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Methyl Ethel: 'Triage' Album Interview 0

Most folks caught onto Methyl Ethel’s infectious brand of electro-pop with 2017’s hit Ubu from the band’s second album Everything Is Forgotten, with it’s earworm chorus of “Why’d you have to go and cut your hair’. Recently Methyl Ethel fans have been thrilled to discover that already released singles from the new album Triage, Real Tight and Scream Whole possess the same contagious song qualities. With the self-produced Triage (Released February 15), Webb has also happened upon a fuller sounding album than previous releases, not specifically an intended goal but a result he gladly accepts. The songs come across as epic and complex yet at their heart would stand alone comfortably in a more stripped back form, which was definitely a quality he sought out when writing for the album. When Australian Musician’s Greg Phillips spoke to Methyl Ethel’s Jake Webb about the Triage album, he was back in his home studio continuing to create new music.

Jake, you are doing quite a few interviews leading up to the release of the new album. What’s your relationship with the media like? Do you enjoy talking about your music or is it a task that you know you just have to do?
Well it’s sort of somewhere in between the two. It’s something that I guess, now that I am aware of it being something that’s part of the process, part of putting music out … I’m at peace with it.

You have a very distinctive sound. I’m wondering who some of the artist are who influenced you and lit the spark for the kind of music you play now?
I think the spark was lit mostly by 50s and 60s pop music on compilation CDs and cassette tapes that my parents had when I was growing up but everything else is from my parents music collection. The Beach Boys and Beatles and general ones that pop up. When I got older it was weird DIY artist like Gary Wilson and Stevie Moore, people like that got me interested in making music on my own.

Do you get into the history of records and how records were made?
Yeah I am a bit of a music biography nerd I guess.

When you knew it was time to create this album, did you have something specifically in mind form the get-go?
Sonically it is more honing in on a sound that I was trying to develop with the project. It’s like, with each release being able to look back and see what I’d want to improve on and better it, so it is more just a natural extension of the other two records I have made and every thing else to date.

So there were mental notes made or lessons learned from previous recordings that you took into this?
Always because I don’t stop working on the next project after one is completed, I kind of just keep working. In my mind in a way with each release .. they’re like binarisms of each other in terms of light and dark and approach to music. That might sound very faffy and weird but my first EP perhaps, I think of it as being a bit more like a shiny pop record and then the next one being darker and more experimental, using them to bounce off one another. It’s like ok I did that, maybe I’ll try something else. By Triage it’s sort of trying to hone in everything.

Has your method of writing and creating changed much over the years?
Yes it changes quite often, song to song sometimes.

Do any of the songs start out traditionally, written in one hit on a guitar or are they generally pieced together in the studio?
There was one which was written on a guitar because of exactly that. I said I want to just write a song on a guitar. I think one thing that I did go into this record as a theory in my mind was that all great songs can be just reduced to somebody just sitting down with a guitar or piano and singing the melody and you can still recognise it as a great song. I wanted each song to be able to be reduced down to its fundamental pieces and still stand up.

You self-produced the record. Why did you decide to go down that road?
I wanted to basically back myself and take the plunge. I just saw it as being potentially more beneficial going forward to take take the risk and see if I could challenge myself.

The sound seems a lot fuller than previous records, was that always the intention?
I think it would be hard to set out to achieve a fuller sound. I think maybe it’s just a lucky thing … something that just happened. I find it hard to put into words. In hindsight that sort of thing is easier. The goal is always simply to try to make something that I feel to be really good but I can only go on my own instinct.

Tell me about the creative relationship with Marta Salogni, the album’s engineer.
What started out as just a straight out mixing assignment … I actually had in mind that I was getting it mixed by someone else and then she came in and I think we struck up such a good friendship that my creative side opened up more perhaps and I threw her in to let her work her magic, which she did to great result.

Nine songs made the cut, were there many others you had for consideration?
Yes. There were quite a few more, which is not to say they won’t be heard one day. Maybe soon. Similarly to the whole idea behind … trying to keep things tight and concise … I wanted to lean towards … a lean album!

There are a number of songs on the album with upbeat tempos. Do you consider how many of those type of songs you need on an album? Is there a need for balance?
I do consider balance quite a lot actually. That’s why I find it hard to work on just one song at a time. I’m always working on groups of songs, anywhere from four to six songs and that is exactly in order to have some balancing against each other. I think having an album in mind is quite important, to write records rather than singles but at the same time, I am learning that different ways to play with that idea and be experimental without using the technical and musical tropes of what people consider to be experimental.

