Such A Crime

Friends of wbdf, The Belligerents, have a music clip for their song Such a Crime which you should lay your eyes on.

Check out the Q&A they did with us also - here.

Q&A with The Belligerents

I get sent quite a few free CD's and to be honest, I don't really get around to listening to them. They usually have wanky bios and as a former promotions manager who wrote wanky bios and press releases, I can tell you that they are BAD. To be fair they aren't as bad as mine though.

So it was a great surprise that a CD I was sent actually pleased my ears, I even listened to it multiple times through. Disappointed they're from Brisbane though, I hate that joint. What's up with all the walking/talking slowly, liking rugby and those bars with reject strippers walking around topless selling raffle tickets? I don't get it!? Yep I'm a true Melbourne snob.

Anyways, read on for the Q&A with links/tour dates/free download.

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Truckumentary.

Here's an interesting concept for a documentary; Melbourne band 'The Statics', go around to record labels, mangers, booking agents and radio stations to and try and get some industry attention. First up on the agenda is Australia's largest independent record label, Shock Records.

I'll post further installments as they come.

The Statics Facebook

Frown - The Giveaways

Here's a vid from our friends The Giveaways who did our very first Q&A last year (which you can read here). While slightly disturbing, I've had my share of May/December romances so no judgement.

Q&A with The Ovals

*Nancy - Doesn't this photo remind you of that line from The Bedroom Philospher "gonna go down to Pony, pretend I'm in Kings of Leon"? No, just me? Ok then, continue.

My name is: David, Tadhg's, Duane & Danny

I play in: The Ovals

We sound like: PINK FLOYD meets CAN and TOOL and a touch of the ol' forest beaming with stone age minds and space age music.

Inspired by: An open attitude to reality, philosophy, literature, poetry and a vast quantity of great music

We reside in: Melbourne and the Peninsula shire

Our local music scene is: Full of depraved and unstable minds bursting with enough creativity to knock out a small herd of elephants. We surround ourselves amongst friends, mainly in the darkly fitzroy areas and brunswick were time can eat you up and before you know it, that bastard of a sun has popped its ugly head up to ruin the good tidings. Thats when the banknotes get put away.

The most annoying thing about our scene is: ............Parking.....and the sun.

Our best gig to date was: The Brunswick Hotel, with a dazzling full light/projection show and awesome bands. Our Gonzo-esque manager was running around like a madman tweaking lights and staring at people in a real odd fashion.

The song that gets me dancing is: 'I don't really mind' by Tame Impala/ Halleluwah by Can.

First album I bought: Aenima by Tool, which is funny because I still think its amazing after 16 years, unlike a lot of other stuff which has come and gone.

My musical youth involved: Sporting fields, quarries, synagogues, the little desert, and opening the doors of perception. Also an array of hilariously mannered pets such as Swags and Toby. RIP

Pop music is: Mostly, people persuing something shallow. Music can be so much more. But it depends what your calling pop. Lollipops are real swell.

If I could have written any song it would have to be: Beethoven's Ninth, Fourth Movement/Beethovens Emperor, the Second Movement.

Do you play Fifa? Our drummer used to play with Manchester United in England, but couldn't handle his shit, tabloids made a mess of him. Sad really

Favourite Restaurant: Mum's kitchen. Champion cooks.

The thing I hate most about bloggers is: When they pretend to be independent and are not.

My Musical Guilty Pleasure is: Bee Gees (this is Davids choice and does not at all represent anyone else in the band).

The sporting team I follow is: South Melbourne (Ex) Football Club, Carlton FC, Collingwood FC (but only when theyre winning, typical of your Collingwood folk).

*Nancy - Collingwood FC are the absolute pits. Go Hawks!

If I weren't a musician I would be: Brahman, garbo, lady of the night and a narc.

The Ovals Official
The Ovals Myspace
The Ovals Facebook
D/L: Refugee

Q&A with Kindread

My name is: Rhys aka The n00bie

I play in: Kindread

We sound like: there's a party in your pants and everyone's dancing to reggaey/rocky/funky/dubby tunes.

Inspired by: good times, good friends, a bottle of red, some 'ealthy 'erb, good vibes.

We reside in: God's Waiting Room, aka The Sunshine Coast, Queensland

Our local music scene is: strangely, on the rebound

The most annoying thing about our scene is: that venues start, then are shut down by the whinging baby-boomers who's idea of a good time is uninterrupted viewing of CSI

Our best gig to date was: everyone of them... good or bad.

