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BLASKO GOES REGIONAL
Grinspoon
SUPPORT GRINSPOON!
Post-rock grunge outfit Grinspoon have announced the supporting acts for their Black Rabbits LP tour. The Love Junkies have the privilege of unwrapping the regional dates, happening on Wednesday, 10 July, at the Pier Hotel, Esperance; Thursday, July 11, at Studio 146, Albany; Friday, July 12, at Settlers Tavern, Margaret River; Saturday, July 13, at Prince Of Wales, Bunbury, and Sunday, July 14, at Players Bar, Mandurah. Impressive indie-rock Perth charmers Emperors have scored the support slot at the Astor Theatre on Friday, August 23. Tickets to all shows on sale now from grinspoon.oztix.com.au.
PILGRIM’S PROGRESS
Singer/songwriter O wen Campbell touches down in WA this weekend to perform his new LP The Pilgrim.The Charles Hotel in North Perth hosts the Sydneysider’s first show on Owen Campbell Saturday, June 15, followed by Prince of Wales Hotel in Bunbury on Sunday, June 16. Tickets to The Pilgrim tour are now on sale, for more information and updates go to owencampbell.com.au.
HEAVY NEWS
Major announcement ahead: with vocalist, Randy Blythe out of hail, heavy metal favourites Lamb Of God are returning to Australia later this year, in the company of Swedish extreme-metal group Meshuggah. Catch them at Metro City on Thursday, September 26. Tickets are available this Friday, June 14, via Oztix. Lamb of God / Meshuggah
KELLY TIMES 20
Finally touring behind his acclaimed 2012 LP, Spring And Fall LP, Paul Kelly has announced an upcoming nationwide run of 20 locations. Paul Kelly Kelly will stop by the Regal Theatre on Thursday, August 22, accompanied by Australian Music Prize nominee, hip hop MC and producer, Urthboy opening the show. Tickets are on sale from 9am this Friday, June 14. For full details visit livenation.com.au
Sydney singer/songwriter Sarah Blasko is set to return to Australia for a intimate regional tour to mark the release of her new single, All Of Me. Last appearing in Perth in February for the I Awake album tour, Blasko has since spent time in Europe promoting her album. This time, Blasko with crew will visit Geraldton, Bunbury, Margaret River and Albany between Friday, August 9, and Tuesday, August 13. Special guest Fletcher is supporting all shows. For more deets on each location, head to mellenevents.com. Sarah Blasko
HOUR OF POWER
Gypsy & the Cat
Love Metallica, Korn, Slayer, Pantera, Black Sabbath, W.A.S.P., Marilyn Manson, Rammstein, Judas Priest, Megadeth, Iron Maiden and Anthrax? Tune into 96FM’s new metal dedicated program. Following Alice Cooper on Fridays from 12am (that’s really Saturday morning...), Metal At Midnight, is the perfect backdrop for every metal head’s witching hour activities.
MAGNIFICENT MAY RETURNS
We simply can not get enough of the exceptionally talented A b b e M ay . A m u t u a l feeling, it seems. Our electro doom-pop lady has announced another show in Perth on Friday, July 5, at Astor Theatre. Supports for this end of Kiss My Apocalypse album tour show are The Chemist, Felicity Groom, Mathas and Savoir. Get your tickets from Show Ticketing or via abbemay.com.
THE VISUAL FINE LINE
Listed among the top 10 songs to hear right now by UK pop-culture site Digital Spy, Gypsy & The Cat’s new It’s a Fine Line video is a dreamy feast for the eye shot in the canyons of Los Angeles. Directed and produced by New York visual creative Yr Friend Mathew, who previously has worked with Chairlift, Neon Indian and Mark Ronson, the artist is building the indie pop duo’s upcoming It’s A Fine Line tour. Landing in Perth at The Bakery on Friday June 29, the show is set to be something extraordinary. Pop past nowbaking.com.au, gypsyandthecat.com or Oztix for tickets.
Abbe May
GOBBLES REUNION
Glass Towers
BACK DOWN UNDER
A BIG MESS
Touted as one of the heaviest and messiest events of the year, Prime Cut’s Grind My Bitch Up 3 is soon to be held for the third time. at the Civic Hotel in Inglewood. Pile up on Saturday, September 7, from 2pm for a death/grind fest featuring Queensland’s Disentomb, Indonesia’s Rezume and The Mighty Scrape just to name a few. Head to the event’s Facebook page for full info. Disentomb, Grind My Bitch Up 3
COVER: Empire Of The Sun’s new one,Ice On The Dune, is out this Friday. See page 14 for more. SALT COVER: Elefant Traks’ The Tongue is set to play Mojo’s this Friday, June 14. Page 27 for deets. www.xpressmag.com.au
JEHST YOU NOT
Hip hop duo Jehst & M-Phazes will be hitting the Civic Hotel backroom on Thursday, July 25. Hailing from ol’ Blighty, Jehst is known for his lyrical skills on the mic, while M-Phazes has produced an array of Aussie hip hop tracks, including Bliss n Eso’s Flying Colours. Tix from Moshtix.
CRAP BUT STILL GOOD
The multitalented crew behind Cirque du Soleil and the OVO show is this week enjoying the final days of Australia before travelling over to Asia. If you would fancy a last chance see the show, swing past cirquedusoleil.com/ovo for tickets. The troupe are here until Sunday, June 16.
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Jehst
Indie outfit Glass Towers have announced the release of their debut LP, 11-tracker Halcyon Days, set for July 5. Just back from touring the album in the UK and Japan, the Sydney-based foursome is set to embark on their largest national tour to date, with support from young lady Jordan Lezer. Three shows are lined up in WA: Friday, August 9, at the Prince of Wales Hotel in Bunbury; Saturday, August 10, at Amplifier, and the Newport Hotel in Fremantle on Sunday, August 11. Tickets for the Halcyon Days tour are on sale now from Oztix.
AU REVOIR OVO
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Throughout the ‘80s and ‘90s, Gobbles nightclub on Wellington Street was the go-to late night spot. If you’re one of the old crew, you’ll probably want to get down to The Deen on Sunday, June 30, between 6-10pm for the Gobbles Sunday Sesh Reunion Party. The Night After are reforming just for the event and will be joined by Paul Redman, Michael Park and DJ Les Cool. The will be no door sales so get your tickets beforehand via Oztix.
Tomas Ford
We l i k e m u s i c , w e also like Tomas Ford. That ’s why we can forgive his Crap Music Rave Party, running again this Saturday, June 15, at PICA Bar. All throughout June, Ford will be striking up Saturdays from 8pm to take requests for the worst tunes you love to hear. Think boy bands, ‘80s one hit wonders and Dannii Minogue. You know you want to.
FUNDRAISER
Actively support the survivors of sexual assault by rocking up to Ya Ya’s next Wednesday, June 19, to see The Shops and Midnight Boulevard. The Sexual Assault Resource Centre is holding the event to raise funds to help rape survivors and are asking for donations of newly bought women’s t-shirts or trousers (sizes 10-16). Bands kick off from 8.30pm and entry is by gold coin donation.
MUST GO SEE MUSTO
After 15 years making music with indie pop bands College Fall and Showbag!, e x Pe r t h l o c a l , Glenn Musto has produced a solo album, to be launched nex t Wednesday, June 19, at The Paddo. He’ll be supported by Chris Gibbs and Trojan John and will go on to play to solo gig at The Saint on Friday, June 28, and the Broken Hill Hotel on Sunday, June 30.
Glenn Musto 7
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To celebrate the release of World War Z next Thursday, June 20, we are giving you the chance to win one of three huge prize packs valued at over $150. United Nations employee Gerry Lane (Brad Pitt) traverses the world in a race against time to stop a pandemic that is toppling armies and governments and threatening to decimate humanity itself. The prize includes a set of walkie talkies, a survival kit a first aid kit and a Hoyts Xtremescreen 3D double pass.
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CRAVING SOME HAVANA?
Australian DJ, Havana Brown, has supported Britney Spears and toured with Lady Gaga, Enrique Iglesias, Production 9213 2854 The Pussycat Dolls, Rihanna and Chris Brown and now has a new mix compilation out. Crave – The Club Production Co-ordinator Edition Vol. 2 includes some of the biggest club tracks Uli Mauersberg production@xpressmag.com.au and remixes over two packed CDs. Win one of three!
World War Z Survival Kit
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the Astor on Thursday, June 27. Comedian, television personality, a u t h o r, m u s i c i a n , composer, and wildlife enthusiast, Bill Oddie is a man of many talents. His one-man show features a video message from fellow Bill Oddie tandem riders, Tim Brooke-Taylor and Graeme Garden and audience participants are being invited to dress up as their fave Goodie character. We’ve got five doubles to give away - just tell us: what was the name the cult ‘80s cartoon series voiced by the Goodies?
WARRANTY AND INDEMNITY
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ANGELS RESTING ON LAURELS
The Black Angels will be joined by psychedelic shoegazers, The Laurels, on their Australian tour, which will see them docking into Capitol on Monday, June 17. Indigo Meadow is their first longplayer since 2010’s critically-lauded Phosphene Dream, and perhaps the best studio of The Black Angels’ unique psychedelia. Local support from Mezzanine. Enter to win one of two double passes!
Dave Callan
LAUGH AT THESE GUYS
The hijinx of the Melbourne Comedy Festival is coming to Perth for Roadshow 2013. This year’s cast is Dave Callan, Daniel Townes, Justin Moorhouse, Nikki Britton and Ronny Chieng. They’re bringing their comedy chaos to His Majesty’s Theatre between June 20 - 23. Win one of two double passes to opening night by telling us what makes you laugh the most.
DANCE THE PAIN AWAY
Published by: Columbia Press Pty.Ltd. A.C.N. 066 570 803 Registered by Australia Post. Publication No PP600110.00006 Suite 55/102 Railway Street, City West Business Centre, West Perth, WA 6005 Locked Bag 31, West Perth, WA 6872 Phone: (08) 9213 2888 Fax: (08) 9213 2882 Website: http://www.xpressmag.com.au 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.
The Black Angels
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G is a 60-minute high-octane deconstruction of the classic ballet Giselle featuring artistic director Garry Stewart’s characteristic witty, provocative and physically demanding choreography. Showing at the State Theatre Centre for four performances between July 4 - 7, G fuses the technical prowess of the classical ballet about a lovelorn young girl who joins the spirit world to dance out her grief. Eleven dancers push contemporary dance to its limits with jaw-dropping athleticism accompanied by a haunting electronic music score and a hovering panorama of LED screens. Win a double pass for the Sunday, July 7 performance!
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Boys Boys Boys!
BOYS BOYS BOYS! How Excite! The Tearaways
THE TEARAWAYS Love You Perth
Making their maiden voyage to the West with shows this Friday, June 14, at 459 Bar (Rosemount Hotel) and Saturday, June 15, at Bunbury’s Prince Of Wales, The Tearaways still have their links to Perth as GEORGE GREEN found out when he spoke with vocalist/bassist, Brad Matthews. It’s good to keep up one’s Perth linkage. “We’ve just had a pretty recent line-up change in the last few months, and Lonny (Finn) from Battletruk is playing drums for us now, so there’s a little bit of Perth in us,” Brad Matthews laughs. “With Lonny coming into the line-up we’ve had to spend some time learning the songs as well as working out some new material, so we’ve been able to mix up the old with the new which has been great. It’s given us a fresh take on the old songs and a different approach with writing new stuff which has been refreshing. “We’ve wanted to get to Perth for a while now, and I think we would have got there eventually but having Lonny on board has definitely sped things up. He’s got contacts there and he knows which bands and venues to play so it’s definitely helped out in that regard.” The Tearaways have been a staple of the Melbourne rock’n’roll scene since they first started gigging in 2009, and their first trip to WA sees them teaming up with some of our city’s best rock and punk bands this weekend.
But it’s not just the music that Matthews is looking forward to on his first trip to Perth. When bands make the trip to Perth during summer they’re usually pretty keen to hit our beaches. It’s a different story come wintertime. “I’m really looking forward to having a look around as well as playing the shows. I’m definitely a Bon Scott fan,” explains Matthews. “I grew up with my dad playing all of the Bon Scott AC/DC stuff, so I’d be pretty keen to get to see his grave or to get a photo with his statue. That’s a pretty touristy thing to do, isn’t it? “We’re playing with Grim Fandango who I’ve seen over here a couple of times and I’m a fan of those guys. I’ve always known Perth has had a really strong scene, and I guess on the East Coast we get to see your best bands because they are at the point where they can come here and do well. I mean, I can’t judge everything because I haven’t been to Perth yet, but from the Perth bands I’ve seen that have toured here or moved here there’s been some pretty killer bands from Perth.”
Boys Boys Boys! launch their new album, We Are Excited About Everything, this Friday, June 14, at The Bakery, with Boom! Bap! Pow!, 44th Sunset, Echo Kid and Wasabi Peas. BOB GORDON reports. Sometimes you’ve just gotta turn that frown upside down. The Partridge Family had the right idea. In the late ‘60s, while the Vietnam War was raging, they hit the airwaves with Come On Get Happy. `Hello world here’s a song that we’re singing; Come on get happy; A whole lotta lovin’ is what we’ll be bringing; We’ll make you happy.’ Consequently, they were huge. In the modern era, their counterparts are surely Perth’s Boys Boys Boys! (their exclamation mark, not ours) who have just released their second LP, We Are Excited About Everything. And why not, one supposes; but how do they explain all this unbridled enthusiasm? “Sugar?” posits keyboardist Janelle Morse. “Lots of sugar!” “This record has taken us through all the partying, shopping and red bull of the last three years to make,” says vocalist, Bridget Turner. “We finally did it; there were people - mostly our grant supervisor - that said it would never happen. We’re pretty excited to finally have something to show for the fruits of our extensive labour. Also the record is good!” “The sugar has gotten us through,” Morse notes, though it’s possible that Boys Boys Boys! are simply musical equivalent of serotonin. “We get pretty pumped up,” says Turner. “It’s in your face kind of music. Travis Johnson from your fine magazine once said, ‘Failure to respond to a BBB gig is proof of brain death’. Which we thought was a pretty lovely thing to say and wraps up the kind of brain assault which is Boysx3. Stimulation overload. Look out!” We have! We are! Still there must be something that Boys Boys Boys! are not excited about. Like the election or something? “Solar flares,” Turner reveals. “Apparently we are going through some pretty serious weather on the sun at the moment and there is a chance that a solar flare can cause a huge burst of electromagnetic energy that will wipe out all electronics on earth. Which means no one will be able to hear our record and other minor things may happen like - the end of the world as we know it! “Imagine the world with no technology. A complete reversal in way of life would occur; suddenly you’re guarding your potato patch to stay alive. In this world there are no synths. Not excited.” Eminent producer Magoo (Custard,
Regurgitator) produced the new album. This was, appropriately, very exciting. “Initially we thought perhaps he wouldn’t take us on,” Turner reveals.“After we sent the demos we waited a good week with no reply. The follow up phone call was nerve-racking. Would this ARIAwinning genius actually agree to make this hilarious record? We had songs about cutting the roof off your car and the ‘90s thrown in the mix amongst other pop songs.” “We went to Queensland and he came to watch us jam,” Morse recalls. “It was completely nerve-wrecking. We thought he had regretted his decision to take us on, but then he totally got us and understood the tongue in cheek vibe we were going for.” “He succumbed to our brand of happiness in no time,” says Turner. While there’s an evolution in BBB’s joyous new output, rest assured that happiness is not yet a warm gun. There’s no track, in particular, that points to the future. “All of them,” Turner states. “We don’t have a direction, just a collection of random moods that we feel at any given day. Most of the moods are, ‘arrrghhh must party!’ So probably that direction.” What the future will bring, however, is the departure of Morse to Melbourne. What are they gunna do without Pub Spice? “There’ll be many, many, many tears,” says Turner, tearfully. “We will miss our Pub Spice. Though we have old member, Jade Foo, returning from Melbourne, in her place so it’s like tag team!” So there’s an album out, so there’s plans. Nothing is more important, right now, however, than Friday. Come On, get happy. And excited. “We hope to tour the East Coast like crazies and then basically world domination,” Turner says of the path from here. “In between that, though, we are preparing for the imminent solar flare crisis and have figured out a way to play each of our songs unplugged. We are ready for the new order, when there is no internet, money or electricity, musicians will be so important for community spirit. We will write anthems for the end of the world. ‘This potato patch is mine, I have a shovel - I will protect it’, etc. “Until then let’s party No seriously... solar flare at any time. Let’s actually party while there are bars and DJs and you can go a watch live music.”
REMOTE LISTENING
Once again, Tura New Music presents its annual Remote Artists In Residence Program which is designed to bring music professionals to remote communities in order to share their skills, experience and artistry with the local population. This year, Melbourne-based music educator Gillian Howell will be travelling to the Dampier Peninsula for two weeks in June to work with groups of schoolchildren and other community members to help them create and eventually perform their own musical compositions. For further information, head to tura.com.au.
Swervedriver
SWERVING INTO TRAFFIC
British rock mavens Swervedriver are on their way this October! The four lads from Oxford will be hitting the ground at the Rosemount Hotel on Thursday, October 3, where they will lay waste to all and sundry by performing their classic album, RAISE, in its entirety. Veterans of the ‘90s are surely not going to want to miss this one, and a new generation of fans are in for a hell of a treat. Head to metropolistouring. com for tickets and further info. www.xpressmag.com.au
TUNES FROM TIBET
The Gyuto Monks of Tibet, led by the revered Gen Lama Thupten Phuntsok, will be returning to Fremantle for two weeks to engage us all with their serenity, sincerity, compassion and general joyfulness. They will be in residence from Monday, July 15, culminating in a concert performance, Echoes Of Enlightenment, on Friday, July 28. Tickets are available through heatseeker.com.au.
Jill Scott
GREAT SCOTT!
Grammy Award-winning songstress Jill Scott is making her way to Australian shores for the first time ever. Renowned for her startling, sultry voice and provocative lyrics, Scott and a 10-piece band will present her show, An Evening With Jill Scott, to the Riverside Theatre for one night only on Sunday, November 17. Tickets are available through Ticketek. 11
been proven right; but which newspaper, or where’s the ABC News bulletin saying that? There’s a great deal of dishonesty at play in all this. Outside of the Liberal/Coalition orientation rank and file, Tony Abbott seems not only disliked, but feared in many respects, more so perhaps than any politician or prospective PM in Australian history. You know him both as a politically and personally. What for you, what would be the worst outcome for this Election? That he wins both houses of Parliament. He’ll use the Senate as a rubber stamp. And if people vote for the Coalition in both houses, they’re throwing away their own constitutional checks and balances. That’s why it’s so important that people vote Greens in the Senate, whatever else they do.
