STARDUST MEMORIES

It’s the 50th anniversary of the release of the late David Bowie’s iconic album, The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars. Here we go back 10 years when Bob Gordon interviewed the album’s co-producer, Ken Scott, upon the release’s 40th anniversary, for The West Australian, originally published in June, 2012.

Photo: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

Upon the 40^th anniversary of David Bowie’s ground-breaking fifth album, The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars, co-producer Ken Scott has no problem describing where Bowie was in the popular scheme of things when they went in to record it in late 1971.

“Nowhere,” he says, bluntly. “He’d had success with what at the time was considered a novelty record, which was Space Oddity (1969). He was almost more known for (widely panned 1967 single) The Laughing Gnome than he was for anything else. He was really nowhere, but he knew what he wanted to do.”

Scott had engineered Bowie’s 1969 self-titled and 1970 The Man Who Sold The World albums with producer Tony Visconti, before taking the production duties for Bowie’s 1971 LP, Hunky Dory. While well regarded, the iconic singer had yet to really break through, though Scott has it that Bowie wasn’t too worried about being a nowhere man.

“No, he was very calm about it,” Scott recalls. “He was fine. I think he needed to see if he was going to sink or swim on his own terms, because he’d tried it not on his own terms and it hadn’t worked.

“I had come to realise, at least in my own mind, that one of the reasons he went to work me with rather than Tony Visconti, was that Tony, being a bass player and a member of the band, was so in control of what it was turning out like, musically. I don’t think those first two albums were really David’s albums. They were more Tony’s, and I think David wanted his own voice. He wanted to form his own direction.”

The album famously dances around the tale of Ziggy Stardust, a prophetic rock star in a world that has only five years left to exist. Conjecture has raged for years about the multiple characters Ziggy was allegedly based upon, fuelled by Bowie’s enigmatic musings on the topic. One thing is certain, it seems; Bowie didn’t sit around conceptualising it in the studio.

“It was much looser than that,” Scott says. “It was never discussed upfront; the only comment that was made between Hunky Dory and Ziggy was David saying, ‘I don’t think you’re gonna like the next album because it’s more rock’n’roll’. He was proved completely incorrect because I did love it.

“One of the interesting things, that must have had an effect on all of us in the studio and our relationship, was that Ziggy was done so soon after Hunky Dory. Normally there’s a six-month span where you all go off and do different things and you come back and almost start your relationship afresh. Whereas because Ziggy was done a month after we completed Hunky Dory we didn’t have time to get involved in other things.

“So we came back in as the exactly same team and we were almost thinking along the same lines. We didn’t have to say anything to each other; we knew what we had to do because we’d already started that thing with Hunky Dory.”

Recorded at Trident Studios, London, The Rise And Fall… contains its fair share of Bowie classics, including Starman, Ziggy Stardust, Suffragette City and Rock’n’Roll Suicide. Arrangements were handled by Bowie and his longstanding ‘70s guitarist and foil, Mick Ronson.

“I don’t think David would have achieved the success he did without Ronno,” he says. “Ronno was exceedingly important. But for those early records, so were Woody (Mick Woodmansey, drums) and Trevor (Bolder, bass). It was that typical thing of the whole being more than the individual pieces.”

Ken Scott, David Bowie and Mick Ronson in the studio

Scott went on to co-produce Bowie’s 1973 albums, Aladdin Sane and Pin Ups, in a portfolio that includes work with The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Sir Elton John, Harry Nilsson, Lou Reed, Supertramp, Duran Duran and Devo. He keeps in touch via occasional email with Bowie, who once referred to Scott as his ‘own George Martin’.

“As a vocal performer I’ve never worked with anyone, since or before, who was as good,” Scott says. “95 per cent of David’s vocals would be recorded in the first take. It was amazing. He’s an exceedingly talented singer/songwriter/musician and a really nice guy.”

Since his last world tour for the Reality album in 2003-04, the 65 year-old Bowie (married to former Somalian model Iman, with whom he has an 11 year-old daughter, Alexandria) has rarely been seen in public and not released any new material, leading to constant speculation about the state of his health. Scott offers another take.

“I don’t know about all that,” he says. “But remember, when David Bowie would change character he would change it 100 per cent. I think he’s changed into the character of a doting father. And he’s done it 100 per cent.”

The remastered 40^th Anniversary Editions (CD/vinyl/DVD) of The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars are out now. Ken Scott’s book, Abbey Road To Ziggy Stardust, is available through Alfred Publishing.

BEN FRICHOT’S RENAISSANCE RESET

West Australian polymath Ben Frichot has, for several decades now, motioned his way around all points of pop cultural expression.

Combining elements of old and new, obscure and commercial, rock and/or roll, Frichot has excelled in artistic fields ranging from music (bands such as Storytime, The Hot Rod Sinners and Day Of The Dead), concert tour poster art (from Motorhead and Shihad to The Hives and Nick Cave), fashion design (Knucklehead Shipping Co.), web design (Knucklehead TV), commercial graphics (The Design Factory), a high-end sunglasses brand (Dillinger Optics) and a new avenue under the nom de plume, Lucky Amour.

The highly-respected Lyons Gallery represents Lucky Amour (AKA Frichot) amidst a stable of artists such as Banksy, Chet Ferry, E$cobar, Pino Ambrosino, Masayoshii Sukita and the estates of Roy Lichtenstein, Helmut Newton, Andy Warhol and others.

The ‘Lucky Amour’ moniker harks back to the ‘90s when Frichot was staging his first exhibitions. “I came up with that and was using it a long time ago,” he recalls. “I don’t remember why I was doing it at the time, but the gallery people really liked it and that’s what they’ve run with.”

Quite simply, the name fits. “It’s a whole fantasy world created by that art and it is all very much in a theme. 

“It’s funny when it gets to signing stuff and you have to sign another signature. I hadn’t invented a signature since I was nine years old,” he laughs.

‘Power To The People’ – Lucky Amour

At nine-years-old the young Frichot would come home from school and do his homework. There was no television allowed in the household by his father, so he would retire to the sanctuary of his bedroom where he began to create the kinds of fantasy worlds that he shares with the real world to this day.

“I was always drawing as a kid,” Frichot recalls. “From when I was little, I was always the cartoon kid… through primary school and high school I was always into that.

“In my room, I had a table with drawing stuff and a guitar. They were the two things I would spend every night doing – trying to learn how to play blues licks and creating comic book characters. I really liked comics, and I still do.”

The Cartoon Kid was making headway on guitar having taken a few lessons. That was okay and all, but it was an archetypal rock’n’roll scenario that got him totally hooked on six-strings.

“When I was 14, I met this girl who was 16 who played guitar and was all about it,” he says. “I thought she was the coolest chick in the world, so all of a sudden I was trying to play guitar and I was all about it.”

The dual/duel love-affair of art and music was set in stone. Frichot teamed up with some friends at school who had been jamming and soon evolved his presence from an outside guest to the creative driving force, as the (frankly average) singer was ushered aside and Frichot began to create original guitar riffs for them to jam on. It was instrumental music and an extension of the ‘theatre of the mind’ stuff that Frichot had already been creating for some years in his bedroom.

“Much like the drawing, I’d be figuring out shapes that I thought sounded good in my bedroom which became riffs,” he says, of the band that came to become known as Storytime. “Then I’d go and jam them with the guys.

