Portal Lyon- Home of the underground

Today on the way home from my internship I went and paid a visit to Portal Lyon in Providencia. I guess you would say the main parts of Providencia are shopping centres, hotels and restaurants. Portal Lyon is a bit different though. Whilst it's right next door to a Fallabella department store, it is really a whole world apart.

The reason I went there was to pay a visit to a bloke named Greg. He is an Australian guy who moved here about 5 years ago. Our good friend José Miguel collects little cars- matchbox, hot wheels etc. He has almost a whole room full of them at his house. So this guy Greg has a shop selling matchbox cars. I was hoping I would see some of the cars from my childhood, but my memory is a bit hazy to know what exactly I had. I know I had a Mercedes that was blue, a formula 1 car and a smashed up Porsche.

What he did have in the shop however, was the exact track I had as a kid, there was no doubting that. I realised I actually had two different tracks, this one- the beach style, which include a looping wave, and another one that had a loop followed by a jump. I didn't buy anything today, but that's not to say that won't be different in the future...What I really wonder is if my collection from my younger years is still around somewhere back in Bega.

So anyway I talked to him for a while, I was wearing my Raiders hat, and he showed me he had a Roosters bag (no me gusta!!!!). Then his friend from next door came in, that guy runs a music shop, mainly selling posters and some t-shirts, we got talking and he asked if I liked Toe To Toe. I said I did, and he said I was the first person he had met that liked Toe To Toe.

Then he told me he was in a band and they were playing on Thursday. So I will go and check it out, it's in Bellavista at Bar Uno. The band is called Bajo Tierra. He said they are just starting out, but he has been in quite a few other bands including Dentro De Nada who I have a feeling I have heard of before.

In saying that, I just realised I may have double booked myself. I have signed up to play in a pickup soccer match, using a website called Jogabo. I really like the idea of this website, which basically allows you to sign up for pick up games throughout the world. So they are having a game on Thursday night and proceeds of that will go to charity. So I will probably play in that. It doesn't start til 10pm, but the show probably doesn't start til even later. The guy in the shop, Juan Carlos he said it started at 10, but you can never be sure exactly what that means in Chile.

So anyway, the rest of this little shopping centre, Portal Lyon is filled with similar kinds of shops. Video games, tattoo parlours, skate shops, more shops selling shirts, records, CDs, tickets, etc. As I was walking around the circular pathway, I got thinking- I wonder how a shop selling Footbags would go...

By the time I got to the bottom I decided it would go pretty badly. As I continued my walk home a guy came up to me. He looked a bit shady and I was a bit concerned about being robbed. I think he wanted a light for a cigarette, or money to get cigarettes. I'm not too sure really, but I didn't have and wouldn't give him either if I did. There were no troubles and I continued on my way.

Tomorrow night will be the final of the Copa Sudamericana. "La U" won the first leg in Ecuador 1-0, even though LDU Quito had not lost there for a number of years in Copa Sudamericana games. They are in pretty hot form, and I have a feeling they are yet to lose a game since I arrived in Chile.

Parkway Drive- Club 334, Santiago de Chile

I have seen a fair few videos on Youtube of the Parkway Drive show a couple of nights ago- I think it is imperative to see them in another country- particularly one that doesn't speak English to see just how big they have become.

It's all well and good to play the big festivals, but a real test is to play in a country that speaks a different language, for the first time, and from what I could see, not a lot of advertising. Dad said he saw some advertising for their show in Argentina, but I definitely did not see any at all for the show here. It was similar when we saw Machine Head and Sepultura, I only saw any advertisements about one block away from the venue.

Funnily enough, the two different venues were only a couple of blocks away, on the same street. I guess that is a bit of poor form, we've been here for a month and only seen two shows, both of "big" bands. What was really weird though, at both shows is that there were no supports- I made a comment to someone that Parkway Drive would never had got anywhere if it weren't for some generous bands giving them a hand over the years- particularly with support slots. For me it has been a bit of a weird feeling- I'm getting old enough where I really don't care about the other bands and just want to get straight to the point, however I've just arrived in a foreign land, I want to check out some new bands, and international supports are often a great way to find out about a new band- as they are usually somewhere around the cream of the crop.

