Category: Interviews

Posted on by Lauren Katulka

Q & A with Alanna Cherote

Sydney-based singer-songwriter Alanna Cherote has only just released her debut album Paper Flower, but she’s already threatening to take the world by storm. I caught up with her recently to take about the record, her North American touring plans, and what it was like to work with Ron Sexsmith.

You’ve just released your debut album Paper Flower. What can you tell me about it?

I wrote most of the Paper Flower album tracks before even looking to record the album. I always had very strong production ideas and vision about how it would all sound. I did most of the pre-production work on the songs with producer Nick Howard, and then recorded the album with Chris Vallejo at Linear Recording. It was such a wonderful studio to bring my songs to life – so much vintage gear. I was able to put my 60s/70s slant on the sound the way I had imagined.

It had an official launch at The Vanguard in Sydney on August 3, which is one of my favourite venues. What made you choose it for your big night?
The live show is about Intimacy and quirkiness, Rawness, being organic.

What do you love about being up on stage?
Bringing the songs to life, creating magical parts around the tunes, being in the company of such beautiful players in my band, and connecting with not only the audience but getting back in touch with that deep connection within myself. Sometimes it feels like an out of body experience.

When will fans around the rest of the country get a chance to see you live?
I’m touring Canada and the states in October/November and Australia throughout November/December/January.

Do you think we’d ever lose you to one of these international locations?
Distinctly possible! Based on touring and recording opportunities and connections in other countries.

Your current single “(Make Me Do) Anything You Want” is a cover of a song by Canadian band A Foot in Cold Water. What made you want to record it?
Discovering that band through the American producer I was working with in 2007 Lamar Lowder, and finding a connection with the song, I immediately thought I could create something quite special out of that song. I always had a thing for all the golden oldies. Turned out to be quite a good idea!

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Posted on by Lauren Katulka

Q & A with Grand Atlantic’s Phil Usher

Queensland band Grand Atlantic wowed us with their last album How We Survive, and they’re hoping to do it all again with their newie Constellations. I recently caught up with the band’s frontman Phil Usher to chat about the album, it’s unusual recording studio, and conquering the world.

You’re releasing your new album Constellations next month. What can you tell me about the album?
The album is a collection of 11 new songs that were written over the past year.  We actually had about 20 written that we were working on and slowly whittled them down to about 14 which then made it to the recording stage. We have a couple of others that need finishing at some stage which we’ll use for bonus tracks or B-sides. We traveled to Seacliff in New Zealand for the recording sessions.  The recording process was like nothing we have experienced before.  It was amazing to be able to be away from all distractions and concentrate on making music for a couple of weeks.

I believe you recorded it in an abandoned psychiatric hospital. How did that bizarre location come about?
We were talking to a few producers and we really liked the feedback Dale Cotton came back with after hearing the demos. He’s really into the idea of recording in unusual locations and suggested the old asylum. It had been converted into a backpackers and we decided to hire out the whole site to make the record. It gave us the opportunity to stay on site and concentrate on the recording in a way we haven’t been able to do before.  The Asylum is located in a little seaside town called Seacliff just outside of Dunedin with rolling hills, sea breezes and not much else.

I believe you saw and heard some really crazy things during the recording process. Can you tell me a little about that?
There were a lot of things that happened while we there that made an impression. We heard some strange voices on a few takes through our headphones when we had the doors to the old stable building open during a session. On another day we saw a heavy-duty microphone stand move as if it had been knocked by someone. Three of us saw it and no one was within a few metres of the stand. It moved at least a foot from side to side and was definitely locked into position. Mat says he heard his drums being played in the middle of the night and we also had a fire restart itself as well. It was quite a spooky environment, especially as we had done a bit of reading about the site before we arrived. Unfortunately many people passed away on the site during a huge fire, so it has quite a sad history. It felt good to be able to go there and do something positive in a place that has such a heavy past.

Did that experience make your reevaluate your position on ghosts or otherworldly phenomena?
I guess it’s different for all of us. We were pretty well focused on making the album, so it was an interesting aspect of our time there, although there wasn’t really time for chasing ghosts. I think we are all definitely open to the concept of weird stuff happening and there were certainly some unexplained things that we saw. I guess in the end, everyone has their own take on the reasons behind them.