“That’s what Storytime was, an endless collection of riffs.”

As the members left school and channelled their energies into the band and playing gigs, Storytime took off. They won the National Campus Band Grand Final in 1991, which set them touring nationally almost from the get-go. They played hundreds of shows and released several EPs and albums.

Storytime was a very physical band in every sense, as Frichot came to recall when they reformed for a few shows in 2016. John Lydon’s prescription for energy held true.

“I think that was partly an expression of a lot of anger,” Frichot concurs. “At the time I was young, and my father had died suddenly in a car accident when I was 17. I was basically homeless after that. Then I was basically a young parent with a barmaid that I met when I was working regionally, and life really spiralled. I felt as if I was in the driver’s seat, but I wasn’t, and I don’t think I was very aware, and I didn’t really have any good guidance around me.

“So I made a lot of mistakes, and I was more and more drawn to that anger stuff, musically. When I was younger, I thought that strength was like a rock. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve realised that strength is like water. But it’s been a long road to get to that and lots of bad things happened along the way.”

‘Robo Coin’ – Lucky Amour

Frichot’s ability to face emotional hardship and learn from it is admirable. He was particularly tested in 1999, when his former partner abducted their children.

“That was really hard,” he says, “but it was in so many ways a turning point because I got so angry and disturbed during that time, I had to begin to understand about letting go of things.”

By this time Frichot had become ensconced in the national touring scene, but his artistic work had not let up. In fact, it was quite the opposite, as he went from doing poster art for local gigs to becoming a go-to artist for national and international artists touring Australia. 

On breaks from touring, he would not only be working on poster designs for upcoming concert tours, but, as an artist without any formal training, create opportunities to be able to refine his approach and learn new techniques from the best artists he could find.

“When I was 18, I didn’t have a home. I had no money, and I was keen to try and figure any which way I could to learn whatever skills that I could so that I could do something with my life that I was interested in, as opposed to just being trapped. That has actually become a bit of a habit… trying to learn on the run.

“I would beg, borrow or steal any opportunity I got to learn from anyone.”

During these early years, Frichot shared a house with an illustrator who worked at Perth’s daily newspaper, The West Australian, where there were 20 full-time artists in the artroom.

“Every night someone had to be in the studio on call in case there was a late-breaking story that they needed an illustration for,” Frichot explains. “So there’d be a rotation with this crowd where every night someone would do the 7-12 shift.

“He had introduced me to these guys so that I could go in there at night while they were sitting around doing nothing and I could use one of the workstations. So I’d be there going, ‘how do you do this? How do you do that?’ I’d be there two or three nights a week, just trying to extract as much information out of all these different artists as I could. They gave me some technical points although I’m sure they kept much of their special sauce for themselves.”

Nonetheless, it opened things up for Frichot, as he was seeing first-hand how artists operated in what was, at that time, the best commercial illustration studio in WA.

“It was much better than what you could get taught in an institution,” he says, “these were the professionals. I did that for about a year, and I was really lucky to have gotten that exposure.”

‘Lucky Sailor’ – Lucky Amour

The learning on the run approach and the eternal thirst for popular culture continued from 1999-2001 when Frichot formed the rockabilly-inspired The Hot Rod Sinners with drummer Eddie Fury (Fireballs) and Andy Burnaway (The Convertibles). He revelled in yet another new and interesting cultural experience.

“I think a lot of my really interesting exposure to a lot of retro culture was from my time with Eddie and Andy,” he says. “They were absolute connoisseurs of everything vintage. They were those guys that had the old cars and the old clothes, and a million records and they knew every artist from this, that and the other. Andy used to collect all these postcards and stickers and this stuff that I thought was so cool. All of it, I just loved and got really interested in all of those things.”

It was through Fury that Frichot met acclaimed US graphic/poster artist Frank Kozik in 1998 at his San Francisco studio. It was to be another revelation.

“I was looking around at a lot of the work that was going on,” Frichot recalls. “I went out to Frank’s studio and it was incredible. His factory set-up was amazing and what he was doing with silk-screening posters was super cool. At the time I was 25 and I thought it was the coolest thing in the world and it fitted in with everything that I had dreamed about doing, because I was already doing a lot of poster stuff and I couldn’t get enough of opportunities of doing posters for bands. That was another bit of nitro in the engine – the inspiration of visiting him and seeing where it could go.”

Suitably inspired, Frichot returned home with the intention of stepping things up, in terms of both artistry and making a living from art. He started Frichot Design Factory…

“It’s just this never-ending series of steps from then on where you just keep trying to push and improve and push and improve.”

As the 2000s motored along, Design Factory was followed by Knucklehead TV, which (in name) begat a fashion label Knucklehead Shipping Co., which Frichot co-founded with several music-and-style-minded cohorts. Frichot’s music clients included the likes of Nick Cave, Foo Fighters, The Hives and more. Meanwhile he formed the surf-guitar-meets-desert-highway outfit Day Of The Dead, a band whose very existence echoes his own overall artistic development.

“Ironically, I feel I’ve gone full circle and I have an appreciation for the simple, pure idea that isn’t encumbered by all these contrived technical layers,” he says. “It’s like that old gag – good taste is knowing how to play the piano accordion but choosing not to.

“I think musically I’ve ended up going more in that way. Day Of The Dead is a good example of that, just good tones and really melodic stuff that was fun to play, as opposed to ‘look how tricky we are’.”

Frichot also maintained a steady line in commercial work for the likes of Brookfield Multiplex, SAS and Australian Army regiments, Barbagallo Motors, Homesmith and a multitude of liquor brands, venues, promoters and… hospitals.

“I’ve always loved art, illustration and graphic design,” Frichot says. “For me the lines between them are very blurred.”

The unleashed creativity of poster art (which feeds into the fantasy worlds of Lucky Amour) is where he truly saddles up.

“When you get a brief to do a poster for someone and you’ve got a lot of creative license over making some sort of a giant robot elephant or a space station in the shape of a skull or whatever it is, that represents to me not only a great opportunity to explore imagination and creativity, but there would always be a technical challenge in how I would achieve the outcome that I was after.

“And again, in not being trained I think there’s something of a clumsiness to my work. Which ends up giving it character in some ways, or perhaps childishness is a better word (laughs).”

Dillinger Optics

Then there’s the sunglasses. Looking for a creative outlet of his own during a long stretch of commercial work and having long been forced to wear glasses due to eye problems, Frichot brought the old-school, classic aesthetics he loved to eyewear. Enter Dillinger Optics – over-engineered, high-end and handmade in Japan by masters of the craft.    

“I thought, ‘what a great product!’. One size fits all; at least that’s what I thought at the time, but it isn’t true. ‘It’s small and you can ship to the world and how hard could it be?’

“Turns out it’s really hard. So that was a long and self-taught journey on how to design a pair of glasses, what they’re made of, what the difference is in terms of where they’re made. That was a long journey. To eventually get to the point of the product that we have now, I’m really proud of it all. They are beautiful, but far out, it was hard to get there.

“And it’s only really just begun, to be honest. If that’s an idea that started five or six years ago, I’d say that’s four years of very expensive trial and error and research and a year of actually getting stuff that we’re really proud of and can sell. But that was a big investment and of time as well. I mean if I was charging someone that would be a very expensive job!”

