Perth Music

It has finally happened! Much to the joy from his management, agent, fans and personal entourage, Luke Steele has confirmed his first ever national solo tour. The enigmatic frontman of The Sleepy Jackson will be ditching the gadgets and leaving his band at the side of the road. The Luke Steele Roadshow will take in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane and places in between throughout August. This run will see Luke performing in intimate acoustic guitar mode, performing songs from both Sleepy Jackson albums Lovers and Personality, as well as a selection of new songs from current projects.

Formed in Perth in 1999, The Sleepy Jackson are arguably Australia’s most critically acclaimed band of the past decade. Lovers was named “Album Of The Year” by The Guardian UK and was nominated for the US Shortlist Prize along with the likes of David Bowie, Neil Young and PJ Harvey. Back home, it garnered five ARIA nominations including album of the year. Follow up, Personality debuted Top 10 in Australia and saw the band enter more adventurous terrain acclaimed by critics, celebrities and music lovers alike. After five years electrifying audiences across the US, UK, and Europe, Australia is about to experience the richness of Steele’s pure pop melodic genius in never-before-seen solo mode.

Luke is currently putting the finishing touches on two exciting album collaborations with some of Australia’s most revered musicians. Expect both releases this year. Stay tuned for more details.

For fans of the The Sleepy Jackson and lovers of good music, The Luke Steele Roadshow offers something unmissable. The setlist includes favourites “Good Dancers”, “This Day”, “Rain Falls For Wind”, “Come To This”, “God Lead Your Soul”, “Devil In My Yard”, “Miles Away”, “You Needed More” and much more. Very special guests will be featured at each performance.

Tix will go on sale on 4 July 2008. See details below.
Tue 5th August - Toff In Town, Melbourne - www.moshtix.com.au
Wed 6th August - The Basement, Sydney - www.ticketek.com.au
Thur 7th August – The Brass Monkey, Cronulla - venue (02) 9544 3844
Fri 8th August - Sol bar, Coolum QLD - www.solbarmusic.com
Sat 9th August - Globe Theatre, Brisbane - www.oztix.com.au
Fri 15th August - Devilles Pad, Perth - www.moshtix.com.au

Kiwi rap sensation Scribe released his sophomore album Rhyme Book in September last year, following on from the massive success of his 2003 Platinum selling debut album, The Crusader, which included the hits “Not Many” and “Stand Up”. Scribe has been announced as part of the all star lineup for this years Splendour In The Grass music festival and just completed a remix of Grammy Award winning musician, rapper and producer Wyclef Jean’s track Fast Car who recently visited Australia to host the MTV Australia Awards. Scribe caught up with Justin Middleton for this exclusive interview.

Click here to download the podcast of the entire interview. (11:33 - 1.3Mb)

When it was released last year Rhyme Book reached number 4 on the NZ charts and number 9 on the ARIA charts. I asked Scribe how he felt the album was received. “It’s been received well by the critics which is something we set out to do, we really wanted to just make good music and not really top the charts or anything. We definitely wanted to make some decent hip hop, some hip hop with some substance as well as challenge ourselves with the sounds we were using and step away from The Crusader. I think we achieved everything we set out to do.”

Scribe took four years between his first and second albums while his daughter was born and he could start a family. “It was weird. Life happens around you and things change and having a baby is definitely one way to change your life. It was something that changed my life completely from where i was at the time. I was living my life on the road and living the big music dream and then when my daughter was born just changed everything. It changed my priorities, it changed my motivation to do what I do and I decided to take a lot of time off to find that balance between having a family and having a career. My career just took a back seat for a while and I come from a big family and am very family orientated and ‘Family Comes First’ has always been one of our family motto’s. I live by that.”

Each song on Rhyme Book was supposed to sound like a different page in a book might be read. I asked Scribe if there was a lot that didn’t end up on the album. “There were a lot of songs that we couldn’t clear the samples for, all the songs I did with P Money. It was a real shame because the music we make has a special thing going on, I can’t explain it. Ever since we started making music together it has ended up something special and it was definitely in this case as well. The songs that we had made I had already, in my head, planned to have as singles and then when we didn’t get the samples cleared it really took the balls out of what we were doing. Because of the time line and it had already been four years, my label was screaming about it and it was too late to go back to the drawing board. Me and P Money sat down and went ‘Shit we didn’t get these songs cleared, what are we gonna do?’ and we just had to bite the bullet and run with it without our big singles.”

