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BABY ANIMALS AND KILLING HEIDI JOIN FORCES FOR “BACK TO BACK 2020” TOUR 0

Following sell out shows across the country earlier this year in celebration of Baby Animals’ 30th Anniversary, Baby Animals and Killing Heidi will unite once again, due to popular demand, for a massive  tour – “Back To Back 2020”, presented by Triple M.

The tour will run from July 3 to September 12,  taking in Melbourne, Emu Plains, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Newcastle, Thirroul, Canberra, Sunshine Coast, Miami on the Gold Coast, and winding up with two final shows in Vic, 11th and 12th September.

My Ticketmaster pre-sale commences tomorrow, December 17  at 10am, running until 9am on Thurs December 19, with general public tickets on sale from 10am on December 19.

Baby Animals and Killing Heidi feature two of Australia’s most formidable frontwomen, Suze DeMarchi and Ella Hooper respectively. Between the two bands, the setlists read like a page from the Aussie rock songbook – ‘Early Warning’, ‘One Word’, ‘Painless’, ‘Rush You’, ‘Weir’, ‘Mascara’ and more.

Ella Hooper said today, “Killing Heidi and Baby Animals just feels like a match made in heaven, if I do say so myself, and the crowd's response was so enthusiastic the first time we played together that we couldn’t resist having another go – AND extending the tour! When do you get to see two hard-rocking female-fronted bands back to back that happens to span two of rock’s funnest and most vibrant era’s – the 90’s and the Naughties! It’s a pretty powerful night out. We love it.”

Baby Animals have been one of Australia’s biggest bands since they burst onto the scene with their self-titled debut. The band was touring with Van Halen in the US when they heard the album had topped the charts. Baby Animals spent six weeks at number one in Australia – keeping Nirvana’s Nevermind out of top spot.
Baby Animals went eight times platinum and won three ARIA Awards – Best Album, Best Debut Album and Best Debut Single. It was also declared one of the Top 25 albums of 1992 in UK rock bible Kerrang!, and Baby Animals performed ‘Painless’ on Late Night With David Letterman.

Baby Animals was later featured in The 100 Best Australian Albums, with the book explaining: “Baby Animals exploded on the Australian music scene with a bracing fusion of heavy metal bravura, a touch of glam dynamics and a look and a swagger.”

Fierce and uncompromising – the first single from the band’s second album was called ‘Don’t Tell Me What To Do’ – Suze DeMarchi was also featured in the book Rock Chicks, The Hottest Female Rockers from the 1960s to Now. “Baby Animals was like a breath of fresh air,” the book stated, “a hard-rocking band fronted by a guitar-wielding, tattooed temptress who could rock with the best of them.”

It’s been twenty years since Hooper Siblings Killing Heidi released their disarming folk-pop song, ‘Kettle’ on triple j unearthed. The band soon expanded into colorful teenage power pop and burst onto the national and international stage with their breakthrough debut album Reflector, released in March 2000.

Anthemic singles ‘Mascara’ and ‘Weir’ made Reflector a blow-out success and cemented the work as one of Australia’s most loved pop albums.

The early naughties belonged to Killing Heidi with Weir placing #2 and Mascara #14 in triple j’s Hottest 100. Reflector went on to take out four ARIA awards and reach 4 x platinum status. The Hooper siblings also won the critically-acclaimed APRA songwriters of the year award.

BABY ANIMALS AND KILLING HEIDI – BACK TO BACK 2020
Presented by Triple M

MYTM Pre-sale: 10am, Tues Dec 17 – 9am, Thurs Dec 19
General On-sale: 10am, Thurs Dec 19

