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Regurgitator Stoney Joe
NEW STONEY JOE LP
The foot stompin’, spoon slappin’ Stoney Joe have a new album set to pop. Hot Jerky is meticulously produced and somehow more ‘live’ than their debut LP with the band settling into an upbeat edge early in the proceedings. Each song has its own flavour, lovingly tied together by the band’s idiosyncratic use of electronic instrumentation. Yum! See them launch it at PICA Bar on Friday, July 26.
Emperors The Brow Horn Orchestra
GET ON BOARD
This year’s Radiothon Opening Party will kick off RTRFM’s annual pledge drive with a massive Northbridge-wide Brass hip hop outfit, The Brow Horn Orchestra, will music celebration across five venues on Saturday, be performing this Saturday, July 20, at the Claremont August 17. The Bakery, The Bird, Ya Ya’s, PICA Bar and Hotel. Rested from their Inglourious Brassterds The Beat Nightclub will open from 8pm with 24 of `our National Tour, the crew with be headlining Antics with best local outfits including Emperors, Sugar Army, support from Three Hands One Hoof and DJ Tobias Runner, Dianas, Mezzanine and NAIK. Tickets are John from Sun City. Entry is free! available from rtrfm.com.au. Lock it in.
INGLOURIOUS BRASSTERDS
THE URGE TO ‘GURGE
Regurgitator’s Dirty Pop Fantasy Tour 2013 will hit WA this October. See them at The Indi Bar on Wednesday, October 16; the Prince Of Wales on Thursday, October 17; Metropolis Fremantle on Friday, October 18, and Saturday, October 19, at the Rosemount. Tix from Heatseeker and Oztix.
Spit Syndicate For The Fallen Dreams
SPITTING IMAGE
Sydney hip hop duumvirate Spit Syndicate have announced their intention to embark upon the boldly Metalcore masters For the Fallen Dreams are titled Money Over Bull$hit Tour through September, The Ballad of Weeping Spring heading down under to mark their 10th anniversary. October and November, with them gracing us with their Joining them will be The Plot In You, Storm The Sky presence at Fremantle’s Newport Hotel on Thursday, and Fit For A King, and the whole unholy shebang October 17, and at Amplifier on Friday, October 18. If will be hitting YMCA HQ on Wednesday, September that’s too long a wait, go and check out the video clip The BDO is coming A co-presentation of the Australian Israel Cultural 11, and Amplifier on Thursday, September 12. Tickets for Amazing that’s currently doing the rounds. Tickets are available through spitsyndicate.com. Exchange and Luna Palace Cinemas, the 10th via Oztix. Anniversary Israel Film Festival runs at Cinema Paradiso Here’s two dates to save. from August 21-28. The program encompasses a wide Firstly, save Sunday, February 2, 2013. That’s range of genres, topics and cinematic forms, including Combining human acrobatics with astounding the day the Big Day Out is happening in Perth. opening night film The Ballad of Weeping Spring, equestrian feats, Cavalia: A Magical Encounter Secondly, save Wednesday, July 31, because Zaytoun, The Gatekeepers and Good Garbage. Head Between Human And Horse will be coming to that’s when the first line-up announcement takes to lunapalace.com.au for session times and tickets. Perth from Wednesday, December 18 until Sunday, place at 6pm WST. Listen to yer wireless or hit up December 29. Created by some of the minds bigdayout.com to know it all as soon as it becomes behind the widely acclaimed Cirque du Soleil knowable! Tickets will be one sale from Friday, troupe, and operating at a similar level of skill, August 2, but earlybirds can take part in a pre-sale wonder and grandeur, this big top spectacular will via General Pants Co. from Thursday, August 1. Check amaze circus fans and equestrian enthusiasts alike. out generalpants.com.au for details on that one. Cavalia Go to cavalia.com.au for tickets and info.
I CAN DREAM ABOUT YOU
ISRAEL, LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION!
BIG DAY YAY
A CAVALIA ATTITUDE
RUFFO AROUND THE EDGES
Get down to Westfield Whitfords City Shopping Centre this Saturday, July 20, from noon to get a dose of the inimitable Johnny Ruffo. Ruffo will be performing his latest single, the feelgood, infectious r ‘ n ’ b s p i n n e r, Untouchable, as well as sticking around to sign copies and m e e t a n d g re e t h i s f a n s . C ’m o n Ruffonators!
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Rezume
OUR FRIENDS IN THE NORTH
Metal and Indonesia may not have much of a link in the mind of the average punter, but that’ll change dramatically when Rezume, Bali’s premier metal band, hit Perth as part of a lightning strike minitour. Catch them at The Civic Hotel on Saturday, September 7, with support from Disentomb, Rome, Entrails, Eradicated, Sensory Amusia and six more acts as part of Grind My Bitch Up 3.
Johnny Ruffo
Reactions/Comp Thing Flesh Music: Josh Pyke/ Sleepmakeswaves Music: Fourteen Nights At Sea/ Sam Buckingham/ Kirin J Callinan/ Hands Like Houses Music: Passion Pit New Noise Eye4 Cover: This Is The End Eye4: News/ This Is The End/ Before Midnight Eye4: The Conjuring/ X-Press Flick Pics Arts Listings Salt Cover: Death Disco Birthday Salt: News/ Test Pad/ EGO Salt: Onra/ Dizzy Wright Salt: Club Manual/ Nina Las Vegas Salt: Rewind: Far East Movement Scene: Live: Tour Trails Gig Guide Volume
COVER: Karnivool are set to release their third album, Asymmetry, this week and will be performing at Metro City on Sunday, August 11. More on page 11. SALT COVER: Capitol’s resident Death Disco DJs are preparing for one hell of a party to celebrate their sixth birthday this Saturday night. More on page 25. www.xpressmag.com.au
Dallas Green, City And Colour Photo: Dustin Rabin
THE COLOUR GREEN
Canadian musician, Dallas Green – known better as City And Colour – has been in Sydney and Melbourne to promote the release of his new album, The Hurry And The Harm. Good of him, then, to take the opportunity to announce an Australian tour in November, which will stop over in Perth at Belvoir Amphitheatre on Saturday, December 7. Tickets go on sale Wednesday, July 24, from ticketmaster.com.au (136 100).`
SONG OF THE YEAR!
Entries are about to close next Monday, July 22, for WAM’s Song Of The Year 2013. $35,000 in prizes is up for grabs including cash and studio opportunities across 16 categories and some of the WA judges include: songwriter Dave Hole, Pete Jeavons from Jazz WA, RTR FM’s Peter Barr and CEO Jason Cleary and X-Press Magazine’s own Local Music Editor Travis Johnson and Managing Editor Bob Gordon. This year’s grand prize winner will walk away with $3000 cash; recording time at Albert Studios in Sydney; the opportunity for a publishing deal with Perfect Pitch Publishing and a huge bunch of other stuff. Get to it. 7
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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RUSKI FLICK FEST
Celebrating its 10th a n n i v e r s a r y, t h e Russian Resurrection Film Festival is back at Cinema Paradiso between August 1 - 11. Showcasing the best of Russian culture in a variety of films ranging from comedies, dramas, thrillers, animations and more, this year the program includes an array of retrospective films. We’ve got five doubles!
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MANING UP
For 18 months theatre-maker Roslyn Oades and her trusty tape recorder followed a determined, young boxer from Western Sydney through his preparations for a world-title fight. I’m Your Man is the story of who she met along the way. We’ve go three three double passes to give away to the show running at PICA from July 24 – 27.
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CAB AUDITED CIRCULATION: 38,000 OCTOBER 2011 – MARCH 2012
Deadlines EDITORIAL General: Friday 5pm,, Eye4 Arts: Thursday 10am, Comp’ Thing: Monday Noon,, Salt Clubs: Monday 5pm , Local Scene: Monday Noon,, Gig Guide: Monday 5pm ADVERTISING Cancellations: Monday 5pm, Ads to be set: Monday Noon Supplied Bookings / Copy: Tuesday 12 Noon, Classifieds: Monday 4pm
Out now on DVD, BluRay Save Your Legs! is an uplifting story from the heart of Australia to the soul of India, where a group of men take a shot at international sporting glory and find themselves facing the hardest challenge of them all – mateship. We have 10 DVD’s up for grabs!
LA skate punkers Fidlar don’t mess around when bashing out songs like No Waves, Wake Bake Skate, Cheap Beer and Max Can’t Surf. On their self-titled debut album, the four-piece mix scatological jokes and West Coast party anthems. They’re hitting Perth for the very first time at The Bakery on Saturday, August 3 with support from Dune Rats. We’ve got a double pass to give away! Fidlar
TIMELY STORY
Save Your Legs!
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Before Midnight is out in cinemas this Thursday, July 18. It tells the alluring love story between Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delpy), who met as strangers on a train bound for Vienna almost twenty years ago. We find them on a blissful summer idyll in Greece, wrestling with life and love and new responsibilities, as the two dreamers reassess what they want next. Director Richard Linklater continues this enchanting tale, after the much-loved Before Sunrise and Before Sunset. We’ve got ten in season doubles up for grabs.
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Advertisers and/or their agents by lodging an advertisment shall indemnify the publisher, and its agents, against all liability claims or proceedings whatsoever arising from the publication. Advertisers and/or their representatives indemnify the publisher in relation to defamation, slander, breach of copyright, infringement of trademarks of name of publication titles, unfair competition or trade practices, royalties or violation of rights or privacy and warrant that the material complies with revelant laws and regulations and that its publication will not give rise to any rights against or liabilities in the publisher, its servants or agents. Any material supplied to X-Press is at the contributor’s risk.
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I’m Your Man (Photo By Michael Corridore)
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Karnivool Cover/band photography: Kane Hibberd
KARNIVOOL Shipbuilding
Karnivool release their third album, Asymmetry, this week and will perform on Sunday, August 11, at Metro City. BOB GORDON reports. Karnivool guitarist, Drew Goddard, sips on an early afternoon beer at the Rosemount Hotel looking relaxed and perhaps even mildly excited. He’s a pretty cool customer but the fact remains, it is the eve of the release of a new Karnivool album and these events don’t occur like everyday sunsets. Asymmetry arrives four years since the band’s last album, Sound Awake, which came four years after their 2005 debut, Themata. Welcome to the Olympics Games that is Karnivool. “Yeah, we’re consistent,” Goddard laughs.“We do it in Karnivool time. We were looking at doing it in two years, we thought we’d do this one quicker, but it didn’t happen. It seems to be the case every time.” It would appear to say something, though, of the band’s following - happy to be loyal and willing to wait that long between offerings. “It’s comforting and gratifying for sure,” Goddard reflects. “We’ve got such a loyal fanbase, we know that a couple of people might drop off waiting for it and we know that there was a few people getting frustrated waiting for it this time around, especially in like the last six months, it’s like, ‘come on guys. What’s happening?’ But it’s also motivating, in a way, to get it done. But not as motivating as management kicking us in the arse. With a cattle prod. ‘Hurry up!’” “It really is quite heartening,” vocalist, Ian Kenny, echoes via an email from Los Angeles, where he is working with Birds Of Tokyo. “Karnivool are lucky enough to have some of the most loyal and sometimes fanatic fans out there. Karnivool fans are quite amazing.” Karnivool have always made epic music, so it
only makes sense that as the years pass and the band gets bigger, the musical dynamics grow ever more deep and wide. Creating this music takes time; there’s some shipbuilding to be done. “Absolutely,” asserts Goddard. “It’s always a lengthy process. This time getting everyone in the same place was a big factor as well, because the long-distance thing was quite challenging when trying to build the juggernaut. It’s built and it’s ready to sail now, so we’ll see.” The shipbuilding started shortly after the 2009 release of Sound Awake. A year had passed between Themata finishing and commencement of Sound Awake, so the band made a point of sewing some early seeds. “The first seed was in Paris,” Goddard recalls. “I remember we came up with a drum beat idea which turned into the first song (Nachash). That was early 2010.” It’s a revealing statement. The first album was the suburbs of Perth, now they have Paris. “Mate, most of the seeds were formed in the luxurious surroundings of the Bayswater industrial area (laughs). There’s a good balance.” Goddard says he misses the days when they could simply drive to each other’s houses to try out a song idea. A largesse, however, comes to the music from a global existence. “The geographical impairment is definitely a factor,” he says. “It can be frustrating, at times, to try and get everyone on the same page when everyone’s off doing different things, which can feed into the record. But like you mentioned, I dunno, I guess it’s more worldly. We travelled a lot more since we were just driving over to each other’s houses and saying, ‘I’ve got a riff’. We don’t have the luxury of doing that anymore, calling up Ian and saying, ‘come around, I’ve got an idea’ there’s a lot of time we’ve got to use and it requires some work ethic. But the other thing is that Ian is a big motivating factor, he’s got such a great work ethic.” As the member most often geographically disparate, the Melbourne-based Kenny maintains that distance is there to be conquered. “I don’t think it’s changed us,” he notes. “It can sometimes be a challenge not having everyone on ground when writing, but we always find a way around it. There are many ways to communicate or get ideas
across without actually being on ground.” In general, when not working on other projects that also involve travel, the other four (also including guitarist, Mark Hosking, bassist Jon Stockman and drummer, Steve Judd) remain Karnivool-focussed, working on instrumental ideas, yet staying open to the avenues that Kenny’s vocal contributions may take them. “The vocal input really shines the light on the path ahead as far as the songs go,” Goddard says. “We think we’re on a certain direction then Ian will come and put a vocal over it on one of his trips to Perth and we’ll go, ‘oh fuck, that’s where it’s going’. “It makes sense of it a lot of the time for us. We think there’s a progressive instrumental aspect and the instrumentation does play a part in the narrative a lot of the times, but we realise doing that we’re still a very vocal-driven band in that way. It’s more than anyone’s perspective, it’s what become apparent when vocals come over it. The song reveals itself. A lot of the times Ian will come over and leave some vocals and it’s almost like it’s a few clues, there’s a few hints dropped as we try and navigate our way to a finished song. We just have to use our imagination. It did make for an interesting few arrangements in that way, that some of the times it’s the vocals driving the narrative and some of the times it’s the instrumentation.” For Kenny, it’s a similar scenario; teetering between call or response when working with the music. “I listen or try to feel what is happening in the song,” the singer notes. “It’s always a challenge to find the right narrative or to create the best emotional connection. Writing lyrics is my least favourite part of finishing songs. “It’s a very different record in that way,” Goddard states. “This is the one where we’ve had to work on it separately a lot as opposed to having the whole band in one place.” Asymmetry was recorded at 301 Studios in Byron Bay with producer, Nick DiDia (RATM, Mastodon). “It was a difficult process,” Goddard recalls.“It was very challenging, but Byron Bay made it a lot easier, just being in that environment. You’d wake up in that town, in a little house next to the studio and there’s a green area with lots of wild life and a swimming pool you could fall into. Each day was pretty hard-going, it was always quite tense, but you’d wake you every day
and go, ‘I’m pretty lucky doing this for six weeks, that this is my job’. It was a perfect place to record, but it was a very challenging affair. “It’s a weird little paradox that happens because we find ourselves looking for ways to make it easier, or ways to at least make the process more streamlined and less painful and annoying and then at the same time we mix it all up so that we don’t know what we’re doing and we’re fumbling our way through the dark again. As much as we don’t like that I think it’s an integral part of being in Karnivool. “That’s why we ended up going with Nick as opposed to going again with Forrester (Savell, producer of the band’s first two albums). We just wanted to get outside the comfort zone. We don’t really like comfort zones, it’s an unorthodox process and there’s so many things that we could be doing better to make the process happen a lot easier... it’s a completely confusing process (laughs).” Even so, it’s produced a blasting yet mesmeric piece of work that now takes the band into yet another challenging process - taking the ship out to battle... “That’s when the songs really come alive,” Goddard reflects, “when we get to play them live and deliver them to people because we actually have to think about how we’re gonna put them out there and in that way I think we’ll find a lot more perspective on the record. “We’ve got a lot of rehearsing to do though (laughs). There’s a couple behemoth songs on there that we’ve played together as a band in some way, but they only really came together in the studio at the last minute as a whole song, so everything that’s going on in the final structure we still haven’t played together. It’s challenging... but we like a challenge.” It seems to be the way. While other Australian bands - even Kenny’s other one - seem to have obviously big profiles, it is Karnivool that consistently grows and constantly surprises, as its fanbase soars both here and overseas. In their third Olympiad; the loud-as-fuck quiet achievers. “As people, I think we take the piss a bit and generally roll with the punches,” Kenny notes. “When it comes to music, we take it a little more seriously. We try to do what we do and do it bloody well. “I hope this album opens the door for new Karnivool listeners and paves the continuing journey for people who are well versed in Karnivool. It’s as new to us as it will be for them.”
WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE
“We were on tour in Germany and met up with Tame Impala who were playing at the same sister festivals as us, Hurricane and Southside. Unfortunately their gear got held up en route to Europe and they missed their slot at the first festival. The next day we were driving to the next festival and passed a tour bus that had broken down on the road. Turned out it was Tame Impala’s, their bad luck continued. We took the next exit, drove back and pulled in behind their bus. With the fear of them missing their second show in a row, we attached their trailer of gear to our bus and piled the band and crew into our bus, while a bunch of us waited around in their bus while a pipe was fixed as we weren’t playing until the next day. Alls well that ends well, they made it just in time. It was a funny moment... there we all were, two bands from Perth, sitting in the midst of this cornfield in Germany when we first pulled up. I remember Gumby (Tame Impala’s Jay Watson) saying, ‘do you think this will make X-Press next week?’”
NICK ALLBROOK Enter Xanman
He may be performing as part of the Hidden Treasures series, but you’d be forgiven for thinking that Nick Allbrook, prolific writer, creator, performer in bands such as Pond, Allbrook/Avery, Tame Impala (until recently), Mink Mussel Creek and a multitude of other projects, might not have too much hidden in his treasure chest. BOB GORDON checks in.
Nick Allbrook www.xpressmag.com.au
Not so, it seems, with Allbrook well-armed for his special one-off performance for the Fremantlesoaked series. “I’ve planned it,” he says. “I’ll mainly be doing new songs, I s’pose. I’ve been writing a lot of new songs. For no particular reason, it just seems like the most fun thing to do (laughs).” Indeed. The business of albums aside, it seems that for the most interesting songwriters writing for no particular reason is the best reason to write of all. “You’ve hit the nail on the head, totally,” Allbrook agrees. “I think that’s the way that we - all of our crew - have always done anything. It’s like, you just make things because it’s got to be done. Then we just use kind of band names and stuff because it’s an inescapable thing when you perform and collaborate with other people. “To make it more fun you put some kind of label on the basket that you heap all these ideas into.” In the case of Allbrook and the collective of friends around Pond and Tame Impala, the world has taken a significant interest in what labels they’ve put on the baskets. And, more to the point, what’s in them. “Yeah, totally,” Allbrook muses. “But I
guess that shouldn’t really matter, though. I guess it doesn’t really matter, still. We all still do what we always have.” And while it goes against music industry ‘wisdom’, releasing a new album each calendar year (Pond’s new LP, Hobo Rocket, is released on August 2, we’ll run more of our interview with the singer/songwriter around that time) it’s certainly working out for Allbrook and co. The best thing is that they are making music so purely and for the right reasons; whether anyone was listening or anyone was writing about it or not, they’d be doing it anyway. With that in mind Allbrook seems perfect for Hidden Treasures, a celebration of art’s for art’s sake if ever there was. “Yeah, I think we’d be doing it anyway,” he says. “I’m pretty sure. In fact I’d probably be doing it more. Maybe not probably (laughs), but I’m sure I’d be doing it as much, if not more, as I am now.” Nick Allbrook performs at the Navy Club this Thursday, July 18, doors open 8pm (tickets through oxtix.com.au). 11
Josh Pyke
JOSH PYKE Begin The Begin
Josh Pyke brings his The Beginning And The End Of Everything album tour to WA for three shows at the Prince of Wales in Bunbury on Thursday, September 5; the Fly By Night Club on Friday, September 6, and the Astor Theatre on Saturday, September 7. Josh Pyke has offered up four albums to date, releasing his newest, The Beginning And The End Of Everything, earlier this month. Presenting music characterised by an honesty and depth that other solo artists can only dream to achieve, Pyke has become one of the most respected musicians in the country. X-Press caught up with the man himself a few weeks before The Beginning And The End of Everything was released, to talk about the record that he says is his “most cohesive” work to date.
there’s a lot of stuff about legacy, what kind of legacy you want to leave, and also desire and how you control your desires, and how that manifests itself in you. So I’d say it’s an album about legacy and desire, and that it’s also my most cohesive body of work so far.
