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X-Press – First on the street, Wednesdays
KISS ME, KATE
Following on from a year that included two national tours, international dates and a number of festival appearances, the tireless Kate Miller-Heidke is embarking on a massive tour of regional centres - her first since 2009. Fans can catch Kate at St Joseph’s Church, Subiaco, on Wednesday, June 5; the Mandurah Performing Arts Centre on Thursday, June 6, (tickets from manpac.com.au); the Albany Entertainment Centre on Friday, June 7, (tickets from ticketek.com.au); and the Margaret River Cultural Centre on Saturday, June 8 (tickets through artsmargaretriver.com).
Ben Ottewell
BEN THERE, DONE THAT
Ben Ottewell, normally seen as one of English indie band Gomez’s three lead singers, is heading our way to give his pipes a solo outing. Get a load of his bluesy tenor at Mojos on Wednesday, June 26, where he’ll be playing selections from his solo album, 2011’s Shapes & Shadows, as well as Gomez classics. Tickets though lovepolice.com.au and oztix.com.au
Kate Miller-Heidke
DEEP ROOTS
The Smith Street Band
MISTER SMITH GOES TO PERTH
Melbourne favourites The Smith Street Band are on their way here! Get a load of their lyrical punk rock goodness at The Rosemount Hotel on Thursday, August 22, and Bunbury’s Prince of Wales Hotel on Friday, August 23, along with their US support acts Joyce Manor and Cheap Girls. Tickets and info are a click away at thesmithstreetband.com.
Xavier Rudd
Blues’n’roots fans are in for a special treat this September, when the triple threat of Xavier Rudd, Donavon Frankenreiter and Nahko & Medicine For The People roll into town for what is doubtless going to a memorable and inspiring show. The three share a deep love and respect for both music and the ocean and they’ll celebrating that commonality at Margaret River ’s 3 Oceans Winer y on Saturday, September 28, and the Fremantle Arts Centre on Sunday, September 29. Tickets and information through tour. xavierrudd.com
George Benson
SMOOTH OPERATOR
Multiple Grammy award winner George Benson brings his silky voice and innovative guitar style to the Riverside Theatre as part of his Hits & Inspirations tour. A true music legend, with a range that spans pop, soul, jazz and R&B, Benson brings with him a huge catalogue of hits, including such timeless numbers as Breezin’, Feel Like Makin’ Love, Lady Love Me (One More Time) and more. You can see the man Miles Davis once praised as ‘the baddest guitar player alive’ on Saturday, August 21. Tickets are available through Ticketmaster.
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Reactions/Comp Thing Flesh Music: Jinja Safari/ Rose Tattoo Music: Vampire Weekend/ The Ghost Inside Music: Grace Woodroofe/ State Of The Art Music: Cat Empire New Noise Eye4 Cover: Kneebody Eye4 Movies: News/ The Reluctant Fundamentalist/ The Call Eye4 Movies: X-Press Flick Picks Eye4: Perth International Jazz Festival Arts Listings Salt Cover: Mantra Salt: News/ Test Pad/ Amani Consort/ Nick Thayar Salt: Von D/ Elite Force Salt: Club Manual Salt: Rewind: Altered States Scene: Live: Jello Biafra & The Guantanamo School Of Medicine Tour Trails Gig Guide Volume
COVER: Grace Woodroofe performs a headline show at Residence @ Metropolis Fremantle this Friday, May 24, and is also part of the huge State Of The Art line-up at the Perth Concert Hall Precinct on Sunday, June 2. Photo: Jody Pachniuk. SALT COVER:Emcee Mantra might have been a bad boy at school but his new single Loudmouth is pretty top class. More on page 33. www.xpressmag.com.au
The Justin Walshe Folk Machine
SUNDAY PIAZZA LIVE
Northbridge Piazza will come alive this Sunday, May 26, with the folk rock sounds of The Justin Walshe Folk Machine, who will, no doubt, be performing the new single, The Road to Menindee, from their new album, The Epic Tale of Burke & Wills. They’ll be supported by jazz outfit, The Overflow Trio. Get down to the corner of Lake and James Streets between 1-3pm. Entry is, but of course, free.
SCHOOL OF ROCK
Fancy yourself as a bit of a rock guru? Why not try your chances at the School Of Rock? It’s a rock’n’roll quiz night that’ll take you through decades of classical rock and pop in a fast-paced and competitive music quiz. Teams will be named after famous musicians or bands and huge video screens and audio system will create the rock vibe. Bring your rock skill and knowledge to the Loftus Recreation Centre this Saturday, May 25. Tickets are $25 each or $140 for a table of eight. Proceeds Go To Variety WA. 7
Send your name, address and daytime phone number to win@xpressmag.com.au with the name of the competition in the subject line or enter online at www.xpressmag.com.au. Snail mail entries can be sent to Locked Bag 31, West Perth 6872. Entries close 4pm Monday. By entering you agree to X-Press Magazine’s Terms and Conditions, which can be found online. All competition entries will automatically enable you to become an X-Press subscriber! No details will be given to a third party.
Print and Digital Editions Publisher/Manager Joe Cipriani Editorial
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Managing Editor Bob Gordon: editor@xpressmag.com.au Fashion Editor Emma Bergmeier: fashion@xpressmag.com.au Dance Music & Features Editor Jo Campbell: danceeditor@xpressmag.com.au Local Music & Arts Editor Travis Johnson: localmusicarts@xpressmag.com.au Gig & Event Guides Co-ordinator guide@xpressmag.com.au Entertainment Services Co-ordinator / Competitions win@xpressmag.com.au Photography Callum Ponton, Stefan Caramia, Daniel Grant, Sammy Granville, Matt Jelonek, Denis Radacic, Emma Mackenzie, Guang-Hui Chuan, Max Fairclough Contributing Writers Henry Andersen, Ashleigh Whyte, Nina Bertok, Shaun Cowe, Derek Cromb,Chris Gibbs,Alfred Gorman,George Green,Alex Griffin,Chris Havercroft, Joshua Hayes, Brendan Holben, Coral Huckstep, Rezo Kezerashvili,Tara Lloyd, Adam Morris, Andrew Nelson, Chloe Papas, Tom Varian, Ben Watson, Jessica Willoughby, Miki Mclay, Morgan Richards, James Manning, Joe Cassidy, Shane Pinnegar For band gigs and launches - plugyourgig@xpressmag.com.au
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And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead
DEAD & GRIZZLY
And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead are to perform their 2002 album, Source Tags & Codes, in full at the Rosemount Hotel this Saturday, May 25, at the Rosemount Hotel, supported by Sincerely Grizzly. We’ve got a double pass for one lucky reader.
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Our Man in Berlin
A BIT OF BERLIN AT THE ROSIE
Our Man in Berlin are launching their debut EP, Temaze, this Friday, May 24 at The Rosemount. This five-track release was recorded and mixed by Andy Lawson at Debaser (Eskimo Joe, Rainy Day Women, The Chemist, Little Birdy) and mastered by Greg Calbi (Bon Iver, Father John Misty, Foster the People) at Stirling Studios, NYC. Email us for one of two double passes to the launch and a copy of the EP. Support on the night will come in the form of The Shallows, Simone & Girlfunkle and Sidewalk Diamonds.
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LOUD MANTRA
Melbourne-based rapper, Mantra, will be dropping his new single on The Rosemount this weekend. Having just signed to the same label as Seth Sentry, Ten To Two Records, his new tune, Loudmouth, is an Tommy Trash autobiographical song about being the class clown and is the precursor to his next LP, out later this year. Tickets are on sale now from mantraemcee.com for the Saturday, June 1 show but you can email us now Voted as the Most Influential Person in Australian for a chance to win one of five double passes. Dance Music by inthemix, Tommy Trash took out #1 DJ in the inthemix awards last year and snapped up a Grammy Award nomination. He’s currently killing it in the US working with Deadmau5 and A-Trak and is heading back for a headline Australian tour; hitting Perth on Sunday, June 2. Thanks to Boomtick, we’ve got two double passes to post out to two electro enthusiasts.
TRASHY BUT INFLUENTIAL
Production Co-ordinator Uli Mauersberg
Mantra
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The Disappointed
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CAB AUDITED CIRCULATION: 38,000 OCTOBER 2011 – MARCH 2012
COOL FOR YOU?
Like LL Cool J? We’ve got five copies of his latest Deadlines album, Authentic, up for grabs. This time around, EDITORIAL Cool J has collabed with a whole bunch of artists, General: Friday 5pm,, Eye4 Arts: Thursday 10am, Comp’ including: Brad Paisley, Chuck D, Eddie Van Halen, Thing: Monday Noon,, Salt Clubs: Monday 5pm , Local Scene: Earth, Wind & Fire, Monica, Snoop Dogg, Seal and Monday Noon,, Gig Guide: Monday 5pm Travis Barker. ADVERTISING
APPOINTED DISAPPOINTED
To celebrate the release of their new single and music vid, Stranger, The Disappointed will be hosting a Perth launch next Friday, May 31 at Beat Nightclub. They’ll be supported by The Community Chest, Harlequin League and Sons Of Saviour. Email us for one of two double entry prize packs, including a copy of the single.
Cancellations: Monday 5pm, Ads to be set: Monday Noon Supplied Bookings / Copy: Tuesday 12 Noon, Classifieds: Monday 4pm
STATE OF THE ART LINEUP
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Thanks to Universal Music, we’ve got a three CD prize pack to turn your frown upside down. Get in quick for Jinja Safari’s self-titled debut album, will.i.am’s solo album #willpower and Thirty Seconds To Mars’ fourth offering, Love Lust Faith + Dreams. Bonus.
The massive State of the Art Music Festival is on again this year on Sunday, June 2 at the Perth Concert Hall Precinct. Win one of three double passes to see Bob Evans, Kav Temperley and Gyroscope on three outdoor stages, alongside more than 20 emerging artists, including The Chemist, Sons of Rico, Emperors, Day of the Dead and heaps more. See the website for more info. Tickets for the festival showcases to see Karnivool, Abbe May or Dave Hole are also available from Ticketek from $24.60 each. The festival will have both licensed and all-ages areas.
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X-Press – First on the street, Wednesdays
SAN-CISCO-MOJO In light of their upcoming show at the Astor Theatre selling out, our own little world conquerors San Cisco have announced an extra special show at Mojo’s on Sunday, June 2. It’s strictly door sales only and they’ll fling
San Cisco
open at 7pm. US band Chaos Chaos and Brisbane’s Millions provide willing and able support. This will be a licensed show but U-18’s can attend if they are accompanied by their legal guardian or parent.
44th Sunset
44TH SUNSET
Boa Of The Ball 44th Sunset support Jinja Safari this Saturday, May 25, at Amplifier and are part of the State Of The Art line-up at the Perth Concert Hall on Sunday, June 2. BOB GORDON reports. It’s been a busy time for Perth outfit 44th Sunset, who are currently on the road with Jinja Safari, in a jaunt that brings them back to Perth for shows this week, in something of a belated launch for their debut EP, Boa Constrictor Hat. “It’s been awesome,” says vocalist/guitarist, Nik Thompson. “This is our first national tour and we’re probably in the best possible company we could be in. Jinja Safari are awesome dudes and have been really accommodating. It’s an amazing feeling going from place to place for the sole reason of playing music you’ve written.” The band’s radio-track Caesar has become a something of a staple on Triple J in recent times. The band’s profile has increased, even if just a ‘oh-you’rethat-band’ kind of way. “None of us even imagined Caesar would get played so much,” Thompson notes. “I just hope it’s not the last song that gets on decent rotation. Caesar’s airplay has definitely increased 44th Sunset’s profile, though there’s definitely more of a that band
kind of thing. Our following has been growing a lot more now, but as it’s our first release and for a while the EP wasn’t out, everything was super Caesar oriented. “It seems that a lot more people recognise Caesar in our set than knew it was us beforehand. That’s not really an issue to me whatsoever, though. It’s just really cool seeing someone recognise your song. It’s even better when someone comes to the show because they found us through the track, especially now that we can follow up that interest with a set of other songs. People have come up a few times after the show to say that that cover we played as the second last song of our set really suited the band.” The Boa Constrictor Hat EP has been out for some six weeks now. One wonders how much the band would want to showcase given a debut album must be looming somewhere around the corner? “The EP is just how I wrote it,” Thompson says, “the decision for how much to showcase was decided incidentally. When figuring out the tracks to list, I was trying to find a good balance, but kind of gave up. I just chose the songs that I felt were my favourite at the time. It wasn’t just my decision, the band had their two cents and I also took advice from our management team and the label (Sony). “But essentially, it just came down to the favourite tracks. I release under 44th Sunset the tracks I write that I think 44th would pull off well. I write pretty erratically, so no matter the focus on continuity, that’s how the record will flow. I’m sure a decent few people think I kind of sacrificed the record for the sake of showcasing, I don’t care, I like it this way.” That said, there’s not too much of a hurry on for a debut album, just yet. “One more EP before the album, ” Thompson notes. “It’s all written and mostly demoed. The tracks have more group vocals and big dramatic chords, but it’s going to jump around a bit.”
IT’S COURTEOUS TO REMEMBER
A Day To Remember
A Day To Remember will be playing Metro City in July. Armed with their new album, Common Courtesy, they’ll be supported by metalcore outfit The Devil Wears Prada and Dream On Dreamer. Tickets are on sale via Oztix outlets for the Thursday, July 18 show.
OWL EYES A Sense of Closure
Brooke Addamo, better known to the world at large as Owl Eyes, launches her debut album, Nightswim, at Amplifier Bar this Friday, May 24, with support from Collarbones. TRAVIS JOHNSON catches up with the girl who has shot from Australian Idol to indie respectability.
A DECADE OF PARKWAY
Parkway Drive
Tickets are now on sale for Parkway Drive’s 10 Years Of Parkway Drive Tour. This four-piece hardcore outfit succeeded in making two gold-certified albums and two platinum-selling DVDs in their decade’s work and did okay with last year’s LP Atlas too. Tickets for the Sunday, September 15, show at Capitol have sold out, but there’s another booked at the same venue for Monday, September 16, and a gig at Metropolis, Fremantle on Saturday, September 14. Tickets from oztix.com.au. www.xpressmag.com.au
When we speak to Owl Eyes, she’s preparing to shoot the music video for her single, Closure. It’s a much bigger production than she’s used to, and she admits to having a touch of nerves. “It’s definitely a lot more sleek than my previous work,” she tells us. “It’s studio based - usually I’m outside doing something crazy. But yeah, it’s a bit more mature than my previous work.” Indeed, of late there’s been a sense of growing scale and complexity - not to mention confidence - attached to her work. Since being a finalist in the 2008 series of Australian Idol, Addamo has released three EPs, Faces, Raiders and Crystalised, and found chart success with the singles Pumped Up Kicks and Love Run Dry. Her first LP, though, is a much more daunting affair, although she seems to have taken it in her stride. “I think at the start I was holding myself back,” she says. “Because you start to get all these doubts and you start to get scared because it’s a full-length album, but once you get over that and
Owl Eyes you realise it’s a job and it’s something that you want to do and you just get through it, it becomes a bit more easier. You know, this album took a long time for me to bring out, and I felt like I needed that time to reassess my work and to turn it in to what it is now. I’m really proud of it and I think it’s a step forward from my previous EPs.” The album, though still rooted in ‘80s electro, draws on a wider range of influences than her earlier work. “I tend to listen to lot of different music and kind of throw myself into different kinds just to get inspired. With this album, I was influenced a lot by , obviously, what was happening in my life, and rather than cover up my songwriting with metaphors and semantics, I decided to write something a lot more true to myself. I focused on the writing aspects of it and strengthening that. Music-wise, I always have my key influences like Fleetwood Mac and Kate Bush and I really got into a lot more intelligent electronic music, like Kaminsky - just surrounding myself with music that makes me feel something, that makes you move or makes you sad or whatever. I wanted this record to have a strong feeling in it. “I was just trying to make it as real as possible and something that was a reflection of the time period when I wrote it.” she continues. “It ended up having a kind of adolescence and a kind of coming of age theme to it. When I wrote the song Nightswim, everything started falling into place, and I felt that the album had a space. I wanted to emulate some of the sounds I used there in different songs and if you listen to the album, there’s a lot of water references - it’s like a fresh start, and there’s this yearning for youth. It all links in a weird way.” 11
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the radio play or had the hits to cross over into the mainstream, and while they play huge festival stages overseas, at home they are usually considered a heritage pub act, a fact Anderson readily acknowledges, sans bitterness. “It would all be over in about 10 minutes if you talk about mainstream radio hits!” he exclaims. “But first and foremost The Tatts are a live act. That’s the thing, the band is very intense, still to this day, and you can’t play that kind of material without being really intense. We have a lot of fun with it, there’s maybe half a dozen songs that are album favourites, never got on the radio because they were too heavy or too sort of… controversial.”
“When you contemplate a political life, you’ve got to compromise. There’s a lot of compromise in marriage and I’ve done that too. There’s a lot of compromise in a band, and I’ve done that most of my life... so compromise is not a dirty word.”
ROSE TATTOO
Angry Anderson, Rose Tattoo
Compromise Is Not A Dirty Word Rose Tattoo’s Angry Anderson is busier than ever, contending the upcoming Federal election for The Nationals. The phone may be ringing hot for Angry Anderson the politician, but on the line to SHANE PINNEGAR ahead of the band’s Friday, May 31, gig at the Charles Hotel he simply remains adamant that ‘you’ve got to do what you want to do in life’. Angry Anderson’s never needed to much persuading to come to Perth. “I mean, who doesn’t want to go to Perth?” he laughs. “It was like Mecca in the old days, because including Perth in tours was always logistically a nightmare, but we couldn’t wait to get to Perth, and it’s kind of the same thing now.
“ We’re coming to do a pub show, because that’s what we do, I wouldn’t say best, I mean, Europe considers us to be a great live act in front of 40,000 people!” Therein lies the dichotomy – a magnificent band cited by the likes of Guns ‘n’ Roses as a prime inspiration, they never got
Adamant that the band will be playing songs from throughout their career, Anderson – the only constant member of the band, and now the only surviving original member – also says we’re likely to hear some more obscure album tracks. “Because the guys in the band know most of the material, sometimes we pull obscure things out. It’s got back to the way it was in the early days, spontaneous and the band jams a lot. We’re there to have fun.” Last in Perth supporting GnR and ZZ Top at Perth Arena in March, Anderson rates the current line-up of Rose Tattoo as the best, musically, in the bands long career, and says there’s no shortage of respect from the big names. “Musically it’s the best line-up we’ve ever had, technically. But the great thing about it is… they may have elevated themselves technically to a really high level of respect, but the guys in Guns ‘n’ Roses, who my guys think are gods, they were reciprocal. They were coming to me and saying, ‘Man, those two guitar players are
just two of the best that we’ve ever seen’. And Dai (Pritchard) and Randall (Waller) were saying the same thing about the guys in Gunners, so it was a mutual respect and admiration thing going on, and that’s a great thing. The musicality of the band is amazing. “Yeah okay,” he continues, “we might not have been financially the most successful band across the world, but the band and its music is recognised right around the world as one of the greatest rock bands ever. So, that’s accolade enough.” In addition to talking about the band’s status and legacy, Anderson speaks eloquently about his hope for a political career and the future of the band, dropping names such as Alice Cooper, Slash and Lemmy without a trace of pretention or conceit. Anderson muses on the subservient nature of party politics before he leaves us, agreeing that the game is all about the ‘C’ word. “When you contemplate a political life, you’ve got to compromise. There’s a lot of compromise in marriage and I’ve done that too. There’s a lot of compromise in a band, and I’ve done that most of my life... so compromise is not a dirty word.” To finish, Anderson gives his heartiest laugh of all when asked if, with a female Prime Minister, and a black President in The White House, Australia is ready for a tattooed, heavy rocking Senator? “You know, there’s two striking physical differences between myself and Peter Garrett”, he laughs before explaining, seriously and with near evangelical conviction, “one is that he’s about three times my height, and the other is that he’s not tattooed, but you know, just because he had a background as a barrister, does that make him any more qualified to be in parliament? “ What qualifies me for being in parliament is the fact that, first and foremost I’m Australian. I love my country. I worry about the future of our children, I worry about the future of the country economically - I am concerned. I want to see this country be what it’s always been. If not the brightest example of democracy in the world, certainly one of the top two or three, and we are forgiven for taking that for granted because we’ve always had that, but there are times now that are swirling around us like the winds of change, that are suggesting that that democracy can no longer be taken for granted. “We’re going to have to fight like our fathers, our uncles and our grandfathers did to keep it.” Whether you believe in his music or his politics is irrelevant: no-one can deny that Angry Anderson most certainly does.
