BSideMagazine0016

ISSUE 0016 / January 29th - February 4th 2015

IT’S FREE - www.bsidemagazine.com.au

ALSO INSIDE: Ronnie Taheny, Lucky Seven, Kim Churchill Chris Farren, Ben Ford-Davies, The Sloe Ruin, The Villenettes Plus BOB’s BITS, TOUR GUIDE & LOCAL MUSIC NEWS

AROUND THE TRAPS Summer Feels will feature Adelaide’s Young Offenders, Charlie Monsoon and Carpedenim with Tomorrow Rising now added to the already stellar line-up and will take place at the Governor Hindmarsh, 59 Port Rd, Hindmarsh, on Friday 30 January.

Ghyti will now engage in a February residency on Monday evenings from 9pm at The Exeter Hotel, 246 Rundle St, and each evening will boast a different special guest act. On Monday 2 February it will be Sasha March, on Monday 9 February it will have Thom Lion, on Monday 16 February it will be Buffalo Boyfriend, while the final night, Monday 23 February, will boast the talents of Tom West. Free entry too!

Ghyti will also play Hotel Metro, 46 Grote St, on Wednesday 4 February with Matt Hayward under the banner Ghyti And Matt Hayward Sing Songs.

The newly refurbished Hampshire Hotel, 110 Grote St, has now announced a free entry ‘official’ opening on Sunday 8 February at which Jay Hoad and Chris Finnen will be performing from 2-6pm. The pub also has live music every Sunday from 2-6pm and on Sunday 1 February award winning blues and roots musician Mick Kidd will be joined by harmonica player Dave Blight. On Sunday 15 February, catch The Healers from 2-6pm, while Sunday 22 February will boast the talents of Zkye & Damien for the afternoon. The pub opens from 8.30am for coffee and breakfast and boasts all-day dining from noon with vegan options and also has many great drink specials.

Lazy Eye and Mick Kidd have organised a Blues Cruise for Saturday 7 March which will sail off from 7pm at Fisherman’s Wharf, Commercial Rd, Port Adelaide, and will return at 11pm. Tickets are now available via <trybooking.com/fzis>.

Adelaide-based The Germein Sisters, an internationally acclaimed pop, folk and rock sister band of Georgia (lead vocals, piano and guitar), Ella (electric cello and bass guitar) and Clara (drums and guitar), will perform songs from their latest album, Because You Breathe, which was recorded in Ireland with The Corrs’ and Hozier’s producer, as part of Adelaide Fringe.

See them at The Aurora Spiegeltent in The Garden Of Unearthly Delights from 7pm on Friday 6 March with tickets via FringeTix. After releasing his second album Live Simply in 2014, local singer songwriter Sam Brittain went on the road touring and busking the streets of Australia, Europe and the US but has now returned home with a entire new collection of works, 12 Weeks / 12 Songs, which has been inspired by places, people and new connections. Sam will now launch his latest offering at The Grace Emily Hotel, 232 Waymouth St, on Thursday 26 February at which he will have Melbourne’s Amistat as special guests.

As part of Adelaide Fringe, Brillig will be presenting A Night In Nashville in story and song at The Grace Emily Hotel, 232 Waymough St, from 6pm on Saturday 21 February and 6pm on Saturday 28 February. Tickets via FringeTix. As part of Adelaide Fringe, local singers Tom West, Todd Sibbin, Ryan Oliver and Ryan Hutcheson will be presenting the songs of Neil Young in a show called Helpless at the Governor Hindmarsh, 59 Port Rd, Hindmarsh, from 7pm on Sunday 22 February. Tickets via FringeTix. Who remembers Colourwheel? Well those who do will be interested to read that the Tim Hudspith-led Adelaide guitar pop outfit will be making a very, very rare appearance at The Grace Emily Hotel, 232 Waymouth St, on Saturday 31 January with talented Melbourne-based songwriter Michael Plater also on the free entry bill.

Following on from their first gracefully drunken hit out last weekend, newly formed and quite rockin’ six-piece country outfit The Sloe Ruin will be supporting Tex Perkins & The Ape at what may now be sold out affair at Crown & Anchor, 196 Grenfell St, on Saturday 31 January also with Kitchen Witch and will then be launching their debut EP at The Wheatsheaf Hotel, 39 George St, Thebarton, from 9pm on Friday 6 February with Cosmo Thundercat as special guests.

Tickets will be $15 at the door.

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Invisible Mantra is set to give its first ever performance at the Grace Emily Hotel, 232 Waymouth St, on Thursday 29 January.

Expect extended jams, fuzz pedals and more when they hit the stage with the 1940 3D movie The Devil’s Bat – no it’s not about cricketer David Warner’s weapon of choice – to be screened on the venue’s silver screen and 25 super lucky people being given their own set of anaglyph spectacles.

Club 5082, a popular, free entry, all-ages event, comes to Prospect Town Hall, 126 Prospect Rd, Prospect, from 7pm until 10.30pm on Friday 6 February and will feature the bands Frontline, Array, Orangutang, Izera and White Collar Heroes with doors swingin’ wide open from 6pm.

Adelaide band Ghengis Cardigan, who play an alternative kind of alternative rock, have announced that they will be performing at Hotel Metro, 46 Grote St, alongside Johnno Lattin from 9pm on Thursday 29 January.

Boutique bar Nook Nosh, 111 Unley Rd, Unley, open from 3pm on Wednesdays through to Sundays, will have acoustic tunes from Andrew ‘Wash’ Washington from 5pm on Sunday 1 February. The bar will then be closed, however, until 3pm on Friday 20 February and will have Short & Sweet performing from 5pm on Sunday 22 February and David Robinson from 5pm on Sunday 1 March. Pop in for sips ‘n’ nibbles.

More cowbell please. The Dairy Brothers, who now all have lengthy beards, have announced a reunion show that will happen at Jive, 181 Hindley St, on Saturday 28 February and will be joined by Silent Duck and The Tony Font Show. Book quickly at Moshtix.

Molting Vultures will play Valentine’s Day Wipe Out! on Saturday 14 February alongside Melbourne’s Wrong Turn and Wild Rocket at the Grace Emily Hotel, 232 Waymouth St. Free entry, of course, and it kicks off at 8.15pm (apparently).

Adelaide punks Dead Joe will release a new single, Carry Me Home, with help from Mayweather, Melbourne’s Maricopa Wells, The Secondhand Squad, Melbourne’s Postscript, Walk The Plank and The Brothers Goon at The Bluebee Room, 131-133 Pirie St, from 7pm on Saturday 31 January. It’s to be an all-ages affair with $10 presales or $15 at the door.

Shaolin Afronauts will hit Rocket Rooftop, 142 Hindley St, on Saturday 7 February with a hoard of special DJ guests including Edd Fisher, Ben Taaffe, Medhi, Jimmy Caution and Sir Donald Badman.

One for the music diary. Squeaker, who have recently inked an American deal, will launch a new album on Saturday 21 March at Crown & Anchor, 196 Grenfell St, with guests acts to be announced soon.

Relatively new Adelaide band Velvet Moth, featuring members of The Streamliners and GT Stringer, have enjoyed a monthlong January residency at the Grace Emily Hotel, 232 Waymouth St, and it finally finishes up on Friday 30 January with Vic Conrad & The First Third. It’s free entry and set to kick off at 9pm.

The Port Rocks, now a regular Adelaide Fringe event, returns to various heritage Port Adelaide live music venues on Sunday 22 February and once again boasts as stellar line-up as well as food trucks, retro fashion and classic cars. Come see a sensational line-up of Adelaide’s hip bands starting off at 11am with Prawnhead in Black Diamond Sq and The Memphis Suns at The British Hotel. Around the corner at 11 Nile St, check out ticketed event The Satellites and The Lincolns at Waterside Worker’s Hall which features a wooden dance floor, stage and bar. Or join the pub crawl and see Marlene Richards at Newmarket Hotel, The Dirty Roots Band at Port Dock Brewery, The Rustlers at First Commercial Hotel, The Party Cats at Dockside Tavern, In Like Flynn at Lighthouse Hotel and Big Smoke at Railway Hotel. Head to <facebook.com/ ThePortRocks> for further information.

Adelaide punk trio Grenadiers have announced the release of a new recording and a national tour. The tour will, however, have them home for the final night to play Crown & Anchor, 196 Grenfell St, on Saturday 14 February with My Echo, Beaver and Thrashboard.

Bridgeway Hotel, Bridge Rd, Pooraka, is set to host a Bushfire Fundraiser from 7pm on Saturday 31 January featuring Mon Cheri, The Vinyls, White Collar Heroes and Frame Work with a $10 door charge, drink specials and raffles.

Bearded Gypsy Band have a Thursday evening residency from 9pm at The Wheatsheaf Hotel, 39 George St, Thebarton, and the final evening, Thursday 29 January, will have Max Savage as special guest. Entry is free but donations will be readily accepted.

There’s to be Music Instead Of Mayhem as a Bushfire Fundraiser at Kersbrook Tavern, 56 Scott Rd, Kersbrook, from high noon until late as a free entry affair with donations kindly accepted on Saturday 31 January featuring The Rolling Tones, Sweet Anarchy, John Jagt, Papa Leo & Louise, 100 Proof, Black Aspirin, Hot Chisel, Van Demons Band, Dino Jag and The Kaleidoscope Eyes as well as Tusk FM. Adelaide-based folk rockers The Timbers will undertake a special kind of show, Alone/ Together, at The Jade Monkey, 160 Flinders St, from 9pm on Friday 6 February which will feature a series of solo sets from the band’s array of songwriters, Simon Basey, Joe Man Murphy and Benjamin Roberts.

Tickets at the door for $10.

Adelaide music photographer Lauren Connelly is showcasing some of her favourite works from 6pm on Friday 30 January at Hello, Yes, 12 Eliza St, Adelaide.

The exhibition, From The Pit, will feature images taken over the last three years including shots of Kanye West, Lorde, Nick Cave and so many more. There will also be solo acoustic performances from Adelaide musicians Naomi Keyte, Luke Carlino and Matthew Hayward.

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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: Chase City Page 7 Lucky Seven Chris Farran Page 8 The Clothesline Page 9 Kim Churchill Page 11 Bob’s Bits Ronnie Taheny Ben Ford-Davies Page 12 The Sloe Ruin Page 13 The Villenettes Page 15 The Bizzo BPlus: Woodside Jamz Advertising Enquiries Ph: (08) 8346 9899 sales@bsidemagazine.com.au

Medieval folk rockers Spiral Dance will make a welcome return to The Wheatsheaf Hotel, 39 George St, Thebarton, at 9pm on Saturday 31 January. Tickets will be $10 at the door.

Local songstress Kelly Brueher is hosting an already successful open mic evening every second week at Café Komodo, 118 Prospect Rd, Prospect, with the next one being held on Thursday 29 January. Registration is from 6pm and the festivities conclude at 9pm. Pop along.

Max Savage & The False Idols are set to launch their digital EP, Little Flame, with a free entry gig from 4pm on Sunday 1 February at The Wheatsheaf Hotel, 39 George St, Thebarton, at which Carla Lippis will serve as special guest.

Courtney Robb and Soursob Bob are set to play a series of Adelaide Fringe shows at the Grace Emily Hotel, 232 Waymouth St, from 4pm on Sunday 15 February, Sunday 22 February and Sunday 1 March along with regional shows in Mylor and Clare Valley.

Book via FringeTix.

