BSideMagazine-0002

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ISSUE 0002 / October 9th - October 15th 2014

IT’S FREE - www.bsidemagazine.com.au

FourPlay ALSO INSIDE: The Selecter, Grace Barbe, Lindi Ortega Screamfeeder, All Our Exes Live In Texas and of course BOB’s BITS plus the Tour Guide and LOCAL MUSIC NEWS


AROUND THE TRAPS Saturday 11 October is Odd Socks Day and also the day of a community awareness fundraising event, Speak Up, at the Governor Hindmarsh, 59 Port Rd, from noon until 4pm. Taking part will be Dave Blight & The Flyers, Chris Finnen, Undersouled and Azure with prizes to include a flat-screen television for the best pair of odd socks as well as raffles, face-painting and more. Tickets ($20/15 concession with those under 15 years freely admitted) are available via VenueTix. The Gaslight Tavern, 36 Chief St, Brompton, will give way to the punk sounds of Soberphobia, Isolation Valve and Centrelink from 8pm on Saturday 11 October. The pub, which is soon to be renovated, is currently also undergoing many changes with a barista along with a cantina-style menu being introduced to its normal pub meals. Pioneers Of Punk is a vinyl album that will be launched from 9pm on Saturday October 18 at The Edinburgh Castle Hotel, 233 Currie St. The huge event will feature some pioneering Adelaide punks in the form of Black Chrome, Perdition, U Bombs and Bohdan X. Pop punks Something To Rescue will be launching their Dreamer single at Jade Monkey, 160 Flinders St, from 4pm on Saturday 11 October. Joining them will be good friends Weekday Wolves and Animal Shadows for an all-ages show with tickets priced at an easy $10. Three of Adelaide’s finest singer songwriters, Mary Webb, Tara Carragher and Kelly Menhennett, will be undertaking a free entry gig at The Wheatsheaf Hotel, 39 George St, Thebarton, on Friday 10 October. The following evening, Saturday 11 October, the inner western suburbs pub will host another free entry show featuring Cal Williams Jr and David Knight, an exciting and gifted new artist on the scene who has already performed with blues acts such as Geoff Achison, Daniel Champagne and Lloyd Spiegel. According to those in the know, young Adelaide metal outfit Iron Feather are one to watch out for. The group has already released a debut album, Set In Stone, and will be playing The Bridgeway Hotel, Pooraka, on Thursday 16 October and will also be taking part in Halloween Harvest on Friday 31 October. That event, with doors opening from 6pm, takes places at Cavern Club, 136 North Tce, and will also feature Hollow Eyes, What Happens After Dark, Fort Rose Falling, Burning Bridges, Castaway and Emergence along with another band whose name we can’t quite read due to the crazy font they have chosen to use. Has it really been 10 years? Slingshot Dragster will be celebrating their 10th anniversary when they play the Grace Emily Hotel, 232 Waymouth St, on Saturday 11 October with Diesel Witch as special guests. Free entry too. Nook Nosh, a small, boutique bar located at 111 Unley Rd, Unley, is awash with acoustic sounds from 5pm every Sunday. Pop in for sips n nibbles and catch David Robinson on Sunday 12 October, acoustic duo Short & Sweet on Sunday 19 October and AP D’Antonio on Sunday 26 October. Third Stone - The Hendrix Experience will be playing the Governor Hindmarsh, 59 Port Rd, Hindmarsh, on Friday 31 October. Big Tom’s Blues Band, which will be celebrating their 25th anniversary, will serve as special guests with other acts to be announced closer to the date. Stay tuned. Here’s an interesting concept and a rare opportunity. Adelaide’s Zkye Blue, with special guest guitarist James Muller, are recording a new album at Mick

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Wordley’s Mixmasters studio and, to help fund it, are offering 25 people an opportunity to spend a day with them on Saturday 25 October in the state of the art Hawthorndene studio from high noon until late. Cost is $100 and those participating will have their names included on the CD artwork and their own personally signed copy of the CD once it is mastered and pressed. For more details, send Zkye Compson-Harris a personal message via Facebook. Hampshire Hotel, 110 Grote St, has finally re-opened its doors and enjoyed a huge opening launch last weekend. And signs are good that the newly renovated pub will be featuring quality live music – The Healers, Thick As Thieves and Al.Q.Bon have already performed there – so check it out. Having just completed a national tour for their new album, All The Wandering, The Yearlings will be performing as a full band with legendary Sydneysider Harry Brus on bass and BJ Barker on the kit at Church Of The Trinity, 317 Goodwood Rd, Clarence Pk, on Saturday 11 October with doors opening at 7.30pm with food by Little Seeds Catering. Not only that, The Yearlings will also be playing with a horn section! The Yearlings will also be playing The Wheatsheaf Hotel, 39 George St, Thebarton, on from 4pm on Sunday 19 October with tickets at $10. They won’t have their horns out at this one, but will be joined by guest guitarist Nick KIpridis and will have Naomi Keyte to open the afternoon. When The Mark Of Cain announced a national tour a few weeks ago, they forgot to include a gig in their hometown!. That’s now been rectified as the hardcore trio are now set to play The Governor Hindmarsh, 59 Port Rd, Hindmarsh, on Friday 5 December with explosive duo King Of The North as special guests. Book via OzTix or at the venue. Ghyti will be launching an EP, Fluorescent Lights, as well as a film of the same name when they play Ancient World, down a laneway at 116a Hindley St, on Friday 17 October. It will mark their fourth release and they have also engaged the services of DJ Chris Arblaster to finish off the night. The film will screen at 9.40pm with Ghyti taking to the stage at 10pm.

WELCOME TO BSIDE

Greg Rouse and his hardworking team at Passing Out Distribution Company for delivering it to the world, or at least almost 200 hotels, live music venues and cafes in and around Adelaide. To those who have asked where you can find a copy, may we suggest any number of places where you can often pick up free magazines. As we continue we will be tinkering with our distribution list and adding new establishments, such as the recently reopened Crown & Sceptre and Hampshire hotels in the city, as well as others. If you feel that your establishment requires some copies being dropped off on a Thursday afternoon, please do not hesitate to make contact with BSide Magazine. Thanks also to Semaphore Music Festival for allowing us the opportunity to distribute several hundred copies there. Visiting Semaphore Music Festival also gave us an opportunity to make personal contact with a good number of local musicians who were either performing at the festival or just soaking in the atmosphere, so details of a number of upcoming CD launches were duly noted. This will now allow us to present more local content in coming weeks as we will be including a number of interviews with local acts. Many thanks again to those who have come onboard for the second issue of BSide Magazine as your valued advertising support is genuinely appreciated. Thanks again also to Catherine Blanch and her dedicated team at theclothesline.com.au who continue to collate a weekly page on what’s happening around town in the world of theatre, dance and comedy with interviews and such. Catherine has also penned one of the feature stories in this issue and you can read her interview with Seychellian singer and musician Grace Barbe. And for this second issue, BSide Magazine alsp welcomes aboard Clothesline writer David Robinson whose fine interview with legendary UK ska band The Selecter is featured in this issue.

Welcome to the second issue of what will be many more weekly issues of BSide Magazine.

This issue also sees the inclusion of Three D Radio’s Top 20 + 1 Chart so we must congratulate Adelaide band Psychodelicacy for topping this week’s chart with their Psychodelicacy 2. Well done.

The response to our first issue, which hit the streets of Adelaide and beyond a week ago, has been quite overwhelming, so thank you for grabbling a copy and thanks also for the many kind words of support.

Many thanks again to MusicSA for providing CD reviews via their valued team of writers and in this issue you can read reviews of local albums by Mick Kidd and Black Coral as well as Life In Letters and Vincent’s Chair.

Thanks also to Trevor Channing at Bridge Printing Office, Murray Bridge, for making our dream a reality and to

Enjoy, and see you again next week.

OUR PHILOSOPHY Created by veteran Adelaide music guru Rob Dunstan, BSide Magazine is a weekly magazine totally focussed on what’s going on in the Adelaide Music Community. Every week we will be bringing you the latest news, up-to-date information and entertainment through: Regular music news updates Features and interviews Touring and gig guides Local music industry news Awesome competitions Live music and CD reviews Theatre news and interviews Plus, we welcome the return of BOB’S BITS in print. Our goal with BSide Magazine is to help rebuild the Adelaide Music Community, to refocus the emphasis on local music and uniting the different tribes encouraging and further enhancing a prosperous live music industry for all. We want BSide Magazine to be like Gaffa Tape. The thing that will hold everything together.

IN THIS ISSUE Page 2 Around The Traps Our Philosophy Page 4 All Our Exes Live In Texas Heading To Town Page 5 BSide Tour Guide Page 6 Feature Article: FourPlay Page 7 Screamfeeder The Selecter Page 8 The Clothesline: Theatre News/Interviews Page 9 Grace Barbe Page 10 MusicSA CD Reviews Page 11 Lindi Ortega Bob’s Bits Page 13 TellTale & Vine

ISSUE #0002 October 9th October 15th, 2014


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HEADING TO TOWN For a comprehensive listing, also check out B-Side Magazine’s Tour Guide. A sober, clean and very lean Justin Townes Earle will play The Governor Hindmarsh, 59 Port Rd, Hindmarsh, SA, on Sunday 12 October with his special guests being Canada’s Lindi Ortega and New Zealand’s Marlon Williams. Lindi will also be undertaking her own very intimate show in the front bar of The Governor Hindmarsh on the evening of Monday 13 October with Max Savage as special guest. Book tickets for both shows via OzTix or at the venue.

