NOTE, BOBBYSIX HAS MOVED. PLEASE VISIT OUR NEW SITE INSTEAD, WHERE YOU WILL FIND SO MUCH AWESOME CONTENT THAT YOUR EYES WON'T KNOW WHERE TO LOOK FIRST: SOMETHINGYOUSAID.COM
Sometimes you just know that you have witnessed something seminal. The Slaughtered Lamb pub, tucked away in the labyrinthal back streets of Central London, offered up one such occasion on a cold, dark Wednesday night, as Sydney's Steve Smyth played an exceptional show for the UK launch of his debut album, Release.
Beginning with one of the most exciting songs put out by anyone this year, Barbiturate Cowboy & His Dark Horses, Smyth (pictured, above) demonstrated his vocal range and captivating stage presence as an ethereal opening was barged aside by a lung-busting, gravel-throated Tom Waits bark. He howled, approached the mic from every angle, stomped his feet and dropped to his knees on the beer soaked carpet as droplets of sweat rained from his brow. On A Hopeless Feminist, the troubadour treated his guitar with the gentle caress of a lover while during the raw blues of No Man's Land, he bashed the living hell out of it. Counterbalancing this, he further illustrated the nuances of his vocal with a beautiful A Cappella version of Leadbelly's Sylvie.
As well as being backed by Howling Bells drummer Glenn Moule on drums for much of the set, Smyth was also joined by Moule's London-based Australian band-mate Juanita Stein (pictured, above) for the sweet and gentle duet Stay Young. The Howling Bells singer's pretty delivery floated elegantly through the silenced room and juxtaposed the show's more visceral moments. The night closed with Smyth being joined by Kitty, Daisy & Lewis (pictured, below) for a fun Howlin' Wolf-esque romp, Chocolate For Breakfast, which had been created in the London siblings' home just the day before.
Calls for an encore were reluctantly denied by Smyth. “How can you top that?” he asked of his triumphant closing jam with the North London trio. And so, with a drink in each hand and a smile the size of the Thames visible through his epic beard, he disappeared through the packed room to a multitude of back-slaps and a cacophony of cheers.
On this showing, and judging by the quality of his debut LP, the charismatic Steve Smyth has an incredibly exciting future ahead of him and this love-in between himself, his musical mates and a wooed audience is sure to be one of those occasions where those in attendance will, in the future, boast “I was there.” The singer/songwriter certainly seemed overwhelmed and humbled by the turnout and reception and, as the crowd stepped out into the freezing London streets, their breath dancing in front of their faces, they did so in the knowledge that they had witnessed something truly special.
Over the next few days, all of Bobbysix's contributors will be sharing their highlights of 2011, culminating in the announcement of our overall album/song/movie/gig of the year later this week. Today, Editor Bobby gets the ball rolling: Top 10 albums 1.
A Creature I Don’t Know - LAURA MARLING Marling's
most expansive record and also her most accessible, it proves her to be
one of the most honest, intelligent and breathtakingly talented artists
in music today. 2. Twerps
- TWERPS Twerps
is the sound of a band growing up and
finding their sound. This is an album that could soundtrack long summer
days spent falling out of love. 3.Bad As Me - TOM
WAITS Existing fans will love it, while newbies
will find this the ideal place to begin their Tom Waits collection. 4.
Ceremonials - FLORENCE + THE MACHINE The art-pop of
Ceremonials exudes impressive confidence from a woman on top of her
game, while retaining enough of a dark edge to keep it interesting. 5.
Vows - KIMBRA Vows is a soulful, textured, vibrant triumph
of a debut which immediately establishes Kimbra as a unique and
genuinely exciting new artist 6.
In Your Room - CAMERAS The most refreshing
thing is that, rather than front-loading the big singles, as so many
albums do nowadays, it ebbs and flows like a set-list and feels very
much like a musical journey. 7.