The video above (I didn't film it), it may make you feel a bit dizzy, but I think it shows exactly what the show was all about- apart from the inflatable beach balls, boats, crocodiles, but in general- flips off the speakers, everybody knowing all the worlds, and kids generally going crazy.

I do say kids, because most of the crowd seemed fairly young. It must be a weird feeling for Parkway Drive to turn up each night in somewhere far away from home, Serbia, China, tonight they play in Ecuador, and have the whole crowd screaming back at them- amazing to think about really, how a gang of surfer bums from Byron Bay could come so far, playing this aggressive style of music.

I had a lot of fun at the show, and I really hope they tour in South America again while we are still here- maybe they could bring some mates like Break Even and/or I Exist, now that would be a very fun show.

Thailand zine scene search

While sitting here getting some rest for my ankle, I started making some enquiries into the zine world of Thailand. I have only just started looking, but I came across a very interesting write up of a Terror show in Bangkok.

By the looks of it, Jagged Visions is a punk/hardcore zine from the Netherlands, and the main guy has a brother living in Bangkok. But anyway, some interesting points in there about the scene. I found a link to another website about Thai hardcore, but it hadn't been updated in a few months. The last link was to Relentless, from Sydney playing. They're not very good though.

I looked on Last FM and there is a death metal festival on in about a week from now. I don't think I could really handle from midday to midnight of death/black metal, it doesn't sound that much up my alley and I'd say we would be out of town.

I came across a couple of other travel zines about Thailand. I have the idea to do up a zine about our trip, but let's see. Anyhow, I will search for more on Thailand as the day goes on. Looks like Jonathan has arrived in town, possibly a couple of days ago. He wrote me a comment on facebook at 5am saying he had met some characters and gone out partying, good times. So maybe we will see him later in the afternoon...

One from the vault

Julian just posted up the long lost Condorcet cover of the Slowburn "classic" Take A Swing.

I decided I should put up the interview that I did with Sean, who also played in Condorcet, and now plays in Loveshy.

Most of the other guys who were in Slowburn play in I Exist, who you can scroll down the page slightly to see the interview I did with them a couple of weeks ago.

(I changed some stuff in the questions like "this year" became "last year"-sean)

1) To start with, who's in the band and what do they play
Aaron Drums, Sean and Sam guitar, Dave sings, Petey plays bass.

2) Slowburn has played with some really big name acts throughout last year (eg Terror, Mindsnare, Internal Affairs etc). Has there been a particular highlight in the Slowburn live experience?
Sean: For me our set with Miles Away at The Jamo was a favorite. I think mainly due to the atmosphere, for some reason all the lights were off so we were playing in almost darkness. Multiple circle pits and kids screaming along. I also really like playing house shows and sweating a whole lot during them.


3) When you changed the name from Top Gun to Slowburn, did this reflect a change in the original objectives of the band, to more of a serious project
Sean: The idea at the start was to play really short and fast youth crew inspired music. We had maybe 3 songs of that sort of stuff done pretty poorly. After that we branched out a bit I think while still playing hardcore. The name Top Gun was just a sort of silly name that Dave came up with as we needed a band name. We were getting sick of the whole top gun "omg like the movie?" thing so we changed it. I think we have always been a serious project, it's just that we wanted to change the name.


4) Your fan base has grown strongly in Canberra, and you have played a few shows outside Canberra... how have you been received being an "out of town band" when playing these shows
Sean:We haven't really played many shows at all out side of Canberra. Our first show in Sydney was a bit crap I remember. However the out of town show's we have played so far this year in Melbourne and Sydney have been much better. I think when your playing to people who don't know you it's kind of exciting and you just run yourself dead onstage maybe make an impression. Playing down the south coast is lots of fun to, it's pretty much an extended Canberra scene down there.

