a writer really.” Along with heavy choruses, soulful numbers, funky drums and bluesy beats, the record sees Bugg rapping for the first time on Ain’t No Rhyme — a little bit of fun which seems to have polarised fans. “I was just messing around in the studio,” he says. “I’m surprised how many people have taken it really seriously. I don’t consider myself a good rapper. Sometimes you just mess around in the studio and some of my friends thought the song was cool and some people didn’t and some people convinced me to put it on the album, so it was more my friends’ choice than my own really,” Bugg laughs. “I know it’s not something that I would usually produce. It’s always fun. You learn
different things like, with that song, I got a bit more production experience under my hat from it so in that regard it was well worth it.” After dealing with some frustrations with his label, Bugg has now taken control of creative content for his music videos. The video for Gimme The Love is one of the first showcasing Bugg’s imaginative ideas. “I wasn’t a big fan of some of my music videos in the past because I never really had much of an input whereas now I want to be part of it because at the end of the day I’m the one that has to go and do it and I just like to know what it’s about,” he says. “One thing I noticed — the music videos that were kind of scripted and had a story were the more cheesy ones so I decided this time round there will be no scripts as such. I want it to be left open for interpretation — that’s one thing that I think music is about. A music video sometimes puts an interpretation into your mind so I like the fact that you can have your own interpretation from [the Gimme The Love video].” Aside from touring for the vast majority of the rest of this year, Bugg’s future music endeavours are an unknown at this stage. “I’m not sure yet,” he says of what’s next in terms of risktaking, musically. “That’s the sense of adventure, me not knowing what I’m going to try next and just having fun in the process of making it. It shouldn’t be something that seems like a chore. It should be something that should be enjoyed.”
What: On My One (Virgin/EMI) When & Where: 24 Jul, Splendour In The Grass, North Byron Parklands
THE MUSIC 20TH JULY 2016 • 23
Splendour In The Grass
“R
LONE WOLF Despite natural comparisons to James Blake and Ed Sheeran, Jack Garratt tells Cyclone he feels Justin Timberlake would be more appropriate.
J
ack Garratt is the UK’s new electro-soul everyman. But while the hirsute singer, songwriter, musician and producer is depicted as a more versatile Ed Sheeran, modish James Bay and poppy James Blake, he’s determined to establish his own identity. And Garratt is on his way.. Even those international music critics suss on Garratt’s polished bluestronica — and hype, period — concede that he’s riveting live. Like Sheeran, Garratt performs as a one-man band, but he juggles multiple instruments. “It’s me giving myself the opportunity to just do a lot of things, and I like doing a lot of things,” Garratt explains. “Some people say it’s because I’m a control freak — I’m not sure if that’s the right word for it, but I think there’s probably some truth in that.” Garratt is already a veteran at 24. Raised in the sleepy English village of Little Chalfont, Buckinghamshire, the precocious Garratt taught himself guitar and anything else that took his fancy. He gigged in bands, actually playing trombone in a skacore outfit. In 2011 the now-troubadour readied an acoustic folk and blues project, Nickel & Dime, only to abandon it — lately telling Q that it was “shitty”. Garratt, who’d intended to teach music like Mum, dropped out of uni. He experienced a crisis of confidence. Music saved him. Fascinated by Frank Ocean, and the surging post-dubstep soul, Garratt experimented with a fresh hybrid. “I grew, I think. I grew up, in a way, as well,” he ponders of the transition. “I didn’t fall out of love with the music [acoustic fare] — it just didn’t make sense to me anymore. Something about me had changed and clicked and I suddenly realised I wasn’t happy with the music I was making and that I felt like I needed to change something, and that’s kinda where the new sound that I’m still trying to figure out started to come from.”
24 • THE MUSIC • 20TH JULY 2016
Garratt is routinely likened to other acts — Sheeran, Bay, Smith, Blake. “I understand getting compared to someone like James Blake, because I’m a huge fan of his and I don’t hide that,” he says. “Ultimately, it’s down to easy targets. That’s why I get compared to Ed Sheeran a lot — because I’m white and I play the guitar and I have ginger on me somewhere.” He’d prefer his hero Justin Timberlake. Many of the songs on Phase emanated from Garratt’s existential episode, his most caustic lyrically Chemical. Yet presently Garratt is less sad lad than sanguine star. “Everything’s going very well,” he admits with a laugh. “But I’m still as intensively self-deprecating as I ever have been and terrified of failure and terrified of not being good enough for other people. Play-by-play, I’m an insecure person — I am! But I love music way too much. I love it. It’s been the most consistent form of therapy that I’ve had my entire life. I wrote about that [self-doubt] a lot on the last record. I’m probably gonna keep writing about that because I doubt that that fear will ever go away. I kinda also hope it doesn’t — it makes me feel alive, it makes me feel real.”
When & Where: 22 Jul, Splendour In The Grass, North Byron Parklands
W A L F N A M U H Beach Slang’s James Alex Snyder admits to Anthony Carew that the band’s meltdown in Salt Lake City was a cliche not entirely unexpected. Cover and feature pics by Elena Vilain/EV Shots.
ock’n’roll saved my life,” says James Alex Snyder, frontman of Philadelphia’s Beach Slang. “Discovering the punk rock community gave me a place to go when I felt pretty hopeless, and had no one,” says Snyder. “I could throw all this angst into that thing, that energetic outlet. It’s always been bigger than just music for me. The music’s a really cool part of it, but it was that sense of community: finding where I fit in, not feeling alone. That was the bigger part of it. And you see that pretty directly reflected in the stuff I write. It’s me remembering this thing that was so good to me at a time in my life when not many things were.” Snyder spent two decades playing guitar in Weston, and almost the entirety of the ‘90s on tour. The band slowed down in the new century, going on hiatus in the early ‘00s, then reuniting to play sporadically. In 2011, when his old pal JP Flexner filled in on drums for a Weston show, Snyder played him the songs he’d spent years writing on the side. Flexner heard their big riffs and big heart, and convinced Synder to preserve them. So, Beach Slang was conceived as a recording project, with Flexner playing drums until earlier this year, and only once they’d recorded their debut EP, 2014’s Who Would Ever Want Anything So Broken?, did they became a band proper. Another EP, Cheap Thrills On A Dead End Street, soon followed, after which Beach Slang signed with Polyvinyl, recorded their debut LP, and hit the road. After years of toiling away, Snyder was suddenly living the rock’n’roll dream. Which made it strange that, in late April, Beach Slang broke up on stage in Salt Lake City, in the middle of a cover of Can’t Hardly Wait, by the famously tempestuous Replacements. Snyder, however, turns to a different iconic rock band to talk about what happened. “We thought we were The Kinks,”
Splendour In The Grass Snyder says. “Just another band fighting amongst themselves, succumbing to the pressures. We’ve been on tour for a year, with very little breaks, and we just had a moment of dumb, little infighting. Stuff that we know was bubbling under the surface, but [because] this thing has taken off so quickly, we never had the time to properly suss it out. We’re a rock’n’roll band, one who wears their hearts on their sleeves, and we had a little disagreement on stage that bubbled over into something. “I walk away from that, and the thing I’m most disappointed about is that’s the most cliche thing we’ve ever done. To be just another band who fights on stage. It wasn’t like this catastrophic event, which is obviously how it appeared when press picked up on it. There isn’t any real juice or bite to it. We knew those tensions were there. Unfortunately it came out in a public place. Our regret is that we should’ve made the time to talk about it in a place that made more sense, not on stage at a rock’n’roll show.” The next day, Snyder publicly stated that the blow-up had blown over, and that Beach Slang would continue on, even citing a passage from the Replacements biography Trouble Boys, where Paul Westerberg claims he destroys the things that he loves. “I think there’s a part of me that has a real fear, now, of this thing that I have,” Snyder admits. “It’s like if I destroy it before I lose it, then I never
Y A W N W O GO YOUR Spring King vocalist/ drummer Tarek Musa tells Bryget Chrisfield his band “downgraded” Island Records’ advance offer.
W failed. I just gave up. And that’s a horrible, horrible way to approach things. But, in a moment where there’s outlier tensions and other things happening, that kind of thinking sort of starts confusing your head a little bit... I just wanted to put it out there: we’re human, and there needs to be a margin-for-error for human flaw. “You can lose sight of life. We’re humans: we go up, we go down, we have the whole deal. But, at the end of the day, there’s something really beautiful about remembering that we have this fleeting amount of time, and making the time count. So, I suppose these [songs] are like these little two-minute reminders: ‘You’re here, you’re alive, bite into that.’ Now, it’s sort of become this battle-cry. So, I get to shout that out to people, and it really connects with people that really do chomp into life.”
