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Ned In The Grass: A McInterview With Ned & Friends: Part 2: This Time It’s Personal

Liam — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 11:12:25 +0000

Here it is! The second half of the DEFINITIVE interview with Darwin’s boldest rockers Ned & Friends. It’s been a while since the first half, and N&F have since played at Bass In the Grass 2011. Front man Ned Dorman described “taking to the stage with close to 5000 people rocking out to your music and just getting amongst it” as “probably the highest moment for N&F so far”.

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.

ROCK ENROL, have you enrolled to vote yet?

CJ — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 03:31:45 +0000

Welcome to Adulthood! You can drink, you can get a credit card, and most importantly, you can vote for who represents you in the Federal Parliament! Australia’s Prime Minister Julia Gillard has been rumoured to be announcing a Federal Election date any time in the next few weeks, and that means that if you are NOT enrolled to vote before the writs for the election are issued (very soon to when it is announced) then YOU CANNOT VOTE! Anyone 17 or over can enrol, and anyone 18 or over at the time of the election is required to vote in Federal elections. We think that everyone 17 or over should enrol, you only have to do it once, and you’ll be ready to go!

Triple J, in partnership with the Federal Electoral Commission have started a campaign called ROCK ENROL, to get everyone aged 17 and over enrolled to vote! Here at GRIND we think it is really important to have your voice heard, and that the opportunity to vote in the governance of our country is a really great thing. So check out the ROCK ENROL website to enrol to vote!

For all of you who are getting ready to vote, are or starting to become interested in the way our country is run, here is some basic information about the Government and how your vote works.

There are three “arms” of Federal Government. These are;

the legislature (or parliament, made up of the House of Reps and the Senate.) is responsible for debating and voting on new laws.
the executive, which is responsible for enacting and upholding the laws established by the legislature.
the judiciary (the high court and federal courts) is the legal arm of the Commonwealth Government. It is independent of the other two arms, and is responsible for enforcing the laws and deciding whether the other two arms are acting within their powers.

When we talk about politics, the Prime Minister and voting, we are usually referring to the Legislature.

The Commonwealth of Australia is a federation, and that means we have a Federal Government and State Governments. State and Federal Governments do different things, and what these things are are outlined in the Australian Constitution. States also have their own constitutions, and if they want to pass a law the Federal Government doesn’t like, it can be overturned. There are State Elections and Federal Elections (there are also Council Elections) and if you are 18 or over you HAVE to vote in them!

Federal Parliament is made up of the House of Representatives and the Senate. The House of Reps is all of the individuals who we (the general public) vote in to represent us, they are our voices and are elected by preferential voting. Preferential voting is how you vote in a Federal election: you are given a ballot with a number of candidates for your electorate, you will then assign each of these candidates a number, 1 being your favourite choice, 2 being your second favourite, and so on. This is very important, so pay attention- sometimes who you vote for second can be just as important as who you vote for as first. If one candidate gets more than 50% of number 1 votes, they are the automatic winner, if this does not happen (which happens a lot) then the candidate with the least amount of votes is excluded, and if you voted for them then your second preference is counted as your first preference. This process is repeated until one candidate has more than 50% of the vote.

The senate does not use preferential voting, they use proportional representation, which is very complicated. The main thing you need to know about the senate is that they are NOT voted in directly by the public, instead they allocate senate seats to parties in proportion to their overall vote.

Political parties are like teams that Politicians can be part of. Australia has four main political parties. The Australian Labor Party (ALP) is a social democratic party founded by the Australian labour movement (that’s who is in charge right now). The Liberal Party is a party of the centre right. The National Party of Australia, formerly the Country Party, is a conservative party representing rural interests. The Australian Greens is a left-wing and environmentalist party. Being a member of a party means that you will generally agree with the policies your party agrees with, and disagree with the things your party disagrees with. Some politicians prefer to make up their own minds, and are voted in with no party, as an Independent. Often the big parties must rely on convincing the Independents to join their views for laws to be passed, especially in the Senate.

