BSideMagazine-0005

ISSUE 0005 / October 30th - November 5th 2014

IT’S FREE - www.bsidemagazine.com.au

ALSO INSIDE: River Of Snakes, Holy Holy Fred Smith Cisco Caesar, Paula Standing The Bon Scotts and of course BOB’s BITS TOUR GUIDE and LOCAL MUSIC NEWS

AROUND THE TRAPS Christian Andrew, recently signed to Feelgood Folk, and Precizion Dance Company will present an evening of music and dance to celebrate the launch of a single, November Rain, at the Governor Hindmarsh, 59 Port Rd, Hindmarsh, on Saturday 1 November. It follows a sold out EP launch in December of last year and is set to be another landmark performance for Christian as he builds his profile within the local music scene.

Surviving Sharks, who will have a new album set for release in 2015, will undertake what may well be their last gig for this year when they take part in a very special night, Halloween Horror Rock, at Worldsend Hotel, 208 Hindley St, on Friday 31 October for an easy $10 entry.

Also on the bill will be Slick Arnold, Dirt Playground and Across The Atlas with patrons encouraged to dress up for the occasion.

Lily & The Drum will launch their new album, Welcome Change, at The Promethean, 116 Grote St, on Thursday 30 October, from 7pm with special guests Mick Kidd and comedian Mike Klimczak.

Tickets are available via trybooking.com.

A new singer songwriter night has just kicked off at The Gaslight Tavern, 36 Chief St, Brompton, from 8.30pm on Wednesday evenings. Drawing from SCALA’s large pool of artists, the night will have four local singer songwriters presenting a 30-minute set to showcase their talents. It’s free entry too.

The Dunes, who are off to Psych Fest in Sydney in December, will be playing at Crown & Anchor, 196 Grenfell St, with The Byzantines (in acoustic mode) as well as Lily Mojito on Saturday 1 November. Following the show, The Dunes will then be DJing in the front bar.

Award winning Adelaide blues combo The Streamliners are pleased to announced that they will be the opening act when US blues legend Joe Louis Walker and his band play the Governor Hindmarsh Hotel, 59 Port Rd, Hindmarsh, on Tuesday 4 November.

Get set for local music event Sinners Against Saints to take place at Carclew, 11 Jeffcott St, North Adelaide, on Saturday 1 November. It will feature high-energy Adelaide bands Our Conquest, Hollow Eyes and Coldfront along with other guests and it’s to be a drug and alcohol free event with doors opening at 6pm and an entry fee of just $10.

Young Adelaide punks Young Offenders, fresh from playing with Dead Kennedys, have a new EP rarin’ to go and have elected to launch it on Friday 31 October at Jive, 181 Hindley St. As it’s All Soul’s Eve, they are making it a fancy dress affair and have also invited The Pits and

Seventeen Fifty Seven as well as DJ Ghosty to join in on the fun.

The Bearded Gypsy Band are home from a successful Canadian tour and will be launching their new, five-song EP, Leaving Town, at Nexus Arts, Lion Arts Centre, North Tce, on Saturday 1 November.

Left Behind is a monthly event that takes places at The Wheatsheaf Hotel, 39 George St, Thebarton, and the next one will happen on Thursday 13 November.

A mere $10 will get you in to hang out with Lori Bell, Nikki Candy and Jessica Sutherland and laugh at some top notch comics along with a chance to listen to some live musical satire from days of old.

Savi’s Fine Guitars are presenting the first of what will become a quarterly guitar swap meet. It will be free entry for vendors and free entry for patrons and will take place at The Wheatsheaf Hotel, 29 George St, Thebarton, during the day on Saturday 1 November. Just come along, bring your stuff or junk or instruments and sell or trade it! Sweet!

Halloween Harvest takes place on Friday 31 October at Cavern Club, 136 North Tce, and will feature Hollow Eyes, What Happens After Dark, Fort Rose Falling, Burning Bridges, Iron Feather, Castaway and Emergence. Doors swing wide open at 6pm.

Kitten Kong will be playing their garage jams and pop alongside The Blueberries and Sonatine at the newly reopened Crown & Sceptre, 308 King William St, on Saturday 1 November.

The infamous Clowns Of Decadence will be undertaking a cheeky but debauched intimate gig at Edinburgh Castle, 233 Currie St, on Saturday 1 November.

Reggae Got Soul will take place at The Whitmore Hotel, 317 Morphett St, on Saturday 1 November from 8pm until 2am and will feature live reggae, African and Latin groove music with iconic reggae DJ Jesse Proverbs on the decks. It’s $10 entry.

Talented local harpist and vocalist Siobhan Owen will be performing at The Irish Club, Carrington St, Adelaide, as part of a farewell tour on Saturday 1 November and will mark one of her very last performances in this country before she heads off to Europe. It will be a very intimate show upstairs at the club, so tickets will be limited and cost is $25 or $20 for IAA members. Email Dan at <shamrocknshenanigans@gmail.com> to grab tickets as special guest support on the evening will be 2012 SCALA Songwriter Of The Year Maddy Coutts, so the concert will be a very special evening.

Head down to the Grace Emily, 232 Waymouth St, on Saturday 8 November as Kitchen Witch have organised a free entry gig from 9pm. They haven’t played that live music venue in a while so have also invited good friends Appomattox

along for the ride as well as relatively new funky Adelaide band Friday’s Fox who will be making their grand debut.

Burlesque Behind The Bar comes to Gaslight Tavern, 36 Chief St, Brompton, on Friday 7 November and will feature Leopard Lass, Velvet Chase, Karney Doll, Mema Sif and Madeleine DeVille with special guest MC Miss Astrid Martini. Dick Dandy & His WIngmen will also be serving as the intermission act. Tickets at $20 are now available from the pub and there will drink specials throughout the evening.

Did you know that The Land Of Promise Hotel, 172 Port Rd, Hindmarsh, hosts regular punk and/or metal gigs on Saturday evenings? And on Saturday 1 November, the pub has a Halloween Show from 9pm featuring Whole Lotta Bon, The Unforgiven and Mon Cherie with a $10 entry fee. Entry is via the rear entrance.

Demonic Adelaide band Satan’s Cheerleaders have announced that they will be joined by a number of special mystery guests when they launch their first recording for six years at Jive, 181 Hindley St, on Saturday 1 November.

And it’s to be $10 at the door or $20 for entry and your own personal copy of their new offering.

Tuesday 11 November will celebrate the 10th anniversary of The Bald Clanger Prize for portraiture at the Grace Emily Hotel, 232 Waymouth St, from 6pm. The Bald Clanger Prize for portraiture is one of Australia’s prestigious and least known visual art prizes and is awarded for the best portrait of a man or woman, distinguished in Grace Emily culture.

The winning artist will receive a keg of Coopers fine ale and $250. Canvases are now available for $10 at the bar where you will also receive a pint of Coopers for your troubles.

Sarah Lloyde, one of Australia’s best kept musical secrets and who has a strong, soulful voice, will be performing at The Promethean, 116 Grote St, on Friday 15 November. Sarah, who has performed with The Flaming Sambucas and very popular childrens’ band The Funkees, will be presenting Luv Fool with some very special guests.

Max Savage & The False Idols wind up their free entry Friday evening residency for the month of October at the Grace Emily Hotel, 232 Waymouth St, on All Soul’s Eve. Gorilla Jones have just been doing some recording for a new album of their upbeat funky, indie soul music and will now also be having a free entry, month-long Friday evening residency at the Grace Emily Hotel, 232 Waymouth St. It kicks off on Friday 7 November and you can expect special guests to rock up each 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 Heading To Town Page 5 BSide Tour Guide Page 6 Feature Article: Liz Stringer Page 7 River Of Snakes Paula Standing Page 8 The Clothesline: Theatre News/Interviews Page 10 MusicSA CD Reviews Page 11 Cisco Caesar Bob’s Bits Page 12 Fred Smith The Bon Scotts Page 13 Holy Holy Rolling Stones Live Review Page 15 Brouhaha’s Biz Advertising Enquiries Ph: (08) 8346 9899 sales@bsidemagazine.com.au

ISSUE #0005 October 30th November 5th, 2014 2

Thu 30th: Live Music Evil Elvis Oz Tour (Canada) + The Loveless 8:30pm Fri 31st: Deuces Wild Rockabilly 8:30pm Louis King (Vic), The Lincoln Salvy & The Hired Help Sat 1st: Jukebox Jive 7:30pm Til Late (FREE Entry) Sun 2nd: The Iguana Lounge 6-10pm Host - Rob Scott Tue 4th: The Blues Lounge 8:30pm Hosts - Ronny Davidson/Pete Harris Wed 5th: Mid Week Melt 7:30pm SCALA Original Local Artists (FREE Entry)

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HEADING TO TOWN New Zealand reggae band Katchafire are on the road again and will hit the Governor Hindmarsh, 59 Port Rd, Hindmarsh, to drop some sweet tunes on Sunday 2 November. The summery event is to launch their latest single, Down With You, as well as a ‘best of’ album, Best So Far. Must be butterfly season! Brisbane’s Clint Boge, well-known for fronting metal band The Butterfly Effect, will be undertaking a solo jaunt around the country and in SA will play Royal Oak Hotel, 123 O’Connell St, North Adelaide, on Thursday 20 November and the newly re-opened Crown & Sceptre Hotel, 308 King William St, Adelaide, on Saturday 22 November.

Tickets via OzTix or via the venues.

Steve Kilbey of The Church is set to launch his much-anticipated autobiography at Jive, 181 Hindley St, on Thursday 6 November. Mr Kilbey will read from the book and talk about it and also take questions. He may even sing a song or two. Presented by Matilda Bookshop and Jive, the $30 entry fee includes a signed copy of Steve’s book, Something Quite Peculiar. Tickets at Moshtix!

