May Issue
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COURTNEY BARNETT The unassuming singer-songwriter who turned the Australian music industry on its head The new vanguard of Aussie activists fighting for change
The rebooting of Picnic At Hanging Rock
Parkway Drive’s exclusive track by track for their new album
P L AY DEAR BOY
SOMETHING #HEREFORTHEMUSIC
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N E W P O RT E R ™ C L A S S I C IN COSMIC TURQUOISE
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Credits Publisher Street Press Australia Pty Ltd Group Managing Editor Andrew Mast National Editor – Magazines Mark Neilsen Group Senior Editor/National Arts Editor Maxim Boon Editors Bryget Chrisfield, Daniel Cribb, Neil Griffiths, Velvet Winter
It’s autumn - a time for rolling in leaves and listening to Courtney Barnett.
Assistant Editor/Social Media Co-Ordinator Jessica Dale
J
ust ahead of going to print for this issue I had the privilege of witnessing Courtney Barnett perform her new album live at her label HQ. Having already been lucky enough to have heard a sneaky preview of the recorded version of Tell Me How You Really Feel, I knew I was not going to be disappointed. What Barnett served up was way beyond expectations, and she held the audience captivated with her toughest sounding live show to date. It’s not easy to get a crowd to shut up completely while serving them up all new material. But it happened.
Editorial Assistant Sam Wall Gig Guide Henry Gibson gigs@themusic.com.au Senior Contributors Steve Bell, Ross Clelland, Cyclone, Jeff Jenkins Contributors Nic Addenbrooke, Annelise Ball, Sam Baran, Emily Blackburn, Melissa Borg, Anthony Carew, Uppy Chatterjee, Roshan Clerke, Shaun Colnan, Brendan Crabb, Guy Davis, Joe Dolan, Stephanie Eslkae, Chris Familton, Guido Farnell, Liz Giuffre, Carley Hall, Tobias Handke, Mark Hebblewhite, Kate Kingsmill, Tim Kroenert, Samuel Leighton Dore, Joel Lohman, Matt MacMaster, Amanda Maher, Taylor Marshall, MJ O’Neill, Carly Packer, Anne Marie Peard, Natasha Pinto, Michael Prebeg, Mick Radojkovic, Stephen A Russell, Jake Sun, Cassie Tongue, Rod Whitfield
I distinctly remember the first moment I heard Barnett singing. I admit, I was late to the game. It was back in 2012, driving through the city with the car radio on when I was hit by by an unapologetic Aussie accent singing out of the speakers, accompanied by a stripped-down-gotta-be-influenced-byThe-Go-Betweens arrangement and wonderfully witty wordplay. Then I heard that line: “And in the taxi home I’ll sing you a Triffids song.” Here was an artist telling stories that I knew and telling them in a way that I instantly fell in love with. We sat in the car listening for the announcer to back track. History Eraser. Courtney Barnett. [By the way, thanks for the lift that day, Bryget.] That night I jumped online and found the bike-riding promotional video and so began my obsession with the song. It became a constant singalongin-the-car favourite. I listed it as my “Song Of The Year” at the end of 2012. Th ree years later I listed Barnett’s Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit as “Album Of The Year”.
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, Yaseera Moosa, Hayden Nixon, Angela Padovan, Markus Ravik, Bobby Rein, Peter Sharp, Barry Shipplock, Terry Soo, John Stubbs, Bec Taylor
In the intervening years, Barnett has become a global best-seller and Grammy nominee. During that time, The Music team has had the pleasure of featuring her twice on our covers - once solo and once with her Milk! Records label mates. Now, as Barnett releases her second solo long-player we are honoured to feature her on the cover for a third time. And, if you are an enthusiastic Barnett collector, please note we feature a different image of her on the cover of each states’ editions (three all up - Victoria, NSW and Queensland). It is the first time we have featured the same artist on all of covers since we switched to a monthly format last year. In a another first we have expanded our cover feature to four pages. The upgrade allowed us to showcase more of the wonderful photos taken by Kane Hibberd. It also allowed for writer Jessica Dale to not just talk to Barnett but also others in the industry who explain the incredible effect the singer has had on the local music industry. And, if that’s not enough Barnett [SPOILER ALERT], we have also crowned Tell Me How You Really Feel our Album Of The Month. You can read about in our review pages. Now, go enjoy the album as much as we have.
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Contact Us Melbourne Head Office Ph: 03 9421 4499 459-461 Victoria Street Brunswick West Vic 3055 PO Box 231 Brunswick West Vic 3055 Sydney Ph: 02 9331 7077 Suite 129, 111 Flinders St Surry Hills NSW 2010
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Brisbane Ph: 07 3252 9666 WOTSO Fortitude Valley Qld 4006 COURTNEY BARNETT The unassuming singer-songwriter who turned the Australian music industry on its head
info@themusic.com.au www.themusic.com.au
The new vanguard of Aussie activists fighting for change
The rebooting of Picnic At Hanging Rock
Parkway Drive’s exclusive track by track for their new album
Andrew Mast Group Managing Editor
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COURTNEY BARNETT The unassuming singer-songwriter who turned the Australian music industry on its head The new vanguard of Aussie activists fighting for change
The rebooting of Picnic At Hanging Rock
Parkway Drive’s exclusive track by track for their new album
COURTNEY BARNETT The unassuming singer-songwriter who turned the Australian music industry on its head The new vanguard of Aussie activists fighting for change
The rebooting of Picnic At Hanging Rock
Parkway Drive’s exclusive track by track for their new album
SY DNE Y
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Our contributors
This month Editor’s Letter
10
DMA’S
44
This month’s best binge watching
15
Missy Higgins
46
17
Shit We Did: Veganism
Guest editorial Luke Buckmaster tackles James Cameron’s Avengers beef
Radio Quotas Aussie, Aussie, Aussie - oi, oi… no?
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Album reviews
48
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Courtney Barnett
Picnic At Hanging Rock
24 26
PP Arnold
28
Sarah Blasko, The Lulu Raes
30
Eilen Jewell
31
Vegan Shoes
32
The Big Picture: Michelle Grace Hunder
34
Youth Activism
36 Marlon Williams Another traumatic experience, another album
38
The best of the Sydney Comedy Festival
52
Cal Wilson, Emily Tressider
53
We offer some highlights of the upcoming program
54
Hard rubbish & upcycling sorting the trash for the treasure
Low impact living
58
Here are our top tips for Vivid
59
Howzat!
60
Ruby Boots
41
Your gigs
61
This month’s local highlights
62
Edible bugs, Diana Anaid
64
The end
66
42
Debbie Zhou is a Sydney-based arts writer, with a particular interest in film and theatre. Along with contributing to The Music, she has also been featured in Time Out and as a guest on 2Ser’s Film Fight Club. When she’s not trudging through her university degree, she can also be found listening to the latest movie and musical soundtracks.
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What really goes on when battling with cardboard
Debbie Zhou
Your Town
Ryan Downey, Robert Cray
Boxwars
Luke Buckmaster is an award-winning critic who has been writing about the cinema since 1997. He is the author of the George Miller biography, Miller And Max: George Miller And The Making Of A Film Legend, and was the co-host of ABC iview’s review program The Critics. He is currently the film and television critic for The Guardian Australia, and a contributor to a range of publications including Flicks.
The Arts
Sydney Film Festival Parkway Drive
Luke Buckmaster
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Guy Davis Guy Davis has been doing this for longer than he cares to admit, by which he means writing about film, television and popular culture for a variety of outlets online and on the page. Sarah Jessica Parker once complimented his dress sense, and you can bet your ass he’s been dining out on that particular anecdote for years.
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Kyle
Totally Mild
Oh baby, baby, it’s a mild world Fresh from supporting Perfume Genius and a trip to SXSW, Totally Mild are ready to take their second album Her out for a spin. The lush pop quartet’s headline run starts in QLD on 24 May before heading ‘round the country.
For whom the Belle tolls After firing off three new EPs in as many months late last year, Belle & Sebastian are back in Australia for five shows. Cop an earful of their newly increased collection of classic tracks from 2 May.
SuperCali Groovin The Moo brought California rapper and iSpy hitmaker KYLE, aka SuperDuperKyle, to town and he’s using the opportunity to play his first-ever Down Under headline shows, which kick off on 1 May, while he’s here.
Baker Boy
Belle & Sebastian
Baked tornado
Melt it dealt it Australia’s brand new heavy music event is finally upon us. Gay Paris, Child, Arteries, The Black Swamp, Sumeru and heap of local acts will perforate eardrums around the nation from 12 May as part of Meltdown Festival. Gay Paris
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Fast-rising hip-hop star Baker Boy’s massive Australian headline tour gets rolling on 13 May. The Arnhem Land local is hitting up Perth, Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney with KIAN and MC Dallas Woods.
Stream dreams
All for you Portland MC Aminé (pronounced uh-MEEnay) has been sharing his unique hip-hop stylings around Oz with Groovin The Moo and will continue to do so on 2 May when his headline Tour For You dates kick off.
This month’s best binge watching Vida
Mexican-American sisters, Emma (Mishel Prada) and Lyn (Melissa Barrera) are heading back to their old neighbourhood to settle the estate of their long-estranged, newly dead mother. But things aren’t as simple as they appear. Vida follows the two as they confront their past and discover that family is everything. Streams from 7 May on Stan. Amine
The Rain
She’s got the power Vera Blue is taking the latest single from her ARIAnominated debut album Perennial out on the road post Groovin The Moo. The Lady Powers tour starts on 13 May, the alt-folk songstress making eight stops before wrapping in June.
Surprise Scandi sci-fi crossover hit series The Vera Blue
Rain follows two siblings who join a roving band of survivors in search of answers six years after a brutal virus wipes out most of Scandinavia’s population.
Dead in the water More than two years we’ve been waiting for the continued stories of ‘the merc with the mouth’. Two. Years. That all ends on 17 May when Deadpool 2 hits cinemas to break sexual taboos, henchmen’s jaws and fourth walls nationwide.
Streams from 4 May on Netflix.
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Season 4
The fourth season of Emmy-nominated comedy series Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt is being released in two parts (boo!) but the first six episodes land this month (boo-yah!). Tune in to watch the continued hypercolour adventures of the world’s favourite mole woman. Streams from 30 May on Netflix.
Deadpool 2
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Sabrina Benaim
Write’n’roll Sabrina Benaim is one of the most-viewed performance poets of all time, her explorations of mental health, love and family drawing clicks in the millions on YouTube. She’s performing live in Australia for the first time from 11 May with her new book, Depression & Other Magic Tricks.
Going ng solo The origin story behind hind everybody’s favourite scruffy-looking king nerf herder is finally coming to the big screen. Despite an apparently ntly bumpy production, the teasers rs for Solo: A Star Wars Story have us V excited, so we’ll see you in cinemas 24 May.
ABThree ABC is doing its level best to iron the lumps out of hump day with a massive new Wednesday night line-up of Julia Zemiro’s Home Delivery, Gruen and The Weekly With Charlie Pickering. All three shows will be available from 2 May.
Tex Perkins
The Iron Maidens
Walk the line again Tex Perkins is once again reprising his Helpmann Award-winning role in The Man In Black – The Johnny Cash Story with The Tennessee Four and Rachael Tidd. The fun starts on 9 May and wraps in June.
Podcast of the month: How Did This Get Made? Ever watched a film and been absolutely flabbergasted by how such a flaming piece of trash made it all the way to the silver screen? Paul Scheer, Jason Mantzoukas and June Diane Raphael nitpick the best of them on How Did This Get Made?
Gruen host, Wil Anderson How Did This Get Made?
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Solo: A Star Wars Story
Sh*t we did With Maxim Boon
Veganism i It’s a dog eat dog world. But it doesn’t have to be a man eat animal world. An increasing number of ethically minded foodies are saying no to the cruelties endemic in much of commercial livestock farming to embrace a diet free from meat, dairy and other animal products. But if you thought the vegan life was just a monotonous regime of boiled kale and sloppy lentils, you’d be wrong. The vegan food industry is experiencing an unprecedented era of growth – Australia was recently ranked as the third-fastest growing vegan market in the world. And with this explosion of interest in veganism, a food revolution has been picking up speed. Vegans can now enjoy a far greater range of specialist groceries and supplements to ensure they get a healthy balance of nutrients. There’s even “mock meat” for those who want the taste without the guilt. What was once an infamously pricey, nutrient-deficient, miserably flavour-free
Maid of metal All-female Iron Maiden tribute act The Iron Maidens hit our shores on 30 May to rattle off the classics. The LA-based group have circled the globe countless times since forming, covering all eras of Iron Maiden’s career (with some familiar props to boot).
lifestyle is now a well-serviced smorgasbord of cruelty-free delights.
The Verdict It’s safe to say, I love meat. When KFC brought out the burger that replaced the buns with more fried chicken, I was 100% on board. So, I expected my foray into veganism to be tantamount to an act of self-harm. But to my surprise, bidding a reluctant farewell to my usual meaty treats was not the wrench I thought it would be. Veganism does require a slight adjustment of mindset, especially when it comes to certain things that aren’t immediately obvious – who knew fish products were used in winemaking? But once you’ve trained yourself to keep an eye out for cruelty by stealth, staying on the vegan wagon is less arduous than you might expect. There
App of the month: Zombies, Run!
are some caveats: mock meat was clearly invented by someone who had never actually eaten or even been in the same room as real meat. There is, however, one vegan alternative that left me well and truly shook. Above
Plans to jog keep being foiled by how overwhelmingly boring it is? Immersive running game and audio adventure Zombies, Run! puts some pep in your step by siccingg a horde on your ass. Collect supplies, save survivors, work on your cardio.
all other foodstuffs, I am an ardent lover of mayonnaise. A week ago, had someone told me that “Vegenaise” could compete with the genuine article, I’d have likely king punched them. But more fool me. Vegenaise, I love you (even if the way you spell your name makes no godly sense). Zombies, Run!
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James Cameron isn’t happy about the Avengers. But it isn’t Marvel fatigue that’s suppressing original science fiction in Hollywood. The director of Avatar (and its four upcoming sequels) raises an important issue, although not, it seems, the one he intended. Luke Buckmaster examines the economic catch-22 that has a sci-fi in a blockbusting stranglehold.
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The director does of course have a point when he says there are other science fiction stories to tell outside the Marvel Comics Universe movies. But assuming he’s talking about his kind of movies — i.e. movies with budgets as large as a small nation’s annual GDP — how can risk-averse Hollywood studios be convinced to finance them? In 2012, Disney’s swords-and-sandals-in-space epic John Carter arrived in cinemas, costing around a quarter of a billion dollars. The film had some serious bona fides, based on a seminal science fiction text (Edgar Rice Burroughs’ novel A Princess Of Mars) and marking the first live-action feature from filmmaker Andrew Stanton (director of WALL-E). It is an intelligent and thrillingly old fashioned adventure with a great sense of scale and spectacle. It also became one of the biggest flops in cinema history, putting the studio out of pocket to the tune of around $200 million. A couple of years later, Australian filmmaker Justin Kurzel somehow convinced 20th Century Fox to hand him $125 million to make an experimental art film: the under-rated and intensely cerebral video game adaptation Assassin’s Creed. It also flopped. While these attempts to kick-start new sci-fi franchises failed, the Avengers movies continued to pound the competition, Hulk Smash style. Their various directors threaded elements of other MCU storylines into every instalment, so each film provided an advertisement for the next. Given that blockbuster filmmaking today is characterised by a combination of excess and caution, how does one still deliver original, thought-provoking sci-fi movies that also cost a bomb? It helps if your name is Christopher Nolan, whose mind-bending movies include Inception and Interstellar. Directors can also use a cunning technique recently deployed by Ridley Scott. It is a kind of intellectual bait-and-switch: get audiences believing they will be returning to something old, when in fact they will be experiencing something new. Th is is what I appreciate most about Scott’s recent films Prometheus and Alien: Covenant. They don’t merely extend the Alien universe, but take it to legitimately different and interesting places. Scott also scored a win in 2015 with the hugely successful Matt-Damon-stranded-in space adventure, The Martian. No doubt it helps to get movies over the line if you’re friends with Matt Damon, too. And of course, it helps if your name is James Cameron. Th is is why Cameron’s comments about the Avengers movies felt so ill-advised. Not because the director didn’t have a point, but because he did — and, with four Avatar movies in the works, he is clearly part of the problem.
his week, Avengers movie number 5,027 arrived in cinemas, delivering the shiny costumes and scenery-destroying spectacle to which we have become accustomed. It’s possible I may have got that figure slightly wrong, though by this point in time everybody other than superfans have surely lost count. One might say that what the Marvel Comics Universe movies lack in quality they make up for in quantity, if that weren’t such a terrible way of looking at things — as if we had all the time in the world to hang out with Tony Stark and his pals. And boy, as Avengers: Infinity War reminds us, the wealthy business magnate sure does have a lot of friends. That is not to say this latest cacophony is his film, any more than it is Spider-Man’s or Dr Strange’s or Black Panther’s or Black Widow’s, or any of the costumed crusaders flying in and out of the frame. As it turns out, the film belongs to all and none of them. There are far too many comic book characters in it (76, according to Chris Hemsworth) for directors Anthony and Joe Russo to do any justice. Instead, they opt for a showreel approach, cramming bits and bobs in from various franchises: a splash of Spider-Man’s web-slinging here, a short visit to Wakanda there. The existence of this many superheroes makes the film pure catnip for many fans. At least one elder statesman of blockbuster sci-fi, however, isn’t drinking the Kool-Aid. James Cameron, who is currently going through the entertaining ‘outspoken cranky dude with nothing to lose’ phase of his career, last week spoke out against the never-ending supply of Avengers movies. “I’m hoping we’ll start getting Avenger fatigue here pretty soon,” the director of classics such as Terminator and Aliens said, while promoting a new documentary series about science fiction. “Not that I don’t love the movies. It’s just, come on guys, there are other stories to tell besides hyper-gonadal males without families doing deathdefying things for two hours and wrecking cities in the process. It’s like, oy!” Before we examine Cameron’s comments, a grain or two of salt must be factored into this discussion. The biggest, most tooth-breaking of them is the fact that the veteran filmmaker is currently making not one, two, three, but four (!!) sequels to his 2009 epic Avatar. Despite its whopping $2.7 billion box office haul, the film left virtually no cultural footprint, as Scott Mendelson from Forbes observed in 2014. This makes those upcoming instalments perhaps the most striking example in history of sequels nobody asked for, wanted, or — at least for the time being — care about. So when Cameron condemns Hollywood for making too many sequels... Well, James, you know there are other stories to tell besides ones about lanky blue aliens running around in a forest, right? It’s like, oy!
