ART IN EXILE
by Rob Lyon

Art In Exile are really heading places, scoring a deal with Casket Music in the UK to release their self-titled EP. It’s sure to serve as a terrific launch pad for the band’s career and vocalist Mel Bulian can’t hide her excitement.
“It is quite exciting,” Mel agrees. “It has been a waiting game for the past couple months but the EP was finally released on the 30th of June. We have no idea what to expect from the critics so we're all a little nervous too, ha ha.”
Being a global release, does it make it even more exciting? “Indeed yes, especially the fact that this is only our first release and it's usually pretty difficult to get global distribution for an EP. We're really eager to see how well our music is received overseas, particularly in Europe as our style seems to have a bigger market over there. The only challenge we face is that EPs don’t tend to sell as well or get quite as much exposure as a full-length album would but the main idea was to give people a taster for when our full-length is released next year.”
How did you get noticed by Casket Music?
“We did actually release this EP in February last year independently. We distributed almost 300 promo packs to radio, magazines and, of course, labels and this was how Casket (an affiliate on Copro records) had noticed us. They offered to re-issue another thousand copies and distribute them through Plastichead, who are a major distributor of heavy metal particularly in the UK.”
Does the band still have creative control? “
The greatest part of this deal is that we still remain independent. This means we have total control of everything we do and we don’t get left with a whopping big bill from the label if we don’t sell a massive amount of CDs, which a lot of young bands get burnt with nowadays. The licensing is for this release only for the duration of two years, and we are free to sign with another label should the offer arise, so it was an offer we couldn’t refuse.”
Does this open doors to tour more broadly overseas this year?
“The release of our EP will hopefully create interest in Art In Exile overseas but a tour does not seem likely at this point. Our main focus this year is pre-production for our full-length album. Once we have an album out we may have better opportunities for touring, so we will have to see how it all pans out.”
How would you describe what your music sounds like?
“The four songs on the CD are all very different to each other. I guess that can be a little confusing for some people as to what direction we're heading. That was the intention, by the way! We don’t mind that some reviews have criticised us for this. To try and generalise, we have been described as a blend of dark Gothic and melodic death metal, but this description is very vague to me.”
Do you think your sound will change much when you record your album?
“We thrive on experimentation and are not concerned in finding a genre to fit into. I don’t think that will change, however the main difference is we are now a six-piece. On our EP we were basically a four-piece with Matt [Redmond, keyboardist] and I doing all the guitars so now that we have two new awesome guitarists it has given us a whole new, dare I say 'heavy as fuck', guitar sound and a tasteful boost in technicality which we really needed to complete the sound we were aiming for.”
Art In Exile’s self-titled EP is out now through Casket.

THE IRRESPONSIBLES
by Scott McLennan

It took a dull job delivering pizzas to serve up Tash Neame’s musical epiphany. While delivering family sized Hawaiians around the suburbs one evening, The Irresponsibles’ guitarist heard fellow South Australian femme Sarah McLeod rocking out on the radio.
“Back when I used to deliver pizza, hearing Shut My Eyes really opened me up to what a female-fronted Adelaide band could be capable of on a national level,” Tash recalls. “I had studied guitar at school and spent several years doing performance and arranging, but I’d looked at it more on the teaching side. Originally I was enrolled to become a music teacher and that was all I had thought about writing my own songs and performing to a couple of hundre people – it hadn’t crossed my mind. Then when I heard Superjesus I realised that’s what I wanted to do and I wanted to hear my songs on the radio.”
The Irresponsibles’ debut EP, Beginnings, provides six tracks of ballsy female-fronted rock that harks back to the songs of Chrissie Hynde and Chrissy Amphlett. Tash suggests that ‘70s music titans also play a part in the sound.
“Going back in time to The Pretenders and The Divinyls, they were great live performers as well as recording artists. There’s certainly that influence in there, but our singer [Miranda Mazurek] is a huge Led Zep fan and I think that’s the biggest influence for her in terms of a vocal performance.”
With Miranda sporting a black and white top hat in promotional photos and during live performances, Tash admits she has her own lucky charms and routines for live shows.
“I’ve got my lucky black and red skull shoes and we kind of like to keep a uniform image between our CD artwork between our photos and our live performance. We think it’s important to maintain consistency so it’s not T-shirts and shorts one minute and then a completely different image the next. I always keep at least one guitar pick in my pocket at all times even though I have some hanging on my mic stand. I just like to keep one in my pocket for my own security I guess. There’s also The Irresponsibles G-strings floating around town, which hopefully our drummer [Matt Youels] isn’t wearing – that would be a pretty disturbing image.”
The Irresponsibles’ CD launch is set to debut a handful of new songs and a special acoustic performance of some songs, but there’ll still be plenty of rock. Suggesting their crowd generally hold buttoned-down jobs during the week but like to cut loose on weekends, Tash recalls one of the frenzies The Irresponsibles created while on stage.
“We’d just received some new merchandise and we were about to throw out some hats for free from the stage. Miranda mistakenly said that the first person to get naked would get a free hat. She wasn’t aware that people would take her quite so seriously and we ended up having three males strip down to their underwear in front of the stage. I don’t think the venue were too happy about that – they ordered them to get dressed pretty quickly.”
The Irresponsibles launch Beginnings at Live On Light Square on Sat Jul 26 with Dexter Jones and Tall Order.