Bob Brown at the Concert For The Kimberley in February Photo: Rachel Pemberton
BOB BROWN
Rock The Vote Former Greens leader, Bob Brown, will appear at a special Enrol To Vote gig tonight, Wednesday, June 12, at The Bird. He may have retired as leader of The Greens just over a year ago, but Bob Brown has not wearied from the fight and isn’t looking like he is about to. He has since set up the Bob Brown Foundation and is active as ever, in speaking up on issues concerning the environment and human rights, seeming to find a new freedom sans the shackles of party politics. He is still determinedly political, however, as his continuing support of The Greens shows. And this week he visits Perth by way of encouraging young people to enrol to vote. One in three eligible West Australians under 25 (some 55,000 people) aren’t enrolled and given that there’s a Federal Election in September, it’s a message worth sharing. DJ Bbob Brown is cagey as to whether he’ll actually get behind the decks, but he may get some turntable lessons from Rok Riley, not to mention Ben M vs Ben Taffe, Kate Mullen vs Da Witt, DJ Hott Robb vs Dan Dalton and Ash Hendricks vs Hamish Rahn at The Bird. The $5 cover charge will be waived if you check your enrolment is up to date or enrol at the door. This interview was conducted down the line to Huonville, South of Hobart, on Monday afternoon. By BOB GORDON You were last here for the Concert For The Kimberley back in February. It was a remarkable event which of course played its part in a wonderful result for James Price Point. Looking back what are your thoughts on that day and the outcome? Well, I agree with you. It was a pivotal event in saving Walmadan, or James Price Point and the Kimberley Coast from that destructive Woodside gas factory. In my experience, like with the Franklin campaign, it’s only when people mobilise that you can expect to match the huge corporate power of the mining, logging or dam building companies and their connections with the big party politicians. It’s interesting that despite WA voter swing against Greens at state level there was 100 per cent gain for the Greens in the Kimberley, where they were campaigning on the gas factory, because it was the single most important issue for those people. And really, the environment remains the biggest issue for the planet because if we don’t protect it all our other endeavours will go down the tube. In a democracy it’s very important to have Greens in the parliament, otherwise that leverage of mobilising people is very diminished. If you have strong Green voices in the Parliament you then have that leverage entering the parliament itself, which does worry the big parties. That’s why it’s very important we get Scott Ludlam re-elected, he’s been a very strong voice in the national parliament on a whole range of national issues as well as WA issues. One of the reasons I’m coming over there this week is that with the election we have possibly one of the most environmentally destructive governments in modern history coming down the line if Tony Abbott wins, as the polls show. We’ll need a backstop in the Senate and the Greens are 12
that backstop. That’s where Scott Ludlam retaining asking questions and they ask the most well thought his seat does two things: it gives that strong voice out and interesting questions. They always seem, to me, to be particularly and also makes it a little bit harder for the coalition keen to ask awkward questions. Very often the first with a majority in the Senate. question I get asked is, ‘Why aren’t you depressed?’ Was the James Price Point result a timely reminder Which is an indication of what teenagers think about about people power? Many feel minute in the the world. And I love answering that question. And modern world but when enough people mobilise, the answer is, ‘I’m optimistic because I choose to be. Optimism makes things happen’. If people hadn’t it means something... Absolutely it does. I’m surprised at the been optimistic about saving the Kimberley Coast, it number of people who don’t understand that wouldn’t have happened. If John Butler and others after making a stand like that the most powerful hadn’t have organised, with optimism, a concert very thing you can do is vote. How many people vote, early in the New Year we’d have lost that opportunity. not according to what’s good for their future, but And who knows if that wasn’t the single extra thing what’s being handed out on a platter right now? that was needed to change Woodside’s mind? We People vote against protecting themselves and their don’t know, we probably never will, but I would be grandchildren from climate change and against worried about the outcome if you took 20,000 people such things as protecting the Kimberley. They don’t turning up in Fremantle out of the equation. mean to, but they do because it gets taken off the agenda by the big parties and the media in the run In terms of the Australian political landscape the last three years have been as dramatic or soap to election. opera-ish as at any time in history... Mind you I think the reporting has been the lowest it’s ever been. The reportage from the “The Greens, of course, press gallery and through the media has been at its lowest ebb in history. have had a proposal for I mean, it’s been a great time of change. voting age to be reduced We’ve got a National Disability Scheme removed to give all young Australians dental healthcare, to 16 as it is in some other Denticare, effectively. We’ve brought in a Carbon Package that amongst other things is going to give places, but big parties are a percentage boost to renewable energy and much more, but you’d think none of that had happened. very careful of changing We’ve got a Gonski report which should have anything that’s not to been implemented by now and of course we did save James Price Point but you’d think nothing’s their advantage. So it is happened, or that it’s been a particularly short period of government. Whereas, in fact, a lot of things have important that people take been happening and much of that is because the Greens were there in the centre of it. And it came the action anyway to make out of an arrangement we made which the Labor Government, by and large, has stuck to. sure they get a vote and
to understand that their vote really does matter on issues like James Price Point, like global warming and human rights.” You’re here as part of an Enrol To Vote campaign. Do you find it surprising, in this enlightened day and age, when information and opinion is of immediate accessibility, that there is still a need for one? Not surprising, but it’s a challenge. We’re the wealthiest country on earth, per capita. And yes, our people in Australia can be the most relaxed and careless when it comes to who they vote for. But nevertheless it’s very important and I truly believe that young people should be automatically enrolled. And new citizens should be automatically enrolled. That’s what happens in other countries and should happen here. And The Greens, of course, have had a proposal for voting age to be reduced to 16 as it is in some other places, but big parties are very careful of changing anything that’s not to their advantage. So it is important that people take the action anyway to make sure they get a vote and to understand that their vote really does matter on issues like James Price Point, like global warming and like human rights.
Whether it’s in the media - as you’ve mentioned - or between the parties, everything seems far too focussed on survival, staying alive in politics rather than on issues. What are your thoughts? It’s the most negative period in politics ever because the leader of the opposition has made a career of the word ‘no’. No this, no that, no something else. And he’s added to that, bad - B.A.D. The Murdoch press has run riot with that and people see it and think it’s all bad. It’s childish; these are words you teach children, but Tony Abbott has treated the electorate like children. And to a degree there’s been a response there. We deserve a higher level of debate than that, but we haven’t got it and it’s up to the voters to wake up to that and make sure that Abbott doesn’t swoop in, get control of both houses of Parliament and give the big corporations the even greater control they’re itching to get.
The pressure is on Bill Shorten this week to do some shoulder-tapping; do you think Julia Gillard is likely to lead Labor at the election? Well I think if he’s going to do any shoulder tapping he should tap (Federal Parliamentary Leader of the Australian Greens) Christine Milne’s shoulder. She’d be a better Prime Minister than the whole lot of them. Nobody ever runs that when I say it, but that’s what I mean. Labor has got its own mess to deal with, but The Greens are here for people fed up with Labor and it’s not what they do that is of utmost importance, it’s what people do. And they should respond to that by voting for The Greens in both houses. You resigned in April last year, but June 15 marks a year since you left the Senate. How has the last 12 months compared to the previous 16 or so years in Federal Politics? Well it’s terrific because I’m not dealing with the nasty and deceitful politics which Tony Abbott is bringing to a head courtesy of the Murdoch media. For example, I was able to get very involved with the Kimberley campaign. I went up there with Sea Shepherd, on the Steve Irwin and told the world about the fate of the world’s biggest humpback whale nursery. Then I was able to go to Fremantle rally and was able to support the Greens campaign, what Christine Milne was doing with the WA Senators up in the Kimberley. And I’ve just been along a logging road at Tarkine Falls in Tasmania which we believe should be turned into a tourism road. That’s where the future is; that’s where the dollars are and that’s where the taxpayers’ money should be going. I’m busy composing music and writing for various magazines; I’m enjoying it immensely. And of course I’m very devoted to The Greens; they’re the best thing going in Australian politics. You’ve formed the Bob Brown Foundation, though you’ll always be associated with the Greens and clearly have an ongoing love and support for them, describe the different effectiveness you experience when not aligned with a Political Party? Well instead of asking me about what Tony Abbott’s latest negative is, people are asking me about how can we protect Australia’s wild landscape and its wildlife. And its indigenous heritage. And its European heritage. I’m talking about global democracy and able to talk about those things that I spoke about frequently in the Parliament and the doors that almost never got reported. They were more interested in knowing what the latest political absurdity was and what it meant. So I’m very happy. I’m also able to support, for example Scott Ludlam’s campaign and other campaigns that The Greens have coming up for the coming election. I’m feeling very free to say what I want to and not the least bit worried if the press takes no notice. It’s the people who come and attend those events that I find really engaging and very important. I’ve got lots of projects going; from a Parliament House walk in Canberra, so that people can walk from the centre of Canberra to Parliament House without getting run over on one of those inroads; to helping other things as far afield as the Kimberleys, the Antarctic whales and global democracy. So I’m very happy.
I guess when you choose to fight The Good Fight, it never actually ends. Are you more motivated than ever? I wouldn’t say more motivated, but I’m not, as I say, so burnished with the most negative period of politics that Australia’s had. It seems to have the Australian voters wanting more. It’ll pass, but we are I guess a case in point about the quality of debate headed for massive environmental problems on the is the Greens’ Marriage Equality private members planet, which are going to impact on the lifestyle of everybody. And Tony Abbott wants to make it worse bill being glossed over last week? Well even there Abbott has decided by removing what little legislation there is to reduce that equal marriage is more important as his carbon in the atmosphere. So if that’s what Australians vote for, they political agenda than it is for those people who have wanted to have it as their right. He’s going to do. But I’d be very, very alarmed if they also gave him allow a conscience vote after he gets in, and so he’s control of the Senate, which would allow him to do ransoming every same sex couple’s right to his own just that as soon as the Parliament/Senate changes political benefit. They lose, he wins. It’s pretty blunt, are brought into being. but it’s sort of being foisted on the press gallery and You’re appearing at The Bird on Wednesday. the media and he’s got away with it. Having received a rock star reception in February Meanwhile bodies are floating off Christmas at the Kimberley Concert, you’re crossing over to Do you feel there is enough political discourse Island as we speak, as both major parties force the DJ scene now? No, I just appreciate good music the same in Year 12 in schools across Australia, given that simple solutions on a complex problem in order engagement in it a year shy of voting age would to merely oppose each other and appease their as good politics. Being Green is about being in tune. seem to be the ideal lead-in to enrolling? constituents... Well I can’t speak for what goes on in the Well they said Manus Island and Nauru There’s been some Daft Punk helmets ordered classroom, but I know that when I go to speak to a would stop that and people thought that was the will you don one or leave that to Scott Ludlam? I leave hats to other people (laughs). You Year 12 group it’s the most enlivening experience of case - the polls showed that. The Greens didn’t, they all public meetings I go to. They have no restraint in spoke out very strongly against it. The Greens have don’t have to look the part to enjoy it. X-Press – First on the street, Wednesdays
Steve Earle
STEVE EARLE
Low Roads It would be hard to argue against Steve Earle having packed a lot of experiences into his lifetime. He has been married on numerous occasions, spent time in prison and harboured a heroin addiction. Along the journey he has written books, become an actor of some note and with The Low Highway, has just released his 13th studio album. CHRIS HAVERCROFT reports.
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Having so many strings to his bow means that Steve Earle doesn’t get a lot of down time, as he is constantly in demand. He says that there is a reason that he works so hard even if people think he should still be dining out off the royalties from Copperhead Road. That money went on ex-wives and a heroin habit, he suggests of the three times platinum selling album. Luckily he also has a ‘job’ that he has no desire to retire from anytime soon. “I’m very grateful that I am able to make a living out of doing something that I love so that helps,” Earle states of his full schedule. “I think what has saved my arse is that even at my lowest point I was able to realise how lucky I am to be able to do this as a job. I never felt sorry for myself because I was driving around in a bus that is worth more than some people’s houses. I like to travel so those are lucky things. My attitude about my job is ‘what’s not to like?’ and I make good money doing it. So why stop doing it?” Earle’s latest album, The Low Highway, is a road record with a difference. It is not tall tales and yarns about Earle travelling the country from town to town; it is an album that focusses on what it is that Earle saw through the window of his tour bus and the affect the current economy has on the average American citizen. “What I am looking out the window of the bus now is a lot more like what Woodie Guthrie saw out of a boxcar,” claims Earle of the subjects of The Low Highway. “Bob Dylan sort of invented this job based on the work of Woodie Guthrie which gave all of us that have done it since, a connection to the depression in the ‘30s. “Stylistically, we play music that is rooted in the ‘30s and it is traditional to play music that is about hard times and issues that are about workers and a struggle for workers. The fact of the matter is that any of us, including Bob, had never experienced those things first hand, but in this current climate we are. Things really are that tough out there. That was the epiphany that I was seeing a similar thing to what Guthrie had seen in his time.” The state of the economy is something that Earle is very concerned with. As a strong advocate of the working class, Earle has seen firsthand how tough it currently is for many Americans to make a living. The Low Highway highlights the point, but Earle says it is something that has been on his mind for some time. “I meet a lot of people as I get out and sign a lot of stuff and have a pretty good connection with my audience,” he notes. “My audience is just small enough that I can continue to do that. I go to the merchandise table and I talk to people and I am very grateful that they turn up to my shows as there are plenty of people out there who aren’t working and I am. So I appreciate that.”
IN HEARTS WAKE Right Here, Right Now
In Hearts Wake
On the back of success of bands such as Parkway Drive and I Killed The Prom Queen, there’s a second generation of Aussie bands currently flying the flag for the metal-core scene. One such band is NSW five-piece, In Hearts Wake. GEORGE GREEN catches up with vocalist Jake Taylor ahead of their show in Perth next Wednesday, June 19, at The Academy (Amplifier) and Thursday, June 19, at YMCA HQ (all-ages) supported by Counterparts and Stories. In Hearts Wake may be touring to Perth this week, but they certainly aren’t tourists. “This will be about our seventh time to Perth, and we’re excited to get back”, explains vocalist, Jake Taylor. “We were in Perth in March this year and it’s always a bit trickier to make it to there if you’re from the East Coast, but Perth has always been great to us so we’re always keen to get back. I know it probably sounds like I’m just saying this, but Perth is probably one of my favourite cities to play in the country. We always get great responses and the people are always so receptive.” Whether we realise it or not, Perth is a yardstick for bands from the East Coast. Being able to make the trip here is like putting another notch on the belt, and bands are able to gauge what level they are at accordingly. It is climbing another rung on the music-industry ladder, so to speak. “I look at posters on my wall of tours that came through my town five years ago, and seeing Perth as one of the stops, and now we’re able to do runs the same size is really cool. It kind of keeps us all in check, and we can think that we’ve got quite an achievement here, so let’s hold on to it and keep building.” Hindsight is a wonderful thing, and as Taylor touched upon, he is able to look back five years and view the achievements that he and his
bandmates had racked up and how far they had come. Refreshingly, Taylor is still able to remain humble and focussed, and doesn’t want to look too far ahead when asked what goals the band have knowing now what they have achieved in their first five years. “I mean, sure there’s things that we’d love to do,” he contemplates, “but one thing I’ve always been careful of is looking ahead because that can be a fool’s dream. Sometimes you just need to focus on right now and ensure that you get that right, because it’s easy to look ahead and not realise where you are right now, you know what I mean?” “We all work jobs to support the band and I don’t think we could continue to do that if we were looking too far ahead. I mean, right now we’re focussed on taking it one step at a time and I guess the next goal for us would be for us not to need to work our day jobs so that we can put more time into the band. “I don’t particularly like having to lug bottles around a bottle shop to make money, but the fact that we’re doing it to support a higher purpose helps us stay focussed. If we didn’t have this band, we probably wouldn’t be working the jobs we have. We’ve got a purpose and a responsibility to keep the band going because we love to do it.”
X-Press – First on the street, Wednesdays
Empire Of The Sun, Luke Steele and Nick Littlemore
EMPIRE OF THE SUN
was like a three-hour block. Whereas with this one every song was about three months, hey? (laughs).” Steele has always ended his sentences in ‘hey?’ It’s part of an easy-going nature that has increasingly dealt with rather heady music industry pressure, from the acclaimed Sleepy Jackson releases that racked up huge debt to a new stress – following up an album that sold a million units and was a cultural signifier across the globe. “Yeah...” he breathes out heavily, literally still blown away. “It was a pressure I’d never before dealt with. You don’t... you don’t want to like... you don’t want to fail, hey? You want to keep it alive, this thing that so much. Empire Of The Sun’s second album, everyone loves “That was hard; the first year was pretty much Ice On The Dune, is released this Friday, everyone going, ‘just do the same thing’. Like literally, ‘do same thing. Call it Walking On A Stream or something’. June 14. BOB GORDON caught up the That’s a little bit of sarcasm (laughs) but it was that close to, ‘just do the same thing’. But it’s like anything, you with Luke Steele in Sydney. can’t... or maybe you can. But it’s not going to be exactly The Vivid festival has lit up Sydney with culture and the same. literally colour, but for two nights the Opera House was home to the Emperor. “The first album was me Emperor Luke Steele that is, who is holding court in EMI’s new offices in Millers Point. talking up the just coming to Sydney, I’d second Empire Of The Sun album, Ice On The Dune. The follow up to 2008’s million selling debut Walking On A have three hours off and Dream, sees creative foil, Pnau’s Nick Littlemore, back in the (studio only) fold. we’d do like Walking On It’s up to Steele to take the universe to the world, as he tries to describe the new LP’s three-year A Dream. Or We Are The gestation to a curious Australian media. “I guess there’s only so much you can really People. Every song was like talk about, really,” Steele says, bedecked in empirical finery.“The only thing I’m tired of talking about... of Nick a three-hour block. Whereas not touring. “But you know that’s worked out kind of with this one every song was good... and now I’m gonna end up talking about it (laughs).” about three months, hey?” He was offered an out, I offer, but it’s intrinsic to the tale. Before anything could go ahead, the Emperor “I guess we had to realise that, but you kind had to get the old firm back together. of have to with every record, just trick your mind into “We toured it so much,” he says of Walking thinking in a different pattern or a different sequence. On A Dream. “We played that record everywhere, hey? You have to be the inventor of the way you approach Like we toured to Lithuania, to Moscow, to France, to it; just come up with new techniques of approaching a the UK... it kind of got to the point where it was like, ‘we song or melody, whatever.” need some new songs to dance to. See if you can pull off a Ice On The Dune was recorded in a second record’. diversity of studios in New York, Miami, Los Angeles “The first year was like a bit of a mixed and New Zealand. Pulling together time and mash up of tempos. Nick always says that the tyranny distance and corralling that into a fluid musical of distance is a big factor. I’d absorbed and sort of entity took some doing. taken in all the electricity and sweat and excitement “That’s why it took so long,” Steele notes. “It and endorphins from these big festival shows and was an intense record because I had to recognise that, then in coming back to the band he hadn’t really ‘Luke Steele’s not in control. Luke Steele’s not right for once’ experienced that.” (laughs). I just had to cut off ties to melody or routine or They felt different energies and were on anything. Like, ‘this might work or it might not happen’. I’ve different plains, but importantly they wanted to work never been that careless and at the end looking back it’s together again. like what it was on the first record, we’d sing melodies “For a while it was about bridging the gap and talk about it. and working out the vision,” Steele notes. “We started “There’s some magnetism between us,” he off in New York in like a studio run by blind people. says of the creative partnership with Littlemore, “We They had a couple per cent of eyesight so they had always end up coming back. We both go off in our these giant screens around the studio and after you’d own worlds but we magnetise back to a place. It was done a take they’d zoom in so the waveform would be really like putting a puzzle together. We’d record in big on the screen. Because they were blind they had New Zealand at my place and maybe end up getting a this hearing that was like... (raises his hands as if to say great shell of a song with a great chorus then a couple amazing). That’s where it sort of began, with a few odd months later you’d be in LA and someone would German synthesisers from the ‘90s that we’d never seen. deliver a verse to the studio. That was the real test, it “The next session was the first pretty fruitful was like musical gods going, ‘how far are you going to one was at Downtown Studios, the first one with (EOTS travel? How much money are you going to spend to get co-writers) Peter Hayes and Donnie Sloan. It was a similar a verse for this song? room to what we did the first record in, in Waterloo “Ice On The Dune, the song, I wrote the chorus (Sydney), called The Bong. Just literally one of those for that in Santa Monica. Then we went to New York cute little rooms with synthesisers piled up. So that was and recorded with Benny Blanco, who is one of Dr October of 2011, where it kind of began, we got Old Luke’s writers, did another four versions of a verse then Flavours, Surround Sound and Concert Pitch out of those we went to Miami, worked with The Neptunes. There first sessions.” was like 12-15 versions of the song. Every song on the It was the beginning of a tough odyssey record was like that. It was like everything that came for all involved. Majestic, epic and not without some from our lips was under the microscope.” soul searching. He speaks of the challenge set to the duo by “It was kind of obvious that this record was a voices unspecified: ‘You did a record, you did it for nothing, test, hey?” Steele says.“The first one was me just coming it went big and you enjoyed riding on the fame train or to Sydney, I’d have three hours off and we’d do like whatever, you went here and everybody loves you. Great. Walking On A Dream. Or We Are The People. Every song Let’s play a game. See how you go when you play an E
The Emperor Strikes Back
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chord and it sounds like F#aug. Or you sing a melody and it has no colour and doesn’t do anything’. “So there was the process to keep searching and that ended up being the whole studio tour around the world,” Steele explains. “We’d see a glimpse of light in one studio and we got back to the point where we were hungry again to go on this adventure of music and find that song. And when you find it, you kind of know. It’s kind of a bit bizarre that we had to travel around the world to find a chorus (laughs). It’s not an easy process.” How do you know when you’re finished? “Yeah. I think it’s that thing when like... Nick and I are in agreeance that you can find where the heart is in the song. You can listen to the song like a capsule or it sounds like a memory or it has a texture to it where your ears feel... it’s funny Empire always has this warm glow on it.” At around this time John O’Donnell, the Managing Director of EMI steps in to say hello. From editing Rolling Stone, to signing Silverchair to the Murmur label in 1994 and co-managing Cold Chisel, there’s not much the affable music industry veteran hasn’t done and it turns out he lent a helping hand at a pivotal moment. “John actually came in at the end of the record and was a real father figure,” Steele says fondly. “Like at the eleventh hour, our brains were kind of melting down, hey? He just came in as MD at the tail end and pulled things into shape. Tightened up a few screws and made a few big calls. He just loves music so much, he has a great knowledge. He knows what to say.” O’Donnell laughs it off a little, but its clear that life in the big game has led Steele to treasure certain relationships. It led to the re-grouping of he and Littlemore, though one wonders if an airing of grievances was necessary to create once again? “I think the airing was through the whole record process,” Steele reflects, “that’s maybe why it was filled with challenges. At certain times you agree to disagree. Yeah, it’s just a process.” When Ice On The Dune’s first single, Alive, first emerged, it was to much fanfare with triple j and Network 10 trumpeting first airings of song and video, respectively. It must have felt good, I offer, to know that much anticipation was out there? “I feel good about it,” Steele says, “but we’ve got so much confidence in this project. We believe in it so much. “I feel like I nearly died on this record. There were times I’d go surfing on Topanga Beach (California) and paddle out as far as I could and then keep paddling. And it could’ve been so dangerous, but then, the pure heights of ecstasy when you find that melody that’s the missing link of the song. We’re ready for it, you know? “I remember once the Dandy Warhols drummer (Brent de Boer) once said when they were first a band they talked about making it and how big their tours would be and then when they got a record deal they knew it was going to happen and they walked into it with pure confidence and ambition. I guess that’s like this. We feel lucky, but we feel like it’s deserved. We take it serious and we really know where that saying ‘blood, sweat and tears’ came from in doing this record. I’ve done records before where I’ve had mental breakdowns, but this took the cake. So when it comes out in that format to that many people, it’s like, ‘thank you’, you know? Other people can see how much has gone into it. It deserves to be presented on that platform.” Bravado is one thing, plenty of rock’n’roll bands can lay claim to that. Pure confidence, or Steele’s version of it, is another.