When & Where: 23 Jul, Splendour In The Grass, North Byron Parklands
hen Spring King’s original drummer had to leave the band (“he had other commitments to other bands”), Tarek Musa was on guitar and vocals (although he did “play the drums on the recordings anyway”). “We needed a drummer within about eight days or something like that,” Musa tells, before admitting, “At first, it was really difficult... I was really worried that I’d never be able to do this in my life; I thought it was impossible”. Musa took a year off after finishing high school, worked in a supermarket and saved “as much money as [he] could” to purchase some recording equipment. “By the end of the year I was like, ‘I’m just gonna record loads of bands’.” Then one of his previous teachers “really pushed” Musa. “He was like, ‘You really should apply to university’... he convinced me right.” He went on to study sound engineering at “Paul McCartney’s university in Liverpool” [Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts]. “But when I graduated, I... started focusing on writing songs”. Reflecting back on what he describes as “an interesting upbringing”, Musa shares, “My family moved around a lot”. “It was a strange time, basically. So I had a lot of time to myself just to think and to create music.” Back in the day, Spring King guitarists Pete Darlington and Andy Morton hung out with Musa “in the skate park over the summers”. “We just used
to skate all day and by night we’d just not go home or everyone would come back to my house, because I had a free house.’ Years later, James Green was recruited through a mutual “Manchester promoter” friend’s Facebook status that spread the word Spring King was looking for a bass player. Musa remembers that although “loads of people replied”, he chose Green “for some reason”. “He was smiling in his profile picture,” Musa jokes before exalting, “He smashes it! James is a musical genius”. Spring King’s City was chosen by Zane Lowe as the first song to ever be played on Apple Music’s Beats 1 radio in June last year. Record labels came knocking, but Musa reveals, “Everyone wanted to hear new music and we just said to every single label, like, ‘No, you’ve heard enough... there’s enough out there for you to sign us if you want us’. But a lot of labels are like, ‘Oh, we need to hear more stuff, we don’t know where the album’s gonna go, we dunno what you’re gonna do next’. Except for Island [Records]; Island just let us do what we wanted.” Even though they signed with a major label, Musa points out, “We’ve done it in a very indie way”. Island offered Spring King an advance and Musa informs, “Actually we downgraded our offer because we didn’t want as much as they were offering in the first place.” They did negotiate “a really good tour budget”, Musa stresses: “We just wanna tour — that’s all we want to do.”
When & Where: 22 Jul, Splendour In The Grass, North Byron Parklands
THE MUSIC 20TH JULY 2016 • 25
Eat / Drink Eat/Drink
No More Crap Camp Food!
We’ve all been there — it’s day three of the festival, you can’t be arsed going into town for supplies (and let’s face it, you’re too hungover to get the shuttle) and you’re left in need of sustenance with minimal ingredients.
F
ood has become an integral part of Australia’s festival culture. We’ve gone from hot dogs and tinnies to raw cheesecake and boutique brews made by hipsters with beards. So when we say Splendour’s festival goods will make you drool, we’re not talking chips on a stick — vegan, raw, paleo, gluten free, organic, you name it, it’s on the expansive list of food vendors they’re rolling in. The best bit? They’re available in the campground.
Yep, you read that right. No more hunger pains at midnight when you’re craving carbs after a long day running around on the sauce. “It’s a long haul, you’ll need your energy and the foodies in the campground are open before and after the music has happened. Food staves off hangovers, allows you to dance longer and impress people,” says Splendour Camping Manager Jeremy Sheaffe.
So hop over in your sleeping bag to the ‘Food Pods’ dotted around the campsite. “’Food Pod’ is the name we give to the assemblage of individual stalls in a variety of easily accessible locations throughout the campgrounds. They are lined up adjacent to a tent for shade, because it’s not going to rain, obviously, and serve as a meeting point, landmark and a chill out zone when required,” Sheaffe enthuses. As for the morning after, they’ve got you covered on the hangover front. “It’s very hard to beat a strong coffee and B&E Roll with relish — however this is subjective, punters may prefer a curry, a pizza or fresh yoghurt,” Sheaffe suggests. For those health conscious, with dietary requirements or just feeling the effects of morning yoga and wanting to continue that glow, they’re catering for you too: “There will even be standard festival fare presented
in a vegan/vego/raw style. Chia pudding anyone? Cold-pressed turmeric latte?” As intriguing as a cold turmeric coffee sounds, what’s even more interesting is a particular method of waste disposal involving pigs. They’re implementing multiple waste disposal methods, “From the bins to the trucks to the pigs to the staff to the signs to the garbage bags — there are so many systems in place to ensure that not only are the campgrounds kept spotless, but once the waste is cleared it is sorted, recycled, reused, fed to the pigs, turned into Barbie dolls in China or used to generate electricity in Ipswich.” Well, we’re sold — where can we buy a garbage pig?
Crappy Camping Cuisine We asked around the office and found out what weird, wacky and quite frankly, inedible creations have been consumed in festival campgrounds. Brad: “Someone used all the milk for coffee, so I had coffee with fruit loops... was odd.” Leigh: “I ate two cigarette butts thinking they were beer nuts. Needed more salt.” 26 • THE MUSIC • 20TH JULY 2016
Felicity: “Not necessarily weird but I drank six Up & Gos in a row so they wouldn’t go to waste.” Zoe: “My last resort is more beer... beer is greater squashed stale camping food.” Leigh: “Jerky, jerky and more jerky and Melbourne Bitter — the diet of a camping festival veteran.”
Brynn: “I had a mate eat beer and weetbix in the absence of milk or juice. I myself had threeday-old stale bread with tinned tuna. Yuech.” Georgie: “I caught a fish with my bare hands and ate it raw. Psych!”
THE MUSIC 20TH JULY 2016 • 27
Splendour In The Grass
0 T E D I U G YOUR R U O D N SPLE Live to tell the tale of Splendour In The Grass 2016 with this handy, dandy schedule by Steve Bell.
I
t’s that time of year again when thousands of music lovers are preparing to descend upon the beautiful North Byron Parklands for yet another instalment of premier Australian music festival Splendour In The Grass and, assuming that punters will still be watching bands and not just chasing Pokemon all over the outdoor venue, it’s also time to consider what’s actually happening this year from a music standpoint. The short answer is ‘bloody lots’, but as we’re always wont to say ‘proper preparation prevents piss poor partying’ so it’s probably worth taking a more expansive look.
Friday Jumping straight into Friday proceedings it all kicks off in the massive Amphitheatre right on the stroke of midday when rising Melbourne singer-songwriter Alex Lahey gets the chance to show why the buzz around her confessional guitar-pop is going global at a massive rate, followed on that main stage
28 • THE MUSIC • 20TH JULY 2016
by fellow Melbournites High Tension who will – as always – prove that smashing out explosive, in-your-face punk rock is not the sole domain of the male gender. High Tension who will – as always – prove that smashing out explosive, in-yourface punk rock is not the sole domain of the male gender. After that you can make the big traipse over the hill to the GW McLennan Tent (or go the long way around to save your calf muscles) where young Perth trio Methyl Ethel will fly their freak flag high and ride the psych-rock train for all it’s worth, then (assuming your fitness levels are up to the task) nick back to the Amphitheatre to see why Sydney’s rising stars DMA’S were pretty much a household name before they’d even played a single show. The perpetual GW McLennan Tent at Splendour is of course named after the much-missed founder of The Go-Betweens who passed away a decade back, so it will be incredibly poignant to see his former partner-in-crime Robert Forster plying his wares on the stage dedicated to his best friend, before yet another hike to the main stage will unveil a set by New York indie outfit The Kills, whose new album Ice & Fire – their first in five years – is awash with big beats and tinges of Afro-pop, a sound which should lend itself perfectly to the festival environment. Walking is a great form of exercise, tell yourself that repeatedly as you traipse back to the big tent to see Brisbane chanteuse Emma Louise divulge the shimmering, sophisticated persona she’s conjured up on brand new album Supercry, then bounce back to the main Amphitheatre to see how much more love Manchester indie-rock quartet The 1975 receive compared to when they played this exact same stage two years ago (spoiler alert: it will be shitloads more, they’ve been kicking goals left, right and centre since then). Local legends Violent Soho, on the other hand, can’t
really improve on their own appearance here two years ago given that every single person at the festival gathered on the huge hills to cheer on the local heroes, so it’s probably a good idea to wait at the Amphitheatre and jockey for position for their set as their stocks have also risen dramatically in the interim. Once they’ve banged their last head it’s a toss up between catching a full set in the Mix Up Stage from inveterate Melbourne rapper Illy — another who knows how to get the party started in festival surrounds – or catch the back end of the set by young Texan-bred gospel-soul singer Leon Bridges, who wowed the crowds with his fretful croon here at Falls Festival over the New Years period. People have been gagging for samplehappy Sydneysiders The Avalanches to return with new music for some 15 years – although it feels longer – and they haven’t disappointed with their brand new doublebanger Wildflower which dropped recently so plenty of people will be getting their dance on in the Amphitheatre. Then US country-rock icons Band Of Horses will wow all and sundry back at the GW McLennan Tent with tracks from their brand new opus Why Are You OK and show why they’re not only repeat visitors to Splendour but even possibly the only band to have played at all three of the festival’s venues over the journey (if anyone could match them on this front it would have to be The Grates, ask Patience if you see her at the craft tent). NYC tastemakers The Strokes were another band who rocked the Woodford site hard back in 2010 and seeing that their set tonight is their only gig in Australia this time around they’re bound to leave nothing in the tank, and if you’re still feeling frisky after this suave display pop over to the intimate environs of The World Stage to embrace the high-energy sci-fi-slash-psych weirdness that is the Cambodian Space Project, guaranteed to give you dreams of the wonderfully strange variety.
