After touring relentlessly overseas and recording in New York, at long last The Griswolds have their lively pop debut album for us, ‘Be Impressive’. It is full of the unstoppable brightness you would hope for from the Sydney four-piece, as well as plenty of happy surprises. There is more electro influence, less guitar rock. More punch, less pucker, and a hell of a lot more 80’s synth than anticipated, and that’s no bad thing. Inspiring a sweet-natured teenage exuberance in a Jinja Safari-meets-MGMT celebration, ‘Be Impressive’ will have you singing along whether you know the words or not, head tossed back, barefoot and probably on someone’s shoulders.
After winning the Triple J Unearthed competition to appear at Parklife in 2012, The Griswolds began gaining traction not only on Australian radio but overseas. The energetic, harmless rascalry of their music is contagious, and after starting out as a bunch of guys having fun in their loungeroom in Sydney they signed with Wind-Up records, diving straight into the deep end. Recording in the Big Apple doesn’t seem to have dulled their homegrown tone, however, with the same joyful sound that first garnered them attention two years ago splattered across their new release.
The get-you-going group vocals and chants that featured on their breakout tracks Mississippi and Heart of a Lion are still alive and well on ‘Be Impressive’, featuring heavily on the first single from the album, Beware the Dog. With the sort of lyrics you’d love to yell at your ex, Beware the Dog is infectiously, indubitably catchy and singalong material of the highest calibre. In a similar vein, If You Wanna Stay and Down and Out are rousing calls to dance, an eclectic mix of electronic smash and colourful pop vocals. But don’t be fooled. What is impressive about the album is the way in which the boys have woven darker concepts into their sound and the subtle change of tone that slips in on the tail end of the album.
With deeply personal lyrics about addiction, loss, core insecurities and the trials and triage of difficult relationships, Christopher Whitehalland Danny Duque-Perez have masked pain and vulnerability in upbeat electro riffs and deep synth. Following the youthful title track, Live This Nightmare is a change of pace that highlights Whitehall’s vocal variation and the groovier electronic styling the band is branching into. ‘Be Impressive’ packs a lot in, is heavily layered and compact with a crowd of instruments featuring on each track. It’s good to hear some contrast as the album winds down, with Thread the Needle pulling right back in terms of instrumentation and tempo to highlight the other side of The Griswold’s frenetic energy. This feeling culminates with the album closer Not Read Anymore, a sweet, simpler song that reveals the insecurity of a young band releasing a debut album, finding their sound and making a go of it away from home. It’s stripped back from the electronic elements of the rest of the album, and reminds us of why we loved The Griswolds in the first place.
The Griswolds are touring the album in September and October. This is music made for warm weather, dry grass under bare feet and good friends. With plenty of electronic bounce and clean-cut youthful energy, ‘Be Impressive’ is a strong debut for the Sydney boys who just wanted to make music people could sing along to.
The Griswolds are on tour now!
Thurs 25 Sept – Corner Hotel, Melbourne VIC
Tix
Fri 26 Sept – Karova Lounge, Ballarat VIC
Tix
Sat 27 Sept – Zierholz @ UC, Canberra ACT
Tix
Sat 4 Oct – Yours & Owls 4th Birthday, Wollongong NSW
(SOLD OUT)
Thurs 9 Oct – Small Ballroom, Newcastle NSW
Tix
Sat 11 Oct – Metro Theatre, Sydney NSW
Tix
Fri 17 Oct – Jive, Adelaide SA
Tix
Sat 18 Oct – Amplifier Bar, Perth WA
Tix
Thurs 23 Oct – The Brightside, Brisbane QLD
Tix
Fri 24 Oct – Solbar, Maroochydore QLD
Tix
Sat 25 Oct – The Spotted Cow, Toowoomba QLD
Free Entry
Sun 26 Oct – ‘Byron Bay Surf Festival’ @ Beach Hotel, Byron Bay
Free Entry
Canberra trio Safia have had an incredibly impressive run so far this year. Soon to be headed out on their second national headline tour for the year, they’ve wooed crowds as the support for some pretty immense acts including Lorde, Disclosure and AlunaGeorge. Their cover of James Vincent McMorrow’s deliciously angelic Cavalier lit up the internet and dancefloors across the country, and they’ve been hitting the radio waves hard all year.
Not only have the young trio had a string of hits on Triple J, but they’ve hit UK airwaves, as well as clocking up more than TWO MILLION plays on Soundcloud. Their beautiful, incredibly unique blend of indie, electronic and more has sent them straight to the top of the evergrowing pile of brilliant Australian music – and they’re showing no signs of slowing.
We wanted to get to know ‘em a little better, so we asked them to pick some music for us.
