The Music (Brisbane) Issue #54

t h e m u s i c | t h e l i f e s t y l e | t h e f a s h i o n | t h e a r t | t h e c u l t u r e | y o u

DEVILDRIVERLDRIVERLDRIVERtour

SQUIDBOYSQUIDBOYSQUIDBOYbrisbane festival

SHARON JONESHARONHARON

tourCROCKERY DESIGNERS

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#54 • 0 3 . 0 9 . 1 4 • B R I SBANE • F R E E • I N C ORP ORAT I N G

PUTTING THE BRISBANE IN BRISBANE FESTIVAL

2 • THE MUSIC • 3RD SEPTEMBER 2014

THE MUSIC • 3RD SEPTEMBER 2014 • 3




themusic3RD SEPTEMBER 2014

#054

INSIDEFEATURESThe Kite String

Tangle

DevilDriver

Dennis Remmer

Trygve Wakenshaw aka Squidboy

Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings

You Me At Six

Conan

Phil Rudd

The Kooks

Emma Pask

Pop Will Eat Itself

REVIEWSAlbum: Death

From Above 1979

Live: Lady Gaga

Arts: What We Do In The Shadows

THE GUIDECover: The Bloodpoets

Food/Drink

Frontlash/Backlash

Indie News

Indy Features

Gig Guide

feature

“THERE WAS MASSIVE PRESSURE, BUT YOU CAN’T WRITE MUSIC TO THAT. THE ONLY THING YOU CAN DO IS WRITE MUSIC THAT YOU ENJOY.”- LOCAL LAD DONE GOOD DANNY HARLEY, AKA THE KITE STRING TANGLE (P12)

“IF I THINK, ‘IT’S TIME TO IMPRESS THEM’ THEN NO ONE’S HAVING ANY FUN. IF IT’S JUST NONSENSE IT WORKS.”- SQUIDBOY HIMSELF TRYGVE WAKENSHAW TALKS ABOUT HIS BRISBANE FESTIVAL SHOW (P16)

“IN A YEAR OF FANTASTIC COMEBACKS, THIS POTENTIALLY STANDS AS THE PICK OF THE BUNCH. THROW ON YOUR LEATHERS AND GET DANCING.”- DEATH FROM ABOVE 1979 ARE BACK FOR YOUR BLOOD (P26)

“I WAS WRITING, BUT I KNEW DEEP DOWN AND SORT OF CONFRONTED THE FACT THAT I WAS JUST WRITING THE SAME SHIT AGAIN AND AGAIN.” - THE KOOKS FRONTMAN LUKE PRITCHARD TALKS LISTEN (P22)

STREAM THE NEW SINGLE FROM BIGSOUND-BOUND ALL OUR EXES LIVE IN TEXAS.ONLY ON THEMUSIC.COM.AU

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LATEST INDUSTRY NEWS, INCLUDING MERGER OF TWO TOP MANAGEMENT COMPANIES.FULL DETAILS AT THEMUSIC.COM.AU

THE FULL BLUESFEST LINE-UP – AN INTERACTIVE ANALYSIS!AT THEMUSIC.COM.AU

THE MUSIC • 3RD SEPTEMBER 2014 • 7THE MUSIC • 3RD SEPTEMBER 2014 • 7

THINGS TO DO THIS WEEK • 3 SEPT - 9 SEPT 2014THIS WEEK

Get your geek on, it’s Comic-Con time! This weekend at Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre it’s our turn for Oz Comic-Con, the pop culture conference that combines exhibitions, autograph sessions and photo opportunities with some of the biggest stars from the big and small screens, as well as special panel events. No matter what your taste there will be something for everyone, as long as your taste is awesomely lowbrow.

There’s no doubting that jazz – when done properly – is one of the most relaxing musical forms, and the Sunshine Coast is surely one of the most laidback places in Queensland (which is the chill capital of the western world), so this weekend’s Noosa Jazz Festival should go down as one of the most stress-free shindigs imaginable! It all happens from this Thursday through Sunday at the gorgeous Noosa Lions Park, Noosa Heads and features an absolutely brilliant line-up and festivities for everyone. Relax the Noosa jazz way!

Those massive pink rabbits are starting to emerge from their warrens all around town and that can only mean one thing – Brisbane Festival is upon us! Kicking off this Saturday and running for three weeks, the annual mass party celebrates everything there is to love about our great capital city and brings a cavalcade of music, theatre, dance, comedy, opera, circus and all things artistic from all around the world for our enjoyment.

celebrate

chill

BRISBANE

CREDITSPUBLISHER

Street Press Australia Pty Ltd

GROUP MANAGING EDITORAndrew Mast

EDITORSteve Bell

ASSISTANT EDITORBenny Doyle

ARTS AND CULTURE EDITOR Cassandra Fumi

MUSO EDITORMichael Smith

GIG GUIDE EDITORJustine Lynch

[email protected]

CONTRIBUTORSAlice Bopf, Amorina

Fitzgerald-Hood, Anthony Carew, Baz McAlister, Ben

Marnane, Ben Preece, Benny Doyle, Bradley Armstrong,

Brendan Telford, Brie Jorgensen, Carley Hall, Chris Yates, Cyclone, Dan Condon,

Daniel Johnson, Dave Drayton, Guy Davis, Helen Stringer, Jake Sun, Jazmine O’Sullivan, Lochlan Watt, Madeleine Laing, Mandy

McAlister, Mitch Knox, Paul Mulkearns, Roshan Clerkea, Sam Hobson, Sky Kirkham,

Sophie Blackhall-Cain, Tessa Fox, Tom Hersey, Tony McMahon, Tyler

McLoughlan

PHOTOGRAPHERSFreya Lamont, John Stubbs, John Taylor, Kane Hibberd,

Markus Ravik, Rick Cliff ord, Sky Kirkham, Stephen Booth,

Terry Soo, Tessa Fox

QLD SALESJuliet Brooks, Madeleine

Budd

[email protected]

ART DIRECTORBrendon Wellwood

ART DEPTDavid Di Cristoforo, Eamon

Stewart, Julian De Bono

ADMIN AND ACCOUNTSJarrod Kendall, Leanne

Simpson, Loretta Zoppos, Niall McCabe

[email protected]

DISTROAnita D’Angelo

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SUBSCRIPTIONSstore.themusic.com.au

CONTACT USPhone: (07) 3252 9666

[email protected]

Street: Suite 11/354 Brunswick Street Fortitude

Valley QLD 4006

Postal: Locked Bag 4300 Fortitude Valley QLD 4006

geek


JONSON STREETBYRON BAY

THURS 4 SEPT KING GIZZARD & THE LIZARD

WIZARDFRI 5 SEP

DALLAS JAMES& THE GRAINS,THE BADLANDS,

JAKE KEMPSAT 6 SEPTMESA COSA

FEELING DAVEFRI 12 SEPT

THE PIERCE BROS, TIMBERWOLFSAT 13 SEPT

THE OWLSSUN 14 SEPTJOHN GARCIA

FRI 19 SEPT MT WARNING

SAT 20 SEPT GOONS OF DOOM

FRI 26 SEPT CASTLECOMER

FRI 3 OCT TOMORROWS TULIPS

SAT 4 OCTBLUEJUICE

THURS 9 OCT HOLY HOLY

18 & 19 OCT STICKY FINGERS

TICKETS AVAILABLE ONLINE WWW.THENORTHERN.COM.AU


YOUNG & RELEVANTSomething like that at least... Aussie punk rock institution The Meanies are celebrating their silver jubilee, playing shows 3 Oct, Rosemount Hotel, Perth; 10 Oct, The Roller Den, Sydney; 18 Oct, Prince Of Wales Hotel, Brisbane; and 24 Oct, The Hi-Fi, Melbourne, all proudly presented by The Music. Relive the late nights and fist fights when the frantic Melburnians spit venom across our great land once again!

SWEATER OUTAdelaide royalty Hilltop Hoods continue to walk tall across this great land of ours, with another ARIA chart-topper in latest LP Walking Under Stars and a big Cosby Sweater Tour to spread the hip hop love. Get to theMusic.com.au for the closest gig to you, with the Hoods’ dates including 24 Oct, Hordern Pavilion, Sydney; 30 Oct, AIS Arena, Canberra; 31 Oct, Newcastle Entertainment Centre; 14 Nov, Margaret Court Arena, Melbourne; 22 Nov, The Marquee, Brisbane; and 6 Dec, Red Hill Auditorium, Perth.

national news

PIERCING LIGHTSIndie-folk favourites Pierce Brothers don’t look like resting on their laurels anytime soon; welcome news for fans, no doubt, particularly the ones who’ve followed their progress from Melbourne buskers to international stars. The schedule will take the brothers to Black Bear Lodge, Brisbane, 16 Oct; Newtown Social Club, Sydney, 6 Nov; Corner Hotel, Melbourne, 7 Nov; and Indi Bar, Perth, 6 Dec with full dates on theMusic.com.au, proud presenting partners of the tour.

AUSSIES OWNING EDINBURGHCelia Pacquola has been named the winner

of the Amused Moose Laughter Award 2014

at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, which aims

to discover the best shows by performers

who do not have a current DVD deal or

option. Melbourne’s Sam Simmons was

also nominated for Best Comedy Show for

Death Of A Sails-Man and Sydney’s Steen Raskopoulos was up for Best Newcomer.

THE RIVER RUNS FARShare The Smith Street Band’s musical stories when they launch Throw Me In The River at The Hi-Fi, Brisbane, 21 Nov; Manning Bar, Sydney, 22 Nov; Zierholz, Canberra, 23 Nov; Corner Hotel, Melbourne, 28 Nov; and Rosemount Hotel, Perth, 29 Nov.

READY FOR TAKE OFFDance duo Flight Facilities are finally bringing their debut album, Down To Earth, in to land. Launch onto the D-floor at Capitol, Perth, 8 Nov; Forum Theatre, Melbourne, 13 Nov; The Tivoli, Brisbane, 15 Nov; and Enmore Theatre, Sydney, 20 Nov.

KEEP ON TURNINGThe wheels are back in motion for Wagons, with an intimate national tour providing a perfect platform to showcase their new album Acid Rain And Sugar Cane. Find shows at Settlers Tavern, Margaret River, 25 Sep; Under The Clothesline, Perth, 26 Sep; Wave Rock Festival, Hyden, 27 Sep; Northcote Social Club, Melbourne, 3 Nov; Old Museum, Brisbane, 6 Nov; and Newtown Social Club, Sydney, 7 Nov. Proudly presented by The Music.

FEELS LIKE HOMESydney-by-way-of-Bellingen singer-songwriter Jack Carty has dropped the news of a forthcoming third full-length album, Esk, and a national tour as well. The stalwart troubadour plays at New Globe Theatre, Brisbane, 17 Oct; Rosemount Hotel, Perth, 9 Nov; Howler, Melbourne, 4 Dec; and 505, Sydney, 13 Dec. Proudly presented by The Music.

THE MEANIES

GOSSLING

PIERCE BROTHERS

CELIA PACQUOLA

WAGONS JACK CARTY

HARVEST CONTINUESAfter a busy string of events overseas, Gossling is coming back home just in time for a spring tour, which will be proudly presented by The Music. To celebrate, the singer-songwriter is releasing a digital-only edition of her debut Harvest Of Gold, which also features a bonus EP of unreleased tracks. Hear her lush arrangements at Corner Hotel, Melbourne, 6 Nov; The Bakery, Perth, 9 Nov; Newtown Social Club, Sydney, 11 & 12 Nov; and Black Bear Lodge, Brisbane, 19 & 20 Nov.

[email protected]


local [email protected]

GETTING THE BLUES ALL OVER AGAINByron Bay Bluesfest returns for its 26th incarnation over the Easter long weekend, 2 – 6 Apr, at Tyagarah Tea Tree Farm, and the initial line-up announcement brings some big names. First cabs off the rank are a combination of new faces and returning favourites, including The Black Keys, Zac Brown Band, Alabama Shakes, Michael Franti & Spearhead, Paul Kelly presenting the Merri Soul Sessions ft Dan Sultan, Kira Piru and Vika & Linda Bull, Xavier Rudd, Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, The Chris Robinson Brotherhood, Beth Hart, Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls, Mariachi El Bronx and more in the first of what will likely be many more announcements to come.

SPACE REGGAEA 50th anniversary is usually saved for your grandparents, not a band, but Jamaica’s finest, The Skatalites, don’t care for the rules. Skank along to the nine-piece, led by original vocalist and first lady of ska Doreen Shaffer, when the group play at The Zoo, 11 Dec.

THE BLACK KEYS

GAY PARIS

C.W. STONEKING

ELECTRIC BOOGALOOC.W. Stoneking’s new album Gon’ Boogaloo apparently took him years to come by but was recorded live in Castlemaine, Victoria in the space of two days. The lauded bluesman will take the tunes to the people 31 Oct, The Hi-Fi – proudly presented by The Music.

SET FIRE TO THE HIVEWe’re stoked to announce that Mojo Burning festival is returning to New Globe Theatre in 2015 (proudly presented by The Music), with a line-up that needs to be heard! On 21 Mar the venue will host those rock’n’roll evangelists Gay Paris, the guaranteed goodness of Redcoats, Claude Hay & The Gentle Enemies, Mojo Webb, Transvall Diamond Syndicate, La Bastard, Guthrie and The Urban Chiefs, with loads more on the bill too! Head to theMusic.com.au for full event details; tickets on sale at Ticketbooth.

SAIL AWAY, SAIL AWAYIf you’re a party monster, there’ll come a time in your life where you say goodbye to the looseness. That time is now for Yacht Club DJs. The boys are signing off in true style, playing a boatload of shows on their final Hooroo! Tour, including The Northern, Byron Bay, 7 Nov and The Brightside, 8 Nov.

THE OTHER BIG OGomez favourite Ben Ottewell is bringing his rich brogue Down Under, touting a brand new solo record, Rattlebag, at Black Bear Lodge, 31 Oct. Californian bloke Buddy supports.

