So, I know what you're thinking - why are there no images in this issue?
The past two issues were so rich with graphics and now we get nothing! It doesn't look like much effort went into it.
Well, I'll tell you what happened this month.
At the start of July, Amy and Kate flew over to Melbourne. And that was the first time we've had an actual ARCADY meeting that is not online. And with the prospect of the whole ARCADY senior team being in the same town, we partied it out a little.
Mid-July was really busy at my full-time job (a designer at a newspaper which I won't name). And we're talking flat out busy here. I think there was a week where I had constant migraines. Then I had to go overseas to take care of a few family commitments and businesses. My brother got married; my sister got engaged, due to marry next year, countless relatives joking that I'll be the next in line for the year after. I mean, for that I'd need to actually find a boyfriend first ya know. But I digress.
I came back and it's Splendour season. I go to work, I come home, change, go to gig, sleep. Wash, rinse, repeat.
So, how am I supposed to design the latest issue of ARCADY as well? So I told Natasha, one of our designers, about this idea. And she thought it was clever. And I did add colour and different fonts... Just so it looks like I made somewhat of an effort... Though I think this layout would be more fitting if there was a Klaxons interview or something. But alas, they had to go breaking legs (literally) and cancelling the tour :/
So, I'll be honest. It IS a rush job. But ARCADY's free anyway. So, deal with it!
Much love from the extremely tired ed,
Olivia Desianti
Editor/Creative Director
MAILING LIST
//jukebox
Y+R - "Testestrogen"
A song that makes you wanna dance like a crazy Japanese song everytime it comes on is always good right?
Feist - "My Moon My Man "
Kinda country, kinda indie, kinda awesome.
Art Brut - "Direct Hit"
Oh yes, the bushiest eyebrows in the indie world is back. More serious this time around. But back nonetheless.
FIERy Furnaces - "The Philadelphia Grand Jury"
It's 7 minutes long. It's got the line "the most crooked sons of bitches you can ever want to come across" in the chorus. It's ridiculous. And every second of it is solid gold.
The Bird and The Bee - "F*cking Boyfriend"
Electro-pop laced with a bit of profanity, who wouldn't be your fucking boyfriend after listening to this song?
In the wake of a critically acclaimed debut album and supporting tour, guitarist Joe McKee discusses the manically ace Snowman's next move, if their primeval tribe doesn't first claim you within an inch of your very life.
Had somebody told me three years ago that, come 2007, Australian music would reach such a pinnacle that half the music I digest would be born of this country, I would have nodded politely and slowly backed away chuckling. Temporarily tainted by the Wolfmother monopoly, it seemed the scene was doomed to banality. Then something happened. Far from the radio-friendly gobshite of Missy Higgins and The John Butler Trio, a subculture resurged, bearing in its wake a pan-national collective of exciting and original young bands unwilling to stand back and watch the rest of the world claim our youth.
Like The B52s being bludgeoned by a pack of howling wolves, Snowman are undoubtedly the most ambitious comrades of this revolution, the foursome melting brains across Australia with the kind of psychotic garage that will make you want to shriek, jerk and shimmy all at the same damn time. "When we first began playing together it felt very right," explains the multi-instrumental Joe McKee . "There was a holy unity forming between us all."
Based in Perth, their sonic atmosphere is attributed to the incredibly diverse origins of the band members who, from Indonesia to Iceland to the UK, each bring their own unique sound to the band. "We are extremely different people and we can clash sometimes," says Joe. "But I think that these differences are vital to the way we create. We each have a unique angle or perspective on the sound that we create." Hailing from a small city with a number of memorable musical exports, Joe is unphased by its history. "There have been some great bands from this town, but there has also been some utter tripe…and often the tripe sells more records." He concludes, "There is no formula or blueprint to cracking a scene."
Following the 2004 mini-album Zombies on the Airwaves of Paris (which with "Lost in the Woods" sounded like 60s surf rockers The Chantays made paranoid by years of being mashed out of their minds), 2006 saw their full-length self-titled debut released to a wave of critical acclaim concerning their exceptional individuality, as tracks like the all too appropriately titled "Swimming With Sharks" provided an all-out sensory assault to the dire indie scene.
Though it may sound like they've been possessed by a pack of zombies, this frenzied urgency, in fact, comes from none other than their own imaginations. "We are quite internal people when it comes to creating any art. It's a matter of translating thoughts and colours and textures and experiences into some form or tangible noise." Intense as those thoughts and colours might be, even as I sit here writing to the manic groove of single "You Are a Casino", my feet can't help aggressively tapping beneath me.
So how do Snowman plan on following up their brilliant debut? "We are working on a new batch of music for a new record. We've been locked away in our kitchen writing, writing, writing. Just wait until you hear the next album." Having just released a limited 7" of "You Are A Casino" in the UK, the band plan to move there once the sophomore album has been recorded.
Whatever their next move may be, the only guarantee is that their loyal legion of masochistic fans will be there to support them. Yet according to Joe, their presence is merely a bonus. "There is no intention to please anyone other than ourselves, so when people seem to enjoy what we do it's quite a pleasant surprise."
What started off as a few doodles of a guy and his robot four years ago has evolved into a full time job for indie geek, Jeph Jacques. Hey, any guy that makes tits talk about indie rock for a living is fine by me!
So after reading your comic for two years, I've not only noticed a change in your artwork but in plot and narration. We know your evolving artwork has been a conscious decision – has the way you write your comics been the same?
It's hard for me to say! I would have to assume my writing style has evolved over time, but I'm so close to the work that I can't really judge. I do like to think I've gotten slightly better at rhythm and characterisation. I've always felt that the style of humour and the kinds of things I find funny have stayed relatively static over the course of the comic, but I do try to present them better. Lately it seems to me like the strips have been a little more concise, dialogue-wise, but again I am probably not the best person to judge.
