May Issue
Melbourne | Free
ALEX LAHEY Finding empowerment through adversity
Dog art, music and... superpowers? Basically, we go the whole hog on dogs.
I Know Leopard embrace their imperfections
Insta thirst traps: how the app is steaming up our screens
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Credits Publisher Handshake Media Pty Ltd Group Managing Editor Andrew Mast National Editor – Magazines Mark Neilsen Senior Editor Sam Wall
Game of Auspol
Editors Daniel Cribb, Neil Griffiths
A
t the time of writing there are two big unknowns that will be revealed by the end of May. At the end of the month we should know who has won both the federal election and the battle for the Iron Throne. Strap in for epic drama in both #Auspol and the final season of Game Of Thrones. The election is currently playing out as the bigger soap opera of the two. Like many poll watchers I would struggle to name many policies promised by either of the major parties if I was subjected to a pop quiz. However, I could definitely list off a handful of election-related scandals and Twitter trending topics. Finally Australia got its own ‘watergate’ in the election lead-up (it’s about water buybacks, see what Twitter did there?). It’s the biggest 2019 Auspol scandal (so far) so, of course, it involves Barnaby Joyce. It seems like just yesterday since his last scandal, but it’s actually been over a year. We’ve also had Peter Dutton apologise for accusing his opponent of exploiting her disability (she lost a leg in an accident trying to protect her son), plus there was a lot of grief about Bill Shorten dodging a question from a Channel Ten reporter. As I write, trending on Twitter is the hashtag #ILikeBillShorten. It seems the opposition leader’s fan club felt it needed to stand up to what they perceive as the ‘mainstream media’ narrative that Shorten is unlikeable. Kinda sweet. But also kinda like having a parent come to your school to beg the other kids to stop picking you last for sports teams. Game Of Thrones has been experiencing its own unexpected Twitter trends this final season as well. There’s been wild reactions to Bran’s cold stare, Daenerys’ DGAF reaction to Jon’s ‘ew’ reveal and Brienne’s moving knighthood. And, while there’s a possibility that the election result may leave some of us feeling underwhelmed, the outcome of the battles of Westeros is without doubt going to leave most of us devastated. Not only are we going to lose beloved characters, after the finale we are going to be left with dragon-sized holes in our lives without any more Game Of Thrones to watch (even when we eventually get HBO’s GoT prequel, it won’t be the same). Well, we have plenty of content to distract you from contemplating the outcomes of these important events. Most importantly we have doggos. Skip straight to our Your Town section and lose yourself in dog tales. Happy reading.
Assistant Editor/Social Media Co-Ordinator Jessica Dale Editorial Assistant Lauren Baxter Arts Editor Hannah Story Gig Guide Henry Gibson gigs@themusic.com.au Senior Contributors Steve Bell, Maxim Boon, Bryget Chrisfield, Cyclone, Jeff Jenkins Contributors Nic Addenbrooke, Annelise Ball, Emily Blackburn, Melissa Borg, Anthony Carew, Uppy Chatterjee, Roshan Clerke, Shaun Colnan, Brendan Crabb, Guy Davis, Joe Dolan, Joseph Earp, Chris Familton, Guido Farnell, Donald Finlayson, Liz Giuffre, Carley Hall, Tobias Handke, Tom Hawking, Mark Hebblewhite, Samuel Leighton Dore, Keira Leonard, Joel Lohman, Alannah Maher, Taylor Marshall, Anne Marie Peard, Michael Prebeg, Mick Radojkovic, Stephen A Russell, Jake Sun, Cassie Tongue, Rod Whitfield Senior Photographers Cole Bennetts, Kane Hibberd Photographers Rohan Anderson, Andrew Briscoe, Stephen Booth, Pete Dovgan, Simone Fisher, Lucinda Goodwin, Josh Groom, Clare Hawley, Bianca Holderness, Jay Hynes, Dave Kan, Hayden Nixon, Angela Padovan, Markus Ravik, Bobby Rein, Peter Sharp, Barry Shipplock, Terry Soo, Bec Taylor Advertising Leigh Treweek, Antony Attridge, Brad Edwards sales@themusic.com.au Art Dept Felicity Case-Mejia print@themusic.com.au Admin & Accounts accounts@themusic.com.au Distro distro@themusic.com.au Subscriptions store.themusic.com.au Contact Us Melbourne Ph: 03 9081 9600 26 Napoleon Street Collingwood Vic 3066 Sydney Ph: 02 9331 7077 Suite 129, 111 Flinders St Surry Hills NSW 2010
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The Music
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Our contributors
This month 14
Editor’s Letter
Joel Burrows
The Arts
Joel Burrows is a writer whose greatest thrill comes from composing his own bios. His
This month’s best binge watching
19
The best arts of the month
42
Shit We Did: Screen Abstinence
21
Film & TV reviews
43
Guest editorial: Chief Executive of Live Performance Australia Evelyn Richardson
22
Lazarus
44
Cloudstreet and Storm Boy
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24
Alex Lahey
OnlyFans Is this the natural evolution of Insta thirst culture?
Top End Wedding The Indigenous Australian romcom we’ve been waiting for
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30
Tami Neilson
31
The Big Picture: Samuel Luke
32
Pic
: Lis
a Businovsk
i
Masked singers Are these performers the concealed crusaders we’ve all been waiting for?
Album reviews
I Know Leopard They have a real passion for fancy “jazzy”sounding chords
34
ers Bloc, and this very magazine.
Your Town Evelyn Richardson
28
Laurel, Z-Star
work has been published by Tone Deaf, Writ-
Evelyn Richardson is the Chief Executive of
Gone to the dogs The muses, sidekicks and emergency responders who happen to be on the furry side
48
Ceres Coming back from the brink
50
Live Performance Australia (LPA), the peak body for the live performance industry. LPA
Groovin The Moo’s Handpicked by DRMNGNOW
52
Your gigs
54 56
Howzat!
58
This month’s local highlights
62
The end
36
38
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has over 400 members nationally, including music promoters and festivals.
Samuel Luke Samuel Luke is an emerging artist who works with traditional and digital illustration. His practice uses storytelling and graphic narratives to discuss the complexities of gender identity in relation to his own experiences as a transgender man.
NO GEOGRAPHY LIVE 2019
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T H EC H E M I C A L B R OT H E R S .CO M The Music
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Pure ivool
Karnivool
KaceyMusgraves
Due to overwhelming demand after playing Unify Gathering and a string of WA and SA sideshows back in January, Aussie legends Karnivool are heading out on their first full national tour since 2016. The shows begin on 16 May.
Dead & Buried
Roger that After wowing local crowds with her Splendour In The Grass slot and sideshows in 2017, Maggie Rogers’ Heard It In A Past Life tour lands Down Under this 21 May. The acclaimed US artist wiil play five headline shows as well as taking part in Vivid LIVE.
Podcast of the month: Dead & Buried
Screaming Females. Pic: Grace Winter
On award-winning local podcast Dead & Buried, Carly Godden and Lee Hooper take a deep dive into Melbourne’s hidden history and bygone true crime stories. After an extended break, the second season started this year and is as delightfully disturbing as the first.
Maggie Rogers.
Shoutout The Marissa Paternoster-fronted Screaming Females are coming back to Australia from 22 May. It’s been nearly three years between Aussie tours for the New Jersey punk group, who made their debut run back in 2016.
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BEE stings
Stream dreams
Love him or hate him, Bret Easton Ellis has had an undeniable effect on the literary scene, and now the ultra-violent satirist has turned his hand to nonfiction. You can judge the results for yourself when White drops in hardback this 2 May.
Breat Easton Ellis, White
This month’s best binge watching
Catch-22, Season 1
Graves ituation Kacey Musgraves is here with fourth studio album Golden Hour for her first-ever Australian headline tour. The American pop-country artist will kick off the run at The Tivoli in Brisbane on 10 May before heading to Enmore Theatre in Sydney and Palais Theatre in Melbourne.
One of the 21st century’s most significant novels, Joseph Heller’s 1961 satire made such an impact it joined the English lexicon. Executive produced and partly directed by George Clooney — who also stars alongside Hugh Laurie, Christopher Abbott and Kyle Chandler — the adaption follows a group of American soldiers stationed on the island of Pianosa during World War II.
Streams from 18 May on Stan
iZombie, Season 5
iZombie returns this month for its final season with the promise of a “grave new world”. Inside New Seattle brains are running dry and the dead are getting hungry. Ravi (Rahul Kohli) is still racing to crack a cure as the US government threatens to bomb New Seattle off the map, while Coroner/brain eater Liv Moore (Rose McIver) continues her work as Renegade.
Streams from 3 May on Stan
Tuca & Bertie, Season 1
Ruel the day ARIA Award-winning singer Ruel gets rolling on his huge headlining Aussie tour this month. The run starts this 5 May in Brisbane before before making ten more stops around Oz, including a show at the Sydney Opera House.
Tuca & Bertie is the latest show from the team that created BoJack Horseman. An animated series about the eponymous besties, a care-free toucan with a lust for life (Tiffany Haddish) and a songbird with anxiety
Ruel
problems (Ali Wong), the show is giving off
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strong Broad City with birds vibes. Streams from 3 May on Netflix
God-botherers
Beaming
Everybody knows Godzilla’s the kaiju GOAT — everybody except Mothra, Rodan and King Ghidorah apparently. The people’s favourite beastie shows them who’s boss in CGI battle royale, Godzilla: King Of The Monsters, out 30 May. Godzilla: King Of The Monsters
Brisbane dream-pop prodigy Hatchie, aka Harriette Pilbeam, is taking a running start at launching her debut album in June, with an east coast tour for the lead single Without A Blush beginning 17 May in Melbourne.
Legacy artist
Jamila Woods. Pic: Bradley Murray
Hatchie Pic: Sophie Hur
This month, Chicago-based American singer, songwriter and poet Jamila Woods releases her first full-length album since 2016 debut Heavn. Legacy! Legacy!, with songs inspired by artists like Eartha Kitt and James Baldwin, is out this 10 May.
I would like to… Rage 2
It’s been nearly ten years since gamers cut a path through armies of mutants and bandits with a just handful of murder frisbees and a can-do attitude. This 14 May they’ll get a chance to return to Rage’s post-apocalyptic wasteland in the sequel, Rage 2.
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Sh*t we did With Maxim Boon
Screen Abstinence It may be hard to imagine, but there was once a time when the full sum of all human knowledge wasn’t sitting conveniently in our pocket,
Alice Ivy
when limitless entertainment wasn’t just a few swipes away, and when unfolding events on the other side of the planet weren’t tracked by the second. This sad, strange, under-stimulated era was the time before the advent of mainstream screen culture, and to think of it
Close encounters
now, it seems almost inconceivable that the world ever functioned at all. And yet, for all the advantages that smart
Melbourne singer-songwriter Alice Ivy will hit the road this month with her recent single, the Flint Eastwood-featuring Close To You, in tow. Like A Version collaborator Miss Blanks is coming along for the “monster Australian tour”, which starts 17 May.
devices have gifted us, has our dependency on them gone too far? Excessive screen time has been linked in recent years to a range of maladies from weight gain, diabetes, heart disease and even cancer, with several factors – disturbed sleep patterns; poor eating habits while binge watching – exacerbated by screens. Some experts estimate as little as just
Club fandwich
two hours a day of screen time could be harmful, but with so much of our lives inexorably entwined with our devices, is it possible
To celebrate the release of their new tune, Get Better, Aussie favourites Press Club are taking it out on an east coast tour of Australia. The first date is 31 May and the four-piece will perform shows in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne with special guests Mid City.
to break our screen addiction?
The Verdict Courtesy of the usage app on my phone, I can reveal that my average daily dose of screen time is around 7.5 hours. Now, I don’t see myself as especially afflicted by screen addiction, which probably shows how widespread the issue is. So, how to release myself from screen time’s iron grasp? There are two main
Press Club. Pic: Ian Laidlaw
protocols: daily limits or 24-hour screen fasts. In the interests of science, or something, I gave both approaches a red hot go. Because my professional life dictates that I sit in front of a computer screen all day, the 24-hour cold turkey approach has to be a weekend experiment. In what some might call cheating, I select the Sunday after a boozy night of 3am Karaoke for my 24-hour screen fast, mainly because I’ll be unconscious most of the day. Cunning as this was, what I hadn’t banked on was just how crucial my phone is for hangover management; after a few hours
Deal with the Devil
of dusty boredom, I buckle, order some pizza, and get stuck into a Candy Crush marathon. Daily limiting proves equally ill-fated,
After a massive fan movement to save the show when it was axed by Fox, Lucifer is back for season four at its new home on Netflix this 8 May. The first three seasons will also move across for anyone looking to get caught up.
The Music
although I can proudly report that I have Lucifer
successfully reintroduced reading to my
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tram journeys (albeit via my kindle… so, partial credit?)
Why it’s time to make some noise in this election campaign In the lead-up to the federal election, Chief Executive of Live Performance Australia Evelyn Richardson wants to know where our politicians stand on supporting Australia’s live music industry — and you should too.
L
recognises the industry’s broader economic and cultural contribution to the nation. There are some good targeted initiatives, but despite promising nearly $28 million in new spending, it is similarly modest in overall dollar terms. Sounds Australia will receive over $10 million to showcase Australian music to international markets. The Live Music Office will work through Sounds Australia to engage state and local governments on reducing barriers to live performance. Labor will double the Australia Council’s New Recordings Program and provide $5 million to support the establishment of community music hubs to provide places where younger musicians can practice. There is a $7.6 million investment in youth music programs, and support for mental health programs delivered by non-government organisations. An additional $4 million will be provided for cultural diplomacy programs, as well as funding for the training of music managers and the ARIA music teacher award. Labor has also pledged a nationwide ban on ticket buying bots as part of a crackdown on scalping and to consult on any changes to copyright reform. Labor says there will be more announcements in the election lead-up. So, there is some welcome but frankly long overdue recognition of the importance of nurturing and nourishing Australian music. But both sides of politics have a long way to go in putting in place long term strategies for Australia’s live music industry, and arts and culture more broadly, that match its current economic importance, as well as realise its full potential. Australia desperately needs a National Cultural Policy. We also need a National Music Strategy that can address the various barriers and take advantage of the opportunities for industry growth. Some of the priority areas in this strategy would include providing greater access to live music across the community, including in regional and remote areas. We need policies and programs that promote the music industry talent pipeline, for musicians and managers. For example, at home one of the biggest constraints on the industry is rising red tape for live music. There are numerous inefficient, inconsistent, overlapping and burdensome regulations at the local and state level that impact on live music at both indoor and outdoor venues. Live music businesses are hurt by convoluted and cost-prohibitive regulations such as the recently introduced festival regulations in NSW, which were imposed without any industry consultation. While many of these are state and local government issues, there needs to be a national approach so that live music can thrive for the benefit of all Australians. If our artists can’t perform at home, their chances on the global stage are seriously limited. We also need to do more to ensure that all Australian communities can enjoy the live music experience across all genres, from our metropolitan centres through to regional towns and remote communities. This means better support for regional touring programs through the Australia Council and tax incentives for live music venues. We have already demonstrated our global capability, but we need a strategic focus that harnesses our music talent and seizes the opportunities for Australia in the international market. Our physical distance from the world’s biggest music markets makes it even more difficult and expensive for Australian artists, but with the right support, we can see even more Australians headlining international festivals and growing their audiences. We also need more investment in the people who make the music and present the live performances. Starting with music programs in schools through to talent development and industry skills, there is huge scope to grow the talent pool and ensure the industry’s diversity and sustainability into the future. We celebrate our past and present icons, but who is guiding the development of our future talent and leaders? In this digital era, we need to be focusing on the new skills and expertise required to take the Australian soundtrack to domestic and international audiences. We also need a world-first benchmark of not less than 20% for all locally curated streaming playlists. As we go to the polls on 18 May, we should be asking all of our candidates for public office where they stand on supporting Australia’s live music industry as a significant contributor of jobs and economic opportunity, as well as making up an integral part of our social and cultural DNA.
