Big Day Out Hot Produce stage feature

WITH BIG DAY OUT FAST APPROACHING, ROB TOWNSEND TALKS TO SOME OF THE MOST EXCITING LOCAL ACTS SET TO APPEAR ON THE HOT PRODUCE STAGE

Sarah Kelly from The Redsunband, Bree Carter from Wow and Kiss Reid from The Scare are enjoying a post photo-shoot drink when one of them makes a bold claim. “We’re the best band in the whole world,” Kiss says with a devilish grin. “I want people to realise the album that we’ve just recorded is the greatest punk album ever made in history.”
“Have a bit more confidence in yourself,” Sarah jokes. Cue laughter all round.

While the animated frontman of Sydney’s dark punk rockers has his tongue planted firmly in his cheek, the bullishness that he and his fellow interviewees are feeling is understandable as they, along with other emerging local artists, have been hand-picked to play the Hot Produce stage at Big Day Out. Considering just how many young bands are vying for attention amid a buzzing Sydney scene, these artists are obviously doing something special to stand out from the crowd. “Basically, it’s about your live performances and being that little bit different,” Kiss states as he pulls hard on a cigarette. “So many bands want to join a scene, but it’s the people that don’t do the generic thing that get ahead.”
Bree, whose band’s live show offers high-energy techno/dance bounciness, concurs. “Yeah, that’s true. Be different. Be yourself.”
“The natural bands push forward over the bands that are fake and transparent,” vocalist/guitarist Sarah adds. “You’ve got to be lucky as well though, and it’s also about people wanting to help you out. It helps if you are really good at talking.”
“I’ve just got a good drummer with a really big mouth,” Kiss says. “He’s a great talker.”
“Which one’s your drummer?” Sarah asks.
“The one that talks a lot and always looks kinda like a 70s porn star,” he replies, as though that is explanation enough.

So, having got ahead of the chasing pack and scored a coveted place on the Hot Produce stage, how will the bands approach the occasion? Do they look at it professionally – a big chance to win over new fans – or is it just a day getting drunk in the sun that happens to be punctuated by a 40-minute set? “It’s like being out and being the driver when everyone else is pissed. It’s not as fun unless you’re part of it,” Bree says.
Kiss agrees. “That’s the way it is. We’ve played at festivals in England and I’ve tried to be professional and I hated it.”
“It’s fun to play a festival. I don’t think there’s heaps of pressure on you necessarily,” says Sarah, whose band has graced Big Day Out before with its dark, heavy dream-pop. “It’s pretty relaxed and it can be really interactive. Festivals are basically the only all-ages shows we get to play. So it’s all about playing to 16-year-olds, because they’re the best fans you’ll ever have. They’re so into it.”
“People are there to have fun,” Bree states. “You feel it from the stage. It breaks down barriers straight away, from the second you get up there.”

When talk turns to expectations of the day, Bree speaks with enthusiasm about the recent growth of her band from a duo to a quartet. “We’re trying to improve our live show as much as possible, so we have now got Stephen J. Mitchell from Emergency Emergency on synths and electric guitar and our friend on drums. Drugmoney is his official name.”
Kiss meanwhile, in spite of his general ebullience, has decidedly modest aspirations. “I hope I give a better performance than at Homebake. Every single one we’ve played has been disastrous. Too drunk.” Indeed, because of his band’s dipsomaniac tendencies, last year they were only allowed access to their rider half-an-hour before they performed. “We still drank it all. I fell off the front of the stage straightaway and got concussion. I’ll try to stay on the stage a little longer at Big Day Out.”

Once their sets are done, there is one particular band that members of Wow and The Scare are sure to head to watch. “I’ve seen The Prodigy before and the crazy energy they bring is just amazing,” Kiss recalls. “People were losing their shit. It was really exciting.”
Sarah, meanwhile, explains how she is more interested in seeing some closer-to-home acts, including The Drones and recent tour-buddies, Youth Group. “It was so fun,” she says of last year’s travels around Australia with them. “We were in a 12-seater van, travelling all together. I think it’s a great way to do it. Any inter-band tensions are defused because there are so many people around.” As an afterthought she adds: “It’s cheaper too.”

