Expatriate interview

Carol Bowditch caught up with from Expatriate after the band's lonnnng period of playing and writing in Europe. We haven’t really heard from the four-piece since their 2007 release, In the Midst of This, so Damian (the chap just to the right of lead-singer Ben's cheek in the above picture) explains what they had been up to.

Tell us what you've been doing for the last few years?
At the end of 2008 we flew over to Germany to release In the Midst of This. We had an English management company and they got us a Warner Brother record deal in Germany, so we went over there and, just as we were about to sign it, the first economic crisis happened. We ended up going with one of Europe’s biggest independent labels called PIAS. We spent a-year-and-a-half touring that album, doing all of the main festivals, like Rock in the Park, all these massive festivals, from Turkey to Greece, Helsinki… We also did about 50 shows with Placebo throughout Europe, so by the end of it we were well and truly sick of the songs. It’s not a good move to put out a record, and a-year-and-a-half after you have done it in Australia, do it over again in Germany. It was a bit like Groundhog Day.

So, we’ve just done our second record that has been sitting on the shelf for about a year, but that’s finally being released. I would like a third album [or] another EP released within October or November. Cause we have so much newer, fresher material.

You played with Placebo around Europe, who would you want to do a tour with in the future?
It depends really, whoever I’m listening to at the time. I really like bands like m83, lots of different stuff really, like The Weeknd and Drake. I have been listening to William Basinski, who does all of this experimental stuff. He’s a bit like Steve Reich, makes this like a sonic landscape, droney, multimedia thing, it’s really different.

How is Hyper/Hearts different from your last few releases like Lovers le Strange and In the Midst of This?
It’s much more over produced. We spent a lot of time in the studio. We tried to make a different record to In the Midst of This, which was very rock, in a way, with lots of guitars. We tried to add a lot more keyboards. It’s a lot more developed and refined in terms of production and stuff.

What is your favourite track on the album?
I would say Dangerous Stranger; it’s just really dark and fucked up, like an early Black Rebel Motorcycle Club sound. A good mix of guitars and synths, I like that. Also, Do You Remember is a good singalong.

Tell me about the two new videos that have recently been released on your blog. Do you enjoy making videos for your songs?
I love making videos, we do them ourselves. Dave our bass player does them and is quite good at it. It’s such a hard thing though, like making music, when it comes together and it works, it’s amazing. I love making video clips and I film, I love that medium. If you can marry those two together, that’s awesome. I don’t think you need a massive budget, it’s all about the idea I guess.

How are you finding playing in Australia after so long?
Brisbane was awesome. It was like an indie rock DJ night. Our record label is up there too. It was an eventful occasion.

I think in a way, people have moved on, like Triple J… After coming back after three years, like, Robbie Buck, who was our biggest advocate and supporter of us, is over at the 702 station, Ha Ha… Nothing wrong with that obviously, it just appears that we haven’t got the same support that we once got.

After talking to Damian, I went along to see the boys play at Sydney's Spectrum. I was reminded of all the festival gigs that I had seen them play years ago as a 16-year-old fangirl of the band. They played a mix of old faves like Play a Part and The Spaces Between, as well as a sample of new material, like aforementioned Do you Remember, along with few other newbies off Hyper/Hearts. They dedicated their song Crazy from In The Midst of This, to all the friends and family that had turned up on the night.


Interview by Carol Bowditch. Hyper / Hearts is out now. 

Ned Collette + Wirewalker at FBi Social, Sydney

Having recently chatted to Ned Collette about his new album, Carol Bowditch braved the cold to check out his live show in Sydney, which was to promote the new album, Ned Collette + Wirewalker - 2

Nursing a chilli coma, the relaxed vibe of the loosely packed crowd was a welcoming environment for my ill self. It was the sort of gig where you could lounge on couches or park yourself cross-legged on the floor while sipping on something warming.

The support act, the Russian born, Berlin expat, Mary Ocher, took to the stage wearing a sparkly bra and sporting a messy peroxide blonde do. I wasn’t sure what to expect from the solo songstress from her eccentric appearance and her strange exclamation in her thick accent that the lights were "SO cool, they make me feel like I’m in a horror film.”

The vocals in her short tracks were aggressive, with unidentifiable lyrics yelped between staccato screams and whimpers. Ocher’s solo set was brave, although it was a little hard to fully enjoy and appreciate with my intestines burning.

