australian musician issue 69

BLEEDING KNEES CLUB & DZ DEATHRAYS

GET A LITTLE BEAT CRAZY!

AUSTRALIA’S MOST IMPORTANT

MUSICIAN EVER. WE POLLED. YOU TOLD!

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Issue

#6

9 A

UT

UM

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012

16 Readers PollResults

20 On Tour: Joe Robinson

22 Bleeding Knees Club meets DZ Deathrays

13 Slipnot, Trivium & Bugdust; Serious Gearheads

20 O T

222

16 R d P ll

18 ..............................................................In The Studio: Last Dinosaurs21 ........................................................................................... Jonny Lang24 ............................................................................................... M-Phazes26 ................................................................................DIY: Simone Felice 28 ........................................................................................ Busby Marou29 .............................................................................................. Jim Keays30 .................................................. How do I listen?: The Gracemakers31 ........................................................ Hardcore Feature: Lamb of God32 .................................................... Hardcore Tests/Win a Dean Guitar39 ............................... Test- T Rex pedals by Fearless Vampire Killers40 .............................................................................................More Tests!

PHONE: 03 9421 4499

FAX: 03 9421 1011

WEBSITES:www.themusic.com.au

www.australianmusician.com.au

MANAGING EDITOR: Greg Phillips

[email protected]

SENIOR GEAR ANALYST:Reza Nasseri

ADVERTISING ENQUIRIES:Andrew Lilley02 9331 7077

[email protected]

ACCOUNT ENQUIRIES:[email protected]

DISTRIBUTION ENQUIRIES:[email protected]

LAYOUT & DESIGN:Matt Davis

IPAD EDITION:Dave Harvey

CONTRIBUTORS:Shannon Bourne

Adam ColeReza Nasseri

Dan Mansfield-You Am I Jacob McGuffe-Fearless Vampire Killers

Michael Smith

PHOTOGRAPHERS:Kane HibberdMandy Lamont

PUBLISHED BY:STREET PRESS AUSTRALIA

2-4 Bond StAbbotsford VIC 3067

PO Box 1079 Richmond Nth VIC 3067under licence from Australian

Music Association

The material published in Australian Musician is subject to copyright and

all rights are reserved.

The ‘Gear’ section is edited from information supplied by the Australian wholesaler of the product and should not be construed

as a review, nor is it necessarily the editorial opinion of Australian Musician.

PRINTED BY: Rural Press

Late last year the Australian Music Association licenced the publishing of Australian

Musician magazine to Street Press Australia. You’ll know them as publishers of Inpress, Drum Media, and Time Off. This is the fi rst issue produced with the full might of SPA’s resources behind it. They’ve tripled our circulation, extended distribution and you can now even download a free app and view the magazine on your iPad. It occurred to me that many of you may be reading Australian Musician for the fi rst time. We’ve been around since 1994, but previously only available in instrument stores. The point of difference with this music magazine is the direct involvement of high profi le artists. We’re big on getting artists from different bands together in conversation, allowing artists to write their own articles, presenting gear road tests by known working musos, and occasionally we even give the whole damn magazine to a band to guest edit.

As always, we offer you a ton of exclusives you won’t fi nd in any other muso magazine. For this issue, we sat down Slipknot’s Jim Root and Trivium’s Matt Heafy with local guitarist and respected luthier Adam Cole backstage at their Soundwave sideshow soundcheck to chat about their gear. Last Dinosaurs gave us an exclusive look into the world of recording their new album ‘In A Million Years’. US songwriter Simone Felice presents us with an exclusive

look into his home studio set up and shows you how to do it all DIY-style. We sat down DZ Deathrays’ Simon Ridley with Bleeding Knees Club’s Alex Wall to talk drums. The Gracemakers discuss the ways in which they like to listen to music for enjoyment sake. We also speak with Busby Marou and Jim Keays, look at music ed facility Collarts, chat with music lawyer Julian Hewitt and offer you pages and pages of the latest gear road tested and profi led. If that ‘aint enough, we give you our ‘Hardcore’ feature in which Reza Nasseri interviews Will Adler from Lamb of God, as well as a run down on the latest and greatest pointy guitars and loud amps for your metal consideration. Oh, and there’s the results of the very signifi cant readers poll we ran, in which you voted and decided who were Australia’s Most Important Musicians Ever!

This issue has been rehearsed diligently, road tested passionately and now we bring it to you live. Tell us what you think! Emails can be sent to me at [email protected], we’d love to hear some feedback.

Regards,

GREG PHILLIPSEditor

AM • 06

Regards,

GREG PHILLIPS

AM • 08

INTERNATIONAL

MUSIKMESSE

WHEN: 21-24 March 2012

WHERE: Frankfurt, Germany

WHAT: The International Fair for Musical Instruments, Sheet Music, Music Production and Music Business Connections.

The Musikmesse is the world’s leading trade fair for the world of music. Here, you will find a complete range of products with everything required for making music, not to mention innumerable workshops, concerts, demonstrations and discussion events.

www.musik.messefrankfurt.com

ACOUSTIC GUITAR BUILDING COURSE

WHERE: Villa San Rocco, Benabbio, Lucca - Italy

WHEN: Monday 7 May-Sunday 24 June 2012 week Live-In Acoustic Guitar Building Courses using 100% Australian Tonewoods.

Course 1 - Mon 7 May-Sun 20 May

Course 2 - Thu 24 May-Thu 7 June

Acoustic Guitar Building Course $3,800AUDCourse fee is per student, Excludes Flights, Travel Insurance & Food.

Plus 1,200* Euro’s For Your 15 Nights Accommodation

*Price includes Double Room with Ensuite & Full Breakfast dailyAccommodation fees are payable in Euro’s direct to Villa Management20% non- refundable deposit due at time of booking!

INCLUDES:• Solid Body “Flight” Case (Valued at Over $200 AUD)• “Made In Italy” - Guitar Label with room for your Signature• Transfers to and from Local Train Station at Bagni Di Lucca Not Lucca)• PLUS your own 2012 Italy Tour - Black Polo Shirt

www.thomaslloydguitars.com.au

NATIONAL

ACOUSTIC GUITAR SPECTACULAR 2012

A hand-picked group of internationally recognised guitarists from across the globe will join forces this Autumn to weave some memorable musical magic.

his Italian protégé, and one of the brightest young stars on the European stage - 21-year-

old Andrea Valeri, for a series of very special concerts.

Also taking part in several of the inaugural Acoustic Guitar Spectacular shows are Melbourne-based player Nick Charles and two-time Australian Flatpicking Guitar Champion and multi-instrumentalist Robbie Long.

WHEN & WHERE:May 25 Wollongong Centro CBD; May 26 Big Music (afternoon workshop, evening concert), Crows Nest, Sydney; May 27 Kantara House, Green Point (Central Coast); May 29 Brisbane City Mall; May 30 Majestic Theatre, Pomona, Sunshine Coast TBC; May 31 Lizottes, Newcastle; June 1 Brisbane City Mall (afternoon); June 1 Ipswich Civic Centre; June 2 Gold Coast Arts Centre; June 3 Petrie Pioneer Village, Brisbane

www.facebook.com/acousticguitarspectacular

SATCH, VAI AND LUKATHER IN G3 TOUR

The 2012 incarnation of G3 brings together the guitar pyrotechnics of Joe Satriani, Steve Vai and Steve Lukather. Fans will be treated to individual sets by each guitarist with their own bands before joining Satriani and his band on stage for an all-star jam session. Founded by Joe Satriani, G3 has featured many of the world’s most celebrated guitarists including: Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Yngwie Malmsteen, Robert Fripp, Adrian Legg and Eric Johnson.

WHEN & WHERE: Tue 27 Mar National Convention Centre, Canberra; Fri 30 Mar Hordern Pavillion, Moore Park; Sat 31 Mar Palais Theatre, St Kilda West; Tue 3 Apr Adelaide Festival Centre, Adelaide CBD; Thu 5 Apr Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre, South Bank

www.coppel.com.au

DEF FX REUNION TOUR

This May and June, Metropolis Touring is proud to announce the return of one of Australia’s most extraordinary electro dance-rock groups, DEF FX. Lead by the ever-vivacious lead vocalist, Fiona Horne, and original bass player Martyn Basha, the band is set to rock audiences when they take the stage for their first shows in 15 years, rocking through a string of ‘90s hits.

WHEN & WHERE: Thursday 31 May. The Zoo, Brisbane; Friday 1 June. The Factory, Sydney; Saturday 2 June. Corner Hotel, Melbourne; Sunday 3 June. Republic Bar,

Hobart; Sunday 10 June. The Gov, Adelaide; Monday 11 June. The Bakery, Perth

www.facebook.com/pages/Def-FX/

THE BRIAN JONESTOWN MASSACRE WITH THE RAVEONETTES

Australian audiences would need no introduction to The Brian Jonestown Massacre or indeed to their enigmatic musical director Anton Newcombe. The psychedelic collective have been embraced by Australian fans who have rewarded the band with numerous sold out shows in the past with punters eager to see what the next genre defying salvo delivered by Newcombe and his cohorts will be. On this tour, they’ll be joined by Danish indie rock duo The Raveonettes.

WHEN & WHERE: Thursday 17 May, Metro Theatre, Sydney; Friday 18 May, ANU Refectory, Canberra; Saturday 19 May, Forum Theatre, Melbourne; Sunday 20 May, The Gov, Adelaide; Tuesday 22 May, The Astor Theatre, Perth; Thursday 24 May, The Hi-FI, Brisbane; Friday 25 May, Level one, Newcastle Leages Club, Newcastle Newcastle

www.thebrianjonestownmassacare.com

THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT ‘EFFECTED’ TOUR DATES

Brisbane’s The Butterfly Effect have had a huge month since announcing that singer Clint Boge will leave the band at the end of their next tour, ending this chapter of the band’s history with an 18-track retrospective album. The band’s Effected Tour will weave its way around the country in April through June with guests Numbers Radio and Greenthief.

WHEN & WHERE: Fri 27 April - Andergrove Tavern, Mackay, QLD; Sat 28 April - The Venue, Townsville, QLD; Sun 29 April - Brothers

09 • AM

Leagues Club, Cairns, QLD; Wed 2 May - The Great Northern, Byron Bay, NSW; Thu 3 May - The Arena, Brisbane, QLD; Fri 4 May - Coolangatta Hotel, Gold Coast, QLD; Sat 5 May - Kings Beach Tavern, Sun Coast, QLD; Wed 9 May - The Plantation, Coffs Harbour, NSW; Thu 10 May - Panthers Leagues, Newcastle, NSW; Fri 11 May -UNSW Roundhouse, Sydney, NSW (Lic ALL-AGES); Sat 12 May - Waves, Wollongong, NSW; Wed 16 May - UCU Bar, Canberra, ACT; Fri 18 May - Bended Elbow, Geelong, VIC; Sat 19 May - Inferno, Traralgon, VIC; Sun 20 May - Pier Live, Frankston, VIC; Tue 22 May - Hotel New York, Launceston, TAS; Wed 23 May - Wrest Point Casino, Hobart, TAS; Fri 25 May - Palace Theatre, Melbourne, VIC; Sat 26 May - The Bridgeway Hotel, Adelaide, SA; Sun 27 May - HQ, Adelaide, SA (Lic ALL-AGES); Sat 2 June - Prince Of Wales, Bunbury, WA; Sun 3 June - Metro City, Perth, WA

www.thebutterfl yeffect.com.au

MATT CORBY THE WINTER TOUR

Following the success of the single Brother on the Hottest 100, it seems Australian fans can’t get enough of Matt Corby. The Winter Tour will see Matt play in theatre venues around the country this June following a sold-out tour earlier this year.

WHEN & WHERE: Friday 1 June, The Tivoli, Brisbane; Wednesday 6 June, The Forum, Melbourne; Thursday 7 June, HQ, Adelaide; Saturday 9 June, The Astor, Perth; Thursday 14 June, The Metro, Sydney

www.mattcorby.com.au

VICTORIA

ALLANS MUSIC + BILLY HYDE KEW KRONOS ENTHUSIAST WORKSHOPS

These workshops give keyboard owners the opportunity to share and learn from each other’s experiences so that they get the most out of their Korg Workstation. An Allans Music + Billy Hyde qualified Keyboard specialist will be in attendance at each session.

ACTIVITIES INCLUDE:• Master classes• Guest performances• Open question & answer sessions• Product training• Tips & tricks

WHEN: First Tuesday of every month from 6.30pm - 8.30pm (Feb-Nov 2012)

WHERE: Allans Music + Billy Hyde, 56 Cotham Road Kew VIC

To register your interest in the Kronos Enthusiast Workshops, call (03) 9695 0591

www.allansbillyhyde.com.au

PLAY LIKE A GIRL

Each session features a special guest artist, who performs a set from 7.30pm - 8.00pm. After the guest artist’s set, other women musicians who wish to perform can go on stage for up to two songs each either solo or jam with other musicians.

WHEN: Last Tuesday night of each month from February through to November

WHERE: Cornish Arms Hotel, Brunswick, VIC


COLLARTS - NEXT ROUND OF COURSES COMMENCE

WHEN: May 21

WHERE: 55 Brady St, Sth Melbourne, VIC

The Australian College of The Arts (Collarts) is a private tertiary institution that provides specialised training and education in music, entertainment and creative industries.

www.collarts.edu.au

NORTHERN TERRITORY

TERRORFEST

WHEN: June 2 from 5.30pm

WHERE: Browns Mart, 12 Smith St, Darwin

Now in its 3rd year, Terrorfest, the top end’s heavy rock/metal fest will feature twenty bands including Katabasis, Desecrator, Malakyte, Rise of Avernus, Uncreation, Vilifier, Miazma, The Horro, Unbroken Expanse, Wayne Chandler, Zedmajor, Fema,

Hate For Fate, Aborted Jesus Milkshake, Calbria’s Fall, Crucible, Burrfoot, Curcuma, I, The Burden, and The Wicked Garden.

www.musicnt.com.au

QUEENSLAND

YAMAHA KEYBOARD CLUB

Feel free to come along and be part of the Yamaha Keyboard Club at Allans Music + Billy Hyde in the Valley! The Yamaha Keyboard Club is a monthly meeting designed to get players together to share ideas. The Yamaha expert presents a set topic for each month in a casual format and then can answer questions you have about the Yamaha keyboard.

WHEN: First Thursday of each month, free.

WHERE: Allans Music + Billy Hyde in the Valley

If you are interested in attending please call the Allans Music + Billy Hyde Keyboard department on (07) 3250 6399


WESTERN AUSTRALIA

DESIGN A LOGO, WIN AN IPAD AND A CONCERT FOR YOUR WA SCHOOL

WHEN: Thursday 5 April is the deadline

WHERE: WA

The West Australian Music Industry Association does many great things for its local music community. Here’s yet another example of the projects they support. Calling all creative music fans... the WAM Schools

Alive Program needs a new logo! Submit your logo design for a chance to win an iPad for yourself - compliments of Healthway Smarter than Smoking, plus a live concert at your school with one of WA’s hottest young bands - compliments of WAM!

Entries are open open to West Australian high school students, and close midnight Thursday 5 April, 2012.

www.wam.asn.au/schools

NEW SOUTH WALES

VIVID SONG SUMMIT 2012

WHEN: Saturday 26-Monday 28 May, 2012

WHERE: Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre

Neil Finn, Grammy Award-winner Imogen Heap, legendary guitarist Steve ‘The Colonel’ Cropper and Australia’s own Guy Sebastian are just some of the acclaimed artists appearing at Song Summit 2012, the music industry conference, to be held in Sydney next year as part of Vivid Sydney.

www.songsummit.com.au

SOUTH AUSTRALIA

MUSIC SA COURSES

Music SA offers a wide range of short courses, ranging from three to six weeks, coverting a variety of music industry topics, such as Touring, Management, Promotion, Running A Gig and Industry Basics.

WHEN: April 4 - May 9Wednesdays 6.30-9.30pmLast day to enrol: March 28

www.musicsa.com.au

The Wicked Garden

FRAMPTON’S GUITAR COMES ALIVE!

The 1954 Gibson Les Paul Peter Frampton played on Humble Pie’s legendary live Fillmore album and the even more famous Frampton Comes Alive, was lost in a plane crash 32 years ago. The three-pickup, black guitar went down with a cargo plane in Venezuala in 1980. It was presumed that all instruments on board had perished, until now. Somehow, the Curacao

Tourist Board had acquired the guitar and experts at the Gibson guitar factory have since confirmed its authenticity. Late last year, Frampton was reunited with the guitar in an emotional meeting in Nashville. “I am still in a state of shock, first off, that the guitar even exists let alone, that it has been returned to me,” said Frampton. I am going to insure it for two million dollars and it’s never going out of my sight again! It was always my #1 guitar and it will be reinstated there as soon as possible -- some minor repairs are needed. Friend to Australian Musician magazine Seymour Duncan recently had the guitar in his possession and was displaying its innards on his Facebook page (Frampton and Duncan pictured).

www.gibson.com

HELIPORT NEWS

After a great 2011 and working with some amazingly talented artists, Brisbane recording facility, Heliport Studios has started the new year working on a new project for Anthony Gracia and Ty Noonan, Soniclines. Heliport has also fi nished work with a number of great acts that are destined for a big year including The Vagrant City, Seleen McCallister, and Mexico Bender. Heliport is fi tted out with some exceptional gear. The SSL Duality has now expanded to 48 channels, and they have a Studer A827 2 inch Tape Machine on the way, arriving in early April. They have also installed Stereo Distressors, a Fatso and a stereo pair of Dbx 160 VU’s,added a UAD2 Quad and updated to Pro Tools 10HD.

www.heliportstudios.com

HUNTING GROUNDS DEBUT

Melbourne’s Red Door Studios is currently hosting six piece outfi t Hunting Grounds as they work on their debut album. At time of print, the drums and bass were all fi nished, with the other instrumentation and vocals to be done.The band, who hail from Ballarat, are sporadically posting updates, photos and videos to their blog.

www.newworldartists.net

METROMIX MELBOURNE

Pseudo Echo frontman Brian Canham has been running his own studio, Metromix for several years now. Formally at Armstrong’s legendary recording site in Sth Melbourne, Brian is now set up in High Street, Kew. As well as containing a bunch of state of the art digital equipment, additionally Brian offers the use of his beautiful classic guitar collection to MetroMix clients and if need

be, he’ll even play guitar on your sessions free of charge!

www.myspace.com/metromixstudio

STUDIONEWS

LOLLAR PICKUPS

IN MATON’S MS-T-BYRD

PROTOTYPE

There’s a YouTube video of John Butler at the Maton guitar factory in Box Hill in which he’s playing a prototype of Maton’s new MS T-Byrd. Interestingly, the T-Byrd features two pick ups from the very cool American guitar wizard Jason Lollar. In the bridge, the guitar has Jason’s Special T Series. It’s wound to 1952 specs and as his website explains, the “overall tone is traditional Tele with clear bright tone, round bass with soft attack. Definition will hold together with heavier amp distortion. Great rock tone with an AC 30 or Fender Tweed amp. In the neck is Jason’s Charlie Christian model pick up. Jason is stoked to be part of Maton’s new initiative and had this to say when Australian Musician contacted him. “Working with guitar builders has been a big part of what’s made Lollar pickups successful. Maton is not a household name in the US but I (along with many others here) am aware of their long history and their position in Australia and other parts of the world. It’s an honour to work with companies like Maton that have so much experience making a quality product.”

www.maton.com.au

JON REDZIK SUBSCRIBED AND GOT LYNCHED!

Jon Redzik of Oxley subscribed to Australian Musician last year. In doing so, he went into the major end-of-year and won a magnificent LTD George Lynch GL600V signature guitar valued at $2,399 plus 12 sets of Dean Markley Helix Bronze strings. Jon pictured here with Jay Kempnich from music440 indooroopilly

QLD. To subscribe to Australian Musician, visit:

www.themusic.com.au/store/magazines

CLASSIC GUITAR IN EPIC WALL SHOWRoger Waters brought The Wall tour to Australia in February and blew people away. The production of the Pink Floyd concept album dealing with themes of isolation and oppression was a sensory overload, with so much to take in. Waters opted for his Martin 000-ECHF Bellezza Nera acoustic guitar for this tour. The guitar was developed jointly by Eric Clapton and a Japanese trendsetter Hiroshi Fujiwara. At Clapton’s suggestion, the model is named in Italian - “Bellezza” meaning beautiful and “Nera” meaning black. It features a black body, neck and headplate, matching African black ebony fingerboard and bridge, and has specially made sterling silver-plated Schaller tuners with sterling silver-plated buttons. The fingerboard features Martin’s Style 45 snowflake inlays. The body top is Italian alpine spruce, the back and sides are crafted from East Indian rosewood. Carved from solid mahogany, the neck features Martin’s diamond volute at the base of the headstock.

Pic by Chrissie Francis

AM • 10

FRET FEST-SINGER SONGWRITER SHOWCASE

FRETFEST was established in 1997 in Queensland to support the ever growing interest in folk, roots and acoustic music, focusing on the singer-songwriter.Acoustic music supporter Alan Buchan started Fretfest as a way of giving unknown solo performers a chance to sing their own songs and gain performance experienceBuchan recruited the talent, encouraged and coached them, and in many cases produced demo recordings to give the artists feedback and confi dence. Over the years the format has broadened, with Fretfest attracting well-known Australian guest artists including Greg Arnold (Things of Stone & Wood) and Paul Greene, as well as many promising beginners.

“Fretfest was one of my earliest gigs, and it gave me the opportunity to play my original music to an appreciate crowd,” said recording artist Pete Murray of his Fretfest experience.Buchan is now looking for a retailer who can run the program with him, someone who he can send musicians and parents to, to buy their Fretfest gear. Interested retailers should email Alan at [email protected]. www.fretfest.com

QANTAS JOINS VIRGIN IN RELAXING LUGGAGE RULES

National airline Qantas announced a musician-friendly travel policy for musicians in February, which will allow them one extra item to check-in as well as offering the facility to share luggage among fellow members of the touring entourage. In 2010, changes to the Qantas check-in system made it tough and expensive for musos. This follows changes

to Virgin Australia’s policy in September which now

allows up to two additional items of baggage at no cost.

www.qantas.com.au

LOOSEGRAVEL

AWME 2012 SHOWCASE APPLICATIONS ARE NOW OPEN!AWME is currently accepting applications from local and international artists wishing to perform at the 2012 Australasian World Music Expo, taking place from 15th – 18th November in Melbourne.

After four short years, AWME has established itself as the southern hemispheres premier music industry conference and showcase event for roots music. AWME pioneers new networks and creates opportunities for musicians worldwide by engaging music industry representatives from all corners of the globe.

In 2011 AWME brought together 300 musicians, over 460 local and international delegates and over 8500 audience members for four days of music, workshops, seminars and showcase concerts.

Over 500 high profile local and international music representatives from some of the world’s leading festivals, record labels, booking agencies and arts organisations are expected to be making their way to Melbourne in November for AWME’s 5th birthday edition.

