20 February 2014
Like a shining beckon of hope in ’92, Arrested Development rose above the murky waters of early nineties gangsta rap to be named band of the year by Rolling Stone, win two Grammy awards and sell four million copies of their debut album. Fast forward twenty-odd years and their brand of uplifting, soulful grooves are as pertinent as ever. I was lucky enough to sit down with the one and only original founding member, Speech, ahead of their anticipated appearance at WOMADelaide.
20 February 2014
Ben Weinman may be the most loved man in metal – or mathcore, depending on what you subscribe to – and now it’s time to show him we care when he returns for Soundwave with The Dillinger Escape Plan. He’ll be in the company of friends (although recent news of the Stone Temple Pilots withdrawing is a shock), and Ben tells me that being Soundwave alumni has its perks.
20 February 2014
Fiery, exhilarating, textured and artful is the best way to describe the new-school of Scottish traditional music – and Breabach are, without a doubt, leaders of the pack. Although admitting they needed to “detox plans” after winning over the crowd and critics alike at The Woodford Folk Festival, they’ll soon be back in the air on the twenty-odd hour plane journey to play for us again at the Port Fairy Folk Festival.
6 February 2014
Adam Rozenbachs is one of Australia’s finest comedians today and is set to appear at Raw Comedy, which takes at GPAC on the 22nd of February. In the lead up to the event and just after the start of 2014, I got the opportunity to speak with Adam about his ambitions for this year, as well as some highlights from his career thus far.
6 February 2014
Geelong alt-grunge four-piece Sons of Stereo is a band who not only love playing music, but they love supporting it. With no expectations to take the world by storm, frontman Robin Ricketts and guitarist Ash Laidlaw explain how they’re just out to have a good time. “Everyone wants to follow a dream that maybe one day they can live off of, but the reality is that only a few of us actually get to do that,” says Laidlaw.
6 February 2014
When you’re missing a member of your family who is on the other side of the world, there are a few ways to catch up – some pick up a phone, some jump on a plane and some form their own band and tour Australia. The Simpson sisters, Vikki and Donna, have been missing each other since The Waifs took a break a few years ago, but now they are heading back to Australia as the Stray Sisters.
6 February 2014
There’s a misconception out there that those in the arts world are hard to contact; whilst constantly creating, discovering the world and undertaking every experience they can, responding to an email falls down on their list of things to do. But for Courtney Ward, while her passion for life is running high, she still has time to type a friendly response – albeit it while she was trekking the Blue Mountains in New South Wales.
6 February 2014
Finally, with the release of their debut LP Get To You, Melbourne blues rockers The Night Party are making a statement. It’s highly likely that you haven’t heard of The Night Party, but hopefully from reading this article and learning a bit about the dynamic duo, you’ll go to their gigs, buy the CD and soon enough they’ll be on high rotation on your iTunes.
6 February 2014
With a love for electronic music since the age of 13, Akaysha has been performing as Ok Sure since 2009, but that is just one side of her. Locally she has performed at festivals and venues including Strawberry Fields, Kiss My Grass, Revolver and Family, while internationally she has performed at the legendary Thailand Full Moon parties. More impressive, at the age of 20 won the Pioneer Pro DJ search. It was definitely time to have a chat.
6 February 2014
“Do I wanna be here? … Do I really enjoy this? … Is this what I want to do more than anything else?” These are the questions pondered from time to time by Jarrad Brown, lead vocalist and chief songwriter of Melbourne’s Eagle and the Worm. Luckily the answer was still a resounding YES when I caught up with Jarrad to chat about his creative process, recording at the much-loved Sing Sing Studios and why feeling nervous can sometimes be a good thing.
6 February 2014
He may have met the Queen, received a personal mention in Bob Dylan’s memoir, had a street named in his honour and be highly regarded by his peers for ‘mixing pop and politics’, but Billy Bragg prefers the simple things in life. Going to the movies with his wife Juliet and spending time with his twenty-year-old son top the list, but as I found out in a recent chat with the man himself, a uniquely Australian experience continues to intrigue him.
6 February 2014
A couple of weeks out from their debut tour of Australia, I got the opportunity to catch up with Jake Peltz from California rockers Defiler, who are a part of the massive 2014 Soundwave line-up. To say that he is a little bit excited is quite the understatement, and I could tell down the phone line that he was nearly foaming at the mouth in sharing the stage with some of his musical heroes including Korn and Green Day.
6 February 2014
Being out on tour and away from friends and family can be tough – just ask Thy Art Is Murder frontman CJ McMahon: “I’m very close with Ben [Weinman, lead guitar] from The Dillinger Escape Plan. When we play shows together, I call him my ‘tour husband’. I can’t wait to see them play and hang out at Soundwave. I saw their first-ever Australian show in Sydney at the Gaelic Club thirteen years ago, and now I’m best friends with the whole band.
6 February 2014
Kisstroyer’s explosive stageshow is set to rock Motor City Music Festival in March. Together as a band for the last thirteen years, the band has achieved some remarkable milestones. Having toured all around the world and played for Kiss’s own Paul Stanley, I recently got the opportunity to sit down with guitarist Andrew Kyriacou in the lead up to MCMF to chat about their illustrious career.
