Category: Interviews

Posted on by Lauren Katulka

Q & A with Leon Harrison of The Lazys

With a self-titled EP dropping in May, and a national tour kicking off this week, The Lazys are ready to rock Australia. Before they head out on the road I caught up with the group’s colorful lead singer Leon Harrison.

Your sound seems to hark back to the classic days of Aussie pub rock, with really chunky guitars and aggressive vocals. Were you inspired by those vintage bands at all?
Yeah, the whole band was definitely inspired by that older rock and roll scene.

What are some of your favourite bands?
I’m an AC/DC fan myself. I like AC/DC. Matt’s into Zeppelin, I’m into Zeppelin. Australian, I like Midnight Oil even. They’re not even that hard rock. The Angels … anything really that’s a bit harder. I like Muse. They’re not really an older band, but yeah.

You recently played on the main stages at Coaster and the Come Together festival. What’s it like to play for these massive crowds?
It’s a lot more exciting when you get a bigger crowd in front of you. It’s more enjoyable I suppose. I haven’t done that a lot. We’ve played smaller pub crowds. I like the intimacy of smaller crowds, but bigger crowds are just more exciting.

You’re about to head out on your first full national tour in some time. Are you excited about getting back on the road?
Yeah I am. I can’t wait to get into a car with the boys, and get out there and do what we do. I’m pretty bored at home!

What can fans expect from one of your shows?
To have a good time. They can expect hard-hitting riffs and good old-fashioned punk rock and roll with no bullshit attached. We just have a good time at our shows and usually the crowd does as well.

Continue reading “Q & A with Leon Harrison of The Lazys” →

Posted on by Lauren Katulka

Q & A with Lisa Mitchell

From Albury to Australian Idol to the world stage, Lisa Mitchell has forged a career with her sweet folk voice and quirky melodies. This month Lisa will release her debut album The Attic Space and embark on her first national tour as a headlining artist. Today I caught up with this bright young star to chat about her passion for travelling and teacups.

You got your start on Australian Idol. How do you feel about that experience looking back?
I got a lot of exposure out of it, so from that point of view it’s been great for me, to do my own kind of music. So it was a positive experience for me.

After Idol you returned to Albury and stayed out of the limelight for a while. Why did you decide to take that time away from the spotlight?
I guess it wasn’t really a conscious decision. I was just working on my own songs. I was living over in London for a while, recording some songs over there, just travelling about a bit. And as it happens I’ve got some songs together now, so I’m just in the last steps of putting them together into an album.

You’re releasing your debut album The Attic Space later this month. How would you describe it?
Someone asked me if it was typical of me, and I said I think it’s typical of me in that I like to experiment. It’s I suppose slightly experimental, and it’s quite dark in some parts. I did some recording in London with a guy called Anthony Whiting and that part of things was quite dark. Just lately I’ve been back in the studio with Dann Hume (Evermore) who I did the EPs with and we’ve been recording some new songs, and they’ve turned out well because every time we start recording it we don’t know what to expect. I suppose it’s a similar sound to my EPs, but also I think I experimented a little more.

You mentioned some of the awesome people you’ve worked with on this album. What’s it been like collaborating with such talented guys?
Well I’ve collaborated with a fair few people over the last few years, which has been a really great experience, but they’re not necessarily collaborations I’m using on the album. It’s a brilliant exercise for songwriting I think. Just meeting them, and seeing what their life’s like, I think you learn a lot more from them as people than maybe you do writing songs together.

Continue reading “Q & A with Lisa Mitchell” →

Posted on by Lauren Katulka

Q & A with Peter Hume of Evermore

You’ve got to admire Evermore’s Peter Hume. He was up late entertaining crowds at the launch of the band’s new album Truth of the World: Welcome to the Show, yet the next morning at 9 am he was calling me for a chat. He might have been little sleepy, but he was happy to talk about his ambitious new recording.

You had your album launch in Sydney last night. How did that go?
Really well, really well. It was the first time we’ve had basically the whole thing together, the whole show, all our screens and all new songs, it was cool. It was great to see, I think a few people were surprised.

Is it hard fronting up for interviews first thing in the morning after a big night like that?
This is the first one so you’ll have to bear with me a little bit.

I’ve heard so many music critics say that the concept album is dead, yet your new album Truth of the World: Welcome to the Show definitely falls into the concept album category. What made you decide to record this epic piece of music?
I think we’ve always loved ambitious music, and we’ve especially always loved albums we’ve grown up on like Pink Floyd and The Who. We’ve never just thought it was about three-and-a-half minute songs. Our very first record, Dreams, was going to be a concept album. We just really didn’t have the experience to finish it. We wanted to make an album that really excited us, and that really stretched us as songwriters. And it seemed like a good idea, especially when you’ve got multiple songwriters in the band to have a story or a structure that you can all contribute to.

You’ve had such success with radio-friendly singles in the past. Did you ever worry about alienating your audience by producing something so different?
Not really. I suppose you don’t think about that at the time. I suppose we were just really getting into music again. We’d moved down to Melbourne, and we’d built our own studio, and Jon was producing the record, and it was just the three of us hanging out. We were just having a lot of fun. I hope that gets across in the album. I don’t think that so far it’s alienated anybody, but we’ll wait and see.