Where does the legacy theme come from? Part of it is definitely from becoming a dad a few years ago. And trying to learn how to balance ambition and desires and still be a responsible human being (laughs). The idea of legacy has always been something I’m fascinated by – Memories And Dust By CHLOE PAPAS (2007 debut LP), you know, that title kind of says it all. Something that I’ve sort of been reflecting on for a If you had to write a synopsis for The Beginning And very long time is that at the end of your life, there’s only The End Of Everything, what would it say? one thing that is left. You can buy houses, you can build That one’s tough! Well, I had to write a track- buildings, you can write songs, you can have family, but by-track description of the songs, while I was doing that, the only thing that’s left of you is the memory of you I realised the themes on the record. I think, thematically, in other people’s memories. That’s something that I just
dwell upon all the time, and it’s at the core of all the heartfelt that it really energised me, and I kind of got my decisions that I make – what kind of memory would I confidence back. And I wanted to pursue that and ride want people to have of me? And it kind of reinforces my that wave while it was there. So that was one thing, and the second thing moral compass as I make my way through life. was that I just knuckled down and wrote a bunch of Does that focus on wanting to leave a good legacy songs. My gut was telling me that it was time to make another record, and there was no need to wait because put pressure on the way that you write music? It does, but I think that sort of pressure I had all the songs ready to go, and then things fell into is positive pressure and that’s something that I’ve place. struggled with for a long time – finding the balance Most of this record was written on the road, and so between my sense of ego and my sense of ambition was Only Sparrows.Why do you prefer to write while on tour? and also my sense of creative integrity. I think the pressure of touring and the For instance, this is my fourth album. The other albums have done really well, they’ve allowed me heightened emotions is kind of what drives me to write, to have a life as a professional musician, but it doesn’t because writing songs to me has always been about get easier with every album. Although you may get hashing out things that are going on in my life and better at doing it, it gets harder and the pressures are trying to make sense of that by writing lyrics and songs. greater because you have extra expectations to live And when you’re on the road you’re always excited or up to. So part of my whole thing is trying to strip away stressed, or nervous or missing home or going through the negative ambitions based around ego and flagrant some emotional time, because it’s just the nature of ambition. As opposed to my motivations of creating art being on the road – particularly when you’ve got family. The flipside is also that you have a lot of that I’m very, very proud of and that I want to be able to downtime in cars and on planes, so you can just stare stand up in 20 years and after I’m gone. The pressure is more about creating great out the window and work out things in your head. work as opposed to selling x amount of records these Whereas at home you’re constantly bombarded by life, days, which is a good place to be, but it’s taken a long you don’t have that time for reflection. time to get there. And I reckon if I wasn’t so happy with this album, I probably wouldn’t be at that stage. One of the songs that really struck me on the record At the end of touring this record when it’s time to do a was Haunt You Love.What can you tell me about that new album, I’ll probably go into freak-out mode again song? That’s one of my favourites. That one is (laughs). Do you feel a certain pressure from your fans to interesting, because there’s a lot of songs on the record bring them something completely ‘Josh Pyke’, or to that are pretty much the demos that I did at home, just with a bit of augmentation done in the studio.That one I bring them something new every time? It’s an interesting question and part of the just wrote one night, I was down in my shed, and I guess whole process for me is trying not to think about that I was just reflecting on mortality. I wrote the song and because I am incredibly bloody grateful for my fan demoed it straight away, and if you listen really carefully base who have supported me through four albums. in the last chorus, you can hear a plane taking off. I recorded the guitar and vocals live. When The reason they got into my music is because I was just writing music from my heart, so I think the moment I took the song to John (Castle, producer), we were that I start second-guessing what I think my fans would debating whether or not we redo the guitars and vocals, want as opposed to just following my instincts and but we both decided that although it wasn’t technically writing songs that I love, I think that’s where I’d start to perfect, it captured the emotion of having just written the song and me feeling what I was writing about, and go wrong and where I’d start to lose fans. The main thing that people tell me is that singing it and just that it feels kind of inspired because they want honesty and I think that’s the most important it was just happening like bang, bang, bang. It’s a special think to hold onto. And that requires me to not think song for me, because firstly it’s very personal, but it’s also about what other people would want from me, and just very organic and of the moment. do my thing and hope for the best. Order Has Abandoned Us is another interesting one. Yeah! Lyrically it’s pretty abstract, and I guess You recorded this record fairly soon after finishing up touring for your third album. Why such a quick it’s about that feeling of chaos, and chaos theory and how you stay on your course in a chaotic world, or in turnaround? I’m glad you say it was quick, because I’ve a chaotic mind. Again, recording-wise, I’d been writing had a few interviews where they’re like, ‘you had a that song for a long time and I could hear what I long break between your records’, and I’m like, ‘come on, wanted it to be like in my mind, so when I got home I man!’ People’s attention spans are so short these days. I recorded it exactly the way I wanted it. I didn’t want to remember when I started it was normal to have a three- change it, and I took it to John and we just added the horns and drums at the end, and it just added this really year break between records. But yeah, the main reason for the quick triumphant, slightly drunken chaotic bit at the end. Again, that marriage of my recording at turnaround was two things. One was that Only Sparrows (2011) was a really difficult record for me to make, home and John’s production and mixing, that, for me, and I had a big crisis of confidence, a really dark patch makes this a really satisfying record because I always creatively. But by the end of the touring cycle I just get really attached to my demos, then I try to reinvent felt like I’d got through that, and the response from the wheel and I feel like I lose the initial take. But on this the crowds every night was just so beautiful and so record, well, it doesn’t feel like I’ve lost anything.
Sleepmakeswaves
SLEEPMAKESWAVES Place Oddity sleepmakeswaves make their way to Perth this week as part of the ...And So We Played Everything tour. Catch them on Thursday, July 18, at Mojos and Friday, July 19, at Amplifier. KRISSI WEISS reports. 12
The most frustrating thing about presenting Sydney’s sleepmakeswaves to a new audience is the vexing and predictable discussion about the fact that they’re an instrumental rock band. It seems strange that despite their slow – but seemingly unstoppable – rise to the top of the post-rock scene (support slots for the likes of Karnivool and Boris were only the start of their success both here and abroad), the fact that they have no vocals seems to confuse people. “We listen to a lot of electronic music and use it in our sound a lot and it is strange how once there are guitars and a drum kit, people expect the
vocals,” bassist, Alex Wilson says. “I think people are taking a chance to check out our music, despite any preconceptions they might have about instrumental rock. I think the way we play a live show and the influences we incorporate into our music are different to the standard we get put within.” An ARIA nomination is a sure fire way to confirm mainstream acceptance, and sleepmakeswaves were awarded that tick of approval in 2012 in the ‘Best Hard Rock/Metal Album’ category. “We were absolutely blown away, to the point of finding everything ridiculous because it was never, ever on the cards for us that that would happen, it was never part of the game plan,”Wilson says. “We had a great time being there but it’s a strange experience, and in a way it was lovely to get the feeling of being involved in Australian music on that level, but also on some other level, not in a horrible way, but it reinforced how weird it was in the first place. Compared to the other bands we seemed to be coming from such a different place, not a better place, but we felt like the noticeable oddity there.” The game plan for sleepmakeswaves has changed a lot over their time together, but they aren’t falling into the trap of complacency or, conversely, constant frustration. “It’s better to be satisfied with what you have achieved while being cautiously optimistic about what might be around the corner than to feel dissatisfied because you’re not at the level of the next band above you,”Wilson says. Very recently, the game changed yet again, with the band joining the roster of UK label Monotreme. But, for now, the focus is on writing new music and embarking on their headline tour, taking in most cities and a generous amount of regional centres. This tour is a chance for the group to step out of the support band formula of short sets designed to make a maximum impact. “There’s some stuff from the back catalogue that we’ve never played before so we’ll get that out,” he says. “We want to play those tracks for the people who’ve been with us since the last album, which is going on two years now. We’re also writing a bunch of new music as well so a significant amount of those sets will be stuff that people have never heard before or maybe only at one or two shows. “That’s something you get to do on your own headline shows – to pace yourself and create a vibe and an atmosphere and you can get an ebb and flow between different parts of your sound.” X-Press – First on the street, Wednesdays
www.xpressmag.com.au
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KIRIN J CALLINAN The Great Embrace
FOURTEEN NIGHTS AT SEA On Your Terms
Soon to hit the studio to record their third LP, Melbourne’s Fourteen Nights at Sea hit Perth for the first time this week, playing at the Rosemount Hotel this Saturday, July 20, with support from Eleventh He Reaches London and Mt. Mountain. ALEX GRIFFIN reports. Despite being owners of maybe the most evocative band name going around (Butthole Surfers aside), Fourteen Nights At Sea are more than just a pretty phrase; the Melbourne fivepiece sculpt immense, tangled fields of guitar and drums that feel like taking a dip in a Nordic lake. If post-rock is dead, they don’t give a toss, and their second record Great North is evidence that it’s alive, well and brutal. Despite only being up to album no.2, the band has been together for the best part of a decade, but a sense of patience and craft shows in everything about Great North, from the songwriting to its striking cover. “We decided on the cover image while we were in the studio recording Great North,” says bassist Ryan Earles. “The photo was taken by Jay’s (Earle, keys player) partner Kat from a moving train as they were passing through Oregon. The stark quality of the image immediately jumped out at us. It captured the mood and overall feel of the album perfectly.” This sense of exactness was mirrored in the recording process, as “we recorded everything live at Head Gap in Preston which was a space we
Fourteen Nights At Sea were already familiar with having recorded our debut album there. We are primarily a live band, so it makes sense to record this way. There are additional overdubs on most tracks, but even this was pretty minimal. As for the recording format, we recorded to tape and mixed through the desk. “We moved away from adding a ton of effects to the mix, as we wanted the record to be an honest representation of us as a band. We left in string scrapes and little noises that came through in the live takes and didn’t sync delay times to tempo or anything like that. Retaining the human element on this record was of particular importance to us.” While debut LP, Untitled, was a sprawling behemoth of a double album, Great North keeps it to one LP, and the difference is obvious; the tighter focus is immensely rewarding, giving the record more punch and verve. “It wasn’t a conscious decision to write a shorter album,” Earles says, “but throughout the writing process for Great North I think we were all set on creating a body of work that flowed really well from end to end.” When it comes to the pesky question of the relevance of post-rock in a post-Mogwai world that always seems to be hanging like the sword of Damocles over people making portentous instrumental guitar music, the Fourteen Nights At Sea approach is to sail right past the problem. “The goal for us has always been and will always be to try and write interesting music that we enjoy playing,” says Earle. “Naturally, the music we write tends to have a dark and unsettling mood to it. We’re not worried about what terms are used to describe our music, if people are describing it then they are listening to it which at the end of the day is the ultimate aim.”
SAM BUCKINGHAM
Birdhouse In Your Soul Armed with her guitar, mandolin and divine vocals, Sam Buckingham in touring nationally in support of her debut album, I’m A Bird. First stop is, appropriately enough, The Bird, this Sunday, July 21, with support from Steve Parkin and Eloise Ashton. SARA MATTSSON speaks with her singer/ songwriter. Three years and one EP since she first emerged as a performer, Sam Buckingham’s first long-player, I’m A Bird, is ready for the world. “It’s a really nice moment to realise that you’re holding it in your hand and you’re about to go and play it to people,” the songstress says while driving on the freeway in Perth, assuring that she’s got a headset on.“Oh, I’m very legal right now,” she laughs. Buckingham’s collection of tunes is due for release this Friday, July 19, through MGM Distribution. “It’s been about three years since I started writing it, and two years since I started planning to record it… and I actually didn’t realise it was going to take this long. We were very focussed on how we wanted it to be in the end, so it ended up taking longer to make sure that we got to that point and I’m really glad that we did.” The nine-tracker was co-produced with ARIA-winning producer, Paul McKercher, a man holding an impressive record of collabs with Josh Pyke, Sarah Blasko and Augie March. McKercher was also onboard for Buckingham’s 2012 EP, Fragile Hearts. 14
Touring in support of his acclaimed new album, Embracism, Kirin J Callinan hits The Bakery this Friday, July 19, and Mojos on Saturday, July 20. JODY MACGREGOR reports. If you’ve ever seen Kirin J Callinan performing live you’ve probably seen him standing alone with a guitar and a small army of effects pedals, making his instrument howl and wail while building towering edifices of feedback around it. That’s not what you’ll get from Embracism, however. Working with Kim Moyes of The Presets as producer, he’s made an album filled with plenty of synth and samples, almost industrial-sounding, but with guitar as its backbone. “Every song, at the centre of it there’s a guitar part,” he says. “I think it’s still a guitar record, I’ve just taken it further.” Something else that’s surprising is how masculine it all sounds. The title track describes boys fighting in the playground, egged on by older students eager to see some blood and flesh and rolling around in the dirt. It only gets more homoerotic from there, with Callinan explaining that when a boy becomes a man, “a man is physical, and a man has to put his physical body to the test.” It would be an unusual song no matter who recorded it, but from someone who used to explore much more feminine subjects, as well as crossdressing on stage, it’s unexpected. “Being in a relationship made me comfortable exploring my feminine side to the point of cross-dressing and whatever else and still having a girl to go back to,” he says. “But being a male on the road, basically homeless, my self has been centred on my masculinity. I made the record in the second half of last year and that was where I was at.” All that manliness and the brash energy of its sound makes Embracism seem like unlikely exercise music, like something that will never get played in a gym but probably should. He calls
Kirin J Callinan Stretch It Out in particular his attempt to write something “sporty and athletic.” If you’ve seen the videos for the album’s two singles, Way II War (which won a j award for Best Video last year) and Embracism you’ll have seen that Callinan is a pretty fit guy who doesn’t mind being filmed without his clothes on. He does like to lay himself bare in his music, even when he’s keeping his kit on. Between the more unconventional songs he’s placed a couple of heart-on-sleeve ballads, and the album ends with Love Delay, which becomes a straight-up rock song at its climax. Sitting where they do, the more traditional style of these songs makes them seem unpredictable and honest, and gives them a power they wouldn’t normally have. “I like writing ballads,” Callinan admits. “It’s arguably the most natural way of writing for me. The ballads, I’ll write the lyrics, the vocal melodies, and put the music to it, whereas the more abstract, industrial – for want of a better word – songs I guess I’ll usually make them as an instrumental first and then find the words that fit. But yeah, you’re totally right, without the other side it would be half as interesting. It has more depth to it if I have a balance. “However, that said, I don’t think the ballads are particularly conventional. They may be more like ‘singe/songwriter’ or something. The lyrical content... I’m coming from a unique place, I hope.”
HANDS LIKE HOUSES Sam Buckingham
“I was already a fan of what he was doing,” Buckingham says. “We personally got along very well too, so it just made the whole thing really enjoyable, which is lucky ‘cause it went for two whole bloody years (laughs).” To raise money for the long-player, Buckingham kicked off her crowd funding campaign in 2011, via Pozible. Her creativity has been praised throughout the campaign, in which she offered supporters rounds of disco bowling, song co-writes and other alternatives such as Skype concerts. As part of the I’m A Bird national tour, which will see her perform in most capital cities across Australia, the Sydney-born songstress puts on more intimate appearances in people’s homes outside of the public gigs. The idea with house concerts emerged a couple of years ago, when Buckingham was seeking another economically viable alternative that would allow her to play for more people. “There’s a lot of benefits to it, from a truly financial perspective, the overheads are much lower for an artist, it actually enables us to tour, and not lose money. “For me, that’s an honour to be invited to someone’s home and to be allowed to perform to them in that setting.” With eight house concerts lined up, two nights are reserved for punters in Perth. Well, sort of. “I’m doing one house concert, and one secret location, house concert-ish, which isn’t in someone’s home — it’s actually in a laundromat. “I never want to feel like, ‘I’m just going to stand on a stage and play the guitar and then I’m going to go’,” Buckingham points out. “I really like that there can be an element of extra connection at times, and that I’m actually allowed to be invited into people’s lives, and that makes it really special.”
Strong Foundations Since their inception four-and-ahalf-years ago, Hands Like Houses have experienced success on home ground and have received many opportunities overseas, particularly in the US. With their latest LP, Unimagine, out this week, DAISY LYTHE catches up with frontman, Trenton Woodley, on the American Warped Tour. Unimagine is Hands Like Houses’ second LP, following their successful debut, Ground Dweller, in 2012. It’s a new offering that expands on their last work in terms of emotional content and new experiences. “There are a few different ways to look at it but for the most part Unimagine is a cumulative inspiration of the last 12 to 18 months that we spent on the road,” says vocalist, Trenton Woodley. “We learned a lot about ourselves individually and as a group and how to reconcile with different people’s ideas and values and priorities.” Needless to say, Woodley is proud of this latest release, feeling that it is more accessible to a wider audience. “We hope it’s a logical progression, we’ve grown up a lot and we like to think the music has grown a bit, it’s a bit smarter, it’s a little bit broader and there is more contrast. It’s also a bit more engaging emotionally.” And engaging it certainly seems to be, having received positive reviews and feedback since
Hands Like Houses the release of their new singles, Introduced Species and Fire An A Hill. “It’s been phenomenal,” Woodley enthuses, “beyond what we expected. I mean, you never really know what to expect so everything is a nice surprise, but everything has been positive. We played Introduced Species in the UK and in the US and we’ve had great responses, even better than a lot of songs that we have had out for a while. So it’s been really encouraging and I hope it continues.” Currently in the US for this summer’s Warped Tour, the band continues to receive positive responses from American audiences. Woodley explains while the Warped Tour is hard work, it is equally rewarding. “It’s fantastic,” he says, “it’s a challenge and we are enjoying the opportunity. We’ve got a few days off driving to Indianapolis, it’s a lot of work - you do long days and you get the extreme heat or rain or whatever. However, we are enjoying it very much. It’s one of the most rewarding tours you can do and part of it is working so hard to enjoy the experience. We’ve had great crowds, heaps of people and we’re hanging out with bands that we’ve met previously or just met so it’s cool. We are having a really good time.” When the Warped Tour finishes the band are looking forward to heading home to rest before giving Australian audiences some attention. “We are looking forward to spending some quality time at home after five months away,” Woodley says. “We’ll probably hit the road in Australia in September, we just need to lock in a few details for that.” For now and the remainder of the tour, the band look forward to sharing their new sounds. “We can’t wait to play the new stuff. I hope people connect with it.” X-Press – First on the street, Wednesdays
Passion Pit
PASSION PIT
Born Gossamer Devotional In Australia for the Splendour In The Grass festival, Passion Pit stop by for a headline show at Villa on Sunday, August 4. ALASDAIR DUNCAN speaks with bass player, Jeff Apruzzese. ‘Devoted’ doesn’t even begin to cover it when it comes to Passion Pit’s fans. Anyone who has been to one of the band’s shows will have witnessed the hands-in-the-air abandon of the crowd, and joyful mass sing-along that inevitably breaks out during the chorus of The Reeling. “That sing-along is the best part of the show for us,” bassist Jeff Apruzzese, says with a laugh. “I think that’s something we’ve maybe gotten a little spoiled from. It happens more and more these days, so if it doesn’t happen for whatever reason, we start to feel really down on ourselves and we think, ‘oh no, that show sucked!’ We wonder why people didn’t sing along. “But yeah, those are the best parts…we feed off the crowd’s energy, so when they give it to us, we give it back tenfold and play harder and better.” Passion Pit’s music is all about contrasts – the joy of the arrangements and the beauty of singer Michael Angelakos’s falsetto against the despair of the lyrics. Around the time the band’s second album, Gossamer, was released, Angelakos opened up to Pitchfork about his ongoing struggles with mental health. The members of Passion Pit are old friends, and in light of this, I ask Apruzzese if he and the rest of the group feel the need to protect and look out for Angelakos, as well as being his band mates.
“We play these festivals with DJs and we get so jealous, because you see one person with a laptop, and they don’t have to worry about anything. They just get to hang out with their tour manager and relax, and then pull their laptop out. They get the same reaction that we get when we play our songs, but we’re dragging around 50 pieces of gear!” He pauses to think about this for a second. “I’d say that we definitely got off to a rough start when we were touring this record,” he admits. “It’s getting better now. “I think that for anyone who suffers depression or bipolar disorder, touring is one of the worst things you can do,” he continues. “When you’re missing out on sleep, when your environment is changing all the time and you’re shifting between time zones, that can be really detrimental to your health. It can put you on edge. 15
“At first, we were walking on eggshells – we were concerned for our friend, we wanted him to get through the tour.” Angelakos has figured out a regimen now – one that keeps him healthy and keeps him on the road – and Passion Pit are in a good place. “We all look out for him and for each other,” Apruzzese says. “We’re at the point now where we’ve grown up together, we’re all friends and we’re all here for one another.” Angelakos writes and arranges Passion Pit’s songs himself before presenting them to the rest of the band, and is unafraid to lay his troubles bare in the lyrics – take a song like Gossamer’s Constant Conversations, which would seem to be about an intervention that occurred at some point. Apruzzese says that it can be difficult hearing songs like these for the first time. “I remember hearing demos, and really wondering how literal everything was,” he says.“When we started rehearsing the song, I talked to Michael about it, and I have to say, his ability to put himself out there is really incredible. I mean, it’s hard not to feel a little uncomfortable, just because I know Michael and the people around him, and I know who the songs are about, but I think if anything, it’s great that he can just put all his troubles out there in these songs.” The arrangements on Angelakos’s songs are so intricate and multi-layered that learning them can sometimes be a challenge for the rest of Passion Pit. “We don’t like to rely on backing tracks or hire other musicians,” Apruzzese says. “We like to be a band. It’s tricky. I mean, we have a dozen keyboards between the five of us on stage, but we always get there.” As he tells it, Passion Pit never really have a finished version of a song – they have a rough version, which they’ll play in their soundchecks until they are comfortable putting it in the show, but once it’s there, they’ll start to take it apart and re-learn it again. Of the new songs on Gossamer, the hardest to learn was I’ll Be Alright, which is all stop-start rhythms and neon synth squiggles. “The drums are insane on the record,” Apruzzese says. “They weren’t even played by an actual person. It’s a drum kit that was played then cut up and arranged. That pattern by itself is just out of control, then you add the other 120 tracks on the recording – the harmonies and all the keyboards. “You don’t want to be the band where, if a computer goes down, you have to stop playing. The only time we’ll use computers in the live show is to add the icing on the cake – we never use them as the main instruments.” The elaborate live show can sometimes wear on the band’s morale. “Oh yeah, it’s terrible!” Apruzzese says with a laugh. “I mean, we play these festivals with DJs and we get so jealous, because you see one person with a laptop, and they don’t have to worry about anything. They just get to hang out with their tour manager and relax, and then pull their laptop out. They get the same reaction that we get when we play our songs, but we’re dragging around 50 pieces of gear! “We’re happy for it to be that way, though. We want everything to sound as good as, if not better than, the record.” X-Press – First on the street, Wednesdays
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X-Press – First on the street, Wednesdays
THE MURPHY BROTHERS Thick As Thieves Big Radio Records
KARNIVOOL Asymmetry Cymatic
It’s been four years since Perth pioneers Karnivool released Sound Awake, the follow-up to their debut Themata that was released four years earlier. Sure, fans would love an album from them every other year but we all know that’s not how Karnivool operate. Their records aren’t just records, they’re journeys, and journeys don’t happen overnight. Asymmetry is meticulously constructed. It is everything you expect a Karnivool record to be except it is in no way predictable. You can expect rumbling bass lines, chaotic, driving drums, epically huge guitars and vocals that ebb and flow from delicate to soaring. It is professionally polished as a whole, but each song, individually, is dirty and will shake you to your very core. This is not a collection of tracks; this is most definitely an album. There’s no point breaking this album down track by track because each song relies on the others to give you a true perspective of the album. If you were to remove one song, even one of the interludes, you’d need to re-evaluate the album again from start to finish. Imagine removing a pivotal scene from a movie. Things just wouldn’t make sense, and this is exactly how Asymmetry sounds as a whole. You really need to immerse yourself in it from start to finish to truly ‘get it’, and even then you’re going to need to do it all over again to pick up little nuances that you missed first time around. Asymmetry is a triumph forged from hardwork, talent, passion and guts. It is the mark of a band truly committed to their craft. Karnivool would have been forgiven for releasing a collection of tracks that would tick the boxes for radio or the festival circuit, but they have boldly released a record that is uncompromising and relentless, and filled with experimentation and self-discovery.
