(photo: Daniel Boudist)

In just a merry quarter of an hour in the queue, being smacked on the face with Australian flag paraphernalia, beer breath on the back of my neck and the distinct waft of other…organic substances, I’m given a true blue, cordial welcoming to the Sydney Big Day Out.

Still yet to pinpoint what it is exactly that attracts so many to this annual festival of beer, bogans and breasts. If you are aching to read about the unskilled offspring of Keith Allen, Matt Bellamy’s vibrato or any of the other international acts on the bill, you should stop reading now.

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Intense touring, consecutive shows from state to state and a burgeoning hangover. At this stage, having a momentary afternoon nap interrupted by a pesky reviewer prodding you with questions is enough to test your patience. Apologies Shane from DZ.  I promise I’ll buy the record. Didn’t quite make it to the merch table  though, when I began having Peter Garrett convulsions trying to film** the whole thrash/strobe light hullaballoo (see above). Think Bronx meets mobile disco, and you’re only halfway. Go here to check out a list of DZ  tour dates.

Who’s the best band you’ve played with?

Definitely Crystal Castles. We did a tour with them earlier in the year, it was out of the blue and we had a week to organise a national tour. They’re awesome – the way they approach their writing, also really funny guys. And when they came back for Sydney Parklife, we got to hang out with them again – the drummer came to a house party with us. They’re a pretty big band so it was good to see them just hang out.

Any rituals to amp yourself up before a show?

Usually just a few beers. But right now we’re having a nap at the venue, because we’re absolutely screwed from our tour. And drinking with the guys from Yacht Club DJ’s….

You’re about to tour with Howl soon…

Yeah, we were playing an EP launch in September and they rocked up to see us. We’re like  ‘What? You’re in high school?” It’s weird how sometimes you get matched up with bands, we met their manager Johann at a Presets after party a while ago, it’s a small world.

Favourite local bands at the moment?

We’ve become really good friends with Howl, and Yacht Club as well. And we’ve been mates with Ouch My Face for ages, so they’re a really great help when we come to Melbourne. We kick around with Comic Sans a fair bit too. And the other guy in our band is in another band called Running Guns who’ve just finished their album. I’ve been waiting to get a copy but the first song I’ve heard off it is freaking rad.

Looks like you had fun punching the shit out of Simon in the video for Blue Blood.

Yeah we had all these big ideas but we ended up just cutting it down to what we could do. We have a mate whos a film editor and we watched this show where there was a carpark fight where the guys rip each others hearts out. So we thought hey, let’s just do that and beat up on each other. 

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I recently had a chat with Tim Derricourt of Dappled Cities. We talked ‘Zounds’, Chihuahuas, Beyonce and entertaining small children…

Well Tim – it’s no doubt that you guys have had a stellar year, with the release of your third album ‘Zounds’, two AIR nominations and an ARIA nomination for Best Independent Release – how are you feeling?

Pretty ecstatic!

Overwhelmed at all?

I guess so! But I suppose it’s not the be all and end all, even though everything is all up so close together. It’s just a patch of life where you go to an awards ceremony and dress up – and you might not win anything, so you can either get collectively disappointed or collectively excited at the one moment in time.

There’s a real maturity about this album. What was it like working with Chris Coady?

Well it wasn’t exactly easy! We wanted to make an album that was very different in each part – different drum sounds, different guitar sounds, nothing really the sounding the same. What you get when you do something like that is a pretty chaotic recording process.

You can really hear that coming through on the album, seperately – each song’s so different but ties so well together in a narrative sort of way.

Yeah, we wanted it to feel like a kind of cinematic story with every album we release, where you can follow a journey from the start to the end. I think we did a pretty accurate job with this one – it starts in a sort of underground, cavernous lair and ends up on the western plains at sunset.

What comes first in the song writing process – the lyrics or the music?

Usually sexual drive. Followed by days of mourning. Then a song usually pops out of your brain.

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TST – ‘Halfhand’ (mp3)

Recently saw Melbourne lads TST perform an impressive support slot at Neon Love’s EP launch a few weeks ago. TST disperse a myriad of cavernous sounds onto a enigmatic canvas which lingers in the brooding shadow between pop and post punk.  Although this sort of sound isn’t anything overly new to bands sprouting up across town, TST still run command over tiers of angular guitar frames, stark bass lines and reverberating drums – all which each shift between seperate power plays and moments of accord. Without a doubt, you can hear layers of Dardanelles and Sugar Army echoing through TST’s musical Jenga block.

While TST comprise a milder, more restrained sound than erratic counterparts Bachelor of Arts (TST Frontman Kevin Mc Dowell does vocals/bass for BOA),  there is still evidence of the same distinct jabs of acute guitar riffs synonymous in both. There’s an assurance of brilliant ideas resonating from the Melbourne four piece, but still scope for the promising musicians to broaden their sound even further.

TST support Sugar Army on the 3^rd of December in Melbourne at the Evelyn.

www.myspace.com/tst

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The Process -‘Ceremonial Dagger’ (mp3)

Spurred by a bloodied barrage of tribal palpitations and interrupted by a shrill Indian call, I feel as if I’ve been chased into the forest by spear wielding banshees dressed up as members of New Order demanding their supper. Ceremonial Dagger is a colossal offering from an assemblage of four buccaneers – August Skipper, Saxon Jorgensen, Felix Davis and Vijay Singh who form Melbourne outfit The Process.

Erupting into a sinister chronicle with all the dynamo of an Indiana Jones installment, August Skipper’s brooding vocals alternate against menacing fits of guitar spells and acute pulsing drums, forging an onslaught of tense dynamics. It is indisputable that post punk tendencies coil through the Process’ ghostly sound. Definite Birthday Party/Bauhaus sounds exhumed here, with parallels to the same vacant sound built upon discordant minor progressions shared with other local gems in the same vein like Atrocities, Whores and The Nevada Strange.

This track dispatches like an intriguing tale; Jorgensen’s cascading riffs face off against Singh’s meticulous drumming resonates in shadows of intensity. Withering echoes of Skipper’s subtle vocals in the verse add a notion of unpredictability, giving the rest of us a brief moment to catch our pulse. Just like sitting in the cinema next to a dickhead who spoils the plot, I won’t give too much away. However, I just can’t shirk a mention of the climatic moment nearing the end – erratic screams, quivering ruptures of guitar, frenetic cymbal clashing, where the song’s narrative erupts into a complete mind blowing cacophony.

Mysterious, atmospheric and utterly alluring, the Process have enough bravura to rip all four of your limbs off and splatter the bloodied remains in a way that will leave you curious for more.

The Process cast a spell over The Tote in Melbourne this Friday the 6th of November.

www.myspace.com/processprocess

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