You mentioned that your brother Jon produced the album this time around. It was the first time that you haven’t worked with producers outside the band. What was it like having him on that side of things?
Oh, great. Jon’s always done a lot of the production for the last three records. We do a lot of it in Australia, or in New Zealand for the first record, and then we’d finish it off in America with a name producer. I think every album we’ve wanted Jon to produce, but this is the first time they’ve let us! I suppose it’s sort of a big thing, especially when you’re younger, to go “Yeah, you can produce the whole thing.” They’re all kind of worrying how it’ll turn out. But we were confident. We know his abilities.

You offered the first single from the album as a free download. When so many musicians are against free music online, what made you decide to just give the single away?
We really just wanted to get it out there. We really wanted people to hear our new sound, and as many people as possible, not necessarily people who had ever thought of buying an Evermore single.

How important is the internet as a promotional tool these days?
The internet is huge. We’ve got a really good online community on our website, and on our MySpace and things like that. We used that from really early on. It’s probably the best way to find out about new music. I think that’s how most people find out about new music, through MySpace and things like that.

I can’t imagine ever working with my sisters. What’s it like being in a band with your brothers?
It’s pretty easy actually, because you’ve got that experience behind you. There’s a lot of room for forgiveness. People always ask us that, and I don’t really know because I haven’t had any other experience. I think all bands are slightly kind of claustrophobic. They’re full on things because you’re hanging out with each other all the time. So being family doesn’t seem to be that much of a stretch.

You left New Zealand to pursue your music career in Australia. Was that a hard decision?
I don’t think we made the decision at the time. We couldn’t afford to fly back! We got offered some shows in Australia and we were just like “Well we’re just going to live in Australia, sleep on people’s floors, and see what happens.” I think maybe if we’d had heaps of money we would have gone backwards and forwards for a while. But I think we really fell in love with living here and I don’t think we’re moving for the moment.

You guys have enjoyed such success with your music. What keeps you grounded?
I suppose being a band with your brothers keeps you pretty grounded, because they’ve known you since you were a toddler. I think that would probably be a big grounding experience.

When are you planning on getting out and touring this album?
Really soon hopefully. I think we’re going to be announcing a tour in the next couple of weeks. It’s a kind of multimedia show we’re playing. The giant screens from the video clips are coming along with us. It’ll be a lot of fun.

And finally, do you have a message for your Australian fans out there?
We look forward to seeing you all on the road!

Image used with permission from Warner Music Australia

Posted on by Lauren Katulka

Q & A with C.W. Stoneking

With his most recent album called Jungle Blues, local bluesman C.W. Stoneking seems like the perfect headliner for this week’s Earth Hour concert at Melbourne Zoo. But before he joins the big cats and crocodiles, C.W. took a little time out to chat to Oz Music Scene.

You’re playing the Earth Hour concert at Melbourne Zoo this weekend. Why did you want to be a part of it?
To be honest with you I didn’t really know about it until they asked me to do it. In my isolation in the suburbs with my children, making music, I had no idea. I’d never even heard of it before.

How important are events like this in raising awareness of environmental issues?
I think it sounds pretty good. It’s good for people to get together and do something. People’s attention spans might run out I guess, which is why they only make them a day-long event, or an hour-long event in this case maybe. But it’s interesting.

What are some of the things you do in your own life to make the world a little greener?
I don’t know what I do. My garden isn’t very green. Everything I do there makes it more brown.

One of the really cool things about the event is that it’s all acoustic. What do you like about playing in that stripped back mode?
I sort of came up playing acoustic when I got my start. Some of the bands I’ve had, we even used to do shows with no microphones. But I like it pretty good. I like having electricity as well, because it helps you rock out some more. I’ve got a drummer now, so you need to get on top of all that noise that they make. But also acoustic is good as well.

Your sound draws heavily from the music of the 20s and the 30s. What’s so appealing to you about that classic musical era?
There’s a lot of things for me that are appealing about it. They had good style back then. You could see it in everything they did really. It’s in the music as well. You compare a good-looking building back then to something that they come up with now. There’s just bits and pieces that don’t need to be there, you know? I’m talking from a visual standpoint. People overdo things a bit now. They had some good ways to do it, so I try to follow in that vein a bit when I make my music as well.

Was it ever difficult to get a foot in the door because your music was so different to what’s on the radio?
No, not really. I wouldn’t say that because I guess when I was starting out I wasn’t really trying to get ahead of myself in terms of getting some sort of deal that was going to shoot me straight to the top. I was more interested in just developing my sound. And once I’d kind of done that and put out my last record, or the record before last, I guess I’d just spent my time well because people liked the record. And then it was easier for me because I was different I guess. I had a whole stretch of ground all to myself.

You played the Port Fairy Folk Festival this month and you’re doing the East Coast Blues and Roots festival in April. What do you enjoy about those festival shows?
You play to pretty big crowds. Usually a lot of people want to buy your record. But I guess one of the best things for me, as a person who usually never goes out unless I’m on tour, is that I get to see some other music. I guess that would be one of the best things for me. As far as doing shows goes, I generally prefer doing my own shows in an enclosed space. The festival energy is more … there’s a lot of things going on.

It must have been something special growing up in an Aboriginal community in the Northern Territory. How did your upbringing make you the person you are today?
I guess I spent a lot of the time playing, instead of thinking about buying stuff or hanging around the shops. So maybe that was how it helped me. Except now I spend lots of time hanging around the shops. But I still get the chance to play a few when I’m writing songs, things like that.

