Here you can find all feature interviews and articles.
Words: James Frostick & Pop Filter
On Friday August 21, Pop Filter released its debut record Banksia. While the album is somewhat of a continuation of the at-ease sound of progenitor outfit The Ocean Party, Banksia listens like a separate entity. The band took the time to share some insight on the album at large, revealing a maturity and composure that can only have been forged through a near-decade of constant collective creation.
Words: James Frostick
After dropping a kiloton of blistering and hard-chugging punk on our heads back in April in the form of their self-titled LP, Melbourne/Naarm wrecking crew APCO are back with a fresh slice of bare-boned crank. ‘Doggone (Goblin Ribs)’ is a prickly demo fashioned in isolation out in Victoria’s west – a murky taster of the band’s next batch of nervy punk wallopers. Continue reading Premiere: APCO – ‘DOGGONE (GOBLIN RIBS)’
Words: James Frostick / Tom Lyngcoln
Image: Moodwar
Last week, Melbourne/Naarm-based musician Tom Lyngcoln (Harmony / The Nation Blue) released his second solo record Raging Head. A collection of immediate and arresting pandemonium, Raging Head shows Tom at his most furious, twisting himself into knots and lacerating everything in reach. Tom has kindly consented to breaking down the record track by track, from its peculiar composition to its conceptual drive.
Continue reading Track by Track: TOM LYNGCOLN – RAGING HEAD (SOLAR/SONAR, 2020)
Words: James Frostick
Artist Image: Jarred Beeler
Cover art: Jack De Lacy
Last week, solo musician/composer/performance artist Marcus Whale officially released their second full-length record Lucifer, an album that explores the idea of devotion, a recontextualisation of religious rituals and repositioning the titular figure as a queer icon – something other than a malevolent force of evil. To help give better insight into the album’s conceptual foundations and execution, Marcus has offered up an in-depth track-by-track breakdown of Lucifer in its entirety.
Continue reading Track by Track: MARCUS WHALE – LUCIFER (SELF RELEASE, 2020)
Words: James Frostick
Romy Fox image: Keelan O’hehir
Artwork: Ange Deadbirdflying
As the country starts to slowly creep towards a sense of normalcy, several isolation-inspired projects are starting to see the light of day. The latest is Tender Connection – a compilation album put together by phenomenal queer-feminist label Tender Collection. The mix features work from a number of artists dabbling in the realms of experimental and outsider sound, resulting in a striking work that manages to form a silver lining of sorts around an incredibly dark cloud. We have the sincere privilege of premiering the release, which launches officially today!
Continue reading Premiere: TENDER CONNECTION – AN ISOLATION COMPILATION
Words: James Frostick
Shove band image: Bad Band Pix
Even though Australia’s live-music scene has come to a halt in the wake of the coronavirus lockdowns, musicians haven’t remained idle. Melbourne/Naarm-based punk label Blow Blood Records has assembled a killer crop of musicians to contribute to A Long Time Alone – a new mixtape of tracks composed by members of Australia’s underground in isolation. The compilation dropped digitally this week, so we chatted with Blow Blood head honcho Christina Pap about the genesis of the release and how music can unite a socially-distanced community. Continue reading Interview: ACTIVITY IN ISOLATION – BLOW BLOOD RECORDS LAUNCHES A LONG TIME ALONE
Words: James Frostick
Meat Thump band image: Marriah Geles
Brisbane/Meanjin label Eternal Soundcheck has reached into the past to haul three unheralded projects into the present. The newest additions to the label’s catalogue include a compilation of EPs and unreleased tracks from dissonant no-wave band look!pond, a rediscovered live recording of outsider punk trio Meat Thump and a polished reworking of Liam Kenny’s 2016 solo album The White Man Is Oppressor. We chat to label head Matt Kennedy about the motivations behind releasing all three works in 2020, why he considers them special and what we can expect from Eternal Soundcheck moving forward.
Continue reading Interview: LOOKING BACK WITH ETERNAL SOUNDCHECK
Words: James Frostick
Band image: Chris Cornale
After several years in the wilderness, wickedly wayward Sydney rock-and-roll legends Circle Pit are back with a new-old EP. Wicked Wicked Time is comprised of four tracks written in the early stages of the band’s career, encapsulating them at a reckless, destructive, enlivening and entertaining part of their existence. Continue reading Premiere: CIRCLE PIT – WICKED WICKED TIME (DERO ARCADE, 2020)
Words: James Frostick
Image: Jonno Revanche
Meatspin records has been responsible for putting out some of the most exciting sounds emanating from Sydney’s underground music scene. Ahead of a flurry of new releases, we chatted with Meatspin’s head honcho (and music journalist / musician of note) Max Easton about the label’s genesis, its creative ethos and how small-scale labels remain the lifeblood of Australia’s fringe music industry.
Words: James Frostick
Artist image: Liz Ham
It’s been just over a month since heralded darkwave artist V released their grief-saturated opus So Pure, and its reverberations are still being felt across the scene. We are looping back to chat to V about the record, its inspirations and the idea of confronting loss through music.
