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Ciao
Dear readers, blog enthusiasts, fans and friends,
This will be our last blog post on Paper-Deer. A huge thanks to all the amazing music journalists who have shared their wordsmithery here, and to our talented shooters for showcasing their rad gig photos. Much credit to all the publicists, record companies and band managers for the freebies and love, and cheers to all the musicians and music industry professionals who’ve let themselves be subjected to our strange questions! And last but not least, thanks to all of our wonderful readers who have come back to this blog again and again for their Melbourne music fix.
To keep in touch with us, please shoot us an email. If you want to poach (ahem) any of the wonderful contributors who have appeared on this blog, please check out their bios. You can drop our editor a line via her website. Farewell, adios, auf wiedersehen.
Much digital love and peace,
The Paper-Deer team
P.S. One small promise though… Keep supporting the local music scene!
REVIEW: Nirvana: Live at the Paramount
A movie theatre isn’t the most likely of places for you to see a gathering of Nirvana fans… But in cinemas across Australia on September 23, old-school grungers and a few fresh ones were eager to catch the band’s only (as far as we know) concert captured on film rather than tape.
The year is 1991, one month after Nirvana released their Nevermind. It was still some time before the album would become the massive smash hit that propelled the trio into fame of phenomenal proportions. The show was far from intimate though, with a fanatic crowd hungry to hear songs from the band’s major label debut.
Kurt’s initial greeting and wishing the crowd a happy Halloween is the only time you hear from the surprisingly level headed and composed front man. One of the most enjoyable parts of the film is that Cobain has not yet been damaged by the onslaught of popularity (or the accompanying drugs) to come. This is Kurt in his element, appealing to the underground, albeit one of the last times before the trio was thrust into the mainstream.
If the film proves anything, it’s that Nirvana was a band that was meant to be heard live. While the songs of Nevermind definitely had the pop polish applied in bucket loads, this is definitely not the case on stage. Even more forgiving are the tracks the band selected from Bleach, which had only a fraction of Nevermind’s recording budget. Songs like About A Girl and School explode compared to their lo-fi recorded versions. I might also add that of the many versions of Smells Like Teen Spirit I have seen (sometimes proceeded by a cover of Boston’s More Than A Feeling, sometimes deliberately mimed and sometimes just not played at all), this was the only version to be played true to the album version, solo and all.
The only thing captured better than the picture was the sound. While Cobain may have been against this type of footage being shown a more ‘corporate’ environment than the dingy Paramount it was shot in, punters felt like they were actually there. As the band played through all the Nevermind classics including In Bloom, Lithium and even an early version of Rape Me, not be released on record until 1993’s In Utero, cinema-goers formed a mini-mosh pit in front of the seats. While it is a bizarre sort of setting for a movie theatre, you went in both half expecting and half hoping it would happen.
Nirvana: Live at the Paramount is a snapshot of a band before the corporate lashings of the music industry, before popular demand would push Michael Jackson off the top of the charts and before all this would start playing on the band’s minds. You can’t help but watch and wish that things could have stayed this way instead of them ending in tragedy, but this is a band who changed the face of music and a snapshot of them doing what they love.
INTERVIEW: Mono
Japanese instrumental post-rock/shoe-gaze/contemporary classical and all-round captivating band Mono have released five studio albums (and a bunch of EPs and other records), toured Asia, America and Europe, and garnered fans from all over the globe since their inception 12 years ago. Using a regular rock band set-up of guitars, bass, drum, piano and synthesizer (oh, yeah, but they also use up to four glockenspiels), the four-piece create majestic, sweeping soundscapes overflowing with feeling. There are really not enough adjectives to describe their music adequately – I could keep trying, but you’d probably rather I didn’t, so just go listen to them if you haven’t already and you’ll get what I mean. Now they’re about to take their beautiful, epic compositions on tour across Australia.
Stephanie-Bowie Liew talks to Takaakira Goto (lead guitarist/frontman) about how you don’t need lyrics to express emotions, receiving letters from fans and what we can expect from Mono’s upcoming album.