And finally, do you have a message for your local fans?
I would like to say hello to them, and that I hope they’re enjoying my record. I hope to get a new one to them before too long.

C.W. Stoneking plays Melbourne Zoo for Earth Hour this Saturday, May 28. Tickets are still available from the venue.

Image source: Craig Bender @ Wikimedia Commons

Posted on by Lauren Katulka

Q & A with Alex Lindsey Jones

Alex Lindsey Jones is a Sydney singer-songwriter on the rise. His debut album If She Knew is the ideal showcase for his unique voice and instantly accessible pop-rock tunes. I caught up with this hot new up-and-comer today to chat about unkind British audiences, his prolific songwriting skills, and his unlikely friendship with Craig McLachlan.

I read that you spent a lot of time as a kid raiding your parents’ record collection. What were your favourite albums as a kid?
I most definitely did. They didn’t have a lot of good stuff in there, but I managed to find a lot of Elvis, a lot of Beach Boys, and even The Beatles, and that was pretty gold stuff to discover as a kid. Eventually my tastes evolved and The Beach Boys turned into Huey Lewis and The News and Elvis turned into Bruce Springsteen, and so on, but that was a great place to start. That real American rock and roll stuff, apart from The Beatles, was really what caught on so that’s really influenced my stuff up until this day.

How important was your parents’ musical influence on your career?
I guess because my earliest musical memories were directly affected by their tastes and what they had lying around the house, they were fairly important.

You began writing songs at such a young age. Did you ever have any other career ambitions, or was music always it for you?
It probably sounds a little boring, but music was always the only thing I could see myself doing. It was a borderline obsession when I was a kid. It was the only thing I could talk about, think about. I’d constantly lock myself away in my room with my guitar and write songs. I think between 16 and 18 I’d written a couple of hundred songs, maybe a little bit more. That might sound like a lot, but I can tell you they weren’t all good ones! It was definitely just one of those things. I just couldn’t say no.

I remember the first time I actually had the courage to play one of my songs to someone and sing in front of them, and they told me I was awful. They said, “You were awful, you stink!” But I just couldn’t take no for an answer. So I just kept going and here I am now.

So I guess perseverance pays off!
Yeah, although it’s funny. It’s such a personal thing what people like musically. There’s almost no right or wrong, no good or bad. It’s just what connects and what doesn’t.

You moved to the UK and played with the band Falling Down for a few years. What did you learn working in the British music scene?
That was a real learning curve, especially playing this sort of hybrid Aussie-American-classic rock stuff which had never been particularly popular over there. We played a lot, we played over 100 shows in the couple of years we were together. But we were virtually booed off every stage we ever went on! It was tough but what I learnt was just not to give up and not to quit. We got quite a thick skin from the fact that we didn’t go down so well. But hey, they kept giving us gigs so we can’t have been that bad!

But it was definitely a very interesting period of my life. It’s not the first place I’m going to go back when I’m doing my world tour, hopefully sooner rather than later!

What made you come back to Australia?
After a couple of years abroad I was so homesick. Sydney is just the greatest place as far as I’m concerned. I really, really missed home and wanted to get back to the sun, and the good food that we’re used to, and all that sort of stuff.

And I just thought that it was fitting to record my debut album in Sydney. It was getting to that point where it was like “I’ve got to make an album, it’s now or never.” They say that you’ve got your whole life to make your first album, and I kind of took that literally! It took four years to make it. But it had to be done in Sydney. I’m quite proud that I could do it with local players and producers, and do it all ourselves in our own backyard.

Now you had more than 100 songs to choose from when recording your debut album If She Knew. That’s pretty prolific – what inspires you?

It’s just one of those things. I don’t know if I can really sum it up or put it in a nutshell. Who really knows where the inspiration comes from? The way it works with me, any time I’ve tried to force myself to write a song, when I think I haven’t written a song in a while and I should write a song, it backfires. It doesn’t work. I end up either not writing anything or I write something really awful and I throw it out straight after it’s finished.

What I find is that occasionally I’m just overcome with inspiration for whatever song it is, and I have to grab my guitar no matter what I’m doing. I might be sitting on the bus and I’ll pull out a bit of paper if I’ve got one and I’ll start jotting down a lyric. Or I’ll start humming a tune and I can’t get it out of my head and I’ll have to remember it until I get home. It just hits you in the oddest places, the inspiration. And who knows where it comes from? I can’t really explain it.

Is it challenging to narrow the songs down when you’ve got so many?
It is hard, because sometimes you’ve got to let go of the ones that you do for yourself. Sometimes I’ll write a song and I’ll think, “That’s exactly what I want to say. That’s exactly the kind of song that I want to write.” But I don’t really think people will get into it, it’s not the kind of thing that people will like as much as I do. So you’ve definitely got to cut out a lot of material that you’ve written for yourself.

But it helps when you’ve got people that are coming to see you regularly, your friends, and I guess you could call them fans, they do let you know when they particularly like a song. So in that sense it’s easy to pick out the real gems, because they’re the ones that people ask you to play, or tell you after the show that they’re really good songs.