ISSUE #0016 January 29th February 5th, 2015

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HEADING TO TOWN Ace news! Ace Frehley, a founding member and original lead guitarist of KISS, is returning for his first Australian shows in five years and will be joined by Richie Scarlet (Sebastian Bach), Chris Wyse (Ozzy Osbourne and The Cult) and Scot Coogan (Lita Ford and Nikki Sixx).

Catch the ace guitarist at The Governor Hindmarsh Hotel, 59 Port Rd, Hindmarsh, on Wednesday 6 May with tickets on sale now via OzTix and the venue.

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 with his Force Majeure show and will hit Adelaide Entertainment Centre Theatre on Saturday 31 January. Tickets are on sale via Ticketek.

Sydney blues legends Bondi Cigars will be serving up songs from their new studio album, Child In The Desert, when they play the Governor Hindmarsh, 59 Port Rd, Hindmarsh, on Saturday 7 March. Book via Oztix or at the venue. The quartet, which boasts two lef-handed guitar players, will also play Clarendon’s Old Clarendon Inn on Sunday 8 March.

Seems that rock legend Suzi Quatro is hanging up her leathers but not before she tours Australia one very last time. In Adelaide she will play Thebarton Theatre, Henley Beach Rd, Torrensville, on Tuesday 3 February. Book via VenueTix on 8225 8888.

Rockin’ duo Jackson Firebird haven’t visited for a while so we’re pleased to announce they will play Jive, 181 Hindley St, on Saturday 31 January with Filthy Lucre as special guests. Pre-sale tickets via Moshtix are $10 but be quick.

WOMADelaide, which will take place in Botanic Pk from Friday 6 March until Monday 9 March, have added acclaimed reggae, hip hop and dancehall producer Mista Savona, Sydney-based nine-piece brass ensemble Hi Tops Brass Band (featuring Shazza T) and CW Stoneking to its already extensive bill that includes Balkan Beat Box, Youssou N’Dour, The Gloaming, Che Sudaka, Neneh Cherry, Lake Street Dive, Rufus Wainwright, Sinead O’Connor, Toumani Diabate & Sidiki Diabate, The Painted Ladies, Astronomy Class, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Emma Donovan, Robyn Hitchcock, Orquestra Buena Vista Social Club, Emma Swift, First Aid Kit, FourPlay String Quartet, Max Savage & The False Idols and Robert Forster. Book at BASS. Melbourne rock band Kissing Booth will hit Hotel Metro, 46 Grote St, on Saturday 31 January to play with Canidae and Post War with DJ Prison Bars also adding to the high entertainment value.

Australian singer songwriter Kim Churchill will celebrate summer with a comprehensive tour in support of Single Spark, his new single and opening track from his Silence/Win album which has garnered amazing reviews since it was released in May last year. Catch Kim at Jive, 181 Hindley St, on Thursday 5 February with Boo Seeka and Pepa Knight tickets now on sale via Moshtix.

Matt Taylor’s Chain and legendary Aussie band Spectrum will hit Semaphore Workers Club, The Esplanade, Semaphore, on Friday 20 February and Bridgeway Hotel, Bridge Rd, Pooraka, from 4pm on Sunday 22 February with $25 tickets at the door or via Moshtix for the Sunday arvo show.

Melbourne-based rock band Holy Serpent have lined up a gig at Glenelg Backpackers for Friday 30 January and invited Filthy Lucre to be their special guests.

Following the release of their much-awaited new album, Melbourne’s Augie March are hitting the road on a huge national tour that will bring them to Grote St’s Her Majesty’s Theatre on Friday 27 March. Book quickly at BASS. Pocket dynamite Leo Sayer is embarking on a tour that will take him to Pt Lincoln, Whaylla and Port Pirie before he hits Grote St’s Her Majesty’s Theatre on Saturday 7 February with local lad Sean Kemp as special guest. Tickets are now available via BASS.

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Melbourne’s The Lost Ragas, featuring guitarists Matt Walker and Shane O’Mara, will use The Wheatsheaf Hotel, 39 George St, Thebarton, to launch a new alternative country single, Marijuana Mornings, from their much-acclaimed debut album, Phantom Ride. It will take place from 4pm on Sunday 8 February with The Yearlings as special guests and tickets at the door.

Barefooted troubadour Xavier Rudd has announced a new band, The United Nations, and that they will play songs from their Nanna album at HQ Complex, cnr North and West Tces, on Friday 27 March.

Explosive rock duo King Of The North, fresh from touring with The Mark Of Cain, will play Jive, 181 Hindley St, on Friday 30 January. Book at Moshtix.

Canadian DIY band Slates have announced an Australian tour that will bring them to Hotel Metro, 46 Grote St, on Sunday 15 February to play alongside Post War, Speech Patterns and Charlie Monsoon.

Melbourne-based blues guitar slinger Pete Cornelius is coming to town to play Semaphore Workers Club, 93 The Esplanade, Semaphore, from 4pm on Sunday 1 February.

Tasmania’s rockin’ The Sin & Tonics and Yesterday’s Gentlemen are bothheading to town to play the Governor Hindmarsh, 59 Port Rd, Hindmarsh, on Saturday 25 July and have invited local swing band Lucky Seven to be their special guests. Tickets via OzTix or at the venue.

Paul Kelly and a cast of thousands, including Vika and Linda Bull, Dan Sultan, Clairy Browne and Ash Naylor, will be involved when the acclaimed singer songwriter comes to town armed with his 20th album, The Merri Soul Sessions. The launch concert will take place at Norwood Concert Hall, Norwood, on Saturday 31 January with special guests Hiatus Kaiyote.

Tickets are on sale now from the usual outlets.

Melbourne’s Evil Twin are coming to town to ply their musical wares at a free entry affair at Worldsend Hotel, 208 Hindley St, on Friday 30 January with help from locals Rat Ta’ Mango and King Indecisive.

Canadian post hardcore pioneers, Silverstein have sold over one million records in their 15-year career and this year their breakthrough album Discovering The Waterfront turns 10! To celebrate such an important milestone, Silverstein will be playing Discovering The Waterfront in full along with their greatest hits at Fowler’s Live, 68-70 North Tce, on Saturday 9 May with special guests Dream On Dreamer and Young Lions. Tickets are now on sale via Moshtix.

Sydney hip hop duo Horrorshow recently asked fans, via Facebook, if they’d like an Adelaice acoustic show. Over 600 people responded positively so it’s on. Catch the duo when they bring their acoustic horror show to the Governor Hindmarsh, 59 Port Rd, Hindmarsh, on Sunday 5 April with MC Tuka of Thundmentals. Tickets via OzTix or at the venue.

Melbourne rock band Empra like to think of Adelaide as a second home, so are pleased they are heading back to town to play The Exeter Hotel, 246 Rundle St, with and William Street Strikers on Saturday 30 January. The three-piece band will also make another return to perform at The Promethean, 116 Grote St, from 7.30pm on Friday 20 February alongside Angels Of Gung Ho and SuperCaine to raise funds for a planned US venture with an entry fee of $10.

Gwyn Ashton, a Welsh-born, award winning guitar player who spent his formative years in Adelaide before relocating to Sydney and then Europe, has announced an Australian tour for 2015. Catch him at The Whitmore Hotel, 317 Morphett St, on Friday 6 February, Old Spot Hotel, 1955 Main North Rd, Salisbury Heights, on Monday 9 February, Gaslight Tavern, 36 Chief St, Brompton, on Tuesday 10 February, The Wheatsheaf Hotel, 39 George St, Thebarton, on Wednesday 11 February and McLaren Vale’s The Singing Gallery (with special guest Chris Finnen) on Thursday 12 February. Gwyn will also be inducted in the SA Music Hall Of Fame during his visit.

Bonobo, a musician, producer and DJ, hailing from Britain, is returning to our shores armed with his fifth album, The North Borders. Catch him at Royal Croquet Club on Sunday 15 March with tickets via FringeTix. Hobart-based three-piece Chase City are currently receiving much attention for their sun-drenched pop and have just recorded an album with legendary producer Magoo.

Catch ’em in action when they play The Exeter Hotel, 246 Rundle St, on Friday 6 February at which they will be highlighting a new single, I Lost Myself.

Guitar legend Greg Koch is heading to town to conduct a Fender Roadshsow. Presented

by John Reynolds Music City, the event will take place at The Governor Hindmarsh, 59 Port Rd, Hindmarsh, on Wednesday 4 March.

Popular American punk outfit Against Me!, joined by Californian band Joyce Manor, will return to Australia to play Adelaide Uni Bar on Friday 5 June.

There is to be a special Nashville-style Songwriters In The Round at The Bluebee Room, Pirie St, on Friday 6 February at which three artists will take to the stage together and each take turns in playing their songs one by one. As part of John Flanagan’s Whatever Makes You Happy national tour, he will join forces with two of South Australia’s top singer songwriters in the form of Kelly Menhennett and Cal Williams Jnr. John will also be playing The Exeter Hotel, 246 Rundle St, on Saturday 7 February alongside Emily Davis and Simon Peter. John will also be undertaking a special concert with Sasha Marsh and Kelly Menhennett on Sunday 8 February at McLaren Vale’s The Singing Gallery.

Welsh post hardcore act Funeral For A Friend have announced a tour to promote new studio album, Chapter & Verse, that will bring them to Fowler’s Live, 66-68 North Tce, on Thursday 23 April at which Sydney’s Vices will be their special touring guests.

Tickets on sale now via Moshtix.

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WEDNESDAY 4 MARCH Foo Fighters (US) and Rise Against (US) at Coopers Stadium (Hindmarsh) Greg Koch (US) at Governor Hindmarsh (Fender Guitar Clinic) THURSDAY 5 MARCH DZ Deathrays (Brisbane), Bass Drum Of Death (US) and Hockey Dad at Fowler’s Live

THURSDAY 29 JANUARY Nas (US) and Dusk at Thebarton Theatre FRIDAY 30 JANUARY King Of The North (Vic/SA) at Jive Evil Twin (Melbourne), Rat Ta’ Mango and King Indecisive at Worlsdend Holy Serpent (Melbourne) and Filthy Lucre at Glenelg Backpackers SATURDAY 31 JANUARY The Reprobettes (Melbourne), The Villenettes, Stabbitha & The Knifey Wifeys and Madeleine DeVille at The Jade Monkey Red Emmett & The Katz (Sydney) at Governor Hindmarsh The Ape (Melbourne), The Sloe Ruin and Kitchen Witch at Crown & Anchor Caligula’s Horse (Brisbane), AlithiA, Ayssidia and For Millenia at Enigma Bar Michael Plater (Melbourne) and Colourwheel at Grace Emily Jackson Firebird (Mildura) and Filthy Lucre at Jive Kissing Booth (Melbourne), Canidae and Post War at Hotel Metro Dead Joe (single launch), Mayweather, Maricopa Wells (Melbourne), The Secondhand Squad, Postscript (Melbourne), Walk The Plank and The Brothers Goon at The Bluebee Room.

