Musicadium Blog

This week Musicadium features a man of many artistic talents and JJJ pick as an artist to watch – Mailer Daemon (aka Sina Djavadkhani). His track ‘Bad Move Baby’ feat. Catcall and Peach has been given quite a few spins on the ‘Home and Hosed’ program and it’s no wonder why as the EP dishes up more tasty treats of a similar persuasion.

This Sydney-siders resume would put most of us to shame with the following most likely to be included; MCing, music production, composition, DJing, graphic design, drumming and some pretty serious blogging.

For those of you out there wanting to know what a truly tricked-out blog looks like head to http://www.blackgallant.com/

Hey Sina, thanks for taking the time to chat to us.

My pleasure

How do you fit in everything that you do? Do you sleep?

Most definitely, I have a bunk bed above all my studio gear. Most of my best hooks come from me falling off my bed and landing on the keyboard

Tell us about your EP ‘Black Gallant’. How would you describe the multitude of sounds that feature?

Exciting, exhilarating, and expansive. The EP is an electronic hip-hop record with a guest vocalist on every track, each vocalist brings their own vibe and I feel that each beat symbiotically fuses with its guest quite well. I know not all producers/vocalists work this way, but I like leave the beat half finished- get the vocalists in- and then finish off the beat. That way it feels like the beat has been moulded around the vocal as opposed to having the vocal slapped on top at the end.

You have a number of feature artists on the EP. Did you already know them or did you approach them to join you?

I met Peach at a house party of Al’s from the Red Riders’, we started free styling/ beat boxing in the alley. Catcall I’ve known from Uni days just a few years back, we aren’t super close but had similar goals to get down for the music. I met the Vangarde through my girlfriend, I’m helping them record vocals for their album. I got in touch with Kobra Kai through my old housemates who introduced me to the Sydney Drum n Bass scene; and finally Damn Dirty Apes is my brother who’s band I used to play drums in. In reflection the entire process was quite organic.

You have spent time in Malaysia, what is the music scene like over there?

It’s growing bigger and better, every time I go back there seems to be a more solid music industry developing. There used to be a lot police raids and government crack downs and stuff like that, but now there are more corporate sponsors for events; legitimising it and allowing it to grow.

What has been your favourite place to play/DJ?

Sosueme, Qbar Friday nights!

Apart from your musical talents, you are also a designer. Did you create the fabulous and distinctive cover of the EP?

My ex is a hair stylist, the model is from a photo shoot of hers which I painted over/manipulated. Please don’t sue me.

How should punters dance when they come and see your set?

Naked!

And finally, what are your plans for the next few months?

Remixes, Remixes, Remixes (GET ME TO DO YOUR REMIX! blackgallant@gmail.com) , Just Where You Want Me Part 2 with Nik Valentino, and then an indie-dance EP.

Cheers Sina!

To check out tracks from the Black Gallant EP click on the iTunes link below

Or head to:

http://www.blackgallant.com/

http://www.myspace.com/blackgallant

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Winners of UncharTED – Here Come The Birds Set to Rock At The Splendour Weekender

With a brand, spanking new video clip for their track ‘Bravery and Defeat’, a spot on MTV with popular hostess Ruby Rose and a cool $20K now under their belts and a spot at Splendour In The Grass – there will be no stopping Musicadium artists Here Come The Birds. They were announced as the winners just last night, and as we had a chat to them prior to this we want to pass on our congratulations to the boys took home the grand prize.

Congratulations on playing at Splendour! Which artists are you itching to see?

The line up is awesome this year but if we had to narrow it down to three I would say Gyroscope, Sigur Ros and Cold War Kids

What would have been your favourite gig that you have played and why?

Our EP launch has definitely been our favourite gig to date. We sold out the venue with over 400 people and they were all there to see us perform our new songs, the atmosphere was amazing.

If you could collaborate with any musician/s living or dead, who would they be?

