19.07.

17 Issue

Music / Arts / Lifestyle / Culture 198

Sydney / Free / Incorporating

B R E A K I N G T H E R U L E S

FILM:
B A B Y D R I V E R

TOUR:
A S G E I R

COMEDY:
R H Y S D A R B Y
2 • THE MUSIC • 19TH JULY 2017
THE MUSIC • 19TH JULY 2017 • 3
4 • THE MUSIC • 19TH JULY 2017
BASEMENT
“MUST VOLKOFF” BASEMENT “BOTTLECAPS” PRESENTS:
THU
20TH AQUANAUT ALBUM
SAT
22ND
PUNK AT THE VALVE
8PM WITH SUPPORT FROM: “KANG”, VETTY
8PM
LAUNCH VIALS, “IVAN DRAGO”, JOSHUA ARENTZ,
“51 PERCENT”, DEL FAILURE, “COLYTONS”,
FEAT: ADAM KOOTS, JOE SNOW, ONE “ALL WE NEED”
SIXTH SUPPORTED BY P SMURF & DJ
COST, BENJI, DJ PLATTERPUSH
LEVEL ONE LANA ZILLA PRESENTS:
BASEMENT DEAF TO ALL BUT METAL PRESENTS: SAT
22ND THE WITCHING
FRI
21ST JULY! 10PM
HOUR
9PM FEAT: “WAR RAGES WITHIN”, GOTH/DEATH ROCK/PUNK/POST PUNK
“LETHAL VENDETTA”, “COSMIC ART”, WITH SPECIAL GUESTS
“WARTOOTH”(QLD)”, DJ’S TAIN AND
GARY GRIM
BASEMENT SYDNEY METAL MEET UP PRESENTS
LEVEL ONE
WHERE.M.I
SUN
23RD
5PM
RUM AND ALE XI
FRI FEATURING INFAMOUS METAL KARAOKE
21ST
10PM
LAUNCH AND KILLER METAL PLAYLIST
SYDNEY’S NEWEST FUTURE BEATS/
FUTURE R’N’B NIGHT WITH DJ’S
WATERMELLOW, KUN, JAIM,
MARCELBOTTLECAPS” PRESENTS:

COMING UP
Thu 27 July: 8pm Basement: Full Steam Ahead at Valve Bar with “The Henry Fjords”, “The Loose Shreds”,
“Art Vandelay”, “The Blindfolds”; Fri 28 July: 8pm Basement: Revel presents: Babicka (Melb) with T.hanks,
Post Pluto and many more; 10pm Level One: Dreamtime Events presents: Grand Opening Blackout Aboriginal
Club Night with Dj’s Digital Mouth, DJ Mac, DJ Chin and many more; Sat 29 July: 8pm Basement: Grindhead
Records proudly presents “Burial Chamber” Ripping The Dead Album Launch, supported by “Daemon Foetal
Harvest”, “The Plague”, “Bloodbomb”; 10pm Level One: Neo Tokyo presents 2079, Anime, Gaming, UK
Hardcore, J-Trance, J-DnB, Industrial with DJ’s Sei (Qld), Kenaz, Jadeabella, Little Raven, Dave PSI, Acid Trixx
and many more; Sun 30 July: 5pm Basement: “Deadly Deadly” presents Garage Rock Show with support from
many special guests

THE MUSIC • 19TH JULY 2017 • 5

Music / McHale Soup
Joel McHale, of Community
and The Soup notoriety, has
confirmed his first Australian
stand-up tour. As well as being
added to Sydney’s Just For
Laughs, the comedian will be
heading to Melbourne, Brisbane
and Perth in September.
Music / Arts / Lifestyle / Culture

Joel McHale
Wood If You Could
Seemingly never off the
road, Kingswood have added
another 17 dates from late
September to mid-November
as they’ve announced yet
another national tour.

Kingswood

Stole My Mojo
With her new single, Think
Twice, set for a 1 Aug
release, Mojo Juju is ready
to show that bad boy off.
The Melbourne-native will be
hitting the road throughout
August and September ahead
of her upcoming album’s
2018 release.

Mojo Juju

A Case Of MONO
Japanese instrumental group
MONO have gained quite an
avid following after touching
A female down to Australia for the first
time almost a decade ago,
Doctor Who?! and 2017 brings them back
to our shores. Catch them
But what if she during their five-stop tour
this November.

periods all over

the space-time
continuum?!?
@aparnapkin
MONO

6 • THE MUSIC • 19TH JULY 2017

Arts / Li Life In The Northlane
Metalcore outfit Northlane are
embarking on a national tour
for their acclaimed LP, Mesmer.
The Sydney-natives are
currently dominating overseas,
and will return to Australia for
their tour this October.
Music / Arts / Lifestyle / Culture

Northlane
Credits

Fall Out Boy
Thnks Fr Cmng
A 2018 Australian tour
is officially on the cards
for Fall Out Boy, who will
be playing four all-ages
shows beginning in
Brisbane. The US act will
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Howl’s Moving Castle

—
Sydney

Studio 22
Between 24 Aug and 20
Sep, Celebrate Studio Ghibli
brings the entire 22-film
catalogue of the renowned
studio to cinemas around
Australia. Acclaimed movies
such as Spirited Away
and Howl’s Moving Castle
will be front and centre
along with insightful new
documentaries.

THE MUSIC • 19TH JULY 2017 • 7

Music /
For a regular hit of news sign
up to our daily newsletter
at theMusic.com.au
Zane Banks
Give Good Guitar?
The inaugural Sydney Guitar Festival is just
around the corner, running from 23 - 27 Aug.
As the date looms closer, acts continue to
be announced for the line-up. Zane Banks
(Cruisin’ Dueces), Van Larkins and Drey
Rollan (The Drey Rollan Band) and
more have all been added.
9
The television network
you will now find the
ARIA Awards screening
on in November, after
previously airing on Ten
the past few years.
8 • THE MUSIC • 19TH JULY 2017
Music / Arts / Lifestyle / Culture
Live Playing Live
The recently reunited original Live
line-up are heading to Australia for
three shows in Brisbane, Melbourne
and Hunter Valley this November.
Canadian rockers Lifehouse will be in
attendance for the entirety of the tour.
Live
All Our Exes Live In Texas
All Our Exes Live In Mullum
Running from 16 - 19 Nov, Mullum Music Festival is
celebrating its tenth year anniversary by announcing the
entire line-up, with over 90 acts featured. Some of the acts
just added include All Our Exes Live In Texas and Mama Kin.
Raised By Eagles
Soaring High
Melbourne’s Raised By
Eagles have announced
a national headline tour
following the release of
their latest LP, I Must Be
Somewhere. The four-piece
will be venturing along the
east coast from August, with
a slew of local acts in tow.
Arts / Li
The Ocean Party
Music / Arts / Lifestyle / Culture
Under The Sea
An Australian headline tour is
coinciding with the release of
The Ocean Party’s latest album,
Beauty Point, due out on 18 Aug.
The six-piece will be playing
Sydney’s Volumes Festival, along
with a bunch of other dates
beginning in mid-August.
Le Pie
Pepe Le Pie
Le Pie has announced a tour to celebrate
the release of her latest EP, Sad Girl
Theory. The Sydney artist will start things
off in Melbourne this September, before
returning to her hometown to continue
shaking up the music scene.
Amy Shark. Pic:
Kane Hibberd
Van-ity Fair
Vanfest is making its grand re-
entrance to Forbes Showground
this year, running from the 1-2
Dec. The line-up features artists
such as Ali Barter, Amy Shark,
Tash Sultana, San Cisco and
Dune Rats.
Frontlash
King Edgar
After musing about making a video for
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard on
social media, director Edgar Wright met
up with the band in Melbourne while here
promoting Baby Driver. We hope this
collaboration eventuates!
The Circus Is In Town
We’re gladdened Oxford Circus is making
steps to host live music seven nights a
week. Sydney always needs more live
music venues.
Jodie Whittaker
Lashes
Announced as the next incarnation
of Doctor Who. We love her work on
Broadchurch and Black Mirror, so we’re in.
Jodie Whittaker as The Doctor. Pic: BBC
Backlash
Ed Sheeran
Not only does he continue to control the
ARIA album charts, but, spoiler alert,
he was dominating a lot post-Game
Of Thrones talk after his cameo on the
show’s first episode back.
Spoiler Alert
While we’re on Game Of Thrones, we hate
having to avoid the internet until we are
able to watch the show due to everyone
immediately posting their thoughts about
the latest episode.
George Romero
Vale to the director. You can pretty much
draw a line through all the zombie related
culture today back to his seminal Night
Of The Living Dead and Dawn Of The
Dead films.
THE MUSIC • 19TH JULY 2017 • 9
Music
Vera Blue talks all things identity and folk electro
with Jessica Dale ahead of her latest release and
impending tour.
10 • THE MUSIC • 19TH JULY 2017
I
t seems like a cliche to say, but the last few years have been a
whirlwind for Vera Blue aka Celia Pavey. Since the inception of her
Vera Blue project, Pavey has worked with the likes of Illy on his track
Papercuts, spent time working overseas and is now on the cusp of
releasing Perennial, the debut album under her new moniker.
At just 23, Pavey has come a long way from her hometown of
Forbes in the central west of New South Wales, and she’s come even
further from being known as the girl who sang Scarborough Fair on
the The Voice Australia back in 2013. At the suggestion that Pavey
changed her name to buy herself some freedom from her reality
show earned fame, she disagrees.
“It wasn’t intentional, it just worked that way. I feel so blessed
that, especially triple j, took the project and just embraced it and
it could have just not worked but we just felt so strongly about it.
There’s something about the shift that really helped, I guess,” she
explains. “It wasn’t like I wasn’t going to go anywhere as Celia Pavey,
but I think it was just the next phase, I was ready to move forward as
doing another project and that doesn’t close the door on the Celia
Pavey stuff.”
Maybe it’s a sign of her age, maybe it’s a sign of the freedom
she feels under the protection of Vera Blue, but looking back on
old photos and performances, there’s a new breath of maturity and
confidence in how Pavey now carries herself. It’s a sentiment that
follows to the new album, with Perennial seeing Pavey swapping the
guitar folk tunes she’s become synonymous with for vocal driven
electro pop.
“It is a big change. Before the Vera Blue stuff was born, I was
just writing folk songs on my own and folk, it’s who I am. Folk music
is everything. I look up to artists like Joni Mitchell and Simon &
Garfunkel and artists like that, Angus & Julia Stone, and I was always
writing songs like that,” says Pavey. “I was super late to it but I
discovered electronic music and I was like ‘oh my Lord, I’ve just fallen
in love’. I listen to a lot of alt-J, FKA Twigs, and even songs back in
the day by Massive Attack and stuff like that, and I just fell in love
with the emotional side of electronic blending with the folk.”
It’s been a collaboration with brothers Andy and Thom Mak,
producers who have previously worked with Boy & Bear and Bertie
Blackman, that has played the biggest role in changing the music
Pavey creates.
“I met Andy on a writing camp called the Native Tongue, and
I was in a session with him and Australian singer-songwriter
Gossling, and I said to him ‘I write folk songs, I’ve got this song
called Fingertips that I’ve written a chorus for and I don’t know how
to finish it. I really love electronic music and I want to blend the two.’
And he was like ‘sweet, let’s just write the song.’ So Gossling and
I finished the song and then we recorded it with just a voice and a
guitar and Andy was like ‘I’m just gunna get to work on this and really
experiment’ and that’s how the song happened.
“And that was before the title Vera Blue came about as well. It
was really like just an experimental moment that really grabbed us
and we were like we probably should continue working. And then we
did the EP and Andy introduced his younger brother Thom, who’s a
co-writer, and the ball kept rolling and just got us really excited.”
The role the Mak brothers have played in the development of the
 Music

