INDUSTRY INTERVIEW: Tania Wilson of missmanagement & paranoidbydesign

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There sure are quite a lot of managers out there in the Melbourne music scene, but nothing quite says "awesome" like a veteran who's been in the industry since 1995 (when most of the musicians on this blog were probably infants or toddlers), has rubbed shoulders with some pretty illustrious shoulders and has two businesses to her name.

Melbourne artist manager Tania Wilson has seen everything and done it all - everything from large scale international tours, artist development, mentoring, events management, promotions, booking and publicity. She's set up paranoidbydesign, her successful events company, and missmanagement, a management firm set up to help young, budding female managers gets a leg up. 

Paper-Deer listened to Tania's wise words, because honestly if there's something that you want to know about the Melbourne music scene it's probably in her head.

 

What job title do you go by?

Slave to the grindstone.

Sounds violent. And what exactly do you do?

Solve problems, find answers and make sure I have an educated, well-rounded and informed opinion.

What are your plans for 2011 for paranoidbydesign and missmanagement?

missmanagement is working on releases and tours for its artists for 2011 and paranoidbydesign has a heap of events coming up that we’re working hard on.  We’re also establishing our record label so we’ll be sourcing good upcoming artists to release.  Plus we’re expanding the team and welcoming some great girls into the crew which is exciting.

What artists do you currently work with?

I currently manage Fare Evader (VIC)and i, said the sparrow (WA). 

What do you love about them?

I love both bands because they fulfill the checklist of everything you want in a band – they work hard, they’re creative and innovative, they’re young, fresh and unjaded by the industry, they write great songs that I love and will happily play over and over, they have huge potential ahead of them, they respect advice, and they are both a pleasure to work with.

Fare Evader I love because they just make me happy. Working with them is a joy plus it’s always great when the sound guy in every venue gets into your band and gives you his card at the end of the gig asking if you ever need him again. Sparrow is a new challenge and also has a lot of potential. I’m dying to see them live again as I’ve only seen them once (the difficulty of managing an interstate band).

Fare Evader’s new EP is out next year. Has it been exciting and rewarding watching this Melbourne three-piece go from strength to strength?

Fare Evader are always going to be a pride and joy because I’ve known them from the early stages of their career when they were a fledgling band. They are one of those bands that make the hard-yards-and-no-sleep part of management worthwhile. With them, being a manager became a positive experience again and I’m like a happy parent every time they achieve a new milestone. I can’t wait to see where they go from here.

You’ve travelled the world and worked with bands from other Australian cities and other countries. What do you think about the Melbourne music scene and our bands?

I’ve been working in the scene since 1995 and have always thought it was amazing and always appreciated its health and vitality.  No matter where I’ve been I always say hi to my baby again.  But over the years we’ve fallen afoul to things like errant ill-informed legislation and the residentalisation of entertainment precincts.  Venues have struggled against dwindling numbers and increasing costs. 

On the band side I think the scene had a tendency to take itself for granted and other cities have recently overtaken us in successful bands coming out of their towns.  Plus interstate there is greater organisational and government support for the industry in terms of export and education.  I think with things like SLAM and Music Victoria that will start to change hopefully but with the change in local government it will be interesting to see what pans out in the near future. 

I’d strongly disagree that violence was as prevalent as the media and government wanted to make out but I think there is an increasing lack of respect for your fellow patrons when people are out these days. I’d encourage young bands and people entering into the industry to work on not just their individual careers but the Melbourne music community as a whole. Join in with things like Music Victoria so you can work on supporting your industry on a day-to-day basis before it comes to a head like with The Tote. All that being said I think we’ve been lucky and haven’t had as low lows as other states had in the past. Melbourne will always be my favourite just because it’s where I came of age into the industry.

What advice would you give to bands looking for managers?

Just do the job yourself. Too many bands want a manager simply to do the jobs they don’t want to do. If you want to have a mate manage you then just grab a mate who’s good with numbers and on the phone. If you want a proper manager then you have to establish your band as a viable business that a good manager will be interested in.

A lot of bands say they have a manager when really what that person does is book the band gigs – that’s a booking agent and there’s a shortage of those too. A manager manages the business of the band and works on the long term career of the band. A band shouldn’t be too fast to hand over their management as they should be invested in their futures from the ground up and the better job the band does of that the more ready they are to have a proper manager who can take them to the next level. There are different kinds of managers too so you have to work out what kind of support you need and what direction you want to take the band in before you can decide appropriately what kind of manager you need.

On the other side of the coin, any advice for budding artist managers?

Reverse of the previous question – if a band can’t manage themselves you’re not going to be able to manage them and if they’re not prepared to work hard on their careers you’re going to be the only one doing any work and that is just well… stupid. Trust me. It’s okay to say no.

Avoid rockstars. If they’re acting like rockstars when they’re on the way up imagine how they will act when they get to the top, and then when they’re on the way down. The more experience you get in the industry the faster you will spot the fledgling rockstar and the quicker you will walk the other way.   

Aim to be the kind of manager that progresses a band’s career not one that fetches water. At the end of the day the band’s career rests in your hands and it’s a great responsibility. Management often doesn’t receive the overt credit it is due but without a great team that performance never gets onto the stage. 

Find good mentors and managers to network with. I am incredibly lucky in that I have a great set of people I can reach out to and ask advice from and who encourage me.  Find every avenue you can to expand your knowledge base and make new contacts – music conferences (Fuse, Big Sound, One Movement) and industry training (JB Seed Management Workshop, Austrade Masterclasses).  Diplomas and degrees in the industry can be great but make sure you are doing internships and work experience while you are studying. All of the best managers in the country learnt through actually doing it.

Work out what skill sets you have and which ones you’re missing. Make a list of what you have to learn and what you can get someone else to do. These days a manager has to be everything from business manager to personal manager to record label manager. Some things you can just oversee rather than micromanage if you have another person you can trust – like an amazing FOH guy or a great booking agent.

