BATS magazine

We recently received an email from Rafal (I'm afraid I would have an asthma attack if I attempted to pronounce his last name) and loved his illustrations to bits. We asked him a few questions to get to know him better. Please scroll down and have a look at his work, then visit his online portfolio, print out his pictures and stick them on your wall. 

They should visit it at least four times a day.

Thanks to AXXONN we have [2x] DOUBLE PASS + a copy of their brand new LP to giveaway!

To enter, simply email win@batsmagazine.com with the subject as "BELOW THE DEAD ONES" along with your full name. ***THIS COMPETITION HAS NOW ENDED***

What were the reasons behind putting your LP on cassette tapes? I know my walkman is long gone...
Cassettes are beautiful objects; I loved them a lot when I was younger and still do with the memories still being fond and vivid. Back in 1989 I got a Walkman and ‘Smash Hits ‘89’ on Cassette, on it was the Mötley Crüe single ‘Dr. Feelgood’ I listened to that endlessly, re-winding and listening again and again until soon after the tape was completely stuffed, since that Christmas I’ve always loved tapes and always loved Mötley Crüe so it’s only fitting that I have a few cassette released throughout my career (we’re also cheating a little as they all come with a download coupon for the mp3’s).

How will this LP compare to the one you released last year?
This Cassette is about embracing the underlying drone held within most of our tracks, teasing it out like an untamed beast whilst trying not to let it bite you and then letting it loose at the most inappropriate time through a few too many distortion pedals.

What was the recording process like for this LP? What's it like recording with
local Brisbane label Bedroom Suck Records, is it very DIY?
Basically this album came together why I (Tom) was in San Francisco over the last 4-months of last year. I had a bunch of stuff that needed to be brought together sonically, I moved in with a guy Scott Arford (a super prominent sound/video artist for like the last 20 years) who had the most amazing studio chocked full of insane analog gear, he threw me the keys to his studio and said take it for a drive, at first I thought I can’t touch this expensive analog hardware, but soon temptation got the better of me (and the cold weather) so I pretty much turned it all on at once (it heated the studio up considerably) and got to work making what I feel are some of my most accomplished drone orientated tracks to date.

Bedroom Suck Records, fucking awesome dudes and perfectly DIY, I am super stoked that these tracks are being put out by Joe and not some schmuck who wants to make a quick buck but someone who has a genuine passion for the sound AXXONN creates. Joe embraces everything that is awesome about DIY, the choice to make something unique and on a personal level, I’m super into this release and 110% behind Bedroom Suck Records!

What can we expect at the launch next Saturday?
A ridiculous amount of amplification, a smoke machine, a small spotlight and more distortion pedals than you could poke a stick at in Tyms Guitars. But all that aside, some big heavy euphoric sound to nod your head to…

Where can our readers get their hands on the cassette after your launch?
The best bet is to support Bedroom Suck Records direct by hitting Joe up on their myspace (http://www.myspace.com/bedroomsuckrecords) and he’ll get one to you ASAP and probably with a big smile, failing that you can go to Rocking Horse or www.axxonnband.com - but definitely hit Joe up first.

What are AXXONN's plans for the rest of the year?
AXXONN has some rad international supports coming up in Brisbane with ISIS and HEALTH, both fantastic bands from Los Angeles. Then we hit Japan for a couple of festival slots in Tokyo. Mid year sees our debut full-length LP coming out in the UK so from then onwards AXXONN will be on the road with tours in the USA, EU, UK and then back to the USA. We pretty much won’t have time to breathe from July onwards. But man I will miss Brisbane…it’s the best city in the World!!


And lastly, what's it like to share your band name with one of the leading manufacturers of Patio Furniture?
As it happens I dig the shit out of patio furniture, I mean there’s been numerous BBQ’s I’ve attended where it’s become the basis for the bonfire, keeping everyone warm, why wouldn’t you be proud? I mean I wonder if they’re David Lynch fans too?!

AXXONN play The Step Inn next Saturday February 13 w/  Blank Realm, Heart Flew Like An Arrow and Per Purpose. Tickets are $5 on the door.

AXXONN will also be supporting HEALTH at The Stepp Inn on Thursday Febuary 25.

Recently, Kelsey and Emily caught up with Frederick from DATAROCK when they were on their European tour. Frederick gave us some minutes of his time so we could chat to him about their soon to be Australian tour, how Australian crowds compare to European crowds and whether or not he would let Barack Obama use one of their songs in an ad campaign. 