Fresh from performances at Semaphore Music Festival in early October, renowned Melbourne-based singer songwriters Mick Thomas and Charles Jenkins, formerly of Icecream Hands and Mad Turks, are heading back over our way to play a couple of gigs together.

Mick, formerly of folk rockers Weddings Parties Anything, will also have The Roving Commission (Squeezebox Wally, Gus Agars and Mark McCartney) with him when he plays alongside Charles Jenkins at The Trinity Sessions at Church Of The Trinity, 318 Goodwood Rd, Clarence Pk, on Saturday 22 November and The Promethean, 116 Grote St, on Sunday 23 November.

This year’s Bluesfest Busking Competition winners Eddie Boyd & The Phatapillars are still celebrating as they have secured themselves a place at the iconic Byron Bay event for 2015. The heavy, rootsy, indie threepiece are also jumping in the van to take the excitement Australia-wide with a show announced for Adelaide at the new reopened Crown & Sceptre, 308 King William St, with special guests Rat Ta’Mango and Halfway To Forth on Friday 31 October.

Brisbane’s Ben Salter, of The Gin Club and The Wilson Pickers, is set to make a return to the Wheatsheaf Hotel, 39 George St, Thebarton, following a triumphant sold out solo affair back in July. Ben will be make his return from 4pm on Sunday 30 November with tickets, via OzTix or the venue, at $12.

Blues In The Barossa will take place from Friday 14 November until Sunday 16 November. It is the festival’s second year and will be hosted in between the magnificent vineyards of the historic Jacobs Estate. Featured acts are to include Dallas Frasca, Blue Eyes Cry, Filthy Lucre, Mud Brothers, Lily & The Drum, Dirty Boulevard and many more across two stages. For more information head to <bluesinthebarossa.com>.

Singer songwriter Mark Wilkinson, who was born in Buckinghamshire, UK, but has resided in Australia since the age of four, enjoys a loyal following, has seven albums to his credit and has toured with such diverse artists as Eric Clapton, Peter Frampton, Chicago and Seal.

Mark is now on his spring solo tour and set to spring into Jive, 181 Hindley St, from 8pm on Friday 14 November. A previous visit to Adelaide quickly sold out, so grab tickets soon via Moshtix.

Melbourne band Magic Bones have released their single and video for Anytime Anywhere which is a driving garage punk offering that draws its influences from ’70s rock and ’80s new

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wave garage punk. Magic Bones will now be touring Anytime Anywhere as the main support act for British India’s upcoming national tour which hits The Governor Hindmarsh, 59 Port Rd, Hindmarsh, on Saturday 22 November. Book at OzTix or via the venue.

Revered Sydney band Smudge have embarked on their 20th anniversary tour to celebrate the release of muchcelebrated 1994 album Manilow and the trio will hit The Grace Emily Hotel, 232 Waymouth St, on Saturday 15 November.

Infamous Melbourne duo The Stiffys are heading over to play Crown & Anchor 196 Grenfell St, alongside The Villenettes and West Thebarton Brother Party on Friday 7 November. They will be armed with their new album, We Are Groovy Boys, and they reckon it’s the best record ever made as it tackles all the big issues.

Sydney punk pop trio Bloods, who have toured with Major Leagues, Velociraptor and most recently US band Veruca Salt, are super-psyched to release their long awaited debut album, Work It Out, and have announced they will be hitting the road once again for a national tour. In Adelaide the trio will play The Edinburgh Castle, 233 Currie St, on Friday 5 December as part of Cheapskate Fridays.

The legend that is American neo soul singer John Legend has announced a run of dates in Australia so mark Sunday 14 December in your diary for when he hits Adelaide Entertainment Centre Theatre with Megan Washington and Dami Im also in the bill. John will also be performing with a full band and a string section with tickets now on sale via Ticketek.

One Up, Two Down is New Zealand’s George Jackson alongside USA’s Andrew Small and Australia’s Daniel Watkins and the trio play old-time and bluegrass music mixed with new compositions that have wider influences. These lads are also armed with some exciting music which they recently recorded in Nashville, Tennessee, and have just released on their debut EP. They are now set to undertake a free entry show at The Wheatsheaf Hotel, 39 George St, Thebarton from 9pm on Saturday 8 November with Melbourne’s Dan Parsons as special guest.

Byron Bay’s Steve Tyson, who scored a four star review in The Weekend Australian for his new album, Green Side Up, is heading to town to play The Singing Gallery, 133 Main Rd, McLaren Vale on Saturday 1 November as well as Olive Branch Café up at Balhannah on Sunday 2 November.

Adelaide’s Twisted Echidna booking agency don’t ever seem to stop as they have booked a whole bunch of bands into Worldsend Hotel, 208 Hindley St, for the month of November and beyond.

You can see Melbourne’s Virtue at the venue on Friday 7 November, Perth’s Axe Girl on Thursday 20 November, Tamworth’s The Urban Chiefs on Friday 21 November (and also at Punk Ass Kids at Rocket Bar, 142 Hindley St on Wednesday 19 November and Glenelg Jetty Bar on Saturday 22 November), and Melbourne’s Mushroom Giant on Saturday 22 November as well as Melbourne’s The Underhanded on Saturday 29 November. December sees the return of Melbourne-based blues rockers The Ugly Kings to the Worldsend venue on Saturday 6 September to play alongside WA’s Powder For Pigeons.

UK comedy legend Eddie Izzard, whom The Los Angeles Times have called, ‘The funniest man in, well, pretty much all of the known universe’, is set to return to our shores next year with his Force Majeure showand will hit Adelaide Entertainment Centre Theatre on Saturday 31 January. Tickets are now on sale via Ticketek.

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 15

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Commission (Melbourne) and Charles Jenkins (Melbourne) at Trinity Sessions Clint Boge (Brisbane) at Crown & Sceptre Saved By Summer: Maricopa Wells (Melbourne), Fear Like Us, Foxtrot, Paper Arms, The Hard Aches, Heath Anthony, Bec Stevens, Ry Kemp, Abby Howlett, Jake Ward and Anna Jeavons at Crown & Anchor The Urban Chiefs (Tamworth) at Glenelg Jetty Bar Mushroom Giant (Melbourne) at Worldsend

THURSDAY 30 OCTOBER Pretty City (Melbourne) at Grace Emily 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 Salvy & The Hired Help at Gaslight Tavern Chris Altmann (Melbourne) and Nikko & Snooks at Wheatsheaf Hotel Ian Pooley (Germany) at Soundpond Bar

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 Virtue (Melbourne) at Worldsend 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

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 Cisco Caesar (Melbourne) and Tara Carragher at Hotel Metro Liz Stringer (Melbourne) and Leah Flanagan at Barossa Arts Centre (Tanunda) The ReChords (Melbourne), The Villenettes and The Pits at Bridgeway Hotel (Pooraka) Deuces Wild Rockabilly Weekender: The Detonators (Melbourne), Itchy Fingers (Melbourne), The Saucermen, The Satellites, Lucky Seven, Fistful 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) River Of Snakes (Melbourne), Inwoods and Introvert at Worldsend The Bon Scotts (Melbourne) at Grace Emily

TUESDAY 11 NOVEMBER Katy Perry (US) at Adelaide Entertainment 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

SUNDAY 16 NOVEMBER Tori Amos (US) at Her Majesty’s Theatre Rudely Interrupted (Melbourne) at Governor Hindmarsh

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 FRIDAY 7 NOVEMBER The Stiffys (Melbourne), 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

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 New Navy (Ulladulla) at Pirie & Co Social Club 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)

WEDNESDAY 19 NOVEMBER Punk Ass Kids: The Urban Chiefs (Tamworth) at Rocket Bar THURSDAY 20 NOVEMBER The Smith Street Band (Melbourne), The Front Bottoms (New York) and Apologies I Have None at Governor Hindmarsh Hey Lady (Sydney) and Axe Girl (Perth) at Worldsend Hotel 8 Ball Aitken (Sydney) at Gilbert Street Hotel Clint Boge (Brisbane) at Royal Oak Hotel Thelma Plum (Sydney) at Jive San Cisco (Fremantle) at Fowler’s Live

SUNDAY 23 NOVEMBER 8 Ball Aitken (Sydney) at Semaphore Worker’s Club Violent Soho (Sydney) at HQ Trophy Eyes (Newcastle), Endless// Heights, Landscapes and Columbus at Fowler’s Live Mick Thomas & The Roving Commission (Melbourne) and Charles Jenkins (Melbourne) at The Promethean THURSDAY 27 NOVEMBER Ezekiel Ox (Melbourne) at Grace Emily The Delta Riggs (Gold Coast) at Adelaide Uni Bar FRIDAY 28 NOVEMBER Husky (Melbourne) and Ali Barter at Adelaide Uni Bar Yacht Club DJs (Melbourne) at Jive SATURDAY 29 NOVEMBER Deep South Festival: Kevin Borich (Brisbane), Mojo Juju (Melbourne), Lloyd Spiegel (Melbourne), Claude Hay (Melbourne), The Hiptones, The Streamliners, The Timbers and many more at Governor Hindmarsh Gorgeous Festival: Xavier Rudd, The Waifs and many more at McLaren Vale Golden (Sydney) at Electric Circus The Underhanded (Melbourne) at Worldsend

FRI 31 OCT 8:30pm TIL LATE DEUCES WILD ROCKABILLY WEEKENDER 2014

Louis King (Vic) The Lincolns Salvy & The Hired Help

FRIDAY 21 NOVEMBER CW Stoneking (Melbourne) at Governor Hindmarsh The Urban Chiefs (Tamworth) at Worldsend MILLIONS (Brisbane) at Pirie & Co Social Club SATURDAY 22 NOVEMBER British India (Melbourne) at Governor Hindmarsh 8 Ball Aitken (Sydney) at The Singing Gallery (McLaren Vale) Mick Thomas & The Roving

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LIZ STRINGER

LIZ STRINGER

By Robert Dunstan Melbourne’s Liz Stringer is coming to town with Leah Flanagan for two shows – one up in the Barossa and another in the inner city – at which the singer songwriters will each play their own set before taking to the stage together for a few numbers.