In the early days of a band’s career spend money wisely.  Don’t rush to outsource everything; do what you can yourself in terms of publicity, releasing, branding and marketing. There are great avenues like Amrap/AirIt for sending your songs to radio so save money on a publicist until all elements of the band are ready for the next stage and the money is worth spending. Plus the more you and the band do to develop your personal connections to press/radio, they will do to help you as the band grows the more.  It is always about the authenticity of your business and connection for long terms careers versus one hit wonders.

The most difficult advice is that if things just aren’t working out it’s okay to walk away. Even though you’ve invested your heart and soul and sleepless hours into something it just isn’t working right. You can’t trade your happiness for the “what if next week it breaks out into something big” because it really just isn’t worth it. It’s the hardest lesson to learn.

UPCOMING SHOWS:

• Thursday December 23: Melbourne Fresh Presents Xmas Gig, Revolver Upstairs
• Friday December 24: Fare Evader supports Goldfields, Karova Lounge, Ballarat
• Friday January 21: Summertime Goo, The Palace
• February - March: Fare Evader east coast tour and EP release
• March: i, said the sparrow east coast tour and single release
• Saturday March 12: i, said the sparrow, Rock The Bay, The Espy
• February 7 & 15: Melbourne Fresh Grand Finals 2011

LINKS:

• paranoidbydesign official website
• paranoidbydesign on Myspace
• paranoidbydesign on Twitter
• Fare Evader official website
• i, said the sparrow on Myspace

 

INTERVIEW: Cameras

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In an age where Holga cameras are the de rigeur heavy weight hanging around hipsters necks, Polaroids are collectibles and every household seems to have a decent Nokia SLR in the cupboard, the word "cameras" makes you think of photography, tourists and taking happy snaps.

But if this Sydney band has its way, you may start associating Cameras with three fine musicians. Purveyors of dark, moody and decidedly addictive musical musings, this trio are setting our ears here at Paper-Deer on fire.

Paper-Deer listened to what singer and guitarist Fraser Harvey had to say about their musical experimentations.

Your Facebook page says “the band////not the machine”. Does having the same name as a very popular piece of technology get confusing? Not really for us, but I can understand someone seeing the word ‘cameras’ not immediately thinking of a band. We don’t exactly have the most Google friendly band name either.

Paper-Deer has been having trouble sleeping at night trying to figure out what genre you are… Cameras is very dark, very glittery and epic, melodic and epic alternative without the wankery. What would you guys classify yourselves as? There’s something quite boring about specific genres, so the words you’ve laid out there will suffice just fine. There’s always a dark element to our sound in some form, which I think is our common ground within the band. The rest of the sounds just happen around that central idea, and some songs will end up sounding quite bright and upbeat when we finish them.

So June was selected as an iTunes Single of the Week, and Defeatist was featured on an MTV show. What was it like having your music blasted out through millions of television screens in the US before you’ve even released an EP or landed a record deal? As a band, you want to get your music heard by new people, and it’s always flattering when someone takes an interest in your music so they were both good things for us. It was strange though being a band that not many people really know about, and your song is credited on a show next to Beyonce and Lady Gaga and people like that.

According to your MySpace, you’re not signed to a record label. Is this an active choice or has nothing appealing come up yet? We only ever do things if they excite or interest us, and that goes for everything we do, so it’s a case of both really. It was a conscious decision for us to put this EP out solely ourselves.

Judging from the almost addictive teaser track Polarise, your debut EP is going to be pretty phenomenal. Do you have any juice details you can give us?

We produced the EP ourselves, with Mike Morgan, a friend of ours, doing the engineering. Apparently Snoop Dogg had had sex on the couch of the studio control room we were working in while he was working there. I like to think some of that helped influence this EP.

What do you think about the great, almost comical, rivalry between Sydney and Melbourne? Do crowds here treat you differently because you’re from across the border?

There is a bit of a rivalry between the cities. I don’t think we’ve ever felt like we’re much part of the Sydney scene though, so it’s not something that really engages us. We did play in Melbourne about a week after we recorded the EP in May, with our friends Big Scary, really enjoyed the show, and appreciated everyone turning up a little bit earlier to see us. We are the kind of band though that people do tend to just watch. Occasionally we’ll get a wayward dancer, but our shows will often have a slight standoff feel to them anyway. I quite like the tension though.

Cameras EP now out through iTunes and other decent digital outlets

DATES:

• Friday November 29: East Brunswick Club

LINKS:

• Cameras MySpace 
• Cameras official website 
• Cameras Facebook
• Cameras Twitter
• Cameras BandCamp

INTERVIEW: Leone Western

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When the most excellent Clint Eastwood starred in a whole bunch of spaghetti westerns back in the days before Paper-Deer was even born, I don't think the famous actor and director would realise that his work with director Sergio Leone would inspire a band to steal inspiration for their name, and write some pretty darn good music too.

Melbourne duo Leone Western don't pen tunes that make you think of tumbleweed and showdowns, but you definitely don't need the town outlaw to shoot at your feet to make you dance. If you like emotive synth-based with grime and grunge embedded in its grooves, check these two fellows out.

Paper-Deer hunted down both Dwayne and James for a chat about the band, their newest EP and spaghetti westerns.

Maybe it’s just me, but the name “Leone Western” makes me think of a place in North America, or something related to spaghetti western films. What’s the meaning behind your band name?

Dwayne: [Laughs] That’s exactly where it came from! A friend suggested “Spaghetti Western” as a band name and I thought there was no way we could be taken seriously with a name like that, but it grew on me and I found my self thinking about it a few days later. So it’s a bit of a play on words as Western Leone was like a mini Hollywood in Spain where all the early Clint Eastwood spaghetti westerns were filmed and were directed by Sergio Leone.

I feel smart. Now, there are only two of you. Does it make it harder to make decisions because you can’t have a majority-rules type of system, or easier because there’s less people involved?James: I only recently joined Leone Western but have taken as much of Dwayne’s influences on board as I can and have tried to get into the whole ‘Leone Western’ vibe – it’s getting more and more enjoyable as we go. But overall I think being a two-piece is not only a challenge for us to get a big sound going but to write music that we both enjoy playing, which is the whole point.

