Today it is with great pleasure that I OH YOU release Hayley Mary’s new single ‘The Chain’, her first offering since the release of her debut EP The Piss, The Perfume to critical acclaim earlier this year. ‘The Chain’ comes with a visually captivating video directed by Tyson Perkins at Sydney’s iconic Elizabeth Bay House.

Premiered on triple j Good Nights, ‘The Chain’ follows the recent announcement that Hayley Mary will be returning to the stage with a run of headline NSW shows this November, with more shows to be added! TICKETS HERE

In an ironic twist of events, ‘The Chain’ was written back in March on the evening Hayley was scheduled to fly out to begin touring The Piss, The Perfume, but was grounded due to the Covid-19 pandemic. What resulted is a bold, pop offering that showcases some of Hayley’s most impressive song writing to date, despite at the time it feeling like the saddest song she’d ever penned.

“The night I wrote ‘The Chain’ the pandemic was erupting around us all. Venues were closing and I received the news that my flights and headline shows were cancelled. I sat in my apartment in Melbourne staring at my suitcase. Not quite ready to start unpacking and let go of the momentum of my little rock n roll dream, I picked up the guitar and wrote what felt like, at the time, the saddest song I’d ever written. Sonically and melodically, however, it’s one of my most up-lifting.

It was a feeling I’d had before akin to depression that there is some kind of invisible magic chain holding me to the earth and keeping me from moving forward or climbing higher, which if I pull too hard on or try to escape from, seems to have devastating consequences behind or beneath me. But this time it was an odd sort of happy-sad because for the first time I felt like the chain not only held me down, it connected me to everything and everyone else. For a brief moment, everyone could see it and feel it at exactly the same time.”

Finding solace in this sense of connection to the rest of the world, Hayley poured both her frustrations and optimism into ‘The Chain’. The jubilant track acts as both a frustrated scream into the void and a celebration of solidarity. Its cinematic chorus evokes visuals of Hayley dancing around her discarded luggage on her living room floor, shaking off the sorrow as we’ve all had to do at moments over the past few months as we embrace the laughter to ward off the tears. Isolated, but connected.

2019 saw Hayley Mary explode onto the scene with her debut single ‘The Piss, The Perfume’, the title track off her game-changing EP that attracted widespread praise from NME, Flood Magazine, Clash Mag, The 405, Paste Magazine, DIY Mag, The Line Of Best Fit and Idolator and a flood of support from Spotify and Apple Music. The EP established Hayley Mary’s incredible knack for capturing a sharp sense of time and place, as it’s Australiana singles took us around the intoxicated streets of Sydney in the murky hours of the morning.

‘The Chain’ gives a poignant voice to the emotional disorientation of 2020, exploring the depth of loss felt by all, but bringing the joy we want and need from music right now. With tickets expected to fly, grab your tickets now to see Hayley Mary live!
HAYLEY MARY LIVE DATES
Tickets: hayleymary.com

Saturday 4 November
SS&A | Albury, NSW
18+
With Squid Doctor

Wednesday 18 November
Brass Monkey | Cronulla, NSW (Solo, Acoustic Show)
18+
With Jordan Kenny

Thursday 19 November
UOW UniBar | Wollongong, NSW
18+
With Sam Allen

Friday 20 November
Paddo RSL | Sydney, NSW (Early Show)
18+
With Melodrones & MC Jay Katz

Friday 20 November
Paddo RSL | Sydney, NSW (Late Show)
18+
With Melodrones & MC Jay Katz

Shimmering indie rock/pop up and comers Curly Blonde have today dropped their latest single Room 309, a sun-soaked track which, despite its blissful exterior, deals with the feeling of being dissatisfied with how life has turned out. The duo have also released a video to accompany the track, perfectly in keeping with Room 309’s exploration of monotony.

Evocative of Aussie indie faves Ball Park Music and The Jungle Giants, and mixed by Nicolas Mendoza (One Four, Delta Goodrem, A$AP Ferg), Room 309 is a strong, considered offering from this young duo – it’s perfect for that summer roadtrip, and would fit in flawlessly at the sunset festival set. Bright guitar riffs bounce amongst upbeat percussion, while glistening vocals describe an unsatisfactory life – in spite of the optimistic instrumental. That’s where the intrigue rests in this track; the fact that the lyrics are quite dark, in juxtaposition with the poppy arrangement, is fascinating. Speaking on the inspiration behind the track, Brynn explains, “Behind the rolling riffs, dreamy rhythms and vocals, the lyrics of the song stipulate someone who had such big imaginings for their life and set aspirational goals growing up, yet, they’re extremely unsatisfied with how things have turned out and whether they can ever have a meaningful life. It’s a pretty pertinent song, because I think most people in our age demographic are starting to realise and have thoughts along those lines, and the song captures a moment where you either make the move and live out those dreams, or whether you fall into the masses and go through the motions.”