A crowd emerged after Ocher’s set, ready and waiting for Ned Collette + Wirewalker to take over. Ned, looking schmick in an all-white ensemble started the set with one of my favourite tracks off the new album, Il Futuro Fantastico. It was a strong start, with pulsating keyboard samples, monotonous pacing vocals and gangly Spanish guitar.  The dreamy The Decision was heavy with keyboard chords and organic percussion sounds, with Ned’s reminiscent lyrics layered over the top. The only instrumental on the album, For Roberto, another standout track, was executed well live. The Spanish-infused tune blends these awkward, broken melody progressions on the synth, with acoustic chords and dextrous fingerpicking. Midway through the song there was an interlude and where Ned took time to sip his wine as eerie synth sounds filled the room. The band finished off with Long You Lie, with the tropical intro, and multiple vocals singing in harmony through the chorus.

The varied sounds of the set proved that Ned and his Wirewalkers could seamlessly blend genres and borrow from different countries’ music. The Spanish-tinged set had something distinctly organic and Australian about it, and with the members having come from their base in Berlin to play, it was a truly international affair.

Review and live picture by Carol Bowditch 

Ned Collette interview

Carol Bowditch talks to Melbourne-born, Berlin-based musician Ned Collette about his upcoming album and Australian tour: 

Your sound seems to take influence from different genres. Do you have an especially eclectic music taste? 
Sure, I guess. I mean I listen to all sorts of stuff from all over the shop really. Different times and places. And though it might seem eclectic it's somehow all tied together in my mind by some indefinable thread. Goodness, or honesty, or risk, or something that makes me feel like the artist/composer is really putting themselves on the line. I guess the one thing I'm not really good at is knowing about new music - stuff that is coming out now. It seems to take at least five years or so for something to filter through to me. I keep realising things I think are new are ten years old already.

In what ways do you think this album differs from the 2009 long-player that Ned Collette + Wirewalker released? Were these differences planned or did they occur organically?
It's a lot more sonically diverse, mostly because it began as stuff I was recording on my own and was then developed with Joe in any direction we felt like taking it, rather than from one session based around the band recording some songs on our usual instruments. So it's not as rock, it's not really as heavily guitar based, though the lyrics and themes have continued in a direction I can't seem to avoid. In that sense it was really organic but the album certainly wasn't planned as a Wirewalker album until quite far into the process.

You created the new album after expatriating to Berlin. Was it an easy relocation? There are some dark themes within the album that suggest that there might have been some difficulties.
It was remarkably easy really. Berlin is a a wonderful city that is very easy to become familiar with. Sure there were difficulties, but no more than usual in a comfortable, first world, white middle-class kinda scenario. I find personal difficulties always get projected on to the background of one's environment though, and I really like writing from that point of view, as if the city or the space around you is somehow an accomplice or at least a witness to your experiences.

You recently toured the UK and Europe. How was it? Any particular favourite gigs/cities?
We haven't toured here properly since 2010, but I've played a fair bit here and there solo since then. It's good. People listen like crazy in Europe - the rooms are silent. They like to let you know exactly what they think afterwards too, which is sometimes interesting, but often gets in the way of the first drink… I played one at the Swiss Cultural Institute in Rome last year which was very beautiful but not
a great crowd - a bunch of Swiss artists and scientists wanting to get off their faces and dance to a horrible Parisian cover band. Other than that, the closing party of a warehouse party institution with the Wirewalker in Freiburg, the regular gigs to a very faithful but also varied crowd I do in a small place here, playing with Kurt Vile last year…

Are you excited about your upcoming tour of Australia?
Yes, very excited. The band played one show of this material when I was back in Melbourne mixing it in October and it was by far the best gig we've ever done. Easily. Even though James and Ben weren't involved in making the record, they understood and fitted their respective things effortlessly into the songs. It was really very enjoyable.

After the tour, what do you have planned for the remainder of 2012?
Well, the album is coming out worldwide in August through Fire Records, so I'll be back here and hopefully busy with that, and with trying to find a way to get the whole band touring a bit more over here again. I'm also going to spend a couple of weeks on a Greek island with a bunch of friends at the end of summer, which has been taking up a fair portion of my consciousness ever since we made that
decision.

