Monthly Archives

October 2020

LISTEN: 'Richard Cory' by Tiny Little Houses After a two-and-a-half-year hiatus, ‘Richard Cory’ marks a colossal return for the four-piece; inspired by the classic poem of the same title, the song is an emotional force, complete with heart-wrenching lyrics, surging guitars and of course, lead singer Caleb Karvountzis’s distinct vocals. Of the track, frontman Caleb Karvountzis says: “Richard Cory is a reimagining of a far better poem by Edwin Arlington Robinson. The first time I read it as a teenager I was completely stunned and knew one day I would try to work a song around its theme. While modernising some of the setting and language, I've tried my best to do the original poem justice, with its status themes still being relevant today.” Tiny Little Houses aren’t the only artists to take inspiration from the poem, as Caleb says, “I actually had no idea the poem also inspired a Simon & Garfunkel song until our record label pointed it out.” Remarkably the themes of the poem – originally written in 1897, then reimagined by Simon & Garfunkel in 1966 – continue to remain relevant today. Speaking of the band’s return: “We are very much looking forward to releasing new music, even in such a disruptive time. With a whole bunch of songs on the way, we think they're reflective of some of the anxieties and uncertainty that has surfaced more obviously during this last year.” ‘Richard Cory’ is the first new music from the four-piece since their acclaimed debut album, Idiot Proverbs in January 2018. Presenting wry reflections on growing up, finding your place amongst the chaos and falling short of your own (and others’) expectations, the album included hits such as their slacker-anthem ‘Garbage Bin’, ‘Entitled Generation’ and ‘Short Hair’. The record was crowned triple j’s Feature album and was met to praise from media such as Rolling Stone, who labelled Caleb the “unflinching chronicler of inner volatility”, Herald Sun (“an Oz Smashing Pumpkins band for millennials”), and Happy Mag, who called the album “a refreshingly honest and relative realisation that we are a generation of dreamers”. Idiot Proverbs follow the band’s first two EPs - You Tore Out My Heart (2015) and Snow Globe (2016). Watch this space for more incredibly exciting news soon from Tiny Little Houses. TINY LITTLE HOUSES // Richard Cory Lyrics When Richard Cory came around We looked at him like he was crowned A gentleman so gracious He was quiet, understated And he always bought the beer Although he knew we couldn't pay And he fluttered all the pulses Of the girls lined in his way And his family was wealthy And he aced each of his grades Yeah he made it look so easy We all wished that we could be him But I lost touch after high school When he got a law degree You might see him back for Christmas He would always wave at me So on we worked and waited Living from our hands to mouth And we heard he bought a condo But no word about a spouse And our kids were all tucked in And we were sleeping in our beds When Richard one calm summer night put a bullet through his head When Richard one calm summer night put a bullet through his head When Richard one calm summer night put a bullet through his head They buried you the day it rained Your funeral felt so strange I don't know who else to blame God I wish you would have stayed When Richard Cory left this world our lives stopped making sense at all 'Richard Cory' Tiny Little Houses Single out now through Ivy League Records Available to buy/stream here TINY LITTLE HOUSES Website Facebook Instagram Twitter Spotify

TINY LITTLE HOUSES RETURN WITH NEW SINGLE ‘RICHARD CORY’

by the partae October 22, 2020

written by the partae

Ivy League Records is elated to announce the return of beloved Melbourne outfit Tiny Little Houses with their powerful new single, ‘Richard Cory’ – out everywhere now.

LISTEN: ‘Richard Cory’ by Tiny Little Houses

After a two-and-a-half-year hiatus, ‘Richard Cory’ marks a colossal return for the four-piece; inspired by the classic poem of the same title, the song is an emotional force, complete with heart-wrenching lyrics, surging guitars and of course, lead singer Caleb Karvountzis’s distinct vocals.

Of the track, frontman Caleb Karvountzis says:

“Richard Cory is a reimagining of a far better poem by Edwin Arlington Robinson. The first time I read it as a teenager I was completely stunned and knew one day I would try to work a song around its theme. While modernising some of the setting and language, I’ve tried my best to do the original poem justice, with its status themes still being relevant today.”

Tiny Little Houses aren’t the only artists to take inspiration from the poem, as Caleb says, “I actually had no idea the poem also inspired a Simon & Garfunkel song until our record label pointed it out.” Remarkably the themes of the poem – originally written in 1897, then reimagined by Simon & Garfunkel in 1966 – continue to remain relevant today.

Speaking of the band’s return:

“We are very much looking forward to releasing new music, even in such a disruptive time. With a whole bunch of songs on the way, we think they’re reflective of some of the anxieties and uncertainty that has surfaced more obviously during this last year.”

‘Richard Cory’ is the first new music from the four-piece since their acclaimed debut album, Idiot Proverbs in January 2018. Presenting wry reflections on growing up, finding your place amongst the chaos and falling short of your own (and others’) expectations, the album included hits such as their slacker-anthem ‘Garbage Bin’, ‘Entitled Generation’ and ‘Short Hair’. The record was crowned triple j’s Feature album and was met to praise from media such as Rolling Stone, who labelled Caleb the “unflinching chronicler of inner volatility”, Herald Sun (“an Oz Smashing Pumpkins band for millennials”), and Happy Mag, who called the album “a refreshingly honest and relative realisation that we are a generation of dreamers”. Idiot Proverbs follow the band’s first two EPs – You Tore Out My Heart (2015) and Snow Globe (2016).

Watch this space for more incredibly exciting news soon from Tiny Little Houses.

TINY LITTLE HOUSES // Richard Cory Lyrics

When Richard Cory came around
We looked at him like he was crowned
A gentleman so gracious
He was quiet, understated
And he always bought the beer
Although he knew we couldn’t pay
And he fluttered all the pulses
Of the girls lined in his way

And his family was wealthy
And he aced each of his grades
Yeah he made it look so easy
We all wished that we could be him
But I lost touch after high school
When he got a law degree
You might see him back for Christmas
He would always wave at me

So on we worked and waited
Living from our hands to mouth
And we heard he bought a condo
But no word about a spouse
And our kids were all tucked in
And we were sleeping in our beds

When Richard one calm summer night put a bullet through his head
When Richard one calm summer night put a bullet through his head
When Richard one calm summer night put a bullet through his head

They buried you the day it rained
Your funeral felt so strange
I don’t know who else to blame
God I wish you would have stayed

When Richard Cory left this world our lives stopped making sense at all

‘Richard Cory’
Tiny Little Houses

Single out now through
Ivy League Records

Available to buy/stream here

TINY LITTLE HOUSES

October 22, 2020 0 comments

Photo credit: Alysse Gafkjen Julien Baker will release her third studio album, Little Oblivions, on February 26 via Matador Records / Remote Control Records. Today she reveals the first look at the album via ‘Faith Healer’, which introduces the exhilarating, widescreen musical palette and infectious spirit of risk-taking found on Little Oblivions, a transformative sonic shift from Baker’s more spare and intimate previous work. Watch the Daniel Henry-directed video HERE. An essay on the album by poet, author, and cultural critic Hanif Abdurraqib (Go Ahead In The Rain, They Can't Kill Us Until They Kill Us, A Fortune For Your Disaster) is below. “I think that "Faith Healer" is a song about vices, both the obvious and the more insidious ways that they show up in the human experience”, says Baker. “I started writing this song 2 years ago and it began as a very literal examination of addiction. For a while, I only had the first verse, which is just a really candid confrontation of the cognitive dissonance a person who struggles with substance abuse can feel-- the overwhelming evidence that this substance is harming you, and the counterintuitive but very real craving for the relief it provides. When I revisited the song I started thinking about the parallels between the escapism of substance abuse and the other various means of escapism that had occupied a similar, if less easily identifiable, space in my psyche. There are so many channels and behaviors that we use to placate discomfort unhealthily which exist outside the formal definition of addiction. I (and so many other people) are willing to believe whomever-- a political pundit, a preacher, a drug dealer, an energy healer-- when they promise healing, and how that willingness, however genuine, might actually impede healing.” Little Oblivions was recorded in Baker’s hometown of Memphis, Tennessee between December 2019 and January 2020. It was engineered by Calvin Lauber and mixed by Craig Silvey (The National, Florence & the Machine, Arcade Fire). Baker’s tactile guitar and piano playing are enriched with newfound textures encompassing bass, drums, synthesizers, banjo and mandolin, with nearly all of the instruments performed by Baker. The album weaves unflinching autobiography with assimilated experience and often hard-won observations from the past few years, taking Baker’s capacity for starkly galvanizing storytelling to breathtaking new heights. Little Oblivions is the follow up to Baker’s 2017 sophomore album and first on Matador Turn Out The Lights. The New York Times said the LP is “the work of a songwriter who has resonated with an international audience (…), the rare second album that, despite new self-consciousness, stretches beyond an unspoiled debut to reach for even bigger things, with all its passion intact”. The Sunday Times said “the mix of detached vocals, lush arrangements and laid-bare post-mortems on love, loss, dysfunction and acceptance is devastating". Baker went on to perform songs from the album on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert and CBS This Morning. In 2018 Baker formed boygenius with Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus in 2018. The resulting eponymous EP and joint North American tour made for one of the most celebrated and talked about musical communions of 2018, highlighting Baker at the forefront of a burgeoning generation of era-defining artists. An intense and immersive performer, her live shows were described by The New Yorker as “…. hushed, reverential. The only sounds you hear between songs are her fingers as she tweaks the tuning on her electric guitar, scattered whispers between friends, and the rustling as the crowd waits patiently for Baker to start strumming again”. Pre-order Julien Baker - Little Oblivions: https://julienbaker.ffm.to/littleoblivions Julien Baker - Faith Healer (Official Video) Listen / Save / Download: https://julienbaker.ffm.to/faithhealer

Music News

JULIEN BAKER Announces new album Little Oblivions Out February 26 2021 via Matador Records Shares first single & video ‘Faith Healer’

by the partae October 22, 2020

written by the partae

Photo credit: Alysse Gafkjen

Julien Baker will release her third studio album, Little Oblivions, on February 26 via Matador Records / Remote Control Records. Today she reveals the first look at the album via ‘Faith Healer’, which introduces the exhilarating, widescreen musical palette and infectious spirit of risk-taking found on Little Oblivions, a transformative sonic shift from Baker’s more spare and intimate previous work. Watch the Daniel Henry-directed video HERE.