How do you go about writing your songs, which are instrumental and often go for more than 10 minutes?
From the beginning, we knew that we wanted an instrumental band with two guitars, one bass and a drummer. Vocals were never really considered, partially because none of us can sing and also because we wanted to focus on creating something new.
Whenever we have time off from touring, I write the songs at home for a few months. Then we meet together at the studio to see if we can bring each song to life. We take one another’s opinion very seriously, so that’s probably why we spend so much time in the studio together. Sometimes a short song is enough to convey whatever emotion or story we want to express, and other times we want to expand it into something longer. Hymn To The Immortal Wind [2009 album] was meant to be more epic as it followed a journey that stretched over multiple lifetimes.
A lot of the time, lyrics and melody go hand in hand when it comes to communicating a message. Do you think you can just as easily express feelings in instrumental music? And do you think that having no vocals in your songs has played a role in your international success?
I think we can express our emotions and visions through wordless music, just the same as a singer expresses her mind by singing. Sounds are made of energy, just like you, me, and the words we speak. This is why mediums like music, film, and art are universal languages. It doesn’t matter where you are from or what language you speak because if you can open your mind to connect to it, that is all you need. I would like to think we were able to reach a broader international audience because our music does not need any translation. We’re also very fortunate to have supportive friends and fans who spread the word about our music in different countries.
Before you took a break to write Hymn To The Immortal Wind, you toured non-stop for five years! Did you cope with being away from home for so long?
It was a life experience that we needed as a band so we dealt with it okay. We are constantly on the road so we rarely get homesick. We’re so used to each other now that we’re just like family.
You sound like you value your fans a lot. What’s one of the nicest things a fan has said to you?
We’ve gotten some very moving letters that I can still remember today. Even just reading about how someone has connected to our songs is a gift to us. It’s crazy to think how far music can travel. The letters come from a soldier in Iraq, a struggling single father in the US, a young student in Mexico.
You have played a few shows with orchestras and you will be performing with the Holy Ground Orchestra when you visit Melbourne! Do you rehearse with the orchestras a lot beforehand or do they mostly learn from sheet music? How does it work?
Yes, we meet one or two days prior to the show and have a rehearsal. I prepare the score beforehand so everyone has a chance to look it over. Somehow we find the best way to balance our sounds and work with one another. They have all been so professional and supportive. We are truly lucky.
The songs were written so that they can be played by only two guitars, one bass, and drums. The orchestra show is just something we save for special occasions and are hoping to bring to most major cities. Although it’s amazing to work with a chamber orchestra, we are first and foremost a quartet and our live show is just as important to us as our orchestra shows.
What’s up next for Mono in the near future?
We are finished with the songwriting process and are now in the studio to practise. Our goal is to release a new album in 2012. For the new album, we’re just trying to push our limits and explore places in music that we have not tried before. Hymn To The Immortal Wind had a personal, human atmosphere about it. I think this new album touches on more universal bridges between all of us and tells a story in a very different light.
UPCOMING SHOWS:
- Friday October 7: Forum Theatre
LINKS:
INTERVIEW: Andy Bull
He’s been called both “the dude with the girly voice” and “the songwriter’s songwriter,” but there’s little doubt that whatever title you give him, Andy Bull is going places.
His debut album We’re Too Young earned him critical acclaim and now his follow-up, The Phantom Pains EP, is doing the same. Dubbed his coming-of-age record, The Phantom Pains also sees many of Bull’s talented friends making guest appearances, including Lisa Mitchell, Adrian Deutsch, and members from Little Red, Hungry Kids of Hungary and Deep Sea Arcade. Now he’s taking the EP on tour, in between playing One Movement in Perth, appearing as special guest for Clare Bowditch and performing at Queenscliff Music Festival.
Stephanie-Bowie Liew talks to Andy Bull about experience phantom pains, working with friends and the importance of album artwork.