Tickets available from:
thebabyanimals.com
killingheidiofficial.com

Fri July 3          Melbourne, VIC            Croxton Bandroom

Sat July 4         Melbourne, VIC            Croxton Bandroom

Fri July 10        Emu Plains, NSW        O’Donoghue’s Irish Pub

Sat July 11       Sydney, NSW             Manning Bar

Fri July 17        Brisbane, QLD             The Triffid

Sat July 18       Brisbane, QLD             The Triffid

Fri July 31        Adelaide, SA                The Gov

Sat Aug 1         Adelaide, SA                The Gov

Fri Aug 7          Perth, WA                    The Astor

Sat Aug 8         Perth, WA                    The Astor

Fri Aug 28        Newcastle, NSW          The Cambridge

Sat Aug 29       Thirroul, NSW             Anita’s Theatre

Thur Sept 3      Canberra, ACT            The Basement

Sat Sept 5        Sunshine Coast, QLD  Aussie World

Sun Sept 6       Miami, QLD                  Miami Marketta

Fri Sept 11       Aspendale Gdns, VIC Chelsea Heights Hotel

Sat Sept 12      Doncaster, VIC            Shoppingtown Hotel

THE BEAUTIFUL GIRLS: HAVE JAZZMASTER WILL TOUR 0

The Beautiful Girls is the moniker singer, songwriter, guitarist and producer Mat McHugh has used over the last couple of decades to perform, record and release his feel-good rhythms. Occasionally, depending on his vibe, he’ll use his own name too. It’s a brand (although he wouldn’t like that term) which has seen McHugh travel the world with his mates playing to audiences from Europe to North and South America and all points in between. He’s done it totally on his own terms too as the quintessential independent artist. Twenty years down the track since he began, it was time to both reflect and celebrate. McHugh has put together Seaside Highlife, a greatest hits package on vinyl and is about to take it out on the road with an extensive Australian tour beginning on January 4, 2020. At some point near the end of the Australian tour, he’ll release yet another album. Adding to his current state of contentment and joy is the acquisition of a new Fender Ultra Series Jazzmaster, replacing his old Jazzmaster which has served him well for the last 15 years.

Mat McHugh took some time out from tour preparations to chat with Australian Musician’s Greg Phillips about his career, gear and the upcoming tour.

Where’s home these days Mat and what space have you set aside to weave your musical magic?
I live on the beach in Cronulla. I just have a room at our place dedicated to music. In the last decade all of the albums I have done have been out of the home studio. Convenience-wise it is good but probably like anyone who works from home will tell you, there is a degree of discipline required. Having everyone in the house understand that the studio is where I have to go to go to work. I think the impetus for it was that wherever I was recording at another studio, I felt this … just a weird feeling where you turn up at a studio, pay your money, it might be 11am on a Tuesday and it’s like ok, go! Then you’ve got to play the guitar, sing, perform. I felt like at least half of the time I just wasn’t in that space. I mean, it worked out but you’re kind of jumping through hoops. Whereas now when it comes the time to actually perform at home, I try to be in the moment and feel it and capture you being inside the song and being a part of it instead of just 1,2,3 go.

Has your method of writing songs changed at all over the years?
Yeah it definitely has. I have a guy Ian Pritchard, who has mixed everything I have done and I was talking with him. I was reflecting on albums I’d done this decade and the ones I’d done before. At the start of this decade it was the first time I had got my hands on a computer and tried to chop up performances and edit things together at home. I was just baffled as to how these things worked. I’d never used a DAW before. Now every record I have made since, I got so far inside that process that it got a bit crazy and recently I have let the reins off a bit. The last couple of records I was sampling my voice, making a single sound and then turning it into a synth pad and flipping this and that but now I am back to using the home studio as a tape machine basically. Switch it on, capture a performance and if you don’t get the performance right, try and do it again.

Seaside Highlife is your greatest hits collection which you’ve released in conjunction with the tour. Did you ever believe when you started out that you would have a hits collection?
Ha ha it was the furthest thing from my mind. I studied visual arts, like graphic design when I left school and I was bumming around, spent some time in India and the United States but I was always writing songs. My old man played guitar and he always wrote. When I got back to Sydney there was a girl running an open mic night down in Bondi and I was on the Northern beaches. I was like, I gotta figure out a way to hang out with this girl. I got a few guys I knew to play some of these songs that I’d written. Growing up I was in punk bands and stoner rock bands with the fuzz pedals switched on the whole time. These were more introspective and mellow songs and I showed the guys the song parts and off we went down to Bondi for the open Mic night. We got asked back and it just started getting packed every time we played. I thought we need to do a demo now and the first record cost $300 and took three hours. No song took more than two passes and that thing sold 100,000 copies. From that point every single cent made from sales was put back into making another record and touring the world. We are as independent as it gets. There was never an agenda other than saving enough to make the next. So looking back it was a struggle to whittle down the songs to fit onto a double vinyl album. I always find that the most popular songs aren’t necessarily the ones that carry the most artistic weight, not always the songs that I find the most interesting. The challenge for me was balancing it out so people might have got the songs on there that they are familiar with but I also wanted to include the ones that had a particular sense of value artistically to me. It might be a song where I turned a corner and got better at what I do. There’s 88 minutes of music, 22 minutes per side on vinyl, so there was a real cut off point to fit everything.