Veronica Falls - VERONICA FALLS A beguiling,
intriguing coming together of dark and light, it is really rather
wonderful. Melancholy never seemed so much fun. 8.
Milk Annual - CAITLIN PARK The delightful truth
is that the nuanced, beautiful and outstanding Milk Annual is actually a
unique sounding record. And you can't say that very often these days. 9.
Smoking in Heaven - KITTY, DAISY & LEWIS If
the rubbish that litters commercial radio station playlists had
one-hundredth of the honesty, heart and soul that this record does, the
music world would be a much more satisfying place. 10.
Yuck -YUCK This album doesn't sound derivative in the
slightest, but rather is a fresh and exciting post-grunge offering with a
DIY ethic.
Top
10 songs
1. Defeatist - CAMERAS
2.
History’s Door -
HUSKY
3. Cameo Lover - KIMBRA 4. Who Are You? - TWERPS 5.
Walk Like Thunder - KIMYA DAWSON 6. Even Though
I’m a Woman - SEEKER LOVER KEEPER 7. Found Love in a Graveyard - VERONICA FALLS 8. Back in the Crowd -
TOM WAITS 9. Endless Summer - THE JEZABELS 10.
Covered By Snow - DEAD LETTER CHORUS
Top 10 gigs 1. FLORENCE + THE MACHINE - Seymour Centre,
Sydney So magical was the atmosphere in room during
this perfect occasion that to step back into the real world felt
painfully mundane. This was a wonderful and unforgettable night. 2.
DAVID FORD - The Empire Bar, Belfast At the midway
point, Ford ran down the street in order to play a song at Duke Special
and Phil Jupitus’ gig. They passed him on the way and came to read some
poems at The Empire Bar. 3.
KIMBRA - The Metro, Sydney Her effervescence was
complimented by her band as finger-clicking, red-suited male backing
singers boogied in the background. She even managed a mid-set costume
change.
4.SEEKER LOVER KEEPER -
St Stephen’s Church, Sydney
A night in a
warmly-lit church watching three talented and charming musicians can be
aptly summed-up in a single word. Lovely.
5.
THE GRATES - The Metro, Sydney
With the combination
of infectious pop, post-grunge and a singer that owns the room with her
lust for life, tonight once again proved that to see The Grates live is
to best understand them.
6.
CAMERAS - Changing Lanes Festival, Sydney
While
their atmospheric sound is best suited to playing in the dark, they
still gave one of the performances - if not the performance - of the
day (pictured, left)
7 SIMONE FELICE - The
Vanguard, Sydney
His voice was beautiful, ethereal,
transfixing and when he bowed at the end of the gig he did so with the
awkward charm of a five-year-old having performed in the school nativity
play.
8. KIMYA DAWSON & AESOP ROCK - Manning
Bar, Sydney
It was a rare joy to see two such different
artists sharing a stage and creating an evening of such eclecticism.
9.
THE JEZABELS - Homebake Festival, Sydney
Singer
Hayley Mary has something of the Kate Bush about her in terms of her
vocal and the band's pop songs were powerful and engaging.
10.
HOWLING BELLS - The Standard, Sydney
Simply, they
sound like a proper band, with clean, strong guitar driven indie songs
and an excellent vocalist in Juanita Stein.
Top
10 Films
1. Submarine
2.
Bill Cunningham New York
3. Snowtown
4.
Midnight in Paris
5. We Need To Talk About Kevin
6.
Black Swan
7. Senna
8. Drive
9.
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
10. The Guard
Top
5 TV Shows
1. 24 Hours in A&E
2. Match of the Day
3.
Boardwalk Empire
4. At The Movies
5.
Q & A
Top 5 radio
shows/podcasts
1. Kermode and Mayo’s Film Reviews - BBC
Radio 5Live
2. Guardian Football Weekly Podcast
3.
Arvos - FBi Radio
4. Desert Island Disks - BBC Radio 4
5.