Artist showcase applications for AWME 2012 are now open through the AWME website www.awme.com.au and Sonicbids. Applications close on 20th April 2012.

www.sonicbids.com/awme

THOMAS RAWLE’S TONE SEARCHING

Papa Vs Pretty’s Thomas Rawle has been seen with a very distinct looking guitar lately. Anyone who attended this year’s BDO would seen his sparkley new red and white Italia Modulo Tipo 3 Italia. The Tipo 3 features two Wilkinson single coils and soapbar P90 style bridge pickup. It’s made of Agthis Tonewood with a 22 fret rosewood fingerboard. Thomas must be seeking a new tone as he was also seen out at the MI Amplification workshop testing their Iron Duke model. The Iron Duke is MI’s interpretation of the hot-rodded British tone. The class A/B power amplifier is built around a pair of EL34s, and delivers 50W of clean output power, with a switchable low power mode limiting the Iron Duke’s output power to 25W. Pic by Derren Lee.

www.papavspretty.com

11 • AM

JANDS AT CX ROADSHOW

Jands played a large role in the success of the recent national CX Summer Roadshow. They presented a fine range of the newest technology in audio and lighting and conducted a heap of well-attended training sessions including chats on Wireless Microphone Spectrum update, designing an ethernet based lighting control system and showcased their Selador LED line of lighting.

www.jands.com.au

GEAR INDUSTRY NEWS

FENDER ROADSHOW

The Fender Roadshow last month was a unique opportunity to see, hear, feel, and play the latest Fender guitars and amps, as well as a selection of the finest Custom Shop models. During the two-hour show, the prodigiously talented international guitar-fiend Greg Koch and the band demonstrated all the latest Fender gear while playing some rockin’ tunes. No less than guitar virtuoso Steve Vai noted Koch’s six-string prowess and promptly signed him to his Favored Nations label in 2001, and at the Fender sessions it was clear why Vai was so taken by his playing. At the end of the show there was plenty of “hands-on” time to check out all the gear.

www.fender.com.au

AM • 12

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LESS FEEDBACKLaminate Varimotion capsule delivers significantly

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even on the noisiest stage. The D 5 stands for

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IT’S NEVER A GOOD IDEA SCHEDULING YOUR COVER STORY SO CLOSE TO THE PRINT DEADLINE, ESPECIALLY WHEN IT CONSISTS OF JUGGLING GUITARISTS FROM NOT ONE, BUT

TWO INTERNATIONAL METAL BANDS ON THE AFTERNOON OF THEIR SOUNDWAVE SIDE SHOW SOUNDCHECK. DESPITE THE HURDLES, ONCE WE CORNERED JIM ROOT, MATT HEAFY

AND ADAM COLE IN A QUIET ROOM AWAY FROM THE BACKSTAGE BUSTLE, WE WERE LEFT WITH THREE TALENTED MUSICIANS SIMPLY TALKING GUITAR.

and his showtime is just over an hour away. Adam Cole

plays guitar and sings in local heavy rock outfi t Bugdust. He’s also known in the industry as a skilled luthier who started out at Maton, went on to form Cole Clark guitars with Brad Clark, and for the last eight years has been calling his own shots, building and fi xing guitars (even for the likes of Billy Gibbons no less) and inspiring kids to play from his Lilydale facility. Adam is hosting the three way interview. Martin Connors (Jim’s guitar tech) arrives with Jim’s two Telecasters for the photoshoot, followed by Jim. Shoot done, we’re ready to chat.

that stuff but it only had one pickup in the bridge.

So I sent it back and asked them to put another pickup in the neck because I like to do solos up on the neck. That kind of turned into what my signature model was. Mick the other guitar player in Slipnot was like, what … are you fucking crazy? What are you thinking playing a Tele in a metal band? I’m like, hang on, if Iron Maiden can play Strats, then I can play a Tele. You don’t see a lot of it. It’s kind of like the name of a band. Once you see it after a while, it makes sense. It takes on that identity.

ADAM COLE: You both play traditional brand guitars, Teles and Les Pauls in a metal band. Growing up, my fi rst guitar was a Les Paul but in metal world, the pointier the better!

JIM ROOT: I had two reasons why I went toward the Tele. One is that I always like to go against what everybody thinks is normal and two, Fender at the time, were really trying to push this Flathead Custom Shop Tele that they had out. So they sent me one. Normally I’d play Strats and things like that, but they sent this one and I thought it was great. It was cool, had the right fretboard

radius, had jumbo frets, all

We’ve tracked down Slipnot’s Jim Root backstage

but he’s keen to fi nd fellow band member Corey Taylor to discuss the 26 tracks they have prepared for the double concept album they are in the middle of creating for their side project Stone Sour. Soon after, we’ve located Trivium’s Matt Heafy who is ready to roll with Australian Musician, but Slipnot’s Jim Root is now on stage soundchecking. Matt is content to go through his vocal warm up routine while we wait for Jim, mindful of the fact that Matt soon has a meet

and greet commitment

SLIPKNOT’S JIM ROOT, TRIVIUM’S MATT HEAFY

& BUGDUST’S ADAM COLE

AM • 14

A: So you can bend?

J: Yeah, If you like you can lay the action right across the top of the frets and still get two step bends out of it. Other than that, all the rest of the specs are exactly the same.

A: And you have a new amp?

J: Yes, I just became an Orange signature artist, which is … rare!

M: His rig is the most unlikely metal rig but it works perfectly. It’s awesome. A Tele and an Orange!

A: And what are you running now?

M: Just a Fractal Ultra. I love it. My rig is this big (as he indicates a height … well not very big!), the size of a VCR.

J: Fit it in an overhead!

A: So Jim, your Orange … do you do anything to it? Is it out of the box?

J: Yeah, I pull them straight out of the box and I just run a GCX Switching System through them. Analogue pedals on a tray with a bunch of loops. I can channel switch between clean and dirty and whatever combination of pedals I need.

A: Have you found anything about the new amps or circuits or circuit boards, as opposed to the old stuff, you know the old lead?

J: Nothin’ honestly is going to be as pleasing to the ears as the old stuff.

A: Stability?

J: As far as stability, when I fi rst went to Orange, I heard all these horror stories like the dudes from Clutch use Oranges all the time. That’s all they have ever used. I have had people tell me, the dude from Clutch has to send his amp in every two or three weeks to have it worked on, you know. I have never had one problem with them.

A: When I am out on tour with a band and they have new amps, they are either back in the shop in two weeks or I pull them apart and re-solder every joint so that you know they are bullet proof. With all of the emission laws, they are making things tougher for us.

J: Yeah there is no more lead solder. That really has an effect on the way things sound as well. I use a Boss NS2 Noise Suppressor in my rack. When the EPA and the global community outlawed lead, and went to lead-free solder, I bought some that were post-lead free solder. They cut your signal in half almost. It’s a drastic difference. I was looking at Martin and thinking where the fuck is all my gain! There’s no saturation and it’s not singing out like it ought to be. So we put one of the old NS2s in and put it back in the rack and boom, there it was! So we were like, let’s hoard as many old NS2s as we can fi nd.

A: What about you Matt and your effects?

M: Everything is in the Fractal. It’s based on what we used on the latest album. It’s the Maxon Overdrive, the

A: In my workshop, I set up all of these guitars for kids … the LTDs, ESPs, Deans and that sort of stuff and they want to go to the super low tuning and it becomes a nightmare with these guitars going to a drop A or C or whatever. With the Tele, for some reason, for low tuning ... they hold!

J: I think a lot of that is the 25 1/2 scale length too. I play Vs’ live a lot too. It was a bum out for me trying to use though. With that 24 and 3/4 scale length, it works, it’s awesome but you don’t have as much tension on the string. I don’t know what you guys tune to?

MATT HEAFY: Drop D fl at.

J: That’s not too low.

M: And seven string, Drop B.

A: Did you have to stuff around with different gauges of strings?

M: Yeah, a little bit. We keep switching tunings. Finally we are going to stay on one. I don’t know why I keep

doing it. I’m the singer and I was thinking on the 3rd record, I want to go like a Halford falsetto scream for some weird

reason but it never really happened. It did not happen. We kept changing tunings and

nowadays I fi nd I sing best in drop D fl at.

J: That’s crazy. That’s like a whole other dynamic to his guitar playing,

thinking vocally. I don’t have to think about that. Corey (Taylor) does all that.

A: Matt, just getting back to my opening question which you didn’t get to answer, you are now with Gibson.

M: The fi rst real guitar I ever got was a Gibson Les Paul. I was eleven or twelve. I played Gibsons for a while. At that time, when we were starting out we approached Gibson but we weren’t known and they didn’t get back to us. Then Dean Zelinsky approached us and said, I think you guys should play our guitars. We played those for a bit but then Dean was gone from the company, he wasn’t even working there anymore, but then we were lost in limbo a little bit. Then the Gibson European offi ce

approached us. They now have A&R guys picking up metal bands. So when that came about, I was able to go back to Gibson. That’s where I felt I always wanted to be. I think it’s a matter of fi nding what works for you. A lot of kids ask me, should I play this or should I play that? Should I play the Jackson model Corey thing or the Gibson. I’m like, dude you should try everything and fi nd what works for you better. What works for me may not work for you. I have played through some of my favourite guitar player’s rigs and they didn’t sound right. I played through Robb Flynn’s rig and I sounded like I was terrible. I’ve had Corey (Beaulieu) play through my rig and it didn’t sound right. Same thing with vocal keys, I used to think I could push myself and go higher and higher range, but it turns out I am am a much lower singer. Technically I am built for low range Roy Orbison stuff but that’s kinda out of style right now!

J: You’re a tenor!

M: Your Corey and I have the same range I think. When I hear him song, I think that’s where I should be singing instead of trying to shoot way up here. So it’s a constant thing trying to fi gure where you should be vocally or with the guitar.

A: You don’t have a signature model yet?

M: It’s in the works. It’s going to be through Epiphone, not Gibson. I want to make something affordable for the kids.

A: What about yours Jim? Do Fender make a Mexican or Squire model for the kids?

J: The Tele is Mexican. The reason we did that at the time was to try to keep it under a

thousand dollars, but now that’s all out the window. If I was to have them made in the USA, it would probably be a $2,500 guitar. My Strat is a USA model but it’s way different from the Tele. It has a completely different fretboard radius.

A: Is it a Strat radius?

J: It’s actually a compound radius. It’s starts off at like 12 /12 and then it fl attens out from the 12th up to 17.75 or something like that.

15 • AM

JIM• Signature model Fender Flathead• Telecaster with EMGs 81/60• GCX Switching System• Orange Rockerverb 100 Guitar Head

MATT• Black Gibson Les Paul Custom with EMGs 81/85• Fractal Maxon Overdrive• Peavey 5150 amp

Classic one into the 5150 into a Mesa cab with a 421 and a 57 mic. That’s my Fractal live. In the studio, I don’t think Fractals work at all. It’s not the way to go. There is such an obvious difference between the digital and the analogue. I think live, with the amount of volume people are getting hit with in their ears, it’s very comparable. I would love to be able to try the two some day.

J: What about demoing with a Fractal?

M: It’s perfect. You can plug it into the racks.

J: I’d like to get one to start out with and fi gure it all out.

M: We use Logic for all of our demos. I’ll make fake drum machine loops and Logic’s guitar tones, their metal tones … are terrible but their clean tones are amazing. Paolo (Gregoletto) was using some POD modeling amp stuff for demos. It sounded amazing but the Fractal, I have heard Corey (Beaulieu) do some stuff with and it sounds fantastic for demos. It’s so easy because you just pull out of your live rig and plug it into your computer, ready to go. So convenient. I can’t wait until my rig is my phone and I plug that into the PA!

A: Haven’t you heard of AmpliTube?

J: I actually have that on my phone.

M: I can’t wait until it is that good man! I can’t wait until my guitar is something I can press a button and it folds out. (All laugh) I want it to be the most stupidly minimal rig in the world. I can’t wait until my rig is ‘this’ big and we can play arenas all over the world.

A: And what about the EMG pickups in your Les Paul?

M: 81 and 85

A: And Jim, same deal?

J: 81, 60!

M: I love his 60 tone though. I heard it the other night and I’m thinkin’ about putting one in.

J: I’ll ask Martin (guitar tech) if he has some extra ones to slap in and give it a shot. I bet we do. Not sure if we have a gold one though.

A: Do gold ones sound different to black ones?

J: No but he has a gold one in his Les Paul.

M: We (Jim and Matt) got to go to the Gibson shop together and got to watch the woman with the scalpel peeling back the binding.

A: I heard it takes 50 hours to paint a Les Paul Custom.

M: What is it ... methylcellulose?

J: It was cool too because the dude who was doing all the Bursts, he standing there without a mask on.

A: It’s a talent.

J: Seriously, it’s a full on art form but I suppose if you are doing so many guitars a day, you’re going to get good at it.

M: That was a fun tour, to be able to see guitars still being hand-built.

A: Speaking of tours, I saw Trivium a few years ago on the Big Day Out. I was working there fi xing guitars and you guys were the only metal band on the bill. I’d fi nish my work, run over to the little tent where you were playing and you’d be doing the Metallica song you used to do.

M: Master of Puppets, I forgot we did that.

A: It was cool and my only bit of salvation for the day because you were the only metal band on the bill.

M: That was a good fi rst impression for us because there were rap bands and pop bands. We like to do that. Jim was saying earlier how he likes to do the opposite. I’m a bit like that too.

A: How is working with Soundwave because you are playing with a lot of bands playing similar music?

M: I was saying earlier today, this festival is just too easy. It’s like every day, even if I feel like I suck at my solo, the crowd just goes YEAH. It’s amazing. This country treats us really well. We have been here six or seven tours.

A: The last time I saw Slipnot was at the Palace, which has been bulldozed now.

J: We were talking about the fi rst time we came over here, it was a headlining Slipnot tour. We fl ew in and had a midnight in-store … this was right when the fi rst record came out. Then the next day we played a show, then we fl ew to the next city where we did an in-store, played the show, went back to the hotel, next day, same thing, etc. That was the tour. We had like half a day off in Brisbane and a half day off in Perth at the end of it. It was insane because each in-store was like 1,200 people and they had lined up for hours. There’s us nine jack asses in full costume sitting at a table. It was brutal.

www.slipknot1.comwww.trivium.orgwww.bugdust.com

• Mesa cab miked with Sennheiser

MD421 and Shure SM57

ADAM • 1985 Squire Bullet• 1964 Gibson SG Standard• Hagstrom Viking• 1979 Les Paul Custom• Vox AC50 head• 1963 Fender Showman 2x12• Blackstar S1 50w head and S1 2x12

AM • 16

They were the fi rst real rock band I ever saw. It was my local high school, must have

been around 1974 or 75. There would have been maybe 300 people in the hall. Malcolm Young, the riffmeister was solid, churning out those now legendary chunky chords through a Marshall Super Lead 100. The great Bon Scott was holding court, cheeky as all hell and then there was Angus … manic, electric and exhilarating. Fast Forward to the 2010 Black Ice tour, Docklands Melbourne with around 50,000 watching on. Same band, different singer, around 49 million albums sold … exactly the same sound. Malcolm Young was standing in exactly the same stage position (all night) and Angus Young, by now an international superstar, was doing exactly what he did back in ‘74, setting the audience alight with his lightning fast fi ngerwork, while he duck-walked across the stage with his cherry red Gibson SG.

It’s no surprise Australian Musician readers voted Angus as our Most Important Musician Ever. Not only is he one of the fi nest

me want to play guitar. Look at

the Let There Be Rock movie and

Angus playing Live in Paris. The amount of energy coming off the stage from him is amazing yet his playing remains stellar...” Fellow respected Melbourne guitarist Shannon Bourne (Chris Wilson, Man in Black/Band of Gold) also marvels at Angus’s rock’n’roll resolve. “One of the many things I admire about Angus is the fact that his playing is still youthful...like I can imagine him sitting at the end of his bed, even now, completely immersed in the instrument. Tone, taste and attitude are paramount.”

Apart from Angus’s undeniable guitar skills, it’s his showmanship which has also attracted much attention. “The school boy (suit) always helped me. When I put on the suit, I hop on stage and it gives me a bit of confi dence. As soon as it goes on, you get this impish feeling and as soon as I’ve got the suit on, nothing can go wrong. For me, it’s a bit of confi dence.” he told MTV in 1988. The Smashing Pumpkins’ Billy Corgan also has an opinion on Young’s stage kit. “It allows him to be a six year old, regress and throw himself around the stage, kick around and yet play these vicious solos. It seems to bring both his uninhibited id, or child into contact with a master skilled musician who is basically toying with you in complete, seeming, abandon. But he must be in control, otherwise he wouldn’t be able to play that well.”

Angus Young’s guitar set up is as basic and straight ahead as the music the band pumps out. It’s an SG into a Marshall, either a JTM45, JTM 50, JMP50 or JMP100 stack. The cabs are Marshall 4x12s with Celestian speakers (G12H30 watt on older recordings, Vintage 30s and G12M 25 watt on newer material. As for effects, he’s just not a pedal kind of guy. More than anything though, it’s the passion and physicality he puts into his playing which generates such amazing energy.

From those who like to rock

… Angus (and Malcolm)

Young … we salute you!

AUSTRALIA’S MOST IMPORTANT MUSICIAN EVER1. ANGUS YOUNG2. NICK CAVE3. TOMMY EMMANUEL

inside and outside of AC/DC, it was the band’s incredible work ethic that got them where they are today and in particular Angus’s devotion to his craft. “Angus and his SG were one,” states Evans in his book. “He’d practise by himself for hours each day, no amp, just sitting on his bed, noodling away, his foot stomping all the time, keeping time with the world’s longest guitar solo.”

Angus and his band mates have never been ones to be drawn into the celebrity mindset of the music industry. Their working class background

“MALCOLM AND ME GIVE BIG THANKS AND SEND

OUR BEST TO THE READERSOF AUSTRALIAN MUSICIAN” WAS THE MESSAGE THE GREAT ANGUS YOUNG SENTTO OUR MAGAZINE ON HEARING ABOUT THE RESULTSOF OUR POLL. SO FEW WORDS BUT IN THE CONTEXT OF HIS LIMITED CONTACT WITH THE MEDIA THROUGHOUT HIS CAREER, FOR US IT SPEAKS VOLUMES.

rock guitarists on the planet, he also helped bring the world’s focus to the Australian music scene, allowing other hard rockers like Rose Tattoo and The Angels to gain some global respect. As former AC/DC bass player Mark Evans reveals in his book, Dirty Deeds. My life

has ensured that they’ve always

kept it real. “Even if you are Eddie Van Halen, sometimes you are going to be second fi ddle to Dave. Even if you are Slash, you are going to be second fi ddle to Axl. I always felt, and you can disagree with me if you want to,

but Angus was bigger than Bon and bigger than Brian. Angus is what everyone is going to see,” said Anthrax’s Scott Ian of Young. Even the mighty Rolling Stones were beguiled by the band and Angus’s larrikin attitude. After performing together in Sydney at the Enmore Theatre in 2003, at Keith’s request, they joined The Stones soon

after as support on a European stadium tour. “They are great at festivals.

In fact, I think they are the best at

it,” said Stones’ drummer Charlie Watts. “Their tightness

has always impressed me” said Keith Richards. “Being a guitar player is one thing. Being a guitar player with another guitar player, is to the power of. It’s not just two guitars, it sounds like 5 or 10. Bless their hearts. What a bundle of energy they are.”

Local guitarists too are quick to sing Young’s praises. “The fi rst time I heard Angus was on morning TV,” said local blues guitar virtouso Jeff Lang.” It was the You Shook Me All Night Long clip. I mean, it’s hard to separate Angus from Malcolm, but it was one of those moments that made

MOST IMPORTANT AUSTRALIAN KEYBOARD PLAYER EVER

1. DON WALKER - COLD CHISEL2. ANDREW FARRIS - INXS 3. DAVID HIRSCHFELDER

MOST IMPORTANT AUSTRALIAN ‘OTHER’ INSTRUMENTALIST EVER

1. JAMES MORRISON2. WARREN ELLIS - DIRTY THREE

3. HARRY JAMES ANGUS - THE CAT EMPIRE

MOST IMPORTANT AUSTRALIAN

BASSIST EVER

1. FLEA2. GARRY GARY BEERS - INXS

3. NICK SEYMOUR- CROWDED

HOUSE

MOST IMPORTANT AUSTRALIAN ACOUSTIC GUITARIST EVER

1. TOMMY EMMANUEL2. JOHN BUTLER3. PAUL KELLY


RHYTHM GUITARIST

EVER1. MALCOLM

YOUNG - AC/DC2. MICK HARVEY- THE BAD SEEDS3. GEORGE YOUNG- THE EASYBEATS

MOST IMPORTANT AUSTRALIAN LEAD GUITARIST EVER1. ANGUS YOUNG

- AC/DC2. TOMMY EMMANUEL

3. IAN MOSS - COLD CHISEL

17 • AM

THE WINNER OF THE BOSS EFFECT PEDAL PACK VALUED AT OVER $800 (WHICH INCLUDES THE TU3, DS1, RC3, MT2 AND DD7) IS:

THOMAS CONROY OF SKYE, VICTORIA

IN OUR SUMMER ISSUE LAST YEAR, WE POSED THE QUESTION ... WHO ARE OUR MOST IMPORTANT MUSICIANS? WE’RE NOT NECESSARILY TALKING FASTEST OR BEST …

THIS POLL WAS ALL ABOUT WHICH AUSTRALIAN MUSICIAN HAS LEFT THE BIGGEST MUSICAL FOOTPRINT ON THE MUSIC WORLD… SOMEONE THAT HAS TRULY MADE A DIFFERENCE AND LEFT

A LEGACY. WHETHER YOU AGREE OR NOT, FOR BETTER OR WORSE, THIS IS HOW YOU VOTED!


DRUMMER EVER1. ROB HIRST - MIDNIGHT OIL

2. PHIL RUDD - AC/DC3. VIRGIL DONATI

THERE’S BEEN QUITE A BUZZ BUILDING AROUND FOUR BRISBANE SCHOOL FRIENDS, LAST DINOSAURS, WHO HAVE JUST RELEASED THEIR DEBUT ALBUM, IN A MILLION YEARS, NOT ONLY HERE BUT IN THE UK. MICHAEL SMITH SPOKE TO THE BAND’S SEAN CASKEY ABOUT THE MAKING OF THE ALBUM.

“People might think we’re using synthesisers but it’s

actually guitars” says lead singer, lyricist and guitarist Sean Caskey with the Brisbane four-piece Last Dinosaurs, in explanation of the bright, shiny, soaring and often orchestral sounds that are so integral to In A Million Years, the band’s debut album, The band also includes his brother Lachlan on lead guitar, Sam Gethin-Jones on bass and Dan Koyama on drums. “Lachlan and I are a bit obsessed about our gear. We’ve always been striving to find the rare, interesting pedal, and we’ve both got these crazy, crazy Behringer pedals, which is a really, really cheap brand – two different kinds of reverbs – and they’ve been mainly the basis of our guitar sound really, that angular, sharp, precise, clean sort of guitar sound. I like to think it’s a little bit unique to us.