Hey it's Fredrik

Hey, how are you?

Good thanks, how are you? It's early morning in Australia?

It's so early. I worked last night, so please bear with me.

It's late night here, it's a 9 hour time difference, so yeah, it's late here in Norway.

How are you feeling? Are you feeling alright?

Yeah I am, we've been touring for around three months. In North America, and Norway. 50 shows over three months.

Yeah, we see you're currently touring Europe, is there a country you haven't played in yet that you would like to?

You know what, we've never played in New Zealand. But we've come to Australia five times so far (laughs). Yeah I guess New Zealand, out of all the countries we haven't played in before. We've only played in 31 countries.

What about Antarctica, would you play there?

If given the opportunity, yes.

The last time you were in Australia was not too long ago actually, have you had the chance to "cuddle a koala" or do any other typical tourist-y things on your Australian tours?

We've never tried surfing in Australia for some reason, I don't think we've spent enough time on the beach.... we all got sun burnt at the Gold Coast though. In Sydney Harbour, we went to the aquarium and we got a picture taken there, it's on our Myspace.

You're coming back to our shores early next year for the Falls Festival and Sunset Sounds, are you excited to be playing the festivals along with some of the other acclaimed artists such as Moby and Yeah Yeah Yeahs?

Yeah, I mean, you know it sounds like a perfect set up for us. Yeah I think, hopefully we should see the same audience.

We see your also playing some sideshows in Sydney and Melbourne, but unfortunately not in Brisbane, which is a shame since we heard your last show with Art vs Science was killer, what's it like playing with Australian bands?

Yeah, we played like three or four shows with them. Yeah, those guys are great. When we DJ we play their songs, we think they are great. That's one of the great things about being on tour actually, you get to know the other act. In Brisbane, we don’t have a sideshow. I have NO clue why.

There's pretty much never any sideshows in Brisbane. We're a sleepy little town.

We have played in Brisbane before on our tours, at a place, I think it's called The Zoo?

Yeah that's the place.

Yeah that's where we played last time. But anyway, my daughter has a best friend, they're almost like twins, they've been playing together since they were born, but in fact she just moved to Brisbane, so my little kid is coming with me on tour and we are going to stay there for three days.

Oh, how old is your daughter?

She's three and a half.

Does she listen to your music, does she like it?

Yes she does, but like a lot of other people, she only listens to Fa Fa Fa. She listens to it over and over. She doesn't listen our other songs as much as Fa Fa Fa. Yeah, I dunno, the kid seems to like it, everyone likes Fa Fa Fa, I don't know what’s going on.

Yeah I think I listened to it when I was fourteen, I remember it being one of my favourite songs at the time.

Yeah, it's really funny. But it's also a favourite of older people. I dunno, it's something about the funky song that just works for three minutes.

How do Australian crowds compare to European crowds?

Oh, Australian crowds are the best crowds. That's the bottom line. Australia was the first country where we played for a massive audience, we played for 25,000 people in Sydney. We've done 650 shows, and our favourite shows would be the American music festival and the shows we did at The Hi Fi bar in Melbourne. There's something about the Australian audience that just, well, I think Australian people like to party the way we like to party.

Your music has been used for a lot of ad campaigns, are there any companies you would like your music to be used for? Say If Barack Obama wanted to use your song "Sex Me Up" in one of his campaigns, would you let him?

(laughs) Sure, if he wanted to. One of the things we find funny about Fa Fa Fa, is that the chorus of that song is, it's kinda depressing, you know: "Cause I'm gonna ride fast, going nowhere, cause I left my pride in the past, I'm gonna ride fast, to where I don't care"
It's kind of negative. If you want to brand your fucking product with that so be it, be my guest. Another funny story is, the number one beer brand in Argentina, which is the country with 200 million people, this beer brand, they wanted to brand their fucking beer with the song "Princess" with the chorus being: "Princess! You got prince ASS, you got a prince of an ass" It's so fucking stupid! If someone wanted to use our songs, you know, that's fine. But you know, our songs are used in an unprecedented number of video games, like Sims 2 and Sims 3, and like four different Fifa games. I mean more than 260 million people have been exposed to Datarock through a videogame.

Your songs have been featured heavily in the game Sims, have you ever actually played the game?

