Getting to Know... Northeast Party House

We grabbed two minutes with Sean from Melbourne's Northeast Party House before their hometown single launch last Friday:

Northeast Party House are five mates, who used to be six mates but three of them left.

We are currently listening to our latest single Pascal Cavalier. We shot the video for it on the weekend so it's been on repeat in our brains.

Our single launch tour will be the most fun we've had since our last tour... "TOUR TOUR TOUR!"

Melbourne is about to be drowned in the sweat of our Corner Hotel crowd!

It might surprise people to learn... this

In the future Snail Zombies rule the world!

You can see Northeast Party House here this weekend:

Friday 20 July 
Goodgod Small Club, Sydney
Supported by Panama and Colour Coding
Tickets on sale now via Moshtix www.moshtix.com.au | 1300 GET TIX

Saturday 21 July
Alhambra Lounge, Brisbane
Supported by The Belligerents and Fairchild Republic
Tickets on sale now via Oztix - www.tickets.oztix.com.au | 1300 762 545

Getting To Know... House of Shem

House of Shem tell Bobbysix.com about their tours of Australia and the US: 

House of Shem are an all Maori trio of vocalists, song writers and producers, fronted by New Zealand Reggae ambassador Carl Perkins and his two sons Te Omeka and Isaiah Perkins with the best selection of Reggae musicians from New Zealand behind them providing the world with quality Reggae Music.

Our debut headline tour of Australia will be a fun experience. We love the vibe there the people are always happy and skanking when we come there! We are covering WA, VIC, NSW and QLD and we cant waitttt!!

Before then, we are travelling to The States in June to perform at the Sierra Nevada World music festival alongside some of the biggest names in Reggae music and performing for the first time in Hawaii. Hawaii has been waiting for over seven years for us to go there from the time we released I Love U Girl in 2003. Our song Thinking About You was a number 1 hit for a long time on the radio there. We cant wait to share our music and culture with the People of Hawaii!

We're currently listening to our children laughing and playing, also our new album which is sounding so niceeee! Also we are listening to Stevie wonder, The Eagles, Steely Dan, Bob Marley and the Marley Family, Alborosie, Steel Pulse, Big Mountain... the list goes on, but daily we just write and listen to our hearts and minds to create some music for you all.

Auckland is fire inna Babylon city, haha! Some of us are based in West Auckland and it is beautiful out here. You can see a bit of bush and it's nice and quiet because they limited how many alcohol outlets are out here, so even Better.

It might surprise people to learn that we have just recorded a reggae version of a Beatles song, ready to be released on a compilation that is been compiled in Argentina.

House of Shem Australian Tour 

Thurday 12th July - Wanneroo Tavern, Wanneroo WA 
Tickets available from www.oztix.com.au, www.heatseeker.com.au, www.moshtix.com.au, venue and usual outlets. 
Friday 13th July - Eliot St Bar, Bunbury WA
Tickets available from www.oztix.com.au, www.heatseeker.com.au, www.moshtix.com.au, venue and usual outlets. 
Saturday 14th July - Rosemount Hotel, North Perth WA Tickets available from www.oztix.com.au, www.heatseeker.com.au, www.moshtix.com.au, venue and usual outlets. 
Sunday 15th July - Leisure Inn, Rockingham WA Tickets available from www.oztix.com.au, www.heatseeker.com.au, www.moshtix.com.au, venue and usual outlets. 
Thursday 19th July - Kings Beach Tavern, Sunshine Coast QLD Tickets $25+bf from www.oztix.com.au 
Friday 20th July - Coolangatta Hotel, Gold Coast QLD Tickets $30 +bf from www.oztix.com.au Saturday 21st July - The Zoo, Brisbane QLD Tickets $30 +bf from www.oztix.com.au 
Sunday 22nd July - Byron Bay Brewery, Byron Bay NSW Tickets $25 + bf from www.oztix.com
Thursday 26th July - Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle NSW Tickets $30 +bf from www.moshtix.com.au Friday 27th July - The Standard, Sydney NSW Tickets $30 +bf from www.moshtix.com.au & www.eventfinder.com.au 
Saturday 28th July - Deep Roots @ The Espy, Melbourne VIC Tickets from www.oztix.com.au

Getting To Know... The Imagineers

Scottish four-piece The Imagineers recently performed on CBS’s The Late Late Show for five consecutive nights as a tribute to Craig Ferguson's Scottish roots and a tribute to his glory days of being in a rock band during his youth. We found out a bit more about them:

The Imagineers are four chancers speaking to you from a hotel room in Los Angeles.

We take influence from everything really. Any thought is a lyric if you choose to follow it through.

Being on The Late Late Show was the first time we saw behind the showbiz curtain of how things are really done. Craig Ferguson was a cool guy.

Scotland is arguably the best country north of England. We wouldn't trade where we come from. I think you have to have been raised there to understand it though.

It might surprise people to learn that this line-up has been together just over a year.

In the future we will be hardened cynics, with good reasons to back it up. Hopefully still playing music.

Interview by Bobby Townsend. Keep up to date with The Imagineers on Facebook.

Getting To Know... Bridie Connell

Ahead of her exhibition at Alaska Projects in Sydney on Thursday, Bridie Connell tells to Bobbysix about art and go-go dancing:

Art is my job. I make art, I write about art, I curate art exhibitions, I’m on the board of an artist-run-initiative and I pay the bills by working in an art gallery. Too much? Probably, but I honestly don’t know any different. I’ve grown up with art and like any long-term relationship it takes a lil’ creativity and dedication to keep the spark alive. We’ve had our ups and downs but at the end of the day I can’t imagine my life without it.