“I’ve also got a boutique overdrive – Lach’s got three overdrives – octave pedal, a delay and stuff – Lach’s got multiple pedals – he obviously needs more than I do to cover the spectrum of sounds we create. And I’m currently playing a custom-made Telemaster [a Fender Custom Shop prototype based on an early ‘50s Esquire/Telecaster with a Jazzmaster body shape] but I recorded the entire album on my Japanese Jaguar and Lach uses a Fender Strat and also this really interesting guitar called an Italia [a retro-style electric guitar designed by UK luthier Trevor Wilkinson] made in Korea. It’s a ridiculous-looking guitar but it has this really crisp, jangly sound – a really unique, thin sound.”

Lachlan Caskey uses a Fender Blues DeVille 410 vintage-style tube amp, while Sean uses a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe, and both were used in recording the album, though Lachlan also used a variety of amps, including a Fender Twin and a vintage Vox AC-15 – whatever was at hand in the studio that would suit the song in hand. But before the band got down to the final recording, an intense

period of preproduction was in order, and with last year’s Brisbane floods threatening all and sundry, the band were relieved to relocate to the NSW Central Coast farm that houses engineer/producer Jean-Paul Fung’s recording studio for two weeks. Fung had come to the band’s attention through producer Scott Horscroft, of whose credits, albums by Silverchair, The Sleepy Jackson, The Temper Trap and Birds Of Tokyo among many, the band are big fans.

“Jean-Paul was his assistant, and he’s definitely the most talented engineer that I’ve come across so far,” Caskey admits. “He just knows exactly what he’s doing. He’s self-taught, he’s a young guy, and we got him to do our single, [2011’] Time And Place, and we worked with him so well and the production role was pretty much ‘Dinos and JP’ instead of JP just taking control. As for preproduction at his farm, we just found that sort of isolation and environment was really good for us.

“We’re all perfectionists so Jean-Paul would bring us back to earth! The rest of the band all come from a jazz background – I’m not really a musician; I’m more just a writer with no musical knowledge – and I’ve always wanted to make a point of the fact that we can play our dedicated instruments and we sometimes over-complicate things, so JP would strip the songs down and build them up again and it’s true, we did need to take some of the songs a couple of notches back.”

From there, Last Dinosaurs headed south into Sydney’s Surry Hills for a month in Horscroft’s sadly now defunct Big Jesus Burger Studios. In A Million Years turned out to be the last album to be recorded at the facility. Horscroft took up the position of Vice President of A&R at EMI Australia in October 2010. The main tracking room at Big Jesus Burger, where the drums were recorded, had a vintage 1977 Quad Eight Coronado analogue console, while the bulk of the album was recorded in what was called the Playroom, set up for overdubs and editing.

“It’s such a pity it’s gone - the vibe there was truly incredible,” Caskey admits, “and working there you just felt so comfortable.”

As it happens, Fung has been hired by Jimmy Barnes to be the engineer at his home studio and Fung has relocated the Quad Eight there.

“I’ve always used the Shure SM-7B,” Caskey explains his vocal mic preferences. “It’s basically an SM-57 but the capsule’s slightly different. I used that for the single as well and, I don’t know, it just seems to bring out the best in my voice apparently, although I have an SE Gemini 2 as well, which I love a lot – that’s like a pop-style mic where you just plug it in and it

automatically sounds amazing. I did try a lot of mics but JP was particularly fond of the SM-7B.”

The next step of course was mixing the album, and Last Dinosaurs again turned to Englishman Eliot James, who had mixed their Time And Place single, and who apparently had initially picked up on their 2010 EP, Back From The Dead, which had been produced by Lost Valentinos’ guitarist and keyboards player Jono Ma. James used Eastcote Studios in London.

“Early on when we were scouting around for producers or mixers, Eliot was the biggest name that was interested” – among his credits albums by Two Door Cinema Club and Kaiser Chiefs – “and the sound he was getting already was just on the dot with what we were trying to do. We’d send off songs and they’d come back sounding perfect. Because JP is so good at producing a good sound, everything was just so incredibly perfect – it was too clean, but amazingly good quality – so then Eliot, he didn’t dirty it but he added character, if you know what I mean, that was applicable to the song. I Can’t Help You, for example, the second song on the album, we wanted it to sound really crunchy and, I don’t know, just a bit more gain on it and so he compressed the shit out of it so it sounds really cool, sort of ballsy and like a fist flying at your face sort of thing.”

The album was mastered at Abbey Road Studios by Geoff Pasche, whose credits include doing records for New Order, The Divine Comedy, Gorillaz, Basement Jaxx, Coldplay and even Kylie Minogue among many. Since recording the album, Last Dinosaurs have signed with UK label, Fiction.

In A Million Years is out now through Dew Process/UMA.www.myspace.com/wearelastdinosaurs

Last DinosaursWITH

AM • 18

SHURE BETA MICROPHONES Optimised for high sound pressure levels, extremely low handling noise and higher gain-before-feedback. Accurate, focused polar patterns. Virtually indestructible. Precision control to practically eliminate bleed. Because the sound should be as clear and inspired as the message.

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AUSTRALIAN MUSICIAN INTRODUCES ‘ON TOUR’, A FEATURE DEDICATED TO THOSE ON THE ROAD BRINGING THEIR MUSIC TO YOU. THIS ISSUE WE TRACKED DOWN JOE ROBINSON MID-TOUR FOR A CHAT.

If you’re a hack guitarist like myself, you’ve probably had times where you’ve seen a

player so good that you just want to punch them … or hug them depending on your demeanour! You know the scenario … suddenly it dawns on you, you’re never going to be as good as that and your half-arsed dreams fly out the door. Smokin’ Joe Robinson is one of those players. For someone who was musically schooled by YouTube, he’s come a hell of a long way in a very short time. He emerged in 2008 as the winner of the very public yet not so cool TV talent show Australia’s Got Talent, stunning all with his insanely fluid fretwork. Joe has since relocated to Nashville where he has gained much kudos, leading to well-received gigs from London and New York to Budapest, Berlin and all compass points in between. In late 2010, he won the best new talent category in respected international publication Guitar Player magazine. Joe Robinson can seemingly do no wrong and as Australian Musician’s Greg Phillips found out when he sat down for a chat during his recent Australian tour, he’s as humble and polite as he is musically astonishing.

Before the doors had opened at Melbourne’s Bennets Lane on a bleak Tuesday night in January, Joe was wondering if anyone would be coming along to see the show. He need not have worried. Outside a queue large enough to fill the venue had formed half way down the long city lane. From the snippets of conversation I could hear while standing in line, most tonight didn’t appear to be drawn to the gig as fans of Australia’s Got Talent (although one of the show’s judges Dannii Minogue was in the queue), these folks seemed like real music connoisseurs. The gig was one of the last of a two week tour in which he’d been road testing material from his new album Let

WITH Joe RobinsonSmokin’

AM • 20

Me Introduce You. Robinson’s first couple of recordings were instrumental affairs which proved to the world that he was a genuine contender to the title of global guitar virtuoso. At the mere age of twenty, he’d decided that wasn’t enough, he needed to become the complete artist. Joe set about approaching the new album from a different perspective, a vocal album written with the song as the main focus rather than the guitar licks. “I felt like my first two instrumentals were about pushing the instrument in

a new direction and exploring the instrument itself,” said Joe of his early recordings. “I’ve always been a guitar head. I love the instrument, it’s my passion. So the first two recordings were expressing that. At the end of the second one, I felt like I’d come to a point where I needed to add something to the mixture for me to feel the same kind of creative excitement I needed. I feel that I still think in the same way melodically, harmonically and rhythmically, it’s just a different instrument. I try to still have the guitar in a really pivotal role adding something to the song rather than just strumming while I sing. Of course when you’re singing a lyric you’ve got to be careful not to shred over the top of yourself!”

Translating the new songs from the studio version to a live environment didn’t seem to be a problem from an arrangement perspective, he had recorded with the same two Americans who are touring with him, Marcus Hill on drums and bassist Snoopy Clark. The dilemma was more in the consideration of gear to take on the road as he had used a different guitar on every song and a different microphone technique for each acoustic track.

“My core acoustic sound is just my Maton into an AER amp and that can pretty much cover most of the acoustic things. With the electrics, I’m travelling with a Strat (Cobalt Blue) and a Gretsch (Chet Atkins Country Gentelman), so I can get that archtop jangle thing and the blues rock fusion Strat sound. My acoustic is a custom shop Maton they built for me and it’s basically the same as Tommy Emmanuel’s guitar except it has the cutaway. It has Queensland maple back and sides. It has really big frets and I use really heavy strings, gauge 16 to 54.

“ I FELT LIKE I’D COME TO A POINT WHERE I NEEDED

TO ADD SOMETHING TO THEMIXTURE FOR ME TO FEELTHE SAME KIND OF CREATIVE EXCITEMENT I NEEDED.”

21 • AM

JONNY LANG FROM THE MOMENT JONNY LANG WITNESSED THE GREAT ALBERT COLLINS PLAY, HE WAS HOOKED ON THE TELECASTER. BY THE AGE OF 14, HE’D RELEASED HIS FIRST ALBUM. THESE DAYS LANG SHARES THE STAGE WITH ROCK LEGENDS SUCH AS THE STONES, BB KING, ERIC CLAPTON AND BUDDY GUY, WHO HE’LL BE SUPPORTING ON HIS BLUESFEST SIDESHOWS. AUSTRALIAN GUITAR SLINGER SHANNON BOURNE SPOKE TO LANG ABOUT HIS GEAR PRIOR TO HIS 2012 BLUESFEST VISIT.

ARE THERE PARTICULAR AMPS YOU GRAVITATE TO?

I have two Fender Deluxes I play

on stage. They’re reissues …

about 5 years old, rewired and

basically nothing like a stock

re-issue Deluxe. All new tubes and

transistors put in. They are designed

more to be like old Deluxes . They

are like little Marshalls without

the nasally midrange. When they

are sounding good, I’ve never

heard a better amp. Sometimes

when we travel, we get backline

rented ones and it’s a crap shoot, so

hopefully I’ll get to bring my own to

Australia. I know Buddy is bringing

his own. He won’t use rentals!

TELL ME ABOUT YOUR PEDAL BOARD.

My pedal board is not very

impressive. Up until now it’s been

a piece of discarded plywood spray painted black and I have a Vox Wah, Route 66, which is kinda like a like a Tube Screamer, a Boss Outlaw and that is all.

DO YOU CRANK THE AMPS TO GET THEM ON THE VERGE OF CRUNCH, THEN USE THE TUBE SCREAMER JUST TO DRIVE IT?

Absolutely. You find the sweet spot on the amp, which is around 7 or 8 usually and they are still really open but once you get past that level, they start to saturate too much. So you find the sweet spot and I set the Tube Screamer so there is not a whole lot of drive or added distortion. It’s more to give a warm boost to the tone for soloing.

www.jonnylang.com

Let Me Introduce You is out through ABC Musicwww.joerobinson.com

The amps I am using are the Laboga Alligator 212 combo and a new Fender Vibrolux. The Laboga is a Polish amp. They are really cool amps. I find with the Gretsch, some amps work great and some are hard work but with the Laboga, it’s like a match made in heaven. With the AERs, I probably use them a little differently than most people. I like to feel an acoustic guitar rather than hear it. To me there is nothing more unmusical than an acoustic guitar played through monitors right back in your face, it’s really dry. So I use the AERs as my monitors on stage.”

As for the the year ahead and beyond for Joe Robinson, insert

your own cliche here... It really

doesn’t matter what anyone

says, the guy is already on his

way to becoming major league

player in the guitar world. In

his own words … “I want to

be the biggest and baddest.

I want to each my potential,

keep evolving, growing and

never want to jump off this

train. I feel like this is my

absolute passion and dream

and a lot of people don’t get

to live theirs, so I am going to

make the most of the kind of

opportunities that I have.”

I’M BOARD!“The first pedal is an Ernie Ball volume into a Keeley Katana boost pedal. I pretty much run that all of the time. It basically improves the tone, no matter which guitar I am using. Then I am going into a Cry Baby wah, an 808 re-issue Tube Screamer, into a few T Rex pedals … a Mudhoney overdrive, Octavius, which is like an Octave pedal with a boost. There’s the T Rex Tremster, which is their Tremelo into an Eventide Time Factor, so I can get the delay right on each track. Sometimes I use a Memory Man too because I love the tone, then there’s T Rex Room Mate (Reverb). Acoustically, it’s the Peterson tuner into the AER amp or di.” (Also in Joe’s board is a Boss Chromatic Tuner and T Rex Fuel Tank power supply)

WHAT’S IN YER GIG BAG?I carry a set of Ultimate ears, which are moulded in-ears. I can’t live without them. Tooth brush and tooth paste … strings, string cutter, tons of guitar picks, capos, and feedback buster.

BACKSTORYHails from Temagog, NSW. Mentored by Tommy Emmanuel. Won 2008 final of Australia’s Got Talent. Relocated to Nashville. In 2012 released new vocal album Let me Introduce You after several instrumental recordings.

DZ DEATHRAYS’ SIMON RIDLEY AND LABEL MATE BLEEDING KNEES CLUB’S ALEX WALL DISCUSS THE DRUM BEATS WHICH DRIVE THEIR BANDS’ NEW ALBUMS.

AM • 22

Bleeding Knees Club vocalist and songwriter Alex Wall has denounced his drum

kit and gone to the darkside, choosing the guitar as his favoured instrument. DZ Deathrays’ drummer Simon Ridley is staying put behind the kit but given half a chance, he’d also rather play guitar. Both are sitting in front of me. I’m fi ring my best drummer questions at them but not getting a whole lotta drum love in return. Nearby I can see Bleeding Knees Club’s new drummer Brett Jansch watching us. His eyes have the look of a quiz show contestant with all of the answers but no access to the buzzer. I’ll attend to him later.

Both DZ Deathrays and Bleeding Knees Club play a vibrant brand of garage rock which in 2011 had the UK press gushing. In early March this year, hip record label I OH YOU released BKC’s debut album Nothing To Do. In April, the same label will launch DZ’s album Blood Streams. The fact that both bands emanated out of Queensland, play a fuzz-infused style of rock and are making a hobby out of collecting international accolades is one of those whimsical rock ‘n’ roll things … right bands, right place, right kind of energy and music at the right time. They are the ‘it’ bands all of the record labels dream about but I OH YOU found them fi rst.

So let’s deal with Bleeding Knees Club’s Alex Wall’s instrumental ship jumping fi rst. Wall played all of the drums on the new album but from now on will front the stage while Brett takes on permanent drum duties. “I just realised that we weren’t going to progress with me playing drums,” says Alex. “I’m not a trained drummer. I wrote all of the songs and I played guitar more than the drums doing that. It made sense for me to go to guitar and then get a good drummer.” Fair enough! While DZ’s Simon Ridley is happy to warm the drum stool with his band, he sees the guitarist’s lot as being easier “In my last band I played guitar. You roll up, plug in and that’s it. With DZ, I spend so much time organising everything … and at least with guitar, you can solo your way out of things but if you solo your way out on a drum kit, you just look like a douche!”

For the recording of Blood Streams, Ridley collated as many drum kits and cymbals as he could in order to have

as many sonic options as possible. Once he found the combination which best suited however, he stuck with it for the duration of the album. “I always use Paiste hi hats, like 2002s,” Ridley says. “We hired out a whole bunch of cymbals, so some of the songs have different stuff on them but mainly Paiste. For the kit, it was just a mate’s Tama kit mixed with a Yamaha kit, a Custom I think.” Wall has a more lackadaisical attitude to his drum gear. “I am not very fussy about the equipment I use. I use really simple drums. It’s really just tom and snare. I didn’t use hi-hats.”

The technicalities of how both bands arrive at their sounds is unimportant. With Bleeding Knees and the DZs, it’s all about energy and atmosphere, and that ethos is evident in their live shows. As such they share that eternal problem with every other high octane band on the planet, capturing their live sound on record. Ridley in particular dreaded having to repeat drum take after drum take. “I’d do a take and they’d say, ‘oh can you do it again’! After you do six takes of the same song, I really didn’t enjoy that. After a week of drumming non stop, it killed me. I hate playing to click too because it just takes away the fun from drumming.” Wall agrees. “Yeah I played to a click once and just couldn’t do it. It loses the song’s vibe.”

It would naturally follow then, that a live album would be a good option for both bands at some stage in their career, but as Wall and Ridley explain, that comes with it’s own set of hazards.

“A couple of tracks off our last EP were live,” says Simon. “We recorded the whole thing but could only use a few songs because for most of it, we had people falling onto our gear.” It’s a similar situation for BKC. “That’s the problem,” says Alex. “A really good show sounds crap. The best shows for us are when people are wrecking stuff but it doesn’t translate to audio.”

It’s that sense of chaos which makes a BKC or DZ show work, when the crowd and band are all in the same entropic headspace at the same time. The trade-off for enthusiastic audience response is that sometimes, the hi-hat you were hitting seconds ago is no longer there as the crowd surge has moved your kit a metre to the right or as Ridley once encountered, a crowd member accidentally snapped his snare stand. BKC’s guitarist/vocalist Jordan Malane has been listening to the interview unfold and chips in to remind Wall of the time he had to sit on his kit holding the kick drum microphone.

With their albums released in the fi rst quarter of 2012, the label is keen to send both bands back overseas to capitalise on the ground swell of support the spirited shows and positive press has created. However, glowing press has never been a guarantee of a full house. Wall explains: “When you’re overseas it brings you back to earth. You can play to a packed crowd at

home and have a sick show, then go overseas and you’re back to the start playing to no one sometimes. It puts your head back in place. It makes you want to play better and when you do go back, hopefully you’ll get a bigger crowd.” Ridley also sees it as a challenge more than a hurdle. “We’ve played shows to just the sound guy, bar guy, my sister and her girlfriend in New York. We paid so much money to get over there and thought we might as well enjoy it and play a really good show. One guy walked in and he was from a record label...”

Having determined that at the core of both bands’ drum sound is the vibe and not the practicalities, I thought it was worth fi nally sliding over to Bleeding Knees Club’s new drummer Brett for his views on the subject. And while he can play guitar too, there’s no fear of Brett falling to the temptation of the fretboard with BKC, as he passionately elucidates the details of his kit. “I love playing drums. Drums are fun! I usually just play whatever is there as far as the kick and fl oor tom is concerned but I like my snare really, really tight, so it’s just crack! There’s no real fuzz of the bottom of the snare wire as well. I’ve always found it’s weird to play unless there’s a little bit of reverb coming in the drum fi ll as well in venues. It just feels really dry to hit the snare when you don’t get any decay. It feels odd, it’s like playing in a really dead room where you don’t hear the sound. I have been playing with a really bright, soft crash as well. It has a nice wash. You can play really soft and wash it brilliantly. The ride is just a 20 inch but very tinny. So it’s a basic kit. I could just play with fl oor tom but I have been using a rack tom a bit as well.”

Wall readily admits his drum skills weren’t up to scratch and I wondered if the more qualifi ed Jansch needed to tweak the Bleeding Knees Club beats for their live shows. “No I have tried to play it exactly the same as Alex,” says Brett surprisingly. “I tried to learn the fi lls, which I found quite diffi cult because usually when I play drums, I hit everything. I found it diffi cult to play simpler. Usually I play everything, doing a

lot of stuff on the kick but I had to play really square and it works really well with these songs, really compliments the songs. So I just copied everything, with the addition of a hi hat.”

www.iohyou.com

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IIIIIITTTTT KKKKKKIIIILLLLLLLLLEEEEEEEDDDDDDDD MMMMMEEEEEEE... IIIIII HHHHHHHAAAAAAATTTTTTEEEE PPPPPPLLLLLLAAAAYYYYYYYIIIINNNNNGGGGGGTTTTTTTOOOOOO CCCCCCCLLLLLIIIIICCCCCCKKKKKK TTTTTTOOOOOOOOOOOOOO BBBBBBEEEEEEEECCCCCCCAAAAAAUUUUUUUUSSSSSSEEEEE IIIIIITTTTTT JJJJJUUUUUSSSSSTTTTT TTTTTAAAAAAAKKKKKEEEESSSSSS AAAAAAAAWWWWWWAAAAAAYYYYYY TTTTTTHHHHHHHHEEEEE FFFFFFFFUUUUUNNNNNN FFFFFFFRRRRRROOOOOOOMMMMMMM DDDDDDDRRRRRRRUUUUUUUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMIIIIIINNNNNNGGGGGGG....””””””

23 • AM

M-PHAZES-WORKIN’ THE COALMINE

For a producer, that’s what it is all about, making your mark, stamping your sound and making a difference. “When it comes to remixing and I’m talking for myself here … I do like to take a track in a totally new

direction,” said M-Phazes. “I don’t really see the point of remixing something and it sounds the same. Especially if I’m remixing hip hop tracks to other hip hop tracks. I want to take it in a whole new direction, whether it’s the feel of the beat or whether it’s dark … I can make it a little less dark or whatever.”

Like any creative pursuit, you’ve got to have a starting point. With the Phazed Out project, it was fi rstly listening to the original track, then getting his hands on the isolated vocal takes. “There are a few different ways of going about it,” said Mark of the process. “For myself, I either go through records and listen to samples while

vocals are playing and see if it matches or I have a melody in my head. I put the vocals in the session and start with a melody or some form of music idea rather than drums. Drums usually come last. Thats a very rough, loose sort of description. Sometimes drums can come fi rst, so it sort of depends on the circumstance.”

More and more the hip hop genre is turning to live instrumentation in addition to samples. For the Phazed Out album, Mark employed the services of Shaun Windsor, a multi-instrumentalist who added bass, guitar, violin and fl ute, while Damian Smith

contributed keys. I wondered how specifi c a brief Mark gave them in regard to the parts they played. “Shaun is also a producer and he’s quite good with

knowing what the track needs. Sometimes I’ll be specifi c with my instructions, but usually it’s just the chord progression or the type

of bass it needs. Shaun is really good with that stuff and he’s got a good ear. He’s not the kind of session muso that you have to guide every step of the way and Damian is the same.”

a lot more now with distortion effects and bits of guitar plug-ins. That’s the sort of thing you should do if you want to get different sounds. You could fail multiple times, you could try all day not get a different sound, and then one of the sounds hits you and it is incredible. I encourage any producer to do that, look for new sounds.”

One of the tracks on Phazed Out where Mark’s production really shines through is Underground Railroad, which features a host of folks including Famoso, Termanology, Shabaam Sahdeeq, Phantasm, Chubb Rock, Sadat X & DJ Dutchmaster. The signature M-Phazes big beats combine with the fattest of horns to make a grand musical statement. Mark admits however, that the original source attributed to much of the track’s largesse. “The horns were actually off a record that a friend lent me. I think even the drums are off that same record. I may have laid some fatter

AM • 24

M-Phazes has copped some fl ack for the inclusion on Phazed Out of the track The Raw, on which Saigon raps “On an average night/I’m likely to stab a faggot with a knife”. “I’m just mixing the track,” he says in his defence. “It’s for the listeners to interpret it. If they’re offended by it, then so be it, but it’s not like I got in the studio and said hey, Saigon can you rap about stabbing faggots. Hip Hop is straying a little bit away from that, but its still entertainment. If you put a homophobic serial killer into a movie, no one’s gonna make a fuss about it and these guys are just acting … it’s just entertainment.”

