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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Sarah was lucky enough to catch up with the boys for a chat about 80s cartoons, funky mo-hawked punters and the process of shakin’ your booty.

Congrats on having your single ‘I Came Alive’ featured on JJJ unearthed.

Thankyou. We are absolutely stoked to hear it out there.

What are some Australian acts that you are excited about?

The Galvatrons give us a red-cordial rush whenever we see them. They make us feel like we’re five again and we’ve got up extra early Saturday morning, snuck a box of cocopops out of the cupboard and have settled in for a whole morning of cartoons like Transformers, Thundercats and Voltron.

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

We’ve got some different opinions among us on this one!

Given the opportunity, Ant would love to collaborate with Kid Koala. He literally opened his mind to a new interpretation of music and song-writing. He’s not sure exactly how we would collaborate but he’d give it a try.

Marto would love for Hercules in NY to do collaboration with Kelis. Marto says she is one of the best female pop singers of his short life. “Caught out There”, that pop track with a furious Kelis railing at men “I hate you so much right now” not only introduced him to the Neptunes but also the incredibly subversive rawness of her female anger fascinates him in that song. However generally its more her laid back funky side that Marto is attracted to.

Where would you love to play a gig? Have you ever played at any unorthodox venues?

This one’s a little hard. Our ideal venue has a good live feel with a big sound, but also plenty of room for people to shake their behinds. Maybe The Palace in Melbourne (formerly Metro) because it encompasses both those ideals. Whenever we’ve played festivals in the past, they’ve proven ideal, as it’s an open and free area and everyone is supercharged from the atmosphere.

As per unorthodox venues, it depends on your definition of unorthodox. Probably playing “Bang”, a hardcore and punk night in Melbourne was the most idiosyncratic gig we played. We cleared the room, despite one funky punter with a mohawk and chain from his nose who seemed to really dig it.

We’d also love to hire out a truck and drive around Melbourne playing gigs out the back until the cops tell us to move on.

Are there any instruments or pieces of equipment that you’d love to master or experiment with?

Ant says: My personal desire is to have at least one solo per gig on a Keytar. Something powerful like the Roland Ax-1 or Ax-7. I’ve always wanted to fit in with the always popular guitarists and bass players.

Marto says: Serato, I’d love to sample people before a gig on an mp3 recorder and then scratch what they say live that night.

What has been the best live show that you have seen and why?

Ant says: Daft Punk. Last Year. Myer Music Bowl. For two blissful hours in my life, I felt 100% content. It was the perfect synthesis of audio and visual elements, I can’t endeavour to explain it any better than that!
Marto says: I saw Hexstatic do a massive VJ show, followed by Amon Tobin go absolutely crazy on the BPM’s mixing hard jazzy dnb with anything he could get his hands on.

What are your plans for the next few months? Any plans to come up to sunny QLD?

We are focusing on recording some new songs we have in the works, and look at having a product on the digital shelves before the end of the year.

We just went to sunny Darwin for the Bass in the Grass festival…we would love to come to sunny Q’ld too. We will be doing some shows later in the year to coincide with our release, so we hope to see you up there!

You are known for having a great time on stage and for dancing up a storm – how should one dance to Hercules in NY?

“Like No One is Watching!” especially considering none of us are terribly good dancers. Or…..like they did in the 1980’s – the ‘run on the spot’ dance. Or….maybe you could hang out for some type of cue from the music, allegorical or otherwise, and try and interpret it through body movements. We really don’t have it down to a science. Not yet!

Thanks so much for your time! Can’t wait to hear more great stuff from you guys!

Cheers and Thank YOU! – Hercules in NY

Check them out at JJJ

http://www.triplejunearthed.com/Artists/

Available on itunes

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It is with the utmost of pride that we feature Brisbane’s very own Kate Bradley as our Musicadium artist of the week. This year Kate was invited to showcase her unique brand of rock ‘n’ roll at the infamous South by South West festival in Austin, Texas and has just released her album, ‘The Deeper the Sand’, which is proudly distributed by Musicadium. Her name is synonymous with powerful and engaging rock music that is difficult to pigeon-hole, so we won’t attempt to as her music speaks (or rather sings) for itself. Keep you eyes and ears on Kate Bradley – because the world is taking notice of this local girl, and with extremely good reason.

Firstly, Congratulations on your album, ‘The Deeper the Sand’. You played a sold-out show at the Troubadour in Brisbane to celebrate, how did that go?

Thank you. The launch was sold out and I was most stoked about the turn-out and support.
It was a special night and everything just went smoothly. I have a great band supporting me now. They are all just incredibly talented musicians and we have so much fun together, and I think that allowed the show to just be that much more exciting and enjoyable.

You have been compared to PJ Harvey, Cat Power and other highly successful and influential artists, who were you listening to when you were a teenager?

Well I got into PJ Harvey when I was 13 and Cat Power in my twenties. I hadn’t really heard of Cat Power and then someone said I sounded like her. So, I gave her a listen and really liked her music.
I don’t really know if these artists are my most influential but people seem to say this all the time. Women are always compared to other female artist. I actually grew up listening to David Bowie, Bob Dylan, Pink Floyd, The Ramones, Kate Bush, U2 and Fleetwood Mac. What really influences me in my writing is just my day-to-day experiences on the planet. But we can’t help but look for the familiar and draw comparisons with things.