The song that gets me dancing is: EMF's 'Unbelievable'

First album I bought: Big Audio Dynamite II

My musical youth involved: long hair, cut-off camos, The Doors and Pantera, and weed.

Pop music is: a necessary evil.

If I could have written any song it would have to be: Happy Birthday.. the royalties alone would be killer.

Do you play Fifa? What's a Fifa? Does it come between a Forfa and a sixa?

Favourite Restaurant: You do realise these answers come from a musician? Restaurant? Like, as in Maccas or Subway?

The thing I hate most about bloggers is: Nothing.. they're all bloody brilliant

My Musical Guilty Pleasure is: my business and no-one else's

The sporting team I follow is: AFL - would have to be the Lions, NRL - would have to be the Dragons, Ping Pong - would have to be the Chinese National Team.. those guys are crazy.

If I weren't a musician I would be: downright boring.

Kindread Official
Kindread Facebook
Kindread Twitter
Free DL: Free Love

Q&A with The Long Summer

My name is: Nicko

I play in: The Long Summer

We sound like: classical musicians aping their pop music heroes with results ranging from middling to spectacular...

Inspired by: J-Dilla, Motown, Slash, Warp Records, Trent Reznor, Goldfrapp and the view from Hugh's parents back room over the golf course towards the city which is quite pretty.

We reside in: Melbourne

Our local music scene is: Being taken for granted by Liberal state government. If Labor had won the election then they would have invested $25 Million dollars in our local scene. Libs didn't even have an arts policy!!! That's fucked! Go build another football stadium. Go invest $3 Billion in a failed attempt to win the FIFA world cup. Or subsidise a new Rugby Union team. (that's my favourite thing to rant about)

The most annoying thing about our scene is: Mess and Noise forums

Our best gig to date was: We've never played one... one day we will play one and you'll be on the door list.

The song that gets me dancing is: The Seed (2.0) by The Roots and Cody Chestnutt (or anything by Cody Chestnutt) or this song which is fucking awesome -

First album I bought: She by Harry Connick Jnr.

My musical youth involved: Biggie Smalls' California or Coolio Gangtas Paradise playing over the loudspeakers at for 5 minutes before the end of recess.
oh, and thinking that the Batman Forever Soundtrack (U2's "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me" and Seal's "Kiss From A Rose") was the greatest album ever.
and piano lessons...

Pop music is: indescribably awesome or excruciatingly shithouse, depending on what mood i'm in.

If I could have written any song it would have to be: All I Need by Radiohead or White Christmas by Bing Crosby (coz of the royalties)
Do you play Fifa? No. But I watch Premier League at the pub sometimes.

Favourite Restaurant: Any place that sells tapas dishes which involve anchovies or sardines.

The thing I hate most about bloggers is: Everett True http://www.collapseboard.com/

My Musical Guilty Pleasure is: The whole of Powderfinger's Internationalist album, Bluegrass and Everett True's blog.

The sporting team I follow is: Melbourne Demons in AFL

If I weren't a musician I would be: Fitter

The Long Summer Official
The Long Summer Twitter
Free DL: Boys and Girls
DL: The Long Summer Soundcloud

Q&A with Hanna Silver/Inverto

I admit Twitter can be pretty annoying at times and I'm positive that I only add to that annoyingness on a daily occurrence (@nancy_magoo), but sometimes you get to network with some ace people. Here is one of them, Hanna Silver. Both she and the band she is in should be bringing out EP's next month but in the meantime her next gig is at Know Your Product, Jan 25th at 9.30om and then St Kilda Festival on the New Music stage, Feb 13th at 12.50pm.

My name is: Hanna (Giselle Ida) Silver

I play in: solo as Hanna Silver, and in the band Inverto

We sound like: when I play solo I use a loop pedal, vintage synths and my voice. it sounds like slow disco and electro. Inverto is Italo disco, cosmic and house.

Inspired by: italo disco and boogie artists, Fela Kuti and Ben Folds Five

We reside in: Melbourne, Straya

Our local music scene is: in abundance of talent and also people who wanna give this music thing a go. There's always a gig on, every night of the week.

The most annoying thing about our scene is: like other scenes where there is an abundance of musicians, venues are generally very tight with their money (picture the Espy offering $400 for 3 bands AND a sound guy to play on a Thursday night in the basement). This makes it really difficult to be an artist. When I've been teaching piano all day so I can pay the rent, I rarely feel inspired when I come home from work (I used to practise piano for 5 hours a day. Maybe now I do half an hour some days). But now that it's holidays and I'm not teaching, I'm finishing a solo EP! Set for release Feb 2011.