Your characters have, uh, very varied personalities and quirks. Are they inspired by anyone you know in real life? Not really. Everyone is entirely fictional, or as fictional as figments of my imagination can be. Different characters reflect different aspects of my personality – Hannelore is a parody of my own anxieties and obsessive tendencies, for instance. It's not a conscious thing – I feel like it would be pretty egotistical to create a character specifically to personify an aspect of my personality, like "I AM SO IMPORTANT AND FASCINATING EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW ABOUT THIS ONE QUIRK I HAVE" but I feel like it's probably inevitable when you're writing fiction.
You've been doing this comic as a full-time job for 3 years now. Can you now afford - as suggested in a recent guest comic - to spend over $300 a month on t-shirts for bands that you only started listening to yesterday? I probably could! However since I make my own shirts and have tons of friends in webcomics who are all great t-shirt designers in their own right, I tend to mostly wear webcomic-related merch. So that $300/month generally goes toward alcohol and comic books.
Questionable Content is known to take place in Northampton, Massachusetts, a pretty small town that seems to sustain a pretty thriving indie community. Small town Australia sustains a pretty thriving redneck community. What gives? Well Noho is a college town so you get lots of kids here for school nine months out of the year. Also it is pretty fancy-pantsed and likes to pretend it is a little slice of Manhattan that somehow wandered up to Western Massachusetts and settled down. Also a lot of indie rock LEGENDZ call the area home – I just saw Thurston Moore at the ice cream shop the other day.
I guarantee you that small town America has more rednecks than small town Australia. Your rednecks are better though because you all have to constantly fight saltwater crocodiles (you do this, right?)
As well as Questionable Content, you, and a bunch of other webcomics guys have started up Lolbots.com. Which one of you has the greatest Robo-Fu? I am going to have to give it to Ferocious Jon Sung. He is a RELENTLESS man, and the only person to have successfully scaled me at San Diego Comic Con.
Do you know if any bands you've ever mentioned in the comic have read said mentioned strips? Oh yeah, several of them have. After I did the comic about that dude from The Arcade Fire being a violent lover, he emailed me all "Dude, you are so dead." I am pretty sure he was joking. Also Aaron (Harris, drummer) from Isis is apparently a fan? He linked QC on the Isis blog a while back and said kind things. Also I am buddies with Matt (LeMay, vocalist and guitarist) from Get Him Eat Him, who are supremely excellent. Man it feels weird to be name-dropping band people.
People seem to hold you as an authority on indie music. Firstly, how does it feel to be ~*~internet famous~*~? Surreal! Occasionally I will get stopped on the street or whatever by people who recognize me, which is flattering and not a little scary. No creeps yet though, which is good. I'm always happy to hear when someone found a band they really like via the comic- it's good to share things you like! I feel like internet fame is probably absolutely nothing like "real" fame, but it is still pretty fun most of the time.
...and secondly, being in a High Fidelity mood, what would you say your Top Five Essential Records of All-Time would be? Essential, huh? If we're talking Spectrum of Human Experience, I'd have to go with some Bach, some Beethoven, Sgt. Pepper, anything by Miles Davis, and probably African drumming or gamelan.
As far as essential records for ME, it'd have to be Downward Is Heavenward by Hum, Lift Yr Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven by Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Discovery by Daft Punk, You Forgot It in People by Broken Social Scene, and Outside by David Bowie (the ultimate shameful guilty pleasure record).
Oh, and does Conor Oberst piss you off as much as I do? I don't know if it's him or just his hair!
And finally, what the hellbutt happened to Indie Tits (another of Jeph's comics, featuring a host of unfortunately named birds talking about music)? I am too busy (read: lazy) to update it! The site went down when we switched servers and I haven't had time to put it back up yet. Hopefully soon?
So, kind of, like. These words are at the top of Ashley McConnel's vocabulary, bass player and one-fifth of the innocuously fun Gold Coast outfit Operator Please. It can be overlooked, however: the band IS comprised solely of teenagers.
Despite their incredibly young age, Operator Please have shot to fame quite rapidly. Many have thus become understandably suspicious. Just how does a group of teenagers, after winning their high school's annual Battle of the Bands competition, end up flying to New York to meet with EMI executives and then with seemingly little effort sign up to the major label? Through everyone's favourite online social network, of course.
Recollecting on their swift journey into the Australian indie music scene, Ashley admits, "It's got a lot to do with MySpace," but he refuses to give too much credit to the Internet social and music giant. The band he says has "done everything DIY" for the first year, but it was only after creating an online profile for the band that things really started rolling. "We got an agent who I believe did find us through MySpace and then he kind of put us on through our managers and it kind of went from there."
"Even though it's been really fast for us," he explains, "it's kind of been at least gradual." Playing at overage shows to audiences who are all older than the band "was definitely a really weird thing. It kind of forced us to kind of grow up and get used to it quickly."
The band has had little choice but to get used to it. Operator Please, who started off performing in front of an audience of fifteen fellow classmates have now conquered audiences in the thousands, the biggest of which was at this year's Gold Coast Big Day Out. "I definitely found it kind of weird because hey I was here last year and now I am on the other side of the stage, it was kind of a mind trip," he says. "It was a complete 180 in a year straight."
Each band member draws upon different genres of music for their own inspiration. "Our stuff is a collaboration of some many different things," Ashley expands.
"Our drummer likes a lot of jazz, our keyboardist likes a bit more folk, and I know I like a lot of more like indie rock". Describing their sound, Ashley expectedly struggles to come up with a definitive answer. "It's hard to pinpoint. I usually say like… kind of like, straight up indie. It's just some fun really." And what about those never-ending Yeah Yeah Yeahs comparisons? "Our influences are like really, really diverse," he says. "We don't like consciously take one as like our straight influence… but yeah, we listen to a lot of Yeah Yeah Yeahs."
Ashley speaks to me over the phone in a remarkably refined, posh-school-boy type accent. It seems slightly incongruent when you consider he grew up on the Gold Coast and attended a public co-ed high school. He admits to me that style and fashion is his own "personal obsession". "It's kind of all I ever talk about," he gushes. A recent promotional trip to the U.K. saw him pack a very heavy suitcase, which luckily he did so knowing that he did not have to personally take care of any extra baggage fees. "I like to have an outfit for every day, I change my mind all the time," he laughs. "I'm not a light traveler". When asked for personal fashion advice, particularly on how ARCADY readers can get themselves a similarly trendy hairstyle, he instructs, "Oh, they'd have to get me to cut it. I cut my hair. I cut everyone's hair really. One day I picked up a hair razor and started doing mine and my families' hair, and then I did all my friends' hair."
