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THIS WEEK
look ON EXHIBIT PUTS THE SPOTLIGHT ON BRISBANE PHOTOGRAPHER MARKUS RAVIK. WE GET A GLIMPSE INTO LIFE ON THE ROAD TIRED LION-STYLE WITH THE FIRST PART OF THEIR TOUR DIARY.
HEAD TO THEMUSIC.COM.AU FOR ALL OUR SXSW COVERAGE.
film carew OUR RESIDENT MOVIE BUFF TACKLES INSURGENT AND CHAPPIE. 8 • THE MUSIC • 18TH MARCH 2015
THURSDAY 19TH MARCH
BRONI
6:00PM FREE
FRIDAY 20TH MARCH
HELEN CATANCHIN 6:00PM FREE GALLERI + PEPPERJACK + OPEN SWIMMER 8:00PM $10 (SOLO) SATURDAY 21ST MARCH
THE BOYS 6:00PM FREE WE THE ELUSIVE FEATURING THE SAUCY SIDEKICKS + HARMONY & CONTRAST 8:00PM $10
SUNDAY 22ND MARCH
ERICA PRINGLE,
KIRSTY LETTS & ZINNIA BLUE 2:00PM
PENY BOHAN 5:00PM FREE TOTTIE & THE WANDERERS 8:00PM
Open
Noon till late 7 days. Live Music Bookings wesleyannebookings@gmail.com www.wesleyanne.com.au
TUESDAY 24TH MARCH
SINFUL PLEASURES
7:00PM $25 WITH MEAL OR $12 ON THE DOOR
SUMMER SPECIAL 2 for1 selected mains all day Monday OPEN FOR LUNCH MIDDAYS FRIDAY SATURDAY AND SUNDAY bookings: 9482 1333
THE MUSIC • 18TH MARCH 2015 • 9
CREDITS PUBLISHER
Street Press Australia Pty Ltd
GROUP MANAGING EDITOR Andrew Mast
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THIS WEEK THINGS TO DO THIS WEEK • 18 MAR - 24 MAR 2015
Steve Bell
CONTRIBUTORS Emma Breheny, Luke Carter, Anthony Carew, Oliver Coleman, Cyclone, Guy Davis, Simon Eales, Guido Farnell, Tim Finney, Bob Baker Fish, Cameron Grace, Brendan Hitchens, Kate Kingsmill, Baz McAlister, Samson McDougall, Tony McMahon, Fred Negro, Josh Ramselaar, Paul Ransom, Michael Smith, Dylan Stewart, Stephanie Tell, Simone Ubaldi, Matthew Ziccone, Sophie Blackhall-Cain
INTERNS Sarah Barratt, Josh Pawley, Alex Tibbits
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Oh, how we love any excuse to get a pic of these timewarped cats into the mag! And the hairtastic duo are doing so bloody well as well! Client Liason’s Pretty Lovers tour sees ‘em taking over 170 Russell for two nights, 18 & 20 Mar (Friday’s show is already sold out, so you had better free up your Wednesday). And for god’s sake wear some snazzy threads!
Palo Alto, Gia Coppola’s film adaption of James Franco’s first collection of short stories, starring Franco, along with Emma Roberts, is out Wednesday on DVD and Blu-ray and all the formats. April (Roberts) negotiates an affair with her soccer coach (Franco) all the while sparking attention and affection from artist Teddy ( Jack Kilmer). It’s all about young love, with all its frustrations and fragilities.
ART DEPT Ben Nicol vic.art@themusic.com.au
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MELBOURNE
If you’re suffering from post-Golden Plains blues, you can always go back there, you know. Not to the Sup’ specifically, but to the historic Break O’Day Arts (BODA) Hotel, Corindhap in the Golden Plains shire. On 21 Mar, from 4-6pm, Pork Chop Party will play there to launch BODA’s first group exhibition, which brings together video art, sculpture, fashion, photography and painting by Victorian artists. But we were sold when we heard there’s taxidermy sheep riding motorcycles somewhere in the historic hotel’s grounds! Road trip! Entry by donation.
launch
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national news news@themusic.com.au ARCHIE ROACH
JEBEDIAH
CULTURE KINGS
Australia Council has announced it’s 2015 award recipients. Thomas Keneally (NSW) won Lifetime Achievement in Literature, while Archie Roach (music), Judy Watson (visual arts), Will Stubbs (visual arts), Stelarc (emerging and experimental arts), Garry Stewart (dance), Bruce Gladwin (theatre), Tony Doyle (cultural development), Alyson Evans (cultural development) and Alysha Herrmann (cultural development) round out the recipients.
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!
This May and June, Perth indie-rocking mainstays Jebediah are making their way around the country as part of a huge 20th Anniversary celebration, bringing with them a compilation album, aptly titled TWENTY. Celebrate the band’s longevity when they play 5 Jun, Metro Theatre, Sydney; 12 Jun, The Tivoli, Brisbane; 19 Jun, The Corner, Melbourne; and 26 Jun, Astor Theatre, Perth.
HUNGRY FOR MORE
Felicity Groom has debuted latest single Oh Jesus from sophomore effort, Hungry Sky. The track, as with much of Groom’s work has been lauded by Triple J amongst others, playing as one of the records more up-tempo moments. Olympia will go out on tour with Groom, continuing on with her strong list of support slots. 11 Apr, Mojo’s, Fremantle; 15 Apr, Goodgod Small Club, Sydney; 16 Apr, Northcote Social Club, Melbourne and 17 Apr, The Foundry, Brisbane.
BREATHE IT IN
In support of their much anticipated sophomore EP Breathe Melbourne’s chaotic six-piece neo-psych band Lurch & Chief will take their live show on a 15-date national tour, taking in capital cities and regional dates around Australia. Get in on the new tunes when the band perform 8 May, Workers Club, Geelong; 9 May, Howler, Melbourne; 22 May, Newtown Social Club; 29 May, The Brightside, Brisbane; 30 May, Great Northern Hotel, Byron Bay; 6 Jun, Mojo’s Bar, Fremantle; and 7 Jun, Four5Nine Bar, Perth. More dates from theMusic.com.au.
SHAKIN’ IT UP
One of the most tirelessly touring musicians on the planet, Ben Howard recently wrapped up months of overseas touring, and has landed home, inspired to make changes to the line up in his band. As such, the man has decided to reschedule his tour, and add an extra show in Brisbane. The dates now stand: 28 May, The Tivoli, Brisbane; 30 May, Hordern Pavillion, Sydney; 1 Jun, Margaret Court Arena, Melbourne; and 3 Jun, Fremantle Arts Centre.
DANCING HEARTS
While it’s their third album, Skydancer is the second half of a project that Byron bay metal/hardcore band In Hearts Wake began well before they released second album, Earthwalker. In fact, both albums were recorded during the same session, back in 2013. Inviting Detroit post-hardcore friends We Came As Romans, as well as Beartooth and Storm The Sky to join them, In Hearts Wake play 28 & 29 May at The Triffid, Brisbane, all ages; 30 May at The Roundhouse, Sydney; 31 May at Belconnen Magpies, Canberra; an all ages show 2 Jun at YMCA HQ, Perth; 3 Jun at Metropolis Fremantle; 5 Jun at 170 Russell, Melbourne; and another all ages show 6 Jun at Arrow On Swanston, in Melbourne.
I CRIED WHEN ZOOLANDER RELEASED MAGNUM SOUNDS LIKE THE NEXT LOOK IS GOING TO BE TOO MUCH EH, [@MASSEYBLA]? 12 • THE MUSIC • 18TH MARCH 2015
STELLA PRIZE NOMINATIONS
The shortlist for the $50,000 Stella Prize for this year has been announced. Up for the prize is Christine Keneally’s The Invisible History Of The Human Race; Joan London’s The Golden Age; Sofie Laguna’s The Eye Of The Sheep; Emily Bitto’s The Strays; Ellen van Neerven’s Heat And Light; and Maxine Beneba Clarke’s collection of short stories, Foreign Soil. The winner will be announced in 21 Apr.
GET ONBOARD
Perth prog-metal band, Voyager, are hitting the road for a national tour with their latest album, V, and a film clip for album track, Seasons Of Age. Voyager’s Seasons Of Age Tour plays 22 May, The Basement Canberra; 23 May, The Factory Floor, Sydney; 29 May, The Evelyn, Melbourne; 30 May, The Brightside, Brisbane; 5 Jun, Amplifier Bar, Perth; and 6 Jun, Prince Of Wales, Bunbury.
KISS
KISS UP ON THEM
Kiss are making their way to Australia as part of their 40th anniversary tour. Not only do you get to go see one of the most iconic bands in rock’n’roll history, but they’re also bringing with them a stage production called The Spider, moved by 38 computer controlled winches, featuring 220 automated lights, weighing 43,000 kilos, incorporating 900 pieces of pyrotechnics and powered by 400,000 watts of sound. Get on it at Perth Arena, 3 Oct; Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne, 8 Oct; Allphones Arena, 10 Oct; Newcastle Entertainment Centre, 12 Oct; Brisbane Entertainment Centre, 13 Oct.
FRI 20 MAR 6PM TRAD IRISH SESSION 8:30PM BEN SMITH SAT 21 MAR 9PM BLUE EYES CRY WED 18 MAR 8PM JEMMA NICOLE 9PM KATIE BRIANNA (SYD) THU 19 MAR 8PM LARISSA TANDY 9PM ELLI BELLE
SUN 22 MAR 4PM SMALL TOWN ROMANCE 6:30PM FREDDIE WHITE TUES 24 MAR 8PM WEEKLY TRIVIA
The Drunken Poet, 65 Peel Street (Directly oppostie Queen Vic Market). Phone: 03 9348 9797 www.thedrunkenpoet.com.au @
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local news vic.news@themusic.com.au
FRONTLASH BRAIN FREEZE
Hold up! There’s an International Hair Freezing competition held in Yukon, Canada? Contestants achieve their frozen ‘dos by emerging from hot pools into temperatures of -30°C with hilarious results. Google is your friend.
HOT PROPERTY The Scarface mansion in Montecito, California is on the market! Got a spare US $35,000,000 we can borrow?
SITTING PRETTY Courtney Barnett played her upcoming debut album Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit in full at 1000 Pound Bend last week and the results were magnificent. We’re ever so proud to claim her as a local lass. And bring on the release date (24 Mar)!
FAR FROM PEDESTRIAN
BACKLASH SPEED DEMONS
Is it just us or do hoons come outta the woodwork, revving their engines at traffic lights and speeding recklessly down freeways, inspired by the Grand Prix?
DESK TUCKER TRIAL When you’re eating something delicious at your desk (chocolate, for instance) and then you notice you’ve dropped some in your keyboard so pick it up and eat it. But, guess what? It’s something else! (Probably dirt?)
FOOT FAULTS Punters who think if they stomp on your foot and it’s an “accident” there’s no need to say “sorry”. Straight to charm school for ye!
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MAKING A NAME
After spending the last few weeks tearing up Australian stadiums with Foo Fighters and picking up the Live Act Of The Year nod at the 2015 Rolling Stone Awards along the way, Melbourne psych-rock larrikins The Delta Riggs have announced their biggest capital city shows yet. The Dipz From The Zong tour comes our way 23 Apr, Corner Hotel.
MAKE IT REYNE
After the success of last year’s James Reyne Plays Australian Crawl shows, the bluesman is upping the ante with a new tour, this one titled All The Hits: Solo, Crawl & More. As you might have guessed, he’ll showcase the finest songs across his entire career. See the iconic performer at The Palms At Crown, 14 &15 Aug.
SINGLES AND LOVIN’ IT
Singles Club is a series of intimate live performances, where each show will be accompanied by the release of a limited edition 7” vinyl single, which is exclusive to the attendees on the night. SAFIA has been announced as the first act to perform at the Singles Club at Northcote Social Club, 7 May.
WAZE & ODYSSEY
BRITS IN DA HOUSE
British house production duo Waze & Odyssey aka Serge Santiago and Firas Waez are heading our way to lay their latest beats on us, including their latest EP, Ways Of The Underground. They appear 3 Apr at the Royal Melbourne Hotel.
HELPING HANDS
Joining Marlon Williams on his national tour will be indie-folk darling Julia Jacklin, while Jim Lawrie will also be coming along for selective dates. Marlon’s showcasing his new single Dark Child 9 Apr, The Gasometer Hotel.
SPRING TO IT
Black Springs have just released Double A-side a collection of more straight-up guitar pop, a little lighter on the psych. You can still expect the band’s signature mayhem. They’re going out on tour, heading here 10 Apr at Grace Darling Hotel with Contrast and Cool Sounds.
TRAPPED
THE HARPOONS
Luminox’s unique style of trap has earned him a massive slew of fans in a very short space of time. His live set is all about shock value. Experience it at Laundry Bar, 3 Apr.
DOUBLE TROUBLE
Two of Melbourne’s most ferocious bands are joining forces to spread chaos and evil across the nation between March and June. Decimatus and Envenomed both have debut albums on the market, so get ready to hear some fresh noise as they bring their abrasive sound on 21 Mar & 5 Jun, Barwon Club, Geelong and 5 Apr, The Bendigo. More dates from theMusic.com.au.
TALKING UP MUSIC
The Society of Tastemakers & Elegant People (STEP), in conjunction with Collarts, is presenting its next panel event, Melbourne – The Music Capital, 15 Apr at The Toff In Town. Featured on the discussion panel are Milwaukee Banks/Courtney Barnett manager and BIGSOUND Program Director Nick O’Byrne, 3RRR personality and Meredith/Golden Plains booker Woody McDonald, Herald Sun senior writer Mikey Cahill, RRR Music Director and presenter Simon Winkler and EMI publicist and singer/bass player with Lowtide Lucy Buckeridge. The Harpoons and Broadway Sounds DJs will be providing tunes on the night.
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local news vic.news@themusic.com.au CUT SNAKE
OH MERCY
OH VINYL
Written in Nashville – Alex Gow spent much of last year in Nashville, Portland and Los Angeles – Sandy is the first single to be lifted from the forthcoming Oh Mercy album, and as well as the now obligatory digital version, fans can pre-order a limited edition 7” white vinyl version. Meanwhile, Oh Mercy will be showcasing the new material and some old tunes 25 Apr at The Gasometer Hotel.
DREAM ON
There’s two schools of thought: Either you’re never too old to go to Disney On Ice, or you’re using having kids as an excuse for going to Disney On Ice. In both situations you end up at Disney On Ice. Dare To Dream features Tangled, Snow White, Cinderella and The Princess & The Frog: 2 – 6 Jul at Hisense Arena.