I imagine the track order is important to you?
It is quite important. I always use to think of track order as sort of the Greek tragic structure. Like Oedipus or something, with peaks and troughs and coming to a climax. There’s always some mad, pretentious theory behind everything I do I think.

What about song titles … do you think they are important or do you think a song could be called anything and still have the same impact?
I think both of those things and I think I have done both of those things over time. I used to name the singles off my EPs after dog breeds but then I also have used references to things that only I know the reference. I find it quite fun but you definitely get called out on it quite a bit within the journalistic world of music if you choose to have a bit of fun. Sometimes keeping it simple is the way out.

What about the gear on the album? What instruments did you play?
It’s all drums, keys, guitars … there’s a bit of saxophone in there too.

Real synths or software sounds?
Mostly real. There’s a soft synth … it’s a Spectral synthesis, so they are samples where you can record things in the environment or put in your own samples and essentially synthesize your sounds from those.

Do you listen to other artists music and then seek out sounds they are using or totally into what you create yourself?
As far as sounds go, the only person who I have obsessed over trying to learn about their sound, have been producers like Arca and Oneohtrix Point Never. I think that is probably the most exciting music that I have heard for a long, long time as far as new sounds being created. I tend to find … and even with what I do as well … there doesn’t appear to be anything that sounds like the future compared to those producers.

A lot of artists latch onto the same software sounds these days and you hear the same sounds in so many songs …
The real difficulty which is probably talked about quite a lot is how to deal with infinite possibility, that is one thing with computers and these software synths … especially if you are savvy enough to know how to get things for free on the internet, dare I say it. Then the possibilities are so, so wide and endless. Also when it comes to internet education, if you are learning how to do things from the internet, sometimes I think you tend to repeat the ideas of others. It’s difficult but we can all rest assured that there is some 12 year old, perhaps a young girl somewhere who is making more interesting music you ever will on a computer. I think that is also the beauty of that. Navigating the world of gear and things like that can be difficult.

Will it be a difficult album to reproduce live?
Difficult? Potentially but that’s the great challenge. We love getting together and nutting these things out, it’s always good fun. We’ve already expanded out to a five piece band and it seems to be ample at this stage. I mean who wouldn’t want to tour with a 14 piece band. I’m sure that would do the trick but we will get by with five. Five and a bit of wizardry.

The album is out on February 15th. What’s on for the rest of 2019?
The aforementioned figuring out the songs and just working on more new music, the addiction continues.

Triage is out now via Dot Dash / Remote Control!

Triage Album Tour 
Presented by triple j, Monster, Secret Sounds & Dot Dash

Saturday 15th June – The Astor Theatre, Perth

Friday 21st June – The Forum Theatre, Melbourne

Saturday 22nd June – The Enmore Theatre, Sydney

Thursday 27th June – The Gov, Adelaide

Friday 28th June – The Triffid, Brisbane

Secret Sounds Pre-sale: Monday 18 February 9am – Tuesday 19 February 8am LOCAL
Tickets via scrtsnds.co/MethylEthelTour

General on sale: Tuesday 19 February 9am LOCAL

NAMM 2019: Gibson Jam 0

Gibson guitars celebrated their return to the NAMM Show with a huge all-start concert at the City National Grove of Anaheim last night with live performances from Nancy Wilson, Peter Frampton, Robby Krieger, Emily Wolfe, Black Pistol Fire, Cam, Jared James Nichols and more while Jimmy Vivino, Kenny Arnoff, Daryl Jones and Jeff Young rounded out the house band. One of the many highlights of the night included Robby Krieger’s blistering version of classic Doors songs Love Me Two Times and Roadhouse Blues. Adding to the amazing energy was vocalist Lauren Ruth Ward, who is soon to front The Divinyls for an Australian tour. Other highlights included Black Pistol Fire who ripped up the stage .. on and off … and of course Peter Frampton’s magical version of Do You Feel.

Gibson is distributed in Australia by Australis Music Group.