The album as a whole is very much
acknowledging vulnerability and
the fact that I wear my heart on
my sleeve.
Vera Blue sound is clear, with Pavey explaining how they are as much
a part of the Vera Blue identity as she is.
“Gossling, she was the one that put the idea into my head
because she has a name as well. And before I was just going to keep
Celia Pavey Music which was totally who I was at the time. Because
the sound was so different, I was like ‘I feel like it deserves its own
name’ so Vera Blue just kind of came from a few little things.
“Whenever I think of Vera Blue, I think of it as the collective. It’s
me, Andy, Thom and also another person, who’s just working with
us now, Jackson [Barclay]. He does a lot of engineering and then
recently he started working with my manager in the States, Adam
Anders, who is very fond of the project, so we finished the album
with him.”
For the new album, Pavey has shown no hesitation in being
absolutely and completely honest.
“The album is called Perennial and my dad actually came up with
the name because he’s a horticulturist,” she explains. “The term is
used to describe plants and flowers that grow back year after year,
and I really loved the word. It related to feelings and emotions and
memories returning, reoccurring, coming back and that’s definitely
what the album’s really about in a nutshell.”
“The album as a whole is very much acknowledging vulnerability
and the fact that I wear my heart on my sleeve.”
“It’s funny, some people are saying [it’s] ‘very honest, very real’
and it’s definitely part of who I am and who I’ve become as an artist
as well. A lot of artists like to hide their thoughts and their feelings
behind metaphors but with this record, I would just say stuff.
“I think with the production as well, we had no fear. There was a
real sense of no fear and just kind of going for it and exploring and
just having a lot of fun. It is a very, very honest record and in a way,
that’s touching back on the vulnerable thing. It’s really being open and
I’m really proud of the fact I’ve been so honest with my listeners as
well, I think that’s why they connect with it a lot.”
As much as Pavey comes across as the consummate
professional with her succinct, clever and considered answers, it’s in
the moments where she lets her guard down — sharing experiences
from her time at Splendour In The Grass last year, running into Jack
Garratt in an elevator in New York, telling of how Kasey Chambers
complimented her work at the ARIAs, the opportunity of a future
collaboration with her friend Flume — that really show the warmth,
humour and honesty that that many know her for.
The Perennial album launch arrives a few days before this story
went to print. Watching Pavey perform the new album, everything
she’s spoken about comes together; there’s no acoustic guitar in
front of her and she seems just as comfortable in playing a MIDI
board and sauntering around the stage, the emotion of her lyrics
always sitting right at the surface. It’s hard not to think that maybe
this was what she had in mind the whole time and was just waiting
for the right moment to unleash it.
What:
Perennial (Island/Universal)
When & Where:
21 Jul, Splendour In The Grass, North Byron Parklands; 28 Jul, Acad-
emy, Canberra; 29 Jul & 2 Sep, Metro Theatre; 31 Aug, UniBar, Wollon-
gong; 1 Sep, The Beery, Terrigal; 8 Sep, Bar On The Hill, Newcastle

VERA BLUE: When asked which song on
ELECTRO FOLK POP Perennial she’s most excited
RIOT GRRRL? to get out into the world, Pavey
answers quickly, sharing
the story behind new song
Lady Powers and why she
feels it’s so important for her
listeners.”There’s a song called
Lady Powers, which was quite
a recent one that we wrote, and
it was written in a place in my
life where I felt like I was maybe
being a little bit disrespected,
so I found that real strength and
real kind of empowerment and
it’s something I hadn’t quite felt
before and I just can’t wait to get
that on stage to really just have
fun and dance and connect.
“I’m super lucky though because
I’ve been really well respected
by men in general, everyone’s so
respectful and so lovely. When
I was writing that song, that
was just a particular moment
where I was feeling like I wasn’t.
It didn’t last long but it’s good
to have that song to hopefully
last forever to remind me that
and remind other women that
we’re strong and we shouldn’t
have to use our sexuality to be
respected. We should just be
respected for who we are.”

THE MUSIC • 19TH JULY 2017 • 11


Film
Baby On Board
Baby Driver is already being called the best film of 2017
and speaking to Neil Griffiths, director Edgar Wright
reveals how he came up with the movie over 20 years ago.
t’s understood that the premise of Baby Driver was
I inspired by Mint Royale’s 2003 music video for Blue
Song, which Wright also directed. However, the UK
filmmaker, who is also behind critically acclaimed films
such as Shaun Of The Dead and Scott Pilgrim Vs The
World, explains that the film came to him after listening to
one particular track by The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion.
“I think even before I did [Blue Song] with Noel
Fielding, which is, like, 15 years ago now, I had already
wanted to do it as a movie,” he says.
Baby Driver, Edgar Wright & Ansel Elgort
All I can say is I’m very proud of the
movie and it is the movie that I dreamt
up all those years ago
“So the idea goes even further back from then until
I was 21 in, like, 1995 and I heard the first track that’s
in the movie, Bellbottoms, by The Jon Spencer Blues
Explosion. When I listened to that track, I would just
start imagining this scene, this car chase. Eventually, I
thought, ‘I have to come up with a movie that goes with
this vision in my head.’ So that eventually became Baby’s
story and the script as it is. But it wasn’t until, like, ten
years ago, after [Wright’s 2007 film, Hot Fuzz] that I said
out loud to my producers, I have this idea for this movie,
Baby Driver, and Eric Fellner, one of my producers, said
‘What is that?’ and I said, ‘It’s like a car movie driven by
music.’ And he said, ‘I want to see that.’ So I have to hand
it to them that they just kind of had unwavering faith in
getting this movie made.”
12 • THE MUSIC • 19TH JULY 2017
Baby Driver tells the story of a young getaway driver,
Baby, [Ansel Elgort] who works against his will for a
criminal kingpin [Kevin Spacey]. To cope with tinnitus,
Baby almost always has his iPod hooked into his ears. If
you haven’t seen the film yet, consider this your heads up
— the soundtrack is incredible.
“It’s basically a combination of my two different
passions, which is cinema and music,” the 43-year-old
director says of the connection between story and music
in Baby Driver.
“But I always wanted to do, like, a heist movie and
a sort-of car-chase movie. But my idea was to sort of
filter that through my love of music. It’s a movie about a
getaway driver where you get to see the story through his
eyes but crucially hear it through his ears.”
So vital is music to the story, that Wright and his
team created an app of the script for the cast that would
allow them to read along and press play at certain
scenes where music is played.
“It’s pretty cool,” he smiles. “Even when Kevin Spacey
and Jamie Foxx and Ansel [Elgort] read it, they had this
app where you can press the button and the song would
start playing.”
Reviews for Baby Driver have been so positive that
calls for a sequel are already being made and Wright,
who also wrote the film, says it is on the cards.
“I mean, I don’t think there is a sequel without me,”
Wright laughs. “I think though that is something that
came up before the movie came out, actually. You know,
the thing is, I hadn’t really thought about it until I was
actually making the movie and working with the actors.
And that was the first time I started to think, ‘I’d like to
see these characters again.’ So it’s not a definite, but it’s
something that is being thought about.”
Given how impressive some of the films featured on
Wright’s resume are, to say Baby Driver is the best of the
bunch, let alone of 2017, is a big call. However, it’s not a
debate he wants any part of. “I’m not the one to, kind of,
rank my own movies. I couldn’t,” he says. “It’s like asking
to pick between your different children. So all I can say
is I’m very proud of the movie and it is the movie that I
dreamt up all those years ago. For it to be out in cinemas
in 2017 and connecting with a mainstream audience is
amazing to me.”
What:
Baby Driver
THE MUSIC • 19TH JULY 2017 • 13

TV
Written In The Stars
The Southern Cross has become synonymous with the
racist, white nationalism dividing Australian society.
Director Warwick Thornton tells Guy Davis why he’s taking
the symbol back.
“A
ustralians are incredibly fucking lazy, you know?
Unbelievably lazy. They don’t Google, they don’t
really want information, so you have to give it
to them.”
Warwick Thornton doesn’t hold back when asked
why he made his documentary We Don’t Need A Map,
which looks at the history of the Southern Cross in both
Indigenous and western culture, and how as a symbol its
meaning and reputation has been tarnished by people
rallying behind it as a totem of white nationalism. Indeed,
Thornton’s film was sparked by an offhand comment he
made in 2010 that the Southern Cross was being co-opted
We Don’t Need A Map
Australians are incredibly
fucking lazy, you know?
Unbelievably lazy.
for racist purposes, not unlike the swastika.
While there’s a subsection of vocal, aggressive thugs
using the Southern Cross to spout loathsome ‘Fuck off,
we’re full’ rhetoric, We Don’t Need A Map explores the
rich, vast history of the cosmic constellation and the
complicated history of depictions of it, with Thornton
himself acting as both tour guide and student as he
travels all around Australia gleaning wisdom from
Indigenous elders, academic sources and outspoken
commentators, including hip hop artist Briggs.
“There’s a lot of information out there about the
Southern Cross but people don’t get off their arses to go
look for it — we just sit on our arses and let shit happen,”
says Thornton. “So it was really a case of, ‘Here, look at
this.’ And you can learn something if you want. Or you
14 • THE MUSIC • 19TH JULY 2017
can change the fucking channel — it’s all cool. But giving
people access to information — taking the horse to water,
at the very least — is important.”
Thornton, the director of the acclaimed 2009 feature
Samson And Delilah, is quick to admit that he’s not being
didactic with this film, and that the process was an
educational experience for him as well. “The journey was
as much for me,” he says. “I hate those kinds of films
where the filmmaker says, ‘I’m really important, come with
me so I can teach you stuff.’ It was important that I don’t
even know what the fuck I’m doing, so the audience can
come with me. There’s a lot of the film about the culture
that I didn’t know, and I’m a blackfella. The interpretation
of Southern Cross up in Arnhem Land, for instance. So
there’s a shitload out there, and you just want to pass
it on.”
Something that emerges during We Don’t Need A
Map is how the Southern Cross is viewed differently by
black and white culture, with western eyes drawn — even
subconsciously — to the Christian symbolism of the cross
while Indigenous legends see the constellation as points
on a cosmic journey. And getting that information proved
a tough but worthwhile process.
“There are certain people who have the right to talk
about Southern Cross and what it is and how it is used,”
says Thornton. “We couldn’t just talk to any blackfella.”
At the same, the filmmaker says he was happy to
add a few different voices into the mix. “Yeah, totally,
there was a lot of ebb and flow,” he laughs. “I talked to
some rock stars because I like their company — they’re
shit-stirrers and they don’t hold back. But it’s a shared
history — Southern Cross has a lot of wonderful things
about it and a lot of shitty things about it. I thought it
was very important that we share what we know with
other Australians about how country evolved, about how
nationalism evolved, about why we’re all so afraid of other
people coming here and we use that symbol of the star to
stop them from coming here.”
And while there’s plenty of pride and fascination in
the long history and varied interpretations of the Southern
Cross in We Don’t Need A Map, Thornton also sees the film
as a cautionary tale in some regards.
“A symbol of democracy can turn very quickly into
a symbol of ‘us against them’,” he says. “It’s a beautiful
symbol that’s been hijacked by a lot of dickheads. If
someone’s grandfather fought in a war and they want to
use the Southern Cross to pay tribute to that, no one’s
saying they can’t. But people are having to get rid of it
now because other people have wrecked it for everyone
by being dickheads. So it’s about where we’re going as a
country, how we’re shutting ourselves down like America
seems to be at the moment and how other countries
have in the past. We’re going down that path in a way —
we’re travelling a lot slower than what happened in the
1930s — but it’s a slope we could easily slip down if we’re
not careful. We’ve got to be talking about it now, having
conversations to make sure it doesn’t fuckin’ happen.”
What:
We Don’t Need A Map
When & Where:
23 Jul on SBS and NITV
 Broadbeach

plus special guests

KASEY CHAMBERS
TROY CASSAR-DALEY
THE WOLFE BROTHERS - SARA STORER
SHANE NICHOLSON - TRAVIS COLLINS
CAITLYN SHADBOLT - DREW MCALISTER - FANNY LUMSDEN
JULY 28-30, 2017 TOMATO TOMATO - THE VIPER CREEK BAND - JETTY ROAD
LACHLAN BRYAN AND THE WILDES - THE WEEPING WILLOWS
AND MANY MORE

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bands performing in 100+ venues;
4000+ media/press and more than
5000 Conference speakers in 2000
sessions. Over 40 Australian bands
performed in 2017; more than 450 in
nine years. 60% of our 750 delegates
in 2017 were Interactive/Marketing,
30% Music, 10% Film and Comedy.