An essay on the album by poet, author, and cultural critic Hanif Abdurraqib (Go Ahead In The Rain, They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us, A Fortune For Your Disaster) is below.

“I think that “Faith Healer” is a song about vices, both the obvious and the more insidious ways that they show up in the human experience”, says Baker. “I started writing this song 2 years ago and it began as a very literal examination of addiction. For a while, I only had the first verse, which is just a really candid confrontation of the cognitive dissonance a person who struggles with substance abuse can feel– the overwhelming evidence that this substance is harming you, and the counterintuitive but very real craving for the relief it provides. When I revisited the song I started thinking about the parallels between the escapism of substance abuse and the other various means of escapism that had occupied a similar, if less easily identifiable, space in my psyche.

There are so many channels and behaviors that we use to placate discomfort unhealthily which exist outside the formal definition of addiction. I (and so many other people) are willing to believe whomever– a political pundit, a preacher, a drug dealer, an energy healer– when they promise healing, and how that willingness, however genuine, might actually impede healing.”

Little Oblivions was recorded in Baker’s hometown of Memphis, Tennessee between December 2019 and January 2020. It was engineered by Calvin Lauber and mixed by Craig Silvey (The National, Florence & the Machine, Arcade Fire). Baker’s tactile guitar and piano playing are enriched with newfound textures encompassing bass, drums, synthesizers, banjo and mandolin, with nearly all of the instruments performed by Baker. The album weaves unflinching autobiography with assimilated experience and often hard-won observations from the past few years, taking Baker’s capacity for starkly galvanizing storytelling to breathtaking new heights.

Little Oblivions is the follow up to Baker’s 2017 sophomore album and first on Matador Turn Out The Lights. The New York Times said the LP is “the work of a songwriter who has resonated with an international audience (…), the rare second album that, despite new self-consciousness, stretches beyond an unspoiled debut to reach for even bigger things, with all its passion intact”. The Sunday Times said “the mix of detached vocals, lush arrangements and laid-bare post-mortems on love, loss, dysfunction and acceptance is devastating”. Baker went on to perform songs from the album on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert and CBS This Morning.

In 2018 Baker formed boygenius with Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus in 2018. The resulting eponymous EP and joint North American tour made for one of the most celebrated and talked about musical communions of 2018, highlighting Baker at the forefront of a burgeoning generation of era-defining artists.

An intense and immersive performer, her live shows were described by The New Yorker as “…. hushed, reverential. The only sounds you hear between songs are her fingers as she tweaks the tuning on her electric guitar, scattered whispers between friends, and the rustling as the crowd waits patiently for Baker to start strumming again”.

Pre-order Julien Baker – Little Oblivions: https://julienbaker.ffm.to/littleoblivions

Julien Baker – Faith Healer (Official Video)
Listen / Save / Download: https://julienbaker.ffm.to/faithhealer

Litte Oblivions

If you are lucky enough to have a future where the present anxieties of distance become romantic memories, I hope there are people who turn this album over in their hands years from now and remember the world it tumbled into. A world that, in whatever future moment exists, will likely be defined by the work people undertook and the fights people continued to show up for. But it will also be a world defined by how many of us exist on the other side of distance.

In the moment, here is a new Julien Baker album that arrives as a world comes to newly understand its relationship with touch, with distance. At the time of this writing, I shouldn’t want to run into the arms of anyone I love and miss, and yet I do. In an era of hands pressed on the glass of windows, or screen doors. An era of hands reaching back. An era where touch became an illusion. If we have been unlucky enough, our own lifetimes have prepared us for the ever-growing tapestry of aches.

To wrestle with the interior of one’s self has become a side effect of the times, and will remain a side-effect of whatever times emerge from these. The first time I ever heard Julien Baker, I wanted to know how an artist could survive such relentless and rigorous self-examination. I have been lonely, I have been alone, and I have been isolated. There are musicians who know the nuances between the three. What whispers in through the cracks of a person’s time alone. Julien Baker is one of those artists. A writer who examines their own mess, not in a search for answers, but sometimes just for a way out. A lighthouse to some newer, bigger mess.

It is hard to put into words what this feels like. Little Oblivions is an album that steps into that feeling and expands it. Sonically, from the opening swells of sound on ‘Hardline’ rattling the chest, loving but persistent jabs to the way ‘Relative Fiction’ spills into ‘Crying Wolf,’ which feels like speeding down a warm highway that quickly turns into a sparse landscape, drowning in a hard rain. Lyrically, too, of course. There are writers who might attempt to bang at the doors of their listeners, shouting their particular anguish of the hour. And there are undoubtedly times when I have needed that to get from one sunrise to the next. But there are also writers who show up assuming anyone listening already knows what it is to crawl themselves back from one heartbreak, or to shout into an enduring darkness and hear only an echo. Little Oblivions is an album that details the crawling, details the shouting. An album that doesn’t offer repair, or forgiveness. Sometimes, though, a chance to revel in the life that is never guaranteed. Yes, the life that grows and grows and is never promised. How lucky to still be living, even in our own mess.

The grand project of Julien Baker, as I have always projected it onto myself, is the central question of what someone does with the many calamities of a life they didn’t ask for, but want to make the most out of. I have long been done with the idea of hope in such a brutal and unforgiving world, but I’d like to think that this music drags me closer to the old idea I once clung to. But these are songs of survival, and songs of reimagining a better self, and what is that if not hope? Hope that on the other side of our wreckage – self-fashioned or otherwise – there might be a door. And through the opening of that door, a tree spilling its shade over something we love. A bench and upon it, a jacket that once belonged to someone we’d buried. Birds who ask us to be an audience to their singing. A small and generous corner of the earth that has not yet burned down or disappeared. I can be convinced of this kind of hope, even as I fight against it. To hear someone wrestling with and still thankful for the circumstances of a life that might reveal some brilliance if any of us just stick around long enough.

Julien, how good it is to hear you again. And now, in all of our anguish and all of our glory. I miss the way the outside world reflected myself back to me. Now, I make mirrors out of the walls. I am so thankful for a better noise than the howling of my own shadows. Julien, you have done it again. You expert magician. You mirror-maker. Thank you for letting us once again watch you maneuver through all of your pleasant and unpleasant self-renderings. If there is a future, there will be people in it who might not remember how this album came at a time when so many hungered for a chance to put themselves back together. When the imagination of a person, a city, a country, was expanding. When, despite all of that, in the quiet moments, there were people who still wanted to be held by someone they maybe couldn’t touch. Thank you, Julien, for this comfort. This glass box through which a person might better be able to see a use for their own grief. This kingdom of small shards of sunlight, stumbling their way in to disrupt the darkness.

— Hanif Abdurraqib

Julien Baker – Little Oblivions

1. Hardline
2. Heatwave
3. Faith Healer
4. Relative Fiction
5. Crying Wolf
6. Bloodshot
7. Ringside
8. Favor
9. Song in E
10. Repeat
11. Highlight Reel
12. Ziptie

Julien Baker – Little Oblivions is out February 26 2021 via Matador Records / Remote Control Records.

Julien Baker
Official Site | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

October 22, 2020 0 comments

Music News

Korean darlings of indietronica, Wedance (위댄스) reveal joyous new video for their Dance Pop featured single ‘Ironism’ ahead of ‘Danceparty at Your Fingertips’ Digital Aus Tour

by the partae October 21, 2020

written by the partae

“Oh my, my… I’ve fallen in love with this band. Dance Pop is one of the best albums of 2020!” – Scenestr

“Ironism is a song that encapsulates the album at its best, descending into the madness of Wedance as they merge together distorted electric guitar with foundations that move between pop, indie and electronica; the song very much being a stand-out from the record’s more slick, electronic focus with its roughness and energy, largely brought by that emphasised rock grit.” – Hayden Davies, Pilerats

Earlier this year, Korea’s masters of moving and shaking, Wedance (위댄스) shared their latest LP Dance Pop with the world. Unlike any other releases of theirs, however, the album marked a momentous occasion in the band’s history as their first ever material to be available digitally. The prolific duo have always prided themselves on maintaining this idea of a musical scavenger hunt, only ever offering their music on limited edition runs of CDs handed out at their live shows. This transformation to the digital realm sparked an exciting new way of connecting with fans both at home and throughout the world, and would eventually catalyse the band’s imminent ‘Danceparty at Your Fingertips’ digital Australian tour. In celebration of their upcoming trip to our virtual shores this month, Wedance are thrilled to reveal a new video for their beloved Dance Pop single ‘Ironism’.

