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2 • TH T EM THE MUSI MUSIC UUSS C • 8T 8TH TH AP TH A APRIL PRIL ILL 20 20 5 2015
THE MUSIC • 8TH APRIL 2015 • 3
CREDITS PUBLISHER
Street Press Australia Pty Ltd
GROUP MANAGING EDITOR Andrew Mast
NATIONAL EDITOR MAGAZINES Mark Neilsen
EDITOR Steve Bell
ARTS EDITOR Hannah Story
EAT/DRINK EDITOR Stephanie Liew
GIG GUIDE EDITOR Justine Lynch gigs@themusic.com.au
CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Bryget Chrisfield
CONTRIBUTORS Alice Bopf, 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, Guy Davis, Helen Stringer, Jake Sun, Jazmine O’Sullivan, Lochlan Watt, Madeleine Laing, Mandy McAlister, Michael Smith, Mitch Knox, Paul Mulkearns, Roshan Clerke, Sam Hobson, Sky Kirkham, Sophie Blackhall-Cain, Tessa Fox, Tom Hersey, Tony McMahon, Tyler McLoughlan
THIS WEEK THINGS TO DO THIS WEEK • 8 APR - 14 APR 2015
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PHOTOGRAPHERS Freya Lamont, John Stubbs, John Taylor, Kane Hibberd, Markus Ravik, Rick Clifford, Sky Kirkham, Stephen Booth, Terry Soo, Tessa Fox
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ART DIRECTOR Brendon Wellwood
ART DEPT Ben Nicol
Are you a music geeks who eat, sleep and drink vinyl? Head down to the monthly Brisbane Record Fair in West End (as always on the second Saturday of each month) and get amongst the crates of records from some of our State’s best collectors. If you can’t find some wax to your liking then you aren’t looking properly. It’s at the Boundary Hotel and the Rumpus Room from early Saturday and completely free!
ABC’s The Checkout returns to our screens from Thursday, 8pm. Catch Julian Morrow, Craig Reucassel, Kirsten Drysdale, Scott Abbot, Kate Browne, Zoe Norton Lodge and Ben Jenkins as they take on consumer affairs, focusing on sports drinks, car financing, cosmetic testing, streaming media services and more. We’re just glad that two of The Chaser boys are still making the funnies and not getting sued.
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CONTACT US Phone: (07) 3252 9666 info@themusic.com.au www.themusic.com.au Street: Suite 11/354 Brunswick Street Fortitude Valley QLD 4006 Postal: Locked Bag 4300 Fortitude Valley QLD 4006
BRISBANE
Whatever Cirque Du Soleil turn their minds to always tends to end up pretty trippy, but new production TOTEM – billed as “a fascinating journey into the evolution of mankind” – looks like taking this to the next level of weirdness (in the best way possible). The legendary company use a scintillating mixture of visuals, acrobatics and humour to tell the tale, and it all kicks off this Friday (running through to late-May) under the Big Top at Northshore Hamilton – prepare to have your mind melted!
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THE MUSIC • 8TH APRIL 2015 • 5
national news news@themusic.com.au PETER BIBBY
CLOWNS
HELLO BIBBY!
HARDCORE FUN
Fresh from a run of shows in the US, Melbourne hardcore four-piece Clowns are heading out on their Running Through These Veins tour, playing favourites from their latest album, Bad Blood, and the back catalogue. Supported by special guests Summer Blood, they play 10 May at Cherry Rock, Cherry Bar and AC/DC Lane in Melbourne; 15 May at The Loft in Warrnambool; 22 May at Twelve in Frankston; 30 May at The Phoenix in Canberra; 5 Jun at Crowbar in Brisbane; 7 Jun at Airport Tavern on the Gold Coast; 12 Jun at The Tote in Melbourne; 13 Jun in the Karova Lounge, Ballarat; 18 Jun at Hamilton Station Hotel, Newcastle; 19 Jun at Valve Bar, Sydney; 20 Jun at Corrimal Hotel in Wollongong; 26 Jun at MusicMan Megastore in Bendigo; 27 Jun at Barwon Club, Geelong; 3 Jul at Prince of Wales in Bunbury; 4 Jul at Four5Nine in Perth; and 5 Jul at Mojo’s Bar in Fremantle.
COMING IN STRONG
Irish soul and blues singer Andrew Strong is making his way to Australia in May, heading around the country on an extensive national tour before going on an lengthy hiatus to begin work on his new solo album and documentary, which will shine light on his travels and live performances around the world. The upcoming tour gives fans a chance to celebrate Strong’s propulsion into fame with the cult classic film The Commitments, from which he will be performing a bunch of songs with an eight-piece backing band. Get in on the action when he plays Burwood Colliery Sports & Bowling Club, Newcastle, 9 May; Manning Bar, Sydney, 10 May; Kedron Wavell Services Club, Brisbane, 23 May; Broadbeach Blues Festival, Gold Coast, 24 May; Astor Theatre, Perth, 29 May; Prince Bandroom, Melbourne, 30 May. More dates from theMusic.com.au.
ETERNALLY HOOKED
They had their first international #1 hit way back in 1972 with a tune titled Sylvia’s Mother, and peaking through the mid-tolate ‘70s, Dr Hook & The Medicine Show scored a stack more, enough to sustain a career that will see them tour Australia once again 43 years after that first hit promoting a 40-track best of collection they’ve dubbed Timeless. Dr Hook & The Medicine Show play 15 & 16 Oct at The Palms at Crown in Melbourne; 17 Oct at Melbourne’s Regent Theatre; 18 Oct at Crown Perth; 21 Oct at QPAC in Brisbane; 25 Oct at Jupiters on the Gold Coast; 28 Oct at Civic Theatre, Newcastle; 29 Oct at Enmore Theatre, Sydney; 30 Oct at Evan Theatre, Penrith; and 31 Oct at Canberra Theatre.
WHO NEEDS #APRILFOOLS, WHEN YOUR ENTIRE LIFE FEELS LIKE A JOKE... TOO REAL, [@GERRYGREEK] 6 • THE MUSIC • 8TH APRIL 2015
Following the wild success of his debut album, Butcher/Hairstylist/Beautician, a national run with Laneway Festival plus general destruction at hugely anticipated SXSW appearances, Peter Bibby is coming back to home stages. A master of snarling, raw storytelling that Aussies can relate to only too well, Bibby’s reign as king of the stage is only just beginning, and he’s bringing some incredible talent along for the ride. Grab a beer with him 14 May, Newtown Social Club, Sydney with The Dandelion; 15 May, Northcote Social Club, Melbourne with Orlando Furious and Tanzer; 21 May, Black Bear Lodge, Brisbane with Good Sports and Donny Love; and 24 May, Mojo’s Bar, Fremantle, with Hamjam and Rabbit Island.
NATIONAL SHOT
New York City rapper R.A. The Rugged Man is returning to Australia for a national tour and the controversial artist has naturally opted for a controversial tour banner – Shoot Me In The Head! A pioneer of indie rap hustle, nothing is off-limits with R.A., so be ready to be blown away 3 Jun at Transit Bar in Canberra, 4 Jun at Woolly Mammoth in Brisbane, 5 Jun at The Game in Perth, 6 Jun at Manning Bar in Sydney, and 7 May at Laundry Bar in Melbourne.
OMAR MUSA
MILES FRANKLIN
Ten novelists, three with their debuts, are in contention for this year’s $60,000 Miles Franklin Literary Award. The novel by 86-year-old Elizabeth Harrower, In Certain Circles, which was originally published in 1971, though withdrawn by the author shortly after and only now “rediscovered” by Text and published. Joining her on the list are Sonya Hartnett for Golden Boys, Sofie Laguna for The Eye Of The Sheep, Joan London for The Golden Age, Suzanne McCourt for The Lost Child, Omar Musa for Here Come The Dogs, Favel Parrett for When The Night Comes, Christine Piper for After Darkness, Craig Sherborne for Tree Palace and Inga Simpson for Nest.
local news qld.news@themusic.com.au
FRONTLASH NIGHT MOVES
McDonalds in the US is trialling having breakfast available 24 hours a day; finally something edible post-11am! Is it only in the States which legalised marijuana though?
DEEP, DEEP LOVE Barry Gibb – the last surviving brother from legendary trio the Bee Gees – is returning to Brisbane later in the year for the opening of the next stage of Bee Gees Way at Redcliffe, where they spent their childhood.
PARALLEL MINES The Harper Review into competition laws could be a win for Aussie consumers if the mooted move to allow parallel imports comes to fruition. In this day and age we should be able to access cheaper goods like everyone else.
HOMECOMING ED
THIRD OF FOUR
Punters are really digging vinyl again, and Halfway obviously love the old-school format because they’ve just released the third of four 7” singles off last year’s Any OId Love album. Featuring a bonus B-side track, the single comes in coloured vinyl and gatefold artwork cover, and Halfway launch it 24 Apr at The Triffid with guests The Gin Club, who launch their new album, Southern Lights, that same night, and Mosman Alder.
HEY, IT’S APRIL BARRY HOMEWARD BOUND
BACKLASH GET WELL FRED
So troubling to hear the news that Fred from SixFtHick is battling cancer – there’s a massive benefit happening in Melbourne soon, hopefully something will be sorted in his hometown as well.
JUST DON’T The Jacqui Lambie Network sounds like a really shit prog band from the ‘70s, but the truth is far, far worse. That this lady has any power over our nation is beyond disconcerting.
OFF THE GEAR It seems incredible that so many people are up in arms over the Top Gear fracas; if you want to hear (allegedly) violent, borderline racist buffoons talk about cars there are a lot of suburban pubs where you can get your fix.
ZERO LATENCY ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE
It all started in Brisbane, so it’s great to see the man who helped change the face and sound of Australian music in the late ‘70s with The Saints and then Laughing Clowns before settling into an impressive solo career, Ed Kuepper, returning for an intimate instore performance from 1pm 3 May at Tym Guitars. Tickets are free from Tym Guitars but the space is obviously small so the limit is two per person.
With plans to play a minitribute to Black Bear/The Troubadour at each show as well as inviting a special guest from another well-known Brisbane band each week, Hey Geronimo are hosting a free-entry residency Saturdays in April at Black Bear Lodge. Sans Parents are guests 4 Apr, Denpasar 11 Apr and The Bacchanales 18 Apr.
GAMES GALORE
The Brisbane Powerhouse is hosting the IRL Digital Festival: Interactive Art & Gaming Playing. Yep, it’s as good as it sounds. Virtual reality, laser shows, video games, electronic art, and a beatboxer clashing with an orchestra are just some of the things you can experience when the IRL Digital Festival comes to town from 7 – 17 May, 11am – 9pm each day. Events include a pop-up reality lounge, Australia’s first wireless zombie apocalypse virtual reality game, a creative industry conference, a laser show, interactive art installations and more. Head to brisbanepowerhouse.org for more info.
ALEX FOR JACK
Fresh off his recent run of shows through the US showcasing his debut solo album, Jumping The Shark, Sydneysider Alex Cameron has been invited to join Jack Ladder & The Dreamlanders on their Playdates tour. That’ll see them play 15 May at The Brightside. Then it’s Jack’s turn to head Stateside.
MELBOURNE MAGIC
Taking their name from the title of a Blur song, psychedelic Melbourne four-piece Magic America have a debut EP on the way the first taste of which, Comes And Goes, they’re showcasing 24 Apr at Beetle Bar and 25 Apr at The Bearded Lady.