“When Cameron condemns Hollywood for making too many sequels… Well, James, you know there are other stories to tell besides ones about lanky blue aliens running around in a forest, right?”
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Candid, honest & authentic: the Melbourne THE MUSIC
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or most Australian artists, validation from a member of The GoCourtney Barnett has achieved more from one Betweens is among some of the country’s highest honours. Still, seeing album than most could dream for in a lifetime. Lindy Morrison on stage welcoming a Jessica Dale speaks with Barnett ahead of the very excited crowd to Sydney’s Lansdowne Hotel for the launch of Courtney release of her second album, Tell Me How You Really Barnett’s latest album feels like a very Feel, as well taking a look at her career so far. natural pairing. It seems even more fitting since it was The Go-Betweens’Cover & feature pics by Kane Hibberd inspired Depreston that was the song that truly launched Barnett into the international market. Morrison goes on to list the awards Barnett has won including winning APRA, AMP and ARIA Awards, as well being nominated for a Grammy. “She did so much with that first album, that was called Sometimes I...” she trails off to let the room finish off the lengthy Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit album title. “Finally, we’re up to a new album, her second studio album, for God’s sake, she’s done so much and it’s her second studio album and it’s called Tell Me How You Really Feel, and the single is just fabulous, the album is fabulous...”
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hen we meet, it’s a few weeks out from the launch event and Barnett’s in Sydney for a few days prior to the shows she’ll play as part of her partner Jen Cloher’s band. She’s friendly and casual, and seems happier to talk about the likes of her favourite true crime shows and lighter topics than the intricacies of her album, which seems fair considering it’s probably her most vulnerable release to date. In Barnett’s own words though, she’s “really excited” about Tell Me How You Really Feel, smiling and animated when asked about its impending release. “I kind of just started writing. I think I knew I wanted to make another album, obviously, and didn’t really have a direction or concept or anything,” she says when asked how this album came about. “I just kind of kept sitting down and writing each day and it was very, just like... whatever was going on, and so it was very messy. I feel like that always happens. And then at some point they come together and stories kind of start appearing and they break off into songs.” “It feels like there’s a bit more breathing space,” she laughs when thinking about her debut and second albums side-by-side. “It does feel, to me, a bit more, like, emotional - it’s all of the same sort of emotional plane. It’s hard, I can’t compare it to the other one but it definitely feels like a very concise body of songs.” While Barnett’s works have always been heavily autobiographical, Tell Me How You Really Feel delves to a new level of honesty for the songwriter, with themes of self-doubt and mental health appearing consistently across the album. “When I was writing I think was kind of allowing myself to be [open] because I wasn’t really writing songs to start off with. It was more just, I think I allowed myself the kind of freedom to be more open and honest with myself and with the kind of promise there that no one would have to see these pieces of paper. So I think that that kind of realisation allowed me to be a bit more kind of vulnerable,” she says, trailing off. The topic eventually turns to the level of success Barnett has achieved both at home and internationally, and she’s more than humble in her response when asked if she’s ever felt like somewhat of an ambassador for Australian music overseas. “It’s never actually felt like that, to be honest, for me. I guess just like the awareness that there’s all this stuff and [that] kind of perception, that can be kind of overwhelming, but I haven’t felt like a spokesperson or anything like that.”
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I just think so much of what and who she is just appealed in a way that people just wanted to hold onto something that was so real.
While she may not feel like ‘spokesperson’ for Australian music, Barnett’s influence certainly goes further than just her own albums. Since 2012, Barnett’s been at the helm of Milk! Records, the label she now runs with Cloher. Starting as an outlet for Barnett to release her own work, the label now boasts some of Australia’s most promising indie artists, including Evelyn Ida Morris, Hachiku, Loose Tooth and East Brunswick All Girls Choir. “I think Courtney has been quite influential to myself and many, many others,” says Jade McInally of Jade Imagine, one of the label’s most prominent signees. “To me, the music she creates always feels fresh, honest and unique. She’s just that type of songwriter... And through being that herself, she has definitely helped me to accept my own writing style and to embrace my ‘quirks’, as they come up. “Seeing her shred on stage is also somewhat liberating. I don’t like to blame things on gender, but as a female performer sometimes it can feel a little harder to ‘let go’ for whatever reason - social norms about women and how they should look and act on stage, etc - and really lay into the guitar. I’ve definitely been inspired to experiment with and develop my own playing style.” “I feel very supported by her as a friend and peer and label mate and mentor - you feeling warm and mushy inside yet?” she jokes. “I knew Courtney before the band [ Jade Imagine] was signed to Milk! but I guess now that there is that formal connection we share through the label, I get to see her more often than I might if the band weren’t with Milk!” she says when asked if signing to the label has allowed for the growth of a mentor-mentee relationship with Barnett. “I feel very humbled and grateful to have that wisdom and experience within arm’s reach, especially knowing and experiencing just how anxiety-inducing and isolating that being an independent artist can be.”
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After six years and massive growth in the business, Barnett is clearly still passionate about her work with Milk! Records. “It’s a challenge, yeah. It’s a constant challenge but it’s great,” she says when asked about managing both her own musical endeavours and running a label. “It’s so incredible seeing it grow and seeing bands grow I think, but yeah... It’s definitely very challenging but I think it’s rewarding because it’s such a creative project and yeah, me and Jen definitely spend a lot of time and energy on it but it’s good. “Th is year we have a couple of albums, like a lot of albums, nearly everyone has an album to put out and it’s great because some of them it’s either their first album, first or second album,” she says of the coming 12 months, “and I think it’s an amazing thing to see that journey of friends and artists go through that whole process because it’s a real... I think it really reminded me just how emotionally crazy it is, and always kind of doubting themselves. I mean we all do it in different, whatever our outlet is, but it’s good to see it all come together and be like, ‘Yeah, congratulate yourself. You’ve done a really good job.’”
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hen thinking of Barnett, it’s easy to just imagine an Aussie wunderkind that seemingly went from gaining local fans via plays on triple j to winning over audiences worldwide on Ellen in a very short amount of time. As the Executive Producer for Sounds Australia, an organisation that supports Australian artists and industry at international showcases like South By South West and The Great Escape, Millie Millgate knows better than most what it takes for an artist to break into
the international market as successfully as Barnett has. Millgate shares that from the outset, Barnett and her team had been thinking globally. “I don’t want to say there were no surprises but I really do know that the team and for Courtney herself were incredibly strategic and very clever about their approach,” says Millgate when asked about Barnett’s rapid rise. “I don’t think anything they did [was] without thought and consideration, and I think Nick O’Byrne, who continues to manage her and has from the very outset, absolutely had a plan in mind. I mean obviously it takes different turns throughout but I really think he’d spent a lot of time prior to taking Courtney overseas looking at the best approach, and I think he was very well positioned to do that, and I also think he had an absolute quality artist who was prepared to put in extremely hard work. “So as much as it sort of seems like there was this instant success from 2013, which was when she started to go overseas, I think her first international event was CMJ in 2013. I mean, she was doing US and UK tours back-to-back for a number of solid years before the album came out, and I don’t know how much of that you’re necessarily going to see here, but certainly the way they built her internationally was intense, because it wasn’t one territory at a time which was what you used to be able to do a little more. She literally was from the US to the UK to Europe, US, UK, Europe. Also balancing that, I think, again really cleverly and thoughtfully with making sure she didn’t disappear from the Australian market either.” “I got that feeling I think everywhere watching her play to international audiences and audiences for the first time, there was kind of nothing like it,” she continues. “We were at Bonnaroo when she did her festival performance there and I honestly, I still find it kind of this surreal experi-
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ence to have a whole lot of US, you know, middle America, singing about a suburb in Melbourne, like literally singing about Preston, and it’s like, ‘Th is is crazy.’ But I think a big part about Courtney, it’s just authentic, it was completely and still is, completely uncompromising, and the integrity and honesty and just her candid nature. Just not only in her lyrics, but also just in her whole persona and the way she works with people and treats people. I think it just was the right time and it was needed. I just think so much of what and who she is just appealed in a way that people just wanted to hold onto something that was so real. “I think what Courtney has also done, just from the timeframe, is just really opened the doorways for young women to just own their own. I think when you see coming through now, and what was so exciting at the most recent South By, is the likes of Mallrat and G Flip and Hatchie and Fatai, oh, Stella Donnelly, and you’ve also got Alex Lahey, and Gordi, it just keeps going, Woods, Vera Blue, Wafia. These artists have all come after Courtney. “It just shows that that is absolutely possible and the amount of women that we think over the next few years are going to hopefully have a very similar trajectory is exciting and I think she’s part of that wave.”
Tell Me How You Really Feel (Milk!/Remote Control Records) is out this month. Courtney Barnett tours from 17 Aug.
Just how important are local content quotas for the Australian music industry?
Australian content quotas for commercial radio stations are currently a very hot topic. Jessica Dale chats with industry key players to find out just what these mean for Australian music.
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s it does every year, the most recent BIGSOUND summit sparked conversation across all facets of the music industry. This time ‘ round, it seemed to be the keynote address from Australia’s own Tina Arena that called for the greatest change. “There is so much room for great Australian music on the radio, instead of Katy Perry being played eight times a day,” she said in the impassioned speech. “Listeners will not turn away. They’ll become fans of the Australian music you’re playing.” In the months since, it seems that the topic of Australian content quotas on commercial radios stations has barely left the conversation, with everyone from industry execs to artists joining in. So firstly, what are these quotas? The recent, not yet peer-reviewed, study by publicist Chrissie Vincent, Is Commercial Radio In Australia Meeting Their Minimum Requirements For Local Content?, explains it as, “Australian commercial radio stations are required under the Australian Music Code of Practice Guidelines ‘to promote the role of broadcasting services in developing and reflecting a sense of Australian identity, character and cultural diversity, by prescribing minimum content levels of Australian music.’’ “The Australian music content quota requirements, which apply to commercial radio licensees are currently reflected in Code Four of the Commercial Radio Codes of Practice. Code Four commits commercial radio broadcasters to quotas of Australian music depending upon the individual station’s predominant format. The maximum quota requires Category A stations, which predominately play Top 40, mainstream rock, albumorientated rock, contemporary hits, alternative and pop
“We want it to be a win-win for both the Australian music industry and the commercial radio industry...”
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music to transmit 25% Australian music. One-quarter of the music played must be new Australian music as stated in the Code of Practice...” In short, “Commercial and community radio are required to assign a specified minimum percentage of music broadcast time to Australian music content, which in turn would support Australian culture,” and is based on a self-regulatory system. These are by no means a new regulation for Australian stations, with the first local content standard established in 1942. According to Vincent, 1987 saw a compliance period “put into place from 24 hours a day to between 6am and midnight, these amendments remained standard until 1992 when the new Broadcasting Services Act increased the local content quotas to 25% and made them part of a self-regulatory code for commercial and community broadcasters. In 2004, due to the Australia-United States Free Trade Agreement, caps on music quotas were set at 25%, and deregulation of the quota system was adopted.” “It is regulated in a sense that the codes are registered with the Australian Communications and Media Authority [ACMA], and the code is there and is part of it,” further explains ARIA CEO, Dan Rosen. “It’s self-reporting, so at the moment radio reports its compliance with the code, but it’s overseen by the ACMA and if there is a dispute under the code, or there’s a sense that stations may not be meeting their requirements under the code, the code operates in such a way that you can lodge a complaint firstly with the station and then ultimately the ACMA reserves the right to take action.” Vincent’s study looked at five radio stations in the Melbourne metro area for the period of 5-11 June 2017 to assess how close stations were getting to these targets. Over the week-long testing, which broke down plays by countries represented on each station over a 24-hour cycle, the following results were concluded: NOVA 100 played a total of 7% Australian songs, FOX FM played 11%, KIIS FM played 13%, Triple M Melbourne played 25%, and triple j played 49%. “We have a self-imposed quota of 40% Australian music at triple j but more often than not end up hitting 50% and more. Our audience loves Aussie music and one of the key reasons they listen to triple j is to discover their next favourite band,” explains triple j Music Director Nick Findlay when asked why it’s seemingly so easy for the public broadcaster to exceed the commercial stations’ quotas.
In 1988, ARIA began their official reporting of the Australian charts, taking over from the weekly Kent Music Report NUMBER OF AUSSIES IN ARIA END OF YEAR SINGLES CHARTS SINCE 1988
“Because of this we’re always looking at ways to expose new acts to our audience. We’re open to taking risks with emerging bands and our listeners are open to discovering them through triple j. And honestly, there are so many amazing songs being released locally, across all genres, that there’s no shortage of talent out there to champion... Triple J has always been focussed on supporting Australian music - it’s in the blood of the station. Australian musicians are continuing to create some of the most exciting music in the world right now so it’s an obvious decision for us to celebrate and help promote this talent as much as possible.” An example of the direct impact that commercial plays can have for an artist is clear in an example Vincent shares. “In my thesis, I give one example of The Teskey Brothers and just how amazing having two plays of a song on Triple M in the breakfast show - one after another, two days in a row helped push from like one to two shows that they had at the Corner to four sold-out shows at the Corner Hotel,” she says. “So, it goes down to sales, it trickles down to so many different aspects of the industry; venues, so the live side of things, sales, publishing - everything would benefit [from] a band getting played commercially.” Speaking with Triple M Head Of Content Mike Fitzpatrick, he believes that it’s easier for Triple M to support Australian music more than other commercial stations due to the nature of their brand. “A lot of what we do in commercial radio comes down to how well music researches with our audience. We spend a lot of money, all of us, spend a lot of money and a lot of time researching our music with our listeners and with potential listeners and we play what tests. Now obviously, a song doesn’t test or doesn’t research immediately, it needs to be played first, and that comes down to how many songs are around at that point in time that work within the style of what we play,” explains Fitzpatrick. “For Triple M, we’re essentially a classic hits station, we play 85% catalogue music, only 15% of that is new music. We’re a rock station, our brand stands for rock. We’re the most recognisable radio brand in Australia, next to triple j, and so we can’t deviate from playing rock... There’s been so many successful rock bands from The Easybeats through to Silverchair and now Polish Club and Gang Of Youths, so there’s always a really good breadth of rock music to choose from. And stylistically it tends to fit our format much easier than it would a
hit format... I’d suggest we’ve got a little easier in that Triple M does what it says on the tin and if there’s a great Aussie rock song around we can play it, whereas the other stations are a little challenged by style.” “Radio provides one of the most direct opportunities for artists to connect with a community - whether metro, regional or remote,” says incoming APRA AMCOS CEO Dean Ormston. “It is a really important means of discovery for new artists, provides a link to shared experiences by playing past hits, and an important source of income - as songwriters and artists receive royalties every time their songs are played - so the impact is multi-layered. While digital has opened up new platforms for new artists to be discovered, commercial radio remains incredibly important in having Australian artists widely heard. The next generation of Australian music creators will prosper and have a better chance at long-term careers with the support of commercial radio play.” “APRA AMCOS and ARIA are working collaboratively and constructively with CRA to ensure commercial stations understand the Australian content quota criteria and comply with it. The three organisations have agreed to meet regularly and review station compliance. Those stations who appear to have not complied will be contacted with a request to address the issue immediately.” “We don’t have any evidence yet that the radio stations aren’t hitting their quotas, so that’s what we want, to have that evidence,” says Rosen of the planned review. “There’s been a lot of conjecture and talk and we want to make sure that that’s right and give them the benefit of the doubt. But certainly, commercial radio is an incredibly important platform. It’s been very successful and has maintained its level of prominence and success even throughout this period of disruption of media, so hats off to them, they’ve done incredibly well and we want it to be a symbiotic relationship with the music business. The commercial radio stations with a heavy music focus are incredibly important to us and we hopefully are incredibly important to them. We want it to be a win-win for both the Australian music industry and the commercial radio industry, that helping break Australian acts is good for us and good for them... I think the more attention that we put on this issue, and we’ve just got to keep it in the public eye, and hopefully we can start getting more Australian acts on the charts. There will be no one happier than me.”
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Parkway on Parkway Never an outfit to rest on their past glories, Parkway Drive have proved they still have room to grow on sixth LP, Reverence. We asked frontman Winston McCall to take their new opus apart track by track and he told us to “expect the unexpected, straight up”. Wishing Wells We wanted [the album] to strike a different tone from the getgo. The idea was to basically give the audience an idea that we’re still very much a heavy band but to also make people expect the unexpected, straight-up. This has enough twists and turns to keep people on their toes from the word go. That’s basically a theme throughout the entire album. Prey This is a bit of an anti-anthem. It’s really strange. We knew the riffs were pretty bright and had an anthemic feel to it so we crafted the melodies around that. The song itself is about the idea of us creating a culture where we worship goals that are out of the reach of regular humans, therefore we set ourselves up for defeat every single time. Absolute Power This track was all about that sludgy riff it starts with and maximising that. A song that’s impossible not to bang your head to. The breakdown at the end is one of the heaviest parts on the entire record. Cemetery Bloom By this point in time on the record, shit’s not gonna be the same. It’s a reality slap. This is as far to the leftfield as you can go when it comes to sonics for Parkway. It’s basically a love song but written about people who are willing to bear the brunt of someone’s anger. The idea was to start with something small and build it to an orchestral crescendo and leave you hanging on the edge instead of delving back into the thing that you expect us to do all the time, which is go heavy. It doesn’t get heavy. The idea is to leave it hanging until...
The Void We kick people in the teeth with The Void’s riff. It just rages from start to finish. It’s simply a headbanging rock song. It’s all about the one riff that Jeff [Ling] has and bringing a melody and raising it up to somewhere we’ve never gone before. It’s still a metal song, which is nice. I enjoy that very much. Lyrically it’s about the fact that we create and put so much effort into these alter-ego clones, which these days live in a space that does not exist (online). I Hope You Rot This is a bit of a metalcore song but we wanted to really focus on the lead guitars and let them break out and soar at certain points until the vocals break out with these strange gothic choirs. They’re there because the song is written about child abuse within the church, which has been personified as a sanctuary and the moral guiding light in the world, but it’s harboured literally the epitome of evil. And it seems to be intent on defending that which is absolutely disgusting, which is why the song is called I Hope You Rot. Shadow Boxing This is the first song we started writing for the album two years ago and is the point when we realised we didn’t want to bother throwing back to anything we’ve done before. This song is so schizophrenic in the sense that it’s almost lullabysoft at times and then it’s completely pummelling in the choruses and then it bounces back to the softness. Vocally it needed completely new techniques for the entire song; different from anything we’ve done before. It was either go all out and experiment and focus on the interesting part or focus on something safe simply for the sake of being safe. This was the song where we were like, “You know what? We’re not going to do that anymore. We’re just going to do whatever the hell we want.” The lyrics are about the people in the band defining what the band is. We’re the ones that will make the judgement on who we are, we don’t care what anyone else thinks.
