it here. - The Vintage Record

presents
Cover art was created by Luke Player.
Introduction
Dom Romeo
A
s the story goes, a dude from a
band handed the dude behind the
counter a CD. I know, The Vintage
Record is predominantly a vinyl store; there’s
a shelf of cassettes, a big bunch of videos, a
stack of DVDs, and a rack of CDs…
Come to think of it, it’s just as likely
the dude from the band handed over a
flash drive.
Point is, a digital source of music was
supplied, and when it was fired up via a
computer, the sound that came out was
so good, the dude behind the counter
decided it was worth making the music
that much better: press it up as a record.
The dude was Sam; the band was
Montes Jura. It’s no big surprise that
actual musos frequent an actual music
shop. Just as no writer can be a great
writer without also being a great reader,
no musician can develop chops in a
vacuum; they must be listening, or at the
very least, must have listened, to music in
their formative years, and engaged with it
to some degree.
Indeed, that becomes apparent when
we get to know the work of the other
great musicians featured on the recording
he provided: it turned out to be the entire
Velvet Underground album Loaded, but
better than that, each track was executed
by a different contemporary local band.
And there we had it: Reloaded.
Rather than succumb to music
journalism clichés to describe an album
that, rest assured, certainly does rock,
and kick butt, whatever else it does,
Reloaded enables you to appreciate
a collection of great songs all the
more. However, it also gives you the
opportunity to appreciate local talent too
many people take for granted far more
often than any should.
Now’s a good time to remember
just how enjoyable great music is, and
to pursue it wherever it still happens.
Particularly live.
Or, to quote some lyrics from the
album, “It’s the beginning of a new age.”
Enjoy.
This digital booklet was put together by Dom Romeo who, although not responsible for the images
(apologies to all uncredited photographers and artists), conducted the interviews and arranged the
layout. If you need a wordsmith/editor for your bios, zines, press releases or sleevenotes, an MC or Santa,
or a transcriber, get in touch: [email protected]. Graphics are at sufficient resolution for you to
print this up as an A5 booklet yourself; apologies for the amount of magenta toner you’ll burn through.
How did Burn Antares come together?
We came together through the surprisingly
inevitable collision of highly improbable
events. To say anything further would be a
breach of our non-disclosure agreements.
Your Unearthed page says your style is
‘Indie, Rock’; Bandcamp tags include
1960s folk rock, rock’n’roll, blues rock,
psychedelic rock, spaghetti western; your
Facebook offers ‘Space, music for space’;
which description fits what you do best?
None of the above. I’d propose Chameleonic
Easy Listening.
How did you come to be on Reloaded?
We know a lot of great people, and some of
those great people happened to be putting
the project together. They thought we were
Why did you choose to cover ‘Who Loves
The Sun’ and what does it mean to you?
Probably because it was the only choice
we could unanimously agree on. Plus it’s
the opening bookend to one of the greatest
albums of the 1970s, so that’s about as
meaningful as it gets.
LP, CD or MP3, and why?
In terms of sheer impracticality, I would
have to go for the LP.
What was your first record or CD and
what, if anything, does it still mean to
you?
If I cannot remember what record that was,
I guess it doesn’t mean all that much to me
now.
Does the Sydney live scene need saving,
and if so, what needs to be done?
Most certainly. Obviously a lot in Sydney
has changed in the past couple of years, so
a systematic gutting of the current political
players and environs would be a good
start. When governments start basing their
decision making on evidence, rather than
arbitrariness and free bottles of Grange, we
might see some much needed logic return to
the fold. But hey; one can dream, right?
Does being related to an internationally
famous band make life easier, more
difficult or make no difference at all except
when being interviewed by an old person
like me?
No difference really, except for the company
limo we use for touring.
Photo: Matt Sitas; L-R: Sean Casey,
Tom Hoglund, Thom Eagleton,
Grace Farriss, Daniel Murchison.
Illustration: Billy Clare Reitzenstein
Who Loves the Sun
‘Antares,’ a great big red binary star, is one
of the brightest stars in the night sky and is
‘the heart’ of the constellation of Scorpio;
is any of this relevant to the name ‘Burn
Antares’ – a burning, red heart?