This tour for The Phantom Pains has been a long time coming. Now that it’s finally all happening, how do you feel about it?
Something we often hear as performers is that if interest in your project isn’t ignited within a few weeks of its release, then the likelihood of it ever getting footing in the public consciousness is greatly lessened. But, miraculously, it’s been a year, and interest in The Phantom Pains has, slowly but steadily, actually grown and continues to grow. So I feel like this tour is due. I’m nervous, I’m excited, I’m generally very positive about this. I want to deliver a really good tour, I want people to really enjoy this. That would be immensely satisfying for me.
Lisa Mitchell featured on your first single from the EP, Dog. What was it like to work with her?
Lisa knocked on my door one day while she was in Sydney and we had a cup of tea. I had the song, Dog, that was theoretically “finished”, but it did not feel complete somehow. I suspected that if Lisa sang on it, something good would happen to it. She is lovely, gentle and whimsical. I was really inspired; she just came in and delivered this really heartfelt, haunting vocal. So I tried to make my voice sound like her own when I eventually ended up rerecording my own vocals on the track. Since the subject matter was what it was, I liked the idea of it sounding like it was being sung by one person with two sides, rather than it being a duet.
What’s with all the guests that feature on the EP? Not that we’re complaining!
When I came to record the EP, I had no band. I had a stack of demos that featured me playing all the instruments. I considered recording it that way but after some reflection I concluded that for various reasons it would be better to put together a band.
Before doing the EP, I was feeling pretty loose, flailing about in a personal void. I didn’t really know if I fit in anywhere or if I had anything to offer. I’d been making music for years and was being pretty well ignored, I suppose because I was still really searching for my own confidence. When I got together with friends, all of those questions just sort of dissolved. It’s not so much that they were explicitly answered in some intellectual sense; more so that they just became irrelevant. The whole experience taught me something about community, friendship and the reasons people follow their passions. The conclusion I came to? Love of the process, and that includes the people within that process.
We read on your blog that each song on The Phantom Pains is actually about some sort of “phantom pain.” Can you tell us what “phantom pain” each song is about?
Dog is about not having happiness. Last Waltz is about the loss of free will and the loss of autonomy to another person. Phantom Pains is about a guy who cuts off his own hand to symbolically atone for something he feels he has done wrong, but he discovers that he has atoned for nothing; he is just in pain. My Street is about the absence of a previous life and the denial of a new beginning. Nothing To Lose is about the absence of money! Work Is A Slow Way To Die is about the absence of personal freedoms, autonomy and the prerogative of self-definition. It means to deny your personal ambitions and to do what is expected of you.
The artwork on your releases have all included quite vivid illustrations. Do you think CD artwork is an important part of the package?
Yes, I think it is. On The Phantom Pains EP, I drew my hand missing a thumb with ink and acrylic for the cover. I think that with an album release you are not just putting out recorded songs, you are presenting an idea, and that idea is better served when you have a sympathetic visual dimension. All the aspects must be aligned, and the best way I could see to do that was to do the artwork myself.
UPCOMING SHOWS:
- Thursday November 11: Northcote Social Club
- Friday November 26 – Saturday November 27: Queenscliff Music Festival
LINKS:
‘A Winter’s Exile’ @ Bella Union Trade Hall (20/8/11)
The arts capital of Australia was truly in full force this particular Saturday evening, when some of the country’s most talented folk artists converged on the Bella Union Trade Hall to play a small, intimate gig for music-passionate Melburnians. Showcasing a number of acts from all over the country, it was a harmonic feast for lovers of acoustic sounds. There were notable performances, however, with Pinto, Felicity Cripps (of Hoy fame) and Lindsay Phillips as the distinguished standouts of the evening.
The night began with a moving set by Pinto. Along with his two-piece accompaniment, he performed a set that was as dark as it was beautiful. Singing songs about women he both loved and admired, there was an ominous spiritual quality to Pinto’s music , which was moving. Although his lyrics were simple, his melodies were powerful.
