Perth Music

Saturday 3rd January 2009
Sir Stewart Bovell Park, Busselton

After a warm, dusty, uncomfortable camping night it was time to start Day 2 of Southbound and with the first bands on stage around 11am there wasn’t much time to wake up properly or shower for most. Violent Soho were the first band on the main stage that had not been used on Day 1 and they made the most of the early time slot. There was a small crowd watching the Queensland youngsters but they got a slap in the face to start the day in the grunge variety. Their diehard fans were moshing at the front but most fans sat back admiring the band and nursed their hangovers from the day before.

Also on early, French cutie Soko drew a huge crowd to the undercover Other stage. Soko is currently a Triple J darling with her acoustic I Will Never Love You More so many fans arrived filled more with curiosity then a strong knowledge of Soko’s songs. Soko played the ukulele, cried while singing and swore like a sailor and still seemed sincere and cute. For those that were curious, the French singer impressed and undoubtedly sold a few albums with this performance.

Up next on the undercover stage were Aussie youngster duo Dash and Will. These cute 18 year olds only drew a quarter of the crowd that Soko had on the same stage but those that were there had a lot of fun. There was some sound issues at the start of the set but the girls showed professionalism and talent taking turns playing guitar, singing and even some interpretive dancing. Dash and Will’s single Pick You Up got the crowd moving and the strength in the live show and musical talent definitely points to keeping an eye on these girls in the future.

A definite highlight for many on Day 2 was on next on the main stage, Santogold. A large crowd waited in anticipation for Santi White to come on stage but had to wait while her DJ mixed and scratched a great set for at least 20 minutes. Santi then walked on stage accompanied by two backup singer/dancers dressed head to toe in gold sparkles and black hoods. The very popular L.E.S.Artistes was played early on and got the thousands in the crowd dancing and moving around. Santi smiled throughout her set and genuinely seemed to be having fun and enjoying herself which also created a great vibe for the audience.

Swedish singer Lykke Li was up next and even though there was a big crowd watching her, it took a little while for the crowd to really get into her music. Much like the audience for Soko, it seemed many were there out of curiosity and didn’t know quite what to expect from the Swede. Lykke Li performed very well, banging drums, dancing around crazily and singing with passion but the initial quirkiness took the crowd a while to respond. Once Li’s single I’m Good, I’m Gone was played the crowd seemed to click and started to appreciate the singer and her music and got completely into it for the rest of her set. Although quirky at times Lykke Li is another artist to watch in the near future.

Canadian sisters Tegan and Sara had many fans in attendance and they didn’t disappoint. Their mid afternoon set put some indie rock back into Southbound and the high touring schedule they have had showed with the tightness of their singing and music. Without much banter, the sisters got on with the show and let their music do all the talking for them. At the same time on the smaller stage UK indie band Mystery Jets arrived dressed in colourful clothing and even more colourful personalities. The crowd watching Mystery Jets wasn’t huge but as soon as the band started playing Young Love everyone there started dancing.

The Kooks have had a lot of great press in the UK and all the hype may have caused a lot of people to see if they deserved it. Again there wasn’t a lot of interaction between the band and the crowd but The Kooks were tight on stage today and proved they are a good band. Naive was the big crowd pleaser but most people probably don’t remember many other songs that they played.

It was now time for the business end of the festival and a lot of great live bands were scheduled to be on either at the same time of straight after each other. Faker have a great live reputation and they proved themselves today to be one of the best Aussie live bands at the moment. Frontman Nathan Hudson did his usual running around frantically on stage looking for anything to climb on and creating an electrifying show. Hurricane, Sleepwalking and This Heart Attack created the biggest response from the crowd and pumped up everyone enough to get excited for the rest of the night.

Another great Aussie live band were also on in the undercover stage with Brisbane’s The Grates. It didn’t take long for The Grates to get the large crowd excited and frontwoman Patience Hodgson started her almost trademark jumping up and down from the get-go. Two songs into the set and Hodgson even climbed down from the stage and into the crowd creating a real buzz in the undercover tent. Aw Yeah, Burn Bridges and 19 20 20 were crowd pleases but an unfortunate jumping accident left Hodgson with a badly sprained ankle and had to leave the festival in an ambulance.

