The workshops were run by James and Caiti from Sietta, a local band who released their debut album The Seventh Passenger last year and have been touring non-stop, with coverage of the singles on Triple J! If you haven’t already heard their music check out this music video of the second single from the album, No Longer Hurt:

The most obvious evidence of the workshop’s achievements was the show and tell day, with over an hour and a half of ‘showing’ what people learnt, from singing songs to a comedy routine and Sietta and a trio of singers taking requests. There were noodles and lamingtons for all and the parents who turned up were outwardly enjoying themselves.

Some of the songs performed were Adele’s “Someone Like You”, Skarlett’s original “Graduation” and Sietta’s “Doormat”

Have a listen to the end product – a funky electronica song recorded by all the participants!

The whole thing was great fun, but don’t take it from me; here’s what the participants thought:

Jack Reedy: Take it from Lang: he knows what's up, dog!

Abbey Rose: I thought it was awesome and I learnt a lot of useful things.

All in all, it was a great few days; we all learned a lot from James and Caiti, and can’t wait to see them again!

City of Darwin’s Youth Services are currently organising a series of workshops for young people in January 2012 during the school holidays, focusing on Graphic Design and Music.

The workshops will be on 16 and 17 January 2012, and will be run by Caiti Baker and James Mangohig from Darwin electronic soul duo Sietta! If you don’t already know about Sietta, check out the video for their song “What Am I Supposed To Do”, their single that has captured the attention of Triple J.

Sietta are currently one of Darwin’s hottest exports, and have been touring constantly this year on the festival circuit, and with artists like The Herd and Illy. Caiti Baker, the singer, has many years of experience as a professional graphic designer, and James Mangohig, the beat maker, has heaps of experience in recording and production.

GRINDonline is after your input into the workshops; if you’re from Darwin, and between 12 and 20 years, tell us what you want to see in the workshops! Caiti and James have a wide variety of skills from recording, to graphic design, to the music industry.

You could learn about things like:

• Designing posters
• Flyers
• CD / band art
• Recording
• Production
• Touring
• The music industry
• Stage Presence
• Releasing an album
• Business Ideas
• …AND MORE!

How’s the tour going?

It’s going very well, beyond all expectations. So far. I always expect them to be fairly average but this one’s turn out really good. There’s been a lot of people coming tot the shows and the band has been sober enough to play the songs with a certain amount of professionalism which I enjoy. We’ve made skateboards.

When were you last in Darwin, and why’s been so long since you were here?

Well, it’s a long way away, but that’s no excuse, and we’re very negligent that we haven’t been up there recently. I’m looking forward to getting up there actually, it’s been ages, I can’t even remember, was it Bass In The Grass the last time we were here? [Yes] Yeah, so it should be a triumphant return.

Tell us about the new album and what was it like working with Bill Stevenson?

It was a lot of fun. He was a bit of a slave driver which was quite good for us and we didn’t slack off at all. He was quite brutal especially with my vocals. As soon as I’d sing something he’d be straight into the microphone “That’s s**t, do it again, it was s**t, do it again, do it again.” It was good to be kind of pushed a bit and sing and play to the best of our abilities. Yeah, it’s good. It’s a real production line over there. They really know their s**t. It’s good to work with people who are really so enthusiastic about that sort of music. [Laughs]. It’s kind of what they’re into so it’s great.

So you guys are big Descendants fans?

Yeah, massive. Like a dream come true working with that guy. Yeah, it was really something else. The Descendants were actually rehearsing in one of the rooms, and because we were sleeping in the studio we were woken up at about 9am by the Descendants rehearsing in a room next door to us, which is very exciting.

So what was it like being a part of the Descendants first ever Australian tour?

Yeah, that was cool too. I never thought I’d see that band play live so it was really great to be involved and I guess that was the tour when we kind of approached Bill and said can we come over your house and record a record and he said pay money and we said ok.

So what do you think of the support acts you’ve got down for the Darwin gigs?

I’m excited, I hear we got three support acts so it’ll be like a mini local Darwin Festival. Yeah, I reckon they sound pretty good for me.

So how did you go about selecting the bands?

Uhh, we put the band names up on the wall and we threw turds at it and whichever that band name had the most turd on it at the end of it got support. So Gordy (the drummer) actually threw his own turd at the wall this time and it spread out over three bands so we had to pick all of them.

