White Arrows interview

Carol Bowditch chatted to lead singer and founder of White Arrows, Mickey Church, ahead of their new album release and upcoming Australian tour with Jinja Safari and Opossom (who she also recently interviewed):

Mickey Church is travelling through El Paso, Texas when we speak. He talks of excitement about his travel to Australia for the first time with his band, and speaks as if it were some distant, strange land, far, far away. “We have no plans,” he says. “We have no itinerary and we have no idea what to expect.”

White Arrows met Kody of Opossom when they toured with Unknown Mortal Orchestra. The band became acquainted with fellow tour-mates, Jinja Safari, they met at a hotel in London. Mickey says they “saw some dudes that looked like musicians and went up to talk to them and they happened to be Jinja Safari, who were coincidently playing the same tour there and were coming over to Australia together. It was a really funny that that happened.”

Dry Land is Not a Myth is their debut release after only a two year lifespan as White Arrows. Mickey said its creation was, “an interesting process, [there's] nothing really to compare it to since it's our first record, but it’s exciting that it's finally out. I’m thrilled at how it’s turned out. We just had one 7” and one EP before, so it’s nice to have something substantial out.” He continued, “We start with music with no lyrics in mind, sometimes we don’t ever use it. There can be a theme before the song exists, usually the lyrics come after the song.”

The White Arrows' sound had been described as psycho-tropical and borrows from many genres. For instance, Coming or Going has a dance vibe too it, whereas Roll Forever is dark and heavy with a grungier feel compared to other songs on the album. Mickey agrees that the White Arrows' sound is difficult to categorise, and encourages listeners to “come up with genres of what they think we sound like. I think that psycho-tropical is a really funny, cool name for a type of music.”

Mickey’s individual story is interesting and is reflected through the impressionistic, sensory nature of his music. He was born blind and only gained his sight at the age of 11. He says that White Arrows aim to create a, “visceral, overload experience. Different genres and different soundscapes. While working in conjunction with visual elements.”

The release of the video for Get Gone reflects just that. It features scenes of the band playing, with heavy filters and trippy visuals layered over the top. Mickey says that he finds the process of creating videos as "fun and easy within this day and age to put together footage of live shows and see how well that goes together with a song." The bands only official video is for the track, Get Gone. "The visuals came after but fit together so perfectly with the song."

I put Mickey on the spot to creatively describe his live show in three words only. "Shoot! That’s a tough question,” he replied. “How about crystallised, euphoric..." then he adds with a laugh.. "fish? [band-member] Ian says hallucination but, maybe: dreams, dreamscape, dreamlike?"

He continues to describe the experience of a White Arrows live show. “We like it to be a total sensory overload, a lot of projections, a lot of strobes, haze and fog. Like a complete sensory takeover. We like people, for that hour, to have a complete uninterrupted experience and whatever happens, happens. Just to be in the moment."

I ask him for any last words from the band. His reply is short and sweet and sums up the White Arrows mentality: “Everybody love everybody and that’s pretty much it."

Interview by Carol Bowditch

Tour dates here.

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

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. 

Deap Vally interview

Golden Lady gets to grips with the latest buzz band from The States:

Deap Vally, a duo hailing from the San Fernando Valley in California, have managed to create a small tidal wave of a buzz within the music industry of late. Visually it’s not hard to see why, they flitter somewhere between Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Dazed and Confused. Musically it’s even more obvious, take a dash of Sabbath, mix with a splash of Heart and a holler of Karen O and you get the very wonderful Deap Vally!

Like all super hyped bands, it usually takes one flame to ignite industry fire, as is happening now. From the creative cliques of LA to the heavy buzz of UK industry, where much revered chronicles such as The Guardian and The Independent have singled the band out as definite ones to watch. Not to mention, pioneers of great hype themselves NME Magazine, boldly labeling them “a hippie Karen O fronting Black Sabbath”.

Speaking with foxy singer Lindsey Troy, one gets the sense that both her and sassy drummer, Julie Edwards, are more than aware of the spell they’re casting. I enquire as to whether getting such a wide array of comparisons is at all overwhelming. “Our influences are so vast, it’s always interesting to hear which of them stick out to people. We're both huge Led Zeppelin fans, so getting that comparison is always exciting.”