“Going through the motions” is a great descriptor for the video for Room 309, too. The clip shows the Curly Blonde boys sitting on the same couch, going through the motions of early-twenties life – trying to entertain themselves on a budget, and trying to keep from snapping at the friend at their side. Created entirely by themselves in COVID-19 lockdown in Victoria, the clip is the perfect representation of the theme behind Room 309, as Brynn explains, “The concept of the video clip was to capture the isolation and monotony of being stuck in the same place but wanting to get out of there. The video clip resonates really well with the song, because Room 309 is about someone having such high hopes for life, but not being able to reach any goals. The COVID lockdown situation sort of helped us in a way, because not being able to go anywhere and having to do the same things over and over again fitted so well into the music video.”

Speaking of the COVID lockdown – in light of being stood down from their respective jobs, Brynn and Fergus of Curly Blonde were able to buckle down and work on their music together, as Fergus says, “Covid has actually helped us, in a funny way. We were both stood down from our jobs and the spare time allowed us to really come together and record this song and our upcoming debut EP. We felt that if life had continued in its hectic state, we wouldn’t have been able to achieve as much as we have this year.”

Curly Blonde is Brynn O’Connor and Fergus Selkirk-Bell

My Dream Rider

1. Beer, has to be number 1 (cliche, Lucas).. A hard earned thirst needs a good (preferably)cold beer and the best (preferably)cold beer is ‘anything’. I’m no fancy pantalone wearer requesting ‘triple hopped IPA’ or ‘caramel malted lager’.. Just give me any old beer.. (As long as it’s not VB or Fosters or XXXX.. or tooheys come to think of it)

2. Pretzels, heaps of pretzels.. But not those weird stick/straight ones, people who like that type seem a little off.. I mean it. Curled only. Actually, the chocolate covered pretzels are dang addictive so maybe not so many of those ones, perhaps we go for a 30% choc covered to 70% ‘standard’ curled pretzel ratio.

3. A football, preferably Sherrin but will reluctantly accept a Buffalo if I have to. Me and the guys will definitely want to have a little ‘kick to kick’ action before and after the show. It helps warm our leg muscles which in turn helps out with our on stage air kicks and karate style kicks which we do a heap of during the show.. maybe too much some say.

4. Spray paint for painting goal posts on the wall (see above).

5. Wine. I’m a bit of a wine nut so I think having some good grape action backstage is vital. Champagne is cool, vintage preferred (ideally 1998 or 2000) but a non-vintage would be ok too I guess. A little mix of some chardy and perhaps pinot noir would be great but i’ll tell you now, if anyone serves Merlot I’m outta there!!

6. Bean bags, yep i said it.. BB’s baby! I love em, and I reckon they are the perfect way to chill out before a gig, to get into the zone if you will. Playing guitar on a bean bag is a pretty good way to impress people too.. Peeps walk in, look around the room.. then see you in the corner just chilling out and playing guitar on a bean bag with your eyes closed.. Cool huh? Told you.

7. Pantalones, now I know I said before I wasn’t a pantalone wearer before but if i’m being totally honest they are just soo comfy that to have a few pairs to choose from and put on after doing a gig in tight, ill-fitting stretchy jeans is my idea of heaven.

8. Pens and paper, these are essential for last minute set list changes, general doodling and signing autographs.

9. Soup.. now I know it doesn’t sound very rock n roll does it? But nothing is more rock and roll than being healthy and loading up on a hearty broth before and after the gig. If there are no microwaves backstage or at the venue a little tip is to leave a covered bowl of soup on the bass players amp head during the show, it warms it up a treat and gives you the option of getting a little spoon or two in during the show if you feel your energy levels are dropping.

10. My cat Steve.

Brian Eldorado and the Tuesday People are a very genre diverse band with an amazing group of gifted musicians hailing from the city of Melbourne. They touch on blues, soul, jazz, rock, funk and hip-hop to create a very eclectic sound. 

