Perth Music

Congratulations to Bernard Fanning who got #1 in this years Hottest 100 with ‘Wish You Well’ and a big congratulations to all of the Perth bands who got songs in the list.

These include:
#08 End Of Fashion - O Yeah
#29 Gyroscope - Fast Girl
#62 Gyroscope - Beware Wolf
#96 Little Birdy - Six Months In A Leaky Boat
#97 Karnivool - Themata

For Little Birdy fans in Perth, Lead singer Katy Steele is playing solo this Sunday January 22 at The Balmoral, 901 Albany Hwy, Victoria Park (back courtyard).

Show starts at 4.30pm. Katy will be onstage at 6.30pm, and its FREE!!!!!

The boys from The Living End are back and set to release album number 4, titled “State Of Emergency” on February 5th 2006. Justin Middleton had a chat with drummer Andy Strachan about the process of recording the new album and how the band has become more political, for the kids.

“There is always drama when recording a new album and this album was no different. We wanted to get the vocals just right on this album, so we took our time on each song and I believe it gave each song it’s own vibe. At the start of the recording process the drums were sounding very dull, so we moved the drumkit out into the living room of the studio and that created a whole new sound. We recorded all the songs while playing together at the same time to create a live sound with a real energy to it. Producer Nick Launay suggested we just bash out the songs together and we respect him so much that we knew it was the right idea.”

The band is over 10 years old now, so with each new album comes brand new fans as well. I asked Andy if it was difficult to entertain old, faithful fans of the band at the same time as getting new fans interested. “It is a challenge but I believe the old fans appreciate the growth that the band has had over the years and the new fans are just enjoying us and our music. So far the balance has worked out well.”

The guys are gearing up to do another year of Big Day Out shows starting this Friday in Auckland so I asked Andy if the band preferred big festival shows or small pub shows. “Well, both are nice. You can’t beat the feeling of playing in front of tens of thousands of people singing along at festivals like the Big Day Out but it’s also very intimate to play the smaller shows in front of maybe 100 people. We sometimes play secret little gigs under the name “The Longnecks” and it’s always nice to have that intimacy with a small crowd. It’s very easy for me in both situations because I’ve got the 2 best musicians, I believe, in the world in front of me so I can just enjoy the show.”

The new single “Wake Up” will be released February 18th with a very political vibe and a Pink Floyd‘esque ending to the song including a kids choir. “Chris (Cheney) had all the lyrics ready when we went in to record. It was a way of saying to Bush or whoever ‘Wake Up and take a look at what is fucking going on in the world’. The world has been changed forever since 911 and the London bombings and all the crazy shit with suicide bombers and this generation is going to always have to live with it. They will be asking their parents what it was like to live in a world where suicide bombers weren’t an issue. The first time we played this song in the studio Nick (Launay) broke down in tears and from that moment we knew it was a special song with a message we wanted to tell. The guitar sounds really creepy in it and Scott (Owen) plays an awesome bassline, the kids actual sing in the correct key as well.”

To support their new single Roquefort, Perth rockers Karnivool have announced their most extensive national headline tour to date. Presented by JJJ, the chaps roll into most major towns and cities around the country through February and March 2006.

Special Guests For All Shows - Horsell Common

Fri 10 Feb: Fowlers Live, Adelaide SA
Sat 11 Feb: Republic Bar, Hobart TAS
Fri 17 Feb: Hi Fi Bar, Melbourne VIC
Sat 18 Feb: Karova Lounge, Ballarat VIC
Sun 19 Feb: Ruby’s Lounge, Ferntree Gully VIC
Wed 22 Feb: Sodens, Albury VIC
Thu 23 Feb: Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle NSW
Fri 24 Feb: Zoo, Brisbane QLD
Sat 25 Feb: Coolangatta Hotel, Coolangatta QLD
Sun 26 Feb: Great Northern Hotel, Byron Bay NSW
Wed 1 Mar: Plantation Hotel, Coffs Harbour NSW
Thu 2 Mar: Macquarie Uni (tbc) NSW
Fri 3 Mar: Caringbah Bizzos NSW
Sat 4 Mar: Annandale Hotel, Sydney NSW
Sun 5 Mar: Lookout, Scarborough WA
Thu 9 Mar: Prince of Wales, Bunbury WA
Fri 10 Mar: Nsomniax, Albany WA
Fri 17 Mar: Greenroom, Canberra ACT
Sat 18 Mar: Overcranked Festival, Brisbane QLD

Ticket sale dates and outlets will be announced shortly.

The Living End will be doing an instore signing on Saturday 4th February at 78 Records at 3:00pm (The band WONT be playing just signing copies of their new cd and having a chat to fans). There will also be an exclusive Living End prize pack to be won for the fans who attend.

The Living End are on fire and set to be one of the most talked about Australian bands again in 2006. With the release of their 4th studio album ‘State Of Emergency’ on Saturday Feb 4, comes a bonus limited edition DVD titled, ‘How To Make An Album And Influence People’.
This will also tie in with ‘Wake Up’, the second single to be released from the album on Saturday Feb 18th. The single will contain two b-sides, ‘Girls Talk’ (originally written by Elvis Costello and a hit for Dave Edmunds in the early 80’s) as well as a track called ‘Don’t Turn Away’. The video for ‘Wake Up’ was shot by Squareyed Films (What’s On Your Radio?, Silverchair, Missy Higgins) in Brisbane late December.

The limited bonus DVD, ‘How To Make An Album And Influence People’ will feature footage including the making of the new album, interviews with the band and brilliant live concert moments. The band’s Homebake live performance in Sydney late last year saw them return to what they do best, blow audiences away, and this will continue as they headline the Australian bill for the national Big Day Out festival kicking off January 20 in New Zealand.