SAFIA PRESENTS: My Favourite Tunes
1. My favourite track to wake up to is… Desert Night – Rufus
2. The best track for cooking is… New Dorp. New York (ft. Ezra Koenig) – SBTRKT
3. The best track for spring cleaning is… Garden – Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs
4. The ultimate road trip track is… Without You (Ft TEED) – Dillon Francis
5. My favourite love song is… Arcadia – The Kite String Tangle
6. The best track for sweet love makin’ is… Retrograde – James Blake
7. The track that always gets the party started is… Toto – Africa
8. The best track to wind down a crowd is… Is This Love? – Bob Marley
9. My favourite drunken karaoke track is… Killing in the Name Of – Rage Against The Machine
10. A song that always makes me cry is… For The Widows In Paradise – Sufjan Stevens
11. I love going to sleep listening to… Insomnia – Electric President
12. I can’t stop dancing when I hear. Beware The Dog – The Griswolds
Wanna be Safia for a day? Hit up this playlist right ‘ere:
It is a night swathed in velvet. At the Vanguard in Newtown, the ceilings are high, the lights are low and the mood is distinctly enticing. It’s an intimate space, with couples feeding each other with long spoons upstairs and cheeky winking bartenders downstairs. The Vanguard’s New Orleans styling, strong whiskeys and warm surroundings wants you blushing and stripping off layers of clothing, and with a voice that purrs and a sound that sends shivers all the way down your spine, Fractures wants you doing the same.
Bringing in the early crowd and coaxing them to the front of the stage, Northern Beaches Mammals cruise with confidence across guitar rock and electronic tracks. A spread of instruments covers the stage, demonstrating the intricacies of their music as they dip a toe across the lines of guitar rock, glitch pop and electronica with a surfer sensitivity. Mammals are crisp, chirpy and visibly excited to be back together again after travels spread them apart. They are keen to live up to the standard of Fractures and relish the stage together. Guy Brown, the mythical surfer third brother of Angus Stone and Vance Joy, calls out to the audience and dances about on their upbeat tracks, committing to the set entirely. By the end of it he is buzzing and the crowd is ready to take the plunge into Fractures.
Mark Zito aka Fractures brings a more cool, calm and collected taste as he slides into Coral and introduces the crowd to brand new tracks, as well as those from his recently released eponymous EP. On stage his confidence oozes into every song, the hushed harmonies of Embers washing over the crowd and lulling us into each other’s arms. This is bedroom music, no doubt about it. Zito is thrilled to sell out a venue away from his home state, introducing the crowd to the band which includes his brother as part of the five-piece. Fractures’ voice is rich as caramel, the vulnerable tone of some of his songs replaced with seductive allure through swelling vocals and accompaniment that swallows you whole.
His gorgeous EP has received widespread airplay on independent radio and live (read our review here), Fractures is even more powerful. His new music has the same breathy quality that makes you lean in until you catch yourself swooning, and while some songs had the crowd grinding and writhing there is always the element that flutters your eyelids and wins you over with a whisper. Zito didn’t play an encore – Twisted, the song that brought him into the spotlight and onto new stages, was a fitting climax. That said, everyone in the Vanguard was left breathless for more.
No one understands you like Tom Iansek. Big Scary’s frontman has once again tapped into a part of you that you either didn’t know was there, or had forgotten existed, through his latest release as solo artist #1 Dads. It’s the part of you that wistfully stares out train windows without needing to check your phone, the part of you that wrote bad poems in high school. With a murmur and a simple piano line, #1 Dads transports you to a time and place that is both immediately warm and familiar and completely otherworldly.
About Face is Iansek’s result of two years of songwriting in between recording and touring with Big Scary and producing with other artists including Step-Panther, Airling and Unearthed High finalist Hockey Dad. While #1 Dads is in many ways about Iansek being able to branch out in areas separate to Big Scary and develop an independent sound, About Face is also about collaboration. As well as being “a way to lighten the burden of writing/recording/mixing/producing an album by myself,” this collaboration has given the album new qualities that build upon Iansek’s 2011 debut and showcase new areas of production talent as well as songwriting talent.
The album starts with a muffled drum that could be a record skipping, and this throwback grainy style is a recurring theme. Opener “My Rush” builds from a muted mutter to layers of strong guitar and sets a swampy moodiness that trickles down the track listing. Lyrics like “You’re the current I can’t escape, draw me down draw me down to your depths” could be written about the album itself. The utterly gorgeous So Soldier is sung by Ainslie Wills and sounds a lot like your favourite Fleetwood Mac song. According to Iansek, when putting together both So Soldier and Return To, which features Tom Snowdon of Lowlakes, he was surprised to find after working and producing with other artists that it was not his voice he always imagined in the initial songwriting process. The results of these collaborations bring diversity and depth to the album, with a change of tone that lifts tracks like the standout single Return To while emphasising the uniqueness of Iansek’s own vocal style on other tracks.
This vocal style is expressed in full raw vulnerability in Homeward Found. Starting with a 1970s television sci-fi effect and a shout into the dark, Iansek’s voice is like a balm for your soul. Managing to be somehow tremulous as well as gut-wrenchingly powerful, for me Homeward Found is about trying and failing, about longing and reaching out and finding there’s nothing there. The beauty of About Face is how personal you can make each track, like Tom’s delicate murmur in your ear is just for you, and the breadth of connection that different people will make with the album. The pensive and minimalist songs are balanced with the more upbeat mixed media percussion of Nominal and the gloriously clangy Camberwell, which also features a sweet saxophone solo. Iansek has ensured there is no trace of repetitiveness, with fresh surprises in instrumentation and style on every track.
About Face is ethereal, sometimes experimental and deeply evocative. From slow, sensual beginnings it rolls in like fog off a gunmetal pond and completely envelopes you in its hushed melancholy. Languish in the transcendence, and be sure you don’t miss the album tour when announced.