Yes; my cardiologist is extremely worried
about me.
pretty great people as well, so they asked us
to be involved.
1: Burn Antares
“A
cquainted by a mutual
love of ’60s and ’70s
rock’n’roll,” claims the
band’s bio, “Grace Farriss (vocals, acoustic
guitar), Sean Casey (keyboards), Daniel
Murchison (Electric Guitar), Tom Hoglund
(bass) and Thom Eagleton (percussion),
formed Burn Antares in 2012. Since then,
they have been finely honing their sound
on Sydney’s Northern Beaches, preparing
their famous cups of rocket love for your
auditory pleasure.” Getting to interview
them is a proper hoot.
BOTTOM RIGHT L-R: Sam Potter, Josh White, Liz Tillman, Ryan
Lloyd and Rick Snowden; all images on this page by Alex Pisani
“G
roove-drones and jangle freak-outs;
12-string guitars and ’60s organs; jiving
rhythms and gazey fuzz-tones…” So
reads one of the descriptions of the work of The Grease
Arrestor, a Sydney five-piece “dedicated to bringing you
the very best sounds you know and love.”
That five-piece is made of (left to right in the photo
above) Sam Potter (guitar, bass, vocals); Josh White
(drums, percussion, vocals); Liz Tillman (organ,
percussion, vocals); Ryan Lloyd (bass, vocals); and Rick
Snowden (guitar, vocals). The band took the time out to
answer some questions:
Grease Arrestor started as a smaller group with Rick,
Sam and Dave Landgren, our bass player in the earlier
days. The three of them wrote a bunch of material and
later Josh joined to provide the drum grooves. We were
kicking around the same suburb, jamming covers on
acoustics before getting into bedroom recording and
buying gear to get better sounds. Wasn’t long before we
had a set to play to our friends!
garage band has been influenced by their music at some
point.
We picked the ‘psychedelic / shoegaze / drone / garage’
genre to describe ourselves for Triple J Unearthed,
because at that time there weren’t any other genres that
came close. We weren’t exactly ‘dance’ or ‘bluegrass’…
There’s definitely elements of shoegaze in the fuzz and
wall-of-sound nature, garage in ’60s-inspired pop, blues
and rock’n’roll, and yeah, there’s drone and repetition.
We’ve been gigging with the Monte Jura gang for a
few years, hanging out and getting to know each other’s
musical inclinations. They know we’re big VU fans and
we jumped on the opportunity to contribute to the album
when they hit us up.
That unorthodox intro, the chorus you can’t get out of
your head and the outro that’s almost better than the
rest of the song… Regardless of how it might turn out, we
knew we’d enjoy putting our own spin on ‘Sweet Jane’.
It feels like the Sydney live scene rises and falls, and
things have been quiet for a while (some exceptions!) Not
sure if it’s venues, bands or fans responsible; probably
everyone. We need better, consistent events, something
people will clear their schedule for. Quality over quantity,
good lineups, strong themes, well-curated events. The
‘Junkyards’, ‘Visions’, ‘Through the Rhythms’ will save us,
support them!
Is ‘Grease’ still the word? If you’d like it to be. Just wait.
Sam came up with our name, ‘Grease Arrestor’ in the
early days, when he was doing the rubbish run at his old
job. He was inspired by an interesting little room with a
strange name. We didn’t want the name to represent the
sound but for the sound to create the meaning. We have
grown fond of it over the years.
The preference is LP and cassette tape over CD. That’s
a personal stance and a ‘band’ one. It’s the nostalgic and
analogue nuance reason: music played on those mediums
will never sound the same twice; there’s character and life
in that. MP3 does have its place, as that’s how new music
is usually discovered these days.
The Cramps’ Stay Sick was my first record. Lux and
Ivy were among the best for sure. I think every psych or
2: The Grease Arrestor
Sweet Jane
3: The Pinheads
T
he Pinheads’ first appearances, as “a
six, sometimes seven-piece rock’n’roll
outfit found ten-pin bowling and eating
slimy pizza in the suburbs of Illawarra” saw them citing
formative influences such as ‘garage rock’ and ‘horror
films’, hence they’re the “eyeball-melting, skull shrinking
group you’ll never forget as they crawl out of the crypt
and into your mind.” Their high-energy, unpredictable,
noisy shows have, it’s been said, been known to melt
people into puddles and horrify the audience.
