mint (issue 6) august 2015

A TRUFFLING A TRUFFLING EXPERIENCEEXPERIENCE

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# 6 • august 2015

FREEMONTHLY mintmagazine.com.aubayside & peninsula

ALPINE: ALPINE: ‘‘Just a Just a beautiful beautiful mess’mess’’’

AUG 14 Tracer with Casanovas

AUG 28 Burlesque show

SEPT 24 Ash Grunwald

OCT 15 Katie Noonan Transmutant Tour

NOV 1 The Basics

NOV 27 Christmas Burlesque Show

DEC 29 British India

Plus more Shows to be released soon. For full ticket & show information visit www.ticketebo.com.au/grandhotel or phone the Grand on 5975 2001.

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There’s an old saying that some musicians look more like the artist than the artist themselves. This could not be truer of Ron Vincent who happens to be the spitting image of Cat Stevens, with his wild dark mane, haunting voice and gentle demeanour. It’s hard to work out if this is intentional or just part of the cosmic relationship between Vincent and his beloved Cat. And now the world for Ron Vincent has opened up with performances locally and internationally on the horizon.

“It’s just turned a corner recently,” Vincent says. “With gigs booked across Victoria and soon to be internationally with England opening up later this year.”

The Rosebud singer has had an affi liation with Cat Stevens for three decades, since being introduced to the 1970s singer as a lad, and has made it his mission to create an authentic tribute show to the iconic singer-songwriter.

“I fi rst picked up the guitar when I was 14 after hearing John Lennon’s Imagine on the radio and I was hooked. That was the start of a life-long love affair with music that is just as strong today,” he says.

“My dad and uncle introduced me to Cat Stevens music around the same age. I taped myself singing Cat Stevens and one day dad heard it and couldn’t believe how much I sounded like him and encouraged me to pursue my dream of bringing his performance and music to people who never had a chance to hear him live.”

And so the fi rst step was taken on the path to his show Ron Vincent in Concert sings Cat Stevens.

“The years in between have all led up to this point,” Vincent says philosophically.

“I went on to have professional singing lessons and in the mid-90s I did voiceover work as the plant in The Little Shop of Horrors. I’ve played at heaps of venues across Melbourne and the peninsula in cover bands like Rendezvous, Flat Chat and Third Stone. But it was always Cat Stevens that was my fi rst love,” he says.

“I don’t even like to think of it as a tribute. I am a messenger of his music.”

Anyone who sees Vincent in concert is blown away by his unique mellow renditions of all the Cat Stevens favourites. He even throws in a few that are not as well known. By the end of the concert, the audience are mesmerised and if they didn’t know much about Cat Stevens before, they are certainly fans now.

“I want to give audiences the experience of seeing a Cat Stevens show,” says Vincent, whose own relationship to the music radiates

at each performance.

“I become immersed in the songs and let myself get swept up in the spirituality of the music.”

For Vincent, spirituality and karma play a large role in his life, and he says it is important to have faith no matter what is happening.

“Just like anyone I have had some down times but always manage to stay positive and focused because I know this is what I am supposed to be doing. I wouldn’t exactly call it destiny but I know that everything has led me to this point.”

Vincent says that every day is another adventure and audiences still manage to surprise him.

“Recently I did a concert where the audience started coming up really close to me. That was the fi rst time that’s happened and it was

great. They were feeling what I was through the music,” he says.

Unlike other shows, Vincent prefers not to talk too much during the performance, apart from the occasional jovial banter.

“I think it is important that the music speaks for itself. It is so powerful that you can sense how well people are responding to it and that’s all that is needed.

“Whether playing solo or with my band, we usually have a song list but will stray away from that according to how the mood strikes and the reaction we get from the audience. That’s the beauty of being so familiar with the music. It’s not about playing each note perfectly, it’s about the soul connection with the music.”

As for the uncanny resemblance, Vincent says it might be because they are both of Mediterranean descent.

“Being of Maltese descendants, although I was born in Melbourne, I have the same look.”

Anyone who has seen Ron Vincent perform can sense it is so much more than that, as if he is channelling Cat Stevens himself, transporting the audience to another time and place.

“I only have one dream and it is quite simple. To be shown by someone with a torch to the stage, to sit there and play a full theatre and be a messenger of the music.”

Ron Vincent in Concert sings Cat Stevens will be performing at Rose GPO September 4, Ocean Grove Zebra Bar, Friday 28 August and Friday 9 October, and Frankston Arts Centre Cube 37, Saturday 10 October.

To book go to ronvincentsingscatstevens.com

RON VINCENTBy Melissa Walsh

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A music, arts, events & entertainment magazine for the Peninsula & Bayside.

EDITOR: Cameron McCullough – [email protected] ARTS EDITOR: Andrea Louise Thomas – [email protected] CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Maria Mirabella – [email protected]: Ricky Thompson – 0425 867 578 – [email protected]

PHOTOGRAPHERS: Gary Sissons and Yanni

CONTRIBUTORSTerri Lee Fatouros – terri@ mintmagazine.com.au

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Ray McGrotty – ray@ mintmagazine.com.au Stuart McCullough – stuart@ mintmagazine.com.au

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Andrew Dixon interviewed Lou James from the Aussie six-piece group Alpine as they prepared for their new album Yuck to hit the shelves, and readied themselves for the global Foolish tour.Alpine pay more than just lip service to their cross-continental success. Their sound’s changed noticeably since their fi rst full-length studio album, A is for Alpine, as have the group’s creative dynamics.

“After touring with each other, we got really close… there was this new-found confi dence. (Yuck) came really organically,” states Lou, one of the band’s two lead singers.

Fans are clearly lapping it up though, with the Foolish tour starting on home soil in Adelaide before moving east, selling out shows along the way.

“The Governor in Adelaide and the Forum in Melbourne are very different venues … there’s so many factors that make each show unique.”

Now Lou, Phoebe, Christian, Ryan, Tim and Phil are embarking on a huge US tour many young Aussie bands would envy. But is the prospect of a massive new tour, exciting extending from Australia around the world, a little nerve-wracking?

“It’s a bit of both… I’m actually a little nervous,” says Lou. “With the older material… we’ve been touring with that for so long… whereas this time it’s daunting because we’ll be playing these

tracks for the fi rst time”.

Playing massive gigs in New York doesn’t make the show in Ballarat any less special. The likelihood of familiar faces in the local crowds adds to the pressure of the smaller local gigs. “Ballarat is smaller… you can actually see everyone, down to the freckles of their faces!”

Though they hung out and played informally as friends, their true talent lay dormant until 2009, when they became well-known names after Triple J’s Unearthed network gave them a national platform. Lou claims that “Tim uploaded our really crappy demo and then Dom Allessio played Heartlove. From there we had labels contacting us, managers contacting us… it was like BOOM! It just happened.” Having Ivy League as their label didn’t hurt, either. “They saw so much in us, they still do and it keeps our independence.”

As the band grew, Christian took an interest in production, taking on a co-producer role with Dan Hume, their existing producer. According to Lou though, “it felt like we were all producing it… You never felt like a puppet for anyone at the label. There’s something beautiful about working with people who really want you to express yourself through your art.”

When all the band members got involved in the production of a very different second product, it’s not surprising that the creative dynamic

changed. “With A is for Alpine, we held back with how we wrote music because we were worried we couldn’t do it live! There was a lack of confi dence and certain technologies we weren’t familiar with at the time. We’ve read and learned a lot more from other bands and how they use their equipment; we were fearless. I think you can hear that,” she exclaims of Yuck, which Christian claims was born of “a textured or harmonic idea” and then turned into music.

“This album steps up a little more… there’s a heap of instruments we didn’t use on the fi rst record… there’s way more textures and layers.” And the most musically complicated and diffi cult track on the album to create? “Shot Fox. We were playing around with glitch key sounds, then we added guitar, then we added trumpets, then we added… things that sound a bit strange. But the different layers of instrumentation really gave us a unique sound, almost counteractive melodies.” It was defi nitely the hardest song on the album to record – “soooo complicated!” Lou proclaims. “There’s so much going on.”

At the end of the show, though, they all have to come back to work eventually. “We’ve always had day jobs. Phoebe and I have continued studying, I just fi nished a postgraduate in Communications and Phoebe’s doing her masters in international development. Christian

has a master’s in Music Composition, Tim is a freelance graphic designer and Ryan has his own company that makes and fi xes guitars, and he’s also a bit of a road tech for other bands. On top of all that, Phil works in an Apple store, so we’re a pretty busy band!”

But isn’t holding down a job a little diffi cult when you can be on the road for months at a time? Lou admits it’s “full on, but it makes it even more rewarding when we’re playing, when we’re touring. It’s hard, no doubt – I mean, Phoebe and I also work in a pub, but you can’t have the most glamorous job when you need the fl exibility to go away on tour and pay the bills.”

If their musical inspirations seem hard to pin down, it’s probably because each of Alpine’s members has a completely different musical palate. For Lou: “St Vincent, Roxy Music, Kate Bush, little known artists that write these beautiful songs but they write with courage, and with sensitivity… they like to challenge sounds, they’re a little bit left of centre, you know, there’s theatricals involved!” But that’s one of six people. “There’s so much at the table, from Christian’s classical background – he’s a huge Radiohead fan, by the way – Pheobe’s jazz and 60s and 70s pop… It’s very eclectic and I think that’s what’s great.” So do the fans, it seems.

“I don’t think we’re ever going to sound like anyone… just a beautiful mess!”

Alpine: ‘Just a beautiful mess’


ANDREW DIXON: Yuck’s your second studio album, and you have a pretty strong following from A is for Alpine, which was number 1 on the Australian iTunes chart and also a triple J feature album – how did you deal with the pressure to match the success of your debut? Did it change the dynamics of the group when creating and recording songs?

LOU JAMES: Not at all. I always fi nd that question really funny. That whole sense of pressure didn’t faze us at all when writing this album. I think to feel that pressure is where a lot of bands go wrong… the expectation of writing something that’s gotta be better, it’s gotta match it, but if you write music that you love, and you just have fun, you’re gonna create something that you’re happy with. At the end of the day if you’re really stoked with it, if other people like it, great. If they don’t, you’re still really stoked. We didn’t really listen to a lot of “charting” music as well, we just went into a little bubble and just did what we did. We got to spend roughly a year working on this record, which was something we didn’t get to do with A is for Alpine. We had material there, but were given less than three weeks to get it all done. So it was really, really intense. I didn’t enjoy that process as much, because we’d never recorded an album, and it was terrifying. I think with this one, we knew what to expect, we had more time, and we knew the industry a bit more – we were more familiar with it. Writing this album was not as terrifying… we had more time. After touring with each other we were really close, so we had more of an understanding of our identity and our infl uences. We’d just been touring, in each other’s faces for what felt like two years. So there was just this new-found confi dence, and you know, it just came really organically. I think that’s kind of rare, I don’t think that happens easily, so we were really lucky.

AD: Foolish [the single] has been out for just over a week and your tour begins tomorrow. Is the prospect of touring a little intimidating, or genuinely exciting?

LOU: It’s a bit of both, although everyone’s going to say different things. I’m actually a little nervous. I feel like with the older material since the EP, we’ve been touring with that for so long, and when it fi nally got to us doing a big tour, we were really familiar with our songs. You had a mood, and we had that confi dence whereas this time, for me it’s a little daunting because it’s the fi rst time we’ll be performing all these songs. There’s been two or three shows where we’ve performed a couple of tracks from this album but this is so new for us and the people coming to the show. It’s really fresh, raw, but at the same time it’s really exciting because it’s gonna be pretty special.

AD: How does it compare playing live in a big city like New York or LA when you’re starting

out in Adelaide and Ballarat?