You funded the album yourself. How important is it to you to remain independent?
It’s becoming more and more important. When I was first starting to put the album together and get into it, it was one of those things that was very hard, to be independent. It’s not like it was 15 or 20 years ago when getting a record deal was really important, and probably a lot easier as well. There’s a lot of pressure on independent artists. They’ve got to look after the business side of things as well.

But now as I get further into my career, I’ve just realised there’s so many bonuses to being independent, and making the decisions yourself. And I guess I’m quite proud of the fact that we’re doing it all ourselves, and not relying on anyone else to call the shots.

I believe Craig McLachlan’s a big fan, and he makes a cameo in the video for your new single “Your Love is Amazing.” How important has his support been?
His support has been tremendous. Craig McLachlan is easily the nicest guy you will ever meet. He’s just wonderful, a real sweetheart. We had a chance meeting and ended up talking about music, and as it turned out we liked a lot of the same bands and had a lot of the same influences from when we were growing up with music. So we really hit it off in that sense. After hearing my album he loved it and wanted to help out any way he could. And as it turned out we were about to film the video for my first single, “Your Love is Amazing,” and Craig offered to do a little guest spot for us. He even rearranged his TV shooting schedule to come out and do this few second cameo. He’s just a real great guy, really supportive. I’ve really appreciated all his help, and he’s shared a few war stories with me, which has been really fantastic. He’s just a great guy.

And people don’t realise he’s probably the most talented musician I’ve ever met as well. The guy plays virtually every instrument under the sun. I’ve even got one of his lesser-known albums, and he literally plays everything on it. This cat is just so talented, but musically he doesn’t get that credit. But people don’t realise that.

People just remember “Mona” and that’s it!

They do, and it’s a real shame because he had a lot more to offer. But I guess the fact that people know who he is is great for him. And he does a little bit of music, a little bit of TV, a little bit here and there.

I hear that you’ll be doing some Sydney shows soon before kicking off a national tour. What can we expect from your live performances?
The initial live shows around Sydney are acoustic showcases, so it’s going to be quite interesting. The songs are going to be different slightly. Not so different as to be unrecogniseable, but they’re going to be a lot more striped back. They’re a lot more emotive and soulful. So it’s going to be interesting. People are going to get to see these songs in a really naked form and I guess hear where they originally started, because all these songs were just written on the acoustic guitar way back when. We spent years recording this album and polishing it up and adding these little frills in the studio, so it’s going to be nice to strip it back and just let the songs play themselves and live on their own. We’ll see how they go.

And finally, do you have a message for your local fans?
To all three of them [laughs], thanks for the support and make sure you keep coming to see us.

Sydneysiders can do just that next month when Alex Lindsey Jones plays two special acoustic showcases. Catch him at the Old Manly Boatshed on April 15 and the Sandringham Hotel on April 23. If She Knew is available digitally through iTunes.

Image used with permission from AAA Entertainment

Posted on by Lauren Katulka

Q & A with Trever Keith from Face to Face

Australian Face to Face fans have waited ten long years for the Californian pop-punk band to return to our shores. Now their patience has been rewarded, with the band playing around the country as part of the massive Soundwave festival. I caught up with frontman Trever Keith to talk about the festival, what it’s like to play with his bandmates after a four-year hiatus, and why that return to Australia took so long!

You’re out here to play Soundwave. How have the shows been so far?
They’ve been great. We’ve only done two, in Brisbane and Sydney, but last night we did a Sidewave show in Sydney in a club and that was a lot of fun also.

How has the reaction been from the crowds?
It’s been really, really good. Despite the fact that we haven’t been to Australia in over ten years the audiences are singing along, singing the words to the songs and going crazy. We’re having a great time. It’s awesome.

That was actually my next question. I’m sure the fans are wondering, why has it taken you so long to get back here?
You know, I don’t know why it’s taken us so long. We definitely haven’t done the work out here that we should have been doing, and I can see that now. We should have been coming down here all along. We’re not going to let ten years slip by before we get back out here on a headline tour.

What’s it like to be part of a big festival like Soundwave?
You know, it’s got its good and bad points. I will say it’s incredibly well organised, and everyone is getting flipped from their destinations like a well-oiled machine. The stages are great, the sound is great. My only complaint about being on festival shows is you just feel a bit more disconnected from the audience because you’ve got the really high tall stages and the barricade that’s really far from the crowd and all that. I like to get a little more up close and personal with the audience. But that would be my only small complaint and that’s not a fault of Soundwave. It’s just the nature of doing a festival.

Have you been able to watch any of the other acts on the tour?
Only really The Alkaline Trio because they’ve been playing right before or after us on these first few shows.

Have you had any time while you’re here to play tourist?
Oh definitely. Matter of fact, in Sydney we got out to Bondi Beach. We walked around the city quite a bit. Last night we got out to see The Stray Cats after our club show, so we’ve been able to do quite a bit.

The band took a break for four years. How does it feel to be back together?
Fantastic. It was something we all missed a great deal. Our manager was joking that he was going to try and put us back together after five years and we’re like “It’ll never happen.” But after four years we missed it enough that we started sniffing around and saying “Can you call a booking agent?” Just seeing if there was any interest, and it just kind of all fell back into place.