Despite creating some amazing world class productions, M-Phazes current studio set up resides in his living room, while he seeks out a site and gear to furnish his own facility. Mark’s main tool of trade is Steinberg’s recording, editing and arranging software product Cubase. “An old friend of mine from Melbourne who’s a producer, introduced me to Nuendo, which is similar to Cubase but more catered towards video. So I was interested in learning that kind of program, so he showed me a few tricks. So when I got home, I just stuck with it. I mean the thing is, I don’t think it’s the equipment you use, I think it’s the persistence of using that equipment. I didn’t want to jump from this to that and be

half good at things, I’d rather just stick to one thing.” M-Phazes uses Cubase in conjunction with Reason. “I don’t really use

Reason as a main work station. I rout the instruments inside Reason and use the Cubase. I’m still a bit iffy about Reason. I’d like to get more into it. Cubase will always be my main production centre piece but I’m defi nitely experimenting

drums on it but the best ones are usually straight up off the record.”

Like many producers, Mark suffers the curse of fi nding it diffi cult to listen to music for pure enjoyment sake. When your career depends on ripping songs apart and re-piecing them, it’s not easy to accept someone else’s musical ideas as a whole. His ears also tend to gravitate automatically to the beat rather than bass or melody. “Oh, always the beat,” he said of the sound he zeroes in on. “Obviously with the beat, that includes the melody too but the lyrics always come secondary. I’d love to be able to listen to the song as a whole and not dissect it but that comes from being a producer. You dissect a track in your head because it might be a little off. It won’t put me off the track but it will bug me whenever I hear it.”

Phazed Out is available now.

www.facebook.com/mphazes

AROUND 43 SECONDS INTO 360’S FALLING AND FLYING ALBUM, THE BEATS KICK IN ALONG WITH THE BRASH, DYNAMIC MELODY. ALTHOUGH IT’S A CO-PRODUCTION WITH STYALZ FUEGO, IT BEARS ALL THE FAMILIAR HALLMARKS

OF ARIA AWARD WINNING PRODUCER M-PHAZES (AKA MARK LANDON). IT’S THE SAME WITH THE TRACKS ON M-PHAZES

NEW ALBUM PHAZED OUT, A COLLECTION OF REMIXES OF TRACKS FROM THE COALMINE RECORDS CATALOGUE. SEEK

OUT THE ORIGINAL VERSIONS OF THE RAW OR ALL OUT AND COMPARE THEM WITH THE PHAZED OUT VERSIONS.

THEY’VE BEEN INVIGORATED WITH M-PHAZES SIGNATURE BOLD SOUNDS AND TAKEN IN A COMPLETELY NEW DIRECTION.

KSeries_Respect_CX_A4_.indd 1 17/12/2011 12:54:29 PM

SIMONE FELICEGOIN’ HIS OWN WAY

AM • 26

when I have a quiet time in the woods. My aunt was a nurse at the hospital. She was so cool and busted me out of the hospital. They wanted me in there for 3 weeks after my surgery but she got me out of there in 3 days. I got to heal up and recuperate at home. I live in the woods with a dead end road, on a cliff. I am there now. It was the middle of summer in fresh air out of the evil hospital and evil city and I just got to be here.The ideas turned into melodies and into songs. I have turned the attic in my barn into my writing space. In there, I have a two inch tape machine, a Universal Audio pre amp, a two channel 610. I’m not a big gear head but I forced myself to learn how to record my songs so I don’t have to rely on anyone.”

Simone Felice has spent many years in big, expensive studios and while appreciating the experience, has come to realise that it is more about the moment and the energy you put into the performance than it is about the gear or expensive that you are using. “It took me quite a few years to realise that,” said Simone. “For this album, it was the fi rst one where I really set out to record myself, all on my own. So I had the pre amp and I got a mic, it’s actually an Australian one called a Rode. I recorded a lot of the songs on this album with just one mic, it’s the Rode K2. I wanted to have an environment where I could wake up at 5am in the morning and be up there if I was inspired. Just walk outside, up to the barn and sing what I was inspired by not what the clock was telling me. I wanted to eliminate that vibe. I would wake up every morning with the sunrise and go up there and try versions of the songs. Most of my work was done early in the morning. They call it the magic hour, so I was just trying to capture the magic.”

The album is proof that an artist with an international profi le, with major label distribution, can still create in Do It Yourself mode. Most of the songs, demos and even fi nal recordings came out of his studio in the attic of his barn. “Some of those original takes from the barn are takes on the

album, like the songs Courtney Love and Charade, the song Splendor in the Grass … Gimme All You Got. The other stuff is interesting as well. I didn’t go into proper studios for the others really either. The fi rst track Hey Bobby Ray, we recorded that in my brother’s studio, The Felice Brothers’ studio. There’s a Fender Rhodes on that, a mini B3 organ and me on the drums. So what we did with that, we recorded the music together live in the room … the original formation of the Felice brothers with me on the drums. We did that for Hey Bobby Ray, Sharon Tate and Stormy- Eyed Sarah. We just wanted to get that raw, real energy that we used to in the old days. Then I brought in this girls choir from a high school we went to. I fi gured, instead of getting the Philadelphia Philharmonic choir or something, I’d just get this local choir and they did an amazing job.”

For the duration of the recording of the album, Simone made sure his studio set up was always ready to roll. “I was home all of the time and had the studio set up all ready. I left it on! I left all of the pre amps and everything on so I could just go there and record if the moment hit me. I tried to get the least amount of time between fi nishing a song and recording it so it would have that real freshness.” Felice was also conscious not to spend too much time agonising over vocal takes. “I try to be a one hit wonder in that way. I close my eyes and try to go there. On this album, there would never be more than three vocal takes and a lot of them are the fi rst cut. The song Courtney Love for instance is one take. It’s singing, guitar and harmonica all in one take, one microphone, fi rst take. I tried it again few times but could never replicate the vibe of the fi rst take. If you listen closely, you can hear my foot stomping on the ground. In the bridge, it goes to the E minor and the foot starts to tap and it’s really one of my favourite moments on the record because it is so real. It’s just my boot on the wooden fl oor. I love music that makes me feel like I am in the room.”

Another sound you’ll hear at the end of the album is the tick of Simone’s mechanical heart valve, which was placed inside him during surgery. While it doesn’t tick in time, it is a constant reminder to him to be true to himself and his music, and what better way to honour that commitment than to do it yourself! “I’ve been in a lot of great projects and made records with great people, and will always collaborate with people on my albums but from now on I am just making my own records. It’s what I have always wanted to do and this experience of nearly dying, has really helped me to shake off all of my armour, my helmet, my shield and not be afraid to fi nd my own voice, my own ways of recording and production and I’m feeling really good about it.”

www.simonefelice.com

Felice Brothers got their start in New York subway. 2006 released their self-titled band debut. In 2009 Simone left his brothers to from his own band Duke & The King. 2010 he launched fi rst novel Black Jesus, then released Live From A Lonely Place, recorded at home (in the barn) just a few weeks after his heart surgery. March 2012 releases self-titled solo album.

A t the age of 12, he suffered a brain aneurysm and

for a short time was more or less dead. In 2009 he

and his long-time partner lost their fi rst child to a miscarriage.

2010 arrived and offered up open heart surgery courtesy of a

congenital heart disorder. A month later, anguish turned to joy with the birth of their daughter pearl. Add to that chain of events the day to day occurrences of being on tour with his kin in The Felice brothers or with his band Duke & the King and there’s more than enough material to create a story from. In fact, so much material that Simone sometimes needs to purge words as an author. He was in Australia late last year promoting his novel Black Jesus. It was the heart surgery and the recover process however, which lead Simone to his latest project, a self-titled solo album. The manner in which Felice created the album, alone in the woods at his Catskill

A GOOD SONGWRITER SHOULD TELL A STORY RIGHT? A GREAT ONE IS PERCEPTIVE AND OBSERVANT AND CAN FIND A TALE IN ALMOST ANYTHING. THEN THERE IS SIMONE FELICE. HE HAS NO REAL NEED TO SEARCH FOR SONGS, THEY CLING TO HIM LIKE A FRIDGE MAGNET. FOR BETTER OR WORSE, STUFF JUST HAPPENS TO HIM.

27 • AM

Mountains property made him a the perfect candidate for our DIY page.

The inspiration for much of the songs on Felice’s new album came out of drug-induced dreams Simone was experiencing while recovering from surgery. “I was on morphine, convalescing and I was having these morphine nightmares and dreams. A lot of the stories were repressed memories from being a kid and they were coming out in these dreams. I tried to channel them into the songs. So obviously, that was the fi rst inspiration. I started to write like I usually do

BUSBY MAROU -IN THEIR OWN GOOD TIMESOMETIMES IN MUSIC MEDIA WORLD, AN ARTIST TELEPHONE INTERVIEW JUST DON’T GO AS PLANNED. IT CAN HAPPEN FOR ANY NUMBER OF REASONS AND ONCE THE MOONS DECIDE NOT TO ALIGN, ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE. SOMETIMES IT DOESN’T REALLY MATTER, PARTICULARLY IN THE CASE OF ROCKHAMPTON BRED DUO BUSBY MAROU AS WE GOT THERE IN THE END.

It all began the night before the scheduled interview time. I was enjoying a drink with a friend

when the call centre gentleman informed me that my interview with Jeremy Marou was about to be put through. Not tonight I told him but I’ll be more than happy to take the call tomorrow, on the scheduled night. I was ready the following night but … no call. Eventually after a few back and forth calls to the record company, I was given a mobile number on which I found Jeremy on the other end of the line. Jeremy apologised and explained that the phone problem was partly because of the time difference of where he was (Darwin) and partly because of what he was doing at the time (barramundi fi shing), not to mention the international call operator’s confusion earlier. Then it twigged, that same laissez-faire attitude in

‘Breakthrough’ program, which supports emerging indigenous musicians. Jeremy’s genealogy is Torres Strait Islander, but don’t ask him if he feels any obligation to promote the indigenous cause. “We never play the indigenous card. We just naturally do a lot of work with indigenous artists but don’t expect to come to a Busby Marou show and hear didgeridoo and clap sticks.”

Asked where the band is based Jeremy will tell you wherever their suitcases lay, but pushed for a city, he’ll claim Brisbane as that’s where the additional band members live. The fact is, Busby Marou has been so busy touring that there has been no need to settle in one spot yet. At the time of the interview, the guys were on tour with Georgia Fair. Soon before, they were out on the road with Pete Murray, KD Lang and the recent Dolly Parton Australian tour.

The album has been well received and rightfully so. It’s a bright, positive, joyful experience, created with a lot of heart. It became fairly clear early on in production as to what shape the album was going to take. “At the time we were very fresh in terms of studio time,” explains Jeremy. “When it came to writing the album, we sort of knew what we wanted and in pre-production, it became obvious what kind of album it was going to be. Our producer Anthony Lycenko, is very particular about how he likes his sounds and I think that rubbed off on us. We were fortunate enough to use a couple of Pete Murray’s old Gibson and Fender guitars which are just made for studio use. We try to achieve that same sound on stage now.”

The way a Busby Marou song comes together is with Tom writing lyrics and melody and Jeremy providing the instrumentation. Jeremy is a multi-

AM • 28

Met in Rockhampton. Won Government indigenous artist grant. Won 2009 Deadly Award: Most promising new talent in music. Have toured with KD Lang, Dolly Parton, Pete Murray.Released self- titled debut album in 2011.

• Takamine guitars• Maton Messiah• Fender Telecaster• Sanchez ukulele

instrumental freak and anyone who saw the band’s recent appearance on Rockwiz, will be aware of his extraordinary ukulele skills with his amazing use of harmonics and hammer-ons/pull-offs. The folks at Jade Sound were so impressed when they saw Jeremy’s uke skills, that they offered him a Sanchez ukulele endorsement. On stage, Marou favours a Takamine acoustic guitar while Busby plays a Maton Messiah (as well as a Troy Cassar Daley Takamine). “When I play electric, I use a Fender Telecaster, not an American but a Mexican. It’s a fairly straight forward set up. I don’t run too many effects at all … a bit of delay.”

I left Jeremy to enjoy a balmy Darwin night and a couple of hours later my operator friend tried once again to put through the interview I had already done. Not convinced, he called fi ve minutes later, bewildered that his schedule could be wrong. I suggested he chill out and have a listen to the Busby Marou album.

www.busbymarou.com

Jeremy is refl ected in Busby Marou’s music. If you told me they recorded their self titled album while swaying on hammocks on a beach, I’d believe you. Their music is to be enjoyed in your own good time at your leisure and it seems, that’s also a life credo for Thomas Busby and Jeremy Marou. It’s an attitude you’ll fi nd in the lines of their acoustic based, feel-good songs too. “Take my hands, take me nowhere. There’s no place I’d rather be,” sings Tom on the track Dancing On The Moon.

The duo found each other in Rockhampton, where they grew up but there was no real music scene to speak of. “It was probably non existent,” said Jeremy of the musical opportunities in the town. “When Tom and I started playing live, I think the only other bands playing were old fellas playing with midi fi les and backing tracks. Anyone with any musical aspirations tended to move to Brisbane or further south.” Fortunately they were able to work on a debut album with the assistance of a grant via the Government’s

JIM KEAYS TURNS UP THE DIRTIT’S DISAPPOINTING THAT I HAVE TO EVEN EXPLAIN WHO JIM KEAYS IS. THE BRITS AND THE AMERICANS SEEM TO EMBRACE THEIR ROCK’N’ROLL HISTORY, WHEREAS HERE IN AUSTRALIA OUR MUSIC PIONEERS ARE RELEGATED TO OBSCURITY. OK, LISTEN UP. JIM FRONTED THE MASTERS PPRENTICES, A LEGENDARY AUSTRALIAN BAND WHO HAD A STRING OF HITS IN THE SIXTIES INCLUDING TURN UP YOUR RADIO, BECAUSE I LOVE YOU AND LIVING IN A CHILD’S DREAM. THE EARLIER INCARNATION OF THE GROUP PLAYED A BRAND OF MUSIC LABELLED GARAGE ROCK AND AT THE AGE OF 65 AND WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF YOU AM I’S DAVEY LANE, KEAYS HAS RETURNED TO THOSE GARAGE ROOTS WITH A NEW ALBUM CALLED DIRTY, DIRTY. AUSTRALIAN MUSICIAN’S GREG PHILLIPS WANTS TO KNOW WHY!

covers. I couldn’t bend a note on the harmonica which you have to do with the blues. I went to The Stones concert and in those days, there was no security and I just walked straight into the band room. I started talking to Brian Jones. I told him I played harmonica but couldn’t bend the notes, and he said, ‘I’ll show you’. So he showed me … saying you’ve got to do this with your tongue etc and I practiced a few times and he said, you’ve got it! After that, I never looked back. I loved playing harp. So I had a chance to play a bit on this album.”

The Dirty, Dirty project was never about making any sort of comeback statement. For Jim, it was all about adding to his body of work. “The body of work is more important than what it achieves. It was a fun project to do and if it does achieve something then it’s a bonus,” said Keays. Apart from having fun, the only other criteria Keays placed on the album was that the end product needed to be both relevant and honourable, characteristics he has carried with him since the Masters’ days. “I learned back then not to sell out and to try to do things that pushed the boundaries rather than play safe. Certainly in the Masters we always tried to have a musical integrity that was hopefully above what the others around us were doing.”

Full transcript in which Keays chats about his own guitar collection and the Masters Apprentices can be found at:

www.australianmusician.com.au

The new album wasn’t Jim’s idea. He knows enough about the psychology of the local

music industry to realise that they don’t sign artists who have already had their day in the sun. It was album producer Ted Lethborg, who planted the album seed by presenting Jim with a mixed tape of garage, freak

beat obscurities which he thought would suit the singer’s style. Add the encouragement of guitarist Davey Lane to the mix and it was enough to convince Keays to at least lay down a few tracks with no real agenda in mind other than having a little studio fun. Luckily, Lethborg then had the forethought to play the demo

tapes to Shock records blind. He didn’t reveal to the record company who they were listening to until they began to get excited about what they were hearing. Kudos to Shock for following through and releasing the album in February.

Once the album was green-lighted, JIm was more concerned about a spirit rather than any particular sound. “It was more … let’s record in the time-honoured way of getting in the studio and thrashing it out and whatever it is, it is,” said Keays. “That’s how I remember recording in 1965. We initially wanted it to be garage punk but it evolved into more than that and we just let it go its own way.”

Despite being diagnosed in 2007 with a life-threatening cancer and still undergoing treatment for it, Keays looks remarkably well and his recorded voice is not only strong but versatile. Dirty, Dirty also reeks of a a good time. Davey Lane revelled in the opportunity to bust out a collection of abstruse guitars, amps and pedals in pursuit of the the swaggering, rambunctious brew they arrived at (see sidebox for gear rundown). With Lane’s former Pictures bandmate Brett Wolfenden behind the drum kit, the project is driven with energy and authority and also impressive is Keays’ dynamic harp playing.

“You may not believe me but I was taught to play harmonica by Brian Jones from The Rolling Stones,” offers Keays. “I sneaked into the band’s dressing room in the ‘65 or ‘66 tour. I’d just joined the Masters and we were doing blues

GUITARS: I used a Rickenbacker 325 (the Lennon one), it’s a short scale, which means intonation is a little shaky in places … perfect for nasty sounding barre-chord garage stuff. I used my Custom Shop Nocaster Relic in places, but mostly helped myself to Craig Harnath’s vast collection of guitars at Hothouse Studios, including a couple of great sounding rarities like a Fender Starcaster and a Gibson Moderne, though I kept going back to their 1967 Gibson 330, fi tted with a Bigsby and P100 pickups. Like a kid in a proverbial candy store, I was.

AMPLIFIERS: Most notably, a Greg Fryer-modded AC30 - Greg kindly lent me this for recording, he developed a modifi cation for Brian May,

GUITARIST DAVEY LANE RUNS THROUGH THE GEAR HE USED ON JIM’S ALBUM

29 • AM

that amp just sung when wound right up. I also used Hothouse’s 1970 Sound City 120R which is basically an early Hiwatt, into a old Hiwatt quad - perfect for the record’s more Townshendian moments!

PEDALS: Fryer Treble Booster Special, hand made by Greg Fryer, an incredibly versatile boost pedal, leaves my old scratchy Tube Screamer for dead. In lieu of an Echoplex or old Binson Echorec I used an Ibanez AD-150 Analog Delay for slapback, space or manipulated to create that “Piper”-style spookiness I mentioned above. A Covington MayZPhase, basically a replica of the circuitry of a ‘70’s Foxx Phaser without the foot treadle. Add a Zvex Fuzz Factory and that pretty much covers it.

I will listen to it over and over on repeat until I know

every word, every single beat of something I am into. When I get into something, I really submerge myself into it. For example there was a Kings Of Leon album which I listened to over and over until I knew every single word, every beat, every breath, but then I am over it. Once I have lived it, I am over it … next artist! Once I am over the repetitive mode, I go into sporadic scat mode on the iPod.” Not surprisingly, Kent differs in his approach. “I am a very spontaneous listener. If we are working on something, and I have a production idea, I will fi nd a record … maybe a specifi c track, then that leads to another track and so on.”

Kent drives a VW Kombi van that he pretty attached to, but it doesn’t feature an elaborate sound system. “I went for a really basic system,” he said. “It’s good but not too over the top. When we are recording, and demoing new songs, I want to hear it on a pretty standard stereo.” Tiffany agrees. “You can hear what’s lacking if it’s being played on a dodgey frequency. I think all musicians should do that, to test how their music comes up on bad frequencies.”

It was in the Kombi, that Kent and Tiff heard their single Blanket played on the radio for the fi rst time. “It was a bit emotional really to be honest, hearing it for the fi rst time … I had a bit of a cry,” recalls Tiffany. “Mum did as well… oh god, my baby is on the radio. It was the same thing when we saw the video for the fi rst time. I actually cried after the video was played, thinking I was crying about the next song. I don’t cry a lot at music videos by the way! After our’s played, there was one about a girl who was a street kid and a really powerful song. So I thought it was that song that got to me, ignoring the fact that our video had just been played. I was balling!” Kent remembers the day affectionately too. “Hearing it in context with other artists, it was just a great experience. We realised that we had done something really well and were pleased and proud of it.”

The Gracemakers EP is available on iTunes now.

www.facebook.com/thegracemakers Photo by Mandy Lamontwww.mandylamont.com.au

MUSIC CAN MEAN SO MUCH TO SO MANY IN SO MANY DIFFERENT WAYS. THE WAY WE LISTEN TO MUSIC IS EQUALLY AS IMPORTANT AND PERSONAL. WELCOME TO A NEW PAGE WE ARE CALLING ‘HOW DO I LISTEN?’. IN THIS ISSUE WE MEET MELBOURNE-BASED DUO THE GRACEMAKERS AND ASK THEM THAT VERY QUESTION AS WE DELVE INTO THEIR MUSIC LISTENING HABITS.

AM • 30

H W D I LISTEN?

studio. I am an iPhone or iPod listener but Kent will often

put vinyl recordings onto my iPod. I don’t actually use it with the earphones. With the iPhone, I’ll just listen through that. I just have it on my desk and it’s great because it is not too loud and doesn’t interfere with the other studios.” Kent on the other hand, is the total audiophile and has put together an impressive stereo system. “I have a Pro-Ject Debut III Esprit, a red Pro-Ject turntable with platter through a Yamaha power amp and Tannoy Reveal speakers. I’m pretty fussy about my sound. We have a studio at home where we do all of the production for our records, so detail is really important.”

No matter how many musicians you speak with, most will tell you that the music you listen to growing up, the soundtrack to your teens, leaves a lasting infl uence on your soul. Tiffany and Kent came from completely different musical paths, but it’s that contrast which inevitably shapes the way they make music as a duo. “This is interesting for us,” said Kent. “People think we must have really broad musical tastes, particularly me, who listens to a wide range of

Tiffany Kommedal and Kent Morris, aka The Gracemakers have just

released a self-titled four track EP. Listening to their material is effortless. It’s aimed squarely at your heart and arrives via a gentle tidal fl ow. The single, Blanket has been gaining gradual airplay momentum as it sneaks into our collective psyche. Tiff and Kent are conscious of regularly fi nding their own personal space and ‘me’ time. Tiffany needs to paint every day and Kent enjoys losing himself in the recording studio among his toys (which include a 24 track hard disc recorder, analogue and digital keyboards, outboard gear, ‘79 Fender P bass, ‘62 Gibson SG, Rickenbacker 330, 12 string Maton, Rainsong carbon fi bre acoustic and his fave acoustic, a Takamine 6 string). It’s not surprising then, that their music listening methods are different too. Tiffany prefers the portability of her iPod and Kent is a vinyl kind of guy.