HE DREAMED A TRAIN
EVERYTHING IS SWEET
Brisbane Powerhouse is thrilled to open applications for the second round of SWEET! The creative development program will award two productions $10,000 and a two week season package to artists willing to share creative ideas considered inspiring, ambitious and rigorous within Performing Arts. Selections in 2014 included Margie BrownAsh’s He Dreamed A Train, Claire Marshall’s Flaunt and the upcoming production by Brian Lucas and David Fenton of Oscar Wilde’s De Profundis. Applications are now open and will close midnight, Friday 24 April 2015 – head to brisbanepowerhouse.org for more information. THE MUSIC • 8TH APRIL 2015 • 7
local news qld.news@themusic.com.au
WANT TO WHAT?
LEANNE TENNANT
Brisbane’s We All Want To, the brainchild of Screamfeeder’s Tim Steward, are fresh off a standout performance at the Queensland Music Awards, where they debuted Road To Ruin from their latest LP The Haze which was released 24 Mar . Their latest effort promises a more immediate, urgent sound. 13 Jun at Woolly Mammoth; 14 Jun at Bison Bar, Nambour; and 19 Jun, The Spotted Cow, Toowoomba.
CLIMBING THE LADDER
2015’s looking like it’s going to be a big year for Jarryd James, whose debut single Do You Remember climbed to #2 on the ARIA charts without any label earlier in the year. He’s heading out on a small east coast tour in July, playing a show The Hi-Fi, 3 Jul.
TWICE THE MAC
Obviously the chance to see the full complement of the hugely commercially successful line-up of Fleetwood Mac, with the return of keyboards player Christine McVie, has brought the fans out in droves. The first show having sold out, a second show has been announced for 12 Nov at Brisbane Entertainment Centre.
READY TO LAUNCH
After a three-month tour of Europe and the United Kingdom, Nite Fields are returning home to launch their debut LP Depersonalisation in a series of east coast shows in May. The quartet will be bringing jangly guitars and hypnotic synthesisers to The Foundry, 30 May.
TEXAS DOOM-GAZE
Talk about getting out of your comfort zone for your art, Texas “doom-gazers” This Will Destroy You took themselves to the icy wastes of Reykjavik in Iceland to record their latest and fourth album, Another Language. Last here in 2013, This Will Destroy You are heading back to perform songs from it and more 10 Jun at The Zoo.
XXXY
YOU ALWAYS START IT
xxxy has been a huge name in house music since 2011, when You Always Start It got named ‘best new track’ by Pitchfork. His bigger profile earned him a slot at Red Bull Music Academy in Madrid, and now he’s coming down to Australia for a second time. Catch the highly acclaimed progressive at 1 May at The TBC Club; 9 May at Upstairs Nightclub, Caloundra. 8 • THE MUSIC • 8TH APRIL 2015
WELL CROWNED
Winner of the 2015 Blues/Roots award at the recent Queensland Music Awards for her song, Bearing The Crown, Leanne Tennant has released a new single, Franklin Street, lifted once more from her debut album of last year, Pull Up Your Britches, and is taking a quick victory lap just because she can. Tennant plays 2 May at Solbar in Maroochydore and 3 May at The Triffid.
STORIES BEHIND STORIES
First launched in 2014, The Soldiers Wife initiative saw a group of female Queensland songwriters spend time with the widows and wives of Australian servicemen, listening to the stories from those whose partners served their country in conflicts from WW2 until the present day. Those stories have been transformed into song, and The Soldiers Wife project will be presenting them live, 20 Apr at the Kedron-Wavell Services Club.
JAY THINKING A MONTH OF STREAMING MUSIC SHOULD COST 20 BUCKS = LUCILLE BLUTH NOT KNOWING THE PRICE OF A BANANA. “WHAT WOULD IT COST: $10?” JAZMINE HUGHES (@JAZZEDLOON) WITH ANOTHER REASON WE DO NOT NEED JAY Z’S NEW STREAMING SERVICE, TIDAL.
THEY’RE GETTING SERIOUS
Their new single, Kissy Kissy, is about, well, kissing girls, and so is the accompanying film clip, but honestly, The Stiffys are telling the world they’re getting serious about what they do. They’re becoming a “serious art band”, and they’re calling their forthcoming album, Art Rock. Just how serious they are you can see for yourself as they tour the nation as guests of The Beards. Catch them 30 Apr at The Spotted Cow, Toowoomba; 3 May at The Northern in Byron Bay.
KEEPING IT REAL
Adam Gibson has forged a unique path with his tales of Australian life and landscape over two albums with The Aerial Maps and earlier outfit Modern Giant, and now, his new band The Ark-Ark Birds are heading out on an Australian tour to herald the release of new album Australia Restless. Get ready to hear some tales that hit close to home when Gibson and the band make their way to Junk Bar, 9 May, and The Triffid, 10 May.
THE MUSIC • 8TH APRIL 2015 • 9
music
SHAKE IT OFF Marlon Williams grew up singing in the Christchurch Cathedral Choir and was sitting in a Lyttelton café planning an album when the earthquake struck. Bryget Chrisfield also learns he makes a mean thickshake.
M
arlon Williams is sitting in the backyard of his current Melbourne digs (aka Yarra Hotel, which means the backyard is actually a beer garden), so it seems compulsory to order a jug of beer. He’s casually dressed in ripped black jeans and button-up polka dot shirt under khaki military jumper, which is all capped off by a souvenir trucker hat from Meredith Music Festival. Williams was the name on everyone’s lips at another highlight on our annual festival calendar, Queenscliff Music Festival, last year. So much so that it was impossible for latecomers to even dream of squeezing into his last scheduled performance for the weekend
and she came up. Like, I randomly saw her at this bar – it was a wave from a distance. She was from Perth originally, but she’s been living in Victoria for quite a long time so it took me ages to work out who she was and, you know, it finally clicked.” Did Williams fork out for petrol money? He nods while lighting a cigarette. “You gotta keep the yin and the yang balanced, especially as a touring musician. You can come to the end of a tour and find yourself feeling like you’re indebted to people, ‘cause there’s so many beds you’re staying in, and you rely so much on other people that it’s hard to
paper, and we were just chatting about that, and then the earthquake happened and we ran out in the street. “There were certainly songs on what turned out to be that album [Sad But True – The Secret History Of Country Music Songwriting Volume 1] that were written about the earthquake so, you know, it’s funny how you set out to write an album and then from the get-go you’re influenced by what happens around you.” If you’ve watched/read up on any sort of survival techniques, the earthquake image that springs to mind is panicked people bolting toward door frames. “I mean, you’re meant to find a solid frame or something but the problem was that there’s not enough frames for, like, a café full of people; there was about 50 people in this café. [It’s] just a kneejerk reaction to be out of wherever and then you realise that you have to run for kilometres and kilometres to get out of the way of it, you know. It’s not an option to run, really. You feel the ground drop and you feel, like, your insides drop with it. Then windows start going out and it’s – yeah, it’s pretty hideous. And then, from then on, afterwards, you never trust the earth anymore. It’s a really strange feeling. Even when you’re at your most calm and just out in the middle of nowhere in nature, you just remember that it’s not a guarantee because you’re away from the cities a little bit. It’s like – not trusting nature is an interesting lesson to learn.”
“IT’S FUNNY HOW YOU SET OUT TO WRITE AN ALBUM AND THEN FROM THE GET-GO YOU’RE INFLUENCED BY WHAT HAPPENS AROUND YOU.”
at Salt Contemporary Art Gallery. One of the album tracks Williams performed that day was When I Was A Young Girl and (of course) the audience always chuckle when he introduces this song. Does that shit him? “Nah, I’m sort of baiting it,” he admits. Smiles rapidly disappear from dials, however, as the devastating ditty unfurls. “I heard it first on a recording by this woman called Barbara Dane and that’s the version I most closely took it off,” Williams shares. “And then I didn’t hear any other version until I’d been playing it for quite a while and then I heard Feist’s version.” Feist’s version is certainly unusual and could accompany a conga line. “I know. It’s like a fuckin’ elevator song,” Williams laughs. “Yeah, I only heard that pretty recently and, Jesus! It’s pretty strange. I’m just gonna grab an ashtray.” In Williams’ absence, this scribe recalls the singersongwriter mentioning he was in need of a ride back to Melbourne at the conclusion of this aforementioned Sunday arvo gig at Queenscliff Music Festival. Williams returns. He rolls his own durries and smokes a fair few throughout our chat. So how did he go with that lift mission? “Got it. Yeah,” he confirms. “This lovely woman Jo gave us a ride back. It was me and it was Archer, who was singing at the festival too, and my friend Flora – so, three of us and equipment, yeah. Jo was on her own so we gave her some company. And the weird thing is that last weekend I was in Nannup, which is a little town in WA, at a festival 10 • THE MUSIC • 8TH APRIL 2015
get out of that mind frame when you come home. And I think it’s a real, like, psychological syndrome when you’re a touring artist: you can’t get out of that frame of mind that people are there to be used.” Williams hails from Lyttelton in New Zealand, which was at “the epicentre” of the 2011 Christchurch earthquake. “It happened sort of under the tunnel that goes from Lyttelton to Christchurch,” Williams explains. ”I was down at the café in the township planning an album with Delaney Davidson that we eventually put out. We finished recording it a year to the day after the earthquake, but all we’d written was ‘Ghost Songs’ on a piece of
But then Williams considers: “Certainly it could be argued that it did a lot for the Christchurch music scene, in a way… It did feel a little bit like the music scene, and the town, was really buzzing and it’s easy to say this in retrospect, but it sort of felt like it was at the cusp of something and it was bound for a fall in a way. And, you know, it’s a very histrionic thing to say but, yeah! In retrospect it feels like that a bit.” Although Williams admits Lyttelton has been “gentrified” (“the same thing that happens everywhere”), he clarifies, “But there’s still that rawness of the port workers and the artists that makes it really special… There’s a lot of crossover there and it’s a really healthy thing for art, I think, to have as a grounding mechanism. “There’s a lot of Russian and Filipino sailors that come in and, like, the Russians generally just drink too much… There’s been cases of them finding Russian sailors dead under the docks having drunk antifreeze and stuff like that.” When it’s suggested there’s a song in that, Williams laughs, “Yeah, the fabric of life.” Williams lights another cigarette. For eight years Williams worked in a Lyttelton “corner shop, just making ice creams”. “That’s sorta what inspired me to learn Russian,” he reveals, “is that I was constantly talking to Russians and trying to work out what they wanted.” He says hello in Russian as requested and confirms the Russian
THE WRITE STUFF
sailors loved it: “I’ve always been a people pleaser so that was a nice fix for me.” He wasn’t tempted to also tackle Filipino? “Nah, nuh. I mean, I’d be a little bit overqualified if I was fluent in Russian and Filipino. The Lyttelton branch of the UN [laughs].” On whether he’s always wanted to pursue a career in music, Williams claims, “I’ve never been any good at anything else, so…” Surely he makes a killer ice cream. “Oh, yeah, I made a pretty good ice cream,” he allows, adding, “Made a good thick shake.” How many scoops of ice cream? “I filled it up to the top [with ice cream] and then just put a little bit of milk at the bottom. I get very upset when I order a thickshake and it’s not a thickshake.” We agree that the straw needs to be able to stand up on its own in the middle of the container or else it’s actually a milkshake. “I feel very strongly about those sorts of things,” he guffaws. Reflecting back on when he first realised he could sing, Williams ponders, “I think I was in my last coupla years at primary school when I joined the choir and realised that I could sort of pick out harmonies better than anyone else – well, most of the other kids. For the first time in my life I could instinctively see the logic of how something worked, whereas I’d always struggled with everything else; the way harmonies worked was just like natural body movement for me, you know.”
