# 3 3 • 0 9 . 04 . 1 4 • B R I S BA N E • F R E E • I N C O R P O R AT I N G
DAN SULTAN N O L O N G E R “ B E I N G TA K E N A L O N G F O R A R I D E ”
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2 • THE MUSIC • 9TH APRIL 2014
THE MUSIC • 9TH APRIL 2014 • 3
themusic 9TH APRIL 2014
“WE WERE BASICALLY IN THE BASES, IN THE WAR ZONE, UP IN THE HERCULES WITH A BULLETPROOF VEST ON.”
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INSIDE FEATURES Dan Sultan Chet Faker Wailers The Magic Band
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Bluesfest sideshow overview Bliss N Eso Killswitch Engage Cloud Control OFF! Next Wave The Bad Shepherds
“I WOULD NEVER HANG MY AWARDS ON MY WALL. THE DAY I HANG AN AWARD ON MY WALL IS THE DAY I GIVE UP.” - HAIRY BEAT-MAKER CHET FAKER (P14)
- SHOOTING STRAIGHT WITH BLISS N ESO (P18)
BE THE FIRST TO SEE NEW JIMMY TAIT AND GRETA MOB VIDEOS. PREMIERING ON THEMUSIC.COM.AU
Yacht Club DJs Architecture In Helsinki
REVIEWS Album: Saskwatch Live: Glass Animals Arts: The Grand Budapest Hotel
THE GUIDE Cover: Cured Pink Food/Drink Frontlash/Backlash Indie News This Week’s Releases
“THERE’S NO WAY YOU CAN SHAKE YOUR ARSE VIGOROUSLY WHILE ALSO HOLDING A DRINK.”
- WE LOOK AT THE COUPLING OF BOOZE AND TUNES IN OUR EAT/ DRINK SECTION (P30)
GET YOUR TISSUES READY FOR THE FINAL SICK TUNES. HITTING THEMUSIC.COM.AU THIS FRIDAY
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TOY BOATS
NEW RECORD FROM TOY BOATS.
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4 • THE MUSIC • 9TH APRIL 2014
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AN ENCORE OF TWIN EARTH, POWERTRIP AND SPACE LORD SENDS THE PIT INTO HYSTERICS, AND IT ALL TRAILS OUT AS THE ROOMIN-UNISON CHANTS THE OBLIGATORY “SPACE LORD MOTHERFUCKER”. - MONSTER MAGNET MAKE UP FOR LOST TIME WITH A STORMING SET AT THE HI-FI (P27)
www.thenorthern.com.au
JONSON STREET BYRON BAY
BRISBANE’S PREMIER ENTERTAINMENT AND FUNCTION VENUE
FRI 11 APRIL APRIL FRIDAY 11TH
BALL PARK MUSIC TUESDAY 15TH
GREENTHIEF, THE BLACK LULLABY, HAMMERS SAT 12 APRIL
WEDNESDAY 16TH
BALL PARK MUSIC, PAPA VS PRETTY, HOLY HOLY
THE WAILERS
THUR 17 APRIL
STEVE EARLE & KASEY CHAMBERS SATURDAY 19TH
KC & THE SUNSHINE BAND SUNDAY 20TH
INDIA.ARIE & JOSS STONE MICHAEL FRANTI THURSDAY 24TH
JULIAN CLARY
TOMB STONED [AN ELECTRONIC EASTER] WED 23 APR
SATURDAY 26TH
TOXIC HOLOCAUST
METAL HEART FESTIVAL. TUES 29TH AND WED 30TH
SOLD OU T
MAY
FRI 25 APR
WANDERING EYES, THE TRISTIAN O’MERA BAND, VERNAS KEEP SAT 26 APR
TUESDAY 6TH
THE JEZABELS
SALMONELLA DUB SOUNDSYSTEM
JUST ANNOUNCED
HANSON SOMETHING FOR KATE 5 SECONDS OF SUMMER JASON BYRNE BIFFY CLYRO
SOLD OU T
OU T
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FRI 18 APRIL THE SWAMPS SAT 19 APRIL
WEDNESDAY 23RD
JIM JEFFERIES
GOONS OF DOOM, SKEGSS
SUN 27 APR
GLORYHAMMER & LAGERSTEIN SAT 10 MAY
HITS & PITS SAT 24 MAY
BRANT BJORK
TICKETS AVAILABLE ONLINE THE MUSIC • 9TH APRIL 2014 • 5
CREDITS PUBLISHER
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GROUP MANAGING EDITOR Andrew Mast
EDITOR Steve Bell
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CONTRIBUTORS Alice Bopf, Amorina Fitzgerald-Hood, Anthony Carew, Baz McAlister, Ben Marnane, Ben Preece, Benny Doyle, Bradley Armstrong, Brendan Telford, Brie Jorgensen, Carley Hall, Chris Yates, Cyclone, Dan Condon, Daniel Johnson, Dave Drayton, Grace Wilson, Guy Davis, Helen Stringer, Jake Sun, Jazmine O’Sullivan, Lochlan Watt, Madeleine Laing, Mandy McAlister, Mitch Knox, Roshan Clerkea, Sam Hobson, Sky Kirkham, Tessa Fox, Tom Hersey, Tony McMahon, Tyler McLoughlan
THIS WEEK THINGS TO DO THIS WEEK • 9 APRIL - 15 APRIL 2014
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ADMIN AND ACCOUNTS
This Saturday marks the unveiling of the spectacular exhibition of historic Arnhem Land crayon works at Queensland Art Gallery, the vibrant drawings made by senior ceremonial leaders at Yirrkala in 1946-7 at the behest of anthropologists. It’s an example of worlds colliding in an artistic context, and beautifully showcases the vivid creative skills exhibited by our Indigenous forebears. Runs until 13 Jul.
Who said that toys were only for kids? This Friday and Saturday at Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre you can experience Barbie Live! The Musical, with a troupe of singers and dancers bringing the production to life. An explosion of colour and glamour featuring hundreds of costumes and swags of songs, it’s bound to be a hit with anybody young or young at heart! We doubt Aqua’s paean to Barbie is involved, but who knows?
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smash BRISBANE
They breed ‘em tough out Ippy way, which is why the Brisbane City Rollers roller derby crew are hitting Ipswich Showgrounds to take on bitter rivals the Coastal Assassins in the roller derby league this Saturday evening. There will be thrills and spills aplenty as the protagonists try to smash each other into oblivion in one of the most pleasurable to watch contact sports imaginable – the most fun you could ever have on roller skates!
BAY STREET BYRON BAY (02) 6685 6402 www.beachhotel.com.au
THIS WEEK: WED 9TH APRIL FROM 8:30PM
LEIGH JAMES
THU 10TH APRIL FROM 9PM
BROADFOOT
FRI 11TH APRIL FROM 5PM
LUKE & SEBASTIAN 9PM
WANDERING EYES SAT 12TH APRIL FROM 9:30PM
PANDAMONIUM DJS SUN 13TH APRIL FROM 4:30PM
FERAMONES 8PM
YACHT CLUB DJS MON 14TH APRIL FROM 8PM
BLUESFEST BUSKING COMPETITION
TUES 15TH APRIL FROM 7:30PM
BLUESFEST BUSKING COMPETITION
WED 16TH APRIL FROM 8:30PM
CLOUD CONTROL COMING SOON: THU 17TH APRIL
THE BONDI CIGARS FRI 18TH APRIL
BLUESFEST BUSKERS COMPETITION FINAL SAT 19TH APRIL
THE DELTA RIGGS JAKARTA CRIERS SUN 20TH APRIL
LISA HUNT
FRI 25TH APRIL
STONEFIELD THE MUSIC • 9TH APRIL 2014 • 7
national news news@themusic.com.au VIOLENT SOHO
LITTLE BASTARD
TOTAL TURBULENCE
SHOUT IT OUT LOUD
Brisbane rock killers Violent Soho are on an unstoppable run right now and are continuing with their destructive ways, announcing their biggest headline tour to date, with none other than Melbourne’s The Smith Street Band. Get sweaty with two of best live bands in the country when this double header hits The Bakery, Perth, 3 Jul; The Hi-Fi, Melbourne, 5 Jul; Manning Bar, Sydney, 11 Jul; and The Hi-Fi, Brisbane, 12 Jul. Proudly presented by theMusic.com.au.
SPREADING HIS WINGS
The incomparable Dan Sultan has just dropped a brand new album, and let us tell you, it’s an absolute gem, full of addictive old school rock’n’roll and colourful storytelling. He brings his Blackbird tour, with support from Stonefield and Way Of The Eagle (DJ set), to Solbar, Maroochydore, 2 Jul; The Spotted Cow, Toowoomba, 3 Jul; Soundlounge, Gold Coast, 4 Jul; Eatons Hill Hotel, Brisbane, 5 Jul; The Northern, Byron Bay, 8 Jul; Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle, 10 Jul; Metro Theatre, Sydney, 11 Jul; Waves, Wollongong, 12 Jul; Forum Theatre, Melbourne, 17 Jul; Wool Exchange, Geelong, 18 Jul; Settlers Tavern, Margaret River, 1 Aug; and Astor Theatre, Perth, 2 Aug.
CASTING SHAPES
The groundbreaking stage show Shadowland, put together by acclaimed international dance troupe Pilobolus, is coming to Australia for the very first time. Part shadow act, part dance, part circus, part concert; be dazzled by the mixture of projected images and frontof-stage choreography when the theatrical event hits Australian capital cities throughout May, June and July. Visit shadowlandlive. com for dates, times and ticket info.
MORE THAN A DROP
After bursting into our consciousness back in 2005 with his mega hit A Drop In The Ocean, Ron Pope hasn’t stopped, putting out a whopping ten albums since then and continuing to evolve alongside his evocative folk pop. Pope and his full band will play the following dates: 6 Jun, Princess Theatre, Brisbane (all ages); 7 Jun, Factory Theatre, Sydney (all ages); 8 Jun, The Workers Club, Melbourne (afternoon under-18 and evening 18+); and 13 Jun, Astor Lounge, Perth (all ages, solo acoustic).
YEEZUS CHRIST
We’re going to have to wait a little longer to get the full-face, diamond-mask experience with news that Kanye West has postponed his Australian tour to finish a follow-up to his acclaimed record of 2013, Yeezus. The new dates are 5 Sep, Perth Arena; 9 & 10 Sep, Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne; 12 & 13 Sep, Qantas Credit Union Arena, Sydney; and 15 Sep, Brisbane Entertainment Centre. All purchased tickets will be honoured for the new dates, however, if you now can’t make it you have to contact Ticketek by 5pm, 30 Apr to organise a refund.
“THE QUESTION IS: DO YOU WANT THE BREAKFAST BUFFET OR DO YOU WANT SLOW SERVICE?” [@KEVIN_NEALON] KNOWS ALL ABOUT OUR STANDARD SATURDAY DILEMMAS. 8 • THE MUSIC • 9TH APRIL 2014
Their no-bullshit approach to rock music has won them hearts and earned them beers in every city and town they’ve played, and that trend will no doubt continue when Little Bastard tour their debut record this winter. Presented by theMusic.com.au, the tour happens 12 Jun, Rad, Wollongong; 13 Jun, Newtown Social Club, Sydney; 14 Jun, The Small Ballroom, Newcastle; 19 Jun, Prince Of Wales, Bunbury; 20 Jun, Settlers Tavern, Margaret River; 21 Jun, Mojos, Fremantle; 3 Jul, Karova Lounge, Ballarat; 4 Jul, Northcote Social Club, Melbourne; 10 Jul, Black Bear Lodge, Brisbane; 11 Jul, Solbar, Maroochydore; and 12 Jul, The Rails, Byron Bay.
DARK AND STORMY
Those hard-working lads in British India are bringing their bag of rock hooks to a capital city stage near you, and thanks to the brewing legends at Coopers you can get along to their Coopers After Dark tour by simply buying some frothies. Purchase a carton, six-pack or glass of Coopers Dark Ale brew at a participating pub or bottle shop, head to coopersafterdark.com.au and you could instantly win four VIP tickets! Get involved 21 May, Factory Theatre, Sydney; 22 May, Crowbar, Brisbane; 28 May, Transit Bar, Canberra; 29 May, The Curtin, Melbourne; and 5 Jun, Ya Ya’s, Perth.
DUNE RATS
THAT KIND OF MONTH
Brisbane garage miscreants Dune Rats are going to be transforming June into Dune, with the Brisbane boys dropping their debut record at the start of the month, before taking their ramshackle wares out around the country. The band play Mojos, Fremantle, 12 Jun; Amplifier, Perth, 13 Jun; Grace Darling Hotel, Melbourne, 15 Jun (under18s); Corner Hotel, Melbourne, 20 Jun; Oxford Art Factory, Sydney, 21 Jun; The Lair, Metro Theatre, Sydney, 22 Jun (under-18s); The Zoo, Brisbane, 28 Jun; and Alhambra Lounge, Brisbane, 29 Jun (under-18s).
Tap into Live Music on The Sunshine Coast
Taps @ Mooloolaba: The only venue in Australia where you pour your own beer THU 10 APR
JAMES BENNETT FRI 11 APR
RUMBLEFISH SAT 12 APR
LAUREN VALENTINE SUN 13 APR
VICTORIA QUALISCHEFSKI THU 17 APR
JOSH CURTIS SAT 19 APR
HELL AND WHISKEY SUN 20 APR
DOC SPAN AND TIM GAZE SATURDAY 26 APRIL
PAUL WOESSEN
OF THE SCREAMING JETS HITS TAPS MOOLOOLABA. FREE ENTRY.
MEXICAN MARGARITA MONDAYS HOT WINGS WEDNESDAYS ORIGINAL LIVE MUSIC 4 NIGHTS A WEEK DOWNLOAD THE FREE TAPS AUSTRALIA APP Gig guide, events & venue information: www.tapsaustralia.com.au facebook.com/tapsaustralia
Follow us @tapsmooloolaba ph: (07) 54 777 222 Cnr The Esplanade & Brisbane Road, Mooloolaba.
THE MUSIC • 9TH APRIL 2014 • 9
local news qld.news@themusic.com.au CUT COPY
BAND OF FREQUENCIES
ROAR FOR A REASON
FREE YOUR MIND
With an omnipresence on the Australian festival circuit, it’s easy to forget that Cut Copy haven’t done a national headline run since taking home a couple of ARIA gongs back in 2011. Well that’s all set to change next month, when the indie-disco heroes hit east coast capitals to give patient fans the full experience. Set your feet to dance when the quartet perform at Eatons Hill Hotel, 10 May with support from Touch Sensitive and Nile Delta. Tickets available now through Oztix.
GET BOUNCING
UGLIER THAN EVER
SHARING THE LOVE
COOLY AND THE GANG
By bringing together one of the UK’s finest up-and-coming DJ/producers in D.O.D and an Aussie favourite, Uberjak’d, for a night of hands-in-the-air beats, Mixmash Records are certainly maintaining the quality control surrounding their legendary label parties. Don’t miss this double header when it smashes through Queensland, 19 Apr, Platinum, Gold Coast and 25 Apr, The Met.
Electrifying new British voice John Newman is set to dazzle the masses at Eatons Hill Hotel, 3 May, and he’ll do so with the help of one of Melbourne’s most beloved live acts, Saskwatch. The multi-headed soul outfit will be playing new tracks from their forthcoming second record Nose Dive. Don’t miss out on their double bill; limited tickets available via Oztix.
They’ve only just finished tearing the faces off our American brethren on their debut US tour, but King Parrot are still hungry for blood, announcing one final Aussie tour before they break to begin writing a brand new record. The band will bludgeon all and sundry 23 May, Miami Shark Bar, Gold Coast; 24 May, Thriller, Electric Playground, Brisbane; and 25 May, The Lab, Brisbane (all ages).
Rock’n’roll, rockabilly, classic cars, hot fashion – get it all, and so much more, at Cooly Rocks On, which is taking over the Queensland/ New South Wales border, 30 May – 9 Jun. Eleven action-packed days and nights will fill your calendar, with loads of family fun and so much choice music, including sets from Slim Jim Phantom, the legendary Stray Cats skinsman, Jack Baymoore & The Bandits, The Delltones, Frankie J Holden & Wilbur Wilde, Johnny Devlin and more. With outdoor concerts, beachside shows and club performances featuring more than 50 acts, you’re spoilt for choice!
“YOU CAN SHAKE A LOBSTER’S HAND BUT IT DOESN’T MEAN HE UNDERSTANDS THE DETAILS OF YOUR AGREEMENT” MAYBE @PETEHOLMES, BUT IN BUSINESS IT’S THE RIGHT THING TO DO. 10 • THE MUSIC • 9TH APRIL 2014
Some of Brisbane’s finest are uniting to raise funds for Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia at New Globe Theatre this Friday for The White Tiger Cancer Benefit, featuring Band Of Frequencies, Travis White Trio, Anonymous Heroes, and Joel Myles & The Jetpack Academy. Get your tickets on the door for $15.
