Category Archives: Stuart Blythe

Interview with Andrew Levy – The Brand New Heavies

Interview: Stuart Blythe
Legendary British soul funk pioneers The Brand New Heavies return to Australia this September *2012*, playing intimate venues in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. The Brand New Heavies’ bassist Andrew Levy chats to LifeMusicMedia.com

 
 
LMM: Hi Andrew, you’ll be performing in Australia this September. What can we expect from your shows?

Andrew: Australia can expect a High Gloss performances from the funk/soul band that delivers like a rock band. A taste of some new material too…. Don’t worry all the hits you know and love will be on the set list as usual!
 
 
LMM: Do you have any special memories of past Australian visits?
Continue reading Interview with Andrew Levy – The Brand New Heavies →

Interview, Stuart Blythe

Interview with MIA DYSON

Interview by Stuart Blythe
After three years in the US, Mia Dyson returns to Australia with her new album “The Moment”. We caught up with Mia as she prepares to kick off her national tour.


LMM: You’ve spent the last few years in the US, how was that experience?

MIA: It was everything from exhilarating, inspiring, adventurous, to lonely, scary, challenging. I have done a lot of growing up having been away from my comfortable, familiar Australian life.
 
 
LMM: For the uninitiated, how do you describe your sound/music?

MIA: Rock and roll, bit bluesy bit country sometimes, bit soul— a very concise description!
 
 
LMM: I understand a fan funding campaign help get your new album “The Moment” up an running?
Continue reading Interview with MIA DYSON →

Interview, Stuart Blythe

Live Review: SLASH @ Brisbane Riverstage – 23 August 2012

Thursday night saw the return of SLASH to our shores as he kicked off his Apocalyptic Love Australian tour.

Leading the way on stage, charismatic Myles Kennedy greets the Brisbane audience closely followed by SLASH ringing out the first notes of ‘Halo’. ‘Nightrain’ and ‘Ghost’ follow and the nights direction is set firmly on a collision course with pure rock & roll… and the crowd’s loving it!

For fans wanting an onslaulght of riffage, SLASH was more than happy to oblige with standout moments throughout the entire set but special mention to’ Slither’, Godfather Theme and ‘Paradise City’.

Bassist Todd Kerns was also given center stage to expose his vocal skills and quickly riles up the crowd with a explosive and frenzied ‘Doctor Alibi’ and ‘You’re Crazy’, kicking the crowd into top gear.

But it’s Myles Kennedy; who has proved to be a valuable band member over the years, his vocal talents and showmanship complimenting SLASH perfectly; that keeps the Slash swagger and groove on course, delivering a stellar performance.

Finishing off the night with crowd favourite ‘Paradise City’, a shirtless SLASH gave the crowd his best Chuck Berry duckwalk, coupled with yet another display of his guitar prowess. And Myles made more than a few punters happy by jumping into the pit, getting up close and personal with some eager fans.

Slash is firmly cemented in the book of guitar legends and given his performance at Brisbane Riverstage on Thursday night he will continue to be high on our radars for many a year to come.

Artist: SLASH
Venue: Brisbane Riverstage
Date: 23 August 2012

Click here to see all the photos from the night!

Setlist
Halo
Nightrain
Ghost
Standing in the Sun
Mr. Brownstone
Back From Cali
Beggars & Hangers-On
Rocket Queen
Not for Me
Doctor Alibi
You’re Crazy
Crazy Life
No More Heroes
Starlight
Guitar Solo / Godfather Theme
Anastasia
Sweet Child O’ Mine
You’re a Lie
Slither

Encore:
By the Sword
Paradise City

Brisbane, Live Review, Review, Stuart Blythe

Interview: Mat. McHugh – The Beautiful Girls

Interview by Stuart Blythe
Currently on his “An Evening With The Beautiful Girls” ten-year anniversary tour, Mat. McHugh took time out with Life Music Media.

LMM: You’re currently on your “An Evening With The Beautiful Girls” ten-year anniversary tour.
How’s the tour been so far?

Mat. McHugh: It’s been ok. 3 shows in. I’ve been trying to get my head back in the game. I haven’t played TBG songs for a little while so it’s all about getting the groove back at the moment.
 