DAMIAN CALLINAN
GETTING SCHOOLED
This year’s program of music, dance and comedy at Monash University Academy of Performing Arts includes, 29 Mar, a program of Mozart and Brahms and 30 May, Russian Masters, performed by Monash Academy Orchestra. May also sees Tasmania’s leading modern dance company, Tasdance, bring its double-bill, Luminous Flux, while in July, comedian Damian Callinan presents his hilarious yet deeply moving The Lost WWI Diary. September’s bill will coincided with the 50th anniversary of the Sir Zelman Cowen School of Music. 16 • THE MUSIC • 18TH MARCH 2015
RIPPING IT UP
Cut Snake is the house-baking alias of Aussie duo consisting of former pro surfers Leigh Sedler and Paul Fisher. They rip out on the water, but also in the studio, and they’ve got a new single to feast your ears on. A slice of sunny, quirky bass house, Cut Snake will be bringing Jungle Shrimp around the country, including shows 3 Apr, Torquay Hotel; 4 Apr, UNO Dance Club, Geelong.
ZOMBIES DO SUPANOVA
If you’ve been wavering as to whether you’d attend this year’s Supanova Pop Culture Expo 11 & 12 Apr at Melbourne Showgrounds, then here’s yet another reason you really must get down there. Also adding to the star power of the already mindbogglingly huge line-up from all your favourite movies and series attending is the katana-wielding Michonne, aka ZimbabweanAmerican actor Danai Gurira, from The Walking Dead!
@MATTOKINE YOUR FACE WHILE YOUR STAND-UP IS PLAYING IN FRONT OF CHRIS ROCK. I DON’T KNOW WHY I LOVE WATCHING YOU STRESS SO MUCH. X IT WAS HARD TO WATCH BUT WE STRANGELY ENJOYED IT TOO, @FELICITYWARD.
MORODER OUR WAY
Heading to Australia as the special guest of our very own Kylie Minogue, Academy Award-winning composer, songwriter and producer Giorgio Moroder is also now putting in a couple of his own headlining sideshows. He plays 25 Mar at Trak Lounge Bar.
THEY WANT BLOOD
Perth’s WAMi award-winning hard punks Chainsaw Hookers are taking their second album, We Want Your Blood, for a trot around the nation, and that sees them taking over The Public Bar, 24 Apr and The Tote, 25 Apr.
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music
A SMALL SUCCESS Courtney Barnett goes to the pub with Hannah Story to drink vodka and talk about “being depressed and sitting in my room” in order to find inspiration for her songs. Cover and feature pics by Kane Hibberd. Illustrations by Brendon Wellwood.
T
he pub in which we speak to Courtney Barnett is playing a weird folk-acoustic blend, with lashes of Lorde. Barnett orders a vodka neat, we order a cider. She’s just come across the road from FBi’s Sydney studio, where she’s just given the members of Dune Rats a haircut live on air. She’s wearing her signature band tee-and-jean combination, hair tousled, dirt beneath her fingernails. She’s got a rather nasty cold, maybe because it’s week two of their Laneway festival run and the weather has just
out of interest of hearing a new song, I don’t know. People seemed to like stuff, I think.”
crossed over from her writing process for the EPs and her writing in 2013/14. “There were a couple songs that were a bit older that I’d never finished and I came back to them for this album.
It’s an album she spent a year writing, from the moment second EP How To Carve A Carrot Into A Rose came out in 2013. Our first tastes, Pedestrian At Best and Depreston, each show off different aspects of her songwriting: the former is almost garage, sharp cries and power chords; the latter a laidback jangly tune, its guitar work intricate, the vocals slowed down and affective. Each has its own vivid imagery, a partner crying at the kitchen table in Pedestrian At Best, or the photographs in the former Preston
“It was only like Elevator Operator and Aqua Profunda!, and Debbie Downer, that were slightly older, that I’d never finished, or never liked that much. I kind of changed lyrics and changed parts that I didn’t like and finally finished them.” She admits it would’ve been easier potentially to write more songs from scratch: “they’d already proven to take five or six years… Elevator Operator I’ve had for ages, maybe four years, anyway, I can’t remember times. I don’t know. Depreston I wrote really quite quickly one afternoon, and some of those songs have kind of been in the back of my head for ages. Dead Fox, the main line from that, or the line I’d started writing it with, had been stuck in my head for two years. It took a further two years to turn it into lyrics”. In the end Barnett didn’t cut any tracks, but was considering it. “I thought they all belonged there.” We ask if she put particular care into the arrangement of album tracks: how does she decide what comes first, what comes last, and what goes in between? “Why do you think it’s being released a year after it’s been recorded? Because it takes me a long time to decide on things like that.
“I ASKED PEOPLE TO HELP ME. THAT’S HOW YOU GET THROUGH LIFE: ASKING FOR HELP.”
taken a rainy turn. She mumbles, raking her fingers through her hair when she pauses before answering a question. Courtney Barnett is a fidgeter. “Singapore was kinda nerve-wracking because it felt like the first time we’d played since December. I think we’d done other things but I can’t remember. It was - I don’t know, scary, to start off with, but once we were on stage it kind of came back to us which was good. The crowds have been really great and it’s been fun hanging out with all the other bands and stuff. “We try not to overrehearse too much, just to keep ourselves guessing.” The singer-songwriter with the laconic drawl almost speaks slower than she sings, peering down at her vodka glass. In stark opposition to her songs, she rarely rambles: she’s direct, shrugging off longwinded questions. At Laneway, Golden Plains and A Festival Called PANAMA, the setlist for Barnett and band covered off the singles from her first two EPs: Avant Gardener, History Eraser, Lance Jnr, but was packed with unreleased songs from her debut full-length record, Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit. Is it daunting to play unreleased tunes to a festival audience? “I try not to read into it too much, because sometimes people can be standing still, and you think they’re hating it, but they’re really just standing still 18 • THE MUSIC • 18TH MARCH 2015
home of a Vietnam veteran in Depreston. Barnett and band then worked on the songs, Dan Luscombe, Dave Mudie and Bones Sloane “adding their awesome parts”, and then went into the studio in April for ten days of recording. Continuing to write about her own experiences, from notes in her “lyrical diary” felt like “the most natural thing to do. “Sometimes I force myself to write but it normally ends up being more like a ‘what I did today’ kind of story. It’s never really interesting, but sometimes it’s good as an exercise for me to kind of get that out of my brain so something else can happen.” Only a few songs
“There’s so many different things I had to [consider]. I wanted to try to not have two, obviously different feels, I didn’t want to have a group of the same feels of songs together, so like the same emotions. I didn’t want to have all of the wordy songs right next to each other, and then the more melodic songs separate, I wanted to make it so it flowed a little bit. It was actually really hard pressed. It’s something I really sweated over. It sounds like it doesn’t really, maybe no one else cares about it, I don’t know, it took ages.” She doesn’t know how her songs will be interpreted. “People always talk to me about my songs and think that they’re about something completely different, or [there’s] something that they’ve got out of it which is kind of… not irrelevant, it doesn’t make it not right just because I didn’t intend it. You take what you need from a certain song or from a certain whatever, a person. You project what you want onto it and you get that back in some way, I reckon.” She says she’s not conscious of the way a song will affect her audience; that it’s not about actively going out to touch someone. “It’s kind of hard to do that I think. I think that’s the kind of beauty of that is that it’s so accidental and you can’t craft a good song. Someone, like a record label, no matter how much money they put into someone, and how much advertising and whatever they put into them, still, no matter how many statistics and stuff there are,
WHAT’S NEXT? “I’m playing in Jen Cloher’s band. We’ve kind of started another band. We kind of all have projects going. Me and Jen are talking about writing an album together as well. There’s kind of always projects happening. “[Cloher and Barnett] have kind of written stuff over the last few years - duets together and then we kind of write things separately, and send them to each other, and work on them, and then come back together and collaborate on them. It’s kind of a fun process, sometimes of distance songwriting, but then sometimes of ‘together’ songwriting. I haven’t really written music with people before, so it’s different.”
you can never know how it’s going to affect people. That’s the one thing that no one really knows how to predict, so I think that’s kind of cool. As a songwriter, you shouldn’t know how you’re going to make someone feel: you should just say whatever you want to say.” For her debut, Barnett and her own label Milk! Records had the support of Remote Control Records. “It was kind of like a partnership for these releases. It was great. It meant that they could help us out with selling records, as opposed to me sitting in my room taping up CDs every day, and not writing any music. It was kind of good in that way.” It helped to have that kind of backing, both when making the record, and when touring: in years gone by, Barnett handled the nitty gritty herself, playing shows then jumping off stage to sell her records and chat to fans. “It’s kind of hard to do that every show though. I kind of always go and, when we’re touring, I still go and, if people want stuff signed and stuff. It’s kind of hard, I kind of wasn’t coping with travelling. There was a point where I was tour managing, writing all the songs, kind of in charge of everything, and then like playing a show, and then going out the minute I finished playing, all sweaty and emotional, and being like, ‘Hey, buy my stuff!’ It’s pretty intense sometimes.” How did she get through it? “I asked people to help me. That’s how you get through life: asking for help.”
Newfound fame hasn’t meant that Barnett has had to change the subject matter of her songs; they’re still suburban psalms, because in effect the realities of Barnett’s life haven’t really changed. She still does the same things she always does. She’s still, she chuckles, inspired by the same thing: “being depressed and sitting in my room”, except now, “I’ve got a bit more purpose, and I’ve got great friends. “I feel like I was covering the same tracks for the EPs: just kind of internal stuff, and the stuff that was going on around
me, and relationships, friendships, the world, and my brain.” But the thing is: “I don’t garden really anymore because it freaks me out. I’ve just been doing that stuff like the last two months. Before this last album I was playing in other bands, touring around Australia, touring quite a lot, just not overseas, and kind of had a different band rehearsal nearly every night, and a different gig every night, and then was trying to work as well. I kind of feel like I’m doing the same thing just in a different place.”
WHAT: Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit (Milk! Records/Remote Control)
Barnett approaches collaborating on songwriting with trepidation. “It’s a very, very vulnerable process. It’s kind of taking like raw and embarrassing ideas and emotions and showing them to someone. It’s like going to therapy.” But before we hear the fruits of that collaboration, Barnett plans to head on a road trip to the Northern Territory. “I’m going to take a trip around Australia for a holiday and go to the desert. I haven’t mapped my route yet. I kind of want to just see some of the middle of Australia. “I’ve never been around there. I’d love to.”
WHEN & WHERE: 15 May, Forum Theatre THE MUSIC • 18TH MARCH 2015 • 19
music
SOUL STAPLE
I’m so happy.’ I went over to the Wilco loft to hear it when they first finished, and I tell you, I just rejoiced; it felt like Papa was in the room, and then I just flooded with tears, it sounded so good.”
Mavis Staples chats to Liz Giuffre about her unlikely musical relationship with Jeff Tweedy and explains why she’s not in a rush to see Selma.
O
nce the baby of The Staple Singers, and now a matriarch of the gospel/blues and civil rights iconic group, Mavis Staples’ most recent offering is Don’t Lose This, a record of music by her late father Roebuck ‘Pops’ Staples, that she’s developed with Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy. “When Tweedy and I first got together people would say, ‘You two are an odd couple,’ but you don’t know, music is music,” Staples says of her working relationship with the altcountry musician. “And the way he started working on the record, it was just like we’d been working together for years.” Tweedy has worked with Staples
film
at least twice before on albums 2010’s You Are Not Alone (2010) and One True Vine (2013), but with Don’t Lose This there was a new relationship. “Pops asked me when he made the record, he said, ‘Don’t lose this’… I felt like he told me that because he wanted it to be heard, and this is me fulfilling my father’s last request, but I knew that it needed tweaking, and the first person who came to mind was Jeff Tweedy. So where Pops’ playing some songs Tweedy’s just playing some bass, he just filled it in a bit, and no one would know, it’s so beautiful, it’s so smooth, I said, ‘Wow.
Does she ever wonder what the two musicians would have thought of each other if they had actually been playing together in the same room? “I really wish that Tweedy could have met [Pops]; he would have been tickled pink with Jeff Tweedy... But I told Tweedy, ‘It’s ok, Paps knows what we’re doing, he knows about this record, he knows you helped.’” Beyond Mavis’ own projects, The Staples’ legacy continues. The group were important sounds of the civil rights movement of the 1960s, and as such, their work appears in new histories of the time like Ava DuVernay’s new film Selma. “I’m not too anxious to go to the movies to see [Selma] because I feel like I’ve already seen it, you know. I understand they’re playing our music in the movie, they’re playing Why Am I Treated So Bad, which was Dr King’s favourite song,” Staples says. “I probably will go and see it but I’d kind of hate to go through that again because I was there, you know. But it’s good for the young people, our young black kids, because they don’t teach black history in schools. So it’s good for them to know where we come from, to know what we went through, because these generations, these last three generations, they don’t know, so that’s where I see it as a good thing, for the young black kids, and the white kids too, to know about it.” WHEN & WHERE: 1 Apr, Melbourne Recital Centre; 2 Apr, Meeniyan Town Hall; 5 & 6 Apr, Bluesfest, Byron Bay
STRANGE LOVE “I wanted to depict love with a more optimistic perspective.” Anthony Carew talks to independent filmmaker Ira Sachs. n many ways, Love Is Strange a very traditional love-story: there’s something classic about the story of a couple that needs to spend time apart to learn what they have together,” says Ira Sachs. The 49-year-old New Yorker’s fifth feature depicts an aging gay couple – played, beautifully, by John Lithgow and Alfred Molina – who, after years together, can finally be legally wed; but, as soon as they do, their life falls into shambles, their union a stable force amidst unstable times. “I’d made a lot of films about relationships that don’t last, and, finally, at this point in my life, wanted to depict love with a more optimistic perspective. In my 30s, I suffered; in my 40s, much less. My relationship with my now-husband is so much different than the relationships I’d ever experienced before.”
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Sachs’ previous film, Keep The Lights On, was one of these “doomed relationship” dramas, a portrait of a pair of self-destructive queer men drawn together in New York, inspired by Sachs’ experiences of “carrying a lot of that negativity” of growing up as a gay man in the 1980s. It was, for the director, a watershed moment. “I came out at 16, but in many ways Keep The Lights On was another kind of coming out. It was a real depiction of my life, as it was, on screen.” Casting Keep The Lights On wasn’t so easy – “asking American actors to take off their clothes is a real challenge, especially if homosexuality is involved” – but, in contrast, casting Love Is Strange came easily. “Almost 20 • THE MUSIC • 18TH MARCH 2015
as soon as we finished the script, I sent it off to Alfred Molina,” Sachs says. “His performance in Boogie Nights always stayed with me, and I loved him in Prick Up Your Ears, years ago. He’s such a chameleon. He was the first person we approached, and he signed on straight away. John Lithgow, in contrast, came towards the end of the process. He and Alfred have been friends for over 20 years, and that was very useful to lean on, in depicting this long history between [their] characters.” Love Is Strange was “financed completely outside of the Hollywood system, and primarily outside of the independent film system”, Sachs raising the funds to make it by soliciting
25 private individual investors. “As an independent filmmaker, I hustle; that’s part of the job, part of the challenge,” he says. “I’m the Barnum of the operation. I try to raise money like the development office of a small museum: I court potential investors/patrons/producers.” These investors ended up “in the black” thanks to Love Is Strange’s great critical acclaim, and the topicality of its gay marriage drama. “To me, this is a very personal film about family,” Sachs says. “It’s as much about my perspective, as a middle-aged man, watching my children grow up and my parents grow older, as it is about my position, in society, as a gay man, and a married gay man at that. Clearly this issue, these developments of gay life – emotionally, politically, and legally – is something that I spend a lot of time thinking about. But I didn’t make this film as a political vehicle. Part of being an artist is being attuned to the times in which you live.”