That’s a tough question, I guess we list some of our current influences as Gyroscope, Bloc Party and Brand New and I would have to say that they would be some amazing bands to work with. They all have different styles that make them unique and it would be great to get an insight in to their song writing process.

You cite Muse as one of your influences, and I have noticed that your guitarist’s last name is Bellamy - was that just a lucky coincidence?

They are actually cousins…..no not really it’s totally coincidence but we wish they were related, we could tour the world with one of our favourite bands!

What are you up to for the next couple of months? Where can we expect to catch a show?

Apart from the Uncharted competition which is kind of ruling our world at the moment we are just keeping up business as usual. We have some gigs coming up at:

The Cambridge Hotel – Sat 26th July (Newcastle)
Mum @ World Bar – Fri 15th August (Sydney)

(ed. And now SPLENDOUR IN THE GRASS - Aug 2nd and 3rd, Belongil Fields, Byron Bay)

Thanks so much for your time guys, love your work!

Catch their video at http://www.ciproductions.biz/solutions/

and check out the uncharted website at http://www.uncharted.com.au/home/home.do

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Globe-Trotting, heart-warming, endlessly charming Aussie ladies the Hussy Hicks are Musicadium’s featured artists this week.

Their debut album, ‘Life Plays Out’ is proudly distributed by Musicadium and we were lucky enough to catch up with them for a chat while the girls were touring in Europe. From Prince, to Phil Emmanuel to Pat Benetar, these folk/pop ladies have eclectic tastes and some interesting stories to boot.

What you have been up to lately girls? It seems like you have been tripping all over the globe!

Tripping all over the globe is exactly what we’ve been doing! We started this year with an Australian tour which had us drive the eleven thousand kilometres from Sydney to Darwin via Perth and Broome, then we flew to China for a run of shows and a festival and the to London where we bought ourselves an old Royal Mail van and proceeded to drive around Europe. So far we have played shows in Italy, France, Belgium, Norway, Holland and Germany and after this weekend we drive back to London for 3 shows before heading to the States.

Where has been your favourite place to perform? Have you ever played at any unorthodox venues?

Everywhere we’ve played has been great in different ways… The most incredible part of touring through different countries (apart from the incredible food, wine and language issues) is experiencing different audiences and the way they react to our music.
The Italians are vocal and passionate (and love to buy CD’s and chat away to you for hours after the show), the French are quiet and attentive until the desperate pull of a nicotine hit will remove them momentarily from the venue, the Norwegians are loud and excitable and lots of fun, The Dutch are incredibly appreciative and will want to ply you full of weird and wonderful beverages and the Germans, oh the Germans… playing to your first German audience is possibly one of the strangest yet most satisfying experiences any musician can have. They sit in total silence, they watch intently and only clap when it’s clapping time. Then they clap. And they clap. Apparently the longer they clap the more they have appreciated the song, which makes sense, but it is very odd for a first timer. And finally all Europeans LOVE a good encore. In fact they are rarely content with only one encore, generally going for at least 2 encores of at least 4 or 5 songs.

So everywhere has something special… In terms of unorthodox venues I would have to say that the underground bomb shelter bars in France are the most unusual… although there are quite a few of them, and they make excellent band venues!

You guys met in 2004, were you both involved in other projects before this? How did you meet?

Both Julz and I have been involved in music our whole lives, Julz started playing guitar at about 7 and by the age of 15 she was playing in Phil Emmanuels band. I started singing at 9 and grew up in the country music industry, I released a country single through ABC records when I was 16 and then formed a trio with my sister and a friend called Miss Radio before decided to go traipsing all over the globe and finally meeting up with Julz. We met through an awesome bass player friend who had been playing some gigs with my band and was best friends with Julz in High School. Both Julz and I had been giggin overseas and upon our return we started hanging out and jamming and it just kinda clicked and here we are now 3 years later in Berlin…

You have a distinctly Aussie feel and sound to your music. Do you think this is important to retain? Have you had many comments on this overseas?