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In Blood This is one of the heavier tracks. They’re all pretty heavy. This song is written about us dealing with the band’s explosion after the Ire record dropped. At the same time, we had a lot of tragedy going on in our lives. All of a sudden there was a massive spotlight on us and we were dealing with judgement in a way that we never had before. At the same point, we were having to see who was there for us and who wasn’t. Chronos This is the longest track Parkway Drive have ever written. Every time we write things we generally cut things shorter and this is the song where we wanted to see how the concept played out. So the ending is as epic as Parkway ever gets and it’s the moment I’ve always wanted for Jeff because I always shut his solos down before he gets started. So this is Jeff standing on top of a rock playing the solo to end all solos. Lyrically it deals with time and it’s sung from the perspective of time as an actual character. The Colour Of Leaving This is the most different piece of music Parkway has ever put down. This song is incredibly personal and it was written in the wake of losing two very, very close friends. It deals with saying goodbye and coping with loss. It’s the bookend of the entire album and the writing process. A constant state of ebb and flow and grief and turmoil.
Reverence (Resist/Cooking Vinyl) is out this month.
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Pic: Gered Mankowitz, circa 1968
A ‘60s icon finally plays Australia... with You Am I as her backing band American-born UK soul queen PP Arnold has been making gorgeous music for well over 50 years. Ahead of her first-ever Australian sojourn, she takes Steve Bell through her incredibly rich musical journey.
“We wanted to change the whole vibe and a lot of the songs on ‘The Turning Tide’ were Barry [Gibb]’s beautiful, beautiful ballads, which were really stretching me in a way.”
Check The Guide on theMusic.com.au for more details.
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s far as amazing life narratives go, you don’t get many more fascinating or far-reaching than that of American-born ‘60s chanteuse PP Arnold. After fleeing an abusive marriage she’d endured as a teenage mother in an LA ghetto, Arnold was plucked from obscurity in 1964 to join The Ikettes — the all-female singing and dancing troupe who backed the smash hit Ike & Tina Turner Revue — before absconding from that role a couple of years later while on tour in the UK at the behest of a young Mick Jagger, who’d become besotted with both her voice and charisma. So at the very height of swinging-’60s London, Arnold found herself signed to British soul label Immediate Records and racking up chart hits like The First Cut Is The Deepest and Angel Of The Morning in between working with artists such as The Small Faces, Rod Stewart and various Stones and flitting around a social scene, which included everyone from Jimi Hendrix to George Harrison. And while these halcyon days weren’t destined to last forever, and there’s been plenty of highs and lows in the ensuing decades, since those heady times Arnold has still managed to work with an incredibly diverse array of artists the calibre of Nick Drake, Peter Gabriel, Roger Waters, Boy George and The KLF. Now Arnold’s star is on the rise once more with the recent release of her long-lost third solo album The Turning Tide, which, in turn, has culminated in her very first trip down to Australia. “I’m so excited, I really am,” the singer gushes from her current abode in Spain. “I really can’t wait. I’m in training, I’m like an athlete here getting ready for you guys! Grandma’s here training every day so that I’m physically, mentally and spiritually ready to rock! “I still love singing and I love performing, it’s my favourite thing. I’m still in pretty fine shape physically and vocally, so I love it. I’ve continued to work on my voice over the years to keep it up to par — I don’t want to sound like an old lady, that’s for sure. I’m singing all of these songs from the ‘60s and everything and people want to hear them how they were, and I want to be able to give it to them, and sounding great just like they did back in the day.” To aid her on this noble quest, Arnold has assembled a crack squad of Australian musicians who she’s super keen to meet and begin making beautiful music with. “I’m learning about them and I am totally impressed and really looking forward to working with all of them,” she enthuses. “There’s Tim and Andy and Rusty from You Am I, who I hear are an amazing rock band, and then we’ve got James Black and Talei Wolfgramm — he’s got a great voice and is sounding good — so I’m really looking forward to working with everybody! Can’t wait!” And the feeling is completely mutual according to her prospective new bandmates. “In the short journey from Ikette to Immediate, PP Arnold established herself as one of the great soul singers,” offers You Am I skinsman Rusty Hopkinson. “The thought of being behind the drum-set and accompanying her on tunes like The First Cut Is The Deepest is incredibly exciting. I certainly didn’t have to be asked twice, in fact I don’t think they asked me once. I just called up my friend Dave and said, ‘You gotta let play me drums, mate!’” The Turning Tide was shelved some 50 years ago amid a smoky backdrop of music-industry politics, but sounds as fresh today as when it was first put to tape. The album was put together with Barry Gibb both contributing songs and producing, but, when the Bee Gees became an ongoing concern again, he left the project and was immediately replaced by Eric Clapton, who finished the record using the band that became Derek & The Dominos, as well as vocalists Rita Coolidge and Doris Troy. “It was definitely an exercise in keeping the faith,” Arnold chuckles. “I’ve been trying to get these tracks heard since they were recorded, which is nearly 50 years ago really. They were recorded at the very end of the ‘60s — between ‘68 and ‘70 — and they just kind of sat on the shelf since then because they were never released. “I’d left Immediate Records and then Barry and I got together after meeting through a mutual friend when he loved my version of To Love Somebody — that’s what brought us together, and I was a big Bee Gees fan. It was during a period when the Bee Gees had split up and Barry really wanted to keep recording and doing things, and he was really excited about working with me because he really liked my voice. “He was writing all these great songs — they sort of run through him like a river — so we decided to do the album with him writing songs and producing, so he could keep recording. He was responsible for me to signing to RSO and having [Robert] Stigwood take over my management for that period. So we went in and recorded all these great songs. “I’d been on Immediate and was considered, like, this ‘little Mod girl’, so we wanted to change the whole vibe and a lot of the songs on The Turning Tide were Barry’s beautiful, beautiful ballads, which were really stretching me in a way. I’d always been influenced by Dionne Warwick and the quality and craftsmanship of these tracks was really special. “Plus we experimented with a few things like the really-rock version of Born that’s on the album — people are always really shocked when I do that, and they don’t realise that Barry could do anything really!”
PP Arnold tours from 17 May.
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A new perspective A recent doco shed some light on the difficult songwriting process behind Sarah Blasko’s Depth Of Field. But, thanks to some major life changes, she tells Carley Hall it became the most satisfying album she’s made.
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t’s always hard to know whether to be the first person to say ‘hello’ once the introduction is done,” starts Sarah Blasko. Our awkward verbal dance into the interview is the perfect icebreaker for the Sydney chanteuse, who admits to being a shy person by nature. But, she’s also evidently happy to engage in discussion about her work, bouncing from one thought to another, and is generous in sharing honest and funny insights into her process. The shy part seems to be a commonality in artists who are more than comfortable delving into subject matter that is honest, dark and anything but reserved. For Blasko’s latest album Depth Of Field, the sixth in her nearly-two-decade-long career, it’s monogamous relationships that are under the microscope, although not necessarily her own. “I think with a lot of writers, there’s an element of themselves in their characters and I think that to play another part or put yourself in another perspective there has to be an element of you within that,” she reasons. “They’re not autobiographical songs, but I think that there’s an element of that on the record. Music is like a dramatisation of everyday life; it’s a heightening of everyday feelings. Things can feel way more dramatic in a moment and then by the next day you’ve moved on. “There’s one song called Savour It, which is about somebody who’s trying to see from someone else’s perspective, but I was trying to write from the perspective of someone who’s been left behind by somebody else and asking the ‘if only’ questions; if they could have done more in their relationships and their life.” The big questions that Depth Of Field delved into were asked during Blasko’s two-week residency at Campbelltown Arts Centre, which was booked a year in advance, just before the birth of her first child. A parting of ways with people she’d worked closely with for more than a decade prompted a period of doubt for the proclaimed “pioneer of indie music”. But Blasko was determined to see the residency through, the inevitable moments where she and her long-time band hit the wall all captured in last year’s ABC doco Blasko. Despite its slightly bumpy road, surely the fact that an album was released at all given these circumstances is something to be proud of? “Yeah, I do feel really proud,” Blasko admits. “We all did it together, but I guess I feel proud that we kind of pushed forward. And it was the most satisfying album to make, partly because of my shift in perspective and life. Even though things had been really difficult, all of that difficulty and life shift is inevitably what made this album so satisfying and pleasurable to make. I loved every day that we were recording it and we were making it so much more because of that. And I guess coming out of a difficult period, it’s even more satisfying to finally be back where you want to be. “I feel like this album was the most enjoyable to me. There was something magical about doing As Day Follows Night [2009], because I was in Stockholm and it was quite quick, but I also found that quite a stressful record to make because I have this love-hate relationship with working with a producer. But [for] this one we took a lot of elements from the demos through to the end — I was really interested in keeping things that were off the cuff, and with a few mistakes and things. It was a really pleasurable album to make. Working with the same people from the start of writing it to recording it, that’s quite a special feeling.” Blasko is gearing up to take Depth Of Field across the country through May and while she’s just like every other mum juggling a new life of family and work, some things, like touring, never change. “I don’t take the family, I delve back into solo me,” she laughs. “But sleep becomes more part of the touring lifestyle than it used to be.”
(Gonna be) big in Japan Bassist Marcus Finocchiaro chats with Rod Whitfield about disguising pop as rock’n’roll, sitting on The Lulu Raes’ debut album and their plans to conquer Japan.
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rtists tend to get a little flustered when asked to describe their sound to an uninitiated listener, caught between the need to excite a new listener and attain
their interest while remaining humble about something they’ve put their heart, soul, blood and sweat into. Marcus Finocchiaro, bassist for Sydney-based indie-pop act The Lulu
Depth Of Field (EMI) is out now. Sarah Blasko tours from 11 May.
Raes, has no such issue, however, and his quirky-but-very apt description of his band’s soon-to-be-released debut album Lulu rolls sweetly off his tongue. “I’d say that this is the most advanced songwriting in a body of work that we’ve been involved in and hopefully we can continue to disguise our pop music as rock’n’roll music, but at the end of the day they’re fuckin’ pop tunes, man!” he laughs. Becoming only slightly more serious for a moment, Finocchiaro is happy to relate to us exactly where most of the ideas for his band’s idiosyncratic tunes, and their inherent accessibility, come from. “Taras [Hrubyj-Piper] has always had a great ear for melody,” he compliments his guitarist. “A lot of this album is just pieces of his brain. And what can I say? He’s got a palatable brain.” He tells us that the light, easy, breezy vibe of the band’s sound extends to the album’s lyrical content as well. “It seems
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Check The Guide on theMusic.com.au for more details.
Having fun with the blues Eilen Jewell may be heading our way to showcase her album of blues covers but, as she reveals to Chris Familton, she’s already been in the studio working on her next album of original material.
to me to be pop music,” he states, “and pop music seems to have the same themes over and over again for the past 50 years: it’s unrequited love, it’s going out and enjoying yourself, it’s occasionally something slightly more introspective. Like the lyrics of Fade Away — that’s a lot more thoughtful than most of the rest of the record.” The band head off on an extensive eastcoast tour after the record comes out, taking in several more regional areas as well as the major centres, and Finocchiaro says fans of their recordings can expect a little extra something in the Pic: Daisy Hofstetter
live arena. “This is me being biased, because I like playing
live more than I like being in studios,” he says, “but I’d say the live show is more of an experience and it’s more something to talk about the next day whereas the record is more just something for yourself. “The live show is far more energetic and far more of an outing. I would say that the appropriate place to listen to this record would be your car or on your headphones or something like that. So there’s a distinction there.” And it seems that fans will not have to wait too long for the next piece of recorded work from The Lulu Raes, considering they have actually been sitting on Lulu for quite some time. “There’s so much shit in between times,” he says of the wait between finishing recording and actually releasing the album. “You’ve got to put it out at a specific time, and the label wants you to do three singles and all that. I reckon if we had our way, we’ve would have gone, ‘Right, it’s finished, there you go!’ But I don’t think that’s really how they like to run things. We’ve been sitting on this for around a year. “So we’re all right into writing mode for album two. The writing to present songs is what will be going on after the tour.
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t’s an overcast spring evening in Boise, Idaho when Eilen Jewell answers the phone, a heavy head cold unable to dampen her enthusiasm when talking about her most recent album Down Hearted Blues. The last time The Music spoke with Jewell she’d only recorded six of its songs and was, at that point, unsure if the project would yield an EP or an album. “People at the label and the band had been trying to talk me into doing the fulllength album, but I didn’t want the world to just think I was doing covers. Then I heard those recordings again and I heard how much fun we were having with them. It sunk in how much the blues means to me and how important the genre is. That made me decide to do the full album and pay homage to these artists, some of whom are still quite obscure. I thought it might encourage some people to look up who Charles Sheffield or Betty James were,” says Jewell, before adding, “I also felt like it was too much fun to pass up.” The process of choosing songs to cover for a project like this must be a daunting task, given the depth and scale of the blues genre. And, as Jewell explains, she had an important resource to help her find the right songs, from the obvious to the obscure. “About half of the songs were ones I’ve known and loved for a long time. The other half were new to me and I was introduced to most of them by a radio show that Jason [Beek, husband/drummer] and I tune into every Saturday called Backwoods. It’s a show that has been going for a couple of decades and our friend John Funke is the DJ. He plays the coolest stuff and it’s always an education for me. Over the years, I’ve compiled this list of songs from the show that I’d like to learn and play one day.”
We’ll get nice and competitive with each other to see who can present the best song.” Finocchiaro has an idea in the back of his mind regarding his band’s future, long term. “I have this theory that we’re going to be really famous in Japan,” he laughs again, before adding, “I don’t know if it’s a theory as much as a want. I spent some time in Japan a couple of years ago. I fuckin’ loved it! I feel that with this band there is something to sell to that audience. If you think of J-pop and the way that works — it’s all very melodic, it’s all very good time — there is a parallel there. Hopefully. “So then we can sit on the plane and sing that Tom Waits song [Big In Japan]!”
Lulu (Verge/Sony) is out this month. The Lulu Raes tour from 11 May.
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A hallmark of Down Hearted Blues is the stylistic variety of the songs that Jewell and her band tackle within the blues genre. It is, in her words, “A mix of rural and city-sounding blues songs,” which was not necessarily a conscious decision she made when she was thinking about the form the album would take. “I do that on my own records, they tend to be quite eclectic and it felt right to do that on Down Hearted Blues too. It’s been really great to have both of those styles in our live set, because it’s something we’ve always hinted at on our records but now we can really stretch out into the blues.” Even though Jewell is still touring the current album, she reveals she’s already been back in the studio recording demos for her next album of original material. “So far we’ve been able to lay down six tracks as rough drafts. I’ve never really let myself do that before. I got this cold when we were supposed to go into the studio, which made for a difficult time in the singing department. So, by necessity, it became a rough draft, which I’m liking more and more because it means I can tweak the songs and get to know them a lot more before we do the official recordings,” she enthuses. “So far the album has a real blues feel to it and more of a rock’n’roll edge than previous original efforts,” Jewell continues. “A lot of open tuning in the vein of someone like Mississippi John Hurt. I’ve also been dabbling with the electric guitar, which has been exciting. I go in the direction that the songs take me and they’ve taken me in the blues direction lately, probably because my mind has been in the blues and with those artists.” Jewell has been a recording artist for 13 years and hasn’t had another job since 2007. The stress of supporting a family as a working musicians can at times wear them down, but Jewell says they’ve been careful to maintain balance and perspective in their lives. “Interaction with fans is important to keeping me going and reminds me how much I love to play music; I need to nurture that to avoid burnout. The key is to do things on your own terms and to do what feels right.”
Eilen Jewell tours from 17 May.
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Footloose and cruelty free
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Choosing to be vegan isn’t just about what crosses your plate. Ethical, cruelty-free living extends to the wardrobe. But when it comes to footwear, sticking to your principles while staying on trend is easier said than done. Fortunately, a growing number of fashion-forward, veganfriendly shoes are now becoming more commonplace, with everything from evening glam to the outdoor comfort catered for. With help from our friends at Vegan Wares, we’ve cherry-picked some of our favourite kicks currently available at www.veganwares.com
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1. FYE Opale Men’s Dark Navy Old Yellow $99 2. Victoria (Dante) Multi $308-$330 3. MAX 7 (College) Cherry $319-$341 4. Melbourne (Lince) Navy, cream piping $308 5. EVS High Top sneaker $242 6. FYE Opale Blue/Pink $99
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THE BIG PICTURE
Michelle Grace Hunder One of Australian music’s most soughtafter photographers, Hunder’s canon of work includes two jaw-dropping collections of musician portraits, capturing more than 250 artists to date. Ahead of the premiere screening of her epic documentary collaboration, Her Sound, Her Story, we caught up with the Melbourne-based snapper.
You’ve shot some of Aussie music’s biggest acts, from Meg Mac to Missy Higgins, Katie Noonan to Tom Thum, and just about everyone in between. How did you find your way into working in the music industry? I didn’t pick up a camera until I was 31, and didn’t even think about the possibility that it could be a career. I had a couple of really amazing friends who were photographers that encouraged me to really give it a go. Falling into music photography was a pretty natural progression I think. I was a musician as a kid, I studied music all the way through high school and VCE, so I always naturally gravitate towards muso’s because I feel like they are my people. Your work has a particular focus on Australian hip hop. What is it about the hip hop scene that inspires you? What really sparked my interest was when I got in contact with the brother of my best friend. I hadn’t seen him in many years and he told me he was a rapper. His name was Adam Briggs [of AB Original]. When he showed me his music, I was blown away. I’ve loved hip hop since I was 12, but I was really ignorant to the scene here in Australia. Once I’d discovered it, I became really passionate about shining a light on people who I felt were being overlooked. I decided to produce a book of portraits called RISE - and I featured 182 people in that book, which I shot nationally over two years. There’s a lot of drama in your shots, that seems to perfectly fit the personality and energy of the subject. How do you develop the concepts for your portraits? My strength is in capturing the artist’s true essence I think, I’ve never really been about crazy concepts or anything like that. I really love connecting with artists on a deep and personal level and I think what I’m most proud of is that you can see the artists look really comfortable.