JINJA SAFARI
Writing In Reverse Touring in support of their selftitled debut album, Jinja Safari hit Amplifier this Saturday, May 25. SIMON TOPPER reports. Marcus Azon – singer, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter – is stumped. And he’s pondering that old chestnut of a question, ‘How did we get here?’ The ‘we’ is his five-piece band Jinja Safari, a dance-inspiring Sydney band that stands tall above the glut of same-old indie pop by drawing strong influences from traditional African, Indian and Eastern music. The ‘here’ in question is the release of their first proper full-length album, on a major label, no less. But the context of the question is more involved – if Azon’s been touring and exploring the world for the past few years to visit and get to know the far-flung places that have lent their sound to his band’s music, how did he come to be so influenced by these cultures in the first place? Is he writing in reverse? Jinja Safari began in 2010 on the NSW Central Coast when Azon was introduced to Cameron ‘Pepa’ Knight. A songwriting partnership developed, with Azon the fresh-faced singer and Pepa, with a longer history in bands, as the ideasheavy producer. It was just the two of them, and within 12 months they’d won triple j Unearthed, played Splendour In The Grass, and their gigs started selling out. It was at this point Azon and the now five-piece band started crossing the earth. “We toured India with the band, went to the UK a couple of times, the US a couple of times,” Azon recounts. “Canada, Germany, I went to Cambodia, we went to Indonesia, I went to Uganda, and we’ve got a lot of samples from all these places on the album.” He says the new self-titled record features samples the band recorded of a choir at a Ugandan school for girls, temple chants from India and rocks from the Nile. “We got one wav recorder each, and we just tried to get as much as we could,” Azon says. “It’s amazing with sense memory, hearing these 14
Jinja Safari files can bring back memories that are just lodged in part of the brain somewhere. Re-listening to this 11 year-old kid rapping, and he’s got the voice of a 45 year-old taxi driver, and you close your eyes and it brings back all the memories and laughs and smells of sitting with these kids at Bujagali Falls (near the Ugandan town of Jinja).” “But as you say, it’s in reverse, because we’d already drawn inspiration from all these places, then there’s this need to go there and justify it in some way. Kind of give it a bit more weight,” he says. “It felt a bit phony naming our whole band after a place neither of us had ever been, so obviously Jinja was high on the priority list of travels. It didn’t change too much, but I guess it gave it a bit more authenticity, especially having all those samples in there.” He’s been thinking about the influence of African and Eastern music for a while now. Azon says he’s well aware people might think they’ve jumped on the recent indie Afrobeat bandwagon, but it runs far deeper than that. “I’m truthfully not sure. It didn’t seem like a really specific genre or style we
were going for. Because Cameron’s pretty advanced in his electronic production, he likes to go for the world music instrument before he goes to electronic synth… so straight away it gives you more of an Eastern feel,” he says. “Lyrically I guess your brain goes to those places before it goes to the places that a synth takes you – which is in your 20s in the city, I guess. That’s why I wanted to get out of Sydney to create this music, to the Central Coast, to escape what all my friends were doing and make it more, I can’t think of a better word than ‘organic’.” It’s at this point that Azon reveals his grandmother has spent the last 30 years as a missionary in Uganda. Despite this familial tie to the country that’s inspired him creatively, he says he hasn’t been consciously influenced by that. “I don’t know how to say this in the most sensitive way, but I guess… the western philosophy that we need to save the world from itself isn’t what I took away,” he says. “If you go to some of these places, in the villages in particular, out of the cities, they’re very happy and full of
love and there’s a lot of laughter. There’s a sense of community that we in the West could learn a lot from. And while there are basic needs that need to be addressed in terms of prevention of disease and clean water and government corruption… I suppose the more time I spent with missionaries, the less time I wanted to spend with missionaries,” Azon says. “I didn’t feel like Geldof or Bono when I came back at all. We are simply writing pop songs. I didn’t feel the need to be a spokesperson… Just in seeing the way Ugandans react to Afrobeat and reggae music – it’s how us as Australians relate to classic rock. You hear it in all the tradie trucks and at work sites and all these funny riffs and Diblo Dibala, and just good vibes everywhere, and it’s kind of a pretty stark contrast to their landscape and their history and their current political climate. I guess that relationship with the people and how they relate to their music, was what I got most out of it.” X-Press – First on the street, Wednesdays
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VAMPIRE WEEKEND
Saab Bloody Saab Vampire Weekend have just released their third album, Modern Vampires Of The City, and not without some awkward controversy. LACHLAN KANONIUK reports. Vampire Weekend multi-instrumentalist, Rostam Batmanglij, is relishing a “chill week” in his Brooklyn apartment before the promotional storm that accompanies the ceremony that is an album’s release. That’s not to say the madness hasn’t already begun to transpire. The band purportedly raised the ire of car enthusiasts with a slow motion lyric clip featuring two burning SAABs. The day before our interview yielded a clip of Steve Buscemi in a top hat singing Modern Vampires Of The City lead single, Diane Young, a cappela in front of the stonefaced Brooklyn four-piece. In the clip, it’s Batmanglij who first cracks the stoic facade in the face of Buscemi’s madcap antic with a relinquished chuckle. As for the SAAB ‘controversy’ (Vampire Weekend seem prone to the most benevolent of controversies), he is sternly dismissive. “We just wait for certain things to blow over, as they inherently will. Certain websites are seeking hits, and they’re looking to us to procure them. We don’t let that affect us too much.” Does the exposure perhaps benefit the band, no matter how trivial? Batmanglij doesn’t agree. “No, no. I don’t see it as beneficial. I see it as a nuisance. I understand it.” As for the pressures of completing a hat-trick of studio albums, following on from the success of their self-titled debut and second LP Contra, Batmanglij is assured. “I like it, I like the album. I’m not worried about it on any level. There’s only so much that you can worry about, at some point you have to let it go.” The songwriting partnership between Batmanglij and lead singer Ezra Koenig is taken to another level, with Rostam’s classical-leaning pop smarts and Koenig’s savvy lyricisms converging to achieve their most accomplished material to date. “There’s definitely a bouncing-off that distinguishes the writing process. Pretty much every song was written either with me making a piece of music and sending it to Ezra and him writing vocal melodies and lyrics on top of it. Or, with him coming in with music and lyrics and the two of us fleshing out the arrangement together. Then later on we would bring in Ariel Rechtshaid, who co-produced the album with me, and our drummer Chris (Tomson) and bass player Chris (Baio). That was the process for most songs, but maybe there’s an exception or two in there.” While Vampire Weekend’s most wellknown hits embrace sharp, clean, guitar licks, Modern
THE GHOST INSIDE Far (East) Out
Los Angeles metalcore dudes The Ghost Inside hit Amplifier this Thursday, May 23, to show off their latest album, Get What You Give. SHANE PINNEGAR reports. Calling from Tokyo, singer Jonathan Vigil insists that The Ghost Inside’s Japanese tour has been about culture a lot more than sushi and sake bombs. “I think above all that’s what we all love to do,” explains Vigil, “to see different cultures as we tour around, seeing the different things people do and the different things we do - it’s definitely different!” Having just played a few shows in China, the cultural differences are strong in Vigil’s mind, and he says the band definitely felt out of their element while in a country that doesn’t see a lot of touring bands, especially of their genre. “China, I think, because of the way the country is run, it’s pretty different to a lot of other countries, and I think it’s a lot harder for a band to go on tour there. We were pretty fortunate to play some bigger festivals, but I think we definitely stood out like a sore thumb. Most of the line-ups were... more mellow kind of bands, I guess you could say.” Having said that, he’s quick to point 16
Vampire Weekend Vampires Of The City shies away from the pop-punk bombast of their earlier work with a spacious, stripped-back ethos. “That’s one thing that was a governing principle, minimalism. I don’t think the short punkypop songs defined the previous albums. If you look at the singles, then you might get that impression. But I feel like the albums are much more diverse than punky-pop songs. I guess it depends on how you look at it, at the end of the day.” The first taste of the new album came in the simultaneous release of Diane Young and Step. Diane Young features Koenig performing an Elvis-like croon over an up-tempo rock‘n’roll number, conversely Step is slow-burning and contemplative. Releasing two disparately styled tracks was a calculated ploy at misdirection, as Batmanglij explains.
“We like the idea that our music expresses what we’re interested in. We’re not just interested in classical music, or just interested in the bible, or just interested in rap. We’re interested in all of these things, and we think that it’s fitting to make an album that references them all. We wouldn’t be true to ourselves if we didn’t.” “We like this idea that nobody could pigeonhole the sound of the album,” he says, “because it’s a pretty diverse album. We liked the idea that there was no way one song could define the record.” Though there are many strikingly intimate moments throughout their new release, tracks such as Unbelievers reach a scope befitting of their festivalheadlining capabilities. The strive for stadium-sized out that the band went down well with the new audiences, even though they may not have known their music so well. “Yeah, the concerts were pretty fun. I think that in terms of the culture there are big differences between us and them, but for what it was worth it was really excellent, but it didn’t seem to us like a ‘normal’ show.” Their Australian tour features support acts Emmure from New York, New Zealand’s Antagonist AD and Hand Of Mercy from Australia. Vigil says The Ghost Inside has toured with all these acts and wanted to put a special line-up together for their first headline tour of Australia. “We’re friends with those guys. So putting the tour together, we kind of wanted the line-up to be pretty diverse, but still kind of the same so it wouldn’t turn anyone away from the show. We wanted a really strong line-up ‘cause this is the first time we’re headlining down there, so we wanted to make sure it was awesome.” Australia was one of the first places to get into the band, Vigil says, explaining that, “you know, it’s always felt like kind of a second home for us. Ever since our first time there people have supported us, kind of even more than at home. So Australia is a place we will always do our best to come to as often as we can, because the kids down there really enjoy the music and they wanna keep seeing us.” As well as wanting to progress as players, Vigil explains that the latest album, “is our first record for Epitaph, so we want it to do really well. Fortunately the songs are going over really well, the shows have been awesome and I think the fans are all having a really good time, which is the point. “We’re looking forward to come and play,” Vigil says, firing up when talking about their visit here. “Perth is an amazing spot and we’re looking forward to playing our new stuff for you so we’ll see you soon.”
histrionics is not a motivated one. “If we are, then we’re doing it in a pretty risky way,” Batmanglij offers. Unbelievers is a song that’s about living in a world that is inherently conceptual, where the believers and non-believers have to coexist. The song doesn’t reveal a tidy prescription as to how that coexistence can come about. It’s more simply just describing that world. “To answer your question, that doesn’t really aspire to a stadium rock sound. But maybe there is something subconscious that’s pushing us in that direction.” Contra was bristling with a sunny strain of pop, most evident on the chirpy Holiday, embracing distinctly Californian qualities from a distinctly New York band. Modern Vampires Of The City, however, is a New York artefact through and through. “It’s possible that we’re influenced by the fact that our second album was written after travelling so much, and then we came back to New York and relocated for our third album. Well, I shouldn’t say relocated, what I mean is that we gathered ourselves a little bit and nested ourselves well,” Batmanglij recalls. “I think that our version of New York is pretty unique to us. Our version of American music is that way too. It’s not actually something that we had to think too much about, it’s something that happened pretty organically.” After the subversive use of autotune on Contra cut California English, Koening’s vocals are once again manipulated to the extreme on Diane Young. “I t ’s a natural desire. Since we’ve been working on music together, we’ve always experimented with vocal manipulation. I’m talking years before the band began,” Batmanglij recalls. “In the case of Diane Young, we felt like that section had an interesting arrangement and that the songwriting was strong, but we wanted it to have one more element that was interesting to listen to.” When Batmanglij spoke at the start of the year, ahead of the band’s Big Day Out appearances, he stated that he was in the process of securing rights for the new album’s cover art. The finalised art features a smoggy 1966 New York cityscape photograph by Neal Boenzi, complementing the album’s contents greatly. “Yes, we did secure the rights for it. It was touch and go for a second, but we did get it. And I’m
very happy that we did. “I think that something that we realised was that this whole album could be thought of as a city in itself,” Batmanglij muses. “That was something we realised after the fact, the album cover was already there at that point. It feels like to us that there was an invisible hand guiding our decision-making.” The scope of cultural references and nods of acknowledgement contained within Modern Vampires Of The City is mind-boggling, neatly marrying biblical allegories and callbacks to long-forgotten rap hits of the early-’90s. “We like the idea that our music expresses what we’re interested in. We’re not just interested in classical music, or just interested in the bible, or just interested in rap. We’re interested in all of these things, and we think that it’s fitting to make an album that references them all. We wouldn’t be true to ourselves if we didn’t.” When I raise the prospect of people feeling uncomfortable with an appropriation of different cultures, Batmanglij retorts with a measured umbrage. “We would never say that we appropriate anything. The history of all art – if you wanna use that word that way – is appropriating other cultures. That’s the history of all creativity. I think it’s pretty ignorant when people use that word that way.” Having produced an established canon of their own, along with a pronounced – somewhat divisive – aesthetic, is it that Vampire Weekend have reached a point where they can become selfreferential? “I think the answer to that question isn’t very highfalutin – it’s yes,” Batmanglij concurs. “We don’t want to repeat ourselves, we are conscious of that. Songs are powerful, evocative things.” As for the somewhat bizarre prominence of Steve Buscemi in Vampire Weekend’s lead-up to the new record, Batmanglij is, perhaps a little bit sardonically so, thankful for the added Hollywood lustre. “In some ways, we sort of found each other. Chris Baio discovered that he and Steve were related, and Steve wanted to help us out of the kindness of his heart. He felt that we weren’t altogether successful in promoting ourselves and wanted to throw some light on the process, if he could. To shine down on us, give us some loving.”
The Ghost Inside X-Press – First on the street, Wednesdays
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“The hardest part about writing the new songs was having to experience them first. Then I had to deeply consider how I was going to unveil those thoughts and reflections.”
Grace Woodroofe Photo by Jody Pachniuk
GRACE WOODROOFE The State Of Her Art
Back home touring in support of Matt Corby, Grace Woodroofe performs a headline show at Residence @ Metropolis Fremantle this Friday, May 24, and is also part of the huge State Of The Art lineup at the Perth Concert Hall Precinct on Sunday, June 2. BOB GORDON reports. In the midst of a creative process leading towards the completion of her second album, Perth chanteuse Grace Woodroofe recently previewed a portion of her forthcoming new single, Dead Weight, on her website. “This is the first taste of my new material since the release of Always Want,” she says, in reference to her well-received 2010 album debut. “There’s an obvious progression in style and sound.
I recorded the track in my friend’s home studio late last year, in the hills of Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles. “Lyrically, Dead Weight is about carrying around a presence within yourself that slowly eats away at everything that defines you. Every time I sing it, I think to myself, ‘I wonder if anyone has any idea just how truthful the words are to my state of being?’ I hide a lot of truths in symbolic language. It’s like a game I play with myself.”
When asked to describe the song itself musically, Woodroofe seems to evoke a certain knowing about the work. It’s something of a rarity for an artist to be able to describe their own piece of music in a manner so objective, yet so intimately with it. “The opening is subdued and hinting at an inevitable eruption,” she notes, “the track explodes into chaotic, electric feedback. It’s almost unnerving. The instrumentation mirrors the theme of the song - symbiosis and extremes.” D e a d We i g h t h a s a r i s e n f r o m a collaboration with US creative house, HOMME (www.hommepaper.com). Woodroofe has dabbled and walked a small mile so far in the worlds of fashion and creative houses. These creative asides complement rather than segment her overall creativity. “I’ve always been a creative person,” she reflects, “so all facets of the arts engage me, be it fashion, photography, film, writing… “Collaborating with other creative people is something I’ve always loved because it’s one of the rare times I don’t feel like an outsider. Collaborating with people on music is much harder for me than say, a photographer, because my music is the most personal representation of myself.” Woodroofe’s debut album, Always Want, arrived with much press attention about early support from the late Heath Ledger and subsequent artistic encouragement from Ben Harper. It made for good headlines, but the album - and Woodroofe as an artist - have had to find their own way. “I think Always Want had a modest debut and critically seemed to be received quite well,” Woodroofe says, looking back. “I wrote those songs between the ages of 16 and 19, so now at 23 I realise I was definitely only just dipping a toe into the pool of experience I was yet to encounter. “In modern music there seems to be so much emphasis placed on hit singles ‘making an artist’, overnight success and the need for instant gratification. I’ve always known that that was not my path. I want longevity and most of all I want to experience growth. Honestly though, sometimes keeping faith can be hard.” When Woodroofe last spoke to X-Press Magazine in December, she described her new album tracks as “sounding fresh and innovating.” There’s not a direction being followed, more a direction that is following her. “ I ’m a b o u t h a l f w ay t h ro u g h t h e second album,” she says. “There’s definitely a clear maturation evident in the new material. The direction of my new work is very much a reflection of my experiences and surroundings - taking it all in, always watching, learning, growing. “The creative partnerships I’ve forged within the past year have educated and awoken
me into a realm of creation I had not yet tapped into writing completely independently. I’ve ventured into something that feels fresh, rather than looking too much into past influences. Specifically I’ve been experimenting with electronic minimalism while simultaneously feeding my love of brash punk rock music, like My Bloody Valentine and Blonde Redhead. I’ve been exploring sampling and playing a lot with vocal layering. “The hardest part about writing the new songs was having to experience them first. Then I had to deeply consider how I was going to unveil those thoughts and reflections.” Lyrically and thematically, Woodroofe has found the new work to be challenging, even if it is she that is setting the challenge. It’s not necessarily meant to be pleasant. “Songwriting has become more of a brutal task for me in the past year or so,” she says. “When I write my words, they don’t go down on the paper for the purpose of a song. It’s more of a way for me to release the stresses in my head, so it’s never really an enjoyable process. Unfortunately that makes me not want to write a lot of the time, but when it does come out, it’s for a reason. Isolating myself gives my brain infinite space to breathe, so that’s when I get most done. I’m constantly thinking. “Thematically, the new album is focused on the unrelenting fluctuation between calm and chaos, duality and self-sabotage. It’s all about extremes. The sonic landscape mirrors that theme, sweeping between whispered intimate detail, then confronting brash guitars and stuttering drum beats. These are extreme ends of the scale - fluctuations.” Woodroofe has been all over the world in the last three years. One wonders just where home is now (if not what is home)? “I feel at home where I feel comfortable and loved and love,” she responds. “I always want to be with my man in Los Angeles.” Woodroofe is currently on tour with Matt Corby, but her Residence show on Friday is as a headliner. “My band and I have been working on bringing the live show to a whole new level,” she says. “The latest recordings I’ve done have a lot of layers sonically, so we’ve been figuring out the best way to bring that aural experience to the live show. “I’ve also reworked some of the older songs to bring them to the same level as the new material, adding electronic drums, introducing interludes etc. It keeps everything moving forward, more cohesive. It’s important to me to introduce new elements, make it exciting and surprise people.” Further on, Woodroofe will be performing at State Of The Art on Sunday, June 2. With a return to Los Angeles happening in a couple months in order to have her album out by year’s end, celebrating the art of where she’s from is an appealing idea. “It’s becoming more and more obvious to the world that Perth is this enigmatic creative hub - untouched, uninhibited and brewing with individuality,” Woodroofe notes. “The cliché is true - we’re so far from the masses, the creations being brought to life are, as a result, completely fresh, not influenced by trend. “That said, fuck it’s hard. You can brew and create, but then you have to break out and prove yourself the rest of the country, the rest of the world. It’s so much more expensive to fly out from here! “But there’s a wonder ful sense of camaraderie within the WA music scene too.”