Brother and sister duo Angus and Julia Stone have recently released their self titled third album – their first release as a duo since 2010. Produced and recorded by Rick Rubin, the critically acclaimed album is considered by many to be their best recording yet. Having just touched down back in their home country for a stellar set at Splendour in the Grass, the pair are about to head out on a massive national tour. We had a chat with Angus about making music with his sister, working with Rick Rubin, and playing at Jesse Pinkman’s house.
I read just before that you actually nearly died in a car crash?! What happened there?!
Oh yeah! I bought a 1959 mini, and it was going to be the car that I would use to commute out to Shangri-La every day. One night after the studio, we jumped in the car and we were driving along back to Venice Beach on the PCH. Along that strip, there’s lots of restaurants that rich people go to drink and then jump in their cars. We were fanging along – probably going around 70/80 miles an hour in this little car with no seat belts – and this drunk driver pulled out in front of us! It all happened so quick. We just started spinning. We did a 180 and ended up on the other side of the freeway. All these cars are flying past us! It was definitely one of those close calls!
That happened in the middle of recording didn’t it? Do you attribute any changes to the process of the album, or even yourself to that incident?
Yeah I think, after something like that… We sat around and had a bottle of wine and played cards afterwards, just laughing at how we nearly died. I think all that stuff is what you carry with you. Things become symbolic in the way that you realise how fragile life is… You know, all that stuff.
This time around, it was more of a collaborative effort between you and Julia, wasn’t it? Was it challenging to work like that, as opposed to your usual individual processes?
Yeah! We flew into LA and got to this house. We were sort of sitting there a bit confused and smoking cigarettes. There was this sort of nervousness between us because we didn’t really know how we were going to make it happen this time around. We both had our separate songs – I made demos in New York and Julia had hers. It felt like something had to change, and we found a room to jam in and just started writing. That was the first time we actually got together and we were talking about parts or moments in songs that were important. It’s cool!
I have to ask, even though you’ve probably been asked a million times already – what is Rick Rubin like? Was he just the coolest dude ever?
Yeah! He is a Viking of a man. He’s got piercing blue eyes and he looks a bit like Mr Natural from the Robert Crumb comic books. He’s like that guy. He’s really present and he’s a really cool guy. His knowledge of music history is immense and the stories that he tells – everyone is listening when he speaks. Recording with him was a really humbling experience.
(Mr Natural)
Did you find it a bit overwhelming? Working with Rick, as well as doing it at Shangri-La? It’s such an iconic place and I imagine it to be very luxurious!
I think it was a little bit in the few weeks before. We were just kind of going like, “Oh shit. This is something new…” *laughs* but it was cool! We went in there and everyone is so chilled and awesome to be around. After the second day we were all family, hanging out in an epic studio making music.
That’s rad! Rick said in an interview with triple J that the three of you discussed making more rhythmic and groovy sounds and that you were both open to experimenting with sounds. That’s a pretty new process for you guys, isn’t it? Do you think you’ll be more like that with future recordings?
The thing I feel like I learnt with Rick is the way he mixed. He had a really bass and drum heavy take. He likes to move, and if the song doesn’t do that… I don’t know… I’ve never seen someone groove so much to a song as him. It was pretty funny to watch.
You were both hesitant to reunite because of your, and in particular yourself, Angus, individual success. Are more solo albums on the cards, or is it firmly back to Angus and Julia?
It’s hard to say… We are pretty slow in the way that we move. I guess we’ll just play it by ear!
Are you and Julia closer now, as a result of this new album, or is it time for another break?
*laughs* Well, you know, you have your days! But yeah, I feel like we’ve made a shift in the way that we are together. I feel like Rick was a big part of that too. That’s how this record came to be.
It’s being said that this is the best record you’ve ever made! How do you think it’s being received? You played it at Splendour for the first time at home didn’t you?
Yeah! The first show we played was at Jesse Pinkman’s place, Aaron Paul. We got a called from our friend and he said, “Look, my friend is a big fan of you guys. Do you want to come round and play in the lounge room?” Since then we did the European festival tour, then came home for Splendour! It was awesome. The crowd was epic. There was a little kabana bar backstage, so we got a bit lot and went on stage!
Angus and Julia Stone 2014 Australia/NZ Tour Dates:
Fri 12 Sep: Thebarton Theatre, Adelaide
Tickets: http://www.venuetix.com.au http://www.thebartontheatre.com.au
Sat 13 Sep: Llewellyn Hall, Canberra
* Vancouver Sleep Clinic will not play this show. Support TBC
Tickets: http://premier.ticketek.com.au
Sun 14 Sep: Sydney Opera House, Sydney
Tickets: www.sydneyoperahouse.com
Wed 17 Sep: Civic Theatre, Newcastle
Tickets: http://premier.ticketek.com.au
Thu 18 Sep: The Tivoli, Brisbane
Tickets: http://www.ticketmaster.com.au
Sun 21 Sep, Arts Centre, Gold Coast
Tickets: http://www.theartscentregc.com.au
Tue 23 Sep: Perth Concert Hall, Perth
Tickets: http://www.perthconcerthall.com.au http://premier.ticketek.com.au
Fri 26 Sep: Palais Theatre, Melbourne
Tickets: http://www.ticketmaster.com.au
Sun 28 Sep: Powerstation, Auckland
Tickets: http://www.ticketmaster.com.au
Originally posted to Scenewave.com
On a sunny Sunday afternoon, there are worse places to be than the Beach Road Hotel. Bondi sunshine floods the courtyard and with a beer in hand and Thieves playing in The Backyard it is easy to forget we’re in the depths of winter. After making a name for themselves at live venues around Sydney, Thieves have played with a wide range of acts including Big Scary, Children Collide and The Snowdroppers. Today the four-piece from Sydney warm the crowd with tender songs about lonely boys and an earnest desire to find beauty in the world.
