Thinking of going to Falls? Great! It’s one of the premier festivals on the summer calendar and is consistently tremendous amounts of fun! It’s full of great music, super nice people and a generally awesome atmosphere. For many punters it also means the high likelihood of camping there. “Oh no I’ll have to go outsiiiiiide!!” I can hear you shriek in horror! Not to worry, we here at Howl & Echoes know how scary the outdoors can be and we’re here to help!
Consider this your bible and survival guide. Print it out and keep it on you at all times. Are you lost? Whip out your certified Howl & Echoes Festival Survival Guide 2016 and learn how to navigate your way back to your tent using only your watch and discarded cider cans! Not sure how to speak the native language of the strange and alien inhabitants of the VIP area? Just follow our translation guide! You’ll never go astray!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alO_B38_QQs
One of the most important aspects of any good festival, camping serves as a foundation for the next few days. This is your base and any and all expeditions will stem from here. A good camp will give you a home away from home for the weekend, somewhere you can charge your phone and chill out, and – more importantly – get a good night’s sleep (provided you’re not next to one of those groups who enjoy a post-day rave at 3am, in that case you’re in God’s hands). To ensure your camping area is suitable:
Have a Sturdy Tent.
There’s nothing worse than lying in your tent at night after an exhausting day spent boogie-ing your ass off when, all of a sudden, a big gust of wind whips through and turns your once home into a sorry pile of poles and canvas on top of you. If you don’t have a good and sturdy tent or you half-ass it upon arrival because you’re stinging to get absolutely buckled you might be in for a surprise trip to Kansas. And trust me, no one wants that.
Get There Early
I can’t stress this enough. Getting to the camping ground as early as you can is a massive part of ensuring you have a great weekend. Why? Because you can get the best spot of course! Would you rather be living it up in the golden camping spots, where the sun shines through your tent, cradling you in a warm hug every morning, or would you rather be in the shadowlands, where nothing save hangovers and regrets fester?
Prepare for Rain
Look, as much as we all wish Mother Nature would respect our sacred love of festivals, sometimes she loves to rain on our parade. Literally. So make sure you prepare for the worst, and bring a bunch of waterproof gear. A good tent will generally be pretty waterproof, but bringing some towels and a tarp or two will rarely go astray. With rain comes mud so be sure to prepare for the worst there too. Bringing too many clothes is better than bringing not enough, the effects of inclement weather coupled with festival stank on clothes you’ve been forced to wear for consecutive days because your only other option was nudity is never going to win you friends in the moshpit.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jx96Twg-Aew
Decorate!
If you’re going to be living at your camp for a few days, do you really want it to look like a bleak and uninviting army camp? Probably not (But I mean, all power to you if you do). So bring some cool looking flags or hangings or whatnot and get decorating your tent/car/chairs and anything else you can find. Not only will it make you feel more at home, but it will also make you the talk of the festival (if it’s really cool).
What To Pack
Another important thing that will effect the quality of your festival will be what you bring. Make a list and check it off multiple times before departing. Forgetting something will never be a fun time, especially if it’s something that’s pretty essential, but as long as you have the holy trinity of phone, wallet and ID, anything else urgent you need while you’re there can usually be found in the festival’s many shops and top notch general store.
Take Water
Seriously, it’s the juice of life. Clear gold. Liquid sustenance. Look, just take it. You don’t need to take much (this isn’t Burning Man), but you’ll want to take enough to last you the ride/drive down and then some. Few things suck harder than enduring the heat of the day, traipsing home parched and having to go back and forth to the tap. Make sure to pack refillable bottles too, as you can have lots of water throughout the weekend (but don’t have to lug kilos of water around).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpqm-05R2Jk
Pack Some Food (But Not Too Much)
Food is right up there with water on the ‘shit we need to function as humans’ pyramid, and there will be times (at around 1am when you forgot to eat all day in between bands or at 8:30 in the morning when you’re hungover as all get-out and need something to numb the pain for a while). In these dark times it’s great if you can bust out a muesli bar or a small packet of chips. But don’t take a lot, otherwise you might miss out on some really great festival food! One of great things about any festival is the numerous stalls and pop-up restaurants that offer some truly brilliant food and Falls always brings the culinary goods.
Take Money for Merch
Everyone loves merch and there’s some really cool stuff to get at Falls. But you have to bring some money, because capitalism. I still love my Presets jumper I got at Falls a few years ago, and I’m super keen for the merch that will be there this year. It’s always exciting to run up to the merch stall and fight your way to the front to stare doe-eyed at the shiny shirts and hats. Don’t ruin that moment by pulling out bus tickets and lint from your wallet. Get cash out and set it aside before you get there because those ATM lines can be hell on earth.