What do each of you bring to the band?

James: Leone Western is definitely height impaired, and I suppose you will find out why if you come and see us play! [Laughs] Besides that, Dwayne is the grungy guitar and the raw Interpol-like vocals of the band while I bring the cleaner melodies through the synth and vocals. A big element of Leone Western is that we’re a complete contrast to each other.

Leone Western’s EP Hearts’ Still Beating was released in September. How did the EP launch go?

Awesome! We played with some wicked bands – Cheerleader and 8 Bit Love –  who really set up the night well and made us lift our game to play our best gig ever.

Where can people grab a copy, and how much will it set them back?

We sell them at our gigs, just come up and say hi at a show. They’re $10 bucks, or you can checkout our online shop http://www.leonewestern.bigcartel.com/.

 

Paper-Deer has seen bands like Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Radiohead and Sonic Youth listed as your influences. All excellent bands, but all very different. What is it about these bands that inspires you?

Dwayne: If it’s got a click and a beep in it plus some distorted guitars, then I can’t get enough of it. I think what inspires me about those three bands is they’ve all been quite experimental or alternative but they’ve still managed to make their songs really fucking catchy, and that’s why we hear them on the radio. Their songs seem to evoke some kind of emotive reaction and that’s what good music should do.  

Any terribly embarrassing secrets or hilarious stories about Leone Western that you can tell Paper-Deer?

James: Well, my guitar has been having some problems, so I have recently been joined on stage with my friend’s pink guitar, which, um… looks great!

DATES:

• Thursday October 21: Yah Yah’s
• Wednesday October 27: The Arthouse
• Thursday October 28: The Victoria Hotel

LINKS:

• Leone Western MySpace
• Leone Western Facebook

INTERVIEW: Drunk Mums

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These boys may be called "Drunk Mums", but Paper-Deer is thinking that they should be called "Drunk Musicians" after hearing tales of their wild band-related adventures. Originally hailing from Cairns, the quirky poncho-wearing troubadours ended up in Melbourne where they have a tendency to infect punters with the head-shaking disease. (No, not rabies. The other one.)

Paper-Deer had a bit of a blast swapping words with the Drunk Mums boys about their grimey blues rock band, their alcoholic mothers and American soldiers.

Describe Drunk Mums in one word.

Messy.

Googling “Drunk Mums” turns up some very interesting results. Which is your favourite website from the resulting search?

Most definitely the YouTube clip of the Dr. Phil’s episode about mums who drink. Heart stopping stuff. 

Drunk Mums is an interesting name. Are your mums drunk, or do you like other people’s mothers drunk?

All our mums were drunk during labour.

This is a very random question, but Paper-Deer are obsessed with ponchos and capes. Where did your singer pick up his poncho that he wore at your Tote gig?

Our Mexican friend’s vintage shop “Bam bams” in Williamstown.

May have to stalk your Mexican friend. Unless your MySpace biography is lying, the band started out in Cairns and ended up in Melbourne. How many cities and gigs were between these two cities, and how long did it take?

We are all from Cairns and accidently ended up in Melbourne after our American self-funded unorganised tour was cut short due to our van being stolen by hombres in Miami. So with fuck nothing to our names we decided Melbourne was the next city to live.

What does each member of Drunk Mums bring to the mix?

Joel the drummer brings hung-over stock market advice, Tim brings a debt to the band rider, Dean brings all the boys to the yard and Jake brings a stiffy.

Worst thing to ever happen to Drunk Mums onstage?

On our way over to The States, we made a brief stop in Guam to play a show. Before the gig an American soldier spilt Dean’s scotch and coke. Feeling bad about it, the soldier replaced Dean’s drink and challenged Dean to a good old testosterone fuelled drink scull. Before realising he had skulled a full pot of straight scotch, Dean was passed out on stage by the second song.

DATES:

• Saturday October 23: Public Bar
• Friday November 12: Espy Front Bar
• Thursday November 18: Pony

LINKS:

• Drunk Mums MySpace
• Drunk Mums Facebook

INTERVIEW: Premodernists

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Premoderists. The Premodernists. Premodernist.

There's lots of ways that venues and writers seem to misspell Premodernists, but there's one thing you can't forget - their sound. A blend of just the right amounts of garage, indie, post punk and alternative to please even the biggest hipster in town, Premodernists have been impressing audiences all around Melbourne with their music and their tendency to yell things at awkward times on stage. It seems to be working, and their EP Dance A Little has gone from being a home-made, handwritten production to being in shiny little crystal cases in record shops all around Melbourne (including Polyester as well, which will keep these little hipster kids happy).

Oh, so that's what happens to TVs when you throw them out...

Paper-Deer had a chitty chat to bass extraordinaire and overworked band manager Brad Elphinstone on why he's celebrating his tenth birthday thirteen years too late, and why you should buy their EP.

Describe the band in one word.

Rambunctious.

What’s with the television fetish in your latest photo shoot? Is there any significance or meaning behind it?

It’s actually based off our EP’s cover art. Ashley Ng who designed it asked me for some ideas, and I sent through some images, including that of the TV on the cover. She sort of took a pop art approach and repeated the TV over and over, which we really liked. To me it sort of represents the homogeneity and repetition of commercial media, which as someone who’s certainly been influenced by Marxist theory, is something I’ve incorporated lyrically into some of our songs, like Flicker Little Lights and Modern Man. We decided to keep the TV motif going, and fortunately, at the time hard rubbish collection was going on in my area. Since everyone’s upgraded to plasmas and LCDs, there were heaps of discarded TVs sitting on the side of the road which we nicked and used for the shoot.  

Premodernists’ sound seems to be an amalgamation of alternative, garage, indie and post-punk. What musical artists are the most influential on your sound?