ast weekend as our federal politicians were on the campaign hustings, Tame Impala was headlining on the main stage at Coachella, one of the world’s biggest and most influential music festivals. They were among several Aussie acts performing over two weekends in front of around 250,000 people on the polo fields at Indio in one of the world’s biggest music markets. More Australian musicians will be on stages around the world in coming months, from smaller clubs and venues through to the main stages at big international festivals. Our politicians are quick to don the green and gold when our athletes and sporting teams are doing well in the international arena. Greater recognition and celebration of our Australian artists taking on the world on the stages of Coachella, Bonnaroo, Primavera or Fuji Rock, or even here at home at our own festivals is long overdue. It’s not just a matter of national pride in the musical talent of our fellow Australians and their cultural contribution, although that’s important. Live music also drives job creation and economic activity at home and overseas and is an increasingly valuable Australian export to the world. Yet, it’s woefully overlooked by government in terms of meaningful support compared to many other industries. A recent parliamentary inquiry crunched the numbers. Live music contributes $15.4 billion to the Australian economy, generating 65,000 full and part-time jobs, and is forecast to achieve a compound annual growth rate of almost 3% over the next couple of years. Ticket sales to live events reached almost $2 billion in 2017, with the largest proportion coming from contemporary music ($826 million). More than half of all Australians attended a live music event during 2016, while the number of Australians who attended a live music event at least once a month almost doubled from 10 to 18%. The music industry has always beenintensely competitive and challenging, but it is also going through major changes, particularly as a result of digital disruption. The rise of streaming, as opposed to the sale of physical recordings, is changing the way many artists earn their income, creating challenges as well as new opportunities. It’s also getting harder to find a space to perform or be heard on radio. Our musicians need to be more innovative, agile and resilient than ever before in order to survive, let alone thrive. When you add up the contribution the live music industry makes to our economy, and the world-beating talent we have to offer, the level of support provided by the government for live music is paltry by comparison, whether it’s policy direction or actual funding. By comparison, the Australian Government has a $385 million National Sport Plan (Sport 2030) and even a sports diplomacy strategy. $54 million is being provided over the next couple of years to support Australia’s preparation for the 2020 Olympics. So, what’s on the table for the music industry at this election? Neither of the major parties are really turning up the volume, although there are some notable differences in approach. The Coalition announced a $30.9 million Australian music industry package as part of this year’s Federal Budget. It includes $22.5 million over five years to Live Music Australia to help small businesses with grants of up to $10,000 each for artist costs and investment in equipment or infrastructure to upgrade live music venues and support performance. There’s $2 million (over five years) for a Women In Music mentor program, and $2.7 million in funding for a national Indigenous contemporary music development program. The Australia Council will receive $2 million over four years to increase performance opportunities for musicians, including in regional venues, and an additional $1.6 million for Sounds Australia to promote the Australian music industry in emerging Asian markets. These are welcome steps, but very small in their scope when stacked up against the multi-billion contribution the industry delivers for the economy. They don’t do much to really shift the needle in helping the industry address the issues which will impact on its longer-term potential . The ALP has also released its package for music, Soundtrack Australia. It’s a more comprehensive approach than put forward by the Coalition, which also
“The level of support provided by the government for live music is paltry.”
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As a songwriter, Alex Lahey says she’s often complimented for being “so open and honest and relatable”. She sits down with Bryget Chrisfield to discuss seeing a psychologist for the first time in her life, self-care and writing a song about masturbation. Cover and feature pic by Kane Hibberd.
hinking back to typical questions she was asked in interviews con-
and get it off my chest.’ And so that song [Interior Demeanour] is what that
ducted around the release of her debut album, 2017’s I Love You Like
is about. And it’s actually the first song that got written for the record, and I
A Brother, Alex Lahey recalls, “The last cycle was like, ‘[puts on dweeby
remember writing it and being, ‘Oooooooh, haha, this is a dark song.’ Also,
voice] What’s it like being a woman in the music industry?’ and that was sort of
musically, it’s very angular and, like, super grungy and quite dissonant and I
like the discourse a couple of years ago, which every single female artist got so
was like, ‘This is quite a change!’ from, you know, the stuff that I’d done before.
fucking sick of! You know, everyone was like, ‘Oh, reeeeaaally?’”
And I’d written it long before I Love You Like A Brother actually came out and I
Now that promo for follow-up album The Best Of Luck Club is in full
was sort of like, ‘This is interesting.’ I sort of surprised myself with it.”
swing, Lahey observes, “I feel like the conversation this time ‘round, for me, is
Did Lahey surprise herself with how much of her own personal experience
more — self-care is a real topic... I think also, like, Don’t Be So Hard On Yourself
she was prepared to share through song? “Yeah, I did,” she acknowledges. “It
is kind of lending itself to that, too, so it’s been an ongoing discussion.”
was really cool... People are sort of like, ‘Oh, the songs that you write, you know,
Sitting at a table inside The Mess Hall, a restaurant at the top end of Mel-
you’re so open and honest and relatable’ — whatever that means — and I was
bourne’s Bourke Street, Lahey looks content and speaks excitedly between
sort of like, ‘Oh, yeah, ok,’ like, I never really thought about it that way. And then
sips of beer.
I wrote that song and I was like, ‘If people thought I was putting myself on the
The music video shoot for Don’t Be So Hard On Yourself — the lead single from Lahey’s forthcoming second album — took place on a “fucking hot” day, Lahey tells. “I was really lucky, like, some of the guys got so sunburnt; I felt awful for them... But, yeah, the crew and the people in the clip were such troupers, and they just all had such good attitudes, and if it weren’t for that the clip
line then...,’” she laughs. “But it’s also important to talk about; you never want those sort of things to be stigmatised so, yeah! “And then on the other side, a song like Isabella is — I feel every good rock artist should have a song about masturbation and that’s mine.” When asked how many other songs about masturbation she is aware of, Lahey offers, “Oh, a few. Like, Lance Jr by Courtney Barnett comes to mind
wouldn’t have happened and it wouldn’t have come out as well as it did.” Lahey then goes on to describe the clip’s “T.B.O.L.C Research Institute”
— which is one of her earlier ones — there’s a Sufjan Stevens song on Carrie
location as “the Black Mirror version” of The
& Lowell... Also — I think it’s [in] the first song
Best Of Luck Club.
on the self-titled St Vincent album [the sec-
Lahey has said previously that says the
ond song, Birth In Reverse], there’s a line
ten songs on The Best Of Luck Club docu-
that’s like, ‘[sings] Take out the garbage,
ment 12 months during which she navigated “the highest highs and the lowest lows” in her life to date. When asked whether she would care to elaborate, Lahey pinpoints track three, Interior Demeanour, as “the flagship song for the lows” of said year. “I wrote that after going to a psychologist for the first time ever in my life and I was going through a break-up at the time, which was... particularly hurtful and, like, it was quite bruising.
The Best Of Luck Club (Nicky Boy/Caroline) is out this month. Alex Lahey tours from 6 Jun.
“You increase your level of vulnerability, but then you also feel quite empowered by doing that — the catharsis of it is quite empowering.”
masturbate.’ There’s a song by Hailee Steinfeld called Love Myself, which is great. But Isabella: I get asked like, ‘Oh, Isabella, who’s Isabella?’ And I’m like, ‘Well, there’s a popular vibrator on the market called Izzy, so Isabella’s Izzy, yeah.’ And Isabella’s an independent woman who, you know, is highly capable to do whatever she wants and don’t need no one to tell her otherwise. And I feel like if you were gonna personify a vibrator in any way, it’s as that, that person. So Isabella’s that per-
“And I knew — you know, having gone
son, yeah.”
through an experience like that before, on
Earlier on in the day, Lahey caught up
paper — that it would all be ok, and that I would get through it, but I just felt so low at the time, which was out of charac-
with The Best Of Luck Club’s producer Catherine Marks (who she labels “the
ter for me because usually my emotions are pretty balanced... I was like, ‘I just
best engineer in the world”) for the first time since they finished the record.
feel like I wanna check in and I might wanna do this for myself,’ you know? So
“There’s nothing formal about the way that she works, technically,” Lahey com-
I went to my GP and did the mental health [plan] thing, which is really great
mends of Marks. “So, because of that, she’s so creative and she just has this
— it’s such a wonderful benefit. And I was like, ‘Look, I’m going through this
beautiful sonic palette.”
thing at the moment; I feel like I really wanna go get some advice or guidance.’
A candid photo of the pair in a recording studio, which Lahey posted on
And he was really helpful and I ended up getting paired with a psych who,
Instagram to mark International Women’s Day this year, speaks volumes about
luckily, was a really good fit for me. Because that doesn’t always happen, like,
their close working relationship. “The record is just built out of fun,” Lahey
sometimes it takes a few goes. But I got paired up with someone and ended
enthuses. “I was showing Catherine a video that I had taken of her that she
up seeing her for a few sessions. And it’s a funny experience, because you
didn’t realise I was taking... There’s a lot of this instrument called Mellotron on
increase your level of vulnerability, but then you also feel quite empowered by
the record and she was trying to find, like, the right chords to play, and she
doing that — the catharsis of it is quite empowering.
kept on fucking it up. And then, at the end, she just lifts up her hands and
“And it’s sort of like a thing of, ‘Look, I know there’s bigger things going
looks at it and goes, ‘[glances around at our neighbouring tables and whis-
on in the world, but I’m having a really tough time and I just wanna talk. And
pers] Cunt!’ [laughs]. I showed it to her and she’s just pissing herself... So that’s
I know it’s gonna be ok, and you know it’s gonna be ok, but I just wanna talk
what we were laughing at.”
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Alex Lahey is managed by Leigh Treweek who is a director of Handshake Media, owner of this magazine.
Under the influence With Instagram’s stringent content restrictions, OnlyFans seems like a natural next step. Maxim Boon looks at the platform providing influencers and adult performers a direct line to their audiences.
T
he advent of the digital age has gone hand in glove with an unprecedented evolution in human behaviour, and of the various paradigm-shifting advances to have emerged in recent decades, easily the most powerfully altering to the status quo has been social media. Most of the digital portals we use to document, share and curate our daily lives were founded with straightforward and blue-sky ideals in mind. And yet, from these humbly pure beginnings, it’s no hyperbole to say the major digital networking platforms have become cornerstones of our civilisation, radically shifting the ways we engage with the world, develop our values, and express our beliefs. And oftentimes, in ways that are far less wholesome than their architects intended. TheFacebook was created in 2004 as a way to share photos and digitally connect with friends. Today, Facebook is one of the most potently calibrated marketing tools ever created, with a captive audience of billions of consumers worldwide. Twitter had even simpler aspirations when it was founded in 2006, originally conceived as an SMS-style way for people to keep their nearest and dearest up to date with their experiences. Now, it’s become an unfettered pulpit for world leaders and firebrand antagonists alike, making it arguably the most volatile arena of political and social discourse in human history. The reason that social media’s reality has tended to drift from its original intention is down to one simple factor: humanity’s innate capacity for opportunism. As much as social media has altered our behaviour, our behaviours have also altered social media, as unexpected viral bonanzas have opened up new frontiers for commercial and social gain. Indeed, the most committed social media Svengalis have been able to pioneer an entirely new kind of career, as influencers, literally transmuting popular kudos into cash.
But as with any process of evolution, the rules of survival of the fittest apply, or as has proven the case for photosharing site Instagram, survival of the thirstiest. Less than a decade since its launch in October 2010, Instagram has become the kingmaker for influencers, catapulting its most-followed users to celebrity status. A sure-fire method for cultivating the global following essential to an influencer’s cache has capitalised on the evergreen marketing maxim: sex sells. Instagram has strict content rules prohibiting overt eroticism, but this hasn’t stopped millions of influencers from flashing some flesh, using sexually suggestive images as bait for potential followers. However, a new commercial opportunity has entered orbit around Instagram, taking the “thirst-trap” phenomena to the next level. OnlyFans is, in some respects, not unlike Instagram; a platform for sharing photos and videos with followers. Where it differs is in the nature of its content and how that content is monetised. Subscribers to individual profiles pay between $5 to $20 a month to access pics and vids too risque for Instagram, ranging from softcore naughtiness to hardcore kink. A relatively new addition to the social media ecosystem, launched in 2016, OnlyFans was not originally developed as a porn portal. But as has been the case for almost every social media platform, opportunism altered its DNA; for sex workers and performers working in the adult entertainment industry, the synergies were self-evident. What has been more surprising, however, is how widely it has been embraced by social media influencers with no prior experience of producing adult content, with fitness professionals in particular peddling X-rated content alongside their family-friendly gymspiration. A perfect example of this is OnlyFan’s highest earner. Jem Wolfie is based in Perth and began her online career as an influencer on Instagram, attracting more than 2.5 million followers with her fitness and vegan diet blogs. While her OnlyFans following may be smaller, it is wildly lucrative; more than 10,000 subscribers pay $US9.99 a month for access to her channel. Far from being explicitly pornographic, most of her posts are just slightly racier versions of her Insta-content, but on both platforms, critics could call foul of the objectification of a young woman’s body. Wolfie, on the other hand, disagrees, citing in several interviews that being in control of her content, understanding what her viewers want and how far she is prepared to go, is in fact empowering. For the porn industry, OnlyFans is yet another blow to its economic stability in the digital age. Yet for adult performers, it has created a means of attaining professional agency in a way that would have been unimaginable a decade ago. Whereas sets, crew, editing and production costs required the backing of moneyed studios, today, anyone with a decent smartphone can be their own pornographer, in control of their content and its distribution. Adult performers have flocked to OnlyFans, and unsurprisingly, competitor sites riffing on the OnlyFans model have also proliferated over the past couple of years to support this boom. However, while the advantages of OnlyFans for its content creators appear numerous, there are certain question marks over its business model, how it protects its consumers, ensures quality control, avoids infringing international laws and how its “earners” (as OnlyFans content creators are tellingly known) declare their income to various tax entities. Largely, these unanswered questions exist in the fog of an uncharted digital territory. What does seem clear, however, is that the next major digital trend will emerge from somewhere quite unexpected.
“Uncharted digital territory.”
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Long way to the Top End Top End Wedding stars Miranda Tapsell and Gwilym Lee talk to Hannah Story about incorporating a connection to Country into a traditional rom-com.