Splendour In The Grass
Saturday Day two of a three-day music binge is hump day to some, but shaking the Saturday for all it’s worth is a critical part of ensuring a productive Splendour. It should be said at this juncture that to really get the full Splendour bender experience you need to find some time to visit the site’s more far-flung locales like the Tipi Forest, the India-inspired Marigold Majestic, the Bohemian Lounge and the Tiny Dancer Stage – even the most strident rock fans should soak up some different aura and essence while you have the chance – but this is my story so today it kicks off at 12.50pm in the Amphitheatre checking out Melbourne one-man-band Harts, who’ll have plenty of room on the big stage to unleash his Hendrix-like shredding. Then it’s about staying on at the festival epicentre to get a pole position vantage spot for the first ever show in these parts by Philly indie-punk-emo trio Beach Slang, whose wordy debut album The Things We Do To Find People Who Feel Like Us earned them positive comparisons to everyone from Jawbreaker to Japandroids. Next conserve some energy and stay where you are for many-headed party behemoth King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, whose invigorating brand of guitar-psych will prove perfect for anyone whose drink may have been inadvertently spiked by some form of recreational music enhancer (drugs are bad, mkay). The whole world seems to love Sydney indie rockers Gang Of Youths (whose name always reminds me of Edward from League Of Gentlemen, which is slightly disturbing but mainly awesome) so stay with the herd at the Amphitheatre before traipsing back to the GW McLennan Tent to see UK soul machine Michael Kiwanuka blow some minds with the epic majesty of tracks from his stunning new album Love & Hate.
Effervescent rabble rousers Sticky Fingers know how to do festivals right – they should do given they’ve played nearly all of them in the world in recent times – so they’re well worth checking out over at the Amphitheatre, perhaps stopping over at some point to the Comedy tent where there’s a two-and-a-half hour block of laughs titled Wil Anderson & Friends, a pretty good hallmark of quality in the chuckle stakes. A lot of people will be gagging to hit the Mix Up Stage for London electro-folk ensemble Crystal Fighters, after which Texan post-rock poster boys At The Drive-In return to Splendour having torn the old Byron venue a new one during their original reformation back in 2012. Then goth-pop legends The Cure have a three-hour block dedicated to them to close out the night in the Amphitheatre, which may seem excessive to some but which will no doubt prevent a repeat of their headlining set at Livid way back in 2000 where they only had a normal set allocation so decided to not play any of their big hits at all, much to the chagrin of everyone but their most hardcore disciples. They’re an amazing live band with a catalogue to fill three hours with ease: settle in for a session with Mr Smith and friends, you won’t regret it.
is bringing his crack band The Yarra Benders to Splendour for the first time and anyone yet to experience this massive talent in the flesh is encouraged to the GW McLennan Tent for his no doubt spellbinding performance. Looking back it’s all been a bit of a cock forest so far today which is why it will be great to get some electro-pop action from Canadian super-twins Tegan & Sara – who have moved from the indie to the commercial realms with consummate ease – after which we can catch some of the set by Sydney dancepsych trio Jagwar Ma. They’re followed back in the Amphitheatre by burgeoning global superstar Courtney Barnett, the engaging Melbourne lass who in the two years since her debut Splendour performance back in
Sunday
2014 has made the world at large fall in love with her laidback, conversational narratives and no fuss worldview. Back over at the GW McLennan Tent gruff-voiced stalwart Mark Lanegan will be upping the darkness factor in his inimitable style, while returning to the Amphitheatre we’ll find young Sydney fivepiece The Preatures strutting their stuff. After this you can toss a coin between beguiling Icelandic post-rock sensations Sigur Ros and rising UK troubadour Jake Bugg before beloved young Aussie electro overlord Flume will leave the Amphitheatre heaving with a sea of classic bangers and deep cuts from his new opus Skin.
If you haven’t already experienced the magic and mayhem inherent in the Tent Of Miracles – those madcap weirdos who’ve brought the surreal to Splendour for many a year now – make sure you get in there today while you still can. Sydney five-piece Green Buzzard have been signed to the I OH YOU stable which usually is a pointer to quality so their midday Amphitheatre set seems as good a place as any to kick off the final day, before Melbourne quartet Gold Class will escape their normal habitat of dingy clubs to hit the GW McLennan Tent and prove that their broodily devastating post-punk sound will stand up in daylight hours as well as when enveloped in darkness. After that experience some levity may be in order so it’s fortunate that Melbourne Ska Orchestra are bringing their massive line-up to the Amphitheatre stage to uphold their goodtime agenda, then it’s over to the Mix Up Stage to get some societal insight from the ever-erudite Sydney MC Urthboy. Rising Kiwi singer-songwriting sensation Marlon Williams
Steve Bell has been to every Splendour since day one, runs one of Queensland’s best record stores (Sonic Sherpa) and Sonic Sherpa have a pop-up store at Splendour, so make sure you check it out.
To read the full story head to theMusic.com.au
THE MUSIC 20TH JULY 2016 • 29
Three Recently Opened Weird Museums That We Want To Visit
Music
Sing It Straight
The Museum Of Broken Relationships
The Museum Of Broken Relationships in LA and Croatia A Museum dedicated to your heartbreak, the Museum Of Broken Relationships opened in LA at the start of June, and exhibits the artefacts from your romantic crisis for all to see and analyse. Its travelling counterpart has been accepting your mementos since 2006, with a permanent home in Croatia opening in 2010.
The IKEA Museum in Sweden The IKEA Museum opened at the end of last month in Sweden, proudly telling the story of IKEA founder, Ingvar Kamprad, IKEA’s evolution since its first store opened in 1958, and how people around the world actually use IKEA furniture.
The Museum Of Ice Cream in New York This ice-cold Museum is temporary – it’s open from now until the end of August, but in that time you could dive into a pool of sprinkles, inhale a chocolate balloon and swing on an ice cream sandwich. 30 • THE MUSIC • 20TH JULY 2016
Raise your hands, Drowning Pool fans — the nu-metal era survivors are headed back to Australia after a decadeplus absence. Vocalist Jasen Moreno tells Brendan Crabb to step up.
F
resh from releasing Hellelujah, his second LP with the band, vocalist Jasen Moreno now seems well entrenched within the Drowning Pool ranks. Although their core (guitarist CJ Pierce, bassist Stevie Benton and drummer Mike Luce) has remained intact since 2001’s megaselling debut Sinner (propelled by infectious hit Bodies), Moreno is the hard-rockers’ fourth singer. Following Dave Williams’ death, Jason “Gong” Jones and Ryan McCombs subsequently had tenures fronting the Texans. An environment whereby the group had an established following and well honed on and offstage infrastructure likely made the transition easier for Moreno. However, attempting to honour Drowning Pool’s past, yet carve a distinctive identity must have been intimidating, especially considering Williams’ legacy and presence. The late screamer was given the nickname ‘Stage’ by Pantera’s Dimebag Darrell. “I don’t think you can ever really prepare yourself for something like that,” Moreno ponders of landing the job. “When I auditioned for the gig I never in a million years thought that I would get it, just because ‘Gong’ and Ryan and the evolution of the whole approach. I don’t sound like those guys. It was more for my peace of mind to
know that I had tried everything to crack into the business. “So when I auditioned it was a long shot to say the least. But by some crazy miracle I got it, so to answer your question, I was not prepared. I had a panic attack and really wondered, ‘what have I done?’ For a long time it was just about the chase — just chasing the dream and I never really stopped to consider what I would do if I ever got my hands on it. That’s not to say I regret it. I’m very grateful to the guys, the fans, the label, the managers. It’s just such a mind job to go from working in a warehouse and playing shows on the weekend to travelling all over the world with this band.” While performing with other outfits, Dallas resident Moreno often played alongside Drowning Pool during their formative years. “The scene wasn’t so big that you could play in the same town and not see each other,” he says. “I’ve known the guys for years; I knew Dave. In essence I am new in the eyes of the public, but in reality, I’ve been here since the start.” Perhaps it’s that kinship which affords the current frontman an enhanced respect for their catalogue. How does he approach tracks his various predecessors performed? “I try to remain extremely faithful to the way they were recorded. I’m not worried about putting my stamp on the old back catalogue. In my opinion that would be out of line and disrespectful, especially with the Dave material. Not ever am I trying to muscle in on that... That’s going to come natural with the new material, the way we’ve evolved together as a band. That’s my stamp, my legacy, when I came in. But anything that came before me, I was a fan of it before I ever got the gig. So you just try to sing the songs the way people love ‘em, and the way people want to hear ‘em.”
\When & Where: 28 Jul, Max Watt’s
E M M A LO U I S E supercry tour WITH SPECIAL GUESTS
THU 20 OCT GOLD COAST MIAMI MARKETTA F R I 2 1 O CT M A RO O C H Y D O R E S O L B A R S AT 2 2 O CT B R I S B A N E T H E T R I F F I D
o n s a l e t h u 2 1 j u ly via oztix.com.au new album out now frontiertouring.com w w w. e m m a lo u i s e . n e t
THE MUSIC 20TH JULY 2016 • 31
Music
Bugger Brexit
VALE ALAN VEGA
Pioneering electronic rocker Alan Vega died in his sleep on 16 Jul — age 78. The music legend’s death was officially announced via Henry Rollins’ website, where a statement was posted with approval from Vega’s family. Describing Vega as a “creative force”, the statement reported that the musician had “died peacefully”. It praised Vega for his unique musical talent: “Alan was not only relentlessly creative, writing music and painting until the end, he was also startlingly unique.” Vega formed the groundbreaking NY duo Suicide in 1970 with musical partner Martin Rev. So unclassifiable was their sound that fans still debate whether or not they were punk, electro or just in some avant-genre all of their own. Their self-titled debut in 1977 was a ferocious study of raw rock’n’roll regurgitated as lo-fi electro-punk. The album included the band’s best known song Ghost Rider (covered by Rollins in 1987, also covered by REM and sampled by MIA for her track Born Free). Suicide were set to headline the Desert Daze festival in California in October. The statement on Rollins site concluded, “His incredible body of work, spanning five decades, will be with us forever.”