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Posted on by Lauren Katulka

Q & A with Natalie Gauci

Natalie Gauci took out the Australian Idol competition way back in 2007, burning brightly during the competition but seemingly fading from view almost as quickly. With a new EP under her belt and an upcoming tour Natalie’s ready to emerge from the shadows and win over Australia all over again. I caught up with Natalie recently to chat about her time on the talent quest, her new music, and the Aussie shows to come.

Most music fans would remember you from Australian Idol in 2007. A lot of time has passed since then and now. Why’s it taken so long for us to hear your original material?
Yes I have been under the radar for a few years and I’m now ready to pop out my shell.  I’ve been working hard on writing and recording my music and also finding the right home for it and that takes time. After Idol I had to find my true identity. Idol gave me the platform to now achieve what I’ve always wanted to achieve which is to record and write my own music and travel with it all over the world. It also gave the confidence to be who I am today.

How do you look back on your time with the show?
I look back and cry because I get so emotional. I forget how amazing it was, how many people were so supportive of me and my performances and how I gave it my all, I gave it everything I had. It reminds me of where I came from and what is important to me, not just with music but with my family and friends and my fans.

You got a lot of criticism when your Idol single and album were released because they didn’t match the chart success of the winners that came before. How did you deal with that?
It doesn’t bother me at all. Times change and record sales were just getting worse overall. Critics can say what they like really but it doesn’t affect me. I just make sure I do the best I can with what I’ve got.

Part of your prize was a record deal with Sony, yet you left them before releasing anything other than the prerequisite Winner’s Journey album. Why did you feel the label wasn’t the right fit for you?
I had been wanting to release “Best of Me” ever since I won Idol. I wrote it after the Winner’s Journey tour and always dreamed of recorded it with my soul band. The direction I was heading in didn’t feel right. My instinct was telling me to do what was in my heart and “Best of Me” was in my heart at that time.

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Posted on by Lauren Katulka

Q & A with Nine Sons of Dan’s Morgan “Flakey” Blake

Nine Sons of Dan are generating some major buzz with a brand new single “She’s So Fine” and a critically acclaimed EP under their belt. The Gold Coast act have just kicked off an Aussie tour, so I figured it was about time that I caught up with drummer Morgan “Flakey” Blake to chat about working with Paramore’s Justin York, life on the road, and their big plans for the future.

You’ve just released your new single “She’s So Fine.” What can you tell me about the song?
“She’s So Fine” was written as an underdog story; the geeky guy in love with the mega babe! We wrote some poppier things for our EP and this was one of our favourite ones!

I believe you worked with Paramore guitarist Justin York on the track, which is such a massive coup. How did that come about?
The boys at LooseStones Studios, where the EP was tracked, work overseas quite often, and knew Justin from working at studios with him. They asked him if he would like to play some guitar on our tracks, and he digged them so he agreed! So stoked!

What was he like to work with?
Well unfortunately he had to do his parts over in the States. We couldn’t meet up and collaborate or anything like that. But by the sounds of things he is pretty cool guy! His playing was really tasteful and helped out the whole band. Jay got to hang with him when he went over to US earlier this year and said he was a champ.

You were lucky enough to have one of the finest women in Oz, Miss Universe Australia Jesinta Campbell in the song’s music video. How did that happen?
Well we won a competition last year. One of the prizes was a film clip. And the production company (ROAM) that did the clip knew her from a while back.

They brainstormed ideas for the clip and wanted a pretty attractive girl to play the lead character. They said they were aiming for someone pretty special, but when we met up with them and they pulled out the latest issue of FHM with Jesinta on the front, with a big grin on their faces, we were like no way freaking way! We thought it would be like a super pretty girl but definitely did not expect Jesinta to appear!

