Category Archives: Interview

Interview: Hot Little Hands lead singer Tim Harvey chats with Elize Strydom about touring, singing Japanese…

Hot Little Hands   Interview: Elize Strydom

Hot Little Hands are hard to pigeon-hole, much to lead singer Tim Harvey’s delight. Take a little old soul, a generous helping of electro, four part harmonies and you’ve got…concrete/jungle/samba? Well, they are the genres the band checks on their Myspace page, anyway. Perhaps you’ll just have to see ‘em live and draw your own conclusions.

Life Music Media (LMM): You’re fresh from a tour of New Zealand. How did it go?

Tim Harvey (TH): It was amazing. I wasn’t expecting to enjoy it so much. The countryside is mind blowing and the people are gorgeous and so friendly. We played about seven shows. We were kind of freaked out because the first night we got there we played a party and the band that went on before us, when they finished a song, nothing would happen, no one would clap. It was really weird! But when we got on the claps started filtering through.
Continue reading Interview: Hot Little Hands lead singer Tim Harvey chats with Elize Strydom about touring, singing Japanese… →

Artist, Interview, Music

Interview: Lost Valentinos’ lead singer Nik Yiannikas on all things ‘Conquistadisco’

Lost Valentinos   You’ve just come back from a European tour, what cities did you go to? Any interesting stories?

Barcelona, Brussels, Paris, London, Manchester, Brighton.
On our way to Barcelona we missed our flight due to a massive TM (tour manager) fail. Ironically she was the only one who had slept the night before. However, just when it looked like our Barcelonan dreams would be snatched away from us,

we found the world’s most expensive flights on the world’s worst airline and made it to our show where we towered over 2,500 crazy Spaniards.
Continue reading Interview: Lost Valentinos’ lead singer Nik Yiannikas on all things ‘Conquistadisco’ →

Artist, Interview, Music

Interview with singer songwriter Clare Bowditch

Interview: Elize Strydom

Clare BowditchThe girl can’t help it. She’s surprised and excited and confused. She’s asking questions, making plans and speaking out. Clare Bowditch is just being Clare Bowditch.

Elize Strydom catches the fire.

“I really love the idea of his stories living on. It’s great to be able to do a tribute with someone who is very much alive and there! You see what’s happening in the culture at the moment with Michael Jackson – I think that’s too late to celebrate someone. My theory is if you love someone, do your best to celebrate them while they’re alive and can enjoy it.”

Clare Bowditch is talking about legendary Indigenous singer/songwriter/storyteller Kev Carmody. And she wants you to know about it. On August 1st Bowditch will take to the stage with a swag of other artists including Paul Kelly, Missy Higgins, John Butler, Bernard Fanning and the Drones for Cannot Buy My Soul – a tribute to Carmody and the culmination of the Queensland Music Festival.

Continue reading Interview with singer songwriter Clare Bowditch →

Artist, Interview, Music

Interview: KRAM – Making Music and Loving It!

KRAMTell us how Kram came about?

KRAM: Mark spelt backwards invented by an old mate while we watching a Leyland Brothers movie in the local hall.

What have been the highlights and advantages since becoming a solo artist?

KRAM: It’s very liberating to make a record where you play all the instruments yourself, like a massive bedroom 4-track session. I enjoyed doing that with Andy, recording everything! I will definitely make more records like that in the future. If you have the idea in your head, you can just go in and play it without having to think about the live thing at all.

… and how does this compare to Spiderbait?
Continue reading Interview: KRAM – Making Music and Loving It! →

Artist, Interview, Music

Interview: Foxx On Fire – uncharTED top 3 finalist

Interview: Foxx On Fire – uncharTED top 3 finalist
Author: Elize Strydom

Foxx On Fire   Q. ‘They’ say that you already have the look, the tunes and the energy …that you’re a “…big label A&R’s wet dream”. How will uncharTED help you?

Foxx On Fire: Well hopefully it will bring more attention to the band, putting Foxx on Fire into the minds of these A&R types. Then hopefully they will see us and have that wet dream… then sign us.

Continue reading Interview: Foxx On Fire – uncharTED top 3 finalist →

Artist, Interview, Music

Interview: Hot Little Hands – uncharTED top 3 finalist

Interview: Hot Little Hands – uncharTED top 3 finalist
Author: Elize Strydom

Hot Little Hands   Q. Now hang on a minute, I’ve heard of your tunes on the radio, you’ve already released an album and you’re touring around the country…don’t you want to give some poor, struggling band a chance?