M
iranda Tapsell’s reason for writing Indigenous rom-com Top End Wedding, with co-writer Josh Tyler, is simple: “We both love rom-coms,” the Darwin-born, Larrakia woman enthuses. “[Tyler] had been up to the Territory, my hometown, and I was incredibly proud of coming from there, so he was saying to me, ‘Why don’t we set one up in the Northern Territory?’ It almost seemed too good to pass up.” Tapsell also stars in the film as Lauren, alongside Welsh actor Gwilym Lee, who plays her fiancØ, Ned, as the pair head from Adelaide to Darwin to get hitched. When they arrive, Lauren discovers that her mother, played by Ursula Yovich, has gone missing, so she and Ned set out across the Territory to find her. Lee recalls reading the script in 2017, and initially thinking he knew what he was in for. “I kind of recognised some of the tropes,” Lee begins. “And then it just became something that I had never seen before: that it was about family and that it had this real true heart and depth about identity and belonging and home — that’s what I kind of fell in love with. “And then I got the opportunity to meet the person who wrote it and recognised how personal it was to you,” Lee turns and gestures to Tapsell, “and how much it was your story, and so that made me wanna just get on board and try and do justice to this.” There’s a “missed opportunity”, Tapsell says, when people don’t visit the Top End of Australia, loosely defined as the northernmost part of the Northern Territory, from Alice Springs in the south all the way to islands off the coast, including the Tiwi Islands, where part of the film’s action is set. “We wanted to reflect Australia in a different way. We wanted to point out all the great things that this country has and so that means showing just some of the most beautiful, romantic parts of the Territory: Katherine Gorge, First Rock, Hawk Dreaming in Kakadu National Park, and of course, the Tiwi Islands.” For Lee, it was a privilege to be able to contribute to a rich canon of Indigenous Australian stories. “I remember the day that we were shooting the wedding in Tiwi in the church and being on set and hearing Robbie Collins speak in Tiwi language. I don’t speak Tiwi [and] didn’t understand what he was saying, but the hairs on the back of my neck were stood on end just knowing that this language was being immortalised in film and preserved in that sense.
“In particular, we wanted to celebrate the Tiwi — not only do they have incredible stories and art [but] their love of family is undeniable. And I think sometimes that can be overshadowed by a whole heap of other negative things and I just really wanted to pare it back and go, well this is what I know about community, and the communities that I grew up with. So I’m really glad that that got to so many people.”
“It’s great to be a part of that, and I think the Tiwi community were really welcoming towards us because they were so grateful that we were telling their story faithfully and we were kind of preserving their cultures and history and traditions.” Tapsell and her collaborators, including director Wayne Blair, with whom she previously worked on 2012’s The Sapphires, are grateful to Australia’s Traditional Owners
visit [NT], but to be welcomed by the Traditional Owners — we weren’t tourists, we were kinda engaging with the Owners of this land.” For Tapsell too it was easy to find the emotional honesty in the part of Lauren, as she, like her character, was raised away from her ancestral lands, in Jabiru, around Kakadu National Park: “I had to be really honest about not growing up with the Tiwi community either.” She qualifies, “Not that I had been cut off in the same way Lauren had at all, but I just mean that I grew up on Mirarr land in Kakadu, and I knew my Tiwi family, but the film really brought me to that community and I got to learn my family tree better. “I got to learn my language and I’m still learning my language, so it was a real honour to do that. And I was so lucky that I was embraced by my family and that my family embraced all the crew and cast that had come along with me.”
“I was so lucky that I was embraced by my family and that my family embraced all the crew and cast that had come along with me.” Lee had never been to the Northern Territory before filming Top End Wedding. He says it was “special to go to these parts of the world for the first time”, but also notes that it helped him to approach the role of Ned from an authentic place. “[It was] great for the character, because the character’s a fish out of water as well, so there’s no acting required, you just kinda take it all in. But [it was special] not only to
for getting behind the project, saying that their knowledge “grounded” the film. “We really owe a lot to not only the Tiwi, but the Larrakia, the Jawoyn, the Mirarr, and also the Kaurna in Adelaide just because they just backed the film,” Tapsell begins. “The Traditional Owners backed the film 100%. And the knowledge that they shared with us and all of the help they gave, it really grounded the film.
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Top End Wedding screens from 2 May.
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Resting on your Laurel Laurel Arnell-Cullen — known monomyously as Laurel — tells Liz Giuffre about the beauty and intimacy in stillness.
D
Laurel tours from 22 May.
Pic: Kamila K Stanley
ogviolet is the debut album for UK singer/songwriter/producer Laurel Arnell-Cullen, known mononymously as Laurel. Fresh from SXSW, Arnell-Cullen speaks to The Music on an early morning London phone call, while on tour in the UK with KT Tunstall. Laurel’s work is minimalist but purposeful — there’s clear comparisons to be made with some of the best lady-led folk in the business, but there’s also an edge we’ve not heard before. “You know, I really don’t mind comparisons that much, I think it’s really interesting to hear what people think,” Arnell-Cullen says. “This record has been compared to Florence & The Machine a lot, and I think she’s fucking incredible, and an amazing woman, so it’s always quite nice. I get Fleetwood Mac quite a lot at the moment which is a bit random, but I love Fleetwood Mac, so you know, it’s funny. It’s really interesting hearing what people say, because I can be like, ‘I never thought of that, but you think my record sounds like that.’” Laurel’s artistic aesthetic comes from a healthy mix of new and old approaches to making and presenting music. First sketching ideas in her bedroom on her laptop, she moves to record reel-to-reel, embracing the sound and experience that provides. “With [tape] you can only really get one take, and you can’t as easily copy and paste and save all of the takes, you really just have to wing it a bit more. But I think sometimes that’s what gives it the energy and excitement. It’s what you don’t get if you’ve just sat for hours on one thing. “There’s a lot of times where you do a whole take and it’s great, except for this one little bit. And so actually re-recording that [one bit] means re-recording everything, so you accept it. And those imperfections are what makes music real rather than formulated. So keeping those [little imperfections] are what keeps is authentic.” Also striking about Laurel’s debut are the videos for her singles Lovesick and Same Mistakes. Both are so still as to be almost completely static — an approach that at first
confuses, but then draws the viewer and listener closer. At a time when artists are trying stunts like crazy dances and arresting costumes to get noticed, this understatement is a left turn, and quite the risk in lots of ways. “I’d been watching all of these screen tests in American movies, before we had digital cameras. The night before they would shoot they would do all these tests — they’d roll the tape then send it to the lab just to check the cameras worked — and you can google these, they’re beautiful,” Arnell-Cullen begins. “A lot of the time, in these moments you caught people in their own natural environment, they were just so themselves, so from that we’ve developed a lot of the videos that we made for the album. I thought it might be nice to do something that wasn’t just a static image, but still wasn’t making a full video for it. [And] it’s great because they match the intimacy of the songs too.” Is she concerned that being understated might mean being overlooked? “It’s so funny, people can’t keep their attention on one thing for more than five seconds nowadays. I mean, sometimes you can try making something for that much money or not many resources, but it can end up being not as good. So we kind of just lived within the means of what we had, and I think that’s why these videos are very simplistic but I think they’re very beautiful as well. “It happens at my gigs actually too — I’ve noticed the quieter you play the more people listen. And sometimes you can try and get people to listen by playing really loud when everyone’s talking, but what I’ve started doing is playing really quietly and people shut up. I wonder if there’s something in it. It wasn’t my intention [to make people lean in] — I just made what I felt like making. Which is why it’s so great and so interesting to hear everyone’s takes on it, because of course when you’re making it you don’t have any idea, really.”
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From A to Z Zee Gachette aka Z-Star talks to Rod Whitfield about getting the seal of approval from Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page.
The Australian market is becoming more of a priority for Tami Neilson, who is returning in May for her second visit this year. Ahead of the Blues On Broadbeach Music Festival, Chris Familton gets the lowdown on her life as a professional soul and country singer.
“I
’ve always been an album a year kind of girl,” says
Before returning to Australia, Neilson
Tami Neilson, from her home in Auckland, New Zea-
is opening for her hero Mavis Staples for
land. It’s been nearly 12 months since Sassafrass! was
the second time, which has her bursting
released and in timely fashion, she reveals that she’s just fin-
with excitement. “I thought last time that it
ished recording her next album. “Because I tour and play
would be a once in a lifetime opportunity
live a lot I want to always keep it fresh for my fans and for
and now it’s happening again and it’s just
myself, introducing new material every time I tour which I
amazing.”
do regularly.”
Only days before that she’ll also be
With the amount of international touring she’s been
attending New Zealand’s prestigious Taite
clocking up in recent years it begs the question of when
Music Prize as a finalist for Sassafrass!.
she gets to set aside the time to write for each new album.
Then it’s off to the Northern Hemisphere for
“I was continually on tour for the year before Sassafrass!
a German tour.
and the only block of time I had was sitting on my arse in a
With Australia only a three-hour flight
van for eight hours a day driving across Germany. I took my
from Auckland, The Music questions why
noise-cancelling headphones and notebook and bunkered
we haven’t seen her touring here on a
down in the front seat and just became very antisocial but
more regular basis. The good news is she
got an album done. My writing process tends to be that I
will be. “I self-manage in New Zealand and
collect this treasure trove of melodies and lyrics and titles
my international management think more
and keep my little arsenal of ideas and then I book studio
about Europe and America and they for-
time and that’s it, my deadline then makes me knuckle
get about Australia a bit. The intention and
down and cook it all up,” she explains.
investment from them in Australia hasn’t
Recently, on International Women’s Day, Neilson
been a priority and so I’ll be running more
released the bold and beautiful single Big Boss Mama
of that myself and getting over there more,”
that proudly flies the flag for the importance of powerful
she reveals. “The audiences are so wonder-
women in society. It’s a characteristically colourful, holler-
ful and they get my music and they get me.
and-stomp rockabilly-soul track in the tradition of her songs
They’re a bit more boisterous and outgo-
such as Stay Outta My Business and Bananas, and for the
ing and I really connect with that so you’re
most part, the response has been overwhelmingly positive.
going to be seeing a lot more of me!”
“I love hearing stories, especially from parents with young kids, girls especially, who say that they love the music,” says Neilson. “I like that, with the fun packaging, it’s really connecting, but not just the music, the lyrics too. Hearing feedback like that as a musician, when it’s some-
Tami Neilson tours from 16 May.
times a hard road to travel, really makes it worthwhile and you realise, yes, it is connecting and it is going to hopefully make a difference with the next generation coming up.” Neilson grew up as a country singer with her family band in Canada, and though she’s always loved and listened to soul music, it has taken her a bit longer to blend and incorporate those influences as strongly as she has over her last few albums. “That’s always what I’ve written, the songs that I was writing back early on still had a soul, gospel, rockabilly sound but Dynamite! was the first album where I went into the studio with a full band. I’d never had a full band before and I’d never had studio time like that. Out of necessity and finance I’d always done it with my brother and dad and mostly acoustic,” Neilson explains. “Dynamite! was the first album I could actually hire a studio and musicians! Those things enabled me to develop my sound more. I’d also grown in confidence and knew the direction I wanted to go and what kind of artist I wanted to be.”
Z-Star Trinity tours from 16 May. Check The Guide on theMusic.com.au for more details.
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Pic: Mrs Jones
“O
h my God, it’s Jimmy Page, and he’s giving me a cuddle!” The international praise for Zee Gachette aka Z-Star, the renowned British-Trinidadian musician, and her many musical incarnations, has come in thick and fast over the course of her career, the most resonant and surreal of which has come from the Led Zeppelin guitar god and other such music legends. You get the feeling Gachette’s head is still spinning over that as she speaks to The Music from the road in rural Victoria. “I got this award for Best Live Act,” she recalls. “Jimmy and Roger Daltrey were giving out the award and they were in the audience. I’d just finished performing my song Murder On My Mind, which is on my new record 16 Tons Of Love. I finished it and Jimmy and Roger just leapt to their feet applauding, and I was just like, ‘Oh my God!’ “Then afterwards, backstage we were talking for quite a long time, and he was like, ‘Did you write that song?’ and I’m like, ‘Yeah I wrote it!’ He was super impressed and he said, ‘Wow, you’re a force of nature.’ We’ve struck up a really nice friendship, I know his kids and his ex-wife and stuff. It’s like meeting your god.” Gachette has been in Australia since mid-February, on a lengthy and comprehensive tour of the east coast, which has taken in everything from tiny country pubs to big festivals like Port Fairy and Blues On Broadbeach. The tour takes her all the way through to the end of June, performing as a trio with Beck Flatt and Jez Klysz. “Z-Star Trinity forms one part of the Z-Star universe,” she says. “It’s a power trio, and it’s pretty trashy, big songs, memorable songs. Then there’s Z-Star, the Mothership, which is the full band, and we’ve got Z-Star Delta which is the two-piece, where I play drums and I have my lead guitarist Sebastien [Heintz]. They’re all really different — and all really fun.” The Z-Star Universe’s music transcends all barriers of age, race and religion, and brings people together in that spirit of music and fun. “From Port Fairy to the Blue Mountains, people have been saying, ‘Oh my God, I haven’t danced so much in years!’” she laughs. “And the crowds, it’s a real mix, it’s everyone from great grandmothers to little kids. It’s quite intense, but there’s always a great message in there: it’s uplifting, it’s deeply emotional and it’s going to take you to places.” Gachette feels that this is what draws people to her music: “People connect with it, they connect with the passion of it all — it doesn’t matter where you come from or what you look like.” Another great advantage of doing a tour like this is that she gets to escape a large chunk of the English winter and exchange it for an Aussie summer. “Woo, my God yeah!” she swoons. “I was just speaking to a friend of mine in England this morning, and she was like, ‘It’s still so dark and cold here, I’m so jealous!’ You guys are so lucky here, I love coming over here.” Indeed, Gachette feels a very strong kinship and deep connection with Australia, having toured here extensively over the years. “It’s a great continent, I’ve got lots of friends here, people who’ve moved out here from the UK. The people are really warm, they love music, they still buy CDs, they go out to shows, it’s just a case of stopping the government getting in the way. “It’s so crazy,” she continues, referring to the NSW Government’s crackdown on music festivals, and the impact of policies like the lockout laws on the Sydney music scene. “Music makes people feel good, it’s art, and there should be more investment into that, because we all need it. It’s not just the sunshine that’s going to give us all that buzz. “We all need music as well.”
The life of a big boss mama
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Samuel Luke Emerging artist Samuel Luke features in the third edition of Meet Me In The Pit, an anthology of comics about music by young Australian creatives. We ask Luke about comics, Phoenix and telling personal stories. What made you want to be a part of Meet Me In The Pit? When [editor and publisher] Chris Neill approached me about contributing to Meet Me In The Pit number three, I was so excited to share my comics alongside so many incredible Australian comic creators. I have made some great friends through the zine and comic community, some of whom have been in Meet Me In The Pit, and I knew it was a great opportunity to share my story with them and be a part of it too! What was your inspiration to make this comic? I had wanted to make a comic about If I Ever Feel Better by Phoenix for a long time now. If I Ever Feel Better is the only song I’ve ever heard where I can relate every lyric to how I feel about my gender transition. I see it as coming full circle: I’ve drawn key moments of my transition in the comic, set to the song’s opening line. It’s a very intimate comic, for a very special song to me. Your work is so personal — what about the comic form gives you the space to express difficult things? I’ve found that comics allow me to dive deeper and unpack a narrative more than a standalone image can. In comics, I’m able to fully explore a story, and I feel safer to be vulnerable, knowing that my personal stories are given space and time to breathe and be developed over the coming panels. I love how comics can also show ‘moments’ in one’s personal life, or a larger narrative (especially in autobiographical comics). I find the slow, often carefully considered pace of comics to be a therapeutic platform to express personal difficulties I’ve faced. Separating panels often means breaking down a concept into easily digestible snippets of a story. It allows me, the creator, to reflect on the story or experience, and gives the reader time to go through the story at their own pace. How does If I Ever Feel Better by Phoenix speak to and about you? I didn’t realise I was holding onto so much tension and trauma surrounding my transition, until I heard Phoenix narrating my life back to me, ha. I only discovered If I Ever Feel Better during my honours year of Fine Arts — during that time I was developing a research practice around being transgender, while also not being able to medically transition. The song was playing in our shared studio space by a friend who shared a partition wall with me. I found myself listening to that song on repeat for months on end, becoming immersed in the lyrics and listening in awe to how much they reflected my personal struggles around transitioning genders. To me, the opening line acknowledges that as I transition from female to male, a part of me is ending in order for the other part to start living authentically. Transitioning for me was mentally/physically/emotionally exhausting and allconsuming. But I’m still here. The entire song also speaks to moments where I’ve been so engulfed in feeling intense gender dysphoria, feeling out of control of my body, and putting my life on hold because of those feelings. I wouldn’t go out in the world because I wasn’t comfortable in my own body. But I knew I’d be comfortable one day, and I’d catch up with people, and the rest of my life then, if I ever feel better.