The Darwin gig is a licensed all ages gig, do you do a lot of licensed gigs or do you prefer 18+ gigs?

Yeah, it’s all ages licensed and everyone gets a look in, so that is, you know, my favourite type of gig. So if you’re a hundred years old you can come along and enjoy it or if you’re three and a fan of the band you can come along.

Anything else?

You should definitely come along to the show at the ski club. It’ll be the night of your life, I can guarantee 100% that it’ll be the night of your life or you get triple your money back, but that may or may not actually happen. It’s going to be good.

FRENZAL RHOMB at the Darwin Ski Club

Supported by Unbroken Expanse, Aborted Jesus Milkshake, and Burrfoot

CHECK OUT THE EVENT ON FACEBOOK (click here!)

The wonderfully eccentric Barry Morgan, as seen at the Melbourne Comedy Festival, and the hit Australian TV show Spicks and Specks (ABC), was a highlight at the Darwin Festival this year. The “world’s greatest organ salesman”, easily recognised by his groovy safari suit, took stage at the Lighthouse on Tuesday 23 August 2011. He was is very excited to be playing in the Northern Territory for the first time. I managed to catch up with him over the phone, between his busy schedule of being a touring musician and managing his organ superstore in Adelaide, and this is what he had to say.

I understand that you’ve been doing some recording with ‘Perambulator records’ and are planning on releasing an album. How is that going?

It’s going really groovy. It’s in the mixing stage at the moment. We’re ‘twiddling with all the nobs and all this stuff. It’s very exciting.

I’m using the ‘lovely Hammond Arora Classic 1981’ organ, the ultimate spinet organ.

What do you love most about the Hammond organ? Why is the Hammond organ your instrument?

I think it’s got such warm tones, and a big bottom end, and crisp. And the drum machine is very groovy. The ‘auto vary 64’ is the drum machine. It’s lovely. The bossa nova’s groovy and the blues rock and the disco, and you know, I think it’s very fortunate timing, for Barry to try and get out of the world of organ’s. Um, yes, I’ve had to put a closed sign on the door of the shop, while I’m touring around. Since I’ve been on the television, there’s been a lot of requests for me to travel with my organ.

I imagine it would be very difficult trying to run your organ superstore and travel around Australia.

Yes well it definitely is. I’m looking for an organ assistant. Have you ever played a Hammond Organ youself?

No, but I’d love to one day!

It’s got such a warm tone. With the lovely Lesley rotating speaker, this sound has been used from church halls to rock stadiums to blues clubs to funky after hours jazz venues. It’s very easy to play too. Especially with my one finger method, which I’ll be demonstrating when I come to Darwin.

You’re most well known for your performance on the T.V. show ‘Spicks and specks’ but what personally is your most memorable moment?

Every time I head out, strap the organ to the roof of the Toyota crown saloon, there’s a memorable moment. Recently, in country victoria, I had people bringing along photographs of their organs which was pretty incredible. There was one gentleman who said he was going to go home and dust off the organ and that he hadn’t used it for years. We also had a great time at the City to Surf in Sydney. I’ve attempted to teach Amanda Vanstone the one finger method but she was a tough woman to crack with the one finger method. But it’s all a lot of fun. My favourite moment in any ‘demonstration’ (the media like to say show but I always think of it as a good old organ demo) is when everyone has a bit of a sing-along.

You’re a very energetic performer onstage, is there anything you do before a ‘Demonstration’ to put you in the right mood or ‘zone’.

No not really, maybe a little glass of Campari, maybe a little catering platter. Tinned pineapple is my favourite. Cheese and bikies etc. but there’s no big meditation or mantra to get me in the mood.

Well I guess that makes you quite versatile – you could perform anywhere!

Yes, well this year I’m even going to do an organ demo at the main stage at Falls Festival!

How did your career as a professional organist start off?

The television was what really kicked it off. But I was doing a little organ demo at the queenscliff music festival some time back. And there’s where one of the lady producers from the spicks and specks fell in love with Barry and his organ and his hair… and we’ve never looked back.

You’ve got a special talent for being able to perform a cover of a song and make it truly unique and groovy. What is your process for taking a song, and truly making it ‘your own’?