I think the Aussie feel is a very organic part of our music, we don’t deliberately present an Australian tone, but it is just naturally a part of what we do. The folk/roots music movement is quite unique to Australia and it’s really great to be able to take it to international audiences and show them what we’re doing on our little island! We travel with our Woodskin cajon which is an Australian made instrument that gains a lot of attention and really adds something different to our sound.

If you could collaborate with any musician (living or dead) who would it be?

Me’Shell Ndegéocello and Prince come to mind immediately… and I’d really enjoy belting out a tune with Patsy Cline! We’d also love to have Steve Gadd on the next album and Julz would desperately love to play at one of Eric Claptons Crossroads festivals!

Some of your tracks are very emotionally-driven and seem quite personal. Do you ever find it hard to perform tracks that have come from a personal experience or do you find it to be a therapeutic experience?

I think the therapy is in the actual writing process… you get to dig deeply into your emotions and when it all comes out you get a little piece of music that you can do with what you like. I love the evolution of songs, you can play the same song a hundred times and it can take you to a hundred different places and be interpreted in a hundred different ways, and every interpretation is as valid as the initial idea behind the song. It’s the best part of music!

And finally, what is your favourite track to perform and why?

It’s a tough question… audience response is always such a big part of live performance, so tracks like Texas and Ugly are always fun to play. Having an attentive and focused audience is always a wonderful opportunity to play our more intricate songs like We climb, we fall and Play with me, but barely a gig will go by when we don’t play Happy and Close your eyes… ha, I guess we enjoy playing all our songs! Also lately we’ve been throwing in an acoustic version of Pat Benatars “Love is a battlefield” which gives me a chance to scream like a banshee and is a real audience favourite… but you have to get to a live show to catch that!

Check out the Hussy Hicks here

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Radiohead have continued to excite, surprise and innovate with their latest ground-breaking video release for the track, ‘House of Cards’ off their latest album, ‘In Rainbows’.

In the clip, no cameras or lights were used. Instead two technologies were used to capture 3D images: Geometric Informatics and Velodyne LIDAR.

Now if we’re being perfectly honest I will admit that I don’t really know exactly what this means - I just know that the end result is absolutely stunning. To find out more about how this clip was made from people who do know how technologically amazing this feat is, head to

http://code.google.com/creative/radiohead/

And to play around with the concept yourself and have a heap of fun while doing so, head to

http://code.google.com/creative/radiohead/viewer.html

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This week Musicadium is proud to feature Australian Folk Music legend Judy Small. Her empowering and provocative lyrics have ensured that Judy has remained a seminal figure in the folk world for over 30 years. Managing to juggle her love of music with a career in law, Judy has many stories to share. So as you read on, imagine you are rugged up next to a flickering fire with a group of grubby but cheery folk festival folk, a roasting marshmallow on a stick and an acoustic guitar strumming in the background as you read about an interesting career, musician and woman.

Judy, you have been in the Australian music industry for over 30 years. Do you think that the Australian Folk scene is still going strong?

Well, you only have to look at the folk festivals like Woodford, Port Fairy, Fairbridge or the National to see that the folk scene is not only going strong but attracting performers and audience who will take this music into the future. There’s also a thriving acoustic and folk scene in the pubs in Melbourne and probably other cities as well. The flavour is different than when I started singing in folk clubs in Sydney in 1973, but the music is still there and so are the audiences. It just doesn’t get played on the radio (except for community stations and the ABC) so the general public don’t know about it.

You have travelled extensively with your music and have performed in many different locations. Do you have a favourite place to perform? Have you ever played in any unorthodox venues?