The Allnighter - FBi Radio
Favourite
interview of the year
There were a few
actually. It was a joy to chat to Florence Welch, even though it was at
7am and I hadn’t been to bed from the night before. I also enjoyed doing
a face-to-face with Juanita Stein from Howling Bells. Our interview
would lead to me drunkenly teaching her how to use the DJ decks at
Sydney’s World Bar the next night. Speaking to Britany Nola was very
interesting. I always enjoy interviewing models, as they have so much to say and are rarely afforded the opportunity. Her words about
human rights and tolerance were inspiring. However, my favourite interview was with Laura Marling. I adore her work - firmly believing
her to be the best lyricist of her generation - and I enjoyed catching
up with her, as we first spoke over three years ago, when she was a shy
18-year-old. Though she is now a pretty big deal, it was lovely to
discover that she remains as unassuming, polite and friendly as she was
back then.
Highlight of the year.
Being
able to attend the first Brighton & Hove Albion game at The
American Express Community Stadium was an incredibly emotional end to a 14-year journey and something I will never forget. However, my actual
highlight came at Sydney’s Metro Theatre in September. I was attempting
to woo an especially beautiful lady when a young man came up to me and
said “Excuse me, I just wanted to say I love your blog.” It is the only
time in my life I have appeared cool and his timing was excellent.
2011
in words
Regina Spektor once told me that, "Man plans and God laughs." She could very well have been talking about my 2011. A fucked up fruitcake of a year, starting in the snow of England, ending in the heat of Australia, via Scotland, Northern Ireland and Eastern Europe. An era ending. Stolen moments in Budapest. A head resting on my chest in Sydney. Tourbus hilarity on the motorways of Britain. New friends on both sides of the world. A crack in everything. That's how the light gets in.
Prediction
for 2012
Our new website is going to blow your fucking
minds. Watch this space.
Bobby is the Editor of Bobbysix.com. He has written for publications and websites including CNN, Drum Media, Inpress, BBM, Time Off, Rip It Up andThe Argus. He has also appeared on BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC 7. He splits his time between Australia and England.
I'm excited to say that Bobbysix.com is soon to get a major relaunch. Over the past five years, the blog has grown from something I would muck about with every now and again to a site that is updated daily, has a team of excellent writers and that gets a mega number of hits. Basically, it's become a bit too much for one person to cope with. My inbox is like a war zone. Although, admittedly, for that analogy to work you'd need to replace dead bodies with unanswered emails, which isn't quite as dramatic.
Anyway, the point of all this is to say that, in the new year, I'm teaming up with my Deputy Editor (the awarding-winning Heidi Pett) to create something brand new and really fucking cool. It'll still have the same awesome contributors as the B6, but it'll be prettier, more user-friendly and with in-depth writing from all over the globe.
But, to achieve this, we require your help. The first thing we need is a new name for the site. Thus far we have come up with nothing (my only suggestion of heidi is shit dot com didn't go down too well). So, please give us your ideas, either in the comments section below or to info@bobbysix.com. Everyone that suggests a name will go into a prize draw and we'll pick a winner at random and give them some free shit (gig tickets, CDs, that kinda thing).
Also, we're on the look out for more writers/photographers to join our fabulous team. We can't pay you at this stage, but we can send you to gigs/festivals and throw some free music at you. Plus, you might get to interview/photograph your heroes. If you think you've got what it takes to write/photograph for us, then send an email to info@bobbysix.com - maybe with an example of your work. We are especially looking for people across the UK, Northern America (notably New York and San Francisco), Melbourne, Brisbane and all over Europe. So, yeah, if you are aspiring writer/photographer, then it's a good opportunity for you to get your work out there.
Also also, we need someone to help us design the new site. So if you're a bit of a spekky brainbox, firstly, you're our kind of dude, and secondly, help us build the damn thing and we'll ply you with booze/food/sexual favours/cuddles.