5) So you've recorded some songs for an EP...how is it sounding and what are the plans for its release?
Sean:It sounds really good to me. I really really like all of the songs on it, and it's pretty diverse. We did rough recordings of the songs before hand and I wasn't so siked on some of them, but after recording them properly they have come out sounding so big. Recording in a real studio is a new thing to us so it was kind of strange to us at first but the lady who recorded us was super at her job and put us at ease. Not sure exactly when it's going to be released but hopefully soon, it's all a matter of money and we are all really poor.



Here is the video to the song Sleepwalker.

6) Do you think the band is always improving, as this is the first serious band for most of you guys?
Sean:Well I think we have improved in bounds since we first jammed as all bands do. Me and Aaron have had a bit of experience with being in bands, but I think the way in which we operate and how things are going is a first for all of us. I definitely think that with each recording we have improved in song writing.


7) You've had a lot of opportunities this year with international supports etc, do you think if you were a band outside of Canberra you would get this opportunities at such an early stage of a band?
Sean:Probably not, if we were in say Sydney, I doubt that we would of got some of the international supports that we have. When we first started there was seriously only two or three bands that loosely fit into the hardcore category in Canberra which meant that there wasn't much choice if you wanted a local support. It's good to see that there are a few more now, it's not like there is a huge scene but it's definitely picking up.


8) Canberra has always had a serious problem with venues, why do you think the problem always continues and can you see any solution to it?
Sean;Well maybe not so much a problem with venues but all ages venues or licensed all ages venues. It is really frustrating to be under age and miss out on seeing bands, when they play an overage show that isn't attended as well as it could of been if all ages. Under age kids are what keep the scene thriving and it is vitally important for there to be an all ages venue that is hardcore friendly. I remember being so bummed when I was underage missing out on shows purely because of my age.
In Canberra we need someone with a clue and commitment to set up a medium sized allages venue. Sound Underground had so much potential for this but unfortunately the guy who ran it (while being a really nice guy) didn't have much of an idea how to operate a business. Jamison inn, while used as a venue for hardcore shows a lot in 2007, became increasingly hostile towards hardcore shows. And now the place is getting knocked down, so it's a no go anymore.

9) What are the best bands going around at the moment (international and Australian)?
Sean: Australian wise I am currently really into Pisschrist, Extortion and SJN. These bands are being just so much more hardcore that most pap out there. The emerging 'screamo' scene of bands like Eucalypt, Majorca, James Dean etc. has gotten me really siked on screamo in australia which was just about dead for sometime. Internationally, because I'm a heaps fruity dude, I have been getting heaps into Canadian indie like The Arcade Fire and Tegan and Sara.


10) Anyone to thank or anything else to add?
Thankyou Dan.

I put this interview in Issue #2 of Capital Eyes. The interview was dated, Feb 13, 2008.

The Arthouse to close

In somewhat sad news, though it's been coming a long time, one of the most supportive venues to hardcore/metal/punk/music in general is to close. Their not going out with a whimper though, they're going out with a bang.

Here's a sample of some of their final shows:

20th - Carpathian + Guests
21st - Depression + Straightjacket Nation + Bloody Hammer + Scratch N Sniff
22nd – Mid Youth Crisis + Conation + Extortion + The Gun Runners — Tix On Sale Friday 11th March @ The Arthouse Bar
23rd - Frenzal Rhomb [NSW] + Anchors + Party Vibes — Tix SOLD OUT
24th - Fuck Im Dead + Captain Cleanoff + The Kill + The Day Everything Became Nothing + Superfun Happyslide + Roadside Burial [SYD] + Garbage Guts + Die Pigeon Die [4Pm Start]
27th - The Nation Blue + A Death In The Family + Lungs [NSW] + Paper Arms [SA] – Tix On Sale Friday 11th March @ The Arthouse Bar
28th – Bodyjar + Away From Now + Daysworth Fighting – Tix On Sale Friday 11th March @ The Arthouse Bar
29th - Mindsnare + Samsara [Last Ever Show] + Against [QLD] + Iron Mind + Phantoms [SYD] – Tix On Sale Friday 11th March @ The Arthouse Bar

Last Ever Arty Show:
30th - H-Block 101 + The Hawaiian Islands + Fear Like Us + The Critics [WA]

So hopefully I can get down there for a few shows.

