John Steel Singers – ‘Overpass’ (mp3)

Within a few hours of this track appearing in people’s inboxes, surrounded by countless other emails from bands and labels, this track had already appeared on a bunch of blogs and received spins on community radio and JJJ. I think that says something about the cache the name ‘John Steel Singers’ holds at the moment. They’re one of those bands that people drop things to check out.

John Steel Singers have been on the cusp of widespread appeal for a while – and they would have stayed in that grey, nearly-there area had they not continued to improve. A lot of bands have potential but squander it through a combination of laziness, break-ups, or a lack of gigs. The fact that JSS performances have continued to get tighter and louder – and the fact that these guys work their asses off touring the East Coast – has ensured they eventually overcame those obstacles and stumbled into the realm of recognition and popularity. As though to signal this shift in stature, the extended courtship between uber-indie Dew Process and JSS came to its conclusion with the former signing on to release the latter’s debut album, Tangalooma (produced by Robert Forster), in November.

‘Overpass’ is the latest single to be pulled from Tangalooma. You’ll be probably be able to catch it live at a shitload of festivals over summer.

www.myspace.com/thejohnsteelsingers

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So the Jagermeister Independent Music Awards are on next Friday. You may have known that. But you may not realise that this a public event that you can attend regardless of whether you sunglasses inside and have a grey ponytail*. You can get along to the award ceremony at The Forum in Melbourne and be in the same room as musician types you’ve heard on JJJ and feel the palpable excitement of a real awards ceremony – plus see live performances by bands like Cloud Control, British India, M-Phazes, Sally Seltman and Amity Affliction (40% of which are pretty cool). But seriously, apparently last year’s event was pretty fun.

Anyway, we have a double pass and Jagermeister pack to give away to a reader who’s keen to head along. All you have to do is email rsvp@whothehell.net by lunchtime next Tuesday, 28th of Sept with subject ‘AIR AWARDS’ to be in the running.

* Exaggerated to make my point.

www.ausindies.com

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Bleeding Knees Club – ‘Bad Guys’ (m4a)

Bleeding Knees Club only started in March and have already secured east coast tours with DZ and Yatch Club DJs, recorded and EP and secured a label and distribution with Melbourne party crew I OH YOU. Pretty solid first six months – more than some bands achieve over six years. Admittedly, BKC trade in a certain brand of music that doens’t require/intentionally avoids precision, planning, and cleanliness. Not that this music is any less valuable, but you can imagine these guys bashing out an EP within the amount of time it takes some bands to soundcheck.

‘Bad Guys’ is a badass song that improves on their previous gem ‘Have Fun‘ – and that was a pretty sweet jam itself. Looking forward to the full EP, which drops October 15. Keep an eye and ear out for these bros – ‘Bad Guys’ suggests potential mega radness.

BKC recording from TAKENNEVER.COM on Vimeo.

www.myspace.com/thebleedingkneesclub

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I love the shit out of this band.

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Ben Riley of Sydney duo Georgia Fair on:

Working with Bill Reynolds (Band of Horses).

We were really lucky to work with him, he was really like minded and brought so much to the table. We had such a great time over there.
After doing our first EP we weren’t really happy with the way it went, so we decided to write and do all these demos.  We went there with no expectations. It was really unpredictable in a roll the dice kind of way.

The recording process.

6 weeks all up and it was quite productive. For recording live, we got a lot of stuff done pretty fast. We recorded the album in North Carolina, it was really our kinda vibe down there; we just bought some booze and walked around like we were part of the scene… In between we went to Texas for SXSW, which was unreal. Got to see bands like Band of Horses, Midlake and Oh Mercy. We went on to do mixing in Atlanta, Georgia.

Being signed to a major.

It comes and goes in stages, sometimes you get overwhelmed. Sometimes being signed to a major label can make it more difficult to prove yourself as an artist (more…)

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Echoplex from Miami Horror on Vimeo.

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