“We came from a scene with our respective bands where you do want to fit in that scene, where you’re cool and you saying certain things and it’s like a niche,” he notes, “but from the start of this whole band it was just devoid of any genre or label or any scene or band orientation. “It’s more like a project that lives in this fictitious world, in reality.” The next two nights at the Sydney Opera House are sold-out. The new Empire Of The Sun show features the main hits from Walking On A Dream, with a good portion of the new LP in tow. Alive closes the evening with the greatest reaction of all. The performance itself continues the dream, new swordfish dancers and all. “I guess you always build a record like a screenplay,” Steele says of the album-to-performance transition.“It has an intro then it goes into your main act, etc. I’ve always looked at records like that, like a movie. A bedtime song at the end (laughs). “It’s a challenge because you don’t want to be like a musical and you don’t want it to not reflect what you’ve done. The change in imagery isn’t drastic, but the heat is definitely turned up. The costumes are shinier (smiles) there’s more smoke and mirrors.” Indeed there is. One is reminded of the also recently released The Great Gatsby. Like Jay Gatsby, Steele is in the middle of this world that people are fascinated in and want to see, be near and soak in. Somewhere in there Jay-Z is also involved. Steele has always lived life big, but now has a big life. It’s high falutin’, but true to form he still speaks just like ‘Luke from Yokine’. At the post-concert gathering, parents Rick and Liz are joined by a gathering of 20 of the Steele clan who have flown in from New Zealand. It’s like a family party. “I guess that’s the thing, you can’t forget where you came from,” he says, a little self-consciously. “I grew up like at the Charles Hotel pretty much around these older blues musicians, who’d seen a life of great harmony to great tragedy to great music. I guess that will always keep you down to earth.” Back in the late ‘90s Steele used to come into X-Press Magazine to visit Sleepy Jackson bass player Matt O’Connor (RIP) who worked in sales. The Emperor’s old clothes were a t-shirt, trucker’s cap, dirty jeans and sneakers. Ambition was clear at the early stage, but all these years later, with so much road between, he’s at the top of a tree he could only strain to look at back in the day. Does he ever stop to think? “It’s funny you said that, we’re staying at this hotel that looks over the Harbour Bridge and yesterday we’re sitting there and Sunny Tiger is playing Barbies and I’m sitting with my mother-in-law and she goes, ‘you’re at a good spot. Look at this view’. “And it just hit me, the amount of years staying in caravan parks near the airport just to save $85. I don’t know why it struck me at that moment, but it was that moment. In this beautiful hotel. It was like, ‘you’re right, hey?’ “I don’t know where those moments are though. Like, what is that? Working with The Neptunes, Pharell was going, ‘you know, as an artist all you have to do is focus and focus and every now and then stop and see how far you’ve come’. I don’t know... I don’t know how to relax and enjoy it, hey? It’s a part of doing it constantly. It became apparent after the first record with all the kudos and all the compliments that we had to snap the brain and think in an different sequence. “Like I said before, you have to be the adventurer again.”
The Emperor goes live X-Press – First on the street, Wednesdays
www.xpressmag.com.au
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last couple of weeks the screenplay’s in a place now where we start to try and get producers and finance people on board. “We’d like to try and get it off the ground sometime next year, really. It’s a rite of passage story about two kids running away from a small town and travelling across Europe and discovering stuff about themselves, really.” Jones reasons that writing a song or a story has the same end goal: to move the audience. “Yeah, I’ve always loved film and music,” he says.“I did my university stuff in film and I’ve always written all these ideas and stuff and I just think of it as the same thing as storytelling. I write stories in songs and film is another way of telling stories. So for me it’s just branching out into a different medium, but the job essentially is the same really, which is trying to move
Stereophonics
STEREOPHONICS Emotional Graffiti
With a brand spanking new album under his arm, Kelly Jones brings Stereophonics back to Metro City on Tuesday, July 23. SHANE PINNEGAR reports. Singer/guitarist, Kelly Jones, says their latest O ver eight studio albums Welsh outfit, Stereophonics, have evolved from a heads down offering, Graffiti On The Train, sounds more cinematic rocking trio, to a four-piece who experiment with for a very good reason. “Yeah, the screenplay was kind of being strings and keyboards and are considerably more written at the same time,” he clarifies, “and in the widescreen in their scope.
“I’m just fortunate and grateful that I’ve got a way of expressing whatever’s going on around me or in my head or in my life or things I see. I’m quite disciplined in the fact that I’ll do it intensely for the period of time I’m working on it but then I won’t really get affected by it after I’ve finished it.” people with the stories you’ve got to tell.” Jones has a rare storytelling gift, being able to write a song about little people living normal lives, yet imbue them with soul so that they connect with the listener. Explaining that his approach doesn’t take a deep personal toll, he also likens it to therapy in some respects. “I think for me it’s an outlet really,” he says thoughtfully. “I come from a very small place and I was brought up in an environment where people didn’t really talk about problems or anything. They just either brushed them aside, pushed them under the carpet, or drank, or whatever. “For me, I’m just fortunate and grateful that I’ve got a way of expressing whatever’s going on around me or in my head or in my life or things I see. I’m quite disciplined in the fact that I’ll do it you’. So basically, we’re coming over here because we’re alive,” he reasons.“I love Australia, it’s beautiful – it’s like someone took Texas and California and hauled that shit together into a big island.” It sounds like a magical place, and Maas is a big fan of its music, too. “Oh yeah, there’s some great stuff happening in Australia: The Dolly Rocker Movement, Astral Kaleidoscope, Beaches, Morning After Girls. You guys are probably used to it, but I’m also really into the indigenous sounds, with the didgeridoo and the circular breathing. “I couldn’t believe indigenous Australian music when I first heard it, it just sounded completely new to me. It’s almost the original trance music, with its drones and rhythms. It’s
The Black Angels
THE BLACK ANGELS A Box Of Frogs
The Black Angels perform at Capitol on Monday, June 17, touring in support of their new LP, Indigo Meadow. EDWARD SHARP-PAUL chats with vocalist, Alex Maas. Having cruelly kept their distance for much of their existence, Austin psych rockers The Black Angels are rewarding their Australian fans with a third visit in three years. Having taken seven years to finally tour Australia from their inception in 2004, The Black Angels’ latest visit brings their tally up to three visits in three years. The initial delay was frustrating for the band, and borne of circumstance, rather than any reluctance towards touring Australia. 16
“I know, it took forever!” vocalist, Alex Maas, sighs.“Passover (debut LP) came out in Australia before anywhere else, as a sort of advance screening to test people’s responses. We didn’t sell a million records or anything, but the response was really good. Touring took so long partially because it’s so expensive, and partially because it takes so long to establish relationships in new places. “And also because a number of people had told us, ‘If you don’t come over here, we’re going to kill
“When we go in to make a record, I never know what it’s going to sound like. It’s like shooting a documentary. You have something that you’re focussing on, and then you realise that the real issue is that the chemicals are spilling into the water and killing all the frogs. You were just shooting some cool frogs, and then this whole frame opens up.” similar to the indigenous music of America, in the way it comes from the soul. When I listen to it, it makes my mind all gooey.” While Black Angels fans are obviously delighted with the band’s newfound largesse, there is a sense of frustration at the ongoing difficulties that the band have faced in bringing Psych Fest downunder. The Black Angels are the organisers of Austin Psych Fest, which is in its sixth year, and an Australian edition has long been rumoured to be in the works. “ We still want to do it,” Maas says. “We just couldn’t lock in a venue, or the team of people that we wanted. Location is everything – it doesn’t have to be something amazing, but a cool
intensely for the period of time I’m working on it but then I won’t really get affected by it after I’ve finished it, really. “Once it’s out of my system I’m okay again, so I kind of know when to turn the tap off and turn the tap on. I don’t know how I know, but I’ve always been able to do that. So I guess that’s the key to it, really.” Jones, the man who wrote such great observational songs as Local Boy In The Photograph and The Bartender & The Thief, laughs when I wonder aloud if he gets many people suggesting that their own stories could make a good song subject for him. “Yeah, I used to get that a lot after the first album, because a lot of the first album’s about the small town I was from and people would sit next to me in the pub and start telling me stories. They’d say, ‘Oh, don’t put it in a song’, but what they really meant was, ‘Put it in a song’. Yeah, it used to happen a lot after the first album.” Jones says the band have done the first leg of the tour with new drummer, Jamie Morrison, and he’s settling in nicely. “He’s great, man. He’s a big Stereophonics fan and loves the band - we did the Jools Holland TV show last week and he was amazing and he’s done his first leg of the tour. Great energy, great sense of character. “Yeah, so he’s settling in really well and Richard (Jones, bass) loves playing with him. There’s always that thing with drummers and bass players, they always have their problems. “I think the rhythm section is happy at the moment,” he laughs. Replicating the strings and synths in a live rock’n’roll environment hasn’t posed a challenge to the band either, with Jones admitting they’ve had a keyboard player “behind the amps somewhere” since the band’s second album, Performance & Cocktails. “It’s amazing what you can do with a lot of the new gear now,” he exclaims, “so we’ve got the strings sampled into the keyboard so we can play those parts. It’s pretty accurate to what the album is and they’re sounding great. “And the new material fits in really well with the old stuff as well, because Graffiti On The Train and Indian Summer are being played lots on the radio, and they’re pretty much anthemic tracks live as well now, just like Local Boy In The Photograph. So we’re very proud of the fact that we’ve got all these albums, but the new one is… even though it’s quite diverse, there is stuff that fits in really well in the live forum.” It seems like the only problem the band face at the moment is choosing which songs to play each night. “ The set list is getting harder and harder,” Jones says, laughing at the suggestion that it is a democratic process, before joking, “Yeah, we’re just writing songs of each type so everybody stays happy.” warehouse, or an old mill, it’s gotta be some place with the right personality. 2014 might be a bit more realistic, though.” Indigo Meadow represents a continuation of a trend over the last handful of Black Angels releases, in which the band’s characteristically dark, sludgy textures have been deployed with ever-greater focus and concision. Though the band have downsized to a fourpiece since Phosphene Dream, Maas says that the personnel change has nothing to do with their more direct sound on Indigo Meadow. “ Well, on Phosphene Dream there were times when we were a four-piece in the studio. On Passover (2006) and Directions To See A Ghost (2008), it was just two of us and three of us – that side of things didn’t really change the sound too much. When we go in to make a record, I never know what it’s going to sound like. It’s like shooting a documentary. You have something that you’re focussing on, and then you realise that the real issue is that the chemicals are spilling into the water and killing all the frogs. You were just shooting some cool frogs, and then this whole frame opens up. “So it’s our first record as a four-piece, since Nate (Ryan, bass) left the band, but that’s not the reason that the record sounds different. It sounds different because we’re in a different place. And it’s pretty subjective, but to me it sounds like The Black Angels.” Maas is rightly piqued by the suggestion that this move has been driven by commercial motives, instead explaining the progression as an ongoing refinement of the band’s vocabulary. “ That idea has been brought to my attention before,” Maas says, in response to suggestions that The Black Angels’ more streamlined sound is a play for radio-friendliness, “but it seems like a tacky way to make art. Going back to The Beatles, Buddy Holly... Elvis had songs that were a minute and 50 seconds long. That’s as long as Buddy Holly needed to get his point across. If you like it, listen to it again! Listen to Peggy Sue a thousand times if you have to!” By way of explanation, Maas offers a typically left-field metaphor. “If you’re an author and you’ve only written a couple of books, you might talk about somebody’s shirt for a whole chapter – you describe the colour, the buttons, etc. What we’re doing now is asking, ‘Does that chapter need to be there? Does that extra verse need to be there? Or did we get our point across already?’ “We’re trying to find the song within the song, and cutting all the rest of the fat away.” X-Press – First on the street, Wednesdays
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X-Press – First on the street, Wednesdays
BECCY COLE Beccy’s Big Hits
FRED HERSCH TRIO Alive At The Vanguard Palmetto Records
EMI
ESCAPE THE FATE Ungrateful Eleven Seven Music/Universal
Since their inception in 2004, Escape the Fate have had a tough time keeping hold of their members. Numerous lineups and two label changes have left the band seemingly unsure of their sound and direction, starting with a darker, screamo sound with a sense of humour which was no doubt attributed to former front man Ronnie Radke’s influence and vocal style. On Radke’s departure, Craig Mabbit, formerly of Christian rock band, Blessthefall, took front stage and the band evolved to a more mainstream rock sound, sometimes bordering on soft rock. It has been difficult to predict where Escape the Fate might take their sound next, and knowing what to expect from Ungrateful is no exception. It is ETF’s fourth studio album and the first released on Eleven Seven Music. The production is clean, and they have mixed their rock’n’roll riffs with the post hardcore elements their first album was built on. Tracks like the title Ungrateful and Until We Die are an example of the more powerful, heavier sound and are certainly two stand out tracks on the album, Forget About Me follows the same vein. Interestingly, all these tracks fall into the first half of the album, the second half sounding a little less heavy. For a band who has not quite settled on their sound, the heavier tracks, along with a return to dirtier vocals make this album not completely terrible. Fans of ETF’s former work will likely enjoy this offering and if you have not listened to Escape The Fate before and want an introduction, Ungrateful is probably a good place to start.
NEVSKY PROSPEKT Poseidon’s Ire Independent
Beccy Cole has been a staple on the Australian Country scene since the mid-’90s. With a swag of Golden Guitars to her name and seven albums, it is fair time that she puts together a best of collection Beccy’s Big Hits. Cole is well loved by the country fraternity because of her down to earth nature and overt humour, but when this spills over into her songwriting it leads to some hit and miss results. Life Boat is clever with its smart lyrics bringing a smile that doesn’t take away from the hook. It is tunes such as Sorry I Asked and the tune about her short marriage to Mick Albeck in Lazy Bones which are nothing more than novelty efforts that outstay their welcome after one listen. Cole does get it right more often than not with These Lips having a killer chorus and some tidy pedal steel playing to show what country songs have over pop music any day of the week. The duet with lifelong friend, Kasey Chambers, is also a highlight. Cole is best known for her song for the Australian Troops that has divided some of her fans, and Poster Girl appears here as a live recording. Collecting the 14 of Cole’s most well known tunes in one place won’t offer much new for existing fans, but Beccy’s Big Hits is a great addition for those who don’t want to trawl more deeply through her albums.
This is a double CD recorded live at the Vanguard Jazz Club in New York in 2012 and is jazz pianist Fred Hersch’s third recording at the legendary venue known as ‘the Carnegie Hall of jazz clubs’. It has incredible acoustics, particularly for jazz music. Hersch’s rhythm section is impeccable; Eric McPherson on drums, bassist, John Hebert with the program including both original and jazz standards. The first track is a Hersch original titled Havana in ¾ followed by his composition, Tristesse, a dedication to late drummer, Paul Motian. Charlie Parker’s composition, Segment is given an outing with an outstanding piano solo and a rhythm section that sits on the edge but never falls over. Dream Of Monk is from Hersch’s 2010 multi-media jazz theatre piece, My Coma Dreams, and describes the medically induced coma experienced by Hersch in 2008. Disc 2 starts up with Opener which Hersch wrote as a feature for his drummer and follows with one of the most beautiful ballads, I Fall In Love Too Easily, showcasing his bassist, John Hebert. Hersch’s harmonic understanding, sensitivity and virtuosity is nigh on breathtaking - even though some of the song titles on Disc 2 are confusing (ironically Hersch’s interpretation of I Hear Music isn’t listed). Nonetheless it is more than worth it.
A three-piece who have been making some noise on the local scene for the past two years, Nevsky Prospekt have finally released this doozy of a debut EP which manages to successfully combine a myriad of classic rock and alternative influences into a compelling and unique sound. Led by guitarist, vocalist and Scottish ex-pat Stuart McKay, the band deliver five tracks of bombastic and engaging hard rock that veer all over the rock map while still sounding, steadfastly, like Nevsky Prospekt. Opener, Majesty, is suitably regal, sounding much like Led Zeppelin covering Soundgarden in Muse’s living room while Dolls & Pins has more of a straight Alice In Chains approach. Ordinary Decent Cannibal and Forest are even more unique – elements of Muse, Rush, grunge, Zeppelin and more swirl just out of reach, not clear enough to put the definitive stamp of influence on these songs, whilst McKay’s genuinely thoughtful lyrics fascinate and entice repeated listens. Closer From The Heavens sees the Prospekt back in Muse territory, McKay’s guitar ringing out a peculiarly Eastern melody line while Haydn Bishop and Pat Burke’s rhythm section create a groove-laden hypnotic bedrock. Poseidon’s Ire is another great example of the talent to be found in this town – get out and catch Nevsky Prospekt playing these tracks live sometime very soon.