REWRITE THE BOOKSBrisbane/Melbourne folk rockers Holy Holy are doing the slow burn thing right, teasing out the lead-up to a debut LP with a string of great singles. History is another stunner that you can get behind 9 Oct, The Norther, Byron Bay and 10 Oct, The Brightside.

NO! BUT YEAH!Pennsylvania punks The Wonder Years have cancelled their tour this month, but they’re making it up to you by joining the massive Soundwave 2015 bill. If you had tickets for their Brisbane headline shows, seek out your point of purchase for a refund.

HOT WAXBleeding Knees Club’s Alex Wall brings his Wax Witches project to Ric’s Bar, 11 Sep; Elsewhere, Surfers Paradise, 12 Sep; Alhambra Lounge, 4 Oct; Sounds Of Sunday, Gold Coast, 5 Oct. Hear some quality snot-pop pulled from new LP, Centre Of Your Universe.

WE STILL REMEMBERThe Sands Tavern, Maroochydore is hosting The Mosh For Daniel Festival on 8 Nov. Not only will you be able to thrash about to the sounds of Darkc3ll, Widow The Sea, Holistic, Countdown To Armageddon, and more, but you’ll be helping to raise money for The Daniel Morcombe Foundation (Dean Morcombe plays in Holistic). Tickets from Oztix.

RELIGHTING THE FIREAfter only just finishing up a short and intimate tour, Melbourne folk favourites Husky return to the road to celebrate the release of their new album, Ruckers Hill. Ride the folk train with the boys 21 Nov, The Spotted Cow, Toowoomba and 22 Nov, The Zoo.

BEAUTIFUL HORIZONSWe told you last week that Factory Floor would be taking part in G0Ma’s Future Beauty Up Late program, and now we can give you the full list of artists, with Japan’s Broken Doll, Shonen Knife and Cornelius all making the trip south, with additional performances from locals like Sampology, Mtns, Oscar Key Sung and Last Dinosaurs, all happening 21 Nov and 13 Feb. Find out specific dates at theMusic.com.au.

THE END IS HEREMetalheads rejoice! Melbourne slayers Ne Obliviscaris are coming to obliterate venues, joined by Canadian death-metallers Beyond Creation. Have yourself a dark and stormy time at The Brightside, 29 Nov.

STILL GOT ITWith Shihad’s newly released album FVEY landing in the ARIA top ten as well as debuting at #1 in New Zealand, the time seems right for the four-piece to rev up the engines. They’ll bring their incendiary live show, along with special guests High Tension and Cairo Knife Fight, to The Hi-Fi, 24 Oct.

“THIS SUIT IS THE BOLDEST THING OBAMA’S DONE IN MONTHS.”THE US PRESIDENT WORE A TAN SUIT AND HUNTER WALKER [@HUNTERW] HAD A MELTDOWN.


experiences on a single journey and that’s what it’s about for me – it could be a bit farfetched to think that people might come to the same conclusion from a single word, but I like to leave things open to interpretation anyway.”

With the EP delving into themes of love and loss, all through his beautiful, blissed-out electronic style, Harley admits that his music-making process has the tendency to be cathartic at times. “I’m not a hugely outwardly emotional person, so when I write music it tends to be emotionally driven, which is a surprise to me because I never start out with the intention of doing that, and then it just kind of ends up that way. So I think [making my music] has been like my own therapy without me

alike. With so much success coming his way, Harley says he feels a little bewildered by the whole experience.

“It has been weird, I mean that song Given The Chance was actually a slow-burner, a lot of people think it blew up, but it took about six months to really get going. I did my first Given The Chance tour early on and then I got to do another one or two after that because of the slow-burning nature of it. It was like a journey that became a parody of itself because it would just one-up itself every month or so, like something awesome would happen, and you’d think, ‘Oh that’s it, it’s run its course,’ but then something else would happen.

“It’s been an insane year and I’ve had some pretty massive lifestyle changes,” Harley adds. “When music presents itself as a career like this I kind of drop everything else, and so it’s changed the course of my life, which is awesome. I think every musician wants that to happen, so I’m feeling kind of lucky.”

Prior to his work with The Kite String Tangle, many knew of Harley from his exploits with Brisbane band Pigeon, who are now on indefinite hiatus. Initiating a solo project was an exciting prospect for Harley, as it gave him an opportunity to take complete control of the music he was creating, from the writing process right through to the mixing, mastering and producing. With Vessel, however, there are moments where he has allowed others into his tangled musical world, notably the breathtaking collaboration with vocalist Tiane Khasi for the track Stone Cold.

“I’ve come from mostly a collaborative background with bands where everyone contributes, and so this

for quite a while now so it’s exciting to get them

out there and see what people think of them.”

With the success of Given The Chance pushing Harley

well and truly onto the public spectrum, he admits

there was a fair amount of pressure involved in any sort

of follow-up release, however, he didn’t let it affect his

music or his drive. “There was massive pressure, but

you can’t write music to that. The only thing you can

do is write music that you enjoy, which is what you

do in the first place. I think you have to do that first

and foremost and if people like it they like it and if

they don’t they don’t, you just have to live with that.”

We were given a brief glimpse of what to expect from

the EP when Harley released his second stunning

single Arcadia earlier this year, however, reflecting

on the true essence of Vessel as a whole he offers,

“The last year has been a pretty crazy journey full of

incredible experiences, and all those journeys make

a whole, and that’s kind of what Vessel means to me.

Everyone’s kind of a vessel that transports their own

ever realising that it was, but now it’s pretty clear.”

In the lead-up to, and since the release of, Vessel, there’s been an undeniable amount of buzz and attention given to the movements of The Kite String Tangle. Earlier in the year Harley was – dare we say it – given the chance to perform at the lauded SXSW Festival in Austin, Texas, before securing a guest appearance at one of the world’s favourite festivals, Coachella, earning praise from spectators and musicians

project has been my own thing, which is nice because

I enjoy being a control freak as well,” Harley laughs.

“But having someone else come on board [for these

new songs] was really nice, it was really natural. It

wasn’t forced at all and I never really had a chance

to think about the fact that someone else was having

an input on it, and I think that’s the only way to

work really, because if you force collaborations or

if it doesn’t work immediately it can feel wrong.”

Reflecting on the future of Pigeon and its bandmates,

Harley says, “[Pigeon has] definitely had to take a back

seat because of this project, so the dynamic of the band

has definitely changed. I think a lot of people from

the band are also starting up their own projects now as

well, so if anything [the hiatus] has kind of sprouted

a few more creative avenues for the guys and myself.”

While it could be argued his peaceful electronic

style might sound more at home in Australia’s

more night scene-driven cities such as Melbourne

or Sydney, Harley humbly believes he doesn’t need

“I’M FEELING APPROPRIATE LEVELS OF ANXIETY AND NERVOUSNESS AND EXCITEMENT ALL MIXED INTO ONE CONFUSING EMOTIONAL ROLLERCOASTER.”

You may have stumbled across the boy wonder that is Danny Harley when he gained radioplay on triple j last year with his first single Given

The Chance, which landed the number 19 spot in the station’s Hottest 100. Or perhaps it was his dreamy rendition of Flight Facilities’ Clair De Lune that won you over, or his performance at Splendour In The Grass, or one of his many acclaimed gigs across the country this past year. No matter how you came to know The Kite String Tangle, Harley has managed to earn household name status across the nation in a short period of time, which will only be cemented further with the release of his debut EP Vessel.

Ahead of the release, Harley muses, “It’s been a while coming and I’m feeling appropriate levels of anxiety and nervousness and excitement all mixed into one confusing emotional rollercoaster. I’ve had the songs

With debut EP Vessel taking listeners on all sorts of journeys, Danny Harley, aka The Kite String Tangle, tells Jazmine O’Sullivan about the personal thrill ride that he’s currently on.

WIND IN HIS SAILS

music


WHAT: Vessel (Warner)

WHEN & WHERE: 17 & 18 Sep,

Brisbane Festival, The Telstra Spiegeltent;

19 Sep, Toowoomba Carnival Of Flowers;

30 Dec – 3 Jan, Falls Festival, North Byron Parklands

himself in those areas to propel his career forward. “There’s a lot of great music that comes out of Brisbane, it’s pretty well known for its garage/grunge-rock moreso than my style of music, but I like the sleepiness of Brisbane, how it’s kind of chill here. I like being other places, but I like coming home to Brisbane. I think if I was ever going to move it would be a big move and I would go to the UK or something.”

While the EP may have felt like a long time coming for fans and spectators, with almost a year falling between the release of that song and Vessel, it has no doubt felt like a lot longer for Harley, who admits he is amazed he actually finished it, and considers it one of his greatest accomplishments. “It took so long and it felt like I was never going to get it out, but I’m really proud of it. It’s fairly diverse in terms of its ups and downs, and it’s not super focused and cohesive, which was intentional, so I could see what I liked after it was released. After it’s been out for six months I want to see what tracks I still like, what’s had longevity to me, what I most like performing and what people

react to the most. It has been like a little experiment with the various styles I write in to see what sticks.”

With Vessel still being relatively fresh, Harley reveals he has already started work on what could be his debut album. “I’ve got maybe four songs that I’m happy with right now, but that could all change in six months. I could have three albums that I hate by then so I’m trying really hard to not release an album unless I’m really stoked about it and proud of it. I reckon there’s a lot of pressure from people to put out an album if the momentum’s there and the time is right, but I don’t think you can force it.”

KEEP YOUR EARS PEELEDOne of the most immediately striking features of Harley’s music with The Kite String Tangle is its lush and transporting sonic soundscapes. Given The Chance melted hearts across the country with both its fragility and its complexity, while Arcadia introduced a more melodious side and vocal experimentation – both showcasing Harley’s natural flare for producing and a heightened dexterity for creating sounds. When questioned whether he would consider lending his producing talents to other musicians’ work, Harley is quick to indicate that it is definitely within his realm of possibilities.

“I used to [produce] a fair bit as well, mainly doing more sort of studio work for bands and stuff, but I’ve done a little bit of production for other people and it’s definitely something I like. I like playing around different styles as well so [making music for other people] is also a good outlet for that.”

So, if Harley ever finds time away from his busy schedule with The Kite String Tangle, it’s entirely possible you could find yourself hearing a whole lot more of his work floating around the Australian music scene in the near future, and in a wider variety of forms. If the sounds found on Vessel are anything to go by, this can only be a good thing, right?


Twenty years into his career as a metal vocalist, Dez Fafara balances a wholesome family life alongside his two bands DevilDriver and Coal Chamber. Lochlan Watt discovers how weed helped him find that balance.

Dez Fafara is at home in California and has taken a short break from making lasagne with his kids to chat. They’ve

got some pretty serious plans for the evening – a poolside barbecue. It’s a well-deserved break.

“I’ve not taken a summer off in almost 11 years,” he explains. “Everyone in a band knows that that’s the time when you’re touring, you’re doing festivals overseas, and I’ve just had enough. I just needed to take some time with the family, take some time with the wife, and come back to me.”

The band’s forthcoming Australian run with Whitechapel will in fact be the last tour off the back of their hugely successful 2013 album Winter Kills. “We figured [we’ll] come Down Under and finish it off right. The record has performed so well all over the globe. For our sixth record to actually do what it’s been doing, I just think okay, let’s end this cycle, let’s come off for a while, let’s take our first prolonged break as DevilDriver, get with our families, and get writing.”

He reveals that the band have been given the deadline of 1 Nov to turn in six songs for the next album. “I write daily, and I want everybody to write daily, so if you don’t give people deadlines some people will slack [off ]. You just have to say, ‘By November, if we have six songs, then we’ll know by January, February next year if we’ve got a record,’ and then we can start talking to producers or whatever. I work best on a deadline, and the people around me need to work best on a deadline.”

With the reactivated Coal Chamber having also just announced plans to release their fourth album in 2015, Fafara definitely doesn’t fit the increasingly invalid stereotype of the lazy pot smoker. Nonetheless he smokes daily, and is proud to support the legalisation movement.

“I’ve suffered from ADD and ADHD my whole life. My parents had me on Ritalin for a long time, which is a terrible drug, and if you’ve got your kids on any of those drugs – they’re giving them for hyperactivity – what you have to know is you’re dealing with a hyperactive kid, which means you’re dealing with a very intelligent, smart individual. He could listen to four teachers at once and

versed in the social and economic benefits of the plant.

“In the United States most of our farmers are out of

work. We don’t build anything here anymore, most of

our stuff is made overseas, and all you’ve gotta do is

install hemp and watch it happen. I think people here

are watching what’s happening in Colorado, where

it’s fully legal, as if it was going into a liquor store and

buying beer, and all you need is ID. They’ve gotten

millions of dollars from it and they’re putting it all

into schools. Over here in the school system we’re

watching the arts completely disappear – everything

from shop class to painting, sculpting, a lot of the music

probably do all of the things at once, but you’re boring him with one thing, and that’s why he’s not getting good grades.

“When I found marijuana in my life, it absolutely changed me for the better. I was at a friend’s house and we put on Black Sabbath and I smoked a joint and sat

LIGHT IT UP

WHEN & WHERE: 5 Sep, The Hi-Fi

“WHEN I FOUND MARIJUANA IN MY LIFE, IT ABSOLUTELY CHANGED ME FOR THE BETTER.”

music

classes are suffering horribly – and we’re watching

Denver giving all of that money, all of that surplus to

their school system, and the schools are booming.

“There’s so many aspects of this herb that have

unfortunately been demonised over the years. The hemp

seed is the most powerful piece of protein on earth: it

makes incredible clothing, our constitution was written

on hemp, our forefathers over here grew hemp, smoked

hemp, Benjamin Franklin smoked it... It irritates me that

it’s illegal – for something derivative from the universe,

not even touched, not even chemically altered – it’s

illegal for humankind to take it. Who’s making that

statement? Who’s telling me what I can and can’t do

with my body? Who’s directing me like that? It’s just

very upsetting to me. We should all be of free will.”

back and said, ‘What

a minute, what’s this?’

And then what’s crazy

is I remember I had

to go home [after] to

do homework, and I

not only flew through

that homework, but I

understood it and it stuck

with me. The doors of

perception opened wide.