It’s looking like it’s worth it. Dillinger Optics was recently showcased in The Telegraph (UK) on the front page and inside-spread of its men’s fashion lift-out, Luxury. It made for incredible exposure.

Telegraph (UK) Luxury September 2021 Cover

Similarly, the international interest now shown in the art of Lucky Amour is what Frichot good-naturedly describes as “a 30-year overnight success.” His sign-up to the Lyons Gallery, who operate three main galleries in Australia – Melbourne, Sydney and Port Douglas – and have affiliations with galleries around the world, particularly in the UK – is a significant moment in his career as an artist.

“Lots of different good things have always happened which have kept me going and I’ve got lots to be grateful for,” he notes. “There have been lots of people who’ve been really supportive and lots of good things that have happened, but at the moment there’s a nexus of really exciting international, purely artistic opportunities which is literally a dream come true for me. Simple as that.”

‘Milk Bar’ – Lucky Amour

Frichot looks up and around the walls of his Fremantle home. They’re adorned with Lucky Amour originals, a rogues-and-roses gallery that mashes and mixes and twists timelines with beautiful, fanciful evocations of Elvis Presley, Ava Gardner, Marilyn Monroe, Paul Newman, Audrey Hepburn, Lee Marvin and Bridget Bardot among assorted cars, skulls and robots from the 1950’s. It’s post-modern, past-gloried and future-storied; reduxed, refit and remodelled for the new now.

An endless collection of riffs. They’re selling well, too.

“I’m mixed between extreme gratitude, extreme excitement and a little bit of nervousness that I hope that nothing goes wrong,” Frichot admits.

“Or that anything interrupts it. Even then I need to push that thinking aside, because it is what it is and it’ll be what it’ll be and all you can do is the best you can do. The other thing is I actually really love doing it all and what’s really exciting about that is if you can achieve some success around doing something like that which I’m so invested in and passionate about, then every day is exciting.

“There’s every reason to bounce out of bed every morning just to make more.”

The Works Of Lucky Amour, AKA Ben Frichot, Available From The Lyons Gallery

thelyonsgallery.com

dillingeroptics.com

ERROL H TOUT Of Time And Space

Errol H Tout in his “modest but tidy studio”

Acclaimed West Australian guitar virtuoso Errol H Tout has released his new album, Dancing About Architecture, a labour of love recorded over a period of three years.

And he knows what he’s dancing about. Tout was Head of the Department of Architecture & Interior Architecture at Curtin University of Technology until 2008, then was more latterly a Senior Lecturer and Chair of the Science and Technology Stream. Then again, he’s also a graduate of King Crimson icon Robert Fripp’s Guitar Craft school.

For the one-time career architect and long-time musician, many things lie within the name of the new LP. Variously attributed to the likes of Frank Zappa, Elvis Costello and comedian Martin Mull, Tout dug further for this, the perfect album title.

“The first quote that I’ve been able to track down from 1931 in the New York Times,” Tout explains. “It was a journalist who actually said it in the context of writing and music being two different artforms and you shouldn’t try doing both at the same time. So writing about music was as stupid as dancing about architecture.

“Laurie Anderson used it too, I think,” he adds. “It’s been used and abused! For me, it just made a lot of sense. Once upon a time, being an architect and now I’m being a musician. So it fits well.”

Similarly, while music and architecture may be regarded as two different disciplines, architectural concepts play into the way Tout thinks about music…

“Very much so,” Tout says. “There’s a perception as you move through something. The perception of space is that you see it as you move through it. The perception of sound is that sound moves past you. So things move though each other and there’s should be a level of being able to discuss clearly about how it actually does it.

“You certainly have to do that in Architecture school. So architecture is about moving through space, and music is about moving through time.”

Dancing About Architecture follows up 2013’s The Post-Tumour Humour album and 2017’s Luminous. These three albums have been written, recorded, and released during Errol’s 10-year battle with cancer and are testament to the drive, creativity, and good humour of the man amidst that challenge. The new LP has been on the go since 2018, between surgeries and various hospital visits.

“I did it a very long time ago, some of it was done three years ago. There’s definitely one song on there that’s about me squaring up to the C-Bomb, a song called Seconds And Moments.”

The song features a rare vocal by Tout, complemented by an unexpected collaborator. “I sampled Bruce Lee talking about how he deals with an opponent in a martial arts competition,” he explains. “And it kind of made sense with what I was doing. So I took the sample and popped it in. I then wrote away and asked permission to use it, but they never wrote back so I assume it’s okay. So there’s one piece about the C-Bomb, the rest are about all sorts of different things.”

All sorts, indeed. Backed by a dynamic music video directed by Tout’s son Sam (who also contributes keyboards and bass to the album) The Black Dance recalls the alternative nightlife experiences of Tout’s musical past, when he was an emergent post-punk guitarist in the ‘80s.  

“There used to be a nightclub in Perth called The Red Parrot,” he recalls, “and in this den of iniquity people used to wear black and they had a certain way of dancing. This reminds me of that. It’s kind of a Cabaret Voltaire kind of vibe, but with guitars. It’s a really old piece and I feel it sounds fantastic in this version that we’ve recorded.”

Album opener Spiders sonically evokes the arachnid onslaught that terrified Tout’s wife in their kitchen. “So I made something that has these little things that scatter and run across the stereo picture,” he says. “It also fulfils my objective of trying to make bright, cheerful, and sometimes witty guitar music without sounding like a complete tosser. So it’s a funny little thing about spiders that get bigger and nastier as the piece goes on. It’s got a real groove to it that I really like.”

Slice Me Up Baby, meanwhile, “is a really old piece about my first visit to hospital to have various things cut out of my body. There were so many people in the theatre and so many bits of gear. I thought, ‘is that all for me? Well, slice me up baby!’ It’s about trying to get on top of things and not let things get on top of you.

“It’s really hard to find a sample of someone cutting a piece of liver, because it doesn’t make much noise. I had to compromise and use bits of timber being cut and chopped around!”

Dancing About Architecture also sees the return on the inimitable rhythm section of Roy Martinez (bass) and Ric Eastman (drums) whose tracks were recorded in an impressive two-day session at Lee Buddle’s Crank Recording Studio (the rest of the album was captured in Tout’s own “modest but tidy studio”). Fellow guitarist, Mike Gorman, a player who complements Tout’s playing in a very niche manner, is also back. They come and go from places that many haven’t been before.

“Mike brings all sorts of stuff with him,” Tout says. “He’s done courses with Robert Fripp and all kinds of stuff as well, more than I have done. That’s how we connected. He kind of came over for a cup of tea and stayed ever since. He brings a lot to the table, there’s ideas that I had – on Secret Agent Theme and Surf Action – that Mike could execute better than I could.

“So it’s really nice working with another guitarist because we’re kind of on the same page. I worked with lots of other guitar players and thought differently to them, but the fact that we’ve both been to Guitar Craft courses keeps us on the same page.”

Tout states that he had 45-50 pieces from which to choose from for a place on the album. Given that it’s predominantly instrumental music, the 14 tracks chosen made their presence felt due to an interesting set of selection criteria.

“The selection criteria was that you should be able to sing most of the pieces,” Tout explains. “Which was a good kind of benchmark. Some of the pieces are really catchy, and I was really trying to do that. There’s other ways that guitarists do things, and they all have their merits, but I was after something that sticks and maybe has a little bit of humour and wit.