LOU: To be honest, there’s something really comforting about being on home soil, and also when you play smaller, more intimate shows, every show is never the same, regardless of where you are. The venue, the people, the mood that they’re in and the mood that you’re in, there’s so many factors that make each show unique. So I love the smaller shows – doing regional shows like Ballarat or The Governor in Adelaide, the Forum in Melbourne are all very different venues. There’s something great about each of them, for example Ballarat is smaller and you can actually see everyone, down to the freckles on their faces. Then you go to the forum and although you can still see them, they’re just a little bit smaller, and you have a bigger stage to play on. It’s just funny because it gives you a different context every time you play, which makes it a lot of fun. But playing at home is so great, because it’s home, and they’ve been with us from the get-go, they’ve seen us from the EP til now. That’s something the US doesn’t see as much because we’ve toured more extensively here than we have there.

AD: You guys have been active since about 2009, but it only took you about a year to get out an EP and you had a studio album by 2012, which is a timeline I’m sure a lot of Aussie bands would be a little jealous of. Has your success come as a bit of a shock, or were you laying the groundwork before you got together and started recording?

LOU: We’d been together about three years before then. We weren’t really trying to be a successful band, we just started writing music together. It wasn’t until triple j made us Unearthed Feature Artist for a week with our really crappy demo, Tim uploaded it and then Dom Allessio played Heartlove from the EP and form there was like – because triple J is such an amazing tool for unsigned artists, we had labels contacting us, managers contacting us, and then it was like BOOM! It just happened. To be honest we didn’t have a huge amount of people after us. We had Ivy League, who are incredible, pick us up, and our manager, and they’ve stuck with us and have been the best possible team to work with. They just saw so much in us, they still do and it keeps that independence, not being with a major label. Behind the art there’s less focus on money, and although it might sound controversial, there’s something beautiful about working with people who really want you to express yourself through your art. We’ve been really lucky with that.

AD: How important has your relationship with Ivy League records been to your success internationally?

LOU: They’ve just listened to us, helped us to communicate what we want to express as a

band. At the end of the day, you are a product, but you know, they allowed us to have some amazing music videos, they allowed us to create some great music, and they allowed us to put it out there into the world, which meant people were able to hear it, and then you know we were able to do South by Southwest in Austin TX, where we got picked up by a US label. It’s been a domino effect, really, in the best possible way.

AD: Yuck is the fi rst album that members of your band have co-produced. Were you all involved with that, or was it just Christian?

LOU: Christian was co-producing with Dan Hum, and Dan Hume produced our fi rst record. Obviously those two pretty much steered the ship together, but because were all good friends and everyone really listens to each other and is open to trying out new ideas. It almost felt like we were all producing it, even if those two were the main peeps. You never feel like you’re just a puppet for everyone else to control.

AD: Have you gone into this album with that “studio refi ned” end product in mind, or do you primarily see yourself as writing songs for the stage?

LOU: We’re a little less fearless, writing music and not feeling like it has to sound live exactly like it sounds on the record. In terms of the stage, we fi gured out how to use the right technology to project what we want live. In A is for Alpine, we held back with how we wrote music because we were worried that we couldn’t do it live, and I think that was because of a lack of confi dence and we didn’t know how to use certain technologies whereas this time we do. We’ve read a lot more and we’ve seen other bands and how they use their equipment, so we were just way more fearless. I think you can hear that – there’s way more textures and layers in Yuck. There’s brass, there’s instruments we didn’t use on the fi rst record which I think has made this album step up a little bit more. But we’ve been rehearsing and it sounds unreal!

AD: Speaking of textures, a quote from Christian says most of your music came from a textured or harmonic idea that you guys were curious about. Can you elaborate on how a texture or harmonic idea becomes a song?

LOU: Say Shop Fox, we were playing around with glitch key sounds, then we added guitar, then we added trumpets, then we added… things that sound a bit strange, but were able to add them into different layers of instrumentation which then really gave us a sound, almost through counteractive melodies. Shop Fox was probably the hardest song to record on the album. It is sooo complicated. If you ever get the chance to

By Andrew Dixon

really listen to the music, there’s so much going on.

AD: It’s not easy to make a living in music, and you guys have obviously had some good luck with early success, but do you have to hold down other jobs or do you just work super-hard in the music scene to maintain an income?

LOU: We all have day jobs, and we’ve always had day jobs. Phoebe and I have both continued studying. I just fi nished a postgrad in communications and Phoebe’s doing her masters in international development. Tim is freelance graphic designer, and Ryan has his own company where they make and fi x guitars, and he’s also a bit of a road tech, helping test equipment for bands when they’re on tour and Phil works in the Apple store, so we’re a pretty busy band. It’s full on, but it makes it even more rewarding when we’re playing, when we’re touring… It’s hard. I also work in a pub, and so does Phoebe, but you can’t have the most glamorous job, but you need a job that gives you the fl exibility to go away on tour as well as helping to pay the bills.

AD: I’ll fi nish with a question I’m sure you’ve been asked… your musical inspirations. What sort of bands have you looked up to, what musicians have you taken creative inspiration from in the creation of Yuck?

LOU: That’s a hard one, and again, everyone’s going to have their own answers. For me, I’m very inspired by talking heads, St Vincent, Roxy Music, Kate Bush, little known artists that write these beautiful songs but they write courageous but they’re very sensitive, they like to challenge sounds, they’re a little bit left of centre, you know, there’s theatrics involved, those are my infl uences. But with six people there’s so much at the table. Christian’s got a classical background, and he’s a huge Radiohead fan. Phoebe listens to a lot of jazz and 60s and 70s pop Carlia. It’s very eclectic and I think that’s what’s great. I don’t think we’re ever going to sound like anyone… just a beautiful mess.


He cuts a sultry, brooding, and complex fi gure on stage as he sings and plays his Cigar Box Chuggar guitar. His voice matches his sideburns and hair; lustrous, wild and imbued with cool. Wearing a captain’s hat, stripped t-shirt, multi-buttoned jacket and black jeans, he looks a mix of pirate and neo romantic expression. Born of Hungarian parents, Adam Kovarik is the front man of pioneering indie band Stackhouse, blending a unique blend of Australian blues and rock.

It would be fair to say that Stackhouse lives up to the quintessential, Melbourne underground grunge rock and blues band but with one difference; these guys are gifted and rising fast.

Let’s face it, when you have wild man Kim Volkman of the Whiskey Priests playing distorted Cigar Box bass, Venom of House Wreckers on drums and Jake Ellis on Cigar Box lead, you’re going to get crazy action going down.

Stackhouse is the fi rst Australian all Cigar Box Guitar band and their songs are pretty darn good.

These delightful guitars are traditionally three and four strings and create a unique sound unlike any other type of guitar. They produce a harmonic depth of range that can alternate from deep resonance to high pitch and trebly sounds. Some even suggest it’s like a vintage tone that is straight from the south.

“Making Cigar Box Guitars stemmed from my interest in old blues music that originally began in the Mississippi, deep south of America where money was little but the passion to make music

was very high. Out of empty cigar boxes people would put a stick through the box and stretch wire the length of the instrument to create a unique sound playing with a bottleneck as a slide.

This fascinated me so I began to build guitars myself, progressively they became more playable and sounded better and better. They are all one off unique functional pieces of art.

Interestingly, Stackhouse started primarily from the making of my Cigar Box guitars, which in fact was inspired from the music in the TV series True Blood, as I originally thought it was a Cigar Box being played. Even though it wasn’t, it got me interested in the guitars that got me building them. So when a musician friend of mine suggested we put together an all Cigar Box guitar band and create our own Melbourne bitter fl avour of music to showcase the guitars I build, I thought, ‘why not?’. I already had a few songs written and Ellis and myself wrote some more which resulted in recording our debut album, Stackhouse, an album of all original material, ” says Kovarik.

Currently they are waiting for their second album Jack the Dancer to be mastered; and so far they have had a good response from it.

This album is themed and Kovarik builds the character of Jack the Dancer, an evil man, who you might think has gone away but only to return. Therefore, the album is the story of ‘Jack the Dancer’, a reference to cancer and of life’s experiences. Just when you think cancer has gone…it comes back!

Although Kovarik is the main writer, their second album saw Ellis and Venom contributing their creative input.

“I might have a notion or we’d be jamming and an idea would manifest. In fact most of the second album came from the three of us jamming, but lyrically I wrote most of it.”

Previous bands for Kovarik were Two Bob Watch, and Stinky Gypies, and like Stackhouse he told his stories on stage through his music, twisting facts but with a little truth peppered throughout.

“You know I make up a character and tell some crazy things. For example one of the songs in Stinky Gypsies was called If You Don’t Ask You Don’t Get.

That idea was from somebody saying that to me.”

His creativity just comes to him and he takes full advantage of it when it does.

“There is a song on the fi rst album that had to be written. Any time a person says ‘I don’t know’ you’ll hear, ‘well, google it’. So I wrote a song called Google It.

On our new album there is a song called Break Into My Car, which is really inspired by Venom telling me a story about him and Phil Parra loading their car full of equipment after a gig in Castlemaine when they accidentally locked the keys in. That’s what inspired that song.

The new album has a beginning and an end.”

Kovarik is a big fan of Alice Cooper and Tom Waits whom both are big storytellers in their own right. So it’s no wonder when Kovarik hits the

stage the unexpected can and often does occur.

By day Kovarik is a mechanic and has worked on most of the band members cars. In fact he told me the full story about how the band did come together.

“Brian Colechin, who now has played bass on both albums, found me through the internet as he needed a mechanic and read the reviews about me and contacted me. I fi xed his car and he saw the guitars and said ‘what the hell, this is fantastic’ and suggested we put a band together. Colechin was playing with Venom in The Hell Hounds at that time. Anyway, Venom came around to have his car fi xed and when he saw the guitars he was keen to gig. We all got along so well that we actually recorded our fi rst album in record time.

On both albums we had guest musician, Michelangelo Russo who is an atmospheric dude-playing trumpet, keys, and harmonica.”

Over the years he has custom made a lot of guitars for different musicians as well as selling stunning pieces for people who just want to hang them on their wall. Some of the best ones have been sold to people who’ll never play it.

Each guitar has its unique, individual style and appeal. Recently Kovarik widened his range by experimenting with different woods and box size, thus creating additional musical works of art.

Anyone turning his or her nose up at a Cigar Box guitar would be wise to think again. Tom Waits played Cigar Box Banjo on his album Real Gone.

PJ Harvey plays a Baratto Cigar Fiddle, Bo

STACKHOUSEBy Terri Lee Fatouros

UNPLUGGED AND UP CLOSE


Private Dining now at The CoveCCELEEBBRRRRAAATTE IINN LUXURYY

Bookings only with selected menu’s

Diddley plays a cigar box shaped guitar and Luther Dickinson, the guitarist from the North Mississippi Allstars uses an electric Cigar Box guitar called the ‘Lowebow’. While cool dude, Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top performs with a Cigar Box guitar made by Kurt Schoen.

Even way back in 1967 saw Jimi Hendrix – Summer of Love gig playing a home made Diddley Box! These guitars are not only beautifully made, but look cool and sound really amazing producing very different resonances compared to your ordinary run of the mill guitars.

Kovarik’s hope for Stackhouse is to tour and be acknowledged for his songwriting, commitment, and effort he puts into the band. Let’s face it, music is his life; he lives, breathes, and makes it.

He sums up rather wisely though. “As good as a musician you can be, without a good song you don’t go anywhere.”

There really is a distinctive buzz around Stackhouse, with all the right ingredients in the mix. Kovarik’s showmanship and storytelling play out in his songs, and when combined with his siren prop eerily wailing throughout, it adds that darker, otherworldly feel, like in Alice Cooper’s shows. Kovarik’s wielding, blending and storytelling in his music is intense and you just feel there’s something deeper going on. In

fact, if Stackhouse were given the right stage dramatics such as lighting, props, costumes, fi re extravaganza, etc, they would be world famous, world class in a blink of an eye. Something to think about, boys!