I would describe my style as layered, but my loved ones describe it as “Creepy Chic”! I like honey traps - art that seduces with surface beauty and interrogates on closer inspection. I’m interested in representations of women in art and popular culture and much of my work deliberately toys with virgin/whore clichés of femininity. My inspiration is broad - lots of pop references, girlish nostalgia and Catholic iconography. I’m forever indebted to my mother’s 70s arts & craft journals and while I generally like to start with a concept I’m pretty good with my hands. I like styling and taking snap shots, hand stitch and embroidering, making multiples and little shrines and transforming found objects into treasure but most of all I like a bit of sass – backstage jokes about sex and dancing.

I'm also a go-go dancer. It’s my after-hours job! Think 60s style shimmy shakers rather than the fluffy boot wearing club horrors that come up on a go-go Google search and you’ll get the idea. Dancing is in my blood. I’ve done everything from jazz ballet and modern to cheerleading and burlesque - but I like to trace my love of go-go back to my failure to play an instrument alongside my musical siblings, “Don’t worry,” Mum reassured, “you can always be the go-go dancer for the band.” Fast forward to adulthood. I took a go-go class with burlesque star Tasia, we hit it off and began doing gigs with gorgeous go-girl Nette under the name The Go-Gettes and before I knew it I was getting paid to dance on stage with bands. Mum is pretty amused.

My next art exhibition is all about go-go. It’s at Alaska Projects in Kings Cross and the title, King’s Cross Affair, is taken from a sleazy 60s pulp fiction novel about life and love in Sydney’s red light district – a place that’s always held my fascination. I was inevitably drawn there as a teenager but none of the clubs could ever compete with the old photos of strippers and drag queens and go-girls I poured over as a kid. I was clearly born in the wrong era and this show is essentially an installation-based homage the original Sydney go-girls I idolise – including beautiful Jeanette Luke who worked as a go-go dancer in Kings Cross for over five years and has been so open and generous in sharing her stories of gangsters and ‘crotch watchers’ and sequin sewing backstage. I’m most excited to have The Go-Gettes performing on the opening night and instead of giving another stuffy artist talk I’ll be hosting a go-go dance class with the ever amazing Tasia the following Thursday. Fun. Pony on down!

It might surprise people to learn that I don’t have a stage name. Dancing as a Go-Gette I’ve never had to bother but the more solo and burlesque gigs I’m offered the more people ask. I’ve lots of pet names but nothing I want to take to the stage. Suggestions welcome!

I'd love to take a holiday, fall in love with a sexy rock and roller and live happily ever after.

Be sure to check out Bridie's exhibition at Alaska Projects in Sydney's Kings Cross, from Thursday 26th April. Details here.

Interview by Bobby Townsend

Getting To Know... Last Dinosaurs

Sam from Last Dinosaurs talks to Bobbysix.com about their album, Brisbane and D'Angelo:

Last Dinosaurs are four fellas from Brisbane trying to make a name for ourselves out there in the world. We write indie pop rock music and rehearse in a storage warehouse. We came together over a mutual love of rudiments, riffs, climbing shit, jumping off aforementioned shit, Phoenix, bikes and The Strokes.

Our debut album, In a Million Years, is being released on March 2nd. We spent three weeks in July 2011 in Sydney's (now extinct) Big Jesus Burger studios recording songs we'd written over the previous two years. We brought in our buddy Jean-Paul Fung in to co-produce and engineer the record then sent it off the Elliot James in the UK for mixing. We're all stoked with how it's turned out and can't wait to unleash it on people.

Brisbane is doing really well right now in terms of bands. We’re best mates with a heap of the bands coming up (Gung Ho, Dune Rats, The Cairos, Millions, Mitzi, The Jungle Giants, the Medics, DZ Deathrays and I’m sure some I’ve forgotten). We've developed a really supportive culture with all bands looking out for one another. Triple J has been flogging heaps of Brisbane bands recently. It's a great feeling to see all of our mates doing as well as they are!

You should come to our launch shows because it's basically a chance for us to party and celebrate the release of our first record. We've spent two hard years writing this bad boy, so all the excitement has been building up to these three gigs.

It might surprise people to learn that Dan, Lach and myself have formed a D'Angelo cover band. We call ourselves The Soulquarians 2.0

In the future, we've got aspirations to get out there and see the rest of the world. We're headed to the UK for three months from May which will be an incredible experience that we are all frothing over. We're also planning to head to the US later this year and Japan is another country we can't wait to spend some time touring in (the other three boys are all half-Japanese).

The launch dates are: 
Tuesday 28th February - The Toff, Melbourne 
With special guests Them Swoops 

Wednesday 29th February - 2012 Spectrum, Sydney 
With special guests Toucan 
SOLD OUT 

Thursday 1st March - Cobra Kai @ Oh Hello, Brisbane 
With special guests The Jungle Giants 
SOLD OUT


Last Dinosaurs are also embarking on a massive Australian tour in April. Deets can be found at the Facebook event page.

Interview by Bobby Townsend. Follow Last Dinosaurs at their Facebook page. 

Getting To Know... Tenley Nordstrom

Up-and-coming model Tenley Nordstrom has decided to walk away from the industry. In an honest and open interview, she talks to Bobbysix.com about giving it all up: 

Modelling has been a vehicle for me to travel and experience different sides of the world and people, but it's not like it has given me a whole lot more than that. I still really love the medium of photography though. For instance, Sally Mann is somebody I think is amazing, and she has nothing to do with fashion. As far as looking at maybe, Italian Vogue, I can see through it all now. I know what goes into it so the glamour has gone. I'm still grateful for everything that has happened - I wouldn't be the person I am without it -  but I'm at peace with that and I can use what I've learned elsewhere now.

The reason, more than any other, that I'm quitting modeling is because of the superficiality. I am not a superficial person and I can no longer live in a completely superficial world.... READ THE FULL INTERVIEW HERE.