Bringing together a group of friends, misfits and oddballs, the video is a perfect encapsulation of a Wedance live show, complete with dancing, bouncing, flouncing and laughing. Though uncharacteristically devoid of any colour, the black and white video is as joyous as it is totally bizarre and proves why the dynamic duo are making waves with their infectious positivity and entirely unique style.

Dancing their way to Australian devices this spring, Wedance will bring their unprecedented energy, charisma and penchant for all things fashion to our virtual shores for a run of special performances across the country. Having previously performed in Australia at the 2016 Aus Asia Festival and the 2018 Bigsound Festival, as well as multiple Festival appearances throughout Asia and the world including Fuji Rock, Primavera Sound, Nuits Sonores, Bug Sounds, Baybeats and more, their upcoming virtual tour is not one to miss. This month, join Wedance for a stint of online dance parties to end all dance parties as they take on Bigsound, Isol-Aid and The Tivoli, beckoning all to join in on the alt-bacchanal. Be sure to pack your dance shoes!

Wedance ‘Danceparty at Your Fingertips’ Digital Tour Dates
Bigsound ‘Dancing On The Farm’ Showcase + Q&A
Wednesday 21 October
Showcase time: 7PM AEST
Details: Bigsound Website

Isol-Aid Festival
Saturday 31 October
3:40-4:00PM AEDT
Details: Isol-Aid Website

Open Session Program at The Tivoli – Supporting Jaguar Jonze
Friday 20 November
Doors 7.00pm AEST
Starts 8.00pm AEST
Tickets $35 for cabaret style show via The Tivoli Website

Video Credits
Directed by David Cardonal
Performance by
전수현 / 김찬우 / 재아 / 상미 / 효정 / 구름 / 연두 / 성림 / 은준 / 숲이아 / 파람 / 은미 / 알록 / 조영국 / 임도연 / 위보 / 위기

Written, Composed, Arranged and Performed by Wedance (Wevo & Wegui)
Produced by Wedance (Wevo & Wegui) & BA Wheeler
Recorded at Union Studio (by BA Wheeler) & Shelter (by Wegui and Wevo), Seoul
Mixed and Mastered by BA Wheeler at Union Studio, Seoul

Published By MO records
Released through Beeline Records

https://www.facebook.com/bandwedance/

October 21, 2020 0 comments

Festival News Music News

Oceans of True Blue talent for Bluesfest 2021 OCEAN ALLEY JOHN WILLIAMSON TEX PERKINS THE MAN IN BLACK JON STEVENS JOSH TESKEY & ASH GRUNWALD VIKA & LINDA GARRETT KATO MIA DYSON

by the partae October 21, 2020

written by the partae

Get your tickets on-sale now

The Bluesfest 2021 Fourth Artist Announcement adds an eclectic, diverse list of names to what is already a legendary line up of Australian artists confirmed to perform next Easter on April 1^st – 5^th at the beautiful green Byron Events Farm located in Tyagarah 10 minutes north of Byron Bay.

The line-up is programmed with the intention to appeal to a broad audience featuring artists across all genres for all members of the family to enjoy. With the light at the end of the tunnel in sight, Bluesfest is confidently positioned to be one of the first major festivals back on the circuit for the many music loving patrons aching to come out and soak in some highly anticipated festive vibes.

Back in April this year, many called Bluesfest’s intention to proceed with an event in 2021 as a “brave and bold move”. Proceed it did nonetheless and fortunately the festival is well-poised for a successful event with tickets currently hitting the 60% mark of sell-out in sales, with the bigger nights [Fri-Sat-Sun] selling consistently and rising.

Commenting on the announcement Festival Director, Peter Noble OAM says “Time will tell, but It is being said that the 2021 Bluesfest line up is the greatest assembly of Australian artists to ever perform at one event. Ticket sales are showing that the Australian public is ready to celebrate safely and we are on target for a sell-out at our expected capacity. My focus right now is on bringing this festival home in 2021.“

Leading the already diverse announcement is Northern Beaches of Sydney natives and ARIA award winners Ocean Alley. Their platinum-selling single ‘Confidence’ won the #1` spot on triple j’s Hottest 100 in 2018 and since that time the band have gone on with sell-out shows right across Australia winning hearts along the way.

Considering Australian music icon John Williamson will celebrate his 51^st anniversary in 2021 you can bet this show will be one for the history books. John’s “The Winding Back” tour will celebrate his 51 years in the entertainment industry and foresee closing the book on his regular touring. The last time John performed at Bluesfest in 2014, so captivated was the crowd that you could hear a pin drop. This great man’s storytelling talents through song and banter is outstanding. He has sold over five million albums and is regarded in the Top Five best-selling Australian artists joining Slim Dusty who sits at No. 1. Considering this is one of the last chances to catch John Williamson live this show should be marked up as “do not miss” in any festival planner.

When Tex Perkins struts up on stage to embody the role of “The Man In Black” for a special Bluesfest only performance you just know you are in for one hell of a good time. Imbued with the best of Johnny Cash hits, Tex Perkins’ reverence for Cash’s career is evident in the way he approaches every song and it is little wonder why “The Man In Black” has been lauded by critics and fans alike, and won Tex and his crew a Helpmann Award for Best Contemporary Australian Concert.

Get ready for an assault of the senses with the Jon Stevens | The Noiseworks & INXS Collection show. The former lead singer of Noiseworks and INXS stacks this show with nothing but relentless hits. Jon’s visceral charge of emotion is guaranteed to transport you back in time including the INXS songs that were such a huge part of the soundtrack of our lives.

This has got to be the coolest collaboration announced this year; Josh Teskey and Ash Grunwald will take to the stage together and perform songs from a forthcoming album titled “Push The Blues Away”. The album released on 13^th November is born out of a mutual love for the Blues and a genuine appreciation for each other’s talents.

An Australian lineup of this size would not be complete without Vika & Linda. They are Australia’s most revered singing sisters, known for their rich vocal harmonies and stylistic breadth. These ARIA chart toppers bring an added touch of class to the program.

Originally from Canada, Byron Bay local singer-songwriter Garrett Kato went from busking and living out of a backpack to tallying over 45 million worldwide streams and performing sold-out shows alongside Damien Rice and Ziggy Alberts. Immensely talented this young and rapidly rising star will be a musical gem for many to discover at Bluesfest.

Mia Dyson is always welcomed to Bluesfest by her many fans. A Blues pocket-rocket of a performer Mia has won multiple ARIA & APRA awards, toured with the likes of Bonnie Raitt, Chris Isaak, Stevie Nicks and Eric Clapton. Now based in LA, this little lady is one big Blues star and is always welcomed back onto the bill. This will be Mia’s 6^th time at Bluesfest.

SNAPSHOT ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES

OCEAN ALLEY

Northern Beaches of Sydney natives Ocean Alley released their critically acclaimed third LP ‘Lonely Diamond’ in June, debuting at #3 on the ARIA Album Chart and garnering four-star reviews from NME and Rolling Stone Australia who praised “a rich, expansive universe brimming with a kind of electricity that’ll make for huge on-stage moments” and “they’ve managed to set a new standard for what their music can be” respectively. It follows the success of their second full-length ‘Chiaroscuro’ in 2018 which propelled the band into national prominence and saw them sell 25,000 tickets over 15 sold out shows that year in Australia along – culminating with their ARIA nominated, double platinum-selling single ‘Confidence’ taking out #1 in triple j’s Hottest 100 of 2018. Their breakthrough year was backed-up with 30 sold out shows around the world in 2019, plus major festival appearances at ‘Reading & Leeds Festival’[UK], ‘Splendour in the Grass’, ‘Sziget’ [HU], ‘BottleRock’ [US] and more, with the band amassing more than 315 million cumulative streams to date.

JOHN WILLIAMSON

In 2021 Australian music icon John Williamson will celebrate his 51^st anniversary in the entertainment industry and embark on “The Winding Back” tour which will foresee him closing the book on his regular touring. When John Williamson wandered into Richmond’s GTV9 studios in 1970 with a guitar under his arm, little did the Mallee farmer realise he’d make a 50+-year career out of singing and performing. His performance of ‘Old Man Emu’, the first song John had ever written, on Channel Nine’s popular New Faces program resulted in a number one single and a record deal. It also marked the appearance of a striking new talent: an unofficial custodian of Australian stories. Half a century on, John Williamson has made an art of expertly capturing Australia in song. Painting lyrical pictures of our unique fauna and flora, landscapes and people, John has encapsulated the beauty, wonder and, sometimes, heartbreak of life Down Under. From boabs to billabongs and snowy mountains to sandy beaches, the Mallee-born songwriter’s 52 albums–including 20 original studio albums–have traversed Australia like a dust-covered road train, deftly moving between larrikin humour and touching pathos and have placed him in the Top Five best-selling Australian artists joining Slim Dusty who sits at No. 1. ’The Winding Back’ tour takes in more than 40 dates across Australia through to the end of 2021. With his honours including the ARIA Hall of Fame, an Order of Australia, 28 Golden Guitar Awards, Australian Roll of Renown induction, not to mention over 5 million albums sold and thousands of shows performed, it’s hard to begrudge the 75-year-old a less hectic schedule. First though, there’s a 51st^h anniversary to celebrate and what better place than Bluesfest to experience it with Mr True Blue himself.