I take it your name ‘Pinheads’ comes from your love of
tenpin bowling.
Sure does! Bowling is the greatest sport on Earth.
Who, in the band, has the best bowling average?
That’s an ongoing
debate.
Are The Pinheads
still a six, sometimes
seven-piece band?
We’re not! Luckily our
favourite alien has
become a permanent
fixture on the keys
and the corn. People
love the corn. We love
the corn. ALL HAIL
THE CORN.
Since we’re on the topic of line-up, can you list the
Pinheads and what they play?
Merlin the Magnet — vox; The Slender One — six string
bandit; Luke Spook — axe wielding shredboy ’n’ harp;
Tun — four stringer; Syntex — keys n corn; Zee here,
Zee everywhere – alien space machine and tambo; Micro
Hercules — tub master and stick breaker.
Rock & Roll
It’s the first VU song Merlin and I ever heard, or at least the
first we took in properly. It’s probably the coolest one too.
LP, CD or MP3, and why?
All of them are cool for different reasons. We were raised
on CDs mostly but vinyl records are better.
What was your first record and does it still mean
something to you?
Tun: When I was six I asked my parents to buy me a
Britney Spears CD. I still have it. It didn’t really mean
much then and doesn’t matter at all now. I find it a little
disturbing how sexualised the Britney franchise was.
Luke Spook: I think I got a Limp Kizkit tape early on,
which I didn’t really like but the first album that meant
something to me was the Outkast split album CD with
Andre 3000’s The Love
Below; I still listen to it all
the time.
Tun: Just butting in here—
The Love Below is a great
f*cking record. Genius.
Zee: Pretty sure it was
The Offspring album
Conspiracy of One! I was
really into skating then
and the local indoor skate
park used to play them a
lot, as well as Motörhead!
You’ve been described as ‘Rock, Indie’ and ‘Psychedelic /
Shoegaze / Drone / Garage’; how do describe yourself?
To be honest—genres suck. It’s just one of those sh*tty
things you have to do so people can find you. Also, I dunno
who wrote those genres on our things so forget about
those.
How did you come to be on Reloaded?
Our mate from Montes Jura hit us up to do a song. Some of
us are Underground fans and a couple aren’t, so it gave us
more creative leeway to have a few of us who hadn’t heard
the tune before. Also, it’s always fun to cover a song.
Does the Sydney live scene need saving, and if so, what
needs to be done?
Desperately. So many venues have either closed down or
stopped hosting live music due to lockout laws or lack of
regard for anything besides profit—it’s really quite sad.
The NSW government holds no regard for the cultural
integrity of Sydney and its vital importance in keeping the
city economically viable, and most importantly, vibrant
and lively. We’ve also been banned from a few places which
kinda sucks, but is also kinda funny.
Why did you choose to cover ‘Rock & Roll’?
THANK U xx THE PINHEADS
How did The Pinheads come together?
We’re all siblings.
Cool It Down
4: Bad Valley
B
ad Valley, a three-piece from the
Central Coast of NSW, deliver
a scuzzy breed of psych rock
that dabbles in a blend of Kraut grooves
and agile-yet-gutsy bass hooks, swamped
by carnal amounts of fuzz to slide off its
already watery core. We can’t help noting
‘valley’ as a recurring motif in band names
in Australia (go on, tick them off: Death
Valley, Blind Valley and Red Valley Way;
go further afield; consider Frankie Valli of
Four Seasons fame…). Yet a ‘Bad Valley’
seems to contain elements of ‘southern
Gothic’ or Hearts of Darkness-type
literature, where strangers inadvertently
venture too far into unknown terrain.
That seems as good a place as any to start,
anyway, as we talk to guitarist Jaryd Jordan.
I wish our name was as romantic as such.
But honestly, Jordan, our drummer, and I
were at a Salvo’s one day, pulled this jumper
out of a rack with a deer’s head on it; a
scroll/banner underneath it had the words
“Bad Valley”. The image made quite the
impression and our band name was found.