Ruiner

I did this interview ages ago, when Ruiner played in Canberra on their tour last year. Soon after the tour they announced they would break up. The interview also appeared in Capital Eyes issue #9.

I'm talking to Rob from Ruiner

You guys just played in Canberra at Bar 32, how'd it go?

It was good, wish it could have been a house, but you know, it's good not having to take the night off.

Have you always had this infatuation with George Michael?

No, I just the video on the screen while we were playing, I was entranced!

Ruiner toured Australia at the end of 2008. How did this tour compare to that one?

Pretty similar so far. The booking and managerial side of things was very different though. A friend of ours over here did all the bookings and another friend helped us with the paperwork side of things. There's no hostels this time around, no guaranteed accomodation.

Where are you guys staying tonight?

Somebody's friends house...I believe.

The band has put out an album pretty recently...how do you feel it compares to the other releases to you personally?

For me personally, I like it a lot better. I like it better than the last record. I don't know if I want to use the words “most honest”, but I guess you could say that about some of the songs. They reflect what I was feeling, what I was going through at the time.

A lot of the songs seem to have a lot of yourself put into them

I'm extremely conceited, yes, you got me. I have no other way to write a song. All the songs are from my experience. Writing something topical, I don't really like it, it's more likely to be scrapped. I may touch on politics but it's not something I actually write about. Apart from religion, there's no other topic I really like to pick at.

What's your political mindset?

I'd be pretty liberal. When it comes to gay rights, back home it's a big deal. Things like gay rights, it's incredible there's even conversation that it should be illegal. I guess I get a little iffy on things related to capital punishment. I see certain crimes in certain ways. Most of my family are from a police background. I guess some people might say that some of my views in regards to areas of the law are not so liberal.

What does your police family think of you being in a hardcore band?

My father is extremely liberal. As a matter of fact, some might say I'm more conservative than him. Everyone in the family has been very supportive of what I do most of the time. My Dad gives me shit, cost I'm always broke. I come home from tour, have to go to his house and find some way to try and get out of debt.

How does Ruiner fund their tours

We book all our own tours. Pretty much, when you're in Ruiner, the band will cover you to get there, then you're on your own from there.

When you come somewhere as far as Australia, how do you fund something like that?

The band will pay for it. We're pretty good with money as a band. As individuals, not so much. As the entity “Ruiner” we are good with money, we know what we're after. We can pull something together to go somewhere.

What's been the highlight of the tour so far?

We just hung out in Melbourne for a couple of days. We barbequed, I play basketball, we just hung out. When you've been on tour for a while, it's good to have days like that sometimes. On this tour so far I had my ipod stolen, I had food poisoning for two days straight. Asia just whooped my ass.

Where in Asia did you go?

We went right through South East Asia. Shows were amazing, but every day was getting on planes, off planes, up and down, all around.

Would you recommend other bands go to Asia?

Yeah, I would say if you're a band wanting to see what you're made of, go to South East Asia. See what you can deal with as a band. The shows are amazing, but it's the rest of the things you're dealing with. We've done a lot of touring, that was definitely one of the more strenuous tours we've ever done, and that's nothing against the people putting on the shows. It's just the travel really, getting on a plane every day, waking up at 3am to get on a plane at 6.

What happens once you finish in Australia?

We fly back to California, pick our van there, we've got a couple of weeks in North America. We zig zag in between the US and Canada. Then we go home for a month or two, then off to Europe with Carpathian, from here. Well, you know, from Australia. After that, who knows, we'll figure it out.

Any plans for a new album or anything like that?

No, not at the moment. After the Europe tour, we have no plans at all.

When is the Europe tour?

It'll be in July and August. The last show is on my birthday actually. It should be a good time, there's a whole heap of other bands in Europe around that time as well. I think the last show is in Berlin.

I saw Propaghandi in Berlin last year, that was pretty sweet

We got to play with Propaghandi last year, it was amazing. Probably one of the highlights of my life.

What's on high rotation in the van at the moment?