SUNDAY 1 FEBRUARY Pete Cornelius (Melbourne) at Semaphore Workers Club TUESDAY 3 FEBRUARY Suzi Quatro (US) at Thebarton Theatre THURSDAY 5 FEBRUARY Kim Churchill (Merimbula) at Jive The Gaslight Anthem (US) and Chris Farren (US) at HQ FRIDAY 6 FEBRUARY Laneway Festival at Harts Mill (Port Adelaide) The Searchers (UK) at Her Majesty’s Theatre Chase City (Hobart) at Exeter Hotel The Vanns (Sydney) at Rocket Bar Gwyn Ashton (UK) at Whitmore Hotel John Flanagan (Melbourne), Kelly Menhennett and Cal Williams Jnr at The Bluebee Room SATURDAY 7 FEBRUARY John Flanagan (Melbourne), Emily Davis and Simon Peter at Exeter Hotel Leo Sayer (UK) and Sean Kemp at Her Majesty’s Theatre Kieran Ryan (Melbourne), Julia Jacklin (Sydney) and Delia Obst at Wheatsheaf Hotel Three Quarter Beast (Melbourne), Startakit and Pink Noise Generator at Hotel Metro SUNDAY 8 FEBRUARY The Lost Ragas (Melbourne) and The Yearlings at The Wheatsheaf Sting (UK), Paul Simon (US) and Sarah Blasko at Coopers Brewery Shane Howard (Melbourne) at The Trinity Sessions Lamb (UK) at Fowler’s Live John Flanagan (Melbourne), Sasha Marsh and Kelly Menhennett at The Singing Gallery (McLaren Vale) MONDAY 9 FEBRUARY Gwyn Ashton (UK) at Old Spot (Salisbury Heights) TUESDAY 10 FEBRUARY Gwyn Ashton (UK) at Gaslight Tavern CJ Ramome (US) at Crown & Anchor WEDNESDAY 11 FEBRUARY Kenny Rogers (US) and Amber Joy Poulton at Adelaide Entertainment Centre Yngwie J Malmsteem (Sweden) at HQ Complex Gwynn Ashton (UK) at Wheatsheaf Hotel Infected Mushroom (Israel) at Governor Hindmarsh

THURSDAY 12 FEBRUARY Gwyn Ashton (UK) and Chris Finnen at The Singing Gallery (McLaren Vale) Evol Walks (Hollywood), The Motive, Jungle City and The Fortunes Of War at The Promethean SATURDAY 14 FEBRUARY The Veronicas (Brisbane) at Adelaide Entertainment Centre Theatre L.O.U.D. Fest 2015: Dellacoma Rio (US), Love Cream, White Widdow (Melbourne), Sisters Doll (Melbourne), Speedmachine, Sweet Anarchy, Trash City, Odysey, Canephora, Hi Speed Life and more at Bridgeway Hotel Plan Of Attack (Brisbane), Northern Drinking Cult and Soberphobia at Land Of Promise Hotel Bernard Fanning (Brisbane) at Bird In Hand Winery Chocolate Starfish (Melbourne) at Governor Hindmarsh The Molting Vultures, Wrong Turn (Melbourne) and Wild Rocket at Grace Emily My Echo (Melbourne) at Crown & Anchor SUNDAY 15 FEBRUARY Peter Hook & The Light (UK) at Governor Hindmarsh Slates (Canada), Post War, Speech Patterns and Charlie Monsoon at Hotel Metro

FRIDAY 6 MARCH – MONDAY 9 MARCH WOMADelaide: Youssou N’Dour (Senegal), Rufus Wainwright, Neneh Cherry & RocketNumberNine+, The Gloaming, Abdullah Ibrahim Quartet, Balkan Beat Box, Public Broadcasting Service and so many, many more at Botanic Park FRIDAY 6 MARCH River Of Snakes (Melbourne), Filthy Lucre and Gun It at Worldsend SATURDAY 7 MARCH Crash & Burn (Melbourne), Speedmachine, The Menace, Hi Speed Life and Mark Bowley at Bridgeway Hotel Client Liason (Sydney) and Retiree (Sydney) at Prie & Co Social Club Bondi Cigars (Bondi) at Governor Hindmarsh SUNDAY 8 MARCH Sunnyboys (Sydney) at Governor Hindmarsh Bondi Cigars (Bondi) at Old Clarendon Inn MONDAY 9 MARCH Future Music Festival: Adelaide Showgrounds WEDNESDAY 11 MARCH Macy Gray (US) at Adelaide Convention Centre Adam Cohen (Canada) at Governor Hindmarsh THURSDAY 12 MARCH Tech N9ne (US) at Governor Hindmarsh

MONDAY 16 FEBRUARY Lindsey Stirling (US) at Fowler’s Live TUESDAY 17 FEBRUARY One Direction (UK) at AAMI Stadium Roxette (Sweden) and Boom Crash Opera at Adelaide Entertainment Centre FRIDAY 20 FEBRUARY Jo Quail (UK) at The Trinity Sessions Aled Jones (Wales) at Her Majesty’s Theatre Matt Taylor’s Chain (Melbourne) and Spectrum (Melbourne) at Semaphore Workers Club SATURDAY 21 FEBRUARY Jo Quail (UK) at The Trinity Sessions Harry Howard’s Near Death Experience (Melbourne) at Hotel Metro The Delta Lions (Melbourne) at The Bluebee Room SUNDAY 22 FEBRUARY Matt Taylor’s Chain (Melbourne) and Spectrum (Melbourne) at Bridgeway Hotel TUESDAY 24 FEBRUARY Angus & Julia Stone (Sydney) at Adelaide Entertainment Centre Theatre WEDNESDAY 25 FEBRUARY Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks (US) at Governor Hindmarsh THURSDAY 26 FEBRUARY Ruth Moody (US) at The Trinity Sessions Deltron 3030 (US) at Governor Hindmarsh Sam Brittain and Amistat (Melbourne) at Grace Emily Break Even (Perth), Hopeless, Endless Heights and Postblue at Enigma Bar FRIDAY 27 FEBRUARY Megan Washington (Melbourne), Montaigne and Greg Chapello at Governor Hindmarsh The Ugly Kings (Melbourne) at Glenelg Backpackers SATURDAY 28 FEBRUARY The Smith Street Band (Melbourne), Pup (Canada), Great Cynics (UK) and Apart From This at Governor Hindmarsh The Ugly Kings (Melbourne) at Worldsend SUNDAY 1 MARCH Cold Chisel and Spiderbait (Melbourne) at Clipsal The Smith Street Band (Melbourne), Pup (Canada), Great Cynics (UK) and Apart From This at Governor Hindmarsh

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FEATURED INTERVIEW: CHASE CITY

CHASE CITY

By Robert Dunstan Hobart’s Chase City, who play sundrenched indie guitar pop, are on a national tour to promote the release of I Lost Myself, the first single from a forthcoming Magoo-produced album.

The band, vocalist Tarik Stoneman, newlyrecruited bass player Jeremy Feguson, drummer Michael Snape and guitarist Peter Snape, were in Brisbane when we chatted over the telephone ahead of their first show later that evening as part of their tour Tarik began by saying they had just landed in offices of Footstomp Music following a long, long journey.

“Yeah, we drove up from Hobart [via Melbourne] in just two days with everyone in the band shift working by driving and then sleeping,” he says. “It was pretty heavy and now we are just totally destroyed.”

Chase City formed in 2012 from the ashes of a few other bands.

“Yes, we’d all played in different bands at one time or another in Hobart,” Tarik says.

“But then the four of us decided to form a more serious kind of band together and then work really hard to get something happening.

“That was almost two years ago now and we put out an EP, Winter Dawn, which did pretty well,” he adds.

That hard work seems to have paid off as the band were ‘unearthed’ by national radio station triple j in 2013 which led to them playing Falls Festival.

“That really helped us a lot,” Tarik concedes, “because it got us in front of a lot of people.

And we still think that playing Falls Festival has been once of our biggest highlights.

That’s been a definite highlight so far. But since then we’ve been touring lots and lots and scored some really high-profile support slots as well. So we are really pushing things along and are just keeping on going with that to see where it takes us.’

Although the band have often toured around the country with such like-minded acts as Sticky Fingers, Yacht Club DJs, British India, Loon Lake, The Holidays, Dune Rats, New Navy, Millions and Oh Mercy, their current tour, which began in Brisbane, will have the young quartet making their Adelaide debut.

“Yeah, Adelaide is going to be a first for us,” Tarik acknowledges. “It’s been talked about in the past but never happened. I’ve visited Adelaide before on holidays but never played there. And I remember it being a really nice town but really, really hot with lots of churches.

“And we’ve heard lots of good things about the music scene there as Adelaide seems to have as many bands as some of the other capital cities,” he adds.

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What is Hobart’s live music scene like?

“Ah, I’d say it’s pretty good,” Tarik decides. “I think every city has some kind of alternative music scene happening. Hobart, obviously, is not as big as somewhere like say Melbourne, but once you start playing and get involved in that circle it’s pretty good.

And there are some really cool venues as well.

“And there are a lot of people who like to get out and see bands,” he adds. “So we get pretty big turnouts for our shows in Hobart.

And the kind of people you meet at shows are the same kind of people you’d meet at a show in Melbourne or up in Sydney or Brisbane. It’s just on a smaller scale.”

The band’s tour will wind up in their home state of Tasmania with three gigs.

“Yeah, the very last show is an all-ages one because we have a pretty big underage following,” Tarik reveals. “So we’re doing two huge launch shows in Hobart.”

Chase City are travelling the country with Nick Green and Josh Quigley who will be documenting the venture with film and still shots.

“Yeah, we’ve toured a lot but have never really had anything to show for it,” Tarik sighs. “So we thought that this time, because we’ve now got our own van, we’d get a couple of people along to do all that for us as it helps with media and stuff. So we are going to make a kind of tour diary out of it while also having a lot of fun.

“And Nick Green is a wicked photographer who does a lot of media stuff around Tassie,” he adds. “But Nick and Josh are also both good mates of ours. So we thought we’d just invited them along on the tour and have some good times together.”

The band’s yet to be issued debut album has been produced by Magoo, who has previously worked with such artists as (most famously) Regurgitator, Renée Geyer, The Jungle Giants and Saskawatch.

It was recorded at the producer’s studio, Applewood Lane.

“He’s just sold it though,” Tarik announces with a sigh. “It was a huge property and because Magoo didn’t live there, there was a lot of up-keep. So he’s got out of it and, for now, will just be happy to work out of other studios. And I don’t really know if whoever has taken it over will continue with it as a recording studio. Hopefully that will be the case.

“But it was a great experience,” he continues. “And it came about because we have some mates in a band from Tassie who recorded with Magoo a while back and said he was just awesome to work with.

“And I’ve always been a big fan of recording at a studio that’s a bit of a getaway,” Tarik then announces. “I’m not a fan of working in a city studio with all the hustle and bustle that goes with it.

‘It’s much better to go somewhere remote that has a pool where you can really relax and just concentrate on the music while having a good time,” he continues. “And the property itself is just awesome because you really feel like you are on some kind of holiday and completely away from everything.”

The band’s album is yet to be completed however.

“After this tour, we go up to Byron Bay to finish it off,” Tarik announces. “And then we’ll release another couple of singles and then think about when to put the album out. We want to get the timing right.”

The band eventually want to head overseas.

“We do eventually, yeah,” Tarik says. “But that’s all got to be worked out because we are not exactly 100% sure how we’ll do that.

Once again it’s a timing thing and for the time being we just want to get the album out and then tour Australia as much as we can.

“But I’d say that sometime next year we’ll probably find ourselves heading overseas,” he decides.

How does the songwriting aspect work for Chase City?

“Ha, that’s a question we are often asked,” Tarik responds with a laugh. “All I can say it that it’s different every time. Sometimes I’ll just write something in my bedroom that will be pretty much ready to go and at other times I’ll write something which is just an idea. And that can often turn out quite differently to what I thought it would be once I’ve taken it to the band.

“So while it kinda changes, every song seems to start with me coming up with an idea,” he continues. “And even when we were doing the album, Magoo, as the producer, was letting us know which parts he thought worked and which parts didn’t.