Getting To Know... Easy Star All Stars

Michael Goldwasser from Easy Star All Stars tells Bobbysix.com a little about the band:

Easy Star All-Stars are what you would get if you took some great musicians from all different cultures, got them really high, and then shuttled them back and forth between Jamaica and New York until they didn't know where they were anymore.

Our new album is the reggae equivalent of Chinese Democracy by Guns and Roses, only really good. We've been telling the fans that we would have an album of originals for a long time now, and it's finally here. No Axl though....

We take inspiration from our families, our fans and local brews from around the globe.

In the past we hung out with Pink Floyd, Radiohead and the Beatles.

In the future... ??????

It might surprise people to learn that we've actually been around for fifteen years - slow and steady wins the race.

Our live shows in Australia will be psychoalphadiscobetabioaquadoloop.

Here are Easy Star All-Stars upcoming Australian tour dates: 
December 29, 2011 - The Falls Festival, Lorne, VIC
December 30, 2011 - The Corner Hotel, 57 Swan St Richmond, Melbourne, VIC
December 31, 2011 - The Falls Festival, Marion Bay, Tasmania
January 04, 2012 - The Factory, 105 Victoria Rd Marrickville, Sydney, NSW
January 05, 2012- The Zoo, 711 Anne St Fortitude Valley, Brisbane, QLD

Interview by Bobby Townsend

Getting To Know... Laurel & Hector Vintage

 
Kee Kee, founder of the wonderful Laurel & Hector Vintage tells Bobbysix.com a bit about the business and her other ventures:

Laurel & Hector Vintage is an online store specializing in 1960’s & 1970’s garments; it’s definitely an obsession with the bright and fun aspects of the 60’s & 70’s. They just had it so right! Mixing sexy, edgy fashion with bright colours is definitely something I try to achieve in my day to day wardrobe. Wearing black is just too easy to pull off that bad ass babe look, but adding colour and sass is what the 60’s & 70’s was all about. I’m completely infatuated with mod fashion, those miniskirts, high neck collars and amazing detailing is what made me want to start Laurel & Hector Vintage – I found that Australia really doesn’t have it easy when it comes to finding unique mod fashion. I wanted to make it easier for my fellow 1960’s lovers and have it all available in one store. I sell online because it gives me more time to source new items, do photo shoots and sew mod dresses (which will be available in the New Year). I am constantly working to develop the brand and stock the rare treasures that you can only drool over on in a 1960’s French Vogue.

You should check out Laurel & Hector Vintage because it’s filled with unique treasures! The pieces I’ve personally sourced have been named after 1950’s – 1970’s songs, artists and iconic places which truly reflect s each item. The Laurel & Hector Tumblr & Facebook provides great insight into the garment names inspiration, film, art, music and influences from the 1960’s and 1970’s. Without turning into a complete 60’s freak; I often incorporate modern fashion into the mix to show how easy it is to wear Laurel & Hector items on a day to day basis. It’s all about balance, if you go hell for leather into an era it becomes too cheesy, the best fashion icons will mix it up and wear modern fashion and add their own vintage flare to it.  

When I'm not running the vintage business, you'll find me living by my motto “Deadlines or Die.” I love being busy and am constantly working on a new project. I run ma. gallery which started 2009 in [Sydney suburb] Chippendale, where we held weekly exhibitions and live shows for a year. After being sick of no shower and sharing a room in the gallery we decided pop-up shows would work better for us which opened up doors to exhibit in Japan and around Australia. We’re currently designing the EMI windows that face Flinders St in Sydney, including 20+ artists who will donate art works to be auctioned off to raise money for Christmas Wishing Tree fund for children who miss out on Christmas presents.

Sydney is something that needs a little work. I feel it has so much potential which is why we started ma. gallery in the first place. We wanted to provide a hub for the creatives of Sydney where artists can collaborate together, musicians can meet and organise shows and we could come up with fantastic ideas to incorporate the both. It’s so easy to say that Sydney is dull and such a small town when you don’t do anything about it. Running ma. definitely wasn’t easy, we were the stinky girls who showered in a sink and made people pay $3 for a beer at our art shows just to get by, but we did it because we wanted to add colour to the city, provide another place to exhibit or play and to hang out. If everyone just put in that little bit of effort we could show those big dogs like New York or Berlin what we’re made of. The talent here is insane but we’re losing them all for greener pastures. It’s so sad.

It might surprise people to learn that Laurel & Hector is named after my adorable grandparents. They live on a quiet street in Maitland where my dad and his siblings grew up; the house has been untouched since the 50’s! The collectibles in there are absolutely insane and they still collect bits and bobs. Walking into their kitchen you’ll find the mustard paisley wallpaper still intact, brown, orange and mustard coloured draw knobs, an Uluru poster from the 70’s and of course those kitsch kitchen ornaments like a weird fridge magnet or a ceramic poodle. I’ve heard stories of my grandpa, Hector, being a bit of a babe magnet and a wild boy. Dressing as a teddy and pulling risky moves like gambling his house with the Griffith mafia, I hope this is where I get my carefree attitude!

In the future I hope to live off Laurel & Hector Vintage and ma. gallery as a full-time job. I plan to start designing and making reproduction pieces from the 60’s and 70’s for L&H. I’ve already started with vintage a-line dress patterns with unique detailing, I’ll be stocking them on Laurel & Hector and in Route 66 on Crown Street in Sydney's Surry Hills within the New Year. I also plan to go into men’s wear, hence the name Laurel & Hector. It would be great to see some mod boys kicking around Sydney, even if it is just for eye candy! ma. gallery is also looking for bigger and better things, her third birthday is coming up in April and we’re trying to outdo ourselves each year. Like our Halloween parties we can only get bigger and better. If you missed out on this year’s Halloween we had The Walk On By, Tombstone, Psychonanny & The Babyshakers and Glitter Canyon play live and with eight amazing artists exhibiting from the likes of Esjay, Stevie Edge, John Hynd, Anton Benois and Bennett to name a few made this year our biggest. So our third birthday is definitely not one to be missed!