The third eye opens. The

brain works differently.

The manifestation

from that is incredible

on an individual.”

Beyond the mental

effects, Fafara is well-



Trygve Wakenshaw tells Helen Stringer the reason he made his show Squidboy was because he had an appropriate costume for it.

Few performers would admit to woeful under-preparedness and plagiarism, but Trygve Wakenshaw isn’t one of them. Necessity is indeed

the mother of invention; especially when you devise a show live on stage armed only with a skinny, preternaturally elastic body and a costume that vaguely resembles a squid. He can get away with minor digressions because he’s a truly rare performer, able to take small things and turn them in to something unexpected and hilarious.

Wakenshaw is bringing two shows to Brisbane Festival: the wildly popular Squidboy and Kraken. Asked whether there’s a deep sea theme running through his work, Wakenshaw is dismissive. “Nope. I mean, Squidboy came out of having that costume.”

Wakenshaw started his career in New Zealand, but the voracious autodidact left his home to study at clowning institution Ecole Philippe Gaulier, throwing him into an existential crisis. “I thought I just [needed] to make something,” he says, “And that something was Squidboy.” The first incarnation of Squidboy was [simply] getting to know the costume, but last year in Edinburgh, he says, “it just exploded and sold out… and this year I made Kraken and that’s gone gangbusters as well.”

Now that Squidboy has garnered effusive praise, Wakenshaw says that performing is terrifying. “Rather than the audience [not knowing what they’re seeing] they come in going, ‘Alright, I heard the show was funny.

Come on funny guy, be funny.’ If I think, ‘It’s time to impress them’ then no one’s having any fun. If it’s just nonsense it works.”

After Squidboy, Wakenshaw found himself in Norway under instructions to make something brilliant. Which he didn’t. “Sadness and trauma came out of Norway,” he says – he was unable to write anything. “After four weeks I had two ideas; one of those stayed in my show.” True to form Wakenshaw says he simply got on stage and stayed there, screwing around until the technician started waving a light at him to tell him he’d made it through the hour. “I just thought, ‘I’ll pretend like I’ve spent four weeks

making this really great show.’” To no small amount of guilt for someone who turned up on stage with one idea, Wakenshaw laments, “I won the Underbelly award… making a show that I knew nothing about.”

So can Wakenshaw actaully explain what the shows are about? “Sort of. It’s a little bit hard. Squidboy is about imagination; it’s about a fisherman having an identity crisis.” He stops himself, “No, that’s not quite right. It’s kind of a battle of egos between a fisherman and a Squidboy… That sounds awful as well.”

Wakenshaw pauses again before delivering his pitch. “It’s better than any other show... Because I’m one of the finest performers touring the Australian circuit at the moment.” It’s a joke, but it’s also true.

DEEP SEA EXPLORATIONS

WHAT: SquidboyWHEN & WHERE: 16 – 20 Sep,

Brisbane Festival, La Boite Studio

theatre

Dennis Remmer talks to Helen Stringer about chronicling a movement.

Well before electronic artists started employing compound nouns more prolifically than German lexicographers, electronic music was

both slightly less well known, and slightly more cohesive. Back in the ‘80s, ‘90s and ‘00s, moreover, it required that people actually leave their homes to experience it.

Long-term Brisbane electronic music champion, Dennis Remmer, co-owner of Transmission Communications (Trans:Com), maker of anthology BNE, has long been pushing the River City scene as a punter, a label owner and a former occasional musician. “We were thoughtful of the relationship between record labels and their cities

– to document that and to establish a history of that challenging genre and art form in the city,” he says on the BNE book project. “This is the 20th anniversary of the start of our record label. We thought that’s a good way to celebrate. Yes we want to celebrate ourselves, but we were also standing on the shoulders of people who came before us and those who have come since.” Remmer explains that they decided to look at the overall history: from 1979-2014.

Remmer has also spent the past few decades researching Brisbane’s robust independent electronic music scene. The wealth of information and music meant that BNE quickly gathered

momentum. “Brisbane was certainly behind Sydney and Melbourne; there was more alternative-punk and rock. So certainly, to some extent electronic music flew below the radar. Particularly in the Joh Bjelke-Petersen era. In hindsight [electronic music] was the true alternative… whereas now we’re fundamentally different city, but back then it was all extremely challenging.”

Remmer first came to Brisbane in the late ‘80s and spent his formative introduction “knee-deep in acid-house”. “What’s happening on BNE is really a true time capsule.”

Asked what he thinks of today’s electronic scene Remmer says, “It’s a good question: What is electronic music? If we look on the compilation there’s a lot of fashion around certain genres – dubstep and all of that – but you can’t pigeonhole that. If I think about the contributors to the book and those earliest periods, this was part of [the] Joh Bjelke Petersen [era] – weird times. The fact that anybody could do anything is amazing. What’s interesting is to get the DNA of that material and to see [it] right now. When we play the earliest material to the Gen Y people doing stuff right now, they can see the connection.”

Of the changes, Remmer says, “People tend to label, to do things themselves without a need of anything collectivistic, [but] the most fundamental thing that’s changed is technology… that’s a positive thing, except the ultimate generalisation of people claiming whatever two terms have been thrown together to make a new genre. So I’m slightly annoyed by that.”

FROM THE START

WHAT: BNE: Brisbane Electronic Music 1979:2014 (Independent) WHEN & WHERE: 6 Sep, Brisbane Powerhouse

event



singin’ at this club and we went to see him and James Brown happened to show up, because my brother used to imitate James Brown,” she says. “I remember [Brown] gettin’ up on stage and I was standin’ at the stage at eye level and I remember lookin’ at him. My father passed away when I was 12 years old, so at this time I had to have been maybe eight or nine, and I remember sayin’, ‘Look dad, he’s floatin’!’ It was like his feet ain’t even touchin’ the ground! Literally, I thought James Brown was just floatin’ across the stage.”

In 2013 Jones’s musical life was put on hold when a pancreatic cancer diagnosis led to months of treatment. The chemotherapy was a success and she’s currently cancer free – one of the lucky ones. “Everyone has a life and you have to deal with it the way you deal with it and your outcome is your outcome,” she says. She looks at this next phase of her life as an opportunity to spread the soul music gospel even further. “That’s why my life’s been spared through this cancer scare,” she says. “I’m plannin’ to go on for a few more years to help people recognise soul music.”

Since her treatment finished, the odd seven- or ten-day break is the only respite Jones has had. She loves fishing, and gets to do a fair bit of it on a friend’s boat while she’s not on the road. In fact, she would’ve been on the water had this run of interviews not been scheduled during her downtime. But drive is something Jones has plenty of and the success she’s experiencing now is something she’ll work hard to hold on to. She says since the cancer treatment she’s lost a bit of weight, is eating better and generally looking after herself. “I look at myself and I feel unbelievable,” she says. “Believe it or not right now, at 58, I feel more energetic and stronger than I did three years ago.

Her last chemo treatment was on New Year’s Eve and then four days later Sharon Jones hit the US TV talk show circuit and then resumed touring relentlessly. She tells Samson McDougall she feels “more energetic and stronger” than she did three years back.

Sharon Jones is all about channelling the energy of the early soul performers, bringing this stuff to a new generation. The story of her tough

road to ‘discovery’ is fairly well documented, so we’ll kick off in the midst of her now-regular gig with The Dap Kings – the Daptone Records house band. Jones and Daptone are largely associated with a widespread soul revival. We’re seeing it in Australia with the rise of Clairy Browne & The Bangin’ Rackettes, The Bamboos, Hiatus Kaiyote, even punk-soul outfits like Royal Headache, but according to Jones it’s a worldwide thing. And whether or not her influence is a right-place, right-time kind of scenario or whether she’s actually responsible for any of this coming to bear, her festival appearances (Sydney Festival, Meredith, Falls, Roskilde, Glastonbury etc etc) are bringing slabs of soul to younger audiences.

Jones knew long before Daptone Records’ first album release – Dap Dippin’ With Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings (2002) – that they were onto something special. “I don’t know if those guys knew it but I went to Gabe [Roth, Daptone founder] after we started doin’ it and I said, ‘Look, let me tell you somethin’... This is gonna be the last job that I ever work, when I leave this gig I’m retiring, so y’all, let’s get serious’,” she says. “And that’s when we started. I knew then. I said, ‘Right now you guys don’t even realise [but] we’re makin’ history here. You don’t know what’s goin’ on’. No one [was] doin’ this – well, people were doin’ it but no one [was] as serious as we are.”

The goal was to be electric and authentic, to continue in the traditions of a musical form that was in danger of fading away, rather than mimicking a sound-gone-by. The key to validity was in harnessing the energy

of the old-time soul performers. And watching thousands of young folk dancing in a festival field to music that was conceived a long time before they were is testament to how well Jones & The Dap Kings have hit the mark.

When the band are on the road, they still turn to old footage of the greats for inspiration. “James Brown or Sam & Dave, Otis Redding, Ike & Tina Turner onstage – to watch that energy they have is totally amazing,” she says. “So to see that we’re actually doin’ that, really doin’ what they were doin’ onstage, it’s unbelievable.”

Jones laments never seeing James Brown at the famed Apollo Theatre – a venue she’s now played – but she did have an early brush with greatness. “My brother was

SPREADING THE SOUL GOSPEL

WHEN & WHERE: 5 Sep, The Tivoli

“THAT’S WHY MY LIFE’S BEEN SPARED THROUGH THIS CANCER SCARE. I’M PLANNIN’ TO GO ON FOR A FEW MORE YEARS TO HELP PEOPLE RECOGNISE SOUL MUSIC.”

“For the last eight months I’ve been goin’ right from New Year’s Eve – my last chemo treatment – and I’ve been on the road ever since,” she continues. “New Year’s Eve was the last one and January fourth I was on [The Tonight Show Starring] Jimmy Fallon. Then I flew out to California and was on every night show: Ellen, Leno, Kimmel, Conan – every show, all in January. And then come February the fifth, here I am startin’ my tour, hittin’ the road.”

music


Success has followed You Me At Six for their entire career, but that doesn’t mean Josh Franceschi is going to start wearing sunnies indoors anytime soon. He chats with Benny Doyle.

Josh Franceschi didn’t experience the ‘80s. Maybe

that’s why a hedonistic rock’n’roll lifestyle has never

been on the radar for the 24-year-old? The Music is tempted to get all Dr Phil on the young bloke but

really, Dr Phil seems like a bit of an arse; instead, we

talk about some highlights of this year, namely You Me

At Six’s first UK number one (2014’s Cavalier Youth)

and the Kerrang! Awards, where the quintet won Best

Single (Fresh Start Fever) and Best British Band.

Sharing red carpet screams with fan favourites Fall Out Boy, Franceschi questioned whether the rock band he fronts were just FOB’s “weird, ugly younger brothers” or if they were genuinely holding their own, though he acknowledges that validation from listeners and peers felt very cool. “You’re doing something right if you’re turning heads,” he sums up.

Talking to Franceschi, you quickly pick up the vibe – You Me At Six are a band of friends that hold no tickets on themselves whatsoever. It’s a surprise given their large-scale success

and increasingly stylish press shots (see: mature), but it’s something the frontman takes great pride in.

“I’ve never met a more non-rock star band,” he agrees. “Some of our mates in other bands are quite similar to us, and then there are some that love [the bullshit] – they love wearing sunglasses inside. And that’s not to say they lose their passion for the music, but they get caught up in that stuff basically. They’ve gotten carried away and forgot about what they’re actually meant to do, [which is] building a fanbase and writing good songs.

“We’ve always kept each other in check [and] we have a lot of fun with our music, but we also have a very focused game plan – we’re passionate about not being a flash in the pan. If you want to go out to five or six in the morning and bang models and do all that sort of stuff then great, good for you, you’ll have a really cool time doing that, but at some point a line is going to be drawn and you’re going to look around and go, ‘Oh shit, no one cares about our band anymore.’ And you’re so wrapped up in that other shit that you didn’t recognise it.

“At the end of the day man, I’m no better than you and you’re no better than me,” Franceschi finishes. “And everybody gets the same – whether you’re Dave Grohl or the intern at a radio station I’m going to give you the same amount of time and the same level of attention when I’m having a conversation with you, and I think that’s what it’s about – you’ve got to separate the guy onstage to the guy walking the street, and I think we’ve been pretty good at doing that.”

MORE THAN BANGIN’

WHEN & WHERE: 5 Sep,

Eatons Hill Hotel (all ages)

music


A UK trio who carry the moniker Conan might not dig tattered animal carcasses slung about their netherparts, but Jon Davis tells Tom Hersey doom fans can definitely expect some brutality.

A criticism levelled at heavy metal is that it’s none too subtle. Everything’s loud and in your face and what even are they

singing about? Metal fans know that’s bullshit, and that there are a slew of bands out their pushing boundaries, utilising awe-inspiring dynamics and writing the type of music that might change those stigmas. Conan ain’t one of those bands though.

“It’s quite crude I suppose in the way that we deliver it,” Conan’s guitarist/vocalist Jon Davis reckons.

“We’re not particularly sophisticated in the way we write or perform.”

Case in point, the band’s third album Blood Eagle. The meaty six-track offering sounds like a horde of marauders drunk on bloodlust pillaging a village. And according to Davis, the intensity of the album has only been amplified as the band have turned their attention towards touring the material around the world.

“The songs always do evolve a little. The most notable changes have been to the paces of some of the songs; some come across a lot slower now that we’re playing live, and the ones that have a bit more

urgency on the record – that tends to be magnified live. So stuff gets heavier and faster to emphasise the point that the slow bits are supposed to be slow and the faster bits are supposed to be speed up.”

That’s what Davis promises Aussie fans ahead of Conan’s first-ever run of dates Down Under. Straight-up doom fury, no frills. Just three dudes on a stage with bullshit loud amplifiers.

“Live, we sound more urgent and in-your-face, there’s more feedback and we’re playing everything louder. And everything becomes bigger than what it is on the record, we like it slow so we play as slow as we can, and as loud as we can, and then we like the mid-paced riffs so we try and do them as best we can. It’s probably not the professional way of doing it, but we just go for it.”

