5 November 2014
Many may recognise Nicky Bomba as the ex-drummer for high energy roots band John Butler Trio, but since then he’s stepped out into a solo career, formed a duo called Bustamento and conducts the Melbourne Ska Orchestra.
4 November 2014
Listening to Tkay Maidza’s track ‘Brontosaurus’ it’s hard not to fall in love with our scaly friends of the past, but for Tkay watching dinosaurs in Jurassic Park wasn’t such a pleasant experience for her. “I was actually scared of those movies … They kind of seemed like horror movies when I was younger,” Tkay adds with a laugh.
4 November 2014
“When they asked me to play a Surrealists show I was like ‘Oh really!? That’s out of the blue’. It’s been nearly thirty years since we first made a record,” Kim laughed warmly. To many he’s the godfather of grunge, to his students at JMC Academy in South Melbourne he’s the cool teacher, and he’s Dad to his four kids – Kim Salmon may be a lot of things, but self-righteous is not one of them.
4 November 2014
Electro-pop, for lack of a better term, has become increasingly popular over the last couple of decades and as a result there has been a massive influx of musicians who decide to pursue that genre of music. However it’s very rare that you find artists who do it quite as well as Bag Raiders.
3 November 2014
“Well I think when you work so hard on something, especially recording you’re kind of in a tunnel vision – it’s been beautiful to step out and see how supported I am – it’s a wonderful feeling. The process of raising funds for the album – of contacting friends and fans was an eye-opener. I don’t think I’d realised that people actually dig what I do, and really value it – it’s been very encouraging.”
3 November 2014
Ballarat hiphop artist Esvee is back and has just dropped his third solo release in June of 2014, titled The Best kept Secret. The title is very applicable, in that a lot of you reading this may not have heard of Esvee, however, he is a veteran and much loved figure of the Australian hip hop landscape.
3 November 2014
In this day and age indie bands have an unfortunate tendency to fade into obscurity as time goes on. Considering that Cold War Kids have just released their fifth studio album and are celebrating ten years of producing indie rock goodness, I think they’ve done a damn good job getting this far. To make things even better, their latest album, Hold My Home, is pretty damn good.
2 November 2014
Never a solo artist, always the drummer is generally how it goes, but not for Cat Canteri. The talented drummer, originally from the band The Stillsons, has just released her solo album When We Were Young, and it’s sublime. With an ever so slight country sound throughout, the album is full of poetic brooding and moody lyrics about love, relationships and general life things that are ordinary enough to relate to, which is kind of nice I think.
2 November 2014
It’s been three years since we’ve last seen a full album from Shannon Noll, and for good reason. The former Idol contestant has had a lot on his plate, including his second appearance on our TV screens during his time on Dancing with the Stars, but a brand new album is finally on the horizon.
2 November 2014
If there are two words guaranteed to send a chill down the spine, it’s “internet sensation”. We all love the internet, but that doesn’t mean we love everything on the internet, and with the democracy of social media pushing audiences towards the short and the punchy, the world on online comedy is… well, anyone remember Beached Az?
2 November 2014
Aside from being one talented musician, Fiona Bevan is simply a lovely person to chat to. Despite suffering from jet lag from her recent flight to Australia, Fiona remained bubbly and upbeat, albeit the early morning swim helped wake her up.
1 November 2014
Unlike her namesake, a sweet slice of Thelma Plum can be enjoyed all year round, so to celebrate the release of her second EP Monsters, Thelma is hitting the road with a few friends in tow. Destined to be all treat no trick, Thelma says she’s planning to get into the spirit and show us her spooky side.
1 November 2014
For a while all we knew of BANKS was her musician name, that she had her mobile number on Facebook and some seriously lush vocals over synthetic R&B beats. Not much has changed since then, though we now know her first name is Jillian and that her album Goddess is the best damn thing I’ve heard all month. Strong claim I know, but bear with me on this one.
1 November 2014
Rural Victorian students are getting the chance to shine through the Farmed & Dangerous Film Festival, run as part of the official amateur film section of the St Kilda Film Festival and open to all Victorian students (VCAL). That’s the business side of things, now let’s get creative. To help us out, meet event manager, Blake Freeman.
1 November 2014
So many awesome bands releasing new records in the lead up to Soundwave, and one that I’m particularly looking forward to is Hang, the newie from Lagwagon. Judas Priest and New Found Glory have also just dropped killer new records, so there’s going to be a LOT of happy punters that weekend!
31 October 2014
They’re baaa-ack. The champions of rock and roll. The legends of the live stage. The king among men. Ladies and gentlemen, the Foo Fighters are heading back our way. With their new album Sonic Highways set for release November 10, you should have plenty of time to learn all their new stuff before they wipe their feet on Australia’s doorstep.
31 October 2014
Los Angeles is brimming with freedom and creativity, so much so that it was inevitable for these four artistic souls to have teamed up on a collaborative affair. Purple Crush, legendary producer Josh Peace and world renowned drag queen Raja Gemini worked for six months, on-and-off, on the production of ‘Shock and Awe’, a truly hypnotic and Yoko Ono-inspired slab of dance music that has already shoehorned itself as one of the best releases of the year.
31 October 2014
After hundreds of song submissions and thousands of votes, the Melbourne Music Bank was finally announced at Wednesday nights final four competition. The top 13 were narrowed down to semi-finalists Under the Arch, Heloise, Selki and NY, with Heloise taking out the grand prize.
31 October 2014
DEAD is about to converge on yet another lap of the country with their punk-infused rock and roll show, and to celebrate they are about to release yet another album. Talking about their 2013 (and most recent) release, Idiots, at the start of the interview, it is quite a surprise to learn that Captains of Industry is going to be released at the upcoming Geelong show at the Barwon Club.
31 October 2014
Five albums in, there’s honestly nothing much to say about Slipknot’s latest effort. As a follow-up to 2008’s All Hope is Gone, .5: The Gray Chapter sits quite nicely, but in the whole scheme of things, since after Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses), the band has toned down their maniacal, frenzied and hectic sound, tightened up their scattered and sporadic arrangements and wrapped their tracks up in nice neat little accessible packages.
31 October 2014
For as long as I have been interested in playing music, I’ve always dreamt of visiting San Francisco. Up until three months ago, I thought it would definitely be at least three years until I got there. So that said, when I landed in the airport, I was walking around like I was in a dream. From the fresh and organic breeze coming off San Francisco Bay, I must admit I’d been away from the sea for three weeks and it was driving me a little crazy.
31 October 2014
I think most of us would know exactly how nerve-racking a first date can be, particularly if there’s pre-existing feelings involved. The most stressful part of the whole thing, for me anyway, is deciding how I’m going to present myself on this date with this person that I’ve obviously got the mega-hots for (but we’re trying to keep that under wraps).
31 October 2014
Over the next six months, Joe Camilleri and the Black Sorrows will visit Geelong twice in support of their latest album Certified Blue. A couple of weeks ago, the album went to number two on the ARIA Jazz and Blues charts, second only to Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett’s latest offering. Initially Camilleri doesn’t know whether the album fits on the chart, but is impressed with the accolade none the less.
31 October 2014
Following in the footsteps of The Waifs by packing up the van and trekking around to every music festival in Australia, Siskin River is carving out their own success story and is quickly developing into a must-see act on the acoustic/folk circuit. Comprising sisters Shalane and Tullara, with the music that Siskin River has been releasing, it’s hard to believe that they are just a duo.