Without having so much as released a single yet, they are already filling slots at UK festivals such as Reading, Leeds and Latitude, with a handful of shows in between. Acknowledging the achievement thus far, Lindsey tells me she’s more excited about the festivals than anything. "I love music festivals. I love the sense of community that is created. I can't wait to melt some faces.”

And speaking of community, like so many LA based creative forces, there is a definite sense of artistic fellowship which permeates. You often hear stories of actors helping out fellow musicians or vice versa and their story is no different. Their mascot being none other than indie hero/villain Vincent Gallo, who has been championing the band since their incarnation a little over a year ago, when he contacted them on Myspace to profess his love and support. He is regularly seen cheering them on at shows, where one may have also recently spotted Marilyn Manson heckling them front row ……as you do!

But they definitely take this all in their stride, never hesitating to be equally as supportive and encouraging towards those around them. “We've met a lot of very inspiring people on our journey as a band, and I would definitely say that some of them have impacted our development. For example, we have a good friend whom we met last year, a designer who goes under the name Kittinhawk [her real name is Allysun Maria Dutra], who we have formed a really fruitful creative relationship with. She has designed a number of our staple stage outfits. We all bounce ideas off one another and the end result is always amazing”

Reinforcing this positive spirit is the lyrical content and message you get from Deap Vally’s music. From lead single Gonna Make My Own Money to scorcher End of the World (“there’s no time like the present, so open up our hearts and let love shine in”), one can’t help but feel uplifted and energised. “We're very conscious of the messages we put in our songs” says Lindsey. “They empower and inspire us, and I hope that they have the same effect on others.”

Something tells me this is already happening!

Interview by Golden Lady

Deap Vally release their debut single Gonna Make My Own Money in the UK on July 30th.
Keep up to date with all their goings on at www.facebook.com/deapvally or www.twitter.com/deapvally

Zulu Winter interview

Carol Bowditch talks to Will Daunt of Zulu Winter in the midst of their hectic touring schedule:

Zulu Winter are sardined in the back of a van, whizzing about the streets of London after playing a gig. They are in high spirits, as the show had gone well, and they are humbled that “people had actually come to see us.” How sweet. Vocalist Will takes a few moments out to have a chat to me about their upcoming shows:

So you’re heading to Australia for the Splendour in the Grass festival, have you been before? 
I have actually, when I was 18. I did the whole thing of travelling up the East Coast and yeah, got very drunk and didn’t really see anything of importance, ha.

Will you get any time off to have a look around this time? 
Well we are only there for like nine days. I think we are just literally playing gigs. We will probably just do what I did last time, which was see the inside of bars. Yeah, it’s going to be amazing, we cannot wait. It’s a very weird thing for us to come to Australia cause we're so far away and you know, like, it’s really, really exciting, we’re really stoked.

So you guys met when you were kids and then you went off to college. What brought you back together to make music? 
I think that we just really needed to do it because we kind of just messed around in bands. When we turned a certain age, we thought if we are going to make a record, then we should make a record, and that’s what we did... We really wanted to make an album, and we really wanted to do it properly.

I read somewhere that you were in a Sex Pistols tribute band? 
Hahaha, that was our guitarist and keyboardist. They called themselves “The Next Pistols”, which is, you know, a genius title.

Your debut album, Language, has just been released. What were your musical influences for the new record? 
We all love bands like Portishead, Caribou and other stuff, but actually, we’re all into quite different things. Our drummer is into electronic, dance. I’m more into like pop, more song-based stuff, it has to have some sort of sentiment.

What’s your favourite track off the new record? 
I kind of waiver between two, I’m a big fan of the last song (People That You Must Remember), just because we had that song for a long time and it started out as this big rock anthem and we didn’t really feel comfortable with how it was sounding, and I didn’t really have faith in it. Then our guitarist, took the song by the balls and had a vision for it, and it turned into this very relaxed, spooky song and I just really love it.

The other song, Worlds That I Wield, just appeared. We were playing one day and it just turned up, which is a lovely way to make a song.

I like the video for the new song We Should Be Swimming. Can you tell me a little about how you created it? 
It is inspired by a woman called Loie Fuller, she did this thing called the “Serpentine Dance”, we wanted to use that and make something quite different...  It was filmed in Scotland in mid Winter, which is unbelievably cold. The dancers actually had it much worse than us, wearing leotards in this, like, freezing bog, up to their ankles in freezing water, ha.

