Perth Music

Congratulations to Bernard Fanning and Eskimo Joe for winning the Album of the Year and Single of the Year ARIA Awards last night. It was great to see the rock bands back to the top of Australian music and also Australian Hip-Hop starting to get the respect it deserves.

In my mind, this years awards really showed the evolving nature of Australian music and by looking at the nominees and winners of most categories, you can see a few trends popping up here and there.

One trend that might be finally coming to an end is Australian’s love affair with manufactured Pop. Even though 3 of the 5 nominees for Highest Selling Single were ex-Australian Idols and 1 nominee was a cover, the award went to TV Rock for Flaunt It. It was quite a surprise to see a dance song as the highest selling single of the year but a pleasant surprise as a TV show wasn’t selling the song.

The Breakthrough Artist Award is a joke at the ARIA’s and should really be replaced with Best Newcomer Award. Having a look at the nominees for Breakthrough Artist Single Award proves this with the winner (Youth Group) being together for 10 years and releasing 3 albums, nominees Hilltop Hoods starting up in 1991 and releasing 5 albums and Gyroscope forming 9 years ago and releasing 2 albums. Surely a Newcomer Award would make more sense than awarding an old band with finally breaking through.

One category that shows a need for more Australian variety is Best Male. 2 of the nominees are on a break from their usual bands (Bernard Fanning and Bob Evans), leaving Ben Lee, Dan Kelly and Pete Murray. The only usual nominees missing are Alex Lloyd and Keith Urban meaning their are only 5 male Australian artists making music at the moment and Pete Murray and Alex Lloyd really make the exact same music. There was a time when we had John Farnham, Jimmy Barnes, Paul Kelly, Diesel, Tim Finn all making incredible music that was completely Australian.

Other things from the 2006 ARIA’s to take note of are:

Best Children’s Album is still dominated by 2 nominees with The Wiggles and Hi 5 winning 10 out of the last 12 years,

Australian Hip Hop has finally started to give up copying Amercian Hip Hop and thanks to groups like The Hilltop Hoods, it sounds good to hear an Aussie accent in a Hip hop song,

Even though Human Nature finally won an ARIA after 15 unsuccessful nominations, it was quite ironic that they won an ARIA singing other people’s songs (Reach Out:The Motown Album),

Great to see Album of The Year nominees The Sleepy Jackson and Augie March getting recognised for being artistic and not necessarily popular.

Congratulations to Eskimo Joe for winning the 2006 ARIA Award for Single of the Year (Black Fingernails, Red Wine) and DVD of the Year and also to Bob Evans for winning Best Adult Contemporary Album (Suburban Songbook).  You’re doing Perth proud.

Q. Tell us a little bit of history about yourselves as a band. How did you start out and what have you achieved?
Jason and Ryan used to play together in a high school band back in Malaysia. I used to live there as well where I knew of Ryan through mutual friends. By chance we all ended up over here at the same high school. From there, once the association was made, it was pretty much an unspoken agreement that we had to get something together. A few jams later and Nix was born.

Q. What bands have had the greatest influence on you and who are your favourite bands at the moment?
I grew up with the usual leanings a kid with a guitar has I suppose. As I started to realise that music had something else in it for me, bands like Silverchair, Muse, etc were probably the initial eye openers in terms of a somewhat ‘alternative’ approach to all the other stuff I was listening to. I guess it just went from there - exponentially. Bands like Incubus, Deftones, Muse, Radiohead have surely had an affect on Nix as a whole. Favourite now bands? I’m going through a Something For Kate phase at the moment, great band, great new release. I’m sure Butterfly Effect’s IMAGO is still playing hard in our stereos too.

Q. What helps in writing new songs? Do you need solitude to get inspiration?
Not at all. Sometimes absolute chaos can get the juices flowing. We’ve never had a method so to speak. Sometimes one of us will come into rehearsals with a song 60% cooked and ready to go, other times they are simply born out of a good free-for-all jam. I think we are still young enough as a band not to feel a sense of routine or repetition when it comes to songwriting - it comes from all directions.

