Music Feeds couldn’t resist picking the brains of Conics for a classic Q&A ahead of their exclusive single release. The Sydney five-piece have spent a year between releases developing their sound, leading up to the sounds you will be hearing from new single Far Away. The indie dance punk outfit have been smashing their way around town with a number of impressive supports already under their belt, and are set to unleash their sound on Australia with this release. Proving their up-to-datedness with technology and what not (floppy disks are still in, people) Angus and Angus – yes, there are two in the band and it’s confusing as hell – attempt to give you more of an idea of the musical bombshell that is Conics. Read on!

MF: Whilst listening to Far Away, I get this instant craving to be sitting on a beach somewhere deserted, enjoying a beautiful sunset. There is this real feeling of escaping the daily grind to find a better place. Is this a part of the song’s concept? If not, what’s the real story behind Far Away?

Conics: It’s all about the things that happen in life that are out of your control. There are always consequences for your actions and people change, but that’s cricket.

MF: Every artist has a way of getting away to write and let the creative juices flow, and I understand Conics have their own unique place. What can you tell us of this place and why is it such a creative haven for you guys?

Conics: We tend to get fairly creative on our annual koala hunt, where we pack all our gear up and take it to the country – ie the middle of nowhere. We’ve done it a few times and it’s a blast! Playing through the whole day and night allows us to both come up with new ideas and work on parts that we think need improving. It’s really good that we are five best mates when writing; there are no grudges held about what we like and don’t like as we are all in this for the same reason.

MF: It has almost been a year gap in between releases for Conics. What’s been happening in this time lapse to prolong the process?

Conics: We’ve basically been travelling around and buying some fancy new gear. We’ve spent a lot of time working out where we want to go with our music and setting ourselves goals. We also took some time to concentrate on our sound: getting away from our influences that we’ve always had and always will, but developing a sound that is true to us; a sound that we froth on. We’d love to be able to put out our first EP early next year and do a national tour so that we can spread the Conics seed across ‘Straya.

MF: Conics sound often delves into electronics with intelligent synth work and samples. What drew you guys to integrate electronic elements into your music?

Conics: When Vodz upgraded from windows 95 to 98 and it came with this mad floppy disk of synth loops. We’ve also been into synths for a while and we’ve only recently found out how to make them work live and sound good. A lot of our newer material is a lot more synth-heavy: we’ve been trialing a whole bunch of electronic drums, samples and pads, and incorporating them into guitar-driven music is a fun challenge.

MF: You’ve supported a lot of great new Australian artists such as Flume, Gold Fields and Rufus. Does seeing these artists break out in such a big way this past year make you crave the same success?

Conics: We’ve been really lucky with the amount of great bands we’ve played with. When you chat and play with them, you actually realise how passionate they are for their craft and how much work they put into it. It’s really inspiring.

MF: You have a big show coming up to launch the new single. What big things have you in store to get the party started?

Conics: It’s all happening December 14 at Oxford Art Factory’s Gallery Bar and it’s going to be loose. Sons. Et Al and Colonies are supporting and they’re super good. We also have a new live set-up, which we are pretty psyched on, and we may be supplying confetti, balloons, and blow-up toys. Mum’s even bringing some egg mayo sandwiches, hopefully with the crusts cut off this time. Oh, and not to mention – it’s free entry!

MF: If we delve into Conics’ history a little, you guys met and formed in high school. Could you provide some insight into how the band was conceived?

Conics: We all started out in a couple of Blink 182/Parkway Drive cover bands. Then we moved on and did some other music with some other people – including a super hot chick drummer, bought some better equipment and ended up as Coneheads (later changed to Conics).

Beard, Wives, Denim is the latest full-length release from Perth boys, Pond. It has seen the poppish indie jam outfit tick off a number of boxes, including their first release through a Major record label, as well as a meteoric rise to the top of many people's 'recently played' playlists. 

