Matt posted details of the last Wintercoats ep here.

I caught his excellent support slot for Julianna Barwick at The Toff in Melbourne.

Check the Wintercoats bandcamp page here.

Following on from Mel T’s interview with Geoffrey O’ Connor. I spoke to Husky Gawenda of Husky, another Australian band set to play the Laneway Festival circuit this summer. Husky have had a lot of love on the site for their singles and live shows. In October they released their debut record ‘Forever So’ and have been touring the country playing to sold out crowds and very happy fans.

I started by asking about the release of ‘Forever So’.

We finished the record last year so we were sitting on it for a little while. We’d spent a lot of time and energy and love on the record so waiting to release it was a bit hard in a way cause we really wanted to get it out there and have people hear it. So to finally put it out and start to get feedback in all sorts of different ways – on Facebook and twitter and all the ways you get feedback these days – it’s been quite amazing. The fact that there are people out there connecting with it and enjoying it is an amazing feeling.

and having that direct connection with fans?

Yeah, its a beautiful thing because in the past the only feedback you get other then meeting people at shows, which is a great way to get feedback but other then that the only feedback you get is from critics. That’s all good but it’s a different sort of feedback I think. So to be able to just read people responses to the album on our Facebook wall is great. It’s a great way to gauge how people are feeling about it.

How has playing shows and the time since writing the record changed the way you feel about the record ‘Forever So’?

It’s interesting, I don’t listen to the record. I don’t think that much about the actual record. Obviously we’ve been playing and touring a lot so the record has become a live creature. It’s a thing we do live, we’ve had to work on translating the recordings to a live setting and we’ve had a great opportunity to do that this year because we’ve had so many support tours and now we’ve had our own tour. I’m still feeling really good about the songs, I still feel that most of the time I can connect with them while I’m playing them. Sometimes they mean something different to me while I play them to perhaps what they meant when I wrote them but there is nothing wrong with that, that’s the nature of songs and any sort of art. I’m really enjoying playing the songs and seeing how people respond and connect with them – it’s great fun.

The arrangements on the record are quite unique, have you had trouble translating that to a live set – you have a lot of scope to play around with?

You can’t do live exactly what you do with a recording but because the arrangements are so intricate and layered it does mean that we choose parts of the song to reproduce live and it also means we can change things as we go and do different things at shows. I suppose what you miss live is having the ability to reproduce all the different layers that you hear on the recording but there are things you can live that just don’t apply on the recording. So what you loose in some ways you gain in other ways. Since we’ve been playing so much and had such an opportunity to work on it, I think the songs are coming across really well live now.

Yeah the tracks def lend themselves to new arrangements and your voice is quite strong to carry it, I’ve heard of you guys doing a cappella performances at shows?

Yeah, that’s been fun… we’ve been doing that at most shows on our national tour. We spent so much time on the production, arrangement and the layering of the record it’s nice to unplug our instruments on the stage and sometimes we’ll hop of the stage and get out into the audience and just sing a song. No electricity, no microphones, no reverb, no anything… y’know, just voices. Sing a song the old fashioned way, It’s a lot of fun.

You’ve been supporting some great acts on tour including Devandra Banhart who really came from performing in that way – of course now his shows are different. What have you learnt from that process?

Yeah, you’re right that is where he came from, his live show is surprisingly electric these days. He’s got three electric guitarists including himself and a drummer and bass player. In terms of what I learnt, I’m not sure it’s so much that you learn things. It was certainly an awesome experience to be sharing the stage with a guy who has done such great things and made such great records. He’s a great performer and it’s always good to see other performers and see how they do it. That’s definitely the learning experience but the main thing is the honour of sharing the stage with those guys and the opportunity to play in front of bigger crowds has been really good for us.

Taking a back step, how important was Triple J unearthed for you guys and how important is it for other Australian musicians?