32 • THE MUSIC • 20TH JULY 2016
Ben Johnston of Biffy Clyro is pissed off about Brexit. He chats with Anthony Carew about “lying” politicians and the band’s producer taking away the rules of rock ‘n’ roll while recording Ellipsis.
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hen Ben Johnston, the 36-year-old drummer for epic Scottish rockers Biffy Clyro, landed in Lisbon to play the NOS Alive festival, it was the latest in a lifetime of European trips. They started when his family (including twin brother James, Biffy Clyro’s bassist) took camping holidays in France and Portugal in his childhood, and continued across two decades of touring in a festival-friendly band. Johnston has no idea how many times he’s arrived in Europe to play a show, but this trip was the first since Brexit. “I always taught from an early age to appreciate other places, other cultures, so it makes me livid,” says Johnston, from Lisbon. “If I’m quite honest, it makes me quite angry to even talk about. I feel like the people who voted to exit have been lied to. And all the politicians that circulated these lies are now buggering off, and not cleaning up the mess they’ve made. Hopefully you know that Scotland voted overwhelmingly to remain, but, once again, Scotland’s voice hasn’t been heard. And now the UK is a laughing stock around the world, and it’s a big source of embarrassment. I feel like Scotland’s going to have to go off on its own. It’s about time Scotland was about to make its own decisions. Everything in our country — from our school system to our economy — is
controlled by this boy’s club down in Westminster.” The latest trip to Europe for the Johnston twins is in support of the seventh Biffy Clyro LP, Ellipsis. Feeling like they’d “reached the pinnacle of the ‘lush, cinematic rock record’” with 2013’s epic double album, Opposites, the trio sought to “shake it up”. So, they worked with producer Rich Costey (Kimbra, Chvrches, Death Cab For Cutie), someone who admittedly “doesn’t have much interesting in recording rock bands”. “That very much appealed to us!” laughs Johnston. “We wanted to challenge ourselves, and put ourselves in a place of discomfort. And that rapidly happened. We’d recorded six albums essentially the same way: first we record the drums, then the bass, then the guitar, then do the vocals; in the chorus I’ll hit the crash cymbal and open the hi-hats, we’ll rock out. Rules, if you will. And, then, Rich takes them away. That’s uncomfortable.” The resulting record is the shortest of Biffy Clyro’s career — 39 minutes long — yet took them, by far, the longest to record. “It took six months, and it definitely wasn’t meant to be six months,” Johnston says. “We’d try every song in a bunch of different ways: in different styles, at different tempos, with different instrumentation. All to try and find the best way to present a song.” This makes Ellipsis an album that, the band hopes, can’t be easily defined. “In some ways, it’s quite aggressive, but in other ways it isn’t. It’s still really poppy but it uses electronic elements that we never have in the past. We’re going to freak some old fans out. But, we’ve wanted to confuse people, to put people on the back foot, right from the start. You have to work to like our band, which definitely isn’t a capitalist way to do things, a careerist way to do things. We’re clearly not those kind of people. Our name’s Biffy Clyro, for chrissakes. Two words that mean nothing.”
What: Ellipsis (14th Floor/Warner)
Industry
More Than Just Cheap Amps
I
n a world filled with people looking for quick and easy solutions, it’s always refreshing to connect with those who have made actual change happen in their community rather than just sat around complaining and hoping for the best. Kate Bradley and Liz Thomas are two such proactive forces making a difference for Australian musicians. With their friend and business partner Martin MacDonald (from Son Of Sea), the pair of creatives-cum-entrepreneurs have recently launched gear-and-services app Everywhere Roadie, an intuitive new platform designed to streamline and cheapen the process of sourcing amps, instruments and personnel for touring musicians in unfamiliar places. According to Bradley — who spends her evenings in the alter-ego boots of one Ramona Moore, of Dark Fair — seeing the need for a product such as Everywhere Roadie grew out of her personal experiences and frustrations as a travelling performer. “We’re all musicians and have played in bands for many years — so all of us have experienced the budget blow-outs from lugging or sourcing gear when on tour,” Bradley told The Music. “For me, personally, the moment was when I was gigging in Sydney and needed to hire an amp. “I couldn’t get the gear I was after, and I also needed to have it delivered and collected. So by that stage it had blown out to over $200. That’s when I thought, ‘There must be an easier way of doing this!’” As it turns out, there is; Everywhere Roadie’s simple interface makes light work of tracking down the people or gear that users are chasing. Such is the utility of the program that the final platform actually quite closely resembles the trio’s original concept, Bradley says. “We knew the platform and core functionality that was needed to deliver the service we envisaged,” she explains. “Initially, we spent time plotting out how we thought the site should look, feel and behave and then determined that a sharing marketplace solution would best fit our model.” Indeed, Everywhere Roadie provides much more than just access to physical gear — although, yes, that’s a large part of it — and, in fact, could be seen as a viable platform for industry workers such as sound engineers, film crews, photographers, lighting professionals and even session musicians to pick up some extra employment by hiring themselves out to fellow community members in need. Granted, those services tend to come at a steeper
cost than static equipment but that’s at least partially because they’re so in-demand and can be difficult to source. Besides, the main thing, as Thomas indicates, is that users are aware that the option exists. “I feel a lot of users are unaware of the scope of the service,” says Thomas, who has graced stages as part of outfits such as Ouch My Face and Loveless. “I’ve played interstate countless times and struggled to find an engineer, so I really believe an important part of the platform is creating access to the people who are integral in shaping your show. “We only switched on the service roughly five weeks ago, so it’s been pretty amazing to see the range of products and services already listed, with the only promotion really being via word-of-mouth,” she says. “We’ve been contacted by members who are interested in listing their vans and granny flats, so it would be fantastic to see more people jumping in with similar listings. Everywhere Roadie is about covering all bases, so anyone from a photographer to a film crew can list their services.” Although the program is still a fledgling concern, its founders note that the initial response — which has seen their membership grow consistently over the past month or so — has been “very positive”, acknowledging the support in particular of local independent label Poison City Records (“It’s been great”). And its founders have noble and grand visions for the future, with Thomas suggesting they’ve no intention of stopping with metropolitan locations. The limits of the platform, or lack thereof, are really up to its growing user base, Thomas says. “What is available to list and rent through Everywhere Roadie is really determined by the members,” she explains. “We are unique in that we are the first Australian sharing marketplace available for musicians. “We’re no different from our members — we all want to play and tour as often as possible and make it as affordable as possible.”
See Everywhere Roadie’s website for more information: everywhereroadie.com. THE MUSIC 20TH JULY 2016 • 33
Music
Giveaways
Ace Of Bass
Here are some sweet giveaways you can win this week. Head to theMusic.com. au/win for more details.
Swiss Army Man Tickets
Nothing about the Melvins’ penchant for mixing it up should surprise us by now, but frontman Buzz “King Buzzo” Osborne tells Steve Bell that even they were blindsided by recent line-up shenanigans.
T Star Trek Beyond Tickets
Sing Street Tickets
34 • THE MUSIC • 20TH JULY 2016
he line-up of veteran US sludge-lords the Melvins has been nothing if not malleable in recent times, with a revolving procession of past bandmates and new members augmenting bands stalwarts Buzz Osborne (vocals/guitar) and Dale Crover (drums) in the studio — but even they’ve outdone themselves on new album Basses Loaded, which finds no fewer than six bass players lending bottom-end over the record’s duration. “We didn’t really think of it at the time, we just recording in a wide variety of ways and different times and then we realised, ‘Oh, we have six different bass players on this record,” Osborne laughs. “That’s a bit unusual even for us. Although we’re used to do things like that — we’ve been doing it for the last 14 or 15 years — so it’s like second nature.” Of the bassists the one who seems to have stuck is Steve McDonald from seminal alt-rockers Redd Kross, and more recently crusty punks Off!, who seems to have taken up an almost permanent role in the Melvins’ line-up. “Dale had done some shows with Off! when their drummer had a scheduling conflict, and during that time Dale said Steve might be someone that we’d consider
playing with,” Osborne explains. “I’d always been a big fan of Steve with Redd Kross and I always knew he was a good bass player, so we tried him out by doing these recordings to see if that worked, and once that worked then we knew maybe we should try to play with him live, so that’s what we did. We’ve done about 60-odd shows so far — it works great, I wouldn’t change a thing.” And of the other bassists probably the biggest name was former Nirvana member Krist Novoselic, whose involvement was originally meant to be part of a project revisiting the Nirvana catalogue with former Jesus Lizard mainstay David Yow on vocals. “It was all Dave Grohl’s idea — something that absurd had to come from Dave and not from me,” Osborne sighs. “This is before they did this with Paul McCartney, right? Dave decided that they wanted to do this, and I was, like, ‘Okaaay’ — kinda sceptical. Then they had it set up so that Krist flew down here to LA and we’re all at the practice space, so we sat there for three days and Dave just never showed up. He’d clearly changed his mind after putting all this in motion, but we’re talking about Dave Grohl, ‘Mister Beyond Reproach’, ‘Mr Nice Guy’. This is the kind of stuff that no one sees about him. “I didn’t think that was cool, I don’t play games like that with people, but apparently he thinks that’s fine, he thinks that’s kosher — I don’t. I don’t take too kindly to being humiliated, especially under those sort of conditions, and I certainly think that I deserve an explanation as far as that’s concerned, but apparently he doesn’t. So be it. But instead of wasting our time we decided to do some recording with Krist anyway while we were there, and that’s how it happened.”