ALL OUR EXES LIVE IN TEXAS By Robert Dunstan All Our Exes Live In Texas is a fun musical group based in Sydney that features four female singers and musicians who got together for a bit of fun due to their fondness for traditional folk music. One thing led to another, however, and now Elana Stone, Katie Wighton, Hannah Crofts and Georgia Mooney find themselves touring the country armed with a debut single, Tell Me. BSide Magazine enjoyed a chat over the telephone to pianist, mandolin player and vocalist Georgia Mooney who began the interview by talking about the group’s origins. “I went to university with Hannah over in Perth and Elana had been Hannah’s singing teacher in high school,” Georgia explains. “Katie grew up in Brisbane but moved to Sydney around the same time we all did. So, because we were all singing around Sydney, we’d often come across each other. “And then we realised we all had a love for folk music,” she adds. Georgia, last in town to perform with Yon of Tripod in Yon & His Prism Of Sexy Thoughts at Adelaide Cabaret Festival, goes on to say that All Our Exes Live in Texas got their first gig by chance. “A friend was putting on a country music night and suggested that we play as a four-part harmony vocal group,” Georgia explains. “So it just stuck because it was just such good fun and we all thought it would be a good idea to carry on with it.” The group had taken their name from George Strait’s western swing number All My Exes Live In Texas. “We were struggling to quickly come up with a name so we did a Google search for the names of the worst country music song titles,” Georgia laughs. “And that one really took our fancy even though it’s not actually such a bad song. I’ve often thought we should learn to play it. “But we do play mostly original songs now after starting off doing lots of covers,” she adds. “But that was only because that very first gig came up quickly and we didn’t have time to get any originals up. But we still throw in some traditional folk songs such as Bury Me Under The Weeping Willow Tree as well as a few songs by Kate and Anna McGarrigle because they are probably our biggest inspiration. We also do a Gillian Welch song as well but it is mostly original stuff these days.” All members also have successful solo careers although Georgia says she rather enjoys working with the group. “All Our Exes Live In Texas has definitely made us busier,” she says, “but, yeah, we are all still continuing with our solo stuff. We do, however, have to schedule

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everything around this and that and be more organised. But it’s working well and I actually really enjoy writing songs with the other members. It’s also beneficial in that way as everything seems to feed into everything else. “For example, people who like our solo work are now beginning to follow what we all do with All Our Exes Live In Texas,” Georgia adds. “It’s also a nice break from just doing gigs by yourself to know that next week you’ll probably be playing somewhere with friends in a band.” Live videos of the band on YouTube indicate much fun is being had on stage. “Oh, it is a lot of fun,” Georgia laughs. “That’s really what it is all about because we all love singing together. It’s just the best time really.” Georgia, who indicates the group will release a few more singles before following those up with a full-length release early next year, also works with Gossling as well as highly popular UK indie artist Passenger who is set to play Adelaide Entertainment Centre on Tuesday 20 January with Canada’s The Once. “I’ve often toured with him as a member of the band and also sang on a couple of songs on his last couple of albums,” Georgia says. “So we’ve become good friends and I like the way that’s he gone from doing busking gigs to now playing large arenas. He’s a great example of someone who has worked really, really hard and played lots and lots and lots and is now reaping the rewards of all that.” All Our Exes Live In Texas have a soccer theme for their video clip of Tell Me that also boasts an array of celebrity cameos. “We play a social game of soccer with other musicians every Thursday in Marrackville here in Sydney which is a lot of fun, but we also became a bit too obsessed with The World Cup,” Georgia laughs. “So it seemed like a really good idea to do our film clip based around soccer. “And we were able to get some lovely celebrity guests to do some cameos in it,” she adds. “So when people watch it they’ll see people such as Phil Jamieson from Grinspoon as well as Elana’s brother, Jake Stone, who is the singer with Bluejuice. And there’s Jackson Gallagher from Home & Away and Laurence Leung who is an actor and comedian who appears in Offspring. So it was fun to make it with such a good bunch of people. “But none of us are actually any good at soccer,” Georgia concludes with a loud sigh. “Our team, Such Good Friends, always ends up at the bottom of the table and it’s been that way for four seasons now.” All Our Exes Live In Texas will launch their single, Tell Me, with a free entry gig at The Wheatsheaf Hotel, 39 George St, Thebarton, from 4pm on Sunday 12 October.

Liz Stringer and Leah Flanagan have been friends for many years and will now be heading to SA together on tour. First stop is an evening concert at Barossa Music Centre in Tanunda on Saturday I November, and then The Wheatsheaf Hotel, 39 George St, Thebarton, from 4pm on Sunday 2 November. Must be festival time! Gorgeous Festival, a gorgeous boutique held down at McLaren Vale on Saturday 28 November and Sunday 29 November, has been announced with Xavier Rudd as the headliner and plenty of local acts including Echo & The Empress, The Timbers and Rin McArdle also on the bill. US act Buddy will now join Gomez’s Ben Ottewell when he plays a solo show at the Grace Emily, 232 Waymouth St, on Sunday 26 October to showcase his second solo album, Rattlebag. Tickets are now available via Moshtix. Canberra punks The Vacant Lot and Bladder Spasms are heading to town next month! On Friday 14 November they’ll be joined by Perdition and Fear & Loathing at The Gaslight Tavern, 36 Chief St, Brompton, and on Saturday 15 November, the punk bands will hit The Edinburgh Castle, 233 Currie St, with Ben Gel & The Boneyard Saints as special guests. The Ed Castle gig will also serve as an album launch for Ben’s new band. Victoria’s Tom Richardson will be the only non-local on the bill at Loxton Hotel’s all-day Laneway Live on Saturday 11 October as an event to raise much-needed funds for Loxton Hospital Complex. It’s a mere $5 to experience the talents of the afore-mentioned Tom Richardson as well as Sweet Anarchy, Ciriam Granger, Kelly Menhennett, James Abberley, The Villenettes and Rat Ta’Mango with a huge after party also set to take place. Young Melbourne-based blues outfit Blue Eyes Cry will kick off another tour by playing a free entry gig from 7pm on Thursday 16 Ocober at Gilbert Street Hotel, 88 Gilbert St, before heading to Millicent to play Somerset Hotel on Friday 17 October and then performing at Old Mount Gambier Gaol Mini Blues Festival on Saturday 18 October alongside John McNamara and the Johnny Rieger Band. Rudely Interrupted, an energetic, six-piece Melbourne rock band led by Rohan Brooks and featuring members who share a range of both physical and intellectual disabilities including blindness, deafness, Aspergers, autism and Down Syndrome, will play the Governor Hindmarsh, 59 Port Rd, Hindmarsh, on Sunday 16 November. Book at OzTix or via the venue. Deep South, a three-day festival full of blues, roots and folk goodness, is returning to the Governor Hindmarsh Hotel, 59 Port Rd, Hindmarsh, from Friday 28 November through to Sunday 30 November. Get set to see interstate artists such as the legendary Kevin Borich, Lloyd Speigel, Ray Beadle and Hat Fitz & Cara Robinson. The Hiptones are also reforming especially for the festival and will be one of the many local acts on the bill for Saturday 29

November. Tickets are now on sale via OzTix or via the venue. Scott and Phil for Christmas anyone? Scott Russo of American punk band Unwritten Law and Phil Jamieson of Grinspoon have announced a Christmas tour that will have them playing The Governor Hindmarsh, 59 Port Rd, Hindmarsh, on Wednesday 17 December in acoustic mode. Book at OzTix or via the venue. Olivers Army formed in Adelaide but are now based in Melbourne. Having Adelaide as their first hometown, however, means that they will wind up a national tour for their new album at Jive, 181 Hindley St, on Friday 10 October with Melbourne friends Whitaker also on the bill as well as local lad Tom West. Tickets via Moshtix. Classical piano prodigy Nils Frahm will come to town armed with an array of keyboards to play The Governor Hindmarsh, 59 Port Rd, Hindmarsh, on Thursday 9 October. It follows previous visits during which he sold out performances at Sydney’s Vivid Festival as well as his shows in Melbourne. Fifty-six weeks ago, Sydney-based indie band Violent Soho unleashed their third studio album Hungry Ghost to the world and have since toured the album around the globe to much acclaim. The popular band, who have played festivals such as Falls, Big Day Out, Groovin The Moo and Splendour In The Grass, have now announced another trek around the country which will bring them to HQ, cnr North and West Tces, on Sunday 23 November. Melbourne-based band Maricopa Wells will be heading over the border to take part in Saved By Summer, a huge musical event set to take place at Crown & Anchor, 196 Grenfell St, on Saturday 22 November featuring some of Australia’s best indie rock, folk and acoustic punk acts. Also on the bill will be interstaters Fear Like Us and Foxtrot as well as locals such as Paper Arms, The Hard Aches, Heath Anthony, Bec Stevens, Ry Kemp, Abby Howlett, Jake Ward and Anna Jeavons. The very popular Ed Sheeran has announced an Australian tour for 2015 that will have him playing Adelaide Entertainment Centre on April Fool’s Day as well as Tuesday April 2nd. Well done Adelaide for making the second show happen by creating the demand. Tickets are now on sale via Ticketek. Diesel will once again light up the Governor Hindmarsh, 59 Port Rd, when he presents his new album, Lit Up, on Friday 10 October with Rin Mcardle as special guest. Book tickets via OzTix or at the venue.