It was very important for us, it certainly gave our music a vehicle. Before Triple J unearthed we hadn’t had much radio play and not many people knew who we were or had heard our music. We had this record that we recorded ourselves in my house in the bungalow. We just had this record with a bunch of songs and didn’t really know what to do with them. I suppose Triple J unearthed brought our music out of hiding (he says with a laugh). It meant that a whole lot more people heard it and knew who we were. It’s difficult in this country and probably anywhere for a young emerging band to get their music out there. I think unearthed really does do that, it unearths bands that otherwise you probably wouldn’t hear of and that would be a shame because there are a lot of talented, really great young bands in this country so I think unearthed is really important.

So once you had won unearthed you were picked up by Liberation?

Yeah, we finished the album right at the end of last year and early this year we released ‘History’s Door’. We won unearthed around then in early March and not long after that Liberation got in touch as did a bunch of other people in the industry. So yeah, unearthed brought our music to the attention not only the public but also the industry.

Liberation has some interesting bands on there, Temper Trap, Cloud Control and Violent Soho – does that play a part in making that decision?

You look at everything and you definitely look at the other bands they’re working with and what they’ve done with them. The most important thing was meeting the people at the label and getting to know them and working out what their vision was and how they operated and what they were like, what sort of human beings they were. Y’know, you’ve got to work with these people closely, so that was a big thing. We found them to be great people and our vision for our band and music was the same as their vision and they were wanting to support our vision so yeah… so far it’s turned out to be a great decision.

The title of your record ‘Forever So’ suggests some sort of wisdom or perspective on life – are you a reflective person by nature?

Yeah, probably a little bit too reflective (again laughing). I think it’s hard to know, it’s hard to generalise about people but I think that people are perhaps preoccupied with the past. We do that as human beings, we think about the past and we think about the things perhaps we wished we’d done or the dreams we had that perhaps have turned out a little different in reality. So yeah, I would say I’m a little bit reflective and you can hear in the album a reflection of times gone by and people and places and perhaps loves that you remember fondly or otherwise.

You guys are on the Laneway festival circuit – are you excited about that?

Yeah, super excited! We were surprised to be chosen for that line up. It’s a great line up and the beauty of the line up, which is always the case with Laneway is that it’s so consistent throughout. Their attitude is not to get huge headline bands and it doesn’t really matter what the rest of the line up looks like. They get big headliners but it seems like they very carefully choose the rest of the line up. So yeah, we are very chuffed to be amongst it.

It’s my fav summer line up and they seem to put musicians first and ticket sales second.

That’s right and the other great thing about is that it means that people will go along and discover other bands which may not be their favourite bands but they might end up being their favourite act of the festival.

Would you like to plug some Australian bands while we are talking about new discoveries?

One of the bands on the line up are ‘The Panics’ who are a great band, their new record is really good… I’m excited to see them live. I also really like ‘Ballpark Music’ who have a great energy live, which is quite unique. A lot of great bands in Melbourne who I really like are ‘Ainslie Wills’ they are putting out a record sometime next year. ‘Clairy Browne & the Bangin’ Rackettes’ who have just put a record out, they’re awesome so definitely check them out. I really think there is a lot of great music going on in this country at the moment.

Catch Husky playing the Laneway Festival around the country, dates here – http://whothehell.net/7ct

Boy and Bear continue the tour right through to the BDO in 2012. Dates here http://whothehell.net/JUH more pictures after the jump

Let’s kick off with Brendan Suppression riding the crowd during an Eddie current suppression ring gig at Billboard on the 18 December 2009. It was so damn hot that night, I thought I was gonna pass out. I couldn’t find my way out when trying to leave and had to have a bouncer walk me out as I was so freakin delirious. These guys sent the crowd into a frenzy and to get this shot I jumped up onto the stage and faced back into the crowd. I wouldn’t advise doing that but at the time it felt right and I’m pretty happy with this picture.