The third issue of Meet Me In The Pit launches at Other Worlds Zine Fair at Marrickville Town Hall on 26 May and Goodspace Gallery on 5 Jun.
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Masked band-its Just when you thought the music industry was safe, some bad apples in masks have come to cause trouble in the scene. Could these up-and-coming masked musicians be the concealed crusaders we’ve all been waiting for? Or are they just a bunch of thinly veiled villains? Donald Finlayson investigates. Illustrations by Felicity Case-Mejia.
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emember when you were 13, and Slipknot seemed like the coolest, scariest band in the whole world? But then you got a little older and thought, “Why are these grown-ass men wearing clown masks?”, and, “Are these guys distant relatives of Insane Clown Posse?” It’s confusing stuff. But whether you see a disguise as a stupid gimmick or a fascinating artistic statement, you’ve gotta admit, the masked musicians are here to stay. From MF Doom to Daft Punk to The Aquabats, there are countless incredible artists who choose to conceal their identity for one reason or another. Imagine you had prodigious musical talents that you want to share with the world. Should that then mean that you have to give up your right to pop down to 7/11 without being hassled for selfies or autographs? We reckon not. And just to show you how much we care, here are six of our favourite upand-coming acts who perform in incognito mode.
Phantom Panda Power Wizard Master Smasher
Masked Intruder
Golden Features
If you ever feel like giving your granddad a good scare, show him a video of a Phantom Panda Power Wizard Master Smasher gig. Dressing like Gwar under the influence of Skittles and Wizz Fizz, these Melbourne oddballs play wild, horn-infested doom metal that’s heavy on the lasers. It also used to be choreographed to the visuals of old Bugs Bunny cartoons, but after receiving a cease and desist, they’ve been working on their own animations. How we got to this point in music and culture is really anyone’s guess, but we reckon it’s some kind of glitch in the matrix.
Punk rock with a masked-band gimmick? Whoa, how original! Just kidding, Masked Intruder are alright. With a heavy-pop punk influence, these nice Wisconsin boys play fast songs about love and romance while sporting different coloured balaclavas. Sounds kinky, but you’ve gotta wonder how sweaty it must get under those ski-masks once the tempo really ramps up. Best not to think about it. Their music is fun, quality stuff, even if it does sound like ScoobyDoo chase music most of the time, so check it out if you’ve got a tattoo of a pizza slice or any other form of novelty ink.
Looking a bit like a clumsy high-end smelter, Sydney-based artist Golden Features is yet another producer in the longstanding tradition of making noise while wearing something silly on ya head. This time, it’s an eerie, featureless metal face mask, obviously. Where the hell do these people get custom headgear like this made anyway? Shouting over their sets down at the club, we’ve tried asking a bunch of local DJs if they knew where to get ‘em, only to be met with bullshit answers like, “If you have to ask, you’ll never know.” Typical!
Magic Sword
Leikeli47
Jonathan Bree
Alongside potatoes and Built To Spill, Boise, Idaho can now officially say it’s got three good things going for it thanks to the electronic trio Magic Sword. A mysterious group that plays cool synth-wave music under some expensive-looking LED masks, the music of Magic Sword carries a strong science fiction and video game fantasy theme along with it. In the same way that dungeon-synth music appeals to hardcore D&D players and dudes who own more chainmail than T-shirts, the sci-fi synth-wave of Magic Sword is bound to appeal to folks who genuinely believe that we live in a simulation. Which we do.
With a Pussy Riot-esque hypercolour balaclava and a rap name that sounds like your old Hotmail account, Brooklyn’s Leikeli47 is an artist that deserves the attention of any hip hop head. Lyrically, there’s a great contrast between her aggressive sentiments and the light, sugary flow she delivers them in. Kind of like being choked to death by an ice cream cone — delicious but deadly. Leikeli47 believes that concealing her face gives her a greater sense of courage, like “the Dark Knight, or one of those superheroes” saying that, “The mask, it represents freedom. I’m free with it on.” Let’s hope the rap equivalent of Bane isn’t right around the corner then.
Unlike most masked artists, we’ve all already seen what old mate Jonathan Bree looks like. How can that be? The dude was the fresh-faced poster boy of NZ twee pop during his decade-long tenure with The Brunettes. With his cutesy image behind him and a successful solo career now underway, Bree’s gone from softboy to Slenderman by performing behind a spooky white mask. And with a song like 2017’s You’re So Cool cracking the 10 million view mark on YouTube, he’s clearly onto something. Let this be a lesson for all young artists, never be yourself if you can be a mannequin instead.
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“A candle that burns twice as bright, burns half as long...”
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Blowing up
ydney-based synth-pop enthusiasts and soft-rock disciples I Know Leopard have been releasing music here and there ever since 2014’s Illumina EP. But with the April release of their sparkly full-length debut, Love Is A Landmine, and a national tour in May to support it, lead singer, songwriter and keyboardist Luke O’Loughlin is stoked to finally be kicking the band into high gear after years of work. “It’s exciting, but it’s also fucking scary,” laughs O’Loughlin. “It’s weird because we’ve been living with these songs for so long, so I think the scary thing is that it’s gonna be open to scrutiny.” Lucky for him, and the rest of the band, Love Is A Landmine absolutely rules. While it’s most definitely a synth-pop album to its core, the debut record also sees the group fully embracing their ‘70s soft-rock influences more so than ever before. “It’s really, really nice to put out a full body of work and properly get across what we’re all about, it’s a good feeling.” Where I Know Leopard triumph most gloriously over other modern records of the same yacht-rock-y ilk is in their use of intricate chord progressions. “We do have a real passion for fancy, or whatever you call it, ‘jazzy’-sounding chords. We just love a lot of major sevenths and minor sevenths, they’re often quite dreamy-sounding chords. It just comes from listening to a lot of that music and just enjoying it. Listening to it and going, ‘Oh, I really wanna achieve that,’ and then figuring out how to do that, even if it can take a whole day.” Produced entirely by Jack Moffitt of The Preatures, I Know Leopard’s debut record is unsurprisingly a real treat through a good pair of headphones. Years ago, O’Loughlin first met Moffitt through Preatures bandmate, Luke Davison, who coincidentally also played all of the drum parts on Love Is A Landmine. Now a good mate of his, O’Loughlin immediately felt comfortable with Moffitt taking the reins as the producer of such a huge release for the outfit. “Jack’s such a good friend, and we’ve always gotten along really well and we see eye to eye on most things, which is great.” Undoubtedly, having access to Moffitt’s large collection of analogue synths was a big deal for I Know Leopard and the throwback sound they’ve spent years chasing. But according to O’Loughlin, most of the album’s authentic personality comes from Moffitt’s unusual choice to track most of the album live as a band. “It is unusual for a synth-pop album, and it’s very unusual for us generally. Because up until that point we had never tracked anything live. The way we’d made music was that it’d start off as a demo and then from that demo, we’d slowly add things to it until it became the real thing. So it’d be a recording project, and then once it was done then we’d learn how to play it as a live band.” It’s a shift in the creative process that’s paid off big time, both in the studio and on stage. Recent live performances by the band — especially their recent, warmly received set at Austin’s SXSW — have sounded eerily faithful to the record, a tricky translation that synth-oriented bands often struggle to pull off. “The synths are quite dry. We used to use a lot of reverb, but there’s really not much reverb on the album. We just wanted to be quite punchy and dry and not over-polish it. Quite raw in that way. “When Jack first came in it was like, ‘No more of this nonsense, let’s be a real band, let’s play it.’ It was an awesome experience because it just opened up the songs to so many different possibilities. A few of the songs just took such dramatic changes from what they were intended to be, which was great, very exciting. “And out of recording live, you get those little imperfections which really give the record a lot more character and you embrace it. They’re actually some of my favourite moments on the record!”
Pic: Lisa Businovski
I Know Leopard frontman Luke O’Loughlin tells Donald Finlayson how the band changed their spots on their debut LP, Love Is A Landmine.
“It is unusual for a synth-pop album, and it’s very unusual for us generally.”
Check The Guide on theMusic.com.au for more details.
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Love Is A Landmine (Ivy League) is out now. I Know Leopard tour from 17 May.
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Album Reviews
If you’re not familiar with The National, we’d advise you to start with Boxer. Then if you’re after something a little more raw, High Violet. A little more produced? Trouble Will Find Me. Synthy? Sleep Well Beast. Promise us you’ll give them more than one listen — we’re talking about growers here. It’s a hallmark quality that has endeared The National to so many, soundtracking everything from tender Sunday morning moments to red wine-fuelled debauchery. So where then does I Am Easy To Find slot into the mix? Some fans have speculated it’s a companion piece to Trouble Will Find Me and, with its similar artwork and motifs, they wouldn’t be too far off. In true conspiracy fashion, both albums even have 17 May as their release date. Whoa. But this is an album that asks a broader question: what does it mean to be human? It is a grand statement in the same way it is not a grand statement. It finds beauty in the monotonous and banal, in unwashed dishes and nights spent in front of the television. Yes, there are the autobiographical moments we have come to expect from Matt Berninger and his frequent lyrical collaborator, his wife Carin Besser — look for the inner monologue moment in Not In Kansas — but they’re just part of the album’s inherent humanness. There’s a variety of female vocals in the mix for the first time; most notable Bowie’s longtime collaborator Gail Ann Dorsey. This choir of voices help to reinforce that these are universal themes, universal problems, universal growth. The tender moments on the album — Quiet Light, Light Years, Roman Holiday — are bound to please fans of I Need My
The National
I Am Easy To Find 4AD / Remote Control
HHHH½
Frank Iero & The Future Violents Barriers UNFD
HHHH Heavily distorted guitars and harsh vocals bring punk to the forefront in Frank Iero & The Future Violents’ new album Barriers. As a soulful organ coats opening track, A New Day’s Coming, it soon explodes into an anthemic chorus that is just the beginning of this violent record.Young And Doomed kicks it up a notch with its classic punk tonality and thrashing guitars, while Iero’s vocals are forceful and maniacal in Fever Dream. The frazzled melodies are overflowing with an aggressive energy that throws vivid images of ‘70s punk into our minds. Emily Blackburn
Girl-era National. Eve Owen’s floating vocals over the skittering drums and urgent strings in Where Is Her Head grab you immediately. When Berninger comes in with a frenzied, “I think I’m hittin’ a wall/I hate loving you as much as I do,” we feel our ribcages cracking open, hearts beating bloody on the floor. Dating back over a decade, the presence of Rylan in the accompanying film’s trailer — the film was directed by noted auteur Mike Mills — was enough to send longtime fans into a tizzy. The reenergised version found on the album is a stadium anthem if anything — more Dessner wizardry well worth the wait. Mills’ film, starring Alicia Vikander, and the album don’t necessarily go hand-in-hand however. They are, as Mills suggests, “playfully hostile siblings that love to steal from each other”. Or as Berninger writes, “featherless ideas. and at the end it was a turkey”. Much like the fact we are the sum of our parts, this is an album that speaks volumes as a whole. It is a singular apocalypse. Music that, once again, gets inside your bones, laying down roots. So while questions of humanness might be too vast for a 68-minute runtime, here’s to long drives with Berninger’s baritone soundtracking our individual search for answers. Lauren Baxter
Alex Lahey
Bad Religion
Nicky Boy Records / Caroline
Epitaph
End Of Suffering
HHHH
International Death Cult
The Best Of Luck Club
Age Of Unreason
HHH½
The Best Of Luck Club feels like a haven of sorts — somewhere to go, no matter your mood. The versatility in sounds, styles and stories will have you swept up in the glory of Alex Lahey in no time at all. The unpredictability throughout each song becomes an entertaining ride. What we love about Lahey is the authenticity and relatability of her songwriting. She doesn’t over-romanticise her stories, they tell it how it is, and The Best Of Luck Club is testament to that and more. It’s indie-pop versus rock, created by a powerhouse of an artist, who appears to be simultaneously the coolest and daggiest person you’ve ever met.
Let’s not pretend that Bad Religion’s 17th LP is much different than the 16 that came before it (Into The Unknown excluded, naturally). In fact, most noticeable is that the band haven’t lost a step despite losing both Brooks Wackerman and Greg Hetson in the lengthy gap between now and 2013’s True North. Age Of Unreason sticks to the Bad Religion formula with 14 cuts of gloriously melodic, hard-driving punk rock interspersed with a few mid-tempo stompers. It’s a cliche, but Bad Religion don’t make bad (ahem) records. Age Of Unreason is another entry in what must now be considered the greatest back catalogue in all of punk rock.
Keira Leonard
Mark Hebblewhite
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Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes
HH½
To paraphrase Tywin Lannister chastising Joffrey, anyone who tells you they’re punk are not actually punk. Such is the case here, or at least in the band’s present incarnation. Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes’ third album is a meat-and-potatoes collection of alt-rock that offers no real challenge to any sort of establishment. While it’s undeniably easy to listen to and is extremely competent, it has the listener drifting off to other farbetter bands. You wish their songwriting abilities rose to meet their ambitions — the results would’ve been stellar. Matt MacMaster
For more album reviews, go to www.theMusic.com.au
Amon Amarth Berserker
Metal Blade Records / Sony
HHH½
Take a gander at that cover. Utterly ludicrous, yet it captures Berserker’s conviction perfectly. After 27 years of their melodic death-tipped Viking swords striking directly at the heart of heavy metal, one shouldn’t expect otherwise from Amon Amarth. These Swedes rarely stray far from a wellworn template, but have created some of their most epic and melodramatic music in recent years. Fans can thrust drinking horns skywards, as Amon Amarth have unleashed further battle-ready anthems bustling with riffs weightier than a busload of sumo wrestlers and Johan Hegg’s troop-rallying roar. Brendan Crabb
Rosie Lowe
Vampire Weekend
Mavis Staples
Wolf Tone / Caroline
Columbia / Sony
Anti-
Father Of The Bride
YU
We Get By
HHH½
HHHH½
There’s a deftness of touch on Rosie Lowe’s second album which, considering the heavy feting her debut, Control, attracted in 2016, will be a relief to those already on board. And for newcomers, it’s easy to slink in on her vibes. Here, Lowe’s headspace is steeped in nostalgia for ‘70s funk and soul, with a lyrical hint of Stevie Wonder-ment in Birdsong. Add the down-tempo disco humidity of UEMM, the three 90 second-or-so sketches and ghostly closer Apologise, and YU proves to be a richly atmospheric experience.
Are Vampire Weekend the greatest? Maybe not. But maybe so? Few artists seize and retain our attention as effectively as these children of the Rotten Apple. Then there’s the consistency. At their strongest, Vampire Weekend is the most compelling (ie broad) and insightful (ie deep) band out. To combine breadth and depth is some trick. But to do it as reliably as Koenig’s clan? That’s some feat. This record is incredible, yes. It is also more that that. It is an artistic touchstone. It stands as an example of how great art should make you feel, of the line between accessibility and profundity.