It is no surprise that if Ashley were not apart of Operator Please, he would be involved in other creative and artistic pursuits. "I was about to go to uni to study fashion design and photography. That's what I'd be doing [otherwise]." While these plans have been put on hold, it is clear that he certainly does not mind.
Coming out of the small New South Wales town of Braidwood, The Bumblebeez make music like none that you have ever heard before. Nicholas Argy caught up with the man behind The Bumblebeez unique blend of hip hop and rock, Chris Colonna, for a chat about being unearthed, the new album and where the band is headed.
Coming out of the small New South Wales town of Braidwood, The Bumblebeez make music like none that you have ever heard before. I caught up with the man behind The Bumblebeez unique blend of hip hop and rock, Chris Colonna, for a chat about being unearthed, the new album and where the band is headed.
It was in 2002 that the world got its first real taste of Bumblebeez magic, firstly through Triple J's Unearthed competition and then via Fly TV. "The whole thing was really exciting and it happened so fast," Chris says. "But winning Unearthed definitely opened the door for us." But just how hard was it trying to break into the music industry from rural Australia? "These days it doesn't really matter where you come from with MySpace and shit. I think Australia has always been lucky with the Unearthed competition and other stuff like it. But I think if your music sounds good and its strong then you will be found. I guess the only hard thing is gigging – like when you've got to travel from Braidwood to Sydney it's not as easy as just getting on a plane – and then there's the budget. That's probably the hardest thing."
However, Chris doesn't think it would have been as good an experience had they won Unearthed in 2007. "Five years ago Unearthed was much more prestigious and I think there was a lot more strength to it because the bands would get a lot more out of it. Now, because it's almost a monthly thing, the prizes are shit and it doesn't have the same sort of pulling power as it used to."
Since being discovered by the ABC they have released two EPs, played shows with Radiohead and had a hit single in the U.S – which means that at least one of Chris' dreams has come true. "I always wanted my music to be heard right around the world."
The album, Prince Umberto and the Sister of Ill, has had its release date pushed back to late August because of "record company shit" but we'll be in for a treat when it finally does hit the stores. It's no longer just Chris in his bedroom – there's quite a few guests on this album. "No Lay and some other female grime artists, Gordon Smiles – this guy from Tahiti who's the main singer on one of the songs – and then it's just me and my sister. It's bigger than White and Red Printz were. It's a good album."
"Dr. Love" is the first single to come off the new album and the guys have really gone all-out on the video clip, working with world renowned short film director, Tom Kuntz. The clip features a lot of scruffy looking men (a lot of whom Chris says were homeless) brandishing tattoos of either cute feathered animals or inanimate objects. "We went over to L.A and he [Tom] had a little sheet of paper with some ideas on it, but it was largely improvised. I think the main reason it worked was because it's simple." The filming was done over two days but a whole day was spent teaching the men how to dance, while five hours each day was spent doing drawings and putting on the make-up.
The Bumblebeez played a set at Splendour in the Grass in early August but because Pia (aka ViLa and Chris' sister) is heavily pregnant, that and a series of shows with Hot Chip later in the year will be the only touring done in support of the album. "The live shows are hard to do without her because I guess you've got to play the fucking songs that are on the album."
So if they have come this far in five years then where do The Bumblebeez hope to be in another five? "Hopefully we will keep evolving and have released another two albums by then... and still be having fun."
If Panther could eat any band in the world, it would be Limp Bizkit. But only if they're drug free.
For years now, MTV has been seen the capitalist demon that ruins rock 'n' roll and strangles everything we love about it. They're a good medium of getting bands who already have exposure, more exposure, even though they're the ones who supposedly pulled Nirvana out of the clubs in Seattle and got them playing arena's all over the world. Imagine my astonishment when I found out that MTV2 had nominated Panther for their Video of the Year award. "It's weird because even though the show has more independent label artists on it, I stick out like a sore thumb," Charlie Salas laughs. "I sound like a blender running compared to some of them."
Haven't heard of them? You will have soon. Despite having started out as a joke, Panther seems to be taken somewhat more seriously – well, as serious as you can get with Charlie Salas – than it used to be. "I was asked to do a solo performance with a bunch of other people. Instead of doing a folky acoustic thing like everyone else, I wanted to be more irritating and loud, so the night before I pre-recorded a shitty drum machine and bass line and was going to sing to it. When I got up there everyone was wondering why I didn't have a guitar… but the plan backfired because the tape deck didn't work, so I stood up there with the crickets chirping, embarrassed."
A guerrilla performance outside followed the show and soon enough people were asking him to open up for them. Since then, he has released a CD, a record and a DVD.
When I spoke to Charlie, he was just finishing up tracks for a new record. I was a bit surprised at this, seeing as he has only just released Secret Lawns here in Australia. Panther has been described as being an "unpredictable and energetic solo performances tainted with throbbing bass, minimalistic hooks and jittery dance routines", while in Charlie's own words, "Panther offers a different performance. It's like watching a bizarre and ugly workout video filled with singing and theatrics."
From both descriptions, one thing is almost certain. There will be dancing. And there will be craziness. But almost without doubt, you will be greeted with a unique blend of floor dancing, that only fans of Sonny Sharrock, Human League, Black Flag and Tina Turner could understand. "My favourite performers that I personally have seen are the ones who either change it up a bit each time or really go for it. I would say I loved Royal Trux. I saw Sun Ra once when I was 16, that was really neat. And watching Madonna on TV is cool."