 
You can contact Kee Kee at laurelandhector@gmail.com and check out her store here. Follow Laurel and Hector on facebook to keep right up to date with all things vintage.     

Interview by Bobby Townsend. Photos: Ryan Kitching

Getting To Know... The Fearless Vampire Killers

Guitarist Al Marx from Melbourne's The Fearless Vampire Killers tells Bobbysix.com a bit about the band:

The Fearless Vampire Killers are a really complementary group of people. Justin is the loveliest person you'll ever meet, Jacob is the most solid person I know, Sean is a boy in a man-suit, and I'm passionately flawed. We actually have quite divergent musical tastes. Though I feel we appreciate the same qualities in music, our different personalities interpret them in different ways so the music we personally enjoy can be quite varied. When we write, we all get to the same point down different avenues which I feel is one of our greatest strengths.

We like to write lyrics when we're feeling emotionally stressed. Not for some wanky pseudo-intellectual expression of pain, but simply because your reasoning is out of balance, and you see your viewpoint from a different angle. It makes it more interesting for the both of us. We can't really account for our musical inspiration. It's just a big pile of everything we've liked over the last 23 years and when we're looking for a melody something usually pops out. It's best not to wonder where it's been.

Our debut album is done! We actually recorded 95 percent of it two years ago. We had so many pathetic little setbacks along the way, but now it's sitting there on the shelves. It's a great relief to have the final product after much fluffing-about and be in a position to do something with it.

Melbourne is our home and I think it always will be. It's pretty hard to put my finger on it, but I think Melbourne is a very light-hearted city. Everyone seems to get on pretty well and there seems to be less social pressure than most other cities I've been to. You can just be what you are without the pressure to state what you are.

It might surprise people to learn that we don't surf. Many people ask us that, particularly north of Canberra. We love the beach and getting thrashed about by the waves, but frankly Victoria has less of the warm sunny paradise waves and more cold ferocious waves peeling off from the endless swirling chaos of the Southern Ocean. That doesn't make the learning process very appealing.

Our album launch at The East Brunswick Club this Saturday will be fantastic. I swear. Your performance is always susceptible to little distractions and your gigs can suffer because of that. But I feel this gig is going to be a massive sigh of relief for all of us. It's the end of a chapter and we'll be pulling it all out. It's like an enormous group therapy session you can watch through the suspicious mirror on the wall.

Interview by Bobby Townsend. You can find out more about The Fearless Vampire Killers at their Facebook page. They launch their album at the East Brusnwick Club on Saturday 26th November.

Getting To Know... Heidi Pett

Heidi Pett is Bobbysix.com's new Deputy Editor. Considering how you've shown her reviews a whole lotta love already, we thought it only polite to introduce her properly. Here she is, in her own words:

Writing is... something I do in my spare time, usually at around 3am when I should be doing writing of an entirely different kind. Hello, Development Studies essay looming up there in a tab I haven't opened for hours now.

I'd love to interview... Dave Eggers and Jonathan Safran Foer, because they write beautifully and with such imagination. Marieke Hardy. She inspires me to live deliberately, and write about it. Also, made-up swears and calling Amanda Vanstone a cunt. Vikram Seth, because he’s a genius and despite its length, I’ve read A Suitable Boy more times than I care to divulge. Patience Hodgson. Gemma Connell, because she’s up there on this enormous pedestal in my life. Do you really want the whole list? I could prattle on about this for almost forever.

Aside from writing... I spend vast tracts of time prancing around the internet getting inspired by what other people are creating, present Allnighters on FBi Radio, volunteer as the Venue Assistant at FBi Social and I’ve just started producing Arvos on FBi as well. I mess up my bedroom, read, make lists, dick around with my housemate, take road trips and study Arts/Law, something which I should probably devote more time to.

Sydney is... cliquey. I moved here last year and came to the entirely valid conclusion that I’m socially retarded after I made a total of two friends at uni, both of whom moved back to Perth. However since I’ve started volunteering at FBi I’ve found this wonderful community of like-minded, creative people who are all doing and making interesting things. A heads up for Macquarie University students: can’t find anybody to hang out with that’s not a stick-in-the-mud accounting student? They hide all the creative types way over across campus in Y3A, something I’ve only discovered after I met these elusive types at the station, a place which has become a sort of surrogate uni for me in many ways. I grew up listening to my Dad's stories of university and my parents' lives in Sydney and couldn't wait to move down to the city to meet people who'd want to get drunk, make music and talk about books. It's just taken me a while to find them.

 

I take inspiration from... a certain quality of light in the afternoons, trains, dumb conversations I have with my housemate, my travels and of course the writing of people I admire. Mostly though, a genre of music which my best friend and I have defined as ‘happysad’ - think Bon Iver, Band of Horses, Fleet Foxes, and Isbells - music that takes whatever mood you’re in and amplifies it, causes it to be beautiful. Makes you nostalgic for something that maybe never really was. It makes me spin circles in the street, laugh or cry for no particular reason and gives me not-quite-irresistible urges to jump on the first plane to anywhere, run away and become a poet. Or just to scribble down conversations, thoughts and images in a notebook that’s always in my bag, because sometimes that’s enough.

I am currently listening to... This very second? Wishingbone by Winter People. Caitlin Park, Oliver Tank, Howling Bells, Husky, Patrick James, Isbells and The Josephine March also feature pretty heavily on Wattle - my Spring playlist.