“What good is freedom/If we haven’t learned to be free?” sings the glorious Mavis Staples in opener Change. It’s bookended by the closer, One More Change, where she pulls back to optimism, backed with glorious gospel support. Even when Staples shows signs of being a little weary — proof that she is human like the rest of us — the power in her voice brings her back up again swiftly. Staples’ music remains a blueprint for how to make art true to yourself as the world evolves. In short, this one doesn’t just get by, it gets you up, on your feet, and into many a mood.
James d’Apice
Liz Giuffre
Mac McNaughton
HHHH
Jamila Woods
Sunbeam Sound Machine
Mac DeMarco
Little May
Jagjaguwar / Inertia
Dot Dash / Remote Control
Mac’s Record Label / Spunk
Dew Process / Universal
LEGACY! LEGACY!
Goodness Gracious
HHHH
HH½
Jamila Woods celebrates her idols on her second album, with each tune bearing the name of a legend she admires. Woods’ response to each of these people is articulate, personal poetry that’s wrapped in honeyed R&B and soul that oozes thick, luscious, deep jazz grooves. Her distinctive vocals are supported by some fine flow from Nitty Scott and Saba. SUN RA rather delightfully embraces an Afrofuturistic attitude as Woods seemingly grows wings and heads out into deep space with co-pilots theMIND and jasminfire. There’s a layering of ideas on this album that blends the past and present to pave the way for the future. Guido Farnell
Here Comes The Cowboy
Blame My Body
HHH
HHH½
Melbourne songwriter Nick Sowersby’s second long-player plants a foot firmly in the chillwave camp, the lo-fi movement whose wave broke nearly a decade ago, but whose torchbearers still noodle away in garages here and there. The record is a drone from front to back, with woozy, overlapping sounds lazily swarming together to invade your headspace, each element repeating ad infinitum until the song simply gives up. Sowersby has made a very pretty album, but one without any real, discerning features beyond the familiar accoutrements of the genre.
Jizz jazz troubadour Mac DeMarco returns with a borderline comatose fourth album, Here Comes The Cowboy. The bright moments on this album (and there are a few) feel like a victory lap for 2017’s excellent This Old Dog rather than fresh ideas, and the rest of the album is unfortunately too sluggish to compensate. The 13 tracks lean so far into his cheerfully phlegmatic persona, his shtick can’t help but draw comparisons to Bernie, the grinning corpse from the titular film. Whether or not you’ll vibe with this McConaughey-like tone depends on the strength of your relationship with the man.
It’s amazing the deep fallout that can come from something seemingly sweet and simple, but that’s just what you get from Little May’s second album. The ghost-folk duo make an impression with gentle indie beats, light guitars, and cutthroat lyrics in what is an unapologetic and powerful release. Velvety vocals and cool percussion maintain your focus throughout Blame My Body, invoked by Little May’s beautiful and brutal power. They have a powerful method of storytelling that, combined with such an experimental approach to sound and textures, means it’s not difficult to get lost in the wonderful intricacies of their world.
Matt MacMaster
Matt MacMaster
Anna Rose
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Season One: Bonachela / Nankivell / Lane
Sydney Dance Company celebrate their 50th anniversary with a triple bill touring to Arts Centre Melbourne and featuring three of contemporary Australian theatre’s most progressive and provocative choreographers, Rafael Bonachela, Gabrielle Nankivell and Melanie Lane. SDC Artistic Director Bonachela’s work for five dancers, Cinco, pictured, makes its world premiere, set to a moving score from Argentinian composer Alberto Ginastera. Neon Aether by Gabrielle Nankivell also has its first dance through a world beyond the clouds, before Melanie Lane’s 2017 New Breed work WOOF, featuring music from British electronic artist Clark, weaves together disparate classical, romantic and pop threads.
Season One: Bonachela / Nankivell / Lane plays from 8 May at Playhouse, Arts Centre Melbourne.
The best of The Arts in May
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Bitch On Heat “Psycho-siren” Leah Shelton’s Bitch On Heat pulls together absurdist lip-syncing with high-camp performance art in order to unpack modern sexual politics, looking at the way vintage sexism still defines us, whether through porn, pop culture or revenge movie heroines. From 8 May at Theatreworks
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A Little Piece Of Heaven Wiradjuri Elders Uncle Dick and Aunty Ruth Carney write and star in this theatre piece about their 55 years of marriage and how they found each other when Uncle Dick moved from near Warren to his community in Narromine. Pic by Paris Norton. From 8 May at FCAC Performance Space
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The Other Art Fair Buy original art at The Other Art Fair directly from exciting emerging local artists, including Sun Haas, Riawan Djakasuwarno, Emma Itzstein and Renee Tsironis, pictured left to right, amidst a program of live tattooing, workshops, performance art and more. From 2 May at The Facility
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English Baroque With Circa Australian Brandenburg Orchestra celebrate their 30th anniversary by collaborating with contemporary circus ensemble Circa to create a work which combines period music and acrobatics in one thrilling show, also featuring guest artist, soprano Jane Sheldon. From 18 May at Melbourne Recital Centre
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Il Viaggio A Reims This Rossini opera – English translation: The Journey To Reims – makes its Australian premiere, adapted by Damiano Michieletto to take place in a surreal world where master artworks from the likes of Frida Kahlo and Vincent Van Gogh come to life. Pic by Clärchen and Matthias Baus. From 24 May at State Theatre, Arts Centre Melbourne
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Terracotta Warriors: Guardians Of Immortality This exhibition features eight of the Qin Emperor’s Terracotta Warriors – one of the best archaeological discoveries of the 20th century, uncovered in 1974 in China – as well as two full-sized horses and two replica bronze chariots. From 18 May at NGV International
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Film & TV Dead To Me
HHH½ Streams from 3 May on Netflix
Reviewed by Guy Davis
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ure, your typical white-bread, uppermiddle-class suburb may seem to have it all, but TV has been teaching us for a while that there are stories of desperation, despair and ennui behind the tasteful fañade. And the most engaging of these stories tend to be enlivened and enhanced by a healthy dash of bracingly black wit. Take the new ten-episode Netflix series Dead To Me, which uses the grieving process as an entry point to explore frustration, friendship and female fury in a funny and honest fashion. And as a bonus, it’s wrapped up in a platonic love story that’s built on a great big lie. When the widowed Jen (Christina Applegate) attends a support group meeting for those who’ve lost loved ones, she’s not really looking for a new best friend. But she finds one in Judy (Linda Cardellini), who muscles her way through Jen’s defences with a combination of dry, goofy humour and heartfelt sympathy. The simpatico pair’s friendship is tested, however, when it’s revealed Judy’s husband Steve (James Mars-
den, delivering a fun and nuanced depiction of entitled douchebaggery) isn’t quite as dead as Judy implied. A plausible explanation later, and the women’s relationship is back on the rails... but one revelation soon leads to another, then another, and that’s not even including the biggest, baddest secret the sweet but screwed-up Judy is keeping from Jen. Let’s be honest, Dead To Me hangs on a plot hook that’s kinda obvious but irresistible nonetheless. And while it’s sharp, insightful and engrossing, it does at times feel like a 90-minute screenplay that’s been padded out to fill ten half-hour episodes. But spending extra time with the dream team of Applegate and the never-better Cardellini is the pay-off for that added length — they’re such a terrific pairing, with complementary comedic chops and the dramatic skills to really illuminate some of the story’s darker and more complex turns. Together and individually, they breathe life into Dead To Me.
Acute Misfortune
HHHH In selected cinemas 9 May
Reviewed by Anthony Carew
W
hen actor Thomas M Wright first read an excerpt from Erik Jensen’s biography of artist Adam Cullen, he wondered: “Why would anybody bother to write a book about this fuckin’ asshole?” And yet Wright soon found himself adapting Acute Misfortune as his debut directorial effort. Dramatically, Acute Misfortune is an arm wrestling two-hander, in which artist and writer grapple in an “unholy negotiation”. Jensen (played by Toby Wallace, last seen on the Romper Stomper TV show) is young and hungry, throwing himself wholly into a brief of his own making, alarm bells ringing not due to his ambition, but his blithe lack of concern for boundaries. He’s egged on, and dragged down, by Cullen (played brilliantly by Daniel Henshall), who’s more a study in the charismatic sociopath than the ‘Great Male Artist’. Across its taut 90 minutes, the downward spiral of this dance summons a horror movie’s sense of slowly mounting dread. As a willing collaborator in the fashioning of narrative, Cullen’s whole life becomes, in turn, a kind of
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theatre; there’s a performative quality to his macho boasts, his endless dick-swinging, his gun-shooting. Rather than making art, Cullen is seen as being more invested in selling a persona, telling a story. “This’ll be good for the book,” Cullen says, both impishly and pragmatically, when he’s about to shoot up heroin in front of Jensen. There’s the obligatory self-destructive drugs and drunkenness, this yet another artist biopic where you know you’re following the subject towards oblivion, and an early grave. But Wright is out to poke at these familiar cliches, to prod at an Australian art world that venerated a man adorned with swastika tattoos. Acute Misfortune’s boxy framing makes the film feel like it’s pressing in on both subject and audience. As its artistic antagonist grows more erratic, horrible, and menacing in behaviour, Wright’s direction effectively imprisons the audience in the middle of a dysfunctional relationship, one thoughtfully addressing the contemporary conversation about conflating the artist and their work.
Chris Ryan, the lead in the Melbourne production of Lazarus, by David Bowie and Enda Walsh, talks to Hannah Story about absorbing the work of a musical legend.
Where are we now?
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aking on the lead role in David Bowie’s musical Lazarus seems like a daunting task — for Chris Ryan, who plays Thomas Newton, that is certainly the case. The only way to get around that fear is to “block out what expectations people might bring to it”, and focus instead on the work itself, as well as on Bowie’s 50-year oeuvre: “This constant reinvention, alter egos, that’s something that I think any actor’s drawn to and certainly something I’ve always toyed with my whole life.” David Bowie put together the play with Irish playwright, Enda Walsh, known for his musical adaptation of the film Once. The production weaves together classic Bowie songs with a handful of new ones, each later released on his last record, Blackstar, and posthumous 2017 EP, No Plan. Lazarus continues the story told in 1963 Walter Tevis’ novel The Man Who Fell To Earth, and its 1976 film adaptation, in which Bowie starred. The story follows Thomas Newton, a humanoid alien stranded on earth and battling with his own lack of mortality, unable to be sated by or find meaning in the wealth he has amassed at the top of the corporate world. Michael C Hall (Dexter) took on the Newton role in both in New York in late 2015, and in London in late 2016. Bowie’s last public appearance, before he died from liver cancer in early January the following year, was at the NY production’s opening night in November 2015. Ryan sees Lazarus as a “kind of meditation, like [Bowie’s] last album Blackstar, on death and transcendence”, set against the backdrop of post-capitalist America. “A man is holed up in his apartment — he was at the top of the corporate world and has shunned it all — [and] is living a life of isolation, heartbreak and longing to return back to his home planet.”
Almost deliberately, Ryan hasn’t seen a production of Lazarus before, or even the entirety of The Man Who Fell To Earth. He has spoken to Hall, but he places importance on “meeting it ourselves as a piece of theatre”. “I think it’s impossible to try to emulate Bowie,” Ryan begins. “I wouldn’t dare try to replicate David Bowie. I think I’m more fascinated in the fact that this was kind of a really important project for him, the things
“So hopefully he’ll give me a bit of a hand as well,” Ryan laughs, adding that he didn’t come to the project as a Bowie super fan. “It’s hard to know where to start sometimes with someone with such a huge body of work and influence.” We ask if Ryan has had to grapple with the spectre of mortality in preparation for the role — the piece returns again and again to the question of death, both in the immor-
“I think it’s impossible to try to emulate Bowie.”
that were really stimulating and occupying him at that moment in time.” Instead what Ryan will do is filter through what’s of use to them from “the huge, broad, eclectic, tangible almost, world of Bowie”. “But certainly we’re not doing the sequel of The Man Who Fell To Earth, and I’m not gonna be dying my hair strawberry blond or anything like that to try to be Bowie.” Natasha Pincus, the filmmaker doing the installation work for the Australian production, has told Ryan that she “swears that Bowie’s with her a lot of time while she’s doing all this stuff”.
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tality of its central character, its delving into existential questions, and in its place as one of the last pieces of work Bowie created before he died. “To tell you the truth, it’s very strange. For whatever reason, a lot of stuff has surfaced for me recently around mortality, death, dying, fears that I’ve never really consciously had to deal with or think about before. I had friends suggesting to me the other day that perhaps it was happening for a reason for the show, which is great, thanks, I’m glad I said yes to this.” That thought of being paralysed by existential dilemmas is one Ryan thinks is a
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“fascinating and very human response”. “I don’t know how I’m going to approach it,” Ryan ponders. “All I can say is that it’s very much present with me at the minute and it’s very much present in the work. It’s that classic, human [question]: ‘How do you continue to live, and continue to persist and create and push out there when you’re faced with the kind of bigger questions of mortality?’ “And for the central character he’s kind of stuck in it, he’s really stuck. I’m not expecting it to be the most comfortable space to be in, but hopefully there will be a catharsis in performing it — [that’s] what I’m hoping for.” Ryan notes that like any piece of good theatre, Lazarus “holds up a mirror” to the world, a world in which “people are kinda scared and confused and feeling a bit adrift and a little lost”. But he stresses that it’s not all seriousness, and that he’s excited to have the opportunity to sing these “fucking awesome songs”. “[Bowie’s] just a giant, and who wouldn’t want to get engaged with something that he’d proposed and created?” Ultimately Ryan hopes that the audience both find meaning in the work, and have a really great time along the way. “I hope there’s something really shared and cathartic and beautiful about [seeing Lazarus], and look, there’s great rock’n’roll in it — it’s fun and kind of wild. I think any good piece of theatre while holding up a mirror should do it in an entertaining way, so I hope people can get something a bit deeper out of it but also just have a really great time.”
Lazarus plays from 18 May at Playhouse, Arts Centre Melbourne.
Design: Felicity Case-Mejia. Cloudstreet pic: Zane Wimberley.
Port in the storm Matthew Lutton and Sam Strong, the directors of Cloudstreet and Storm Boy respectively, tell Maxim Boon about what it takes to transport a literary classic to the stage.