PARAMORE Paramore
MICK THOMAS Vandemonian Lags New Songs From the Prison Without Walls
The Murphy Brothers are Chris and Courtney Murphy, w h o m a d e a n a m e fo r themselves on Australian Idol, and their other sibling Kieran, who is somewhat lesser-known. As stalwarts in WA pubs over the past few decades, the siblings are a polished proposition. The brothers have shown their love of a good pop song over the years, and they kick off the latest offering with a power pop gem in the form of Thick As Thieves. If there was any justice this one would be all over the radio with its chorus that won’t give up being sung in cars by the masses. The Murphy Brothers hark back to a time when classic sounding pop records were given the billing they deserve and there are hooks aplenty on display here. Not Invited is as catchy as smallpox and Kings And Queens has harmonies that Jellyfish would have been proud of. The fact that Chris and Courtney are minor celebrities in this town has long overshadowed their musical output. This is a crying shame as they have a deep reservoir of cracking classic pop tunes if Thick As Thieves is any indicator..
Fueled By Ramen/Warner
Popboomerang Records
Vandemonian Lags - New Songs From the Prison Without Walls is a musical project from Mick Thomas developed as part of the Dark Mofo mid-winter festival for the Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) in Hobart. Thomas is joined by like-minded singer songwriters to fashion tunes that outline Tasmania’s convict past. Thomas writes the lion’s share of the songs on Vandemonian Lags but he is quick to hand them over to be interpreted by others. The title track is given to Glen Richards to bring his voice that drips with emotion and melancholy like it did during his years fronting Augie March. Darren Hanlon, a man who oozes Australian charm, gets two songs - the acoustic narrative, The Wildest Dreams Of Samuel, and The Book Thief, which sees Hanlon handing vocal duties to indie folker, Laura Jean. Tim Rogers makes the most of his weathered rasp as he goes all Tinpan Alley on Ikey Mo. The two-disc collection is more and more influenced by Weddings Parties Anything as they act as the backing band for many of the tunes (which would sit neatly amongst much of their catalogue). Mick Thomas has always been a master storyteller and this often dark and sometimes humorous tip of the hat to Van Diemen’s Land is a _ CHRIS HAVERCROFT fitting document to the nation’s pauper past.
Paramore are that band you either hate to love or love to hate (of course, you could be one of the millions that love to love them, but that’s not the point). They’re generally seen as that annoying pop-punk band with the cute ginger frontwoman, yet most will find themselves singing along to their undoubtedly catchy pop-punk tunes that tend to get absolutely belted on commercial radio. That polarising sentiment is captured perfectly on the band’s fourth album, Paramore. Namely, some of these songs are as catchy as chicken pox at a pre-primary finger-painting exhibition, and others are immediately forgettable. This ultimately feels like the type of album that a band would write to fulfil a contractual obligation. Clocking in at 17 tracks, there’s just too many misses here that outweigh the hits, and you’re going to find yourself spending more time skipping through tracks than actually enjoying them. _ GEORGE GREEN
_ CHRIS HAVERCROFT
_ GEORGE GREEN
BLACK SABBATH 13 Vertigo/Universal
The first Black Sabbath album in 35 years to feature singer Ozzy Osbourne, guitarist Tony Iommi and bassist Geezer Butler, 13 is led by producer Rick Rubin’s insistence that they return to the sound that made the band and defined (if not invented) heavy metal and all that followed it its wake. The album opens with the enormo-riff of End Is The Beginning, an eight-minute showcase of the band’s (rounded out by former Rage Against The Machine drummer, Brad Wilks, after original fourth member Bill Ward refused to participate, citing contractual issues) power, led as always by Iommi’s immense playing. Once the denseness of the music settles in it’s a let down to realise that the weak link is Osbourne’s unconfident, weedy vocals. Iommi remains the main man throughout 13, delivering riffs relentlessly as he revisits key moments of Sabbath’s past – lead single, God Is Dead, holds its own against anything on Sabbath Bloody Sabbath or Sabotage; the jazz-fusion of the bongo-led Zeitgeist is effectively son-of-Planet Caravan; Damaged Soul is pure heavy blues with a wailing harmonica that harkens back to 1969’s self-titled debut album. 13 suffers from Ward’s absence and from Osbourne resembling his stumbling and addled reality show persona more than the singer of the greatest, most influential metal band of all time. It is, however, a record that holds its head up high in 2013 and a triumph in comparison with the last couple of original line-up albums, and we can forgive it not reaching the heights of those first five Black Sabbath albums because, let’s face it, those records remain nearly perfect 40-something years later. _ SHANE PINNEGAR
30 SECONDS TO MARS Love Lust Faith And Dreams Immortal/Virgin
For those unfamiliar with 30 Seconds To Mars, they are the radio-rock band fronted by Jared Leto. For those unfamiliar with Jared Leto, he’s the blonde guy who Edward Norton beat the shit out of in Fight Club. For those unfamiliar with Fight Club, it rules; watch it. Love Lust Faith And Dreams is a selfindulgent wank-fest from a band who really wouldn’t get any attention if it weren’t for them being fronted by the ridiculously good-looking Leto. Their last few releases have featured a couple of tracks that you wouldn’t be ashamed to sing along to, but there’s hardly any substance on Love Lust Faith And Dreams worthy of giving a second listen to. You get the impression that 30 Seconds To Mars had grand ideas for Love Lust Faith And Dreams but just didn’t know how to pull them off. There’s no shame in knowing your limitations, and if 30 Seconds To Mars had have traded in the grandiose for the simpler side of rock then this album might not have come across as sounding confused with itself. Apparently Love Lust Faith And Dreams is a ‘concept’ album. Surely the concept of an album is that it is meant to be listenable? _ GEORGE GREEN www.xpressmag.com.au
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X-Press – First on the street, Wednesdays
THIS IS
THE END www.xpressmag.com.au
Friends Til The End In their new film, Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg take great delight in slaughtering almost everyone they know to comedic effect, which is ironic considering how strong their lifelong friendship is. TRAVIS JOHNSON reports. Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg have been BFFs for the longest time, to the point where talking to the two of them at the same time is, quite literally, like interacting with one mind sharing two bodies. Their first produced feature screenplay, Superbad, is essentially an ode to their teenage friendship. Since then, they’ve worked together on projects great such as stoner comedy Pineapple Express - and not so great - the lamentable Green Hornet. Their latest effort, which also marks their directorial debut, is This Is The End, which deals with that most comedic
of subjects, the apocalypse. The film grew out of the 2007 short, Jay And Seth Vs The Apocalypse, which is still a perennial favourite on Youtube.“The executive producer Jason Stone,” Goldberg explains. “He and I were trying to come up with an idea one day that was really cheap that he could do at film school so the idea was why don’t we do the apocalypse but make it as small as possible, lock two guys in a room, so we asked Jay (Baruchel) and Seth if they would be in this and then they improvved pretty much the whole thing.”
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A NOVEL IDEA
Following on from June’s Write Your Novel classes, The Society of Women Writers WA presents another series from Society President Helen Iles. A Novel That Shines covers editing, manuscript layout, and the Zombie survival drama, Perished, attracted an often baffling minutiae of selling and publishing impressive number of Western Australian Screen your work in the modern fiction marketplace. Classes Awards nominations, getting the nod for Best Short run at Citiplace Community Centre every Saturday Film, Best Script (Short), Best Sound (Short), Best Editing morning from August 10 - 24 and are open to men (Short) and Best Use of Visual Effects, which is quite and women. head to swwofwa.com for further details. impressive for a film shot entirely in a North Perth backyard. Best of luck to Stefan Radanovich, Aaron McCann and the crew, as well as all the other nominees. Cabaret Soiree kicks off next month downstairs at His Majesty’s Theatre. From August 15 until October 5, the venerable venue plays host to a range of national acts, including Machine Gun Fellatio’s Christa Hughes in Neurotic Ladyland, Michael Griffiths in In Vogue - Songs By Madonna, Ethel Chop, Analise Bell’s tribute to Marilyn Monroe, Ruth Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg Wilkin’s Just A Little Something I’ve Been Working On and more. go to hismajestystheatre.com.au for the “Everyone like creatively was onboard.” full program. Tickets are available through Ticketek. Rogen confirms. “There was some people that we just couldn’t get like for scheduling reasons. We were Perished filming in New Orleans, so that made it hard for us to get some people. Shockingly, and it was really Award-winning photographer Tim Robinson has encouraging ‘cause again, it is a weird idea that could buddied up with the Victoria Park Writers’ Group for have gone very wrong, everyone was like really into One Vision - Two Versions - An Exhibition, which runs the idea when we told them about it, which was at the Victoria Park Centre for the Arts from August nice ‘cause it was encouraging to us that we weren’t If you’re keen to check out Spiegelworld’s critically 9 - 16. The exhibition combines photographs and acclaimed and wildly popular Empire but are less than stories from Robinson’s journeys around the world making a huge mistake. They all seemed to get it.” But they still had to tackle the practical great at actually buying tickets before they sell out, with fictional interpretations of his work by members matters at hand, including an impressive amount you’ll be heartened to know that the Perth season of the Writers’ Group. Audience members are invited of special effects shots for a debut feature. “It was has now been extended until August 18. Now you’ve to make up their own stories inspired by Robinson’s incredibly difficult,” Rogen chuckles. “There was a got another chance to secure seats for the daring and work, with the best submission winning a framed copy point in preproduction where we were like ‘Why did provocative performances promised by The Gorilla of their entry and a photo signed by Robinson. For we literally the most complicated type of movie you Girls, Lime Green Lady and Carrot Man and Miss A in more information, go to vicparkwriters.wordpress.com. a Bubble. Get onto Ticketek ASAP - the new allocation could ever make as our first movie?’” Goldberg adds,“Our visual effects supervisor, is sure to disappear quickly. this guy Paul Linden, he’d worked on Zombieland, and Sony kind of presented this guy to us like, ‘This guy can make you have a giant special effects movie for a low budget amount of money.’ and then this guy really guided us through everything really well.” In truth, the biggest difficulty they had while making the film was getting the tone right, balancing the humour with the horror. “There were a One Vision - Two Versions ton of random jokes, a few jokes that went a bit too far that we did have to take out.” Goldberg says. “But yeah, coming from the school of improv, we had a whole other movies worth of this movie.” The Perth Centre For Photography is offering a Rogen adds, “There is a really funny number of short seminars over their Winter School conversation about whether we can eat our own poo season, covering a diverse number of areas in that was unfortunate that-” the shutterbug game. The next, Streetshots And Goldberg butts in. “We learned the Creepshots: The Public And The Pubic, by Dr Juha unfortunate reality that pee jokes are funny-” Tolonen, delves into the often difficult ethical And here Rogen joins in.“But poo jokes are conundrums faced by the street photographer. It’s too far!” on next Wednesday, July 24. Point your browser to Spiegelworld And they laugh together. pcp.org.au for more.
PERISH THE THOUGHT
LIFE IS A CABARET
CONTINUED FROM COVER In its feature form, the film sees a raft of white hot comedic talent, including Rogan, Baruchel, James Franco, Jonah Hill, Craig Robinson and Danny McBride, play themselves as pampered glitterati who start to fall apart when confronted by the shallowness of their lives in the face of extinction. Rogen admits that the challenge of having the cast parody themselves was something he relished. “Yeah, I mean, that’s one of the things that was appealing. If it didn’t have, you know, like a high margin of difficulty, I mean a high margin of error and a high degree of difficulty that makes it more exciting-” “Yeah,” Goldberg interjects. “We like our movie to be a desperate gamble every time.” “Exactly!” Rogen laughs. “I mean, it just makes it so much more exciting. And I knew that if someone else had done something like this it would make me so jealous that I wasn’t the one to have tried to do it, you know? It just seems hilarious and it seems risky and, yeah, it seems like multiple things but to us that was what was exciting about it and we just really thought we had a version that wouldn’t be self-indulgent, that would ultimately be really, like, as entertaining for audiences as it possible could be.” Casting turned out to be a breeze, with pretty much everyone the pair wanted to appear in the film happily jumping onboard. As Goldberg explains, “The main six guys, who are in the film, it was a bit different with, so those guys we called them one at a time before we ever wrote this movie and said ‘Hey, are you interested in doing this? We are going to write the characters to be you so we need just a light commitment.’ and so they all agreed to that and then we worked on the characters and then we brought it to them and then we worked on it with them. For everybody else, we just went at them one at a time, starting with our friends.”
VISION THING
FOR ALL IN TENTS AND PURPOSES
SCHOOL SHOOTINGS
This Is The End
THIS IS THE END Apocalypse Express
Directed by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg Starring Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel, James Franco, Jonah Hill, Danny McBride, Craig Robinson, Emma Watson Actors playing themselves. It can so easily go horribly wrong - remember Julia Roberts in Ocean’s 12, or the execrable London luvvie love-in that was Love, Honour And Obey? Luckily, thanks to some fearless performances and a fun, surprisingly nuanced script from long time collaborators Seth Rogan and Evan Goldberg (they wrote, amongst other things, Superbad and Pineapple Express), This Is The End stands out as one of the best comedies of the year thus far. When Jay (Baruchel, playing himself, and let’s now dispense with these) heads to Los Angeles to spend the weekend with his old buddy, Seth Rogen, he’s disappointed when Rogen drags him to a housewarming party at James Franco’s new digs. Baruchel thinks Franco and his friends - including, but not limited to, Jonah Hill, Craig Robinson, Michael Cera, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Paul Rudd, Rihanna, Aziz Ansari and more - are a pack of pretentious LA jerk-offs, so when the apocalypse hits with all the blood and thunder it can muster, it almost comes as a bit of a relief. While Hollywood burns and the city falls into anarchy, Baruchel, Rogen, Franco, Hill and Robinson barricade themselves inside Franco’s house and struggle to cope with dwindling supplies, boredom, and the presences of an anarchic and 20
rapacious Danny McBride, who passed out in the bathtub before everything went down. Essentially, the plot functions as an excuse to lock a group of exceedingly funny people in a room together and see what develops. Everyone relishes lampooning their public personae: Franco plays himself as an artsy poseur, Cera flips expectations by appearing as a coked-up party animal, while McBride is his usually atavistic on-screen self. The jokes come thick and fast, and there’s rarely a moment where you’re not entertained. Underneath that, though, there’s a fairly solid examination of friendship and how it changes over the years, with Baruchel disapproving of Rogen’s “new” friends and feeling alienated from his old sparring partner. We also get a cursory but nonetheless interesting rumination on the nature of morality and self-perception; this is the Biblical End Times, complete with The Rapture, and our Hollywood heroes, who all consider themselves to be good people, are surprised and perturbed that they weren’t whisked away to heaven before the tribulations hit. A lot of laughs get wrung out of watching these pampered stars face some home truths about their behaviour, but there’s also some food for thought there as well. But only if you want it. There’s nothing so heavy-handed as to ruin the fun, and this is a very fun flick, packed to the gills with gutter humour and self-deprecation that borders on the savage. Digging any deeper into the meat of the mattered would spoil too many fun surprises but rest assured, if you liked this crew’s previous collaborations, don’t think twice about buying a ticket for this one. _ TRAVIS JOHNSON
Before Midnight
BEFORE MIDNIGHT Into the Future
Directed by Richard Linklater Starring Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy, Xenia Kalogeropoulou, Walter Lassally, Ariane Labed, Yiannis Papadopoulos, Seamus DaveyFitzpatrick. The past and the future and their implications on the notions of romantic love dominate Before Midnight; a contemplative, dialogue-driven exploration of the truths that lie deep within all relationships, couched in an elegiac tone that at once looks back on the origins of one of independent cinema’s great romances, while also looking toward to the future with an uncertain eye. In this third (and final?) installment of the series, Linklater, Hawke and Delpy reunite to catch up with Jesse (Hawke) and Celine (Delpy) nine years on from their previous outing, to find them together at last and parents to twin daughters. Holidaying in Greece with friends, Jesse is now divorced from his wife and after bidding his son Henry (Davey-Fitzpatrick) an awkward farewell as he heads back to the States, a seed is planted in his mind which promises to throw his idyllic life with Celine into disarray. So begins a journey down a path of reflection for the couple and a look toward a variety of possible futures as they revaluate their relationship. This is a stunningly rendered portrait of a couple who are truly in love, but with a history
and intimate understanding of one another that runs so deep, they begin to see the flaws in each other a little too sharply, and they come to realise that maybe their love is no longer enough to carry them through. Hawke and Delpy, who know these characters inside and out (they co-wrote with Linklater), and whom are just excellent actors in their own right, inhabit their roles so profoundly it is no wonder they want to keep revisiting them. When a film is as dialogue heavy as this, the acting is paramount and in addition to the two leads, the predominantly Greek supporting cast is perfect. However, it is Hawke and Delpy’s show. Director Linklater holds back the camera to let the two of them talk, only occasionally changing things up with a quick cut or an interesting but subtle framing of multiple characters in the one shot. It is masterfully done, allowing the characters to expand naturally and push the story forward through dialogue. There is such an affection here that comes right off the screen and fans of the series will feel that palpably. In a world of serialised television and comic book franchises, it is refreshing and unfortunately unique to see an adult, emotionally driven trilogy spanning almost 20 years that continues to be so vital and entertaining, but also feels so real. These are still the characters who met on that train all those years ago, only a little older, and maybe not so much wiser, but still so undeniably, achingly human. _ LIAM DUNN X-Press – First on the street, Wednesdays
The Conjuring
THE CONJURING That ‘70s Horrrorshow
Directed by James Wan Starring Patrick Wilson, Vera Farmiga, Ron Livingston, Lili Taylor Malaysian-Australian director James Wan (Saw, Insidious) once again wears his genre influences on his sleeve in this ‘70s-set supernatural thriller, allegedly based - as these things so often are - on actual events. The film centres on real life (and take that for whatever you think it’s worth) paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga, respectively). Veteran spook hunters loosely aligned with the Catholic church - where Ed is the only non-priest licensed to carry out exorcisms - the Warrens already have a room full of souvenirs and artefacts from the countless hauntings they’ve handled over the years when we meet them, but their mettle is destined to be tested by the uncanny happenings going down in the rural home of Roger and Carolyn Perron (Ron Livingston and Lili Taylor). Poltergeist, the 1982 Steven Spielberg/Tobe Hooper film that informed so much of Insidious, Wan’s last film, still casts a long shadow here, but the more prominent influences are from the prior decade, with the most obvious being 1979’s The Amityville Horror (interestingly, the real Warrens investigated the Amityville case).The film is a real throwback to the kind of mood-heavy, gore-light horror fare that dominated the non-drive-in circuit back in the day,
and that is both its charm and its chief failing. For all its claims of real world veracity, The Conjuring feels more like an homage to the supernatural cinema of the ‘70s than anything rooted in the real world. The period setting is drawn in broad strokes, relying more on ingrained cultural ideas about the decade rather than actual contemporary details, and the plot itself hits all the requisite marks in efficient, if not terribly original, style. Committed performances from all the principals help matters as much as they can within the film’s parameters, but they can only do so much with the material. To be fair, Wan does have a flair for staging a tense set-piece, and the primal terrors that the film evokes - the dark, the unknown, the violation of family and home - can’t help but strike some kind of chord, particularly when the Perrons’ children are menaced. However, much of Wan’s tonal success is undone by the way he counterpoints the supernatural goings-on with the Warrens’ workaday attitude to the same. It’s one thing to have the unknown intrude upon the mundane - in fact, it’s a staple of the genre - but the Warrens know that the supernatural exists, and treat it in such a matter of fact manner that it works to actually render the unknown mundane, which isn’t the same thing. Ultimately, that’s what prevents The Conjuring from being anything more than a well constructed diversion for genre fans - it lacks the frisson of the inexplicable that is essential to truly great supernatural fiction. It’s not a bad film, per se, but a fairly ordinary one, and lowered expectations are a must. _ TRAVIS JOHNSON
X-PRESS FLICK PICS Sad that The Revelation Film Festival has run its course for another year? Dry your eyes and take a look at the best film fare currently gracing our screens...