I don't know really, everyone just puts on their ipod, but I haven't got one, it got stolen. So I've just been sleeping most of the time. I have no idea.

What are you expecting from the rest of the tour?

If it keeps going the way it has been so far, it should be great. I'm not really expecting anything bad at all.

I guess the key question for the evening is...what song will you sing at karaoke?

My parents are actually karaoke Djs, they run the show at the karaoke. I've been around the karaoke world since I was about 13, I know all about it.

What's your karaoke special?

When I was young...I've never said this in an interview before, but I guess, I've never been asked about karaoke...I used to sing “I Would Do Anything For Love” by Meatloaf, with my mother. I love Meatloaf, I love that band, I love that man.

What's your favourite band of all time?

Nine Inch Nails...that's where “Ruiner” comes from. Nine Inch Nails are my all time favourites, they've stuck with me the longest. In more recent years, maybe Lawrence Arms would be my go to band.

Do you have anything to add or anyone to thank?

No.

Hardcore 2010

Now in it's 11th year, Hardcore 2010 is shaping up to again prove itself as Australia's premier hardcore music event. This year focusing on showcasing the best Australia has to offer the festival spans across July 2nd at the Manning Bar (18+) and July 3rd at the Factory Theatre (All Ages). Not wanting to keep anyone in suspense, this years line up is announced in full with the following bands playing.

July 2nd - Manning Bar 18+

Mindsnare

Toe To Toe

Extortion

Blkout

Relentless

Ill Brigade

July 3rd - Factory Theatre AA

Mindsnare

Extortion

50 Lions

Blkout

Dropsaw

Hand Of Mercy

I Exist

Ghost Town

Persist

Phantoms

So the lineup for Hardcore 2010 just got announced, and it looks like a lot of fun. I haven't been since 2006, I went the two years before that, and they were all a lot of fun. The recent ones haven't interested me that much. I like it how there's not some big international band, and that it's not in a massive venue either.

Also great that Canberra's own I EXIST will be playing. As well as that you have the great combination of Mindsnare/Toe To Toe. It's quite the lineup.

JUNGLE FEVER

When I went up to Brisbane recently I did a whole bunch of interviews. I got to see Polar Bear Club twice, and after the PBC show, a bunch of people went over to catch Jungle Fever's set at some terrible Destroy All Lines club.

I saw about four seconds of JF, and did an interview with Joel (bass) after the show. The whole trip was quite an adventure, I flew back to Canberra at 5am and spewed soon after arrival. What a start to a day.

The picture at the top I blatantly stole from JHat without any permission. It's from the show JF played in Sydney the next day. He takes really good photos and then writes about them. You can read an interview with him that I did in one of last year's zines. It's in this blog somewhere.

Jungle Fever are a band I saw a lot over a lot of years. I think the first time I saw them was at the old Civic Youth Centre, just before it got knocked down. I have a feeling this was Hard Luck's first ever show.

From then on I saw them sporadically, generally every 6 months or so. I never knew much of their stuff, and didn't really care about them, but as time went on, and it got towards when they breaking up, I was starting to realise I knew heaps of the songs, and they were actually one of the most fun bands in Australia to watch.

A couple of favourite shows- when they played Bar Broadway with 4 Dead, the night before Every Time I Die's first tour. There were heaps of Canberra kids out that night, it was a bit of a rager. When I lived in Melbourne I saw them play at some sort of community centre. It was the first show I'd been to in ages, and I was hanging out with some people, it was the first time I'd really talked at length to someone I met at a show. Those guys are now in Rort, who seem to be doing well for themselves. The show had a great variety in the lineup, it was cheap as and I had a great time. There were even a couple of bands from NZ playing, I think it cost $6 or something. It was not the sort of place you really expect a hardcore show, I think the next day's activity was going to be playgroup or something.

Anyhow, here's the questions I asked Joel. As the interview went on, my words were more and more slurred, some of the questions I asked were difficult to comprehend on the recording, even for myself. It was however, probably the most raging night I've had this year.




So Jungle Fever- You played your proclaimed last show like, a year ago?