Kaiit (2017)
For the past couple of years you’ve been developing a series of portraits of female artists, in the epic collection Her Sound, Her Story. How did this project begin? I realised that even though I had looked really hard, I struggled to find female artists making hip hop music. So I decided for my next project I would do a series celebrating all the incredible women making music, across all genres. But I realised that just a photo series wouldn’t do it justice, so I asked my incredible filmmaker friend Claudia Sangiorgi Dalimore to tag along on all my shoots and do interviews. Finally, after almost four years, we are premiering the documentary in May at the Human Rights Film Festival and we are both so proud of what was created from this originally small idea.
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More information on the project and documentary screenings can be found at www.hersoundherstory.com
Talkin’ ‘bout their generation In recent months, America’s youth have mobilised in an unprecedented movement for change in gun control laws. Closer to home, young Australians are feeling similarly galvanised by the political zeitgeist. Debbie Zhou meets Australia’s Millenial activists making their voices heard.
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n 14 February 2018, the lives of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School’s students changed forever when a disturbed and disenfranchised alum unleashed automatic gunfire on his former classmates. Instead of merely accepting ‘thoughts and prayers’, a group of students took a stand for tighter gun control in America and the March for Our Lives movement was born. The power of the young in gathering millions of high schoolers, supporters and celebrities across the country in a march on Washington DC became one of the largest protests in American history. In the students’ own words, change was within reach. And while Australia may have mitigated the problem of gun violence, our own issues brood nonetheless. From the Government’s treatment of asylum seekers, which has been severely criticised by the UN, the same-sex marriage debate that intensified during the marriage equality vote, and the need for Indigenous rights to be recognised, Australia’s youngest generations have become integral in advocating for those who may not have a voice and whose voices are not given an opportunity to be heard. One such activist is medical student Carrie Lee, who, at 22 years old, co-organised the ‘Detention Harms Health’ rally, which saw 300 medical students, doctors, nurses and community workers, come together in Sydney’s Hyde Park in April to call public attention to refugee health and humanitarian issues on Manus Island and Nauru. After dealing with frustrating responses from the Government’s Department of Home Affairs, Carrie and her fellow medical students across NSW decided to collaborate and do something about it.
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Dressed in medical scrubs, lab coats and stethoscopes, Lee and her peers became part of a march which included high-profile speakers, including whistle-blowers Professor David Isaacs and Nurse Alanna Maycock. Lee emphasised the determination of young people in their desire for change: “We have been talking about this event since October last year [2017]... And it’s been really interesting because it was started by four medical students, who got this kicked up. None of us had ever organised a march before, we were learning each step along the way,” Lee says. “My friend, she’s out at Wagga Wagga, she was on 17 hour shifts in the week before the march, and she was calling me in the middle of the day, saying, ‘I’m so sorry, I’m out of the theatre for two seconds, can I just call you for a minute?’, and then going back in. It really says a lot about how resourceful young people can be, and how we are using our position as medical students to try and make a change”.
implications that activism has for young people. “We are the ones who are going to be inheriting the world, and we need to be the ones that step forward. I think there’s a lot of passion in youth... We need it because often, we don’t get heard. With Marriage Equality, it directly impacts our lives, especially [for] young people that want to get married, those stepping into relationships or children who have parents who are same-sex.” And Wahlsten’s resolve is undeniable. “Seeing the issues that my community faces and everything that happens, part of my way of not accepting it was saying, ‘You know what? I’m going to change it,’” she says, “And especially when you have a win, like we did with marriage equality - there’s that belief that you can keep going forward, and keep doing more, and that it is possible for things to change.” But sometimes participating in activism isn’t a choice, as 17-year-old Gumbaynggirr woman, Aretha Stewart-Brown will tell you. She may still be in high school studying Year Twelve but, don’t let Stewart-Brown’s young age throw you. She was a crucial speaker at the Invasion Day march on 26 January 2017. It marked her first real step into the realm of Indigenous rights and recognition activism, but for her, an imperative one. “I didn’t see it [the speech] as something that I chose to do. I don’t have the privilege being an Aboriginal activist to speak out about these things. I’m born with inherent obligations to care and educate other people about my culture. I didn’t wake up and be like, ‘You know what sounds really good? Land rights!’ It’s so intrinsically me that it is really hard to separate my activism and myself.”
Medical students at the Detention Harms Health Rally on Cockatoo Island, Sydney
Another powerful change-maker is Hannah Wahlsten, who is the 26-year-old Western Australian convenor for Amnesty International’s LGBTQI+ Network. She first involved herself with Amnesty trying to build up groups on university campuses, and after five years, she has become an integral part in the fight for LGBTQI+ rights, a major success being the Marriage Equality campaign in 2017. From rallying, phone banking and encouraging others to sign petitions, Wahlsten spoke about the urgent yet personal
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Aretha Stewart-Brown
If that isn’t proof enough that StewartBrown is born to be a future leader, she was most recently elected as the first female Prime Minister of the National Indigenous Youth Parliament. It’s a platform where she can start talking about passing educational reforms she one day hopes become a reality: “I don’t believe how we are teaching our history is accurate... I go to any Australian history book, and there’s a guy holding a boomerang... And the next 100 pages are white colonial history. That’s no way a representation of me in any way.” She urges more young people to raise their voices on social issues they are passionate about. “All young people should be involved in politics, because, if it’s just me yelling into a void about Indigenous issues, it breaks you down a little bit. You become that one person, and you have to repeat things over and over to the point where it’s exhausting and it’s not empowering anymore. So if everyone was getting involved, not only does it help me raise my voice... It also empowers everyone as a community.”
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Eija-Liisa Ahtila Potentiality For Love, 2018 4K/HD with directional audio, moving image sculpture, 22 LED modules, 614 x 384 cm, 7 mins, looped, small LED monitor with table and chair, sound environment Cast: Matleena Kuusniemi Written and directed by: Eija-Liisa Ahtila Cinematography: Jussi Eerola Wire FX: Reijo Kontio Semiconductor 3D VFX: Jari Hakala Earthworks, 2016 Editing: Heikki Kotsalo five-channel computer-generated animation with Produced by: Ilppo Pohjola four-channel surround sound 11:20 mins © 2018 / CRYSTAL EYE Installation view (2016) at SónarPLANTA, Barcelona Commissioned by Serlachius Museums, Mänttä with support from the Commissioned by SónarPLANTA Biennale of Sydney; Frame Contemporary Art Finland; Alfred Kordelin Produced by Advanced Music Foundation; and Marian Goodman Gallery, Courtesy New York, Paris and London the artist Photograph: Courtesy the artist and Marian Goodman Gallery, NewSemiconductor York, Paris and London Photograph: Liisa Takala
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Principal Partner
Love and other bruises Marlon Williams sang Nobody Gets What They Want Anymore, his duet with ex-girlfriend Aldous Harding and the subject of his break-up album, for the first time ever at Fairgrounds Festival late last year. Bryget Chrisfield sits down to chat with this extraordinary artist who fears a pattern might be emerging where “traumatic experience” is necessary to inspire his songwriting.
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arlon Williams is sitting at a boardroom table, signing photos of himself — which will accompany pre-sale packages of Williams’ second record Make Way For Love, a heartbreaking breakup album — when this scribe enters Universal Music HQ in South Melbourne. He sports a brown cap, peak bent up at a jaunty angle and a T-shirt emblazoned with a Watchmen quote: “You Me & Everyone We Know: I am tired of Earth. These people. I am tired of being caught in the tangle of their lives.” He opens a coupla stubbies with a lighter and passes one across the table. Williams spins one of the bottle caps frequently throughout our chat and we reckon he could probably use a fidget spinner. Back in 2015, when this scribe interviewed Williams ahead of his debut self-titled album release in the beer garden at Yarra Hotel in Abbotsford, he was actually living above the pub. “I haven’t really had a place to myself since,” he observes. “The Yarra was the last place. Last year I was in Berlin for a few months, then in New York for a coupla months, but otherwise, yeah! Just sorta floating around.” During our aforementioned previous interview, Williams considered, “It’s funny how you set out to write an album and then from the get-go you’re influenced by what happens around you.” At the time he was referring to Sad But True — The Secret History Of Country Music Songwriting Volume 1, one of three albums he collaborated on with Delaney Davidson. While planning this album in a Lyttelton cafe, the 2011 Christchurch earthquake happened, hence his quote.
“If I got four albums deep and every one was based upon, like, a traumatic experience then surely I’ d be like, ‘Maybe I should stop playing music if this is how it works, or I should stop writing, ‘cause there’s something feeding back into this,’ you know?”
We remind Williams what he said back then, asking whether this was also the case with his latest album. “Yeah, totally, you know, that happened with Make Way For Love. That’s interesting you bring that up actually, because I’d forgotten saying that, but yeah! That rings true for this one, too.” Williams recalls the first song he finished that made the cut for his latest album was Come To Me, “which is funny, ‘cause there’s still this, like, eagerness and naive sort of hope to work things out in that song,” he acknowledges. Come To Me was written “halfway through 2016” and then, Williams says, come December, they were looking to start recording an album at “the start of February”. But he only had one song! He recollects, “All I want is to have new material, ‘cause I’ve just been playing these songs forever, but there’s nothing happening. And then Aldous [Harding] and I break up and then all of a sudden I write 15 songs in three weeks, you know, and then that was it. And so I — all of a sudden — had an album and was thankful for the poetry,” he laughs. “Nick Cave says songwriters make cannibals of their own lives; there’s this desire to consume what we put out and filter it into something, and it’s a pretty scarysounding cycle — not one I wanna be in, you know? That’s something that I’ve always hoped wasn’t true for me, but it seems to have been.” That’s not really something an artist has control over, though, is it? “Well, no, exactly, none of us can, but I’d like to hope that I could be aware of patterns, especially if I’m making albums about this stuff,” he continues. “You know, if I got four albums deep and every one was based upon, like, a traumatic experience then surely I’d be like, ‘Maybe I should stop playing music if this is how it works, or I should stop writing, ‘cause there’s something feeding back into this,’ you know?” For Make Way For Love, Williams found himself sitting at the piano as opposed to picking up the guitar “a lot of the time”. “I can just play what I’ve written and really not much more, so it’s just, like, really tiny little steps,” he chuckles. “You’ve got inherent chord structures that you habitually go to when you play guitar... and because I’m such an unconscious writer I sorta have to change up my surroundings to influence what comes out, you know?” After pointing out that the piano as an instrument is “very intuitive, especially melody-wise”, Williams posits, “I feel like bad pianists often are the best songwriters, because you just stumble upon things that you maybe wouldn’t otherwise.” He then offers, “Traditionally I’m such a character-driven songwriter, but I sorta had to go all the way in on this one, I think, ‘cause it’s what I needed to do for myself this time;
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outta necessity, I needed to just have it be my album about my stuff.” Could Make Way For Love be Williams’ Skeleton Tree (Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds), then? He laughs, “You certainly can’t compare my grief to his, but...” We’re curious to find out whether Williams and Harding cross paths at festivals or anything like that, especially since both of their career trajectories are on the up. “That’s pretty much the only time we get to see each other,” he admits. “We got to sing Nobody Gets What They Want Anymore [the Make Way For Love duet] at Fairgrounds Festival last year, in December, and that was the first time we’ve ever sung it together, like, even on record. It’s absurd.” This duet was actually recorded while the singers were in different countries. “I recorded my part while we were doing the main recording block, then Hannah [Harding, aka Aldous] did hers from Cardiff, over the phone, like, three months later,” Williams reveals. “So it was very disjointed, though kind of poignantly and aptly so; it sort of spoke to our relationship in
To read the full story head to theMusic.com.au
general that we had to really, like, convey this stuff over the phone. But we’re pretty good at communicating now, in that way, because of how much we had to do that in our relationship.” When asked how it felt to perform this duet with Harding, face-to-face, for the very first time, Williams enthuses, “It was great! That was both of our last shows of the year and god knows she had a huge year last year, you know, and I was pretty busy, too. So there was something so nice about, like, meeting and going, ‘Well, here we are!’ That was really nice.” On whether the former lovers are still friends, Williams stresses, “Totally, yeah, we’ve known each other since we were 16 and we were always inextricably bound through music, you know — and through sort of understanding each other through music — so it’s still the same.”
Marlon Williams tours from 12 May.
Check The Guide on theMusic.com.au for more details.
Pic: Steve Gullick
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record the way that I have now made it. “It opened up this record to write more songs and finetune it, and I think it’s got a better outcome now than it was going to.” When considering how much the songs and album have morphed in the years following his side-project, Downey draws a blank on individual changes, stating the key differences are much larger scale. “Mostly, I think, some of the more important songs on the record came since then. I reshaped some of the others... It’s a lot less folk. Even though, you know, some of the songs still have an indie-folk backbone to them, we took it in different directions — had some pop and rock moments on there.”
Once Downey felt he had a full set of completed songs he eventually tapped Steve Hassett from alt-folk duo Luluc to produce, having met, supported and befriended the pair in 2014. “I guess I had a bunch of songs to make a record and I’d just been waiting and looking for the right producer,” says Downey. “In the past, I’d always self-recorded then got a producer to mix. Th is time I wanted to work all the way [through] with a producer. I knew he’d had a huge hand in producing their records and just, whenever we spoke about music in general or my own music or the recording process, his ear, and his attention to detail, and his work ethic always felt similar to mine.” The rich and varied sound of the record speaks for itself, but was it difficult to hand over the reins to begin with? “With Steve it wasn’t. He was just one of those great facilitators. It was a lot of fun. He, like me, doesn’t take moment to moment seriously but he takes the end result very seriously. So, we could have a lot of fun with what we were putting onto the record and remain relaxed — you know [laughs], most of the time — and come out with an outcome that we were proud of.” Hassett isn’t the only contributing Luluc member. Zoe Randell duets with Downey on 1+1, a gorgeous and steadily expanding ode to finding strength in love. Running is pretty romantically inclined all over and Downey admits his core motivation for the album was he “basically just wanted to make an album about love”. “Not just romantic love, love as sort of the force that gets things running in the world,” says Downey, “and about how that comes into play in modern-day life.” That sentiment creates
of what we are, and also because we listen
like magic. I remember listening to [Live In]
On his debut LP, alt-crooner Ryan Downey tells Sam Wall that he took some cues from Queen in terms of recognising that deeply human, emotional music still needs “a backbone of entertainment” to stay upright.
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t the time of writing, three singles have dropped from Ryan Downey’s debut full-length, Running, and even less-than-attentive fans of his last record will have picked up on a major shift in direction. “Yeah, there’s instruments on there,” the singer laughs. For those who aren’t familiar with the baritone crooner’s history or his lush, altfolk back-catalogue, Downey suffered a mild setback in 2015 when he broke his arm and had to down tools for six weeks. Rather than spending that time Googling one-handed hobbies, Downey conceived Me & Her, an a cappella mini-album comprised of two originals and five covers, all by female artists.
People were curious at the “incredible insanity [Double J]” of covering Enya with nothing but body percussion, one-man harmonies and a can-do attitude, and then stunned at just how good the result was. The accident delayed Downey’s first official album, but, as Downey says, the chance to experiment “got the ball rolling in a good way” and, without this hold-up, we would likely never have heard Running. “I was ready to make an album that had maybe half the songs that are now on Running and a bunch of other songs that I’ve since let go,” shares Downey. “When I broke my arm that sort of got cancelled, which is a blessing because I wasn’t going to make this
Where did the kid go wrong?
to a lot of different kinds of music. If I ever
Cook County Jail and listening to BB’s guitar
tell myself I’m going to write straight-ahead
and Sonny Freeman playing drums, I thought
blues it never turns out being that way, it
that was the coolest stuff in the world.
just goes how it goes and it’s never really straight-ahead.”
Legendary musician Robert Cray tells Steve Bell that it was the genre’s maniacal guitars, crazy nicknames and dark myths that first ignited his passion for the blues.
Cray was at the vanguard of the contem-
Sam and Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf
porary blues boom of the mid-’80s alongside
and all these guys with these crazy, cool
cohorts such as Stevie Ray Vaughan, but, like
nicknames, it seemed like a whole differ-
many musicians of his generation, it was The
ent world of music that I needed to find out
Beatles who first persuaded him to pick up
more about.
a guitar. “Prior to me playing guitar, my parents had great records — we were listening to Miles Davis and Ray Charles and Sarah Vaughan
obert Cray has been at the musi-
R
“I think that Memphis is the cradle of
and all that stuff, and a lot of blues music at
cal coalface for over 40 years now —
American music, in my opinion,” he smiles.
home with gospel music on Sundays. If you’d
both fronting Robert Cray Band and
“First of all because of its relationship with the
asked my parents when The Beatles hit it
in solo mode — plying a smooth blend of
Mississippi Delta, it was the big city that every-
would be, ‘Where did the kid go wrong?’” he
blues and R&B defined by his soulful
body first migrated to and started recording
laughs. “But that’s what kids do — they listen
vocals,
in all those studios. And also it was a melting
to what they want to listen to — and that’s
pot for the different races. If you think back
what I did.
distinctive
guitar
style
and
often-innovative arrangements. His rich and storied career has found him
to all the recordings that happened at Sun
“And fortunately radio at that particu-
playing with everyone from Richard Clapton
Studio — from Howlin’ Wolf to Elvis Presley —
lar time played everything: they played R&B,
and The Rolling Stones to John Lee Hooker
to the musicians that worked at Stax and the
The Beach Boys and The Beatles, and Bobby
and BB King, picking up five Grammys along
recordings done at Hi Records, there was a
Womack and Stax and Wilson Pickett — all
the way and being inducted into the Blues
whole lot that happened in the city of Mem-
that was on the radio at the same time so I
Hall Of Fame in 2011, an honour matched
phis and I’m really partial to it — being that
heard everything. Then Hendrix came out
last year when he received the Ameri-
we do both blues and rhythm and blues.”
and all that, but at the age of 16 I started
cana Music Lifetime Achievement Award For Performance. Cray’s most recent album found him
Cray’s own take on the blues adds a
hanging out with some friends who were
modern spin to the age-old form, which is a
listening to Buddy Guy, BB King, Magic Sam
fact he puts down to natural curiosity.
and Howlin’ Wolf, and falling into that crowd was what started me on that track.
decamping to Memphis to work with leg-
“It’s just us being us,” he shrugs. “I’m a
endary soul ensemble Hi Rhythm, returning
big fan of blues music but I don’t try to totally
“Being a guitar player at the time, more
him to a city that has played a big role in his
emulate what I hear. There’s always a new
so than anything it was the guitar players [that
own musical journey.
way of doing something, and that’s just part
resonated]. It was BB King — his guitar was
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“And Buddy Guy’s maniacal guitar playing was pretty cool, but also there was Magic
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an anchor for the LP, but it’s most strongly tethered to the title track, from which the album took its name in “a last-minute decision”. “I’d gone through other titles,” he continues. “I think that song — we’d chosen it to open the record and it sort of most potently carries that theme and opens up the doors to the album, thematically and sonically. It just became sort of a perfect overtone for the themes.” Like love, Downey knew Running couldn’t take itself too seriously, that it needed a certain level of humanity and humour to flourish, as well as attitude expressed in “moments of empowerment, instead of blatant bravado”. But most importantly, it needed to be entertaining. “When it came time to actually record, there was sort of a major influence that Steve and I looked at, and it’s one you probably can’t even hear on the record — in fact, I’m pretty sure you can’t hear it — but it was more in our approach to the recording, and that is of Queen and Freddie Mercury. In particular, just to always keep in mind the idea that we wanted to make, you know, highly emotional, artistic music, but always with a backbone of entertainment. So, no matter how human the moments got on there lyrically or thematically, just to always remember in the back of our minds to have that treatment of, ‘This is entertainment’.”