Hot Little Hands: It’s Splendour! If we play it then we can die as happy campers! … Not that we’ll ever die…

Continue reading Interview: Hot Little Hands – uncharTED top 3 finalist →

Artist, Interview, Music

Interview: The Deer Republic – uncharTED top 3 finalist

Interview: THE DEER REPUBLIC – uncharTED top 3 finalist
Author: Elize Strydom

The Deer Republic   Q: Sooo many bands and solo artists entered this competition. Why do you think your music stood out?

Deer Republic: In order to catch fish you need hooks. Once you have the hooks you need fish, luckily enough for us our friends can swim.

Continue reading Interview: The Deer Republic – uncharTED top 3 finalist →

Artist, Interview, Music

Interview: Josh Pyke speaks with Elize Strydom about Splendour, touring and studio/producer aspirations [SITG]

Interview by: Elize Strydom
Josh PykeHe’s spent the last two months traipsing from the top of the country to the bottom but Josh Pyke is hungry for more. Charmingly unaware of the affect his music has had on her and hoards of others, Mr Pyke tells Elize Strydom about what’s coming up.

When the Aussie troubadour rides into Byron Bay for Splendour In The Grass next month he’ll be on familiar turf. Pyke may struggle to resist the urge to buy a carton of Tooheys New and head down to the beach front to skull ten beers. You see, he’s quite familiar with the place, our Josh. He celebrated the completion of 13 years of schooling here with a bunch of mates. Each year the guys regroup, rent a house and relive old times. Expect a laid-back, sun-drenched Pyke in holiday mode come July 25th, but don’t show up for his set if all you wanna do is chill.

“I’ve played Splendour twice before and it has a whole different vibe. I can play more upbeat songs which work for a big audience, that’s really fun. There’s less pressure. I get to rock up, have an hour to play my set and the crowd’s already there. It’s also cool to see all the other bands and catch up with friends. “
Continue reading Interview: Josh Pyke speaks with Elize Strydom about Splendour, touring and studio/producer aspirations [SITG] →

Artist, Concert, Festival, Interview, Music

Interview: Little Birdy – This is the year!

Interview by Elize Strydom
Photo by Tony Mott
Little Birdy - photo by Tony Mott It’s the album Little Birdy have always wanted to make. So what do you do when all your dreams have come true? Bass player Scott ‘Barney’ O’Donoghue tells Elize Strydom he’s happy to relish the moment. For now.

If at first you don’t succeed, try and try again. Not that Little Birdy’s first two long players – the top-five dazzler Hollywood and acclaimed debut Big Big Love – could ever come close to being called failures. But on their shiny new record Confetti they’ve well and truly nailed it. By now you would have heard the unofficial single – and clear festival fave – Brother and the single proper, Summarize.
Continue reading Interview: Little Birdy – This is the year! →

Artist, Concert, Interview, Music

Interview with Fredrik Saroea – Datarock

Interview by Stuart Blythe
datarock-smlWe caught up with Fredrik Saroea, lead singer of Norwegian punk funk band DataRock ahead of their Australian tour.

LMM: Your tour is in support of your latest release cd, can you tell us a little about the album?

Fredrik Saroea: The album is the best to happen mankind since the C64 and the international means to get through the financial recession.
 
LMM: How would you compare the album to your previous recordings?

Fredrik Saroea: It’s just the same, but better in all ways.
 
LMM: The “Give It Up” video looks like a lot of fun, how did that come about?

Fredrik Saroea: It came to us on a drunken evening but took a hell of a lot of work to make into a video. You won’t believe how many people were involved. And it’s filmed on location at the middle of the night, mid winters in freezing minus degrees. Even the stupid ass dancing became quite a challenge. And we’re doing this in front of a very serious choreographer surrounded by professional Swedish dancers and a big ass film crew. Next time we wanna pay tribute to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”, “Beat It” & “Bad”, Toto’s “Rosanna”, Coppola’s “Rumble Fish”, Broadway’s musicals, “West Side Story” from ’61 and Romeo & Juliette, please stop us!
Continue reading Interview with Fredrik Saroea – Datarock →

Artist, Brisbane, Interview, Music

Interview: Judith Lucy’s Not Getting Any Younger

judithlucy-smallJudith Lucy‘s Not Getting Any Younger
interview by Lisa Lamb.

Judith Lucy is one of Australia’s most popular comedians and one of few Australian comics to be invited to the Just For Laughs Montreal Comedy Festival, twice. In 2009 she celebrates twenty years in comedy with her new show Judith’s Not Getting Any Younger.