The Backyard at the Beach Road Hotel is a colourful courtyard filled with cacti and the perennially tan enjoying a Sunday session. Against a fitting backdrop of a Wyoming desert landscape, Thieves’ sound is rich and raw, filling the afternoon crowd with rambling nostalgia. Combining a diverse and shifting vocal range with full, Decoder Ring style accompaniment to form their own blend of folk-rock, Sydney band Thieves have been performing together since 2010. They have a reputation for putting on wild shows with amped up energy and a powerful stage presence, but today their style is mellow and sometimes mournful. Thieves blend into the background of Sunday conversations, slip into stories told with drinks in hand, fill tender silences with a pause for hand-holding. Singer/songwriter Thomas Keating writes lyrics heavy laden with soul and longing. On stage he can switch between crooning vocals with an Angus Stone sensitivity to a powerful growl that quiets the room. I rest my head on my hand and close my eyes at the table.
Their set is semi acoustic, with a range of instruments on stage including a stomp box instead of a drum kit. I immediately have a smile on my face at the sight of a harmonica, which adds another layer of depth and warmth to the set. Tracks from their upcoming album, such as the dreamily melancholic “Camera Phone”, are played alongside older songs to create a captivating soundscape to accompany the sunshine, with peaceful lulls and intense climaxes.
Thieves are currently recording an album, following a couple of EPs and single releases over the past few years. It is always impressive to see a band that builds its following based on live shows, and while the Sunday session with Thieves certainly didn’t disappoint it would be a treat to see them in their element on a larger stage with a lively crowd.
Words by Bob Thornton
Originally from Sydney, Nashville based five-piece Gang Of Youths have been home in the last few weeks. With a few dates supporting Foster The People and a handful of their own shows as well, they’ve been able to back up the new video to their larger-than-life alt-rock anthem Poison Drum. I spoke to frontman, Dave Leaupepe, a self-confessed “anal control freak” who has delayed the highly anticipated debut record for the band in the hope of getting it just right with the help of music industry heavyweight Kevin McMahon. I must have woken him up at the ungodly hour of 11:30am on a Tuesday, and we discussed everything from albums, long songs and reach-arounds to getting arrested, Bruce Springsteen and getting rowdy.
Dave, you’re currently on tour here in Australia with a few dates supporting Foster The People. It’s not so long since the last set of Australian dates, is it good to be back?
Good and bad. Bad because it cost a lot to live here, I forgot. Good because my family and my wife’s family are here. And it’s fucking Australia! It’s nice to be home with people who swear a lot and drink shitloads of beer. But yeah, I guess it’s good to be back.
You guys have an album due to drop later this year?
I think it’s coming out next year around February. It got put back a bit because we’re still trying to get it just right. I’m manic and a control freak, so it has to be perfect or I cut my thumbs off and shit.
What went into the making of this album?
Blood, sweat, cum, tears… a lot of shit went into it. It’s virtually a concept album about some shit that’s gone on in my wife’s life and also my life, so to say it’s deeply personal is kind of an understatement. I’ve literally poured my whole life and marriage into it; all the boys have sort of fallen in. It’s basically 3 years accumulated into 12 tracks.
You worked with Kevin McMahon for this album?
Yeah, yeah, good old Macca.
What was it like working with him?
He’s freaky and brilliant. We became very close over the period that we’ve known each other. It’s intimidating working with a guy who’s worked on some of the most complex and influential records of the past little while. It was a bit of a novelty at the beginning, but then we started spending a lot of time sitting and talking shit and just becoming really good friends. He pretty manic and nuts as well, like he has this really funny OCD and things about his studio, which are really endearing and actually work to our advantage. Studios are usually pretty messy, but this one’s a bit tidier, it’s basically a big barn in the middle of upstate New York.
You guys have recently put out a video to that amazing song Poison Drum, how was that experience and is there a story behind the video?
Dude, I’m so glad you said it was amazing, because I can’t listen to that song without having a mini throw up!
I had it playing on a loop for a few weeks.
You’re like the sweetest guy, ever, do you know that? If I could reach over and give you a reacharound right now, I think I would.
I’d accept it.
Nah, thanks, man. We have these friends in Los Angeles that make movies and short films, and they said “Hey, you know it’d be really cool if we fucking towed you around and pretended you were hovering through Los Angeles”, that was the general gist. I wanted to do things that were more synonymous with the actual Los Angeles experience, not the bullshit touristy one, because it’s a really amazing city with wonderful culture. So we were sucking down noodles and being pulled along through this really expansive and great metropolitan area, there wasn’t really much concept to it.
What were you guys standing on during the filming of the clip?
I really wish we were standing on skateboards, but I don’t have the equilibrium for skating anymore. We were actually standing on big pulleys. We did everything pretty illegally, because the thing with filming in Los Angeles is you got to have permits from the LA County. We only got arrested four or five times.
And that’s a good result, is it?