Running (Barley Dressed/Remote Control Records) is out now. Ryan Downey tours from 17 May.
“Then there was Robert Johnson and his whole association with the devil — as teenagers we needed to find out more, we had to dive deep into it, and that’s what we did.”
The Robert Cray Band tour from 16 May.
Kicking old habits Bex Chilcott, aka Ruby Boots, tells Steve Bell about the sonic expansions and spiritual growth spurts that informed her new album.
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erth-bred singer-songwriter Bex Chilcott (who performs under the name Ruby Boots) has been living in Nashville and soaking up the music mecca’s vibes for the past two years, yet the first fruits of this adventure — her new second album Don’t Talk About It — are even further removed from straight-up country music than anything she’s concocted before. The Americana and roots structures that have always underpinned her songs are still firmly intact, but the album contains flourishes of everything from rock’n’roll to doowop, which the singer explains are the result of just following her muse. “There’s always a risk in following your gut instincts, you know?” Chilcott ponders. “You don’t really end up having a choice, because if you don’t end up following that instinct then essentially you’re robbing yourself of making the art that you want to make and trying to stay in a safe spot. I think if you’re not scared of what you’re doing then you’re not doing it to the best of your abilities. “I think for me it feels right, and I’m glad that that growth has come across in the way that seems organic, because I was just listening to the voices in my head saying, ‘You have to do this!’ so you never know the end result.” Chilcott elaborates that while she didn’t know where her endeavours would lead her, she did have trusted musical guides such as Lucinda Williams and Tom Petty to help keep her on the right path. “I think Tom Petty is completely tattooed all over my brain and my heart and my soul, he’s always around, which I’m not complaining about,” she laughs. “But when you’re following a feeling, you don’t really know what you’re doing; you’re just doing what feels right in terms of the sound and what the songwriting encompasses. So this one, to me, doesn’t feel like a country record because I don’t feel like I’ve ever made strictly country music — especially by the guidelines of somewhere like Nashville where they’re very purist about what is and isn’t country. “I get off on writing lyrics that kind of do fit into that Americana world, but sonically I wasn’t really comfortable or vibed-up enough to write strictly in that world, so I realised after touring that last record, ‘I need more rock’n’roll! I’m literally trying to turn my Americana songs into rock’n’roll songs and that’s no good for anybody!’ I can keep the lyrical approach, because I love it — I still love being able to tell stories and try to connect with people lyrically — but sonically I want it to be loud and hard.” And while the a capella rallying cry I Am A Woman is undoubtedly the album’s emotional fulcrum, Chilcott tells of another undercurrent running through Don’t Talk About It. “Th is is an album of realisation that there are a lot of old habits and approaches in life that become redundant,” she reflects. “One of the things was straddling this place between vulnerability and strength, where I thought maybe to have my walls up and see things with my defence mechanisms intact would equal an element of strength that would get me through life. Whereas now I’m
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really understanding that the courage and strength is in the vulnerability, and also the balance of staying tough but also allowing life to be fragile and myself to be fragile and everyone around me to be fragile. And I’m still working on that, to be honest. A song like I Am A Woman comes from a place of anger and it comes from a place of pain and a place of, ‘Fuck you, you will not talk about women’s bodies like that.’ “But at the same time I found myself experiencing these spiritual and life growth spurts that allowed me to witness how beautiful and vulnerable and fragile and strong we are all at the same time, and this is something that makes us deserve to be loved as humans, rather than taking that angry tirade path with the middle finger up in the air to everything that doesn’t agree with my approach.”
Ruby Boots tours from 4 May.
Check The Guide on theMusic.com.au for more details.
After admiring Boxwars from the sidelines at Boogie last year, Bryget Chrisfield signs up for Boogie 12 Warrior duty and has the photos of multi-coloured bruises to prove it. Pics by Campbell Manderson.
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sually there’s a lot of ventilation, but there’s a fuckload of [cardboard] tanks there,” Ross Koger — one of the Boxwars Supreme Overlords — explains, gesturing towards the cardboard structures obstructing the doorway to their Fairfield warehouse. When asked where Boxwars source the recycled cardboard from, Koger informs, “There’s a lot of businesses that wanna get rid of it. For instance, this deck here is a recent addition from a wine warehouse that went under. They know about us, they get in contact with us and say, ‘Hey, we’ve got a whole bunch of cardboard do you want it?’ And we go, ‘YES!’” he laughs. The build for Boxwars’ regular booking at Boogie festival is well underway. The theme for 2018 is The Peoples Liberated Cardboard Liberation Weapons Parade Revolution and, as such, Boxwars Warriors will represent the Recycled People’s Republic (RPR). With Ground Components on the stereo as this evening’s chosen soundtrack, many volunteers hunch over cardboard creations — wielding box cutters and hot glue guns — as Koger designs at a computer. In the back corner of the space, the laser plotter precisely slices into massive sheets of cardboard. Koger is understandably protective of this plotter (“Just really watch your step, there’s some important shit around there!”) since the machine significantly cuts down production time. “I have really saved up from all the work that we’ve done with kids workshops with this as the goal,” Koger admits, gesturing towards this prized possession. Moving outside and away from the steady hum of the plotter, Koger talks Boxwars commentator Dicko through the order of events as Catherine Harmsen takes notes on a piece of cardboard (obviously), clarifying, “So we’ve got five people in the planes and they’re repeating through. We’ve got 30 troopers to begin with. We’ve got eight tanks...” Inside, new Boxwars Warrior recruit Kristopher Baldwin works quietly away on his weapon of choice. He first
“There’s no winners in Boxwars, there’s only losers.”
To read the full story head to theMusic.com.au Boxwars Supreme Overlord Ross Koger leads Boxwars troops
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Kristopher Baldwin as Commando
discovered Boxwars at MOOMBA earlier this year and, having made cardboard creations of his own with his son for years, went up and introduced himself to Koger. Working alongside Liam McLachlan (next generation Boxwars), Baldwin enthuses of his cardboard firearm of Commando proportions, “I’m gonna make it spin, I think. That’d be fun”. Later on in the night, potential musical selections for the upcoming battle are played and ideal marching tempos are discussed while we work. “We’re not gonna get done for copyright if we use North Korean music,” Koger points out. Pre-Boogie, an important note is posted to the Boxwars Warriors private Facebook page: “All warriors please dress in black only for Sat. No LOUD colours.” While waiting in the car queue to get into Boogie festival’s site, The Farm, which is a ten-minute drive from Loch Village in Victoria, one Boxwars Warrior sporting cardboard headwear is approached by a family of fans who say they’ve been coming to Boogie specifically for Boxwars for many years. The mum says that her son always makes his own cardboard costumes to wear while watching the battle.
Recycled People’s Republic battle
At around 10.30am on Saturday, we spot Koger — with measuring tape in hand — taking measurements around the photography pit. We’re instructed to meet behind the red shed (next to the stage) at 2.30pm, where we will be briefed and suited-up before the scheduled battle at 4pm. Inside the shed, there’s cardboard armour and helmets everywhere as well as cardboard tanks, ICBMs and jets. So how many vehicles were needed to bring it all up to The Farm? “We had one truck, a 7.2-metre truck, and then everyone put a bit of stuff in their car,” Koger tells, before adding, “You can see how we kinda flat-packed everything.” Only a handful of those assembled haven’t done Boxwars before and Koger reinforces, “There’s no winners in Boxwars, there’s only losers. We’ve all already lost. So no one’s trying to be the winner, but you are trying to get the admiration of the crowd.” Koger then tells us about a Boxwars “condition”: “If you’ve got anything that a kid wants at the end of the battle — ‘cause they all run in to grab stuff — the condition is you can’t keep it, you have to give it. So if a kid wants anything — your suit, your wallet, anything, haha — they get the lot.” Now it’s time to outline today’s plan of attack. “So The Grand Leader’s gonna be onstage with his First-Rate Generals that are gonna be surrounding him and they’re there to inspect all of you as you parade past,” Koger says. “You have to show them — not the crowd, the crowd’s nothing: they’re potato pickers; the generals are the leaders we’re trying to impress and, of course, especially The Great Grand Dictator who you should not make eye contact with. You may Boxwars warrior Bryget Chrisfield. Pic: Sarox Martin
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weep in his presence, that’s permitted. And, look, he’s taller than everybody and that’s all anybody needs to know, ok?” (We later discover The Great Grand Dictator is all of three years old.) “There’s gonna be a podium in front of the stage,” Koger explains, grabbing a stick and drawing a ‘map’ in the dirt. “It’s got wood inside it — don’t go anywhere near that. “The other thing is, this battle we’re dedicating to a friend of ours who’s just passed away. His name’s Sion [Turner]... and we’re gonna wear a black band, if that’s ok with everyone; I think it would be good to honour our dear friend, our fallen comrade.” We’re then told we’ve got 30 minutes to “get [our] shit together”. “If you want a specific part, come see me now,” Koger adds, before remembering the GoPros. “If you spot one on the ground at the end of the battle, please get it before the crowd does.” After we’ve all been glued into our armour, wrist and calf guards, selected rifles and placed helmets on heads, black electrical tape is affixed around biceps to commemorate Turner (RIP). Then it’s off down the hill in formation, four abreast and practising our marching (“left, right, left, right”). Now battle-ready, we await further instruction.
Head to boxwars.net for upcoming events.
Pop’s fine for now DMA’S aren’t looking to reinvent the wheel. Guitarist Johnny Took tells Cyclone that there’s something special about honest pop and talks about playing a gig earlier than scheduled so that Liam Gallagher could watch them and still make the Manchester Derby kick-off.
“There’s something to be said for just straight-down-theline pop songs with honest lyrics.”
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re DMA’S, Sydney’s famed Britpop nostalgists, flirting with dance music? The band have recorded For Now, the much-anticipated follow-up to 2016’s Hills End, with The Presets’ Kim Moyes, after all. Guitarist Johnny Took admits that fans may be curious about Moyes’ involvement as co-producer. But, as millennial rock kids, Took, second guitarist Matt Mason and frontman Tommy O’Dell are eager to venture out — even as they deliver “some cracking tunes”. “The biggest thing was his experience,” Took says of Moyes, “’cause we’ve only made the one record, so it’s a never-ending kinda learning curve — I think music is in general.” Moyes’ electronic background specifically appealed to a band with a “guitar-based DIY style”. “It wasn’t the most obvious choice, but our weakest side of things is synths and beats and stuff like that, which he was really able to teach us a lot [about] and really push us in that regard.” In fact, as last year’s hit Dawning highlights, DMA’S have primarily expanded on their guitar-pop. Indeed, For Now impresses with its psych-rock sound. “We did lots of the tracking to tape, which was another one of Kim’s ideas, to get that full, lush kind of loudness to it.” Still, DMA’S have cut a “disco” number, The End — evoking a melancholy Years & Years. Took shared an experimental Ableton demo with Moyes during their first studio session, never imagining it would make For Now. “I went, ‘Oh Kim, I’ve been working on a track that’s a little bit more electronic-based and whatnot and I’d love to hear your opinion.’ Then, basically, after I played it to him, he sent a message to Johann [Ponniah] from [the label] I OH YOU and our manager and said, ‘You have to let me have a stab at this track’.” DMA’S even guest on The Presets’ upcoming “pub techno” LP, HI VIZ. DMA’S evolved out of an earlier band, Underlights, which had O’Dell playing drums and Took bass. Collaring Mason, the taut new outfit drew on their adoration of ‘90s Britpop groups — notably Oasis — and Madchester heroes The Stone Roses (O’Dell’s dad is, incidentally, from Northern England). In 2014 DMA’S presented their eponymous EP, breaking out with Delete. Two years later came Hills End, which entered the ARIA Top 10. Along the way, DMA’S crushed the international festival circuit. They performed a not-so-secret-set at Glastonbury. Bands can be sensitive about media comparisons, preferring to establish their own identities. However, DMA’S have always welcomed them — often being tagged an Oasis
throwback. “I kinda know we’re not reinventing the wheel so much,” Took volunteers. “But also I think there’s something to be said for just straight-down-the-line pop songs with honest lyrics and stuff like that.” Mind, DMA’S have Australian influences, too, Took citing The Go-Betweens, the Brisbane jangle-popsters especially beloved by Mason and Paul Kelly. And DMA’S have won over former Oasis vocalist Liam Gallagher. “Liam came to one of our gigs. We were playing an acoustic gig in London. It was actually funny — we were meant to be on at 9.30[pm] or something, but there was a Manchester Derby [football match] being played that night. [Liam] called up the promoter and the promoter comes into our dressing room. He’s like, ‘Alright guys, you’re going on two hours early ‘cause Liam Gallagher wants to see you play, but he wants to also see the Manchester Derby kickoff,’ which is pretty funny. So then we met him there and he invited us to come and watch the Derby with him at a little pub, and that was cool.” Gallagher, Took adds, raved about “that fookin’ song Timeless” off Hills End. Nonetheless, when the ever-competitive Gallagher was asked about DMA’S by The Age lately, he said, “They’ve got some good tunes — and they’re good lads — but they’re not as good as Oasis.” In June, DMA’S will tour nationally behind For Now. First, they have European dates (with a gig in Nottingham, England, on album release day). The band will again be joined by ancillary live musicians (and “mates”) Liam Hoskins (drums), Tom Crandles (bass) and Joel Flyger (guitar). But expect one change, says Took. “I’m playing some keys as well. So we swapped the acoustic guitar out for some keys.” Come July, they’ll return for Splendour In The Grass. Back in 2015, DMA’S indicated to NME that they might yet base themselves in the UK. As for today? “Yeah, maybe if we made some money!” Took quips. Having travelled widely, the three now realise that they “love” Oz. “Landing in Sydney, all of a sudden you realise how loud it is with all the birds and the nature,” Took rhapsodises. “I’m thinking about more, like, moving to the Blue Mountains or something!”
For Now (I OH YOU) is out now. DMA’S tour from 1 Jun.
Check The Guide on theMusic.com.au for more details.
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valiantmusic.com.au
02 6685 1005 Vintage Guitars t Amps t Vinyl t Hi-Fi In the vibrant village of Brunswick Heads opposite The Picture House
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Have it both ways
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issy Higgins is on the pre-release chat circuit for her fourth original LP, Solastalgia. While much of this tends to stay behind-the-scenes until the album and tour land, she did make a bit of a splash this time around with an appearance on the ABC’s Q&A, making clear her strong opposition to the Australian government’s position on refugees. Although she appeared confident and articulate, she’s also aware that kind of public engagement isn’t core business for her. “Musicians are not used to putting ourselves ‘out there’ in that kind of way, our main thing is our art and that’s the reason that we’ve got a platform in the first place,” she explains of the appearance and subsequent media reporting. “So it feels risky and you realise that you’re putting yourself out there for potential public criticism, which can really hurt.” To us mere non-award-winningmusic-making mortals, this comment
might seem strange. Doesn’t Higgins put herself ‘out there’ with each album and stage appearance? “Well, I feel like [professional musicians] are much more comfortable in our own arena because that’s what we’ve grown up doing and that’s our passion, you know. A lot of the time, and I guess on that show, you’re asked to talk about things that I wouldn’t volunteer to talk about publically. I don’t feel particularly passionately about the budget or the NBN, or not passionately enough to stand up and shout my opinion to the nation, but if you’re going to participate in that then you’ve got to present your opinions in at least a semi-articulate kind of way,” she laughs by way of explanation. Modesty about general public speaking aside, with the new album Higgins has also chosen to explore new modes of expression. Making a clear beeline for non-traditional production styles, Solastalgia channels a new wave of electro expression via the old wave of ‘80s nostalgia and revival. “When I set out to write the album I wanted to collaborate with people who could help me take my music in a really unpredictable and adventurous direction. And in order to find out what your new sound is, you kind of have to go really extreme in both directions and I think we did both here — and so I was feeling really free to try out new things and different sounds... I didn’t want there to be any fear involved in the making of this album. I wanted to just purely have fun and experiment,” she reveals. The results range from late Bowie to contemporary Christine & The Queens, with Peter Gabriel and Eurythmics all in
there for good measure as well. That’s not to say that the ‘Missy Higgins sound’ doesn’t still exist, but it is certainly enjoying a new sonic wardrobe. Particularly interesting is closer The Old Star, a song made with friend and previous collaborator Butterfly Boucher. “[Boucher and I] collaborated on my album The Ol’ Razzle Dazzle, and we have a really great relationship. We feel really comfortable enough with each other to try out things and see what sticks, and so it was just one of those moments where we had a free afternoon and thought, ‘Why not?’” she says. Sonically and thematically it’s got a good dose of Bowie, too — a deliberate tribute and metaphor for exploration and embracing the unknown. “I think, because he had Black Star, his last release, it’s definitely a little nod to Bowie. And obviously he had his Starman alter egos, but I think what initially inspired that song was [the fact] that I wanted to write an album that was apocalyptic-themed but that was timelined to start at today and went until the end of the world,” she laughs. “I intended that song to be the last one, because that’s the last one — aliens coming to earth and judging the silly humans on how they destroyed their own planet. So, yeah! It was fun, it was kind of a really tongue-in-cheek and really fun thing to write. But once it was done I really fell in love with it and really wanted it on the album — I know it’s really far out.” On the other end of the spectrum, but every part as strong, is the very specific (and sadly increasingly relevant) 49 Candles. Written after the Orlando shootings in 2016, it’s a protest song that gently invites rather
than demands. “I was in America during the Orlando shooting and I could feel this really strong sense of — kind of helplessness all around me from people who were just exasperated at the government’s refusal to tighten the gun laws... I felt I wanted to write a song from the perspective of what I thought was the American people at that time; you know, feeling as though their voices were just — they were just shouting into the wilderness. So I guess it’s just a call for help rather than anything.” Getting ready to take the album on the road will be Higgins and a female-dominated cast. Th is last bit is also a new and exciting adventure for the musician. “There’s four girls in my band, they’re all strong singers,” she says. “So touring these songs live there’s this big wall of female vocal harmonies and it sounds amazing. I guess I’ve spent most of my life touring with dudes and, you know, a lot of my close friends are guys, but there’s something about having women on the road that changes the dynamic and I find myself able to, you know, relate to them about things that I can’t relate to my guy friends about.”