Oddly enough, our first ever Sydney show
was with Blind Valley, who became good
mates of ours. What attracts musicians/
artists to valleys? None of us being from
Sydney, we’re used to seeing many trees
around our hometowns of the Central
Coast—more so than you would if you
grew up in the Big Smoke. Valleys are pretty
tranquil places; I personally feel a great
sense of calm and awe when I’m in one.
Bad Valley came together through
common musical
interests, many
a night-turnedmorning fuelled
by substances
I won’t care
to mention, a
bunch of carefree
jamming and
great friendships.
I play guitar
and Jordy’s on
the drums. Our
original bass
player left. A
good friend of
ours filled in for a while, became part of the
band for a while, then left to focus more on
is own tunes (which are rad, by the way).
Since then our dear friend Julian has been
helping us play shows and more recently
been writing with us, which is great! But we
are open to whatever the future may hold
regarding our bass player situation.
I think LPs provide more of an experience
than CD or MP3. The artwork becomes
much more of a feature and vinyl sure
sounds tasty. That said, my car plays CDs so
I’ve been digging through the old collection/
mixtapes from years ago. It’s generally better
than any time I turn on the radio. MP3s
are just marvelously convenient. That’s my
personal opinion, though I think the others
would agree.
The first CD I ever owned was Light Years
by Kylie Minogue. Y’know, the one with
‘Spinning Around’ on it. I was eight years
old and asked for it for Christmas. No idea
why. The earliest music I listened to would
have been stuff Mum and Dad had, notably
Creedence Clearwater Revival and Joni
Mitchell. As to what my first CD means to
me—well it’s worth a laugh, I guess.
We met the good fellas from Montes Jura,
who curated this whole thing, a fair while
back; they asked us if we would like to do a
track on Reloaded, so we did!
I’m not sure why we chose ‘Cool It Down’.
I think it was just the first one I listened to
off the album that I had an immediate idea
of what we could do with it.
I won’t go into the lockout laws—there
are plenty of opinions on the Internet
if one wishes to seek them—but I, for
one, would be happy for it to be 2 to 3 in
the morning and still be watching bands
playing, which I think just comes down to
a noise curfew issue. Maybe if there were
basement/underground-style venues where
the sound will not travel to anyone whom
it may disturb, then that could be a plus.
People generally seem to enjoy going out
later than earlier so if bands were starting
and finishing (or still going) two hours later
than what we usually see, it could potentially
provide a wider audience and a greater vibe
for all involved.
5: Raindrop
New Age
D
escribed as “a group, nay, movement, trying to surf the
wave of crust and fuzz that seems to be flooding the
Australian shores these days,” the earliest incarnation
of Raindrop was a three-piece with a seemingly endless array of
“various spontaneously combusting drummers” as they traded in
“psychedelic R’n’B.” Nowadays, however, the group-nay-movement is
described on the band’s Facebook as consisting of “Miles Devine and
whoever shows up in his house.” Miles explains:
It’s always been like that. I go through phases of wanting to have
“set” members but sometimes it creates too much pressure and
expectation on people. People always make better music when it’s just
about makin’ music.
I just felt like starting a new project with some songs I’d written out
of nowhere. I wasn’t originally even going to release anything.
I’m not sure if our name has any “origins”. I just thought of it when a
raindrop hit my eyeball once.
I’m not really anti or pro any particular format. I have a huge
collection of vinyl that I adore but I’d still be happy listening to music
in digital format as sometimes it’s the only way.
My first CD was Queen’s Greatest Hits, an album that I’d still put on
and enjoy a lot. I can also appreciate the fact that it made me want
to go and play music after constantly setting up pots and pans in my
lounge room at around four years old.
My first record was an original copy of Jet’s Get Born that I bought
from HMV when it came out, for $20. Funny thing is that it scores
around $300 now, sorta funny because I haven’t done better since!
Sam from Montes Jura approached me about covering a song for
Reloaded and gave me a list of the songs that hadn’t been taken. I
couldn’t believe no one took ‘New Age’ so that made it easy to say YES.
I thought ‘New Age’ had the most depth on the record, plenty of
space and a real nice open melody that makes me tingle.
Sydney’s always been a tough place to play shows. I think a change
of government is our only hope. Lockout laws have only been brought
to our attention in more recent times, but before that there’s always
been issues effecting venues from things like noise complaints of rich
people who move into the Cross, to shifty venue owners treating bands
like crap. There would need to be huge changes put in place from local
councils as well as the NSW government to mend this situation.