STATE OF THE ART Back To WA
The second State Of The Art music festival is big news for local acts and a great opportunity for the wider public to get an overview of the quality and diversity of the Perth contemporary music scene’s finest acts. Karnivool
Sons Of Rico
Rokwell & Groom Head on down to the Perth Concert Hall and surrounds on Sunday, June 2, where there’ll be three outside stages feature a huge line-up including The Chemist, Day Of The Dead, Sons Of Rico, Emperors, Grace Woodroofe, The Love Junkies, Rabbit Island, Jake & The Cowboys’ Jarred Wall, Cow Parade Cow, Fitzroy Xpress, Rainy Day Women, MmHmm, Rachael Dease & Ylem (collaboration), Rokwell & Groom, The Weapon Is 18
Sound, Sam Perry, Usurper Of Modern Medicine, 44th Sunset, Antonio Paul, Runner, Timothy Nelson and drum’n’bass legend Greg Packer. Showcase performances inside the hall will include: Dave Hole, Chain, Abbe May, Schvendes and Karnivool. Tickets start from $13.95 for access to all three outdoor stages or $24.60 per Concert Hall Showcase. Go to Ticketek.com.au.
The Chemist
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Buchanan
BUCHANAN Springtime For Arabia
Melbourne quartet Buchanan have just released their debut LP, Human Spring. DAN WATT speaks with singer/ guitarist, Josh Simons. Melbourne band Buchanan’s debut album, Human Spring, is a complex beast. From the paradox of the cover image to the sad story behind the album’s dedication, Human Spring has the makings of a hallmark release in an era when keeping music and themes simple is not an option. “We wanted to write something that had a bit more meaning and we felt that in order to convey that we had to up the anti of the production as well. I think that bands, when they come to their first album, have to make a decision: ‘are we going to strip it back and give something really raw or amp it up?’ We chose to amp it up!” explains Buchanan lead singer, guitarist and main songwriter, Josh Simons. The cover art for Human Spring depicts a protest scene with a cheeky gun-toting protagonist holding up a sign with the title of the album written on it. Simons explains that the title was directly inspired by the Arab Spring, a phenomenon in the Middle East and Northern Africa where the people of countries including Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and
Yemen rose up through protest and overthrew oppressive regimes. “Human Spring is about what is good in the world; I wanted to draw attention to this because I think that we are dominated in the media and also in conversation on the negative so I guess the record is about what is positive in the world,” explains Simons, enthusiastically. “A n d t h e A r a b S p r i n g f r o m m y understanding was about a part of the planet that was celebrating an uprising and I guess we just wanted to make a record that celebrates what is good in everyone. We also like contrasts in Buchanan, so we liked the strong sort of war image on the front but the album is quite upbeat so it was about juxtaposing light and dark, hope and despair.” Musically, hope is sprawled across the essence of Human Spring as it begins with cluster of keys that forms the framework for the entire track. “That synth sound was literally the starting point. In the studio, if I find a loop I will just listen to it end-on-end, much to the displeasure of the rest of band.” However, although this monotony is the bane of Simons’ bandmates, it is actually a very productive method. “I was just coming up with melodies in my mind and the guys were working in the other room, and also listening to the synth line on repeat and then by the end of the day the song was done.” The strings on the song, Human Spring, took a lot longer and were recorded in England. The song was recorded in the UK because the producer of the song, Tim Cross, was bedridden due to cancer. “Tim was immobile at the time of recording, he was quite sick with cancer. He died just after we finished the album which is terribly tragic and we dedicate the album to him,” explains a downcast Simons. “Tim worked with Mike Goldfield on Tubular Bells which is one of my favourite records of all time.”
Alkaline Trio
ALKALINE TRIO A Date With Elvis
Long-running American punk rock outfit, Alkaline Trio, have just released their ninth studio album, My Shame Is True. ROD WHITFIELD reports. Many musicians, upon leaving the studio after recording their latest album, have heard every guitar riff, drum beat and vocal line that many times, and in such minute detail, that they want absolutely nothing to with it for a while. For lead vocalist/bassist Dan Andriano however, the opposite is the case. He loves the new album, and listens to it regularly, purely for his own enjoyment and entertainment. “Well, I’m really excited about it,” he enthuses. “I still actually listen to it, and have done so many times, so that’s a good sign! Sometimes I just put it on, like on a run or something. I’m not sick of it, yet! But you never know, I might be sick of it in another four days.” The new album, My Shame Is True, was recorded at The Blasting Room studios in the relatively small city of Fort Collins in Colorado in the US. It is one of the best known studios worldwide for producing great punk and hardcore albums, with bands such as NOFX, Rise Against, MxPx and many others doing albums there. Andriano feels that it was almost the perfect environment for them to create My Shame is True in. “We had a really good time there,” he recalls. “The owners, Bill and Jason, are just two of the best 20
people, and that studio is great. I don’t like being in a big city when recording, I don’t like being stuck in Hollywood or even Chicago. As much as I love Chicago, there’s quite a bit of distraction in those type of places. “Being in Fort Collins was perfect, I like being in smaller towns, nice people… it was a good time. I thought it was a nice environment. We slept at the studio, we worked all day, and at the end of the day we’d all go have a drink somewhere, end up back at the studio and watch a movie and pass out,” he laughs. The band have an extremely lengthy run of dates across the States coming up, taking them through to mid June. According to Andriano, it’s one of the most extensive tours Alkaline Trio has ever done in its career, and it will unfortunately preclude the band from touring Australia until later this year, or early next. As for the album’s title, yes it’s what you think it is. “It’s an obvious nod to Elvis Costello, first and foremost,” Andriano says.“Matt (Skiba, guitar/vocals) and Derek (Grant, drums) had gotten up late one night and gone into the studio, in the wee hours of the morning. Both wander off to the bathroom, and we have these ‘dry-erase’ boards that we keep around the studio. One of them has all the progress of the album, how the guitar parts are going, drums, we make up little check marks as we accomplish things. The other one is for just ideas, song titles, album titles. “So on their way to the bathroom, at three in the morning, Derek apparently just stopped at the board and just wrote down, ‘my shame is true’. And apparently Matt was just over the moon about the idea, and we’re all big Elvis Costello fans. And I just like the pun!” X-Press – First on the street, Wednesdays
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THE CAT EMPIRE The Joy Of Letting Go The Cat Empire have just released their sixth album, Steal The Light. Their national album tour will bring them to Red Hill Auditorium on Saturday, September 7. ALASDAIR DUNCAN reports.
For singer Felix Riebl, it was necessary to leave The Cat Empire behind in order to realise just what was special about the band. Two years ago, Riebl went solo, and toured the country with a set of gentle, acoustic songs – music in marked contrast to The Cat Empire’s raucous, carnival-like output. “The atmosphere throughout that tour was completely different,” he
The Cat Empire
ll “The h Cat Empire’s shows are colourful and recalls. loud, whereas my solo shows were very quiet and still. The dynamic on stage was something really new for me.” After exploring his quiet side for a while, Riebl realised the potential that still existed within The Cat Empire. “Now I’m playing with the band, I can enjoy it for what it is,” he says. “I know now that
it’s possible for me to express that quieter side of myself if I want to, so now I can just have fun.” Riebl knew it was time to regroup with The Cat Empire when he saw the crowd’s enthusiastic reaction during a brief European tour last year. “I remember looking at the crowd and seeing a really broad range of ages, from teenagers to much older people,” he says. “I couldn’t quite wrap my head around it, because the teenagers would only have been two or three years old when we were starting out.” Seeing younger people in the crowd filled Riebl with confidence that his band was still growing and reaching people. “From there, it was all about falling back into enjoyment of playing with the band. I love The Cat Empire’s sense of movement and when I play with the band, I feel the joy of letting go. I had to realise what the spirit of The Cat Empire was, then I could go back.” The new album, Steal The Light, has a festival-like atmosphere, and a sense of reckless abandon. “I wanted to create something that was really magical and colourful,” Riebl explains. The city of New Orleans proved a big inspiration for the tone and colour of the songs. “I went there last year for a weekend for the Jazz & Heritage Festival and ended up staying for two or three months,” he says. “You can go out there any night of the week and hear incredible music, and there’s just something great about the colour of the city.” Riebl drew inspiration from the Caribbean-style houses of the Ninth Ward, and from the sadness and the broken-down nature of the post-Katrina city. “I love the streets and the atmosphere, and the contrast of happy and sad worked really well for the type of feeling I wanted to capture in the music.” The single, Brighter Than Gold, draws directly on the mixture of jazz and old Caribbean music that Riebl heard while staying in New Orleans.
“For me, The Cat Empire was always a band of my youth. It was just so much fun for me to be involved in this thing when I was in my early 20s, when it started to pick up. Now, I’ve rediscovered that joy – I think a lot of us have. We’re better musicians now, and we put on better shows. “The chorus of that song is so great,” Riebl says. “The chords are really rousing and stirring – it’s almost like a religious song.” The seed of inspiration for the song came from a second-line march. “I really wanted to bring ghosts to life,” Riebl says. “I wanted to bring colourful and exciting and dark and haunted things together in a joyous procession. You could call it dark if you want, but I don’t think it’s a very dark song – I think it’s an attempt to bring a carnival to life. It’s our own carnival, an imaginary one. “It was fun to write – I wasn’t taking myself overly seriously with that one, just trying to set the tone of the album, and that sets the tone really well, I think.” The Cat Empire have been making music together for a long time now – Steal The Light is their sixth album since they formed in the late ‘90s – one wonders what the future holds? “I haven’t thought about it too much,” he says. “For me, The Cat Empire was always a band of my youth. It was just so much fun for me to be involved in this thing when I was in my early 20s, when it started to pick up. Now, I’ve rediscovered that joy – I think a lot of us have. We’re better musicians now, and we put on better shows. We’ve reached a point where we can play big festival shows now. In terms of the future, I don’t know. As soon as it doesn’t feel natural anymore, as soon as it stops feeling fresh, we’ll stop.” Many of The Cat Empire’s oldest and bestknown songs – Days Like These, for instance – are about young men kicking back and having fun. What it’s like to perform these from his older and wiser point of view? “Recently, I’ve looked through some of the lyrics for those old ones, and sometimes I like them, but sometimes I think, ‘Christ, who was this person who wrote these?’” he laughs. “It’s necessary for bands to write new songs in order to bring the older ones to life. With this new album, we really carry a lot of that spirit, but the lyrics have a more serious tone, and that’s really enjoyable. I can sing those ones with a few older ones in between, and for me, that makes it a lot better, because I can take them with more of a grain of salt. That makes them more enjoyable for me. I really don’t want to be living in the past.” 22
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DE LA CRUZ Street Level Frontiers Records
Chances are even if you haven’t heard of Ballarat’s Goldfields, you’ve more than likely already heard them. Confusing? Well, this fivepiece from Ballarat in Victoria is currently embarking on a massive US tour and have had some of their tunes featured on TV commercials here in Australia, so while their name may not yet be familiar to you, their songs more than likely will be. From the opening sounds of Meet My Friends it’s pretty clear that Black Sun is going to take you on a journey. It’s one of those albums that without setting out to do so, challenges the listener yet at the same time doesn’t ask too much of them. You can whack it on in the car and not pay too much attention and still enjoy it, or you can put the headphones in and really lose yourself in it. It is an album that is full of contrast. Black Sun is beaming with delicately layered synths and driving beats, however there are subtleties laced throughout the album that you won’t hear first time around. This is an album that is catchy, yet the vocals are not as dominant as you’d think. It’s a record that sounds dark, yet there is plenty of light. Effectively, Black Sun is an album where dynamics and melody collide, and the end result is an impeccable debut album.
Not everyone cares about the uber-hyped Daft Punk album - Gold Coast hair metal foursome De La Cruz have dropped their shredding debut, Street Level, for prestigious European label Frontiers Records, and for 45 glorious minutes you can pretend that thrash, death metal, grunge, electro, pop punk and modern dance music never even existed. These guys first came to attention by giving away their debut EP online and claiming a horde of fans in the process. Make no mistake, ‘80s metal is bigger business now than at any time since its heyday. That EP had more keyboards than Street Level, but apart from that the sound is identical: huge anthemic choruses that almost rip your skintight stonewashed denim jeans, sugary melodies that’ll warrant a visit to the dentist, and stadium-sized rock attitude from go to woe. Through these 12 unapologetically sex, sun, booze and hair-spray drenched cock rockers, Roxxi, Rory, Lacey and, um, Grant channel Def Leppard with a little of Motley Crue’s sleaze, and a host of lesser-remembered ‘80s chart-botherers. The future seems assured for De La Cruz; tour their torn-denim-clad butts off in Europe and North America, and make a name for themselves with the support of classic rock radio and media, which Australia doesn’t offer. I daresay that when they forge a slightly more individual character on album number two, we’ll all be in for a real treat.
_ GEORGE GREEN
_SHANE PINNEGAR
GOLD FIELDS Black Sun Astralwerks/EMI
ROB BAXTER The Moon & The Thief
MIMI FOX Standards Old & New
Independent
Origin Records
Though not as high-profile in recent years, Rob Baxter has long been a progressive wheel rolling in Perth’s music scene, going back to the late ‘70s with bands such as The Plants, Confessions and Halcyon Days, though it is the funky seven-piece Big Red Tractor that most will be best familiar with. The liner notes on this album - a release some three years in the making, but in other respects 30 - allude to Baxter’s multi-instrumental abilities and his absorption of an ever-evolving array of musical forms, from blues, reggae, new wave and synth pop, in years gone by, but it is pleasing to see him embrace more urban and electronic forms and trip hop feels as well. A stable of well-known Perth musicians join him - Dom Mariani, Kim Williams, Neil Fernandes, among others - but it is keyboardist Kim Siragusa’s deft touch with arrangements that has helped Baxter bring his songs to a new life. It’s serious, often gloomy stuff (Cave, Cohen and Reed would approve) with lyrics to match, but it’s a world that’s strangely easy to drift into. Over 16 tracks there’s much on offer, with several tracks (Churches, Another World, Heat) featured in reprisal or variation. It’s good to see a part of Perth’s musical past reclaim his place in its future.
The things you first notice when listening to American jazz guitarist, Mimi Fox, is her clarity, refinement, feel and tradition. Ironically, her first track doesn’t come from the jazz genre but from one of America’s great folk heroes, Woody Guthrie and his anthem, This Land Is Your Land.
However, Mimi quickly lets you know that this is not going to be a folk tribute as it is followed by, Chick Corea’s 500 Miles High and a stunning interpretation of Vernon Duke’s beautiful standard, I Can’t Get Started. By this time you are totally unaware that it’s a solo guitar CD as Fox is all over it, playing bass lines, clustered chords dripping with fine harmonic colours and a melody that is never far away as she coasts through this great song. Have You Met Miss Jones comes next, followed by the beautiful melancholy of She’s Out Of My Life, originally recorded by the late Michael Jackson and written by Tom Bahler. Although covering every aspect of the material solo, Fox always seems to have space to accent the positive at every strum and finger pick, not too mention the unique approach to her selected repertoire, allowing the listeners to feel that they are hearing each song for the first time, such as She’s Leaving Home, Cry Me a River and other classic jazz standards including, Wes Montgomery’s composition, Four On Six, _ LINDSAY WEIR which Fox turns into 10 out of 10. _ HELEN MATTHEWS
FALL OUT BOY Save Rock And Roll Decaydance/Island Records
If Fall Out Boy were aiming to win the ‘Ambiguously Arrogant Yet Unintentionally Ironic Album Title Of The Year’ award then ladies and gentlemen, look no further for we have a winner. By naming their ‘comeback’ album Save Rock And Roll Fall Out Boy are dressed as Batman, proclaiming to rid evil from Gotham while terrorising its civilians, creating chaos and ultimately bringing unrest to the city. They’re not saving rock and roll, they’re destroying it. Firstly, this is not a rock and roll record. This is a pop record released by a band that used to play at least some form of rock and roll. It’s hard to actually imagine four musicians each recording their parts to make this record when you listen to it. Save Rock And Roll sounds like a solo-record for frontman Patrick Stump,
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and while the album title doesn’t mean the album has to be rock and roll, even if you look at this as a pop album, it’s not even a good one. Secondly, you can’t name an album Save Rock And Roll and have Courtney Love perform guest vocals on it. This is the very woman who some would argue pushed Kurt Cobain to blow his own brains out and all but destroyed The Smashing Pumpkins when she put her filthy little mitts all over Billy Corgan. If you’re going to listen to this record, then skip straight to the last song and title track Save Rock And Roll. The track is a collaboration between Fall Out Boy and Sir Elton John and comes off sounding like the We’re Sending Our Love Down The Well song from The Simpsons episode when Timmy O’Toole falls down the well. It’s not good, but at least you’ll get a laugh out of it.
them rearranged a la ‘Tallica and played with thrashy abandon. Th e o n e m a s h - u p i n c l u d e d i s For Oglio Records Whom Michelle Tolls, enough to elicit a groan The Beatallica ethos is at the same time as a laugh. Despite it being a simple - Beatles songs bit messy in parts, it slides through on brazen played in a Metallica don’t-give-a-toss charm, and their version of style. Whereas on Side 2 of Abbey Road is a frenetic piece of fan previous releases they’ve double-worship, right down to the 14 second constructed mostly mash-ups of the two bands gap and the anarcho-sound experiment Her (The Thing That Should Not Let It Be, And Justice Majesty (referencing Metallica’s much-criticised For All My Loving, etc), Abbey Load sees Beatles Lou Reed collaboration, Lulu) songs done as faithfully as they can be done – in Beatallica aren’t supposed to be taken the Metallica style, that is! seriously – they’re talented players with a sense The downside is that they’re a one joke pony, so whether it holds up to repeated of humour who are in thrall to their two favourite spins will depend on the listener’s tenacity and bands. And they’re fun. End of story. obsessiveness for either of the bands. The upside is that Come Together, Help!, Please, Please Me, et al are classics, hard coded _ GEORGE GREEN into the Book Of Rock, and it’s a hoot hearing _ SHANE PINNEGAR
BEATALLICA Abbey Load
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X-Press – First on the street, Wednesdays
Describing music can often be can often be an exercise in imprecise precision, especially jazz in all its forms and variations. Take Los Angeles/Brooklyn outfit, Kneebody. Online there seems to be constant debate and good-natured conjecture about what the band sounds like. It must be amusing for them, reading as people twist their tongues trying to describe it. “It is,” laughs keyboard player, Adam Benjamin. “We recognise that it is a difficult sound to describe, so we always appreciate new descriptions, or new combinations or amalgams of other bands or sounds that people come up with. “Like a lot of modern jazz groups we have struggled with trying to come up with a name or a category for what we’re doing beyond just something like ‘electric instrumental music’ or ‘electric jazz chamber music’. But we’ve pretty much decided, as much as possible, to let the music speak for itself. Unfortunately the tough job goes to you guys, in terms of figuring out how to describe it (laughs).”
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That’s true in itself but it raises another point. Do the members of Kneebody consider themselves musicians, or jazz musicians? “That’s a real individual thing among band members,” Benjamin ponders. “So I can only speak for myself, but I do consider myself a jazz musician, specifically. Not that that’s the only thing I do, but that I’ve put so many years and so much study into it that I have so much respect for the tradition and for the community. “It’s a title that I’m honoured to use and if people will let me use it to describe myself then I’ll continue to do that. I think our music is more interesting when I think of it as an outgrowth of the process that created the jazz music of the last hundred years.” Even as a highly skilled musician and an academic in the jazz field, Benjamin continues to be surprised by how jazz music continues to surprise him. CONTINUED ON PG 26
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EVIL DEAD
“Taken on its own terms, Evil Dead is a winner. It’s easily one of the most boldly violent and grotesque horror films to come out of a major studio in recent memory, and anyone who’s not onboard with that is not going to have a good time of it, but while it’s not a genre-changing classic like the original, it’s a solid The best films currently doing the rounds, from slice of bloody good fun.” the arthouse darlings to the popcorn matinee spectaculars...
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RUST AND BONE
IRON MAN 3
“(The action is) pretty impressive. The helicopter attack on the Stark compound that kicks the plot into high gear is great, as is the finale, which sees Stark commanding an army of remote-piloted Iron Man suits.”