Williams had some validation when he won his school talent quest “when [he] was about 11 or so”, singing “a weird, weird Christian pop song but with a lovely melody” (of his own choosing) called River In Judea. “I sang in the cathedral choir up until the age of 17 or 18 so, you know,” he adds. “Every Sunday morning we’d be doing a new piece and I used to love it so much, so it certainly would’ve filtered through [into my own material], just in the way chords change and stuff like that.” Did he have to wear robes?
“No, luckily the choir was out of view. I mean, for concerts we’d all wear tuxedos.” Complete with bow tie? “Yep, the red bow tie.” When bow ties are deemed no good, there’s silence. Oops, does Williams still wear one? “Yep,” he cracks up. “Sometimes. Sometimes.” Turns out they make Williams feel more dressed up than regular ties. “I’ve never had a job that’s required me to wear a tie or anything, but I like the feeling; like, I feel like I should probably do something. It spurs me into action when I’m dressed well.”
WHAT: Marlon Williams (Caroline) WHEN & WHERE: 10
Marlon Williams confesses songwriting doesn’t come “naturally” to him. So how many originals are on his stunning, self-titled debut album? (Seriously, you’ll need the Kleenex or be prepared to pretend you suddenly got something in your eye.) “Ah, five are mine and four are covers,” he calculates, pointing out that one of his five – “the second track, the oddball track on the album, After All” – is a co-write with Delaney Davidson. “He’s the only person I’ve ever co-written with before so, you know, co-writing’s even harder than writing on my own I find.” Williams stresses it’s necessary to “put your pride down”. “It’s sorta, whether you feel it or not, there’s a competitiveness to it with, like, just two personalities.” He takes a long drag from his cigarette. “I decided to go back to New Zealand to record the album. I’d sort of tossed up a couple of options here and then thought, ‘Oh, for my first solo album I wanna have a sense of ease and comfort,’ you know? And I know all the players and they know how I work and the producer [Ben Edwards], he’s the only producer I’ve ever worked with in my life so, yeah! I made the decision to go back there and use those guys and I knew it would allow me to make the album I wanted to make.”
Apr, Black Bear Lodge THE MUSIC • 8TH APRIL 2015 • 11
culture
BOLDLY COMING BACK Pop cultural icon and renowned humanitarian George Takei is no stranger to Australia, but he can only pray that his upcoming visit for the Supanova Pop Culture Expo isn’t anywhere near as harrowing as his stay back in 2008, he tells Mitch Knox.
“I
was in the rainforest of Queensland for a whole month doing a British reality show called I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here, and it was a very trying experience,” George Takei says. “I love the creature comforts, and living in a damp, wet rainforest – well, that’s why it’s a rainforest, I suppose – and with interesting people, mind you... but very physically uncomfortable.” That’s probably putting it mildly, and yet Takei is a remarkably resilient man. During the Star Trek star and internet sensation’s trip Down Under for the UK’s
culture
version of reality TV’s death howl, he found himself being caught on camera “answering Mother Nature’s call”, in his eloquent terms, after his habit of hydrating “all day long” left him unable to make the sprint from the celebrities’ campsite to the toilet. But, even though that wasn’t the worst of it, he kept his cool. “There were people that were on the verge of hysteria, but I believe in – well, there’s that British saying, I think it came from the Second World War… ‘Stay calm and carry on.’ And I believe in that. Stay calm and carry on. Soldier through. It was a difficult experience but
nevertheless… so therefore, I didn’t do too badly.” In doing his best to stave off the hardships of the Australian rainforest during the course of the show – Takei came third overall – he demonstrated mastery of mind over matter in a manner that most suburban-born city dwellers that actually live here couldn’t dream to muster, divulging in detail the mental tricks he used to overcome the worst that this great southern land had to throw at him. “So much is how you approach something. For example, one of my challenges was to eat all sorts of grotesque things, and they don’t tell you what it is until they uncover it,” Takei explains. “First was a box full of cockroaches… And then I had… what was it?… grub worms. And that was difficult, as calmly as I tried to approach it.” Indeed, Takei is not just a veteran of pop culture conventions, he is a veteran of life, in all its rich and sometimes disturbing forms. “I had kangaroo penis, which was absolutely tasteless,” he says. “It was like chewing on saddle leather, you know, you just chew and chew, and it won’t break apart. I chewed for five minutes, and I knew it was terrible television – they told me to take it out and tear at it with my carnivore teeth and break it down, and so I did, and I was able to swallow a portion of that. It’s a matter of how you look at it, how you approach it. I’m Japanese, and I love sushi, something that some people can’t eat, and that’s because of the idea, you know – they think, ‘Ooh, raw fish?’ and then I tell them, ‘Well, you eat dead cow, don’t you?’” WHAT: Supanova Pop Culture Expo WHEN & WHERE: 18 & 19 Apr, Gold Coast Convention & Exhibition Centre
TAKING AIM
Arrow star Willa Holland is done playing the “melodramatic girl”. She discusses her new focus and the show’s craziest season yet with Daniel Cribb. fter making a name for herself in The O.C. as Marissa Cooper’s little sister, Kaitlin, Willa Holland darted between several film and TV appearances before landing a spot on Arrow, where she found herself playing another sibling: this time the younger sister of main character Oliver Queen. The role of Thea Queen saw Holland once again employ the role of a teen full of angst, and for two seasons, she played it well. That all changed in the show’s third season - a collection of episodes that transformed Thea Queen into a completely different character, and ultimately gave Holland an opportunity to smash any preconceived opinions on her acting skillset. “I’m just sittin’ around set in between takes,” Holland begins from the set of Arrow, where the final episodes of the season are being filmed. With an intensive filming schedule, it’s no surprise to find her hard at work. “At the current moment, Arrow is taking up most of my time. We shoot about ten months of the year… it’s pretty rare how much we work. And the schedules for each episode are pretty jam-packed. We’re famous for having very, very long hours, but we all love each other – otherwise it would be a pain in the arse,” she jokes.
A
The show sits on The CW network in the US, which is also home to long-running hit Supernatural and fellow DC Comics show The Flash. “We all watch each other’s shows. I mean, I actually don’t really 12 • THE MUSIC • 8TH APRIL 2015
watch [Arrow] half as much as I watch The Flash now, which is kind of weird, and I watch Gotham. I kind of stay true to the DC universe, and I do not watch Marvel’s Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. - I would never,” she laughs. Thea Queen’s transformation in Season Three finally gave Holland an opportunity to take part in the action scenes. “It’s been great being able to do it and being able to show the fans that Thea is not just the kind of melodramatic girl she was through Season One and Season Two, and that she actually has some strength and some grit inside of her.
“I was kind of sitting, waiting and ready to do the transition from day one, but since it’s been happening it’s been amazing being able to go to the gym every single day and then work out and learn all these amazing techniques. I mean, picking up bows and swords and all that and actually learning how to use them.” And it sounds like fans have only seen the tip of the iceberg in terms of the intensity Season Three will deliver. “It’s kind of one of the craziest seasons yet. I can’t really say much without giving it away. It’s just all crazy, and all awesome. Every single episode is like a finale. I don’t understand how they keep on topping each episode. Every time I read them I get really scared and nervous.” WHAT: Supanova Pop Culture Expo WHEN & WHERE: 17 – 19 Apr, Gold Coast Convention & Exhibition Centre
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THE MUSIC • 8TH APRIL 2015 • 13
music
SOUTHERN PSYCH Psych-lords The Amorphous Androgynous – mixers of all things weird and wonderful – have turned their third eyes to the realms of the Australian underground. Gary Cobain tells Steve Bell how a silly joke got really serious.
T
he two lads from iconic Manchester dance outfit The Future Sound Of London – Gary Cobain and Brian Dougans – long ago expanded their musical consciousness and formed offshoot The Amorphous Androgynous to delve into the world of the weird and psychedelic, the multi-format works of which they labelled A Monstrous Psychedelic Bubble. Now, many years later, they’ve curated a compilation of Australian underground psych called The Wizards Of Oz, which mined our fertile scene with fascinating results.
music
“I came over with The Amorphous Androgynous in 2005 – we did some gigs – when somebody handed me a Wolfmother album,” Cobain explains. “We were eight years into A Monstrous Psychedelic Bubble at that point – we hadn’t released any of them, but we’d been doing radio transmissions as DJs since 1987, and they were so radical that we couldn’t release them because we were only using like a minute of every track. I came back to Australia in 2009 to meet a friend... and somebody gave me Tame Impala. By 2009 we’d released Cosmic Space
Music and Pagan Love Vibrations, which were the first two actual official Psychedelic Bubble releases – and at that point we’d started doing some production work for Warner Brothers. We started joking with them – just pub banter over a drink – and we were going, ‘We know best, why should we listen to your music? What do you know? You come from a country where your sole contribution to rock’n’roll history and heritage is Olivia Newton-John, Rolf Harris and AC/DC! Oh, and you’ve been saved by Tame Impala and Wolfmother – something’s finally happening! Oh, and by the way why do you claim that the Bee Gees are yours when they come from Birmingham, England?’ It was a joke of course and just a bit of fun. “The reason that Tony Harlow and David Laing [from Warner] came to us in the first place is because they were huge fans of A Monstrous Psychedelic Bubble and they started feeding us [Australian] tracks, and as they did we started to go, ‘Ooh, maybe we’d best take that joke back! Why haven’t we heard this?’ We were thinking, ‘If this was English, would we have not heard it?’ When you have a counter-culture exploding like that you have to be there at the right place and the right time. This was pre-Internet, and Australia was clearly being influenced by radio stations and import records so it would have all been pretty slow. So it started as a joke, but then I went, ‘You know what? We need to look at this because after ten years of A Monstrous Psychedelic Bubble we should know more about this music.’” WHAT: A Monstrous Psychedelic Bubble: The Wizards Of Oz (Monstrous Bubble/Festival) For full interview head to theMusic.com.au
CLIMBING THE LADDER Before New Zealand brother/sister duo Broods play at Groovin The Moo, Caleb Nott chats to Cyclone about the direction of Brood’s second album and ticking off life goals.
T
he synth-popsters from Nelson are currently touring North America, with Nott preparing for a gig tonight in Philadelphia – and he sounds exhausted. Nonetheless, the muso is anticipating performing at GTM; in fact, he once attended the Bendigo event as a punter. “I was living in Melbourne and me and my brother decided to go,” Nott says. Georgia was fronting another band, The Peasants, when in 2011 she met producer Joel Little – he was a judge at Smokefreerockquest, which they’d trumped. She, and later Caleb, started collaborating with him. The Notts, who discovered electro-pop via Oh Land, developed Broods. Meanwhile, Little would also record with a NZ progeny known as Lorde. Broods, now attracting international record deals, first generated buzz with the epic Bridges, ahead of their eponymous Little-guided EP. Their debut album Evergreen cracked the US Top 50 (and ARIA Top 5). Broods most recently aired the single Four Walls – yet the laconic Nott is unsure if there will be another from their debut. “It’s kinda strange talking about [Evergreen] since I’m in the middle of working through the second one already – it seems like years ago that we wrote that,” he admits. “But I guess I look back on it and I don’t hate any of the songs – even though I’ve played them every single night – which I think is pretty 14 • THE MUSIC • 8TH APRIL 2015
positive for an artist.” Following The Naked & Famous, Broods have had their tracks synced for US TV shows like Revenge. “Georgia was pretty stoked – she ticked off one of her life goals of getting a song [the aptly-entitled Medicine] on Grey’s Anatomy,” Nott says. He freely drops hints about Broods’ second album. “I think there’s gonna be a little more of real instrumentation on it, so a little bit more of playing and stuff, rather than just programming things on the computer – so it’ll have maybe a little bit more of an organic feel to it, but still Broods-vibing. I don’t know. We’ll see. It’s in early stages.”
