Perth Music

After another stellar year of album releases from Western Australian artists, the 2008 WAMi Awards see some of our finest acts battling it out for Most Popular Album. The nominees are Birds of Tokyo ‘Day One’, John Butler Trio ‘Grand National’, The Panics for ‘Cruel Guards’ and Red Jezebel for ’How I Learnt to Stop Worrying’. The Most Popular Live Act award sees some of WA’s best loved acts rate a mention; nominees include Gyroscope, Karnivool, Snowman and Streetlight.

With six WAMi Award nominations, including Most Popular Album, for their debut LP ‘Day One’, Birds of Tokyo lead the nomination charge in 2008! Alongside Most Popular Album, Birds of Tokyo were also nominated in the Best Rock Act, Best Drummer (Adam Weston), Best Vocalist (Ian Kenny) Best Guitarist (Adam Spark) and Best Instrumentalist (Glenn Sarangapany) categories!

The John Butler Trio had another big year, touring at large on home soil and abroad after the release of his fourth studio album ‘Grand National’. JBT scored five WAMi Award Nominations, including Most Popular Album for ‘Grand National’, Most Popular Act, Most Popular Music Video for ‘Good Excuse’, Best Blues and Roots Act and Best Guitarist!

Nominated for Favourite Newcomer and Most Promising New Act, both Abbe May and the Rockin’ Pneumonia and Felicity Groom and the Black Black Smoke scored 4 nominations, alongside Sugar Army who were nominated for Most Popular Act, Most Popular Single/EP, Best Rock Act and Best Bassist (Ian Berney).

Nominees in the Industry only voted category for the Golden WAMi for contribution to the WA Music Industry in 2007 are:
Heath Bradby (Director Fidelity Corporation, co artist manager for Bob Evans, Downsyde, The Silents, Snowman, Jebediah, Karnivool)
Juliet John (Manager of Schvendes and Publicist for Saturation)
Peter Barr, (RTRFM 92.1 Breakfast Presenter, FreshBlast Co ordinator)
Steph Edwardes (Manager of Sugar Army, Editor of Rockus.com.au and Assistant Manager at Fidelity Corp)

All are contenders for the Golden WAMi Award, raising the WA music industry profile over the past year.

Voting for the WAMi Awards is open to anyone in the world. Voting commences on Thursday January 17 at http://myspace.com/musicwa (.) You’ll need to register an account, and only one vote per person will be counted. Voting closes on Monday February 13.

The WAMi Award winners will be announced at the Perth International Arts Festival Beck’s Music Box (on the Esplanade, Perth) on Thursday 21 February! The WAMi Awards will include live performances by Jebediah, Birds of Tokyo, Blue Shaddy, Yabu Band with special guests Groovylips and the Yang, Felicity Groom and the Black Black Smoke and DJ’s Dan the Man & Rok Riley. Tickets are on sale now from www.heatseeker.com.au and the usual outlets.

For all WAMi Festival information, including the full list of WAMi Award nominees and the WAMi Festival Guide, head to http://myspace.com/musicwa or http://wam.asn.au(.) The WAMi Festival runs from February 15 – 24.

Halo 3 is one of the most popular video games of all times and made $170 million in its first day of release. It has also had one the biggest promotion campaigns for any game ever. When XBox needed a song to encapsulate the energy and theme of the game they approached Phrase. Phrase decided to collaborate with Ian Kenny form Perth bands Karnivool and Birds Of Tokyo and Face It was born. Phrase caught up with Justin Middleton for this exclusive interview.

Click here to download the podcast of the entire interview. (14:32 - 1.7Mb)

“One of the guys from XBox is a big fan and loved the first record and the last single off it, so I think they just wanted to try and do something with an artist to hit a different demographic. So they hit up Universal and approached me about writing something specifically for it, and I was making my record at the time, so I banged it out. I hooked up from (Ian) Kenny from Karnivool in Perth and got him on it and sent it through and they loved it. We shot a video and it’s kinda all snowballed from there” Phrase explained about how the song came about.

