music – Page 12 – TINSEL and TAP SHOES

Interview: Country Rock Singer Troy Kemp

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Originally one half of the award-winning duo, McAlister Kemp – Troy Kemp is making a name for himself with his recently released first solo album, Against The Grain. About to hit the road on the This Crazy Life tour – we spoke about the tour, what defines modern country music and the comradery between Australian country music artists.

You’re soon to hit the road on the This Crazy Life tour, headlined by the Wolfe Brothers with artists Gord Bamford, Caitlyn Shadbolt, Christie Lamb, Craig Heath, Jody Direen and yourself. What can you tell me about this unique tour?

It’s seven acts from 3 different countries all touring together as a mini festival, on the road, kind of thing. I think in Australia there’s a real stigma around what country music is. A lot of people will think it’s all dinky and traditional – but there’s a modern wave of country music that’s coming through that’s really rocky and poppy and [country music is] becoming really diverse. If a lot of younger people heard what country music sounds like now, they’d go, “that’s actually pretty cool!” So, that’s what the whole emphasis of the show is. It’s trying to bring that awareness and sound out, and hopefully win some new country music fans [as well].

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An Interview with Leanne Tennant

Cairns singer-songwriter, Leanne Tennant has been singing professionally on and off for around fifteen years. The 2015 Queensland Music Award Winner for best ‘Blues & Roots’ artist, and 2016 Billy Thorpe Scholarship finalist, is currently on tour with her new album, Red Wine, Late Nights.

Where does the name Red Wine, Late Nights stem from?

I think the type of work I created on this last album is suitable for late nights and red wine. A few of the songs were brainstormed over a bottle of Shiraz. Red, over White, yes [is my drink of choice].

I work with a great photographer called Matt Loncar. We did a shoot in the Princess Theatre in Brisbane and felt the vibe suits the sound of the album [so used it for the cover].

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An Interview with Michael from Until Home

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Matt Reisinger, Michael Trapp and Clayton Mullins, as pictured above, make up the Brisbane-based trio, Until Home. Currently on tour with their debut EP, Optimistic and working as disability support workers; I spoke with the lead singer, Michael about band origins, emotive songwriting, and life spent on the road.

So, how did you guys meet?

We met at school. Matt and I had been friends since we were quite young – we took up music together, playing guitar, learned to sing, wrote our first song together, learned our first cords together – so we’ve been doing it for a while. We [as a complete band] started playing together around late 2013, around Brisbane and the Gold Coast for maybe a good year and then we decided to start recording.

It wasn’t until after school, I started as a disability support worker and then one after the other, Matt started and Clayton started a few months later. So, we met at school but we still work together, which is cool. We’ve got such a supportive work group. Our manager is absolutely awesome! [He allows] us to get time off and he comes to our gigs. We [also] have a wide network of supportive friends which is really great, really good to have.

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An interview with Pete Murray

PeteMurray Australian singer-songwriter, Pete Murray is about to hit the road, or hop a plane more specifically, for Surf Music in Paradise – a unique concert experience combining music, sun and surf in the beautiful Maldives. Currently hard at work on his fifth album; I spoke to Pete about exotic locations, surfing, new music and touring with Rob Thomas.

Hi Pete. In June, you’re heading to the Maldives for Surf Music in Paradise. How did that gig come about?

The guys from The Perfect Wave contacted me after they saw [the Latitude Zero] documentary I did with Mark Occhilupo, Mark Gasnier and Ash Grunwald. We did this trip to the Mentawai Islands and Foxtel recorded it, so that doco has been played all over Foxtel and so many people have seen it. It has such a good vibe, that they’ve asked me to come and be involved with the trip, which I’m really hanging out for. I’ve always wanted to go, so I’m really looking forward to it!

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An Interview with Anthony Callea

APL PHOTOGRAPHY - www.aplphotography.com.au — APL PHOTOGRAPHY – http://www.aplphotography.com.au

It’s been a big year for Anthony Callea! The ARIA Award winning singer-songwriter proving his tenacity in this year’s I’m a celebrity … get me out of here!, placing fourth, after six grueling weeks in the African jungle. Splitting his time between LA and Melbourne, alongside his husband, actor Tim Campbell, he’s billed as one of the top performers at Surfers Paradise LIVE music festival this May.