The release came from a not-too-orthodox approach to the recording process. As the boys tell Music Feeds, the team re-located to a farm near Eagle Bay, where they stocked up a small property with all their equipment and lived in eachother's pockets for two weeks, smashing out all the tunes. They found inspiration for this in the annals of rock music, going back to their roots for a record. 

The band also discuss how the presence of a major label has changed things. They explain that the best result has come from the exposure that this allows. Still making the same music, the band has found that they've received more traction from the new fans. The upcoming international tour dates have also been attributed to this. 

Performing at Fat As Butter, the boys also unveil plans for a new record / LP through Modular. 

I caught up with Elliot and Sam from much-hyped Sydney outfit The Rubens at Ivy League Records HQ for Music Feeds to chat about their self-titled debut album.

On a massive high off the back of a killer packed-out show at Splendour in the Grass 2012, The Rubens are keeping on the front foot, releasing the 2nd single off their forthcoming debut album My Gun on August 4. The Rubens explain the extraordinary journey that took them to New York to record their debut with super producer David Kahne (Paul Mcartney, The Strokes, Regina Spektor, Lana Del Ray).

On a dream run in a short career that has only spanned 18 months, The Rubens tell Music Feeds how they deal with the haters who are cynical that they have been living off the hype of Lay it Down. As Sam puts it “we are more than just Lay it Down“ - and as they put it they are genuinely stoked to be finding success and be consistently playing bigger shows. The album is dubbed a more thorough exploration of their sound, and delves into a range of different styles.

Their adventure for the album was huge, with their management throwing names around for potential collaborators like Lykke Li, Norah Jones right down to Azelia Banks. For those into the album, imagine the song Paddy featuring Azelia Banks vocals. 

The Rubens record is out via Ivy League Records. 

In between rehearsals MusicFeedsTV met with Sticky Fingers at the Annadale hotel. Their gig at the Annadale hotel this Friday 6th of July will show off a number of new compositions and is set to go off in the usual chaos that the band has becoming renowned for. The title single from their highly anticipated début album "Caress your soul" is due for release this Friday. With a smooth production treatment on the track the band is still work shopping the song for live performance. Despite being ranked number 8 on the Unearthed radio charts the band gives little credence to the song's position instead seeing the channel as a good platform for listeners to get a free download of their music. They would much prefer people enjoy their music live and get down and party.

Sometimes described in genre as Reggae surf music, the eclectic nationalities of the band include Kiwi, British, Maldy, Brazilian and first fleet, leading them to describe themselves quite harshly as mongrels. Struggling to find a platform for the music the band took matters into their own hands and during the Newtown festival setup their own music stage at a nearby house Guerrilla style to spark interest in nearby attendees. The stunt pulled dividends with Sticky Fingers being added to the bill the following year.

"Growing up and partying in Newtown we always wanted to play the festivals. We submitted an application for the first 2 years but got knocked back. Then on the 3rd year we decided that, well we have a mate Jacob who has a backyard which is virtually inside the festival. So we just got a bunch of milk crates and plywood and setup a stage in the backyard, hired out a sound system and unofficially headlined the festival from the back yard..... The following year they invited us back for a prime spot on the main stage"

http://youtu.be/WoLseHyIqJ8

Producer Dan Hulme happened to see the specticle and enjoying the band's raw energy offered to produce their new album. Asking for multiple parts for each instrument Sticky Fingers feel that Hulme has really put his stamp on the bands music although these ideas reflected what the band were going for as well.

Check out Sticky Finger's party this Friday at the Annandale Hotel with support slots from : The Medics, Underlights, Rapids and Beef Jerk.

Devin oozes oodles of casual cool. The Julian Casablancas of rockabilly revival. He has the rock frontman image, and the nonchalant "I don't give a fuck" attitude to match. Talking to him however, exposes a softer side, a shy introverted character whose music flowed from a deeply personal process. Following the huge hype off the back of a Triple J feature album for his rocking debut 'Romancing', Devin sits down with me for Music Feeds TV to talk about his two day Australian tour, why the NY music scene "isn't fun" and the dark place from which his sound emerged. 

