While in lockdown in Milan (one of the hardest hit countries in Europe), Nic Cester has been writing songs for his second solo album, and creating a unique global fan video for ‘Hard Times’.
Last month, Nic put the call out on Instagram for fans to play along to ‘Hard Times’ with any type of instrument they could get their hands on. He received an overwhelming response, with contributions from Italy, Malaysia, USA, England, France, Germany, Brazil, Mexico, Spain, Scotland, Austria, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Belgium, and Australia. He has now compiled the clips to create global collaboration video for ‘Hard Times’.
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Following their latest single ‘Never Give Up’ via B1 Recordings/Ministry Of Sound which was awarded ‘The Essential New Tune’ accolade by BBC Radio 1’s Pete Tong, Mathame now launch their new multiplatform cinematic project, PHOENIX. The interdisciplinary brothers Amadeo and Matteo Giovanelli have innovated PHOENIX as an online stage and interactive space for both artists and music lovers.
PHOENIX is an enigmatic planet in orbit around the Earth. Using the latest 3D real-time technologies, it has hundreds of different settings where DJ’s and musicians can perform in outlandish scenarios and backgrounds. The groundbreaking project took two months to develop and, in future, will also be a web community akin to computer game and virtual universe, Second Life, where people can meet with their own avatar.
The virtual-reality world of PHOENIX recreates a kind of magic and emotion that listeners can immerse themselves into. Mathame’s reimagining of what the landscape of live streaming is capable of, gives the medium a uniquely innovative dimension. The project isn’t only a visual experience; PHOENIX is also raising funds for CESVI (Bergamo’s Hospital & Old Persons Assistance) via streaming platforms.
Credits:
Soundtrack: Mathame
Director: Matteo Giovanelli
Executive producer: Amedeo Giovanelli
3d VFX Artist: Pierpaolo Mantuano
Art Assistant: Pedro Barbosa
Management: Enrico Mutti, Guillaume Thollet
Special thanks to:
Cesvi Bergamo
Unreal Epic Games
Ghisleri Antica Casa Musicale
Blackmagic
Encode talent
Ultra Music Publishing
H Intelligence
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We could all use some uplifting news right now, and the upcoming release of the first compilation from Tiësto’s Musical Freedom label since its inception in 2009 is definitely going to be making a lot of people happy this month. Due on May 29, the album features 20 hot new tracks that show off the breadth of the label’s styles.
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After dropping their latest record Internal Atomics at the back end of 2019, hardcore heavyweights, Stray From The Path are revealing the new music video for album highlight ‘Beneath The Surface‘ today.
The band’s 10th studio album, Internal Atomics garnered praise from the likes of Billboard, Kerrang, Exclaim!, New Noise, and more. In true Stray From The Path style the release is a biting, socially-conscious album full of groove-laden riffs and pummeling drums, but it also contains a message of empathy and a desire for understanding.
‘Beneath The Surface’ is one of the album’s most direct explorations of these universal themes, and also highlights Stray From The Path’s ability to blend musical aggression with memorable hooks. The song’s music video was directed by the band’s bassist, Anthony Altamura.
Stray From The Path have been bringing their charged-up punk fury and politically outspoken voice to the masses for the better part of two decades and Internal Atomics is proof that they aren’t slowing down any time soon. The album finds the four-piece more ferocious and vocal than ever, a vital voice for reason, empathy, and change in challenging times.
Internal Atomics pushes Stray From The Path’s distinctive rhythmic aggression to breakneck levels while lyrically the record rails against apathy towards the suffering of others, toxic dog-eat-dog culture, myopic worldviews, institutional corruption, and more. Seeking to plant seeds of positive change, Internal Atomics provides both a release for frustration and a path to action.
STRAY FROM THE PATH // INTERNAL ATOMICS
OUT NOW ON VIA UNFD
Surprise! Australia’s momentous punk-rock heavyweights The Meanies have today lifted the lid on details of their forthcoming record, Desperate Measures, while also sharing ‘Cruel To Be Caned’, the lead single from the new album.
