Perth Music

Come one, come all, ‘The Pretty Things Are Going To Hell‘. This exciting new gig series is designed to showcase the best up-and-coming unsigned local bands in Perth.

The first one is at Mojo’s in North Freo on Thursday the 28th of September from 8pm. Entry is $5. Bands playing are The Preytells, Blackmilk, Chelsea Lights and Shakedown.

With a debut album that sold over 60,000 copies and went top 5 in Australia, what is the best way for a little band from Perth to follow it up? The answer – go to the Hollywood Hills in LA and record your sophomore album with a Grammy award winning producer. And that is precisely what Perth band Little Birdy did to record their new album “Hollywood”. Produced by John King, one half of the legendary duo The Dust Brothers, the band created an album that can be described as darkly beautiful compared to their first album “Bigbiglove”.  Singer/guitarist Katy Steele, guitarist Simon Leech, Bassist Scott ‘Barney’ O’Donoghue and drummer Matt Chequer sat down with Justin Middleton to give this exclusive interview.

‘Actually the initial title for the album was actually going to be “Inside I’m crying, outside I’m dancing” which kind of describes the feeling for the album as a whole but in the end we decided on “Hollywood”’ explains Katy, sitting in the Perth sunshine with the band. ‘I wrote the title song a few weeks before we even starting looking into where to record the album and as far as we knew we were probably going to record somewhere in the UK. It was weird that the song came before we knew we were going there.’

‘We had pretty much all of the album demo’d before going over to record with John so we were in a much better position mentally than the first album.’ says drummer Matt. ‘I think there was actually a lot less pressure on us this time around. At least this time we knew our audience and knew what to expect, so that made it easier’ agrees bassist Scott.

The new songs not only sound great on the album, they have enough depth to sound fantastic live as well. ‘Playing live, we’ve been mixing up the old with the new. Start with some new songs to get the crowd into it, play some older stuff to really excite them and then finish with some more newies’ explains Scott, not mentioning the fantastic cover they have been playing live lately; Perth band Gyroscope’s “Beware Wolf“.

I asked the band how important they thought the internet was becoming for musicians, especially Myspace and Youtube. ‘Of course people are still downloading music illegally but apart from that it is really exciting for fans and musicians’ says Katy. ‘Myspace is a great place for fans to really interact with bands, we are on our page all the time reading messages from fans and we have so many fans from different countries that probably don’t have the chance to see us live.’

‘It is a shame that all music is going digitally though’ Simon says. ‘Everyone just has all their music on their Ipods or computers and nobody has CD collections any more. People downloading music and downloading CD covers, it’s just not the same.’

Katy adds ‘And there is so much music that people have, they just don’t listen to it all. I’ve got 35Gb of music on my Ipod and there is no way I can listen to all of it or even know all of it.’

With another great local album showing the country what state produces the best musicians, Perth music is definitely in good shape. ‘It’s good to see Eskimo Joe nominated with all those ARIAS. I don’t think a Perth artist has had that many nominations before, except maybe John Butler?’ says Matt. Scott jumps in ‘And that chick on Idol singing a Karnivool song. That was awesome.’

You can catch Little Birdy at a whole bunch of upcoming music festivals. They include The Wave Rock Weekender on September 30th, Legs 11 Concert on October 27th, Homebake on December 2nd, Falls Festival on December 30th and Southbound on January 6th. The album “Hollywood” is in store October 14 and the first single “Come On, Come On” is in store now.

Little Birdy are also doing an in-store appearance at 78 Records on the release date of the album (October 14th). To gain admittance you just need to purchase the album or the single on the day.

Interview by Justin Middleton

The Kill Devil Hills Album Release Oct 07 and National Tour 06 Oct- 11 Nov

Multi- award winning swamp rock darlings of the wild west, The Kill Devil Hills are set to embark on a national onslaught to celebrate their sophomore release “The Drought”. Produced by Ben Franz (The Waifs), “The Drought” is out October 07 on Torn and Frayed through Shock Records.

The Kill Devil Devil Hills live shows have become the stuff of legend. Building on their previous east coast tours and supports with friends from The Beasts of Bourbon, The Dirty Three, The Black Keys, Dallas Crane, The Drones, The Mess Hall, Kim Salmon, Jebediah, The Panics to the Living End, The Kill Devil Hills hit a town near you through Oct/ Nov. (see dates below)

For the uninitiated, they are six pieces comprising haunting vocals, guitars, violin, banjo, double bass, clarinet, stand up drums, mandolin and soaring harmonies, who established themselves strongly in the national underground through their moving and acclaimed 2004 debut “Heathen Songs”.

Following selection for Triple J’s Fresh Crop artists in 2005, Triple J airplay and “Live on the Porch” recordings, The Kill Devil Hills have been featured more recently on “Like A Version”, JTV and the Lonely Planet doco series “Six Degrees” on SBS.