These days Little is in-demand as a producer – so much so that he’s relocated to California. (He’s teamed with Daniel Johns on his avant-soul Aerial Love EP.) Will Broods reunite with him? “I still really love working with Joel – I mean, he’s taught me everything that I can do now,” Notts laughs. “You always wanna learn. I think it won’t be a record that’s exclusively with Joel, this one, but he will definitely have features on it. We’re just experimenting with writing with other people and seeing what relationships blossom into good music. So we’ll write some really crappy songs and then we’ll hopefully write some more good ones.” And there’s a good chance that fans will hear fresh Broods at GTM. “There’s one song that I really wanna finish and play for you guys at the festival so, depending whether I can finish it or not, yeah, we’ll see.” WHEN & WHERE: 10 May, Groovin The Moo, Townsville
THE MUSIC • 8TH APRIL 2015 • 15
track-bytrack
WOMBATS THREE Songs about desire, jealousy, heavy periods (not like that), Harry Styles getting papped... Frontman Matthew Murphy takes us for a stroll through The Wombats’ third album, Glitterbug. Emoticons A song about desire and whether or not to act upon it. Bowie and Prince were cited in the studio as influences, and it was chosen to open Glitterbug due to its rather defiant drum intro.
that part of my life and the song fell out. It has nothing to do with psycho fans, murder or walking dogs.
Greek Tragedy
Headspace
Began life as a musical idea Tord and Dan sent me, had an Awolnation vibe and its working title was ‘Groovy Pooey’. When doing a test recording in LA we worked even more on the track and then I was left to write over it. There was a lot going on during
comedy
When recording Your Body Is A Weapon, Tord played me a Simple Minds/Michael Jacksonesque idea he had begun work on. We then toyed around with it in Eric Valentine’s studio. Similar to Greek Tragedy I was then left to ‘Jackson Pollock’ all over it. It took a while to complete due to how wordy it is. I wanted the listener to feel as though he or she was driving along a coastal road in California en route to a huge party in the ‘80s, ie. Billowing
curtains, suit jackets with rolled-up sleeves, red sports cars and absolutely tons of Coca-Cola. This Is Not A Party Born out of a fairly heavy period I had in the summer of 2013. All people named are real and were surprisingly ok with me namedropping them, apart from Charlie but then again I knew he would be a diva about it. The most house-orientated track on the album. Your Body Is A Weapon Inspiration came from seeing Harry Styles getting ‘papped’ at a Brit Awards after-show we were at. The photographer looked pretty creepy. I appreciate creepy people so wrote a song for him. Pink Lemonade Without a doubt the most travelled of all songs on ‘Bug: From Phoenix Arizona to Barcelona to LA to Liverpool. The title came from questioning the difference between lemonade and pink lemonade. There isn’t one. The title laid dormant for a while until I went on a break to Barcelona and had a dream my girlfriend was hooking up with other people. Curveballs A song about jealousy and how debilitating an emotion it can be. Dan and Tord sent me a track via email, but this song really came to life in the luxurious surroundings of our Battersea studio. WHAT: Glitterbug (Warner) For the full track-by-track, head to theMusic.com.au
BOOKING FUNNY The Stand-Up Revolution is in the air, and Martin Moreno talks to Baz McAlister about working with the comedy legend who gives the little guys a leg up.
H
e’s both literally and figuratively one of the biggest comedians in the world – and when Los Angeles legend Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias’s 2010 TV special put him on millions of screens and won him worldwide fame, he decided to share the love. “I met Gabe back in 2000,” says Moreno, who began doing stand-up into his 30s. “I started comedy in late ’99. He’d been doing it a couple of years before me but he was still on the grind, like any comic, just constantly working shit out in the open mic rooms. Then we started touring together in the clubs.” When that I’m Not Fat, I’m Fluffy special aired, “things went bananas”, Moreno says. “We were working five days a week sometimes, doing two shows a night, living on the tour bus. And then Comedy Central wanted to do a TV show because the fanbase was there.” That’s the seed of the Stand-Up Revolution, a show conceived and curated by Iglesias and co-hosted by Moreno, now in its third season. “Gabe put a demographic that didn’t usually get on television on television,” Moreno says, “A lot of brown people, a lot of people of colour, and a lot of veterans of the game. Usually television’s looking for the next guy that’s gonna pop, for youth. He just said ‘Fuck it, I’m booking funny.’... A lot of people got a lot of opportunities because of that. It’s mind-boggling to see how far 16 • THE MUSIC • 8TH APRIL 2015
Gabe’s comedy reaches, and everybody under the ‘Fluffy umbrella’ gets to come out there and taste what it’s like to perform in an arena, which is something very few comics get to do. Plus Gabe’s comedy is universal ... Mine is a little more fucking crazy. It’s a lot harder to get any television play because of that.” Iglesias has brought his good friend on tour to Australia now twice, and felt “a lot of love”, but this year, Moreno’s headlining his own Stand-Up Revolution line-up as it travels Down Under – including G Reilly, Lance Patrick, and Hooter Moreno. “I used to work with G Reilly back at the UCLA
Medical Center in the late ‘90s, and eventually we both quit our jobs to do comedy full time,” Moreno says. “I was in healthcare for a long time. I wanted to be a paramedic but a couple of drunk driving charges shot that down so I worked in the hospital, kind of a jack-of-all-trades in the procedure room. “Lance is one of those guys who’s just funny, likeable – and pretty! And Hooter Moreno is my son. He said ‘Dad, I want to do comedy,’ and I was like, what am I going to do, say ‘Don’t follow your dream’? He’s been around comedy since he was nine years old. And if he wasn’t funny I wouldn’t be taking him with me, but he makes me laugh. The little fucker talks about me up there sometimes but I can’t get mad at him.”
WHAT: Comedians Of Gabriel Iglesias’ Stand-Up Revolution World Tour WHEN & WHERE: 16 & 17 Apr, Sit Down Comedy Club
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THE MUSIC • 8TH APRIL 2015 • 17
music
DIVING DEEP
start to finish… [So it] starts out with light surface music and then goes darker, down-tuning and going heavier as you’re getting into the deep sea area.”
Robin Staps, guitarist of German prog metal masterminds The Ocean, talks to Tom Hersey about a live show that takes crowds 20,000 leagues under the sea.
T
he Ocean are a band that have defined their career by bucking trends, subverting norms and doing things that are just downright weird. Even after a decade spent in their own wacky world of creative expression, the band’s 2013 album Pelagial represented a new level of weirdness. Composed as sort of like a prog metal Jerusalem, the 53-minute record flows like a single song that sonically and lyrically tells the story of a journey down to the bottom of the sea. “I’ve had the idea to make this record for a long time,” guitarist Robin Staps says, “since I was nine, actually – and it’s a very simple idea when you play in a band
music
called The Ocean, where it’s a sonic journey from the surface of the ocean to the bottom of the sea. But for as long as I’d had the idea, I didn’t know how to approach it. But then in 2012 I was really determined to dig in and try to work it out, because I thought the concept was cool. The album was conceptualised as one long piece of music that charted the journey from the surface to the depths of the sea. It was meant to be performed that way, so we’ve always performed it that way live. Whether we’re playing the instrumental version of the record or the version with vocals, we always play it in the sequence from
Fast forward two years and Staps feels The Ocean have fully realised the ambitions he had that served as the impetus for Pelagial. In addition to what the band brought to the record, Staps says there’s plenty of bells and whistles for fans coming out to the see the band play. “There’s a lot more elements when we play live than what’s on the record. We use live projections, there was a movie we made basically supporting the journey to the bottom of the sea. These visuals really add something to the show. In the beginning, people are standing with big expectations and smiles on their faces and then everyone is just crushed and going mental by the end. You can definitely see the changes on people’s faces as we’re approaching those deep sea parts. It would be an interesting project to actually capture the audience experiencing the live performance so you could watch what it does to them, because it’s pretty cool.” According to Staps, the Pelagial shows are getting exactly the type of reactions that he’s always wanted for his band. Even if that means putting audiences in a place where they experience the aural equivalent of the super-pressurised depths of the sea. “It’s immensely gratifying to crush people,” he laughs. “To destroy people and to drag them down into your maelstrom of negativity… Because although it’s negative it can be this cathartic experience that can become this empowering thing when you leave the show.” WHEN & WHERE: 11 Apr, The Brightside; 12 Apr, The Northern, Byron Bay;
RAMBLIN’ MAN Despite the album being recorded in a variety of studios across a number of US states, the stories Darren Hanlon relates on his latest album remain intimate and Australian, as Michael Smith learns.
H
e may have grown up in Gympie, but singersongwriter Darren Hanlon is no stranger to the wide-open spaces of America, recording his fourth album, 2010’s I Will Love You At All, with a healthy injection of musical collaboration from Portland, Oregon-based keyboards player Cory Gray. While he recorded his latest album, Where Did You Come From?, in a various studios in Memphis, New Orleans, Nashville, Clarksdale and Muscle Shoals, it was in Broken Hill, 19 hours by train and bus west of Sydney, that the songwriting process began. “It was quite a rambling adventure,” Hanlon admits of the album’s evolution. “No matter where I am, I’m looking for quiet places to go to write that are cheap. There’s always a bunch of stuff that get started that I file away but I try and finish at least something. If I get one song a week, I’m actually pretty happy. In Broken Hill I got one completed and bunch started – lots of ideas, lots of lyrics, lots of stories written. “Then I put a message out when I was in Portland saying did anyone know of any places I could go and the Sou’wester Lodge [in Seaview, Washington] came up a few times, so I checked it out. The new owners were interested in the idea of an ‘artist residency’ – before my call they hadn’t existed,” he chuckles, “so I 18 • THE MUSIC • 8TH APRIL 2015
was the first one. I was the guinea pig. It’s funny, wherever you go kind of feeds into the process.” In the end, the bulk of Where Did You Come From? was written as Hanlon travelled across America’s South. “Apart from those three, none of it was prepared. I had other songs that were completed that never made it onto the record. I kind of realised that a pattern was forming, a style was forming, and I just wanted to stick with that, the more roots-based kind of songs, and I was trying to write songs and melodies and rhythms to suit the players that I was meeting
along the way. So often I’d book the studio a week or two in advance and then write the song up until the day we went in there.” Among the musicians Hanlon met who ended up joining him in the studio were Riley Downing from US country band The Deslondes; singer James Wallace from The Naked Light; a singer named Elle King who was living upstairs at this house in Nashville where he lived for a month and ended up providing not only the vocals for a song he’d started during a session with Guy Clark he’d abandoned but saw him rewrite it with her in mind, The Will Of The River; and, courtesy bassplaying Memphis’ Electrophonic Studios owner Scott Bomar, the extraordinary Howard Grimes, 72-year-old veteran of countless sessions including a stack of Al Greene records, who ended up playing on four songs. WHAT: Where Did You Come From? (Flippin Yeah) WHEN & WHERE: 9 Apr, The Spotted Cow, Toowoomba; 10 Apr, The Zoo
THE MUSIC • 8TH APRIL 2015 • 19
★★★★
album/ep reviews
CALEXICO
THE WOMBATS
Edge Of The Sun Spunk
Glitterbug
ALBUM OF THE WEEK
Even as they’ve straddled the musical border of their name, there’s always been that bit more to Calexico than the mariachi trumpets and desert songs of longing. On some albums, maybe they’ve not quite got the full balance of what they’re about. But here, Burns and Convertino seem to have pulled the various strands together, and made an album that manages to flow across the moods, but might also work as a sampler for those who somehow haven’t caught up with one of this century’s more individual bands. Edge Of The Sun goes from the breezy alt-country of Falling From The Sky – which could easily fit on one of guest vocalist Ben Bridwell’s Band Of Horses records – to the heat haze of Miles From The Sea’s ocean dreams that drag you in and under.