Don’t Bring Alcohol (but hide it well if you do)
We here at H & E can’t condone the prohibited smuggling into any festival of liquor, and while we advise against doing so, we all know you’re a pack of degenerates and you’re going to do whatever the fuck you want anyway. So if you’re too poor to shell out for drinks tickets or whatever reason you need to bring in enough booze to intoxicate a small island nation, just make sure it’s hidden well and you’re not a complete fuckwit about it? Getting stuck behind a car full of dopes who thought they could get away with hiding four sacks of Coolabah’s finest under the front seat and want to argue the fact after they’ve been busted is truly infuriating, so get creative!
And that’s about it. All you need to survive Falls and have an awesome time! It’s really all in the preparation: Check out the timetable for the acts and make a plan before you go. It’ll make things a lot easier if you can figure out what acts you want to see before hand and just stick to a plan. Make like a boy scout and be prepared!
Falls Festival 2016-17 Dates:
Wed 28th-Sat 31st Dec: Lorne, Victoria
Thu 29th-Sat 31st Dec: Marion Bay, Tasmania
Sat 31st Dec-Mon 2nd Jan: Byron Bay, New South Wales
Sat 7th-Sun 8th Jan: Fremantle, Western Australia
Image: The Examiner
Hype can be a vicious beast, can’t it? It can improve something, or at least pertain to. But if something doesn’t live up to expectations it can come crashing way, way down. I certainly felt the hype surrounding The Weeknd‘s new album Starboy, released just a year after the stellar Beauty Behind The Madness. I was ready for this album to be mind-blowing and the album’s pre-release singles attested to that. From the first notes of the album – the Daft Punk collab Starboy – I was ready for a more neon Weeknd. Sure, it was poppy, but there was that delicious feeling of anticipation, the hope that this was scratching the surface.
To start at the top, Starboy is straight up pop. This offering is a complete departure from his previous work, which seems to have completed his transition to fully formed pop-star. Your thoughts on this transition will ultimately shape your thoughts on this album. That is to say, if you’re a huge fan of Trilogy and Beauty Behind The Madness, and you were hoping for more of the same, you’re going to be sorely disappointed.
Starboy is good. It’s different. It’s not great, but it’s not bad. There are stellar moments and standout songs that show a level of mastery that makes The Weeknd deserving of his pop throne, but there’s a lot of space in between these moments. Around half of the 18 tracks on the album are memorable, and the high points are spectacular. The opener and the closer (both Daft Punk collabs) are two of The Weeknd’s best songs ever. It’s just that there’s way too much chaff in between, and a couple of the tracks are plain terrible.
Light and boppy Starboy isn’t burdened by an in-your-face Daft Punk influence. The drums are delightfully hollow, which fits with the neon-club sound of the track, and it’s dark enough to feel like a Weeknd track. Party Monster is next, and it’s dope, it may be the best dark track on the album. It’s heavy enough to echo BBTM, but it’s different enough to feel pop. Listening to this song with a bass boost will blow your mind. Although the track is repetitve, it fits with the thematic loop of getting wasted and losing yourself in meaningless sex.
False Alarm is great. It’s the one track on the album that you will need to grow into, but when it clicks for you it’s worth it. I’m surprised this song comes so early in the album, with such a massive energy that forces you to dance. This song also has the best fucking music video. Repetitive, again, but the energy carries it forward into a really eerie outro…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CW5oGRx9CLM
…which in turn carries into the shockingly smooth Reminder. This is the song that’s closest to Trilogy era Weeknd. The slower pace is a welcome change, and this is one of the more seductive tracks of the whole year – which is what we wanted from The Weeknd. Immediately we speed back up with Rockin’, one of the highest points on the album, and one of the best pop songs of the year, period. It’s got a speedy and driving beat, and a high-hat/snare combo that will see it garner plenty of club-time. It’s a beautiful dance track, you can’t miss this.
The beats keep coming with Secrets. The two-step combo of funk is devastating to anyone’s hopes of staying still. It’s one of Tesfaye’s smoother performances, and the combination of beachy vibes and 80s pads gives it a delightfully summery feel.
We slow down once more – this time it feels unwarranted though – with True Colors. Nothing massively memorable, but it bubbles away in a nice way. If you were in a club, this would be the song to get a drinks break to. Stargirl Interlude features Lana Del Rey, and the title is super literal: She is the real star here. She fucking kills it, lending her beautiful vocals to a small but memorable interlude. It’s ethereal and spacey, and great all the way.