Stackhouse is on the rise and fast. With gigs at The Espy, Mr. Boogie Man Bar, Cheery Bar, Northcote Social, and many other venues under their belt, the guys are fast becoming hot property and bookings are fl owing in. Luckily for us, Stackhouse is coming our way soon so keep a look out for the extraordinary music and show the band has to offer.

stackhouse1.bandcamp.comwww.facebook.com/stackhousetheband


I fi rst heard about the charming and gifted musician Doc White when I accidently sent him an invite to the monthly Debonair Lunch, an industry and invite only event for professional musicians, actors and entertainers. When he contacted me asking did I mean to send him an invite, I replied saying it must be fate and we have been friends ever since.

Doc White is one of those rare entertainers whose talent encompasses a variety of genres. He is a regular muso, writes and performs in his own burlesque show, sings, acts, is a playwright, plays guitar and mandolin, creates fun music, has spot on comedic timing and gets beautiful and sexy burlesque ladies do unbelievable twists and

turns with their bodies.

Wow, what a dude!

His Lowdown Hokum Orchestra and Burlesque Revue, the show I saw at Docklands Spiegel Tent toured Adelaide recently, was highlighted in The Adelaide Fringe Festival and on Channel 9 extensively.

However, he has performed his show at Three Palms Spiegel Tent in Sorrento and hopes to be back there when it cranks up again. Before this his music was and still is played on ABC Radio, was featured on ABC’s The Planet radio program for National radio and he’s been written up in Rhythms, Beat and Clothesline magazines. Back in 2004 his song Cropduster Blues was voted ‘Song of the Year’ at the

Melbourne Blues Appreciation Society. So he’s no stranger to success.

Lowdown Hokum Orchestra and Burlesque Revue is an eight-piece act made up of Doc White (vocals, guitar/mandolin) Nichaud Fitzgibbon (vocals/percussion) Tony Martin (drums), Paul Williamson (saxophone/clarinet), Alex Black (fi ddle), Mark Cutler (actor) and Howard Cairns (double bass). The show also features two extraordinary burlesque dancers in Miss Bettie Bombshell and Bella De Jac.

White’s original songs are jazz, blues, and rock infused and gets you into a happy place peppered with curiosity early on in his show as you keep wondering ‘what will happen next?’.

Described by Doc as ‘more than a gig but less than a musical’, the idea behind the show was born from the proposition that many of the best live songs are simply snapshots of human experience. “Like any good novel or short story, a good song should have a beginning, a middle, and an end and say something that resonates. With that in mind, I wondered if it was possible to construct a musical experience, which used different songs by different writers in an idiom with which I was familiar to illustrate a longer narrative. The songs carry the show and the dialogue provides the general direction the story takes.” says White.

The story revolves around the central character of Jazz Diva, Dee Dee Delore played by Fitzgibbon. Dee Dee puts together a show about her life in show business in order to reinvigorate her career. Against the wishes of her director and husband, played by Mark Cutler, Dee Dee hires her former musical partner and lover, Doc White, who plays himself in the show. With tensions rising the show opens as we meet them for the fi rst time one week into rehearsals.

This is a fi rst time venture into burlesque for White and it’s been a fascinating and rewarding experience as everyone has collaborated wonderfully. His performers are seasoned professionals and due to the fact the music is the main medium through which the story is told, he chose right with his current line up as they understand the vocabulary of burlesque and add their particular style to the songs. “Great songs deserve excellent players,” claims White.

Fortunately for all us burlesque fans, the Lowdown Hokum Orchestra and Burlesque Review have released their fi rst album titled That’s Showbiz and features all the songs from the show. It’s a happy energetic album. For me, with each listen a memory pops up and I relive particular parts of the show again.

The show will tour the Sydney Fringe Festival in September then head back to the Melbourne Fringe Festival afterwards along with showcasing at local venues such as The Flying Saucer Club, Three Palms Spiegel Tent in Sorrento, at Docklands, and elsewhere around the burbs.

For information check out:

lowdownhokum.com docwhite.com.auemail: [email protected] 155 302

DOC WHO… DOC WHITEBy Terri Lee Fatouros


Originally from Tasmania, singer-songwriter Tom Dockray is just about the most authentic old-timey guitar picker and songwriter a Melbourne gig-goer is likely to encounter. Tom’s songs have their roots in the country-blues of Mississippi John Hurt, but the wit and wisdom of his words conjures up comparisons to John Prine, Kinky Freidman and Australia’s own Don Walker.

In 2014 Dockray released his debut EP Iron Suit – impressing a bunch of folks in community radio and the music press. Around that time he was describing himself as sounding like “Justin Townes Earle doing a Nick Cave murder ballad” (which was in itself a fairly apt and enticing description) but lately he’s blossomed even further. Debut album One Finger Salute, recorded recently in Northcote, promises to put Dockray on the map with its mix of day-to-day observation, political satire and hopeless romanticism all played live by a feel-good band of some of Melbourne’s best young roots musicians.

If you’ve been out in Melbourne in recent months you might well have caught a little Dockray – he’s one of the hardest working acts in town right now, often playing three or four shows a week at venues such as The Retreat in Brunswick, The Elwood Lounge (in Elwood, of course) and Little and Olver in Fitzroy. Check out facebook.com/ThomasCharles for more info.

TOM DOCKRAYBy Lachlan Bryan

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I take it all back; every last word. For years I have poured scorn on anything that looked like a boy band. I have derided their musical output and questioned their artistic integrity. I have dished out piping hot spoonfuls of opprobrium. I ridiculed the way they dressed, danced and the dreadful songs they sang. Not anymore. I have offi cially seen the light. For I am now convinced that these confected groups are the repositories of the true rock and roll spirit. This change of heart is not the result of a song or even a particularly challenging dance manoeuvre but is all thanks to one man, or boy,

ROCK ‘N ROLL EXCESS (BAGGAGE)By Stuart McCullough

if you prefer. Namely, one James McElvar.

I’ll be the fi rst to admit that I’d never heard of the boy band Rewind. I don’t own any of their albums, have never visited them at ‘Soundcloud’ and, if I’m being completely honest, wouldn’t recognise the group if I tripped over them down at the local fruit and veggie shop. But Rewind is a real group and James McElvar is a member. More than a mere boy band, they are carriers of the torch that has been passed from one generation of rock and roll outlaws to the next.

The group was catching a fl ight from London to Glasgow. Young James was informed he had one more carry-on bag than he was allowed. His options were limited: he could either pay a forty-fi ve pound fee for the execrable crime of having excess baggage, or he could dispose of his bag altogether. James, however, saw a third option. Young McElvar was not about to be pushed around by the powers that be – that’s not what rock and roll is about. Instead, like generations of musicians before him, he decided to stick it to The Man.

Rather than abandon his surplus suitcase, James decided to wear the entire contents. This meant donning six T-shirts, four jumpers, two jackets, one pair of shorts, three pairs of jeans, two pairs of jogging pants and two hats. It was the ultimate fashion statement, a statement that also said, ‘you can try and charge me forty fi ve quid, but you can never tame the music.’ But as stylish as it was, it signifi cantly impeded young James’s attempts to walk

to the aircraft. Things only got worse once he was on board.

In the event that you decided to dress up like the Michelin Man, fair warning: you may experience diffi culties putting your seatbelt on. Not only was James unable to comply with even the most straightforward requirements of the in-fl ight safety demonstration, he started to overheat. By ‘overheat’, we’re not talking about the occasional droplet of sweat but the kind of meltdown you normally expect to see when the Wicked Witch of the West gets drenched. The boy was positively melting.

Airline cabin crew are prepared for almost anything, including overheating boy band members. Responding to the urgent situation, the crew took off the extraneous clothing – a process which must have felt like peeling an onion or a gigantic boy band version of ‘pass the parcel’ - and laid the stricken passenger down on a row of seats. But it was to no avail. James was violently ill and then fainted. Now that’s what I call rock and roll. The only thing he didn’t do was kick over an amplifi er and toss a pair of drum sticks into the audience.

There’s not nearly enough of this kind of thing these days. It used to be that acts of rock and roll defi ance were reported on a daily basis. I can still recall the furore surrounding the refusal of Jimi Hendrix to touch off the number 67 tram to Carnegie. And the time Pig Pen from the Grateful Dead failed to cast his vote in the Stonnington

Council elections, to say nothing of the day that Jim Morrison ‘forgot’ to say thank you after a particularly tricky merge onto the Monash from the Warrigal Road on-ramp. I had thought we were never going to see such brazen acts of rock and roll debauchery again. I am happy to be proved wrong.

In a way, James has reminded us all of time when rock music meant something. His actions in trying to dodge an excess baggage fee recall an era when the music of youth was about non-conformity and rebellion. My hope is that it doesn’t end here. Perhaps other musicians will be inspired by this simple but lonely act of insurrection and will fi nd their own way to stick it to the man. I look forward to the day when Taylor Swift refuses to offer her bags for inspection and Harry from One Direction takes the ticket he got for overstaying his welcome in a two-hour parking spot and sets it on fi re, Hendrix style, before kicking over a postbox to make his point.

Clothes maketh the man. In this case, clothes maketh the man feel very, very ill. Luckily for all, James McElvar has recovered but I hope he’s learned something. No doubt he’s received plenty of criticism for his actions. This misses the point. Before news of this event, I’d never even heard of James or his band, Rewind. In fact, I am yet to hear a lick of their music. In that sense, I think James may well have achieved more than he set out to. For me, I can only say that I am looking forward to the next exciting rock and roll adventure from James. Rock on.

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When you’ve been in the music industry as long as Ross Wilson, doing a gig like The Besto Mondo Tour is more like fun than hard work.

Ross and the original line-up of Mondo Rock will be back this year to take the stage by storm again on Saturday 22 August at The Palais.

Off the back of rave reviews and sold out shows across the country last year, the iconic Australian rock band have announced a select season of theatre shows, with the original line up for their Besto Mondo Tour.

“It was great to get together with the guys again last year and we’re rehearsing at the moment for the Besto Mondo Tour,” says Wil-son, who has just returned from holidays and is ready to rock. “Last year some of the songs on the Chemistry album I hadn’t sung in years and you tend to go back into the headspace of where you were those years ago.”

Wilson says this year they will be concentrat-ing on songs from the best of collection.

“We are very diligent about how we prepare

and all of us guys have been still full time mu-sicians so it’s just fi ne tuning,” says Wilson. “Even though I perform some of the songs with my own band, when the original band get together there’s something different about it. It has that extra glue or power that gives the songs more weight.”

Mondo Rock will be hitting the road with the classic line-up – Ross Wilson, Eric McCusker, James Black, Paul Christie and Gil Matthews reuniting once again – and the lads cannot wait.

Finding fame and fortune with Daddy Cool in the early 70s, Wilson says he realised after the band dispersed how hard it had been to handle that kind of notoriety.

“I kind of realized I was a bit nuts at the time. First of all you go around and the spotlight is on you and you become a bit overwhelmed, so when Mondo Rock took off I was more pre-pared,” said Wilson, who started out singing in the school choir and in a band at school.

“I grew up in a musical household so got into my fi rst band at school, and playing gigs week-

ends. Then I decided to take a leap off the ledge without a net and got into it full time.

My parents were very supportive. Dad really never mentioned it as a problem and over time I proved to him that I could make it work.”

As for longevity, Wilson says being in the po-sition of a lead singer and a writer gives him the ability to marshal all the forces together and direct what’s going on, as well producing other albums for the likes of Skyhooks.

“When I saw Skyhooks I sort of became their mentor. I was sticking up for them and watch-ing out for them in the industry. I was really glad they signed with Mushroom because I didn’t want them to be censored.”

The most diffi cult part of the 40-year journey, he says, was being young and a little naïve.