You’re going to tour this single all over the country in the coming months. That’s a long time to be on the road. How do you keep things fresh with such a long touring stretch?
Things like that just never seem long or boring to us. We haven’t been to most of the places on this tour before, so I think we will be amped enough to forget how long we drive or how long we wait or whatever. It’s all good to us! We are stoked just to be playing. Plus we will be surfing in between, partying, watching other gigs. It’s a pretty refreshing life!
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Posted on by Lauren Katulka

Q & A with The William Street Strikers’ Andrew Matters

The William Street Strikers are on the up with their debut album set to launch soon and an extensive Aussie tour lined up to promote it. I caught up with the band’s lead singer Andrew Matters before the madness begins to talk about the new release, the upcoming tour, and that quirky name.

Your band’s got a really interesting name. How did that come about?
We got our name for a few reasons. Firstly, we just wanted a name that would last the test of time and not date. We also wanted a name that could mean something or nothing, the reason being so we could release a number of albums under its banner and grow artistically without the name impeding that process by meaning something too genre specific. Then we also wanted a name with a bit of grunt and “urban decay cool” to it, which I think the name has. And finally, two of us live on William Street and we thought “OK, we live on William Street, we jam in the shed, so the William Street … ummmnnnn hey strikers!? Yeah , right on! Let’s go with that. I’d like to say we’re left wing socialists with an egalitarian ethos championing the rights of the down trodden but not just yet.

How would you describe your music for the uninitiated?
Our music is essentially designed to work in a live setting, to deal with the Australian pub punter who, in our experience, has a short attention span and demands to be entertained. So we are straight to the point without much excess. We road test our songs in this arena and if we go out and play a song and people jump up and down and clap then it makes the cut.

You’ve just finished recording your debut album. What can you tell me about it?
Our album has been a watershed moment for us. We have been working towards it for three years, and with hindsight it seems like in logical steps but in reality it came about because of someone else’s faith in us and their willingness to fund it. Having not to worry about financing it ourselves allowed us to really focus on the art of making music, as trite as that sounds it is a truism I think, to just worry about the essence of what music is all about.
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Posted on by Lauren Katulka

Q & A with The Fearless Vampire Killers’ Al Marx

The Fearless Vampire Killers have currently left the stakes at home and packed up their touring van for shows in Victoria and New South Wales. I recently caught up with band’s lead guitarist Al Marx to chat about his band’s unusual moniker, their new single “For You and Me,” and the album to come.


I love your band’s name. It’s got to be one of the most creative in the music industry at present. Where did it come from?
Honestly, we stole it. It was a bit of a throwaway title to begin with, but I think we’ve all grown to love it. The only real aim at the time was to have an obscenely long name to dwarf others on bills.

You weren’t worried about the wrath of a thousand young Twilight fans at all?
It might get a little bumpy, but we maintain it’s just a phase.

I’m sure most people won’t forget your band’s name in a hurry, but can you describe your sound for the uninitiated?
The closest we can get is bluesy-western-surf-rock.

You’re touring your home state at present, and you’ll end up in Sydney in July. How are the shows going?
We haven’t had so much fun since the ice-cream mountain.  That was a happy day.

I hear that your last Melbourne show generated some major buzz. What is it that makes your live shows so special?
Our live show has always been our focus. If we’re in a good mood you’ll have a good time.  If you have a bad time it was the sound guy.
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Posted on by Lauren Katulka

Q & A with Emery’s Toby Morell

Next week South Carolina rockers Emery promise plenty of attitude as they bring their We Do What We Want tour to Australia. I recently caught up with the band’s vocalist Toby Morell to chat about the upcoming shows, the new album of the same name, and why he loves Australia.

You’ve visited our shores before but this is your first time in Australia as the main attraction. How does it feel to step up out of  that supporting role?
It feels great. We love getting to headline. We get to play more songs  and really get to give the crowd our all. It is a little intimidating to do this in a different country but Australia always treats us really well.

This will be your fourth trip to Australia. What makes you want to keep on coming back?
It’s so fun. You guys have great sites, food, and the shows are always really fun to play. It could never get old.

You’ve got a pretty hectic schedule. Will you get any time to play tourist?
I hope so. We have seen a lot on our other trips but it is always nice to see things you’ve only gotten to read about in books or seen in pictures.  I wish we could actually go to the Outback once, but we are scared we will die.