Tell us something that we might be surprised to learn about you...
I genuinely think George Michael's 'Faith' is one of the best albums ever made.

Ned Collette + Wirewalker Australian Tour 2012

June 14 - Brisbane, Blackbear Lodge
Tickets: www.mobileindustries.oztix.com.au

June 15 - Sydney, Fbi Social
Tickets: www.mobileindustries.oztix.com.au

June 16 - Adelaide, Metro
Tickets: www.mobileindustries.oztix.com.au

June 21 - Canberra, Front Gallery (Ned solo)
Tickets: www.mobileindustries.oztix.com.au

June 23 - Melbourne, Northcote Social Club
plus Inevitable OrbitTickets: www.northcotesocialclub.com

Interview by Carol Bowditch. Visit Ned's site here: www.nedcollette.com

Berlin Festival 2012 boasts an awesome line-up

Here are two questions that you will, without doubt, answer 'yes' to. 1. Do you like Berlin? 2. Do you like music festivals? See, told you. Double affirmatives all round. Well, combine the two and what have got? A pretty frickin' sweet way to spend a couple of days, that's what.

The Berlin Festival takes place at the historic Tempelhof Airport on September 7th and 8th and there are so many amazing acts to feast your eyes and ears upon. Like (deep breath): Grimes, Django Django, Dada Life, Sigur Rós, Franz Ferdinand, Orbital, Little Dragon, Friendly Fires, The Killers, Metronomy, SBTRKT, Daughter, Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, Clock Opera, Of Monsters And Men, Friends, Kate Nash, First Aid Kit, Nicolas Jaar, Miike Snow, Crocodiles, When Saints Go Machine ... the list goes on and on.

This years edition will also play host to the world’s biggest Silent Arena Aftershow Party. With 10,000+ headphones, ticket holders will be able continue partying like silent mentalists after the final main stage performance from midnight till 4am. There will also be an Art Village showcasing over 60 national and international artists. Urban art, murals, performances, sculptures and more will all be on show plus an art bazaar, bars, booths, and the Design & Record Label Market as well as the art prize and a costume competition.

A day ticket is stupidly cheap, at EUR 49 + bf, while a two-day ticket is EUR 74 + bf. A Berlin Festival + Club Xberg Kombiticket will set you back EUR 89 + bf. Score your tickets today and we'll see you there kiddos!

Keep an eye on the Facebook page for further announcements, and see the full line-up at www.berlinfestival.de

Rooftop Runners – We Are Here EP and tour

Jonjon introduces us to Berlin-based Canadians, Rooftop Runners:

It isn’t easy being a new band or act, and it probably never will be. Touring small venues with tiny audiences in unfamiliar cities has to be, especially when starting out, a less than glamorous lifestyle. I caught Rooftop Runners in late January in their first London gig in a Camden venue with signed pictures of Madness and Amy Winehouse staring down from the walls. It was a chilly Monday night at the time of the year when London hibernates, when it’s a fight to get people to leave the comfort of the couch, or do anything really. Some bands may write off the experience and treat the performance as a rehearsal. I would if the audience numbered six people.

Rooftop Runners are thankfully professional. They’d spent the days handing out flyers and working hard to gain some recognition and an audience (never easy as Camden isn’t, despite its claims to the contrary, an inviting area for performers or audiences). They put a huge amount of energy into the show and despite the lack of atmosphere worked well with what they had.

One of the reasons they’re professional is because Rooftop Runners aren’t new to performing. Two Canadian brothers (Vancouver Island) based in Berlin (don’t hold that against them) having trained in dance and spent several years in Europe, they’re at ease with performance and attention or lack there-of. An empty venue on a weeknight in freezing London doesn’t worry them.

For an inexperienced band, their debut EP is relatively polished. Four tracks fly by with elements of indie and dance (with none of the associated negatives those terms used together may invoke). It isn’t going to set the world on fire immediately, but it is a great start. It’s difficult to judge a band on one EP but there is something interesting here and a great deal of energy when they perform live. If you get a chance to see them live, take it.

Words by Jonjon

Howling Bells interview

Heidi Pett talks to Howling Bells lead guitarist Joel Stein about their latest album, touring and listening to trash.