_ CHRIS HAVERCROFT
_ HELEN MATTHEWS
_ SHANE PINNEGAR
_ DAISY LYTHE
THE BELLRAYS Black Lightning Alternative Tentacles
Hailing from R iverside, California, The BellRays are a four-piece garage rock outfit with a strong undercurrent of soul. Despite a few lineup and label changes over the years, what remains consistent is vocalist Lisa Kekaula’s incredible vocals. She has the ability to scream away to hard rock like Tina Turner but also belt out soulful tones reminiscent of Aretha Franklin. An instrument all on their own - Kekaula’s vocals alone are reason to pay attention to this record. Having been on the scene for over 20 years now, one might be under the impression that it is difficult to keep pushing out decent rock songs without becoming stagnant, but it seems this latest offering does not back down from the challenge. From the minute the album begins you’re in safe hands The BellRays are certainly no stranger to writing infectious rock songs. The title track, Black Lightning, sets the tone with its classic hard rock guitars and powerful vocals. Other honourable mentions include Anymore with its old soul influence and bluesy guitar solos, Power To Burn for a straightforward rock’n’roll fix and The Way has a wonderful Motown feel and breaks up the faster tracks while still remaining upbeat. Lastly, Everybody Get Up really sums up the whole feel of this album - if there was an agenda behind this record, it would be to have a good time. The album is full of fast paced songs that encourage getting on the dance floor, forgetting your worries and rocking out. It is a well written album ideal for lovers of good rock, it’s also worth a listen even if the genre is not your usual cup of tea - you won’t be disappointed. _ DAISY LYTHE
THE NATIONAL Trouble Will Find Me 4AD/Remote Control
Trouble Will Find Me is not an album for sunny afternoons or friendly gatherings, but as a soundtrack to rainy nights and lonely days it’s damn near perfect. The National have returned with an album that is emotionally visceral and vividly resonant. Less angry than Boxer, but also less melodic than High Violet, Trouble Will Find Me makes its own place on the band’s musical spectrum, equal parts tragic and beautiful. The lyrics are striking yet subtle, and largely concerned with transparency and betrayal. Don’t Swallow The Cap renders heart-on-sleeve tendencies concisely – ‘Everything I love is on the table/Everything I love is out to see’ – and Fireproof opens with the achingly poetic, ‘You keep a lot of secrets and I keep none/Wish I could go back and keep some’. In Sea Of Love there’s the apologetic ‘Hey Jo, sorry I hurt you but/They say love is a virtue, don’t they?’, and with the grandiosely morose Slipped the gravelly, ‘I’m having trouble inside of my skin/I try to keep my skeletons in’ leaves a deep impression, while I Need My Girl is lovely and devastating all at once. Part of Berninger, Dessner and co’s gift is that while much of their music is funereal in pace and tone (I Should Live In Salt), it doesn’t drag. Rather, the lyrics may tug at heartstrings, but there remains an airy buoyancy to the instrumentation that lifts the songs to a more exultant place. The shift in direction of Trouble Will Find Me may not be as immediately apparent as with High Violet, but by the time the tempered tone of closer, Hard To Find, plays out, the band sound like they’re nearing an acceptance of sorts. _ NATALE AMAT www.xpressmag.com.au
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X-Press – First on the street, Wednesdays
Australian playwright Joanna MurraySmith’s tale of torrid betrayal and relationship politics runs at the State Theatre Centre from June 15 - 30. Head to bsstc.com.au for session times and tickets. If you’re the type of person who keeps an eye on Australian cinema - and you should be - then Matt Dyktinski should be a familiar if not necessarily instantly identifiable face. Since making his debut in the mid ‘90s he’s been a perennial presence on our screens both large and small, appearing in films such as Love and Other Catastrophes, Road to Nhill and Japanese Story, as well as television series like The Secret Life of Us and Offspring. He’s equally comfortable on stage as well, whether performing stand up comedy or dramatic roles, and its this latter skillset which brings him to our city to essay the role of Tom in Day One, A Hotel, Evening.
High y Infidelity
CONTINUED ON PAGE 22...
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Wintering
WINTER IS COMING
Australian choreographer Aimee Smith presents her newest modern dance work, Wintering, next Tuesday, June 18 and Wednesday, June 19, at The Mandurah Performing Arts Centre. Based on her experiences at the Arctic Circle in 2010, the show utilises sounds and images collected from the Arctic environment, examining the complex relationship between humanity and the landscape. Head to manpac.com. au for details and tickets.
The Great Dictator, Classics of the Silver Screen
BIG DREAMS ON THE SILVER SCREEN
Classics of the Silver Screen is a monthly event presented by The Australian Museum of Motion Pictures. As the title suggests, they screen classic films at Como’s Cygnet Cinema, with all proceeds going to help preserve Australia’s cinematic heritage. Each event works to evoke the experience of going to the cinema in the art form’s heyday, with the feature presentation being bookended by newsreels, cartoons, anbd live action shorts. This Sunday, June 16, catch Charlie Chaplin’s immortal classic, For The Shadows Fall, a new solo exhibition by Trevelyan The Great Dictator. Doors open at 10am, and entry is $10 clay, opens tonight, Wednesday, June 12, at OK Gallery. for adults, $5 for seniors and $5 for AMMP members. Taking hard edged abstraction as his starting point, the artist has pushed the boundaries of the form, experimenting with linear arrangements of colour and Regime Books presents Unhoused, a new collection space to achieve an almost sculptural, three-dimensional of poems from Perth writer Chris Palazzolo. The appearance. Head to oktachoron.com for further details. launch takes place at PICA Bar on Tuesday, June 25, from 6:30pm and will include readings from the collection and musical accompaniment from Chris Boyder. Head to regimebooks.com.au for details. The exhibitions are opening at FORM Gallery this week. Thursday, June 13, sees the debut of From The Atelier, a showcase of products and furniture developed at Midland Atelier’s Pattern Shop Studio, while Friday, June 14, sees the opening of Faultlines, an exhibition by Nick Statham and David Trubridge inspired by Karijini National Park. Prior to the opening, the pair will be delivering an artists’ talk at 5pm RSVP is essential by emailing mail@form.net.au.
SHADOWY MOTIVES
HALFWAY TO HOMELESS
Day One, A Hotel, Evening
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 21. “Well,” Dyktinski muses. “It’s three couples and a lot of people cheating on a lot of other people and I’m probably the worst offender of all.” That’s putting it lightly. The play, by acclaimed Melbourne-based writer Joanna MurraySmith is a hilarious and merciless look at infidelity, encompassing in its brisk running time a staggering variety of parings and partings among its six protagonists. While each character has their own discrete and understandable motivations for their actions, no one is let off the hook either. It’s classic Murray-Smith, and that is largely what attracted Dyktinski to the role. “I’ve done two of Joanna Murray-Smith’s plays before.” he says emphatically. “And I think she’s a fantastic writer and a great comic writer and that’s something that interests me very much.” Dyktinski’s ability to bounce from stage to screen work and back again is impressive, and he is well aware of the different disciplines both sectors of the art demand. “The most obvious one, of course, is that there’s no safety net on stage. You’re relying on your colleagues and your own memory and wit to make sure everything bubbles along and because
of that, like any live performance, no matter how much new technology comes about, there’ll never be anything that compares to live performance.” Dyktinski developed an avid love of performance early in life. “I grew up here in WA,” he says. “And did amateur plays and got the bug and then went to NIDA, to drama school.” Graduating in 1992, he has worked steadily ever since, although not so much that he doesn’t have a few regrets. When asked if there are any iconic roles he’d love to get his hands on, he counters with “It’s actually the ones that I’ve already done that I’d like to have a crack at. I know that just recently here in Perth they did Death of a Salesman. I’m probably a bit too old to play Biff now but I’d definitely like to have a crack at that. Maybe I’ll get to play Willie Loman one day - that’d be nice. In fact, that is a role I would love to play. It’s a magnificent play and magnificent role. There’s a musical, and I’m not really a musical theatre person, but there’s a musical by Stephen Sondheim called Assassins and it’s a really interesting kind of chamber piece. I played a character called The Balladeer and it was my first professional pice. I’d really like to have another crack at that.” _ TRAVIS JOHNSON
IN FINE FORM
HALE AND HEARTY
Acclaimed esoteric artist Barry William Hale is once again exhibiting at Buratti Fine Art in Fremantle. His new collection, C i r k o s , g o e s o n Cirkos, Barry William Hale display this Friday, June 14. Inspired by the Enochian writings of Elizabethan occultist John Dee, Cirkos was created as part of the HYPERCUBE210 Series. The opening night celebrations will include a live performance by Masonik. Go to buratti.com.au for details.
Himark Martin Tailors
SUITS YOU, SIR
Himark Martin Tailors return to Perth on Tuesday, June 18 and Wednesday, June 19. Established in Hong Kong in 1959, the bespoke specialists are highly regarded by their clientele, and their reputation as purveyors of the finest custom men’s formal and business attire is unparalleled. Appointments are essential - go to himarkmartintailors.com for further details.
Mud After Earth
AFTER EARTH Crash And Burn
Directed by M. Night Shyamalan Starring Jaden Smith, Will Smith, Sophie Okonedo, Zoe Kravitz A film of truly staggering ineptitude, After Earth is what happens when a creative figure is so insulated by money, power and the pure cultural gravity of fame that they no longer experience the word ‘no’. A vanity project conceived by Will Smith for him and his son, Jaden, this turgid mess is probably only a minor dip in the fortunes of the House Of Bel Air, although it’s almost certainly the final nail in the coffin for once-promising director M. Night Shyamalan, who here delivers his worst film. Smith the Younger is Kitai Rage (yeah, really), a military cadet in the far flung future who lives in the shadow of his famous and apparently literally fearless father, Cypher (Smith the Elder). The backstory, which is at once thin enough to be implausible and complex enough to be impenetrable, states that we abandoned Earth in the wake of ecological collapse, and humanity is now locked in a war with a vaguely defined alien menace. Events conspire to strand Kitai and Cypher on Earth after their spacecraft crashes, and with Cypher badly injured, Kitai must man up and trek across the hostile landscape in order to activate a rescue beacon. Charitably, there’s the skeleton of a decent story there, and the basic notion of a son trying to prove his worth to an emotionally distant father has some 22
appeal, but it all falls down in the details. Every creative choice just feels wrong, from the dialogue (everyone speaks in a kind of cod-futuristic pan-cultural accent, which only serves to make every interaction stilted and unnatural) to the technology (our heroes are part of a spacefaring civilisation that eschews guns in favour of edged weapons) to the setting (we’re told that everything on Earth has evolved to kill humans, while being presented with an unspoiled paradise that seems much nicer than the colony world the protagonists hail from). Smith Senior goes out of his way to suppress his natural charisma, delivering a wooden and ultimately unlikable performance, while his erstwhile offspring gets to run and jump around a lot, pausing occasionally to pine for some kind of paternal affection, which gets old remarkably quickly. All of that might have been forgivable only just - if the film had moved along at a decent clip and executed its action sequences with something resembling dexterity. Sadly, that’s not the case; After Earth is a horribly paced dirge of a film, weighed down with unearned self-importance and convinced of its own profundity, when in fact the best it could ever have hoped to be is a half-decent wilderness adventure film cloaked in sci-fi trappings. Perhaps the most incomprehensible element of After Earth is that it was reportedly planned as the first installment of a trilogy - an ambition the film’s open and shut narrative in no way supports. Breathe a sigh of relief, then, that the savage critical backlash and tepid box office has almost certainly dashed those hopes - unless the Fresh Prince reaches for his chequebook again. _ TRAVIS JOHNSON
MUD
Tough Mudder Directed by Jeff Nichols S t a r r i n g M at t h e w M c Co n n a u g h ey, Tye Sheridan, Jacob Lofland, Ray McKinnon, Reese Witherspoon, Sam Shepard, Michael Shannon, Joe Don Baker Director Jeff Nichols (Shotgun Stories, Take Shelter) draws on notions of obsession, destiny and tradition once more in this Southern Gothic thriller centred on an enigmatic drifter who calls himself Mud (Matthew McConnaughey). Poor rural teenagers Ellis (Tye Sheridan) and Neckbone (Jacob Lofland) discover an abandoned boat stuck in a tree on an island in the Mississippi River. They also discover Mud, who is living in the boat. He offers to give them the vessel in exchange for them helping him with a few errands, namely bringing him food and running messages to Juniper (Reese Witherspoon), the object of his undying love. Mud adores her so much, in fact, that he murdered her abusive boyfriend, an act which did little to endear him to his victim’s father, King (Joe Don Baker), who has hired a small army of gun thugs to hunt Mud down. Summed up, it sounds like a faster and more action-packed film than it is, and though Mud contains a healthy dose of drama and violence Nichols is, as with his previous two films, more interested in location and character than in empty spectacle. His empathy with and understanding of impoverished rural dwellers remains unabated, and he’s packed his ensemble with a host of excellent
character actors, including Ray McKinnon as Ellis’s stern but struggling father, perennial co-conspirator Michael Shannon as Neckbone’s low-rent lothario uncle, and veteran Sam Shepard as a mysterious neighbour who knows about Mud’s shady past. It’s the central performances that really shine, though. Relative newcomers Sheridan, who appeared in Terrence Malick’s Tree Of Life, and Lofland deliver affable, naturalistic turns, while McConnaughey continues one the most impressive career renaissances in living memory, offering a portrayal that is at once both charming and unnerving. What faults the film does possess really only come to the fore in the last act, with a denouement that renders explicit what perhaps should have remained ambiguous. Nichols also has a tendency to push his Christ motif a little hard in places; when we meet Mud, he appears mysteriously, fishing rod in hand and speaking in vague parables, and he’s being persecuted by a man called King, which is at least one allusion too far. Juniper herself is obviously a Mary Magdalene analogue, while Ellis and Neckbone - and, in a different way, Shepard’s curmudgeonly Mr Blankenship - are Mud’s disciples. While there’s nothing inherently wrong with that, but there are times where Nichols seems so determined to mine his religious subtext that he does so at the expense of organic storytelling. Those are fairly minor complaints, though. Mud is undoubtedly the work of a talented auteur, and the cinematic voice that 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. _ TRAVIS JOHNSON X-Press – First on the street, Wednesdays
You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet!
YOU AIN’T SEEN NOTHING YET!
Life, The Universe And Everything Directed by Alain Resnais Starring Mathieu Amalric, Sabine Azema, Pierre Arditi, Jean-Noel Broute, Denis Podalydes, Lambert Wilson, Anne Consigny Few directors inspire as much respect and admiration as Alain Resnais (Hiroshima mon amour, Last Year at Marienbad). Over the course of a career that has spanned the better part of a century, he has created works that are challenging and provocative, if more than occasionally opaque to the point of being maddening. With is latest work, the overtly metatextual You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet!, he demonstrates that, even at the age of 91, he’s still in no mood to play it safe. Taking two plays by Jean Anouhil - Eurydice and Dear Antoine: or, The Love that Failed - as his inspiration, Resnais lays his scene at the country estate of a recently deceased playwright, Antoine d’Anthac (Denis Polydates). At a gathering of actors who have performed his works over the years, the dead writer has organised a screening of a filmed version of the play Eurydice, as performed by a troupe of young actors. The assembled veteran performers, watching the play in the luxurious comfort of a private screening room, begin to recite the lines of dialogue along with the onscreen actors, and thus the line between fiction and real life - or different levels
of fiction, if you prefer - begins to blur. It could have been terribly precious and self indulgent. The assembled actors are all playing exaggerated versions of themselves, and your enjoyment of their performances may hinge on how well you know the public personae of French celebrities such as Mathieu Amalric (Quantum of Solace, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly) and Sabine Azema (wife of Resnais and star of a number of his films). Yet the film is, more than an exercise in arch self-awareness, a meditation on the nature of fiction, of performance, of time and regret. Each of the older actors watching has acted in Eurydice at some time or another, and so has a younger analogue on the screen, and their differing interpretations of the same roles allows us, as viewers, an oblique insight into their actual characters. Or does it? It’s difficult to discuss the piece without appearing verbally clumsy - there are at least four levels of abstraction going on at any given moment of the film, and English tends to run out of steam after two - but if Resnais intends to baffle us, it’s in the most playful of ways. Yes, he’s dealing with complex concepts and he’d really like it if you could keep up, but there’s an exuberance on display here, a formal whimsy that’s enjoyable even if, at times, it’s difficult to get a handle on exactly what Resnais is doing and saying with his film. Challenging and yet celebratory, You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet! exults in the sheer naked potential of narrative in general and cinema in particular. Casual viewers might find themselves nonplussed, but those with an interest in the actual form of film will find much to enjoy here. _ TRAVIS JOHNSON
THE INTERNSHIP Brought To You By... Directed by Shawn Levy Starring Vince Vaughn, Owen Wilson If Vince Vaughn’s as good a salesman in real life as he is in his latest movie, I’m not surprised Fox agreed to empty their pockets to make The Internship - the guy he plays in this elongated company training video could sell a poop-smeared dial-up modem to a PHP programmer (note: that isn’t a scene from the film, but should’ve been). So what has Vaughn suckered Twentieth Century Fox into? Anyone for the cinematic equivalent of one of William Shatner’s Priceline commercials - with Vaughn and co-star Owen Wilson playing celebrity spokespeople for the internet giant, Google? They’re selling it as a movie. A couple of 40-something buddies (Vaughn, Wilson) hit the skids when they lose their jobs as watch salesman (because, of course, nobody wears watches anymore; they simply check the time on their phones). Vaughn’s character - the one who can never see anything through, according to his newly-ex girlfriend - comes up with the ingenious idea to combine their proven skills in selling and marketing with the biggest technology company on the planet, Google. With some trickery and whimsical words, the duo get themselves short-term internships at the Willy Wonka-like Google headquarters in San Francisco - alongside a bunch of brainy youngsters - but in order to snag themselves full-time employment, their team has to beat the other groups in a series of tests (be it inventing an app, finding a bug in some code, or selling the most ads to a business). What this Wedding Crashers reunion proves is that typewriters and ‘Frat Packers’ don’t mix. The Internship, delegating story and screenplay credits to Vaughn (plus a producing credit to boot), is as broken as Owen’s nose. www.xpressmag.com.au
The Internship
And the fact that the inner elements of the film have dated before it’s even on screens isn’t even so much the problem here, as it is the execution. Had the laughs been there, a fun story been there, and some great characters been on screen, the thing could’ve been set at Atari headquarters and it would’ve scored higher marks. Vaughn’s yarn is such a large fart of nothing that it was likely written on crib notes with all of them pre-approved by Google itself before production started. More so, the once-dependable actor and funnyman seemingly set out with an inexplicable determination to make something cleaner and more PC than his and Wilson’s previous film - which worked mostly because of the fabbo dirty humour and unrestrained ridiculousness it boasted. Whatever the case, a drive combining particles of writer Vaughn, Google plugs, Night At The Museum director Shawn Levy, and techno-babble is riddled with bugs. There’s a couple of bright moments - Rose Byrne is adorable in anything she does, there’s a slightly-amusing reference to Flashdance (Jennifer Beals movie talk being a sure way to win over the kids of the ‘80s), a fun sight gag involving quidditch (the sport played in the Harry Potter films) and the young cast - including Teen Wolf regular Dylan O’Brien and Brit actor, Max Minghella (The Social Network) - try hard, but the only thing you’ll really take away from the thankfully-short flick is: Google looks like a great company to work for, and boy do they have great people working for them. Note: this review has not been paid for, sponsored or written by a former Netscape intern. _ CLINT MORRIS 23
Darcy James Argue
DARCY JAMES ARGUE Bold as Brass
Canadian big band leader and self-styled steampunk musician Darcy James Argue performs with the Western Australian Youth Jazz Orchestra at The Bakery this Saturday, June 15 - head to nowbaking.com.au for details. When we talk to Darcy James Argue, the idiosyncratic composer is in Melbourne and sounding just a little bit tired. When you take into consideration his recent tour schedule out and about with Australia’s Jazzgroove Mothership Orchestra, that’s not even the least bit surprising. “We’ve put together an 11 day tour for an entire big band,” Argue explains. “And it’s rather remarkable. I don’t know of any other big band in the world right now who is able to play night after night after night and get that kind of road experience into the music - it’s really been an incredible experience.” Argue’s regular outfit, the New York based Secret Society, is perhaps the most popular big band in the world, and their first album, Infernal Machines, garnered a Grammy nomination. However, on this tour has seen him conduct Mothership, before changing horses again for his Perth show. “There’ll be the same instrumentation but a different bunch of guys,” he tells us. “When I head out to Perth it’ll be with WAYJO, the WA Youth Jazz Orchestra run by Mace Francis, who is quite a good composer in
his own right. So it’s a little double billing type of thing - going out on the road with Mothership and then heading to Perth at the end of all that. I’m quite looking forward to being in one place for two days at a time.” Now, there’s a very real chance that your perceptions of big band music lean towards the Glenn Miller or Benny Goodman end of the spectrum, but Argue’s work is far more contemporary than that. He creates intricate, cinematic soundscapes filled with pomp and fury, drawing on rock influences as well as more traditionbal musical cues. His latest album, Brookyn Babylon, has drawn strong praise from critics and fans alike.“There’ll be a few selections from that,” he promises us. “And a few selections from the previous album, Infernal Machines, and a few selections that haven’t actually been recorded yet - some live favourites and deep cuts - that sort of thing.” Indeed, Brooklyn Babylon is, in fact, a collaboration between Argue and Croatian-born comic book artist Danijel Zezelj, known for his work on horror and crime titles such as Hellblazer, El Diablo and Congo Bill. “I thought it might be nice to find the right artist who understands sequential narrative that might be fun to build into the music in some way. I had a friend who was an editor at Vertigo so I called her up and asked if there was anyone in Brooklyn who might be suited and she sent me a list of names. When I looked up Danijel’s website and saw his work, I instantly thought, ‘Oh, that’s the guy!.’” _ TRAVIS JOHNSON
Darcy James Argue
WILL O’MAHONEY Shark Bait
Great White, the new play from Equity Award winning actor/director/writer Will O’Mahoney, runs at The Blue Room Theatre from June 12 - 29. Go to blueroom.org.au for session times and ticketing. Even if you don’t get within spitting distance of the water, living in Perth endows one with a very keen awareness of the nature of shark attacks - the infinitesimal odds of being bitten neatly counterbalanced by the infinitesimal odds of surviving being mistaken for a seal by a hungry white pointer. We are the shark attack capital of the world, and it’s that stark fact that initially started Will O’Mahoney on the path that would lead to his newest theatrical production, Great White. “Basically, a young couple with a bit of a tumultuous relationship go out swimming one morning in the middle of winter and they are confronted by an enormous fin.” O’Mahoney explains. “What we start to see play out in a roundabout way is the shark deciding who to eat - one or the other. And I guess that comes from me wondering what would happen if a shark had a choice about who to eat - what would happen under those conditions?” So, this is clearly a shark-as-metaphor kind of a story, then? “It’s about a shark - but, funnily enough, it’s not. More than anything else, it’s about 24
three characters whose lives are brought to a head because of the appearance of a massive fin. It’s really about growing up, I think; we meet three people who are all lost in their own kind of way and they’ve all got a precarious relationship with growing up. One character never got the chance to grow up, one’s scared to grow up and one character is made to grow up over the course of the play.” What’s intriguing here is the way that O’Mahoney insists on referring to the shark not as a plot element, but as a character with their own motives and developmental arc. Indeed, he has enlisted one of Perth’s brightest young theatre stars to essay the role of the big fish - Adriane Daff, recently seen in Black Swan’s The Importance of Being Ernest and Death of a Salesman. “I’ve wanted to work for Adriane for a long time,” he tells us. “And I’m glad she was able to do this, because she’s really in demand and she has a really great role - she gets to play the shark, of all things, so that’s exciting for her - it’s a bit of a unique acting challenge for her.” The rest of the cast includes Mikala Westall and O’Mahoney himself. All three are keen to explore the character dynamics inherent in the piece.“It really is an actor’s play. Everyone’s on board because they’re really looking forward to bringing these people to life, and hopefully we’ll be able to honour these characters with three-dimensional performances and give them the complexity they kind of deserve and demand.” _ TRAVIS JOHNSON X-Press – First on the street, Wednesdays
VISUAL ARTS For the Shadows Fall: OK Gallery A solo exhibition by Trevelyan Clay. Runs until July 12. Go to oktachoron.com for details.