So we get on the blower to Liz and find her to be in Davenport, Tasmania, where she’s serving time as a touring member of Mia Dyson’s band.

“Yeah, we’re just wrapping up the Australian tour for Mia’s new album, The Moment,” Liz says. “It’s pretty much the last weekend of this tour but it’s a beautiful day down here in Tassie.”

That album tour also brought Mia and her band to Adelaide to play on the October Long Weekend to perform at eastern suburbs venue Norwood Live.

“Yeah, yeah,” Liz says, “and that was interesting because I’d never played on that side of town before. And we didn’t have any time to do a soundcheck but it all worked really well because all the crew were really good. And I guess you can sometimes get spoilt by having the luxury of a really long soundcheck but, with this one, we just got up and blazed away.

“It was good fun,” she adds. “A good, fun gig to do as part of the tour and we all had a really good time.”

Liz will be coming to town armed with a DVD, Live At The Yarra, that is also accompanied by a live CD of the same show which was recorded over one night at The Yarra Hotel in Abbotsford, Victoria.

“It was never my idea to do a DVD,” Liz laughs, “because I hate being filmed or even having my photo taken. But it was thought that I needed something to represent what I was I do. So, a DVD is a kind of instant way for people to get a pretty good idea of what it is I do. So while I was a bit reluctant at first, I said I’d do it.

“And it’s actually turned out to be a great souvenir of what was a great night,” she adds.

The six-stringer says she chose The Yarra Hotel, which boasts Clanger formerly of Adelaide’s Grace Emily as one of the owner/operators, as the live recording venue as she’d played there in various guises since it re-opened its doors a couple of years ago.

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“It’s just such a good venue because pretty much everyone who works there is involved in music in some way,” Liz explains. “And because everyone there is so supportive, it felt a bit like a home game for me. There were plenty of people who wanted to help out as well which made it easy.

“And The Yarra is just such a great pub and it’s really filled a gap as there wasn’t really too much happening with live music down that end of Johnson St,” she adds.

“It just feels really comfortable.”

How many were involved in the recording of the DVD? “I can’t remember exactly how many but I think it was about six or eight people in the film crew,” Liz recalls. “And then I got Nigel to do the sound because he’s often done that for me before and he also had someone helping him out.

“So we did a light check and a soundcheck to make sure everything was going to be alright and then Mick Thomas got up and introduced me and then I just played,” she continues. “So I played two sets as I would at a normal gig – even though it was everything but normal with all the cameras around the place. But, as I say, it all turned out really well.

“And Tim McCormack, who got all the film crew together, then edited it,” she adds. “And it was important to me to be surrounded by people I know – y’know, people like Mick, Nigel and Tim – as it made it that much easier for me to be in front of a video camera.”

Liz is heading to town with Leah Flanagan, a singer songwriter originally from Darwin who is of Itialian, Irish and Aboriginal heritage. Leah, who holds a holds a Bachelor Of Music from The Adelaide Conservatorium Of Music, has also performed with The Black Arm Band around the world and in theatre shows such as Murundak, dirtsong and Hidden Republic and her songs have been featured on such ABC television shows such as Dirt Games and The Gods Of Wheat Street.

‘Yeah, it’s worked out well because Leah and I have known each other for many, many years – we’ve done a lot of shows together in the past with Jess McAvoy as The Three Birds – and Leah was heading over to South Australia anyway,” Liz says.

“So we’re doing the candlelight show up in the Barossa on the Saturday night and then the late afternoon show at the Wheaty on the Sunday.

“So because it’s a double bill, we’ll both play and then, hopefully, do a few songs together to wind it up,” Liz adds.

Liz toured Europe in September with Melbourne-based singer songwriter Van Walker.

“And that was good,” she enthuses. “We played around Germany and then did a festival in Vienna. And then we met up with Lucie Thorne and did a gig with her in Berlin.

enthuses. “And that seemed like a great festival – people were coming and going from everywhere – but we didn’t see too much of it as we were only in Adelaide for two nights.

“And the only other time we’ve done it as a show like that is three times down in Tassie which is kind of fitting given its content,” Liz adds. ‘Y’know Van Dieman’s Land and the convicts and all that.”

Liz says that she has already begun penning material for her next album.

“And it was just what I normally do with Van,” she explains. “We hit the stage together and then Van does a song and then I do a song and then we do some together.”

“And I’m really itching to get back into the studio,” she says. “But I don’t know when or where that will be as I’ll be touring or playing gigs in Melbourne pretty much non-stop until the end of the year.

Liz also plays alongside Van, Cal Walker and Michael Barclay in country-fuelled rock band The Livingstone Daisies who have just released their second album, Waiting On The Last Minute.

“So, early next year I’ll set something up as by then I’ll have plenty of new songs to record,” Liz concludes.

“We just didn’t get chance to tour that to Adelaide,” she sighs. “We only did four launch gigs in August and that was only in Victoria but we’ve got a Christmas gig at The Yarra which will be lot of fun. That’ll be a Christmas dinner and show kind of thing.

“But we’ll look at doing another tour for the new album after Christmas and try and also get back over to Adelaide like we did for the first one and play The Wheaty,” Liz teases.

Liz is also a member of a large collective known as The Vandemonium Lags which also features, at various times, Tim Rogers, Jeff Lang, Mick Thomas, Ben Salter, Van Walker, Glenn Richards, Darren Hanlon, Brian Nankervis and the UK’s Rory McLeod.

The project, that has since spawned a double album of its 17 songs, is a musical theatre-style affair based on the real life stories of some of the 73,000 convicts who were transported to Tasmania many, many years ago.

“That’s been a lot of fun,” Liz says of the venture that had originally begun life as an interactive website, “and will probably continue with it because Mick Thomas and his [filmmaking] brother, Steve, who lives in Hobart, are now working on the next one. And I’d be more than happy to be involved again as it’s just such a great show.

“And we had a ball when we did Vandemonium Lags for a night at Adelaide Cabaret Festival in June,” she

Liz Stringer and Leah Flanagan will play a candlelight concert at Tanunda’s Barossa Regional Art Gallery on Saturday 1 November and then The Wheatsheaf Hotel, 39 George St, Thebarton, from 4pm on Sunday 2 November.

Book via Oztix for the latter.

Liz Stringer’s Live At The Yarra DVD will be available at the shows or from her official website at <lizstringer.com>.

RIVER OF SNAKES

RIVER OF SNAKES

By Rob Lyon Melbourne trio River Of Snakes are finally about to hit Adelaide with their new debut album, Black Noise, which has been a while in the making.

The band are no strangers to Adelaide audiences as Raul Sanchez, formerly of Magic Dirt, explains that they always have a good time here previously and are looking forward to launching the album here.

It sounds like it’s all systems go for River Of Snakes?

“Yeah, we had the launch for that in Melbourne back in July and been playing as many supports as we can around town. We’ve got a residency slotted in at the Cherry Bar in November and we’ll be over in Adelaide at the start of November, then Sydney and Wollongong. Over the summer we hope to write some more.”

So it will be a shorter period before the next album?

“I hope so! The last one took nearly three years to put it out from the time we had written the songs. Seriously, I hope it takes less time.

Is that due to mechanics of the industry or just life and other commitments?

“A bit of everything really. What was very last minute, Glenn, our drummer, decided to leave the band and move on. So at last minute we had to find another drummer but it all gets back to writing as we all have jobs as well, play in other bands.

We’re very busy!”

Was the album as challenging as what you thought it would be?

“Um, yeah! We recorded the basic tracks at Head Gap and all the guitar overdubs and vocals were done at home. That delayed the process a little bit because you’re at home, things come up and you get distracted and you can put things off as you can say I’ll do it tomorrow.

“Whereas if you’ve booked in time in the studio it’s is like well fuck this is it and you have to do it now because you’re paying an hourly rate. That was challenging and made us push ourselves. It wasn’t like we had someone waiting for us when we had written something.”

Did you have a pretty good idea about how you wanted things to unfold in the studio or is there element of winging it and seeing what happens?

“We had a pretty good idea of where the songs are going and how they’re going to sound but we did make sure that we were well rehearsed before going in to the studio. There is a noise track at the end that is completely improvised and there are always elements that are open to just seeing what happens on the day. Overall, I would we had a pretty good idea of how it was going to turnout.”

PAULA STANDING

Does the inspiration come from anywhere or is just jamming to see what comes out?

“Pretty much, we’re all big fans of music and other people’s work and that definitely has an influence on what we do but we’re trying to see where the music will take us in that kind of way.”

Was the artwork something you had direct control over?

“We all put in with the artwork, the front cover was done by my brother who is an artist. He does work on covers, he’s a painter and does poster art. I think we had a pretty good idea but told him what we wanted to go for. Melissa in the band draws as well and she drew the woman holding the gun on the inside cover and I know my way around Photoshop so I did all the layout and graphics. We’re all definitely in there controlling all facets of the band.”

Is there a hidden meaning behind the album title Black Noise?

“Not particularly. Once we had the front cover we had the people that looked like something frightening was happening but you couldn’t quite see what it is. We wanted to have the word noise in the title and we were originally going to call it just Noise but then we were starting to hunt around for things and there is a such a thing as Black Noise as opposed to white noise.