Solastalgia (EMI) is out now. Missy Higgins tours from 2 May.
Check The Guide on theMusic.com.au for more details.
“I didn’t want there to be any fear involved in the making of this album. I wanted to just purely have fun and experiment.” pic: Cybelle Malinowski
Missy Higgins has so far made her name as something of an organic, acoustic darling — with lush keys and clear vocals leading the way to date — so her new spacey, electro offering Solastalgia is an exciting sonic sidestep. By Liz Giuffre.
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Lily Sullivan (end right) stars as Miranda Reid
Natalie Dormer as Mrs Appleyard
Born in the wrong time Screenwriter Beatrix Christian wanted the TV adaption of Picnic At Hanging Rock to be a conversation with the iconic 20th-century story using a 21st-century vocabulary. Stepping into the role of Miranda, Lily Sullivan tells Guy Davis the result is “almost rock’n’roll”.
“I
tial meeting of writers to discuss the miniseries, “all of us in the writers’ room had this sense of, ‘Why do we need to make this again when the original is so fantastic?’” “But when you looked at the book, and the differences between the film and the book, it became apparent that the book was a much bigger story,” adds Christian. “The girls didn’t have much of a voice in the film; they were more figures in the landscape. I guess what we wanted to do was unpack the book a little bit more. It’s an amazing book, one that I’m sure will be adapted time and time again. The mission statement was to have a conversation with the book today, and somehow be true to the spirit of the book at the same time.” As a result, Picnic At Hanging Rock feels both compelling as a narrative — especially when it comes to the mysterious background and nature of headmistress Hester Appleyard, played by Game Of Thrones and The Hunger Games star Natalie Dormer — and relevant as a social document. That is particularly apparent in Sullivan’s charismatic portrayal of Miranda, a headstrong young woman whose self-possession proves beguiling to anyone who comes into contact with her. “There was a playful, experimental, magnificent kind of reality we got to play in,” says Sullivan, who was recently seen in another small-screen reinterpretation of an Australian big-screen classic, the Romper Stomper TV series. “The writers really extended the journey of the characters but left us so much room to play. And with Miranda, it was intense having this character who already existed but the more work we did the more relevant she felt to me. “Here’s this young woman feeling born in the wrong time — she grew up on a cattle station and had this sense of equality in that she was capable of doing the same things as the men. With Miranda, I fell in love with her respect for her own intuition. Being stuck in the middle of nowhere, there’s not much else other than women telling you what’s right and wrong, what your destiny is... and that’s something that usually revolves around a man.” For Sullivan, conveying that somewhat archaic way of thinking in a time when attitudes would appear to be rapidly changing thanks to #MeToo and Time’s Up was both eye-opening and frustrating. “Romper Stomper is 25 years on [from the movie], and Picnic... is a reinterpretation of the book,” she says. “But Romper... is looking at the vicious cycle of hate and the projection of fear, which is still relevant, if not even more relevant. And Picnic... is looking at this male-dominated past and you think it’s all gone by, but then you look at the issues the girls are facing and you’re like, ‘Wait a minute...’ It’s kind of bizarre, but it’s empowering. We’ve come a long way in just six months. “I feel very liberated and excited since working on Picnic... — I feel like anything is possible. It’s exciting to be part of a generation that’s pushing things forward.”
t doesn’t like us,” a character in the new pay-TV adaptation of Joan Lindsay’s novel Picnic At Hanging Rock says in hushed tones of the eponymous stone formation. The teenage girl is climbing to the peak of Hanging Rock in rural Victoria with two of her friends on Valentine’s Day, 1900. They will soon vanish, never to be seen again. It speaks volumes about the lingering impression Lindsay’s book, and Peter Weir’s 1975 film version of it, have had on Australian culture that there’s a common misconception that it was based on — or at the very least inspired by — an actual event. That’s not actually the case — its origins lie in its author’s dreams. But Picnic At Hanging Rock has become part of Australian folklore, partially because Weir’s film helped signal the beginning of the nation’s cinematic new wave, its gauzy visuals, ethereal soundtrack and unsettling ambience combining to cast a lasting spell over audiences. And then, of course, there’s the piercing cry from a schoolgirl as her enigmatic, beloved fellow student boldly ventures towards... well, who knows what. You know the cry: “Mirandaaaaaa!” It has been over half a century since the publication of Lindsay’s novel and more than four decades since the release of Weir’s film — high time for a reimagining of a story that meant so much to so many Australians, one might think. And this six-episode Picnic At Hanging Rock miniseries is certainly a reimagining. “Don’t have any illusions because of the time and the horses and the petticoats — this is very much a modern thriller,” smiles young actor Lily Sullivan, who plays the pivotal role of Miranda in the new version. “Prepare yourself for a dark, powerful, twisted adaptation with these incredibly forceful women — it’s almost rock’n’roll.” She’s not kidding. Based on a viewing of the first episode, Picnic At Hanging Rock has a lush, vivid visual palette and an attitude that balances turn-of-the-20th-century mores and 21st-century enlightenment. The core of the story — the Valentine’s Day disappearance of Miranda and two of her schoolmates at Hanging Rock, and the consequences that ensued for the staff and students of the boarding school she attended as well as other people drawn into the mystery — remains relatively unchanged, but the characters are explored in greater depth and detail. “The film’s screenplay was perfect for a 100-minute piece of cinema; it was like a poem,” says screenwriter Beatrix Christian. “Now with long-form television — character-based, not so plot-driven — we’re able to really delve into these people, which is such a gift.” Nevertheless, Christian is aware that there was an attitude in some corners that Picnic At Hanging Rock didn’t need a new adaptation. She admits that during an ini-
“Don’t have any illusions because of the time and the horses and the petticoats — this is very much a modern thriller.”
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Picnic At Hanging Rock premieres 8.30pm, 6 May on Showcase (through Foxtel).
TV
Album Reviews
C
ourtney Barnett’s work is delicious and this album is another musical feast. Like any great meal, it’s best savoured rather than wolfed down distractedly at your desk. Not that you can’t enjoy it in stages or on the go, but, if time and circumstance allow, set the table, get out a nice bowl and glass (as it were) and enjoy the experience. Opener Hopefulessness begins with slow single electric guitar kind of meandering up and down to first find and then settle around a repeating melody. Finding its momentum it builds slowly while the lyrics court apparent cliches like, “Take your broken heart and turn it into art/Can’t take it with you”. Of course, Barnett doesn’t stay at a stock standard selfhelp ballad, instead adding slow layers and gentle insights to make more out of the simple ingredients. Cue some gloriously placed distortion around the three-minute mark that builds to ultimately take the tune out, ending with a whistle that reminds of an old-school kettle — a lovely audio metaphor for both the mundane and optimistic. Follow with chasers City Looks Pretty and Charity — irony with a lovely beat — thank you, I think I will. Singles Need A Little Time and Nameless, Faceless make up the main course and album centrepiece — both extremely strong but also quite simple in initial presentation. Need A Little Time moves from exploration (“I don’t know a lot about you but/You seem to know a lot about me so...”) towards apology (“I’ll take a little time out”), then adds a few one-liners (“Shave
Courtney Barnett Tell Me How You Really Feel Milk! Records/Remote Control
★★★★½
your head to see how it feels/Emotionally it’s not that different/But to the hand it’s beautiful”) for intoxicating texture. The chorus hooks of “You-ooo-ooh” to “me-ee-ee” show a really clever move to where the song’s focus lies. Musically it ends unresolved, another sonic metaphor — Barnett, you tease. Nameless, Faceless begins as a gentle dig at a keyboard warrior/online troll. Not apparently angry, but stern and sonically playful. Soon Barnett shows, however, she’s used the ingredients of her genre with great precision, uncovering a sinister threat. The brilliance of the line “I hold my keys between my fingers” — a nod to commonplace women’s DIY self-defence — made this reviewer well up with musical #MeToo and kickarse melody. Ask the girl next to you, dear reader, if you don’t know why — fucking masterful. Following is great Riot Grrrl mini-tribute I’m Not Your Mother, I’m Not Your Bitch and Crippling Self Doubt & A General Lack Of Self Confidence — each contenders for greatest titles of the 21st century and excellent tunes to boot. Closers Help Your Self and Walkin’ On Eggshells allow for a little shoegazin’ and contemplatin’ (no doubt both on and off the stage), each desserts whose flavours linger after eating slow. Ever a rule breaker, the final track is Sunday Roast — a classic dish, and lead vocals follow lead guitar to finish. You’ll leave extremely satisfied and already booking your return visit to the table. Liz Giuffre
Arctic Monkeys
Beach House
Columbus
Fascinator
Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino
7
A Hot Take On Heartbreak
Water Sign
Mistletone/Inertia
UNFD
Spinning Top
★★★½
★★★½
★★★½
Beach House’s follow-up to last year’s slightly underwhelming (by their standards) B-sides & Rarities is notably darker. There seems to be a subconscious effort throughout to escape the dream pop subgenre they invented, and, while those elements still exist, it’s probably the closest the band have come to a My Bloody Valentine/John Carpenter drone sound. Fans may lament the slightly different direction and while early albums like Teen Dream and Bloom remain the band’s best work, 7 could eventually occupy a place among them thanks to its “grower” status.A grown-up album that is, eventually, rewarding.
Establishing themselves as a pop-punk band with their first album Spring Forever, it proved a hard task to shake the image surrounding the genre for second album A Hot Take On Heartbreak, but that’s what Brisbane trio Columbus set out to do, and they’re halfway there. The influence of late ‘90s alt-rock in songs like Don’t Know How To Act and Care At All brings out heavier guitars and rougher vocals while still drawing on relatable millennial angst. With simple yet super-catchy melodies, the album travels through the ups and downs of young love while keeping the fun and cheekiness alive.
So many synth acts fall into the honey-trap of shallow nostalgia (Donny Benet survives intact), but Fascinator’s Johnny Mackay seems to have found a healthy amount of inspiration in his free-thinking New York environs (and its history) that gives his new album Water Sign authenticity. There are songs on Water Sign that wouldn’t be out of place in the Hacienda’s “Nude” Fridays playlist in the mid-’80s. Not everything works (side one feels cheap, and it doesn’t find its footing until about track three), and it takes a few spins to really sink in, but once it does sink it really hums. Water Sign flows from bubblegum to dance to krautrock.
Adam Wilding
Emily Blackburn
Matt MacMaster
Domino/EMI
★★★½ “I just wanted to be one of The Strokes, now look at the mess you made me make,” croons Alex Turner on Star Treatment, the opening track of his band’s latest album. But 2006 was a long time ago, and now Turner’s garagerock dreams are nowhere to be found on Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino. Composing most of these songs on a grand piano, the album exists as a natural continuation of the sexual grooves found on 2013’s AM. Listeners who never cared too much about Arctic Monkeys to begin with might be surprised by this album. Donald Finlayson
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For more album reviews, go to www.theMusic.com.au
Gaz Coombes World’s Strongest Man Hot Fruit/Caroline
★★
Jack Ladder & The Dreamlanders
Lake Street Dive
Leon Bridges
Free Yourself Up
Good Thing
Blue Poles
Nonesuch/Warner
Columbia/Sony
★★★
★★★
Barely Dressed/Remote Control
★★★★
Gaz Coombes proved on his last album, Matador, that his songwriting is strong enough to adapt from the retro sound of his old band Supergrass into something modern and dynamic.Here he incorporates heavy guitar effects, pulsing bass and synthesisers, stretching not only the scope of his sound but also his vocals as the opening track is scarred by an unconvincing falsetto that’s digitised into a canine whine. The worst is saved for last in the form of the squawking hissyfit Vanishing Act. World’s Strongest Man proves that attempting new things doesn’t always work.
In parts, Blue Poles feels a bit looser than some of Jack Ladder’s earlier work. But, conversely, this album is a little more melodic and approachable. With himself now in the producer’s chair as well, the backing is there to serve that voice. Some things are a little more windswept than the grimy-but-shiny city streets and alleys you might expect, although Dates does nod towards Berlinera Bowie and Iggy Pop. The emotions are often still dark, or at least darkly humoured. Ladder has made another album suitable for moody brooding. Th is he does very well.
The latest release from Boston four-piece Lake Street Dive is the kind of album you can unwind with on a relaxing Sunday afternoon. With an eclectic sound drawing elements from soul, folk-rock, jazz and Motown, Free Yourself Up is a unique fusion of genres. Opener Baby Don’t Leave Me Alone With My Thoughts highlights Rachael Price’s soulful voice, which is bigger than the music accompanying it. Musta Been Something is a soft and powerful highlight and Hang On makes the perfect album closer; fun, punchy and upbeat. A solid release, packed with a lot of soul.
Following up an out-of-nowhere smash like Leon Bridges’ debut album Coming Home is always a challenge, not least because the expectations have changed. One important trap to avoid is trying to please your larger fanbase by copying whatever’s popular at the time. Good Thing is an attempt to head in a more modern direction with a smoother sound that slips more easily into the background. It’s an approach that helps amplify Bridges’ confessional material, but the album’s latter half is more of a middleof-the-road, drive-time snoozer. However, Bridges’ talent is undisputed.
Christopher H James
Ross Clelland
Madelyn Tait
Christopher H James
Middle Kids
Parkway Drive
The Presets
West Thebarton
Lost Friends
Reverence
Hi Viz
EMI
Resist/Cooking Vinyl
EMI
★★★½
★★★½
★★★★½
Different Beings Being Different
Hannah Joy’s voice is like a warm hug from an old friend, something you didn’t know you needed until it fills your soul and now you can’t let go, and Middle Kids’ debut album Lost Friends encapsulate the feeling spectacularly. Hit single Edge Of Town’s simple beats and sweet guitar licks burn into a fiery final chorus and quickly changes pace for the leisurely beginning of Maryland, which again builds into an ethereal, glistening finish. Middle Kids’ full-length debut is honest, relatable and down-to-earth, the perfect album to accompany a sunset drive down the coast.
While contemporaries such as The Amity Affliction recycle past glories, Parkway Drive have sought to reinvent themselves somewhat. The Byron Bay heavy-hitters don’t lack ambition, but then few bands ever achieved much by aiming to headline their local RSL. Metalcore purists will again be dismayed because this is anything but identikit ‘core, if such a tag even applies here. Those enamoured with Vice Grip (from 2015’s Ire), though, will approve of the more straight-ahead (and somewhat cheesy) The Void. Album number six is not a dramatic, Suicide Silence-esque overhaul; rather an evolution that remains identifiably ‘them’.
The immediate concern around a new album by The Presets is whether it measures up to their 2008 commercial peak, Apocalypso. While their 2012 follow-up Pacifica was arguably as artistically accomplished (if not more so) as their explosive second album, its gentler and more open sounds unfortunately saw it framed as a disappointment for some fans. But, ten years after the fact, Hi Viz may serve as the duo’s desired follow-up. It’s a much leaner, weirder record. Hi Viz drops all pretences and simply detonates the dancefloor. It’s bloody brilliant. Get it.
Emily Blackburn
Brendan Crabb
MJ O’Neill
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Domestic La La
★★★★ After years building a hard-partying reputation as West Thebarton Brothel Party, the hard-working Adelaide seven-piece shortened their name and knuckled down to deliver their debut album, which captures both their heart-on-sleeve, pub-rock stylings and onstage chemistry. Producer Dylan Adams has pulled a sound that’s punchy without compromising the band’s inherent grittiness. Lyrically the prevalent hometown pride only serves to further endear, with universal tropes about suburban living rife among the rich imagery. Steve Bell
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Rhys Nicholson Seminal Australia’s favourite burgundy bouff’d Millennial gadfly is once again unriddling the world with his unapologetically fabulous, lisp-voiced comedy. Following a stellar season at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, Nicholson’s latest show finally arrives in Sydney, and in his utterly unique trademark style, expect punchlines for every punchline, a delicious combination of smutty shocks and campy kitsch, and of course, a lot of talk about same-sex marriage equality.
Rhys Nicholson presents Seminal from 17 May at Factory Theatre, part of the Sydney Comedy Festival
The best of the Sydney Comedy Festival in May
1.
1.
Aunty Donna Glennridge Secondary College The boys are back in… school! The terrific trio’s latest sketch show is a scholastic, fantastic time warp back to the classroom. Get ready for an education at the school of hard knock-knocks. From 12 May at Enmore Theatre
2.
Nath Valvo Show Pony Marriage equality is brilliant, with just one catch: now same-sex couples must face the constant question of “When?” Nath Valvo tells us why he’s just not quite ready to tie the knot. From 2 May at Factory Theatre
2. 3.
Alice Fraser Ethos Fraser’s shtick ain’t thick. In fact, it’s pretty damn brainy. With her trademark intelligence, this comedy boffin’s latest show ponders AI and the possible realities of man-made minds. From 3 May at Enmore Theatre
3.
5. 4.
Demi Lardner I Love Skeleton The self-proclaimed “horrid little troll in boy skin” is up to her old tricks, being unapologetically batshit and utterly bloody hilarious. Don’t miss this one-of-akind show. From 16 May at Factory Theatre
5.
4.
Heath Franklin’s Chopper Bogan Jesus Some comedy shows are so funny they’re downright sinful. Others are heaven sent. We’re not exactly sure where this latest outing for the ‘tache-faced legend falls on that spectrum. From 17 May at Factory Theatre
6.
6.