Asked whether he was apprehensive about doing a song for a game Phrase answered “To be honest I was in the beginning… but I thought I’d have a crack at it anyway and once I’d written the song, it doesn’t talk about the game and I think it does stand by itself and it fitted in on the record with the sounds that I’ve got on the album. I didn’t realize how big Halo 3 was and my manager was like ‘Dude, it’s the biggest game in the world’”.

Collaborating with Karnivool and Birds Of Tokyo frontman Ian Kenny would be something many musicians would love to do and Phrase explained how it all happened. “I hooked up with him in Perth and he’s such a chilled guy, just your run-of-the-mill Aussie bloke, thongs, having a beer sort of thing. We got along really well and I sent him the song and I just said ‘Look, you do your thing on it’. I didn’t want to sway in any way what he was going to do to it coz I love their sound and I love what he does. He sent it back and I was wrapped man, and since then we shot the video and done a gig together up in Sydney. Hopefully when I come out to Perth he’ll be able to come down and do the song with me”.

“I think it’s cool for Kenny coz he’d never done anything with a Hip-Hop guy before. He really, really dug what I was doing as well and I think it’s cool for the genres to be crossing over and working with each other. We are all from the same country and we are all making music so there’s no reason why we can’t mash those things together”.

“I knew that I needed a big hook on it, something powerful and there’s not that many other people in this country that can do that. I was tossing up getting Ella Hooper from Killing Heidi or somebody along those lines and then I thought of Karnivool. We reached out and it all just went ahead”.

Face It will be available in stores and online October 27 and Phrase’s forthcoming album Burn It Down is scheduled for release in early 2008. For more info on Phrase visit www.myspace.com/bigphrase

Face It

The Third Annual ROLLERCOASTER MUSIC CARNIVAL
Saturday 29th December 2007
3.00pm – 11.30pm
Hall Park, Western Mandurah Foreshore

All Ages with 18+ Areas.
No BYO. No Passouts
Featuring:
HILLTOP HOODS, BLACK KEYS, SHIHAD, JEBEDIAH, KISSCHASY, BIRDS OF TOKYO, ASH GRUNWALD and more.

The 2007 edition of Rollercoaster has just been announced and this year looks to be one of the best.

Rollercoaster is now in it’s third year and is becoming an iconic show in the WA calendar because of it’s simple an effective formula; an event with an awesome line up, a well priced ticket, a beautiful location, a generous grassy venue and all on offer at a time of year where people are relaxed, happy and ready to party.

Another defining feature of Rollercoaster is that it isn’t afraid to rock! Most festivals have reverted to gentler line ups these days but Rollercoaster bucks the trend by embracing music with attitude, energy and an edge to put some yay in your day, some zing in the thing and more power per hour than any other annual outdoor event.

The line up this year is a corker - a heady mix of Australian and international, new and established, great and awesome bands. Without further ado, here it is!

HILLTOP HOODS
Talk about ending the party with a bang! Australia’s undisputed kings of hip-hop play their first show in WA since the release of the restrung version of their platinum selling Hard Road album.  Here come the Hoods!! Bringing incendiary beats and rhymes with a string section in tow.

THE BLACK KEYS
Direct from Akron, Ohio USA - this incredible 2 piece blues/rock band are four albums into their career and are one of the most smokin’ live bands in the world. Primal rhythms, tough and soulful vocals and a warm buzzsaw guitar with deep blues grooves served raw! They’ve completely sold out their trips to WA in the past and this is a chance to see them in full flight after the WA summer sun dips over the horizon.

SHIHAD
Back on the buzz with a new record about to explode…SHIHAD never disappoint and are the living definition of rock and roll itself.  Driving guitars, pounding beats and the lean, mean rock and roll machine Johnny Toogood out front ignoring the risks associated with putting 1000% into a rock and roll show. Killer!!

JEBEDIAH
WA’s legends and one of most successful bands of all time are back for a special festival appearance. They’ve been deep in rehearsals and writing since front man Kevin Mitchell aka Bob Evans finished extensive touring for his gold selling solo effort of 2006 and will play all the hits and a guaranteed sing along with their trademark bouncy brand of zingy guitar pop.