One of the more interesting stops on your tour is EasterFest, which has one of the most eclectic festival line-ups I’ve ever seen. There’s everything from metal to pop to gospel on the bill. Are you looking forward to taking part in such a diverse event?
Yes! We have heard about EasterFest and cant wait to play with all the amazing bands. I think it’s more fun when the bands are so diverse. There is a different kind of music happening all the time. You can’t get bored. It’s impossible.

Given that diversity there’s likely to be a lot of people at EasterFest who aren’t familiar with your music. Why should they check out your set?
I hate to toot our own horn but we really put on a crazy live show. We want to bring the music to life and always try to create a show that you will never forget.

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Posted on by Lauren Katulka

Q & A with The Trews’ John-Angus MacDonald

Canadian rockers The Trews clearly love our country. They’re currently enjoying their second visit in 12 months with four solid weeks of local shows. I caught up with the band’s guitarist John-Angus MacDonald to chat about these gigs, The Trews’ new album Hope & Ruin, and why he loves Australia.

You’ve just kicked off a month-long stint in Australia. How are your shows going so far?
Good. We’ve had some great crowds so far and I feel like it can only get better from here. It took us a few days to get in the groove – we played our first show the day we flew in from Canada – but we feel like our internal clocks have now been reset and we’re ready to rock.

How do Australian audiences differ from the ones back home?
Not that different really, especially due to the huge number of Canadians turning out every night! I feel like our two countries have a lot in common which one of the reasons that I think we could have a good career here.

You were only just here last September. What encouraged you to come back so soon?
Back in the fall we feel like we caught a glimpse of what could be down here and wanted to get back soon to explore it further.

You’ve enjoyed real success in Canada, so it must be almost like starting over to come here where you don’t have that profile. What inspired you to try to crack the Australian market?
True, it’s a little like going back to our early club days in Canada but we feel that in order for the band to have longevity we have to break a few other markets. We can’t just have Canada or they’ll get sick of us!

Since you’re here for a month, are you planning on doing any sightseeing? What do you want to see?
Our drummer Sean and I have taken up surfing which has been great. I’d also like to tour the Opera House, climb the bridge, go to the zoo, swim with sharks … you know, the usual.
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Posted on by Lauren Katulka

Q & A with Oh Sleeper’s Micah Kinard

Texan metal gods Oh Sleeper are planning a return visit to our shores as part of the massive No Surrender tour. I recently caught up with the band’s lead vocalist Micah Kinard to chat about his love for Australia, his relationship with touring buddies The Chariot, and Oh Sleeper’s plans for world domination.

You were only just here in September. What made you want to return to Australia so soon?
Have you seen your country? We had an awesome time there. It was so much fun, and everyone we met and worked with down there was a total delight, so we definitely wanted to get back as soon as we could. The first offer that popped up we took, so we’re excited about it.

This tour’s traveling from the west to east of Australia. Are you looking forward to seeing a bit more of the countryside than you did last time?
I am! It was actually pretty surprising, when we went there last time, it was our first time ever and the shows were all great, we had an awesome time at them. But also Taperjean, the company that brought us over, they received a bunch of e-mails from other places that wanted us to come through there also. So that was a nice surprise. I think this time we’re trying to hit all those places that we got e-mails from and, like you said, see more of the countryside which I’m really excited about.

And it’s all happening in the space of just eight days. Does that fast and furious pace suit you, or would you prefer to do things a bit more leisurely?
You kind of just get used to it. We’ve been doing this for the past five, five and a half years and that’s just kind of the pace it’s set at, you know? I’m pretty sure anyone in a touring band, especially internationally, can relate. It’s just a lifestyle you’ve got to get used to. You start to realise that vacations for you are more just staying at your real house, sitting in your back yard in a lawn chair. That’s a vacation; not really getting up and going somewhere.

How do audiences in Australia differ from those back home?
Really they were super welcoming. The States are great. When you have a good show in the States, it’s definitely crazy and off the wall. But the thing that was really nice about going to Australia is that everyone had a genuine appreciation for you being there. Even if they didn’t come to see you, they still gave you the respect of watching and applauding and everything like that. The shows that we had over there, the vast majority of them got pretty crazy. And as far as the fans, they were stage diving and crowd surfing and everything like that. The crowds were good enough to get us thirsty to come back, so we’re excited.

