Tag: Sydney

INTERVIEW: Red Riders (AUS), November 2009

Posted on by David James Young in Interviews

I love Alex Grigg. I call him Sydney’s Oldest Teenager – even in his early 30s, he’s living the twentysomething dream of kicking around in bands, working part-time at a cool shop and hanging out with mates all over the joint. We first met several years ago at a Living End show, at which the Riders opened. I was just excited to meet a real-life rock musician; but it wasn’t until a few years later that we got properly acquainted. This was the start of that friendship.

Although it was simply an interview to promote the new album and tour, we went off-track for a bit to talk about what a piece of shit Sam de Brito is. Hey, Sam, if you’re reading – you’re still a piece of shit. Anyway, these guys are sadly no more – you can catch Al and drummer Tom as one half of Palms; and guitarist Brad is off doing a bunch of stuff in the Shire where he’s from. I still keep in pretty regular contact with these guys, and it’s always a treat to catch up with them. For now, let’s cast our minds back to the tail-end of the 2000s and see what happens…

– DJY, April 2014

***

Sometimes, an artist can misrepresent themselves through their music. Take Red Riders’ Alex Grigg, for instance. In the latest single Ordinary from his band’s second album, Drown in Colour, he sings: “Nothing I do ever seems to go my way/Everything I do is ordinary.” Yet when asked about his day, Grigg casually talks about some extraordinary things.

“I had to go do a thing for Cleo magazine today,” he says on a late Friday afternoon with a chuckle. “It sounds a really bizarre thing to say it out loud, but I had to go and pretty much dress a girl, and tell them what to wear. There was a lifesaver, a comedian, a corporate guy, a rowing guy…it was just some funny thing to do. ” If that’s ordinary, who knows what’s different for him?

2009’s been a busy year for Grigg and his band. Drown in Colour, their first record since the departure of guitarist Adrian Deutsch, was released in July. It’s only now, however, that the band has been performing their own headline shows in support of the record in a variety of places up and down the east coast. According to Grigg, this delay was an initially intentional move to bring more singing mouths than scratched heads to shows.

“Our booking agent told us that you don’t want to tour straight after your album’s been released – it needs time so that people have heard it, so they know the songs when they come to the shows,” he explains. “The Little Birdy tour came along when we might have done an album tour, anyway; so that happened and now we’re out on our own tour.”

With them for most stops of the shows is Brisbane quartet The Boat People, who have just released the first single from their upcoming third album, entitled Echo Stick Guitars. “We met those guys at SXSW in February of this year,” Grigg says of the indie-pop collective. “We got to hanging out and got on really well, and our releases coincided to tour so it all worked out!”

Conversation moves to the creation of the record itself – and just how much of a challenge it was for Grigg to write on his own. The last RR album, 2007’s Replica Replica, was a 50/50 collaboration of music, lyrics and vocals between Alex and Adrian. This time around, however, it was entirely up to Grigg to get new material happening.

“While it was a little more stressful to create something and put my stamp on it,” he contemplates, “it also became a lot more personal. I think a lot of the time with me and Adrian, we were so worried about trying to keep it distinct that there were times where we had to kinda tone it down a bit.” So there’s no need to restrain anymore? “I think I don’t have to contain myself,” Grigg affirms. “I feel like I can let my personality out a lot more.”

In Deutsch’s place is Brad Heald, whom many will recognise as the bassist of The Vines. Don’t perceive him as a generic fill-in, though – as Alex explains, he is bringing something quite different to Red Riders.

“They’re such different guitarists,” he muses. “Whereas Adrian would always be filling in every last gap, Brad’s playing is kind of effect-heavy and reverb-laden, with a kind of washy sound. He even plays the old songs differently!”

Rather than lament on the departure of a member who contributed so much, Grigg chooses instead to remain optimistic about the band’s new line-up. Heald’s arrival into the fold, he believes, has injected a new dose of excitement into the band, with everything seeming new once again. With that said, is the mindset any different between the release of Replica Replica and the release of Drown in Colour?

