Category Archives: news

Interview with Leo Sayer

Interview by Stuart Blythe
Photo Credit Maria de Vera

Leo Sayer @ Beats 4 Breast Cancer

Firstly, congratulations on the release of your new album – Restless Years.
This is your first album in six years. How was the recording process, the people involved and seeing the release of the album?

Oh, well I met Mitch Cairns, Danny Spencer and Johnny Salerno on the Good Times tour last year. They were the backing band and I loved their feel so I asked them to be my studio band. Bill Risby already was my keyboard player, and was on the tour as well, so together they became the recording band. I already had demos I’d made of all the songs so we got together at Mitch’s studio in Melbourne after the tour last winter and put the basic album together. Then we did overdubs there and vocals and backing vocals at my own studio in Sydney. It was a pretty painless operation really (one of the easiest albums I’ve ever recorded) thanks to the talent of all the great singers and musicians I was working with. Now these guys are my live band too.
Continue reading Interview with Leo Sayer

You Me At Six – Australian Tour 2015 – Local Support Announced (Perth)

YouMeAtSix

** Update **
AVASTERA are a unique and diverse band from Perth who have quickly landed stepping stones of distinct accomplishments and successes very early on in their career. To simply narrow them down and label them to one specific genre would not justify their unique sound, an interesting yet catchy blend of Alternative Rock, Pop-punk, Melodic Prog Metal, Contemporary Pop. Due to their well-crafted sound and consistent drive to take things to the next level, things can only get bigger from here for AVASTERA.

Catch them supporting YOU ME AT SIX in Perth!
Continue reading You Me At Six – Australian Tour 2015 – Local Support Announced (Perth)

Live Review : Zac Brown Band at Hordern Pavilion, Sydney – April 1, 2015

Review by David Jackson – sbj.rocks

Zac Brown Band at Hordern Pavilion, Sydney - Australia

Zac Brown put his “Toes in the water” in Sydney on Wednesday night at the Hordern Pavilion Sydney April 1st 2015.

Wednesday night, April fool’s day for some, serious business for others. Sydney was longing to be reacquainted with Zac Brown and his band. Touring Australia for the second time in two years, how the fan base has grown from 2013 when he was last here. With a swag of awards, music sales exceeding 7 million and a “greatest hits” album under their belt, the Hordern was about to have its roof raised off.
Continue reading Live Review : Zac Brown Band at Hordern Pavilion, Sydney – April 1, 2015

Live Review : Bluesfest Byron Bay 2015 – Day 3

Bluesfest Byron Bay 2015 – Day 3

Bluesfest Day 3

By Wanda Hill

The rain came down as spirits soared lifted by music unfazed by the weather or mud underfoot. Day three was a bit wet but who really cares when your safe and dry listening to The Gypsy Kings surrounded by warm bodies all captivated by sounds that make you feel like you’re thousands of miles away in the warm Spanish countryside having a religious experience. Being transported by Spanish Romini elder Nicholas Reyes’s vocals in combination with the magical flamenco guitar of Tonino Baliardo, supported by younger cousins on vocals and guitars is a cultural experience everyone should have in this lifetime.
Continue reading Live Review : Bluesfest Byron Bay 2015 – Day 3

Live Review : Bluesfest Byron Bay 2015 – Day 1

Bluesfest2015

Bluesfest 2015 Day 1

Review by Wanda Hill

It’s that time of year again when thousands of music lovers make their way to Arakwal Country in the Byron Shire for the annual Easter celebration of all things blues, roots and beyond. It is such a lovely feeling to walk onto the extremely well prepared festival site knowing that there are five days of incredible artists from around the world to be enjoyed amidst a friendly crowd and delicious food.
Continue reading Live Review : Bluesfest Byron Bay 2015 – Day 1

KISS Announce October 2015 Australian Tour! ** NEW SHOW ADDED **

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Australia – are you ready?