KISSCHASY
Dominating the place where punk meets rock in Australia - ROLLERCOASTER’s old pals Kisschasy make a welcome return to the Mandurah Foreshore for the 2007 event off the back of their huge HYMNS FOR THE NONBELIEVER album.  The quiet achiever on the Australian live circuit at the moment – watch the pit go when they crank up!

BIRDS OF TOKYO
One of WA’s most successful independent bands of the moment they’ve been congesting request lines on all respectful radio stations around the country and jamming rooms nationally all year off the back of their DAY ONE album .  Their powerhouse live delivery and the commanding presence and delivery of frontman Ian Kenny means that if anyone is going to reach out to the Rollercoaster faithful….the Birds will do it!

ASH GRUNWALD
Host of JJJ’s popular Roots and All programme - this magnetic, down-to-earth and smokin’ blues maestro will bring us all together early as we laze around the grass and get a dose of killer blues.

Plus more great local WA acts still to be announced.

WA four piece, Birds of Tokyo deliver their fourth single ‘Minor War’ from the album ‘Day One’ to radio next week, and to coincide Birds of Tokyo are to set to embark on their third and last national tour for the year, this October.  For the very first time live, Birds of Tokyo fans can expect to hear a preview of new material which is set to be recorded for release on the band’s second album! Adelaide’s finest, Soft White Machine join the Minor War tour as special guests.

For Birds of Tokyo the first half of 2007 has been a rather significant start to the year.  Since February, Birds of Tokyo have released their debut album ‘Day One’, toured nationally twice, played the Big Day Out,  been nominated for WAMi Awards and declared  by Rolling Stone Magazine as an ‘Artist to Watch’. Not bad for an independent band from Perth!   Most recently, Birds of Tokyo spent most of July locked away at a country farm house in Margaret River, writing new songs and just this past weekend, they performed two sold out acoustic sessions in Perth, for the very first time.  Birds of Tokyo are looking likely to hit the studio again in early 2008.

Don’t miss Birds of Tokyo with special guests Soft White Machine as they hot step it around the country throughout October, starting in Brisbane and then making their way through NSW. Hobart, Victoria, Adelaide and WA!

Tickets on sale Friday 10 August.

Thu 4th October: THE ZOO, Brisbane
Fri 5th October: CAMBRIDGE HOTEL, Newcastle
Sat 6th October: GAELIC CLUB, Sydney
Sun 7th October: REPUBLIC BAR, Hobart
Wed 10th October: KAROVA LOUNGE, Ballarat
Thu 11th October: RUBYS LOUNGE, Belgrave
Fri 12th October: THE HIFI BAR, Melbourne
Sat 13th October: FOWLERS LIVE, Adelaide
Thu 18th October: PRINCE OF WALES HOTEL, Bunbury
Fri 19th October: THE DUNSBOROUGH, Dunsborough
Sat 20th October: CAPITOL, Perth

Not content with sitting still, Perth’s Birds of Tokyo are set to hit the road again and are pleased to announce the Wayside National tour this April/May, proudly supported by triple j and Supersonic.  After touring major capital cities in February, Birds of Tokyo take the Wayside tour one step further  with dates in Moorooduc, Albury, Byron Bay (just to name a few), as well as all most capital cities.

Since the release of their self produced record ‘Day One’, the past few weeks for Birds of Tokyo have literally been a blur.  Their national album tour in February saw the Birds’ sell out a bunch of shows on the east coast.  With their incredibly catchy rock songs fast earning the band a solid reputation, demand for the album was so huge; ‘Day One’ was completely out of stock across the country! After a whirlwind tour, Birds of Tokyo returned home to play a sell out show and took home the WAMi Award for Favourite Newcomer and front man Ian Kenny, grabbed the Most Popular Male Vocalist WAMi, which they share with Karnivool!

With the album’s radio singles Off Kilter and Black Sheets doing their thing at radio nationally, the support for Birds of Tokyo from punters and media alike has been massive. Wayside, one of the band’s highlight sing-along tracks is set to hit radio next month.