Do you recall any greatest hits albums that you got into growing up?
I really love that Paul Kelly one. That Songs From The South, I smashed that. I smashed that and the Bob Marley Legend one. What was great about that was it makes you go backwards, dig deep and find actual albums and then album tracks become the ones you love. Just touching on the Paul Kelly one again, it was kind of an inspiration for this thing that we are doing. His was Song from the South volume one and he brought out another one recently. I thought that’s what I want to do. I don’t want a greatest hits to be ok, here it is and ride out into the sunset. We’re really independent and to find all of our records in a store is kind of hard. If there is going to be a record in a record store, I want it to be this one and if people want to investigate further, go for it. I just wanted a solid gateway, a good body of work for people to get into the band who may not have heard of us.

You’ve recently got your hands on a new Fender Ultra Jazzmaster. Were you a big fan of the Jazzmaster model in general beforehand?
I only played a Jazzmaster for around 15 years. I had a few other guitars but got a Mexican Jazzmaster 15 years ago and just loved it. When I first started I played resonators, then acoustic. After a while I thought I don’t really want to do this acoustic thing, it was a pain in the bum to play live with it. I didn’t want to get lumped in with this acoustic movement because I didn’t really feel like I was that. I wanted to get back to what I grew up doing and wanted to find an electric guitar. I think I tried a Tele and a Jazzmaster and I just thought the Jazzmaster was amazing and it’s the only guitar I have played on stage for the last 15 years. It’s just been like putting on an old pair of jeans.

When you picked up the new Ultra Jazzmaster, what were your first thoughts?
Many things but the first thing I noticed was … my guitar was a bit of an old clunker, an old jeep. This new one looks like a Bentley. That was the very first thing, the look of it, the finish, the build was amazing. What was weird about it … I’m pretty much a staunch vintage enthusiastic. I just play into an old Blackface, Deluxe or Twin with hardly anything in between. I love vintage stuff so I went into it thinking, I’m not sure if I am going to like this! I knew that it was a modern spec guitar so I was skeptical. I appreciate people that are into the newer stuff but I didn’t think it was going to be for me. When I got it into my hands, it looked and felt vintage but an easy to play vintage without the hangups. I went into Fender and played it, then went home and I couldn’t stop thinking about it. So I went in again and had another play and probably annoyed them going in there for days having a go. I think what is so amazing about it is that all of the little hang ups I had about a Jazzmaster, it addresses them. It is the first modern Jazzmaster that they have done but still feels and looks vintage. Also I use to hear the term noiseless pickups and shudder, I’m philosophically against it. I’d played friends guitars with early versions of noiseless pickups and I wasn’t into it but with the Ultra, they sound vintage.

The thing that I really love though, more than any other Jazzmaster I have had in the past is the switching options. Usually you’d have this rhythm circuit that just darkened it up, which was nice but the way that I approach guitar, I use it more as an atmospheric thing or to fill up or surround the vocal. I don’t approach it like The Rolling Stones or AC/DC, I am more along the lines of jazz or James Brown, where the bass is the harmonic road map. The bass and melody and hi-hats are the poles in the ground of the song for me. The guitar is like a paint brush putting details in and darting in and out and it needs to occupy a certain frequency and just play that role. There’s a switching thing on the new Jazzmaster where you can switch it out of phase, which is cool but historically out of phase for me is a strong statement and can sound super thin, super wirey and almost too small. The genius point I am getting to is that on the new one, the rollers on the top switch, they roll in the amount of each of the pickups you want for the out of phase thing. So you can have an out of phase sound but not overwhelmingly so, it sits exactly where you want it. I don’t need to set up an EQ pedal or anything now. I get that for some people that wouldn’t mean much but for me it’s the greatest thing I’ve ever found on an electric guitar.

Which colour did you go for?
I went for the same colour as my trusty old one which is just the the three tone burst, so it looks like my old one but way more handsome. I am a bit of a traditionalist but I did see that mocha burst in there at Fender on a Tele, so I have put an order in for one of those too. So if it comes in time I will be taking those two guitars on the tour.