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An interview with Harrison Craig

Harrison Craig, the winner of the second series of The Voice, is one of the top performers set to perform Surfers Paradise LIVE – a free three-day musical event celebrating a diversity of genres on the Gold Coast – it really is set to be something spectacular. Currently hard at work on his third studio album, I spoke to the 21-year old about the new record, Mother’s Day, Josh Groban and all things Disney.

You’re performing at the Surfers Paradise LIVE – what can you tell me about it?

We’ve been rehearsing now for one month and it’s just been an absolute blast! I’ve got a big band coming up with me and we’re going to be doing tracks off my last two albums, and some tracks from my new album that I’m just recording at the moment. It’s a really good place to have this kind of three day event and everyone behind it, the teams, are just great, so I’m just really pleased to be there.

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An Interview with Mickey Cooper

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From his humble beginnings rewriting songs from the radio as a youngster, and touring with bands during his late teens – there was never any doubt that Mickey Cooper was destined for a career in the music industry. Now, set to release his debut solo album, Hit The Ceiling; I spoke with Mickey about songwriting, recording and Randy’s Apartment.

So, tell the people a little bit about yourself to start with.

I left school when I was 16 to play guitar in a rock band, crazily toured up and down the coast, [and] drove around playing gigs of varying success for a lot of years. That’s kind of how I grew up playing in bands – music’s been the only thing I’ve ever wanted to do with my life. And the solo thing came about, because I was in New York last year for a few months and living in this apartment. [I] just had just a microphone and a little recording space and had all these songs that I wanted to get down and it turned into an album.

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An Interview With Musician Jason Kerrison

New Zealand musician, Jason Kerrison recently completed his first solo tour around Australia, debuting songs off his first album #JKEP1 and showcasing his past hits. I spoke to Jason about this exciting year and what’s to come.

Jason, you were recently toured in Australia for the first time. How was your Australian gigs go?

Yeah, it was my first tour. I don’t know why it’s my first tour – I guess, being in bands in the past, it’s a lot more expensive bringing bands over. [So] it’s kind of nice to be able to be mobile and be able to be at a whole bunch of places over a couple of weekends, so it was good. Gosh, I can’t remember the name of the guy who played before me, but he was so good. He was ridiculously good! You know, when you see people so good, and you’re like, “why am I bothering to get up now?” Ego steps in, “I told you you shouldn’t have turned up”. [laughs] But I had a ball. It was really cool. All good people there.

Teneriffe Festival in Brisbane was fantastic! And then I played at a place called The Triffid, that is owned by one of the fellas from Powderfinger. [It’s] a great venue. I saw a band called the Church play in there that same night.

[The Yarra Hotel] was interesting. Sydney was interesting, as well – it was really bizarre, but there were [some] really cool people [there] I played in a lounge, like I played in someone’s lounge. It’s called Live n’ Lounging, apparently there’s a bit of a home circuit thing going.

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An Interview with Normie Rowe

To celebrate fifty years since the release of It Ain’t Necessarily So, Normie Rowe brings FRENZY! – The 50th Anniversary Collection. The new album features 30 of his hits from 1965-1968 remastered for 2015. I attended his album launch yesterday – but before I get to that – here’s the interview I did with him last week.

Let’s start with the new album FRENZY! – The 50th Anniversary Collection …

We decided to go back and revisit songs we recorded in the 60s as a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the release of my first record It Ain’t Necessarily So. To point out the fact that in those times the pop music world was incredibly frenetic. The kids were more enthusiastic about the music than hither to been seen. Much more enthusiastic than I guess the Rock ‘n’ Roll period or the Bobby Socks’ period of the early Frank Sinatra times. The kids were just like maniacs! To get out of a venue with some article of clothing in tact or some part of your hair still on your head was quite a miracle. So we chose the songs that were pretty reminiscent of the sort of things we were singing and playing in those days.

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