Following Pinto’s brilliant opener, one of the night’s most notable performers — Felicity Cripps from Hoy — graced the stage. Appearing alone with just her guitar, without her two Hoy band-mates, it was clear that she is a force to be reckoned with. As well as having a mesmerizing presence, Cripps had a sweetness and simplicity to her vocals that captivated the audience. Cripps’ set was a mix of sweet love songs in both English and French, the language barrier proving irrelevant because it all sounded so beautiful. Influences from her music with her band (formerly known as Houlette) have clearly transcended into her solo music — the band recorded their second album in a chateau in France, and are heavily inspired by the sixties. But she made it her own, injecting her personality into both the softer ballads and the quirky folk-pop, commanding the stage as though she’d done it her whole life.
The final act for the evening was headliner Lindsay Phillips, who was launching his new single Exile on the night. Starting his career fronting bands, Phillips is clearly comfortable on stage, his haunting melodies permeating the entire room. But what was most entrancing was his voice, which is strikingly deep and gravelly (think M Ward meets Nick Cave). It is that distinctive voice that was most captivating of all, ensuring his dark and melancholic lyrics were not miserable, but rather sorrowfully arresting. This was quintessential storytelling, and worthy of the admiration and notoriety he will undoubtedly achieve in the future.
INTERVIEW: Rohan Marley
Born into one of the most famous musical families of modern music, Rohan Marley looks and sounds every bit like his pioneering father. With his days as a professional American footballer behind him, and with two kids to the legendary soul recluse Lauryn Hill, Rohan has become the entrepreneur of the Marley family.
As his brothers Ziggy and Damian keep the musical legacy alive, Rohan has focused on philanthropic and commercial ventures including the 1Love Foundation, Tuff Gong clothing and Jammin’ Java coffee to keep the spirit of his father’s message alive and relevant in the twenty-first century.
In Australia for the first time to launch a new range of eco-friendly audio products, The House of Marley, as well as help out local charity Reclink Australia, Rohan sat with Chris Lewis to discuss the importance of staying in the good race, helping out grassroots charities and how to make headphones out of wood.
So this is the first time you’ve been to Australia, how are you finding it? Have you had any time to soak in some Melbourne music?
I love Melbourne already – the weather, the people, the food. Yesterday, we went into town and saw some dub music. We hung with the locals and had a really good time. I think I could come here more often!
And as part of your Australian introduction you are visiting the Cairns World Music Festival, Reggaetown, which is located in Tjapukai Cultural Park. Do you know much about the Aboriginal culture of Australia?
I am really excited to go to Reggaetown. I will be the first Marley to go so it will be really good to meet the people. I have had the dream of meeting Aboriginal people for quite some time. I don’t know a lot about their culture but I am eager to learn because their struggle is similar to our struggle in the Western World. The difference in the colour of our skin should mean no more than the difference in the colour of our eyes but until that day comes there will always be a struggle for the Aboriginals.
And you’re seeing Natalie Pa’a pa’a from Blue King Brown performing as part of your Melbourne stop-over. How did you come across BKB?
Damian showed me her music. That girl got groove, you know? She got her own style and that’s really cool. I’m a fan and I’m really looking forward to her performance.
So you’re here to promote The House of Marley, which combines the vision of your the 1Love foundation with high-end audio products. Tell me how you conceived that idea?
Well it started with the vision, it has to start with a vision. And we conceived the 1love foundation and we created the culture that we stood for. But how do you keep that spirit alive? How do you keep the foundation going? There has to be something to support it. So we created the product, but it had to be a product that meant something to our lifestyle, and us, and that was the headset. When you see someone wearing a headset, you know something about their lifestyle; you know they dig their music. And that’s our link to our father, our music, so we wanted to connect that.
What would you consider yourself foremost – a philanthropist or an entrepreneur?
When I look in the mirror, I see a man on a mission, a purpose, carrying on the legacy of my father, the same with my brothers and sisters. We have the will and we have the way, it took us awhile to find the way but we got there. So it doesn’t matter what I am called, as long as there is progression towards that.