The Heat
THE HEAT
“In short, The Heat pulls off a rarity with two strong female leads who can play for laughs without compromise while retaining their dignity. Even better, it does so without any sense of a forced gender agenda.”
Pacific Rim
PACIFIC RIM
“... Pacific Rim is the purest expression of heroism to come along in a long, long time. Comparisons to Star Wars are not made lightly; an entire generation of kids is abut to have their cultural DNA completely rewired, and that’s a very good thing.”
FAST AND FURIOUS 6
Monsters University “(Director) Lin fills the thing with some of the most eye-popping, clap-deserving stunt sequences ever laid down on film. Forget whatever else is in the film, there are three or four scream-good action moments in this “It’s a delight. The world of Monster’s, Inc., with its injokes and idiosyncratic design choices, is one worth film that will have audiences yahooing with glee.” revisiting, and its a lot of fun viewing an archetypal American college setting through the Monsters lens.”
MONSTERS UNIVERSITY
THE PLACE BEYOND THE PINES
“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 Bradley Cooper, though, who is astounding, truly coming into his own these days as a serious dramatic actor.” www.xpressmag.com.au
MUD
“Mud is undoubtedly the work of a talented auteur, and the cinematic voice that Jeff Nichols has been developing over the course of his career is now the strongest and clearest it’s ever been. This one is definitely worth seeking out.” For full reviews, interviews, competitions and more, head to xpressmag.com.au. 21
BEN SALTER
What I Did On My Vacation Touring in support of his new EP, Ben Salter takes the stage at Mojos this Sunday, July 21, with support from Clinton Oliver and Elli Schoen. Ben Salter’s going through a purple patch. He’s got a seven-track release, The European Vacation EP, out now and has an album ready to roll in 2014. Oddly though, life as a solo artist is a fairly recent thing. Following a decade of playing in bands such as Giants Of Science, The Gin Club and The Wilson Pickers, Salter released his debut solo LP, The Cat, in 2011. It was a step that set him intently on his current path. “It’s was really good,” he says, “my mentality went from focussing on groups and stuff to being a bit more self-sufficient. I did The Cat and then the national tour and then got a grant and went overseas. I guess it sort of galvanised me a bit to feel much more comfortable with what I was doing as far as music went and doing my own thing. It’s been amazing, but it was more about actually just getting that album out there and then all the other stuff sort of fell into place.” Salter’s new release, The European Vacation EP, is an EP in name only, with seven solid tracks vying for attention. “It’s one song short of an album, by the strict definition,” he laughs, “though I think there’s probably plenty of albums that have seven songs as well. I guess I wanted to call it an EP because it’s not really an album in my mind. An EP, for me, is almost a collection of songs that don’t quite fit anywhere else.” With his second solo album due in 2014, The European Vacation EP is the postcard before the letter, the songs tied together mostly by their creation in various lounge rooms, studios and stages in Europe. “I had a whole group of songs and I didn’t know what to do with them; to release two albums or not, I was sort of umm-ing and ahh-ing,” Salter says. “Then once I came up with a name for the EP it kind of made more sense because that was sort of an umbrella that I could group all these songs together under that would sort of make sense and actually use the idea of going to Europe and doing them all as a thematic thing. “All the other ones that are gonna be on the album to me all have another theme lyrically and sort of musically, mainly the lyrics and the feel of them goes together. The one thing that united them all was that they were all done when I was overseas
Ben Salter Photo: Stephen Booth and there wasn’t much else that could drag these seven songs together.” So it was a good trip then? “Yeah, it was amazing.” The single lifted from the EP is the atmospheric pop track, Semi Pro Gamer, seemingly another life from the one that Salter was living during his creative, European adventure. “Well yes and no,” Salter notes. “That song, like a lot of the songs, started life as just a title. I had a list of song titles that I carry around. I’d had a friend who mentioned he knew someone who was a ‘semi pro-gamer’ and I thought that was pretty funny and had written it down. And we just sort of went from there. “When we wrote the lyrics I thought they were terrible. But then, it’s like anything, after a while I listened to it a few more times and it seemed pretty good, metaphorically. But it’s not a million miles away from what I was doing because I was constantly on the ‘net trying to hustle for gigs and places to stay (laughs).” _ BOB GORDON
OTHER DESERT CITIES Conrad Coleby
In the Black Swan State Theatre Company’s production of Jon Robin Baitz’s Other Desert Cities, actor Conrad Coleby found a family he could really sink his teeth into, even if he’d rather not be a member. Conrad Coleby may be more familiar from the small screen, having appeared in a vast range of Australian TV productions from Water Rats to Underbelly, but the Sydney-born actor is no stranger to the stage, a milieu he returns to in the new production of Other Desert Cities. “I t ’s an incredible play, ” he says enthusiastically. “Iit’s been awarded a Tony, I think, and nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. It’s one of those plays I read and just thought, ‘Wow, there’s no dead spots in this thing; it just keeps getting better and better and better as you read it.’ Usually you find in a script that you read it and there’s bits you have to gloss over because they’re not quite strong or things about the characters that don’t quite gel, but everything in this play has been so well crafted and it’s so cleverly put together.” The play revolves around the Wyeth family, a multi-generation show business dynasty;. When the disparate family members return to the home of Polly (Janet Andrewartha) and Lyman (Robert Coleby, Conrad’s real life father), the scene is set for an emotional catfight of epic proportions, brought on by daughter Brooke’s (Rebecca Davis) decision to publish a memoir about a family secret. “In a nutshell,” Coleby explains. “We all gather together for Christmas and there’s all this tension in the air because we know this book will be on the table, so everyone’s a bit hyper-tense until the bomb is dropped.” He pauses. “The show is very funny, though.” he assures us. Coleby plays Trip, son to Polly and Lyman and brother to Brooke. “My character is a little bit the protagonist in a way, because he is a producer who does a show called Jury Of Your Peers - a little bit like Judge Judy - and he’s got this keen awareness of people’s failures and people’s misguided opinions. he’s kind of the watcher, in a sense, throughout the play. He doesn’t say much and, when he does, he really let’s rip and disassembles people. He’s very keenly aware of each member of the family and each 22
Conrad Coleby member is, conversely, aware of the other two, so it makes for a great drama as everyone’s point of view is valid.” In a way, Trip acts as a sort of one man Greek Chorus for the play.“I guess he’s more outside it all because he’s a little bit detached from the bomb that hit the family in the past, because he was a little bit too young. He’s a little bit able to step outside it and see what people are doing to each other from that angle. I think that, basically, he just wants sleeping dogs to lie and he’s kind of upset by the nature of this thing constantly causing a rift - that’s where he’s coming from.” Other Desert Cities runs at the State Theatre Centre from Jluy 20 until August 4. For tickets and session times, go to bsstc.com.au _ TRAVIS JOHNSON X-Press – First on the street, Wednesdays
VISUAL ARTS Pictures Of Us: Victoria Park Centre for the Arts This selection of portraits from the Tandy-Bromfield collection is on display until July 17. Go to vicparkarts. com.au for details.
Take 12: Fremantle Arts Centre An exhibition of video works by young people inspired by contemporary pieces from the City of Fremantle Art Collection. It runs until August 18. Go to fac.org. au for more.
Beyond The Pale - Hits From Australia’s Top Rock Poster Studio: Fremantle Arts Centre This fascinating tour through the history of rock art runs from July 27 - September 15. Go to fac.org.au for further info.
Swan Lake: His Majesty’s Theatre The renowned St Petersburg Ballet Theatre presents Tchaikovsky’s beautiful and moving ballet, Swan Lake. The season runs from July 31 - August 8. Tickets are available from ticketek.com.au.
Secrets of the Afterlife: The Western Australian Museum This collection of over 100 Egyptian artefacts from the British Museum collection - including two mummies! - explores ancient attitudes to life after death. The exhibition runs until September 22. Go to museum. gov.au for more.
Black Cat And Beyond... Diatribe Of The Squeegee: Fremantle Arts Centre A collection of political posters crafted by Black Cat/ Gato Negro, an anarchist collective formed in New York City in the late ‘70s. It runs from July 27 - September 15. Go to fac.org.au for further details.
MUSIC
Cirkos: Buratti Fine Art The new collection by renowned occult artist Barry William Hale is on display until July 18. Head to buratti. Van Gogh, Dali and Beyond - The World Reimagined: com.au for details. Art Gallery of WA Notes Toward A Universal Language: Paper Mountain The third exhibition in AGWA’s MoMA Series This collection of installation, text and drawing- encompasses works from Vincent Van Gogh, Paul based pieces plays with elements of language, Cezanne, Richard Long, Frida Kahlo and more. The communication and the inherent human need to exhibition runs until Dec 2. Go to artgallery.wa.gov.au connect. Paper Mountain co-director Anna Dunhill’s for further information. solo exhibition runs until July 21. Go to papermountain. Little Paintings, Big Stories: Lawrence Wilson Art org.au for more. Gallery Runs until December 14. The Landscape of Being: Fremantle Arts Centre The first solo show in WA by Victorian painter Helen Maudsley runs until July 21. Go to fac.org.au for further Hypotheticals Part II: Free Range Gallery An exploration of hypothetical and speculative information. scenarios curated by Emma Buswell and Oliver Hull, A Day is Longer Than a Year: Fremantle Arts Centre including works from Josh Hart, Joseph Buckley, Leah A site-specific installation by NSW artist Michaela Beeferman, David Attwood, Shannon Lyons, Ben Rodin, Gleave based on the use of light. On display until July Reece York and Rachael Guinness. It runs until July 28. 21. Go to fac.org.au for details. Go to freerange.org.au for details. Umpire: Spectrum Project Space An exhibition of new paintings by Ben Waters, Torsten Knorr and Laurie Smith that tackles notions of abstraction. It runs until July 28. Go to ecu.edu.au for more detials. Tomorrow Where It Began: Common Ground Works from Aaron Bruce, Adam Cicchini, Garth Neale, Kiel Rogers, Lauren Fenlon, Lester, Mark Nara, Russell Winter, Ryan Smith and Tom Sweetman. It runs from July 19 - 28.
Modern Masters Series - Picasso 347Series: Elements Art Gallery A series of erotically charged etchings created by Pablo Picasso in 1968. The exhibition runs until July 21. Head to elementsartgallery.com for further information. alitura: Heathcote Museum and Art Gallery Nature and nurture are compared and contrasted in this exhibition from Jillian Ciemitis, Miriam Gardiner, Del Hemingway and Debbie Oakley. It runs until August 11. melvillecity.com.au/heathcote has more. Super Predator: Kurb Gallery A collection of acrylic works by Brenton See that evokes striking wildlife imagery. It runs until July 18. Go to kurbgallery.com for further information. The Unbounded Line: Gallery Central A textile exhibition by Maggie Baxter that explores line, form and mark. It runs until July 27. Go to central. wa.edu.au for details.
Tomorrow - When It Began
Riley (the cow): Fremantle Arts Centre A look at the central character that has dominated the work of Perth artist Rachel Salmon-Loams for the past 18-odd years. It runs from July 27 - September 15. Go to fac.org.au for more. Sawdust Sex: Paper Mountain This installation by artist and cultural theorist Tim Gregory lets audiences see the traces and debris left by a sex act in a layer of sawdust. On display from July 27 - August 11. Head to papermountain.org.au for more information. Strangers In My Palace: Heathcote Museum and Art Gallery This exhibition by Helen Seiver runs until August 17. Head to melvillecity.com.au/heathcote for further information.
THEATRE/DANCE/ PERFORMANCE
Aurelio Voltaire: Devilles Pad One performance only on August 4. For tickets and info, head to oztix.com Aurelio Voltaire The Barefoot Fiddler and the Australian Chamber Orchestra: Perth Concert Hall Patricia Kopatchinskaja leads the ACO for one performance only on July 24. Go to ticketek.com.au for bookings. The Whitlams and the Western Australian Symphony Orchestra: Perth Concert Hall Performances August 30 - 31. Go to waso.com.au for information and bookings.
Cats: The Regal Theatre Andrew Lloyd Webber’s beloved musical runs until July 20. Go to ticketek.com.au for session times and Perth Winter Arts Season: Various Locations bookings. Over 200 events are planned, encompassing film, comedy, cabaret, opera, literature, dance, music and Other Desert Cities: The State Theatre Centre fine arts. The season runs until August 31. Head to Continuing their excellent 2013 season, The Black Swan perthwinterarts.com.au for more information. State Theatre Company presents Jon Robin Baitz’s story of family, secrecy and emotional brinkmanship. The play 2013 Russian Resurrection Film Festival: Cinema runs from July 20 - August 4. Go to bsstc.com.au for Paradiso information and tickets. This pan-genre showcase of the best contemporary Russian cinema runs from August 1 - 11. Head I’m Your Man: PICA to russianresurrection.com for information and This performance piece from Roslyn Oades lifts the lid lunapalace.com.au for tickets. on the world of boxing. From July 24 - 27. Go to pica. org.au for more. The 2013 Perth Fashion Festival: Various Locations The biggest event on the calendars of WA’s fashionistas Naught To Naughty Cabaret: Creatures Next Door runs from September 11 - 16. Eight acts, including theatre, live music, circus, dance and comedy ,for one night only on July 26. For tickets To have your performance, exhibition and further information, head to nicoleinred.com
Timeless Paradise: Elements Art Gallery This collection of paintings by Perth artist Jeremy Holton Ballet Revolucion: Crown Theatre runs from July 25 - August 13. Visit elementsartgasllery. The acclaimed Cuban dance troupe appears from July 30 - August 4. Go to balletrevolucion.com.au for more. com.au for details.
FESTIVALS
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SOUNDZ LIKE SUNDAY The Rosemount Hotel Sunday, July 14, 2013 The freshly refurbished Rosemount beer garden played host to the venue’s weekly low-fi Sunday session and acoustic showcase, and our photographer was on hand to take a few snaps of the pacified punters. Photos By Daniel Grant
Rob, Izaac, Alexei
Sally, Meggie
Caitlin, Dmitra
Jed, Barbara, Lauren, Julian
Gareth, Emily
www.xpressmag.com.au
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X-Press – First on the street, Wednesdays
Resident Death Disco DJs Andrei and Anton Maz have seen it all. From their illustrious beginnings as Perth ‘90s indie band, Yummy Fur (signed to Columbia and EMI), a six year stint in London working for Pinnacle Records to returning home to set up Death Disco, these brothers have taken a global phenomenon and made it work locally. They catch up with JO CAMPBELL for beers at their old stomping ground, The Hydey, for a retrospective look at their last six years at Amplifier/Capitol ahead of Death Disco’s birthday celebration this Saturday. Amid the lunch time shove and pull at Hydey’s back bar, there’s no doubting that Andrei and Anton are related as they share the relaying of stories, finishing off each other’s lines of thought; much like they would playing back to back for the past six years of Saturday nights at Capitol’s Death Disco. On first meeting they may appear to be light and shade; Anton is cheerfully expressive and entertainingly gullible while his older brother Andrei is more internal and receptive. Andrei jokes that his younger brother is more in charge at the decks. “I’m his bitch,” he laughs. “That’s okay - it gives him more time to put his hands up in the air and talk to people and do shout outs, because he’s good at that. I’m just not like that. It’s like him, he’s on Facebook all the time and I can’t stand it; I hate it. I see it as the downfall of modern civilisation.”
www.xpressmag.com.au
Regardless of personal style, these guys have always stayed abreast of current trends in music, having mastered the art of seamlessly blending multiple genres with the indie rock that made them, well ahead of bootleg or mash-up culture. Originally influenced by the Madchester, acid house scene of the ‘90s, Yummy Fur was one of the first indie bands in Australia to incorporate jungle loops and occasionally lift the bpms. The Death Disco concept was based on a London night of the same name birthed by Anton’s bosses while in the employ of UK’s now defunct Pinnacle Records. “A guy I worked with, Danny Watson, label managed Poptones, Alan McGee’s new imprint. In the ‘90s he ran Creation Records, home to Swervedriver, My Bloody Valentine and Ride, amongst others, then discovered a little beat combo from Manchester called Oasis! Danny and Alan started
Death Disco,” says Anton of the night that started out as a garage rock, alternative indie disco. It’s now gone on to spawn club nights across the world with the variety of co-joining multiple genres such as new wave, punk, funk, hip hop, bass, trap, dubstep, drum ‘n’ bass and electro bangers being its drawcard. “I can’t think of anything more boring that just playing 4/4, 128bpm dance music all night,” says Anton as Andrei adds: “Or moombahton all night or D’n’B all night or anything all night; variety is the spice of life, that’s really our secret, just don’t tell anyone. “The long and short of it is that we are old and we’ve just been around a long time and if it’s dance music; we’ve seen it all. I was listening to Kraftwerk when I was this big (motions to his knee) and then acid house and the Madchester stuff that blended rave and rock.”
Having started the night at Amplifier with a two year residency after that at Mount Lawley’s Flying Scotsman, the two started the night off playing The Stone Roses, The Happy Mondays, The Smiths and The Cure with Anton saying Andrei had opened up the world the Manchester indie scene to him when they were youngsters in the way that older siblings often do. “So I always thought of dance music as having a good vocal hook and maybe some other instrumentation going on,” explains Anton. “I haven’t really come from that purist Detroit techno thing where people jizz their pants because after 15 minutes a high hat comes in.” “You want people to dance but we also encourage that intellectual side, if you like,” offers Andrei. “But we’re not precious enough or chinstroking enough that every now and then we won’t drop in a little bit of cheese or something a little bit
25
Cassian
OBEY THE CAUSE
Obey Friday is bringing out the punchy bass and indie synth dance of Sydney’s Cassian this Friday, July 19 to The Causeway in Vic Park. Cassian has come to fame remixing the big names including Flight Facilities, The Rapture, Bag Raiders, Miami Horror, PNAU and Empire of the Sun. He’ll be supported by Jack O, Rusty and Cheesy Kraft Singles. Doors open at 7pm - entry is free before 9pm; $10 thereafter. There’s cheap liquids too with $5 vodkas and $10 jugs ‘til 9pm.
The Maz Brothers commercial; at the end of the day our job is to keep the dance floor full.” Now at Capitol for the last six years, Death Disco has made the transition from a pub to a club environment, with the beats becoming even more diverse with less focus on ‘90s indie. With the general demographic being 18-25 year old, first time clubbers, Andrei jokes that their night is: “A gateway drug night club,” but Anton adds that they play for their crowd along with beat mixing the odd indie tune here and there. “Keeping in mind that most of our punters grew up in the ‘90s, we don’t have a problem with mixing in the odd bit of Destiny’s Child or a cheeky little nod to their generation, but we’re mixing it up and they love it and it goes off.” Now pushing middle-age, with wives and kids in the mix, the Maz Brothers aren’t considering trading in the night life anytime soon (Anton says he’s going to be wheeled out of the club while Andrei asks if you can DJ in Braille). “We’ll keep going as long as we can,” says Andrei. “We’re just so passionate about it. Literally, if I have free time, I’m on the decks at home working things out. I spend at least 15 - 20 hours a week just piss-farting around, whether it be
downloading, listening or analysing, I just can’t help it and it’s been like that for a long time. We’ve done Death Disco for six years but we’ve been musos for 20 and been into music for 30. A lot of people get older and their interests change, but ours haven’t... so it’s not going to happen.” True to the Death Disco ethos, Andrei and Anton have curated a diverse mix of talent across the four rooms of the Amplifier/Capitol lair to celebrate their birthday. Zeke, Philly Blunt and Phetsta are some of the locals on the bill while interstate offerings include RÜFÜS, Willow Beats, Linda Marigliano and EGO. In terms of memories of their time in residency at the venue, nudity and near-penetration play a big part. “We see people having sex a lot,” says Anton. “All the time,” adds Andrei, “Or on the cusp of having sex,” joins in Anton again. “I’m always saying ‘their parents would be so proud!’”
» DEATH DISCO SIXTH BIRTHDAY » SATURDAY, JULY 20 @ AMPLIFIER/CAPITOL
Manimal
BIG LITTLE CLUB LAUNCH
Microclubbing is getting bigger in Perth with the launch of Tiny Club this Friday, July 19 from 8pm. To be held on a monthly basis at Leederville’s The Good Shepherd on Newcastle Street, techno and house will be the main play with Manimal, Jack Doepel, Jo Lettenmaier, Escha, Doorgirl Mafia, Roulade and Lightsteed playing this month. If that’s not big/small enough, the promoter is also planning to provide an even tighter experience with Nano Club - the tiniest club/ backroom offered in Perth. Better than playing twister.
Micah
PLEDGE PARTY
This year’s Radiothon Party will be held across five Northbridge-wide venues on Saturday, August 17 featuring a disco room for the first time. Kicking off the station’s ten day pledge drive, the party offers 24 acts across The Bakery, The Bird, Ya Ya’s, PICA and The Beat Nightclub, where Full Frequency presenter Micah, Out to Lunch presenter Jo Lettenmaier and Rhythm Trippin’ presenters Devo vs PDS, Stu V vs Nelli and HW Sims will be laying down beats into the wee hours. Get on board!