TEX PERKINS – THE MAN IN BLACK

There are few artists within Australia who can translate the work of ‘The Man in Black’ and bring it to modern day like Tex Perkins. His reverence for Johnny Cash’s career is evident in the way he approaches every song. Johnny Cash made an indelible impact on the international music scene. He passed away in 2003 but is still considered one of the most influential musicians of all time, as his sales of over 50 million records will attest. Tex Perkins needs no introduction to Australian audiences; he is a legend within the Aussie music industry and is revered as one of the country’s rock n’ roll outlaws. It is said his affinity with Johnny Cash started in his earliest band and is an enthusiasm he hasn’t relinquished. After fronting The Cruel Sea, Beasts of Bourbon and touring with Tex, Don and Charlie and The Dark Horses, Tex Perkins has had an incredible and varied music career. Now Perkins returns to his love of singing the songs of Johnny Cash with a special Bluesfest-only

performance. Tex Perkins – The Man In Black at Bluesfest will be more intensely music driven, less talking and more of the music of Johnny Cash. ‘The Man In Black’ has been lauded by critics and fans alike and won Tex and his crew a Helpmann Award for Best Contemporary Australian Concert.

JON STEVENS

In 2018 a co-founding member of INXS, Andrew Farriss, surprised Jon Stevens by entering the band room after not seeing each other in 15 years to tell Jon he should add more INXS songs to the set list. Jon was on The Best of Jon Stevens Tour reflecting on his 40-year career, performing songs from Noiseworks, Jesus Christ Superstar, The Dead Daisies and his solo collection with just a couple of INXS classics. This reunion with his old friend with whom he’d shared the stage with around the world fronting INXS from 2000-2005 formed the idea for his new tour – ‘Jon Stevens | The Noiseworks and INXS Collection’ Tour. After a sell-out tour in 2019 the former lead singer of Noiseworks and INXS is back tributing the legendary bands that catapulted him into Aussie Rock Royalty! Jon Stevens l The Noiseworks & INXS Collection Tour brings hits “Take Me Back”, “New Sensation”, “Don’t Change”, “Hot Chilli Woman”, “Never Tear Us Apart, “No Lies” and more. This show is an assault of the senses, with nothing but relentless hits. Miss it and you’re MAD!

JOSH TESKEY & ASH GRUNWALD

Two local powerhouses Josh Teskey [lead singer The Teskey Bros] and Ash Grunwald have teamed up for ‘Push The Blues Away’ (out Friday 13 November) – an album born out of a mutual love for the blues and a genuine appreciation for each other’s talents. This special show will no doubt bring the best out of both artists and is a definite for the “My Planner” section of your Bluesfest App. On ‘Push The Blues Away’, Josh and Ash cast off the weight of expectation and revel in music’s most simple pleasures. Recorded entirely live and straight to tape, with their only percussion consisting of gospel-inspired hand claps and stomps, the pair laid down seven original tunes, some penned by Josh, some by Ash, along with two classic Blues covers, Son House’s ‘Preachin’ Blues’ and the song that kickstarted the whole project, ‘The Sky Is Crying.’ To help them achieve this vision, they enlisted the help of Josh’s brother, Teskey Brothers’ guitarist, vocalist and Grammy-nominated engineer, Sam Teskey on production duty. Both artists have had an extremely busy 12 months; renowned as one of Australia’s finest live performers, Ash Grunwald released his critically acclaimed new album ‘MOJO’ along with his first book, “Surf By Day, Jam By Night” whilst The Teskey Brothers followed up their ARIA Award-winning and Grammy-nominated second album ‘Run Home Slow’ with the 2020 release of ‘Live At Forum’, earning them their first ARIA chart #1.

VIKA & LINDA

They’re Australia’s most revered singing sisters, known for their rich vocal harmonies and stylistic breadth. After three classic albums with The Black Sorrows, Vika & Linda have released six studio albums, two live albums and a chart-topping anthology. They have also sung on number one albums by Paul Kelly, Kasey Chambers and John Farnham, done gigs for the Dalai Lama, Nelson Mandela and the King of Tonga, and been nominated for four ARIA Awards. Recently, whilst still celebrating the recent release of their first ever best-of collection (and first ARIA #1) ‘Akilotoa (Anthology 1996-2004)’, Vika & Linda have wasted no time in following up with an inspired album of gospel songs titled ‘Sunday’(The Gospel According To Iso),’ out now (ARIA #2). The album was borne out of their Sunday Sing Song livestreams on social media during lockdown, and pays tribute to gospel pioneers including Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Mahalia Jackson. These are songs about survival, compassion and redemption.

GARRETT KATO

Originally from Canada, Byron Bay local singer-songwriter & producer Garrett Kato went from busking and living out of a backpack to tallying over 45 million worldwide streams and performing sold-out shows alongside Damien Rice and Ziggy Alberts. He landed a sync in Hollywood blockbuster ‘Bad Moms’ and his single ‘Take It Slowly’ has surpassed 13 million Spotify streams. His 2019 EP, ‘Distant Land’, earned the endorsement of triple j and Beatroute Magazine as the title track eclipsed 2.7 million Spotify streams. At the same time, he cemented himself as an in-demand, platinum-award winning producer. He worked with Ziggy Alberts on his 2016 EP ‘Four Feet in the Forest’ (certified Platinum) and his 2018 album ‘Laps Around the Sun’ (certified Platinum) and has also worked with Pete Murray, Kyle Lionheart, Riley Pearce, Pierce Brothers, Jack Botts and more.

MIA DYSON

Mia Dyson is an award-winning guitarist and singer/songwriter who has toured the country with the likes of Eric Clapton, Bonnie Raitt, Chris Isaak and many more. A multiple ARIA & APRA award-winning artist, Dyson has been named one of Australia’s top 25 guitarists of all time. Growing up in the Australian bush and in the sleepy beach town of Torquay, Mia Dyson was raised listening to American music as her dad was a big Blues fan and her mother a big Bob Dylan fan. It was at an early age Mia became fascinated by the mythology of American rock & roll. Since moving to Los Angeles in 2010, Dyson’s triumphs have included opening for Stevie Nicks at the Santa Barbara Bowl, in addition to self-releasing ‘Idyllwild’, ‘The Moment’ and ‘If I Only Said So Far I Take It Back’ to critical acclaim.

All ticket types and Add-Ons are on-sale now.

For further information on the line-up or artists please see here.

Bluesfest 2021 is being held from 1 – 5 April 2021. Tickets are on sale now via Moshtix.

Keep in touch via Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

October 21, 2020 0 comments

Music News

COSMIC PSYCHOS RE-RELEASE SEMINAL RECORDS ON THEIR OWN LABEL ‘BLOKES YOU CAN TRUST’ + ‘SELF TOTALLED’ WILL BE REISSUED VIA GO THE HACK RECORDS ON NOVEMBER 27

by the partae October 21, 2020

written by the partae

Having been out-of-print for a couple of decades, the Cosmic Psychos have dug up some old masters, given them a spit and polish, and are ready to release TWO absolute classics on coloured vinyl this November.

If you’re up for a smack of nostalgia this Christmas, it might be a mighty fine time to requaint yourself with some of the ‘Psychos’ finest work to date. Featuring the original line-up of Ross Knight, Robbie Watts and Bill Walsh, ‘Blokes You Can Trust’ and ‘Self Totalled’ lay the foundations for many of today’s young pub rock upstarts, and even the grunge scene, globally.

Butch Vig (producer of Nirvana’s Nevermind) agrees, “I think the Cosmic Psychos were a band that was highly influential on the Seattle so called grunge scene. I know that Kurt and Nirvana were fans, they played shows with Pearl Jam. Even though the Cosmic Psychos never had the commercial impact or success that those bands had, they were still a major influence on them, and I think a lot of it had to do with the spirit and the sound of their music.

Blokes You Can Trust was released almost THIRTY years ago (CHRIST!) and features hit singles Back At School, Dead Roo and Hooray F**k! and is famously the first record Butch Vig produced after working on Nirvana’s Nevermind.

Self Totalled followed shortly afterwards and was recorded at Birdland in St Kilda with Lindsay Gravina. It’s a far more Melbourne-centric release, featuring The Man Who Drank Too Much, Thank Your Mother For The Rabbits and the relatively risqué Whip Me.