When did carrying on your dad’s legacy become important to you? When did you decide to take up the mantle?
I think it really became my life after college. Obviously I grew up with it around me, and the foundations were always there but I think I needed that maturity to grasp what the name Marley actually meant in the world. I needed to explore what the name Marley stands for and then I came up with a way to carry it on, and now we are able to do that, and keep that alive.
Tell me for those who are unaware of the phenomenon, what is The Drum Circle?
The Drum Circle is an interactive social network that unifies drummers. So you post a clip of a beat, and then someone else builds on that beat and then another until we are all beating on the same drum. I am going to put my own clip online soon, but recently I’ve been too busy beating the pavement.
Here in Melbourne the House of Marley and 1Love foundation supports the Reclink AFL clinics, Why did you choose Reclink? And most importantly, were you able pass on anything from your days as a linebacker?
We chose Reclink because it’s grassroots. It takes lots of communities and brings them together to make the less advantaged part of the whole, it aims to unify the community, and that is very central to what we believe in. This morning we joined Reclink football clinic for some of the disadvantaged people of Melbourne and it was great. We got some AFL players like Aaron Davey, Liam Jurrah, Brent Prismall and Nathan Thompson to help and it was really special. I am definitely going to pay more attention to AFL now that I’ve met these guys because after you meet them you’re curious to see what they can do you know? But unfortunately, I didn’t get to tackle anyone so I wasn’t a linebacker today!
The House Of Marley heavily promote the eco-friendliness of your audio products. How do you source the materials?
It all comes back to what the name “Marley” means. I have been wanting to do this for many years but there were a lot of people who wanted to distort the vision and the meaning, and that is the most important part so this has been a long time coming. My family and I didn’t want to just stamp our name on anything, something that doesn’t represent who we are and what we stand for. So there was over two years of research into how we can make the audio docks and headphones, what materials are conducive, what moulds we needed, what ways of producing the product do not leave a footprint on the planet. We needed to reinvent the wheel in terms of production. No one had done this before… made audio products with recyclable, reusable materials but if we were going to do it, we were going to do it right.
That sounds like a very long process…
It was man, it always is going to take longer if you’re going to make a difference. We had a research team in California work on prototypes, we then flew to China to educate the factories on how to produce them in an eco-friendly way. It takes everything to work together, the people and the elements to get this right. But it’s finally here.
What was the most rewarding part of the experience for you?
All of it was rewarding. It was great for our family to do together. Everyone was a part of it. Julian and Ziggy and Damian were part of the testing, they made sure the quality of the acoustics was of the highest standard. We wanted a product that a musician would want to listen to music from. And my sisters made sure everything aesthetically was perfect, so it was all inclusive, something from the Marleys to the world. But I think the most rewarding part was when some of the factory workers flew themselves from China to Las Vegas where the roadshow was launching the product to be there because they were so proud to be involved in it. They had never done something for the planet before and it had blown them away, so that for me was powerful. We had changed their view on how you can produce materials.
What do you think the state of the nation is at the moment in regards to reggae music? Has it lost significance?
Do you think it has? I don’t think it has. The message is more relevant that it ever has been. My father used to say, “They tire to see my face, but they will never get me out of the race.” It’s about not letting the bad guys win, it’s about not giving up and staying in the good race, even if you can’t always hear the message of reggae music, even if you can’t see the unity. It’s always there if you are looking for it. That’s what we love man, it can never lose significance, you can never be too close together.
Have you ever felt any pressure in your endeavours due to your pedigree? Have you felt that the spotlight is on?
Bring the spotlight on, man. Shine the light on 1Love, shine the light on The House of Marley. No, I’ve never been afraid of this attention. We need more if there is going to be widespread change.
So it’s a Sunday morning, the sun is out and you have some jamming java coffee beans cooking for your coffee, what do you put on the record player?