Gorgon City
GORGONS TAKING OVER METRO CITY
UK-based Gorgon City have been announced as Rudimental’s support for both sold-out Metro City gigs this September. Hailing from the same label as Rudimental, the Gorgon City duo seamlessly weave house, garage and bass and are tipped as one of the hottest acts of this year. Enjoy, if you have a ticket.
EGO
HAVING VISUALS
GUY J
ROYKSOPP
Israeli deep electronica stalwart Guy J brings his distinctive touch to compile a spacious, layered mix album for Australian label, Balance. Among the track selections, Guy features his own remixes of Roger Martinez and Secret Cinema’s deep house groove Menthol Raga, Henry Saiz and Fab Morvan’s Santa Fe and Robert Babicz’ Duba. He’s put a lot of work into the record, 10 of the tracks being his own remixes, while the other three are personal edits. The emotive lyrics and reflective tone of various tracks reflect the serious and purposeful intent of Guy and his music: to invoke an emotional response in the listener, sharing his own favourite tracks and leaving an imprint on his audience. This inspiring approach to his work makes you stop and listen to appreciate the man’s drive and passion for deep, underground vibes that ignore trends and have no interest in popularity. This is a record to listen to in solitude in your spare time, suited to aiding in relaxation and provoking thoughts, and resulting in an album with such a strength of personality behind it enhances the listening experience. Documenting what your music means is the most pivotal aspect of songwriting and producing music, and Guy J gets that.
The ‘two-headed, Norwegian monster’ Royksopp have released a compilation as part of Late Night Tales – a project established in 2001 inviting such artists as MGMT, Snow Patrol, The Flaming Lips and Arctic Monkeys for their take on the ultimate ‘late night’ selections by curating artists from their music collections. Royksopp’s 19-track contribution to this project is a mix of ambient, synth/prog-pop and serves for an incredibly soothing listen – at times resembling The Beatles and at others sounding like something off a Cirque Du Soleil score. The first track, Daddy’s Groove eases you into an otherworldly atmosphere. After continuing this through the first few numbers (including an exclusive cover of Depeche Mode) the album surprises you with the introduction of folky guitar, blues and seriously croony scatting. The compilation features Australian supergroup Little River Band, Rare Bird’s 1975 B-side track Passing Through and German psych-pop Richard Schneider Knr. It is an eclectic mix –lofty vocals, surreal sounds, west coast jazz and blues, ambient waterfall soundscapes and bird songs – but one that truly embody the spirit of the night. The duo have at times been criticised for the ‘waiting room’ feel of their music, but its beauty and appropriateness for a variety of settings, whether a dinner party or music to fall asleep to could warrant admiration just as much. At times it certainly takes on a Sigur Ross/Bon Iver essence. It maintains the warm, adult electronica the band have come to be renowned for since they debuted in 1998. Royksopp have been nominated for a Grammy and have won several Spellmannprisen awards.
BALANCE PRESENTS BALANCE MUSIC
» TOM KITSON
26
LATE NIGHT TALES EMI
» HAYLEY DAVIS
Sydney based DJ and videographer, Ego, is on the cutting edge of combining visual art with beats. He chats to TOM KITSON ahead of his set at Death Disco’s birthday shindig this weekend. Calling himself a videographer first and DJ second solely due to the time he spends working in each area, Mark Egan aka Ego, is exploring a new idea to enhance his regular DJ set. His A Trip With Ego tour is taking him through the country as well as New Zealand and South Africa, with his latest mixtape released through The Modular Agency. “I’m using a lot of current pop music on this mixtape,” he says.“There’s a lot of trap, moombahton and house throughout it. It’s whatever I’m listening to and what works in clubs.” Egan and his friend Mr Nice have been collaborating in music and video performance for a while now. Going solo of late, Egan produced the video clip for L D R U’s track The Tropics, which got the modest, multi-talented artist a featuring slot on the YouTube channel POTATOwillEATyou, a brainchild of Skrillex, Diplo and A-Trak, using colourful visual effects in synch with the tunes. “That whole thing was just sheer luck,” he says. “I just made a video for L D R U and my show, sent it back to him, and he sent it on to his label Future Classic who sent it to the POTATOwillEATyou guys. All of a sudden they were looking to premiere it!” A viewing of the video clip makes it clear Egan is extending the limits of what music and other technologies can do together, with a lot of creative instinct and hard work going on behind the scenes. Looking to his musical exploits, Egan says he wants to pursue original production as well, but may need to find the time in between his consuming work putting together detailed videos and live sets. “I’ve got some tracks in the pipe, but up until now video has been the main focus,” he says. “I’ve been really trying to evolve my visual art and get it to a point that I’m really happy with. Then I’ll look to doing the same with my production, so definitely in the next six to twelve months you’ll see some remixes and originals coming out.”
Ego His live show, coming to Capitol this weekend, encompasses a DJ set with big screen visuals to provide an immersive, captivating experience for the viewer and listener, making use of Serato plug-ins and minimising the need for bulky production equipment. “When I got introduced to video DJing, it was a reasonably easy stretch for me to take it on,” he says. “I cut videos to my track selection, and I’m quite lucky that I have that interest; I love what the two things do, and I love what they do together. “The idea is to show people that this is still DJing; my head’s not buried in a laptop or anything, I’m just adding visuals to the whole thing.”
» A TRIP WITH EGO » DEATH DISCO » SATURDAY JULY 20 @ CAPITOL X-Press – First on the street, Wednesdays
DIZZY WRIGHT
ONE MOTHER RISE TO FAME Along with his Funk Volume collective, young Las Vegas rapper Dizzy Wright, aka La’Reonte Wright, has built a loyal fan base at dizzying speed (bad pun; we know). But like another famous Sin City musician, Wright has done it his own way, with a little prodding from his mother. He speaks with JOSHUA HAYES ahead of his Australian tour. Wright is distracted. In between this interview and the NBA finals game he’s watching, he’s also babysitter for the day. “I’m just looking out for my sister. Watching her bad ass little kids. I love them but they’re bad as hell,” he says in a stoner drawl.” I’m just the neighbourhood fucking nanny right now. I have no idea how this happened.” The same could be said of his career - from being an anonymous rapper in a city known more for Frank Sinatra and Celine Dion than hip hop, to being about to embark on his second tour of Australia, all in the space of a few years. And it all started with his mother. A concert promoter, she had a ten-year-old Wright working as a youth reporter for a kid’s news show, and by twelve she was encouraging him to start rapping - even going so far as to write his lyrics. “It was like when I was about 12 or 13, when I kinda started, like, when I just wanted to come up with the hooks,” he laughs. By the time he entered his teens, he was writing his own lyrics but still treating hip hop as a hobby. “Well my mom saw something in us before we saw it,” he says. “I didn’t know that I really wanted to do it until after high school. That’s when I was like ‘okay, I’m about to get busy, I’m gonna make this shit work.’” Wright attracted the interests of a few record labels, but ended up joining the independent outfit Funk Volume after label head and rapper Hopsin discovered his music online. Since then, the outfit has built a strong following in the mould of other west coast collectives like Top Dawg
Dizzy Wright Entertainment and Odd Future. The loyalty of this following was proven when, after missing out on a coveted spot on the 2012 XXL Freshman List, Wright was voted in as the People’s Choice Freshman, earning a place on the magazine’s cover. “That shit was cool man. I love my fans and they came through for me. On Can’t Trust ‘Em, the remix [from the SmokeOut Conversations mixtape] I planted the seed, I was kinda like ‘... Tell XXL want the motherfuckin’ cover,’” Wright raps. “That was like me planting the seed, just to let my fans know, like ‘if these motherfuckers don’t pick me, y’all niggas need to have my back’. And I’m so happy that my fans came through for me.” Wright toured Australia last year with Hopsin (“The ladies liked me,” Wright laughs when asked about the tour. “It was cool man, I smoked some real good weed out there and I had a real good time,”) and this time he’s being joined by another member of Funk Volume, Jarren Benton, who released his debut album, My Grandmother’s Basement, last month. He’s also busy working on a new mixtape, The Golden Age, for an early August release. It’s been an impressive rise for Wright - and, especially, the mother who has followed his career from the day she initiated it. “Now she’s like ‘damn,’” Wright laughs.
» DIZZY WRIGHT » THURSDAY, JULY 25 @ ROSEMOUNT
ONRA
LONG DISTANCED Parisian beatmaker, Onra, catches up with HAYLEY DAVIS for some honest truths before bringing his eclectic mix of sounds to the southern hemisphere. Arnaud Bernard, known better as Onra, developed a passion for music as early as ten years of age but for a long time he was purely a hip hop and R&B fan. He was isolated from much of the world of music without an Internet connection until he moved to Paris to study marketing at business school. It was then that he began to discover a whole other world that has allowed for the diversity in genres we hear in Onra’s albums. In anything he does, there’s always a healthy undercurrent of hip hop, soul and funk – cool and collected just like the man himself. “I’m not really giving you the stuff newspapers want am I?” he says in a late night interview from France. But fluffing up a media appearance with well-drilled key messages isn’t really Arnaud’s style. “I’m just going to be honest.” His 2010 LP Long Distance is probably one of his best known and has a very strong old school hip hop feel, while also mixing ‘70s funk, ‘80s boogie and some more modern beats. Though he isn’t prepared to divulge the surprises he has in store for audiences on this tour, he says most of the shows this time around will be entrenched in these classic sounds. Onra dabbles in several different genres so has a diverse range of music he could choose from. He just recently collaborated with Boddhi Satva for the Yatha Bhuta Jazz Combo project. In 2011 he embraced his oriental influences in another well-known album, Chinoiseries. He was fierce about avoiding the assumption that he went to Vietnam seeking to pay homage to his heritage. Chinoseries, “… was not because my grandparents are from Vietnam,” he says. “I really didn’t have an Asian education, it’s not my heritage. If you’ve ever dated a musician and go travelling with him you’re always going to spend at least a day in a record store.” And that’s just what he did, coming home with a collection of Chinese and Vietnamese records that he then began experimenting with and eventually led to his second album. www.xpressmag.com.au
Onra He attributes much of his creativity to his innocence and loneliness, having lived by himself for most of his life. “I’m quite a lonely person,” he says. “I’m happy doing my own thing, not letting myself be influenced by anyone else.” A career as a musician hadn’t even crossed his mind when he started making music. “Having a CD in a store is even more than a dream,” he says. Some memorable influences he had growing up included Dr. Dre and Ice Cube, who he credits with fleshing out the crude part of his vocabulary. He remembers buying a rap compilation in 1991 that featured Run DMC, Public Enemy and Cool J. After moving to Paris he then got into some classic soul of the ‘60s and ‘70s. He also loved classic jazz, Miles Davis, ‘70s and ‘80s funk, some rock and reggae. Arnaud is bringing renewed focus to Perth this time around. “I expect to give a better performance,” he says.“Last time I was drinking during the shows and I’d get sloppy so I’m not doing that anymore. I don’t want to disappoint.” He’s also sticking to his minimal production techniques, with two MPCs. “I just like to keep the performance raw like my music - straight to the point.”
» ONRA » SATURDAY, JULY 20 @ THE BAKERY 27
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AMPLIFIER
CLUB BAY VIEW
WEDNESDAY 17/07 Amplifier/ Capitol – Academy & Harlem Wednesdays ft. Benny P/ Peter Payne/ JS Bar One Twenty - DJ Bliss/ DJ Vi son The Bird – TW!ST ft. DJ Big Ear Chad Captain Stirling – Lokie Shaw Club Red Sea - Cheek ft. Tigerlilly Gold Bar – Famous ft. DJs Munch/ Ben Renna The Good Shepherd – Dope The Grand Central – Jay Mackay Groove Bar (Crown) - 5 Shots Leederville Hotel – Schools Still Out! Leederville Hotel (upstairs) Kreem ft. DJ Karl Blue/ Mishtee The Llama Bar - Club Akuna ft. Suits Mustang Bar - DJ James MacArthur Newport Hotel - RnB Heaven with Mr Phat ft. DJs Tom Drummond & Angry Budda Sovereign Arms – Five-o The Village Bar – Village People Wednesdays ft. Ruby May/ Jim Loughbridge/ Matt Milford
Monkeys/ DJ James MacArthur My Place - Karaoke Newport - Karaoke Classic with Zowie Simpson ft. DJs Mr Phat/ Sardi/ Tahli Jade/ N1 The Queens - DJ Reuben Rocket Room - Howlers ft DJ Frank N Bean The Saint - Mikeee Sovereign Arms - ANG3L Shape – Dubsidia with Zanetic/ Get More/ DNGRFLD The Vic - Friday Funktion ft. Five-o YaYa’s – ACE ft DJ Pup
Dubsidia
THURSDAY 18/07 The Avenue – Jon Ee The Beat (downstairs) - Fantasy Thursdays The Bird – Beat Lounge The Causeway - Xport Thursdays ft: Robert Hinton The Civic Hotel - The New Home of Hip Hop II ft. Wolverine/ Reality/ Kogz & Irone/ Ernah/ DJ Tricky/ Scrawl/ J Space Connections – Bingay Club Bay View - Dj-Vi Son The Craftsman – Five-o Eve Nightclub - Retro Thursdays ft. DJ Crazy Craig The Good Shepherd Playground The Grand Central – DJ Roger Smart Leisure Inn – DJ Peta Kalamunda Hotel – Grizzly Mustang Bar - DJ James MacArthur Newport Hotel - Tiki Bar Open Mic Night
FRIDAY 19/07
Onra
Ambar - District ft. DJs Philly Blunt/ Marko Paulo/ Axen/ Stone Amplifier – Fridays Are Back ft. DJ Edward Norton The Avenue - DJ Lokie Shaw The Aviary (Birdcage) – Tomás Ford The Aviary (Rooftop) – Troy Divison/ Paradise Paul Bar Orient – The Reggae Club
Phesta DJ Battle ft. DJ Mickey DJ Sunny Side Up The Bird - Andre/ Da Wit/ HW Sims/ Mikey P The Beat (downstairs) - PLAY The Brass Monkey - Vicktor & Greene George C5 - Bass Attic @ Residence ft. Bass Attic DJs Capitol- Retro Mash Capitol (upstairs) - I Love 80’s & 90’s The Carine - Az-T The Causeway – Obey Fridays ft. Cassian Club Red Sea – Velvet The Como – Funadelic Fridays ft. Zeus Rox The Craftsman - Jay MacKay The Deen - Student Night Eve Nighclub – DJ Don Migi Flawless – Monarch Fridays ft Deadweight! crew Flyrite - Self Help Ginger Nightclub - Mondos “Feel Good” Dance Party The Good Shepherd – Tiny Club ft. DJs Jack Doepel/ Jo Lettenmaier/ Escha/ Manimal/ Doorgirl Mafia/ Roulade/ Lightspeed The Grand Central - Jinx Project Groove Bar (Crown) - DJ Crazy Craig The Hyde Park - DJ Hages Lakers Tavern - Grizzly & friends Library - Dorcia Metro City - Flava Fortnightly Fridays Metro Freo – Back To School with Rave Radio ft. Death Disco DJs Mullaloo Beach Hotel – DJ Slick Mustang Bar - Swing DJ/ Cheeky
NINA LAS VEGAS HOUSE PARTY DJ
Nina Las Vegas is a radio host, DJ, producer and all round legend. A testament to those who can achieve prodigious success with countless levels of drive, talent and determination, her ability to seemingly blur the musical spectrum across genres and her selfless community work stands her in good stead as one of Australia’s finest role models. RK has more.
Nina Las Vegas 28
FAR EAST MOVEMENT
After undertaking a work experience gig at triple j, Nina Las Vegas quickly excelled and now presents the House Party slot, prime time, Saturday nights at 6pm. Continuing to proudly break rules, she professes to a love of spreading the musical message without being tied to specific genres or styles. But even coming from a background in urban music - hip hop being
SATURDAY 20/07
METRO CITY
Cassian The Grand Central - Jay Mackay Groove Bar (Crown) - DJ Dan The Library - DJ Victor / DJ Riki Lost Society - Chalk (indie/ hiphop) ft. BDSM Metro Freo – Cookie/ Dr Wazz/ Ben Carter/ Shane Hewson Metro Freo (C5) - I Love 80’s 90’s ft. Ben Carter/ DJ Wazz Mullaloo Beach Hotel Oceanside 28’s DJ Slick Newport - Karaoke with Steve Parkin/ Gravity/ Kizzy/ DJs Tahli Jade & Tom Drummond Paramount - Felix/ DJ John Jordan The Queens - Kenny L The Saint - Az-T Sovereign Arms - The Jinx Project The Wembley - DJ Lokie Shaw YaYa’s - Arcadia ft. DJ Cookie
Ambar - Japan 4 ft. DNGRFLD/ Dead Easy/ Bezwun/ Marko Paulo/ Philly Blunt Amplifier - Death Disco 6th Birthday ft. Rufus / Phetsta/ Willow Beats/ Linda Marigliano/ Philly Blunt/ Zeke/ Ego The Avenue - Jon Ee The Aviary (Rooftop) - Zel/ Paradise Paul/ NDORSE Bar 120 - Little Nicky The Balmoral - Back To The 80’s Beat Nightclub (Upstairs) CANVAS Beat Nightclub (Downstairs) – Runaways The Boheme – Manda Power The Brass Monkey - DJ Peta & Jewel Capitol – Death Disco 6th Birthday ft. Phesta SUNDAY 21/07 Capitol (Upstairs) - Cream of the 80’s The Causeway - House Party ft. J The Aviary (Rooftop) - Aviary Rooftop Sessions ft. Ben France The Cornerstone - DJ Spinback Club Red Sea - Fresh! Ft. Ben Renna/ Tim Bowen/ Sly Kidd East End Bar - Home Eve Nighclub - DJ Crazy Craig Flyrite - FΔMILY Geisha – Fred Everything with Rob Sharp/ Luke P/ Jay V/ Zina/ Ian Henton-Smith The Generous Squire – Tastes Like Chicken Gilkisons Dance Studio Electrified ft.Sockye/ Damien Blaze/ Camzor/ Reaktor/ Oki Doki/ Gracie The Good Shepherd - Chocolate Jesus her great love – her output on any given day might be laced with dub, electro or even something more poppy or electronic. She’s so far shaped a career tempered by meaningful triumphs. “I’d been working as a DJ for ages,” says Nina.“I’d started out doing different things like putting on parties and working behind the scenes and things; then the opportunity came up to present House Party and I put a demo together and have really just pushed on with it.” Somewhere in between, she also helped foster an important community project with DJ Andrew Levins and superstar Diplo titled Heaps Decent. “Basically we try and give something back to the community; we run music workshops and things like that. It’s a not for profit organisation so we work with marginalised communities, indigenous children and so on. It’s something I’ve wanted to do forever and it’s something that it very, very rewarding.” Musically, she claims it is the sounds she listens to that most influence her. “The old and new tracks I play on the radio show, really translate into what I play when I’m out,” she explains. “But then at the same time I’m inspired by my surroundings and DJs who really push boundaries.” Likewise, expect some of that inspiration to make its way onto the second House Party compilation she is working on right now. “It’s going to reflect the next phase of my life,” she says. Expect it to raise some eyebrows again – but also expect that punters will lap it up, just like
Sebestian/ NDORSE/ Lightspeed The Avenue - Ben Renna Club Bayview - DJ Rueben Empire Bar - DJ Victor/ DJ Riki Eve Nighclub – DJ Slick Groove Bar (Crown) - DJ Crazy Craig Mustang Bar - DJ Rockin’ Rhys Newport - DJ Tom Drummond Rosemount Hotel - soundz like sundayz The Saint - DJ Jon EE/ Az-T Swallow Bar - Sugar Boy Ash
MONDAY 22/07 Mustang Bar - Triple Shots The Rosemount Hotel - Bada Bingo!
TUESDAY 23/07 Mustang Bar - Danza Loca Salsa Night
Willow Beats
they did edition one. That first House Party compilation – a double CD - features some 35 tracks and covers multiple genres from dancehall, hip hop, dub and electro. Likewise, she admits sending out a massive wish list – much of which got cleared, which meant in turn that her dreams were answered; and justifiably so, because her musical diversity is her competitive advantage. “You can hear anything from Skrillex to Frank Ocean in one of my sets - and probably plenty in between,” she proclaims with pride.“There’s really this gap in the market place I think for music that doesn’t fit a mould.” And while it might be an acquired taste, her approach has won her the adoration of many a fan around the country and no doubt the world.” Yet despite all of this, the future for her shows plenty of promise. “I want to go into promoting and things,” she chimes. “But at the same time I don’t want to think too...” Indeed, playing club music – or even music that is more challenging or forward thinking–is her very raison d’être. “I want to play music that everyone can enjoy but I also want people to get on board when it’s a little different.”