“I think I was just feeling lucky,” Joel Stein laughs as he explains why he’s contributed more songs than ever before to Howling Bells’ new record, The Loudest Engine. “You don’t really plan, whoever writes or whatever is the most appropriate or whatever we think is the best will end up on the album.” It’s a mature sibling relationship of the kind parents can only hope for, instead of the masking-tape-down-the-middle-of-the-back-seat approach favoured by most on long car trips. Instead, Joel and sister Juanita form a close-knit band with bassist Brendan Picchio and drummer Glenn Moule, and have created an album out of their experiences on their travels.

Parked in a campervan by the side of the road in Paris, the band are in the middle of a European tour with Elbow when I speak to Joel about the process of writing and recording their latest album, which they’ve consistently described as their “grown up record.” Produced by Mark Stoermer from The Killers and recorded in Las Vegas, it marks a departure from the more electronic sounds of second album Radio Wars in favour of psychedelic-tinged folk rock, and is considered a follow-up to their debut self-titled release. Having toured and played quite extensively with The Killers, Joel says the decision to work with Mark was one born of familiarity and good timing. “It was very, very underground, actually. There were no record labels and no red tape involved. It was all very easy.”

Choosing to step away from the drum machines and electronic feel of Radio Wars, Joel knew, “we just wanted to go in and get the engineer to press record on the tape machine, we just wanted to play as a band.” For an album written on and about the road, it makes a great deal of sense to record it the same way it would be played live. “Lyrically it’s very relevant to us being on tour, which is why we called it The Loudest Engine. It’s more mature in sound and we had the most clarity in recording this album, more than the other two. It’s two years between albums and you do a lot of growing, especially on the road.”

Despite producing a record very clearly inspired by a touring lifestyle, Joel says, “If I had the chance I wouldn’t leave the house without a piano and a guitar because sometimes I feel like writing 15 times a day but I don’t have anything to hand.” Having relocated to Europe several years ago, Joel currently lives in Berlin and finds the vibrant community to be, “an extremely creative place, it’s buzzing at the moment. It’s very interesting and there’s a lot going on. I think Berlin’s still in the 70’s which I really like.” Asked whether it’s in any way affected his sound, Joel pauses for thought, and eventually chances at “It’s subliminal I guess. Your brain does what it wants and you figure it out a few years down the track.” The latest album definitely has a slight 1970’s vibe, the familiar sounds of their first release coloured with flashes of psychedelia.

I bring up a favourite Howling Bells lyric which never fails to fill my dining room with shouty jumpy people at occasionally raucous house parties - “you listen to trash but it’s not rock ‘n’ roll” - and press Joel for his preferred type of trash. He stalls, “I don’t know if it’s bad, see, you’re going to judge me now...” then seems to take a breath, letting the word “house” tumble out in an embarrassed mumble before rallying. “There’s a particular kind of house music that I like: this guy from Sweden called The Field, and everyone I play it to looks at me like I’m nuts.” Perhaps we’ve found the sticking point for tour bus disagreements, though it’s clear that the four piece are not only democratic in the writing process, but treat one another as family. The strong sibling bond between Joel and Juanita hasn’t proved a problem for the other members, as the guitarist explains. “All four of us know each other inside out so there’s no difference, really. It’s the same with Elbow, they’ve been together so long that you get to a point where it really doesn’t matter. You have a fight and you laugh about it five minutes later.” While some bands find the tour bus a breeding ground for bickering, Howling Bells seem to quite enjoy the experience, making friends and albums along the way. Joel points out, “If you love doing something you want to do it all the time,” despite not being able to take a piano with them in the campervan.

“I have no fucking idea,” Joel laughs when I ask what’s next for the band. “Absolutely none. It’s the most elusive business on the planet. We could be in China, we could be in the studio recording another album.” He asks me what I think they should do, and when I tell them to keep releasing albums I’m congratulated for picking the right answer. It seems a fairly obvious choice for a band who so clearly love the experience of making and sharing their music. Joel jokes, “Obviously if [our management] say we’ve gotta tour in Afghanistan we’ll think twice about that,” when I ask if they get much of a say in where they tour, before deciding, “Actually, that could be fun.”

Fortunately, you don’t have to hike to Kandahar to see them just yet - Howling Bells are playing at the Standard in Sydney on Saturday 10th December and Patch in Wollongong on Sunday 11th. 

Interview by Heidi Pett. You can check out her own blog here.