Both records are available for pre-order now
via cosmicpsychos.com.au

BLOKES YOU CAN TRUST (1991)
White and Pink Vinyl options.
Pre-order now

SELF TOTALLED (1995)
Yellow and Red Vinyl options.
Pre-order now

Cosmic Psychos

@cosmicpsychos

October 21, 2020 0 comments

Where are you currently based and what's the music scene like there? I’m currently based in Osaka, Japan. There are a lot of bands playing — rock, punk, heavy metal, noise, hip hop. There are a few clubs — drum n bass, techno, house, bass music. There are some spaces for more experimental music, ambient, IDM, modular. So there is a good music scene, but it’s all quite hidden and underground. Only certain people go to these kind of places which is a shame. You recently spent a prolonged period in London, what took you there? I actually came back to Osaka in 2012. The love of music took me there. I found myself getting into music from the UK when I was in Japan, and I was curious to experience the music scene and culture for myself. I wasn’t really into electronic music until I experienced it in London. I had some many memorable nights there. How is it being back in Japan? Did you experience any reverse culture shock? A: When I came back to Japan, I stopped making music for a while and worked full time as an English teacher. Having a routine and not having to think too much was quite nice, after my more free-like lifestyle in London. The first year was fine, but during the second year, I started to feel like I was starting to miss something. I missed something so much, I can’t explain what that something was, but I knew I wanted to create music again. How has it been getting back into the music scene there? It has been really great. I saw Andy Stott, Mala and DBridge amongst others, and I have played in various venues around Osaka, such as Circus Club supporting Machinedrum. How did you first start playing music and how did you evolve into electronic music? I first got into music writing songs with my acoustic guitar, and being in a band. I still love bands. I got into electronic music after I experienced some amazing nights at clubs in London. I also became a member of Nedry (electronic band). How would you describe your sound/the music that you play? My music, especially, the latest album sayonara dance is like you are under the water. Swimming slowly, trying to get to the other side. Last year you released a new album 'Sayonara Dance’. Can you tell us a bit about it? I did everything except mastering, so it was a challenge and it took me 4 years to make this album. I wanted to paint feelings with the sound. I was interested in the feelings in between. Between the light and the darkness. I was very inspired by Four Quartets by T.S.Eliot The track in the middle of the album “The lights are extinguished “ has the lines from East Coaker by T.S. Eliot. ——So the darkness shall be the light, and the stillness the dancing———— Then at the end of last year, dBridge made a remix of this song, and I was blown away by it. The titled song sayonara dance is saying sayonara to your love by dancing together for the last time. Was there anything in particular that influenced the sound behind it? Not really, nothing in particular. Can you tell us a bit about the process? I first bought a new computer, a good audio interface(RME) and monitors Then after that it was pretty much, trying, failing, trying , failing until I was happy with it. Did you record the parts yourself? Yes, I did everything in my bedroom. What programs/instruments do you use? Ableton Live mostly, I used to use pro-tools but I got Ableton Live and taught myself to use that. I also used KORG MS200, and Gibson acoustic guitar Tell us about your live set up, what do you use? A:I use Ableton push, a guitar with various effect pedals, vocal with voice live, a RME interface, and MacBook Where can we see you perform? A:At music venues in Osaka such as Socore Factory, environment 0g Follow me on instagram @ayu_okakita What do you like to do away from music? I love swimming and going to sentos (Japanese public bath) Being in a sauna after a cold bath feels so good, and after that I love taking a walk with a drink. Who are you listening to at the moment? I’ve been listening to a lot of UK Grime because of my boyfriend, he has introduced me to some other music too. My favorite songs of the month are Patience by RHYE and Dismantle by Andy Stott. What's planned for the remainder of 2020? I’m working on my next album!! And I’m planning to organise a music event with Jack, called 深音(shinon), a night that focuses on deep sounds. Favourite food and place to hangout? I love going to standing bars, one of my favorites is Ushitora in Minami. Base Island Kitchen serves great vegan food. And for a late night Bar Muffin is a fun intimate bar with an amazing sound system. Website—ayuokakita.com Bandcamp— https://ayuokakita.bandcamp.com/ Instagram—ayu_okakita Facebook— https://www.facebook.com/ayuokakitamusic

Music Interviews Music News

Ayu Okakita

by the partae October 21, 2020

written by the partae

Where are you currently based and what’s the music scene like there?

I’m currently based in Osaka, Japan.

There are a lot of bands playing — rock, punk, heavy metal, noise, hip hop.

There are a few clubs — drum n bass, techno, house, bass music.

There are some spaces for more experimental music, ambient, IDM, modular.

So there is a good music scene, but it’s all quite hidden and underground.

Only certain people go to these kind of places which is a shame.

You recently spent a prolonged period in London, what took you there?

I actually came back to Osaka in 2012.

The love of music took me there.

I found myself getting into music from the UK when I was in Japan, and I was curious to experience the music scene and culture for myself.

I wasn’t really into electronic music until I experienced it in London. I had some many memorable nights there.

How is it being back in Japan? Did you experience any reverse culture shock?

When I came back to Japan, I stopped making music for a while and worked full time as an English teacher.

Having a routine and not having to think too much was quite nice, after my more free-like lifestyle in London.

The first year was fine, but during the second year, I started to feel like I was starting to miss something.

I missed something so much, I can’t explain what that something was, but I knew I wanted to create music again.

How has it been getting back into the music scene there?

It has been really great. I saw Andy Stott, Mala and DBridge amongst others, and I have played in various venues around Osaka, such as Circus Club supporting Machinedrum.

How did you first start playing music and how did you evolve into electronic music?

I first got into music writing songs with my acoustic guitar, and being in a band.

I still love bands. I got into electronic music after I experienced some amazing nights at clubs in London.

I also became a member of Nedry (electronic band).

How would you describe your sound/the music that you play?

My music, especially, the latest album sayonara dance is like you are under the water.

Swimming slowly, trying to get to the other side.

Last year you released a new album ‘Sayonara Dance’. Can you tell us a bit about it?

I did everything except mastering, so it was a challenge and it took me 4 years to make this album.

I wanted to paint feelings with the sound. I was interested in the feelings in between.

Between the light and the darkness. I was very inspired by Four Quartets by T.S.Eliot

The track in the middle of the album “The lights are extinguished “ has the lines from East Coaker by T.S. Eliot.

——So the darkness shall be the light, and the stillness the dancing————

Then at the end of last year, dBridge made a remix of this song, and I was blown away by it.

The titled song sayonara dance is saying sayonara to your love by dancing together for the last time.

Was there anything in particular that influenced the sound behind it?

Not really, nothing in particular.

Can you tell us a bit about the process?

I first bought a new computer, a good audio interface(RME) and monitors

Then after that it was pretty much, trying, failing, trying , failing until I was happy with it.

Did you record the parts yourself?

Yes, I did everything in my bedroom.

What programs/instruments do you use?

Ableton Live mostly, I used to use pro-tools but I got Ableton Live and taught myself to use that.

I also used KORG MS200, and Gibson acoustic guitar

Tell us about your live set up, what do you use?

A:I use Ableton push, a guitar with various effect pedals, vocal with voice live, a RME interface, and MacBook

Where can we see you perform?

At music venues in Osaka such as Socore Factory, environment 0g

Follow me on instagram @ayu_okakita

What do you like to do away from music?

I love swimming and going to sentos (Japanese public bath)

Being in a sauna after a cold bath feels so good, and after that I love taking a walk with a drink.

Who are you listening to at the moment?

I’ve been listening to a lot of UK Grime because of my boyfriend, he has introduced me to some other music too.

My favorite songs of the month are Patience by RHYE and Dismantle by Andy Stott.

What’s planned for the remainder of 2020?

I’m working on my next album!!

And I’m planning to organise a music event with Jack, called 深音(shinon), a night that focuses on deep sounds.

Favourite food and place to hangout?

I love going to standing bars, one of my favorites is Ushitora in Minami.

Base Island Kitchen serves great vegan food. And for a late night Bar Muffin is a fun intimate bar with an amazing sound system.

Website—ayuokakita.com

Bandcamp— https://ayuokakita.bandcamp.com/

Instagram—ayu_okakita

Facebook— https://www.facebook.com/ayuokakitamusic

Interviewer: @anthonyhuttley

October 21, 2020 1 comment

Music Interviews Music News

Uone & Western

by the partae October 21, 2020

written by the partae

Where are you currently based?

Mornington Peninsula, Melbourne

How did you first start playing music?

My mum ran a Backpackers accommodation in the 90’s and all the international guests would bring the latest cassette tapes from places like London & Amsterdam. At the age of 13, I was given the responsibility of playing music for the wild parties that were happening.

How did Uone & Western form?

I started doing A&R for BEEF records in the 2000’s, Nick was one of the owners at the time. Our friendship and shared passion for music grew from there. We started producing music 4 years ago after a series of successful releases on Sol Selectas, Katermukke, Beat & Path. We decided to release a concept album that focused on combining our love of cinema (spaghetti westerns), live instruments, psychedelic culture and rolling deep tribal house.

How has Covid impacted the underground electronic scene?

It’s been pretty hard actually. Not being able to play music, and connect with humans has been challenging. But at the same time the COVID-19 outbreak opened up the opportunity to reset and reflect on where music and DJing started. It’s been a time to reflect on my early roots and a time I was young, free and completely transfixed with the art of DJing and the music it embodies.

What are you doing to support the industry and stay creative?

I run a weekly radio show called RANCH-O-RADIO, which is broadcast on 33 radio stations globally. It’s a platform to showcase local artists as well as international artists I love. I have also been doing a few live streams raining money for Multiple Sclerosis to keep my creative juices satisfied.

Your new album ‘The Lone Wranglers’ will be out on October 16, what influenced the sound and songwriting?

The biggest influence on this album is the love of cinema that Western & I share. I remember in between studio sessions we went to see Blade Runner 2049 and had a vivid conversation about the importance sound plays in creating mood and feeling. The conversation naturally flowed into the studio and we ended up writing 3 cinematic musical interludes for the album, (Let Red Go, Cotton in the Clouds, Forest Walker). The second biggest influence would have to be Quentin Tarantino and his modern day take on western cinema culture, the album naturally developed to be a modern day western dance musical tale.

Where and when did you record/produce?

Mostly produced at the Smith and Western Studios’ in Sydney over the last 2 years, but a lot of the tracks finalised at the Ranch-O-Relaxo studio. A special thanks to Jamie Stevens for helping us finalise a lot of the mix downs on this album. Jamie’s musical knowledge & studio skills are phenomenal, having a 3^rd party come across and give the music a final tweak really brought extra clarity to the mix. The mastering was done by Danny Bonnici from Liquid Mixes.

What programs/plugins/equipment did you use?

We use Ableton 10, big fans of Spectrasonics’ plugin called the ‘Keyscape’. A lot of the piano, vintage keyboards & Rhodes sound come from this extraordinary plug in. We also spent a lot of time recording live guitars with different pedals, all our percussion is recorded live and then processed inside Ableton. Combining a human feel inside the digitized computer world is important. Some key synths used were the Roland Juno-106 & Nord Electro 3 Stage piano.