WE BE BODY MOVING
Enter the Salmonella Dub Soundsystem – a five-piece unit designed to get your booty bouncing and your hips shaking. For 20 years the New Zealand institution have been spreading their unique sound worldwide, and they haven’t missed a step during that time. Soak up the experience 25 Apr, The Hi-Fi and 26 Apr, The Northern, Byron Bay.
MAXWELL
SMOOTH OPERATORS
After some murmurs that predicted the potential of such an event taking place, Soulfest has arrived in our lives fully formed, with an incredible line-up featuring the likes of Maxwell, D’Angelo, Common, Aloe Blacc, Mos Def, Anthony Hamilton, Angie Stone, Musiq Soulchild, Leela James, Ngaiire, Nathaniel, Ms Murphy, Miracle and DJ Trey, as well as local acts for each city. Australia’s first ever neo-soul, jazz and hip hop festival will see some of the world’s finest contemporary artists performing 25 Oct, Brisbane Riverstage, with music, arts, food, drinks, culture and plenty more. Early bird registration will take place until Sunday and can be done through soulfest.com. au, with tickets starting from $119+BF.
local news qld.news@themusic.com.au
NORTHEAST PARTY HOUSE
LET YOUR HAIR DOWN
Those purveyors of indie-electro loose, Northeast Party House, are tapping the kegs and opening the doors for their biggest tour yet. They launch their debut album Any Given Weekend with a string of dates, happening 3 Jul, Alhambra Lounge; 4 Jul, Solbar, Maroochydore; and 5 Jul, The Spotted Cow, Toowoomba. Tix through Moshtix and Oztix.
STRAIGHT TO THE FUN
Celebrating the GC’s emerging cultural scene, the One Way Street Party is wheeling out a huge line-up on 26 Apr, with tons of music from noon. Hear the likes of Stonefield, The Vernons, Electrik Lemonade, CC The Cat, Hussy Hicks, Lyon Apprentice, Kenny Slide, Bree De Rome and more. The action takes place across two stages at Neal Shannon Park and atop the Transit Centre in Surfers Paradise.
IN HEARTS WAKE
WORLD WARRIORS
Byron Bay metalcore types In Hearts Wake are doing more than simply playing crushing tunes, giving back to the community through the sales of their forthcoming sophomore record, Earthwalker. Pre-order a bundle at 24hundred.net and a bio-diverse native tree will be planted as a thank you – a choice way to give back to the land. Rock out for a reason when the quintet bring their Earthwalker tour to Sands Tavern, Maroochydore, 29 Jun, which follows on from their slot at under-18 extravaganza Live It Up Festival, RNA Showgrounds, 21 Jun. And if you’re quick enough getting your tickets, you’ll also be privy to a Q&A at the Sunny Coast date – head to Oztix now.
“THERE IS SOMEBODY OUT THERE RIGHT NOW DRINKING YELLOW GATORADE ON PURPOSE”
BATTLE ON THE BAY
If you’re a local act looking for your big shot, then make sure you enter Mon Komo Hotel’s Battle Of The Band contest. Kicking off 4 May at 6pm in the Redcliffe venue’s Seabrae Bar, groups of any ilk can enter, with the winning act receiving a management deal with The Pushworth Group and a paid gig at Mon Komo Hotel worth $1000. To enter, send through a band bio, high-res image and recorded demo to marketing@ monkomohotel.com.au by this Friday.
WE KNOW BARON VAUGHN [@BARVONBLAQ], AND IT SICKENS US.
HIGH-FIVES ALL ROUND
Because a double header featuring Hunx & His Punx and Shannon & The Clams wasn’t enough, Novo shit-stirrers The Gooch Palms and Gold Coasters The Babe Rainbow will also be in the house. This unmissable garage bill takes place 22 Apr at The Zoo.
HEAVENS NO XZIBIT
PIMP OUR CITY
Chalk Hotel is giving our inner city some phat fat rap sounds, introducing Sound Check, a monthly live music event, with a huge bill headlined by none other than the ride pimper himself, Xzibit! Another couple of US visitors will perform on the day in the way of Demrick and DJ Invisible, joined by a stellar Australian cast featuring Funkoars, Remi and Briggs, I Am D and Young Blood Comedy. Kicking off at 3pm, 26 Apr, you can pick up tickets for this now through the Chalk Hotel website.
We’re not entirely sure if their threats to break up are entirely legit (the presser did arrive on 1 Apr after all), but you wouldn’t want to risk missing Hell City Glamours on what potentially could be their lastever show do you? The riff mongers, who have shared the stage with everyone from New York Dolls to Supersuckers, will bring their goodbye tour to Crowbar, 7 Jun.
FUTURE EMBRACING
His eclectic mash-up of absorbing beats, handclaps and chattering percussion has already caught the attention of Pharrell and DJ Shadow, and now you can see what all the fuss is about when Hawaiian-based producer Mr Carmack rocks the house at Bowler Bar, 25 Apr.
DREAMS DO COME TRUE
Twenty-year-old hip hop artist Nathan Tessman, aka MC Wheels, will support his heroes Bliss N Eso at their Brisbane Riverstage show, 24 Apr, as part of their Circus Under The Stars tour which also features Seth Sentry and Horrorshow. The Sunny Coast youngster, who’s overcome incredible odds to get to this level, will perform tracks from his debut record of last year, My Introduction.
REALISE THE REBIRTH
Reconnecting with the sounds of their earlier records, Drawn From Bees are returning with brand new EP Web Of Thieves, and following its 2 May release the Brissie band will play some celebratory launch dates to mark the occasion. They’re putting on two all ages shows 17 May, Studio 188, Ipswich and 23 May, Queen Street Mall (at 5pm, 6pm and 7pm!), before playing a big headline slot 25 May, Black Bear Lodge. Presale tickets for this final show can be picked up for $10.
THE MUSIC • 9TH APRIL 2014 • 11
music
TOTAL CONTROL There have been times throughout his musical career when Dan Sultan felt as if he was “being taken along for a ride that [he didn’t] particularly wanna be on,” but Bryget Chrisfield finds him motivated and aching to “write a song or two” with Josh Homme. Cover and feature pics by Kane Hibberd.
T
he free Music, Melbourne + Me: 40 Years Of Mushroom exhibition at RMIT Gallery closed at the conclusion of White Night in February, but Dan Sultan helped out on opening night by performing a couple of numbers. “It was quite an honour I think,” the singer/guitarist, seated opposite in the booth of a brand spanking new café in the Melbourne suburb of Coburg, acknowledges. “To be part of Melbourne history and to be on the [Mushroom] roster is one thing, but then to be able to play a few songs and a little bit of a showcase... And I think [Michael] Gudinski wanted to show everyone what he was on about [laughs], ‘cause I think he’s been revving it up for a while since we signed.” Sultan agrees Gudinski’s a great one to be championing him, adding, “I feel very well looked after at this stage. Yeah, it’s good.”
“IT’S GOOD TO HAVE THE FREEDOM TO WRITE WITH WHOEVER I WANT, OR NOT WRITE WITH WHOEVER I WANT.”
The first taste of new Sultan dropped at the end of last year via Under Your Skin, the first single from latest album Blackbird (his third). If you’ve watched the video, you’ll understand what we mean when we say that a blooper reel would make for quality viewing. There’s a lot of dancers getting all up in Sultan’s grill and he even gets licked and bitten. “We were all pretty close,” Sultan stresses, “one of them is my cousin [Kaine SultanBabij] and the other one I’ve known from, you know, 13 or 14 years old. And the others – everyone else I’ve known for quite a while anyway, ‘cause they were all the Bangarra dancers and we worked together for Bran Nue Dae and a couple of things. It was good fun.”
As soon as Jacquire King’s name was thrown into the ring to produce Blackbird, it was important “to see if [they] would click”, Sultan says. So the pair had a phone conversation a month or two before Sultan went over to start work on the album. “We spoke for about half an hour, 40 minutes,” he recalls. “For the first five minutes we spoke about the record and then for the rest of the time we just talked shit, you know. We just became friends, really. It was pretty instant. We knew pretty much straight away we’d be okay.”
Other than Under My Skin, are there any other tracks that Sultan has already performed live? “No.” There’s another cut on the album, Kimberley Calling, which sounds familiar. “Oh actually, yes! Maybe once or twice I’ve played that, but not a long time ago.”
Cutting an album in Nashville has gotta be an appealing prospect and the studio’s name also became the long-player’s
The café’s paint job matches Sultan’s eyes. The hesitant star looks reasonably content sipping on his sparkling mineral water, after admitting he still hates being interviewed at the beginning of our chat. Sultan is also in extra-fine voice at the moment, which probably comes down to cleaner living. “A little bit cleaner living,” he allows. “I still have my moments. Cleaner. Mostly. Yeah.”
12 • THE MUSIC • 9TH APRIL 2014
title. “He works out of a studio, Blackbird Studios, which is what the album’s named after,” Sultan clarifies. “It’s just an amazing place to work – incredible – a lot of great musicians have made records there… There’s a guitar there that a lot of them engraved their names into and I had a look at that – you know, Neil Young, Buddy Guy… just to name a couple – and they asked me to put my name on it, so that was pretty cool.” Recording kept them pretty busy (“We’d have breakfast together, we’d go to the studio in the morning and stay there for about 12 hours, 13 hours and then go home and go to bed”), but Sultan did manage to explore a little. “We went down to Memphis, we went to Graceland and it was closed at the time – well, the mansion was closed, so we didn’t get to see it – but we went into the museum and that was cool. So what we also did was go to the Stax Museum and that’s the old studio, you know, and we stood in that room where all those songs were recorded and all those people worked and that was pretty special. And especially because we were in the middle of making a record ourselves. So that was something that sticks out in the memory.” When you listen to Blackbird through headphones, the varied instrumentation that’s utilised from track to track rises from the mix. Are those castanets we hear on Waiting On The End Of The Phone? “I think
WHO’S THE BOSS? Dan Sultan scored the honour of warming up Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band’s stages earlier this year. So did he meet The Boss? “I met The Boss, yeah,” he confirms. Well… “It was cool, but, you know, obviously he didn’t have much time, but he was really generous and the body language was really cool – plenty of eye contact so, yeah! He was happy to say hello. It was cool.” Sultan played these opening slots, as well as a run of his own headline dates afterwards, as part of a four-piece – backed by guitarist Ash Naylor, bassist Josh Jones and drummer Pete Marin – and extols, “It’s the best tour we’ve ever done… particularly with our own shows, you know: we’re onstage for an hour and a half as opposed to half an hour, so we got to really put on some big sets. It’s the best it’s ever felt.” Noticeably during The Boss supports, Sultan kept his guitar strapped on for the set’s duration and didn’t get to swing his hips around quite as much. “I played all the guitar on the record, and I’ve been playing guitar longer than I’ve been singing, and I kind of neglected my guitar playing there for a while,” he explains. “So I’m really enjoying being more of a guitar player again.” The original plan for Sultan’s upcoming album tour was to recruit “a big, big band”. “But it kind of feels a little bit risky at this point,” he deliberates. “We’ll see how it ends up but, um, we know if worse comes to worst we can do the four-piece and have a good time and get a big sound.”
there’s a bit in there, yeah,” Sultan allows. “We had a great percussionist and I actually wasn’t in there while he was doing the percussion because we had to come back for a show, and then I had to go back [to the States]. So I was back [in Australia] for three days and in those three days he’d done the percussion, but I was getting sent photos and he had a pretty amazing set-up. He had a lot of objects that he was gettin’ some cool sounds out of. I really like those castanets.” There are also some bells that call to mind Red Right Hand by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds in Sultan’s latest single, The Same Man. “Yeah, the death bells, we utilised those in a coupla tracks actually,” he recalls. “The percussionist had a lot of that shit, like, sheets of iron – you know the [demonstrates a howling wind kind of sound] when he’d just shake it.” A bit Rolf Harrislike, the wobble board? Sultan laughs, “Well, maybe not, but, um, it sort of sounded a bit like thundering, you know? At the start of Nobody Knows there’s just a big kind of swooping into the song, so there’s a whole bunch of stuff in there that I’m still figuring [out] today.” It’s clear that Sultan appreciated King’s approach and the way the producer suggested improvements: “He’d do it in a way [where] it was up to us to figure it out. He’d tell us what he was thinking as an idea and the things that he would need, or that he felt that he needed, out of a particular session if we weren’t quite getting it, or if we needed to do a bit more with it, you know. But then he’d leave it up to us to figure out what that is, and then he’d let us know if we had it or not. And if we didn’t, we’d just keep working. And if we did, then we’d run it… It was a great experience and Jacquire; he’s really good to work with. We all learnt a lot working with him.” The first time this scribe interviewed Sultan was after one of his gigs back in January 2010, on the steps outside
Corner Hotel’s stage door. The film version of Bran Nue Dae, in which Sultan plays a character called Lester, had just hit cinemas and our scheduled interview was something Sultan wasn’t aware of. “I’m a lot more, well, in control and I’m also taking a lot more responsibility for it,” Sultan reflects on the changes that have occurred over the past four years or so. “My work ethic’s up because I’m motivated and I’m not having to deal with something like that. And, you know, there’s a lot that I can’t really say – that I don’t really wanna say – about Buzz [Thompson, former manager] and Scott [Wilson, former songwriting partner], from the past, because it was really just horrible for me for a long time and I don’t wanna have an article with any bad blood or anything like that. Because of that, and because of the way things
used to be run, I wasn’t that motivated and I didn’t care, you know, and I wasn’t happy and I was very disappointed a lot of the time. And now I feel like I’m – again, more in control, a lot happier and I feel like things are going in the direction that they should be rather than, I dunno, rather than feeling like I was helpless and I’m just kinda being taken along for a ride that I don’t particularly wanna be on, you know? It’s good to have the freedom to write with whoever I want, or not write with whoever I want.” When asked whether he has any fantasy songwriting partners, Sultan doesn’t hesitate: “Oh, yeah, there’s a few. Josh Homme’s awesome. He writes some amazing stuff. One day in a perfect world I’d love to write a song or two with him… But I’d like to just meet him let alone anything else. I’m a big fan of his. Yeah, but other than that: Nick Cave.”
WHAT: Blackbird (Liberator Music) WHEN & WHERE: 2 Jul, Solbar, Maroochydore; 3 Jul, The Spotted Cow, Toowoomba; 4 Jul, Soundlounge, Gold Coast; 5 Jul, Eatons Hill Hotel; 8 Jul, The Northern, Byron Bay
Thank you to True North in Coburg for supplying the location. THE MUSIC • 9TH APRIL 2014 • 13
music
NOT POLITE Chet Faker, aka Nicholas Murphy, may not give a stuff about awards, or about the mythos surrounding his beard, but he does care about his music. He sits down with Hannah Story.
“I
t’s more honest. Lyrically it’s way more honest. I’ve always written songs that are directly linked to my personal life, so I’m not making stories up, but the songs that were on the EP were pretty safe stories, y’know? I was never really giving up anything too personal, or maybe I was, but I never felt like I was.” Chet Faker, aka Nicholas Murphy, is speaking about his debut LP Built On Glass, the follow-up to his first EP, Thinking In Textures, which went Gold earlier this year. On the album, the bearded man with the R&Bstyle voice, croons about self-awareness, drawing upon both mundane experiences and introspective moments, while also writing break-up songs, “blatant kind of sing-it-from-the-hill love songs”, and even sex songs. It’s an album that didn’t come easy; he actually wrote and recorded two albums before even starting on what would become Built On Glass. “The first album I did I was just trying to impress people,” says Murphy. “It was like an album for everyone, I was trying to be too intellectual about it; my ego was in the way. I was like, ‘Yeah, I’m going to write the best fucking album ever.’ And I wrote this album and there were some good songs on there, but I got to the end and I was like, ‘What is this? This is not me, this isn’t personal enough, it’s not raw enough, it’s too safe.’ I remember sending it to someone at a record label, and they listened and they said it was ‘very polite’, which was the best fucking feedback ever.” So Murphy started anew. “Then I was a man on a mission towards the other end of the spectrum. I was like, ‘I have to reinvent music and get this new sound.’ So then I started writing this second album which was all experimental and super lo-fi, which was fun and it was really cool, and that felt good, but I was also trying too hard to be this entity that I wasn’t. Then I got to the end of that and I was like, ‘This isn’t right. It doesn’t feel natural. I forced it too much.’ So I kind of had to go through those two things to come to the final one where I finally came back to it and just relaxed and finally let myself write the songs without thinking about it too much.”
