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X-Press – First on the street, Wednesdays
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X-Press – First on the street, Wednesdays
Dead Can Dance
The Prodigy
DANCE DE LA MUERTE
THE FUTURE IS HERE!
That’s right folks; the line-up for Future Music Festival 2013 is out and boy, is it a ripper! For the first time ever in Australia, The Prodigy will be headlining and curating the Warriors Dance Arena at the festival. The Warriors Dance Arena has hosted the likes of Skrillex and Chase & Status in Serbia and was recently curated in Belgrade. Joining The Prodigy will be The Stone Roses, Bloc Party, Dizzee Rascal, Azealia Banks, Rita Ora, DJ Fresh, Boys Noize (live), Hardwell, The Temper Trap, Fun., Madeon, Ellie Goulding, Steve Aoki, Gypsy & The Cat, Rudimental, Kill The Noize, Feed Me (live), Zeds Dead, Zane Lowe, Nervo, Borgore, The Stafford Brothers, Timmy Trumpet, Tenzin, Sven Vath, Richie Hawtin, Ricardo Villalobos, Seth Troxler, Magda, Cosmic Gate featuring Emma Hewitt, W&W, Andy Moor, Super 8 & Tab, Zane Lowe and Ben Gold. It’s all happening on Sunday, March 3, Labor Day Long Weekend (public holiday Monday), at Arena Joondalup. First release tickets are on sale from 12pm Thursday, October 18, through Ticketmaster.
Saritah
HOMETOWN GLORY
Homegrown songstress Saritah packed up her guitar earlier this year, bound for Canada to record new album Dig Deep, a record that boasts bluesy reggae, dancehall pop, and nusoul flavours. However, she’s now ready to head home and show off her new songs and sound in the form of a national tour. Catch the soulful songstress in Freo at The Fly By Night on Friday, November 9, or in Margaret River at the Settlers Tavern on Saturday, November 10. Hit up flybynight.org for more info or saritah.com.
BELIEVE IT The Stone Roses
INTO THE WOODS
Woods
The 2013 Perth International Arts Festival is already looking to be absolutely top-notch, and it has just been announced that Melbourne duo Dead Can Dance will be performing as part of their long-awaited homecoming tour. After 20 years firmly out of the touring circuit, fans will surely be exultant that the ambient outfit will be back stronger than ever before, armed with a new record, Anastis. Dead Can Dance’s live performances have a reputation of being a mesmerising, spiritual experience, and this is surely another part of the festival that cannot be missed. Perth Festival tickets go on sale as of Monday, November 12, at 9am sharp.
Brooklyn’s sombre, lo-fi rock heros Woods are coming down under in January. Woods are known for their haunting acoustic melodies and off-kilter energy. Frontman Jeremy Earl is known for his strikingly pure falsetto voice. The band have just released their seventh album Bend Beyond which will see them take to The Bakery on Wednesday, January 23, 2013, alongside special guests HAMJAM and Gunns, for the first time ever. Tickets are on sale now from nowbaking. com.au, Oztix and the usual outlets. Expect a night of kraut-rock blackouts and distorting sound-scape journeys!
The one and only Santigold is coming to town. After four years of hide and seek, Santigold returned earlier this year with her latest work Master Of My Make Believe, a golden, aggressive record which takes dub, rock, punk, pop and new wave to the next level. Joining Santigold for her Perth Harvest sideshow will be UK legend Crazy P who’s all about late ‘90s house, disco and soul and is one of the most revered live dance acts around. It’s all happening on Wednesday, November 14, at Metro City. Tickets go on sale this Friday, October 12, at 9am local time, from Oztix. Expect a glamorous, golden show!
Santigold
FREO FUN-TIMES
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Reactions/ Comp
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Flesh
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Music: Xiu Xiu
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Music: Muse
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Music: Sound Of Seasons/ Steel Panther
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New Noise
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Eye4 Cover: Open House Perth
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Eye4 News/ Movies: Killing Them Softly
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Eye4 Movies: Wuthering Heights/ Taken 2/ Music: Lisa Mitchell
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Eye4 Art Stories: Art In Action/ Frank Woodley/ Andrew Dominik
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Eye4 Arts Listings
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Urban Central: Open House Perth/ Subiaco Markets
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Urban Central: Merrywell
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Urban Central: Childhood-Inspired Workouts/ Grill’d/ Frozen Treats
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Salt Cover: Jay Sean
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Salt: Cover Story/ Emalkay/ The Aston Shuffle/ News
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Salt: Rudimental/ Jimmy Edgar/ DJ Fresh
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Salt: Club Guide/ Scenery/ Rewind: TZU
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Scene: Live
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Scene: Pub Scene/ Pub Blurbs
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Scene: Local
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Tour Trails
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Gig Guide
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Volume
Cover: Xiu Xiu plays This Is Nowhere which hits the Dolphin Theatre and Lawrence Jackson Court at UWA this Sunday, October 14 Salt Cover: Jay Sean plays Eve Nightclub on Thursday, October 25 www.xpressmag.com.au
Norfolk Lanes Festival went down an absolute treat last year, showcasing the best of WA’s young artists in the delicious Freo Festival summer setting. It’s likely to be another stunner this year, with the lineup just announced as follows: Tim Gordon, Codie Sundstrom, Sonpsilo Circus, Yokohomos, Custom Royal, Mind Mischief, Edie Green, Love Junkies, Bass Reflex, Three Hands One Hoof, Oakland, Fellow Or Foe and Hey Hurricane.
Rooftop Movies
ROOFTOP FLICKS
Rooftop Movies is returning to Northbridge for an extended Perth summer season. Anyone who went along earlier this year would know that it’s uber popular and there’s some great entertainment (aka delicious local comedians whipping up a storm before the movie nights kick off ). The next installment opens on Thursday, October 18, and runs until the end of April, 2013. The six months’ worth of programs will be released one month at a time but expect a lot more old-school film favourites, cinephile classics, cult and art house movies and B-grade schmaltz every night of the week. Rooftop Movies is located in the open air, sixth floor roof of the Roe Street car park in Northbridge. Hit up rooftopmovies.com.au for full details. Photo: Jarrad Seng 7
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Matt: The Presets smashed it. Loved the way they structured the set and changed the arrangements to keep it feeling fresh. Jamie: Thought The Presets remixing everything prior to Pacifica was unnecessarily actually. A couple of songs then great, but not everything. Charlie XCX was blah. Nero were excellent, Passion Pit great, Chairlift were fantastic once the audio mix was sorted out by the third song. Art Dept good, St Lucia were the best find of the day. Fight outside and dude being thrown out before we even got into the grounds was gold. Festival season has started! Ash: Robyn for MVP!
FINDING THE RHYTHM IN MUSIC
In the new book release Finding The Rhythm In Music, author Marla Swift presents readers with a new simple and precise method of learning how to understand and perform musical rhythm. We have three copies up for grabs, get in now for your chance to win.
Mark Ronson playing Summadayze
SUMMADAYZE
British electronic artists The Chemical Brothers, M.I.A and Mark Ronson will headline Perth’s first major music festival of 2013, Summadayze. For the first time, the event will be held at Subiaco’s Patersons Stadium on Sunday, January 6, and is guaranteed to be one hell of a party with a killer line-up! For your chance to win one of two double passes we have up for grabs, simply tell us who you are most pumped to see and why? Get in quick as you don’t want to miss this one!
Killing Them Softly
KILLING THEM SOFTLY
Want to win tickets to the brand new action thriller, Killing Them Softly starring Brad Pitt? Enter now as we have five doubles up for grabs.
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All the activity has led to this and it is closer than you think. Get ready to be scared again. Paranormal Activity is back with its fourth instalment and hitting cinemas from Thursday, October 18. Enter now for your chance to win a double pass to the preview screening at Reading Cinemas, Belmont, on Wednesday, October 17.
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PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4
Parklife hit Perth recently and we asked our Facebook fans what they thought of this year’s festival…
BREAKFEST
Chopper
CHOPPER STORMS THE OCTAGON
Australia’s Most Wanted comedian Chopper is fizzing at the bum-hole to be back on road, and this time, he’s brought a big pad of paper with your name on it. Some people have a shopping list. Some have a To-Do list. Chopper has a Shitlist. It’s like Santa’s naughty and nice list but with more sack, and no one is getting toys. Get your entries in now for your chance to win tickets to what is sure to be a wickedly hilarious show at the Octagon Theatre on Friday, October 26.
Breakfest 2012 will feature a hand-picked selection of fresh and favourite artists across all forms of broken beat, breakbeat, drum’n’bass, hip hop, funk, bass and their offspring! We have the ultimate Breakfest prize up for grabs which consists of a ticket to BF12 plus a 2008 collector’s block mount signed by all the artists of that year. Get in now for your chance to win this awesome prize.
Led Zeppelin Celebration Day
SOUNDBLAST
Soundblast is a free all ages youth event being held in Kings Square Fremantle on Sunday, October 14. With an eclectic array of talented local artists including Emperors, Rainy Day Women, The Stoops and more, Soundblast will talk about mental health in a way we can all understand – through music. We are giving you the chance to win a meet and greet with Rainy Day Women and a signed Emperors album. Get in now to be in the running.
LED ZEPPELIN CELEBRATION DAY
Led Zeppelin have confirmed that their 2007 reunion concert at London’s O2 arena will be released in “multiple configurations” as Celebration Day on November 19, 2012. Prior to this, the film will screen at movie theatres across the globe on Wednesday, October 17. We have five double passes up for grabs to experience this incredible concert on the big screen. Get in now for your chance to win.
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X-Press – First on the street, Wednesdays
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X-Press – First on the street, Wednesdays
WAM SONG OF THE YEAR 2012 The WAM Song Of The Year awards presentations take place at the Fly By Night Club on Thursday, October 11. Rainy Day Women and Morgan Bain are two artists featuring prominently in the nominations. BOB GORDON gives them a hug.
RAINY DAY WOMEN
Paul Kelly
SONIC SESSIONS A TREAT
Fremantle Art Centre’s series Sonic Sessions is returning for another intimate season of music. Hosted by Grammy Award winner and ABC Radio National presenter Lucky Oceans, Sonic Sessions is kicking off with the legendary singer-songwriter Paul Kelly on Friday, October 26, which has already sold out. In December, internationally acclaimed country singer Shane Nicholson will take a break from his national tour with wife Kasey Chambers and drops by before The Tea Party’s Jeff Martin closes the series later that month. For all the dates and info, head to fac.org.au.
The Living End
LIVING THINGS
The Living End’s Retrospective tour is coming up soonest and the band have accordingly announced their national supports. Here in Perth it’s Sons Of Rico, The Growl and The Novocaines, plus Brad and Zok from Gyroscope DJing their little hearts out at all the shows. And it all goes something like this at the Rosemount Hotel - Thursday, November 1, State Of Emergency (Sons of Rico); Friday, November 2, MODERN ARTillery (Sons of Rico); Saturday, November 3, The Ending Is Just The Beginning Repeating (Sons of Rico); Sunday, November 4, Roll On (The Growl); Monday, November 5, [sold out] The Living End (The Growl); Tuesday, November 6, The Living End (The Novocaines); Wednesday, November 7, White Noise (The Novocaines). Tickets available via thelivingend. oztix.com.au, 1300 762 545 and Oztix Outlets.
Dexys
MORGAN BAIN
DEXYS LOO-RYE-AYE
Nobody saw it coming, but it happened – everadored ‘80s group Dexys Midnight Runners reformed earlier this year after an almost three decade hiatus, shortening the moniker to Dexys and releasing new record, One Day I’m Going To Soar. When Dexys were announced as Harvest headliners earlier this year, devastation set in for those in WA who couldn’t make it over east. But, never fear! Dexys have just announced a few sneaky sideshows – and in this case, Perth has lucked out. See the soulful, stylish ‘80s rockers at the Astor Theatre on Monday, November 12. Tickets out now at showticketing.com.au
HOLA MEXICAN FILM FIESTA
The 7th annual Hola Mexico Film Festival is arriving in Perth on Thursday, November 15. To ensure the festival kicks off with a bang, they’re throwing an opening party which includes a screening of the feel-good flick, Mariachi Gringo, which stars X-Men’s Shawn Ashmore. But, the night won’t end there – you’ll have to stay for the fiery fiesta of an after-party with Sol, tequila and authentic Mexican food and performances to celebrate the launch of the festival. It’s all happening on Thursday, November 15, at Cinema Paradiso. Get on down from 6.30pm for a 7pm film start with an after-party to follow. Early bird tickets are $35 plus booking fee and are available from October 15 ‘til November 3 from holamexicoff.com. General tickets are $40. Do it.
Reel Big Fish
REEL BIG TOUR
An absolutely killer tour in the form of Reel Big Fish, Goldfinger and Zebrahead has just been announced – and we’re so excited that we’re getting out our black tees and moshing shoes in advance. A line-up like this doesn’t come along all the often – legendary party punkers Reel Big Fish, seminal ‘90s punk-rockers Goldfinger and insane punk-meets-rapcore-meets-everything rockers Zebrahead – you’d be completely batty to miss this. Get in on the dirty beer-swilling, moshing action at Metro City on Wednesday, December 5.
LUCKY DON
Last seen in these parts with the irrepressible Cold Chisel, Don Walker is an Australian songwriting treasure. He returns this week to play some shows with his backing band The Lucky Strikes (featuring Lucky Oceans and Dave Brewer) on Friday, October 12, at Clancy’s Fremantle; Saturday, October 13, at Clancy’s Dunsborough 8pm and on Sunday, October 14, at the Fremantle Arts Centre from 2pm.
Runner Runner
MOVES LIKE JOGGER
GLEESOME THREESOME
As part of this season’s Live At The Quarry showcases, devilishly hilarious trio Tripod are heading West – and, due to popular demand, have just announced a second show to sate your comedy appetites. The trio will be bringing the lols in the form of a rare ‘Greatest Hits’ style show, performing their favourite bits from past shows and highlights from their current show, Men Of Substance. Don’t miss the chance to have three times the fun at The Quarry on Friday, November 9, and Saturday, November 10. Tickets on sale now through Ticketmaster. www.xpressmag.com.au
Presale tickets to WAM Song Of The Year are $23.50 (including booking fee) from www.flybynight.org or phone 9430 5976 during office hours. Door sales on the night are $28.50, if available.
US hardcore punkers Touche Amore and Make Do And Mend are heading down under for a bunch of headline tours. Combining Touche Amore’s passionate hardcore LA punk style with Make Do And Mend’s fierce post-hardcore sound, this tour is sure to leave your ears ringing and faces grinning. With two shows in WA, you’d be crazy to miss them – check it all out at the YMCA HQ all-ages show on Wednesday, November 7, with support from Foxes, and at Amplifier on Thursday, November 8, with support from Vanity. Tickets on sale now from Oztix.
Local outfit Runner are gearing up to release their new single, Footprints, after dropping their debut EP in March, then spending six months scattered around the globe. After gaining a bit of life experience, the boys are getting to work on a full-length album – but not before sharing the first single with you. Check out some new tunes, old tunes and everything in between at The Bakery on Friday, October 19, with support from Stillwater Giants, Antelope, Weeks and Gray.
With three albums, an army of followers, and a bunch of awards under his belt, homegrown lad Matt Gresham has done pretty well for himself – but he still wants to See The World – which, coincidentally, is the name of his new record. The singer-songwriter will be showcasing new and old exuberant, soulful tunes at The Astor on Saturday, November 10. Tickets through showticketing.com.au now.
After wowing Australian crowds last year as support for punk legend Frank Turner, William Elliot Whitmore is returning to our shores for a full national headline tour. The Iowan musician has built a reputation on stunning heartland songs and a sound quite unlike anything else in the industry at the moment, not to mention chillingly beautiful live shows – often played solo with multiple instruments. Don’t miss the chance to check out this amazing musician – he’ll be playing one Perth show only at Mojos on Saturday, March 23.
A big round of applause for Fremantle singersongwriter St. South who has beaten thousands of international entries to win her category in the Bon Iver Stems Project. Her song, We Washed Texas, combined parts of three Bon Iver songs with original vocals that she recorded in her home. St. South will have her remix released on Bon Iver’s exclusive Stems Project album, to be released officially at the end of the year! Congrats lady!
After scoring the title of the first Aussie artist to ever sign with the seminal Sub Pop Records and releasing his debut Forever So in the US and UK, folksy singer/ songwriter Husky has been away from home for a while, trying his luck overseas. But, after winning over crowds around the world, Husky is ready to head home for some lovin’ – gig lovin’ that is. Due to popular demand, a bunch of WA shows have just been added to his national tour in December. Go back to where it all started with Husky on Wednesday, December 12 at Mojos, or Thursday, December 13 at The Bakery.
Mental Powers
PRO MOJO
Genre-eluding locals Mental Powers are about to drop a new album, Pro Bono, a release that promises to be just as shambolic yet ordered, rhythmic yet droning, and utterly unconventional as their last. A band known for their originality and odd use of DIY instruments and even album packaging, these guys know how to make music to have fun to. Catch the album launch show on Saturday, October 13 at Mojos, with support from the Andrew Sinclair Band and Leafy Suburbs.
FRUITS NOT SO RIPE
William Elliot Whitmore
SHE’S A BONNY LASS
HISTORY’S REPEATING
GRAND GRESHAM
HEARTLAND HERO Tripod
Morgan Bain won the 15-17 category in 2011 with his song, Unkind, and increased his momentum by gaining supports with the likes of Cold Chisel and Ash Grunwald, as well as a slot at Parklife last weekend. He’s also playing the Music Feedback: Soundblast show this Sunday (see page 41) and is nominated this year in the 15-17 year category for his track, I Think I’ve Got You. “With I Think I’ve Got You I actually wrote the chorus before I did anything at all with the melody and rhythm behind it,” he says. “It seemed catchy, so I just stuck with it and built it from there. This song is a bit different from Morgan Bain what I usually write and I guess is more of a popstructured song but still with a blues influence.” Bain says that he has learnt mainly from his own experience of writing but also from the two producers that he’s recorded with. In terms of approach, he has his ways, but even these are evolving. “Usually I will either write the melody or riff/melody and then write words to it,” he says, “but it’s been changing a bit lately where I’ll think of something when I’m not playing music and it will be either a vocal hook or lyric in my head.”
THE MIDAS TOUCHE
GIDDY UP
Local quartet Jake And The Cowboys have won the golden opportunity to open for Everclear for the Perth date of their Australian tour at Capitol on Sunday, October 14. Also joining the shenanigans is much-loved local Emperors who’ll be special guests for Everclear’s entire national tour.
If you want an encapsulation of the year thus far for Rainy Day Women, look no further than last weekend. The band launched their new single, Runaway, at Mojo’s, supported The Rubens and were part of Sunday’s Hyperfest bill. This Saturday they appear at Oktoberfest in Supreme Court Gardens, as well as being part of the Music Feedback: Soundblast all-ages youth festival in Kings Square, Fremantle, on Sunday. Meanwhile, they have scored two nominations, in the Love and Pop categories, for singer/ Rainy Day Women songwriter Dylan Ollivierre’s songs, Sleigh Bed, and Aimee. “Sleigh Bed was one of the easiest songs I’ve ever written as a process,” he tells us.“We had decided which songs we were going to record for our first EP and we were a couple of days away from going into the studio and then that came along. I really had no pressure or expectations because the EP songs were decided at that point. It just felt right, so we changed plans and decided to record it and it ended up being the single.” Ollivierre says he’s learnt just as much about songwriting from his own experience of writing as he has from the work of others. “I’ve learnt a lot from both sources,” he says. “I think every song ever written is borrowed from somewhere else to a certain degree, even if it’s just the inspiration for a lyric or sound. All of my influences can probably be heard at some point in my songwriting, but the key is to let yourself learn from yourself. You know yourself better than anyone else and you know what music means to you. “So when you start letting your unconscious guide you a bit, I think that’s when you can break through to something special. It’s hard to explain. Basically, just let the song come without putting limitations on it before it has even grown.”
Unfortunately All Fruits Ripe Reggae Jamm 2012 has been cancelled. With the Original Wailers cancelling their appearance at the gig, it had a big effect on the event. Tickets purchased online through Heatseeker and Oztix will automatically be refunded to the credit card used for purchase. Tickets purchased from an outlet/store will need to return to the point of purchase for a refund. For further enquiries, contact admin@oztix.com.au or hit up offworldproductions.com.au. Sad face.
Bleeding Knees Club
EASILY BRUISED
Get your band-aids at the ready, because that cheeky duo Bleeding Knees Club are coming for ya. After an uber-successful national tour earlier this year, the Brissy boys are gearing up for round two, this time launching new single, Let It Go. With support from Sydney shredders Step-Panther, these shows are sure to be killer. Be part of the shenanigans at Metros Freo on Friday, November 9, and at Amplifier on Saturday, November 10. 11
XIU XIU Chairman Of The Barb Xiu Xiu is one of the headlining acts of the eclectic This Is Nowhere line-up, happening this Sunday, October 14, at UWA’s Somerville Auditorium. Jamie Stewart - the strangled but instantly recognisable voice of US art-rock outfit Xiu Xiu – has made a career out of dwelling on dark feelings. Over nine studio albums, Stewart has led a revolving troupe of musicians through topics of violence, suicide, molestation and self-loathing. There are love songs too amongst it all - Fabulous Muscles, for example, is beautifully tender - but the lasting impression of the band is one of introverted intensity. Stewart has sewn himself so successfully into the fabric of his music that it can be difficult to pinpoint where he ends and Xiu Xiu begins. Surprisingly, perhaps, Stewart’s interview manner is perfectly pleasant. He is open, friendly, articulate and possesses a dry sense of humour. As he sings on Gray Death - ‘I will be outrageous if you expect me to be outrageous’.
Definitely. In as much as documentation is about trying to organise something, trying to make sense of feelings that, otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to deal with and would only lead to me being self-destructive. I don’t really feel that working an idea into a song makes it go away, but it certainly makes it possible for me to go on.
By HENRY ANDERSEN
Do you find it difficult then, when you are revisiting old songs for live performance to inhabit that headspace again? For the songs that aren’t relevant anymore - where so much time has passed that the feelings aren’t there anymore - we just don’t play those songs. A lot of the songs though, the
In 2006 you said that Xiu Xiu was born out of “feeling stupid and lonely and wanting to dance it away.” The night that it began I was in a club by myself. It was just the typical thing that any shy person would do - go to a dance club to try to pick somebody up. Several weekends of this in a row and I’d had enough. Not that it was the last time it would happen or anything, not by a long shot, but I went home and ended up writing the first Xiu Xiu song. I read as well that you had a five-point manifesto when you first started the band. What were the five points? It wasn’t so much a five-point plan as five different influences we wanted to incorporate. Starting Xiu Xiu we were literally writing down what it was that we wanted to be drawing from. It’s broadened a bit since, but it still certainly includes - very obviously- ‘70s and ‘80s British post-punk, modern classical, noise, gay dance-floor music, and various kinds of Asian percussion music. There are a lot of pop techniques in your music but they are being used toward fairly ‘un-pop’ ends. Do you feel like you are trying to subvert the standard expectations of pop? Not in the least. I don’t have enough against pop to feel like I need to subvert it. I love pop, I just also love super dissonant noise music and I don’t want to not do one or the other just because they don’t really complement one another.
Do you find the process therapeutic? Well, traditionally, the idea of therapy is to move past something or to have it go away. I don’t really feel like working an idea into a song makes it go away but it certainly makes it possible for me to go on. I get a kind of a fulfilled feeling from an idea rather than having it smash me in the face all the time, I guess. So really, in a way, it is therapeutic. As heavy-handed as that sounds, it is the case.
“The set of songs we are doing for this tour is the most depressing that we’ve ever done. I have not enjoyed rehearsing them. I hate rehearsal anyway, but I’ve really hated rehearsing these particular songs. I just think, ‘Fuck, I do not feel like dealing with that particular subject right now’.”
emotion may have changed but there is still very definite emotion there. A song like Luber from Knife Play, we’ll still play occasionally. Even though I wrote that song 10 years ago, it’s about a specific series of events that still require some analysis. My specific feelings about them have changed but its Lyrically, a lot of your songs are quite violent, epicentre is still as... pointy to me as it was. It could often sexually so. What is it about violent be a different kind of point, but it’s still pointy (laughs). imagery that interests you? It’s not so much that it interests me; it’s just where my experience lies. The point of the Do you find it taxing, when you are touring, to band has always been to write about real things keep digging up those old wounds? Well (laughs), not wanting to sound that are happening to us, or in politics or to our families. The songs aren’t all autobiographical. A like a dick, but yes. In terms of doing something large number of them are, but some of them are enjoyable it was a horrible plan for a band. The set of songs we are doing for this tour is the about people I know or people I care about. most depressing that we’ve ever done. I have not So is songwriting a process of documentation enjoyed rehearsing them. I hate rehearsal anyway, but I’ve really hated rehearsing these particular for you?
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Jamie Stewart, Xiu Xiu songs. I just think, ‘Fuck, I do not feel like dealing with that particular subject right now’. But the subject hasn’t gone away, so I can continue to look at it by playing a song, or I can pretend it isn’t there then go crazy in 20 years and shoot myself in the face.
Oh, I’m quite sure that happens sometimes but I can’t think of a specific instance. It’s usually pretty early in the process that the music and the lyrics get paired. I’ll have a set of musical sketches and a set of sketches for the lyrics and then they get matched up. It’s not like So do you enjoy performing live? I have a complete musical idea with no lyrics and It feels meaningful to me, personally, to a complete set of lyrics with no music. It’s not like do it, but I definitely would not say that I enjoy it. two finished ideas are put together, more like two Not in the same way that I enjoy playing Mario half ideas are put together to make one whole idea Brothers or something. so they don’t quite have that disparate effect on one another. It’s not only your lyrics that are quite violent, the music itself seems to really inhabit that There was a line-up change just before the same violent aesthetic. When you are writing a album Dear God I Hate Myself, and there were song do you start with the lyrics and then write also those orchestral moments and a few other the music to fit them or do you write lyrics in examples of you trying techniques you hadn’t response to the sound of the music? As it plays it tends to be that there are used before. What did you set out to achieve a set of lyrics that are being worked on and a set with the album? I don’t know if we have any set plan of lyrics that are being worked on and when it comes time to put the record together it’s a matter but with that one we were trying to play with of figuring out which lyrics fit with which piece some more organic sounds. Then with Always, of music. The records are always written over a the most recent record, we were trying to move specific period of time though, which is the time away from organic sounds and rely almost between finishing the last record and this record entirely on electronic sounds. I think it can often coming out. Because of that the lyrics and the be more fruitful to not go into making a record music are both being informed by the same set of with any plan and just let it be what it’s going to experiences, they are just not being written at the be. It does have its own existence and its own life and I think not arguing with that is the least one same time. can do in terms of respecting an album. It has an Do the lyrics ever change meaning then, when immense amount more power over you than you have over it. you pair them with music?