“White noise is like the whole spectrum whereas Black Noise is generally silence.

I thought that sounded good, it was dark and sounded menacing.”

Do you think it is the most challenging time for new bands or small bands to try and be viable through selling albums?

“It is frustrating that so many people starting off or even established bands are being forced in a way to give the music away for free which I think at the end of the day is counterproductive. I think people are getting used to expecting something for nothing and I don’t think people value it as much.

“Nobody expects the baker to give bread away for free or anyone else to give away their stuff for nothing. It is a bit frustrating for sure. The whole industry is so saturated by artists and bands that everyone is so competitive so it is like, ‘Oh well let’s give it away for free so people will at least listen to it’.

“I don’t think that is the way to go in the short term and in the long term it is going to be destructive.”

River Of Snakes launch Black Noise at Worldsend Hotel, 208 Hindley St, on Saturday 1 November with Introverts and Inwoods.

PAULA STANDING

By Robert Dunstan

– but it was only after a redundancy after seven years at a day job caused her to take a closer look at it.

Adelaide-based singer songwriter Paul Standing is all set to release a new single, Running Away, at a wine bar launch at which she will be joined by Lily De Leo, Brian Doddridge, Emily A Davis, Amy Baker and St Cuthbert’s Choir.

“I took some time off with the redundancy money and then recorded an album of originals but wondered what to do after that,” she says. “So I started doing a Music Business Certificate course with Music SA. And the single launch is all part of that as it’s a part of the course’s business plan.

BSide Magazine arranged to speak to the songstress when she was taking part in a new singer songwriter evening at The Gaslight Tavern on a Wednesday evening and upon arriving found Paula standing alongside Dick Dandy and Trent Worley who were also set to take part with Tony Only due to perform as well.

“You basically carry out your Music SA business plan,” she adds. “So I’ve kept it pretty simple by just releasing a single because I wasn’t quite sure of what costs might be involved. I also thought if I kept it simple at first, I would be able to expand on it for the next one.

Retiring to a quiet corner of the busy pub, I began by asking about the special guests who are set to take part at Paul’s upcoming launch.

“Lily De Lilly and Emily A Smith both sing on Running Away,” Paula says, “And Amy Baker often plays violin with me and Brian Doddridge sometimes plays harmonica with me. And, hopefully, for the launch, I’ll get him to sing some harmonies if I can pin him down to do some practice.

“And then I’ll have St Cuthbert’s Choir,” she adds.

“It’s a local choir from an Anglican church in Prospect and it’s run by Graham Dudley who was previously with the Adelaide Conservatorium Of Music,” Paula says when I ask about the choir.

“And because I’ve been involved with them since about ’96, I just asked if they’d like to come along to the launch.

“A lot of my songs are very depressing,” Paula, a fan of Lucinda Williams, then announces with a laugh. “Well, it’s just that they often come from a dark place.

And I’m a big fan of Gillian Welch and David Rawlings so maybe that’s where some of that comes from. I very rarely write happy songs because they never seem to be much good.”

Paula, who only started seriously playing guitar five years ago, plans to release several more singles before considering her next full album which will mark her third.

“But I’ll probably release them pretty close together,” she says. “And while I will have a limited number of hard copies for those that still like music in the psychical format, I’ll put them all out digitally.”

Running Away was recorded with wellknown local musician and producer Anthony Stewart at his Red Brick Studio.

“So there’s a dozen in the choir and they are going to harmonise on one of my songs and then we are going to do three of the songs the choir normally does,” she continues. ‘And that will include a beautiful African song we’ve recently learned which is almost like world music.

“And it’s actually Anthony who is playing guitar on the recorded version of the song,” Paula admits with a wry chuckle. “I don’t know, I was having quite a bad day and it just wasn’t happening so Anthony suddenly said, ‘Here, let me have a go at playing it’, and grabbed my guitar. But I was more than happy for him to do that.

“And then we’ll finish up with an American spiritual Christmas song even though it’s only November,” Paula reveals.

“And he’s credited as playing guitar on the single so I have no qualms about it,” she adds.

That won’t really matter as Paula’s launch is also set for the same day as The Credit Union Christmas Pageant.

The song also made it to the Grand Final of SCALA’s recent FOOM competition in the live section although it lost out on the evening to Elsa Grace.

“Yeah,” she laughs. “If Santa Claus is already in town it’ll be okay to do a Christmas song at my launch.”

The songstress, who has a song about Adelaide icon Stormy Summers in her repertoire, chose Wassail Wine Bar for her launch due to a number of reasons.

“I’d been there when The Prospecters were playing one afternoon and people were spilling out into the street,” she says.

“I also know that Wassail use a lot of local produce – all the wine and food is local – so thought it fitted in well with having a bunch of local artists doing a launch there.”

“That was funny because on the night of the final, I just didn’t feel very well and almost wasn’t going to go,” Paula recalls with a sigh. “I then thought I’d kick myself later if I didn’t at least get along and at least try and do it.”

Paula Standing will launch Running Away, from 8pm at Wassail Wine Bar, 95 Prospect Rd, Prospect, on Saturday 8 November, where she will be joined by special guests Lily De Leo, Emily A Smith, Brian Doddridge, Amy Baker and St Cuthbert’s Choir.

You can book for dinner on 8342 2548.

Paula had been dabbling in songwriting for many years – she’s a regular at SCALA

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S E AS O N

2O15 EMILIE SIMON

ADELAIDE FESTIVAL CENTRE ADELAIDE FESTIVAL CENTRE 2015 SEASON

By Catherine Blanch Adelaide Festival Centre cements its position as one of the nation’s leading cultural precincts as it unveils its 2015 program, featuring over 845 artists in 211 performances throughout the year. There are 137 international artists from the UK, France, NZ, USA, Argentina, Germany, Russia and Scotland plus 708 Australian artists including 458 from SA. The 2015 Festival showcases six world premieres, eight Australian premieres, 14 Adelaide premieres as well as six Adelaide exclusives.

Kicking off the season, direct from London’s West End will be the Adelaide premiere Thriller Live!, a theatrical concert spectacular celebrating the legendary songs and mind-blowing dance moves of Michael Jackson and the Jackson Five.

The biggest selling magic show in the world returns with its third instalment The Illusionists 1903, featuring eight worldclass illusionists from across the globe.

Lovers of music will be spoilt with the plethora of choice on offer including the double bill, So Frenchy So Chic Live!

Featuring indie pop darling, Emilie Simon revered for her charismatic stage presence and intricate layering of vocals and live instrumentals and French/Finnish duo The DØ, Olivia Merilahti and Dan Levy.

Don’t miss acclaimed actor, writer, TV travel documentary presenter and original member of Monty Python, Michael Palin live on stage for one night only.

In association with Adelaide Festival and Queensland Theatre Company, Adelaide Festival Centre will present the Adelaide premiere of Black Diggers, and from State Theatre Company of South Australia, one of the world’s greatest actresses, Miriam Margolyes will present the world premiere of The Importance of Being Miriam.

The iconic children’s book Masquerade, written and illustrated by UK author and artist Kit Williams has been lovingly crafted into a play by award-winning Australian playwright, Kate Mulvany and is bound to delight audiences aged 9 to 90.

Two Windmill Theatre productions – The Book of Loco, which was awarded Best Theatre Production at the 2013 Adelaide Fringe Festival, and Bear with Me, an intimate concert especially for bears, their children (and their grown ups).

Adapted by Brink Productions from Patrick White’s short story Down at the Dump is The Aspirations of Daise Morrow featuring Zephyr Quartet, The Australian Ballet will return with love tragedy Giselle and an effervescent

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evening of wonder with triple bill, The Dream. Australian Dance Theatre will celebrate 50 years of Australian contemporary dance with a 50th Anniversary Gala.

The Come Out Children’s Festival runs from May 22 – 30 with hundreds of shows that promises to engage, stimulate and entertain young minds. Kids will love Richard Tulloch’s sequel adapted from the book by Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton, The 26–Storey Treehouse. Bound to get the imagination bubbling is Argus

by Dead Puppet Society, who have created a fantastical world with its roots in puppetry and old fashioned storytelling. Imaginary Theatre’s production Look wraps children up in a gentle theatre experience.

DISCOVER, REFLECT & DREAM

Barry Humphries will present his first Adelaide Cabaret Festival, 5 – 20 June, an event to savour and remember – curated by the finest cabaret artist this country has ever produced. As well as the Variety Gala performance, shows already announced include two Grammy Award leading ladies from the United States Lisa Fischer and Karrin Allyson, concert pianist Anna Goldsworthy’s deeply felt memoir Piano Lessons and the World Premiere of Peter & Jack.

Joseph Mitchell will deliver his first OzAsia Festival, 23 September – 4 October with an emphasis on Indonesia, and will ensure that the Moon Lantern Festival will be celebrated rain or shine on 27 September.

Families will ennoy Horrible Histories live on stage returns with a brand new show, Barmy Britain, with some amazing 3D effects. The popular Something on Saturdays program continues in 2015, offering children aged 3-10 their first steps into the magical world of theatre.

The fun runs from 2 May – 5 September.

Step beyond the stage for our year-long program of curated exhibitions including The Maj 100 – A hundred years in a hundred pictures, Peoples’ Choice, The Art Of Deception and 10 years of Our Mob. Give yourself an early Christmas present and complete your 2015 season with the ever-popular Christmas Proms. There’s no better way to get into the festive spirit than with rousing renditions of some of the most popular Christmas classics.

In 2015, Adelaide Festival Centre invites patrons to discover, reflect and dream like the young boy on the cover of our 2015 season program. This image won the Adelaide Festival Centre’s Discover, Reflect, Dream photo competition this year and reminds us of that sense of childhood freedom and adventure.

