Perth Music

UK outfit Hadouken! are a band who sum up the genre-vaulting, scene-splicing, boundary-pushing spirit of music in 2008 and a band who can skip between grime, emo, drum’n’bass and euphoric rave in the space of a single chorus. That may seem confusing to some but music in 2008 is as confusing as it is complicated. Hadouken! causes division between trad-rock bores and the youthful, enthusiastic, attention-hopping minds of a younger generation.  Music For An Accelerated Culture is the debut release from the Leeds band and have been announced on the lineup to this year’s Splendour In The Grass music festival. Guitarist Dan Rice caught up with Justin Middleton for this exclusive interview.

Click here to download the podcast of the entire interview. (9:44 - 2.2Mb)

Speaking about the release of their debut album, Music For An Accelerated Culture, Dan says “Yeah it has been a long process getting there. At the same time I think we are all glad, in retrospect, that we took the time to get it right and make the album that we wanted to make.”

I asked Dan to explain a bit about the history of the band and how they formed. “It started a couple years ago, I moved up to Leeds to go to university and met James (Smith, vocals) and kind of realized we had similar interests in music. We then worked together at a small record label called Surface Noise Records. James had always been producing stuff, UK garage and grime and then he started working on the track that would eventually create Hadouken! and generally stuff that had that grime influence but also reached a lot broader in it’s influences. We kind of decided that would be our playlist and we could make something out of that. We then got all the others on board, put the band together and the label became the home of Hadouken!’s first few releases.”

“We could only use our label for the very first couple of singles, which was good because it was really nice to be able to do that and not have to commit to anyone else so early on. But after that we kind of got to a size where we wanted to be fully focused on the recording and the live set and leave the label business to someone else. So we found a bigger label we were really happy with and got on with it.”

In November 2007 Hadouken! released a 12 track ‘mixtape’ that was available on USB only. I asked Dan how that came about. “Yeah it was USB only and was a mixtape of about 11 tracks of our stuff, remixes of our stuff and remixes that we had done of other people’s stuff. Part of the reason for it being USB was that we wanted to experiment and try out different things and part of it was simply that is wasn’t our debut album and we wanted people to realize that it was a piece of music that worked differently to that and that it was a mixtape. It was meant to be about us throwing together loads of different ideas and experimenting with different stuff and probably doesn’t have the cohesion the we wanted the debut album to have.”

With a sound that is very hard to define I asked Dan if he is able to say what type of music poeple can expect from Hadouken!. “Hopefully it’s naturally a mixture of the different genres everyone in the band listens to rather than sitting down at the start and going ‘we are going to combine this and this and this and make something new’ because I think that is kind of contrived and doesn’t really work out. I think it is a natural combination of what we all grew up with really.”

“We are really into it, it’s kind of been our first opportunity to play to crowds that are our age in the two years we’ve been going” Dan said about playing the many festivals around the world. “We’ve only done the odd support slot for other bands and spent most of our time doing our own tours so getting out and doing the festivals is great, just to play to people that either don’t know who we are or know a couple of tracks or know the name. It gives us time to try and win them over. None of us have been to Australia before so we are really excited to come over for the first time and see how the tracks go down and see what sort of thing people are into.”

Tour Dates:
Sun 3rd Aug - Splendour In The Grass Festival, Byron Bay
Wed 6th Aug - The Forum, Sydney (All Ages)
Thur 7th Aug - Hi Fi Bar, Melbourne

Music For An Accelerated Culture is out now. For more info on Hadouken! visit www.hadouken.co.uk

Boost Mobile Rock The Schools is excited to announce that Newcastle band Here Come The Birds is the inaugural winner of the “MySpace and Boost Mobile Rock WA” competition!

A joint initiative from Boost Mobile and MySpace.com, the competition received hundreds of entries from around the country and is worth a cool $30k. Here Come The Birds will perform in front of thousands of screaming secondary school students in WA, and share their experience and knowledge of the music industry with the students in workshop sessions.

“Every now and then you come across a band on MySpace that sound effortlessly familiar, yet offer something different and unique. Here Come The Birds have this and more. As well as their incredible music, they have an energy which resonates both live and on record. With an array of transatlantic influences, combining elements of US indie punk (think Brand New, Jimmy Eat World and other great prehistoric emo purveyors) and British angular rock (think Bloc Party and Gang Of Four) Here Come The Birds produce an array of great songs with melodies and rhythm to hook you in straight away and are testament to the wellspring of talent on MySpace.com. Expect some great things to come from these five young Novacastrians.” said Rebekah Horne, Vice President, MySpace.com Australia

This five-piece indie influenced band from Newcastle, NSW, made up of Chris Stanton, Dane Bates, Shaun McKay, Tom Bellam and Adrian Smith, have been independently releasing demos since 2005. Last summer they recorded a fantastic EP with Powerhouse Studios, alongside ARIA award nominated producer Greg Stace (for Kid Courageous), blending a diverse mix of new wave, indie and post punk sounds.

