Category Archives: Interview

Interview with Gossling (aka Helen Croome)

gosslingGossling’s debut EP ‘If You Can’t Whistle’ has garnered plenty of attention, with the track “Days Are Over” becoming part of Triple J’s staple play list in recent times, and “He Knows My Love” being used in the Triple J ‘Unearthed’ promos. Gossling’s (aka Helen Croome) tracks were discovered by Triple J after she drew attention as an Unearthed artist.

Gossling(HC) chats with LifeMusicMedia (LMM).

LMM: Hi Helen, tell us about your first Australian tour to promote your new EP ‘IF YOU CAN’T WHISTLE‘?
HC: The band and I are played a few shows in Melbourne and one Canberra to begin with in March and we have plans to tour the rest of the country later in the year. I’m really excited to get out to more cities and play some regional dates also.
Continue reading Interview with Gossling (aka Helen Croome)

Interview with LA ROUX and the Bacardi Express

LA ROUXLA ROUX and the Bacardi Express

LMM: This is the second time you’ve visited Australia in the last 6 months, what is it about Australia that keeps you coming back?

LR: The crowd. Everyone at our Parklife shows were amazing, we were completely overwhelmed by the response we got at both Parklife and our sideshows in Sydney and Melbourne.

LMM: The BACARDI EXPRESS train features a jamming carriage, dining carriage, chill out lounge, gaming room and sleeper carriages – where onboard do you reckon you’ll spend most of your time?
Continue reading Interview with LA ROUX and the Bacardi Express

Interview: Tom Ballard – comedian extraordinaire!

Interview: Elize Strydom
Knock Knock… Who’s there? Tom…. Tom who?
tom-ballardTom Ballard, the triple j Breakfast co-host and comedian extraordinaire. He’s only 20 but he’s already performed at comedy festivals in Edinburgh and Montreal. He was the youngest person ever to win the prestigious Best Newcomer award at the 2009 Melbourne International Comedy Festival. He’ll be in Brisbane soon for a run of solo shows called Cogito Ergo Some Funny (as part of the Brisbane Comedy Festival).
That’s not funny. Yeah, you’re right. But Mr Ballard is!

Life Music Media (LMM): Afternoon Tom! Have I woken you up? I’d say your sleeping patterns have changed a lot since starting in triple j Breakfast?

Tom Ballard (TB): Yes, I used to sleep until 12 and eat good food. Now I get up at 4am and eat a lot of sandwiches and come home at about 1.30pm and then have a nap and try to continue to clean my apartment. That’s my rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle.

LMM: Has radio taken over your life? You’ve obviously still got a bit of room for comedy.

TB: Yeah, I’ve got to figure out that balance. It’s been an intense couple of weeks so far. This week, I had a gig on Monday night which threw me off schedule so I’ve been trying to catch up on sleep. Hopefully I can figure out the napping thing so I can work both ends of the day.
Continue reading Interview: Tom Ballard – comedian extraordinaire!

Interview with Damian Kulash of OK GO

Interview by: Elena Gomez
OK GOAt the tail-end of OK Go’s European tour, lead singer Damian Kulash braved a Danish snowstorm at 2am for a conversation with LifeMusicMedia about the colour blue, his love for Australian butter and the importance of body part insurance. Oh, and also why their latest album, Of the Colour of Blue, sounds so different from anything they’ve done before…

LifeMusicMedia (LMM): Hi Damian, so you’re in Denmark at the moment, right?
Damian Koulash (DK): We’re in Copenhagen, yeah.
Continue reading Interview with Damian Kulash of OK GO

Interview: Kid Sam – Keiran Ryan

Kid Sam   Interviewer: Hannah Collins

It’s a ridiculously hot summer day in Melbourne. Keiran Ryan (KR) is lying on the couch, drinking tea *not iced tea because he ‘don’t like that stuff’* chatting with Hannah Collins (LMM) on all things ‘Kid Sam‘.

LMM: So whats ‘Kid Sam‘ up to?

KR: ‘We have a couple of weeks off now and then Laneway (Laneway Festival), which should be really awesome, the lineup is fantastic with a really strong Australian contingent! I’m looking forward to Dirty Three, Oh Murphy?, and Philadelphia Grand Jury again. We’ve done a tour with them already. Yeah, so it’s great. Then comes the Daniel Johnston gigs which we’re like, hugely, hugely excited about!
Continue reading Interview: Kid Sam – Keiran Ryan

Interview with Tom Fleming of Wild Beasts

Interview: Elize Strydom

Wild BeastsIt is 9 o’clock in the morning and Tom Fleming has already been down to visit his parents and is now on the train headed for Leeds to meet up with his band, Wild Beasts, for rehearsal.