The Sims? Have I ever played The Sims?... Well yes. But have we ever played The Sims on stage? That's a little bit too much. I don't really care about synthesisers or anything, I really care about making songs, the synthesisers are just part of the production. We don't play games much, we travel with toys such as keyboards. The ones you can buy online for like 100 dollars. That's the kind of toys we like.

Have you ever caught your mothers out dancing to your tracks? What do they think of your success?

(laughs) I guess I have seen my mother dancing with my daughter at one of my shows. You know, she's very happy. Yeah they're all very proud, everybody thinks it's very absurd. We started Datarock as a fun, little stupid project, but that took us around the world.

Well thanks for talking to us Fredrik, we hope you have fun on your Australian tour.

I hope you're coming to the show.

We are actually, to Sunset Sounds, so we'll see you there.

Datarock are heading back to Australian shores at the end of this month for The Falls festival and early next year for Sunset Sounds. Get your tickets to Sunset Sounds ASAP as they are selling out fast - easily the best festival this summer in our opinion. 
www.sunsetsounds.com.au

Congratulations to Alice Rezende and David Raywood who both won tickets to the Sunset Sounds festival for having the best costumes at our last party.

We recently caught up for a chat with Ed Lay from British indie rock sensation EDITORS.

Releasing their album In This Light and On This Evening last month, Editors have branched from their traditional records that heavily featured dark guitar work, and have moved to a new electronic sound that is bound to match their previously successful chart toppers.

Currently touring around Europe, Editors are already enjoying the success of their new album. However they are set to return to our shores early next year for The Falls festival and Sunset Sounds, plus some sideshows in Melbourne and Sydney.

Rachael talked to Ed about their new album, touring Australia, buying cheap pants and Twilight. 

Of course, yeah! Well thank you very much, that’s very kind. We’re really proud actually. It seems like the easiest album for us to put together. I don’t mean to sound lame but it felt so natural in the way it was all going. The sounds we were discovering, the way we’d play different songs together, picking up with [Producer] Flood, who is kind of spirit of it all I guess. We really, really enjoyed working on it.

Excellent. So, after the huge successes of your previous two albums, was there much pressure to create another chart topper?
I dunno, it’s funny because you don’t want to do worse then what you’ve done before, so there’s a little bit of internal pressure on you. But from the record label, absolutely not. They were very supportive in the way that we wanted to produce our records. They realise that we’re not necessarily a pop band, and we write songs that interest us. We like pop music, but we go about it in a slightly different, non-mainstream way. So we weren’t worried about trying to emulate success from what we’ve done previously, you know?

Yeah. Why did you decide to branch from what you’re typically known to play as “dark indie guitar rock” to something more electronic?
We didn’t want to repeat ourselves. Early on, when we started to write some tunes for this record we felt like we were going down very much a similar path as the last record and I honestly don’t believe we would’ve had a record out this year if we had kept going that way. It would have felt like we were letting ourselves down and ripping up. So we decided we’d try and change the way we wrote, and use different instruments as starting points. And we were surprised and really excited about the direction it took.

I’ve read that for this new album you were determined to “give machines a human feel”. If you could, what machine or device would you give emotions to and why?
(Laughs) Um, fridges? I think? I think refrigerators because they kind of annoy me, you always misplace things that you really want to find. It’d be nice if the fridge went “Hey, hey, your forgetting that the chutney is at the back of the fridge”.

But then again, it could turn out disastrous.
Yeah, but then fridges could take care of their own cleanliness and that sort of thing.

Very true. But we wouldn’t want anymore depressed robots like in Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.
Exactly, exactly! What’s his name? Marvin, isn’t it?

Yeah!
Very depressed, that was it.

So last time you were in Australia, it was 2007.
It was winter! I thought that Australia was always hot. We have a very bland view on the world, coming from such a small very English part of the world. We always kind of think it boiling all the time, people wearing swimming costumes and all that sort of shit. But, it’s not like that. (Laughs) Bit miserable.

Well, it’s November and it’s 38 degrees now, so Australian weather is crazy. It doesn’t make up it’s mind. So how did you find the Australian crowds last time?
Really good, yeah! We didn’t spend a lot of time there, as it was a fairly quick visit, but Australia is really nice and I think the last time we were in Sydney we met some cool little people there. I think you can appreciate it when you make such a long journey to go out and see people, you know. And the response we had led us to believe that we ‘d have a really great time again.

