Interviews

Alan Sparhawk (pic Randy Bacon)

Hans Fruck talks to Low singer Alan Sparhawk about pessimism, politics, and holding on

Since its inception in 1993, Low, helmed by husband-and-wife team Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker, has become famous for its melancholy, sculpted minimalism and gorgeous two-part harmonies. Perhaps only a band as steeped in beauty as Low could produce a record as dark-hearted and disconsolate as Drums and Guns and still expect people to listen.

International Karate

A few days before the launch of International Karate’s third album, More of What You’ve Heard Before Than You’ve Ever Heard Before, I talk to IK bass player Mark Mascia about musical genres, motivation, and originality – and, most of all, about what makes masters of slow-motion melancholia turn to pop songs. When pressed to describe the sound of IK’s first two albums, the otherwise articulate Mascia is momentarily stumped. When I say that surely he’s asked this question all the time, he agrees, but adds that he doesn’t have an answer for it then, either. “A strange mix of early ’80s post punk, a little bit of shoegazing, and a little bit of mid-’90s slowcore” is the description he eventually settles on.

Though he’s proud of IK’s previous albums, Weapons of Mass Protection and A Monster in Soul, Mark’s adamant that it’s time to move on. “I like the first album ... But, you know, that album exists, and it is what it is. And doing rewrites of those eight songs, you could probably get a fair bit of mileage out of it, but I dunno... I just wouldn’t find it particularly stimulating. I’m not in it for the money, or in it for the fame – obviously I would have quit by now if I was. I’m in it to do different things with my friends who I happen to be in the band with, and that means we have to find different things every time we do new records. We can’t afford to do records regularly. We pay for everything ourselves. So I personally feel like I’ve got to make it count.”

Wicked Beat Sound System

It’s tough life continually producing popular electronic albums, as well as taking time to tour with a full band setup. Just ask Damian Robinson of Sydney act Wicked Beat Sound System. Wicked Beat has been somewhat silent in the last year or so, quietly recording a follow up to 2005’s 4ormation. Hidden in the NSW farming community of Lake George, Wicked Beat Sound System has put together what Damian believes to be a soul-cleansing album.

“I’ve wanted to get a record up and running (and since our last album) it wasn’t really a break. I wish I could take a break – it may have been a break from the limelight a little bit.”

JD Fortune

In July 2005 INXS embarked on a brave/tawdry/pioneering/ghoulish (choose your adjective) televised search for a new lead singer. The odds were stacked against them – and stacked tenfold against whichever singer they chose. This not-Michael would have very big shoes to fill. Hans talks to JD Fortune about big shoes, big balls, and rotting nerves.

In the 18 months since INXS made JD Fortune the latest replacement for Michael Hutchence, the band have covered a lot of ground. They’ve completed a world tour, played to over 700,000 people, and released their first JD-fronted album, Switch. So far, the numbers are formidable. Capitalising on the torrent of Rock Star: INXS publicity, the album has sold more than one million copies worldwide. It peaked at #15 on US charts and, at last count, had clocked up more than 370,000 sales in the US alone. This compares to a US peak of #41 and sales of 176,000 for Elegantly Wasted, the last album featuring Hutchence.

Hairdresser Apocalypse.

Oscar Dronjak talks about HammerFall’s new record, their upcoming tour, Zack Wylde’s hype and his disdain for the term ‘power metal’. For a heavy metal band that’s been around for as long as HammerFall, having people misinterpret your music is a definite pet peeve. Not that this’ll bring the band down in any way.

“First of all I don’t like the term ‘power metal’, I think what we’ve done is heavy metal and that’s the way it always has been,” guitarist and backup vocalist Oscar Dronjak told me from his bedroom in Göteborg on the West Coast of Sweden.

long tom: on set and vibrating with the electricity that has made him famous in film circles.

For such an enigmatic creature of the deep, Long Tom is relaxed and chatty in his tank at Westin Hotel.

Long Tom is in town to promote his new movie, in which he plays a fish from the wrong side of the reef that decides to fight back when hooked by an evil reef-plundering fisherman.

When winched aboard the yacht The Lark, Long Tom explodes in anger, threshing about and nipping at the heels of the anglers with his long, sharp teeth.

Looks different with his clothes on.

In the new Australian film The Book of Revelation, Tom Long plays a dancer who is abducted, raped, and brutalised by three women.

Adapted from the novel of the same name by acclaimed English author and recent Writers’ Festival attendee Rupert Thomson, TBOR is the story of Daniel, who, on his way down to the shop to buy a packet of cigarettes for his girlfriend, is accosted by three strangely dressed women.

When Daniel regains consciousness, he’s chained to the floor in a bleak, bare room. What follows is 12 days of graphic psychological and sexual abuse. When the women, who throughout the ordeal remain masked, release him, Daniel’s former life falls apart, and he embarks on an obsessive search for the three women who abducted him.

Eagles of Death Metal: Kung Fu seduction.

By Melanie Sheridan

Eagles of Death Metal are every man I’ve ever dated: arrogant, egotistic, arrogant, kinda gay, arrogant alpha heart breakers; and they are utterly, utterly irresistible.

But there are few pretenses with Eagles of Death Metal, despite their misleading name (they sound nothing like the Eagles nor like death metal). Their come-fuck-me/get fucked swagger is declared at the outset.

On Peace Love Death Metal, their first album, it was opening salvo I Only Want You, on which front sexy dude J Devil Huge sings not-so-sweet nothings: “I’m not gonna lie just to spare your feelings cos watching you suffer feels much better to me / I'm about to lay destruction on you / I'm not the lover man that you want me to be.” The message is repugnant as, but the music is insatiably, libidinously erotic.

Contrary to press reports, Johnny Depp actually gained his inspiration for the Jack Sparrow character from Josh Waddell, not Keith Richards.

The Beige Baron catches up with Peeping Tom and learns of a half-completed new album, the hassles with Patton, and plans for a tour real soon.

One of the best things about being in a new band would have to be choosing a name. Something snappy, cool, memorable and witty (unless you're in an emo band). About the only rule for choosing a band name is making sure no one else has already taken it.

Which is why local legends of swashbuckling pirate metal, Peeping Tom (a band which has been together for more than eight years) were surprised an upset to be told they suddenly had to change theirs. Mike Patton -- a musician anyone who loves music deeply respects -- was preparing to launch his new sideproject band. Their name? Peeping Tom.