CONTINUED FROM COVER... “I do feel that way,” he notes. “For all the talk that you hear about jazz being dead or the progression of jazz being over or fragmented beyond recognition, I think there’s actually just as many interesting and unexpected directions happening now as there has been at any time in the music.” Kneebody formed in 2001, after the members met as schoolmates at New York’s Eastern School Of Music and later at CalArts in Los Angeles. “We had certain shared ideas, mostly absorbed from our teachers, of just general attitudes towards music and towards jazz,” Benjamin recalls.“We had no concept that the band would stay together this long, or that it would turn into something that was such a specific kind of sound. That really evolved over the years of touring, as we started to develop a style of writing for the group, and a style of performance and our whole system of improvisational musical cues is something that we didn’t have idea we would do at the beginning. “We never had a masterplan for it, it just evolved over years of musical necessities into this whole language of cues that we use in concert to shape our improvisation. The evolution of it is something that we never really planned and is something that I think really surprises us, actually.” The band has released four albums, two live albums and a collaborative effort with US jazz singer, Theo Bleckmann, Twelve Songs By Charles Ives, since 2002. Each release charts Kneebody’s musical evolution and perhaps more importantly, it’s own relationship with the music the band creates. “I think that the main process we’ve had with creating studio records has been trying to get closer to capturing the energy of the group and of the improvisations on record,” Benjamin explains. “So the
“A great story: tender and truthful and emotionally real in a way that so few films are. This is, far and away, one of the most resonant and affecting films of recent years. Many critics lauded A Prophet as a masterpiece. This proves Audiard is capable of producing more than one.”
Kneebody earlier records, like the self-titled CD (2002) and Low Electrical Worker (2007) have a lot of densely produced studio type stuff with a lot of additional instruments, larger ensembles on some pieces and a lot of overdubs... a real ‘studio’ type of approach. “I really enjoyed those records, but the last few records, You Can Have Your Moment (2010) and The Line (soon to be released) really represent more the sound of the band playing and improvising together. There are some overdubs and tweaks, but for the most part we’re really moving towards just trying to capture the sound of the group.” All Kneebody members have outside interests, musically, performing with pop, arena rock, classical, chamber and avant garde acoustic jazz oufits. Though it’s external to Kneebody, Benjamin says its crucial to the band’s internal dynamic. “We think of that as being really crucial,” he says.“In fact once the band started becoming a regular touring act that we were putting a lot of time and energy into, we basically decided that we never wanted it to grow to the point which we weren’t always touring with other artists and doing our solo albums because we felt that so much of the growth of the band would come from one of the other band members going on tour with an interesting new artist, then on the next Kneebody tour we could say, ‘wow, they really have some new tools at their disposal’. “There’s often some stuff that can inform our aesthetic as a band. We think of Kneebody as a home base with our friends, where we can create whatever music feels right to us.” If you’d like to win of two double passes to see Kneebody at the Gardens at Bishops See on Saturday, May 25, email win@xpressmag.com.au.
Iron Man 3
SPRING BREAKERS
“Spring Breakers is at times an indictment of American trash culture, at others a satire and, at still others, a celebration. Is it exploitation chic or a deconstruction of exploitation chic? The answer is yes.”
Rust and Bone
THERESE DESQUEYROUX
“A well-made film, if a small one. The film is content to linger; on landscapes, quiet, stuffy rooms and still faces that barely contain the boiling emotion underneath. While the languid pace and quiet dialogue may turn some people off (yes, this is that kind of French film), there are some interesting themes at play here, even if by the end things are left a little too ambiguous.”
THE PLACE BEYOND THE PINES STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS “The acting across the board is terrific. Gosling does his blank-faced best, Ben Mendelsohn cements his reputation as the go-to guy for endearing scumbags, and the supporting cast of character actors such as Ray Liotta and Bruce Greenwood are great in minor roles. It is Cooper, though, who is astounding, truly coming into his own these days as a serious dramatic actor.”
“Breathless enthusiasm and an upbeat tone that even the occasional now-mandatory dips into doomy darkness can’t eclipse, winning performances from all concerned, beautiful production design and effects, and a strong sense of adventure and scale.”
Star Trek Into Darkness The Place Beyond The Pines
For full reviews, interviews, competitions and more, head for xpressmag.com.au.
THE CALL Boot Camp
Directed by Brad Anderson Starring Halle Berry, Abigail Breslin Halle Berry offers up the muscle in WWE Films’ latest release, a non wrestler-headlined thriller that re-jigs the old Play Misty For Me/Talk Radio template and interlaces it with the kind of heavy-volumed teen-friendly thrill sequences most of the successful popcorn thrillers embody. Halle Berry, in one of her better parts in a while (her career really dipped after that Oscar win, huh?), plays the 911 operator who takes a call from a teenage girl (an all-grown-up Abigail Breslin, of Little Miss Sunshine fame), who claims she’s been abducted and has been plonked in the boot of a moving vehicle. Having failed someone in a similar situation before, Jordan is determined to do all she can to help this caller. The film opens with a tense sequence involving Jordan talking a young girl through an appropriately character-changing event. The girl’s house has been broken into, while she’s still inside, and she’s hiding it out in the cupboard until the stranger leaves - as you do. Unfortunately, Jordan messes up and calls the girl’s phone back after a drop-out, unintentionally alerting the man - a killer! - to the girl’s hiding spot. We know how that one ends. Sometime later Jordan finds herself back in the same position, only this time the young girl in jeopardy is stuck in the killer’s (yes, seems it’s the same guy) boot. She’s only armed with a phone, but that’s enough to keep Jordan determined not to get a disconnection signal this time around. With the passionate operator’s assistance, kidnapped Casey (Breslin) does all she can to draw attention to herself - not easy to do when your driver is hurling down a busy freeway, and you’re stuck in a shut-tight trunk. But with some quickthinking, Jordan and Casey slowly start to come up with ways to alert the other drivers around the car (though a couple that do stop the car and inquire what’s going on in the boot - you’d be asking too if you saw a girl’s hand waving about from a hole in the rear end of a car - help momentarily, the kidnapper isn’t afraid to do away with anyone that gets in his way) which slowly helps them pinpoint its coordinates. Richard D’Ovidio’s script - not that we should expect much from the guy that gave 26
THE RELUCTANT FUNDAMENTALIST Back to Basics Directed by Mira Nair Starring Riz Ahmed, Liev Schreiber, Kate Hudson, Kiefer Sutherland, Martin Donovan, Om Puri
The Call us such cinematic gems as Steven Seagal’s Exit Wounds and Matthew Lillard’s masterpiece Thirteen Ghosts - doesn’t feature anything in the way of newness, but what it does do is entertain. It helps that there’s a strong anchoring turn by Berry, who’s ably supported by the likes of the abovementioned Breslin, Morris Chestnut and - in a rather thankless part - Sopranos alum, Michael Imperiolii, and that Machinist director Brad Anderson is helming, but the libretto enough encompasses enough captivating moments outside of the talented cast and crew. _ CLINT MORRIS
Acclaimed filmmaker Mira Nair (Monsoon Wedding, Mississippi Masala) tackles heady themes of nationalism and identity in this adaptation of Pakistani author Mohsin Hamid’s Booker Prizenominated novel. After an American professor is kidnapped by militants in Lahore, Pakistan, Bobby (Liev Schreiber), a journalist, meets Changez (Riz Ahmed), a popular teacher rumoured to be at the heart of radical antiAmerican politics, at a cafe. Bobby is hoping that Changez can lead him to the missing American, but the soft-spoken Changez instead tells him the story of his life. So, it’s a kind of politically charged bildungsroman. We see in flashback how, as the scion of an impoverished high-caste Pakistani family, Changez studied business at Princeton, going on to a lucrative Wall Street job under his mentor, Jim (Kiefer Sutherland) and entering into a tentative relationship with emotionally damaged artist, Erica (Kate Hudson). His enviable position in the upper echelons of the American melting pot seems assured until the September 11 attacks immediately make him an object of suspicion and mistrust in his adopted homeland. The film has much to say about the nature of oppression and resistance, and goes into great
The Reluctant Fundamentalist detail in showing how a man such as Changez, who is by any measure a committed, even ruthless pro-American capitalist at one point, can find his worldview challenged by circumstances. Indeed, if anything the film spends too much time on the matter, and the deliberate pacing of the flashback sequences are at odds with the ‘ticking clock’ nature of the framing sequence, wherein Bobby only has a certain amount of time to get answers out of Changez before the CIA take him in for more pointed questioning. It’s a conceit that is absent from the source novel, which is a much more ambiguous and oblique affair by all accounts. However, the film’s problems with pacing and theme are largely mitigated by the excellent cast, in particular the central performance by British actor, Riz Ahmed. After strong roles in ensemble pieces such as Chris Morris’ terrorist comedy Four Lions and Neil Marshall’s swords ‘n’ sandals actioner Centurion, this represents a quantum leap forward for Ahmed as a performer. His Changez is a nuanced and thoughtful character, possessed of hard-won principles and keen insight, and it’s a turn that deserves plaudits. As for the film itself? Well, maybe not. Although well cast and beautifully shot, it simply takes far too long to get to a ‘Why can’t we all just get along?’ denouement. It’s a shame, but ultimately it’s somewhat less than the sum of its parts. The fine acting still makes it worth checking out, but you’re left with the feeling that these characters are ill served by the story they find themselves in. _ TRAVIS JOHNSON X-Press – First on the street, Wednesdays
WINE AND DINE
Swallow Bar are set to please your palate with a wine dinner next Wednesday, May 29, courtesy of Express Winemakers. Ryan O’Meara, co-founder of the label, will be sharing stories and insights as he introduces each of his wines, which will be accompanied by small plates of food sourced from local suppliers. Tickets are $120. Contact Swallow Bar for details.
OBJECTS IN MOTION
LINK, the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts postgraduate dance company, presents Moving Object, their first season for 2013 at Edith Cowan Mt Lawley’s Geoff Gibbs Theatre from tonight, Wednesday, May 22. Moving Object includes three fresh and contemporary dance works: We Are Made of Stardust by Rachel Ogle, Zodiac Dialogues by Italian choreographer Alessio Silvestrin and The Opposite is True by Kynan Hughes. The season runs until Saturday, May 25. Head to waapa.ecu. edu.au for session times and tickets.
Uncertain Surrenders, Toni Wilkinson
UN CERTAIN REGARD
The Perth Centre For Photography hosts three solo exhibitions this month. Toni Wilkinson’s Uncertain Surrenders looks at the relationship between beauty and menace in the maternal bond, playing with themes of independence, love and letting go in a series of portraits. Svetlana Bailey’s Fog comprises a series of landscapes that uses fog, smog, mist and haze to expose the transitory quality of spatial existence. Finnish video artist Juhan Koivumaki’s SIN explores spiritual self-consciousness. For more information, head to pcp.org.au
Amanda Woodhams, Barrow Henry V, Globe on Screen
GLOBAL CONSCIOUSNESS
The 2013 Globe on Screen season is almost upon us. Cinema Paradiso will be hosting a short series of filmed stagings of some of William Shakespeare’s most acclaimed works, including Henry V, Twelfth Night and The Taming of the Shrew. Each play is performed and filmed in London’s famed Globe Theatre. The season begins on Saturday, June 1, with Henry V. Head to lunapalace.com.au for session times and tickets.
BEING IN BARROW
Perth filmmakers Wade K. Savage and Peter Gurbiel, who recently collaborated on the short film The Owl, are moving forward with another collaboration, the psychological thriller Barrow, which Gurbiel will write and Savage will direct. Amanda Woodhams, recently seen in Mental and Cloud Street, will essay the role of Carly Jacobs, an aspiring forensic entomologist who must grapple with a violent family past. Principal photography will take place later this year.
Free Sojourn, Alexander Miller
JOURNEY TO THE WEST
Emerging photographer Alexander Miller recently returned from India, where he taught English and Photography. He will be exhibiting a selection of his travel photographs under the banner Free Sojourn at Subiaco’s Grey Gallery from Friday, May 24 until Friday, May 31. Doors open at 6pm. www.xpressmag.com.au
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X-Press – First on the street, Wednesdays
GOLDEN OLDIES
OH, MAKE ME OVER
Sick of your clothes but tight on cash? Why not remake your wardrobe! On Saturday, May 25, fashion graduate Zoe Trotman will take fashion-obsessedbut-cash-strapped individuals though the ins and outs of upcycling during a free workshop as part of this year’s KickstART Festival. All basic materials are provided, just bring your dresses, bags, shoes, hats and whatever else you’ve got stashed in the back of your wardrobe and get ready for a wardrobe makeover! It’s all happening at the Fashion Design Room at the Central Institute of Technology, from 1pm ‘till 4pm - but make sure you register before rocking up via www.kickstartfestival.com.au.
Those with a penchant for the fashions of yesteryear won’t want to miss out on the sixth incarnation of the immensely popular Vintage Vixens & Vamps Fair, a celebration of all things retro at the Fremantle Town Hall on Sunday, May 26. Expect to find Perth’s most extensive range of vintage and retro fashion, voluptuously mixed with fun parades, vintage entertainment and vintage wares galore! Plus, as a special treat, organisers are offering punters the chance to score vouchers to spend on the day; to be in the running, all you have to do is RSVP to the event on Facebook and you’ll be in the draw to win a $100 voucher to spend at Fremantle boutique She Seldom Blushes’ stall on the day.
THE SPANISH INQUISITION
Spanish fashion retail giant Zara has revealed plans to open a three-story store in Murray Street mall. Earlier this month the retailer, which has more than 1700 stores worldwide, lodged a development application with the City of Perth. The Perth store will be Zara’s third Australian outlet, following the opening of stores in Sydney and Melbourne, both in 2011. Zara is known for its affordable yet trendy womenswear, menswear and childrenswear - which it often imitates from other luxury and couture clothing companies and will no doubt draw queues of fashionistas to its (as yet unannounced) opening.
Vintage Vixens & Vamps
SEW CRAFTY
Zara
Got an itch that only craft will scratch? Sew-Along Workshop - a joint venture between Tied With A Ribbon and Claire Turpin Design - have a range of classes for beginners right through to the more experienced. Coming up in early June is the bags three-week workshop - you can learn how to make great zipped craft bags, elegant evening clutches or even a sewing bag to carry your cutting mat and equipment to class! To book into the class or check out the full 2013 calendar of workshops (which include everything from new to sewing classes to patchwork classes) click on over to www.tiedwitharibbon.com.
Molly Meldrum, Secrets of the Afterlife
MOLLY MELDRUM Molly and the Mummy
Secrets of the Afterlife: Magic, Mummies & Immortality in Ancient Egypt, runs at the Western Australian Museum until September 22. Head to museum.wa.gov.au for details and tickets. TRAVIS JOHNSON was lucky enough to speak to Australian music legend and avid Egyptologist Molly Meldrum about the exhibition. He is, of course, best known as Australia’s premiere music guru, with a career that spans Countdown, Hey Hey It’s Saturday and beyond, but music is only one of his personal obsessions. Since he was child, Ian ‘Molly’ Meldrum has harboured a fascination with ancient Egypt, and it is that which brings him to Perth as a guest of the WA Museum. “My grandma brought me up for a long part of my life,” Meldrum explains. “And she loved Egypt. She bought so many books and she told me story after story. My father served in the Australian Army, and his station was in Cairo, so he brought back stuff as well. By this stage I was hooked on it and raring to go there and eventually I did.” Indeed, Meldrum has visited the country more than 30 times, his sojourns encompassing the Giza Pyramids and the Sphinx, the Valley of Kings, the temple complexes at Karnak and Luxor and more, and he plans to return there later this year. Still, he couldn’t resist coming to the opening of www.xpressmag.com.au
Secrets of the Afterlife, an exhibition on exclusive loan from the British Museum. “I was asked by The Western Australian Museum if I would come across and I said yeah, absolutely!” he says enthusiastically. “What they’ve got now from the British Museum is over a hundred artefacts and antiquities. Even now, at the British Museum, they don’t have everything out on display so you can have a look at it, so I was keen to see this exhibition. I felt very honoured, to be honest.” The exhibition takes as its focus the Ancient Egyptian approach to death and the afterlife, with special attention paid to funerary rites and practices. As Medrum explains. “The Egyptians were quite obsessed back then about going to the afterlife, which promised a better life and so they actually prepared from a very early age to start thinking that way, about how to go to the afterlife. The coverage is astonishing, what they’ve done, you know? Anyone who comes to something like this, I urge them to read everything and enjoy it and then look at it again, because it really does explain what the preparation had to be like. And they firmly believed that they would go to an afterlife - who knows, maybe they have!” It is clear that Meldrum could wax lyrical about the subject for hours, such is his passion for it. Sadly, we don’t have hours, so he sums it up in his customary fashion. “I just hope everyone enjoys it,” he says. “Do yourself a favour and come and see it.” 29
and objects, film screenings and guest speakers. It runs until June 30. Apparition - The Syndicate II: Fremantle Arts Centre Renowned WA sculptor Peter Dailey presents a series of ten life-size human figures presented under Made To Remember: Ar t G a l l e r y O f WA , specific lighting designs in a darkened gallery in Northbridge order to allow the viewer to contemplate the cultural, A beautifully considered display of significant economic, political and environmental mechanism Indigenous objects from the State Art Collection. they are a part of. Runs until June 2. With a diverse selection of works including glass and ceramic objects, textiles and clothing, as well as The Trail of Time - The Sandalwood Project: examples of traditional sculpture, Made to Remember Fremantle Arts Centre encourages dialogue about the place of an object not WA born, Melbourne based artist Michael Bullock’s only in Indigenous art and culture, but in the broader sculptural exhibition is a look at WA’s sandalwood Australian context. Runs until June 30. industry. It mixes personal experiences of place and family with a detailed understanding of the history, From War to Remembrance - A Living History of the trade and uses of sandalwood. The exhibition runs RSL: The State Library of WA until June 2. An exhibition on the history, goals and activities of the RSL in Western Australia, encompassing art Mad About You - 40 Years of the Fremantle Arts installations, interactive displays, archival photographs Centre: Fremantle Arts Centre
VISUAL ARTS
Yesterday’s News by Dante Bott-Wakelam, Year 12 Perspectives Year 12 Perspectives: Art Gallery of WA, Northbridge An exhibition of works from the best, brightest, and most creative graduating high school artists in the state. Runs until June 30.
Katie Noonan
Joe Lovano
PERTH INTERNATIONAL JAZZ FESTIVAL The inaugural Perth International Jazz Festival is here at last, happening this Friday-Sunday, May 24-26, with 35 performances across seven stages throughout Perth and Northbridge. Tickets are available for performances at the Perth Concert Hall, The Gardens at Bishop’s See and Ellington Jazz Club and there are free events for all the family taking place at Brookfield Place, Perth Cultural Centre, Weld Square and Barrack Square. Programmed and conceived by local jazz giant, Graham Wood, the festival will feature local, national and international jazz artists including Joe Lovano, Katie Noonan and Vince Jones (triple headliners on Saturday, May 25, at the Perth Concert Hall), Kneebody, Hank Marvin and hot NYC Gilad Hekselman (Israel/US). The festival
Vince Jones 30
also includes the Abbey Foster Falle Brotherhood album launch this Saturday at Ellington Jazz Club. Many of Perth greatest ex-pat players will make the journey home for the festival, too. Bassist Sam Anning, saxophonists Troy Roberts and Brandon Allen, The Grid ( Tim Jago, Dane Alderson and Ben Vanderwal), and fusion supergroup, VOID. And don’t forget the award-winning, highly acclaimed likes of local artists Jamie Oehlers, Tom O’Halloran Trio, Mace Francis Orchestra, Johannes Luebbers Dectet, Russell Holmes Trio, Tal Cohen Quartet and Libby Hammer... plus many more. So much music, so close to home. For tick ets and full details hit up perthinternationaljazzfestival.com.au.