LOCAL HYPE

TRIPLE TEASE
Just a quick heads up so that you can mark your calendars for Fri Aug 1. Rockdog Productions and Twenty Twenty Music will be presenting a big night of free local rock at Adelaide Uni Bar with Fear In Dakota, Raw Ether and Your Motive For all taking to the stage. All three bands are recording over the coming months so this is your chance to get a sneak peek at some top-notch new material before it hits the airwaves! If you haven’t caught any of these three bands before then you’re in for a big surprise, because each of them has something very special to offer and it’s a real coup to get them all on the same bill, especially for free! See you there!

BLOWIN’ WITH SNOOKS
Snooks La Vie, the award winning blues harmonica player of The Hiptones and Mo’ Roots, is now teaching blues harmonica at which you can discover how to get the tone and technique of all your favourite blues harp greats! Lessons will be held one on one in a music studio in Thebarton. No matter whether you are a beginner, intermediate or advanced harp player - all are welcome. Student intakes are limited, however, so get in quick to reserve your place. For all enquiries, please contact Snooks on 0439847228 or email <snooks@thehiptones.com>.

DOUBLE MONKEY ACTION
If you’re keen to discover some new local, South Australian talent, then make sure that you get to Jade Monkey on Thu Jul 24. Monkey Puzzle Tree, who are an instrumental group, infusing classical music with a contemporary blend of jazz, blues and tango; primarily through world music influences, will be showcasing their stuff, so head along and support our musical talent. Also scrub up on your knowledge of the outfit by checking out <myspace.com/monkeypuzzletreeadelaide>.

COOPERS ALIVE SHOWCASE
BrotherSister are heading back to stage for a special show on Sat Jul 25 Jul 25 at the Jade Monkey. They have been chosen with 11 other local bands to feature as part of the Coopers Alive, SA live music schowcase; an event running over two nights across four venues in Adelaide. With each line up at the event given a small grant to help promote and produce a not to be missed show, BrotherSister intend to take the opportunity to grab their audience by waist and whip them away to another place, bringing the songs from their newest release, The Wunder Tales to life with the help of additional musicians and some extra audio and visual treats. The show will also celebrate the launch of an entirely new website exhibition space for the band. The siblings have wanted to carry this idea over into their live show as well and have spent the last three months creating video and animated material to project at the show. Based on themes from the Wunder Tales cover artwork and from the new website artwork, snippets can be previewed at <myspace.com/littlebrothersister>. They’ll also be performing with Mr Wednesday and Lumonics! Good luck guys.

WANT TO WORK IN THE MUSIC INDUSTRY?
Want to really know how the music business works? Want to learn from industry professionals who are actually doing it? Beginning in July, Ausmusic SA’s How To Organise Your Own Music Event course is an eight-week specialist event management course designed to provide learners with the knowledge and skills required to stage a music event including planning, logistics, budgeting, sponsorship venue confirmation, risk management and more. Starting on Tue Jul 8 and finishing on Tue Aug 26, the course runs from 7pm until 10pm and is $295. Each course features prominent guest lecturers, including lawyers, publicists, venue operators, event and band managers – people who make their living from the music business – who are happy to share their skills and experiences to make your learning easier. If you’re interested, go to <musicsa.com.au/resources/courses.aspx> for full course details and enrolment forms.

FEMME FATALES
We’ve received some updates from the Femme Fatales, so here it goes. They’ve just completed their debut EP and they will be taking their talents to the east coast throughout July! Before they head off, however, they will be holding their hometown EP launch on Fri Jul 18 at Rocket Bar, so if you’d like to catch up with some locals that rock, do so now!  

FRAUD MILLIONAIRES AND WATUSSI
Get on down to Live On Light Square on Fri Jul 25 to catch up with Watussi and Fraud Millionaires. Fresh from the release of their second studio album, Speak Easy, Fraud Millionaires have exploded onto Triple J and Nova with their singles Westside Love and Catfish which blend elements of reggae, ska and rock. After playing to 8,000 people at this year’s Womadelaide Festival, Watussi have taken the mantle of one of Australia’s leading world music acts. Combine the two bands on the same bill and you’ll be in for one hell of a night of dancing and good times. Doors open at 8.30pm and the cost is only $18. Be early as this one will no doubt sell out!

COOPERS ALIVE
Listen up local musos! The Coopers Alive SA Live Music Showcase is a new initiative that is heading to town which aims to encourage local artists to actively participate in planning, promoting and evaluating their live performances, as well as providing an entertaining and creative showcase for all music-lovers to enjoy. Through workshops provided by Ausmusic SA before and after the showcases, the participating artists will learn how to maximise promotion of their shows and how to develop a suitable marketing plan. Featuring speakers from Ausmusic SA as well as from the local music industry, these workshops are aimed at giving local artists the tools they need to develop their audience and to further build their profile. The Coopers Alive events will take over the city on Fri Jul 25 and Sat Jul 26 and will feature none less than 12 handpicked local up-and-coming acts spread over four Adelaide venues. On Fri Jul 25, the Jade Monkey will host a mix of ambient, electronic, experimental and post rock sounds with Lumonics, Brother Sister and Mr Wednesday, while Jive will be pumping out the catchy indie rock offerings from Former Child Stars, Mad Shapes and The Shiny Brights. You’ll be able to check out Adelaide’s very best in hip hop and rap at the Crown & Sceptre on Sat Jul 26 with A Devil Amongst The Tailors, Social Change and The Shadows or you could choose to take in the laid-back folk, pop, blues and roots tunes from the Huckleberry Swedes, The Fiddle Chicks and Cookie Baker at the Wheatsheaf Hotel. All of the acts selected have been making waves with their various achievements recently and they are all worthwhile checking out in the flesh. Coopers Alive promises to be the perfect opportunity to see some of the great live music that Adelaide has to offer - the only problem is deciding which shows to go and see each night! Support local talent!