TOP: Self portrait by Miles Devine; ABOVE,
L-R: Lachlan Earl, Miles Devine and
Timothy Sneddon, by Angelo Sgambati
6: UPSKIRTS
Head Held High
“N
uggets, party, shotguns, vaginas,
What was your first record?
facepaint, milkmaid, get paid, air
Me personally was Blink 182’s Enema of The State. I don’t
raid, homemade, VCR, c*nthunting,
have it anymore because CDs suck and don’t last very
ashblunting, growthstunting.” The free-form Dada list
long. I wish I’d have bought it on vinyl, I’d probably still
that constitutes a band bio reads
have it.
more like a word-association
L-R: Harry Tuckwell, Nick Stillman, Mitch
Noakes, Tom Kell. Photo: Grieg Clifford
game to test for brain injury, a
Why did you choose to cover
questionable Christmas list, of
‘Head Held high’?
the worst cover of Bob Dylan’s
The boys actually allocated all the
‘Subterranean Homesick Blues’
tracks and we got stuck with that
ever. But UPSKIRTS come to the
one. It’s a bloody ripper of a tune,
party and answer some of the
but Lou’s vocals are absolutely
other questions their ‘bio’ gives
retarded and nonsensical.
rise to.
Something about wanting to be a
dancer…?
Tell me about the origins of
the name ‘UPSKIRTS’; you list
Do you have a special affinity
‘c*nthunting’ in your bio. Are we
for Velvet Underground, or were
joining the right dots?
you in any way inspired by them,
We started this band when we were
given a ‘Velvet underground’,
16 or something and didn’t yet grasp that something that
like the ‘velvet goldmine’ of which Bowie sang, is a
we thought was funny was actually pretty messed up.
reference not very far removed at all from you own
It’s not meant to be taken as a reflection of our lifestyles
band name?
or tastes in porn and I hope it isn’t. It’s given us a few
I think as a band we wouldn’t list the Velvet
laughs, but mostly we f*cking hate it.
Underground as a key influence. But a lot
As for the c*nthunting thing - I didn’t
of the bands who do influence us definitely
know that was there and I blame Tom.
would. They were one of those bands who
opened everything up and without them
How did UPSKIRTS come into being?
music would be very different today. We each
I started playing music with Tom when
have our own affinity for different Velvet
we were kids, then when he was doing
records.
his HSC music final he needed a band
to play with. Enter Tuckers on guitar
Does the Sydney live scene need saving?
and Matt, our old bassists. It was pretty
It’s weird, people always compare the music
fun so we started writing a bunch of
scenes in each city and each have their pros
songs and figuring out how to play music, which we are
and cons. Sydney definitely has its problems, but so
still trying to do. Mitch came into the picture when we
does everywhere else. I think you just have to dig a little
needed a new bassist and some maturity in the group. He
deeper here, but there’s a lot going on. It is scary that
still has neither of those things down pat.
I’ve been hearing about bands steering clear of Sydney
though—that’s f*cked and needs to be addressed. The
LP, CD or MP3?
government isn’t going to do sh*t, so it’s about music
LP + MP3.... CDs can go f*ck themselves. Vinyl is
lovers, musicians and industry folk to keep fighting the
pretty sick and MP3 is hell convenient. Getting the two
good fight and being active about it. Sydney’s live music
together is ace. We’ve never been able to afford to print
scene has been struggling for years but it’s still here and
vinyl, though, as a band, which kinda sucks. But I think
sh*t is still happening and I can’t imagine it going away
we’d all agree vinyl rules.
any time soon
A
psychedelic soul eight-piece from Sydney formed in
2014 over a mutual love of wizard capes and Aretha
Franklin, Salvador Dali Llama have a reputation
for “face-melting live sets and an eclectic mish-mash of dreamy
psych pop, gospel soul harmonies and eyeball spinning Kraut
jams.” Indeed “Whatever your vibe,” they advise, they’ll “help
you float upstream.” In addition to having their counter-cultural
references in place, ‘Salvador Dali Llama’ is an awesome name,
as we suggest to Dean (Long Haired Lout) as our starting point:
‘Salvador Dali Llama’ suggests surrealism, spiritualism and a
touch of silliness…
Ha ha yes! One day in the surf it came to me in a blinding flash,
and the more I thought about it afterward, the more I liked it. It
does suggest all three of those things, and that comes across in our
music. I mean, how can you go wrong with two legendary wizards
like that as your namesake?