Van Gogh, Dali and Beyond - The World Reimagined: Art Gallery of WA The third exhibition in AGWA’s MoMA Series encompasses works from Vincent Van Gogh, Paul Cezanne, Richard Long, Frida Kahlo and more. The exhibition runs from June 21 - Dec 2. Go to artgallery. wa.gov.au for further information.
THEATRE/DANCE/ PERFORMANCE
Test Screen: Paper Mountain The first solo exhibition by West Australian artist Tim Carter runs until June 22. Go to papermountain.org. Driving Miss Daisy: His Majesty’s Theatre Angela Lansbury is Miss Daisy, the spirited Jewish au for details. woman who develops a deep friendship with her chauffeur, Hoke, played by James Earl Jones. The Year 12 Perspectives: Art Gallery of WA An exhibition of works from the best, brightest, and season runs until June 19. Head to daisyonstage.com. most creative graduating high school artists in the au for tickets and session times. state. Runs until June 30. Great White: The Blue Room Theatre A couple are menaced by a hungry fish in Will Made To Remember: Art Gallery Of WA A beautifully considered display of significant O’Mahony’s latest. The season runs until June 29. Go Indigenous objects from the State Art Collection. to blueroom.org.au for more. Runs until June 30. Day One, A Hotel, Evening: The State Theatre Centre Earth + Fire + Water: Elements Gallery The Black Swan State Theatre Company presents an This new exhibition by Adelaide based artist arch relationship comedy from playwright Joanna Maureen Hudson Nampijinpa runs from June Murray-Smith. The season runs from June 15 - 30. Go 14 - 30. Go to elementsartgalley.com.au for more. to bsstc.com.au for tickets and session times. Zeitgeist: The Mount Lawley Bowling Club An evening of creepy cabaret described as a mashup of Bertold Brecht and Tom Waits. It runs from June 21 - 23. Go to justimprovise.com.au for details. Pete ‘n’ Keely: Chancery Bar, Kings Perth Hotel This musical comedy centered on singing couple Pete Bartel and Keely Stevens runs from June 27 - 29. Tickets from trybooking.com 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. Sand Dunes, Maureen Hudson Nampijinpa From War to Remembrance - A Living History of the RSL: The State Library of WA An exhibition on the history, goals and activities of the RSL in Western Australia. It runs until June 30.
FESTIVALS Perth Winter Arts Season: Various Locations Over 200 events are planned, encompassing film, comedy, cabaret, opera, literature, dance, music and fine arts. The season runs until August 31. Head to perthwinterarts.com.au for more information.
Now or Never: The Butcher Shop A solo exhibition by Perth artist, Cheeks. Runs until 16th Spanish Film Festival: Cinema Paradiso July 3. Go to thebutchershop.com.au for more. Over 20 films are on offer, ranging from the satirical comedy A Gun in Each Hand by Cesc Gay to Luis Now & Then: The John Curtin Gallery Bunuel’s surreal classic, Tristana. The festival runs Presenting works from Brian Blanchflower and until June 23. Head to lunapalace.com.au for tickets Paul Caporn, two of Western Australia’s most and session times. acclaimed artists. The exhibition runs until July 7. Go to johncurtingallery.curtin.edu.au for further Perth International Burlesque Festival 2013: Various information. Locations Shows, parties, workshops and more, featuring local Secrets of the Afterlife: The Western Australian and international performers, including Sugar Blue Museum Burlesque. It runs from Jun3 24 - July 6. Head to This collection of over 100 Egyptian artefacts from perthburlesquefestival.com for details. the British Museum collection - including two mummies! - explores ancient attitudes to life after Supanova Pop Culture Expo: Robinson Pavillion, death. The exhibition runs until September 22. Go to Claremont Showgrounds museum.gov.au for more. Guests this year include Margot Kidder, David Hasselhoff, Karl and Alan. It runs from June 28 - 30. Plans: Melody Smith Art Gallery Head to supanova.com.au for details. This exhibition by David Ledger explores the work and ideology of architect Bruno Taut. It runs until Revelation Film Festival: Luna Leederville, Cinema June 25. Go to melodysmithgallery.com for more. Paradiso, Luna on SX A whole host of the edgiest, most experimental Restoring Hope: 192 William St, Northbridge and downright outré films from every far-flung corner Works by young people from refugee and migrant of the globe will be on offer, as well as the best local backgrounds presented as part of Refugee Week. It content and the RevCon academic program. It all runs from June 18 - 23. head to propel.org.au for happens from July 4 - 14. Head to revelationfilmfest.org details. for details. Twelfth Night: The Melville Theatre Director Jeffrey Watkins’ interpretation of Shakespeare’s dark comedy runs from June 21 - July 6. Go to meltheco.org.au for sessions and ticketing.
Twelfth Night www.xpressmag.com.au
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X-Press – First on the street, Wednesdays
MOTIVATIONALLY SPEAKING Not content with having what’s probably the best rap name in Australia, The Tongue has also consistently strived to create some of the country’s best albums as well. He’s about to kick off a series of dates around the country, alongside DJ Skoob, but somehow found the time to have a chat with our NICK SWEEPAH.
Embarking on a national tour probably isn’t the first thing you’d plan to do if you were in the middle of trying to get your masters in teaching, but then again, The Tongue has never been the kind of emcee to do things by halves.
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Launching himself on the Australian hip hop community by way of a phenomenal ability to freestyle, he went on to sign with the illustrious Elefant Traks label. This deal has thus far paved the way for three albums, three mixtapes, an EP and numerous guest spots with some of the best producers and emcees in the country - and even a memorable tribute to Dr Seuss performed at the Sydney Opera House. He’s had a great run, albeit one that may - possibly - be coming to an end. In previous interviews, The Tongue had suggested that his last album, Alternative Energy, may in fact have been his final release. So what happened in the meantime? “You go through periods where you feel good about life, and you go through periods where you’re struggling and you wonder if you can ever get back to where you were,” he explains. “I’m more confident with music now but I was definitely in a period where I’d made a bunch of songs and I go ‘Can I actually do this again?’ I have insecurities myself but I guess I just somehow found myself in another positive slipstream.”
Now the fruit of this positivity has hit the shelves, and will be gracing stages all over the country. The title of the album and tour - Surrender to Victory seems like a paradox of sorts, but The Tongue breaks it down: “That title just popped into my head, literally out of nowhere, and that made me suspicious that I might have picked it up somewhere else subconsciously, but I searched around, and I hadn’t. To me what it means is - you have to get out of your own way in order to succeed. You have to give in to your potential. Most of us block ourselves in life. We’re lazy or we don’t believe in ourselves, we talk ourselves out of good ideas. It’s sort of about - stop fighting yourself, and surrender to victory.” It’s a great concept, but one that he half jokingly says makes him “feel like Anthony Robbins, at a motivational speaking conference.” One of the unique aspects of this album is that it’s the first from The Tongue that is entirely produced by one person - relative newcomer Cam Bluff. The exchange of one beat led to three more, which evolved into a five day studio session in Cairns, and thus, the album.
“We just kind of believed in each other and I can see his hunger. He’s really hungry right now and wants to start his legacy in Australia. I think you’re going to see, after this album, that it’s only a springboard for him. He’s already producing for all sorts of people. Anyway, he was the key to the lock I guess. There wouldn’t have been the album without him, is what I’m trying to say.” It sounds like the set-up for all classic emcee/producer duos, and the emcee confirms this. “Whenever we’re around each other, music just gets made.” While The Tongue definitely lives up to his name in an interview scenario, he’s still saving some enthusiasm for the stage. “Man, I feel like my interviews come across kind of serious in print, but the shows are a party.”
» THE TONGUE » HUSSLE HUSSLE » FRIDAY, JUNE 14 @ MOJOS
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P-MONEY
EMIKA
The man who could be described as Scribe’s Ryan Lewis since his renowned production efforts on the Kiwi’s hit Not Many, has put out his first US release, Gratitude. Targeting his American audience, the now New York resident, who recently signed on to Duckdown Music, has gone for track titles like Welcome To America and also gets philosophically deep with tunes Finding God and Killuminati. Featuring a vast array of vocalists and rappers throughout the album, P-Money covers a wide range of topics, along with the standard expletive-littered verses, neatly mixed together with smooth old-school basslines. The album tends to stay within its comfort zone, not really venturing past tried and tested production methods or giving the listener something new. The vocal variation (including a Stephen Hawking monologue) coming over the bass, drums and piano, add a bit to the record, providing different artists perspectives and no doubt P-Money is taking advantage of connections made through his record label and industry experience. The LP title track highlights the thankfulness P-Money has for the opportunity to make music for a living, in the usual manner veteran artists go for. At this stage he’s reflective of his success and career journey, while still earning respect for getting his name out in a new market so far from his humble homeland. He’s an artist whose name is always mentioned alongside someone else’s, and so drawing away from his own musical ability and sharing the spotlight with as many students and collaborators as he can.
Ninja Tunes’ darling Emika is an English chanteuse of Czech descent, based in Berlin. Singer, songwriter, producer, performer, she is many things - dark and intense, delicate and beautiful. Her music is confronting, a tightly wound, sexually charged package of emotion and pulsing beats. Following her self-titled debut in 2011 she has refined her own sound. With trip hop, dub and electro influences, her symphonic synth playing and haunting vocals conjure many dramatic images. Hush Interlude starts things in classical style featuring the operatic voice of Michaela Srumova. Aggressive, buzzing single, She Beats, is accompanied by a dark and disturbing video-clip. Following is the lazy, throbbing beat and chilled grooves of Filters and the gorgeous After The Fall, featuring a melancholic melody and shimmering synth sounds, the likes of which would do Royksopp or Goldfrapp proud. Sing To Me, with its fluttering keyboard and rumbling, dubstep bassline reaffirms the juxtaposition of Emika’s music – the light with the dark, the delicate with the heavy, the organic and the electronic. Throughout, Emika’s unique voice is the captivating thread that holds it all together, like a narrative, through its various moods and swings. Soft, sultry, with an understated, almost choked delivery. The orchestral interlude of Dem Worlds announces the second chapter. The sinister Sleep With My Enemies is dark, electro pop perfection. Also included is her superb, dreamy cover of Chris Isaak’s Wicked Game. At 15 tracks, the album could benefit from a trim, but is overall a very smooth, sophomore effort. The mood needs to be right, but give her a chance and after a few listens Emika will draw you into her world, and enchant you.
GRATITUDE DUCKDOWN MUSIC
» TOM KITSON
DVA NINJA TUNES
» ALFRED GORMAN
Rregula & Dementia
YOUR TURNING POINT?
Got stellar remixing skills? Perth’s own D’n’B head, Rregula has been bunkering down on his second and forthcoming LP with Austrian/German producer Dementia. Dropping on Dutch label, Citrus Recordings, Yuksek Turning Point is planned for release later this year. The duo are giving aspiring producers the chance to get in on the track-list by remixing their atmospheric, guitar-driven neurofunker, Life On Earth. You’ve got French purveyor of electro party-jams, Yuksek until July 28 to send your work via wetransfer.com to (Pierre to his mates), will be bringing the good times to Villa on Saturday, July 13 with some fine local lifeonearth_remix@hotmail.com. Get to it. supports. After dropping two acclaimed LPs and having just launched his own record label, the aptly named Partyfine, a night out with Yuksek promises a multitude of tasty French house vibes minus the helmet hype. He’ll be supported by Perth’s own Paradise Paul, Lightsteed and Willy Slade. Tickets are $25+bf via Moshtix.
YUKSEK, OUI?
SMART APP?
Shapeshifter
SHAPESHIFTY TOUR
New Zealand’s masters of live heavy soul/ funk D’n’B, Shapeshifter, are on their way to town after the release of their fifth studio album, Delta. These guys give up anything but a typical live show, seamlessly jumping between rock to club to soul sounds in the one set. Tickets for their Saturday, August 17 gig at Metro City are now on sale at $50+bf via Oztix. Or you can procure yourself the album plus the ticket in a bundle for $60+bf.
BASS KLEPH
KID KENOBI
Now a resident of LA, one-time Sydney-sider, Bass Kleph, was trained as a drummer before turning his attention to electronic beats. TOM KITSON chats with him ahead of his Australian headline tour.
As one of Australia’s most renowned home grown DJs, Kid Kenobi boasts an accolade-filled career and record label. TOM KITSON gets his thoughts on Ambar’s change of venue and his passion for the music.
HOMECOMING
As a performer, Bass Kleph aka Stu Tyson, exudes a sense of clear enjoyment, grinning as he drops the bass and savouring the hold the music takes on his audience. This love for dance music has taken him from drumming in a rock band to making Beatport hits and doing shows around the world. He’s been in the industry for around a decade now, currently running Vacation Records from his Los Angeles base, touring extensively and producing and remixing electro and house bangers like I’ll be OK and Shakedown. Describing his journey from teenage drummer to global DJ, Tyson makes note of the breakbeat scene of the ‘90s that got him started. “In 2003 I put my first record out, after getting hooked on dance music in about 1998,” he says. “I was playing in rock bands early on as a drummer - nothing really grabbed me about dance music until I heard breakbeat, like The Chemical Brothers, The Prodigy and Squarepusher. “I was like ‘Wow, these drums are amazing, I’ve gotta check this out and learn more about it!’” he says. “Then I progressed into house music and never looked back.” Tyson had been honing his production skills on the sidelines while drumming in three piece band Loki. “The band broke up in 2001, and I could have joined another band, but I really believed in dance music so I gave up the drums which I’d been learning for 12 years, sold them, my cymbals, cases and studio gear and just knuckled down writing tracks.” He’s since moved through various dance genres but always with a focus on bass and making music that gets a club crowd moving. “From breaks I moved into fidget house, then to electro, tech house, traditional house and I’m back into electro now and bringing in a bit of a tech house twist,” he says.“I really like the Flume kick drum stuff and big, chunky sounds like W&W; those guys are really rocking it for me.” 28
Some of us may have met our regular weekend crew in a queue, but if you’re the type that doesn’t like waiting around in lines, three local dudes have launched a free smartphone app that could make your night out hurt a little less. NightGuy aims to provide punters with the waiting times to get into local venues via crowd sourced contributions and is available for download for android and NightGuy App iphone. Check the Q&A with co-creator Nicholas Ainsworth on our website xpressmag.com.au and go to our facebook page if you’re keen to make a comment.
ALL WORK AND PLAY
Bass Kleph Bringing a bag of new tunes and remixes on tour, along with his signature drum machine, Tyson says his new home in America has been a great to him so far, with a multitude of professional opportunities coming his way. “I’d been touring here for a few years before I moved permanently, and the shows are always amazing,” he says. “I had the opportunity to move over here, and I thought it was the way to go, for the incredible shows and being able to collaborate with other artists, and I can always come back to Australia and play.”
» BASS KLEPH » FRIDAY, JUNE 14 @ 133 ABERDEEN STREET
Taking home a swag of DJ awards as a young up-andcoming producer to now helping others reach their potential, Jesse Desenberg aka Kid Kenobi has been a lover and a purveyor of dance music since the early ‘90s. Initially a hip hop man, his tastes were forcibly broadened growing up in Sydney and enveloping himself in the rave scene. “Dance music started for me a very long time ago - going to illegal raves in the early ‘90s - so I got introduced to it at a young age when it was still extremely underground and nobody knew anything about it,” he says. “I fought rave music for a very long time; I just wanted to be hip hop forever kind of thing until I finally caved in and just loved it. I’d listen to music during the week and then be a part of the culture on the weekend, and it sort of grew from that.” Desenberg knew he was beginning to make it as a DJ when he could pay the rent with the earnings from his early gigs, but says he didn’t have a plan as a uni student. He recalls the awards he won early on as being an important part of his development, as well as doing mixes for Ministry of Sound, things that collectively snowballed until he found himself living the life of a professional. “With the first awards I won (including People’s Choice NSW DJ of the Year 2001), I was like “cool, now mum and dad will look at what I’m doing and not think I was wasting my time,” he says. The head honcho of Sydney dance label Klub Kids Records, Desenberg stresses the importance of staying fresh, defined by his motto ‘forward-thinking party music.’ The label’s current roster features a growing number of Aussie artists working away in various genres through house, breaks and hip hop. “It’s about seeing what other people are doing, and trying to find a way of making that your own,” he says. “I think I’ve got a certain style, and it’s
Kid Kenobi not genre-specific, it’s like party and bouncy kind of vibes really. I’ll just take current music and put it in line with what I like.” Having played some memorable nights at Ambar, he’s sad to hear of the club’s relocation this year. “It’s really sad actually. Ambar always represented to me a true bastion of club culture,” he says. “It’s why I got into club music you know, it’s a place where you can come and express yourself, play music you love playing, people would react to it and it was about being a real DJ for me.” As the father of a two year old daughter, Desenberg has plenty of perspective to go with his love of club music, keeping himself grounded and juggling the different roles in his life. “It’s always on the go, she takes a lot energy you know? he says. “With all the work I’m doing you just don’t stop, but it’s all worthwhile stuff.”
