New Music

This 'Epic' Q&A.

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Alright, way past the point of trying to conduct interview questions that try to sound probing, intelligent or chummy, so we left Justin Debrincat (Kingswood), Michael Cini (Money For Rope) and Leigh Ewbank (Damn Terran) to amuse themselves and conduct their own Q&A under the thematic banner of their upcoming joint tour, aptly (and perhaps questionably) named ‘THIS EPIC TOUR’.

MOST EPIC GIG YOU’VE BEEN TO.

JD: Stop saying epic please. It would have to be either Reece Mastin live at Westfield shopping centre or Fleetwood Mac at Rod Laver.

LE: I don’t think I’ve been to enough to pick one truly epic show. Notable gigs that come to mind are Sonic Youth on the Daydream Nation tour, Faith No More’s reunion, and of course, Meredith.

MC: Kevin Bloody Wilson at the Millers Inn, Altona. I was only 14 so it was pretty epic. I’m sure my parents thought I was at my cousin Mark’s for the night.

AN EPIC ALBUM. GO.

JD: Please stop saying epic. At the moment, Shut up and Kiss Me (which is only a single) by Reece Mastin, or Rumours.

MC: The Best of the Worst, Kevin Bloody Wilson. I was only 11 at the time. I bought it with a Sanity voucher I got from my cousin Mark. It’s the only album I’ve ever had confiscated. After 3 years i found it in one of the family photo albums. The White album isn’t bad either.

LE: Frank Zappa’s Shut Up ‘N Play Yer Guitar. It’s a three disc set of nothing but guitar solos. The combination of Zappa’s lead playing and Vinnie Colaiuta’s drumming is exhilarating.

MOST EPIC HOUSE PARTY YOU’VE BEEN TO.

JD: Corona House in Byron Bay. Look it up.

MC: I’ve been to a few epic parties, it’s kind of hard to narrow it down. I’ve witnessed peopled falling through roofs, people jumping off roofs into the greenery waiting below, been involved in and also witnessed sex in confined spaces, witnessed parents arrive home early and walk through their once shiny tiled corridor now coated in teenage mud and Carlton Cold beer, I’ve even witnessed scummy crew rip bongs that are as high as I am tall.

(more…)

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Seven Year Itch

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‘Ern Champion’

Listen to
 (mp3)

‘Beach House Blues’

Listen to
(mp3)

First impressions have that these guys have their obvious musical heroes done right up to the top polo button. Choir boy harmonies and classy guitar scaling makes ‘Beach House Blues’ a calculated plod down Intentional Indie alley. It’s familiar and all quite polished, but there’s something quite cuddly about their sound I do like. ‘Ern Champion’ takes the popular concept of four white guys making calypso and throws in some restless treble guitars, counter-beat drums and echoed vocals all up in the Surfer Blood vein. Quite surprised I’m one of the first few to fawn about this on the internet, although I doubt it will be long before the large Frankie reading populace come clamouring for something to knit their teapots to. Clean, twee surf pop at it’s best. Dig.

soundcloud.com/sevenyearitch

facebook.com/SevenYearItch

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Glaciers – 'BC'

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Glaciers – ‘BC’

Listen to
(mp3)

Sauntering through the endless field of bands suffocating on reverb like small children at a narcotics fair seems to be common go around these parts of town. Fortunately, Glaciers have made the familiar meander a little bit more reassuring. ‘BC’ is the first track from this new Melb four piece and there’s plenty of bright treble guitar hooks and ND’s dozy vox to wrap around you like a happy blanket. Doesn’t stray too far from a Wild Nothing b-side, but overall sunny sounds here make the usual dream pop sojurn more of a cheerful retrospective than a pitiful sledge through melancholia. Weep Jack Tatum.

weareglaciers.bandcamp.com

facebook.com/glaciers.melbourne

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Win tix to FBi, Modular + Goodgod parties @ VIVID

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It’s that time of year when Sydney rolls out the giant projections and ocular spasms of joy, because VIVID 2012 kicks off tomorrow. We have a whole stash of double passes to parties and shows Modular, FBi Radio and Goodgod are putting on throughout the festival.

To win a double pass, swing an email to rsvp@whothehell.net with your contact details, show of choice and minor reasons/bribes as to why you deserve to get down with Donny, stroke Jonno Boulet’s beard et al.