“When you start off young and full of enthusi-asm you tend to be more trusting so you have to learn. It’s the classic story of artists being exploited. These days it’s a lot more business like though with more resources available. There was no such thing as showbiz lawyers

and little advice when we started out.”

These days Wilson’s musical tastes are varied.

“My musical style has changed a bit I think and I’m always looking for something differ-ent. I’m a music omnivore,” he says with a laugh.

Mixing it up with Mondo Rock, New Zealand band Mi-Sex are special guests playing all their hits, including faves like Computer Games, Blue Day, People and But You Don’t Care.

“It’s great to have Mi-Sex as supporting. They’re brilliant and we’re all looking forward to some fun,” says Wilson.

Mondo Rock started out as a quintessential pub rock outfi t and soon developed into one of the most prominent bands of the live music scene. As they prepare for the Besto Mon-do tour, fans can expect the same musical genius all over again with hits from the Besto Mondo Greatest Hits Collection.

Tickets available from ticketmaster.com.au or call 136 100.

By Melissa Walsh

BESTO MONDO


“I would love to be Doctor Who!”

Actor and musician John Waters’ declara-tion has been prompted by mint magazine’s suggestion the 66-year-old would be a perfect choice to play the Time Lord in BBC TV’s long-running sci-fi show now the Beeb has seen sense and is skewing older in its casting of the good Doctor in the form of current incar-nation Peter Capaldi.

While mint hopes the Scotsman does not immediately vacate the TARDIS there will come a time – as for all 11 of his Doctor Who predecessors – for the 57-year-old Capaldi to regenerate.

“Of course, the body is only a vehicle for The Doctor but I think he looks better when he’s older,” Waters says.

“I think the original Doctor William Hartnell was fantastic because I was around for him but there’s been a few good ones.”

You read it here fi rst. The time could soon be right for the fi rst Australian Doctor Who. Kind of. Waters was born in London but he is also an Aussie, spending time between this country and England between acting jobs.

This push to install Waters as the next Doctor is thanks to his role as D’arcy in hugely-suc-cessful TV comedy drama Offspring, since mint reckons there was an almost Jon Pert-wee-ian sparkle to the character, the father of Asher Keddie’s Nina.

But enough Doctor Who. Let’s talk another UK cultural icon: John Lennon.

Waters has been “playing” the role of Lennon on and off since 1991 when he had the idea for a stage show based on the former Beatles man’s life and he’s bringing the show to Frank-ston Arts Centre in early September.

Thankfully Waters doesn’t dress up as and impersonate Lennon, rather he tries to cap-ture the attitude and spirit of the legendary singer-songwriter.

“I wanted it to be based around the songs and what they said about him because they are quite autobiographical. I also based what I was doing on some of the things he had said and his attitudes. I’d read enough and followed enough through the newspapers, ever since I was 16 really.”

While interest in Lennon’s life has risen in the past two decades – boosted by the likes of Oasis singing his praises during the Britpop boom of the ‘90s to a generation not around in the ‘60s – Waters says no-one had thought about staging a show about his life and songs a decade after Lennon’s death in 1980.

At fi rst, Waters decision to rope in musical partner Stewart D’Arrietta to perform the

Lennon: Through A Glass Onion show was a pragmatic one despite the actor’s love of The Beatles’ and Lennon’s music.

“The short answer is ‘unemployment’. You’re looking around for something to do in one of those down times,” he says.

“My career was good but I just had ‘a hole’ and guys I knew who ran the entertainment room at The Tilbury Hotel in Woolloomooloo in Sydney said ‘Hey, we’ve got a spare three weeks coming up in a month’s time, do you have a show you could do?’ and I went ‘yep’ but hadn’t actually thought about it at that stage.”

Co-opting D’Arrietta proved to be the start of a long and winding road for the Glass Onion show which made its way to Lennon’s adopted home city – New York – two years ago, de-cades after its fi rst small shows in the Sydney suburb in 1991.

Waters was thrilled by the audience reaction to the show in New York during a sold-out 122 shows run off Broadway at the Union Square Theatre.

“We loved it ... I think John Lennon is more revered in New York than anywhere else, including Liverpool. They just loved him there. They loved the way he’d chosen their town and adopted it and thought very highly of New York. He was recognised on the streets but they left him alone and that’s what he liked about it. New York is like that. There’s a lot of famous people walking down the street and nobody really bothers about them too much.”

But, much like Lennon’s real-life character, there was a dark side to the freedom afforded the famous in The Big Apple when Lennon was callously shot and murdered.

“Rather tragically that was what killed him

in the end – his accessibility and a random lunatic thing that happened to him because of his celebrity,” Waters says.

It’s this premature end to Lennon’s life that Waters credits with keeping the Glass Onion show alive in audiences’ minds.

“People didn’t realise they felt as much as they do about Lennon, about the tragedy of a man who’s just really actually reached a pinnacle of peace in his own life and his own head ... settling down and calming down.

“So suddenly for it all to end there it gives people an emotional jolt and I think there’s no stage show that lasts the distance unless it has an emotional impact. I didn’t know how to strive for that, being a bit of fi rst timer when I put it together, but it must have hit the target. It does provoke an emotional reaction in people.”

The dark side of Lennon’s character could be hurtful to those close to the late Beatle but Waters says people who have seen the show who knew Lennon reckon Waters and D’Arrietta’s Glass Onion show captures the essence of the man who they could not help but forgive.

“He was rejected by both his parents and brought up by his aunt so there was a lot of anger there,” he says.

“I found him to be a very angry man and most of the people who’ve seen my show who knew him said ‘he was a really nice guy but he couldn’t help the anger, it came out and made him quite prone to some violent outbursts now and then’. He did have that side to him.”

Before heading to the US to perform the Lennon show, Waters and D’Arrietta had to seek Yoko Ono’s permission to stage the Glass Onion show off Broadway.

“I think she’s always supported it and thinks it’s a good idea,” Waters says.

“There’s no big money in it for her because her percentage of our percentage is pretty tiny so it’s more about protecting the image and I un-derstand why she does that I think she does a great job. She’s been fabulous with us. We got great reviews in New York and we were relaxed because we knew we had her full backing.”

Waters admires Ono (“We couldn’t have done the show without Yoko’s support”) and remem-bers the harsh public criticism she copped at the height of The Beatles’ career in the 1960s.

“Yoko was reviled by the press. They slagged her off all the time and used racist epithets about her, called her ‘inscrutably Oriental’ and all that and she really supported John. She herself was an avant-garde artist of very high standing in her own right in New York City.”

In fact, Waters believes Ono was pivotal to the success of much of Lennon’s best later music.

“Even though his angry political songs were good in that decade it was great to hear him going back to those great groove-based pop songs he was so good at writing. Songs like (Just Like) Starting Over.“It’s a Yoko word ‘Imagine’. It’s a whole concept by her about bringing something into existence by imagining it. She did contribute to John’s work in a major way because she was the biggest infl uence in his life at that time.”

Fast forward forty years or so – and three decades since the Glass Onion show made its debut – and the spirit of John Lennon is still very much alive and heading to Frankston next month.

After that, the show must go on to the Edin-burgh International Festival in August. It began as “something to do between gigs” for Waters but has morphed into something bigger than he ever anticipated.

“It has sort of taken over my life to a certain extent,” he says.

But then Lennon and The Beatles had dom-inated many days in his life since Waters’ mid-teens.

“I was born in late 1948 so was 16 when The Beatles arrived so I was really in that dead set target audience. It dominated all of our lives. It wasn’t really a case of whether you were a Beatles fan or not, The Beatles were the soundtrack for us.”

And a soundtrack for subsequent generations.

Lennon: Through a Glass Onion will be per-formed at Frankston Arts Centre, 27-37 Davey St, Frankston on Saturday 12 September, 8pm. See artscentre.frankston.vic.gov.au or call 9784 1060 for bookings.

By Neil Walker

LENNON: YESTERDAYS IN THE LIFE


Rock’n’roll is a never-ending celebration: of life, of good times, of the healing power of overdriven guitars. But while everyone is invited to the party, only a select few are able to tap into rock’n’roll’s spirit and essence.

Formed just over a decade ago in Adelaide, South Australia, the mighty Tracer plainly have access to that hotline to rock’s heart and soul.

With a sound that takes the bluesy core of the fi nest hard rock and welds it to a gleaming but endearingly rusted chassis of stoner rock and powerhouse grunge, Tracer grabbed the attention of the fuzzed-up cognoscenti.

Tracer have now released their third studio album, the fan-funded and wholly self-determined Water For Thirsty Dogs. It is the culmination of a decade of hard work, determination and intuitive rock’n’roll evangelism that must surely propel the band to greater heights than ever before. A tour-de-force of colossal riffs, incisive melodies and brooding bravado, it builds on the jarring impact of those fi rst two albums via an ensemble performance that verges on magical. The fi rst Tracer album to feature new bassist Jett Heysen-Hicks, alongside Michael Brown and his drumming friend Dre Wise, Water For Thirsty Dogs crackles and thrums with excitement and a rejuvenated sense of purpose; the sound of a great band becoming greater… rewired and reborn.

From the spine-tingling dynamics and rumbling grooves of its opening title track – think Nirvana reimagined by Kyuss at the eye of a psychedelic sandstorm – and the driving garage rock oomph of We’re Only Animals through to the downbeat drawl and Seattle-tinged menace of Lazy, the turbocharged, bowel-rattling stoner surge of Astronaut/Juggernaut (“We were really trying to blow up speakers with bottom end with this one!” notes Michael) and the devastating emotional suckerpunch of Tremors, the album’s stunning climax, Water For Thirsty Dogs is a thrilling amalgam of rock music’s past, present and future, as fresh electricity is wrung from an inspired combination of immortal and unprecedented ingredients. Recorded at Echo Bar Studios in

North Hollywood, Los Angeles and produced by the band themselves, in collaboration with master engineer and mixing maestro Erik Reichers, this is not just the fi nest record Tracer have ever made: it’s a bar-raising monument to the passion and belief that continues to drive this band forward.

Tracer will be teaming up with The Casanovas and Suiciety for a last stand before they head off on a European Tour in September. Don’t miss your chance to see them at The Grand Hotel Mornington, 124 Main Street, on Friday 14 August.

Buy tickets at ticketebo.com.au/grandhotel

TRACER MAKE GRAND ENTRANCE


Bluemuse is talented singer, songwriter Maria Cassar, who happens to perform a mixture of originals and covers expressed with a unique twist. Cassar is a blues/folk artist with a strong feminine soul and has been described as having an ethereal voice full of spirit and narrative.

“I’ve often been asked about my writing process which is tricky because I’m not a trained musician. I have a beautiful 1967 Martin Guitar, and my thoughts on this have been confi rmed by friends who have played my guitar; that it holds the songs. There isn’t any formula, music or lyrics fi rst, the songs just evolve out of the spirit of the moment. I’m lucky because I have the opportunity to express myself this way. There’s always a story about something, it may as well have meaning.”

Over the past two years Maria has played mostly on the Mornington Peninsula at Soundbar, Captain Picnics, The Mornington Brewery and Peninsula Blues Club. Before going solo Cassar performed at Baha with The Swamp Box, an alternative bluesy line-up that started as a duo but often attracted additional impromptu guest musos on the night.

Since then she has embarked on a solo project and like The Swamp Box, there’s always been more than one. Given her eclectic style and musical philosophy it has been and will continue to be inclusive of musicians welcomed to the stage to join and build upon the raw talent.

“Music for me is about sharing with other

musicians and with the audience. I don’t get into that whole competitive side of the industry, as that’s not for me. I want to keep it real and enjoyable as I believe other people always have something to offer. I enjoy it when somebody starts playing an original song and hooks into its feel, and then takes it somewhere else. It’s joyful. Each performance offers a unique feel that incorporates a symbiosis of style, genre and spontaneity.”