(Tanunda) Deuces Wild Rockabilly Weekender: The Detonators (Melbourne0, Itchy Fingers (Melbourne), The Saucermen, The Satellites, Lucky Seven, Firtful Of Trojans and DJ Jess at Whiteline Transport (Greenfields) The Porch Sessions II: Winterbourne (Sydney) at TBA Todd Terry (US) at Lotus Lounge Steve Tyson (Byron Bay) at The Singing Gallery (McLaren Vale)

THURSDAY 9 OCTOBER Slaves (US) and Just Like Clockwork at Enigma Bar Nils Frahm (Germany) at Governor Hindmarsh FRIDAY 10 OCTOBER Diesel (Sydney) and Rin McArdle at Governor Hindmarsh Adam Brand (Melbourne) at Hahndorf Old Mill (Hahndorf) DMA’s (Sydney) and The Creases (Brisbane) at Rocket Bar Olivers Army (Melbourne), Whitaker (Melbourne) and Tom West at Jive SATURDAY 11 OCTOBER The Tea Party (Canada) and The Superjesus at Thebarton Theatre The Whitlams (Sydney) at Governor Hindmarsh Laneway Live: Tom Richardson (Victoria), Kelly Menhennett, Ciaram Granger, James Abberley, Rat Ta’mango, The Villenettes and Sweet Anarchy at Loxton Hotel (Loxton) Undergang (Denmark) and Cauldron at Enigma Crooked Colours (Perth) and North East House Party at Adelaide Uni Bar Miss Elm (Brisbane) and Life In Letters at The Exeter Hotel The Elliotts (Melbourne), The Motive, The Dirty Chins and Electric Exiles at Enigma (Bar 3) SUNDAY 12 OCTOBER Thirsty Merc (Sydney) at Highlander Hotel Justin Townes Earle (US), Lindi Ortega (Canada) and Marlon Williams (NZ) at Governor Hindmarsh The Porch Sessions: Al Parkinson (Melbourne), Tim Moore and Juno at TBA All Our Exes Live In Texas (Sydney) at Wheatsheaf MONDAY 13 OCTOBER Lindi Ortega (Canada) and Max Savage at Governor Hindmarsh (Front Bar) WEDNESDAY 15 OCTOBER The Selecter (UK) at Governor Hindmarsh THURSDAY 16 OCTOBER Say Anything (US) at Fowler’s Live Tim & Kellie (Brisbane) and Lily Mojito at Grace Emily Vinai (Italy) at Apple Bar Grace Barbe (Seychelles) at Space Theatre, Adelaide Festival Centre Blue Eyes Cry (Melbourne) at Gilbert Street Hotel FRIDAY 17 OCTOBER Screamfeeder (Brisbane), Diplomat and Freak Wave at Jade Monkey Comeback Kid (Canada) at Adelaide Uni Bar The Griswolds (Sydney) at Jive DZ Deathrays (Brisbane), Velociraptor and Horror My Friend at Fowler’s Live Area-7 (Melbourne), The Resignators (Melbourne) and The Dirty Chins at Enigma Bar SATURDAY 18 OCTOBER Allday (Adelaide/Melbourne) at Fowler’s Live (SOLD OUT) Steve Smyth (Sydney) at The Exeter SUNDAY 19 OCTOBER FourPlay String Quartet (Sydney) at Governor Hindmarsh MONDAY 20 OCTOBER Miley Cyrus (US) at Adelaide Entertainment Centre

TUESDAY 21 OCTOBER Ball Park Music (Brisbane), MILLIONS and Pluto Jonze at Governor Hindmarsh WEDNESDAY 22 OCTOBER Ball Park Music (Brisbane), MILLIONS and Pluto Jonze at Governor Hindmarsh (SOLD OUT) THURSDAY 23 OCTOBER Devin Townsend (Canada) at Governor Hindmarsh (guitar clinic) The Eastern (NZ) and Max Savage at Wheatsheaf Hotel FRIDAY 24 OCTOBER Hot Chocolate (UK) at Her Majesty’s Theatre Kingswood (Melbourne) at Adelaide Uni Bar Screaming Jets (Newcastle) at Governor Hindmarsh Sahara Beck (Brisbane) at Jive Confession (Sydney), Prepared Like A Bride and Graves at Fowler’s Live Fleurieu Folk Festival: The Eastern (New Zealand), Women In Docs (Brisbane) and so many more at Willunga SATURDAY 25 OCTOBER The Rolling Stones (UK) and Jimmy Barnes at Adelaide Oval Slow Chase (Melbourne) at Crown & Anchor Screaming Jets (Newcastle) at Governor Hindmarsh Missy Higgins (Melbourne) at Adelaide Entertainment Centre Theatre Pop Crimes: These Immortal Souls, Mick Harvey, JP Shilo, Brian Henry Hooper and more at Wheatsheaf Hotel Fleurieu Folk Festival: The Eastern (New Zealand), Women In Docs (Brisbane) and so many more at Willunga SUNDAY 26 OCTOBER Pop Crimes: These Immortal Souls, Mick Harvey, JP Shilo, Brian Henry Hooper and more at Wheatsheaf Hotel Ben Ottewell (UK) and Buddy (US) at Grace Emily Fleurieu Folk Festival: The Eastern (New Zealand), Women In Docs (Brisbane) and so many more at Willunga The Audreys and Brillig at Trinity Sessions WEDNESDAY 29 OCTOBER Rodriguez (US) at Adelaide Entertainment Centre Theatre THURSDAY 30 OCTOBER More Than Life (UK) at Crown & Anchor Ralph Towner (US), Wolfgang Muthspiel (Vienna) and Slava Grigoryan (Melbourne) at Dunstan Playhouse, Adelaide Festival Centre FRIDAY 31 OCTOBER Rick Price (Brisbane) and Ian ‘Bushy’ Martin at Capri Cinema (Goodwood) Hot Dub Time Machine (Melbourne) at Thebarton Theatre Deuces Wild Rockabilly Weekender: Louis King (Melbourne), The Lincolns and Slavy & The Hired Help at Gaslight Tavern SATURDAY 1 NOVEMBER A Day On The Green: John Paul Young, Moving Pictures, Eurogliders, 1927, Mark Williams of Dragon, Wa Wa Nee, Pseudo Echo, Rose Tattoo, Mark Gable of Choirboys, GANGgajang, Machinations, Mi Sex and Swanee at Peter Lehmann Wines (Barossa Valley) The Kin (US) at Fowler’s Live Liz Stringer (Melbourne) and Leah Flanagan at Barossa Arts Centre

SUNDAY 2 NOVEMBER Katchafire (New Zealand) at Governor Hindmarsh Aqua (Denmark) at HQ Complex Liz Stringer (Melbourne) and Leah Flanagan at Wheatsheaf Hotel Deuces Wild Rockabilly Weekender: The Pumpin’ Piano Cats, Raunchy Suger, The Silverados, The Sugar Shakers (Melbourne) and DJ Jess at Halfway Hotel TUESDAY 4 NOVEMBER Joe Louis Walker (US) at Governor Hindmarsh WEDNESDAY 5 NOVEMEMBER Mariah Carey (US) at Adelaide Entertainment Centre THURSDAY 6 NOVEMBER The Madden Brothers (US) at Adelaide Entertainment Centre Flight Facilities (Sydney) at HQ Shihad (Melbourne), High Tension (Melbourne) and Cairo Knife Fight (New Zealand) at Governor Hindmarsh FIRDAY 7 NOVEMBER The Stiffys, The Villenettes and West Thebarton Brothel Party at Crown & Anchor Hilltop Hoods at Adelaide Showground Arena Songs That Made Me: Katie Noonan, Angie Hart, Melody Pool and Sam Buckingham at Governor Hindmarsh Fred Smith (ACT) and Junior at Trinity Sessions Holy Holy (Brisbane) and Glass Skies at Jive Citizen Kay (Ghana/ACT) at Rocket SATURDAY 8 NOVEMBER Radio Birdman (Sydney) and The Bearded Clams at Governor Hindmarsh Telltale & Vine: The Audreys and more at Fox Creek Winery Gossling (Melbourne), Montaigne and Ayla at Adelaide Uni Bar Lanie Lane (Melbourne) at Jive SUNDAY 9 NOVEMBER Joe Satriani (US) at Her Majesty’s Theatre Rudely Interrupted (Melbourne) at Governor Hindmarsh TUESDAY 11 NOVEMBER Katy Perry (US) at Adelaide Entertainment Centre WEDNESDAY 12 NOVEMBER Katy Perry (US) at Adelaide Entertainment Centre Jimmy Eat World (US), The Sinking Teeth and My Echo at Thebarton Theatre FRIDAY 14 NOVEMBER NOFX (US) at Thebarton Theatre The Dead Love (Sydney), Exiles and Andy Roberts at Rhino Room Mark Wilkinson (Sydney) at Jive The Preatures (Sydney) and Holy Holy at Governor Hindmarsh The Vacant Lot (ACT), Bladder Spasms, Perdition and Fear & Loathing at Gaslight Tavern SATURDAY 15 NOVEMBER Smudge (Sydney) at Grace Emily Hand Of Mercy (Sydney), Hellions and Void Of Vision at Fowler’s Live The Vacant Lot (ACT), Bladder Spasms, Perdition and Fear & Loathing at Edinburgh Castle Cat Canteri Band (Melbourne) at The Singing Gallery (McLaren Vale) For a more comprehensive tour guide check out www.bsidemagazine.com.au

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FourPlay had begun life some 20 years ago playing at parties.