Panther was also the first release on E*Rock's label Fryk Beat, and a collaboration between the two artists appeared on Secret Lawns. "E*Rock and I have been friends for a while and I have always loved his art and his other label audio dregs," Charlie explains. "After a while we started playing together and I helped him with his project 1999, which is awesome in a house-y INXS kind of way. When he decided to start this new label, he approached me with doing a 12 inch with one side 33 and the other side 45 and I was excited. I already had the material and he had already done a remix of one of the songs, so by proxy, I was first. He is also editing a new Panther video too."
Charlie takes as much enjoyment from making music as he does making the videos." Whitey, who I have known for a few years through friends, and some other dudes had approached me with the idea of the cardboard box thing. I kind of put it out of my head until he asked me to visit the set and when I saw it I was blown away by how many hours he and his cohorts had put into it. You can't really tell by the video, but the detail is amazing. He kept seeing me perform and studied all the fucked up dance moves which was cool, so he really had it outlined to a tee, I just improved the rest." All of the videos made will appear on the DVD.
Entering an interview knowing very little about an artist is a dangerous game, you could end up with some very boring answers to some very boring questions, or worse, your bluffing could be discovered, you sit through an awkward half hour, glad when the interview nightmare is finally over.
Before interviewing Liam Finn I'd not even had a chance to listen to his debut solo album I'll be Lightning, so a scantily written press release was my only guide. For those who don't know Liam is the son of Neil Finn from the infamous Crowded House, so music has been in the family and a constant influence in his life creating a compulsion to make music from an early age.
His first band Betchdupa recorded three EP's and two albums in five years before moving from New Zealand to Australia and finally deciding on London for a base, deciding that life in the comfort zone of the Southern Hemisphere needed a bit of a shake up. The band quickly grew a thick skin on London's relatively harsh streets, experiencing the advantages and disadvantages of life in a big, busy and frequently aggressive city. By this time Betchdupa had been touting the same material for several years, it was losing its excitement and freshness and causing slight ruptures in the band's cohesion.
With Liam's new material not seeming to suit the band's set up, it was time for a new direction and a new approach, taking full control to achieve a musical vision. I'll be Lightning was recorded solely by Liam, but the usual sterility of one person playing with themselves multiple times is not present on the album, far from it, all the songs have a vibrant feel, a new found passion and excitement prevalent throughout the 14 tracks.
Most of the instrumentation on the album is recreated live with the staple of all modern solo performers, the loop pedal, where the performer samples each part and plays along with it, building layers of instruments.
Frequently solo artists will overuse the pedal, ignoring the fact there's an audience present whilst they fiddle around getting the sampled layers ready, Liam has mastered the art, incorporating the whole set up process seamlessly into songs, even occasionally playing live drums over himself. Whilst this does lead to a certain repetitive structure to live versions of the songs, the performance and passion exerted in the recreation more than makes up for it.
The songs themselves could work equally as well with acoustic guitar and voice, they are simple, familiar melodies, sometimes haunting, sometimes uplifting and inspiring, Liam is an old school songwriter, an expert in manipulating melodies that remind you of something you've heard somewhere else that you can't quite put your finger on.
There are elements of a voyage of discovery and change contained in the lyrics of the album, songs such as "Music Moves My Feet", rediscovering that despite confusion, disillusionment and drowning yourself in alcohol, music is what drives you and you just have to fulfil that no matter what the struggle or cost. Or current and incredibly catchy single "Second Chance", which in my mind anyway is about a subject close to my heart, moving on, pastures new and life's many upheavals, emotional or physical, as well as some more traditional musical subjects, such as unrequited love and betrayal.
Perhaps the best outcome from entering an interview with an artist you know little or nothing about is discovering someone who's music and performance you enjoy, an artist with an exceptional debut (solo) album, an exuberant live show and an attitude and ethos you relate to and support, sometimes the best discoveries are made quite by chance.
Adam Olenius from Swedish sensations Shout Out Louds gives us an insight into their new album, intra-band politics, and life in Scandinavia.
How did Shout Out Louds form? How long have you been together? Is there something you feel you want to achieve with your music, or is it just for fun? The band was formed by Ted [Malmros, bassist] and me. We found out that we liked the same kind of music and had a curiosity to find out more. Carl [von Arbin] joined us the week after and together with a drum machine, the band was formed. As soon as we had a couple of songs Eric [Edman] and Bebban [Stenborg] joined in as well. The band was always just for fun but with strong principles. Songwriting, on the other hand, is not just for fun at all. It is something important.
The songs on Our Ill Wills seem to have much more depth - both musically and lyrically - than those on Howl Howl Gaff Gaff . How do you feel your musical style has progressed or evolved since the first album? We grew together a lot after playing so much across the world and that also improved our self confidence. I worked a lot more on the songwrititng and I became more honest and diverse. Everybody in the band kind of looked elsewhere for influences [in things other than] just rock and pop music. Electronic, world music, and jazz were three important influences.
What inspired this album? What did you want to achieve with it? We didn't want to think too much before entering the studio. We knew what we had gone through as a band and we talked of course a lot of how we wanted the songs to sound. I guess I am happy it came out quite cinematic. Stockholm, friends, and things that have happened to us was something I had to write about. Sometimes it feels like we are characters in a film. I don't know what kind though..
What extra instruments did you use during the recording of Our Ill Wills ? We've heard mentions of accordions and xylophones - do you incorporate these into your live performance as well? I wish we all had two more arms [each] because there are a lot of instruments on the record we can't play, but even though we sometimes use live strings and guests on stage, it is important that we can do it by ourself. Bebban has a lot more now to play and she does it really great - accordion, marimba, piano. And she finally sings more now, too. We have a lot of percussion on this record so [when playing live] we all try to contribute and hit on things that lay around on the stage.
Your first album, Howl Howl Gaff Gaff, was released internationally with a tracklisting that was different to its Scandinavian release. What led to the decision to release the album in this way? Well, we recorded an EP in 2004 and we were very happy how the songs came out and wanted to add those songs on the "international" album. [But] we wanted to release something that felt new to us as well.
Who writes your songs? What sort of input does each member have? I wrote most of them but we everyone contributes with ideas. We arrange everything together. Bebban and Carl are great [in adding] wonderful details that really "close" the songs.