Our best gig to date was: playing as guest synthesist in Ponzu Island at the Forum a few months ago, as part of the Beck's Bar series in the Melbourne International Arts Festival. And being guest harmonium player with Harry Angus at his solo gig in the Melbourne International Jazz Festival a couple years ago. And playing with Inverto is always fun, partly because I get to dress up as a nurse and partly because I get to fuck out on synth.

The song that gets me dancing is: This is a strange question, when there are potentially thousands of songs... nay, MILLIONS of danceable songs. Um, the other night I danced to Kylie; this was a new low for me. Plus I was quite drunk, so it marked my official crossing over into Fucking Dickhead-dom. But otherwise, I will dance to anything good with a beat from 80 - 120bpm.

First album I bought: Mariah Carey - Music Box

My musical youth involved: Learning classical piano since I was 3, violin since I was 8; from ages 15-18 I also learnt cello, drums, electric bass, double bass and trumpet. I started writing piano pieces when I was about 8 and pop songs when I was 14. When I was 17 I was anaemic without knowing it; consequently I wrote several songs about feeling really tired. In year 12 I was a house chorals leader, which involved arranging songs like Bohemian Rhapsody for orchestra and choir, and conducting. It's funny because at the time we thought we did an incredible job, but watching the video a couple years later we realised it was PRETTY SHIT.

Pop music is: usually FUCKING SHIT. Basically because for the last 30 years it has been ONLY about making money. Now that pop music stylistically MUST involve auto-tune, it's gone even fucking further down the drain. Now we are starting to see a new generation of singers who have grown up listening to auto-tuned voices - there is a new vocal style being born and it's pretty fucking horrible. We should just cut to the chase and get robots to write our music for us.

If I could have written any song it would have to be: What a Fool Believes - Doobie Brothers

Do you play Fifa? nup.

Favourite Restaurant: The restaurant tram (srsly it's awesome)
The thing I hate most about bloggers is: the self-congratulatory tone in their writing (N.B. I am a blogger, in the middle of answering questions about myself...I HOPE you get the irony here)

My Musical Guilty Pleasure is: 80s pop like Kids In America by Kim Wilde and 90s boy bands

The sporting team I follow is: Richmond Tigers, AFL

If I weren't a musician I would be: fuck knows. A psychiatrist, if I had the stamina to study medicine.

Inverto Myspace
Hanna Silver Myspace
Hanna Silver Twitter
Hanna Silver Facebook
DL: Hanna Silver Soundcloud

Q&A with Bayonets For Legs

My name is: Nathan James Mulholland

I play in: Bayonets For Legs (bass)

We sound like: the kids who were listening to emo ten years ago all grown up and out of image. Still punk kids at heart, but looking at music so one dimensionally is real boring.

Inspired by: lots of stuff: Last Days of April, Paul Kelly, Wilco, Crowded House etc etc

We reside in: Sydney, except our drummer, he's from some place called Picton. I went there once, there's a creepy church that has a picture of Mary in the stained glass window out front. There's also something called "the Picton tunnel". Obviously it's a tunnel, but there's ghosts there or some shit. I guess however you can turn a buck, right?

Our local music scene is: It's always changing. I'm loathed to say it's bad, because it isn't... But it's not amazing either. People get out and support each other, and some really good people are starting to put together some really good mini festivals. I'd say "it's getting there", but really, what is "there". It's swings and round abouts. A few inner city venues are closing down, but there are more suburban places opening up which is good news for everyone.
The most annoying thing about our scene is: I'm gonna say two things here. The first is djs who think they're bigger than the bands they're spinning after. Look, a guy who's spinning house music for a dance club, dropping beats in, scratching etc, I can see the merit in that, I see how Girltalk can be considered art... The guy is incredible. You go to a dance club and they're the talent, because they are. Then you go to one of these fucking "alternative" clubs where there's three rooms and the room with the band in it is the empty one, and the rooms with the djs are packed. I don't see the merit in simply owning Fall Out Boy and Paramore's entire catalogue of singles and knowing were each song stops so you know when to hit the fader. Why are these guys the stars? We've got it wrong, it's like there's all icing, and no cake. I enjoy hearing songs I know as much as anyone else, but there is such a reluctance for people to look for anything new. We just keep recycling the same fucking formula to try to fill the same venues with the same people looking for the same thing three-four nights a week. Soon, hopefully, it's going to reach critical mass and the landscape will change. That excites me.