Cassar fi nds “improvising and being in the moment’ keeps her on her toes and is exciting, as she never knows what she’ll create or what her audience will get.

The haunting talent of Peter Thorpe on harmonica accompanies Cassar regularly, thus providing a velvet blend alongside Warren O’Neil on guitar and Mark McCloud on percussion, who of late has played with them at God’s Kitchen. A performance from the heart, the show is an emotive journey of indie/folk/blues with a powerful edge.

A future project sees Cassar joining Fresh Start Cafe inspired by singer-songwriter, Tiana Luciana. This will be held at Fresh Start Organic Café in Wells Street, Frankston. The project will be an amazing platform for original artists to showcase their music. The fi rst event is planned for September and it will kick off with seven artists in a live performance that will be recorded by industry man, Ian Pav. (To fi nd out a bit more about Ian Pav, please read Tid Bits and Tales, below).

Bluemuse is back at Soundbar on Sunday 16 August and Sunday 13 September. However, this time the delightful and talented Mike Elrington will be accompanying her. “I haven’t had the opportunity to play with Mike yet but the

show is bound to be beyond description, he

is such a powerful and soulful musician, so

the blend will be magic.”

For information and enquiries see

facebook.com/bluemuseallive

HER MUSE IS ANYTHING BUT BLUE

By Terri Lee Fatouros

Marty Reyes of Blues Maniacs fame recently sang the praises of rising star Andre McMillan as he was impressed with her soulful vocals. She was one of the support acts on the Club Dediddy stage at the Red Hill Show recently.

Says Reyes: “Her music is interesting because she takes modern pop tunes and strips them back and improvises vocally creating jazz sounding scales over them. She sings with the soul of Gladys Knight.”

Apparently Andre is making waves on the

local scene, and you can catch her kicking off Friday’s at the Bay Hotel in Main Street, Mornington from 8.30pm. Its free entry before 9pm.

Sounds like the Bay wants Friday nights to be a chill and unwind zone while its showcasing new talent.

On another note, Ian Pav has built an architecturally designed production studio and spends time producing clients’ music, overseeing a small publishing operation and mentors industry participants along

the eastern seaboard. He’s been at it for 38 years and with his extensive industry experience, numerous qualifi cations and an extensive network of connections here and overseas, Ian is asked to speak at industry events and give his views on industry trends. Sounds like he’s a guy that can help musicians with a variety of things…

For further information see pavmusic.com or Ian Pav on Facebook.

I came across Evolution Music situated at level 1, unit 10 Cnr Northey St and Sth

Gippsland Hwy the other day. It had a big display of single drums, snare, and base, along with a bunch of different shaped guitars hanging on the wall. Might be worth a squizzy. Check out their info at evolutionmusic.com.au or ask for Errol Hatch on 8787 8599.

If anyone else has news or information to share regarding anything music then either give me a buzz or shoot through an email [email protected].

Cheers, lovelies.

TIDBITS & TALES By Terri Lee Fatouros


I was completely charmed recently when Lorenzo Iannotti (vocals) and Robyn Amato (keyboard), an amiable duo known as Something To Talk About, or STTA, dedicated and sang my favourite song, Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen to me at beach 162 in Frankston.

People had been saying how good these guys are so I decided to see for myself.

Iannotti’s voice provides that essential human element that initially hooks listeners into music and reels you in.

He studied classical music at Melba Conservatorium of Music, which he attended on a scholarship, an experience that has honed his natural singing ability into a versatile and accomplished instrument. This great voice got him the lead role in Jesus Christ Superstar along with various radio and TV appearances, including The Bert Newton Show.

Amato has performed with many of Australia’s prominent musicians. Highlights of his career has seen him gig with Max Pelican, (Elvis to the Max), Cyndi Lauper, Vanessa Amorosi, Bert Newton, Peter Sullivan and Tony Pantano to name a few.

The boys are great friends and this is evident throughout their performance. In fact, musically they know each so well, that often Amato’s cruisy piano playing suddenly diverges into melodic, spontaneous riffs within the song being sung.

The same can be said for Iannotti. He writes original rock infused ballads, which showcases his silky voice beautifully. He’ll break free unexpectedly and pump out an operatic twist on a popular cover or sing one of his own with hypnotic deliverance. It’s delightful.In a way, their show is more like a mini cabaret performance scaled down to suit a duo. These guys are seasoned, professional showmen.

Says Amato: “We are not stuck in a song and often we create parts of it as we go along. We know each other and our music so well that it manifests as a musical extension of us.”

They crack a joke, give a little insight into the song they’re about to sing, make you feel at home and most importantly, acknowledge and include you in their world thereby creating a comfortable intimacy with you. Somehow you get pulled into their bubble of entertaining magic.

STTA has been gigging to corporate and the general public for well over 15 years. With a massive song list of over a 1000 songs, encompassing jazz, rock, pop, R&B, country and classical, including Italian arias, it’s no wonder the boys are booked out fi ve nights a week and have a strong fanbase.

In the past Amato owned cafes and his love of coffee has followed through in his new business called Verita, a coffee roasting business he runs from home. Verita means ‘truth’ in

Italian and he says this coffee is smooth and outstanding in taste.

Iannotti runs Bloom Entertainment By Design, an entertainment company sourcing band, actors, MC, singers, etc, for corporate and private sectors.

Something To Talk About is now appearing every Thursday at beach 162 in Beach Street, Frankston from 7pm. Why not surprise yourself like I did recently by taking yourself down to their show? I’m going back.

For info seeveritacoffee.com.au | bloomentertainment.com.au

I’VE GOT SOMETHING TO TALK ABOUT

TUESDAY 22 SEPTEMBERFRANKSTON ARTS CENTRE

ARTSCENTRE.FRANKSTON.VIC.GOV.AU

Max Pellicano’s tribute Elvis to the Max goes beyond mere impersonation. Critics have described his performance as Elvis ‘resurrected’ and

‘reincarnated’. His recreation of the King’s looks, moves,

vocal style, impressions and humour is so accurate, its awe-inspiring. There are lots of Elvis

impersonators around, but Max Pellicano is still

considered as the best!

By Terri Lee Fatouros


Whilst Nick Cave has slowly but surely become one of Australia’s most successful and highly infl uential international superstars, it’s easy to overlook the contributions made by members of his bands – namely The Birthday Party, The Boys Next Door, The Bad Seeds and Grinderman. Whilst long-time wingman Mick Harvey has established himself as a producer of note and current wingman Warren Ellis is an accomplished fi lm composer and one third of instrumental The Dirty Three, other Cave cohorts such as Conway Savage and Hugo Race have quietly achieved respect and notoriety as artists in their own right.

Race, with his band The True Spirit, has just released a new record – his fi rst in seven years. The album, itself titled Spirit, has received phenomenal press worldwide, indicative of the esteem in which the the singer-songwriter-producer is held outside of his home country. UK publication Vive Le Rock gave the album 8/10, whilst Q Magazine described it as “one of the best records he’s ever made”. Thankfully for us locals, Race is back home with the band for a series of album launch shows, including a performance at Castlemaine’s The Bridge Hotel on Saturday 15 August and Elsternwick’s Flying Saucer Club on Friday 21 August.

Tickets available at fl yingsaucerclub.com.au

By Lachlan Bryan

HUGO RACE & THE TRUE SPIRIT


ELVIS TO THE MAXHe was one of the most important fi gures of the 20th century pop culture. A cultural icon, widely known by the single name Elvis, who is often referred to as the “King of Rock and Roll” or simply “The King”.

Now the memory and legend lives on in a very special concert event entitled The King In Concert starring one of the world’s fi rst and most-successful Elvis impersonator Max Pellicano, whose uncanny resemblance and equally thrilling performance have mesmerised Australians over the last two decades.

It has been said by media worldwide that the Max Pellicano tribute Elvis To The Max goes beyond mere impersonation. Critics have described his performances as “Elvis resurrected” and “reincarnated”. His recreation of The King’s looks, moves, vocal style, impressions and humour is so accurate, its awe-inspiring.

You need to sound like the real thing and Max Pellicano has worked hard at that. Not only is the voice important, it’s also knowing how to become the man himself on stage.

There are lots of Elvis impersonators around, but Pellicano is considered as the best. In addition, the costumes he wears are exact replicas made by Elvis’ personal tailor, Bill Bellow. Elvis To The Max will recreate a special night with The King In Concert in February/March 2015, proudly presented in Australia by Abstract Entertainment.

The shimmering encrusted “White Eagle” costume is a $10,000 recreation, identical to the one worn by Elvis in 1972. Elvis To The Max production The King In Concert will be presented in three stages: “The King of Rock ‘n’ Roll” - The 50’s Masters; the ‘68 Comeback Television Special that was regarded as a forerunner of the so-called “Unplugged” concept; and the music concert that was called Aloha From Hawaii.

Max Pellicano was born in Monte Carlo, of French and Italian parents. He spent most of his childhood in New York before moving to San Francisco at the age of 14. Today, he is based in Detroit. He has been a professional actor and entertainer since 1974 when he graduated from the

California State University with a degree in Dramatic Arts.

Pellicano fi rst brought Elvis (as an actor) to life on stage in a production of Bye Bye Birdie.

“I was doing musicals and theatre and had to study Jailhouse Rock for my role as the Elvis-type character, Conrad Birdie. I studied the way he walked, the way he talked and the way he moved for months. I guess you could say I got into impersonating Elvis in a kind of round-about way” he said. His performance led to an Elvis tribute show and the rest is history. “I learnt long ago that the fans don’t want the legend to die. They want to keep the memory going”. Max said.

He still spends many hours in front of the television listening to records.

“I watch a lot of old live concerts and it’s actually kind of easy to study Elvis because I really enjoy watching his shows” says Max.

Max stresses that he is an actor recreating a character and it is an illusion. Some see it differently though - one of Max’s strangest requests was when a couple in Los Angeles asked him to bless their child.

It should be noted there are more than 6,000 professional Elvis impersonators in the world and countless amateurs.

“It’s hard to copy the original, but what we try and do is recreate the Elvis concert and give people a chance to see what it might have been like to see Elvis perform live”.

Max Pellicano has appeared in feature fi lms, notably De Vinci’s War, The Gangster Chronicles and Sharon: The Portrait Of A Mistress. He has performed with The Jordanaires, JD Sumner & The Stamps, the late George Burns, Dion , Helen Reddy, Little Anthony & The Imperials, Dolly Parton, The Coasters, Del Shannon, The Shirelles, Don Rickles and the late Davy Jones (of The Monkees fame).

For further media information contact Lionel Midford Publicity on 02 9328 6702 or 0414 774 962.

lionelmidfordpublicity.com

Max Pellicano in “The King in Concert”


HAVE YOU EVER BEEN LONELY?

By Lachlan Bryan

Patsy Cline was just thirty years old when she died in a plane crash in 1962, but she left us with an immense musical and cultural legacy that extends well beyond the three studio albums that she recorded in her lifetime

Cline’s was a type of voice that had never been heard before in country or popular music – a bold, commanding contralto capable of conveying plenty of emotion. In 2002 she was named as the greatest female vocalist of all time by CMT (America’s Country Music Channel) and she remains one of the singers against whom all other country artists (male or female) are measured.

Next month Loretta Miller and an all-star local band will bring Patsy’s music back to life on stage at the Caravan Music Club in Oakleigh in Have You Ever Been Lonely?. The show takes its name from one of Patsy’s famous duets with Jim Reeves – the song will be performed on the night along with other classics such as Walkin after Midnight and Crazy, the latter famously written for Patsy by iconic songwriter Willie Nelson. Miller herself is an impressive talent, and perfectly equipped to handle the Cline repertoire.