This shot is of Tim Jenkins of Parades and I think it’s fair to say he was in the moment. Parades were a pretty nice surprise for me as I had not heard any of their music prior to this gig at the East Brunswick Club 4 May 2010. From the get go I was hooked into the melody and their energy on stage was intoxicating; these guys were young and having loads of fun. I really enjoy shooting at the EBC as there is plenty of light and a wide stage to shoot back across to get a clear frame like this – signature EBC photography.

Before Kimbra did that catchy tune with that guy who’s gonna win all the ARIA’s she supported Little Red at the Forum on the 29 Oct 2010. Whoah… hot damn! I was so impressed by her voice and presence on stage that I considered going home after. It was a real shame for Sparkadia and Little Red as those guys seemed dull compared with the sparkle of this glamorous diva. Her very photogenic posing with full stage lights made the hardest part choosing which image to post.

I love festivals and Good Vibes on the 4 Feb 2011 was a great summer day that kicked off with Melbourne band Strange Talk. These guys have picked up on the popularity of dance/rock or indie/electro as the critics prefer but for me it is simply feel good tunes. Strange Talk had the kids dancing before anyone was peaking and during the self-conscious opening slot in the middle of the day. I really enjoyed shooting Strange Talk plus a crowd reflection in sunglasses is photo gold! Expect to see more of these guys during the summer.

As for the camping festivals, I’d recommend Tassie Falls as my fav but on the mainland, Golden Plains in March takes the cake. This may come as a shock to cool indie folks but Airbourne were probably one of the most exciting acts at this years Golden Plains. The very hip Wavves was so lazy and boring compared to the riot these guys brought for 45 minutes of musical mayhem. I loved everything about this set - the sneakers with torn jeans and no t-shirts. The beer blasts and crazy nonsense screaming at the crowd. The shit load of marshal amps and the guitarists running back and forth across the stage like lunatics. Airbourne played their guts out and everyone that let themselves enjoy it, did so with a huge grin.

You can buy the record here – http://whothehell.net/1pF

Watch their last video here – http://whothehell.net/KzR

Lastly, you can read all the nice things Matt has to say about them here – http://whothehell.net/zbb

Full set of live pictures after the jump – enjoy.

Gorgeous set last night by ‘Caitlin Park’ at the Toff in Town, Melbourne.

You can check her out here - http://whothehell.net/D6P

Links to the new record here - http://whothehell.net/Cbwy

More pictures after the jump.

The only downer is that I can’t really remember any standout tracks.

I’m not saying it all sounded the same, just that it all sounded like something I’ve heard before.

But hey I’m old man so y’know… whatever. you’ll probably love em or be too drunk to care either way.

You can stalk them here – http://whothehell.net/85K

Stilldream played their first show at the Evelyn Hotel last weekend. First impressions count and these folks made a good one on me.

To check out one of the upcoming shows about town, keep an eye on the Stilldream tumbler – here.

I’ve added Black Bobs as a taster but you can buy the limited (only 250 copies) LP here  - http://whothehell.net/1eL and try not to murder anyone for fun after you hear it.

Harmony – Black Bobs (mp3)

There are a couple of other shows listed here – http://whothehell.net/jR

The Holidays – ‘Golden Sky’ (mp3)

The Holidays have been kicking about for a couple of years and I really liked an old self titled ep of theirs. Lately we have had a couple of singles released in anticipation of their debut LP, due in September. I was curious how the sound would translate live and I am glad to say they did a good job. It was a fairly packed John Curtain and there was a good energy in the crowd, despite the set consisting mostly of new and unheard material. Take a look through more pictures after the continue reading jump.

Keep an eye on these guys here – http://whothehell.net/8J

Sydney band Parades played the East Brunswick Club in Melbourne on Friday night and it was a pretty effin great show.
Parades are currently touring their debut LP ‘Foreign Tapes’ details here – http://whothehell.net/Pm

Live pictures after the continue reading jump.