Who do you feel are some exciting artists that are emerging as we speak?

• The Westministers (ed. Note - also distributed by Musicadium!)
• The Art of State

You were recently invited to perform at SXSW festival in Texas this year, how was that experience?

SXSW was one of the best experiences in my life. It was hard-work but really rewarding. I have more connections with US and UK music representatives then I do here. I found the US and UK industry people really approachable and interested in what I was doing. We had a ball playing the shows.
I love the USA so it just was such fun! I got to see my sister who lives there too. Anyone who gets selected for SXSW should go. I had great support from AUSTRADE too. All my shows were packed and well received.

Who were your favourite artists that you saw perform there?

• Martha Wainwright
• Paul Kelly
• Nada Surf

Where would your ideal venue be to play?

Love to play the Tivoli and at The Dandy Warhol’s pad in Portland.

What are your plans for the next few months in terms of touring?

We will be performing regionally in QLD and NSW and then down to Melbourne in August (22-24)
I guess I’m also looking at doing more things OS too if possible.

Thanks so much for your time, Kate.

Check out Kate’s album, ‘The Deeper the Sand’ and see for yourself why she has been named by local and international music industry professionals as an artist to watch.

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From the classic Numa Numa video, to Tay Zonday and the Daft Dancers, it’s a clip that brings back memories of much time and download quota wasted.

It’s also been a monster smash.  Everyone is talking and writing and blogging about it.  At almost 7 million views and counting, it won’t do any harm to the album’s sales.

Everyone’s trying to go viral.  Every band wants 7 million views of their song.  But it took the gusto of Weezer to do the clip right and set the bar for other bands trying to generate similar interest.

Watch the clip here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muP9eH2p2PI

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Curt Emerton who is responsible for the guitars, bass and all other sound effects took the time to answer some questions for us on Pink Flloyd, music as a therapeutic experience, and even the possibility of kazoos making an appearance on the next album.

There has been a lot of resistance to instrumental music in the popular arena, why do you think that is? Do you see this changing?

Curt Emerton (guitars / bass / noises) – Most people want a simple melody and and a lyric to hang their hearts on, and that’s cool. I love that too. But I think the acceptance for instrumental music is growing. Certainly seeing an instrumental act live, an obvious example being Mogwai, can change your perception about the need for lyrics. It was really heartening to see Explosions In The Sky sell out The Zoo earlier this year. I’m in no way comparing us to them, but you look around and think “wow, people are really into this”. Instrumental music is more of a visceral experience. It really feels that way to me anyway – playing it and listening to it.

What would be your favourite instrumental track of all time?

CE – That’s a really tough question. It would change every week. From the past, the version of “A Saucerful Of Secrets” from Pink Floyd’s “Live In Pompeii” is pretty hard to top. Technically, there IS singing, but David Gilmour is using his voice more as an instrument than trying to get his point across through words. More recently, I am loving a song called “Controle” (sic) by a New Zealand band called Jakob.

If you could collaborate with any vocalist (living or dead) who would you choose?

CE – Jeff Buckley was an amazing vocalist and could suit some of the stuff I am currently demoing. Robert Smith would be another one, although his voice is so instantly recognisable, people would immediately think it’s a new Cure song.

What drew you to creating instrumental music rather than vocal-based music?

CE –The material that is on “Traces” really lent itself to having no vocals. I initially had a hard time convincing even Mat (Wilton – drums/percussion) about the instrumental direction of “Traces”. But it wasn’t a conscious decision to head this way, it kind of just happened. But as we write and play new material, it now just feels comfortable doing it this way. People come and see you, and by the second song, they get where you are coming from. If anything, it allows them to focus on the music more too. But, and I’ve said this before, we’re not saying we’ll never use vocals. You never know…

You have mentioned that the EP ‘Traces’ has a lot of parallels to a life-changing experience that occurred in your personal life. Do you sometimes find music that you have written about an emotional time difficult to listen to or do you feel that the whole process is cathartic and therapeutic?

CE – The process is more cathartic and therapeutic I think. Weirdly enough, given some of the emotional ties to some of the “Traces” material, the songs are a lot of fun to play live. It’s weird balancing act. While you never forget the origins of the songs, you have to move on from those feelings too. Otherwise, you’ll go around in circles.

Where would your ideal venue and location be to play at?

CE – I’ve always loved the Tivoli. It’s a great room and the crowd capacity is just right. Doing something really left of centre would be cool, like playing in a cave! Anywhere where there is a good room and pa, I am more than happy.

And finally, are there any really strange or exotic instruments that you would love to experiment with? Can we expect to hear some kazoo’s on the next album?

CE – I haven’t thought of using a kazoo. That’d be very cool, filtering it through massive washes of delay. I guess a sitar would nice to fool around on too. Something about the sound of those things really gets to me. I’d love to use a toy piano on something. Any instrument in the right situation can work. Mat has some exotic drums at home, and I think he is quietly itching to break out some of those. But I just love playing guitar so much, even though I’m an average player. I’m still pretty keen to see what sounds I can wrestle out of that.

Check out The Sea Shall Not Have Them at www.myspace.com/theseashallnothavethem

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