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ustralian theatre boasts a proud pedigree of adaptations of our homegrown literary masterworks, transporting much-loved Aussie classics from the page to the stage. Two of Australia’s most celebrated directors — Malthouse Theatre Artistic Director Matthew Lutton and the outgoing head of Queensland Theatre Sam Strong — are experts in this regard. Building on the success of previous novel adaptations, each is helming upcoming productions that speak to the resourcefulness and reverence needed when transforming a book into a play. Tim Winton’s Cloudstreet holds a position within Australian fiction that few other titles do. Since its publication in 1991, it has consistently remained a frontrunner in polls of the nation’s most beloved page-turners. With a story spanning more than two decades, it tells the tale of the Lambs and the Pickles, two-working class families living under the same roof. Over the years, their fates become inexorably bound, and through tragedy and triumph, these two very different tribes connect in ways that reach beyond culture, society, spirituality or circumstance. Winton’s story has been reimagined as a TV series, a radio serial and even an opera, but Lutton’s new production will feature one of the first retellings that emerged after the novel, Nick Enright and Justin Monjo’s stage iteration, last seen in Melbourne 20 years ago. Staging Cloudstreet has been in Lutton’s sights for some time. “It’s the scale of this story that I’m drawn to — that by whatever form you tell it, you end up living the lives of these characters. “One aspect of Cloudstreet that I’m very interested in is its combination of honesty — this fantastically observed picture of Australian life — and the supernatural. That’s where a lot of the interpretation can occur, in how you express what you might call beyond reality, where you dip into a dream or the unconscious and give the storytelling over to a more internal world.” One of the defining features of this version of Cloudstreet is its epic length, clocking in at more than four hours. Lutton says the unusually ample running time is essential to the integrity of the storytelling. “It’s rare to encounter a story where you’re watching and experiencing people on stage who take time to learn about themselves and the consequences of their actions, and that you feel you have that time with them.” Of course, such marathon experiences are nothing new. Indeed, one of the most hotly anticipated shows to ever play in Melbourne, Harry Potter And The Cursed Child, currently in residence at the Princess Theatre, runs for over five hours. Nonetheless, durational productions can prove intimidating, even for experienced theatregoers. However, Lutton points to the popular emergence of TV binge-watching as an indication that audiences, now more than ever, have the stamina to really engage with a production of this size. “I think there’s definitely an appetite for this sort of long-form work, in the same way as television makers have capitalised on so well in the past few years. “It’s created this deep investment in the evolution of characters and plots, and what’s possible over a longer peri-
“I think there’s definitely an appetite for this sort of long-form work, in the same way as television makers have capitalised on so well in the past few years.” — Matthew Lutton
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od of time. And that kind of long duration storytelling is absolutely the right form for Cloudstreet. I certainly feel that it’s possible for stories to be told in a way that’s too long. But there’s a remarkable thing in Cloudstreet, which happens in stories that cover a long period but also have a large span of time to exist in. When you eventually arrive in the last act, and characters are reflecting and responding to events that happened for them 20 years earlier, there’s a real sense of journeying with these people, of knowing them and understanding what they’ve been through, of what has made them who they are and brought them to this realisation.” Sam Strong’s latest foray into literary adaptations shares much in common with his hugely successful 2016 production of Kate Mulvany’s iteration of Jasper Jones, after the award-winning novel by Craig Silvey. Set in a small Western Australian town in the 1960s, that show charted the unlikely friendship between two teenage boys, one white the other Indigenous, as they search for a murderer in their rural community. Colin Thiele’s Storm Boy also explores the life of a boy existing on the fringes of society. Much like the young protagonists of Jasper Jones, Storm Boy explores an unexpectedly enriching companionship, in this instance, with an orphaned pelican named Mr Percival. Strong will direct this new production, adapted for the stage by Tom Holloway. “The beauty of these types of coming-of-age stories is that they manage to speak across time and across generations,” Strong says. “They can be set in a very specific time and place, and yet they have this universality that anyone can connect with, whether that’s the idea of entering adulthood or the journey from innocence to experience; these are stories that we all recognise as sharing something with our own lives.” Transmuting the imaginary, ephemeral essence of a novel into the physical reality of a stage production is a task that Strong finds particularly exciting. “I think what attracts me to these kinds of adapted works is that they put front and centre the challenge of what you can only do in a theatre, the opportunities that only theatre can offer.” This will be no mean feat where Storm Boy is concerned, with the action set amongst the exposed dunes on the rugged, desolate coastline of the Southern Ocean. “This is a story about loneliness and isolation, so one of the key challenges of Storm Boy is answering the question of how we put that landscape on stage? How can we create a world where Storm Boy — and all the characters for that matter — can feel small and remote, without losing a sense of intimacy in the interactions between characters? “The art of achieving that is in finding that balance between the literal and the poetic. I think what we’ve found in this production is a unique way of creating that thickness of scale that also supports the focus of the storytelling.”
Cloudstreet plays at Merlyn Theatre, Malthouse Theatre from 6 May. Storm Boy plays at The Sumner, Southbank Theatre from 17 Jun.
Want more news, reviews and interviews? Head to the new look theMusic.com.au
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YIRRAMBOI Festival The 2019 YIRRAMBOI Festival runs from 2-12 May with nearly 100 events spanning music, dance, theatre, film, exhibitions, markets, fashion parades, talks and symposiums in 25 different venues around Melbourne. Dedicated to celebrating and furthering the ever-evolving cultural output of First Nations peoples, highlights include Deborah Cheetham X The Dhungala Children’s Choir and the Birdz-headed Bad Apples Music House Party.
Birdz
Gone to the dogs To err is human. Dogs, on the other hand, are faultless little angels sent into the world to make life worth living. But while their main deal is hanging about doling out unconditional love, they’ve also been known to help out as muses, sidekicks and, ah, medical professionals.
Every dog in the Art Gallery Of NSW Joel Burrows undertakes the incredibly important task of cataloguing all the very good boys immortalised at the Art Gallery Of NSW. Illustration by Felicity Case-Mejia.
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ometimes choosing between looking at dogs and looking at art can be paralysing. What happens if you want them together? How could you possibly have a fulfilling weekend viewing one and not the other? So for your sake, we went to the Art Gallery Of NSW to find every dog on display. We stared at the background of over 761 artworks. We studied every abstract painting for pooch-shaped shapes. We even analysed the architecture for any puppers hidden on the walls. All in all, we mapped out 21 dog artworks that featured more than 43 good boys. However, some of you don’t have the time to go look at 43 dogs — so it is vital to narrow down the list to the five best dogs in the gallery. Did we find this task virtually impossible? Yes. Will some of you be angry at this line-up? Absolutely.
1. Town Camp Anywhere – Sally M Nangala Mulda (2018-2019)
Sometimes you go to the galleries for a fun time but instead find an important story to listen to. Town Camp Anywhere is a series that documents how the 2007 NT Intervention, a problematic Federal Government program, impacted the lives of Indigenous
communities. Nangala Mulda paints a town afflicted by prejudiced alcohol laws, job cuts and a constant and unjust police presence. There are also two dogs in one of the paintings. These brown dogs stand next to each other with the text, “hangry two dogs”, suspended above them. These dogs symbolise what’s great about everyday life. Their hunger symbolises that normality can be difficult in oppressive conditions. Town Camp Anywhere is a heart-wrenching series — on as part of The National: New Australian Art — that is worth seeing.
Then allow me to defer to Steven Miller, AGNSW’s Head of the Edmund And Joanna Capon Research Library And Archive. In a 2015 blog, Give Them Back Their Names And Their Dignity, he refers to this painting and asks, “Has nobody noticed that this is a double portrait, with each subject given equal weight by the artist? The donor of the painting, Miss Crookston, always knew the work as Portrait Of Suzanne And Penelope.” Penelope is a cute dog with the best paws in the game. She does deserve her name in the title. Let’s start a petition and change it.
2. Requiescat – Briton Riviere (1888)
4. The Railway Station, Redfern – Arthur Streeton (1893)
Riviere’s Requiescat depicts a fallen soldier with his bloodhound sitting patiently by his side. Because this is a painting, the moment is frozen in time. The dog will forever wait for his master. He will sit there, full of hope, for eternity. Shut up, we’re not crying, you’re crying.
The Railway Station, Redfern is an impressionistic landscape that evokes a gloomy Sydney day. It’s also a painting of a very good boy if you squint at the background. What we enjoy so much about this doggo is its simplicity. You are unable to ascertain if this pooch was a deliberate artistic choice or if Arthur dropped some paint onto his canvas and ran with it.
3. Portrait Of Miss Suzanne Crookston –
Arthur Murch (1935)
5. Study Of A Bloodhound – William Holman Hunt (1848)
In this portrait, we have Penelope graciously allowing a human to pose next to her. That’s right, the terrier deserves top billing. Or equal billing. Don’t believe me?
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to 100% doggo. It features no landscapes, humans or erotic pop art. Instead, we are treated to a smiling bloodhound with the beefiest back legs imaginable. However, this artwork does lose points for being called a ‘study’. Every dog is a masterpiece. William Hunt should feel ashamed. And there you have it, a map of all the dogs and a list of all the best boys. However, this isn’t to say that the other artworks aren’t worth looking at. I think I saw some cat paintings. I found a cute birdie or two. They are all good animals. They all deserve attention. You should go to the Art Gallery Of NSW. You should go see them today.
The National: New Australian Art is on now at the Art Gallery Of NSW, Carriageworks and the Museum Of Contemporary Art.
Bow wow boogies Do you have a dog-themed playlist on your music streaming platform of choice? No? What’s wrong with you! Here are a few hot picks from Lauren Baxter about the good boys/girls in your life.
The Beatles — Martha My Dear Ahh, ‘The White Album’. We go immediately from Lennon’s alleged heroin ode, to a wholesome tune about McCartney’s sheepdog. No wonder they are
Power pooches While ‘shake hands’ and ‘roll over’ are enough for most faithful hounds, some dogs have mastered tricks that are a little more impressive. Here’s a list of some of the best fuzz balls and the extra special things they can do.
considered by many to be the greatest writing duo of all time — that sequencing. Crisp, clean doggo goodness.
Neil Young — Old King
What’s the old adage again? It’s not a country song until your wife leaves you,
your dog dies or your pickup truck breaks down? While Neil Young might be famed for working with crazed equines rather than canines, Old King is about Young’s dog Elvis. Which is a nice segue to...
Elvis Presley — Old Shep
Bet you thought Hound Dog would make the list. Ha — fools! Elvis wasn’t singing about pups when he took on that 12-bar blues classic so Old Shep it is. But do note, this is depressing AF. You’ll need to go home and immediately hug your furry friend.
The hypnotist Chances are if you’ve ever seen a Border Collie, it’s probably stared you straight in the eyes and looked right on down into the depths of your soul. It’s actually a part of their mad sheep-herding skillz, where their gaze intimidates flocks enough to make them move around.
Pink Floyd — Seamus
Hell yeah — subwoofers blasting actually woofers. Ok, it’s more of a howl, but still. David Gilmour might have said “it wasn’t really as funny to everyone else
[as] it was to us”, but we reckon all albums should have a dog feature. Seamus could have been the next big thing.
Norah Jones — Man Of The Hour
Cardio-pup-monary resuscitation
Norah Jones choosing her dog over men is a mood. “I can’t choose/Between a vegan and a pothead/So I chose you, because you’re sweet/And you give me lots of lovin’ and you eat meat.” And to be honest, we would do exactly
Cocker Spaniels were, like a lot of dogs, originally bred for hunting. They’ve eased off the hunting in the past few centuries and now spend their time being full-time legends. We’d like to award Poncho, the eightyear-old Spanish pupper, our top trophy for learning how to administer CPR. Run, don’t walk, to Google that.
the same.
Oasis — Supersonic
There are a few universal truths we can all agree on. The earth is an oblate spheroid (@ me flat-earthers, I dare you) and the Gallagher brothers are notorious shit-talkers. But apparently the Elsa referred to in Supersonic is actually a gassy dog who chilled out underneath the mixing-desk snacking on Alka Seltzer and, ok, that’s an image we can get behind.
The Fauves — Dogs Are The Best People
Roy from The IT Crowd said it best: “People, what a bunch of bastards.” Hear, hear. So when a tune with lyrics like, “It’s true dogs are the best people/His love comes free and unconditionally,” comes along, we’d have to agree.
Snow Patrol — Chasing Cars Lol.
Spot on Before they were made famous by that much-loved Disney film, Dalmatians were actually a favourite of fire brigades because their barks were much worse than their bite, meaning they’d help clear the way during an emergency. They also made natural companions with horses. Dog bless you our spotty friends.
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Ceres’ last album was a “big black dark hole” according to frontman Tom Lanyon — and it nearly saw the end of them. He tells Jessica Dale about getting back in the studio to create their lightest album yet.
Ceres actually are for lovers
C
eres were done. For the past few years, that’s how it seemed to everyone — including the band’s frontman Tom Lanyon. Soon after the success of their second album, 2016’s Drag It Down On You — a dark, reflective work that was in Lanyon’s own words a “big black dark hole” — came the Stretch Ur Skin EP, which gave the band their breakout hit in its title track. Though for all its commercial success, the track, which heavily details the breakdown of a relationship, ultimately caused Lanyon huge personal fallout. “I’ve made lots of mistakes in the band before, about singing about people in a light that probably didn’t deserve it, and I felt very bad about that in my past and that was almost the end of the band in those days,” he shares. “Stretch Ur Skin, I feel like was a really shitty thing to do to someone. “I thought the band was finished, to be honest. We were never going to make another record because I just thought I had nothing else to add and I was in a bad mindset. After Stretch Ur Skin, I was just like, ‘Fuck this band, I’m out,’” he continues. “You know, so I was in a bad mindset there too, but something had to change otherwise this album wouldn’t have been. If, personally, if my life hadn’t of changed, then we wouldn’t have got another record.” “I don’t think I could of just kept bashing myself down into the ground, because after Drag I remember doing interviews, or before Drag when I was doing interviews, and I was like — I was a different person back then — but I was saying, like, ‘I haven’t
even scratched the surface of how dark I can get. I’m halfway down the well, I can keep going right down to the bottom.’ And I was just full of shit, that’s not right. I was at the bottom, I didn’t even know it yet. And now I’ve finally gotten up to the top and this is album is sort of an artistic representation of that feeling. I’m really proud of it.” The album Lanyon speaks of is their latest, We Are A Team. Gone is the overwhelming darkness of Drag It Down On You, replaced by a feeling that he describes as “this blue balloon, this super light little feather”. When the album’s lead single, Viv In The Front Seat — a track about the early stages of Lanyon’s current relationship — dropped in August last year, it caught many by surprise. Not only were the band back, but even more surprisingly, they were back with music that was positive, buoyant and looked to the future openly. “I guess it’s hard to separate a euphoric feeling of falling in love and positivity. I think obviously they’re like hand in hand, those two things,” he says. “And so just naturally and thematically, the album had to feel that way, I think. “So none of that was conscious obviously, that was just like a feeling of just trying to get that stuff out through music. But I
did speak to a friend of mine Jack [Parsons], who plays in The Pretty Littles, and that was before the album was even an idea of an album, and we had a chat. We were just at the pub having a beer, and he was just like, ‘Aw, man. We’re lucky that we’ve got’ — deserved or undeserved, up to you to figure that out — ‘a platform to talk to people. Or it’s not even really a platform, but we are lucky enough that people listen to what we say, some people anyway, and care about it.’ And he’s like, ‘Do you reckon we have a responsibility to spread a positive message?’ “It kind of took me aback. I was just trying to have a beer at a pub and he’s getting all philosophical on me,” Lanyon laughs. “But he said it in a very Jack from Pretty Littles way, it was so deep but obviously very, just, on the level as well. And it sort of took me aback and I was, ‘Yeah. Yeah, you’re right. Fuck that, we do have a responsibility to-’, you know, there’s a lot of people who are just like, ‘I’m going to sing what I feel and this is me and I don’t care what it does to people, I don’t care.’ And I don’t subscribe to that at all. “So the unconscious thing was letting the songs fall out of me after Viv In The Front Seat, and that was all just through the giddy feeling of love. That was more about
“I was just full of shit, that’s not right. I was at the bottom, I didn’t even know it yet.”