» KID KENOBI » FRIDAY, JUNE 14 @ AMBAR X-Press – First on the street, Wednesdays
THE UPBEATS
LIKE A STONE AGE MAN NZ D’n’B outfit The Upbeats offer all the speedy breakbeats you’d expect, with a sinister tech vibe twist. JODY MACGREGOR catches up with one half of the duo for the low down on their new LP ahead of their Perth gig. The Upbeats’ new album is full of mysterious noises that sound like someone grinding a car to pieces and maybe a plane falling out of the sky; things that sound like technology failing and being destroyed. Then in comes tribal percussion and a swarm of giant dinosaur insects, replacing those planes and cars, as if you’re hearing the past taking over from a collapsing future. The album’s called Primitive Technique, and that clash of crisp electronic beats with rougher textures is what it’s all about. “We’ve always thought our sound was pretty raw and primal,” says Dylan Jones, half of the duo. “We’ve always liked that aesthetic.” For the album’s artwork they hired WETA Digital, famous for doing special effects on the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit films, to create fantasy-themed props and costumes. The video for single Alone features a horned shaman dressed in furs conducting an esoteric ritual involving runes and standing stones. It’s a far cry from the spacey or urban visuals you usually get with dance music. “It feels like with drum and bass it gets in a bit of a rut with design and the angles that people push - that anonymous sci-fi thing,” says Jones. “Fantasy is not too far off that but we thought it was a cool angle to push. Sometimes it helps when we’ve got an aesthetic like that, it helps us get an idea of the music. We can fit an album around that vibe.” A clashing vibe is also part of their working relationship. Jeremy Glenn is the rhythm guy, more likely to be crafting beats, while Jones is the melody guy, who composes a lot of his ideas by playing around on a guitar before bringing them in, sometimes recorded straight onto his phone, for Glenn to hear. “Quite a few of the more melodic things like Alone started off with a guitar riff or just a chord sequence. Falling Into Place is another one on the
The Upbeats album that was just another little chord sequence that eventually developed into a tune. There’s quite a few that Jeremy doesn’t like the sound of, we sort of have quite differing musical tastes sometimes with what we listen to, so it’s good to have him really get into something.” Jones listens to indie rock and guitar bands, while Glenn is into hip hop, soul and funk. Jones sums up their differences as “strengths and weaknesses” that compliment each other, and another of the strengths of a duo is the ability to be in two places at once. “Since the album’s been in the works it feels like we’ve been touring pretty much non-stop,” he says. “Because there are two of us we can split up; Jeremy’s been over in the States – at the start of the year he did a little tour over there – and we’ve both been in Europe for about a month each. We sort of do a tag-team thing over there.” Over here though, in New Zealand and Australia, we get to enjoy the full The Upbeats experience. “We try not to split up in some places, especially around home. People kind of expect us to be together. When we play in Oz too we like to play together. I think really when people see The Upbeats they want to see the two of us. But in the States and the UK and Europe people don’t really seem to care,” he says with a laugh.
» THE UPBEATS » FRIDAY, JUNE 21 @ GEISHA
NEON STEVE MIXING IT UP
Lauded Canadian producer and DJ, Neon Steve, is hitting up Australian shores for the first time this year. CHLOE PAPAS caught up with him ahead of his two Perth gigs and finds out why he’s every dance music snob’s go-to DJ. Neon Steve has been quietly taking over the EDM charts worldwide for a few years now, blending everything from drum ‘n’ bass to trap, working with the likes of Datsik & Bare and Rico Tubbs as well as releasing a bunch of original tracks. Steve explains that it’s all in the genes: “I grew up in a really musical family and seemed to always be the odd one out,” he says. “I always wanted to play instruments, but could never pick it up until I went to a rave and saw a DJ play - that was pretty much it after that!” Steve has been releasing tracks and dominating DJ booths in Canada, the US, and the UK since 2011, and signed with Bombstrikes last year. He takes us back to where it all started. “I started writing bootlegs and I think that’s probably how I got my foot in the door, too. I did a couple of unofficial bootlegs of Excision tunes and he caught word of it and asked me to jump on board a legit remix. The first one I did ended up in the Beatport Top 10 for quite a while and I think that helped turn some heads for sure. Anything attached to X is bound to get some attention; he’s a boss!” The young producer’s first EP was released last year through Bombstrikes, and Steve says there’ll be a lot more where that came from. “I think most of my releases this year will be focused towards original material, and lots of bass. I’ve been writing lots of trap and moombahton 110 style stuff lately. As well as some drum ‘n’ bass in there too,” he discloses. When pressed for particular styles or artists that he’s looking to at the moment, Steve finds it hard to pinpoint just one. “There’s so much amazing music of all styles getting released these days it’s really hard to choose. I’m loving lots of the new trap artists coming up, as well as lots of house and D’n’B. Some names I always seem to find in my crates are Brillz, Baauer, Disclosure, Metrik and Rudimental.” www.xpressmag.com.au
Neon Steve Neon Steve will be heading to Australia this weekend, and he’s pumped for his first trip. “I’m beyond excited!” he enthuses. “It’s been a dream to get over there since high school. I used to want to come over to skateboard, but now that music is taking me there; I’m stoked!” He’ll be touring the country for about a month, and without giving away any details, mentions that he’ll be spending some time in the studio with friends on his trip. The DJ will be hitting Capitol this weekend, and gives X-Press a bit of insight into what we can expect from his set. “I like to play a little bit of everything so that even the snobbiest of music snobs can walk away happy they heard at least a couple jams they really liked. I always try to keep it high energy and fun.”
» NEON STEVE » FRIDAY & SATURDAY, JUNE 14-15 @ CAPITOL 29
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THE COURT
WEDNESDAY 12/06 Amplifier – Harlem Wednesday’s ft Genga Club Red Sea - Cheek Groove Bar (Crown) – 5 Shots The Good Shepherd – Dope Gold Bar – Famous ft DJ Munch & Ben Renna Mustang Bar – Envy with DJ James MacArthur Newport Hotel – RnB Heaven ft DJ Wot Evs, Angry Buda & DJ Mr Phat
JACK BEATS
The Village Bar – Village People Wednesdays Llama bar - Arkuna Club
THURSDAY 13/06 Amplifier – Academy ft DJ Eddie Electric The Avenue – Jon Ee The Bird – Hip Hop Kara”Yo”ke ft Nathan J The Beat (downstairs) - Fantasy Thursdays
Lil B
VILLA
FRIDAY 14/06 133 Aberdeen - Bass Kleph/ Drifter/ ShaDDow Brothers/ ACEBASIK Ambar - Kid Kenobi/ Tonic/ Bezwun/ Black & Blunt Amplifier - DJ Jamie Mac The Avenue - DJ Lokie Shaw The Aviary (Birdcage) - Tomás Ford The Aviary (Rooftop) - Paradise Paul /Troy Division The Bird - Aloi Single Launch ft Mudlark/ Nora Zion/ Mei Saraswati/ Leon Odborn/ Clunk The Beat (downstairs) - PLAY Bailey Bar & Bistro - Tip Top Sound DJ Capitol - Frat House Fridays ft Neon Steve Capitol - (upstairs) – Retro Mash ft Dj’s all night Club Red Sea – Velvet Connections – Inside Out The Claremont Hotel - FNKD UP ft Soul Pupose DJs Empire Bar - Howie Morgan band/ Matt Riley/ Jordan Flyrite - Self Help Geisha Bar - Open House Gilkisons Dance Studio Strange Fruit Groove Bar (Crown) - DJ Crazy Craig Library – Dorcia Metro Freo - Frat House Fridays Death Disco DJs Mojo’s Bar - The Tongue & DJ Skoob Mustang Bar - OZ Big Band with Swing DJ/ Cheeky Monekys/ DJ James MacArthur Newport Hotel – DJs Tom Drummond & Tahli Jade, Sardi & Evan
NEVER IDLE
UK trip hop legend, Tricky, has just released his 10th album, False Idols. BENJAMIN COOPER reports.
Tricky
MULLALOO BEACH HOTEL
The Craftsman - University Cocktail Party ft DJ Five-o The Claremont Hotel Institution ft Obnoxious DJs Club Bay View - Dj-Vi Son Eve Nightclub - Retro Thursdays Mustang Bar -The Stokies/ Sexy Robot/ Midflight Parasite/ DJ James MacArthur Newport Hotel - DJ Tim from Mills
TRICKY
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FLAUNT
Tricky is on the road... to somewhere. “Where am I going tonight?” he posits. “I don’t know. Maybe Stockholm? All I know is I’m playing a show somewhere in Europe tomorrow, somewhere that starts with an ‘S’, I think.” The days and the destinations are starting to blur for Adrian Nicholas Matthews Thaws. The artist known as Tricky is in his home country of England, but is a long way from home. Tricky moved to Paris a few years back, and says he enjoys it there. Does he enjoy the French capital more than Bristol, the southern English city where he grew up and began his career as a producer and performer? “Let’s just say I like visiting London,” he says, avoiding talk of his hometown. “There’s always fucked up shit going on here in London.There could be people
Need For Mirrors Paramount - Flyte/ DJ John Jordan Rocket Room - Howlers ft DJ Frank N Bean The Saint - Mikeee Shape - The Switch First Birthday Party Tiger Lils - Paul Malone, Adam Kelly, Alex Koresis
Eve Nightclub - ft DJ Crazy Craig Flyrite - FΔMILY Geisha Bar - Jeff Mills/ Allstate Vs Craig Hollywood Groove Bar (Crown) The Library - DJ Victor / DJ Riki Metro City - Seven Deadly Sins Metro Freo - Ben Carter & DJ Wazz & DJ DTuck Metro Freo (C5) - I Love 80’s 90’s SATURDAY 15/06 Mojo’s Bar - Jo Lettenmaier/ Sean Ambar - Japan 4 ft Blend/ Micah/ O’Neil/ Henry Gillet Mullaloo Beach Hotel - Kenny L Oli/ Tee EL/ Bezwun Amplifier – Pure Pop – DJ Eddie Mustang Bar - The Continentals Combo with Rockabilly DJ/ Electric Millhouse/ DJ James MacArthur The Avenue – Jon Ee The Aviary (Birdcage/Rooftop) Newport - DJ Tahli Jade & Mr Phat – NDORSE/ Zel Paramount - Felix/ DJ John Bailey Bar & Bistro – Tip Top Jordan Sound ft DJ Bren Tiger Lils - DJ Bojan, Benjamin Beat Nightclub (Upstairs) Sebastian, Alex Koresis CANVAS The Saint - Az-T Capitol – Neon Steve & Death Villa - Bass Agenda Vol 3 ft Xilent/ Disco DJs Evol Intent/ Need For Mirrors Capitol (Upstairs) – Cream of Flyrite Nightclub - Family the 80’s PICA Bar - Tomas Ford’s Crap Rave Connections - Gleek ft Maude, Ruby, Sheila, Hannah & Barbie Q Party YaYa’s (Day) - The Tongue/ Sarah Empire Bar - James Shipstone/ Pellicano/ DJ Skoob Miggy down in the street giving flowers to each other and it’s such a big city that around the corner someone’s getting mugged. Life just goes on here. “London is the place I go to get food or buy books. I can’t read French, so I come here to stock up on books, and eat food I can’t get in France.” It’s also the place he’s been recording with Francesca Belmonte, one of the many guests who appears on the trip-hip pioneer’s 10th album, False Idols. “We’re working on some pretty incredible stuff for her album,”Tricky says.“It’s pretty scary how good the album is sounding already. I reckon I might be supporting her next year.” Other collaborators on False Idols include Igbo singer Nnenka, Fifi Rong and Peter Silberman from The Antlers. Silberman contributes vocals on the hypnotic lead single, Parenthesis, and his involvement came about purely by chance. “I met Antlers at a festival,” Tricky explains, “and the thing that impressed me was they weren’t playing the rock stars. They’re a band that is doing well, but they’re grounded. That’s enough to make me want to work with someone, much more than any talent they might have.” Tricky is renowned for his exacting standards in the studio. Does he think he is too demanding? “Nine times out of 10 if someone is going on my album, it’s because I know that they can bring something, but it has to be done my way. I want to hear things my way,
YaYa’s (Night) - Arcadia ft DJ Double Dee/ Pup
SUNDAY 16/06 The Avenue - DJ Ben Renna The Aviary (Rooftop) – Aviary Rooftop Sessions ft George Air/ Paradise Paul/ Troy Division The Bakery – Lil B The Bird – Reggae/ Dub Club Bayview - DJ Rueben Empire Bar – DJ Victor/ DJ Riki Groove Bar (Crown) – DJ Dan Mustang Bar – Pete Busher & the Lone Rangers/ DJ Rockin’ Rhys Newport – DJ Tom Drummond Rosemount Hotel – soundz like sundayz
MONDAY 17/06 Mustang Bar – Triple Shots
TUESDAY 18/06 Mustang Bar - Danza Loca Salsa Night
because I know what I want, and I know what I need. I work very fast, and I don’t like waiting around,” he says. The Brit might be exacting, but he admits it’s because he’s in a state of bliss when in the studio. “I love the recording process,” Tricky says. “If it becomes painful I walk away. When you start analysing too much it becomes a job. An older musician told me once that when you record something, remember the first feeling it gave you and play it like that. Otherwise you start questioning yourself, and that’s never going to help.” His latest album is the first to be released on his own label, also called False Idols. It follows a painful separation with Domino Records, who had produced his previous two albums. “When I was with them I couldn’t work quickly enough. I’d record my demos, and then the CEO of the label would have to come to Paris to tell me I was ready to mix. He’s never made a record in his life, how can he tell me if I’m ready to mix? I like the guy personally, but that was really painful business. Some artists might say being dropped is the worst, but I couldn’t be happier with where I’m at.”
» TRICKY » FALSE IDOLS [FALSE IDOLS/!K7 RECORDS] » OUT NOW X-Press – First on the street, Wednesdays
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HARLEM WEDNESDAYS
CAPITOL
THE NEWPORT
MUSTANG BAR
IN THE THIS WEEK Kid Kenobi Friday, June 14 @ Ambar The Tongue Friday, June 14 @ Mojo’s Bar
Strange Fruit Ft Clunk/ Starks/ Rex Monsoon/ Mike Midnight/ Ben T & Ben M/ Emerald Cabal & Reece Walker/ Pnewo Saturday, June 15@ Gilkison Dance Studio
Bass Kleph Friday, June 14 @ 133 Aberdeen St
JAPAN 4 Ft Blend/ Micah/ Oli/ Tee EL/ Bezwun Saturday, June 15 @ Ambar
Bass Agenda Ft Xilent, Evol Intent, Need For Mirrors Saturday June 15@ Villa
Motown & Soul ft DJ Barry Simpson Saturday, June 15@ Fly By Night
Jeff Mills Saturday, June 15 @ Geisha
Lil B Sunday, June 16 @ The Bakery
COMING UP Tijuana Cartel Thursday, June 20@ Mojo’s Bar Friday, June 21@ White Star Albany Saturday, June 22 @ Mojo’s Bar Sunday, June 23@ Indi Bar Gold Fields Friday, June 21@ Metro Freo Saturday, June 22@ Amplifier Jungle Shakedown Friday, June 21@ Ambar
17th Annual Nocturnal Ball Monday, July 8 @ Metro City White Party (U18) DJ Wazz/ DJ Tuck/ DJ Cookie Tuesday, July 9 Bliss N Eso Wednesday, July 10 @ Metro City The Strange Geronimo Thursday, July 11 Newport Hotel Friday, July 12 Prince Of Wales Saturday, July 13 Amplifier
The Upbeats ft T’Dodge vs N1/Terrence & Phillip/ Cosmo’s Midnight Rexop Friday, July 12 @ The Friday, June 21 @ Geisha Causeway Hook N Sling ft DJ Kenny L/Jus Haus/John Paul/Slick Sunday, June 24 @ Mullaloo Beach Hotel A$AP Rocky Thursday, June 27 @ Metro City Challenger Ready Friday, 28 June @ Ambar
Yuksek Saturday, July 13 @ Villa Onra Wednesday, July 20 @ The Bakery Dizzy Wright, Jarren Benton with DJ Hoppa Thursday, July 25 @ Rosemount Hotel
Kim (The Presets) and Beni Friday, June 28 @ Metro Freo
2013 Australian DMC DJ Championships WA Heats Friday, August 2 @ Rosemount Hotel
All Day Saturday, June 29 @ Amplifier
Shapeshifter Saturday, August 17 @ Villa
Traffic Light Flirt Party! / ALT-J DJ Crazy Craig Saturday, June 29 @ Eve Saturday, July 27 @ Challenge Stadium Coolio Club Show Passion Pit Saturday, June 29 @ Sunday, August 4 @ Villa Metro City
Jeff Mills
JEFF MILLS SATURDAY, JUNE 15 @ GEISHA
Porter Robinson Major Bass ft Lady Saturday, October 26 @ Waks/ Crnkn/ Slynk Saturday, June 29 @ Villa Villa Softwar ft Cassian/ George Air/Troy Division and Paradise Paul Sunday, June 30 @ Aviary Rooftop
Stereosonic Saturday, November 30 and Sunday, December 1 @ Claremont Showgrounds
Tyler The Creator (Photo by Denis Radacic)
EARLWOLF ODD FUROR
Clunk/ Taco/ EARLWOLF Capitol Tuesday, June 4, 2013 Whatever your stance on the lyrical content of Tyler the Creator and his Odd Future brethren, if you came to this show to be entertained, you would have left it as a very satisfied individual. While it was disappointing that no West Australian rap acts got a support slot, local party guru Clunk got the crowd bubbling as he played tunes from his arsenal of ‘weirdo rap.’ The crowd was an interesting mix of people from seemingly disparate scenes, however they came together as one when Earlwolf’s DJ Taco hit the stage. Throughout his 20 minute set, the sold out Capitol went from simmering to seething, with tracks like Schoolboy Q’s Hands On The Wheel receiving howls of approval, prompting much shouting of lyrics. For the uninitiated, Earlwolf consists of rappers Tyler the Creator and Earl Sweatshirt from the Odd Future collective, however they were also accompanied by fellow OF crew Taco and Jasper for this tour. As the intro to Tyler’s album, Wolf, filtered through the speakers, the crowd’s collective excitement was clearly evident. Things got raucous very quickly, as Tyler and Earl hit the stage and launched into French, from the older album Bastard. Odd Future previously toured Australia as an entire collective, which resulted in a sort of on-stage
anarchy, which more or less amounted to a bunch of dudes yelling over each other. It was entertaining, but unwieldy, and as a smaller group they appeared much more focused. Tyler’s lanky presence and booming voice commanded attention, while Earl bounced around the stage with a boundless energy. The pair rapidly leapt from track to track, pausing only briefly to address the crowd. Their banter was almost as entertaining as their music, consisting of frequent requests for more Redbull, and the hilarious singling out of particular audience members. As they worked through tracks from all their albums, the audience was clearly enthralled, showing their appreciation in ways more reminiscent of a punk show than a hip hop one. Being that not all their crew members were on hand, they often performed segments, rather than complete tracks, but these tunes never felt like they were missing anything. In fact, both rappers seemed to take a lot of joy from performing songs right up to the chorus or the drop, and leaving it there. This created a constant buildup of energy in the already rowdy mosh pit, which was finally unleashed when Tyler launched into Yonkers. For this track he graced us with every single verse, all of which were accompanied by practically the entire venue rapping along. Although they’ve copped a lot of flack from various quarters, it should be obvious that these guys are performing with tongue firmly in cheek. They have grown up with the cliches of commercial hip hop and subverted them, twisting them to their own ends. Over the course of more than an hour, they showcased their abilities impressively, and one can only imagine a bright, if a little odd, future ahead.