What: Loaded (Ipecac/[PIAS] Australia)
THE MUSIC 20TH JULY 2016 • 35
Album / E Album/EP Reviews
Album OF THE Week
Trust Punks
Double Bind Spunk
★★★★
Auckland band Trust Punks return with their second album and in the process they’ve tightened their sound, ratcheted up the tension and broadened their interpretation of post-punk. On 2014’s Discipline they mixed jangling guitars and sparkling, ramshackle melodies. They’ve now emboldened their sound with a brasher rhythmic attack while bringing in seemingly contradictory sounds such as a xylophone on The Reservoir. Their sense of urgency is at the forefront on Good Luck With That. It’s a rapidfire, two-minute indie-punk song, bristling with melody and intent. The editing and arrangements also mark the band out as forward-thinking musicians, never content to sit in the box. Instead they kick out the sides and re-fashion it into new, unpredictable shapes. Leaving Room For The Lord shows they can push things right into the red with its eviscerating, repeated and yelled, chorus of desperation. Double Bind is also an album that keeps on giving. From the drunken deconstructed waltz of Lawrence to the disorienting yet sweet wooziness of Beneath The Commons, the band keep twisting and manipulating relatively simple songs into inventive musical shapes. This is the type of progressive punk rock that bands like Fugazi, Straitjacket Fits and Sunny Day Real Estate furthered in the ‘90s and in 2016 Trust Punks are leading the charge with distinction. Chris Familton
Bear’s Den
Periphery
Red Earth & Pouring Rain
Periphery III: Select Difficulty
Communion/Caroline
Roadrunner/Warner
American rock meets English folk in the second album from Bear’s Den, Red Earth & Pouring Rain, leaving heartache behind them as they start the next chapter after the departure of guitarist Joey Haynes earlier this year. The title track is taken over by tambourines and electric keys while Napoleon is beautiful as vocalist Andrew Davie puts his soul into the song as the soft melody of guitars ringing out in the background. Relationships crumble in Greenwoods Bethlehem and continue in Broken Parable which brings up deep emotions with lyrics like “Did I not love enough?” as the trumpets fade in the background as the track closes. The British rockers regrouped to create an album that channeled all their emotions into powerful folk ballads like
Periphery move away from the pitfalls of their Alpha concept record, yet don’t take with them as many elements as one would have thought from Omega in their latest offering Periphery III: Select Difficulty. Confused? They definitely want you to be. The Price Is Wrong features a satisfying displaced rhythm just before the one-minute mark, and a sweeping guitar solo midway through. Motormouth features a punchy intro and zippy yet charged vocal delivery from Spencer Sotelo before delving into a proggy bridge, emerging for air with a ‘dank’ breakdown at its conclusion. Marigold opens with a string section and some snappy riffing that pervades the song. The Way The News Goes... opens with a clean-toned lick, something you might hear from Chon or Plini — it’s very
★★★½
36 • THE MUSIC • 20TH JULY 2016
★★★
soft dreamy tune Love Can’t Stand Alone. Roses On A Breeze is beautiful with its soft guitars and Davie’s deep vocals as he sings “Somewhere deep down I still believe you’ll always be the love of my life,” making the listener want to reach for the tissues. Red Earth & Pouring Rain is definitely an ambitious folk-rock album, full of heartfelt lyrics – a great album to take on a long drive to think things through or just cry. The only thing the album lacks is energy and happiness, even though there are upbeat tracks like Dew On The Vine and Emeralds, but lyrically they are still very heavy with emotions. Aneta Grulichova
much an upbeat and vibrant song with some clean emotive vocals. It ends on a long-winded breakdown and soft piano outro. Remain Indoors is a bit more exciting, with some double bass on the drums and an uplifting tone, that soon divulges into a strange Nintendocore segment with chanting choir vocals. Habitual Line-Stepper opens heavy and fast, with blast beats and a savage guitar riff and some sick djenty chugs. Here the strings return, but in a more epic Game Of Thrones-style interlude that builds the intensity of the song. Jonty Czuchwicki
EP Reviews Album/EP Reviews
Aeges
Warren H Williams & Dani Young
Weightless Century Media
San Lazaro
Dreadnaught
La Despedida
Caught The Vultures Sleeping
Hope Street Recordings
Traction Bleeder/Rocket
Desert Water ABC/Universal
★★
★★★
★★★
★★★½
When you combine something such as desert stoner guitar grinds with sludgy prog breakdowns, you’re automatically halfway towards pleasing ‘90s alt-rock fans. Instead, Aeges have then watered down all of these elements within Weightless by stacking US hard rock radio lyrics presented in a slight post-hardcore manner alongside a feeling of completely manufactured aggression for marketability. It seems that only the lead single Another Wasteland manages to balance all of this out into something that feels cohesive and energetic, leaving everything else on the record to simply feel like a poorly reinterpreted version of Mastodon.
The eagerly awaited collaboration between established country singer Warren H William and rising star Dani Young proves to be a solid one. As far as production, songwriting and delivery go it sticks with a classic vibe, heavy on the pedal steel, the ballad and the heartache. William and Young have voices that complement each other impeccably - Young with higher, desperate tones and William with lower, morose harmonies - delivering stellar levels of emotion and symbiosis. Australian country and western fans will enjoy this album immensely.
Yo no habla espanol. I mean, I know how to get myself dos mas cervezas, por favor, but trying to grasp any meaning in the lyrics on La Despedida has left me stumped. Luckily, rhythms speak louder than any words could, which means San Lazaro’s latest (and possibly last — ‘la despedida’ means ‘the farewell’) record is sure to have toes tapping no matter where it’s being played. It’s ambitious, most songs splintering midway yet remaining cohesive pieces of work, but it’s sure to appeal even to Latin music novices. I could only imagine how this would translate live.
Melbourne metal veterans Dreadnaught have gone through a number of stylistic incarnations and this new album captures the best of all of them. Over eight tracks the quintet throw together thrash, groove metal, prog, dark rock and even the odd touch of Pink Floyd to create an album that is engaging and challenging at the same time. There’s not a weak moment here although the emotive Set Fire To The Plan and the brutally cathartic Clenched Fist are obvious highlights. This is a very solid offering from a band that deserves more attention - if you have any interest in cutting edge metal you could do worse than picking this album up.
Dylan Stewart
Lukas Murphy
Mark Hebblewhite
Mark Beresford
More Reviews Online Karmakanic Dot
theMusic.com.au
Aaron Neville Apache
Clams Casino 32 Levels
THE MUSIC 20TH JULY 2016 • 37
Album / E Album/EP Reviews
Crown The Empire
Sophie Hutchings
Despised Icon
Floating Points
Beast
Kuiper
Retrograde
Wide Asleep
Nuclear Blast
Pod/Inertia
Rise Records/ADA
Preservation
★★★
★★★★
★★★½
★★★★
Retrograde chimes in with a soft piano charms before the vocals on Sk-68 initiate the album as if it was a cult.Are You Coming With Me? takes over with aggressive guitars as lead singer David Escamilla hits all the right notes with his clean vocals. Lucky Us is a heavier screamo track, but clean enough for us to understand all the words, while Weight Of The World and Signs Of Life could be mistaken for Simple Plan tracks with their punk rock sound, almost like they doesn’t belong. With screaming verses, melodic hooks and anthemic power ballads, Crown The Empire have created an addictive posthardcore album.
In recent years there has been a wealth of composers that fall into the loosely aligned world of modern classical, postambient, avant-electronic and instrumental post-rock. Locally, our leading light is Sophie Hutchings and here, on her third album, she again finds new and fascinating ways to create cerebral and emotionally rich and ornate arrangements, led by her piano but greatly enhanced with strings and ghostly, layered voices. Falling and Living Light are the high points with their contrasting approaches to twilight melancholia. This album is her most expansive and resonant work to date.
The deathcore tag has been both a milestone and millstone around the neck of its progenitors. Despised Icon were an anomaly within said scene, focused on writing actual songs, not merely seeking to out-brutalise and blast everyone into submission. Post-hiatus and with many mid-00s Myspace peers defunct, the Canucks possess renewed vigour. Grooves wider than the Grand Canyon a la Obituary and Dying Fetus bolster the material. Inner Demons’ dual vocal interplay is scathing, while its beatdowns pulverise. Although there’s few new ideas, and pig squeals throughout will polarise, Beast is a snarling, teethgnashing creature, an attack streamlined to just a nasty half-hour.
Named after a vast formation of cosmic debris outside our solar system, Kuiper has been a favourite from Floating Points’ live sets that has been deliberately played differently each time. Through a combination of shimmering drones, jazz drumming and electric keys, the definitive version of this galactic odyssey somehow does justice to the overwhelming enormity of space over the course of 18 spellbinding minutes. The EP is gently rounded off by the incandescent drifter For Marmish Part II, part one of which appeared on Floating Points’ stellar debut Elaenia.
Aneta Grulichova
Chris Familton
Christopher H James
Brendan Crabb
More Reviews Online Jeff Beck Loud Hailer
38 • THE MUSIC • 20TH JULY 2016
theMusic.com.au
Schoolboy Q The Blank Face
Listen to our This Week’s Releases playlist on
It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.