WHAT: Love Is Strange In cinemas 19 Mar
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THE FLAMING TRUTH Alison Wonderland talks Coachella, that “weird” Wayne Coyne collaboration and avoiding the “dickhead” tag with Sally-Anne Hurley.
“I
don’t ever wanna become a dickhead. Fuck that shit!” Aussie DJ and vocalist Alison Wonderland is straight-up when speaking ahead of her debut album’s release. The Sydney-bred artist has enjoyed plenty of hype lately, particularly through her collaboration with The Flaming Lips’ Wayne Coyne on single, U Don’t Know, but Wonderland maintains her feet remain firmly planted on the ground. “I guess I haven’t seen other people kinda lose themselves when they get more and more attention. And because I’ve been doing this for so long, I think I’m quite aware of not letting that happen to myself. I still have my friends from when I started. My manager is my best friend. You know, we’ve been best friends
since we were kids. And I don’t surround myself [with] bullshit people and when I come home I make sure I have some alone time and I make sure I see my family.” If anything, the hype makes for a more nervous Wonderland, especially with the impending release of first LP, Run – “I haven’t really been sleeping much, I’ll be honest with you” – and a forthcoming Coachella appearance. “It didn’t hit me for a while,” she admits of Coachella. “And I couldn’t tell anyone so it double didn’t hit me and then I guess eventually when I started telling people and I saw the poster I
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just literally kind of like cracked and then it hit me. Now when I talk about it I feel nervous [laughs].” Wonderland seems a mix of brimming confidence and uncensored honesty, both qualities coming across when she speaks of the very low-key backstory behind Coyne’s guest spot on U Don’t Know. While “stoked” about the collaboration, the artist isn’t taking any credit for it. “I’ll be honest with you, I didn’t approach him. My label sent it around and he heard it and wanted to be on the track. And it was probably the least involved I was in any of the process, which is why I feel weird talking about it.” The experience hasn’t inspired her to change her stance on approaching other acts to collaborate either, preferring for things to come together naturally. “I don’t really like seeking out artists. I get really shy about it and every time I’ve been asked to do it, I have not done it because I feel like if someone wants to work with me or I wanna work with people, it’ll happen organically. I feel like approaching is not real. It weirds me out,” she laughs. Wonderland, while nervous for how it’ll be received, is confident Run is her best work yet. “I wrote a record which was hopefully the next step from the EP [2014’s Calm Down] that I wrote, which is a mix, you know, between club and songs and I still kind of kept that going but pushed a little bit more. I’ve pushed my vocals a little bit more; I’ve become very honest with my lyrics. I just like decided to not worry about what people are going to think and just do it. And I wanted to make a really honest piece of… a really honest record.” WHAT: Run (EMI)
TALK ABOUT IT Twenty years after “discovering” the blues, Keb’ Mo’ is still finding there’s much more to the genre than even he realised, he tells Michael Smith.
“I
knew it was powerful,” Keb’ Mo’, or Kevin Moore to his mum, admits of his initiation into the blues some 20 years ago, “but I didn’t know that anybody would take me seriously,” he chuckles. “I knew there were people that had come before me that had done a great job on it, and so me getting to participate in it in a kind of, I don’t know if it’s a big way, but in some sort of a related circumstance or related genre mixed up with the blues – a little blues here, a little blues there – I didn’t think that I’d still be around by now, so I’m actually shocked that I’m here, shocked every day!” As Kevin Moore, he was already something of a veteran by the time he stepped out as Keb’ Mo’ in 1994 with an eponymous debut album that blended his previous experience in pop, R&B, rock, jazz and soul with an equally heady mix of various kinds of blues – Delta, Texas, Chicago and so on. He’d started out a decade before in his hometown LA but couldn’t seem to get a break. Then he got a gig in a blues band working with a couple of old-timers, saxophonist Monk Higgins and guitarist Charles Dennis, who opened the young player up to the whole history of the blues. He’d intended his latest album, 2014’s BLUESAmericana, to be a sort of back to basics affair, reflecting that period of discovery. Of course, it ended
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up becoming a band album anyway, even if it was him playing most of the instruments, recording it in his new home studio. “I think the kiss of death for me is to go into the studio saying, ‘I’m gonna make this kind of album.’ I make whatever comes out,” he laughs again. “So I probably won’t be doing that again. Movin’ to Nashville brought a different tone to the record too, and I remember sitting here in my studio and the drummer came in and I started out singing and playing with the drummer. That’s where I started and I continued to write songs
and I wrote songs about things that are really real to me, like I always do. “This time I wrote about the problems of being married, which I don’t always like but at the same time the blues is about… well, good storytellers talk about things that maybe you don’t want to talk about but you talk about anyway. Doing that, you find that there’s some other people that might wanna talk about some of the things you wanna talk about but not always all of them.” One track, The Old Me Better, sees Moore take things right back to where the blues began, the song a swaggering New Orleans street parade co-written with long-time writing partner John Lewis Parker. “I recorded that with a band out of California called the California Feetwarmers – and there’s nobody in the band from New Orleans!” WHEN & WHERE: 31 Mar, Melbourne Recital Centre; 2 & 3 Apr, Bluesfest, Byron Bay
F-F-F-FASHION In the warehouse behind a Brunswick Street clothing store, Pearls are making a video. Anthony Carew checks on its and their progress. here the clip for Big Shot, the first single from Pearls’ debut album, Pretend You’re Mine, was a collection of psychedelic watercolour cartoons scrawled by Ben Montero, the promo for the title track finds the Melbourne fourpiece on camera, kitted out in their favoured ‘70svintage threads. Drummer/vocalist Ellice Blakeney cites a “T Rex” inspiration. Multi-instrumentalist James Payne, a recent addition to the live band (to dress out the songs in “frills and glitter” – “I’m the tinsel on the Christmas tree,” Payne jokes), summons a “glammy, decadent vibe”. It’s the manifestation of an aesthetic that Cassandra Kiely describes, with a shrug, thusly: “We just like sparkles.”
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When talking about Pearls’ glam-rock influence, it begins with their sound – both Big Shot and Pretend You’re Mine boast swaggering riffs, recalling Goldfrapp’s own glam revivalism. But, “Before a show, there will be a lot of time spent talking about what we’re going to wear, maybe even moreso than what we’re going to play,” guitarist/vocalist Ryan Caesar admits, albeit to howls of protestation (“That’s bullshit, Ryan!” Kiely yelps, while Caesar rolls his eyes with insouciance). Blakeney and Kiely met as shopgirls. “We have very specific taste, personally; moreso
than having some collective vision for the band,” Blakeney explains. “We just are really into vintage clothing. To other people, you look a bit kookier than someone who just rocks up on stage in their normal, normcore stuff. It’s not a thought-out thing, it’s just our wardrobes.”
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Pearls’ beginnings, however, were far more punk. Blakeney and Kiely were fixtures at gigs around town, often DJing. It wasn’t until they heard DIY all-timers Beat Happening that they started their own band. That was 2010, but they didn’t play live until 2011. They were, they confess, “superscrappy” and primitive. “I started out being devoted to minimalism: just playing two notes,” says Kiely. “I convinced myself I was being an artiste, and it was just coincidental that that’s all I could play. Then I graduated to three-note songs. And now I even sometimes use two hands. It’s crazy!” When Pearls first started rolling tape on their LP, in 2013, they hadn’t come all that far. Given the busy schedule and perfectionism of producer Haima Marriott, the recording progressed, in bits and pieces, over a year. And, “over that time,” Blakeney says, “we were all just, by coincidence, getting really into listening to Slade and T Rex.” “Things can change so much in a year,” says Caesar. “In some ways, we’re lucky we took so long... We felt like a different band by the time we wrote that.” WHAT: Pretend You’re Mine (Dot Dash/Remote Control) WHEN & WHERE: 21 Mar, The Curtin; 3 – 5 Apr, Boogie 9, Bruzzy’s Farm, Tallarook
THE NEW GANG
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Andy Gill may be the last original member of Gang Of Four but, as he explains to Cam Findlay, the band have lost none of their pioneering spirit.
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hen Gang Of Four formed in 1977, they were obviously unaware of the huge part they’d play in contemporary rock music. A lot of it was being in the right place at the right time – late ‘70s London was about to enter more than a decade of Thatcherism and bands like The Clash and Sex Pistols had laid the groundwork – but what Andy Gill, Jon King, Hugo Burnham and Dave Allen offered was an eclectic, powerful and uncompromising style of music that ended up inspiring bands as diverse as Red Hot Chili Peppers and Nirvana. But that was long ago and Gill is still just as focused on the now as he was then. With the release of Gang Of Four’s ninth album, What Happens Next, he’s found himself the sole original member. “When Jon left in around 2011, we spent 2012, 2013 and 2014 doing gigs again with John Sterry, or ‘Gaoler’ as he’s known,” Gill explains. “And, you know, as much as we told people and did many announcements, there was still people coming to shows going, ‘What’s going on with the new singer?’ So we really had to gradually get back into this state where we were working as a proper band, from the audience’s perspective. I think the lesson is that people really have to get the message before they start relating to you again. But I think with this current tour everyone’s starting to get back into
it, and [they’re] realising that this is still Gang Of Four, even though Jon and Hugo and Dave aren’t around anymore. It’s still the thing we were doing years back, as far as I’m concerned.” It was inevitable a new line-up would force a change in the substance of Gang Of Four, at least aesthetically. What Happens Next isn’t what you’d expect: Gill’s scratchy, staccato playing style is still intact, much like the funk-fuelled drum beats and, arguably most importantly, the actively political lyrics. But there’s a renewed sense of youth and vigour in the band, coupled with a decidedly more pop turn on a number
of tracks, which has split reception of the record. It’s a path Gill didn’t exactly expect. “I didn’t really have anything planned at the time. When Jon left I had been trying out a few singers, and Gaoler came in and was easygoing and confident with the music. At one point I just said, ‘Do you want to play a few gigs with us?’ And it all just sort of worked out that way. As far as how much that influenced the new record, I don’t know. I write most of the songs and still a great deal of the lyrics, so that’s what I mean when I say it’s still Gang Of Four, in a way. “There’s always going to be people expecting the same thing, especially when you’ve been around for a while. I’ve never subscribed to that. People might be used to this one aspect of our music, but that’s never how I’ve seen it. It’s always been a winding path.” WHAT: What Happens Next (Shock) THE MUSIC • 18TH MARCH 2015 • 25
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FOLLICLE ROCK Getting The Beards to talk about anything else is like trying to bathe a cat. Despite this undeniable fact Roshan Clerke persists with bassist Nathaniel Beardman, who stubbornly avoids the task of discussing anything other than extended stubble.
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he Music begins this chat with Nathaniel Beardman, oddly not his real name, with origins, and things look promising as he opens up about his pre-bearded life. “We met at university. Three of us were in the beards club and playing as a themeless comedy band called The Dairy Brothers, until one day we saw a guy on the plaza at university singing songs about beards. We had been writing a
load of beard-related poetry separately, and we decided to form a band with him.” The guitar player remains in the band to this day, under the name of Facey McStubbleton. “We don’t like to look back on that era very much because quite frankly we were a horrible band. And we didn’t have beards.” Beardman goes on to share the story of his first beard. “I grew my first beard when I was 20. Since then, I’ve gone back and taken all the evidence and photos from before I had a beard and burned them.” He briefly lets the history rest there.
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“If I had to choose one beard to be the greatest of all time, I would choose Charles Darwin’s beard,” he says after much faux-egalitarian hesitation. “A lot gets written about him and he gets a lot of scientific respect and credit, but he never receives enough attention for his beard. I think he would have been just as famous if he didn’t do anything other than grow that beard.” While we’re on the topic of social evolution, we discuss the beard as a symbol of male power and patriarchy. “We think beards go beyond the realm of the male. They are a universal symbol of greatness and we encourage everyone to grow a beard.” Nonetheless, he’s soon unconsciously backtracking when he asserts that “a beard is nature’s way of showing manliness and power.” He claims to be convinced that history will show that shaving was a fad, not the pastoral or primitive image of the beard, and for a while harps on about Gillette conspiracies. It’s pointed out that studies have actually found that women perceive bearded men as being more masculine, but are more attracted to men with heavy stubble. “I think you need to show scrutiny towards the people who made these studies,” he suggests. “Were they being paid by a shaving company? Was the person who conducted the study unable to grow a healthy beard and wanted to sway the research? Those findings seem spurious at best.” WHEN & WHERE: 18 Mar, Karova Lounge, Ballarat; 19 Mar, Spirit Bar & Lounge, Traralgon; 20 Mar, Barwon Club, Geelong; 21 Mar, The Hi-Fi
HAVING BOTH WAYS Soul man or indie rocker. Well, it seems James Bay is both, as Cyclone discovers.
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rit singer-songwriter James Bay may be riding high in the Australian charts with the Otis Redding-y, soul-drenched Hold Back The River, but he rocks out Arctic Monkeys-style on his debut album, Chaos And The Calm. Bay won the star-making BRIT “Critics’ Choice” Award and allows, “there’s an undeniable pressure”. But adds, “I thrive off that. I really love that buzz, that energy, that it creates and I’m just excited by it.” Bay, striking with his porcelain skin, long hair, trademark fedora and Johnny Cash-black attire, recently made a whirlwind trip Down Under, selling out shows in Sydney and Melbourne. “As a kid, I wasn’t really into travelling – I wasn’t really into leaving my little hometown even for London, which is only an hour or so away. So, to ten years later find myself sitting on a plane for 20 hours or so and arriving on the other side of the world where you guys had already heard my song a little bit on the radio and all of this stuff, it was amazing.” Bay comes across as self-effacing, chiding himself for using “rubbish” descriptors, but he’s also quietly ambitious. The troubadour hails from the “safe” town of Hitchin, which, yes, contains a river, his childhood idyllic. “We had a big old couple of fields at the end of the road there where we could just go run about and climb trees and stuff.” Meanwhile, he obsessed over Michael Jackson, learnt to play an uncle’s classical 26 • THE MUSIC • 18TH MARCH 2015
guitar and eventually gigged in bands. Bay departed Hitchin to study at the Brighton Institute of Modern Music. “It was music that sort of dragged me out.” He performed open-mic nights and a fan’s YouTube footage led to his signing to Republic Records. Oddly, Bay, whose first EP materialised mid-2013, journeyed to Nashville to cut Chaos… with Jacquire King (Kings Of Leon). Bay’s manager had suggested he list his preferred producers. “I boldly put [King] at the top there, thinking we can laugh about this one ‘cause that’ll never happen.” Yet the American was keen. Bay has been dubbed “rock’n’soul”. Aware
the media questions whether rock is still “relevant”, he notes, “At the moment I think guitars have got a little window. That slightly more organic sound is coming back around and that’s great, ‘cause I love all that stuff.” Chaos… houses rawly personal songs, too. The ballad Scars is about being separated from his childhood sweetheart. “It took a while to write that song; it took a couple of years, because I had to live through the whole thing that it’s about: this long-distance relationship that came about. I had to come out the other side of that, where it turned out that she came back.” Bay is opening for Taylor Swift on select European dates. “God, the scale of those shows... I wanna see what it’s like to play in front of all those tens of thousands of people.” WHAT: Chaos And The Calm (Republic/Universal)
CHIPZ WITH THAT? Performing her inaugural Australian set at the “microfestival” Square Sounds Melbourne, Chipzel, aka Niamh Houston, talks sound chips and video games with Cyclone.