Ready for one of THE greatest bands in rock’n’roll history with one of THE most spectacular shows Australia will see this year?

Ready for a stage production called ‘The Spider’, moved by 38 computer controlled winches, featuring 220 automated lights, weighing in at 43,000 kgs, incorporating 900 pieces of pyrotechnics and powered by 400,000 watts of sound?
Continue reading KISS Announce October 2015 Australian Tour! ** NEW SHOW ADDED **

360 Debuts “Early Warning” Acoustic Video ft. Chris Cheney ahead of the RETOPIA Tour

360

360 has been busy in the studio writing and recording new material in Sydney over the last couple of weeks.

Chris Cheney from The Living End joined 360 in the studio just hours after touching down from LA to collaborate on a new track “Early Warning,” their live acoustic performance showcasing a rarely seen side of 60 – raw, emotional and stripped back.
Continue reading 360 Debuts “Early Warning” Acoustic Video ft. Chris Cheney ahead of the RETOPIA Tour

Karnivool – The THEMATA DECADE Tour – May 2015 **More Shows Added**

Karnivool
10 years ago an unknown band from Perth, Western Australia pooled their very limited resources and questionable facial hair, and got to work on their debut album. Recorded in various spaces, in various ways, with a slightly varying line-up, they borrowed gear, they borrowed money, they borrowed space and they used some tunings that perhaps haven’t been heard again. The band were KARNIVOOL and the album that had so much blood, sweat, tears (and god knows what else) expended on it in those early hours was THEMATA.
Continue reading Karnivool – The THEMATA DECADE Tour – May 2015 **More Shows Added**

MASTODON – AUSTRALIAN TOUR – MARCH 2015 – SUPPORTS ANNOUNCED!

Mastodon Promo Image

TWELVE FOOT NINJA are one of Australia’s most innovative and experimental new bands.
Earlier this year, the band took home the prestigious “Best New Talent” award at the sixth annual Revolver Golden Gods Awards. They have just returned from a 30-date US tour supporting In This Moment. The debut single from Silent Machine, “Coming For You,” is currently impacting and reacting at radio now and has surpassed more than 1,000,000 YouTube views. See TWELVE FOOT NINJA perform their heavy fusion groves and soaring melodies as they open up the show in Melbourne.

BREAKING ORBIT are a captivating heavy progressive and alternative rock band from Sydney. Their music ebbs and flows through passages intricate and eclectic, melodic yet heavy, tribal but modern, atmospheric and at times brutal. It is an amalgamation of astonishing musicianship that often results in the listener being transported into an audio journey with the band. In 2013 they shared stages with Dead Letter Circus as their national main tour support, as well as headlining their own Australian tour for Silence Seekers – the second single from their debut album. See BREAKING ORBIT perform in Sydney as they open up the show.

Named for the prized possession of Rome’s infamous despot, CALIGULA’S HORSE is an emerging progressive alternative rock band from Brisbane, Australia. CALIGULA’S HORSE has toured with the likes of Voyager, Twelve Foot Ninja, Ne Obliviscaris, Sleepmakeswaves and continue to garner a strong fanbase in Australia. See their moving show as they support MASTODON in Brisbane.

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Heavy music is typically a battlefield upon which the uninitiated dare not tread, but MASTODON unifies the tribes unlike anyone else.

Album after album, MASTODON set the pace for modern heavy metal. They took pole position fresh out of Atlanta some 14 years ago, and with album number six, ‘Once More Round the Sun’, show no signs of giving it up. “MASTODON are obviously from another planet. Let’s just be happy they’re occupying ours for a while.” – Blabbermouth

The band is so balls-out creative — in its zealous riffage, its metaphysical motifs, its visual components — that it energizes even the crustiest headbangers. MASTODON fans have never witnessed a full headline tour in Australia before and finally the long agonising wait is over!