Southwest Shock Records 2X veteran

Glenn Dickie—Export Music Producer
Who should attend FREE?!?
Both veterans of SXSW wanting to
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Sydney Meet Sounds Australia, former A&R EMI, a
whopping 17x SXSW veteran
SXSW to break through the global
convergence industries. In Music;

‘n’ Greet Presented by 15 year SXSW Senior

The Lansdowne Hotel
(cnr City Road & Broadway)
5:30 pm
Tuesday August 1
Business Development Manager
Phil Tripp—RSVP tripp@sxsw.com
Starting with networking drinks at
5:30 and program commencing
at 6pm to 7:30, we reveal the ins
and outs of attending, applying to
showcase, travelling, performing or
screening a film, interfacing with
interactive and marketing attendees
and generally having a great
productive time profitably.
artists, managers, agents, publishers,
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companies and media. In Interactive;
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SXSW.COM

THE MUSIC • 19TH JULY 2017 • 15


Vale
George A
Romero
Director, horror visionary and creator of
the greatest zombie franchise of all time,
George A Romero, has died aged 77.
Best known for the shock horror gore-
fest, Night Of The Living Dead, Romero
fathered the modern day zombie movie,
blazing a trail not only for later exponents
of the shuffling brain-eaters, but for many
subgenre horror movie makers. Romero’s
personal canon of zombie movies,
spanning more than half a century, set the
standard for zombies on screen, as well
as originating the familiar movie tropes
that would come to define decades of
undead films and TV series. His rise to
acclaim was not an easy one, however.
Despite extensive lobbying, Romero was
met by scorn and scepticism when he
tried to convince a studio to make his
first zombie flick – originally titled Night
Of The Flesh Eaters – back in 1968. After
raising the modest $114,000 budget
himself, he managed to get his picture
in front of audiences, and while critics
were quick to pan the film, the people
were instantly hooked. Cinema and the
horror genre in particular will never be the
same again.
16 • THE MUSIC • 19TH JULY 2017
Music
In The Afterglow
What do you do once you’ve
taken the title for the fastest-
selling debut album in
Icelandic history? If you’re
Asgeir, play Splendour In
The Grass and tour Australia,
Jessica Dale discovers.
Asgeir Trausti Einarsson has had a busy
few years. His debut album Dyro i dauoapogn
became the fast-selling debut album in
Icelandic history when it was released back
in 2012. It’s estimated that one-tenth of
the population of Iceland own a copy, and
it even outperformed his fellow Icelandic
counterparts Bjork (her self-titled debut) and
Sigur Ros’ Von. It’s something that isn’t lost
on the 25-old-year.
“I’m just thankful. I don’t really know how
to feel about it. I’m just really thankful for
that, ever so,” says Trausti Einarsson. “It gave
me a lot. I think I’m much more complete
as a musician now than I was when I was
starting out. That big kind of stuff, that was
kind of a push to go and do all the things I’m
doing, and really I’m just thankful for that.”
Two years after the release of Dyro i
dauoapogn, Trausti Einarsson played a set at
Splendour In The Grass and then two sold-
out shows at Sydney Opera House the year
after. He’s back on Australian shores this
week to perform once again at the festival
and share his new work, Afterglow.
When asked if he thinks he gained a
whole lot of new Australian fans on his last
Splendour trip, he laughs and shares, “I
guess so, I don’t really know how to measure
it. I just remember
that there were
many, many people
watching the show
so I guess we won
some over.
“We really love
coming there. For all
of us [his band], it’s
one of our favourite
countries to tour and
it’s so different to
what we’re used to,
obviously, and the
audience has always
been great,” he says.
“I think the
setlist is a bit
stronger now so
we can pick the
most powerful
songs to play at
festivals like Splendour In The Grass,” he
explains. “We have as well - I don’t know if
we’re going to use it, but we have a little bit
more production on stage so it’s going to be
a little bit more visual than before, which I
think helps the show a lot. I think that’s what
you can expect. I think it’s just going to be
really fun.
“On the sideshows, it will probably be a
bit [of a] longer setlist. The sideshows are
probably a bit more dynamic.”
This time ‘round, Trausti Einarsson
has invited Aussie artist Gordi to join him
for his sideshows. “I discovered her music
a few years ago and I think it’s great. It’s
really, really good, and I think our music has
something in common. I don’t really know
what it is but maybe it’s just a feeling. I just
think it’s a good fit.”
As for what’s on after his Australian
stint, Trausti Einarsson and his band plan
to continue touring Afterglow for the rest
of the year and enjoy some much-deserved
downtime. “We’ll be touring in the States and
we’re going to play in Iceland in the autumn.
We’ll be touring Europe a little bit as well,”
he says. “Then, in between, I’m just going to
enjoy time back home.”
When & Where:
21 Jul, Enmore Theatre; 22 Jul, Splendour In
The Grass, North Byron Parklands
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THE MUSIC • 19TH JULY 2017 • 17

Culture
DORKS
DO
SPORTS
In times of yore, the
poor ol’ dork was
nothing more than
bully fodder. But since
those dark days of
“Hello, McFly!” the
humble brainiac has
cast off the shackles
of social awkwardness
to become the world’s
favorite underdog. Le
geek is now on fleek,
and that’s seen a new
wave of nerd-tastic
competitions enter the
mainstream. Strap in
people, these are the
sports for dorks.
18 • THE MUSIC • 19TH JULY 2017
Culture
Quidditch
The worlds conjured in JK Rowling’s
blockbusting Harry Potter saga are
impressively detailed, just look at the
extensive and exhaustively explained
rules of the wizarding world’s answer
to footy, namely Quidditch. But taking
a game supposedly played on flying
broomsticks with bewitched balls
that either try to fly away from you at
high speed or try to smash into you
at high speed, and making it a reality
in our muggle world is a weird mix of
competitive sport and make-believe.
Instead of magic flying balls, various
people take on the roles, and instead of
flying around in the air, you run around a
field. You do, however, still have a broom
between your legs.
Live Action Role Play
LARPing as it’s often called is what happens
when the nerds who played Dungeons
& Dragons in a basement, a la Stranger
Things, decide to bring their fantasy gaming
into above ground. Gamers dress as their
characters - knights, elves, wizards, nymphs
and everything else in between - and act out
the adventures of their avatars in a real-world
environment, usually a public park or sports
field. If it sounds goofy, keep it to yourself.
LARPers take the activity very seriously and
a huge part of the appeal is that they get to
live out their gaming without risk of scorn or
embarrassment. So, get practicing your best
Sir Ian McKellen ‘YOU SHALL NOT PASS’ and
start polishing your chainmail - you’ve got
some dragons to slay.
Drone Racing
Motorsports are big business - hardly a surprise when the essential hardware to take
part costs hundreds of thousands of dollars. Fortunately, speed freaks with less cash
to splash can now test their mettle in the skies, thanks to drone racing. The world’s
fastest drone weighs just 800 grams and has a top speed just shy of 290kph. Not too
shabby, eh? The most experienced drone racers use VR goggles to get a drone’s-eye
view of the racecourse - a series of suspended hoops and obstacles designed to test
the maneuverability as well as the velocity of a contestant’s vehicle.
THE MUSIC • 19TH JULY 2017 • 19
 Indie
WAWAWOW
E
very so often bands are formed
organically, other times it takes a
bit of manufacturing. Four-piece
WAWAWOW lie somewhere in between. After
three of its members were hand-picked for
another band, everything else began to fall
into place.
“A singer assembled us as
instrumentalists in a pop rock band, however,
we got along really well musically and
jammed way too much,” drummer Shaun
Allen explains. “Us three started a new group,
spent years in obscurity experimenting with
our sound, and once we added a fourth
member, we knew the sound was ready.”
Allen and his psych-junk cohorts are
currently knee-deep in creating tunes for
their upcoming 2018 EP, but listeners
shouldn’t be expecting a more streamlined
sound. On the contrary, WAWAWOW have
decidedly made music that is still a little
rough around the edges.
“We aimed for perfection in the studio...
but after we achieved it, it didn’t sound like
us,” Allen muses. “We re-recorded much
of it with our old inferior gear in a garage
as it just felt much closer to our actual
untamed sound.”
Their current single, Fluoro Fitzwilliam, is
just a taste of what their upcoming EP will be
sonically, and it appears ‘psych-junk’ is very
much front and centre.
“Thematically the music is kind of
a balance between very tight but bent
rigidness and absurdly chaotic sound.” Allen
elaborates, “We wanted to explore just how
far we could take a kind of absurd excess,
into this overblown cartoonish image.
“It’s unsexy.”
When & Where:
22 Jul, 107 Projects, Redfern
20 • THE MUSIC • 19TH JULY 2017
Indie
The Owls
EP Focus
Answered by: Joey Bourke
EP Title? Rainy Day
How many releases do you have now? Rainy
Day (10 Aug) is our fourth EP. Our previous
release Own The Streets came out in 2014.
Was anything in particular inspiring you
during the making? The tour for Own The
Streets was 30-ish dates across every state
and territory. We returned home and all had a
hard time adjusting back to normality, so this
EP reflects those ups and downs.
Raave Tapes
Have You Heard
Answered by: Joab Eastley
When did you start making music and why? I
started in about Year Nine when I discovered
effects pedals. I could never play as well as
my peers, but I sure did make wallowing in
mediocrity sound interesting. Not much has
changed really.
Sum up your musical sound in four words?
Indie Garage Dance Punk
What’s your favourite song on it?
Our next single Don’t Waste Your
Time (On A Rainy Day) got me
hooked when we were writing it.
We’ll like this EP if we like...
People have compared the
songs to ‘90s guitar bands like
The Dandy Warhols or BRMC, or
‘60s garage pop like The Kinks -
so if you’re a fan of those!
When and where is your launch/
next gig? 20 Jul, The Hotel
Steyne. We’re also touring the
east coast 9 -19 Aug.
Website link for more info?
http://www.facebook.com/
theowlsonline
If you could only listen to one
album forevermore, what would
it be and why? Easy choice - The
Veronicas’ seminal debut album
The Secret Life Of... because the
terms ‘guilty’ and ‘pleasure’ aren’t
in my vocabulary.
Greatest rock’n’roll moment
of your career to date? I once
opened the door for Daniel
Johns at a local music store. He
nodded politely. I fumbled for
words but none came out. It was
pretty lit.
Why should people come and
see your band? Come if you’re
nice, because we’re pretty nice
people who enjoy having a really
nice time. It’s nice. You’re nice.
When and where are your next
gigs? 28 Jul, Hotel Steyne. Plus
we’ve also curated a mini fest
in Newcastle feat Good Boy on
20 Aug.
Website link for more info?
facebook.com/RAAVETAPES/
 Music

with his girlfriend,

Drowned In Sound former member of
Dirty Projectors —
A Whole
and… Slasher
Flicks member —
Angel Deradoorian.
Spending day
New World
after day by
himself, writing
songs in the sun,
Portner conceived
of an acoustic
album inspired
by California’s
environment.
“All these ideas,
images started
flooding in, burning
in my brain,” Portner
offers. “It started as
Almost drowning changed the this very intimate, Mena Massoud
very personal,
way Dave Portner “felt about
bedroom-recording
the ocean”, Anthony Carew thing about this specific time in my life, in
discovers while chatting with this specific place; the relationships I was
having in California and the memories it was
the Animal Collective wailer bringing up.” Disney is hoping lightning strikes
about his Avey Tare project. Portner wanted Eucalyptus to “feel like twice after the success of its live
you were travelling through an environment, action Beauty And The Beast, with its
like it was this sonic journey”. The album was hotly anticipated live action Aladdin.
cryptically announced when puzzles were Former 1D-er Zayn Malik had been a

I
n 2014, Dave Portner — aka Animal
Collective wailer Avey Tare — travelled
with bandmate Brian ‘Geologist’ Weitz to
Mexico, where they had access to a remote
beach in a marine conservation area of the
Gulf of California. Portner went out to sea,
and almost never came back.
“I was able to swim out past this section
of rock, where you couldn’t touch the ocean
floor, so I could just free-float,” the 38 year old
recounts. “I tried to turn back, but the ocean
was so strong that I thought I wasn’t going
to be able to make it back to shore. I almost
gave up. But, finally, I managed to make it
back to shore, and I threw up immediately.
That changed the way I felt about the
ocean: you have to respect something so
powerful that it could, at any moment, just
destroy you… It’s a feeling I’ve always
remembered, and it’s something I relate back
to when I’m feeling struggle, or overwhelmed
by anything else in my life.”
The second solo record for Avey Tare,
Eucalyptus, picks up on this idea. In 2014,
Portner was living in Los Angeles. He’d
finished off Enter The Slasher House, the
debut LP for his new band, Avey Tare’s Slasher
Flicks, but it wasn’t out yet. Animal Collective
had yet to start work on their tenth album,
2016’s Painting With. And he’d just broken up
sent out to listeners; because, he explains,
“the album came together like a puzzle”.
At times, the environmental overtones get
heavy; as on Coral Lords, which evokes the
demise of coral as bellwether of greater
environmental decay. It’s a cousin to Coral
Orgy, a live collaboration between Animal
Collective and the video-art activists Coral
Morphologic, that was staged in February.
Another song on the LP, Selection Of A Place,
also appeared on Animal Collective’s 2017 EP
Meeting Of The Waters, which was recorded
live in the Amazon.
“I wanted to focus on the birth and death
of the environment,” Portner says, “explore
the life of a human as a microcosm of a
macrocosm. So, I could contrast smaller
things — the birth and death of feelings, the
birth and death of the relationship I had,
the birth and death of my time in LA — with
the birth and death of the environment.
Just as people around us die, so too is the
environment dying.”
What:
Eucalyptus (Domino/EMI)
fan favourite for the potential titular
lead, but Disney has now revealed
that Canadian-Egyptian actor Mena
Massoud will helm the film as the
plucky street-urchin turned Arabian
prince turned Genie liberator. While a
relatively unfamiliar face compared
to Malik, Massoud has some hot
creds to his name, including a lead
role in Amazon’s upcoming Jack
Ryan series. Opposite Massoud as
Princess Jasmine will be British
actor Naomi Scott, who played the
Pink Ranger in this year’s flop-tastic
Power Rangers movie.
However, the biggest shoes to fill will
inevitably be those of the late, great
Robin Williams. That unenviable task
is set to be braved by Will Smith, who
will no doubt bring his own exuberant
flavour to the role of the Genie.
Currently there is no release date
for the Guy Ritchie-directed movie,
but it’s pretty much guaranteed to
be one of the biggest movie hits of
next year.