Matt Okine The Hat Game It’s been a massive 12 months for Matt Okine. While helming two TV shows and touring live across the country, he’s still managed to turn out this ace new show that killed it at MICF. From 11 May at Enmore Theatre
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One of the most
If she could turn back time
recognisable
of
the stage and screen
Hindsight is 20/20, so they say. And while it may not be possible change the past, Cal Wilson wants you to learn from her mistakes, writes Alannah Maher.
B
faces
“There’s a new awareness of people’s behaviour, and you’re starting to see that in the stories that are coming out now,”
son’s as the most iconic
she said. “I think the spotlight is on our industry because obvi-
coloured pixie cut in
ously entertainment is the most visible, but this is definitely a
Australian comedy), Wil-
moment that I hope is happening everywhere, I hope people
son’s humour is under-
are starting to call out other people on their behaviour.”
pinned by her sharp wit
Using storytelling in a cathartic way is not something that
and the curious, hilari-
is new to Wilson’s comedy. She’s earned a cult following as the
ous inner workings of
Melbourne host of the story sharing podcast sensation The
her mind. She routinely
Moth, and her ongoing co-hosting work on fan-favourite pod-
sends audiences into a
cast The Guilty Feminist has given her a platform to craft the
frenzy of mirth with her
difficult balance of tackling big issues while remaining “funny
observations about the
as fuck”.
everyday, family life, and
“For me comedy is a way of dealing with stuff that is
navigating the delightful
unpleasant or uncomfortable, and if you can turn it into some-
strangeness of the Aus-
thing positive then you’ve kind of claimed that story, and
tralian lexicon as a Kiwi
turned something negative into a positive,” she explains. The
expat; she’s not here to
Cal Wilson of today has more trust in herself, her material, and
fuck spiders.
her audience than she ever has before — and it’s going to be a
In her new mate-
delight to witness. “Now that I’m talking about stuff that mat-
rial, Wilson has vowed to
ters more to me I’m rediscovering the joy of performing. I’m
push past her comfort
just loving being on stage, its such a treat and I just feel so for-
zone. Last year’s tour of
tunate that I’ve been doing this for years now and I’m still so
rible decisions in life — from poor relationship choic-
fanfare of sell-out comedy festival shows around the country.
es, to covering her entire face in a moisturiser made
This year, you can expect to see the comedian more opinion-
whole decade.
“I’ve spent a long time not really saying anything that matters to me,” she disclosed. “I’ve realised that it’s far more
In her latest stand-up tour, Wilson is tapping into some
interesting when you hear how someone really feels about something. I think it’s that vulnerability of saying some-
asks, “Can we really learn from our mistakes?”
thing truthful.”
“I don’t know if I’ve ever really learned from hindsight,” she
Drawing on some of the more pivotal forks in the road
confesses. “People say ‘with the benefit of hindsight I wouldn’t
she’s reached, Hindsight will see Wilson reflecting on the
have done this or done that’. I feel like you only have the luxury
times she wishes she’d spoken up. Tales of some of the more
of saying that because we can’t change the past.”
questionable experiences she’s had as a woman sit alongside
Emily Tresidder has a bee in her bonnet. In fact, that’s not a bonnet, it’s a bloody bee hive! But worry not, as she tells Velvet Winter, stand-up is a good way to vent.
“T
here was a really utopian version of the show where I did this grand speech at the end saying, ‘Don’t worry about your hang-ups, let go of them,’” laughs Emily Tresidder. In the process of developing her latest show, No, You Hang Up, the Melbourne-via-Sydney comic found that she’d taken a small concept and evolved it into a far-reaching topic that anyone could relate to. Th is new hour of stand-up finds the silver lining in the irritants, big or small, that stick in your craw or put a bee in your bonnet. “It started as just dumb stuff that can really irritate you. Some people have problems with public transport, people walking too slowly - those little things that can really ruin your day. It’s about exploring that stuff in a very lighthearted, very fun sort of way. Actually, it’s morphed into just being accepting of these things. I don’t think I would get rid of any of my hang-ups, I’d just like to be better at dealing with them. You don’t want to get rid of what shits you
excited to go to work.”
ated than we’ve seen her before.
Hindsight to make sense of everything she’s ever done and
Looking back in anger
her industry, and further.
could rival Rhys Nichol-
Things I’ve Never Said saw her test out this gutsy move to the
tingle that she has an allergy to bees), to the ‘90s — yes, the
feminism and address the #MeToo movement and its place in
(with a hairstyle that
y her own admission, Cal Wilson has made some ter-
from bee venom (only remembering after her skin began to
deliciously embarrassing mishaps as she dares dial up the
because it makes you who you are, in a sense. And I look at stand-up a lot as an extension of your being.” Th is is how Tresidder explains her own personal brand of comedy, a unique and malleable style that too often gets tarred by the one-size-fits-all brush of ‘Female Comedian’. “I think it’s an interesting dichotomy because the entire time I’ve been in comedy, my objective has been to be equal. When I first started, if I was on a line-up with eight dudes and two women, I just wanted to be seen as just another person on the line-up. Unfortunately, because it is what it is, it’s not like that. If you are the only woman on the line-up, you are seen as ‘the female comic’ and that’s not something that you can ever get away from. Not that I would want to ever get away from that, but I think it’s very interesting that it’s so easy to say, ‘I just want to be taken seriously as a comic because we’re all comics,’ but there is a divide in gender and equality in the scene, for sure.” Having cut her teeth in the intimidating open-mic scene of Sydney, Tresidder has experienced firsthand the kind of culture that has plagued women in Australian comedy. “I came up in Sydney and I think that’s a very bro environment. I found that quite difficult because if you don’t assimilate to be one of the bros then you sort of set yourself up as an outlier. You have to keep your career momentum up in an environment like that. It’s tough. I think it’s super-sad that there are still people, punters especially, that think women aren’t funny. I have a friend that works at the box office for MICF and she’ll have people come up asking for suggestions and she’ll say female comedians and people will shut her down because they don’t think women are funny. Th is was last year, 2017!” Despite the setbacks, Tresidder is confident that the tide is beginning to turn, as the Australian comedy scene evolves to be more inclusive. “I think Melbourne is a really beautiful place for that, everyone is trying to make line-ups more
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Cal Wilson presents Hindsight from 12 May at The Comedy Store
equal and recently there’s been more female comics on lineups than males, which I find really exciting. But it’s definitely harder, I think. It’s difficult, but I think the future of Australian comedy is bright. I think they’re putting their eggs in the female comic’s basket and that is wonderful.”
Emily Tresidder presents No, You Hang Up! from 17 May at Enmore Theatre
Lights, camera, action: Sydney Film Festival’s preview program highlights
American Animals
Ghost Stories Ghos
Director Bart Layton caught
Andy Nyman and Jeremy Dyson make their
the world’s attention with
directorial debut in this nail-biting horror antholdirecto
his incredible docu-drama
Nyman stars as a professional sceptic, who ogy. N
hybrid The Imposter back in
into a world of inexplicable terror while falls in
2012. Now, Layton returns to
attempting to debunk tales of paranormal activattem
form with this suspenseful
ity. The film also features Martin Freeman and
heist thriller.
Black Mirror standout Alex Lawther.
The Miseducation Of Cameron Post ost
RocKabul
Earlier this year, gay coming-of-age movie Love, ove,
Aussie muso, journalist and debut director, tor,
Simon, brought the stories of LGBTQIA+ youth th
Travis Beard, follows the surprising story of
into the mainstream. Now, this moving comedymedy-
Afghanistan’s only metal band, who risk their
drama by Desiree Akhavan, starring Chloe Grace race
lives for their music every time they take to the
Mortez (Carrie), offers a more complex perspecpec-
stage in a country with strictly conservative ive
tive, through the lens of “gay conversion” camps. mps.
social standards.
The Breadwinner In this visually stunning animated feature, a
Foxtrot
young girl provides for her family by posing
This beautiful tale of grieving from Israeli direcTh
as a young boy, allowing her to work under
tor Samuel Maoz tells the story of a couple
strict Afghanistan law. Executive produced by
forced to come to terms with reality after the
Angelina Jolie, it is a tale of oppression and
tragic death of their soldier son.
hope, adapted from the bestselling novel by Deborah Ellis.
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The 2018 Sydney Film Festival is fast shaping up to be one of the biggest to date. Kicking off on 6 June, this year’s epic program has been cherry-picked from the most lauded films featured at the world’s most prestigious international film fests, including Cannes and Sundance. Here are just a few of the titles we’re most excited about.
Genesis 2.0 The mammoth has been long extinct, but mankind stands on the brink of having the power to revive these lost beasts. This fascinatnating documentary by Christian Frei and Maxim Arbugaev, winner nner of the Special Jury Award at Sundance, counterpoints a view w of this cutting-edge biotech with the remote Arctic communities ties who survive by selling Mammoth remains scavenged from the
Essenti Essential Kaurismäki
permafrost. rost.
Former SFF director David Stratton curates this sweeping retrospective of the revered Finnish filmmaker. Finland’s most visionary auteur was a true renaissance man of his craft, thriving as a producer, director, screenwriter and editor. His films are characterised by their insular emotional control, offering tense yet retrained storytelling without the need for any overblown thunderclap of drama. Drawn to the tales of ordinary people overcoming relatable challenges,
Westwood: Punk, Icon, Activistt
his dialogue was often laced with a measured, stoic humour avoiding
Maverick punk fashionista turned worldwide design esign idoll
sentimentality. Instead, the soul of his
Vivienne Westwood has had an incredible 40+ years ars in the e
films is captured in a deft use of jazz
limelight. This richly drawn biography chronicles the e innova--
and rock; the fictional rock’n’roll band
tor’s career from the Sex Pistols to Buckingham m Palace..
he created for his 1989 road movie Cowboys Go America was so popular they stayed together as a group after the movie was released. Former Sydney Film Festival director David Stratton AM, best known as the host of ABC’s At The Movies program, is one of the country’s most respected authorities on modern cinema. In addition to his standing as a critic, lecturer and author, Stratton is also the President of the FIPRESCI (International Film Critics) jury at Cannes. He has selected ten key Kaurismäki films for this retrospective showcase, dating from the filmmaker’s 1983 debut, a gripping contemporary adaptation of Dostoevsky’s Crime And
Anchor And Hope ope
Punishment, through to his deeply
Game Of Thrones alumni Oona Chaplin and Natalia Tena reunite nite
moving and charmingly whimsi-
in this UK/Spanish dramedy. Set on the picturesque British canals, nals,
cal 2011 film Le Havre, a portrait of a
Chaplin and Tena lead as a couple navigating the waters of potenten-
retired writer who becomes a shoe
tial parenthood. Directed by Carlos Marques-Marcet, the film is a
shine to support his beloved wife and
celebration of love, life, and the non-nuclear family. mily.
a young refugee from Africa.
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EVERY SATURDAY EVENING IN THE HEART OF PYRMONT.
“The Ultimate Dinner & Show Spectacular For Grown Ups.” $89pp - Includes flute of Mumm ‘Grand Cordon’ Champagne on arrival, 3 course banquet and show spectacular.
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Meatstock The meat and music extravaganza that is Meatstock is back on 5 & 6 May at Sydney Showgrounds. Barbecue big names Big Moe Cason and Hillbilly Wes will be running classes and demonstrations, plus you can catch the Butcher and Barbecue wars. To eat, you’ll find BBQ-inspired food trucks plus plenty of craft beer to wash it all down There’s also a backdrop of live acts over the two days, with Tex Perkins and Henry Wagons just two of the names appearing across the weekend.
A beginner’s guide to upcycling
Join the green scene
Sam Wall has a quick look at some different ways you can give old furniture a future.
The impact of single-use plastics on the environment, especially on marine life, has become a critical issue. Check out these lowimpact products to reduce your reliance on single-use plastics.
Use it or lose it It’s finally happened, China’s turfed our recycling back at us. Annually it’s a half-million-tonne conundrum, and the country looks increasingly like throwing its hands up in defeat and trying to bury the problem like a cat in a sandbox. Th is has you concerned. You don’t have the answers but you do know it’s more important than ever to watch your footprint and reduce landfill — divvy your waste properly, use fewer single-use plastics, become a breatharian and all that. But you also need a new two-seater and IKEA is mighty convenient. There are other cheap and easy options, however, that will keep your arse off the floor and some furniture out of the tip.
KeepCup Get your daily caffeine fix without the carbon foot-
Hard rubbish
print with a reusable and
While treasure can be a stretch, one man’s trash can definitely be your new preloved cane bookshelf and the trick is to keep your eye on the schedule. Like all harvests, hard rubbish comes in seasons. You can lean into the biannual suburban sweep, but if you’re looking to spread your operation each council has their collection periods available online and your ‘City Of ...’ website will have a broad rundown on pick-up days as well. If that sounds like a pain there’s almost certainly a die-hard rubbish crew in your area that have already done the legwork. Check your local HR scavenger groups on Facebook and you’re bound get the deets, along with hot tips like which streets drop the goods and which ones piss in their drawers before putting out their cabinets.
From $30 at
ecologically produced cup.
Trade you for it Hard rubbish can be a bit of a crapshoot, it’s true, an and it does involve a lot of being outside. If poking through the rough in search of dia diamonds isn’t your idea of a good time you can absolutely skip the mix-matched chai chairs, boxes of unlabeled VHS and stacks of old magazines and do your hunting from home. From good old-fashioned h Gumtree to ‘Buy, Swap, Sell’ groups, there are countless online markets that sling cou reuse items on the cheap — or even often for the th price of, “Get this out of my space and it’s yours.” A quick scan through Ziilch Ziilc for example can turn up anything from liver transplant consultations to m moving boxes, which are frankly worth their weight in gold and won’t cost you a cent.
Go legit Just because you’re looking to lower you your waste doesn’t mean you have to function solely in the realms of sid sidewalks, garage sales and swap sites — there are plenty of legitimat legitimate businesses selling or making products out of repurposed resources. resourc If you want to get a grasp on what’s available to you locally The Junk Map is a good place to start. It’s online guide to Australian outfits with inventories Aust stocked with second-hand, salvag salvaged and upcycled goods — from building materials like timber aand brick right up to furniture and homewares. They’ve also ggot the connection for designers and upcyclers that will build to order if you’ve got something specific in mind and can’t find it elsewhere.
DIY If you’re a bit more ha hands on you could also combine two solid trends — upcycling and crafternoons. There up are endless YouTube tutes on how to turn trash into from sewing blankets out of worn household items, fro out clothes to making fish fi tanks out of old TVs. A lot of really that just means it’s achievable. it is small and simple, but reall house out of discarded beer bottles You’re not going to build a hou turning a couple of longnecks into on your afternoons off but turn more ambitious projects sign up candle holders can’t hurt. For m host workshops to give you to your local tool library, they often of borrow exxy tools instead of blowsome know how and you can borr leaving them to rust in your closet. ing a bunch of money and then leav
au.keepcup.com
H2Onya Stainless Steel Drink Bottle Single-use water bottles are one of the biggest causes of plastic pollution. Do your part by using this nifty refillable option. From $19.95 at onyalife.com
Reusable Sandwich Wrap Give cellophane the heaveho and keep your lunchtime sanger fresh as a daisy with the eco-friendly alternative. From $12.95 at onyalife.com
Apple Green Duck Hampi Reusable Shopping Bags Not only are these bags a perfect, reusable alternative to the single-use shopping bag, they’re also damn good looking. From $9.95 at hellogreen.com.au
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Everything is illuminated: Vivid Sydney lights the way
The annual festival of lights, music and ideas returns for its tenth year, 25 May to 16 June, transforming Sydney’s Autumn nights into a wonderland of illuminations, installations, projections and performances. Be sure to check out these highlights.
2.
Lights
1.
3.
4
1. Lighting of the sails: Metamathemagical
2. Ballpit
3. Future Scape
4. Barangaroo
The projections onto the iconic sails of the Sydney Opera House are a must-see every year, but to mark the tenth anniversary of Vivid, 2018’s display ups the ante. By Aussie artist Jonathan Zawada, it promises to turn the nation’s most recognisable landmark into a “kinetic digital sculpture”.
At Vivid, people look at art. Now, that art can look back. Th is interactive projection tracks the movements of spectators, allowing them to play in a virtual ball pit. See the historic Cadmans Cottage transformed by some very 21st-century thinking into a dynamic canvas of light and play.
The centrepiece of Vivid’s Chatswood program, a spectacular projection of the sails of the Concourse Performing Arts Centre will take views on an odyssey through the solar system, using imagery sourced from NASA. Discover the wonders of space without ever leaving the third rock from the Sun.
In years past, the waterfront by the Harbour Bridge and Opera House has been the place to be at Vivid. But this year, the waters by Barangaroo are giving them a run for their money. Discover a world of elemental wonders with a promenade inspired by water, earth and fire.
Artist: Jonathan Zawada Where: Bennelong Point and Circular Quay
Artist: PropMILL, Daniel Thomas & Joshua Wilkinson Where: The Rocks
Artist: Moodelbox Where: The Concourse, 409 Victoria Ave
Artist: Erth Visual & Physical Inc, Jacob Nash and Mandylights Where: Wulugul Walk, Barangaroo
3.
Music
4.
1.
2.
1. The Brian Jonestown Massacre
2. St Vincent
3. Solange
4. Mazzy Star
Making a welcome return to Australia, outlier raconteur Anton Newcombe leads this San Franciscan seven-piece through the shifting psychedelia they’ve explored for the past 28 years across 17 studio albums.
Grammy Award-winner Annie Clark, aka St Vincent, is bringing her singular brand of electro-pop-rock to Redfern for a one night only appearance. Pay homage, say your prayers, and come worship at her altar.
Once upon a time, she was simply known as Beyonce’s sister. Now, she’s well and truly an R&B megastar in her own right. Her gigs at Vivid will be her only appearances in Australia, so it comes as no surprise that tickets are already rare as hens’ teeth.
For more than three decades, these Californian iconoclasts have been a fixture of the underground psychedelic music scene. Th is is a rare opportunity to catch their distinctive psych-infused folk-blues sound, live in concert, right here, Down Under.