So there are four boys and one girl in Shout Out Louds - what's the dynamic like within the band? Do the boys have more say because of their strength in numbers? We are louder of course, especially Ted, but it is his voice... he can't help it! But [no], not really. We have to become better [at listening]. We are a terribly slow democracy.
Do you feel there is a "scene" in Sweden? If so, how involved with the Swedish music scene are you? How do you feel you fit in? Well, I just feel there are a lot of great bands at the moment. When you are in the middle of it, it is hard to put a finger on what the scene is all about. I do think the bands here now are doing a fine job at the moment (ha..). I like how genres are getting mixed up and bands here are not afraid to use big melodies.
A lot of Swedish bands have been very successful internationally over recent years. Is there much collaboration or interaction between musicians there? Do you find that Swedish bands tend to stick together, or does everyone do their own thing? There are a lot of collaborations and bands [taking] other bands abroad. We are very good friends with Peter, Bjorn And John and The Concretes. Same city, same playground.
How did the deal with Merge Records come about? We have been touring with a few Merge bands and we really like that label. When [Shout Out Louds' previous label] Capitol was no longer in the picture, we sent the records to Merge right away. They liked it, we liked it.
Our Ill Wills has only just been released in Australia. Are you looking forward to visiting? How do you feel your music has been received here so far? It is quite strange to travel so far away from home and [have] people know your songs. The audience has really been great in Australia and it is going to be good to see some more cities this time. Unfortunately the schedule is from hell...
You've supported a lot of big name bands, such as The Strokes, Kings of Leon and The Dears. How important do you feel touring is in creating a fanbase? Do you enjoy touring or recording more? Touring was really important for us and more and more people come back to see us [now]. I do feel more comfortable in the studio but playing live is important for us. [Australia] feels like it's going to a party, bringing your favourite music with you.
Do you prefer touring in Sweden or overseas? How do people's reactions to your music vary from country to country? It is quite the same actually. Swedes are a little bit lazy and need a few pints before they can dance. I enjoy more playing abroad. You feel more like of an explorer.
Have you ever considered recording any of your songs in Swedish? Hmm.. I have actually written some already but we will see when we have time for that. Maybe.
Tell us about some Swedish bands you're excited about. I really like The Radio Dept., Ingenting and Studio. Three very different bands. Enjoy!
In a small town in North Eastern England called Newcastle, sit four boys in their late teens. Lead singer, Archis Tiku has just announced to his band mates that he has no desire to be a vocalist anymore. The boys are unsure of what they wanted to do. There were only two options. Break up or get a new singer. Breaking up seemed easier.
That was until Tom English's then girlfriend came across a man standing in front of a jukebox singing along to Stevie Wonder's "Superstition", in one of his trademark op shop suits. The man in question was Paul Smith. A Middlesborough football fan who had never fronted a band in his life. Despite all of this, it took only one rehearsal for the four lads to realise that they had found what they'd been looking for - a brilliant frontman with the requisite look to take on the world.
Newcastle wasn't known for its music abilities. They had a kick arse football team and that was the only thing that mattered. For the hooligans to take on anything else, it seemed like an arduous task. "People would go out to listen to dance music or stuff like The Jam . There were also a lot of Oasis fans up there. [It was all] stylish British rock 'n' roll," guitarist, Duncan Lloyd explains. "Last time we played Newcastle, it was to people from students to builders, football fans as well, who were all into the band just getting behind us 'cos we're 'the band that came out of Newcastle'. It's kind of amazing really, just how the town has made us really a part of the town."
The chemistry between the lads known as Maxïmo Park began to take hold and soon they were collaborating on a whole range of post-punk tracks. As much as the music gripped everyone, it was Paul Smith's fashionable look that gave them their own individual credibility. It was suggested, that where once Morrissey and perhaps Jarvis Cocker strode, Paul Smith was now striding with them.
"When we first put our very first single out, a friend of ours called John who used to be a punk rocker in the 70s and early 80s and who was also a fan of the band, said 'You should really get something out', but we didn't have any money at the time. He said he'd gotten a bit of money from an inheritance and said 'I'll lend you five hundred quid, if you press some vinyl.' We're like 'Yeah, that'd be amazing', you know, 'cos we really wanted to do a record at some point. And he lent us the money, so we got three hundred pressed in Prague and the idea was that we were going to put out different coloured vinyls, double A-sides – "Apply Some Pressure" and another song, "Once, A Glimpse", and two more after that. But on the back of our first single, we got picked up by Warp Records." And the rest is history.
Just like any kid in his late twenties, Duncan Lloyd grew up listening to grunge. "From a very early age to older, there's the sort of obvious bands, while growing up that we'd get played, like the Beatles ' records and Bob Dylan, that got me playing guitar. I was a grunge kid, you know like Nirvana and Sonic Youth and stuff. I like a lot of folk stuff as well which is kind of.. I suppose Bob Dylan got me into that. There were a couple of punk bands when I was younger, too. I was into Minor Threat and Fugazi and stuff like that."
Going from being claimed as the saviours of rock by the NME to being slagged off in every issue isn't that shocking anymore. It almost seems as though any band that came out in 2005 in the post-punk wave has been crapped all over by the British music press. So, when Maxïmo Park received the same treatment earlier this year, it was hardly surprising. "To be honest with you, I think all we ever did was our own thing," Duncan sighs. "And you know for some people when you've been together a long time, your sound changes. Some people don't like it but then if you keep your sound the same, you get criticised for that as well. You get criticised for not moving or not trying to do something [else].
"So, I mean, what The Futureheads are doing and what we're doing, I suppose at least people see now that we're just the band that we are and we're not really trying to be anybody else, or trying to do what other people are doing. We're making the music that comes natural to us."