And we know everyone. On sale now. Go to store.themusic.com.au to get your copy today. THE MUSIC 20TH JULY 2016 • 39
Live Re Live Reviews
Broods @ The Tivoli. Pic: Markus Ravik
The Bennies, Clowns, Axe Girl, Walken The Triffid 16 Jul
Broods @ The Tivoli. Pic: Markus Ravik
Broods @ The Tivoli. Pic: Markus Ravik
Broods @ The Tivoli. Pic: Markus Ravik
Broods @ The Tivoli. Pic: Markus Ravik
Broods @ The Tivoli. Pic: Markus Ravik
40 • THE MUSIC • 20TH JULY 2016
There’s many a colourful character ambling through the Triffid doors tonight — which could be to do with the colourful characters gracing tonight’s stage. The feelgood vibes are already palpable as a result, a good sign the night will be anything but dull. Brisbane’s own Walken are clearly stoked to have found themselves on tonight’s bill, and are even sporting psychedelic garb in honour of the headliners. They amp up the party vibe with the blistering Eagle Eye, take us back to the glorious ‘90s with glitchy, super fat chugs in House On The Hills, then round things out in a comparatively more moody light with Float. These fun dudes bring something fresh but nostalgic to the table and if they’re not gracing more bills like these soon then these written words will be eaten. Next up is Perth’s Axe Girl. The most immediately apparent thing about this bunch of punk upstarts is that Jebediah bassist Vanessa Thornton is one of them. It’s a neat in for those unfamiliar with the band but it’s really not necessary; from the get-go these guys pump out a ‘90s pop-girl-punk sound with the hand-in-hand ferocity you’d expect. Singer Addison Axe leads her sweaty troupe through their setlist. She’s a shouty pocket rocket when addressing the crowd but a Stefani-esque pouter on the mic, and it gets a tad messy towards the end. Melbourne’s Clowns are a well oiled machine. Since their debut a few years back these young dudes have ticked all the boxes needed to make themselves stand out in the hardcore/punk scene — albums full of short, sharp ditties, messy live shows but always
with a sincere appreciation of their crowds, and a party-hard willingness to get amongst on the floor. Tonight’s no different, with lead man Stevie Williams whipping up a frenzy and diving into the messy circle work amongst an upbeat newbie, Dead In The Suburbs and Play Dead.
They’re sweaty, pushy, soulslapping, but with smiles... Nothing could resemble a Caribbean Mardi Gras-cumpyschedlic trip-out more than The Bennies. The awesome foursome from Melbourne not only look the part in their trademark tie-dyes (also now adorning the speaker stack) and spangled tights, they’ve already got the party started before they even strike a first note, coming out to ‘00s pop tragic Hey Baby complete with saxophone. Leading man Anty Horgan gets a high five from each of his players then kicks things off with Heavy Reggae, Detroit Rock Ciggies and Heavy Disco. The sound is loud, brash, and whips up the already crazed horde to fever pitch. Bottles, shirts, shoes, spliffs and undies go flying through the air during Sensi-mi, My Bike and Corruption. Horgan is equally impressed, saying it’s the best place they’ve played. Party Machine and Knights Forever seal the deal in the only way possible — they’re sweaty, pushy, soul-slapping, but with smiles from band and fans as wide as round as the venue. Carley Hall
eviews Live Reviews
Earth Caller, Deadlights, Daybreakers, Among The Ruined The Brightside 16 Jul
It’s a dreary, cold and wet night in Brisbane — the perfect kind of evening to put away Pokemon Go (though some dedicated trainers remain huddled in The Brightside’s beer garden all night) and take in some live music instead. It’s a given that hardcore shows are usually pretty intense affairs, but Gold Coast troupe Among The Ruined come out of the gate with the dial turned so far up that there’s nowhere to go from here, as vocalist/guitarist Paddy Creamer emerges on stage and immediately starts full-on yelling at the too-smallto-be-yelled-at-crowd to ‘Get the fuck down here!’ in what will ultimately only be the first of multiple really aggressive and marginally offputting ultimatums from the bands on stage tonight. It’s not clear that the forced extremity is really landing with those that are paying attention, though their pit does swell slightly in response to their ineffable enthusiasm and chunky, bone-shaking riffs. “WE ARE AMONG THE RUINED!” Creamer screams at one point, to which a clearly audible, solitary voice replies matterof-factly from the crowd, “... Yep.” Sadly, it’s about as apt a summation of the vibe as one could hope for. It’s a similarly lukewarm situation that greets local melodic hardcore four-piece Daybreakers as they tear through an aurally devastating set that nonetheless bears the unfortunate hallmarks of its predecessor in terms of the overly pushy and in-yourface directives hurled at the crowd from the stage. Things do pick up, however, with the
arrival of fellow Brisbane crew Deadlights, who prove to be the most technically proficient and polished band on the bill so far this evening. Spasmodic, stopstart rhythms and gargantuan breakdowns fly thick and fast behind vocalist Dylan Davidson’s fierce, frenetic and frequently guttural utterances, while guitarist/vocalist Tynan Reibelt offers up some soaring melodic back-up work. Bassist Sean Prior, too, proves a most capable multitasker, adding to the vocal textures with aplomb all his own.
The band continues to play as though to a packedout room rather than the group of diehards that remain ... so, naturally, it’s a killer time. The band hit a highlight with Invisible Hands, the first single off their upcoming album, while old favourite and closer Know Hope also strikes a climactic peak, proving a simply massive way to round out their boastworthy set. Melbourne hardcore legends Earth Caller suffer a delayed start to their performance as a peaking bass-drum mic prevents them from getting under way for several minutes. The setback is unfortunate but not detrimental — the issue is eventually resolved — though the band themselves are clearly frustrated by the hold-up. The savagery of Dictated, Not Led is a standout moment in a uniformly solid
performance, the pre-recorded arpeggiated piano and backing strings providing a degree of delicacy to the thunder, while Degenerate — the title track from the band’s 2015 debut album — also proves particularly evocative as the band continues to play as though to a packedout room rather than the group of diehards that remain to see things out to the end... so, naturally, it’s a killer time. Mitch Knox
Cog, sleepmakeswaves, Switchkicker The Triffid 9 Jul Nostalgia was always going to be unavoidable, but it’s enveloped us much earlier than anticipated with Adelaide sound manipulator Switchkicker on board as tonight’s opener. Accompanied by a human metronome on the kit, Dan Sutherland has the sounds of a full-strength band at his fingertips, triggering dense guitar work with one hand, owning his vocals with a microphone clutched in the other. If a dawn of the robots is ever upon us, a Switchkicker soundtrack would prove suitable. We’re spoilt to have sleepmakeswaves — a band headlining this venue themselves only next month — supporting, and the Sydney post-rockers make a fist of their slot in front of a packed room. The beauty that they manage to capture with sounds far from ordinary is testament to their individual playing chops and collective imagination, Great Northern a perfect five-minute distillation for the uninitiated. And not even appendix surgery can slow down guitarist Otto Wicks-Green, who offers just as much intensity as his fellow sleepers.
No one in the crowd wants this night to end.
Two Mountain Goat tins later and gunfire rings out from the speakers. An impassioned roar fills the room. The Gower brothers, Flynn and Luke, take sides under their respective spotlights, while a focused Lucius Borich disappears behind his percussive fortress. The sounds of war then dissipate, the intro riff of Doors starts swirling and the journey begins — Cog fire up the engine and it hums like a ride that’s just left the showroom. The setlist offers pure gluttony for fans. Sharing Space gems are spliced in between uncompromising older cuts like Resonate and Real Life. An industrial rave threatens when Leftfield cover Open Up is dropped. Luke Gower’s bass line is possessive. And when the trio all lend their voices simultaneously to various choruses, it provides this raw human platform from which Flynn’s guitar work can soar. The Spine is as winding and volatile as ever. When that riff denotes at the five-twenty mark, it fucking levels the hangar. Flynn gives the lyrics of Bird Of Feather a subtle update in line with his daughter’s passing years. Then, just as we arrived, we depart, with another tenminute sonic prism in the form of No Other Way. The boys give thanks, wave, file off. No one in the crowd wants this night to end. It’s probably the best show Cog have ever played in Brisbane, and it’s impossible to do the experience justice with mere words. Benny Doyle
THE MUSIC 20TH JULY 2016 • 41
Arts Reviews Arts Reviews
Ghostbusters
Our Kind
Of Traitor Film In cinemas
★★★½
Ghostbusters Film In cinemas