Abbe Foster Falle X-Press – First on the street, Wednesdays
Future Generation Renewable Energy Ar t Exhibition: Memorial Hall, Hamilton Hill The City of Cockburn brings us this presentation of visions of a sustainable future. Encompassing a series of models demonstrating a variety of green Desert Dreams and Nocturnal Journeys: Elements technologies and sustainability solutions, one piece Art Gallery Perth artists Jill Ansell and Beba Hall work in will be selected by the city to become a public contrasting styles, yet their endeavours complement artwork in one of the city’s parks. It runs from May each other’s work perfectly. While Ansell’s work 24 - 31. Go to cockburn.wa.gov.au/RenewableEnergy has a strong sense of place, inspired as it is by for more. the Pilbara and the goldfields, Hall uses visual metaphor to evoke notions of childhood, fantasy Plans: Melody Smith Art Gallery, Carlisle and imagination. This dual exhibition is a great This exhibition by 25 year old Perth artist David showcase of their themes and concerns. It runs until Ledger explores the work and ideology of architect May 24. Go to elementsartgallery.com.au for further Bruno Taut. Ambitiously complex, this series of information. paintings sits at the intersection between landscape and architecture. It runs from May 31 - June 25. Go Bound to the Rush: Gadfly Gallery British artist Becky Blair ’s 10th anniversary to melodysmithgallery.com for more. exhibition is a celebration of life filtered through the understanding that existence is, by necessity, Van Gogh, Dali and Beyond - The World Reimagined: seasoned with risk and tragedy.. It runs until June Art Gallery of WA, Northbridge 2. Visit gadflygallery.com for more. The third exhibition in AGWA’s MoMA Series promises to be one of the most fascinating. This extraordinary Secrets of the Afterlife: The Western Australian show encompasses 134 works from 96 artists, Museum This collection of over 100 Egyptian artefacts from including Vincent Van Gogh, Paul Cezanne, Richard the British Museum collection - including two Long, Frida Kahlo and more, tracing the development mummies! - explores ancient attitudes to life after of modern art in the 20th Century. The exhibition runs death. The exhibition runs until September 22. Go from June 21 - Dec 2. Go to artgallery.wa.gov.au for further information. to museum.gov.au for more. In a nice bit of metatextuality, this exhibition at FAC is all about FAC; specifically, the history and culture of the now 40 year old institution. It runs until June 2 - head to fac.org.au for more.
Revelation Film Festival: Luna Leederville, Cinema Paradiso, Luna on SX Perth’s very own celebration of rebel cinema is not Fremantle Heritage Festival: Various locations Now in its 20th year, this festival is a celebration of too far away now, having spilled the banks of its the port city’s rich and storied history. Events include former home at The Astor and now spreading across The Arthur Grady Motorcycle Ride, which showcases three venues. A whole host of the edgiest, most pre-1930 motorcycles; the Vintage Vixens and Vamps experimental and downright outré films from every Fair; a workshop on researching the history of your house; the Fremantle Eisteddfod musical competition far-flung corner of the globe will be on offer, as well and more. It runs from May 24 - June 3. Go to as the best local content and the RevCon academic fremantle.wa.gov.au/Festivals/Heritage_Festival for program. It all happens from July 4 - 14. Head to more information. revelationfilmfest.org for details.
THEATRE/DANCE/PERFORMANCE
FESTIVALS
Death of A Salesman Death of a Salesman: The Heath Ledger Centre Perhaps the greatest American play of the 20th century, Arthur Miller’s sobering Death of a Salesman is a perennial favourite amongst theatre aficionados. This version by The Black Swan State Theatre Company stars Austin Castiglione, Adrianne Daff, Luke Hewitt and Eden Falk. It runs until May 25. Go to bsstc.com. au for session times and tickets.
Robots Vs Art: The Blue Room RobotsTheatre Vs Art - photo by Skye Sobejko In this hilarious and trenchant examination of art and emotion set in a future where robots have enslaved humanity, a playwright (Damon Lockwood) is tasked with teaching his unfeeling overlords about creativity. At once laugh out loud funny and layered with meaning, this is one of the standouts of the 2013 Perth theatre season. Runs until June 1. Head to blueroom.org. au for sessions times and tickets.
A Gun in Each Hand, 16th Spanish Film Festival 16th Spanish Film Festival: Cinema Paradiso Presented by Estrella Damm, this celebration of the best cinema that the Spanish diaspora has to offer is a feast of filmic treats for the discerning cineaste. Over 20 films are on offer, ranging from the opening night satirical comedy A Gun in Each Hand by Cesc Gay to Luis Bunuel’s surreal classic, Tristana. The festival runs from June 12 - 23. Head to lunapalace.com.au for tickets and session times.
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Robots Vs Art - photo by Skye Sobejko
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X-Press – First on the street, Wednesdays
Melbourne emcee Rob Tremlett, aka Mantra, is back with a new autobiographical single and a new record deal with Ten To Two Records of Seth Sentry fame. JO CAMPBELL gets him on the line to shoot the breeze. As you’d expect from most Aussie hip hop dudes, Tremlett is loose on the phone as we discuss the subject of his new single, Loudmouth. The song starts with the words: “My teachers always told me I’d never amount to nothing and they may have been right; so I jump on the mic.” “I was definitely the class clown - I still am actually. I just don’t have a class anymore,’ Tremlett laughs.“I annoyed the hell out of my teachers. I wasn’t a bad kid, I was just loud and annoying and had a really loud voice and would talk all the time. “I’m just thankful that I’m able to do a job where being a loudmouth and a smart ass is part of the job description.” Produced by One Above, Loudmouth is the lead up to an third LP for Tremlett. He’s been creating in leaps and bounds since making a guest appearance on Chasm’s 2008 Beyond the Beat Tape and the hip hop soul vibe of his debut album, 2010’s Power Of The Spoken. His second LP, Speaking Volumes, was dedicated to Hani Ghaleb Jaber and featured the powerful eulogy For You. Jaber, who was tragically murdered in 2003, was Tremlett’s original source of inspiration to take up emceeing. “When I met Hani I was making beats and trying to get my mates to rap on them. None of them were into it, but when Hani heard about it he said ‘Why don’t you just do it yourself? It’s easy.’ “He was rhyming already, so we started rapping together, and just having someone else there doing it with me gave me heaps more confidence than I would have had otherwise. The more I did it, the more I realised I was good at it and it was something I could really pursue.”
www.xpressmag.com.au
Although the first single from the expected LP is playful and comedic (he’s featured in the video clip wearing a school boy’s outfit) Tremlett says he’s keeping on with the introspective, personal themes and subject matter. “There are some lighter moments on this record, Loudmouth being a good example,” he explains. “But if anything, I think this new record is more personal than the last one. “I kinda deal with a lot of things I’ve never spoken on before, things that maybe I was scared of or didn’t want to share with the world. But it felt great getting some of those things off my chest. “It allowed me to try out a bunch of new things in terms of writing too. I really challenged myself to head in directions I’d never gone in before, just to see where they took me. I think that process lead to some of my favourite parts of the album.” The clip for Loudmouth was directed by Tremlett’s good friend, Grey Ghost, who’s also produced recent vids for fellow home boys Seth Sentry and Pez. Tremlett’s housemates and school-age brother star in the production. “All the adults in the video are personal friends. One of my housemates plays my father in the clip and my other housemate plays a nurse in the final scene. “My 12 year-old brother is one of the school kids and actually helped us recruit the other kids for the video - what a legend. It was so much fun having him there on the day and being involved in the clip and it’s something I think we’ll both remember for a long time.” Tremlett is setting off on a tour to promote the single. Paper planes are a quirky, recurring theme in his work, with his song about a paper plane that goes to war, Flightpath, having encouraged punters at past gigs to start up incendiary behaviour. “Once we did it at a gig in Canberra and there were heaps of paper planes coming at us. After the song finished I could smell something burning and I saw something on fire on the side of the stage! “Someone had made a paper plane, set it alight, then thrown it on stage. Shit was real.”
» MANTRA » SATURDAY, JUNE 1 @ ROSEMOUNT
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NICK THAYER SMASHIN’ IT
Melbourne DJ/producer Nick Thayer has been working hard. Last year, he signed to Skrillex’s OSWLA label and released his Like Boom EP. Now, he’s releasing another EP and has just embarked on a national tour. ANNABEL MACLEAN gets the lowdown on the above and his recent work with local emcee N’FA. “I was picking up a new toilet which sounds incredibly rock’n’roll,” Thayer says, laughing, when X-Press interrupts him for an interview. “I’d like to say the old one got thrown out of a window during a party but that would be a lie.” Thayer is in the middle of his national tour right now and says it has been wonderful to return to familiar places with familiar faces given he spent much of the last year in the studio or touring America. But, he’s also into the midst of building his own custom studio, which is where the toilet comes in. Having already played alongside Perth’s very own drum’n’bass maestro ShockOne at his Universus album launch in Sydney, Thayer will be hitting Perth shortly, where he says he’ll be smashing out copious amount of new music, and fingers crossed, will be dropping his recent track What Props Ya Got, a collaboration he produced with Perth-raised emcee, N’FA. “N’FA is such a beautiful talent,” he says. “It’s inspiring just talking with him let alone working together. We’ve done a bunch of stuff, dating back to 2009 I think. We will definitely work together in the future I’m sure.” As for upcoming collaborations, Thayer’s not revealing too much yet. “On the new EP, there are some amazing opportunities I had to work with some real heroes,” he says. “I can’t wait to spill the beans… all the final pieces are just beginning to fall into place so it should be out very soon. I’ve pushed myself so hard on this in every aspect - musically, sonically, arrangement-wise.” Fans can expect to see Thayer’s next EP out
Tomas Ford
DCUP
RAVE IT UP?
FREE TO THE D
Nick Thayar on Skrillex’s label, OWSLA. A big fan of the dubstep icon, Thayer says the journey since he’s signed with the imprint has been incredible. “OWLSA is an amazing family to be a part of,” he says. “Every artist involved is so honest and so inspiring. I love what the M Machine do and the depth of their music. They are pushing so many boundaries in so many ways. Then there are guys like Hundred Waters who write this delicate ethereal electric folk stuff. The journey is just beginning.” Aside from his upcoming Australian tour, Thayer is headed to Shambhala in Canada for the 15th anniversary of Fractal Forest (one of the stages at the festival). “Shambhala is like nothing else,” he says. “I guess if Ambar was a four-day festival in the Canadian Forest it would be Shambhala.” And, as always, he’s got plans to release more originals, collabs and remixes as the year goes on but, he’s just not sure what they are yet. “I wake up every day and ask myself the same question and I can’t wait to find the answer,” he concludes, laughing.
» NICK THAYER » SATURDAY, MAY 25 @ AMBAR
The Aviary rooftop is hosting another free party next long weekend, this time featuring Sweat It Out DJ/ producer DCUP. AKA Duncan MacLennan, DCUP was also behind the making of Yolanda Be Cool’s We No Speak Americano. On Saturday, June 1 expect to hear sugar-coated power synths and disco breaks emanating from the balcony from 6pm. Support from Micah, Troy Division and Paradise Paul. It’s free.
Outrageous showman, Tomas Ford, is back and he’s probably gonna be taking his clothes off. Every Saturday night throughout June from June 8, feel free to make a DJ request of Ford at PICA bar, as long as it’s bad. The event is called Tomas Ford’s Crap Music Rave Party and it’s a fundraiser for getting the cabaret showman to his next Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Go to the Facebook page to make a request in advance, or accost the man himself on the night.
Phetsta
ShockOne
SHOCKING BASS ODYSSEY
After his sell out Handpicked show at Metro City, and a cranking national tour to promote his debut LP, ShockOne is back in his hometown again for a special side show. Get to Shape tonight, Wednesday, May 22 from 9pm for a big night of bad ass bass. Support from Genga, Gran Calavera, Ekko & Sidetrack and emcee Xcessiv. Tickets are $25 on the door.
PHETSTA FEST
Perth ex-pat, Phetsta, is back in town to rinse it this Friday, May 24. After making it to Beatport #3 with his track Prism and touring and collaborating with ShockOne, Phetsta has gone on to remix big for Usual Suspects, Bombs Away and Hospital Records. Basically, he’s made it. Check his D’n’B/ dubstep sounds at Shape with support from Rregula, Joust, Inflex and Cutlery. Tickets are $10 before 11pm; $15 thereafter.
The Amani Consort
THE AMANI CONSORT
RETURNING TO HER ROOTS Local funk/soul band, The Amani Consort, are launching their debut EP, Better Way, this weekend. JOSHUA HAYES speaks with lead singer Aysha Amani. Amani has been performing and recording around Perth since the ‘90s, when her live electronica outfit Toast was signed with Virgin Records (a double album they recorded was shelved and tied up in legal red tape, although Amani says there is talk about it resurfacing). She then spent about five years performing as half of Sista Massive with DJ Missile, and has focused more recently on working as a session vocalist and emcee for electronic producers. A short trip to London inspired her to return to her funk and soul roots. “What I did realise while I was there was that there was a lot of call for live music and live musicians,” she says. “[It’s an] amazing, amazing scene over there, with a lot of jazz musicians, and they really do blend hip hop, jazz, electronic styles of music, as well as more traditional styles, and I guess when I came back I thought: ‘there’s so many wicked musicians here; I’d really like to try and do the same.’” Back home, she linked up with Alex Borthwick, a fellow session musician and guitarist with Freo funk outfit, The Crux, to start forming what would become The Amani Consort. They would be joined 34
by Bronton Ainsworth on drums and Joe Southwell on bass, with Gordon Cant rounding out the line up on keys. The search for a keyboardist was extensive – Amani says it took so long that the band had entered the studio to record backing tracks minus keys, which were recorded later when Cant was on board. The next step was to define the band’s sound. Amani says her focus for the new project was getting back to her roots – as a result, The Amani Consort draws inspiration from the likes of Erykah Badu, Lauryn Hill and, well, The Roots. It took some time, but the band managed to achieve this for the first time with Better Way, the title track from their debut EP. “For ages we called [Better Way] ‘the flagship’ because it was the one song that we knew the best and seemed to be the crux of our sound,” Amani says. “It’s a soulful sort of song and I guess we were trying to take a bit of that D’angelo vibe when we were writing, so that was what we were going for, and I guess that was the test case to base our sound around.” The EP launch will be the last supported through RTR FM’s Live Wire Fresh program, after Healthway ended their funding for the initiative. At the show, The Amani Consort will preview a few tracks from their next project – a full length album which they are in the process of writing. “I think we’ve [now] distinguished our sound a little bit more; we know what we’re on about a little bit more,” Amani says.“We’ve got such great musicians; there’s so many different styles we could do, so I think it’s just that process gets distilled down and eventually we come up with what is the ‘Amani Consort’ voice which I think we’re getting closer to now.”
» MANI CONSORT » BETTER WAY EP OUT NOW » FRIDAY, MAY 25 @ MOJO’S
SENTIMENTAL ROBOTS DAFT PUNK
RANDOM ACCESS MEMORIES COLUMBIA The helmet-clad alien duo has once again boarded the Daft Punk space-ship, but this time, they’ve kicked the flux capacitor into backwards mode, finding themselves square in the ‘70s. Opting for a mix of their signature disco-funk synth sound with a heavy emphasis on analogue instrumentation, Daft Punk have produced a sentimental collection of work that is mostly for your listening pleasure, rather than heavy dancefloor action. Unlike the first single released ahead of the LP (Get Lucky featuring the sex machine that is Pharrell Williams), which one-hundred per cent oozes funky groove, (and did indeed incite the need to ‘rub on Mexican monkey’ as one leaked version of the tune went), the majority of the album is made up of soulful ballads and trippy instrumental numbers. It’s diverse but stays within the realms of the alien disco Daft Punk are known for.
A couple of curve balls include Giorgio By Moroder - a tribute to the guy that popularised the Moog synth sound with songs like Donna Summer’s I Feel Love while Touch, a trippy eight-minute musical epica starting and ending with a vocal monologue, similar to something from Les Mis, utilises a full orchestral instrumental interlude, choir included. Android Webber. Within features the customary Daft Punk vocoder, which appears on many of the tracks on the album. In this one it’s a sad robot vocal flitting over journeying pianos, synths and drums. The vibe and the tempo are lifted in Doin’ It Right - a hymn to the analogue where the robot vocoder is beautifully interlaced with a male tenor counterpoint. The LP ends on a total rock ‘n’ roll space jam, much like a live band going off just on the periphery of the outer rim. On first listening you could be forgiven for thinking the LP is a bit tame, and with all the hype that went before its release, it makes sense that all but the die hard fans would switch off a bit. But give it a second go; it’s a creeper. And just like the half-man, half-robot nature of the duo’s identity, Random Access Memories is a pretty perfect blending of the analogue meets digital in the French disco style they’re known for.
» JO CAMPBELL
X-Press – First on the street, Wednesdays
ELITE FORCE GAMECHANGER
Elite Force has been behind the decks for more than 20 years. ANNABEL MACLEAN chats with the UK DJ/producer about The Gamechanger Project ahead of his marathon five-hour set at Ambar. Simon Shackleton is back home on his farm, sitting in his studio after spending half an hour in his garden overlooking his new pond when X-Press cathces him. He’s just come off The Gamechanger Tour, which saw him touring Canada and the USA. Gamechanger is Shackleton’s latest original single, which has been smashing it worldwide. He’s also set up a Gamechanger store on his website, offering limited edition collectable vinyl; something a little different for fans.“It’s been a bit of an experiment doing this really,” he says of the online store and project.“I just became very tired and jaded with the world of digital music last year. “People have kicked against the culture of taking for nothing/free downloads for years now and it seems like there’s an assumption that artists are somehow coining it in from making music and playing live shows. That’s simply not the case… The Gamechanger Project isn’t really about generating loads of income – the runs are way too small for that. It’s more about creating something unique that people can have, that they can hold, that they can invest in and be a part of.” The Gamechanger Project isn’t Shackleton’s only venture right now, his bass-heavy warehouse label, U&A Recordings, is always a priority for him.“We’ve had the likes of The Loops Of Fury, Felix Luker, Rektchordz, Savage Skulls, Mike Hulme and Peo De Pitte record for us in recent times and they all have a pretty varied sound, from techno to electro to rave to bass music, and throw Elite Force and my other main alias - Zodiac Cartel - into the mix and, rather like my DJ sets, it’s a very eclectic, very mixed bag of sounds and styles,” he says. “At the moment I’m on the lookout for some new artists to bring through. The label had a few months of ‘quiet time’ over the past six months as I really needed to focus on my own creative output, plus we’d arrived at the end of a natural cycle of releases. I’ve been
Elite Force doing this [running U&A] for six years now so really needed a breather.” Shackleton will be getting behind the decks at Ambar for a five hour set and says the home of underground can expect to be the first to hear “a few new bits and pieces” he’s working on for his tour down under. “I’m going to make sure I dig out a few proper classics throughout the mix though,” he adds. Aside from his upcoming Aussie tour, Shackleton has been busy in the studio, having recently done a collaboration with Moby and plans to co-write with American electro duo The Crystal Method on their next record. “The production plan is to do a major EP this year, much in the same way we did Gamechanger, perhaps half an album’s worth, and then tour that towards the end of the year,” he says. “I also have a whole bunch of new Revamps I’m playing and making, and have a couple of Zodiac Cartel releases scheduled for the next few months.” But, amongst the studio time, Shackleton will be playing a boat party in London in July and then heading to Burning Man for the fifth time. “It’s by far the most challenging, exciting, punishing, inspirational, visceral, thrilling, exceptional experiences I’ve ever had as a DJ and as a person.”
» ELITE FORCE » FRIDAY, MAY 24 @ AMBAR
VON D
D IS (NOT) FOR DUBSTEP Von D’s sound could generally be described as dubstep, but his musical palette is much broader than that, with his tunes having been supported by the likes of DJ Craze to Gilles Peterson. ALFRED GORMAN catches the French producer as he’s packing his bags in his adopted hometown of Croydon, London, preparing to embark upon his first Australian tour. The last few years has seen Von D’s career really take off, and it becomes instantly apparent that the French producer is passionate about his music and also a very busy man. “I’ve got lots going on at the moment - one of my last releases on SubFreq was Tune of the Month in Mixmag, and my next release is coming out on Get Darker. I recently did a remix for the Ragga Twins as well, and I’m currently writing my second album and doing collaborations with Silkie, Mizz Beats and a few other good friends.” While Von D is a producer first and foremost, as is the way, he’s also an in-demand DJ – but he likes to make his sets special and unique.“I get sent a lot of tracks that all sound the same, but I’m more focussed on original sounds. My sets are made of exclusive tracks of my own, and from a range of artists and friends that really make original stuff. “We are all able to make a wobble and a drum pattern, but is that original anymore? Not for me, so I really dig tunes that have a special vibe, whether it’s dark, funky or whatever.” Von D often uses vocals, having worked with Phephe, Riya and Foreign Beggars. “I’ve always listened a lot of different styles, I’m very open minded and I believe I play ‘music’ and not just ‘dubstep’. I never liked that word to be honest – I’m not one to put labels on stuff.” His broad musical influences could be traced back to his upbringing in the Parisian suburb of Cergy, a cultural melting pot. “It’s very different to Paris – rough and chilled at the same time,” says D. “I listened to a lot of reggae, funk, jungle and house music.” From a young age he was playing his dad’s drum kit and was in several bands. (He currently plays www.xpressmag.com.au
Von D drums as part of Swindle’s live show). He started producing at 15, and studied as a sound engineer. This solid musical knowledge and foundation gave him an edge, and he’s been pushing it ever since. “I was very lucky to be surrounded by amazing musicians growing up, we were setting up studios in different flats. There was like 10 of us, making music 24/7. I learnt how to program drums and use samplers. I would go to school and then straight away to the studio after that.” As much as he loves his hometown, Von D was more than happy to leave as soon as possible, not finding much support there, and quickly immersed himself in the thriving London dubstep scene. “They literally embraced my music from the first time DJ Chef played my tune on RinseFM. I remember an email from Skream saying ‘Welcome to the Family’, so from that point on I’ve spent a lot of time in London and made some great friends like DJ Chef, Swindle, Silkie, Mizz Beats and El-B who are like family to me.” Von D is excited about the state of the scene at the moment. “After all this noise phase that electronic music went through, real musical elements and vibes are coming back big time!”