X-Press – First on the street, Wednesdays
MUSE Another One Bites The Dub
Muse have just released their sixth album, The 2nd Law. Drummer Dominic Howard contemplates an Olympic-sized hangover with LACHLAN KANONIUK. The sun is shining over a lush English garden. It’s a few hours since the last firework lit up London’s Olympic Stadium, and a selection of the closing ceremony’s stars – three of the Spice Girls, a Gallagher and Muse drummer, Dominic Howard – are huddled together pulling shapes for the camera, all with good reason to celebrate. That’s the scene set by Emma Bunton, aka Baby Spice, in a photo posted on Twitter the day before this interview with Howard. Muse, of course, performed the official London Olympics theme, Survival, at the ceremony – a track that features on The 2nd Law, the band’s sixth studio album. Still picking up the pieces from the day before, Howard discusses the album’s fusion of the electronic and organic, and issues a challenge to laptop-based musicians. “It’s fading,” says Howard, assessing his hangover.“It’s still there slightly, but it’s definitely fading. Yesterday it was pretty bad. It was a bit of a late night. It was a bizarre night. It got more and more surreal as the night went on. Then the morning turned up.” With The 2nd Law, Muse have once again pushed themselves into uncharted musical territories. With an omnivorous approach to genre, the triumvirate have blended disparate elements with an aplomb that suggests near-infallibility. But as Howard explains, at this stage of their career the band are emboldened by fearlessness more than invulnerability.
is 100-200 years old. We’ve always been inspired by electronic music as well as rock, orchestral music, film music. We just get inspired by a lot of different things all the time. “With Unsustainable, it was kind of like a challenge to modern day electronic music in some way. We’re playing our instruments in a really electronic way, but it’s all with real instruments – a real orchestra, real choir, real drums, bass and guitar. We just wanted to do something that was inspired by electronic music, but still very organic. It’s kind of a challenge to a man on his laptop.” As for witnessing The 2nd Law in the live setting, Australia is on the cards, bit not just yet. “I think it’s just gonna be next year sometime,” Howard says.“Well, to be honest, rather than saying, ‘we’re gonna be there soon’, it’s gonna be towards the end of next year, I know. Coming up to your summer. We’ll be looking forward to coming back and doing some nice, big shows.”
Muse
“I think it is good to provoke opinions. Our band has always managed to weirdly split and divide opinions. Anything we do, people seem to love it or completely hate it and think it’s the worst thing ever. I love that. Whether it’s good or bad, it’s provoking something and inspiring a reaction. I think that we’ve been lucky that it’s what we’ve always managed to do with the music we’ve made.” “Everyone makes mistakes in whatever they do, but I think we certainly have this feeling that we can do whatever we want,” he says. “Whether that’s right or wrong is a different thing. We definitely feel like we have this bizarre artistic freedom to do what we want and not really worry about it too much or think about how it might be perceived. We’re essentially just doing what we like. And of course we’re pushing ourselves to discover new ways of playing and recording music, and I think this album certainly shows it. There are all sorts of different things on this album.” The 2nd Law blends pretty much every musical element you can imagine. From Bowie-style funk, to Eno-like soundscapes and, of course, the sheer bombast of Queen. “We just went for it with this one. I personally love those kind of albums, the ones where you put it on and go, ‘What the fuck was that?’. The more you listen to it the more you discover new things. Every song and every corner you take feels like a completely different thing. “The first two songs on the album couldn’t be more extreme in their difference from each other – the huge, massive rock riff of Supremacy to the minimal electronic music of Madness. So there are the two extremes of the album with the first two songs. But somehow, to me, they sit together quite nicely.” With each transgressive step forward, as with their falsetto-laden Supermassive Black Hole from 2006’s Black Holes And Revelations, Muse manage to instigate a fervent and divisive reaction. In a provocative move, the first taste of The 2nd Law came in the form of the heavily dubstep-influenced Unsustainable. “I think it is good to provoke opinions,” Howard states firmly. “Our band has always managed to weirdly split and divide opinions. Anything we do, people seem to love it or completely hate it and think it’s the worst thing ever. I love that. Whether it’s good or bad, it’s provoking something and inspiring a reaction. I think that we’ve been lucky that it’s what we’ve always managed to do with the music we’ve made. I think it’s important to get a reaction out of someone and not be in the middle of the bloody road, because that’s dull, let’s face it.” With dubstep – particularly the modern US-style heard on Unsustainable – still possessing somewhat of stigma with some music fans, Muse boldly explored the genre, not so much to revere it, but to challenge its exclusively digital production. “We’ve always been inspired by loads of music, from extremely current things to music that www.xpressmag.com.au
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STEEL PANTHER Balls And All
Steel Panther hit Metro City this Thursday, October 11, with help from Sydney rockers, The Art. LACHLAN KANONIUK speaks with singer, Michael Starr. It’s been a few years since LA rock monsters Steel Panther vehemently penetrated the world’s eardrums with the resounding battle cry of Death To All But Metal, and they’ve stayed true to their all-conquering ethos ever since. Evidently, the world – Australia in particular – has heeded the call. After a typically turbulent recording process, the band unleashed their second serving of unabashed hair metal glory, Balls Out – featuring tracks such as 17 Girls In A Row and It Won’t Suck Itself (featuring Nickelback’s Chad Kroeger, no less). Australian audiences first witnessed such numbers during the band’s arrival for the massive Soundwave festival earlier in 2012, a tour which included some decent-sized double-headline Sidewaves with Alter Bridge. With the announcement of a swift return to our fair land to hit even bigger venues, it seems we can’t get enough of Michael Starr, Satchel, Lexxi Foxxx and Stix Zadinia. “Oh my god, it was amazing. I think Australia has really great taste in music, that’s what I think it is,” says Michael Starr, rationalising the phenomenon that was their Soundwave appearance. “We had no idea what the reception would be, and to come out on stage early – sometimes it was like noon – and it would just be packed. It was so fuckin’ fun, all the other bands on the tour would come on side of stage and watch our show. It was so flattering and so unexpected and overwhelming and fun. I dunno man, but to be received like that – I don’t want to sound corny – but it was really a blessing. We’re so stoked to have the opportunity to come jam there and fuck all those hot chicks too,” he beams. “Australian chicks are pretty fucking hot, dude.”
Sound Of Seasons
Steel Panther The release of the debut record Feel The Steel was accompanied with a no-nonsense manifesto which laid out the gameplan of bringing back heavy metal. The following years saw a massive resurgence in the long-dormant genre – whether it’s in the form of massive arena tours from the original titans, or the runaway success that is the Rock Of Ages stage/film production. So with their original goal seemingly achieved, what domains are left for Steel Panther to conquer? “I think we not only need to do world domination, but galaxy domination,” Starr declares. “First we have to start off by completely dominating the whole world. So far we have Australia, Europe, North America, Canada and now we need South America, Asia – we need everything. I think everyone should be able to enjoy heavy metal. Don’t you?” Seemingly each Steel Panther performance is imbued with the seal of approval from the rock gods of days gone by – either the aforementioned side of stage nods of approval, the tour support requests, or even special guest onstage appearances. Are we witnessing the heavy metal torch being passed down? “No, I don’t think it’s been passed down. I think what’s happening and what you’re witnessing is everybody coming together in the community. We were touring with Def Leppard and Mötley Crüe, and they don’t need to pass down any fuckin’ torch, quite honestly. It’s more like, ‘Come on, welcome Steel Panther, welcome to heavy metal-ville, we’ve been doing it for 25 years’. “We’re all just coming together man and rockin’. It’s fun dude, watching Sebastian Bach jam, and fuckin’ hanging out with Scorpion. It’s a fuckin’ dream come true.”
SOUND OF SEASONS
Seasons’ Greetings Sydney’s Sound Of Seasons, armed with the release of their debut EP, Make Believe, head West to wrap up their national tour playing Fremantle’s C5 on Friday, October 12; Amplifier on Saturday, October 13 and YMCA HQ (all-ages) in Leederville on Sunday, October 14. RYAN BUTLER speaks to the band ahead of their visit. Sound Of Seasons’ recently released debut EP, Make Believe, was initially planned to reach our ears in the infant months of 2012. Life, seemingly, had a different plan for the band. “We had anticipated recording and releasing much earlier in the year,“ says drummer, James Hill. “Sadly we were stunned by a couple of family tragedies and had to offset the focus on the record. The events shook us all up and are definitely reflected on the EP.” Make Believe’s lead single, The Sheltered, touches on the tragedy and pain the band dealt with, taking a pointed look at the dynamics of a strained relationship. “The Sheltered was most certainly written about a particular person,” Hill says. “The song itself
is one of the few on the EP that was born out of the ‘tragedy period’ we went through early on in the year. It’s a common thread in a lot of our songs that they’re not written about fictional characters or detail, rather actual, personal experiences.” A band still in its infancy, Sound Of Seasons are discovering what makes them stand out from the crowd on their EP, all the while calling on the styles of earlier singles All Over Me and Sweet Decline. “Make Believe to us is a defining release, up until this point we’ve been so unaware of what ‘our sound’ is. All Over Me was a poppier number and was a great introduction for listeners, while Sweet Decline showcased the heavier, more alternative side we’re also capable of. “That’s the beauty about Sound Of Seasons; we can sway on either side of the pop or alternative market and hopefully appeal to the masses. But with Make Believe we consolidated the styles of our previous releases to define ‘our sound”,Hill says. Now that Make Believe has been released the band has shifted their focus to hitting the road and the stage as hard as possible. “For the most part of this year we’ve been in ‘build-up’ mode preparing for the EP, now that it’s released we’re in a ‘full-steam ahead’ mode. We’re hoping to up the ante a bit on the touring side of things and hopefully with an EP on our side now snag up some real decent shows and supports,” says Hill. Only days out from ending their national tour in Perth, Sound Of Seasons want their love affair with the West to blossom further having already visited earlier in the year. “It was honestly one of the most humbling experiences. To travel five hours by plane to the opposite side of our great nation and have people singing the words of our songs back to us was amazing. The people of Perth are so laid back and so friendly. We made so many new friends on that trip and hope to do so again this time round.”
HTRK
Berlin Share Ahead of HTRK’s This Is Nowhere appearance at UWA this Sunday, October 14, front-woman Jonine Standish chats to HENRY ANDERSEN about life, music and loss. “It’s very violent and surreal but it’s like a dreamscape - like a dream caught on a security camera.” That’s Jonine Standish, of Melbourne art-rock group HTRK, speaking about the author Blake Butler, but it could just as easily be Butler describing HTRK’s last LP, Work (Work, Work). U n l i k e t h e k n o t te d, a g g re s s i ve sound of HTRK’s earlier material, Work (Work, Work) is ostensibly calm. Its violence is implicit, obscured amongst codeine-weary synths and Standish’s deadpan delivery. Much of the album’s claustrophobic mood tends to get attributed by reviewers (accurately or not) to the context in which the LP was made, with founding member, Sean Stewart, committing suicide and the two remaining members completing the album alone. “We were about 3/4 through finishing the album when Sean died,” says Standish, calmly. “People always ask us, ‘why did you keep going?’ but for us it wasn’t even a question. Between myself and Nigel [Yang, guitarist] we were adamant that we weren’t going to change the direction of the album. Listening back though, I know that lo-fi quality of the album is because myself and Nigel were in a state of grief. There were a bunch of low quality MP3s emailed between the three of us which we thought we would re-record with another producer, at another time. We would rather use those demos with flaws that Sean played on than create these tracks in a studio with someone else.” Despite the group’s insistence on not allowing their friend and former bassist’s death to divert the course of the album, Stewart’s ghost still looms large along the album’s static corridors. Perhaps the clearest example of this is album opener, Ice Eyes Eis. Taken as is, the track has a measured beauty, but it becomes even more affecting when one learns that the basis 14
Grinspoon
GRINSPOON Run, Rabbit, Run HTRK of the track is a slowed down field recording made by Stewart of his room in Berlin. “We never found these recordings until after Sean died,” says Standish. “You can hear the TV on in the background. The three of us lived in Berlin for a year and we didn’t speak any German. If ever we had the TV on the only thing we could understand were the sex ads. We were so obsessed with trying to learn more about Sean after he died. When we found these field recordings, we felt like we were closer to him.” It’s tempting to read the entirety of Work (Work, Work) as an epitaph to Stewart, but in reality the album’s themes extend beyond the band member’s personal sense of loss. “When we find ourselves writing an album rather than be restricted by a specific concept what we have is a specific time-frame,” Standish says. “For [debut LP] Mary Me Tonight, it was a violent album for when you are getting ready to go out and you know that you’ve got a million competitors. “With Work (Work, Work) it’s 3.15, when you come home and you just get into bed and you listen to an album really intensively. It’s kind of the comedown album.”
Grungy groovers Grinspoon are back with Black Rabbits, their first release in three years. TRAVIS JOHNSON chats to guitarist Pat Davern about that difficult seventh album. There’s been a noticeable shift in the tone of Grinspoon’s music since 2009’s assaulting - and, let’s face it, not too well received - Six To Midnight. It’s more welcoming, hookier, less aggressive... dare we say, lighter? “I don’t necessarily agree that it’s lighter,” says founding member Pat Davern. “It’s definitely more melodic, and has more of a groove to it. My favourite albums are albums like that - they’re a bit slower and have a particular groove about them, I guess. There’s a ‘tap your foot along’ feel to this album - that was my goal, what I brought to the table. I wanted you to be able to tap your foot along and not just be obliterated by this kind of stuff that’s just not very friendly.” Not that Davern feels the need to leap to the defence of the band’s previous offering - “I really like Six To Midnight, to be honest with you,” he maintains - but he will admit that, of late, it’s been a case of the tail wagging the dog, insofar as Grinspoon’s creative efforts are concerned.
“When we did that record, we kind of had this mindset that this is what we had been known to do - this heavy rock thing. This is what our fans want to hear, and so this is what we should give them, but without going too deeply into what we should be doing to satisfy ourselves, and to keep ourselves interested in what we’re doing. After you’ve been together as long as we have, and you’re six albums deep, coming up withw that seventh album to keep yourselves motivated and happy isn’t easy anymore, you know what I mean? “I just think that we kind of underestimated our fans a little bit. I think our fans are more interested in what we have to say than in what we think they want us to say.” Thus, with Black Rabbits, the band’s latest release, Davern set out to chart a musical course that was less obvious, but more rewarding, crafting an album that would give Grinspoon’s fans what they wanted, without leaving the band feeling like they were treading water. “I demoed eight basic tracks,” he recalls.“And then I went down to Phil’s [lead singer Phil Jamieson] studio in Port MacQuarrie. He listened to them, and they were a bit more melodic, a bit more interesting, and he was like, ‘You know what? This is what we should be doing’. And I said, ‘I agree with you’. We don’t have to put our point across by being monstrously angry and having super-loud guitars.” The end result is an album that Davern hopes will recapture the early success of such works as Guide To Better Living and New Detention. Even if it doesn’t, though, he himself is more satisfied with the band’s current momentum. “You have to move forward,” he says.“If you’re not moving forward, you’re going nowhere.” X-Press – First on the street, Wednesdays
www.xpressmag.com.au
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SOMETHING FOR KATE Leave Your Soul To Science
JASON COLLETT Reckon Arts & Crafts ABC Music
Capitol/EMI
Toronto carpenter come singer-songwriter Jason Collett made a name for himself as an integral member of Broken Social Scene when they were at their prime. That band kick-started the careers of many who would stand under its umbrella and Collett was to be no different. His first couple of albums were sunny slices of pop, but as he has aimed to create more sonically diverse records his songs have suffered. Reckon has Collett toning things down for the majority as he borders on the edges of folk rock. For an artist who is politically charged and actively involved in bucking the system in his native Canada, it is no surprise that folk music is now his chosen vehicle. Collett draws on his experience with large ensembles to add lush strings to tunes like the direct Ask No Questions. While his efforts in Broken Social Scene may have seen him at the cutting edge of the industry, it is tunes like the faux funk of You’re Not The One And Only Lonely One that is steadily eroding at this legacy. The 15 songs on Reckon are all brief and relatively inoffensive, but ultimately are a dull and diluted version of the albums that Collett was making a decade ago.
Melbourne trio, Something For Kate, have been one of the most enduring and awarded rock acts to come out of the fertile mid-’90s Australian alt. rock scene. In spite of their popularity and success they have been responsible for a swag of pedestrian tunes over the years that have seen them gather nicknames like ‘Something To Hate’ or ‘Nothing To Say’. Six years between drinks, though, has been a blessing for this outfit as evidenced by Leave Your Soul To Science. The chugging Star-Crossed Citizens has the right amount of vigour as Dempsey buries his voice behind some crashing symbols and swelling guitars for the chaotically appealing chorus. There are still tunes like Survival Expert that are light and uninspired that would fit with their middle of the road back catalogue, but they do get things right with Miracle Cure where Dempsey comes across as a less-muscled Mark Seymour and the impassioned acoustic sing-along of Deep Sea Divers. As unfathomable as it is to comprehend there are now worse bands going around than Something For Kate, Leave Your Soul To Science sees the group shaking their standing as Australia’s answer to Nickelback. _ CHRIS HAVERCROFT
_CHRIS HAVERCROFT
KANYE WEST PRESENTS GOOD MUSIC Cruel Summer
KISS Monster Universal
G.O.O.D. Music/Universal
Cruel Summer is a confusing beast. A muddled mix of moments from an all-star roster brought together by hip hop’s most divisive character. This is Kanye West showing off after Billboard chart topping albums with 2010’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and 2011’s Watch The Throne collaboration with Jay-Z. Not content collaborating with just one artist, West decided to get the entire stable of his G.O.O.D Music label together with some big name friends. West proves once again why he’s one of the best producers in hip hop with tracks like Clique and The Morning – lush yet cold and withdrawn, driven by pitchy synths and slow, pulsing bass lines – endemic of the quality of his recent output. Hudson Mohawke, having proven his hip hop beat credentials this year on the TNGHT EP, is a standout producing album highlights The One and Bliss, a track emblematic of the grandiose synth pop made popular in the past few years by the likes of Passion Pit and M83. With so many voices on the album lyrics take a backseat to the stellar music but there are still memorable rhymes. Big Sean’s refrain on Mercy of ‘Drop it to the floor, make that ass shake. Make the ground move, that’s an ass-quake’ is unforgettable. Not everything here works though. Higher and Creepers are filler, while DJ Khaled’s minute of shoutouts to close Cold feels excessive. At times a case of too many cooks spoil the broth, Cruel Summer is best thought of as a collection of moments. Some bizarre, many brilliant, and with West at its helm that comes as no surprise.
For the longest time, every mention of a new Kiss album has seen the band describing the resultant LP as being ‘the son of Destroyer’ or ‘a cross between Destroyer and [1992’s hard rock return] Revenge’. This year - especially considering that Destroyer itself received an anniversary re-release - the band have simply and steadfastly recorded an album that is more ‘classic rock’ than ‘classic Kiss’. Of course the anthems and odes to shagging are here in abundance, but there’s less of what could be considered as re-writes of previous classics, a characteristic of both 1998’s Psycho Circus and 2009’s return-to-the-studio, Sonic Boom. Paul Stanley again holds sway as producer, as do his songs about pursuing a positively lived life (Hell Or Hallelujah, Freak, Long Way Down). Freak harks back to the contemporary pop/rock approach of his 2006 solo LP, Live To Win, while Shout Mercy is a moodier turn and better for it. Gene Simmons seemingly channels the descending pattern of Helter Skelter on Wall Of Sound (as well as Led Zeppelin’s What Is And What Never Should Be) and a refreshing dose of garage rock on Back To The Stone Age. Lead guitarist, Tommy Thayer, reasserts his spaceman credentials with the predictably-titled Out Of This World, but it’s a catchy rocker indeed, as is drummer Eric Singer’s vocal turn on the Bob Segerflavoured All For The Love Of Rock’n’Roll. Seen by many as a heritage act/brand by this point, Kiss deserve props for being so devoted to recording new music in recent years. Not many of these songs will get an airing on tour, but it’s good to see that both spirit and flesh are forever willing.
_ RYAN BUTLER
_ BOB GORDON
NELLY FURTADO The Spirit Indestructible
GALLOWS Gallows
Universal
Venn Records
Gallows lurches at you like a snarling drunk hell-bent on destruction. Roaming chaotically, limbs flailing, always gaining momentum. It’s the first album the band has recorded with ex-Alexisonfire member Wade Macneil on vocals, having replaced former frontman, Frank Carter, who quit the band in July 2011. Any questions that remained over the future of Gallows is answered emphatically on opener Victim Culture as MacNeil roars, ‘In us, we trust’. From the first pounded chord Gallows delivers three minute gut-punching tracks one after the other all the way to its bellowing end. All the hardcore and punk staples are there. Gang vocals, breakneck riffs, the sense the band are beating their instruments into submission rather than merely playing them and it’s all driven home by MacNeil’s venomous cries weighing in over the top. He is the star here, his delivery imbuing the record with a sense of danger and power that demands listening, filling the void left by Carter many fans thought would spell the end for Gallows. If we can take anything from the punishing 32 minutes displayed on Gallows, it’s that they’re just getting started. _ RYAN BUTLER 16
Canadian songstress, Nelly Furtado, enjoyed forays to the top of the charts with 2001’s uber-successful Whoa, Nelly! and 2006’s Loose, but with her only release since being a full-length Spanish album, Furtado has almost been forgotten by the masses. Cue new record, The Spirit Indestructible. An initial listen to this new offering procures two key questions: Why? And, was Nelly’s voice always that nasal? The entire record is messy and clumsy, and not in an endearing way – Furtado switches between attempting to be Rihanna [Big Hoops (The Bigger the Better)] and going back to her roots and exploring her inner self with tracks such as Bucket List. The Most Beautiful Thing is experimental and painful on a number of different levels, including a spoken ‘Dear Diary’ entry at the end of the track. Perhaps it’s the lack of a producer like Timbaland, but either way The Spirit Indestructible has no clear radio-friendly pop songs, and is simply awkward. There are many terrible things about this album, but perhaps the worst is final song Believers (Arab Spring), in which Furtado – who performed a private concert for the Gaddafis in 2007- comments on tense political happenings and is extremely compassionate and douchey and just really, WHY? Here’s one word to sum up this record: blurgh. _ CHLOE PAPAS X-Press – First on the street, Wednesdays
NO DOUBT Push And Shove Interscope Records/Universal
Despite the fact that it’s been more than a decade since we last heard from SoCal pop stalwarts No Doubt, their recently released sixth LP, Push And Shove, picks up things pretty much exactly where 2001’s Rock Steady left off – with a vibrant collection of bouncy, catchy and mostly engaging tunes. Every song has its own identity, and the album’s slightly fractured vibe speaks volumes about the band’s hiatus – partly caused by Gwen Stefani’s solo-career diversion – but, perhaps unsurprisingly, Push And Shove works best when the band actually pushes and shoves. The terrific, layered dancehall jam Settle Down harkens back to classic Tragic Kingdom-era No Doubt, while Looking Hot gets up in your face as Stefani challenges listeners to ‘go ahead and stare at my ragamuffin’. Stefani also manages to hold her own against Busy Signal and Major Lazer who make memorable guest appearances on the title track. Unfortunately, the album suffers when the melodies and arrangements are precise and exactingly purposeful. Ballads Undone and Easy entertain a rhythmic stiffness that sticks strictly to the beat, without any syncopation to suggest the messy romantic experiences recounted in their lyrics. When it comes down to it, Push And Shove doesn’t quite live up to the anticipation and hype surrounding it’s impending release, but it still remains a solid pop release from an outfit somewhere near the top of their game. _ JENNIFER PETERSON-WARD
CARLY RAE JEPSEN Kiss Schoolboy/ Interscope records
Unless you have been dwelling in a cave Altiyan Childs-style, you’ve heard Call Me Maybe – and have more than likely done fake-phonehand dance moves to it in an embarrassing setting. Well, there’s more where that came from in the form of a 17-track record called Kiss. Straight off the bat, this record is legitimately musically terrible. But, street cred aside, if you do acquire Kiss, this scribe can guarantee that within half an hour you’ll have a favourite Carly song, within two days you’ll know the lyrics to every track, and a week will see you buying a shirt with Carly’s face on it whilst online drunkshopping. This record is so disturbingly infectious and jam-packed with pop hits that governments could utilise it as a brainwashing tool. Look out for Tonight I’m Getting Over You, a sassy break-up song that drunk girls around the globe would surely booty-dance and ugly-cry to if it were released as a single. Curiosity is also disgustingly addictive, and acoustic duet Beautiful featuring J Biebs will go down a treat with the juvies. Bottom line? This record is like a drug – you’ll purchase it in secret, hide it under your bed, and listen to it when no one else is around – but you’ll want that fix. Don’t be hatin’, just give in to the Jepsen.