★★★½ Ghostbusters didn’t quite work because it feels hastily and at times shoddily assembled, like Paul Feig had an excess of material — by all accounts, he does love to let his actors improvise — that could fit together any number of ways. What’s more, its villains, both human and paranormal, aren’t especially memorable, and the group dynamic binding the four Ghostbusters feels a little lacking compared to the bond between the ‘84 team. Wow, that sounds like a lot of faults. But Ghostbusters isn’t without its virtues, many of which are strong enough to help viewers ride out the rough spots. Because even if the team spirit (ha!) of the new Ghostbusters crew, played by McCarthy, Wiig and Saturday Night Live stars Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones, isn’t yet top-shelf — the potential’s there, for sure — there’s enough comic wattage in the quartet to ensure a lot of laughs. McCarthy and Wiig underplay their roles as Abby Yates and Erin Gilbert, childhood friends whose embrace of different disciplines (the supernatural for Abby, science for Erin) saw them go their separate ways, and while they’re fine, they’ve been livelier and funnier elsewhere. Maybe they realised they should step back and let Leslie Jones and especially Kate McKinnon strut their stuff. Jones is a wonderful mix of bluster and warmth as Patty Tolan, whose encyclopedic knowledge of New York City history makes her an invaluable addition to the team, while McKinnon effortlessly saunters off with the movie as Jillian Holtzmann, nuclear engineer and mischief maker. There’s a weird, madcap energy to everything McKinnon says and does — everything — that gives Ghostbusters a blast of nitrous oxide whenever she appears. Guy Davis
42 • THE MUSIC • 20TH JULY 2016
Adaptations of the prolific John le Carre’s novels don’t always work as well as his acclaimed books. Our Kind Of Traitor is a slow burn but will reward those who don’t require the type of cinematic instant gratification offered by so many films these days. Le Carre is credited as a writer (and executive producer) along with screenwriter Hossein Amini, while Susanna White at the helm (Nanny McPhee And The Big Bang) paces the action effectively and makes the most of Ewan McGregor’s appealing screen presence. He plays Perry, a poetry
Our Kind Of Traitor
professor who, while on holiday in Morocco, comes to the attention of Russian mafia identity, Dima (Stellan Skarsgard). Perry is caught up in the glamour and excess of Dima’s lifestyle, and before you know it is also caught up in a dangerous game when Dima asks him to help protect his family. Dima, who wants asylum in the UK after an associate’s family was executed, asks Perry to deliver classified information to MI6 — Damian Lewis is as reliable as always as an MI6 handler — thrusting the mild-mannered academic and his lawyer partner, Gail (Spectre’s Naomie Harris), into the world of espionage and high stakes money laundering. Just why Dima chose Perry and just why Perry accepts the challenge isn’t entirely satisfying — these are the kinds of details that are so much better explained in a novel — and you wonder if Our Kind Of Traitor might’ve been more successful as a TV series the way the brilliant Night Manager was recently. Even so, as a film it’s a nice alternative for grown-ups who don’t read comic books. Vicki Englund
THE MUSIC 20TH JULY 2016 • 43
Comedy / G The Guide
Wed 20
Call The Shots
QMJ Jazz Night: Black Bear Lodge, Fortitude Valley
BJC Club Nite: Brisbane Jazz Club, Kangaroo Point
sleepmakeswaves: 13 Aug The Triffid
So You Think You Can Shred Heat 4: Crowbar, Fortitude Valley Pumice + Primitive Motion: Junk Bar, Ashgrove
The Music Presents Bello Winter Music: 7 - 10 Jul Bellingen Bob Evans: 11 Aug The Foundry sleepmakeswaves: 13 Aug The Triffid Dead Letter Circus: 26 Aug Solbar; 27 Aug The Triffid
The Acoustic Sessions: New Globe Theatre, Fortitude Valley Open Mic Night: Solbar, Maroochydore Vincent Cross: The Bearded Lady, West End Acoustics With Attitude with Jai Sparks: The Triffid, Newstead
Liz Stringer: 1 Sep Junk Bar
Thu 21
Emma Louise: 20 Oct Miami Marketta; 21 Oct Solbar Maroochydore; 22 Oct The Triffid
Bertie Page Clinic + The Wandering Lost + Flash Delirium: Black Bear Lodge, Fortitude Valley
A Day On The Green: 6 Nov Sirromet Wines
The Wood & Wire Quintet: Brisbane Jazz Club, Kangaroo Point
Mullum Music Festival: 17 - 20 Nov Mullumbimby
SoLar: Cafe Le Monde, Noosa Heads Zed Charles + The Miserichorde: Crowbar, Fortitude Valley Ella Fence + Elko Fields + Port Royal: Empire Hotel, Fortitude Valley Sacred Shrines: Junk Bar, Ashgrove
Rebel Yell
Calling It Quits After seven years making music together, Brisbane pop-punk outfit Call The Shots have decided to bring it all to a close. They’ll be playing their final ever Brissie show 30 Jul in an all ages gig at The Foundry. Thigh Master + Trust Punks + Clever + Bent: The Foundry, Fortitude Valley
The Hi Boys + Sunrose + Los Laws: Solbar, Maroochydore
Mermaid Avenue + Ken Kunin & The Crooked Sky + The Red Earth Ramblers: The Milk Factory Kitchen & Bar, South Brisbane
Julia Rose + Leopold’s Treat + Katie Who + Sophia Koop: Soundlounge, Currumbin
Splendour In The Grass Pre Party with Years & Years + Lido + Moonbase Commander + Twinsy: The Triffid, Newstead
Fri 22
The Spaces + Buzzkillers + Deadbeat Society + The Dickersons: Stones Corner Hotel, Greenslopes Hits + Clever + Shifting Sands: The Bearded Lady, West End
The Big Dead
Bearfoot + Quazi-Smith + The Brains Trust: Black Bear Lodge, Fortitude Valley Tell Heaven: Brisbane Jazz Club, Kangaroo Point DJ Benny: Cafe Le Monde, Noosa Heads
Rebel Cliche
Crypt + Eskhaton + Tortured + The Dead + Descent: Crowbar, Fortitude Valley
Melbourne’s Lucy Cliche is prepping Brisbane for Splendour In The Grass with a free Late Night Rave Party at The Foundry on 21 Jul. She’s joined by Rebel Yell for an all-nighter of Australia’s best techno.
Merging Roots: Hard Rock Cafe, Surfers Paradise Som De Calcada: Lock ‘n’ Load Bistro, West End One Sound: Logan Diggers Club, Logan Central Sarah McLeod: Mandala Organic Arts Cafe, Mermaid Beach The Bella Fontes: Miami Marketta, Miami
Silkacid: New Globe Theatre, Fortitude Valley
Friendly Fire: New Globe Theatre, Fortitude Valley
VanderAa: Solbar, Maroochydore
Good Boy + WLVS + Keelan Mak: Night Quarter, Helensvale
Sisters feat. Beth Lucas + Kate Woodhouse + Camilla Hill: The Bearded Lady, West End
44 • THE MUSIC • 20TH JULY 2016
Plan B Modern Jazz Quartet: Noosa Harbour Wine Bar, Tewantin
Dead End Kings + Deraign + Adriatic + Lord Goat: The Brightside, Fortitude Valley
Ganz + Akouo: Oh Hello!, Fortitude Valley
Late Night Rave Party with Lucy Cliche + Rebel Yell: The Foundry, Fortitude Valley
The New Savages: Royal Mail Hotel, Goodna
Left of Dead The Big Dead have been growing and developing their sound. Their latest release, Shell, branches out into eclectic instrumental and woodwind melodies, which they’re launching at The Foundry on 28 Jul.
Atomic Soda feat. Camouflouge Rose + Erik Sanders + Leeze The Kid + Travy P: The Brightside, Fortitude Valley Nowhere To Run Club Night: The Foundry, Fortitude Valley
Gigs / Live The Guide
Sahara Beck
Countdown Oz Rock with Countdown Reloaded: Mon Komo, Redcliffe
The New Savages + Jesse Taylor: Solbar (Lounge Bar), Maroochydore
Sarah McLeod: Old Museum, Fortitude Valley
Sunday Cruddy Sunday + The Steady As She Goes + Post Dusk + RL Jones + Isaac Rogers: The Foundry, Fortitude Valley
Marshall Okell: Royal Mail Hotel, Goodna Bearfoot + The Brains Trust + Quasi Smith: Solbar, Maroochydore Bub-Kiss: Solbar (Lounge Bar), Maroochydore
Let’s Be Frank Frankie is a three-year-old legend with Angelman Syndrome, and Bernard Fanning, joined by Sahara Beck, Kasey Chambers and Paddy Dempsey are playing at The Triffid on 29 Jul to raise money for his cause. Avid Society + Faux Bandit + Woodshed: The Milk Factory Kitchen & Bar, South Brisbane Old Fashion + Port Paradise + The Lost Knights + more: The Spotted Cow, Toowoomba Triffid Country with Harmony James + Sian Evans + Phil Smith + Ben Bunting: The Triffid, Newstead Thy Art Is Murder + I, Valiance + Graves: Wharf Tavern (The Helm), Mooloolaba
Sat 23 Alla Spina + The Knock Backs + Whiskey & Speed + Trigger Warning + more: 4ZZZ, Fortitude Valley Many More: Black Bear Lodge, Fortitude Valley Barry Charles: Black Bunny Kitchen, Alexandra Heads Lisa La Celle Quintet: Brisbane Jazz Club, Kangaroo Point DJ Yagi + DJ Nato: Cafe Le Monde, Noosa Heads
Rock Against Twang with The Loveless Union + Big Iron + The Songs of Tom Smith + King Kongo: The Bearded Lady, West End Sonny Ingledew: The Bearded Lady (Front Bar), West End
Just In Time: Logan Diggers Club, Logan Central Asa Broomhall: Miami Marketta, Miami Thy Art Is Murder + Graves + I, Valiance: Miami Tavern, Miami
Brisbane Contemporary Jazz Orchestra: Brisbane Jazz Club, Kangaroo Point Pete Hunt: Cafe Le Monde, Noosa Heads
Soup Comedy Night: The Milk Factory Kitchen & Bar, South Brisbane
Danger Jim + Nice Biscuit + The Flamingo Jones: Empire Hotel, Fortitude Valley
Triffid Stripped with Aine Tyrrell: The Triffid, Newstead
Garret Kato: Junk Bar, Ashgrove Drowning Pool + A Breach Of Silence + She Cries Wolf: Max Watt’s, West End
Camouflage Rose
Liberties + The Beautiful Monument + Sleepwell + Rare Words: The Foundry, Fortitude Valley Exit Strategy + SussOne + Gaz Hazard + Def Men Walking + Pauly B & Punch + Nuggy G: The Milk Factory Kitchen & Bar, South Brisbane Nothing Else Matters - Metallica Tribute with Whiskey & Speed + Smoking Martha + Old Fashion + Simon Gardner + Fuzz Pilot: The Triffid, Newstead Hostile Objects + Idylls + Threskornis + Povarotti + Unbound: Trainspotters, Brisbane
Sun 24
Camo Prince
Terence Boyd Thallon + Anna & Jordan + DJ Massroom: Cafe Le Monde, Noosa Heads
Hip hop fans come together for the newest event hitting The Brightside this Sunday: Atomic Soda. Headlining the debut event is local favourite Camouflage Rose, and support comes from a slew of acts including Erik Sanders, Travy P and more.