» NINA LAS VEGAS » HOUSE PARTY TOUR » SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 8 @ CAPITOL X-Press – First on the street, Wednesdays
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FRIDAYS
THE CAUSEWAY
SWITCH
THE NEWPORT
SHAPE
IN THE THIS WEEK Tigerlilly Wednesday, July 17 @ Club Red Sea Cassian Friday, July 19 @ The Causeway Dubsidia Friday, July 19 @ Shape
Onra Saturday, July 20 @ The Bakery Electrified ft.Sockye Saturday, July 20 @ Gilkisons Dance Studio Death Disco 6th Birthday ft. Phesta/ Linda Marigliano Saturday, July 20 @ Amplifier/ Capitol
RÜFÜS
DEATH DISCO 6TH BIRTHDAY
FT. PHESTA/ LINDA MARIGLIANO/ EGO/ RÜFÜS SATURDAY, JULY 20 @ AMPLIFIER/CAPITOL
www.xpressmag.com.au
COMING UP EMi Wednesday, July 24 @ The Causeway Thursday, July 25 @ Mojo’s Bar
Bro Safari & Crizzly Saturday. August 10 @ Villa The Disco Fires Friday, August 16 @ 133 Aberdeen
Shapeshifter Jehst(UK) & M-Phazes Saturday, August 17@ Thursday, July 25 @ Civic Metro City Hotel Backroom The Substance Friday, August 23 @ Villa Dizzy Wright, Jarren Benton with DJ Hoppa HILINE ft. Big Thursday, July 25 @ Rosemount Hotel Chocolate Saturday, August 24 @ Jagwar Ma Villa Thursday, July 25 @ The Bakery Midnight Juggernauts Saturday, September 7 @ Grey Ghost Capitol Thursday, July 25 @ Prince Of Wales, Bunbury Ghost Poet Friday, July 26 @ C5 Thursday, September 12 Metro Freo @ The Bakery Saturday, July 27 @ Amplifier Laurel Halo & Objekt Brookes Brothers with Saturday, September 27 Trei + Tali @ Bakery Saturday, July 27 @ Villa Illy: On & On Tour ALT-J Saturday, September 28 Saturday, July 27 @ @ Villa Challenge Stadium Listen Out Aviary Rooftop Sessions Sunday, September 29 @ ft. Thelma Plum/Amanda Ozone Reserve Merdzan/Sarah Pelicano/ DJ Charlie Bucket Horrorshow Sunday, July 28 @ Aviary Thursday, October 3 Prince Of Wales Bunbury 2013 Australian DMC Friday, October 4 DJ Championships WA Amplifier Heats Saturday, October 5 Friday, August 2 @ Mojos Bar Rosemount Hotel Porter Robinson MINISTRY OF SOUND Saturday, October 26 @ SESSIONS 10 ft Timmy Villa Trumpet & SCNDL Friday, August 2 @ Villa Chet Faker Thursday, October 31 @ Passion Pit ARTBAR Sunday, August 4 @ Villa Stereosonic Dialectrix Saturday, November 30 Saturday, August 10 @ and Sunday, December 1 @ YaYa’s Claremont Showgrounds
FAR EAST MOVEMENT MOVE MENTALITY
Far East Movement (Photo By Adam Mazur) Metro City Saturday, July 13, 2013 As Kev Nish announced to a packed Metro City nightclub on Saturday, it’s been two ‘motherfucking’ years since the LA electro-rap crew Far East Movement came to Perth. It was palpable from the minute they took to the stage they intended to deliver an explosive performance for fans on their Movementality tour. Kev said that FEM have learned Australian crowds love to party when he spoke to X Press a few weeks ago, and for anyone standing in the sweaty, jumping, body on body dance floor they’d testify that the crowd absolutely held up their end of the bargain. Resident DJs Slick, Matty S and Angry Buda did the job of cranking up the vibe but they reserved the ground shaking-level bass for the special guests. Far East Movement (J-Spliff, Kev, Prohgress and DJ Virman) then took over in their scientist suits (with a Daffy Duck head making an appearance at one stage) and took it up another level. Kicking off with some of their lighter tracks first they quickly descended into their classic and literal Dirty Bass. Just as they’d promised, it was a mash-up hour-and-a-half set, timing well their biggest numbers Like a G6, Live My Life, Turn Up the Love and then slowing the pace as Ginette Claudette joined them on stage for Rocketeer. True to their roots though, the boys paid tribute to longstanding influences Linkin Park with a fast remix of Numb/Encore – the thorough appreciation of which was evidenced by the amount of people angry-shouting the lyrics at each other. It was a beautiful thing, despite some definite saliva being shot around the dancefloor. A healthy dose
of Beastie Boys’ So What’cha Want was dropped and toward the end of the set Missy Elliot got some airtime and Soulja Boy induced some awkward execution attempts at ‘the dance’ in such a tight space. In terms of performance, all the quintessential FEM features were there – Prohgress got his crowd surf on, KevNish headed into the crowd at one point and many a fan would have left sticky and covered in champagne due to some mandatory popping of bottles. Not once did the three emcees and DJ lose their energy, and there was a sense of unpretentiousness on the part of both FEM and the crowd. You could get the sense that these guys are a crew that doesn’t think once they’ve made it they’ve got a fan base and they can afford to stop working to keep them. Quite the contrary. They very clearly wanted to deliver as much as they could and it was surprising none of them passed out after jumping around that intensely for 180 minutes. But equally on the part of the crowd, there was a huge sense that most people were there to see FEM and not for any sort of image. Even though Kev a few months ago had implored people to get their lovemaking on during the set, people were way too preoccupied and focused on them. There was even a little, old and greying guy just on the edge of the main crowd – definitely in his late 40s at least – the presence of whom was both confounding and impressive, but if, definitely demonstrated dedication. By end of the night most people were sweat covered, voiceless and thoroughly satisfied. Far East definitely solidified their following in the far west.
» HAYLEY DAVIS
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FEAR FACTORY Twelve Foot Ninja Metro City, Perth Thursday, July 11, 2013 Demanufacture, the seminal album by Fear Factory, was a defining moment in the history of industrial metal. Released in 1995, the sophomore offering from the Los Angeles-based outfit not only bridged the gap between the two genres – but it also paved the way for a whole slew of bands wanting to bring this same mix to life through their own abilities. Fear Factory were literally in a league of their own. Now, 18 years later, they decided they wanted to revive the energy they felt during this period and bring it to the stage in its entirety live – for the very first time. Not entirely an unusual selection for the night, Melbourne prog-rockers Twelve Foot Ninja kicked off the proceedings. Following the headliners around the country, it was the first time many West Australians had seen the band in the flesh – but the band had been making waves since their 2008 EP, New Dawn. Their excitement for being chosen to tour with what is no doubt one of their influences was evident, with the five-piece literally bounding all over the stage. Making an impact on what was obviously a dedicated Fear Factory crowd was always going to be difficult. But vocalist Kin literally tried everything in the book, and then some. And you’ve got to commend them for that. All Fear Factory needed to do to whip their fans into a frenzy was to open with the doublekick of the title track to Demanufacture and that was it. There was no looking back. From then on, both the band and audience were completely in-sync. With only two of the founding members now in the band - guitarist Dino Cazares and vocalist Burton C. Bell - bassist Matt DeVries and drummer Mike Heller joined last year, touring their newest effort, The Industrialist, hard in that time. But, for many, the influence of previous longstanding members Christian Olde Wolbers and Raymond Herrera was noticeable on the night, with the precision falling
YOU AM I Astor Theatre Saturday, July 13, 2013
Burton C. Bell, Fear Factory Photo: Denis Radacic down slightly in parts – particularly on the drumming side. Though this wasn’t an issue for many, as the opportunity to hear the album track-by-track was too good to miss. For the most part, the band itself was tight – particularly for the highly anticipated songs like Replica and Self Bias Resistor. Though there were a few eyebrow-raising moments in the vocal department, with Bell’s inability to clean sing live becoming more of a problem as the years go on. But his guttural growls were still in fine form, with tracks such as New Breed easily a favourite. Largely a nostalgia trip for fans, old and new, ending off on a five-song encore was always going to be a winner. Going over a few of their other releases, including What Will Become from 2001’s Digimortal and the title track from 2004’s Archetype – Fear Factory kept the energy riding high by closing with Martyr off their debut album, Soul Of A New Machine. _ JESSICA WILLOUGHBY
It was that kind of night. The kind of night where if you weren’t seeing your own life flashing before your eyes, you were watching your friends’ lives flash past theirs, or some familiar stranger’s lifetime-ago waving at them from the rafters. It was all verses and vignettes, the songs 1995-96 songs of Tim Rogers delivered with verve and gusto by You Am I and received with gratitude by a sold-out audience who very clearly had grown up (whatever that means these days) on the band’s classic Hi Fi Way and Hourly, Daily albums. With a three-hour show to deliver in two extended sets, support acts aren’t go this tour so Saturday Night ‘Round 10 was an unusually early 8.15pm this evening for You Am I. Chronology made way for energy, as the more introspective Hourly Daily album was served as the opening gambit, with a cellist readying her bow as Rogers quietly swaggered to the microphone with 3/4 acoustic guitar to kick off with the moving, yet rarely ever heard title tune. The crowd fell in, hook line and singer from that get-go, as Messrs. Hopkinson, Kent and Lane strode onto the stage, raising sweat during the stirring likes of Good Mornin’, Mr Milk, Flag Fall $1.80 and Wally Raffles and deftly caressing the poignant moods of If We Can’t Get It Together, Heavy Comfort and Please Don’t Ask Me To Smile. ‘So this is what happens when you play the songs people want to hear’ commented the cheeky, chatty Rogers. ‘Well, never again!’ he added, with a Disney villain laugh. Clearly, though, he’s enjoying the run of full-houses across the nation, though he clearly
You Am I Photo: Michael Wylie feels his WA roots. ‘You always got us Perth. I could always tell by the way you dance’. A short intermission saw multiple beers brought forth - though strangely none of the new Brew Am I blend - back into the theatre for round two. Hi Fi Way was, among many things, about intelligent, pedal-down energy though its opener, Ain’t Gone And Open, was rendered intently esoteric as ever, especially with the recreation of the false start as featured on the original record. Much of the album was delivered as the skinny-lined ‘95 trio, with Lane adding keyboard touches and guitar flourishes as necessary. And while the sing-along factor was impressive during the Hourly, Daily set, the Mt Lawley choral massive sung themselves hoarse through Minor Byrd, Cathy’s Clown, Purple Sneakers and How Much Is Enough? So what does Australia’s hardest working band do when they’ve just played two albums backto-back? They play some more. From #4 Record came Opportunities (for passionate nerds, apparently) before bounding right back to ‘94 with Berlin Chair, Sound As Ever, Adam’s Ribs and their take on Mose Allison’s Young Man’s Blues. Nostalgia is a funny ole thing, innit? This band should be playing full-house theatre shows every time they step out, but it took a ‘favourite albums’ gesture to bring the fallen-away back (and keep pleasing the faithful). On this occasion, however, nostalgia was transcended with passion - and that’s what R.O.C.K. is all about. God bless the fuckin’ lot of us. And sheesh... can’t Rusty play those drums? _ BOB GORDON
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MOJO’S
Saturday, July 20, Siberia Records, The Thousands and Spotify present Kirin J Callinan’s Embracism tour at Mojo’s Bar. Returning from a series of shows in Europe and North America playing, Callinan will play a selection of album launch performances complimented by a full band. Be sure to get in early. These will be special. Supports on the night are Mudlark, Usurper of Modern Medicine and Silver Hills. Entry is $15 plus booking fee on oztix.com.au or $20 on the night. Doors at 8pm. To win a double pass to Kirin J Callinan at Mojo’s this Saturday night, email mojos@coolperthnights.com with your name, contact number and ‘Kirin J Callinan’ in the subject line.
XPORT THURSDAYS
SWAN HOTEL
Friday, July 19, in the basement get a pocketful of Free Candy when Lionizer, Priority One, Danger Brain, The Louds and Ratking bring some punk rock noise. Doors at 8pm, entry is $7. Or else hit the lounge to hear In The Dead Hours, Tuxedo Pig and special guests from 8pm, entry is $5.
ROSEMOUNT HOTEL
The Causeway Bar Thursday, July 11, 2013 The Causeway Bar was packed out for the official launch of Xport Thursdays. The crowd was awash with red cans as headline act Sun City took the stage to a warm and welcoming response. Xport Thursdays continues at The Causeway this Thursday with free entry from 6:30pm.
This Friday, July 19, catch The Love Junkies hitting the stage, fresh from a national tour and sold-our shows at Mojos Bar and The Bird in recent weeks. Photos by Dan Cross Support comes from Melbourne rockers APES, along with locals Dead Owls, Puck and Flowermouth. Doors open 8pm and tickets are only $10 from rosemounthotel.com.au or $12 at the door!
Lauren, Molly
THE BIRD
On Thursday, July 18, Beat Lounge sees the city’s finest beatmakers each have 10 minute sets, showcasing a range of musical produce! $5 entry from 8pm. Friday, it’s free entry for Andre, Da Wit, HW Sims and Mikey P, while Saturday sees Melbourne band Dick Diver with support from Electric Toad and Dianas. $15 entry from 8pm.
Kirin J Callinan
INDI BAR
For some good time Alt-Country crooning this Sunday, The Indi Bar features a line up of just that. This Friday, July 19, The Floors are bound to get you The Polly Medlen Band will be joined with special dancing with support from Legs Electric, Room At guests Tom Fisher and the Layabouts and Ruby The Reservoir and The Tawny Rajah. Doors open Boots (solo). 8pm. Stick around afterwards for entertainment from the all-girl resident rockers The Black Fridays. Then on Saturday it’s punk tribute action with all your favourites from Pink 18Stink, along with New Found Sugar Boy Ash, the man behind TW!ST, man about town, will be playing this Sunday, July 21 from 5pm, Gloryhole. Kicks off 10pm. with an exclusive emphasis on dance music from the 1950s-1960s. It all happens at 5pm.
BEAT
Emma, Koa, Holly Aleisha, Jason
SWALLOW BAR
MUSTANG BAR
This Thursday, July 18, we welcome Datura with DJ Phat Pat, combining a shared passion for fulltilt boogie, heavy psychedelia and classic rock ’n’ roll, Datura pull no punches when it comes to delivering a rock ’n’ roll sound heavy on riffage and decibel cracking volume.
RAILWAY HOTEL
This Friday catch the local rock foursome of Adverse Reaction, Black Jack, Hyte and Supersalt hitting the stage. Doors open 8pm and entry is only $5. 30
Sugar Boy Ash
Seb, Joel, Tom, Jordan
Sarah, Jacs, Stacey, Jess X-Press – First on the street, Wednesdays
Edited by T R AV I S J O H N S O N
RAINY DAY WOMEN Entries for the 2013 WAM Song Of The Year close on July 22, so local tunesmiths only have a few days left to polish their entries for the inspection of the judges. We thought it might be a nice idea to talk to someone from Rainy Day Women, whose song, Sleigh Bed, won last year’s award. Singer/guitarist Dylan Ollivierre obliged us.
Who decided to enter it into the Song Of The Year competition? The year before we’d entered one of our songs, which was nominated but didn’t win. We were all pretty keen to go in, but I think it was our manager who organised it to be honest with you, but we were all going to enter it either way, because we’d got a bit of a taste for it the year before and wanted to have another crack.
Tell us about the writing and recording of the song itself. Well, we’d already recorded our first EP with Andy Lawson and we were going in to put the finishing touches on it. I’d written it a couple of days before and kind of had a good feeling about it, so we kind of rushed it in and recorded it and it ended up being our favourite song - it ended up being the single from the album. I guess it was a last minute inclusion, a last minute bit of inspiration.
What effect do you think the win had on your career? I guess it made people take us, hopefully, a bit more seriously. For me, it gave me a bit more confidence in my songwriting and a bit more validation. It probably made a few more people stop and take a listen, hopefully. I think WAM definitely helped us out along the way a lot and I can’t imagine doing some of the things we’ve done without them.
BIG TIME
Were you surprised when you won? Yeah, we were totally surprised. It was pretty funny - I rocked up in these thongs and an unironed shirt and Tom had his jumper around his waist. We looked like complete hobos, pretty much, and we honestly didn’t think we were in with a shot. Then we won and the next thought was ‘Crap! Can we go up and accept it looking like this?’
FOREVER AUTUMN
The Big Splash thunders on! The Dianas impressed all and sundry at After a too-long absence from the stage, The Autumn Isles headline at The Rosemount last week, and will be moving on to the August 1 semi- PICA Bar this Saturday, July 20, along with Our Man in Berlin and The final at The Bakery, and now Heat #6 - the second heat of round two, Big Old Bears. Doors open at 8pm, entry is free. for those keeping count - is taking place this Thursday, July 18, at YaYa’s. Get on down to see The Bonekickers, Man The Clouds, The Shakeys and Three Hands One Hoof give all their blood, sweat and tears for the approval of the crowd, the satisfaction of the judges and the chance to take home the $10,000 grand prize!
HEARD AND BURIED
Tonight, Wednesday, July 17, Bury The Heard hit The Rosemount Hotel stage for their first headlining gig. Also in the mix are Kane and Gabriel, We Move Walls and Needles Douglas. Doors open at 8pm, entry is $8.
GET READY TO RUMBLE
The Autumn Isles
This Sunday, July 21, is a good time to head for Mt Hawthorn’s Paddington Ale house if you’re in the mood to catch an earful of The Rumble. Blatjang and Scott Ruthenburg are on support duties, with the first band kicking off at 6;30pm. Entry is free.
YOUR SHOUT
Mantl launch their new single, Shout Out, at YaYa’s this Friday, July 19. Gombo and Heavylove will be along for the ride to ensure the good tunes never stop coming, so it’s sure to be a killer evening. Doors open at 8pm, entry is $8.
SAVE THE DATE
Unleashing their second album, Sedated, upon an unsuspecting world, The Date will be going hard this Friday, July 19, at The Fly By Night Club, with support from The Red Embers and Graphic Fiction Heroes. Doors ope at 7:30 pm. Tickets are $13.50 plus booking fee from flybynight..org and include a CD, or else $20 on the door, subject to availability.