Your band line-up usually lists a series of alter-egos/spiritual
concerns rather than instruments. What do you actually play?
I’m glad you noticed! I think it’s a warmer introduction than a
list of instruments. But!
A list of instruments they
do play... Nikki, Soul
Wizard: vocals; Lara, Astral
Traveller: vocals; Xadi, Lady
of the Sunshine: vocals;
Ally, Jazz Queen: vocals and
keys; Charlie, Goldfingers:
Bass; Andy, Groove King:
Drums; Josh, Peace Man:
Congas; Dean, Long Haired
Lout: guitar, vocals.
Did you start with plans
for an eight-piece, or
evolve?
A bit of both, actually. In the beginning it was just me, writing riffs
in my room. I started jamming with Nikki and we wrote a bunch
of stuff. Then we started piecing the band together! I had a vision
of a big inclusive band from the start. But it definitely evolved into
what it is now; you can’t plan for everything!
How do you keep an eight-piece getting along?
It can be tricky. Rehearsals are pretty gnarly to coordinate,
especially seeing everyone is so talented and they all have sweet
side projects. But we just make it work! As for getting along, we
are a little family now :)
Are you ‘Abba x 2’—four couples in a band?
Ha ha, not quite. Not so far from the truth, though. We have two
couples. Can you guess who?
Personally, it’s vinyl all the way. The feel, the art, the warmth, the
fun, the history… But context is key. We live in a digital age and
should embrace the positive aspects. I stream a lot of music when
travelling or driving or anywhere vinyl is impossible to use. In
the end, it’s just music, and people forget that when extolling the
virtues of their thousand-dollar crystal tip needle for their (insert
expensive brand name) record player…
What was your first record?
I don’t know how people give such eloquent answers to this
question; my memory must be terrible, ha ha. I do remember
getting the first two offspring records on CD in the mid-’90s,
when they were still gnarly. Had a listen the other day, actually.
Still good for the occasional headbang! I think my vinyl
infatuation started when a good friend (Julien from Zeahorse)
gave me Dark Side of the Moon for my birthday many years ago…
a bit clichéd, but far out, it’s like the best record ever, so whatever.
Thanks Jules!
How did you come to be on Reloaded?
The Montes Jura guys just got onto us and it sounded like a really
rad idea!
Photo: Matt Toon
Why did you choose to
cover ‘Lonesome Cowboy
Bill’?
To be honest, it was the
last one left so we had
no choice. I was pretty
indifferent to it to begin
with, but in the end that
worked to our advantage
because we didn’t feel weird
about totally messing with
it! And I’m really stoked
with how it turned out.
Through working with the
song so intently I have a renewed connection with it. And with
Lonesome Bill. Hopefully he likes our version, ha ha.
Does the Sydney live scene need saving?
Man, that’s a scary question. It’s a shame cos there are so many
radical bands around at the moment! It’s like this triple threat of
conservative government, mainstream brainwashing media, and
rich people and property prices. Oh, and an incredibly dumb
populace.
‘Saving’ is an interesting word. Like some magic superhero or
private benefactor can change things overnight. I guess we just
need to get people stoked on live music again. You and I are, but
I mean all the ‘normies’. Help people forget about Sunday lattés,
high-rise apartments and family-friendly bullshit light shows.
‘How?’ is a good question… LSD in the water supply? There
will always be counterculture and music scenes in Sydney, we just
have to keep putting up the good fight!
7: Salvador Dali Llama
LP, CD or MP3?
Lonesome Cowboy Bill
8: Lizzy Cross and the
Infinity Snake
I Found a Reason
S
inger-songwriter Lizzy Cross plays
witty, insightful and comforting charms,
accompanied by the acoustic guitar. Her
songs are raw and designed to touch you at the heart.
Her goal is to create a completely quiet audience and
she manages to do just that. She believes honesty
and diction are essential to a worthy song and takes
inspiration from Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell and Joanna
Newsom. Lizzy took the time to tell us more.