It’s hard to say really, since we’ve all got our own personal influences. There are bands that we all listen to, like Interpol, Radiohead, QOTSA and Nirvana, but there are also bands that we each listen to that no one else does (like how I’m a big Primus fan). It’s actually been really interesting hearing what other people think of us. We played live on PBS a while back and the sound engineer said we reminded him of Gang of Four, who were a band I’d just started listening to at that point. In reviews we’ve also been likened to bands like Sonic Youth, Snowman, the Velvet Underground and even the B-52’s in varying degrees.

Each person is left to their own devices and given enough room sonically to do their bit, and I guess that’s why our sound covers a bit of ground. We just play what sounds good to us rather than trying to emulate any particular sound or genre.

What does each member bring to the mix?

Tyse bring map reading skills. Aswin’s got the technical nous and experience required to record stuff without paying anyone. I book the gigs and organize pretty much everything, and Nick’s responsible for terrible Dad jokes.

Dance A Little is now in stores. If you could go up to everyone who’s ever picked up your EP in JB Hi Fi, what would you say to convince them into giving up $10 of their hard earned cash (or however much it is)?

First of all, I’d tell that they can pick it up for the low, low price of $6.99, and that there’s an unlimited list of amazing things they could buy with that remaining three bucks. Second, I’d probably say that supporting local music is totally ace, and that Beat Magazine seemed to like it, so it can’t possibly be too bad. And even if it is, it’s only $7 for a stylish drink coaster.

The EP was first distributed earlier this year as a home-made EP, and so Premods are doing a second EP launch to celebrate its distribution throughout retail outlets in Australia. Is having two EP launches akin to having two birthday parties for your tenth birthday?

I didn’t actually have a big celebration for my tenth birthday because my family was moving to Victoria at the time, so this EP launch will be a substitute for my tenth birthday. It’s a pretty good deal I reckon, I doubt that my parents would’ve allowed me to get drunk back then.

Premods seem to play lots of gigs all around Melbourne. Favourite venue in town?

I’m immediately going to rule out Ding Dong and Revolver because of those damn stairs. We’ve played at The Tote a few times though, and I’ve always enjoyed it there. It’s obviously got heaps of history and it’s always been fun playing there since the stage is a really good size and the sound (especially since it’s been upgraded) is great. Plus, last time we played there one of the other bands put on a massive barbeque which included some amazing potato salad. I’m not sure if liking a venue by association of potato salad is typical of most people, but it’ll do.

Was Hey Sylvana written for a particular girl?

See, I’d really like to say that it was. But it’s not. The real answer is actually super lame. When we write songs, the music always comes first and the vocals/lyrics second. As the music was coming together we thought it sounded a bit like Silverchair meets Nirvana. You can probably figure out that happened next. It was soon realised that the ensuing portmanteau was actually a girl’s name, and so the lyrical direction of the song was set.

Most embarrassing secret or funniest story about the band?

Isn’t the origin of Hey Sylvana embarrassing enough? Our EP was recorded in the radio lab of a local university after I convinced security to give me the door codes (apparently all you need to do is say you’re a PhD student). There were a few fun nights there, sneaking a drum kit up onto the third floor of the respective building and recording until the wee hours. 

DATES:

• Saturday October 23: Pony [EP re-launch with 8 Bit Love, The Whole Molko and Villains Lair]
• Friday November 12: The Espy
  

LINKS:

• Premodernists homepage
• Premodernists Facebook 
• Premodernists MySpace
• Pony EP Launch event on Facebook

INTERVIEW: Carnation

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Melburnian psychedelic rocksters Carnation are proud of their newest release 12.21.12 because it's the closest to their true sound that they've ever been. Their fans are squealing in excitement over their recent sonic reinvention, and the band are just unpacking their bags from their recent Singapore tour.

If you're scratching your head trying to find a Carnation record in between your Doors and Banshee vinyls, don't. Carnation may be a rather talented, busy and accomplished (heaven knows how hard it is for a band to organise a door list, let alone a tour overseas) blokes, but they are very much of this generation.



Paper-Deer exchanged words with Carnation's rhythm guitarist Garrett Overend about Singapore, their latest EP and their fondness for Indian shirts.

The band has re-invented itself since its beginnings in 2007. Do you ever cringe or get embarrassed when you listen back at old tracks?
No, never. The songs were always of a high quality, there’s no disputing that. It was just that the overall sound on that first EP didn’t reflect the energy of our live performance.

How would you describe Carnation’s evolution from these early days, to your latest EP 12.21.12?
We’re older, not much wiser, but a bit more experienced nonetheless. This EP was recorded by the band, we didn’t involve anyone else as we had a clear direction sound wise and didn’t want that diluted. We learned from the mistakes of the past with regard to recording.

Explain these mysterious numbers in 12.21.12. Is it some secret code or is it a date in an American format? A girl’s measurements? Password to a safe?
It’s the end date of the Mayan calendar, American style. Those are some decent measurements though, I must say.

Hmmm, she'd have a pretty big waist... Anyway, are you happy with how the EP has turned out?
Yeah, we’re proud of it. It sounds like us, that’s pretty important. That’s honestly the main difference between this and the debut. This one sounds like Carnation, the first one didn’t.

Where can we exchange our hard-earned money for your EP?

You can get it from iTunes, our website/Myspace, from us at a gig, and at all good retailers. Go buy it, there are loads left.

Carnation just did a tour in Singapore, Paper-Deer’s home town. It’s a seriously interesting place because it’s completely different to Australia. What was that like?
We played five shows over there and loved every minute of it. Touring with The Pinholes was a laugh a minute, they’re all great lads. Before we left I was most looking forward to playing as an international touring band. The experience didn’t let us down, I’ll leave it at that.

And what about the country itself? Any funny tales to tell your mates back home?
Well, we all have a penchant for Indian shirts. Whilst in Singapore we passed a market stall selling Indian shirts, so Pete tries one on. Fair enough. The only issue was that with it being 39 degrees and Pete sweating profusely, the shirt stuck to him like it was a wet t-shirt comp! He likes the shirt and decides to buy it, so he takes it off only for the stall owner to chuck it on the ground like a rag, and Pete gets a fresh new shirt in a packet! His custom cost the guy twice what it should’ve. Maybe you had to be there.