Warner
It can then switch down to something like the instrumental Cayoacan, with plucked flamenco guitars and those trumpets setting it as wedding waltz if they ever make a Tijuana Cartel remake of The Godfather. Elsewhere there are the familiar Latino airs of songs like Cumbia de Donde, or the more plaintive Tapping On The Line. Cameos from the likes of Neko Case and Sam Beam (Iron & Wine) will broaden the appeal. An occasional squelchy synth line may distract, but as ever Calexico have made another crafted album to add to their catalogue of quality. Ross Clelland
The menacing marsupials are at it again. Now well into the electro pop genre, Glitterbug guarantees the same techno beats that previous album, This Modern Glitch provided, but perhaps this needs more time to grow on you. Needless to say, there is a fever pitch that comes with these British brutes and the lyrical skill of lead vocalist Matt Murphy continues to soar: “We crave the fiction when we need the truth.” Falsetto vocals, indie licks and funky beats; they don’t disappoint. Their content often revolves around summer, heartbreak and suburban suffering, which are always crowd pleasers! Interestingly, the second and third tracks are the singles they have released in the past two months, which endangers the album in having a few too many ‘skip over tracks’ that are pleasant enough, but don’t
PAUL MAC
SAY LOU LOU
Eleven
à Deux/The Orchard
The Mac once commanded weather changes in any Aussie club with a mere flick of his wrist and for an enviable catalogue of quality which has included The Lab, Itch-E & Scratch-E and The Dissociatives (with Daniel Johns), we thank you, sir! His first solo album in ten years so craves to be pulsating from the windows of the nation’s proudest queer venues. Alas, here, he’s simply nostalgically unprogressive.
Dream pop outfit Say Lou Lou burst onto the scene with pockets full of glitter. Lucid Dreaming is the debut album from the duo, self-released on their own record label. Their music follows the classic formula for electro-pop, but with the twist of two lead singers.
Holiday From Me
Holiday From Me’s introduction unwisely irritates with the kind of Fatboy Slim loopery that overpopulated the late ‘90s. Once over that hurdle the early run feels a lot more comely. Inside Outerspace is the ravey bouncer that, with Benjamin Fraser claiming “I can feel you judging me with your energy”, slam dunks a Stonewall moment, as does hi-NRG single State Of War. Megan Washington’s typically kooky turn on Idiot is the point 20 • THE MUSIC • 8TH APRIL 2015
★★★½ quite compare with the opening songs. Hopefully, Your Body Is A Weapon ought to put that idea to rest at eight tracks in. The English Summer and Pink Lemonade combine the styles of early Wombats with their most recent influences. To put it plainly, there is nothing offensive, lacklustre or mundane about this album, and if you are a fan, pick it up, and add it to the collection. You will find some gold in this, but perhaps give it a few plays and let their cheeky charm win you over once more. Bravo, boys. Emilie Taylor
Lucid Dreaming
★★ where the overfamiliarity starts to stagnate, and we’re only four songs in. Someone Else’s gradual mounting to power ballad ends up reducing Sydney soulsation Ngaiire back to being Australian Idol fodder, as if Mariah Carey’s template is being envied from afar without the chutzpah to unleash and go full diva. Thankfully, she shines on Exit Strategy and by channeling Kylie’s Can’t Get You Out Of My Head in Mystery To Me but by this point, we can definitely say we’ve heard it all before. Perhaps the years leading us in dance has left Paul Mac tired and emotional and he really does need a holiday from himself. Mac McNaughton
Complicating things further, the two are twins. Miranda and Elektra are the daughters of Steve Kilbey from The Church and Karin Jansson of punk band Pink Champagne. As far as musical genetics goes, this would seem like the perfect gene pool. Despite this, there’s not much to Lucid Dreaming beyond its lavish production. Everything sounds expensive and bright thanks to some heavy-handed studio magic, as aesthetics reign supreme on most of the album. There’s even a track named Glitter. Shimmering synths and bouncing bass are layered on the
★★★ following track, Games For Girls. The song plays off the same vibe that made fellow Swedes Icona Pop’s music so fun to listen to. Unfortunately, there’s minimal excitement beyond this point. The songwriting is mediocre at best, and takes a backseat in the overall impression of the songs. The album slows down and loses momentum. The production swells magnificently for Beloved, and Skylights has the kind of naturalistic lyrics that could fit well on a First Aid Kit song, but it still remains a shame that Lucid Dreaming rarely exists outside its atmosphere of sterile artificiality. Roshan Clerke
album/ep reviews
★★★★
★★★★
★★★★
★★★
WAXAHATCHEE
BETH HART
CHAINSAW HOOKERS
DWIGHT YOAKAM
Wichita/[PIAS] Australia
Mascot Label Group/ Warner
Firestarter Distribution
Reprise/Warner
Say what you will about crowdfunding, but it often gets good shit done from time to time. Chainsaw Hookers now have a complete showcase of their pop culture-fuelled “horror punk”, and there’s enough smartness injected in to make this another ripper from the Perth mainstays.
Having your thing down to a science can sometimes mean having your thing down to a set of predictable and sterile tricks and tropes. But in the case of Dwight Yoakam and Second Hand Heart, you get the kind of expert hand that makes the masterful look effortless. It’s good ol’ boy country rock that makes no apologies for being good ol’ boy country rock. There may not be any surprises on Second Hand Heart, but at this stage in Yoakam’s career, I can’t imagine many of his diehard faithful are in the market for surprise.
Ivy Tripp
Waxahatchee’s third album finds Katie Crutchfield searching for solid ground. The Alabama musician describes the album’s theme as “reminding yourself that you have control in situations that seem overwhelming”. From the disorientating distortion on opener Breathless it’s apparent Ivy Tripp is a departure from previous work. There are still quiet tunes; however, there’s more grit to the rocking out on songs like The Dirt. It’s in these moments when the band loosens up and we glimpse new territory. Ivy Tripp means directionlessness, but listening to Crutchfield try to find her feet has never sounded this good.
Better Than Home Hart’s battles with past turmoils and personal demons have always given her a treasure trove of material. Better Than Home, however, balances Hart’s dichotomous history of ups and downs; the joys are more palpable than on 2012’s Bang Bang Boom Boom and the lows less bottomless than on 2010’s My California, giving her ample opportunity to let that husky voice rip. Hart rejoices on lush, brassy opener Might As Well Smile, laments her relationship with her father on Tell Her You Belong To Me then tempers it with a piano ballad, Mama This One’s For You. Carley Hall
We Want Your Blood
Fan of Jaws? How about masked serial killers, or crazy fundamentalist churches? The four-piece have jammed film tropes into just over a half hour of non-stop, riff-driven rock, only to be halted by the occasional call to party. It’s big, it’s loud, it’s dumb – and it works.
Second Hand Heart
Pete Laurie
Cam Findlay
Roshan Clerke
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★★★★
★★½
★★★★
INFINITY BROKE
LOOPER
SOLKYRI
Come To The Darkside Luke/MGM
Mute/Create/Control
Bird’s Robe/MGM
Former Belle & Sebastian bassist Stuart Davidಬs long gestating Looper project finally rewards painfully loyal fans with a fourth album after teasing the odd morsel since 2002ಬs The Snare. David’s ghostly rasp is a dead ringer for The Auteurs’ Luke Haines, so much so during Waiting For Trains’ wandering vulnerability, you half expect a grim line about a child murder. The off-kilt tilt never gets too unsettling, Davidಬs proud Scottish brogue taking centre stage with a twinkly, bookish tale about ಫElliot Grayಬ. Too bright to be dark, too pudgy to be edgy, Offgrid:Offline struggles to make a connection.
The Sydney post-rockers don’t sound like they’re part of a sad boys club here. If anything, the vibe of this instrumental album – the band’s third since 2011 – is strong and hopeful. The production value stands out the most; everything is clean, crisp and full of purpose. Nine-minute opener Team Solar paints an abundance of landscapes, while lead single Yes, I’m Breathing builds around an uplifting guitar melody and commanding drum beat. The eight-minute-long I Felt Unsafe, I Felt At Home is a wonderful example of a building instrumental narrative – these guys are masters of their craft.
Mac McNaughton
Kane Sutton
Before Before
Though mostly born from the same sessions as last year’s River Mirrors, these nine songs operate on a different plane. More concise and song-based, yet with a broad range of moods and levels of intensity, the quartet conjure up caustic distorted storms of guitar over measured rhythms. Jamie Hutchings’ vocals run the full gamut from lilting melodies on Papa Was A Clown to the strangled howls that ride the thunderous sludge rock of Dogfall, sweetened slightly by its female gang vocals. Infinity Broke continue to mine a visceral and creative vein of rock music.
Offgrid:Offline
Sad Boys Club
Kendrick Lamar – To Pimp A Butterfly Action Bronson – Mr Wonderful East India Youth – Culture Of Volume Nantes – Limbo Motor Sister – Ride
Chris Familton THE MUSIC • 8TH APRIL 2015 • 21
live reviews
QUEENSLAND MUSIC AWARDS
Brisbane Powerhouse 30 Mar It’s a night for celebrating the best that the state’s music community has to offer, the Brisbane Powerhouse filled to the brim with a who’s who of industry personalities and artists both veteran and nascent for this evening’s Queensland Music Awards ceremony. While there’s much recognition passed around the room as the prizes are given out, and “This is so unexpected!” became the acceptance speech mantra of the show, the audience is treated to a series of live performances from local artists to punctuate the night’s proceedings.
work rising up to the highest reaches of the Powerhouse. Soon after she concludes her flawless set of lush electronic pop, she’s awarded the Pop Award for the sublime Wasted Heights. Esteemed Queensland singer and songwriter Katie Noonan is next in line to bring some extra star power to the show, teaming with electronic artist cln for a remixed version of Noonan’s recent single, Peace Is My Drug. It’s a visually and sonically spectacular performance. The penultimate live performance of the evening comes from much-hyped indie kids Blank Realm. Unfortunately, the endearing fray that fringes the band’s sonic edges on record – tonight, at least – doesn’t quite carry into the live setting, with an
BLANK REALM @ QMAS 30MAR15. PIC: STEPHEN BOOTH
Contemporary Indigenous outfit Yarwah seamlessly mix modern techniques with wind instruments such as flute, the Sudanese kacapi, and suling, a type of south-east Asian ring flute. Eclectic country outfit Halfway are next to take the stage, ahead of the award wins that will come their way later tonight. They’re a tight prospect, each player filling their role with casual aplomb for their short set. Multiple QMA nominee Sahara Beck simply shines in her brief appearance, while the experimental compositions of diva-like songstress MKO take a little to find their groove – but once they lock in, the slick, elastic performance comes into its own. Also up for recognition tonight, assured singer-songwriter Airling hits the stage in fine form indeed, her gorgeous vocal 22 • THE MUSIC • 8TH APRIL 2015
MASTODON, CALIGULA’S HORSE
Eatons Hill Hotel 29 Mar Bodies amble in and fill large sections of the room for prog metallers Caligula’s Horse. The hometown openers warm things up with intricate arrangements that, for a lot of the time, are mixed a bit too far towards the bottom end, rendering some of Jim Grey’s lofty warbles a bit thin and dulling the edges of the complex guitar work with bass fuzz. Tech issues aside, to find themselves in the support slot for arguably one of present-day progressive rock’s biggest names is no small feat.