YOLANDA BE COOL – Change (Sweat It Out! Music) Remember that duo who collaborated with Aussie producer DCUP to release the epic We Speak No Americano back in 2010? They’re Yolanda Be Cool and they’re back with their grimey-electro club banger Change. Featuring super rhymes from LA rap and singing female duo Nola Darling (somewhat reminiscent of Missy Elliot or up and coming A.Dot), Change is a glitchy-tech house party track. A little repetitive in nature, it’s got enough crazy production to keep the party cranking and will no doubt become a resident club anthem for this summer. RNDM – Modern Times (Monkeywrench) Pearl Jam bassist Jeff Ament and prolific singersongwriter Joseph Arthur met in 1999 when Arthur opened a New York show for Three Fish, Ament’s side project with drummer Richard Stuverud. After staying in touch for more than a decade via email, in 2010 the trio reconnected for jam session and, realising they were onto something special, the group headed into the studio, eventually deciding to name themselves RNDM (apparently it’s pronounced ‘Random’) after the circumstances that birthed their new project. Modern Times is the first cut off their upcoming album Acts, and it’s a neat little fuzzy, feedback-heavy ‘90s throwback tune, complete with a hazy lo-fi aesthetic and a video clip in which the bandmates shave their heads to get matching Mohawks. Rad. PHILLY BLUNT FT. MC SHURESHOCK - Let Me See Those Hands (Klub Kids) Local DJ and producer Philly Blunt wastes no time dropping monster party beats with this latest track featuring Kid Kenobi’s long-time collaborator, the one and only MC Shureshock. Shureshock, as always, brings the epic energy to the throbbing banger, spitting super rhymes and commanding everyone to essentially throw their hands in the air. But, there’s almost no need because Let Me See Those Hands is the ultimate d-floor starter, a cracking electro bomb. DAVEY CRADDOCK & THE SPECTACLES – Keep On Waiting (Indepdendent) With Keep On Waiting, the first single from upcoming EP Going Home, local wordsmith Davey Craddock delivers an emotional wallop cloaked in catchy-as-fuck pop subterfuge. As a result, Craddock demands much attention and concentration to truly appreciate each line and turn of phrase. But, as ever, persistence pays off. Delivered in broad, charming and sweet tones, his words provide the skeleton from which the simple guitar, keys, harmonica lines delicately hang. While Craddock’s penchant for strummy acoustic guitars and a love of everyday details could be likened to a plethora of Australian storytellers – from Darren Hanlon to The Go-Betweens – comparisons aside, Craddock has made a gem of a pop ditty that transcends whatever similarities exist with other tunes through its sheer consistency and quality. _ANNABEL MACLEAN & JENNIFER PETERSON-WARD
_ CHLOE PAPAS
THE MOUNTAIN GOATS Transcendental Youth
TORTOISE Beacons Of Ancestorship
Remote Control Records
Thrill Jockey
When he first coined the Transcendental Youth could term ‘Post-Rock’, music critic easily have come from any Simon Reynolds wrote that period in the Mountain “post-rock first erodes and Goat’s history, meaning then obliterates the song either a) John Darnielle has not grown at all since and the voice.” Rather than his first release, or b) he knows a good thing when use rock’s formal conventions (verse-chorus, singer he hears it. And hey, if the recipe works, why screw it as storyteller, etc) post-rock “plung[es] the listener up with extra junk? into plateau-states of bliss, awe, uncanny-ness or Anyone who has heard one of the prolonged sensations of propulsion, ascension, umpteen albums by the Mountain Goats and has free-fall, immersion.” Chicago instrumental band been left wanting isn’t likely to be converted by Tortoise is, for most people, the post-rock band. Transcendental Youth, but for existing fans (of which Their early output during the 1990s pretty much there are plenty) this new offering serves to prove codified the genre’s conventions and still sounds that Darnielle’s songwriting abilities are as keen as ahead of the game today. ever. Part of Tortoise’s success comes from the Transcendental Youth represents business wide range of influences the band employs. Tortoise as usual: 12 absorbing songs, sparingly orchestrated pulls just as much from the canons of jazz, dance to concentrate attention on the lyrics. From his music and hip-hop as it does from rock, no more evocation of a gladiator crawling in the Colosseum successfully than on 2009’s Beacons Of Ancestorship. dust, ‘who can count on his remaining limbs all High Class Slim Comes Floating In pairs obtuse funk the people he can trust’ on Spent Gladiator II to an riffs with Krautrock. Northern Something stretches admission that ‘the loneliest people in the whole wide grainy noise over taut, muscular grooves. This isn’t world are the ones you’re never going to see again’ genre-hopping though. The elements here don’t on Harlem Roulette, it is Darnielle’s way with words sound disparate. Tortoise’s aim is not to sound like which makes his songs grow more enveloping with jazz, rock or electronica, but to thread these streams every listen. into something entirely new. Even though there aren’t any standout Beacons is, perhaps, not as groundtunes on the album which scale the 10/10 heights of breaking as the band’s early material but it remains This Year, No Children, or Going To Georgia, Mountain their most elegantly composed release - a heady trip Goats fans will have a hard time being disappointed of “propulsion, ascension, free-fall [and] immersion” by Transcendental Youth. which is well worth a revisit before the band’s upcoming Perth appearance at This Is Nowhere. _ JENNIFER PETERSON-WARD www.xpressmag.com.au
_ HENRY ANDERSEN 17
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X-Press – First on the street, Wednesdays
On the weekend of Saturday, November 3, and Sunday, November 4, buildings across the Perth CBD will fling open their doors to let the public enjoy spaces usually closed to them. From private residences to historic landmarks, Open House Perth will give rare access into the extraordinary architecture that defines Perth City, while introducing locals to the people who make the city a vibrant and sustainable place to live, work, and play. JENNIFER PETERSON-WARD speaks to Open House Perth Creative Director Carly Barrett about one of the highpoints of the cultural year. It may be hard to believe but Perth hasn’t always been quite the dynamic city it is today. While recent figures place us as Australia’s fastest growing capital, Carly Barrett – an architect, designer and evangelist for good urban living – has witnessed firsthand the rise and rise of our metropolitan landscape and believes the strides we’ve made in recent years are cause for celebration. Having taken part in the Open House initiative in London, Barrett set about making plans to open up Perth buildings that were normally closed to the public and now, on the eve of its 20th anniversary, the world’s most isolated capital city has joined an international family of Open House cities including New York, Barcelona and Melbourne. “Open House originally started off in the UK about 20 years ago now and so we just thought it was a really fantastic idea bringing it to Perth given the fact that there are so city-changing projects that are on the cards right now – from the Perth Waterfront [Elizabeth Quay] to the City Link to the new Stadium, and the changes going on at the Casino,” Barrett begins. “The face of the city is really changing and we wanted to look at a way to embrace the change and embrace the excitement of Perth living but also balance that off with having a real appreciation of what the city’s like and where it has come from.”
Subiaco Farmers Markets The Merrywell Childhood-Inspired Workouts
CONTINUED IN URBAN CENTRAL ON PAGE 24
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LANGUAGE OF LOVE
Poetry lovers have the chance to showcase their skills with the WA Poets Inc. calling for entries in their Poetry d’Armour Love Poetry Contest. Participants are asked to submit their original, unpublished work on the theme of love by midnight Tuesday, October 30, with the winners announced on Valentine’s Day 2013 at the Poetry d’Armour evening in the Japanese Garden at the Perth Zoo and the best poems going into an anthology to be sold on the night. Full entry details and conditions can be found at wapoets.net.au.
PICS OR IT DIDN’T HAPPEN
Mariano Pensotti’s La Marea
FESTIVAL FEVER
The 2013 Perth International Arts Festival is coming up fast and to satiate our cravings for everything great in arts, literature and music, organisers have revealed that Perth will welcome Bertolt Brecht’s legendary Berliner Ensemble to Australia for the first time as they perform Brecht and Kurt Weill’s 1928 theatrical masterpiece The Threepenny Opera. Joining the ensemble at PIAF will also be modern literary star Margaret Atwood and Argentinean director Mariano Pensotti who is set to transform the streets of Perth as part of his large-scale performance art piece La Marea. General sale tickets for the festival are available from Monday, November 12, and keep your eyes on Eye4 for all the latest PIAF announcements.
24 hours. One city. Propel Youth Arts WA are embarking on an ambitious experiment to document 24 hours of life in Perth by asking anyone and everyone in the Perth and surrounding regions to set aside a couple of minutes on Saturday, October 13, to capture a moment of their day on camera. Use an iPhone, a DSLR, a film camera, a point and shoot, Instagram, a Polaroid camera – whatever tool you have at your disposal! Then simply upload your image through propel.org.au/projects/mosaic. All images will be displayed at 140 William Perth in November. Stay tuned for more deets.
TAKEN 2 The Cleaners Directed by Olivier Megaton Starring Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace, Famke Janssen, Rade Serbedzija
ART SCHOOL CONFIDENTIAL
What do rom-coms, Shakespeare and German composers have in common? All are drawn upon for the Australian premiere of Goetz’s 1874 opera The Taming Of The Shrew (which is based loosely around the original Shakespeare play) to be performed by WAAPA students at the Geoff Gibbs Theatre in Mount Lawley from Saturday, October 13, ‘til Saturday, October 20. For those whose tastes lie with music which is a little more modern, a stellar cast of WAAPA students will perform The Tony Award winning Broadway smash-hit musical Spring Awakening from Saturday, October 13, ‘til Saturday, October 20. Driven by an exceptional score, ranging from power ballads to grunge anthems that capture the spine-tingling highs and lows of youthful desire, this exuberant musical has all the energy of a rock concert and all the power of a hard-hitting drama. Tickets to both shows are available online from waapa.ecu.edu.au.
Famke Janssen and Liam Neeson star in Taken 2
LINK
LINKED IN
LINK Dance Company will be celebrating its 10th Anniversary with an electrifying special performance of Diversify from Wednesday, October 17, ‘til Saturday, October 20. This dazzling promenade performance, utilising the wonderful indoor and outdoor spaces of the historic and beautiful Fremantle Arts Centre, will feature the work of leading Perth-based choreographers Jo Pollitt, Sue Peacock, Jacob Lehrer, Kim McCarthy and LINK Artistic Director Michael Whaites, who will also be performing alongside recent WAAPA graduate dancers.
The great thing about the original Taken was that we didn’t see it coming. It was just another Eurocentric action film from the Luc Besson BeatEm-Up Factory, and the only thing to set it apart from a long line of similar fare was the presence of the stentorian Liam Neeson in the lead role. The fact that it was kind of great was a complete shock. Sadly, its success meant that the film’s creators couldn’t let such a potentially lucrative property lie fallow. Taken 2 is every turgid sequel trope cranked up to 11. This time around, retired CIA killing machine Bryan Mills [Neeson] and his ex-wife, Lenore [Famke Janssen], are kidnapped, and it’s daughter Kim [Maggie Grace] who must do the rescuing, because what the first film really lacked was endless scenes of the hero tied to a bar while his untrained daughter hares around the city setting off grenades. The villains are the families of the vast number of Albanian kidnappers that Neeson slaughtered on his last outing, led by the steely Murad [Rade Serbedzija, the best thing here by a long chalk]. The setting is switched from Paris to Istanbul, the dialogue is switched from cracking to cornball, and the action is switched from exciting to excremental - it’s a pale shadow of its progenitor in every way.
It’s kind of amazing how tension-free the proceedings are. Even when Lenore is snatched and threatened with horrible death by the villains, there’s never a sense of escalating stakes. Whereas previously Neeson’s Mills was a man on a tight clock, tearing up Paris and burning every bridge he ever crossed, here he’s a kind of late-middle-aged James Bond, always in control of the situation and never on the back foot. The outcome of the film is never in doubt, and so what should have been a brisk and brutal actioner feels more like a not particularly good episode of a long-running television series. The action sequences themselves are notably less bloody and intense this time around. Whereas previous director Pierre Morel is a student of the new school, he knows how to choreograph fights so that the viewer at least knows what’s going on. Olivier Megaton, on the other hand, just shakes the crap out of his camera and drops frames in the editing suite in the hopes that it’ll lend the proceedings some kind of momentum and impact. It doesn’t. It’s worth noting that none of the numerous action films that Neeson has appeared in over the past few years have been anywhere near as good as Taken, and maybe that’s saying something. The phrase ‘lightning in a bottle’ comes immediately to mind. Anyone thinking that this follow-up might have been a return to form after the dubious identity thriller, Unknown, and the bloodless blustering of The A-Team will be dreadfully disappointed. Perhaps it’s time to move back to period dramas for a while - one decent movie does not an action hero make. _ TRAVIS JOHNSON
Kaya Scoldelario as Cathy in Wuthering Heights
WUTHERING HEIGHTS Moor Than A Feeling
Directed by Andrea Arnold Starring James Howson, Kaya Scodelario, Solomon Glave, Shannon Beer, Lee Shaw, James Northcote In revisiting the original ‘grim oop north’ story, director, Andrea Arnold, strips Emily Bronte’s legendary gothic potboiler down to its essence, carving away unnecessary set dressing and plot convolutions to lay bare a primal, passionate, and brutal story of thwarted desire, class, race, madness, and repression. In 19th century Yorkshire, the lives of the Earnshaw family are disrupted when the family patriarch [Paul Hilton] brings home Heathcliff [played by Solomon Glave as a child, and James Howson as a young man], an orphan plucked from the streets of Liverpool. Young Cathy [Shannon Beer/Kaya Scodelario] is drawn to the dark-skinned, almost feral foundling, while her brother, Hindley [Lee Shaw], treats him with violence and contempt. The growing attraction between Heathcliff and Cathy, however, will not be denied. Cue conflict, rage, betrayal, heartbreak, death - all the good stuff. Arnold steers clear of the stylistic flourishes that one might expect from this particular breed of period drama, shooting the proceedings in a verite style using mostly handheld cameras. The gorgeous locations are all present and correct - the film was shot on the moors of Yorkshire that inspired the novel - as are the period costumes, but Arnold cleverly contrasts the two to draw out the core theme 20
of the futility and danger of repression, juxtaposing the flimsy trappings of civilisation against the stark wilderness of the landscape and the brutal, violent realities of rural life (animal lovers be warned - more than a few furry friends are dispatched over the course of the story). Yet perhaps the most interesting aspect of this take on Bronte’s novel is Arnold’s decision to foreground the issue of race by making Heathcliff described as “a dark-skinned gypsy” in the source text explicitly black. This serves to heighten the character’s outsider status, which in turns heightens the tension; how much more inevitable is the tragedy when the Byronic hero is separated from his object of desire not just by class, but by race? It’s an issue that has largely been skirted by previous adaptations, where Heathcliff has been portrayed by the pallid likes of Laurence Olivier, Ian McShane, Timothy Dalton, and Tom Hardy. The film does falter occasionally, though. The decision to scatter a few profanities and racial epithets through the dialogue was not a good one; any ground gained through shock value is lost to audience disconnection. Similarly, ending the film with a shoegaze ballad by Mumford & Sons is a horrible, horrible misstep. Happily, neither issue is enough to sink the ship. This is a sterling interpretation of Bronte’s work, making all the angst and longing inherent in the text accessible for a modern audience. An erotic, brooding, love story fuelled by primal passion and bereft of the soft comforts of romanticism, this is a gothic tragedy for the 21st century. _ TRAVIS JOHNSON X-Press – First on the street, Wednesdays
LISA MITCHELL The Artist’s Way
Ahead of the release of her sophomore album Bless This Mess this Friday, October 12, JENNIFER PETERSON-WARD chatted with the very literate and ever-so-lovely Lisa Mitchell about life, literature and David Hicks. Mitchell will showcase her new tunes at the Astor Theatre on Friday, October 26, and the Prince Of Wales on Saturday, October 27.
Brad Pitt stars as Jackie Cogan in Killing Them Softly
KILLING THEM SOFTLY Crime & Punishment
Directed by Andrew Dominik Starring Brad Pitt, Scoot McNairy, Ben Mendelsohn, James Gandolfini, Ray Liotta Australian director, Andrew Dominik, has made three great films in his career. The fact that his career only spans three films means that, so far, his hit rate is incredible. After the blackly comic pseudobiopic, Chopper, and the epic, elegiac western, The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford, he has turned his caustic eye on modern American crime - and modern American economics - in this adaptation of the novel Cogan’s Trade by George V. Higgins. When two low-rent thugs [Scoot McNairy and Ben Mendelsohn] rip off an illegal card game run by the amiable Markie [Ray Liotta], hitman Jackie Cogan [Brad Pitt] is brought in to clean up the mess, ensuring that the criminal economy gets back on track. Through a series of arch, oblique, and often blackly hilarious conversations and confrontations, Dominik draws parallels between the mainstream world and the criminal milieu, stripping away the illusion that they are different in any measurable way, bar one: at least the crims are honest about what they do and why they do it. It’s a morally murky and incredibly unforgiving film. Anyone expecting the cool caper promised by the trailer is in for quite a shock; this is no sub-Tarantino pastiche. It’s an indictment, not just of the brutal realities of free market capitalism,
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but of the lies we tell ourselves in order to exist in such a system. Which all makes it sound like a joyless dirge, which is incorrect. Though the film does little to put its audience at ease, there’s much to enjoy here all the same. The performances are acrossthe-board brilliant, from Pitt’s laconic killer, to Mendelsohn’s disgusting bottom-feeder, to James Gandolfini’s brief but award-worthy turn as a hitman on the downslope of his career. Cinematographer Greig Fraser frames the film’s urban setting with a strange kind of beautiful clarity, which makes the occasional moments of shocking violence even more gut-wrenching, and although the film is largely dialogue driven, the sense of impending danger is never absent - there are conversations here more suspenseful than any action scene. If there’s a criticism to be levelled, it’s that the film often chooses immediacy over subtlety, hammering points home rather than leaving them for the audience to discover. Some of the musical choices are on the nose (do we really need The Man Comes Around again?) and the decision to set the film during the 2008 Presidential election, while effective, is a tad overdone - apparently every criminal in America was following the race. Clocking in at a brisk 90-odd minutes, Killing Me Softly doesn’t waste any time. It’s a lean, brutal, crime thriller that’s coming from a place of honesty, not simply wallowing in grindhouse excess like so many superficially similar films. It’s violent, smart, funny, astute, honest, and uncompromising what are you waiting for?
“I’m feeling like I’m massively pregnant and I really just want to let it go,” begins Lisa Mitchell. It’s an accurate declaration to make given the fact that her new album Bless This Mess has been more than three years in the making. The Melbourne-based singer/songwriter’s 2009 debut album Wonder, released when she was just 19, scored multiple ARIA nominations and took out the Australian Music Prize, but Mitchell admits she initially found it quite difficult to begin working on a follow-up. Inspiration finally came in the form of Julia Cameron’s acclaimed self-help manual The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path To Higher Creativity. “It’s one of those little gold nuggets of a book. It’s one of those books that once you’ve read it you just want to go out and tell every person you meet ‘if you do anything for me, just read this book’,” Mitchell explains. “Julia writes that we are not in control of what we create – we are a funnel or a sponge. We see a butterfly or a car crash and we just feel it trickling through our psyche… I thought ‘that’s so gorgeous’, that idea that it’s not us creating it, it’s got to come from this place which is untainted by end results. “Worrying about the outcome is the one way to kill your creativity whether you’re a tap dancer or singer or chef or whatever. Once I realised that, it took so much pressure away from me. It’s like, if you’re feeling blocked creatively it’s probably just that you’re just not that inspired. It’s a very psychological realisation to be made. There’s no such thing as genius, it’s just what comes to you. It’s very liberating to realise that.” By distancing herself from notions “that a song had to be really good or really catchy” Mitchell says she was able to explore a darker side of songwriting. “The chorus in Walk With Me is really building, there’s this feeling of an urge building, a yearning. I wrote it as a very melancholic sad song.
Lisa Mitchell I was listening to the radio and David Hicks came on and he was talking about his torture. It’s such a dark, dark, story and just a horrible example of what humans are capable of. Just the actual human act of torture gives me such disgust deep down,” she says. “So yeah, that’s a real downer song. It’s like, how are we going to heal our world when all our energy goes into negative stuff like that?” While Hicks’ experience is certainly one of the more obscure influences on the record, Mitchell admits that, for the most part, her songwriting remains autobiographical in nature. “It’s literally like a doco album. My first album was like that too – it’s all about what I’m experiencing at the time I’m writing,” she explains. “Being a young person with a background on reality TV [Australian Idol] is such a curveball in an industry obsessed with authenticity. I’m just so delighted that what I’m feeling obviously relates with what other people are feeling.” Recorded with Evermore’s Dan Hume at his recording studio in Gisborne, Victoria, Mitchell admits she “can’t exactly remember” where she stumbled upon the inspiration for the album’s title, but she’s happy that it serves as an accurate reflection of her creative process. “It’s such a great, funny little phrase and I’ve always wondered what happened to little phrases like that. I really love things like that and what I particularly like about ‘bless this mess’ is that the work of the phrase has already been done. Bless is a very open-hearted word, it’s almost in that realm of spirituality. Mess is life and all its chaos but in its own way it leads us to more and more truthfulness. I like to think of ‘bless this mess’ as a tiny, finishing bow on the whole thing because it’s basically a manifestation of the whole process.”
_ TRAVIS JOHNSON
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Frank Woodley
FRANK WOODLEY Is Most Bemused
Australia’s most visually compelling comedian returns to Perth after three years with his new show Bemusement Park – an hour of fast-paced comedy which promises to delight and baffle. Frank Woodley plays the Astor Theatre from Thursday, October 11, ‘til Saturday, October 13. Tickets through showticketing.com.au. In a scene where the increasingly outrageous and deliberately offensive is more popular than ever, Frank Woodley’s career – built on a unique brand of wide-eyed whimsical comedy – shows no sign of breakdown. “I think that ultimately people want variety. I personally enjoy fairly black humour, for example Curb Your Enthusiasm is one of my favourite TV shows and it gets pretty close to the bone at times,” he begins. “My personal style is keeping things bit more innocent. You want a huge scope in comedy.” After 20 years as one half of the muchloved, Perrier Award-winning, Lano And Woodley, the pair parted ways in 2006 allowing the cheerful
standup to find the mass audience to whom his act was always tailored. “I just feel so grateful. I’ve actually got a little machine that I carry around with me so if I’m ever feeling sorry for myself there’s a little button on the front that I press and a picture pops up of someone who actually works for a living,” he explains. “I mean there are people who are down mines and really all I do is get together with friends and make up stupid jokes and routines.” Despite his extensive experience, Woodley says it’s “never easy” crafting a new show. “You would think that by now I would be on top of what is going to make people laugh but even after all this time, when I write new material maybe 70 per cent of it works but 30 per cent of it doesn’t work and I don’t know why it doesn’t work – it’s stuff that I thought was just as funny as the other stuff,” he says. “So there’s this element of mystery that just keeps you guessing all the time. Certainly when you’re performing live, as soon as you start to think that something’s really funny you start to get a bit cocky and suddenly it doesn’t work anymore. There’s this amazing quality to comedy where you can’t pin it down so that keeps this element of excitement and fear even after all this time.” Having already performed Bemusement Park in Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide, Woodley says he’s discovered “what works and what doesn’t” so Perth audiences can expect the best incarnation of the show to date. “Unfortunately it quickly became apparent that there was only one joke in the show that worked but its ok because after I told it the audience laughed for 59 minutes. So I’m just really coming to tell that one joke, but gee it’s a funny joke,” he laughs. “I also had an idea for an audience participation routine called ‘So You Think You Can Survive A Panther Attack’ but apparently we couldn’t get insurance for it – we live in a nanny state, it’s ridiculous.” With regular spots on Spicks And Specks, Good News Week and Thank God You’re Here, as well as the launch of his eight-part ABC1 comedy series Woodley earlier this year, it’s been a long while since the perpetually popular comic made the trek over to WA and he says he’s eagerly awaiting his return later this month. “Historically Perth has always been good, I mean there were one of two occasions where the audience rushed the stage and there was that stabbing, but on the whole it’s been pretty great,” he concludes. “Hopefully some people will come because it’s much better when people come. I played the show once to an empty room and it fell a bit flat. So it will be good to have some bums on seats, in fact it would be good to have people’s entire bodies – it would be a bit weird performing to a sea of bums.”
ART IN ACTION Get Specific
Ar t In Action will be per formed ever y Wednesday night at the Art Gallery Of WA from tonight, Wednesday, October 10, ‘til Wednesday, November 7. Tickets may be purchased at the Gallery’s ticketing desk, online at ticketek.com. au, or by phoning 132 849. It’s not every day that you can watch a theatre performance in an art gallery, but that’s exactly what’s going to happen when Dr Alan Hancock brings his Art In Action series to the Art Gallery Of WA. A successful site-specific performance at Fremantle’s Shipwreck Galleries spurred Alan Hancock onto this series, where he trades maritime themes for the New-York inspired exhibition Picasso To Warhol: 14 Modern Masters. It’s a befitting move to host this contemporary style of theatre among some of the 20th century’s most well-known artists. The series was created by Communications and Arts students at Edith Cowan University as part of their performance studies, and there will be around six performances each night. “They are little moments that happen next to or alongside the exhibits,” Dr Hancock says. “They’re just moments that last for a few minutes that people can either see in passing or can stop and watch.” The short pieces will focus on physical movement, music, and voice. Dr Hancock says he encouraged the students to research the artists, but says the performances are not intended to lecture visitors about the works. “They don’t try to teach you anything about the art: they’re more of a response to it. We’re not trying to make any profoundly serious theatrical statements about modern art; some are quite light-hearted and tongue in cheek,” Dr Hancock says. “Some of the students were quite impressed with the reactions they saw from visitors to the exhibition and they’ve incorporated that into their performances.” Dr Hancock cites Andy Warhol, Pablo Picasso, Alexander Calder, and Giorgio de Chirico among the first which grabbed his attention.“It’s so wonderful to see the artworks you’ve only ever seen in books or screens. They make far more impact in real life when you’re there with them,” he says.
Andy Warhol (American, 1928-1987) Before and After, 1961 Casein and pencil on canvas 54 x 69 7/8” (137.2 x 177.5 cm) The Museum of Modern Art, New York Gift of David Geffen © 2012 Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Similar site-specific performances in Perth have also inspired him. “What I liked about them was they made you look at the place where they were being performed in differently and you never saw it the same again. They did what I think art does – they made you look afresh at the world.” Dr Hancock says he hopes Art In Action will also help audiences look afresh at the notion of theatre. “I think a lot of people associate theatre with sitting quietly for two hours and listening to a lot of people talking,” he says. “Contemporary performance has moved into a lot of other areas. I like the kind of theatre that is much more like an installation – like a piece of art in itself. It’s non-realistic, and a little bit less literal than what you would see in the theatre building.” First-time visitors to the exhibition are recommended to give themselves an hour of viewing before the theatre starts at 6.45pm. Otherwise, visitors will be free to fluctuate between watching the performances and examining the artworks at their own pace. “We don’t have a guided tour that you have to go around – you’ll go in and things will just happen in different places,” Dr Hancock concludes. “We’re always being, in the spirit of modern art, playfully serious and seriously playful.” _CORAL HUCKSTEP
_JENNIFER PETERSON-WARD
Ray Liotta in Killing Them Softly
Andrew Dominik on the set of Killing Them Softly
ANDREW DOMINIK Dominik’s Trade
Australian director, Andrew Dominik, doesn’t mean to keep making crime movies, honest. It’s just the way things keep turning out. “It hasn’t been deliberate,” he swears. “I have tried to get other movies about other subjects going, but they’re the ones that I’ve managed to get going. I don’t know, mate. Certainly, I love crime films. Any aberrant behaviour is interesting to me; people who are going to transgress the rules, but I’m hoping to be able to not make one. Next one, hopefully.” Still, we shouldn’t complain. The underworld flicks that Dominik has helmed Chopper, The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford, and now Killing Them Softly - are all exemplary pieces of cinema; dark, violent, complex, and blackly humorous. It’s the latter that concerns us now, being an adaptation of the brisk and uncompromising novel, Cogan’s Trade, by George V. Higgins. “I stumbled across it through The Friends Of Eddie Coyle,” Dominik recalls, referring to the only other film adaptation of Higgins’ work, a ‘70s thriller starring Robert Mitchum. “That’s how I first became aware of Higgins. I just sought out his books; I found a bunch of them through second-hand booksellers, and this was the third one, I think, to come through the mail. the initial attraction was the characters, you know? They just seemed really well drawn, and they were probably people that he knew.” 22
“I think crime movies are about capitalism, in that crime is the most unadorned form of the Darwinian economic idea. I guess the reason that crime films appeal is that it’s the genre where it’s perfectly acceptable for characters to care about nothing but money, and maybe that’s why they’re so successful in America, where so many people have their eye on the bottom line.” Indeed, Higgins, a Boston-based lawyer and journalist who worked both prosecution and defence over the course of his career, had a knack for grimy verisimilitude. But what really appealed to Dominik about the book - wherein the criminal community is thrown into disarray after a mob-protected card game is robbed, and enforcer Jackie Cogan [Brad Pitt in the film, making his second collaboration with
Dominik after Jesse James] is brought in to set things right - was the way in which the scenario mirrored what he saw as certain elemental truths about the recent downturn in global economics. “It just seemed to be a microcosm,” he explains. “A distilled version of what was happening in the larger world at the time. You’ve got this economy that’s supported by gambling, you’ve got these dumb guys that are able to collapse it because they failed to regulate it the last time it happened, and in cleaning up they have to deal with the actual problem, plus the perception of the problem. It had reflections of the GFC. At that point, it seemed like something worth getting into. The movie became a bit more cartoonish, obviously, once a more satirical element was introduced, basically to make a movie about economic collapse. It’s a movie about a collapsed economy.” In fact, Dominik views all crime movies as being essentially about economics; no matter what the narrative trappings, he contends that, at core, every gangster movie revolves around the quest for the almighty dollar.