Aussie Acts to Headline Australian Open 2019 0

Hit duo Flight Facilities with Slum Sociable & Groove City, popular rock band DMA’S and Jack River , electronic indie pop band Safia and incredible young Australian talent RUEL are among the acts who have been added to the already impressive AO Live Stage roster for 2019

Acts already announced as part of the Australian Open’s 15 days of music include: Dean Lewis, Bastille (UK), Conrad Sewell, Ball Park Music, Birds of Tokyo, Craig David & Full Live Band (UK), JET and  Angus & Julia Stone.

“We are very excited to have some of the best local and international acts here at the Australian Open,” Australian Open Tournament Director Craig Tiley said.

“Our fans know that we are now a big entertainment event – they can come and enjoy some great tennis action on-court and head to the AO Live stage for fantastic entertainment. Thanks to Mushroom Events we truly have something for everyone in 2019, in an event that just gets bigger and better every year,” Tiley said.

Mushroom Events CEO Michael Gudinski backed up Tiley, saying the line-up is hugely impressive and diverse.

“Our team at Mushroom Events has worked with the Australian Open incredibly hard the last few months to create such an amazing and diverse line-up for the AO Live Stage, “ he said.

“With 15 days of music, there is literally something for everyone.”

Cooper’s Saturday returns this year on Saturday January 19 featuring both Confidence Man and Total Giovanni.

The Australian Open AO Live Stage is fast developing a reputation as one of the most comprehensive music festivals in Australia.

The AO Live stage is situated at the middle terrace of Birrarung Marr and for the first time will feature a purpose-built shade structure, further enhancing the experience for music and tennis fans.

The AO Live Stage is accessible to all fans holding an Australian Open Ground Pass or stadium ticket.

The full AO Live Stage line-up is:

Sunday 13 January
Beyond Blue concert
Monday 14 January
Dean Lewis and Gretta Ray
Tuesday 15 January
Conrad Sewell and CXLOE
Wednesday 16 January
The Teskey Brothers and Odette
Thursday 17 January
Bastille and Nicole Millar
Friday 18 January
You Am I and Jebediah
Saturday 19 January
Confidence Man and Total Giovanni
Sunday 20 January
Flight Facilities and Slum Sociable
and Groove City
Monday 21 January
Safia and RUEL
Tuesday 22 January
Ball Park Music and Bec Sandridge
Wednesday 23 January
DMA’S and Jack River
Thursday 24 January
Birds of Tokyo and Last Dinosaurs
Friday 25 January
Craig David & Full Live Band and
Yo Mafia
Saturday 26 January
Angus & Julia Stone and Alex Lahey
Sunday 27 January
JET and Something For Kate

The Australian Open will also host a free concert in support of Beyond Blue on Sunday January 13.

Australian Open 2019, presented by Kia Motors in association with ANZ, Luzhou Laojiao and Rolex, will take place at Melbourne Park from 14-27 January.

All Australian Open tickets including ground passes, which allow access to Melbourne Arena, are now on sale at ticketek.com.au.

David Bowie's Lazarus Musical Melbourne 2019 0

The Production Company is thrilled to announce they are bringing the David Bowie and Enda Walsh musical Lazarus to Melbourne in May 2019.
Lazarus was David Bowie’s final project, first staged in New York in late 2015. This will be the Australian premiere of this ground-breaking musical. Lazarus features 18 David Bowie songs including Changes, Heroes and Absolute Beginners. Inspired by the novel The Man Who Fell to Earth by Walter Tevis – the movie also starred David Bowie – it focuses on Newton as he remains on earth, unable to die. We follow him during the course of a few days where the arrival of another lost soul might finally set him free.

Public are now invited to join the wait-list to be one of the first in line for ticket information at lazarusthemusical.com.au

Executive Producer Rachel D Taylor said “Lazarus was a dream come true for David Bowie, for decades he had spoken about writing a show, and when it was announced off-Broadway in 2015 the entire season sold out in a few hours. When I read the script I found it incredibly moving, especially knowing that it was one of his final projects. And seeing songs like Heroes and Changes come out of the story was just spine tingling. It’s rare to find a musical like Lazarus.” Chairman Jeanne Pratt said “I am so excited that The Production Company will bring this ground breaking show to Melbourne. I think it’s going to be a great event for Melbourne and a must see for lovers of David Bowie and musicals alike.”