Oh, mate! It’s guerrilla as fuck, I felt like I was going to get deported every minute.
Poison Drum quite a lengthy, to the point where they’ve shortened the radio version to four and a half minutes. A lot of your other stuff is quite long as well. I mean I love it, but why so long?
Because I’m self-indulgent, I have an obsessive vision that’s constantly dynamic and changing. I have these big aspirations that come into conflict with my need to produce pleasing music. It’s all very personal stuff and I guess I’ve taken as many artistic liberties as I like. They’re all pretty long; I just like long, conceptual, broad strokes. All my favourite records are big long concept records with 6-7 minute tracks.
Another song, Riverlands, is comparatively short at 2 minutes and 20 seconds; can you take us through that song and why it’s much shorter?
I sat down at my piano a couple of years ago and I recorded some music on a Dictaphone. The song was actually written on the spot, like a stream of consciousness and it kind of came out that way. I put it on the Internet, but there were no real posturing ambitions behind that song. I don’t really know why it is comparatively short; it’s just how t turned out.
Okay, so do you usually write the material for Gang Of Youths yourself or is it a collaborative effort?
It is profoundly autonomous and autocratic. I’m way too much of a fucking anal control freak to allow anybody to collaborate. I guess there’s one song that was kind of a collaboration, where Joji our guitar player came up with the melody, but that’s about it. I’m not the easiest person in the world to collaborate with; I just don’t have those instincts quite yet.
You guys get a lot of Bruce Springsteen comparisons, but how much of an influence is Springsteen in terms of the actual sound?
Well, I pray to him every night, so I guess he does influence it to some degree. I guess a lot of the comparisons come from the vocals; Brian Fallon from the Gaslight Anthem gets Springsteen comparisons as well. Typically I sing in a lower register, maybe a bit Nick Cave or Tom Waits, that’s what the record sounds like, I guess. The Springsteen sounds? I don’t really know exactly where they come from. But if we sound Springsteen, that’s good! He’s a good influence to have.
You guys are from Sydney but are now based in Nashville, Tennessee. Is it hard trying to build a local fan base when there is so much other music to compete with?
My wife and I are actually planning to move back to Sydney, but we did spend a lot of time in Nashville, but whenever I was there I was really just hanging around at home. We actually spent more time in New York than we did in Nashville and building a fan base in New York was fairly straightforward. Nashville is kind of a hard place to do anything, because as you said it is very oversaturated in musicians and there are very few alternative acts that I can think of off the top of my head.
Finally, the question I’ve really wanted to know the answer to: Who gets more rowdy at your shows, Aussies or Yanks? And be honest.
Oh, Jesus… I guess it depends where you are. In the cities in both countries people don’t seem to give a shit. In the big cities they’ve picked up this culture where it’s not appropriate to get rowdy.
So do you think people in the city are fed a steady diet of high concept shit?
I’m not so sure it’s high-concept, I think there’s just more adversary. But we played this show in Buffalo, New York, which is a quiet, slightly run-down town, like an industrial mecca that’s suffered a lot. The people there was absolutely bananas, it was one of the most memorable shows I’ve ever played. It was the same in Toowoomba, Queensland, where we played just last week. I think that was one of the best experiences I’ve had playing live. We find people in towns and smaller cities to be more enthusiastic. I’m going to say Australians get more rowdy.
Multi-instrumentalist and 1/5 of Australia’s favourite world music-folk-pop sons, Jinja Safari, Pepa Knight is one talented dude. The tipi dwelling, sitar enthusiast, could-have-been hermit has just released the second single of his solo project, and is onto something pretty special. Clams is the follow up single to Rahh!, and both boast intricate percussion, worldly instruments, beautiful lyrics and live samples recorded from Pepa’s various trips to India. If they’re anything to go by, his upcoming collection of songs, Hypnotized, is going to be a pretty stellar release. We got to chat with him ahead of two intimate shows in Sydney and Melbourne to discuss how a tipi holds up in wild weather, how he considered being classified as legally dead, and what “futuristic Bollywood” means as a dress code.
I’m curious about how you’ve found the responses to your solo material. Has it been positive for you?
To be honest I’ve been really surprised with the support for this project. With Jinja we got pretty lucky there. We got a lot of love from Australia and overseas, but with this- I just wanted to make a bit of a vibe project. I wasn’t really expecting anyone to get into as much or anything. It’s been really nice! It’s good to get these new solo songs, slowly but surely.
How, if at all, has your creative process changed with this project compared to the Jinja Safari process?
With Jinja, it’s completely different. It’s a collaboration between Marcus and I. Collaborations are really good, most of the time, and they bring out the best in your song-writing; having two brains clashing together and you end up writing something you wouldn’t normally come up with. But at the same time, with collaborations, sometimes it doesn’t turn out how you wanted it to be. So with this, it’s been similar in that I’ve been samples from overseas and stuff like that, which I touched on in our last record with Jinja. However, I’ve now started to get deeper into that warm influence and I can get it to more of where I want it to be, so it’s nice in that sense.
In your interview with Rolling Stone India, you said you initially wanted to escape everything and become a sort of hermit! What made you change your mind, and instead start a solo music project and release music to the world? A slight change of lifestyle, I think!