“I think crime movies are about capitalism,” he says. “In that crime is the most unadorned form of the Darwinian economic idea. I guess the reason that crime films appeal is that it’s the genre where it’s perfectly acceptable for characters to care about nothing but money, and maybe that’s why they’re so successful in America, where so many people have their eye on the bottom line.” To that end, Dominik cast two instantly recognisable figures in supporting roles: Ray ‘Goodfellas’ Liotta as hapless mobster Markie Trattman, and James ‘The Sopranos’ Gandolfini as washed-up assassin New York Mickey, to cement the film’s ties with the existing crime oeuvre. “The film kind of wears its agenda on its sleeve,” he tells us. “So the idea of casting people who are instantly recognisable from gangster films can work in your favour, in that respect - especially if they’re gonna play against type.” _ TRAVIS JOHNSON
James Gandolfini in Killing Them Softly X-Press – First on the street, Wednesdays
VISUAL ARTS Chris Edmund: Kurb Gallery, Northbridge Internationally renowned theatre director and writer Chris Edmund unleashes his passion and obsession in his first exhibition of paintings. Runs ’til Oct 11.
Yonder: PICA, Northbridge Yonder is an exhibition brings together an Australian and international group of 14 artists who share the wistful desire to know “what’s over there.” These artists, who hail from near and far, offer contemporary perspectives on mobility in an era of unprecedented voyages. Runs ’til Oct 21.
FAC Print Award: Fremantle Ar ts Centre, Fremantle Regarded as Australia’s most prominent national award for prints and artists’ books, this year’s Fremantle Arts Centre Print Award showcases the best and latest in Australian printmaking. Runs ‘til Nov 8.
Not The Way Home: Buratti Fine Arts, North Fremantle A group exhibition featuring the works of 13 of Australia’s best contemporary artists who travelled together into the Australian desert and created artworks in response to the arid environment and desert landscape around them. Runs ’til Oct 25.
Big Winners: Fremantle Arts Centre, Fremantle Big Winners includes large format and multiple sheet artworks that track the progress of the FAC Print Award and the expansion of digital media and emerging technologies involved in printmaking in Australia. Runs ‘til Nov 8.
2012 Photographic Commissions Exhibition: Council House Foyer, Perth Professionally renowned photographers Toni Wilkinson and Juha Tolonen’s photographs capture the essence of our city at a particular moment in time. Runs ‘til Nov 30.
Performprint: Fremantle Arts Centre, Fremantle Developed through a residency at FAC, Melbournebased artists Joel Gailer and Michael Meneghetti work with aspects of masculinity, ego and signifiers of social communication presenting print and multi-media installations. Runs ‘til Nov 8.
Picasso To Warhol: 14 Modern Masters: Art Gallery Of WA, Northbridge Picasso To Warhol: 14 Modern Masters features over 120 works by 14 of modern art’s most iconic artists including Matisse, Picasso, Pollock and Warhol. Runs ’til Dec 3.
Spinifex: People Of The Sun And Shadow: John Curtin Gallery, Bentley This exhibition celebrates the 15th anniversary of the Spinifex Arts Project, established as part of the documentation process of the Spinifex People’s Ng Sz Kiat: A Natural History: Kulcha, Fremantle Native Title claim. Runs ’til Oct 12. Ng Sze Kiat is a Singaporean artist, musician, writer and illustrator. He also likes gardening and believes Pictures Of The Floating World: Melody Smith that plants will save the world. A Natural History is Gallery, Carlisle a series that explores the macro and microcosms Suspended in pigment and linseed oil, Woody of the natural world, and seeks to uncover the Mellor’s large scale atmospheric paintings are connectivity between them. Runs ‘til Oct 31. exploration of mark making and abstract materiality as much as that of light, depth and movement. Runs The Unspoken: Mossenson Galleries, Subiaco ’til Oct 13. Remote, vast, and at times unforgiving, painter Jason Cordero places us amongst the wilderness of FRAME: The Bird, Northbridge the Australian landscape, although one can never An insight into the world of creative driven skaters find an exact point of reference. Runs ‘til Nov 3. that love op-shopping, and take their cameras everywhere they travel, capturing the cities they Edge Of Centre: Through The Wall: Heathcoate skate and the scenes that encompass their lives and Museum & Gallery friendships. Runs ’til Oct 17. In their joint exhibition Anne Duff and Jane King have explored the past life of a small corner shop Immediacy: Spectrum Project Space, Mount on the city fringe. Runs ‘til Nov 4. Lawley Pat Thomas works through print media interrogating the repetition of images and stories in mainstream news media in order to create an alternative, counter effect. Runs ’til Oct 18. Chasing Shadows: Turner Galleries, Northbridge An exhibition of new prints by Kati Thamo, which are the result of travel and research the spectral past of her migrant Transylvanian parent’s homeland in 2010. Runs ’til Oct 20. Look Both Ways: Turner Galleries, Northbridge Holly Story’s current exhibition has grown from an intense forest experience during a nine-week residency she undertook in King’s Wood, England in 2011. Runs ’til Oct 20. Exploring The Language: Elements Art Gallery, Dalkeith A survey show for award winning Subiaco artist Brian Simmonds containing some of his most evocative works from the last decade. Runs ’til Oct 21.
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Untitled by Alasdair McLuckie The Method: Turner Galleries, Northbridge A new showcase of two distinct bodies of work by acclaimed Melbourne artist Alasdair McLuckie, who has previously had his work acquired by MONA, Artbank and Art & Australia among others. Runs ’til Oct 20.
Mine Own Executioner: Mundaring Arts Centre, Mundaring Mundaring Arts Centre’s annual exhibition of contemporary WA self portraiture. Features work by Thea Costantino, Anna Dunnill, Sarah Elson, Kate Jarman and more. Runs ‘til Nov 11.
THEATRE/DANCE
Nazi invasion of Poland. Season runs Oct 2-20. Bookings via blueroom.org.au.
Tinkertown: Blue Room Theatre, Northbridge Fr e s h f r o m i t s M e l b o u r n e d e b u t , Pe r t h playwright Nathaniel Moncrieff’s black comedy is a heart-warming tale of murder, car chases, alcoholism, bad parenting and yaks, and features a musical score by local songstress Felicity Groom. Season runs Sep 27-Oct 13. Bookings via blueroom.org.au.
Barefaced Battle: The Bird, Northbridge Preparing to don swords and sandals, Barefaced Stories is gearing up for their second StoryBATTLE, with heats kicking off at The Bird every Tuesday ‘til Tuesday, October 30. Armed only with true life tales, storytellers will face off over four big weeks to claim the title of Perth’s best raconteur.
Crave: Subiaco Arts Centre, Subiaco Directed by Adelaide Buchanan, the début show by Umbrellaco Theatre Company, Crave is a wild, wicked and beautiful ride through human emotions and thought processes. Sarah Kane manages to leave audiences spellbound with her incredible use of language and aching for more when the show finishes. Season runs Oct 10-19. Bookings via ticketek.com.au.
Romeo & Juliet: Crown Theatre, Romeo & Juliet is perhaps the greatest love story ever told – but it hasn’t been told by one of Australia’s greatest storytellers. Until now. Graeme Murphy (Swan Lake, Nutcracker) adds another ballet classic to his list of audacious reinventions with this tale of a feisty girl and a feisty boy who are willing to take a stand for their love. Season runs Oct 10-14. Bookings via Ticketek.
Cat Balloon: Spare Parts Puppet Theatre, Fremantle Spare Parts Puppet Theatre brings to life one of Western Australia’s most loved stories, Cat Balloon, the story of a tiny cat with a large imagination and an intense desire to fly to the moon. Season runs Sep 29-Oct 13. Bookings via sppt.asn.au.
Art In Action: Art Gallery Of WA, Northbridge See the art of the Picasso To Warhol: 14 Modern Masters exhibition brought to life through drama, comedy, music and movement. Season runs Oct 10-Nov 7.
The Warrior And The Princess: Blue Room Theatre, Northbridge Incorporating performance, shadow play, puppetry, and live piano, The Warrior And The Princess tells the story of a chance meeting between a child refugee and a Japanese diplomat in the wake of the 1939
Spring Awakening: Roundhouse Theatre, Mount Lawley Based on acclaimed German playwright Frank Wedekind’s controversial play of 1891, this bold new musical interpretation tells the tale of a group of teenagers embarking on the thrilling, turbulent transition from youth to adulthood. Season runs Oct 13-20.
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Through her contacts in the world of architecture and planning, Barrett persuaded more than 50 buildings, design studios and city destinations to participate in this inaugural event. “Being an architect, a lot of the work for Open House actually came out of the firm I’m working for, so we were quite lucky in finding out the right contact to speak to, if we didn’t already have it. The ball really started rolling through the process of working out what kind of projects we thought should be open first round and who we knew. We’re v e r y l u c k y, o n the committee with have Lisa Scaffidi and Marion Fulker from the Committee For Perth and they’ve been very very helpful in getting us names. We’ve also involved the city architect Craig Smith in the selection process and he’s been very helpful.” Despite her expansive list of contacts, Barrett divulges that it has taken some time for some local businesses to come around to the idea of opening their doors to the public. “Some have taken about nine months to negotiate being open,” Barrett admits.“Some businesses were a bit [unsure of] why people would want to see their buildings, so we had to coach them a little on the value of the fantastic spaces they occupy and how they affect the city. There is also a lot of security and logistics surrounding a lot of the projects as well.” During the Open House weekend you can expect to see people pounding the pavement clutching the guidebooks, tracking down their next architectural jewel. “One of the really great things to do prior to turning up is to have a look at the website. You can plan your itinerary and establish your own map. Whatever kind of interest you have along the way you might find something you didn’t plan for and so we encourage people to look for the Open House flags that’ll be at
Kings Park View (Photo: Cam Campbell)
Open House Perth Creative Director Carly Barrett the entrance of all the buildings,” Barrett says. “There are very few projects that require bookings so all that’s required is for people to turn up with an open mind and happy face and expect to have a good time.” But the winning attraction of the Open House project is that it embraces contemporary Perth, says Barrett, and not just its past. “There’s a really great creative collaborative energy that has been growing and it’s just a really fantastic time for the people of Perth to get really excited about what’s going on in the city and what we’ve got to look forward to collectively,” she says. “We really hope people are going to get excited about Perth. We’ve got a program which is quite unique from the other Open House cities which is called Love Your City and that’s really about celebrating the existing places – that they’re not just great places to be in, but the people behind them have had really
THE MEET MARKET The Meet Market is Perth’s newest and most sophisticated events business for singles. If you find yourself seeing the same faces week in, week out and you’re in the market to find that special someone, then perhaps The Meet Market’s Summer That party on could be for you! Head along to the Top Bar at The Ocean Beach Hotel in Cottesloe on Saturday, December 1, to meet new people in a fun environment minus the dating stigma. A $50 ticket includes drinks, canapés and the popular Meet Market candy bar. More info and tickets are available from themeetmarket.com.au or through Moshtix.
WEBSITE: themeetmarket.com.au
SUBI FARMERS MARKET What ’s unique about your Market? Whether you are doing the weekly shopping, picking up a specialty gourmet product or enjoying a delicious b re a k f a s t l i s te n i n g to live local music you’ll find exactly what you’re looking for at the Subi Farmers Market. A little slice of the country in the city, this Saturday morning market emphasises organic, biodynamic and sustainable practices, with seasonal produce sold direct from the farmer. It’s simply the natural way to shop. EMAIL: katie@subifarmersmarket.com.au WEBSITE: subifarmersmarket.com.au ADDRESS: 271 Bagot Rd, Subiaco (Subi Primary School) * Every Saturday 24
great impacts on the city, either through collaborative projects – like Lake and Amy from On William – or Claire Trolio from [blog] We Love Perth. Pigeonhole’s Johann Kim is another really great example. Basically it’s those people who are in the community here in Perth doing great things.” Another selling point is the variety. While buildings such as the brand new Perth Arena and Parliament House are sure to attract huge interest, access to private studios and buildings are a big draw. “Some of the ones we are hearing that people are really excited about seeing are the Perth Arena, Council House – there’s a special tour where Lisa Scaffidi will be showing people through her office – and I think Perth Concert Hall and the State Theatre will also be really popular, and so will be Gordon Stephenson House which is the tower bit on top of 140 William. Parliament House is also going to be really popular. One of the quieter buildings which has also received a lot of interest is the First Church of Christ, Scientist, Perth which is this beautiful Art Deco church which sits adjacent to Barracks Arch,” Barrett says. If accessing these intriguing spaces weren’t enough, there will also be a lot happening at a street level.“We’ve got an installation project in Murray Street Mall called The Dreamweaver where people will be able to weave in their hopes and dreams for the city in this tapestry which is about 15m long. We’ve also got a whole lot of talks from architects and designers around town at two different venues – we’ll be using the big screen at the Perth Cultural Centre for the talks and there’ll be student works from Curtin and UWA and other architects around town and there’ll be an installation there as well that we’re working on with
PICA that’ll involve some international artists.” Younger urbanites can also get involved at the Open House Perth Urban Playground at Junior Lane (right-of-way 227, off Murray Street Mall). “We’ve created the Junior Lane so kids can get involved in some interactive projects,” Barrett explains. “They’ll be able to re-build with boxes and recycled materials their favourite Open House experiences.” Barrett says she is hoping the annual event will grow quickly and reveals that organisers have already begun to research new gems for next year’s Open House. “We’re already starting to plan 2013 and we’re getting so excited about it. We’re also aiming to use our website to get people to submit ideas on what they would like to see in the next Open House and so we do think it’s going to be a really fantastic annual event but also as we grow and evolve we’re hoping that as we do other events throughout the year it will always be the main event annual.” Barrett believes Open House to be a great way to make people sit up and pay attention to what good design contributes to our urban lives. And indeed, a tour around a newly built abode, or recently revised interior, is bound to be inspiring. “We think people are going to say ‘wow I didn’t know that was there’ or ‘I didn’t realise that was that good’ or ‘I didn’t think the City and Northbridge had that many fantastic spaces’ and that’s what we’re hoping they’ll walk away with. Enough dumping on Perth, Perth’s actually really fantastic.” _JENNIFER PETERSON-WARD
SUBIACO FARMERS MARKETS The Natural Way To Shop The Subi Farmers Market (not the one near the Subiaco train station, but the one at Subiaco Primary School on Bagot Road), started out in 2009 with the idea of providing fresh food and a green conscious lifestyle, supporting local and regional producers. It’s a little slice of the country in the city. We chat with two stall-holders. Stall: Organic Loafers. What your store sells: Organic and artisan breads. How did you get involved: We got involved after reading an article in The Post newspaper. Damian (owner and head-baker) and I (Alaine Guthrie, owner) had a moment of insanity and decided to start a business selling artisan breads. What’s a typical day for you at the markets? Our market day starts on Thursday when Damian starts pre-fermenting the doughs. On Fridays we start mixing doughs at 9.30am, our ovens start to get loaded by 6pm, then stay on for nearly 12 hours pushing out roughly 1500 rolls and loaves. We have three bakers doing 12 hour rotating shifts to have this ready for the drivers who arrive at 5am. Two staff start the markets at 7am to set up the stall and work through to 12pm, sometimes earlier as we often sell out.
What’s a typical day for you at the markets? At around 4.45am, we drive from the farm in Gingin with a fully stocked cool room. We set up and sell one body a week of beef and stock all cuts, taking any pre-orders or speciality cuts by email in advance. The markets begin at 8am, things get extremely busy early. Its first in best dressed! The market closes at 12pm (or 12.30pm in the winter months), we head home from, straight back to the farm to prepare for the next week. What’s the best thing about the markets? The best thing about any farmers’ market is being able to source the freshest of produce from the farmer. Farmers have a wealth of knowledge and customers appreciate this. Ask your farmer next time about their produce they love talking about it and it will make great BBQ or dinner conversation.
What’s the best thing about the markets? The people! Through the cold and wet of winter to the heat and humidity of summers, customers and stallholders are always smiling and have become great friends. Stall: Gingin Beef. What your store sells: Dry aged, grass fed and finished beef. Why did you get involved: Good nutrition has always been extremely impor tant to my husband and I. We had spent numerous years in Sydney and Melbourne and found it extremely difficult to source 100 per cent grass fed and grass finished beef. Once we came home, we found our friends and family in Perth had the same problems sourcing fresh healthy produce. I wanted to get involved in the market to supply delicious healthy beef direct to consumer.
Subiaco Farmers Markets X-Press – First on the street, Wednesdays
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THE MERRYWELL Dude Food For Any Mood The ‘dude food’ revolution has been well and truly underway in kitchens across the country and Crown Perth’s recently opened state-of-the-art $9-million gastropub The Merrywell is one of the latest eateries to indulge metropolitan foodies with 2012’s hottest culinary trend. Once upon a time pub fare constituted “bar snacks” – potato chips, salted peanuts, maybe a bowl of olives – or traditional crowd pleasers like chicken parmas, chips, and pizzas. Inspired by globetrotting chefs Grant MacPherson and Sammy DeMarco, The Merrywell shies away from the norm in favour of evocatively tasty snacks meticulously made with only the most luxurious, locally grown ingredients. T h a t ’s n o t t o s a y t h e r e i s n’ t something to satisfy even the fussiest of eaters. The menu (which changes seasonally) features a plentitude of mouth-watering treats you know and love with a daring twist – think lollipop buffalo wings, fish tacos, BBQ ribs, lots of pork dishes (piggie is the patron saint of dude food!) and, of course, a range of gourmet burgers. A per fect spot for those warm Perth summer days, guests can choose from an extensive list of 12 different beers on tap, including Peroni, Little Creatures Pale Ale, Matso’s Mango, 4 Pines Hefeweizen and Dirty Granny Cider, as well as an eclectic range of bottle beers from James Squire to Corona, and Furstenberg to Budvar. The wine list is approachable with some strong well known brands mixed with smaller boutique producers to suit everyone’s taste. There’s also a range of cocktails for when you’re after something a little more spesh. Whether you’re kicking back for an after work sundowner, enjoying a Sunday sesh in the outdoor beer garden, celebrating a special occasion, or wanting a venue for a pre or post event drink, The Merrywell has something for everyone. For more info hit up crownperth.com.au.
Beer Cheese With Pretzel Stick And Salami
Spicy Lettuce Cups
The Merrywell Surf & Turf
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Adaman Sea Sangria
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YOU CAN HAS CHEEZBURGER Grill’d Healthy Burgers If the sizzle of burgers on the grill is music to your ears, you’ll be pleased to hear Grill’d Healthy Burgers has recently opened in not one but two great locations – in the historic tech building at Brookfield Place and the uber chic Shafto Lane. Both of the new stores have opened with the simple mission in mind to make burgers good. Challenging the idea of burgers having to be low in nutritional value and high in fat, their burgers not only taste good but they also do you good. In order to ensure the best tasting burgers, they make burgers the old-fashioned way, not the mass-produced, fast food way. They do this by using the highest quality, freshest ingredients, sourced locally from small, family producers wherever possible. Every day, before they open the doors, they crank up the music and prepare their ingredients (cutting buns, slicing tomatoes, mashing avocados, etc) that have been delivered fresh. They make every burger fresh to order on
the flame grill in front of you, so there are no hidden secrets. The grill gives our food its unique flavour and it’s healthier than using a hot plate. Grill’d Healthy Burgers are proper meals – not rubbery snacks that dissolve in seconds – and they have burgers for every taste, whether you want to splash out on the Perfect Pear (grilled chicken breast, poached pears, fig paste, avocado, Spanish onion, rocket and shaved parmesan) or opt for the Simply Grill’d (lean beef, salad, relish and herbed mayo). Honestly, there’s a mind-boggling menu of beef, chicken, lamb and vegetarian burgers to choose from. For those whose taste buds aren’t tickled by the thought of a burger there’s no need to fret – variety exists in the form of steak sandwiches, salads and fresh, crispy homemade hot chips with an array of dipping sauces. We think they’re among the best burgers in town – don’t believe us? Why not check out one (or both) of the new inner-city restaurants next time you’re in town?
Grill’d Chicken Caesar Salad
Grill’d Healthy Burgers are made fresh all day every day
FROZEN TREATS Tutti Frutti Swirls Into Leederville
Child’s Play
CHILDHOODINSPIRED WORKOUTS
exercise again, you can easily buy adult-size hoops online or at fitness stores. All that hip swiveling and rotating works the muscles in your abs, which really help to tighten that tummy. Try different moves so that it doesn’t become routine, and the time you spend with your hoop will fly by.
Remember when you were a kid and couldn’t wait for the lunch bell to ring so you could burst outside into the spring sunshine and have fun Jump In! with your friends? JENNIFER PETERSON-WARD Jumping rope is a very inexpensive way to get a total body workout. In fact, a 30-minute jumping embraces her inner child to get in shape. session with this childhood toy can burn you up Have you ever noticed that when adults exercise, to 350-calories. If you feel like spicing things up, it’s called working out, but when kids exercise, it’s why not pull out some of the much-loved old called play? What if you could recapture the fun and school tricks like ‘double under’(turning the rope twice for each jump) or ‘jumping jax’ (one turn of fitness benefits of play as an adult? If you’d like to add a little more fun to the rope with the feet together, next with the feet your fitness pursuits, these exercise ideas will turn apart, and so on). your boring workout into a fun-filled recess activity. If you’re looking for a full workout, you can put Bounce Your Troubles Away them all together for an extra intensive workout. Or, Jumping on a trampoline is another great workif in a pinch, you can always do one or two of the out that will make you feel like a kid again as you exercises on their own for a quick calorie burner. So bounce up and down. You can buy a mini trampoline (sometimes called a ‘rebounder’) and exercise go ahead and blow that whistle – its play time! indoors, or if you want to embrace your inner child more fully invest in a larger one for your backyard. Head To The Playground Spring has officially sprung, so there’s absolutely no good reason not to head down to your local Build Yourself An Epic Obstacle Course playground and have a play on all the equipment. Remember the obstacle courses that you used Not only are activities like pull-ups on the monkey to do in P.E.? You’d hop, skip and weave your way bars, climbing to the top of the slide and flying high fast-as-you-could from Point A to Point B. Well, into the sky on a swing great calorie burners, but why not fire up your competitive playful instincts again? One of the greatest things about a homethey’re perfect for embracing the childlike spirit. made obstacle course is that you can use whatever items you have on hand. If you go all out through Get Your Hula Hoop On More than child’s play, hula hooping is also an ef- the course numerous times you can even count fective core workout that’s making a big comeback it as interval training, which can burn up to 10 among adults. Since hooping has become a popular calories a minute. 26
Who doesn’t crave a frozen treat during the warmer months? While ice cream and icy poles are an Australian tradition, for those who are a bit more waistline conscious, Tutti Frutti offers an alternative: frozen yogurt. Located on Oxford Street in Leederville, Tutti Frutti Frozen Yoghurt is the perfect place to stop by for a cooling treat. Tutti Frutti Frozen Yogurt is the largest frozen yogurt brand in the world, with more than 580 stores worldwide across 33 different countries, and it’s not to understand why the craze has swept the globe. Tangy and sweet in all the right places, there are more than 50 natural flavours (including everything from chocolate, vanilla bean, mango and raspberry to royal red velvet, green tea, pina colada and peanut butter) and over 30 different toppings (sprinkles, fudge sauces, fresh fruit, nuts, lollies and more) to choose from so customers can create a satisfying dessert without the calories and fat content of creamier iced desserts. There are even soy options so those who are lactose intolerant don’t miss out on all the fun. Best of all, it’s all self-serve – meaning you can choose your cup size, choose from the array of flavours on offer (which change regularly) and add whatever toppings your heart desires. But be warned – as tempting as it may be to fill your cup to the brim with each and every one of the tasty treats on offer, you should be prepared to drop some cash if you want to get even a little crazy, as you pay whatever your final cup weighs.
With new stores set to pop up across the state shortly, think beyond the cone and combat the warm weather with a refreshing scoop of frozen yoghurt. To check out the full menu click on over to tfyoghurt.com.au. X-Press – First on the street, Wednesdays
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JAY SEAN B E A T S ,
B A S S
&
B U Z Z I N G
E L E C T R O N I C A
GETTING DOWN
AND SEXY British singer-songwriter and R&B popstar Jay Sean admits he’s a One Direction fan, in fact, he’s recently been writing tunes for boy bands, including Boom Boom for Justice Crew. ANNABEL MACLEAN chats with the friendly, easy-going former dentistry and medicine student about his forthcoming record Worth It All, Cash Money Records and his upcoming tour down under. Ever since Jay Sean released Down, his debut single featuring Lil Wayne on American label Cash Money Records back in 2009, fans, industry and fellow artists have taken notice. Jay Sean became both the first UK urban act and first artist of South Asian descent to reach #1 on the Hot 100, selling more than three million copies in America that year and eventually reaching six million sales worldwide. Since then, the 29-year-old has gone on to receive numerous accolades including Best Urban Act and Best Album (My Own Way) at the UK Asian Music Awards and began working on his fourth record Freeze Time which was then scrapped due to legal issues. Now that all the legal issues have been dealt with, Sean is about to release his fourth record entitled Worth It All, a pop-R&B album. “It’s really something I feel I had to grow into this one because I guess I had my fan base grow with me really,” he says down the line from New York, on his way back home in a cab.