I also asked Scribe how he has felt about the great success he has had in his native New Zealand as well as in Australia. “Australia has saved my life to be honest with you. Being successful in Australia has just changed my whole career, New Zealand is a very small place and it doesn’t take long to become a big fish in a small pond. Having Australia be so receptive to my music has been a real blessing for me because it has allowed me to come over and play shows like Splendour and the Big Day Out and things that we don’t have over here. It has exposed me to experiences and helped me to improve and progress as a performer and has actually given me a taste of wanting to take my music even further. Without Australia giving me the love and support that they have I doubt that I could do what I do for a living.”

Asked whether he believes audiences in Australia are different to those in New Zealand, Scribe explained “You guys have had a festival culture for such a long time, everyone getting together and having a good old party where as in New Zealand we really don’t have that festival scene. That is because a) the weather here is shit, it’s always cold and everyone is always in a bad mood and b) we are such a small market place, we just don’t have the numbers to get the big acts to come to our country. Even when we do have a big show people don’t know how to act over here because they’ve never been exposed to that kind of thing and it seems a lot of kiwi’s in the hip hop scene are too cool to have a good time and ruin their shoes or whatever.”

Rhyme Book is out now. For more info on Scribe visit www.scribescribe.com

Splendour In The Grass 2008
Sun 3rd August
Belongil Fields, Byron Bay NSW

Devo, Wolfmother, Sigur Ros, The Polyphonic Spree, New Young Pony Club, The Living End, The Presets, Tricky, Yves Klein Blue, Lyrics Born, Vampire Weekend, Ben Lee, Cold War Kids, The Fratellis, The Wombats, Pnau, Laura Marling, The Vines, The Grates, Operator Please, Band of Horses, Van She, The Panics, Gyroscope, Mstrkrft, Lightspeed Champion, The Brown Birds from Windy Hill, Scribe, The Music, The Gin Club, Tokyo Police Club, Little Red, Clare Bowditch, Bluejuice, Robert Forster, The Drones, Hadouken!, Bliss n Eso, Paul Dempsey, Katalyst, Even, British India, The Galvatrons, Delta Spirit, Slot Machine, The Black Stars, Van She Tech, Bag Raiders, Soft Tigers Food Fight, E.L.F DJ, Kato and Pob.

The Living End’s amazing live shows have long been a staple in every music fan’s calendar with a fierce reputation for putting on gigs of the highest standard. The band are now armed with an arsenal of new tracks from their forthcoming album ‘White Noise’ due out on July 19th. They will be embarking on a national tour throughout September and October taking in regional and capital cities across Australia.

All that you’ve been hearing on the radio lately is ‘White Noise’! That’s because The Living End’s new single has been all over the airwaves as the No. 1 Most Added Track at Radio. The Living End have already given a few lucky fans a taste of what’s to come with regional shows in Victoria earlier in the year under the moniker of The Longnecks.

The Living End also blew away the crowd at the recent Triple J ACDC Lane event in Melbourne. Despite a fire in ACDC Lane adjacent businesses almost aborting the entire gig, the show went on, moving 50m to Duckboard Place just hours before the scheduled event. Filmed by triple j tv, the massive event will become the basis of a limited edition bonus DVD exclusively available with the first copies of the album. The new single ‘White Noise’ is released on July 5th. The new album ‘White Noise’ will be out on July 19th with a limited edition bonus DVD of the ACDC Lane event.

The Living End – White Noise Tour
All shows with Children Collide and The Silents (except *)
Tickets for all shows $39+b/f
On sale Thursday July 10

Fri 12th September – Metro City, Perth WA
Sun 14th September – Discovery Nightclub, Darwin NT*
With Children Collide and The Moving Targets
Tue 16th September – Southport RSL, Gold Coast QLD
Wed 17th September – Power House, Toowoomba QLD
Thu 18th September – Caloundra RSL, Sunshine Coast QLD
Fri 19th September – The Arena, Brisbane QLD
Sat 20th September – Coaster Festival, Gosford Showgrounds NSW
Tue 23rd September – Campbelltown: The Cube, Campbelltown NSW
Wed 24th September – Newcastle Panthers, Newcastle NSW
Fri 26th September – Waves, Wollongong NSW
Sat 27th September – The Enmore Theatre, Sydney NSW (Licensed All Ages)
Tue 30th September – HQ, Adelaide SA
Thu 2nd October – Queensbridge, Melbourne VIC

For the first time in fifteen years John Mellencamp will tour Australia and New Zealand.  The legendary singer songwriter who has sold nearly 2 million units in Australia over his outstanding career is back. John will perform his hits as well as debuting material from his brand new album ‘Life, Death, Love & Freedom‘ on July 12th, 2008.