Though it might not be professional, Davis is unapologetic about Conan’s approach. In fact, he thinks Blood Eagle is the perfect template for what the band are hoping to do when they sit down and start work on album number four.

“If you look at Blood Eagle, although it doesn’t seem sophisticated in any way, you compare that to the album before that, or the shorter releases we’ve done, or even our first album, and I think you can hear our technical ability improve a bit with each release. We’re playing more technical riffs and the arrangements are a little more interesting. We’re not Mastodon or anything like that, but we don’t want to be. Because I’m not into that sort of music to be honest, so it wouldn’t feel right to do something like that.”

BARBARIANS UNITE

WHAT: Blood Eagle (Napalm/Rocket)

WHEN & WHERE: 6 Sep, Crowbar

music

LISTINGS CLOSE SEPTEMBER 2MAKE SURE YOU DON’T MISS OUT!

COMPLETE YOUR LISTING FORM NOW BY DOWNLOADING THE RELEVANT FORM FROM: WWW.THEMUSIC.COM.AU/AMID



Although The Kooks worked with a hip hop producer on their new record, Luke Pritchard admits to Benny Doyle that Listen is more hip shaking than anything else.

“It all feels quite new, really – the [songs are] so funky, it changes the way you are with the music, you just want to dance.”

That’s Luke Pritchard’s vibe on The Kooks’ new record Listen, a welcome detour from the British band’s established twee indie sound. For proof of this, you need look no further than the group’s latest clip for single Forgive & Forget. The new music is in the frontman’s bones, and it’s obvious the quartet as a whole are finding a great deal of joy in these songs.

Aussie fans will instantly sight a similarity in presence and delivery to Michael Hutchence, with the track’s main riff holding more than a little INXS vibe to it. Pritchard acknowledges that inspiration, but says it would be “a bit on the nose” if they were aping a specific band completely. There were, however, a few influences that informed the new songs.

“Serge Gainsbourg’s record where he used a lot of African percussion [1964’s Percussions], and then we had some Prince references and stuff like that, but we really started from the rhythm. Personally, I had a big desire to make something danceable.”

That’s why Pritchard got in touch with relatively unknown London hip hop producer Inflo, “a tricky dude” according to the frontman, and one who’d never

heard of The Kooks

before. Inflo has since

told Pritchard that he

was originally unsure

about the project, but

once they got chatting

they found they had very

similar creative outlooks,

even though they were

from completely different

musical backgrounds.

“We were both searching

for something to inspire

us – we just clicked

instantly,” he smiles. “We

talked about music for a

couple of hours [when we

first met], and then we

went into the studio like

next week. I didn’t want

to make a hip hop record,

I just liked his beats and

his sound. I really wanted

to have a fresh start; I

was pretty keen to change

and forget the past.

“And what was [even] more attractive [than the fact he didn’t know us] was that he had no idea about any bands or artists around us, which was quite cool,” adds Pritchard, who also produced alongside Inflo. “And our musical heritage – The Kinks, The Stones, Blur – he wouldn’t know those guys. He might know a few songs, but he’s not coming from that world at all.”

Listen arrives roughly three years after The Kooks’ third record Junk Of The Heart; it was a period that saw Pritchard question his ability as a songwriter for the very first time. In hindsight though, he thinks that dark period may have been more positive than anything else.

“I was writing, but I knew deep down and sort of confronted the fact that I was just writing the same shit again and again,” he concedes, “so I needed to do something different and [push] myself.”

GET YOUR GROOVE ON

WHAT: Listen (EMI)

music

AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd has come out of the shadows with his debut solo album. Mark Hebblewhite cornered him (and bassist Allan Badger) to find out why rock’n’roll refuses to die.

Phil Rudd may be lounging back in one of Sydney’s most exclusive hotels but it’s clear the bloke hasn’t let fame go to his head. Laconic

and quietly spoken, Rudd is supremely proud of his latest endeavour – a fully fledged solo album. “Some of the ideas for these songs have been around for 25 years,” he reveals. “Me and the boys even jammed some of the tracks many years ago, so to finally get in the studio and lay them down was a real pleasure.”

The tracks that Rudd

is talking about are the

11 slabs of unashamedly

classic Aussie pub-

rock contained on the

charmingly monikered

Head Job LP. “It’s a

no-bullshit rock’n’roll

record – that’s all we set

out to make and I think

we did it well,” offers

Rudd. “The vocals, the

riffs – everything’s real

and comes from things

I’ve experienced.”

“That’s definitely the

approach I took with

the vocals,” chimes in

Allan ‘Badge’ Badger,

who played bass on

the album as well as

providing the bulk of

the vocals. “I could

have hit the high notes but really it wouldn’t have suited the music – so what’s the point?”

As the drummer for AC/DC, Rudd is part of veritable empire of minders, assistants and business managers – not to mention being the focus of high expectations on the part of the band’s fans. Was it hard to come from this background to one where you were out on your own producing and your name was on the cover? “Well I’m only about four foot one so my feet are always firmly on the ground! As for being worried about how people would react – I wasn’t worried at all. There’s no pressure with this project – there’s actually far more pressure being a part of AC/DC. I’m my own worst critic, but this was just a matter of getting into the studio with the boys and going for it. We had a great time in the studio making Head Job and I think that’s reflected in the songs.”

While The Music was ostensibly sitting down with Rudd to talk about his new solo album we couldn’t just ignore his other role – you know, being the drummer for arguably the biggest rock’n’roll band on the planet. Rudd wouldn’t let much out of the bag, but here’s what we managed to extract. “There’s definitely going to be another AC/DC tour, which is part of the reason we can’t do any shows right now to back up Head Job,” he reveals. “As for the new album, I’ve put down my rhythm tracks and I can tell you from what I heard when I was in the studio it was sounding great. I know how many tracks the band had when I was there but that could change with the final album. I keep in touch with Angus [Young] and I know everyone’s pretty happy with how the record is coming along and is looking forward to getting back on the road.”

FOR THOSE ABOUT TO ROCK

WHAT: Head Job (Universal)

music



On the eve of Pop Will Eat Itself ’s second coming, mainstay Graham Crabb tells Steve Bell that they weren’t pioneers – mixing rock’n’roll and dance music just seemed to make sense.

Even during their heyday in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, UK alternative outfit Pop Will Eat Itself were a unique proposition. A rock band at heart, their

innovative use of beats and samples in a guitar context in many ways paved the way for industrial rock (Trent Reznor was a huge disciple, releasing their later albums in the States and taking them on tour with Nine Inch Nails).

They split in 1996 after five studio albums, reconvening sporadically for gigs over the next 15 years before officially reforming in 2011 in a new configuration (most notably without former vocalist Clint Mansell). The only surviving original member, Graham Crabb, attests that straddling the divide between the guitar and dance worlds was a purely organic happening.

“When I started writing for the band – and Clint too really – we had no schooling in songwriting so there were no particular dos or don’ts,” he explains. “Getting into the studio and accessing more equipment we started to realise what you could do with this equipment and for us it was just a natural progression that we were going to use that stuff in line with the things we were listening to and the things we liked. As the hip hop explosion was happening and as the dance music explosion was happening it just became perfectly natural to use that equipment, and that became our new sound. It wasn’t so much us trying to be pioneers as much as to do something that really

excited ourselves. I

guess from that point of

view we were probably

quite selfish, because

we were just chasing an

amalgamation of sounds

that really excited us.

“In the early days we

were into our punk rock

or indie and alternative

stuff – guitar music – and

then the likes of Run

DMC and the Beasties

and Public Enemy came

along, and that’s when

I left the drum stool

and we started using

programmed beats. Plus

I’d moved to London

and there was a lot

of warehouse parties

going on and the acid-

house scene was really

taking off – those were

the things that really

shaped our sound.”

PWEI’s appeal was also strengthened by sardonic and often biting lyrics, which could be as humourous as they were intelligent.

“We used to all hang out a lot together and shoot the breeze and just talk shit, and I suppose all of those things came up in song lyrics,” Crabb smiles. “When we started following the rap format it gives you the scope to put a lot more into your lyrics, if only because you’ve suddenly got to write four or five times the amount of words than you would in an average guitar song. From our punk roots you do want to say something that’s got some kind of social conscience, or some kind of rebellion stance where things are pissing you off, so I suppose it was always in our hearts that we wanted to say something meaningful compared to some of the crap that people spout.”

STILL HUNGRY

WHEN & WHERE: 5 Sep, The Zoo

music

Jazz singer Emma Pask tells Jazmine O’Sullivan about her relationship with Australia’s favourite jazz man, James Morrison, and how he taught her to own it on stage.

Emma Pask’s 20-year career as a jazz singer has seen her perform countless festivals and club shows with highly acclaimed

musicians on stages across the globe. For a young girl starting out in the music industry, jazz might not seem the most common genre of choice, however for Pask it was a natural development.

“My parents were really big fans of what I like to call ‘the great music’. Mum was a huge fan of Ella Fitzgerald and Dad was into his rock’n’roll, listening to Bill Hayley &

The Comets in the early days. It’s just something that captured me.”

Recently, Pask has found herself sharing the stage with probably her longest and strongest jazz collaborator, James Morrison, who plucked her from obscurity back in the early days to perform with him on stage, something which she still considers a thrilling experience.

“Playing these shows takes me back to when I first started 20 years ago with James – this year we’re celebrating 20 years of working together, which is fantastic. One of the first things I did when I started working with James way back in 1994 was to go on a big

band tour with him, and it’s fantastic to stand up on stage with him and do it all over again. It’s just such a buzz, and big band is one of my favourite line-ups in jazz.”

Reflecting on what Morrison has taught her as a performer over the years Pask gushes, “Everything! Everything that I do on stage, and everything that I think about on stage comes from him because it all started with him. I was thrown onto the stage not knowing anything at 16, so I was put into this environment with his big band where I literally did learn everything on the road with him.

“I think one of James’ fantastic qualities as a musician and an entertainer is to bring audiences in to what you’re doing, to involve them, to set up a song and let them know a little bit about what you’re doing. I could go through so many things I’ve learned from him but really I learned everything from him. I’m still learning more things from him.”

Pask and Morrison are also set to play the Noosa Jazz Festival, but this time Pask’s experience will be a little different.

“For the last 15 years James and I have been up [at the Noosa Jazz Festival] every year, but this year is the first year for me to be coming up there with my own band. James is still going to be up there but I’m going to be doing something a little different this year, so it’s kind of exciting. I’m going to be at a different part of the festival, I’ll have my own trio and yeah, I’m really looking forward to playing up there.”

STRIKE UP THE BAND

WHEN & WHERE: 6 Sep, Noosa

Jazz Festival, Noosa Heads

music



album reviews

DEATH FROM ABOVE 1979The Physical World Last Gang/Warner

A pre-warning coming at ya – you’re going to need to stretch up good and proper before listening to The Physical World. These are some damn fine arse-shaking, baby-making rock’n’roll jams; so fine in fact that this reviewer would almost go as far as to say it trumps magnificent 2004 debut I’m A Woman, You’re A Machine. For all the fans that were pissing and moaning when first single Trainwreck 1979 dropped – don’t stress, the LP gets plenty heavier. But after multiple listens you realise that’s a freakin’ awesome single anyway. When that riff bursts into life at the 52-second mark – hot diggity damn! Meanwhile, with Always On, Crystal Ball, Government Trash, the duo have once again turned punk rock into a dancefloor commodity, with sexier rhythms across the board.

The slower numbers like White Is Red carry that panache AL

BUM

OF

THE

WEE

KBANKSGoddessEMI

There’s some pretty beautiful post-R&B getting made right now, and Banks is at the forefront of this push. A lot of this album feels familiar, with singles Waiting Game, Brain and the title track having been doing the rounds for a while now, but that doesn’t take away from the undeniable quality, nor the emotional impact, that the music holds.

When Jillian Banks is on, she quickly makes your world stand still. Her range is ridiculous, and the 26-year-old LA native can deliver her lyrics stretched out or spitfire rapid, depending on the situation. The mix on the record is a dark one, more urban gloom than earthy lush. At times it sounds like Banks is presenting her heart to you in the leaky basement of a high-rise building, but the power and warmth of her voice means that the listening experience never comes off as isolated or cold.

Even at an hour long, the album doesn’t seem to hang

INTERPOLEl Pintor [PIAS] Australia

First single All The Rage Back Home brings the new Interpol clearly into focus. A combination of the best bits of Antics (the pop riff, Paul Banks’ brooding vocals) with the new lush sound of 2010’s self-titled record, the track kicks off slow and rich, before breaking into the jangly upbeat chorus. The pace is set; the band, as it stands without founding bassist Carlos Dengler, is here. Banks has taken over bass duties and he struts his stuff with aplomb. But it’s not much different to the Interpol of old.

And the album simply continues on in that vein. Their alt-rock pop with grit might not appeal to all – people might still find Banks’ voice wearying, a drain on their will to keep listening to music, but that miserableness (take My Blue Supreme or Everything Is Wrong) is part and parcel of what Interpol are. They don’t shy away from it. But at the end of it all nothing really sticks. Repeated listens

VANCE JOYDream Your Life AwayLiberation

Vance who? Even if you’ve been living in a Siberian train tunnel you’d probably have heard the familiar strains of the all-conquering Riptide. Despite that song’s success it has taken Vance Joy, ie James Keogh, until now to finally release his debut record. It’s the kind of folk-pop that you may have predicted, delivered honestly and without fear.

Each of the 13 tracks across Dream Your Life Away are well balanced, Keogh backed by a more than capable band, and his arrangements, while not original, are effectively delivered. In fact, without taking anything away from its brilliance as a pop song, when compared with songs like Wasted Time and the tremolo-filled From Afar, Riptide is actually very poor in terms of arrangement and production.

Sometimes Dream Your Life Away can feel over-produced, with Keogh and producer Ryan

too, and it’s all thanks to the

consuming bottom-end offered

up by moustachioed bass wielder

Jesse F. Keeler. His riffs on this

record are bulletproof, and gives

Seb Grainger the strongest of

platforms on which to finesse

his lyrics out, making for a

combo as deadeye as Jordan

and Pippen in their prime.