Karnivool had not played in Perth for a while and with a new album out very soon, fans were packed to see the hard rockers on the smaller stage. Cote opened up their set and got the moshpit moving, followed by a new song and then Shutterspeed. There were a couple new songs in the set but unfortunately they did not mix well with the older heavy songs. It will be interesting to hear how they sound when recorded and also how they sound after being played live a few more times. Themata and Roquefort ended the set and with Franz Ferdinand playing on the bigger stage almost the end of the weekend.

Headliners Franz Ferdinand took to the main stage with a huge crowd screaming their name. Do You Want To was a great way to start the set and a fantastic way to get the crowd even more excited. Frontman Alex Kapranos controlled the crowd with ease and had them eating out of the palm of his hand from the start. With a new album only a month or two away Franz Ferdinand played a few new songs with great reception. Their live show was good but not great and wasn’t quite the same level that The Hives had set the night before but Take Me Out was definitely the song of the festival.

For more photos of Day 2 click here (Thanks to Noodlez)

All the way from the United States of America we have two of the most decorated groove-makers on this floating round ball they call Planet Earth: the sizzling Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings and saucey Santogold.

We’re blessed Blue King Brown could make it back for the big weekend, and they’ve brought countrymen and hip hop renegades Bliss N Eso along for the journey.

We’re chuffed some of our British cousins have saddled up for the ride; meet The Cribs and Late Of The Pier.

And while we’re getting all European there’s Lykke Li from Sweden. There’s Murs and South Rakkas Crew fighting for the microphone; they’re all the way from the USA.

There’re CW Stoneking and Ash Grunwald strumming around the campfire, and it’s wonderful to see the Kiwi kin are represented with Cut Off Your Hands.

And here comes the conga-line, with Grafton Primary, Tame Impala, Dash And Will, Violent Soho, Drapht and The Autumn Isles.

And finally there’s End Of Fashion.

These latest Southbounders join Franz Ferdinand, The Hives, The Kooks, The Cat Empire, Gomez, Pete Murray, Tegan And Sara, The Grates, Architecture In Helsinki, Donavon Frankenreiter, Atmosphere featuring Brother Ali, Faker, Birds Of Tokyo, Eli ‘Paperboy’ Reed And The True Loves, Jamie Lidell, Liam Finn, Karnivool, The Drones, TZU, Mystery Jets, Soko, A-Trak and Wolf & Cub in the New Year feast that is Southbound.

Go to www.sunsetevents.com.au for full ticketing information, including bus tickets. Public tickets go on sale Monday, September 15

FRIDAY, JANUARY 2
The Hives, Pete Murray, Architecture In Helsinki, Donavon Frankenreiter, Birds Of Tokyo, Liam Finn, TZU and The Drones and more to be announced

SATURDAY, JANUARY 3
Franz Ferdinand, The Kooks, The Cat Empire, Gomez, Pete Murray, Tegan And Sara, The Grates, Atmosphere featuring Brother Ali, Faker, Eli ‘Paperboy’ Reed And The True Loves, Jamie Lidell, Karnivool, Mystery Jets, Soko, A-Trak, Wolf & Cub and more to be announced

Western Australia’s very own Music, Camping and Arts Festival is back to nature with the finest rollcall of rockers, boppers and beat makers this side of Pluto. So, without further adieu, may we introduce the Southbound family for 2009. First up, a very big band from a very little country…those great Scots Franz Ferdinand. Now, say ‘yeah’ for our raucous Swedish brothers The Hives. And we see you’ve already met The Kooks. Watch those sharp horns…The Cat Empire can get a little wild. Now come and meet the rest of the family – there’s Gomez over in the corner playing ping-pong with Pete Murray. And that’s our American cousin Donavon Frankenreiter getting all philosophical with his northern neighbours Tegan And Sara.

And on the trampoline, that’s The Grates with Atmosphere featuring Brother Ali. And there’s Faker playing doctors and nurses with Jamie Lidell. Eli ‘Paperboy’ Reed And The True Loves – please play nicely with Architecture In Helsinki! Oh, and there’re the twins…Birds Of Tokyo and Karnivool. Aren’t they cute? But they’re almost as hyperactive as A-Trak. The Mystery Jets and The Drones are some of the brightest in the bunch. Oh, and that’s Soko messing about with TZU, Liam Finn and Wolf & Cub – she’s visiting from France.