I’ve got to listen to the song, yes, and I really try and get into the groove, find out where this one is grooving, and then I spend some time with the ‘Auto vary 64’ seeing if I can find something that’s either going to be similar to it in groove or that juxtaposes it; you know, something that sits against it but still in the groovy pocket, and ah, I really enjoy that process. I recently had a little go at some American pop songs, I can’t name any at the moment, but let me tell you, you know, from a rock one I took it to a Western swing, and there was a disco one that I took to a Liverpool groove, you know it’s um, a quite enjoyable process, it takes a good half a bottle of Campari and the lights down low, but it definitely comes from the rhythm.

Have you been to Darwin before?

Yeah, a couple of times, I can’t remember the exact dates, ’97, something like that… Been there about three times I think.

How do you feel about the status of the Saints as one of Australia’s seminal rock bands?

Gee… It’s not something you can go into knowing how these things are going to pan out. I formed the Saints when I was in high school, and it was what I wanted to do then, and it kind of lasted even after the original band split up, after my involvement in the band finished. Those records didn’t disappear… Yeah, they have had some kind of resonance….

Yeah, I bought I’m Stranded on vinyl the other day actually…

Oh really? Yeah probably in a lot of ways those recordings, it’s the best way to hear them, on record. I don’t know, it’s something about music that’s made at a particular time, and the way it goes with the media that’s contemporary to it. Yeah, they sound good on record.

Yeah look, has [The Saints] impacted on me in music that I’ve done outside of it? I mean most of my life has been outside of The Saints. I formed the Saints in 1973 in my last year of high school, and the band split up in 1978. So we’re talking about something that is ancient history in some ways; the fact that people are even still connected with it is fantastic – it astounds me that it could have lasted that long. But most of my life has been doing something else.

I hear the Saints stuff occasionally, and I think, “s*** that sounds good”. I don’t think about it in terms of “that’s me”, just as something else almost.

What do you think the most important changes in the music industry since you started playing?

Oh, there’s always changes happening. Some things kind of stay the same: it’s always been a hard job to do to make money, to make a living out of. That hasn’t really changed. I guess the things that have stayed the same are probably more profound than the things that have changed.

One thing I suppose that is significantly different now is that when The Saints started, one of the things we did that we were credited for is doing things ourselves. We were probably one of the first bands in the country to release our own record.

Nowadays you say that to somebody and they shrug and “say so what? Everyone does that.“ And that’s true – a lot of people do that now, but back then it was fairly unique, in fact it was completely unique. So that’s a big change.

The perception of the control that record companies had, because the Saints proved that you could do it anyway. You’ve always been able to do that, but now that more people are doing it… In some ways things haven’t really changed, it’s just the numbers of people that do things differently have shifted.

Can you talk a bit about what inspired the changes between genres you’ve made over the years? You moved from punk to jazz influenced post punk with the Laughing Clowns, and then to grunge and all sorts of other things with The Aints and more….

When I moved to England with the Saints, we moved there I guess to enable ourselves to continue recording, one of the things I kind of got exposed to when I was living in London was a whole lot of music that I wasn’t too familiar with, growing up in Brisbane. I just ended up with some things which I guess you could loosely call Jazz – but I’m hesitant to use that term because I know it’s one of those musical terms that gives people the wrong idea. The Laughing Clowns were not jazz. Whatever people’s interpretation of ‘jazz’ is, we weren’t it. And yet there were some things that were influenced by avant-garde jazz, which was sort of incorporated in the sound.

I guess it was more a development of what I was doing in the Saints. I mean, if you listen to the first album, and then listen to the second, and by the time you get the the third one, you kind of see a line developing towards the Laughing Clowns first album. To me it was just a fairly logical continuation of ideas that I was pursuing. Maybe some people thought I was jumping around a bit, but it was just that a lot was done in a short period of time. It becomes more cohesive as you step back from it.

After the Clowns broke up I went through a slight re-appraisal of what I wanted to do as a solo musician. In the Clowns I would always write songs with the band members in mind. But when The Clowns split up I could write anything I wanted to, without having to write a horns line or whatever it was. That’s kind of been my approach ever since.

With the Aints, that was sort of a little side project really, where I wanted to take some ideas that I thought I hadn’t developed enough from the early Saints and Clowns days. I never saw the Aints as a grunge band really, it was more like, if The Aints was influenced by anything it was by The Saints or The Laughing Clowns.