“It’s an area that I like to inhabit, and I don’t know an awful lot of people who would have done stuff like that. It’s slightly outside of the rock mainstream, but still with a fair bit of energy and fun in there as well.”

Dancing About Architecture is available on vinyl for the first four months of its release and will thereafter be accessible on all major streaming platforms. With his eye already on his next release, Tout is well pleased with how his latest chapter has turned out.

“It’s a part of a continuum of one’s life work,” he considers. “It’s another chapter, and there’s lots more to come. I kind of like that – doing stuff and moving on, then moving on and moving on. Doing something better and different and in other ways than before… but it’s nice working with these same people because they’re just so bloody good!”

Errol H Tout launches Dancing About Architecture at Ellington Jazz Club on Tuesday, September 7.

THE LONESOME LOCAL LOCKDOWN

(First published on Facebook – July 3, 2021)

I’ve spent the last fortnight staying in a room upstairs at The Local Hotel on South Terrace, South Fremantle. I’ve been in the throes of moving house, and as a new place fell through just before my exit date, my dear friends at The Local sorted a room for me to stay at in the interim.

I practically live there already. I’ve hosted a weekly talk/performance event on Thursdays off-and-on (mostly on, 28 shows to date) since last October; regularly find a spot to write on my laptop there, and constantly enjoy drinks with folks from the wondrous Freo musical scene. I dearly love the creative community around South Freo, and The Local Hotel is both a heart and hub for this.

In the last week it’s been oh-so-quiet everywhere along South Terrace due to lockdown. While my first week staying at my favourite pub was incredibly social, the second lot-of-seven-days has been a contemplative experience, to say the least.

Week-2 has seen lockdown and the realities that hit a venue such as this. The constant murmur of bubble and squeaks and beats and basslines from DJ sets squirreling from downstairs-to-up; the tales and riffs from local musical heroes, the laughter of fond friends and even the hints of early romance in the front bar have made way for radio silence. It’s all rain and wind outside and faraway footsteps within. THE LOCAL HOTEL HAS BEEN CLOSED.

At times I’ve felt as though I’m the only person in the whole pub. There are other people staying here, but no-one is doing anything or going out. I only hear people and never see them. It’s like they’re ghosts. Which means I am also a ghost. In a Ghost Hotel.

I endeavour to be Casper (The Friendly Ghost, if you recall). It helps a bit as early in Week-2 I develop minor cold symptoms, resulting in a refreshing day trip to Fiona Stanley Hospital.

Turns out she’s not even related to Paul Stanley. Even so, I’m open to being thoroughly doused and dubbed then directed to go home and self-isolate. In a closed pub, during a lockdown. Quiet stuff. My test result comes back within 12 hours and is reassuringly negative. Such a mild experience compared to the scenarios of so many.

But I’m left with this playground. This lovely/lonesome Local Hotel which has been so good to me. So I take a mid-morning to take a walk-around (masked, mind) to capture the quiet, closed moments. It will open its arms and doors to its charming, salt-of-the-earth staff and clientele, but for this moment and all the moments (and the new memories, and the old ghosts), it literally has become my favourite haunt. And I love it now more than ever.

Pandemic or not. Support your Local. Whatever it’s called, wherever it may be.

(Vax, also).

THE REDUCTORS Intellect, Imagery, Humanity And Humour

As the ever-elegantly-suited Robert Palmer (RIP) once noted, ‘the proof is irrefutable’.

And it is indeed an irrefutable truth about art – there ain’t nothing like the classics. Some songs, books and films have never finished saying what they have to say. It’s this kind of bedrock that Perth band, The Reductors, are founded upon.

To begin (the beguine), singer/songwriter/guitarist, Luke Nixon, has harboured a deep love of classic punk and post-punk since his earliest years.

“I grew up in Wales, and spent my teens listening to Manchester punk and post-punk bands,” he recalls. “In particular Joy Division, The Fall, Buzzcocks and The Smiths which, as it happens, also had a big impact on the other band members.”

Classic literature has also played a part in Nixon’s continued artistic development. The characters and themes in his songs are borne of a lifetime of reading.

“Philip K. Dick, David Foster Wallace, Martin Amis, Dylan Thomas,” he notes, “variously for intellect, imagery, humanity and humour.”

These flavours and inspirations motivated Nixon to create his own music and write his own songs. Not from a punk-fuelled need to act out, but at various points to explore his feelings both within, then beyond.

“Originally, the motivation was to retreat and immerse myself in my own private world,” he recalls. “At the time, music was the key thing that enabled me to achieve that.

“I stopped writing songs for a long while, and when I started again, it was from a desire to create connections to the outside of that world, for artistic and personal reasons.”

Having landed in Perth, the seeds of The Reductors began about a decade ago. In scientific terms, a reductor is an apparatus for conducting a type of experiment to reduce a substance. “It seemed appropriate for creating social commentary in song form,” says Nixon, bringing it back to the art of the matter.

“Honestly, this band seems to have been a subliminal process in which the current members each materialised into the line-up, through one means or another, over a number of years. A series of happy accidents.”

Those ‘happy accidents’ are Aidan Gordon (lead guitar/backing vocals – ex-The Autumn Isles/Tenderhooks); Gareth Bevan (bass/backing vocals – Will Stoker & The Embers) and Erin Gordon (drums – The Quivers). Occupying the lead vocalist/guitar podium is Nixon, who previously trod the boards with The Horseless Cowboys.

“I write our songs – music and lyrics – and bring them to the band with a form and structure,” Nixon says of the band’s creative dynamic. “We work on the arrangements together, with each of us contributing and developing ideas. The other band members are all seriously talented musicians, who bring vital elements of their artistry, personality and enthusiasm to the creative process, and to our live performances.”

The Reductors released their debut album, Caboose, in 2017, followed by a double-A-side single, Practical Girl/Tremors, the following year. Across the output is an edgy melange of melodic punk and rock sensibilities. It’s not hard to tell that Nixon knows what he wants out of his songs.

“The important thing is to make songs that the audience can connect with, whether through the music or the lyrics,” he explains. “As a band, we all have an affinity for post-punk music, so we are influenced by everything that contributed to that milieu, including American bands such as The Stooges and Richard Hell and the Voidoids, as well as those Manchester bands I already mentioned.”

With that in mind, the band’s new single, Body Scan, shines the light ahead for kicking against the grain in (hopefully) post-COVID times. Already nominated in the Punk Category in the 2020 WAM Song Of The Year Awards, Body Scan fights the future and cracks like The Clash. The song shames body shaming and punches the air in the most satisfying way. 

“The song addresses the illusory and damaging focus in society and popular culture on body image ideals,” Nixon notes. “I have a number of friends who have been negatively affected by perceived norms and ideals relating to body image. The raucousness and pace of the music makes for an effective contrast to those ideals by signifying vitality over perfection.”

The song was recorded with Rob Grant (Queens of the Stone Age, Death Cab for Cutie, Pond) at Poons Head Studio in Fremantle.

“We love collaborating with Rob,” says Nixon, “he is so knowledgeable and experienced, and terrific company. There is also real magic to Poons Head… it is quite unique.”

Body Scan is the first taste of The Reductors’ forthcoming second album, due in 2021. Another single release is scheduled for the end of the year, whereupon the band will increase their local shows and pursue a tour of the South-West.