Once the new site is up, we're gonna have a massive launch party (infact, maybe even several launch parties across the globe). First though, please, for the love of God, help us think of a fucking name.
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.
Last Friday, Sydney's magnificent Cameras launched their album at The Standard. The night was fantastic, with the band playing a typically awesome set to a packed room. Displaying layered soundscapes, the juxtaposing vocals of Eleanor Dunlop and Fraser Harvey and intelligently-structured songs, this is a group which continues to grow with every performance. And, considering they were already pretty bloody good when they first started three years ago, that's a scary thought. Meanwhile, support act Winter People put in a turn that suggests they are also one of the bands to watch in 2012.
At Bobbysix.com, we were delighted to be invited to the launch, not just as long-term fans of Cameras (we've been supporting them since the very beginning, y'all) but as house DJs for the night. So, between bands, Heidi (pictured, above) and Bobby kept the punters entertained with our sick skills on the ones and twos. Once we were done, we simply breathed in the brilliance of the night's headliners (below).
Cameras' debut album, In your Room, is out now and you should buy it if
you've
got brains, ears and a soul. Meanwhile, if you want Bobbysix DJs to drop bombs at your
show/party/bar, just let us know by emailing info@bobbysix.com
“There have been so many bizarre moments,” flame-haired songstress Florence Welch laughs as she recalls the whirlwind that has been the last couple of years of her life. To illustrate this, she recounts her appearance at this year's Met Ball in New York. “Coming out of the Temple of Dendur with bleached eyebrows dressed as David Bowie, doing some sort of strange jig with Paul McCartney and then spinning around next to Madonna was one of those moments where it was like, 'My life has become irrevocably weird and I doubt it will ever get back to normal.'”
Indeed, from winning the Critics' Choice Award at the 2009 Brits before she had released an album, to her debut record Lungs receiving worldwide acclaim and selling by the bucket-load, to recently having been cited as an influence by none other than Beyonce, it's fair to say that things have been pretty surreal for Florence Welch since she burst onto the scene. Forever in the media spotlight and with an army of fans hungry for new material, one might think that the English singer/songwriter would have been under a huge amount of pressure to deliver the goods with her new long-player, Ceremonials. In fact, compared to her first album, the opposite was true.
“I didn't really think about it. I was just happy to be writing,” the charmingly polite and well-spoken 25-year-old explains. “The pressure I was under, writing the first record after winning that Critics' Choice Award and still being at such a raw stage, was so intense. I'd say it was almost a negative thing because it really put me under a microscope before I had anything to be protected by. People really went for how I looked or my personality because that was the only thing that was there. There was no album, and to be picked apart like that before you have any music to stand by is terrifying. It was a baptism of fire. I'm really grateful for having got that award; it was a great opportunity and it really helped me in the long-run, but at that point it was pretty hard to see the benefits because I was just freaking out the whole time. This time round, with a clearer idea of what I was doing, it was almost easier.”
Working once again with award-winning producer Paul Epworth (who also co-wrote and produced Lungs) and Isabella 'Machine' Summers (songwriter and member of the band), Welch recorded Ceremonials with her group over five weeks in the English summertime at Abbey Road's legendary Studio Three. The result certainly doesn't sound like something that was created under an especially heavy weight of expectation. “I was really lucky because I was working with some amazing people. Working with Paul and Isa, we have such such a musical connection. They had all these amazing drum patterns that I could get excited by and Paul would have these great chords. They made it easy to get back into the swing of things. We'd been speaking about it for a year and I had a really clear idea of what I wanted: big drum sounds, big bass sounds, big choral sweeps. When we got back into the studio, everyone was just excited to be there.”
To call the record 'big' is an understatement. This album is unapologetically huge. Massive. With layered instrumentation and Welch's trademark howl, it is an impressively bold and expansive second-coming. “I think you can't help being incorrigibly yourself,” she explains. “I've always been interested in big drum sounds and I'm drawn to big orchestral sounds. I'm obsessed with this choral thing. I'm interested in hymnal music and Georgian choirs. It's like heaven and hell in one.”