 
LMM: It’s the ten-year anniversary tour but also a farewell to The Beautiful Girls moniker and stepping out as Mat. McHugh. Frightening or natural artistic progression?
Continue reading Interview: Mat. McHugh – The Beautiful Girls →

Interview, Stuart Blythe

Interview with Red Revolver ahead of the 4 Walls Festival

LMM: Tell us a little about Red Revolver?

Red Revolver is a young Rock n Roll trio from Brisbane. Our sound is a mixture of many styles and has been described as ‘controlled chaos’. Red Revolver was started with a desire to get people dancing again, which makes our shows fun and energetic.
 
 
LMM: How would you describe your music?
Continue reading Interview with Red Revolver ahead of the 4 Walls Festival →

Interview, Quickies, Stuart Blythe

Interview with The Vernons ahead of the 4 Walls Festival

LMM: Tell us a little about The Vernons?

The Vernons officially formed in May 2011 with 3 members (Jonny, Andrew, James) from the Gold Coast, and one from Brisbane (Elliot). Jonny Nyst (Lead Singer) had been playing acoustic originals for a few years around the Gold Coast area, and the other members of the band came from playing covers gigs on the Gold Coast for our friends. When an opportunity came for Jonny to play an originals gig with a band, we all leapt at the chance, and The Vernons were born. Since then, we have been slowly picking up momentum, playing shows in Brisbane, Gold Coast, Byron Bay, and just recently Sydney.
 
 
LMM: How would you describe your music?
Continue reading Interview with The Vernons ahead of the 4 Walls Festival →

Interview, Quickies, Stuart Blythe

Interview with Bandito Folk ahead of the 4 Walls Festival

Bandito Folk chat with Life Music Media ahead of the 4 Walls Festival.


LMM: Tell us a little about Bandito Folk?

We have been togther for about 18 months, we all met doing music at QUT. Also we have taken Samba Dance Classes together for 15 of those months, which has helped us bond and become good mates. We have recently finished tracking our debut EP which is currently being mixed, this should be available in a few months. We have played at Brisbane Festival Speigletent in 2011, and will be again in 2012. In the last 12 months we have played at Zoo, Powerhouse and Black Bear Lodge, we are looking to do a tour to launch our upcoming EP around Nov-Dec 2012. You can check out our music through Facebook, Youtube and Triple J Unearthed.
 
 
LMM: How would you describe your music?

Epic Indie Folk
 
 
LMM: You’re playing at the 4 Walls Festival in August, are you looking forward to that?
Continue reading Interview with Bandito Folk ahead of the 4 Walls Festival →

Interview, Quickies, Stuart Blythe

Interview with Logan Bell – Katchafire

Katchafire lead vocalist Logan Bell takes time out with Life Music Media.

LMM: You’ve just completed a massive headline tour of the USA, playing quite a few iconic venues. How was that experience?

Logan Bell: The boys have been touring the USA quite hard for the last 7 years, and it has exploded, reggae scene in the USA is huge, our sound has been excepted among Americans and it’s really started to be noticed. We have sold out iconic venues such as The House Of Blues, headlined festivals like the Orange County Fair, and Sierra Nevada festival… All really big shows and amazing experiences!
 
 
LMM: I understand that a documentary is in the making?
Continue reading Interview with Logan Bell – Katchafire →

Interview, Stuart Blythe

Interview: Blu Avenue

Interview by Stuart Blythe
LMM: You’ve recently released your debut album “Sounds From The Escape”
Can you tell us about the song-writing and recording process?

Blu Avenue: We wanted Sounds from the Escape to try and be cohesive and yet have each song tell their own story. The songs themselves were all created at different times and we allowed each one time to evolve into what they became on the album. We gave them a taste of being played live as well as practicing them to get the songs to what they became. Honestly, some of them are still evolving even after recording them!

For us, as far as actually recording the songs, we wanted the sound of the album to emulate how we sound live as much as we could. We wanted the listener to hear our music and to see us live and be able to enjoy the music because it sounds like the album. So with that we set out to keep the sound as organic as possible. We really feel the album is a true representation of our live sound which is what we set out to do!
 