HALFWAY @ QMAS 30MAR15. PIC: STEPHEN BOOTH
out-of-tune bass proving to be greatly distracting, one too many dropped key-tar notes taking things from cute to sloppy. Finally, local veterans We All Want To take their place on stage to round out the performance component of the evening, performing with gusto despite the unfortunate handicap of performing the last set of the night, after all the awards have been given out and everyone realises they haven’t been to the toilet in three hours. Regardless, they persevere, delivering a typically polished outing that culminates with a fittingly upbeat and celebratory song to carry through the theatre as award winners, nominees and guests alike filter out into the night, sated on homegrown, high quality music. Mitch Knox
All eyes flit to the stage when the lights dim and the Mastodon men stride on, getting straight down to business with riff-laden newbie Tread Lightly. There are two factors surrounding tonight’s show that have piqued energy levels: the first is that these guys are only a short way into this latest international tour, and the second is that this is Mastodon’s first non-festival headline show in our fair city, so the hunger for the four-piece is palpable. Once More ‘Round The Sun, Blasteroid and Oblivion, with its sludgey groove in the mid section, all work their magic as all three guitarists step up for vocal duties. Drummer Brann Dailor takes over the mic and juggles it with his fill-heavy kitwork in The Motherload as bodies get airborne during Brent Hinds’ mind-blowing shredding. Bassist Troy Sanders
quivers like a madman in the banjo-prefaced Divinations, before Black Tongue, Ember City and Blood And Thunder bring things to a close. There are no negatives to cite; not only are the guys seemingly loving it, picking out faces in the crowd and singing along with them. There is no gimmickry, no gadgets, no encore. A solid light show, yes, but for a band of this calibre, experience, status, they’re still just a bunch of dudes from Atlanta that love rock and clearly love the way we rock with them. A sweaty and redfaced Dailor chucks some sticks and says the last goodbye, giving voice to the disbelief that it’s taken this long for Mastodon to headline their own show here. Carley Hall
MASTODON @ EATONS HILL HOTEL. PIC: CLAUDIA CIAPOCHA
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Byron Bay Bluesfest @ Tyagarah Tea Tree Farm Lisa Mitchell @ Black Bear Lodge Norma Jean @ Crowbar
arts reviews surfaces when a friend/colleague informs him of a job from a wealthy backer to find a lost Nazi submarine loaded with gold. Pulling a team of Russians, Brits, an Australian and an American businessman together, Robinson seeks the lost bounty, with both expected and unexpected problems arising. BLACK SEA
BLACK SEA Film
In cinemas 9 Apr
★★★ ★
What happens when Wolfgang Petersen’s submarine masterpiece Das Boot meets Ocean’s Eleven? You get Kevin Macdonald’s newest film, Black Sea, although to be honest that’s just face value. Black Sea finds recently unemployed under-sea salvage captain, Robinson ( Jude Law) bitter and without income. Opportunity to bounce back
Macdonald is an excellent filmmaker, crafting a claustrophobic thriller full of tension. Plot may jump ahead jarringly but Macdonald consolidates effectively, creating amazingly tense moments in the oppressive submarine and the dark unknown depths of the Black Sea. The set design, cinematography and sound design are impeccable, oozing gritty atmosphere. Macdonald has amassed an excellent male ensemble cast, each member adding their own flavour, from Ben Mendelsohn’s wired Aussie, Scoot McNairy’s jittery businessman to the sardonic Michael Smiley. However, it wouldn’t work without its captain. Law gives a powerful, raw, scotch-
tongued performance. Black Sea is thrilling, memorable cinema that also conveys potent contemporary and universal messages. Sean Capel
THE DUFF Film
In cinemas
★★
“What happens in high school is going to stay with us forever,” announces the cunty Queen Bee of The DUFF, speaking aloud the fear percolating through every teen film set in the mythical American high school of the movies. Its title is an acronym – the Designated Ugly Fat Friend – the story taking at face value such skindeep judgmentalism as partand-parcel of the adolescent experience. “All teenagers are cunts” seems to be its rationale but, sadly, the cunts here are not as winningly cunty as the cunts of teen-film legend (see: Heathers, Mean Girls, etc). Mae Whitman is dubbed a DUFF
in this materialist world, not as “hot” as her two best friends. The DUFF, in a semi-endearing way, goes all in on every teen movie trope: voiceovers explaining social standing; riotous house parties; wearing goggles and dropping things in coloured-liquid-filled beakers in chemistry class; a deal in which a geek and a jock trade tutoring for a makeover, that make-over begetting a poppingout-of-the-dressing-room-indifferent-outfits montage. Anthony Carew
THE DUFF
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the guide
ADVENTURE LAND
Member answering/role: Sam Baxter [lead vocalist] How long have you been together? We started Adventure Land in early-2011. How did you all meet? We met in jail. Ha ha, no we met through other bands and music projects we’d been involved in around Brisbane before Adventure Land. 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 Killers, who doesn’t like them! Would you rather be a busted broke-but-revered Hank Williams f igure or some kind of Metallica monster? I personally would like to make some sweet dough ‘cause I love expensive cars and holidays. Which Brisbane bands before you have been an inspiration (musically or otherwise)? Just all Brisbane bands that have had success are an inspiration because it gives you that little bit of hope that it can be done. People always say “you have to move to Sydney or the USA or anywhere else” but some Brissy bands like Powderfinger , Sheppard and Emma Louise have forged a path and we hope to do the same. What part do you think Brisbane plays in the music you make? We write our music with an international focus but that doesn’t mean that Brisbane doesn’t play a part. Nearly all the experiences we write about happened in Brisbane. If your band had to play a team sport instead of being musicians which sport would it be and why would you be triumphant? Probably `Ultimate Frisbee’ we always try and take a frisbee on tour so we have a bit of practice at it. We’re really competitive too so we’d be ruthless. What’s in the pipeline for the band in the short term? After the Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is single launch we’ll be finishing of our second single and working on our next release which we will hopefully tour later in the year. We’re hoping to make some inroads into the international market this year as well. Adventure Land play The Zoo on Saturday 11 April.
PIC: Terry Soo THE MUSIC • 8TH APRIL 2015 • 1
eat/drink steph@themusic.com.au
USE THE SPACE Sarah Barratt explores some restaurants/cafes/bars that make the most of their architecture and history. Pic: Dina El-Hakim.
THIS EXISTS... Weird dining and drinking experiences. Baobab Tree Bar, South Africa: Literally a bar inside a naturally hollowed tree. Apparently the tree is the widest of its species in the world. It’s estimated to be more than 1700 years old.
AROUND THE WORLD The Galley Restaurant in Santa Monica, US looks like a boat from the outside, with portal windows and a canoe hanging above the door. Apparently it’s Santa Monica’s oldest restaurant, established in 1934 by someone called Captain Ron.
St Kilda Dispensary in St Kilda, VIC operates out of an old pharmacy. The décor is minimal, white and light teal. There are old cabinets, beakers and brown medicine bottles galore – and the specials are dubbed ‘Doctor’s Orders’. Oh, and the donuts come with their filling in a syringe that’s stuck into the top. The Baxter Inn in Sydney, NSW is a perfectly executed whisky bar, in a basement, that is (fittingly) incredibly hard to find. Their basement setting complements the ‘American-style bar during the prohibition era’ theme they’ve gone for, with over 300 whiskies and jazz music on offer. Arbory Bar & Eatery, pictured, in Melbourne, VIC is nestled in between Platform 13 of Flinders Street Station and the Yarra River. It takes the place of an 26 • THE MUSIC • 8TH APRIL 2015
old, unused platform, is 150 metres long (taking the title of Melbourne’s longest bar) and reflects its surrounding tree canopy; ‘arbor’ meaning a shady garden alcove. The Stables Bar in Perth, WA used to be Perth’s first horse stables ever. The repurposed two-storey space on Hay Street (also fitting) is entered through a cobblestone courtyard, they have an all day ‘grazing’ menu, food ‘from the beast’ and a long, upholstered, old-fashioned bar. Le Bon Ton in Collingwood, VIC, harks back to the American southern salon, but also wouldn’t look out of place in Game Of Thrones and serves up modern American bistro fare. The vibe and architecture is definitely very southern smoke house, with the interior stripped back to its natural open brick state.
Modern Toilet Restaurant, Taiwan: At this bathroom-themed chain restaurant, which also has locations in other Asian countries, patrons sit on toilets instead of chairs. Hanging form the ceiling are plungers and poop-shaped lights. Dishes are served in toilet-shaped bowls and drinks in urinal-shaped cups. Beer Spa, Prague: Exactly what it sounds like. Guests can take a warm, bubbling bath in the allnatural ingredients used for beer brewing, including barley, hops and yeast. During the 30-minute bath session, guests can drink as much beer as they want from the tub-side tap. Shower beers are so yesterday; bath beers are much more sophisticated. Pictured: Modern Toilet Restaurant by riNux.
Chiltern Firehouse in London, England, is a restaurant and hotel that used to be the Manchester Square Fire Station. They’ve kept the large firehouse doors, supporting pillars and a fireman’s pole. Garage in Philadelphia, US was transformed from an old garage into the trendy bar it is now. Outside it still looks like a garage, from its large door to the neon ‘Satellite Auto Body’ sign. Inside, they’ve kept red metal garage cabinets. Crop Bar & Bistro in Cleveland, US used to be a massive 1925 bank with marble columns and huge arches. It’s now a popular restaurant that has kept the integrity of its space intact – they’ve even kept the vault space as a function area. Pictured: Chiltern Firehouse by Martin Addison.
TOURIST TIPS
Restaurants and bars from movies that are actual places you can go to. Kansas City Barbeque, San Diego, US: As seen in Top Gun; remember the Great Balls Of Fire singalong scene? Selfproclaimed as ‘the Top Gun bar’. Katz’s Delicatessen, New York City, US: As seen in When Harry Met Sally. To quote from Katz’s website: “Remember that scene in When Harry Met Sally where Meg Ryan was, uh, faking it? Yeah, that was at Katz’s. (And we’re not so sure she was really acting. If you’ve had our brisket, you catch our drift.)” Omg. Hakkasan, London, UK: As seen in About A Boy. The scene where Hugh Grant’s character’s web of lies starts rapidly unravelling. Actually a Michelin-starred series of Chinese restaurants.
the guide qld.live@themusic.com.au
INDIE NEWS
CHART WRAP
FLOATING ON AIR
ROCK ON SAILOR
WHA?