And there you have it – the Southbound family. But that’s not all…there are plenty more of us. But you’ll get to meet the rest in the months ahead. More than 30 international, national and local artists will make the fifth annual Southbound Festival the finest yet on Friday, January 2 and Saturday, January 3, at Sir Stewart Bovell Park, Busselton.

It all kicks off on Friday, January 2, when campers arrive, with the Festival continuing on Saturday, January 3, and campers departing the festival site on Sunday, January 4. This year we’ve expanded the Friday night programme to include its very own exclusive performances. Unlike previous years, however, we will be releasing a very limited amount of day tickets for Friday – so lucky day-trippers can experience the very special Friday entertainment – for the first time. These changes are an exciting development for Southbound, as it truly progresses into a two-day festival.

Southbound will again feature many special initiatives, including ArtBound, which gives visual artists a chance to get involved in the cultural celebration that is Southbound. More details for the initiative will be announced shortly. EcoBound will also be back greener and more eco-friendly than ever.

TICKET INFORMATION
Happy Camper Tickets – These include two nights camping on Friday and Saturday night, plus the full weekend of entertainment and are $197 + booking fee.

Festival Ticket: Two Day Pass – For the very first time Saturday ticket holders can purchase a strictly limited amount of Friday day tickets for an additional $70. That’s $189 + booking fee for two days’ worth of festivities…

Festival Ticket: Saturday Only – Saturday tickets are $119 + booking fee.

Or if you’re up for a bit of convenience, snap yourself up a Pampered Camper ticket, which will make it all the more easy – arrive with your tent already set-up in a prime position! Now, that’s the business. Head to www.sunsetevents.com.au for more information, where you’ll also find information on VIP tickets.

Go to www.sunsetevents.com.au for full ticketing information, including bus tickets.

Public tickets go on sale Monday, September 15.

Friday 29th February, 2008
University Of WA, Perth
Karnivool
Blue Juice

The University of Western Australia Guild brought a double headline this year to its annual O’day concert. Both Karnivool and Blue Juice were fresh from playing at The Big Day Out concerts across the country and showed up looking as if they were excited about playing to a student audience, even dressing the part, with some of the boys from Karnivool going barefoot for their set. I hadn’t seen such a laid back attitude since Hobbsy was bangin’ the sticks for End of Fashion, and the crowd seemed to embrace it all the way. Both bands also featured in this year’s Hottest 100 with Blue Juice’s ‘Vitriol’ coming in at #11 and Karnivool’s cover of the Gotye song ‘The Only Way’ coming a respectable #62.

Blue Juice were in their element playing to the strong crowd who just wanted to dance after a warm afternoon signing up to the multitude of clubs whilst downing their free bottles of vitamin water. ‘Vitriol’ was a crowd favourite as was ‘The Reductionist’ as it seemed the infectious nature of Blue Juice took over the Oak Lawn with a party atmosphere that was highly contagious.

Then came Karnivool. By this time the crowd was well warmed up and it wasn’t hard to see that the local students wanted to see their home town heroes rock the shit out of the stage. After a solid opening number and the ever crowd favourite ‘Fade’, lead singer Ian Kenny brought it down a notch to let the crowd know their next song would be a tune to dance to. The crowd’s dismay was summed up by one member of the crowd who yelled out in response, ‘Dance! What the fuck is that?!’ But this particular chap wasn’t confused for long as the boys broke out to the opening of Hottest 100 favourite ‘The Only Way’. The rest of the set was the typically high standard Karnivool set, albeit a little subdued, possibly due to the long Big Day Out tour that had preceded. This was ever so noticeable when after the set had finished and the band left the stage, the chanting began for an encore. Even the host was revving up the crowd for more and even introduced them again on to the stage. The crowd’s persistence payed off as guitarist Drew Goddard leapt back onto to stage only to tell the receptive crowd that there would be no encore and that they were a great crowd. Ever disappointed yet totally exhausted, the crowd made a hasty yet fulfilled exit.