Expanding on his comments about NME, Duncan continues. "The guy who runs it is a marketing guy. He's not a music guy and it hasn't really been about the music for a long time. They do kind of introduce a lot of new bands, but the indie bands that they say they do introduce in the UK, people already know about 'cos of the web. You can't take things like that too seriously, especially with the NME 'cos its more of a Smash Hits magazine," Duncan laughs. "A lot of bands are trying to avoid it at the moment but either way people in the music press can say what they like 'cos it's their job, but when you're in a band you can only do what you do and you can say what you like. We've got our own following so you can't really let it affect you too much. Some people don't like us being slated. But they're a London based magazine and they're trying to be controversial and sell magazines, that's their job, you know, it's a different sort of… you can't take it personally 'cos you gotta see that that's the way they do things."
At the end of 2006, Maxïmo Park were asked to play in China. For decades, China has remained largely off-limits to the rock 'n' roll world. "We got offered to play by a guy called Archie who was basically trying to set up gigs for bands with independent labels, who go over there to basically get bands to play in front of Chinese crowds and as soon as we heard we were about to go, we were really excited." It is clear from the enthusiastic inflections decorating Duncan's voice that the memory of those gigs still electrifies him. "We went over and we were one of the first bands to do this thing that he had organised. What he did, he actually advertised it in the Chinese press about six weeks before and like a week before in the Western press as well, so that it had a good mix of crowd. So, we got to play to a lot of Chinese kids as well as people from all over the place that were staying there. It was amazing. We got to see the Great Wall and we got to go to Beijing. It was one of those trips we'll always remember 'cos China is a place you think you'll never get to play, so it was brilliant for us."
Maxïmo Park's second album, Our Earthly Pleasures, was released this year. With half the world currently in summer festival circuit time, a tour in the US and an appearance on the Jimmy Kimmel show lined up, as well as the Australian tour this month, the band named after Maximo Gomez Park (a meeting place for Cuban revolutionaries) will be kept busy for the next month. With many shows on the Australian tour already sold out, the gigs promise to be some of the year's most exciting. "I think in Melbourne, it's more of a musical town, there's more of an atmosphere and stuff in terms of like it's a bit more bohemian," Duncan muses when asked what he remembers of the band's last tour down under. "They're all very much first impressions and we got an amazing response and a standing ovation type thing at the end. It was a bit mind blowing 'cos you don't expect how much people are gonna be into your band. We had a really good tour so we're excited about going back and playing again."
When everybody else at ARCADY backed out, fearing that they'd be too starstruck, the task of interviewing musical genius Patrick Wolf fell to Liam Casey.
Patrick Wolf is sitting quietly in a small office in Universal Music's Australian headquarters. Sipping a Crown Lager, he is dressed in shorts and knee socks, with a thick red shoelace around his neck and pointy shoes with all kinds of belts and buckles. Were it not for the fact that he is six feet and four inches tall, you could mistake him for a rebellious primary school boy. Furthermore, his hair has recently been dyed a shocking shade of orange.
"I just got bored," Wolf explains when I ask him about the new colour. "I was in Japan. I like to buy the hair dyes there, because you don't get hair dyes like them anywhere [else]. This is meant to be their natural blonde colour." He laughs. "I thought that was fantastic. I thought I really wanted to get a Japanese blonde hair colour, and be like those girls with their fake tans. They want to look like Britney, but they get it really wrong."
Although Wolf is physically striking, his appearance doesn't compare to the dramatic clout of his music. I first heard Wolf's music when I was 17, when I tracked down a copy of the explanatorily-titled The Patrick Wolf EP. ("Oh!" says a surprised Wolf. "I guess you know a lot about my music then.") I paid a ridiculous import price for his debut album, Lycanthropy, the following year, and promptly declared it to be the greatest album I had ever heard. I was forced to re-evaluate my own opinion when he released its follow-up, Wind In The Wires, a beautiful and staggering suite of dark orchestral songs. And now, Wolf has launched The Magic Position on us, a glorious pop album full of glockenspiels, handclaps, children's choirs and string and horn sections.
"I patched all the parts of me that are likeable together," says Wolf of his new musical direction. "It was like going on a date, and putting on your smartest, cleanest clothes, and not talking about the trauma you had when you were fourteen, you know? Just trying to show the best of yourself. So I think it works in that way: it's more acceptable and digestible, but it's still me. I guess I don't stir any controversy with this record."
Of course, the album was produced by a man in love. At the time, Wolf was in a relationship with Ingrid Z, a Canadian artist with whom he had collaborated with on a video clip for Lycanthropy's "To The Lighthouse". Given that the relationship has now ended, is it difficult for Wolf to talk about the album? "[The Magic Position] was such a personal excavation, but it was to do with two people, and when that relationship finished, then the songs became very hard to relate to. So I find it quite hard to talk about this record. It's not boring, I just find don't really know where to start with it. It seems like time travel back into a relationship that seems so distant to me now."
That said, "It has a life now outside of the record and the context that I wrote it in," Wolf muses. He recounts singing the delightful title track at England's Glastonbury Festival. "I didn't have to really hold the microphone in front of my face, because the crowd was singing it. It was a very communal exercise. It's become quite a public and universal song, really. So it has a different life now; it belongs to more people."
The album was released by indie label Loog, in partnership with Polydor and Universal Music. This brought with it a much larger budget, and Wolf collaborated with a large group of musicians for the first time. (Lycanthropy was recorded by Wolf alone, while Wind In The Wires featured contributions from his father and sister.) "I think the first albums were good training," says Wolf. "I couldn't have made the second album without doing the first and all the things I learned from that. And this third album, I could never have made it as a producer without producing the first two records. I'm used to working with a lot of musicians in my history. I've been a musician working classically with orchestras and ensembles, then in bands and performance art collectives.
"It was only really when I started doing Patrick Wolf that I decided I was going to do this all by myself. I guess everything felt a lot more insular on the first two, for other people, because the subject matter is very solitary and very lonely. It doesn't really involve that many people, while the theme of this album is a celebration of being together, like friendships and relationships. There are a lot more musicians, and it was a much bigger job – and a much more exhausting job – than the other two albums. It led me to different countries; it was made on three different continents: in Europe, then England, then America! It's exciting, it's exhausting and more expensive, but it was worth all those things to make that record."