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Jay Sean “It’s the album I always wanted to make in terms of - it is slightly more risqué - there’s those slow jams on there talking about some sexy stuff. I’ve got young fans but now they’re a little bit more grown up. The girls who were 16 when Down was out are now 18-19-year-olds and they kinda wanna hear this kind of stuff so for me, I feel like I’m allowed to go there. I’ve still got those beautiful romantic ballads on there and those energetic dance records that people know me for so it’s a really nice collection of R&B and pop music.” Although Sean says it’s important to “live with the times”, experimenting with new sounds and equipment was not a primary focus when it came to the production of Worth It All. “I think it’s important to live with the times, it is, but at the same time, you have to understand that things can get out of fashion very quickly and the last thing I want is an album full of gimmick records,” he says. “I always want to make albums that are timeless. I want you to be able to play them in 20 years time and it’ll still sound like a beautiful song, not like ‘oh what was that weird sound they used then?’. So for me, it’s important that I still focus on the actual song-writing element as opposed to putting too many production tricks in there, that’s really what I concentrate on.” And, being signed to Cash Money Records has really allowed Sean to concentrate on his song-writing and be himself when it comes to music.“It’s been an amazing experience,” he says of his journey on the label.“I mean to really be signed to really the most prolific label in the world right now – we’ve got some of the world’s hottest stars
on our label – what Cash Money have allowed me to do is, they’ve allowed me to just be myself as opposed to have to conform to the latest trends. I think that what happens with a lot of labels is that they don’t want to risk wasting money on stuff that might not work whereas Cash Money really believe in the art, they believe in the artist. Nicki [Minaj] is Nicki, Drake is Drake; no two artists sound the same. No one is in the same vein. They’ve always just had their own artistry and Cash Money allow us to do that.” Excited to be heading down under for his upcoming Australian tour, Sean will be bringing a “very high energy, super fun, super off the cuff” show along with his DJ for this forthcoming tour. “It’s going to be great, I’m so excited,” he says. “I think for me performing in front of the Australian audience is always a pleasure because they’re so receptive and they’re so appreciative of just having somebody that they’re really into in front of them in a live environment. I think some people are spoilt, Australia, it doesn’t seem to be like that to me, they’re just always up for a good time.” After his Australian tour, Sean will be focusing on getting Worth It All out and continuing to write for other artists.“Right now what I’m doing is writing for other people, I actually wrote Boom Boom for Justice Crew and I’ve written a couple of songs for JLS and [others], a lot of boy bands and stuff like that,” he says. “For me, it’s really the songwriting aspect which I really love because I feel like it’s a gift to be able to write a song which the whole world will one day hear and be able to sing along to it and know that you wrote that lyric or you sang that melody, it really is a blessing so that’s why I enjoy it.” And yes, Sean is a One Direction fan. “One D are awesome,” he says. “Actually Zayne Malik [One Direction] oddly enough, I had no idea until he tweeted me and told me this – that I had actually gone to his school many years ago, six or seven years ago,” he says. “I used to go to schools and talk to kids about music and stuff and I said ‘who’s a singer here then?’ and he put his hand up and I said ‘come on then, come up here and sing one of my songs with me’ and now look at him, now he’s got bloody four times as many Twitter followers than I have (laughs).”
» JAY SEAN » THURSDAY, OCTOBER 25 @ EVE NIGHTCLUB
RUDIMENTAL
“For me, the best part is just the fact that we could quit our everyday jobs and concentrate on the music fulltime,” Locksmith says. “Trying to bring out an album at this stage is pretty amazing too. You’d never think you’d get to travel so much and get the chance to see so many countries. I’m still amazed that we’ve even been able to leave the UK to be honest. You just don’t allow yourself to even consider it because it seems unattainable for such a long time. You’re just this kid from Hackney or whatever, and for the longest time that’s what you’re used to – how would you even consider the possibility that you’d get to do what we’re doing now?” Rudimental are still pinching themselves that they’ll be visiting Australia shortly. While familiar with all the clichés which foreigners often tend to associate with our country – there is some mention of “snakes and sharks” and Locksmith adds he is particular wary of “crazy spiders” – the DJ admits that the band is coming into our territory pretty much blind-folded. “No idea, mate,” Locksmith laughs. “But we do know that it’s a scene that is pretty similar to the UK from what we’ve been told. It looks beautiful, though, it looks like an amazing country.” In Australia, Rudimental’s fan-base is growing fast. In fact, while in the UK their smash hit single Feel The Love hit the single and dance charts at #1 upon its release, over in Australia, they continued to smash it by hitting #1 on the iTunes singles and dance charts, as well as peaking at number three on the ARIA singles and national airplay charts. Apparently, this is the first Locksmith has heard of it. 30
Friction
MORE FOR ORIGIN
Joining the already packed line-up for New Year’s Eve banging bender Origin NYE, is LA’s Flying Lotus (did anyone try to catch his last minute announced show at The Bakery earlier this year? it was ridiculous!),South London dubstep producer Benga who just smashed it on the Parklife tour, the one and only Youngman, UK drum’n’bass maestro Friction and bass music kings Bare Noize. Playing alongside them will be Knife Party, Chase & Status, The Gaslamp Killer, ShockOne, Skism, Gemini, Inspector Dubplate, Goldie, Brookes Brothers, Dark Sky and a ton more acts. Origin NYE hits Fairbridge Village in Pinjarra on Sunday, December 30, and Monday, December 31. For more info, head to theorigin.com.au.
PDMA SUBMISSIONS CLOSING
If you’re thinking of entering the Perth Dance Music Awards categories of Best Scene Photograph, Best Flyer or Best Local Tune, you’ve got until 12am tonight (before Thursday ticks around) to get your submissions in. Voting for all categories will be open as of Wednesday, October 24, after the PDMA panel has decided on the top entries. For all guidelines and to enter, hit up perthdancemusicawards.org. Perth Dance Music Awards hits The Court on Sunday, December 2, hostesd by Dart & Blend.
TECHNO WIZARDRY
If you’re into your techno, you’ll be pleased to hear that Ben Sims is coming to town! From early days earning his stripes spinning hip hop, house and rave on pirate radio and at parties around Essex and East London, Sims has developed a reputation as a tight, energetic mixer. He’s all about using three decks and a blend of vinyl, CDs and software. He’s also established himself as one of the world’s leading techno DJs and has put his name to more than 50 releases in the last two decades. Get on down to Ambar on Friday, November 16, to catch Sims work his magic. Tickets are $25 plus booking free and are available from Moshtix.
Perth City Battles, Perth’s written battle hip hop league, is up and running again. And, they’ve got a new venue too – Ya Ya’s. Spitting rhymes and battling will be Lethal, one of the fastest up-and-comers who is truly living up to his name. PM is also back after taking a short hiatus and Azmatik will also be making an appearance and heaps more. It’s all happening on Saturday, October 20, at Ya Ya’s, from 12pm ‘til 4pm. $15 on the door, get on down.
MYTCHEL FOR MILLER
Miller Genuine Draft is bringing 10 resident DJs from 10 of the world’s most iconic nightclubs down under as part of Miller City Sessions. To kick it off, Ministry Of Sound’s Gavyn Mytchel will be bringing his deep tech, funk and house to town. Mytchel has built up his reputation from his stints behind the decks at one of the UK’s most successful and longest running club nights The Gallery. He’s also played alongside the likes of Armin van Buuren and Carl Cox. Catch him this Saturday, October 13, at the Whistling Kite, from 7pm. Free entry.
MAKING THE SWITCH
Just in case you were wondering where superb party night The Lick has gone, it’s now called The Switch. It’s still every Friday night and it’s still the same deal: good people, good tunes and good times. Get on down to Shape to be part of the action y’all.
DEADSET BIRTHDAY BENDER
The Deadweight! crew are putting on a party to celebrate their second birthday. And, what’s even better, they’ve got a bunch of rad acts to get the d-floor bangin’. San Francisco producer Eprom is headlining the big party and local lads Saxon and Boy Prince will also be bringing the beats. Nebula and Modo will also be down on the decks. There are a bunch more acts which are yet to be announced so stay tuned for deets. But, for the moment, hit up nowbaking.com.au to get your hands on cheap, presale tickets for the gig which takes over The Bakery on Saturday, December 1. Yeow!
Eprom
THE ASTON SHUFFLE
FEELING THE LOVE
Imagine being able to wave goodbye to your boring, yawn-worthy day-job. Imagine replacing that day-job with a brand new career that sees you travelling across Europe, partying every night, meeting loads of cool people and making the kind of music you’ve always dreamed of doing. It’s a reality for UK outfit Rudimental, and according to Leon (DJ Locksmith), the best part is getting to do it all with your childhood mates. NINA BERTOK gets the lowdown.
BATTLES ARE BACK
Rudimental “What?,” he shrieks. “Is that right? “There you go. What do I say to that? I knew the song did well but I didn’t know the details. I think it’s just the energy of a track that is really important at the core. It’s definitely one of the essential bits of a track; it’s what actually attracts people to it… I’ll tell you a secret – even now when we hear the track on the radio, we still find ourselves singing it a couple of hours later, it just sticks in our heads.” As Locksmith agrees, Feel The Love kicked in the doors and placed Rudimental firmly on the world’s electronic music map, but it’s also been a bit of a doubleedged sword. While the success it brought to the group has been quite astonishing, it’s also raised the stakes in many ways, especially when it comes to the band’s forthcoming debut album. “You’ve got to live up to that the next time around,” Locksmith points out. “Not only that, but you’ve got to continue to live up to your next move, and so on. It was such a cool thing to have people like Zane Lowe and Pete Tong really get behind you, they really loved this track. “But it was also really scary because these are some really big names and they were wanting to take us under their wing. When people like that put their trust into your track, man, you don’t want to let them down. At the same time, you do feel that you deserve it because you’ve been working so hard for so long. Kesi [Dryden], Piers [Agget] and myself grew up with each other and we’ve always shared the same interests since we were kids, whether it was music, sport – we love football – and even girls… I remember us waiting outside clubs at 4am, giving out CDs in the pouring rain to whoever walked past. “We don’t plan on just sitting on the success of this one track [Feel The Love]; we’re not just a flash in the pan. We’ve got an album coming up soon, it’s coming along really smoothly and it’s one of those records that hasn’t really been done before. I can’t say too much about it yet but I can tell you that it’s so many different genres mashed in. It’ll be really interesting to see how the fans take to it because we’ve only so far had success with one song which was at the drum’n’bass tip.”
» RUDIMENTAL » THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11 @ AMBAR
WON’T STOP NOW
Those Canberra lads The Aston Shuffle are back with a fresh single Can’t Stop Now from their forthcoming record which is due out early next year. ANNABEL MACLEAN chats with one half of the duo, Mikah Freeman, about being cooped up in the studio, their new record and touring with Bluejuice. Having released their debut record Seventeen Past Midnight to critical acclaim last year, Mikah Freeman and Vance Musgrove have been “heads down, bums up” as Freeman explains, working on their follow-up record. “It’s just been hours of putting these songs together and working out our live aspects of them and everything like that,” he says. “It’s been a very heads down, bums up kind of time which is just the nature of being at that point of finishing the record. It’s come together incredibly well and we’re super excited about getting out here and playing these shows and playing these records and letting people hear what we’ve been slaving away on.” The lads took a solid month off to work on their forthcoming sophomore record and Freeman says the collection of songs is very cohesive because of this. “There’s a few new bits of gear,” he says, speaking new sounds and equipment that he and partner-in-crime Vance Musgrove experimented with. “We took a month off and went down to the coast off New South Wales and had a session of intensively writing new stuff out of our collective new home areas I guess, just getting away from where we were. “It’s not as if inspiration lacks any other time I guess, you just need the ideal [place], [to] create focus around one aesthetic or one concept. So all of these songs came together really well in that month. We’ve just been finishing it since then. It’s more cohesive in that sense; it feels like the calibre of songs is very cohesive because of the way that the process came together.” Freeman says he and Musgrove do occasionally suffer from feeling pressure to produce
The Ashton Shuffle hit tracks. Rolling Stone called their track Your Love “one of the best singles to come out in a decade”. “I think we do suffer from feeling pressure,” he says. “I think we let ourselves get there so the trick is to not let yourself get there. It’s about having that conviction and having that confidence in what you’re doing and the message you’re trying to get across. That was something I never expected to have written at all, let along with Your Love. And with this new material we’ve got coming out, I’m brimming with confidence about it all. You can never really predict anything like that. All you can do is hope that people can get it I guess.” Freeman remains coy about the forthcoming record’s title and upcoming tours that lads have got lined up over summer, but he says that mixtapes and remixes are on hold for the moment as “it’s all systems go” for the boys with regards to getting the album out. And, having toured with those crazy party cats Bluejuice earlier this year, they’re very familiar with the ‘go hard’ lifestyle. “I didn’t want to stop the tour; I wanted to keep doing it. It was crazy because it was 18 straight days or whatever of buses and shows, the pace was quite crazy and it’s not something that we’re used to because we do DJ type tours and weekend affairs so you’ve always got no more than three days in a row [touring] before you’re back home and chilling out before the next leg.” As for their forthcoming show at Villa this weekend, they may or may not take a leaf out of Bluejuice’s book when it comes to stage-wear.“I’m not sure whether or not we’re going to start incorporating costumes,” Freeman concludes, laughing. X-Press – First on the street, Wednesdays
JIMMY EDGAR SEX DRIVE
Detroit producer and fashion photographer Jimmy Edgar is a visual person. He also likes writing and making a lot of art about sexual tension. MIKI MCLAY chats with the young lad about influences, visuals, sexy stuff and his new record Majenta ahead of his appearance at This Is Nowhere. “I get bored really easily - that’s what it comes down to,” future-funk superstar, photographer and artist extraordinaire Jimmy Edgar muses with a selfdeprecating laugh, when asked about his remarkable work ethic. The Detroit native, now based, depending on the day, in Berlin, New York and his hometown, is a singular entity – the kind of guy who encapsulates what it really means to be an artist. Renowned for a creative spirit enamoured with all strands of media – fashion photography, graphic design, and his one true love, music – the self-described cosmic wild child’s CV is gloriously extensive, with this year alone seeing the release of his third full-length LP for label-de-jour Hotflush, Majenta, the reinvention of his live show, and a slew of groundbreaking collaborative works. Never one to stop and rest on past successes, Edgar’s drive to create is as natural as the other ‘urges’ he tends to sing about on singles like Sex Drive and I Wanna Be Your STD.“When I get home and get back into the studio, I end up working non-stop ‘cause travelling keeps me from that,” he says.“People ask me this all the time and I never know what to say - it’s just the way that I live, I like working all the time. Some people like working during the day then resting at night, some people working at night and resting during the day - I like working all the time.” Majenta is another bold and provocative work from the well-established artist – one created in what he acknowledges was a particularly short space of time, resulting in a particularly honest and revelatory body of work. “It’s pretty much my transitional album,” he explains. “I think some of the overtly sexual stuff was kind of leftover from my album before, XXX - and so I feel like it’s just sort of a progression that’s changing. I’ve already written about, and made a lot of art about, things like sexual tension. I’m on a path moving on from that kind of thing.”
Jimmy Edgar Edgar has previously spoken of the wide variety of influences that colour his work as a musician and artist – synaesthesia and the strange relationship between the visual and the auditory, sexuality and super-nature are all themes touched on and synthesised into a record that sounds equal parts dark and dirty – yet a cerebral and thoroughly realised piece of work too. “Something I always tell people about myself is that I’m a visual person, I always think in a visual format,” he says. “It may be surprising to some people because I’m a musician but I’ve always considered myself a visual artist. Even with music, through the way that I create and think about it.” One of these places where the auditory and the visual intersect is in the revamped live show assembled in the wake of the release of Majenta, which he is bringing down under to showcase at This Is Nowhere shortly. “It was really important for me to translate those sounds into colour and light because that’s essentially all that visuals are,” he says. “Doing the LED performance was a really incredibly simple way of translating those rhythms, light and colour. Technically, there are LED lights that are synchronized to the music and I run programs that are sort of like a drum machine, but with lights, I guess. So particular lights and colours and different directions will follow different sounds by the way that they are programmed within the attributes of the lights.”
» » » »
JIMMY EDGAR THIS IS NOWHERE SUNDAY, OCTOBER 14 @ DOLPHIN THEATRE & LAWRENCE JACKSON COURT, UWA
EMALKAY
DUBSTEP FUTURIST UK producer Martin Knowles, aka Emalkay, is well known for his 2009 single When I Look At You and his most recent record Eclipse. RK chats with the friendly lad about labels, production and touring ahead of his tour down under. It’s early in the morning when X-Press chats to Martin Knowles from his home base in Birmingham, England. “My brain is still warming up but it’s good,” he says, managing to hold an enthusiastic tone. From humble beginnings, Knowles has been experimenting with and playing music for years but, last year marked a fresh direction for the producer. “It started for me a while ago and music progressed bit by bit until I found myself experimenting with sounds and ideas,” Knowles begins, speaking of how his career in the EDM scene began. “I ended up putting out this kind of experimental dubstep which led onto the Eclipse album last year and here I am – basically embarking on another tour of Australia.” Yet for the longest time, Knowles had to struggle, not only with the demands of being an electronic musician, but also with the reputation his preferred brand of music carried with it. “Indeed, dub was a dirty word, for a while there – in fact, I agree it was actually a rather grotesque word,” he says. “In the beginning, it was this tiny community of like minded DJs and things – the artists were just absorbed by their music and making the best out of it that they could. It got quite big in the UK and then it grew abroad really quickly as well. The internet helped it along too but I don’t think there was anyone that expected it to come of age so quickly and then it become associated with all this negativity – it was a real ‘love it or hate it’ genre of music.” He didn’t let that get him down though, blazing a trail of glory since emerging onto the scene. “It has been a bit of a blur the last eight or 10 years,” he says, laughing. “Since last year’s album release, I’ve done a remix for Delilah; that was really well received which was nice. Then there is a free track I’ve done via Facebook called Bring It Down; as well as that, I’ve done a collaboration with The Others for his album and then another single is ready to go with Glen Boden – he is a good friend of mine and getting a few things in motion there has been really good.” www.xpressmag.com.au
Emalkay And, if that’s not enough, Knowles is pretty pumped about returning down under, even if it means getting on yet another plane to fly half way around the world. “It is actually a rather long flight from the UK down there but I shouldn’t complain,” he chuckles.“To be fair, it’s actually been a while since I’ve been to Australia - maybe a year or so ago now - and even though it feels like ages, it hasn’t been that long and in a nutshell, I can’t wait. Every show I played last time was totally amazing. The venues were great, the people were there to have a good time and I really enjoyed it – so I can honestly say Australia doesn’t disappoint. I’ll be completely oblivious to that 24-hour flight until I have to get on the plane!”
» EMALKAY » SATURDAY, OCTOBER 13 @ SHAPE
DJ Fresh
DJ FRESH
TAKING IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL UK drum’n’bass pioneer DJ Fresh, aka Daniel Stein, has just finished up the Parklife tour, showcasing his new live show FRESH/LIVE. Earlier this year, he released the track Hot Right Now featuring British-Albanian singer Rita Ora. The single was Fresh’s second track to hit #1 on the UK charts and marks the very first drum’n’bass single to chart at #1. ANNABEL MACLEAN chats with passionate gent about taking drum’n’bass to the next level. Daniel Stein is sitting in a hotel room doing a load of interviews in the midst of the Parklife tour in which he recently showcased his new live show FRESH/LIVE. With his third record Nextlevelism out now in the UK and out in Australia in November, Stein has been dropping some of the big hits from the record in his Parklife sets. “Perth is like my favourite gig so far,” he says of the Parklife tour. I’ve been coming out to Perth for years because Perth is like the centre of the drum’n’bass scene in Australia… they’re also a very open-minded crowd that are up for what the next thing is going to be so now I don’t play just drum’n’bass, I play all kinds of stuff in the bass music arena and that seems to be really receptive and the guys in Perth seem to be really receptive to that.” But, he says now that he’s got the fresh live show, some of his tracks are being received differently by punters. “The thing that’s interesting is that live, you get a totally different reaction to certain tracks than you do DJing those tracks,” he says. “At the moment for some tracks I get the most incredible reaction but if I play them in my DJ set, they’re not the strongest ones. It’s a very different thing the live show and just the interactivity with the audience and I just love it because it feels like when you’re up on stage with a band, you feel like you’re part of the same party and it’s like we just happen to be the guys up on stage. We’re all in that zone together. It’s a very communal, positive energy.” Calling himself a “music-maker”, Stein admits that when it came to putting the live show together, he was a little rusty. “In the beginning, it was pretty nerve-wracking,” he freely admits. “I used to play the piano when I was a kid, I’ve always done that but never with an audience, so it was pretty nerve-wracking and the musicians we’re working with are all amazing, like our guitarist is incredible. I remember when we first started together, it was slightly intimidating standing in front of him playing the keyboard.
“I’m kind of more like a music maker than an instrument player. I’ve kind of found a way of adding what needs to be added into the group in a cool way and when I’m putting this stuff together, I’m looking at what I want it to ultimately sound like so I tend to be the guy that’s bridging the gap with what can be done with the other instruments using computers and all that kind of stuff.” It’s always been Stein’s mission to help move drum’n’bass into the mainstream music realm and, with Nextlevelism, he’s hitting the nail on the head. “Basically there’s been this massive explosion in the UK because of bass music and what we call pop music is kind of changing,” he says. “People associate the word ‘pop music’ with factory made, boy bands, major labels and stuff that’s been made with little soul just to make money. The great thing about this revolution that’s happening - particularly in the UK and also in parts of Europe - is that this music that comes from a real place, that comes from young guys that are part of the bass music scene sitting at home in the studio making a track just because they want to make it, it’s becoming the basis of what is exciting. I’ve always tried to be a pioneer of doing something new all the time. And the newest thing at the moment that’s a challenge is trying to cross the music over in a worldwide level, trying to get it high up in the charts and try to take over the world with bass music. “[Nextlevelism] It’s different to what I was doing before but what I was doing before was still part of the same path, it was just at a time when people weren’t ready for what I’m doing now. It’s just taken a while to build it up to what I am doing now which is what I’ve always wanted to do - which is to do song-based, mega-catchy hooks and have people in massive commercial clubs dancing to drum’n’bass on a Saturday night.” Nextlevelism features collaborations with Rizzle Kicks, Ms.Dynamite, Rita Ora, Fleur, Liam Bailey, Dizzee Rascal and more. Stein says being in the studio with all the artists when laying down the tracks provided for some funny times. “Jordan from Rizzle Kicks had to take a run around the block before he laid down the chorus to Skyhighatrist,” he laughs. “He said he needed to get himself into the mental state of being a Skyhighatrist so he had to go for a run. That was something that then became a running joke in the studio for pretty much every session after Jordan had come in.” Having signed a six album deal with Ministry Of Sound, Columbia and signing his publishing to Universal, Stein is the priority electronic artist for American label Columbia, something he’s honoured by and says shows how the bass music revolution is starting to take effect. And, hopefully when he returns for Future Music Festival next year, he’ll have an even better live show to boot. “We’ll be adding more of the new album tracks to the set, changing the technical set up slightly, adding to our lighting rig and to our visual setup,” he says. “Hopefully the next tour will be even better than the one we’ve done recently in terms of the music that we’re playing and the way we’re playing it.”