Judith, you’re a single successful independent girl, is it time those men started battering down your door?
Continue reading Interview: Judith Lucy’s Not Getting Any Younger →

Artist, Comedy, Interview

Interview with Tim Minchin

tim-minchen-lisa1Tim Minchin is a comedian, actor, composer, songwriter, pianist, musical director and a self confessed Rock n Roll Nerd. He has sold out gigs at the Sydney Opera House, won awards at every major comedy festival including the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, Just for Laughs Festival- Montreal and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival where he won the Perrier Award for Best Newcomer in 2005.

I was fortunate to meet him in Melbourne in 2007 when we performed at the Late Night Cabaret. Tim says we have a history, am not sure what that means, but am happy to interview him for his new Brisbane Comedy Festival show.- Lisa Lamb

When did you stop wearing shoes on stage?
Well I wore bare feet to uni because I was a bit of a hippie, then started doing comedy gigs at The Butterfly Club in Melbourne. I’d have a list of songs and things to talk about taped to my piano, have three glasses of wine, then take my shoes off to relax. So now I’m in the habit of not wearing them. When I do corperate gigs and wear shoes, it becomes a completely different show, much less relaxed. So much of comedy is about status, the piano is high status and wearing no shoes offsets that, making it low status. Which is good for comedy.
Continue reading Interview with Tim Minchin →

Brisbane, Interview, news

Life is for Living – Elize Strydom catches up with Scott Owen from The Living End

Interview: Elize Strydom

The Living End living end

The Living End has never been busier – and that’s the way they like it. National tour? No problem. European jaunt? Bring it on. An album of demos and rarities? Absolutely.
 
This time last year the Melbourne three-piece was preparing to unleash their fifth studio album, White Noise. It came after a period of uncertainty that threatened to put an end to things. After a brief hiatus Chris Cheney, Scott Owen and Andy Stachan resolved to pick up the tools and get the ball rolling. Scott says after a shaky start, the pieces started to fit.
 
“There was a very distinct moment when things started happening and the tunes were getting us pretty excited. And it did sort of feel like a bit of a comeback. That break had given us time to think about how we felt about the band. It put everything into perspective so when things started happening and songs started coming together there was a pretty amazing confidence in the band. We did put pressure on ourselves. We did say we’re not going to bother making another album unless it’s a bloody good one. We’re not going to settle for second best, we wanna make sure if we’re going to do something it’s gonna be something that will make all three of us really happy. And when we started doing that all the fear and the pressure fell away and everything started going really well again. And I think it shows on the record. The response to the record has been great which has really boosted our confidence.”
  Continue reading Life is for Living – Elize Strydom catches up with Scott Owen from The Living End →

Artist, Interview, Music

Who Killed Amanda Palmer? An Interview with the Queen of Punk Cabaret

by Lisa Lamb
amanda palmer - photo by Lenka Sindelarova

[Related: Amanda Palmer @ The Tivoli, 1 March 2009 : Photo Gallery]

Amanda Palmer embarked on a rock star journey from the age of four when her mother sat her on her lap and taught her to play piano by ear. With no formal musical training and a strong interest in drama, she explored dark cabaret, gothic burlesque and surreal musical theatre as the lead singer of The Dresden Dolls. Then embarked on a solo album, Who Killed Amanda Palmer, which pays homage to David Lynch (Twin Peaks) from a girl who doesn’t watch TV. She is a walking contradiction, part truth, part fiction and always entertaining. Her shows are not so much gigs as an experience and once the audience have the “experience” they are happy to spread the word.
 
 
Lisa: Amanda, you originally started out busking, doing street theatre and performing as a live statue, how did you start busking and has this influenced your later work?
Continue reading Who Killed Amanda Palmer? An Interview with the Queen of Punk Cabaret →

Artist, Brisbane, Concert, Interview, Music

Simon Neil of Biffy Clyro says it’s “All or Nothing” ahead of their Australian Tour in March 2009

Interview by: Stuart Blythe

biffy-i-image1Simon Neil of Biffy Clyro informs Stuart Blythe that it’s “All or Nothing” ahead of their Australian Tour in March 2009

Stuart: Hey guys, great to see you back touring Australia. This is your second visit here, do you have any “stand out” memories from last years Australian tour?

Simon: All the shows last time were a ton of fun. we couldn’t believe how much people knew our records and everyone knows how to have a killer evening. one of the venues flooded on the day of the gig which was bizarre but apart from soggy, crinkled feet it all ran pretty smoothly.
Continue reading Simon Neil of Biffy Clyro says it’s “All or Nothing” ahead of their Australian Tour in March 2009 →

Artist, Interview, Music, Stuart Blythe