Sidewalks brings a weirder sound the album. It has an inconsistent beat, and features the great king Kendrick Lamar. Obviously that makes it a lot more hip-hop than the rest of the album, and it picks up both tone and pace. much lighter sound. It feels like a single, and the whole thing is a little out of place on the album (especially after Lana’s haunting vocals). Would be a great track out of context, but in terms of the album as a whole… yeah not as much.
The pace continues to chop and change, screeching to a halt again with the underwhelming Six Feet Under, staying low with the synth-heavy Love To Lay, brightening up with the ’80s/Michael Jackson-inspired A Lonely Night, and dropping once more on Attention, a dull number with a heavily auto-tuned bridge. It’s clear that the album will be a commercial success, but the price he’s paid is omitting any kind of challenge or danger. Ho-hum.
Quality picks back up with Ordinary Life, while Nothing Without You continues in that mellow vein. All I Know brings an amazingly dope Future collaboration to the fore, a great track with a slow but fresh pace which orbits around the breakdown ahead of Future’s verse. Alhough lyrically sub-par, the rapper’s auto-tuned tones are a great contrast against Tesfaye’s vocals; all in all it’s a really nice change and one of the album’s best moments.
Final track I Feel It Coming’s place at the end of the album is both a blessing and a curse; it’s a phenomenal track to end on, but in saying that, it highlights how utterly mediocre so much of the midsection was. The first five tracks were great, and there were high points throughout (A Lonely Night in particular), but it doesn’t reach “greatness” until the very end.
The Weeknd knows how to deliver brilliant music, and he’s shown that on this album. But it falls short; it’s inconsistent, it flits about, it doesn’t push far enough. It’s safe. The production is beautiful and the transitions are seamless, but you can’t dive into a shallow pool.
The album is worth a spin or two, it’s certainly not ‘bad’. If nothing else, keep the standout tracks for your summer playlist. But in a year filled with an unbelievable amount of incredible music – incredible albums, on top of BBTM being so brilliant, it’s hard to not feel disappointed.
Image: Pretty Much Amazing
I’d just come back from a long (read: loooooong) day at work when I shut myself in my room, laptop open and ready to record. Phone in hand, I dialled the number provided and waited as the electronic rings signalled an international connection in the making. A few seconds later, a chipper English voice greeted me. It belonged to Laurel, a young singer-songwriter who is making big waves in the indie scene. After releasing a flurry of singles earlier in the year, Laurel was preparing for the release of her new EP Park.
How’re things?
Things are good! Just had a coffee, so swell day so far!
Nice! So the biggest news with you is probably your upcoming EP Park. What inspired the title?
I’m not entirely sure. At the time I wrote all of those songs my life kind of revolved around huge parks all around London. Big, beautiful parks. So it kind of made sense, because all these events seemed to happen in parks, so it tied into the songs. And I started writing about parks in my lyrics as well.
Yeah cool! Well the EP has a really broad range of sounds as well, from the airiness of Maybe Baby to the more grounded weight of Too Far. And then the change to a pure acoustic track with Goodbye. Why did you structure the EP in that way, or have the track listing like that?
I’ve always wanted to have an acoustic track on the end of something, and I’m going to try to do it with my album too. I’ve got this track that doesn’t have any production on it at all, it’s just this acoustic demo. I haven’t really decided what I want to do production-wise, but it’s kind of fun to have a demo so people can see where it started. It’s kind of at its most intimate point now, and it’s certainly the most intimate song demo I’ve got.
I guess it’s just cool to have something like this so people can see that side of me. Particularly since I started writing when I was 15 and started messing around with the acoustic guitar, and that kind of reminded me of the tragic songs I used to like.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oacDqzdF6nM
Yeah well just on Goodbye: It’s really beautiful, but I’d be lying if I said I was expecting a track in that style. Do you get anything different out of an acoustic track like that as opposed to a heavier produced song?
Yeah I guess so. It’s just this completely different type of project. Like they’re totally different songs. And that’s why I couldn’t really “produce” on Goodbye, because I felt like it didn’t need it. I felt like it said enough on its own that it didn’t need anything behind it. But yeah, it’s different for every song. Like every song you have has a different feel to it, and you kind of end up going in different directions.
Totally, it’s all about the feel of a track and how production ties into that! Speaking of production, I read somewhere that all of your music was made completely in your bedroom? What challenges or issues did that bring?
It can be really difficult, because it’s not really soundproofed. So while I was doing work on my EP, my neighbours were doing building work next door *laughs*. And they were drilling into one of my walls the other day but I can never tell when they’re going to do it, so I could be in the middle of recording a track and it be going really well and then someone starts drilling into a wall next to you *Laughs*.