Despite the downtime of WA’s version of COVID-19 isolation, The Reductors are in a good place to build on the momentum set in the last few years. For Nixon, his initial outlook for the band is evolving very nicely indeed.

“The original vision was to create something unique through a sort of organised chaos,” he says. “We had plenty of chaos, but not much else, so I decided to rebuild, artistically, from something a bit more elemental – the first album is really a record of that rebuilding.

“Now we are liberated from that process and producing our most energised and authentic music.”

In the meantime The Reductors will launch Body Scan on Saturday, August 22, at Lyric’s Underground in Maylands, teaming with The Limbs, who will also be launching their new single, Do Not Help Me, which was also nominated for a WAM Song Of The Year award. Also along for this amazing double-launch are special guests Will Stoker & The Embers and Tanami. Bookings via Oztix.com.au.

Facebook Event Page – https://www.facebook.com/events/683873885498057/

Photo credit: Elle Borgward 

Life Grows Where Rosemary Goes (In Memory Of Tim Underwood, RIP)

Pic: Tim Underwood and Gretta Little, Courtyard Club, December, 2016. cr Damien Crocker

First published on Around The Sound, December 23, 2016.

It took The Rosemary Beads 24 years to release their debut album, Shine. The journey within has often been dark, but the future looks bright indeed.

Driving through Northbridge along Roe St, on the way to see The Rosemary Beads, the lulling yet gritty tones of Swervediver’s Rave Down on the radio provide a fitting soundtrack amidst the traffic, not to mention one’s pre-gig mindset.

Both bands have been favourites on Perth community radio station, RTRFM, for some time now.

Two decades in fact; for this isn’t April, 1994, but December, 2016, and ‘90s specialist program Siamese Dream has taken over the Friday Drivetime airwaves for a live broadcast of The Rosemary Beads’ Courtyard Club appearance at the State Theatre Centre.

Time sure flies, except when it doesn’t (and let’s be frank, it hasn’t). Yet here we are, out of the carpark and into the warmth of gentle evening sunlight in the Courtyard, with kids playing all over the shop, watched over by strangely familiar-looking-middle-aged parents. They look like people who may have been at The Rosemary Beads’ second EP launch at the Grosvenor Hotel on that Saturday of April of ’94, shaking their heads at the day’s headline news that Kurt Cobain had taken his own life. Oh yeah… they were.

But these here are gentler times. Not that the world is kinder by any stretch of the imagination, but the people gathered – including the band – are tempered by two decades of real life and new life to boot. This is the real life.

Between 1992-95 The Rosemary Beads were perhaps a little too tension-driven to be the darlings of the Perth music scene, but they made a damn good fist of being its prodigal sweethearts. There were several incarnations, but the celebrated/classic line-up of Gretta Little (vocals/bass), Tim Underwood (vocals/guitar) and drummer Cam Munachen motored through three excellent Citadel Records-released EPs in those years (Dog, Breath, I’ll Come When I’m Good And Ready). Little and Underwood had been in bands together for almost a decade by this point and for most of the band’s tenure they were a couple. Until they weren’t.

Little eventually left the band. During 1995 a four-piece line-up briefly trod the boards until Munachen tragically died of an overdose in the spring of that year. He was a good, young man whose demise betrayed his true character and whose loss spelt the end of The Rosemary Beads. Underwood lost his best friend and his band in one cruel swoop. Munachen’s funeral saw a grief-stricken Perth/Fremantle band scene turn up in droves and as his coffin was wheeled out of the chapel it was to the (loud) strains of the Rosemary Beads’ last single, Worried About Fucking. Rock and pop tension to the last.

It really was agonising for all those anywhere near it. The end of The Rosemary Beads wasn’t just a band break-up. People were broken.

Rosemary Beads circa 1994, Cam Munachen, Gretta Little, Tim Underwood

Which makes their reformation, in early 2015, something of a fairytale ending… no, make that a beginning. With different lives, partners, paths and children occupying the two decades in between, Little and Underwood connected again via what brought them together in the first place.

It was music.

Doves cried.

Joined by drummer, Warren Hall (The Drones, The Volcanics, The M-16s), a one-off gig was arranged at the Astor Lounge in February, 2015. Their three Eps were conjoined into a single CD edition and a video tribute to Munachen was played before their performance.

It clicked.

The only thing that could happen next was more of it.

“It just kind of happened,” says Little. “At first, we were just gonna do the one gig, then after we’d been jamming together for a little while I think everyone started to go, ‘this is fun’. On the day of our reformation gig I said to Tim, ‘I want to keep doing it if it keeps working out like this’.”

“Gretta and I rediscovered our love for playing music with one another,” Underwood adds. “We’re in tune with each other’s songs… and it just sort of snowballed, I guess. A rehearsal turned into another one, which turned into a gig, then another gig. It was all pretty organic.”

It’s a special, unprecedented reconciliation and as such is being treated with due care. Appearances at marquee events such as the Nannup Music Festival and RTRFM’s iconic In The Pines have been complemented by selected venue shows. After this many years, no one’s in a hurry to wear this out. The beating heart in all this is unveiled as the band’s debut album, 24 years after they formed.

Released in November 2016, Shine features unrecorded gems from the past and independently-written tunes borne since. It sounds like what might have followed back in the day, but doesn’t echo as a mere time capsule. It truly sounds like an essence of then and now, for today… and tomorrow. Because the band’s very existence now, proves that despite the evidence, tomorrow is always a possibility.

“I’m glad you think that,” Little responds. “We don’t sit back and go, ‘let’s make this the next Beads sound’ or anything but it just turned out that way. We sound like The Rosemary Beads but… further along. I did listen to an old recording the other day and I do think that I sing a little differently. I didn’t think that I did, but I do. And I play bass a little differently, too.”

“You can’t plan that kind of thing,” Underwood says. “Even when we were choosing the songs that we were going to do again, the same ones kept popping up. For instance, General Franco (from 1993’s Dog EP), which we still play, that song is 24 years-old, and it’s such fun to play and always gets such a good response. It’s turned out to be kind of timeless in a way that, for example, She Ain’t Around hasn’t remained timeless (laughs).

“You can’t plan it; the songs are either there, or they’re not. I always thought we had a great album in us; and I really like this album, but I think the next one will be killer.”

A new album looks a probability in 2017, but in regards to Shine, songs of yore that were resurrected include She Said I’m Dead, Crack It Wide Open and Torture & Jealousy. Little had a brand-new tune, Comet, and some older songs that hadn’t been done with the Beads – Stars, Denial and The Driving Song, the latter about her old border collie, Blossom, a fixture at the band’s gigs back in the day.

Other memories aren’t so happy. It’s a complicated history.

“I wrote a song called Stars,” Little says. “I had a rather unfortunate run in my 20s. People obviously know that Cam died and Tim went off on a different journey, and unfortunately, for me, there were numerous people in my life having numerous troubles. Stars is kind of about that period of time where lots of really sad things happened in a really short space of time. And that often makes me think about those days as well, which weren’t happy for me, unfortunately, through no fault of my own, but you can’t really do anything about that.

“Those songs are a part of my life whether I wrote them or not. They hold time. I remember things like certain gigs when we play, but mostly I just remember what was happening in my life. I don’t know if other people do that.”