It might surprise people to learn that... At this point it would be normal for me to humble-brag and say “Oh, I’m into this really nerdy stuff and not actually as cool as you think I am,” but I’d say it’s fairly apparent from the moment you meet me that I’m a bonafide dork (Editor's note: this is an undeniably accurate self-assessment). I’m into politics, did debating and public speaking and played in the band all through high school, throw a Harry Potter party every year and take great pleasure in dancing around the kitchen to Billy Joel. I also have a Deathly Hallows tattoo. Oh, yeah.

Click out Heidi's own, beautiful, blog here. She tweets here.

Interview by Bobby Townsend

Getting To Know... Modern Error

Modern Error (pictured here with Aloe Blacc), recently won the nationwide Guinness Live Thursdays competition, and jetted off to Dublin for to perform at the Arthur's Day celebrations. Here, they tell us a bit about themselves:

Modern Error are a high octane five-piece hailing from Western Sydney, full of flailing limbs, soaring harmonies, slightly messed-up characters and a jilted view on creating pop rock.

We take inspiration from an unspecified amount of avenues. From the darkest of ambient and mathematical extreme metal bands to Top 40's R'n'B and dancehall dubstep. Everyday antics are the defiant influence upon lyrical content with stories being stripped from any and every possibility.

Winning the Guinness Live Thursdays Competition was the kick in the arse we desperately needed! Being told that in 4 days time we would be flying out to Ireland was the most terrifying, mind-racing, heart-pumping shock that we had experienced in a long time. With so many other bands competing it was amazing that we had come out on top and definitely an opportunity we were going to take advantage of.

Going to Ireland for the Arthur's Day celebrations was kind of intimidating for a few of us, challenging for others, but exciting for all. It was Dave's (lead vocals) first trip overseas and he was by far the most excited. I mean, not only was it his first flight overseas, but he was getting to do it for his music. We couldn't really ask for more. Except for a few more days over there!

It might surprise people to learn that although we all seem like clean cut pretty boys playing pop rock, all of us in past bands have done something completely different. Dave was in an alternative rock outfit shredding on guitar and singing, Max (bass/back up vocals) was a throat destroying screamer in multiple metal bands, Phil (Rhythm guitar/back up vocals) was in skate punk bands and then did some solo acoustic pretty things, Elijah (lead guitar/back up vocals) just gave people eargasms being lead guitarist in multiple outfits, and Dane (Drums) held his own in a metal Starwars band, a progressive metal/rock outfit as well as a few other projects.

In the future Modern Error will make a name for themselves by either A) continuing to wow crowds with their energetic shows chock-a-block with catchy-as-a-cold tunes, ooooorrr B) wind up like so many childhood movie stars, addicted to substances, sleeping with hookers on their way to an early grave... your pick (please pick A).

Follow Modern Error on Facebook.

Interview by Bobby Townsend

Getting To Know... CruelToBeKind

Fresh-faced scamps, CruelToBeKind, have a chat to Bobbysix.com about winning the Red Bull Bedroom Jam and heading to LA: 

CruelToBeKind are a five piece rock band from the eastern suburbs of Melbourne who love their music and just want to play as much of it as possible. We were formed in around May this year, and have been trying our best to play as many gigs, record some songs and write as many songs as we can.

We take inspiration from bands such as All Time Low, Powderfinger, Go Radio, The Maine, Tonight Alive and The Getaway Plan. All of these bands have really solid and catchy music that we love and we hope to achieve the same with our sound.

Winning the Red Bull Bedroom Jam was an amazing experience and a complete shock to us, as all of the bands competing were incredibly talented and each had as much chance to win as we did. All of us are totally stoked and cannot wait to hit the studio.

Going to LA will be an unbelievable experience and will provide such a great opportunity for us to put our songs out on record. It will also be a huge learning experience for all of us. Not only will we get the chance to record our EP but we will also get the opportunity to return home to do a tour with a established Australian act.

It might surprise people to learn that our bass player Tim has three incredibly attractive sisters.

In the future we hope to keep playing music together as much as possible, writing and recording as much as we can and playing as many gigs as we can.

Find out more about CruelToBeKind at their facebook page.
Interview by Bobby Townsend

Getting To Know... Katie and the Carnival

When Bobbysix.com recently visited Belfast, we had a strange night which culminated in having dinner with Phil Jupitus, Duke Special, David Ford and Katie Richardson. The latter is the driving force behind the rather ace band, Katie and The Carnival. Here, she tells us a bit about herself and her music:

Katie and the Carnival is only just getting started. It is a project that totally excites me because it is my own and it gives me total creative freedom. It reverts me back to being a twelve-year-old girl making up dance routines in her bedroom and enthusiastically singing into a hairbrush and performing to as many teddy bears and family members as would listen. It's my thought process and my guilty pleasures. Sometimes we dance, sometimes we cover the stage in flowers and lights, sometimes we dabble in the theatrical, but the core of the operation is the music. The ridiculous reality for me is that I find it very difficult to describe the music we make but I aim to make it entertaining and interesting. When people come to a live show, I want it to be an experience. I love to experiment with different styles and genres and mishmash things together. We make noises with anything and everything we can find and at the moment the music is very harmony-based. I currently work with six fantastic musicians who are up for (pretty much) anything... (Amy Joyce, Suzy Coyle, Conn Smyth, Conor Scullion, Mark Beatty and John Conway). Who knows where it will go? That's the excitement of it all. Katie and the Carnival is my baby and, as all good mothers would, I want it to grow up and be the best it can be.