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In the media, Murphy has been described as ‘mysterious’, and there’s a certain fan-based mythos surrounding that beard. But he maintains that he’s put no effort into creating such a persona. ”The beard was something that I never pushed, I just hadn’t shaved… I’ve had mine for four years, they weren’t in four years ago. I’d like to shave it off but I’m kind of stuck with it now.” “And the mystery that people talk about, I actually think it’s a natural byproduct of me not simplifying myself so people can understand me… They’re all just kind of byproducts of the way I do things. I think people think I’m mysterious because they don’t know anything about me, but that’s because I don’t go out of my way to tell everything about me because I’m a musician, I’m not a TV personality. I’m not writing my autobiography at 25. I think it can be hard to accurately depict a character in the media, and that’s how most people know of me, through the media, and so I
imagine they think I’m mysterious just because there’s not a lot of bearded musicians, maybe. I just let people do whatever they want with my image. People are pretty funny, they kind of do their own thing, I just keep making music and go at my own pace.” It’s the music that matters the most to Murphy, not the accolades (and there have been accolades, from going Gold to winning AIR Awards to making it onto the Hottest 100. “Awards are good, I’ll try not to get too idealistic on you here, but I don’t think they’re important, do you know what I mean? And it’s an award. Why would you need an award? If it means so much, wouldn’t you be doing it anyway? I don’t know. I would never hang my awards on my wall. The day I hang an award on my wall is the day I give up. Because it’s irrelevant.” Murphy concludes that over the course of the last two years, since the release of his EP, following his career success and collaborations with Flume and more, what stands out to him are the life lessons.
“I’D LIKE TO SHAVE IT OFF BUT I’M KIND OF STUCK WITH IT NOW.” “Like just learning stuff about myself, learning to be more confident in my opinion, in the ways I think of things. I get so much more feedback from other people now, that you end up being way more confident in how you feel. I used to put a song out and depending on how people reacted I would decide whether that was a good song or a bad song, but now, I reach a larger audience. I can put out a song, like say Talk Is Cheap. People on the internet, I’m sure if you looked hard enough, I don’t read it, but I’m sure there’d be someone that fucking hates it, and someone who’s said that it changed their life, and there’d be everything in-between. But none of their opinions matters in my life, because at the end of the day it’s me. I get to define my own value in things. So that was a big thing, that is a big ongoing lesson in my life, kind of dealing with people critiquing what they perceive as me and just kind of being cool with it.” WHAT: Built On Glass (Opulent/Future Classic)
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STRANGE FRUIT
but we stick to the roots. We always say that some is leaves, some is branches, but I is the roots.”
Keeping the spirit of Bob Marley alive (while keeping The Wailers in line), Aston ‘Family Man’ Barrett tells Andy Hazel how much he “loved playing with Stevie [Wonder]” and then mentions a mystery tropical fruit he discovered in Australian rainforests.
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is voice oozing down the line like spilt molasses, bass legend Aston ‘Family Man’ Barrett wastes no time in getting to the point. “Yes I’m comin’ and we’re comin’ – we’re The Wailers! Let them know they must come out early and dance until late,” he booms. “See, I am one of the men who take Jamaican music to the forefront. Me and Bob [Marley], Bunny [Wailer] and Peter [Tosh], we set that standard far and over people before us. Reggae
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lets everyone know it is the art of the people. It is the universal language and it carries the message of roots, culture and reality!” Performing Legend, Bob Marley & The Wailers’ greatest hits album, the bassist sees these shows as a chance to remind audiences that, the band are all about roots. “Reggae is always being updated. There is a lot of new kinds of gear in the music stores – those sounds can get wild, but you’re just buying effects. When time goes by, technology always intrudes
Naming himself Family Man after his role as a musical ringleader, it’s this inclination, as well as a verbal agreement with Marley over royalties, that saw Barrett unsuccessfully sue Marley’s estate, three times, to the tune of $110 million. Despite this, Barrett is happy in his current role. “I think of a different term than bandleader, or boss, or foreman,” he explains. “We have to work and live together, but I is the one who is in charge. I label myself Family Man, and the name became legend! I have to keep all the young people in line so they don’t walk on the wild side!” Barrett clearly knows all about the wild side. Earning his nickname another way by fathering “about 52” children, he feels most at home when touring. “I have so many great memories of these songs. When Bob was alive, we once met up with Stevie Wonder, and he was saying to Bob, ‘You’ve got to release Jammin’ as a single!’ We knew it was a good song but we didn’t think it could be a single. Stevie says, ‘If you don’t do anything about it, I will!’ So he made the song Master Blaster! I loved playing with Stevie. “The first time I came to Australia was with Bob and we played a lot of great shows. I liked the rainforest. Up there, the forest was so fruitful. I was surprised to walk up on a sweet potato that we fried like a ripe mango. I don’t know what it was. It looked like a sweet potato and tasted like a sweet potato but you don’t have to cook it. I thought I was in dreamland! You just break it in two and eat it. It was amazing!”
WHEN & WHERE: 16 Apr, The Tivoli; 18 Apr, Bluesfest, Byron Bay
THE MAGIC IS STILL SAFE As Captain Beefheart’s backing band, The Magic Band gave us some unforgettable music. Guitarist Denny Walley – aka Feelers Reebo – tells Dan Condon why they’re at it again.
“T
he whole reason for us reforming the band is that this music is too important to go away, it needs to get to more people’s ears.”
Guitarist Denny Walley says the rationale behind five members of Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band deciding to reform was simple. Sure, it was 21 years after the final album with their name attached – 1982’s Ice Cream For Crow – when Matt Groening got them for his 2003 All Tomorrow’s Parties event, but the demand was there and enough former members were keen. “We were cheered on by people when they found out this was happening,” Walley says. “[Beefheart’s] music would have died had someone not picked it up and tried to bring it to the masses again. It’s challenging, some bands were trying to do it but the music is so difficult, and to have it be acceptable to the people who were really fans, it had to be played verbatim.” Perhaps the person least excited was Don Van Vliet – Beefheart himself. “He was not thrilled. He didn’t want anything to do with the music business anymore and his health was failing as well, that was the main reason for him bowing out. He had MS that was progressing so he was unable to tour. But he wasn’t happy, Eric Drew Feldman [keyboardist] told me that, when Don was asked about how he felt about us doing it, he was grumpy about it. But, nonetheless, we persevered. The music is 16 • THE MUSIC • 9TH APRIL 2014
too important to let it fade into the sunset.” Walley didn’t join the band until the mid-1970s, so he had that moment of hearing 1969’s Trout Mask Replica for the first time just like the rest of us. “We had just gotten through doing the Bongo Fury tour – I was playing with Frank Zappa at the time – and Captain Beefheart was the guest artist on that tour. At the end of the tour Frank said, ‘You oughta play with Beefheart.’ So Frank gave me a copy of Trout Mask Replica and said, ‘Go home and listen to this.’ “I listened to it and called Frank and said, ‘Frank, are you mad at me? Why did you give me this? I can’t
even find a guitar part! What notes do I play?’ I had to listen to it about eight times to finally see the intricacies of it and pick out who was playing what. I loved it, there was just so much there and the poetry was fantastic.” The band cover some of Beefheart’s most challenging material. “We do the stuff that used to make people run screaming into the night. People are so conditioned to the I-IV-V-IV, the 12-bar-blues, you listen to a lot of things on the radio and you can predict where the next change is gonna be. So when you hear something that throws you off balance, that you’re not familiar with, it makes you uncomfortable. Either you are repelled by it or you are drawn into it because it’s a place you haven’t been before and maybe you wanna give it a try.” WHEN & WHERE: 17, 18 & 20 Apr, Bluesfest, Byron Bay
PICKS OF THE
SIDESHOWS
If you can’t make the trip to Byron Bay this Easter, you don’t festival need to miss out on the amazing music that the festival is bringing to Australia this year. Bluesfest take some of the finest acts on the bill to audiences along the east coast this year; here are a few of the finest shows they’ve got lined up for 2014.
ALLEN STONE
What’s his story? Pasty 27-year-old white guy with a soul voice that doesn’t match his aesthetic. Why should you see him? He’s a singer and an electrifying performer. Even if you don’t like his eponymous LP, most soul fans will find his live show utterly stunning. YouTube this: Allen Stone Live at Java Jazz Festival 2014 When & where: 16 Apr, The Zoo
STEVE EARLE & THE DUKES What’s his story? Once tipped to be the next Springsteen, Earle got clean and stayed true to his true musical passion, becoming arguably the king of alt-country. Why should you see him? So many amazing songs, including those from his latest LP The Low Highway, and an amazing band backing him up. YouTube this: Steve Earle & The Dukes – Invisible Live On Letterman When & where: 15 Apr, The Tivoli
KC & THE SUNSHINE BAND What’s their story? (Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty, That’s The Way (I Like It), Get Down Tonight, Give It Up… need we even go on? Why should you see them? They’re bringing the full show to town and they have the amazing LA funk collective WAR joining them as well. YouTube this: KC & The Sunshine Band – Get Down Tonight (The Disco Explosion) When & where: 19 Apr, The Tivoli
OZOMATLI What’s their story? Possibly the world’s greatest party band. Why should you see him? Because they’re possibly the world’s greatest party band with a live show like no other. Seriously. YouTube this: Ozomatli – Cumbia de los Muertos (Live on KEXP) When & where: 23 Apr, The Zoo
THE WAILERS What’s their story? The most important and commercially successful reggae band of all time, they were formed by a fella called Bob Marley and continue to play his songs to this day. Why should you see them? It’s not the same personnel as during the Marley years, but Aston Barrett, who used to lead the band, is still there. YouTube this: The Wailers Live at High Times – Cannabis Cup – Compilation – Melkweg Amsterdam 2013 When & where: 16 Apr, The Tivoli
NAHKO & MEDICINE FOR THE PEOPLE
What’s their story? Too interesting to fit here; multi-cultural Why should you see them? Socially conscious party music led by a guy with one of the most captivating and unique voices around. YouTube this: Nahko and Medicine for the People – Warrior People (Live) – California Roots The Carolina Sessions When & where: 23 Apr, The Tivoli
INDIA.ARIE & JOSS STONE
What’s their story? Two young soul singers from very different backgrounds. Why should you see them? The odds are in favour of at least one of them bringing the house down. YouTube this: India Arie – “Can I Walk With You” + “Not The Average Girl” – Live When & where: 20 Apr, The Tivoli
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SEND IN THE CLOWNS Max McKinnon aka Eso is hanging out to hit the road as part of Bliss N Eso’s travelling circus roadshow with his bros Seth Sentry and Horrorshow, but as he tells Chris Yates, there’s plenty more keeping him busy.
“I
f you want the real, I have not slept. And not in that party-raging way,” he says, sounding a little worse for wear. Not one to shy away from taking on extracurricular activities even when the group is flat out, his latest venture still might come as a bit of a surprise to his fans. A good surprise.
“I was down in Canberra performing in my first role in a movie,” he says, like he can barely believe it himself. “No shit! Do you know Alex ‘Shooter’ Williamson? I did a YouTube video with him called You Can’t Say This Word and it’s about the word ‘cunt’. He’s put together this full budget motion picture called Me And My Mates Vs The Zombie Apocalypse and it’s him, Greg Fleet and Jim Jeffries, and I played a small part in it last night. It was like a night time shoot from 6pm to 6am so a got a flight at 7am and they said ‘Alright, you’ve got to do some interviews!’ so I said ‘Alright, give me a Red Bull,’ and here I am.” Since the release of Circus In The Sky, which hit number one on the national ARIA charts, Bliss N Eso decided to put on the biggest production yet for their live shows. “It’s been amazing,” he says. “We’re not just a DJ and two MCs anymore, we’ve sort of amped it up to another level. We’ve got a crazy drummer, a guy called Darren (Mathiassen) from Shapeshifter, we’ve got a great pianist, we’ve got Ceekay Jones over on guitar, he was on our single My Life, and so yeah it’s been amazing watching the tracks come to life from the CD versions to this roaring sound – it’s like riding a fucking huge wave. The lyrics – I don’t know what it is about natural drums and the timing – but the lyrics feel you can play with them a little bit more, so you can do different, extra melodies and stuff which keeps it fresh for us as well. I find when I freestyle to real drums my flow is more like liquid than the [drum machine sound]. Then I’ve got to be the flow because the beat is so stop and start.” Having already treated the capital cities and major centres around Australia to a live rendition of Circus In The Sky, they decided they wanted to take things up to the next level for a run of shows around the country which has turned into the behemoth, 15-date Circus Under The Stars tour. “We’ve done so many shows that were little pub gigs all around Australia when we first started, we’ve all really
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liked playing outdoors, having that nature vibes happening,” he says. “We started off going to all of these small towns all around Australia, that’s how we saw this beautiful country. As we’ve grown in success we haven’t really been able to hit all those places. We’ve hit the big cities and then a couple of other places so we thought it was definitely time to give back to the people and remember how we started. And how we started was as a live act and hitting up ‘your’ town when the town was thirsty for anything to come along and say hello. That’s a real big part of why we wanted to do this tour. And it’s not a small show, you know? I mean we’ve got a huge production on this, we’ve got a band – what we had at the Big Day Out we’re bringing on tour. We’ve got fucking Seth Sentry, we’ve got Horrorshow, and that’s a mini-festival in itself.” As they take Circus In The Sky to its ultimate conclusion, you would forgive the guys if they hadn’t had time to pursue many activities outside the promotion of that record, but of course that’s not the case.
“We’ve just recently come from playing for the troops in Afghanistan,” he says. “We were over there for eight days and we did six shows at six different bases, in September last year. That was an absolute eye-opener. I mean the closest I want to get to war is in my lounge room in my flip flops playing Call Of Duty. With the amount of soldiers – guys and girls over there – that were hitting our social media and saying ‘You have to come over here’ we had to do it Bliss N Eso are not for war at all, but it’s happening and there’s people over there that are risking their lives so you know, to be able to give them that break and supply them with a smile and a reason to jump around and have some fun, that was amazing. “We were basically in the bases, in the war zone, up in the Hercules with a bulletproof vest on, I heard SAS stories that I wouldn’t even be allowed to tell you, mate. I didn’t want to go at first, but it was a once in a lifetime opportunity.
“I MEAN THE CLOSEST I WANT TO GET TO WAR IS IN MY LOUNGE ROOM IN MY FLIP FLOPS PLAYING CALL OF DUTY.”
“From there we went to Canada and did a tour from the west coast to the east coast over three weeks, and during that time I actually stopped drinking. The industry supplies the artist with quite a bit of booze at the end of the show as I’m sure you know, and I was one that kind of fell victim to drinking a little bit too much, so I am now four months and eight days off the piss. Everything has been a life-changer this last six months. At the end of the Canada tour I got married in Vegas so it’s this whole new intergalactic world which has opened up for me.” WHEN & WHERE: 24 Apr, Riverstage; 25 Apr, Virgin Australia Stadium, South Mackay; 17 May, Big Pineapple Music Festival
SCREAMING OUT Screamer, poet, husband, blogger and positive thinker – Killswitch Engage frontman Jesse Leach is an admirable multitasker. As the US metalcore titans head to our shores, he talks to Brendan Crabb about not merely fixating on the darkness.
T
wo years on from returning, and 12 months since unleashing acclaimed Disarm The Descent, existing within the Killswitch Engage fold remains fresh for rejuvenated vocalist Jesse Leach. He also grapples to fully fathom the enormity of it. “I never thought I’d be back,” he humbly gushes. “Then to actually enjoy it as much as I have, it’s not lost on me. It’s still something that shocks me, the amount of love I have for it; I’ll arrive in places across the world and have to pinch myself.”
As documented during the (Set This) World Ablaze DVD, Leach departed the then-rising Massachusetts metalcore outfit following 2002’s game-changing Alive Or Just Breathing, citing burnout and the desire to spend time with his new bride. In the meantime, they attained Gold sales, Grammy nominations and undertook numerous world tours. Prior to being re-admitted into the ranks after Howard Jones moved on, Leach managed to get the work-life balance far better in check. Taking greater care of himself facilitates the frontman’s aspirations of being a multi-faceted
artist. He’s insistent that Killswitch Engage’s parameters don’t solely define – or confine – him. “I write a lot on the road, but it’s not necessarily lyrics. [It’s] just writing in general; whether it’s poetry, or my thoughts or anything that sort of strikes me. Just being a writer, I think it’s important to capture that stuff. Whether or not you use it for lyrics; I can always go back to notebooks and look at stuff, just exercising my craft. It’s important to do that.