You have this greatest hits tour at the beginning of the year, then what for the remainder of 2020?
Leading up to the end of this year I have been recording a new record that is almost ready to go. I never know what I am going to release them as up until about a week before release. I make the records first then decide whether to put them out under Beautiful Girls or my name or whatever. It’s a three piece record with maybe more guitar than I have ever done before. About half of the record is the new Jazzmaster. It came in toward the end of the process. I will release that toward the end of the Australian tour then do a bunch of dates in Europe and America and back to oz for next summer.

What are you most proud of in your music career?
I have always just tried to get better and write decent music that has some value to me. I never thought of it in terms of what can this generate for me. I just wanted to express myself and try to get to a place where it was original, honest and truthful and I can hear that when I listen back to it and I can hear the improvement over the years too. Maybe the main thing is the way I’ve gone about it. It is an industry of so much smoke and mirrors and bullshit and so many people making empty promises. It is a weird place. I have always remained staunchly independent, not pretend independent where you’re with major label but act independent but truly independent. In that time I turned down hundreds of thousands or even millions in advertising by beer companies and this, that and the other. The only agenda has been just keeping it only about music, making decent music and not selling it out or sell out the people who listen to it and that’s it. That’s been maintained for nearly twenty years now. In this world I feel like that’s something to be proud of. I would feel the same way if I was a baker, shoe repairman or plumber, same thing just not bow down to the dark arts, fight the good fight and that is what I am most proud of.

https://www.thebeautifulgirls.com

Credit Australian Musician

FINNISH BLUES SHREDDER ERJA LYYTINEN, KOOL & THE GANG AND MORE FOR BLUESFEST 0

The ever-giving folks at Bluesfest have just posted their third announcement of acts for the 2020 event and it includes:

Kool & the Gang
Erja Lyytinen
The Gipsy Kings ft. Nicolas Reyes and Tonino Baliardo
Guy Sebastian
Allen Stone
LP
Dweezil Zappa
Troy Cassar-Daley
The Waifs
Chain
Ash Grunwald

The eleven new additions will be joining the big names such as Crowded House, Dave Matthews Band, Patti Smith and her Band and Lenny Kravitz this Easter.

Commenting on the announcement, Festival Director Peter Noble OAM said “I am thrilled to say that our headliners on this announcement have almost 100,000,000 album sales between them. Household names, R&B funk masters, Kool & the Gang are the winners of two GRAMMY Awards and with 70,000,000 album sales – their performance this Easter Saturday is going to be a standout! The Gipsy Kings, the creators of flamenco rumba with one GRAMMY Award plus a Latin GRAMMY Award and with 25,000,000 album sales it makes for a stellar third artist announcement for Bluesfest 2020.

Everyone knows the songs immediately when they hear the first few chords of Kool’s ‘Celebration’, ‘Ladies Night’ or ‘Get Down On It’ or The Gipsy Kings ‘Bamboleo’, ‘Djobi Djoba’, ‘Bem Bem Maria’ and so many more. AND, they are both playing our main stage on Saturday night at Bluesfest with George Benson, back to back – what a night of hits this will be!
We’re lucky enough to have Guy Sebastian are his two incredible ARIA Award wins last week. The mighty Allen Stone, a real-deal Bluesfest favourite who is becoming another breakout star following his numerous appearances over the years. Dweezil Zappa will be playing his Dad’s brilliant record ‘Hot Rats’. Winner of the European Guitarist of the Year – ErjaLyytinen, Australia’s greatest ever blues band – Chain and so much more. Stay tuned for another lot of amazing additions for what is fast becoming one of our greatest lineups’s ever!”

The Bluesfest 2020 Lineup So far:
DAVE MATTHEWS BAND – CROWDED HOUSE – PATTI SMITH AND HER BAND
LENNY KRAVITZ
GEORGE BENSON -BRANDI CARLILE – JOHN BUTLER
THE WATERBOYS – XAVIER RUDD – THE CAT EMPIRE – MORCHEEBA
JOHN PRINE – BUFFY SAINTE-MARIE
ZUCCHERO – JIMMIE VAUGHAN
EAGLES OF DEATH METAL – ANI DIFRANCO
FRANK TURNER – JOHN MAYALL – AMADOU & MARIAM
CORY HENRY & THE FUNK APOSTLES
THE ALLMAN BETTS BAND – THE MARCUS KING BAND – WALTER TROUT
LARKIN POE – THE WAR AND TREATY
JENNY LEWIS – YOLA – CHRISTONE “KINGFISH” INGRAM
GREENSKY BLUEGRASS – TAL WILKENFELD
JOACHIM COODER – STEVE ‘N’ SEAGULLS

For further information on the lineup or artists please see here. 