John will bring with him his legendary touring band; Mike Wancic - his veteran guitarist of 30 years, Troye Kinnett on Keyboards, Miriam Sturm on violin, Dane Clark on drums, Andy York on guitar and John Gunnell on bass.

Joining John on tour will be special guest Sheryl Crow. Returning to Australia for the first time since 1997, Sheryl will also perform her hits; All I Wanna Do, If It Makes You Happy plus feature material from her album ‘Detours‘ released earlier this year through Universal Music.   There will also be a Sheryl Crow Live DVD released through the Soundstage imprint, distributed by Liberator in Australia to coincide with the tour announcement.

Finally, Shane Nicholson has been added as special guest at the Australian indoor shows. Shane first came to prominence with Brisbane band Pretty Violet Stain, he then recorded and has released two solo albums; ‘It’s a Movie‘ in 2003 & ‘Faith & Science‘ in 2006. Most recently Shane co-wrote, performed and co-produced the number one Australian album ‘Rattlin Bones‘ with his wife and music partner Kasey Chambers.

Tickets on sale for all events on Monday July 7th.

Sat 15th November - An Evening On The Green - Sandalford, WA
Special guest: Toby
Wed 19th November - Adelaide Entertainment Centre, SA
Fri 21st November - Rod Laver Arena - Melbourne, Vic
Sat 22nd November - A Day On  The Green - Rochford Wines, Yarra Valley, Vic
Special guest: The Vandas
Tue 25th November - Brisbane Entertainment Centre, QLD
Fri 28th November - Acer Arena - Sydney, NSW
Sat 29th November - A Day On The Green - Bimbadgen Estate, Hunter Valley,  NSW
Special guest: Felicity Urquhart
Wed 3rd December - Vector Arena, Auckland, New Zealand
Special guest: Gin Wigmore
Sat 6th December - A Day On The Green - Alana Estate Winery, Wellington NZ
Special guest: Gin Wigmore
Sun 7th December - A Day On The Green - Mudhouse Winery, Christchurch NZ
Special guest: Gin Wigmore

Talented local Perth girl KNiKi is about to launch her second CD ‘Just…‘ on the 15 August 2008 at the Charles Hotel. KNiKi has been working with the legendary John Meyers (formerly Rose Tattoo and Chain) on the collaboration of the album.

KNiKi returns to her first love, the blues, in this her second CD. Her powerful, sultry come hither voice will take you on a soul touching musical journey. Come and join KNiKi for a ride you won’t forget

Tickets available now at Ticketmaster

Nearly a decade after the release of their groundbreaking debut, The Sickness, US hard rockers Disturbed have become one of the most passionate and well-respected bands in the hard-rock universe, a dependable source not only of pummeling riffs and jackhammer beats, but of personal and political insights into our troubled times. Yet success (in the form of three platinum-plus albums, with both Believe and Ten Thousand Fists topping Billboard’s album chart and over nine million albums sold) hasn’t dulled this Chicago-based foursome’s taste for adventure. If anything, Disturbed’s loyal fanbase has pushed the band to newer heights of self-expression. So it makes sense that their fourth album, Indestructible, debuted on the US, New Zealand and Australian charts at number 1. To mark the occasion, drummer Mike Wengren caught up with Justin Middleton for this exclusive interview.

Click here to download the podcast of the entire interview. (9:12 - 0.7Mb)

I asked Mike what the band went through in the creation of Indestructible.  “We had a certain time frame in mind when we wrote and recorded this record and this was basically exactly when we wanted it to be out. So we put our noses to the grindstone and made sure we followed suit with the plan and it worked out great. Now finally the record is out and we can start touring with it and it’s great. The main difference with this one is that we produced it ourselves. We just decided that at this point in our careers we wanted to prove to ourselves and to everybody else that we could step it up a little bit. Johnny K, the guy who produced our first two records, is a great friend of ours and did an amazing job. We felt we learned a lot from him through the years and just wanted to show everyone.”

Without their friend Johnny K in the producers chair the band had a few hurdles to overcome in producing the album by themselves.  “It was a bit more difficult because we didn’t have that unbiased opinion in the room, an outside party to bounce ideas off. When we would get stuck it was a little challenging but the thing that was great was that we have such a great friendship and great respect for each other as musicians and as people that it just made us dig deeper from each other. When one of us would get stuck with a certain part, the other one would help pull that one out so it was just a great way to pull in to each other and work off the friendship. We’ve known each other for so long. Danny, David and myself have been in the band together for 12 years and if we can’t trust each other at this point who can we trust?”