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hiptune might be electronic dance music’s coolest subculture. It’s as much a practice as a genre, producers repurposing the sound chips of outmoded computers and video or arcade games to create something retro-futuristic. Buzz star Chipzel, has not only released melodic, nostalgic and poetic 8-bit albums like 2013’s Spectra, but also composed her own video game soundtracks. Houston, then an individualistic teen in Northern Ireland’s historically troubled Strabane, discovered chiptune online. “I fell in love with electronic music
as soon as I heard the likes of Orbital, ATB and Darude as a kid,” Houston recalls from her London base. “I remember finding a cassette full of trance and techno that belonged to my uncle, which I borrowed and listened to constantly.” She was into video games, too. “We had the original Nintendo Game Boy and a Super Nintendo, which I’d attempt to play Super Mario World and Street Fighter Turbo II on, but I was a keen buttonbasher [laughs], so I was never very good. I always loved the artwork and the sound of the SNES – it’s still one of my favourite consoles. As I got older, I bought my
own Game Boy Color, to replace our old ‘out of date’ original DMG Game Boy, and I picked up a few games – one being a copy of Pokémon Blue, which I adored and played to death. I used to just sit with headphones on, swapping cartridges and listening to the music, so I think this is where my love for the 8-bit sound came from.” Ironically, she says, “I play games a lot more now than I ever did as a kid.” Houston conceived her fabled ravey live show (“I have two Game Boys running LSDJ, connected to a [DJ] mixer”) and the gamegirl issued her debut album, Disconnected, in 2010. Meanwhile, Houston decided to study Audio and Music Production and was still a student when approached by game developer Terry Cavanagh to produce for Super Hexagon – it received a nomination at the BAFTA Video Games Awards. She’s since contributed to Sizes DOES Matter, which actually won a BAFTA. Lately Houston has tweeted about Interstellaria, due next month. “It’s a beautiful 2D space SIM/RPG/ Sandbox game inspired by games like Starflight and Star Control. You play as captain to manage your crew, explore the stars and numerous planets, and build your empire through diplomacy, trade or force.” Video game music has long influenced EDM, as has chiptune. Complextro inventor Porter Robinson presented an imaginary retro video game OST in last year’s Worlds and Houston is “a big fan”. However, she revelas, “I remember hearing The Black Eyed Peas’ The Time (Dirty Bit) and cringing. If chip becomes more mainstream, I just hope it’s in good taste!” WHEN & WHERE: 20 Mar, Square Sounds, Evelyn Hotel
QUEER TURN
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From a doco on the grandfather of gay porn to a Rosemary’s Baby homage, there’s something to catch your eye at the Melbourne Queer Film Festival. Get the round-up from Anthony Carew.
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he Chambermaid Lynn has been called “Germany’s answer to Fifty Shades Of Grey”, but the comparison barely gets you in the ballpark. Ingo Haeb’s picture is a dark, formalist character study of its titular loner (a great Vicky Krieps), a maid who spies on hotel guests, rifling through their stuff. When her path crosses that of Lena Lauzemis’ freelance dominatrix, they soon enter into an S&M relationship with obsessive, destructive tendencies. It’s a highlight of the 25th Melbourne Queer Film Festival. Another standout film, Lyle, isn’t your piece of standard queer fest programming. Stewart Thorndike’s directorial debut is pure Rosemary’s Baby homage, a spare, simple 60-minute paranoia thriller in which young parents move into an eerie Brooklyn brownstone, its mounting madness deriving from the loneliness, isolation and sleep deprivation of new motherhood. The fact that the mother in question, Gaby Hoffmann (fresh from her Crystal Fairy/ Girls/Transparent run), is makin’ babies with The Slope’s Ingrid Jungermann is presented matter-offactly and never informs the psychological horror. Girls fans can also get their fill with The Foxy Merkins, a ridiculous, ultra-lo-fi lesbian hustler comedy whose titular lines are uttered by Alex Karpovsky, and
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Appropriate Behaviour, the charming, closeto-home debut from writer/director/starlet Desirée Akhavan, crowned ‘the next Lena Dunham’ on the film’s Sundance premiere. Lilting may be shot like a BBC soap, but it has a dark heart, Ben Whishaw delivering a bitter lead turn as a once-secret boyfriend communing with both his dead lover’s ghost and his cantankerous Chinese quasi-motherin-law. Violette, Martin Provost’s companion piece to his great Séraphine, mounts a doom-etched tone poem to the life and times of self-destructive author Violette Leduc
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(with Emmanuelle Devos in the titular role and Sandrine Kiberlain as Simone de Beauvoir). Xenia shows the wondrous influence of the Greek weird wave, even its generic Albanian immigrant drama happily descending into a psychedelic reverie featuring an animated toy rabbit, and a symbolist drama full of the wreckage of Greek society. The Circle attempts to mix talking heads documentary with dramatised tales from the post-WWII Swiss gay underground. The documentaries at MQFF feature portraits of everyone from Star Trek hero turned marriage equality activist George Takei, To Be Takei, to Peter De Rome: Grandfather Of Gay Porn, a portrait of the now geriatric, gentlemanly filmmaker and his cockfilled career. And then there’s Alex & Ali, in which a pair of lovers – one Iranian, one American – are brought together in Istanbul after 35 years apart, only for their romantic reunion to turn tragic. WHAT: Melbourne Queer Film Festival WHEN & WHERE: 19 – 30 Mar, various locations THE MUSIC • 18TH MARCH 2015 • 27
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MIND WHAT YOU SAY Michael Franti had an operation on his left knee recently and despite pushing 50 and hobbling around on crutches, it seems nothing will slow this man down, as Kate Kingsmill discovers.
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ichael Franti can barely walk right now yet says, “I just got out of a four-and-a-halfhour rehearsal and my voice is a little hoarse right now but I feel so alive and energised from just playing music with my dearest friends, my bandmates.” Franti began writing and performing politically charged songs 25 years ago when, in 1986, he formed The Beatnigs and continued to rail against injustice with Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy through the early ‘90s. When he formed Spearhead in 1994, his
music took on a gentler vibe, drawing more from reggae, funk and soul than industrial sounds and hip hop. He also became a more outspoken activist for various social justices. These days, Franti says his main concern is mindfulness. “You know, the thing that I’ve learned over the years is that I don’t want to so much inspire people to be political, or left or right. I first want to inspire people to be mindful and to be considerate of all the aspects of their life, of where to eat, where your food comes from, how was it grown? What are the systems or politics or environmental things
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that go into that? And how can each of us [make] a difference in being mindful of making the best world that we can? And, from that, put the best meal on our plate, the best smile on our face, touch the most hearts that we can and be conscious of - when we earn a living - giving back. Really, the thing that I want to inspire is mindfulness. And then I guess the second [thing] would be positivity because I really believe that through the power of optimism we will set a high bar for what it is that we want from our life and what we want from our world. And it’s with that joy in our heart that we go out and we make a difference.” Franti had his first son when he was just 21 and already a reasonably successful musician. The experience, he says, affected him and his music dramatically. “I was just a kid really. And I was out touring in a van, travelling, sleeping on people’s floors and playing music in different cities every night. And I said to myself at that time, ‘If I’m going to be away from my son for stretches of time, with the way that a musician’s life is, then I want to be able to be proud and have him be proud and inspired by the things that I do musically. And I don’t want to write a bunch of songs about grabbing my balls and getting high and my bitches – I didn’t want to be that guy. I wanted to be something that my kids could look up to and say, ‘Okay, dad has gone but here’s what he was doing. He was out trying to make people’s lives happier or draw attention to things in the world that need light.’” WHEN & WHERE: 1 Apr, The Capital, Bendigo; 2 Apr, Prince Bandroom; 6 Apr, Bluesfest, Byron Bay
BLUESFEST BOUND Hunter Hayes may not be a household name in Australia, but he’s quite the country music prodigy in his native USA. Annelise Ball learns more about this humble performer on behalf of our ill-informed nation.
H
unter Hayes began his music career at the age of two, first performed live on TV aged four and received his first guitar from actor Robert Duvall on his sixth birthday. Yet, “I’d be shocked if you had heard of me in Australia,” Hayes humbly admits. “Quite simply, I’m a total music-obsessed-awkward-geek and proud of it. I think about music more than I should, I’m in my studio more than I should be, and ninety per cent of the stuff I do in the studio you’ll never hear.” He’s definitely not wasting any time with all this messing about in the studio though. “It gets me to the ten per cent you will hear and that’s all that matters.”
Hayes’ ten per cent is pretty impressive. Billboard proclaims him to be none other than the “leader of country music’s youth revolution”. His self-titled debut album sold over a million copies and topped the US country music charts in 2011. Hayes has five Grammy nominations to his name and just missed out on the 2015 Best Country Solo Performance gong for feel-good anthem Invisible. Not to worry, Hayes still got plenty of Grammy action as the host of this year’s Grammy pre-telecast ceremony. Opening with a smoking guitar solo before heading to the dais, Hayes explains the rock-out was purely a measure to calm 28 • THE MUSIC • 18TH MARCH 2015
his nerves. “My team suggested I do it since they know that when I’m holding a guitar, I’m more comfortable.” Nerves? When he’s been in the spotlight forever? “It’s the Grammys!” he reminds. “Everyone in that room has been looking forward to that moment their whole life.” Grammys aside, Invisible reveals a more vulnerable side of Hunter Hayes. An extraordinary message of heartfelt support for those feeling hopeless, at first Hayes wasn’t quite sure it would work. “Sometimes as a singer-songwriter, you walk into something deep, personal and meaningful to yourself
and you wonder if it’s too much.” Taking it to a trusted co-writer, the decision was promptly made. “We had that total light-bulb moment, when we thought, we’ve gotta do it. I decided not to shut myself up, to chase things I’d normally be too scared to chase.” Despite a lifetime of success in the music business, Hayes admits, “I’m still learning. Every songwriter has been a professor in my eyes. I still look to them for approval.” One thing’s for sure, Hayes is thrilled about starting his first Australian tour at Byron Bay’s Bluesfest. “The line-up is fantastic and, in any case, I’d beg and plead to see a line-up like that. The Zac Brown Band, Train and Gary Clark Jnr – I’m so excited to see him live... I’m personally really excited about the trip and can’t wait to play the first of hopefully many, many shows in Australia.” WHEN & WHERE: 3 & 5 Apr, Bluesfest, Byron Bay; 6 Apr, Prince Bandroom
festival sideshows
Our Guide To Bluesfest Sideshows
I
t’s nearly Easter once again, which can only mean two things – Easter eggs and Bluesfest! Obviously nothing beats getting amongst the action at the picturesque Tyagarah Tea Tree Farm which has become the home of Bluesfest for the last few years, pitting yourself against the elements and testing your stamina to see if you’re up to the task of watching amazing bands for five days straight. It’s a remarkable feat of endurance to get through the whole thing, but one that’s good for the soul and the spirit.
HUNTER HAYES
But there’s another facet of Bluesfest that sometimes gets overlooked, and that’s the fact that many of the world-class acts who wing down to Australia for the boutique Byron experience also play their own shows in other cities while they’re in the country. This gives folks that mightn’t be able to make the actual festival the chance to see their musical heroes in the flesh, plus allows uber-fans who would like to check them out in a different environment the chance to see those acts in headline rather than festival mode; this often means longer sets, more left-field material for the hardcore followers, plus of course zero chance of pesky timetable clashes. These shows don’t replace the Bluesfest experience, but they sure as hell give value added to the overall package. Here’s just a sampling of the many fine Bluesfest bands from all over the globe playing sideshows while in the country: THE MUSIC • 18TH MARCH 2015 • 29
Jurassic 5 Homeground: Los Angeles, USA Background: The six-piece alt-hip hop crew formed back in 1993 from the ashes of two other groups and quickly made a name for their soulful harmonies and socially aware lyrics. Why you should see them: Individual members like Charlie 2na and Cut Chemist toured Australia while J5 were on hiatus between 2007-2013, but this will be the first time the full groundbreaking act has played together here in years! Key artistic statement: Jurassic 5 (1998)
When & where: 1 Apr, Festival Hall
The Beat Homeground: Birmingham, England Background: Started back in 1978 and were at the vanguard of the 2 Tone ska revival movement. Why you should see them: They came in at #45 in the UK Telegraph’s list of Top 100 Glastonbury sets ever, and frontman and toaster Ranking Roger has rejoined the ranks so this is the real deal. Key artistic statement: I Just Can’t Stop It (1980)
Jimmy Cliff Homeground: St James, Jamaica Background: Jamaican reggae legend has been writing songs since primary school, and had his first hit, Hurricane Hattie, when he was just 14 years old. Why you should see him: The consummate professional was inducted into the Rock N Roll Hall Of Fame in 2010, has decades of hits in his armoury and will often do Ivan’s stabbing movements from the legendary The Harder They Come movie when playing live. Key artistic statement: The Harder They Come (1972)
When & where: 8 Apr, Corner Hotel
30 • THE MUSIC • 18TH MARCH 2015
Homeground: Philadelphia, USA Background: The band’s distinctive fusion of blues, hip hop and R&B began way back in 1993 and early MTV rotation helped them garner immediate traction. Why you should see them: They’re cruisy, they’re laid-back, they’re soulful and this tour is the first by the original incarnation in eight years. Key artistic statement: Philadelphonic (1999)
When & where: 4 Apr, Thornbury Theatre
Chris Robinson Brotherhood
Fly My Pretties
Homeground: Los Angeles, USA
Homeground: Wellington, New Zealand
Background: Robinson formed iconic rock band The Black Crowes in 1989, but has been playing in various solo guises for much of the millennium, including Chris Robinson Brotherhood since 2010.
Background: Formed in 2004 by members of The Black Seeds, Fat Freddy’s Drop and The Phoenix Foundation to meet and exchange ideas on stage in various locales.