» VON D » THURSDAY, MAY 30 @ GEISHA 35
Deadline Monday 5pm. The Club Manual is a service to advertisers listing all DJs & Dance Music. All inclusions are at the discretion of X-Press. Email guide@xpressmag.com.au
AMPLIFIER
WEDNESDAY 22/05 Amplifier –Harlem Wednesday’s ft Genga Connections – LMW Flying Scotsman – DJ Armee The Bird – Twist ft Razor Jack & Seventh Son Mustang Bar – DJ Giles Newport Hotel – Newport Wednesdays & RnB Heaven DJ Wot Evs, Angry Buda & DJ Mr. Phat Rosemount Hotel – DJ Anton Maz The Bird – Beat Lounge 9 The Court – Wicked Wednesday Captain Stirling - Fiveo Sovereign Arms - Lokie Shaw Shape Bar - ShockOne The Grand Central - ANG3L The Leederville Hotel - FIVEO
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CHALLENGER READY
THURSDAY 23/05
The Grand Central – Roger Smart Swallow Bar – DJ Mama Cass B o u l e v a r d Ta v e r n – 1 5 1 Toucan – DJ Matty J Thursdays Old Skool R&B Claremont Hotel – DJ Live FRIDAY 24/05 Phase/DJ Pup Club Bay View - Master Jon Ee Ambar – ELITE FORCE: 5 HOUR ELITE SET Connections – BINGAY & POP! Amplifier – DJ Jamie Mac Eve Nightclub – Retro Thursdays The Avenue – Lokie Shaw DJ Crazy Craig The Bakery – 100S Leisure Inn – DJ Peta M u s t a n g B a r – D J J a m e s The Bird – Weird Frequency & Future Past Records Present: MacArthur Andrew Tuttle Newport Hotel – Skoob Brass Monkey – Vicktor/James The Avenue – Jon Ee The Bird – Weird Frequency Ess/Green George & Future Past records present Capitol – Retro Mash ft DJ Jamie Andrew Tuttle Mac The Beat (downstairs) - Fantasy Capitol (Upstairs) – Retro Mash w/ Thursdays DJ Roger & The Great RV The Causeway - Payday f t: The Carine - Az-T audiovisual dj set (special guest) The Craftsman – Jay Mackay The Craftsman – Fiveo Eve Nightclub –Dj Don Migi Flying Scotsman – Back To Mono DJs Flyrite – Self Help Social Club Geisha Bar – The Cliq Official Launch Party ft DS/Morgan Then/ Scotty Knows/Fellis/Sly Kidd/Ollie Hanson Groove Bar (Crown) – DJ Crazy Craig The Grand – Ruben Lakers Tav – Grizzly and Friends Metro City –Flava Fortnightly Fridays Metro Freo – Frat House Fridays Death Disco DJs Mullaloo Beach Hotel – Flaunt#2 ft Kenny L Mustang Bar – Swing DJ/DJ James MacArthur Newport Hotel – Karaoke night Norma Jeans Retro Lounge – DJ Phat Dazz Players – Live bands and DJ Cookie Rocket Room – Howlers ft DJ Frank N Bean The Saint – Mikeee Sovereign Arms - ANG3L The Aviary (Birdcage) – Tomás Ford The Aviary (Rooftop) – Paradise Paul /Troy Division The Beat (downstairs) - Play The Causeway - Airwolf TyDi The Shed – DJ Glenn 20
METRO CITY
MUSTANG BAR
Toucan – DJ Codeak Villa – Mind Electric Tanktop/ Chiari, Acebasik/ Paul Scott/ Rob Sharp/ Carl Drake/ Jackness/ Damian John The Saint – Mikeee Whale & Ale - DJ Spinback
SATURDAY 25/05 Ambar - Japan 4 ft Nick Thayer Amplifier – Pure Pop – DJ Eddie Electric The Avenue – Jon Ee Beat Nightclub (Upstairs) - Canvas Brass Monkey - DJ Peta (downstairs)/ DJ Jewel (upstairs) Brighton Hotel – Misschief Capitol – Death Disco DJs Capitol (Upstairs) – Cream of the 80’s DJ Ryan Claremont Hotel – DJ G-Martin The Cornerstone – DJ Spinback Eve Nightclub – Traffic Light Flirt Party Flying Scotsman – Andrei Maz Flyrite – Family Gilkinsons – Tuition ft Mobin Master/Jackness/Lokie Shaw/The Good Knights/Little Nicky/Shane Hewson Groove Bar (Crown) – DJ Dan The Generous Squire – James Nutley Metro City – Seven Deadly Sins Metro Freo – DJ Wazz/Ben Carter Metro Freo (Upstairs) – I Love 80s 90s Mullaloo Beach Hotel – DJ Degraff Mustang Bar – Rockabilly DJ/ DJ James MacArthur Newport Hotel – So Fresh So Hit machine Norma Jeans Retro Lounge – DJ Phat Dazz Players – Luxe DJ Francesco Sail & Anchor –Child’s Play DJs Sovereign Arms – The Jinx Project The Aviary (Birdcage) – Mark Trowbridge The Aviary (Rooftop) – Paradise Paul / Troy Divison The Causeway – Sun City (dj set) The Craftsman - Jeremy Stark The Court – DJ Flex/DJ TimBee The Grand Central – Jay Mackay The Saint – Az-T The Shed –DJ Andyy Toucan – WHIP Onsie Party ft DJ G-Wizzard
Nick Thayar Villa – tyDi
Rooftop Sessions ft Andy Bull Live/ Anton Franc/Charlie Bucket/Troy Divison/ Lightsteed SUNDAY 26/05 The East End Bar –DJ Gold Finger/ Eve Nightclub –DJ Slick Flying Scotsman –Nathan J/ AZ-T The Saint – Jon Ee & Az-T Nizbet/ Pasha/ Chris Flying Scotsman (Defectors) – The Shed – James Wilson and Raaghe more Groove Bar (Crown) – DJ Crazy Craig Mullaloo Beach Hotel – Stevie M/ TUESDAY 28/05 Matty S/Kenny L High Road Hotel – DJ Matty J Mustang Bar – DJ Rockin’ Rhys The Aviary (Rooftop) – Aviary Victoria Park Hotel – DJ Melvin
X-Press – First on the street, Wednesdays
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THE CAUSEWAY
THE SWITCH
SHAPE
VELVET
CLUB RED SEA
IN THE THIS WEEK ShockOne ft Genga/ Gran Calavera/ Ekko & Sidetrack/ Xcessiv Wednesday, May 22 @ Shape 100S Thursday, May 23 @ The Bakery
Lil Jabba/Cashmere Cat DJ Rashad & DJ Manny ft Rok Riley/420 Crew/ Friday, May 31 @ The Oni Ca$h Vs Starks/ Bakery Allstate Vs Clunk Sunday, June 2 @ The Breach & Route 94 Bakery Friday, May 31 @ Gilkisons Dance Studio Earlwolf ft Tyler, The Creator & Earl Brow Horn Orchestra Friday, May 31 @ C5 Freo Sweatshirt Tuesday, June 4 @ Saturday, June 1 @ Capitol Settlers Tavern
Elite Force ft Oli/ STRANGERTHANDIGITAL Fresh Produce ft Arms Friday, May 24 @ Ambar In Motion/ Subwalker/ Alex Tong/ Austy /Fendi Phetsta ft Rregula, Joust, Friday, May 31st @ Ambar Inflex and Cutlery Friday, May 24 @ Shape MixMash Australian Tour ft Oliver Twizt/ tyDi Uberjak’d Saturday, May 25 @ Villa Saturday, June 1 @ Villa
Goldfields Friday, June 21 @ Metro Freo Saturday, June 22 @ Amplifier Jungle Shakedown Friday 21 June @ Ambar TheUpbeats ft T’Dodge vs N1/Terrence & Phillip/Rexop Friday 21 June @ Geisha
P-Money & David Dallas Thursday, June 6 @ Villa Hook N Sling ft DJ Kenny L/Jus Haus/John Paul/Slick John Digweed Friday, June 7 @ Villa Sunday, June 24 @ Mullaloo Beach Hotel Tensnake ft Sepalcure/ Jimmy Edgar Allday Friday, June 7 @ The Saturday, June 29 @ Bakery Japan 4 ft Nick Thayer/ Amplifier Riff Raff: Neon Icon Tee El/Micah/Dead Easy/ Saturday, June 1 @ 133 Hedkandi ft Gregor Mr eD Major Bass ft Lady Aberdeen St Salto/Henton/James Saturday, May 25 @ Waks/CRNKN/Slynk Ess/Ace Basik Vs Paul Ambar DCUP ft Micah/Troy and for the first time at Scott Division/Paradise Paul Friday, June 7 @ Geisha Villa, the MINOR BASS Saturday, June 1 @ The SILENT DISCO with an Bar COMING UP Aviary all-star Boomtick cast! Von D ft DDWYT Crew/ Saturday, June 29 @ Villa Force Majeure ft Bolsty/Bazil Zemplys/ Mantra South Rakkas Crew Clunk Saturday, June 1 @ A$AP Rocky (Florida) & Swick Thursday, May 30 @ Rosemount Hotel Sunday, June 30 @ Metro (Mel) Geisha Bar Friday, June 7 @ Ambar City Dash Berlin ft Marlo Sunday, June 2 @ Metro Jack Beats Bliss N Eso City Saturday, June 8 @ Villa Wednesday, July 10 @ Metro City It’s a London Thing Branchez (NYC) & – Pure Garage ft Duane JD Butcher (Bris) ALT-J A/Rhys D/Rufkut/ Saturday, June 8 @ 133 Saturday, July 27 @ Greg Packer/Ru-Kasu/J Aberdeen St Challenge Stadium Rippa/Webbz Sunday, June 2 @ Geisha Kid Kenobi Passion Pit Bar Friday/ 14 June @ Sunday, August 4 @ Villa Ambar CASPA & MC Ken ShockOne SUPAFEST ft T.I./50 Cent/ Mac Bass Kleph Waka Flocka/Akon/NeSunday, June 2 @ Villa Friday/ 14 June @ 133 SHOCKONE, Yo/Young Jeezy/Mindless Aberdeen St Behaviour/DJ Unk/Kevin WEDNESDAY, Tommy Trash ft Nino Brown/ ACEBASIK/Chiari Lil B MAY 22 @ Sunday, June 2 @ 133 Sunday, June 16 @ The McCall/DJ Dizzy Doolan/Phinesse Postponed date TBC SHAPE Bakery Aberdeen St
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ALTERED STATES FULLY FREQUED
Basic Mind/ Declan/ Joe Stawarz/ Dario Krsic / Reece Walker & Emerald Cabal/ Allstate/ Craig Hollywood Geisha Bar Friday, May 17, 2013 RTR FM has always promoted and nurtured the Perth dance music scene, and the legendary Full Frequency program has for many years featured local DJs representing all styles, every Monday to Friday, 3-5pm. Never more so has the scene been thriving with an abundance and variety of local talent. In recent years the underground house and techno scene has been particularly strong, represented by a solid contingent of local luminaries and rising stars. While on any given night there is a myriad of DJs playing in Perth, there aren’t as many opportunities for live artists – where budding young producers get a chance to play out their own creations, using various permutations of laptops, software and the array of synths and hardware available, but Full Frequency’s Altered States night at Geisha was an exception. First up was talented, up-and-coming producer, Basic Mind. This emerging electronic musician started off the night slowly with some live ambient sounds he coaxed out of his MPC and mind boggling modular synth set up. Deep, throbbing analogue grooves that gradually moved into housier territory, moody beats with touches of tweakin’ psytrance. His unique sounds shows promise and could have benefitted from a bit more volume so as to allow the audience to become more immersed in the soundscapes he ushered forth. Taking over was veteran of the Perth scene, Declan, who picked things up and got bodies on the dancefloor with an upbeat selection of funky house, and harder sounds. A tightly mixed selection of percussive flavours, climaxing in the recent Pearson Sound release, Quivver, a blistering tune with a raw, two-step vibe and stabbing bassline. Prodigious Perth producer, Joe Stawarz, who is signed to the highly regarded Scottish techno label, Soma Records, followed on, delivering a world class live set of deep sounds. Using a midi keyboard and laptop setup, the young jedi unleashed wave after wave of driving, bassy, tribal house and smooth techno beats.
Allstate and Craig Hollywood Dario Krsic, otherwise known as 2012 PDMA Best House DJ, El Dario, was up next to raise the roof, starting slowly with some basic beats, before building up the tempo to more upfront, big room sounds. Straight up tech-house, snappy beats and driving grooves kept the dance floor pumping. Reece Walker and Emerald Cabal have teamed up recently to produce some wonderfully fresh sounds, and tonight gave us a taste with some live laptop action. The young duo were immersed in their music, conjuring insistent rhythms, stitched together with deep, grinding, glitchy beats. The conclusion of their set was greeted with sincere applause. Then to finish the night, we had another PDMA winner, Craig Hollywood playing back to back with Allstate, and the boys brought the night home in resounding fashion, laying down some heavy dancefloor sounds. Winding up on an old school vibe with some classic techno sounds including Green Velvet’s Flash, Laurent Garnier’s jazz-house workout The Man With The Red Face, Alden Tyrell’s dirty acid groove Touch the Sky featuring Mike Dunn. A great night all round with a great vibe, highlighting our hotbed of local talent, producing and mixing tunes just as good as any international. It ’s vital that we get down and support our local club nights and not just save ourselves for the many big touring acts and festivals Perth is now lucky enough to be blessed with.
» ALF GORMAN
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THE KILL DEVIL HILLS
Photo by Stefan Caramia
The Coalminers Sect/Kim Salmon Rosemount Hotel Friday, May 17, 2013 It’s a nippy autumn evening in North Perth as an exuberant crowd starts to fill the dingy room at the Rosemount Hotel. Kicking off the night, local musicians and Triple J Unearthed artists The Coalminers Sect are the first to boot in the doors of and invade the stage. These guys from Bunbury perform a solid set of grungy indie rock with blazing guitars and persistent, driving riffs. They provide a head banging, thigh slapping, hip shaking start to what is about to become an evening of much melody and merriment. Musical veteran and soul man Kim Salmon is next to strut onto the stage. He couldn’t seem more comfortable in this musical arena. Salmon is all confidence and charisma. There is a Robert Plant-like coolness about him with his wild unkempt mane. Via grooving bluesy ballads and daydreaming mellow tunes which ooze soul and sex, Salmon and his band take us on a musical journey through a soundscape of pulsing rock with crunching chords and pulsing rhythms. Each song is carried on the shoulders of a strong, rambling bass line. You can tell that each member of this ensemble is a seasoned professional. They are tight and more at ease on stage than a sloth in a hammock.
THE GASLIGHT ANTHEM Dave Hause
Metro City Sunday, May 19, 2013 If you wanted to know if the people of Perth were excited to see The Gaslight Anthem, you only had to drive through Northbridge at 8pm on Sunday night and witness the line of people with hoikedup jean-legs and white t-shirts with the sleeves rolled up spewing down Roe Street. It was almost unforeseeable a few years ago that The Gaslight Anthem would be able to play at such a large venue in Perth but thanks to Triple J attention and plenty of hard work, the group from New Jersey have earned their right to play their tunes to the masses, and the people of Perth were happy to oblige. While the punters started flowing in, Dave Hause did his best to warm the crowd of people just in off the chilly streets. It’s a hard-ask to have a solo performer open for a rock and roll band, but Hause was surprisingly successful with his mission. By day, Hause fronts the punk-rock band The Loved Ones so his experience in playing to these types of crowds was plentiful, which showed in his reception tonight. Hause went back and forth from palmmuting his electric guitar to the more traditional acoustic approach, both with equal success. He performed his own songs as well as songs from 38
As the lights fade once more, it is the turn of The Kill Devil Hills to strum us into musical ecstasy. The Kill Devil Hills are no strangers to Salmon, having opened for him in years past, but tonight it’s their night. This sextet, who describe their style as ‘spaghetti western’ construct a delectably dense and multilayered sound. Front man Brendon Humphries has a beautiful, gravelly quality to his voice as he sings, eyes closed and swaying, seemingly lost in the moment. The music is intoxicating and passionate, smooth, sexy and beautiful. There is an elegance to their melodies. One can sense that these musicians put much of themselves into their performance, making their slower numbers intensely emotional and their more upbeat songs exhilarating and enthralling. As they play Gunslinger the crowd bobs and grooves with the band and sing in unison. There is a party atmosphere in the room. The Kill Devil Hills’ country-style funk is inherently sensual and visceral. It becomes impossible to stay still as they jam, the dense harmonies hitting the audience like a wall of sound. Their tunes are beautifully atmospheric and their music a rambling, soulful story. They deftly suck the audience in with their complex web of riffs and guitar licks, like a slightly shell-shocked spider into a vacuum cleaner. The lineup for this evening was cleverly chosen, each band complimenting the next rather than jostling for position in a race for the best act for the night. _ DANI DEVILLE The Loved Ones repertoire and proved himself to be an accomplished performer with a killer voice and a knack to please the crowd. As well as Hause performed, it was his interest in getting the crowd involved with his set that that got the punters warmed up. The anticipation was building for The Gaslight Anthem to hit the stage. The bars were packed, and plenty of beer was being consumed in preparation for their set. The band hit the stage with little fanfare and got right down to business, with frontman Brian Fallon not introducing the band until after Old White Lincoln second song in. Fallon proved himself to be a crowdpleaser, waiting until the end of The ’59 Sound to really shine. As people threw song requests at him he responded by impersonating American moviegoers. He asked who in the crowd had been to the movies in America, and went on to say (in his best granny voice) “The people there are so stupid. They yell at the screen like ‘They’re behind you. Watch out’ You know they can’t hear you, right?”. This is a band who have cut their teeth playing to smaller pub-type venues, so it was these stories and interactions with the crowd that made such a large venue like Metro city feel intimate and pub-like. The band wound their way through material spanning their entire catalogue, with American Slang and Too Much Blood being standouts of the set. They geared their set down with some of their slower tunes before leaving the stage without remark, returning for three songs to end the night after a few minutes of chanting from the crowd. For a band who are made for smaller stages, The Gaslight Anthem effortlessly put on a rock and roll show with all the dirt and grime you’d expect from a pub gig, only in a much larger setting to a much larger audience. _ GEORGE GREEN X-Press – First on the street, Wednesdays
JELLO BIAFRA AND THE GUANTANAMO SCHOOL OF MEDICINE Helta Skelta Rosemount Hotel Tuesday, May 14, 2013 You’re always gonna get a pretty decent crowd when one of these old musical icons decides to saddle up and go on a tour again, particularly when they appeal to a niche subculture known for ferocious loyalty. Such was the case when punk legend and former Dead Kennedys frontman’ Jello Biafra rolled into the Rosemount, and it’s just a shame that the refurb work on the beer garden meant that entry and egress was like being in a spawning run of leather-clad salmon. Local hardcore outfit Helta Skelta were tasked with warming the crowd up, a frankly
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unenviable position to be in. Although the place was packed out early on, and plenty of punters had staked their ground in front of the stage, it was clear that it was in preparation for the main players, not the support act. Which is not to say the lads didn’t acquit themselves well, despite a couple of technical difficulties; the primal thump of their music is impossible to ignore, and the clear influence that The Dead Kennedys have had on their work endeared them to the crowd, even if the room never fully engaged while they were on stage. No, the crowd - a mix of young punks and old, which speaks to the long shadow Biafra has cast over the genre for the last 30-odd years - were here for the motor-mouthed madman, and he didn’t disappoint. The Terror of Tinytown was the opening shot of a gig that at times felt more like a battle than
Jello Biafra and The Guantanamo School of Medicine - photo by Mike Wylie a performance, with Biafra’s staccato delivery hitting the crowd like a machinegun. Biafra came onstage dressed like a blood-spattered surgeon, and he was here to cut away the diseased meat of society in his own inimitable way. The Guantanamo School of Medicine were drum-tight, hardly surprising when you consider they have a pedigree that includes tours of duty with such luminaries as Ween, Helios Creed and Victims Family. But you don’t just get a rock show with Biafra; you get a series of lectures as well, and let’s face facts: if you’re not on board with his particular brand of far-left politics, you’re gonna have a bad time. In between songs, he held forth on a wide variety of societal ills, tailoring his polemic to include potshots at Gina Reinhart and Tony Abbott. The crowd ate it up, and it’s kind of remarkable that the stop-start structure of the show didn’t impact on the
energy of the night. The set list was a mix of the old and the new, but - predictably - it was the old DK standards that got the strongest reaction: Chemical Warfare went down a treat, as did California Uber Alles, its lyrics altered to include a swipe at Schwarzenegger’s gubernatorial turn. Sticking both Kill the Poor and Holiday in Cambodia in the encore ensured the night ended on a high. Biafra’s been doing his thing for a long time now, and the tenor of his ferocious indignation has never wavered. He may be balding and broad around the middle these days, but this night proved that nor only is there still an audience for his stuff, there’s also a need for it. _ TRAVIS JOHNSON
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THE BIRD
INDI BAR
Arts Martial are back this Saturday, May 25, with a new video for their catchy as hell track, Supernational. j\Joining them on the night are Trigger Jackets and Braves. Entry is $15.