“He thought some things needed some changes to make them more interesting,” Tarik says. “But it was wasn’t like Magoo came in and completely took over from us because it was more like something we were all doing together.

“And, obviously, Magoo has a lot of experience and we totally respected that,” he adds.

Tarik says he now can’t recall his very first musical influence.

“Well, I was born in Turkey so would have grown up listening to Turkish music,” he laughs. “But, to be honest, I can’t remember too much about that because we moved to Australia when I was 10.

“And my best mate was a real rock’n’roller who listened to a lot of old school metal,” Tarik says. “So I got to listen to a lot of that but, as I got older, all that started to fade.

“At when we first started Chase City, the bands we were listening to at the time were

people like Wombats, Vampire Weekend and Artic Monkeys as well as all the old indie rock guitar bands.

“So I guess what we play all rolls on from that,” he concludes.

Chase City will launch their new single, I Lost Myself, at The Exeter Hotel, 246 Rundle St, on Saturday 7 February.

LUCKY SEVEN

LUCKY SEVEN

By Robert Dunstan Adelaide swing band Lucky Seven have already undertaken a couple of successful themed evenings at Published Arthouse, but will be back next weekend for another under the name Mods Vs Rockers Vs Swingers Ball.

We chatted to Lucky Seven’s guitar player Dean Barcello (pictured far left) on what turned out to be his birthday and he began by saying the idea for this show was hatched

by Monte Ruggerio of The Fab Four, a highly successful Beatles cover band.

“Yeah, Lucky Seven had done a couple of shows at Published Arthouse via Shine Entertainment,” Dean says. “The first was A Night At The Hop and then we did a speakeasy one. And they both went really, really well so Monte from The Fab Four, who had engineered the last one we did, got the idea of doing a Mods Vs Rockers Vs Swingers Ball with three bands representing the three genres.

“So Lucky Seven thought it was a great idea because we’d been involved a few Swing Vs Rockabilly Balls around Australia,” Dean continues. “So The Fab Four will do the mod stuff, The Lincolns will do the teddy boy rock’n’roll songs and Lucky Seven will take care of the swing side of things.

“So I’ll be a good night of music,” he then says. “And Published Arthouse is a great room because it’s so versatile. And while Lucky Seven do a lot of shows with burlesque dancers, this one is just going to be about the music.

“And it all blends together anyway,’ Dean suggests. “John Lennon always wanted to be a rocker and they got George Harrison into The Beatles because he knew some rockabilly songs.

“So The Fab Four will be representing all that as the mod aspect,” he continues, “and they are regarded as one of the best tribute bands to The Beatles in Australia and have done overseas festivals. So they are very well-respected.

“And The Lincolns will do all the teddy boy rock songs as the rockers part of the show,” Dean says of the vintage rock’n’rollers who dress in drape coats and wear brothel creepers and are also set to play The Port Rocks as part of Adelaide Fringe at Waterside Workers Hall in Port Adelaide alongside The Satellites on Sunday 22 February.

“And Lucky Seven know The Lincolns well,” Dean then announces, “because we’ve been on a lot of the same [interstate] festivals. We both did Ballarat Beat Festival last year as well as Camperdown Festival.”

Retro music has become popular of late.

“It’s almost become mainstream,” Dean agrees with a slight sigh. “And that’s good in a way but some naff aspects have crept in.

You just have to get past all that though and enjoy the music. It is what it is. It’s the roots music of America.”

Lucky Seven are now in their 11th year and Dean joined the band about six months

CHRIS FARRAN

after they had kicked off.

“They played at my wedding [when Dean became hitched to Lady Voodoo & The Rituals’ singer Nicolina] because I knew the guitar player,” he says. “And then he said to me that he was leaving and asked if I wanted to take his place.

“At that stage Lucky Seven were only doing about one gig a month – y’know an RSL Club here and there – so I said I’d love to take over [on guitar] as it was dream stuff for me to do.

“And then we started doing more and more gigs and then entered a competition at Adelaide Casino with the first prize being a trip to Darwin to play the casino up there,” Dean continues. “And we all thought, being a seven-piece band, we didn’t have a chance because there was no way they were going to fly seven people up to Darwin.

“But we thought that by entering the competition at least a few people might see us,” he says. “And then we won the bloody thing. And part of the prize was also a couple of gigs at the Adelaide Casino.

“And that led to them offering us a sixmonth residency which turned into Lucky Seven playing there every Thursday night for seven years,” Dean laughs.

“And we also had a Friday night residency happening at Regattas on the riverbank for two or three years and then once a month we played at the old Hyatt Hotel,” he says.

“So we pretty much had North Tce covered for a while there, but we worked really hard and that led to us playing at The Wintersun Festival three times in a row.

“And that led to us being the backing band for a Rat Pack show from Vegas,” Dean adds.

“So while it’s been a slog at times we’ve had a lot of fun because we’ve done Singapore Casino and also been over to Perth numerous times.

“They have this thing over in Perth called Smackdown Challenge,” he then explains.

“And that’s four swing bands and four sets of dancers. Each band plays one song at a time in a room set up like a boxing ring. So each band competes against the others and the winner is the band that gets the most gold coins at the end of the smackdown.

“And that’s something we could think about doing some time at Published Arthouse because it would be the perfect set up,” Dean concludes.

Mods Vs Rockers Vs Swingers Ball will take place at Published Arthouse, 11 Cannon St, Adelaide, on Saturday 7 February and will feature The Fab Four, The Lincolns and Lucky Seven.

Tickets are $20 plus booking fee and available now from <stickytickets.com. au> or will be $35 at the door.

CHRIS FARREN

By Libby Parker Chris Farren, front man of indie-punk band Fake Problems, one half of the band Antarctigo Vespucci and a solo artist in his own right, is heading downunder.

Supporting Gaslight Anthem on their Aussie tour, Chris will open for the New Jersey band who are touring their new album, Get Hurt at HQ on Thursday 5 February.

Speaking to The Upside News from his home in Naples, Florida, Chris says the news to come to our shores with The Gaslight Anthem came as a welcome surprise.

“I was on tour in the UK, and I was in London, and I went to see The Gaslight Anthem play a show. I was just talking with Brian [Fallon] after the show and he turned to me and said, ‘You know you’re going to come to Australia with us, right?’” Chris says.

“I was like ‘No, I didn’t know that, but cool!’ and then a week later it was confirmed with their booking agency. It was awesome. It was very exciting. You never learn you’re going to do a tour in person. It’s always boring through email so this was definitely an actual fun, exciting thing.”

This will be Chris’ first time in Australia and he’s hoping to follow the traditional international tourist obligation of having a photo with our wildlife when he’s here.

After he’s fulfilled that compulsory requirement, he’ll be seeking advice about what he should do next.

“I don’t know what to do when I’m in Australia! I need advice. I need you to tell me what to do. I have a few days off so I’ll have the opportunity to explore,” he says.

“All I know is everyone who has gone to Australia has a picture with a koala. I don’t know whether you guys have koalas at the airport or something? I feel like if I don’t do that, I’ve failed.”

While he’s not seeking koalas to pose with, the musician with a wicked sense of humour will be playing a range of his work at The Gaslight Anthem shows.

“For some reason, something just clicked and I thought I could do this in a non-cheesy way. All summer of 2014 I watched a bunch of Christmas movies, wrote Christmas songs and then recorded them. I had some of my friends sing or play on them.”

All of the proceeds of the Christmas record went to NAMI (National Alliance On Mental Illness) and Chris says it was great to raise money and awareness for the cause.

“I don’t know the exact numbers but we raised well over $1,000 for NAMI. We sold it for pretty cheap and had different bundles.

Sound Supply put together a whole Chris Farren bundle with a Fake Problems record, an Antarctigo Vespucci record and the Christmas album and sold it for $10,” he says.

“One hundred percent of the proceeds went to NAMI. It felt good to get the word out about NAMI and we got some good press for it. We were around some bigger websites who mentioned the link, so hopefully if anyone was dealing with depression they might click that link and get to know what NAMI is about and get some help.”

Right now, Chris is looking forward to getting over to Australia, playing shows and working on his EP set for release when he returns home.

“I’m working on a solo EP and I’ll be working on that up until I come to Australia. I’ll work on it a little bit in Australia; not too much though because I want to enjoy my time,” he says.

“But when I get back home I will finish it and release it pretty immediately. Then I’ve got another tour that starts at the end of February, but that’s not announced yet so I can’t say much. I also have a couple of other things going on as well so I definitely won’t be sleeping!”

Chris Farren opens for The Gaslight Anthem at HQ Complex on Thursday 5 February.

Tickets via OzTix

“It’ s definitely more stripped-down than any of my full band stuff. It’s just me and my acoustic guitar, but I’m playing Fake Problems songs and I’m playing songs from my other band, Antarctigo Vespucci,” Chris says.

“I’m playing my own solo songs as well so a more intimate thing but still energetic and definitely not crazy depressing. I’ll play some depressing songs but I’ll try to keep it up a little bit!”

Never allowing himself to be idle, Chris Farren spent the latter part of 2014 working on a Christmas album with all the proceeds going to a good cause.

“Earlier in 2014 I had written a couple of songs for a split I was doing for something else. A friend of mine mentioned they sounded a bit like Christmas songs. They weren’t, but the gears in my head started turning. I’ve always thought about making a Christmas album but dismissed it as crazy, or it would only be cheesy to do that,” he says.

7

BLOW THE BLOODY DOORS OFF!

BLOW THE BLODDY DOORS OFF!

By David Robinson A musical celebration of four of Sir Michael Caine’s greatest films from the ’60s, Blow The Bloody Doors Off! is coming to Adelaide for one show only as part of this year’s Adelaide Festival.

The breathtakingly well-credentialed Terry Edwards has, in his role as musical director, brought together an extremely talented ensemble of multi-instrumentalists to present an evening of cinema music made famous by the likes of Quincy Jones (The Italian Job), Sonny Rollins (Alfie), Roy Budd (Get Carter) and John Barry (The Ipcress File).

The Clothesline speaks with Terry Edwards and asks where this idea sprang from? Was it something in the music, the films, the actor, or something else entirely?

“I think it was a little bit of all those,” he begins. “In a sense, I just knew it was a good idea [laughs]. It was one of those things where you think ‘I’m not gonna tell anyone – why hasn’t anyone done this before?’ The music is so strong and they are great films, in the sense that everybody loves watching them.

“Having an evening of music from Sonny Rollins, Quincy Jones and John Barry all under one roof was too good to pass up.”

You are working with soundtracks from four different films, and four different composers. How difficult has it been to get these works to gel?

“The pieces have their own personality, so they stay separate,” Terry explains. “But on stage it gels terms of the performance.”

The musicians you have assembled for this performance - are you familiar with most of them?

“A lot of them, yes,” he answers. “Certainly, I wanted people who got the music. For example, Seamus Beaghen, who is the Hammond player – he knew the Get Carter soundtrack backwards before I even asked him. It’s just part of his DNA, that kind of music.”

You’ve been described as a musical polymath. What will you be playing on the night? Or will you be conducting?

“Well, I will be conducting; there are certain elements that definitely need it,” Terry explains. “Some of it is fairly orchestral in the way that it’s been written, so I will be conducting. My main instrument, in this concert, is trumpet. I play a bit of guitar but I leave the woodwind players to themselves which is strange for me because I do a lot of saxophone work!”

8

WIL ANDERSON

A bit different, then, from playing two saxophones at once, in your role as an occasional Blockhead?