Desperate Measures, slated for release in July 2020 via Cheersquad Records and Tapes, marks the first studio album from the band since their victorious 2015 comeback record It’s Not Me, It’s You amassed a slew of standout album reviews across the country and reignited Australia’s longstanding love affair with the influential punk-rock outfit.
According to frontman Link Meanie, the album title Desperate Measures reflects the drastic strides we take to stomach the current state of the world.
“Desperate Measures is an album title for the times, whether it be applicable to the rise of right wing anti-intellectualism, the associated denial of impending environmentally apocalyptic disaster or the cultural lobotomy of today’s popular media,” says Link.
It’s hard to see a way through this miasma of illogical negativity without… (drum roll)… desperate measures.”
The charging lead single ‘Cruel To Be Caned’ depicts a tale of anxiety, depression and inevitable isolation, and the struggle knowing that such forced expulsion is at once entirely necessary, yet resented. The single also marks as the first time Meanies’ bassist Wally Meanie has taken lead vocal on a track.
Arriving with the new single is the video for ‘Cruel To Be Caned’, a kooky horror collage clip produced by Link Meanie himself.
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Seasoned Aussie outfit Immigrant Union are gearing up to release their forthcoming third album Judas and have locked down the album’s release date for Friday 19 June. Ahead of the LP’s release which will be made available via Cheersquad Records & Tapes, the band are celebrating with a brand new video for their latest lifted single ‘Soldier Field’.
A poignant track that ebbs and flows through the outfit’s distinct alt/folk/country tropes with a strong psychedelic footing, ‘Soldier Field’ follows in the wake of Judas’s previous lifted singles ‘New Win’ and ‘Jewels In The Sky’ in a trifecta of easy listening tracks that emphasise the depth of Immigrant Union’s songwriting and seasoned musicianship.
The new video out today, features the band’s latest lineup of Brent DeBoer (The Dandy Warhols), Bob Harrow, Peter Lubulwa, Ben Street and Paddy McGrath-Lester at Victoria’s stunning Pink Salt Lake in Dimboola. Presented through a defiant grayscale lens, the minimalist self-directed clip perfectly embodies the track’s soft, melancholic undertones, enveloping DeBoer’s deep rumination in one smooth, slick trip.
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Where are you currently based and how did you wind up there?
I’m currently based in the central highlands of Bali, Indonesia. The waves initially brought me here, I landed a 6 month surf coaching job just as the English winter was about to begin in 2010. It’s been my home base ever since.
How did you first start playing music and singing?
My dad taught me guitar at age 11 but a had piano lessons since I was 6. He and my mum were big Beatles fans and he would teach me a lot of their songs. I especially remember learning blackbird in the garden along with my brother – this was my first intro to fingerpicking. I overcame the ‘singing whilst playing conundrum’ pretty quickly somehow, so I was blessed in that sense, I learnt a bunch of songs from tablature from the internet and from my dads books ranging from Black Sabbath to Van Morrison. My first live song performance was at a friends living room and we only played one song, Daytripper!
How have you been dealing with the current COVID19 situation?
It’s a shocking time and I’m doing my best to stay positive. I’ve been keeping busy inside recording, I have an album of songs ready to get down and my plan is to release them as singles as I go. I’ve also been getting into some gardening that I’ve been wanting to do for a while but never made the time – it’s nice to do something different and give my ears a break for a day or two. I really like the idea of growing your own food and being self sufficient, plus it feels great to be out in nature. It’s super easy to do in the tropics because everything grows so fast.
You have a new single ‘Lucky Kid’ out now, what influenced the sound and songwriting for this track?
Lucky Kid is a kind of postcard to myself. A reminder of where I’ve come from and what I’ve got to be grateful for. It came to me one day out of nowhere and I wrote the whole thing at the kitchen table in one sitting, which is super rare for me. I always have this nostalgic feeling when I play the song live and I wanted to capture that when it came to recording, which meant performance was key, so there weren’t many takes and it all came together quite quickly.