FEATURED INTERVIEW: FOURPLAY

“When we first started it was Peter and myself and two others and we were all members of The Australian Youth Orchestra and were also uni students,” Tim says. “And we were a classical string quartet who basically got together to play rock songs with strings. So we played for friend just for fun at parties. And they were often the slightly nerdy parties that classical students would have. But because we were playing covers of rock songs, people just absolutely loved it. “So, for a joke more than anything else, we entered the New South Wales University Band Competition back in 1995 and surprised ourselves by winning,” he laughs. “From there, the rest is kinda history but people such as Tim Hall from The Strange were immensely supportive and got us gigs at places like The Habourside Brasserie with them. And it was through that gig we met Jordan who has been our manager ever since. “Jordan was the one who took us up to the Byron Bay Music Festival as it was known back before it became Bluesfest,” he continues. “And Max Sharam, who is still playing around the place, was also incredibly supportive and got us gigs with her. And it all kind of went from there. “But FourPlay has always been about having fun,” Tim adds. “It’s always been about a string quartet being a rock band and behaving like one. And all that has remained the case so I guess that’s why we keep on doing what we’re doing.”

FOURPLAY By Robert Dunstan FourPlay are a string quartet from Sydney who burst onto the scene some 20 years ago. They enjoyed success on the indie scene as their forte was taking well-known rock songs, such as Metallica’s Enter Sandman, Jeff Buckley’s Grace and Beastie Boys’ Sabotage as well as the theme to Dr Who, and transporting them to a string quartet format. They have since issued a string of albums with their latest being This Machine, their first offering since 2009’s Forthcoming and the first to contain entirely original material. BSide Magazine enjoyed a chat over the telephone to viola and violin player Tim Hollo, who plays in FourPlay alongside his brother Peter on cello, Lara Goodridge on violin and vocals and Shenzo Gregorio on viola. When we began the interview I happily admitted to Tim that I’d given This Machine a couple of gentle afternoon spins and enjoyed it but, on the evening prior to our phone conversation, had indulged in a couple of glasses of cheeky white wine and had played it again with the volume knob turned way up and enjoyed it even more. “Ah, yes,” Tim laughs. “It’s meant to be played loud. And it’s interesting because I think This Machine is the first of our albums that really likes to be played quite loud. I’ve listened to it quietly and then turned it up and some of the sounds on the album really relish being heard at loud volume.” It’s been five years since the release of the group’s last album, Forthcoming. “It has been a while because, after we did that album, we all went off and did other things including working desk jobs and having children,” Tim says. “And while it had been a while between albums, putting This Machine together was a remarkably quick process. And there were several reasons for that with the first being that because we had been together for so long, we knew each other inside out. “I mean Peter and I are brothers, for a start, and have been playing together for over 30 years,” he continues. “And

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Lara, Peter and I have been performing together for 20 years and the four of us, with Shenzo, have now been playing together for 10 years, so we really know each other as musicians. “Another reason was that due to that break from creativity we’d had after doing the last album, when we all got together one weekend for the first time to start writing material for This Machine, everyone was full of ideas. I think we even churned out four new songs over that first weekend. “So it was an easy process to write the rest of the album because the music was just flowing out of us and that also made it a lot of fun,” Tim adds. “And the recording went well – we just spent six days in the studio – and that was because we’re all so much better as musicians than when we first started out.” Tony Buchan, who has produced such acts as Megan Washington and The John Butler Trio, was brought on board to coproduce and mix This Machine. “We’d worked with Tony at various times over the years – I’m pretty sure he produced the album Lara did with Abby Dobson [of Leonardo’s Bride] as Baby et Lulu – but this was the first time he’d been involved in a whole album,” Tim says. “And Tony suited us beautifully as he has a real talent for recording strings really, really well.” Tim goes on to say that he really enjoyed the creative process that went into making This Machine. “We worked very democratically,” he states, “and just jammed away on any ideas we had. As I said, the material was just flowing and it was about halfway through that we realised we wouldn’t need to work up any covers for the album. We thought to ourselves, ‘This album should just be us. It should be all our own material’. And that’s what happened.” The quartet has also worked with award winning English author Neil Gaiman, who is married to Amanda Palmer of Dresden Dolls and who wrote an episode of television series Dr Who as part of Matt Smith’s second series in the lead role. “Our manager, Jordan, runs The Graphic Festival in Sydney and had always

wanted Neil to be involved,” Tim explains. “So Jordan approached Neil to ask if he was interested and Neil then asked for some material, including music, to be sent to him. So Neil got sent some of our music as well as music by others, but really latched onto our stuff. “And I think that was partly because he got sent that album of ours that has the Dr Who theme on it and Neil, obviously, is a big, big Dr Who fan,” he adds with a wry chuckle. The completed multi-media collaboration, The Truth Is A Cave In The Black Mountains, which also featured illustrations by Eddie Campbell, was a great success when performed as a sold out event at Sydney Opera House as part of Graphic. “It as an absolute joy to work with Neil on a creative level because his work is just so evocative and inspiring.” Tim states. “The Truth Is A Cave In The Black Mountains really spoke to us and the fact that we later toured it and ended up playing Carnegie Hall in New York and also The Barbican in London was such a huge buzz. “And we’ll be doing a follow-up collaboration again with Neil,” he adds. “I do think, however, that’s going to be a slow process because he’s always got something or other on the go whether it be a new novel or some other collaboration. So, finding the time will be the challenge.” Tim says that working with Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys was also a fantastic experience. “It was an amazing experience,” he says of playing the album Pet Sounds alongside Wilson. “When Brian toured Pet Sounds in Australia, he needed a string section and, amazingly, we were chosen. And it was quite a spin out because Pet Sounds is and always will be up there with the greatest albums ever made. So to be playing that album with Brian on stage was just an incredible experience and one we’ll never forget. “For a group of string players, some incredible opportunities have landed in our laps,” Tim then decides, “because we’ve played with some of Australia’s greatest musicians such as Katie and Tyrone Noonan, Brendan Gallagher of Karma County and also with Jimmy Little.

Are there plans to celebrate a 20th or 21st anniversary? “It’s something we’ve been talking about,” Tim says, “but, in a sense, this year is our 20th year from when we first started playing together as FourPlay. And we’ve done a few cheesy anniversaries over the years. For example, we organised a Bar Mitzvah gig for when we turned 13 and then we did a Sweet Sixteen celebration three year later. So I’d say we’ll do something or other even if it’s only doing a few celebratory gigs around the place.” The quartet enjoy a long association with the Governor Hindmarsh and have once again chosen the award winning live music venue at which to launch This Machine. I seem to recall FourPlay performing there when the stage was where the toilets are now. “Yeah, we played there when we first started touring and then again when Catgut Yer Tongue came out,” Tim says. “And we’ve played there a few times since with the last time being about five years ago when we toured Forthcoming. “And while this time we’ll be focussing on This Machine, we still play a lot of the old covers and some new ones,” he continues. ”For example, our most popular cover is now Rage Against The Machine’s Killing In The Name which was on the last album. And that is just such a fun song to play. “It’s all about throwing the energy out there which you don’t normally get to see with a string quartet,” Tim concludes with a laugh. “And that kind of thing is always going to be part of our live set.” FourPlay play the Governor Hindmarsh, 59 Port Rd, Hindmarsh, on Sunday 19 October. Book via OzTix or via the venue. This Machine is out from 10 October via MGM.


THE SELECTER

SCREAMFEEDER

SCREAMFEEDER By Robert Dunstan Brisbane band Screamfeeder were one of the major players in the Australian indie rock scene during the ‘90s. During that period the band unleashed four great albums - Flour, Burn Out Your Name (which featured Evan Dando of The Lemonheads on guest vocals), Fill Yourself With Music and Kitten Licks - and also played several Big Day Outs as well as touring Europe with Aussie bands Screaming Tribesmen and The Chevelles. Originally from Townsville, guitarist and singer Tim Steward had been with rock group The Madmen who toured around Queensland regional areas and released several singles and a vinyl mini album. When that group made the move to the hustle and bustle of Brisbane in 1989, they became Screamfeeder when bass player Kellie Lloyd, who had made a video clip for The Madmen, replaced Cam Hurst. Screamfeeder, who were briefly with American labels Time Bomb and TAANG!, effectively disbanded following the release of Rocks On Your Soul in 2000, but reconvened in 2003 to record and tour Take You Apart. The band have now reformed once again to present material from their early slew of albums and I asked guitarist and singer Tim Steward if it was to mark an anniversary of any kind. “No, because we’re completely hopeless with all that sort of thing,” he laughs. “We miss important Screamfeeder anniversaries all the time. So, no, it’s not to mark anything special and has all come about due to the Poison City Records label wanting to reissue all our old stuff.” The albums were lovingly remastered and then reissued on coloured vinyl early in September of this year by Poison City and are available for the highly affordable price of $24 each. “To be honest we’re stoked that people are still interested in listening to us more than 20 years later,” Tim enthuses. “We’re completely chuffed so that’s also why we’ve decided to do this run of shows. So it will be the Screamfeeder line-up from the late ’90s with myself, Kellie on bass, Dean Shwereb on drums and our mate Darren on extra guitar.”

