Celebrating a half-century of Mushroom Records, the heart of Australian music, the 50th-anniversary concert at Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena on Sunday night was a testament to the label’s monumental influence and the enduring legacy of the late Michael Gudinski. The star-studded lineup featured an array of Australian musical icons, delivering an unforgettable evening of nostalgia,…
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Angus & Julia Stone and Ben Harper will co-headline an all-star line-up at the SummerSalt festival that will hit iconic locations across five states in late January and February 2023. Supporting the co-headline acts are Canadian act City And Colour along with The Rubens, Middle Kids and Alex The Astronaut across eight dates from January…
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With a population of approximately 6 million people, Sydney is the largest city of Australia. And just like every other city in the country, Sydney has many suburbs, cultures, sub-cultures, communities and milieus that make it culturally and artistically rich. The most important, and often overlooked, is Western Sydney. Always seen as the poorer and…
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Aussie alt-rockers The Rubens are yet another band who’ve been denied the opportunity to tour their latest album due to COVID restrictions, but they are making up for it right now. In fact, The Rubens have been making hay while the sun shines, travelling the length of the country in support of their latest studio…
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We sat backstage at The Aussie BBQ in Hamburg, Germany last month with Australia’s up-and-coming Indigenous hip hop artist DOBBY to talk about his time in Europe in 2019 and bringing his unique brand of Indigenous Hip Hop to Europe. This is not the first time the talented musician has been to Europe this year,…
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With Australia as the focus country for the renowned Reeperbahn Festival in Hamburg, Germany, next month, the event has revealed the 17 Aussie artists who will be making the trip over to showcase at the event. Taking place shortly after BIGSOUND, the event kicks off on Wednesday September 18th with “Doors Open”, a special event…
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Splendour In The Grass’ final day of performances saw the acts wind down and a softer mood take over the festival. Folk performances were aplenty with Matt Corby and The Lumineers putting together some incredible moments, intermingling with the raucous energy of masterful performances by SZA and Hilltop Hoods. Of course, the day was haunted…
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This week, we learned that the nominations for the 2017 APRA Music Awards have been unveiled, with some of our great songwriters being recognised for the fantastic year of music they had through 2016. As such, Flume leads the nominations (perhaps unsurprisingly) with four, while Sia follows closely behind with three noms to her name. Julia Zemiro will…
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Following on from this morning’s announcement that London Grammar would be joining Childish Gambino on this year’s Falls Festival tour, the festival organisers have continued to make our Tuesday by following through with a stack of international and local names set to hit festival sites in Lorne, Byron and Marion Bay and of course for its first year, Fremantle,…
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Heading to the UK last week, I had no proper idea of what to be expecting from The Great Escape. I had assumed it would be like SXSW but colder and by the beach, but aside from that, all I had to go on were stories from friends who’d showcased in Brighton in the past or…
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As we proceed further into 2016, the international live music showcase train also continues to chug along; from SXSW to CMW in Toronto recently, the next major stop on the calendar is Brighton, England for The Great Escape Festival. Regarded as the major event for new music discovery in Europe, The Great Escape this year…
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Last week Merivale venue Beresford Hotel hosted a mysterious, spectacularly macabre scene as part of Campari Australia’s launch of a new brand of spiced rum named after Haitian/Lousiana voodoo spirit of death Baron Samedi. Campari Australia teamed up with Nova Entertainment putting together an immersive musical and theatrical experience available exclusively for competition winners and…
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‘We play rain, hail or shine’ has never been more relevant than in 2016 for Perth festivals, however the Bunbury leg of Groovin’ The Moo managed to march on through the temperamental weather with some killer acts without resorting to doing the worm through a giant mud puddle. While for those staying outside of Bunbury, getting on…
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A distinct lack of mooing was made up for by a whole lot of groovin’, with Groovin’ The Moo rolling through the Prince of Wales Showground in Bendigo for another year. Punters were fairly low in numbers early in the day, with an 11am start leaving plenty of time for the heavens to potentially open…
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Ah, Groovin’ the Moo. The one festival on the Australian live music calendar that offers city slickers an opportunity to ‘head regional’ (even if, in SA, this means a half hour drive up into the hills), underage music fans can thrive on copious amounts of Red Bull and whatever else for the day and everyone can enjoy…
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They drew strong numbers to their Groovin’ the Moo set at Oakbank last night and it would seem the good news keeps coming for The Rubens and their Adelaide fans. The band has listened to demand and have added a South Australian date to their national ‘Hold Me Back’ tour, stopping by HQ on June 17th….
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The nominations for the 2016 APRA Music Awards (to be held on 5 April) have been announced and show, again, just how strong our scene is. Up for four awards each, and both contending for ‘Most Played Australian Work’ and ‘Pop Work of the Year’, are Jarryd James and Sia Furler. Other acts with multiple nominations…
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The Rubens have had what could be described as the perfect start to the year; winning the Hottest 100 with their track “Hoops”, spearheading the Groovin the Moo line-up, and announcing their biggest headline tour yet. It’s going to be a busy year for Australia’s favourite rockers, so keyboardist Elliot Margin gives us the lowdown…
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The Menangle-born, current Hottest 100 kings, The Rubens, have announced some of the biggest shows of their career recently, with a June tour in support of their new single, “Hold Me Back”. The boys will be hitting venues in Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney and Perth mid-year along with Mansionair, Slum Sociable and Ali Barter, capitalising on what was a huge…
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The full Groovin’ the Moo line up dropped this morning, with a great spread of international and locals ready to turn up out in some excellent regional sites around the country in a few months. ‘Marshalled’ by The Meeting Tree (enough reason to head along in itself) and with Alex Dyson and Danny Clayton on…
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In case you were on a radio/social media black out yesterday or simply didn’t pay enough mind to tap into every conversation surrounding the formation of the 2015 Hottest 100, some boys from Menangle beat Kendrick Lamar to the top spot. With their tune “Hoops”, The Rubens were named #1 in the poll that saw…
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It’s officially Ausmusic Month again and this morning, Triple J have announced the nominees up for various J Awards this year. Of course, some incredibly talented musicians have been recognised for Australian Album of the Year, Unearthed Artist of the Year, Double J Artist of the Year and Australian Music Video of the Year awards…
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After a couple of regional shows down in Western Australia’s South West, The Rubens national tour, in support of their new record Hoops, hit Perth over the weekend for a sold out show at the Astor Theatre. Joining the group on tour and kicking off the evening’s proceedings were Central Coast folk duo Winterbourne. I’ve…
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Well that’s it. The last Laneway Festival of the year has come and gone. The festivals run of shows came to a sweltering sold-out climax at Perth’s Cultural precinct. Looking at the line-up (Of Monsters and Men & The Reubens in particular) it’s hardly surprising that Perth along with a number of the other dates…
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We talk to Sydney’s The Rubens at Hong Kong Festival Clockenflap about Asia, winning the J Award, plans in 2013, life on the road, the end of the world and much much more… Interview/Camera: Johnny Au Edit: Larry Heath
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Before speaking to Sam, a little birdie in the form of a helpful PR assistant mentioned jokingly that he was a “charmer”. Of course, I was immediately intrigued. But the image of a smooth John Mayer type character was quickly replaced by a chilled, down-to-earth 23-year-old who really loves what he does. That happens to…
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