The Date www.xpressmag.com.au
19/07/2013 The Date Sedated Album Launch @ Fly By Night 19/07/2013 Eduardo Cossio Goodbye To The Land EP Launch @ X-Wray Cafe 19/07/2013 Mantl Shout Out Single Launch @ Ya-Ya’s 26/07/2013 The Decline/Scalphunter/The Bob Gordons/ Silver Lizard The WA Punk 4 Way 7” Vinyl Launch @ The Rosemount 26/07/2013 Stoney Joe Hot Jerky Album Launch @ PICA Bar 27/07/2013 Diger Rokwell Innersense EP Launch @ The Bird 27/07/2013 Mezzanine Mannequin Man Single Launch @ Beat Nightclub 01/08/2013 One of None To Hell With Honour EP Launch @ The Rosemount 03/08/2013 Fear Of Comedy Delapsus Resurgam Album Launch @ Mojo’s 09/08/2013 The High Learys Here Come The High Learys LP Launch @ Devilles Pad 09/08/2013 Ragdoll All I Want Is Everything EP Launch @ The Rosemount 16/08/2013 Tracey Barnett Blooming EP Launch @ The Bakery 16/08/2013 Dan Cribb The Memories Last EP Launch @ The Rosemount 24/08/2013 Leure Holland Sky LP Launch @ The Bird 24/08/2013 Tempest Rising Dominion That Falls Single Launch @ The Civic 06/09/2013 Timothy Nelson & The Infidels Born In The ‘90s Single Launch @ The Amplifier 19/10/2013 Sirgin One Love EP Launch @ The Civic
Bands Enrol now www.aaca.net.au 31
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X-Press – First on the street, Wednesdays
A Day To Remember, July 18
Amanda Palmer, September 8
COLD WAR KIDS 2 Capitol VILLAGERS 2 Fly By Night DEEZ NUTZ 2 Prince Of Wales, Bunbury 3 YMCA HQ 3 Rosemount Hotel 4 Newport Hotel FIDLAR 3 The Bakery BARDO POND 4 Rosemount Hotel PASSION PIT 4 Villa BJORN AGAIN 5 & 6 Regal Theatre ALESANA 7 Amplifier BARN OWL 9 The Bakery SENSES FAIL 9 Amplifier KARNIVOOL 11 Metro City GLASS TOWERS 9 Newport 10 Amplifier SARAH BLASKO 12 Margaret River Cultural Centre CARTEL 14 Amplifier 30 SECONDS TO MARS 16 Challenge Stadium ANNIHILATE MUSIC 10TH BIRTHDAY: MINDSNARE/50 LIONS/ BATTLETRUK/ OUTSIDERS CODE JULY 16 Prince Of Wales, JERICCO Bunbury 25 Newport 17 Amplifier 26 The Civic Hotel 18 YMCA HQ 27 Prince Of Wales DARRYL ESKIMO JOE BRAITHWAITE 26 Divers Tavern, 18 Newport Hotel Broome DON MCLEAN 27 Walkabout Hotel, 19 Perth Concert Hall Port Hedland PAUL KELLY 28 The Newman 22 Regal Theatre Club, Newman ANDREW JAMES BLAKE STRONG: THE 25 & 26 The Astor COMMITMENTS Theatre Metro Freo BRUCE MATHISKE 22 THE SMITH STREET 26 July Fly By Night BAND ALT-J 22 Rosemount Hotel 27 Challenge 23 Prince Of Wales, Stadium Bunbury BLEEDING VANCE JOY THROUGH 23 Fly By Night GRINSPOON 28 Amplifier 23 Astor Theatre BABYSHAMBLES GEORGE BENSON 31 Metro City 24 Riverside Theatre NORTHWEST AUGUST FESTIVAL 24 Port Hedland Turf ESKIMO JOE Club 1 Prince Of Wales, BERNARD Bunbury FANNING 2 Settler’s Tavern, 25 Astor Theatre Margaret River JAPANDROIDS 3 Studio 146, Albany 26 Rosemount Hotel 4 Players Bar, THE WHITLAMS/ Mandurah WASO BRITISH INDIA 30 Perth Concert Hall 2 Amplifier
THIS WEEK
JONNY CRAIG 17 Amplifier SLEEPMAKESWAVES 18 Mojos Bar A DAY TO REMEMBER/THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA/ DREAM ON DREAMER 18 Metro City KIRIN J CALLINAN 19 The Bakery 20 Mojos MENTAL AS ANYTHING 19 Charles Hotel 20 Boulevard Tavern IAN MOSS 20 Charles Hotel 27 Boulevard Tavern 28 Newport Hotel FOURTEEN NIGHTS AT SEA 20 Rosemount Hotel ONRA 20 The Bakery SAM BUCKINGHAM 21 The Bird SAINT VITUS/ MONARCH 21 Rosemount Hotel (CANCELLED) UNKNOWN MORTAL ORCHESTRA 23 Rosemount Hotel STEREOPHONICS/ ATLAS GENIUS 23 Metro City
www.xpressmag.com.au
CLAIRE BOWDITCH 30 Fly By Night CLOUD CONTROL 31 Capitol
The Drones, September 21
FOALS 22 Metro City RIHANNA 24 Perth Arena LAMB OF GOD & MESHUGGAH SEPTEMBER 26 Metro City CALEXICO MANHATTAN 27 Astor Theatre TRANSFER THE CULT 1 Regal Theatre 28 Metro City HIT THE LIGHTS/ HEROES FOR HIRE/ ONE DIRECTION 28 & 29 Perth Arena STATE CHAMPS XAVIER RUDD/ 5 Amplifier DONAVON FAT FREDDY’S FRANKENREITER/ DROP NAHKO & 5 Astor Theatre MEDICINE FOR THE JOSH PYKE PEOPLE 5 Prince Of Wales, 28 3 Oceans Winery, Bunbury Margaret River 6 Fly By Night, 29 Fremantle Arts Fremantle 7 The Astor Theatre Centre LISTEN OUT SNAKADAKTAL FESTIVAL 5 Newport Hotel 29 Ozone Reserve 6 Capitol 7 Settler’s Tavern, Margaret River OCTOBER THE CAT EMPIRE 7 Red Hill SWERVEDRIVER Auditorium 3 Rosemount Hotel MIDNIGHT JINGA SAFARI JUGGERNAUTS 4 Prince Of Wales, 6 Prince Of Wales, Bunbury Bunbury 5 Astor Theatre 7 Capitol SOILWORK REZUME 6 Rosemount Hotel 7 Civic Hotel AMANDA PALMER HARRISON CRAIG & THE GRAND 11 Regal Theatre THEFT ORCHESTRA BRING ME THE 8 Astor Theatre HORIZON CONVERSATIONS 12 Challenge WITH GHOSTS Stadium 8 Perth Concert Hall WELCOME TO THE JAMES REYNE VALLEY 8 Newport Hotel 12 Belvoir ANBERLIN Amphitheatre 11 Metro Freo RICKY MARTIN FOR THE FALLEN 12 Perth Arena DREAMS THE DAVID LIEBE 11 YMCA HQ HART BAND 12 Amplifier 13 Amplifier THE GETAWAY DEVIN TOWNSEND PLAN 12 Prince of Wales, PROJECT 15 Metro Freo Bunbury AMORPHIS 13 Players Bar, 16 Capitol Mandurah 14 Rosemount Hotel REGURGITATOR 15 YMCA HQ 16 Indi Bar Leederville 17 The Prince Of RUDIMENTAL Wales, Bunbury 13 Metro City (sold 18 Metro Freo out) 19 Rosemount Hotel 14 Metro City SPIT SYNDICATE PARKWAY DRIVE 17 Newport Hotel 14 Metro Freo 18 Amplifier 15 & 16 Capitol DIESEL RED DIRT ft JIMMY 18 Fly BY Night BARNES 19 Charles Hotel 19 Kalgoorlie 20 Ravenswood Boulder Race Club Hotel DEAD LETTER MICKY AVALON CIRCUS 19 Prince Of Wales, 19 Amplifier EVERY TIME I DIE Bunbury 24 Capitol 20 Metro Freo SLEEP THE PAPER KITES 28 Rosemount Hotel 21 Fly By Night ANDRE RIEU THE DRONES 29 Perth Arena 21 The Bakery
TONY HADLEY 30 The Astor CHET FAKER 31 ARTBAR THE BREEDERS 31 The Astor ENSLAVED 31 Rosemount Hotel YELLOWCARD 31 Capitol
NOVEMBER BABY ANIMALS 2 Astor Theatre BEYONCE 8 Perth Arena SCOTT KELLY AND THE ROAD HOME 10 Rosemount Hotel BEAUFORT STREET FESTIVAL 16 Beaufort Street JILL SCOTT 17 Riverside Theatre AN EVENING ON THE GREEN 17 Kings Park BOY & BEAR 22 Metro Freo FLEETWOOD MAC 22 & 23 Perth Arena HITS & PITS 2.0 Black Flag, Boysetsfire, Bad Astronaut, Snuff, No Fun At All, Good For You, Off With Their Heads, Jugheads Revenge 24 Amplifier & Capitol THE ATARIS 29 Amplifier Bar STEREOSONIC 30 Claremont Showgrounds
DECEMBER CITY AND COLOUR 7 Belvoir Amphitheatre AIR SUPPLY 8 Perth Concert Hall JUSTIN BIEBER 8 Perth Arena TAYLOR SWIFT 11 Perth NIB Stadium BON JOVI 12 Perth Arena
FEBRUARY BIG DAY OUT 2 TBC BRUNO MARS 28 Perth Arena
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Timothy Nelson, Friday at Leederville Laundrobar
The Floors, Friday at The Beat Nightclub
WEDNESDAY 17.07 VILLAGE BAR
WHEELBARROW Karaoke ELLINGTON JAZZ AMPLIFIER CLUB Academy Daniel Susnjar Jonny Craig Night Cap Sessions Shontay Snow THE GATE Cupid Falls Greg Carter BAR 120 GROOVE BAR Felix THE BIRD THURSDAY 18.07 (CROWN) Decoy TW!ST Big Ear Chad INDI BAR BEAT NIGHTCLUB BRASS MONKEY Bex’s Open Mic Night (DOWNSTAIRS) Sugar Blue LEEDERVILLE Fantasy Thursdays Burlesque LAUNDROBAR BELGIAN BEER CARINE Pinky McBlue CAFÉ Open Mic Night Sam Buckingham Jean Proude Chris O’Brien Timothy Nelson THE BIRD CLAREMONT LUCKY SHAG Beat Lounge HOTEL James Wilson THE BOAT Acoustica MARKET CITY Jen De Ness GREENWOOD TAVERN BRASS MONKEY Bernardine Gary Elt Rhythm Bound ELLINGTON JAZZ Sixteen Stories Karaoke CLUB Luke Argall BRIGHTON Carl Mackey Hailee Open Mic Night Mat Jodrell Lucie Rob Walker Night Cap Sessions Emily J BROOKLANDS GROOVE BAR Tarryn Bradshaw TAVERN (CROWN) Celebrations Karaoke Clint Hodges 5 Shots METRO CITY THE CAUSEWAY INDI BAR The Devil Wears BAR Riley Pierce Prada Xport Thursdays Lost & Found Trio Dream On Dreamer Jeremy Smith Ricky Green MOJOS BAR Flat Stan LUCKY SHAG Sleepmakeswaves Shenai Meade Ben Merito Naik Jessica Morhall MOJOS BAR Antelope Fremantle Blues and Scottish Lover MUSTANG BAR Riley Pearce Roots Club Datura CIVIC HOTEL Andrew Winton DJ Phat Pat BACKROOM Galloping Foxleys The New Home of Hip NAVY CLUB Akova. Hidden Treasures Hop II MOON CAFÉ Nick Allbrook Wolverine Shaun McIllroy NEWPORT HOTEL Reality Grant Touchell Tiki Bar Open Mic Kogz & Irone Eloise Ashton night Ernah MUSTANG BAR OXFORD HOTEL DJ Tricky Almost Famous Perth and Folk Roots Scrawl DJ James Club J Spac MacArthur John Talati DEVILLES PAD ROSEMOUNT Rock & Roll Karaoke Cat Amongst the Bury The Heard Pigeons DUNSBOROUGH Needles Douglas SETTLERS TAVERN TAVERN We Move Walls Acoustic Open Mic Kris Buckle UNIVERSAL Night ELEPHANT AND Retrofit UNIVERSAL Off The Record YA YA’S The Big Splash Round 2 Heat 2 The Bonkickers The Shakeys Tired Lion Man the Clouds Village People - Open Mic YAYA’S Yeti Resort Golden String Sail On! Sail On! Cat Edmunds
Yeti Resort
YETI RESORT
GOLDEN STRING SAIL ON! SAIL ON! CAT EDMUNDS YAYA’S WEDNESDAY, JULY 17
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FRIDAY 19.07 ARTBAR Juliana Areias AMPLIFIER sleepmakeswaves Foxes BAILEY BAR Hi-NRG BALMORAL Pop Candy
Pink18Stink, Saturday at The Beat
BAKERY Kirin J Callinan Usurper of Modern Medicine BAR ORIENT The Reggae Club BEAT NIGHTCLUB (UPSTAIRS) The Floors Legs Electric Room At The Reservoir The Tawny Rajah BEAT NIGHTCLUB (DOWNSTAIRS) PLAY BELMONT TAVERN Dean Anderson BEST DROP TAVERN Cargo Beat THE BIRD Andre’s Peacing Andre HW Sims Da Wit Mikey P THE BOAT Ben Merito BRASS MONKEY Chris Gibbs THE BROKEN HILL Trevor Jalla C5 FREMANTLE Residence THE CARINE Velvet CHASE BAR & BISTRO James Wilson CITRO BAR Jonathon Dempsey CORNERSTONE Madam Montage DUNSBOROUGH TAVERN Sophie Jane Duo EAST 150 BAR Adam James ELLINGTON JAZZ CLUB Winter Arts Festival Matt Jodrell The Spread ft Astrid Ripepi EMPIRE BAR Howie Morgan THE FLY TRAP (FLY BY NIGHT) The Date Graphic Fiction Heroes The Red Embers GROOVE BAR (CROWN) Tod Johnson & Peace Love GREENWOOD Greg Carter HYDE PARK HOTEL Ricky Green INDI BAR Vdelli KALAMUNDA HOTEL Almost Famous M ON THE POINT Retriofit MAHOGANNY INN
Kate Gilbertson METRO FREO Frat House Fridays MOJOS BAR Red Engine Caves Mt Mountain Apache Smiles Duncan Stratchan MUSTANG OZ Big Band Swing DJ Cheeky Monekys DJ James MacArthur NEWPORT HOTEL Karaoke Classic Zowie Simpson DJs Mr Phat Tahli Jade PADDO Easy Tigers PADDY MCGUIRES Frenzy PEEL ALE HOUSE Better Days PORT KENNEDY TAVERN Dirty Scoundrels THE PRINCIPAL Little Ebony RAILWAY HOTEL Adverse Reaction Black Jack Hyte Supersalt ROCKET ROOM Big Guns ROCKINGHAM HOTEL Smokehouse Blues ROSEMOUNT The Love Junkies APES Dead Owls PUCK Flowermouth SAIL AND ANCHOR Howie Morgan Duo SAIL AND ANCHOR (UPSTAIRS) NightShift SOUTH ST ALEHOUSE Robbie King Karaoke SPRINGS TAVERN Die Hard Karaoke SWAN LOUNGE In The Dead Hours Tuxedo Pig SWAN BASEMENT Ratking The Louds Danger Brain Priority One Lionizer SWINGING PIG Tandem Greg Carter UNIVERSAL Nightmoves WHITE STAR Rodney Rude XRAY CAFÉ Eduardo Cossio YA YA’S Mantl Gombo Heavylove The Corner
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
We Run With Wolves, Saturday at YMCA HQ
SATURDAY 20.07 BALMORAL Retriofit THE BAKERY ONRA BEAT NIGHTCLUB (UPSTAIRS) CANVAS BEAT NIGHTCLUB (DOWNSTAIRS) Pink18Stink New Found Gloryhole The Black Fridays BELGIAN BEER CAFÉ Scott Nelson THE BIRD Dick Diver Electric Toad The Dianas. BOAB TAVERN James Wilson THE BROOK Chris Gibbs Duo CIVIC HOTEL BACKROOM The DeNiros 34a9er The Arthur Dent Project THE CLAREMONT HOTEL ANTICS Brow Horn Orchestra Three Hands One Hoof Tobias John CRAFTSMAN GrooVe THE EASTERN OASIS Reload ELLINGTON JAZZ CLUB Winter Arts Festival Matt Jodrell Katherine Curnow Homecoming THE FLY TRAP (FLY BY NIGHT) Reggae Down Under Oz Island Zarm Grasshoppers Metan THE GATE Greg Carter GOSNELLS HOTEL Astrobat GREENWOOD Cargo Beat HYDE PARK HOTEL Easy Tigers INDIAN OCEAN BREW CO Shawne & Luc INDI BAR Ben Merito JOONDALUP RESORT Gary Fowlie LAKERS TAVERN Celebrations Karaoke MERRIWA TAVERN Flesh n’ Wood
M ON THE POINT Rhythm 22 MOJOS BAR Kirin J Callinan Mudlark Usurper of Modern Medicine Silver Hills MUSTANG The Rusty Pinto Combo Rockabilly DJ Milhouse DJ James MacArthur MULLBERRY ON SWAN Abbalicious NEWPORT HOTEL Karaoke with Steve Parkin Gravity Kizzy DJs Tahli Jade & Tom Drummond PADDO Cheeky Monkeys PARAMOUNT NIGHTCLUB Felix PEEL ALE HOUSE Tequila Mockingbirds PICA BAR The Autumn Isles Our Man In Berlin Big Old Bears PORT KENNEDY TAVERN Kevin Curran QUARIE BAR Little Ebony ROCKET ROOM Kickstart ROSEMOUNT Fourteen Nights At Sea Eleventh He Reaches London Mt Mountain ROSIE O’GRADYS FREMANTLE Flava SAIL & ANCHOR Better Days THE SHED Huge SWAN LOUNGE Smooth Intentions Lizzie Lambie Grave Forsaken SWAN BASEMENT El Capitan Ruin Of A Runaway Hearts For Stones Gone By Morning SWINGING PIG Greg Crater Frenzy UNIVERSAL Soul Corporation WHALE & ALE Sweet Surerender YAYA’S PES Stereoflower The Coalminers Sect Pat Chow
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Friday Friday Travis Caudle Foam, Sunday at Travis Caudle FlyBy ByHotel Night The Newport Fly Night YMCA HQ Winter Break Boris The Blade (VIC) Common Bond Anchored Iconoclast Mindless Midnight In Alaska (QLD) Xenobiotic Absolution (NSW) We Run With Wolves Adrift El Capitan Ascension To Catch a Fox Exanimis Vultures
SUNDAY 21.07 THE ASTOR You Am I BAILEY BAR & BISTRO Gary Fowlie BALMORAL Astrobat BELGIAN BEER CAFÉ Feisty Burlesque Belleville Quartet BELMONT TAVERN Dove THE BIRD Sam Buckingham Eloise Ashton Steve Parkin BOAB TAVERN Chriss Gibbs Duo BRIGHTON Ali Hill BROKEN HILL HOTEL James Wilson BROOKLANDS TAVERN Gerry Azor THE CAUSEWAY Accoustic Sunday CHASE BAR Chasing Calee CIVIC HOTEL Anthony Nieves COMO HOTEL Sophie Jane & The Chilly Bin Boys ELLINGTON JAZZ CLUB Gospel Extravaganza 2 THE FLY TRAP (FLY BY NIGHT) Stage Fright Open Mic THE GATE Greg Carter GOSNELLS HOTEL Conny The Clown INDI BAR Polly Medlen Band Tom Fisher and the Layabouts Ruby Boots (solo) INDIAN OCEAN BREW CO Retriofit KALAMUNDA HOTEL Bernardine
Elli Schoen, Sunday at Mojo’s
LAKERS TAVERN Wesley Goodlet Jamboree Scouts LAST DROP TAVERN Jim Moore M ON THE POINT Chill Divine MOJOS BAR Ben Salter Clinton Oliver Elli Schoen Strummers MUSTANG BAR Pete Busher and the Lone Rangers DJ Rockin’ Rhys NEWPORT HOTEL Apes Foam TV Snow Tim Nelson DJ Tom Drummond NORANDA BOWL CLUB Mustangs THE PADDO The Rumble Blatjang Scott Ruthenburg QUARIE BAR & BISTRO Better Days QUEENS TAVERN Velvet THE SAINT Howie Morgan Project SWINGING PIG Matt Angell Pat Nicholson UNIVERSAL Retrofit WANNEROO TAVERN Adam James
MONDAY 22.07 BRASS MONKEY Wire Birds ELLINGTON JAZZ CLUB Song Lounge GROOVE BAR (CROWN) Howie Morgan Duo
MOJO’S BAR Wide Open Mic MUSTANG BAR Triple Shots YA YA’S Big Tommo’s Open Mic Night
TUESDAY 23.07 BRASS MONKEY Open Mic Night Chris O’Brien CHARLES HOTEL Smokehouse Blues THE CRAGIE TAVERN Open Mic Night GROOVE BAR (CROWN) Ruby’s Groove ELLINGTON JAZZ CLUB Chris Grieve Quintet HIGHWAY HOTEL Rodney Rude KALAMUNDA HOTEL Open Mic Anthony Kay LUCKY SHAG Ben Merito MERRIWA TAVERN Celebrations Karaoke MUSTANG BAR Danza Loca Salsa Night MOJOS BAR Mining Tax Alexander Peter Pander Timothy Nelson Andrew Ryan THE ROSEMOUNT Unknown Mortal Orchestra Sugarpuss Hamjam YA YA’S Fresh Jams Freqshow Hundred Acre Wood Triangle Fight I and the Village
Brow Horn Orchestra
BROW HORN ORCHESTRA
THREE HANDS ONE HOOF TOBIAS JOHN THE CLAREMONT HOTEL SATURDAY, JUNE 20
35
MUSIC GEAR & TECHNOLOGY
GEARBOX SPECIAL: ELECTRIC GUITAR SHOOTOUT With so many makes and models of guitar available to Perth players it can sometimes be hard to hone in on what makes a guitar unique. Let’s take a look at four popular electric guitars under $1000 and see what hits the bullseye.
BRAND: SCHECTER MODEL: DAMIEN ELITE 6 BODY: MAHOGANY W/QUILTED MAPLE NECK: MAPLE Damien Elite 6 FRETS: 24 JUMBO PICKUPS: EMG ACTIVE 81 /85 (HUMBUCKERS) ELECTRONICS: VOLUME / ONE / 3-WAY PICKUP SELECTOR OVERVIEW: A great sounding, tonally well-balanced guitar with a comfortable neck. No coaxing required to access good tones, it’s all there for the taking from the moment you plug in. RRP: $999 RATING: 4/5 STARS
BRAND: IBANEZ MODEL: RG370FMZ BODY: FLAMED MAPLE TOP / BASSWOOD BODY NECK: MAPLE FRETS: 24 JUMBO RG370FMZ PICKUPS: INFINITY PASSIVE (HUMBUCKER / SINGLE / HUMBUCKER) ELECTRONICS: VOLUME / TONE / 5-WAY PICKUP SELECTOR OVERVIEW: A return of the classic Ibanez models that dominated in the 80s with a few new features, most notably (finally) an external spring system adjuster for the Floyd Rose bridge. No more screwdrivers required! Tonally these guitars have plenty of gain for silky leads and pinch harmonics, players looking for more robust tones may look elsewhere. RRP: $899 RATING: 3/5 STARS
GUITARS OF THE STARS
We touched base with some of Perth’s finest six string samurai to see what their weapons of choice are.
Mitch McDonald, The Love Junkies
MITCH MCDONALD, THE LOVE JUNKIES
How old were you when you first started playing? I started playing guitar when I was six. What’s your main rig now? A Mexican Blacktop Fender Jazzmaster. My current pedals involve a Russian Big Muff, Boss Compression/ Sustainer, Digitech Whammy, MI audio Blueboy Deluxe and a Pigtronix Echolution. My amp is a ‘72 JMP 50w Marshall head and a DMF quad box. What’s your desert island rig? Fender Jazzmaster, Fender Blues Jnr and a Russian Big Muff.
Greg Sanders, Emperors
GREG SANDERS, EMPERORS
How old were you when you first started playing? I was a late bloomer, around 16. It replaced my cricket bat when I had a slump in form. What’s your main rig now? I play a Les Paul Studio through an Orange AC30 head & Orange 4x12 cab. What’s your desert island rig? Pretty hard to go past the classics. A Les Paul, a JCM800 and my MXR Carbon Copy delay pedal which never lets me down.