“Kellie and I are doing that in every city although Adelaide is the only one where we are doing it the night before,” Tim reveals. “Everywhere else we are doing it the night afterwards, so it will be good to do that at the Grace and let everyone know that Screamfeeder will be playing the next night. “And that Grace Emily gig will be Kellie and I doing Screamfeeder songs acoustically as well as some of our own material, especially from the Magnetic North solo album that Kellie put out about a year or so ago,” he continues. ‘And it’s something we do from time to time anyway and we thought that seeing as Screamfeeder are going to all these cities anyway, it presented a good opportunity to do it again. And we like playing anyway so why not?” Tim, who hinted that there may be some brand new Screamfeeder material in the future, is no stranger to Adelaide as he has toured here in recent times with his latest musical outfit, We All Want To, with the band often performing at Grote St’s Hotel Metro or the Twin St venue that was the old Jade Monkey. Tim goes on to say that We All Want To will be undertaking some special shows in Brisbane during November. “Yeah, it’s something we’ve done before and enjoyed and that’s to get special guest singers and musicians to play our songs with us,” he says. “But it’s going to eight female singers this time so we can’t wait. “And we are also in the studio at the moment mixing what will be the third We All Want To album,” Tim adds. Wikipedia, the font of all knowledge, mentions that a certain Doug Arnott has played with Screamfeeder and I wondered if it was the same Dougie Arnott who flits between pubs in Adelaide and Melbourne and is likely related to Adelaide’s Lily Mojito. The reason I ask is that every time I post something about Screamfeeder on Facebook – such as when I found a clip of them performing Bridge Over Nothing (from the Kitten Licks album) on ABC TV’s Recovery program many years ago – Dougie is usually the very first to ‘like’ it.

Was there ever a plan to highlight one particular album in its entirety as many other bands have chosen to do in recent times?

“Yeah, it’s the same Dougie,” Tim happily confirms. “But it’s funny how his name has ended up on Wikipedia because Dougie was with us for just one tour and that would have been back in about 2000 when we toured Rocks On Your Soul. It was just a once-off.

“No, never,” Tim says bluntly, “and that’s because we thought that if we chose a few songs from each album as well as about half the songs from Kitten Licks, it would make for a really good set. And some songs would be a real labour of love to get going again and we’d have to relearn them pretty much from scratch.

“Dougie was a mate who was really crazy about the band and when we recorded Rocks On Your Soul, Kellie had added some extra guitar bits as well as playing bass so needed an extra person to play some of the songs live,” he concludes. “So that was when we first used a fourth member which has since continued.”

“And some of them we never played live anyway,” he adds.

Screamfeeder play Jade Monkey, 160 Flinders St, on Friday 17 October with Diplomat and Freak Wave.

Tim, along with bassist Kellie, will also be undertaking an intimate acoustic set at the Grace Emily Hotel on the evening prior to Screamfeeder’s big show with Lily Mojito as special guest.

Tim Steward and Kellie Lloyd also play the Grace Emily, 232 Waymouth St, on Thursday 16 October with special guest Lily Mojito.

THE SELECTER By David Robinson The Selecter formed in Coventry, England, in 1979, enjoying chart success and critical acclaim as one of a number of bands who rode the crest of a popular wave as part of the 2–Tone ska revival. After touring Australia for the first time in 2012, The Selecter are returning to our shores to perform at The Governor Hindmarsh Hotel as part of their Too Much Pressure Tour. BSide Magazine talks to Pauline Black – the distinctive and articulate voice of the group – about the origins of the band, and what people can expect from the 2014 version of The Selecter. Are you keeping busy? “We are in England presently, working, playing shows and doing everything else that being in a band involves,” she begins. “We’re at the other end of the country right now, doing our thing.” Next month you will be at the other end of the planet… “Indeed we will,” Black agrees. “We’ve never been to New Zealand, so we are looking forward to that. And we are very happy to be heading back to Australia.” Looking back to those days of the 2– Tone revolution, I’m reminded of how amazed I was by this fresh, new sound, being recorded and released by young, vibrant bands; bands that had something to say, while they urged you to dance. How was life at the epicentre of all that? “They were great days; exciting times,” Black enthuses. “To be part of this very small label that grew and grew, it was just amazing. We had no real idea as to how big it would get. These were bands with a social conscience; against racism, against sexism, standing up for what was right. “We never took it for granted,” she adds. “Opportunities were very rare for young people, probably rarer than they are today, so we were well aware of the chance we’d been given. To seize that opportunity and end up with five or so hit singles was great.” Your current performances feature many of the songs that helped to make you a household name in Britain and elsewhere, interspersed with your newer offerings. Are you happy with the blend; how does it work for you? “Yes, I’m very happy with our performances. We do what we do; it’s really all about the music, and having something to say. Some people are coming to see us for the first time and they don’t even realise that there’s three decades between the earliest and the latest songs, so it works for them too.” Your 2012 Adelaide and Melbourne concerts were very impressive and I thought the older and newer songs made excellent bedfellows. Now that you are coming back, do you have anything special in mind for your 2014 tour?

“It’s the 35th anniversary of the Too Much Pressure album so we thought we’d present the whole album in a live setting,” Black explains. “We generally play about two-thirds of the album in the same order as on the record, then we take a little bit of license with song selection. People forget that On My Radio isn’t on the album so we need to make space for that one and for a few others.” Your audiences tend to be a blend between those that remember the 2– Tone days, and people that are just discovering The Selecter. That must be interesting, with fans new and old enjoying the show… “As I mentioned, new fans seem to like what we do. There are quite a few people these days that are seeing a Selecter gig for the first time, so it’s great when they enjoy it. We do what we can for all our fans. “If people want to come and say hello in Adelaide, I’ll be at the merchandise stand and Gaps (Arthur ‘Gaps’ Hendrickson) will probably be there too,” Black says. “I’ll sign their old records, my book – if they’ve managed to get hold of a copy – and anything else. Without charging! “I hate all that VIP ticket nonsense,” she adds with a laugh. Have you been at all surprised by the positive reaction to this latest incarnation of the band? “We’ve tried to make good decisions about the direction in which maybe we would, or wouldn’t, head in, with some success. Opportunities haven’t stopped presenting themselves. While that continues and while we’re still healthy and able to do it – getting up on stage and the like, we’ll keep going.” “Four years ago, I certainly didn’t think that we would be in the position where we are now – it seems to be getting better all the time; the level of interest is encouraging. So who knows? Who knows? There’s everything to play for and as long as that’s the case why stop?” The band appears to be as busy as you’ve ever been. What’s coming up next for The Selecter? “Well, we are at the end of festival season, having played at the Isle Of Wight and Glastonbury,” Black says. “After our New Zealand and Australia visit we are touring with The Levellers in October and November, which will be great “And look out for our new album, Subculture, which should be out in February 2015,” She concludes The Selecter bring their 35th anniversary Too Much Pressure Tour to Governor Hindmarsh Hotel, 35 Port Rd, Hindmarsh, on Wednesday 15 October with special guests Fistful Of Trojans. Book via OzTix or at the venue.

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.com.au BANGARRA DANCE THEATRE - KINSHIP

BANGARRA’S KINSHIP By Catherine Blanch Bangarra Dance Theatre is a leading indigenous Australian contemporary dance and performing arts company that celebrates one of the world’s oldest living cultures. Since 1991, artistic director Stephen Page has maintained strong relationships with traditional Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island elders and has mutually shared and honoured many of the stories, songs, dances and customs of the communities for future generations. Bangarra is presenting their latest work Kinship at the Dunstan Playhouse, so we speak with dancer Kaine Sultan-Babij to find out more. “Kinship is a double bill,” he begins. “Brolga is a story that we’ve been entrusted with from North East Arnhem Land about a young girl whose totem is the Brolga. Over the course of the work she finds herself going from this human world into the more spiritual realm. It’s her journey of connecting back to her roots, so to speak. We’ve put movement to that story as our way of sharing it. “The second half is called ID which is purely about identity and how do we, as young Aboriginal people, identify as being Aboriginal in this 21st century world in Australia. It focuses on some of the issues that we are faced with, addressing some social issues and just putting ourselves out there.” How many dancers are in the performances? “There are 14 performers within the cast, all from different backgrounds of performing arts,” he says. “Some of us have done visual arts prior to finding our way into dance and movement. Others have had more circus training or have learned varied styles of dance: ballet, contemporary, musical theatre. We all have a very eclectic performing arts heritage so it’s great that we have come to be performing together. Kaine is of Aboriginal descent as well as Croation and Afghan ancestry. With so many cultural histories among the dancers, does Bangarra allow scope for all traditions to be celebrated through dance? “The focus is definitely on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ancestry,” Kaine says, “but I often feel we can draw a lot of stories from our other bloodlines that we share and celebrate. There are a lot of similarities between what happened to the First Nation’s people in America and Aboriginal people as well as