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“I consider myself more of a poet than I do a metal/hardcore singer. I think I’m first and foremost a poet; I’ve been writing since I was like 14 years old. But it’s not stuff that I would necessarily want to put out in the public. I’d say maybe one-eighth of it is decent enough where I could potentially put out a book. I think I’m a writer first and foremost, and then sort of metal/ hardcore lyricist comes after that,” Leach laughs. “I think [publishing a book is] eventually something I’d be interested in. I have an online column as well, and [I’m] getting ready to launch my own website, which will have a lot of my writing on it, blogs and stuff like that. I love writing, it’s great. It’s a different way to express myself that isn’t inhibited by, you know, three- to four-minute songs.” Maintaining a feverish schedule is as vital as oxygen. “I need it that way. I can’t sit still; it’s just not in my nature. I have absolute gratitude to anyone who has supported what I do, and supported Killswitch. I’m very blessed to do what I do, and it’s all because of the fans and people who support us.”
WHEN & WHERE: 11 Apr, Eatons Hill Hotel
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STRIPPING OFF From a train traveling up to the Blue Mountains, Heidi Lenffer of Cloud Control calls Hannah Story about culturally guided music appreciation and stripping back.
W
hen The Music talks to Cloud Control on the eve of the release of Dream Cave Unplugged, keys player Heidi Lenffer is on her way up to the shimmering Blue Mountains, their hometown. She and bassist Jeremy Kelshaw have moved back to Sydney permanently, following months spent living in London, with her brother, Ulrich, drums, and frontman, Alister Wright, staying behind. Having toured the US, the UK and Australia since the release of last year’s Dream Cave, Lenffer speaks about the differences between the countries in terms of their receptiveness to Cloud Control’s dreamy synth/guitar-pop tunes. “The US is our new favourite place to tour… There’s a whole new attitude there that we haven’t encountered in the UK. We’re really enjoying the open-mindedness of the US public. We’re already selling out shows there and we’ve only been there twice. “I think music appreciation is culturally enshrined or culturally guided,” says Lenffer. “I was talking about that open-mindedness that I’ve noticed in some of the people who’ve come to see us recently in the US and I think that’s a product of their belief that you can achieve anything. People who come from the States I think have grown up believing that nothing is out of your grasp if you work hard enough for it. And failure is just a step on the path to success, so you need to fail a thousand times... Whereas in the UK, and even here in Australia to an extent, failure is just seen as failure. The way that that translates into music appreciation is that people are willing to give, in the US, bands a go more readily. I think in the UK you have to be seen to have proven yourself. With your friends, you’ll only go around to see a band if your friend has OKed them, will go check ‘em out then. But the amount of people who stumbled upon us on a blog or whatever and then decided to come along, or just came along with their mates to a show on a Tuesday night in San Francisco, and then found us that way. I’d say there’s a marked difference. There’s an air of optimism in the States that you don’t find in the UK. And I’m not trying to hate on the UK, I had a great time performing there, but there is a more sort of cultural oppression, rather than the freedom that you feel in the US.” Australia, on the other hand, is a scene that’s more intimate, and the home of the majority of Cloud Control’s 20 • THE MUSIC • 9TH APRIL 2014
growing fanbase. “The Australian scene is really five cities, and you do the circuit between those five cities until someone overseas invites you to come play for them, whereas in London, international bands come in and out of there all the time. We’ve found there’s less of a community there
for a lot longer than they do in London. London’s really two years and then you’re done.” The band are back in Australia to promote Dream Cave Unplugged, a stripped-back version of last year’s LP, by playing free acoustic shows across both metropolitan and regional Australia. “The arranging of the songs often, or mostly, happens in our lounge room together, just with an acoustic guitar and our voices. So we deliberately did it that way to make sure there’s a strong core to every song… So the acoustic version of the album was really easy to do, it was a quite natural thing to do... It’s 36 shows and we’re playing tiny little country towns all
“IN THE UK, AND EVEN HERE IN AUSTRALIA TO AN EXTENT, FAILURE IS JUST SEEN AS FAILURE.” because it was a much more transient place… When we were playing the Sydney circuit it was all going between venues, so two or three years of that band life; we literally knew most, like 80 per cent, of the bands, and they all came to the same parties and went to the same university and all went to the same band comp. It’s a lot more tightknit. That just comes from population size as well but also mentality because a lot of people hang around Sydney
around Australia which I’ve always wanted to do, because Midnight Oil used to play every pub in every town in Australia, that was a challenge for them to do. And I thought, one day we’ll do that, and I never thought we’d do it as an acoustic band, but it’ll be great.” WHAT: Dream Cave Unplugged (Ivy league/Liberation) WHEN & WHERE: 12 Apr, Story Bridge Hotel; 13 Apr, Paddington Tavern; 13 Apr, Komune, Coolangatta; 16 Apr, Brunswick Hotel, Brunswick Heads; 16 Apr, Beach Hotel, Byron Bay; 17 Apr, Noose Heads SLSC; 17 Apr, Solbar, Maroochydore; 19 Apr, Jubilee Hotel; 19 Apr, Boardwalk Tavern, Gold Coast; 20 Apr, Coolangatta Hotel.
WON’T BE A CASUALTY With OFF!, Keith Morris has had something of a punk rock career resurgence. The former Black Flag and Circle Jerks frontman tells Dan Condon he’s having a blast.
“I
’m having the time of my life,” Keith Morris says in his rich Southern Californian inflection. “I’m going to be 59 years old in a few months, which means I’m approaching 60, which would usually mean I was trying to take care of the retirement fund and putting extra money aside in the bank to be able to drive in a Winnebago and see all of the wonderful sights in the United States. “But I’m having a great time; I’m really seriously enjoying myself. Of course there’s a few hang-ups, a few snags, we
have a lot of scheduling conflicts; there’s three dads, three of us play in about seven, eight other bands. I would love it for OFF! to be everyone’s priority but it just doesn’t work that way. So whenever we get together, we’ve got to cram as much action and adventure and music and camaraderie into two weeks here, three weeks there, whenever we get the opportunity. “Consequently that spills over to the energy we put forth in the band. It also is part of the fuel for our performances and the type of material that Dimitri [Coats – guitarist and OFF! co-songwriter] and I write.” The band’s new record, Wasted Years,
is classic OFF! - short, heavy, angry songs easy to understand, owing to the fact we are all going through the same shit, no matter where we live.
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“We go to all these different places and we see all these different things going on. The fact of the matter is that, ultimately, a lot of the stuff that we’re writing lyrics [about] has become a little more universal. The handful of people who control everything, the billionaires, the haves and the have nots, us versus them – it’s a neverending, ongoing, perpetual situation – us against the authoritative figures.” Morris was the original vocalist in the legendary Californian punk band Black Flag, from 1976 to 1979, and recently joined forces with fellow Black Flag members Chuck Dukowski, Bill Stevenson and Dez Cadena and Descendents’ Stephen Egerton to play the songs of that band as FLAG. Morris and Black Flag parted in acrimonious fashion and it sounds as if memories of those days are starting to irk him. “One of the major things that I discovered was that there was a reason for me leaving [Black Flag] – I wasn’t feeling cool about the things that were going on and I finally found out I was going to be kicked out of the band anyways. “With FLAG, a lot of those same things started to come up. I don’t want to diss on FLAG because when we’re playing we’re having a great time and it’s undeniable that we love the songs. With Billy Stevenson we have a guy who is totally into quality control. What I mean by that is we’re not just gonna stand up there and look like a bunch of guys in our mid-50s, late 50s, early 60s – it just doesn’t work for this kind of music.” WHAT: Wasted Years (UNFD/Warner)
THE MUSIC • 9TH APRIL 2014 • 21
festival
SEEING THINGS A-NEW Next Wave Artistic Director Emily Sexton talks festivals, contemporary arts and Queensland artists set to make their mark in the Big Smoke with Helen Stringer.
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iennial festival for new and emerging artists, Melbourne’s Next Wave, this year comprises a massive 239 artists, and about 40 new projects, including from Queensland artists, which will be exhibited and performed across the city. “We’re quite unique,” says Emily Sexton, Artistic Director of New Wave, “because we work in a two-year development and presentation cycle, which means that every piece of work for the festival is brand new and developed exclusively. It’s a very special festival for emerging Australian artists; it’s got this provocative and experimental remit that also explores a depth of practice with real rigour.” This year’s theme is New Grand Narratives, asking questions about what will come next in an increasingly
ALTERTRUISM BY GOLDEN SOLUTION. PIC: JASMINE COLEMAN
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fragmented world in which institutions are cracking and cynicism reigns. “I did a lot of research, talking to emerging minds and young people about what’s important. I encountered a lot of people who were quite cynical about the dominant ways meaning is handed to them. The question this year is: if you were to offer a new vision or a new world order to contemporary humanity, what would it look like? I think what we’ve arrived at is a very diverse, a very intelligent portrayal of different ways the world could be from a contemporary point of view.” A keynote initiative is Blak Wave, which
showcases seven new contemporary arts projects, all led by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, including Queenslander Ryan Presley, a visual artist who has expanded from paint, print and sculpture to large-scale interactive installations for Next Wave. Also in the Queensland contingent are three artists, Michael Candy, Andrew McLellan and Kiah Reading, who form new art collective Golden Solution. Their work deals with the systems and processes that humans interact with and how the collective consciousness can make decisions. “They’ve got a range of different events and exhibitions that explore how we participate in letting go of a lot of our civic rights. We’ve also got Nathan Stoneham, Younghee Park and M’ck McKeague,” Sexton continues, on Brisbane-based collaborative artists who merge experience with performance. Their project, “meshes eating and food and K-pop and performance and has a really hopeful and gorgeous queer vibe. It is, for many of them, the most ambitious and a new departure within their practice and an incredible professional moment for them, to have that many eyes within the industry and within a broader audience; for many of them it’s the biggest moment in their career. What I hope they get out of it is that they have a great time; I hope they’re satisfied with what they’ve made and they feel rewarded because they have all worked so hard. I just hope that they’re satisfied and that they have a good time at the festival.”
WHAT: New Wave Festival: New Grand Narrative WHEN & WHERE: 16 Apr – 11 May, various locations in Melbourne
SHOULDN’T BE AFRAID It took just one visit for The Bad Shepherds to prove their musical credentials – frontman Ade Edmondson talks to Steve Bell about his relief at finally stripping away the artifice.
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hen UK folk outfit The Bad Shepherds first toured Australia in 2013 most of the attention they garnered was due to the presence of comedy legend Ade Edmondson (best known for his portrayal of psychotic medical student Vyvyan Basterd in cult comedy The Young Ones) as the band’s mandolintoting frontman. That tour, however, proved emphatically that the outfit – who predominantly play frenetic folk versions of punk standards – are far more than a novelty proposition, and this time around it’s all about the music. “There’s a benefit about being well known sometimes, and sometimes there’s a negative to it. The aspersions of us being a vanity project went on for a number of years, but we have been paying our dues and we’re still going and we’re still playing rammy little rock crowds – which is where we like playing – so I think everyone realises that it’s beyond that now. “I think once you get three albums in on a project like this you have evidence backing what it is. The truth is that Troy [Donockley – uilleann pipes, cittern, whistles] is a musical genius, and together we work very well. It’s all based on that relationship really, it’s growing as we get better musically at expressing ourselves.” The Bad Shepherds’ recent third album Mud, Blood And Beer contained the band’s first recorded originals, but Edmondson concedes the punk standards that they 22 • THE MUSIC • 9TH APRIL 2014
revitalise in the folk form that really give the band its power. “How can I say this without being bigheaded... it’s a bloody good idea, and we do it rather well,” he smiles. “I think that’s why it goes down well. There’s all sorts of factors going into it; one is the fact that we’re nominally playing recognisable songs – even though you don’t really recognise them until we’ve finished them generally – but we have that in our back pocket, that people are aware of what they’re listening to, even though it’s been transformed
and they’re listening to it in a different way. And then we kind of surprise them with how good those songs are, compared to how they think they are – a lot of people think that punk songs are just a lot of aggression and shouting and spitting and swearing, but they’re a lot more complex than that. “It was an extraordinary burst of songwriting that era, by teenage kinda gits who were producing a load of adult material, it was just brilliant. It’s very hard to find an equivalent these days. Country music is the nearest equivalent to punk I think, it’s the only genre that deals with adult stuff, and the only thing that isn’t solipsistic – that isn’t self-centred. All of today’s pop music – all the stuff in the charts – is just so boring! It’s devoid of any social context, it has no meaning – it just bores the shit out of me.” WHEN & WHERE: 16 Apr, Black Bear Lodge
PERMANENT FLUX Putting the final pieces of their new party puzzle into place, Gaz Harrison talks about the good times clusterfuck that is Yacht Club DJs with Benny Doyle.
“I
t’s been a process this one; it’s just been a time thing,” sighs Gaz Harrison when asked about Yacht Club DJs’ new mixtape, Oddity Number 5. “You know when you do anything for too long and you start to get buggy and burnt out? Well I’ve been locked in the studio since just after Christmas and I’ve pretty much done it every single day, including Sundays, because I’m a bit of a slave driver and if I get lazy I won’t make myself work all night. But I think this is our best [mixtape] yet. It’s our catchcry I swear to god, but we think this one is really good.” As Yacht Club DJs, the Ballarat scamp along with equally hairy pal Guy Chappell have turned absurdist
mash-ups into an art form, and what started as something to fill in the gaps between more standard band gigs has seen them called on continually for our country’s biggest festivals, and even led to them being handpicked by Mumford & Sons to close their North American Gentlemen Of The Road Stopovers late last year. “People that came to it all just had this open-minded love of music; everyone was approaching that music like a raver would go to a rave festival,” Harrison remembers. “People were just really accepting and would give you everything back.” Influenced by the likes of Old Crow
Medicine Show and The Vaccines, Harrison says some of the styles they heard on the road have wormed their way onto this next release, but if you’ve listened to a Yacht Club mixtape before you already know the boys are happy to let their imaginations run wild. When asked what was influencing their track selection this time, Harrison responds, “Earth”. That pretty much captures the ethos of the pair, who will casually rip through every era and style you can imagine before turning the pieces into a coherent piece of music that will keep you stomping with glee.
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Yacht Club DJs are conducting a club tour to launch Oddity Number 5, but Harrison reveals they might have another surprise, admitting the duo’s anticipated debut EP might be ready in time for these shows. The DJ/producer and multi-instrumentalist says plenty of trial and error has led to an eclectic first release that respects the hot mess of Yacht Club, but it’s been crafted in a more ‘together’ fashion, at least as together as Gaz and Guy can be. “Every song has a genre, but there are a lot of genres in what we write,” Harrison says, mentioning surf pop, electro, punk, hip hop and 3am Berlin techno all in the same breath. “We’re just picking tracks we feel present well together, and then we’re going to eventually work to doing an album where we get fully weird. This is a weird EP, but if you consider it in the realm of Yacht Club I don’t think it’s weird at all.” WHAT: Oddity Number 5 (Independent) WHEN & WHERE: 11 Apr, Elsewhere, Gold Coast; 12 Apr, Oh Hello!; 13 Apr, Beach Hotel, Byron Bay
HELSINKI 4 EVA
music
As far as Cameron Bird is concerned, if you stop learning, you die. With the release of Architecture In Helsinki’s fifth album imminent, he talks to Zoe Barron about growing up.