Review and photos by Kane Middleton

PUBLIC VOTED AWARDS
Most Popular Act - The Panics
Most Popular Live Act - Karnivool
Most Popular Single/EP - Gyroscope - Snakeskin
Most Popular Album - Birds of Tokyo - Day One
Favourite Newcomer - Harlequin League
Most Popular Music Video - Gyroscope - Snakeskin
Most Popular Music Website - www.perthbands.com
Most Popular Music Event - Southbound
Most Popular Music Venue - Amplifier Bar

INDUSTRY VOTED AWARDS
Golden WAMi - Peter Barr
Most Promising New Act - Abbe May and the Rockin’ Pneumonia
Best Rock Act - Birds of Tokyo
Best Commercial Pop Act - The Panics
Best Indie Pop Act - Institut Polaire
Best Hardcore/Punk Act - The Homicides
Best Hard Rock/Metal Act - Karnivool
Best Blues/Roots Act - The Kill Devil Hills
Best Funk Act - The Bluejays
Best Electronic Producer - Pendulum
Best Sound Engineer (Live or Studio) - George Kailis
Best Record Producer/Engineer - Dave Parkin
Best WA Record Label - Jarrah Records
Best Jazz Act - Void
Best Country Music Act - The Kill Devil Hills
Best Urban/ Hip Hop Act - Downsyde
Best Electronic Act - Pendulum
Best DJ - Dan the Man
Best World Act - The Flying Carpathians
Best Indigenous Act - Pigram Brothers
Media Award Individual - Dave Cutbush
Media Award Organisation - RTR FM 92.1
Management Award - Steph Edwardes
Best Bassist - Roy Martinez (Dave Mann Collective, Cinema Prague)
Best Guitarist - Ant Gray (Schvendes)
Best Male Vocalist - Brendon Humphries (The Kill Devil Hills)
Best Female Vocalist - Abbe May (Abbe May and the Rockin’ Pneumonia)
Best Drummer - Pete Guazzelli (Fall Electric)
Best Instrumentalist - Tristan Parr (Schvendes, Fall Electric)

The University of Western Australia is set to explode into life on Friday 29th February as over 4000 students flock to O’Day for the biggest campus event of the year. O’Day is an orientation festival for UWA students and the general public alike, showcasing the university’s many clubs and societies and culminating with an outdoor concert on the Oak Lawn.

The day kicks off on James Oval, where festival-goers can immerse themselves amongst the hundreds of market stalls, club and society stalls, exhibitions, performances and activities. Cultural societies serve up fresh international delicacies and many clubs offer good old sausage sizzles, while local and international sponsors deliver up plenty of freebies (think Red Bull, Lipton Ice Tea and Brumbys, to name a few!) The day is also crammed full of raffles and competitions: last year saw many giveaways including a laptop, mobile phone, iPod and helicopter ride and this year is set to be even bigger.

The main event of the day is the Oak Lawn concert, free for Gold Guild members ($20 for everyone else), which this year features Aussie rockers Karnivool and Bluejuice as headliners. Returning to Perth after a US tour as well as playing the Big Day Out across Australia, Karnivool were recently featured in the Triple J Hottest 100 for their cover of “The Only Way”. They cleaned up the WAMi Awards last year with prizes for “Most Popular Act”, “Most Popular Live Act”, “Best Male Vocalist” amongst others, solidifying their reputation as Australia’s most avant-garde heavy rock outfit.

Joining Karnivool will be Sydney band Bluejuice, whose hit single “Vitriol” was voted in at #11 in the Hottest 100 this year, as well as being the most reported alternative song on national radio.

Also appearing at O’Day are UWA’s very own Black Market Babies, who took out 3rd place at last year’s National Campus Band Competition State Final. The Babies have been ripping up the local music scene, playing with the likes of Sugar Army, Streetlight and Harlequin League - and now return to home turf for the O’Day concert.

O’Day is presented in partnership with Telstra, Jim Beam, Basement and The Deen. More information on O’Day is available at http://www.guild.uwa.edu.au/home/activities/orientation_day

We have 5 double passes (worth $40 each) to giveaway for 5 lucky readers. Just email your name, address and contact number to perthmusic@gmail.com with ODay in the subject line.