DFA1979 are older, smarter,

more accomplished, yet they

still manage to hold onto that

youthful rebellion that rocketed

them into our psyche in the

first place. In a year of fantastic

comebacks, this potentially stands

as the pick of the bunch. Throw

on your leathers and get dancing.

Benny Doyle

around too long, a credit to the quality of songs on offer, and track placement. Cover to cover it flows gorgeously, moving from ambient trip hop to naked ballads and downtempo pop seamlessly. There’s not a passage that punishes you in any way.

Sad thing is though, this album couldn’t have landed at a worse time, what with the universal acclaim being showered upon contemporary FKA Twigs’ LP1. Still, Goddess holds more than enough merit to stand alone under the flickering light, and will unquestionably age as well as that Bordeaux in the cellar.

Benny Doyle

don’t give up a standout track. In fact, all the songs tend to blend and warp into an amorphous mass of slow builds, anguished catch cries and layered vocals.

All the songs are equally emotional, some are fun, some brood, jittering along with complex melodic guitar work from Daniel Kessler, but none come up to the high points of their earlier work. It just feels a little dry, a little done, a little too easy. This is far from the reinvigoration some Interpol fans were looking for.

Hannah Story

Hadlock (The Lumineers)

following the same pattern of

opening softly with acoustic

guitar and vocal reverb before

adding instruments and the

occasional string section (We All Die Trying To Get It Right, Red Eye). By doing this on the

majority of the record though,

other songs like Georgia stand

out for their lyrics and emotion.

The clear strength of Dream Your Life Away is its consistency. Each

of the tracks has the potential

to be an individual listener’s

favourite. Each will inspire fans

to learn the lyrics by heart, and

to belt them out when Vance Joy

next performs in their town.

Dylan Stewart

★★★★

★★★ ★★★

★★★★

½


THE TEA PARTYThe Ocean At The EndAnthem/Sony

If 2004’s Seven Circles seemed like a band lost at sea, The Ocean At The End is evidence of ten years’ shore leave well used. Frontman Jeff Martin has never sounded so untroubled or civilised, more inclined to “have another glass of wine” (Black Roses) than to indulge the exotic teas of, say, Shadows On The Mountainside. The title track goes knowingly Dave Gilmour and a new anthem is forged in Water’s On Fire. Trademark overwrought-ing and mysticism is decidedly downplayed, making a smooth sail into port for The Tea Party’s eighth studio record.

Mac McNaughton

COUNTING CROWSSomewhere Under WonderlandCapitol/EMI

With an enviable back catalogue and 20 years at the top of their genre, Californian troupe Counting Crows have substantial clout when it comes to FM-friendly pop-rock. Somewhere Under Wonderland is the band’s seventh album and, compared with some of their previous records, the nine songs present here are, overall, decidedly more upbeat. This will no doubt please plenty of fans who love nothing more than to kick off their shoes and boogie down, although what lets Somewhere Under Wonderland down is the lack of slower piano-based songs, which has been a highlight of their past work.

Dylan Stewart

JIMMY BARNES30:30 HindsightLiberation

When he’s not busy being a national fucking treasure, Jimmy Barnes seems very happy to spread the musical love. This retrospective sees him duet all over the place, not just with the family (David Campbell, Mahalia Barnes, Tin Lids), but with some old school musical mates as well. The semi-acoustic Working Class Man with Mossy and Jonathan Cross is worth the revisit – so bloody fair dinkum it appears twice on the collection. Also expect Simply The Best (of course), that great Badloves collaboration on The Weight and a sweet addition with Kasey Chambers on When Two Hearts Collide. Scream on, you crazy diamond.

Liz Giuffre

SIMIAN MOBILE DISCOWhorlAnti-/Warner

It’s hard to not wish for another I Believe or Audacity Of Huge from Simian Mobile Disco – the techno wizards of electro in forms from minimalism to pop – though one thing is always certain; just trust, go with the flow and James Ford and Jas Shaw will undoubtedly provide moments to get lost in. Lead single Tangents provides the easiest entry point on their fourth record; building from an egoless beat, the pair gradually add their trademark melodic flourishes and bleeps before deconstructing, then reassembling. And to think they did it all in analogue form, due to a desire to remove computers from their process… Clever blokes.

Tyler McLoughlan

MOSMAN ALDERHumdrum StarDew Process/Universal

Humdrum Star is an amalgamation of the exotic and the familiar. Whereas opening track Golden Archers evokes eastern European winters, much of the rest of the album – the brilliant Germland (Of Julien Charbonneau) as an example – strongly resemble the distinctly Australian sound of The Church. Likewise, the jangly guitars that layer the melodic Prized Paradise channel The Go-Betweens, and help make this debut record from Brisbane group Mosman Alder one of the finds of the year. Producer Paul Dempsey leaves an undeniable fingerprint or two over the sound, accentuating the craftsmanship of the band members themselves.

Dylan Stewart

THE LOVE JUNKIESBlowing On The Devil’s StrumpetBütsikatsic/MGM

While their shows are compulsive punk’n’roll demolitions, there have always been other sides to The Love Junkies. Here their destructive bouts of neurosis are tempered by lovely ennui-sodden passages. Although the airplay-gobbling title track is oddly not present, there’s ample compensation in the form of ghostly drifters Goodnight Ellen and In The Belly Of My Beast, which ramble between pleasant street and lachrymose lane; conjecturing as to how many layers of the onion The Love Junkies can peel with passive-aggressive rock.

Christopher H James

TRENTEMØLLERLost ReworksIn My Room

The overriding criticism of Trentemøller’s last album Lost was that it was too stylistically random to gel as a whole. Despite its piecemeal development, Lost Reworks hangs together much better than its source material. Much of the rewiring is done by the man himself and his injection of evil undulations into River Of Life is a genuine highlight, as is Toydrum’s radical reimagining of Come Undone, whose vampire stomp recalls the spirit of Goldfrapp’s Strict Machine. Alas, multiple reworks of only a handful of tracks make for a repetitive listen.

Christopher H James

STEVE SMYTHExitsIvy League

There’s much going on behind that impressive facial hair. From the Tom Waits chain-gang stomp of Get On, Smyth takes a range of sidetracks. Melodic delicacy gets juxtaposed with his emotional delivery – Digital Heart could almost have him as the missing link between Augie March and The Drones. Then to the inveterate traveller’s distant melancholy of South Land, even while being a busking boulevardier in Paris. Then there’s the towering, heart-bruised balladry of Written Or Spoken – which still gets in your guts even after repeated listenings. It’s an intimate – but often glorious – little scuffed gem of an album.

Ross Clelland

★★★★

★★★

★★★★

★★★

★★★

★★★★

★★★½

★★★★

album reviews


albums/singles/eps

MKOPuddlesIndependent

Brisbane’s MKO describe this song as sub-aquatic and the gurgling synths and splashy pads give that atmosphere. The vocals are excellent, the lyrics are quirky and the beat is fantastic.

PRINCECloudsWarner

Clouds is so funky they might have to invent some new word, but the song is pop and intact, and the production is both reminiscent of Prince’s best work and also future sounding.

THURSTON MOOREThe Best DayMatador

I don’t wanna sound like someone who doesn’t think people are capable of change and doing good stuff in their old age or whatever, but I randomly listened to Daydream Nation the other day and seriously, there is no reason to listen to this MOR when that album still exists.

KRISTY APP & THE SHOTGUN SHIRLEYSModest In Its GloryIndependent

App’s voice is magnificent and hardcore – full of character and nails and life. The track is autobiographical and the band do a great job filling in the space.

BAD NEWS BOYSWe Are The ChampionIn The Red

King Khan & BBQ have changed their name to Bad News Boys, and the video for this comes with the disclaimer, ‘This is not the best song off the album’. The song is great of course.

Chris Yates

THE KOOKSListenEMI

It’d be almost too easy to just post ten of Luke Pritchard’s most clumsy, dull, patronising lyrics to justify this bad review (okay, here’s one: “I’ve been in sticky situations, I fell in love with a girl who likes girls”). But it’s not just the words that hurt, it’s also the total genre clusterfuck that is an overblown mess of an album with loops and drum machines and bombastic backing vocals and disco guitar and acoustic crooning, none of which works particularly well together. The closer is like Ed Sheeran, but also like jazz? Come on, let’s not waste our time.

Madeleine Laing

NIKKI LANEAll Or Nothin’New West/Warner

Nikki Lane hits all the right marks on her excellent new album of rollicking Americana and sultry rock’n’roll. Her savvy writing style blends those genres with a pop sensibility that provides hook-laden and ridiculously catchy songs for the first two thirds of All Or Nothin’. Whether it is the big-beat honky-tonk of single Right Time or the soulful lilting You Can’t Talk To Me Like That, the songs are perfect country nuggets yet utterly contemporary courtesy of Dan Auerbach’s production. The back third of the album loses momentum slightly but by then she’s already nailed an impressive, infectious follow-up to her 2011 debut.

Chris Familton

NICHOLAS ALLBROOKGanough, Wallis And FatunaSpinning Top

Nicholas Allbrook’s debut solo effort starts off with guitar noodling. Surprise! Allbrook throws all your conventional psych bits and pieces into the pot and stirs to create an album that ripples and blurs, that’s at once enigmatic and defined. At times the album is almost too chill, too quiet and understated from the beloved Pond frontman – we expect wailing energy, pomp and bombast from Allbrook, but then it kicks into gear and he delivers with the extended bass-heavy outro on ITTTME, and the lush synth closer QF325.

Hannah Story

JUSTIN TOWNES EARLESingle MothersVagrant/Warner

Justin Townes Earle keeps blossoming artistically, his fifth long-player continuing his rapid ascent. The mellow collection drips with his trademark empathy and resignation, and furthers his slight fixation on parenting issues (Single Mothers, Picture In A Drawer). Recorded live with his band, the gorgeous pedal steel of Paul Niehaus (Lambchop, Calexico) and deft drumming of Matt Pence (Centro-Matic) add beautiful texture to tracks like White Gardenias and Today And A Lonely Night. No longer just his father’s son, Earle now casts a substantial shadow himself over the fertile Americana landscape.

Steve Bell

RYAN ADAMSRyan AdamsColumbia/Sony

The mercurial Adams is always chasing his muse in whatever direction it takes him and this time it is back to the electric guitar with strong rock trappings compared to the acoustic Americana of Ashes And Fire. Heavily reverbed chords ring out somewhere between Johnny Marr and Tom Petty, making this sound like a more upbeat, brighter cousin to his Love Is Hell album. If performed on acoustic guitar these would sound like pure Adams songs, so it is testament to his playing and self-production that he has shaped them into ‘70s and often ‘80s-tinged west coast rock, bristling with an emotive moodiness.

Chris Familton

THE BLOODPOETSThe Grand MachineIndependent

From the sci-fi album art to the slow-burning intro, it’s clear that The Bloodpoets were shooting for something big. But ambition can only get you so far, and radio-rock can only command attention for so long. The album does spit out a few crackers like War and City Lights. The group undoubtedly know their way around their instruments, and tastefully placed synths accentuate the punchy mix in all the right places. Still, the band may have been better off culling a few tracks and concentrating their efforts into a solid EP rather than a decent full-length.

Cameron Cooper

★★★★

★★★

★★★★

★★ ★★★★

★★★½



Between them the four members of Woodboot are in more bands than most people have had hot dinners, and it’s probably the most abrasive outfit for some (but not all) of them. As they take turns at vocals it’s all frantic and snarling and ramshackle, an unrelenting spray of invective shrouded in near indecipherable vocals and pounding guitars. It’s over all too fast but a ton of fun.

Sydney trio Bloods are the sole interstate interlopers tonight and don’t disappoint, delivering an unwavering slew of catchy garage-pop nuggets. With two equally-talented vocalists – guitarist Marihuzka Cornelius and bassist Sweetie Zamora – there’s plenty of diversity, and tracks like Into My Arms and new single Want It have

old Raptor material segues together perfectly, while it’s remarkable how tuneful the cacophony from six guitars can actually be when done right. The ever-catchy The Walk On By gives way to Cool Baby Cool, and then drummer George Browning swaps roles with Neale and tackles the absent James X Boyd’s tracks Do The Ruby and Mystery Man with aplomb. There’s a ton of love in the room and everyone is having a blast; the languid Sneakers and early-Libertines vibe of The Right To Call You rock the house, Bloods’ Zamora returns to add vocals to One Last Serenade and Monster Mash – which has Si Ridley crowd-surfing with his axe – and then Cynthia and Ramona finish things off with zest, half the crowd now partying onstage with

Tivoli, quickly put their dancing

shoes to good use, cheering with

building enthusiasm between

each song. Polished and tight,

yet psychedelic and experimental,

Sacred Shrines prove themselves

peers of the acts to come, and a

local gem to keep a close eye on.

Portland’s own The Upsidedown start their set with

some big sounds, low rumbling

vocals and a harmonica; it’s

safe to say that this grabs the

swelling audience’s attention,

and so sets the tone for their

set. Tracks such as Elizabeth & Wake Up Drive Thru showcase

the incredible combination of

their bluesy backings paired with

the shoegaze trimmings and

those crooning voices driving

the audience into a frenzy.

By the time The Dandy Warhols spring on stage, the

crowd is at capacity and at the

on stage, as the audience

works as one to create a wave

pool of bodies. We proceed

forwards with songs that are

either highly anticipated or

are brilliant reminders of The

Dandys’ back catalogue in a

welcomed assault of hits; Not If You Were The Last Junkie On Earth, everyone’s favourite

Bohemian Like You, Get Off, Horse Pills and, the song that

cries for a lone flame swaying

overhead, Godless. The crowd is

enamoured, taking each other

by the hand and slow-dancing

on the compacted dancefloor.

Rather than performing for

the crowd, the four-piece that

is The Dandy Warhols are

there with the crowd, having

a blast and revelling in music

that is solidly good, no matter

how much time passes.