WIL ANDERSON’S FREE WIL

By Catherine Blanch

“One of the main reasons I started playing saxophone was watching The Blockheads and seeing Davey Payne; I was absolutely in awe as a teenager,” he says. “I was able to play keyboards, trumpet and guitar but I got a sax for my 18th birthday and that seemed to take over.

Wil Anderson is one of Australia’s best loved performers. A comedian first and foremost, he has also stamped his mark on radio back in the days when he did the morning shift at triple j and on television with ABC’s The Gruen Transfer which afforded him a Gold Logie Nomination in 2010.

“I like being an all-rounder, I don’t really specialise – except in being an all-rounder [laughs]!

Why were these four films selected?

“Initially, I had big plans,” he says. “I was thinking I’d take Michael Caine’s entire career, right from when the late fifties, and go from then right up to Batman. But I think we’d still be in the concert hall now if we’d done that! I was advised to trim it down, just a bit [laughs].”

Blow The Bloody Doors Off! Was first performed in February 2014 at The Barbican in London. Being only the second performance, we ask Terry what made him think this concert would be suited to the Adelaide Festival.

“Well, I happen to know the British curator of the Festival,” Terry explains. “I asked him if he thought it would go down well in Australia, because I didn’t know. It’s a fairly film-oriented slant for this year’s Festival and I think, hopefully, I sowed the seed [laughs].”

Any other plans for your time here, outside of the concert?

“It’s mushroomed a bit because I’m also going to be doing Tommy with Eric Mingus and Hal Willner. I’m being brought over a couple of weeks early – they are getting their money’s worth out of the flights,” he laughs. “Straight after Adelaide I’m going to Sydney and Melbourne with a similar kind of project, music from David Lynch movies, but there’s no visual element in that production.

Again, it’s only been performed once, at The Barbican. This time, though, I’m just a footsoldier and not the musical director. That’s quite an interesting one to do.”

Blow The Bloody Doors Off! performs at Adelaide Town Hall from 8pm on Thu Mar 12. Book at BASS. To read the full interview, head to <theclothesline.com.au>.

But it’s touring the world performing his stand-up comedy of life, political banter, observations and general silliness.

Wil is in Sydney as we speak, gearing up to present the World Premiere of Free Wil at Adelaide Fringe. We ask if he is excited to be returning once again.

“Adelaide is always a combination of exciting and nerve wracking; I guess that’s the best way to describe it,” Wil says. “It’s the place where I always debut the new show each year. It’s kind of the most exciting couple of weeks of the year because I’m creating what I’m going to be potentially talking about for the next 12 months. For example, I started the tour that I have just finished on March 2014 in Adelaide.

world where having an Australian accent is an advantage, it would be America,” he declares. “Go to New Zealand and they don’t laugh for the first 10 minutes because they still hate us for Trevor Chappell’s underarm [bowl] in 1981.

“Go to England and they don’t laugh because they hate Aussie backpackers and they’re still mad that they sent all the convicts to the most beautiful place on earth while they stayed [laughs]. But in America, they love us; they love listening to the accent. It must be what it feels like to be Danny Bhoy or Jimeoin; you get a few extra laughs just because of the accent, which is nice.

“2014 was a big year. I did 16 US cities, performing up to seven shows in each, which was massive, I then did a couple of weeks in Canada and Edinburgh so it was a fairly diverse range of places with lots of different adventures.

“It’s also first time in 15 years that I’ve done exactly what I wanted to do, creatively, one hundred percent of the time,” Wil says. “It occurred to me that since I started at triple j when I was 25 – and I turn 40 this year – that, since then, I’ve never had a year to focus on the thing that I actually do for a living, which is stand-up comedy.

“The things that I came up with back then, the ideas that I’ve been talking about and the concepts I’ve been dealing with for the last eleven months are all decided in those first couple of weeks in Adelaide. So it’s an exciting time of discovery for the next year.”

“Every other year I’ve had television or radio or writing a column; they’re all things that take away from the time I can spend creatively working on the show and making it better. It was really just a year of me doing what it is that I do every single day.”

Do you have any ideas yet as to what Free Wil is about?

Wil Anderson performs Free Wil at The Garden Of Unearthly Delights’ The Vagabond from 8.15pm on Mon Mar 2 until Sun Mar 15. Book at FringeTIX.

“Literally, none!” he declares. “Adelaide tends to get more of a casual show– like an audience member derailing things – and the like, firstly because you’re in a f**ken tent and not a theatre [laughs] so it lends itself to that sort of thing, but secondly, the more locked in I get on the show and the things I definitely want to talk about, the less time it leaves for those kinds of moments to happen.

“In the early days of a show, those impromptu moments have room to breathe and I tend to have more fun with it because I’m not worried about what bit I need to get to next. Adelaide gets some of the most loose and organic shows that you’ll see in the entire tour.

“Of course, Free Wil is going to be a written show,” Wil laughs, “but I guess after 20 years of doing this, I’m now at the point – if I needed to – I could improvise an hour of comedy.”

You’ve been touring a lot to the US. Have they embraced you over there?

“It’s always a great time and they really love the Aussies. If there was one country in the

For the full interview, head to theclothesline.com.au

KIM CHURCHILL

KIM CHURCHILL

By Robert Dunstan Kim Churchill, virtually a one-person band, is heading to town as part of his current tour and we caught up with him via phone while he was in Newcastle.

“And it took longer to get here than what I thought due to it being a long weekend and everyone going off somewhere,” Kim says.

“But the tour’s going really well because I’ve done seven shows so far and they have all sold out,” he proudly announces. “And it’s been great because while I’ve been playing a lot of songs from the new album, Silence/ Win, a lot of people have been asking for some older songs. So that’s been nice.

“It’s nice to think that while I am still so early in my career, people are already asking for older material,” Kim continues. “And a lot of people are coming along because they’ve heard some of the new songs on the radio.

So it’s all been very reassuring. There’s the people who like the old stuff who have been coming to see me for a while and there are those who have only just heard of me.

“Personally, I like playing my new stuff the most though, but I don’t mind playing some of the songs from my earlier albums if people are requesting them and getting into them.”

Kim goes on to say that he’s constantly penning new songs.

“Because I don’t actually live anywhere – I just travel in my van from gig to gig and that’s my existence – I find that songwriting is much like keeping a journal.

It’s something I do to reflect on what’s happened and it also stops destructive emotions building up inside me.

“As a result, I have loads of stuff that is constantly pouring out of me and, as long as I have enough diligence to capture it when it is actually happening, it means I end up with lots of new songs. So I have the next album pretty much sketched out and probably another couple of albums on top of that.

“So it’s all charging ahead,” Kim decides.

Kim was born and raised in Merimbula, said to be the jewel of NSW’s Sapphire Coast due to its climate and pristine beaches.

“It’s on the far south coast of New South Wales,” he says. “And, yeah, it’s a nice spot.”

It was in Merimbula that Kim first picked up a guitar.

“I would have been about five or six because it was around the time I started primary school,” he reveals. “My mum directed me towards playing guitar in the hope I’d take an interest. But I quickly became quite passionate about it and became ‘that kid who plays guitar’.

“I always explain it as like the kid who was good at chess, or the kid who was good at horse-riding or the kid who was good at

soccer,” Kim laughs. ‘So I was known as the good who was good at playing guitar.

“And I think, as I became a teenager and began to fall in love with songwriters, I kinda knew that was what I was going to do,” he continues. “And it’s interesting because, living in Merimbula, there wasn’t that much music happening. So the reality of having a career in music was a farfetched dream really.

“But I bought a campervan, threw a bed in the back and just hit the road,” Kim adds.

Kim recently posted on his Facebook page about previous adventures in Adelaide including playing his first gig at Glenelg Surf Livesaving Club and being asked by a punter to play some Xavier Rudd songs and playing in the Garden Of Unearthly Delights and experiencing the wonders of the show Limbo which is returning again this year.

“I’ve been doing little story posts to promote the shows I’m doing each city,” Kim says. “I’ve been touring a lot so I now have a lot of cool memories of each place I’ve played. So I thought it would be cool to share some of those on Facebook.

“Instead of just posting, “I’m playing a show in Adelaide, tickets are on sale here yadda, yadda, yadda’, I wanted to make it more interesting. So I put in things like playing that lovely surf club in Glenelg or getting chased out of a car park in Victor Harbor by angry wasps.”

Kim’s Adelaide Facebook posts also makes mention of playing with The Beards.

“It was funny how those shows came about, especially as I don’t have a beard, but we’ve since become really good friends,” he laughs. “I was the opening act on a tour they did and it was all quite inspiring as they are such good musicians and songwriters. And they are pretty funny characters too.

“And I think what they have is a pretty universal concept because everyone around the world can always appreciate a good beard,” Kim suggests.

The musician also had some adventures touring the US, the UK and Europe with English troubadour Billy Bragg.

“I’d met Billy at a festival and we got talking because he’s very approachable,” Kim says.

“And he was nice enough to watch my show at that festival and then, about six months later, I got a call asking if I wanted to do the US tour with him.

“And that went so well I was invited to do Europe and the UK with Billy as well, so obviously I agreed,” he laughs. “So I got to play Billy’s sold out show at Festival Hall in London which was just such an incredible experience.

“But the thing I liked the most was getting to see how someone like Billy Bragg works, how much of a gentleman he is and how much time he has for everyone. And how dedicated he is to his art.”

I’d interviewed Billy before he was set to perform at WOMADelaide last year and he had suggested that Kim had led his young pedal steel player, CJ Hillman, astray while in Nashville, Tennessee.

“Oh that,” Kim laughs. “I’d sorta kidnapped CJ for a couple of days and we’d gone off in search of moonshine whiskey. CJ is about my age and it was his first trip to the US and I’d felt like causing a bit of a ruckus and he wanted to get involved.

“So CJ and I both indulged in all the crazy things that Nashville has to offer for a couple of days,” he adds.

Speaking of Mr Bragg, during the course of that interview last year he had mentioned to me in passing something that he would soon be doing a project with Mick Thomas (of Wedding Parties Anything and The Sure Thing) but said he could not say much more. Quite recently, Billy posted on Facebook that he was in Melbourne with Mick working on a film.

Following his current jaunt around the country, Kim will once again head off to the UK again in March.

“Playing all those shows over there with Billy Bragg definitely helped me get some kind of following in the UK,” he says. “So I am going to do a headline tour to capitalise on that and then I have some festivals booked in Europe.

“And then, after that, I have a few festivals booked over in the US and Canada as well,” Kim concludes. ‘So I’m set for quite a busy year.”

Kim Churchill will launch Single Spark at Jive, 181 Hindley St, on Thursday 5 Feburary with Boo Seeka and Pepa Knight as special guest and tickets on sale via Moshtix.

“Yeah, I saw that too,” Kim says. “I wish I could tell you more about it but I don’t know anything. But I did see that Billy went down to Tasmania as well and I guess, for him to come all that way, it must be something pretty important.

“Anyway, it’s good to see Billy keeping his ties with downunder,” he adds with as laugh.

Kim, touring to promote the release of Single Spark, his new single and opening track of his Silence/Win album released last May, will have Boo Seeka and Pepa Knight with him when he hits town.

“I just play by myself at my live shows as an experiment in just how much one person can do at the same time,” he laughs. “I play guitar but have a kick drum and tambourine and a snare drum on my feet. I also run my guitar through a fair bit of electronic gear to create lots of different layers and effects.

“And that includes my fingerpicking where I can run a lot of sub units that basically imitate a bass guitar on the lower notes.

I play some harmonica as well. And I also sing, of course.”