As well as travelling to record (including laying down strings in Vienna, Austria), Wolf's touring has also increased its scope: he has made numerous visits to America, while this is Wolf's first trip to Australia. How has that changed his relationship with England, a country he has such a strong musical and personal connection with? "I'm more proud of my country now," he says.
"When I was younger, I hated the fact that I was born in London. I hated the fact that I was an English man: to me, that was the most boring thing to be in pop music. An English boy born in London: it seemed like the most unexotic thing. And it took until I did travel the world and discover what it was like to be an English musician in Russia and America to realise that I had this heritage.
"There are not many people born and raised in London: I was born right opposite the Houses of Parliament. There are many things to be proud of about my country that aren't really celebrated that much. So I've become, over the years, more and more an English pop star, and proud to be one, knowing Kate Bush and David Bowie and PJ Harvey and seeing that there's a history of musicians that I can be proud of."
Comparisons to David Bowie are entirely appropriate. Like Bowie, Wolf even dropped his original surname in favour of his adopted moniker (Bowie was born David Jones; Wolf was known as Patrick Apps). "The only people that use my birth surname are people at the passport office or someone calling me up because I haven't paid a phone bill," he laughs. "It's kind of all the really boring parts of life that I ignore all the time. Patrick Wolf was my ticket out of the mundane parts of my life that I didn't want to deal with at 15 or 16, and I never really looked back. I named myself that, and it's led me around the world. It's more like a creature that I ride, an animal, and it takes me on adventures all year round."
So how does he deal with this mundane life when the animal stops for a rest? "It's pretty scary," he admits. "My home is on the road now, an abstract world of hotels and long-haul flights. I do have a house, and I really love it. But after the six years on the road, the balance on the scales tips, and this is my life now. I'm kind of a gypsy that sings a lot."
Wolf is, if you can believe it, quite an introvert in his spare time. "I'm sure people can't understand, because when you're doing interviews, you can't be introverted. You have to take information out of yourself. The very nature of performing and promoting is a very extroverted experience. But in everyday life, my favourite thing is just to wake up in my house, put some records on, make a cup of tea, not call anybody and just be alone. It's my favourite thing in life, and I get to do that so little. This is an expedition for me, to do all this stuff. There are two people at work all the time: I think Patrick Wolf is the one who says to me, 'Get out of bed! Go and see the world and sing to people!'"
It seems that Wolf's journeys through the world have made quite an impression on him. In June, NME reported that Wolf had been writing political material after his experiences in America. "They got it wrong," Wolf says, simultaneously disappointed and amused. "They always get it wrong. No matter how you speak to them or in what language, they always get it very wrong. I was talking about human politics, and politics is not just a word that means government. There's a kind of fear on top of the world right now and so, naturally, I can't leave out that factor of the world [when I'm writing]. Immigration fear, religious fear and terrorism fear. But it's not attacking a particular doctrine or government; it's not a protest album. NME said my political album would be influenced by my journey in America, as if I found American politics disgraceful, more than any other countries'."
Wolf said that a fear of being misunderstood in this way means that "I have to keep quiet about things a lot more than I used to." Something he's been keeping quiet about is his classical composition. "I have about twelve recordings. I would like to release it at my most powerful, in a way, as a pop musician, so it's heard by many people. And I would like people to hear it, but it's so personal. People don't really know where to start with classical music a lot of the time, or how to experience it, or where to listen to it, or what time to listen to it. They put it in a very separate box from how they would listen to a [pop] album a lot of the time.
"If I released it in the classical world on a classical label, then it would be ridiculed by that world. I know from experience that if it doesn't have 200 essays explaining exactly why you recorded it and it isn't academic enough, it's discarded. But then within the pop world, or the indie world, I wouldn't know where to start. In a way, I should just put it on the internet, see what happens and just get rid of it, you know? I've got lots of music that I keep in secret 'til I feel it's the right time for people to hear it."
At just 24 years of age, it seems that this Wolf has a lot more howling to do.
Funky and fun, Prince Umberto and the Sister of Ill is the new album from The Bumblebeez and is once again totally unpredictable – switching genres almost as many times as there are tracks. The noticeable difference, however, between this latest release and the Braidwood collective's first LP is the album's more polished facade, with Chris moving out of his bedroom for the making of this one.
Pia's lyrics once again add the hip hop element to the record which also delves deep into the electronic and rock genres and features guest appearances from one of the U.K's top grime artists as well as a few very sweaty ducks and a ringing telephone.
Before hearing the full release I was struggling to see how the album could possibly match up to the precedent set by its first single, "Dr. Love", but The Bumblebeez have produced one hell of an infectious record and I have a feeling that before Spring rolls around, "The Colonna Virus" will be the new outbreak on everyone's lips.
Just as new rave threatens to claim indie with the power of the glo, Wakefield's Jarman brothers are back to reclaim guitar rock for 2007 with their third, and most accomplished LP.
Undermining stadium-indie types who "impress our bovine public" by "being generic" ("Our Bovine Public"), The Cribs are wrathful and frustrated, and in Men's Needs, Women's Needs, Whatever, they present a selection of tracks which are less "take drugs, don't sleep" and more "don't believe all you read on computer screens" ("Shoot the Poets"), angst-ridden explorations of modern life.
Gone is the loutish chanting and NME Award -induced concussions of 2005's The New Fellas, and what instead emerges is a Ryan Jarman who writes with the pensive contemplation of a rock star with intentions and - as "Be Safe" shows, featuring Sonic Youth 's Lee Ranaldo - social commentary worthy of a Bob Dylan credit.
Unlike the fists-in-the-air triumph of Oasis' "Rock n Roll Star," "I've Tried Everything" is a melancholic lament on northern life, leaving Wakefield victim to a fusillade of discontent and unfulfillment.
This is not to say that the album doesn't rock. Tracks like "Ancient History", which hints at the percussive stylings of Interpol, and the howling Nick Zinner guitar of "My Life Flashed Before My Eyes" ensure that these meditations deserve their fair share of pogoing too.
Jenny Hoyston's debut album, Isle Of is quite an intriguing experience. Not knowing where each song will take you, from an electro-pop moment, to a laid back country song, Isle Of captures some vastly different moods.