Tour Dates:
(additional regional shows to be announced soon)

Sat Sept 30 – Wave Rock Weekender Festival, Hyden, WA
Sat Oct 7 – The Fly by Night – Fremantle, WA
Wed Oct 18 – The Grace Emily – Adelaide, SA
Thur Oct 19 – The Pub – Bendigo, Vic
Fri Oct 20 – The National – Geelong, Vic
Sat Oct 21 – The Tote – Collingwood, Vic
Sat  Oct 28 – The Hopetoun – Sydney, NSW
Thur Nov 2 – The Troubadour – Brisbane, QLD
Fri Nov 3 – The Troubadour – Brisbane, QLD
Sun Nov 5 – The Great Northern – Byron Bay, NSW
Fri Nov 10 – Bridgetown Blues Festival – Bridgetown, WA
Sat Nov 11 – Bridgetown Blues Festival – Bridgetown, WA

After a fruitful and busy first year on the live scene, Nix are proud release their debut EP, ‘Runaway’.

Clocking up a massive 40 shows in that time, Nix are gaining a reputation for their hardworking and growing presence in the scene. The band have supported some of W.A’s leading acts including Karnivool, The Meaning Of, Antistatic, Tragic Delicate, The Wire Complex and many more.

Recorded at Aussie Assault Studios with Roland Lim, ‘Runaway‘ defines the band’s growing sound with each of its five tracks offering their own stories and observations of life at present. Self-confessed devotees to melody and dynamics, ‘Runaway’ provides a battleground between the ambient and the aggressive.

Nothing feels safe anymore.

‘Runaway‘ Launch Dates

Perth (18+)
Friday 29th September The Rosemount Hotel
W/ The Simian Line, Mercurial, Celladore & Nina X

Mandurah (18+)
Thursday 12th October Player’s Bar Mandurah
Supports TBA

‘Runaway‘ available in stores 9th October from 78 Records, Mills Records, Dada Records & Planet.

The band played to a packed out Amplifier Bar.

Katy Steele could even play guitar with no hands.

Katy Steel and Matt Chequer on drums

This is how you play guitar.

Katy Steele in a quieter moment feeling the crowd.

The crowd was loving the local boys rocking out.

Ian Kenny singing as if he was on Australian Idol.

There was a hell of a lot of energy in the show.

Ian Kenny and Jon Stockman pleasing the crowd

To celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the ARIA awards, in a unique joint venture - Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Warner Music Australia, EMI Music Australia, Universal Music are all honoured to release the ARIA Awards 20th Anniversary album.

Never before have so many award winning Australian artists appeared on one album – representing the cream of the Australian recording industry of the last 20 years. Not only is every track on this album a historic moment in Australian music, but a number of these tracks were also huge worldwide hits.

CD 1
1. John Farnham - You’re The Voice
2. Icehouse - Electric Blue
3. Midnight Oil - Beds are Burning
4. Crowded House - Better Be Home Soon
5. The Church - Under The Milky Way
6. Ian Moss - Tucker’s Daughter
7. Peter Blakeley - Crying In the Chapel
8. Midnight Oil - Blue Sky Mine
9. Absent Friends - I Don’t Want To Be With Nobody But You
10. Baby Animals - Early Warning
11. Yothu Yindi - Treaty (Filthy Lucre Remix)
12. Diesel - Tip Of My Tongue
13. Wendy Matthews - The Day You Went Away
14. The Cruel Sea - The Honeymoon Is Over
15. Tina Arena - Chains
16. Silverchair - Tomorrow

CD 2
1. You Am I - Soldiers
2. Nick Cave/Kylie Minogue - Where The Wild Roses Grow
3. Regurgitator - Polyester Girl
4. Natalie Imbruglia - Torn
5. Powderfinger - The Day You Come
6. Killing Heidi - Mascara
7. Madison Avenue - Don’t Call Me Baby
8. Powderfinger - My Happiness
9. Kasey Chambers - Not Pretty Enough
10. Kylie Minogue - Can’t Get You Out Of My Head
11. Powderfinger - On My Mind
12. Delta Goodrem - Born To Try
13. Jet - Are You Gonna Be My Girl
14. Missy Higgins - Scar
15. Ben Lee - Catch My Disease

The 2006 ARIA Awards Nominees were announced today with quite a few Perth acts in the mix including Eskimo Joe with an astounding 9 nominations.

The Artisan Awards were awarded today and included Best Cover Art to Bernard Fanning for Tea & Sympathy, Best Video to Bernard Fanning for Wish You Well, Engineer Of The Year to Matt Lovell for Eskimo Joe - Black Fingernails, Red Wine and Producer Of The Year to Eskimo Joe for Black Fingernails, Red Wine.