» DJ FRESH » FUTURE MUSIC FESTIVAL » SUNDAY, MARCH 3 @ ARENA JOONDALUP 31
AMPLIFIER
WEDNESDAY 10/10 Blvd Tavern – Dub Step Captain Stirling – Lockie Shaw Clancy’s (Applecross) – Upbeat – DJ Andy Connections – DJs Joby /JJ /Rueben Eurobar – Wild Wednesdays - DJ iPod/ Ben Pettit Flying Scotsman – UniQue DJs/ DJ Bones/ DJ Moflow Flying Scotsman (Defectors) – Beaufort Bop ft DJ Anton Maz Gold Bar–DJ Adroc Hipe Club – DJ Roger Smart Leederville Hotel – We Love Wednesdays ft DJ Slick Llama Bar – Jo 19 Matches Bar – Pussymittens Metro Freo - Rapture Mustang – DJ Giles Newport – Newport Wednesdays Sovereign Arms – Jordan Scott The Deen - DJ Zelimer/ DJ Viper/ DJ Benny/ T– Zone 1 The Queens – Wriggle on YaYa’s – DJ Paul Burgess
THURSDAY 11/10 Ambar - Rudimental C l a n c y ’s ( C a n n i n g B r i d g e ) - D J Wrighteous Claremont Hotel- DJ Fiveo/ Jimmy Thorne Club Marakesh – DJ Simon
THE COURT
Cottesloe Hotel – DJ Shots/ DJ Andy M Empire Bar – Halo/ DJ Bojan/ DJ Ben Sebastian Eve Nightclub – DJ Tony Allen Flying Scotsman – Cowboys & Indie Kids DJs Leopold Hotel – DJ Riki/ Roger Smart Library - Dorcia Llama Bar – Danni Boi/ Charlie Bucket Mint Nightclub – DJ Simon Barwood Mt Henry Tavern - DJ Matty J Mullaloo Beach Hotel - DJ John Paul/ DJ Slick Mustang – DJ James Paramount – DJ Johnny Boi/ DJ Jordan Players Bar – MASH South St – DJ Castasia/ Dpad Swinging Pig – DJ Simon The Avenue – Jon Ee The Carine Tavern – Punchy & Juicy/ Little Nicky The Causeway – Jaymie Franchina The Craftsman – Roger Smart The Deen – DJ Flex/ DJ Nano/ DJ Surge/ DJ Don Migi The East End Bar - The Prestige ft Az-T The Queens – Kapitol The Whale & Ale – Josh Tilley The Whistling Kite - DJ Gareth Tiger Lils – Paul Malone/ Adam Kelly Toucan – Disco Inferno ft DJ Misschief Mel Velvet Lounge – Descent Woodvale Tavern – DJ Melvin
Pup
32
FRIDAY 12/10 Ambar – Fresh Produce: Double Trouble ft Lemon Lime n Love Town/ Benny P & Genga/ 4by4/ The Tapeheads/ CK RUCKUS v StrangerThanDigital Amplifier – DJ Jamie Mac Bar 459 - DJ Smurf Bar Orient – The Reggae Club ft DJ Tich/ DJ Mwas/ Ray/ The Empressions/ Mumma Trees/ Sista Che Blvd Tavern – DJ Andy Boheme Bar - DJ Majiika Boulevard Tavern – DJ Andyy Broken Hill Hotel – DJ Nick Alexander Brooklands Tavern - DJ Misschief Mel Capitol – Retro Mash Capitol (Upstairs) – I Love ‘90s Carine Tavern – Greg Packer/ MC Assassin Clancy’s (Canning Bridge) - DJ Boogie Claremont Hotel – Jon Ee Club Bayview – Amnesia ft Fendi/ Axon/ Fellis Como Hotel – DJ Gazz Eastern Hotel – DJ Munch Empire Bar – Lockie Shaw Eve Nightclub – Bombs Away Flawless – DJ Ryan Flying Scotsman – DJs Jo19/ Rok Riley/ Armee Flying Scotsman (Defectors) - Back To Mono DJs Ginger Nightclub – Rondevoo Fridayz Gosnells Club – DJ Now Hipe Club - DJ E-Funk Honey Lounge – DJ Curlee/ Drew Green Lakers Tavern – Fresh Fridays - DJ Dooey Left Bank – DJ Frankie Button Library – DJ Sneaky Little Creatures Loft – Marine Beats Llama Bar – Jim Pearson/ Jehan/ Ben Edit/ DJ Cee Matches Bar – Fredrick Anderson Merriwa Tavern – DJ Real McCoy Metro City (Solace Bar) – DJ Slick Metro Freo – Oktoberfest @ Frat House Fridays Mint Nightclub – Club Retro ft Chris McPhee Mullaloo Beach Hotel - DJ John Paul Mustang – Swing DJ/ DJ James MacArthur Norma Jean’s –DJ Waz Paddy Hannans – Crazy Craig Paramount - DJ Johnny Boi/ DJ Jordan Players Bar – Miss Football Queens Tav – DJ Rueben Rocket Room – Extreme Aggression ft DJ Cain Sail & Anchor - Balcony Beatz/ DJ J-MAC Shape – Downlink Sovereign Arms – Dylan Hammond The Avenue – Dale Ingvarson The Carine – Mind Electric/ Little Nicky/ Az-T The Causeway – Jus Haus? The East End Bar – Az-T The Generous Squire - DJ Anaru The Manor - Sampology (DJ set) The Queens – DJ Rueben The Saint - DJ Emmanuel The Shed – DJ Glenn 20 The Whale & Ale – Josh Tilley Tiger Lils – Paul Malone/ Adam Kelly
FRAT HOUSE FRIDAYS
METRO FREO
The Vic - DJ Giles The Wembley Hotel – Abstar Windsor – DJ Riki and Ray Victoria Park Hotel – DJ Giles Villa – The Aston Shuffle Can’t Stop Now Tour Ya-Ya’s – Hero DJs ft Pup
SATURDAY 13/10 Ambar – Japan 4 ft Blend/ Marty McFly/ Tee EL/ Dead Easy/ Wish Amplifier - Pure Pop ft Eddie Electric Basement On Broadway – DJ Ricky Boheme Bar – Carte Blanche DJs Broken Hill Tavern – DJ Roger Smart/ Matt Richards/ Ben Dallin Capitol (Upstairs) – Cream Of The ‘80s ft DJ Ryan Capitol – Death Disco Clancy’s (Canning Bridge) - DJ Dood Claremont Hotel – Fiveo/ J.V.R Club Bay View – Fiveo Eastern Hotel – DJ Munch Empire Bar – DJ James Ess Eurobar – Roger Smart/ DJ Raci Eve Nightclub – DJ Crazy Craig/ DJ Don Migi Flying Scotsman - Under The Influence DJs Flying Scotsman (Defectors) - Fore DJs High Road Hotel – DJ Simon High Wycombe – DJ Matt Hipe Club – DJ E-Funk Honey Lounge – DJ Saxon/ Sardi Library – MKT ft DJ Riki/ DJ Vicktor and more Little Creatures Loft – Marine Beats Liquid Nightclub - DJ Klar55/ DJ Stevie M Llama Bar – DJ Reuben/ DJ Melvin Lost Society Bar – Wayne Fitzpatrick Malt Super Club – Fiveo Matches Bar – Jstokes/ Valerio Metro City - DJ Matty S/ DJ Makka/ DJ Angry Buda/ DJ Kenny L Metro City (Climax) - DJ Francesco/ DJ Don Migi/ DJ Slick Metro City (R&B Lounge) - DJ Soso/ DJ Ruthless/ DJ Brett Costello Metro Freo – DJ Tuck/ Ben Carter/ DJ Wazz Mint Nightclub – Pop Life ft DJ Aaron/ AJ Mullaloo Beach Hotel – DJ Danny Mustang – Rockabilly DJ/ DJ James MacArthur Niche – Frankie Button/ Cee/ Jonny Zimber Norma Jeans – DJ Phat Daz Oxford Hotel – DJ Sequeria Paramount- DJ Cornflake / DJ Jordan/ DJ Johnny Boi Players Bar - Luxe Queens Tav - Gareth Richardson Rocket Room – DJ Perry Shape - Emalkay South St Ale House – DJ Jay Sovereign Arms – Rockwell The Avenue – Jon Ee The Bakery - Seven Years Deep ft Onra/ 14KT/ Ta-Ku/ Zeke/ Kit Pop/ Cosmo Gets and more The Boheme – DJ Sneakee
Slugabed The Brighton (Upstairs) – Micah/ Kill Dyl/ eSQue The Causeway – Rhys Johnson The Clink –Az-T The Cornerstone – Dylan Hammond The Craftsman – DJ Shortz The Deen - DJ Birdie/ DJ JJ/ DJ Tony Allen The East End Bar - Fiveo The Generous Squire – On Tap ft James Nutley The Honey Lounge – Steffi The Saint – DJ Anaru The Shed –DJ Andyy The Wembley – Lokie Shaw The Whistling Kite – Gavyn Mytchel The Velvet Lounge - MOT3K (Obstacle Recordings)/ Krule (Rotation)/ Sully & Size/ Mike-A The Vic – DJ Kristian Tiger Lils – DJ Bojan/ DJ Ben Sebastian Toucan – DJ Hages Victoria Park Hotel – DJ Melvin Windsor – DJ Ray Woodvale Tavern – DJ Real McCoy Ya-Ya’s – Hero DJs ft Pup
SUNDAY 14/10 Captain Stirling – DJ Jay Claremont Hotel – DJ Double Dee Clink – DJ Tony Allen Dolphin Theatre & Lawrence Jackson Court, UWA - This Is Nowhere ft Jimmy Edgar/ Ikonika/ Slugabed/ Salva/ D’eon/ James Ireland/ Move Crew/ Rok Riley/ Travis Doom/ Jo Lettenmaier and more Empire Bar – CB3/ DJ Riki/ DJ Vicktor Euro Bar – DJ Flex Flying Scotsman – Nathan J/ Nizbet/ Pasha/ Chris
Downlink Flying Scotsman (Defectors) – Eclectic Picnic Mint - Chris McPhee Mojo’s – Simmer Down Sunday ft Earthlinks/ Paul Gamblin/ Simmo T/ Busha D/ Corby Mustang – DJ Rockin Rhys Paramount – Glo/ DJ Slick/ DJ Benny C/ DJ Matty S Players Bar – Lucky Charm Rocket Room – Coyote Ugly Sovereign Arms – Dylan Hammond The Avenue – Az-T The Aviary – Backyard Disco ft Afro Radio Australia/ Israel Hobson The Causeway – Lukas Wimmler The Cott – Cott Sessions The Kiosk – DJ Cinder The Saint - DJ Anaru The Shed – DJ Tony Dee
MONDAY 15/10 Bar Orient - DJ White Label Broken Hill Tavern - DJ Mario Tavelli The Deen – Plastic Max/ The Token Gesture The Den (Civic Hotel) - MC Lars The Paddo – DJ John Paul The Shed – DJ Andyy
TUESDAY 16/10 Bar Orient - DJ Lyndon Eastern Hotel – Jon Edwards High Road Hotel – DJ Matty J High Wycombe – DJ Ricky Hipe Club – DJ Roger Smart Players Bar (Norma Jeans Bar) – Stevie M Victoria Park Hotel – DJ Melvin
X-Press – First on the street, Wednesdays
STACHE
EAST END BAR
FLAWLESS
THE SWITCH
SHAPE
IN THE THIS WEEK:
THEESatisfaction Saturday, October 20 @ The Bakery
Rudimental Thursday, October 11 @ Ambar
Jay Sean Thursday, Oc tober 25 @ Eve The Aston Shuffle Can’t Stop Now Nightclub Tour Douster Friday, October 12 @ Villa Friday, October 26 @ Ambar Sampology (DJ set) Madlib Medicine Show ft Madlib/ Friday, October 12 @ The Manor J Rocc/ Egon Saturday, October 27 @ The Bakery Downlink Friday, October 12 @ Shape Into The Limelight DJ Competition Fresh Produce: Double Trouble ft Saturday, October 27 @ Villa Lemon Lime n Love Town/ Benny P & Genga/ 4by4/ The Tapeheads/ Challenger Ready: Halloween CK RUCKUS v StrangerThanDigital Dress-Up Party ft FTW v Benny P/ Blend v DNGRFLD/ Marty McFly Friday, October 12 @ Ambar v Tee EL/ Black & Blunt/ Marko Paulo v Oli Bombs Away Friday, October 12 @ Eve Nightclub Saturday, October 27 @ Ambar Emalkay Saturday, October 13 @ Shape Seven Years Deep ft Onra/ 14KT/ Ta-Ku/ Zeke/ Kit Pop/ Cosmo Gets and more Saturday, October 13 @ The Bakery This Is Nowhere ft Jimmy Edgar/ Ikonika/ Slugabed/ Salva/ D’eon/ James Ireland/ Move Crew/ Rok Riley/ Travis Doom/ Jo Lettenmaier Sunday, October 14 @ Dolphin Theatre & Lawrence Jackson Court, UWA
COMING UP Nadia Ali/ Jason Creek/ DJ Kenny L Friday, October 19 @ Metro City Syrup ft Zeke/ Clunk/ Saxon. Boy P/ Ben T/ Bolsty/ Z | ZM Friday, October 19 @ 23 Irwin Street, Perth
Trus’me Wednesday, November 28 @ The Bird
D e a d w e i g h t ! 2 nd B i r t h d a y Bender ft Eprom/ Saxon & Boy Prince/ Nebula & Modo and more TBC Saturday, December 1 @ The Heavyweight Sounds ft London Bakery Elektricity/ Dynamite MC/ Xilent The Knocks and more Sunday, December 2 @ Venue Friday, November 2 @ Metro City TBC ‘90s Party ft Snap! Sets On The Beach ft lineup Saturday, November 3 @ Villa TBC The Court Street Party ft Wynter S u n d a y , D e c e m b e r 2 Gordon/ Kitty Glitter/ Nino @ S c a r b o r o u g h B e a c h Brown/ Skarlett Saramore/ Dan Amphitheatre Murphy Saturday, November 3 @ The Court Perth Dance Music Awards Sunday, December 2 @ The Smoke DZA/ LV/ Jesse Boykins III/ Court Shigeto/ Melo X/ Raaghe/ Savior/ Mr Grevis Zeke/ Rok Riley Saturday, November 9 @ The Bakery Wednesday, December 12 @ Mojos Ben Sims Friday, November 13 @ Ambar Breakfest f t Kraf ty Kuts/ A.Skillz/ DJ Yoda/ Lady Waks/ Prefuse 73/ Teebs Saturday, November 17 @ The The Nextmen/ Jaguar Skills/ Specimen A/ Pyramid/ Marten Bakery Hørger/ High Contrast/ Spy/ F l o a t i n g P o i n t s / F a t i m a / Camo & Krooked/ MC Wrec Wednesday, December 26 @ Alexander Nut Belvoir Amphitheatre Thursday, November 22 @ Ambar Halloween ft Swanky Tunes Wednesday, October 31 @ Villa
Micky Slim Friday, October 19 @ Ambar Perth City Battles ft Lethal/ PM/ Azmatik/ Donkey/ Dazer/ Dash and more Saturday, October 20 @ Ya-Ya’s Stereosonic ft Tiësto/ Avicii/ Japan 4 ft Nick Thayer Calvin Harris/ Example/ Carl Cox/ Saturday, October 20 @ Ambar Major Lazer/ Laidback Luke/ Martin Solveig/ Dash Berlin/ Matrix & Futurebound/ Smooth/ Markus Schulz/ Diplo/ Sander van Phetsta Saturday, October 20 @ Villa
THE ASTON SHUFFLE FRIDAY, OCTOBER12 @ VILLA
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Doorn/ Infected Mushroom/ Chuckie/ Flux Pavilion/ Mr O i z o / Po r t e r R o b i n s o n / Loco Dice/ Bassnectar/ JFK MSTRKRFT/ Excision/ Adam Beyer/ Aly & Fila/ Caspa/ Datsik/ Joris Voorn/ Bingo Players/ Tommy Trash/ Simon Patterson/ Gesaffelstein/ Ørjan Nilsen/ Dillon Francis/ Foreign Beggars/ Zedd/ Brodinski/ Krewella/ Nina Kraviz/ Van She/ Alvin Risk/ Destructo/ MaRLo/ Treasure Fingers/ Bart B More and more S u n d a y, N o v e m b e r 2 5 @ Claremont Showground (TBC)
Origin NYE ft Chase & Status (DJ Set)/ Knife Party/ Gaslamp Killer/ ShockOne/ Pearson Sound/ DMZ (Coki & Mala)/ Goldie/ Brookes Brothers/
The Aston Shuffle
Ed Rush/ Wilkinson/ Dillinja/ Marky & Stamina/ Sigma/ Delta Heavy/ Metrik/ DC Breaks/ Skism/ Gemini/ Inspector Dubplate/ Jakes/ Mensah/ Dodge & Fuski/ Bar9/ Distance/ Dark Sky/ Ben Ufo/ New York Transit Authority/ Pariah/ XXXY/ Om Unit/ Friction/ Bare Noize/ Flying Lotus/ Benga/ Youngman Sunday, December 30 & Monday, December 31 @ Fairbridge Village, Pinjara Cuban Club ft Cuban Brothers/ Yacht Club DJs/ Russ Dewbury/ Death Disco DJs and more Tuesday, January 1 @ The Flying Squadron Yacht Club, Dalkeith Summadayze ft Chemical Brothers (DJ Set)/ M.I.A/ Fedde Le Grand/ Mark Ronson (DJ Set)/ Kimbra/ Booka Shade (live)/ Eddie Halliwell/ AN21 & Max Vangeli/ Carl Craig 69 (live)/ Maya Jane Coles/ Disclosure Live/ Adrian Lux/ Erol Alkan/ Breakbot (live)/ Fake Blood/ Hudson Mohawke/ Araabmusik/ Icona Pop/ Scuba/ Aeroplane/ Jesse Rose/ Danny Daze/ AC Slater/ Stafford Brothers & Timmy Trumpet/ Bombs Away and more TBC Sunday, January 6 @ Patersons Stadium Sets On The Beach ft lineup TBC Sunday, January 13 @ Scarborough Beach Amphitheatre ESG Sunday, January 20 @ The Bakery Big Day Out f t Th e B l o o d y Beetroots/ Cr ystal Castles/ Kaskade/ Pretty Lights/ Nicky Romero/ Morgan Page/ Sampology and more Monday, January 28 @ Claremont Showground Above & Beyond Friday, February 1 @ Metro City Future Music Festival 2013 ft The Prodigy/ The Stone Roses/ Bloc Party/ Dizzee Rascal/ Azealia Banks/ Rita Ora/ DJ Fresh/ Boys Noize (live)/ Hardwell/ The Temper Trap/ Fun./ Madeon/ Ellie Goulding/ Steve Aoki/ Gypsy & The Cat/ Rudimental/ Kill The Noize/ Feed Me (live)/ Zeds Dead/ Zane Lowe/ Nervo, Borgore/ The Stafford Brothers/ Timmy Trumpet/ Tenzin/ Sven Vath/ Richie Hawtin/ Ricardo Villalobos/ Seth Troxler/ Magda/ Cosmic Gate featuring Emma Hewitt/ W&W/ Andy Moor/ Super 8 & Tab and Ben Gold/ Zane Lowe S u n d a y, M a r c h 3 , @ A r e n a Joondalup Sets On The Beach ft lineup TBC Sunday, March 17 @ Scarborough Beach Amphitheatre
BACK IN BUSINESS TZU/ Sietta Amplifier Saturday, October 6, 2012 Name a female singer-songwriter in the Australian R&B, soul and hip hop scene whose voice is more powerful than Caiti Baker’s. You’ll struggle. Caiti Baker is the sassy, strong and enchanting female vocalist of Darwin soul, hip hop and R&B duo Sietta. Accompanied by partner-in-crime producer and instrumentalist James Mangohig, Sietta were the perfect support act for Aussie party-starters, Melbourne hip hop act TZU. Having released their debut record The Seventh Passenger last year, Sietta have oozed the Triple J airwaves with their soulful, electronic infused hip hop beats. With Mangohig on the electric guitar and production, it was Baker who grabbed the relatively packed Amplifier’s attention straight away. Feisty and quirky, Baker owned the stage; indulging in hip twisting, knee jerking and isolated limb movements to the strong, slow bounce of My Man, the passive-aggressive Doormat and the sensual, jarring No Longer Hurt. But, it was final track for their grand and fitting set, What Am I Supposed To Do, which got the frontline joining in on the chorus, which by this stage saw Baker sweating as she busted out the electric, chorus and teased the audience with her unusual and eccentric dance moves in her spotty tights. One of the most underrated Aussie acts, Sietta are maestros of their art and it’s only a matter of time before the rest of the world uncovers their delicious beats. After a short break, TZU’s turntablist Paso Bionic jumped up on stage and began ripping up some sweet beats before the rest of the group – Countbounce on guitar and vocals, Joelistics on keys and vocals and Yeroc on drums and samplers – joined him and launched into their popular, fresh tune Beginning Of The End off their recently released album Millions Of Moments. Given the TZU lads have been away from the performing scene since 2009, it was great to see them all back on stage doing what they do best and letting rip on some new material. Beginning Of The End got the mixed crowd (a fairly older, friendly crew) pumped with hands in the air straight away and there was beer spillage galore.
TZU (Photo by Max Fairclough) With Joelistics and Countbounce providing the commentary for the evening, Paso Bionic was given the chance to show off his turntablist skills and Yeroc even got a drum machine solo. But, when it came to giving Joelistics his five minutes of fame, the keyboard suffered some technical problems. But, it was impressive how the lads managed to improvise with some drum machine melodies and keep the audience on side throughout their set. The energetic, fast-paced Nowhere Home was relatively unknown to punters but was a definite highlight for the night and the popular drum’n’bass and dubstep infused Beautiful saw head-thrashing take over the happy, bopping mass of fans. Title track Millions Of Moments was glossed over by fans but, luckily, the lads branched out into older material, pleasing the many of the hardcore fans, launching into the well-known Computer Love as part of their encore, a strange but unique take on You Am I’s Heavy Heart which they performed for Triple J’s Like A Version back in the day and finishing on the ever-pleasing tune Summer Days. And just like that, we were bought back to the good ol’ days of listening to TZU on a lazy summer afternoon; a perfect quench to fuel everyone on into the early hours of the morning.
» ANNABEL MACLEAN
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LAYING DOWN THE LAW Curtin University
GET YOUR SPORTS SCIENCE ON Murdoch University The School of Chiropractic and Sports Science at Murdoch University is relatively new. Students can choose from a range of courses including undergraduate, postgraduate and research options in Chiropractic Science, Sports Science and Exercise Physiology. They’ve even got a fullyoperational Chiropractic Clinic. For more info, hit up murdoch.edu.au.
Law at Curtin University Curtin University will offer a four-year Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree from next year. Students wishing to study the course in 2013 can include the course in their Tertiary Institutions Service Centre preferences. The Legal Practice Board of Western Australia approved the undergraduate LLB course proposal, which will be offered through the Curtin Business School (CBS). Curtin Vice-Chancellor, Professor Jeanette Hacket, says the degree will enhance CBS’ reputation for offering a comprehensive range of business courses which produced job-ready graduates. “CBS is Western Australia’s largest business school and the addition of the Bachelor of Laws will build on its strengths and complement its existing discipline areas such as Commerce and Business Law,” Professor Hacket says. Professor Paul Fairall, Curtin Foundation Dean of Law, who has helped to oversee the establishment of the new program, said the LLB course would provide students with flexible study pathways including the ability to complete the four-year degree in a shorter time-frame, through trimester-based studies in their second and third years. “Students will also be able to do a variety
of double-degree programs that are specifically focused on the needs of industry, including units focusing on the resource sector, and governance issues,” Professor Fairall says. “Curtin Business School is known for practical, industry-engaged teaching and the Curtin LLB course is designed to produce job-ready graduates. For those with the right aptitude and character, a life in the law offers satisfaction beyond measure.” The LLB course is designed with careers in mind and students will get to work closely with business and industry in their chosen field during their degree. Students can also combine their law degree with a Commerce or Arts major such as Economics, Accounting or Journalism to broaden their knowledge base, expand their opportunities and prepare them for a diverse and exciting career. Classes, mentoring programs, voluntary work and industry placements will help students graduate with the knowledge and skills that are relevant to industry needs and be ready to make a difference from day one. For more info, head to business. curtin.edu.au/study/law.
ROLLING OUT THE NEW ECUʼs New Courses
AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITY GAMES UWA At The Top
ECU ECU will be launching a bunch of new courses next year, set to commence in Semester One, 2013. Check them out below. For more info, hit up reachyourpotential.com.au. Bachelor of Chemical Engineering Chemical Engineering will be offered from 2013 alongside ECU’s established Civil, Electrical, Mechanical and Maritime Engineering programs. Chemical Engineering is about understanding how materials and chemicals interact or can be converted in some way to a more useful form, typically as part of a production or refining process. Bachelor of Medical Science As the complexity of healthcare increases there will be a greater need for medical science graduates to support health service delivery, from community-based projects to highly specialised laboratories. This course enables students to learn about the basis for human disease, its detection and the range of scientific endeavours to treat disease and improve health. 34
What outcomes will people who study the courses achieve? The School of Chiropractic and Sports Science boasts a range of state-of-the-art facilities equipped with modern rehabilitation, radiographic and diagnostics equipment, as well as high-tech audiovisual equipment to capture classes for later online delivery. The new $4 million Commonwealth funded facilities includes a teaching area and three new labs for biomechanics/ motor control, exercise physiology and strength, conditioning and rehabilitation. These facilities give students access to real-life Daniel Gilmore environments under the direction and supervision of technicians, tutors and lecturers who are all practicing industry professionals. and even run their own clinics as some have taken advantage of a unit we offer in Professional Practice Is there a practical component? If so, what does Management which helps our students to develop it entail? life-long basic business skills, including how to run Chiropractic, Sport Science and Exercise Physiology a budget, manage inventory and finance. With a students not only get to access state-of-the-art greater demand for Sports Scientists and Exercise equipment but also engage in community projects Physiologists, graduates have gone on to work in and take full advantage of university partnerships. public and private hospitals or private practice. In recent news, Murdoch’s third year Exercise Physiology students have been involved in helping Any success stories that we may know who have swimmers and tri-athletes at Challenge Stadium completed the course and gone on to do big to compete at their highest levels. As part of this things? program, students are developing programs to help Daniel Gilmore was a Chiropractic Science graduate athletes to understand where they need to improve. in 2011 and is a former Fremantle Docker who The Chiropractic students are providing free health played for the Fremantle Dockers for seven years. care in remote Aboriginal communities and a mine Having come from a background as an AFL football site up north. Six students and five supervisors will be player, he claims he received regular Chiropractic care heading in separate groups to Carnarvon, Kununurra, from his father who was a well renowned practicing Meekatharra and Tom Price to run the free clinics. Chiropractor in Perth for 31 years. Daniel believed This opportunity helps students to develop as health that his Chiropractic treatment helped him to stay in professionals as they are exposed to working in rural peak performance and enjoy injury-free seasons by and remote settings, often dealing with more severe staying on top of his aches and pains and as a result muscle and bone problems that they do not see as of his football days, he developed a keen interest frequently in a metropolitan clinic. in both general wellbeing and Sports Chiropractic. He is now the Senior Assistant Coach and High What kinds of jobs have previous graduates then Performance Manager at the University of Sydney gone on to do? and works for a Chiropractic clinic in Sydney called Chiropractic students have gone on to work in All Natural Chiropractic and Health.
Bachelor of International Hotel and Resort Management This industry-based course is designed to provide students with the essential knowledge, competencies and professional attitudes required by management in contemporary hotel and resort organisations.
Students from The University of Western Australia have punched above their weight to take out the Doug Ellis Trophy at this year’s Australian University Games in Adelaide. It’s the second time UWA has won the Doug Ellis Trophy which is awarded to the university winning the most pennants per student population. Strong performances in men’s touch, beach volleyball, lawn bowls, women’s and men’s tennis, men’s AFL, men’s soccer and ultimate Frisbee saw the university come ninth overall but top of the weighted rankings. More than 6000 student athletes, team managers, staff and volunteers took part in five days of intense competition. Athletes competed across 30 different team and individual sports. The UWA team, although outnumbered by its big eastern states rivals, won one gold, four silver and four bronze medals in the team pennants which made up the final result. UWA athletes also won individual medals across sports including fencing, rowing and sailing, with a sailing gold won
by members of the same team that dominated the World University Match Racing Championships held in France last month. The University of Melbourne won the overall competition over fierce rivals Monash University, securing 13 of out the 50 gold medal pennants on offer. UWA’s per capita win makes it the only university to have won all three major titles in the games: the John White Memorial Spirit of the Games Shield in 1998 and 2001, the Doug Ellis Trophy in 2008 and 2012 and the Overall Champion Trophy in 2010. UWA Acting Vice-Chancellor Professor Bill Louden says the university ’s founders recognised that sporting and cultural pursuits played a significant role in campus life. “They also realised that sport can teach us some of life’s most important lessons – such as the value of perseverance, hard work, sacrifice, and respect for authority,” he says.
Bachelor of Science (Cyber Security) This course prepares students for careers in the field of cyber security and focuses on the practical and theoretical dimensions of Information Technology (IT ) security across a range of fundamental areas such as network security and vulnerability assessment, information security, digital forensics, wireless device security and database security. Bachelor of Arts (Acting) Focusing on the development of knowledge and skills in per forming arts, this course provides a practical and theoretical approach to acting in theatre, film, television and other contemporary arts. It produces graduates who are fully equipped to enter the theatre and screen industry.