Something that lots of people who are new to voting don’t understand is that in Australia the public does not vote in our Prime Minister. The Prime minister is a candidate, like everyone else, who must be voted in in their particular electorate. The candidate who is chosen to be Prime Minister is NOT voted in by the public when we vote, the political parties elect their own ministers and Prime Minister. Lately lots of people have been saying that Julia Gillard is not our “real” Prime Minister because we did not vote for her, without realising that we didn’t vote for Kevin Rudd either, we voted for the ALP.

So, go enrol! It’s your country, and it’s your vote!

While you’re at it check out Count Me In

Should we blame it on the sunshine? The moonlight? The good times? Or the heart failure?

Grind_Team — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 03:23:32 +0000

June 25^th will be remembered for a long time as “the day we said goodbye”. On June 25^th, the world lost a man who was best known as “the king of pop” and rightly so. His album “Thriller” was released over 21 years ago and still remains one of the most popular albums ever selling over forty million copies to date. With a musical career spanning over 40 years and a solo career that produced ten albums, it is fair to say that Michael Jackson was one of the great entertainers of the world. Michael was many things to many people. To most he was the man that defined modern music, to some he was a burnt out celebrity that mistreated children and went by the name “Wacko Jacko”, to a select few he was a wonderful brother and son, and to three little children he was a loving father. One look at his funeral proceedings will tell you just how many people cared for him deeply. Like much of his life however, his death was met with mixed emotions from the public. While some mourned the loss of a great star, others chose it as a time to make a statement about some of his darker days. Personally, I feel that Michael Jackson changed the way we define music in more than a few ways and I wonder how exactly he will be remembered in history. Though with his now cancelled tour of London, it is evident that he was not planning on death anytime soon, I’m sure Michael Jackson must have asked himself the same question and one can only hope that death will give time for the controversy surrounding him to subside. I think we all owe him at least that much.

Your Favourite Enemies

captovate — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 01:35:07 +0000

I can’t find words to explain how great this Alternative/Rock/Metal band is. It’s more than amazing; it is more than wonderful and more than the feeling of the word on the tip of your tongue which you just can’t figure out. The warmth and the welcoming that this band gives you is truly amazing. They are more than a band, they are who you can call family and your greatest friends, and their music really reaches out and touches you. ‘Your Favorite Enemies’ is the name of this band and they reside in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The group consists of the great Alex Foster and beautiful Miss Isabel on vocals, Jeff the guitarist who is always on the main Myspace Page doing his best to reply to everyone. The strong guitarist, bearded king Sef Lemelin, the wise drummer Charles and Bassist Ben Lemelin, who seems to be hiding out in the studio with a guitar. Everybody has different musical tastes but the bestthing is that music brings us together no matter who you are.

I first came across ‘Your Favorite Enemies’ through a friend who befriended Alex. After listening to their music it felt like I was found; it was a strange feeling. Soon I too started messaging the amazing Alex on Myspace. I don’t think I’ve ever met such an inspirational person. I learnt so much about the band and the causes they support from Rock N Rights, to Amnesty International. I think each member of the band is unique and it is easy to follow their progress on Myspace. Now how many bands are dedicated to letting you know what they are doing? You can find out by reading Miss Isabel’s studio diary. Technology has really brought us all together.

At the moment the band is recording for an album coming out later this year – by the time this is printed and read it might already be out! Yay! 1st of March they started their f rst music video with the song ‘Open Your Eyes’. The band organized a weekend for ‘Your Favorite Enemies’ family (fans) to join them making the video clip, along with meeting the band and other friends all over the world. Because of this band I was able to meet amazing people that I had a lot in common with. I met Yuku and Saya from Japan, Sierra from New Zealand, Mama E from the US, Alina in Germany and Stéphane in France (look, your names are in GRIND…).

I say give this band a chance and if you like their music, drop them a line and I’m sure you’ll hear back from them. Will you trust this former editors words, I do hope so! You can find them at: www.myspace.com/yourfavoriteenemies.

Also in future look out for a possible interview!