“With the last album,” muses Grigg, “it was one where I was proud of a lot of it; but at the same time there’s a lot of it that I’m kind of undecided about.” And with this record? “I’m really proud of this one,” he says. “It’s a great feeling to make something that you really like, and getting closer and closer to creating something that even I would like even if I wasn’t in the band.”

Of course, going to see the Red Riders on tour in a small pub or club means a lot more in our current live music situation than it has in quite some time. Last month, Grigg angrily posted on Twitter against Sun Herald columnist Sam de Brito and his article commenting on the live music situation that the city of Sydney has found itself in.”

De Brito wrote: “If we are serious about saving live music in Sydney, promoters and venue owners need do only one thing” – please note: FasterLouder is NOT making this up – “get hotter chicks to gigs.” Reacting to this, Grigg slammed de Brito, calling him “a useless wanker” and “everything that sucks about Sydney” when replying to Grinspoon frontman Phil Jamieson.

“I think everyone I knew felt like punching him in the face,” he notes as we dissect the gaping flaws of the article. “I mean, the guy has just completely missed the point. He should just stick to what he understands, like doing coke in the Ivy or something. Leave us to our world and he can stay in his.”

Grigg also sees de Brito’s depiction of women in his column as despicable. “It was mainly offensive to women and girls that go to shows, y’know?” he says. “That it’s somehow bad to want to go to gigs. And that all the women in Sydney want to be like the ones off Sex and the City. I mean, it’s just ridiculous.”

In response to news of events such as the closing of the Hopetoun and the Annandale Hotel being in trouble, Alex turns our discussion to what should really be done, instead of listening to de Brito’s oblivious and glaringly sexist advice. Getting hot chicks to gigs is not the answer – simply going to them is.

“If all the people that got really worked up that the Hopetoun was closing actually went to shows all the time, maybe it wouldn’t have closed,” he ponders. “Yes, it’s about the licensing laws and the council and all these things, but it’s also about actually going out and supporting these young bands. It’s the same with what happened with FBi – it’s as much about the people as it is about the laws and what have you.”

Lack of interest isn’t the only thing to blame – people new to the area, in Alex’s humble opinion, may well have something to do with it. “The thing that gets me,” he says, “is that the Annandale’s been there forever. It’s just people that are moving into the area after the venue’s already been there for so many years – why would you move into an area where there’s a live music venue nearby if you didn’t like noise and just wanted a quiet suburban life?”

Whatever the solution may be, Grigg and the Red Riders are more than willing to contribute and support as much as they can. With a strong album to support and a fresh new energetic live show to accompany it, it will be well worth your time and effort to catch the band in action on this tour.

INTERVIEW: Ben Lee (AUS), February 2009

Posted on by David James Young in Interviews

So, get this: I wasn’t actually supposed to do this interview. Sarah, who still works at FL, had actually put down my name and number to interview Ben Lee instead of Albert Santos, a guy I met through Last.FM of all places I believe. Anyway, I was in the shower when I was told that the call had come through for the interview. I quickly dried off and got them to call me back in 10. Sure enough, I was interviewing Ben Lee on the fly. Not only did I do the interview, I did an entire feature to go along with it – all without being asked. Normally, I wouldn’t be such a pushover – but this was Ben Lee we were talking about!

For context,  Ben has been a hero of mine for around fifteen years. His album Breathing Tornados was the second album I ever bought, and I’ve always had a special place in my heart for the man, his music and the lengths he’s taken it. Yes, he is indeed a “precocious little cunt,” as Bernard Fanning put it. But make no mistake about it – he is my precocious little cunt. This was completely unexpected, but totally awesome.

– DJY, July 2013

***

“I love pop music, this is how we do it…”

With a simple chord progression and an endearingly positive message one thing is exceptionally obvious – Ben Lee is back and as always, in good spirits. Getting on the line with the man feels much more like a conversation with an old friend rather than a scheduled interview. He is chatty, extroverted and at this point of 2009, already somewhat reflective.