So I love recording at home, and it’s definitely how I want to keep doing it, because it’s really raw and that’s how I think I can get the best out of myself, but yeah. I mean there’s drilling and birds outside and ambience going down the road, which can be annoying! *Laughs*
Yeah I can imagine! Well you’ve been making music for a few years now. When was the point when you kind of thought “yeah this is really for me?”
I think I’ve always felt like that, honestly. When I was a lot younger I kinda just started messing about my hometown, and music was the one thing that I always wanted to do and the one thing that I always thought I would do. So there wasn’t really a point in my head where I was like “this is for me” because it had always kind of been that way for me, you know? It always just fit with the idea of what my life was going to be like in my head.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4X2gtwkeXw
And what have been some of the biggest highlights for you so far? Has there been anything that you never really expected you’d be doing?
Well the big one for me is having an EP come out on vinyl. I haven’t had a vinyl before, I haven’t really had any physical copies of my music in the last few years, so I’m really really excited to get a vinyl hard copy and have it up on my wall. That’ll be a pretty big moment for me. And then there’s my album, and when I finish recording it and then when it comes out in March/April next year. So that’s probably the biggest highlight so far, finishing my album.
And then going on my first headline tour around the UK will be a pretty big deal for me too.
Yeah just on that tour: Do you ever get nervous or anxious before a show, and how do you get through that?
Oh definitely! I mean, once you get your head on the road, it kind of becomes normal and you don’t get so nervous. But every now and then I just get so fucking scared and I have no idea why. Like I could have this dream where I forget all of my lyrics on stage and the next day I’ll be constantly rereading my lyrics. But you just have to get on with it, you know? Like you just have to do it, because once you get on stage it’s usually fun. It’s just before can suck.
Totally! You mentioned the LP before, that’s coming out early next year right?
Yeah, well the EP comes out I think the 18th of November, and the album comes out in the (UK) Spring of next year, which is fucking crazy! *Laughs*
Will that share any themes or sounds with Park, or will it be something more off the wall?
I feel that it will be a little different to Park, which is why I wanted to put the songs on Park together the way I did, and get them out before the album. The EP has a bit more of a rocky tone to it. The drums are a lot different in Park for sure.
The album? It’s hard to say. I mean, I’m so close to it, so I definitely think it’s good. But I can see how other people might be more put off by the difference in sound. I’d say the album is a lot closer to my song Life Worth Living I released earlier this year, with more beachy guitars and big bassy drums.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GS1WriSVgPU
Yeah awesome! I loved the earlier stuff you put out this year. How has 2016 been for you as a whole?
It’s been a pretty good year for me actually! I’ve been pretty chuffed with it. It’s been really busy, and I’ve been recording a lot to try and find a sound that I really want to run with for my album. So that’s been really good, both fun and frustrating at times. But I’ve had a fucking great year! I feel like I’ve really found the direction I want to go in, which is good after quite a few years.
That’s great!! And what are your plans for the future?
Who knows? *Laughs* I guess just hang out and have good times! Next year I’ve got the album coming out, so that’s going to be mad. 2017 will be a big one I hope!
Awesome! Thanks so much for taking the time to talk to me! Hope all goes well for the future!
Thank you!
Park is out now, available to stream or buy through iTunes or Bandcamp.
Image: Laurel | Olivia Richardson
It’s no secret that we’re big fans of everything Tasmanian, from MONA’s Dark Mofo to Mona Foma to the local music scene and basically just begging more artists to pay TAS attention. In January, MONA are holding the Mona Foma festival, which, as always, boasts an incredible array of unique and often unusual musical acts.
The Tasmanian festival is a great source for many things weird and wonderful, from art to food to music and beyond. It’s a huge attraction, and one of the greatest thing about Tassie. The little isle will be pelted with a cacophony of new commissions, collaborations, performances and shiny premieres. More than 200 artists (musical and otherwise) will spend four days delighting and overwhelming each of your senses in this riveting, surprising, culturally awakening festival. Considering the nightmarish beast that has been 2016, there truly couldn’t be a better way to kick 2017 off.
As always, the lineup is tremendously global. While Australian artists include Regurgitator playing The Velvet Underground and Nico and Rainbow Chan, international guests will be visiting from as far as Azerbaijan, Canada, Korea and Niger.
Big highlights include tetema, a project from the ever-enigmatic Mike Patton along with Anthony Pateras which has been floating around for a couple years but will be performed live for the very first time at Mona Foma. We’ll also hear from Puscifer, beloved side project of Tool‘s Maynard James Keenan, the amazingly talented Moses Sumney (who we adore greatyly) and the genre defying DJ Z-Trip.