THE MUSIC • 19TH JULY 2017 • 21

Comedy
Out Of
This World
“I
want to be the first comedian in space,” Rhys Darby declares
as we discuss bucket list career goals. “I think getting beyond
this world and actually working in space would be a dream
come true. If there’s a spaceship heading to Mars in my lifetime,
with a crew of fascinating people that are going to create to the next
human civilisation, then maybe I’d want to be on that ship, even if
I’m in my sixties. But as an entertainer. People are still going to need
entertainment in space, right?”
It’s a bold ambition, but the New Zealand-born comedy megastar
already has plenty of experience braving strange new worlds. Since
2014, Darby has been based in the heart of America’s notoriously
ruthless showbiz thunderdome, Los Angeles. The standard issue
dog-eat-dog mentality — the default setting for many the Hollywood
elite Darby now calls neighbour — is quite literally a world away from
the affable, ultra laid back New Zealand spirit this much loved funny
man reflects. While he may now boast global fame, the comedy
actor has managed to maintain the same soft spoken, endearingly
awkward, bumbling charm that has been an ever-present fulcrum for
his various characters. Like an elastic tether, his disarming nature
22 • THE MUSIC • 19TH JULY 2017
New Zealand’s greatest comedy export
Rhys Darby is a weirdo and proud. He talks
reincarnation, space travel and conquering alien
worlds with Maxim Boon.
speaks to Darby’s strong connection to his native Kiwi culture.
Whereas other antipodean imports to the American TV and film
industry have had almost all trace of their country of origin wiped
away — the likes of Russell Crowe, Karl Urban and Sam Neill amongst
the most high-profile examples — Darby has not only retained his, but
made it his trademark.
This is in no small part thanks to the way his side-splitting talents
were first introduced to the world. As Murray Hewitt, the adorably
byzantine band manager and NZ-US cultural attache, with hair
like a lego-man and “ginger balls” to match, he became a beloved
cult figure on hit HBO comedy series, Flight Of The Conchords. It’s
been ten years since Darby, alongside Jemaine Clement and Bret
McKenzie, first flew his Conchord to the States. And in that time, he’s
built up an impressive number of other screen credits, landing his
first major movie role in 2008, starring opposite Jim Carrey in Yes
Man, followed by appearances in a string of film and TV hits including
The Boat That Rocked (2009) and NZ-made indie hit Hunt For The
Wilderpeople (2016). Later this year, he’ll be making his summer
blockbuster debut in in the hotly anticipated reboot of Jumanji. But
predating this world-reaching screen success, Darby was putting in
the hard yards refining his craft on the live comedy circuit, first in his
native New Zealand and then, following the success of his first solo
show at the 2002 Edinburgh Festival, in the UK.
I want to be the first comedian
in space.
While his innate Kiwi-ness may now be the quality turning the
heads of American casting agents, it was during his time in Britain
that Darby realised what an asset his national heritage was. “I’d
always been obsessed with the great British comedy actors — Monty
Python was absolutely everything to me — so I wanted to get over
to the UK and be part of that. But when I finally arrived there, I found
that having a unique New Zealand angle became an advantage.
I was one of the few acts that had this accent and this style of
performance. It’s funny thinking about it, because I wanted to get
there and be part of something, but being outside of that was the
thing that opened doors for me,” he explains. “So I used that to my
advantage, and in American, the biggest land of all, they really took it.
So yeah, it’s become something to be proud of, the way I speak and
think, because it’s got that different level to it — it’s different to the
stock standard stuff people and can see and hear almost anywhere.”
There is, however, one facet of the New Zealand identity Darby
was keen to shed: “I think sometimes New Zealand gets stuck in
 Darby turns lizard “Were-Monster” for The X Files
this idea of itself as this tiny rural country, a remote island at the
bottom of the world. But that, ‘We don’t really matter, let’s just get our
head down and stick to farming’ attitude didn’t really click for me. I
always felt from the beginning that I would try and seek the big time.
I believed I could make it, that I was just as good as the big British
stars I really admired.”
It’s not only his tenacity and globetrotting that have helped
Darby forge such an accomplished career. As a performer, he boasts
an extraordinary level of versatility, showing fine form at standup,
improvisation (as showcased in the recent Australian incarnation of
the Whose Line Is It Anyway? franchise), acting, singing, writing and
even political activism. “It’s something that’s just emerged over time,”
Darby insists. “The only idea I had at the beginning was that I wanted
to be involved in live comedy and I wanted to eventually end up
acting. I’m happiest when I’m performing, and I’ve never said ‘No’ to
anything. I’m a big yes man. Actually, being in the film Yes Man was
a real watershed moment for me. I think that experience showed me
where my career might be headed. Some standups might only write
one kind of joke or perform in a certain way. For me, comedy felt like
a much bigger universe.”
Another aspect of Darby’s personality has proven just as
magnetic as his quintessential New Zealandness. He’s a card-
carrying nerd. “I’ve always been obsessed with paranormal stuff and
robots and things like that. I’ve always done goofy sound effects
and mimicked ray guns and what have you on stage” he smiles.
“I don’t know if you believe in things like this, but I think if you put
yourself out there, if you show that you’re really into these kinds of
things, then one thing leads to another and you end up being part of
them.” Indeed, revealing his inner-geek has led the comedian to some
surprising opportunities, including a guest appearance on The X-Files
and a recurring role voicing Coran on the Netflix remake of anime
saga Voltron.
He’s also wearing his paranormal-loving heart on his sleeve in
his latest stand-up show, Mystic Time Bird. Drawing inspiration from
a deeply personal event, it features a mercurial mix of emotional
candour and batshit kookiness. “My mother passed away last year,
and I was stuck in Hawaii working, with a lot of time to myself, and
I really started to think about who I was and whether I wanted to
continue in comedy. I felt like a lot of me was doing it for mum, and
I wasn’t sure how much I was really getting out of it personally,” he
shares. “So, I went to get some advice, and I found this mystical man
— a kind of shaman if you will. And he believed that I was a bird in a
previous existence. So yeah... it’s possibly the weirdest show I’ve ever
put out there.”
He may be tapping The Twilight Zone for his comedy, but Darby
hopes by embracing his more eccentric side he’ll set an example
for other kindred misfits. In fact, it’s a tactic that has helped him
conquer an alien stronghold. “There’s a lot of people who probably
grow up thinking, ‘I’m a geek. I don’t fit in here. I’ll just hide away in
my bedroom and play computer games.’ It feels like it’s so easy for
people to feel insecure about not fitting in at the moment. But if you
can be proud of the fact you’re different and put yourself out there
as a bit of a weirdo, then all the other weirdos will come out of the
woodwork to work with you. I think that’s why I’ve managed to fit in in
LA. Hollywood is a whole bunch of weirdos.”
What:
Mystic Time Bird
When & Where:
18 Aug, Just For Laughs, Enmore Theatre
THE MUSIC • 19TH JULY 2017 • 23
 We’ve all been waiting expectantly for a
few months, but finally Splendour In The
Grass is here. Taking place this weekend
at North Byron Parklands, you can catch
performances of The xx, Queens Of The
Stone Age, LCD Soundsystem, HAIM, Sigur

In
Ros and many more, alongside The Science
Tent, Comedy Club, The Very Small Suburb,
kids only adventures in Little Splendour and
a huge arts program among other sidelights.

Pics: Bec Taylor

Focus
Splendour
In The Grass

24 • THE MUSIC • 19TH JULY 2017

 the with Maxim & Sam

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THE MUSIC • 19TH JULY 2017 • 25

Opinion
Generation
Why?
Maxim Boon is a Xennial, but he’s far from
proud about it. He asks why we need more
reasons to divide our society in a time where
we’re already more divided than ever.
T
he Stone Age was an epoch of human civilisation
that lasted a leviathan 2.5 million years. This was
followed by the Copper Age, lasting 1,800 years, the
Bronze Age, lasting another couple millennia, and then the
Iron Age, another thousand years or so. In those far-flung
eras of the distant past, mankind was seemingly pretty
chill about the leisurely pace of the turning wheel of time.
But then came the 20th century, and suddenly the human
race got itself in one big damn hurry. Gone was the stately
procession of eons neatly portioning out the progress
of our species, replaced by a stampede of warring
generations, each perfectly capturing the shifting values
of successive demographics, each diametrically fucked
thanks to their forebears.
It’s difficult to figure out a practical purpose for this
great carving up of living memory. Was it to give the
world some more politically correct corners of society
at which to aim their ire, a kind of wholesome, guilt-free
bigotry? Was it to distract us from the very real issues
right under our noses. Gaping class divides, dug-in racial
inequality, and entrenched gender biases — social crises
that should be feeling our wrath, if only it wasn’t all too
much like hard work to fix?
Ultimately, if you’re in a position to feel irked by
another generation, or to even acknowledge that there’s
enough of a generational difference to give a shit
about it in the first place, then you’re probably living a
reasonable privileged existence — those whose reality
is discrimination, poverty or homelessness aren’t likely
to have too much spare worrying capacity to chide a
20-something about their choice of brunch. It’s at this
point I acknowledge the irony of pointing out this fact
in an opinion piece that does exactly that. But to come
to the sharp end of my particular #FirstWorldProblem,
a new development in the generation wars has, in this
grumpy scribe’s opinion, taken our apparent need for
unnecessary pigeonholing to new, utterly redundant
levels. Behold, the microgeneration.
Specifically, the Xennials — those born between
1977 and 1983. While it’s been claimed this term,
and its variants — Generation Catalano (an obscure
reference to ‘90s TV staple My So-Called Life) and
Generation Oregon Trail (an even more obscure reference
to an early educational computer game in the US) —
have been rattling around for a few years, a slurry of
digital white noise clogged Twitter feeds and status
updates last week. Thanks to an article published by
26 • THE MUSIC • 19TH JULY 2017
Mamamia, mistakenly declaring an Aussie academic,
Professor Dan Woodman, as the boffin behind the great
microgenerational discovery, an explosion of content
soon erupted, replete with quizzes to test your eligibility
to join this new-found clique, and nostalgia pieces
reminiscing about long defunct websites — RIP MSN
Messenger, Bebo and Friends Reunited — and the miracle
of organising our social lives before mobile phones.
I myself fall into this newly heralded niche, and like
my fellow Xennials, I am armed with the withering sass
of Gen X but with the can-do optimism of those sweet,
silly Millenials. Apparently.
But, as seems to be the way of things in the
generational wars, must I now declare those from
opposing clans — the Gen Xs, The Millennials, even the
grizzled ol’ Baby Boomers — my mortal enemies? After
all, they’ve all got it better than me. We were the practice
generation for the digital age, as the internet worked out
its clockwork-slow kinks thanks to our low expectations
and lack of tech savvy. Can you blame me for feeling a
bit sour that today a hormonal 15-year-old has instant
access to the full gamete of sexual filth the internet has
to offer, whereas my generation had to make do with the
Bonds catalogue or that dirty mag we found in a skip
that one time? And since we’ve only just been made
aware of the deep, divisive differences between us and
our other generational foes, we can’t even enjoy the
scorn of being the angsty, rebellious whippersnappers on
the youngest end of the generational spectrum. We are
the poor, deprived middle child — the dowdy, undervalued
Jan Brady of generations.
“So what?” you cry, and yeah, you’ve got a point
there, bub. Perhaps it is harmless enough to toy with the
idea of generational divides. But it begs the question,
on a slightly more sober note, if there is no practical
value to laying down these arbitrary borders, surely it
is better to look for unity in an age where the political
mainstream seems determined to persecute and isolate
real minorities? Put an avocado on that and smash it,
Millennial scum. (Just kidding... sort of).
 Industry

Filling The Void

which dropped
off the map a few
years ago. During
its prime, Fuse was
Indie-Con conference speaker
Jen Cloher “a real focal point”
that saw a wealth
of people fly in from
around the country
annually. And so,
for the next three
years, while the AIR
Awards are in SA,
Watters is hoping
they’ll see a similar
Best
Indie-Con conference programmer
Stuart Watters
trend, all with the
goal of “trying to
Independent
establish an event
that can hold its own
long term”.
Label
Australia’s newest music “Making sure
there’s a long-term
conference, Indie-Con,
viability around it is
is looking to reshape the absolutely paramount,” Watters reiterates.
country’s independent music “So getting the content right, making it speak
to the people who are going and making it
scene, as programmer Stuart relevant to those people is important.
Watters tells Daniel Cribb. “From the CEO of the largest
independent in the country to the
independent artists that walk in the door,