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drawing inspiration, perhaps, from the displacement of our relatives that have had to flee their home countries to create a better lives form themselves here in Australia.” Kaine speaks fondly of the music that the Bangarra dancers perform to. “David Page [Stephen’s brother] is our resident composer so he wrote the soundtrack to both works. In fact, he has done all of Bangarra’s music. He also likes to collaborate and brings in some amazing vocalists, like Emma Donovan and even one of our dancers, Yolande Brown. He also creates some great melodies and harmonies within the traditional songs as well, all of which creates a more powerful resonating sound that drives us as dancers.” Do you have a favourite moment within the performance? “I would have to say performing the traditional steps,” Kaine replies. “It’s a chance to just let go of all the technical training that we do and dance in a way that is not affected by the music and lighting, but is a moment where we can focus in on why I joined the company and why I love doing what we are doing. Having been taught those traditional steps from our Elders and our adopted families from North-East Arnham Land, it strengthens what we do and makes it all feel really good. “So far, this experience has been an amazing journey in connecting back to my cultural roots, to be able to sit down with mob in the central desert and the coastal regions of the islands, to just breathe and hear what people have to say. “Culture is not just what we see and hear on the radio, it’s more than that to be able to experience that in the communities and be entrusted with those stories, it has been really special and humbling to be a part of the company. “I hope that people who come and see the show can connect with what we are doing and sharing. Adelaide audiences are in for a real treat and a wonderful cultural injection.” Bangarra Dance Theatre’s Kinship runs at Dunstan Playhouse, Adelaide Festival Centre, at various times from Thursday 22 October until Saturday 25 October. Book at BASS on 131 246.

RESTLESS DANCE THEATRE - IN THE BALANCE

RESTLESS’ IN THE BALANCE By Catherine Blanch Restless Dance Theatre is Adelaide’s award winning company for disabled and non-disabled artists, and has been an industry leader in the field of disability arts practice since it was founded in 1991. Following the huge success of SALT in early 2014, In the Balance features 13 performers and marks the first Restless Youth Ensemble work directed by the company’s artistic director Michelle Ryan, an arts practitioner with over twenty years experience in the areas of dance, film, performance, choreography and administration. We speak with Michelle, who joined Restless in 2013, and begin by asking how she came to be a part of the company. “I was a dancer with Meryl Tankard Dance Theatre for many years, so I lived in Adelaide and was aware of Restless when it first formed back in the ’90s,” she replies. “At the age of 30 I acquired a disability myself when I found out I had MS, so I went from being a professional performing artist to all of a sudden having to find a new identity.” How have you, personally, dealt with developing MS? “It’s been quite a journey,” Michelle says. “By the time I was 32 I had gone from travelling the world as dancer to having to use a walking stick. After eight years, another health problem developed on top of the MS and now I use a wheelchair. It’s been interesting but it has also put a fire in my belly about people with disabilities being respected and acknowledged for their gifts and artistic contributions; it’s all about the person and not about the disability. “I think that’s what we do really well at Restless; we focus on the person and we create art that gives that person a voice,” she adds. “In The Balance is very much a collaborative work. I’m directing but I’m not really calling myself the choreographer because I work with these guys to create the movement that they do on stage, and I like it that way. I’m not going to walk into a studio and direct every hand movement that they need to do; it has to come from them.” It’s sometimes easy to underestimate people, whether they have a physical or intellectual disability or not. “We have set the bar pretty high for our dancers, just like I would do for any professional dance company. The higher you have that bar, the more they rise to the occasion. We saw that with Salt which

Restless presented at the beginning of the year. All of the artists performed well, they showed skill and technique and that’s because we expect that from them – and we wouldn’t expect any less.” Tell us about In The Balance. “The concept came from inside my head, thinking that life is a constant balance – which is possibly a personal thing of me juggling different elements of my own life,” Michelle says. “But when I came to Restless, we added four new members to The Youth Ensemble, which also added four new personalities to the group. It was really interesting to watch the dynamic within the team and the new relationships that were forming and how they were balancing their expectations and personalities. I found it all quite fascinating how we behave in different situations and circumstances. “I wanted this show to be beautiful and glamorous, but to also to do something fun and give the performers the space to excel when they’re on the dance floor. All those hardships and problems that they may experience in their lives can disappear when they are dancing.” How did The Audreys (Taasha Coates and Tristan Goodall) and The Youth Ensemble come to be working together in the film clip for Baby Are You There? and with writing and performing the soundtrack to In The Balance? “It was The Audreys that contacted Restless about doing a film clip with some of our dancers. I met with them and asked, ‘Why Restless?’ and to make sure that the best image is put out there of the company, just like any artistic director would. We both realised the great opportunity that this was. The whole idea was to have suave-looking men – a little bit sexy and capturing that age that they are – and so it was a really short turnaround to when the filming happened, with the clip being released earlier this year. “Tristan and Taasha had a really nice relationship with the four boys who were in the film clip,” Michelle suggests, “as did I with them. I simply helped the boys to do what comes naturally for them when it came to their dance movements. So when it came to doing this show, is just seemed like a natural progression to work with The Audreys; they’ve recorded all of the music for the ensemble to dance with. It’s very exciting!” Restless Dance Theatre performs In The Balance at Odeon Theatre, Norwood, at various times from Thursday 16 October until Saturday 25 October. Book at TryBooking on www. trybooking.com.


GRACE BARBE

GRACE BARBÉ By Catherine Blanch Grace Barbé has been lighting up stages around the country with an energetic fusion of pop, jazz and reggae sounds, topped off with a mix of tropical island rhythms and African percussion. Add in her own Afro sound of the Seychelles and you won’t find it surprising at all that Barbé has won Best World Music Act in WA at the WAMI Awards five years consecutively. Barbé and her band, who have previously supported artists such as The Cat Empire and Xavier Rudd, were last in town when performing at WOMADelaide in 2014. They are heading back to Adelaide again as part of their Welele! album national tour to perform at Space Theatre, Adelaide Festival Centre. Barbé is in Shepparton as we speak to ask how the tour has been going. “It’s been pretty amazing so far,” she begins. “We started in August and the team has been wonderful; the tour was funded and well-organised so the six of us are feeling very lucky to be doing this nine-week tour. Although this is not our first time to Adelaide, it will be our first at Space Theatre.” Although she plays bass and guitar, singing is Barbé’s real love. “I used to sing hymns with my mum as a young girl of six or seven,” she says. “I picked up the bass when I was 18, and the guitar followed a bit later. I play a little percussion, but I’m not a percussionist.” Following the successful debut release of Kreol Daughter in 2009, Barbé is very happy to be touring the second album Welele! “Welele! is an exclamation and a way of expression oneself,” Barbé explains. “We use it a lot on the Islands. It’s not really a word with meaning but something you use to vocalise your excitement, joy, humour, drunkenness [laughs]. You’ll hear many Islanders using it as a way of being heard or grabbing attention. It’s especially at the end of sentences.” A bit like a cowboy’s yeehar? “Yes, exactly! It’s that big moment of excitement that you just have to shout about.” With five years between the release of your debut album Kreol Daughter and Welele! how do these two albums compare to each other? “They are quite different in production,” Barbé says. “The first album, which I’m very proud of, was produced really well and has more of a pop feel, with quite a lot of reggae and a bit of an Islander feel as well. Welele! is a bit more raw. We initially recorded it on an analogue tape machine – very old school – and has more of a live feel; it’s as close to what you will

hear at one of our lives shows as you can get.”

teach them how to sing a couple of Kreol songs.

Although you perform Kreol Islander music, do you have a hidden secret love of a different genre of music?

“Then we have the Sega Rhythms Masterclass where we concentrate more of the musical features of the rhythms that we play; the history of the Sega rhythm, where it comes from and how it’s played. We demonstrate the different styles that are played in the Indian Ocean. We all have such a great time!”

“Absolutely! I was born in the ’80s so I’m a big fan of pop music, which you will hear elements of coming through my style. A lot of people say they relate to the structure and melodies of my songwriting, even though the rhythms are so complex.” Even though music and rhythms are universal in the way that people can relate to them, when you’re on stage do you share stories about the songs and where they came from? “Definitely, especially with this tour,” Barbé says. “Because we are performing mainly theatre shows and art spaces, it’s a great opportunity and platform for me to actually communicate and talk about those songs that I’m singing in Kreol, but also to engage with people. A lot of the audiences are sit-down, musicappreciating, listening kinds of audiences – although I do encourage them to get up and shake their coconuts with me if they can’t help themselves [chuckles] but I do explain the stories behind my songs.”

Following their time in SA, Barbé will be heading over to Tasmania for the final leg of the tour before returning home to Perth. “We like to keep ourselves musically active, so when we get back to WA, we’ll continue doing gigs as well as making our way back into the studio to keep recording.” Grace Barbé and band perform at Space Theatre, Adelaide Festival Centre, from 8pm on Thursday 16 October. Book at BASS.