So what should we expect from your live show? 
People kind of expect that us to be like a “dance act”, it’s actually got a bit more subtlety to it than that. We’re quite moody and down, and I hope that it’s slightly unsettling, in a way as well.

Some of the songs are about some stuff that is not that pretty. So it’s quite nice to have a slightly darker show as well. We’re definitely not a metal band, ha, but there is darkness to it. Also, no encores, unless people actually want an encore cause there’s nothing worse than a rehearsed encore!

 Zulu Winter are playing heaps of shows across the UK, Europe and Australia over the next couple of months. Check their tour dates on Facebook. Especially exciting are their dates in Melbourne and Sydney (24th & 25th July), as they are playing on an epically awesome bill alongside Howler and Friends. 

Interview by Carol Bowditch

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.

Opossom interview...

Kody Nielson, scuzz-pop tearaway of The Mint Chicks, has gone in a completely new direction under the name Opossom. He is set to take his new album, Electric Hawaii, on tour with Jinja Safari and White Arrows. Carol Bowditch found out more: 

What prompted your decision to start making music on your own?
I've always made music on my own, but I guess it's just the first opportunity I've had
to actually release something of my own.

Are you enjoying the freedom of having sole creative control?
Yeah, I am. I get to take more risks, and try things out.

Can you talk us a little though the creative processes that went into writing and
recording Electric Hawaii? Did you do things very differently this time round?
The main difference was just not having to run ideas by anyone else. It made
everything a bit more experimental and playful.

What are you most looking forward to about your upcoming Australian tour and what should we expect from your live show?
It's always cool playing to new audiences and you should expect a three-piece psych band, playing melodic music with dynamics.

Tell us a little about the name Opossom...
I work at night so I feel nocturnal sometimes. I find it interesting that in New Zealand
people kill possums. They're considered pests here, and sometimes that's how the
country makes me feel. I decided to spell it Opossom, because I wanted to use a
word that didn't exist.

How was your tour with Bic Runga, and who - in an ideal world - would you
like to do a tour with in the future?
The tour was nice. I'd love to play with the Flaming Lips or Danny Brown.

Tell us something we night be surprised to learn about you...
I'm Batman.

THE BLIND DATE TOUR: Jinja Safari, Opossom, White Arrows
Wed 8 Aug: Perth – Astor Theatre - www.bocsticketing.com.au 
Thurs 9 Aug: Adelaide – Uni Bar (Licensed All Ages) - www.moshtix.com.au
Fri 10 Aug: Melbourne – The Hi-Fi - www.hifi.com.au - www.moshtix.com.au
Sat 11 Aug: Melbourne – The Hi-Fi (Under 18s) www.hifi.com.au 
Wed 15 Aug: Canberra – ANU Bar - www.ticketek.com.au
Thu 16 Aug: Newcastle – Bar On the Hill - www.bigtix.com.au
Fri 17 Aug: Sydney – Metro (Licensed All Ages) - www.metrotheatre.com.au 
Sat 18 Aug: Brisbane – The Hi-Fi - www.hifi.com.au

Interview by Carol Bowditch

Electric Guest interview

Vinisha Mulani has a chat with Matthew Compton of the bangin’ and soon to be tourin’ Electric Guest:

So here's the history lesson on Electric Guest. The band is made up essentially of two guys, Asa and Matthew. Asa’s brother is Jorma, of Lonely Island (Dick in a Box, anyone?). Jorma is friends with Danger Mouse. Danger Mouse is a magical producer who has worked with the likes of the Black Keys, Beck, Gnarls Barkley and The Shins. He heard them, he liked them, they moved in, they hung out, they recorded.

So tell us a bit about your debut album, Mondo. Having Danger Mouse as a producer must be exciting.
Yeah, I mean it kind of happened a while ago. Before Asa moved to L.A. he was living in Brooklyn, and his brother Jorma is friends with Brian (Danger Mouse's real name). One day his brother played [our music] on the phone, and Brian liked it. We moved to LA, Asa took Brian’s room and Brian had made a studio in the basement, so we started recording there.

We worked for years on the album, we both kinda had our things, and we worked on things together, then we got a bit more serious about it. It wasn’t real until we were mixing the album and Brian said ‘You guys gotta put your band together’.

Tory and Todd Dahlhoff play with us live. Todd’s amazing. He just moved to LA with his brother- we rehearsed for a year before we started playing together.