You’re touring Australia with fellow countrymen The Chariot. Now you go way back with these guys and have toured America with them. Are you looking forward to having them on the road with you?
Oh definitely. The Chariot’s one of our favourite bands to tour with. We’ve done a number of tours with them over here in the States. It’s kind of a situation where everyone in the bands clicks with each another, with the respective members of the other bands and everything, we all mesh well and the second we get together it’s always a fun time, so thinking of touring the world with your some of your best friends is always a recipe for a good time.

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Posted on by Lauren Katulka

Q & A with Kids at Risk’s Sep Caton

I wrote recently about my excitement about the release of Griff the Invisible, and the film’s soundtrack penned by Sydney band Kids at Risk. So I was thrilled to recently catch up with Sep Caton to talk about his band’s involvement with the movie, the lead single “Doing The Best That We Can,” and the upcoming tour.

Kids at Risk

You’ve just written the soundtrack for the upcoming Aussie film Griff the Invisible. Why did you want to be involved with this movie?
The filmmaker Leon Ford, who wrote and directed the film, and also the producer Nicole O’Donohue are friends of everybody in the band, and we had known about this film coming for quite some time. And anybody who had heard about it, no matter what sort of field you were in, you just wanted to be a part of this film. Every actor in town wanted an audition, anybody who’s on a crew just wanted to be a part of it. It was something special, and you could tell that by the very first time you read the script.

So at first I was at a party with Leon and he was talking a little bit about the music and just some songs by some other Australian bands that he wanted to put in there, and I said about one of the songs he wanted to put in there “Hey, I do a really good cover of that! How about I whack something down for you, you can have a quick listen, and if you like it you can use that; might be a bit cheaper” and yada yada, it just kept going on and on.

And eventually we went in for a meeting with the filmmakers, and they showed us the set and everything. We were just so excited. And they said “Well we also need a score” and we said “We’ll do that!” “And we need some other songs …” “Oh we’ll do that!” And by the end of that meeting we walked out with the soundtrack in our hands basically. So yeah, it was a great opportunity.

Is there any difference approaching writing a film soundtrack compared to a regular band recording?
Oh definitely. When you’re doing something for yourself you basically write for you, but when you’re writing for a film there’s a certain part of you that says “I need to put myself into the head of that character,” and that’s what we did. We basically with this movie approached it “What would this character, what would the song be in his head as he’s walking down the street?” or “What would she be hearing and humming to herself as she’s going about her business?” And that’s what we sort of did; we put ourselves in the minds of the characters and that’s where it came from.

The first single “Doing the Best That We Can” sounds great. Was it as much fun to record as it is to listen to?
It was. It was fast and furious, I’ve got to say. I think we did the whole recording for that song in around 45 minutes, at the very end of the recording process. It was just something we went “Here we go” whack-whack-whack-whack-whack. It didn’t have a place in the film at the time; it was just something we’d been working on that sounded great. We just had a lot of fun with it. Originally it wasn’t going to be a single or anything but it was one of those songs that if anyone’s heard it, 10 minutes later you hear them humming it, then an hour later they’re still humming it, then the next day walking down the stairs still humming it. So we went “Oh right, hello, we’d better do something with this song.” So yeah, eventually it became the single.

This movie’s picking up some real global buzz after being accepted into film festivals in Toronto and Berlin. Are you guys hoping to capitalise on that international attention and take your music overseas?
We’d be crazy not to, wouldn’t we? We originally had plans to go to Berlin; not to play or anything but to be there for the film. We were really just so proud of it, we wanted to be there for the filmmakers. But we’d like to capitalise on this however we can overseas, and here at home as well. We’re certainly hoping to make the most of it.

You’ll be appearing at local film festivals and premieres to promote the movie and your work with it. That’s a very different scene for musicians. Are you looking forward to it?

Yes, we are actually. They’re related worlds, but they’re certainly a bit different. The funny thing is with Kids at Risk, is that many of us have a film or television background, whether in front or behind the camera. So it’s not exactly a new world to us, but it is fun to collide our two worlds together.
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