Underwood’s brand-new song is Ain’t Nobody Else Like Me, and it’s the newer stuff he is enjoying playing the most.

“We were always pretty lyrically dark,” he says, “but now I think 20 years later that the lyrics are even darker. We’ve got 20 years under our belts of things we’ve been through and experienced and all that kind of stuff that the lyrics are even darker than they used to be. That’s the main difference. That’s not about the group dynamically, but the lyrics are definitely getting darker.”

Both Little and Underwood speak highly of Hall, the Beads’ new drummer.

“Probably one of the best things about being in a band is fiddling around with a new song and working out what to do with it,” Little says. “We all like that and all sit well with each other creatively. In a band, you need, personality-wise, people who are all going to go okay together and he’s both of those things, as well as being a really good drummer. I’m glad he’s happy working together with us.”

“Waz is quite comfortable stopping a song and suggesting something that could go in at that part,” Underwood explains. “Which is quite interesting, because he’s doesn’t play an instrument, so he’ll say something like, ‘I think we should have a guitar twiddle there’, or ‘I think the bass should run down there’ so Gretta and I will take that input. He’s really committed to the structure of a song.”

Since the album was finished, Cam Sim (Worm Farm) has come on board as the band’s second guitarist, to bring those extra recorded flourishes to the stage.

“That’s interesting because Cam and Waz devised that idea between themselves at the start,” Underwood recalls. “And they had to sell it to me. I was apprehensive at first, because I quite like being the guitarist in The Rosemary Beads. Another guitarist? Another guitarist? But when Cam walked into the room and set up, it wasn’t even an audition. He just slotted in really well, so it was great.”

“It’s going to evolve the sound a bit more and give us a few more options going forward,” Little adds. “It’s good to have someone else in the band to mix things up a bit.”

The Courtyard Club gig goes off with a few hitches (the PA cuts out twice, but everyone is ever-so-calm about it all), yet the band itself are truly sublime. Memories come flooding back, but it’s very much about how it works in the present. And with kids running around everywhere during the show, it’s a touching reminder that there is a future to behold for this band.

“It’s pretty exciting and I just find it really good fun,” Little smiles. “I was at home with twins for four years. You go out and play a gig and people clap you. Nobody claps you at home!”

“It’s not surreal anymore,” Underwood concludes. “It’s one of the most interesting band histories I can think of, where you break up and 20 years later you get back together and start playing again. Basically, the new songs are great; and the rehearsals are great; and the jams are great; and the songwriting’s great.

“Gretta’s still got a set of pipes on her and she’s still playing interesting basslines. It’s great. We’re not getting the crowds that we did in the ‘90s, but I don’t think anyone is. We’re just having fun and enjoying it.”

Tim Underwood passed away on June 27, 2020. RIP.

NORTHERN BACKYARD EXPOSURE

Pic: Dan Howls and Julia Weller perform in Tania Hennah’s backyard

Local music ultra-fan, Tania Hennah, brings live music on home with iso gigs in her backyard.

While venues and artists alike have turned online to stream in the COVID-19 era, music fan Tania Hennah opened up her own backyard to live performances once the Level 2 Restrictions played out, hosting live gigs at her Padbury home to small audiences of friends and fellow aficionados.

Word goes out via her Facebook page and a small door fee is charged, which goes directly to the artists.

“I actually got on the front foot with this as soon as restrictions were set at 10 people,” she says. “On the day of the 10 peeps announcement I contacted four artists and asked if they’d be interested in a live backyard, socially-distanced gig at mine, as soon as the restrictions were lifted to allow 20 people. I had all respond positively by the end of the day and lined up for the next our Saturdays as soon as the Government made the call.”

Last Saturday, Dan Howls with Julia Weller kicked off proceedings in just the kind of fashion that Hennah knew they would.

“It was amazing,” she says, happily. “It’s been so long since we’ve been able to see and hear live music and have a beer together. The weather was a balmy 26 degrees, so perfect too, to kick back on the lawn and chill and enjoy local live talent. We even danced too! Dan and Julia delivered as always and had people in the palm of their hands.”

It’s all a step in the right direction, but it’s not a first for Hennah, who is no stranger to hosting gigs in her home in the pre-iso past. She especially loves the Fremantle music scene and has never subscribed to the North/South divide.

“Myself and my friends have such a love of local, live and original music and want to support our artists,” she says. “And I have the room. So, it’s no-brainer really. It’s a relaxed environment, my neighbours are awesome and happy for me to do them. Plus much of our local talent, and speccy venues, are in Freo, but I live in Padbury, so very selfishly it’s also perfect for me because I don’t have to drive or uber and can party on!”

Hennah originally hails from Guernsey, an island in the English Channel that lies off the coast of Normandy. She felt deeply connected to music at an early age for reasons that reflect the experience of local music fandom here in Perth.

“Guernsey, although only a small island – 45 ml square, and 62,000 people – has quite a lot in common with Perth, really. They are both very isolated places, Guernsey being just off the coast of Northern France and a long way from the UK. This made it very difficult for UK and international bands to play there, logistically and financially.

Tania at Castle Cornet, Guernsey

“So it’s much like Perth’s relationship with the Eastern States, especially going back a few years. We couldn’t get those bigger artists to the Island, or to WA, so Guernsey, although small, pretty much had to create its own local, live music scene, performing at small local venues. And damn we had, and still have, so much talent there. I think Perth had to do the same thing, create its own live music scene as it has been, in many ways ignored by the East Coast due to logistics.”

Hennah is as passionate a live music fan as this writer has ever met. Why has that passion never waned, when for so many people it often does?

“The calibre of the music, I guess,” she notes. “When you hear a new track by a favourite artist or discover a new band that you just dig… I just have to see them! As for so many people, music takes me to another place, and being part of the gig is so much more authentic to me.  I think also that I’m lucky to be very healthy, get by on six hours sleep a night, and I’m not a fan of growing up!”

Hennah’s plans for the rest of iso – and beyond – revolve around her continued obsession with live music. There’s more to come from her backyard and more to look forward to when the world hits upon a new normal.

“Jack Davies is gigging in the backyard on Saturday (May 30) evening. Can’t wait for that. How can someone that young be so talented?  Not only musically, but lyrically too. The guy’s a genius!

“Then for the third show on Saturday, June 6, we have Joe Corbin. He isn’t local to Australia, but he’s local from my home of Guernsey, so that counts! A soul, blues, folk singer/songwriter, who should’ve been travelling over East by now, but he also got iso’ed in Fremantle. For the fourth show (June 13) it’s another of my favourite Freo artists. Lincoln McKinnon, with James Elliot doing some percussion. Very excited for that, too. It’s a good thing, I think, that these amazing Freo musos get some ‘Northern Exposure’ too.

“After iso, me and the ‘gig fam’ – a bunch of mates who equally love our live music – will be back supporting the scene wherever we can, and usually will be found dancing at the front of the stage or at the bar. A positive from all the ‘Rona stuff, is that there will be new music to hear too, written in isolation.  And. We. Can’t. Frigging. Wait.

“And on a side note, if you have the room, and want to support our artists in this financially crippling time for them, organise a bunch of guests/mates to come over and request they make a donation to the artist. Everyone can BYO drinks, nibbles and rugs… too easy!”