Ryan Dillon, Gombo
RYAN DILLON, GOMBO
How old were you when you first started playing? Seven years old. What’s your main rig now? Marshall JVM 50 Watt Head, Bogner 2x12 Cab Open Back (Greenback & Vintage 30). Gibson Les Paul Custom (Silverburst) & Gibson SG Standard (Silverburst). Boss DD7 Delay, Boss TU2 Tuner, MXR Micro Chorus, MXR Smart Gate, Ibanez Weeping Demon Wah What’s your desert island rig? Maton 808 Messiah Acoustic Guitar and if there’s power on the island I’ll bring a Boss RC30 loop station, Roland AC90 & Wilson 36
Kevin Curran, Hailmary
KEVIN CURRAN, HAILMARY How old were you when you first started playing? 13. What’s your main rig now? I use a Budda Superdrive 2 Head and Budda cab and a 1988 Black Gibson Les Paul Custom. What’s your desert island rig? Pretty much what I use now. I’m a very simple player so as long as I can play riffs and have a boss tuner I’m happy as a pig in shit. X-Press – First on the street, Wednesdays
Edited by TRAVIS JOHN S ON
Send your Volume News to musicservices@xpressmag.com.au
BRAND: ESP MODEL: LTD M330R BODY: MAHOGANY NECK: MAPLE FRETS: 24 JUMBO LTD M330R PICKUPS: ESP ALH-200 ACTIVE (HUMBUCKERS) ELECTRONICS: VOLUME / 3-WAY PICKUP SELECTOR OVERVIEW: Metal players will flock towards this guitar. It’s a little thin sounding in places and it’s pretty much all-or-nothing in terms of tonal scope, but it will provide satisfaction for players after good aggressive tones and sleek playability. RRP: $869 RATING: 3/5
BRAND: PRS MODEL: SE MIKAEL AKERFELDT SIGNATURE MODEL BODY: BEVELED MAPLE TOP / MAHOGANY BACK NECK: MAPLE Se Mikael Akerfeldt Signature Model FRETS: 24 JUMBO PICKUPS: PRS DESIGNED PASSIVE (HUMBUCKERS) ELECTRONICS: VOLUME / TONE / 3-WAY PICKUP SELECTOR OVERVIEW: The lush, earthy, well-rounded sounds on offer will suit a range of styles. Metal licks work equally as well as blues passages, and flat-picked or finger-picked licks sparkle and shine on a clean setting. Some metal players may find the tone a little bit ‘loose’ for more percussive riffing, but anyone looking for tonality and colour beyond the obvious will be suitably impressed. RRP: $1199 (Regularly available for around $999) RATING: 5/5 STARS _ CHRIS GIBBS Guitars reviewed at Mega Music Wangara and Kosmic Sound Osborne Park.
Andrew Ewing, The Devil Rides Out
ANDREW EWING, THE DEVIL RIDES OUT
Addison Axe, Axe Girl - Photo by Rachel Barrett
ADDISON AXE, AXE GIRL
How old were you when you first started playing? How old were you when you first started playing? 13. 16. What’s your main rig now? 2x Guitars: Mexican 2007 Fender Strat (Olympic What’s your main rig now? White) - wouldn’t trade her for anything! 1962 Gibson Explorer, Marshall JCM900, DMF quad box. Silvertone by Danelecteo –short scale (black sparkly) Jim Dunlop wah wah, Jim Dunlop Rotovibe, Ibanez ‘Freddie.’ Tube Screamer, MXR Micro Flanger, Earthquaker 2x Amps: Live - Fender Deluxe ‘White Lightning.’ Hoof Fuzz, Boss Digital Delay. Lava cables. Studio - Lab Systems ‘Cage’ head (on loan from the awesomely generous Chris Daymond). What’s your desert island rig? 3x Pedals: Ibanez tube screamer, Boss PS5 Pretty happy with my guitar. A JCM800 would be ‘Supershifter,’ Boss chromatic tuner. nice. Probably a wah wah. What’s your desert island rig? Definitely my Strat, Lab Systems and tubescreamer. That would be one RAD desert island
Stuart Mckay, Nevsky Prospekt
STUART MCKAY, NEVSKY PROSPEKT
How old were you when you first started playing? I began strumming at 15 and have only got slightly better since then. What’s your main rig now? I play a ‘79 Gibson The Paul (that’s right, The Paul, it’s a bit of a rare guitar that was only made between ‘78 and ‘82 and then discontinued) through a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe III. My pedalboard consists of a Boss Super Overdrive, Boss Dual Overdrive, Boss TU2 Tuner, Digitech Whammy Pedal and my favourite pedal of them all, my Electro Harmonix POG 2. I also play a Fender Telecaster and an Epiphone Sheraton. What’s your desert island rig? It would have to be my Martin DCME, played through the Fender Hot Rod Deluxe III with an AKAI Headrush II delay/loop pedal. www.xpressmag.com.au
Jon Russo, Chainsaw hookers
JON RUSSO, CHAINSAW HOOKERS
How old were you when you first started playing? 12 years old. What’s your main rig now? I’m leaning towards my Maton Master Sound 500 over the Gibson SG at the moment, through a BlackStar series 1 100 valve head out an Orange Quad Cab. . What’s your desert island rig? Boring, I know, but I’m pretty happy with my rig. Gibson SG, Blackstar valve head, Orange quad cab and an MXR Fullbore Metal pedal. 37
MUSIC GEAR & TECHNOLOGY
GEARBOX SPECIAL: ELECTRIC GUITAR SHOOTOUT With so many makes and models of guitar available to Perth players it can sometimes be hard to hone in on what makes a guitar unique. Let’s take a look at four popular electric guitars under $1000 and see what hits the bullseye.
BRAND: SCHECTER MODEL: DAMIEN ELITE 6 BODY: MAHOGANY W/QUILTED MAPLE NECK: MAPLE Damien Elite 6 FRETS: 24 JUMBO PICKUPS: EMG ACTIVE 81 /85 (HUMBUCKERS) ELECTRONICS: VOLUME / ONE / 3-WAY PICKUP SELECTOR OVERVIEW: A great sounding, tonally well-balanced guitar with a comfortable neck. No coaxing required to access good tones, it’s all there for the taking from the moment you plug in. RRP: $999 RATING: 4/5 STARS
BRAND: IBANEZ MODEL: RG370FMZ BODY: FLAMED MAPLE TOP / BASSWOOD BODY NECK: MAPLE FRETS: 24 JUMBO RG370FMZ PICKUPS: INFINITY PASSIVE (HUMBUCKER / SINGLE / HUMBUCKER) ELECTRONICS: VOLUME / TONE / 5-WAY PICKUP SELECTOR OVERVIEW: A return of the classic Ibanez models that dominated in the 80s with a few new features, most notably (finally) an external spring system adjuster for the Floyd Rose bridge. No more screwdrivers required! Tonally these guitars have plenty of gain for silky leads and pinch harmonics, players looking for more robust tones may look elsewhere. RRP: $899 RATING: 3/5 STARS
GUITARS OF THE STARS
We touched base with some of Perth’s finest six string samurai to see what their weapons of choice are.
Mitch McDonald, The Love Junkies
MITCH MCDONALD, THE LOVE JUNKIES
How old were you when you first started playing? I started playing guitar when I was six. What’s your main rig now? A Mexican Blacktop Fender Jazzmaster. My current pedals involve a Russian Big Muff, Boss Compression/ Sustainer, Digitech Whammy, MI audio Blueboy Deluxe and a Pigtronix Echolution. My amp is a ‘72 JMP 50w Marshall head and a DMF quad box. What’s your desert island rig? Fender Jazzmaster, Fender Blues Jnr and a Russian Big Muff.
Greg Sanders, Emperors
GREG SANDERS, EMPERORS
How old were you when you first started playing? I was a late bloomer, around 16. It replaced my cricket bat when I had a slump in form. What’s your main rig now? I play a Les Paul Studio through an Orange AC30 head & Orange 4x12 cab. What’s your desert island rig? Pretty hard to go past the classics. A Les Paul, a JCM800 and my MXR Carbon Copy delay pedal which never lets me down.
Ryan Dillon, Gombo
RYAN DILLON, GOMBO
How old were you when you first started playing? Seven years old. What’s your main rig now? Marshall JVM 50 Watt Head, Bogner 2x12 Cab Open Back (Greenback & Vintage 30). Gibson Les Paul Custom (Silverburst) & Gibson SG Standard (Silverburst). Boss DD7 Delay, Boss TU2 Tuner, MXR Micro Chorus, MXR Smart Gate, Ibanez Weeping Demon Wah What’s your desert island rig? Maton 808 Messiah Acoustic Guitar and if there’s power on the island I’ll bring a Boss RC30 loop station, Roland AC90 & Wilson 36
Kevin Curran, Hailmary
KEVIN CURRAN, HAILMARY How old were you when you first started playing? 13. What’s your main rig now? I use a Budda Superdrive 2 Head and Budda cab and a 1988 Black Gibson Les Paul Custom. What’s your desert island rig? Pretty much what I use now. I’m a very simple player so as long as I can play riffs and have a boss tuner I’m happy as a pig in shit. X-Press – First on the street, Wednesdays
Edited by TRAVIS JOHN S ON
Send your Volume News to musicservices@xpressmag.com.au
BRAND: ESP MODEL: LTD M330R BODY: MAHOGANY NECK: MAPLE FRETS: 24 JUMBO LTD M330R PICKUPS: ESP ALH-200 ACTIVE (HUMBUCKERS) ELECTRONICS: VOLUME / 3-WAY PICKUP SELECTOR OVERVIEW: Metal players will flock towards this guitar. It’s a little thin sounding in places and it’s pretty much all-or-nothing in terms of tonal scope, but it will provide satisfaction for players after good aggressive tones and sleek playability. RRP: $869 RATING: 3/5
BRAND: PRS MODEL: SE MIKAEL AKERFELDT SIGNATURE MODEL BODY: BEVELED MAPLE TOP / MAHOGANY BACK NECK: MAPLE Se Mikael Akerfeldt Signature Model FRETS: 24 JUMBO PICKUPS: PRS DESIGNED PASSIVE (HUMBUCKERS) ELECTRONICS: VOLUME / TONE / 3-WAY PICKUP SELECTOR OVERVIEW: The lush, earthy, well-rounded sounds on offer will suit a range of styles. Metal licks work equally as well as blues passages, and flat-picked or finger-picked licks sparkle and shine on a clean setting. Some metal players may find the tone a little bit ‘loose’ for more percussive riffing, but anyone looking for tonality and colour beyond the obvious will be suitably impressed. RRP: $1199 (Regularly available for around $999) RATING: 5/5 STARS _ CHRIS GIBBS Guitars reviewed at Mega Music Wangara and Kosmic Sound Osborne Park.
Andrew Ewing, The Devil Rides Out
ANDREW EWING, THE DEVIL RIDES OUT
Addison Axe, Axe Girl - Photo by Rachel Barrett
ADDISON AXE, AXE GIRL
How old were you when you first started playing? How old were you when you first started playing? 13. 16. What’s your main rig now? 2x Guitars: Mexican 2007 Fender Strat (Olympic What’s your main rig now? White) - wouldn’t trade her for anything! 1962 Gibson Explorer, Marshall JCM900, DMF quad box. Silvertone by Danelecteo –short scale (black sparkly) Jim Dunlop wah wah, Jim Dunlop Rotovibe, Ibanez ‘Freddie.’ Tube Screamer, MXR Micro Flanger, Earthquaker 2x Amps: Live - Fender Deluxe ‘White Lightning.’ Hoof Fuzz, Boss Digital Delay. Lava cables. Studio - Lab Systems ‘Cage’ head (on loan from the awesomely generous Chris Daymond). What’s your desert island rig? 3x Pedals: Ibanez tube screamer, Boss PS5 Pretty happy with my guitar. A JCM800 would be ‘Supershifter,’ Boss chromatic tuner. nice. Probably a wah wah. What’s your desert island rig? Definitely my Strat, Lab Systems and tubescreamer. That would be one RAD desert island
Stuart Mckay, Nevsky Prospekt
STUART MCKAY, NEVSKY PROSPEKT
How old were you when you first started playing? I began strumming at 15 and have only got slightly better since then. What’s your main rig now? I play a ‘79 Gibson The Paul (that’s right, The Paul, it’s a bit of a rare guitar that was only made between ‘78 and ‘82 and then discontinued) through a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe III. My pedalboard consists of a Boss Super Overdrive, Boss Dual Overdrive, Boss TU2 Tuner, Digitech Whammy Pedal and my favourite pedal of them all, my Electro Harmonix POG 2. I also play a Fender Telecaster and an Epiphone Sheraton. What’s your desert island rig? It would have to be my Martin DCME, played through the Fender Hot Rod Deluxe III with an AKAI Headrush II delay/loop pedal. www.xpressmag.com.au
Greg Sanders, Emperors
JON RUSSO, CHAINSAW HOOKERS
How old were you when you first started playing? 12 years old. What’s your main rig now? I’m leaning towards my Maton Master Sound 500 over the Gibson SG at the moment, through a BlackStar series 1 100 valve head out an Orange Quad Cab. . What’s your desert island rig? Boring, I know, but I’m pretty happy with my rig. Gibson SG, Blackstar valve head, Orange quad cab and an MXR Fullbore Metal pedal. 37
MUSIC GEAR & TECHNOLOGY
Send your Volume News to musicservices@xpressmag.com.au
Edited by T R AV I S J O H N S O N
FOR SALE HEADPHONES all brands & styles. 23 Harrogate Street, West Leederville. Contact Headphonic 08 93886333 headphones.com.au MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS INSTRUMENT REPAIRS Guitars, violins, clarinet, Saxaphone, Servicing and repairs. Phone: 9403 3212 MUSOS WANTED ACCOUSTIC GUITARIST/VOCALIST WANTED to complete professional working rock accoustic duo. Must be professional, reliable, exp, 25-35 yrs. Quality gear. 1-2 gigs per week. Rock pub covers/weddings. Calll Scott for auditions 0438 911 898 BOYUP BROOK COUNTRY MUSIC BOOT CAMP Sep 27-29, 20 spots available. Contact countrymusicwa@westnet.com. au or 9765 1657 KEYBOARD PLAYER REQUIRED to complete exp. Rock/ pop cover band “INSIDEOUT”. Must be committed and have a positive attitude. 0439 408 909 KEYBOARD PLAYER WANTED for blues/garage rock band. Facebook.com/heedvex. Phone: 0414720916 NCBC CALL OUT FOR ENTRIES Enter now at aaca.net.au for a chance at our huge prize pool! 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 VOCALIST FRONT MAN REQUIRED to join female vocalist in top working corporate band. Exp with commercial hits from 70’s -80’s to 00’s essential. Call Russ 0408 915 571 PHOTOGRAPHY PROJECT PHOTOGRAPHY Promo photography, studio, live, location. Mike Wylie 0417 975 964 www.projectphotography. com When its time to ice the cake... * L I G H T I N G * AU D I O * S TAG I N G * www.nightstarlightingaudio.com.au www.nightstarlightingaudio.com.au 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 DISK BANK Perth’s premier CD & DVD manufacturer, with options for all budgets. (08) 9388 0800. www.diskbank.com. au/specials. 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 ANDY’S STUDIO International multi award winning songwriter / producer. No band required. Broadcast quality. A songwriter’s paradise. Ph 9364 3178 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 R E V O LV E R S O U N D S T U D I O P h 9 2 7 2 7 5 0 5 . www.revolverstudio.com.au S AT E L L I T E RECORDING STUDIO 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.
Steve Vai - Photo by Matt Jelonek
STEVE VAI Perth Concert Hall Wednesday, July 10, 2013 As the audience, which included many popular WA guitar luminaries, filed in to Perth Concert Hall last Wednesday one thing became clear immediately: this was to be a performance that focussed largely on the music. The stage set for Steve Vai consisted of nothing more than a backdrop featuring the artwork from the guitarist’s latest album, The Story Of Light, a few well placed lighting trees and a drum riser which placed the kit just above the amps and backline. Vai and his band took to the stage amidst appreciative applause and got down to business in what was to be a two and a half hour performance..
The mix kicked in and was pretty much sorted within a few bars. One thing that really works about Perth Concert Hall as a venue for sophisticated music is the fact that the front of house mix serves to compliment rather than overpower the stage sound, allowing for many intricacies and subtleties in the material to achieve prominence in the overall sound balance. When Vai introduced his band, which included thirteen-year Vai veteran Dave Weiner on guitar, Jeremy Colson on drums, Philip Bynoe on bass and rookie Michael Arrom on keys (who at just eighteen years old was on his first ever tour), the true sense of the scope of the guitarist’s work and the evolution of his various live and studio line-ups was highlighted. By Vai’s own admission early into the performance, the band was ‘blowing out the cobwebs’ after a reasonably long break in the tour schedule and there were certainly moments during
the show where new arrangement ideas revealed themselves. Jeremy Colson had the difficult task of latching onto many seemingly improvised intros and outros, watching both Vai and Weiner constantly for cues. Vai being the showman that he is, many of these visual cues came in the form of physical movements to signify rhythmic tags. But it was this occasional uncertainty that provided a most unique and rewarding musical experience: the opportunity to hear top musicians taking risks which largely paid off rather than just sticking to well-worn. Many song selections were from Vai’s breakthrough album, Passion And Warfare, including a slightly haphazard rendition of The Audience Is Listening and a cool duet approach to the main parts of Sisters during a brief acoustic interlude. This stripped back performance of a few songs also highlighted John McLaughlin’s influence on Vai, as well as the scat singing Vai took on which heavily referenced the Indian Tala rhythms McLaughlin favours. The acoustic interlude marked the only point at which the mix got a touch out of hand, with some low frequencies on Philip Bynoe’s short scale fretless six-string bass taking off here and there. Each of Vai’s band members with the exception of Bynoe was given a solo spot, the most entertaining of which was Weiner’s acoustic guitar playing. Colson played some interesting grooves against a percussive backing track during his solo and Arrom beautifully throughout a solo that seemed to lose direction when the rest of the band were a little late returning to the stage. Vai himself was inspiring. Regardless of some difficult costume changes, the occasional missed effects pedal cue or unco-operative feedback pitches, nothing rattles the veteran performer and he masterfully makes the unexpected part of the show. The band got an opportunity to truly improvise when Vai invited two young audience members on stage to help him write a song spontaneously, providing some great comedy moments as well as highlighting the band’s ability to work on the fly. The slightly overwhelmed fans then were allowed to remain on stage for the final songs, watching from the drum riser and were even included in the band’s final bow at the conclusion of the show, adding to the good vibes and sense of community which pervaded the evening. One punter was overheard saying upon exiting,“He is definitely one of the greats.” Agreed. _ CHRIS GIBBS
AXESS ALL AREAS
CAMP OUT FOR CAMPUS
Willie Adler of Lamb of God has thrown his lot in with online muso community allaxess.com to bring us the first in their Platinum Music Instruction Series. Essentially an online, interactive masterclass with a world-class musician, the Platinum Series features new audio and video content, interactive lessons, and the chance for fans to actually communicate with their musical heroes. Adler reveals the deepest secrets of his guitar technique with Destructional, the series’ inaugural instructional video. Head to allaxess.com to check it out.
The National Campus Band Competition has put out the call for entrants! It’s the biggest, baddest live band free for all in the bottom half of the planet, and WA luminaries such as Jebediah, Runner, The Caballeros, Eskimo Joe and Will Stoker and the Embers have picked up the gong in previous years. All it takes is a modicum of talent and at least bone band member who is enrolled at a participating tertiary instruction. Head to aaca.net.au for more info.
Previous NCBC winners The Caballeros
DUST ON YOUR GUITAR?
If that’s the case, take it down to the Guitar Swap Meet And Musicians’ Market at Mojo’s Bar this Sunday, July 21 - the damn thing’s just taking up space. All the stalls are booked, but individual items can be pimped for a $5 fee on consignment. Don’t forget that part proceeds get thrown to children’s cancer charity No Matter What, so you can balance your capitalist REHEARSAL STUDIOS fervour with a touch of charity. Entry for the public AAA VHS REHEARSAL ROOMS Great facilities, great is $5, and doors open at 10am. 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 STREAM STUDIO’S 89 Stirling St, Perth. Mobile: 0403 152 009 info@streamrehearsal.com.au VISION REHEARSAL Perth’s premier rehearsal facilities. Visit www.visionstudios.com.au for all info. East Vic Park. Email rehearsal@visionstudios.com.au or call 0432 034 122 TUITION ***GUITAR LESSONS*** Perth’s ultimate guitar studio. Beg-adv, all styles and levels including bass. Cliff Lynton Guitar Institute. Mt Lawley 9342 3484 / www.clifflynton.com BASS LESSONS Rock, funk & jazz. Tony Gibbs 9470 6131 GUITAR & KEYBOARD TUITION (Beginners- Professional) One on One lessons. Free guitar trial lesson. Burswood Ph 6460 6921/ 0415 238 729 www.gvkschoolofmusic.com.au GUITAR TUITION Teacher, performer with 30 yrs experience., No reading req. All ages, beg to adv. Ph Ian Wilson 9403 3212 38
TEACHING HOW TO TWANG
Don’t forget that David and Merelyn Carter will be your drill instructors down at the Country Music Boot Camp in Boyup Brook over the weekend of September 27 - 29. Covering country, rock, folk, blues and bluegrass, this intensive workshop includes lessons on performance, voice technique, songwriting, recording and a host of other skills necessary to make a go of it in this venerable musical genre. For more info, go to countrymusicwa.com.au.
A QUARTER CENTURY OF COPYING
Procopy have been a respected brand in the music industry - not to mention an integral part of the recording and distribution chain - for a long time. How long? 25 years. That’s why, if you take a quick scout through this week’s issue, you’ll find a coupon for 5% off all CD and DVD copying, plus 50 bonus A3 posters, gratis. If you’ve got a CD launch coming up, Procopy should be your first and last stop.
START ME UP
Sterling Silo3
If you’re looking for a completely new rig, CMC have you covered. Right now they’re selling The Silo Pack, a complete guitar package that combines some the world’s leading brands into a start up set that won’t see you running to remortgage your house. Featuring Musicman’s Sterling Silo3 guitar, Hiwatt amps, Ernie Ball strings and accessories and Klotz cables, it’s like a rock and roll gift hamper. Ask at any decent music retailer and they’ll point you in the right direction.
Willie Adler X-Press – First on the street, Wednesdays
www.xpressmag.com.au
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