Alice Bopf

VELOCIRAPTOR, BLOODS, WOODBOOT, THE JENSENSThe Brightside29 Aug

Local upstarts The Jensens kick off with a polished set of catchy and fully-realised indie pop to get the ball rolling. Their retro attire speaks volumes and the way that all five members seem to really feel the hook-laden music and get involved is contagious, and while it’s older tracks like Shark Thunder and Sick Sad World that elicit the most response from the dancers up front, a couple of new ones they air auger very well for the future.

the packed house eating out of their sweaty palms.

By now the only vestige of space left anywhere is onstage, but that too is quickly usurped as multi-limbed Brisbane behemoth Velociraptor cram into the fray and commence with a frenetic burst of action, the infectious familiarity of Hey Suzanne and Riot bringing the party from the get-go. The ten-strong band form in little clusters around the microphones and spit harmonies into each others’ faces like only good mates can, frontman Jeremy Neale twitching and contorting as he leads his bandmates into the fracas. New track Robocop shows off the indubitable chops of the self-titled debut album that’s being celebrated tonight, and the new and

the band in a big potpourri of smiles and riffage. Goofy, guitar-laden, grin-inducing, garage-pop greatness.

Steve Bell

THE DANDY WARHOLS, THE UPSIDEDOWN, SACRED SHRINESThe Tivoli30 Aug

Dreamy Brisbanites Sacred Shrines kick off proceedings with understated style and unmissable noise. Theirs is a set that is varied and fuelled by natural, relaxed talent – hard rock laced with haze and harmony. The crowd, as it continues to trickle into The

limits of excitement. As lead vocalist Courtney Taylor-Taylor bounces on stage, his double braids bouncing along behind him, the crowd scrambles for any semi-appropriate viewpoint, throwing their hands in the air, screaming manically. They launch into the first of their songs, and it soon becomes clear that this is not necessarily an opportunity for The Dandys to promote a new record, but to play the hits for the fans that have added yet another sold-out tour date to their Australian foray.

The first of the fanatic waves comes in the initial notes of We Used To Be Friends, which goes from hushed vocals and cruisy strums to full power before we know it. It’s amazing just how rapt the crowd is as a whole with the characters

live reviews

VELOCIRAPTOR @ THE BRIGHTSIDE. PIC: SARAH PADDON THE DANDY WARHOLS @ THE TIVOLI. PIC: FREYA LAMONT MEGAN WASHINGTON @ THE Z00. PIC: SARAH PADDON


MEGAN WASHINGTON, TEETH & TONGUE, GOVSThe Zoo30 Aug

It’s a shame that the audience at The Zoo is treating the soft crooning of Govs as background music. The Gold Coast singer-songwriter Josiah Birrell usually has a band in tow, and as he huddles over his guitar, it’s hard not to wish they were up there with him. On record, his songs are refreshingly exciting and emotive, but something has been lost in these bare-bone acoustic renditions. The alluring and cleverly crafted Australian Summer proves to be a standout, but the majority of the understated set is drowning in a room dominated by conversation.

“How do you feel about feelings?” Jess Cornelius, aka Teeth & Tongue asks

ironically, before diving into another song that negotiates the highs and lows of relationships and restlessness. It’s midway through her set; the audience has increased considerably in size and it’s easy to kick back, smile at the quirky onstage banter and be taken on a journey of alt-pop enjoyment. By combining pre-recorded drum samples with heavily textured and intriguing guitar lines, the Melbourne-based songstress is able to create wonderfully big sounds for just one person. Although these tempo-perfect samples occasionally make it feel as if we’re all watching someone sing at a karaoke bar, it doesn’t seem to affect the crowd and the set goes down a treat.

Touring for the release of single Limitless from her upcoming album, There There, local girl Megan Washington takes to the stage and is on her game. She comes across as a seasoned veteran and powerfully grabs the attention of the audience by way of her opener Limitless. Washington

quickly follows up with the infectious Get Happy and old favourite Sunday Best before stopping to break the ice with the crowd: “This next song is about having hope… even when you feel apocalyptically like shit.”

Continuing on to play a well balanced selection of old songs with new treats littered throughout (including the lively, hook-heavy crowd-pleaser My Heart Is A Wheel and the beautifully raw Begin Again), Washington is able to show off her colourful array of vocal textures and impressive range. She has a scarily talented knack for weaving sultry melodies through interesting chord progressions. Add that to a tight rhythm section and we’re left with a recipe for success.

Washington may not win over a huge number of new fans on her upcoming release, but she continues to prove that it’s possible to perform cleverly constructed songs with substance and still have a laugh while doing so. Her new tunes

stand out strongly amongst a back catalogue already full of hits and she leaves the stage triumphantly to receptive cheers – it’s clear that there’s a lot of love in the room for this girl.

Ben Marnane

live reviews

MORE REVIEWSthemusic.com.au/reviews/live

Lady Gaga @ Brisbane Entertainment Centre

Kellie Lloyd & Tim Steward @ Brisbane Powerhouse

arts reviews

WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS

WE ARE THE BEST!

WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS FilmIn cinemas 3 Sep

★★★★

Vampires are played-out.

Mockumentaries are definitely

played-out. So why does What We Do In The Shadows, a

mockumentary about a quartet

of bloodsucking housemates

in 21st century New Zealand,

work so well? Well, it’s brisk,

imaginative and, best of all, funny

in a goofy, amiable kind of way.

Talented Kiwis Taika Waititi (the maker of the well loved Boy and Eagle Vs Shark) and Jemaine Clement (one-half of the mighty Flight Of The Conchords duo) are co-writer/directors here, also taking major roles as dandy vamp Viago – who fussily spreads newspapers on the floor to catch errant plasma – and the more bloodthirsty Vlad, respectively.

The two share their Wellington home with 183-year-old “bad boy” Deacon ( Jonathan Brugh) and 8000-year-old Petyr (Ben Fransham), bickering about household chores (who going to do the bloody dishes... the literally bloody dishes?) and bemoaning their inability to fit in with modern society. Maybe a new housemate in the form of recently turned vampire Nick (Cori Gonzalez-Macuer) will help matters. Or maybe not, given Nick’s penchant for telling all and sundry he’s the new Nosferatu in town.

Quirky without being overbearing, sweet without being saccharine, clever without being show-offish, What We Do In The Shadows

walks the fine line between horror and comedy without making a misstep. What’s more, it even throws werewolves and zombies into the mix. Who could ask for anything more?

Guy Davis

WE ARE THE BEST!FilmIn cinemas 18 Sep

★★★½We Are The Best! follows Bobo and Klara, two 12-year-old punks in 1980s Stockholm. But they’re not fully accepted by the scene, but they’re not deterred, not even by the small problem that neither of them know how to play their instruments. They enlist the help of acoustic guitarist Hedvig, and a band is formed, as well as a friendship that withstands boy trouble, parental interference, and the everyday minutiae of being an outsider school student.

And that’s the only problem with this film. It’s sweet, and at

times raw, but it’s ultimately a

run-of-the-mill outsider narrative.

‘These girls aren’t the same as

the others’ has been done time

and time again, to the point

where the outsider character and

their battles with authority and

other people are as clichéd as the

“popular” group they react to.

Artfully shot, the images of the

Swedish scenery are arresting,

and the songs are humorous

adolescent power-chord punk,

but it doesn’t feel like much more

than your regular coming-of-age

story. A heartwarming narrative

about adolescence and friendship,

but without enough bite to stay

with its audience for long.

Hannah Story



THE BLOODPOETS

the guide

Member answering/role: Tom (vocals/guitar)

How long have you been together? We formed in late-2006.

How did you all meet? I was busking in Germany where I wrote songs for a demo EP. I came back to Australia and put an ad through Time Off to start playing the EP live. Toddy, our drummer, responded. It took us a fairly long time (probably into 2009) to formalise a line-up. I met Bec at a singer/songwriter night and a few months later she joined. Barney was referred onto us when our bass player left the band.

You’re on tour in the van – which band or artist is going to keep the most people happy if we throw them on the stereo? Todd introduced a number of the bands that influenced my writing on the new album, particularly Biffy Clyro and Manchester Orchestra.

Which Brisbane bands before you have been an inspiration (musically or otherwise)? At the moment I’m digging Jeremy Neale’s stuff – A Love Affair To Keep You There is a cracking tune. There are a number of others but too many to mention.

What part do you think Brisbane plays in the music you make? Heaps! The friends, the loose nights at clubs, drunk parties, the people (good and bad), other bands’ music – pretty much everything about Brisbane affects our songs.

Is your band responsible for more make-outs or break-ups? Why? Funny enough, we’d be more responsible for make-outs. We do have a romantic edge to what we do, plus there’s the drinking at shows to kick things along.

What’s in the pipeline for the band in the short term? We have a super cool secret thing that we can’t disclose, but we are releasing some more songs, playing more interstate gigs and hopefully starting to record some new material at the end of the year.

The Bloodpoets launch new album The Grand Machine (Independent) at New Globe Theatre on Friday 5 September.

Pic: TERRY SOO


culture

SHIKO POTTERYSophie Harle of Shiko Pottery is inspired by the Japanese folk art movement Mingei (handmade crafts to be used in everyday life), and makes items such as plates, jars and cups with a minimal aesthetic focusing on form and soft surfaces. The warm and subtle flecks of colour on Harle’s pieces make them look different depending on how the light hits them. They’re the kind of things that feel purposely shaped to fit to the curve of your hand, no matter how big or small it is.

shiko.com.au // Instagram: @shikopottery

YIYING LEEIf anything’s going to make you happier than well made ceramics, it could be well made ceramics that smile at you. Yiying Lee, a Melbourne-via-Malaysia artist, is influenced by nature, travel, stories, outer space and dreams. Just try to look at her small plates, vases, cups and spoons with little faces and not feel

Locally designed and handmade crockery and ceramics – art you can use!

HANDMADE IN AUSTRALIA

immediately more

jolly. The cups even

have tiny noses!

yiyinglee.com // etsy.com/shop/byYiyingLee // Instagram: @byyiyinglee

TAKEAWEIChela Edmunds

of Takeawei draws

inspiration from

nature, beach culture

and fashion. Her work

combines organic, odd

shapes and textures

with bright colours

and includes pieces

like the Wombat

Planter (it’s spotty!),

Ice-Cream Wall Vases

(shaped like a cone),

origami-patterned

crockery, hanging

wall planters, candle

holders, mugs with

triple-hole handles,

and more. Edmunds

has also created an

exclusive textile and ceramics pattern for Melbourne fashion label Dress Up’s Namaste collection.

takeawei.com // Instagram: @tkawei

TARA SHACKELLFunctional tableware is Tara Shackell’s specialty. She’s especially interested in the method of making things, and the relationship between form, line and surface. This all comes out in her pieces – plates, beakers and bowls that are white with gold edges, or speckled, or two-toned. She also makes delightfully pinched small dishes, plant-holders and vases of various shapes, sometimes dipped in or splashed with bright colours or decorated with line drawings, other times looking like they were plucked out from the ground.

tarashackell.com // Instagram: @tarashackell

MINNA GRAHAMMinna Graham has lived in many a harsh environment – deserts and salt lakes, mining areas, snow country and dense forests – so it’s no wonder that her work is an expression of her emotional relationship with her surroundings. You can see all the extreme aspects of nature, the elements of fire and water and wind, in Graham’s textured and sculptured pots, tea/sake cups, bowls, sauce dishes, plates and other pieces; they look like they’ll last through anything Mother Nature throws at them.

minnagrahamceramics.com // @minnagraham

If you’re keen to make your own mug/bowl/planter/dish, the first thing you’re going to need is some clay. Here are a couple of tips for creating your own pieces.

Earthenware clay is the most common summer-camp/craft class clay; it requires the lowest temperatures for firing and is porous, so it needs a sealing glaze to make it watertight. Think terracotta pots as an example.

Stoneware clay is more heavy-duty and requires heavy firing temperatures, but it comes out waterproof. The result is a glass-like substance, which is often used for bowls and vases.

Kaolin clay, otherwise known as white clay, is used to make porcelain. If you’re a pottery novice you should probably stay away from this stuff, as it can be tricky to work with. This clay is also found in a

CLAY 101 lot of skin products

because it’s so mild.

Adding ingredients

like nylon or sand can

aid plasticity and affect

the clay body’s firing

temperature, which

also affects its colour.

Materials like sawdust

or coffee grounds help

reduce the weight of a

finished clay piece, so

it’s best to explore their

uses if you don’t want

a two-ton salad bowl.

Pic: Takeawei

‘The Boss’ mug

SHIKO. PIC: LILLIE THOMPSON YIYING LEE MINNA GRAHAM TAKEAWEITARA SHACKELL


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FOR MORE HEAD TO THEMUSIC.COM.AU

FRONTLASHTHAT’S MY RABBITThe pink bunny rabbits are starting to appear at various places around town – that means Brisbane Festival is fast approaching! Spring rules!

HEY! HO! LET’S GO!Amazing news that legendary director Martin Scorsese is going to make a Ramones documentary to celebrate da bruddas’ 40th anniversary. Gabba gabba we accept you!

FINALLY…Thank God local airlines have relaxed the ludicrous rules about mobile devices on airplanes. Being told to turn off your iPod for landings is so strange…

BACKLASHVALE JAY CURLEYAussie rock’n’roll lost a true warrior last week with the tragic passing of Jay Curley, bassist for Wollongong rockers Tumbleweed. He’ll be sadly missed and our thoughts go out to his family and bandmates.

GLASS-HOLETo the tool who glassed Redfoo – just ‘cos someone’s an annoying idiot doesn’t mean you get to bottle them. And good on Foo for not getting on his high horse.

GC VENUE CRISISSeems that there’s a battle facing music lovers on the Gold Coast – google ‘Save Our Live Music Gold Coast’ and get behind the people fighting the good fight!

GOOD SPORT GUYSOlympic Ayres’ latest single, Say My Name, showcases the kind of indie/disco/funk sonic hybrid they’re masters at. Get a preview of the dreamy escapism when they play Alhambra Lounge, 3 Oct and Elsewhere, Gold Coast, 10 Oct.