Second Heart + The Confederacy + Cry Havoc + Seas of Valoria + Fragments + Uncle Buck: Chardons Corner Hotel (The Back Room), Annerley
Tue 26
The All Stars: Brisbane Jazz Club, Kangaroo Point
Sundown Jury: Lock ‘n’ Load Bistro, West End
Lido
Summer Solstice with Malakyte + Seas of Valoria + Skinwalkers + Ring Pull + Being Jane Lane + Heavy Roller + Worse For Wear + Moustache On Fire + Bullets + Cold Hearts + Uncle Buck + more: Crowbar, Fortitude Valley
Age Champion: Lock ‘n’ Load Bistro, West End
D.D Dumbo: Black Bear Lodge, Fortitude Valley
Harry Potter Dress Up Party and Trivia: The Brightside, Fortitude Valley
Kobrakai + Electric Zebra + Chief Weapons + Regular Band + CXIII: Chardons Corner Hotel (The Back Room), Annerley
Trainspotters feat. Hostile Objects + Idylls + Clever + Pavarotti + Threskornis: Grand Central Hotel, Brisbane
Troy Brady: The Milk Factory Kitchen & Bar, South Brisbane
Thu 28
Play Jam: Lock ‘n’ Load Bistro, West End
Wed 27
Yellowcatredcat + Cheers G’day + The Seefelds + Ruby Markwell: The Brightside, Fortitude Valley
Julia Jacklin: Black Bear Lodge, Fortitude Valley
Big Dead + Motion Picture Actress + Haarp + Kill Frank: The Foundry, Fortitude Valley
So You Think You Can Shred Semi Final: Crowbar, Fortitude Valley
Macy & The Motor: The Milk Factory Kitchen & Bar, South Brisbane
The Simpsons Trivia Night: Eatons Hill Hotel, Eatons Hill
Fri 29
Open Mic Night: Solbar, Maroochydore Suckdog + Scraps + Amaringo: The Bearded Lady, West End
Light-years Away The official Splendour In The Grass pre-party is set to rocket-launch you in to the weekend, with Lido, Years & Years, Moonbase Collector and Twinsy, all playing at the Triffid on 21 Jul.
The Brodie Graham Band: Solbar (Lounge Bar), Maroochydore
Homegrown: Battle of the Bands - Grand Final feat. Alerion + Whalehouse + Silkacid + more: The Brightside, Fortitude Valley Acoustics With Attitude with Beth Lucas: The Triffid, Newstead
Greenthief + Steve Tyssen + Outside the Academy + In Caves: Black Bear Lodge, Fortitude Valley Dezzie D & The Stingrayz: Brisbane Jazz Club, Kangaroo Point DJ Massroom + Band of Frequencies : Cafe Le Monde, Noosa Heads Wornaway + Only Machines Remain + Misguided + Fragments: Chardons Corner Hotel (The Back Room), Annerley Hobo Magic + A Basket Of Mammoths + This Old Sunn + Zong: Crowbar, Fortitude Valley
THE MUSIC 20TH JULY 2016 • 45
Comedy / G The Guide
Ken Kunin & The Crooked Sky + Pirates of the Tempest + Jake Fox + Tommy Sheehan: Currumbin Creek Tavern, Currumbin Waters
Sun 31
Soviet X-Ray Record Club
Hollie Smith: Black Bear Lodge, Fortitude Valley
Set Mo: Elsewhere, Surfers Paradise
Pat Tierney: Black Bunny Kitchen, Alexandra Heads
Michael Winslow: Hamilton Hotel, Hamilton Isabel: Hard Rock Cafe, Surfers Paradise
Swing Central + Brad Leaver: Brisbane Jazz Club, Kangaroo Point
Cigany Weaver: Lock ‘n’ Load Bistro, West End
Christian Patey + Anna & Jordan + DJ Solafreq: Cafe Le Monde, Noosa Heads
Seductive Soul: Logan Diggers Club, Logan Central
The Blackwater Fever: Crowbar, Fortitude Valley
Bearfoot: Miami Marketta, Miami
Tex Dubbo: Lefty’s Old Time Music Hall, Brisbane
Dream On Dreamer + Brave + Stepson: Miami Tavern (Shark Bar), Miami Michael Jackson Video Party: New Globe Theatre, Fortitude Valley Aaron West & the Custodians + Josh Lovegrove: Night Quarter, Helensvale Plan B Modern Jazz Quartet: Noosa Harbour Wine Bar, Tewantin Incentives + Coves + Diamond Construct: Phoenix Arts Theatre, Woolloongabba
Four Part Groove: Lock ‘n’ Load Bistro, West End
X-Rayted
Josh Wade: Lonestar Tavern, Mermaid Waters
Soviet X-Ray Record Club are kicking off their tour for new single This Girl at The Brightside this 29 Jul. Catch them with support from Hedge Fund, Big Bad Echo and Max Chillen & The Kerbside Collective.
Bart Thrupp + Maxime Cassady: Solbar (Lounge Bar), Maroochydore
Majella + Nice Biscuit + Blind Girls: The Foundry, Fortitude Valley
Alex Bowen: The Milk Factory Kitchen & Bar, South Brisbane
The Wet Fish: Queen Street Mall, Brisbane
A Breach Of Silence
Alexandra + Special Guests: The Milk Factory Kitchen & Bar, South Brisbane CC The Cat: The Motor Room, West End KLP: The Rabbit Hole, Mackay Peter Garrett & The Alter Egos + Abbe May: The Tivoli, Fortitude Valley
Once More Unto The Breach US metal giants Drowning Pool are sailing down under for their first ever headline tour of the country and local legends A Breach Of Silence and She Cries Wolf are joining them at Max Watt’s, 28 Jul.
Lets Be Frank: A Night Of Music feat. Bernard Fanning + Kasey Chambers + Sahara Beck + Paddy Dempsey + more: The Triffid, Newstead Knock Off-Kick Off-Kick On with DJ El Norto: The Triffid (Beer Garden), Newstead
Sat 30 Flip Flop Movement + The Bakersfield Glee Club: Black Bunny Kitchen, Alexandra Heads Men About Town: Brisbane Jazz Club, Kangaroo Point DJ NuCache: Cafe Le Monde, Noosa Heads
Andrea Kirwin: Miami Marketta, Miami River City Aces: Night Quarter, Helensvale Buzz & The Blues Band + John Malcolm: Royal Mail Hotel, Goodna Peter Garrett & The Alter Egos + Abbe May: Solbar, Maroochydore Belligerent Goat + Walking Bird + Black Sun + A Basket Of Mammoths: The Bearded Lady, West End
The Francis Wolves + New Mojave Trio: The Boundary Hotel, West End
Call The Shots + Stateside + Set The Record + Kids In Control: The Foundry (All Ages), Fortitude Valley Kyle Taylor + Siobhan Corcoran + Sophia Koop: The Milk Factory Kitchen & Bar, South Brisbane
Dream On Dreamer + The Brave + Stepson: Crowbar, Fortitude Valley
Service Bells + Yarout + Cassette Cathedral: Trainspotters, Brisbane
Sacred Shrines + Magenta Voyeur + Suicide Swans + The Dollar Bill Murrays: The Bearded Lady, West End
Service Bells: Grand Central Hotel, Brisbane
Greenthief + Dream Thieves + Malibu Stacey: Villa Noosa Hotel, Noosaville
Soviet X-Ray Record Club + Hedge Fund + Big Bad Echo + Max Chillen + The Kerbside Collective: The Brightside, Fortitude Valley
Mantra Trio: Logan Diggers Club, Logan Central
46 • THE MUSIC • 20TH JULY 2016
Michael Winslow: Lonestar Tavern, Mermaid Waters
Relationships: Dust Temple, Currumbin
Tue 02 Macklemore & Ryan Lewis: Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Boondall
Methyl Ethyl
Liam Bryant & The Handsome Devils + Deena + Gian + Caskade: The Foundry, Fortitude Valley
Hoo8hoo: Solbar (Lounge Bar), Maroochydore
Bistroteque feat. Zefereli: The Flying Cock, Fortitude Valley
Mon 01
Neko Nation: The Brightside, Fortitude Valley
Hemingway: Solbar, Maroochydore
Hugo Race: Junk Bar, Ashgrove
The Comfort + Grim Indiana: The Foundry, Fortitude Valley
Nambour Winter Jazz Festival: The Bison Bar, Nambour
All or Nothing feat. The Flangipanis + Dead City Radio + Whiskey & Speed + Punktilious + Give It All + Dangerous Folk + Eat City + Viper Syndicate + Magnetic Drill Gang + Spanx: Chardons Corner Hotel (The Back Room), Annerley
Oozing Blues: Royal Mail Hotel, Goodna
Nambour Winter Jazz Festival: The Bison Bar, Nambour
Back to the Moon 2 feat. Soma Rasa + Vinyl Slingers + DJ Shredlock + Operon + Junglettes + MC Shureshock: The Triffid, Newstead
It Starts The official Splendour In The Grass pre-party is going down at The Northern, 21 Jul. The Avalanches, The Kills, Methyl Ethyl, Harts will all be performing, as well as a DJ set from Kllo.
Nothing to do this weekend? Don’t worry, The Music has you sorted.
Head to events.themusic.com.au to see what’s coming up.
THE MUSIC 20TH JULY 2016 • 47
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