Before the Wayside Tour kicks off, Perth fans can catch Birds of Tokyo at Blackjack on Thursday April 5 alongside the Pixies, The Living End, Gnarls Barkley, The Vines, Eskimo Joe and Children Collide.  Claremont Showgrounds is where it’s at and tickets are on sale now. Check out http://www.heatseeker.com.au for details.

Don’t miss Birds of Tokyo on the Wayside Tour this April/May, with special guests Regular John.

Tickets are on sale this Monday 19 March.
BIRDS OF TOKYO
With special guests Regular John

Wed 25th April: Peninsula Lounge, Moorooduc**
Thu 26th April: The Corner Hotel, Melbourne
Fri 27th April: Karova Lounge, Ballarat
Sat 28th April: Ruby’s Lounge, Belgrave
Sun 29th April: Bar Open, Fitzroy* (Please note: acoustic show)
Tue 1st May: Sodens, Albury
Wed 2nd May: Greenroon, Canberra
Thu 3rd May: Gaelic Club, Sydney
Fri 4th May: Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle
Sun 6th May: Spectrum, Sydney* (Please note: acoustic show)
Wed 9th May: Great Northern Hotel, Byron Bay
Thu 10th May: Coolangatta Hotel, Gold Coast
Fri 11th May: The Living Room, Brisbane
Sat 12th May: Enigma Bar, Adelaide**
Thu 17th May: Metropolis Fremantle**
**Regular John not playing these shows.

Birds of Tokyo debut album Day One is instore now through MGM

In awesome news, the Rock-It team has captured a world class selection of artists to end the summer….an exciting combination of firm favourites, international superstars and hot new talent ready to rock your socks off on Easter Thursday 5th April.

The usual home of Rock-It, Arena Joondalup, is unable to host the Thursday night blockbuster because construction on the Arena Joondalup events train platform isn’t finished, one of the access roads is closed and the parking facilities are unavailable due to late night shopping.

The good news is that the kind folk at CLAREMONT SHOWGROUNDS have offered to host the event and allow the fantastic line up to play WA and under the name Blackjack!

So it’s official! Blackjack 2007 at Claremont Showgrounds will put the greatest icing on the cake of another excellent WA summer and Rock-It will be back with a MASSIVE bill later in the year (with a new special event train station at the front door and other improvements to make your enjoyment and comfort a priority).

Blackjack 2007 featuring
The Pixies : The Living End : Eskimo Joe : Gnarls Barkley : The Vines : Birds Of Tokyo : Children Collide
Easter Thursday, 5th April 2007
Claremont Showgrounds
2-11pm
All Ages with 18+ Areas

The Pixies
For the first time ever in Australia and one of the coolest bands in the history of the universe FINALLY confirm an exclusive Perth play!!! A top ten artist on any accurate “best albums of all time” list…the timeless, seminal and sensational

The Living End
With multiple multi-platinum albums behind them, one of the most electrifying and reliable acts in the country roll out for their trademark guaranteed high-energy, kick-arse, air-punching, sing-along rock and roll show.

Eskimo Joe
WA’s hometown heroes…or should we say superstars! Having sold nearly a quarter of a million copies of their latest album “Black Fingernails, Red Wine” 2007 is the year of the Joe and they are flying the WA flag loud and proud

Gnarls Barkley
For the first time in Australia and injecting the beats and party into our Easter Thursday event playing all the monster tracks from their platinum debut “St Elsewhere”
Crazy!

The Vines
After a global smash album and building a reputation for a wild, unpredictable and self abusive live show. The Vines simply put write and play some of the greatest rebel guitar rock music there is. After being turned inside out by global success and only a couple of early visits to WA under their belts they have come out of live hibernation in 2007 with a raw and electric buzz-saw live show which confirms just how good the music of the Vines is……..let’s Get Free!!!!!