MONA FOMA takes places from 18 – 22 January 2017. Tickets are available at the official website – we recommend grabbing the full festival pass, which also includes entry to MONA’s new major exhibition On The Origin of Art.
If you want to discover a little more about the artists on show at Mona Foma, give our curated playlist a spin:
Read more: MONA and the state of Hobart’s underground music scene
Image: MONA
Last night on the American series of musical talent show The Voice, a murder was committed. It was a graphic affair, an utter butchering. The victim? Father John Misty‘s 2012 masterpiece Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings. And who was the culprit? Well that would be contestant Aaron Gibson, whose rendition of the song sounded more like the death-knell of a Nickelback/Bon Jovi karaoke tribute band than anything close to music. But while this is an extreme example of the problem with many musical talent shows, should we really be surprised?
First a look at the performance itself. It was terrible. No two ways about it, it was just uncomfortable, from the overly gravelly lead vocals that obscured the lyrics to the hilariously woeful gospel-esque backing singers, to the decision to switch the folksy for a heavier, metal-leaning sound was inspired, sure, but it didn’t really work. Basically, it is a mess.
https://youtu.be/BJSvFX829PA
And Father John Misty picked up on it all, writing in a (now deleted) Facebook post “why God why.”
What followed It was then replaced with a series of sarcastic posts likening musical talent shows to politics, and people’s votes.
While hilarious, Father John Misty’s comments have a point: musical talent shows can be ridiculous, humiliating, destructive and plain stupid. Mnay people hate them, not because of some self-righteous belief about the sanctity of music, or some misguided idea that popular music is inherently shit. We hate them because they place technical aptness over any sense of creativity or artistic cohesion. Shows like The Voice or The X Factor give the wrong impression that a singer needs to be able to have insane range or be able to hit a crazy amount of notes in such a short space of time. All sense of theme goes out the window when the contestants’ sole purpose is to impress people with their voice rather than actually make music that sounds good to listen to.
Compare the atrocious cover with Father John Misty’s own version, and you’ll see what I mean.
https://youtu.be/a9zs_PsDvtQ
The man send shivers down your spine with just a guitar and his voice. He holds notes, instead of fluctuating all over the place. It’s raw, and it’s cohesive. Maximalism only works when all the elements are working together and fit with each other. Chucking gospel backing singers with a metal-esque aesthetic and a voice so gravelly it sounds like a Gears of War character does not work. At all. And if you want good music to come out of a talent show, you need to start showing off artistic talent rather than technical prowess. Making something genuine has much more of “The X Factor” than being able to show massive range in the span of a 2 minute song.
And look, I don’t want to shit on Aaron Gibson too much. I’m sure that many, if not all, of the design choices behind that performance were out of his hands. And I get that life as a Shill-fish can be nice and easy. But anyone who thought that cover was a good idea was severely misguided. Ultimately, this song was another (albeit extreme) example of the utter disregard talent shows have for artistic expression.
Image: Emma Garr
Look, before we start, there has to be an apology. Why? Because we gotta do it. We gotta talk about the elephant in the room. Or rather, the elephant and the donkey in the room: The American Election. Drumpf vs. Clinton. At the time of writing, the final polls have closed and the count is rolling in. It’s been a long and arduous campaign cycle, and we just want it to be over. But ultimately, it won’t be over today. The election may be (finally, mercifully) finished, but the USA has to lie in the bed it just made.
Whatever the result, I want to inject a little positivity into the whole thing, through the wonderful power of ~music~
A quick look through the history of art shows a consistent thread: Great art comes out of adversity. The hardest times in history have always spawned some of the best artistic products, and many of the greatest artists have endured troubled lives. Pablo Picasso (who isn’t an alter ego of Kanye West, btw) painted many of his best works during the Spanish Civil War. Some of Japan’s most popular literary works spawned from their post-war national identity crisis. And on a musical level, just think how much amazing music exists as calls of protest or reactions to tragedy. Ye’s MBDTF was born from his social exile, Kendrick Lamar’s TPAB could almost be considered a musical manifesto in its social commentary, and Radiohead’s works each deal with emotions in very different ways.
So here’s an idea. If Drumpf wins, there will be one upside: Think how much great art will come out of the resulting dark age. American musicians will have all the material they will ever need to produce some wild social commentary. The famous “Bush doesn’t care about black people” line will seem like the musings of a 9-year old compared to the stuff that a Drumpf presidency will inspire. We can see Pink Floyd doing a sequel album to The Wall. Run The Jewels 4 might as well be a molotov cocktail it will be that incendiary.