What can we expect from this upcoming album?

The album is a combination of some key key influences for Western & I. Quentin Tarantino films are a big one, The Doors and Pink Floyd also heavily inspired the album.

‘The Lone Wranglers’ has a super unique sound, you can definitely hear the psychedelic influences and tribal deep house sounds. The live guitars and tribal drums really make you feel like you are experiencing the album in person.

How did Covid affect the creation of this album?

Fortunately, it was completed before COVID fully set in, but we pushed back the release date because we felt like the timing wasn’t right. There’s no time like the present, onwards we go!

Who are you listening to at the moment?

New Zealand based Sanoi and Beacon Bloom have been on high rotation. Plus, diving back in the late 1990s & early 2000s sounds of Underworld, Orbital, Brian Eno, Bruce Springsteen, Jimi Hendrix and Midnight Oil.

What do you like to do away from music?

Gardening! I am somewhat of a green thumb. Here at our property we have 5 acres of gardens & vegetable patches to look after. I really enjoy mowing the lawns with my John Deer. Also having recently become a father, spending time with our baby girl has been filling my heart with joy.

What’s planned for the remainder of 2020 going into 2021?

I’m taking part in Beyond Borders ‘Desert Dwellers’ live streaming event October 23, then we plan to follow up this album with an EP ‘Magician On Duty’. In December I’m super excited to be playing ‘Elements Music Festival’ in QLD – a return to live music!

Favourite food and place to hangout?

During COVID it’s been our local Goat Curry at the Himalayan & Nepalese Restaurant.

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Instagram – Click Here

Spotify – Click Here

October 21, 2020 0 comments

Music Interviews Music News

Mark Roma

by the partae October 21, 2020

written by the partae

Hey Mark Roma, welcome to the Partae! Your debut on DOORN has just dropped, ‘The Realm’, massive congrats! How did the release come about?

Hey, thanks for having me! It’s quite cool how the release happened, I started sending tracks to Morten at the start of the year and he loved them. He supported The Realm in a Spinnin Records X 1001 tracklist ID livestream and when I asked would he think spinnin would like The Realm, he personally introduced me to the A&R team via email and it stemmed from there! So really all I can say is networking is SUPER important!

How long had you been working on the track, did it work quite naturally or did it take quite a bit of tweaking?

Most of the track happened to just fall into place in about a day (maybe I was having a good because this is rare haha!) I started searching really strange cinematic sounds on splice and I used lots of dark sounding stabs and pads and the drop sounded cool. The acid took a bit of tweaking to make it fit in with all these pads but not too much. I even sampled a racoon and a dinosaur sound but it works!

Where does the name for the track come from?

The name came from the feeling that the breakdown gives me, like a feeling of flying over a mountain range or over an ocean through a feeling of elation. I’m a huge lover of trance and love to incorporate some in most tracks I create so that was the aim to give a huge euphoric flying feeling.

What sort of music did you grow up listening to yourself? What actually influenced you to go into production and a career in music?

I grew up listening to a lot of trance, mainly Tiesto, Armin and Ferry Corsten, which eventually branched out into more electro and now I’m a fan of pretty much all dance music genres. When I was younger I used to down synthesiser apps onto my phone and would play about making trance melodies, then a friend of a friend I met mentioned he was doing a music technology degree and I immediately signed up. I almost was not allowed to do the degree as I had no previous music qualifications but I was determined and it showed so here I am 5 years later getting signed to my dream labels. Determination and hard work pays off!

What advice would you give to others who were hoping to follow in your footsteps and release on the labels of their heroes?!

The best thing I can advise is to network. Go to ADE, go to local networking events, like Liverpool Audio Network Sound Summit which is local to me. Make sure you setup meetings beforehand and talk to the right people who are relevant to you, face to face interactions are SO IMPORTANT!

On another note for productions, finish tracks faster, don’t spend too long forcing a track to work. I used to spend upwards of 3 months on a track and it would be trash. First time I finished a track in 4 days, Blasterjaxx supported it!

Also, do not give up. I get knocked back weekly by labels but I learn from it, maybe the track did not suit, maybe the quality was not great, maybe the A&R had a bad day, do not give up! Work hard and consistently and I promise it will happen.

Buy Link: https://doornrecords.release.link/the-realm

https://www.instagram.com/markromamusic/

https://www.facebook.com/markromamusic

https://soundcloud.com/markroma

October 21, 2020 0 comments

Music News

Melbourne rockers, The Grogans, release kickass surf-rock jam ‘Got A Girl’ from forthcoming album Day / To / Day

by the partae October 21, 2020

written by the partae

Returning with their second release for 2020, The Grogans unleash new single ‘Got A Girl’.

Continuing to fuse a shared love for fiery punk, surf-rock and indie sounds together, the Melbourne trio have executed a melodic and tight track that, just over two minutes, gives listeners a charged up dose of Grogans-esque mischief.

‘Got A Girl’, taken from The Grogans’ forthcoming second record Day / To / Day, follows on from July’s ‘Dead Weight’ single. What started as a jam sesh late in the recording process of the album, ‘Got A Girl’ soon became a favourite with the band. Thematically, the single is a straightforward tune about being carefree, enjoying the moment and the upsides of being in a relationship.

“We started it as a little jam, pretty late in the recording process of the album. Lyrically, it’s about our girlfriends and enjoying cruisey relationships and how we don’t have any money and to not stress about that.” The Grogans

An insight into the new sounds and dynamics of the new Grogans material, ‘Got A Girl’ comes strong with its hooks and melodies, balancing punkish attitudes with surf-rock guitars and vocals. Diving further into vintage sounds, The Grogans present a defined picture of themselves on this single and by extension, the new album.

Recorded at Grogans HQ and out in Ocean Grove, Day / To / Day had the opportunity to come together outside of Melbourne, with Ocean Grove providing an idyllic relaxed setting for The Grogans to settle into. Spending their time making music, skating and hanging out made the album process far easier an experience to get through; with new ideas and sonic sessions coming naturally for the band over time.

“We wanted to build off of our last album and EPs, writing songs that we enjoy playing and listening to. It’s got a bit more of a 60s surf sound than our last releases; we just like that era – the style, the sound of the time, the cars. We also tried to have less limits, to show our wide variety and bigger picture of what The Grogans are, who we collectively are as people.” The Grogans

Forming in high school, The Grogans have got a stack of releases as well as a strong live reputation to their name in debut album Just What You Want (2019) and EP releases Grogan Grove (2018), Twangs ‘n’ Cans (2017), and Cacteyed (2016). Emerging as a dominant constant on the Melbourne music scene and an exciting presence on stages around the country.

PRAISE FOR THE GROGANS

“A bold and heavier mix from The Grogans, and I’m liking them up the ante.”

Triple J, Declan Byrne (‘Dead Weight’)

“The Grogans capture the laid-back lifestyle we all yearn for.”

Beat Magazine

“The Grogans continue to kill it. This is a massive chiller. The amount of people at both your shows this weekend was insane. A line around the corner and everything?!?!! Any time now… I can’t wait to see you guys explode! “

Triple J Unearthed Claire Mooney

‘Got A Girl’ is released Wednesday 21st of October

‘Day / To / Day’ is released Friday 13th of November

October 21, 2020 0 comments

Festival News Music News

CROWBAR & UNIFIED TEAM UP FOR MUSIC + WINE COLLABORATION “BUILT TO SPILL WINE” THE CHATS GOON COLLABORATION AVAILABLE NOW

by the partae October 21, 2020

written by the partae

“Wine chosen with love, to be enjoyed with good music and nice people.”

Crowbar and UNIFIED Music Group are proud to announce their collaborative music and wine project and online store “Built To Spill Wine”. The launch comes alongside the release of the brand’s first artist team up, a unique goon in collaboration with none other than The Chats. Find more details below.

After years of friendship, mutual business, shows and spilled drinks shared between them, each company is bringing their penchant for music and drink together in the form of an online store. Built To Spill Wine offers a delicious selection of natural wines from across the globe, while they also invite musicians to team up with some of Australia’s best natural winemakers to craft the bottle of their dreams for music fans and wine lovers to enjoy.

The life and business paths of the team at BTSW have been inextricably linked for over two decades – from running DIY venues and labels supporting hardcore bands in the early 2000’s, to the promotion and hosting of countless UNIFIED related bands at Crowbar, and most recently Crowbar running the VIP bar at UNIFY Gathering. Roots in punk-rock and Do-It-Yourself are at the heart of what UNIFIED & Crowbar do – no less a commitment to Do-It-With-Friends – and Built To Spill Wine is the ultimate extension of this ethos.

Premium bespoke bottles are the product, which is where Crowbar’s chief Wine Wizard Tai Tate comes in. With over 15 years experience in wine and fine dining (credits include the likes of Porteno, Bodega, Mary’s, P&V), Tai brings an expert knowledge and extensive industry network to the team, scouring the country for its top winemakers to partake in artist collaborations.

“We are excited to expose the whole country to a new wealth of talent in both wine and music, to push the boundaries of creativity and collaboration, to pair the old guard with the new school, and maybe find common ground between the established and the up and comers,” he says, adding that the project also offers a unique opportunity to educate consumers on the care that goes into crafting both wine and music.

All Built To Spill Wines are considered “natural”, meaning they enjoy a wild ferment (ie: no packet yeast), possess no corrective additives such as acid/colours/powdered tannin, and contain minimal sulphur.

UNIFIED Founder & CEO Jaddan Comerford explains that BTSW ultimately encompasses each company’s dedication to boundary-pushing creativity and collaboration, arguably needed in business and art now more than ever before.

