|
 Section editor DENIS SEMCHENKO takes a look at some of GEARED’s highlights of 2011.
Whoa, it still hasn’t sunk in for me that 2011 is over – it feels like it went too fast. Still, it was a rather exhilarating ride. Not to say it was always smooth going: the year started with devastating floods which not only wreaked havoc on Brisbane, Toowoomba and much of the state, but also led to the cancellation of the long-awaited Jon Spencer Blues Explosion gig at The Zoo. For this music junkie, January (and February) signalled a different kind of a flood – the flood of activity: countless live gigs and festivals, outstanding instrumental showcases left, right, front and centre and of course, chatting to musicians about their art and sonic weapons.
One of the pros of being Geared editor and living in Brisbane is the ease of arranging a face-to-face meeting with pretty much any local muso. Thus, the pub convo with the merry men of The Good Ship – who talked about unconventional instruments like the lagerphone (“belted the crap out of!”) and the mandola – was an absolute corker and my favourite interview of February.
Among March’s highlights was a lengthy phoner with the globe-trotting blues guitar virtuoso Wolf Mail – I’ve heard plenty of musicians talk in a rather animated manner about their favourite instruments, but the free-roaming Wolf man set the bar high while discussing his cherished Fender Telecaster (in order to obtain which he asked his housemate to front him several weeks of rent).
April marked my first visit to Brisbane muso central … Kennards storage facility in Milton (where I later spotted a pissed-off-looking Andrew Stockdale), which turned out to be swarming with bands after 6pm. In a pretty rare case of a musician showing off their entire gear arsenal to a media representative, Seals’ (then called Baby Seal Club) guitarist/bassist Euan Bruce regaled me with a whole range of modified old synths, drum machines and (yep!) children’s toys that turned out to be fully-functional, perfectly modern-sounding electronic instruments.
Traditionally my favourite Australian festival and the best Easter weekend anywhere, Byron Bay’s Bluesfest brought scorching six-string displays by blues legend B.B. King, Tex-Mex veterans Los Lobos and slide expert Derek Trucks and plenty of face-melting pedal steel work by Robert Randolph. The annual Brisbane Guitar Show in May had lots of axe-candy on offer – along with some OTT shredding from the quad-guitar master Michael Angelo Batio – and I got to learn a bunch of chords on a ukulele. Thanks, B(risbane)U(kulele)M(usicians)S(ociety)!
For Rave’s landmark 1000th issue, I chatted to Greg Dodge – one of Q Music’s founders and the person without whom Brisbane wouldn’t have a music network as we know it. The local industry stalwart talked my ear off in the best possible way, his stories about the ‘90s alternative music boom, Pangaea and events at the Festival Hall making me wish I was born a decade earlier.
Out of the year’s conferences/conventions, Brisbane’s own Big Sound in September was by far the most exhilarating and exhausting, with legendary promoter Michael Chugg – who never minces words – stealing the event and out-swearing last year’s guest Michael Gudinski in the process. That month, I also got to talk to one of my heroes – Icehouse’s Iva Davies, who turned out to be a real gentleman and an engaging conversee. Some of the things we discussed were (in no particular order): Pink Floyd’s Dark Side Of The Moon in quadrophonic sound; Fairlight computers (and the modern-day iPad app); an acclaimed Tangerine Dream vinyl from 1976; early electronic music in general. A lifelong music geek, Iva shared how the percussion on the song Icehouse was recorded – he used a paper-covered cardboard box and a knife to obtain the distinctive “punching” effect.
Over the course of 2011, I’ve conducted the bulk of my face-to-face muso interviews at Junk Bar in Ashgrove, with sonic craftsmen like Distaudio’s Heath Friend, The Boat People’s Charles Dugan (who happily talked music-fan stuff – The Beatles, Queen, Hendrix) and My Fiction’s James Laubscher (who enthusiastically touted his customised rig and switching system) coming to mind.
As ever rich on live music, the year also saw this tireless editor fly down to Sydney twice to see Australian icons The Church – first at the sold-out Opera House concert in April, then at Homebake earlier this month (which also boasted fabulous sets by Icehouse, The Triffids and Nick Cave’s hairy, lairy Grinderman). And only last week, I witnessed a magnificent performance by Texan post-rock stalwarts and one of my key influences Explosions In The Sky at The Hi-Fi.
On that delay-soaked note, I wish you a Merry musical Christmas (or, as Richard Cheese sings, “Happy Hanukkah if you’re a Jew”) and a Happy New Year!
GEARED will be back in 2012 with even more musician’s goodness.
|
| Comments are submitted for possible publication on the condition that they may be edited. Poster's IP addresses are logged. |
|
Be first to comment on this article