UNDERNEATH IT ALLBrisbane folk singer-songwriter Hannah Rosa is set to release her second EP, Buried Alive. See her play an intimate set at The Green Room, Sunshine Coast, 20 Sep; The Bearded Lady, 25 Sep; and Mandala Organic Arts Café, Gold Coast, 26 Sep.

PLAYING MIND GAMESTo coincide with the release of their fourth long-player Ponderosa and new ‘80s sitcom film clip for single Hammered, Sydney psych masters Richard In Your Mind are hitting the east coast. Get in on the band’s antics at Beach Hotel, Byron Bay, 30 Oct.

CAUSE TO PARTY (FOR)Get your fundraising on while listening to hot sets from Cured Pink, Deadshred, Shooga, pictured, Karl Stefanovic’s Dog and Bottlecock. The Underdog is hosting Rare Cuts Vol. 1, the night generating much needed funds for DV Connect.

FROM DAWN ‘TIL DUSKYDeep house duo Dusky return for their most extensive Aussie tour yet. The London boys have spent the last three years carving their place at the forefront of the UK underground, and they’ll showcase their silky skills at The Met, 7 Nov.

COMING BACK TO YOUThe Middle East doesn’t exist anymore, but Rohin Jones certainly does. He’s continued making beautiful music since the Townsville band went to ground a few years back, and will showcase his new body of work at Old Museum Cafe this Thursday.

BUGGING OUTOn 11 Sep, Ladybugs returns to Beetle Bar, with yet another incredibly strong female showcase holding court all night long. Get sets from June Low, Leah Flanagan, Marville and Carrie & The Cut Snakes, with $10 cover from 8pm.

MOVE IN, MOVE OUTSydney trio Movement have released a steamy new film clip for Ivory, the standout jam from debut EP The Movement, and have announced a string of east coast tour dates. Get canoodling before they run off to the US, Thursday, Alhambra Lounge.

HELLISH DELIGHTSNew Zealand’s Devilskin have a gold debut LP in the form of We Rise, and are selling out shows everywhere. Check out their powerful rock sound when they showcase at The Bearded Lady, 11 Sep.

BURN BABY BURNDrawing inspiration from the ‘60s and ‘70s, Sydney’s Burn Antares are an endearing advocate of pop and melody. The five-piece play Miami Marketta, Gold Coast, 12 Sep and Black Bear Lounge, 13 Sep.

INDIE NEWS

RIP JAY CURLEY


the guide

EP FOCUS

FESTIVAL CAPERS

END USMember answering: Mark Eggleton

EP title: Obey

How many releases do you have now? This

will be our first! First

of many, hopefully!

Was anything in particular inspiring you during the making? Ensuring the end

product was something

we could be proud of

What’s your favourite song on it? Personally Grey is my

favourite, but overall Girls Arent Real People seems to

get the best response live!

We’ll like this EP if we like... Progressive metal, metal with synth or just metal in general.

End Us play Beetle Bar on Saturday 13 September.

STEVE CLISBYRole: Lead vocals

Festival playing at: 2014 Noosa Jazz Festival. Who are you looking forward to checking out there? Vince Jones.

Have you had much experience playing at festivals in the past? Not as a band but I have played at plenty of festivals.

How will you change your set up compared to a normal gig? We’ll do more jazz style arrangements from Golden Ring and Live Unplugged.Have you been to many festivals before as a punter? Highlights? I missed all the big ones….

Monterey and Woodstock.

What five acts (past or present) would comprise your dream festival bill? Hendrix, Tower Of Power, Prince, Stevie Wonder and John Coltrane Quartet.

What have you got planned down the road? New album release Leave Me Dreaming, a sold out tour and a number one album!

Steve Clisby plays Noosa Jazz Festival on Friday 5 September and Saturday 6 September.

MIAMI HORRORMember answering: Benjamin Plant

Home ground: We’re kind of

based in LA at the moment.

Describe your live music/performance style as succinctly as possible: Five-piece dreamy disco.

Is this your first foray to Brisbane? We’ve probably

played Brisbane around ten or

more times over the years.

Please relate your impressions of performing in our fair city: Everyone is a little more upbeat

and willing to dance in Brisbane,

I think it’s the weather.

What can we expect different this time around? We’re playing quite a few songs off the new album.

Has anything exciting been happening in your world of late? Well, we’ve finished the second album! So that’s a big deal. We’re also working on an electronic EP for MHDJs.

What will you be taking home as a souvenir? Hopefully we’ll still have our dignity intact, haha.

Where can we come say hi, and buy you a beer? We’re kicking off our Aus tour on 16 Sep in The Spielgeltent at Brisbane Festival!

Miami Horror play The Telstra Spiegeltent on Tuesday 16 September.

UNSOUGHT DUKEMember answering: Matt Neilsen

How did you get together? The universe did it for us. After I got sick of playing solo shows and not getting that “family or gang” vibe that only collaborative playing gives you. It kinda happened without too much intention.

Sum up your musical sound in four words? Happy rock, dirt pop.

If you could support any band in the world – past or present – who would it be? Probably KISS or AC/DC, only to try and steal some of their fans, haha. Seriously, maybe

James Brown or Aerosmith.

You’re being sent into space, no iPod, you can only bring one album – what would it be? I’m speaking for myself here not the band but Facelift – Alice In Chains. My medicine through high school. Or maybe something more uplifting like Off The Wall – Michael Jackson. It is space after all.

Greatest rock’n’roll moment of your career to date? Being together only a couple years, there hasn’t been too many besides the odd free beer or booby flash, but we’ve just got word that Magoo will be producing our EP in October. Way excited.

Why should people come and see your band? Because if they don’t know what’s good for them they will after this.

When and where for your next gig? The Zoo. Sat 6 Sep. $10 entry.

Unsought Duke play The Zoo on Saturday 6 September.

BRISBANE BOUND

HAVE YOU HEARD

[email protected]


C A F É - B A RWED SEPTEMBER 3RD

RATTLING SPINES (10PM) + THE FOOLIGANS (9:00PM)

THU SEPTEMBER 4THADDAROC (10:30PM) + LUSIQUE (9:30PM)FRI SEPTEMBER 5TH

ET AND THE ALIEN (9:00PM) + GONZOVILLAIN (8:00PM)

SAT SEPTEMBER 6TH DEAD WOLVES (9:00PM)

+ MUDDY CHANTER (8:00PM) SUN SEPTEMBER 7TH

EXPOSED ULTIMATE HEAT 1: FROM 7PMMON SEPTEMBER 8TH

DAVID KNIGHT (9:30PM) + GUESTS (8:30PM)TUE SEPTEMBER 9TH

TBCFREE LIVE MUSIC AND INDIE DJS WANT TO PLAY? EMAIL [email protected]

WWW.RICSBAR.COM.AU

321 BRUNSWICK STREET MALL, FORTITUDE VALLEY


Noosa Jazz Festival: Noosa 4-7 Sep

Urthboy: The Telstra Spiegeltent 6 Sep

Andy Bull: The Telstra Spiegeltent 7 Sep

Phil Jamieson: The Telstra Spiegeltent 9 Sep

Steve Nieve: The Telstra Spiegeltent 10 Sep

BIGSOUND 2014: Fortitude Valley 10-12 Sep

Com Truise: The Telstra Spiegeltent 11 Sep

Ronny Chieng: The Telstra Spiegeltent 12 Sep

Vancouver Sleep Clinic: The Telstra Spiegeltent 13 Sep

Joe Henry: The Telstra Spiegeltent 14 Sep

Miami Horror: The Telstra Spiegeltent 16 Sep

The Kite String Tangle: The Telstra Spiegeltent 17 & 18 Sep

HTRK: The Telstra Spiegeltent 19 Sep

Dune Rats: The Telstra Spiegeltent 20 Sep

Gareth Liddiard: The Telstra Spiegeltent 23 Sep

The Bombay Royale: The Telstra Spiegeltent 24 Sep

Juana Molina: The Telstra Spiegeltent 25 Sep

Midnight Juggernauts: The Telstra Spiegeltent 26 Sep

Caravana Sun: Miami Marketta 26 Sep, Solbar 10 Oct

DMA’s: The Brightside 2 Oct

Bluejuice: Solbar 1 Oct, The Hi-Fi 2 Oct

Woodlock: The Rails 8 Oct, Black Bear Lodge 9 Oct

Bonjah: The Zoo 10 Oct, Racecourse Hotel 11 Oct, Surfers Paradise Beer Garden 12 Oct

Courtney Barnett: The Zoo 11 Oct

The Blurst Of Times Festival: The Brightside, The Zoo 18 Oct

The Meanies: Prince Of Wales 18 Oct

Ball Park Music: The Tivoli 18 Oct, Alhambra Lounge 2 Nov (U18)

Airlie Beach Music Festival: The Whitsundays 7-9 Nov

Gorguts: Crowbar 16 Nov

Jack Carty: New Globe Theatre 17 Oct

Jungle Love Festival: Lake Moogerah 21-22 Nov

Mullum Music Festival: Mullum 20-23 Nov

The War On Drugs: The Zoo 10 Dec

Festival Of The Sun: Port Macquarie 12-13 Dec

Thy Art Is Murder: Crowbar 20 Dec & 21 Dec (U18)

Mojo Burning Festival: New Globe Theatre 21 Mar

Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings + Saun & Starr: The Tivoli, Fortitude Valley

Turnpike + Grieg + Barge With An Antenna On It + Bottlecock: The Waiting Room, West End

Pop Will Eat Itself + Dogmachine: The Zoo, Fortitude Valley

SAT 06 Jawz + Spicy + Tucker + 95 Royale + Fancy Pants: Alhambra Lounge, Fortitude Valley

360 + Gossling + Hopsin + Pez + Miracle + Lunar C: Arena (ander 18s), Fortitude Valley

360 + Gossling + Hopsin + Pez + Miracle + Lunar C: Arena (18+), Fortitude Valley

Phil Barlow & The Wolf + The Royales + Don & The Mobsters + Electric Suede: Beetle Bar, Brisbane

Tsun + The Baskervillans: Black Bear Lodge, Fortitude Valley

Lauren Grace + Lachlan Bell + AJ Hall + Steve Fischer: Brisbane Jazz Club, Kangaroo Point

BNE: Brisbane Electronic Music 1979:2014 feat. The Megamen + Vision Four 5 + Soma Rasa + Boxcar + DJ Jen-E: Brisbane Powerhouse, New Farm

Conan + Yanomamo + Fear The Setting Sun + Lizzard Wizzard + Golden Bats: Crowbar, Fortitude Valley

Sisters Doll + The Molotov + Bad Virtue + Odins Ravens: Currumbin Creek Tavern, Currumbin Waters

The Phoncurves + Sundown Jury: Eat Street Markets, Hamilton

Kid Kenobi + MC Shureshock: Family Nightclub, Fortitude Valley

Trainspotters feat. Multiple Man + Mere Women + Cured Pink + Stress Waves: Grand Central Hotel, Brisbane

Brutal Fest feat. D9 + Headcase + Darkc3ll + Bound For Ruin + Humality + Dead End Kings + Symbolic Weapon: New Globe Theatre, Fortitude Valley

Grindhouse Wrestling with + Bertie Page: New Globe Theatre, Fortitude Valley

Noosa Jazz Festival feat. Vince Jones + Grace Knight + Scream Big Band + Galapagos Duck + Laura Bernay + Greg Gould & The Chase + Australian Army Band Brisbane + Feel The Manouche + Ange Takats + Carl Wockner + Juzzie Smith + more: Noosa Lions Park, Noosa Heads

Todd Sibbin: Padre Bar, Woolloongabba

Dead Wolves + Muddy Chanter + DJ Valdis: Ric’s Bar, Fortitude Valley

Brisbane Festival: Twilight Music Series feat. Ngaiire: River Quay, Southbank

Transvaal Diamond Syndicate: Royal Mail Hotel (2pm), Goodna

True Vibenation + Schoolfight: Solbar, Maroochydore

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard + The Murlocs: Soundlounge, Currumbin

Brisbane Festival presents Urthboy: Spiegeltent, South Bank

Steve Smyth: Taps Australia, Mooloolaba

Woodnutt’s Lament + DJ Burn It Down: The Bearded Lady, West End

Lowtide + Roku Music + Cassette Cathedral + Kigo: The Brightside, Fortitude Valley

Anberlin + The Getaway Plan: The Hi-Fi, West End

Tigermoth: The Motor Room, West End

Unsought Duke + Casey Fogg + Generation Jones: The Zoo, Fortitude Valley

Lowtide: Tym Guitars, Fortitude Valley

SUN 07 LiveSpark feat. Jac Stone + McKisco: Brisbane Powerhouse (3.30pm), New Farm

Jason Owen + Bree De Rome + Scott Dalton: Currumbin Creek Tavern, Currumbin Waters

Zac Gunthorpe: Dragon Bull, Noosa Heads

Som De Calcada + The Floating Bridges: Eat Street Markets, Hamilton

Ger Fennelly: Mick O’Malley’s, Brisbane

Tom West + Todd Sibbin: New Globe Theatre, Fortitude Valley

Noosa Jazz Festival feat. various artists: Noosa Lions Park, Noosa Heads

Phil & Trudy Edgeley: Solbar, Maroochydore

Brisbane Festival presents Andy Bull: Spiegeltent, South Bank

BrisbaneFestival: Jazz on Sunday + Natalie de Jager + Elly Hoyt: Spiegeltent (3pm), South Bank

Sarah Frank: Taps Australia, Mooloolaba

Steve Grady + Marcus Blacke + DJ Black Amex: The Bearded Lady, West End

Samuel Kerridge + Matthew Brown + Elliot Clarke + Enderie Nuatal + Club Sound Witches: The Underdog, Fortitude Valley

MON 08 Steve Clisby: New Globe Theatre, Fortitude Valley

TUE 09 Julia Henning: Beetle Bar, Brisbane

The Night Before BIGSOUND feat. Ayla + Billy Fox + The Jensens + Little Odessa + Tin Sparrow + Waax! + Everett True (DJ Set) + Edward Guglielmino (DJ Set) + Eves (DJ Set) + The Furrs (DJ Set) + Rolls Bayce (DJ Set): Black Bear Lodge, Fortitude Valley