I have several favourite places to play: there’s a converted barn on a heritage-listed property called Taabinga near Kingaroy that’s just gorgeous; I loved the Troubadour in Fitzroy in Melbourne and there’s a church in Waterloo Ontario in Canada and a club in Berkeley California called Freight & Salvage that are great places to play. I think the most unorthodox places I’ve played would be the gun turret on the headland in Darwin – the best natural acoustics I’ve ever played in; and a bunker also on a headland in Auckland which was very cosy and a bit claustrophobic, but lots of fun and a fabulous audience; and then there was the old barge moored to a dock in Brighton UK – that was kind of interesting! I prefer to smaller intimate venues but it’s also a buzz playing to a full concert hall.

You have such an interesting background apart from your musical career (Judy works as a lawyer for legal aid in Victoria) and you have managed to juggle them both. How important has your interest in politics and the law been to your music?

My interest in politics and social justice has been vital to my music – it has shaped my songwriting from the beginning and I’ve never lost my passion for songs that have something to say. My interest in the law is just another corner of that same field. People tell me it’s a strange combination – law and folk music – but I see them as being absolutely connected. Both are about power and connections between people and those are the things that interest me politically.

If you could collaborate with any musician (living or dead), who would it be?

Well, I’ve actually had the enormous privilege of performing with Holly Near, with Ronnie Gilbert, with Margret Roadknight and with Frankie Armstrong – all of whom were idols of mine in the 1970s. They are women who sing songs that say powerful things, particularly about women and our place in the world. Of those I haven’t had the chance to collaborate with, apart from Johann Sebastian Bach (!), I think it would be fascinating to write a few songs with someone like Paul Kelly or Missy Higgins.

What made you fall in love with folk music? What musicians did you grow up listening to?

I always say that the reason I’m a folkie rather than a rock ‘n’ roller is historical – “Go Tell it on the Mountain” means a lot more to a ten year-old than “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction”! I just loved the sound of folk music – the harmonies, the fact that the songs told stories and I could understand the words. The singers and bands I grew up with were The Seekers, Peter Paul & Mary, Joan Baez, Judy Collins, Joni Mitchell, Tina Lawton, Glen Tomasetti, Bob Dylan etc. I also listened to the Beatles and the Rolling Stones and Herman’s Hermits but I didn’t identify with that music the way I did with folk.

And finally, if you could give any advice to aspiring folk musicians out there, what would it be?

I’d say take no notice of old folksingers who think they know it all! But then I’d say that it’s important to be true to yourself and what feels right to you. You can choose to sing music you think will make you rich or you can sing what you love – not that those two are necessarily mutually exclusive! I would also say that success in the music scene is a combination of talent, practice, good luck and good management. But never forget that you started out playing music for fun.
Thanks so much Judy!

If you want to read more about Judy Small, head to http://www.judysmall.com.au/
You can purchase her music at the itunes store

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Local Brissy and Musicadium artist Birrallee Voices Inc have just scored themselves a swift $9600 after receiving a grant from Q150’s (Queensland’s 150th anniversary celebrations) community funding. The grant will fund a project where young Brisbane performers in seven regional areas encourage the development and creation of new choral works inspired by South Sea Islander Stories. More than $1.2 million was announced for local celebrations.
To keep up to date with all Birrallee Voices news head to http://www.birralee.org/

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Musicadium artist Here Come The Birds, have earnt a spot in the Tooheys Extra Dry UncharTED grand final. The Newcastle band, along with Melbourne band Pressure Radio, will play their hearts out at Sydney’s Oxford Art Factory for the chance to win a spot at Splendour In The Grass.

Chris Stanton from Here Come The Birds, is stoked, admitting that “most of my friends and family have hardly slept over the last month. I had old mates call me up from school that I hadn’t spoken to in ages, telling me they’ve got all their family voting every hour for us. It’s fantastic! I think just about everyone from Newcastle has rallied behind us.”

And so they should! The winner not only gets to play on Splendour’s main stage, they also score a wicked indie music package that includes everything from managment advice to studio time.

To vote, go here.

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