» NICK SWEEPAH
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SOMETHING FOR KATE Something for Kate - photo by Mike Wylie The Astor Theatre Friday, June 7, 2013 Having kept a relatively low profile in recent years it’s easy to forget just how important Something For Kate have been to the Australian music scene. Next year will mark their 20th year as a band and Friday saw the culmination of nearly two decades of hard work as the people of Perth filled the Astor Theatre to spend their Friday night with one of Aussie rock’s finest bands of the modern era. The choice of venue for tonight was a perfect one, with many of Something For Kate’s fans now finding themselves in their mid-30s, allowing the punters the choice to stand and dance as close to the stage as they could or to rest their ageing soles and take a seat and watch from the old theatre’s balcony. As the lights dimmed and the stage become dark the fans cheered as they saw silhouettes appear and rip into Captain (Million Miles An Hour). Frontman Paul Dempsey’s striking figure commanded attention in the middle of the stage right from the start, with his gangly limbs handling his guitar as if it was an extension of his body while he danced around in euphoric fashion. Another positive of the venue choice tonight was the way Dempsey’s voice carried. Whether it was during the acoustic Light At The End Of The Tunnel or the rockier Anarchitect, Dempsey’s voice was remarkably captivating. He’s got a smooth set of pipes and he sure knows how to use them. With six albums worth of material to choose from it was inevitable that they couldn’t play everything that the crowd wanted to hear, but Something For Kate did a great job of covering most of the songs you’d expect, with a few little sneaky surprises thrown in for
good measure. I’d even go as far to say that the two covers they played tonight were highlights of the set, the first being Hunters and Collectors’ When The River Runs Dry which was an absolute belter, and a great salute to Aussie rock of yesteryear. Dempsey’s refined banter helped maintain the intimate setting of the evening, with deft lines such as ‘This next song is from our very fourth album’ raising a collective chuckle from the audience before the band kicked into crowd-favourite Kaplan/Thornhill. Dempsey bounced around the stage with ease and the chemistry between he and his band, including bassist and now-wife Stephanie Ashworth, was undeniably accomplished. They exited the stage after a solid 90 minute performance, and it took all of about 60 seconds of chants from the crowd before Something For Kate re-appeared and tore into the second of those aforementioned covers; Sweet Nothing by Calvin Harris featuring Florence Welch of Florence And The Machine fame. The song ebbed and flowed and showcased just how much of a solid performer Dempsey really is, with soaring vocals flawlessly sliding into delicate falsetto that filled the theatre with haunting effect. They followed with fan-pleaser Electricity before wrapping up the night with Déjà Vu. From the venue, to the lights, to the sound and overall performance, Something For Kate put on a near-flawless spectacle that the people of Perth well and truly lapped up. With Dempsey and Ashworth now calling New York home, shows like these may be few and far between, and if you were at the Astor tonight, this is one you won’t be forgetting soon. _ GEORGE GREEN
KILLING JOKE Fear of Comedy The Rosemount Hotel Sunday, June 9, 2013 And so we come to the latest in the long recent line of late ‘70s - early ‘80s alternative icons to swing through Perth, following hot on the heels of both Jello Biafra of Dead Kennedys and Bahaus’s Peter Murphy. This time we got legendary gothflavoured post-punk outfit Killing Joke, who combine Biafra’s strident political nous with Murphy’s dark imagery, filtered through their own deeply weird internal mythology. As has become usual when we’re dealing with international acts of this particular ilk, Fear of Comedy warmed the crowd up - or at least tried to. The irony is that everything that makes Fear of Comedy a good fit in terms of genre for a band like Killing Joke makes them a poor choice of opening act, their long, sonorous, somewhat self-indulgent songs doing little to pump up the punters. This time out they seemed a little under par, with frontman Laith Tierney playing guitar as well as singing - let’s chalk it up to a slightly off night from a usually solid band. Luckily, Killing Joke have energy in abundance. Perhaps not so much in terms of their stage antics - lead singer Jaz Coleman looks like a photo negative of a particularly haggard scarecrow, all beetling brows and jagged gesticulation, while guitarist Kevin ‘Geordie’ Walker looks like he can barely be bothered to notice where he is. The
Killing Joke - photo by Mike Wylie
music, though - the music is loud and insistent and infectious, built around thundering tribal beats and angular riffs, angrying up the blood rather than burdening the soul, and the crowd responded appropriately. It was an older crowd, on balance, which is pretty much to be expected at this kind of thing. What was odd was the early start time - 6pm opening, support on by 7pm, all done and dusted by around 10pm. Maybe it was in deference to the age of the crowd - it was, after all, a school night. It’s also somewhat perplexing that this tour was in support of the recently released Killing Joke Singles Collection. Though possessed of a fiercely loyal core fanbase, the band has rarely had much chart success, particularly in recent years, and asking the average music fan to name their favourite Killing Joke track generally elicits a list that peters out pretty quickly after Love Like Blood. Which isn’t to say that they don’t have an impressive body of work, and hearing stuff like Wardance and Pssyche live was worth the price of admission alone. Familiar tracks like Requiem were interspersed with more obscure stuff - we’re dealing with an outfit whose career spans 35 years and a staggering amount of material, after all - but there was never a moment when at least some of the crowd didn’t know all the words - or, in the case of some songs, guttural howls. For the gathered faithful, it was undoubtedly one of the best shows of the year. _ TRAVIS JOHNSON
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MOJO’S
Friday, June 14, Hussle Hussle present one of the newest additions to Niche’s local agency roster, The Tongue, who has recently announced the nationwide tour in support of his third and most compelling album, Surrender to Victory. The live show is co-anchored by DMC Champ DJ Skoob, making this one of Australian hip hop’s most dynamic duos. Support from incredible local talents Delirious, Knoe and DJ Silence. Doors open 8pm, entry is $15. To win a free double pass to the gig, email your contact details to mojos@coolperthnights.com with THE TONGUE in the subject heading.
YAYA’S
This weekend brings you the exceptional talents of the Daniel Firkin Trio on Friday night, backed up by Nevada Pilot, Silver Hills and Wise Oaks. Sydney rapper The Tongue, plays on Saturday, June 15, with support from our own Sarah Pellicano on Saturday. Hip hop fans of Perth, don’t miss this one. Don’t forget to hang around after the gigs for your weekly doses of ACE and Arcadia, featuring the skills of DJ Pup on the decks!
SUNSET EVENTS END OF SEASON PARTY Sunset Shed Friday, June 7, 2013 The crew at Sunset Events celebrated another festival season with a party at the Shed HQ last Friday. Quite the knee’s up was had with industry bods, staff and friends sending off the season in style whilst no doubt pondering the rest.
Kûcka
Photography by Daniel Grant
THE ROSEMOUNT HOTEL
This Wednesday, June 12, catch a huge night of fresh local talent as part of Shaken Not Stirred. Catch Mentok Commandz Yu, Tell The Shaman, Black Stone from the Sun, Castellan, Greyscale, Impending Lights, Digital Uproar, Found Trinity and Cate. Doors open 8pm and entry is $8.
Meesha, Rabbi, Alexandra
Jodie, Mark, Alistair
Natasha, Shiloh, Andrew, Steve
Nimrod, Betty, Elizabeth
The Daniel Firkin Trio
THE BIRD Tell The Shaman
RAILWAY HOTEL
This Friday, June 14, catch some experimental rock courtesy of Goat, One Of None, Retina and Race To Your Face. Saturday, June 15, things chill out with an all-acoustic show featuring Trav and Jay, Mitchell Friend (from Hostile Little Face), Darren Guthrie and Charlie & Haldor. Doors for each show are at 8pm and entry is $5 each night.
This Thursday, June 13, it’s Hip Hop Kara ‘Yo!’ Ke with Nathan J - Special Request Edition. Entry is $5 from 8pm. Friday, it’s Aloi’s single launch with support from Mei Sarswati, Leon Osborn and Clunk - entry is $5 from 8pm. Saturday, The Chemist play with Mudlark and Damina Crosby from 8pm - entry is $10. Sunday, June 16, it’s Chill Sunday reggae/dub vibes from 6pm - entry is free.
THE BEAT NIGHTCLUB
This Friday, Vida Cain return from their national tour to launch their double A-side single with special guests Lacey, From the Dunes and These Winter Nights. From midnight ppstairs, sees the aaunch of The Black Fridays!This all girl rock band is making Malachi Wehipeihana has been gigging around their way over from the closing Black Betty’s to set town and making something of a name for himself up shop weekly at The Beat, tearing out all your of late, his music is soulful, conscious, energetic and favourite party rock tunes from Linkin Park, Green intriguing, He starts his Wednesday winter June Day, Offspring, Pink and a load more! DJ London on the decks in between! residency tonight, June 12. Entry is free.
INDI BAR
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Ben, Nelly, Patt
Tash, Chloe, Nat X-Press – First on the street, Wednesdays
MIDWEEK MELLOW
Have a relaxing hump day at Mojo’s tonight, Wednesday June 12, with an evening blues, roots and acoustic jams: Matt Cal, Leah Miche, Mitch Becker and Jordan McRobbie and Wayfarer. Doors open at 8pm, entry is $10
ROYALE REVUE
Residence at Metro’s Freo plays host to a killer lineup this Friday, June 14, when electro rock exponents Broken Royale and their pals, Apache, Axe Girl and Zara Huts, take to the stage. Doors open at 9pm, entry is $10.
Matt Cal
THE XWRAY WAY
Riley Pearce plays Fremantle’s Xwray Cafe this Friday, June 14, with support from Callum Bint of Hunter Carpenter and Turin Robinson. Doors open at 8pm, entry is $10.
MY SO-CALLED LIFE We caught up with singer Mikey Nayar ahead of the launch of My SoCalled Life’s new single, She, at The Bird this Friday, June 14, with support from Beside Lights and Cupidfalls.
I SEE RED My So-Called Life
melting pot, we can’t help but have our favourite elements of any particular genre bleed through
How did you guys form? Seems like (guitarist) Oumi Kapila and I have always had a professional working relationship in one form or another. It was a late night call to Australia in 2007 that really started the ball rolling for My So-Called Life. Oumi, busy working on a film scoring project in Los Angeles, was in need of a writer/vocalist for several of the movie’s original song compositions. He and I once again teamed up resulting in what would later be the band’s first single One Of Those Things. The collaboration was such a success that when Oumi returned to Australia we continued to write and compose, eventually building a catalogue of finished songs ready to record.
How was the recording process for the upcoming single? Recording for us has been the single most difficult learning curve the band has ever faced together. Not only did it test us mentally and physically but personally as well. The strenuous and sometimes tedious task of recording can be very taxing on the ties that bind. With everyone putting in long hours and all-nighters. Often far from home, trying to stretch the budget and battling those odds that face every independent band trying to create something on a competitive level. I’ve seen many bands that never fully recovered from the process and some that don’t recover at all. So when I tell you that we basically had to record our first album twice, you understand what I mean by difficult. But this band is a family. We endure. We had gained a wealth of knowledge, a humble new respect for our industry and an album we are proud to bring back to Australia.
How would you describe your sound? Pleasing? I’d like to say it’s Adaptive Rock. By that I mean we take whatever’s influencing the band at the time and adapt it to the rock genre. Within the band, individual tastes can range from classical to hardcore and everything in between. So when it comes time for everyone to add to the
What’s up next? After our performance at Sydney’s Stone Music Festival with Aerosmith and Van Halen we’re now back in Perth for the Australian debut of our new single, ahead of a national tour planned for later in the year. She marks the first in a series of limited releases in the lead up to the albums debut.
RAGTIME
After impressing the judges at the 2012 Jammin’ Band Competition, which they handily won, Rag ‘n’ Bone have been steadily growing in reputation. See them support Cal Peck and the Tramps, along with Stereoflower and Shouting at Camels, this Thursday, June 13, at The Rosemount. Doors open at 8pm, entry is $8.
Riley Pearce
Following on from the sudden and tragic death of local music figure Steve Bartels, this Saturday, June 15, sees his surviving bandmates, both past and present, come together at the Civic Hotel for a tribute show, with all proceeds going to charity. Infa Red/ The Steve Bartels Memorial Band will be playing a hard-charging selection of hits from Sabbath, AC/DC, Deep Purple, Van Halen, KISS and more, with support from Bonfire, Bartels’ AC/DC tribute band, with Grant Dingley on vocals.
Broken Royale
MAKING A SPLASH
The competition is heating up at The Big Splash, WA’s newest and most grandiose band competition. Mojo’s played host to the first heat on Tuesday, June 4, where Helen Shanahan, Red Engine Caves, Colour Control and Villain slugged it out before judges Malcolm Clarke, Callum Twigger, Aaron Rutter, Bourby Webster and Mike O’Hanlon. Villain came out on top of the musical dopgile, and will be moving on to the Grand Final at The Bakery on Saturday, August 10. This Thursday, June 13, catch Ralway Bell, Jacob Wylde, Rich King Matthews and These Winter Nights go head to head at Ya-Ya’s in Heat 2 for their shot at the $10,000 prize. Doors open at 8pm, entry is $5.
Infa Red
SHOCKINGLY GRAPHIC
Graphic Fiction Heroes hit The Paddo tonight, Wednesday, June 12. Joining them will be Anderson - aka Babyjane’s Andy Smith and Tracksuit’s Steve Hensby performing solo acoustic sets. Doors open at 8pm, entry is free.
Villain, winners of The Big Splash Heat #1
A ROSE BY ANY OTHER NAME
Although she’s nominally working in the country genre, Rose Carleo’s music has always had a healthy dose of rock and blues in its DNA. Find out what we’re talking about this Friday, June 12, at The Charles Hotel, where she’ll be backed by an all-star band and supported by Custom Royal, Dave Crosby, Wayne Curnow and Paul Fitton. Doors open at 8pm, entry is $15.
Rag ‘n’ Bone
AFRIQUE, SO CHIC
Drawing on a diverse African cultural influences to produce a unique folk/jazz hybrid, Afrique Acoustic wowed the audience at the Fairbridge Folk Festival recently, and promise to do the same at The Indi Bar this Friday, June 14. Doors open at 7pm.
14/06/2013 14/06/2013 15/06/2013 15/06/2013 21/06/2013 27/06/2013 28/06/2013 28/06/2013 29/06/2013
Rose Carleo
My So-Called Life She Single Launch @ Amplifier Äloi Hanayaya Single Launch @ The Bird The Decline Showertime in the Slammer Music Video Launch @ The Rosemount The Justin Walshe Folk Machine Walk On Single Launch @ Kulcha Violet Scene Loaded EP Launch @ Ya Ya’s Natalia If This Is Love EP Launch @ the Elephant and Wheelbarrow HYTE Where Are You Taking Me Single Launch @ Mojo’s The Devil Rides Out Ugly Creatures EP Launch @ Amplifier White Oak and Stuyvesant EP Launch @ The Rosemount
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X-Press – First on the street, Wednesdays
The Black Angels, June 17
Tijuana Cartel, June 20 - 23
COOLIO 29 Metro City KIM (THE EMMA LOUISE 13 Prince Of Wales PRESETS) 29 Capitol 14 Fly By Night A$AP Rocky 15 Amplifier 30 Metro City THE TEARAWAYS JULY 14 459 Bar 15 Prince Of Wales, CLAIRY BROWNE Bunbury & THE BANGIN’ RACKETTES LIL B 4 ARTBAR 16 The Bakery TOKIMONSTA 5 The Bakery THE BLACK LA DISPUTE ANGELS 6 Amplifier 17 Capitol 7 YMCA HQ ESKIMO JOE KORA 9-10 Moore And 19 Capitol Moore, Fremantle BLISS N ESO JUNE 10 Metro City TOMORROW IN HEARTS WAKE PEOPLE 11 Capitol 19 Amplifier MARK SEYMOUR FEAR FACTORY 20 Newport Hotel 11 Metro City BALL PARK 21 The MUSIC/EAGLE & Ravenswood 22 Charles Hotel THE WORM TIJUANA CARTEL 12 Metro Freo THE STRANGE 20 Mojo’s Bar GERONIMO 21 White Star 11 Newport Hotel Albany 12 Prince Of Wales 22 Mojo’s Bar 13 Amplifier 23 Indi Bar GRINSPOON GOLD FIELDS 10 Pier Hotel 21 Metro Freo Esperance 22 Amplifier 11 Studio 146 MUNICIPAL Albany WASTE 12 Settlers Tavern 21 Rosemount Margaret River Hotel THE SUPERJESUS 13 Prince Of Wales Bunbury 21 Amplifier 14 Players Bar 22 Amplifier Mandurah BORIS ENGLEBERT 24 Rosemount HUMPERDINCK Hotel 13 Crown Theatre PINK YOU AM I 25, 26 & 28 Perth 13 Astor Theatre Arena (sold-out) BEN OTTEWELL 14 Astor Theatre (GOMEZ) JONNY CRAIG 26 Mojos 17 Amplifier BILL ODDIE A DAY TO 27 Astor Theatre REMEMBER/THE ALLDAY DEVIL WEARS 27 Newport Hotel PRADA/ DREAM 29 Amplifier ON DREAMER THE RED 18 Metro City PAINTINGS MENTAL AS 28 Rosemount ANYTHING Hotel 19 Charles Hotel 20 Boulevard PSEUDO ECHO 29 Charles Hotel Tavern
THIS WEEK
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IAN MOSS 20 Charles Hotel 27 Boulevard Tavern FOURTEEN NIGHTS AT SEA 20 Rosemount Hotel SAINT VITUS/ MONARCH 21 The Rosemount UNKNOWN MORTAL ORCHESTRA 23 Rosemount Hotel STEREOPHONICS 23 Metro City JAMES BLAKE 26 The Astor ALT-J 27 Challenge Stadium BLEEDING THROUGH 28 Amplifier BABYSHAMBLES 31 Metro City
AUGUST COLD WAR KIDS 2 Capitol VILLAGERS 2 Fly By Night DEEZ NUTZ 2 Prince Of Wales 3 YMCA HQ 3 Rosemount Hotel 4 Newport Hotel FIDLAR 3 The Bakery BARDO POND 4 The Rosemount PASSION PIT 4 Villa BJORN AGAIN 5 & 6 Regal Theatre SENSES FAIL 9 Amplifier SARAH BLASKO 12 Margaret River Cultural Centre THIRTY SECONDS TO MARS 16 Challenge Stadium DON MCLEAN 19 Perth Concert Hall GEORGE BENSON 24 Riverside Theatre ANDREW STRONG: THE COMMITMENTS 22 Metro Freo