He then goes on to talk up his opening acts, Boo Seeka and Pepa Knight.

“They are both two quite different but quite interesting electronic artists,” Kim suggests.

“Boo Seeka is relatively new and it’s quite dreamy soul music with a solid electronica back beat to it.

“And the other guy, Pepa, is also the frontman of Jinja Safari who have had quite a bit of success,” he adds. “And my merch guy the other night said he’d found the perfect way to describe him to people when selling Pepa’s CDs. He said I just tell them, ‘It’s like Bollywood meets Vampire Weekend’.

“So Pepa plays sitar with some electronic beats underneath it and, once again, it’s very interesting,” Kim says.

9

AROUND THE TRAPS (CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2) Multi-instrumentalist Adam Page has announced another month-long Sunday residency at Crown & Anchor Hotel, 246 Grenfell St, which begins on Sunday 8 February with a surprise special guest each week. Kicks off at 7pm and tickets are $10 at the door every Sunday in February.

Para Hills Community Club will host a Bushfire Benefit gig on Sunday 1 February from 11.30am until 7.30pm which will feature an array of acts including Pigsy, The Unforgiven, Rok House, Papa Leo & Louise, Dave Astaire, Rock The Boss, Iris and more.

Little Miss enjoyed a successful launch late last year for their self-titled CD and will now play the Grace Emily, 232 Waymouth St, with special guest Jesse Francis from 8pm on Thursday 5 February. It’s free entry too!

The Saucermen will be flying into the Grace Emily Hotel, 232 Waymouth St, on Saturday 7 February to undertake a free entry gig with The Jamjets.

Crown & Sceptre Hotel, 308 King William St, will host the free entry Crown & Sceptre Ball from 9.30pm on Friday 13 February and it will feature 12-piece funk band Funk Latin Union, Headphone Piracy and Jupiter. There will also be a bubble show at 10.30pm from Dr Bubble of Bubble Art. After a big hit out last weekend, Adelaide band Dirt Playground have another show coming up at Worldsend, 208 Hindley St, on Friday 6 February. Special guests for the gig are to be announced soon. Stay tuned.

Imogen Brave will fall or fly when they launch their second EP, Fall Or Fly, at Jive, 181 Hindley St, on Saturday 7 February.

They’ll likely fly as alongside them they will have the now legendary Dexter Jones as well as The Crown. Pre-sale tickets, via Moshtix, are $12 or you can take your chances at the door for $15.

Local metal band Octanic, whose drummer, Scott, lost the family home in the recent bushfires, have organised a benefit concert with donations going to The Bushfire Relief Appeal at Cavern Club, North Tce, on Saturday 7 February at which the band will also be joined by Arcadia, In Case Of Emergency, Behold The Sea and By The Breakwater. It’s an all-ages affair with doors from 7.30pm and tickets at $12.

Gaslight Tavern, 36 Chief St, Brompton, is set to host a Battle Of The Bands which will run for nine weeks and kicks off on Saturday 24 January. Please contact Pete at the pub for more information about how to register and all that.

There is to be a Mods Vs Rockers Vs Swingers Ball to take place at Published Arthouse, 11 Cannon St, Adelaide, on Saturday 7 February which will feature The Fab Four, The Lincolns and Lucky Seven. Tickets are $20 plus booking fee and available now from <stickytickets.com.au> or will be $35 at the door.

Adelaide guitar wizard Davide Mazzocchetti (AKA Foxx Qu) will be performing at The Cancer Council Of SA’s Hope For A Yellow Cause Charity Ball from 7pm at Cypriot Community Centre, 5-8 Barrpowell St, Welland, on Friday 6 February alongside illusionist Nicholas Tweedy, singer songwriter Alex Hosking and Hyperdance Dance Crew. For more information, contact The Cancer Council Of SA. Fresh from storming to victory in the publicly voted Favourite Artist and Favourite Song gongs at the recent Fowler’s Live Awards, South Australian songstress Julia Henning has released a new single, Drifter,

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and has backed it up with a national tour which winds up in her hometown. Catch Julia at McLaren Vale’s The Singing Gallery on Saturday 31 January with special guest Kelly Menhennett before she plays WOMADelaide.

Brothers Demons & Angels is The Angels’ founders John and Rick Brewster with their sons Sam Brewster (bass), Tom Brewster (drums) and Harry Brewster (guitar).

The show is about the musical journey of Rick and John Brewster taking fans on a musical journey back to pre-Angels days when the Brewsters first surfaced as The Moonshine Jug & String Band. The show also covers The Angels era and then onto their Brewster Brothers time. Catch the show at The Promethean, 116 Grote St, on Friday 30 January.

There is to be yet another of the fabulous The Porch Sessions at a secret location on Sunday 8 February and will feature Timberwolf, Cookie Baker and Ollie English. You know the drill. Book very, very, very quickly at Moshtix before it sells out.

Oh, sorry, it already has. Well done to all who scored a ticket.

Dreamy Adelaide electronica outfit Flamingo have just announced their first ever headline tour. Last year included spots at Groovin’ The Moo and Splendour In The Grass as well as support slots with Rufus, Bonobo and Classix. Flamingo also released their debut EP, Heavy Load, in July so catch ’em drip away at Jive, 181 Hindley St, on Saturday 21 February. Book at Moshtix.

East Texas have a slew of upcoming gigs commencing with Hotel Metro, 46 Grote St, from 3pm on Sunday 1 February, The Gaslight Tavern, 36 Chief St, Brompton, from 5pm on Sunday 15 February with The Pumpin’ Piano Cats and The Cadillacs and a free entry front bar gig at The Governor Hindmarsh Hotel, 59 Port Rd, Hindmarsh, from 9pm on Saturday 21 March.

Fresh from yet another European jaunt, much-loved bearded Adelaide band The Beards have announced a show at the Governor Hindmarsh, 59 Port Rd, on Saturday 28 March. Tickets via OzTix or at the venue.

Ronnie Taheny will be undertaking her annual concert at the Governor Hindmarsh, 59 Port Rd, Hindmarsh, on Saturday 7 February with support from Ben Ford-Davies. Book quickly via Moshtix for dinner and show or show only as Ronnie’s gigs invariably sell out all too quickly.

Moonlight Cinema has returned to Botanic Park and continues until Sunday 15 February. Expect the screening of new releases as well as classics. Explore the full program at <moonlightcinema.com.au>.

Poolside is a family-friendly event providing young musicians the chance to showcase their talents to the community and run annually by the City Of Norwood Payneham & St Peters on Australia Day at Payneham Swimming Centre. Poolside 2015 will be held on Monday 26 January from 2pm until 6pm. Youth bands, solo artists, DJs and other musicians of all genres will be performing after being curated by council’s Youth Advisory Committee (YAC) via Music SA. The next AMC (Adelaide Music Collective) Sessions is to be a celebration concert at Mortlock Chamber, State Library, North Tce, from 7.30pm on Monday 9 February and it will feature 14 local acts including The Masters Apprentices, The Twilights, Bev Harrell, Doug Ashdown, John Schumann, Rockin’ Rob Riley, Chris Finnen, Peter Combe, The Timbers, The Beggars, Vincent’s Chair, The Baker Suite and Brillig. The event will also coincide with the SA Music Hall Of Fame’s Yesterday’s Heroes exhibition. Grab tickets very quickly at <trybooking.com112033>.

HEADING TO TOWN (CONTINUED FROM PAGE 4) Tickets are strictly limited to 200 when The Ape, featuring Tex Perkins, hit Crown & Anchor, 196 Grenfell St, Adelaide, on Saturday 31 January with special guests The Sloe Ruin and Kitchen Witch. Tickets now available at the usual outlets.

Brisbane’s Caligula’s Horse will play Enigma Bar, 173 Hindley St alongside like-minded heavy rockers AlithiA, Ayssidia and For Millenia on Saturday 31 January.

The line-up for Kustom Kulture Weekender has just been announced for Highway Inn, Anzac Hwy, Plympton, as part of Adelaide Fringe. On Friday 13 March, it’s Sydney-based ska legends The Allniters alongside Fistful Of Trojans and Young Offenders, on Saturday 14 March it’s Big Sandy and Los Straitjackets from the US with The Saucermen, The Satellites and Madeleine DeVille, while on Sunday 15 March, it’s El Caminos. On Saturday 14 March, The Rememberz and The Jamjets will also be playing in the car park from high noon as part of the Hotrod & Kustom Showdown. Tickets via FringeTix. Melbourne bands Tequila Mockingbyrd and I Am Mine are getting together to head over the border and hit Worldsend Hotel, 208 Hindley St, on Friday March 13 at which they’ll have Jungle City as special guests.

Hard rockin’ Aussie band Evol Walks are now based in Hollywood, USA, but are coming home for an extensive tour that will bring them to The Promethean, 116 Grote St from 7.30pm on Thursday 12 February where they will be joined by a top local line-up of The Motive, Jungle City and The Fortunes Of War. Tickets will be $10 at the door.

Brisbane’s Plan Of Attack are heading to town to play a 50th birthday party of a well-known local lad which will take place at Land Of Promise Hotel, 172 Port Rd, Hindmarsh, on Friday 14 February with Northern Drinking Cult and Soberphobia as special guests.

Aggressive Sydney punks Hellions have announced a national tour to coincide with the release of Indian Summer and they will play Enigma Bar, 173 Hindley St, on Friday 20 March.

Sumeru are a five-piece rock band from Sydney featuring members of Blkout, Lomera, Firearms, Shake Your Blood and No Apologies will hit Worldsend Hotel, 208 Hindley St, on Saturday 14 March. Stayed tuned for special local guests bands.

Following on from the cancellation of his remaining US and Canadian tour dates, Frontier Touring regret to announce that due to ongoing family illness, Johnny Marr has been forced to postpone his tour of Australia and New Zealand). Johnny was set to play the Governor Hindmarsh in early February with revised dates to be announced soon. Hang on to those tickets.

The date for the next Blues On The Parade has been announced for the Norwood Hotel, Norwood, and it’s to be held from 4pm on Sunday 12 April with US act Donavon Frankenreiter as the super guest headliner with Dusty Lee’s Wasted Wanderers, Gab Hyde, Craig Atkins and China Doll also on the bill. Tickets via Moshtix or at the venue.

Following a recent visit to launch their debut album, Black Noise, Melbourne rock trio River Of Snakes are set to make a speedy return to play Worldsend, 208 Hindley St, on Friday 6 March with guests Filthy Lucre and Gun It. Folk rockers The Rumjacks are about to go out on a national tour which will take them everywhere before they wind it all

up at Crown & Anchor, 196 Grenfell St, on Saturday 18 April.

Bass player CJ Ramone, who joined New York’s The Ramones in 1986, has announced that he will be performing at Crown & Anchor, 196 Grenfell St, on Tuesday 10 February. CJ and his band, which includes Steve Soto and Dan Root (Adolescents) on guitars and Pete Soso (Street Dogs) on drums, will be playing all The Ramones classics as well as some choice cuts from new album, Last Chance To Dance.

Here’s an interesting one for all you fallen down monsters out there. The Baby Animals and The Superjesus will be playing The Governor Hindmarsh, 59 Port Rd, Hindmarsh, SA, on Friday 19 June with tickets on sale now via OzTix or at the venue.

Boasting a huge line-up of international, national and local glam rockers and hard rock bands, L.O.U.D. Fest 2015 will feature Dellacoma Rio (US), Love Cream, White Widdow (from Melbourne), Sisters Doll (Melbourne), Speedmachine, Sweet Anarchy, Trash City, Odysey, Canephora, Hi Speed Life and more at The Bridgeway Hotel, Bridge Rd, Pooraka, on Saturday 14 February.

