An Interview with The Settlement

November 2, 2016November 2, 2016Leave a comment

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The Settlement, a Victorian alternative/folk band from the rural town of Hamilton, are anything but settled these days. A rising star of the music scene, The Settlement are about to embark on the second leg of a nationwide tour, off the back of the release of their new single She’s Alright, and in anticipation of their forthcoming album.

Before they hit the road again, the guys from The Settlement – Calvano (vocals, guitar), Baker (bass), Matty (violin), Jase (guitar) and Harry (drums) – kindly sat down with me to discuss their new single She’s Alright, their soon-to-be-released album and what the future holds.

Hi guys – Thanks for taking the time to answer some questions today, I’ll start by asking how you all came together and how long you’ve been together for now?

Cheers, thanks for taking the time to ask a few questions. The band started a long time ago in Hamilton, Vic. It’s only a small town so there wasn’t many young peeps playing tunes, so I suppose we just gravitated towards each other. Along the way we’ve met other musicians and if they on the same vibe they slotted in. The Settlement has been going for about 2 years, but we’ve been jamming and gigging with each other for about 6 years.

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Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Review

March 29, 2016March 30, 2016Leave a comment

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While sitting through the more than two-and-a-half hour Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, I was reminded over and over again of the old adage – be careful what you wish for. Continue reading →

REVIEW: Terminator Genisys

July 4, 2015July 4, 2015Leave a comment

Let’s step back in time a second to September 1991. I was a lad all of 13 years old and I had just witnessed as close to a perfect science fiction film as I will ever see. That movie was Terminator 2: Judgment Day, the James Cameron masterpiece that took the brilliant ideas introduced in his 1984 original and expanded and explored them further than anyone could have hoped for. The ending of Judgment Day ended on a perfect, optimistic note, and I walked out of the cinema happy knowing that Cameron’s one-two punch of Terminator films was complete.

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Jasmine Rae – Heartbeat Album Launch

June 8, 2015June 8, 2015Leave a comment

Jasmine Rae Heartbeat Album Launch
Tour Venue: Revolver Upstairs, Melbourne
Date: 22/5/2015

The intimate surrounds of Revolver Upstairs played host to the final leg of country star Jasmine Rae’s Heartbeat album launch tour, which coincided with the release of her latest album of the same name.

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TRAILER THOUGHTS: POINT BREAK (2015)

May 27, 2015May 27, 2015Leave a comment

When I first heard that a remake of the 1991 action classic Point Break was in the works, I shuddered. I feared it would be a generic, boring and completely pointless re-iteration of something that never needed to be remade. Sure, Point Break is cheesy and over-the-top, but it’s a product of its time and had some incredible action (that foot chase scene through the houses is worth the price of admission alone), great direction from future Oscar-winner Kathryn Bigelow, entertaining and memorable characters and lots of great one-liners.

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REVIEW: Mad Max – Fury Road

May 16, 2015May 19, 2015Leave a comment

Mad Max: Fury Road, the fourth in the iconic Aussie sci-fi/dystopian series has literally been in the works for decades. I remember back in the ’90s I was reading a film magazine that said that writer/director George Miller was working on a fourth installment and that it would be released in the mid-90s sometime. That obviously never came to be and I thought audiences would never see Max return to the screen, but finally, in 2015, after numerous setbacks, re-writes, re-shoots, location changes and other roadblocks, Mad Max comes roaring back onto the screen with Fury Road.

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REVIEW: The Avengers: Age Of Ultron

April 29, 2015May 19, 2015Leave a comment

2012’s The Avengers was a near-perfect superhero film. It seemed like an impossible premise to pull off – combining many different superhero characters into one story, and having to give them all equal and fair screentime, and at the same time tell an engaging story that feels bigger and better than any of those characters’ respective stand-alone movies.

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Trailer Thoughts – Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens

April 25, 2015April 25, 2015Leave a comment

It’s had over 44 million views in a week and I think I was personally responsible for about 100 of those, the new Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer was released last Friday to incredible fanfare. To be honest, I think you could put John Williams’ incredible music over any visuals and it would make it seem epic. The trailer gives us only a few hints of the story the new film will follow, and I am already counting down the days until December when this is released. It has it’s work cut out to equal the quality of the original trilogy, but they have chosen a fantastic director in JJ Abrams and I have faith in him to deliver the best Star Wars film since 1980’s The Empire Strikes Back.

Danny Elfman – Music from the Films of Tim Burton Concert

April 4, 2015April 5, 2015Leave a comment

Date: March 14, 2015
Venue: Adelaide Entertainment Centre

I first discovered the music of film composer Danny Elfman back in 1986, when watching the cult classic Pee-wee’s Big Adventure on VHS one day. It was Elfman’s first film as a composer, having previously been lead singer of the new wave band Oingo Boingo. Tim Burton, who was also making his film debut with the movie, was a fan of the band and frequented many of their concerts in LA, and decided Elfman would be the perfect choice to score his movie. Despite having no experience in film music, he produced a unique, completely revolutionary score and in the process created a completely new approach to scoring films.

Cut to 30 years later and Elfman is now regarded as one of the best and most influential composers in Hollywood history, still working steadily today, with the 2015 releases 50 Shades of Grey and The Avengers: Age of Ultron on his list of credits this year.

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