When you guys first started out you were part of such a massive punk rock movement in California. What was it like to be part of that?
I don’t know. I mean, I think we became part of a massive punk rock movement, but in the early days it wasn’t really punk rock that was the music that was in fashion when we started. We started our band in 1991, so we were definitely in the minority when we started the group. But by the mid 90s we were just sort of riding that wave of mania for pop-punk stuff. It was great. Our contemporaries were bands like Green Day, The Offspring, Bad Religion was around a little bit before us. But it was great to be able to play with bands like that. We were doing club gigs with a lot of the bands who blew up and became really massive, so it was a good time for pop-punk music.

You’re the only original member of the band. What’s made you stay when so many others have jumped ship?
(laughs) Because I’m the leader and I rule with an iron fist. I don’t know. I mean, our bass player Scott [Shiflett] jumped on board so early in the band that him and I are really the two guys that have kept this thing afloat at this point. And Chad Yaro who joined on the second album, he’s still a part of the band. He’s just kind of picking and choosing his tours these days. So it’s not as fragmented as it may seem. On this particular tour it’s a very unique situation because Scott got really, really ill in the weeks leading up to the tour, and his condition didn’t get any better and he wasn’t able to fly out here. So it’s me and Danny, our latest drummer, and Roger [Manganelli] from Less than Jake is filling in, so it’s a pretty different looking Face to Face. But, you know, it’s still my old growly voice up there.

You’ve just released a best of album. Do you have a favourite Face to Face song?
I have favourites, plural. I guess if I had to go with just one I might pick “A-OK,” it’s always been one of my favourites.

I hear you’re considering recording another Face to Face album. Is there any truth to those rumours?
There is. We haven’t actually begun writing songs yet but there is a lot of talk and there is some ideas floating around for some new material. I think there’s a pretty good chance that we’re going to be getting into the studio and recording some new material.

So with the album, are you considering more tours? What does the future hold for the band?
Oh definitely. I mean, it’s the reason why. We’ve been active for just about a year I guess, and in that time we’ve been to Europe, we’ve been to South America, and now we’re here in Australia. And those are all parts of the world that we didn’t spend enough time in during the first ten or so active years of the group. Now in this later phase, second phase or whatever you want to call it, that’s really going to be our focus: to get back into these other parts of the world that we didn’t spend enough time in, in my opinion. I’d like to be able to come back every year or two and do a tour and try and build up our core audiences in these other parts of the world.

And finally, do you have a message for your Australian fans?
You know, these questions always baffle me. But I’d like to mention that our best of album is being released here in Australia now, so you’ll be able to get it domestically. And it’s great to be back out here, and we’re just having a great time.

Image source: Eduardo Loureiro @ Flickr

Posted on by Lauren Katulka

Q & A with Charlotte Cooper from The Subways

As teenagers Charlotte Cooper and her Subways bandmates got their start playing Nirvana covers around their English neighbourhood. Now they’re part of the Soundwave Festival touring Australia. Today I chatted to this uber-cool bass player about her guitar heroes, working with legendary producer Butch Vig, and her love for Oz.

You’re out here to play Soundwave. How have the local crowds been so far?
It’s been really amazing so far. We’re just so, so happy to be in Australia. We all love the country so much and it’s so great to get the chance to play here. This is only our second time touring here. We’ve obviously been here separately, but this is only our second time playing here – we were here in 2006 for The Big Day Out – so we’re just glad to play here.

So what keeps you coming back to Australia?
Well we’ve all got family here and we’ve been coming over since we were kids, so I think we’re always going to have that connection to the country. And I absolutely love being here. I’m not really sure what it is about it, but I think it’s the only other place in the world I could live other than the UK.

Have you been able to see much your family or play tourist while you’ve been here?
I did, I got to stay with my aunt for night, which was good. Now we’ve got a couple of days off in Melbourne so we’ve all got different ideas of what we want to do and see.


What are you planning to get up to?
Well my first thing is shopping. That’s my days planned.

Have you been able to watch any of the other acts on the tour?
We’ve watched quite a few actually. And in Melbourne too, I don’t think we’ve got a flight too early so we’re going to stand around and watch some of the headliners too like Nine Inch Nails, Billy Talent, and Alice in Chains. I really want to see Lacuna Coil as well because she’s the only other girl on the whole festival.

You’re regulars on the festival circuit. What do you love about playing these big travelling shows?
I think that in terms of the audience, for us, it’s a great way to get new fans. And the whole thing with festivals is about having a good time, kind of escaping and forgetting about their lives for a day and having a good time. And that’s what our live show is all about, that’s the atmosphere we try to create every night. So being in a festival, that’s what we’re all about anyway so it’s excellent to do that. We get to go to a place like Australia where we’ve never really been before to perform. As well as for us it’s a chance to see bands. We’re very fortunate that we get to see huge bands because we don’t always get to do that.

I hear that both Oasis and Foo Fighters are really big fans of yours. What’s it like when such massive bands sit up and take notice of what you’re doing?
It’s amazing, especially since both bands picked us to support them as well. I can’t tell you what an amazing feeling that is, when someone like Liam Gallagher tells Billy [Lunn] and I that he really likes “Oh Yeah.” We didn’t really know how to take that, when someone we’ve idolised since we were young kids likes our song.