During the Melbourne lockdown the band have been hard at work, using the time to continue creating music and out of the turmoil has come the new single “ Spider” 

Lead singer Brian describes the song as being  “Inspired by the ongoing conflict of light and dark thoughts in the artist’s mind, doubt and fear against confidence and belief. It also touches on jealousy vs appreciation and where you decide to align yourself as a person in the world. How do you want to live? Making choices and following through. It’s also about spiders attacking me in nightmares” he explains. 

Stylistically you can hear tinges of early Radiohead on the Rhodes as well as George Harrison style guitar tones and licks. This is combined over a groovy bass-heavy drum beat to give the song a catchy sound that is sure to get stuck in your head. 

Whilst making music and a video clip has become quite the challenge this year the band has managed to pull it off, calling on the creative talents of band’s Keyboardist Adam Rudegeairm, taking advantage of the social bubble to create the clip at his Funk Noir HQ studio in Hawthorn, Melbourne. We utilized Green Screen techniques and cool effects.

Juggling the film clip with teaching Australian icon Paul Kelly the piano in his spare time and collaborating with musicians from music royalty Prince’s band in Minneapolis, Adam doubles up as a great filmmaker and managed to bring the clip to life. 

Brian started writing songs as a child. He has always been completely enamored by music, recording and performance. His songwriting prowess includes Ballads, Funk, Rap, Blues, Jazz and Rock songs. 

Of the single release, he says it “ It feels great. I’m grateful to be releasing music still even though Covid and restrictions are happening. I really needed to work hard to get the band to be able to record the new album in between Melbourne’s two lockdowns. Then I mixed the album myself for about 14 weeks to finish it off.(in a studio I built in my garage)” 

When not in lockdown the band are hard-working having continued to release music.  In September 2020, the first single ‘Bloodline’  from The Tuesday People’s forthcoming album ‘Let The Blood Run Free’ was released. The song got airplay on Triple JJJ and on Community Radio Australia wide. 

Brian El Dorado and The Tuesday People have played many shows around Melbourne including St Kilda Festival and White Night Festival in 2018 and shows at most venues around Melbourne including headline shows at The Night Cat and The Evelyn Hotel. The Tuesday People have also toured interstate and regionally. Brian has a degree in Fine Arts from RMIT majoring in Sound Art and is credited for mixing the band’s new album.

https://youtu.be/vo29RuzXdJw

Spider – Single Presave

Glistening electronic producer Ukiyo has today released his euphoric new single and video Make It Better featuring Bajillionaire and Brewer. Evocative of Porter Robinson and early MGMT, Make It Better is the latest single to be shared from Ukiyo’s forthcoming self-titled debut LP Ukiyo LP, set for release on November 13 – Vinyl/CD available for pre-order/pre-save the album now.

Make It Better is a supremely moving track, one which puts a beautiful, poignant frame around the writers’ personal struggles. The soft, sparse feature vocals from Bajillionaire and Brewer float amongst a pulsing, glittery bed of rotating synthesisers and a infectious beat. Produced by Ukiyo on the road, mixed by Tim Watt (Golden Features, MUTO, Hermitude, Crooked Colours) and mastered by Wayne Sutherland (What So Not, Motez, Willaris K), Make It Better is quite possibly Ukiyo’s strongest track to date, and a thrilling taste of what his debut album will entail.

Speaking on the inspiration behind the track, Ukiyo says, “This song is all about personal struggles, so it means completely different things to Bajillionaire, Brewer and myself who wrote it. For me, this song is about anxiety, which is something that I’ve always struggled with but only really started taking seriously very recently. You’ll hear a lot of references to that in the lyrics as well as the production, which was originally called “Don’t Forget to Breathe” in its demo form. I wanted to turn my feelings of anxiety into something beautiful, with the building, whirling synths in the verses representing how I feel in the moment and the chorus recreating the feeling of getting through it. I recently started taking medication to help with the anxiety and I’ve found myself blasting this song in the car ever since, it feels good to finally have a lot more days feeling like the chorus section.”

The self-made lyric video for Make It Better features Ukiyo, Bajillionaire and Brewer and shares a similar theme to the song, with the video being about trying new things, conquering anxiety and not caring about what people think. “I wanted to prove to myself how far I’ve come with my anxiety as I wouldn’t have felt comfortable putting out a video like this even a few months ago” explains Tim.

