2 June 2014
It was a chance encounter with Cowboy Kate in a second hand market in Melbourne that acted as one of the main inspirations behind local folk country troubadour Harry Hookey’s debut album Misdiagnosed. The poster, which became a notorious piece for acclaimed South African fashion photographer Sam Haskins, was hung up in the studio among other raunchy pieces in Nash Chambers Foggy Mountain Studios throughout the duration of recording the album.
1 June 2014
A genuine air of excitement and enthusiasm rushes through the loudspeaker of my phone as I speak to charismatic frontman of Wagons, Henry Wagons. It is clear that the newest Wagons release, Acid Rain and Sugar Cane, has been a most enjoyable experience for Henry and the band. The LP is a heavily built country rock journey built around the ideas and tales of the dark hallways of bars and some of their more ill-composed drinking experiences, along with some lovely tributes to the less celebrated beverages.
31 May 2014
Peter Dinklage is playing the bad guy in X-Men: Days of Future Past, and he wants you to know he had a good time being bad. “He’s a fun character to dig into,” he says, referring to the habit his character – Bolivar Trask, creator of the mutant-killing robots the Sentinels – has of not so much lurking in the shadows as cosying up to power right out in the open. “Usually with these superhero villain roles, they work on the fringes like the superheroes do, they’re considered a bit mad and they want to lock them up. But this guy is right there with all the politicians and seated there next to the President being a big influence.
30 May 2014
Geelong-born X Factor sensation Taylor Henderson is coming home for a gig at GPAC on June 1. It will be the first time the up-and-coming star has been home for several months and he’s certainly looking forward to it. “Geelong’s just great. It’s just such a good town. It’s so laid-back,” he says. “I can’t wait to see everyone. I cannot wait to be home. I feel like I should be with them because it’s my hometown.”
29 May 2014
Although Kim Benzie, lead singer for Dead Letter Circus, was in Officeworks at the time that I called through for the interview, it wasn’t for a packet of HB pencils. It was indeed for an upcoming film clip to be filmed on tour over the next few months for their track ‘Alone Awake’. “When we play these songs live man, fuck sometimes the crowd sing the lyrics louder than we can play through a PA and so we really want to capture that vibe, and so that is one of the really exciting aspects of Dead Letter Circus at the moment.”
29 May 2014
Gary Numan is a man that should need no introduction – but allow me to try. He was the first UK electric act to hit No. 1 – a feat he achieved twice in 1979 with ‘Are Friends Electric?’ and ‘Cars’. He counts Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails, Dave Navarro, Alan Wilder from Depeche Mode, and the cast of The Mighty Boosh as close friends. In his career spanning thirty-five years he’s released 20 studio albums, earning him the title of ‘Godfather of all Electronic Music’.
29 May 2014
If you’re headed to the National Celtic Festival at Portarlington over the Queen’s birthday weekend, you will be able to experience the most famous band to ever come out of the Isle of Man. Situated between Ireland and Scotland, the Isle of Man has played a large inspirational part on the development of the Barrule trio. Made up of Adam on bouzouki, Jamie on accordion and Tom on violin, Barrule has in the two years they have been together become one of the most acclaimed Celtic bands in the world.
29 May 2014
Lennon & McCartney, Jagger & Richards, DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince – throughout history select musical duos have exemplified a special chemistry. Enter Shane Parsons and Simon Ridley of DZ Deathrays. Since mainlining their brand of thrash-pop-punk into our systems with their 2012 ARIA Award-winning debut Bloodstreams, DZ Deathrays have toured abroad and locally, perpetually hungover and having a blast! I caught up with drummer Simon Ridley ahead of the release of their sophomore album Black Rat (out now through I OH YOU).
29 May 2014
We’re fucking milking this one!” laughed legendary Hard-Ons guitarist Peter “Blackie” Black. “We’ve got heaps going on – it’s going to be shitloads of fun!” Blackie called in to the Forte office for a one-to-one chat about the anniversary tour to end all tours when the Hard-Ons hit the road for the ‘30 Years of Not How it Used to Be’ tour. The tour is poised to kick off tonight in Adelaide, before they make their way to us in mid-June, and to celebrate this milestone the Hard-Ons welcome the temporary return of original member and fan favourite, Keish de Silva.
27 May 2014
“We’re all doing different things at the moment. Arty is in France and Nollaig is playing a few shows, and we are getting ready and very excited to come back to Australia to play. It’s the first time that we’ve ever been to the Celtic Festival and we’ve heard some rave reviews from our friends that have played there in previous years, so we are really looking forward to jumping up at the festival and all the other shows we have lined up.”