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reviously, Architecture In Helsinki’s brand of pop has been bright and chaotic, defined by neon and cowbells, French horns and childlike vocals. After ten years as a recording band, four fulllength albums and a fifth in its final stages, constant learning and self-imposed challenges have seen the band mature over the years. Many reviewers of 2011’s, Moment Bends remarked on the new polish present in the album, some lamented the loss of childish innocence, but most conceded the album was a natural stop in the development of a long-sustaining band. “Music fans often believe early records are the best because they’re the most naïve, honest and pure,” frontman Cameron Bird says. “Obviously we don’t have the naivety we had when we started out because we’ve made five records and have been a recorded band for ten years. “We’ve always had a philosophy or an unspoken understanding between the band that if we didn’t feel like we were being challenged or creatively fulfilled by what we were making with each record, then the band would cease to exist. That’s just how it rolls. We would never just make a record for the sake of it.” One strategy a few years ago was to scatter. For a while there, members of Architecture in Helsinki were stationed all over the world, as farflung as Brooklyn, Brazil and San Francisco. While they all eventually gravitated
back to Melbourne, the geographical separation was a definite decision – a stern guard against complacency. “I think that with time, because you have so much more experience and understanding – and baggage I guess when you come to writing a song – it does often make it more challenging. The more you make records, the more challenging it is because, rather than being complacent, it’s more about a struggle with feeling like the music you’re making… that you still feel it has relevance. “With each record, you learn a whole bunch of things. For us, we’ll always try to use different gear, or a different studio
space, or be in a different city. So I think you learn a lot about yourself as a writer or a producer just like that. Because you present yourself with new challenges and that’s, for me, how you’re able to write stronger songs and songs that challenge you and challenge your audience.” Bird says NOW + 4EVA is pretty much the sequel to Moment Bends. Again, there’ll be that cleaner sound and close production. “Because of the philosophy behind it and the way we put it together, we’re using techniques and approaches that we developed while we were working on Moment Bends. So it’s very much indebted to pop music through the last 30 or 40 years. It’s really influenced by the Philadelphia soul sound of the ‘70s, influenced by Top 40 pop songs from when we were kids. There are a lot of touchstones for us in the record, and it really reads as a real tribute without being pastiche-y. That’s something we always try to avoid.” WHEN & WHERE: 12 Apr, The Hi-Fi; 4 May, Groovin The Moo, Townsville THE MUSIC • 9TH APRIL 2014 • 23
ALBUM OF THE WEEK
★★★★
album reviews
SASKWATCH
RUSSELL MORRIS
Nose Dive
Northside/Remote Control Melbourne soul darlings, Saskwatch, have shaken things up with latest release, Nose Dive, yet in so doing have retained the essence of their sound. By not contenting themselves with simply creating more of what made them so popular to begin with, the group has forged ahead in a slightly different direction, embracing a more guitar-oriented aesthetic. The funkier soul leanings found on their debut LP, Leave It All Behind, have given way to tracks with an up-tempo ‘50s sheen, evoking dance halls and milk bars, pomaded hair and blood-red lipstick, and kudos to the band for expanding on their already watertight, locked-in grooves. Opening with the peppy bounce of Give Me A Reason, the track smacks of an irrepressible verve that weaves through the entire album. Horns have been used sparingly and when they are it’s to highlight song sections tastefully. Latest single, Born To
Van Diemen’s Land Fanfare/Universal
Break Your Heart is as bittersweet as it is memorable, Nkechi Anele singing in a high register that lends the song a fragile charm. It’s not all falsetto vocals, however, as Hands and Is It True? showcase the charismatic frontwoman’s extensive range. Underpinning this is a band that continues to be a solid unit, with all members providing parts that have been meticulously thoughtout and intelligently arranged. More restrained than their debut, Nose Dive is a mature release that quashes the “difficult second album” notion and solidifies Saskwatch’s position as one of Melbourne’s finest young bands. Glenn Waller
Clearly yearning for an old Australia, or at least wanting to have fun with some old myths and styles of old music, Russell Morris has delivered a mellow collection with Van Diemen’s Land. Morris mixes international influences with local references from over time for his latest release. Opener Dexter’s Big Tin Can is like a slowed-down Acca Dacca, mixed with midcareer U2 (especially if Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me were blues). The title track is a bit more straightforward but with a slight Springsteen edge, while Birdsville takes it to a clear type of rockabilly Americana (complete with a great female vocal and sax solo). We’re clearly back to Australian storytelling with Breaker Morant, though, the famous soldier already immortalised in the Bryan Brown film, and whose own history was rewritten a little
CHET FAKER
OFF!
Opulent/Future Classic
Vice/ADA/Warner
Chet Faker’s debut drops just as he is about to rip it up on a tour of the UK this month. Success seems to come easily to this producer from Melbourne who managed to create a massive buzz of interest across the internet in 2011 with his surprising cover of Blackstreet’s No Diggity. Although eagerly anticipated, Faker has taken his time in getting around to releasing this album. As a result Built On Glass is a well rounded record, finding the producer continuing to think in intricately layered lo-fi textures to create mellow vibes that roll with laidback beats.
If you didn’t like the first OFF! releases then there’s no point trying Wasted Years; they haven’t evolved much. It’s loud and angry punk rock spluttered in short bursts by a seemingly constantly furious Keith Morris, while a tight, punishing band drip evil and punishing, but intricately arranged, hardcore behind him.
Built On Glass
Faker’s capacity to work with elements of R&B, soul, jazz and glitchy electronica to craft forward-thinking pop music is what sets his music apart from the pack. The star of this show is his soulful croon, which aches with emotion as he deals out introspective lyrics that reflect on life and relationships with a 24 • THE MUSIC • 9TH APRIL 2014
★★★ while ago. It’s appropriate then that this track is minimal in its approach, focusing on lyrics and developing story – the “scapegoats of the Empire” lyric left to hang over brushy drums and a weeping guitar. The Witch Of Kings X takes the blues to inner city Sydney (perhaps with a little sleaze thrown in) while Sandakan takes a basic 12-bar with slide guitar, muted trumpet and old-timey mics to channel a proper oldschool pop music approach – lyric “ghosts in the jungle” ‘answered’ by the trumpet forms a fine little duet. A good collection of folk/blues and national myths delivered by a man who knows his way around the local biz. Liz Giuffre
Wasted Years
★★★½ certain melancholy. At times he sings with a weathered bluesy rasp that suggests experience well beyond his years. It’s easy to sink deep into the slow-motion vibes of the album’s opener, Release Your Problems, and once you’ve entered this immersive space Faker guides us through the length and breadth of this album. Elsewhere, Talk Is Cheap revives the art of the “pop” saxophone solo, while the electro lounge stylings of Melt see vocalist Kilo Kish adding a feminine perspective. It’s a dreamy, sensuous sprawl of an album that’s like waking from a dream by the time you reach the last track. Guido Farnell
The album was recorded live in the band’s rehearsal room, so the performances are perhaps slightly looser than before, but it’s barely enough to notice. The sheen has barely been buffed – it doesn’t really sound like a rehearsal room recording – but that’s a good thing. Dimitri Coats’ spiny riffs and the unrelenting blast of the rhythm section of Steven McDonald and Mario Rubacabla mesh so suitably that it feels okay to call OFF! one of the best rock bands in the world right now. Lyrically Morris has never sounded angrier. “Ever feel you’re being used?” he yells in
★★★★ Hypnotized – a veritable epic at two-and-a-quarter minutes – a simplistic line that just about sums up the disenchantment that pumps through every song. Whether he’s yelling about addiction, the distribution of wealth or the inherent inequality in modern life in general, Morris doesn’t even come close to sounding happy and that’s pretty much exactly how we like it. At an average playing time of around 90 seconds, their songs are longer than ever, so if OFF!’s impassioned, unadorned hardcore has turned you on before, it’ll turn you on again with Wasted Years. Dan Condon
albums/singles/eps
★★½
SI THE PHILANTHROPIST The Mull EP Independent Si from Wagons’ lo-fi hip hop weedfest adventures continue on this EP of delicious beats and weird mumble rapping.
T54 Life Is Swell Flying Nun/Remote Control Excellent indie pop that lives up to the label’s reputation and doesn’t try too hard.
SOMETHING REALLY BEAUTIFUL Courtney’s Love Killed Kurt Cobain
★★★★
★★★★
BREATHE CAROLINA
EAGULLS
LIARS
Savages
Eagulls
Mess
Fearless/Shock
Popfrenzy
Mute/Create Control
Colorado’s Breathe Carolina have long disguised a brand of out-and-out as some, admittedly weak, type of screamo punk. They had the sleeve tattoos, the denim vests, the angular haircuts and played the Warped tour; they always seemed like they had punk rock aspirations. On Savages, album number four, they cast off all of these punk rock pretensions to be a fully-fledged electronic pop act. Dirty vox singer Kyle Even has left the band and here it’s just dumb party-pop bangers, hardly removed from what you’d hear on a Kesha record. It’s not punk at all, but that’s fine.
Deliberately ragged and rough around the edges, Eagulls forge their own path while offering hints of all the best bits of huge-selling, arena-filling bands, back when they were still cool. Their press release might say ‘post punk’, but Eagulls the band and Eagulls the album are both bigger than that. Every song hits the ground running; there’s never any inclination to ease the listener into anything or even give you a chance to catch your breath. Eagulls is going at full speed the second you press play, and with an energy this raw, why waste time with pleasantries?
Liars have continually subverted genre, expectation and taste to carve out a truly unique niche within the music landscape. Mess, their seventh album, continues both this sonically reactionary trend and to further the electronic bent they tentatively toyed with on 2012’s WIXIW. Apart from single, Mess On A Mission, and the beautifully soft Can’t Hear Well, there isn’t a track that truly stands out on its own here. But the incredibly dense menace that pervades the second half of the album is much stronger than the electroclash elements up front. Not that they care what I think.
Tom Hersey
Pete Laurie
Brendan Telford
Independent Not sure if it’s a parody; still the worst thing I’ve ever been sent, including that time I got a CD in an oil-stained bakery pie bag.
ALICIA KEYS
★★★½
It’s On Again (Feat Kendrick Lamar) Sony It’d be worth it if you could hear Kendrick’s rap. Pharrell produces using all his tricks including elements of the score. A big mess.
WAKE OWL
NICK BATTERHAM
PUP
The Private World Of Paradise
Lucky Cat
SideOneDummy/Shock
Cooper’s effects and loops do the background work. Millar’s vocals are bathed in the same treatment creating the counterpoint for this timely sound. Chris Yates
Benny Doyle
Get Back Spunk Straight-up number filled with all those things that make nice indie pop nice – nostalgia, reminiscing, fireplaces. Delightful.
JAY WAYS Inf inity (Feat Nicole Millar) Yes Please
★★★
PUP A pathetic use of potential? Not a chance. Don’t believe what PUP’s band name acronym suggests, these Toronto punks are making the minutes count on their self-titled first offering, thrashing hell-for-leather through a bunch of shouty numbers that, beneath all the guitar rips and symbol crashes, actually have melody and heart, too. Occasional points throughout the album feel a little confused, like the band doesn’t know whether to scream at you or slap you on the back, but tracks like Guilt Trip, with its stop-start opening blast, and the pounding sign-off that is Factories, offer too many glorious moments to worry about any minor missteps.
EMMA RUSSACK
★★★
Vagrant/Create Control The online gushing and widely positive reviews accompanying Canadian indie popsters Wake Owl’s 2012 five-song EP provided the perfect entrée for debut, The Private World Of Paradise. And while some of the tracks don’t rise above pedestrian filler, the quiet hype is mostly justified. Singer Colyn Cameron lends his vast insight and light crooning to the ruminative strummer, Letters, and the more nostalgic ‘60s dancehall pop of glossy but plodding Vacation. Official single, Candy, is oddly one of the misses, offering little more than transient jangly guitar that puff by like harmless smoke.
Popboomerang Nick Batterham’s third solo album in four years is a bit of a head-scratcher. Departing from his often melancholic, broody brand of folk, we are given a glimpse of the lighter side of the musician with this record. Opening track Make It Through This Long could almost be seen as an instruction, as the wispy, repetitive chorus becomes an exercise of endurance. There are saving graces – notably Can’t You See It’s Over and Lonely Boys Of Brunswick – however, for the most part this album doesn’t hold a candle to last year’s Closing Time At Yah Yah’s. Jazmine O’Sullivan
Carley Hall THE MUSIC • 9TH APRIL 2014 • 25
live reviews
MEGAN WASHINGTON, HEY GERONIMO, ALL OUR EXES LIVE IN TEXAS The Rev 3 Apr Heralding their arrival with an a cappella traditional, All Our Exes Live In Texas (minus a usual fourth member) show the outstanding talent they possess for harmony. Channeling old Americana style (think O Brother, Where Art Thou? and twee dresses), the Sydney outfit are tight in performance and witty in banter. Across the set there features a
band connects with the crowd, like I Got No Money and closer Why Don’t We Do Something?. Clementine is Megan Washington’s first offering tonight, and it is oddly affecting. Performing it slower and with just her guitarist on stage, she turns vague nursery rhyme lyrics into meaning as she processes the words and plays with the melody: “I’m just running into something bigger than the something that I left behind.” She is enjoying her voice and her song like it is new to her, testing it out and feeling it all – to beguiling effect. The band joins the stage for new single Who Are You and premiering other ‘80s-influenced numbers. A few are big and ballad-y – Consolation Prize and Skyline – while others are more upbeat,
MEGAN WASHINGTON @ THE REV. PIC: FREYA LAMONT
piano accordian, ukulele and mandolin and the ever-present harmonies. The style is captured well but kept fresh with some unexpected arrangements and twists in writing. With just the right mix of raw talent and irreverent performance, they are a joy to watch. The venue is beginning to fill to capacity as Hey Geronimo play and they seem nervous. The opening numbers plod, palatable due to the goodwill of the likeable ‘60s rock’n’roll vibe. The lukewarm set heats up with energy and tempo a few tracks in, and Girl Who Likes Me gets a few heads bobbing (although it feels like a lost punk song that found the wrong band and should be 20BPM faster). By the end of the set there are touches of fun and abandon, and brief moments when the 26 • THE MUSIC • 9TH APRIL 2014
GLASS ANIMALS, ZAPED The Hi-Fi 4 Apr Seems as though Glass Animals’ appearance on triple j’s Like A Version this morning hasn’t harmed ticket sales, with plenty of bodies rocking along to support act Zaped. The local bloke responsible for the lush sounds, Jordan Depas, has called on an additional set of hands to give the bass lines extra kick, and the end result is a sound that sits somewhere between Flume, Disclosure and Chet Faker – it’s future groove with intelligence and character, but when Depas gets physical on the drum pads he underpins it all with focused energy. Still
ZAPED @ THE HI-FI. PIC: RCSTILLS
but all have a vulnerability and directness in the lyrics that were previously shrouded in metaphor and bravado. Some Insomnia-era tunes (Skeleton Key, Mirror In The Mirror) and crowd favourites are there too (How To Tame Lions, The Hardest Part, Cement, Rich Kids); Washington looks genuinely tickled when a stripped-back Sunday Best becomes a crowd singalong. Between songs she is heartfelt (“When I saw you all lined up outside, I burst into tears”) then bawdy and cursing, promising to lick elbows at the merch desk and giving away her beer to an audience member. To Or Not Let Go, a new song about dating a model while living in England, and the beautiful Roland S Howard-penned Shivers, complete the encore. Amorina Fitzgerald-Hood
however, it works well, the set moving fluidly from there. Closed in by a semi-circle made up of his three bandmates, frontman Dave Bayley is the unassuming star, holding lurching poses like a puppet on a string, his voice soulful and well enounced. As he moves hypnotically the band build the tracks up with simplicity and understatement, driving them with nothing more than a basic note progression on keys or guitar. Songs like Black Mambo and Cocoa Hooves work so well because they invite you in, rather than reaching out for you, and it means that we, the dancing masses, are absorbed inside the performance. Glass Animals are connecting with us on a deeper level.
MONSTER MAGNET @ THE HI-FI. PIC: TERRY SOO
Awake and Feeling make it clear that Zaped is a project we’re going to be hearing a whole lot more of soon, while a cover of White Town’s awkward pop masterstroke, Your Woman makes this reviewer nostalgic for late-‘90s high school discos and Kirov-driven screwdrivers. Although the hyperbolic claims have been fairly absent from the press, we might finally have a natural successor to the halcyon nu-rave days of ’07. What are Glass Animals bringing to the party? Let’s call it ‘smart disco’, and let’s also go on the record here and say that the kids are fucking ready for it. The Oxfordshire-based quartet don’t have much to draw from – they still haven’t even dropped a debut record – so opening with Psylla, one of their biggest tracks, is a bit surprising;
Then expectedly, and kinda sadly when you consider the young band have got some absolute gems in their own canon, the crowd goes batshit crazy when the group kick off their encore with their cover from earlier today, Kanye West’s Love Lockdown. The way Bayley has moved the vocal off the drum beat means the track has its own identity away from the original, though the fact he needs a lyric sheet is pretty disappointing. They’re then quick to ride the rapture in the room, following up with Gooey to sign things off, the soft, sensual tones drifting alongside us out into the night. Benny Doyle
live reviews
MONSTER MAGNET, KING OF THE NORTH, FORT The Hi-Fi 5 Apr The evening of rock revivalism commences with a mighty effort from Byron Bay’s Fort. Given the fact that they emerged near on the cusp of the millennium, mere moments after the ‘90s blazed away into its final puff a smoke, there couldn’t be many as suitably fitted for this bill. In standing testament to this 14-year commitment, the fivepiece slog out a lively set that, while short, is far sweeter than most opening acts have to offer. Although second support King Of The North are a relatively new band, it rarely shows. Frontman Andrew Higg’s immense guitar sound broadens the scope of this two-piece guitar-and-drum-combo, and their grooves hit home hard. It’s ever impressive to see him
simultaneously fill the roles of two guitarists and a bass player while also delivering a solid vocal performance, but unfortunately his reliance on guitar-enhancing gadgetry briefly becomes the band’s downfall, as part way through they suffer a few-minute holdup due to technical difficulties. After the heartbreaking cancellation of Monster Magnet’s 2011 Australian tour (where they were slated to play their ‘95 opus Dopes To Infinity in its entirety), fans are understandably elated to see them return in support of what is arguably their most consistent record of the past decade or more. When they last actually played here in 2009 they completely ignored their past two albums. This time round, however, they show an acute confidence in their current creative output by opening with the epic title track from Last Patrol, and it delivers the goods in spades. MM Mastermind Dave Wyndorf seems to have regained an ounce of his agility, and as he and the band channel
crescendo after crescendo there is no doubt that they’re all in quite fine form. Current cuts Three Kingfishers and Paradise slide in beautifully between classics Dopes to Infinity and Look To Your Orb For The Warning, but it’s the set ender, old-new one-two smack of Spine Of God and End Of Time that truly breaches the void and really displays their enduring relevance. On the former, Wyndorf exercises his past chemicaldemons and trails off on a stream of consciousness-like channelling and critique of culture that sees him splice in lines of McLean’s American Pie. And with the latter, all five members are absolutely cooking to the highest degree. An encore of Twin Earth, Powertrip and Space Lord sends the pit into hysterics, and it all trails out as the room-in-unison chants the obligatory “space lord motherfucker”. The Monster Magnet experience sure does still deliver the thrills of old, but it becomes all the more inspiring when not all the trips taken are looking backwards.