Bluesfest 2020 is being held from 9 – 13 April 2020. Tickets are on sale now via Moshtix.

RIP STUART FRASER 0

Respected and much-loved guitarist Stuart (Chet) Fraser – a founding member of Noiseworks, long-term player in John Farnham’s band, and occasional guitarist in Jimmy Barnes’ band has died after battling lung cancer since 2017.

Fraser was such an integral part of Noiseworks, a band which featured some of the best musicians in the country and have produced a swag of incredible songs, such as ‘Take Me Back’, ‘Love Somebody’, ‘Touch’, ‘Freedom’, ‘Miles and Miles’ and ‘In My Youth’. The band sold in excess of 1.2 million albums with 15 hit singles.

“To my dear friend Stuart Fraser. It was a privilege to have been able to love you and be loved by you. I will miss you greatly,” said Noiseworks bandmate Steve Balbi

“I’ve known Stuart since he was a young boy. He was one of the most beautiful souls I have ever met. The world will be a sadder place without you my friend,” Jimmy Barnes wrote on his Facebook page this morning

Daryl Braithwaite too posted a message. “My condolences to the family and friends of Stuart Fraser who died late Saturday after a long illness. He was a lovely man and such a fine guitarist, may he rest in peace.”

Stuart has also worked with Tom Jones, Ray Charles, Boz Scaggs, Kylie Minogue, Joe Camilleri, Tommy Emmanuel, Tina Arena, Olivia Newton-John, Nick Barker, Diesel, Daryl Braithwaite, Ross Wilson and David Hirschfelder to name a few, as well as working with Chong Lim on Dancing With The Stars and the Sydney Olympic Games.

Ross Wilson Jimmy Barnes, John Farnham, Noiseworks and Diesel came together to play a benefit show for Fraser, organized by Support Act in 2017 after he had been diagnosed with cancer.
RIP Stuart Fraser

MARTY FRIEDMAN: AUSTRALIAN TOUR INTERVIEW 0

Legendary guitar virtuoso MARTY FRIEDMAN will be returning to Australia, for the first time with his full “Super Band” in December. With a career spanning over thirty years with some of the world’s biggest heavy metal acts including Megadeth, on top of a stellar solo career, Marty Friedman is a household name for guitarists across the world. Due to massive demand from Australian fans, Marty will also be doing 4 very special masterclasses before each show in Australia, giving guitarists across the country the opportunity to learn from one of the world’s greatest guitarists in an extremely intimate setting.

Ahead of the Australian tour, Marty took some time out to chat with local guitar identity James Ryan about his career, gear and the upcoming concerts and masterclasses.

James: Marty this will be your first ever band tour to Australia, although you have been here before because I saw you in clinic years ago…
Marty: Yeah that was the most recent time. I think around 2010. This is first time coming with my band and they are extremely pumped and excited about it. Not a lot of Japanese people get to play in Australia. It’s a legendary destination and I am really glad that I am the guy to guide them down there, even though I haven’t been there very much myself.

Can you tell me about your current band? It’s fairly new isn’t it?
Not really. I’ve had several different incarnations of my solo band and sometimes there are long term members and sometimes there’s a new member depending on what part of the world I am in and what the schedules are like and how long the tour is, all these different factors are involved. On this tour you are going to see the bass player Kiyoshi who did my recent record and live album and is my main core bass player. My guitarist Naoki is Japanese too, who has done stuff for me in Japan … a young kid, who is absolutely amazing. What is going to happen is that you might come to the concert to see me but when you leave the show you are going to be talking about my band. That’s pretty much the guarantee and they are going to outshine me every single night. That’s the way I like it, especially with this set that we have planned, where there is room for everyone to be themselves, it’s not all about me and not just a recital of my music.

That’s what I have always got from watching your videos. Everyone gets to do their own thing and gets to have their own personality in there and it’s always a brutal band. Apart from the concerts, there has also been a big demand for your masterclasses too. Do you have a particular approach for the masterclasses?
The only real approach I have is to completely let the people who come to have it their way. I don’t have any agenda or don’t plan to teach anything. I just play a little bit including some songs I don’t play in the live concert and then pretty much I just answer questions. It’s a big Q&A festival and I let everybody get as many questions in as possible about anything they want, it doesn’t have to be about music. I let them run it and it’s just as much fun for me because I get to know what makes everyone tick.