8 Jun at Metro Theatre
17 Jun at Carriageworks
1 - 4 Jun at Sydney Opera House
11 - 13 Jun at Sydney Opera House
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HOWZAT! Local Music By Jeff Jenkins
Pink Pills Still Thrills
T
he final song on The Mavis’s biggest-selling album, Pink Pills, starts: “It’s true/You’ve been a long time at sea/ What’s new?” It seems appropriate as much has happened since the band released Pink Pills in 1998. But the exciting news is that the Thomas siblings, Matt and Beki, have put the band back together to celebrate the album’s 20th anniversary. Listening to Pink Pills makes me happy, recalling the glory days of the ‘90s when the pop and rock world boldly explored electro sounds, and The Mavis’s managed to combine all of it in a chaotic mix, shifting effortlessly from blissful to abrasive. They were like Marilyn Manson meets Agnetha and Frida, with sweet harmonies and savage guitars. One minute they were softly stroking your hair, the next they were smacking you in the face. Howzat! had a brief stint working in A&R in the ‘90s and wanted to sign The Mavis’s. But the Sydney bosses didn’t share this columnist’s enthusiasm and the band ended up finding a happy home at Mushroom’s White Label. Multimedia personality Jane Gazzo also loved The Mavis’s - in fact, she has re-formed her ‘90s band Rubher to support the band at its upcoming Melbourne show. She recalls seeing The Mavis’s for the first time around 1990 at South Melbourne’s Wayside Inn. “They were shambolic to say the least,” she smiles. “They kept swapping instruments and were a little all over the place, but you could tell they were having a lot of fun.” That sense of fun infected The Mavis’s records, though they also had a dark side. “Looking back, I think we just wanted what was best for each song,” Beki explains. “If it needed a metal guitar and death metal scream then it just happened naturally. Matt and I have always loved harmonies and artists like ABBA, The Go-Go’s, The Roches and The B-52’s - Matt was Cindy and I was Kate. I was also obsessed with Cyndi Lauper, so I think that influence came through a bit in my vocals and hair dyeing.” The Mavis’s could arguably have been an A&R nightmare as they refused to be put in a box. But they delivered pay dirt with Pink Pills’ first single, the summery, sugary, synthThe Mavis’s – Pink Pills
pop gem, Cry, which Matt wrote with Barry Palmer, the guitarist in Hunters & Collectors and Deadstar. Cry - which was inspired by Matt’s relationship with Def FX’s Fiona Horne - was the most played Australian song on radio in 1998. “I do remember once when Cry was big, I kept turning the dial and it was playing on every radio station,” Matt recalls. “That was surreal.” Beki remembers hearing Cry on the car radio. As the band sang along, they looked across to see the car next to them also singing along. Nowadays, Cry often pops up when Matt is doing his supermarket shopping. “It’s a funny private moment because no one knows it’s me singing.” Both Cry and Pink Pills went gold, and Gazzo has fond memories of seeing Daryl Somers present the band with a gold record on Hey Hey It’s Saturday. But there were stormy waters ahead. Mushroom Records was sold to Festival and the band’s champion, Eleanor McKay, exited the label. Matt and Beki say both external and internal factors impacted on the band. “There was some tension in the band,” Beki admits. “There was definitely too many musical ideas at the time,” Matt adds, “so perhaps some side-projects would have helped us all get that out of our systems.” The Mavis’s made a third album, Rapture, but it didn’t get the release or attention it deserved. A best-of, Throwing Little Stones, was released posthumously in 2002, but these days no Mavis’s albums are available at JB Hi-Fi. The band will be selling a special CD of demos and rarities at the upcoming shows, and Matt is hoping that Warner, who now own the Mushroom catalogue, will release another compilation. Beki has been living in the US for the past decade, where she has a recording project called The Fascinated, who will release a second album later this year. This tour is a homecoming in more ways than one, as it will finish in the band’s hometown of Ballarat, where Matt and Beki’s parents still live. As well as the reunion tour, Matt is getting set to release a solo mini-album under the name Matt Doll and he also has a synth-pop band, VIDEO VIDEO, who released an album called Planet Of Storms. And he doesn’t rule out making more music with his sister, hinting, “There may also be some unfinished Mavis’s business.” Gazzo, for one, can’t wait to see The Mavis’s again. “What I have always loved about The Mavis’s is they’ve done everything completely on their own terms. From starting out unable to play properly and swapping their instruments to going on to headline tours and shaping their unique pop sound. They are also one of the few bands you can honestly say have never been affected by their success. They still remain as excited today as they were as young kids starting out in the scene. “And their fans have remained totally loyal through the decades. They’re just that kind of lovable band and a great group of people.”
Milestones And Memories Casey Donovan turns 30 (13 May). Joe Camilleri and Leo Sayer both turn 70 (21 May). Kylie Minogue turns 50 (28 May). 40 years ago John Paul Young’s Love Is In The Air enters the Australian charts. The Triffids form in Perth. 30 years ago Midnight Oil’s Beds Are Burning enters the US charts, where it peaks at #17. 5 years ago Greg Quill from Country Radio dies from complications due to pneumonia and a recently diagnosed case of sleep apnoea, aged 66. The Seekers’ 50th Anniversary Tour is postponed when singer Judith Durham suffers a brain haemorrhage after a Melbourne show. 1 year ago Dynamic Hepnotics and Mental As Anything drummer Robbie Souter dies of liver failure, aged 68.
Hot album
Nick Batterham — Golden Boy Nick Batterham (The Earthmen, Blindside, Cordrazine) sure can write about love. Love in all its beauty and joy, as well as its sadness and sorrow. His fifth solo album swings from grim to gorgeous. “The Prince of Pascoe Vale” has delivered a deep, dark gem. “I miss the
The Mavis’s tour from 4 May.
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story of the two of us,” he sings. “I miss the person that I thought I was.”
For the latest live reviews go to theMusic.com.au
Sampa The Great @ The Lair. Pic: Simone Fisher.
Fresh from taking out the Australian Music Prize for her Birds And The BEE9 mixtape, Sampa The Great took to the road to celebrate the win and the release.
“A performance so completely full of joy that every time the crowd cheered it felt like a warm hug.” – Mick Radojkovic
“The whole conceit would have probably worn off far quicker if the songs of the ‘Tap catalogue weren’t such terrifically constructed bits of music.”
You Am I Present The Majesty Of Tap @ Factory Theatre. Pics: Simone Fisher
You Am I turned it all the way up to 11 when they performed the songs of Spinal Tap, even
– Ross Clelland
dressing the part of their ‘Tap counterparts.
Stella Donnelly & Alex The Astronaut @ Oxford Art Factory. Pic: Josh Groom.
After bonding at Brisbane’s BIGSOUND, musos on the rise Alex The Astronaut and Stella Donnelly decided to take their mutual appreciation society one step further and teamed up for a national tour powered by themselves and their respective guitars.
“Not only did their musicianship, songwriting and personalities shine, but also the sold-out crowd were transfixed.” – Mick Radojkovic
Bluesfest @ Tyagarah Tea Tree Farm. Morcheeba Pic: Peter Dovgan
“What a deep, wide, rich event Bluesfest grows into with every passing year.”
Bluesfest reigned supreme again over the Easter long weekend
– Samuel J Fell
with highlights including Lionel Richie, Ms Lauryn Hill, Morcheeba, Robert Plant & The Sensational Space Shifters and many, many more.
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This month’s highlights Weepers need not aply
Amanda Emblem
The Finders Keepers design market season is kicking off from 4-6 May at The Cutaway, Barangaroo Reserve. If high quality Australian-made art, food, music, body products, clothing, candles et al are your bag, get on down.
The Amanda Emblem Experiment’s debut album Who Is Amanda Emblem? is set to drop on 15 May, the day before the contemporary blues rocker heads out on the road with the legendary Robert Cray. Catch both acts at Enmore Theatre, 16 May.
Salt By Hendrix
New emblem
Lime Cordiale’s new touring mini-fest The Squeeze is taking over Metro Theatre on 13 May. Joining the indie-rockers are RACKETT, Bootleg Rascal, Papa Pilko & The Binrats, The Moving Stills and host, Aaron Gocs.
RACKETT
Dallas Frasca
Take it squeezy
Yeah Narara Narara Music Festival is upon us again on 5 May. Performing in Mt PenangGardens this time around are card-carrying legend Dallas Frasca, guitar wizard Ash Grunwald, gut-busting Aussie troubadour William Crighton and heaps more.
Jason Bonham
If you like Horrorshow and you haven’t bought a ticket to their show yet you better get some giddy-up in your gallop. They’ve already sold out a ridiculous five shows at Lansdowne Hotel for The Grey Space anniversary tour so 8 May is the last night going.
Horrorshow. Pic by Cole Bennetts.
Horror Hoorah
Flippin’ out Is Bon. Is good G Flip
After being postponed due to unforeseen circumstance, Zep heads can get their fix this 23 May when Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Evening rolls into town. Bonham will play all of the greatest hits from his father’s iconic outfit at State Theatre.
Melbourne musician G Flip is capitalising on her stellar SXSW showcases by announcing a slew of Australian shows. Local fans of the talented singer-songwriter/multi-instrumentalist/producer can find her at Oxford Art Factory on 2,3 & 10 May.
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There’s a fly in my soup
A
ustralian alt-rock pioneer Diana
Let’s hear it for the girls
Bugs farms are starting to look like a viable way to ween the West off its meat-heavy diet. If it’s good enough for the king of Pride Rock it’s good enough for Sam Wall.
Anaid (aka Diana Gosper) lately returned with the spirited album
My Queen, inspired by the women in her life. Indeed, as the multiple ARIA nominee reinvigorates her career, she is all about family and experiences. Gosper is preparing for a headline tour — her first run since supporting punk legend Adam Ant in October. “I’ve already had
Before taking it on the road, alt-rocker Diana Anaid talks to Cyclone about her latest single, Better Girl, the women who inspired her and working to spread compassion and understanding for trans issues.
T
he first thing to remember about eating insects is that you do it all the time. Chances are you’re not really chewing spiders in your sleep but there are bugs or bug by-products in just about everything, one way or another. If you’ve ever eaten red food dye it was likely crushed cochineal insects. Lac bug secretions are what make jellybeans so shiny. Bee spit is delicious. If you dip a red jellybean in honey it’s essentially a grasshopper, genetically speaking. Depending on your diet, authorities estimate you’re ingesting
at least a half-kilo of insect matter annually through natural contamination anyhow. So, while we in the West might baulk at taking a bite straight out of something with an above-average leg count, we’re sort of already on board with entomophagy, in an ‘out of sight, out of mind’ kind of way - and there are some solid reasons to get fully behind micro herds.
my son [Stone May] come over and make me breakfast and I’ve cleaned the house and nearly managed to fit in some yoga, but threw that idea out the window,” she says brightly at 10am from her community home near Lismore and Nimbin. She has previously spoken of an upbringing that was apparently bohemian and nomadic, yet also insecure and challenging. Gosper was an infant when her mother passed so she was partly raised by her dad. She gravitated to music, learning guitar. Gosper was gigging as a teen — even as she became a parent to Stone. Assuming the quasi-palindrome handle Diana Ah Naid, the 21-year-old released her raw selftitled debut in 1997, relishing a triple j hit with the defiant I Go Off. However, Gosper
performed so much that she needed risky throat surgery. “I had the worst vocal
It’s already here
cyst that they’d ever seen!”
According to Australian Geographic Thailand alone has more than 20,000 registered farmers, and operations like Tiny Farms and Bug Farm Foods have been working out of America and the UK for a couple years already. Edible Bug Shop started Australia’s own food-grade insect industry back in 2007 and have a whole range of items available to the public; mealworm and wattleseed marshmallows, ant-based seasoning salt, chilli and garlic snack crickets (if you squint, they kind of look like peanuts). .
Early on, Gosper showcased at SXSW in Texas. And, with album three, Beautiful Obscene, she signed to a US label, which culminated in her breakthrough American chart single, Last Thing. But, following 2010’s Diana Anaid, she took a hiatus that lasted until last year’s comeback, My Queen. Gosper has been compared to Ani DiFranco and Alanis Morissette, but five albums in she stands on her own. “I think my lyrics are still really direct and frank,
“I think my lyrics are still really direct and frank, but maybe a little bit more gentle.”
but maybe a little bit more gentle — or the gentle moments are maybe more gentle than they used to be. Maybe that even means that the more emotional or powerful or angry moments are more extreme as well, I’m not sure.” Her creative method has changed, too. On My Queen, Gosper presents “a soundscape” that traverses everything from art-rock (Into Your Heart) to jagged alt-country (Can’t Apologize) to reggae-ska (Mortify Me). Braveheart boldly veers into electronica. “I do have a full-on love affair with that sort of sound, ‘cause I’m from the ‘90s as well — there was a lot of that sort of stuff going on.” Gosper’s classic-rock osper s current single, the classic rock BetBet ter Girl, rl, manifests the album’ss
theme
of
gender identity and empowerment. ment. “Look, Cricket farming in Thailand
I’m so lucky — I’ve always wanted ed to have a sister and my sibling Heya hass actually recently undergone a gender transfor-
It’s good for you...
mation. So this song is actually lly writ-
A study from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) found that adult locusts and have comparable levels of protein to raw beef . They also contain less than half the fat, more than twice the calcium, have higher levels of iron and are full of vitamins and amino acids, which is pretty wild, really. As an added bonus, we’re so far removed from insects taxonomically that the chances of cross-species transmission aren’t high, which means you don’t need to stress about roach flu.
ten partially about her. It does also have elements about my mum, m, who I lost when I was a baby, and nd also some of the great women en and even musicians who have ve encouraged
me
and
inspired red
me in the past. And even looking oking towards female leaders in our com-
...and for the planet
munity and further abroad.” Gosper
Partly because they’re cold-blooded and party because they don’t weigh upwards of 800kgs per unit, crickets and the like don’t take nearly as much energy to raise as cattle and other livestock, and nowhere near as much space. According to the University of Edinburgh, if we switched half of the meat consumed globally for a more efficient protein source like insects we could potentially repurpose a third of the land used for farming worldwide (about 1680 million hectares).
devised a powerful video concept pt with
Everyone else is doing it
where they’re trying to express their gender identity, and how much transphobia phobia they
Stone, who directed it. “It was actually to highlight and bring about a conversation and a bit more of a compassionmpassionate outlook and a bit more of an understanding towards the transgender nder issues that face people who are in that hat situation
Weighing in again, FAO reported in 2013 that two billion people around the world included bugs in their regular diet. If two billion of your friends jump off a bridge, maybe the water’s fine? It’s probably worth having a peak anyway. And by all accounts, they taste good. Though the flavour is said to vary depending on diet, Crickets are mainly nutty in flavour, while stink bugs taste like apples, funnily enough.
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can actually come in contact with.”
Diana Anaid tours from 4 May.
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the best and the worst of the month’s zeitgeist
The lashes Front
Back
Hoorah for Lamar
Not so Solo
Daily fail
Go West
Booty bottle
Uber blooper
While it ruffled some
Alden Ehrenreich, aka the
A former Daily Mail enter-
Who knows what goes
Conveniently timed to
RuPaul’s Drag Race alum
conservative feathers, we’re
young Han Solo, has let slip
tainment reporter “accident-
through Kanye West’s head
divert some heat from her
Robbie Turner is at the self-
100% here for the Kendrick
that he’s already signed
ly” labelled Bachelor In Par-
when he does the shit that
husband’s Trump love on
inflicted ground zero of a
Lamar’s recent Pulitzer
up for two sequels to the
adise contestant Florence
he does, but whatever his
Twitter, Kim Kardashian has
nuclear blast of Twitter scorn
Prize-win for DAMN. – the
upcoming movie Solo: A
Alexandra a “vapid cunt”,
reasons, his recent support
revealed the bottle of her
(plus a shit-tonne of memes)
first time the prestigious
Star Wars Story. We frothed
inadvertently publishing the
of Prez Trump has lost him
new perfume, based on
after apparently faking a
gong has been awarded to a
ourselves half to death over
burn which remained online
scores of celeb Twitter fol-
her naked torso. Impossible
story about her Uber driver
non-classical artist.
the trailer, so we’re ok with it!
for two hours.
lowers nonetheless.
body image crisis anyone?
being killed in a car crash.
The final thought
Words by Maxim Boon
Can you speak Millennial? Sorry mainstream media, it’s harder than you think.
B
etween the advent of #FakeNews, the collapse of many a mighty title (RIP Rolling Stone Australia), and the increasingly endemic decline of best-practice, the ol’ media rat race is not the job it once was. Back in the day, before the digital age moseyed along with its promises of ubiquitous, un-monetised information, journalism was a far easier profession to navigate.
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But with the birth of the internet, cracks began to form in the way our technologically driven society engaged with the press. Today, thanks to the seismic pressures of mobile devices and social media, and the rise of polarising blogs and fringe sites, those stress fractures have opened into great chasms, with pop-culture platforms, youth media and populist power-brokers on one side, and the old guard of mainstream media on the other. Another way to look at this division is the separation between those media that are clinging by their fingertips to the professional standards from those halcyon, pre-internet days, and those media that have thrown out the rule book to coax those sweet, sweet clicks from an itinerant audience. But increasingly, the old school faithful are surrendering to the dark arts so skilfully deployed by the Millennial media moguls dominating the digital arena. And this is exactly the kind of adaptability that journalists should be prepared for. Too many major publishers have tried pulling a King Canute to hold back the unstoppable tide of change, only to roll out redundancies on an industrial scale. However, trading in the currency of youth zeitgeist is not as simple a thing as those newspaper veterans might assume. Take, for example, a piece recently published in The Daily Telegraph about the
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results of a Facebook Messenger and YouGov Galaxy survey into teen slang, or as they dubbed it, “teenglish”. The written equivalent of Regina George’s mum in Mean Girls, its deciphering of the most “in” lingo was so saturated with clueless desperation, it failed to notice that the most “in” word on its list - “dude” - has been around for literally decades. (Not to mention the hypocrisy of a right-leaning paper, with a history of demonising the LGBTQIA+ community, trumpeting words appropriated from African-American drag culture, like “yass kween” and “shook”). Add to this the Tele’s close-but-no-cigar definitions of this teenglish glossary (“Lit: when something’s going extremely well.” Oh, the irony) and it really does underline how hard this article faceplants into the uncanny valley of Millennial relevance. On one level, perhaps the Tele can give itself a pat on the back for giving this getting down with the young people thing a red hot go? Or perhaps, it shouldn’t condescend to an entire generation by simplifying it into a list of misunderstood colloquialisms? To put the aforementioned article to good use: Daily Telegraph, don’t be “shook” (surprised) when people get “salty” (a bit angry) when you’re so “basic” (only interested in the mainstream). “K” (ok)? Sorry if that’s a bit “savage” (a rude person) “dude” (mate).
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