“W
e can bring something that is The Australian Independent Record
they’ve all got to walk away with something
unique to the music industry Labels Association have just revealed the
that’s useful, meaningful and [that] they can
that’s not trying to compete nominees for Best Independent Label
apply to their business.”
with any of the pre-existing events, and at the upcoming AIR Awards on 27 Jul.
There’ll be a number of panels
that’s certainly been first and foremost They are:
throughout the conference that do just that,
in our minds,” tells Indie-Con conference
including speakers such as Portia Sabin (Kill
programmer Stuart Watters as the inaugural Barely Dressed Records
Rock Stars/The Future Of What), Jen Cloher,
two-day July event fast approaches.
Briggs, Sebastian Chase (MGM) and more. Elefant Traks
“We are not a BIGSOUND and nor do we
“There are a couple of key topics that need
want to be. We are not a Face The Music
to be [discussed] by the independent label I OH YOU
and nor do we want to be... we want to
sector. One of those is what’s happening
complement each and every one of those Jazzhead
with safe harbour; it’s a big issue among the
events by having a dedicated space for the
recording sector.
independent label system that can feed into Pieater
“Is block chain important? What is block
whatever those events are doing.”
chain? I would say a lot of labels - and I UNFD
Curated by Australian Independent
would argue a lot of the music industry -
Record Labels Association (AIR) - of which
have a very rudimentary understanding of
Watters was CEO for five years - the new
what block chain is.
music industry conference accompanies
“On the artist side, I’m very interested
their highly anticipated annual awards
in trying to empower artists to understand
ceremony, this year making its Adelaide
how they can harness and utilise data to give
debut. Indie-Con was first established in the
them the insight to make informed choices
UK by AIR’s sister association, AIM, in an
about where they invest.”
effort to address the needs of independent
labels and artists. “We think that’s a fantastic
event in its own right, and it just made sense
that we would develop something locally
here in the Australian market,” he says.
When & Where:
It’s somewhat filling the void of Adelaide-
27 & 28 Jul, Indie-Con, Tandanya National
based music conference and festival Fuse,
Aboriginal Cultural Institute

THE MUSIC • 19TH JULY 2017 • 27

OPINION
Moderately
Opinion

State Of Origin
The Heavy
Shit
Highbrow

S
Visual Art omewhere in between Gus Gould trying out lines
The Heavy Shit At Hellfest
from early drafts of Gladiator while delivering his
Wank And pre-Origin monologue before an overly histrionic
rendition of the national anthem comes the Australian
Theatre
equivalent of the the Super Bowl halftime show:
Foyers With commercial radio rock lords playing in the middle of a
footy field to an empty stadium while punters pump the
Dave Drayton bars before kick off.
Given the Blues performance in Origin, it would be
fair to quote Bernard Fanning, who’ll be opening the decider, and say that my
happiness is slowly creeping back, but isn’t it a pity we got Birds Of Tokyo and
Grinspoon tasked with warming up the crowd for the first two games.
At Munro Martin Parklands in Cairns, performances by NAISDA (National
Aboriginal Islander Skills Development Association) Dance College and London’s
Royal Ballet will be followed by Game III broadcast live on the park screens.
I’m a New South Wales Blues fan, but also wary of the gambling culture that
is increasingly encroaching on sport; so while I have to file this before the result
is known, I’d bet on whoever’s in attendance at Munro Martin being the real
winners on the night.

The Brooklyn MC contemplates matters both psychic

O G F l ava s (love, honesty and redemption) and cultural (solidarity,

empowerment and legacy) as a black man intent on
consolidating his dynasty, empire and mythos — cue the
meta opener Kill Jay Z.
Carter does drop controversial lines in The Story Of
OJ when he asks, “You ever wonder why Jewish people
own all the property in America?” Some have countered
that the playa rapper isn’t being anti-Semitic, but rather
expressing aspirational admiration. Still, Carter’s
inferences play into false, and distressing, tropes in
Donald Trump’s Disunited States.
Regardless, 4:44 is a compelling comeback for
Carter following 2013’s unconvincingly ambitious Magna
Carta Holy Grail. The MC worked with a sole producer in
Chicago’s No ID, who, ironically, tutored his now-prodigal
Jay Z
protege Kanye West. The beatmaker flips classic gospel,
soul and funk samples, his touchstone the apotheosis
boom-bap of Jay Z’s The Blueprint (2001). Knowles,

I
Urban And R&B n February, hip hop hypeman DJ Khaled unleashed his
Osunlade-inspired single Shining with dual prestigious
News With — and elusive — guests: Beyonce Knowles and
Shawn “Jay Z” Carter. This symbolised a renewed unity
Cyclone
for urban-pop’s power couple after Knowles revealed
Carter’s supposed infidelity on 2016’s Lemonade.
Hova has since presented his own ‘event’ project in
4:44 — which, while referencing Lemonade’s sub-theme
of marital discord, is more than an answer album.
Frank Ocean and Damian Marley all cameo — albeit
inconspicuously.
The physical edition of 4:44 has three bonus
leftfield tracks — two of them co-produced by cult
post-dubstepper James Blake. The Brit sings lushly on
MaNyfaCedGod, with a modishly avant beat switch, as
Carter reaffirms his adoration of Queen Bey.

28 • THE MUSIC • 19TH JULY 2017

OPINION
Metal And
Hard Rock With
Chris Maric
A
Opinion

nd the
depression
sets in, haha.
A week and a bit
back from my month
imagery plastered
on every surface?
Make up your mind!
I’m also sure there
would’ve been
in Europe and the more incidents at a
post-trip blues are making me sad. Not only place where there
cause I’ve seen some ridiculously awesome are 80,000 people
stuff posted from friends who are continuing gathered in one
to go to all the fests the Euro summer kicks place then a handful
up, such as Eistnaflug Festival in Iceland of people at a gig!
and the G! Festival waaaay up in the Faroe Alas, my wife
Islands which is oddly headlined by Kris has asked me to
Kristofferson..?? But also because the harsh stop whinging since
reality of being back here smacked me in the I came home and
face during my first gig back... I bet you’re sick of
I was at the recent Primordial show at it too so I’ll stop
The Bald Faced Stag which was fantastic, a now. Haha.
really solid 300+ crowd turned up to see the Ah, speaking of
Irish pagan black metallers play a massive the Euro summer
two-hour set for what was their first ever tour continuing,
here in their 20-something year career. What coming up there
I found ridiculous though was needing to is Bloodstock in
move from the front bar to the venue room the UK which is
by way of going out the front doors (not fast becoming
internally) and was met with security telling the premiere
me I couldn’t bring my half finished beer with metal fest on the
me. It was a two-metre stretch of concrete British calendar

JOSEPH
between the doors and the ridiculous and then things

LI
licensing laws we have in this state meant move eastward
I couldn’t take three steps on the footpath into Germany with

TAWADROS
VE
and re-enter the same building with drink in Summer Breeze,
hand? Madness. An hour later when a friend Party.San, Wacken
stepped out for a smoke he was told to move and others in
several metres beyond and across from the Germany and then A virtuoso of diversity and
door to do it. Again, why? Sure smoking isn’t further east right sensitivity, Joseph performs
great but he was now outside on the public out in to places in concert halls worldwide
footpath. I know it’s not the venues fault at like Slovenia and and is known for his
all and they are having to enforce these laws Bulgaria as the brilliant technique, deep
to protect themselves (and also apparently summer ends. You
musicianship and joyous
someone walking by who I might decide to seriously need to
spill my beer on...) just move over for
style of performance.
Meanwhile back in Europe no one five months and
could care less where you drank or smoked backpack your way One of the World’s
(outside) so long as you were responsible across the continent Great Oud Players’’
about it. The same thing happens in to experience it all!
Melbourne too where at Cherry Bar you can But fear not,
BBC RADIO THREE
stand in the alleyway and smoke but you we have metal out
can’t take your drink outside at the same our ears heading
time. The only business you have in that into our own
alleyway is at Cherry so why punish people summer too. Plenty
who just want to have a good time? of internationals
Then you hear about the Kings Cross coming, just look at
Hotel needing to take down their “Keep The Guide pages in
Sydney Open” banner because a few locals this here mag and as
whinged about it. Have we not got bigger always a hell of a lot FRI 4 AUG
problems than this? How can you have one of local action too! @7.30PM
hand saying all this about drinking when last $15/$20/$30
week the State Of Origin had VB and XXXX WWW.CASULAPOWERHOUSE.COM