Why you should see them: Their vintage take on rock’n’roll is fun and trippy and they do kick-ass covers of acts like Dylan and Otis Redding as well as the odd Black Crowes tune. Key artistic statement: Big Moon Ritual (2012)
When & where: 2 Apr, Corner Hotel
G. Love & Special Sauce
When & where: 4 Apr, Corner Hotel
Why you should see them: It’s such a unique conceit and the performance you see on any night will most likely never be replicated, but will no doubt inspire with its artistic vision. Key artistic statement: A Story (Part 1) (2009)
When & where: 1 Apr, 170 Russell
THE MUSIC • 18TH MARCH 2015 • 31
Donavon Frankenreiter
Hunter Hayes
Hozier
Homeground: Nashville, USA
Homeground: Bray, Ireland
Homeground: Kauai, USA Background: Cut his teeth on the beaches of California, mixing his twin loves of music and surfing into a suitably cruisy, predominantly acoustic strain of infectious folk.
Background: The precociously talented youngster was raised in Louisiana, and once he moved to Nashville was anointed the leader of “Country Music’s Youth Revolution” by Billboard as he shifted millions of units.
Background: The young Irish troubadour (born Andrew Hozier-Byrne) was born into a musical family and thusly has roots music coursing through his veins.
Why you should see him: He’s chilled, he’s funny, and his shows have the intimate vibe of sitting around the campfire at the beach with your mates after a long day of catching waves.
Why you should see him: Not content with being one of the biggest buzz acts in current country music, he also holds the Guinness World Record for most shows played in a 24-hour period so the boy has staying power!
Key artistic statement: Glow (2010)
Key artistic statement: Storyline (2014)
When & where: 10 Apr, Corner hotel; 11 Apr, Barwon Heads Hotel
Charles Bradley & His Extraordinaires Homeground: Brooklyn, USA Background: Raised in Florida but moving to NY as a child, Bradley started his music career in the ‘90s as a James Brown impersonator before being discovered by the co-founder of Daptone records. Why you should see them: Mainly Bradley’s otherworldly voice, which is compared to legendary artists such as Otis Redding and Sam Cooke, plus also his shit hot dance moves.
When & where: 6 Apr, Prince Bandroom
Why you should see him: His single Take Me To Church was a worldwide smash a couple of years back, and since then he’s been touring the world and winning hearts and minds with his dreamy, charismatic persona and poetic way with words. Key artistic statement: Hozier (2014)
When & where: 28 Mar, Corner Hotel
Beth Hart
Mavis Staples
Homeground: Los Angeles, USA
Homeground: Chicago, USA
Background: Hart cut her teeth on the LA club scene but found fame when her songs began appearing in TV shows such as Beverly Hills 90210 and Californication.
Background: The gospel legend grew up as part of The Staple Singers under the tutelage of her father “pops” Staples – pedigrees don’t come much more high falutin’ than that.
Why you should see her: Hart has been going from strength to strength with both her songwriting and live show, and she got incredible reviews for her 2014 Australian tour which routinely pointed out the beauty of her powerhouse vocals.
Why you should see her: Because over her stellar 67-year career she’s come to encapsulate everything special about gospel and rhythm and blues music, and she ain’t going to be around forever.
Key artistic statement: Screamin’ For My Supper (1999)
Key artistic statement: The Voice (1993)
Key artistic statement: Victim Of Love (2013)
When & where: 30 Mar & 1 Apr, Corner Hotel 32 • THE MUSIC • 18TH MARCH 2015
When & where: 2 Apr, Melbourne Recital Centre
1 Apr, Melbourne Recital Centre; 2 Apr, Meeniyan Town Hall
THE MUSIC • 18TH MARCH 2015 • 33
★★★★½
album/ep reviews
COURTNEY BARNETT
ALISON WONDERLAND
Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit
Run EMI
Milk Records/Remote Control
ALBUM OF THE WEEK
Anticipation for Courtney Barnett’s debut long-player has been at fever pitch given the incredible worldwide traction she garnered with her first two EPs, but in the event the Melburnite has well-and-truly stepped up to the plate and delivered. Despite her initial successes there’s a pervasive self-doubting existential streak throughout, embodied in lyrics like “Put me on a pedestal and I’ll only disappoint you” (rocking single, Pedestrian At Best), although everything’s spun positively for the most part to keep it in the fun zone. And despite this inner wrestle Barnett’s muse remains the minutiae of everyday life rather than big events or adventures, so her worldview’s inherently relatable, abetted by that
laconic everywoman delivery. Broader issues are touched upon, but whether visiting class divides (Depreston), tongue-in-cheek humour (Aqua Profunda!) or ecological concerns (Kim’s Caravan) she seems to revel most in playing with words and language, and this lack of pretension is palpably endearing. Naturally, despite this lyrical profundity it wouldn’t all tie together without strong backing and the punchy, catchy music is routinely imperative, more upbeat than slack overall but always serving the song well. All that sitting and thinking has paid handsome dividends. Steve Bell
Let the sound wash through your body, through your skin and through your bloodstream. Wake up 43 minutes later invigorated, refreshed. Such is the effect Alison Wonderland’s debut album Run has on the unsuspecting listener. Even those who have previously had a taste of Wonderland will once again involuntarily find themselves overwhelmed by this release. An undeniable youthfulness drips from every beat, every note and every lyric that falls from the record, although Run never feels immature, brash or hurried – see Take It To Reality (ft SAFIA) or I Want U. In moments like the intro of Cold there’s a nod to The Chemical Brothers that belies the relatively young age of Alex Scholler (the woman behind the moniker). Alison Wonderland’s take on the modern electro genre throws any concept of subtlety
★★★★ out the window, a blessing considering the washed-out pretence with which some of her contemporaries (BANKS, Grimes, Sky Ferreira) flirt. Instead, Wonderland draws from equal parts reggae and pure pop, scattering her influences over a beat that at times is contagious (Ignore) and at others pure fun (Back It Up). The result is a diverse record that not only continues to impress long after the first listen, but also offers the unadulterated joy of hearing one of dance music’s rising stars realise their potential. Dylan Stewart
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★★★½
★★★½
★★★
LAURA MARLING
PRIMITIVE MOTION
SUPER BEST FRIENDS
Virgin/Caroline
Bedroom Suck
Gun Fever
Coloured by experience – love that came and went, a move to California, then back to her safe European home – this is a different Laura Marling album, and not just because her plaintiveness sometimes comes with an electric band’s backing.
The first three quarters of Pulsating Time Fibre features much of the Brisbane-based duo’s signature quirk and kitsch – the beat machine, simplistic synth and cute melodies we’ve come to expect as part of their formula – however, when Question D rolls around the album takes a turn into new, eerie and futuristic territory, and it is brilliant. The hypnotic nine-and-a-half minute track To Shape A Single Leaf is pure perfection, while the vocal harmonising within other tracks is so sublime it may in fact cause the listener’s brain to implode, so listen with caution!
Rock dreams come true when a Melbourne three-piece make the noise of an army of frustrated teenagers. With sweat and spit lubricating a furious soundtrack of disenfranchised angst slamming between Grinspoonಬs debut and pretty much anything from Josh Homme, front-larynx Johnny Barrington is barking mad at everything from douchebags making on dumb girls in clubs to social mediaಬs instant bestowing of an opinion to any arsehole. Barrington screams like a bogan-baby hungry for its first can of VB, but Bodyjarಬs deckhand Tom Larkin focuses the abrasion to a point where it all becomes irresistible.
Short Movie
At times she seems be running on her nerves. I Feel Your Love is almost PJ Harvey-lite, but that’s no insult – it’s visceral, but maybe she doesn’t quite know herself as Polly did, sometimes blaming herself as in Don’t Let Me Bring You Down, but there’s the feeling this is a transition piece, for a soul that remains unsettled, still searching. Ross Clelland
Pulsating Time Fibre
Jazmine O’Sullivan
Status Updates
Mac McNaughton 34 • THE MUSIC • 18TH MARCH 2015
Surf City – Jekyll Island Cancer Bats – Searching For Zero Madonna – Rebel Heart Monarchy – Abnocto Jeff Rosenstock – We Cool? Mark Knopfler – Tracker Benny Walker – Through The Forest Troy Cassar-Daley – Freedom Ride Vessels – Dilate
THE MUSIC • 18TH MARCH 2015 • 35
live reviews
VANCE JOY, #1 DADS, AIRLING
with Bill’s Fish Shop for $5 burgers down the road, on last track Camberwell, which features a banging sax solo from multitalented bassist Angus Rigby.
12 Mar
Man of the night Vance Joy’s name sparkles in lights behind him as he walks on stage to begin the aching From Afar. Marching gently on the spot, lifting his feet up and down to the beat, Joy then belts out Red Eye to “blow out the cobwebs”. He relives Winds Of Change, the first song he ever played live as ‘Jimmy K’ at an open mic night. The beautiful Mess Is Mine gets happy punters clapping and Joy then stands solo on stage, framed by nine dangling bare globes to perform the haunting All I Ever Wanted and a lovely cover of Bruce Springsteen’s Dancing In The Dark. The band comes back for Georgia, which
Palais Theatre
It’s easy to look swamped on the dark, Palais Theatre stage, but Airling’s voice is powerful enough to fill the cavernous space. All the broody atmospheric synths suit the darkness, with Airling’s sweet pipes adding some sparkling light, particularly on Wasted Pilots. Clean cut trio #1 Dads bring a strong, dad-joke game to the stage. Making old-mannish comments on the scaffolding surrounding this theatre’s exterior, and the perils of eating fried chicken before a gig, lead singer, guitarist and #1
VANCE JOY @ PALAIS THEATRE. PIC: GEOFFREY D’UNIENVILLE
comedian Tom Iansek hams it up. Muted drum-pad tapping sets the soft, #1 Dads vibe on each and every track. Sister brings some sweet-hearted emotion, while My Rush is nothing but compelling as Iansek strums hard on a pearly guitar that draws you “down, down to your depths”. Since they’re playing in their hometown, good buddy and fellow Melburnian Ainslie Wills pops out on stage for a surprise cameo on So Soldier. With beaming grins, Iansek and Wills look just like they’re jamming it out over beers at home. Second special guest Tom Snowdon joins next. Iansek begins the angelic twinkling keys on Return To while Snowdon begins his enchanting vocal. Drawn down deep somewhere ocean-like, Snowdon’s arms wave and twirl about like a dancing swimmer. Iansek then pays tribute to his first sharehouse, 36 • THE MUSIC • 18TH MARCH 2015
before entry is granted. Until The Ribbon Breaks are a Cardiff trio, which utilises three pairs of drum sticks, with a sound that references hip hop. The outfit’s sample-based second song, Perspective, is an earworm. Frontman Peter Lawrie Winfield also plays trumpet. They really should introduce themselves at this point. A punter reads our minds and yells out, “What’s your name?” But the band’s (highly unusual) name isn’t acknowledged until the intro into their closer. UTRB are a bit Alt-J and definitely worth a post-show Google. Wet kind of creep on stage and then make us wanna have a snooze in comparison to what we’ve just experienced. And frontlady Kelly Zutrau does herself no favours with
LONDON GRAMMAR @ FESTIVAL HALL. PIC: GEOFFREY D’UNIENVILLE
Joy sings out with his powerful, piercing voice. When the ukulele appears, punters cheer for the delightful Riptide, which finally gets dancers up out of their seats. Iansek comes out to join them for a final, spectacular cover of Fleetwood Mac’s The Chain. A perfect end to the perfect gig. Annelise Ball
LONDON GRAMMAR, WET, UNTIL THE RIBBON BREAKS Festival Hall 14 Mar Bouncers ask punters to lift up their caps to prove there’s nothing stashed underneath
that all-black ensemble of baggy top and neither-loosenor-tight pants, which would fit right in at Highpoint Hoyts. You can actually hear the punters talking among themselves and there’s a single, blinding blue light that shines directly into the audience’s eyes, blinding us. Zutrau has a pretty voice, but tends to push it too hard and this Brooklyn threesome is outshone by their predecessors tonight. At 10.23pm (almost half an hour after the advertised starting time), London Grammar materialise, one by one, backlit on a smokefilled stage. Genius visuals enable skyscrapers to spring up in fast-motion behind the trio during Hey Now and the wow factor is established immediately. Singer Hannah Reid is dressed for a roller
disco in figure-hugging highwaisted blue jeans, high-necked long-sleeved white cropped top (about a centimetre of midriff flesh is exposed) and sneakers, her bright blonde tresses pulled back into a high ponytail. She switches to keys while Dominic Major (who resembles an edgier Harry Styles) provides drum accompaniment. And then a string quartet is illuminated on raised rostra behind them. Reid acknowledges Australia as a “territory of support” and thanks us for coming back after last year’s cancelled Splendour In The Grass and sideshow appearances. Her voice is so emotional, an instrument of perfection. Wasting My Young Years, the unsettling Flickers – just when we think they’ve peaked London Grammar trump themselves, not only
LONDON GRAMMAR @ FESTIVAL HALL. PIC: GEOFFREY D’UNIENVILLE
through song but also visuals and intricate lighting design. Major touchingly says the last two years touring with both of his bandmates have been the best of his life to date because they’re such “beautiful, intelligent people”. London Grammar really do come across as wholesome types. Reid announces Strong is supposed to be their last song (hint, hint) and encourages us to sing along, holding the mic out at regular intervals to check on our voices; we really just wanna delight in her pipes, though. London Grammar leave the stage but the string section stays put, which is a dead giveaway. The crowd stamp their feet so insistently there’s concern for the floor boards. And they’re back! Reid intros closer Metal & Dust as our only chance
live reviews to dance within her band’s set and we fully take in the wonderment of this evening’s entertainment on the final night of London Grammar’s two-year global tour. They’re certainly not Wasting [Their] Young Years. And the string quartet plays us out of the venue – a classy finishing touch. Bryget Chrisfield
ADALITA, ALI E
The Gasometer Hotel 11 Mar For the second week of Adalita’s Gasometer residency, Melbourne-based post-punk act Ali E opens with distorted guitars and textured vocals. She sounds a bit like Patti Smith or a more melodic Sonic Youth and makes the perfect precursor to our headliner. Then out comes Adalita, who says she is surprised to see so many people show up on a Wednesday before playing Hot Air, the first track off her self-titled 2011 LP. A somewhat terrifying black panther statue and vase of darkred roses decorate the stage.
The intimate venue and thick guitar sound create an immersive atmosphere and the crowd is quiet, transfixed on the singer. Adalita has to tune her guitar, telling the audience one must have nerves of steel to do so onstage, and it’s not working for her. She soon gets it right and plays My Ego, a heavier track that amps us up and has people swaying. She has a personable stage presence and manages to draw us in without having to engage in too much chit-chat; instead, she relies on the music and occasional one-liner. When Adalita’s songs are moody, we feel sombre, but then she smiles and everyone lightens up, and we alternate between these two states throughout the course of the night. Adalita then plays a new song called Guilt Free, telling us the inspiration for this track is not feeling bad about inappropriate love. The song goes over well and she talks about writing for a new album before jumping into another new track, Private. She identifies friends in the audience via shout-outs between songs.