Perth band Pond, was formed like a dream and that ‘fantasy’ feeling, beamed throughout the show that played to a packed Workers Club in Fitzroy on Sunday night.

Nick ‘Paisley Adams’ Allbrook on Vocals and glitter mayhem – he joked that he’ll probably have to clean up the place himself. Joseph Orion on bass and Jay Watson, the drummer of Tame Impala, make up the core members. Jay played a bunch of instruments, swapping around with Jamie Terry who plays guitar and keys in The Silents. Kevin Parker, Tame Impala’s lead guitar and vocals, played the driving drums that seemed to tie the whole room together, not unlike Lebowski’s rug. These guys are all very bloody talented and made the show one of the most fun gigs I have seen at this venue.

Look out for an album soon but check out their myspace now – http://whothehell.net/wp

More photos after the continue reading jump

Mike and Gus, members of Battlesnake, make up the poptastic sounding Leafs. Short punches of pop that slap you about, kinda like the concords – if they were more rock.
These guys played with the Bon Scotts, who were also very intense and great, at the Builders Arms in Fitzroy. A small dining room gets taken over for the evening, and 100 peeps squeeze in with a minimal stage setup and down lights with red gels gaffered on. Third support slot by Frontiers in Photography rounded off a very nice evening of intimate sets.

The Leafs play about town so check em out here – http://whothehell.net/dt

The Leafs – ‘Figs’ (mp3)

Pikelet 2010

Dates for more shows this month here – http://whothehell.net/60

Cheap party props are fun and Last Dinosaurs wear them well. They also play like a band that have been touring for years despite their youth. They may have been too young to play Rats but they are familar with the Phoenix back catalogue – loved the Funky Square Dance jam. Hopefully they’re allowed to get pirate ear rings next time, as their support of Yves Klein Blue continues through April. Dates on their myspace here.

Follow them on twitter for decorating advice here.

I really like St Jerome’s Laneway Festival, actually I love it. So to those that bitched about a blow out last year – well, nothing. There were only a small number of basement dwelling noisy dickwads and nobody actually cares about them. This year’s festival sold out of course and it was once again – awesome!

The immediate feeling of the Laneway Festival is that it’s put on by music lovers for people that actually dig music. This is not a festival to get trashed and throw cans at Lilly Allen before pushing smaller people out of the way to get a glimpse of some inflated rock opera. It is a diverse, well considered and quite manageable day of quality Australian and lesser known International Artists.

Dirty three were an obvious highlight for me, Oh Mercy were solid and the Philly Jay’s have well confirmed themselves as one of the most exciting live bands in the country. Bridezilla showed confidence on the larger stage but really need an evening slot to help the atmosphere of their sound. Sarah Blasko has played every festival I have been to over summer, so it’s fair to say I saw nothing new but it’ll take a while to tire of hearing her perform tracks from ‘As Day Follows Night’. Finally, a quick mention of XX as the most incredible international band of the day and definitely the sexiest bass player to grace our shores.

Review by Matt Hickey, Brisbane

I’ve been to a fair few music festivals. Which isn’t to say that I’m any more ‘hip’ than anyone – as if going to summer music festivals is any sort of exclusive activity these days. But I mention this because I’m all too well acquainted with dancing to filler line-ups while being pressed up against sweaty, shirtless ‘bro-gans’ and ’sluzbots’ that decided bikinis were adequate clothing. It’s not an indictment on the quality of Laneway’s program in the slightest when I suggest that my favourite thing about the festival wasn’t the bands but the atmosphere. Held in a small, nifty seciton of the RNA Showround’s, Brisbane’s Laneway Fest 2010 was undoubtedly a success. There were trees, lot’s of cover from rain and/or sun, an indoor bar, bands that have good records AND can bring the shit live – and I only saw two southern cross tattoos all day. I know it’s an easy shot to target the universal emblem for bogan nationalism and one that will probably spark accusations of pretension and a sense of misplaced superiority. But hey, there was a definitely a civilised air about proceedings that is missing from, say, BDO’s Boiler Room; an appreciative atmosphere that allowed The Dirty Three’s long-from instrumental workouts to play second last on the main stage to an attentive, sizable crowd.