The Bug feat. Daylight Moon + Curious Finch: New Farm Bowls Club, New Farm

Brisbane Festival presents Phil Jamieson: Spiegeltent, South Bank

Amy Shark + Fieu + Todd Sibbin + Bree De Rome: The Bearded Lady, West End

Shihad + The Sinking Teeth: The Zoo, Fortitude Valley

GIG OF THE WEEKNOBUNNY: 5 SEP, CROWBAR

WED 03 Celia Pavey: Black Bear Lodge, Fortitude Valley

Boyce Avenue: The Tivoli, Fortitude Valley

THU 04 Movement: Alhambra Lounge, Fortitude Valley

Julia Henning + Brianna Carpenter + Love Like Hate: Beetle Bar, Brisbane

Cam Avery + guests: Black Bear Lodge, Fortitude Valley

Dead Letter Circus + Jordan Leser: New Globe Theatre, Fortitude Valley

Noosa Jazz Festival feat. various artists: Noosa Lions Park, Noosa Heads

Rohin Jones: Old Museum, Bowen Hills

The Brightside: Unplugged feat. One Dollar Short + Nicholas Bellringer + Beth Lucas + Alex Crook: The Brightside, Fortitude Valley

Protest The Hero + special guests: The Hi-Fi, West End

Biffy Clyro + Calling All Cars: The Tivoli, Fortitude Valley

FRI 05 King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard + The Murlocs: Alhambra Lounge, Fortitude Valley

Boss Moxi + Le Suits + Harlequin: Black Bear Lodge, Fortitude Valley

Scott Spark: Brisbane Powerhouse (Visy Theatre), New Farm

Nobunny + The Hussy + Chinese Burns + Unpeople: Crowbar, Fortitude Valley

You Me At Six + Tonight Alive: Eatons Hill Hotel, Eatons Hill

Noosa Jazz Festival + Various Artists: Noosa Lions Park, Noosa Heads

3rd Birthday with Kim (The Presets): Oh Hello!, Fortitude Valley

Jep & Dep + Darren Cross: Padre Bar, Woolloongabba

The Amity Affliction + Architects + Issues + Stray From The Path + Deez Nuts: Riverstage, Brisbane

Steve Smyth + Joshua Swan: The Bearded Lady, West End

DevilDriver + Whitechapel: The Hi-Fi, West End

True Vibenation: The Motor Room, West End

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COMEBACK KID: 25 OCT, THE BRIGHTSIDE

tour [email protected]

CATCH ST EVE B E L L TALK I NG G I G S W I TH U GLY PH I L THURSDAYS ON TR I P L E M

INTERNATIONALBoyce Avenue: The Tivoli 3 Sep

Biffy Clyro: The Tivoli 4 Sep

Protest The Hero: The Hi-Fi 4 Sep

Nobunny: Crowbar 5 Sep

DevilDriver, Whitechapel: The Hi-Fi 5 Sep

You Me At Six: Eatons Hill Hotel 5 Sep

Pop Will Eat Itself: The Zoo 5 Sep

Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings: The Tivoli 5 Sep

Conan: Crowbar 6 Sep

Anberlin: The Hi-Fi 6 Sep

Samuel Kerridge: The Underdog 7 Sep

The Ghost Inside: Byron YAC 9 Sep, Kontraband 10 Sep, Coolangatta Hotel 11 Sep

Steve Nieve: The Spiegeltent 10 Sep

Com Truise: The Spiegeltent 11 Sep

The Wonder Years: The Hi-Fi 11 Sep, The Lab 12 Sep (AA)

Devilskin: The Bearded Lady 11 Sep

Mak & Pasteman: The TBC Club 12 Sep

Tchami: The Met 13 Sep

Cannibal Corpse: The Hi-Fi 13 Sep

John Garcia: The Zoo 13 Sep, The Northern 14 Sep

Joe Henry: The Spiegeltent 14 Sep

El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico: The Hi-Fi 14 Sep

Kanye West: BEC 15 Sep

Night Beats: The Brightside 18 Sep, Elsewhere 19 Sep

Iceage: The Brightside 19 Sep

American Authors: The Hi-Fi 19 Sep

Kasra, Enei & Mefjus: Coniston Lane 19 Sep

Robbie Williams: BEC 22 Sep

Veruca Salt: The Zoo 24 Sep

Sara Bareilles: The Tivoli 24 Sep

Juana Molina: The Spiegeltent 25 Sep

Swollen Members: Coniston Lane 25 Sep

Justin Timberlake: BEC 26, 27 Sep

Bombay Bicycle Club: The Tivoli 27 Sep

Maybeshewill: Crowbar 28 Sep

Fur Coat: The TBC Club 3 Oct

Dead Kennedys: The Hi-Fi 3 Oct, Coolangatta Hotel 4 Oct

Tuba Skinny: Mullumbimby Civic Hall 3 Oct, The Zoo 4 Oct

Sepultura: The Hi-Fi 4 Oct

Hardwell: Riverstage 5 Oct

T-Pain: Eatons Hill Hotel 5 Oct (AA)

Nils Frahm: Old Museum 8 Oct

Dire Straits Experience: QPAC 8 Oct

Slaves: The Brightside 15 Oct

Miley Cyrus: BEC 15 Oct

Torche: Crowbar 16 Oct

The Selecter: The Zoo 16 Oct

Ryan Bingham: Black Bear Lodge 17 Oct

Lil Jon: Eatons Hill Hotel 18 Oct (day, all ages)

Rodriguez: BCEC 19 Oct

Dwarves: Crowbar 19 Oct

Say Anything: The Hi-Fi 19 Oct

Pat Metheny Unity Group: QPAC 20 Oct

The Tea Party: Coolangatta Hotel 21 Oct, The Tivoli 23 Oct

Justin Townes Earle, Linda Ortega: The Tivoli 22 Oct

Shihad: The Hi-Fi 24 Oct

Jillian Michaels: QPAC 24 Oct

Buck 65: Black Bear Lodge 24 Oct

Comeback Kid: The Brightside 25 Oct, Byron Bay YAC 26 Oct (AA)

Towner, Muthspiel, Grigoryan: Byron Bay Community Centre 26 Oct, Brisbane Powerhouse 27 Oct

Elbow: The Tivoli 30 Oct

Ben Ottewell: Black Bear Lodge 31 Oct

Black Voices: Brisbane Town Hall 1 Nov

Joe Satriani: The Tivoli 4 Nov

Manchester Orchestra: The Hi-Fi 12 Nov

John Digweed: The Met 15 Nov

Gorguts: Crowbar 16 Nov

Accept: The Hi-Fi 16 Nov

The Rolling Stones: Brisbane Entertainment Centre 18 Nov

Prong: The Hi-Fi 20 Nov

Jimmy Eat World: The Tivoli 20 Nov

Tori Amos: QPAC 21 Nov

Broken Doll: GoMA 21 Nov

Rick Astley: The Tivoli 21 Nov, Twin Towns 22 Nov

NOFX: The Tivoli 22 Nov, Coolangatta Hotel 23 Nov

Agnes Obel: Old Museum 25 Nov

UB40: Riverstage 7 Dec

The War On Drugs: The Zoo 10 Dec

Ice Cube: Eatons Hill Hotel 10 Dec

Sleep: Crowbar 11 Dec

The Skatalites: The Zoo 11 Dec

The Lemonheads: The Zoo 12 Dec

Joan Armatrading: Twin Towns 13 Dec, QPAC 14 Dec

Cloud Nothings: The Zoo 14 Dec

Ty Segall: The Zoo 19 Dec, The Northern 20 Dec

NATIONALCameron Avery: Black Bear Lodge 4 Sep

Dead Letter Circus: New Globe Theatre 4 Sep

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard: The Northern 4 Sep, Alhambra Lounge 5 Sep, Soundlounge 6 Sep

The Amity Affliction: Riverstage 5 Sep

True Vibenation: The Motor Room 5 Sep, Solbar 6 Sep

360: Arena 6 Sep (U18 matinee/18+ evening)

Urthboy: The Spiegeltent 6 Sep

Lowtide: Tym Guitars 6 Sep (2pm), The Brightside 6 Sep

Andy Bull: The Spiegeltent 7 Sep

Phil Jamieson: The Spiegeltent 9 Sep

I Killed The Prom Queen: Byron YAC 9 Sep, Kontraband 10 Sep, Coolangatta Hotel 11 Sep

The Bennies: The Spotted Cow 12 Sep, The Lab 13 Sep (AA), Crowbar 13 Sep, The Time Machine 14 Sep

Boy & Bear: The Arts Centre Gold Coast 12 Sep, The Tivoli 13 Sep

Kingswood: Ric’s Big Backyard 12 Sep

Oscar Key Sung: Alhambra Lounge 12 Sep, GoMA 6 Feb

Ash Grunwald: Soundlounge 12 Sep, Bramble Bay Bowls Club 26 Sep

Pierce Brothers: The Northern 12 Sep, Solbar 20 Sep, Black Bear Lodge 16 Oct

Stephen Cummings: Junk Bar 13 Sep

Russell Morris: Kedron Wavell Services Club 13 Sep

Vancouver Sleep Clinic: The Spiegeltent 13 Sep

Luca Brasi: The Lab 13 Sep (2pm AA), Crowbar 13 Sep

Miami Horror: The Spiegeltent 16 Sep

The Kite String Tangle: The Spiegeltent 17, 18 Sep

Angus & Julia Stone: The Tivoli 18, 19 Sep The Arts Centre Gold Coast 21 Sep

HTRK: The Spiegeltent 19 Sep

Hands Like Houses: Crowbar 19 Sep

Safia: The Factory 19 Sep, Alhambra Lounge 20 Sep, Stranded 21 Sep

One Day: The Hi-Fi 20 Sep

Dune Rats: The Spiegeltent 20 Sep

Icehouse: SEQ Outdoor Concert 20 Sep, Twin Towns 21 Sep

Gareth Liddiard: The Spiegeltent 23 Sep

The Bombay Royale: The Spiegeltent 24 Sep

Patrick James: Old Museum 26 Sep

Midnight Juggernauts: The Spiegeltent 26 Sep

Caravãna Sun: Miami Marketta 26 Sep, Solbar 10 Oct

Missy Higgins: Caloundra Events Centre 26 Sep, BCEC 27 Sep, Empire Theatre 28 Sep, GCAC 30 Sep, Lismore City Hall 1 Oct

DMA’s: The Brightside 2 Oct

Bluejuice: Solbar 1 Oct, The Hi-Fi 2 Oct, Coolangatta Hotel 3 Oct, The Northern 4 Oct

Allday: The Zoo 3 Oct, The Lab 4 Oct (U18)

Tijuana Cartel: Beetle Bar 4 Oct, Verrierdale Hall 8 Nov, Buddha Bar 31 Dec

Antiskeptic: The Brightside 4 Oct

Northeast Party House: Alhambra Lounge 4 Oct

John Butler Trio: Empire Theatre 5 Oct

Boris The Blade: The Brightside 9 Oct, The Lab 10 Oct (AA)

Holy Holy: The Northern 9 Oct, The Brightside 10 Oct

Bonjah: The Zoo 10 Oct, Racehorse Hotel 11 Oct, Surfers Paradise Beer Garden 12 Oct

The Cat Empire: The Tivoli 10, 11 Oct, Rabbit & Cocoon 12 Oct

Courtney Barnett: The Zoo 11 Oct

Confession: Shark Bar 15 Oct, Byron Bay YAC 16 Oct (AA), The Brightside 17 Oct

The Peep Tempel: The Spotted Cow 17 Oct, The

Bearded Lady 18 Oct

Jack Carty: New Globe Theatre 17 Oct

The Meanies: Prince Of Wales 18 Oct

Amaya Laucirica: Junk Bar 18 Oct

Ball Park Music: The Tivoli 18 Oct, Alhambra Lounge 2 Nov (U18)

Thirsty Merc: Lismore Workers Club 23 Oct, Coolangatta Hotel 30 Oct, Mick O’Malley’s 31 Oct, Woombye Pub 1 Nov

The Griswolds: The Brightside 23 Oct, Solbar 24 Oct, The Spotted Cow 25 Oct, Byron Bay Surf

Jay Whalley: The Loft 24 Oct, Crowbar 25 Oct

Area-7: The Spotted Cow 24 Oct, Prince Of Wales Hotel 25 Oct

Hot Dub Time Machine: The Tivoli 25 Oct

Hilltop Hoods: Surfers Paradise 25 Oct, The Marquee 22 Nov

Richard In Your Mind: Beach Hotel 30 Oct

C.W. Stoneking: The Hi-Fi 31 Oct

FESTIVALSNoosa Jazz Festival: Lions Park 4-7 Sep

Brisbane Festival: Brisbane 6-27 Sep

BIGSOUND: Fortitude Valley Entertainment Precinct 10-12 Sep

Pirate Fest: Club Greenslopes 13 Sep

Originals Music Festival: Noosa AFL Grounds 13 Sep

Mitchell Creek Rock ‘N’ Blues Fest: Mary Valley 19–21 Sep

Toowoomba Carnival Of Flowers: Toowoomba 19-21 Sep

Stranded: South Stradbroke Island 21 Sep

Listen Out: Brisbane Showgrounds 5 Oct

Caloundra Music Festival: Kings Beach 3-6 Oct

The Blurst Of Times Festival: The Brightside & The Zoo 18 Oct

Soulfest: Riverstage 25 Oct

Out On The Weekend: The Brightside 26 Oct

Island Vibe: Stradbroke Island 31 Oct-2 Nov

Mullum Music Festival: Mullumbimby 20-23 Nov

Jungle Love: Lake Moogerah 21-22 Nov

Stereosonic: Brisbane Showgrounds 6-7 Dec

Falls Festival: North Byron Parklands 30 Dec-3 Jan

Soundwave: RNA Showgrounds 28 Feb & 1 Mar

Mojo Burning: New Globe Theatre 21 Mar


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The Music (Brisbane) Issue #54