Asked what the process is for the band in creating songs Mike explained “It’s a very collaborative effort. The songs usually start out with Dan and he brings the guitar riffs to us and basically he and I will structure the song. I’ll start to run some drum beats down to his guitar riffs we just start building a song musically. When we have something that is close to a complete song we’ll give that to David and he’ll throw in his input as far as melody is concerned and it just builds from there.”

The new album has a dark feeling to it and a bit of a theme that relates to bad luck.  Mike described “David had gone through a few moments of bad luck prior to the writing of it and that was definitely some of the fuel behind it and some of the inspiration behind the making of some of these songs and the lyrical content. We also, as a band, wanted to go back to a darker time and have a darker record, something a little more raw and a little bit more like our first record. We knew that we had sort of gotten away from that energy that the first record had. We wanted to be very conscious of that and bring some of that back if we could.”

I asked Mike how he feels about the passionate fans Disturbed have and whether any Australian tour is on the cards.  “We are very excited, it’s been a long time coming for us. Our fans are amazing, they wait for us and are just very passionate and very ravid about the band. We really, really appreciate that, we wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for them…I believe we will be in Australia, I want to say the beginning of September. I don’t know if it has been confirmed 100% yet but I know they are working on it.”

Indestructable is out now through Warner Records. For more info on Disturbed visit www.disturbed1.com

As the sun begins to break through the winter clouds and the temperature starts to rise, so does the anticipation among the true party crowd as they gear up for the event that will kick off the summer festival calendar in truly unforgettable style: Parklife.

From small beginnings in 2000, Parklife has evolved into a national institution renowned for delivering cutting-edge line-ups of incredible talent from around the globe. In 2007, the Parklife National Tour proved to be the standout success of the year, showcasing what many regarded as one of the most diverse, eclectic and ground-breaking line-ups ever assembled, to a combined crowd of over 100,000 people across the country.

Now in its ninth year, Parklife is as much an Australian icon as the eucalyptus trees under which it was first staged, and once again in 2008 will be bringing an unrivalled array of fresh and experienced international live acts and dj’s to Adelaide, Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane and Sydney.

Parklife is a world of its own.
Adelaide – Sat 27th September
Melbourne – Sun 28th September
Perth – Mon 29th September
Brisbane - Sat 4th October
Sydney – Sun 5th October

Starring:
Goldfrapp*, Soulwax, Peaches, 2manydjs, Dizzee Rascal, Martin Solveig, Plump DJs, Diplo, Jesse Rose, Does It Offend You, Yeah?, Blackalicious, XXXchange, Metro Area, Elektrons, Yuksek, Van She, Dragonette, Boy 8-Bit, Familjen**, Bag Raiders Live, Ajax, Slyde, Grafton Primary, Van She Tech, & many more.
*excluding Adelaide
**excluding Perth

For updates and ticket details check www.parklife.com.au

Shocking Pinks are a band based in New Zealand who, considering really only consist of multi instrumentalist Nick Harte, have been signed to New York based DFA Records for the release of their fourth album. Currently, the 2008 lineup of the Shocking Pinks features Nick Harte, Emma Rosenberg, Tim McDonald and former D4 bass guitarist Vaughan Williams. With the release of their self titled album released late last year and a recent tour with Cut Copy, lead man Nick Harte caught up with Justin Middleton for this exclusive interview.

Click here to download the podcast of the entire interview. (10:40 - 1.2Mb)

“I was signed to Flying Nun (Records) previously, prior to signing with DFA and had three albums, well I was gonna have three albums but after two, the third was licensed to Flying Nun but ended up being a compilation of the last two albums plus two new songs on DFA. Basically Johnathon, the label manager at DFA and I chose songs that we thought were going to flow out of the two Flying Nun albums. He spent three days remastering them with Jo Lambert at TrueTone in New York, we chose the track order and that was it really….The new album has been getting good reviews in the UK, I think because EMI have putting out a lot of vinyl and a 7″ box set over there and magazines like Mojo and Uncut have been giving in 4 or 5 stars so that was really, really good.”

I asked Nick how the feels the Australian audiences have been receiving the band in the latest tour. “It’s all been really positive so far. It’s been kind of strange, the tour with Cut Copy and Juan McLean, both bands are kinda dancey bands and we only have our last track which is kind of dancey. The rest of the set is quite guitar based which is like the album. So maybe the audiences thought we were going to be more dancey than we are. But it’s all been positive.”