I wanted to take you back to the early days of Cacophony with Jason Becker. Do you ever have a sneaky listen to that stuff as it was a pretty wild era for you?
Jason and I are great friends and we email each other all the time. We are actually going to do a little Cacophony stuff in the show in Australia because I have never played there as a solo band and I want to acknowledge a lot of the people who have followed me for a long time but have never got to see anything live. I am bringing back a few things from early in my career, Dragon’s Kiss, a little bit of Cacophony stuff and let people know that I care that they have supported me and we haven’t been there as much as Jason and I would have loved to have been there. It’s always a thrill to me when I do that and mention Jason’s name because people perk up and it is a fantastic thing, the fact that although he hasn’t toured for so long, he is still appreciated in all kinds of countries and it shows the power of his music and power and warmth of the fans. In Australia we are going to do this thing where my guitar player Naoki does a mean Jason Becker impression. It’s going to be fun.

Did that early period help to shape your tone and style or was it just already there?
It’s always been ‘already there’ but it’s been an evolving work in progress. It has definitely evolved since then and if you listen to my most recent stuff, it’s really like Cacophony on steroids. It’s kind of the same person, same melodic sene but the musical decisions are much more well thought out and executed maybe and a lot of the fat got trimmed off but that was a very important part of my evolution and I really have no regrets about that stuff.

You’ve always seemed to be attracted to some more exotic sounds and outside ways of approaching harmony and melody and that has carried right through your career.
Certainly. At that time what happened was, anything I was inspired by I would immediately put in a song and try it out and throw everything into the kitchen sink before I really understood it. If I got any kind of new information whatsoever, I would throw it into something. That’s great but sometimes it’s hit and miss and after you have had years to find a little bit of musical sense and experience you tend to do it a bit smarter and you get more satisfaction out of it. In your early 20s you just go, I know this and I am going to throw it in there. It’s a childlike mentality which is not always bad but like I said, I have no regrets. Sometimes I listen back and think well this is a little funny … I was trying my best

What a fantastic idea though, to throw that stuff in there while you feel it is exciting. Otherwise you’re not going to get onto some of the more interesting sounds that you sometimes trip over …
That’s exactly right and back then we didn’t really have anybody telling us it sucked and sometimes that can be helpful. If we thought it was cool we’d put it in there but a third ear sometimes can be helpful as far as mainstream appeal goes but we weren’t really interested in mainstream appeal and I am not that terribly interested in it that much today either. But you know, you learn, with any record that is done you think there are a couple of things you might have wanted to do differently.

I was looking on your website and there was this track that you did for the Japanese government. At first I thought what a cool freakin song and then mostly I just thought, Japan must have the coolest government in the universe to ask you to do that?
Thank you so much that means a lot to hear, it really does. I agree with you that the fact that their government commissioned me to do it … I wasn’t born in Japan, I am from America … so to have the government get me to do it when there are stacks of amazing Japanese musicians out there, it was a huge responsibility. I really loved the challenge and the way it came out and when you collaborate with the Tokyo Philharmonic, it is a chance to make a piece of music sound really grand. It was a lot of work done over a relatively short period of time but I am so satisfied with the piece of music. Sometimes I will play that in the clinics but it is just a thing I am very proud of.

You seem to get most of your sound through your technique, the way you hit the strings and using your volume control. You never seemed to get caught up in the whole gear side of things, did you?
No not really. I admire people who have the head for gear and have a sense of electronics and pedals and boards but I never had that. I have always tried to streamline my playing experience where it is basically me plugging into an amp and making my musical statement with note choices and the way I phrase notes and compositions, things that I can control. I don’t really get into effects. I think it is really pure, although I do admire people who can express themselves using different effects.

You are not relying on all this stuff, so wherever you go in the world, as long as you have a good amp, and your Jackson guitar you’re happy! The Jackson thing has worked out well for you. You must be enjoying using those guitars?
Yeah I love it. It’s a signature model that has really been a source of pride. Jackson was there when I was putting out signature models for other companies. They have always remained close family to me and helped me in many situations even when I was not an official Jackson guy. They never writ me off, which tends to happen in the music business. When I was out of contract with another company they said whenever you want to start work on a signature model just call us and I did and it was a long process during the Wall of Sound recording and they sent me lots of prototypes. Like I was saying before, I am not a gear guy, so contacting them wasn’t very good in regard to getting them to fix the things I needed fixed, so they put up with a lot of my stupidity. After many prototypes … all of which I recorded that album Wall of Sound on, or the majority, it was me just trying out guitars. We nailed down the final guitar by the end of the recording. It is just a very basic, simple guitar that looks great and I will be playing it in Australia. A wonderful company known for metal but they’re good for a lot more as you will see more of in the future.