Congratulations to Muse for getting number one in this years Hottest 100 with Knights Of Cydonia. The top 10 is listed below:
1. - Muse - Knights Of Cydonia
2. - Silverchair - Straight Lines
3. - Kings Of Leon - On Call
4. - John Butler Trio - Better Than
5. - Faker - This Heart Attack
6. - Foo Fighters - The Pretender
7. - Daft Punk - Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger (Live)
8. - Cold War Kids - Hang Me Up To Dry
9. - Soko - I’ll Kill Her
10. - The Panics - Don’t Fight It

Also congratulations to all of the WA artists that made it to the list this year including:
The Waifs - 92. Sun, Dirt, Water
Karnivool - 63. The Only Way
Birds Of Tokyo - 61. Wayside
John Butler Trio - 55. Good Excuse, 22. Used To Get High and 4. Better Than
Gyroscope - 16. Snakeskin
and The Panics - 10. Don’t Fight It

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.

New additions to Big Day Out 2008: silverchair, Spoon, Augie March, Brand New, Regurgitator, Anti-Flag, Karnivool, Carl Cox, Pnau, Kate Nash, Josh Pyke, beXta, Shy Child, Gyroscope, Enter Shikari, Operator Please, Unkle (live), Goodwill, Krafty Kuts & MC Dynamite, The Nightwatchman (Tom Morello acoustic), British India, Aceyalone, Krill

These acts join the already announced: Rage Against the Machine, Bjork, Grinspoon, Arcade Fire, Hilltop Hoods, Billy Bragg, Paul Kelly, LCD Soundsystem, Sarah Blasko, Faker, Midnight Juggernauts, Dizzee Rascal, Something With Numbers, Battles, Cut Off Your Hands.

Since announcing the first round of Big Day Out artists for the 2008 series, tickets have been snapped up at lightning speed with the Gold Coast, Sydney and Melbourne events selling out in less than 24hrs. Adelaide and Perth fans wait no longer or you could well miss out! For now you’ll find the next round of International and Antipodean touring artists who will be rocking the stage at each Big Day Out.

Stirring harmonies, crashing guitars, bursting brass flourishes, killer choruses. We’re talking about three lads from Newcastle and one of the most acclaimed and successful bands in Australian music history, SILVERCHAIR. Having sold over six million albums worldwide, every album released by the band to date has spawned at least one #1 single and debuted at the #1 position on Australian charts.

There’s no way around it, folks love SPOON. The cult of SPOON has built up over fourteen years, six albums, and countless show-stealing festival appearances. From small beginnings in Austin, Texas, singer Britt Daniel, drummer Jim Eno, keys man Eric Harvey and bassist Rob Pope have made a big impact with minimalist style.

Festival ready, AUGIE MARCH have spent most of 2007 touring both in the US and here in Oz, and for special shows on our shores they’ve even had a Symphony Orchestra in tow. Their live shows are beautiful and brimming with emotion, compelling and mesmerizing.

Long Island’s BRAND NEW – singer/guitarist Jesse Lacey, drummer Brian Lane, guitarist Vinnie Accardi, bassist Garrett Tierney – were born and raised in the basements of the New York hardcore scene. After their second album, 2003’s Deja Entendu, was hailed as a masterpiece, the band dug even deeper for 2006’s The Devil and God are Raging Inside Me.

After playing shows the world over and being firm favourites in Japan, REGURGITATOR are still serving up loads of rambunctious rock-pop in the form of their sixth studio album Love and Paranoia. Recorded in Brazil, it’s busting with the fun, 80s sounds of classic ‘GURG goodness.

Four old school Pittsburgh punks for whom the word “outspoken” is a mission statement, ANTI-FLAG have been loud, proud and abrasive since 1993. Justin Sane (guitar, vocals), Chris #2 (bass, vocals), Chris Head (guitar) and Pat Thetic (drums) made the major-label leap with their seventh album, 2006’s For Blood and Empire.

Fresh from touring the US as part of the Great American Rampage Tour, KARNIVOOL bring their heavy swagger to the Big Day Out touring party for the first time. Rest assured it’s not quiet on Western front!

CARL COX will become an official Big Day Out lifetime membership holder this summer, when the UK DJ returns for his third Big Day Out season. After stints in 2001 and 2005, COX is back in the team in 2008 as an honorary Aussie – he now owns a house in Frankston, on the south-east fringe of Melbourne.