(Rohan starts singing Sunday Morning by Bob Marley & The Wailers before cracking up laughing.)
My dad man, he is everywhere around me, he always has been and he will be. I listen to him and I remember what I have to do and where I have to go.
LINKS:
FAREWELL: Hiatus for Paper-Deer
Dear lovely readers, fans and lovers of Paper-Deer,
We love you all so dearly, and it has been amazing, beer-fuelled adventure but we have decided that Paper-Deer will be going on an indefinite hiatus. We have loved all the sticky carpets and late nights at Melbourne music venues. We have adored the cute home-made press kits from bands, and the love from lovely publicists. We have sung along loudly until three in the morning listening to your demos. We have lived for your amazing readership and messages. Thank you for your support! Paper-Deer could not have grown into the little beast it is today without your help.
The decision is very positive one, and not at all due to the natural disasters, ghouls or terminal illnesses. The team behind Paper-Deer are all very passionate about music but life seems to have gotten in the way and we’d rather not let the quality of the blog suffer and work ourselves into an early grave. If you want to get in touch with anyone on the Paper-Deer team, just drop us a line! We’ll be going quiet but we’d still like a l’il bit of love.
We still have a few more posts to go up before this baby goes completely silent, so keep coming back for the next few weeks! We will announce the final goodbye when we have officially released all our words and photos into the wild (world of the internet).
Much digital love,
The Editor & The Team!
PS We also say “indefinite”… So you never know if you may hear from us again!
NEWS: The Luwow Grand
I’m not sure if it’s the residual effects of the pina coladas, but Johnston Street’s new tiki bar The Luwow has left me with a smile on my face. From the moment you enter, it’s as if you’ve stepped inside a warm and welcoming new world.
Special guests ventured down on Thursday night to the grand opening, to see for themselves if the rumours were true. Upon entry, we were instantly greeted with a handshake and hello from the general manager, something which was well appreciated yet difficult to focus on as we were too busy gaping at the décor. Coloured lights, palm trees, jungle prints and shady booths engulf you into a Polynesian paradise, enticing you toward the bamboo bar where elaborately festive cocktails are being prepared. The staff, all dressed in tiki dresses and Hawaiian shirts-and flowers in their hair- offered up trays of cocktails and finger food and did so with the feeling that they were genuinely enjoying the experience. And that was just the first room.
Moving through the shrubbery, you enter the stage room-where a brilliant gold stage stands curtained before a wide dance area; voodoo go-go cages aligning the sides. For those who wish to sit whilst enjoying a show, there are high booths behind the floor, offering up a forties swing dance vibe.
Guests were treated to a show of traditional Cook Island dancing, complete with grass skirts and bongo drumming. (The eight year old hula dancer would have put any of us girls to dancing shame.)
Proud owner Josh Collins (well known for his Perth bars ‘Hula Bula Bar’ and ‘Devilles Pad’), was hauled up on stage to participate in the celebration, amidst raucous applause form the onlookers. Special guest Kate Ceberano was also involved, rejoicing in a centre stage dance off.
Live music is being held Thursday through to Saturday – local band Cherrywood took the stage the previous weekend, with DJs Ritchie 1250 and Emma Peel. Yet expect the musically unexpected, with up coming shows including African party beats, latin boogie and vintage bollywood amidst other surprise acts.
This isn’t just a new bar, but a bar with new feeling. There is no pretension or trying too hard, the vibe is simply happy and everybody feels happy to be there… As someone mentioned, “Who doesn’t feel happy in a Hawaiian shirt???” If you were wondering why the streets seemed quiet the past few weekends, listen quietly for a conga beat and follow it down toward the Luwow party. Down to its last detail, The Luwow has our vote on the place to be this summer.