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KATE MILLER-HEIDKE @ THE TIVOLI. PIC: MARKUS RAVIK
Kate Miller-Heidke @ The Tivoli A$AP Ferg @ The Hi-Fi Harmony @ Black Bear Lodge Ela Stiles @ Electric Playground Guards Of May @ New Globe Theatre
Jake Sun
arts reviews
COCK. PIC: SEAN DOWLING
COCK Theatre
La Boite to 12 Apr At its heart British playwright Mike Bartlett’s Cock is a love triangle; protagonist John (Tom Conroy) leaves his comfortably dysfunctional
relationship with M (Eamon Flack) only to fall in love with a woman (W, played by Sophie Ross). John finds himself in paroxysms of indecision, vacillating between his two lovers, utterly unable to choose which way to go. M and W are equally domineering forces, both perpetuating the seemingly rigid dichotomies – between man and woman, between the new and the unknown – that have paralysed John in the first place. The tension between the three culminates in a hugely unlikely dinner party at which M’s father makes a somewhat inexplicable appearance, demanding that John make a decision, which – at this point – seems a reasonable request. Cock is concerned with the fluidity sexuality and the inadequacies of the labels we apply in an attempt to build neat boundaries around behaviours and desires, but it also deals with obsession, the destructiveness
of intimacy, identity, and growing up. This MTC production is fast-paced, funny, moving, beautifully performed and produced, and this almost makes up for the fact that John is a rather vague and occasionally infuriating character who sometimes seems to be a vessel for issues rather than a character in his own right. Nonetheless, Cock is a tender exposition of the damage we do to others and the damage we do to ourselves. Helen Stringer
THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL
Revolori) on a quest to prove Gustave is not responsible for a murder. Anderson’s trademark stylings are more showcased than ever, with gorgeous set pieces, bright and pastel colours aplenty, constant shots of symmetry, fast-paced editing, offbeat and witty dialogue, and a smooth and speedy swinging camera. A story within a story of loyalty – and times and traditions past – the film’s whimsy is balanced by charm and dark humour, delivered by Anderson’s usual crew perfectly. Stephanie Liew
Film
In cinemas 10 Apr Wes Anderson’s latest film sees The Grand Budapest Hotel’s legendary concierge Gustave H (Ralph Fiennes: impeccable) and his new lobby boy Zero (Tony
GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL THE MUSIC • 9TH APRIL 2014 • 27
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the guide
CURED PINK
Member answering/role: Andrew – founder and visionary How long have you been together? Always. If we deny our shared cosmic infancy we’ll never empower the Earth. How did you all meet? The more interesting gigs. You’re on tour in the van – which band or artist is going to keep the most people happy if we throw them on the stereo? The trained tones and punched vowels of an AM announcer updating the holiday crash statistics. Would you rather be a busted broke-but-revered Hank Williams figure or some kind of Metallica monster? It’s Twilight for the Idols. Which Brisbane bands before you have been an inspiration (musically or otherwise)? The Lost Domain (and The Invisible Empire), Pork, Pictish Blood, Crucified Truth, The Deadnotes, Muura, Girls Girls Girls, Yout Dem, Meat Thump, White Cop, The Impromptulons, Brainbeau, I.M.O., Taste Of Teeth, Good God, Small World Experience. What part do you think Brisbane plays in the music you make? It’s all we know. Is your band responsible for more make-outs or break-ups? Why? What is broken but our daily bread/What is made but our final bed. What reality TV show would you enter as a band and why? Footage of artists becoming despondent and costing ratings. What’s in the pipeline for the band in the short term? Playing Vivid at Sydney Opera House in May. Album on RIP Society. Looks like a track or two on Another Dark Age. Best of all playing Underdog 12 Apr with heaps of sick bands – you should defo come!! Cured Pink play The Underdog on Saturday 12 April. Photo by TERRY SOO. THE MUSIC • 9TH APRIL 2014 • 29
eat/drink
DRINKS ‘N’ GENRES Some observations and generalisations. Illustrations Brendon Wellwood.
ROCK’N’ROLL – BEER
CO COUNTRY – WHISKEY W
There’s no messing around with this one. Ladies and gentlemen who love loud guitars are drawn to beer, with variations being indierock with boutique beers and pub-rock with local, working class beers. Serving suggestion: drink three-quarters and spill the rest on the floor in front of the stage or on a fellow punter.
Ramblin’ R Ra a Jack Elliot wa w a all about Cigarettes, was W Whiskey And Wild Wild W Wo Women. Hank Williams, Jr was Whiskey Bent A An n Hell Bound. George And Jo Jon Jones and David Allan C Co Coe liked their Tennessee W Whiskey. Too bad The W Whiskey Ain’t Workin’ for Travis Tritt and M Marty Stuart though. N Ne e we go on? Need
JAZZ – WINE When you’re perched at a little table in a dimly lit jazz club, watching a singer crooning atop a grand piano, you’ve gotta also be nursing a glass of vino while enjoying the ambience. Doesn’t matter if it’s red or white or sparkling; mostly it’s just about the elegant way you hold the glass.
HI HOP – SCOTCH HIP & DRY/GIN & JUICE
DANCE/ELECTRO – JÄGERBOMBS/VODKA/SHOTS OF ANY KIND Because “SHOTS! SHOTS! SHOTS! SHOTS-SHOTS-SHOTS!” And while you can have a vodka mixer while taking a breather, there’s no way you can shake your arse vigorously while also holding a drink, so shots are the most convenient way of getting your alcohol intake. It’s only practical.
Smooth and refined and Sm sex e but must also have sexy, a bit b of grunt. Jamesons an and ginger’s got that little extra spice to it. And when your mind’s on your money and your money’s on your mind, sippin’ on gin and juice will probably help you relax.
ARTISTS’ ALCOHOL The Rolling Stones: Dan Murphy’s and Warburn Estate teamed up to create The Rolling Stones 50th Anniversary McLaren Vale Shiraz. Its bottle bears the iconic tongue and lips logo. You Am I: You Am I and Young Henry’s made a pale ale called Brew Am I. It’s available at limited stores in NSW. Hanson: The golden-haired brothers, in partnership with Mustang Brewing, last year released a beer called Mmmhops. Elbow: Just last month UK band Elbow, in conjunction with Marstons, created a 4.2% ABV ale called Charge, after one of their songs. AC/DC: They’ve got a premium lager beer with the tagline, “Beer for Real Rockers” on top of a wine series with Warburn Estate, featuring AC/ DC Back in Black Shiraz, Highway to Hell Cabarnet Sauvignon, Hells Bells Savignon Blanc and You Shook Me All Night Long Moscato. 30 • THE MUSIC • 9TH APRIL 2014
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FRONTLASH
INDIE NEWS
DOUBLE HEADER
The awesome tour announced last week featuring Violent Soho and Melbourne buddies The Smith Street Band has been selling out venues nationwide in crazy time – long live local rock’n’roll!
COLD COLD CHANGE Awesome that UN court upheld Australia’s bids to thwart Japan’s Southern Ocean whaling hunts. Ex-Environment Minister Peter Garrett was instrumental early in making this happen, nice job!
WHOSE REALITY? Hilarious to see contestants from The Block bleating about the producers “manipulating their image” – you mean reality TV isn’t actually real? What a game changer…
ISLAND SOUNDS
POP SOME CORKS
MEN OF THE PEOPLE
Compton-born, Hawaiianbased J Boog is set to bring his energetic fusion of reggae and hip hop to The Hi-Fi, Friday. Hitting our shore with a full live band, JB will perform with Siaosi, Kiwini Vaitai, Fari and JSQZ. $40 through the venue website.
Be captivated when the dynamic Daniel Champagne showcases his renowned artistic flair at The Loft, Gold Coast on 24 Apr. Off the back of a world tour, Champagne is now home to wow audiences around Australia. He plays with Josh Lovegrove – $10.
Townsville’s King extend the diversity of their line-up with the music they write, fusing hip hop, rock and traditional Australian sounds in a blend like no other. Get to know them at New Globe Theatre, 19 Apr with Paua, Caitlyn Shadbolt and more.
HE DON’T STOP
CHAIN REACTION
ASSAULT & BATTERY
In addition to a whole bunch of shows over the coming weeks, including a slot at Bluesfest, Shaun Kirk will also play Bangalow Bowls Club, 18 May. Head to The Guide at theMusic.com.au to get all the young bluesman’s tour dates.
With Reset, her first English language album in 12 years, Tina Arena has reclaimed the hearts of many. Hear these new songs and all her old classics when she plays Jupiters, Gold Coast, 23 Aug and Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, 24 Aug.
The triple bill featuring Origin, a Million Dead Birds Laughing and Eternal Rest has just gotten bigger, with Disentomb and Defamer added to the aural assault. Catch them 11 May at Electric Playground – tix through Oztix.
THAW OUT
SPECIAL SOMEONE
AT TEN PACES
Experience what has aptly been described as an “alchemy of European-influenced indiedance music” when Winterplan bring the beats in fine style. The Melbourne trio perform at The Loft, GC, 30 May and The Waiting Room, 31 May.
Driven by a love of ‘60’s pop, rock’n’roll and faux-folk, Susy Blue creates just the sort of songs that will leave you longing late into the night. Hear tracks from new record Nobody’s Somebody, 10 May, Queen Street Mall Stage and 11 May, The Joynt.
Harmonicas and pride will be on the line when the Big Blind Ray Trio and Jimi Beavis go head to head in a blues battle royale, with an undercard featuring the Brodie Graham Band. New Globe Theatre, 27 Apr.
TRUE TO LIFE
BETTER THAN TIPSY DADS
ANIMAL INSTINCTS
Regarded by many as one of this country’s finest songwriters, Neil Murray will Bring Thunder & Rain to Bangalow Bowling Club, 2 May. Don’t miss the Warumpi Band legend when he plays with Jimmy Dowling – presale tix $25+BF.
Arguably everybody’s favourite intoxicated parents are back with their signature blend of ‘70s jangle-pop and Aussie rock stylings. Drunk Mums play Trainspotters, Grand Central Hotel, 7 Jun.
After stretching out in the studio, our favourite adopted Canberra-cum-Brissie five-piece Fox & Fowl will launch their debut four-track, a bubbly and uplifting collection of jams, at Black Bear Lodge, 9 May, with The Worriers and Canyonero.
THE WHALE WAS THIS BIG!
BACKLASH MURDER CITY?
Can we please stop murdering foreign students? It’s making us look terrible as a city, and completely shames our society. Our thoughts are with the friends and family of Sophie Collombet, may she rest in peace.
DON’T RUN IN OUR BLOOD Lorde songs aside, who honestly gives a shit about royals these days? Surely the monarchy is the dumbest thing since organised religion, so why do we fawn when they deign to visit Australia?
SLOW SEQUEL They’re really making a sequel to The Goonies now? It came out in 1985 – Police Academy came out in 1984 and had seven instalments by 1994.
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INDIE NEWS
CHEEKY PEAK
WELCOME TO THE EAST
SHINING HIGH
The Upskirts are heading up Anzac Day celebrations at Coolangatta Hotel, GC, alongside Von Villians, Jimmy The Saint & The Sinners, Sons Of The Morning, Dead Books and Black Palms. The band also hit Alhambra Lounge, 24 Apr.
Sick of blowing audiences away in their home state of WA, Mudlark are jetting across the island, bringing with them some of the most mindmelting instrumental sounds you’ll hear. Catch them 10 May, The Waiting Room.
The Paper Kites have announced their national supports, with Sydney’s Phebe Starr and Airling, the musical project of Hannah Shepherd and Graham Ritchie, warming the stage 13 Jun, The Northern, Byron Bay and 14 Jun, The Hi-Fi.
DAPPER LADS
RIGHT BACK AT IT
HELPING HANDS
Rollin’ Back to You is the first cut from The Vernons sophomore EP, a sexy blues jam that stays true to the quartet’s rocking style. Watch the boys take these sounds to the stage at Black Bear Lodge, 22 May.
Cheated Hearts return at pace, putting on a gig this Saturday night at Coniston Lane to raise money and awareness during Child Abuse Prevention Month. Get sets from Megan Bones, Dimestore Diamonds, The Gatling Gun, and more.
Don’t think Oscar Key Sung is going to be doing it alone when he plays Alhambra Lounge, 26 Apr, oh no; he’s got some choice supports onboard in the way of Tincture and Motion Picture Actress. Last tickets available through Moshtix.
A LABOUR OF LOVE
SETTING SIGHTS HIGH
WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE
Their debut LP has not come easy, but The Murlocs are happy to celebrate the release of Loopholes with a special show at Black Bear Lodge, 17 Apr with Babe Rainbow and Junkyard Diamonds. It’ll be worth the wait.
Bringing stories penned during the past two years to the fore, Emma Russack shows incredible growth and development with latest record, You Changed Me. Hear these new tunes for the first time at Black Bear Lodge, 18 Jun.
Having already supported a bunch of international heavyweights including Senses Fail and Oh Sleeper, Young Lion – fronted by Dream On Dreamer’s Zach Britt – will play a headline date at Thriller, Electric Playground, 26 Apr.
TEARING IT UP
SHAKING ALL OVER
STICK AROUND
Brisbane boys Gazar Strips are taking their new Sparkling EP out on tour, playing two hometown shows amongst a bunch of east coast dates. Hear their overcast brand of rock at The Underdog, 26 Apr and The Hideaway, 23 May.
Make no mistake, Rattlehand is an ever-evolving beast that will make you hear alt-country completely different. Explore a variety of musical flavours with Josh Shelton and the band when they play Padre this Friday.
Chris Pickering – the Warwick legend visiting from his current locale of Nashville – will remind us all what we’re missing when he brings his colourful tales to Padre this Saturday and Clem Jones City Hall, Tuesday for a special matinee performance.
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THIS WEEK’S RELEASES… LIARS Mess Mute/Create Control SASKWATCH Nose Dive Northside/Create Control CHET FAKER Built On Glass Opulent/Future Classic OFF! Wasted Years Vice/AD
PRE ORDER NOW STORE.THEMUSIC.COM.AU
THE MUSIC • 9TH APRIL 2014 • 33
the guide qld.live@themusic.com.au
ALBUM FOCUS
SINGLE FOCUS done together as a band, after this tour there’s going to be heaps of writing going on. Lots of time in the shed.
BORIS THE BLADE Member’s name: Daniel Sharp Album title: The Human Hive Where did the title of your new album come from? It came from the lyrics of the song The Human Hive which was written early on in the making of the album. How many releases do you have now? We have an EP Tides Of Damnation and are about to release our debut The Human Hive. How long did it take to write/ record? The album was done over two weeks at RTD Studios in Brisbane by Matt Shorter. Was anything in particular inspiring you during the
making? We all just wanted to create an album that was something to be proud of. What’s your favourite song on it? Malevolent, as I got to vent a lot of personal things I was going through at the time. Will you do anything differently next time? Just experiment with as many new styles and elements we can.
CLAUDE HAY & THE GENTLE ENEMIES Member’s name: Claude Hay Single title: Borracho What’s the song about? It’s about accidentally drinking too much. ‘Borracho’ is Spanish for drunken male tourist. Regret...
When and where is your launch/ next gig? We’re touring Oz in April, then we’re going to Europe in May for an international tour – check our Facebook!
How long did it take to write/ record? I wrote it about six months ago and then showed it to the band, they’re freaks... they nutted it out in about three seconds. Spent a day in the studio then maybe a couple days mixing.
Boris The Blade play Thriller on Saturday 12 April and The Lab on Sunday 13 April (all ages).
Is this track from a forthcoming release/existing release? It’s just the first thing we have
SINGLE FOCUS
What was inspiring you during the song’s writing and recording? I scored this vintage amp for nothing, it was in someone’s basement since the ‘70s, they said basically it’s mine if I want. Fired it up, that riff just came out with the vocal melody. We’ll like this song if we like... Rock riffy stuff... something you can sing to... Do you play it differently live? I tend to change things live a lot, but not this one yet, after ten or15 shows it might. When and where is your launch/next gig? The tour started last week and goes till Bluesfest in Byron! Claude Hay And The Gentle Enemies play The Loft, Gold Coast on Saturday 12 April and Bluesfest, Byron Bay on Sunday 20 April and Monday 21 April.