Have You Ever Been Lonely? takes place on Saturday 19 September – tickets are available now at caravanmusic.com.au

1003 Point Nepean Road, Rosebud PH (03) 5982 3200www.rosegpo.com.au


With multiple sell out shows and rave reviews from their last outing, Euro Pop superstars Boney M (feat. Maizie Williams) are back performing all of their greatest hits across Australia.

Their amazing run of chart-topping singles and relentless touring schedule established Boney M as a genuine pop super group in the 70s and 80s. Their high energy, sing along shows feature outrageous costumes and a wicked live disco-funk backing band, for an out of this world experience.

Boney M’s insanely catchy songs gave them an amazing run of chart success in Australia. Their fi rst single Daddy Cool went to Number 5 and the follow up Sunny made the Top 40. Ma Baker gave them another Top 10 hit in 1977.

The following year they went on to achieve a remarkable feat - 2 Number 1s! The double A-side Rivers of Babylon with Brown Girl In The Ring, and the disco stomper Rasputin (aka Russia’s Greatest Love Machine). Boney M became massive in the clubs, at parties and all over the airwaves. They were bigger than KC and the Sunshine Band, Earth Wind and Fire

and Chic! Their Australian chart domination continued with three more Top 40 singles - Gotta Go Home, the huge worldwide Christman number 1 Mary’s Boy Child, and sing along anthem Hooray! Hooray! It’s a Holi-Holiday.

Boney M’s music has never been more popular in recent years, with Lady Gaga sampling Ma Baker for her international number 1 hit Poker Face, and dance duo Duck Sauce sampling Gotta Go Home in their dance fl oor smash Barbra Streisand.

After selling millions of records to an adoring fan base and a mind blowing collection of disco and pop super hits, the Boney M phenomenon has been growing by the decade.

Always fun and perfect for the dance fl oor, Boney M are one of the most beloved bands to emerge from that iconic era. So strap on your dancing shoes Australia, Boney M are back bigger, better and more outrageous than ever. This will truly be a fun night to remember.

Get your tickets now - 90 per cent of shows sold out, last tour!

BONEY M


ROSEBUD BUSKFEST 2015The closing date for this year’s entries approaches rapidly so any interested performers should submit their applications by August 30th via rosebud.org.au

This year there is a new line-up of experienced judges who will walk the streets throughout the event, soaking up the talent and deciding on the prize winners.

Alvis Parkinson is a local Melbourne singer- songwriter with a number of releases and having played all round the country.

She runs boutique events such as Sofar Sounds, co-leads and presents on Balcony

TV Melbourne and has worked in both radio and television. Alvis is very passionate about all areas of the music industry and is a part of the Collarts community, in South Melbourne.

Byron Georgouras has an extensive music background ranging from artist management at major music festivals, artist liaison, music marketing and music journalism.

He even had a stint as a lecturer at the Australian Institute of Music.

Byron has managed Australia’s most famous recording studio, REC in Sydney,

where many internationals artists of the Elton John and David Bowie elk have recorded.

Now his skills have led him to create and manage One Trick Pony TV – a music website.

Ryan Luckhurst is a local musician and founder of Band Wagon agency.

He has a broad interest in an array of music genres and knows what it takes to perform on the street and the importance of capturing your audience before they pass you by.

The fi nal judge, with over 40 years of working in the Arts, is Andrea Ebsworth, currently employed by the Mornington Peninsula Shire as cultural planner.

Andrea is keen to build networks between artists and is committed to increasing the opportunity for the community to connect with culture and creativity.

The busking festival will run from 10am to 1pm, on Saturday 14 November, throughout the streets of Rosebud.

For more information call 0403 889 559.

B R I S K E TB U R G E R S

T E X A SR I B E Y E S

SUN 2ND AUG Diddy Reyes & The Blues ManiacsSUN 16TH AUG

Steve Romig & The Kaos MoleculeSUN 23RD AUG T’ree with Ian Treloar & Ree LiddellSUN 6TH SEPT

Diddy Reyes & The Blues Maniacs


For Australian country music fans, August means The Gympie Muster – a music and camping festival in south-east Queensland that has evolved from humble beginnings thirty years ago to become one of the biggest events on the Australian calendar. The Muster site is located in the beautiful Amamoor Creek State Forest Park, and regularly attracts in excess of 12,000 people.

This year, part-time Peninsula resident Henry Wagons will be fl ying the Victorian fl ag at Gympie. Henry actually lives in the city, but he keeps a holiday house/studio in Mt Martha, where he produces records for himself and other artists. Henry has long been a favourite of this author and this column, and it’s pleasing to see him capturing the attention of the country music mainstream with his often theatrical, sometimes dark and always soulful take on the country genre.

Henry and band are not the only Victorians heading north for the festival. Deep Creek Road will be there, as will The Davidson Brothers, Mustered Courage, Ross Wilson and Pete Denahy. For Mustered Courage, the festival will form part of their single launch tour for new song Honesty (not to be confused with the Billy Joel Classic). As always, the boys have come up with a quirky video for the new song, which you can check out on YouTube.

In the tradition of the old time multi-bills of yesteryear, Amber Lawrence, Aleyce Simmonds and Christie Lamb have been tearing up and down the east coast with their Girls of Country tour. For Amber it’s been a huge year, highlighted by her Golden Guitar for Best Female Artist at the 2015 Australian Country Music Awards in Tamworth in January, whilst Aleyce is the current Independent Female Artist of the Year courtesy of her win in Mildura last October. Together, the girls put on a huge show, performing their own and each other’s songs complete with a full band, dialogue and even costume changes! Whilst Aleyce has become an audience favourite here in Victoria, it will be a rare Melbourne visit for Amber and Christie when the show hits town on Friday 21 August at Revolver Bandroom in Prahran.

It’s going to be a quiet month or so as far as international acts coming to town goes, which is hardly surprising given that we’ve had the likes of Emmy-Lou Harris, Rodney Crowell, Ryan Adams and more all in the last six weeks or so, but I should make mention fi nally of Mary Chapin Carpenter. The country legend performs an extremely intimate (by her standards) show at The Caravan Club on Saturday 5 September, which will follow her National Theatre performance in St Kilda on Friday the 4th. Both are almost certain to sell out!

LACHLAN BRYAN

Lachlan Bryan is primarily a singer-songwriter. His third album Black Coffee is out now. He also moonlights as a gifted observer and music journalist, writing monthly for mint magazine on all things folk/country/bluegrass. If you’ve got a new release, upcoming show or you’d like to get in touch with Lachlan, drop him a line at [email protected]

HIP TO BE COUNTRYBy Lachlan Bryan


THAT’S SHOWBIZIconic bluesman Doc White has returned to musical theatre with his new production, That’s Showbiz performed by the Lowdown Hokum Orchestra. The Lowdown Hokum Orchestra and Burlesque Revue have blended hokum blues, jazz and burlesque to provide a special night of entertainment. That’s Showbiz is an old fashioned song and dance spectacle using songs carefully selected to portray the relationships between the three main characters. In the stage show, Nichaud Fitzgibbon plays a character named Dee Dee Delore, who, along with her husband (played by Mark Cutler), plans a stage production to resurrect her waning career as a singer and actress. Doc White (Delore’s former fl ame) is brought along to make Dee Dee’s husband jealous. The live stage show picks up the story during rehearsals. After a successful tour of the Adelaide fringe festival and recent sell out shows at the Wonderland Spiegeltent and the Flying Saucer Club, That’s Showbiz is set to return to the Melbourne Fringe festival Melba Spiegeltent in September and October later this year. The Lowdown Hokum Orchestra has also captured the soundtrack from the show which is now available as a nine track album of the same name That’s Showbiz, not to be missed. For more details scan QR code.

LIVE @ THE FACTORYThe peninsula’s Safari Motel are showing no signs of slowing down in 2015. With the

release of their second album Live @ The Factory the momentum continues. Live @ The Factory is a ten track album featuring creative renditions of some old favourites Walking the Dog and I Just Wanna Make Love to You blended with some skilful original material plus some of the bands popular live favourites. The infl uences of the new guitarist Dean James are apparent as the band solidifi es their blues base, adding their special brand of power vocals over their strong funk and soul groove. This new album is available at all live shows, so get out and grab yourself a copy. Now appearing at all the major festivals and regular performers on the Blues Train; where to next for the Safari Motel? Check their current gig guide here.

STEVIE RAY VAUGHANIf you are a fan of Stevie Ray Vaughan don’t miss this. The peninsula’s own Andy Phillips and the Cadillac Walk will be performing a series of Stevie Ray Vaughan tribute shows over the next few months. Check facebook.com/andyphillipsandthecadillacwalk for all the details.

MOJO BLUESMENThe Mojo Bluesmen have released a new album Down In Sunnydale. Tim Everett and Kiam Adcock, who met on a north coast street corner seven years ago and have been playing their raw dirty powerhouse blues, as the Mojo Bluesmen ever since. Filmmaker John Meredith

spent three days on the road to discover just how tough and rewarding life can be for this blues busking duo. The YouTube video (Bat Shit Crazy) tells the story (scan the link). Get on board with this extremely talented duo. For more details please go to facebook.com/MojoBluesmen

SMOKIN’ BLUESRose GPO Restaurant and Bar in Rosebud on the Mornington Peninsula has established an ongoing Sunday event called Smokin’ Blues & Texas BBQ Sundays. On the 1st and 3rd Sunday each month from 3pm some of the peninsula’s fi nest blues musicians Andy Phillips and his Cadillac Walk (pictured) and Diddy Reyes and his Blues Maniacs (pictured) deliver some smoking blues to keep you entertained all through the afternoon. Scan the QR code to vist the website for more details.

NATIONAL BLUES & ROOTS AIRPLAY CHARTThis month’s Top 5 on the National Blues & Roots Airplay album chart are:

Lloyd Spiegel (Double Live Set) Shane Pacey Trio (Watch Out) Clayton Doley (Bayou Billabong)

Blue Eyes Cry (Pull Me In)

Mike DeVelta (Press Down)

AUSSIE BLUES VID OF THE WEEK

PENINSULA BLUES CLUB

The Peninsula Blues Club presents live music on the second Sunday of each month at the Frankston Bowling Club, 64 Yuillie Steet (Cnr Yuille & William St) Frankston South. Sunday 9 August will feature the return of Ian Collard as the feature artist. Doors open at 6pm.

Greg writes monthly for mint and broadcasts on Southern FM - if you know of something happening in the Blues world please drop him a line at: [email protected] or facebook.com/GregFisherBluesIllustrated

BLUES ILLUSTRATEDBy Greg Fisher

Scan to view. Must see!


CLASSIC CUTS By Ray McGrotty (Record City)

1973 saw British rockers Ten Years After release their double live album which was culled from the four best nights of their European tour earlier that year.

The album was appropriately and simply titled Recorded Live, which indeed it was.

There were no overdubs or studio trickery, just the brilliant live concert as it happened.

There weren’t too many quality live recordings back in the early seventies but this is truly one of the exceptions.

The band consisted of four like-minded blues rock musicians.

Ric Lee on drums, Chick Churchill on piano, Leo Lyons on bass and the late great Alvin Lee on guitar and vocals.

Although the band had formed back in 1960 under various different names, originally Ivan Jay & the Jaycats, it wasn’t until 1967 that they released their first album which was self titled.

The following year they released their second album Stonehenge which featured the Alvin Lee song Hear Me Calling which

was later turned into a massive rock anthem by the British glam-rock band Slade who covered the song on their Slade Alive album.

Later in 1969, having played at several festivals including the Newport jazz festival and the Seattle pop festival, they were invited to play at the legendary Woodstock festival which immediately launched the

band into outer space, particularly with their magnificent performance of I’m Coming Home, also written by Lee.

Seven more albums ensued before the band eventually embarked on the European tour that would lead to the release of Recorded Live.

The album, which opens with two of Lee’s originals, One Of These Days and You Give Me Loving, has lots of improvisation, tasty solos and an amazing showcase of some speed playing.