Lazarus will be staged for a strictly limited season in the Playhouse at Arts Centre Melbourne in May / June 2019.
Lazarus is proudly presented by arrangement with Robert Fox and Jones / Tintoretto Entertainment.
The Production Company’s Season 2019 will be launched on February 19, 2019.

DIVINYLS Australian Tour Announced for Feb & March 2019 0

Lauren Ruth Ward photo by Nicol Biesek

DIVINYLS founding member, guitarist and co-songwriter Mark McEntee has announced an Australian tour which will begin in February next year. The band will feature charismatic female lead LA-based singer/songwriter, Lauren Ruth Ward, plus original Blondie guitarist and Divinyls (1987-88) alumni, Frank Infante.

Long is the time since billboards across the country have lit up with the name Divinyls. A brand synonymous with raw, exciting, and above all uncompromising rock ‘n’ roll. A band that won the heart of a nation and then eventually the world. That time has come again as founding member, guitarist and co-songwriter Mark McEntee returns in 2019 with a talented new line-up hitting the road in March to honour the legacy and celebrate the indelible music created with the late, great Chrissy Amphlett.

Led by the commanding vocal stylings of Amphlett and the whip smart guitar vocabulary of McEntee, the Divinyls were a massive international success in the ‘80s-‘90s.

Managed early on by Bon Scott’s friend and collaborator, Vince Lovegrove, the Divinyls signed to the biggest-ever publishing deal with EMI America as the duo co-wrote hits such as Boys In Town, Only Lonely, Sleeping Beauty and the international hit, I Touch Myself, which charted at #2 on the US charts in 1991.

By this time the Divinyls were sharing management with Madonna and Michael Jackson. It was a deal that had stemmed from early and hard-earned American success, opening 1983’s iconic US Festival to over 150,000 people, being the focus of a double-page spread in the New York Times and touring with the heady likes of Aerosmith, The Ramones and The Cult.

While I Touch Myself was banned in certain parts of the world (including radio stations at home in Australia) it caused a stir with audiences as bras were raised at shows in salute and a new openness evolved in pop culture. The empowerment inspired by Amphlett was unstoppable and though she tragically passed away in 2013, she remains a feminine icon for then and now.

Throughout the band’s history, Mark McEntee impressed as a world-class songwriter and guitarist, and a highly-acclaimed musical arranger in the studio. He co-wrote I Touch Myself with Billy Steinberg (Like A Virgin, True Colors, Eternal Flame), had his song, Science Fiction, included in APRA’s ‘75th Anniversary Best 30 Australian Songs Of All Time’ and penned The Pretenders 1999 hit, Human On The Inside, for Chrissie Hynde. The Divinyls are inductees in the ARIA and Victorian Music halls of fame as proof that the songs will live on forever.

Feeling an organic need as a musician to perform the songs he co-wrote once again, McEntee will lead a major Divinyls tour in 2019. Joining him will be firebrand Baltimore-bred, LA-based singer/songwriter, Lauren Ruth Ward, original Blondie guitarist and Divinyls (1987-88) alumni, Frank Infante, and a cracking new Australian rhythm section featuring J Cortez and Malcolm Clarke to bring those hit tunes – from the heart and source – back to stages all over the world.

It’s time. And it’s also, as McEntee says, a Divinyls Mission.

Principal Entertainment and Wheels & Dollbaby Present
Divinyls
*Tickets on sale December 6th, 2018

WEDNESDAY 27TH FEBRUARY- WINTERSUN HOTEL- GERALDTON
WWW.OZTIX.COM.AU

FRIDAY- 1ST MARCH – GATE ONE THEATRE – PERTH
WWW.SHOWTICKETS.COM.AU

SATURDAY 2ND MARCH- DUNSBOROUGH TAVERN- DUNSBOROUGH
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SUNDAY 3RD MARCH- GATE ONE THEATRE – PERTH
WWW.SHOWTICKETS.COM.AU

WEDNESDAY 6TH MARCH- THE GOV – ADELAIDE
WWW.OZTIX.COM.AU

THURSDAY 7TH MARCH- FORUM- MELBOURNE
WWW.TICKETMASTER.COM.AU

FRIDAY 8TH MARCH- UNI BAR- HOBART
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SATURDAY 9TH MARCH- SALOON BAR- LAUNCESTON
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SUNDAY 10TH MARCH- LORNE HOTEL-LORNE
WWW.OZTIX.COM.AU