Enthusiasm levels vary when the discussion moves on to whether any of the bands have dreams of ever headlining the main stage at Big Day Out. Sarah greats the idea with indifference. “It’s not something I aspire to, because, generally, I like the smaller stages for watching bands or for playing.”
Bree has an easygoing attitude. “It’s not on my list of things to do, so it wouldn’t really matter if it never happened, but of course it would be great.”
Enter Kiss, with a typically devil-may-care approach. “I could do it,” he says with a smile.

Talk turns to fantasy festival line-ups. As is becoming the accepted dynamic, Kiss leads the conversation. “I’d take about five acts from the All Tomorrow’s Parties line-up. I’d throw Talking Heads in there and I’d get Swans back together.”
As he pauses for breath, Sarah takes the opportunity to request Mazzy Star. “But they’d have to play after dark,” she insists. Obviously putting plenty of thought into the logistics of her dream line-up, she also requests The Kinks, “really early in the day.”
As Sarah adds The Black Angels to her wish-list and Kiss explains how he could spend all day naming bands, Bree remains strangely quiet; the enormity of being asked to curate her own fantasy festival seemingly sending her brain into meltdown. “There are way too many,” she shrugs as an answer is teased from her. “For some reason I can only think 80s though. I’d love to see Bowie.”

As seasoned festival-goers, both as performers and punters, the trio offer up some tips for Big Day Out virgins. “I’m white as hell so I’d say wear sunscreen,” Bree says, studying her moon tan. “Oh, and take some sort of smuggling device, because I think you’re only allowed two drinks at a time.”
Surreally, Kiss adds: “Get a carrier pigeon.”
Meanwhile, amongst some helpful advice about bringing a big hat and not wearing black, Sarah suggests a slightly harder to acquire necessity. “A backstage pass is the best thing you can have at Big Day Out; shorter lines, cleaner loos.”

So there you have it. Forget sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll, being an artist at Big Day Out is all about the joys of doing a wee in comfort. If ever there was a reason to form your own band and attempt to score a place on next year’s Hot Produce Stage, surely this is it. After all, have you seen the length of those lines for the toilets?

FBi Fifth Birthday Party

FBI FIFTH BIRTHDAY PARTY
World Bar, Kings Cross
12/09/08

It shows just how highly thought of FBi is, as a sold-out crowd and a host of local talent flocked to Kings Cross to celebrate the successful passing of five years on the air. Early on, WOW performed to a sparsely populated room. Their distinctly unsubtle dance music was faintly entertaining during their first song, but, unsurprisingly, ugly vocals shouted over crude beats quickly became very annoying.

DJ Mailer Daemon’s (above) excellent set on the terrace stage included vocal turns from Catcall and Peach and was followed by S.Y.L.K, who offered female 80s-style rapping over DJ Spruce Lee’s beats. If you imagine The Waitresses’ Christmas Wrapping in a singing-into-hairbrushes-in-front-of-the-bedroom-mirror kind of way then you’d get an idea of the awesomeness of their performance.

In contrast, upstairs The Protectors (above) played straightforward rock ‘n’ roll. Even though they look absolutely fucking terrible – like a hobo version of The Darkness – their set was raucous enough to forgive such a woeful aesthetic. Meanwhile, Catcall and DJ Sleater Brockman, aka lynchpin of the local scene Andrew Levins, teamed up downstairs to get the crowd moving. In the club room, Yves Klein Blue had a justifiably confident swagger about them as they rattled off jaunty indie-pop-rock with a British feel to it. It’s easy to see a very bright future for the quartet.

Another highlight was beardy three-piece, Philadelphia Grand Jury, whose irresistibly effervescent pop was the kind of thing you’d hear on American college radio. They may not be pin-up boys, but they sure can pen a tune. While The Laurels filled the tea room with shoegazey guitar noise, Spod (below) was his versatile self on the terrace stage. His tongue-in-cheek mix of hip-hop and electroclash was wonderfully baffling and always entertaining.