“I have a studio around the corner,” said Tiffany. “ So all my music has to be portable. Kent puts all my music on it and I

can just take it down to the

music but my parents had a limited range. Mum was just Neil Diamond, John Denver and luckily Simon and Garfunkel. Dad was Johnny Cash, Gordon Lightfoot, Charlie Pride, Slim Dusty and that was it. That was the range and nothing else outside of that.” Mrs Kommedal, however seemed like a completely different kettle of fi sh. “Mum liked ‘70s disco like Boz Scaggs, KC and the Sunshine Band, ELO … anything sexy,” explained Tiffany. “She liked sexy music. She was a sexy woman. Basically now when I listen back and think about the music she played, it’s all make-out music!”

For most people, listening habits have changed. In the iTunes age, there is no obligation to download a full album or even track list an album’s songs in the order they were originally intended. Can you imagine Dark Side Of The Moon, Pet Sounds or Nevermind in a different track order? It just wouldn’t be the same, yet the trend is to play music in a more random fashion. However, Tiffany has a very defi ned way that she listens to her music. “I am very repetitive with my music.

If I listen to something,

31 • AM

LAMB OF GOD’S WILLIE ADLER

BOTH MARK MORTON AND JOHN CAMPBELL ARE ENDORSED BY JACKSON GUITARS, WHAT MADE YOU CHOOSE ESP GUITARS?

You know they approached me, and when I got to know the guys over there, it was pretty much a no-brainer. They gave me a couple of things to try and I immediately fell in love with them.

WHAT ARE SOME OF THE THINGS THAT YOU REALLY LOVE ABOUT YOUR SIGNATURE ESP MODEL?

I love the weight of the guitar, I love the way it’s made and I love the specs on it. It’s just a natural feeling guitar. It has a great resonance and warmth to the whole thing. When I got the first one, it just had one of those things that you can’t really explain.

I KNOW THAT BOTH YOU AND MARK USE A SEYMOUR DUNCAN JB IN THE BRIDGE POSITION AND A ‘59 IN THE NECK. WHAT ATTRACTED YOU TO BOTH OPT FOR PASSIVE PICKUPS, WHEN ACTIVE EMG’S HAVE ALWAYS BEEN A STAPLE FOR METAL GUITARISTS AND EVEN MORE POPULAR IN RECENT YEARS?

When you have an amp that’s as hot as a Mesa Boogie Mark IV, you don’t need to have a super hot pickup. The JB and the ‘59 have that warm tone that compliments the sound coming out of the Mark IV with the warmth that’s already there. You

just don’t need an EMG to drive it.

FINALLY, WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE TRACK OFF THIS RECORD AND WHY?

It would probably be King Me, because it was a song that I worked on for probably months to make right. It started off in two completely different parts, I had the whole beginning bit and a completely different middle section that got thrown away and I rewrote the whole bit. That song just ended up being an epic song and a lot of blood, sweat and tears went into it.

IN PURSUIT OF REACHING HIGHER METAL PLAINS, LAMB OF GOD RELEASED THEIR SEVENTH ALBUM RESOLUTION IN JANUARY THIS YEAR. PRODUCED BY JOSH WILBUR, WHO HAS WORKED WITH ARTISTS AS DIVERSE AS HATEBREED, PINK, LEONA LEWIS AND STEVE EARLE, RESOLUTION OFFERS SOME THOUGHTFULLY THICK RIFFS, COLOURED DARKLY BY SMATTERINGS OF ACOUSTIC GUITAR AND STRINGS. THE BAND HAS JUST SWEPT THROUGH AUSTRALIA ABOARD THE SOUNDWAVE JUGGERNAUT. REZA NASSERI CAUGHT UP WITH GUITARIST WILLIE ADLER TO DISCUSS THE ALBUM, THE FESTIVAL AND HIS GEAR.

HOW HAVE THE AUSTRALIAN FANS GREETED YOU UPON YOUR RETURN AND TAKEN TO THE NEW ALBUM “RESOLUTION” AT YOUR SHOWS?

It’s nice, it’s always good coming back here, we always have a warm reception and to think that we debuted at number 3 this time [which] is huge. The new material goes down better with the fans as time goes by as it does with any record. The more someone hears it, the more they grasp onto the songs and get into their favourite songs. As with any new material it’s gonna take a bit of time, but so far so good, the kids are really diggin’ it.

WHEN YOU’RE TOURING FOREIGN COUNTRIES ARE YOU GUYS ABLE TO SOURCE THE RIGHT GEAR THAT YOU NEED, OR DO YOU BRING YOUR OWN GEAR ON TOUR THESE DAYS?

It depends; we try to rig as much gear as we can as long as it’s cost effective. We’d love to ship our gear all around the world but sometimes it’s extremely difficult to do so. Many times we are subject to use rental gear, which with the majority of the time we’ll end up with nice Mesa Boogie amps. We have all our own guitars and stuff like that, but a lot of the time we’re playing on rental heads, so we try and source out the best gear we can.

SO WHAT AMPS ARE YOU USING IN AUSTRALIA?

In Australia we have all of our own gear, because we have stuff sent down here from our last tour sitting in storage.

SO YOU’RE USING THE MESA BOOGIE MARK V HEADS?

I’m using a Mesa Boogie Mark V and Mark IV and Mark (Morton) I believe is using the (Mesa Boogie) Royal Atlantic as well as the Mark IV.

CAN YOU CHAT ABOUT THE LIVE RIG AND DISCUSS THE SIGNAL FLOW FROM YOU GUITAR INTO YOUR EFFECTS AND AMPS? SO YOU’VE GOT YOUR ON ESP SIGNATURE MODEL AND RUNNING A WIRELESS UNIT INTO ANY PEDALS, OR DOES IT GO STRAIGHT INTO YOUR AMP?

If I’m going into my clean channel, it goes into an MXR chorus, but other than that it’s generally directly from my wireless unit into my amps, then out into an iso cab (isolation cabinet usually backstage or underneath the stage) then to the main cabs on stage.

ARE YOU USING A DISTORTION PEDAL ON TOP OF YOUR DRIVE AS WELL?

Not on top of these amps. When we were in Asia and we were playing their rental gear I was carrying an MXR distortion pedal just in case we ran into a Marshall amp or something that we have to give a little bit of boost to.

THE HARDCORE

FEATURE

Formed in Richmond, Virginia 1994. Formerly called Burn the Priest, they were banned from many venues due to that name. Nominated for Grammy in 2006 for Sacrement album. New album Resolution out now.

• Siganture model ESP guitar• Mesa Boogie Mark V and Mark IV amps• MXR Chorus pedal

Dean guitars has been synonymous with metal music since 1977. The folks at Dean also take great pride in the association the company had with metal icon Dimebag Darrell. At NAMM this year, Dean released the Dimebag Concrete Sledge ML model guitar. The original Dimebag guitar had been in Dean’s HQ for a few years. Dimebag played the guitar in early Pantera days and had the guitar airbrushed and placed Kiss stickers on it. The original guitar was on display at NAMM next to the new model, where attendees could see just how exact the paint repro job is. It’s an ML body shape with top mounted Floyd Rose 1000, rosewood fi ngerboard, 24 fret and reverse headstock. Only 333 have been made.

In Dean’s 35th anniversary year, they have produced some awesome anniversary ML and V models guitars which pay homage to the original Dean guitars that were introduced back in 1977. All models feature distinctive head, body and neck designs. The neck, specially created for the high speed playing that guitarists want today, is up to 3/8ths of an inch thinner than models of other major manufacturers and is moulded into the body in such a way that it’s “good to the last fret.” Fingerboards are ebony on a standard 22 fret scale and dotted with abalone. The mahogany body is topped with beautiful eye catching fl ame maple. Limited to only 150 of each guitar worldwide.

www.nationalmusic.com.au

ENGL POWERBALLII HEAD

It would be an understatement to say that I was excited to have the opportunity to review

this amp. Engl is an amazing company that have brought forward quality German engineering and affordability to guitarists in search of flexible and top-shelf amplifiers. I remember the early days when these amps first arrived at Billy Hydes in Blackburn, where the Screamer combo simply blew my mind, with its juicy lead tones and crystal-clear clean tones. The Engl Powerball II is a 2nd generation marvel that boasts four discreet channels of tonal bliss for the rock/ metal enthusiast. On top of that, there is a separate mid boost for each channel, as well as two independent master volumes for even more flexibility. There are also extra switches for boosting top and bottom end on the Clean and Crunch channels, a

mids and respond faster like more popular Solid State amps of today (like the Marshall Valvestate series and certain types of Randall amps). This channel was perfect for guitarists into rock or old school metal, where the gain was not out of control and the sound was very tight and responsive. Up next were the two lead channels which were essentially identical and could be used for dialing in a metal rhythm tone and a metal lead tone with a difference in lead gain and master volume, or by either utillising the mid boost function to boost solos. A wonderfully subtle noise gate sat on top of these channels keeping them extremely quiet even at the loudest of settings, where you could hear a pin drop between heavy exchanges of palm muting. This amp pumps out a roaring 100 watts with 4 x ECC83 (12AX7) preamp tubes and 4 x 6L6GC power tubes to offer massive gain, headroom, volume and bottom end for a guitarist that wants an amp to do it all.

PRODUCT ENGL Powerball II Head

REVIEWERReza Nasseri

INFOwww.imd.com.au

AM • 32

WANT TOWIN A TOM MAXWELL MAXHELL “THE GENERAL” SIGNATURE DEAN GUITAR? HELLYEAH!

With direct links to Pantera, Damageplan, Mudvayne, Nothingface and Buckcherry, HellYeah were always going to be an interesting proposition. You’ve just seen them rip it up on stage at Soundwave, now you can

win Tom’s signature Dean guitar valued at $1399 RRP

Dean guitars are renown in the metal world for producing quality kick-ass instruments. Tom Maxwell (Hellyeah/Nothingface) chooses to grind on both a Dean Soltero & a Dean EVO. The ‘General’ model features

Maple Top, Basswood Body, 24-3/4 Scale. Maxwell Spec, Set V Neck, Ebony Fingerboard, Pearl Flame Inlays, Grover Tuners, Black Hardware,

Tune-O-Matic Bridge, USA DMT “Flatline” / USA DMT “Nostalgia” Pickups, comes in Burnt Orange w/ Black Flames Finish.

To win, visit www.themusic.com.au, go to the Australian Musician tab and tell us which of these guys plays drums in HellYeah A) Cozy Powell B) Vinnie Paul or C) Lars Ulrich

Guitar supplied by Dean Guitars Australian distributor, www.nationalmusic.com.au

,

A TOM“THE GDEAN

With direct links tBuckcherry, HellYYou’ve just seen t

win Tom’s

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THE HARDCORE

FEATURE

mid boost dial and switch for the lead channels (to select the amount of mid boost) as well as constant Electronic Power Tube monitoring with an LED system to indicate any faults in the power tube section.

First up, I plugged into the Clean channel, and was rewarded with extremely clear tones with endless amounts of headroom which are perfect for contrasting clean/ heavy tones that have been around since the early 80’s ‘til now (think Metallica or Killswitch Engage). Increasing the gain pushed the amp into Fender Deluxe/ Bassman territory with thicker, juicier drive perfect for anything from blues to indie rock.

The next channel was the Crunch channel which delivered classic Marshall-esque tones, but with a tighter bottom end and a more flexible tonal stack that could scoop more

PRODUCTNEWSDEAN GUITARS-METAL AS ANYTHING

Proudly Distributed by: Intermusic Australia 29 South Corporate Ave Rowville VIC 3178IMD Toll free Telephone - 1300 005 319 IMD Toll free Fax - 1800 184 044 www.imd.com.au© Jet City Amplifi cation, 2009. All right reserved.

www.jetcityamplifi cation.com

Jet City Amps

Zacky VengeanceAvenged Sevenfold

On Tour With

PRODUCTNEWSESP INTRODUCES THREE NEW KIRK HAMMETT SIGNATURE MODELS

In honour of 25 years of partnership, ESP Introduced the Kirk Hammett KH-DC, LTD KH-DC, and LTD KH-25 Signature Models. From ESP: “Kirk Hammett is celebrating his 25th year as an ESP player in 2012,” says Matt Maciandaro, ESP president and CEO. “He was instrumental in the early acceptance and recognition of ESP as a premier brand in the world of electric guitars. We are happy to be able to show our gratitude for Kirk’s long-term support of ESP with exciting new signature models like the KH-DC and the KH-25.”

The limited-edition LTD KH-25 commemorates the 25th year that Hammett has been playing ESP guitars. Its black distressed fi nish and graphics are design to emulate Hammett’s famous KH-2 Vintage model. The KH-25 has bolt-on construction at 25.5” scale, with a basswood body, maple neck, and a Floyd Rose Special bridge. The guitar also features ESP’s new ALH-200 active pickups.

Designed to Kirk Hammett’s specifi cations, the KH-DC is a brand new body style for ESP/LTD. It’s a double-cutaway version of the company’s popular EC series, with a set neck design at 24.75” scale, and an attractive STBC (See Thru Black Cherry) fi nish on its fl amed maple top. Like other EC models, the guitar offers a mahogany body and mahogany neck, with a rosewood fi ngerboard. The KH-DC features gold hardware, including gold-covered EMG 81 (bridge) and EMG 60 (neck) active pickups, and a Tonepros locking TOM bridge and tailpiece. Controls include a 3-way toggle switch, bridge volume, neck volume, and master tone. The ESP version of the new Kirk Hammett model includes Sperzel locking tuners, while the LTD version offers ESP locking tuners.

www.cmi.com.au

GODIN REDLINENEMESIS HG RN

ROCKTRON METALEMBRACE

The Godin Guitar Company began building guitars in Canada over twenty years

ago. Under the spotlight this issue, is their new Godin Redline Nemesis HG RN. Out of the box, this instrument was packed into a massive hard case reminiscent of my old Washburn Dime 332 case, so it wasn’t too surprising when I opened it and saw a total “battle-axe” of a guitar waiting for me to unleash destruction upon. I’d describe this guitar as the lovechild of an Ibanez Xiphos and a B.C. Rich Warlock, a bastard-child if you will, in a morbid midnight-black ready for Armageddon. The Nemesis features a solid mahogany body and maple top, a lovely rock-maple neck with a natural smooth satin finish

the garage to begin the onslaught. I was instantly delighted with how well it held its tuning and its nice fast action. Now anyone who’s ever played through EMG’s knows how hot these pickups are, and once that’s combined with resonant guitar with good sustain and a high gain amp, it’s easy to get carried away and overload your tone with too much gain, and that’s how I’d describe the this guitar. It’s all about big blobs of gain, perfect for metal heads. The string attack was hard and fast thanks to the bolt-on neck lending itself to chunky palm muting and screaming shred.

Overall, Godin have succeeded in putting a unique spin on the ‘pointy metal guitar’. If you can tolerate its radical appearance, then you will absolutely love this instrument, as its features, construction, and playability go well beyond its price range of $1,499.

tone and started to play with the EQ section. This whole section of the pedal basically mimics a Boss Metal Zone, where you can get just about any type of distortion desired, from barking mids, to bone-shattering crunch. The range of tones is also very similar to the Metal Zone with the most extreme levels of cut, boost and frequency range across the tonal spectrum. The Rocktron Metal Embrace is a good pedal for achieving heavy sounds without having to spend a fortune on a top-notch valve amp. It covers a range of styles, but would really shine in the context of dark “electro” and industrial metal (any Trent Reznor fans out there?).

PRODUCT Godin Redline Nemesis HG RN


INFOwww.dynamicmusic.com.au

PRODUCTRocktron Metal Embrace


INFOwww.dynamicmusic.com.au

AM • 34

THE HARDCORE

FEATURE

(which is how I love my necks), an ‘Ergocut’ Rosewood fingerboard, 24 jumbo frets, an EMG 81’ and ’85, a Graphtec Resomax Bridge, 25.5” scale and a solitary volume knob.

The first thing I noticed when I picked up and played this guitar was the distribution of the weight, and how perfectly it sat my lap. Now I’m a guitarist that always plays in a classical stance (over the left leg), and over the years have had to endure some major discomfort with certain body shapes and depths, but the Nemesis was extremely comfortable thanks to a shortened left wing. After a bit of strummage, I tuned the strings down a whole step, as they were a tad heavy and grabbed my Peavey 5150 out of

Rocktron’s Metal Embrace is yet another serious weapon in their Boutique

Series of pedals. The Metal Embrace generates a fire-breathing distortion that can turn a clean sound into the sort of grind you’d find in a modern high-gain amp.

This pedal features three large knobs up the top entitled, “Metal Embrace”, “Symmetry” and “Level”. There are also two pairs of small knobs housed inside one another as part of an EQ section. The “Metal Embrace” knob controls the amount of distortion generated and “Symmetry” determines the amount of negative excursion added to the waveform.

So what’s negative excursion you ask?

It’s a signal that amplifies certain harmonic overtones, and in the case

of this pedal determines how much harmonic content you strip when you crank this control (like a kind of harmonic gate). Then there’s a level control (which is pretty self-explanatory) and four tone shaping knobs that sculpt your sound.

I tested this pedal by plugging into the clean channel of my amp and then dialing in a decent clean tone. I aimed for a whole bunch of different distortions to see how versatile this unit was, as anyone that’s into heavy music knows there’s a massive difference between styles and tones, whether it be old school thrash to modern down-tuned chug

First off, I set all the controls completely flat and switched the pedal on. The tone was harsh and metallic, perfect for 90’s style industrial/ grunge, reminiscent of acts like Nirvana, Ministry or The Melvins. Cranking up the Symmetry knob generated a unique “Lo-Fi” 8-Bit sound with an added a gating quality perfect for electronic or industrial music.

Next, I pulled the Symmetry all the way back for a traditional guitar

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APPLY. SEE INSTORE FOR DETAILS.

MICK THOMSON SLIPKNOT IBANEZ

Featuring ferocious looks with a tone to match, Mick Thomson’s new signature MTM models are the ultimate metal machines. The Wizard III necks allow for effortless lead playing, while the high-output Seymour Duncan® Blackouts™ EMTY™ pickups and FX Edge bridges give these low-tuned axes the perfect heavy-duty metal rhythm sound.

www.australismusic.com.au

MUSIC MAN JPXI JOHN PETRUCCI GUITARS

Continuing the tremendous success of the JPX, Ernie Ball Music Man introduces the latest evolution in the John Petrucci line of signature guitars. The JPXI is the newest collaborative effort between Dream Theater guitarist John Petrucci and the Music Man R&D team. The JPXI will feature a combination of top appointments from JPX and BFR Petrucci signature instruments. Most notably, the JPXI neck has been streamlined to a symmetric, extra slim profi le featuring a fl atter 20” radius, medium jumbo stainless steel frets with a fi nished mahogany neck and an ebony fi ngerboard. This, combined with the non-chambered body, mahogany Tone Block and maple top, has become the ultimate rock machine! The controls are similar to that of the JP BFR line, with 2 three way toggles perfectly wired for the Custom Dimarzio LiquiFire and Crunch Lab humbuckers, as well as the Piezo bridge pickup. The JPXI guitars will be available in 6 and 7 string versions, adorned with chrome hardware, Mother of Pearl inlays and a new Onyx fi nish.

The American made JPXI and JPXI-7 (John Petrucci Signature Series) retail at JPXI - $4150 and JPXI-7 $4350

www.cmcmusic.com.au

LTD MH-350 NT & 350 FR

EGNATER VENGEANCE

ESP guitars have followed the global trend of outsourcing their production to other

countries to economise on costs, particularly with their LTD guitar range. However, their top of the range gear is still produced out of Japan. The Japanese made ESPs, which may set you back a fair bit of coin, have always been simply stunning instruments. So what happens when you outsource your baby ESPs to an Indonesian plant?

Let’s have a look at a couple of LTD brand guitars produced out of that area. This issue we have two variations of the LTD MH-350, a Neck-Thru model with a String-Thru bridge, and the ever-popular Floyd Rose version.

Let’s meet the Egnater Vengeance, a two channel, 120 watt amplifier (switchable

down to 60 watts), packed with 6 x 12AX7 preamp tubes and 4 x 6L6 power valves. Each channel has its own gain, volume, 3 band EQ as well as a bunch of tone shaping switches for Tight, Bright, Gain, and Mid Cut/ Boost. On top of that is a wonderfully dense onboard Reverb that spills over to the next channel for a natural sounding decay.

In the master section there are controls for presence and density as well as two master volumes, with the secondary master selected via footswitch. Paramaters are accessed via a massive 6-button footswitch responsible for channel select,

bridge and it came back into tune almost perfectly every time. Then after I’d run out of shred, I took on the other version of this guitar, the String-Thru model. I immediately noticed the action on this guitar was set up a touch higher and with heavier strings. No tuning issues here, but rather a simple design dedicated to massive sustain and great rhythm and lead playing with a wonderful neck that was simply flawless, just as good as the top shelf ESP’s in terms of finish. This guitar was definitely more my cup of tea, as it was easier to tune down to Drop D slam out some fat riffs or go even lower, which is the trend of today’s metal society.

In summing up, both these guitars are great value for money. The pickups and hardware are both top notch EMGs, but at the price range you’ll pick these up for, the tone woods are nowhere near as dense as the Japanese ESP/ LTDs.

brought out the most distorted voice on this channel which was perfected for rock, alternative, and punk, having a smooth midrange but with plenty of bite, bottom and sustain. Moving along to the next channel things really began to fire up. Even at very low volumes there was a ton of gain capable of providing any shredder the dirt they desire. The essence of this channel is to provide a lot of tonal variety by using the little onboard tone switches. Removing the mids and engaging the tight switch was perfect for super tight and heavy Metallica “And Justice for All” tones or just about anything Rammstein has ever done. Going in the complete opposite direction, pulling out all the gain boosting the mids and removing the treble took this amp into vintage Fender Bassman/ Marshall JTM 45 territory with a mild, warm, smooth drive. The Egnater Vengeance is. put simply, a great amplifier.

PRODUCTLTD MH-350 NT and LTD MH 350 FR


INFOwww.cmi.com.au

PRODUCTEgnater Vengeance


DISTRIBUTORwww.cmcmusic.com.au

AM • 36

THE HARDCORE

FEATURE

channel 1 mids, channel 2 mids, effects loop, reverb and secondary master control. The first channel is basically a clean channel that’s also capable of being driven into vintage gain territory. Pulling the gain back, boosting the bass and cranking the reverb made for some killer Fender tones, the sort of cowboy croon that’s reminiscent of Ry Cooder or Chris Isaac’s Wicked Game.

Increasing the gain and engaging the extra gain switch created some interesting warm, transparent drive perfect for blues leads to light country rock (if coupled with a Telecaster). Cranking the Bass, Middle and Treble all the way up, adding in all the tone switches, lowering the master volume and increasing the channel volume

Both guitars featured the fantastic duo of EMG ’81 and ’85 pickups and were finished in a demonic transparent black for this review

First up I was keen to see how the Floyd Rose model stood up, being a not-so-proud owner of a “Licensed” Floyd Rose bridge in the past, the difference in quality between bridge types is massive these days. This particular guitar featured the Floyd Rose “Special” bridge, so one would assume it’s close to the real deal.