What have been your best moments or proudest achievements in your music career?

Oh, look, there’s kind of a lot of them. And then I kind of feel s***ty because I don’t remember all of them, or don’t regard them all equally. But I guess, when I did the first record, that was kind of a high point. When I did the first recordings in a fairly good studio in London that was a high point. Yeah, it just various bits and pieces, there are a number of things that I’m proud of, but I don’t dwell on it too much. Maybe that’s something I’ll do when I retire or something.

So what can we expect at the show ‘Rearranged’?

The show we’re doing in Darwin is myself and Mark Dawson, Mark plays drums. It’s going to be kind of loosely based around a recording that we did quite some years ago called Today Wonder, which is sort of treated acoustic guitar, vocals and drums. It’s an ambient acoustic thing, I think I’m quoted as having described it as ambient rockabilly and in a way that’s kind of accurate. It sounds like itself really, I’m not sure I can refer it directly to anything else that I’ve done. It was an important record for me, so we’re drawing on a bit of that stuff, but not exclusively. The main thing is that we’re playing a range of songs with that instrumentation arrangement. I think we’ve got a few local Darwinians joining us on backup vocals as well.

You were fairly young when you started The Saints and released I’m Stranded. What sort of advice would you give to a young band these days?

Oh man, I think there’s always a lot of people who are going to tell you you can’t do things, it’s hard, but you have to have a strong belief in what you want to be doing artistically. You just need to pursue it; if you feel you’re right, there’s a good chance you are. When The Saints started there were a lot of people who basically told me ‘you can’t play guitar, the songs are s***house, the worst load of rubbish I’ve ever heard’ and you know, maybe all that stuff’s true, but we continued, kind of made a thing about it.

The night will host four of Darwin’s finest metal bands:

Calabria’s Fall
You might have seen these guys making The BIG GIG 2011 all the more brutal. Calabrias Fall are a bunch of  (by their own admission) “fun-loving idiotic teens”  playing brutal deathcore music. Listen to their single on Facebook.

FEMA
FEMA are an old school thrash metal band with “no compromise”. On their Facebook page they offer to “destroy parties, weddings, funerals & discos”. Check out their Facebook page.

Hate For Fate
Hate For Fate is a local Darwin Metal band with a high drive for musical excellence. The band is driven through strong friendship and very similar musical ideas. Check them out on Facebook or listen to them on Reverbnation.

Abysm
Abysm are a four piece black metal band notorious for their vulgar and offensive live shows. Check them out on Facebook or listen to their demo recording.

Check out Malak Attack on Facebook!

Things are looking good for Sietta

Sietta are definitely the next big thing to come out of Darwin. The first time I was exposed to singer Caiti Baker and beatmaster and instrumentalist James Mangohig was at a spur-of-the-moment gig at Fringe @ The Bank, way back in 2009, where I played an acoustic set before them.

Recently, things have been going well for the duo. Having just signed to Elefant Traks (the record label founded by The Herd), their single “What Am I Supposed To Do?” is being played regularly on Triple J and other radio stations, as well as on Rage. Their new album The Seventh Passenger is co-produced by Count Bounce, who is known for working with acts like Ash Grunwald and Urthboy. It will be launched in the NT this Saturday, July 9 at Happy Yess.

The obvious standout tracks are the single “What Am I Supposed To Do”, with a contemporary hip hop beat, and the creepy, Dexter-referencing, “Dark Passenger”, in which a sinister gospel choir carries the hook (He’s my Dark Passenger/ I’m his armed Carrier), referencing mental health issues.

The album overall has a Hip Hop vibe, with soul/blues vocals. Other influences shine through however as the album moves from a dubstep wobble on “Strangers” to a bluesy guitar riff on “Arrived”, to an African tribal theme on “You Gave Me”. It’s a seriously eclectic mix of songs but it works; each song sounds distinctly different from the last, but they all still retain the Sietta vibe.

Most of the songs are instantly likeable, and others that might not have been as noticeable at first, become much more compelling upon further listening. “I Was A Queen”, is a great example of this; after the second listen it became one of my favourite tracks. It’s a reflective ballad about childhood, with a massive electronica feel, sounding a little bit like Ratatat.