On my first trip to India, it was a big culture shock. For Rahh!, that was written with this sadhu man. I don’t know if you know much about the sadhus, but they’re these holy men and they basically leave their home, and they’re legally dead. They’re classified as dead in India, and they lead these crazy lives. It was a sort of liberating feeling, and I really wanted to do that, and not go back to Australia at all, actually. I wasn’t game enough to actually stay there forever though.
How did you choose the first two songs, out of the others? There are about 12 songs on the Hypnotized collection, right?
For those two singles, I think they were ones I was vibing on. Clams was written really fast, I did it in one full day. I had never done that before and it felt really fresh, so I really wanted to get that one out towards the start. It was ridiculous how fast that came together. It usually takes me months and months to finish a song! Rahh! had a similar sound to what Jinja had, so I wanted that to be the first one to slowly ease into my stuff from the band.
What can we expect from the rest of the songs? Similar vibes?
Yeah, similar vibes! The rest of the album will be along the same lines. I feel like it’s a lot more folk driven, and a lot more “down” songs in the collection. The first two are a bit more pumped up, and hyper. The others are a bit more chilled.
You’re calling Hypnotized a collection, rather than an album – why is that?
I was going to call it an album, and I still do sometimes, but basically I don’t want to release it all in one go. I want to release it in two separate volumes. I still haven’t finished the songs completely – they’re about 95% there – so it gives me more time to complete them too. I think in this day and age as well, people have such a short attention span, and if someone releases a full album these days, a lot of people skim over and don’t care too much. Whereas, if you release it in smaller doses, I think people will appreciate it more.
I totally agree with that. People consume music now in a totally different way than what albums were being made for. Releasing separate songs is probably better for people to take more from them!
Exactly! It helps digest it more, especially with a new project. If it was a new Jinja release, it could be a full album maybe. This way gives me more time too. I accidentally deleted the whole folder that had everything in it, so it’s taking a bit longer to re-record it all.
You’ve had quite the affinity with India and their culture for a while now. Obviously, it’s quite prevalent in Jinja Safari’s music too. How did that come about? What do you find about that culture that is so attractive?
I never really thought I would get so closely attached to that world sound. I have been playing music for a long time. I started off in a punk band, and then went on to rock, nearly emo phase *laughs* I was playing in a band with my brother, and we were in a band for about ten years. I never really thought I’d get so into it, but I love it! I’ve been over three times now, and had some long trips there. I really love the culture, and there is so much to see! It’s a great way of doing music for me. I think you get so inspired when you go to new places. For me, when I went to India, it was a whole combination of the way people lived, and the amazing food, and the crazy musicians that live there.
In my mind, it’s always been Jazz that is the pinnacle of musical talent. I’ve always been like, “Yeah, when I’m 80 or 90, I’m going to be able to play in a jazz band!” But now, since I’ve been to India, it’s next level over there. These people play these instruments all day, every day of their lives, and there is just no way I’ve ever going to be able to compete with that. I’ve certainly lowered my expectations of myself since then *laughs*
You recorded a lot of your samples and sounds whilst you were travelling around. I don’t imagine that being an easy task, especially in a place like India! How did you do that? Where you searching for something in particular?
I just recorded as I went! I have this little portable microphone that records in high quality, so I just recorded as I heard things. If I met a musician that wanted to contribute to the project I could just do it then and there. Or, say, if saw some fireworks or even just ambiance of where I was, I would record that too. I thought that was nice to put in the songs. There is one song called Desert Guy, and throughout the whole song there is the ambiance of what I heard when I was actually in the desert. Because it was so quiet, you could find little sounds like a herd of cows walking past or little flies that are flying around. You could hear so much more out there, so it was fun doing that sort of stuff. I did a bit of it with Jinja, but I got to do it a lot more this time around. I really like it!
The video for Rahh! is such a fun clip! I love watching it! Can you tell me a bit about how you made that, and what was going on in it. I read somewhere that the dress code was “futuristic Bollywood”?
*laughs* Thanks! It was put together really last minute. I spoke to my friend who is a director, and I just mentioned it one Saturday, so he said, “let’s just do it Monday!” So we had two days to come up with a concept, which we didn’t really come up with. We just thought we’d get a few friends to come with whatever outfits they had, and we’d use whatever I had lying around. We shot it in the tipi, and we did it in half a day. It turned out much better than I thought actually! I’m currently working on the film clip for Clams, so I’m keen to get something out for that. We’ve got a lot of footage from a gig I had in my tipi the other night, so I’m keen to get a live video released from that. I ended up recording the audio from that correctly so I’m keen to get that out soon too.
I was just about to ask about your tipi show. I actually saw you post about it on your Instagram!
Oh wow! Well, the tipi show was mainly to test out the songs. I have a new band together to help me play these new songs, and they’re all from where I live in Long Jetty. We’ve been jamming on these songs, so we invited our friends and I got some other people from Facebook and Instagram to come along as well, if they were keen. Because it was in my backyard though, I had to limit the amount of people. I didn’t want anyone stealing my undies!
They could sell them on eBay! Sell them for heaps of money!
*laughs* I don’t know how much money they’d make! I might have to pay someone to buy them! But yeah, it ended up being a nice chilled night. Everyone dressed up and we ended up staying late in the night. I actually hope the neighbours weren’t too pissed off…
They probably enjoyed it too! You’ve got two intimate shows coming up in Sydney and Melbourne soon – what are you expecting from these? Any secrets you can let me in on for them?