Gigging in a different state seems scary and complicated enough. What was shipping all your gear over like?
Packing wasn’t as bad as it might seem. We stripped back the gear we normally use, and the rest of the case was filled with summer clothes. Seriously, we didn’t even need a jacket over there. That pissed me off.

Anything else our Paper-Deer readers should know?
We’re really good and modest too.

DATES:

• Friday September 24: The Espy
• Thursday October 21: Revolver

LINKS:

• Carnation MySpace
• Carnation MySpace

INTERVIEW: Nacional

We have moved! Our blog is now at www.paper-deer.com. 

Yes, they’re electro. And if you don’t like it, you can shove it up yours because they’re not changing for anyone.

Hailing from Melbourne, Naçional are four-piece band hell-bent on smashing together all facets of electronic music into one tight fuzz-ball of noise. Drawing influences from heavy industrial gods like Trent Reznor to the boppy dance sensibilities of Blondie, this local quartet are just about to head into the studio to record their debut EP.

Drummer Nathan Bobik stopped by Paper-Deer central to have a chat before locking himself into the recording studio.

So the name “Naçional” is… French? Spanish? What’s the story behind your exotically foreign band name?
The name actually comes from Los Angeles - I used to go to club called Naçional and it was a tiny place with this incredibly dark and dirty atmosphere. Kind of claustrophobic, almost like a bit of a maze but it played a lot of good music. When we were thinking of names I just remember the place and thought, “Why don’t we work with this for now?” It seemed to fit with the ideas we had in our heads, and we just never changed it.

There is a massive electro-rock scene in Melbourne. How does Naçional keep things sounding fresh and different from the rest of the pack?
We’re probably a little different because we have quite a big industrial influence. Although I think almost every type of music fits into electro rock these days. Everything from Katy Perry to Nine Inch Nails – it’s the most overused term used in music today.

From our perspective, we’re just making the type of music that we love, if it’s current and relevant then great. If it’s different from the rest of the pack, even better… and if it’s shockingly behind and overdone, well then there’s nothing we can do about it right now because we still love it and don’t really want to change it!

We hear the Naçional gang is headed into the studio to record your debut EP. How are you planning on bottling up your live energy into .wav files?
We’ll let you know as soon as we figure that out ourselves! We’ve spent quite a lot of time demo-ing in Matt’s studio so technically we already have the tracks recorded, we’ve just never released them. We know the way we want them to be recorded, but we just wanted to make sure we’d written enough tracks so we could actually choose the ones we wanted to record rather than record every track written.

Ace thinking. When can we expect to get a copy of your EP in our hot little hands?
Hopefully, start of November… Most likely? Middle of November…

What’s the funniest thing that has ever happened at a Naçional gig?
Matt Sofo backstage. I really don’t need to say anymore. The image is burnt into everyone’s minds for life.




DATES:

• Thursday November 4: Croxton Park Hotel [supporting Calling All Cars]

LINKS:

• Nacional MySpace
• Official Nacional website
• Nacional Facebook
• Nacional Tumblr
• Nacional Vimeo

INTERVIEW: These Patterns

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In late 2008, two girls and one guy started experimenting with dark electronic soundscapes, male-female vocals and tribal drums. The very excellent end result was These Patterns, a Melbourne band famous for their sombre brand of electronic music that has plenty of nightmarish textures, Peter Murphy-style vocals and live drums to distinguish them from the slew of electro jam bands out there. It might also help that all three of them are actually classically trained in their instrument of choice...

The trio is also slowly becoming known for its hardcore DIY approach - as part of the new breed of bands on the streets, these smart cookies realise that throwing money at an entourage of "help" isn't going to necessarily work anymore. Perhaps these three talented kids are just control freaks, but everything from management, booking and the artistic direction of their videos are all done within the band. These Patterns are so dedicated to their DIY cause that they have even started up a production house for their music video escapades. Hell, if Paper-Deer had asked them to write this blurb, they probably would have.

These Patterns are currently slaving away at the recording studo to work on their upcoming EP, so things will be a bit quiet on the gig front until the EP launch in November. But there's no need to worry if you're starting to have awesome-band-withdrawals - Paper-Deer was lucky enough to catch all three Patternites on their way to the studio. Paul Satur, Jess Njoo and Samantha Arthur give us the three different sides to the story.

What pattern is your name “These Patterns” referring to?
Paul: One thing that I have found to be really cool about what we are doing is that we all have different interpretations, encounters and reactions of our name. The name for me is about the fact that I have come from an overly developed suburban area and one thing I have struggled with over the years about such an environment is the monotony of everything, and how so many people just seem to accept that. They eat, go out and where the same things, they live in the same looking houses, doing the same things every week. Just like patterns (see what I’ve done there!), so I suppose these patterns is a reflection of my frustrations with that sort of thing.
Sam: Yeah, I guess we didn’t really have a meaning behind the two words, together they just kind of fit. For me it refers to patterns in life, art, music, nature… everything seems to have a pattern.
Jess: But really our name means whatever you want it to be.

These Patterns is an excellent do-it-yourself type of band and has started your own production company Ludwig Van. Why do you guys love doing things yourself as opposed to kicking back and hiring minions to do the dirty work?
Sam: Doing everything ourselves is a major priority for us. We like to be in control of every aspect of our music, from our designs to our music videos. I think for a band to take control of every part of their music reflects how important it is to us and how it gives us a great sense of euphoria.
Jess: I guess we can’t help it. We love being way too involved in everything. I don’t think we ever thought to get someone else to make us a video, or to help with anything else really. It just seemed like that’s what we should do. A lot of the other bands we like and admire are really DIY and I think that it’s a really important aspect of being passionate about something you are a part of.