For your listening pleasure is Masochist. The track which Devin himself said was the absolute epitome of 'Romancing'. 

Interview for Music Feeds TVFilmed, edited and produced by Dan Taylor 

Following his interview with Music Feeds TV, Jonathan Boulet took the stage at Vivid Live for the Modular Night to feature his new album to an excited crowd. Check it:

The bearded Boulet began his set by paying respect to the original land owners, a sentiment that had a few surprised heads swivel and throw impressed looks at their familiars. Showcasing new songs off upcoming album We Keep The Beat, Found The Sound, See The Need, Start The Heart(out June 8), Jonathan Boulet wasted no time, opening with magnificently dark Black Smokehat. With an additional percussionist on stage, it was inevitable that the driving rhythms that make Jonathan Boulet’s sound so energetic would take over. None more so than new single Trounce, which had the crowd moving with its sheer explosion of frantic, rhythmic energy, and tribal jaunts of “I don’t even know what I said, I’m not in control of myself”, making my legs lose control.

New song This Song Is Called Ragged moved at a more moderate pace and is a more pop-driven song with a gorgeous underlying xylophone melody and sweet vocal harmonies. Crowd favourites A Community Service Announcement and Your A Animal were saved until last, the couplet whipping the loyal crowd into a frenzy of dance moves and sing-alongs. As artists age throughout their careers, they usually lose their youthful exuberance and energy, but tonight, Boulet proved that this is not the case: his new material is as bombastic as ever.

Kindness are an odd bunch to behold, their aesthetic as bizarre as their music is catchy. It didn’t matter to any of the audience, who boogied enthusiastically to their funky disco-tinged sound, predominantly driven by seductive slap bass and a flurry of electronic drum fills. The bass-driven track Cyan set the tone for the set, delivering a lethal dose of shoe shufflin’ groove. Other stand-out tracks included dancier number Gee Up and That’s Alright, which brought the full band to life. The crowd pounced on the opportunity for the extra dance space with a stage invasion at the end, but were asked to leave by frontman Bainbridge for messing with the instruments. His sombre on-stage demeanour had no effect on his vocal delivery, which was as crisp as the recordings, but put a real dampener on the visual aspect of the show. They were less engaging than they could have been had they all been in the same mindset – to party.

Tom Vek fans have been waiting in limbo since 2005 for their first tour, so you can only imagine the huge response they got from the (predominantly female) audience. Funny that. Cutting a fine figure, with a neat quiff and understated black-rimmed glasses, Vek had the room swooning from the very beginning, with a large selection of songs from his newer release Leisure Seizure, and all but three tracks from his debut, We Have Sound. The poppier up-tempo edge of songs Aroused andA.P.O.L.O.G.Y. had the crowd moving in a frenzy of dance moves, which subjected my face to an excessive amount of hair-whipping. The commitment of old-school fans were rewarded by outstanding performances of the tracks C-C, A Little Word in Your Ear and I Ain’t Saying My Goodbyes, to the sheer joy of the ultras. It was a captivating set from a man doing exciting things, and (from the ecstatic response) getting people excited about his music. Here’s to hoping it’s not as long a wait between visits.


Written for Music Feeds

Snagging feature album slots on Triple J and FBI radio this week, Jonathan Boulet's Album 'We Keep The Beat, Found The Sound, See The Need, Start The Heart' is making waves across Australia with his second, much anticipated release on Modular Records. A reflection of the respect he holds in the local scene as one of the most exciting and consistent songwriters around. Boulet caught up with us to chat about the creative process of album no. 2, narrowly avoiding bullets in his new film clip and .. blow up dolls?  

'We Keep The Beat, Found The Sound, See The Need, Start The Heart' is out on June 8 via Modular/Universal. Check out the aforementioned clip to new song This Is Called Ragged

Oh, and here's the percussion heavy single Trounce. Strap on your shoe scooters cause you'll be running on the spot like a mad man to this one!

Interview for Music Feeds TV. 
Filmed, edited and produced by Dan Taylor