INTERVIEW: Katie Noonan of Elixir
Many who know the gifted singer-songwriter that is Katie Noonan first witnessed her foray into the Australian music scene in 2002 with the band George, their debut album Polyserena and highly acclaimed melancholy track Breathe In Now. But before George, there was Elixir – a jazz trio founded in 1997 consisting of Noonan, her now husband and saxophonist Zac Hurren and new addition, guitarist Stephen Magnusson. The trio’s second album, First Seed Ripening experiments with the words of much-admired Australian poet, Thomas Shapcott whilst maintaining the same intimate, honest and alluring musicality that emanates from deep within Noonan’s musical soul and those she connects and collaborates with.
Latoyah Forsyth speaks with the charming Katie Noonan about industry pressures, sub-conscious genre hopping, family and future musical endeavours.
As a six-times platinum selling and three-times ARIA Award winning artist, do you feel any pressure to produce something musical that appeals to your older fans, but also something different to previous musical stylings and new?
My only pressure is to listen to my heart and my instincts and dream up new things. My career has been a series of happy accidents and the only real thing steering me has been my instinct. Along the way I have crossed paths with many wonderful people and that’s where most of my projects start from – that point of connection between me and another creative person. I am lucky that my audience seems quite happy to follow me on my many meanderings!
Over the years it appears that you have become quite a genre chameleon! You have conquered opera, jazz, indie pop and classical music. Do you have a particular favourite genre that resonates strongly in your mind unlike any other?
For me, music is a genre-less thing. It is purely about connection and communication. I love a great rock song by Queens of the Stone Age as much as I love Richard Tognetti playing Bach or Nick Drake singing in his inimitable gentle folk style. It is just about unique expressions. Humans are fascinating and we have such varied ways of seeing things and reacting to life sonically. I guess that is why I seem like a genre chameleon in that I never actually think about genre. It’s just me following my muse and trying to sound as much like myself as possible.
Elixir has existed for 14 years. What was the catalyst to create a second album?
It has been eight years since our first studio album… a while between drinks! The catalyst to create this second album was simply my desire to return to the gentle, intimate world of Elixir and discover Tom Shapcott’s words deeply again. Also since Stephen joined the band about 6 years ago Zac and I have been keen to record with him – he is such a joy to play with. He challenges us in the best way.
Now your husband, Zac forms part of Elixir’s trio. How do you keep your creative/business life and personal/private life separate? Do you even feel the need to keep both separate?
Hmm no idea… Our life is just one big crazy life! But for us Elixir is very special as we get to return to the vibe of when we first met. We were musicians together before lovers, so it is special for us to return to that space. Our approach to music is very different also so it is still fascinating working with him. We are always searching and growing together. It is special to be simply musicians and not co-house-cleaners/parents/kid-wrestlers!
You have been actively involved in solo work, familial collaborations with your brother, mother and husband, as well as group work throughout the years of your extensive and beautifully diverse career – which do you prefer and why?
Connection and collaboration is my main inspiration at the moment, although of course these things come in waves. But there are so many wonderful friends I love making music with and it is in the space between us that magic exists. It is harder to create that on your own I think – well for me anyway. Connection between fellow musicians and connection between stage and audience is what it is all about for me.
Elixir now also features guitarist Stephen Magnusson, how did this collaboration come to fruition?
Zac and I were craving to take the band to a new place in terms of improvisation and we were both admirers of Stephen’s work with his trio with wonderful saxophonist Julien Wilson, so we simply rang him up and asked him to join the band. Immediately our pre-existing songs went to a new place where Zac and I felt more free to express ourselves and interact. It was an exciting catalyst for the band. That is when the seeds were sown for this new album and slowly over time our language together as a trio has developed to the point where we felt ready to write together and record.
Speaking of that… First Seed Ripening is inspired by Australia poet Thomas Shapcott. What drew you to his words?
He is an incredible writer. His words are quite visceral and easy for me to throw myself into. I feel he is writing about things I have lived– just more eloquently than I could! He writes beautifully about intimate moments in life – between lovers, between parents, between parent and child and this intimacy perfectly suits the similar nature of our music.
How important is it to you and the band to reach the right balance between linguistic integrity in your lyricism versus memorable and emotive melodies?