The following track The Hobbit features a nice drum solo played by Ric Lee who also wrote the song.

Several tracks highlight the bands’ blues roots, particularly Scat Thing, I Can’t Keep From Crying Sometimes, Silly Thing and Slow Blues in ‘C’.

I’m Going Home shows the band at their best with a magnificent performance only bettered by their unbeatable Woodstock performance.

The album finishes with a great boogie song Choo Choo Mama also written by Alvin Lee, who actually wrote all except three songs from the original twelve track double album.

Recorded Live should be fixed in history as one great live album.

MISSED THE MARK By Stuart McCullough

“Ever get the feeling you’ve been cheated?” asked Johnny Rotten. It’s a question he posed whilst on stage as The Sex Pistols imploded. But it’s not just something you ask as your punk band destroys itself. It’s also a query that can be prompted by an act of reinvention if it all goes horribly, irrevocably wrong.

Things are not as we thought. A left turn of this magnitude is either a stroke of genius or a crisis of confi dence but nothing in between. Sometimes the act of reinvention sets you up for the next twenty years. U2’s Achtung Baby unveiled a band that deserved to survive beyond the eighties. Sometimes, however, the act of reinvention confuses your old audience whilst failing to garner you a new one. Garth Brooks was a country music superstar who decided, out of the blue, to record a rock album under the pseudonym ‘Chris Gaines’. The results pretty much brought a successful career to a close. And so now we come to Mumford & Sons and their third album, Wilder Mind.

This was the band that spearheaded the ‘folk revival’, an awesomely successful movement that briefl y displaced the ‘Austrian polka revival’ in the pecking order of fl eeting

musical curiousities. But now the band has turned its back on the very movement they founded, saying a hearty “folk you!” to anyone who ever had the nerve to believe in them.

As it turns out, Mumford & Sons weren’t tramps after all. That they dressed like hobos merely served to distract from the fact that they were sweaty rock dogs straining on the leash. Fancy that. Gone are the waistcoats and peaked caps that made them look like the luckiest chimney sweeps on earth.

Whereas once they dressed as if Fagin was their road manager, they now wear leather jackets and resemble the kind of hoodlums that deliberately return their library books late. It’s hard to believe they’re even the same band. Whereas once they used to look as if they might ask, “Polish your shoes, Guv’nor?” at the drop of a vintage hat, they now look more likely to scream “Hello Cleveland!’ whilst tossing a perfectly good television from the third storey balcony of a budget motel.

The music has undergone a similar metamorphosis. Banjos are out, electric guitars are in. It’s a big, polished rock sound, full of hooks and singalong choruses but it also prompts the question: who are you? That’s the problem with reinvention: you either come off as crazy brave or inauthentic. The former is out of the question for the Mumfords. That’s because by changing up their schtick, they now sound like any other bar band on the planet, albeit with superior songs. They haven’t given us something new so much as something repackaged that we’ve heard a thousand times before. Perhaps they always did.

Make no mistake: Wilder Mind is not a ‘Dylan

Goes Electric’ moment. It’s not even a ‘Herbie Goes Bananas’ moment. It’s more a ‘Pat Boone Goes Heavy Metal’ event whereby you are left to wonder how it ever got this far without somebody saying, “Guys, are you sure this is a good idea?”. The songs sound, well, competent and tuneful. But it could be anyone. It’s clearly an attempt for pop-glory, to become huger than huge, but the end result is sort of bland. Even the album title is a bit of a letdown. As it turns out, it’s not a tribute to Gene Wilder as I had hoped. That album, sadly, is still to be written.

With their troubadour days now fi rmly behind them, only time will tell if the wider world will accept their new identity or, like Johnny Rotten, feel cheated. But, in the meantime, will the real Mumford & Sons please step forward? And if Mumford & Sons were to turn up at my place tomorrow night, I’d have just one thing to say to them. I’d say: “folk you”.

Check it our for yourself... you’ve been warned...


Mint Magazine, PO Box 588, Hastings, 3915Email: [email protected]

Dear Mint Magazine,We cannot tell you how excited we were when you told us you had made contact with beings from another planet.

At SETI, we dedicate our lives to searching for extra terrestrial life, and your letter dated 21st July was the pinnacle of our careers.

Having said that, your approach to fi nding this alien life was not in accordance with our usual search methods.

People partaking in the SETI program use their computers to scan radio waves in the far off regions of our universe for signals.

You, on the other hand, chose to search for alien life by covering your roof with Marshall amplifi ers and blasting Deep Purple’s ‘Smoke on the Water’ into deep space.

Your “discovery” appears to have come late one night when “the Mothership” arrived above your offi ce and “shined their suction beams” towards yourselves and “tried to suck you up”.

Your story began to unravel when, in front of the world’s media, we detailed your discovery.

Somehow, your four page “description” of what “might have happened if you were sucked into the Mothership” was read out to the eager media pack.

All I can say is that the detailed description must have been the product of a truly sick and twisted mind.

A number of the journalists ran from the room vomiting, while a couple of the grown men were sobbing uncontrollably by page two.

This sick account appears to have no basis in science, and by the end of it the room was silent in shock and disgust.It was only a matter of hours before the calls began arriving from our corporate and government sponsors canceling their funding for our project.As we always say at SETI, ‘the truth is out there’ and we began an internal inquiry as to what happened during your ‘discovery of alien life’.It appears that the “space ship” hovering over you all was actually the police helicopter attending due to the incessant noise.It appears the only facts that stand up to sciene is that you dragged 48 Marshall amplifi ers onto your roof and made a hell of a lot of needless noise.We are now regrouping and repairing our many relationships with the scientifi c community, world governments, and the media.If we ever discover the furthest planet in the universe, we hope we can work out a way to have you transported there.Yours sincerely,The Search For Extra Terrestrial Intelligence Project.

Dear Mint Magazine,Do you remember when people used to say “Ave a good weekend Mr Walker”?I really miss that.Regards,Gavin Shropshire

YOUTUBE GEMSNOISE IN NUMBERS...

1000 FIGHTERS1000 musicians play Learn to Fly by Foo Fighters to ask Dave Grohl to come and play in Cesena, Italy

IMPROMPTU AC/DCAs Matt brought Andrew McMahon onstage to do Tom Petty’s “American Girl” he tore into the riff for “You Shook Me...” and the crowd just took it from there.

TRAFALGAR SQUARE SING-ALONG13,500 people sing Hey Jude together in Trafalgar Square. Everyone involved arrived thinking they could be dancing - no-one had any idea how the event would unfold.

QUEEN DAY? WHOS SHOW ARE WE AT?Fans wait for Green Day to come to stage, but to warm up they have a Sing-Along to Queens ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’

HO HEY... YOU SHOULDNT BE HEREThe Lumineers went into the crowd to perform “Ho Hey” with no microphones, no electronics, just their instruments.


A TRUFFLING EXPERIENCEBy Melissa Walsh

They’re ugly, they’re lumpy and intoxicating, and the most profi table legal crop you can grow. If you’ve ever watched a MasterChef episode you’ll know that I’m talking about truffl es, that elusive element used with just a pinch, often fi nely shaved onto a dish, and served in the most exclusive restaurants.

When the cold winter mist sets over the mountains of Red Hill, that’s when truffl e hunters gather around to unearth the elusive truffl e, the black gold of the hills. Thanks to truffl e farmer, Jenny McAuley and her canine companion, Thomas, guests can experience fi rst-hand a truffl e hunt through the oak and hazelnut trees on her private truffi ere that she established in 2005.

“I have always loved mushrooms and loved mushroom hunting. I fi rst heard about the mysterious fungus that grows underground and is wonderful to eat, when I was travelling in Italy in 2002. On returning to Australia I did some research and found out that truffl e was being commercially grown in Tasmania. I visited a truffl e farm in Tasmania and thought the conditions and soil were similar to my property at Red Hill. I knew a wide variety of fungus grew naturally on my property, so I decided to buy some trees and see if I could produce truffl e,” says Jenny, who initially bought 320 trees, a mixture of oaks and hazelnuts. “It is very diffi cult to grow truffl e. The soil required careful qualities and had to be prepared to create the specifi c conditions in order for truffl e to grow. My fi rst trees were planted in March 2005, and I had to wait fi ve years before I found a truffl e. In the fi rst year I found only one, but I was very excited; as I had proved that truffl e could be grown in Red Hill.”

The following year, Jenny found three truffl es and since then the production level has increased every year, from her property “Glenbower” which has been in the family since 1886, her great grandparent’s original farm.

“It is beautiful land and I decided to do something different with it. Truffl es are such an exciting venture. I still feel very excited every time I fi nd one,” she says with a laugh.

“Last year the original truffi ere yielded four to fi ve kilos of truffl e, but will reach capacity within the next two years.”

Although Jenny knew it was a risky venture, with the low statistics of successful truffl e growing, she recognised that the soil and environment conditions at her family property were ideal.

“I could see that there was plenty of grapes and wine in the area, and I knew fungus grew well on the property so thought maybe I could trial growing a commercial fungus, and it has been a great success,” says Jenny, who went into the venture knowing full well that only 10 per cent of truffi ers produce truffl e. “We now have around 1700 trees on the property.”

Truffl e dog Thomas is a celebrity in his own right on the truffl e hunts, a far cry from the dog pound he was found in several years ago.

“At two years of age, he was found in a dog pound in Hobart. Simon French, an experienced dog handler and trainer, bought him and trained him to fi nd truffl e, which took only 10 months,” says Jenny, who accidentally found Thomas on a visit to Simon’s truffl e farm in Tasmania. “I really liked Thomas and we quickly bonded so Simon trained me to handle him and within fi ve days I was bringing him back home.”

Growing truffl e for commercial purposes started in Australia about 20 years ago, fi rstly in Tasmania and then a group of farmers in Western Australia decided to have a go at it, planting predominantly hazelnuts. Western Australia now produces the largest quantity of truffl e in Australia.

“You can grow truffl es for simple personal pleasure or for profi t and plantations might contain a few trees or thousands, but truffl e growing is not a ‘get rich quick’ project and should be viewed as a long term investment,” says Jenny, whose combination of patience and passion has paid off.

“The truffl e hunt takes about an hour and a half on the property. I explain about truffl e growing and conditions and then we walk down to the truffi ere, where the group stands a bit behind me and watches me work the dog, observing Thomas hunting for truffl e. When he fi nds one I uncover it and smell it to see if it’s ripe,” says Jenny, who has had to attend courses to understand the aroma of a ripe truffl e.

“A ripe truffl e has a very strong, earthy smell that you learn to distinguish, but there’s nothing like good, fresh truffl e in cooking. In season we use it in pasta, risotto, eggs and it’s great combined with vodka too,” she says.

To book an MP Experience Red Hill Black Gold truffl e hunt, and get to photograph, taste and experience the tantalising world of the truffi ere, phone 0410 596 637.


STORM IN A TEACUPMornington Peninsula Regional Gallery

Feet beneath the table

Storm in a Teacup is one of Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery’s major exhibi-tions for 2015. The exhibition refl ects upon tea drinking in Australia. Beginning with well-known paintings of the afternoon tea table from E. Phillips Fox and Arthur Stree-ton, the exhibition goes on to explore the darker side of tea drinking and the social and environmental impacts of the humble cup of tea. Michael Cook’s Object (table), 2015, provides an alternative history to the narrative of colonialism while Sharon West and Adam Hill both use humour to subvert colonial understandings of the afternoon tea party as an occasion of refi ned gentility.

Storm in a Teacup features paintings, works on paper, photographs, ceramics, sculp-ture and installation by 34 artists, includ-ing Charles Blackman, Julia deVille, Julie Dowling, E. Phillips Fox, Rosalie Gascoigne, Adam Hill, Danie Mellor, Darren Siwes and Anne Zahalka.