WEDNESDAY 13TH MARCH- ANU- CANBERRA
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THURSDAY 14TH MARCH- WAVES- WOLLONGONG
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FRIDAY 15TH MARCH- ENMORE THEATRE – SYDNEY
WWW.TICKETEK.COM.AU

SATURDAY 16TH – MARCH- LIVE AT THE FORESHORE-NEWCASTLE
WWW.LIVEATTHEFORESHORE.COM.AU

WEDNESDAY 20TH MARCH- COOLANGATTA HOTEL- COOLANGATTA
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THURSDAY 21ST MARCH – EATONS HILL HOTEL – BRISBANE
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FRIDAY – 22ND MARCH -WHARF TAVERN- MOOLOOLABA
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SATURDAY 23RD MARCH- RACEHORSE HOTEL- IPSWICH
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MONDAY 25TH -MARCH DISCOVERY – DARWIN
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Five More Bluesfest Side Shows Announced 0

David Gray, Flogging Molly, Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real
Meshell Ndegeocello, Shakey Graves added to Bluesfest road show!

After scaling enormous heights with album sales over 12 million (including the highest selling album ever to-date in Ireland with ‘White Ladder’), BAFTA, Brit and Grammy nominations, a Q Award, two Ivor Novellos and much more, David Gray returns revitalised with a new perspective, energy and new sound to take to his adoring Australian fanbase. With a loyal fanbase and a plethora of albums to enjoy, there’s no doubt tickets to see David Gray live in Australia this April will be in high demand.

Quintessential Irish-American Celtic folk/punk band Flogging Molly is leaving California this April to once again dazzle Australia with their wild live performance tactics. Known for their distinctive fusion of traditional Irish music and often abrasive hard-hitting punk rock, their impassioned live show has won the hearts of many Aussies over the past two decades. They will continue in that vein, playing an assortment of shows in Adelaide, Sydney and Melbourne.

Lukas Nelson, the son of Willie Nelson and friend of Bluesfest is returning to tour Australia with his band Promise Of The Real on the heels of tremendous accolades for his work on Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga’s ‘A Star Is Born’ soundtrack. With a bounty of invaluable experience under their belt, expect Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real to deliver an indelible blast of cosmic country-soul, the sound of American music will be reborn in Melbourne and Sydney this April.

American singer-songwriter, rapper, multi-instrumentalist and bassist, Meshell Ndegeocello is coming to Sydney to perform a headline show this April. Over the past 25 years Meshell has received significant critical acclaim including 10 Grammy Award nominations and credit for helping spark the Neo-Soul movement.

Shakey Graves a.k.a Alejandro Rose-Garcia was born in Austin Texas to a musical family and is best-known for playing a smoky, spectral fusion of blues, folk and rock in a stripped down one-man-band style established in 2007. His live performances can be deceiving. Up to now, he’s been categorized as an Americana singer-songwriter, thanks to his traditionally rooted songs, fluent acoustic-guitar picking, Texas roots and from wearing his cowboy hat, looking like a one-man country band. But, the tag will undoubtedly be dismissed as restrictive and irrelevant once discerning listeners hear his radical new album performed live in Melbourne and Sydney this April.

For further information please see bluesfesttouring.com.au

On-sale dates for ALL artists
Pre-sale 10 am Local Time Wednesday 14th November
On-sale 10 am Local Time Friday 16th November
Venues, dates and ticketing links

David Gray
Sun 14th April 2019, Riverside Theatre Perth
Tue 16th April 2019, Enmore Theatre Sydney
Sat 20th April 2019, Palais Theatre Melbourne

Flogging Molly
Fri 12th April 2019, Powerstation Auckland
Sun 14th April 2019, HQ Adelaide
Wed 17th April 2019, 170 Russell, Melbourne
Thu 18th April 2019, The Metro Sydney

Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real
Wed 17th April 2019 The Corner, Melbourne
Thu 18th April 2019, Factory Theatre, Sydney

Meshell Ndegeocello
Sat 20th April, The Factory Theatre Sydney

Shakey Graves
Mon 22nd April 2019 The Factory Theatre Sydney
Tue 23rd April 2019, The Corner Melbourne-
Wed 24th April, The Powerstation Auckland NZ

bluesfesttouring.com.au