Who would be your dream lineup?
I dunno, Yeah Yeah Yeahs? Thought they’d be good, they’re a cool band. And to finish it off let’s go for Sneaky Sound System.

What have been your best and worst onstage experiences?
Well, the worst one’s are always pretty boring, you know, when you’ve got angry band members because things get lost and stuff breaks or we’re just not having a very good one. But that doesn’t happen too often, we’re kind of lucky in that way, we’re pretty on it (and I feel awful for saying this in such a way) but we’re pretty well liked. We played our biggest ever headline show last year in Birmingham, which is our kind of hometown, and that was amazing. I was just kind of so into it, even though it was such a big venue, it was a big arena. And usually I like more intimate settings where you can see faces and clouds, but I loved it. I loved having so many people come out to see us. It was a real moment for me.

Do you guys have any band rituals (no matter how weird or cult-like they may be) before going onstage or recording?
All we do is do a really lame little fist bump…that’s all. It’s so pathetic! But it kind of feels like if we didn’t do it…it’d be pretty awful. Superstitions are funny aren’t they? You often seem to find a reason why something’s bad like that.

Exactly. Now, what are the perks you’ve taken advantage of with, I guess your fame?
Oh, well I wouldn’t say we’re famous.

Or, with knowing the right people?
With my job, I get to see a lot of stuff, and I get to travel the world, which is really awesome. And have a wonderful time pretty much doing whatever. I can’t describe what a privileged position we’re in, and nobody knows me! So I can go into like, Marcs & Spencer and buy my pants, and nobodies looking at me going “Ohh, he’s buying cheap pants”. You know it’s cool, I’m totally faceless. So I get all the good perks of being in a band, without the crappy bullshit.

Yeah, totally. Now, this is a bit of a controversial one, but do you believe Michael Jackson faked his own death?
(Laughs) Um… I don’t think that he could ever transform himself so fast. No wait, he’s done that once before.

Well, he went from being a black man to a white woman?
(Laughs) Well yeah, that’s true. I think, the people he hangs around with….well I was going to say they’re too stupid to keep there mouth shut but they’re probably very well paid.

If you throw enough money at someone they’ll definitely be able to keep their mouth shut.
Well yeah, exactly. I’m going to sit on the fence with this one. I’m going to say it’s definitely possible.

Alright, it’s time for some “would you rathers”. Would you rather: Whoopi Goldberg, or a whoopi cushion? Whoopi Goldberg.
Dumbledore or Aslan? Aslan, no question.
Team Jacob or Team Edward?

(Silence)

Team what?

You know, the Twilight series?
I’ve never watched it, no. I tell you what, one of our tracks is on the New Moon soundtrack but (laughs) other then that I don’t know anything about it.

That’s probably a good thing. Freddie Mercury or Freddie Krugar?
I’ve got a jumper that’s very similar to Freddy Krugar’s, so I’ll pick him.

Alchemy or alcohol? Alchemy. 

What do you guys want to achieve in the future? For example, world domination or knighthood?
I reckon we just wanna record again. That’s all we wanna do. We just want to record another album as soon as possible. Especially because it’s always tricky to get your touring scheduled, we tour a lot, I mean it’s obviously the best way to promote yourself, but we do tour an awful lot. 

Finally, what would you say to all the schoolyard bullies/non believers/doubters about your success?
(Laughs) Fuck you! (laughs some more) Everybody remembers hanging around with idiots in school or whatever, with people being so ignorant about everything when you’re at a certain age. But you know I probably was too, I was an ass. So I’d totally take it on the chin if some one came back to me and said “go eff off” or whatever.

Editors will be playing at The Falls festival and at Sunset Sounds.
We have one double pass to giveaway to the Sunset Sounds festival for both days. 

But we are going to make you work for it.
Come to our next BATS party dressed in costume - best dressed wins the pass
details here

words and interview by Alice Rezende

If your ears are still whistling out the deafness from the weekend past, and your brain in due need of a musical breather (who knew brains could breathe in the first place), then look no further. Here at BATS, we have scoped out just what you need: a pair of sweet-looking faces armed with some seriously sweet-sounding melodies. Meet Jordan Wilson and Ben Riley, the tight duo behind Georgia Fair.