Queensland’s five-piece rock, roots and reggae band The Floating Bridges will be hitting the stage at The Motor Room on Friday. Help them celebrate the release of their new album, Creatures Of Leisure.
Perth post-hardcore four-piece Sail On! Sail On! called on US producer Will Yip to mix and master their new single, Breach, which they’re showcasing on Saturday at The Underdog.
Julia Why? finally bring their new LP Wheel up the east coast, after set backs including a severed thumb, nerve damaged arm, a visit to a psych ward and a dislocated shoulder. They’re all here in one piece and playing Thursday, Heya Bar.
THE OTHER DENPASAR
SPACE KATO
MOUTHING OFF
The songwriting collaboration between Ben Fahey and Alex L’Estrange, Denpasar has a new single, Don’t Know Why, to show off, and do just that Saturday at Black Bear Lodge when they open that night’s Hey Geronimo April residency.
Expat Canadian now Byron Bay resident Garrett Kato has a new single, UFOs, lifted from his forthcoming album, That Low And Lonesome Sound. He’s launching it Friday at Walrus Social House, Gold Coast; and Saturday at Solbar.
Brisbane pop-rockers Adventure Land have a new single to show off, a guitarladen track called Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is. They’ll be doing precisely that when they put on a show at The Zoo, Saturday.
NO WAITIN’
AS REAL AS IT GETS
COOL UNCLE
Townsville band Why Wait are touring the south coast of Queensland this April with their EP Disconnected. They play Thursday, Beetle Bar; Friday, Miami Tavern, Gold Coast; Saturday, Caloundra RSL, Sunshine Coast.
Brisbane-based funk/ska six-piece Cheap Fakes have announced a run of shows to coincide with the release of new single Just In Case. They’ll play at Solbar, Maroochydore, Friday with Chocolate Strings.
Uncle Jed have announced a run of shows titled Farewell Uncle Jed: Hello Luna Grand, which will celebrate their change of name and new direction. Cheer ‘em on when they play Friday, New Globe Theatre; Saturday, Currumbin Creek Tavern.
TWO OVER THREE
KEEPING IT REAL
X-RAY ECHO
Showcasing their debut album, Honeysuckle Highways, local Americana duo Elwood Myre are on a three-month tour that sees them play Cardigan Bar on Friday and Habitat on Sunday.
Nana Vigilante is bringing an undertow of alternative Australian hip hop, progressive thought and DIY ideals to Trainspotters on Saturday with S>C>R>A>P>S, Brainbeau and Scissor getting in on the action.
The Triffid are putting on another Rock Against Work event. It’s happening Friday and features Ipswich-based five-piece Soviet X-Ray Record Club bringing thumping post-punk, and Brisbane rock unit Big Bad Echo.
FOR MORE HEAD TO THEMUSIC.COM.AU
COURTNEY BARNETT
Courtney Barnett can add another chart scalp to her growing pile after impressive debuts in the ARIA and UK full-length charts, not just entering the Carlton Dry Independent Music Charts with Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit this week but topping the albums ladder outright. Barnett’s entry knocks previous top placeholder 1000 Forms Of Fear, by Sia, off its perch to #2, having a knock-on effect on San Cisco’s Gracetown, #3; however, last week’s #4 and #5 — Flight Facilities’ Down To Earth and Sticky Fingers’ Land Of Pleasure respectively — remain unchanged. A second appearance from Barnett isn’t far behind: The Double EP: A Sea Of Split Peas is #8 this week. The strength of Barnett’s debut LP’s entry is reinforced by the fact that she is, this week, the only new face across both the albums and singles charts, though we do see the return of some old faces, namely Seth Sentry (This Was Tomorrow, back in the top 20 at #15), Ziggy Alberts (Land & Sea, #17) and Client Liaison, whose self-titled EP jumps back in at the #20 mark. Last week’s top five singles, from Jarryd James (Do You Remember), Sia (Elastic Heart), Chet Faker (Talk Is Cheap), Sia (again, Chandelier), and SAFIA (Counting Sheep), remain unmoved from last week, but there’s been positive upward movement from Sheppard (Geronimo, up three to #6), Courtney Barnett (Pedestrian At Best, up three to #11), Flume & Chet Faker (Drop The Game, up four to #16) and another SAFIA cut — You Are The One — which re-enters at #20. THE MUSIC • 8TH APRIL 2015 • 27
the guide qld.live@themusic.com.au
ALBUM FOCUS
ALBUM FOCUS
Was anything in particular inspiring you during the making? I read Philipp Meyer’s American Rust around the time that we started to record. I liked his detail. Lou Reed’s Berlin and The Felice Brothers’ Through These Reins And Gone were in the air too.
PERRY KEYES Album title? Sunnyholt Where did the title of your new album come from? It’s the name of a song on the album. It’s also a reference to Sunnyholt Road, which is a major road that runs through the outer western suburbs of Sydney.
recording was three weeks. We then took a break to freshen up our ears before finishing it off. Was anything in particular inspiring you during the making? I try and take inspiration from everywhere. There’s definitely some personal moments on this album, but I have also taken inspiration from other people’s situations and built a story out of that.
What’s your favourite song on it? This week it would be Home Is Where The Heart Disease Is.
BENNY WALKER
Will you do anything differently next time? Sure, but I’ll probably use the same four chords that make up all the other albums!
Where did the title of your new album come from? The title track. I wrote Through The Forest during a pretty tough time. It helped me work through that and give me perspective on my own thoughts and what makes me tick.
Website link for more info? perrykeyes.com
How many releases do you have now? This is the fourth album.
Album title? Through The Forest
How many releases do you have now? Four. Self-titled LP in 2008. Five-track EP Summer Sun, 2010. Sinners And Saints, 2013. Through The Forest, 2015.
How long did it take to write/ record? The last album, Johnny Ray’s Downtown came out in 2010. So I guess the answer is five years, although I didn’t spend a whole five years writing and recording ten songs...
Will you do anything differently next time? Yes. I never want to make the same album twice. I want to keep evolving and improving as a songwriter, singer and guitarist. I have a few ideas already. When and where is your launch/ next gig? 9 Apr, Junk Bar.
How long did it take to write/ record? The writing happened off and on over an 18-month period. The bulk of the
TIPPING THE HAT
What’s your favourite song on it? Through The Forest because of what it means to me and how it influenced the whole record.
Website link for more info? bennywalkermusic.com
ALBUM FOCUS
have to be Dancing In Dark. It’s such a fantastic time tightrope walk between pop sensibility, a touch of rock and fun times, and the sad, gritty longing of human existence.
LOVE HATE REBELLION Answered by: Jimmy Sky Which act are you paying tribute to and why? Bruce Springsteen. Firstly because we were asked to be part of a rather fantastic tribute night, and secondly because his work is worth paying tribute to. He was a champion of the common people. What was their best period musically? He’s had a couple of great eras, both at his famed ‘80s height, and then again when he turned to releasing lo-fi, almost country sounding anthems.
Which album of theirs would you give to a newbie who had no idea about them to best represent them? The box set that’s out now! Don’t do things in halves. Get the lot and decide for yourself. It’s money well spent. Still going strong, or should they have given it away a while ago? Springsteen is timeless. His music, and he as a figure, is the kind of visual that people might giggle at as it’s from an era, but they’ll still go crazy for the music every time. When and where is your gig giving them the nod? The Triffid, 11 Apr. Be there!
Album title? The Horse Comanche Where did the title of your new album come from? It is the name of a horse used by the 7th Calvary, in the 19th century. How many releases do you have now? Five albums with Dispatch, four with State Radio, and two as Chadwick Stokes.
What’s your favourite song on it? My favorite is definitely Horse Comanche. Will you do anything differently next time? Less acoustic I reckon. Website link for more info? chadwickstokes.com
How long did it take to write/record? From start to completion was about two years. Was anything in particular inspiring you during the making? The living room tours prior to the recording session, and jumping freight trains.
