Blank Realm received widespread critical acclaim for this year’s Grassed Inn album and with that momentum they were able to travel to Europe for the first time, playing a range of shows from intimate clubs to massive festival stages. Ahead of venturing down the highway from Brisbane to play The Blurst Of Times festival at the Factory Theatre, keyboardist and vocalist Sarah Spencer chats with … Continue reading INTERVIEW: Blank Realm
Sydney’s Greta Mob are picking up some great gigs at the moment (Beasts of Bourbon) and building some buzz around their music which is built on a visceral mix of Australian swamp rock and dirty post punk blues. We recently caught up with drummer Luke Millar who plugged in the memory card for Sonic Kicks and took a look at some of the albums that … Continue reading SONIC KICKS: Greta Mob
It’s a busy time for Sydney’s Kirin J Callinan as he prepares to release his debut album embark on an American tour supporting Ariel Pink. From the streets of New York he gives Chris Familton an insight into his emergence as a solo artist. Not long into our conversation Kirin J Callinan pauses before painting, with an element of concern in his voice, the picture … Continue reading INTERVIEW: The Antithesis of Escapism – Kirin J Callinan
THE BLACK SEEDS ARE CELEBRATING FIFTEEN YEARS TOGETHER AND ON THE EVE OF ANOTHER AUSTRALIAN VISIT VOCALIST DANIEL WEETMAN SPOKE WITH CHRIS FAMILTON ABOUT THE PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE OF THE BAND. Maintaining and indeed growing an international profile can be a tricky exercise for bands from the Southern Hemisphere. The costs of touring and missed opportunities from not being on the ground in Europe … Continue reading INTERVIEW: The Black Seeds
by Chris Familton Popstrangers are the latest in a long line of New Zealand bands to emerge with a psychedelic and moody take on pop-tinged post punk. Their debut album Antipodes proves the band aren’t just riding on the hype of a few singles, instead it shows they have a strong idea of the sounds and ideas they want to capture, though Joel Flyger is … Continue reading INTERVIEW: Popstrangers
The City Lights have been around the Sydney scene releasing albums in a few different incarnations since 2004 but it was only recently that I first caught them live, as a power pop trio and they blew me away. On the back of their recently released album I Just Got To Believe they played a tight propulsive set which led me claim in my review … Continue reading SONIC KICKS: The City Lights
DARK END OF THE STREET WITH HER SOPHOMORE ALBUM AS MELODIE NELSON, LIA TSAMOGLOU HAS CREATED A MORE DETAILED AND COHESIVE SONG CYCLE WHICH, AS SHE EXPLAINS TO CHRIS FAMILTON, IS BASED AROUND HER FASCINATION WITH THE CULTURAL SHIFT OF LATE 60S SUBURBIA. In 2011 Melodie Nelson released her debut album Meditations On the Sun, a collection of songs deeply indebted to the sound of … Continue reading INTERVIEW: Melodie Nelson
A NEW FLIGHT PATH FAT FREDDY’S DROP ARE ABOUT TO TAKE LEAVE FROM RECORDING THEIR NEW ALBUM TO PREVIEW IT AT THE SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE. KEYBOARDIST DOBIE BLAZE GIVES CHRIS FAMILTON AN INSIGHT ON THE TOURING LIFESTYLE AND THE BAND’S CREATIVE PROCESS. New albums aren’t a common occurrence in the world of Fat Freddy’s Drop. To date there has only been 2005’s debut Based On … Continue reading INTERVIEW: Fat Freddy’s Drop
Charlie Horse are currently playing East Coast shows to celebrate their well-received debut album, I Hope I’m Not A Monster, even though the recording of their next one is already underway. We discussed the creative process, the music industry and more with guitarist Paul McDonald and singer Crystal Rose. How have the rehearsals been going for this run of album release shows? PM – We’ve tried … Continue reading INTERVIEW: Charlie Horse
by Chris Familton Though Sola Rosa continues to be an increasingly collaborative project, the signature sound still comes from Andrew Spraggon who has been on the New Zealand music scene for two decades, predominately as Sola Rosa but also early on as the singer and guitarist for indie rock band Cicada. The transition from guitars to samplers came at a time when he was running … Continue reading INTERVIEW: Sola Rosa
Ahead of the release of his long awaited debut album Breaking Hearts and Saving Souls on August 1st, Roland K Smith of Roland K Smith & the Sinners takes us through some of the albums that shaped his musical life. The band will be doing a run of dates to celebrate the release of the album, check the details at the end of this post… The first album … Continue reading SONIC KICKS | Albums That Shaped Me
BAMBINO KORESH’S LETICIA NISCHANG TAKES US THROUGH THE INSPIRATIONS FOR THEIR SONGS AND THE EXCITEMENT OF RELEASING A DEBUT ALBUM. How did the band first form and where does the name Bambino Koresh come from? Since Tom and I got together back in 2002 we always wanted to have a band to play the songs we started to write. We first thought of the name back then, while … Continue reading INTERVIEW: Bambino Koresh
Doubtful Sounds 