For full listings, go to <theclothesline. com.au>.

SO FRENCHY, SO CHIC

By Rosie van Heerde Emilie Simon is an award winning singer, songwriter and composer from France who has received many accolades for her unique and progressive musical style, characterized by the sophisticated blending and layering of live vocals and instrumentals.

Emilie is heard regularly over the triple j airways and returns to Australia for the third time in January as a much anticipated guest of the Adelaide Festival Centre.

Her show, So Frenchy, So Chic Live! will include songs from her new album, Mue – a body of work that showcases a combination of sounds from earlier albums as well as her deep love for and connection to the city of Paris.

organising time on the computer. Having exactly the same thing live would not be possible without using pre-recordings. I also rearrange a lot of songs so we keep the essence, the core, but we choose live angles so it is a little different but still the same. So the audience come to the show and they like the music they hear from the album but they like the differences too.”

Would you then describe your musical processes as being organic in essence?

“Oh yes!” she replies passionately. “It’s very inspired by where I am, the moment, my life. So I can’t really tell what the next album will be like. Between albums I have time to write, to let it grow and to do it properly. Sometimes I write albums in a shorter time, at this time I am touring so the process takes longer. I like not having rules about writing – it’s important to let it all happen in that organic way.”

The Clothesline chats to Emilie about her inspirations, her music and upcoming tour.

What they can expect to hear from you in the show?

You’ve had such a successful career and you obviously love what you do. Where did your initial interest in music come from?

“My music is very melodic; a mixture of electronic yet organic tunes, lots of strings. My songs are all very different so you will experience many different vibes throughout the evening.”

“I started playing music when I was a child – classical music”, Emilie begins. “I went to the Conservatory in the South of France, performed in different bands as a teenager, went to a jazz school and then started studying music in Paris when I was 20.”

Tell us about So Frenchy, So Chic Live!

“Tracks from the Mue album are the base for my section of the show but there will be a lot of songs from other releases,” she responds, “so it’s very rich in mood and music because all of my albums are quite different from each other. It’s actually been a lot of fun to build this show and to showcase those albums.”

Emilie received a Caesar Award for her soundtrack to the feature film March Of The Penguins. However the American release contained a different score. In responding to this disappointment, she remains philosophical.

“Yes [it was disappointing] but they remade the whole movie for the American market, so they changed a lot of the script and, therefore, the music too. In the end the original version was very different to the one in The States; everything changed and I was just one of those changes.”

Your recorded sound is layered and intricate. Do you reproduce this in your live shows?

“It depends,” she replies. “Sometimes I really want the same sound so I will use those studio recordings. Recording my albums is often a long process in sound design; it takes a lot of composing and

Pausing for a moment’s thought, Emilie adds, “Actually, it is very feminine.”

You sing in English as well as French. Is this something you consciously think about when touring overseas?

“Yes, there is always a mix, but I always base the song choice on melody, mood and energy rather than lyrics. But most of the time it’s important that people and I can communicate in the music and mood; people really react to the French songs,” she explains.

“Most of the time I work out my set list once I’m in the country and have a feel for my audiences. Before that, I base my choices on the beats and the energy and mood of the song itself.”

Emilie Simon performs in So Frenchy, So Chic Live! A Double Bill also featuring The Dø at Her Majesty’s Theatre on Thursday 15 January, 2015.

Book at BASS. To read the full interview, head to <theclothesline.com.au>.

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CD/DVD REVIEWS

CD REVIEWS of a drum kit half way through the track that is aptly played with a retrained, laid back approach. ‘I Got a Man’ is a jazz based tune featuring a horn section and a well executed brief trumpet solo, while ‘Sinking’ slows things right down.

Closing out with ‘Selfish Heart’, we hear a heartfelt love song which is very melodically strong and an ideal final track.

Courtney Robb “In The Dark” Reviewer: Kyle Opie Rating: 4/5 Local songstress Courtney Robb was chosen by Triple J Unearthed to attend the Sydney Song Summit in 2010, an accolade garnered in the wake of her first two releases. Having since also graced the stage with her sultry tunes at many large Australian music festivals and in support of various famed performers, she has released this, her third album, ‘In the Dark’.

Her music presents an unashamedly personal, Australian take on a combination of folk, country and blues material with a strong focus on lyrical content fashioned by a tasteful restrain of too much instrumentation.

From a reviewer who spends most of his musical life engaged with a frantic, instrumentally fuelled concoction of notes, harmonies & rhythms, ‘In the Dark’ told me to take a step back and appreciate something different, and while the focus here might be on storytelling, the instrumental and timbral applications are just as well considered.

Not being well versed in this style myself the most comparable musician I can think of is Missy Higgins, though this album has a more down to earth sensibility and appeal than Higgins’ more pop oriented styling’s.

I found myself quickly drawn in by what Robb had to say and the moods provided to reiterate her words, even if I could not always relate to or be inspired by what she had to say. ‘In The Dark’ is a wellproduced and performed release, it’s musically varied and a worthy adversary to Courtney’s recent successes.

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. a bad thing as it means that the artist has identified when to stop adding sounds/ instruments to the mix. It is very easy to get carried away with electronic music, and a lot of electronic artists fall into the trap of adding more and more sounds to the point that the mix is too busy, and the listener is just bombarded with a wall of noise. That’s where Hold Fast For Now are smart. They identified when their tracks had enough variation in them to let the track carry itself, while keeping the listener hooked. Smart.

This style of electronic music is not too heavy like some other electronic genres, but there is enough of a beat to still gets your toes tapping along. The production style and usage of synth sounds in the EP is awesome. I really love the track “Trumps” as the track just carries you along, and the way the vocal is mixed within the track could almost be called an instrument in itself.

‘Just Before the Storm’ is a ballad of selfcontemplation, it features a theme of the album, namely very clear production of guitar, and vocals that are in the front of the mix. The ambient slide guitar in this track is nicely mixed back with a hall-like reverb, and the tune is filled out with the simple licks of a second acoustic guitar.

The tension is well built in the emotional ‘Windows Walk’ with an effective string arrangement and the first appearance

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The band comprises Nik Carr, James Kenny, and Josh McCawley, three young lads out for a bit of fun no doubt, and it shows on this release.

This five song EP rocks from start to finish, and at $5 it is a bargain. Buy it and support these local rockers so they can grow up, go to college and get a job.

The Fortunes of War “Reward System” Reviewer: Savvy Rating: 3/5 Do you like the ‘90s and enjoy music from that decade? Then you will definitely like the debut EP ‘Reward System’ by local group The Fortunes of War. Their music is a window to that time, and is a very easy listen. The EP is cleanly recorded with a great balance between instruments, and the vocals remind me of the ‘80s/’90s Indie Rock group Love Spit Love.

‘Circles’, while still serious in nature, has a light hearted edge supported by bouncy ukulele and electric bass; there is a ukulele melody that is intertwined which at times feels a little clumsy, though this reiterates the raw honesty of the tune.

The instrumentation grows on ‘Girl With the Crooked Smile’, violin and snare drum played with brushes come to the fore, driving a story about unforseen changes in ones life. The double bass, trumpet, hand claps and vocal timbre on the short tune ‘Satisfy Me’ bring a cabaret element to the album, and the fiddle, banjo and mandolin of ‘Railroad Boy’ has a country heart with very beautiful minor key vocal harmonies.

Do not let that humorous cover track distract you from the quality of original songs, though. For me the pick of the bunch is ‘The Taste of My Tongue is Getting More By The Day’, which has the melancholy wistfulness of Blink 182’s ‘Going Away to College’.

Everything is very nicely put together in this EP. The only small criticism I have, is that I think Hold Fast For Now could of utilized the stereo image a bit more to fully engulf the listener in their style of music, and various soundscapes that they have made in this EP. I would also be interested to hear their tracks mixed in 5.1 Surround Sound one day to enhance the listening experience even more.

Another stand out track on the EP is “Cats and Dogs” as there are some experimental sounds here that utilize oriental instruments and of course, give it a real Japanese feel. I think out of all the tracks on the EP, this has to be one of my favorites. A big bonus….it’s also free to download! So get all over it. This EP needs to be on your mobile device.

The ten track release begins with ‘Dark of the Night’, easing in with a slow waltz of acoustic guitar and followed by very clear, emotive vocals. There is a catchy vocal hook that is well supported by ethereal slide guitar, likely a dobro, that tells the tale of an ending relationship.

of Kasey Chambers ‘Not Pretty Enough’. It rocks and it should be a hit.

The guys use their strongest track to open the EP – ‘Heart Full of Nothing’ is something that you would listen to on your car sound system while on a road trip. It’s a feel good track, even though the name of the song may suggest otherwise.

Hold Fast For Now “In Between” Reviewer: Savvy Rating: 3/5

Blonde Doctor “A Place I Wouldn’t Rather Be” Reviewer: Phil Catley Rating: 5/5

I always like listening to Electronic music.

It’s like a mini audio adventure for me every time, and Hold Fast For Now’s newest EP “Inbetween” is no exception. I call it an audio adventure as the different electronic elements in the tracks tell a story, and take you to a place of unique sound, and different soundscapes.

Blonde Doctor is a 3 piece punk band from the Adelaide Hills and ‘A Place I Wouldn’t Rather Be’ is their first release.

Their music is in the style of Blink 182 and GreenDay, and on this debut release the Blondes are just as good as these two big name bands.

This EP is very easy to listen to. It’s simple…but when I say simple, that’s not

A pre-requisite for this style of music is not taking yourself too seriously; so in this spirit the boys serve up a punk version

The guitars certainly drive this EP, and are played with years’ worth of experience in the fingers. It’s also really good to hear some acoustic work in track 5, ‘Armies’, which again is a very easy song to listen to. The drumming in this track is also proficient at a technical level, and gives a lot of feel to the song.