Megan Washington has announced that she will have Montaigne and Greg Chapello as special guests when she brings her There There album tour to the Governor Hindmarsh Hotel, 59 Port Rd, Hindmarsh, on Friday 27 February. Book via OzTix or at the venue.

Harry Howard is set to return to town with his band, Near Death Experience, which features Dave Graney and Clare Moore, and they will once again play Hotel Metro, 46 Grote St, with The Dunes as special guests on Saturday 21 February.

Melbourne rock band Crash & Burn will hit Bridgeway Hotel, Bridge Rd, Pooraka, on Saturday 7 March with doors at 6.30pm and a stellar line-up of Speedmachine, The Menace, Hi Speed Life and Mark Bowley.

Germany’s premier post metal act The Ocean are returning to Australia to play their highly acclaimed record Pelagial in full for the very first time in this country. Get set to experience The Ocean when they play Jive, 181 Hindley St, with Caligula’s Horse on Thursday 16 April. Book at Moshtix.

Melbourne-based blues rockers The Ugly Kings are returning to town and will play Glenelg Backpackers with special guests on Friday 27 February and Worldsend, 208 Hindley St, on Saturday 28 February also with special guests.

Melbourne punk rockers The Bennies are out on a national tour to further promote their Heavy Disco EP and will hit Enigma Bar, 173 Hindley St, on Thursday 19 March.

Tickets will be strictly limited to 200 when The Ape, featuring Tex Perkins, hit Crown & Anchor, 196 Grenfell St, Adelaide, on Saturday 31 January with special guests The Sloe Ruin and Kitchen Witch. Tickets now available at the usual outlets.

Down On The Plains will feature contemporary folk musicians Kieran Ryan (of Melbourne), Julia Jacklin (of Sydney) and locals Delia Obst and Naomi Kristini and will take place at the Wheatsheaf Hotel, 39 George St, Thebarton, on Saturday 7 February from 8pm.

Atlanta-based hardcore act Norma Jean will visit Australia for the first time in a couple of years and are set to play Fowler’s Live, 68-70 North Tce, on Saturday 11 April with special guests to be announced soon.

RONNIE TAHENY

It would appear, as I fast approach yet another significant birthday, I am in grave danger of transforming myself into a grumpy old person.

RONNIE TAHENY

By Sian Williams The world of music-making can be a hard slog to achieve what one’s personal goal, whether that’s reaching a particular pinnacle of performance or making the mark in the musical classroom.

Naturally, the benchmark is always moving forwards, sideways, backwards, as we ebb and flow with the tides of what is the flavour of the month.

Even harder is to front up and showcase yourself in all your vulnerability; especially if you have worn another coat for a long time.

Ben Ford-Davies is such a musician, having played locally and nationally for some time and is, indeed, an extremely talented musician.

He’s presenting his debut original performance as the support for the spunky and effervescent Ronnie Taheny’s annual sell-out show at The Governor Hindmarsh.

We speak with Ronnie and Ben and ask the perpetually-busy Ronnie what she’s been up to of late.

“Life is sensational,” Ronnie enthuses. “I’m enjoying being back in Adelaide after a long stint on the road and overseas, and loving the industry where I’m privileged to be involved with the lives of some amazing musicians. You find that after a length of time, and a lot of hard work, you reach a certain level which is either difficult to maintain or leaves you asking yourself what to do next with the abundance of opportunities out there.”

You have a business which involves mentoring and business development for musicians.

“It’s kind of a mentorship and partnership really. It’s funny, I was watching some graduates from university and lamenting the notion that while there are some amazing musicians and music students, they seemed lost in terms of what to do next and how to get – and maintain – work long-term. I saw a real opportunity to help people; having had so much experience in the real world and learnt many lessons myself.

“I wanted to offer a service in kind that fills those gaps. There is no ‘musicians handbook’ when you leave uni or whatever you are doing, to tell you who to look forward into the world. Lots of it is pot luck sometimes.”

You are still performing though?

“Of course,” she says. “I always will. This show at the Gov is one of my favourites; it’s been an annual gig for about 20 years now.

It’s also great to branch out and extend my skill base. The Germain Sisters were one of the first acts I had the chance to work with and since then have had some absolute amazing artists as clients. It is so rewarding watching people grow.”

Ben, what about you; you’ve been away for some time interstate?

“Yes, I’ve spent a good chunk of time in Port Douglas region and all over the country,” he replies. “I decided it was time – having matured, I guess, as a musician to get really stuck into what I love doing which is writing

and showing people what I am made up of; it’s not all about cover bands!”

Nothing wrong with cover bands.

“No, but there’s a time and a place – for many musicians there’s the opportunity to make a decent living out of corporate or party band-style gigs. This is, of course, for us a good way to get regular income in such a volatile environment. But what’s really rewarding is having your own material out there. The big leap is happening for me now; I’ve dabbled for a while but it is a huge mental shift to make this your full time gig. It’s scary and, at the same time, really exciting.”

What’s the formula you work with in your mentoring business, Ronnie? Do you set goals for people? Did you have your own and, if so, have you ticked them all off?

“Yes, I actually have a very concrete list and I feel as though I have done them all,” she replies.” For example playing the Galway Arts Festival was a big thing for me.

And shifting to A1 poster size… which is something the true artists will understand the importance.

“However, the list is always shifting and moving. And everyone knows a musician is never all the way there. There is always improvement, room for growth.”

What are you goals and ambitions for this year and beyond, Ben? “You know, I’m myself – my true self – when I’m onstage,” he says. “I feel as though my connections with people are my most authentic. I’m excited to be on this journey working with Ronnie because, although I have had the opportunity to travel so much and record, play and work within the industry for so long, it is amazing to have the chance to give my original music its own space now.

“It makes the world of difference having someone alongside me who backs me, encourages me.”

The gig at The Gov should be a big night.

You must both be looking forward to it?

“We are doing our own sets but then may get up at some point together,” Ronnie suggests. “You’ll have to come to find out for yourselves.”

“Yes, we think, especially with the two performers, that this will be an amazing show,” Ben adds. “Ronnie’s annual performances at The Gov always make for a busy night. We are taking bookings for tables to encourage the more intimate vibe.

Tickets are selling really well, so people need to get in quickly.

I took note of this just after Christmas when I went to place a gift voucher I had received for Christmas into that special place you can never remember and discovered a gift voucher from last Christmas.

But I noted that when I placed my smart phone into the docking device, the alarm clock radio automatically synced to the time it was on my smart phone. “Hey, that’s pretty smart,” I thought loudly to myself, “but it means that I now have to remember that I don’t actually have that extra 10 minutes I always thought I had at hand. I must try and remember that.”

“So that’s where it was all this time,” I thought to myself as I noted that, fortunately, it had not completely expired.

But was close.

It was a $50 gift voucher – I do have some quite nice relatives, relatively speaking, in my immediate family – and was redeemable at a variety of variety stores as well as a wellknown bottle shop. And, I think, some kind of office supplies store.

Anyway, I thought of what item I could redeem with my voucher and almost immediately it came to me. My alarm clock radio had been acting up – the numbers that flick over every minute had sometimes been getting stuck – so I thought that with a $50 voucher I could easily get it replaced.

So, off I went and at my first point of call I soon noticed a name-brand digital alarm clock radio in the electrical goods section of a local variety store.

I also noted that the name-brand device had been constructed by a company I had never before heard of but it came with a perfect price tag of $49.95. Perfect! I could spend the change on a little treat for myself.

I also noted that it had a docking device for charging a smart phone of the mobile variety. ‘That could be good’, I quickly thought to myself. ‘I could wake up each morning to the sound of my very favourite iTunes’.

So I made my purchase using the gift card that had been gifted to me the Christmas before last and excitedly raced home so that I could install it in my bedroom.

I must admit, however, that it took me ages to set it up. The instructions were clear but confusing. ‘Press button A, wait three seconds and then press it again’. You probably know the kind of thing.

Anyway, I am also one of those strange persons that likes to have my alarm clock radio set for about 10 minutes after the actual real time as it gives me a false sense of timing. I can look at my alarm clock radio and think, ‘Oh, is that the time?’ and then quickly remember that it’s actually 10 minutes earlier. So I won’t actually miss my bus/train/tram if I leave home right now.

The device, I later found, also has a number of annoying design flaws with one of them being that it did not have an AM component and if I used the iTunes to wake myself up, it automatically played them at the volume my phone was set to ring at.

As such, it was so loud that the music was very distorted and the vibrations made the device slowly vibrate across the bedside cabinet until it suddenly fell off the edge and landed on the floor with a thud. I am now wondering if this is what had been intended all along with the loud thud of the device hitting the floor serving as the actual alarm.

It’s an alarming thought.

Suffice to say, my brand new alarm clock radio actually only lasted a matter of days – some say it’s called built in obsolescence – and I had to venture out and buy a new one.

Luckily, I found a perfectly acceptable model made by a corporation known as Sony that does have an AM component and also lets me set the time 10 minutes in advance so I never have to worry about missing my train, tram or bus ever again.

It was also considerably cheaper than my previous high end model with the only flaw being that it has a switch called DS which, I have discovered, stands for ‘Daylight Saving’ and simply by flicking the switch either forward or backward it turns the time back or forward by an hour. Sweet. And very handy at least twice a year.

Unfortunately, it’s just a little too close to the snooze button so there have been odd occasions when I’ve accidently hit it when attempting to get a few more minutes sleep.

BEN FORD-DAVIES

“We’ll each have our own merchandise for sale on the night, including Ronnie’s new range, and then it’s the hustle and bustle of interstate touring and, ideally in the near future, overseas.”

Ronnie Taheny plus special guest Ben Ford-Davies play the Governor Hindmarsh Hotel from 7.30pm on Saturday & February. Book via OzTix or the venue.

To read the full interview, head to theclothesline.com.au

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THE SLOE RUIN

THE SLOE RUIN

By Robert Dunstan The Sloe Ruin are an unashamed country band who are now set to launch their debut CD following a few shows around the place.

The six-piece, comprising of Häna Brenecki on lead vocals and rhythm guitar, Ryan Underhill on vocals and bass guitar, JessieLee Zubkevych on guitar, Matty Carter behind the kit, KeV McGloin on banjo and Stef Krcmarov on organ and accordion, did their first gig as part of Matt Hills’ huge Hillside Festival late last year.

“That was sort of our first ever show but it wasn’t the full band,” Häna says. “KeV was away for that one so it was just a taste of what we do.”

The Sloe Ruin played their first big show as a six-piece at the Grace Emily only quite recently.

“And we were stoked with the response we got,” Häna says. “We couldn’t have asked for a better crowd.”

“I’d always wanted to start a country band but was never in Adelaide long enough to put anything together,” Häna says when asked about the band’s origins.

“I was working in the Northern Territory at a mine site and was flying back and forth all the time so I had to put doing much music on hold for a while,” she continues. “And then I went overseas for a couple of months but when I came back, the mine site had closed down so I no longer had any work.

“So I thought it’d be a good time to put a country band together,” Häna says. “And, initially, I just wanted to record some songs to see how it would turn out before actually forming a band.

“And I knew Jess [also of The Villennettes] was into country music and I’d already been doing some stuff with my good friend Ryan [of bluesy rock band Appomattox Run] and also with Matty in Ricochet Pete.

“So we had a bit of a jam on the songs I had and then booked a recording date and recorded them,” Häna continues, “and then we got Stef in to play keyboards and it all came together that way.