 
LMM: Your first single “Skydown” is getting rotation. For the uninitiated, how do you describe your sound

Blu Avenue: It is really hard for us to put a label on our sound. When you think of a certain genre tag you have an assumption of it will sound like. We love dynamics in our music and having the songs tell stories. For the new fans we normally say we are a progressive band but even then it’s hard for us to call it that! Our songs take different paths dependent on where each song takes us.
Continue reading Interview: Blu Avenue →

Interview, Stuart Blythe

Interview: Penny Hewson – Penny Hewson

Interview by Stuart Blythe
LMM: You’ve recently returned to Australia after 10 years in the USA.
How was the USA experience and what prompted your return to Australia?

Penny Hewson: I’d spent quite a bit of time traveling around the USA with my past bands prior to moving there, and although Los Angeles wasn’t necessarily at the top of my list of places I wanted to live I was able to create my own niche in amongst it all. I initially went over because I was offered a great job at the beginning of the dot-com boom to help musicians figure out how to navigate their way through the internet to connect with their fans and to empower bands to be a bit more DIY, etc. So it was a great opportunity for me to do something I was passionate about, one thing led to another, I made great friends, got into the buzz of life in a big city and all of a sudden a decade zoomed by. I was always going to be coming home to Australia, I just caught up in daily life over there and guess I was waiting for things to slow down. But LA never slows down! Ultimately I was really wanting to make this solo album but I just wasn’t in the right place to do it. I had to come home to Melbourne to find a certain “quietude” in order for it to happen.
 
 
LMM: You’re about to release your second solo album “It’s An Endless Desire”
How was the recording process and working with producer Phil Butson (Sea Stories)?
Continue reading Interview: Penny Hewson – Penny Hewson →

Interview, Stuart Blythe

Interview: Chris Hetherington – The Slow Push

The Slow Push are launching their 2nd album “Misshapen Giants” at Beetle Bar, Brisbane on 8 June 2012 (Click here).

Lead man Chris Hetherington of The Slow Push takes time out with Life Music Media…

:: What track changed your life ::
Through Being Cool by Devo.

:: What is your favourite Album ::
It changes with the seasons. I’m currently into Wild Flag by Wild Flag.

:: Name a band or artist we should checkout ::
Tiger Beams.

:: Favourite Quote ::
“When angry, count to four; when very angry, swear.”– Mark Twain.
Continue reading Interview: Chris Hetherington – The Slow Push →

Interview, Stuart Blythe

Interview: Thomas Oliver – The Thomas Oliver Band

Interview by Life Music Media

Ahead of their debut Australian headline shows The Thomas Oliver Band lead man Thomas Oliver takes time out with Life Music Media…

:: What track changed your life ::
Pleasure & Pain by Ben Harper, because it made me buy a lap-slide guitar.
 
 
:: What is your favourite Album ::
I can never decide between Dave Matthews Band : The Central Park Concert, and NOFX : So Long And Thanks For All The Shoes.

:: Favourite Quote ::
“Perfection is a quest, not a destination.”

:: When on tour, you can’t live without ::
My skateboard. There’s always something to do in fast food and supermarket carparks.
Continue reading Interview: Thomas Oliver – The Thomas Oliver Band →

Interview, Stuart Blythe

Interview: Carly Dickenson – Vocalist / Producer / Electronic Artist

Interview by Life Music Media
Carly Dickenson is launching her debut EP ‘Still Life’ at Black Bear Lodge, Brisbane on May 16 2012. Life Music Media invites you to Take Five with… Carly Dickenson
 
 


:: What track changed your life ::
Roads by Portishead. It’s part of what inspired me to focus on vocal driven trip hop.

:: What is your favourite Album ::
Faithless Outrospective

:: Name a band or artist we should checkout ::
Imogen Heap

:: Favourite Quote ::
I am always better than I think and stronger than I believe
Continue reading Interview: Carly Dickenson – Vocalist / Producer / Electronic Artist →

Interview, Stuart Blythe