The Loui video that These Patterns/Ludwig Van made is really excellent. Is it easier (because you have total creative control) or harder (because you have to do everything yourself) to create your own video?
Sam: We had a lot of fun doing Loui because it was challenging to try and make it as good but also as cheap as possible. We used all our sneaky little resources to make it almost a like a family event, everyone knew each other. We were all feeding off each other’s ideas. With areas like costume, make up and hair we let the artists listen to our music and contribute their own creative ideas and influences. Jess was the brains behind the entire piece, having just finished a degree in film and TV. She organised everything, Paul and I just tagged along and helped out where we could.

What do each of you bring to These Patterns in terms of personality, energy and talent?
Jess: Hmm, hopefully all of the above! Although Sam and Paul seem to disagree, I think I have a killer sense of humour, however incredibly lame at times. I like to use a lot of catch phrases that have died out over the years - I think they help with band bonding.
Paul: For a long time we have always compared ourselves to animals. Our animals tend to change on a monthly basis, but right now I’m a baby giraffe, Jess is a gold fish, and Sam is a three toed sloth... make of it what you will.
Sam: I totally disagree with the three toad sloth comment, but musically we all have really absurdly different tastes. I come from a jazz background, Jess likes folk, Paul likes punk, but strangely when we start writing music these influences intertwine and we are left with a morphed music love child which is These Patterns.

You’re about to lock yourselves into the recording studio. If you can bring only three things with you, what will they be?
Sam: Three thousand pairs of drum sticks. I hit too hard, like a giant ape man.
Paul : Honey, green tea, and a can-do attitude....yay!
Jess: Yes, green tea! But also my camera and a pack of muesli bars.

What can we expect from your upcoming studio trip?
Sam: The sound is going to be more current to our new stuff, somewhere between post punk, experimental, electronic, a lot of tribal sounds strange noises and experimental lapses. We really want to explore every inch of our instruments and stay true to our live sound but also add more layers than we can physically do on stage.

Any embarrassing secrets about These Patterns that you’d like to share with Paper-Deer?
Sam: Alright, biggest embarrassing moment of my musical life was when we played at the John Curtin Hotel and I was carrying my bass drum down the stairs, slipped, did a somersault over it and somehow it landed on top of me. I stood up, looked up to see a bunch of people staring at me, dusted off my knees and hobbled to the car.
Jess: I’m generally pretty embarrassing and make a lot of lame comments which has led to me being denied an on stage microphone, so I guess no one will ever hear my hilarious jokes or embarrassing stories.

Any last things to say to your adoring fans before you leave us for the sound booth?
Sam: Paul will miss stage diving on small girls and spraying beer on expensive cameras.
Jess: Please convince Sam and Paul to let me have a microphone.
Paul: Turn off your TV.....cheers, big ears!


Still having withdrawals? Check out These Patterns rad video for Loui.

'LOUI'-These Patterns from LUDWIG VAN on Vimeo.

DATES:

• Friday September 10: The Tote
• Friday October 8: 1000 Pound Bend [Gallery opening]

LINKS:

• These Patterns MySpace
• These Patterns Facebook
• These Patterns on Tumblr
• These Patterns on Twitter
• These Patterns on Triple J Unearthed
• Ludwig Van (These Patterns production company) Vimeo page

INTERVIEW: Vivarta

We have moved! Our blog is now at www.paper-deer.com. 

Here at Paper-Deer, we're a bit like that teenage devil of an older sister you had. You know, the one who experimented with drugs and did every naughty deed under the sun, but eventually found a nice boyfriend and settled down. And got hitched at the age of seventeen. Okay, maybe we took that story too far.

Anyway, when Japanese rockers Vivarta rolled up into town for the second time since 2009, we knew we had to flirt with something different and exciting: a filmed interview. These three extremely sweet gentleman kindly agreed to have their mugs shot and tell us (in mostly Japanese, with a few English words thrown in so I knew what was happening) about what they love about Australia, and why they keep coming back to our sunny shores! Apparently we have very nice skies in Melbourne.




Filming by James Beilharz
Special thanks to James Young (Clockwork Artists) for arranging the interview.

LINKS:

• Vivarta MySpace
• Facebook event page for Arthouse gig

LIVE REVIEW: Splendour Report

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Dearest Paper-Deer readers, you may have noticed that this blog went eerily quiet from July 28 to August 3, which is the fault of a little festival by the name of Splendour in the Grass.

DAY ONE:
Paper-Deer and entourage rolled up to Splendour's new crib at Woodford, where we were met with mud and thirty-thousand new best mates to get muddy with. The "security" check on a car consisted of an awesomely laid back guy who seemed disappointed when we told him we honestly didn't have any drugs on us, and told us to let him know if we scored any... presumably because he was in desperate need of dope.

Day one proved blistering hot for our delicate Melbourne skin, and Paper-Deer's skinny-leg-wearing travelling companion was heard complaining, "I almost put a pair of shorts in my suitcase when I was packing, but then I told myself to not be so stupid." After nearly passing out from erecting a tent in the scorching Queensland sun, we managed to drag ourselves to the festival grounds but not before getting seriously lost in an endless sea of navy, khaki and silver temporary homes.

Violent Soho was the first aural feast of the festival, and they did not disappoint with their grunge-revival tunes. Hailing from Queensland but now based in the US, they opened Jesus Stole My Girlfriend by explaining that this song got them in trouble with our conservative Yankee cousins. That tends to happen when you call the son of God a "cunt".

British India seemed to please the indie segment of the crowd, and the Little Red crowd were more then content with the syrupy, retro-inspired tunes by the band. Although we should add that there were a few very angry young men dressed in black skinny legs, Doc Martens and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club shirts checking their watches very anxiously during Little Red's performance. A couple of stray girls from Little Red's set decided to stay on and hung tight to the barrier, but the sight of a completely badass leather-clad Peter Hayes doing sound check with a rebellious cigarette dangling from his pouting lips absolutely frightened them. "Um, excuse but are Black Rebel Motorcycle Club heavy? Will we get trampled?" one of them nervously asked another punter. The four girls managed to survive because of a tamer-than-normal mosh pit, most probably because the crowd were absolutely blown away by the phenomenal three piece's grimey, blues-drenched garage rock.