No secrets! I’m super pumped to play them though. I’ve been sitting on these songs for a while. It’s so different taking them to the stage and playing them live. I’m really excited about it. The band that I have with me will be awesome too. We had to iron out some kinks with the amount of instruments we have, and the amount of instruments we can travel with… It’s basically a new instrument every song. There is a Chinese Lute that I’ve been using, and is the main instrument in Rahh! It’s such a bitch to tune though! So we’re working on those things, but still excited!
What can we expect next then? Maybe a show up here in Brisbane?
I hope so! I think I’m doing these gigs just for now, but I’d love to do a bigger tour later in the year. I’d love to head up to Brisbane, it would have been good to do now to be a bit warmer! I’ve got five layers on at the moment! We’ve been feeling it a lot more lately because we’ve been sleeping out there in the tipi, and you can feel the elements so much more!
Well hopefully it doesn’t literally get picked up by the wind!
Well funny you say that – the last time there was a huge gust of wind, it felt a bit like a hurricane blowing, and I had forgotten to peg the canvas down properly. We had a few moments in the night where the canvas was just blown into the air and we were just literally in bed, outside.
What do you even do in that situation?!
Well the next morning, I made sure I definitely put the tent pegs down! It’s just so hard to take it down then put it back together again. For the tipi gig, we set it half open, and it’s taken me nearly a week to get it back to normal again and get everything out of it.
And make sure the tent pegs are down before you go back to bed!
Yes! I’ve learned my lesson!
Pepa Knight shows:
Goodgod Small Club, Sydney – August 1
Northcote Social Club, Melbourne – August 8
Originally posted on Scenewave.com
As Fractures, Melbourne artist Mark Zito has released an eight track self-titled EP that builds and breathes with effortless elegance. A slow burn that improves with each listening, Fractures is an atmospheric and melancholic work of electronic pop. With layers of warm tones and soupy vocals, Fractures bares vulnerabilities and draws on your own in an exploration of heart and soul.
This is the first release for Zito, a Melbourne singer-producer who built the EP out of experimentation and minimalism. The standout single Twisted has seen enormous airplay across independent radio, displaying heartfelt vocals with sparse accompaniment. Twisted is filled with the ebb and flow of Zito’s atmospheric production that draws comparisons to artists like Chet Faker and James Blake.
The EP is also one of contrasts, with Zito drawing on a breadth of artists and styles for inspiration to create eight very different tracks. The opener, Embers, mixes vocal harmonies with spare accompaniment that builds to a driving chorus that envelopes you in the world of Fractures. The lashing guitar of Embers is then replaced by a Wurlitzer for the heartfelt and moody Cadence, the latest single from the EP that pulls you into infatuation with heartfelt lyrics telling you “just breathe, breath you in, just breathe.” It is a track that pulls you in with a sigh and leaves you with a gasp.
Fractures is a softly spoken heart-melter, with breathy falsettos, minimalist edging and electronic underlay that creates an ambience of introspection. Zito was forced to cancel his first live show following injury, but is planning on taking the release to the stage as soon as possible. Expansive tracks like his need space to swell and slide, and it would be interesting to see how his sound changes and adapts to a live music space. Hopefully, we will be seeing Fractures soon.
Fractures will be performing this weekend at Splendour in the Grass, as well as the following dates:
August 8: The Vanguard, Sydney
August 9: Northcote Social Club, Melbourne
Ever wonder what it would be like to run around LA with grenades, knives, guns, and a casual bazooka destroying buildings as you go? No? Porter Robinson did! His new video clip for his latest single Lionhearted, is a visual feast that sees himself and accompanied by a gang of swaggy Harajuku girls running havoc in the night. He’s also taken on the help of Japanese style queen, Elleanor Yamaguchi (a.k.a Elleanor Tokyo) to make it just that little bit cooler. The song is the third release off his debut album Worlds, and if the singles are anything to go by, I would say PR fans (myself included) are in for a real treat! We got to chat to Porter recently about his highly anticipated album, where the idea for this clip came from, and why he won’t be playing too many “bangerz” in his new live show.
So your clip for Lionhearted! Such a crazy story line – can you tell me a bit about it?
Well I think the central theme of the album is about escapism and fantasy. It’s not very much about, you know, inspiring the youth to get out and vote. It’s not an activist album; it’s not really much about reality. The focus is about escapism, so I think the video really references video games and stuff like that. I knew I wanted it to be sort of “fashion-y” as well, so of course that was faced with the dilemma of how to stylise the girls. So I was contacting one of my friends who is well known in Harajuku in Tokyo. I spoke to her and asked if she had done styling before, and she said yes, so I asked her how she’d like to fly out to LA to stylise some people for a video! As generic as it may be, that was the most fun thing I’d ever done!
Totally! It’s such an awesome clip, especially with the effects! That stylist is actually in the clip, isn’t she?
Yeah! Her name is Elleanor. She basically attended the auditions and everyone who we ended up picking for the video, were all like independently famous on Instagram. So Elleanor decided to audition because we were getting a few awkward auditions, and it was great! I don’t think it necessarily required the most intense acting chops ever, because I was in it and I’ve never done anything like that before. But she was awesome! We flew her out to style it, and then she was like, “Let me try this!” She was really assertive and great, and she had such a strong vision for it.
That’s awesome, especially because it kind of became an overnight Internet success!
Yeah that was awesome!