If there’s a weak song on the album, it’s “Doormat”, which unfortunately sounds much more like a straightforward pop song than a Sietta album. At the end of the day, the one song fails to diminish the outstanding work on the rest of the album.

Overall, The Seventh Passenger is an astonishing debut effort from Sietta. Probably my favourite album to come out of Darwin, and definitely up there with some of my favourite Australian albums too. It’s not every day that I come across an album where almost every song draws me in and gets me hooked almost immediately.

Don’t forget to catch Sietta at Happy Yess THIS WEEKEND for the official launch of The Seventh Passenger. There are a limited number of tickets available, so get them quick here!

For more Sietta news, you can like them on Facebook, or check out their official website!

Coming soon – GRINDonline’s interview with Sietta!

Post Bass In The Grass, the boys have taken a well deserved break from their strenuous practising regime. They plan to “hit the studios” and record something over the next month or so, so keep your eye out, and in the meantime, don’t forget to like them on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/NEDANDFRIENDS

We pick up our interview where we left off; in a quiet section of the Stuart Park McDonalds…

Me: Do you guys have anything in particular you would like to say?

Jack: Have we got an email?

Ned: I have an email.

Jack: No, for the band?

Ned: Ah, no. We’re in the process of setting up our own email server so that we can get ned@ned&friends, sean@ned&friends, jack@ned&friends and mitchell@ned&friends. We’d like a lot of special fan mail sent to us. Stuff from the heart. And donations.

(Mitchell starts playing music on his laptop. Ned & Friends proceed to free-style rap.)

The stylin’ sounds of Ned & Friends (freestyle rap) by GRINDonline

Ned: So right there is really the art form of what Ned & Friends is all about. Freestyle and…

Me: So like a big improv group?

Jack: Yeah.

Ned: For sure, for sure.

Me: That’s your song writing process.

Sean: We use Sibelius. A lot.

Me: Is Sibelius like some random music generator?

Ned: Yeah, you could say that.

Me: You know there’s WIFI here?

A dramatic re-enactment of the phone call.

Ned: What? Let’s update our Facebook statuses.

(My phone rings)

Me: Ah, Liam keeps on calling me. Hey Liam.

Mitchell: Hey Liam.

Jack: Hey Liam.

Ned: Hey Liam.

Sean: Want to join Ned & Friends?

Me: (Talking to Liam) So, I’m still in the interview. Yeah. Ok then. Alright. Well I might, I might. Where are you guys having lunch?

Sean: McDonald’s.

Me: (Talking to Liam) Oh, he’s not? Where will you go? The Indonesian? Alright. Ok. See you.

Sean: Guys, do we have anything serious? Should probably ask three questions and add some seriousness.

Ned: Yeah, wait – we’ll do some serious stuff now. If you wanna?

Me: We kind of have.

Ned: That’s cool then. Don’t even worry about it.

Sean: I think the most serious we answered was that-

Ned: That’s my dad. (Ned points out the window) He just drove past.

Jack: Really?

Ned: Yeah, in the Courier.

Sean: He’s alive? Anyway, goooood lunch. Ned & Friends.

Ned: Ned & Friends. That was our lunch time.

Jack: Yeah, we got to get back to school.

Ned: Yeah, we probably have to get back to school now.

Sean and Jack from Ned & Friends, playing at Bass

Me: Ah yes, you-

Ned: Lang, let’s go for a skate.

(We then ramble on about latest happenings. How it is possible that some Year 11s have their Ps already. Various movie trivia. Making strangled noises. Exchanging phone numbers.)

Me: Well, I guess we shall conclude the interview of Ned & Friends here at the McDonald’s Stuart Park.

Sean: Get amongst it.

Ned: I guess I’ll see you later… Olive.

—

And thus ends our definitive interview with Darwin’s premier rock/jazz/punk variety act NED & FRIENDS. You can probably find Ned, and his Friends, bumming around Darwin on any given afternoon, being sik ladz. Like them on their Facebook page, or stay tuned at GRINDonline, for any news on the band.

Two successful albums under his belt, Victoria born Illy is quickly becoming one of Australia’s seminal rap artists. The Obese signed artist has been travelling around Australia to promote his most successful album to date entitled The Chase. Before his Darwin show, I had a chance to have a nice conversation with him.

Markus: So are you looking forward to coming to Darwin?