Back at the GW McLennan tent, Lisa Mitchell (aka Audrey Hepburn lookalike) frolicked around a stage decked out with coloured flags and her devoted backing band. But despite all the hype about this gorgeous nymph going from an Australian Idol contestant to Australia's next idol, her performance totally panned out. Weak, Angie Hart-esque vocals sound dainty in the studio, but guess what? Dainty just sounds weak in a live setting. One punter was overheard saying, "Wow, it's like over-processed open mic night" before shaking his head and running out of the tent screaming, thus lowering the male to female ratio in the tent even more. LCD Soundsystem was a loud relief to the ears after that all that soft, whingey folk, and they turned their stage into one big muddy arena of people dancing like drugged up music lovers. Which they probably were.

Perhaps the most memorable part of the day was not watching amazing bands while sun baking on a gorgeously green Queensland hill, but frustratingly trying to find our way back to our tent. Poorly marked out roads, lack of lighting and the fact that the marshals were completely uninterested in even directing us to a map didn't help us in the slightest, but we somehow managed to get to our tent but only after a considerable period of time and picking up a few other lost souls on the way.

DAY TWO:
Despite our greatest efforts to laze about naked in our sleeping bags until at least noon, it turned out that a plastic tent in the northern heat makes quite a good oven. Instead of roasting away, Paper-Deer and co trudged along and watched the very talented Jonathan Boulet and his backing crew hammer out their delicious, percussion-driven indie pop tunes at the main amphitheatre, followed by the also excellent Band of Skulls doing their thing.

Paper-Deer just missed out on Melburnian gems Oh Mercy (damn queues for mini Dutch pancakes!) but got to dance up a storm at the incredibly amazing John Steel Singers, who were accompanied by dancers wearing horse masks. The boogie-trend continued with Philadelphia Grand Jury with their jump-worthy tracks like I'm Going To Kill You and I Don't Want to Party [Party]. The three men ran about stage in their usual haphazard fashion, smashing equipment while pre-recorded banter blared out over the amphitheatre, and previewed a new song for the Splendour crowd.

Next up on the main stage was Operator Please, who have proved that they are most certainly not a one-hit wonder. While they did play Just a Song About Ping Pong, they got the crowd moving with a reworked version to keep it fresh, as well as showcasing their seriously shiny and amazing fashion sense.

We headed down to the GW McLennan Tent (which a friend dubbed "the boring acoustic tent") to watch Laura Marling and to see what Jack White is going on about. She was undoutably charming, and it was quite hilarious and lovely to see completely "blokey" going all mushy and singing their hearts out while clutching to their beers.

Back at the main stage, Wolfmother turned the main amphitheatre into bogan central with their excessively safe and wanky tunes. It must be said that the Led Zeppelin/Black Sabbath cover band did seem to impress most of the fist-pumping crowd, but there were quite a few of us hanging out the back rolling our eyes.

By the time that Florence & the Machine came onto the stage, the summery skies closed up with thick, purple clouds ominously rolling around above us. There was almost an electric quality to the air as Lady Florence started belting her heart out in a floor length lace dress and a white cape with her fiery red hair peeping out of the hood. If Lisa Mitchell disappointed us with her lack of stage presence, Florence was the complete opposite. Tearing across the stage, bouncing along barefoot, the red-haired Briton unleashed her vocal abilities with songs like Kiss With A Fist, sometimes bashing away at a floor tom by the microphone. With her almost mystical persona and waving a drum stick about like a magician's wand, the crowd watched her every move in awe like they were witnessing a goddess.

The Strokes headlined night numero duo, and lead singer Julian Casablancas seemed totally overwhelmed by the crowd every time he addressed the audience in between songs. "Look at this cauldron of humanity!" he proclaimed, in what has probably become the most quoted line from the three-day festival. The New Yorkers planned out an excellent set for their fans, full of crowd favourites like Last Night.

'Flo of the 'Mo

DAY THREE:
Despite the lack of proper showers and incredible amounts of dirt, this reviewer was incredibly jealous of all the beautiful girls strutting around in perfectly clean clothes and immaculate make-up, and was half tempted to sneak back to their tents to see if there was a make-up team on hand. But back to the music...

The day opened with Cloud Control soothing tired festival-goers with their mountain music, followed up by Surfer Blood back at the main amphitheatre. We Are Scientists' banter was definitely the best at the festival, with Keith Murray's incredibly bizarre but hilarious sense of humour. At one stage, he put out a safety announcement, warning the crowd to be careful of the steep slope in case they slid down at landed on the giant spikes at the bottom of the hill. Some of the slower (or perhaps inebriated) punters looked confused, but the rest of us has a quiet chuckle to ourselves. The greying band was followed by Ash, who impressed Paper-Deer until we realised that they had a backing track. Tsk tsk.

Unlike their hilarious David Letterman performance, The Vines' set was rock solid, and packed to the brim with their seriously fucking excellent garage rock. Lead singer Craig Nicholls seems to have put on a few pounds but his signature sexy crazy-man hair and devil may care attitude was more than intact. The Sydney band had the crowd under their thumb as they played songs like TV Pro, Winning Days and Get Free.
Kate Nash was hilariously crude and ladylike at the same time, with a banner in front of her keyboard reading "A CUNT IS A USEFUL THING" (point noted). She did have a several good whinges to the light guy, doing a little girl singsong tantrum routine about the lights "attacking" her, but we weren't sure if she was just playing or was just a legitimate princess.

At the Mix Up Stage, Alison Goldfrapp of Goldfrapp came onstage in a fierce flurry of black streamers, and wowed audiences with her electropop-ness but Paper-Deer had to leave before Goldfrapp had a chance to play any favourites like Strict Machine or Black Cherry to get a good spot for Pixies at the main amphitheatre.