Just look at the amount of political music that has emerged during the campaign! From the pointed anger of Prophets Of Rage to the searing collaboration between YG and Nipsey Hussle. This last one was particularly special, seeing as the two rappers are members of rival gangs the Bloods and Crips. But even they were able to unite for their distaste for the Republican candidate, coming together despite a gulf of social distance to produce FDT (Fuck Donald Trump).
https://youtu.be/WkZ5e94QnWk
On the more subtle side, Father John Misty recently covered a Tim Heidecker song, Trump’s Pilot. Sung from the perspective of (who’d have guessed) Drumpf’s pilot, he extols his desire to crash with The Donald onboard in an act of sacrifice for the greater good.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkzvgEQtmkE
Even passing lyrics like El-P’s “Flame your crew quicker than Trump fucks his youngest” have quite a cut to them. So, amidst all the seeming despair and injustice that may come with a Drumpf victory today, it may give you small solace that the musical landscape may shift dramatically and result in some of the greatest creative turns from some of our most influential artists for at least four more years.
Seriously though, when is the joke over, America?
Image: Classic FM
If you’ve heard of the viral Mannequin Challenge, you’ve likely heard Rae Sremmurd and Gucci Mane on Black Beatles. It’s the track that all the best mannequin videos have in the background, and it’s a pretty big hit. So much of a hit that it has entered the Billboard Hot 100 Top 10. Sitting at number 9, it’s Gucci Mane’s highest appearance on the charts.
If you are unaware of what the mannequin challenge actually is (or you’re just sick of these damn kids and their internet memes), here’s the rundown. Basically, it’s a “challenge” where a group of people all pose in completely still, looking as if time has frozen. The camera person pans around and shows everyone who’s frozen, and it looks really cool. If done well, it should looks like a scene from The Matrix, albeit with less leather.
https://twitter.com/98diggs/status/794303810952986624?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Rae Sremmurd and Gucci Mane have both gotten in on the trend as well, tweeting a video of them doing the challenge on tour.
#BlackBeatles #SremmLife2Tour #EarDrummerRecords #MannequinChallenge‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️ pic.twitter.com/NpxXbF2WtV
— Rae Sremmurd (@RaeSremmurd) November 4, 2016
The track is an absolute banger, and it’s a great high for Gucci Mane. Prior to Black Beatles, Gucci’s top chart appearance was No Type, which peaked at 16. Rae Srummurd’s track has also claimed the number 5 spot in the Billboard streaming tracks chart, and with the attachment of the meme, it shows no signs of slowing soon.
Image: ShakeAMix
The Drones are hands down one of Australia’s best bands, and they have been for well over a decade. Their weird and wonderful music mixes jarring, wild instrumental layers and rhythms with political statements, poetic Australiana and beyond, culminating in brilliant, engaging and wholly unparalled releases and live performances.
Formed in 1997, the band has become a monolithic presence in the Australian music scene, and have acquired a cult following throughout their home country and beyond. Those who have been to their gigs know of the strange blend of casual, hilarious audience banter and ferocious, unpredictable live performance. It’s nigh-on impossible to walk out of a Drones gig without a hard-earned layer of sweat covering your body and a massive smile covering your face.
At the forefront of the band is lead singer and writer Gareth Liddiard, one of the original founding members. His uniquely Australian voice is a driving force behind the band’s music, both relaxed and passionate at the same time. Liddiard has also released a solo album, Strange Tourist, back in 2010, and still frequently plays solo shows around the country.
Ahead of The Drones’ headline set at Brisbane’s Deadlam Festival (tickets here), we were lucky enough to chat with Liddiard himself to discuss the weird and whacky: from politics to music.
I’d like to start off talking about Feeling Kind Of Free. It was such a great record, with an amazing sound, which was a little different from a lot of your previous stuff. Was that shift inspired or prompted by anything specific?
We just got sick of doing the, well, it wasn’t always the same old thing, but something similar. And then with Chrisso [Christian Strybosch], the drummer coming back into the band, he was fresh and keen. He likes all sorts of weird and whacky music and he was keen to use samplers and shit like that. So that was a good thing, ’cause he was like “why don’t we try this” and I was like “yeah that’s what I was gonna suggest.” So that was cool.
A lot of your music – both as a solo artist and with The Drones – is really political. You’ve always been great at making a statement – do you have a specific aim there? Do you believe musicians have a responsibility to make socio-political commentary, or to just take in the world around them?