After pulling the guitar out of the box I did what every guitarist dealing with a Floyd Rose has to do, stretch the strings out and get the tuning right before locking down the nut. I screwed in the whammy bar and threw down every known guitar trick at the

PRODUCTNEWS

AM • 38

DUAL MIX1 Basically a Compact 60 in a DI box.

2 Use it live to get that AER sound without taking an amp.

3 Combine it with your Compact 60 to turn it into a 4 channel amp.

4 Plug in your guitar and mic and get a great tone to practice with.

COLOURIZER1 A preamp and DI box for use with instruments

and vocals for a stronger, richer signal with more dynamics and overtones.

2 Tone balance control: change the EQ balance in bass and treble frequencies.

3 Enhancer: Widens and colourizes the sound using AER enhancer technology.

DUAL PARA EQ1 A dual band parametric EQ with switchable

frequency ranges enabling you to fine tune the EQ of your instrument or voice.

2 This unit offers serious tone shaping abilities and will also take out any problem frequencies causing feedback.

Find your nearest AER dealer at www.promusicaustralia.com

www.maton.com.au

John Butler Trio (Live at Red Rocks)

“Maton is my first choice of guitar when I’m recording, and when I’m on stage.

That’s the truth.”www.johnbutlertrio.com

Handmade for the World Stage www.mymaton.com

T-REX PEDALSTHE FEARLESS VAMPIRE KILLERS’ JACOB MCGUFFE CHECKS OUT THE T-REX GULL WAH, TONEBUG SENSE WAH & FUZZ PEDALS.

Hello there! The good folk at Australian Musician have sent me three

pedals from T-Rex Engineering to have a play with. I do love FX pedals, they offer endless ways of shaping your tone to something that is undeniably yours … or if you like, they can make you sound exactly like someone else, it’s totally up to you.

Having never used anything from T-Rex before, I did a little research. It turns out they hail from Denmark. Denmark’s only land border is Germany and it’s pretty much in the middle of the North Sea. Another fun fact about Denmark is that by law, before starting your car you must check the lights, brakes, steering and honk your horn. After Google had dropped this knowledge-bomb on me I figured the Danish were a pedantic bunch and that I was in for a right old treat with these pedals.

I started off with the Gull Wah. The press release boasts that the Gull Wah is the ‘wah-wah the world has been waiting for’ and that it will bring you ‘the very best history has to offer – and then some’.

I’ve got to be honest, I started getting a little nervous plugging it in. After reading about the ‘Gull’ I had developed some pretty serious expectations about it. It sounded so good I feared that my foot would turn to solid gold when I started using it, even worse, what if it got me pregnant?

The Gull Wah is a great looking pedal, which makes sense, as it is a musical homage to the Mercedes Gull Wing 300 SL. The chassis of the pedal is the same metallic silver as the Merc’s exterior and the red rubber platform is inspired by the car’s interior. Even the knobs are the same as those found on the Gull Wing’s dashboard!

Inside the pedal you’ll find all analogue filter parts and no

39 • AM

back and forth whilst navigating the fretboard. It features two settings, a ‘Wah’ setting and T-Rex’s ‘Yoy-yoy’ setting gets a look in again. The ‘Sensewah’ is essentially a dynamic envelope filter that works off the level of the input… Hit the guitar harder, get more wah. The pedal features a ‘Sense’ knob which controls how hard you have to play to get the effect to kick in and a ‘Range’ control that sets how ‘wide’ the wah effect is.

After using the Gull Wah, the Sensewah was far subtler than I expected it to be. I found to get close to the sound I wanted I had to have the ‘sense’ control on zero and the ‘range’ on full. Even with these settings the effect was nowhere near as extreme as the sound of a vintage Mu-Tron or even some of the modern Line 6 adaptations. Adding a little overdrive to the signal path made the pedal come to life though. The Sensewah would be a good affordable option for someone wanting to enter the funk realm.

Finally, I unboxed the Tonebug Fuzz. Like the Sensewah it’s a simple pedal with three basic controls: Fuzz, Tone and Level.

I plugged it in, set all the controls to 12 o’clock and switched it on. I wound

potentiometer, which means that the pedal’s action won’t wear over time. Unlike your average Cry Baby or Vox wah the Gull gives you some controls to customise the pedal to your own liking. The pedal has a three-way switch that allows you to select from ‘Wah 1’, ‘Wah 2’ or the ‘Yoy-Yoy’ function. Selecting ‘Yoy-yoy’ adds a second, higher frequency above the wah’s standard band-boost, giving you an even more ‘vocal’ sound. The ‘Wah 1’ setting is suited to clean, rhythm sounds whilst the ‘Wah 2’ function is a little more exaggerated and works well with a dirtier sound, lending itself more towards classic, wailing wah-wah solos. The pedal also has a very handy ‘boost’ control and a ‘slope’ knob to shape the way the pedal reacts. The final function they’ve added is the ‘Hotspot’ button, which slows the onset of the effect.

Despite the analogue guts of the pedal, I found it to be a little too clean. Using it without any overdrive the tone was incredibly transparent. I missed the character of a beat up Cry Baby or Vox wah. Adding some overdrive via a TS-9 Tubescreamer in line after the Gull added some much needed colour.

My main gripe with this pedal is that it reacts far too quickly and

the ‘Fuzz’ up to full and it didn’t really happen for me. It didn’t have the wild, untamed characteristics I’ve come to love from other Fuzz pedals. The Tonebug Fuzz feels more like a distortion pedal. With the Fuzz up and the Tone down it begins to come closer to that smooth, underwater Hendrix sound but still kept reminding me more of the opening lick to ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine’… I don’t really like being reminded of that.

I do like how extreme the variation is in the ‘Fuzz’ control. With the Fuzz and Tone both wound right down, suddenly I had a great muddy blues sound, maybe they should just call it an overdrive pedal?

I feel like the Tonebug Fuzz has the potential to be a really good Fuzz pedal. It’s ‘no-frills’ like all good Fuzz pedals but it’s far too polite. I want to stomp on a Fuzz pedal and have my own face ripped off. I think the Danish are just way too nice to pull this one off. It may not be my favourite attempt at Fuzz, but it would be a good alternative for someone looking for an interesting distortion pedal.

www.thefearlessvampirekillers.com

ALTERNATE COMMENT AM’s Shannon Bourne also sat down with these pedals and although agreed with much of what Jacob had to say, came to the conclusion that Jacob must enjoy extreme results from the pedals he uses. Sure you can get that from the vintage Mutrons and Vox Wahs he speaks of, but you need compare apples with apples. These pedals are a fraction of the cost of their vintage counterparts and like any new product, you’re not going to get the character of the vintage equivalent. However you do get a product which is stable, reliable and an approximation

of the original’s sound.

PRODUCTNEWSEZ-220 DIGITAL PIANOS

Lighted keys and 100 preset songs with digital score make Yamaha’s EZ-220 the perfect learn-to-play keyboard. A USB TO HOST port lets you connect the keyboard to your computer for use with a wide range of music programs for both education and entertainment. An extensive variety of 392 built-in Voices let you play strings, guitars, brass, synthesizers, drums and more. The built-in Yamaha Education Suite provides even more ways to learn how to play. Finally, 100 preset Styles act as virtual bands that are always ready to jam with you.

http://au.yamaha.com

01V96I DIGITAL MIXERS

The new 01V96i now offers USB 2.0 connectivity along with new multi-track recording features and improved sonic quality. From Live Mixing to Studio Recording, Yamaha proudly claim they have (re-)invented the small format digital mixer. When mixing live, motor faders let you easily see exactly where your main, aux and monitor levels are at the touch of a button. In the studio, they let you take full control of the powerful automation features of your DAW. The 01V96i continues Yamaha’s tradition of digital mixing innovation with 16-in/16-out USB 2.0 computer connectivity, and Virtual Circuit Modeling effects.

http://au.yamaha.com

SHURE’S ULX-D DIGITAL WIRELESS

Shure’s ULX-D™ Digital Wireless offers impressive audio clarity and extremely effi cient RF performance with rugged, intelligent, encryption-enabled hardware. Advanced rechargeability options eliminate the need for disposable batteries while extending usage times and life cycle. Basically this is a digital form of the Shure ULX series which to date has been very successful.

www.jands.com.au

ASHDOWN MI BASS

MATON CONCERT UKULELE

In the spotlight this issue is the pint-sized Ashdown MI Bass 550 watt bass head, coupled with

a vintage 2 x 12 bass cab that will hopefully get my walls ‘a shakin’.

First of all, I must make it perfectly clear that this bass head is absolutely tiny and reminds me of those little 300w Crate Mono block guitar amps, yet it’s somehow rated at almost twice the power!

I started off by plugging in my trusty old Yamaha RBX bass into the input jack, made sure the active switch was off (as it’s a passive bass), then I cranked the input gain until the nifty little VU meter started to clip. Next I headed straight for the output and cranked it up pretty high (almost all the way), for a nice clean and clear bass tone with a reasonable amount of headroom.

When most folks think about a ukulele, it’s either as an icon of tropical

island nations or as the thing your kid plays at school as a precursor to the guitar. However, over the last decade or so a few notable artists including Amanda Palmer, Eddie Vedder and Jake Shimabukuro have been bringing the humble instrument to prominence. Australian guitar builder Maton has now entered into the world of ukulele production. We were given uke number #223 off the factory floor to test. Currently Maton only produce a Concert size uke, with a Soprano model next on the to-do list. Ukuleles generally come in four sizes; Tenor, Concert, Soprano, Baritone.

the more tones I achieved, from old boxy 70’s mids, to modern detuned thump by pushing the parametric EQ to it’s limits.

On the rear of the amp is just about every feature a bassist could desire, with a Pre/Post DI Out, FX Send and Return, Line Out, Headphone Out and two Speakon/ Speaker Outputs. There’s even a mini-jack line in on the front so you can plug in your iPod and jam along to your favorite tracks.

This amp sounded great at bedroom levels, but it definitely lacks power if you are going to jam with a loud drummer, or play a big stage even though it’s rated at 550 watts. However it’d be perfect for small gigs, rehearsals and even better miked up for recordings.

The MI Bass was plugged into a gorgeous vintage 2x12 cabinet that was simply incredible for its price.

they are mainly laminate rather than

solid wood construction, so Maton’s

hand-made approach sets them apart.

The Maton ukulele looks great and

feels solid but if it doesn’t cut it in

the sound department, then it all

matters little. Keeping in mind the

Maton uke is aimed at the performing

or recording musician, it really

needs to be audible to an audience.

The high calibre materials used in

the construction of this uke allows

ample projection of sound and the

tones produced are deep and rich.

Miked up, it would work a treat and

we’re told that for the serious live

performer, a piezo pickup version of

the uke is not far away. The use of

superior Aquila strings adds further

to the overall sound quality. Maton is

in the habit of producing instruments

a musician can connect and grow

with. Their first foray into ukulele

production only affirms this belief.

PRODUCTMaton Concert Ukulele

REVIEWERGreg Phillips

INFOwww.maton.com.au

PRODUCTSAshdown MI Bass 550 & Ashdown VS-212


[email protected]

AM • 40

My next move was to engage the

‘Deep’ and ‘Shape’ switches for

a more modern, growling sound

that’d be right at home on any

modern rock or indie recording.

Moving along to my favourite

part of this amp was a unique 4

band parametric EQ, which works

similarly to high end studio preamps

and mixing consoles, where you

have the ability to cut or boost

desired frequencies. The only

problem with this concept is that

sometimes the bandwidth is too

fine and makes for a less ‘musical’

sounding EQ, but the 4-bands on

the MI Bass were wide and tasty.

I opted to boost the ugly sounding

frequencies at first, then remove

them to achieve beautifully

sculpted bass tones, and the more

I experimented with the EQ,

As usual with this company’s

renowned attention to detail, the

ukulele comes in a solid black tolex

Maton-branded case featuring plush

carpet-like cushioning inside. This

ukulele needs to be cradled, as at

$600 it ain’t no toy! The Maton uke

is light in the hands as it should

be but even more obvious is the

solid construction. It features solid

blackwood soundboard, back and

sides, Queensland maple neck and

headstock with rosewood fingerboard

including dot inlays. The bridge

is rosewood, finish is satin and it

adorns G-Gotoh machine heads.

Many competing uke brands are

manufactured in China. That’s not to

suggest that ukuleles coming out of

Asia aren’t up to scratch, it’s just that

41 • AM

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TOKAI ALS 140F

DV MARK DV40 112 COMBO

Founded in Japan in 1947, Tokai build acoustics, electrics, basses and

even autoharps, however are renowned for their duplicates of classic name brand replicas.

Under review today is the Tokai ALS 140F “Love Rock” model which closely mimics Gibson’s own Les Paul Standard model and was an instant classic in my book.

Like a real Les Paul, this guitar features a maple top, mahogany back and sides and is finished in beautiful Cherry Sunburst. The one-piece deep-set neck is a big ole’ slab of mahogany with a smooth rosewood fingerboard, angled headstock and superbly finished frets that are smooth to the touch and rounded off to perfection. All the hardware has a vintage quality

Unlike most valve amplifiers

which weigh a tonne, the

DV Mark 40 112 comes

in at just under 16kg which is

unheard for a full valve amp. The

DV 40 112 is a two channel 40 watt

all-valve combo with 1 x ECC83

in the preamp and 2 x El 34’s in

the power amp. The output is also

modified by what they refer to as

CPC or Continuous Power Control,

as well as a pentode/ triode switch

on the back of the amplifier that

switches between Class A and

Class AB operation. In Class A

the CPC ranges from 0.5 watts to

15 watts, whereas in Class A/B it

operates from 1 watt to 40 watts,

so think of the CPC works as a

power soak enabling you to get

neck pickup sounded suitably warmer and rolling back the tone made for classy jazz tones.

Adding some gain and employing a “Marshall” setting on my amp, made for that all too familiar match in heaven. Classic rock tones were instantly available without having to add too much drive, as the design of these guitars employs serious sustain. I personally love dialling in one setting on my amp and using the volume knob to control to amount of drive in my signal chain, but this was made a little bit more difficult as the volume and tone knobs seemed to react more at extreme settings, seriously cleaning up around 1 and getting that honky jazz tone at around 2. But if you’re the sort of player that uses multi channel amps or pedals to drive your tone, this won’t affect you. If you’re seeking that full, creamy Les Paul tone, the Love Rock is an option to be considered.

Moving onto the second channel the gain, volume, and EQ response was completely different. It was possible to go from low gain breakup to complete liquid overdrive by messing with the gain. Increasing the gain put the ECC83 into overdrive for a fuzzier sound, whereas pumping the master and keeping the CPC right down made for killer power amp drive full of harmonic response to your playing style. Using the foostwitch to engage the solo function, brought out a nice wide mid boost perfect for clean or driven passages, and you could also use master level to fine tune a sweet spot for perfect feedback. The DV Mark 40 112 Combo is a great, simple to use amp for just about any style other than metal perhaps. The Clean tones are rich and sparkly and the driven tones are thick and juicy. This sort of amp works really well at beefing up single coils and pushes humbuckers into extreme fuzz territory.

PRODUCTDV Mark DV40 112 Combo


DISTRIBUTORwww.cmcmusic.com.au

PRODUCTTokai ALS 140F


INFOwww.jadeaustralia.com.au

AM • 42

PRODUCTNEWSSTOMPBOX YOU CAN CHANGE WITH YOUR PHONE!

The iStomp™ is a single effect stompbox that works like traditional stompboxes. What makes the iStomp better than other stompboxes, is the ability to turn the iStomp in to any pedal without having to take it off your pedalboard. Simply connect your iPhone®, iPod touch®, or iPad® to the iStomp and in about the same time it takes to download a song, you can turn your iStomp from a distortion to a reverb, delay to a phaser, or chorus to any other pedal. There are more than 20 different pedals to choose from in the DigiTech Stomp Shop™ App with many more to come. Download the app for free to be fi rst to try all the new pedals as they are released.

www.cmi.com.au

GRETSCH BROOKLYN SERIES DRUM KITS

Gretsch drums were born in Brooklyn, New York in 1883. They were proudly crafted in the vibrant city for the better part of the 20th Century. Brooklyn and Gretsch share an inseparable history that is part of American music history and folklore. To honour that history, Gretsch present their new Brooklyn series drum kits. Rooted in classic Gretsch design, Brooklyn delivers vintage Gretsch tones that are full, punchy and warm. These classic tones are modifi ed by the 6-ply North American maple/ poplar shells and “302” hoops. Innovative specs drive a new Gretsch tonal characteristic that is slightly more open and ambient. All Brooklyn drums feature 6-ply North American maple/ poplar shells. Toms are .220” thick and snare and bass drums shells are .310” thick, slightly thicker than standard USA Custom shells. All shells have the proprietary Gretsch 30-degree bearing edge. Shell interiors are fi nished with classic Gretsch Silver Sealer.

www.promusicaustralia.com

and feels completely authentic and a couple of old school PAF pickups assist in giving the guys at Gibson a real run for their money.

Out of its deluxe vintage paisley case (also included), this guitar was almost perfectly in tune, with a serial of authenticity and an accompanied pick guard if you choose to install it, so no cheap rip offs here. The action was set much higher than I prefer but it made for a wonderfully round acoustic tone, with loads of sustain so I couldn’t wait to plug it in.

The PAF’s (pickups) made it hard to get a super clean tone instantly, sounding thick and relatively bright when using the bridge pickup. Setting the pickups to the middle position made up for this with a cleaner “in-between” sound. The

cranked tone at bedroom to stage volume. In addition, a Low/High Bias switch alters the amount of current sucked out by the tubes, so when practicing at home it might be an idea to switch to Low Bias to protect your valves.

I plugged my Strat into the clean channel, set the gain to about “6”, engaged the “Bright” switch and set my EQ to have a lot of bass and lot of mids. The single coils sounded thick and juicy because of the warm gain, and I maxed out the “Reverbero” for some delicious Hendrixy chops. The clean channel was very warm and clear and cranking the volume and gain began to produce a thick, magical drive when switching to my bridge humbucker.

Degree Courses

starting May 21,

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For more details call (03) 9281 8898 or visit collarts.edu.auApply Now Online

Start your music industry career now in one of these (or hundreds of other jobs) by enrolling in a Collarts degree

course in music performance, audio engineering or music business

AER POCKET TOOLS

APHEX PUNCH FACTORY

The fine folks at AER offer us their new Pocket Tools pedals range. AM examines the

“Dual Para EQ”, “Colourizer” and “Dual Mix”. Each unit was tested going into a self-powered speaker.

The first pedal, the “Dual Para EQ”, houses two independent parametric equalizers, each with level, bandwidth and frequency controls. There are also two frequency range knobs on each EQ that places the range between either 90Hz to 1.6kHz, or 680Hz to 11kHz.

I started by bypassing the pedal and getting the best acoustic tone I could, then played for a bit before I turned the unit on. This made an already good tone, sound fantastic. Both equalizers were very smooth and it was evident that only the finest components had been sourced

Beginning in 1975, Aphex Systems rose to prominence with their successful Aural

Exciter. The brand is back and we’re checking out the Aphex Punch Factory, a studio quality optical compressor for guitar and bass that houses expensive rack mounted circuitry in a stomp box. So what is a compressor you ask? More specifically what is an optical compressor? A compressor is an effect that limits the dynamic range of a signal or reduces the difference between loud and soft so you get a more even sound. An optical compressor translates an audio signal to light source (LED light) and utillises a photocell to read the amount of light signal. This means than optical compressor will

hint of sparkle and turning up the tone balance and intensity added more crisp detail, and I used the Equalizer to add in more low mids for extra punch. The results on the acoustic were just as pleasing. The enhancer really helped the strings cut when playing fingerstyle and the equalizer sounded great by adding some tight bass at around 90 Hz.

The “Dual Mix”, was by far the best of the lot. First, you can plug either a mic or line input into channel 1 or 2, set the gain and high or low EQ. There’s also an “EFX” processor that adds either 2 types of reverb, a delay and a doubling effect over both channels. The aux-in takes in an RCA or mini-jack (1/8”) input and adds it into the mix with a separate control. Finally, a real world solution for musicians bringing backing tracks to gigs without a whole bundle of DI’s onstage, or requiring the sound guy to provide house music.

brighter. Increasing the input level and ratio squashed the signal even further, enhancing sustain and harmonics but at the same time inducing a little bit of feedback.Next up was my bass guitar. Now any bass player or sound engineer knows how dynamic a bass can be so compression is our friend here, and for me I use lots to ensure there’s a nice warm rumble constantly in the mix. Again, I started off the same way EQ’ing a direct tone and later adding compression. The Punch factory sounded even better with the bass and I ran the input and drove the compression so hard the walls were shaking (I can’t wait to try this pedal at a gig)!

The Aphex Punch Factory is a great pedal that improves tone and helps your guitar or bass really shine in a mix, as well out-performing standard stomp box compressors I’ve tried in the past.

PRODUCTAphex Punch Factory


DISTRIBUTORwww.galacticmusic.com.au

PRODUCTAER Pocket Tools


DISTRIBUTORwww.promusicaustralia.com

AM • 44

PRODUCTNEWSJBL PRX400 SERIES LOUDSPEAKERS

JBL has released a new series of passive portable and/or fi xed installation PRX400 loudspeakers. You get 4 speakers in the range comprising of 3 two way models, PRX412M, PRX415M and PRX425, so a single 12’, single 15” and a dual 15”. Add to that a single 18” subwoofer, PRX418S and that’s the line up. Let’s look at the full range elements fi rst; all feature 12 M10 fl ypoints to facilitate easy installation. Additionally, the 412M and 415M can, as you may have already guessed, be used as a fl oor wedge, hence the ‘M’ suffi x. If you intend to carry these around weight saving contributions come from glass fi lled nylon carry handles and lightweight drivers and these combined efforts see the PRX412M weigh in at just 17.2kg. These speakers are all manufactured from 18mm Birch/Poplar multi-laminate hardwood constructed with tongue and groove joints, covered in JBL’s tour grade Durafl ex fi nish and feature dent resistant 16 gauge steel grilles.

www.jands.com.au

MARKBASS RELEASES 10TH ANNIVERSARY MODEL AMP AND CAB

To celebrate the phenomenal success of their fi rst decade, Markbass has produced a limited edition set of their two most popular models – the Little Mark LM III amp head and the Traveler 102P speaker cabinet. For this limited run, both pieces feature an eye catching chrome fi nish, and are badged as Limited Edition 10th Anniversary releases. Just 20 of these 10th Anniversary packs will be available through Markbass’ premium dealers. Contact your local Markbass dealer for the option to reserve one of these future collectors’ items. Your local Markbass dealer can be found at

www.cmcmusic.com.au

in constructing this unit. You could go from a tight scoop to a wide scoop by increasing the bandwidth and a wide crossover between frequency ranges 1 and 2 made for a very “musical” application.