Paper-Deer are not really into Mumford and Sons, but there is no denying how truly amazing they are. Armed with their beautifully crafted acoustic songs and humble onstage personas (repeated thanking Australia for being so good to them), the crowd loved them every bit back. The amphitheatre was completely packed, with not even a patch of dirt to spare. Everyone was jumping around, waving their arms, taking photos, singing along wholeheartedly, and there was even an inflatable zebra in on the action. It was clear: Mumford and Sons should definitely start a cult in Australia.

A large portion of the Mumford crowd stayed to watch grunge gods Pixies, but most did not stay. This writer should probably add that she is a massive fan of the quartet, but was seriously disappointed. Black Francis' dour attitude at their recent sellout show in Melbourne seemed to have gotten worse, and the only bit of banter in the entire set was a delightful little exchange between Francis and Kim Deal at the start of their famous Where Is My Mind. But it was admittedly hilarious when many non-fans (eager to hear at least some sort of interaction) actually replied to Black Francis when he yelled out "HEY! Been trying to meet you!" at the start of Hey. Perhaps they were a bit offended when he didn't reply, or just plain bored, but the human pit that Mumford and Sons commanded turned into a wide open space after a mass exodus about three songs into their set. On the plus side, devoted fans were treated to many non-Doolittle tracks like Bone Machine, Gigantic, Cactus, Caribou, Cecilia Ann and Velouria. It kind of proved that being able to sell out show in a couple of minutes doesn't always mean they should. (Paper-Deer is also readying itself for an onslaught of angry Pixies fans commenting on this post.)

INTERVIEW: Autumn Gray

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A few miserable winter nights have passed since Autumn Gray's stunning launch of The Diary of a Falling Man at the Evelyn last month (read Paper-Deer's write up here), but there are no signs of dying down for this hauntingly beautiful seven-piece. Paper-Deer talked to Jim O'Neil about the Melbourne alternative folk pop troupe's logistical nightmares, home studios and democratic song writing methods.

Is autumn the band’s favourite season?
Personally, I’m fan of the “forgotten” seasons - spring and autumn. Everyone talks about summer and winter, but I like the moods that come with the other two. With spring there’s a sense of anticipation for the summer and the weather to come. Whereas in autumn there’s a kind of wistful retrospection as the days get shorter, which kind of suited our material. That’s not actually where the name came from, but I think it’s why it stuck.

It seems that The Diary of a Falling Man has received lots of lovely reviews. What is the best thing that anyone has said about your debut LP so far?
There’ve been a few very flattering comparisons, but I think we’ve just happy that people seem to like it. We had a friend tell us that the album has helped him get through some tough times, and that’s probably as gratifying as it can ever get.

How did the launch go?
Great! There was dancing, sing-a-longs, guest musos, the other bands that played were awesome, and the crowd was great. We had a cracking good time and it seemed like everyone else did too. That launch party has been a long time coming for us so it was a bit cathartic.

Paper-Deer has heard things about your amazing stage presence and live show. What’s the difference between watching Autumn Gray live and just listening to Diary of a Falling Man at home?
There’s more energy live than you might expect from listening to the album. We do our best to maintain the gentle qualities of the quiet sections, but in the louder bits we tend to let a bit loose. We’ve done our best with the seven of us to get as many of the layers from the album reproduced on stage, so it’s a pretty full live sound.

What was it like to record The Diary of a Falling Man in self-fashioned recording studio?
Honestly, a bit taxing. Right in the middle of recording the album, we weren’t even sure the band would survive. The recording just seemed to be stringing out to eternity. It was a pretty incredible learning process though, about a whole bunch of things.

We did the first sessions for the album in a little country retreat in a town called Blackwood, and sort of rather optimistically hoped that we’d be able to get most of the bed tracks done there. In the end, it turned out to be more like pre-production. Some of the tracking from those sessions survived onto the final product, but it was the sort of thing where we came away with the understanding that in order to do the songs justice, we’d need to invest a whole heap more time. Hence building the studio. The Hovel is actually a run-down share house that I used to live in and it was hot in there in summer. With all the foam and egg cartons on the walls, after a hot stretch it would be too hot in there to record for a week.

The other thing that worked a against us was how much better we all got as musicians through the process - we had to actively draw a line in the sand and say “We’re not re-doing anything anymore” because it became too tempting to iron too many of the imperfections that were more present in our earlier sessions.

There are so many of you. Does it get tricky with moving mountains of equipment?
Ha! Yes! Back before Greg joined the band, we used to be housemates. I put a poster up for one of our gigs in the lounge room and he crossed out the band name and wrote “Logistical Nightmare” instead. And that was when there were just six of us.

The band is often praised for your beautiful melodies and moving lyrics. How does the Autumn Gray writing machine work?
Typically, one person brings in a song and then the band has its way with the song. Sometimes that means that a complete song, harmonies and all, and we just need to learn it, or maybe it’s just a riff and we’ll build a song up from nearly scratch. We’ve sort an understanding that once the song comes into the band, you have to be comfortable with it moving in a completely different direction, but the principle songwriter still has the right to veto. That person tends to be the person who writes the lyrics - so the music’s collaborative, but the lyrics are personal. You also need to have a thick skin, because no one’s shy about telling you something is crap, or not working, which is great actually.

Any funny stories about Autumn Gray that you’d like to share with Paper-Deer?
With seven clumsy idiots in the band, there’s any number of stories of stupidity: Greg almost starting a fight with an audience member at a show, Pato accidentally smashing a chandelier, me forgetting lyrics to my own songs nearly EVERY show, the zombie face that Matt pulls whenever he’s blissing out playing guitar... but I don’t know how many stories I can tell that don’t end in “You had to be there!”

DATES:

• August 8: Wesley Anne
• August 27: The National Hotel, Geelong [Geelong album launch]
• September 7: The Wesley Anne [acoustic show for Darebin Music Feast]
• September 16: Yah Yah's [Pensive Penguin's album launch]
• September 18: The Birmingham
• September 24: The Cornish Arms
• October 16: Gertrude's Brown Couch

LINKS:

• Autumn Gray official website
• Autumn Gray MySpace
• Autumn Gray on Last.fm
• Autumn Gray Twitter