The Superjesus, June 21 - 22
THE SMITH STREET BAND 22 Rosemount Hotel 23 Prince Of Wales, Bunbury GRINSPOON 23 Astor Theatre BERNARD FANNING 25 Astor Theatre NORTHWEST FESTIVAL 24 Port Hedland Turf Club JAPANDROIDS 26 The Rosemount THE WHITLAMS/ WASO 30 Perth Concert Hall
SEPTEMBER MANHATTAN TRANSFER 1 Regal Theatre FAT FREDDY’S DROP 5 Astor Theatre JOSH PYKE 5 Prince Of Wales THE CAT EMPIRE 7 Red Hill Auditorium MIDNIGHT JUGGERNAUTS 6 Prince Of Wales Bunbury 7 Capitol AMANDA PALMER & THE GRAND THEFT ORCHESTRA 8 Astor Theatre RUDIMENTAL 13 Metro City PARKWAY DRIVE 14 Metropolis Fremantle 15 & 16 Capitol RED DIRT ft JIMMY BARNES 19 Kalgoorlie Boulder Race Club FOALS 22 Metro City RIHANNA 24 Perth Arena ONE DIRECTION 28 & 29 Perth Arena XAVIER RUDD/ DONAVON FRANKENREITER/ NAHKO & MEDICINE FOR THE PEOPLE 28 3 Oceans
Winery, Margaret River 29 Fremantle Arts Centre
OCTOBER SWERVEDRIVER 3 Rosemount Hotel SOILWORK 6 The Rosemount BRING ME THE HORIZON 12 Challenge Stadium THE DAVID LIEBE HART BAND 13 Amplifier RICKY MARTIN 12 Perth Arena AMORPHIS 16 Capitol THE BREEDERS 31 The Astor ENSLAVED 31 The Rosemount YELLOWCARD 31 Capitol
NOVEMBER FLEETWOOD MAC 22 Perth Arena HITS & PITS 2.0 (Boyssetsfire/ No Fun At All/ Off With Their Heads) 24 Capitol STEREOSONIC 30 Claremont Showgrounds
DECEMBER JUSTIN BIEBER 8 Perth Arena TAYLOR SWIFT 11 Perth NIB Stadium BON JOVI 12 Perth Arena
FEBRUARY BRUNO MARS 28 Perth Arena
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The Seals, Wednesday at The Ellington
WEDNESDAY 12.06 BAR 120 Felix BRASS MONKEY Sugar Blue Burlesque CARINE Open Mic Night Chris O’Brien CLAREMONT HOTEL Acoustica GREENWOOD Bernardine ELLINGTON JAZZ CLUB Night Cap Sessions The Seals GROOVE BAR (CROWN) 5 Shots HALE ROAD HOTEL Fenton Wilde INDI BAR Malachi Wehipeihana KULCHA Salsa & Bachata Classes LUCKY SHAG Howie Morgan MOJOS BAR Mat Cal & Mitch Becker Leah Miche Jordan McRobbie Watfarer MOON CAFÉ Jonathan Brain Sean O’Neill Sean McIlroy MUSTANG BAR Envy DJ Giles NEWPORT Newport Wednesdays & RnB Heaven DJ Wot Evs Angry Buda DJ Mr. Phat PADDO Graphic Fiction Heroes Steve Hensby Anderson ROSIE O’GRADYS NORTHBRIDGE David Fyffe
ROSEMOUNT Mentok Commandz Yu Tell The Shaman Black Stone from the Sun Castellan Greyscale Impending Lights Digital Uproar Found Trinity Cate UNIVERSAL Retrofit VILLAGE BAR Village People - Open Mic YAYA’S HaHa’s Live Comedy Jacques Barrett (NSW) John Robertson
THURSDAY 13.06 AMPLIFIER Academy Storm The Sky We Run The Wolves Finders BEAT NIGHTCLUB (DOWNSTAIRS) Fantasy Thursdays BELGIAN BEER CAFÉ Acoustic Aly THE BIRD Hip Hop Kara“Yo”Ke Nathan J THE BOAT Jen De Ness BRASS MONKEY Rhythm Bound Karaoke BRIGHTON Open Mic Night Rob Walker BROOKLANDS TAVERN Celebrations Karaoke CURRAMBINE BAR & BISTRO Courtney Murphy DEVILLES PAD Rock’N’Roll Karaoke DUNSBOROUGH TAVERN Open Mic Night ELEPHANT AND WHEELBARROW Karaoke DJ Lukas ELLINGTON JAZZ CLUB Night Cap Sessions Trent White sings Sedaka to Sinatra
Burst and Bloom
BURST AND BLOOM GREYS & BLUES THE BROTHERS DUKE MOKYM THE MOONWHORES FRIDAY, JUNE 14 SWAN BASEMENT
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Cal Peck &The Tramps, Thursday at The Rosemount FLY BY NIGHT (Fly Trap) Jugular Celloear Golden String Tender Steak Hideous Sun Demon THE GATE Greg Carter GROOVE BAR (CROWN) Dr Bogus INDI BAR Bex’s Open Mic Night LUCKY SHAG James Wilson MARKET CITY TAVERN Kane Nyanda J Lefty Lauren O’Hara Stu Capewell That Soundcheck Bee Anchor MOJOS BAR Burst & Bloom Bears & Dolls The Irrationals MERRIWA TAVERN Neil Adams MUSTANG BAR The Stokies Sexy Robot Midflight Parasite DJ James MacArthur NEWPORT HOTEL Russell Morris Toby DJ Tim (Mills) THE PRINCE OF WALES Emma Louise ROSIE O’GRADYS NORTHBRIDGE Bill Chidzey ROSIE O’GRADYS FREMANTLE Clayton Bigger ROSEMOUNT Cal Peck and the Tramps Stereoflower Rag N Bone Shouting At Camels SETTLERS TAVERN Acoustic Open Mic Night THE SHED Mike Nayar UNIVERSAL Off The Record YA YA’S The Big Splash Heat 2 Ralway Bell Jacob Wylde Rich King Matthews These Winter Nights
Boys Boys Boys! Friday at The Bakery
BEAT NIGHTCLUB (UPSTAIRS) Vida Cain Lacey From The Dunes These Winter Nights The Black Fridays (late) BEAT NIGHTCLUB (DOWNSTAIRS) PLAY BELMONT TAVERN Astrobat BEST DROP TAVERN Pop Candy THE BIRD ÄLOI SINGLE LAUNCH Mudlark & Nora Zion Mei Saraswati Leon Osborn Clunk THE BOAB TAVERN Nitro Zepplin THE BOAT J Man & Rosie BRASS MONKEY Chris Gibbs BROKEN HIL HOTEL Ivan Ribic THE BROOK Bernardine C5 FREMANTLE Residence Broken Royale Apache Axe Girl Zara Huts CARINE Velvet CHARLES HOTEL Russell Morris CHASE BAR & BISTRO James Wilson CITRO BAR Dove CIVIC HOTEL BACKROOM Masta Ace (US) Stricklin (US) Marco Polo (CAN) CLAREMONT HOTEL Fnkd Up Fridays CURRAMBINE BAR & BISTRO Midnight Rambler DEVILLES PAD King Khan & BBQ Show The Floors The Painkillers Jumpin’ Josh EAST 150 BAR Adam James EDZ SPORTS BAR One Trick Ponies ELEPHANT AND WHEELBARROW Daren Reid & The Soul City Groove ELLINGTON JAZZ CLUB James Flynn FRIDAY 14.06 Elise Lynelle Farewell AMPLIFIER Show My So Called Life EMPIRE BAR Beside Lights Howie Morgan CupidFalls ENEX100 BALMORAL Sue Johnson Acoustic Aly BAILEY BAR & BISTRO FLY BY NIGHT Emma Louise Mod Squad Thelma Plum BALLYS BAR Patrick James Free Radicals GREENWOOD BAKERY Greg Carter Boys Boys Boys! GROOVE BAR Boom! Bap! Pow! (CROWN) 44th Sunset Tod Johnston & Peace Echo Kids Love Wasabi Peas HIGH ROAD HOTEL BAR ORIENT The Reggae Club Envy
HIGH WYCOMBE HOTEL Dr Bogus HYDE PARK HOTEL Ricky Green INDI BAR Vdelli KALAMUNDA HOTEL Almost Famous KULCHA Tara Tiba LAST DROP TAVERN Neil Adams LEGENDS BAR & BOTTLESHOP Everlong Acoustic M ON THE POINT DJ Mischieff MAHOGANNY INN Johnathon Dempsey MERIDIAN ROOM (CROWN) Local Heroes METRO FREO Frat House Fridays MOJOS BAR The Tongue & DJ Skoob Delirious Knoe DJ Silence MUSTANG OZ Big Band Swing DJ Cheeky Monkeys DJ James MacArthur NEWPORT HOTEL Karaoke with Steve Parkin OSBORNE PARK HOTEL Plastic Max PADDO Easy Tigers PARAMOUNT NIGHTCLUB Flyte PEEL ALE HOUSE Velvet & Stone PINK DUCK LOUNGE Damien Cripps PLAYERS BAR Pink18Stink THE PRINCIPAL Dirty Scoundrels RAILWAY HOTEL Goat One Of None Retina Race To Your Face ROCKET ROOM Big Guns THE ROSE AND CROWN Tod Woodward ROSEMOUNT Young Alaska 10 Past 6 Lionizer Little Skye Showering Vixens ROSIE O’GRADYS NORTHBRIDGE Billy & The Broken Lines SAIL AND ANCHOR Howie Morgan SAIL AND ANCHOR (UPSTAIRS) NightShift THE SAINT Dean Anderson SEVENTH AVENUE BAR & BISTRO Deuce SOUTH ST ALEHOUSE Robbie King Karaoke
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
The Floors, Friday at Devilles Pad SPRINGS TAVERN Die Hard Karaoke SWAN LOUNGE Harley Rockets SWAN BASEMENT Burst and Bloom Greys & Blues The Brothers Duke Mokym The Moonwhores SWINGING PIG Frenzy Greg Carter UNIVERSAL Nightmoves VICTORIA PARK HOTEL Clayton Bolger THE WOODVALE TAVERN Slim Jim & The Phatts YA YA’S The Daniel Firkin Trio Nevada Pilot Silver Hills Wise Oaks
SATURDAY 15.06 AMPLIFIER Emma Louise Thelma Plum Patrick James BAILEY BAR & BISTRO Courtney Murphy & Murphy’s Lore BAKERY Darcy James Argue & WAYJO BALMORAL Retriofit BAR 120 Flyte BEAT NIGHTCLUB (UPSTAIRS) CANVAS BEAT NIGHTCLUB (DOWNSTAIRS) RUNAWAYS Storm The Sky (Vic) Averia Skies BELGIAN BEER CAFÉ Mike Nayar THE BELMONT Tequila Mockingbirds THE BIRD The Chemist Mudlark Damian Crosby BOAB TAVERN James Wilson THE BOAT The Organ Grinders CIVIC HOTEL BACKROOM Infa Red THE CHARLES HOTEL Owen Campbell Matt Gresham THE CRAFTSMAN Groove CURRAMBINE BAR & BISTRO Local Heroes DEVILLES PAD Johnny Nandez Hammond Explosion Les Sataniques ELLINGTON JAZZ CLUB James Flynn Reflections CD Launch The Hopkins Bros FLY BY NIGHT Motown & Soul ft DJ Barry Simpson FLYING SCOTSMAN Under The Influence Andrei Maz
THE GATE Dirty Scoundrels GOSNELLS HOTEL Astrobat GREENWOOD Passionworks GROOVE BAR (CROWN) Slim Jim & The Phatts HIGH ROAD HOTEL Dr Bogus HIGH WYCOMBE HOTEL J Man & Rosie HYDE PARK HOTEL Howie Morgan Project INDIAN OCEAN BREW CO Shawne & Luc INDI BAR Toby Riley Pierce INGLEWOOD HOTEL Neil Adams KULCHA The Justin Walshe Folf Machine LAKERS TAVERN Celebrations Karaoke LOBBY LOUNGE (CROWN) John & Shaun Sandosham LEGENDS BAR Deuce LEOPOLD HOTEL Steve Hepple MERIDIAN ROOM (CROWN) Alcatraz Duo M ON THE POINT Rhythm 22 MOJOS BAR Brain Soup Kücka Mt Mountain Dianas Flower Drums Hideous Sun Demon DJ Jo Lettenmaier Sean O’Neil Henry Gillet MOON & SIXPENCE (PERTH) The Damien Cripps Band MUSTANG The Continentals Rockabilly DJ Millhouse DJ James MacArthur NEWPORT HOTEL Karaoke with Steve Parkin Gravity Paul McCarthy OCEAN REEF SEA SPORTS CLUB Gary Fowlie PEEL ALE HOUSE Flesh n Wood PICA BAR Tomás Fords Crap Music Rave Party PORT KENNEDY TAVERN Kevin Curran QUARIE BAR BOB RAILWAY HOTEL Trav and Jay Mitchell Friend Darren Guthrie Charlie and Haldor ROCKET ROOM Kickstart ROSEMOUNT The Decline FAIM The Order of The Black Werewolf Idle Eyes
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Friday Friday Travis Caudle Young Alaska, Friday at Travis Caudle FlyBy ByNight Night The Fly Rosemount ROSIE O’GRADYS NORTHBRIDGE Blue Gene SAIL & ANCHOR Better Days Childs Play SWAN LOUNGE Trista Kathleen Ann Kate Ferguson Lydia Schubert SWAN BASEMENT Vice Fuzz bucket The Government Yard Tuxedo Pig SWINGING PIG Greg Crater East Tigers THE SHED Huge UNIVERSAL Soul Corporation WOODVALE TAVERN Renegade YAYA’S The Tongue Sarah Pellicano DJ Skoob
SUNDAY 16.06 BAKERY Lil B Aslan Clunk Sleepyhead BALMORAL Andrew Winton BELMONT TAVERN Acoustic Aly THE BIRD Reggae/Dub BOAB TAVERN Chris Gibbs Duo BRIGHTON Ricky Green BROKEN HILL HOTEL Adrian Wilson BROOKLANDS TAVERN Gary Azor CARINE Adam James CHASE BAR Chasing Calee CIVIC HOTEL Steve Parkin COMO HOTEL Sophie Jane & The Chilly Bin Boys CURRAMBINE BAR & BISTRO Ivan Ribic ELEPHANT AND WHEELBARROW Daren Reid & The Soul City Groove ELLINGTON JAZZ CLUB Metro Big Band The Grid THE GATE Greg Carter GROOVE BAR Peace Love GOSNELLS HOTEL Conny The Clown HIGH ROAD HOTEL J Man & Rosie HIGH WYCOMBE HOTEL Everlong Acoustic INDI BAR Afrique Acoustic INDIAN OCEAN BREW CO Retriofit KALAMUNDA HOTEL Bernadine
The Southwicks, Sunday at The Rosemount
LAKERS TAVERN Wesley Goodlet Jamboree Scouts MERIDIAN BAR (CROWN) Courtney Murphy MOJOS BAR The Southwicks These Winter Nights Opine Villian Lauren O’Hara M ON THE POINT Pop Candy MOON CAFÉ Timothy Nelson & The Infidels Luke Dux MUSTANG BAR Pete Busher & the Lone Rangers DJ Rockin’ Rhys NORTHBRIDGE PIAZZA Soul Corporation Ray Walker & Jeremy Thmpson NEWPORT HOTEL Rocket To Memphis Tom Drummond Tim Nelson OCEAN VIEW TAVERN One Trick Ponies PADDY MALONES Gary Fowlie PORT KENNEDY TAVERN Matt Angell ROSIE O’GRADYS NORTHBRIDGE David Fyffe Neil Colliss QUARIE BAR & BISTRO Better Days QUEENS TAVERN Velvet THE SAINT Howie Morgan Project SEVENTH AVENUE BAR & BISTRO Good Karma SOUTH ST ALEHOUSE BLackhart & Strangelove SOVEREIGN ARMS Craig Ballantyne SWINGING PIG Toni E Dean Anderson UNIVERSAL Retriofit WANNEROO TAVERN Jonathon Dempsey VICTORIA PARK HOTEL Fenton Wilde
YAYA’S Arcadia DJ Double Dee DJ Pup
MONDAY 17.06 THE BIRD Skate Film Launch BRASS MONKEY Wire Birds CAPITOL The Black Angels ELLINGTON JAZZ CLUB Song Lounge GROOVE BAR (CROWN) Justin & Mike MOJO’S BAR Wide Open Mic MUSTANG BAR Triple Shots YA YA’S Big Tommo’s Open Mic Night
TUESDAY 18.06 THE BIRD The Big Splash Comp Silver Hills Mind Canary Lilt Spaceman Antics BRASS MONKEY Open Mic Night Chris O’Brien THE CRAGIE Open Mic Night TAVERN ELLINGTON JAZZ CLUB Joe Southwell LOBBY LOUNGE (CROWN) John Sandosham KALAMUNDA HOTEL Open Mic Nunz Vacca LUCKY SHAG Ben Merito MERRIWA TAVERN Celebrations Karaoke MOJOS BAR Monthly Comedy Suns of Fred Sami Shah Sarah Kate Young Jeff Hewitt Tien Tran MUSTANG BAR Danza Loca Salsa Night YA YA’S Jazz @ YaYa’s
Hideous Sun Demon
HIDEOUS SUN DEMON JUGULAR,CELLOEAR GOLDEN STRING TENDER STEAK THURSDAY, JUNE 13 FLY BY NIGHT
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MUSIC GEAR & TECHNOLOGY DANCE CLASSES BELLYDANCECENTRAL.COM.AU DANCE CLASS Join us at our harem style dance studio for lots of hip shaking fun. Free classes on Fri 19/7. Term starts on Mon 22/7. For more info & free class invite contact dance@ bellydancecentral.com.au, 0409 511 125 or www.bellydancecentral.com.au FOR HIRE 24 CHANNEL PA FOR HIRE 4K Double three way. Foldback. Contact Justin to discuss your project. Excellent rates 0433 675 658 MUSOS WANTED AA! - DIAMOND EYE SEEKS DRUMMER!! an exciting opportunity to join our estab original, hardrock/metal band, with infl from Kiss, Zepplin to Metallica, Pantera. Ready to launch new album recorded in LA with Grammy winning Producer. If you have talent, flash and balls, pro attitude and drive we want to hear from you!!! Greg 0412 807 796 D R U M M E R WA N T E D F O R CO V E R BAND Dedicated and exp. Technically s o u n d. A l l r o u n d e r w i t h s t r o n g f u n k i n f l . A l a n i s , P i n k , A d e l e a n d s i m i l a r. drummerauditions@hotmail.com OPEN MIC NIGHT every Thursday night at Indi Bar. Just call Bex on 0404 917 632. OPEN MIC NIGHT @ THE CRAIGIE TAV E R N Tu e s d a y s f r o m 8 p m . S o l o s , D u o s , Tr i o s , O r i g i n a l s a n d C o v e r s . Contact Paula or Ceelay 0420375670 or openmiccraigie@hotmail.com PUNK ROCK DRUMMER WANTED Must be serious and innovative. Infl: Foo Fighters, The Offspring and Rise Against.. Call Zen 0433 056 548 RHYTHM GUITARIST, BASS, DRUMMER & SINGER WANTED For cover/original rock band. In Perth area. Must have own gear and transport. Contact Nate 0413 901 893 PHOTOGRAPHY PROJECT PHOTOGRAPHY Promo p h o t o g r a p h y, s t u d i o , l i v e , l o c a t i o n . Mike Wylie 0417 975 964 www.projec tphotography.com When its time to ice the cake... PRODUCTION SERVICES * L I G H T I N G * A U D I O * S TA G I N G * w w w. n i g h t s t a r l i g h t i n g a u d i o . c o m . a u w w w. n i g h t s t a r l i g h t i n g a u d i o . c o m . a u w w w . i n s t a n d t . c o m . a u www.instandt.com.au 9381 2363/ 9444 6651 CD & DVD MANUFACTURE Check out our latest CD & DVD specials online at www. procopy.com.au 9375 3902 M AT R I X P R O D U C T I O N S AU S T R A L I A Lighting, staging, sound systems, smoke machines, night club FX, intelligent lighting, strobes & mirror balls, crowd barriers, video projectors. 9371 1551 RECORDING STUDIOS ALAN DAWSON’s WITZEND RECORDING STUDIO Prof quality albums or demos, large live room, experienced engineer, analog to digital transfers, mastering.. Alan 0407 989 128 or Jeremy 0430638178 www.witzendstudios.com
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Edited by T R AV I S J O H N S O N
ANDY’S STUDIO International multi award winning songwriter / producer. No band required. Broadcast quality. A songwriter’s paradise. Ph 9364 3178 B A N D S ! - U N LO C K YO U R S O N G S ’ P OT E N T I A L + F R E E A P P R A I S A L S . U K Producer, 40,000+ hours studio experience. 20 yrs in London with bands and songwriters. Kicking arrangements, great studio and the ability to really listen will give your material the edge you need. Call Jerry on 0405 653 338 or visit www. jerichomusic.com.au GOLDDUST Production Mixing, recording and composition. Leederville $70 p/h. 0408 097 407 POONS HEAD MASTERING Analog mastering at its best. Clients include Mink Mussel Creek, Jeff Martin, The Panics, Pond + The Floors. World class facility. World class results. www.poonshead.com 9339 47 91 RECORDING MIXING MASTERING PRODUCING Fremantle location. Call Pete Kitchen Cooked Records. Ph 0407 363 764 / 9336 3764 REVOLVER SOUND STUDIO Ph 9272 7505. www.revolverstudio.com.au S AT E L L I T E R E C O R D I N G S T U D I O www.satelliterecording.com 0419 908 766 ProTools..17 Years exp TONE CIT Y RECORDING STUDIO Professional recording & mixing. Clients include Abbe May, Pond, Felicity Groom & The Silentís. Ph: 0409 297 362. REHEARSAL STUDIOS AAA VHS REHEARSAL ROOMS Great facilities, great vibe & great price!!! Unit 5 /16 Peel Road, O’Connor. Phone 9418 5815 or 0413 732 885 B I G B E AT S O U N D S T U D I O C l e a n r o o m s , a l l n e w PA s y s t e m s , a i r con and good parking . Willetton Ph: 0425 698 117. PLATINUM SOUND ROOMS Professional rehearsal rooms, airconditioned, quality PAs mob 0418 944 722 VISION REHEARSAL Per th’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 l e v e l s i n c l u d i n g b a s s . C l i f f Ly n t o n Guitar Institute. Mt Lawley 9342 3484 / www.clifflynton.com BASS LESSONS Rock, funk & jazz. Tony Gibbs 9470 6131 G U I TA R & K E Y B O A R D T U I T I O N (Beginners- Professional) One on One lessons. Free guitar trial lesson. Burswood Ph 6460 6921/ 0415 238 729 www.gvkschoolofmusic.com.au To advertise in Classified call 9213 2888 or email musicservices@xpressmag.com.au
TECH ROUNDUP
The big news this week mostly came out of E3, the world’s premiere consumer electronics expo, Sony and Microsoft going head to head for your gaming dollar.
XBOX ONE The anticipated - and, let’s face it, somewhat controversial - XBox One is due to hit shelves in November with a $599 RRP price tag. The Kinect Motion Sensor will be packaged in as a standard feature, and the company seems to be putting all their money on the square marked ‘cloud computing,’ requiring consumers to maintain a constant online connection in order to get the most out of the system. This has raised eyebrows in some corners, as has Microsoft’s new and restrictive system of second hand sales and trading of old games. Games coming to platform include Dead Rising 3, Sunset Overdrive, Forza MotorSport 5 and Titanfall.
Xbox One
PLAYSTATION 4 The PS3 is due to hit this holiday season, apparently, and it almost seems like every key feature is designed to counter or one-up some of the controversies attacked to Microsoft’s Xbox One. Not only is it $50 cheaper at $549 RRP, but it supports the trading and sale of used games, doesn’t require a constant internet connection, and boasts an X86 processor, enhanced PC GPU and 8GB of high-speed memory. Games announced include The Order: 1866, Drive Club, Killzone: Shadow Fall and InFamous: Second Son, along with old franchise favourites such as Final Fantasy XV, Kingdom Hearts 3 and Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag.
Playstation 4
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X-Press – First on the street, Wednesdays