Up next was the “Colourizer”, an acoustic or mic preamp that employs an enhancer and equaliser in the signal chain. The preamp adds a fuller tone, the enhancer brings out harmonics, and the EQ either cuts or boosts frequencies. There’s also an XLR output on the back and a unique 24v phantom power switch capable of powering condenser mics. I tested the Colourizer with a Shure Beta 58 microphone and a Line 6 acoustic guitar. First off, my voice sounded notably thicker just by plugging into the preamp. Switching on the enhancer and leaving the controls flat added a

automatically adjust to your playing style. The Punch Factory features a very basic control layout consisting of Input, Ratio and Output. There is a standard guitar input and output jack as well as an XLR output that could harness phantom power from a mixing desk, perfect for live gigs. I tested the Punch Factory with an acoustic guitar and an electric bass going from a desk to a powered speaker. First I used it with my acoustic, then EQ’d a decent tone (pedal bypassed) and strummed for a bit. I tested the pedal with a low ratio (amount of compression) and used the input and output to match the bypass level to listen out for any inconsistencies in tone, and was pleased that the unit sounded almost exactly the same but a touch

HAMMOND SK1

Imagine this. You are an organ player booked for a big tour and six weeks out from the start,

your trusty rig - that should have been replaced five years ago - conks out. Sure, there were plenty of new products released over that time, but they were either too big or heavy, lacked extra voices (necessitating an extra keyboard), or lacked drawbars.

Six months ago, that was my predicament. Luckily, Hammond released the SK-1 literally days after my thirteen-year-old Roland VK-7 died. For me, the SK-1 pretty much ticked all the boxes. At 7kg, weight is definitely not an issue, and it has a whole swag of extra voices, and yes, drawbars!

I was lucky enough to be playing keys for Australian legends You Am I, the main support for Cold Chisel on their recent “Light the Nitro” tour. The You Am I back catalogue features many keyboard parts, played on a wish list of vintage keyboards. On previous

The lightweight factor makes life exponentially easier on the road. For once my gear at the airport was the lightest! It is very easy to transport, load in and setup. This was tested on the tour twice where You Am I played secret shows after the Chisel support gig. This involved packing up quickly, throwing it in a van, loading it in (through the crowd) at the secret show, and then setting up on a stage about thirty times smaller than the previous. Its size made this simple – so simple I had a twenty-minute break before the show started. Unheard of!

Even though it spent most of its six weeks on tour in the back of a truck, it didn’t skip a beat. From outdoor gigs in varying climates and conditions to countless air-conditioned venues in between, I never encountered any problems. Having access to such a great sounding, easy-to-handle keyboard is certainly going to make my playing and gigging much easier!

PRODUCT Hammond Sk1

REVIEWER Dan Mansfi eld (You Am I)

DISTRIBUTOR www.musico.com.au

GUEST REVIEWER:DAN MANSFIELD- YOU AM I

gigs with the band, I carried around

an enormous rig that resembled

Frankenstein’s laboratory to cover

them all, but those days are over!

From the first show it became

evident how good the SK-1 was.

The Hammond sound is arguably

the closest you’ll get to the real

thing at the moment. Its organ

tone, chorus/vibrato, percussion

and Leslie simulators form a truly

authentic sound that’s very inspiring

to play (this is especially pleasing

to a purist such as myself). I found

myself doing things that would only

work well on a real Hammond, like

Sly Stone-style fast Leslie stabs, or slapping the keyboard à la Jon Lord. Previous organ emulations tended to sound a little embarrassing in these departments, but the SK-1 encourages adventurous playing and translates it convincingly.

The extra voices sound great, with some being truly outstanding. Throughout the tour I used many of them: Rhodes, Wurlitzer, Clavinet, Vox organ, Farfisa and piano. They are all extremely playable, and with Hammond releasing updates to be loaded via the onboard USB, here’s hoping they will add some Mellotron samples.

45 • AM

GREAT GYPSY SOUL-TOMMY BOLIN

GREAT GYPSY SOUL IS A NEW TRIBUTE ALBUM DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF AMERICAN GUITARIST TOMMY BOLIN. WARREN HAYNES (GOVERNMENT MULE/ALLMAN BROTHERS) RECENTLY TOOK TIME OUT FROM PRE- PRODUCTION ON HIS GOVERNMENT MULE ALBUM TO CHAT TO AM’S GREG PHILLIPS ABOUT HIS PRODUCTION ROLE ON THE BOLIN TRIBUTE.

It’s a fact of life, that some creative souls turn to powerful and dangerous stimulants in search

of artistic expression. Occasionally it kills them. It’s not that this is unique to the music industry, far from it. It’s just that we get to hear about it more often because they’re high profi le people. American guitarist Tommy Bolin was such a statistic. In 1976, Bolin was found dead of a drug overdose at the age of just 25, shortly after he’d played a gig with the great Jeff Beck in Miami.

After a stint with The James Gang (replacing Joe Walsh) Bolin had released two critically acclaimed solo albums in the ‘70s, Teaser and Private Eyes. Where he’s more well known however, is from his time with legendary UK rockers Deep Purple. Bolin played on their Come Taste The Band album. Several

to the original tapes. However Bolin’s vocal or guitar parts were always front of house in the mix. “There were incomplete ideas and mistakes in some cases, so they were outtakes for a reason,” said Warren Haynes of the material they had to work with. “We would sift through and fi nd the places where he was really singing or playing well and bring him to the forefront there, and the places where not so much or in some cases where there was no vocal at all, bring someone else in to sing. It was a cool opportunity for all of the guitar players to be able to jam posthumously with Tommy.”

Haynes had never met Bolin, nor saw him play but was a fan of his guitar playing and his songs. He was also intrigued by Tommy’s tone which was achieved with a combination of Hi Watt amps, a Stratocaster and a myriad of effects including his famous use of the Echoplex, a tape delay unit. “It’s very distinctive … very unique,” Haynes said of Bolin’s tone. “It’s not a combination that a lot of guitar players use. He had a sound of his own. You can hear the difference between all of the different guitar players, he has his signature sound. It’s a little more mid-rangey, a thicker Strat sound and he really had a handle

AM • 46

compilations of Tommy’s material have been released since his death as well as a few live recordings.

For someone like Bolin, it would be easy for him to slip between the cracks of rock’n’roll history and be long forgotten. While his guitar skills were undeniable, he was never a household name. Prior to his death, Bolin was straying from the rock format into jazz rock. He was gaining much respect for the work he did with jazz guru Billy Cobham. What makes his death even sadder is the fact that his star was defi nitely on the rise and there was much material he’d yet to complete. Thanks to Bolin’s album producer Greg Hampton and Allman Brothers/ Government Mule guitarist Warren Haynes, the legacy of Tommy’s music lives on in the form of Great Gypsy Soul, a tribute album featuring an all star cast including Haynes, Peter Frampton, Myles Kennedy (Alter Bridge), Nels Cline (Wilco), John Scofi eld, Derek Trucks, Steve Lukather, Steve Morse, Sonny Landreth, and Tommy’s fellow Deep Purple band mate Glenn Hughes.

Great Gypsy Soul is no ordinary tribute album. Rather than simply getting together a group of well known musicians and laying down cover versions of Bolin’s songs, Hampton and Haynes obtained outtakes and alternate recordings of material from Bolin’s two solo albums and asked the guest musicians to add their licks

on turning the Echoplex into an instrument. It’s funny that all these years later, there are a lot of people doing similar things. He was way ahead of the curve in that way.”

For Haynes’ own tones on the Bolin tribute, in the spirit of the project, he tried some gear he wouldn’t normally record with. “I actually wound up just trying stuff that was in the studio. When I played the slide and lead guitar stuff on Teaser, I plugged into an Orange amplifi er. We tried an old Marshall fi rst and it didn’t really work for that one so we hooked up the Orange and it sounded cool. It was an opportunity for me to get out of my comfort zone. Then when we did the stuff on Marching Bag, they had a Soldano but it wasn’t mine or the model I use and I combined that with a Fender Pro Junior and used a Les Paul on both of those tracks.”

The track Marching Bag which Haynes speaks of is on the 2-CD deluxe bonus disc version of the album. It’s a variation on the track Marching Powder which fi rst appeared on Bolin’s Teaser record. Haynes explains. “There are four movements of Marching Bag and between the four, every guitar player that played on the record, appears at least once. It’s kind of a version of Marching Powder before it was fi nished. It’s the same song but the song was not quite complete yet. Some of the versions have the melody which ended up on the record, some don’t. Some have the saxophone, some don’t. It was a work in progress but we thought it was a cool opportunity to let all of the guitar players have a jam session.”

There were parts of the world where Bolin had quite a sizeable audience, particularly Japan, but for most people, Great Gypsy Soul will be an opportunity to hear Bolin’s playing for the fi rst time. “If you are a guitar player, it is an enormous opportunity to check out a bunch of great guitar playing but way beyond that, the songwriting is there, the vocal performances are cool … its’ not just for guitar players,” says Haynes. “Anyone who likes rock and roll would like what they are hearing.”

www.429records.com

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COLLARTS - YOUR PATH TO A JOB YOU LOVE

IF YOUR PASSION IS MUSIC AND YOU

SEE IT AS A CAREER PATH, THEN IT

MIGHT BE TIME TO GET SERIOUS. AM

BEGINS A NEW SERIES LOOKING AT YOUR

OPTIONS. THIS ISSUE, IT’S COLLARTS.

Collarts. Marcellino’s path to the college

began as a composer who realised early

on, that diversity was a key element to

achieving goals in the arts. He began to

mix art with technology and completed

the circle by adding the principles of

education to the equation. In 2003,

Rafaele launched the Australian Institute

of Music in Sydney, which Raf said was

“an intriguing mix of music education

in the private sector where people would

spend money to do a course with the

view of getting work in the industry.” Six

years later, he discovered that Victorian-

based venture Ausmusic was looking

to diversify. It started at VET level

but was looking to take it to degrees,

which is where Collarts is at now. As

the Collarts promotional materials state:

‘Collarts is already unique in its ability

to transition students from certifi cate

level studies in schools across Australia

through to the awarding of degrees’.

The college focusses on three core

types of music industry skills; Music

Performance, Music Production and

Music Business. The Music Performance

degree (Bachelor of Arts-Music) prepares

students for a career as a performer

and takes in subjects such as technical

studies, ensemble workshops, musical

language, electronic performance,

music for screen, music publishing,

entertainment economics and law,

industry projects and placements among

many others. The Audio Production

it will make it diffi cult to get through a degree program. If we are

going to train you to be a professional, a professional doesn’t mean

you get paid. Professional means you can turn up, on time, perform

at a level that is reliable and of an acceptable level. It may not

be brilliant every night but it’s going to be good every time and

you have to be able to do it, whether you feel like it or not.”

At the heart of what Collarts is trying to achieve is to give students

an authentic industry experience as they learn. Unlike some other

fi elds of academia where all of the learning is done on campus

and then you’re thrust into the workforce, Collarts ensures that

with their courses, they immerse students in real life situations.

Collarts also brings the industry to you with regular sessions by

leading industry professionals such as performers, managers, sound

engineers etc. Students complete their degrees after participating

in a 14-week industry placement with some of Australia’s

“Whereas once upon a

time you could enter

the music industry with

enthusiasm and talent, and there was

space for you to develop, now there’s

an expectation that you need to be well

trained to get an entry. Gone are the

days when you just need a black T-shirt

to be able to fi ll it,” says Dr Rafaele

Marcellino, Dean of private tertiary

facility Collarts, on the paradigm shift

in the music business since the ‘80s.

The impressive college Marcellino and

his team operate out of, resides in one

of the more secluded areas of South

Melbourne, yet only a stone’s throw

from the city. It’s here where Collarts is

preparing students for their admission

to the music industry in a 21st way.

Collarts started life out as the Government

funded initiative, the Australian

Contemporary Music Development

Company, then later Ausmusic. In 2010,

it was renamed The Australian College Of

The Arts and is now commonly known as

leading music and entertainment industry

companies. Additionally, the college is

mindful of employing tutors who are actively

working in the music industry as it is that

genuine and current feel for the industry

that they want to instill in their pupils.

All of the wisdom in the world is not going

to amount to much if you’re not being

backed up by quality resources. Not only

does Collarts provide quality coaching and

a wide view of the music business, it also

offers state of the art facilities. The learning

environment uses industry standard

equipment from the world’s leading

makers of audio, AV and musical products

including Digidesign, Apple, Soundcraft,

Kurzweil, Fender, Roland, Mackie, Rode,

Sony, Yamaha, Kawai, RME, Zildjian

and Canon and others. Collarts features

two recording studios, an auditorium

and computer lab in addition to standard

teaching, lecture and practice rooms.

Dr Marcellino is proud of the learning

facility he heads as well as his skilled

degree (Bachelor of Arts-Audio Production) comprises of studies

including audio production, recording studio techniques, sound

reinforcement, live sound for venues, sound installation, project

and event management, industry projects and placements and

more. The degree for Music Business (Bachelor of Arts-Creative

Industries Management) looks at things like entertainment law,

entertainment fi nance, the economics of entertainment, music

publishing and the media, project and event management,

marketing and communications and a myriad of other topics.

The focus of the College is on contemporary music, which

accounts for about 90% of total industry value and activity

and these three courses provide students with the foundations

of industry participation through creating and performing

music, producing or broadcasting or managing the artists and

their intellectual property or managing events and venues.

Prospective students are encouraged to have a basic level of

capability in their chosen artistic fi eld. “As a performer, it is

helpful to have some technical skills, that you can reasonably

expect to pick up over a high school period,” said Rafaele.

“Whether you do it through a school course or privately, it’s better

if you are at that level, but it doesn’t preclude you. It’s our intention

to have entry level courses which are pre-degree. If they do want

to have a go at entering, there is that opportunity. At degree level,

we have to say there is a threshold. If you are not at this threshold,

team and the ethos that they all adhere to.

There are many learning institutions now

focussing on the arts but Rafaele believes

that Collarts has an important point of

difference which sets them apart. “We

very much put a higher ed slant on it. The

other ones that exist have a good attention

to craft, and in a lot of sense, that’s OK

but you also have to give them enough

of a sense of themselves, and a sense

of thinking about what they are doing,

so they can develop into a sustainable

career. At the end of the day it comes

down to two dynamics … the student’s

passion and enthusiasm for doing what

they love coupled with Collarts’ expertise

in providing a course structured, skills

and the context where they learn how to

bring these two dynamics together. The

need for our students to work with each

other, is not an accident of being on the

same campus but as a deliberate part of

course design with our future managers,

audio guys and performers working

together. Just like in the real world.“

The next round of Collarts courses

commence on May 21st. They are

also holding some orientation days in

early to mid May, plus you can chat

to the Collarts folk at The Age VCE

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AM • 48

www.collarts.edu.au

s in

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Violinist EMERGENCY

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ILLNESS

ILLNESS

TRAGEDY

ILLNESS

ILLNESSILLNESS

Guitarist

Guitarist

Guitarist

Guitarist

Guitari

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Composer

Composer

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Manager

Drummer

Drummer

Drummer

Drumm

Drummer

Sound Engineer

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Singer

SingerRoad Crew

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EMERGENCY

MERGENCY

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TRAGEDY

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Songwriter

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www.supportact.com.au � 0467 492 843

WE’RE HERE

TO HELP

THE LAW NEED NOT BE A PAIN IN THE ARTS

For a creative being, the law can be a source of much fear and uncertainty. However, if

you’re a musician hoping to make a living out of your recording and touring, then inevitably you’re going to need to overcome that fear and ensure you look after your intellectual property. The music business is littered with copyright heartbreak and some of the greatest artists in the world have suffered at the hands of litigative leeches. Spare a thought for Creedence Clearwater Revival’s singer and songwriter John Fogerty who signed the rights to his music away, just so he could leave the band. To add insult to injury, he then suffered the indignation of being sued for plagiarising himself. Thankfully,

or hold on phones, or live at shows, APRA licences your songs to all those different people, collects the income and pays it through to the writers. At the same time the song is being played, the recording is being played. The PPCA represents the recordings in this country. PPCA was set up by the major labels and typically they are the big customers of the PPCA but you are entitled to half of your share of the income for the performance of your recordings irrespective of whether you have a record deal or not. Just like APRA … if you publish, you’ll still get half your income paid straight to you. If you look at the last fi nancial year they collected $25m – a not insignifi cant and fast growing income pool.”

Whenever you have a business relationship with someone in relation to your music, you should have an agreement in place with that person. It doesn’t necessarily need to be huge and complex, although sometimes it does, but it needs to be clear and cover all the key eventualities. This is vitally important when it comes to management relationships. Hewitt claims that artists often fi nd themselves in a great deal of trouble when, for example, they allow (or don’t discuss it at all) a manager to spend money

on their behalf without fi rst having

a dialogue with the manager

about what that spending entails.

“It’s not uncommon for bands

and their managers to do trips to

the US and the UK, funded by

themselves or funded directly by

the manager on the prospect of

a lot of buzz. They might not get

the deal they were after while

over there, and then come back

to fi nd that the manager is saying,

you guys owe me fi fty grand.

Suddenly the band has to deal

with the reality of fi nancing that

trip which they might not have

taken, or approached differently

had they known the cost.”

Pushed for a single piece of free

advice he would impart to any

A SMALL DOSE OF COMMON SENSE, SOME FULL AND FRANK DISCUSSIONS, AND A WRITTEN BAND AGREEMENT CAN GO A LONG WAY TO PREVENTING FUTURE DISTRESS FOR BANDS SUGGESTS MELBOURNE-BASED ENTERTAINMENT LAWYER JULIAN HEWITT.

American law didn’t fall for that one. The cynic in me would suggest that in most high profi le music copyright cases, if there wasn’t a huge amount money to be made, then parties probably wouldn’t be bothered chasing a claim. However, as Julian Hewitt suggests, there are simple measures which can be taken to alleviate the need for legalities further down the track.

“If you write a song in company, you should at that time acknowledge that you have written it together, and what your respective songwriting shares will be. You shouldn’t register song with APRA in percentages that don’t refl ect who actually wrote the song – whilst registration is not a record of ownership per se, it is evidence that the registered percentages are a mutually agreed upon songwriting split. If two of you register a song 50/50 and you both have to sign off on it, it’s not impossible, but it is more diffi cult for one to come back and say, no, I wrote 80% of it. The best thing to do is try to address it at the time of writing. If you try to do that after it has become a hit, there’s a lot more at stake.”

Hewitt also contends that once you are carrying on a business

with other people with a view of profi t (and let’s be frank, which artist

doesn’t have some aspiration for greatness) you are legally categorised as

a partnership. With that, comes a myriad of possible legal scenarios you

may not have considered. For instance, if you’re in a band and a member

decides to quit: What is their entitlement from future income? What’s their

right to use the band name? What’s their right to the current cash deposits

of the band? “In the absence of an agreement, you’re leaving yourself

at the mercy of legislation and the common law, which most artists have

no understanding of,” says Julian. “So you are making a choice by NOT

making a choice. What I usually see is that bands which address diffi cult

interpersonal questions upfront usually avoid confl ict down the track.”

There has always been a large degree of naivety in music but in 2012,

with what we now know from so many copyright cases that have ended in

tears, there is really no excuse for a musician not to learn a little about

the business side of the industry and the possibility of income streams you

may not have known existed. “I suppose the most often missed income

stream for indie musicians relates to public performance income from

recorded masters,” says Julian. “Pretty much every musician knows

about APRA, a collective society that licences your songs for public

broadcast and public performance. When songs are played in cafes,

would-be professional musician, Hewitt was quick to respond.

“Focus on your music. A lot of people get distracted with the business, labels, management, etc. Do the business right, talk to professionals, but don’t lose focus on your artistry. Ultimately this is an industry based almost entirely around an incredible song or recording or performance. You’re only ever one song away from being a hit act. Whatever it is you do you have to make sure is the best it can be, because everything else comes from that.”

Lighted keys and 100 preset songs with digital score make Yamaha’s EZ-220 the perfect learn-to-play keyboard. A USB TO HOST port lets you connect the keyboard to your computer for use with a wide range of music programs for both education and entertainment. An extensive variety of 392 built-in Voices let you play strings, guitars, brass, synthesizers, drums and more. The built-in Yamaha Education Suite provides even more ways to learn how to play. Finally, 100 preset Styles act as virtual bands that are always ready to jam with you.

LISTEN UP!

AM • 50

Order your copy of AMID now!