Friday, May 24, Dave release their new single, Monogamy, from 8pm, with support from Thee Gold Blooms and Blue Lucy - entry is $5. Saturday, Melbourne duo Super Wild Horses hit the stage for their Crosswords tour, with local support from Dianas and Gunns - Doors at 8pm, entry is $10. Sunday, May 26, the Hamjam DJs will be on hand from 6pm to help you end your weekend in style. Entry is free.
THE BEAT NIGHTCLUB
Arts Martial
CLANCY’S FISH PUB, FREMANTLE
This Thursday, May 23, catch Terry Serio’s Ministry of Truth and Billie Rogers. Friday, May 24, sees King of The Travellers take to the stage, alongside The Justin Walshe Folk Machine and The Aunts. Saturday, get down with The Weapon Is Sound, Leon Osborn and DJ Silence, and wrap your week up on Sunday with Dr Fish.
THE MULLALOO BEACH HOTEL
This Friday, May 24, Kill Teen Angst headline a Gun Fever Showcase upstairs, with support from Flowermouth, Alex the Kid and Gutter Drakes. Doors open at 8pm, entry is $5. On Saturday, Runaways hosts a Boats ‘n’ Hoes party, while Still Water Claims and Finders take up the floorshow downstairs. Come dressed in your best boats ‘n’ hoes attire, and we’ll provide the party. Doors open at10pm.
ROSEMOUNT HOTEL
This Friday, May 24, catch local pop-rockers Our Man In Berlin launching their new EP along with special guests The Shallows, Simone and Girlfunkle and Sidewalk Diamonds. Doors open 8pm and entry is $12.
THE RAILWAY HOTEL
This Saturday, May 25, catch Short Of Daybreak, September Sun, Opine and The Rumble. Doors open 8pm, $5 entry. Sunday it’s another edition of Gignition, September Sun, Railway Bell, The Brothers Duke, Mountain Giants and Big Girls Blouse. Doors open 4-8pm, $8 entry.
Strip your bed of its sheets and get down to some killer beats this Friday, May 24, at the Mullaz! After just launching a fortnight ago, the themed extravaganza Flaunt is back, and this week it’s going TOGA. After a night of bed spreads and leaf heads, you can catch the bus free to Dusk Nightclub so you can rule the night like Caesar! Free entry, and Uni card holders get a free drink. Check out facebook/Mullaloobeachhotel for details.
Short Of Daybreak
YAYA’S
High-energy acts, rap battles and shiny new club nights make up this weekend at YaYa’s! Castle Bravo have put together a killer punk line-up this Friday, May 24, and they’re ready to melt your brains into a gooey soup. Saturday from 2pm brings the return of Perth City Battles, Perth’s one and only home of high stakes, high-octane rap battles! 9pm sees the launch of Perth’s newest club night, Pulp, featuring DJs Mishtee and Bazilzemplys.
GEISHA
Friday sees the launch of the new dance music event, The Cliq! A stellar line-up of local DJs, including DS, Morgan Then, Scotty Knows, Sly Kidd and Ollie Hanson will be working the decks, serving up progressive house, big room and electro. VIP party is at 120pm, public entry is at 11pm. For a shot on the VIP list, email your full name to info@geishabar.com. au with ‘The Cliq’ in the subject line.
See yourself? Tag yourself! Head to our Facebook
TIKI BEAT BAR OPENING Newport Hotel Sunday, May 19, 2013 Hipsters, hooligans and hepcats flocked to the unveiling of the Newport Hotel’s new South Seas themed bar, which was designed by Tiki carving legend Marcus Thorn. Rum cocktails, supplied by Sailor Jerry’s, flowed freely, and entertainment came courtesy of Rocket To Memphis, Carnies With Candy, The High Learys and more.
immy, Michelle
Photos by Denis Radacic
Beck, Paul, Crooky
Robin, Adrianne, Rowan, Cletus
Nadina, Lucy, Jay
Matty Blade, Slade 40
Jade, Tom, Devina X-Press – First on the street, Wednesdays
What’s your background? How did you get into music? My mother taught me basic chords when I was 12, which encouraged my love for creating songs. When I was 16, I entered a singer/songwriter competition in Fremantle and performed for the very first time in front of a live audience. I realised then that this is what I want to do for the rest of my life. I enjoyed playing solo for many years however I realised that I needed a full band to exceed my potential. How would you describe your sound? Who are your influences? Over the years, my music evolved as I experimented with many different genres. My raw sound stems from my self taught background. I have always loved artists including Brand New, Mazzy Star, Little Birdy and The Red Hot Chilli Peppers, just to name a few. I feel like growing up in suburbia has a major influence on all my songs as they have a youthful outlook on life.
ELLI SCHOEN
What’s your writing process like? Writing lyrics has always been a natural process for me. When I create a melody I can instantly hear a song. Of all the different aspects of playing music, writing songs is what I enjoy the most.
Having made her mark on the Triple J airwaves with the well received single, Fourteen, Fremantle songstress Elli Schoen is primed to take it to the next level with the upcoming release of her EP, Love in Suburbia. Head down to Mojo’s on Thursday, May 30 to catch Elli, with support from The Evergreen and Richard Glover.
How was recording the EP? Who did you work with? Recording the EP was an amazing experience. I worked with a producer named Andy James Court and together with his gospel background we came up with an original EP that I’m very proud to share to the world. What are your plans for the future? All I want to do is write songs and share them to as many people as I can. My ultimate goal is to be playing at festivals, I would love to make a sea of people sway to my tunes and play along side bands that I have loved and looked up to in my early life as a musician.
Nevsky Prospekt
AN ENTICING PROSPEKT Evermore
GOING, GOING, EVERGONE
In a remarkably short period of time, Perth rockers Evergone have gone from neophyte status to having a serious claim on being one the top live acts currently gigging around the traps, and now they’re ready to impress us with their debut album, This is Where We Meet Again. Catch them at Mojo’s on Friday, May 24, with special guests This Other Eden, Lantana and Wizard Sleeve.
This is your last chance to catch wildman Pat Burke on the skins for Nevsky Prospekt before he heads off for pastures new. Give him a good send off at Fremantle’s Newport Hotel this Thursday, May 23, and get an earful of Trigger Jackets and The Order of the Black Werewolf while you’re at it. Doors open at 8pm, entry is free.
PICK A PECK OF PICA
Another weekend means another eclectic line-up at Pica Bar! This Saturday, May 25, Minifest IV features Ben Witt, Luke Dux, Amanda Merzdan and Todd Pickett all playing indoors in deference to the increasingly inclement weather, and we’re led to believe there’ll be mulled wine and paprika popcorn on the menu as well. First performance is at 7pm, and entry is free.
The Devil Rides Out
WALKING TALL
Caught the latest song from Perth’s premier doomsters, The Devil Rides Out? If not, no fear - you can get in on the official single launch for The Righteous Walk this Thursday, May 23. at Mojo’s. The Floors will be there too, as will Loose Lips and Dirtwater Bloom, and DJ Tyranny will be filling the silences between songs with some suitably melancholy tunes. Doors open at 8pm.
Our Man in Berlin
FIRST WE TAKE MANHATTAN
Ethereal indie-pop six piece Our Man in Berlin set their new EP, Tamaze, free this Friday, May 24, at The Rosemount. To help celebrate this little five track miracle, The Shallows, Simone & Girlfunkle and Sidewalk Diamonds have decided to take the stage as well, culminating in one of the best local line-ups in, oh, at least the last week or two. Doors open at 8pm, entry is $12.
THURSDAY I’M IN LOVE
23/05/2013 The Devil Rides Out The Righteous Walk Single Launch @ Mojo’s 24/05/2013 Our Man in Berlin Temaze EP Launch @ The Rosemount 24/06/2013 Evergone This is Where We Meet Again Album Launch @ Mojo’s 25/06/2013 The Amani Consort Better Way EP Launch @ Mojo’s 26/05/2013 The Justin Walshe Folk Machine Road to Menindee Single Launch @ Northbridge Piazza 26/05/2013 Cela Beautiful Blue Album Launch @ The Fly Trap 30/05/2013 Elli Schoen Love in Suburbia EP Launch @ Mojo’s 31/05/2013 The Disappointed Every Made Up Eye In The City Single/Video Launch @ The Beat Nightclub 31/05/2013 DeathFuckingCunt Ungodly Violation Album Launch @ Amplifier 01/06/2013 The Empty Cup Sojourn LP Launch @ Mojo’s 07/06/2013 Riley Pearce We Are Fools EP Launch @ Ya-Ya’s 08/06/2013 The Love Junkies Maybelene LP Launch @ Mojo’s 21/06/2013 Violet Scene EP Launch @ Ya Ya’s
Those angling to start their weekend early could do a lot worse than check in on what’s happening at The Rosemount Hotel this Thursday, May 23. Four bands will be gracing the stage indoors, including The MDC, Digital Order, Dry Dry River and From the Dunes. Doors open at 8pm, entry is $5. www.xpressmag.com.au
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X-Press – First on the street, Wednesdays
Matt Corby, May 23
THIS WEEK
Super Wild Horses, May 25
(sold-out) 2 Mojos MATT CORBY KAKI KING 23 The Astor 1 The Bakery RIFF RAFF THE GHOST 1 Black Betty’s INSIDE STATE OF THE ART 23 Amplifier MUSIC FESTIVAL (Dave Hole/Abbe OWL EYES May/Karnivool/ 24 Amplifier Bob Evans/ Gyroscope/Kav SUPER WILD Temperley and HORSES more TBC) 25 The Bird 2 Perth Concert BORN OF OSIRIS Hall 25 The Bakery CABLE SOUNDS (Icehouse, The AND YOU WILL Stephen Pigram KNOW US BY Quartet & Desert THE TRAIL OF Child) DEAD 2 Cable Beach 25 The Amphitheatre Rosemount EARLWOLF (Tyler, The Creator & Earl JINJA SAFARI Sweatshirt) 25 Amplifier 4 Capitol NORTHLANE AIRNORTH KIMBERELEY 4 & 5 YMCA HQ MOON 5 YMCA HQ EXPERIENCE 6 Amplifier (Guy Sebastian/ HAPPY MONDAYS Mark Seymour/ 5 Metro Freo James Reyne/ KATE MILLERGurrumul HEIDKE Yunupingu) 5 St Joseph’s 25 Jim Hughes Church Amphitheatre 6 Mandurah Kununurra Performing Arts Centre ANDY BULL 7 Albany 26 The Aviary Entertainment THE REVEREND Centre HORTON HEAT 8 Margaret River 28 The Cultural Centre Rosemount P-MONEY/DAVID DALLAS MAY 6 Villa ROSE TATTOO SOMETHING FOR 31 Charles Hotel KATE DRAGON 7 The Astor 31 The Astor THE BEARDS Theatre 7 Amplifier THY ART IS 8 Prince Of Wales MURDER D AT SEA 31 Prince Of Wales 7 C5 Freo 1 Amplifier 8 Amplifier 2 YMCA HQ 9 YMCA HQ KILLING JOKE JUNE 9 The Rosemount EMMA LOUISE SAN CISCO 13 Prince Of Wales 1 Astor Theatre
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14 Fly By Night 15 Amplifier LIL B 16 The Bakery THE BLACK ANGELS 17 Capitol KORA 19 Capitol ANDREW STOCKDALE 20 The Bakery 21 Fly By Night 22 Prince Of Wales GOLD FIELDS 21 Metro Freo 22 Amplifier MUNICIPAL WASTE 21 Rosemount Hotel THE SUPERJESUS 21 Amplifier 22 Amplifier UNKNOWN MORTAL ORCHESTRA 23 Rosemount Hotel PINK 25, 26 & 28 Perth Arena BEN OTTEWELL (GOMEZ) 26 Mojos BILL ODDIE 27 Astor Theatre ALLDAY 27 Newport Hotel 29 Amplifier THE RED PAINTINGS 28 Rosemount Hotel COOLIO 29 Metro City A$AP Rocky 30 Metro City
JULY CLAIRY BROWNE & THE BANGIN’ RACKETTES 4 ARTBAR LA DISPUTE 6 Amplifier 7 YMCA HQ BALL PARK MUSIC/EAGLE & THE WORM 12 Metro Freo ENGLEBERT
Andy Bull, May 26
HUMPERDINCK 13 Crown Theatre YOU AM I 13 Astor Theatre (sold-out) 14 Astor Theatre JONNY CRAIG 17 Amplifier A DAY TO REMEMBER/THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA/ DREAM ON DREAMER 18 Metro City SAINT VITUS/ MONARCH 21 The Rosemount JAMES BLAKE 26 The Astor ALT-J 27 Challenge Stadium BLEEDING THROUGH 28 Amplifier BABYSHAMBLES 31 Metro City
AUGUST COLD WAR KIDS 2 Capitol VILLAGERS 2 Fly By Night FIDLAR 3 The Bakery BARDO POND 4 The Rosemount DON MCLEAN 19 Perth Concert Hall GEORGE BENSON 21 Riverside Theatre ANDREW STRONG: THE COMMITMENTS 22 Metro Freo THE SMITH STREET BAND 22 Rosemount Hotel 23 Prince Of Wales, Bunbury BERNARD FANNING 25 Astor Theatre JAPANDROIDS 26 The Rosemount THE WHITLAMS/ WASO 30 Perth Concert Hall
SEPTEMBER MANHATTAN TRANSFER 1 Regal Theatre THE CAT EMPIRE 7 Red Hill Auditorium AMANDA PALMER & THE GRAND THEFT ORCHESTRA 8 Astor Theatre PARKWAY DRIVE 14 Metropolis Fremantle 15 & 16 Capitol FOALS 22 Metro City RIHANNA 24 Perth Arena ONE DIRECTION 28 & 29 Perth Arena XAVIER RUDD/ DONAVON FRANKENREITER/ NAHKO & MEDICINE FOR THE PEOPLE 28 3 Oceans Winery, Margaret River 29 Fremantle Arts Centre
OCTOBER SOILWORK 8 The Rosemount AMORPHIS 16 Capitol THE BREEDERS 31 The Astor ENSLAVED 31 The Rosemount
NOVEMBER SSUPAFEST (T.I/50 Cent/Waka Flocka/Akon/ Ne-Yo/Young Jeezy/Mindless Behaviour/DJ Unk/Kevin McCall/ DJ Nino Brown/ Dizzy Doolan & Phinesse) Date TBC Perth Arena
DECEMBER TAYLOR SWIFT 11 Perth NIB Stadium BON JOVI 12 Perth Arena
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Catlips, Wednesday at The Bird
Digital Order, Thursday at The Rosemount
WEDNESDAY 22.05
THURSDAY 23.05
BAR 120 Felix BRASS MONKEY Sugar Blue Burlesque CARINE Open Mic Night Chris O’Brien CLAREMONT HOTEL Acoustica GREENWOOD Bernardine GROOVE BAR 5 Shots ELLINGTON JAZZ CLUB Manteca Night Cap Sessions GROOVE BAR (CROWN) 5 Shots INDI BAR Edie Green Amanda Merdzan LUCKY SHAG Howie Morgan MOON CAFÉ Nora Zion & Mudlark Bill Darby Sam Buckingham MUSTANG BAR Blue Gene DJ Giles PADDO Dove The Suntones Andy Newman ROSEMOUNT The Order of The Black Werewolf Triangle Fight One Armed Scissor Catbrush THE BIRD Wednesday Night Girl Party Catlips Leure Nora Zion UNIVERSAL Retrofit VILLAGE BAR Village People - Open Mic YAYA’S Kallan Phillips Rabbits Foot Alicia Webb Michael Day
AMPLIFIER The Ghost Inside BELGIAN BEER CAFÉ Jean Proude BRASS MONKEY Rhythm Bound Karaoke BRIGHTON Open Mic Night Rob Walker BROOKLANDS TAVERN Celebrations Karaoke CROWN PERTH GROOVE LOUNGE Decoy DEVILLES PAD Rock’N’Roll Karaoke DUNSBOROUGH TAVERN Open Mic Night ELEPHANT AND WHEELBARROW Karaoke & Dj Lukas ELLINGTON JAZZ CLUB Night Cap Sessions FLY BY NIGHT (Fly Trap) Hyte GROOVE BAR (CROWN) Decoy INDI BAR Bex’s Open Mic Night LUCKY SHAG James Wilson MARKET CITY TAVERN Sami Moore Jessica Nyanda Nathan Mayers Tommy Jesmin Morton Jimmy Rockets MOJOS BAR The Devils Rides Out The Floors Loose Lips Dirtwater Bloom DJ Tyranny MERRIWA TAVERN Neil Adams MUSTANG BAR Louis & The Honkytonk Wise Oaks Natasha Shanks DJ James MacArthur NEWPORT HOTEL Nevsky Prospekt The Order of the Black
One Armed Scissor
ONE ARMED SCISSOR TRIANGLE FIGHT, ONE ARMED SCISSOR, CATBRUSH, ORDER OF THE BLACK WEREWOLF
WEDNESDAY, MAY 22 THE ROSEMOUNT
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Werewolf Trigger Jackets DJ Tim from Mills ROSEMOUNT Digital Order The MDC From The Dunes Dry Dry River SETTLERS TAVERN Acoustic Open Mic Night SWALLOW BAR DJ Mama Cass THE AVIARY Empire THE BOAT Jen De Ness THE GATE Greg Carter THE SHED Mike Nayar UNIVERSAL Off The Record YA YA’S Morrie Beth Apache Silver Hills
FRIDAY 24.05 ALEXANDER BAR Neil Adams AMPLIFIER Owl Eyes BALMORAL Mike Nayar BAR ORIENT The Reggae Club BEAT NIGHTCLUB (UPSTAIRS) Kill Teen Angst Flowermouth Alex The Kid Gutter Drakes BELMONT TAVERN Astrobat BEST DROP TAVERN Carbon Taxi BRASS MONKEY Jean Proude C5 FREMANTLE Residence Grace Woodroofe CARINE Velvet CHARLES HOTEL Comedy Lounge Brad Oakes Michael Workman Jack Druce CHASE BAR & BISTRO James Wilson CIVIC HOTEL BACKROOM Strays Tokyo Five CLAREMONT HOTEL Fnkd Up Fridays Eloise & The Infinite Squeeze CORNERSTONE Surrender DEVILLES PAD Phillyharmonics Soulsidesa Les Sataniques Moggy’s Record Shoppe DUNSBOROUGH TAVERN Kamikaze Pilots EAST 150 BAR Bernardine ELEPHANT AND WHEELBARROW
Simone & Girlfunkle, Saturday at The Rosemount