The screen on the venue’s left wall plays Creature From The Black Lagoon, which Adalita says is one of her favourite movies before comparing herself to the film’s ‘misunderstood’ creature. While playing Perfection, Adalita is hypnotic, lit from above and dressed in black. She is joined on stage by a violinist who adds a subtle but vital layer to this track. Next comes Trust Is Rust and Adalita plus violinist are joined by a guitarist that Adalita points out is a “tall fella”. The sound becomes more layered now and brings to mind Rowland S Howard. All three musicians have a friendly chemistry as if they’ve known each other forever. Adalita then professes her love for Chrissy Amphlett before covering Divinyls’ I’m Jealous, paying tribute while also adding her own spin. The night ends with the bouncy Blue Sky. Adalita’s skillful songwriting and engaging stage presence mean we don’t even secretly wish to hear Dirty Jeans (from her former life fronting Magic Dirt).
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BROOKE FRASER @ FORUM THEATRE. PIC: JAY HYNES
Wet @ Howler Grand Salvo @ Brunswick Uniting Church The Raah Project @ Playhouse, Arts Centre
Holly Keys
arts reviews dance as you would usually imagine it, but it requires all elements contemporary dance is known for: unwavering concentration, attention to detail, sustained movements and moving in isolation.
Batchelor. Part-narrative, partphilosophy, part-astronomy, Spaceproject is at once playful and serious, and certainly worth a slice of your space/time. Paul Ransom
NOTHING SPACEPROJECT TO LOSE Sarah Barratt
MEETING
MEETING Festival
North Melbourne Town Hall, Arts House (finished)
★★★ ★
In this work we observe Antony Hamilton and Alisdair Macindoe, surrounded by 64 mechanised pencils, tapping away on the floor in a manic and inconsistent fashion. The show is an hour of watching their hands and bodies moving in sync to a rapidly changing beat that is hard to follow as an audience member, let alone move to. It isn’t
Festival
Festival
Sylvia Staehil Theatre, Dancehouse (finished)
Merlyn Theatre, Malthouse Theatre to 21 Mar
★★★
After 18 years in Europe, Prue Lang has returned home with a work of intellectual rigour, surprising humour and beautifully realised movement. Although Spaceproject falls into the ‘use of text’ trap, (dancers, I’m sorry to report, are not actors), its light and shade rescue it from arcane dryness. The standout here though is Lang’s wonderfully fluid and intricate choreography; all of which is realised with athletic grace by four of Australia’s finest, Lauren Langlois, Benjamin Hancock, Amber McCartney and James
★★★
Because Nothing To Lose is more intriguing than riveting, we are ultimately left to ponder the private theatre of our own responses to the sight of fat people dancing in their underpants. To say that acclaimed dance theatre director Kate Champion’s Force Majeure swansong is a ‘freakshow’ would be a tad too garish, but to pretend that it does not rely on the very preconceptions it seeks to question or usurp would be to err too greatly on the side of politeness.
Although it lurches perilously close to worthiness, Nothing To Lose has its funny and powerful moments. It confronts us with prejudice, sexuality and the guilty secret of dance: that it loves skinny above all else. That said, this isn’t truly a dance piece, simply because there is no genuinely interesting dance anywhere to be seen. However, there are clearly crowd-pleasing moments here and an undeniable sense of euphoric expression. A fascinating, if somewhat upbraiding experience. Paul Ransom
NOTHING TO LOSE THE MUSIC • 18TH MARCH 2015 • 37
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STORE.THEMUSIC.COM.AU 38 • THE MUSIC • 18TH MARCH 2015
the guide
VOLTAIRE TWINS
Answered By: Jaymes Voltaire How did you get your start? We’ve been making music together since we were just a pair of babies, putting the bass in bassinet. Sum up your musical sound in four words? Sticky, warm, analogue magic. If you could support any band in the world – past or present – who would it be? LCD Soundsystem. You’re being sent into space, no iPod, you can bring one album – what would it be? Apollo: Atmospheres & Soundtracks - Brian Eno. Greatest rock’n’roll moment of your career to date? We’re not cool enough to be rock’n’roll, but we did go to the casino late at night with Ladytron when they came to Perth. It was pretty well-behaved, mild-mannered fun. Why should people come and see your band? Everyone who comes to our next show gets a free copy of our new single Long Weekend, plus the Luke Million remix. We’re not above bribing you to get you in. When and where for your next gig? 20 Mar, Northcote Social Club. It’s our single launch. Website link for more info? voltairetwins.com
Pic: Lloyd Hughes THE MUSIC • 18TH MARCH 2015 • 39
eat/drink steph@themusic.com.au
PENINSULA PICNIC A Food, Wine & Music Gathering
GET AWAY FOR A DAY At Mornington Racecourse on 29 Mar from 12pm, the Peninsula Picnic will showcase some of the leading winemakers and vineyards across the Mornington Peninsula. Indulge in a glass of wine or two while being fed delicious meals made from local produce courtesy of nine stellar restaurants. Supplying the soundtrack for this picturesque setting will be The Waifs, Paul Dempsey, Tinpan Orange, Pierce Brothers and Hayden Calnin. Food, wine and live music... yeah, this all sounds pretty ideal to us!
PAUL DEMPSEY What would we f ind in your dream picnic basket? Lots of seafood. Not that seafood is a very good thing to take on a picnic, but I guess my favourite food is generally seafood. I think my last meal on earth would just be a dozen oysters. What wine would you pair with oysters? I do enjoy wine – but I think there’s nothing better than a cold beer with oysters. Probably something like a Seger mot Olunda Pale Ale. What appeals to you most about playing this event?
Obviously for me I just love playing live and it doesn’t take much to sort of twist my arm into going and doing a fun outdoor show on a Sunday afternoon, that all sounds pretty good. I was also interested in this because I come from the Mornington Peninsula, so it’s a nice reason to get back down there to play a show. And it is a great area for food and wine and beer as well. Will you hang around before and afterwards? Yeah, definitely... I’m
40 • THE MUSIC • 18TH MARCH 2015
If you had to describe yourself as a dish,
what would you be? I’d probably be like a bowl of ramen noodles, just because of the combination of somewhat strange elements that may not make sense on paper but somehow work together.
EMILY LUBITZ What would we f ind in your dream picnic basket? Watermelon, wine and pastrami on rye sandwiches. What’s your wine of choice to drink at a picnic? I always get the most passionate wine drinker at the picnic to choose the wine because I am a primitive when it comes to such things.
Ahead of the event, we chatted with Rowan & Janine Herrald from restaurant Terre, Paul Dempsey and Emily Lubitz of Tinpan Orange. Get your tickets from peninsulapicnic. com.au/tickets.
actually gonna get in a mini-bus with a bunch of friends. We’re all going to go down and enjoy the whole afternoon.
In which ways do you think good food and music overlap? They are both made up of different ingredients/instruments that blend, sizzle, mix and tune into each other to create a sensuous thing that is bigger and at times more beautiful than the sum of its parts. If you had to describe yourself as a dish, what would you be? Chicken soup: soupy, meaty and a little bit Jewish.
ROWAN & JANINE HERRALD What would we f ind in your dream picnic basket? Cured meats, Janine’s bread, Spanish anchovies, olives and a simple salad.
Blanc is amazing!) or riesling (Best’s in Great Western or Crawford River both fantastic Victorian producers).
What’s your picnic wine of choice? Sparkling (French or high quality local – Circe Blanc de
What’s the best thing about being in an event like Peninsula Picnic? The opportunity to
showcase how amazing the produce is where we live, as well as catch up with other local chefs; it’s pretty rare for us to be in the one place at the same time! Can you let us in on a few dishes you’ll be making? I’ll be serving a Croque Monsieur with a local twist as well
as a prawn roll with poached Crystal Bay prawns and coleslaw made with new season apples from Red Hill. Janine’s contribution is a cherry ripe and chocolate trifle using local morello cherries she has poached in a spiced red wine syrup, with a rich chocolate brownie, custard and coconut jelly.
the guide vic.live@themusic.com.au
LIVE THIS WEEK
CHART WRAP
OH YA
HELLA GOOD
HELP TO DRIVE IT
Aussie-born but now New York local Yanni Burton will celebrate his Same Old Love EP release at Northcote Social Club on Sunday with a matinee performance, accompanied by his internationally acclaimed New York City band.
Punks Hellions are doing a national headline tour to support the release of their new album Indian Summer. Their energetic live show will comes to Reverence Hotel, Saturday and Phoenix Youth Centre, Sunday.
The Music Victoria Membership Drive runs Tuesday ‘til 3 Apr. Sign up to support an organisation that does heaps for the Vic music industry. They’ve got a bunch of ambassadors behind them, including Dan Sultan.
CYCLO THROUGH LIFE
SHAKEN UP
BELL RINGING
Dark, twisted, witty, funny and, at times, strangely romantic elements are joyfully rolled up into one energetic and theatrical Melbourne-based, French-inspired band in Cyclo Timik. Go check ‘em out at Spotted Mallard on Wednesday.
On Saturday, one-man band Great Earthquake brings his layered rhythmic soundscapes to Whole Lotta Love. Joining him is experimental pop duo Creeks, psych folk solo looper Labradorable, and Tammy Haider.
Formerly Melbourne-based Bellusira relocated to the USA but are coming back to Oz for their We’ve Missed You Tour, also playing shows as part of a pledge campaign. Go say hi: Friday, Prince Bandroom.
DO THE CREEP
X BEE RISING
DING DONG BELLE
Luke Escombe’s new EP, Creeper Vine, draws inspiration from the likes of Chuck Berry, Freddie King, The Rolling Stones and Elvis. Escombe takes it to the stage on Saturday at Rainbow Hotel.
Tempest Rising, pictured, Red Bee and Let The Number Be X are bringing the metal Musicman Megastore, Friday. They’ll also be joined by This Fiasco at Barwon Club, Geelong, Thursday and The Workers Club, Saturday.
Australia’s first and reigning queen of blues-based soul, the inimitable Renee Geyer is presenting a one-off special dinner and show performance on Sunday at Ding Dong Lounge.
SERIOUSLY TACKY
FLOATING ON AIR
HB YH!
Folksy seven-piece Galleri have gone from performing alongside Dan Sultan to recording in lounge rooms and back again. Single Tacky Part is the honest, serious result. They play Friday, Wesley Anne and Saturday, Reverence Hotel.
Queensland’s five-piece rock, roots and reggae band The Floating Bridges will be hitting The B.East, Friday and Baha Tacos, Rye, Saturday. Help them celebrate the release of their new album, Creatures Of Leisure.
Abbotsford’s Yarra Hotel celebrate their second birthday this Sunday, with music from Holly & Mick’s Winnifred Kings, Jo Meares, Chris Pickering, Leah Senior, The Stetson Family and Crawfish Dave. Kicks off 3pm!
FOR MORE HEAD TO THEMUSIC.COM.AU
MAHALIA BARNES & THE SOUL MATES
Aussie singer-songwriter of the moment Courtney Barnett has achieved the only debut on this week’s Singles ladder in the Carlton Dry Independent Music Charts, with recent single, Pedestrian At Best, stepping out into the world at #13. The wider week’s crop is a fairly scant one for new faces as it is — on the Albums Chart, the only new entries come from up-and-coming country troubadour Tori Darke (Silver Lining, #4) as well as Mahalia Barnes & The Soul Mates, whose Ooh Yea! The Betty Davis Songbook, skates in at #19, just ahead of Roland Tings’ self-titled LP, which drops from last week’s #6 to the gatekeeper spot at #20. There has been some limited movement across both Singles and Albums ladders, however. On the former, San Cisco’s Too Much Time Together takes a six-spot leap to get back inside the top 10, at #7, while Thundamentals’ Something I Said, steps back into the top 20; on the latter, upward mobility comes once again from Thundamentals, with So We Can Remember clawing its way back from #10 to #6 this week, The Bennies enjoying a healthy bump, up seven places to #13, Ziggy Alberts’ Land & Sea re-entering the top 20 at #14, as does San Cisco’s debut LP, back in at #16. THE MUSIC • 18TH MARCH 2015 • 41
the guide vic.live@themusic.com.au
ALBUM FOCUS
HAVE YOU HEARD
three and five nights a weeks for about eight months.
FEED HER TO THE SHARKS Answered by: Marinos Katsanevas Album title? Fortitude Where did the title of your new album come from? It really reflects what the whole album is about, lyrically: overcoming all the crap life throws at you and staying strong when times are tough! How many releases do you have now? This is our third release.
Was anything in particular inspiring you during the making? We really want to get overseas and tour. This being our first release on a label, the chances of that happening has been greater than ever so that was always in our heads when writing. What’s your favourite song on it? Personally, Let Go and Faithless are my favourites. Both are really fun to play. Will you do anything differently next time? Hard to say. We feel we evolve musically with each album, so I’m sure the next one will be quite different. But listeners will know it’s FHTTS! Website link for more info? facebook.com/ feedhertothesharks
How long did it take to write/ record? We took our time on this one to get it right! We were writing between
MARTA PACEK When did you start making music and why? I started later than most at 21, initially in rebellion of my parents encouraging me to pursue more academic activities but also because writing songs and singing felt like home to me.
Greatest rock’n’roll moment of your career to date? It wasn’t exactly rock’n’roll but playing my songs with an orchestra behind me in a 200-plus-yearold theatre in Lago Lecco, Italy was pretty special.
Sum up your musical sound in four words? Earthy, broody, wounded, hopeful.
Why should people come and see your band? Some people may enjoy kicking back and listening to some tales from the road of a travelling gypsy.
If you could support any band in the world - past or present - who would it be? Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds.
When and where for your next gig? 18 Mar, The Espy; 19 Mar, Beav’s Bar, Geelong; 23 Mar, Retreat Hotel.
If you could only listen to one album forevermore, what would it be and why? Traveling Alone by Tift Merritt.
Website link for more info? martapacek.com
EP FOCUS
THEATRE FOCUS then I raised all the money to do it and he was like, “Oh god, ok, this is actually happening.”
FAKE IT ‘TIL YOU MAKE IT Answered by: Bryony Kimmings Describe the show in a tweet? Award-winning artist @ bryonykimmings and her advertising exec boyf Tim @tgburn star in a funny, honest and moving show about depression and men! Whose idea was it for Tim to act in the play? It was my idea. I made a show in 2013 with my nine-year-old niece Taylor and I loved working in collaboration with someone I love and who you don’t normally see on stage. Tim is pretty laidback, I think at first I thought I was joking, but 42 • THE MUSIC • 18TH MARCH 2015
What’s something you learned that surprised you? That suicide is the biggest of men under 35 in both the UK, where we are from, and in Australia. We did a huge questionnaire for men that struggle with depression and the stories we were told were scarily similar. Every single person out of the 300-odd that replied said that at some point during their illness they had been told that “boys don’t cry”. Well for a disease of the brain that has a key symptom listed as crying that doesn’t quite compute!