VISIT WWW.THEMUSIC.COM.AU/STORE

#47

DECEMBER2011

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Head over Heels Music6543 1904, Muswellbrook Marketplace, Sowerby Street, Muswellbrook, NSW 2333

High Street Music Centre4722 8608, 491 High Street, Penrith, NSW 2750

Hutchings Pianos9387 1376, 5 Edgecliff Road, Bondi Junction, NSW 2022

Icon Music9809 6700, 3 Chatham Road, West Ryde, NSW 2114

Katoomba Music Place Pty Ltd4782 1121, 140 Katoomba Street, Katoomba, NSW 2780

Macron Music4367 8500, Shop 8 Erina Plaza, 210 Central Coast Hwy, Erina, NSW 2250

Magpie Music6492 3533, 125 Auckland Street, Bega, NSW 2550

Mall Music9905 6966, PO Box 7333, Warringah Mall, Brookvale, NSW 2100

Merrylands Music9637 7011, 233 Pitt Street, Merrylands, NSW 2160

Murwillumbah Music66725 404, 5 Commercial Road, Murwillumbah, NSW 2484

Music Lounge Dubbo6885 6690, 46 Wingewarra Street, Dubbo East, NSW 2830

Music Solutions Warners Bay4954 8889, Shop 5, 305 Hillsborough Road, Warners Bay, NSW 2282

Music Specialists Maitland4933 0633, River Walk Arcade, 470 High Street, Maitland, NSW 2320

Musos Corner4929 2829, PO Box 2384, Dangar, NSW 2309

Optimum Percussion9744 1829, 42 Burwood Road, Burwood, NSW 2134

Pete’s Musicians Market9550 1416, 494 King Street, Newtown, NSW 2042

Pianodisc Installations4226 3289, PO Box 251, Fairy Meadow, NSW 2519

Planet Music - Ballina6681 1125, 85 River Street, Ballina, NSW 2478

Planet Music - Lismore6621 7784, 25 Molesworth Street, Lismore, NSW 2480

Powerpoint Music Centre4862 5344, 409 Bong Bong Street, Bowral, NSW 2576

Prestige Woodwind & Brass9389 0166, 258 Oxford Street, Bondi Junction, NSW 2022

ACTBetter Music 02 6282 3199, 29 Colbee Court, Phillip, ACT 2606

Pro Audio Supplies02 6249 7766, 87- 89 Gladstone Street, Fyshwick, ACT 2609

NSWA R Irwin Violins , Pty. Ltd.9363 0203, 208A New South Head Road, Edgecliff, NSW 2027

Allans Music + Billy Hyde Alexandria9318 2255, 108 Botany Road, Alexandria, NSW 2015

Allans Music + Billy Hyde Drumcraft9211 1700, 100 Commonwealth Street, Surry Hills, NSW 2010

Allans Music + Billy Hyde Music Camperdown02 9557 7500, 128-130 Pyrmont Bridge Road, Camperdown, NSW 2050

Allans Music + Billy Hyde Music Northern9986 0589, Northern Beaches, 55 Bassett Street, Mona Vale, NSW 2103

Allans Music + Billy Hyde Music Parramatta02 9633 1122, Level 1, 129 Church Street, Parramatta, NSW 2150

Allans Music + Billy Hyde Music Taren Point9589 7100, Taren PoiNT 1 Koonya Circuit, Caringbah, NSW 2229

Allans Music + Billy Hyde Music Willoughby9967 3777, Willoughby, 65 Penshurst Street, Willoughby, NSW 2068

Allans Music + Billy Hyde Newcastle4965 4222, 627 Hunter Street, Newcastle, NSW 2302

Allans Music + Billy Hyde Sydney9283 7711, 228 Pitt Street, Sydney, NSW 2000

Allans Music + Billy Hyde Sydney 29269 9600, 222 Clarence Street, Sydney, NSW 2000

Allans Music + Billy Hyde Wagga Wagga114 Baylis Street, Wagga Wagga, NSW 2650

Allison Music6921 2 696, 114 Baylis Street, Wagga Wagga, NSW 2650

Bass’ n’ Blues Music Megastore6551 5067, Shop 10, 20 Albert Street, Taree, NSW 2430

Bava’s Music City9824 2211, 252 Macquarie Street, Liverpool, NSW 2170

Big Music Australia Pty Ltd8622 6555, 85 - 87 Alexander Street, Crows Nest, NSW 2065

Broken Hill Music Centre8088 4840, 433 Argent Street, Broken Hill, NSW 2880

Byron Music6685 7333, Shop 1&2 South Plaza, Johnson Street, Byron Bay, NSW 2481

Carlingford Music Centre9873 2333, Shop 1/320 Pennant Hills Road, Carlingford, NSW 2118

Cheapa Music6766 6711, 427 Peel Street, Tamworth, NSW 2340

Coastal Music6581 3016, 5/148 Lake Road, Port Macquarie, NSW 2444

Cooma School of Music6452 6067, Shop 2, Parkview Arcade, 123 Sharp Street, Cooma, NSW 2630

Dicksons Music Complex Pty Ltd9419 2144, 6/3-9 Spring Street, Chatswood, NSW 2067

R & B Music4681 0522, 2/145 Remembrance Street, Tahmoor, NSW 2573

Rhythmic Bytes9575 4812, PO Box 270, Jannali, NSW 2230

River Music4577 3355, 10 Bridge Street, Windsor, NSW 2756

Sax & Woodwind9557 4588, Shop 3, 158 Parramatta Road, Camperdown, NSW 2050

Sound Devices9283 2077, 265 Sussex Street, Sydney, NSW 2000

Sounds Easy8213 0202, Suite G05, 15 Atchinson Street, St Leonards, NSW 2065

Sounds of Music4655 6455, Unit 11 /30 Argyle Street, Camden, NSW 2570

South Coast Music4421 8688, Shop 8-10 Shoalhaven Arcade, Kinghorn Street, Nowra, NSW 2541

The Drum Shop Newcastle4925 3155, 1 National Park Street, Newcastle West, NSW 2302

Toormina Computers6658 8111, Shop 3, 4 Minorca Place, Toormina, NSW 2452

Turramurra Music9449 8487, 1267 Pacifi c Highway, Turramurra, NSW 2074

Wollongong Music Centre4228 9286, 390 Crown Street, Wollongong, NSW 2500

Zephyr Music9439-8900, 51 Hume Street, Crows Nest, NSW 2065

NTAllans Music + Billy Hyde Darwin8980 8222, 24 Stuart Hwy, Stuart Park, NT 0820

Rock City Music8953 2100, PO Box 9202, Alice Springs, NT 0870

The CYM Shop8946 6860, Building 16, Charles Darwin University, NT

Top Beat EntertainmentNT 07 4661 2690, 77 Grafton Streeet, Warwick, QLD 4370

Top End Sounds8981 7744, 24 Stuart Highway, Darwin, NT

Cool Bananas Music8947 2660, PO box 37744, Winnellie, NT 821

QLDBout Time Music4152 9966, 47 Targo Street, Bundaberg, QLD 4670

Allans Music + Billy Hyde BrisbaneLevel 1, Queen Adelaide Blg, 90 - 112 Queen Street Mall, Brisbane, QLD 4000

Allans Music + Billy Hyde Music Bris-drum3252 4692, Brisbane - Drums, 188 Barry Parade, Fortitude Valley, QLD 4006

Allans Music + Billy Hyde Music Bris-guit3250 6333, Brisbane - Guitars, 174 Barry Parade, Fortitude Valley, QLD 4006

Allans Music + Billy Hyde Music Bris-Orch3250 6399, Brisbane - Orchestral, 222 Barry Parade, Fortitude Valley, QLD 4006

Allans Music + Billy Hyde Music Cairns4051 9666, 92 Mulgrave Road, Cairns, QLD 4870

Allans Music + Billy Hyde Music Gold Coast5532 7100, Gold Coast, 53 Nerang Street, Southport, QLD 4215

Allans Music + Billy Hyde Music Sunshine Coast5430 4300, Sunshine Coast, 74 Kingsford Smith Parade, Maroochydore, QLD 4558

Artie’s World of Music Aspley3263 7966, 64/ 59 Albany Creek Road, Aspley, QLD 4034

Arties Music Max3889 7499, 3/424 Gympie Rd, Strathpine, QLD 4500

Binary Music3488 2230, Shop 12, Cleveland Plaza (PO Box 1244), 48 Bloomfi eld Street, CLEVELAND, QLD 4163

Boyds - The Piano Shop3357 8885, 123 Lodge Road, Wooloowin, QLD 4030

Brass Music Specialists3278 1311, 90 Appel Street, Graceville, QLD 4075

Capalaba Music Centre3245-6033, Shop 99, Capalaba Park Shopping Centre, Capalaba, QLD 4157

Cloud Nine Guitars4099 6151, Shop 7 / 11 Beor Street, Craiglie, Port Douglas, QLD 4877

Delta Music4783 1304, 85 Queen Street, Ayr, QLD 4807

Ellaways Music3359 8266, 311-337 Gympie Road, Kedron, QLD 4031

Ellaways Music - Underwood3290 5656, 39-45 Compton Road, Underwood, QLD 4119

Green Brothers4927 3088, 72 William Street, Rockhampton, QLD 4700

Guitar Brothers Pty Ltd3367 3558, 95 Musgrave Road, Red Hill, QLD 4059

Ilja Grawert - Violinmaker1800 88 2468, 20 Logan Road, Woolloongabba, QLD 4102

Lawrence’s Musicland4033 1363, 363 Mulgrave Road, Cairns, QLD 4870

Mackay Music4957 4216, 28 Sydney Street, Mackay, QLD 4740

Mackay YLMC4951 3437, Cnr Victoria & Chain Streets, Mackay, QLD 4740

Masson Music3349 2006, 1513 Logan Road, Mt Gravatt, QLD 4122

Mau Music3355 3955, 10 Dallas Parade, Keperra, QLD 4054

Mooloolaba Music Centre5444 8889, Shop 2, Minyama Place, Nicklin Way, Minyama, QLD 4575

Morris Bros Music3356 3299, Unit 2/17 Billabong Street, Stafford, QLD 4053

Music 4403878 4566, 1/ 30 Station Road, Indooroopilly, QLD 4068

Musician’s Oasis4162 4523, 20 Alford Street, Kingaroy, QLD 4610

Musiclab3332 8188, 34 Campbell Street, Bowen Hills, QLD 4006

Nielsons Music Store4151 2882, 11 Targo Street, Bundaberg, QLD 4670

Normas Music Centre5539 3955, Unit B3 Central Park Plaza, Central Park Drive, Ashmore, QLD 4214

Oz-e Guitar Sales3285 1311, 20 Dayboro Road, Petrie, QLD 4502

Pacifi c Music4051 1499, PO Box 958N, North Cairns, QLD 4870

Ralph White Music5534 2500, 1154 Gold Coast Highway, Palm Beach, QLD 4221

AM • 52

Silver Keys & Strings Music Centre8223 7354, 55 Flinders Street, Adelaide, SA 5000

Size Music8373 3370, Shop 2, 84 Glen Osmond Road, Parkside, SA 5063

Southern Music Centre8382 7933, Shop 1 - 3, 65 Beach Road, Christies Beach, SA 5165

Southern Music Centre - Marion08 8382 7933, Shop 1 - 3 65 Beach Road, Christies Beach, SA 5165

TASBarratts Music6331 9355, 104 George Street, Launceston, TAS 7250

Fosters Music Centre6431 5409, 33 Cattley Street, Burnie, TAS 7320

Geoff Long Music6234 1456, 41 Burnett Street, North Hobart, TAS 7000

Hobart Music Centre6231 5578, PO Box 4578, Hobart, TAS 7000

Music Powerhouse6334 4544, 6-18 George Street, Launceston, TAS 7250

VICA & B Musical Instruments5222 2019, 175 Malop Street, Geelong, VIC 3220

Allans Music + Billy Hyde Ballarat5331 1266, 219 Mair Street, Ballarat, VIC 3350

Allans Music + Billy Hyde Blackburn-Orche159 Whitehorse Road, Blackburn, VIC 3130

Allans Music + Billy Hyde Kew9852 7645, 56 Cotham Road, Kew, VIC 3101

Allans Music + Billy Hyde Melbourne9654 8444, 152 Bourke Street, Melbourne, VIC 3000

Allans Music + Billy Hyde Music Bendigo5444 5255, 113 High Street, Bendigo, VIC 3550

Allans Music + Billy Hyde Music Blackburn9878 8777, 101 - 107 Whitehorse Road, Blackburn, VIC 3130

Allans Music + Billy Hyde Music Flemington9376 1344, Flemington, 100 Mount Alexander Road, Flemington, VIC 3031

Allans Music + Billy Hyde Music Greensborough9435 4285, Greensborough, 135 Main Road, Greensborough, VIC 3088

Allans Music + Billy Hyde Music Roxburgh Park9305 4477, Roxburgh Park, 7/20 Somerton Road, Somerton, VIC 3062

Allans Music + Billy Hyde Shepparton83 Wyndham Street, Shepparton, VIC 3630

Austral Piano World9497 2616, 245-247 Lower Heidleberg Road, East Ivanhoe, VIC 3079

Australian Music P/L9213 9945, PO Box 650, Ferntree Gully, VIC 3156

Bass Centre9696 6561, 206 Park Street, South Melbourne, VIC 3205

Bernies Musicland9872 5122, 381 Canterbury Road, Ringwood, VIC 3134

Billy Hyde Music Greensborough9434 7041, 135 Main Street, Greensborough, VIC 3088

Casey Music - Pianoforte9796 7090, PO Box 81, Narre Warren, VIC 3805

Royce Music House463 27 377, Shop 6 Farden Town, Toowoomba, QLD 4350

Shake it Up Music5441 5454, Shop 4, 186 Currie Street, Nambour, QLD 4560

Simply for Strings Pty Ltd1300 739 293, 78 Enoggera Terrace, Red Hill, QLD 4059

Simpson’s Pianos(07) 4041 1804, 179A Aumuller Street, Cairns, QLD 4870

The Best Music Shop3376 5454, Ian Evans, Shop 24A Christies Homemaker Centre, Jindalee, QLD 4074

The Guitar Centre (at the gabba)3392 3821, 922 Stanley Street, East Brisbane, QLD 4169

The Music Makers - Beenleigh3287 3069, 102A City Road, Beenleigh, QLD 4207

The Music Spot3800 5229, 129 Browns Plains Road, Browns Plains, QLD 4118

Trentin’s Music Centre4091 1555, PO Box 550, Atherton, QLD 4883

Ultra Music4128 2037, 51 Main Street, Hervey Bay, QLD 4655

Uptown Music4091 2874, PO Box 673, Atherton, QLD 4883

Woods Wind & Brass Pty Ltd1300 378 452, 10 George Street, Deception Bay, QLD 4508

Word of Mouth Music3282 2678, Shop 4, 160 Brisbane Road, Booval, QLD 4304

SAAllans Music + Billy Hyde Adelaide8223 5533, 58 Gawler Place, Adelaide, SA 5000

Allans Music + Billy Hyde Music Adelaide8212 4827, 175-181 Waymouth St, Adelaide, SA 5000

Barossa Music8563 2741, 117a Murray St, Tanunda, SA 5352

Blackwood Music School8370 3009, PO Box 76, Blackwood, SA 5051

BMusic8523 1018, 154 Murray Street, Gawler, SA 5118

Flinders View Music Supplies8633 2133, 48 - 50 Alexander Street, Port Pirie, SA 5540

Galaxy Guitars8377 2272, 296 Brighton Road, Brighton, SA 5048

Harrison Music8223 6199, Guitar Fundamentals, 68 Grenfell Street, Adelaide, SA 5000

Holden Hill Music8266 2699, 612 North East Road, Holden Hill, SA 5088

Music Corner Head Offi ce8258 9366, 21 Wiltshire Street, Salisbury, SA 5108

Music Education Network8270 1355, PO Box 1013, Blackwood, SA 5051

Northern Music Centre8842 1071, 245 Main North Road, Clare, SA 5453

PianoMax Australia8363 2230, 201 Magill Road, Maylands, SA 5069

Ron Pearce Music8363 1245, 2/25 Nelson Street, Stepney, SA 5069

Castlemaine Music Centre5470 5913, 12 Templeton Street, Castlemaine, VIC 3450

Caulfi eld Music Centre9528 1162, 593-595 Glenhuntly Road, Elsternwick, VIC 3185

Cellissimo9816 9910, 1353 Burke Road, Kew, VIC 3101

Cranbourne Music9654 5115, 204 Latrobe Street, Melbourne, VIC 3000

Cranbourne Music Centre5996 6955, 130 High Street, Cranbourne, VIC 3977

Deluxe Guitars9686 4755, 9 Union Street, South Melbourne, VIC 3205

Drummers Paradise/Guitar Paradise9428 3255, 398 Victoria St, Richmond, VIC 3121

Eastgate Guitars and Audio9888 6899, 315 Whitehorse Road, Balwyn, VIC 3103

Factory Sound Sales P/L9690 8344, 75- 85 York Street, South Melbourne, VIC 3205

Five Star Music9870 4143, 102 Maroondah Hwy, Ringwood, VIC 3134

Future Music Australia9808 8988, 22 Sixth Avenue, Burwood, VIC 3125

Glenroy Music Centre9306 7570, 827 Pascoe Vale Road, Glenroy, VIC 3046

Guitar Paradise9428 3255, 398 -402 Victoria Street, Richmond, VIC 3121

Hans Music Spot9725 8108, 77-79 Main Street, Croydon, VIC 3136

Hosking Music9720 3620, Shop 15 The Mall, Mountain Hwy, Wantirna, VIC 3152

Keyboard Corner9762 6747, 137 Boronia Rd, Boronia, VIC 3155

Leading Edge Music Echuca5482 3230, 162 Hare St, Echuca, VIC 3564

Learn Music9853 8318, 311 High Street, Kew, VIC 3101

Lewis Music Store9650 9305, 124 Russell Street, Melbourne, VIC 3000

Mannys Musical Instruments & Pro Audio9486 8555, 161- 163 St Georges Road, North Fitzroy, VIC 3068

Marban Music5153 1234, 70 Macleod St, Bairnsdale, VIC 3875

Megas Music Store6056 1044, 130 High Street, Wodonga, VIC 3690

Melbourne Music Centre9578 2426, 523 North Rd, Ormond, VIC 3204

Music Emporium9532 2600, 11 Central Ave, Moorabbin, VIC 3189

Music Workshop5221 5844, 39 Fyans Street, South Geelong, VIC 3220

Music World Enterprises9572 3391, 296 Waverly Road, East Malvern, VIC 3145

Nepean Music5975 0293, Unit 4/1 Mornington-Tyabb Rd, Mornington, VIC 3931

Pat’s Music9563 8711, 940-944 Centre Rd, Oakleigh South, VIC 3167

Pianos Plus9532 2600, 11A Central Ave, Moorabbin, VIC 3189

Pony Music9702 3244, 3 / 37 -41 Hallam South Road, Hallam, VIC 3803

Prestige Pianos9480 6777, 102 Bell Street, Preston, VIC 3072

Ready Please Mr Musig9449 3252, 33 John Paul Drive, Hillside, VIC 3037

Ron Leighs Music Factory9593 3900, 625 Hampton Street, Brighton, VIC 3186

The Music Place - South Melbourne9699 9099, 339 Claredon Street, South Melbourne, VIC 3250

The Rock Garage9753 5093, 1/1182 Burwood Highway, Upper Ferntree Gully, VIC 3156

Whitehorse Music9890 1049, 927 Whitehorse Road, Box Hill, VIC 3128

Wombat Woodwind and Brass9419 7337, 40A Dight Street, Collingwood, VIC 3066

World of Music -Brighton9557 8600, 809 Nepean Highway, Brighton, VIC 3186

WAAllans Music + Billy Hyde Music Nth Perth9228 2223, North Perth, 345 Charles Street, North Perth, WA 6006

Allen Digital Computer Organs9450 3322, 14 Amery Street, Como, WA 6152

Concept Music9381 2277, 246 Cambridge Street, Wembley, WA 6014

Crescendo Music9330 1719, 8/454 Marmion Street, Myaree, WA 6154

Joondalup Music9300 0033, Unit 4/ 101 Winton Rd, Joondalup, WA 6027

Just Music9384 0560, 552 Stirling Highway, Cottesloe, WA 6011

Kosmic Sound & Lighting9204 7577, 94 Hector Street, Osborne Park, WA 6017

Opus Living Music9921 1080, 27 Chapman Rd, Geraldton, WA 6530

Piano Magic9477 5866, 79 Belgravia Street, BelmoNT WA 6104

PK’s Music9344 4080, 16 Cobbler Place, Mirrabooka, WA 6061

Snadens Music9386 7955, 161 Stirling Hwy, Nedlands, WA 6009

Sound Centre Music Gallery9370 1185, Shop 1, 85 Broun Avenue, Morley, WA 6062

Tempest Music9450 3539, 56 Ley Street, Como, WA 6152

The Rock Inn9371 8822, 762 Beaufort Street, Mt Lawley, WA 6050

WA Classic Sounds08 9495 1986, Shop 1, 223 Railway Avenue, Kelmscott, WA 6111

Zenith Music08 9383 1422, PO Box 299, Claremont, WA 6910,

53 • AM

PICK AN ERA IN MUSIC … ANY ERA … AND NINE TIMES OUT OF TEN YOUR BRAIN WILL NATURALLY GRAVITATE TO THE BANDS AND SONGS OF THE TIME. HOWEVER, WHAT CREATED THOSE SOUNDS AND HELPED TO DEFINE THAT PERIOD IN MUSIC? WHAT ABOUT ALL OF THE AMAZING MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS AND THE WONDERFUL GADGETRY THAT CREATED THE SOUNDS AND PAVED THE WAY FOR THE INCREDIBLE GEAR WE PLAY TODAY. IN THIS NEW

COLUMN, AUSTRALIAN MUSICIAN WILL PAY TRIBUTE TO A PARTICULAR PIECE OF MUSICAL KIT, A NOSTALGIC ALBUM OR MUSIC RELATED OCCURRENCE WHICH MADE IT’S MARK ON OUR MINDS.

it’s rich bell effect, which can be heard on the Band Aid hit Do They Know It’s Christmas. Also popular was the DX7’s reproduction of the Fender Rhodes keyboard sound. While not a hundred percent accurate, for the time it was a mighty fi ne approximation meaning at least one less keyboard a musician didn’t have to take on the road with them. The DX7 had an impact on the Australian music scene in

Whether it’s the memorable bass line of Tears For

Fears, Shout, or the synth sounds on Queen’s Kind Of Magic and One Vision, one of the most iconic sounds of the ‘80s really was Yamaha’s amazing synth, the DX7. It was all over Michael Jackson’s Thriller, Dire Straits’ Brothers In Arms album, AHA’s single Take On Me and Bon Jovi’s Living On A Prayer’. Released in 1983, it was the world’s fi rst commercial digital synthesiser and has had a lasting effect.

Prior to the DX7, all of the other synths had been analogue and a brave new world had suddenly opened up for the keyboard player. At the heart of the DX7’s appeal was the Frequency Modulation Synthesis or FM synthesis which gave the unit it’s ability to produce new and much more complex sounds than ever before. One of the more identifi able sounds was

come on board with a digital synth until three years later when they launched the D 50. The DX7 was the beginning of a line of no less than thirty FM-based products, spanning twenty years of development, and culminating in the FS1R and DX200. A quick look at the graveyard of lost synth souls, otherwise known as eBay, will reveal that units are still out there and available from as little as $200.

parameter envelope generator and a tuning control, and the operators could interact in thirty two combinations, called algorithms. Complicated? Damn right! Most people defi nitely steered well clear of actually editing these complex beasts, and those who tried didn’t really get it together until Yamaha and third party software companies released editing software utilising the mysterious MIDI plugs on the back of the unit.”

Whilst the DX7 had it’s day in the sun, its competitors were hard at work playing catch up. A new era of third party business was born, with ‘soundware’ companies producing new presets and software editors in an attempt to tame the beast, or at least make it more useable for the less technical players in the business. Sequential Circuits had already released their Prophet 600 with MIDI but it was analogue. Roland didn’t

Local synthesiser specialist Christopher Steller was around in the day and fondly recalls the unit. “The DX7 was something of an enigma when it was released in the early 1980s - everyone had to have one but nobody really knew why. It produced a handful of never-heard-before sounds, that became a life or death necessity for every pop tune released, featured on Top 40 hits from Madonna to Howard Jones (especially that bass sound), but after the techno-lust for obtaining one wore off, users were left with a brown box of endless parameters accessed by a data entry slider and up/down buttons, and a tiny screen to edit one of these elements at a time.”

Like Canham, Steller agrees that the Yamaha DX7 was never an easy keyboard to navigate. “The basic building block in this Frequency Modulation synthesis system is a sine wave generator, or operator, and six of these worked with or against each other to produce complex frequencies or waveforms,” explains Chris. “Each operator has an 8

the 80s too. Lead singer, guitarist and keyboard player of Pseudo Echo, Brian Canham recalls the keyboard vividly. “We had it on our fi rst album, I know that,” said Brian, who nows runs Metromix studio in Melbourne. “You can hear it on A Beat For You. It has that xylophoney sound. That was the big sound we found on it and we liked the bells, the Thriller bells. I knew a guy who was in retail with keyboards. We had a lot of good contacts with music shops. Knowing we were a keyboard-heavy band, they would throw us stuff to try out. So I remember the DX7 coming just before we recorded that fi rst album, just after the single Listening.”

However, ask Brian about the user-friendliness of the DX7, and you’ll get a different story. “I remember thinking what a bastard of a keyboard,” said Brian. “It completely had its own language. The main thing was how hard it was to edit. I don’t know what they were thinking! To shape an ADSR of a fi lter … I think how it worked was that each one of the little operators was a different spectrum of the frequency range. You had to shape it like a cone fi lter. You had to shape how each part of the fi lter reacted to do the simplest thing … like an ADSR (ADSR is an acronym that stands for Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release and is a means to replicate those respective elements of a sound). It was incredibly involved but a classic sound though.”

AM • 54

THE MARS VOLTA RETURN WITH THEIR 6TH STUDIO ALBUM

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