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DAVIDSON BROTHERS, QUARRY MOUNTAIN DEAD RATS & LACHLAN BRYAN AND THE WILDES – SUMMER PICKIN’ PARTY – 20 DEC

pickinpartyMulti-award winning showstoppers and Aunty Meredith’s bluegrass band of choice, The Davidson Brothers, are throwing a Summer Pickin’ Party at Curtin Bandroom on Friday 20th December with The Quarry Mountain Dead Rats and 2014 Golden Guitar nominated Lachlan Bryan and The Wildes!

Curtin Bandroom

29 Lygon Street Carlton, Victoria

Pre-sale $15 +bf or $20 at the door if available

www.johncurtinhotel.com

Lachlan and Hamish said, “We’ve invited two of the hottest live bands in Melbourne to help us tear it down for our first ever annual Davidson Brothers Summer Pickin’ Party. We’ve all been on the road a lot this year, so we’re looking forward to jamming it up with these guys and showing our audience an absolute good time at the Curtin!”

Its not every day that you hear bluegrass music on Triple J, but the highly energetic Davidson Brothers have found friends there as well as with all the traditional country music radio stations.

For those who have not yet had a taste of the country/bluegrass phenomenon that is the Davidson Brothers, bring your dancing shoes and be prepared to be entertained by multi-instrumentalists and Hamish and Lachlan, who were referred to by Troy Cassar-Daley as “the best young bluegrass pickers we have seen in a long while in Australia and a very exciting live act.”   The Quarry Mountain Dead Rats will also be performing on the night, bringing their raw and gritty version of bluegrass kicking and hollering into the modern day. They establish an ‘old mate’ affinity with their audiences while delivering a kick-you-in-the-face live show, setting the tone for a sing along, drink along, foot-stomping good time.

Joining them will be singer/songwriter Lachlan Bryan and The Wildes aka Mat Duniam, Shaun Ryan and Andy Wrigglesworth, who’s latest album ‘Black Coffee’ has just been nominated for a 2014 Golden Guitar for best alt – country album. Lachlan has shared stages with legends such as Steve Earle and John Hiatt, and appeared at major festivals from Byron Bay’s famous Bluesfest to Gympie’s infamous annual Music Muster.

Don’t miss the Davidson Brothers and friends at the best Summer Pickin’ Party this side of Tennessee at:

Curtin Bandroom

29 Lygon Street Carlton, Victoria

Pre-sale $15 +bf or $20 at the door if available

www.johncurtinhotel.com

Facebook event link: https://www.facebook.com/events/662957530405386/

Visit the Davidson Brothers at www.davidsonbrothersband.com or https://www.facebook.com/davidsonbrothers

 Davidson Brothers_DigitalPR_2013

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AMY MIDDLETON LAUNCHES “ARCHER – THE AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF SEXUAL DIVERSITY” ON THURSDAY 28 NOV

ARCHER MAGAZINE LAUNCH PARTY – MELBOURNE

Thursday 28 November 2013

7pm

St Heliers Street Gallery
Abbotsford Convent, Collingwood

 

ARCHER MAGAZINE IS THE NEW AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF SEXUAL DIVERSITY

Started in Melbourne by journalist and editor, Amy Middleton (The Bulletin, Australian Geographic, Rolling Stone), this intelligent new print mag is unlike anything the Australian media has seen before.

A biannual collection of writing and photography, Archer aims to capture Australia’s attitudes to sexual diversity at the time of publication.

The magazine’s crowd-funding campaign through Pozible raised a staggering $20,000 for the first print edition, which makes its debut at the launch.

The first issue of Archer features a challenging new piece from Christos Tsiolkas (author of international bestseller The Slap and 2013’s Barracuda) about the adult desire for youth.

Christos is joined by 11 other Australian writers covering topics such as:

* The transgender experience
* Sex and censorship in Australian film
* Austrailans against same-sex marriage
* The changing face of the Aussie bloke
* Why straight sex is just as ‘queer’ as queer sex

Articles are adorned by images from a host of emerging and established contemporary photographers from across the country.

“Each issue of Archer will date quickly in terms of commentary and photography, leaving behind a relic of the sexual equality movement” 
– Editor Amy Middleton

“I’m excited about Archer, I think the more publications there are that challenge us to think imaginatively about sexuality, sex and gender, the better”
– Christos Tsiolkas (author of The Slap)

—————————————————————————————————-

ARCHER LAUNCH – MELBOURNE

Official proceedings 7:00pm – 9:00pm

Party proceedings 9:00pm – 11:00pm

featuring

Live life drawing by Michael Hawkins

Readings from Archer Magazine by Dr Lauren Rosewarne + Aram Hosie

Q&A for the more vocal among us

Meet and greet with founding editor, Amy Middleton

Dancefloor courtesy of DJ Kira Puru

——————————————————————————————————

archer

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THE AGE MUSIC VICTORIA AWARDS 2013 WINNERS

 The_Age_Music_Victoria_Awards_Logo_CMYK_300dpi 

Renée Geyer and an all-star cast of Victoria’s finest musicians told the story of Australian soul to a near capacity crowd last night at the inaugural The Age Music Victoria Awards at Billboard, with Renée playing a 45 minute set of her greatest hits and delivering a passionate rendition of ‘It’s a Man’s Man’s World.’

 

A thrilled Geyer said, “This award means so much – it is a career-topping milestone and I’m thrilled to be the first female solo inductee to The Age Music Victoria Hall Of Fame.”

 

Nominees for Best Album, Big Scary, opened the night with a 30 minute set, warming the crowd up with their stunning psychedelic pop sound. Other highlights of the night included 2013’s Best Soul, Funk, R’n’B and Gospel Album Genre Award winner Kylie Auldist and Lance Ferguson together on ‘Stares and Whispers’; Linda Bull covering Paul Kelly’s ‘Sure Got Me’, and a stunning duet from Saskwatch vocalist Nkechi and Henry Wagons. The EG Allstars rocked steadily along with special guest vocalists Dan Sultan, Daniel Merriweather, Remi Kolawole, Talei Wolfgramm and Ella Thompson, and Archie Roach’s ‘Heal The People’ brought the house down.

 

This year The Drones won big twice, capturing City of Melbourne award for Best Band as well as the RocKwiz award for  Best Live Band; and Paul Kelly also bagged two trophies with The Age EG Best Album for his ‘Spring and Fall’ album, and Select AV’s Best Male Artist Award.

 

Adalita topped off a huge year with a well-deserved win for The Music’s Best Female Artist Award and newcomer Hiatus Kaiyote won the BigSound &Travel Beyond Best Emerging Artist Award, which includes flights and accommodation to Brisbane’s BigSound Conference and a slot in a high-profile showcase in addition to a very cool looking trophy.

 

The Mountain Goat award for Best Venue went to Melbourne’s fine Corner Hotel, and Crumpler’s Best Festival award went to Meredith Music Festival, with Aunty Meredith sending a telegram of thanks to the award’s presenters.

 

This year, the two new regional award categories that were introduced for public voting – Best Regional Venue and Best Regional Act – attracted fierce competition and interest with the Theatre Royal in Castlemaine winning the award for Best Regional Venue and everyone’s favourite sister act Stonefield winning Best Regional Act.

 

Editor of The Age ‘Shortlist’, Martin Boulton, said “The state of Victorian music is in rude health when a genuine star of the industry in Paul Kelly is still delivering career best albums and this year’s Best Emerging Artist award has gone to Hiatus Kaiyoye, who couldn’t attend only because they’re blowing away audiences overseas.”

“On a night when Renée Geyer was recognised for her enormous contribution to the music industry, we’ve also seen some of Victoria’s best talent on show.”

 

Music Victoria CEO, Patrick Donovan said, “Congratulations to all of the winners and inductees. The ecstatic response from the crowd and 80,000 plus votes from the public illustrates that Victoria’s world class soul scene deserved its own night and that a Victorian contemporary music awards was long over due. Bring on next year.”

 

THE AGE MUSIC VICTORIA AWARDS 2013 were presented by SAE and 3RRR 102.7FM.

The complete list of winners and award sponsors is attached.

 

 

The Age Music Victoria Awards 2013 winners are:

 

 

Best Album – presented by The Age EG

‘Spring and Fall’ – Paul Kelly

 

Best Band – presented by City of Melbourne

The Drones

 

Best Song – presented by APRA

‘Riptide’ – Vance Joy

Best Male Artist

Paul Kelly

Best Female Artist – presented by The Music

Adalita

Best Emerging Artist – presented by Travel Beyond / Bigsound

Hiatus Kaiyote

Best Live Band – presented by RockWiz

The Drones

 

Best Venue – presented by Mountain Goat

The Corner Hotel

 

Best Festival – presented by Crumpler

Meredith Music Festival

 

Best Regional Act

Stonefield

 

Best Regional Venue

Theatre Royal, Castlemaine

 

The Age Music Victoria Hall of Fame

Michael Gudinski

 

The Age Music Victoria Hall of Fame

Renée Geyer

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SOUTH AFRICAN SUPERGROUP MANGO GROOVE OZ/NZ TOUR ANNOUNCED!

 

Mango Groove are hugely excited to announce their long awaited return to Australia and their inaugural visit to New Zealand!

 

Bang The Drum02 HiRes

The following shows have been confirmed:

Friday 21 February – Red Hill Auditorium, Perth
Tickets: www.mangogrooveaustralia.com.au or www.oztix.com.au

Sunday 23 February – Forum Theatre, Melbourne
Tickets: www.ticketmaster.com.au

Tuesday 25 February – Bruce Mason Centre, Auckland
Tickets: www.ticketmaster.co.nz

Friday 28 February – Big Top Sydney, Luna Park (Sydney)
Tickets: www.mangogrooveaustralia.com.au or www.ticketmaster.com.au

Saturday 1 March – Eatons Hill Hotel, Brisbane
Tickets: www.mangogrooveaustralia.com.au or www.oztix.com.au

Tuesday 4 March – Norwood Concert Hall, Adelaide
Tickets: www.mangogrooveaustralia.com.au or www.venuetix.com.au

Mango Groove’s lead singer Claire Johnston said, ‘’Wow, I can’t tell you how excited we are about this tour. This is huge for us and coincides with a special anniversary as 2014 is the year we as South Africans celebrate 20 years of democracy: a momentous achievement for our country. It seems fitting we will also be taking the party abroad!’’

 

Founding member John Leyden agrees: ‘’Ja, this is going to be a very important tour for us. We really hope to see a lot of South Africans at the show, as well as those Australians and New Zealanders who have become familiar with our music through the years.”

 

Formed in 1984, Mango Groove burst onto the South African scene where their unique blend of township jive and pop has sold over a million albums, charting 12 Number 1 hits and winning every conceivable award on offer in South Africa. They are the only local band to remain at the top of the South African sales charts for over a year.

 

Performance highlights of their career include:

 

Freddie Mercury Tribute telecast

Hong Kong reunification concert

Montreux Jazz Festival

Paris SOS Racism concert

Nelson Mandela’s presidential inauguration

 

Fronted by the inimitable Claire Johnston, who for many years was the voice of South African rugby, the band features many distinctly South African rhythms and sounds including pennywhistle and marimba. Their music takes the traditional township styles of marabi, kwela and mbaqanga and fuses them beautifully with modern pop rhythms to form an upbeat, eminently danceable mix.

 

Mango Groove’s entire 11 piece band will roll out a back catalogue heavy with hits for this tour, including Dance Sum More, Hellfire, Special Star, Pennywhistle, Hometalk, Moments Away, Tsa-oo!, Another Country, Bang the Drum and many more.

 

Mango Groove Australia 2014 Facebook Page at http://on.fb.me/HV3lMz

For full tour details: www.mangogrooveaustralia.com.au

 

For more information, interviews, images and sounds please contact Ashley Sambrooks: ash@showoffrecordings.com | 0404 596 299 Karen Conrad: Karen@karenconradpublicity.com | 0400 527 365

 

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Mikelangelo plays Cash – Cave – Waits – Cohen in Sydney – plus one-off show with Black Sea Gentlemen!

 

 

mikelcave

 

MIKELANGELO plays
CASH – CAVE – WAITS – COHEN

Mikelangelo steps up to the plate to interpret a quartet of classic albums that shaped his ears as a lad. Each album he has happily fallen asleep listening to over the years, thus they have worked their strange magic on his dreams and become pivotal influences on his songwriting.

Mikelangelo plays:
Johnny Cash’s 
‘American Recordings’ 
and
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds’
‘Your Funeral, My Trial’ 
at 
THE VANGUARD SUN 24 NOV 8pm
42 King St. Newtown
http://www.thevanguard.com.au/shows/2013/11/24/cash–cave-performed-by-mikelango-/12027

Mikelangelo plays 
Tom Waits’ 
‘Franks Wild Years’
and
Leonard Cohen’s 
‘Songs of Love and Hate’
at
CAMELOT  LOUNGE – THURS 28 NOV 8pm
19 Marrickville rd. Marrickville
http://camelotlounge.wordpress.com 

Plus a one-off show with in the Blue Mountains with the Gentlemen!

Mikelangelo and the Black Sea Gentlemen 
THE CLARENDON
SAT 30 NOV 8pm
68 Lurline St. Katoomba 
www.clarendonguesthouse.com.au

Its been a busy year for Mikelangelo, touring the UK, Europe and Australia with the Black Sea Gentlemen to rave reviews and taking home a swag of awards. He also recently received a ‘Best Male Artist’ nomination for The Age Music Victoria awards alongside Paul Kelly, Goyte and Archie Roach. Voting for the Age MV Awards closes Friday 15 Nov. Vote 1 Mikelangelo!
http://agemusicvictoriaawards.questionpro.com/

Mikelangelo first performed his Classic Albums series at Melbourne live music bastion The Old Bar and now he brings it to Sydney. Interpreting Tom Waits final album in his tranformational ‘trilogy’ from the 1980’s Mikelangelo explains:

“Franks Wild Years is Waits’ definitive album for me, not just for the musical and emotional breadth of the songs, but for the way they so beautifully fit together to tell the story of a young man with stars in his eyes, who jumps a train going through his wind swept hick town for the bright lights of New York city. The album chronicles Frank’s dreams of rising to fame and his eventual crashing fall into madness. This magnum opus was a musical theatre work by Tom Waits and his wife Kathleen Brennan – I would have loved to see it!”

And of Cohen:
“I feel lucky to have come across him pretty much by accident as a young man. From the opening guitars and orchestration of Avalanche to the final ‘La la’s’ of Joan of Arc, I was lost deep in a dream listening to this album. These are such pretty lullabies İ almost didn’t notice how harrowing they are until years later. İ guess my world was full of fire and brimstone at 19, so this was the perfect album to soothe the savage beast”.

Interpreting the first album from Johnny Cash’s ‘American’ series that saw Rick Rubin guide the ailing star to one of the most amazing combacks in musical history, Mikelangelo says: “Hearing Johnny Cash with just his guitar for accompaniment, I felt like I was alone with him in the room. He’s sombre and profound one moment, playful and devil may care the next, and his rumbling voice never sounded so good. I’m a baritone too, so Cash’s low notes always make me feel right at home.”

And of Nick Cave:
“Your Funeral, My Trial was the first Bad Seeds album I ever bought. It had just come out, i was a teenager and when the needle hit the record, a whole new dark, theatrical world opened up before me. How could i resist leaping in? I’ve followed Nick ever since and love almost all of his albums, but this one still has the faded yet compelling allure of the first love”.

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Direct from Kentucky – two time Grammy nominee Don Rigsby joins forces with the Davidson Brothers in Victoria only!

DON RIGSBY – FIRST AUSTRALIAN TOUR

DonRigsbyPROMO_IMG_2247

From remote Isonville, KY, to an international following in Bluegrass music, Don Rigsby has remained true to his mountain roots and made his own marks as a powerful tenor and distinctive mandolin player.

Don grew up listening to early Ralph Stanley records and to the high lonesome sounds of his cousin Ricky Skaggs, learning from those who went before him and then adding his own personal touches. Also influenced by the late Keith Whitley, another Elliott County native, Don comes from a family and community of traditional musicians.

He has sung since he can remember, started playing guitar at age 12, added the mandolin and fiddle, and plays dulcimer. For his sixth birthday, Don was taken to the Paramount Arts Center in nearby Ashland, KY, to hear his hero Ralph Stanley perform “Little Maggie” and got an unforgettable bonus when Keith Whitley came out to the audience, hoisted young Don onto his shoulders, and carried him backstage to meet Ralph for the first time.

Don emerged onto the national scene as a member of The Bluegrass Cardinals, played with JD Crowe and The New South, and was a member of the award-winning Lonesome River Band. The two-time Grammy nominee and two-time SPBGMA Traditional Male Vocalist of the Year shared three IBMA Awards while performing with Longview and sang on a Grammy-winning album by rocker John Fogerty.

A sought after producer, session musician and singer, Rigsby most recently appears on International Country Star, Alan Jackson’s ‘The Bluegrass Album’ singing all the tenor parts.  Last week he played Carnegie Hall with Jackson and appeared on David Letterman.  Here’s the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4jdefl2JS4

Don has released five solo albums.

His latest release is a tribute to his hero Ralph Stanley. The title is “Doctor’s Orders” and features special guests Larry Sparks, Charlie Sizemore, Ricky Skaggs and Doctor Ralph himself!

 

FEATURING – Davidson Brothers Band

Three-time Golden Guitar winning act, the Davidson Brothers have firmly carved their contemporary acoustic style into the Australian music scene.

Having performed together for over 20 years, Hamish and Lachlan have each toured as sidemen with major country artists, together they’ve become regulars on many National festivals as well as touring Australia extensively, Europe and the USA.  They even appeared on the Ryman in Nashville at the 2010 International Bluegrass Music Awards.

Winner of multiple Australian National Bluegrass Championship titles on Fiddle, Banjo and Mandolin, the Davidson Brothers have established the Australian Youth Bluegrass Scholarship to encourage excellence and leadership in bluegrass amongst young musicians.

Described by Lee Kernaghan as “two of the greatest musicians in this country”, the Davidson Brothers deliver rapid-fire high energy acoustic music.

Long known as festival favourites, they’ve also introduced a whole new generation to the genre through airplay on many youth oriented commerical and community radio programs around Australia, including Triple J.SPECIAL GUESTS (Spotted Mallard show only) – The Company (QLD)

Boasting two Australian Bluegrass champions on guitar, fiddle and banjo, The Company have a passion for high-energy original acoustic music. From fast finger-picking to soulful songs with sweet harmonies – these blokes do it all. Highly regarded for their fervor and originality, they’ve appeared at festivals all around Australia and the UK and have been featured on local ABC radio in Brisbane with Richard Fidler and National ABC radio with Lucky Oceans and the Daily Planet.

GIG DATES:
 

Tuesday 19th November, 2103 – Bendigo Bank Theatre, Bendigo VIC
Thursday 21st November, 2013 – Spotted Mallard, Brunswick (Melbourne) VIC
Friday 22nd November, 2013 – MountainGrass Bluegrass Festival, Harrietville VIC
Saturday 23rd November, 2013 – MountainGrass Bluegrass Festival, Harrietville VIC 

 
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LAST CHANCE TO VOTE AND BUY TICKETS TO THE AGE MUSIC VICTORIA AWARDS 2013

 

Nearly 50,000 votes have been tallied so far for The Age Music Victoria Music Awards this year with voting closing this Friday 15th November!

 

Many of the races are tight, including the Best Male category, where Paul Kelly is having a ding-dong battle with David Bridie, Archie Roach, Mikelangelo and Gotye.

 

The Best Regional Venue category is also hotly contested, with all five nominees attracting plenty of voting action.

Music Victoria CEO, Patrick Donovan, said “It’s great to see regional music fans get right behind their favourite local venue in this category, so we are pleased to have this new category in the main voting this year. Music is enjoyed all around the state, so it’s very important to have regional live music venues represented.”

 

Nominees for the Best Song award are nose to nose towards the finish line with Vance Joy’s Riptide among the big vote-getters and King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard also breaking through with their track Head On/Pill. Cash Savage’s I’m In Love, Courtney Barnett’s History Eraser and Standish/Carlyon’s Nono/Yoyo are also attracting plenty of attention.

 

The Age shortlist editor, Martin Boulton, said “The wealth of standout nominees in the first Age Music Victoria Awards reflects the fantastic talent we have in Melbourne and right across the state. Next week’s awards night will blow the lid off Billboard and I can’t think of a better way to launch the new format than having home grown talent like Renee Geyer, Dan Sultan, Henry Wagons, Big Scary and Kylie Auldist live on stage.”

 

The Age and Music Victoria joined forces this year in a new partnership to celebrate the state’s musical riches in an all-Victorian awards evening, and to induct singer, songwriter, producer, author and soul queen Renée Geyer into The Age Music Victoria Hall of Fame.

 

Previously known as The Age EG Awards, the new The Age Music Victoria Awards, with supporting partner SAE Institute and presented by 3RRR 102.7FM, will be held on Wednesday 20th November 2013 at Billboard during Melbourne Music Week. As well as Renée Geyer’s 45 minute greatest hits set with special guests, this year’s awards night is set to be a star-studded Soul Revue with the EG Allstars joined by the biggest names in Victorian soul!

 

Michael Gudinski will also be inducted by Molly Meldrum into The Age Music Victoria Awards Hall of Fame (non-musician) to recognise Mushroom’s 40th anniversary and to acknowledge his enormous contribution to the Victorian music industry.

 

The Age Music Victoria Awards will present publicly voted awards in 11 categories (including new awards for Best Regional Act and Best Regional Venue) across all genres which are voted via The Age online.

 

The Age Music Victoria Awards night on Wednesday 20th November is open to the public and tickets are on sale now for $50+bf.

 

The event has so far raised more than $70,000 for Australian music industry charity Support Act Limited. $5 from every ticket sold will go to Support Act. 

 

THE 2013 AGE MUSIC VICTORIA AWARDS

Presented by SAE and 3RRR 102.7FM

Wednesday 20th November 2013

Billboard The Venue, Melbourne
8.00pm

Starring:

 

Renée Geyer 

The EG Allstars Soul Revue with

Dan Sultan

Archie Roach

Kylie Auldist

Lance Ferguson

Nkechi Anele (Saskwatch)

Henry Wagons

Remi Kolawole

Talei Wolfgramm 

Linda Bull 

Ella Thompson 

Big Scary

MC Chris Gill and DJs Vince Peach, Pierre Baroni, Johnny Topper and Chris Johnston

 

Tickets are on sale now for $50+bf through Oztix: oztix.com.au, ph: 1300 762 545 and Oztix retail outlets.
($5 from every ticket sold donated to Support Act Limited)

Voting for The Age Music Victoria Awards closes this Friday 15th November – vote now at theage.com.au/agemusicvictoriaawards

See you all at the 2013 The Age Music Victoria Awards!

facebook.com/theagemusicvictoriaawards   @AgeMVawards

theage.com.au/agemusicvictoriaawards

The_Age_Music_Victoria_Awards_Logo_CMYK_300dpi

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Alex & The Shy Lashlies launch new AA 7″ single at Toff In Town, 20 November

On November 20th, 1820 an 80-tonne sperm whale attacked The Essex, a whaling ship from Nantuket. This event inspired Moby-Dick to be written.On November 20th, 1917 Ukraine was made a republic.

On November 20th, 1985 Microsoft Windows 1.0 is released

On November 20th, 2013 Alex and the Shy Lashlies will celebrate Mexican Independence Day by launching their brand new AA 7″ single While You Were Sleeping/Eleven Hours at The Toff In Town.

Lending heavenly support on this occasion will be the charming songstress Ali E and the prolific, rambling songwriter Dan Parsons.

Come and celebrate freedom with them.

DOORS: 8.00pm
Tickets: $10.00 +BF / $10.00 On the Door

www.thetoffintown.comBand Park
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The Controllers launch debut single ‘Twins’ @ Brunswick Hotel – 13 December – #5 on JJJ Unearthed rock chart!

twins
The Controllers are thrilled to present the first single ‘Twins,’ to be launched 13 December at the Brunswick Hotel, 140 Sydney Road, Brunswick from 9pm with Among Giants, Squarehead and Chop Squad.– Free Entry!

‘Twins’ is the tale of two twins – one virtuous, one slightly tarnished and a decision between duty and desire, which is reflected in the design on the single cover by up and coming Melbourne artist Madison Griffiths.

The Controllers count Against Me!, Refused, The Audition, Comeback Kid and Chick Corea as their musical influences and drummer Kieran recently won Australia’s Best Up and Coming Drummer Competition, $3000 worth of prizes and sponsorship from Pearl, Zildjian, Remo and Vic Firth.

Bassist Ben Tyler and drummer Kieran Rafferty met at the tender age of 8 years while attending Grade 3 at Haileybury College and were instant best mates, sharing the common bond of musicality and of both of their mums teaching at the school.

Enter new kid Zac Connelly (guitars/vocals), who came to the school in Year 7 (2007) and was classified as a ‘jock’ rather than a ‘muso.’ like Kieran and Ben.

As it happens, the school was putting on a battle of the bands and Zac, Ben and Kieran were put into a band with 3 other classmates. The band then consisted of 3 bad guitarists, one bad drummer, a mediocre singer, one good drummer and a good bassist.

After much shuffling and many reformations a 4-piece band called Happy Accidents was formed. They went on to win multiple school battles of the bands and a couple of Freeza events. But eventually all things must pass, and at 16, Happy Accidents disbanded to concentrate on completing school.

Fast forward to NOW and at the age of 19 and fresh out of high school, Zac, Ben and Kieran have reformed as The Controllers with a more mature sound and a musical sensibility that belies their tender years.

‘Twins’ is the first single to be lifted from their forthcoming debut 5 song EP and it’s sitting at #17 on the overall charts and #5 on the rock charts on Triple J’s unearthed page. You can download ‘Twins’ here:
www.triplejunearthed.com/TheControllers