UWA Uni Games Team 2012 X-Press – First on the street, Wednesdays
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OH MERCY Millions / Split Seconds The Bakery Saturday, October 6, 2012 Opening up the evening on a stage that seemed uncomfortably small for them, Split Seconds delivered what they usually do: a clean, engaging set of guitar pop. Sean Pollard knows what he’s doing, and since I wanted to get through this review without saying the word ‘harmonies’ because you already know about them I won’t mention them. That said, it was almost exciting to see them almost go off the chain, if only briefly; one song flirted with disintegrating into noisy chaos for all of four bars before righting itself, like someone demurring on sprinting across traffic. Sweatless is good, but I mean you can’t really enjoy a shower unless you’ve been jogging or living in your car or something. Brisbane Triple J faves Millions were next, and worked hard to try and leave an impression that didn’t end up quite sticking. Their songs pass passionately, but uniformly; there’s not much sense of ownership or personality coming from anything they do. Later on, they covered a Ronettes song (guess which one and you win absolutely nothing) to good effect, but it mostly emphasized how absent the hooks were elsewhere. Oh Mercy aren’t the same band they were a year ago, and it’s all down to their frontman. Where there was once a kind of fey, lost-boy earnestness straddling Alexander Gow’s strummy jams, their new record Deep Heat mashes choogle-choogle art-boogie with a distinctively Loverman persona – where Gow might have once said “Stay please stay”, he’s now (decidedly) “every woman’s maaa-aahn”. He’s either jumped off the bandwagon or jumped the shark – it’s hard to tell at points – but live, he’s enjoying the hell out of the change in direction. Sporting a golden, studded bomber jacket and brandishing an egg shaker,Gow writhed and shimmied as he meowled in and out of his falsetto, getting under the skin of his new characters and forcefully shedding his own in the process. In any case, he’s a far more entertaining spectacle now, and the tauter songs give his band a lot more legroom to show off in, with some artfully
Sugar Army (Photo: Emma Mackenzie)
SUGAR ARMY
Red Jezabel / Usurper Of Modern Medicine / Leure The Rosemount Hotel Friday, October 5, 2012
Oh Mercy (Photo: Dan Grant) executed saxophone helping to ease the sleaze into the room. However, sex jams aside, they haven’t gone all the way to the other side of the Styx yet – Gow’s sexy-voice just serves to obscure his words, and with that, his sentiments, leaving most of the work to his stance. Moreover, when he strapped on the guitar for Stay Please Stay towards the end, it felt more like a non sequitur than a victory lap. Though they had the room packed and bouncing (and in certain sections swooning - this is a good band to look at) for most of the duration, the abrupt shift in tone undercut all that hard-won, seedy authority. In art, as in everything, it’s one thing to press onwards, spurred by whatever instinct impels ya, and another to try and keep one foot planted while you press on. Oh Mercy are a band with commercial considerations to keep track of, but heck; where Gow goes I’m interested in following, and my advice would be the same that one of his old heroes would give – don’t look back. _ALEX GRIFFIN
The room was pretty much empty when Leure – more commonly known as Ash Hendriks from Wolves At The Door – opened the proceedings. Maybe a dozen people got a dose of her haunting and ethereal electronica, which is a damn shame. Like many female singer/song writers, there’s a clear line of descent from Kate Bush-via-way-of-Tori Amos, but Hendriks deftly dodges cliché, and the most apt comparison you could make would be with something along the lines of The Church’s early, more introspective work. Usurper Of Modern Medicine, on the other hand, are a lot harder to pin down, genre and influence-wise. They’re loud, fuzzy, playful, and – most of all – fun; these are three guys clearly in love with the noise they can generate, and the sheer energy of their stage presence is impressive. They kept the pressure up from start to finish, and while a lesser band might have taken it down a gear or two in light of the low numbers, Usurper still gave it a hundred percent. As did Red Jezabel. These guys are veterans now, survivors of hundreds of gigs, and it shows in their professionalism and confidence. At the far, thin end of the bell curve, it becomes harder
to differentiate quality – the increments are tiny. One thing that did stand out? Perhaps the smoothest broken-string guitar changeover in history. The rest was all as it should be: hard charging, passionate, bluesy rock. Woody and company have this down to a fine art by this stage of the game; they were great, just like the always are. And so too Sugar Army, the object of the night’s exercise. They’re a beloved local fixture with a solid fan base, and they know how to sell themselves – take a look at the marketing push behind their new album, Summertime Heavy, which goes so far to include behind the scenes documentary webisodes. But hey, they deliver. There’s a reason they get so much radio airplay; they serve up exactly the kind of four-quadrant rock that no one can object to. It’s catchy, hooky, driving stuff that gets its claws into your nervous system pretty much instantly, and the boys in the band have their rock star swagger and stage patter squared away, in particular vocalist Patrick McLaughlin. The crowd – now at capacity, or close enough to make little difference – ate it up. And yet there’s something not quite right about the whole thing. If Red Jezebel have their thing down to a fine art, Sugar Army have it down to a science, in that it all feels just a little bit calculated. All the elements are there, all present and correct, but the proportions are a little too exact, the calibrations too precise.There’s very little roughness to their music, and so very little actual life. Which isn’t to say they’re bad at what they do; they’re very, very good, and they have the sales to prove it. But for all their talent and all their technique, at the end of the day they’re dangerously close to being Stepford Rock and Roll. _TRAVIS JOHNSON
Grey Ghost (Photo: Guang-Hui Chuan)
HYPERFEST Midland Oval Sunday, October 7, 2012
If you are under 18 and living in Perth, there aren’t many chances to see live music. This is probably the reason underage crowds seem to hold an enthusiasm for live bands that is scarcely matched in licensed venue. It also means it’s pretty impressive that the organisers of Hyperfest have managed to pull together an entire festival for Perth’s younger music lovers. Every year, a large group of mostly 15 to 17 year olds make the pilgrimage down to Midland to catch a festival of some of Australia’s most prominent live acts. The kind of music that works well at most outdoor festivals is big, brazenly confident and full of energy and Hyperfest is no exception. Throughout the festival, the acts that succeeded were the ones that could most convincingly whip the crowd into a frenzy. Hyperfest bills itself as ‘all ages’ but, unsurprisingly, the only people there over 18 were the organisers, a few bemused looking parents and the band’s themselves. In the interest of journalism, however, I braved the sea of Vans and tan chinos to check out the show. I arrived to see the final few songs of Sydney-based pop-punk outfit Heroes For Hire. Pop-punk isn’t really a genre that interests me much at the best of times and Heroes For Hire did nothing to sway my opinion. At this point of the day, only the one stage was running so a friend and I used this as an excuse to try some of the festival’s non-musical attractions. We took to the bungee-run, a game www.xpressmag.com.au
where you strap into a bungee-cord and see how far you can run along a bouncy castle. Next up was Melbourne MC Seth Sentry. Sentry carries a class-clown kind of aesthetic to his stage performance. He is playful, totally immature and plenty of fun to watch. Sporting a propeller cap, Sentry walked out to the Imperial March from Star Wars whilst spraying the crowd with a super soaker. It went down a treat with the young crowd. His set featured all his Triple-J hits including Waitress Song, My Scene and Float Away as well as a cameo appearance from Grey Ghost, who joined him to trade a few verses of freestyle. The definite highlight of the set was Sentry’s DJ and current Australian DMC champion, B.TWO’s startlingly virtuosic scratch solo. Headliners, Bluejuice, are in the partystarting business. It’s no surprise that the group made their name on the festival circuit. The music they play is pretty interchangeable disco rock but their real skills are as entertainers. The group has two front-men – Stav (the one with the glorious moustache) is the better singer and Jake (the one with no shirt) is the better dancer. Between the two of them they climbed speaker stands, went crowd surfing and (inexplicably) claimed to be Swedish Nazi’s. Closing the night out was Purple Sneaker DJs with their messy and extroverted mixes. Imagine a movie edited together from nothing but car chases and you’ve got something pretty close. Their performance was far from nuanced but it was full of adrenaline and superfast cuts making them a perfect choice to round off the festival. _HENRY ANDERSEN 38
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DAYTRIPPIN’ Ya-Ya’s Saturday, October 6, 2012 Launched last Saturday afternoon was Daytripper, an event dedicated to watching great bands and solo artists during the day. The day kicked off with Jacob Diamond, Sidewalk Diamonds, Timothy Nelson, Nevada Pilot and Dharshini Muru entertaining the afternoon crowd. Make sure you get on down to the next instalment of Daytripper, on Saturday, November 3, it’s free! Photos by Daniel Grant
Jacob, Katherine, Erin
Ciara, Rahalie
Krystal, Tessa
Claire, Dharsh, Steph
Stefan, Ashleigh, Tim
Ben, Andrew
HYDE PARK HOTEL
Foulplay
THE NORFOLK
After six months away from the live scene, heavy rockers Foulplay hit the stage at The Norfolk this Friday, October 12. They’ve got some cracking new songs to debut on the night, and an awesome venue to go with them. With support coming from WAM Rock Song Of The Year nominees Sleepfreak and the always cranking Silver Grenade this is sure to be a night to remember.
SONIC VELVET
Sonic Velvet hits the rock button this Friday, October 12, when Puck, Dead Owls, The Disappointed, Bishi Bashi and Man The Clouds hit the Velvet Lounge. Entry is $10 from 8pm.
MUSTANG BAR
As part of a two week residency, The DomNicks play this Thursday, October 11. This hang loose combo plays a mix of originals with a nice spread of ‘60s and ‘70s garage soul classics.
YA YA’S
Hump day is all about the jazz this week as James Cross Quintet play tonight, Wednesday, October 10. Friday, October 12, is Freak Out Frydeee! Lose yourself to the psychedelic jazzinfused chaotic post-ludicrous rockin’ sounds of Electric Toad and friends. And don’t forget to check out the second heat of the Jammin Band Comp on Sunday, October 14.
MULLALOO BEACH HOTEL
This weekend is the Mullaloo Beach Hotel’s 7th Birthday celebration weekend so prep yourself for a beach party this Friday, October 12, for the new Summer Friday nights brought to you by Toys Collective. With DJs Kenny L and Vison mixing it up, prizes and giveaways, and plenty of drink specials, you wouldn’t want to kick off the weekend any other way. 40
Come along this Friday, October 12, and have Ricky Green get you in the mood for the weekend in the afternoon. Then at 8pm Louis And The Honkytonk, Archer & Light, David Craft and Ben Macri perform live on stage. Saturday, October 13, brings to you weekly band Meg Mac And The Squeeze from 9pm.
PADDO
Come along to Paddo POW tonight, Wednesday, October 10 and see Kate Gilbertson, Bryan Ruce Dalton and Dharshini Muro perform live on stage. Doors open at 8pm and as always entry is 100 per cent free.
ROSEMOUNT HOTEL
This Wednesday, October 10, catch a punk rock feast featuring 10 Past 6, Castle Bravo, Amend, Alex The Kid and El Capitan. To win a double pass to this show email win@rosemounthotel.com.au with ‘Win’ in the subject line.
RAILWAY HOTEL
This Friday, October 12, catch Axe Cane, Adverse Reaction, Wicked Wench and Naked Flame. Doors 8pm, $10 entry. Saturday, October 13, it’s Parker Avenue, From The Dunes, A Martyr’s New Pitch and Salv. Doors 8pm, $10 entry.
VOODOO LOUNGE
Tonight, Wednesday, October 10, the Voodoo Lounge hosts an amateur pole dancing competition, inviting non-professional performers (non-erotic dancers), who have devoted themselves to learning this difficult and esoteric sport, to perform under lights. Arrive early to avoid the queue.
MOJOS BAR
Saturday, October 13, Mental Powers launch their new album Pro Bono at Mojos Bar. Mental powers combine DIY home made instruments with conventional rock instruments played in their very own way. Entry is only $5 from 8pm, tix only available at the door, on the night. For your chance to win a double pass to this show, email mojos@ coolperthnights.com with ‘Go Mental’ in the subject line! X-Press – First on the street, Wednesdays
The Floors
THE FLOORS Have Big Balls
Although it only took four days to record it’s been a year-long wait for a debut release from dirty bluesmen The Floors. JENNIFER PETERSON-WARD caught up with Luke Dux ahead of their Dead Beat album launch this Friday, October 12, at Amplifier. After four years of exploring musical boundaries and establishing themselves as one of the local scene’s most rockin’ live outfits, The Floors are finally gearing themselves up to release their longawaited debut LP Dead Beat. Named after one of the tracks on the album, vocalist/ guitarist Luke Dux says Dead Beat seemed a fitting title given its tripartite meaning. “A forgotten sound, a non-beating heart or a drop out – all three are valid,” he begins. “The working title was Bastards Of Blues but Dead Beat sounds hip and it’ll make the transition easier when Timothy Nelson joins us on synth and floor tom.” Despite the long wait for the album, Dux reveals the recording process was surprisingly simple. “We went into Poons Head [Studios] on a Thursday night and set up Ryan’s bass rig. Then we spent Friday, Saturday
and Sunday jamming and making noise. We played everything live all in the same room apart from some of the vocals. We wanted the record to be as dirty and raw as possible,” he says.“We weren’t going for perfection. Everything had to be louder, angrier, looser. We recorded the drums through a Tube Screamer and destroyed three amplifiers recording the bass… When I was about five or six I used to sleep inside my dad’s kick drum while he was jamming. I wanted it to sound like that. Sonically we have a wall of bass guitar fuzz throughout the record and a thing Rob Grant [Poons Head engineer] likes to call ‘Big Balls’. Vocals through a million compressors turned up to 11 with an Octave. Something like an afternoon blast in Kalgoorlie.” In addition to Grant,local musosTimothy Nelson and Downtown Dave also lent their talents to the creation of the record. “Timothy Nelson came in as a fourth set of ears. He also rationed the whiskey when the bottle was low and was studio chef. He ended up playing a terribly outof-tune piano on one of the songs. We only allowed him to use one note. I think it was the better choice out of the other 11,” Dux says. “Whenever Dave is free he comes down to a gig and gets up and has a blow with us. We ended up stealing a song from my other band Dux & Downtown that Dave had written. His harp playing sounds great on that track,‘til it’s covered in a wall of guitar and bass.” In order to recreate the grungy, live sound which they’ve won over audiences with, The Floors used analog processing and a swathe of vintage gear.“We like the feel of old instruments.Like a worn in pair of boots, they don’t feel right ‘til they’ve been dragged through the mud a few times. I’d imagine we would sound the same playing shiny new instruments but a week later they would look like dirt. You only play as good as something feels,” he says. With a national tour planned for the end of October, The Floors are first inviting a rollcall of Perth rock’n’rollers to debut the album live on home turf. “We got this band that Ryan and I used to play in called Will Stoker & The Embers joining us, My favourite band The Painkillers and Rhys Watson (B-Movie Heroes) and Lee Jone’s (Sleepy Jackson, Spencer Tracy) new project, Dirtwater Bloom,” Dux concludes.“It’ll be loose.”
SOUNDBLAST
Mental health is a massive issue and Soundblast, an all-ages youth event to be held in Kings Square in Freo on Sunday, October 14, seeks to help reduce mental health related stigma in young people. We chatted to two of the talented young acts on the line-up and learnt why they’re honoured to celebrate Mental Health Week 2012.
MORGAN BAIN
Why did you want to be a part of Soundblast? I was happy about being asked to be part of Soundblast, it was a follow on from the interview that I did for the Music Feedback DVD and it was great that they wanted to include me in that as well. Its cool that it’s an all ages free show and that they promote their message about mental health to the public and I’m really looking forward to it.
CODIE SUNDSTROM
Why did you want to be a part of Soundblast? Earlier this year Bex from Ruby Boots contacted me and asked if I was interested in the project. I was really excited, I mean music is a great thing, but when you combine a great thing with an even better cause it just gets phenomenal.
Codie Do you believe that there is value in using music Sundstrom to tackle problems in mental health? Oh of course. I think music is the language people use when they can’t talk to anyone else. When you write a song, it’s a way to get things out you know, to explode in a good way rather than a destructive one. Songwriting is incredibly personal in that respect and I believe it works the same way for a listener sometimes. If there’s a song that describes how you feel and you can relate to it, then you don’t feel so alone and that’s a really vital feeling to have because when people feel alone, the situation only gets worse. I think music is one of those things that connects people whether you like it or not. You can sit in your room in the middle of nowhere, in Perth, and relate to this guy who’s playing guitars and rocking out in LA stadiums and that’s just great.
Morgan Bain Do you believe that there is value in using music to tackle problems in mental health? Yes I believe that there’s definitely value in using music to tackle problems in mental health. To quote Plato “Music and rhythm find their way into the secret places of the soul” and that can only be a positive thing for anyone going through mental health issues. Music has always helped me to express my emotions, which is why I love song writing so much and listening to other people’s music always makes me feel What can people expect from your set at Soundblast? I’ve got some tracks from my EP I’ve been working on that’ll be strewn throughout it, good too. but also some of the first songs I wrote and a couple brand new ones I’ll What can people expect from your set at Soundblast? My set be testing out. So a bit of everything with an Ed Sheeran or Bon Iver cover will include the songs that are on my upcoming self titled EP, to be thrown in maybe. launched at The Rosemount on December 1, as well as the tunes from my debut EP Another Day. They are all a mix across a few What messages are you hoping young people will take away from the event? I’m hoping that people can feel like they aren’t as alone as they different genres and hopefully the audience will like them. thought, that it isn’t all horrible and that it’s okay to let it out sometimes. The What messages are you hoping young people will take away youth of today – we don’t really have many outputs. When we’re sad we sit from the event? That they’re not on their own and that it’s important in our room and don’t talk to anybody, and that’s not a good thing. I want to talk to people and ask for help when you’re feeling down and that people to jam out to music or be inspired to learn a new instrument or just be comforted by the fact that someone else out there understands them. music is a really positive thing to have in your life.
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Holy Sons, October 14, This Is Nowhere
Touche Amore, November 7, YMCA HQ & November 8, Amplifier
Kora, December 1, Natural New Zealand Music Festival