Mid '08

What brings you back?


For the hell of it. Just for the hell of it. We got asked to play with Mindsnare in Melbourne. Why wouldn't play with Mindsnare, at the Arthouse? You can't argue with that. We did that, and we thought, let's go to Brisbane, we haven't been there in a long time. Fuck, I was in the band for two years, and the only time we came to Brisbane in those two years was when we toured with Sick of It All and Comeback Kid. They hadn't been to Brisbane for ages before that either. So we thought we'd come up here and then we're going to Sydney tomorrow.

Do you guys still all live in Sydney, or everyone lived in Sydney for a while or something?


Everyone lived in Adelaide. One by one they moved to Sydney, apart from their bass player. When they wanted to go a bit further, they got me to join the band. I was in the band for two years. Then one by one everybody moved back to Adelaide. Eventually it was too hard to keep it going.

How did you get involved in Jungle Fever in the first place?


I used to play in another band called Taking Sides. I played guitar in that, but I normally play bass. I was always keeping in touch with everyone from the band, then one night Gabe hit me up and asked me if I wanted to play in the band. One week later we recorded a song for one of the Hardcore compilations, maybe it was 06, I don't really know.

What's your favourite Jungle Fever show you've played?


The Arthouse with Mindsnare in December was the fucking best night ever. We played a show a few years back at Sike Your Mind or some shit, in some club. We played Bro Hymn, punx went crazy. It was awesome.

Will Jungle Fever break up for good after these shows?

I sent a message out to the guys, asking if there are any more shows booked, just out of curiosity. They said no, but with this band never say never. Tomorrow will definitely by the last show for a long time. Half the band lives in Sydney, half in Adelaide. Half the guys play in Sex Wizard, they've got their own thing going on.

What are you going to do now?

I play in a covers band. A mid 90s punk rock cover band. We're called Old Music For Old People. We mainly play music from CDs which have a “Don't pay more thant $10 for this CD” by Fat Wreck. Sometimes we play some from the under $20 section as well. Wherever we go we get a whole bunch of friends to get up and sing.

You guys are playing in Sydney soon- what are you expecting from that?

Fun. Heaps of drinking. Just a party really.

What's your beer of choice?

I like James Squires- Golden Ale. Fat Yak's pretty good too. I don't know if that's the real name. I think it's called something else. Fat Yak will do for now.

What bands were you in prior to Jungle Fever?

I was in Taking Sides. We had that early 2000s kinda Bridge 9 sound- Carry On, Hope Con, that sort of thing. Before that I played in a little punk rock band. It sounded like Propaghandi, just fast stuff.

Never played in any sketchy nu-metal bands in your youth?

No way! Never, ever did I tune my guitar to Drop D, never, never, ever played sketchy metal. Never!

We're in Brisbane now. What three places would you recommend to a tourist?

Kim's (?) guitars, the best guitar shop in the country. New York Slice, they do a good pizza. There was a place we bad dinner, some Thai vegetarian place, I dunno what it's called, I'd send them there. Brisbane and I don't really see eye to eye.

Have you been in a fight with anyone in Brisbane?

I've never been in a fight in my life. I can't be bothered.

Do you think Jungle Fever will ever become a regular touring band again?

No way. Everyone in the band owns a house. It's very hard to be a regular touring band with a mortgage.

Maybe a once a year thing?

With this band never say never. It's not a priority though. Playing shows is not on the radar at all.

What's everyone else in the band doing?

Right now, they're probably drinking in the bar outside. Gabe's probably dancing to bad electro, he's pretty keen on that. Musically Tom, Jiggzy and Gabe are doing Sex Wizard, they're pretty cool. No one really cares about them now, but in a few years people will buy their stuff at overinflated Ebay prices and say how great they were.

What are you going to do in the next year or so?

Musically, just keep doing Old Music For Old People- as a joke, as a laugh. I've always loved punk as well as hardcore. When I wake up I listen to Good Riddance, when I go to bed I listen to NOFX.


At this point the recording cut out. There wasn't too much left to the conversation. Thanks a lot to Joel for the interview.