There is a flip side to this coin though, and I feel that the songs were a little too generic for my liking, in terms of structure and content. To me, The Fortunes of War sound relatively new as a band, yet they have definitely found their feet as a group. I would recommend exploring the chosen style a little more, and experimenting with song structure.

CISCO CAESAR

When conducting an interview with a recording artist over the telephone during the week, I was reminded of some of the more interesting interviews I have undertaken over the last 24 or so years.

CISCO CAESAR

By Robert Dunstan Melbourne quartet Cisco Caesar are all set to hit Adelaide for the first time to launch their debut album, Burnt & Broken.

Cisco Caesar are a band made up of American-born James Cisco, former television star Jason Torrens, Paul ‘Caesar’ Slatterly of Adelaide band Pornland and Jacob Cole, the gifted guitar player from The Portraits and Sal Kimber & The Rolling Wheel.

Following a series of false starts BSide Magazine finally got onto James Cisco as the band were travelling to their next gig. I was then put on speakerphone to chat to all four members as they zoomed along a highway somewhere which was a total disaster – and which one of the four Cisco Casaers are you? – before their phone was eventually handed over to Paul ‘Caesar’ Slatterly for a more normal chat. Or was it?

“Because I’m originally from Adelaide – I was born and bred there – I can’t wait to get back there again and play,” Paul begins. “I used to be with Pornland. So it’ll be good to be playing in front of a home crowd again.”

Having never played Hotel Metro before – it opened its doors after Paul had left Adelaide for Melbourne – and is buoyed by the fact it is operated by the Kellys who used to run The Prince Albert Hotel.

“Oh, cool,” he says. “That sounds even better. That’s a good thing to know.”

The guys from Cisco Caesar hooked up when Paul was playing at an open mic night in Melbourne.

“It was something a good friend was running every week – and he’s still actually a good friend – and then James Cisco came down one night,” Paul explains. “So we met up, got along with each other and then both started sitting in at various gigs each of us were doing around Melbourne.

“And then James, because he’s American, had organised to do a July 4th gig to celebrate American Independence Day and needed a backing band,” he continues. “So we put a band together after he kind of enlisted us.

“And that was seven years ago now,” Paul adds. “So Cisco Caesar has been an on and off thing since then as we all have a myriad of other projects happening.”

The band, who play such Melbourne live music venues as The Union and The Retreat, released an EP about three years ago, but have only just gotten around to issuing a full-length album.

“And we went to Basement Studios in Ferntree Gully to do it,” Paul states. “It’s a studio that is owned and operated by our drummer who goes by the name of Jason

Torrens and who used to be famous when he was on TV in Pugwall as Pugwall.

“That’s just something we now somehow find quite amusing,” he adds.

Former Adelaide lad Jeb Cardwell, who plays around Melbourne with various bands and who runs a guitar repair place upstairs at the Yarra Hotel, guests on the band’s album.

“And that’s funny because I used to know Jeb from back in the Adelaide days,” Paul says. “It was just that we had this song and it needed a killer guitar solo. And we just thought he’d be absolutely perfect so Jeb came in and did this mighty solo.”

The members seem to come from odd backgrounds and that also reflects in their music which is a blend of Americana and funky soul.

“Oh, I wouldn’t really say our music is ‘odd’,” Paul very quickly counters. “I would say it’s ‘eclectic’. It’s just what we do.”

I eventually wind up what had already been an amusing interview by asking if there was anything more the band wanted to say.

“Is there anything more this guy should know?” Paul then yelled out to the rest of the guys in the vehicle.

“Just tell him we are all very handsome but you can’t really tell that from listening to the album,” one member rather too quickly responded loudly from what sounded like either the front or back of the vehicle.

“And tell him that two of us have nice beards,” came another loud voice in the distance. “Tell him that two of us like beards.”

“Did you get all that?” Paul then asked.

“And I’d just like to add that I can’t wait to play in Adelaide again. Or have I told you that already?

“And I do really miss a lot of things about Adelaide,” he concludes with a sigh. “I miss Villi’s pies and I miss the fact that it’s a very pretty and very clean city. I also really miss that big expressway thing that only goes one way.”

Cisco Caesar will launch Burnt & Broken at Hotel Metro, 46 Grote St, from 9pm on Saturday 1 November with Tara Carragher as special guest.

One that springs readily to mind is one I did with a famous singer who is so famous I now can’t recall her name without using the wonders of Google.

And that’s only because I know she had a slightly less famous brother whose name I can remember and if I punch his name into the ether that is the internet it will eventually lead me to hers.

Anyway, the interview was undertaken backstage at The Continental Café in Melbourne following the then famous singer’s Australian performance. And I remember the interview, even though I don’t know remember her name, because her manager/partner, whose name I also can’t now recall, kept answering most of the questions I posed to her.

Anyway, it just struck me as quite odd, as well as being more then a tad rude to the singer not to mention it being slightly less than satisfying to me, but I guess that’s the way she was being managed by her manager at the time.

Another memorable interview that springs readily to mind is when I was asked to undertake a face to face interview with (with the now sadly departed) Johnny Ramone of The Ramones.

The year would have been 1994 as that was the year the band were in country to perform at Big Day Out alongside Soundgarden, The Smashing Pumpkins, The Cruel Sea, Robert Forster and even Clowns Of Decadence, who, over 20 years later are still a going concern and will be getting up to mischief again at The Edinburgh Castle, 233 Currie St, on Saturday 1 November.

that he was very polite about the whole matter and at no time did he cause any unnecessary fuss or embarrassment to the increasingly flustered waiter.

And, as this was the year1994, the waiter had no easy access to Google – we would have to wait another two years before Larry Page and Sergey Brin would get around it inventing it – it was not as if he could very quickly find the correct recipe for a Long Island Iced Tea. Anyway during the course of our interview Johnny had brought up the fact that Rolling Stone magazine had very recently published a list of the five most influential musical bands in the world.

It had annoyed him somewhat as the popular monthly rock journal has asked a bunch of musicians to list their most influential bands and some, in an attempt to appear hip, had listed bands that few very people had ever heard of.

“How can a band be among the most influential in the world if not too many people have ever heard of them?” Johnny had reasoned. “I’ll tell you who the most influential bands in the word are,” he’d continued and then, using his fingers and thumb had listed them off.

“The five most influential bands in the world are The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who and The Kinks,” Johnny had suggested in between sips of Long Island Iced Tea. “That’s four so we want one more,” he said as his right forefinger tapped the finger on his left hand. “Oh, I know,” he then said, “The Ramones. Yeah, maybe The Ramones.”

But I digress.

I’d been asked to meet up with Johnny at The Hilton Hotel which is where Big Day Out cast and crew used to stay for a day or so whenever it rolled into town. My meeting up for the interview was Johnny was for a mid-afternoon on the day prior to the big musical event, so I reason it would have to have been on a Thursday.

Anyway, I can’t quite recall what I ordered to drink but do remember that Johnny unwisely ordered a Long Island Iced Tea. And I say unwisely because the waiter had looked at Johnny curiously before heading off in an attempt procure one.

It was the year 1994 and Long Island Iced Tea was yet to make it to the long list of popular drinks in this country even though it had been a popular cocktail item in the Americas since the roaring ’20s and, back home on Long Island, Johnny no doubt indulged in them regularly.

So when the waiter returned with said drink item, Johnny took one sip and then complained that it was not quite to his liking. So the drink then disappeared and a few minutes later the waiter returned with another iced offering which, once again, was not quite to Johnny’s fancy.

And I think it took a third or even fourth or fifth attempt before Johnny was completely satisfied. I must say, however,

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FRED SMITH

FRED SMITH

By Robert Dunstan Fred Smith, born Iain Campbell Smith, enjoys an interesting life as an Australian diplomat working overseas as well as also being a singer songwriter and sometimes comedian with eight albums to his credit.

The Canberra-based musician is now touring his latest offering, Home, which follows an extensive tour for his 2011 album, Dust Of Uruzgan.

“Yeah, I’d turned Dust Of Uruzgan into a theatre show and took if everywhere,” Fred says. “So it turned into a threeyear project that began with writing the album while I was based in Afghanistan and then touring it around Australia to lots of regional theatres. That was about 50 shows that went everywhere from RSL clubs to Exmouth Yacht Club over in Western Australia.

“And that all finished up in late September of last year and I’m now touring my new album which, ironically enough, is called Home,” he adds.

Home is a more personal offering than previous Fred Smith recordings.

“It is, yeah,” Fred, who recently became a father, readily agrees. “It’s an album that deals with coming home, calming down and letting go of things in order to resettle in the one place with one person and building a life.”

The new album was recorded with Shane O’Mara at his Yikesville studio in Melbourne and the producer, who has worked with The Audreys, Paul Kelly and Tim Rogers along with countless others, first came to Fred’s attention many years ago.

“I’d heard Shane’s guitar playing on the album, Live At The Continental, that he did many years ago with Chris Wilson,” he says. “And then, much more recently, the album Thorns To Sleep he did with David Ross Macdonald from The Waifs which is just exquisite. So I sent Shane an email because that finger pickin’ style was exactly what I was after.

“And Shane has a great studio out the back of his house – it’s a mud brick shack next to a lemon tree – as well as having a great space inside his house for recording drums and where there’s also an old upright piano,” Fred continues. “So Cat Leahy plays drums on a few songs. And we just beavered away at it with me doing the acoustic finger pickin’ stuff while Shane added some electric guitar here and there.”

Fred will have Adelaide trio Junior on board for his two Adelaide appearances.