So what did you learn from being on the road with them?
I think really with the Foo Fighter, they’re just showmen, all of them. Particularly Dave Grohl, but Taylor Hawkins is an amazing drummer, he’s a showman as well as a drummer. And putting a show together, everyone has an amazing time at a Foo Fighters gig. You leave feeling quite euphoric I think. So we try and take a little bit of that away I think. That’s the kind of atmosphere we want to create at our shows as well.

There are so many great female bass guitarists like Suzi Quatro and Juliana Hatfield. Are there any that you particularly look up to?
D’Arcy who used to be in Smashing Pumpkins, Melissa Auf der Maur who used to be in Hole – I was a massive Hole fan. Obviously there’s been various different female musicians who’ve been in that band, and they’re all musicians that I look up to. PJ Harvey as well – I know she’s a guitarist rather than a bass player, but in the way that her stage presence is. Shirley Manson, amazing frontwoman. There’s lots of people.

After your first album Billy had to have surgery to remove polyps on his vocal chords and the band’s future was in doubt. What was that period like for you?
It was a very scary time for us, very uncertain time. I think that was the thing that we all found quite difficult. We’d been on this whirlwind of a tour after releasing Young For Eternity, two and a half years of touring the world, having an amazing time, and that came to quite an abrupt stop. There was nothing booked in the diary, we didn’t know how long it would take Billy to recover, and that’s what we found really hard. I think that’s why now we’re so grateful to be doing this.

You recorded your latest album All or Nothing with Butch Vig, who produced all those classic Nirvana records. Now I believe you got your start playing Nirvana covers, so did you get a bit star-struck meeting him?
Oh definitely, the first time we met him I was definitely quite nervous. I was definitely a bit nervous before going into the studio as well, a bit scared. He’s had an amazing career and worked with all of these amazing musicians, you sort of doubt yourself a bit I guess. But we had so much fun, and he’s such a lovely, lovely guy, such a disarming character. He made us feel so comfortable. I never had so much fun being in the studio. It was amazing.

And finally, do you have a message for your Australian fans?
I just want to thank everybody for coming to the shows. If you people didn’t come we wouldn’t be able to come out here. It’s quite amazing. We’re on quite early at Soundwave, and a lot of people have made the effort to come down early and see us, which is amazing. I really, really, really hope we’ll be back soon. We’re definitely trying to get another tour organized, maybe later this year or early next year.

Image used with permission from Warner Music Australia

Posted on by Lauren Katulka

Q & A With Anne Robertson from Sultry Sally

Anne Robertson burst onto the music scene in 2005 when she made the finals of Australian Idol. These days she’s strutting her stuff as one quarter of new girl group Sultry Sally. I caught up with Anne today to chat about her latest musical endeavour, her big family, and what she really thinks of the Young Divas!

All the members of Sultry Sally are such talented singers and musicians in their own right. How did you girls come together?
We came together through an open audition process. Hundreds of girls applied but it ended up being myself, Nat, Nicky, and Sera.

Why did you decide to audition for a part in the group?
I have been singing non-stop since I left Idol. I’d been doing some gigs, and working part-time, and working with other bands and things like that. I just wanted another experience, working with another group of talented singers, especially a girl group. The one goal is my singing, and that’s my main passion, so I just wanted to do something different and work with other talented people.

What’s the best thing about being part of a girl group?
I think the best part is that we can all come together and use our creativity and also our writing skills and just make new music. I know we have covers – most of our songs are covers – but rewriting them and just really creating them in our own way, and in our own vibe, that’s the greatest thing I think. And plus we’re girls, so we like to hang out and shop!

You’ve just released a cover of the Crystal Waters song “Gypsy Woman.” Were you a fan of the original?
Yeah I was, I was a fan of the original. And that was the great thing about it. We chose four great dance songs that everyone would know [for the single], and we just changed them up and put our little bit into it and it turned out great.

I hear you sang at Warringah Mall last week. What was that like?
Oh it was good! It was just a lot of people passing by, but they were stopping by watching us and it was great. It was hot! The stage was outside, but it was good.

Are the girls planning to get out and do some full-length shows soon?
Oh, we would love to! Right now we’re doing a Westfields [shopping centre] tour, and you can catch up on what we’re doing on our website sultrysallymusic.com, but we would love to do shows. Our launch was great and we would love to do more stuff like that and just perform and get out there. That’s what we want to do.

You come from a big family of seven kids. What was it like growing up with all those brothers and sisters?
Oh crazy crazy crazy! But I have so many brothers and sisters so I have so many friends. Like they are my friends, they are my best friends. We’re so close, each and every one of us, and we do everything together. Wherever one person goes, we all go. So that’s what I love about a big family, and it helps as well because we all used to sing as a family. And it helps being in a group because we all did harmonies and things like that, and that’s the same thing I used to do with my family and brothers and sisters.

How important has your family been to your success?
Oh so important. They’ve been so supportive. I don’t think I’d be anywhere without my family and them helping me, pushing me along, and giving me the freedom to live my dreams and go for my goals, and supporting me and praying for me, which has been the best thing I need and the only thing I need.