I picked up guitar while at school
in Year 11. My dad and brother
always played guitar around the
campfire on family holidays and I
went so much further as a singer
when I could accompany myself. I
started out in musical theatre and
still very much love that. I’ve been
working at Engadine Music Centre
for the past seven years. These days
I’m challenging my voice into jazz
singing, which has worked really
well as I’m getting older.
Some audiences listen to the
melody; I’m all about the words.
SoKo, who was popular around the time I started
songwriting, inspired me. I found that my best songs
were the ones that were honest. My rule is, if it’s
embarrassing to talk about, it will make a good song.
I also like to start off each song with a shock-factor to
get the crowd’s attention. I was really into poetry as a
young girl and I think diction is a forgotten saviour.
My songs are usually so full of words (inspired by Bob
Dylan and Joanna Newsom) that diction is essential
to get my message across. I don’t want the audience to
miss anything!
My partner and I have a huge LP collection, as many
young people have now. Apart from the amazing bass
sound they create, they act as art works in our house.
I feel as though I’m respecting the musicians within
them, by holding onto them. Although we cannot get
by without MP3s… so we can have music wherever
we go.
The first record I bought for myself was Carly Simon’s
Anticipation. Her popular album No Secrets is what my
mum and I call ‘our album’. I love the hidden songs that
I found in Anticipation, that didn’t become hits. There
is something special about a song you find yourself,
that you can share with a click.
The guys from Montes Jura have
been friends of mine for many years.
I played gigs with Sam in the past
and they invited me to be apart of the
Reloaded production. I was so thankful.
My music has taken a back road in my
life and it was really nice to think a band
doing so well believed I could do it.
My partner is a very subtle romantic
and you often have to read between
the lines with him. He was singing
this song often to himself when we first
started seeing each other and he played
it for me on guitar. I took it as a sign we were together
because he never actually asked me out.
I’m not too sure about the current Sydney scene
as I now live in Thirroul. I would LOVE for more
musicians to come down for gigs at Anita’s Theatre,
Thirroul, and Wollongong. Sydney is such a big city
geographically compared to other major cities in the
world so the music scene should spread out as well. As
more young people from Sydney are moving to more
affordable areas down the coast, the music scene should
follow them. We would definitely support Sydney
bands if they played in Thirroul. There are a lot of
music lovers on the South Coast that would definitely
support Sydney bands. And it’s only one hour away!
Our guitarist Panda and I started jamming
after discussing it at a party a long time
ago. We made three really crap punk songs
the first time we jammed. We then gathered
Brendan, Nick and Mitchell.
We broke up. Brendan got a good job
opportunity in the national capital. Plus,
things had been winding down for a while.
It’s not weird, we all wanted to end it so
we look on D’Luna with fond memories
and smiles on our dials. I’m sure we’ll all
be starting new projects sooner rather
than later. I know Mitch and Panda have
something going and it’s sounding f*cking
crazy—crazy good.
I’m not a huge collector of vinyl or CD.
I listen to MP3 mostly. Though I like the
idea of vinyl and collecting it. Like, having
a physical collection to brag about is cool. I
think I’ll start soon.
I guess we chose ‘Train Around The Bend’
because of its awesome groovy chug;
it sticks out a little from the rest of the
songs on the album. We recorded it in our
guitarist’s garage.
Sydney has awesome bands and gigs.
The lockout laws are a crock of shit and an
easy way to earn cash through the casinos,
though the people will always find good
bands to watch and gigs to venture to. I feel
for the dance music dudes though, all those
bars and venues are biting the dust big time.
Getting rid of those laws would help a lot, I
guess everyone’s more pissed at the fact that
they’re being treated like babies. Paying the
price for a handful of knuckle-draggers.
I’m pretty sure I was named after the
Goblin King in Labyrinth, ha ha! My dad
said I was, anyway. I watched that f*cking
movie way too many times as a child!
9: D’Luna
Our friend changed her name on
Facebook to Zappa D’Luna after her cat’s
name, so we pinched the latter half of it
for our band. We used to be called Laugh
Riot. ‘D’Luna’ has no connotations toward
space or lunar activity, ha ha.