SHELLAC SARITAH NICKI MINAJ / TYGA 8 Perth Arena 25 Rosemount Hotel 9 Fly BY Nightclub SHANE NICHOLSON TINPAN ORANGE 10 Settlers Tavern 10 Fremantle Arts Centre 25 Bakery PROGFEST (Ne PRIMAL SCREAM 26 Fly By Night Obliviscaris, and more 11 Metro City 11 Astor Theatre CHARLES JENKINS TBA) HUSKY 25 Norfolk Basement 10 Civic Hotel 12 Mojos Bar 26 The Velvet Lounge ELTON JOHN PAUL CAPSIS 13 The Bakery PAUL KELLY 10 Perth Arena 11 Artbar PARKWAY DRIVE 26 Fremantle Arts Centre DAN SULTAN / LEAH 19 Challenge Stadium LEB I SOL FLANAGAN REGINA SPEKTOR BIG DADDY KANE 26 Chares Hotel 10 The Bakery 19 Belvoir Amphitheatre 11 Rosemount Hotel SUZANNAH ESPIE 11 Fly By Night JEFF MARTIN 26 The Velvet Lounge MATCHBOX TWENTY 20 Fremantle Arts Centre LISA MITCHELL 11 Perth Arena TIM ROGERS 21 Clancy’s Dunsborough SWAMP THING 11 Clancy’s Dunsborough 26 Astor Theatre 22 Mojos Bar 27 Prince Of Wales 11 Fremantle Arts Centre 23 Indi Bar 12 Fly By Nightclub BASTARDFEST (Astriaal, DEXYS 13 The Rosemount EVAN DANDO / JULIANA Fuck I’m Dead, Desecrator, 12 Astor Theatre HATFIELD and more) SIGUR ROS 22 The Rosemount 27 Civic Hotel MUMFORD & ORIGIN NYE (Chase & 13 Belvoir Amphitheatre ALL FRUITS RIPE (Easy Status (DJ Set), Knife SILVERSUN PICKUPS/ THE SONS / EDWARD Star All Stars, Blue King Party, Gaslamp Killer, DANDY WARHOLS SHARPE & THE Brown, Tomorrow People) 13 Fremantle Arts Centre ShockOne, Pearson Sound, DMZ (Coki & MAGNETIC ZEROS CANCELLED BEN FOLDS FIVE 27 Fremantle Arts Centre 14 Fremantle Arts Centre Mala), Goldie, Brookes / WILLY MASON THE LIGHTHOUSE TRIO Brothers, Ed Rush, SANTIGOLD/ CRAZY P 12 & 13 Belvoir 27 & 28 The Ellington Wilkinson, Dillinja, Marky 14 Metro City Amphitheatre SMASH MOUTH & Stamina, Sigma, Delta THE BEARDS / THE 27 & 28 Metropolis Heavy, Metrik, DC Breaks, SNOWDROPPERS Fremantle Skism, Gemini, Inspector SOUND OF 15 Prince Of Wales SOMETHING FOR KATE Dubplate, Jakes, Mensah, 16 Settlers Tavern SEASONS 27 & 28 Fly By Night Dodge & Fuski, Bar9, 17 Rosemount Hotel 12 Metropolis Fremantle Distance, Dark Sky, Ben GREENTHIEF 18 Indi Bar 13 Amplifier Ufo, New York Transit 27 Rocket Room WASHINGTON 14 YMCA HQ Authority, Pariah, XXXY, 28 Prince Of Wales 16 & 17 Quarry Om Unit and more TBC) 29 Newport Hotel Amphitheatre & 31 Fairbridge Village, ROCK IT (The Black Keys, DAVE WARNER’S John Butler Trio, Birds Of NICKELBACK / JACKSON 30 Pinjara FROM THE FIREBIRD Tokyo, The Panics, Lanie 17 Perth Arena Lane, Last Dinosaurs, SUBURBS JANUARY 2013 PREFUSE 73 & TEEBS Royal Headache, 13 Charles Hotel CUBAN CLUB (Cuban Graveyard Train, Brothers 17 Bakery Brothers, Yacht Club DJs, Grim, The Toot Toot Toots, JEFF MARTIN Russ Dewbury, Still Water THE LEGENDARY and more) 22 Friends Restaurant Giants, Death Disco DJs & DEEP SEA ARCADE 28 Joondalup Arena COUNT BASIE El Ginger Mojito) 23 The Rosemount HARRY JAMES ANGUS 1 The Flying Squadron ORCHESTRA 28 Fremantle Arts Centre OMAR RODRIGUEZ LOPEZ Yacht Club, Dalkeith 14 Perth Concert Hall 24 The Rosemount THURSTON MOORE SOUTHBOUND (The STEREOSONIC (Tiësto, 30 Rosemount Hotel Flaming Lips, SBTRKT, Avicii, Calvin Harris, EVERCLEAR Best Coast, Beach House, Example, Carl Cox, Major Boy & Bear, Coolio, 14 Capitol NOVEMBER Lazer, and more) HOT CHELLE RAE / CHER 25 Claremont Showgrounds The Vaccines, Bombay Bicycle Club, First Aid Kit, LLOYD DON WALKER JOHN WILLIAMSON Hilltop Hoods, Hot Chip, 14 Fremantle Arts Centre 1 Astor Theatre 30 Quarry Amphitheatre Maximo Park, Millions, KARMA COUNTY THE SAINTS Totally Enormous Extinct 1 Clancy’s Fish Pub 30 Fly By Nightclub Dinosaurs, Angus Stone, THIS IS NOWHERE Fremantle Ball Park Music, Cosmo (Tortoise, Xiu Xiu, GYPSY & THE CAT Jarvis, Django Django, DECEMBER 2 Capitol The Hives, Jinjo Safari, Grails, Tenniscoats, BILLY BRAGG JOHN WILLIAMSON Lisa Mitchell, Matt Corby, The Bank Holidays, 2 & 3 Astor Theatre 1 Quarry Amphitheatre Sharon Van Etten, Two JUSTINE CLARKE CARUS THOMPSON Door Cinema Club ) Jimmy Edgar, 1 Astor Theatre 2 Indi Bar 4 & 5 Sir Stewart Bovell Ikonika, HTRK, NATURAL NEW ZEALAND Park Busselton 3 Norfolk Basement MUSIC FESTIVAL ( Puro Instinct, High AT THE GATES 65 DAYS OF STATIC Shapeshifter, Kora, Ladi6, 5 The Bakery 3 Capitol Tea, Slugabed, Trinity Roots, David ARRESTED SUMMADAYZE (M.I.A, Holy Sons, New Dallas, P-Money & More) Fedde Le Grand, Mark DEVELOPMENT Ronson DJ Set, Kimbra, 1 Red Hill Auditorium 3 Metro City War, High Tea, Booka Shade Live, Eddie RUSSELL BRAND LANE Dro Carey, D’Eon, JORDIE Halliwell, AN21 & Max 4 YaYa’s 2 Perth Arena Vangeli, Carl Craig, 69 Mayor Dadi, and THE LIVING END THE KNOCKS Live, Maya Jane Coles, 1-7 Rosemount Hotel 2 Venue TBA more) SIMPLE MINDS / DEVO / Disclosure Live, Erol 14 Somerville Auditorium EMMYLOU HARRIS Alkan, Fake Blood, 6 Perth Concert Hall THE CHURCH / MODELS and surrounds Adrian Lux, Breakbot JOE LONGTHORNE / 4 Kings Park & Botanical Live, Hudson Mohawke, MELISSA MANCHESTER Garden Araabmuzik, Icona Pop, OCTOBER 7 Regal Theatre REEL BIG FISH/ Scuba, Aeroplane, Jesse TOUCHE AMORE/ MAKE GOLDFINGER/ KARISE EDEN Rose, Danny Daze, AC DO AND MEND ZEBRAHEAD 16 & 17 St Joseph’s Church Slater, Stafford Brothers 7 YMCA HQ 5 Metro City & Timmy Trumpet, Bombs Subiaco 8 Amplifier KASEY CHAMBERS/ Away & More) TIGERTOWN JOSH PYKE SHANE NICHOLSON 6 Patersons Stadium 18 Ya Ya’s 8 Artbar 5 Albany Entertainment Subiaco CHARLIE MUSSELWHITE Centre 19 Norfolk Basement SANDI THOM BAND 6 Civic Centre Esperance 10 Fly By Night TODD MCKENNEY 8 Fly By Night 7 Goldfields Arts Centre NIGHTWISH 18 & 19 Astor Theatre TRIPOD 8 Mundaring Weir Hotel 20 Metropolis Fremantle WE ALL WANT TO 9 Quarry Amphitheatre JLO ESG REFUSED 6 Perth Arena 18 Prince Of Wales 20 The Bakery 9 Metropolis Fremantle LAGWAGON/ THE SMITH WEEZER 19 The Bird JOHN WAITE 23 Perth Arena STREET BAND 20 Indi Bar 9 Metro City WOODS 5 Prince Of Wales CLARE BOWDITCH 23 The Bakery BLEEDING KNEES CLUB 6 The Rosemount JEFF THE BROTHERHOOD 9 Metro Freo 20 Astor Theatre MISSY HIGGINS 27 Mojos 10 Amplifier 8 Fremantle Arts Centre
THIS WEEK
STEEL PANTHER/ THE ART
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BIG DAY OUT (Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Killers, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Vampire Weekend, Band Of Horses, Kaskade, Animal Collective, Against Me!, 360, Foals, B.O.B, Sleigh Bells, Jeff The Brotherhood, Off!, Grinspoon, Jagwar Ma, Delta Spirit, Everytime I Die, House Vs Hurricane, Alabama Shakes, and more) 28 Claremont Showgrounds
FEBRUARY ST. JEROME’S LANEWAY FESTIVAL 2013 (Alpine, Alt-J, Bat For Lashes, Chet Faker, Cloud Nothings, Divine Fits, El-P, Flume, Henry Wagons & The Unwelcome Company, High Highs, Holy Other, Japandroids, Jessie Ware, Julia Holter, Kings Of Convenience, The Men, Ms Mr, The Neighbourhood, Nicolas Jaar, Nite Jewel, Of Monsters & Men, Perfume Genius, Polica, Pond, Real Estate, The Rubens, Shlohmo, Snakadaktal, Twerps, Yeasayer ) 9 Venue TBC GLADYS KNIGHT/ MARCIA HINES (Postponed) 10 Kings Park Botanic Garden AMANDA PALMER 14 Astor Theatre CELTIC THUNDER 16 Perth Arena DAVID HASSLEHOFF 17 Capitol ED SHEERAN/ PASSENGER 23 Challenge Stadium CLIFF RICHARDS 23 Sandalford Estate GLENN FREY 24 Kings Park & Botanical Garden NORAH JONES 24 Riverside Theatre
MARCH FUTURE MUSIC FESTIVAL 2013 The Prodigy, The Stone Roses, Bloc Party, Dizzee Rascal, Azealia Banks, Rita Ora, Ellie Goulding, Boys Noize Live, Hardwell, The Temper Trap and more 3 Perth (Venue TBC) SOUNDWAVE 2013 (Metallica, Linkin Park, Blink-182, A Perfect Circle, The Offspring, Paramore, Garbage, Slayer, Cypress Hill, Bullet For My Valentine, and more) 4 Claremont Showgrounds GLENN SHORROCK/ WENDY MATTHEWS/ DOUG PARKINSON 14 & 15 Quarry Amphitheatre THE CIVIL WARS 15 St Joseph’s Subiaco WILLIAM ELLIOT WHITMORE 23 Mojos Bar
APRIL THE SCRIPT 3 Perth Arena
SEPTEMBER ONE DIRECTION 28 & 29 Perth Arena
X-Press – First on the street, Wednesdays
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Nick & Liesl, Wednesday at The Indi Bar
WEDNESDAY 10.10 AMPLIFIER Make Me Believe BALMORAL Andrew Winton BAR 120 Felix BRASS MONKEY Sugar Blue Burlesque CLANCY’S CANNING BRIDGE Keneth Austin & Jay Howie CLANCY’S FREMANTLE Chet Leonard’s Bingotheque CLAREMONT HOTEL Open Mic Night ELLINGTON JAZZ CLUB Belleville GREENWOOD Bernardine GROOVE BAR (CROWN CASINO) 5 Shots HALE ROAD TAVERN Fenton Wilde INDI BAR Nick & Liesl Jay Grafton LUCKY SHAG Howie Morgan MOJOS BAR The Fancy Brothers Todd Picket Phill Cilli MUSTANG Blue Gene PADDO Kate Gilbertson Bryan Ruce Dalton Dharshini Muru ROSEMOUNT 10 Past 6 Castle Bravo Amend Alex The Kid El Capitan ROSIE O’GRADY’S (NORTHBRIDGE) David Fyffe THE BIRD Cam Avery
Bedouin Sea, Thursday at Mojos
THE BROWN FOX Courtney Murphy THE MOON Mei Saraswati Leure Lacheo Ley UNIVERSAL Strutt YAYA’S The James Cross Quintet Sarah Ramsey Quintet Zac Grafton Quartet
THURSDAY 11.10 AMPLIFIER Warbringer BELGIAN BEER CAFÉ Chasing Calee BRASS MONKEY Rhythm Bound Karaoke BRIGHTON Open Mic Night BROOKLANDS TAVERN Celebrations Karaoke CLANCY’S CANNING BRIDGE Belleveille Gypsy Jazz Duo CLANCY’S DUNSBOROUGH Tim Rogers COMO HOTEL Courtney Murphy DEVILLES PAD Rock ‘N’ Roll Karaoke DUNSBOROUGH TAVERN Open Mic Night ELLINGTON JAZZ CLUB Lois Olney FLY BY NIGHT CLUB WAM Song Of The Year Awards GROOVE BAR (CROWN CASINO) Hi-NRG HIGH WYCOMBE HOTEL Chris Murphy INDI BAR Bex’s Open Mic Night
LEEDERVILLE HOTEL Leederville Lounge room Nu-Melange Riley Pearce Alfred Gorman LUCKY SHAG Nathan Gaunt MARKET CITY TAVERN Reilly Craig Tamika James Mathews Ebonnie Tom Little MERRIWA TAVERN Overload MOJOS BAR Tyto Kings Bedouin Sea Death & A Cure Shontay Snow Nicole Turner MUSTANG BAR The DomNicks OXFORD HOTEL Johnny Taylor PADDY HANNAN’S Dr Bogus ROSEMOUNT The Southwicks Lights Of Berlin Lillium Stargazer ROSIE O’GRADY’S (FREMANTLE) Bill Chidgzey ROSIE O’GRADY’S (NORTHBRIDGE) Neil Colliss SOVEREIGN ARMS David Fyffe THE BIRD Hip Hop Kara“YO”ke THE BOAT Jen De Ness THE BROOK Open Mic Night THE GATE One Trick Phonies UNIVERSAL Off The Record WOODVALE Two Plus One YA YA’S Kathleen Ann Tashi Hall Moustache Reilly Craig Bryan Rice Dalton
FRIDAY 12.10
Those Wretched Horses
THOSE WRETCHED HORSES STEREOFLOWER KILL TEEN ANGST THE WITCHES FRIDAY, OCTOBER 12 THE BIRD
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7th AVENUE Midnight Rambler ADMIRAL Steve Hepple AMPLIFIER The Floors Will Stoker & The Embers The Painkillers Dirtwater Bloom BAILEY BAR Mod Squad BAILEY BAR Mod Squad BALLYS BAR Anderson BALMORAL Mike Nayar BAR ORIENT The Reggae Club The Empressions Mumma Trees Sista Che BASSENDEAN HOTEL Overload BELMONT TAVERN The Bluebottles BENTLEY HOTEL Dove BLACK BETTYS Everlong
The Painkillers, Friday at Amplifier
BRASS MONKEY Adrian Wilson BROKEN HILL HOTEL Matt Milford CAPTAIN STIRLING Carbon Taxi CAPITOL The Rubens CARINE Pop Candy CARLISLE HOTEL Reload CHASE BAR Chasing Calee CIVIC HOTEL House Of Shem Ngati CIVIC HOTEL (THE DEN) FAIM Burning Fiction Worst Possible Outcome Tikdoff Got Sharks? Steadfast CLANCY’S CITY BEACH Russel Holmes Trio CLANCY’S DUNSBOROUGH Dave Warner’s From The Suburbs CLANCY’S FREMANTLE Don Walker & The Lucky Strikes COMO HOTEL Trevor Jalla CORNERSTONE The Up Beats CRAFTSMAN Smooth Criminals CROWN CASINO Decoy DEVILLES PAD Fab Four Les Sataniques EAST 150 Chris Gibbs EDZ SPORTZ BAR Sugarfield ELEPHANT & WHEELBARROW Daren Reid & The Soul City Groove ELLINGTON JAZZ CLUB The Graham Wood Trio Ali Bodycoat Quintet Meg Mac & The Squeeze EMPIRE Electrophobia FLY BY NIGHT CLUB Tim Rogers GLOUCESTER PARK The Flying Piranhas GREENWOOD Greg Carter HERDSMAN One Trick Phonies HIGH ROAD HOTEL Neil Colliss The Damien Cripps Band HIGH WYCOMBE HOTEL Dr Bogus INDI BAR Ben Merito INDIAN OCEAN BREW Ben Merito KALAMUNDA HOTEL Disrty Scoundrels M ON THE POINT Karin Page Duo MARKET CITY TAVERN Jim Moore Brad Wintle
MOJOS BAR (ARVO) Captn K Simmo T MOJOS BAR (EVE) Tuka Ellesquire The Stoops Delirious Ol Wright Rob Shaker MOON & SIXPENCE Soul Corporation MUSTANG BAR Adam Hall & The Velvet Playboys Cheeky Monkeys NEWPORT Party Rockers NORFOLK BASEMENT Foulplay Sleep Freak Silver Grenade PADDO Simon Kelly PARAMOUNT Flyte PEEL ALEHOUSE Acoustic License PINK DUCK LOUNGE BAR Steve Hepple PRINCESS ROAD TAVERN Free Radicals QUARIE BAR Jack & Jill RAILWAY HOTEL Axe Cane Adverse Reaction Wicked Wench Naked Flame ROCKET ROOM Opia The Meaning Of Hyte Goat ROSE & CROWN Christian Thompson ROSEMOUNT Blind Highway Blackjack ROSIE O’GRADY’S (FREMANTLE) Spyce ROSIE O’GRADY’S (NORTHBRIDGE) Neil Colliss SAIL & ANCHOR The Bluebottles SOUTH ST ALE HOUSE Robbie King Karaoke SPRINGS TAVERN Greg Carter Karaoke SWINGING PIG Overload Greg Carter THE BIRD Those Wretched Horses Stereoflower Kill Teen Angst The Witches THE BOAT The Organ Grinders THE GATE Smoking Section THE SAINT Huge THE VIC Jen De Ness THORNLIE BOWLING CLUB Mustangs TIGER LILS Paul Malone Adam Kelly Alex Koresis UNIVERSAL Nightmoves
X-Press – First on the street, Wednesdays
Listing deadline is Monday 5pm. GO TO www.xpressmag.com.au /PLUG YOUR GIG and plug away! The X-Press Guide is a Perth metropolitan service for advertisers listing tours, live, dance and arts events. All inclusions are at the discretion of X-Press Magazine. The one entry system will update our print edition, website and App
Opia, Friday at Rocket Room VELVET LOUNGE Puck Dead Owls The Disappointed Bishi Bashi Man The Clouds VICTORIA PARK HOTEL Ivan Ribic WOODVALE TAVERN Flash Nat & The Action Men YA YA’S Electric Toad Zealous Chang Locus Trio Ron Pollard Quintet
SATURDAY 13.10 ADMIRAL Pop candy AMPLIFIER Sound Of Seasons Vice Versa Cupidfalls BALLYS BAR Bernardine Dove BALMORAL The Mojos BAILEY BAR Dr Bogus BAR 120 Flyte BELGIAN BEER CAFÉ Mike Nayar BLACK BETTY’S J Babies CROWN CASINO (PRIZE DRAW STAGE) Switch CIVIC HOTEL Prescient Pyromesh Xenoniotic One Too Many Camel CIVIC HOTEL (THE DEN) Eris The Hunt Helta Skelta The Grief Contest Mt Mtn CLANCY’S CANNING BRIDGE Minky G Roscoe CLANCY’S CITY BEACH Zukhuta CLANCY’S DUNSBOROUGH Don Walker & The Lucky Strikes CLANCY’S FREMANTLE Oates Supply 80’s Party DEVILLES PAD Special Brew ELLINGTON JAZZ CLUB Saffron Sharp trio Ben Vanderwal & Howie Morgan Odette Mercy & Her Soul Atomics EMPIRE James Ess FLY BY NIGHT CLUB House Of Shem GREENWOOD Cargo Beat GROOVE BAR (CROWN CASINO) Switch HIGH ROAD HOTEL Dakota
INDI BAR Zarm LAKERS Carbon Taxi LANGFORD ALEHOUSE Die Hard Karaoke LEOPOLD HOTEL Steve Hepple LOBBY LOUNGE (CROWN CASINO) Pop Candy M ON THE POINT Rhythm 22 MERIDIAN ROOM (CROWN CASINO) Midnight Rambler MERRIWA TAVERN Overload MOJOS BAR Mental Powers Andrew Sinclair Band Leafy Suburbs MOON & SIXPENCE Flash Nat & The Action Men MUSTANG The Continentals Milhouse NEWPORT Kizzy Gravity NORFOLK BASEMENT Pride Party The Insatiables Nevada Pilot The Gypsy Howls Robo-Ant PADDY HANNANS Decoy PARAMOUNT Felix PEEL ALEHOUSE Overload QUARIE BAR Electrophobia RAILWAY HOTEL Parker Avenue From The Dunes A Martyr’s New Pitch Salv ROCKET ROOM Kickstart ROSEMOUNT Tim Rogers Catherine Britt ROSIE O’GRADY’S (FREMANTLE) Flavor ROSIE O’GRADY’S (NORTHBRIDGE) Mod Squad SAIL & ANCHOR Better Days SEAVIEW HOTEL Open Mic Night SWINGING PIG Greg Carter Rock-A-Fellas THE BIRD F#$%ing Teeth THE BOAT Acoustic License THE GATE Dirty Scoundrels THE SAINT Retrofit UNIVERSAL Soul Corporation WHALE & ALE Everlong WOODVALE TAVERN Slim Jim & The Phatts
SUNDAY 14.10 7TH AVENUE Deuce AMPLIFIER Dappled Cities
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Friday Friday Travis Caudle Cupidfalls, Saturday at Travis Caudle FlyAmplifier ByNight Night Fly By BALLY’S BAR Greg Carter BALMORAL Chasing Calee BROKEN HILL HOTEL Matt Milford BROOKLANDS TAVERN Greg Carter CAPITOL Everclear CAPTAIN STIRLING Christian Parkinson CARINE Wesley Goodlet Jamboree Scouts CLANCY’S DUNSBOROUGH Loren Freya Hanley Charlie Mcgee Murray Kyle CLANCY’S FREMANTLE The Zydecats CLAREMONT HOTEL Sunday Driver COMO HOTEL Adrian Wilson ELEPHANT & WHEELBARROW Daren Reid & The Soul City Groove ELLINGTON JAZZ CLUB De Ness Jazz Kabaret EMPIRE CB3 FLY TRAP Open Mic Night FREMANTLE ARTS CENTRE Don Walker & The Lucky Strikes HIGH ROAD HOTEL Nat Ripepi HIGH WYCOMBE HOTEL The Organ Grinders INDI BAR Andrew Winton INDIAN OCEAN BREW CO Retrofit KINGS SQUARE FREMANTLE Soundblast Emperors Rainy Day Women The Stoops Morgan Bain Codie Sundstrom LAKERS TAVERN Jamie Powers LAST DROP Brett Hardwick M ON THE POINT A Bit On The Side MOJOS BAR Earthlink Paul Gamblin Simmo T Busha D Corby MUSTANG BAR Peter Busher & The Lone Rangers NEWPORT Tim Nelson Opia The Meaning Of Buzz Kill Vamps NORTH FREMANTLE BOWLING CLUB Shouting At Camels Cothe Rag ‘N’ Bone The Cabarets OCEAN VIEW TAVERN Peter Ashton PADDY HANNAN’S Flyte
The Insatiables, Saturday at Norfolk Basement
PADDY MAGUIRES Brett Hardwick PIG & WHISTLE Sugarfield PINK DUCK LOUNGE BAR Kevin Conway QUARIE BAR Gotham City QUEENS TAVERN Big Al & The Deacons ROSIE O’GRADY’S (NORTHBRIDGE) Neil Colliss SAIL & ANCHOR Mike Nayar SOUTH ST ALE HOUSE Ryan Dillon SOVEREIGN ARMS Ivan Ribic SPRINGS TAVERN Sophie Jane STIRLING ARMS Dove SWINGING PIG Matt Angel Simon Kelly THE BIRD Rae Pimps Of Sound LadyWood THE GATE Better Days THE SAINT Howie Morgan Trio UNIVERSAL Retriofit VICTORIA PARK HOTEL Jonathan Dempsey WOODVALE TAVERN Good Karma XWRAY CAFÉ The Charisma Brothers YA YA’S Dylan Roggio Mithcell Jones Darren Guthrie Trojan John Spoonful Of Sugar
MONDAY 15.10 BRASS MONKEY Nathan Gaunt
ELLINGTON JAZZ CLUB (EVE) WAAPA Graduation Recital Brendan Grey Djuna Lee Jeremy Trezona Andrew Gioia Dale Boaden GROOVE BAR (CROWN CASINO) Pop Candy INDIAN OCEAN BREW Jack & Jill MOJOS BAR Wide Open Mic Night MUSTANG BAR Marco & The Alley Cats THE DEEN Plastic Max & The Token Gesture WOODVALE TAVERN Damien Cripps YA YA’S Open Mic Night
TUESDAY 16.10 ELLINGTON JAZZ CLUB WAAPA Honors Recital Jacob Evans Jesse Byrom Carl Dunai Luke Minness Saffron Sharp LUCKY SHAG Christian Thompson MERRIWA TAVERN Celebrations Karaoke MOJOS BAR High Tea The Long Lost Brothers MUSTANG BAR Danza Loca PADDO Simon Kelly PRINCE OF WALES Open Mic Night SETTLERS TAVERN Open Mic Night THE BROOK Greg Carter Karaoke TWO ROCKS TAVERN Jump For Joy Karaoke YAYA’S The Georgians Astrolix Cinnamon Collective
The Stoops
SOUNDBLAST
EMPERORS RAINY DAY WOMEN THE STOOPS CODY SUNDSTROM MORGAN BAIN TOMAS FORD SUNDAY, OCTOBER 14 KINGS SQUARE FREMANTLE
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MUSIC GEAR & TECHNOLOGY GUIDE MUSICIANS WANTED WAKE UP! The Sleepers must awaken. Confident, RADIANT Singer in Fremantle invites all musicians to busk with Him; To play: Beck, Syd Barrett, Travelling Riverside Blues! LZ Otis, Al Green, Beatles, Beach Boys And more… Freo is sliding into hell, We must save it from perdition. Let’s bring Heaven on Earth… To ‘Perth’. We could be so good together, Now C’MON! 0432 967 054 johndabreu@hotmail.com Nothing is found, for nothing is lost. My unlimited Love, John PS: Let’s f@$% shit up ‘heal the world brothers’ PPS: Do not chase girls, Let them chase you! Peace. This is my lion’s roar. BASS PLAYER WANTED For Aussie Rock Tribute. Dedication & reliability a must. Ph 0409 370 900. BLUES JAM SESSION All welcome. 1-5pm Sunday October 14. Pace Road Tavern, Medina. Free entry and friendly atmosphere.
DRUMMER NEEDED The Crooked Cats. Established gigging/touring band. CDs released. Contact via FB/ 0448 436 491. MENU MUSIC/TOTAL HITS CD SAMPLER Interested in hearing YOUR music played in WA cafes and restaurants? Total Hits & Menu Magazine are launching a 2nd compilation CD. The cost to be involved is only $1,000 + GST and you will be featured on a CD that is distributed to cafes and restaurants around WA, profiled in Menu Magazine, featured on www.westcoastcafes.com.au, featured on www.totalhits.com.au and get 50 copies of the compilation CD. Call 9430 6007 or email us at info@eyersrocket.com.au to get involved. OPEN MIC NIGHT every Thursday night at Indi Bar. Just call Bex on 0404 917 632. OPEN MIC NIGHT Every Tuesday night at the Craigie Tavern 8-11pm. Call Corey for bookings 0431 448 235 SINGER WANTED For Rock/Blues band. Must be reliable, gig pending. No time wasters. Auditions SOR. Call Herb or Cassi 0410 088 596 or 0423 252 970. PHOTOGRAPHY P R O J E C T P H OT O G R A P H Y P r o m o photography, studio, live, location. M i k e W y l i e 0 4 1 7 9 7 5 9 6 4 w w w. projectphotography.com When its time to ice the cake... PRODUCTION SERVICES * LIGHTING * AUDIO* STAGING * www. nightstarlightingaudio.com.au www. nightstarlightingaudio.com.au www. instandt.com.au 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
MATRIX PRODUCTIONS AUSTRALIA Lighting, staging, sound systems, smoke machines, night club FX, intelligent lighting, strobes & mirror balls, crowd barriers, video projectors. 9371 1551 PA HIRE, PRO SYSTEM, FULL FOLD BACK Experienced operator. Optional light show. Fidelity sound on 0404 331 320. RECORDING STUDIOS ALAN DAWSON’s WITZEND RECORDING STUDIO Prof quality albums or demos, large live room, experienced engineer, analog to digital transfers, mastering.. Alan 0407 989 128 or Jeremy 0430638178 www.witzendstudios.com ANDY’S STUDIO International multi award winning songwriter / producer. No band required. Broadcast quality. A songwriter’s paradise. Ph 9364 3178 AVALON STUDIOS BIBRA LAKE One of Perths best equipped studio. Record to analog tape or digital, Avalon pre amps, Neumann mics, the latest and best universal audio, plug in’s for digital recordings. All styles of music, $55 per hour call Tony 0411 118304 email - avalonstudios@bigpond.com GOLDDUSTCONSTRUCTION.COM Pr o d u c t i o n , m i x i n g, r e c o r d i n g a n d composition for your music. Unique award winning skills to take songs from ideas to finished mixes or to fulfill the potential in existing ones. Located in Subiaco. $60 p/h. Andrew 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 R E CO R D I N G M I X I N G M A S T E R I N G PRODUCING Fremantle location. Call Pete Kitchen Cooked Records. Ph 0407 363 764 / 9336 3764
NEWS
REVOLVER SOUND STUDIO Ph 9272 7505. www.revolverstudio.com.au SONGWRITERS! - UNLOCK YOUR SONGS’ POTENTIAL +FREE BAND APPRAISALS. UK Producer, 40,000+ hours studio experience. 20 yrs in London with bands and songwriters. Kicking arrangements, great studio and the ability to really listen will give your material the edge you need. Call Jerry on 0405 653 338 or visit www.jerichomusic.com.au REHEARSAL STUDIOS AAA VHS REHEARSAL ROOMS Great facilities, great vibe & great price!!! Unit 5 /16 Peel Road, O’Connor. Phone 9418 5815 or 0413 732 885 BIGBEAT SOUND STUDIO Clean rooms, all new PA systems, air-con and good parking . Willetton Ph: 0425 698 117. PLATINUM SOUND ROOMS Professional rehearsal rooms, airconditioned, quality PAs mob 0418 944 722 TUITION ***GUITAR LESSONS*** The Guitar Specialist. Beg-adv, all styles and levels including bass. Cliff Lynton Guitar Institute. Mt Lawley 9342 3484 / www.clifflynton.com BASS LESSONS Rock, funk & jazz. Tony Gibbs 9470 6131 DRUM LESSONS All styles, all ages. WAAPA prep. Modern techniques & rudiments, Beginner to advanced. Ph: 0413 172 817. PROFESSIONAL SINGING COACH (Find Your True Voice) All levels, All styles. 0407 260 762. SINGING LESSONS Learn a technique that actually works! The method used by over 120 Grammy award winners. Certified Speech Level singing instructor. Call Simon 0431335495.
YOUR MUSIC GEAR & TECHNOLOGY GUIDE
AAM ANNOUNCES NEW MENTOR PROGRAM
Tubemeister 36 Combo Speaker
To help improve the skills and knowledge of the next generation of artist managers, the Association of Artist Managers has recently announced an exciting new mentorship program. For nine months emerging and aspiring managers will be matched with their more experienced counterparts to develop a one-on-one relationship. Applications are open now and will close on Wednesday, October 17, and are currently only available through the AAM membership, of which there are a number of tiers designed to suit ever career level. To find out how to get involved email meg@aam.org.au.
NEW FENDER VINTAGE TUBEMEISTER 36S ARE HERE GUITAR SERIES The Tubemeister range continues to grow, with the Tubemeister 36 head and combo having recently hit our shores. Taking the concept of a compactlow-wattage-tube-amp-with-a-bucketload-offeatures even further, the Tubemeister 36 Head and the Tubemeister 36 Combo (which includes a 1x12” speaker) are available now through CMI Music And Audio dealers. Click on over to cmi.com.au/digitechdealers to find your closest dealer.
Fender’s American Vintage series introduces an all-new lineup of original-era model year guitars that bring Fender history and heritage to authentic and exciting new life. With key features and pivotal design elements spanning the mid1950s to the mid-1960s, new American Vintage series instruments delve deep into Fender’s roots – preserving an innovative U.S. guitar-making legacy and vividly demonstrating how many of the most desirable instruments of the past can be expertly recreated in look, feel and sound. For more info on The deadline to enter the 2012 International the range click on over to fender.com. Kosmic are Songwriting Competition has now been extended currently stocking the Fender American Vintage ‘59 until Thursday, November 1, so don’t miss your Stratocaster in Sonic Blue. Hit up kosmic.com.au for chance to enter the world’s most prestigious full specs and prices. international songwriting comp! With this year’s judges including the likes of Tom Waits, Robert Smith and Janelle Monae, and previous winners including Kimbra and Gotye, don’t miss your chance to share in prizes of over $150 000. Entries are open now via Sonicbids. Hit up songwritingcompetition.com for all the deets.
ISC DEADLINE EXTENDED
WAM SOTY AWARDS
Don’t forget to hit up flybynight.org (or call 08 9430 5976) to get your pre-sale tickets to this year’s WAM Song Of The Year Awards Night which will be held at the Fly By Night Musicians’ Club on Thursday, October 11. Hosted by 96FM’s Darren de Mello and with the presence of Kav Temperley (Eskimo Joe – APRA Ambassador), the evening will feature live performances by 2011 Song of the Year Grand Prize winner Timothy Nelson & The Infidels, as well as Yabu Band, Kučka and Boom! Bap! Pow! 46
Fender American Vintage ‘59 Stratocaster X-Press – First on the street, Wednesdays
www.xpressmag.com.au
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X-Press – First on the street, Wednesdays