With that out of the way, Laneway – musically – was in fine form. While I thought the program did kind of lacked a big headliner this year, the high quality of acts from the outset alleviated any potential disappointment at the end of the night. Kid Sam were the first band that I caught proper and they were simply great. They were somehow left off my ‘best of 09′ list and also, I realised, have been criminally uncovered on whothehell.net. If anyone involved with Kid Sam reads this, you should send me everything that you put out from this point on. Their songs are moving with an anthemic quality to them, and the instrumentation is a perfect mix of technical flair and DIY sloppiness. If you’ve not seen them live, don’t hesitate when next they play your fair city.

Philly Jays were great and uber-energetic as usual. Sharing a slot with Mumford and Sons (the “poor man’s Frightened Rabbit” as my Twitter peep @albertinho calls them) meant that there was a small crowd at the start. But after those British nu-folksters ill-advisedly played ‘Little Lion Man’ about third song in, the crowd grew to an impressive size in time for a rousing rendition of ‘I Don’t Want to Party (Party)’ that devolved into a weirdly hypnotic drum freakout as per usual before leading into set-closer and Hottest 100-charting ‘The Good News.’

Highlight of the day probably went to Wild Beasts. That any band should have one singer with a falsetto like that is near unfathomable, let alone two singers! That’s just obscene. The moment when that second, almost bland looking bald singer stepped up to the mic only to shriek out the opening “watch me, watch me” from ‘All The Kinds Men’ was literally my favourite moment of the day. And there’s just something far more offputting but alluring about a booty call invitation being sung in that high, warbly male voice that kinda gives me the goosebumps. I thought these guys would be good, but I didn’t know how good.

I won’t ramble. The xx brought enough charisma (well, bass player Oliver Sims/Chuck Bass did anyway) to overcome the lull in energy that can result from not having a live drummer; The Dirty Three did as The Dirty Three do, which is generally quite enchanting; and Florence was mildly underwhelming just as she was when I saw her in Belgium last August. I was really kicking myself for not seeing ECRS again but thank fuck they’ve announced that album tour. I shan’t be missing that. Nor shall I be missing Laneway 2011.

I don’t think I spoke to anyone that didn’t enjoy the day. Although it’s grown in size, Laneway has managed to retain its boutique charm, curating line-ups of quality acts over big names for a crowd hungry to soak up every last note.

Eddie Current Suppression Ring @ Billboard

Sherlock’s Daughter @ The East Brunswick Club

Oh Mercy @ The Corner Hotel

Bridezilla @ The Hi Fi Bar

Violent Soho @ The Espy

Illzilla @ The Corner Hotel

Rushcutter @ Roxanne

Decoder Ring @ The Hi Fi Bar

Crayon Fields @ Trades Hall

My Disco @ The Lounge

Firekites @ The Corner Hotel

The Drones @ The Laneway Festival

The Devoted Few @ The Northcote Social Club

It’s no secret that being popular or striving to be successful, especially overseas, can lead to negative reactions from snarky music fans in Australia. Sadly, popular Australian music forums encourage such chatter and that can sometimes turn potentially new fans against good bands. The Temper Trap had received mixed reviews before heading to the UK to set up camp and release the debut LP ‘Conditions’ internationally. They spent most of the year working hard with a very busy touring schedule and were rewarded with an overwhelming welcome home that included a set at the Marion Bay, Falls Festival. I was holidaying in Tassie and going to the festival, so I took the opportunity to get some shots of these guys, who delivered a short but cracking set. The lead vocalist may have been ill but he didn’t show it and the crowd thanked him as they excitedly sang along to all the songs, not just that one big single.

Check out their myspace for remaining local tour dates here.