Pic: Michael Thomas
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the catalyst of the record, almost. Like this conscious thing of going, like, ‘If we’re ever going to do another record it has to be positive, or it has to just affect a positive change in someone’s life, and not just be a downer, self-serving record.’ Because I just didn’t see the use of our band anymore. After Drag, it was just such an all-encompassing record where I just almost killed myself doing it, metaphorically, and I just didn’t see the reason for our band to be anymore. “I had a triple j interview once and I said, ‘I just don’t see the point of our band. I don’t know if the world needs another malefronted rock band. What more can we say?’ So if we were ever going to be a band, and if we were ever going to write another record, it had to be something different and, in my mind, had to affect a positive change. And then lo and behold, the universe as it works, I fell in love and these songs fell out, and I’m like, ‘This is ticking all the boxes.’ I haven’t told Jack though — he might not even remember. But I want to thank him for that because it really did kick start something.” “For a positive record to come out, that means my mindset’s changed and my life’s changed, and for the better too.”
We Are A Team (Cooking Vinyl Australia) is out now. Ceres tour from 17 May. Check The Guide on theMusic.com.au for more details.
Mondays
Friday 3 MAY
SATURDAY 4 MAY
Vegan Mondays
Simon Wright
Mustang Jerx (JP)
Good for ya soul Good for ya tum!
Looper Extraordinaire Only Melbourne Show
Japanese Rock'N'Rollers W/ Seven Margaritas & Psycho Moto
TUESDAYS
FRIDAY 10 May
SATURDAY 11 May
Trivia Tuesdays
Witch Fight (Syd)
Slow Job
Test Ya Wits & win! Book your gang now 03 9036 1456
Stoner Punk Legends Wicked City + Astro Death + Somatized
w/ Georgia Knight Gooey, Jangly & Dark 4PM Matinee
SATURDAY 11 May
THURSDAYS
SUNDAY 12 May
Warplane
Jedd Makes Drinks
Otiuh (WA)
+ No Sister Octo Pessimist Krautrock
Bren Cooks Burgers Sam Sez Hi!
Perth Hip Hop Duo + NoLess
WEDNESDAYS
FRIDAY 17 MAY
SATURDAY 18 May
$1 WINGSDAYS
Los Tones (Syd)
Full Tone Generator
A buck a pop Sticky Fried Buffalo & Hickory BBQ
Garage Rock Psych Lords + Bone Graft
Desert Stoner Shredders + King Cig
SUNDAY 19 may
FRIDAY 24 May
SATURDAY 25 May
Eurovision Party!
Patrick Ryan
Zoe Fox & The Rocket Clocks
W/ The Beastie Girls May the B.East queen win
Psychy Poppy Groovy Yum + the Girlatones + Kaipora
Wooooooshhh! We love this gang
Sundays
SUNDAY 26 May
FRIDAY 31 MAY
Get ova ya hangova!
Neil Wilkinson
Boozy Berocca Cocktails Cheap Bloody Mayys + Poutine
Matinee Tunes Sunday Stetson Songs
Donald Dank and The Naughty Boys EP Launch + Dick Willoughby and the Dirty Stop Outs
MONDAYS / VEGAN SOUL FOOD TUESDAYS / TRIVIA WEDNESDAYS / $1 WINGS SUNDAYS / $12 bloody mayys
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DRMNGNOW. Pic: Joshua Braybrook
Rebecca Hatch
Soju Gang
Daniel Ella
Handpicked In the lead-up to the Bendigo leg of Groovin The Moo, we asked Neil Morris, aka DRMNGNOW, to give us an insight about the acts he chose for the festival’s new ‘Handpicked’ section.
Groovin The Moo is at Prince Of Wales Showground on 4 May.
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y name is Neil Morris and I perform under the name DRMNGNOW. I am a Yorta Yorta Dja Dja Wurrung man. To have an opportunity to curate part of GTM Bendigo this year is very special to me as a descendant of the Dja Dja Wurrung Peoples whose land this event is on. I believe it is crucial for First Peoples of a land to be enabled curatorial opportunities and should be a matter of priority. The fact that GTM has given honour to that, not just for cultural contribution but also programming, is an important act that must be noted. As a part of my curation, I wanted to ensure I presented a range of artists who I see as having important roles to play in this land heading into the future. The face of music is changing in this land. More First Nations Peoples are on stages than ever, delivering narratives that more and more people are resonating with. It’s so amazing, as it makes one think back to pre-colonisation, where not only was it the norm for Indigenous
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Peoples to be delivering song, it was the sole song on this land. We are not at the point where Indigenous music has been reintegrated to an extent that can match that, but we are taking steps to get to some kind of respectful positioning of First Peoples delivering song in country, reinvigorating ancient lores along the way. More Peoples of Colour are blessing us with their talents at the moment also, as a unified force with First Nations Peoples of this land. There is something that is magically pulsing forward, which I have been blessed to be a part of solidly for the past five years as an artist in Naarm/Birraranga (Melbourne). A part of the growth along the way with artists such as Pataphysics, Joelistics, Sampa The Great, REMI, N’fa Jones, Cazeaux OSLO, P-UniQue, Krown, Adrian Eagle - the list runs deep - not to mention so many incredible First Peoples such as Kaiit, Alice Skye, Philly, Kalyani, Paul Gorrie, Kee’ahn, Mojo Juju and River Boy. What has been an undercurrent of this country for 231 years is finally being embraced, as the colonial shackles that have forced the silence of First Peoples are loosened. This is driven by a mutual sense of oppressive experiences as Peoples of Colour, who, through talent and vitality of presence alone, have been knocking on the door of the music industry for a respectful and just platform. And now is the time for that to be manifesting. It’s such a beautiful thing. We truly do have a special opportunity in the now and foreseeable future for First Nations Peoples and Peoples of Colour to build a collective movement that can stand out on a global scale. In terms of selecting my line-up, firstly it was crucial to me to ensure that there was locally based First Peoples talent. The first name that came to mind was Yorta Yorta/Gunai artist Soju Gang. As an emerging Indigenous DJ that is a woman, she is reclaiming space that, as a woman in the music industry, has seldom existed beforehand, but to add to that being an Indigenous woman, we are talking the charting of new territories. She fills this role with an exuberant class and grace, and has taste for days. To add to this, she is an inspiring young thinker and interdisciplinary creator. I have no doubt that as time passes she will leave a long-lasting mark on the music industry of this land. She is a force that I take great inspiration from! To have her on DJ duties for this curation is a true blessing. I’m so lucky to be in a position that another sister of this part of land and another a Yorta Yorta person can be a part of this experience; literally being the very pulse behind this whole curation. That is crucial, and I could not be more grateful to be in the hands of the sacred magic of Indigenous Matriarchy for this hour at GTM! The next local Indigenous talent I selected was Wathaurung country-based Yorta Yorta/Wemba Wemba MC Ridzy Ray. I have incredible admiration for the work ethic and graciousness of this brother. I can recall when we first met. He had this gracious, endearing charm that stuck with me and in that moment I knew we would do things together in the future. There was a shine that spoke volumes of his dreams and drive. The kind of energy I am fuelled by. He is a passionate young brother with so much love for his Peoples. He just wants to grow and learn as much as possible and has put in a lot of time to be ready to start sharing his craft. He is a humble brother and has heartfelt lyrics and stories that a lot of young peoples could relate to, be that First Nations mob or otherwise. He has an absolutely bright future and I’m extremely excited for his tracks to be in the eardrums of everyone! The next artist I thought of was Rebecca Hatch, a Kamilaroi sister. I’ve been in adoration of her talent since first hearing her music a couple of years ago and I was privileged to have Rebecca open for me when I toured Eora lands (Sydney) last year. As a performer, she is one of those artists that is as pitchperfect as a final recording, a sublime talent who could truly end up anywhere. It’s so inspiring knowing a young talent like this, who possesses such poise and maturity in the way she approaches her music. She is a savvy businesswoman already and as an independent artist myself, I get inspired by the hustle and smarts of a young artist like Rebecca that knows her worth and makes her growth priority number one. As a young Indigenous sister on the rise, I want to do whatever I can in my power to expose more audiences to her work that may not have had that chance just yet. Undoubtedly she will kill her performance with style at GTM Bendigo and it’s so exciting that she will be also playing Maitland. Hopefully next year or very soon we may see her on the whole tour of GTM or otherwise touring the country. Her time cannot be far away at all. We are truly blessed to have an emerging talent like Rebecca in this country - a one-of-a-kind talent. The last artist I selected was brother Daniel Elia. I wanted to take the opportunity with this selection to pick an artist that represented a noble example of how a non-Indigenous artist can walk and grow on this land. Since day dot, my connection with Daniel was driven by his will to want to do and understand as best he could about how to be on this land respectfully. It’s not every day someone reaches out on that basis. I was completely humbled by this brother’s energy and respect. It comes through clearly and unapologetically in his work in tracks like Promised Land, showing solidarity with First Peoples of this land with the line, “This was never your land/You stole it from Aboriginals.” He is also an electrifying performer. When he raps, you listen. You have no choice. A storyteller with heart, on a deep quest with his work. One of the most humble, inspiring and talented people I know. I feel like it’s only a matter of time before Daniel is in eardrums of the masses.
Your Town
bar & live music venue
303 high street northcote
on in may F R I D AY 3 R D M AY
T U E S D AY 1 4 T H M AY
7P M, $10
7: 30PM
LAMBROS + BRIDGET ALLAN + SAM O’CONNELL S AT U R D AY 4 T H M AY
BABY NA YOKA: WEST AFRICA DRUMMERS, DANCERS & DJS 8P M, $20
S U N D AY 5 T H M AY
CATE TAYLOR + NINA ROSE 7P M, $10
M O N D AY 6 T H M AY
MARTIN PANG SEXTET + GUESTS
W E D N E S D AY 1 5 T H M AY
JULIEN WILSON QUARTET + GUESTS 8PM , DO N ATION
T H U R S D AY 1 6 T H M AY
BENJI AND THE SALTWATER SOUND SYSTEM + JANE MCARTHUR 7PM DOOR S , $10
303 YARRA BANKS JAM NIGHT
F R I D AY 1 7 T H M AY
T U E S D AY 7 T H M AY
7: 30PM , $15
8P M, FR EE
KLUB MUK
7:30P M, FR EE
W E D N E S D AY 8 T H M AY
JULIEN WILSON QUARTET + GUESTS
LUNG + FORMILES + KINGDOM OF SLEEP + PHILSTONE + LUMA
ASYLUM TV
S U N D AY 1 9 T H M AY
CLUNK ORCHESTRA 7PM , F R EE
PICKPOCKET
M O N D AY 2 0 T H M AY
S AT U R D AY 1 1 T H M AY
8PM , F R EE
SMOKING FIGS 8P M,
S U N D AY 1 2 T H M AY
LOST CLOG / PAMESTA KLUMPÈ + VESERIS 7P M
M O N D AY 1 3 T H M AY
WIRECUTTERS 8P M, FR EE
ATROCIOUS BEATS: TOBACCO RAT + KARLI WHITE + HORSE MACGYVER + AEON HAKYAVIK + RAVESTABBER + NEON MERKIN 9PM, $10
S AT U R D AY 2 5 T H M AY
CHRISTOPHER YOUNG QUARTET + EDELPLASTIK 3 P M , FR E E
S AT U R D AY 2 5 T H M AY
THE MYSTIC CHARMERS 8PM
7PM
4PM
8P M
F R I D AY 2 4 T H M AY
7PM
T H U R S D AY 9 T H M AY
F R I D AY 1 0 T H M AY
7PM
S U N D AY 2 6 T H M AY
BLACK JESUS + BLOCKADE + SOMATIZED + COMMONS S U N D AY 1 9 T H M AY
8P M, FR EE
3CR SPOKEN WORD
S AT U R D AY 1 8 T H M AY
8P M, DONAT I ON
THE MONTGOMERY BROTHERS
T H U R S D AY 2 3 R D M AY
303 YARRA BANKS JAM NIGHT
T U E S D AY 2 1 S T M AY
ITALIANZ + ASPS + ROLES + FAMATAR 7: 30PM
W E D N E S D AY 2 2 N D M AY
JULIEN WILSON QUARTET + GUESTS 8PM , DO N ATION
CARBO CARTER GUNNOO + HOI PALLOI M O N D AY 2 7 T H M AY
MELBOURNE POLYTECHNIC MUSIC 7 P M , FR E E
T U E S D AY 2 8 T H M AY
SMILING POLITELY COMEDY 7 : 3 0 P M , D O N AT I O N
W E D N E S D AY 2 9 T H M AY
JULIEN WILSON QUARTET + GUESTS 8 P M , D O N AT I O N
T H U R S D AY 3 0 T H M AY
KICKIN THE B AT 303’ THURSDAY HAMMOND SESSIONS: COOKIN’ ON 3 BURNERS 8PM DOORS, $10
F R I D AY 3 1 S T M AY
SHAPES LIKE RAPIDS + FRIENDS 8PM
303 net au
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Iggy Pop @ Festival Hall. Photos by Jaz Meadows.
Ever the generous performer,
Iggy Pop spent his 72nd birthday putting on a show for the fine
folk down at Festival Hall — prov-
ing that true legends are timeless in the process. A few punters lost
their cool when Pop invited them
on stage but nothing could put the Godfather Of Punk off his game.
Basement Jaxx @ Margaret Court Arena. Photos by Kikki MacLeod.
Basement Jaxx brought a cast of thousands for their show with The Metropolitan Orchestra.
“His voice has not lost a single drop of its considerable power, going from tender to man possessed at the drop of a hat.”
Didgeridoo player William Barton, a contemporary
dancer dressed as an egg-headed silver alien, a children’s choir, singers Lisa Kekaula, Vula Malinga and Sharlene Hector - it really was the whole shebang.
“Standout track ‘Hey U’ scores an enthusiastic clap-along intro from the crowd and we collectively lose our shit.”
– Madison Thomas
– Bryget Chrisfield
With beloved local post-punks RVG in
Kurt Vile & The Violators @ The Forum. Photos by Nathan Goldsworthy.
tow, Kurt Vile & The Violators rolled into The Forum and hit us with everything
from classic Krautrock to contemporary country. Courtney Barnett even jumped up with her Lotta Sea Lice collaborator for a spell.