Where do you draw your musical and lyrical inspirations from? “This question is not always easy to answer,” she says. “Inspirations can be drawn from life experiences and moments in time. How I felt with my first album five years ago, is very different now; I’ve grown as a woman and an artist, I’ve matured and have had more experiences in the music industry, I’ve developed different ways of expressing myself, I’m a lot more confident in the way I express my views on life and experiences, so I find that I’m a lot more free to sing about what I feel and see. There’s more to write than the classic love songs; there are also many environmental, economical, political and cultural issues that I can draw from. “Melody is also something that I’m drawn to,” Barbé adds. “I love the A-minor chord; I tend to write a lot in minors. It’s not that my songs are dark but, musically, minors are emotional chords that I can relate to. But I also have the passport to express myself as an artist so I happily explore all avenues of writing and presenting songs.” As part of your national tour, we note that you are holding a number of Masterclasses. “Yes, we facilitate a few different types of workshops, actually. At the cooking events I demonstrate how to make a Seychelles fish curry with coconut milk, chutney and rice,” she explains. “During the singing and dancing workshop, the band and I teach the audience how we dance the Sega on the Islands – which is one of the most popular rhythms celebrating the Indian Ocean. We also

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CD/DVD REVIEWS

CD REVIEWS Naturally, this appears purposely paired with the lyrical content, “...and all that you feared, the world, is you.”

Black Coral ‘Taken’ Reviewer: Kyle Opie Rating: 4/5 Hailing from Glenelg, the alternative rock trio (who have since become a four piece) Black Coral have been honing their sound since mid 2012, drawing influences from the likes of Sonic Youth, Joy Division, Queens of the Stone Age and Dinosaur Jnr. ‘Taken’ is their debut EP, with four fairly brief tracks that hark back to the golden age of post-punk and reflect positively on its prospective future. Lacings of airy synth drenched in grungy guitars complement a room full of reverb on the vocals that really have something to say. Beginning with ‘International’ there is a punchy distorted bass line and drum beat that almost act in ambiguity with consideration of what is to follow. When the ethereal colour of the electric guitar joins, the general mood starts to reveal itself. The imprecise quality of the vocal sound that then enters almost seems counter-intuitive, as the lyrics are well written and have a sense of empowering the disenfranchised. The sound that is heard, although, does well to serve the mood created by the music and pays tribute to the general style that they have built upon. ‘Swollen’ flows on well from the previous track with a similar balance of energetic drums against a haunting, measured harmony, this time provided by the synth as the guitar takes a more melodic approach before making way for the vocals. This track, in particular, shows a punk influence as a short, sharp piece with the final lyric, “I fly into the new regime”. Unrelenting in its rarely shifting high dynamic, ‘Fall’ is characterised by driving chordal guitar, drum fills a plenty and high pitched synth parts, back in the mix, that reiterate a very full sound. There is a particular warming emotive quality to the mix of timbres and chord progression used here. ‘Unwind the Sun’ gives you even less space to breathe than ‘Fall’, perhaps to the point of being too much. There is a tremolo picked open string distorted guitar note that just about plays throughout the whole four minute tune that gives it a certain jarring quality.

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Black Coral’s ’Taken’ seems to act as a platform to boost the emotive power hidden within the poetry of its lyrics. There isn’t a huge amount of variety or musical virtuosity, but that doesn’t appear to be the point. Rather, it’s a tight, focused sound that would be well suited to a thoughtful 15 minutes, lazing on a Sunday afternoon. The raw postpunk nature of the sounds won’t be for everybody, but they do well to cultivate an emotive environment that serves the lyrics.

Music SA is a not-for-profit organisation committed to promoting, supporting and developing contemporary music in South Australia. We are thrilled to be working with BSide Magazine to bring you reviews of South Australian artists. Want to see your CD reviewed here? Go to musicsa.com.au for details on how to submit your EP or LP. it needs to without taking any more time than necessary, which is a good skill to have. The closing track ‘This Time’ is more acoustic pop rock; a powerful and energetic song that flows well. If one wanted to think in such terms, the band’s music has a certain commerciality to it, if that was defined as music that becomes pleasantly familiar quickly with no great effort required. However, this description can belie the nature of Life In Letters’ lyrics which probably have too much depth and occasional hints of darkness to appeal to a mainstream listener. Their loss.

for a documentary on the Adelaide Hills Steam Ranger being completed later this year. Overall this is a solid CD and any fans of sliding acoustic blues and harmonica will be bound to find something in ‘Winter Sun.’ My suggestion is to pour yourself a bourbon, get comfy in a rocking chair on the porch with your faithful dog by your side and settle in for a good listen.

In fact, having the lyrics to hand is one advantage to procuring the physical CD, as they are included in the nicely designed booklet. To summarise, the band’s debut recording is a fine example of whatever musical pigeonhole you’d like to put them in, and will hopefully attract enough attention to keep their profile rising in that ever increasing sea of music.

Vincent’s Chair ‘The New Vibe’ Reviewer: HW Bones Rating: 3/5 Life in Letters ‘The Unsalted Sea’ Reviewer: Michael Hunter Rating: 3.5/5 What’s in a genre? Indie folk, acoustic pop, call it what you will; it’s the musical world inhabited by Adelaide band Life In Letters, and one where they seem to have found quite a comfortable niche if their EP “The Unsalted Sea” is any indication. The five-track EP gets off to an excellent start with its title track. The acoustic guitar / harmonica introduction and melodic vocals easily attract the listener’s attention, and generally sets the whole CD’s tone of well written songs that are played, performed and produced to a high standard. Kristen Georgiou and Elise Fassina are the main writers for Life In Letters and both prove to have pleasing voices that obviously suit the material well. They are joined by Philip Donnelly on bass and harp, and Carradean Farley whose drumming can cleverly blend subtlety and energy in the one song if needs be. The song The Unsalted Sea also features occasional glockenspiel, which seems to be having some sort of renaissance in this type of music in recent times! It’s a good sign when the first track finishes and you think “let’s hear some more of this!” and the thought is vindicated by the songs that follow. ‘Counting Sheep’ features fingerpicked acoustic guitar and subtle percussion in an arrangement that brings the vocals to the fore, while the rockier ‘Gentleman At The Door’ maintains interest with its various tempo changes and memorable melody. In common with the other songs, there is no flab to it; the song does what

Vincent’s Chair is the brainchild of Kathie Renner, Adelaide creative artist and superb vocalist. The band has been in operation around the traps for some time now and has managed local and international success with many tours here and overseas.

Mick Kidd ‘Winter Sun’ Reviewer: Craig Atkins Rating: 3.5/5 There is always a high level of anticipation when checking the post box for the next CD to review, and this time around it was slidin’ stompin’ acoustic blues artist Mick Kidd and his 10 track CD ‘Winter Sun’, which also features David Blight on harmonica and DD McGee on drums & percussion. One thing of note with this CD is that the tracks were recorded at various locations across Adelaide; however, with the use of instruments not being excessive, there is a balance and consistency of production that captures the honesty of the music. From the opening track of “What Don’t Kill You (makes you stronger)’ there were the familiar components that captured my immediate attention… great sliding blues riffs and arrangements, inspiring harmonica accompaniment and driving rhythms. The clean and deep vocal style of Kidd captures his honest lyrical content and story telling, with topics ranging from old dogs, steam trains, love, mortgages and drinking, to name but a few. Another track to highlight from the CD is ‘Duke 621’ which Kidd was commissioned to write

The latest offering ‘The New Vibe’ is a credit to Kathie’s song writing as well as the brilliant musicians featured on the record. World class playing and everything is exactly where it should be, in a seemingly effortless fashion. Kathie takes control of singing, guitar and keyboard duties. One of Adelaide’s best guitar players Sam Leske features prominently, as does Karen Di Nardi on viola. It’s hard to pick a favourite track on this album. Everything is far too smooth and relaxing to really pick a standout. If you were in a nice cosy café in the depths of winter you’d quite happily spend the forty minutes pondering tea leaves and relaxing with ‘The New Vibe’ providing a very satisfying sound track. Lyrically all songs are clever and introspective. Having taken into account all of the above from an objective point of view, the CD is brilliant and should do very well for Vincent’s Chair’s fan base. On a personal perspective I would like to have heard some more standout tracks. Whether it was a trick of the slick production or the similar tone/ speed of all tracks, there isn’t anything that steps up and wrestles your ears and says ‘HEY! LISTEN TO ME!’ Great effort overall, and I’d be very interested in hearing these tracks live to see what different perspective it would give to a clearly slick and talented band.


LINDI ORTEGA

Well that was all a bit of a flurry with the very first print issue of BSide Magazine hitting the streets of Adelaide last Thursday.