“Junior will play a set of their own material and then become my band,” he announces. “And Junior I know well as we’ve often run across each other at various festivals over the years. And they’ve played with me a few times in the past.”

Fred got into a music career after gaining a law degree in economics.

“I did a degree and then got a pretty good job at The Department Of Foreign Affairs,”

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he explains. “But I was also doing some comedy at some pubs in Canberra and had started writing songs. And back in 1998 I put out an album called Soapbox which was half political and half comedy.

“And people then started calling me, ‘Australia’s answer to Billy Bragg’, because that’s the sort of tree I was barking up,” he adds which causes me to wonder if he’s cleverly thrown in a sly reference to Bill’s UK hometown of Barking.

“I then started doing festivals but when I ran out of money I took another gig with The Department Of Foreign Affairs up in Bouganville and then put out another album, Bugger Up The Empire, which was quite a serious thing as it came from a very bitter civil war.”

And what of your job as an Australian diplomat that has taken you around the world?

“It’s essentially relationship building with local officials,” Fred explains. “It’s meeting on the ground with tribal leaders and reporting back to the Australian government. And it’s been a fascinating experience, Afghanistan in particular.

Living in Uruzgan province was a bit like living in the 15th century because it’s very feudal and very tribal.

“It’s also very rural and impossible to work without the aid of an interpreter,” he adds. “There’s 95% illiteracy and you never get to work with females because of the overlay of Islam. So Afghanistan was like nothing I ever had experienced before and less easier to work in that somewhere in the South Pacific.”

Dust Of Uruzgan’s title song has recently been recorded by Australian country star Lee Kernaghan.

“Lee is doing an album of Australian war songs,” Fred says. “And he found out about me when he spoke to Brendan Nelson at The Australian War Memorial asking about suggestions of what songs he might consider. So told him to check out some of my stuff.

“And I think it could turn out pretty well because Garth Porter is producing it and he’s pretty creative,” he continues. “So I think they are going to get Bobby Singh in to play tabla on Lee’s version. I think Lee might also be doing Eric Bogle’s And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda as well as John Schumann’s (I Was) Only 19.

“And here’s a funny thing,” Fred then adds as we round up the conversation. “John Schumann was pretty disappointed when he first met Lee Kernaghan. John said that he’d expected Lee to be a total wanker.

‘But he isn’t’, John told me. ‘Lee is actually not such a bad bloke’.”

Fred Smith and Junior play The Trinity Sessions at Church Of The Trinity, 318 Goodwood Rd, Clarence Pk, from 8pm on Friday 7 November with tickets available from <dramatix.com/trinity>.

There will also be a licensed bar and delicious food from Little Seeds Catering.

For those south of Adelaide, Fred Smith and Junior also play The Singing Gallery, 133 Main Rd, McLaren Vale, on Saturday 8 November. Book via dave@ singinggallery.com.au

THE BON SCOTTS

THE BON SCOTTS

By Robert Dunstan Melbourne folk rockers The Bon Scotts are once again making the trek over to Adelaide but on this occasion will be heading to town armed with their new album, Modern Capitalism Gets Things Done.

It will have the seven-piece performing at The Grace Emily Hotel which has become like a home away from home for the Melbourne outfit.

“We love coming to Adelaide and the Grace is always such a lot of fun and we’ve never had a bad show there,” guitarist and singer Damien Sutton says.

“And the bands we play there with have always been fantastic and it’s such a friendly place.”

For their album launch, The Bon Scotts will be joined by The Aves and The British Robots “We’ve played with both of those bands before,” Damien reveals, “and they are both such great Adelaide bands. So we’re pretty happy to have ’em play at our launch.”

When we spoke The Bon Scotts were enjoying a day off during an east coast tour.

“Yeah, we’re in Taree which is somewhere between Brisbane and Byron Bay,” Damien says before quickly adding, “No, no, I got that wrong. Taree is actually between Sydney and Byron. Oh dear, it’s been a hectic few days so it’s good to have a day off and just relax.

“But we’re having a great time on tour,” he adds. “Although we did somehow manage to smash the back window of the car. And that was while we were loading it up in the driveway at home.

“That kind of thing usually doesn’t happen until we almost get to the end of the street,” Damien adds with a sigh.

Damien says The Bon Scotts met online “We’d all played music with other bands but kinda met up online without actually knowing each other, he reveals. “And while we’ve had a few line-up changes here and there, this current line-up has been together for over a year now so it’s pretty settled.

“It’s better, more fun and tighter than ever,” Damien reveals. “And we all get along outside of the band like a house on fire. There aren’t any issues and everyone just has a ball.”

Damien goes on to say that the band (himself alongside Jim Thomas, James Manolios, Tina Lund, Phil Schinbein, Sally Rochlin and Stirling Gill-Chambers) are completely happy with Modern Capitalism Gets Things Done which will serve as their first full-length offering.

“I don’t think we could be any happier with it because it’s heaps better than anything we’ve ever recorded in the past,” he suggests. “We love the production, we think the songs are great and we’re just really, really pleased with the whole thing. There’s nothing on it we’d want to change.”

Modern Capitalism Gets Things Done was recorded in the band’s own studio and was produced by themselves.

“We’ve had our own studio for a while now,” Damien says. “And we’ve been adding things to it over the last couple of years. So we recorded it there and then I mixed it and then we handed it over to someone for mastering and to add some final touches.

“And it’s already getting some good reviews and it’s also getting a fair bit of play on the radio as well,” he adds. “So the response [to the album] has been pretty good all round.”

The band take their name from Bon Scott, the Scots-born singer who fronted Adelaide collective Franternity before famously replacing Dave Evans as the singer in hard rockin’ Sydney band AC/DC. Do The Bon Scotts ever cop any flak from people who may think they were some kind of AC/DC tribute act?

“In the early days, yes,” Damien laughs, “especially in some rural areas. People would rock up expecting AC/DC songs, but that doesn’t happen so much now that people have gotten used to what we do. We’ve now established our brand enough to not get mistaken for a tribute band too often these days.

“We did get a few death threats back in the early days from people who felt we were being disrespectful,” he laughs again. “Some people felt we were insulting the legend that was Bon Scott.

“But we came up with name after a few beers because we were sitting around laughing about some of the rock bands that were around at the time,” Damien recalls. “We just felt that some of them thought they could just rock out and be as good as AC/DC. “So we thought, ‘Let’s do that. Let’s call ourselves The Bon Scotts, get drunk and rock out and be really bad at it’. So that’s how we got our name,” he says. “But it kind of suits us now. Even if there wasn’t someone called Bon Scott, it would still be a good name.”

The Bon Scotts have contemplated an overseas jaunt but Damien reckons that will take some time to organise.

“It’s something we all want to do but for the moment we just want to tour Australia and go from there,” he states.

“We go back up to Queensland in December and will tour the country again in March before we take time off to write the next album and then tour again.

“So I think for the moment we’re pretty happy just touring around the place as much as we can,” Damien concludes. “It’s easy to do and because we are such a large band, it could get pretty expensive going overseas. But we’ll see.”

The Bon Scotts launch Modern Capitalism Gets Things Done at a free entry affair at the Grace Emily Hotel, 232 Waymouth St, from 9.30pm on Saturday 1 November with The Aves and British Robots as specials guests.

HOLY HOLY

THREE D RADIO TOP 20+1 The 21 most played new releases for the week 17/10/14 – 24/10/14

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HOLY HOLY

By Robert Dunstan Holy Holy are essentially the pastoral rock duo of Brisbane-based singer songwriter Timothy Carroll and Melbourne-based guitarist Oscar Dawson, once of Dukes Of Windsor, and they are heading to town armed with their new single, History.

It would seem that Holy Holy came about in an organic way.

“Yeah, maybe that’s one way of putting it,” Tim Carroll says over the phone from Brisbane. “Oscar and I had known each other for about 12 years but were both kind of doing separate musical projects.

And then a couple of years ago we wrote an album’s worth of songs while we were both living over in Europe.

‘So when we both somehow ended up back in Australia, it ended up with Holy Holy becoming a band with other people working with us for live shows,” he adds.

“So, yeah, what was an old friendship between Oscar and I has turned out really well.”

Holy Holy will hit the road as a full band (with Hungry Kids Of Hungary drummer Ryan Strathie and bass player Graham Ritchie) and for this tour will also be joined by their producer, Matt Redlich.

“Matt has produced the album that comes out next year as well as Hungry Kids Of Hungary and The Trouble With Templeton as also Emma Louise’s last album,” Tim says. “So Matt’s a good friend and he’s a good singer. So he’s got the harmonies down and he also plays a Prophet synth. It’s one of those old analogue synthesisers and because it features on our recordings, it’s kinda nice to have Matt playing it on the road with us.”

An old analogue synth? Are they not prone to break down at any given moment?

“Well Matt’s synth is brand new,” Tim laughs. “Prophet are still making them and while they sound like old technology, it’s actually new so it is far less likely to break down than an old one. And if you ask me, I think you’re likely to have far more trouble using a laptop to create a synth sound. I reckon that’s far more likely to go wrong when playing live.

“And Matt’s always very particular about his equipment anyway,” he adds. “When he records us he uses vintage Neumann microphones and does it to two-inch tape.”

Is the forthcoming debut album ready for release next year?

“Well, kind of,” Tim muses. “It’s actually been an interesting process because we’d recorded an album’s worth of stuff and then some things started to happen.

We had some play on the radio and got some interest and then we wrote some more songs. And then we got signed [to Sydney-based label Wonderlick which is also home to Boy & Bear, Josh Pyke and The Paper Kites] and we began to think that some of the older songs didn’t really represent where we were currently at.

“So we ended up going back into the studio and taking the very best of what

we’d done and then adding to it,” he continues. “So we’ve now got two more studio sessions booked in and three of the new songs left to record.