“It’s been a very exciting month,” he says contently. “Since getting engaged and really getting focused on the new album, it’s been really creative time for me. I feel like I’m in kind of a new time of my life- a new era.”

Lee is referring to two of his latest ventures- his marriage to actress Ione Skye and working on his upcoming seventh album, The Rebirth of Venus. Both of these events, Ben reveals, have initiated a reflection through his music.

“I think, for lack of a better term, as you get older you get more… balls as an artist. Probably like everyone else, I’ve spent a little too much time at various parts of my career wondering what would make everyone else happy, instead of doing what I wanted to. So as I get older, I care less and less and also realise that all of the best moments in my career have come from when I did exactly what I wanted to; which is a bit of incentive.”

He goes on to name check a cut from the new record that reflects exactly this state of mind – What’s So Bad About Feeling Good? The song, according to Lee, is about “taking the path of least resistance- to risk criticism and ridicule and doing whatever makes you happy.”

Ben’s next exposure to Australian audiences will be as a part of the Big O tour, where he will be performing alongside Scottish chorus masters The Fratellis (of whom Lee is quite the fan) and UK dance-rockers The Music. With him will be his new band, including acoustic musician/brother of Rose, George Byrne, and Jessica Chapnik. Chapnik was Lee’s partner in crime on The Square soundtrack and is also well known for playing notorious Summer Bay killer Sam Tolhurst on Home and Away. “I always tease her about shooting up heroin in a dingy,” he laughs.

The ironic twist for Lee when it comes to The Big O – a tour that takes in all of Australia’s biggest Universities throughout Orientation week – is that he only went to university for two weeks. “Give or take” he cheekily clarifies. “I did Communications at UTS. I didn’t NOT enjoy it, I just…” his tone of voice shifts to the laughing guilt of how one would confess to enjoying a Miley Cyrus song – “…I had an idea for an album. And there was a deadline where you could get your money back.”

Despite his cameo appearance at university, Lee is very much looking forward to the shows. “In the States, I do a lot of colleges. I think it’s kind of a natural time when people really get into music. Basically, you’ve got the independence for the first time in your life to live whatever kind of life you want. but you haven’t yet been corrupted as a part of “grown up” civilisation. It’s a really exciting time to be a music fan.”

So what next? After Rebirth is released and the Big O tour is completed, Lee has two more records in the works. The first is a Noise Addict album with Lou Barlow from Dinosaur Jr which Lee describes as a “really weird, lo-fi, homemade pop record.” The second is a mixtape that has been in the works for several years and consists of a series of songs that Ben has written and gotten other people to perform. Lee truly is a working musician.

Seven albums and ten years later, Ben Lee is incredibly grateful to still be recognised in Australia’s music scene and hopes this recognition will continue with his new release and beyond. “Even people that don’t necessarily like my music know it’s been a part of the culture for a long time,” he explains. “It’s really bizarre having been around for so long and having people tell you that my music was the first album they ever bought, or that they listened to me in high school… it’s still a treat.”

INTERVIEW: theredsunband (AUS), October 2008

Posted on by David James Young in Interviews

My second interview and the first one that ever got published. They decided to hold out on the Adam Green feature so that it would get timed correctly with Meredith. I wasn’t complaining – people were gonna read my stuff, man! Holy shit. Sarah Kelly and I are… well, not friends, but we’re certainly acquaintances. Having seen her through several guises over the years – most recently with the excellent Good Heavens – I’ve always had a great appreciation for her songwriting.

She remains one of the more underrated performers in this country, but you’d never have guessed that by the way I interviewed her. I was a really big fan of theredsunband, particularly their Peapod record. Throw on any jam from that record and I’m immediately in a good place. As an interviewee, she was a little reserved and softly-spoken, but that was fine. It reflected her overall nature – and besides, I wouldn’t have exactly warmed up to some dorky teenager mouthbreathing down the phone, either.