Nominees include:
Album of the Year:
Eskimo Joe - Black Fingernails, Red Wine
The Sleepy Jackson - Personality (One Was A Spider, One Was A Bird)
Augie March - Moo, You Bloody Choir
Bernard Fanning - Tea And Sympathy
Wolfmother - Wolfmother

Single of the Year:
Eskimo Joe - Black Fingernails, Red Wine
Augie March - One Crowded Hour
Bernard Fanning - Watch Over Me
Wolfmother - Mind’s Eye
Youth Group - Forever Young

Best Adult Contemporary Album:
Bob Evans - Suburban Songbook
Human Nature - Reach Out (The Motown Record)
Tex, Don & Charlie - All Is Forgiven
The Whitlams - Little Cloud
Various Artists - She Will Have Her Way (Songs Of Tim & Neil Finn)

Best Group:
Eskimo Joe
Augie March
Rogue Traders
The Living End
Wolfmother

Best Male Artist:
Bob Evans
Bernard Fanning
Ben Lee
Dan Kelly & The Alpha Males
Pete Murray

Best Rock Album:
Eskimo Joe - Black Fingernails, Red Wine
Augie March - Moo, You Bloody Choir
The Living End - State Of Emergency
Wolfmother - Wolfmother
You Am I - Convicts

Breakthrough Artist - Album:
Hilltop Hoods - The Hard Road
Rogue Traders - Here Come The Drums
The Grates - Gravity Won’t Get You High
The Veronicas - The Secret Life Of…
Wolfmother - Wolfmother

Breakthrough Artist - Single:
Gyroscope - Fast Girl
Hilltop Hoods - Clown Prince
Sneaky Sound System - I Love It
TV Rock feat Seany B - Flaunt It
Starky - Hey Bang Bang

For the full list of nominations head over to the ARIA website.

Good luck to all nominees and we’ll see who wins on Channel 10 on Sunday 29th October.

I was going through some old CD’s I had the other day, one’s without labels and some that I hadn’t listened to in years. It got me thinking about the bands that just don’t quite make the impact that they should have, bands that you have big hopes for but only one or two EP’s are ever released.

Sometimes it’s better to just have the memory of the few songs released and maybe a few live performances that showed so much potential then to have some dissapointing albums that turned you off the band. One example of a band from Perth that I loved but didn’t quite achieve what I had hoped for was The Fergusons. Having only released two EP’s and a single, the band finished things in 2005 even after glowing reviews from Triple J. I’ve heard three of the original five members are starting up again but maybe with a new name so I count this as a new band.

Some other local bands that I believe ended too soon are Cartman, Love Camp 7, Spencer Tracy, Turnstyle, Beaverloop, Purrvert to name a few. I know that bands come to an end all of the time and that band members don’t always get along. But is it better for some very talented bands to end prematurely before reaching their peak than to end after their most creative period?

Let me know of bands you think ended too soon and some you think didn’t end soon enough.

Central Coast band, Something With Numbers are set to jump in the Tarago again at the end of October for a headline tour, to support the release of their new album Perfect Distraction - out through Below Par/Virgin on October 7.

The band will kick-start their tour in NSW on October 26 and head to QLD, VIC, WA, SA and TAS throughout November. The tour is kindly presented by Triple J and MySpace.

In early October they will also be supporting the much talked about US outfit Panic! At The Disco on their sold out East Coast Australian tour.

Something With Number’s first single ‘Apple Of The Eye (Lay Me Down)’ taken from Perfect Distraction is currently ruling the airwaves and was the #1 Most Requested video on Channel [V] (In store now!).

Tour Dates:
All shows are over 18’s unless highlighted as all ages below, tickets on sale Friday September 22nd, can be purchased through http://somethingwithnumbers.oztix.com.au

Thursday October 26 Key Largo, Terrigal NSW
Friday October 27 Annandale Hotel, Sydney NSW
Saturday October 28 (arvo) Annandale Hotel, Sydney NSW  **all ages
Thursday November 2 Ruby’s Lounge, Belgrave VIC
Friday November 3 East Brunswick, Melbourne VIC
Saturday November 4 Enigma Bar, Adelaide SA   **all ages
Thursday November 9 Great Northern, Byron Bay NSW
Friday November 10 The Globe, Brisbane QLD
Saturday November 11 Sol Bar, Coolum QLD
Sunday November 12 The Chophouse, Gold Coast QLD
Wednesday November 15 The Foundry, Cannington WA
Thursday November 16 Prince Of Wales, Bunbury WA
Friday November 17 Players Bar, Mandurah WA
Saturday November 18 (arvo) Leederville HQ, Leederville WA **all ages
Saturday November 18 Rosemount Hotel, Perth WA
Sunday November 19 Mojos, Fremantle WA
Thursday November 23 Republic Bar, Hobart TAS
Friday November 24 Siroccos Nightclub, Burnie TAS
Saturday November 25 James Hotel, Launceston TAS