With his long list of career accolades including playlist additions from Pharrell Williams and Martin Garrix, brand syncs with American Eagle, Ripcurl, Microsoft, Volkswagon, HBO and Netflix, not to mention a casual 30 million collective streams, it’s safe to say that anticipation for Ukiyo’s debut LP is at an all time high. And fans don’t need to wait for too much longer, for Ukiyo’s self-titled debut LP is completed and set for release November 13, full track listing below. The album is a celebration of the Australian music scene, with some of the country’s best contributing to the record and an all-star line up of features including Panama, Maribelle, Janeva, Sammi Constantine and more. “I’ve always been completely in love with the Australian music scene, so I knew that in my unique position as a producer I wanted to showcase some of the incredible upcoming Australian artists when it came around to creating my album. Everything from production, to features, mixing, mastering,

artwork is all 100

Melbourne based band Shotgun Mistress has returned with another nose-to-the-grind indie hard rock onslaught, Collide, out now via Crusader Records.

Collide highlights the band’s now trademark style of combining stupefying guitar riff grenades, a combustible rhythm section and soaring vocals wrapped in a melodic maelstrom. Shotgun Mistress is as hard to define as it is difficult to ignore – Ignore them at your peril.

This quartet of consummate rock tune craftsmen is riding high on the success of their previous releases, including Save Me from Myself, which bulleted to No1. on the iTunes Australian Rock Charts and smashed into the Top 40 chart, and their last single Glorious Machine, which left charts smouldering in its wake for weeks on end.

The new track is another fiery affair; a blistering tumult of distortion led full tilt with a heart on the sleeve lyric and sly, endearing hooks that don’t let up. Collide is one more tantalizing preview of their forthcoming debut album, due to set the rock world ablaze late in 2020.

APOLLO BLUE ANNOUNCES DEBUT SINGLE MOONCHILD OUT OCTOBER 16

Vibrant and enigmatic, Apollo Blue is one of Australia’s most mysterious and exciting upcoming acts – and today, he has announced his debut single Moonchild, an ode to self-empowerment, out October 16. Inspired to pursue music and the arts by a serendipitous encounter with Lady Gaga as a teen, Apollo Blue’s debut single has been a long time coming – but Moonchild is absolutely worth the wait.

Recorded in Melbourne in 2019, Apollo Blue guided production with audio engineer Jake Rush (Dan Parsons), mixing by James Cecil (The Goon Sax) and mastering by Adam Dempsey (Angie McMahon, Courtney Barnett), Moonchild is evocative of classics The Rolling Stones and David Bowie, but stings with a uniquely modern twist not dissimilar to indie-pop icons The 1975 and Cub Sport. The song is a true journey, from start to finish – there are peaks and valleys, no musical turn is expected but each is fascinating and innovative. Moonchild is a fearless explosion of a debut, with climbing guitar licks, pounding percussion, gentle piano breaths, all held together by Apollo Blue’s defining, soaring vocal.

Speaking on the inspiration behind the track, Apollo Blue explains, “Moonchild was written in the middle of the night after I had left a grungy gig and was strutting home in the rain through wintry Melbourne with my favorite black boots and silver glitter pants on. I felt free and powerful still reeling from the excitement of the nightlife. I noticed an on-looker from their balcony and wondered who they were and what they thought of me: a mysterious platinum blonde racing through a storm in the middle of the night. I developed this into an ominous character, The Moonchild, who only emerges at night and lives off of rain clouds and stormy skies. I had rock energy coursing through my veins and I couldn’t wait to get home and transform that feeling and fantasy world into music. The song was written before I could even reach the keyboard…the Moonchild is a metaphor for the powerful, confident force that we all possess inside of us.” Raised in country South Australia, Apollo’s life was changed forever at the age of 17, when his musical idol Lady Gaga read his personal letter aloud in front of thousands and invited him backstage to meet her. Gaga’s message of self-love and equality was deeply inspiring to a young Apollo Blue, and this encounter with his idol caused him to pursue music and drama in his year 12 studies, cementing his love of art forever. Since then, Apollo has studied music at Collarts in Melbourne under the mentorship of ARIA award-winning rock siblings Ella and Jesse Hooper of Killing Heidi, and has made waves across Melbourne’s live music scene.