PERSONAL BEST RECORDS
release? Marvin is our current single which we are about to tour off. It will feature on our fulllength album release due out later in the year titled Badnourmous.
THE SPINDRIFT SAGA Member’s name: Danny Freeman Single title: Marvin What’s the song about? It’s inspired by our singer’s fox terrier who has a nasty habit of getting everyone in strife. How long did it take to write/ record? The nuts and bolts came together in a single rehearsal. Chris had already penned the lyrics, so it just took a little fleshing-out in the rehearsal room. Two gigs later it was ‘go-time’. Is this track from a forthcoming release/existing 34 • THE MUSIC • 9TH APRIL 2014
What was inspiring you during the song’s writing and recording? I wanted my drum parts to let the main guitar riffs shine and focus on ‘driving’ the track with lots of energy. I was really diggin’ the rock-meets-hoedown vibe. We’ll like this song if we like... RATM, RHCP, John Butler Trio. Do you play it differently live? We love opening up our songs live and exploring and improvising. However, Marvin is one of those tunes we just deliver straight-up. The structure is set firm on this one. When and where is your launch/next gig? We are about to begin our tour – first gig is Ric’s Bar this Saturday. The Spindrift Saga play Ric’s Bar on Saturday 12 April.
VAGUELY HUMAN Member’s name: Loz Best record you stole from your folks’ collection? The whole Motown collection. First record you bought? Embarrassingly enough.... The Offspring – Americana. No wait, I’m not that embarrassed. Record you put on when you’re really miserable? Either some Eminem, so I can feel like my misery isn’t all that bad, or some Rage Against The Machine, so I can just rock it out. Record you put on when you bring someone home? Desmond Cheese – Space And Time.
Awesome chill electronica from some local Brissy lads. Gets the ladies’ juices flowing too. Most surprising record in your collection? Rick James – Ultimate Collection. I bought it as a joke for a mate’s birthday... I now love Rick James... Last thing you bought/ downloaded? Kryptamistik – Emerge N See. More awesome local music. Conscious hip hop with truth and intelligence. Vaguely Human play Walk In Our Shoes at 113 Boundary St, West End (Twilight Markets venue) on Sunday 13 April and Scribble Slam at Kerbside on Thursday 17 April.
CAFÉ - BAR
321 BRUNSWICK STREET MALL, FORTITUDE VALLEY
WED APRIL 9TH LE PARTI SOUL W/ DJ REDBEARD (8PM TILL LATE) + CARRIAGE (10PM) + GUESTS (9PM)
THU APRIL 10TH STUDENT NIGHT: GOLDEN AGE OF BALLOONING (10:30PM) + LIAM BRANT & THE HANDSOME DEVILS (9:30PM)
FRI APRIL 11TH DEADWEIGHT EXPRESS (10PM) + BARE WHITE KNUCKLES (9:00PM) + JUNIOR DANGER (8:00PM)
SAT APRIL 12TH THE SPINDRIFT SAGA (8:00PM) + FLAVOUR MACHINE (9:00PM)
SUN APRIL 13TH
EXPOSED #6 SEMI FINAL 1:
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TUE APRIL 15TH SAM COOPER (9:30PM) + (STEELE 8:30PM)
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THE MUSIC • 9TH APRIL 2014 • 35
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THE MUSIC PRESENTS Sally Seltmann: Black Bear Lodge 10 Apr
Residual: The Loft 3 May, The Tempo Hotel 4 May
Claude Hay: The Loft 12 Apr
Groovin’ The Moo: Townsville 4 May
Steve Earle & The Dukes: The Tivoli 15 Apr Suzanne Vega: Brisbane Powerhouse 15 Apr Allen Stone: The Zoo 16 Apr The Wailers: The Tivoli 16 Apr Cloud Control: Brunswick Hotel 16 Apr, Beach Hotel 16 Apr, Story Bridge Hotel 12 Apr, Paddington Tavern 13 Apr, Komune 13 Apr, Noosa Heads SLSC 17 Apr, Solbar 17 Apr, Jubilee Hotel 19 Apr, Boardwalk Tavern 19 Apr, Coolangatta Hotel 20 Apr Byron Bay Bluesfest 2014: Tyagarah Tea Tree Farm 17-21 Apr KC & The Sunshine Band: The Tivoli 19 Apr India.Arie & Joss Stone: The Tivoli 20 Apr Jake Bugg: The Hi-Fi 23 Apr
The Jezabels: The Tivoli 6 May Arctic Monkeys: BEC 7 May DZ Deathrays: Elsewhere 8 May, The Zoo 9 May Ella Hooper: Black Bear Lodge 15 May, Soundlounge 16 May, Star Court Theatre 17 May
Kingswood: The Hi-Fi 31 May Hard-Ons: Coolangatta Hotel 20 Jun, Prince Of Wales 21 Jun The Audreys: The Zoo 21 Jun Frente!: Star Court Theatre 27 Jun, Brisbane Powerhouse 28 Jun The Beards: The Spotted Cow 2 Jul, Soundlounge 3 Jul, The Tivoli 4 Jul, Solbar 5 Jul, The Northern 6 Jul
Ozomatli: The Zoo 23 Apr
Little Bastard: Black Bear Lodge 10 Jul, Solbar 11 Jul
Stonefield: Oh Hello! 24 Apr, Beach Hotel 25 Apr, One Way Street Party 26 Apr
Something For Kate: The Tivoli 11 Jul
The Decline: Crowbar 2 May
The White Album Concert: QPAC 13 Jul
Urban Country Music Festival: Caboolture 2-4 May
WED 09
The Round with Mark Moroney + Benjamin James Caldwell + Jimmy Davis: Dowse Bar (Iceworks), Paddington Underground Sounds Open Mic Night feat. various artists: Mick O’Malley’s, Brisbane Le Parti Soul feat. Carriage + Morgan Hann + DJ Redbeard: Ric’s, Fortitude Valley Wicked Wednesdays feat. various artists: Royal Exchange Hotel, Toowong Open Mic Night feat. various artists: Solbar, Maroochydore Elephant Unplugged feat. various artists: The Elephant Hotel, Fortitude Valley Open Mic Night feat. various artists: The Loft, Chevron Island Candice: The Plough Inn, Southbank Rockaoke feat. various artists: The Tempo Hotel, Fortitude Valley
THU 10
GIG OF THE WEEK STEVE EARLE: 15 APR, THE TIVOLI
Free Your Mind ft Northlane, Thy Art Is Murder: The Hi-Fi 22 May The Music Kitchen feat. Terence Boyd Thallon + Chrome Recliner + Audemia + Your Man Alex Smith + Elvis Got Fat: The Tempo Hotel, Fortitude Valley The Moose + Astro Travellers + Lucky Bradford: The Zoo, Fortitude Valley Far Away Stables: X&Y Bar, Fortitude Valley
FRI 11
DJ Indy Andy: Albany Creek Tavern (Creek Bar), Albany Creek Millions + Pilots + Chase City: Alhambra Lounge, Fortitude Valley Dollarosa + Cause In Affect + Mace & The Motor + The Thrill: Beetle Bar, Brisbane
Russ Walker + DJ J-Mixx: Chalk Hotel, Woolloongabba Treehouse: Coniston Lane, Fortitude Valley Ball Park Music + Papa Vs Pretty + Holy Holy: Coolangatta Hotel, Coolangatta Christopher Coleman Collective + Seavera + Alan Boyle: Dowse Bar (Iceworks), Paddington Snitch feat. Call The Shots + The Never Ever + Far Away Stables + Serene: Electric Playground, Fortitude Valley Neil Duddy: Logan Diggers Club, Logan Central
Vintage Rock Box: Brisbane Brewhouse, Woolloongabba
Deadweight Express + Bare White Knuckles + Junior Danger + DJ Valdis: Ric’s (Downstairs), Fortitude Valley
Honey feat. various DJs: Chalk Hotel, Woolloongabba
Neko Nation feat. various artists: Coniston Lane, Fortitude Valley
Uncle Jed + The Firetree: Soundlounge, Currumbin
Various artists: Coolangatta Sands Hotel (Sand Bar), Coolangatta
Amos Pella: Story Bridge Hotel (The Corner Bar), Kangaroo Point
The Ramshackle Army + Jack Flash + D Rouser: Crowbar, Fortitude Valley
DJ Ritchie: Story Bridge Hotel (Shelter Bar), Kangaroo Point
Raw Thursdays feat. various artists: Royal Exchange Hotel, Toowong
Le Breeze: Lambert’s Restaurant, Kangaroo Point
Darren J Ray: Kedron Wavell Services Club, Chermside South
Various DJs: Limes Hotel, Fortitude Valley One Sound: Logan Diggers Club, Logan Central Lounge Party + Locky: Mick O’Malley’s, Brisbane
Suicide Swans + Whisky Fox Run: The Crosstown Eating House, Woolloongabba Jing + Gavin: The Fox Hotel (Dandy’s Rooftop), South Brisbane Mitch Lewis: The Fox Hotel (Longbar), South Brisbane J Boog + Band: The Hi-Fi, West End Late Night Comedy feat. various artists: The Hideaway (10pm), Fortitude Valley Slowhand: The Music Of Eric Clapton feat. Tim Gaze: The Joynt, South Brisbane
Gerald Keaney & The Gerald Keaneys + Bent + GUNK + Reverend Hellfire + The Kramers: Chardons Corner Hotel, Annerley Cheated Hearts with Megan Bones + Dimestore Diamonds + The Gatling Gun + Lu-Na + Virtual Illusion: Coniston Lane, Fortitude Valley Various artists: Coolangatta Sands Hotel (Sand Bar), Coolangatta Brisbane Beer Festival feat. various artists: Eatons Hill Hotel, Eatons Hill Thriller feat. Boris The Blade + Hunt The Haunted + Glorified + The Name Of The Ghost: Electric Playground, Fortitude Valley DJ Taya + Jengis Kose + Giv: Elsewhere, Surfers Paradise
Ingrid James + Julian Jones: The Lido Cafe & Restaurant, Ascot
Greenthief: Hotel Norville, Toowoomba
Shaun Kirk + Lecia & Lani + Alisha Todd: The Loft, Chevron Island
Motion DJs: Irish Murphy’s (Upstairs), Brisbane
Mike Blundell: The Plough Inn, Southbank The London Cartel Duo + Lucy Street: The Tempo Hotel, Fortitude Valley
1000S OF GIGS AT YOUR FINGERTIPS. FOR MORE HEAD TO THEMUSIC.COM.AU 36 • THE MUSIC • 9TH APRIL 2014
Tyga: Arena (Mystique), Fortitude Valley
Caboose: Saltbar, South Kingscliff
Motion DJs: Irish Murphy’s (Upstairs), Brisbane
Nathan Pursey: The Plough Inn, Southbank
Steve Newcomb: Queensland Conservatorium, South Brisbane
SAT 12
Street Soundzzz feat. The Missing + Junior Arcade + Un Dia Antes + Concrete Lips + more: 4ZZZ (all ages/2pm), Fortitude Valley
Simon Drew Quartet: Brisbane Jazz Club, Kangaroo Point
The Golden Age Of Ballooning + Liam Brant & The Handsome Devils + DJ Valdis: Ric’s (Downstairs), Fortitude Valley
Elly Hoyt Quintet: Brisbane Jazz Club, Kangaroo Point
Green Jam Sessions with RiffRaff: QPAC (Melbourne Street Green), Southbank
Minnie Marks: Royal Mail Hotel (7pm), Goodna
Yacht Club DJs + Remi: Elsewhere, Surfers Paradise
Electric Zebra + Benny D Williams + Steve Dorrington + Kath Haling + Jemma Lee: The Loft, Chevron Island
Graeme Connors: QPAC (Concert Hall), Southbank
Midwife Crisis + Myrtle Place + Baron Samedi + Bad At Sex + Obserd + Steve Reed: Chardons Corner Hotel, Annerley
Uncle Jed: Old Museum, Bowen Hills
Sally Seltmann + Wintercoats: Black Bear Lodge, Fortitude Valley
Caligula’s Horse + Echotide + The Orchard + Opus Of A Machine: The Zoo, Fortitude Valley
One Eyed Pilots: Brisbane Brewhouse, Woolloongabba
Timmy Trumpet + Tooshoes + Benibee + more: Eatons Hill Hotel, Eatons Hill
Neighbour + Angharad Drake: The Bearded Lady, West End
Grong Grong: The Underdog, Fortitude Valley
Quorum Consensus + Kahloh + Krisie B + Buda K: Prince of Wales Hotel, Nundah
Fresh Fridays feat. various artists: Royal Exchange Hotel, Toowong
Underground Sounds Open Mic Night feat. various artists: Mick O’Malley’s, Brisbane
Unsought Duke + B For Bandit + The Pretty Fingers + Owen Van Larkins: Beetle Bar, Brisbane
Rattlehand: Padre Bar, Woolloongabba
Ball Park Music + Papa Vs Pretty + Holy Holy: The Tivoli, Fortitude Valley
Sixfthick + F.U.C + Woolpit: Beetle Bar, Brisbane
Killswitch Engage + Kill Devil Hill: Eatons Hill Hotel (Grand Ballroon/all ages), Eatons Hill
James Bennett: Taps Australia, Mooloolaba
Black Market feat. various DJs: The Tempo Hotel (Bowler Bar), Fortitude Valley
DJ Ryan: Ric’s (Upstairs), Fortitude Valley
Return of the Funk with Funky Miracle: Brisbane Jazz Club, Kangaroo Point
Ballad Boy: Loving Hut, Mount Gravatt
World Bar DJs: Alhambra Lounge, Fortitude Valley
The White Tiger Cancer Benefit feat. Band of Frequencies + Travis White Trio + Anonymous Heroes + Joel Myles + The Jetpack Academy: New Globe Theatre, Fortitude Valley
Shaun Kirk: Joe’s Waterhole, Eumundi Various DJs: Limes Hotel, Fortitude Valley Family Affair: Logan Diggers Club, Logan Central
the guide qld.gigguide@themusic.com.au Vertigo: Mick O’Malley’s, Brisbane
Victoria Qualischefski: Taps Australia, Mooloolaba
Ger Fennelly: Mick O’Malley’s, Brisbane
Li Li Kite + Mega Ogre: The Bearded Lady, West End
Truckstop! + Shane Murray: New Farm Bowls Club, New Farm
Boris The Blade: The Lab (all ages), Brisbane
Yacht Club DJs + Remi + various DJs: Oh Hello!, Fortitude Valley
Blue Steel: The Plough Inn, Southbank
Chris Pickering: Padre Bar, Woolloongabba
Sunday Session feat. various artists: The Tempo Hotel, Fortitude Valley
Punkfest’s 10th Birthday Bash feat. The Go Set + The Clap + The Blackmarket + The Flangipanis + The Fred Band + The Ramshackle Army: Prince of Wales Hotel, Nundah Spindrift Saga + Flavour Machine + DJ Valdis: Ric’s (Downstairs), Fortitude Valley DJ Ryan: Ric’s (Upstairs), Fortitude Valley Saturday Night Live feat. various artists: Royal Exchange Hotel, Toowong Pop Standen: Royal Mail Hotel, Goodna The Massive Fergusons: Royal Mail Hotel, Goodna DJ Cankles: Saltbar, South Kingscliff Cloud Control: Story Bridge Hotel, Kangaroo Point Ed & Eddy: Story Bridge Hotel (The Corner Bar), Kangaroo Point DJ Ritchie: Story Bridge Hotel (Shelter Bar), Kangaroo Point RL Jones: The Bearded Lady, West End