THE MUSIC • 19TH JULY 2017 • 29

 Album
Album / E
OF THE
Week
Vera Blue
Perennial
Island/Universal
★★★½
Perennial is the debut album
from talented singer-songwriter
Vera Blue (aka Celia Pavey).
The title is a term used to
refer to plants that return each
year, with Pavey using it to
symbolise the cyclical quality of
relationships and life - a theme
that’s carried throughout the
album. Written in collaboration
with Andy and Thom Mak (Boy
& Bear), Perennial follows the
journey taken after a break-up.
Blue is a natural storyteller,
her lyrics relatable, honest and
authentic, however, Perennial’s
strength ultimately lies in her
phenomenal voice - emotive,
fragile, strong and flawless.
It soars over strings, acoustic
guitar and sweet piano on Said
Goodbye To Your Mother, and
captivates, layered on album
opener First Week.
Sonically, Blue stays true
to her folk beginnings, though
30 • THE MUSIC • 19TH JULY 2017
Mellow
Waves
Album/EP Reviews
Cornelius
Spunk
★★★★½
seamlessly blends in electronic
elements. There is a bit of a
stark contrast between dance
tracks like Lady Powers and
Magazine and more acoustic
folk tracks We Used To and
Mended, though Blue’s unique
voice works to bring them
together and the range helps to
retain interest. Album highlights
include catchy Regular Touch,
that pairs side-chained synths
and acoustic guitar, and
haunting track Private with its
huge, crashing chorus.
Perennial is an impressive
debut from Vera Blue.
Madelyn Tait
Cornelius (aka Keigo Oyamada) has always preferred to lurk behind
the scenes ‘producing’ rather than actually being front and centre.
Touring with Yoko Ono and Yellow Magic Orchestra and
collaborating with J-Pop sensation Salyu are just a few of the
many projects in which he has recently been involved. Oyamada
has released solo Cornelius albums sporadically and they have
consistently moved from the buoyant pop of Fantasma to deeper
more chilled listening experiences.
Mellow Waves delivers on its promise with a selection of tunes
that deal lusciously laid-back vibes that feel more free and lose than
the Cornelius to which we are accustomed. If You’re Here surprisingly
finds Cornelius singing what is clearly a plaintive love song. Through
much of this album, Cornelius uses a limited pallet of sound on each
of the songs. Starting simply, he weaves the elements he’s working
with to wrap listeners up in a warm blanket of lovingly crafted
sound. Complexity and slick production never quite get in the way
of the gentle, intimate and somewhat lovelorn tone of this album.
The completely heart-breaking The Spell Of A Vanishing Loveliness
that features Lush’s Miki Berenyi on vocals is one of this album’s
many highlights.
A classy album that reflects where Cornelius and perhaps his
listeners are at 20 years after the success of Fantasma.
Guido Farnell
Dizzee Rascal
Raskit
Island/Universal
★★★½
When Dizzee Rascal first
graced our ears nearly 15
years ago, he was a breath of
change: not American, but still
authentic; street smarts and
pop sensibilities (after all, your never a youngster to them, but
older brother can still rap all the an elder statesman. It’s striking
verses of Fix Up, Look Sharp). that it took the arrival of these
That he has matured new, hungrier youngsters to
into a Calvin Harris courting, shake DIzzee from his torpor
Ibiza holidaymaker is a and leave the laziness to the
disappointment to some. Raskit others. Here, Dizzee’s back. It’s a
proves this is lazy criticism. refreshing thought.
Space is a tour de force: “Everybody wanna take shots
a reminder about Dizzee’s at the king,” our host mourns.
technical aptitude, charisma Well, yes. He sits on a throne
and ability to bottle fury. Wot these days, sights trained on his
U Gonna Do? is big, unbridled head. But now that he’s back to
braggadocio. The Other Side making records like this, they’re
and Slow Your Roll are similarly less likely to hit.
monstrous, products of the
Dizzee we came to know and James d’Apice
love. This is the era of Bugzy
Malone, Stormzy, Skepta, Little
Simz - rappers who came up
looking up to Dizzee; he was
EP Reviews
Avey Tare
Eucalyptus
Domino
★★★½
Animal Collective co-founder
Dave Portner’s second solo
release under the Avey
Tare moniker is full of the
same tessellated, smudgy
soundscapes that define
Animal Collective’s sound but
here, a light hand introduces
delicate fragility.
Eucalyptus summons the
wide-eyed wonder of the band’s
breakthrough, Merriweather Post
Pavilion and sets it loose on
vaster plains and cyclical ebbs
and flows: one moment the sun
is setting, the next it’s rising. It’s
also more difficult than later
Animal Collective. Moments of
clarity are summarily broken
by intruding rhythms and the
literal elements. Rain, thunder,
waves and waterfalls frequently
intervene to set tracks (and
trains of thought) off course.
Samantha Jonscher
More Reviews Online
Shabazz Palaces
Quazarz: Born On
A Gangster Star
Album/EP Reviews
As Paradise Falls Lincoln Le Fevre
Digital Ritual & The Insiders
Eclipse Records
★★★½
Straight up and down, meat
and potatoes thrash metal has
become as stale as three-week-
old bread in this day and age,
so bands pursuing a thrash
style must inject elements from
leftfield to maintain interest. And
that’s exactly what these Brissie
lads do.
Paradise Falls pursue a
groove-based thrash-metal
style, but shake things up with
tasteful use of moody dynamics,
occasional clean vocals and
more progressive arrangements
and instrumentation. And most
of it works a treat.
This band have only been
around for a few years, but
they’ve already made a big
impact with their slamming
sounds and willingness to do
things a little differently.
Rod Whitfield
Come Undone
Poison City Records
★★★½
Listening to Lincoln Le Fevre, it’s
easy to understand why he’s been
such a huge influence for bands
like Camp Cope and The Smith
Street Band, with his latest work
with The Insiders offering an
album full of captivating imagery
and solid melodies.
Opener Ugly Enough starts
slowly, focusing on a single
guitar, organ and Le Fevre’s
distinctive voice. Somewhat
title track Undone offers an
almost bluesy yearning in Le
Fevre’s voice, and backs it
up with a cracking solo in its
closing moment.
What stands out most
throughout Come Undone is
Le Fevre’s ever descriptive and
insightful lyrics, truly representing
him as a master in storytelling.
Here’s to hoping there won’t be
such a wait between albums
next time.
Jessica Dale
In This Moment
Ritual
Listen to our This Week’s
Releases playlist on
Stu Larsen
Resolute
Nettwerk
★★★★
Creativity might live at home, but
for Stu Larsen, inspiration has
come from abroad.
Resolute, Larsen’s
second album, needs only the
shallowest of excavations
to see how cities, towns and
experiences from around the
world have shaped this record.
It’s slow, considered and lyrical;
despite its global references it
shares the thoughtful delivery
of fellow Queenslanders Busby
Marou. Larsen’s voice is more
tender though, closer to Glenn
Richards or even Matt Corby in
the emotion that lingers at the
back of his lyrics. Best paired
with a red wine and a well-
thumbed Lonely Planet, Resolute
is utterly engrossing.
Dylan Stewart
theMusic.com.au
THE MUSIC • 19TH JULY 2017 • 31
Live Re
Gold Class @ Lansdowne Hotel. Pic: Simone Fisher
Gold Class @ Lansdowne Hotel.
Pic: Simone Fisher
Japandroids @ Factory Theatre. Pc: Josh Groom
Japandroids @
Factory Theatre. Pic:
Josh Groom
32 • THE MUSIC • 19TH JULY 2017
Live Reviews
Gold Class @ Lansdowne Hotel. Pic:
Simone Fisher
WAAX @ Brighton Up Bar. Pic: Peter Dovgan
Gold Class,
Flowertruck,
Neighbourhood Void
Lansdowne Hotel
15 Jul
tying it all together with tension
and propulsion. New songs were
aired - including the excellent
new single Twist In The Dark that
highlighted how much darker
and intense the new songs are
getting when held against older
It was great to arrive and see songs like Michael. Singer Adam
the newly reopened Lansdowne
Hotel hit the ground running with
a busy downstairs bar and a
band room that, as it filled, had
a definite vibe and communal Singer Adam
atmosphere. Youngsters
Neighbourhood Void were the
Curley seems
first to grace the low stage more at home
and they played a strong and
impressive set on the back of on stage, still
their recently released debut
album. Raw enthusiasm, a direct
aloof and slightly
line to Kurt Cobain and probably detached but
a love for Car Seat Headrest have
shaped their quiet/loud, noisy/
willing to go all
melodic sound but they own in when the song
it and played it like their lives
depended on it with a mix of demands it.
gleeful abandon and desperation.
Flowertruck have garnered
praise and gained momentum Curley seems more at home
over the last couple of years on stage, still aloof and slightly
and that experience was evident detached but willing to go all in
in their tight and consummate when the song demands it. His
performance. Some songs still glorious bellowing, austere voice
drift by while others like recent is a commanding instrument,
single Dying To Hear and older perfectly matched by the rest
song I Wanna Be With You, stick of the band. Gold Class were
like glue. Frontman Charles a band on the cusp of great
Rushforth’s over-emoting can things. Album number two has
still grate at times but there’s all the hallmarks of the group
no denying the strength of his achieving them.
voice and the band’s ability to
Chris Familton
deliver rousing indie-pop to a
receptive audience.
Gold Class have stepped WAAX, Hedge Fund,
up a notch with this sold out
Kiko Smokes
show, fans baying for them to
take the stage and the rapturous, Brighton Up Bar
bouncing mosh pit reception they 14 Jul
received. Their live sound is even
The sold out sign was (virtually)
more brittle and visceral than
up for a night of rock at the
their recordings, the uniformity
Brighton Up Bar. It was like
and minimalism of their sound
everyone was clued up that this
enhanced even more. They
was going to be a memorable
almost had a monochrome
night of live music. Sydney
palette of sound with a grinding
concert-goers are a smart bunch.
industrial post-punk bass,
If we thought that the
slashing, dissonant guitar and
opening act sounded a bit like
in new drummer Logan Gibson
Birds of Tokyo, we’d have good
they have a human metronome
reason to. It turns out that half
eviews
of Kiko Smokes are from the
WA group albeit on different
instruments. Ian Berney (guitar)
and Glenn Sarangapany (drums)
drive the rhythm section expertly
in this group while singer Jono
Harrison’s voice is powerful and
melodic. It’s a rare chance to see
a promising band at the start of
their musical trek.
Hedge Fund have been plying
their indie-rock trade in Sydney
for several years and they’ve got
a really passionate and intriguing
live show. Lead singer William
Colvin has an artistic manner that
is hard to look away from. He
plays up to the crowd and sings
with constant steely vigour along
with rock theatrics. The band are
tight and play an eclectic mix
of synthy indie-rock that is hard
to pigeonhole.
WAAX have been building
a reputation for a tight and
explosive rock show over the last
four years, so expectations were
high for first-timers as the five-
piece took to the small corner
stage through the bustling throng
of a crowd. The drum beats kick
in and the following hour-long
show is a non-stop ride through
raw, fearless rock’n’roll.
Marie DeVita is nothing short
of dynamic perfection at the
front of a band that doesn’t hold
back in their performance. The
songs swing from the almost
restrained verses of You Wouldn’t
Believe to the raw, unbridled
intensity of Holy Sick. “Fuck yeah,
Marie DeVita is
nothing short
of dynamic
perfection at the
front of a band
that doesn’t hold
back in their
performance.
girls down the front!” DeVita
“We fucking love Sydney!”
Live Reviews
notes of the crowd and the large
female contingent.
declares DeVita before diving into
a cover of one of the town’s own,
Julia Jacklin’s Pool Party. It’s a
rocked out and worthy cover of
a song that’s never sounded so
large or loud. Their biggest single,
Same Same, sees DeVita again at
her feverish best, leaning out over
the crowd, spitting the lyrics. With
reputations upheld and word-of-
mouth to spread, we re-enter the
cool night already searching for
the next opportunity to catch a
night as top class as this.
Mick Radojkovic
Japandroids, Body
Type
Factory Theatre
14 Jul
There’s surely no more than 40
or 50 people in the room when
Body Type kick off the evening’s
procession. It’s a number that
feels lost in a room the size of
The Factory, and it’s a shame
because the group sound great.
Eventually though, the crowd
starts to grow and the room
begins to fill in preparation for
Japandroids, giving Body Type
an audience their performance is
deserving of.
Japandroids’ Brian King
(guitar and vocals) and David
Prowse (drums) hit the stage and
waste no time, tearing straight
into Near To The Wild Heart Of
Life, the title track from their
latest album. They move swiftly
into Fire’s Highway and elicit huge
cheers from the crowd, mostly
made up of a whole lot of dudes
that are dressed in the band’s
image. Three songs in and there’s
already been a lot more noise
pumped out from the duo than
what some larger bands achieve
playing the same room.
When they finally do
welcome the crowd about
four songs in, King introduces
them both with first and last
Three songs
in and there’s
already been a
lot more noise
pumped out from
the duo than
More
what some larger Reviews
bands achieve Online
playing the theMusic.com.au/
same room. music/live-reviews
names and that they’re from
Bliss N Eso
Vancouver. It’s met with the
@ Enmore Theatre
biggest cheer of the night so
far. They offer one more from Coming Up, Not Down
the new works (True Love And A @ Oxford Art Factory
Free Life Of Free Will) and then
roll into older track Wet Hair. They
introduce North East South West,
rip through it and then inform the
crowd that they just performed
the best singalong of the tour
to date.
Younger Us gets dedicated
to anyone who joined them at
their Sydney show last tour, and
they premiere I’m Sorry (For Not
Finding You Sooner), laughing
that it could be a “clusterfuck”.
The encouraging crowd reaction
suggests that it wasn’t and
King and Prowse agree among
themselves that it was indeed ok.
It’s not long before it’s time
to start wrapping up, after the
well-received Young Hearts
Spark Fire and Sovereignty, and
their tech brings them a glass
of wine each to the stage - a
much more preferable transition
to the evening’s end than the
usual feigned encore. They close
triumphantly with The House That
Heaven Built, King jumping atop
Prowse’s bass drum to churn out
the final riffs and outro for an
adoring crowd.
Jessica Dale
THE MUSIC • 19TH JULY 2017 • 33
 Arts Reviews Arts Reviews

bit dirty, though, you’re

Baby Driver
still part of the problem, Descent Into The X

as Edgar Wright’s zesty,

zippy new action- Maelstrom: The Radio
comedy-romance Baby
Driver demonstrates.
The UK writer-
Birdman Story
director behind genre-
bending cult-favourite
comedies like Shaun
Of The Dead and Hot
Fuzz has made a name
for himself with a style
Baby Driver that walks the fine line
between anarchic and
precise. He fills his
frames with elaborate,
Film
Film entertaining bits of business that can feel spur-of-
the-moment but are clearly the work of someone In cinemas now
In cinemas now with a sharp sense for what’s pleasing to the
eye and ear.
★★★★
★★★½
And it’s the latter upon which Wright is The overall importance of iconic Sydney band Radio
From 1978’s The
lavishing the most attention with Baby Driver, Birdman - who cut a swathe through the Aussie scene
Driver, which starred
the story of a sensitive young wheelman who during their initial tenure in 1974-1978 - has never been in
Ryan O’Neal as a
wheelman with ice
choreographs his high-speed getaways to the question. Now, however, new documentary Descent Into
water in his veins
tunes playing through his ever-present earbuds. The Maelstrom lifts the veil and allows us rare insight into
Oh, and based on the way he handles himself on the band’s inter-personal chemistry and relationships, with
through to 2011’s
the highway he also has ice water in his veins. results that are often brutal but requisitely fascinating.
Drive, which starred
Who knew? The band’s genesis revolved around the arrival in
Ryan Gosling as a
But Baby, played by The Fault In Our Stars’ Sydney of guitarist and songwriter Deniz Tek from the
wheelman with ice
Ansel Elgort, is no hard-case crim. Orphaned as United States, who in a sliding doors moment moved into
water in his veins,
a boy, he’s a good kid who made the mistake a Kensington sharehouse occupied by future Birdman
moviegoers have
of stealing from underworld boss Doc (Kevin drummer Ron Keeley (who at the time was playing in a
come to realise
Spacey, revelling in efficient, white-collar band called The Rats fronted by eventual Birdman vocalist
two things: firstly,
menace). Now he must chauffeur trigger-happy Rob Younger). A young aspiring medical student from
even if you could
types like Buddy (Jon Hamm, vividly giving off a Ann Arbor, Michigan, Tek brought with him a love of the
make a movie about
dangerous nothing-to-lose vibe), Darling (a don’t- Detroit sound - The Stooges, MC5 et al, a fascination
a getaway driver
mess-with-me Eiza Gonzalez) and Bats (Jamie already shared by Younger - which, when applied to
without the word
Foxx, a scary loose cannon) as they rob banks the Radio Birdman aesthetic, found the band suddenly
‘drive’ in the title
and armoured vehicles on Doc’s behalf. facing a scene not used to music being so ferocious and
or an actor named
Wright’s slick twist is to make it, to all uncompromising. Rather than disillusioning the Birdman
Ryan in the lead, why
intents and purposes, a musical. The dialogue crew, this lack of acceptance galvanised them into a band
would you?; and,
has the snap and tempo of pop-song lyrics. The united by an ethereal ethos and group integrity, and one
secondly, it’s easy to
camerawork bounces, glides, swirls and twirls. who approached everything with maximum intensity, a
cut getaway drivers
And the action - mainly the car chases but also “take no prisoners” attitude that enthralled as many as
a little slack.
the shootouts and one frantic footrace - synchs it enraged.
After all, they’re
up to the eclectic sounds of Wright’s carefully But rock bands have always been complicated beasts,
not pointing a gun
curated soundtrack of songs. and while the Birdman extended family may have proved
in anyone’s face
Mostly it works a treat, although this gimmick to be a slightly dysfunctional one, none of this negativity
or pinching some
loses a little of its novelty as the film progresses. - which is approached here honestly and not swept aside,
poor unfortunate’s
And it starts to splutter and stall in a final act with each member given equal time to tell their side of
life savings. They’re
that outstays its welcome. Prior to that, however, the story - ultimately detracts from this tale of one of our
just helping the
it’s so nimble, agile and audacious that it’s hard country’s most important bands. Radio Birdman paved
people who do split
not to be won over by Baby Driver, thanks to the way for the incredibly fertile Australian music scene of
the scene of the
Wright’s showmanship and panache and leading the ‘80s and beyond. As Hoyle says at the documentary’s
crime as quickly as
man Elgort’s fresh-faced, loose-limbed, butter- conclusion, “I don’t think there’s an Australian sound to
possible. Even if
wouldn’t-melt charm. Radio Birdman, I think there’s a Radio Birdman sound
you’re only getting
your hands a little Guy Davis to Australia.”
Steve Bell