Here Come The Birds are cementing their spot as a hot new band in the music industry having also just been announced as one of two grand finalists in the Tooheys Extra Dry uncharTED competition two – Australia’s largest prize pool & hottest breaking band competition.

Highly regarded in the music industry as a vital launching pad for young bands, the Boost Mobile Rock The Schools tour this year received applications from over 40 bands around Australia, and internationally. The tour nurtures the next generation of Aussie music talent and previous bands on the tour have included ARIA Award winning Operator Please and high-energy rockers Skybombers who have just opened for the Foo Fighters in Auckland.

Here Come The Birds won flights and accommodation to join the Boost Mobile Rock The Schools Tour in Perth where they will play the Boost Mobile Launch gig plus a week of concerts at high schools through WA in August.

The competition was run through www.myspace.com/rocktheschools, and a panel of industry experts waded through hundreds of entries to arrive at their decision. To be in the running, each band had to submit a 100 word answer as to why they should be picked to join the Tour, as well as submit their songs to be judged by the panel.

Fans of the piano man prepare yourselves!  Billy Joel will be back in Australia and New Zealand this November and December for a limited run of concerts. Billy will take to the stage in Perth, Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney and - for the first time in 10 years will also play shows in Auckland and Adelaide.

Billy Joel is one of this century’s greatest musicians. Winning six Grammy Awards, selling in excess of 150 million albums worldwide, being inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and also the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame are just a few of the accolades Billy has clocked up over the years.    Indeed it is thirty years since the release of Billy’s landmark album ‘The Stranger’.  To celebrate this anniversary, Sony BMG are issuing ‘The Stranger 30th Anniversary Legacy’ edition with a bonus disc of live tracks.  This collectors item is being released to coincide with the announcement of Billy’s tour through Sony BMG on Saturday July 12th.

Most recently Billy has been awarded the prestigious honour of giving the final ever musical performance at the renowned Shea Stadium. A sporting venue by trade – the home of the New York Mets major baseball league team – it has also had an illustrious music career that has seen performances from everyone such The Beatles and Led Zeppelin to name but a few. It’s a fitting end to have the incomparable Billy Joel, a native New Yorker, close the final curtain on this hallowed ground.

In 2006 Billy toured Australia thrilling the audiences and critics alike by playing all the favourites – Piano Man, Uptown Girl, New York State of Mind, River of Dreams and Tell Her About It amongst many others – in a two and a half hour spectacular. Breaking attendance records across Australia, Billy left everyone enraptured with his performances.

Tickets to see Billy Joel were snapped up in record time, and with Auckland and Adelaide added to the agenda, you can expect demand to be unprecedented. Secure yours when they go on sale this Friday 25 July.

Pre-sale tickets will be available from Tuesday 22 July. Head to frontiertouring.com for further details.

Tour Dates:
Sun 23rd November - Members Equity Stadium, Perth - www.ticketmaster.com.au
Wed 26th November - Adelaide Entertainment Centre - www.ticketek.com.au
Sat 29th November - Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne - www.ticketek.com.au
Thur 4th December - Brisbane Entertainment Centre - www.ticketek.com.au
Tue 9th December - Acer Arena, Sydney - www.ticketek.com.au
Sun 14th December - Vector Arena, Auckland - www.ticketmaster.co.nz

Perth rock legends Jebediah are playing three capital city shows but you can hardly blame them for being excited about their first foray across the Nullarbor since 2005!  The Jebs last tour around this big, brown land was in celebration of their ten year anniversary and also their final round of touring in support of their fourth album, Braxton Hicks. They then took a complete break from the band in order to cast their gaze across this world to see what else it had to offer. Somewhat under-whelmed by the results, it didn’t take long before they were back together, doing what they loved most and playing music.

In December 2007 Jebediah toured all over their home state of W.A and earlier this year ventured over to Adelaide. Now, they are finally making it over to the East Coast, playing a short run of intimate venues in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. Expect to hear all the old favourites as well as a sneak preview of album number five, due in 2009 and now in production with Dave Parkin, (Red Jezebel, Snowman, Silents).

Tour Dates:
tix go on sale Friday July 18th

Thur 4th September - Evelyn Hotel, Fitzroy VIC - www.moshtix.com.au
Fri 5th September - Annandale Hotel, Annandale NSW - www.annandalehotel.com
Sat 6th September - The ZOO, Fortitude Valley, QLD - www.oztix.com.au

For more info visit www.jebediah.net or www.myspace.com/jebediahrock

Beloved Australian musician/activist Xavier Rudd’s latest album Dark Shades of Blue is released in Australia on August 16th and in support of this, his seventh album, Rudd will be embarking on a month-long Australian tour this October/November.