Your favourite song of theirs and why? Best song would 28 • THE MUSIC • 8TH APRIL 2015
CHADWICK STOKES
S U P P O R T I N G
I N D E P E N D E N T
A U S S I E
M U S I C
the guide qld.gigguide@themusic.com.au
THE MUSIC PRESENTS Mavis Staples: Brisbane Powerhouse 8 Apr Eddie Boyd & The Phatapillars: Lefty’s 9 Apr, Currumbin Creek Tavern 10 Apr, Royal Mail Hotel 11 Apr The Beards: Spotted Cow 30 Apr, The Triffid 1 May, The Northern 3 May Urban Country Music Festival: Caboolture 1-3 May sleepmakeswaves: The Northern 1 May, The Zoo 2 May
Peace: The Zoo 6 May Groovin’ The Moo: Townsville Cricket Grounds 10 May San Cisco: SolBar 14 May, Coolangatta Hotel 15 May, The Triffid 16 & 17 (U18) May Supersuckers & The Bellrays: The Zoo 22 May Ben Howard: The Tivoli 28 May Jebediah: The Tivoli 12 Jun
GIG OF THE WEEK DARREN HANLON: 10 APR, THE ZOO
WED 08 Mavis Staples: Brisbane Powerhouse, New Farm Iron Reagan + Malakyte + Deraign: Crowbar, Fortitude Valley Donavon Frankenreiter: Magnums Hotel, Airlie Beach Big Jam with Chris Ramsay: Manly Hotel, Manly Open Mic Night + Various Artists: Mick O’Malley’s, Brisbane Open Mic Night + Various Artists: Solbar (Front Bar), Maroochydore
Povarotti + Danza + Pissed On + Vomit Bullets + Decapitated Mum: Crowbar, Fortitude Valley Julia Why?: Heya Bar, Fortitude Valley Donavon Frankenreiter: Jezzine Barracks, North Ward Jam Session with Paula Girvan + Dave Galea: JMI Live, Bowen Hills Benny Walker: Junk Bar (Skukum Lounge), Ashgrove Eddie Boyd & The Phatapillars: Lefty’s Old Time Music Hall, Brisbane Des Reid: Loving Hut, Mount Gravatt
Darren Hanlon: The Spotted Cow, Toowoomba Ages Of Earth + Trashqueen + Floodsnake + Super Asleep: The Zoo, Fortitude Valley DJ Daniel De Niro + Jake Carmody: Vanity Nightclub, Surfers Paradise Jarryd James: Woolly Mammoth, Fortitude Valley
FRI 10 Weezal + Heavy Roller + Dr Bombay + The Rared + Pickled Joker: Beetle Bar, Brisbane
Trivia: Stock Exchange Hotel, Brisbane
Karaoke: Manly Hotel, Manly
Atilla + Aversions Crown + Ocean Grove + Road To Ransome + Countdown To Armageddon: The Brightside, Fortitude Valley
Karaoke: Prince of Wales Hotel, Nundah
Trivia: The Fox Hotel, South Brisbane
Trevor Hall: Solbar, Maroochydore
Knockoff feat. Various Artists: Brisbane Powerhouse (Turbine Platform), New Farm
DJ Daniel De Niro + Brent Dee: Vanity Nightclub, Surfers Paradise
Sun Salute: Solbar (Lounge Bar), Maroochydore
Elwood Myre: Cardigan Bar, Sandgate
Karaoke: Springwood Hotel, Rochedale South
Paris Texas Trio: Carina Leagues Club (Main Lounge), Carina
THU 09 Electric Suede + The Orchard + Why Wait: Beetle Bar, Brisbane Avaberee: Black Bear Lodge, Fortitude Valley Various DJs: Bourbon Bar, Surfers Paradise The Douldie Men: Brisbane Brewing Co, West End Ingrid James Quartet: Brisbane Jazz Club, Kangaroo Point Toby Tyler: Carina Leagues Club (Main Lounge), Carina
Nana Mouskouri + Alfredo Malabello: QPAC (Concert Hall), South Brisbane
The Silver Dollars + The Scrapes + Jordan Rochfort: The Bearded Lady, West End Extra Foxx + Eugene & The Egg: The Boundary Hotel, West End Deadlights + Saints Alight + The Brave + Rare Words: The Brightside, Fortitude Valley Trivia: The Brightside, Fortitude Valley Atilla: The Lab (All Ages), Brisbane Winterbourne + Gordi: The Milk Factory Kitchen & Bar, South Brisbane
Marlon Williams + Jim Lawrie + Julia Jacklin: Black Bear Lodge, Fortitude Valley Various DJs: Bourbon Bar, Surfers Paradise
Asylum + Kaustic Attack + Elkenwood + Deraign + Wisdoms Realm: Chardons Corner Hotel, Annerley Eleea Navarro: Chevron Renaissance Centre, Surfers Paradise Child + Frown + Hobo Magic + Black Deity: Crowbar, Fortitude Valley Eddie Boyd & The Phatapillars + The Badlands + Kenny Slide + The Dons: Currumbin Creek Tavern, Currumbin Waters
S U P P O R T I N G
New Sparks feat. Youth Allowance + Demetry Malahoff + Amela: Eat Street Markets, Hamilton Eatons Hill 4th Birthday feat. J-Trick + Brooke Evers + Tenzin + Mashd n Kutcher + Arcane Echo: Eatons Hill Hotel, Eatons Hill The Murlocs + Salvadarlings + The Brian Emo: Elsewhere, Surfers Paradise Various Artists: Gilhooleys Irish Pub, Brisbane Josh Rennie-Hynes: Habitat Restaurant & Bar, South Brisbane Darkc3ll + The Molotov + Balloons Kill Babies + Specify: Indooroopilly Hotel, Indooroopilly Lou Bradley: Junk Bar, Ashgrove Le Breeze: Lambert’s Restaurant, Kangaroo Point The Dead Maggies: Lefty’s Old Time Music Hall, Brisbane Brother Fox: Lock ‘n’ Load Bistro, West End One Sound: Logan Diggers Club, Logan Central DJ LP + DJ Otto: Love Nightlife, Broadbeach Ace DJs: Manly Hotel, Manly The Orchard + Electric Suede + Why Wait: Miami Tavern (Shark Bar), Miami Uncle Jed: New Globe Theatre, Fortitude Valley Green Jam Sessions with Eddie Gazani Quartet: QPAC (Melbourne Street Green), South Brisbane
Cheap Fakes + Chocolate Strings: Solbar, Maroochydore Barry Charles & The Deeper Beat: Solbar (Lounge Bar), Maroochydore Hanlon Brothers: Stock Exchange Hotel, Brisbane MKO + Spirit Bunny + Vulture St Tape Gang: The Bearded Lady, West End Jeremy Neale + The Jensens + Stevie + Yuuca: The Brightside, Fortitude Valley Various DJs: The Fox Hotel, South Brisbane Earthcore 2015 Launch with Juno Reactor + Grouch + more: The Hi-Fi, West End DJ Set with Gorillaz Sound System: The Met, Fortitude Valley The Floating Bridges: The Motor Room, West End Brown Sugar: The Plough Inn, South Brisbane Microwave Jenny + Tegan Wiseman: The Spotted Cow, Toowoomba Michael Franti & Spearhead + Trevor Hall: The Tivoli, Fortitude Valley Sail On! Sail On!: The Underdog Pub Co, Fortitude Valley Darren Hanlon + Burnt Sausages + Goon Sax: The Zoo, Fortitude Valley 360 + Coin Banks + Leva: Union Jack Hotel & The Jack Backpackers, Cairns Brent Dee + Jake Carmody + Jesse Boyle: Vanity Nightclub, Surfers Paradise Garrett Kato: Walrus Social House, Surfers Paradise
Jason Machado: Queensland Multicultural Centre (QMC), Kangaroo Point
I N D E P E N D E N T
A U S S I E
M U S I C
the guide qld.gigguide@themusic.com.au Sky Church Experience + Department DJs: Woolly Mammoth, Fortitude Valley
Rob Snarski + Andrew Morris: The Triffid, Newstead
Wakked Out: Wynnum RSL, Wynnum
Jake Carmody + Jesse Boyle: Vanity Nightclub, Surfers Paradise
Juice with DJ J-Tok + DJ Blitz: Wynnum Tavern, Wynnum West
Vic Kenna: Wynnum RSL, Wynnum
SAT 11
MON 13
DJ Indy Andy: Albany Creek Tavern (Creek Bar), Albany Creek
Trivia: Mick O’Malley’s, Brisbane
TUE 14
Jackson Firebird + Transvaal Diamond Syndicate + Blak Transistor: Beetle Bar, Brisbane Hey Geronimo + Denpasar: Black Bear Lodge, Fortitude Valley Various DJs: Bourbon Bar, Surfers Paradise Bluesville Station: Brooklyn Standard, Brisbane Shari: Brothers Leagues Club, Manunda Electric Suede + Why Wait + Gumby Foot + Quazi-Smith: Caloundra RSL, Caloundra Karaoke: Camp Hill Hotel, Camp Hill Kickstart: Carina Leagues Club (Main Lounge), Carina Hot Jazz + Swing Kings: Chevron Renaissance Centre, Surfers Paradise Kyzer Soze + Vyrion + In Death + Amicable Treason + Frayed The Fallen: Crowbar, Fortitude Valley Uncle Jed: Currumbin Creek Tavern, Currumbin Waters Sun Salute + Mark Lowndes: Eat Street Markets, Hamilton
Olivia Newton-John + John Farnham: Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Boondall
MAVIS STAPLES: 8 APR, BRISBANE POWERHOUSE Ger Fennelly: Mick O’Malley’s, Brisbane Punkfest Birthday Bash with The Dead Maggies + The Go Set + Crooked Face + Blind Man Stare: New Globe Theatre, Fortitude Valley Eddie Boyd & The Phatapillars: Royal Mail Hotel, Goodna Selaphonic: Solbar, Maroochydore Garrett Kato: Solbar (Front Bar), Maroochydore Michael Franti & Spearhead + Trevor Hall: Tanks Arts Centre, Edge Hill Roth + Muddy Chanter + Gooosebumps: The Bearded Lady, West End Big & The Bangs + Hisingen + The Volleys: The Boundary Hotel, West End
Out of the Blue: Brothers Leagues Club, Manunda
Various Artists: Manly Hotel, Manly
Ger Fennelly: Mick O’Malley’s, Brisbane
Trivia: Prince of Wales Hotel, Nundah
The Strums + We Were Giants + D-Rouser + Mercury Sun: The Underdog Pub Co (The Dungeon), Fortitude Valley
La Cabaret Para Elke feat. Various Artists: New Globe Theatre, Fortitude Valley
Trivia: Springwood Hotel, Rochedale South
Adventure Land + The Royales + Maddi Rose + Outliers: The Zoo, Fortitude Valley
Dear WIllow: Solbar (Lounge Bar), Maroochydore
DJ Daniel De Niro + Brent Dee + Jake Carmody + Jesse Boyle: Vanity Nightclub, Surfers Paradise
Michael Franti & Spearhead + Trevor Hall: Tanks Arts Centre, Edge Hill
12th Planet: Wharf Tavern (The Helm), Mooloolaba The Murlocs + Salvadarlings + The Brian Emo: Woolly Mammoth, Fortitude Valley
Karaoke: Manly Hotel, Manly
Trivia: Manly Hotel, Manly
Bootleg Rascal: Peregian Originals, Peregian Beach
Birdlesque + Nick Watson & the Bawdy Dicks: The Bearded Lady, West End Paper Lanterns: The Bearded Lady, West End Love Of Diagrams + Per Purpose + Tempura Nights + Workshop: The Brightside, Fortitude Valley
Luminox: Family Nightclub, Fortitude Valley Various Artists: Gilhooleys Irish Pub, Brisbane
Various DJs: The Fox Hotel, South Brisbane
Trainspotters feat. Scraps + Brainbeau + Nana Vigilante + Scissor: Grand Central Hotel, Brisbane
Zomboy + Mantis: The Hi-Fi, West End
The Graveltones: Black Bear Lodge, Fortitude Valley
Darren Hanlon: The Majestic Theatre, Pomona
Various DJs: Bourbon Bar, Surfers Paradise
Soho Sundays with Various DJs: The Fox Hotel, South Brisbane
12th Planet: The Met, Fortitude Valley
The Wait: Brothers Leagues Club, Manunda
Mobb Deep: The Hi-Fi, West End
Devils Kiosk: Lock ‘n’ Load Bistro, West End
Microwave Jenny + Tegan Wiseman + Mark Lowndes: The Milk Factory Kitchen & Bar, South Brisbane
Chi Chi Duo: Carina Leagues Club (Main Lounge), Carina
Peace by Piece + Quenchize: The Milk Factory Kitchen & Bar, South Brisbane
One More: Logan Diggers Club, Logan Central
Bearfoot: The Motor Room, West End
Elwood Myre + Cameron Milford: Habitat Restaurant & Bar, South Brisbane
Kitty Hawk: The Plough Inn, South Brisbane
Rob Snarski: Junk Bar, Ashgrove
DJ LP: Love Nightlife, Broadbeach
Midnight Groove: The Plough Inn, South Brisbane
Various Artists: Manly Hotel, Manly
Second Gear: The Plough Inn, South Brisbane
Ace DJs: Manly Hotel, Manly
Hayley Marsten + Bill Chambers: The Rocky Glen Hotel, West Gladstone
Rosy: Wynnum RSL, Wynnum
SUN 12
The Montgomery Brothers: Lock ‘n’ Load Bistro, West End 360 + Coin Banks + Leva: Magnums Hotel, Airlie Beach
S U P P O R T I N G
Nigel Jones: The Plough Inn, South Brisbane
Old Fashioned: Solbar (Lounge Bar), Maroochydore
The Ocean + Caligula’s Horse + Balloons Kill Babies: The Brightside, Fortitude Valley
Rob Snarski: Junk Bar, Ashgrove
LNL Jazz feat. Lachlan Mitchell: Lock ‘n’ Load Bistro, West End
Born To Run: A Tribute To Bruce Springsteen feat. The Moses Gunn Collective + Good Oak + Love Hate Rebellion + Halfway + Sahara Beck: The Triffid, Newstead
Margarita Sundays+Various Artists: The Fox Hotel, South Brisbane
Counting Crows: The Tivoli, Fortitude Valley Screamfeeder + Tiny Migrants + Heavy Roller + Midnight Son & The Crime Scene + Silver Dukes: The Triffid, Newstead
I N D E P E N D E N T
A U S S I E
M U S I C
THE MUSIC • 8TH APRIL 2015 • 31
32 • THE MUSIC • 8TH APRIL 2015