I read that you cite some of your influences as 60’s era French pop and Indie Rock. Anything you’re listening to right now in particular?
Yeah, it definitely influences my bass. I listen to everything, but I really like Michel Colombier, who is a composer. And there’s another guy, Francois de Roubeaix - he’s one of my favourites. He does mainly films scores, and he actually records by himself, writes the scores himself, he does everything.

So you’re the drummer live, how about when you’re recording? 
Yeah, live I do drums. While recording I do a few of the bass parts, a few of the guitar parts, just kind of whatever.

So you’re a bit of a Francois yourself? 
(laughs) You could say that. Or trying to be, anyway.

What did you do before Electric Guest? 
I’ve been touring for 10 years, or something like that. I played in a band called Cursive for a while. I played in a lot of rock hardcore bands, but I didn’t really enjoy it. I always wanted to play in a band with more like electric bass lines, more like this one.

Do you and Asa write together? How are your styles similar and different?
Yeah, I mean a lot of the ideas we have to make a good song are the same. We worked on Mondo together for years. We come from different places, from different backgrounds. He’s more into hip-hop and I’m more into indie rock but we love that. We both agree on what works about music, and we both like the same things about songs – we both like the same pulse about the song. We agree on what works and we find a common ground between the two styles.

You’ve been touring for a while now – and still have a lot of touring to go, with a lot of fun festivals coming up. Where are you looking forward to going? 
I’m the most excited about Australia (the band is playing Splendour in the Grass this year).

Good answer. 
No, really! Because I’ve never been. I’ve been talking about it all summer long. I was really hoping to go, I’ve heard really good things about it, and I heard Splendour in the Grass is a great festival.

One of the guys that plays in the band with us has been before, and I’m really looking forward to it. Someone told me that people in Southern California and people from Australia have the same attitude, same way of life.

Finally, what’s a dream collaboration for you? Who would you love to work with one day?
Blonde Redhead. They’re one of my favourite bands.

You can check out Electric Guest's tour dates over at their Facebook page.

Interview by Vinisha Mulani.

Elizabeth Rose interview

Carol Bowditch grabbed a few words with Elizabeth Rose about her current Australian tour:

How are you feeling about your first headline tour? 

I'm really excited to be on my first headline tour! With excitement comes also nerves. I get worried about the number of people turning up to the shows, but so far it hasn't been that bad!

What can people who attend your shows expect?

In my live show it's just me up onstage with my keyboard, laptop, sampler and me singing. I try to spice things up a bit with quirky outfits and makeup! The music I play live is slightly varied from the recordings, I like to experiment with new melodies and extended edits of the songs with obscure intros and outros.

You recently joined Chairlift on a national tour. How was that experience?

Touring with Chairlift was so incredible. I've been big fans of them for a couple of years and getting to meet them was just so surreal. Caroline and Patrick are so down to earth and they are so creative in their songwriting. I had a few good chats with Caroline about bands we're into and now I'm working on a remix for them!

Your video created with Ben Wilson is insane! How did you come up with the concept and do you think that video clips are an important tool to compliment your music? 

The video clip is trippy, hey? The concept came about when we realised we didn't have the time to shoot a proper clip from scratch. I wanted to use live footage from my single launch at GoodGod [in Sydney] but didn't want it to look like a 'live' show, if that makes sense? And that is where the crazy effects and overlaying of images came in! Video clips are a very important tool to compliment the music, they amplify the meaning/vibe/energy of the song and they are also really another fun tool to use to further express yourself as an artist.

Tell us a little about the collaborations you've been working on...

I've been working with some exciting people lately. A track with Flight Facilities should be coming out in time for summer later this year, and a track I did with UK producer Sinden will be on my EP. I've also been working on a track with a fellow Sydney producer Frames.

What have you been listening to lately? Can we hear any of these musical influences within your music? 

Lately I've been getting into the new Simian Mobile Disco album, Unpatterns. Also listening to Patrice Rushen, an 80's soul singer. Her album Straight From the Heart is great!

After the tour, what else have you got planned in 2012? 

After the tour I'll be madly preparing for the release of my EP! I'm in the middle of producing it at the moment. After that I have a few festivals coming up, including Mackay Festival of Arts which is a sci-fi dress-up theme! At the end of the year I want to start working on another release, possibly an LP....

Tell us something that it would surprise us to learn about you...

I love to go fishing. Ha! Bet you really didn't see that one coming.