FRIDAY 27 MARCH 2015 – MELBOURNE, FESTIVAL HALL reduced mode – A/A with 18+ patrons having access to a licensed bar
www.ticketmaster.com.au

SATURDAY 28 MARCH 2015 – SYDNEY, BIG TOP LUNA PARK – Lic A/A
www.oztix.com.au / www.eventopia.co / www.bigtopsydney.com

SUNDAY 29 MARCH 2015 – BRISBANE, EATONS HILL HOTEL – Lic A/A
www.oztix.com.au / www.eventopia.co

Soundwave Touring – www.soundwavetouring.com

Cheech & Chong – Up In Smoke- The Greatest Hits Tour – June 2015

cheech chong
From outsider cult heroes to beloved counter- culture royalty, Cheech & Chong have blazed a smokey trail across four decades becoming one of the most loved and identifiable comedic duos of our time. Defining an era with their hilariously irreverent, no-holds-barred comedy, they released their all-time classic movie Up In Smoke in 1978, it became the most successful comedy movie of its time grossing in excess of 100 million dollars, cementing the loveable duo’s position as totems of alternative culture.
Continue reading Cheech & Chong – Up In Smoke- The Greatest Hits Tour – June 2015

Q&A with Ben Wood – Trinity Roots

trinity roots
After the successful Australian release of their single ‘Haiku’ in 2014 Trinity Roots are heading to Australia for a string of tour dates in support of their heavily anticipated third studio album. Drummer Ben Wood took time our for LifeMusicMedia…

:: What track changed your life ::

John Mclaughlin’s “Extrapolation” really pulled Jazz in to focus for me when I was about 19. My guitar teacher at the time was a big John Mclaughlin fan and he introduced me to this album but it was actually Tony Oxley’s drumming on this song/album that flipped my thinking about music at that point in my life and helped me to interpret other expressionists like Elvin Jones and Tony Williams.
Continue reading Q&A with Ben Wood – Trinity Roots

FRANK TURNER – Australia & New Zealand Tour – April 2015 ** Supports Confirmed **

frank turner
Supporting Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls this April, Jon Snodgrass (Drag The River) brings his raucous live set to stages nationally, with a sense of humour and ability to instantly engage an audience. For The Love of Punk declared, “his voice has a breathiness that lingers in the background, allowing him to create really tender moments and then surprise you when he really pushes his tone and achieves a mellow yet strong timbre.”

Some great local additions including Lincoln Le Fevre, Isaac Graham, Dan Cribb and Luke Carlino round out the bills. Details below…
Continue reading FRANK TURNER – Australia & New Zealand Tour – April 2015 ** Supports Confirmed **

Guttermouth 2015 Australian Tour – April 2015

CONTROVERSIAL PUNK VETERANS RETURN FOR ANOTHER TOUR

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In what has come as a shock (or maybe not because really, what else were they going to do), Californian punk rockers Guttermouth have announced a return to Australia in April and are hinting at releasing new material that will be exclusive to the tour.
Continue reading Guttermouth 2015 Australian Tour – April 2015

Live Review : Stephen Malkmus and The Jicks @ Melbourne Zoo Twilights – February 27, 2015

Review by Ben Connolly
stephen malkmus
There’s a somewhat delicious irony to the longevity of the slacker indie rock of Stephen Malkmus. First in the iconic 90s indie kings Pavement and now with his own band The Jicks, the slacker lo-fi ethos portrayed belies the studied industriousness of the bands, who combined are now well into their third decade in existence.
Continue reading Live Review : Stephen Malkmus and The Jicks @ Melbourne Zoo Twilights – February 27, 2015

Live Review : Soundwave Festival 2015 – Day 2 – Sydney

By Scott Singh
Fall Out Boy at Soundwave Festival 2015 - Sydney

After an explosive day 1, it was time for punters to prepare themselves with another offering of head banging, arm swinging, all round chaos that Soundwave always ensues. Remarkably the grounds were spotless as rejuvenated faces filled the area once more.
Continue reading Live Review : Soundwave Festival 2015 – Day 2 – Sydney