Q. What is your favourite live music venue to play? Do you prefer small pub shows with a small audience or bigger shows with lots of people cheering you on?
Venue wise, I don’t think we could go past The Amplifier or The Rosemount. Both lovely stages to play. Being a three-piece is great too; the smaller stages never feel that small. In terms of crowds, I think it all depends on the mood of the show that night. Big crowds are great, no questions, but a small crowd who are right up the front going bananas can be equally amazing.

Q. Favourite AFL Team?
Can’t say any of us really follow ye ol’ footy. The Eagles won yeah?

Q. What is your song writing process? Do you write the lyrics and music together or one first and then the other?
There’s no particular pattern or rule, each song is born a different way so to speak. Music will almost always come before lyrics.

Q. Is Myspace good or evil?  Why? 
Brilliant. As corny and pop-culture as Myspace is, its a great tool for bands and listeners alike to either get music heard or to come across new music. We dig it.

Q. What is your take on the Perth Music Scene at the moment? Do you think it is thriving or is it a bit of over-hype?
I think it has a lot of growing to do, given the opportunity, but for what it is at present I think it’s a great scene to be in. It’s a relatively small industry that is saturated with great bands and talent. Makes it a little claustrophobic at times, and you do have to plan your movements with a little more forethought but all in all, it’s a great place to get a band up on its feet and kicking.

Q. What plans do you have for the next few months? 
Our movements will pretty much be in support of our recent debut release, ‘Runaway‘. It’s in all good local music retailers now and we’ll be playing a string of shows up until December. We plan to take a one month break over Christmas after gigging hard for a year and a half. Plans are already a foot for some exciting shows early next year so watch this space.

Mark McEwen – (Vocals/Guitar)
www.nixband.com
www.myspace.com/nixband

Snowman performed to a sellout crowd on Sat 21st October at Gilkisons Dance Studio. It’s undeniable that Snowman are a Perth favourite - an atmospheric, eclectic and CRAZY set filled the studio that night.

Perth Music caught up with Blair from The Simian Line as they get ready for their Look So Loud EP Launch on the 18th of November at The Amplifier Bar.

Q. Tell us a little bit of history about yourselves as a band. How did you start out and what have you achieved?
We’ve all been members of other bands in the past but feel a sense of kinship amongst the five of us. We’re all best of mates so that helps with nearly every facet of being a group. Our history is brief but in a short time we’ve supported the likes of Eskimo Joe and The Butterfly Effect and most recently scored our first international support with Hard-Fi from the UK. Most of our life as The Simian Line has been spent writing and recording Look So Loud.

Q. What bands have had the greatest influence on you and who are your favourite bands at the moment?
Me personally I’d say Pearl Jam, U2 and Muse have been my favourite bands. I can’t really speak for the others but Tony loves his grunge, Stefan loves his rock ‘n’ roll, Chris loves his prog rock and Rob confuses everyone with his tastes.

Q. What helps in writing new songs? Do you need solitude to get inspiration?
Most songs are a fluke. Words and melodies usually appear from outta space. Sitting down and saying “Right. I’m gonna be creative now!” doesn’t always work. Usually they come at the most inappropriate times like while I’m driving or in bed.

Q. What is your favourite live music venue to play? Do you prefer small pub shows with a small audience or bigger shows with lots of people cheering you on?
We’re really comfy at The Rosemount, but our favourite is probably The Amplifier. Metro’s Freo was also very cool and there was a huge crowd so we probably prefer those shows.

Q. Favourite AFL Team?
Blair - Geelong, Stefan - West Coast, Tony - Carlton, Rob - Richmond, Chris - Cleveland Indians

Q. What is your song writing process? Do you write the lyrics and music together or one first and then the other?
Almost always music first. They then get squashed together and the music may be altered to suit a better melody. I write a lot of poems in hope they will become songs but they seldom do?