Birds Of Tokyo
They shut the door on the Robinson Pavilion at the Big Day Out because 6000 people had crammed in to see ‘The Birds’. The week their debut album ‘Day One’ came out their distributor had hair loss as fans and stores screamed for more stock than was available. These quiet achievers are the DIY rising stars of and WA and indeed Australian music. Birds of Tokyo are selling out shows all over the country and their live show is not to be missed.

Children Collide
First on but by no means least this Melbourne band is a huge tip for 2007/2008. One of the few acts where all the right media from NME to Rolling Stone and back again are in a froth but for ALL the right reasons. Raw, radical and rambunctious; they are everything you want in a band. Don’t miss it.

**INTERNET PRESALE TICKETS **
Available from this FRIDAY FEBRUARY 16th at www.heatseeker.com.au

**GENERAL TICKET SALES**
Available from next FRIDAY FEBRUARY 23rd at Live Clothing Stores, Star Perth, Beat Karrinyup, Planet Mt Lawley, Mills Fremantle, Prince of Wales Bunbury, Star Mandurah, 3 Bears Dunsborough and www.heatseeker.com.au

Well the 2007 WAMI nominations were announced today with Eskimo Joe the leader with 6 nominations. The big surprise for me was that Perthbands.com was nominated for best website even though it hasn’t been operating since April last year! Anyway, here are the nominations:
PUBLIC VOTED AWARDS

(These are the awards that will be voted on myspace)
Most Popular Act
Eskimo Joe
Karnivool
Snowman
The Panda Band

Most Popular Album
Bob Evans - Suburban Songbook
Eskimo Joe - Black Fingernails, Red Wine
Snowman - Snowman
The Panda Band - This Vital Chapter

Most Popular Single/EP
Eskimo Joe - Black Fingernails, Red Wine
Little Birdy - Come On, Come On
Schvendes - Small Mercies, Sweet Graves
Sex Panther - Killer Pink

Most Popular Live Act
Eskimo Joe
Karnivool
Schvendes
Snowman

Favourite Newcomer
Birds Of Tokyo
Mink Mussel Creek
Streetlight
Sugar Army

Most Popular Music Video
Eskimo Joe - Black Fingernails, Red Wine
Little Birdy - Come On, Come On
Snowman - You Are A Casino
Antistatic - Stand Up In Disguise

Most Popular Music Website
Perthsounds.com
Rockus.com.au
Perthbands.com
wam.asn.au

Most Popular Music Venue
Amplifier Bar
Hyde Park Hotel
Mojos
Rosemount Hotel

Most Popular Music Event
Big Day Out
In The Pines
WAMi Festival
Southbound

INDUSTRY VOTED AWARDS
(Voted by Industry people only)

Most Promising New Act
Faith In Plastics
Mink Mussel Creek
Streetlight
Sugar Army

Golden WAMi
Heath Bradby
Peter Barr
Paul Sloan
Scott Adam

It’s always tough to find something good to do on the Australia Day weekend that doesn’t involve being in a crowd of rowdy teenagers waiting for fireworks. If Rock is what you want here are a few options to consider:
Hyde Park Hotel (Friday):

Rosemount Hotel (Saturday):

3 Bears Bar Dunsborough (Saturday):

Triple J’s annual Hottest 100 is back and voting is now open for the best 100 songs of 2006. There are quite a few Perth bands and artists that you can vote for including:

Birds Of Tokyo - Off Kilter
Bob Evans - Don’t You Think It’s Time, Nowhere Without You
Eskimo Joe - Black Fingernails, Red Wine, New York
Fourth Floor Collapse - Drink ‘Til You Drown, Occupation
Halogen - Baby’s Eyes
John Butler Trio - Funky Tonight
Karnivool - Roquefort
Little Birdy - Come On Come On, Bodies
New Rules For Boats - Not Impressed
Panda Band - Musical Chairs
Pendulum - Tarantula
Schvendes - Twice The Man
Sleepy Jackson - God Lead Your Soul, Devil Was In My Yard
Snowman - Smoke & Mirrors, You Are A Casino
Tucker B’s - Bullets

You can also add your own nomination.  To vote just go to the Triple J website before the 21st of January with the countdown beginning on Australia Day, 26th of January.

Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines! The BIG DAY OUT is almost upon us and we are very excited to announce the third round of touring and local additions to the 2007 summer series!

THE VINES have come a long way since the early days of belting out Nirvana covers at suburban house parties. Garnering world-wide attention for their debut Highly Evolved, THE VINES have returned to prove they’ve got something more to offer than flannel-clad angst.  Their highly anticipated third album, Vision Valley released in 2006 showcases a spectacular return to form. Don’t miss THE VINES’ highly evolved, eclectic hybrid of grungy, garage rock swagger, ’60s psych, and ’70s pop at a BIG DAY OUT near you this summer. (ALL SHOWS)

SNOWMAN is yet another incredible band to emerge from the thriving Perth music scene.  Cinematic post-punk with a riff or two of surf and blues, SNOWMAN is the soundtrack to your imagination turned up to eleven.  Their debut, Zombies on the Airwaves of Paris and their 2006 self titled album will leave you scrambling for adjectives.  Call them strange, beautiful, jagged, swampy, hypnotic, ambient, loud, quiet, manic or whatever you will, but do not miss your chance to see what all the fuss is about at the BIG DAYS OUT. (ALL AUST SHOWS)

For a change of pace, listen up for the wisdom of the Jah Messenger, the reggae master, LUCIANO (Jamaica) at the BIG DAY OUT. Renowned worldwide for his rasta message of love and peace set to irresistible melodies and mellow, soulful vocals, LUCIANO will tantalize fans with his wit, charisma and good-lovin reggae vibes. (ALL SHOWS)

Previous winners of the Triple J Unearthed competition, the SICK PUPPIES have been living it large with the world-wide YouTube success of their “Free Hugs” music video campaign – even finding the time to jump on Oprah’s couch and then stop off in LA to record their new album.   This fully sick guitar-fuelled three piece return to Oz for with a brand new album afoot and will rock BDO audiences into a frenzy around the country. (ALL AUST SHOWS)

DIGITAL PRIMATE is an underground legend. Since his first album release in ’95, DIGITAL PRIMATE has pushed the boundaries for Australian techno with his solid and dirty mix of ghetto techno, proper electro and Chicago style booty.  With the release of his new album Siege Mentality, expect to see DIGITAL PRIMATE at the global forefront of electronica. Don’t forget, we saw him first… and this won’t be the last you’ll see of Digital Primate. (ALL AUST SHOWS)

Since stepping up to the decks in 1996, MARK MURPHY has become one of Sydney’s most loved and respected DJs. Champion of the electro explosion and the rave sounds emerging from Europe, his talents have been in demand at every major club and party in Sydney from Mardi Gras to Field Day. Make sure you get your dancing shoes on and boogie along to MARK MURPHY to your heart’s content at the BIG DAY OUT. (ALL AUST SHOWS)

Plus Local Additions In Each City
PERTH - SUNDAY FEBRUARY 4th CLAREMONT SHOWGROUND
DIRTY SECRETS, CALERWAY, TnT, BIRDS OF TOKYO, STREETLIGHTS, FARRYL PURKISS & VEEVA FEEVA, HEAVY WEIGHT CHAMP, SUGAR ARMY, SCHVENDES, CLUE SHADDY, NEW RULES FOR BOATS, DJ FDEL (DJ SET) + ARMEE MC and the TRIPLE J UNEARTHED WINNER

These new acts join the already announced Tool. Muse, Jet. Violent Femmes, Eskimo Joe, The Streets, The Killers, John Butler Trio, Kasabian, Crystal Method DJs, Scribe, My Chemical Romance, Evermore, Justice. Peaches & Herms, Trivium, John Cooper Clarke, Afra & Incredible Beatbox Band, Little Birdy, Presets, Spank Rock, Something For Kate, You Am I, Bob Evans, The Butterfly Effect, The Sleepy Jackson, The Herd, Spazzys, The Drones, [love] Tattoo, Hot Chip, Lily Allen, Lupe Fiasco, Diplo and Shapeshifter

For more info visit www.bigdayout.com