A range of special events accompany the

exhibition, including After Noon, Sunday 26 July, 2pm-5pm, adults $4, concession $2, discover how artists Samantha Everton, Penny Byrne and Clare Humphries have ex-plored the afternoon tea party, and the Fly-ing Bookworm Theatre Company presents a pantomime for 5-10 year olds on Saturday 26 September, 10.30am-12.30pm, children $15, adults $5.

The Gallery’s self-serve café has been transformed into a 19th century tea ex-change. Enjoy a range of Mornington-based Bespoke Tea and scones, jam and cream available 11am-4pm on Sundays.

MORNINGTON PENINSULA REGIONAL GALLERYLocation: Civic Reserve, Dunns Road, MorningtonGallery Hours: Tuesday–Sunday 10am–5pm Exhibition admission fees: $4 adults / $2 concGeneral information: 03 5975 4395mprg.mornpen.vic.gov.au

Picture: Polixeni Papapetrou, Riddles that have no answers, 2004, from the series Wonderland 2004, type C photograph, Courtesy of the artist and Stills Gallery, Sydney.


Australian singer-songwriter Sarah Blasko is internationally recognized for her haunting vocals and ground breaking original music, but she also composes for stage and fi lm. She teamed up with innovative Sydney musician-composer Nick Wales, to create music for Emergence, a contemporary dance piece for Sydney Dance Company’s latest production, De Novo. The result is a stunning album and mesmerising musical companion to artistic director Rafael Bonachela’s cutting-edge choreography. I spoke with them ahead of De Novo arriving at Frankston Arts Centre.

MINT: How did you two come to this collaboration?

WALES: I was playing with Sarah’s band for a couple of years touring. She invited me to write some orchestral arrangements for her album, I Awake. We loved the music we made. Rafael Bonachela asked me to be a part of a new work for Sydney Dance Company in 2012. We thought it would be great to use vocals, words and poetry to give it context. I thought of Sarah.

MINT: Do you think combining popular music with contemporary dance will attract new audiences?

BLASKO: I think it probably does attract some people who maybe haven’t gone to a lot of dance, but who may be into pop music. It also gave us a chance to release the music to a wider audience.

WALES: Sydney Dance Company is a really vibrant young company. It has a real edge - a very modern aesthetic, but it’s not so out there that you can’t understand it. I fi nd their work very accessible especially this triple bill coming up (De Novo). It’s quite funny at times. There’s a piece about The Terminator.

MINT: Is the music written in response to the dance or is the dance choreographed to the music?

BLASKO: It was a two-way collaboration. We started by kind of jamming. We were in the dance studio with the dancers to see a possible direction. We worked with them on a couple of pieces to begin with and then Nick and I wrote together quite quickly. The theme emergence informed what Rafael (Bonachela) was doing with the choreography and what we were doing with the music.

MINT: Nick, how did you become involved with scoring contemporary dance?

WALES: I was involved in a work with dancer-

choreographer Shaun Parker (This Show Is About People). When the next piece came up, something for Sydney Dance Company, I worked with percussionist-composer Bree Van Reyk. I met Rafael Bonachela at that time. Since then, I’ve done six or seven works with Shaun performed to audiences worldwide. When the right project came up at Sydney Dance Company (2one Another), I started working with Rafael.

MINT: Sarah, could talk a bit about your most recent work?

BLASKO: Making Emergence was a great release from the traditional songwriting structure and a chance to work on something different with sound and my voice. I’ve been working on a couple of fi lm projects and that’s been a whole other learning experience. I’ve also just made a new album, which is quite a pop record.

See De Novo at Frankston Arts Centre on Saturday 15 August at 8pm. Bookings 9784 1060 or thefac.com.au

Local dancers will have a chance to participate in Sydney Dance Company’s advanced open dance workshop offered on Friday 14 August at 5pm in Cube 37 at FAC. Ages 16 and over ($15).

DANCING COMPOSITIONBy Andrea Louise Thomas

mintmagazine.com.aumintmagazine.com.au


RE-IMAGING & SUBURBAN RETRORESPECT

THEATRE POPPING UP ALL OVER

By Andrea Louise Thomas


A Moment in Time

de Kraan

5th to 30th September

THE 48TH SOLO EXHIBITION BY THIS UNIQUE ARTISTS

Prelude to Love

Gala opening Sunday 6th September 2pm - 4pm

100 Mornington-Tyabb Rd, Mornington

www.oakhillgallery.com.au

Melbourne artist Richard Hovarth is an innovator with an interesting artistic history. He started out at RMIT in the early 80s referencing fi lm and art works using screen printing to form collage works, which were photographically transferred onto paper. Some of these works are in the National Gallery of Australia’s print collection.

Hovarth’s early work informs his latest exhibition, Re-imaging, in which he creates digital prints re-interpreting classical art works, fi lm stills, literary works and photographs using 3D modeling software. It’s an intriguing translation of culturally signifi cant images into a modern context. Most recently he’s been using the same medium to comment on and decode topical issues sourcing imagery from CCTV footage

of criminal behaviour, Google Street view, and selfi es.

Running concurrently, Brendon Pitts pays homage to everyday suburban environments in his exhibition, Retrorespect. Using painting, sculpture, mixed media and photography, his aim is to start a conversation about our everyday environment often overlooked in our haste to get somewhere else.

Both exhibitions run until Tuesday, September 1 at G1 Gallery, Kingston Arts Centre, 979-985 Nepean Hwy, Moorabbin. Open Monday to Friday 9am - 5pm and Saturday noon - 5pm. Free admission.

kingstonarts.com.au

Anywhere Theatre Festival took Frankston by storm last year with a wild and wacky assortment of performances in all kinds of unusual locations from skate parks and climbing centres to train stations and shipping containers!

Established in Brisbane (2011) by Alex McTavish and Paul Osuch, this festival breaks the mold of the traditional theatre experience creating a new model for performers, audiences and the businesses hosting them.

From 21 August to 6 September expect the unexpected in Frankston as comedy, drama, dance and acrobatic performances pop up in some out of the blue places, like inside a car, at a barber shop, in someone’s home, in shop fronts and some secret locations to be announced. This innovative approach to attracting new audiences to performances by putting them anywhere, but in a theatre is great for local performers, audiences and businesses.

If you’d like to laugh in the streets of Frankston, sit out in the sunshine or wait to board a train to your secret performance destination, pick up a copy of the Anywhere Theatre Festival program at a local venue or visit their website anywherefest.com and start planning your performance odyssey now.


Amsterdam-born artist, Philippe de Kraan is intent on taking Mornington by storm – art storm that is. His 48th solo exhibition, A Moment in Time, is coming to Oak Hill Gallery in September and the streets businesses and publications of Mornington are ablaze with images of his colourful expressionist paintings. De Kraan paints with exuberant passion and he wants to share that with others. Of the upcoming show he said: “I want people to walk away from his exhibition with their imaginations going wild!”

It hard not to be struck by De Kraan’s work; his bold, bright expressionistic paintings are eye catching both in content and in colour. He works meticulously over long periods of time with exacting precision. He spent three and a half years painting a one 10 x 6.5 foot canvas, The Gathering, with a miniature (000) paintbrush! It was the only way to achieve the effect he wanted. Patience and dedication to detail are clearly strengths. Have a close look at the pages of the book sitting open on the park bench in his

painting, Mornington Delight.

“To have mastered the essence of expression is what I’d like my artistic legacy to be,” he explained. His portraits certainly do just that. There is depth, expression and fine detail in their faces. When he lived in Europe he used to pay sitting fees to beggars, the elderly, local fishermen and children alike to capture their personal stories. “When you paint a person, you have to make them live. You have to touch the soul,” he revealed. All his work always depicts the human form in some way.

Whether expressive oils and watercolours or meticulous brush and ink work, de Kraan has produced a body of work equal to his intended legacy. Don’t miss this unique solo exhibition opening on Sunday 5 September from 2-4 pm and continuing until Wednesday 30 September at Oak Hill Gallery, 100 Mornington-Tyabb Road, Mornington, 5973 4299, oakhillgallery.com.au

View de Kraan’s work at dekraan.com

ON A MISSION TO CAPTURE IMAGINATION



Sydney author Liane Moriarty has penned six international best-selling novels. Her latest, Little Big Lies, debuted at number one on the New York Times bestseller list- a first for an Australian author.

Her previous novel, The Husband’s Secret, sold over two million copies and will be

translated into 35 languages. She has also written a series of children’s books as L.M. Moriarty.

Moriarty is a literary sensation overseas and the Americans are scratching their heads as to why few Australians know of her. Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon have acquired the film rights to her latest novel. CBS Films acquired the rights to her previous novel, The Husband’s Secret and director David Frankel (The Devil Wears Prada) is set to directing another of her novels, What Alice Forgot, for Sony TriStar. Perhaps it’s time to sit up and take notice.

Moriarty is speaking at the Melbourne Writer’s Festival, but is taking a little detour to speak at the Frankston Library. Read her latest and come and listen to this largely unsung hero of the Australian literary landscape. Her keen observation of life in the suburbs is brilliant writing, but you’d never hear that from her and that’s part of her charm.

Hear Liane Moriarty speak at Frankston Library, 60 Playne Street, Frankston on Saturday, August 22 at 1 pm. Free, but bookings essential on 9784 1020 or libraryfrankston.vic.gov.au

In Coriole, a little country town in Northern NSW, folks are getting ready for the big day. But what are they really celebrating? No one seems to have a proper answer to this question, but all parties have their own two bits to put in. Master of satire, Johnathan Biggins, has whipped up a comedy in Australia Day with as much froth as a shaken tinnie where jokes snap along like a string of Chinese fi recrackers.

Laugh all you like, but there is plenty to think about in this hilarious examination of the true

blue Aussie identity. Racism, federal politics, disability, the environment and corruption get a fair crack of the whip in this fast-talking send-up of nearly everyone. Queensland Theatre Company has produced a corker here and it would be a shame to miss out on where you might fall when the snags are down.

See thoughtful, charming comedy Australia Day and then discuss at Frankston Arts Centre on Thursday 27 August at 8pm. Bookings on 9784 1060 or thefac.com.au

Imagine having the confi dence to stand up in front of a room full of strangers and perform a poem you have written. Ninety-seven percent of people polled report public speaking as their greatest fear, but it can be overcome and the result is exhilarating. Performance poetry is like literary skydiving. Why not try it?

In her two-hour workshops, local performance poet, Andrea Louise Thomas teaches participants the nuts and bolts of writing poetry, how to identify distinctions between poems best suited for page (reading) or stage (performing) and discusses what works best. Everyone is given time to write two short poems and, if willing, to perform them to the group.

Coaching tips for successful performance provided.

Andrea was a state fi nalist in the Australian Poetry Slam three times, as well as being a fi nalist in Poetry Idol at the Melbourne Writer’s Festival three years running. She’s published numerous poems and won prizes for her poetry. With a degree in English Language and Literature from the University of California, Berkeley, Andrea knows her stuff.

Come up skill literarily at Frankston Library (Long Room) on Wednesday 18 August from 5.30 to 7.30pm. Free, but bookings appreciated. Call 9784 1020.

BEST-SELLING AUTHORTALKING IN FRANKSTON

Frankston Arts Centre


AUSTRALIA DAY YOU SAY?

LITERARY SKYDIVINGFrankston Library Presents

A T T H E

G RA N D H OT E L M O R N I N G TO N

THURSDAY 15th OCTOBERTickets $35 - www.ticketebo.com.au

TRANSMUTANTKatie Noonan

new album & tour

FRIDAY 14 AUGUST - GRAND HOTEL MORNINGTON

TICKETS $15 ONLINE / $20 ON THE DOORAVAILABLE VIA TICKETEBO.COM.AU/GRANDHOTEL

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mint (issue 6) august 2015

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