UP FOR GRABS>>

____________________

MODULAR NIGHT

Featuring: TOM VEK, JONATHAN BOULET + KINDNESS

Saturday 26th May, 9:30pm

@ THE STUDIO

____________________

FBi RADIO + PENNY DROP PARTY

Featuring: ZOLA JESUS, LIGHT ASYLUM + FORCES

Thursday 31st May, 9:30pm

@ THE STUDIO

____________________

GOODGOD DANCETERIA

Featuring: NO ZU, GEOFFREY O’ CONNOR, DONNY BENET, STRAIGHT ARROWS, LEVINS, EGYPTIAN LOVER + more.

Sunday 2nd June, 9:30pm

@ THE STUDIO

____________________

www.vividsydney.com

Happy winnings.

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Mosman Alder Interview + Tour

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These guys have been on our radar since Matt got on the Mosman Alder wagon early. The Brisbane 6 piece have been busy recording over the last few months at Airlock Studios in  Samford Valley with Sean Cook, Yanto Browning and Tony Espie on mixing duties. The guys are about to release their debut EP Burn Bright and are heading out on a string of tour dates – presented by yours truly.

I had a chat to Kat from the band about playing Splendour, the new EP and getting acquainted with secateurs for studio time.


How long have you guys been playing together?

We formed in January 2010 and instead of actually playing gigs straight away we tried to do a lot of writing to begin with. We tried to get some demos out there first but our first show was around August 2010.

You’re all playing Splendour again in Byron this year, but what was it like playing at Woodford for the first time last year?

We were the first band on the Sunday. I could never afford to go to Splendour so it was amazing. The vibe was great! Huge adrenaline rush. Playing in that amphitheater was just incredible.

It was intimidating, there’s massive foldback from the stage and I’m just not used to hearing myself that loud. But it was pretty amazing, it all happened very quickly!

Were you all in different bands before?

I moved to Brisbane in 2009 and before that I played in a folk rock band for a short amount of time on the Gold Coast. Jackson, Liam and Damo were also in a prog punk band together.

With Valdis reading Kafka and using ideas of mythology as an influences, was it instinctual for you all to follow that up with a moodier sound? Were you guys averse to making a lighter record with those themes?

No not at all. We never really thought of what direction we were taking it, it just happened.‘Raisin Heart’ was written when Valdis was travelling through Germany and reading Kafka and those kind of authors. We didn’t do anything purposely, it sort of just fell into place.

Is it chaotic trying to get everyone together, with six of you in the band?

It can be chaotic with communication between six of us, comprising between work schedules and such. The songwriting process can differ – it might be Valdis and Jackson having a skeleton of a song, then having the rest of the band piece it off. But there’s been other times where we’ve been jamming and we’ll just experiment and improvise.

I was reading in your presser that you guys were offered free studio time for yard work?

Yeah! Ian Haug’s been really wonderful to us and very helpful. So that’s what we did in exchange for studio time, a lot of gardening. We still need to do a little bit more I think, but yeah that was a really awesome deal and we didn’t think twice about it.

Apart from pulling out weeds, what was the most challenging thing about recording the EP?

We were trying to get the EP done in 15 days but it stemmed over a 6 month period.
It’s all a blur for me because it was so all over the place! There were a few months were we had to reschedule because of other people’s schedules and renovations happening at Airlock Studios. We wanted to release it last year but we’re really happy now that it’s finally coming out.


The clip for ‘Raisin Heart’ is quite cinematic…

We worked with Dylan Wiehahn, he was great. When you can see us performing in the video we went out to a lovely property and we were doing some shooting out there. But Dylan had to do another day of shooting and Jackson and Valdis went out to the Wivenhoe Dam. I think the guy who acting in the time lapse video spent about 10 hours in the water to get the right shot.

People have described your tunes as dark and brooding and I’m reading some of the titles on the EP – ‘Mr Pickney and the Beast’ and ‘Ice Queen’ etc. You all seem like a real serious bunch.

We’re serious when we need to be. But really, not at all.


‘Burn Bright’ is released May 25 through Dew Process/Universal. Catch the guys playing Splendour In The Grass 2012 or at one of the dates below:



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Chela – 'Plastic Gun' Video

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I’ve had a long standing affinity for this chick ever since The Gingers reached godess-like status in my sixteen year old mind. Chelsea Wheatley who used to front the band, came out with a few singles three years ago as ‘Bells’, but now goes under the moniker of Chela. Good news if you’re still hyping on Ladyhawke, although I’m enjoying that highland Wonka costuming for now. Chela also features on ‘Fifteen’ by LA producer Goldroom that’s been doing the rounds on the blog press recently. For those late on it, hear it below or grab it here as a free download.

Goldroom – Fifteen (ft Chela) by Goldroom

www.facebook.com/chelamusic

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