The second is (and I'm sure there's a more apt name for it that I don't know) cultural gentrification. Basically it's all these upper middle class assholes who buy property around established venues and complain about the noise coming from them in order to get them shut down. Shut down the venue, you remove the "unfavourable element" (although I'm quite sure there is much, much less trouble at the end of a night of live music than there is at 4am outside just about any suburban pub in Australia packed with assholes trying to prove their alpha male status). Seriously, who the fuck moves into an area like oxford st. or close to the Annandale hotel looking for peace and quiet? Two kinds of people. Fucking idiots, and people looking to turn a buck on property. State governments and local councils REALLY need to look at this. Look at the occurrence of incidents outside the Annandale hotel compared to those outside the Mean Fiddler and see which one should be shut down. It's a war on culture, and it's a war on anything that doesn't fit neatly into their neat little paradigm as to what's acceptable for them to live near and for their kids to grow up near, and the kind of boring as shit, middle of the road Australia assholes like Allan Jones and any other motherfucker who picks up a microphone on most any AM radio station in Australia (read 2GB and MTR) want. Fuck that. We can't let it happen.

Our best gig to date was: Our Sydney launch show was incredible...

The song that gets me dancing is: This site is "white boy dance floor", right? Imagine a six foot eight, kind of out of shape, white as white can be white boy on the dance floor... Nothing good comes from it... So no song gets me dancing... Sorry.

First album I bought: smash hits '93... Yep, pretty credible. The first "real" album I bought, however, was Nevermind by Nirvana.

If I could have written any song it would have to be: uh... If we're talking love/relationship songs, Ten Minutes by The Get Up Kids is pretty great... If we may talk protest songs (don't give me this shit about there being no good protest artists nowadays), Slow Down Ghandi by Sage Francis pretty much encapsulated every single fucking retarded thing that has happened in this world in the last 15 years and (except for a lack of references to The Jersey Shore and Social Networking) is still a relevant song. Oh, and "Question" by Old 97's... I wish I could have written that for when I propose to my girl.

Do you play Fifa? Nah, not really a gaming person.

Favourite Restaurant: one of the only "real" restaurants I've ever been to is the Orange on Chapel st.

The thing I hate most about bloggers is: hahaha... Loaded question much? Everyone has an opinion, bloggers, sometimes, are able to articulate theirs fairly well. At the very least, bloggers aren't tied up with commercial agreements that tie their hands as to what they can give a kicking when it's needed. I'm a pretty firm believer in speaking your mind. I don't hate bloggers, per se... Some of their opinions, however, can get fucked (mainly because they don't match my ideology).

Melbourne vs. Sydney? Shit... Simply because I live there, Sydney. Melbourne is a fantastic place though.

My Musical Guilty Pleasure is: I'm just putting this out there... Out of every band in that scene, My Chemical Romance are fantastic.

The sporting team I follow is: the MIGHTY South Sydney Rabbitohs and the Sydney Kings

*thanks for stealing Inglis... sulk - Nancy

If I weren't a musician I would be: a much better employment prospect, a much better boyfriend, a much lower credit risk to banks.

Bayonets For Legs Myspace
Bayonets For Legs Twitter

The Key of Sea

You know the drill, I'm not nationalistic and I complain a lot. Well I thought I'd change things up and write about something uplifting and something that may just restore my faith in the Australian people.

The topic of "boat people" in the latest federal election definitely rubbed me the wrong way. There was an obvious sense of alarmist fear mongering from both the Liberal and Labor party, pandering to the fear of being over-run by these boat people and the resources of Australia being drained. I like many people, found this ridiculous and pathetic. But even people I considered reasonable and intelligent began talking about how people were jumping the queues illegally and how they were going to break down the moral fiber of the nation.

While people might call me a left wing hippie, I don't understand how people can be so inhumane to fellow human beings. These are just people who have fled persecution and civil unrest; people who just want the opportunity to live a safe and healthy life, for themselves and their families.

To say these people aren't a productive and contributing part of our society is naive and unjust. My father himself is a refugee, he had to flee Vietnam to escape persecution from the communists and the war. His story is like many other asylum seekers; fleeing in the middle of night, not being able to tell other family members and friends and spending time in the boiler room of a unsafe boat in search of a better life.