Most Aussies probably remember you from the third season of Australian Idol. How did that experience prepare you for a career in music?
It prepared me so much, because I’d really only been singing in church since I was three. I didn’t really do anything else outside of church. So being on Idol was such a great experience, and it was really good because I got to sing in front of a live crowd and on TV. It prepared me because I was such a shy person. My personality wasn’t out there. It was only when I was with my family that I was myself and loud and funny. It did prepare me and I’m so happy and grateful that I got that opportunity. And then when I left Idol, I just had to keep living that dream and keep aiming higher and higher and making sure that the level of perfection I got from Idol was still up there. So I just kept doing gigs, even though I was working part-time I was still travelling and working around Sydney, so it was really good. It did prepare me so much emotionally and knowing that they don’t just place it at your feet. You’ve got to work hard and just keep going and striving for your goals.

A lot of people in the music industry and the media tend to criticise Idol. Why, as someone who’s been a part of it, do you think it’s still going strong after so many years?
I think the main reason why is that it gives young Australians an opportunity to actually showcase their talents, showcase what they have to offer. Everyone has their own opinion, but for me personally being on the show, it’s a great opportunity for young Australians, especially those that don’t have the opportunity to get signed. I think it’s a great thing for everyone because they get that experience, they get that exposure, and know what’s out there and know how to get in front of a group. I think it’s a great thing.

Now I have to ask, if Sultry Sally took on the Young Divas in a fight, who would win?
Oh my gosh, I would not know what to say to that! I love the Young Divas. I love all the girls that are there and I just think they are so talented. I mean, girl power! The more of us the better, you know? We could take over the world! I just think the more talented people in the Australian music industry the better. Bring it on!

Image used with permission from Mark Communications

Posted on by Lauren Katulka

Q & A With Zoe Badwi

She’s a songwriter, model, an actress, and now a chart-topping solo artist. It seems like Zoe Badwi has done it all. I caught up with the bubbly and beautiful blonde songstress today and found there’s still plenty she hopes to achieve.

You were part of the girl group Sirens and Black Dogs. What made you decide to go solo?

I’m still in Black Dogs as well, I’m not leaving them, I love them. But Sirens finished up a few years ago. It was great fun but that was I think all I could do there. The solo career came about because I was playing with my band Black Dogs at a venue and Grant Smillie from TV Rock walked in. I could see him tapping his foot away when I was singing so even that was awesome. But then he came up to me afterwards and asked “Do you write?” He said he had some beats that I could write over and I said “Yeah, for sure.” So I wrote “Release Me” and I went to see them and sung it in front of them and both of them just said “Yep, we love it.”

Sirens had a very mainstream pop sensibility while Black Dogs is a lot edgier. What can we expect from your debut solo album?
You can expect a little bit of edge, definitely. A little bit of rock, pop, house, all the elements combined. I’m trying for something that’s a little bit of everything all put together.

And how’s the album coming along?
Really well. I’ve got the next three tracks ready to go. The next single will be released in two weeks which is called “Don’t Want Ya.” And other than that I’m just writing madly. I might even get together with a few other people and write some songs, just to get a little bit of a different sound.

Who would you like to work with?
James Ash from Rogue Traders, he’d be good. And there’s another guy called Dennis Dowlut (Disco Montego) who is just amazing. And Andrew De Silva who used to be in CDB … Andrew’s actually in my band Black Dogs and I think he’s one of the most talented people I’ve ever met in my life. I’m very lucky to be in a band with him.

TV Rock coproduced your new single “Release Me” and you’re signed up to their record label. What are they like to work with?
Ivan [Gough], he’s married with kids so he’s a little more settled but he’s a lovely guy. And he’s really talented in the producing side of things. I just have to tell him what I want and we talk about it and he finds these really interesting sounds and knows how to fit them in.

And Grant, he’s hilarious. He plays at a lot at the clubs where I’m playing so we always hang out, have a laugh, and have a bit of a drink. But they’re just really nice, down-to-earth guys. I didn’t think they’d be combing the Melbourne band scene to find somebody new. I thought they were just sorted and settled. When they approached me I was very lucky I think. I’m just very grateful for the opportunity. They’re so nice to me, they think I’m good, they believe in me. It’s a great partnership back and forth.

Your song “Release Me” went to number 1 on the ARIA Club Charts. What do you like to dance to on a night out?
When I’m out I love vocal house, but soulful vocal house, old school stuff. Old bands that I like that probably people haven’t heard of are like The Brand New Heavies, I loved Disco Montego. I love artists like Inaya Day and I still love Whitney Houston, just because I think her voice is just amazing. I love anyone who just tells a story, the emotion pours out of them, that’s what I love the most.

I spotted you working on The Singing Bee last year. That show’s one of my guilty pleasures. What’s it like to be a part of?
I was so excited when they asked me! I saw the first season and thought ‘That’d be so fun’ and then I got the call to go in it. I tell you what, I was packing my dacks to be on that show, because it’s the best musicians in Melbourne in the band. You get, I think it was like 40 songs you have to learn and you could sing any one of them, you didn’t know which one it was. But thank goodness one of the girls who has been in it for a while, Kelly Wolfgramm, she divided up the songs. So we still had to learn about 10 songs and be on standby to sing them. I didn’t care about the audience or the cameras or anything like that, it was just the musicians that were there because they were all so good. But I did well and I was proud of myself and I had so much fun.

You’re playing plenty of shows around Melbourne next month. What can people expect from your live gigs?
High energy and a lot of dancing. I’m not even aware of how much I dance. My friends who come and watch go “Woah, you really busted it out tonight Zoe!” I just get carried away! But I sing a fair few different songs, a couple of covers and some originals. You’ll get to see my new song while will be out in two weeks. I’ll start performing that around just to test it, see what the reaction’s like.