Opening with Lies Are Much More Fun, before continuing with a couple of new tracks, The Grates were typically perky in the searing heat of a packed club room. Singer Patience Hodgson’s unabated enthusiasm created a buoyant atmosphere as she bounded around stage. “Now we get to play a new album. It’s very exciting,” she enthused as unfamiliar tunes were interspersed with oldies like Trampoline. While such poppy songs define the band, their true strength actually lies in deeper, more ruminative numbers, like the post-grunge of Feels Like Pain and Rock Boys. That said, it was the singalong of Science Is Golden and 19 20 20 which sent the crowd nuts.

And so, as night turned to early morning, the bands made way for DJs and the kids danced until dawn. The most refreshing thing about this party was the complete lack of pretence on display. Often in the rather narcissistic Sydney scene, people attend such events merely to be seen, or to be cool (or, indeed, to be seen being cool) but it is testament to the general vibe of FBi that people were here simply to have fun and enjoy some good music. It was a great night, fitting of such a brilliant community institution. Happy birthday FBi. Here’s to many more.

For another perspective on the night, go here

The Essential Festival, Sydney

I spent my Anzac day at Sydney's Essential festival, which takes place across three indoor stages in the city centre:With ticket prices perhaps seeming a tiny bit steep, pre-sales clearly didn’t take off amazingly well, judging by the fact that the three venues did feel quite empty in the early part of the day, but those who were there were treated to a lovely set from Cuthbert and the Nightwalkers in The Gaelic Theatre. Conversely, Centipede started proceedings on The Madison Stage with female-fronted poppy electronica/noise that lacked charisma and charm and at times was clunky and ugly.

Following Centipede was Erin Marshall (above). Now, I don’t want to sound like a broken record, but the singer/songwriter continues to impress with every performance. Today, a beguiled audience was won over by her acoustic ditties, which went from being powerful and gutsy when accompanied by her brother on drums to being pretty and delicate when she performed alone. The highlight was the beautiful Once Upon a Time, during which you could hear a pin drop amongst the crowd. Just remember, when Marshall inevitably becomes absolutely massive in the not-too-distant future, you heard it here first.

Watching Bird Automatic was a nice enough way to fill half-an-hour, not least because they have a frontman who, in a dark room and from distance, looks a bit like David Walliams. Meanwhile, in the upstairs Gaelic Club, The Seabellies were also perky and pleasing.With a sound that included elements of rock, electro and dance, Bluejuice (above) flew the flag for Aussie hip-hop better than most. Admittedly this isn’t too hard, but there can’t have been a person in the increasingly busy Gaelic Theatre who didn’t get a kick out of their energetic performance. Vocalists Jake and Stav clearly absolutely love being on a stage and their infectious high-energy filtered though to a crowd that had so far found little on the bill to dance to. Stirring stuff, and fucking loud too. The day belonged to Bluejuice, no question.

Sydney boy/girl duo WOW won the title of being the weirdest band of the day. With a frontman who looks like a futuristic incarnation of The Young Knives’ House Of Lords and hacking out crazy garage-electro-disco-punk-lunacy to the bemused handful in attendance, it’s hard to tell if they were the best thing in the world or the worst. One thing’s for sure though, Nathan Barley would love them.

While American band Ratatat impressed with their beautifully-crafted and layered instrumental indietronica, local lads The Kahn Brothers offered sweet acoustic harmonies to a much smaller crowd on the Madison stage. Sure, it was incredibly twee and fairly bland, but pretty enough in places.Up in The Gaelic Club, an ear-busting turn from Cassette Kids was as far from twee as it is possible to be. In vocalist Katrina (above*), they have a captivating frontwoman in the mould of Be Your Own Pet’s Jemima Pearl or Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Karen O. She stamps, stomps and screams her way around the stage, hollaring through a mop of blonde hair like she is having the most fun tantrum ever. Sometimes their songs do kinda blend into one, but the band does have some really interesting guitar effects up its sleeve and what the set lacked in variety it made up for with sheer fucking raw energy. Theirs was one of the highlights of the day, even if the turnout to watch them was undeservedly low. On this display though, 2008 might just be their year.

With Regurgitator and The Holidays wrapping things up, another Essential Festival could justifiably call itself a success. A low-key success, but a success nonetheless.

(*I actually took this photo of Katrina two days later at Oxford Arts, after all the ones I took of her at Essential were of poor quality. Incidentally, they put on another awesome show)