“Our main man and his backing band, The Violators, are on a roll from the get-go.” RVG
– Donald Finlayson
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/ThePostOfficeHotel
W H AT ’ S O N I N
M
thepostofficehotel.com.au
THU
02
FRONT BAR RE-OPENING DJ D-TRAIN
03
THU
STEAM VENT
FRI
09 THU
10
Lisa Lerkenfeldt
FRI
DJ DYLAN & LUIS CL
16 THU
23 THU
FRI
30
17 FRI
24
GOLDEN SYRUP
FRI
31
BODIES
CHARLES WESTON HOTEL
FRIDAYS
CHARLES WESTON HOTEL
A
THE DULLJOYS
FIELD MAPS
FREAK FANDANGO Hearts and Rockets
SAT
04 SAT
6.30PM / FREE
THU 9 MAY
ZEB VESCIO TRIO 6.30PM / FREE
THU 16 MAY
DAN HORNE
JAMES TEAGUE 6.30PM / FREE
SUN
ANDREA ROBERTSON
SUN
SIME NUGENT & THE CAPES
SUN
SHEPPARTON AIRPLANE
18
Hyper Focus
SAT
01
W/ TINA
ROO WINE $14.99
LOU DAVIES
26 02
THURSDAY 2 MAY
SATURDAY 4 MAY
THURSDAY 9 MAY
SATURDAY 11 MAY
THURSDAY 16 MAY
SATURDAY 18 MAY
TWILIGHT IN TULSA (TRIO) 6:00 PM
TSAR GREEN
EDDIE NUARDO
TWILIGHT IN TULSA (TRIO) 6:00 PM
4.00PM / FREE
6.30PM / FREE
SUN 12 MAY
RED DIRT RADIO
SAT 11 MAY
YASIN LEFLEF
TWILIGHT IN TULSA (TRIO) 6:00 PM
4.00PM / FREE
6.30PM / FREE
SUN 19 MAY
TAPSALTEERIE BAND
SAT 18 MAY
WASTELANDS 6.30PM / FREE
THURSDAY 23 MAY
4.00PM / FREE
TWILIGHT IN TULSA (TRIO) 6:00 PM
SUN 26 MAY
MAX TEAKLE
SAT 25 MAY
TOM REDWOOD
HEY GRINGO 6:00 PM
SUNDAY 5 MAY
THE LARGE NUMBER 12’S 4:00 PM
JAMES MARK 6:00 PM
SUNDAY 12 MAY
THE EXCELLENT SMITHERS 4:00 PM
THE LEFTIES 8:00 PM
FEATHERHEAD 4:00 PM
SATURDAY 25 MAY
SUNDAY 26 MAY
BEN SMITH BAND 6:00 PM
SUNDAY 19 MAY
LOST AT4:00SEA PM
4.00PM / FREE
6.30PM / FREE
THURSDAY 30 MAY
TWILIGHT IN TULSA (TRIO) 6:00 PM 6.30PM / FREE
WEDNESDAYS
FRI-SUN NOON TO LATE
TRIVIA TUES 7.30pm / WED OPEN MIC NIGHT 7pm
THURSDAYS
$12 BURGERS $12 PIE NIGHT
TO LATE 27 WESTON ST, BRUNSWICK 2PMMON-THU
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SAT 4 MAY
DENIM GORGEOUS &
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THU 30 MAY
MONDAYS
05
DAN LETHBRIDGE & SHANE O’MARA
SAT
EYES DOWN AT 7ISH
TUESDAYS
SUN
HOODOO MAYHEM
6.30PM / FREE
THU 23 MAY
MOODY BEACHES
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229-231 Sydney Road Coburg VIC 3058
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CHARLES WESTON HOTEL@GMAIL.COM OR GIVE US A BELL ON 9380 8777
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Howzat! Local music by Jeff Jenkins
Ooh-mow-ma-mow-mow: the remarkable resurgence of Russell Morris
Milestones and memories One year ago Weekes dies.
soon after, Russell was meeting Bernard and Nick DiDia at their Byron Bay studio. “I’d love to do an album with you guys, but I don’t want you to just treat it as another project and get your money and move on.” The result is a fine new album to complement The Real Thing. Russell Morris is not one for looking back. And he says it doesn’t feel like 50 years have gone by. “In your head, you’re always 18 years old.” The alien monster in the basement lives! And he’s now got plenty of buddies.
Five years ago
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds’ Push The Sky Away wins the Album Award at the Ivor Novello Awards. Ten years ago
Stephen Cummings releases a memoir, Will It Be Funny Tomorrow, Billy?: Misadventures In Music.
AC/DC break box office records, selling 500,000 tickets in one day for
Top five things you might not know about
their 2010 Australian tour.
The Real Thing
20 years ago
1. “Ooh-mow-ma-mow-mow” was never intended to be a lyric. When producer Molly Meldrum was explaining where the Hendrix-like guitar line would go, guitarist Don Mudie was not at the studio, so Molly imitated a guitar: “Ooh-mow-ma-mow-mow.” 2. The Real Thing — the first Australian single to run longer than six minutes — hit number one on 31 May 1969, displacing Peter Sarstedt’s Where Do You Go To (My Lovely)? 3. Roger Hicks from Zoot plays the acoustic guitar intro. Roger’s daughter, Kate Duncan, is the CEO of The Push (#48 in The Music’s Power 50). 4. Midnight Oil released just one cover as a single — their version of The Real Thing in 2000. 5. Rick Springfield references the song on his own blues album, 2018’s The Snake King, which was inspired by Russell’s blues trilogy. “I am the real thing,” Rick sings in the title track.
Kasey Chambers releases her debut solo album, The Captain. 30 years ago
Jason Donovan’s debut album, Ten Good Reasons, hits #1 in the UK. 50 years ago
Russell Morris’ The Real Thing hits number one.
Black & Blue Heart (Bloodlines) is out now.
Hot album
The Maes — The Maes
And then there were two. The Maes were known as The Mae Trio before Anita Hillman departed. But their sound hasn’t suffered, with sisters Maggie and Elsie Rigby remaining — there’s nothing quite like sibling harmonies. Recorded in Melbourne, Canada Russell MOrris
B
rian Cadd has a great description of The Real Thing. “It was the first time I’d seen production turn into obsession. The song just grew and grew. The Real Thing became the living thing. It was like an alien monster in the basement.” The Real Thing hit #1 50 years ago this month. It’s the incredible story of an unexpected solo career, a chance meeting at a TV station, a crazy record producer and an old Ford Fairlane. The Real Thing wasn’t Russell Morris’ first release — he’d already done three singles with a band called Somebody’s Image, produced by Ian ‘Molly’ Meldrum, who was also their manager. But when Molly returned from London in September 1968, Russell dropped a bombshell — he was leaving the band. “You ungrateful bastard!” Molly snapped. “We all built this band and now you’re deserting it.” But when Molly calmed down, he realised that Russell needed a song to launch his solo career. Wandering past Johnny Young’s dressing room at the Saturday morning TV show Uptight, he heard a ballad called The Girl That I Love. “That could work,” Molly thought. Then Johnny — who would later host Young Talent Time — said, “I’ve got another one, but I’m going to keep it for my own band.” When he played The Real Thing, Molly’s search was over. At a time when artists were making entire albums in just a couple of days, Molly spent weeks in the studio. The Groop provided the instrumental backing, while Brian Cadd added a bizarre “rap”, reading the warranty on the tape box. Members of The Cookies and The Chiffons provided the female backing vocals, and Molly dragged some people off the street to be the “choir”. He also inserted an archive recording of a Hitler Youth choir and an atomic blast. And he impersonated Winston Churchill. All of this was done on an eight-track machine. Johnny Young suggested it should be recorded like The Beatles’ I Am The Walrus. Molly was also inspired by the Small Faces’ Itchycoo Park, Status Quo’s Pictures Of Matchstick Men, Donovan and Jackie Lomax. The late Ed Nimmervoll was the first to write about the release, in Go-Set. “Out of a dismal local record scene emerges the best produced and performed local single of all time. There’ll be no more excuses for inferior local stuff now. We have our yardstick.” But EMI initially hated the song, saying they’d release it only in Melbourne, Russell’s hometown. But Molly and Russell jumped in Russell’s old Ford Fairlane and drove to Sydney to meet with radio programmers, convincing 2UW and 2SM to add the song to their playlists. The Real Thing was released the year Bernard Fanning was born. He is now the co-producer of Russell’s new album, Black & Blue Heart, which caps a remarkable resurgence. Seven years ago, Russell scored his first top ten album — at the age of 63 — with Sharkmouth, an album of Aussie blues that no major label wanted. He pressed 500 copies, planning to sell it only at gigs. It ended up going platinum, hitting number six, and winning Russell his first ARIA Award. After his blues trilogy, Russell decided to do something different. He bumped into violinist Salliana Campbell, who suggested he should call Bernard Fanning. “I can’t,” Russell replied. “I’m too shy.” Salliana contacted the Powderfinger singer, and
Countdown co-creator Robbie
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YOUR TOWN
and Scotland, The Maes’ self-titled set is sweet, sad and sublime. Fans of The Waifs should investigate. “I don’t know about the future — it still seems so far away,” they sing. But their future seems bright.
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This month’s highlights
Raise the mar
Ferla
Sydney muso Nathan Hawes has restyled himself as KESMAR, a new disco-tinted project favouring swirling, vintage synths. Now he’s launching his debut EP Up To You at The Workers Club this 4 May.
Fersonal
KESMAR
Melbourne’s favourite makers of after-dark pop, Ferla, have had their debut album in the mix for some time now and it’s finally ready for the masses. Catch the outfit launching It’s Personal at The Tote on 24 May.
Ground Control to Major Tom The Bruce
Gena Rose Bruce. Pic: Ryan Downey
Corey Glover
To mark the 25th anniversary of Space Oddity, A Bowie Celebration: The David Bowie Alumni Tour is heading Down Under. A collection of Bowie’s bandmates and acclaimed singers, including Living Colour’s Corey Glover, hit Palais Theatre on 11 May.
After announcing her fulllength debut Can’t Make You Love Me, Gena Rose Bruce is celebrating by launching the latest single from the album. Head to The Gasometer on 10 May for an ear-full of Angel Face.
Furry fury Mirrors and Alpha Wolf have new tunes - the Cold Sanctuary and Fault EPs respectively - and are making stops around the country this month in a hardcore triple header with Daybreak. The Melbourne leg hits Stay Gold on 1 Jun.
Once they’re done touring the country with Kurt Vile & The Violaters, RVG are heading to Howler to launch their latest single. They’ll be joined by Terry and Pinch Points on 24 May.
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Your town
RVG
Mirrors
OMG
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This month’s highlights Sniff sniff It’s wild to think Amyl & The Sniffers are only just releasing their debut album at the end of the month. Before they do though, they’re heading to The Tote to destroy the bandroom this 9 May.
Amyl & The Sniffers
Gee-haw Cabaret, comedy and music take over Johnstone Park from 30 May - 23 Jun for Spiegeltent Geelong. The event is headlined by LIMBO, a darkly enthralling blend of all of the above and more.
LIMBO. Pic: David Solm
All light long
Dan Sultan
Low Light runs every weekend from 3 May - 30 June in Queenscliff. As well as sets from the likes of Dan Sultan and Jen Cloher, there will be a range of installations and exhibitions from ice rinks to burning sculptures.
Sweet taste
Bananagun
War Cry
Recent Chapter signees Honey 2 Honey have taken snippets of jazz, dub, Kosmische, disco and R&B to construct their debut EP A Taste Of and they’re launching the results at The Curtin, 4 May.
Simply stonning
Make those bodies sing Honey 2 Honey
Opening with War Cry on 10 May - featuring Michelle Nicolle, Odette Mercy and Fem Belling - the Stonnington Jazz Festival runs through to 19 May with a range jazz, big band, and cabaret highlights daily.
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Bananagun are playing Hotel Esplanade this 9 May as part of the venue’s Unwinded Presents series. Entry’s free and the tropical funk outfit are being joined by local project Tram Cops.
Your town
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DENNIS LLOYD (ISR)
19 APRIL
DOM DOLLA SOLD OUT
26 APRIL
PARENTS BATTLE OF THE BANDS
LIC/ALL AGES EVENT 7.30PM TO 10PM This event is a smoke free (+ drug free) event
SPACEY SPACE. SUNSHINE. MADELINE.
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8 HOUR CLASSICS SET - 2PM TO 11PM
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27 APRIL
BINGO LOCO (IRE)
3 MAY
AREA 7 VS THE PORKERS
10 MAY
23 MAY
2 JUNE
7 JUNE
W/ SPECIAL GUESTS MACH PELICAN
4 MAY
THE ORIGINAL WAILERS (JAM)
PRINCE BANDROOM 27 FITZROY ST, ST KILDA
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the best and the worst of the month’s zeitgeist
The lashes Front
Back Pic via Magda Cieleka’s instagram
Best in fest
Wet work
Fr**t
Paradise lost
Dark AF
***spoilers***
Last month was a ripper
Possible spy whale found
The National Museum in
The Bachelor In Paradise
The night is dark and full of
If you’re even five minutes
for festivals across the
by Norwegian fishermen?
Warsaw removed Natalia
blokes are trash - except
terrors. We think, anyway.
late to the party there is
east coast – from a killer
Wearing a camera harness
LL’s 1973 video Consumer
for American Alex. From
Maybe it was a creative
just no way you can use the
Melbourne International
labelled ‘Equipment of St
Art, in which a woman eats
the borderline emotionally
decision but a lot of the final
internet at the moment.
Comedy Festival, to Iggy
Petersburg’? It’s official,
a banana, so as not to “irri-
abusive Ivan, to Bill con-
Game Of Thrones season
That said, there’s probably
Pop and Jack White leading
Putin’s gone full comic book
tate sensitive young people”.
stantly channelling his outer
has been an ink splodge.
no need to actually flog
Bluesfest, to Bleach* up on
villain. He could probably
Protesters then swamped
fuckboy, to Richie’s fear of
’People can’t see shit at
someone who’s given away
the Gold Coast scaring the
find better inspiration than
the gallery en masse to eat
commitment, and Jules’
night’ is a strange thing to
the ending of GoT or Aveng-
shit out of us (in a good way),
Boris Badanov and Natasha
bananas, a great source of
softboi antics, there’s very
get realistic about right at
ers. Like that Domino’s
May has a lot to live up to.
Fatale though.
potassium and an even bet-
few redeemable men
the end of your dragons v
employee assaulted by
ter ‘fuck you’.
here. Aussie women
zombies fantasy epic.
their co-worker. Or the
deserve better.
dude shouting Endgame plot points outside a Hong Kong theatre.
The final thought
Words by Maxim Boon
W
ith the Federal election on the horizon, every airwave, screen, digital portal and news app is now chock full of political rhetoric. But as Shorten and Morrison face off in their bids for the highest office in the land, Aussie politics can seem a tad dreary compared to the high stakes razzmatazz overseas. The prime example is the American spectacle, with its audacious conventions, sensationalist attack ads, and fever-pitched campaigning. Given the possibility of dethroning President Trump in 2020, things have already
The Music
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reached levels of near hysterical hyperbole more than a year and half before any voter steps in front of a ballot box. Indeed, it’s hard to overstate how globally influential the ascent of Trump – a political dilettante who had no discernible qualifications to lead when he was elected – has been on international geopolitics. Take for example the recent elections in the Ukraine, where comedian Volodymyr Zelensky, who famously portrayed the country’s head of state on a popular TV show, managed to defeat the incumbent president, Petro Poroshenko, at the polls. It’s pretty much how the world would look if Armando Iannucci and Charlie Brooker were running ‘The Truman Show’. It seems the established architecture of our government systems are woefully susceptible to manipulation. So, how can we save ourselves from subverted democracy? Other than getting on board the fascist train to Dictator-ville, another far more blue-sky option is beginning to emerge. Youth activists are becoming some of the most inspirational figures in the political arena. In the wake of the epidemic of school shootings in the United States and the increasingly alarming effects of global warming, some extraordinarily impressive millennial figureheads have
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shown themselves to be every bit incisive and reasoned as anyone already walking the corridors of power. Sixteen-year-old Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg is a prime example. After spearheading the school strike movement, in which thousands of students all over the world left their classrooms to protest for climate action, her inspirational speeches have galvanised the voice of her generation: “Adults keep saying, ‘We owe it to the young people to give them hope.’ But I don’t want your hope, I don’t want you to be hopeful. I want you to panic, I want you to feel the fear I feel every day… I want you to act as if the house was on fire, because it is.” These remarkable words represent one of the most significant political utterances of recent years, and yet, they were spoken by someone who is deemed too young to participate in the democratic process. So, to save our democracy, should the voting age be brought down, empowering a generation who are desperately pleading with their supposedly wiser elders to effect change? When the grown-ups are voting for clowns, maybe it’s time the kids had their say.