How did you go about writing Lucky Kid?
It was this rare moment where everything happened at once. I was hanging around downstairs with my acoustic guitar drinking tea and thinking of England and how I got to where I was, just playing around with a few chords and all of a sudden the verse melody came to me and I just started writing out what came into my head.
How and when did you record/produce Lucky Kid and what programs equipment did you use?
I recorded and released Lucky Kid in April 2020. I have a little wooden bungalow next to my house that I use as a studio. It’s helpful to have all my gear and instruments set up so I can just go in when I feel like it. I use an Apogee Duet as my audio interface and Logic X. My go to mic is the Rode NT1a, I also use other condensers and dynamics for different purposes. I started by laying down a scratch guitar and vocal and making sure the tempo is right, then add a live performance of my kick and tambourine and make sure it’s in time. Then once the song is mapped properly I can comfortably go for a real guitar take, then vocals/harmonica and slide guitars and light percussion were added after.
How did you learn how to record/produce?
I’ve always been messing around with recording since I was a kid and I used this Tascam 4 track that was my brothers, but never had any formal training. I schooled myself from copious YouTube videos and blogs and just learnt what I needed to know as I went along – a kind of trial and error approach. By no means am I a pro but I know what I want the song to sound like and I’m now proficient in the various parts of the process to get a decent version down.
Please tell us about how you came to send the mix to a guy in Amsterdam that he ran through his Ampex Analogtape machine, how did this come about and how did the process effect the track?
I sent the mix of Lucky Kid to a friend and we were discussing tape vs digital sound. We started riffing about sending digital mixes through a tape machine to see what it would sound like. I was curious to do an experiment, so after some googling I found this guy in Amsterdam at Lullabye Studios who had an Ampex Tape Machine from the 60’s. So I flipped him the mix and he put it through in various speeds and saturation and sent back 4 different versions. I could really tell the difference, the guitar and vocal and percussion seemed more present to me. I chose the 15IPS setting with normal saturation, It just sounded more full, thicker and clean. Some of the other variations sounded cool but at 7.5IPS with higher saturation it just sounded too gritty for this acoustic song. It was amazing really to be able to do this process remotely. It doesn’t beat actually recording everything to tape of course, but you can get a little bit of that analog colour on your mix for a small price, and I’m stoked with how it turned out. I’ll definitely be doing this with more of my recordings.
Where, when and how did you master Lucky Kid?
So I received the mix after it had gone through the tape machine and I mastered it myself here at home. The process it quite simple really, you are in essence just making the track louder and balanced. I usually just do a bit of EQ, light compression and make sure the loudness meets the optimised standard for streaming platforms like Spotify etc.
What did you find most challenging and rewarding through the process?
I normally have a hard time getting my acoustic guitar to sound good, it’s often quite boomy and involves heavy EQ in the mix, but I played around with some unusual microphone placements and found a spot near my strumming elbow that required almost no EQ whatsoever. I think mic placement is super important and it’s something I’ve overlooked previously.
Where can we listen/buy?
Go over to Spotify, Apple Music or any music platform to listen to Lucky Kid. Its available to purchase on iTunes and Bandcamp too.
Who are you listening to at the moment?
I’ve been listening to the Beatles recordings a lot at the moment, they are just fantastic and always inspire me to get into the studio. Been getting into some Dr Dog, Phil Cook and Hiss Golden Messenger to name a few.
What do you like to do away from music?
I really like to travel so I try and go somewhere new each year. I feel like it’s important to go somewhere so I can come back with new ideas and experiences that can weave their way into the music.
Favourite food and place to hangout?
My girlfriend and I have been trying out new recipes and there’s lot of yum food coming out of our kitchen right now. And since I decided to be vegetarian 2 years ago it’s opened my eyes to a whole new world of dishes, hence to say I’ve never looked back. So, actually here at home is my favourite place to eat and hang out right now, and it’s the safest! Plus all my dogs are here too, they love that I’m home so much.
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