The Key of Sea is a collaborative project with prominent Australian artists and refugees exploring the various experiences and perspectives of refugees and migrants around the world. All proceeds from the sales of the album will go to the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, Human Rights Arts and Film Festival and Refugees Survivors and Ex Detainees (RISE). With thoughtful and interesting collaborations, put your cynicism aside for a moment and support a worthy cause. You can pre-order the album on iTunes.

Track Listing:

• Tim Rogers Compania/ The Ghost
• Old Man River and Javier Fredes / Merry Christmas Island
• Urthboy and Group 120/ Letters From Jamshed
• Sarah Blasko and Ajak Kwai/ Nyiir Ienquarr
• Oh Mercy and Nadia Omar/ Hands Will Cradle
• Blue King Brown and Diafrix / Streets are Getting Hot
• Katie Noonan and The Captains with Taikoz / Fatal Shore
• Skipping Girl Vinegar and Tri Nguyen/ Bullets and Mango Trees
• Philadelphia Grand Jury and Klezmania / Sing For The Sun
• The Cat Empire and Anbessa Gebrihiwot / Zero
• The Vasco Era and Yousif Aziz / Habibi

The Key of Sea Official Website
The Key of Sea Twitter

Q&A with Class A

My name is: Class A

I play in: my solo crew.. Me me me me .. and Class A.. No, just plain old 'Class A'

I sound like: The receptionist at your work who turns into a rap star after 5pm. Honest, banging, sometimes funny, sometimes sing-along, boom bap, lo-fi, sometimes sprinkled with more synth-based hip hop. I rap how I talk, you will not get a surprise when you meet me unfortunately.

Inspired by: Like all independent Australian musicians, Neighbours and Home & Away.. when that's not on, life and interesting, unique honest music that I can relate to. Notorious B.I.G, Jean Grae, Slug and Busta Rhymes are a few of my main musical inspirations.

I reside in: Fitzroy, originally Geelong

My local music scene is: Killing it! We are so lucky to have such a variety of talented musicians. It’s inspiring and super exciting; the quality of our artists Aus wide blows me away. It is well and truly ALIVE. Australian Hip Hop is really starting to get some well deserved international recognition as well. I really look forward to collaborating with new artists and playing at new venues around Australia. I’m going on the WildsideTour in November with Spit Syndicate and The Tongue, which will be amazing, we are touring nationally (11 dates).

My best gig to date was: Jean Grae and Talib Kweli (gig with Nikkita and Sizzle –SYD). They are 2 of my favourite artists and I brushed shoulders with both of them and nearly lost my shit. It was a dream come true for me.

The song that gets me dancing is: Notorious B.I.G- Hypnotise

First album I bought: Puff Daddy and the Family - No Way Out was my first Hip Hop cd.. the others were stupid 100% hits crap Do you play Fifa? No, but I would if I wasn't so lazy

Favourite Restaurant: Bimbos- Fitzroy.

The thing I hate most about bloggers is: I can't tell if they're being sarcastic or not!

My Musical Guilty Pleasure is: Destiny's Child greatest hits

The sporting team I follow is: Geelong Cats, or Collingwood now that they won the Grand Final

If I weren't a musician I would be: a receptionist

Class A Official Site
Class A Twitter
Class A Myspace
Class A Facebook
D/L: So Bad - prod. by M-Phazes

2010 Jagermeister Independent Music Awards

Last Friday night (01/10), I headed down to The Forum to go watch The Jagermeister Independent Music Awards with my side-kick Kim (although I'm sure she wouldn't like to be known as my sidekick). As usual, I was late. Luckily I don't think I missed anything, besides getting a seat. After getting our Jager and Redbull (endorsement deal please?) we searched for higher ground so our view wasn't obstructed by those menacing tall people. While this article will not be even close to being as well written as The Vine and Mess+Noise articles about the night, I highly doubt that you'd expect it from me anyway. You shouldn't expect any amazing photography either, if you have any complaints about that you should direct them to Pix and Chris and tell them to purchase me a professional camera, or a hot photographer I can drag around with me.

While waiting for the show to start Kim and I spotted Dan Sultan, so acting like sad middle aged women at a male strip club, we swooned over him for a while. Actually, we seemed to have an opinion about everyone/everything that night. We were like the young, female version of The Muppets, Stalter and Walkdorf. Just factor in that we were drinking and we're not very funny. Sorry to whomever was standing near us and had to listen to the obnoxious running commentary of us yelling out things like we were trying to help someone win the showcase on The Price Is Right.

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