It’s a personal preference. I do wonder why more people don’t do it, if this personal preference thing is true, but I don’t think it’s a responsibility. I don’t think you can change that much by preaching to a choir, but if people are already leaning a certain way you can maybe help them lean a bit further.
For me, I don’t really separate the political thing from anything, really. When I write songs I don’t necessarily block a whole bunch of shit out and concentrate solely on certain subject matters, I just put it all in there.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OkgaCRII7I
Taman Shud was a great standout from FKOF, and it seems super relevant now. You talked about “preaching to the choir,” and the whole echo chamber that is dominating our world at the moment. Do you think people have a responsibility to get out and actually take action instead of sitting around doing fuck all?
Again I don’t think there’s a responsibility as such. But if things go to shit, don’t complain if you didn’t do anything about it. It’s like the Brexit thing. We know people who live in England who were against Britain leaving the EU, but they didn’t bother to vote. And that’s a left-wing, that. Left-wingers are more likely to say “it’ll be okay,” or sit around and smoke a bong. Right-wingers are more uptight, so they’re the ones who get out and vote, because they’ve got a rod up their ass.
As opposed to the whole “Red-Wine Activist” type thing.
Well lefties are more laid back, so when the voting day comes they just can’t be fucked! (Laughs) And that’s bad! It’s like everyone else is doing their patriotic duty; all the right-wingers are getting out there. That’s probably why people like Republicans don’t want the compulsory vote, you know?
And you touch on that in your live shows too. I saw you down in Hobart back in May, which was actually my first gig over 18. The FKOF shows were a lot different than previous tours, with the heavier use of electronics. How do you feel The Drones have evolved as a live band, and have there been any challenges or problems you’ve had to work out?
We’ve had to change up the equipment a bit. We don’t actually loop anything, but we thought it’d be kinda funny to be more electronic leaning, but loose. Because electronic kinda means tight, which is just going to be robotic. But we’ve always been a really loose band and there’s never really been much – if any – loose electronic drum beat type music. Our whole thing – or my whole thing – is just to get crazier as you get older. I don’t get more conservative; I just want to explore more strange options. And it’s always been like that for me.
I think it makes sense to just get way more out there. A guy like Schomburg, he did that, or Tom Waits does that – just gets weirder. Like Scott Walker. I just think “why not?”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XibHLDrlUls
Just on the Hobart show: It was so great you came to Tassie! I also saw a solo show you played last year down here for Dark MOFO. I wrote a piece a few weeks ago about how Hobart barely sees any big name bands, so I just wanted to get your thoughts on why you think Tassie is largely ignored when it comes to tours, and what keeps bringing you back?
I don’t know. I honestly don’t know. It’s not as if it’s that far away. If you’re in Sydney, you’re usually going to have to fly to Melbourne. So what’s the difference if you fly to Hobart? There’s not as many people in Hobart, and yeah we played some bigger shows on the mainland but we love Hobart. It’s a lot looser and a lot less informal down there, so that’s cool. That suits us, because we’re a pretty whacked out sounding band. And we’re pretty whacked out people, too. It’s not like we’re normal, dinner party types.
Yeah, I saw you guys at the bar before the show, just chatting to people. It’s not something you see that often.
Totally, and The Brisbane and The Tote are my two favourite venues in Australia. We got a lot of friends who think the same thing, guys like The Nation Blue. The Brisbane fuckin’ rules, it’s just a madhouse. And that’s what pubs used to be like in the 90’s when I was growing up. It was just literally “Eff rules!” and you could get really really loose and no one would stop you until the cops finally came *laughs*
Yeah it was a pretty fucking great way to propel myself into adulthood!
*Laughs* Yeah that’s cool man! That’s really great!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajOYnNYYvvg
I saw you solo last year, and you’ve been playing a couple of solo shows around the country recently. What do you get out of a solo record or show that’s different from a Drones record/show?
I can just do it by myself, so it’s kind of low maintenance. I don’t need much gear – I just plug in an acoustic guitar and play it. And I can do it on all my own time. I can talk too long in between songs without the drummer getting impatient or anything like that *laughs* and I don’t really feel a responsibility to the band so I don’t have to care that much. It’s really nice, and just completely different.
After playing with the band forever and ever, it’s just kinda nice to get away and be open.
Well Strange Tourist came out in 2010, right? That’s a while ago. Any chance for some new solo Gareth Liddiard in the near future?
I mean the solo thing, completely alone, was more me trying to get a certain arrangement. Like sometimes you want a horn section, sometimes you want an orchestra and sometimes you want samplers or some shit. But sometimes you just want the sound of an acoustic guitar and a voice, and that’s why it was just me by myself, rather than something else. I could have done a solo thing with a bunch of musicians and called it “Gareth Liddiard,” but that’s what I do anyway – I write songs and take them to a bunch of musicians and we figure out how we’re going to play them.