“And after we’d recorded a few songs, we all felt we were really enjoying it and should maybe book a few shows and then do some kind of launch,” she says. “And, after we’d recorded the songs, we got KeV in to play banjo which made us a six-piece.

So it’ll kind of fallen into place and we are all really enjoying what we do,” Häna says. “So we think we’ll kick on with it and see where it goes.”

“And I’d always wanted to play country music but could never really find anyone to play it with,” Jess says. “So I was pretty excited when Häna said she was getting a country band together and asked if I wanted to join.

‘It was like all my cowgirl dream came true,” she laughs, “because while I had a bit of a liking for country music, I’d always played in garage rock and rock’n’roll bands.

“Country was never something I was really into but, working in the Northern Territory, you get totally exposed to it because pretty much everyone up there listens to it all the time,” Häna adds. “So it was always around.”

“And I think what really cemented it for both of us, was going to Nashville,” Jess adds.

“I’d been to Nashville before, but last time I went, I was listening to county music from 11am in the morning until 2am at night. And it just blew my mind.”

12

“And I’d spent a week in Nashville and that was what cemented it for me,” Häna says.

“My mum and dad only had one country album and it was some kind of Golden Guitars compilation from the ’90s so it wasn’t a very good introduction.

“But the music in Nashville totally won me over and I suddenly thought, ‘This is it! This is what I have to play’,” she enthuses. “I was completely converted from then on.”

“So, aside from The Sloe Ruin playing with Tex Perkins [at Crown & Anchor on Saturday 31 January also with Diesel Witch], we’ve got our EP launch coming up and then we will be supporting The Kill Devil Hills when they play The Cranka in early April,” Jess announces.

“And we’ve also been offered our first proper country show,” she continues. “It’s down in Penola for the Coonawarra Arts Festival in May. They contacted us about playing there because someone who saw us play at the Grace the other week had contacted one of the organisers about booking us.

“So that’ll be cool,” Jess suggests.

“And I’d say, by mid-year, we’ll have something booked in for Melbourne, because we now have quite a few contacts over there,” Häna concludes. “And because we’ve all played in lots of venues around town in various other bands, we also want to get The Sloe Ruin out to a few country towns as well because the music really suits playing those kind of places.”

The Sloe Ruin play Crown & Anchor, 196 Grenfell St, on Saturday 31 January with Tex Perkins & The Ape and Kitchen Witch.

The band will then launch their EP from 9pm on Friday 6 February with Cosmo Thundercat at the Wheatsheaf Hotel, 39 George St, Thebarton. Tickets at the door for $15.

THE VILLENETTES

By Robert Dunstan The Villenettes are the all-girl gang of Anna, Clair, Jess and Kylie who cite such musical influences as The Cramps, Imelda May, The Rolling Stones, Lanie Lane and White Stripes.

The band are now set for a big launch of debut album, Lady Luck, for which they have invited like-mined Melbourne five-piece The Reprobettes to take part as well as local punk band Stabbitha & The Knifey Wifeys and also burlesque performer Madeleine DeVille.

“And it’ll be The Reprobettes first time in Adelaide,” guitarist Jess says. “They are on the same Melbourne record label, Off The Hip, as The Villenettes so whenever we go over to Melbourne, we play with them. The Reprobettes also play with [Adelaide band] The Molting Vultures a fair bit.

“They also get a bit of play on Three D Radio and because I am good friends with their guitarist, Shannon, we’ve been trying to get them over to Adelaide for a while. So our launch will be perfect.

“Stabbitha & The Knifey Wifeys are a new Adelaide band and we’d describe them as quite punk or even riot grrrl. And Madeleine DeVille has been involved in the burlesque scene for a while now so we’re pretty happy to have her as it will add a different aspect to the night and it also makes it branch out into another area of performing arts. So she’ll do a devilish performance just before we play.”

“And we are putting a lot of effort into making the stage look cool by putting up big backdrops and stuff like that. We want to make it a really big deal because it’s our album launch.”

Lady Luck was recorded at Melbourne studio Head Gap which is in Preston and operated

by Neil Thomason and is where River Of Snakes recently cut Black Noise and which has also seen Adalita and Paul Kelly record there.

“And The Reprobettes did their album there and when we were looking around for a place to record, quite a few people suggested Head Gap. And we just thought it might be good to get out of Adelaide because we’d be able to focus more on what we were doing.

“Mick Baty [AKA Mickster] from Off The Hip produced us and we did 14 songs in about four days. But we didn’t see much [of Melbourne] apart from where we were staying and the studio.”

Jess is set for a big night as prior to hitting the stage with The Villenettes, she will also be playing guitar with The Sloe Ruin at another venue.

“Yeah, so as soon as I’ve finished that gig I’ll be racing over to The Jade Monkey,” she laughs. “It’s a good thing both venues are so close together.”

The Villenettes will launch their debut album, Lady Luck, from 8pm on Saturday 31 January at The Jade Monkey, 160 Flinders St, with The Reprobettes, Stabbitha & The Knifey Wifeys and also burlesque performer Madeleine DeVille.

ALL AGES • ALL STYLES • ALL INSTRUMENTS • ALL WELCOME

ADELAIDE HILLS COUNCIL CHAMBERS

Upcoming Jamz

(Nairne Road, Woodside)

3-6pm FREE ENTRY! Refreshments available for purchase Woodside Jamz is a substance-free event Contact Mark de Lange for more information mdelange@ahc.sa.gov.au • 0439 833 121

13

CAREER PATHWAYS 2015

courses.musicsa.com.au

14

THE BIZZO

ARE CDS STILL IMPORTANT AND RELEVANT?

By Corey Stewart The simple answer to that question is “Yes, of course they are.”

Even though the way that we’ve discovered, purchased and listened to music has dramatically changed over the past 10 years, the humble CD has still got some life in them yet.

Yes, I know that CD sales have been falling steadily since 1999 and I know that more people are downloading, streaming and even ripping music off of the internet but as a musician, CDs can still be an important tool in promoting, marketing and selling your music.

Here are ten ways that CDs are still important and relevant right now...

1. It’s a physical product to sell: Downloads, for all of their conveniences, can still become corrupted or deleted whereas a physical CD is something physical. It gives you something tangible to sell on your website.

2. CDs are great impulse purchase at your gigs: If you do an amazing show and you touch, move and inspire your crowd enough, your CD will be the best reminder they have of your show. Downloads just don’t inspire that urge to buy on impulse as a CD does.

Besides, you can’t sign a download.

3. Liner notes and Cover art: Just like the vinyl record before it, the packaging of a CD really lends itself to having extra information about you and your music included with the sonic experience.

Depending on the packaging you choose, you can have your lyrics included and it’s all self contained in one package. You can also go to town a bit with the artwork. Try doing that with a download.

4. Your merchandising table will look empty without them: CDs should the very first things that you put onto your merchandising table at gigs.

Hopefully this would inspire you to explore other merchandising options for your music.

5. CDs are still HUGE in Japan: For a country that is synonymous with ahead-of-its-time technological advances, Japan is a country that still loves the CD and it’s one of the only countries in the world that is bucking the music downloads/ streaming trend at this time.

“What does this have to do with the Adelaide music scene?” I hear you ask.

Well, what if you’re thinking of touring Japan or, wanting to push some online promotion to the Japanese market? It would be handy to know that there’s an audience that still loves to buy CDs waiting to hear your your music and perhaps buy your product as well.

BPLUS: WOODSIDE JAMZ

technological advances of the music industry at the speed of light but there are still some punters that aren’t as tech-savvy as you might think. They might even be techaverse.

Some generation X’ers and baby boomers still go out and actively seek musical experiences whether it be live or recorded and the CD is still their medium of choice so supply these punters with products that they understand.

7. The sound quality is better: Even though streaming services like Spotify are now streaming MP3s at 320kps for premium subscribers (its default is 160kps) the sound quality on a CD is better than an MP3.

8. CD demos are still the industry standard in promotion: When you’re promoting yourself to agents and venues for gigs, it’s still good to have some physical product to give to them in addition to giving them a link to your website or SoundCloud account.

Giving them your CD completes a physical exchange between you and the agent/venue which will go a long way in solidifying your relationship with them.

9. You can’t get reviewed if you don’t have a CD: One of the best ways to promote your CD is to have it reviewed by a third party website and most of these websites still want you to send them CDs. If you don’t have a CD, you can’t get reviewed.

BPLUS: WOODSIDE JAMZ

By Libby Parker This week, BPlus focuses on a monthly event aimed at getting young people engaged with music.

Woodside Jamz is the brainchild of teacher Shayne Tarling and Adelaide Hills Council Community Development Officer For Youth & Recreation, Mark de Lange.

a safe place, substance-free where they can come along to play,” Shayne says.

“And it’s supervised. I’m a teacher so I’ve got all the valid certification. We’re musicians as well so we act as mentors and can give some pointers to the young people as we go along.”

The first Jamz session happened late last year with each monthly event bringing in regular participants and new faces.

Happening on the third Sunday of each month, Woodside Jamz encourages young people at any level of skill of any instrument to come and jam.

Coming up this year, Jamz will be Sunday 15 February, then Sunday 15 March and Sunday 19 April with more great events to be announced.

Shayne Tarling says it’s a great place for solo artists and bands to meet, play or just support their mates.

“Going into 2015, we are looking to have the Jamz feed into other Adelaide Hills Council youth events,” Shayne says.

“The aim of it is to give young musicians in the Adelaide Hills the chance to come together and jam, where they can meet like-minded people. It’s a bit of an open mic, but also an opportunity for established groups to do a short set if they want a bit of performance practice,” he says.

“We’re working on an application for National Youth Week funding to run some workshops with a group called ‘The Emu Tree’ who do songwriting and music industry workshops.”

The structure of the Jamz is fairly casual, but it is supervised so participants can come along to a safe space to rock out or hang out.

Supported by Adelaide Hills Council and Adelaide Hills Youth Advisory Committee, Woodside Jamz came about due to a need for youth engagement in the Hills.

“Adelaide Hills is a really big region and there’s a significant level of disengagement with young people; so through music we’re hoping to create an ongoing monthly event,

Woodside Jamz is a great incentive to engage young people and encourage musicians at all levels to get up and have a go.

“Anyone can get involved. It’s free to participate. Just turn up, let us know what you play and join in when you’re comfortable.” Shayne says.

If you’re in the Hills or know any young Hills musicians, get along to Woodside Jamz and give them some support. The Jamz are on at Adelaide Hills Council Chambers, Nairne Rd, Woodside, on the third Sunday of each month.

The main reason for this is that reviewers seem to take more seriously musicians who have a physical product as opposed to musicians who only have a digital download to offer.

It’s like the investment made by the musician to create the CD product adds extra kudos to the recording.

NB: We at BSide Magazine have teamed up with MusicSA for CD reviews so if you’re wanting your CD reviewed then send it to MusicSA and if reviewed, we’ll print it.

10. Radio still uses them: Yes I know that some stations may use digital files but generally, you’re not going to be played on radio if you don’t have a CD to give to them. Simple as that.

Well, what do you think? Do you think that CDs are still important/relevant in this day and age? Are there any other uses for CDs that I haven’t covered in this article?

You can let me know by contacting me at corey@bsidemagazine.com.au I’d love to hear from you.

Speaking about CDs... If you have recorded music and you’re ready to put them onto CD then give us a call at BSide Media on 8346 9899. We can help you with all your CD printing needs.

6. Remember, not everyone knows technology like you do: Sure there are a whole generations of people who seem to be embracing the

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