Are there any guitar players you are hearing at the moment that you would like to do something with?
There are so many great guitar players. There’s a guy named Mateus Asato. I think he is a wonderful player and there are so many guys but he is the first one that comes to mind. He has such a sweet touch and a really nice player.

What’s your approach to writing when you need to come up with a new album? Is there a process you go through to kick that off?
It’s a scary time because it is like starting with a blank piece of paper and I don’t like it at all. I hate it but it has to be done, I am not one of those guys who catalogues a lot of old stuff and goes back to it. I think if it sucked before, it is not going to get any better by sitting in a computer, so I start from scratch again.
There’s a pressure which comes from not wanting to repeat what you’ve done before. The last records I think are my best and everyone should feel that way. The last thing they released is what they should be most proud of. I’d hate to wind up saying the first album is my best and I haven’t really passed it since. Sometimes I do feel I am never going to top that so why bother.

I imagine there’s always something that comes along to inspire you though and you can shake off that voice in your head?
It always happens thankfully and it’s usually when one new thing comes into the equation, a new collaboration or new studio or new engineer. It takes one little spark to set you off and I am always waiting for that to happen.

TOUR DATES
Wednesday, December 11: Crowbar, Sydney – Masterclass @ 5.00pm
Thursday, December 12: Crowbar, Brisbane – Masterclass @ 5.00pm
Friday, December 13: Bendigo Hotel, Melbourne SOLD OUT
Saturday, December 14: The Basement, Canberra – Masterclass @ 5.00pm
Sunday, December 15: The Evelyn Hotel, Melbourne NEW SHOW – Masterclass @ 5.00pm

TICKETS VIA EVENTBRITE
www.pinnaclemusic.eventbrite.com

TOOL ANNOUNCE FEBRUARY AUSTRALIAN TOUR 0

Frontier Touring is thrilled to announce the return of triple Grammy® award-winning Californian rockers Tool, performing in arenas across Australia and New Zealand in February 2020 – their first shows in both countries in seven years. The tour comes off the back of the band’s critically-acclaimed fifth studio album, and their first new record in 13 years, the incredible #1 ARIA Album Fear Inoculum.

Currently on a mammoth 26-date tour in the USA, Danny Carey (drums), Justin Chancellor (bass), Adam Jones (guitar) and Maynard James Keenan’s (vocals) groundbreaking, epic live show sees a band at the top of their powers. Their immersive live visual experience is as brilliant as the band’s music itself, and not to be missed.
Tool first formed in 1990 and have released four multi-platinum studio albums: Undertow (1993), Ænima (1996), Lateralus (2001) and 10,000 Days (2006); two EPs: 72826 (1991) and Opiate (1992) and the limited-edition boxset Salival (2000).

Released in August 2019, Fear Inoculum debuted at #1 in Australia and New Zealand (the band’s third consecutive #1 album in both countries) – with #1 debut position also in Canada, Norway, and Belgium. In the USA, the band knocked Taylor Swift off the top spot and sold 270,000 units in its first week alone. Critics were united in praise, Rolling Stone describing Fear Inoculum as: “A formal masterpiece that should stand the test of time.”

Adding to these special shows, fans will have the opportunity to purchase a limited edition VIP Package, details of which can be found here.

Yesterday, the band announced the December 13 release of an expanded book edition of Fear Inoculum, which includes 5 x 3D lenticular cards with exclusive graphics, an expanded 56-page booklet, a download of the groundbreaking immersive visual experience (video) “Recusant Ad Infinitum,” and a CD. Head here to pre-order.
Don’t miss the multi-sensory, groundbreaking experience that is Tool, live in concert. Do not delay – tickets will not last long!

TOUR DATES
Friday 14 February – RAC Arena, Perth
Monday 17 February – Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney
Thursday 20 February – Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Brisbane
Saturday 22 February – Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne
Friday 28 February – Spark Arena, Auckland
All shows — All Ages

https://www.frontiertouring.com/tool