Asked whether he comes up with lyrics or music first for his songs, Nick explains “Because I play lots of different instruments I usually come up with a melody then come up with a bass part. I sort of write it in my head then I record the drum part first, while I’m recording the drum part I’ll be thinking where the bass parts go. then I’ll do the lyrics. Sometimes I’ll write lyrics and then write the song around that but usually I’ll write the music and put the lyrics on top of it.”

And plans for the near future? “I’ll be heading back to New Zealand and recording some new tracks I’ve written, probably playing a few gigs there and then heading off to the CMJ Music Festival in New York in October and then planning to stay on in New York after that.”

Shocking Pinks is out now through DFA Records. For more info on Shocking Pinks visit www.myspace.com/shockingpinks

The Presets regret to announce that shows in Fremantle and Adelaide, along with last week’s Brisbane show have been postponed due to illness.

“In the whole 13 or so years I have known Julian I have never seen him this sick and right now he needs to be on his back, in bed, getting well so we can continue the busy schedule we have for the rest of the year,” says Kim Moyes.  “We are not in the business of canceling shows on a whim, these have been extremely difficult decisions to make and we realise that a lot of you travel great distances to come and see us. Please understand this is something that is out of our control forcing us to postpone these shows.”

“I promise you when we come back to make up these shows you will not be disappointed. The three shows that we have managed to get through have been the best shows so far and when Julian’s health returns, and we are able to give you the show that you deserve, you will know exactly what I mean”.

Rescheduled dates have been planned as below.  All previously purchased tickets will be valid for these new dates.

If you have any enquiries regarding the postponement, the rescheduled dates or refunds, please contact heatseeker.com.au (Ph: 08 6210 2850) for Fremantle shows or venuetix.com.au (Ph: 08 8225 8888) for Adelaide shows. For Brisbane please contact ticketek.com.au.  Ticket holders for Fremantle and Adelaide will have until Wednesday July 2nd to organise refunds from their respective ticket outlets. Brisbane ticket holders seeking refunds will have until Monday June 30th.

The Presets – Rescheduled shows in Fremantle, Adelaide and Brisbane
Sun 27th July - Metropolis Fremantle WA
Mon 28th July - Metropolis Fremantle WA
Tue 29th July - HQ, Adelaide SA
Mon 4th August - The Tivoli, Brisbane QLD

Tuesday 10th June 2008
Amplifier Bar, Perth
The Thrills
Sparkadia

Irish rockers The Thrills returned to Australia once more and proved that WA is their favourite state in Oz. Three out of their six Australian dates were in WA, one in Perth, one in Fremantle and one in Margaret River. A great crowd turned out for a school night and with tickets going for 2 for the price of 1 it was little wonder. Triple J favourites, Sparkadia were lucky enough to be chosen for the support act and there were plenty of fans arriving early eagerly anticipating the Sydney alt-rockers.

Sparkadia got on stage very early and without any fuss got straight into playing. The band seamed somewhat nervous at the start of their set and lead vocalist Alex Burnett explained that a four hour delayed flight was the reason behind his messy, Robert Smith-esque hairstyle. After a few songs the band’s nerves had calmed and the crowd were getting a feel for the music. Sparkadia’s debut album Postcards had just been released two weeks previously and their were as many fans in the crowd singing along to the songs as their were fans curious as to how the Sydneysiders would sound live. Too Much To Do was the crowd favourite and as they finished Burnett advised “We won’t bite so if you see us at the bar come and say hello”.

After a short intermission The Thrills blasted into their fun and happy indie-Irish songs. A large Irish contingent of fans filled the back of The Amplifier and were as loud as the diehard fans at the front. It was obvious the band has toured extensively as lead vocalist Conor Deasy was able to interact with the crowd with ease, getting them involved while singing and talking in between songs. A great sight during the seen was guitarists Daniel Ryan and Padraic McMahon swapping bass and guitar song after song playing both instruments seamlessly. A few songs were played from their newest album Teenager but the band played plenty from previous albums to keep older fans as happy as new ones.

The band then invited touring buddies and Perth greats The Sleepy Jackson on stage to a huge applause from the audience. Luke Steele inducted The Thrills into the Amplifier Hall Of Fame by getting the crowd to sing in key with help from some nifty guitar work. The two bands then sang and played together the Sleepy’s hit Morning Rain followed by The Thrills song One Horse Town. It was truly a special moment and the respect each band had for each other was as obvious as the amount of fun they were having on stage.  After going off stage, The Thrills returned to play crowd favourite What Ever Happened To Corey Haim leaving the crowd buzzing at the end of the night.