Bookish and brooding, self important and slick, the Wild Beasts are on the verge, threatening to wow the world with their three part harmonies and suggestive, erotic and at times dark themes. Their second record Two Dancers was unleashed a few months ago and, far from being a difficult and disappointing follow up to last year’s Limbo, Panto, it has pushed them into the spotlight and all the way to Australia for January’s St. Jerome’s Laneway Festival.

Fleming says that was something the band accepted gladly, will smiles on their faces, to boot.
Continue reading Interview with Tom Fleming of Wild Beasts

Interview: Matthew Clark of White Rabbits – First Australian Tour

Author: Denis Semchenko
white rabbitsDenis Semchenko (LMM): Firstly, are you guys looking forward to touring Australia for the first time?

Mattew Clark (MC): Definitely. It’s one of those places that you hope you’ll be able to go to before you die. Added bonus is that we get to play music and not just vacation.
LMM: You’ve played a number of major festivals worldwide and you’re going to appear at both Falls and Southbound festivals in Australia – do you prefer playing festivals or intimate gigs?

MC: I would say we are a club band. We don’t like playing in sunlight too much. Festivals are just a different beast than what we are used to. Also, we tend to go on first when we play festivals. Which means you have to get up mad early, kid.

LMM: Speaking of venue gigs, you’re also playing shows in both Sydney and Melbourne – what can the uninitiated attendees expect at a White Rabbits gig?
Continue reading Interview: Matthew Clark of White Rabbits – First Australian Tour

Interview: Sam Clark – Broken

Sam Clark   Since Neighbours first aired on Australian television it’s almost been de rigueur for its stars to branch out and launch a singing career. It’s fair to say that the move has panned out better for some than others (Holly Valance anyone?). Sam Clark is the latest actor to step up to the plate. Elize Strydom (LMM) caught up with him a few days into a three month promotional tour from his new single ‘Broken’ and discovered this kid ain’t no one hit wonder.

Life Music Media: Where do I find you this afternoon?

Sam Clark: 662km from the city..city..of…thhh…Sydney. Ah, I can’t even speak! I’ve been driving for too long already.

LMM: You have a relentless schedule ahead of you for the next three months. How are you going to handle it?

SC: I’ll just have to man up and deal with it! It’s all good fun. I get to play my music. I’m releasing my first single so it’s exciting. I just have to look at all the positives and the workload is something that has to happen.

LMM: You’re no stranger to hard work. Tell me the difference between the average day on the set of Neighbours and the average day as Sam Clark the rock star?
Continue reading Interview: Sam Clark – Broken

Interview with Geoff Corbett of SixFtHick (Six Ft Hick)

Interview: Bek Grealy
Photo by Matt Palmer

SixFtHickGeoff Corbett (GC) talks SixFtHick with our Bek Grealy

LMM: You guys formed in 1995 in the name of SixFtHick, where did the name originate?

GC: We had on the back of my song book probably about 50 names and unfortunately SixFtHick was chosen from these names to be the band name. I am sure there are better names out there, but I think other bands have them, so that’s where the problem is, you know?

LMM: 14 years on from the beginning of SixFtHick, which is a mighty fine effort, when you first started in playing, did you just get out there and you were taken on board and loved by the viewers, or did you have to work hard for your fan base?

GC: In Brisbane when we first started, we were pretty much hated, and that was actually expected because we pretty much sucked. I don’t think we were any good until probably 2 years when we found our feet. But I mean that can be said for a lot of bands starting out.
Continue reading Interview with Geoff Corbett of SixFtHick (Six Ft Hick)

Interview with Ball Park Music

Interview: Bek Grealy
Photo: Elize Strydom
Ball Park MusicI battled the crowds of the Valley Fiesta to round up the band members of “Ball Park Music” (BPM), who were supporting their friends “Hungry Kids of Hungary”. On our way down to the interview, the band was stopped by various fans requesting a copy of their CD! Whilst juggling with some of their instruments, they managed to appease their fans by almost giving them away for $5.

LMM: What’s happening in the live gig scene at the moment, have you got any recent records you have been promoting around the country?

BPM: Lately we’ve just been playing around Brisbane at the good ol venues that we love, the Troubadour and the Globe and the Troubadour, and did we mention the Troubadour?
Continue reading Interview with Ball Park Music

Interview with The Black Ryder’s Scott Von Ryper

Interview: Bek Grealy
Black Ryder‘Buy the Ticket, take the Ride’ The Black Ryder‘s Scott Von Ryper (SVR) talks with Bek Grealy (BG)
The Black Ryder album ‘Buy the Ticket, Take the Ride’ out on ‘The Anti Machine Machine’ and EMI, November 2009

BG: How’s the live music scene working out for you at the moment? Had any recent gigs?