Hoyston is predominantly known for her work as singer and guitarist for Erase Errata, as well as side-projects: Anxious Rats with Kim Gordon and a series of country duets with William Elliot Whitmore.
The way this album skips genres so freely is nicely uplifting. The transition from "Bring Back Art", a guitar driven, fast paced song to "Break Apart, Reattach", an acoustic, country tinged moment, you would think there would be an awkward change in pace to the beginning of the record, but indeed the opposite proves true. Throughout the course of the album these jumps become more apparent, none of which feel disruptive. Spell D-O-G and Novelist are tracks I wanted to hear a few times over, the guitar parts are adequately catchy.
Overall Isle Of is an interesting mix, each song different to the next, but it is the way in which these songs are put alongside one another is what makes it so enjoyable to listen to.
Loene Carmen is in no danger of losing her reputation of being "The Queen of Underground Rock n' Roll" with her new album Rock n' Roll Tears. Carmen's music is one for those who love their Aussie rock/blues like You Am I, Tex Perkins or The Drones. Upon hearing the title of her newest release my immediate reaction was not one of enthusiasm, and upon listening to the album it didn't really change. Her songs are quite solid, but it's a solidness that borders on becoming a bit tiresome. Carmen's voice has similarities now and then to PJ Harvey and Kim Gordon, but overall I found that I became a little disinterested over the course of the album. Songs like "Roman Stockings", "Nashville Tears" and "Wild Wind" do more than others though, by providing a bit more clarity to the album.
She is in no danger of losing her reputation because this album does have a nice familiar feel to it, and after so many years making records, she knows what is needed to create an album like Rock n' Roll Tears. This album would definitely appeal to a particular music crowd, just not me unfortunately.
Technically, none of these songs are new, and most fans will have heard them in one form or another already.
Each song on Is Is was written whilst the band were touring their debut LP, Fever to Tell; four of these five tracks even appeared on live DVD Tell Me What Rockers To Swallow. Put the EP into context, and it shows. This is the missing link between the punky art-rock of Fever to Tell and the more calm tones of Show Your Bones.
Karen O's sharp vocals are at their best when she screams "Tell me we're rockers to swallow / tell me we're knockers to bite" before moaning how there's "No need for those / It's all over your clothes / It's all over your face / It's all over your nose" over the stop-start of Nick Zinner's shuddering, gritty guitar on opener "Rockers to Swallow".
Standout track "Down Boy" almost sounds as though it could be at home on Show Your Bones, with its quiet-loud-quiet formula, bone-shaking drum beats and soaring guitar licks. In the end, however, it's really the EP's closing song, "10x10", that reminds us why Yeah Yeah Yeahs are one of the defining bands of the noughties. It sums up the band's philosophy perfectly - chord-heavy rhythms, yelped-out oohs and ah-huhs, haunting lyrics laid down over a background of what is often little more than swirling guitar discordance and heavy drum beats. Listen to it at full volume and dance hard in your bedrooms; this is the sound of the twenty first century.
Photo by Olivia Desianti
Video by Michelle Ilosfai
Barely three months after Patrick Wolf announced his premature retirement from music, it seems almost paradoxical that tonight, team ARCADY bears witness to his unique and incredible talent in wee little Melbourne. Yet come the end of his eclectically astounding set, the crowd is unanimous in their gratitude that he thought to reconsider some of his greatest fans.
Nestled in the very place of its nomenclature, Manchester Lane is a far leap from the beer and sweat-stained pubs which are the staple venues of most indie gigs, yet its appropriateness to Patrick Wolf's cabaret-style set makes these Melbournites forget that for once, the floor isn't sticky.
Opening the bill, the transnational Ladybird earn the crowd's adoration with a gorgeous set of heartwarming acoustic ditties, frontman Victor Crespi like a French Syd Barrett causing a collective sigh amongst the now smitten crowd. The synth-laced acid-jazz of second support act Sir, while well-suited for the venue, has the crowd questioning their seriousness the minute frontman Jesse Jackson's Lou Reed-inspired vocals are replaced by the 'iconic vixen' of Jane Badler, whose actress-cum-cabaret singer stylings are frankly laughable.
It takes incredible stage presence to sustain an audience with barely a piano and a half-broken ukulele, but charisma has never neglected Patrick Wolf, who tonight woos the crowd with his tales of magpies and child rapists, played out minimally, and in direct contrast to the layered atmospherics which define his recorded output.
"Bluebells" and "Magpie", highlights from recent album The Magic Position, translate beautifully thanks to Patrick's extraordinary piano atmospherics, while the layered folktronica of "The Magic Position" and "The Childcatcher" are tonight stripped to their barest, allowing his talent as a songwriter to reveal itself fully.
Whatever lush instrumentation or electronics tonight's performance lacks, Patrick Wolf more than makes up for with the kind of witty and adorable banter that instantly has the crowd giggling and wanting to take him home and to meet their mothers.
Clad head to toe in orange, and exchanging beauty tips acquired off a drag queen with tonight's crowd, it would be incredibly easy to identify Patrick Wolf with the school of style over substance , but tonight, free of embellishments, he is instead able to straddle the divide of pleasing both fans and critics alike.
Expressing his adoration for the "untouchable" Kate Bush, a cover of "Running Up That Hill" is almost begged-for by the crowd, while many of his tracks are highlighted with tales of their creation.
Laid bare as the crowd sits still in amazement, this is a showcase of talent in its purest sense.
Having seen Dinosaur Jr last year on their first Australian tour since they got back together, I had more than a few expectations. I knew that it was going to be loud and that the chance of J Mascis blowing an amp somewhere in the set was pretty high. I wanted to hear the songs off of the new album, which I have dubbed as their best album to date.
"Feel The Pain", my favourite song of theirs, and a few more of the old J/Murph/Lou tracks would've made my night complete. I also wanted an encore and to say that this was a billion times better than their show last year, which was full of getting-back-with-the-ex jitters. My expectations went way beyond exceeded at The Forum.