Daren Reid & The Soul City Groove ELLINGTON JAZZ CLUB Perth International Jazz Festival Joe Lovano Sam Anning Jam Sessions with Abbey Foster Falle EMPIRE BAR Howie Morgan ENEX100 Ezereve GREENWOOD Greg Carter GROOVE BAR (CROWN) Tod Johnston & Peace Love HERDSMAN Sugarfield HYDE PARK HOTEL Steve Parkin INDI BAR Vdelli THE INDIAN OCEAN BREW CO Ben Merito KALAMUNDA HOTEL Vendetta KANGAROO ARMS Gary Fowlie KULCHA Jim Dailakis Belowsky Laura Davis M ON THE POINT DJ Mischieff MAHOGANNY INN Stella Donnelly MARKET CITY TAVERN Tamika Jonboy METRO FREO Frat House Fridays MOJOS BAR Evergone This Other Eden Lantana Wizard Sleeve MOUNT HELENA TAVERN Nasty Dogz MUSTANG Adam Hall & the Velvet Playboys Swing DJ Cheeky Monkeys DJ James MacArthur NEWPORT HOTEL Milhouse DJ Tom Drummond DJ Sardi DJ Evan NORTH FREMANTLE BOWLS CLUB Blowhole Strength of Twenty Winterhouse PADDO Chris Gibbs Easy Tigers PADDY MAGUIRES Frenzy Madam Montage PEEL ALE HOUSE Better Days PICA BAR Ministry of Truth Billie Rogers Sidewalk Diamonds PLAYERS BAR Almost Famous
ROSEMOUNT Our Man In Berlin The Shallows Simone & Girlfunkle Sidewalk Diamonds SAIL AND ANCHOR Howie Morgan SAIL AND ANCHOR (UPSTAIRS) NightShift SCARBOROUGH SPORTSMAN’S CLUB The Lions Big Band Swing Zing SETTLERS TAVERN Morgan Bain Peter Ladd McGovern THE SHED Krank SOUTH ST ALEHOUSE Robbie King Karaoke SPRINGS TAVERN Die Hard Karaoke SWAN LOUNGE Leah Grant Lydia Robert Hinton SWINGING PIG Greg Carter Rockit THE BAKERY LAPALUX THE BIRD Dave Thee Gold Blooms Blue Lucy THE BROOK Dove THE PRINCIPAL Dirty Scoundrels THE ROSE & CROWN Tod Woodward UNIVERSAL Nightmoves YA YA’S Castle Bravo Blindspot Them Sharks Being Beta
SATURDAY 25.05 AMPLIFIER Jinja Safari BAKERY Born Of Osiris Feed Her to The Sharks A Breach Of Silence BALMORAL Holly Denton Band Midnight Rambler BEAT NIGHTCLUB (DOWNSTAIRS) RUNAWAY Still Water Claims Finders BELGIAN BEER CAFÉ Mike Nayar BOAB TAVERN James Wilson BREAKERS BAR LIXY BUNBURY REGIONAL ENTERTAINMENT CENTRE The Delltones CIVIC HOTEL BACKROOM Malignant Monster Disciples of Torture (QLD) Miazma (NT) Entrails Eradicated
X-Press – First on the street, Wednesdays
Deadline Monday 5pm. The Gig-Guide is a service to advertisers listing all LIVE MUSIC. All inclusions are at the discretion of X-Press. Email guide@xpressmag.com.au
Malignant Monster, Saturday at The Civic Hotel Advent Sorrow Cold Fate Empires Laid Waste DFC One Too Many Camel Corpseflesh Tusk CRAFTSMAN Groove DEVILLES PAD The Crawdads Razor Jack Safari Les Sataniques DUNSBOROUGH TAVERN DJ Nat Punk ELEPHANT AND WHEELBARROW Timeout ELLINGTON JAZZ CLUB Perth International Jazz Festival Abbey Foster Falle Void Jam Sessions with Tom O’Halloran Trio ELMARS IN THE VALLEY Chris Gibbs Adrian Wilson FLY BY NIGHT Twenty Feet Beat FLYING SCOTSMAN Under The Influence Andrei Maz FOUR5NINE BAR Little Bird GOSNELLS HOTEL Sugarfield GREENWOOD Carbon Taxi GROOVE BAR (CROWN) Switch DJ Dan HOTEL ROTTNEST Karin Page HYDE PARK HOTEL Overdrive INDIAN OCEAN BREW CO Shawne & Luc INDI BAR Arts Martial Trigger Jackets Braves KULCHA Jim Fisher LAKERS TAVERN Celebrations Karaoke LYNWOOD ARMS Mustangs M ON THE POINT Rhythm 22 MOJOS BAR The Amani Consort Nagati Sarah Pellecano Dilip & Drew Jkash Anna Wallwork MUSTANG The Rusty Pinto Combo Rockabilly DJ Milhouse DJ James MacArthur NEWPORT HOTEL Tim Nelson Gravity DJ Tahli Jade DJ Tom Drummond DJ Steve Parkin
PADDO Cheeky Monkeys PADDY MAGUIRES Holly Denton Band PARAMOUNT Felix PEEL ALE HOUSE Spritzer PICA BAR Mini Fest IV Ben Witt Luke Dux Amanda Merdzan Todd Pickett PORT KENNEDY TAVERN Adam Morris PRINCE OF WALES Funeral For A Friend QUARIE BAR One Trick Phonies RAILWAY HOTEL Short Of Daybreak September Sun Opine The Rumble ROCKET ROOM Kickstart ROLEYSTONE COUNTRY CLUB Carbon Taxi ROSEMOUNT And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of The Dead Sincerely, Grizzly ROSIE O’GRADY’S FREMANTLE Flavor ROYAL PALM RESORT Kris Buckle SAIL & ANCHOR Better Days Childs Play SETTLERS TAVERN Ben Merito SOUTH BEACH HOTEL Jook Joint Band STEVES BAR Sue Johnson SWAN BASEMENT Late Night Satay Three Hands One Hoof King’s Justice Dylan McCoy James Morton SWINGING PIG Greg Crater East Tigers THE BIRD Super Wild Horses Gunns Dianas THE BROOK Blackbirds THE GATE Dirty Scoundrels THE SHED Huge THE WHITE STAR HOTEL ALBANY Declan Kelly and the Rising Sun UNIVERSAL Soul Corporation WHALE & ALE Pulse YAYA’S Perth City Battles 21 Azmatik vs. Lethal PULP Featuring DJs Mistee and Bazilzempyls
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Friday Friday Travis Caudle The Atlas Mountains, Travis Caudle Flyat ByMojos Night Sunday Fly By Night
SUNDAY 26.05 BAILEY BAR & BISTRO Gary Fowlie BALMORAL James Wilson BELMONT TAVERN Jamie Powers BOAB TAVERN Chris Gibbs Duo BRIGHTON Danny Bau BROKEN HILL HOTEL Nathan Gaunt BROOKLANDS TAVERN Mike Nayar CARINE Acoustic Aly CHASE BAR Chasing Calee CIVIC HOTEL Jonathon Dempsey CLANCY’S FISH PUB DUNSBOROUGH Declan Kelly and the Rising Sun CLAREMONT HOTEL Jane Germain COMO HOTEL Sophie Jane & The Chilly Bin Boys ELEPHANT AND WHEELBARROW Daren Reid & The Soul City Groove ELLINGTON JAZZ CLUB Perth International Jazz Festival The Grid Vince Jones Kneebody Jam Sessions with The Grid ELMARS IN THE VALLEY Adrian Wilson FLY BY NIGHT Cela GROOVE BAR Peace Love GOSNELLS HOTEL Conny The Clown INDI BAR Malachi Wehipeihana Tayo Snowball INDIAN OCEAN BREW CO Retrofit KALAMUNDA HOTEL Alitia Martin LAKERS TAVERN Wesley Goodlet Jamboree Scouts LAST DROP TAVERN Geoff McCaullay M ON THE POINT Galloping Hatracks METRO CITY The Gaslight Anthem Dave Hause MOJOS BAR The Atlas Mountains Patient Little Sister Apache MOUNT HELENA TAVERN Smokehouse Blues MUSTANG BAR The Wal-Tones & The Burger Kings DJ Rockin Rhys NEWPORT HOTEL Tim Nelson
Blanche DuBois, Tuesday at The Ellington Jazz Club
DJ Tom Drummond DJ Lady Carla NORTHBRIDGE PIAZZA The Justin Walshe Folk Machine Overflow Trio OCEAN VIEW TAVERN Pop Candy PADDO Why Georgia? PADDY MALONES Shesh PORT KENNEDY TAVERN Dean Anderson QUARIE BAR & BISTRO Better Days QUINDANNING INNE Mike De Velta QUEENS TAVERN Velvet RAILWAY HOTEL Gignition September Sun Ralway Bell The Brothers Duke Mountain Giants Big Girls Blouse ROSEMOUNT Soundz Like Sunday Acoustic Showcase SETTLERS TAVERN Ben Merito Unplugged SOUTH ST ALEHOUSE Anthony Nieves SWALLOW BAR Limelights Swing Jazz Trio SWINGING PIG Pat Nicholson Kris Buckle THE AVIARY Andy Bull THE BIRD Big Bad Hammajammas THE GATE Greg Carter THE SAINT Howie Morgan Project THE SHED James Wilson The Healys Blue Hornet UNIVERSAL Retriofit WANNEROO TAVERN Adam James
YA YA’S I Write The Songs Tribute Cabaret
MONDAY 27.05 BRASS MONKEY Wire Birds ELLINGTON JAZZ CLUB Chamber Jam GROOVE BAR (CROWN) John Sandosham Duo MOJO’S BAR Open Mic Night MUSTANG BAR Triple Shots YA YA’S Big Tommo’s Open Mic Night
TUESDAY 28.05 THE BIRD Evil Is As Evil Does BRASS MONKEY Open Mic Night Chris O’Brien CRAIGIE TAVERN Open Mic Night Paula P CHARLES HOTEL Blue Shaddy ELLINGTON JAZZ CLUB Blanche Dubois GROOVE BAR (CROWN) Ruby’s Groove KALAMUNDA HOTEL Open Mic Nunz Vacca LUCKY SHAG Ben Merito MERRIWA TAVERN Celebrations Karaoke MOJOS BAR The Southwicks Belle Blackheart & Strangelove The Irrationals MUSTANG BAR Danza Loca Salsa Night ROSEMOUNT Reverend Horton Heat (USA) Rocket To Memphis The Bloody Hollys YA YA’S Triangle Fight Aztech Suns Circle One The Potent Remedies
Amanda Merdzan
AMANDA MERDZAN BEN WITT, LUKE DUX TODD PICKETT
SATURDAY, MAY 22 PICA BAR
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MUSIC GEAR & TECHNOLOGY EMPLOYMENT & TRAINING AA! - DIAMOND EYE SEEKS DRUMMER!! an exciting opportunity to join our estab original, hardrock/metal band, with infl from Kiss, Zepplin to Metallica, Pantera. Ready to launch new album recorded in LA with Grammy winning Producer. If you have talent, flash and balls, pro attitude and drive we want to hear from you!!! Greg 0412 807 796 BANDS WANTED Young Top 40/Triple J/Classic Rock bands wanted.Regular country gigs available. Focus Promotions Mon-Fri 9am-5pm 9272 4144 focuspro@iinet.net.au BASS PLAYER WANTED Koverd Dirt establishing blues/rock cover band, wanting reliable/ committed player with good old fashioned bass skills. Avg age 42 yrs rocking. Contact trevorkidd@y7mail.com EXPERIENCED BASS PLAYER Seeks established working cover band. Also willing to do fill ins. Contact 0413 779 964 or lfilgoni@hotmail.com METAL DRUMMER & RHYTHM GUITARIST looking for other band members. Merriwa. 0435 329 987 Matt OPEN MIC NIGHT every Thursday night at Indi Bar. Just call Bex on 0404 917 632. OPEN MIC NIGHT @ THE CRAIGIE TAVERN Tuesdays from 8pm. Solos, Duos, Trios, Originals and Covers. Contact Paula or Ceelay 0420375670 or openmiccraigie@hotmail.com PUNK ROCK DRUMMER WANTED Must be serious and innovative. Infl: Foo Fighters, The Offspring and Rise Against.. Call Zen 0433 056 548 RHY THM GUITARIST, BASS, DRUMMER & S I N G E R WA N T E D Fo r c o ve r / o r i g i n a l rock band. In Per th area. Must have own gear and transport. Contact Nate 0413 901 893 THE CROOKED CATS Seeking bass player and keys. Gigs waiting. Contact via Facebook or call 0448 436 491 or 0438 604 529. VOCALIST WANTED Influences Depeche Mode. Retro Electronic. Email demos to srcoconut1@ hotmail.com VOCALIST WANTED Male Preferred for Funk/ Soul/R&B cover band. Contact 0423 429 363 PHOTOGRAPHY PROJECT PHOTOGRAPHY Promo photography, studio, live, location. Mike Wylie 0417 975 964 www.projectphotography.com When its time to ice the cake... PRODUCTION SERVICES * L I G H T I N G * A U D I O * S TA G I N G * w w w. n i g h t s t a r l i g h t i n g a u d i o. co m . a u w w w. n i g h t s t a r l i g h t i n g a u d i o. co m . a u w w w . i n s t a n d t . c o m . a u w w w . i n s t a n d t . c o m . a u 9381 2363/ 9444 6651 CD & DVD MANUFACTURE Check out our latest CD & DVD specials online at www.procopy.com. au 9375 3902 MATRIX PRODUCTIONS AUSTRALIA Lighting, staging, sound systems, smoke machines, night club FX, intelligent lighting, strobes & mirror balls, crowd barriers, video projectors. 9371 1551 RECORDING STUDIOS ALAN DAWSON’s WITZEND RECORDING STUDIO Prof quality albums or demos, large live room, experienced engineer, analog to digital transfers, mastering..Alan 0407 989 128 or Jeremy 0430638178 www.witzendstudios.com
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Edited by T R AV I S J O H N S O N
ANDY’S STUDIO International multi award winning songwriter / producer. No band required. Broadcast quality. A songwriter’s paradise. Ph 9364 3178 AVALON STUDIOS BIBRA LAKE One of Perths best equipped studio. Record to analog tape or digital, Avalon pre amps, Neumann mics, the latest and best universal audio, plug in’s for digital recordings. All styles of music, $55 per hour call Tony 0411 118 304 email avalonstudios@bigpond.com BANDS! - UNLOCK YOUR SONGS’ POTENTIAL +FREE APPRAISALS. UK Producer, 40,000+ hours studio experience. 20 yrs in London with bands and songwriters. Kicking arrangements, great studio and the ability to really listen will give your material the edge you need. Call Jerry on 0405 653 338 or visit www.jerichomusic.com.au GOLDDUST Production Mixing, recording and composition. Leederville $70 p/h. 0408 097 407 POONS HEAD MASTERING Analog mastering at its best. Clients include Mink Mussel Creek, Jeff Martin, The Panics, Pond + The Floors. World class facility. World class results. www. poonshead.com 9339 47 91 RECORDING MIXING MASTERING PRODUCING Fremantle location. Call Pete Kitchen Cooked Records. Ph 0407 363 764 / 9336 3764 REVOLVER SOUND STUDIO Ph 9272 7505. www.revolverstudio.com.au S AT E L L I T E R E C O R D I N G S T U D I O www.satelliterecording.com 0419 908 766 ProTools..17 Years exp TONE CITY RECORDING STUDIO Professional recording & mixing. Clients include Abbe May, Pond, Felicity Groom & The Silentís. Ph: 0409 297 362. REHEARSAL STUDIOS AAA VHS REHEARSAL ROOMS Great facilities, great vibe & great price!!! Unit 5 /16 Peel Road, O’Connor. Phone 9418 5815 or 0413 732 885 BIGBEAT SOUND STUDIO Clean rooms, all new PA systems, air-con and good parking . Willetton Ph: 0425 698 117. PLATINUM SOUND ROOMS Professional rehearsal rooms, airconditioned, quality PAs mob 0418 944 722 TUITION * * * G U I TA R L E S S O N S * * * P e r t h ’s ultimate guitar studio. Beg-adv, all styles a n d l e ve l s i n c l u d i n g b a s s . C l i f f Ly n t o n Guitar Institute. Mt Lawley 9342 3484 www.clifflynton.com BASS LESSONS Rock, funk & jazz. Tony Gibbs 9470 6131 G U I TA R & K E Y B OA R D T U I T I O N (Beginners- Professional) One on One lessons. Free guitar trial lesson. Burswood Ph 6460 6921/ 0415 238 729 www.gvkschoolofmusic.com.au GUITAR TUITION Tired of being taught scales and theory? Why not learn your favourite songs instead, at my studio or in your own home. Competitive rates. Rock, Pop, Metal, Folk and Classical 0403 223 958, 9319 9015 (Bicton area)jaymusic@optusnet.com.au. To advertise in Classified call 9213 2888 or email musicservices@xpressmag.com.au
GODIN GUITARS TONE TASTING NIGHT
Patrick Godin (left) is holding the Godin Inuk Encore. Marco Scampoli is holding the Godin Montreal Premier. Sound Centre Guitar Gallery, Morley Wednesday, May 15, 2013 Co-presented by Sound Centre and Australian Godin wholesalers Dynamic Music, the Godin Guitars Tone Tasting Nights aim to re-introduce the range of Godin guitars to Australian musicians. Patrick Godin - son of Godin creator Robert - arrived in the country and immediately commenced a whirlwind trip which saw him visit most of our states to share his passion for these instruments. An encouraging crowd filed in to Sound Centre last Wednesday to hear Patrick’s presentation, which focused primarily on the company’s acoustic guitar range, including the brands Seagull, La Patrie, Art & Lutherie and Simon & Patrick. Patrick Godin is an engaging and amusing personality; his enthusiasm for guitars and guitar playing in general was infectious and his occasional struggles with certain English phrases (his second language) only served to endear him more to the attentive audience. The French-Canadian impar ted interesting facts regarding Godin’s guitar building philosophies infused with amusing anecdotes from his years of involvement in what started out in the ‘70s as his father’s side project company whilst building guitars for larger guitar manufacturers. Fo l l o w i n g Pa t r i c k ’s p r e s e n t a t i o n , attendees were invited to play all of the displayed m o d e l s, w h i c h i n c l u d e d s e ve ra l f ro m t h e aforementioned acoustic lines as well as Godin electric guitars, which now comprise several series including Richmond for the retro rockers, Redline for metal heads and 5th Avenue for jazz players.
Many guitarists are familiar with Godin’s groundbreaking advances over the years in acoustic guitar innovations and synth access developments, but it is important to note that the company has a massive catalogue of more standard guitar designs which would suit almost any guitarist. To increase the brand’s availability in Australia, guitars can now be ordered online from godindirect.com.au and there are even plans to deliver guitar orders to your local music store, eliminating freight and insurance costs for the individual purchaser. Occasionally seen as more of a session guitarists’ brand (which is in fact one of the best endorsements any guitar brand could hope for) the company now boasts a growing family of endorsees which includes Steve Stevens, Roger Waters, Al DiMeola and Australia’s own shred-king, Jeremy Barnes. This night was successful in its intent: to provide background for Godin and an opportunity to ‘tone-taste’ some of the company’s flagship models. Guitarists of all levels and styles were trying various models at the end of the event, many having brought their guitars for Patrick to sign or pose for photos with. Godin guitars that are well wor th checking out; there is literally a model for every player and the Canadian-made quality comes in at a price that easily trumps most mass-produced Asian market guitars. Maybe it’s time to re-think your tone? _ CHRIS GIBBS
X-Press – First on the street, Wednesdays
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X-Press – First on the street, Wednesdays