Aside from its enormity, the other noticeable thing about the new album is that it is much more cohesive than her debut offering. “I'm really glad you said that,” Welch beams when Drum brings up the notion that, if the excellent Lungs was an eclectic collection of songs, Ceremonials is a progression in that it sounds very well-rounded. “That's what I was aiming for. It was really important to me that it had a cohesive, overarching sound and it didn't fluctuate from one song to the next. For better or for worse, the first album was always going to be an experiment. I'd been through a lot of musical phases from the age of 17 and 22, so it was an overview of that period. This one, because it was a shorter period of time, with one producer [Paul Epworth] and one place, was more just a body of work. A story, I guess, rather than a scrapbook.”
A lengthy worldwide tour is scheduled to promote the record and, when she takes to the stage each night, there are bound to be plenty of fans drooling almost as much at her chosen outfit as they are her music. It's fair to say that Florence Welch is nearly as well-known for being a fashion icon as she is for her incredible voice, and can be seen within the pages of the monthly glossies as much as in the music press. “As a performer, what you wear is such a huge tool. It affects the way you feel and the way you move. It's like thinking of it in terms of an art piece or a dance piece.” However, her image isn't a contrivance, created by some record company executive. She has enjoyed dressing up since she was a child and, even before fashion designers were swooning over her, she put a huge amount of thought and effort into her onstage attire. “When we first started playing, we'd be given ten pounds for food and I'd spend it in a charity shop or a vintage shop and create these Frankenstein outfits: bits of feathers, lace, a red riding hood cape and glitter all over my face. So to be embraced by the world of high-fashion, for a girl who loved dressing up and was constantly in the fancy dress box, is an absolute dream.”
With her aesthetic sensibilities an extension of her natural desire to constantly be creative, Florence Welch is not the kind of person to let the dust settle and, even though her new album has only just hit the shelves, it inevitably won't be long until she begins to think about the shape that record number three will take. Feeling that she has honed her distinctive sound with Ceremonials, the question now is, where does she go next, sonically? She ponders for a moment. “I'm thinking either more orchestral or minimal... Take it as big as I can, or go small. I don't know.” She pauses, before joking, “Maybe minimal orchestral.”
Whichever musical direction Florence Welch takes in the future, if she walks the road with the confidence and gusto that she has displayed on the fantastic Ceremonials, then the world will surely remain her oyster.
Interview and live photo by Bobby Townsend. An extended version first appeared in Sydney's Drum Media. Edited by Heidi Pett.
Bobby Townsend, the, ahem, brains behind Bobbysix.com, is used to being the man asking the questions. Sometimes though, like here, he becomes the interviewee, where he stutters and stumbles his way through the simplest of questions. This week, he was interviewed by the delightful Tess Georgia Dimos (above, who he interviewed earlier in the year) about his experiences talking to models. Here's a snippet:
Hey Bobby ! So, you have interviewed quite a few models over the past year or so, is it a pleasant experience speaking to a model?
I first started interviewing models as I was very keen to feature a more eclectic bunch of people on my blog, rather than just bands. So I spoke to some writers, artists, film-makers, models, etc. The model interviews always got the most views, so I was obviously keen to feature more. As I started doing more interviews with them, I found that the quality of answer was invariably very good. At first, I couldn’t really work out why these interviews always went so well, but then I realised that, often, models don’t really get the chance to air their voice. They are just treated as glorified clothes horses, bossed around and not always shown much respect. So, when someone actually makes the effort to say, “Tell me about yourself, I’m really interested in what you have to say,” they are happy to take the opportunity to show that they are more than two-dimensional characters. The thing that often comes across is how much more to their lives there is than modelling. The generally accepted idea that models are vacuous is completely unrepresentative, in my opinion. The vast majority of models are intelligent, friendly and endearing.