DUNK LA
song and a sign of where our project is heading.
EP title? Tim The Optimist
We’ll like this EP if we like... Dirty synths, experimental vocal production and intricate rhythmic patterns. Music meets visual art. Eskmo, Emancipator and Portishead come to mind.
How many releases do you have now? This is our first official release, though we do have an old unheard EP that we plan to release soon.
What was most challenging about working with your partner? We bicker. Like all couples do. It’s also a true story and it gets pretty dark, no matter how much comedy we put in so doing that night after night is hard for both of us, but worth it.
Was anything in particular inspiring you during the making? I was listening to lots of production-based music when I starting composing under the name Dunk La. Mon [Fagioli, vocalist] was particularly inspiring as she gave the songs a character to speak through.
When and where is your show? 18 Mar – 5 Apr, MICF, Theatre Works.
What’s your favourite song on it? Tim The Coward. It’s definitely our most developed
S U P P O R T I N G
I N D E P E N D E N T
When and where is your launch/next gig? The EP will be launched at Bar 303 in Northcote on 21 Mar in the form of a short film. Doors open at 7pm! Website link for more info? facebook.com/ dunklayourexperience
A U S S I E
M U S I C
opinion OG FLAVAS
THE HEAVY SHIT
URBAN AND R&B NEWS WITH CYCLONE
METAL AND HARD ROCK WITH CHRIS MARIC
Kanye West has worked hard since Yeezus. He executiveproduced Theophilus London’s underrated second album Vibes. More curiously, Yeezy has been randomly collaborating with ‘heritage’ pop acts, notably Sir Paul McCartney, initially circulating Only One then FourFiveSeconds (also ft Rihanna). Macca hasn’t had such significant global chart success since the ‘80s (when he duetted on Michael Jackson’s The Girl Is Mine). West has just officially released the post-trap All Day (featuring London) with McCartney’s hip hop hippie instrumentation and whistling (!) at the end. Yeezy has somehow rescued McCartney, making him swag. West, ever endearingly eccentric, reckons he complements the former Beatle with his John Lennonesque “angst”. Yeezy’s upcoming album, So Help Me God, should be more sentimental and traditionally ‘musical’. Meanwhile, he’s connected with Madonna. West nearly guided Madge’s Rebel Heart but, due to logistics, instead just produced various songs like Illuminati. Madonna’s latest is very urban. She’s secured guest MCs including Nas for Veni Vidi Vici, not dissimilar to All Day with its incongruous acoustic guitar. Madonna first strayed into R&B on 1994’s Bedtime Stories, cutting Dallas Austin’s swingbeat Secret (and the Aaliyah-sampling Inside Of Me). Rebel Heart’s ballads hark back to that era. Yet Madonna should have ditched Diplo’s dubstephall Bitch I’m Madonna!, which sounds passé. But, happily, she’s now rumoured to cameo on So… @therealcyclone
JUDAS PRIEST IN A RAIN STORM - EPIC.
Due to the joys of column scheduling, Soundwave has now been over for two weeks but it’s my first chance to talk about it here. I love it when it rains at those things; yes there are serious technical issues that happen with gear and staging, but it changes the mood of the crowd in a massive way. Standing there watching the Metal Gods Judas Priest be the most metal thing in the world during a rain storm was truly epic. Richie Faulkner is a true Flying V warrior and I hope the band have another 20 years left in them! In the 20 years I’ve been watching Fear Factory play in this country I don’t think I’ve ever been disappointed and this year was no exception. They are just perfect every time. Watching Burton bust out Just One Fix on stage with Ministry at their Sydney Sidewave was a major tour highlight too. Kicking things off the day before, the completely outrageous King Parrot garnered a whole batch of new fans and the band’s singer Matt Young is the only frontman brave/stupid enough to stand in the middle of a pre-wall of death and ask the people to come and kill him. Amazing to watch! Speaking of King Parrot, they’ve announced that they’ve signed to EVP Recordings in Australia for the release of their second album, which will be out in May. The Parrot train shows no signs of stopping!
MADONNA
Last year a bold effort was made to unite the local metal scenes around the country under one event and at the one
time. It worked! Promoters, bands, venues and fans across 13 cities in seven states came together and made it happen. And so for the second time ever, the country will once more come together for Metal United Down Under. Keep 10 Oct in your diary free as it’s the designated day for MUDU2015. A host of supporters have already come on board and as bands get announced, I’ll list them here. And so much for Farewell Tours! Kiss have announced they’re returning to Australia this October as part of their 40th Anniversary Tour. That’s got to be about three or four tours beyond the ‘last time’, eh? But I’m glad ‘cause when Kiss come, they bring their full-on rock’n’roll show. This time it sounds bigger than ever! Their current stage production is called The Spider, moved by 38 computer-controlled winches, featuring 220 automated lights, weighing in at 43 tonnes, incorporating 900 pieces of pyrotechnics and powered by 400,000 watts of sound. Which doesn’t mean shit if your songs suck. Good thing everyone knows their stuff and will likely be grinning from ear to ear the entire time as Paul Stanley squeals that he loves you all. At least we know Motley Crue’s Farewell Tour is final. They signed full-on contracts saying they will put their tools down at the end of the year and will face big fines if they pick them up again (as a band). Tommy will be bringing his full-on roller coaster drum kit set-up out with him. I suggest you look that up now on YouTube.
MODERATELY HIGHBROW VISUAL ART WANK AND THEATRE FOYERS WITH DAVE DRAYTON In which, inspired by the $4.50 cans of Guinness (and to an equally delicious extent, Kilkenny) at the local Irish-themed pub, I examine what are surely two artistic world records. I like to think I know a lot about world records - I was an official timekeeper during a successful attempt to break the record for the world’s longest handshake on September 21, 2009. The success, though soon overtaken, was commemorated in the 2011 edition (p. 111) and even Hulk Hogan was there to celebrate. Unfortunately, since those heady days my knowledge of the record circuit has diminished. However, my interest in the kinds of things that could be records certainly has not. Which brings me to Aelita Andre and Ted Wale, two Australian artists with only the collected lifespans of 2,163 moths separating them in age. Aelita, aged eight, is an abstract expressionist painter from Melbourne, and according to the biography on her website (they grow up so fast!) “she first began to paint professionally from nine months old when her amazing acrylic on canvas paintings were included in her solo exhibition in Australia at age two.” At the opposite end of the 2,163 moth lifespans is Ted, a Cabramatta resident who will turn 105 this August, who makes his own damn charcoal! Ted was the focus of a charming profile in a recent issue of the Fairfield Advance and is at work on a series of wildflowers inspired by his garden.
ME WITH HULK HOGAN AT A GUINNESS WORLD RECORD ATTEMPT MODERATELY HIGHBROW
heavyshit@themusic.com.au THE MUSIC • 18TH MARCH 2015 • 43
opinion HOWZAT! LOCAL MUSIC BY JEFF JENKINS DAN THE MAN A year ago, Dan Lethbridge was doing a gig, “Stand By Your Dan”, with his fellow Dans – Dan Flynn, Dan Parsons and Dan Waters. Now, Dan has delivered a superb solo single, I Want You With Me. But he’s not singing about his Dan buddies. “The song is about realising that life is better when you have that special someone around,” he explains. “The first line is a direct reference to that moment when you walk on stage and how having your loved one in the room makes it a little bit easier.” The beautifully crafted song is like a masterclass in classic guitar pop. “The chord progression had this natural staccato rhythm and it could have easily turned into something much heavier. But I recorded it clean on a Telecaster, which naturally has a nice jangly tone, and then played a second part on an electric 12-string. Before long,
44 • THE MUSIC • 18TH MARCH 2015
we had a chiming Byrds thing happening and I remember thinking we should definitely embrace that.” I Want You With Me sees Lethbridge continue his recording relationship with Shane O’Mara. “We are probably too comfortable in the studio,” he smiles, “because we spend more time laughing than actually recording. But I think most musicians are only willing to stretch themselves or try something different when they feel truly comfortable. It won’t happen if you feel like someone is judging you.” If you were to judge I Want You With Me, you’d call it one of 2015’s great singles. It’s deliciously dark, but could also be a wedding song. It’s the first single from Lethbridge’s third album, Inner Western, due in June. Unfortunately, there are no other Dans on the album. “And that’s no easy feat,” Lethbridge laughs, “considering one in every three Melbourne musicians is called Dan.” He doesn’t discount
DAN LETHBRIDGE
a second Dan gig. “We talk about it every day, but it hasn’t happened yet. We’re still waiting for Dannii Minogue to come on board.” Dan now has a new band, The Campaigners, and they’re launching I Want You With Me at the Spotted Mallard on 21 Mar. JACK AND BACHARACH It’s this town’s most tasteful tribute – Jack Howard & The Ambassadors Of Love Play Bacharach & David. It started with Jack doing Burt Bacharach’s Reach Out as part of Pure Pop’s summer of classic albums in 2012. Now, they’ve done a mini-album, The Look Of Love, to be launched at The Flying Saucer on 20 Mar.
RAMSAY STREET ROCKS No other non-music show has provided so many hits. Howzat! salutes Neighbours, which has given the world Kylie, Jason, Delta, Holly Valance, Craig McLachlan, Natalie Imbruglia, Natalie Bassingthwaighte, Stephanie McIntosh, Guy Pearce and The Twins, Gayle and Gillian Blakeney. The first episode of Neighbours went to air 30 years ago today, 18 Mar. HOT LINE “Time is ticking and they ain’t giving out any more” – The Heartache State, Clockstar.
the guide vic.gigguide@themusic.com.au Owen Pallett: The Toff In Town, Melbourne
THE MUSIC PRESENTS The Beards: 18 Mar Karova Lounge Ballarat; 19 Mar Spirit Bar & Lounge Traralgon; 20 Mar Barwon Club Geelong; 21 Mar The Hi-Fi
Band Of Skulls: 7 Apr Corner Hotel
Xavier Rudd & The United Nations: 19 Mar Forum Theatre
Peace: 30 Apr Ding Dong Lounge
The Beat: 2 Apr Corner Hotel Mavis Staples: 2 Apr Meeniyan Town Hall Beth Hart: 2 Apr Melbourne Recital Centre Chris Robinson Brotherhood: 4 Apr Corner Hotel David Gray: 5 Apr Palais Theatre Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue: 5 Apr Corner Hotel Hunter Hayes: 6 Apr Prince Bandroom
WED 18
Groovin The Moo: 2 May Prince Of Wales Showground Bendigo San Cisco: 22 May 170 Russell; 23 May The Hi-Fi Supersuckers & The BellRays: 27 May Barwon Club Geelong; 28 May Karova Lounge Ballarat; 29 May Corner Hotel
The Peeks + Run Rabbit Run + Zum: The Workers Club, Fitzroy Cash Savage: The Workers Club, Fitzroy Tony Joe White + Chris Russell’s Chicken Walk: Thornbury Theatre, Thornbury
Kamageddum! feat. The Braves + Clive Mann: Northcote Social Club, Northcote
Open Mic Night: Mr Boogie Man Bar, Abbotsford
Ben Wright Smith + Brooke Russell: Retreat Hotel, Brunswick Krista Polvere + Lachy Moore: Revolver Upstairs, Prahran Kylie Minogue + Giorgio Moroder + Betty Who: Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne
After Dinner Mint with Hookey: Big Mouth, St Kilda
Cyclo Timik + Little Rabbit: Spotted Mallard, Brunswick
Curious Tales + DJ Who + Tigerfunk + Various DJs: Bimbo Deluxe, Fitzroy
Wine, Whiskey, Women feat. Katie Brianna + Jemma Nicole: The Drunken Poet, West Melbourne Marta Pacek + Jessica Stuart Few: The Espy, St Kilda Adalita + Warmth Crashes In: The Gasometer Hotel, Collingwood
Mikey Robins: Comic’s Lounge, North Melbourne
Join The Amish + Vicious Cycle + Camp David + Beyond Contempt: The Old Bar, Fitzroy
Kele + Jakubi: Corner Hotel, Richmond
The Fifths + Dada Ono: The Public Bar, Melbourne
Beginners’ Class with Melbourne Ukulele Kollective: Edinburgh Castle Hotel (6pm), Brunswick
Owen Pallett: The Toff In Town, Melbourne Forleigh + Elbury + Cheeky Goose + Magic Tundra + Sebastian Gresham: The Tote, Collingwood
Jack Evan Johnson + Michael Plater + Claire Birchall: 303, Northcote
Hey Frankie + Pickpocket + Yarra Banks: Bar Open, Fitzroy varsity+Kiti + DJ Foofaraw: Bimbo Deluxe, Fitzroy No Money, No Problems with Kirkis: Boney, Melbourne Voodoo: Carters Public House, Northcote An Evening with Dolly DIamond: Chapel Off Chapel, Prahran
FRI 20
Tom Vincent Trio: Open Studio, Northcote