So what can we expect from your album?
The album is something I’ve worked on for the past two years. I have kind of become known for EDM/tech stuff, and as I continued on the DJ circuit, I started to grow a little bit wary of some of the music. I was finding that I was having to make compromises in the music in order for something to work in DJ play, and trying to make stuff work for DJs wasn’t inspiring for me. So I decided to write an album that focuses more so on being beautiful on the outside and there is a lot of video game inspiration. A lot of the album takes place at 90 BPM, which is not really a common dance suited tempo, but I find a real groove there. It’s very much about escapism and fiction – that’s very much the vibe.
Okay! I’m interested in what you said about how you’re not calling your next release, “Flicker” a single – you just want to show people.
Well it’s not the type of song that really has any viability on the radio or something. It’s not a song that aspires to be catchy or anything, it’s kind of like a little jam. I just wanted to give people a sense of more of the centre of the album before it came out. It’s the last one I will release; it’s probably the “poppiest” thing the album’s got. I wanted to show people more of the core of the album; although I think the song that symbolises the record the most is the song before Lionhearted, called Sad Machine.
There’s quite a bit of hype surrounding Worlds as the release date approaches – how do you handle that type of pressure?
I think with the high expectations, it’s something that I kind of revel in and I’m happy to try and meet. I think I talked really highly of the album leading up to its release because it’s actually my best material ever. I think the pressure to do something that people want to hear is tough, but I am constantly faced with needing to make videos for songs that could maybe one day hit the radio. This album is a move towards trying to do something really honest.
You’ve got a fair few collaborations on the record, so that’s obviously something you’re a fan of. How does your creative process differ with collaborations compared to your solo material?
Well I started some high profile collaborations with bigger artists and stuff, and we’d start them but then there would be a creative difference and then they wouldn’t pan out. I think, ultimately, the collaborations on the album are with artists who were just down for me to be like, “Let’s just do it this way”. It didn’t change my process for me too much, because I was kind of being bossy, but also I was working with some very honest and very eager people. The biggest difference was that I’ve been producing in my bedroom for nine years now, and having to go to a different studio because I don’t even have the ability to record vocals here – that was the biggest difference. There is sort of a different way to write music in front of a keyboard rather then in front of any typing keyboard, but overall it wasn’t too foreign.
So I hear you’re quite of fan of the “Australian sound” in electronic music! What are your thoughts on what’s happening here? Who are some of your favourites?
Man, there has been a lot of good music coming out of Australia at the moment. Obviously Future Classic is amazing – everything that comes out of that label is inspiring to me, more or less. Then of course, everybody knows Flume. He is just so fantastic, and I don’t think you can find a single artist who is not inspired by him at the moment. I also really like Basenji, Cosmo’s Midnight, obviously Wave Racer… I think also, that “beats inspired” sound has also had some really interesting implications abroad. I’m starting to hear international imitations of it… Well not really imitations, but music that takes a twist on it. There is this burgeoning scene in Paris at the moment of guys that are making melodic, somewhat trappy inspired beats. They’re all making stuff that sounds distantly Australian, and is inspired by that scene, but with a fresh perspective on it. It’s really inspiring to me at the moment.
Have you started working on your new live show? How much effort goes into that? Some people are a bit spontaneous; others are a bit more planned and thought out – where do you fit into that?
I’ve been working on it for weeks actually. It’s what I was working on before this interview. It’s really tough because I just finished the album, and I’m basically trying to create another hour/hour and a half of music that I’ll be able to perform live. My set up is extremely disorganised, so it’s really hard for me to make stuff that I can play live. But, obviously I’m trying for a really cool, visual experience.
How much does the live show differ for you, from festivals to club shows to live shows? How much do you think it will be affected by the new stuff?
Well the new tour, accompanied with the new album, is really different and not strictly EDM. I don’t think I’ll be really taking it to clubs – it’s going to be more festivals and live venues. It’s going to be a really different thing. I’ll be playing pretty much exclusively my own music, as well as singing, live instrumentation, samples… It’s the sort of thing, in my opinion, that isn’t really suited to “bottle service, VIP” clubs so if I do go to clubs, it’s going to be a more conventional DJ set for me. My main show now is going to be this live thing, which is all original music, and I think it’s a more challenging thing for people. I think I’m really upping the anti in terms of visuals and content. It’s really going to be a treat, especially for real fans. I think anyone who’s coming to the show expecting a crazy rave might not really enjoy himself or herself, frankly. But if they’re a fan of my music and if they listen to my music, it’ll probably be the best time ever for them! I’ll be referencing old material, and visually it’s going to have so much to do with my aesthetic. I’m super, super excited about it. It’s not going to be this fucked up, crazy shit fest of “dropping the bass” – it’s going to be a little different to that.
So not a “bangerz” filled set?
Yeah! I mean, I still want the music to be loud at times, but I wanted to put a twist on that feeling, and focus more on being pretty with melodies and stuff. I think that’s certainly going to come through on the show, although it certainly will get loud too!
Can we expect another Australian tour in the future?
I think if you look at my touring history, I come back to Australia pretty regularly! But that’s as much as I can say!
Porter Robinson‘s debut album Worlds is out August 8. The first three singles (Sad Machine, Sea of Voices and Lionhearted) are available for instant download when you pre-order the record from iTunes.
Originally posted on Scenewave.com