LINDI ORTEGA By Robert Dunstan Lindi Ortega is a Canadian-born country singer of Mexican and Irish descent who recently snagged a Juno award – a Canadian Grammy – in the Best Roots Music category for her latest album, Tin Star. She is now looking forward to returning to Australian soil after venturing here in April during which she took part in Victoria’s Boogie Fest alongside Jason Isbell, Pond, Chris Russell’s Chickenwalk, Bed Wettin’ Bad Boys and Gary Clark Jr as well as Adelaide’s Bad//Dreems. “I had a blast and Australia was one of my favourite trips of all time,” she enthuses. “And as well as Boogie Fest, which was such great fun, I also did The Gumball Festival in The Hunter Valley and The National Folk Festival in Canberra. And then I played some of my own shows in Melbourne and Sydney. So it was all pretty amazing. “And I can’t believe I am now coming back to tour with Justin Townes Earle,” she says, “as not only do I get the opportunity to play with him, I get to come back to Australia. I have played with Justin before though, but that was at a show in Toronto so he probably wouldn’t remember me at all as it was ages and ages ago now.” While in Adelaide, Lindi will also be undertaking her own concert the following evening and this city is the only one in which she’ll be doing that. “Yes, so I’m pretty excited about that,” she says. “And this time I will have my electric guitar player with me, Champagne James Robertson, so can’t wait to introduce him to Australian audiences. He’s a great player because he adds all these beautiful little nuances to my songs. “He’s from Toronto and because we’ve now worked together for so long, we have a real chemistry happening on stage,” Lindi states. “He also plays in lots of bands including New Country Rehab and also does some session work. So he was suggested to me when I was lookin’ for a guitar player. “And when I met him, I was just blown away by his skills,” she adds. “And he’s been with me ever since.” “I’ve been writing like crazy,” Linda then says of what will be her fourth album for Last Gang Records. “And I’ve been coming up with some really good songs and I’ll be playing a few of those down in Australia. “But I never stop writing,” she continues. “I write when I’m at home, when I’m on the road and whenever I get the chance. I think it’s really important to have a whole heap of songs so you can choose the best ones for an album.” Lindi has snaffled a number of awards during her career but takes it all in her stride. “It’s nice to be recognised in that way for sure,” she laughs, “but I just write silly

little songs in my living room and never imagine where they are going to go or what’s going to happen to them. So, if people like them enough to want to present me with an award, that’s fine by me. “I think I just flew out of the womb singing with a guitar in my hands,” Lindi then suggests. “But it would have been about 16 or 17 when I really first started writing songs. And because I was into writing my own stuff, I was kinda into singer songwriters – people such as Mazzy Star and Cat Power – but my mom was a big, big fan of Willie Neilson and Kris Kristofferson so I kinda drifted that way. “I also found that I related to a lot of the lyrics in country songs because they are so full of heartbreak,” she adds with a wry laugh. “And I’m so very familiar with that particular state. I have weathered many a heartbreak, let’s just put it that way.” The singer recorded her 2013 album, Cigarettes & Truckstops, with Colin Linden of famed Canadian band Blackie & The Rodeo Kings. “That came about due to my record label, Last Gang, suggesting Colin as a producer,” Lindi says. “And I then remembered Colin’s name as he is quite revered in Canada and has such a strong body of work behind him. And I also knew that he was really into blues. And, at that time, I was listening to a lot of blues and it was coming out in my songs as a kind of country blues hybrid. “And I knew that because Colin had such a vast knowledge of all that sort of thing,” she adds, “I figured it would be good to work with him. I thought he could really help me put those two genres together in a good way.” Another reason Lindi can’t wait to return to Australia is that she fell in love last time she was here. “Yeah, I just love your big blue sky,” she enthuses. “It’s not like anywhere else. I’m a big sky person so always notice the difference in different countries. I travel through Europe and the sky there is so small and kinda grey, but you guys have a big blue sky. “I’m also a birdlover,” she concludes, “so I also fell in love with your Rainbow Parikeets because they are such a beautiful bird. In the US, you see them in bird shops for hundreds of dollars each, so to see a huge flock of hundreds of them up in the sky is such a wonderful thing.” Lindi Oretega plays with Justin Townes Earle and Marlon Williams at the Governor Hindmarsh, 39 Port Rd, Hindmarsh, SA, on Sunday 12 October. She will also play her own headline show in the venue’s front bar on Monday 13 October with Max Savage. Book via OzTix or at the venue.

So many thanks for the kind words of support as it’s been very much appreciated. I was also pleased to note that BSide Magazine made its way, courtesy of those nice Brillig folk, to the Yarra Hotel in Abbotsford over in sunny Melbourne. I know this as the owner/operator of The Yarra had personally texted me early last Sunday morning to say he’d been handdelivered a copy and that he thought it was, ‘a bloody ripper’. I was therefore quietly chuffed until I realised that he would think that as in the first issue of BSide, I had made mention in this very column of the time I first visited a pub in Waymouth St of which he had just become the owner/operator. I also realised that the former owner/ operator of said Waymouth St pub would also think that the first issue of BSide was, ‘a bloody ripper’, as it carried an interview with Mick Thomas about his Semaphore Music Festival gig as the former Weddings Parties Anything front-person now does the in-house sound engineering at The Yarra Hotel. “I’d taken on that role as I knew I wouldn’t be doing as many live gigs,” Mick had told me during that interview. “But doing that regular Yarra job has actually become like a gig in itself because you have to be there at a certain time to do a bit of a soundcheck and you can’t leave until after the gig has finished.” It’s a funny old life. Whenever I come across Old Skool Andy he usually has a pair of cans on his head as it’s invariably when he is DJing at any number of ska and rockabilly gigs that take place around town. Andy did, however, make contact with me recently about some other cans. Apparently, he has a fairly healthy collection of commemorative Big Day Out beers cans of the Coopers Brewery variety which date back to the very first Big Day Out, although he does admit, like many others, he hasn’t got any at all from the last four such festivals and a few are missing here and there, especially from that year Big Day Out took a well-earned rest.

to leave the venue carrying any beer of any kind or any other alcohol for that matter. Anyway, if you are at all interested in procuring some commemorative Big Day Out beer cans, please contact Old Skool Andy via <oldskoolandy60@hotmail. com> and he will sort you out if you make a reasonable offer. Hotmail? How old skool is that? In our haste to put together the very first issue of BSide Magazine, one or two or perhaps three little errors transpired with just one of them being that an incorrect date was placed in the magazine for a gig by jump blues band The Customlines, rockabilly combo Dead Lucky and The Pumpin’ Piano Cats. The shindig is actually taking place on Friday 10 October at The Gaslight Tavern, 36 Chief St, Brompton, so all three acts can consider themselves dead lucky that my keen eye spotted the error after BSide had gone to print but prior to their upcoming gig. Speaking of pubs, I was sitting quietly at a bar the other day having a quiet pint of ale when I spotted a poster advertising that Slingshot Dragster would be celebrating their 10th anniversary with a free entry commemorative gig at the Grace Emily Hotel, 232 Waymouth St, from 9pm on Saturday 11 October. The gentleman alongside me, who was also sitting quietly at the bar, had also spotted the Slingshot Dragster poster around the same time as myself and simultaneously we both remarked that we could not believe it was to be their anniversary although he had said it was to be their ‘tenth anniversary’ and I had said it was to be their ‘10th anniversary’. He then noted that Diesel Witch were also on the bill and remarked, ‘Diesel Witch? Haven’t seen them play for ages so I might have to get along to that one’. He then took another sip of his pint while quietly sitting at the bar and said, ‘Actually, I definitely must get along to that as I’ve just remembered that I play in Diesel Witch and probably wrote half the songs’. See you next week.

Anyway, Andy has realised that with Christmas fast approaching he will need to make more room in his refrigerator for some seasonal treats, so wants to sell them off while also stressing that they need to go to a good home, preferably with a working fridge. Andy also stated that, as a gesture of goodwill, he will also throw in – not literally of course – some commemorative beer cans from the first four Formula One Grand Prixs that were held in Adelaide until it was mysteriously moved to Melbourne’s Albert Pk. I am assuming they are full, unopened beer cans although whenever I bought a can of beer at Big Day Out, the bar staff would very kindly open it for me when I presented them with the money and I seem to recall that one was not allowed

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PRESENTS….

Saturday October 11, St Luke’s, Whitmore Square (city) 7:30 pm - GOLD DONATION AT THE DOOR!

https://www.facebook.com/KrustyCowboyKlub - www.blueringrecords.com

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Telltalle & Vine Fox Creek Winery Saturday 8 November Melt Frank Productions and Fox Creek Winery have announced the inaugural installment of Telltale & Vine which is to be held on Saturday 8 November from 2pm until 9pm at McLaren Vale’s Fox Creek Winery. Telltale & Vine, a day of local music, wine and visual creation exploring the eccentric folklore of the most outlandish and uncommon of people, land or sea, is a boutique event showcasing South Australia’s extraordinary mix of music, art, wine and food. This family-friendly event will host a collection of South Australia’s most beloved musicians, including Adelaide’s musical darlings The Audreys, The Bearded Gypsy Band (fresh from their tour of Canada) and the neo-soul, roots and jazz musings of Abbey Howlett & The Golden Realm along with local musical connoisseurs Cal Williams Jnr and The Fiddle Chicks, while Irie Knights will be topping the day off with their reggae rhythms. Along with some of SA’s best music, Telltale & Vine will also highlight a variety of local visual artists including DIY screen printing by Fools & Trolls, artistic installations from Adelaide-based artists Kelly Jade, David Waldie and Spiralling Sight with more to be announced. There will also be a unique range of tantalising food, top shelf wine and fantastic local produce. Come along, pull up a rug, grab a cold one and soak in the tunes. Tickets available via OzTix and Moshtix.

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BSIDE MAGAZINE MAKING MUSIC LOCAL AGAIN www.bsidemagazine.com.au 14


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CAREER PATHWAYS 2015

courses.musicsa.com.au


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