Illy: Yeah, I’ve never been before, even for a holiday, so I’m really keen to check the place out it’s one of the last few big places I haven’t played yet, so it should be cool.

Markus: So you’re looking forward to doing all the sites, etc.

Illy: Yeah well hopefully, I mean I’m not too sure how long we’re in town for but hopefully we get a bit of time to check out the place.

Markus: So I notice that your Darwin gig is an 18+ gig, would you like to do more underage stuff?

Illy: Yeah I’d love to, it’s a pain in the ass that it’s so difficult to organise underage shows or all ages shows, but yeah, every chance that I get to play an all age or an underage show I jump at because a lot of people that are really passionate about aussie hip hop are under 18

Markus: So you worked with Owl Eyes, and Phrase, and so many great artists, who was your favourite to work with?

Illy: Oh that’s tough man. I guess the two people I worked with the most are M-Phazes and J Screw. They’d definitely be up there, I’m not sure if they’d be the only two, but I enjoy working with everyone or I wouldn’t work with them, you know? But those two, yeah, they’d probably be my favourites just cause of how talented they are.

Markus: So working with M-Phazes, what’s the creative process like with that?

Illy: Basically he’ll have a beat in some form, at various levels of completion, but he’ll have a beat there, I’ll get it, listen to it, and if I like it I’ll write to it. Once I’ve written something and recorded it, I send it back to him and then the finishing touches are put on it. If I’ve got any ideas, like if I want the beat to be changed I’ll tell him after I’ve recorded my stuff.

Markus: Sounds pretty cool.

Illy: Yeah, It’s efficient.

Markus: Are there any artists you’d like to work with in the future?

Illy: There’s stacks man, There’s so many, even in Australia, that I’d love to work with. I don’t think I’d be able to get around to working with them cause there’s so many. 

Markus: Who are a few that inspire you?

Illy: Well off the top of my head there’s The Jezabels, even a more pop singer like Megan Washington, that’d be amazing. Even, there’s a group from Darwin called Sietta, who I’ve only just started getting into but they’re making some really cool stuff as well. Yeah anywhere man, there’s so many talented Aussies around that it’s hard to just name a few.

Markus: So I’ve been listening to The Chase (Illy’s latest Album) a lot and I’ve noticed that it’s more polished and produced than Long Story Short. How do you feel about that? Do you think it helps you be more mainstream, in a way, like, are you trying to reach more people with this album?

Illy: Well it definitely is more polished. I don’t think… It wasn’t a conscious decision, like ‘yeah, we’re going to try and market this to as many people as possible’, it was never like that. I don’t really approach music like that, but I think the polished-ness sort of came from having the experience of making Long Story Short. If I could go back to Long Story Short, it would probably sound more polished as well, just because I know more [about] the album making process and I’ve got more experience with making songs as whole songs.

Markus: Yeah

Illy: Yeah I guess that’s sort of a long winded answer to your question.

Markus:  (laughs) That’s fine! So you’re album’s called The Chase – Why is it called The Chase? Can you talk about some of the underlying themes of the album?

Illy: Well the idea behind the title, [is that] it was written, recorded and made in the period between releasing Long Story Short, and… Well, a 16 month period basically. In that time, making the album, we did about 80 shows, and I was finishing a uni degree, so I was always, bringing effort to achieve the goals that hadn’t come to be realised. It was all working towards the bigger picture. So that’s where the title came from really, just the chase of your goals I guess.

Markus: So what sort of direction do you see your next album going it?

Illy: Not sure man, we start work on it tomorrow.

Markus: Tomorrow?

Illy: Yeah, the first session’s tomorrow. So yeah, I got no idea, but I probably should…

Markus:  Any ideas on titles now?

Illy: Nah, that’ll come right at the very end I’d say.

Markus: Well I’m looking forward to seeing your show in Darwin.

Illy: Yeah man, should be cool, hopefully it’ll be a pretty big one.

Markus: Yeah, it’s gonna be great. Thank you very much, for doing this interview.

Illy: Yeah, I’ll see you at the show.

Markus: See you later man.

Illy: Catch ya

If you’re over 18, you’ll be able to go see Illy at Discovery Nightclub this Friday. Supported by local hip hop group Pott Street and special guests. Entry is $24.80

Here’s what to expect: