Category Archives: Australian music

‘The model is broken’: Brisbane live music venue the Zoo to close after 32 years

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Fortitude Valley institution and sister venue Stranded will soon shut as owner cites cost-of-living pressures and young people drinking less

The Brisbane music venue the Zoo will call last drinks in July, with the owner listing a “perfect storm” of forces leading to its closure, including cost-of-living pressures and declining alcohol consumption among young people.

The 500-capacity room, which first opened its doors on Ann Street in 1992 in the formerly down-at-heel but now heavily gentrified inner suburb of Fortitude Valley, is one of Australia’s oldest music venues.

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Ocean Alley musician apologises for shoplifting after New Zealand shop shares CCTV footage

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Lachlan Galbraith says he feels ‘deep regret’ for stealing a drink bottle lid, but the Hunting and Fishing store in Queenstown says embarrassment ‘is punishment enough’

Ocean Alley keyboardist Lachlan Galbraith has publicly apologised after a shop in New Zealand shared CCTV footage of him shoplifting.

Hunting and Fishing Queenstown uploaded footage to Facebook and Instagram showing Galbraith placing a A$17.95 drink bottle lid in his bag on New Year’s Eve. The Australian rock band is currently touring New Zealand and is due to play in Wellington on Wednesday and Whangamatā on Friday.

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Carols by Candlelight: Melbourne woman arrested after pro-Palestine supporters storm stage

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Two other protesters were denied entry at the gates to the concert at Sidney Myer Musical Bowl

Thousands of people joined in to sing along at Carols by Candlelight in Melbourne on Sunday, with the festivities momentarily interrupted by two Pro-Palestine protesters who stormed the stage as children were performing.

The protesters were tackled and quickly removed, with host David Campbell appealing for calm and assuring people the children were safe.

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Rapper Briggs on his viral video backing the voice: ‘I want to debunk the comments section’

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Yorta Yorta man says voice referendum skit written by Jenna Owen and Victoria Zerbst has now been viewed more than 5m times

The rapper and Yorta Yorta man Briggs says he was aiming to “debunk the comments section” with his viral video on the voice to parliament referendum, adding it has struck a chord because Australians respond well to humour.

The skit, which Briggs said had been viewed more than 5m times, was written by Freudian Nip’s Jenna Owen and Victoria Zerbst and directed by Australian film-maker Nash Edgerton. It was not created or funded by the official yes campaign.

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Australian Eurovision entrant Danny Estrin reveals cancer diagnosis as Voyager cancel European tour

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Lead singer of Perth synth-metal band, which placed ninth in Eurovision, set for ‘immediate treatment’

The frontman for Voyager, Australia’s representatives at this year’s Eurovision, has announced he has been diagnosed with cancer that requires “immediate treatment”.

Danny Estrin announced the shock diagnosis on Instagram, saying he was “absolutely devastated” the band would have to cancel its upcoming European tour.

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Welcome to ‘the robot soundscape’: Australia’s music industry braces for the rise of music AI

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The spectre of intelligent technologies is looming over Australian artists, and dominating the chatter at Brisbane’s Bigsound music conference

Music conferences tend to follow a similar format: showcases of up-and-coming artists, panels about the business, and behind-the-scenes deals. But between the events and around the corridors of this year’s Bigsound in Brisbane, Australia, there was one topic dominating conversation: how AI was threatening the industry.

Musicians and composers are fascinated by – and terrified of – artificial intelligence, which has the potential to both help artists create, and steal their work. AI is already starting to weave into the everyday soundtracks of our lives, from a new track by the Beatles to Spotify’s “AI DJ”. It’s a new reality that scholars such as Oliver Bown from the University of New South Wales call “the robot soundscape”.

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Voyager take Australia to ninth place in Eurovision grand final

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Fans of song contest hail ‘a brilliant result’ as Perth synth metal rock band perform track Promise in Liverpool

Australia’s Eurovision hopefuls Voyager have performed strongly at the song contest, placing ninth out of a tight field of just 26 acts in the grand final.

The synth metal rock band from Perth delivered a flawless performance of their track Promise, with lead singer Danny Estrin appearing in an 80s car flanked by other band members.

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Triple J Hottest 100: Flume tops Australia’s biggest music poll with Say Nothing

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UK act Eliza Rose places No 2 in the countdown, with Spacey Jane landing at No 3, No 5 and No 6

Flume has taken the top spot in Triple J’s Hottest 100 – Australia’s largest music poll – with his track Say Nothing, a collaboration with the Sydney artist Maya Cumming.

The Sydney-bred music producer, aka Harley Streten, previously topped the countdown in 2016 with his hit Never Be Like You. In 2020, he got to No 3 with Toro y Moi collaboration The Difference, and No 2 with Rushing Back in 2019. Say Nothing was one of three tracks from Streten to feature in the countdown, which was broadcast on Triple J on Saturday.

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Aria awards 2022: Rüfüs Du Sol and Amyl and the Sniffers among top nominees

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Dance group leads with seven nominations, with Flume, the Kid Laroi, Baker Boy and Vance Joy also winning multiple nods

Rüfüs Du Sol has dominated the 2022 Aria award nominations, featuring in a total of seven categories, followed by Amyl and the Sniffers and Flume.

The Sydney electronic trio’s latest album, Surrender, continues to pay dividends for the band, who won best group and best dance song for their track Alive at last year’s Arias. Alive also won them best dance song at this year’s Grammy awards.

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Falls festival to return after pandemic with move to Melbourne

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Lil Nas X and Arctic Monkeys to headline at Sidney Myer Music Bowl after farmers appeal plans to hold event in Birregurra

Victoria’s Falls festival will make its long-awaited return in December following a two-year hiatus but with a second location change to the fringe of Melbourne’s CBD.

For the first time in its nearly 30-year history, the three-day festival will relocate from regional Victoria to the inner-city.

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John Farnham recovering in ICU after mouth cancer removed in surgery, singer’s family reveals

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Veteran Australian hitmaker is in a stable condition in hospital after surgery for almost 12 hours as doctors worked to successfully remove a cancer tumour from his mouth

The veteran Australian singer John Farnham is recovering in hospital after undergoing almost 12 hours of surgery to remove a cancerous growth from his mouth.

In a statement released Wednesday morning, Farham’s wife, Jill, and sons Rob and James said the singer was in a stable condition.

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National Indigenous Music awards 2022: stars pay tribute to Archie Roach in emotional ceremony

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Incredible lineup of First Nations acts perform at the Amphitheater in Darwin’s botanic gardens

An emotional tribute to the late, much-loved Gunditjmara-Bundjalung songman Archie Roach was at the heart of the National Indigenous Music awards in Darwin on Saturday night.

Led by Emma Donovan and Fred Leone, a group of artists gathered on stage to pay tribute to their beloved Uncle Archie, who died last week after a long illness aged 66.

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Judith Durham, Australian singer and vocalist of The Seekers, dies at 79

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Melbourne-born entertainer rocketed to international fame in the 1960s with hits including The Carnival is Over, A World of Our Own and Georgy Girl

Judith Durham, the Australian singing great and vocalist of The Seekers, has died aged 79.

Durham released a number of solo albums but was best known as the voice of folk music group The Seekers, who she performed with from 1963 until 1968, when she left to pursue a solo career.

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‘Big tree down’: Archie Roach remembered as a truth-teller, healer and First Nations champion

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Cathy Freeman, Paul Kelly and Linda Burney among those who have paid tribute to the musician after his death

The Indigenous Australian songwriter and activist Archie Roach has been praised as a “courageous” and “powerful” truth-teller, as leading figures in politics and the arts mourn his passing.

Roach died aged 66, after a long illness, surrounded by his family and loved ones at Warrnambool Base Hospital.

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Archie Roach, Australian songman and voice of the stolen generations, dies aged 66

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Tributes pour in for musician whose song Took the Children Away became the anthem of the stolen generations

Archie Roach, the Indigenous Australian songwriter whose celebrated song Took the Children Away brought national attention to the story of the stolen generations, has died aged 66.

Roach died at Warrnambool Base hospital after a long illness, surrounded by his family and loved ones.

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Ardern’s fiance takes swipe at Albanese’s outdated music taste after leaders exchange records

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‘What is this, 2004???’ Clarke Gayford posted in response to Australian PM’s gift of Midnight Oil, Spiderbait and Powderfinger albums

Jacinda Ardern’s fiancee has taken a cheeky swipe at Anthony Albanese’s music taste after the Australian prime minister and his New Zealand counterpart exchanged records during the pair’s first face-to-face meeting.

Ardern and Albanese, who have both moonlighted as DJs in the past, made the customary display of gift-giving at their first meeting since the federal election in Sydney on Thursday, with both opting for the high-risk, high-reward gift of music.

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Australian arts sector says budget cuts during pandemic recovery ‘highly disappointing’

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Federal budget papers reveal $190m or 19% reduction in 2022-23 compared to previous year, Fund the Arts coalition says

The arts sector is facing a significant drop in federal government funding as pandemic support measures come to an abrupt end despite some industries struggling to recover.

The arts minister, Paul Fletcher, said the inclusion in the budget of an additional $20m in Covid-19 relief under the Restart Investment to Sustain and Expand (Rise) scheme in 2022-23, first announced last week, was an “unprecedented injection” of art stimulus funding.

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Riveting, terrifying, completely singular: how Chrissy Amphlett changed the game

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Growing up the daughter of a rock’n’roller, Lo Carmen was meeting stars at gigs from the age of 13. One left a life-changing impression

  • This is an edited extract from Lovers Dreamers Fighters by Lo Carmen

I was 13 when I became enamoured with Chrissy Amphlett.

It was 1983 and I had just started working for our old family friend Vince Lovegrove in the school holidays. In the late 60s Vince had been a frilly-shirted bubble-gum pop singer with the Valentines, alongside AC/DC’s Bon Scott; in the 70s, he’d transitioned to hip music scene journalist, to TV producer, to compère; and now he was managing cutting-edge rock group the Divinyls, whose song Boys in Town I was already obsessed with.

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Gang of Youths: Angel in Realtime review – overcrowded anthems with a few special moments

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The big, bold songs will get the airplay and crowds singing, but it is the stripped-back ones where the Aussie rockers truly shine on their third album

If Angel in Realtime is ostensibly an ode to David Le’aupepe’s late father, it reveals itself as a portrait of the son, passing back and forth between grief and searching and understanding, in his father’s wake.

In the opening track, You in Everything, Le’aupepe asks of himself: “How do I face the world or raise a fucking kid/Or see beauty in the earth and all its majesty replete/When I’ve spent the better part of my 20s doing self-indulgent bullshit on repeat?” A dozen tracks later, as he contemplates “the sum of a life” in Goal of the Century, he hasn’t found an answer but the path to it looks a little brighter: “Head down I’m writing this shit out/On my phone/A way that I can talk to you/And reach you.”

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‘Unapologetically truthful and unapologetically Blak’: Australia bows down to Barkaa

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After overcoming personal tragedy, the rapper has clawed her way back – with a politically potent debut EP dedicated to First Nations women

Baarka didn’t come to mess around. Born Chloe Quayle, the 26-year-old rapper was a former teenage ice addict who did three stints in jail – during her last, five years ago, she gave birth to her third child.

Now the Malyangapa Barkindji woman has clawed her way back from what she describes as “the pits of hell” and is on the verge of releasing her debut EP, Blak Matriarchy, through Briggs’ Bad Apples Music. She has been celebrated by GQ as “the new matriarch of Australian rap”; and has her face plastered on billboards across New York, Los Angeles and London as part of YouTube’s Black Voices Music Class of 2022. (“I nearly fainted when I saw [pictures of it],” Barkaa says when we meet over Zoom. “The amount of pride that came from my family and my community ... It was a huge honour.”)

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