Sydney's freshest story of young and uninterrupted musical success (minus the Australian Idol motherly push), Georgia Fair has just released their self-titled debut EP and will be touring around Australia in November with both Kate Miller-Heidke and Whitley with their breezy folk rock goodness and impressive vocals.

Inspired by an interesting mix of cult artists (how does Fleetwood Mac and Simon & Garfunkel sound?), these two down-to-earth cute-as-hell guys gave us a minute (or two) of their time to talk about their upcoming tour, green tea and what costumes they will be wearing for Halloween.

Hey guys. What have you been up to lately?
We’ve been pretty busy playing shows, getting out there to promote our new album, all steam ahead!

Yeah, I mean your self-titled debut EP has just come out last week. How do you feel about the outcome?
It feels really refreshing I think. I mean it’s a relief to finally get it out there, you know, we have been playing together for a few years now, and to finally get our material released feels really great.

How long did it take you to settle on the material for the album?
Oh, not too long actually – we kind of just sat down in a room for a few weeks and whipped out a bunch of tracks we had for a while and then decided on a good set of seveb songs and just went from there.

You're about to tour Australia with some big names. What do you think it will be like?
I think we’re going to learn a lot, and it will definitely be a great experience, I mean some of the venues we’re going to get to play at are pretty amazing...

I heard it's a dream for you to play at Sydney's Enmore Theatre...
Yeah it is, it’s going to be pretty intense! I don’t think it’s quite sunk in yet.

But hang on. What if Kate Miller-Heidke turns out to be a real demanding diva and asks you to get her hot green tea (no sugar), PRONTO, at 12.30 a.m.? Would you do it?
(laughs) We probably would.

Hang on, hang on. But WHAT IF... what if Whitley asked you to comb his hair and give him a neck massage before each and every show...
(laughs) He’d have to ask us in a really charming way.

Fair enough. Your single 'Picture Frames' has featured in a Big M [flavoured iced milk] ad. If you could choose anything in the world to sponsor on TV next, what would it be?
Oh, man... probably green tea.

Nice! Kate would dig that.
She’d probably think we’re cool and join us.

Are you mentally and physically prepared for the teenage cult-like mass admiration you will inflict in dozens of young girl's hearts?
Unfortunately yes, I think we may just be.

Are you mentally and physically prepared for a dustorm?
Yes, I [Ben] have recently survived one and it was quite the distinct experience. So yeah, definitely ready for my next one.

‘Another one fights the dust?’
Bring it on.

Which modern music artists inspire you?
The first obvious choice would probably be Josh Pyke, he’s always influenced us with his similar minded-sound. Ted Mulry is one from a while back; he gave us the inspiration to really get out there. Also Angus & Julia Stone are quite big on me, I like them a lot.

If your individual personality was a dish (who said they aren't?), which dish would they be?
Jordan would be the menu, because he eats a lot. No, okay... Jordan’s personality is definitely some kind of spicy dish, maybe a chicken Thai green curry. I would say I am an apple crumble.

How does green curry and apple crumble go together?
It’s nice, I mean, you can start your dish with a bit of spice, have a sip of water, and finish off with the sweet apple crumble. Works really well.

You will grace us Brisbanians on a Friday 13th of November at QPAC with Kate Miller-Heidke. Do you think that is a sign of good luck?
Ah, no. I mean! We’re trying to stay positive, because I’m [Ben] really superstitious actually.

But it may be your best performance yet?
We work pretty well when we are going against the odds, so maybe?!

In a scale of 1 to 10 (where 1=shit and 10='da raddez kidz'), what would you rate the Brisbane crowd?
The kids were great the last time we played there. Although there was one guy that yelled stuff out at us, so we’re giving it a 9.

Any more awesome video clips on the horizon?
We hope so! The last one was sponsored by Sony, so hopefully we can do that again soon.

And, lastly, what are you boys dressing up as in Halloween?
I’m [Ben] dressing up as a pumpkin. Jordo doesn’t really dress up, but I’m making him put on a ghost costume/bedsheet over his head to scare off little children. If not he can go as a curry. Yeah I’ll make him wear a curry. I’ll throw one at him.

Georgia Fair's debut EP is available now at JB Hi-Fi, iTunes and Bandit.FM.

But thanks to Sony Music we have five copies of the EP to giveaway to our readers!
To win, email win@batsmagazine.com with the subject as 'PICTURE FRAMES' with your full name and address.

--- competition has now ended ---