The Bianca Story and Temper Trap at Magnet, Berlin

THE TEMPER TRAP
THE BIANCA STORY
Magnet, Prenzlauerburg, Berlin

It was an evening that would, kinda inevitably, end with two stony-faced men dressed in black - one smoking - playing cold, minimalist electronic pomp. This was, after all, Berlin. Before stereotypes took hold though, two foreign acts would play sets that made the smallish crowd dance their little German socks off.
Boasting a keyboard/synth/laptop/sampler/nondescript-mad-electro-invention set-up that engulfed half the stage, The Bianca Story (above) vomited forth whopping great big choruses. These five weirdos from Switzerland were led by the twin vocals of a super enthusiastic, tall beardy man with a voice like The Divine Comedy's Neil Hannon and a girl dressed like an 80s prom queen and wielding a keytar. And if that isn't a recipe for awesomeness, then I don't know what is.
I've written enough gushing words about Temper Trap's (above and top) live shows on these pages recently, but suffice to say this was another winning set. Their sound seems to get more and more imposing every time I see them. The four-way vocal barrage of Down River was a perfect example of this. After a familiar set-list and a typically tighter-than-a-duck's-bumhole performance, the quintet packed up and headed to the Amsterdam to continue promoting the upcoming release of their debut record. Expect a review of it here soon.

Queue For Lou

People who criticise us at BobbySix.com for never having to buy tickets for gigs might be interested to know that I spent the whole of Wednesday night on the cold, hard concrete of Martin Place lining up to buy tickets for the Lou Reed gig which was to take place on the Thursday. It was the first time I have ever queued overnight and it was a thoroughly rewarding, if entirely knackering (it is now Sunday and I still haven't recovered) experience.


I arrived at 9.40pm, expecting to be the first person there, yet there were already 15 people ahead of me (including a Big Issue seller), and therefore I was worried that there weren't going to be enough tickets to go round. However, after 3 nervous hours, a representative from the Sydney Festival kindly came along and told us that we were all safe to get tickets. The mood in the line was joyous.

The night went surprisingly quickly, as my friend Millie and I met a whole bunch of new people, who soon became buddies. There was a great sense of togetherness amongst the 25 people who were there all night. People drank, played cards, strummed on a guitar, created art on the floor in chalk, chatted and generally had a nice time.

At about 2.30am, some jobsworth idiot from the council (with the worst haircut ever, incidentally - a kind of greasy ponytail) came along and took photos of all the chalk drawings, while talking seriously on a mobile. 10 minutes later, there were 3 cleaning vehicles and a whole heap of City Rangers there telling us we all had to move because the streets needed cleaning. It was like we were some threat to society with our small pieces of chalk. Idiots. Anyway, after much fuss they managed to totally drench the pavement, meaning we couldn't sit down for about an hour. Thanks for that. God knows how they reacted when they noticed the washing up liquid in the fountain which caused massive clouds of bubbles to float through the city.

As the morning drew ever-closer, the lack of sleep became more of an issue. I began to feel very sketchy indeed. I started getting my words all mixed up when I spoke, and as the sun rose, I grew pale as a ghost. I started to hallucinate that the Big Issue seller was telling me the same story about Split Enz for the 6th time, but then I realised that I wasn't actually imagining it, and he was telling me the same story again. I can relay it for you, word for word, if you like? No? Ok.

Throughout the whole night, I managed to get a massive 10 minutes sleep between 6.40am and 6.50 am, before getting up and trying to avoid the insipidly irritating girl who was attempting to juggle lemons and do cartwheels. I vowed that if I ended up sitting next to her at the gig, I would walk out or kill myself, whichever was quicker.

By this time, I was delusional, and spent many minutes trying to jump in the air and land at exactly the same time with two of my new, young friends. I don't know why I was doing this, but it became very important to me at the time. Millie was also losing the plot, wandering aimlessly around Martin Place with a vacant look on her face.

However, the end was in sight, and by 8am, spirits were high. By 8.10am, they were even higher, as I had a ticket for the gig in my tired little paw. I felt a real sense of achievement.

All in all, it was a night that I will never forget. The camararderie, the friendliness of strangers. The knowledge that every person that I had spent that long night with would all be merrily headiung to the State Theatre in a few hours to see a person that they were prepared to lay on a pavement all night for. It is a feeling I can barely describe. Awesome.

Words by Rob Townsend.