– DJY, July 2013

***

You’d be forgiven for not remembering Sydney alternative rock trio theredsunband in 2008. Even on the band’s own terms, it’s been quite a while since they gently rocked our worlds with 2005’s Peapod. They subsequently played around the nation with countless Aussie and international acts, including one support slot for the legendary Sonic Youth. The obvious question, thus, to put to Sarah Kelly (guitarist, vocalist and brains behind theredsunband) is why exactly it had taken so long for their return in the form of their new record, The Shiralee.

“We actually recorded the album two years after Peapod ,” she explains. “It took a little longer to release, because we weren’t really sure of how we were gonna do it.” What followed was a refreshing and classically DIY mission of releasing The Shiralee: pay for the entire recording out of pocket (thanks to a lengthy 32-stop van trek across the country in 2005 and a songwriting grant) and release it independently through their own new label. “It’s been a really good experience, I’ve liked the whole thing a lot,” Kelly happily comments. “You learn a lot of different things about stuff that goes on that you don’t really notice when you’re on a record label.”

Kelly’s inspiration in her songwriting for the sophomore release stemmed from the Shiralee itself. Translating to “burden” in an Aboriginal dialect that even Kelly herself is unaware of, the book is, according to Kelly, “basically about this man wondering around in the outback.” Further independent research on the matter revealed the book’s plot to be somewhat deeper than this, depicting a man’s relationship with his child and the stressful ways of the outback Australian life. Regardless, it appears that theredsunband’s sound has mused upon the Shiralee’s environment rather than its characters.

“It’s a very spacious record,” says Sarah, before adding, “We spent a lot of time on the road, and I kind of think you can hear that on this album.” A request for further elaboration on this statement ironically presents further ambiguity. “It’s hard to explain. I don’t think you can necessarily explain why certain imagery comes into your head when you hear songs.”

True enough – especially when talk turns to what Toby Martin, singer and guitarist of long-serving Sydneysiders Youth Group, thinks of the record. “He told me that when he listens to that record, he gets a sense of a really huge, open space in the desert with lots of tiny little people walking around,” Kelly explains with a laugh. “That’s such an awesome thing to say.”

Australia will have their chance to experience this desert-sized sound for the first time as theredsunband team up with Youth Group for what looks to be one of the bigger Australian tours of this year. A double header, the tour takes the bands to a myriad of interesting regional places in addition to the capital cities – several of which neither band has ever been to.

“Neither of us has played in Wagga Wagga, or Currumbin or Noosa,” says Kelly as she tries to think of the places which the tour will take her. “I’m really looking forward to those shows and going to those places. We’ve played in quite a few unusual spots over the years, and tours like this are a really good opportunity.”

The tour was conceived after both Kelly and Martin appeared on the hugely popular SBS pub trivia show RocKwiz. The two battled it out as the guests on opposing teams, to be united later in the night with a surprisingly brilliant version of the Jesus and Mary Chain’s Sometimes Always. Martin took Jim Reid’s part, while Kelly did her best Hope Sandoval. Afterwards, discussing the touring plans for both camp’s new records (The Shiralee and Youth Group’s fourth release, The Night Is Ours, respectively), it was decided that “it would be great fun to do a tour together.”

“We’ve known various members of Youth Group for a very long time,” recalls Sarah, briefly before our conversation turns sweetly anecdotal. “I think the first time we ever played together was in 2002,” she continues. “That was [sister and keyboardist] Lizzie’s first show with the band. She was only 16 back then! Luckily, she had a fake ID under the name of Roxanne.”

‘Roxanne’ has long since grown up and established herself as the backbone of theredsunband sound, with warmly-toned organ and simple yet effective percussion such as the tambourine. It may seem a cliche to ask, but one can’t help but be intrigued as to whether it is difficult having a younger sibling on board in the band.

“People ask that all the time,” Kelly offers casually. “It’s not difficult at all. She’s a very calm person, always very cool. If anyone ever chucks a tantrum, it’s gonna be me!”