I take inspiration from lots of different things - my failings, hope, stories, art, heartache, whatever I can, when I can. Different things inspire me all the time - one day it's feeling really lonely and the next it's feeling totally brilliant. I started writing songs when I was really angry and upset about a boy, which is a massive cliche, but it just brought something out of me. I love writing music - it makes me feel alive and I'm always so delighted when people want to listen to it. I grew up in choirs and I love harmony and dissonance so I play around with that a lot. In school I got to sing incredible music in great places like Westminster Abbey and the Royal Albert Hall which blew my mind and made me want to perform more and more. Musicians that inspire me most are the ones around me in Belfast. I feel surrounded by creativity, determination, productivity and a hell of a lot of genuine talent. I have so many creative friends - artists, film makers, actors etc. We share a lot of dreams and coffee and passionate intense conversations. They spur me on every day. I also get stage envy, as in when I'm watching someone perform I get really jealous that I'm not up their performing too. That drives me. I think/hope that my constant desire to be better will keep me inspired.

Belfast is a hub of creativity where there is always lots going on. I mean, it can be frustrating sometimes but the good definitely outweighs the bad. There are a lot of inspiring and talented people in Belfast who care about making the city the best it can be for everyone. It is filled with opportunity and development and is a very exciting place to live and work - there is always a festival on, there are shedloads of amazing bands, gigs and events and it's a very friendly place too. You can't walk to the shops without bumping into someone you know (which can be both good and bad!). Feel the love Belfast - I think you're grrrrrreat!

If I could only listen to three albums for the rest of my life, they would be... At the risk of being a total Cheaty Cheeky McCheaterson I am going to HAVE to say compilation albums. I'm sorry but I have no choice in the matter. I love and need far too many artists and genres in my life to just pick three. Also I don't actually think I've found my all-time favorite band quite yet - I have a short attention span so I move around with my tastes a lot. Maybe my problem is that I never really know what kind of a music I want to make because I like so many kinds. I go to a jazz gig and want to be a jazz singer, I hear beautiful folky harmonies and want to crack out a tambourine adorned with ribbons and make earthy folk music or I jump around to rock and desperately want to wear leather and be in a rock band... hmmm... anyway... there would be some Louis Armstrong on there - that voice; Velvet Underground; She & Him; David Ford; Tom Waits; Sandy Denny; Queen; Mojo Fury; Master and Dog; Bob Dylan; Led Zeppelin; Oscar Peterson; Rams Pocket Radio; The Strokes; Villagers; Fleet Foxes; Bright Eyes; Ryan Adams; Gillian Welsh; General Fiasco; Duke Special; PJ Harvey; Muse; Nina Simone; Ella Fitzgerald; Queer Giraffes etc. etc. the list goes on...

Aside from music I love to travel and one day VERY soon I hope to combine those two things. I have a great love of Africa and desperately want to go to South America. Australia changed my life - I went there very young, on my own and the world opened up for me. Then I went to New York to go to the Film Academy. Every travelling experience has been amazing so far. I also love to act and write music for the theatre, I work in Carnival in Belfast and am trying to learn more about puppetry when I have time. I LOVE fashion and have a weakness for fashion mags and coffee... together! Yoga grounds me, glitter cheers me up and I love being outdoors in forests and climbing mountains. Let's face it though... if we're honest there is only one great love in my life and that incredible love is for the beautiful and wondrous... humous... can't get enough of the stuff. I have even eaten it on cornflakes (not my finest moment).

I'm currently working on how to do all the things I desperately want to do. I'm a dreamer intent on living my life to the absolute fullest. I want to learn languages and explore, write for magazines and just be the best I can be really. I am starting to make music videos and plan new single releases and tours and writing at every possible opportunity! My serious focus at the moment is Katie and the Carnival and seeing how far I can take it. I have made a 50 minute film with Bandwidth Films featuring the band and want to release it and send it round the world. I want to put on more engaging musical events and gigs with a difference. I am also working on sitting down the odd time and developing my understanding of the relationship between rest and productivity. There just aren't enough hours in the day.

In five years time I don't know where I'll be, which is great but I hope I'll have been productive and worked as hard as I possibly could have. That way I can't be annoyed at myself and think 'what if?'. I'm very ambitious and believe that everyone has great potential to achieve lots of great things. I'm just working out how to tap into that potential. I don't believe that success is one single point, I believe it constantly evolves and grows with each individual. I've had so many great experiences in the last few years that I never would have dreamed of, so I reckon if I keep remembering that, I'll be just fine.

You can follow Katie and The Carnival on Facebook and Twitter, and hear some stuff on Myspace.

Interview by Bobby Townsend.

Getting To Know... Owlstation

The beautiful and lovely Alice Parsons (above) is a fantastic artist and illustrator who works under the name of Owlstation. She tells us about herself and her work:

Illustration is very impressionable! There are books from my childhood whose illustrations can take me right back to how I felt the first time I read them. Stormy skies, crumbling towers and beautiful princesses from fantasy books, to the cheeky Tiger in The Tiger Who Came To Tea. And the forbidden book - Hansel and Gretel, that had to be hidden on grounds of the illustrations being too scary.

I would describe my style as developing. I love mixing up media and am happiest collaging together interesting scraps of paper I’ve collected, then working back into them with pens and oil pastels. But I like to try out new styles as much as possible, incorporating photography, painting, sculpture and injecting a bit of humour. I use a computer to prep my images for the web but like to do things by hand wherever I can, I think there is something that can be lost when hand crafted images are manipulated too much in Photoshop. I don’t think I’ve found my style yet.

Recently I have taken inspiration from owls, archaeology, punks, chaps, fashion, native American Indians, vintage bits and bobs, typography, lizards, monsters, other artists and new bands. I also like a nice museum/gallery trip when the chance arises.

Brighton is my home and I could never live away from the sea. However I would love to do a big load of travelling and take my sketchbook along with me when I do. I would particularly like to stay on a ranch and play at being a cowgirl. I think a stint of horses, fireside singalongs and baked beans would suit me very well. I may have seen too many Howard Keel films.