Tyla Dombroski (Crowbar) elaborates that once COVID-19 shut down their live music business arm and left so many artists stranded, the team put their heads together to find new ways to forge business opportunities for themselves and bands alike.

“The best thing about it all has been connecting everyone together, not only helping ourselves while our venue has been closed and artists who haven’t been able to tour, but the winemakers around Australia as well,” she says.

“They’ve had a rough year since the fires impacting their grapes and now with COVID-19 closing down bars and restaurants. Everyone is super happy to be working together to create something different for music and wine lovers from all walks of life to enjoy while working with sustainable and minimal impact farming.”

Today BTSW launches The Chats Goon, meanwhile a second artist collaboration will launch next week. It comes after the Crowbar team independently launched successful drink collabs with artists including WAAX, Northlane, Josh Pyke and more earlier this year.

The Chats Goon:

Take your clothes off the line and get ready to peg a few silver pillows on, because BTSW have put together a box of the finest goon with The Chats and Delinquente Wine Co. Encased in the most primo cardboard, with some pictures by local legend Struthless, this is the perfect accompaniment to your Pub Feed, your Smoko, or to make you feel better about getting The Clap.

This is white goon made with a bunch of all natural, happy grapes chucked together, fermented wild and bugger all other stuff added except for a bit of sulfur just to Keep the Grubs Out. Save up your Bus Money or go halves with a mate, being the equivalent of two bottles in one glorious box, it is such good value you won’t even have to Dine n Dash. Beauty.

“It’s fucken good”
– Eamon, The Chats

Head to the Built To Spill Wine website for more details and to order your wine before the weekend. Customers can also sign up to the mailing list for 10% off their first order, and score a free record when placing an order of 3 wines (while stocks last).

FOLLOW BUILT TO SPILL WINE

October 21, 2020 0 comments

After receiving an overwhelming response to their first two singles “Rain.” and “Tunnel Vision”, Like Angels are back with more honest, relatable and playful music. Their new single “Lose It” will be available on 23 October 2020. As the track name suggests, the song was written for anyone who has ever felt like they were about to LOSE IT! Pre-save/Stream “Lose It” here: https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/likeangels/lose-it Naturally gifted in music from a young age & fascinated by the mystique of songwriting (as influenced by the likes of Ryan Tedder, Taylor Swift, Switchfoot & NF); Like Angels sisters Emmalisa and Sarah have developed a remarkable ability to pen meaningful, honest lyrics that connect with each listener on an emotional level. Their debut single “Rain.”, released in Dec 2019 to fundraise for Australian fire and drought relief received notable media attention from TikTok Star Nat Alise; Australian Community Media (The Advertiser); Good Morning Macarthur and Ava’s World Magazine and played by radio stations nationwide. Their second single “Tunnel Vision” saw Like Angels tweeted by Project U Founder Nic Kelly, featured on Studio Spot The Podcast and The Partae, included on Isaac Banks Top 15 Australian/NZ Tracks with Banks Music Promotion; interviewed on air for nationwide radio show Aussie Grown Radio with Hank David and bestowed the highest compliment by Beat Mag as “honest, confronting and how pop should be done”. Now, Like Angels return with “Lose It”, equally as honest as their previous singles, but with a fresh new sound! The song perfectly encapsulates that climactic moment when someone or something pushes you to your limits - you just can’t take it anymore and you’re about to LOSE IT! “Lose It” encourages listeners to face their problems instead of making excuses and refusing to work on them. It’s about ‘dusting yourself off’, and looking for ways to solve the issues you face instead of letting them defeat you. It also expresses the importance of setting boundaries, instead of letting people take you down with their negativity. Produced by Philippe-Marc Anquetil (Little Mix, One Direction, Jessie J, Ruel), the song’s confrontational lyricism entwined with the girls intoxicating harmony blend and mesmerising production will have you hooked from the very first beat! The track perfectly channels all the chaotic emotions experienced when you feel as though you’re about to explode! The track is saturated with the use of unconventional sound samples from screaming and coughing, to the flushing of toilets - all sounds that drive you insane and encapsulate that feeling of wanting to lose it! “Lose It” will be available on all streaming services on Friday 23 October 2020 as the third instalment of several upcoming releases by Like Angels. WARNING: When you hear this song, you might just lose it! Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wearelikeangels/ Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/likeangels/ Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@likeangels/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wearelikeangels/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/wearelikeangels/ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3DBzfAswmcKmc9VctvZPwk?si=8Xh8u1FaQrCOwqALF4iSUw

Music News

Like Angels – “A SONG FOR ANYONE WHO HAS EVER WANTED TO LOSE IT!!”

by the partae October 21, 2020

written by the partae

After receiving an overwhelming response to their first two singles “Rain.” and “Tunnel Vision”, Like Angels are back with more honest, relatable and playful music. Their new single “Lose It” will be available on 23 October 2020. As the track name suggests, the song was written for anyone who has ever felt like they were about to LOSE IT!

Pre-save/Stream “Lose It” here: https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/likeangels/lose-it

Naturally gifted in music from a young age & fascinated by the mystique of songwriting (as influenced by the likes of Ryan Tedder, Taylor Swift, Switchfoot & NF); Like Angels sisters Emmalisa and Sarah have developed a remarkable ability to pen meaningful, honest lyrics that connect with each listener on an emotional level.

Their debut single “Rain.”, released in Dec 2019 to fundraise for Australian fire and drought relief received notable media attention from TikTok Star Nat Alise; Australian Community Media (The Advertiser); Good Morning Macarthur and Ava’s World Magazine and played by radio stations nationwide.

Their second single “Tunnel Vision” saw Like Angels tweeted by Project U Founder Nic Kelly, featured on Studio Spot The Podcast and The Partae, included on Isaac Banks Top 15 Australian/NZ Tracks with Banks Music Promotion; interviewed on air for nationwide radio show Aussie Grown Radio with Hank David and bestowed the highest compliment by Beat Mag as “honest, confronting and how pop should be done”.

Now, Like Angels return with “Lose It”, equally as honest as their previous singles, but with a fresh new sound! The song perfectly encapsulates that climactic moment when someone or something pushes you to your limits – you just can’t take it anymore and you’re about to LOSE IT!

“Lose It” encourages listeners to face their problems instead of making excuses and refusing to work on them. It’s about ‘dusting yourself off’, and looking for ways to solve the issues you face instead of letting them defeat you. It also expresses the importance of setting boundaries, instead of letting people take you down with their negativity.

Produced by Philippe-Marc Anquetil (Little Mix, One Direction, Jessie J, Ruel), the song’s confrontational lyricism entwined with the girls intoxicating harmony blend and mesmerising production will have you hooked from the very first beat! The track perfectly channels all the chaotic emotions experienced when you feel as though you’re about to explode! The track is saturated with the use of unconventional sound samples from screaming and coughing, to the flushing of toilets – all sounds that drive you insane and encapsulate that feeling of wanting to lose it!

“Lose It” will be available on all streaming services on Friday 23 October 2020 as the third instalment of several upcoming releases by Like Angels.

WARNING: When you hear this song, you might just lose it!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wearelikeangels/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/likeangels/

Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@likeangels/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wearelikeangels/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/wearelikeangels/

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3DBzfAswmcKmc9VctvZPwk?si=8Xh8u1FaQrCOwqALF4iSUw

October 21, 2020 0 comments

Music News

THE RUBENS ANNOUNCE ‘STUDY BREAK’ – A PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOP FOR THE NEXT GENERATION OF MUSICIANS & MUSIC INDUSTRY REPS + 0202 MUSIC GRANTS

by the partae October 21, 2020

written by the partae

Today The Rubens are proud to announce Study Break and the 0202 Music Grants – both designed for Year 12 students who are interested in pursuing a career in the music industry. The drive to support the next generation came from the numerous emails and DMs the band has received throughout COVID-19 from students doing it tough at a time that should be full of anticipation for the future.

Study Break:
“Study Break is a 1hr online professional development hang out with us and our team. If you’re a Year 12 student and you have an interest in pursuing music as a career, we want to take you behind the scenes and tell you stories about our career; song writing, recording, touring, marketing and the general ins and outs of the industry. We hope to inspire and give back to the next generation of musicians and music industry biz people. Roll call….!”

Study Break will take place on Tuesday 27th October, 5pm-6pm AEDT. The session is completely free and open to the first 500 people who sign up. To secure your spot, sign up HERE.

0202 Music Grants:
“The Class of Year 12 2020 has endured a big long year of disruption. And we think that ain’t fair. So in partnership with our label & musical home Ivy League Records & Mushroom Group, we want to award TEN Year 12 students who demonstrate a passion for music and a desire to further their studies or business ideas by way of $500 each to contribute to your next journey.” – The Rubens

“Clearly 2020 has been an incredibly tough time for so many and in particular Year 12 students. We hope these grants and access to The Rubens stories creates some optimism and inspiration to some students who are passionate about music and our industry”.
– Chris Maund, C.O.O., Mushroom Labels and Mushroom Music Publishing

The 0202 Music Grant applications are now open and will close at 6.00pm AEDT on Monday 2 November. The successful applicants will be chosen by the band based on their application. For more details, click HERE.

Last week The Rubens released the powerful video for ‘Time Of My Life’, a track that boasts one of the biggest hooks in the band’s catalogue to date. The video includes a cast made up entirely of 18-year-old, year 12 students.