SVR: No we haven’t actually, we have a show coming up in Melbourne in mid November, and we had an exhibition in Sydney at the Monster Children Gallery, with a pre album listening party and the photos shown were taken from our video clip shoot. It gave the attendees a chance to listen to the sounds before the album is launched.

BG: Did any of the content, or ideas come from the previous band you both worked together in, “The Morning After Girls” to establish The Black Ryder?

SVR: No, I don’t think so, the bands are very different musically, and Aimee and I joined The Morning After Girls a little later on, so they already had a pretty clear direction. Whereas the Black Ryder, we are the creators, we write the music and we record it.
Continue reading Interview with The Black Ryder’s Scott Von Ryper

Interview with Michael Amott of Arch Enemy – Root of All Evil Tour, November 2009

Arch EnemyMichael Amott (MA) of Arch Enemy talks with our Hannah Collins (HC) – Root of All Evil Tour, November 2009.

HC: So let’s get right into it shall we?
The Root of All Evil, I had a listen to the pre-release, and it’s a great compilation album. Why did you guys decide to take songs from the first three albums, Black Earth, Stigmata and Burning Bridges to re-vamp rather than creating new material for the latest release?

MA: Um well, putting it in perspective, the original idea came from the fans really, because the first three records that we made, the ones you just mentioned, were done with another singer. We had another bass player on two of them, so we didn’t have a stable line up on those first three albums, and it was a very different styled singer. But then Angela Joined for the fourth Album and with Sharlee on base and Daniel on drums, it was just a solid thing with me and by brother on Guitars and we started talking heavily about the fourth album, and that line up’s now how people know us. Over the years we talked and released our albums, and you know, well, this is the definitive line up of Arch Enemy, that we have right now, and the very early Albums have kind of dated into obscurity basically.
Continue reading Interview with Michael Amott of Arch Enemy – Root of All Evil Tour, November 2009

Interview: Philadelphia Grand Jury’s Simon Berkfinger talks to Kim on all things Philly Jays – 14 September 2009

Kim from LifeMusicMedia (LMM) talks to Simon Berkfinger from Philadelphia Grand Jury – Monday 14 September 2009.
philadelphiagrandjuryLMM – Hi Simon, I’m just looking at your tour schedule for the next few months, supporting Grinspoon as well as touring for your new cd “Hope is for Hopers” – you’ve got a lot coming up, are you looking forward to all the travelling?

SimonWell, it’s not really travelling, it’s more like – well you know the drill, running from town to town, sleeping in a bed for four hours and then getting up and going to the next town, but yeah I enjoy it. I like touring more than staying at home and twiddling my thumbs.

LMM – The tour is for your latest release CD, can you tell me a bit about the album?
SimonWell, what do you want to know?
Continue reading Interview: Philadelphia Grand Jury’s Simon Berkfinger talks to Kim on all things Philly Jays – 14 September 2009

Interview: Brodie Ann-Wright of Felinedown – uncharTED Live

Interview: Brodie Ann-Wright of FelinedownuncharTED Live
Author: Denis Semchenko

Felinedown
[Photo: Mark Greenmantle]

uncharTED

  Q: How did Felinedown’s involvement in uncharTED begin?

Brodie-Ann: Firstly, we uploaded some songs and that’s how it started – I think we made it into the Top 30 just after putting our songs up, and we were a really new band, so we were very excited. Also, when they were looking for bands for Live & Local, we were really keen to be involved and play among other really good local acts in front of a fresh audience – people who’ve never seen us play before.

Q: How did Felinedown meet and form?

B-A: I had a few songs written with my writing partner Kit [Sivyer, Felinedown’s ex-bassist], and before that I was in theatre and burlesque. We got Glen [Gattenhof], the guitarist,

Continue reading Interview: Brodie Ann-Wright of Felinedown – uncharTED Live

Interview: Tex Perkins on Sounds of Spring, Album and Film Scores

Interview: Bek Grealy

Tex PerkinsThe Sounds of Spring line-up reads like a who’s who of Australian music. Tex Perkins is prominent and takes time out to chat to us about the festival, his album and writing film scores.

Bek – Have you checked out the final line up for Sounds of Spring? Are you looking forward to playing alongside some really great bands?
TexNo I don’t know who’s on the line up. Who is??

Bek – Shihad, The Panics, Tim Rogers, The Living End, Josh Pyke and Clare Bowditch – just to name a few – Sounds of Spring looks set to be a massive day, really impressive?
TexYes some of those are my very good friends, so I am really happy to hear that. I’d love to go and watch them when time permits. Yeh fantastic line up.

Continue reading Interview: Tex Perkins on Sounds of Spring, Album and Film Scores