22 May 2014
“It’s the first year of the festival and it’s really exciting to be playing on the bill. The concept for the festival developed out of taking all the wonderful bands that play at the jam nights to the festival. I’m very excited for the organisers because it’s building up to be a great event. I was talking to Ted the other day, and there is going to be 50 bands and 200 musicians playing,”
18 May 2014
We speak a LOT on the phone and have regular ‘team meetings’. During our writing phase for the album we emailed each other a new song every two weeks. We came up with an agreement that if the song wasn’t submitted by Sunday night midnight, there was no coffee or tea allowed for the following fortnight!
16 May 2014
If you’re like me and my friends you probably grew up listening to Frenzal Rhomb, with Meet the Family (’97) and A Man’s Not a Camel (’99) burnt into your brain like soundtracks to high school – and having seen them live more times than you can count. “You seemed to have turned out OK!” frontman Jay Whalley laughed when I told him Frenzal Rhomb was my first ever gig/mosh pit (do the kids still say that?) experience at an ice skating rink back in the mid-nineties.
16 May 2014
“I get people saying to me all the time I don’t like going out to see bands because there’s too many shit bands out there,” he says. “I don’t book shit bands full stop … that sounds arrogant, but the people I book they’re original, they’re creative, they have an obscene amount of quality control. They’re career-minded musicians,” he adds.
16 May 2014
Absolutely crazy and sweaty … We never in a million years would have imagined we would end up with a platinum record and a song that would get to #5 on the ARIA Charts. Stuff that dreams are made of!
16 May 2014
Darren Percival is coming to Geelong on May 24 as part of his national Lovelife tour. The soul singer rose to prominence on the first season of Channel Nine’s The Voice in 2012, in which he was mentored by Keith Urban and finished runner-up. Already a professional singer prior to gaining fame, Darren says the experience on The Voice hasn’t really changed him at all.
16 May 2014
Can you believe it’s been almost twenty years since three blonde-haired boys from Oklahoma MMMBop’d their way into the charts and the hearts of girls (and maybe a few guys) across the globe? Like The Beatles, every fan had their favourite – and now, thanks to a recent catch-up ahead of the Australian leg of their world tour, mine is the older, wiser and notably shorter-haired big brother, Isaac.
16 May 2014
“Music is everything at this point,” John says. “It’s my job. I teach music, and I love that, and every other hour I’m writing music, recording music, playing music, rehearsing music, doing publicity for music: it pretty much consumes my life at the moment. On weekends I usually spend most of the time inside a dark room either mucking around with recordings or rehearsing. It’s definitely a driving force in everything I do.”
14 May 2014
Good music is a wonderful thing – great music can change your life. Just ask James Hunt, drummer for Sydney dance trio RÜFÜS. “Life feels a little surreal at the moment. Our debut album [Atlas] just went gold and we’ve been able to tour internationally. These are milestones we never saw happening eighteen months ago when we started writing the album. It’s amazing, and we remind ourselves of that every day.”
14 May 2014
It’s been a long journey from Zambia to Australia for Larry Maluma, and finally after ten years his eleventh album, Ndakondwa (I’m Happy), is hitting the shelves. Since coming to Australia in 1985, Maluma has had the opportunity to work with the likes of Paul Kelly, Diesel and Nicky Bomba to highlight but just a few collaborations. In the lead up to the release of Ndakondwa, Maluma speaks animatedly about this set of tracks.
14 May 2014
“I’d like to make it known that this is the last CherryRock in the current incarnation. We are getting pushed out of AC/DC lane and that is a little bit sad, but by hook or by crook I’ll see if I can’t reinvent us and take the festival to another location around the city. It’s going to be sad though not being in AC/DC lane where it used to be that rock and roll wasn’t noise pollution.”
14 May 2014
The Meat Puppets are the original band’s band, loved and respected by some of the world’s most influential musicians. In their career spanning over four decades, they’ve caught the eye of rock ’n’ roll royalty like Flea, Henry Rollins and the late, great Kurt Cobain, who personally invited the Puppets to appear alongside them at the now legendary gig, MTV Unplugged in New York, back in ’93.
14 May 2014
Here at Forte we love punks – particularly Low Desert ones. Enter the incomparable Brant Bjork and his hand-picked band of rockers: “I’m excited to come back, man. It’s pretty obvious I love Australia, so I’m bringing some good buddies of mine and together we’ll bring some serious rock!”
13 May 2014
It’s been too long since Canadian punk band Propagandhi have set foot on Australian soil, but as I found out in a recent heart to heart with founding member and drummer Jord Samolesky, they’re headed our way – and couldn’t be happier about it.
“We just got back from a tour of the West Coast of the US, so right now we’re laying low and spending a few weeks practising and rehearsing, getting everything ready to go,” Jord began excitedly. “The Australian leg is the longest we’re going out this year and we’re really happy to have the opportunity to come back. We’re all looking forward to it lots!”