Walk In Our Shoes feat. Little Scout + Eves + Chris Tamwoy + Cody Freeman + Elements Collective + Vaguely Human + Guy Drory + more: Twilight Markets (all ages), West End
SALLY SELTMANN: 10 APR, BLACK BEAR LODGE Claude Hay + Cass Eager & The Velvet Ropes + Kenny Slide: The Loft, Chevron Island Soul2You: The Plough Inn, Southbank Copia + Trinatyde + Far From Paris + Berst: The Tempo Hotel, Fortitude Valley Basenji feat. various DJs: The Tempo Hotel (Bowler Bar), Fortitude Valley Idle Minds + Meter Men + Happy Times + more: The Underdog, Fortitude Valley Hanger feat. Arundel + Dinas Emrys + Kior: The Waiting Room, West End Art Vs Science + Kilter + Tourism: The Zoo, Fortitude Valley
Katch + Al Beeno: The Fox Hotel (Dandy’s Rooftop), South Brisbane
All Year Round + Set The Record + Here’s To Neverland + Skies Collide: Upstairs 199 (All Ages), West End
DC: The Fox Hotel (Longbar), South Brisbane
Amber Lawrence + Jason Owen: Warwick RSL, Warwick
Architecture In Helsinki + Worlds End Press: The Hi-Fi, West End
Uncle Jed: Woombye Pub, Woombye
Pack Animals + F.T. Coker + Doom Mountain: The Hideaway, Fortitude Valley
SUN 13
Ball Park Music: Alhambra Lounge (Under 18’s / Afternoon), Fortitude Valley Bandito Folk + We All Want To + Old Pines: Black Bear Lodge, Fortitude Valley Brisbane Big Band: Brisbane Jazz Club, Kangaroo Point Big Names of Blues feat. Kevin Borich + Doc Span + Tim Gaze + Phil Emmanuel: Caloundra Power Boat Club (1.30pm), Golden Beach
The Sunny Cowgirls + Jonny Taylor: Jimboomba Tavern, Jimboomba Cloud Control: Komune Resort, Coolangatta Various artists: Limes Hotel, Fortitude Valley
Mad Monday feat. various artists: The Tempo Hotel, Fortitude Valley
Locky + Ger Fennelly: Mick O’Malley’s, Brisbane
The Gin Club + Bandito Folk: The Underdog, Fortitude Valley
Cloud Control: Paddo Tavern, Paddington Music In The Park feat. Bree De Rome + Chang Po Ching + Aquila Young: Paradise Point Parklands, Paradise Point
Various artists: Coolangatta Sands Hotel (Sand Bar), Coolangatta
Helen Reddy: QPAC Concert Hall, South Bank
Transformer: A Lou Reed Tribute feat. We All Want To + Desert Blues Cartel + Lola The Vamp + O Little Sister + Machine Age + Seavera: Dowse Bar (Iceworks), Paddington
Exposed Competition Semi Final #1 feat. The Keepaways + Youth Allowance + Devel + Don & The Mobsters + December Nine: Ric’s, Fortitude Valley
The Royale Late Night feat. Jaxon + Sessionkatz: Elsewhere, Surfers Paradise The Ramshackle Army + The Flangipanis + Jack Flash + Mace & The Motor + Mercury Sun + Therapy of Noise: Hotel Norville, Toowoomba
MON 14
Mick’s Trivia: Mick O’Malley’s, Brisbane
Sunday Sessions feat. various artists: Royal Exchange Hotel, Toowong Eddie Garzia Band: Story Bridge Hotel (Outback Bar), Kangaroo Point DJ Ritchie: Story Bridge Hotel (Shelter Bar), Kangaroo Point
TUE 15
Suzanne Vega + Seth Lakeman: Brisbane Powerhouse, New Farm Chris Pickering: City Hall, Brisbane The Bug feat. The Toni Pollard Band + The Angela Toohey Band: New Farm Bowls Club, New Farm Mark Sheils: Samford Valley Hotel, Samford Valley Phil Hancock + Vegas Baby + The Decoys + Solid Rock + The Vanettis + Summerdaze + Tackleberrys: The Tempo Hotel, Fortitude Valley Steve Earle & The Dukes + Kasey Chambers: The Tivoli, Fortitude Valley
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THE MUSIC • 9TH APRIL 2014 • 37
tour guide qld.gigguide@themusic.com.au
INTERNATIONAL
Oscar Key Sung: Alhambra Lounge 26 Apr
Graveyard Train: The Northern 11 Jun, The Zoo 13 Jun
3 Inches Of Blood: Crowbar 10 Apr
Michelle Xen + The Neon Wild: New Globe Theatre 26 Apr
The Paper Kites: The Northern 13 Jun, The Hi-Fi 14 Jun
Killswitch Engage: Eatons Hill Hotel 11 Apr (AA)
The Delta Riggs: The Zoo 26 Apr, East 88 27 Apr
Keith Urban: BEC 17 Jun
Tyga: Arena 12 Apr
Boy & Bear: Sunshine Coast Function Centre 26 Apr, Empire Theatre 27 Apr, Lismore Workers Club 14 May
Suzanne Vega, Seth Lakeman: Brisbane Powerhouse 15 Apr Steve Earle & The Dukes: The Tivoli 15 Apr
Iluka: Dowse Bar 1 May, The Loft 2 May
Allen Stone: The Zoo 16 Apr The Wailers: The Tivoli 16 Apr Kris Kristofferson: Lismore Workers Club 16 Apr, Empire Theatre 17 Apr, QPAC 18 Apr, Jupiters Theatre 19 Apr
HUNX & HIS PUNX: 22 APR, THE ZOO
Chela: Alhambra Lounge 1 May Fleshgod Apocalypse: The Hi-Fi 14 May
Andrew Strong: The Commitments: The Tivoli 25 Jul, Twin Towns 26 Jul
Adrian Edmondson & The Bad Shepherds: Black Bear Lodge 16 Apr
Robyn Hitchcock: New Globe Theatre 16 May
Kreator, Death Angel: The Hi-Fi 19 Apr
Misery Signals: The Hi-Fi 17 May, The Lab 18 May (AA)
KC & The Sunshine Band: The Tivoli 19 Apr
The English Beat: The Zoo 18 May
D.O.D: Platinum 19 Apr, The Met 25 Apr
2Cellos: Eatons Hill Hotel 18 May
India Arie, Joss Stone: The Tivoli 20 Apr
James Vincent McMorrow: QPAC 23 May
Morbid Angel: The Hi-Fi 22 Apr
Brant Bjork: The Zoo 23 May, The Northern 24 May
Hunx & His Punx: The Zoo 22 Apr
Gary Numan: The Tivoli 28 May
Robbie Williams: BEC 22 Sep
Ozomatli: The Zoo 23 Apr
We Are Scientists: The Zoo 29 May Meat Puppets: The Zoo 30 May
Jake Bugg: The Hi-Fi 23 Apr Michael Franti & Spearhead: The Tivoli 23 Apr
Mango Groove: Eatons Hill Hotel 30 May
Dizzee Rascal: Eatons Hill Hotel 24 Apr
James Blunt: BCEC 2 Jun
Holy Fuck: The Zoo 24 Apr
Armin van Buuren: BEC 4 Jun
MKTO: Jupiters 23 Apr, BCEC 24 Apr
Ellie Goulding, Broods: BCEC 5 Jun (AA)
Toxic Holocaust, Skeletonwitch: The Hi-Fi 24 Apr
Ron Pope: Princess Theatre 6 Jun
Front Line Assembly: Transcontinental Hotel 24 Apr Huxley: Bowler Bar 25 Apr Salmonella Dub: The Hi-Fi 25 Apr, The Northern 26 Apr Xzibit: Chalk Hotel 26 Apr
White Lung: Alhambra Lounge 6 Jun Slim Jim Phantom: Racecourse Hotel 6 Jun ScHoolboy Q: The Hi-Fi 7 Jun Kevin Mark Trail: The Loft 7 Jun, Dowse Bar 8 Jun
Skid Row, Ugly Kid Joe: Eatons Hill Hotel 26 Apr
Kristin Hersh: Black Bear Lodge 8 Jun
D.O.A: Prince Of Wales 27 Apr
Propagandhi: The Hi-Fi 8 Jun, Miami Shark Bar 9 Jun
Russian Circles: Crowbar 29 Apr KT Tunstall: The Zoo 30 Apr D.R.I: The Hi-Fi 1 May Hugh Laurie: QPAC 2 May
Bastille: BCEC 13 Jun (AA) Carcass: The Hi-Fi 13 Jun Finntroll: The Zoo 18 Jun
John Newman: Eatons Hill Hotel 3 May
La Dispute, Balance & Composure: Trinity Hall 19 Jun (AA), The Hi-Fi 20 Jun
The Acacia Strain: The Lab 3 May (AA), Thriller 3 May, Expressive Grounds 4 May (AA)
Dragon: Kedron Wavell Services Club 20 Jun, Twin Towns 21 Jun
The Naked & Famous: The Hi-Fi 5 May Jason Derulo: BEC 5 May Cults: The Zoo 6 May Lorde: Riverstage 6 May (AA) Arctic Monkeys: BEC 7 May Temples: The Zoo 8 May Disclosure: Eatons Hill Hotel 8 May Jonny Craig: Crowbar 8 May, Tall Poppy Studios 9 May (AA)
Hellions: Crowbar 1 May, South Toowoomba Bowls Club 2 May (all ages)
Band Of Skulls: The Hi-Fi 21 Jun Joan As Police Woman: The Hi-Fi 24 Jun Story Of The Year: The Hi-Fi 26 Jun The Vibrators: Prince Of Wales 28 Jun The Crimson Projekct: The Hi-Fi 28 Jun Adolescents: The Tempo Hotel 3 Jul
Pete Rock & DJ Premier: Arena 9 May
Lloyd Cole: Brisbane Powerhouse 10 Jul, Soundlounge 11 Jul, Star Theatre 12 Jul
Michael Buble: BEC 12 May
Pelican: The Zoo 24 Jul
A Great Big World: The Tivoli 2 Aug
The Decline: Crowbar 2 May Sampology: The Factory 2 May, Bowler Bar 24 May Residual: The Loft 3 May, The Tempo Hotel 4 May
Hanson: The Tivoli 5 Aug, Coolangatta Hotel 6 Aug
The Jezabels: The Tivoli 6 May
Anathema: The Hi-Fi 21 Aug
Vance Joy, Gossling: The Hi-Fi 6 May
Lady Gaga: BEC 26 Aug The Dandy Warhols: The Tivoli 30 Aug Biffy Clyro: The Tivoli 4 Sep
5 Seconds Of Summer: The Tivoli 7 May DZ Deathrays: Elsewhere 8 May, The Zoo 9 May
Hard-Ons: The Northern 19 Jun, Coolangatta Hotel 20 Jun, Prince Of Wales 21 Jun Wagons: The Zoo 20 Jun Mondo Rock: Eatons Hill Hotel 20 Jun The Audreys: The Zoo 21 Jun Frente!: Star Court Theatre 27 Jun, Brisbane Powerhouse 28 Jun Dune Rats: The Zoo 28 Jun, Alhambra Lounge 29 Jun (U18) In Hearts Wake: The Sands Tavern 29 Jun The Beards: The Spotted Cow 2 Jul, Soundlounge 3 Jul, The Tivoli 4 Jul, Solbar 5 Jul, The Northern 6 Jul Dan Sultan: Solbar 2 Jul, The Spotted Cow 3 Jul, Soundlounge 4 Jul, Eatons Hill Hotel 5 Jul, The Northern 8 Jul
Things Of Stone & Wood: Brisbane Powerhouse 9 May
Northeast Party House: Alhambra Lounge 3 Jul, Solbar 4 Jul, The Spotted Cow 5 Jul
Justin Timberlake: BEC 26, 27 Sep
Rüfüs: Coolangatta Hotel 9 May, The Tivoli 10, 11 May, Beach Hotel 8 Jun
Little Bastard: Black Bear Lodge 10 Jul, Solbar 11 Jul, The Rails 12 Jul
Katy Perry: BEC 27, 28, 30 Nov, 1, 15 Dec
Cut Copy: Eatons Hill Hotel 10 May
Something For Kate: The Tivoli 11 Jul
NATIONAL
Citizen Kay, Tkay Maidza: Alhambra Lounge 10 May
Violent Soho, The Smith Street Band: The Hi-Fi 12 Jul
Jimmy Tait: Southside Tea Room 10 May, Brisbane Powerhouse 11 May
The White Album Concert ft Tim Rogers, Chris Cheney, Phil Jamieson and Josh Pyke: QPAC 13 July
Kanye West: BEC 15 Sep
Sally Seltmann: Black Bear Lodge 10 Apr Ball Park Music, Papa Vs Pretty: Coolangatta Hotel 10 Apr, The Tivoli 11 Apr, The Northern 12 Apr, Alhambra Lounge 13 Apr (U18) Yacht Club DJs: Elsewhere 11 Apr, Oh Hello! 12 Apr, Beach Hotel 13 Apr Greenthief: The Northern 11 Apr, Norville Hotel 12 Apr, Crowbar 18 Apr, Kings Beach Tavern 19 Apr Architecture In Helsinki: The Hi-Fi 12 Apr Claude Hay & The Gentle Enemies: The Loft 12 Apr Cloud Control: Story Bridge Hotel 12 Apr, Paddington Tavern 13 Apr, Komune 13 Apr, Brunswick Hotel 16 Apr, Beach Hotel 16 Apr, Noosa Heads SLSC 17 Apr, Solbar 17 Apr, Jubilee Hotel 19 Apr, Boardwalk Tavern 19 Apr, Coolangatta Hotel 20 Apr Maids: The Zoo 17 Apr The Murlocs: Black Bear Lodge 17 Apr The Celibate Rifles: Kings Beach Tavern 19 Apr Buried In Verona: Crowbar 19 Apr, The Lab 20 Apr (AA) Velociraptor: Black Bear Lodge 24 Apr Bliss N Eso, Horrorshow, Seth Sentry: Riverstage 24 Apr Stonefield: Oh Hello! 24 Apr, Beach Hotel 25 Apr, One Way Street Party 26 Apr Dallas Frasca: Alhambra Lounge 25 Apr, Solbar 26 Apr
Ella Hooper: Black Bear Lodge 15 May, Soundlounge 16 May, Star Court Theatre 17 May Kim Churchill: The Northern 15 May, Electric Playground 16 May, Soundlounge 18 May Dead Letter Circus: Surfers Paradise Beer Garden 15 May, Racehorse Hotel 16 May, 18 May Tatts Hotel Thundamentals: The Zoo 16 May Chance Waters: Alhambra Lounge 16 May British India: Crowbar 22 May Free Your Mind ft Northlane, Thy Art Is Murder: The Hi-Fi 22 May Sydonia: Crowbar 23 May, Coolangatta Hotel 24 May, The Northern 25 May King Parrot: Miami Shark Bar 23 May, Thriller 24 May, The Lab 25 May Alison Wonderland, Wave Racer: Brisbane 24 May, Gold Coast 31 May The Presets, Australian Chamber Orchestra: QPAC 26 May Joelistics, Dialectrix: The Tempo Hotel 30 May, Solbar 31 May Kingswood: The Hi-Fi 31 May Eurogliders: Lismore Workers Club 6 Jun, City Golf Club 7 Jun, Buderim Tavern 8 Jun Hell City Glamours: Crowbar 7 Jun Drunk Mums: Grand Central Hotel 7 Jun
1000S OF GIGS AT YOUR FINGERTIPS. FOR MORE HEAD TO THEMUSIC.COM.AU 38 • THE MUSIC • 9TH APRIL 2014
Emma Russack: Black Bear Lodge 18 Jun
The Angels: Queensland Lions Club 8 Aug, North Leagues & Services Club 9 Aug Tina Arena: Jupiters 23 Aug, BCEC 24 Aug The Aston Shuffle: The Zoo 29 Aug
FESTIVALS Bluesfest: Tyagarah Tea Tree Farm 17-21 Apr Easterfest: Queens Park 18-20 Apr Metal Heart Festival: The Tivoli 26 Apr Urban Country Music Festival: Caboolture 2-4 May Groovin The Moo: Townsville Cricket Grounds 4 May Hits & Pits Round 3: The Hi-Fi 9 May, The Northern 10 May Cooly Rocks On: Coolangatta/ Tweed Heads 30 May-9 Jun Brisbane International Jazz Festival: BEMAC 4-8 Jun Caxton Street Seafood & Wine Festival: Caxton Street 8 Jun Live It Up: RNA Showgrounds 21 Jun Gympie Music Muster: Gympie 28-31 Aug BIGSOUND: Fortitude Valley Entertainment Precinct 10-12 Sep Soulfest: Riverstage 25 Oct
THE GIGS THE PRODUCERS THE CLUBS THE STS THE FESTIVALS THE GROUPIES THE ALB E FANS THE BANDS THE INDUSTRY THE LOC THE ENCORES THE DJS THE GIGS THE PROD UBS THE REMIXES THE ARTISTS THE FESTIVA ES THE ALBUMS THE TOURS THE FANS THE USTRY THE LOCALS THE BLOGS THE ENCOR E GIGS YOUR DAILY SPA THE CLUBS THE R NDS THE INDUSTRY THE LOCALS THE BLOG ES THE DJS THE GIGS THE PRODUCERS THE MIXES THE ARTISTS THE FESTIVALS THE GRO HE INDUSTRY THE LOCALS THE BLOGS THE THE GIGS THE PRODUCERS THE CLUBS THE STS THE FESTIVALS THE GROUPIES THE ALB HE FANS THE BANDS THE INDUSTRY THE LO THE MUSIC • 9TH APRIL 2014 • 39
4 THE MUSIC 5TH MARCH 2014
40 • THE MUSIC • 9TH APRIL 2014