I've been working on a new header for Bobbysix (you can see it at the top of the page). I am also looking at expanding my illustrations to T-shirts and making the crossover into animation.

It might surprise people to learn that I have next to no patience when it comes to painting. I greatly admire anyone that can produce a painting larger than A5 and still feel like doing another one afterwards. Two years ago I started painting a surfing frieze for my brother. It’s still not finished and it niggles away at me like a loose tooth. But I have been much more disciplined of late and examining and emulating the painting styles of artists such as the Disney concept artist Mary Blair.

In the future I would love to have my own studio and see my illustrations everywhere – on album covers, T- shirts, fashion prints, story books, articles. Aim high, I say. I love collaborating and am always open to new ideas.

Check out more of Alice's delicious work or send her a message via her website and her blog. Also, follow her on facebook to keep right up to date with her amazingness.


Interview by Bobby Townsend.

Getting To Know... Fanny Quest

Fanny Quest is the first person to star in one of Bobbysix.com's promotional videos. You can see the result of our video shoot below. First though, read our interview with the Brighton-based German model:

I started modelling after somebody came up to me at a party in Germany and asked me if I was interested in it. I went for a test shoot the next day and it went well, so that's how it began. After I finished school, I didn't really know what I wanted to study. I decided that, before I ended up studying something that I didn't really like, I should come to England to get life experience. When I moved to Brighton, I went to the casting for Brighton Fashion Week. It was a really great opportunity and one of the best experiences of my life.

I see modelling like art. It's not just a picture on paper but should really represent a person. I think I'm a very happy and friendly person and I try to bring that across.

I would really like to travel all over the world. I want to stay in England at first and, if modelling works out, I'd love to go to New York for a while because I've heard it's an amazing place. I think being in Paris must be nice. There's so much stuff you need to see in your life, to get to know what you really like.

Aside from modelling, I'd like to do something with media and communication. I would like to be a presenter because I love to talk - I am very talkative and open to people. But if this doesn't work, I would love to have my own bakery. My passion is baking, cooking and presenting food.

I'm currently listening to lots of jazz. I love jazz. And old music like The Beatles. Happy music. I don't like commercial stuff like Lady Gaga.

I absolutely love Brighton. Everybody is how they want to be. They are enjoying their lives and a lot of people are trying to live their dreams. Everyone is respectful. People don't have preconceptions and they get to know you before they make decisions about you. It's really nice and it isn't like, just because you are young and blond, you are stupid or something. People give you the opportunity to show them how you really are.

I had fun making the video for Bobbysix.com. It is always interesting to get to know what you can do. You just need to be a bit confident. Before you try it, you don't know if you can do it well or not, so it was good, because now I know. It's always important to learn new things and to be open.

You've read the interview and seen the pictures, now check out the video Fanny starred in, exclusively for Bobbysix.com:

Interview and video by Bobby Townsend.

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Getting To Know... Tess Georgia Dimos

As well as being a finalist for the upcoming Sussex Model of the Year Award 2011, Tess Georgia Dimos is an all-round lovely human-being. So we thought you'd want to learn a little about her. Here goes:

Modelling is not what I expected it to be. When I first started getting into modelling seriously with catwalk shows and photoshoots, I expected all the models to be competitive and bitchy, just like they are portrayed to be... Designers to shout at size four girls telling them they are too fat and photographers to come-on to any female model that walks in front of their lens. I'm pleased to say that nine times out of ten this isn't the case. Modelling is what I'd call the perfect job; not for all the clichéd reasons of getting made-up to look pretty and perfect. I have gotten to meet the most talented, artistic and humble people. Modelling has opened so many doors for me and my mind; I couldn't be more grateful. I have made lifelong friends, been lucky enough to have seen some beautiful places and, of course, had the most fun ever these past two years.

I am half-Greek. I lived in Ilioupoli, Athens until I was nine years old. I love the culture, speak the language fluently and adore my Greek family and friends, as they are all very open and close. Everyone is aware of each others feelings. If there was any bad feeling it would be resolved quickly and I love that - unlike my English family who would keep their problems to themselves and deal with it. I think that's very unhealthy.

Aside from my modelling work, I dream. A lot. I dream about the future and make up little scenarios in my mind. This is going to sound very 'Miss Universe' but helping and saving animals is something I've always been passionate about and I wish I could do it fully. Since a very young age I helped raise money for various different animal charities, including helping the working donkeys in Egypt. I used to raise money through organizing cake sales at school and sending money off to various animal charities monthly. I dream that one day I'll have my own charity and help make a difference, as an animal is defenseless when it comes face-to-face with a human. Something I'd also love to do when I'm older is open my own nightclub, or a nice beach bar, in Greece.

I am currently listening to The Black Keys, 22-20's, Broken Bells, Muse (old stuff), Bob Marley, Radiohead and Pyx Lax (Greek Rock band).

I'm really inspired by art and music. My mother is an artist and growing up beside her work has played a huge part in what I've become today. I see beauty in a different way. My mother captured moments and just painted them. Even if the object she was painting wouldn't cross your mind as 'beautiful' if you saw it in front of you, in a picture or a painting it can look stunning and change the way you viewed that object originally. Music, also, is something I simply couldn't live without, I love listening to sad songs - music that has meaning and moves you from the inside.

It might surprise people to learn that I used to be a huge stamp collector and that I still flick through my collection occasionally! Maybe that's something I shouldn't admit.

In the future I want to be successful, still smile at the little things in life and always be grateful for the life I've had. I always go by this Leonardo da Vinci quote: "As a well-spent day brings happy sleep, so life well used brings happy death."

Tess is represented by www.motmodel.com and www.freshagents.co.uk. Why not check her out as the face for the Ophelia Fancy Out Of Control collection, and have a squizz of some of her other work with uber-talented photographer, Kevin Mason. Also, you can keep up to date with all the good stuff she has got going on by following her on Twitter.