So while, we are not totally done, we are hoping to have it done by the end of the year and ready to roll next year.

“And the stuff we’ve recorded that won’t end up on the completed album will likely end up as b-sides on singles,” Tim suggests. “And some will be different versions because we completely redid one or two older songs for the album with a bit of a gentler feel.”

During the course of the telephone interview with Tim, I received one of those annoying beeps over my iPhone to let me know yet another email had landed in my inbox. Ironically, it was the announcement that former Joy Division and New Order bass player Peter Hook would be bringing his new band, The Light, to the Governor Hindmarsh in February.

This information actually reminded me, however, that Holy Holy recently performed Joy Division’s Love You Tear You Apart for triple j’s Like A Version sessions.

“Like A Version has become quite an important thing for a band to do so we were really honoured when triple j asked us,” Tim enthuses. “So we thought about it a lot because lots of different factors come into play.

Artist

Title

LW

1

Subtract-S

L

Love Replaced By Machine

4

2

Fair Maiden

L

Fair Maiden

2

3

Tom Redwood

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Look

9

4

Various

No Seattle

3

5

Various

NME C86

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6

Brenton Manser & The She-Rebels

L

Brenton Manser & The She-Rebels

5

7

Satan's Cheerleaders

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The New Adventures Of Satan's Cheerleaders

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8

Lily And The Drum

L

Welcome Change

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9

A Loose Trust

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El Loco

R

10

Yes I'm Leaving

A

Slow Release

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11

The Datsuns

12

Pro Tools

13 14

Deep Sleep

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L

Misanthro PC

R

Lucky Seven

L

Hire A Small Plane

R

The Burning Sea

L

Phoenix 81

6

15

Slingshot Dragster

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St. Duane

17

16

The Dunes

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Bad Lands

10

17

The Saucermen

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Valley Of The Rattling Bones

8

18

The Love Junkies

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Flight Test

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19

Bonnie Prince Billy

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Blush Response

21

Johnny Touch

L A LW R -

= = = = =

Singer's Grave – A Sea Of Tongues

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L

Dead Air

R

L

Inner City Wolves

R

The - TOP 20+1 – show Saturdays 7.00 - 9.00pm www.threedradio.com

Local Australian Last week Returned after a week off the chart Fresh entry into the chart

ROLLING STONES

“So a couple of things were important and that was to do a song we actually liked,” he reasons. “And it had to be something by a band we felt were important. And Joy Division were such a band and Love Will Tear Us Apart was just such a song.

“And on their version, the playing and singing is not that tight at all – Ian Curtis kinda mumbled his way through it – but the reason it works is something else again and highlighted the strength of what they did.

“So we worked up an arrangement with us all agreeing not to do it like Joy Division while not messing it up completely,” Tim says.

Following their History launch, Holy Holy will quickly return to Adelaide as one of the opening acts for very popular Sydney outfit The Preatures.

“Yeah, yeah,” Tim laughs. “We picked that up after we’d organised our own launch tour.

“But it wasn’t something we could knock back so we’re now looking forward to playing two shows in Adelaide within a week or so,” he concludes with a laugh.

Holy Holy launch History at Jive, 181 Hindley St, on Friday 7 November with special guests Glass Skies and The Dunes. Book via Moshtix.

THE ROLLING STONES ADELAIDE OVAL SATURDAY 25 OCTOBER

By Mick Searles The Rolling Stones entertained over 54,000 people inside the Adelaide Oval Saturday night as well as another few thousand outside the ground listening.

From the opening chords of Jumping Jack Flash, the band’s infectious energy simply didn’t stop. Mick Jagger danced, ran and gyrated with all the aplomb of a 20-yearold but engaged the audience like an old pro - when he wasn’t encouraging the audience to sing he told us the band indulged the local cuisine, assuring South Australians Keith Richards enjoyed his pie-floater while drummer Charlie Watts had equally enjoyed a frog-cake.

After ripping through nine songs Richards took control of the band for the eternally crowd-pleasing Happy and the relatively unknown Can’t Be Seen from 1989’s Steel Wheels.

What followed was something very special indeed. The band reached into the

demonic Midnight Rambler and grasped the truly divine with guest guitarist Mick Taylor helping out by playing an extended solo that conflated the heavy sorrow of the blues with the poetic flight of jazz.

Following the ever-popular Miss You, backing singer Lisa Fisher tore the night in half with some searing lead vocals on Gimme Shelter and even slammed danced with Jagger during a sultry duet.

Finishing the set proper with Brown Sugar the lights went down only to come back up with the Adelaide Chamber Singers and the Young Adelaide Voices on stage singing the complete choral opening to You Can’t Always Get What You Want.

Only then did Jagger appear; in a purple sequined shirt and soft black cap slanted to the left, looking like a cheeky Oliver Twist (or a cute French schoolboy a long way from home) before finishing the concert with their 1965 break through hit (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction.

Ultimately, The Rolling Stones are all about the music, the live performance, and the event. To borrow from an English phrase - Nostalgia? Leave it aht!

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BROUHAHA’S BIZ

SIX P’s TO MUSIC BUSINESS

By Kelly Brouhaha PART 1: Purpose Without a vision you’ll create the kind of music business that keeps you overworked, underpaid and completely unfulfilling.

To help with articulating your vision, start with writing everything that comes to mind when you hear “in 10 years time my life will look like this…”

Next find some clarity on what is it from music that really makes you happy?

Is it the writing process? Is it playing in front of a crowd? Is it being told your set was really great? Figure out why you make music.

Next write a list of things that you know you don’t want to do. It might include touring that involves staying in backpackers, or front bar cover gigs where no one is listening or not busting my ass to play every shit opportunity that pops up.

Through this exercise you should have a vague idea of what it is you want to achieve from your career.

PART 2: Planning This part is super simple.

Backwards plan your next 10 years. To achieve that 10-year vision what needs to happen in 5 years, 3 years, 2 years, 12 months etc.

Not sure how to achieve some of the stuff on your 10 year vision? Get learned up, find a mentor, find a course and start reading. Find out HOW.

use those achievements as steppingstones to the next level thing.

Not getting yes’s when asking for the opportunities? Chances are you’re either not gig ready (keep working on that creative part) or your marketing’s just a bit shit (we’ll cover that in the next article).

Next step – Get the music journalists to write about you and tell everyone you’re great. Nothing looks better on a bio than a recommendation from a journo who’s been listening to bands for 20 years.

Not sure how? Start reading, go to music business school or employ a publicist to run your PR campaigns.

And finally, make sure you document these achievements on your website.

(And yes you need a website).

PART 4: Promotion Ok, you’ve got the songs, you’ve got some ideas of where to play, You’ve got a vision and you’re starting to get the idea of how to boost your profile. Now what?

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

PART 3: Profile This is the smoke and mirrors part to your career. It costs some money, it takes a bit of work and in business terms it doesn’t create a lot of income.

But what it does is positions you as the next “buzz” band or leader in your genre which in-avertedly leads to more gigs, a larger audience and better opportunities because everybody knows exactly who you are and what it is you do.

Get a website.

Make a press kit. (This should include your bio or one sheet, some photos, a video of you playing live, your recorded music and maybe a film clip) Learn how to use social media.

Use a monthly newsletter to tell people what you’re up to.

Use radio and print media to push your promotion to a wider audience.

Promote every show properly. A Facebook event will not pull people to your show. A Facebook event plus a PR campaign plus some radio play plus a dedicated newsletter following will.

Archive the promotional materials so the “industry” can see how hard your band works.

Now go sell them your stuff.

Want more money ? Make more stuff.

Distribution is key.

•

•

Online (Bandcamp, iTunes, Soundcloud, Triple J Uneathed, Spotify – the list is endless. Get googling to find where you can sell your music online from).

Physically (At gigs or through a distributor).

As is asking people to buy your stuff.

• • •

Announce it from the stage.

Send a weekly Facebook post asking people to buy CDs. Include a BUY NOW link on your newsletters.

Did you find this article useful ? Email your questions/comments to kelly@ bsidemagazine.com.au

Want to make money out of music?

Find some people to buy the stuff you put out.

1.

2.

Get a mailing list.

No seriously, start making a list. (Ask your Facebook friends, ask everyone you meet, have a clipboard or iPad app ready at gigs – BUILD YOUR LIST).

Engage with your list. Send them monthly updates. Ask them to come and like you on Facebook and engage them on a daily basis (if not 3 times per day).

Tell your list about things you want them to buy.

3.

Assuming you are gig ready and have some tunes recorded use the power of radio to your advantage. Start making connections with presenters who will like your stuff (don’t send the hardcore dude your airy fairy folk tunes people).

Here are some other ways to help grow that list?

Next start building your list of “festivals” and “supports”. Start with the achievable opportunities relevant to your genre and

Ok you’ve got figured out your purpose.

Great You’ve got your promotion sorted. Great You’ve raised your profile (and continue to do so). Great You’ve built a bit of an audience. Great

PART 5: People

Now I’m sure you’ve all seen those bands one sheets with a list of achievements usually labeled as “festivals” and “supports” and followed by a pretty great press portfolio (also known as all those newspaper clippings your mum keeps for you). This is a great place to start.

Thing is radio people know everyone and if they like what they hear, they’ll talk about you (and probably play your song to thousands of people too, because you know, it’s kind of their job).

PART 6: Product

4.

Find high exposure opportunities. More people, more names on the list.

• • • •

Festivals Radio Play High Profile Supports (email the agents of bands you want to support) Gig Swap With Other Artists

Basically, to build your list you’ve got to put the hard work in.

Literally ASK people for their email.

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CAREER PATHWAYS 2015

courses.musicsa.com.au