“We wrote Time Of My Life before COVID, but we knew at the time that the song had a nostalgic feel to it. Once we started getting emails from year 12 students and teachers, we realised it could be more meaningful. We got together with our good mate and collaborative partner Russ and he directed the video. We wanted it to be a homage to Year 12 Class Of 2020.” – The Rubens

0202, the fourth album from The Rubens, will be released on Friday 12 February 2021. Cementing their status as a band that continues to evolve as songwriters and push the boundaries of alternative rock/pop, 0202 – featuring recent singles ‘Live In Life’ (nominated for ARIA Song of the Year), ‘Heavy Weather’ & current single ‘Time Of My Life’ – is an exciting new chapter for The Rubens and a celebration of the five-piece at their creative peak.Study Break & the 0202 Music Grants follow Chucka Buckas – a brand that The Rubens established to support new and emerging bands. The initiative came about after the band spoke at the NSW Parliamentary Enquiry regarding the state of live music in NSW, conveying passionately the importance of small venues and the ecosystem they exist in, and how critical this is in developing careers in music. As a reactionary measure, they decided they needed to do their bit to help grassroots music, which is when the idea for Chucka Buckas was born. So far, there’s been three tours, standalone clubs nights with 25 artists involved, with plans to re-commence the project in 2021.

TO SIGN UP FOR STUDY BREAK, CLICK HERE

TO APPLY FOR THE 0202 MUSIC GRANT, CLICK HERE

0202
The Rubens
Album out Friday 12 February 2021 through Ivy League Records
Available to pre-order here0202 tracklisting:
1. Masterpiece
2. Heavy Weather
3. Live In Life
4. Time Of My Life
5. Thank You
6. Muddy Evil Pain
7. Holiday
8. Explosions
9. State Of My Mind
10. Apple
11. Back To Back
12. Party

THE RUBENS
0202 ALBUM TOUR 2021
Supported by Alice Ivy Sat-Apr-03-21 – Crooked River Winery – Gerringong, NSW
Thu-Apr-08-21 – Fortitude Music Hall – Brisbane, QLD
Fri-Apr-09-21- Moncrieff Entertainment – Bundaberg, QLD
Sat-Apr-10-21 – Highfields Tavern – Toowoomba, QLD
Fri-Apr-16-21 – Enmore Theatre – Sydney, NSW
Sat-Apr-17-21 – Bar On The Hill – Newcastle, NSW
Wed-Apr-28-21 – Riverlinks Westside – Shepparton, VIC
Fri-Apr-30-21 – Forum – Melbourne, VIC
Wed-May-05-21 – Whitestar Hotel – Albany, WA
Thu-May-06-21 – The River – Margaret River, WA
Fri-May-07-21 – Freo Social – Fremantle, WA
Sun-May-09-21 – Wintersun Hotel – Bluff Point, WA
Fri-May-14-21 – The Gap View Hotel – Alice Springs, NT
Thu-May-20-21 – Altar Bar – Hobart, TAS
Fri-May-21-21 – Altar Bar – Hobart, TAS
Sat-May-22-21 – Saloon Bar – Launceston, TAS
Sun-May-23-21 – Forth Pub – Forth, TAS
Wed-May-26-21 – The Leichardt Hotel – Rockhampton, QLD
Thu-May-27-21 – Seabreeze – Mackay, QLD
Fri-May-28-21 – Otherwise Bar – Townsville, QLD
Sat-May-29-21 – Tanks Arts Centre – Cairns, QLD
Wed-Jun-09-21 – Beer Deluxe – Albury, NSW
Thu-Jun-10-21 – The Whalers Hotel – Warrnambool, VIC
Fri-Jun-11-21 – Torquay Hotel – Torquay, VIC

The Rubens have done their best to honour the re-routing. Fans in Adelaide, Canberra & Bendigo – watch this space, more news to come!

The Rubens understand that it’s an extremely tough time for fans. For anyone who has previously bought tickets and wish to know their ticketing options, all ticketing & information can be found at therubensmusic.com .

THE RUBENS

October 21, 2020 0 comments

Music News

WATCH JESSICA JADE’S ODE TO LOVE IN THE VIDEO FOR ‘YOU’ + DEBUT EP ‘BET’ OUT NOVEMBER 13TH

by the partae October 21, 2020

written by the partae

“Jessica Jade is one of those artists that you’ll be glad to have known about before they got big, and trust us, it is going to happen soon.” – Tone Deaf

“Bet is an extremely likeable track from an artist I could literally listen to all day.” – Project U

“Sydney has a new R n B star on the rise.” – SNIFFERS

Western Sydney local Jessica Jade explores the highs of love in the film clip for her infectious new single ‘You’, which features on her debut EP ‘BET’ out November 13th.

Inspired by personal experience, ‘You’ was premiered by triple j and is a raw look at those deep and young feelings of infatuation laid bare in full in the video.

‘You’ comes from the multi-dimensional R&B artist’s forthcoming debut ‘BET’ EP which features a collection of stellar, multi-genre tracks centered around the theme of independence and respecting yourself, including her most recent offerings ‘BET’ and ‘Taste’.

Recently selected as one of FBi Radio’s Independent Artists and performing as a part of their Independent Play Series, she’s already been tapped on the shoulder by Converse, Champion and JD Sports. She’s also struck a chord with tastemakers Complex, Life Without Andy, SNIFFERS and Project U along wth Tone Deaf who dubbed her a ‘future R&B legend’.

Flourishing in the digital realm her previous releases have clocked spots in Spotify’s New Music Friday AU/NZ & Denmark, R&B Connect, Pop N Fresh and Apple Music’s Best of the Week and Mood.

JESSICA JADE
‘YOU’
OUT NOW

October 21, 2020 0 comments

Erika de Casier - 'No Butterflies, No Nothing' is out now via 4AD / Remote Control Records. Erika de Casier Facebook | Instagram

Music News

ERIKA DE CASIER Signs to 4AD Releases new single ‘No Butterflies, No Nothing’

by the partae October 21, 2020

written by the partae

Photo Credit Gloria Berenice Moreno

4AD and Remote Control are delighted to welcome Erika de Casier to the family, today she releases her label debut, the single ‘No Butterflies, No Nothing’.

Born in Portugal and raised in Denmark, de Casier is an ally of the Regelbau collective and also something of a creative polymath, having written, produced and released her debut album, Essentials, through her own Independent Jeep label last year. Critically-lauded, Essentials graced Best of 2019 lists at Mixmag, Gorilla vs. Bear, FACT, Dummy, and Crack Magazine.

Quickly following the success of her debut album, ‘No Butterflies, No Nothing’, produced by de Casier and Natal Zaks, see the Copenhagen-based musician continue to address affairs of the heart. “It’s about wanting to fall in love with someone, but the butterflies are just not coming,” de Casier explains.

Also taking on director duties for the single’s accompanying video, she says, “I wanted to create a sort of “perfect” realm where the underlying drama is what cracks the picture. When I was a kid, I used to hurry home from school so I could watch “Days of Our Lives” and I really think it’s funny how soap operas depict characters’ lives in a such an openly overdramatic and unrealistic way – it’s all about the drama. I was also inspired by romantic period films like Pride & Prejudice and Sense & Sensibility, so to mix the two aesthetics with my own was really interesting.”

Erika de Casier – ‘No Butterflies, No Nothing’
Purchase / Stream: https://erikadecasier.ffm.to/nobutterfliesnonothing

Erika de Casier – ‘No Butterflies, No Nothing’ is out now via 4AD / Remote Control Records.

Erika de Casier
Facebook | Instagram

October 21, 2020 0 comments

Music News

SINGER-SONGWRITER LAUREN MANN RELEASES NEW ALBUM MEMORY & DESIRE + PREMIERES VIDEO FOR ‘DONT MAKE A MOUNTAIN’

by the partae October 20, 2020

written by the partae

Singer-songwriter Lauren Mann’s 4th studio album Memory & Desire is out today on all digital platforms! And to celebrate, Lauren is releasing the video for the album’s 3rd single ‘Don’t Make a Mountain’. Watch the video here.

It was Lauren’s longtime friend and collaborator, Ross Bodenmann, who had the idea for the ‘Don’t Make a Mountain’ video, which they filmed in Comox Valley on Vancouver Island over the summer.

“I often tend to worry unnecessarily, so I wrote this song as a reminder to myself when I feel anxiety creeping in to take a deep breath, plant my feet firmly on the ground, and remember the bigger picture,” says Lauren. “The video shows two contrasting characters, one who is lost and weary of the journey, and the other who is pushing through the obstacles searching for beauty and truth.”

Lauren wrote the songs that make up Memory & Desire over the course of four very formative years, both personally and creatively. She was finding herself again as a woman entering her 30s, and as a songwriter and musician, she was soaking up influences from the albums she was listening to at the time from Jordan Klassen, Luca Fogale, Rose Cousins and more. And she was also learning covers of the classics: Gordon Lightfoot, Carole King, Leonard Cohen, and Beth Orton at local community jams on Pender Island.

“When I was introduced to a Harmony tenor guitar from the late 60s, my songwriting and sound began to centre around that,” says Lauren. “After years of sitting with the songs, writing and rewriting, trying them live, and making demos, the recording process with producer Josh Rob Gwilliam was simple and organic. He helped bring the songs to life in my home studio using various organs, pianos, and other instruments I have laying around and crafting a sound that is as expansive as it is grounded.”

Lauren Mann’s new album Memory & Desire is available now on Spotify, Apple Music/iTunes, and other digital retailers and streaming services worldwide. For more information, please visit: laurenmannmusic.com

October 20, 2020 0 comments

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