North Arm + Machine Translations + The Night Party + Sara Retallick: 303, Northcote
Andrew Swift + Damon Smith & The Quality Lightweights + Katey Brookes: Retreat Hotel, Brunswick
THU 19
Mark Snarski + Penny Ikinger: Yarra Hotel, Abbotsford
Client Liaison + Retiree + Wrooks: 170 Russell, Melbourne
The Breadmakers: Yarra Hotel, Abbotsford
Jebediah: 19 Jun Corner Hotel
Tequila Mockingbyrd + Neon Queen + A Gazillion Angry Mexicans: Yah Yah’s, Fitzroy
Deltoid Curve with Various DJs: Onesixone, Prahran
sleepmakeswaves: 12 Jun The Hi-Fi
The Melbourne Folk Club feat. Breabach + Stray Hens: Bella Union, Richmond
30/70 + Fortunes + Thhomas: Evelyn Hotel, Fitzroy
GIG OF THE WEEK XAVIER RUDD & THE UNITED NATIONS: 19 MAR FORUM THEATRE
Bonobo: Prince Bandroom, St Kilda
Bonobo: Prince Bandroom, St Kilda
Drunk Mums + Pow Wow Kids + Jurassic Nark: Cherry Bar, Melbourne
Broni: Wesley Anne (Front Bar), Northcote
Diesel: Wellers, Kangaroo Ground
Ronny Ferella’s Fight Club + Stephen Magnusson + Jordan Murray + Mark Shepherd: 303, Northcote
The Mama Alto Revue + Various Artists: Chapel Off Chapel, Prahran
Anna’s Go-Go Academy: Victoria Hotel, Brunswick
Ben Howard: 1 Jun Margaret Court Arena
Starr Shultz + Friends: Open Studio, Northcote
Muddy’s Blues Roulette with Jesse Valach: Catfish, Fitzroy
The Soulenikoes + Kettlespider + Mass Sky Raid + Myyth: The Workers Club, Fitzroy
The Gipsy Kings: 10 Apr Palais Theatre
Client Liaison + Retiree + Wrooks: 170 Russell, Melbourne
Andy Jans-Brown + Cozmic + Stellafauna + SiB: Bar Open, Fitzroy
The UV Race + Power + Miss Destiny: The Tote, Collingwood
Pete Cullen: Baha Tacos, Rye
Adam Richard + Matt Stewart + Jimmy James Eaton + Kate Dehnert + Corey White + more: Reverence Hotel, Footscray Eleanor Dunlop + Lester The Fierce: Shebeen Bandroom, Melbourne The Audreys: Sooki Lounge, Belgrave The Beards + The Stiffys: Spirit Bar & Lounge, Traralgon The Cotton Club with Pete Cornelius + The Devilles: Spotted Mallard, Brunswick
Soma Coma + Straight Jacket Nation + Lucid Castration + Subjects: Bar Open, Fitzroy The Beards + The Stiffys: Barwon Club, South Geelong Friday Club with DJ Obliveus: Big Mouth, St Kilda Mashtag feat. Malpractice + Agent 86 + Benzo: Bimbo Deluxe, Fitzroy Mahala + James Curd + James Winter + Smash Bang + Dave Juric + Scott Freedman + more: Boney, Melbourne The Heartstring Quartet: Caravan Music Club, Oakleigh The Sons of Jim: Catfish, Fitzroy KISS ‘Dressed to Kill’ 40th Anniversary Tribute with All Star Band + Thunderstag + Destroy She Said: Cherry Bar, Melbourne
Jules Sheldon: Charles Weston Hotel, Brunswick
The Dead Heir + Oli Dear + Scurvylicious + Gondola Kid: The Brunswick Hotel, Brunswick
Soul in the Basement feat. The Deans + DJ Vince Peach + Pierre Baroni: Cherry Bar, Melbourne
John Montesante Quintet + Jacqueline Gawler: The Commune, East Melbourne
Next feat. Admit One + Boy Wonder + Outlines: Colonial Hotel, Melbourne
Elli Belle + Larissa Tandy: The Drunken Poet, West Melbourne
Tiki Taane: Corner Hotel, Richmond
DJ Yella + Tha Alkaholiks + Spice-1 + Curtis Young + Easy E3: The Espy, St Kilda
Wolf & Cub + Spirit Valley: Ding Dong Lounge, Melbourne
Mikey Robins: Comic’s Lounge, North Melbourne Pugsley Buzzard: Ding Dong Lounge, Melbourne Mr Spkr: Edinburgh Castle Hotel, Brunswick Animaux + Swim Season + Frida: Evelyn Hotel, Fitzroy Xavier Rudd & The United Nations: Forum Theatre, Melbourne Arty Del Rio + Toby Robinson + Morpheme: Grace Darling Hotel (Upstairs), Collingwood Drive Time Commute + Rust in Piss + Drain Life: Laundry Bar, Fitzroy
S U P P O R T I N G
Larissa Tandy with Strine Singers: The Fitzroy Pinnacle (Backyard), Fitzroy North Diamonds Of Neptune: The Gasometer Hotel, Collingwood Pockets: The Great Britain Hotel, Richmond Jess Locke + Lincoln Le Fevre + Georgia Maq + Moon Ritual: The Old Bar, Fitzroy The Weeping Willows + Tom Dockray: The Post Office Hotel, Coburg Drexter + Angry Seas: The Public Bar, Melbourne
I N D E P E N D E N T
A U S S I E
Mikey Robins: Comic’s Lounge, North Melbourne
Flying Engine Trio: Edinburgh Castle Hotel (6pm), Brunswick DJ Dozen Matter: Edinburgh Castle Hotel, Brunswick Square Sounds Festival feat. Atomsmasha + Galaxy Wolf + Henry Homesweet + more: Evelyn Hotel, Fitzroy The Look of Love - The Songs of Burt Bacharach & Hal David feat. Jack Howard & The Ambassadors of Love: Flying Saucer Club, Elsternwick Louis Spoils + Colour Bomb + Mayfair Kytes: Grace Darling Hotel (Basement), Collingwood
M U S I C
the guide vic.gigguide@themusic.com.au The Rolling Blackouts + Dr Doctor + The You Yangs: Grace Darling Hotel, Collingwood
Alithia + Qlayeface + Captain Kickarse & The Awesomes: The Workers Club, Fitzroy
Fortress of Narzod + Levitating Churches + Midtown Tonic: The Brunswick Hotel, Brunswick
Black Cab + Nun: Howler, Brunswick
DJ Brat Farrar: Victoria Hotel, Brunswick
Tha Alkaholiks + Alex Jones + Son of Sam + Rydah + more: Laundry Bar, Fitzroy
The Audreys: Wellers, Kangaroo Ground
Freddie White + Small Town Romance: The Drunken Poet, West Melbourne
Pete Cornelius + The Devils: Lomond Hotel, Brunswick East Diggin the Slowness with Miss Goldie + Daniel Harvey + Dave Wickerson: Loop, Melbourne Voltaire Twins: Northcote Social Club, Northcote 8 Foot Felix: Open Studio, Northcote Horrorshow + Tuka + Tom Thum: Ormond Hall, Melbourne Bellusira + Fading Hour + Branch Arterial + Nikhail + Chasing Lana: Prince Bandroom, St Kilda Jody & The Joyriders: Reverence Hotel (Front Bar), Footscray Taylor McFerrin: Revolver Upstairs, Prahran Thief + Lanks + Youngs: Shebeen Bandroom, Melbourne Livingstone Daisies + Voix D’Or + DJ Crispi: Spotted Mallard, Brunswick The Floating Bridges + Echo Drama: The B.East, Brunswick East Murder Rats + The Fix + Liquor Snatch + Ding Dong Dead + Trans Paranoia: The Bendigo, Collingwood Watchtower + Round Table + Bodies + Holy Serpent: The Brunswick Hotel, Brunswick Ben Smith: The Drunken Poet, West Melbourne The Cuban Brothers + Mose + The Psyde Projects: The Espy, St Kilda Alithia + Qlayeface + Captain Kickarse & The Awesomes + Romeo Moon: The Gasometer Hotel, Collingwood Northeast Party House: The Hi-Fi, Melbourne Winterplan + Kathryn Rollins + Once Were Wild: The Liberty Social, Melbourne Scul Hazzards + Batpiss + Infinite Void + Hard Rubbish: The Old Bar, Fitzroy Jo Meares: The Post Office Hotel, Coburg Tony Joe White + Chris Russell’s Chicken Walk: The Substation, Newport
backstage
The Hoodangers: The Fitzroy Pinnacle, Fitzroy North
Galleri + Pepperjack + Open Swimmer: Wesley Anne (Band Room), Northcote
Tim’s Myth + Matt Kelly + Phoebe Jacobs: The Gasometer Hotel, Collingwood
Helen Catanchin: Wesley Anne (Front Bar), Northcote Rose Carleo: Whole Lotta Love, Brunswick East Michael Robinson + Dear Thieves + Rattlin’ Bones Blackwood: Yah Yah’s, Fitzroy
SAT 21
DUNK La + Sir Datum + Visiter + Beautiful Beasts: 303, Northcote
Sun Kil Moon: Athenaeum Theatre, Melbourne The Floating Bridges: Baha Tacos, Rye Kattimoni + Tee & The Refugees + Manchild: Bar Open, Fitzroy March Mayhem feat. Eye Of The Enemy + Decimatus + Envenomed + Trigger + Requiem: Barwon Club, South Geelong
WHITE SHOES & THE COUPLES COMPANY: 21 MAR THE BRIDGE HOTEL CASTLEMAINE Northeast Party House: The Workers Club Geelong, Geelong
Luke Escombe & The Corporation: Rainbow Hotel, Fitzroy
Z-Star + Jay Power: Thornbury Theatre, Thornbury
Hellions + Void Of Vision + Bare Bones + Left For Wolves + Strickland + more: Reverence Hotel (Band Room), Footscray A Day On The Green with Billy Idol + Cheap Trick + The Angels + Choirboys: Rochford Wines, Coldstream House of Laurence + Archer & Bow + Jumpin’ Jack William: Shebeen Bandroom, Melbourne Uriah Heep: Shoppingtown Hotel, Manningham Shanty Town: Sooki Lounge, Belgrave
White Shoes & The Couples Company: The Bridge Hotel, Castlemaine
Dan Lethbridge & The Campaigners + Sime Nugent: Spotted Mallard, Brunswick
The Jungle Crooks: Catfish, Fitzroy
Black Jesus Experience + Guests: The B.East, Brunswick East
Mikey Robins: Comic’s Lounge, North Melbourne Melbourne Vegan Festival: Corner Hotel (12pm), Richmond Cormega + DTACH + Diktion One: Corner Hotel, Richmond The Seven Ups + Alariiya + Mya Wallace + Miss Goldie: Ding Dong Lounge, Melbourne DJ Lonewulf: Edinburgh Castle Hotel, Brunswick Retiree + Ben Browning + Gus Franklin: Ferdydurke, Melbourne Wilding + Tooth & Tusk + The Conclusions: Grace Darling Hotel, Collingwood Digital: Grumpy’s Green, Fitzroy Nebraska presented by Pony Face + Lost Ragas: Howler, Brunswick Parking Lot Experiments + Tiger Choir + Swimming + Jeff Lee: Hugs & Kisses, Melbourne Cherrywood: Labour In Vain, Fitzroy Tully On Tully + Grandstands + The Adelaide Crows + Joel Jenkins: Lomond Hotel, Brunswick East Tuned In feat. Various DJs: Loop, Melbourne Dan Sultan + Pierce Brothers: National Theatre, St Kilda The Bennies + Foxtrot + Foley! + Echo Drama: Northcote Social Club, Northcote
Sunday School feat. Hollow Everdaze + Black Orchid Oasis: The Public Bar, Melbourne
Windari: Open Studio, Northcote
DJ Rowie + Andy Can + Knackers: Big Mouth, St Kilda
Swampland + Kit Convict & Thee Terrible Two + The Red Motors: Cherry Bar, Melbourne
Summer Blood: The Old Bar, Fitzroy
Water To Water Festival feat. Frank Yamma + Ella Hooper + Yirrmal And The Yolngu Boys + more: The Briars, Mt Martha The Fix + Dixon Cider + Glen and the Peanut Butter Men + Half Pints + more: The Brunswick Hotel, Brunswick Pearls + Guests: The Curtin, Carlton
The Moonee Valley Drifters: Victoria Hotel, Brunswick We The Elusive + The Saucy Sidekicks + Harmony and Contrast: Wesley Anne (Band Room), Northcote Great Earthquake + Creeks + Labradorable + Tammy Haider: Whole Lotta Love, Brunswick East
Psycroptic + Goatwhore + Whoretopsy + Colossvs: Wrangler Studios, West Footscray
SUN 22
Anna Cordell + The Rambling Roots + Stepford + Alexandra Pye: Bar Open, Fitzroy
The Bakersfield Glee Club + Suzannah Espie: Union Hotel, Brunswick Tottie & The Wanderers: Wesley Anne, Northcote The Bennies + Foxtrot + Georgia Maq + Selling Time + more: Wrangler Studios, West Footscray
MON 23
Maddawg Mondays with T-Rek: Boney, Melbourne Monday Night Raw Comedy: Evelyn Hotel, Fitzroy Mose & The Fmly: The Espy, St Kilda
Tom Dockray: Catfish, Fitzroy
Mundane Mondays with Wilderbeast + Purr + Halogen Lake + Card Houses: The Old Bar, Fitzroy
Uriah Heep: Chelsea Heights Hotel, Aspendale Gardens
The Mary Goldsmiths: The Workers Club, Fitzroy
Renee Geyer: Ding Dong Lounge, Melbourne David Liebe Hart + Disasterradio + Bum Creek: Evelyn Hotel, Fitzroy Bryce: Ferdydurke, Melbourne
Blue Eyes Cry: The Drunken Poet, West Melbourne Rock the Bay 2015 feat. Rook + Hinge + Bushido + Greenthief + Palace Of The King + more: The Espy, St Kilda
Synth Sunday: A Celebration of the Synthesiser feat. +Josh Abrahams + Steve McNally + more: Howler, Brunswick
Pinnyfest with The Sugarcanes + The Gun Barrel Straights + Jemma & The Clifton Hillbillies + more: The Fitzroy Pinnacle, Fitzroy North
King Wolf + Animal Sharman Blues: Labour In Vain, Fitzroy Reflejos: Lomond Hotel, Brunswick East
TUE 24
Get Serious: Carters Public House, Northcote Lalic + Atolls + Zig Zag + Uncle Bobby: Evelyn Hotel, Fitzroy Billy Idol + Cheap Trick: Melbourne Park (Margaret Court Arena), Melbourne Louis Majiwa + Amber Isles: Retreat Hotel, Brunswick Rod Stewart: Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne Discovery Night feat. Elk and Mammoth + more: The Brunswick Hotel, Brunswick Ecca Vandal + Rara: The Gasometer Hotel, Collingwood
Acid Western + Bears: The Gasometer Hotel, Collingwood
Wax On, Wax Off Vinyl Record Party: Lucky Coq, Prahran
The Beards + The Stiffys: The Hi-Fi, Melbourne
Yanni Burton: Northcote Social Club, Northcote
Petey Con + Bob Harrow + Alex Hamilton: The Old Bar, Fitzroy
Hellions + Void Of Vision: Phoenix Youth Centre, Footscray
Monique Brumby: The Post Office Hotel, Coburg
Charlie Lane: Rainbow Hotel, Fitzroy
The Audreys + Rob Snarski + Brother Buffalo: The Toff In Town, Melbourne
Papa Chango + Chelsea Wilson + DJ Musicman: Retreat Hotel (Beer Garden), Brunswick
The Meanies + Warped + more: The Westernport Hotel, Phillip Island
I’m New Here feat. Ngaiire + The Harpoons + Lanks + Animaux + Passerine + more: Shadowfax Wines, Werribee
S U P P O R T I N G
Matt Borg Trio + RPG Radio + Daniel Lurhs: The Workers Club, Fitzroy
The Chantoozies: Wonderland Spiegeltent Docklands, Docklands
The Badloves played by Michael Spiby: Flying Saucer Club, Elsternwick
This Fiasco + Tempest Rising + Red Bee + Let The Number Be X + MofoIsDead: The Workers Club, Fitzroy
Gabriel & Cecilia: The Toff In Town, Melbourne
David Ryan Harris + Jason Heerah: The Toff In Town, Melbourne The Spirit of Dub + Mondegreen + Rasta Unity: The Workers Club, Fitzroy Sinful Pleasures (Burlesque): Wesley Anne, Northcote
Brarsey Sundays feat. Daryl McKenzie Jazz Band: Spotted Mallard, Brunswick
I N D E P E N D E N T
A U S S I E
M U S I C
THE MUSIC • 18TH MARCH 2015 • 47
48 • THE MUSIC • 18TH MARCH 2015