ARIA award winning and in great demand for their live performances both overseas and at home, PNAU are constantly challenging themselves to remain at the top of their musical game. Their hotly anticipated third album, self-titled Pnau is no exception, it’s a killer - fun, serious, energetic, chilled, beautiful, relentless and addictive and will be banging through your speakers all summer.

KATE NASH’s tales of unrequited love and unworthy exes – over indie pop, fragile folk and broken blues – are captured on her debut, Made of Bricks, a UK No.1. Once heard, makes perfect sense that among her influences NASH lists everything from Regina Spektor to Roald Dahl, Jurassic 5 to The Young Ones, poetry and politics to “being confused”.

JOSH PYKE is the young Aussie ballad king of the moment. His melodies and narratives seamlessly combine diverse elements of life to form the fabric of songs that are timeless, full of emotion and emphatically honest. His debut melodic memoir Memories & Dust (which entered the ARIA charts at #4) picked up 3 ARIAs at this year’s Awards and showcases the strength of his heart felt and idiosyncratic song-writing.

Queen of the decks and one of the most-loved DJ/producers in Australia, BEXTA will return to the Big Day Out in 2008. A musician first and DJ second, BEXTA never fails to set the dance floor alight with her trancy style and substance. With productions and remixes that have been released all over the world, BEXTA is proud to be releasing her tenth installment – a triple CD – Mixology 10.

Masters of the unexpected, SHY CHILD are mentally perplexing, and likely to get your body flexing. Prepare for mad movement and glorious confusion.

After taking to the stage alongside the likes of Dashboard Confessional and Blink 182 whilst kickin’ it with audiences at Rockit and Homebake, GYROSCOPE followed up in 2005 with their sophomore album Are You Involved? Recent times have seen the band putting the finishing touches on their brand new record Breed Obsession, recorded in the UK and due out March 2008.

Hardcore and trance? Punk and jungle? Strobe lights and human pyramids? That’s the ENTER SHIKARI arsenal, the thrilling mix that sent the band’s independent debut, Take to the Skies, to No.4 on the UK charts. Grab your glowsticks and prepare to rock.

Through word of mouth and the revelation of their EP Cement Cement on triple j, OPERATOR PLEASE have set the music scene abuzz both here and overseas. Initially dubbed the ‘coolest band ever’ to ‘the next big thing’, NME added to the fervour, naming them one of year’s ‘bands to watch’.

Rock: progressive. Electronica: leftfield. Beats: edgy. All this and more dwells within the one amazing act: UNKLE (live). And now Big Day Out 2008 brings you UNKLE as you’ve never seen UNKLE before: a fully-fledged live band, able to leap multiple musical genres in a single bound.

The Big Day Out dims the lights and turns the spot on GOODWILL, Sydney’s finest DJ, whose career reads like the history of the last decade of Australian dance music. As an ever popular musical guest, DJ GOODWILL is the DJ in demand at festivals around Australia and has performed at Good Vibes, Summerdayze and has supported the likes of Jamiroquai.

KRAFTY KUTS has won pretty much every international DJ award going, and paved new ground with his album Freakshow. DYNAMITE is best known as one of Roni Size’s Reprazent crew, and as the slick voice on KRAFTY’s latest banger There They Go. Both are regular visitors to Australia. But KRAFTY KUTS & MC DYNAMITE together? That’s a rarity you’ll only get at Big Day Out this summer.

In 2008, Big Day Out will unveil a different side to a superstar. On one stage, he’ll be the Rage Against the Machine guitar hero you know and love. On another stage, Tom Morello will transform into his alter ego, the folk hero known as THE NIGHTWATCHMAN (Tom Morello acoustic).

Energy with attitude, poise and posture is what characterizes Melbourne indie-pop band, BRITISH INDIA. From their first appearance on the Melbourne live scene, critical interest has swept up over the band like a raging monsoon.

The 2008 Big Day Out welcomes our first uncharTED winner, KRILL. Hailing from the central coast of Queensland, these five younglings (four girls and a guy) are now based in Sydney and are delivering impressive slices of shiny, new-wave influenced power pop.

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