34 • THE MUSIC • 19TH JULY 2017

THE MUSIC • 19TH JULY 2017 • 35
Comedy / G Wed 19
John Cruckshank + Cameron Duggan:
Bank Hotel (Waywards), Newtown

SOSUEME feat. Sam Sparro + Roland Tings

+ Elki: Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach

John & Yuki: Bondi Pavilion, Bondi Beach

The Guide

Kill Dirty Youth

Sigur Ros Dom Youdan: Brighton Up Bar, Darlinghurst

Joseph Tawadros + James Tawadros:

The Music Presents
Two Door Cinema Club: 21
Jul Hodern Pavilion
The Lemon Twigs: 22 Jul
Oxford Art Factory
Sigur Ros: 25 Jul Hodern Pavilion
Vera Blue: 28 Jul The Academy
Canberra; 29 Jul Metro Theatre;
31 Aug UniBar Wollongong; 1
Sep; The Beery Terrigal; 8 Sep
Bar On The Hill Newcastle
Raised By Eagles: 11 Aug Leadbelly;
12 Aug Grand Junction Hotel
Sarah McLeod: 24 Aug Factory Floor
Sydney Guitar Festival: 23 -
27 Aug, Various Venues
Dan Sultan: 28 Sep The Academy
Canerra; 29 Sep Bar On The Hill
Newcastle; 30 Sep Metro Theatre
At The Drive In: 29 Sep Hodern Pavilion
Vintage & Custom Drum Expo:
8 Oct Factory Theatre
Alt-J: 9 Dec ICC Sydney
Camelot Lounge, Marrickville
Russell Howard: Enmore Theatre, Newtown
Craig Calhoun: Frankie’s Pizza
By The Slice, Sydney
The Uglies: Hamilton Station
Hotel, Islington
Queens Of The Stone Age:
Hordern Pavilion, Moore Park
Rand: Lansdowne Hotel, Chippendale
The Outside-In-Trio: LazyBones
Lounge, Marrickville
Live & Local feat. Carl The Bartender
+ Ben Leece + Tori Forsyth:
Lizottes Newcastle, Lambton
Cut Copy + Harvey Sutherland & Bermuda
+ Tunnel Signs: Metro Theatre, Sydney
Comedy Night with Simon
Kennedy + Emma Malik + Eric
Hutton: Oatley Hotel, Oatley
Strike Two: Orient Hotel, The Rocks
Le Pie
Get X-cited
Supports Kill Dirty Youth, Golden Fang and Leadfinger are set to light
the candles on X’s anniversary cake this Friday at Factory Theatre
when the legendary Aussie outfit celebrate four decades spent
making a racket together.
The Ahern Brothers + Josh Rennie- The Kamis: Rock Lily, Pyrmont
Hynes + Steve Grady: Camelot
Hugh Barrett Trio: Smiths
Lounge (Django Bar), Marrickville
Alternative, Canberra
The Biggest Comedy Show on Earth:
Katie Rosewood + Matt Ross +
Comedy Store, Moore Park
IONIA: Staves Brewery, Glebe
Haim + Cameron Avery: Enmore
Geoff Achison + Justin Yap Band:
Theatre, Newtown
The Basement, Sydney
Julien Baker + Adam Torres:
Kelly Brouhaha: The Commons, Hamilton
Factory Theatre, Marrickville
Bridie King & the Boogie Kings:
Foundry 616, Sydney
Gordi
Hiboux: Frankie’s Pizza By The Slice, Sydney

Gadjo Guitars: Gasoline Pony, Marrickville

Steve Lucas: Golden Barley Hotel, Enmore

Zack Martin + Kenneth D’Aran:

Harbour View Hotel, Dawes Point

Pie High The Owls + Lazy Colts: Hotel

Steyne (Moonshine), Manly

Sad Girl Theory came out about a
month and a half ago and it’s the
kind of thing you should really
hear live. Good thing then that
Le Pie is playing The Bearded
Tit Saturday.
Songs On Stage feat. Russell
Neal + Perikles + Pauline Sparkle:
Paddington RSL, Paddington
Teddy Killerz: World Bar, Potts Point
Dr TAOS + James Englund + L.J
Phillips + John Chesher: LazyBones
Lounge (Level One), Marrickville
Cath & Him: Manly Leagues Club
(Menzies Lounge), Brookvale
Larger Than Lions: Marble Bar, Sydney
Royal Blood + Concrete Surfers:
Metro Theatre, Sydney
Joe Moore: Orient Hotel, The Rocks
John & Yuki: Osaka, Potts Point
Bishop Briggs + Mookhi: Oxford
Art Factory, Darlinghurst
Good Gord
Fab folktronica artist Gordi is
heading to Enmore Theatre
Friday night. The singer-
songwriter will be there
supporting Icelandic multi-
instrumentalist Asgeir who’s
hitting town for his Splendour In
The Grass sideshow.

Pussy Power Party feat. Swamp To Sahara

Thu 20
Lil Yachty: Big Top Sydney, Milsons Point
Songs On Stage feat. Stuart Jammin:
BMW (formerly Beats.Eats.Drinks), Glebe
+ Megan & The Vegans + Lee Moon: Oxford
Art Factory (Gallery Bar), Darlinghurst
Will Chittick & The Maze Gaze
+ Loki Hines + Duo Log + Tim
McMahon: Rad Bar, Wollongong
Olivia McAuliffe + Fire + Sophia
Chesworth: The Louis (formerly
Lewisham Hotel), Lewisham
Shelley’s Murder Boys: The
Temperance Society, Summer Hill