 

NICI WARD When Doves Fly

Perth Singer/songwriter Nici Ward has worked through a few musical aliases and band names in her time, but her latest venture as Lonesome Dove seems more than a little suited – in name at least – to this isolated era.

“To be honest, we are doing okay,” Ward notes of a life lived well in terms of family and creativity… and iso. “We live up in the hills and for once living away from everything is serving us really well. Our kids (Ward and her husband Ben have two young boys) have a lot of space to run around and that makes things a bit easier.

“I had a major freak-out after the first two weeks, really missing my friends and all the normal things everyone is missing and I hadn’t fallen into a rhythm yet, but things seem to have become a new kind of normal and that’s okay. Just taking each day at a time.”

While having two boys in a row a couple of years apart understandably took Ward away from the creative focus she had known in the preceding years, she felt its return as they’ve both grown older. For some time Ward shared songs she had written as posts to her Instagram account, but that soon proved not to be enough to match her true productivity.

“I started to feel like the material was building into something more and my brain just started going into overdrive with the whole concept of what it could be. I had that name for a long time, it’s actually a mini-movie series from the late ‘80s I remember watching as a kid. Although the name hints to a country vibe, it’s not at all. It’s my ‘90s pop baby (laughs).

“I took a trip to Los Angeles last year and it cracked open a whole creative place in my brain; it really helped me to push myself and realise not to worry about what other people thought about what I was doing and to just make it my own. It’s so cliché, I know, but it was a really pivotal experience for me, personally.”

Though it’s primarily a solo project Lonesome Dove sees Ward collaborating with husband Ben (guitar/bass – Rinehearts, ex-Screwtop Detonators) and his bandmate Ross DiBlasio (drums, piano). Al Smith from Bergerk! brought his mobile studio for recordings to be made at the Ward residence. “I want to use Lonesome Dove as a platform to do things how I want,” she says, “but also to collaborate with other artists.”

Ward has just issued Lonesome Dove’s second single release, Parallel Life, a poppy number that draws aural images ranging from Julianna Hatfield or The Bangles to Gabriela Cilmi (to these ears, at least).

“It’s is basically about the hope that there’s someone out there living your perfect version of life and the hope that you’re going to find them to live that together,” Ward says. “Pining over someone through your phone and having an idea of what it’d be like to be with that person but it’s all caught up in your head. It’s not about the reality of it.

“I like to make up characters a lot when I’m writing, it’s not always about personal experience, but I guess I did tap into that teenage notion of romance and what that meant compared to what was probably the reality of the situation. I guess the girl in the story is kind of sad in a way, she’s lonely and fragile. But she’s also sassy and has a lot to give.”

The accompanying video clip is simple and so very effectively direct. Shot on phone camera at her home, and featuring cameos from her cat and dog (‘my pets are in everything. I’m obsessed with them, I think they just added to the charm of it. Also, they’re cute’.) it was an afternoon well spent.

“I wanted people to see the character in that video,” Ward explains. “To feel what’s going on in her head. It’s a bit manic, I had about an hour where the kids were watching a movie and Ben was away working, so I shut my bedroom door and just got stuck in. I wanted to use the same angle and get as much out of that as I could which I think gives it a bit of a claustrophobic feel. Not to mention I really like the DIY aspect of the project and it’s just me doing everything. So I just set my phone up on a tripod and ran the song a bunch of times and tried to just relay to the camera what I was trying to get across.

“I wanted to show her different personalities and emotions. And the process of her thinking, which is where it goes from ‘fun, happy girl’ to ‘I’m a crying mess’ pretty quickly. I think my boys were pretty confused when I emerged from my room with a face covered in smeared make up, I looked like The Joker!”

Growing up in a musical household herself, it was possibly a full circle moment for Ward. The daughter of Perth singer/songwriter/musicians Boyd Wilson and Denise DeMarchi, as well as the niece of Baby Animals singer/guitarist, Suze DeMarchi, she witnessed both the glam and grim of music life from an early age.

“Music was everything,” she recalls. “My upbringing was bright, colourful and transient. I was an only child up until the age of about 14, so I was around adults a lot. I think I went to a dozen different schools which luckily suited my personality as I’m pretty adaptable. I learnt to be very independent. I liked making new friends. I had very strong female role models.

“My mum is an excellent singer and she and my Dad were always playing and writing and touring. We moved to Sydney when I was about six. We lived in a flat in Bondi. It was very buzzy. We had beautiful friends as family there, all the kids growing up with parents in the industry. One kids parents were touring, the others were the catering for Michael Jackson, another doing makeup for the next big thing. I remember my Aunty Suze picking me up from school with Deni Hines, it was the ‘90s and the song L-O-V-E Love was a big deal at the time (laughs). I learnt a lot from people around me, not just about the industry, but about the value of relationships.

“But also it was a different time, you really saw how much it took and how hard people had to work to get where they wanted. I saw the sweat. Without sounding old, things just didn’t happen at the pace they do now, and it wasn’t expected to. You were expected to work. I think that set me up for having pretty real expectations of myself.”

Unsurprisingly, Ward was compelled towards, if not a music career, then a musical life. She followed in a certain amount of footsteps but was clearly intent on making her own.

“As a late teen I did a lot of commercial/pop work, working with other writers, my Dad, Boyd Wilson, Nuno Bettencourt (Extreme) and tried for a few publishing companies. I was also getting put forward for auditions for TV soap kinda stuff. I loved it all. I played a few solo shows and did some fill-ins for existing bands.”

It was fun and all, but as Ward puts it, a degree of teenage rebellion kicked in and she wanted to make her own moves. Welcome to the stage, Nici Blue Eyes…

“Nici Blue Eyes was something I started in about 2001,” she explains. “I went to Melbourne and played for a long time there in a band where I was writing the material. It was country, I loved Wanda Jackson and Dolly Parton and it was heavily influenced by that vibe. It was a lot of fun and I learnt so much. Just constantly playing so much teaches you a lot. And I had a lot of great opportunities playing up in Sydney, Big Day Out, supporting some great bands… The Super Suckers, Six Ft Hick, Graveyard Train and more.

“I loved that in Melbourne if you played country you’d still get put on the same bill as punk and rock’n’roll bands, it’s very inclusive there that way and I made some lifelong friends because of it. The band evolved with different members but I just got to the point where I wanted to do new things, change of scenery, whether that meant musically or otherwise I wasn’t sure at the time.”

Ward and Ben packed everything they hadn’t sold off into their ute and drove around Australia for six months, eventually making a return to Perth.

“After a few years of working out where we wanted to be and deciding to have a baby I was feeling pretty lost,” she reflects. “I think a lot of mums go through it, having a baby is such a sacrifice mentally and physically, and you end up just being this other person that you have to get to know. I knew I wanted to be playing again but I didn’t know how to go about it, really.

“I contacted Joe Bludge from The Painkillers who I’d known for years and we sat down and went through a bunch of songs I’d written. I love Joe as a songwriter, he’s very clever. We formed Petticoat Junkyard which was Joe, myself, his wife Sarah Norton playing bass and Adem K (Turnstyle) on drums. It was a cool little unit and I was just so grateful to be creating again. We put out an album and played some shows and then…. I had another baby (laughs). I took a long time out after my second child.”

Now, several years on, Ward says that home life is a balancing act. “The main goal always is that everyone is happy. Ben is a carpenter and runs his own business. I’m studying personal training at the moment and we have two kids in primary school. So, music for us is our joy, it’s our hobby and it’s something we are both passionate about.

“Only recently have we collaborated together and it’s been very interesting seeing how each other works in that way. I love that it’s constant learning. Being able to put your personal feelings aside and just learn from other people, creatively, is the best. I think we are both learning a lot from our kids too. Our youngest is music-obsessed and that’s been hilarious and incredible to watch, just letting him find his way and find the joy in it, and our oldest is a total mystery, he might end up being a zoo keeper or owning a pet shop he says (laughs) which is great! But there’s always music playing or being played.”

As for Lonesome Dove the future looks bright. Ward has several new songs in readiness for an EP release, including a track co-written with Ben Protasiewicz from Perth indie punk rockers, Pat Chow. The fulfillment that comes from playing and creating music is much its own reward when the world, in general, still faces unsteady times.

“I’m hoping Lonesome Dove ends up just being a constant vehicle for me to put music out and keep working with other people,” Ward reflects. “And as far as everything else goes it’s just day-by-day at the moment. We are so lucky where we live and it’s all about just working hard for what we love and enjoying it I think. So yeah, I think that’s it. Like us all I’m hanging to get back to live gigs! But it’s cool, it’ll all happen when it’s supposed to.”

FB – https://www.facebook.com/Lonesome-Dove-109312573803211/

VISA LAS VIRUS Advice For Temporary Visa Holders

As the population of Australia awakens each morning to new and often confusing updates about the coronavirus, permanent residents are clearly wondering what’s ahead. What hasn’t yet been widely broadcast or considered, however, is the impact that the virus may have on the 2.2 million temporary residents currently living here.

 While panic seems to continue in Australian supermarkets, both the Department of Home Affairs and the Immigration Department are operating on a business-as-usual basis. Each department expects Temporary Visa Holders to maintain a lawful status. For those with a visa that is soon to expire, it is important to address the situation so that their status in this country remains lawful.

“Australian visas don’t have the facility to be extended, so you need to apply for another visa,” says Jessica Edis, Principal Lawyer of Perth-based specialist migration law practice, Putt Legal.

“What you need to do is plan ahead and look at what your visa options are. It may be that the only option you have is to apply for a visitor visa to allow you to stay on. If that’s the case that’s fine, you’ll get a bridging visa to cover you in the interim, but whatever you do, don’t let your visa expire.”

Temporary Visa Holders should also bear in mind that even if an application is refused, the potential remains for reviews of onshore applications. This will enable the applicant to remain in Australia with a maintained legal status as their application is reviewed. The important thing is to source the right advice and be prepared.

“Once your visa has expired it makes life very difficult for you,” Edis says. “Even the Migration Act says that you might end up in a detention centre. Just make sure you get advice well before your expiry date.”

Concerns have also arisen for those holding a Travel Pass, otherwise known as a Bridging Visa Class B. This pass is made available to people who are waiting in Australia for a visa to be processed, but for some reason have had a need to travel offshore.

“They have a finite travel period,” Edis notes, “so you may find that you’re stuck offshore after that travel period expires. The Immigration Department has indicated that if you’re in that position then you will be able to apply for a visitor visa to come back. They’re well aware that there may be individuals who are stranded in that situation. So as long as you apply for a visitor visa and explain the circumstances, I feel comfortable that the Department will let you back in.”

With the number of foreign students on Temporary Visas in the Australian tertiary system, there is also a lot of concern within that sector in regard to the possibility of lockdowns. If universities and schools are shut will student visas be affected by a lockdown?

“In this respect I understand that the Immigration Department is working together with the education institutions,” Edis explains. “They haven’t advised of any new policy yet, but I expect there to be a great deal of flexibility.

“I don’t anticipate that there will be any cancellation action taken because you end up in breach of your student visa conditions. I think that the department is likely to publish new policy, to cover students who are affected by the coronavirus situation.”

With the increased demand on supermarket retail at this time, many overseas students who are employed in the industry may be offered additional hours. The worry here is that extra working hours may be in breach of their temporary visa.

“My understanding is that it’s very clearly confined to students who are already working for the large supermarkets, so that would be Coles and Woolworths,” Edis says.

“I understand that some supermarkets will be able to apply to the Immigration Department for their employees to have their hours extended, but at this stage it really is only if you have an existing employment contract with a large supermarket. However, I would suggest that you check directly with your employer rather than making the assumption that you could start to work over the hours that you’re normally allowed to.”

From students to those on working holiday visas, the uncertainty reigns. This is especially so for the many European travellers intending to work while in Australia who are unsure if their applications will go on hold or if the Government will refuse them.

“I don’t anticipate the applications being refused,” says Edis, “but I do anticipate that obviously you won’t be able to travel at a time that suits you. You’ll have to wait for the travel ban to be lifted.

“Working holiday visas have a generous entry date on them, so from the date of grant you actually have 12 months to enter Australia and the period in which you are allowed to be in Australia is 12 months from that first arrival.  If you’ve just recently been granted a Working Holiday Visa, you’ll have plenty of time to come to Australia when the coronavirus situation has been resolved.”

While being specifically tested for coronavirus is one thing, the possibility of it becoming part of a regular health examination has become a concern for those simply undertaking one in accordance with their visa conditions.

“I think there’s two things to be aware of if you have a health examination booked in for your visa,” Edis states. “Firstly, if you are feeling unwell, I suggest that you simply reschedule it.

“Secondly, there isn’t any suggestion that they are testing for coronavirus, but even if it turns out that you may have it, it is a temporary condition and the examination is intended for permanent and long-term medical conditions that can significantly increase costs on the public health system.

“So I don’t think the corona virus will affect any health examinations, but as I said, if you’re not feeling well then certainly reschedule the examination until that time when you feel a bit better.”

For Temporary Visa Holders who would like to find out more, or who may have specific questions about their legal status in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, Jessica Edis will be part of a Facebook Live Q&A Session with Immigration Lawyer & Registered Migration Agent, Amanda Valenti, on March 18 and 20 as part of an Online Summit presented by Putt Legal.

For Emem Udo, Senior Visa Coordinator for EasyMigrate, an Australian migration and citizen service, the Online Summit comes as welcome news. “I’m glad professionals are making the effort to address the situation of temporary visa holders during this time of uncertainty,” she says. “Australian citizens and permanent residents do not understand the struggle.

“If you were born in Australia as a citizen or permanent resident it is almost impossible to understand how unsettling the visa process is. The visa process is already very destabilising and stressful. Often times temporary visa holders are waiting for months or even years for a decision before they can fully start to make future plans and many visa holders are already restricted by their visa conditions.

“With the added panic and uncertainty surrounding the implications of COVID-19, it’s important for there to be a forum for temporary visa holders to share their concerns and get advice.”

A diversity of topics will be covered including visa cancellation, fears about deportation if this occurs, status while awaiting a return home, travel restrictions, immigration health checks, government response and much more.

“If you have any questions that come to mind now, please submit them before the live stream and that way we can include them and make sure that they’re covered.

“Please understand that information continues to be rolled out and we are communicating directly with the Immigration Department. So, with any of your queries that come in beforehand we will try and submit them directly to the department, so we can answer them for you.”

Access to the COVID-19 Online Expert Webinar & Q+A Session is only $27. Register now and submit your questions at ausmigrate2020.teachable.com.