Do you have any idea when the rest of Australia will get the chance to see you on stage?
Well I’m heading up to Adelaide this weekend and then I’m in Brisbane in a couple of weeks. So I think it’s just sporadically on the weekends I’ll just be heading to different spots around Australia and just getting it out there.

Aside from the music I hear you’re also a model and an actress. Do you have a favorite creative pursuit?
Singing is my favourite, but it depends. Singing’s always number one but you go through different modes where you want to model more than you want to act, or you want to act more than you want to model. But it depends on what the role is or what the shoot is. I always manage to have myself a good time. I think that’s the most important thing along the way, whatever situation you’re in just find the fun in it.

And finally, do you have a message for your fans out there?
Thank you for supporting me! I can’t believe that people like a song that I wrote. Not even in a silly way, it’s just really nice. Thanks for singing it louder than I do when I’m performing it. I’m so grateful, I really am. I’m stoked.

Image used with permission from Warner Music Australia

Posted on by Lauren Katulka

Q & A With Rob Swire from Pendulum

Pendulum is one of Australia’s great success stories. Their most recent album In Silico zoomed into the number two spot on the UK charts, and they’ve sold out their last two UK tours. We’ve embraced this electronic outfit too, sending In Silico into the ARIA top ten. They’re based in the United Kingdom, but the boys have returned home to play the Big Day Out. I chatted with lead singer/songwriter/producer Rob Swire today about those big tours, what it’s like to be home, and how The Presets give him faith in the Aussie music scene.

You’re here to play the Big Day Out festival. Have you been able to see any of the other acts on the bill?
Yeah, we hung around the other day and saw The Living End which I was pretty impressed with. I’ve never really liked their stuff but seeing them as a band, they were off the hook. Apart from that we saw The Prodigy the other night as well who were better than I expected as well.

You’ve also played plenty of festivals on the European circuit too. What’s it like to be part of those big tours?
It’s good. The best shows we’ve done last year have been Reading and Download, which went surprisingly well considering we’re more electronic and it’s mainly a rock festival. With a lot of these festivals we don’t really know the history behind them. Coming from Australia, we’re kind of oblivious to what Reading means to the English people, what Glastonbury means to them. To come down here and play the Big Day Out is a bit more special.

What’s it like to return to Australia after so much time away?
It’s good but it does feel a bit alien. After a while you start to get used to the UK and its shitty weather, which I actually prefer to the heat.

Well we’ve had a bit of rain here. I don’t know whether you’ve brought it with you!
(laughs) I think we have! In fact, most festivals in Europe or America or wherever that we usually play, it usually rains. It’s kind of weird.

Do you have any downtime while you’re in Australia?
Yeah, quite a bit actually. That’s the benefit of playing something like the Big Day Out, it’s so spread out between the days it’s sort of a holiday as well.

Do you have any big plans on how you’re going to spend that time?
In a hotel with room service making tunes, probably.

What made the band decide to relocate to the United Kingdom?
Originally it wasn’t really a band. It was more a production outfit and we were just trying to get our tracks heard in the drum and bass scene, which is quite an insular scene. Especially back in 2003, unless you were amongst it you really didn’t stand a chance of making that big an impact.

You’ve had massive success in the UK with two sell out tours recently. How do the crowds there compare to audiences back home?
The audiences back home are a bit more relaxed to be honest. You’d think Australians would go for it more than anywhere else, but as far as I can see the UK beat them hands down.

Hold Your Colour had a lot of critical acclaim and underground buzz, but your second album In Silico has just exploded. What do you think is the secret to its success?
I don’t know. I wasn’t really happy with it, to be honest, so the fact that it did explode afterwards … I mean, I spent way too long on that thing and went a bit insane from wondering what the next direction was going to be, you know? I just had almost too many ideas to focus on, so the fact that it has done well is definitely a surprise.

So what weren’t you happy with? Or was it just a matter of being too close to the project?
I think it was being much too close to it. The writing process kind of involved being locked in a studio for mad periods at a time, trying to come up with different stuff. I think I just spent way too long on it and cared a bit too much about it.

In Silico sees you experiment more with rock and almost mainstream sounds. What influenced that change in direction?
With every album we try to come up with what we want to achieve, almost like a scientific experiment. With In Silico we were really trying to test our songwriting abilities. Hold Your Colour was mainly like a dance floor drum and bass club album. There were a lot of tracks just purely made to smash out a dance floor on a Saturday night in Fabric [nightclub] in London. Whereas for In Silico we really wanted to see if we could write proper tracks and have vocals and guitars and all that.

What’s your favourite aspect of the creative process? You do all the writing, and producing, and you play live; what really excites you?
I think I’m more of a producer first and a musician second. What excites me is just sitting down and trying to come up with some new tracks. And there’s also the competitive element to production. You’ve got all these other electronic artists, and all these other electronic bands trying to compete with you, I find that quite an exciting thing.

There seems to be a lot more of it around with bands like The Presets exploding. It seems plenty of artists are experimenting with electronic sounds.
You know I was convinced that there weren’t that many good Australian bands, but The Presets are one of them. They’re fucking amazing.

Image source: Newscom