Fripps & Fripps: Brass Monkey, Cronulla

36 • THE MUSIC • 19TH JULY 2017

Gigs / Live
The Lyrical
The Lyregal
Moonshine Bar isn’t getting
lyrical this Thursday, it’s
getting The Lyrical. The
reggae regent’s new EP King Of
Me came out last month and
he’s bringing it to Hotel Steyne
on the launch tour.
Must Volkoff + Joe Snow + One Sixth
+ more: Valve Bar (Basement), Ultimo
Whispering Jackie + Vertical Slums:
Vic On The Park, Marrickville
Fri 21
Role Modelz: Beach Road
Hotel, Bondi Beach
Shannon Noll + Dave Wilkins:
Blue Cattle Dog Hotel, St Clair
Mac The Knife + Johnny Hunter:
Botany View Hotel, Newtown
A Tribute to The Golden Era of
British Music with British Lords:
Brass Monkey, Cronulla
Unforgiven - Metallica Show:
Bull & Bush, Baulkham Hills
Johnny G & The E-Types:
Camelot Lounge, Marrickville
Hoodoo Gurus + You Am I: Canberra
Theatre Centre, Canberra
Nathan Thomson + Sammy La Marca +
Woodsy: Candys Apartment, Potts Point
Seattle Sound: Colonial Hotel, Werrington
Anne Edmonds: Comedy Store, Moore Park
The Biggest Comedy Show on Earth:
Comedy Store, Moore Park
Thunderfox + Sundown State: Coogee
Bay Hotel (Selina’s), Coogee
They Call Me Bruce: Coolibah
Hotel, Merrylands West
Asgeir + Gordi: Enmore Theatre, Newtown
1927 + Pseudo Echo: Entrance
Leagues, Bateau Bay
X (Steve Lucas, Kim Volkman & Doug
Falconer) + Leadfinger + Golden Fang + Kill
Dirty Youth: Factory Theatre, Marrickville
Ocean Sleeper + Isotopes + Torjans +
Diamond Construct: Factory Theatre
(Factory Floor), Marrickville
Chris Cody Quartet: Foundry 616, Sydney
Queen Porter Stomp: Gasoline
Pony, Marrickville
Plastic Voyage: Grand Junction
Hotel (The Junkyard), Maitland
The Guide
Two Door Cinema Club + Last Dinosaurs +
The Creases: Hordern Pavilion, Moore Park
Chris Gillespie: Hotel Blue, Katoomba
The Lyrical + Ekki & The Scatterbrains:
Hotel Steyne (Moonshine), Manly
Death Bells + M.O.B. + Tru:
Lansdowne Hotel, Chippendale
Timberwolf: Leadbelly (formerly
The Vanguard), Newtown
Frets with Benefits: Long
Jetty Hotel, Long Jetty
Urban Scream: Manly Leagues Club
(Menzies Lounge), Brookvale
Brown Sugar: Marble Bar, Sydney
Rag’n’Bone Man: Metro Theatre, Sydney
Rumours - A Tribute to Fleetwood
Mac: Miranda Hotel, Miranda
Splendour In The Grass feat. The xx +
Haim + Vance Joy + RL Grime + Father
John Misty + Tash Sultana + Banks +
Cut Copy + Lil Yachty + San Cisco +
Big Scary + Real Estate + D.D Dumbo +
Maggie Rogers + The Kite String Tangle +
Julia Jacklin + Kingswood + Vera Blue +
Cosmos Midnight + Young Franco + Ocean
Grove + Luke Million + The Wilson Pickers
+ Jarrow + Winston Surfshirt + Set Mo +
DJHmC + Nite Fleit + Alice Ivy + Willow
Beats + Swindail + Super Cruel + Lewis
CanCut: North Byron Parklands, Wooyung
Elki
Almost Animals
Beach Road Hotel’s regular
Wednesday event Sosume
is going big this week. They
have subversive pop singer
Elki and soul singer/producer
Sam Sparro on board as well
as a DJ set from Melbourne’s
Roland Tings.
Zeek + Lazar + Shots Fired:
Oatley Hotel, Oatley
Geoff Achison + Justin Yap Band:
Old Manly Boatshed, Manly
Reckless + James Brennan:
Orient Hotel, The Rocks
The Art + Interim + Borneo + Kvlts of Vice
+ The Kids: Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst
Hollow States: Oxford Art Factory
(Gallery Bar), Darlinghurst
Bay City Rollers feat. Les McKeown:
Penrith Panthers (Evan Theatre), Penrith
The Demon Drink: Petersham
Bowling Club, Petersham
Cath & Him: Pittwater RSL, Mona Vale
Stephanie Lea: Quakers Inn, Quakers Hill
Hy-Test + Naughty Naughty & the Good
Boys + Maggot: Rad Bar, Wollongong
Cut Copy
Cut A Rug
Aussie electro icons Cut Copy are playing some side shows ahead
of their appearance at Splendour In The Grass, which means you can
catch them at Metro Theatre on Wednesday. Support from Harvey
Sutherland and Tunnel Signs.
Jimeoin: Revesby Workers
(Whitlam Theatre), Revesby
Jalapeno Deluxe: Revesby Workers
(Infinity Lounge), Revesby
Parlae + DJ Kitsch 78: Rock Lily, Pyrmont
Tori Forsyth: Smiths Alternative, Canberra
A Breach Of Silence + Na Maza +
Lycanthrope + Kitten Hurricane + Maris
King: The Basement, Belconnen
Mike McClellan: The Basement, Sydney
Revolution Incorporated: The Bunker
(FKA Coogee Diggers), Coogee
Tinsmith: The Gaelic Club
(1st Floor), Surry Hills
Blues Collective: The Merton Hotel, Rozelle
Psychic Sun: Time & Tide Hotel, Cromer
Hiboux: Town Hall Hotel, Newtown
Ikonz: Towradgi Beach Hotel
(Sports Bar), Towradgi
War Rages Within + Lethal
Vendetta + Wartooth + more:
Valve Bar (Basement), Ultimo
Where M.I. with Various DJs:
Valve Bar (Level One), Ultimo
Black Rheno + Hadal Maw + Red
Bee: Vic On The Park, Marrickville
Evangeline: World Bar, Potts Point
Sat 22
Wawawow + Neon Tetra + Mamajae + Light
Entertainment: 107 Projects, Redfern
Akmal: Bankstown Sports Club, Bankstown
Yours Block Party with Various DJs:
Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach
Don’t Dream It’s Over: A Tribute to Crowded
House & Split Enz : Brass Monkey, Cronulla
Black Heart Breakers: Brighton
Up Bar, Darlinghurst
Jellybean Jam: Bull & Bush, Baulkham Hills
Jesse Younan: Camelot
Lounge, Marrickville
Pape Mbaye + Chosani Afrique: Camelot
Lounge (Django Bar), Marrickville
Seek n Destroy + Jvng Jalapeno:
Candys Apartment, Potts Point
The Australian Beach Boys
Show: Canterbury Leagues Club
(Auditorium), Belmore
Dennis Cruz: Chinese Laundry, Sydney
Soundproofed: Club Cronulla, Cronulla
The Doug Anthony Allstars:
Comedy Store, Moore Park
The Biggest Comedy Show on Earth:
Comedy Store, Moore Park
THE MUSIC • 19TH JULY 2017 • 37
Comedy / G
Belmore Basin Jazz Band:
Corrimal Hotel, Corrimal
Home Organ Party Experience with Barry
Morgan: Dundas Sports Club, Dundas
Russell Howard: Enmore Theatre, Newtown
Shannon Noll + Dave Wilkins:
Ettamogah Hotel, Kellyville Ridge
The Playbook: Factory Theatre
(Factory Floor), Marrickville
One Love - Reggae & Dancehall Night
with 4’20’ Sound + Foreign Dub +
more: Factory Theatre, Marrickville
Blessed Relief: Foundry 616, Sydney
Dept Of Gloom: Frankie’s Pizza
By The Slice, Sydney
Afternoon Show with Rita B:
Gasoline Pony, Marrickville
The Demon Drink + The Ramalamas:
Gasoline Pony, Marrickville
Bonobo + KLLO: Hordern
Pavilion, Moore Park
Dragon: Hornsby RSL, Hornsby
Soular Spill: Hotel Blue, Katoomba
Thunder Fox
Fire Fox
Northern Beaches six-piece
Thunder Fox make music to
funk to, or what they call an
“eclectic sexual explosion of
psychedelic funky goodness”.
Catch them with Sundown State
at Selina’s Friday.
Romare + Planete + Marco Vella + Sydney
Pony Club: Hudson Ballroom, Sydney
King Tide: Lansdowne Hotel, Chippendale
Women of Blues & Soul Showcase
2017: Leadbelly (formerly The
Vanguard), Newtown
Swanee: Lizottes Newcastle, Lambton
Samantha Broadbent: Long
Jetty Hotel, Long Jetty
Soul Empire: Marble Bar, Sydney
Banks: Max Watt’s, Moore Park
All Ages Show with LANY + Ric
Rufio: Metro Theatre, Sydney
38 • THE MUSIC • 19TH JULY 2017
OKBadlands
The Guide
Badlanderers
OKBadlands new single Mineral came out earlier in the month (and
was awesome) and this Tuesday you’ll find them at Factory Theatre.
They’re down from Brissy supporting Oh Wonder for their Splendour
sideshows.
Splendour In The Grass feat. Queens Of
The Stone Age + Royal Blood + Two Door
Cinema Club + Paul Kelly + Catfish &
The Bottlemen + Future Islands + Asgeir
+ Allday + Bernard Fanning + Dune Rats
+ Rag’n’Bone Man + Dan Sultan + Vallis
Alps + Dope Lemon + Slumberjack + Bad//
Dreems + Julien Baker + Bag Raiders +
Luca Brasi + Middle Kids + Confidence
Man + Hockey Dad + Gretta Ray + Mallrat
+ Topaz Jones + Late Nite Tuff Guy +
Airling + Tornado Wallace + Romare +
Harvey Sutherland & Bermuda + CC:Disco!
+ Dena Amy + Andy Garvey + Sam Weston:
North Byron Parklands, Wooyung
Jimeoin: North Sydney Leagues, Cammeray
Rock City Saints: Oatley Hotel, Oatley
The River Jesters: Old Manly
Boatshed, Manly
Songs On Stage feat. Russell Neal +
Warren Munce + Paul McGowan + Andrew
Denniston: Orange Grove Hotel, Lilyfield
The Chosen Few + Jimmy Bear:
Orient Hotel, The Rocks
Freedom feat. The Lemon Twigs + Mossy
+ Flowertruck + Betty & Oswald + Sloan
Peterson + Tropical Strength + Jack T
Wotton & The Wunderz + Crocodylus
+ Julia Why? + Aegean Sun + more:
Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst
Shows on Stage feat. Bedrockers:
Paddington RSL, Paddington
Let’s Groove Tonight: Penrith
RSL (Castle Lounge), Penrith
Tracksuit Party with Funktrust
DJs: Play Bar, Surry Hills
Kris McIntyre: Plough & Harrow, Camden
Pendulum DJs: Proud Mary’s, Erina
East Coast Swag + The Know Goods +
Dave Overton & The Joy Williams Band
+ Love Buzz: Rad Bar, Wollongong
Shy Guys: Revesby Workers
(Infinity Lounge), Revesby
K Groove + DJ D-Flat: Rock Lily, Pyrmont
SIMA feat.Thomas Avgenicos +
Lauren White + Stephanie Russell:
Seymour Centre, Darlington
Julia Johnson + Bonniesongs + The Burley
Griffin: Smiths Alternative, Canberra
The Old Brown Boot Band:
Staves Brewery, Glebe
‘68 + Grenadiers + Starrats + Simple Stone
+ Panic Burst: The Basement, Belconnen
The Basement Big Band:
The Basement, Sydney
D Love: The Beach Hotel, Merewether
Le Pie + Girls from the Garage
DJs: The Bearded Tit, Redfern
AM/PM feat. Vices + Like Royals +
Maverick: The Burdekin, Darlinghurst
Sqi Ceili: The Gaelic Club
(1st Floor), Surry Hills
Dennis Cruz: The Grand Hotel, Wollongong
Ministry of Sound Club feat. MitiS + Ryan
Riback + Jaysoundz: The Ivy, Sydney
The Drey Rollan Band: The
Merton Hotel, Rozelle
Kaikai feat. Detox + Aja: The
Midnight Shift, Darlinghurst
Kelly Brouhaha: The Music
Lounge, Brookvale
DEN + New Age Group + Lower
Body: The Phoenix, Canberra
Hollow Heart + Oceans To Athena
+ Dimension + Final Form: The
Small Ballroom, Islington
Geoff Achison + Justin Yap Band:
The Stag & Hunter Hotel, Mayfield
Hoodoo Gurus + You Am I: Towradgi
Beach Hotel, Towradgi
X (Steve Lucas, Kim Volkman & Doug
Falconer) + Young Docteurs + Kill Dirty
Youth: Transit Bar, Canberra City
Bottlecaps + Kang + Vetty Vials + Ivan
Drago + Joshua Arentz + 51 Percent +
more: Valve Bar (Basement), Ultimo
The Witching Hour with Various DJs:
Valve Bar (Level One), Ultimo
Sam Newton + Amber Rae Slade
+ The Mighty Big Noise: Vic
On The Park, Marrickville
Songs On Stage feat. Sean + Miss
Bow: Well Connected Cafe, Glebe
Crawl File - Australian Crawl Show:
Wentworthville Leagues Club (Starlight
Auditorium), Wentworthville
Sun 23
Hadal Maw + Black Rheno:
Born2Rock Studios, West Gosford
Dande & The Lion: Brass Monkey, Cronulla
Rohan Cannon: Bull & Bush, Baulkham Hills
Timbre Flaws + Urban Voices:
Camelot Lounge, Marrickville
Joseph Zarb + Guitarras Gitanas: Camelot
Lounge (Django Bar), Marrickville
Variety Hour & a Half... Show!
with Barry Morgan: Carrington
Bowling Club, Carrington
Stormcellar: Catherine Hill Bay
Pub, Catherine Hill Bay
Topology: City Recital Hall, Sydney
Banks: Enmore Theatre, Newtown
Tay Oskee: Flow Bar, Old Bar
Wolfpack + Hostile Objects + Capa
Capo + Free or Dead: Frankie’s
Pizza By The Slice, Sydney
Dewey: Gasoline Pony, Marrickville
Mookhi
Call It
Local electronic
producer Mookhi is heading to
Oxford Art Factory this week
to support boss Brit Bishop
Briggs. Head down to the venue
Thursday night to catch the two
at work.
Gigs / Live
The Lairs: Grand Junction Hotel
(The Junkyard), Maitland

Jed Zarb: Hawkesbury Hotel, Windsor

Jasper James: Home Nightclub, Sydney

Catfish & The Bottlemen: Hordern

Splendour In The Grass feat. LCD
Soundsystem + Sigur Ros + ScHoolboy
Q + Peking Duk + Bonobo + Stormzy +
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard + Meg
Mac + Thundamentals + Client Liaison +
Tove Lo + Pond + The Smith Street Band
+ Oh Wonder + Amy Shark + A.B. Original
+ The Lemon Twigs + Bishop Briggs +
The Guide

Dennis Wilson: Pittwater RSL, Mona Vale

Hollow Heart + Mixtape For The Drive

+ Oceans To Athena + Lowgazer +
Wildfires: Rad Bar, Wollongong

Suite Az + DJ Troy T: Rock Lily, Pyrmont

Timberwolf

Pavilion, Moore Park Ethan Conway: Rooty Hill RSL

Revolution Incorporated: Hotel
Steyne (Moonshine), Manly
John & Yuki: Illawarra Master
Builders Club, Wollongong
The Owls
LANY + Topaz Jones + Kirin J Callinan
+ Kilter + The Peep Tempel + Moonbase
(FKA Moonbase Commander) + Kuren
+ The Murlocs + Good Boy + Oneman +
Hwls + Enschway + Willaris K + Mookhi
+ Planete + Christopher Port + Kinder:
North Byron Parklands, Wooyung
(Corona Theatre), Rooty Hill
The Humm: The Beach Hotel, Merewether
Pendulum DJs: The Grand
Hotel, Wollongong
Doggin It: The Merton Hotel, Rozelle
Upwolf
DJ Frenzie + Rob Edwards + DJ Cool Adelaide’s Timberwolf dropped
Hand Luke + Flip: The Newport, Newport
a stellar new single from
Gail Page: Towradgi Beach Hotel his upcoming debut album
(Sports Bar), Towradgi
back in March and he’s finally
Rum & Ale XI feat. Various DJs: bringing it to town. You can
Valve Bar (Basement), Ultimo
see him playing Hold You Up at
DJ Jack Shit: Vic On The Park, Marrickville Leadbelly Friday.

Mon 24
Variety Hour & a Half... Show!
with Barry Morgan: Carrington
Bowling Club, Carrington
Oh Wonder + OKBadlands:
Metro Theatre, Sydney
Marty R: Orient Hotel, The Rocks

Stormzy: Enmore Theatre, Newtown The Bootleg Sessions feat. An

James Muller David Theak Organ
Transplant: Foundry 616, Sydney
Frankie’s World Famous House Band:
hOWLin’ Horses Frankie’s Pizza By The Slice, Sydney
Dave Garnham & The Reasons To
The Owls are playing Moonshine Bar with Lazy Colts this Thursday, Live + Leo Rondeau: Grand Junction
it’s likely one of the last times you can catch them before they hit the Hotel (The Junkyard), Maitland
road with their new EP Rainy Day.
LCD Soundsystem: Hordern
Pavilion, Moore Park
Inconvenient Groove + Moosk + The
Wumpaz + more: The Phoenix, Canberra
‘68 + Grenadiers + Liberties: The
Small Ballroom, Islington
Songs On Stage feat. Russell Neal:
The Unicorn Hotel, Paddington
Tue 25
Stormzy: Enmore Theatre, Newtown

Judy Bailey’s Jazz Connection:
LazyBones Lounge, Marrickville
LA Experiment + DJ Tim Boffa + DJ Cam
Adams: Manly Wharf Hotel, Manly
Drumcell + SNTS + Truncate:
Manning Bar, Camperdown
Father John Misty: Metro Theatre, Sydney
Double Shot: Oatley Hotel, Oatley
U2 Elevation + UK Anthems:
Orient Hotel, The Rocks
‘68 + Grenadiers + Amends + Maverick:
Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst
Stephanie Lea: Penrith Panthers
(Squires Terrace Bar), Penrith
Pink Chevys: Penrith RSL
(Castle Lounge), Penrith
War Rages Within. Pic via Facebook
Oh Wonder + OKBadlands:
Factory Theatre, Marrickville
Eddie Bronson: Foundry 616, Sydney
Songs On Stage feat. Russell Neal
+ Chris Brookes + Pauline Sparkle:
Gladstone Hotel, Dulwich Hill
Sigur Ros: Hordern Pavilion, Moore Park
Songs On Stage feat. Stuart
Jammin + Jenny Hume + more:
Kellys on King, Newtown

Michael Griffin Quintet: LazyBones

Infighting Lounge, Marrickville

All Ages Show with Maggie Rogers

If heavy is your thing then Valve
+ Mallrat: Metro Theatre, Sydney
Bar is the place to be Friday
Adam Gorecki: Orient Hotel, The Rocks
night. Heading up the night
are metal and post-hardcore Reactions + Sleep Talk + Ill Natured:
The Basement, Belconnen
outfit War Rages Within, with
support from Lethal Vendetta, Catfish & The Bottlemen + Bishop
100 A5 colour on gloss = $30 Wartooth and more.
Briggs + Bec Sandridge + The Vanns:
University Of Wollongong, Gwynneville
300 A6 colour on gloss = $35
100 A4 colour on gloss = $40
100 A3 colour on gloss = $80 Songs On Stage feat. Dr TAOS +
Michelle Benson + Paul Ward + Kenneth
call for heaps more deals: 02 9264 4776 D’Aran: Kellys on King, Newtown

St Joan: LazyBones Lounge, Marrickville

THE MUSIC • 19TH JULY 2017 • 39

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