We got involved in Reloaded basically
through Sam and Steve of Montes Jura
asking us to be apart of the project, which
was awesome of them.
Train Round The Bend
“D
’Luna/Laugh Riot have
been a band for just
shy of four years. With
job opportunities, a broken promise
and a lack of enthusiasm/chemistry,
we’re deciding to call it a day. To all that
bought us a beer, gave us thanks or just
stomped you’re feet and rocked out—we’re
incredibly grateful…” Thus spake Jareth,
on the D’Luna Facebook page. Jareth,
Panda, Brendan, Nick and Mitch, called it
a day before we were able to catch up with
them. Not, however, before they could
contribute to Reloaded. We at least got to
speak to Jareth.
I bought an Aussie hip hop CD when I
was 12 or 13 because my friends listened
to it: Hunter and Dazastah’s Done DL. I
listened to it and thought it was shit; still
do. Though I’ve still got it somewhere, I’ll
keep it just because it was my first purchase.
Oh! Sweet Nuthin’
10: Montes Jura
ABOVE RIGHT, L-R: Beau Clements
by Steve Schouten; BELOW, L-R:
Sam VallellaneS, Steven Schouten,
Beau Clements by Abbie Jean
T
he psychedelic Montes
Jura has come from across
the globe to make music
and build walls of sound in Sydney’s
inner western suburbs. Avoiding genre
typecasting, they mix their psych with
all sorts of influences including blues,
western, Americana, soul and shoegaze.
But there’s something about the name,
which, we suggest to guitarist and vocalist
Sam Vallellanes, seems to imply ‘mountain
judgement.’
I haven’t heard that one before, sounds
pretty ominous when you put it that way.
‘Montes Jura’ is the name of a mountain
range on the moon. Our bass player Chris
stumbled across it one day and we loved the
sound of it.
I’ve been playing music since high school
and creating a band was always on the
agenda for me. Steve and I both moved to
London a few years back and the amount
of incredible talent there really gave us that
last bit of inspiration to make it happen. We
were going to so many shows and we really
felt a part of the scene and I think that also
made it seem so much more possible to do
our own thing. When we moved back to
Australia we hit up our old friend Beau and
started incorporating some of the material
we had written in London in a band sense.
We met Chris through a mutual friend and
played our first show the following week.
The general consensus in the band seems
to be LP, over CD or MP3. It’s a much more
tangible experience putting a record on and
I think that makes you pay more attention
and appreciate the music a bit more. It feels
kind of ancient when you do it, like it’s some
sort of tradition or something suggesting the
music is the deity. I think music deserves to
be put on that pedestal.
My first record was
The Eminem Show on
CD when I was 11. I
went through a lot of
musical phases and it
wasn’t until later that I
got immersed in more
rock related genres. But
I still think that record
is great. His lyrics and
phrasing and rhythm are absolutely on
point.
Since we initiated this project we had
‘first dibs’ for song choice. Actually my
first choice was ‘New Age;’ that track was
always the one that spoke the most to me.
But the other boys all agreed on ‘Oh! Sweet
Nuthin’ and I also love that track so we
went with that. ‘Oh! Sweet Nuthin’ is great
because it lifts you up but makes you feel
nostalgic melancholia at the same time. I
love tracks that you can get lost in and forget
yourself and ‘Oh! Sweet Nuthin’ instantly
transports you to a different place. When we
were recreating it we wanted to keep those
feelings intact whilst still making it our
own. We also thought it was fitting that we
conclude the album as the curators.
As for the rest of the songs, it was ‘first in
best dressed’. Funnily enough, if I had of
gone back and assigned tracks I would have
done it pretty much the same. Everyone
got the track that played to their strengths.
Having said that, Loaded was an album
designed to be ‘loaded’ with hits. There
really isn’t any album filler on there in my
opinion, so everyone had the opportunity to
recreate a quality track.
I think the Sydney scene’s going
pretty strong despite government and
neighbourhood pressure. But it can
always get better. I’d say show more of an
interest in local bands. Listen to community
radio stations like FBi and 2SER to get a
better sense of what’s happening around
the corner. Go to the shows and buy their
records and shirts and whatever. Show some
support for the bands so they can quit their
day jobs and focus on their craft.