But as far as something different goes? Next year we’re probably going to try just me, Fiona and a friend – who’s actually a frequent Brisbane Hotel visitor, a Hobartian – and try to get together some really fucked up weird band and release a bunch of whacked out shit. We only just started the other day. So that would be kind of solo, but again kind of… not? *laughs*
One final question for you: What’s your favourite album of the year so far?
Oh god, I don’t know. Classic question where you can’t think! I don’t know, I can’t think at all! *laughs* There’s been lots of weird and whacky shit I’ve been listening to, but then some stuff that’s new to me might be 50 years old. There’s been lots of cool bands, but I’ve just gone completely blank!
There was this really cool record – might have been last year – by All The Weathers from Hobart, a record called Tactile Textures. That’s pretty whacked out and cool. I’ve just gone blank, you’ll have to ask me again later! I’ll text you the answer! *laughs*
Yeah cheers! It’s been awesome speaking to you! Thanks so much for your time!
No worries man, my pleasure!
Image: Music Farmers
Travis Scott’s latest album Birds In The Trap Sing McKnight was pretty decent. While it wasn’t the best rap album to surface this year, it was nonetheless solid enough. The bars were pretty good, and my only real criticism was with the lack of diversity in the sounds production-wise.
One of the tracks that wasn’t that great, however, was Beibs In The Trap. It was just kind of… eh. Nav’s voice was fairly average, and Scott’s opening to his verse is just abysmal. So it’s with no great excitement that I write this piece about an upcoming video for the track. Scott posted a picture of a pretty sweet car on his Instagram, stating “BEIBS IN THE TRAP SOON.”
Of course, Travis Scott has shown to have a pretty loose grasp on the meaning of “soon,” so I wouldn’t hold your breath. Still, music videos are usually fun, and might even make the song sound a little better. Scott’s Lambo seems to be dressed up as a 1940’s car, so here’s hoping that the video breaks away from the generic aesthetic, unlike the song it portrays. But hey, at least it isn’t a video for First Take, because that song actually sucks.
Image: Instagram
I awake to the sounds of a vibraphone, piercing through the heavy curtain of sleep. I turn my head and look at the digital numerals glowing blue from the corner of my room. 6:00 am pulses at me, making me aware of the sheer level of tiredness I feel. The vibraphone rings out again. This has been the start to my day for the last 3 weeks, the mellow tones of Heard About You Last Night, a beautiful piece by Mogwai, waking me from my much-needed slumber.
The reason for this is my decision to listen to ten albums a day for a month. The same ten albums, in the same order. Every. Single. Day.
The chosen ten, scribbled on a McDonald’s receipt
I tell my friends about my experiment, and I get a range of responses. Whether it’s a shocked “Are you crazy?” or an amused “Eh, that doesn’t sound too hard,” the underlying question is “Why?”
Why? That’s a very, very good question, and one that I only really begun asking myself about halfway through the second week. And even now, three days away from the end in this little experiment, I still don’t have an answer I’m completely happy with. Everyone offers their own thoughts on the question, yet none strike the nail on the head.
Yikes, that a lot of music…
One of the most common suggestions is that I’m seeking to “enrich my understanding of the albums.” Which, to be honest, is a load of bollocks. The albums that I’ve chosen are all ones that I know, and love (or at least, like to a great degree). I’m very particular about my music, and if I’m going to listen to an album everyday for a month, I’m not going to pick something I don’t know.
Another idea that I hear a lot is that I want to cut out shit music from my life. More fitting, and in line with my music tastes, but again, I don’t believe that it’s quite on the money. Music is about experimentation, and hearing the same thing over and over again (no matter how good) will make it sound less. As such, “cutting out the crap” will only serve to make the good music worse.
I didn’t really want to wake up to Killer Mike screaming “I’M GUNNA BANG THIS BITCH THE FUCK UP”
However, there is a bit of truth to both these explanations. Listening to a select few albums will eliminate the crap from my daily listening, and mean that I don’t have to keep fishing my phone out of my pocket to skip a song every time something unsavoury blasts through my headphones. It also means that the albums and I will become very well acquainted with each other. Some of my choices are long-time favourites of mine, others only released earlier this year. The different level of knowledge of the albums is something that will make the exploration all the sweeter. However, at six in the morning, with a sorrowful vibraphone providing my alarm, it can be difficult to appreciate the beauty of the music.
Image: A2ua