Loud and psychedelic, Dark Shades of Blue highlights a side of Xavier Rudd merely hinted at on earlier releases.  The guitar-driven songs, mixed by Joe Barresi (Tool, Queens of the Stone Age), are more complex and rocking than what audiences perhaps expect from the lifelong surfer and Dave Matthews tour mate. Yet fans will not be disappointed, for the new direction still holds true to Rudd’s passion for mixing rock and folk with indigenous instruments and other voices.

Along with his Australian tour, Xavier Rudd’s much anticipated new album Dark Shades of Blue is now available for pre-order on CD and digital download! All pre-order participants will receive a digital download of the album’s title track Dark Shades of Blue instantly! Just head to Xavier’s website to be a part of it! Dark Shades of Blue is in store on Saturday August 16.

Tickets to The Dark Shades of Blue Australian Tour are on sale nationally Friday 18 July.

Tour dates:
with special guests
Tue 28th Oct - The Hifi, Melbourne - www.thehifi.com.au
Mon 3rd Nov - Canberra Uni Refectory, Canberra - www.ticketek.com.au
Tue 4th Nov - Waves Nightclub, Wollongong - www.oztix.com.au
Thu 6th Nov - The Metro Theatre, Sydney (licensed & all ages) - www.metrotheatre.com.au
Sun 9th Nov - Civic Theatre Newcastle, Newcastle (licensed & all ages) - www.civictheatrenewcastle.com.au
Tue 11th Nov - Coffs Ex-Serviceman’s Club, Coffs Harbour
Wed 12th Nov - Ballina RSL, Ballina - www.ballinarsl.com.au
Fri 14th Nov - The Events Centre, Caloundra (licensed & all ages) - www.theeventscentre.com.au
Sat 15th Nov - The Tivoli Theatre, Brisbane - www.ticketek.com.au
Tue 18th Nov - The Pilbeam Theatre, Rockhampton (licensed & all ages) - www.pilbeamtheatre.com.au
Fri 21st Nov - Townsville Civic Theatre, Townsville (licensed & all ages)
Sat 22nd Nov - Kuranda Amphitheatre, Kuranda (licensed & all ages) - www.ticketlink.com.au
Thu 27th Nov - Belvoir Amphitheatre, Perth (licensed & all ages) - www.heatseeker.com.au
Fri 28th Nov - Old Broadwater Farm, Busselton - www.heatseeker.com.au
Sun 30th Nov - Elder Park, Adelaide

Melbourne rockers Trial Kennedy have had a killer year so far, with the release of their debut album New Manic Art and gig appearances up and down the east coast, and it’s about to get a whole lot better!  Trial Kennedy are very excited to announce a new run of West Coast tour dates this August – the first time the lads have headed over this year!

Since the release of New Manic Art late May, it has consistently received not only phenomenal album reviews and coverage in just about every street rag you could poke a stick at, but much radio love as well.

The boys rocked out at Triple J with a Feature Album of the Week, plus high rotation on the singles Neighbours and Colour Day Tours, the first of which was also #1 most requested at the station.  Further afield, Album of the Weeks were also a given at community stations across Australia, and the current track, Colour Day Tours has been gathering new fans at commercial radio stations every single week.

Now it’s time for the live show to head over to Western Australia, to give fans a taste of the gritty rock n roll mayhem that is Trial Kennedy, up close and personal.

WA dates:
Thurs 14th August - Prince of Wales, Bunbury WA * $10 presale / $15 at door
Fri 15th August - Players Bar, Mandurah WA * $10 presale / $15 at door
Sat 16th August - Amplifier Bar, Perth WA * $15 presale / $20 at door
Sun 17th August - Newport Hotel, Fremantle WA * $10 presale / $15 at door

Tix for all shows are available from www.moshtix.com.au | phonecharge 1300 GET TIX | www.heatseeker.com.au | www.oztix.com.au as well as each venue.

It’s been a long adventure for UK indie rockers The Subways since the trio emerged fresh-faced and exuberant with their 2005 debut album Young For Eternity. Now their second album All Or Nothing is scheduled for release on July 5. With their teenage days still relatively recently behind them, the band have already experienced more than most bands endure in an entire career. Four consecutive years at the Reading festival along with appearances at Glastonbury, Leeds and T in the Park cemented their reputation as festival favourites. They hit the international circuit with particularly memorable dates in Japan, America, France and here in Australia, while back home, the venues seemed to get larger with every tour with almost every date sold-out in advance. In amidst such a phenomenal rise vocalist/guitarist Billy Lunn was forced to undergo surgery to cure nodules on his vocals chords, caused by strenuous touring. Luckily he recovered to record All Or Nothing and a totally refreshed Billy Lunn caught up with Justin Middleton for this exclusive interview.