It is vital to maintain both!!! There really is no formula, definitely not… It is just a feeling. When it feels right we go with it. It’s just about trying to be yourself and as in the moment as possible.
From Breathe in Now by George in 2002 to First Seed Ripening by Elixir today, what has changed for you in your musical state of mind?
My voracious desire for more music is even stronger now than ever! Music is just this enormous wonderful thing that gets bigger and bigger the more you go into it. I just want to improve and grow as much as I can and experience life as much as possible.
You now have multiple projects and side projects to your name - George, Katie Noonan and the Captains, Blackbird and of course, Elixir, just to name a few. What direction do you feel you are heading now, post the tour for First Seed Ripening?
My main inspiration now is cross art form collaborations – I want to mix the world of music with circus, dance, multimedia, theatre etc. This is the new direction for me. These things are much harder to make reality too, so I am trying to sew seeds like this now and see where they bloom.
UPCOMING SHOWS:
- Thursday October 6: The Palais, Hepburn Springs
LINKS:
REVIEW: The Kill Devil Hills @ East Brunswick Club (20/8/11)
I’m not sure what it is about The Kill Devil Hills that makes you want to swill beer, stamp your feet, growl at a stranger and then throw your drink on someone, but you’re better off just going for it than attempting to fight the urge.
The East Brunswick Club saw the return of this gravelly bunch of pirates as they showcased songs from their upcoming fourth album. The lads took to the stage with the crowd hovering in bouts of murmurs and cat calls. We soon learnt from their greeting that half the crowd were die-hard fans from Perth, but it didn’t deter the anticipation. They were straight in with three or four melodic songs before slamming straight into Gunslinger, a gritty track from their first album, giving everyone a taste of what they were used to. There was a hypnotising unity in the sound as a whole, which is a product of a band having played together long enough to know each others next move; the kind of amalgamation of friends who have created, travelled, lived and breathed alongside each other for say, eight years (with the exception of slight changes in line-up).
Their songs are tinged with an electricity that keeps you just far enough on the edge that you will never slip into complacency. The suggestion of punk that slides in over the heart-wrenching country stops the songs from being too precious and keeps you having fun, awaiting the tracks that send you straight into a swampy blues punk frenzy. They kept pace as they broke out into Cockfight, a crashing, punk-riddled song that set the crowd on its feet. By this stage though, the younger members of the crowd had indulged in enough cheap liquor to start yelling requests for “Drinking Too Muuuuch!” Clearly they were doing a good enough job of that themselves, but soon the sound of these chants was beginning to put a dampener on the set. Lead singer/guitarist Brendon Humphries cottoned on and took to the mic to address the issue, explaining that the writer of that song was not in attendance and Drinking Too Much would not be played tonight. Seemingly nobody heard because after more chanting — to the point where an elbow to the nose of the guy behind me would not have gone astray — Humphries barked into the mic, “Did we not cover this? We’re not singing the song.” It was clearly disappointing for the crowd. The band too, as it took away from what was at hand, which was a moody, electrified and beautiful set, though perhaps a little weary by the end.
Mid-set, all members except Humphries and drummer Todd Picket departed the stage to leave these two to perform a duet of Lucy On All Fours. At first I thought Pickett had taken some rather harsh drugs — the way he was sweating and drooping on the mike stand looked like he might melt right down into a puddle — but either he made a well-timed recovery or he’s perfected the art of performance, because right at the chorus he broke out in the most perfect vibrato and harmonised that shit like an angel. That drummer can WAIL. It was beautiful to watch. Fiddle player — sorry, violinist (Humphries made that mistake onstage, to the direct threat of a violin bow) — Alex Archer was both musically and visually entertaining, his loop beat picking of the violin under his playing made for neat work, as was his complete lack of inhibition in his performance. It was a gentler approach from the boys and one which I think was, musically, a success. The crowd left a lot to be desired, though in this instance it wasn’t a reflection of the band.
PHOTO: Jem Taylor