Interview by Robert Townsend.
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Getting To Know... Clytem Scanning

We talk a lot about Clytem Scanning at Bobbysix.com, so we figured it's about time she told you a little about herself in her own words. Here goes:

I am inspired by many, many things. It all swarms inside me. For [recently released long-player] Armada, I was deeply into Tricky's first albums, Arthur Russell's Calling Out of Context, Planningtorock and HTRK. I will remain in love all my life with Coil and NIN. Definitely. I am also very much inspired by images. I collect images all around me and put them in personal albums. Akira from Otomo, stories of Moebius, Junji Ito, Edward Gorey. And images made by Oscar Schlemmer, Robert Longo, Kippenberger, Archigram, Super Studio.

I would describe my sound as dark/a bit experimental/electro. These are terms that I use to describe Clytem Scanning when I send promo cds. But seriously, this is a bit ridiculous. Music is abstract, it means nothing to put words on it.

Paris is becoming like New York or London: rich and dense, filled by wealthy young people and old bourgeois. It is very freaky. But it has lots of positive aspects: lots of concerts, movies and the streets are never dead. But there is a real problem of space right now. So maybe I will move... just one-hour from the center of Paris, to breathe a little more (not that I am into the bio lifestyle really).

If I could only listen to three albums for the rest of my life, they would be:
Coil - The Ape of Naples (for the sublime)
NIN - Broken (for the fury)
Kate Bush - The Dreaming (for the crazy joy)
That would be a kind of equilibrium for me. But maybe a total nightmare after few days. I hope it will never happen.

It might surprise people to learn that I do all my music in a 10m² room.

In five years time I hope I will have released many Clytem Scanning albums. Let's say 4-5 albums! That would be great! I also hope that I will go on with the total independence and freedom that I have right now and that I will still have fun making music. I also wish I'll remain curious and excited with new stuff. I am not complicated, you see. If I could play in a 20m², that would be cool, but it is not essential.

Follow Clytem Scanning on Facebook. Oh, and check out an example of her work, below: 

Interview by Rob Townsend
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Getting To Know... Bonfire Nights

Keyboardist/vocalist Nicole Hoaran from London-based Queenslanders, Bonfire Nights, tells Bobbysix.com a bit about the band: 

We are the polar opposite of a child's face who has just been told they missed a skateboarding cat wearing a helmet made out of jelly because they were busy talking on the phone with grandpa, or we sound a bit like Blood Red Shoes. Actually this is a quote from a random I met recently from Brighton who refuses to tell me his name. Seriously, we are two Australian girls and a British boy who play alternative psych infused ambient pop. There you have it.

We take inspiration from our surroundings, people, art, design, books, other music, each other, our social escapades... pretty much life in general. We are lucky in that we are all on the same wavelength when it comes to inspiration and what we do with it. We actually just became room-mates, so I suppose that will be inspiration in itself. We try not to second guess what we are making.

Brisbane is 16532 kilometers away! We just relocated from Brisbane to London a month ago. It's surreal to move countries and there are so many ups and downs to settling in... mainly ups for us, luckily. Question: can you fit one drum kit, one Fender twin amp, two guitars, one keyboard, one synth, one pedal board and three Bonfire Nights band members into a London taxi? Answer: YES! Although there have been minor hurdles - like not having a car - everything seems to be falling into place as if we were destined to live here and we don't want to leave! We've played some fun shows in the last month in London and got to support some great Aussie bands such as The Jezabels, Our Mountain, DZ Deathrays and Little Red. We have more shows coming up in the next three months, so come and say hello.

I wish Bonfire Nights had written The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost.

It might surprise people to learn that there is a love affair in the band. Can you guess who?

In the future we are planning to release an EP in the UK. We have been recording some new material and are planning to record more as soon as we get our shit together. Hopefully we will get around to playing some shows across Europe and America and head home for an Australian tour in about a year. For now we are concentrating on songwriting, recording and playing shows in the UK.

Check Bonfire Nights out at their Myspace page and have a squizz at their below video clip: 

Interview by Rob Townsend. Photo by Jeff  Yiu.
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Getting To Know... Cameras

Sydney's Cameras have been favourites of BobbySix.com for a while now and 2011 could be the year when they become yours too. With an LP and a US tour on the horizon, these are exciting times. Guitarist/vocalist Fraser Harvey tells us a bit about the band:

I generally try and avoid having to describe Cameras' sound to people. It's better if they just listen to it and work it out for themselves - so I'm going to have to recommend going with that.

We take inspiration from a lot of different things, certainly not always musical.

Sydney is located at 33.52 S latitude and 151.13 E longitude. This is generally the case all of the time.

I'm currently listening to a lot of classical actually. We are getting ready to record so I generally like to switch off to most of what's happening in the world of current music at this point of the process and hear something completely different. Mostly Rachmaninoff and Prokofiev, but there's a little bit of Kate Bush ticking over too.

It might surprise people to learn that our drummer Ben was a second runner up in the Chelsea Flower Show in 2003.

This year will be busy. Our LP will be coming out around September, we'll be touring the US throughout October and some of November, and then coming back [to Austraila] for a tour hopefully.

Hear some tracks from Cameras at their Myspace page. We recommend Defeatist. It's brilliant. Also, check out the video for June below (you can get a free download of it here)

Interview by Rob Townsend 

Update: shortly after we posted this interview, Cameras announced that they will definitely release their debut full-length album this year, on Speak N Spell through Inertia. We've been banging the Cameras drum for ages now, so this news excites us. Remember, you heard about them here first.

Getting To Know... Britany Nola

Read our exclusive, candid interview with model and actress Britany Nola, as well as checking out some more photos by visiting our new site: www.somethingyousaid.com