Q. Is Myspace good or evil?
How could it be evil?

Q. What is your take on the Perth Music Scene at the moment? Do you think it is thriving or is it a bit of over-hype?
Per head it’s thriving. Glad to be a part of it.

Q. What plans do you have for the next few months?
After our launch on Nov 18th we’re embarking on a south west tour to further promote our ep and then it’s off to the east for some shows. We’ve been writing too so we’ll probably start recording our the next one. Oh, and I plan to get back to the gym!

For more info on The Simian Line visit their official webpage or their Myspace page.

A bus has been organised to transport people to Rockus’ Fever Fever Thursday night shows at the Swan Basement and back from Mt Lawley, so all you Northies / Easties don’t have to drive all the way to Freo (and drink your weight in liquor).

Cost is $10 return and INCLUDES entry into the show. HELL YEAH.

Departure is 7:30pm sharp from outside IGA Supermarket / Flying Scotsman in Mt Lawley. It will return you to the same spot leaving at @ midnight, back in Mt Lawley at @ 12:30am.

Tonight you can catch Dyslexic Fish, Slaughterhouse 5 and Love You Not.

With a debut single out now (Off Kilter) and a debut album out early next year (Day One), Perth’s Birds Of Tokyo are getting ready to ROCK OUT Australia. The band chatted with Justin Middleton this week:

Q. Tell us a little bit of history about yourselves as a band. How did you start out and what have you achieved?
Birds of Tokyo is a band made up of players from other Perth bands. We started by writing a couple of songs then recruited Adam (Weston) and Anthony (jackson) on drums and bass. So far i guess we have achieved a pretty cool following and have been lucky enough to travel and record around the country.

Q. What bands have had the greatest influence on you and who are your favourite bands at the moment?
There are too many to mention just a couple. Let’s just say everything from Otis Redding to Guns and Roses.
Fav bands at the moment, well dont know about the others but I’m really diggin The Killers right now…so hot right now!

Q. What helps in writing new songs? Do you need solitude to get inspiration?
What helps is wanting that feeling of having just completed a song that you cant wait to play live for people. Solitude? Not really. We just kinda jam stuff out.

Q. What is your favourite live music venue to play? Do you prefer small pub shows with a small audience or bigger shows with lots of people cheering you on?
Probably the Amplifier Bar, great stage and sound and always like a little sardine can of loud rock and roll in there at the weekend. I don’t think we’ve actually played to any “big” crowds hah so wouldnt know about that one!

Q. Favourite AFL Team?
Westy would say Collingwood and Kenny would say the Dockers. As for the rest of us…whoevers winning! hah

Q. What is your song writing process? Do you write the lyrics and music together or one first and then the other?
Changes…sometimes Kenny and I write the basic song and take it to the others. Other times we just jam on ideas and see where it goes. We never write full songs up front, we always like to see where one of the other guys is gonna take it.

Q. Is Myspace good or evil? Why?
R u kidding? What myspace has done for bands is unparalled in my musical lifetime. It’s giving people access to your music if you cant get on radio or cant get a big fat record deal. What it has done for bands like us is allow people all around the country to get familiar with our music and has allowed us to travel and play interstate to some pretty solid crowds for our own shows. It helps small bands get a foot in the door.

Q. What is your take on the Perth Music Scene at the moment? Do you think it is thriving or is it a bit of over-hype?
Depends on where you’re looking from I guess. From the inside I would say it’s rocking, but in other parts of oz, I dont think they are all fussing over us WA peoples. I think what we do have is ALOT of quality bands kicking ass on a national level, per capita I think we are ahead of the rest of the nation.