Click here to download the podcast of the entire interview. (17:32 - 2.0Mb)

With such a lengthy gap between albums I asked Billy how excited he was about the album finally being released and being  able to tour again. “It’s great, we are really anxious for everyone to hear all the new tracks that we have, we are really proud of the record. We just really want to tour again after so long not touring. It’s great to be back on the stage and seeing the audience and seeing them go crazy and just rockin’ out man.”

“We wrote a lot of the songs while we were on tour. We toured for about 2 years after we released Young For Eternity so some of the songs we have tested live back in 2006. A lot of the songs we’ve had under our belt for a good 3 years or so. All Right, which is the third track on the album was written 2 days after we finished the Young For Eternity sessions. We actually demo’d it in the same studio we recorded Young For Eternity in.”

The band had to cancel touring in 2006 due to Billy needing surgery on his throat which doctors diagnosed as nodules. i asked billy to describe what happened in this scary time. “We thought there were nodules at first. Towards the end of 2006, we’d play a show and I’d lose my voice for two days. And it got to the point where I couldn’t speak, let alone sing and we were cancelling shows left, right and center. For us that was the worst thing we could possibly do to our fans - pulling away on our tour bus and seeing the line round the corner at the venue, thinking these kids aren’t going to get their fix, and neither are we. It was just awful. We decided that going to a vocal specialist was the next big thing to do because there was no way we were going to cancel another show. The words I dreaded was nodules and the guy said ‘You have nodules but they can go in a couple of weeks if you exercise the voice and stretch the vocal chords out’. Which is what I was doing and then two weeks turned into two months and the nodules weren’t going and they weren’t getting any smaller at all. I just thought that either I’m not doing the exercises right or the doctor is terrible. So we got a second opinion and the doctor we saw said that they weren’t nodules, they’re polyps and the only way we could rid of polyps is by surgery.”

“Already we had wasted two months so we booked in surgery for January 2007, had the surgery done and then couldn’t speak for three weeks, couldn’t sing for about two months and the doctor said ‘You’ve really got to look after your voice, follow all the instructions, don’t speak, don’t clear your throat, don’t sneeze, don’t cough because if you don’t recover properly you might never speak again’. So that was a really scary time but we stayed positive through it, we went into the local rehearsal studio and played for six or seven hours a day perfecting all these new songs we had. I continued writing even though I couldn’t speak or sing, continued playing guitar and getting better at the guitar and writing in my journals. I think because I wasn’t speaking I became a very thoughtful person. I was listening to what was going on around me and became very analytical and opinionated. And I think that really reflected in the lyrics of the album. If you listen to the first record, we were 18 when we recorded it and now after everything we have seen on tour, all the different cultures and countries and cities and towns and all the people we’ve met and experiences we’ve had all went into the songs. When I could start singing again I had this compulsion to be honest…and you can hear that in the lyrics.”

I also asked Billy to describe how it was working with super producer Butch Vig who produced All Or Nothing. “That was pretty incredible. I can’t believe we even got Butch Vig to make our record, it’s mind blowing. I mean he made the first ever rock record I played to Charlotte (Cooper, bass player) in Nevermind. All Josh (Morgan, drummer) played for three years when he was 15 was Siamese Dream and Gish. It’s really strange because when we were thinking about producers we thought about Butch but we didn’t think he would ever want to work with us. Our manager basically said to listen to our all our favourite records and write down the producers who made those records and he’d set up meetings with those guys. Strangely enough Butch Vig wasn’t on that list because there was no way we thought Butch Vig would ever want to work with The Subways. He’s too legendary and we are three skinny, suburban English kids making indie rock so why would he want to work with us. We met up with all these producers and we just felt that we weren’t getting the connection that was necessary to make this record what we wanted to make. We got to the end of the list and thought ‘All right, let’s call Butch, let’s go for it, what have we got to lose’.”

“So we called Butch up and he had just finished making a record with Against Me and was looking for another project. We had met him a few times before doing the festival rounds and he’s a really, really charming man. He said ‘Yeah send over a CD, I’ll let you know what I think’ and I got an email back saying ‘The songs are fucking great, come over to New York and let’s talk’. We went over there and had a cup of coffee and five minutes into the conversation I just lent over the table, put my hand on his shoulder and went ‘Butch Vig, you have to make this album’.

All Or Nothing is out July 5th. For more info on The Subways visit www.thesubways.net

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.