Q. What plans do you have for the next few months? Can you give us an update on your debut album?
Next few months we have a small number of shows around the traps. I guess check out our myspace (http://www.myspace.com/birdsoftokyo) or website (http://www.birdsoftokyo.com/) for info. The album is coming along well, took longer than had planned but its in it’s final stages, it’s a bit different from our previous couple of releases. This record is our hello/introduction/raw but fat production of the new stuff. We cant wait for people to hear it.

Simon Kelly is a singer songwriter from Fremantle, WA and has just released a new mini album through MGM.  He caught up with Perth Music to answer a few questions:

Q. Tell us a little bit of history about yourself as a singer/songwriter. How did you start out and what have you achieved?
I started playing on my 13th birthday and started my first band at 14, we started gigging soon after and by the time we were 19 we had played the big day out and toured aust with Suicidial Tendencies!  we also released an album but broke up not long after.  i played in lots of different bands after that but ended up concentrating on more accoustic things mainly because it suits the solo thing and i was tired of putting energy into bands and having them fall apart.  i have been writing songs since i started but only started singing a few years ago, cos i had nobody else to sing my songs for me.  i released a 14 track album from my home studio down south and just recently moved to fremanlte and have released a 7 track mini album, recorded in a proper studio and all!

Q. What bands have had the greatest influence on you and who are your favourite bands at the moment?
Probably Metallica was the first big influence i was into the energy and anger and techincality of it, then mellowed into the grunge thing and from then on i have been exploring as many different genres as i can.  Gomez were another band that influenced me heavily and encouraged me to get into home recording, cos they were my age and recorded their first album in a garage and blended lots of different styles to create somethign original.
But Bob Marley is my biggest alltime influence although you might not pick it from listening to my music.  but i listen to just about every style of music and dont have any set ideas about what i want to sound like so hopefully it comes out as a bit of a mix of all of it.

Q. What helps in writing new songs? Do you need solitude to get inspiration?
Yeah i cant really write when there are other people around…  just because song writing for me is about just letting go and opening up and letting whatever come out and often it is crap and embarrasing but just you just listen out for the good stuff.  so i guess its becuase i am too self conscious to write in front of people, but also becuase i record every idea as soon as it comes out because if i dont i forget it straight away, so i dont like any distractions when i write..

Q. What is your favourite live music venue to play? Do you prefer small pub shows with a small audience or bigger shows with lots of people cheering you on?
I prefer to play to bigger crowds, there is alot more energy in the room, it is usually louder and a good cheer is always good to inspire you! and the more people in the room the higher the odds that some of them will actually like what you are playing
Q. Favourite AFL Team?
Fremantle all the way…….

Q. What is your song writing process? Do you write the lyrics and music together or one first and then the other?
As i mentioned before its just finding some time to myself and just messing around till something sounds good.  then i record it and see where those ideas lead to.  although every time seems to be different, sometimes i just play around with a chord progression as a starting point or a drum beat but sometimes a phrase or melody will just pop into my head and i go from there…

Q. Is Myspace good or evil?
Not sure how it could be evil, i think the internet is great its like a giant brain that anyone can tap into and explore and as for myspace i think any platform that encourages interaction between humans is a good thing. It is great for a musician too, you can contact other musicians and hear some of their tunes and make contact with the people that come to your gigs and develop a relationship with them.  Myspace is god, i mean good…. perhaps i do spend too much time on it….

Q. What is your take on the Perth Music Scene at the moment? Do you think it is thriving or is it a bit of over-hype?
I have been living down south and travelling for the last few years so i am still catching up on all the local bands but i think overall its pretty healthy. i havent spent enough time in other cities to really compare it though.

Q. What plans do you have for the next few months?
I have already started recording a full length album so i hope to keep making progress on that, i would also like to get a more permanent band together rather than just borrowing people from here and there like i do at the moment.  i also have a festival penciled in for new years in northern NSW so would like to try and organise some more gigs while i am over there and just generally keep playing as much music as i can.

For more info on Simon check out his Myspace page.

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