Author: Larry Heath

Simon Griffin‘s pocket book dedicated to punctuation, Fucking Apostrophes, should be a permanent fixture on everyone’s desk. The 62 page resource is crammed full of just about every possible use of the apostrophe in the English language, delivered with a great deal of humour and ultimately leaving you with the thought: “Why the fuck are…

The experience of the hit comedy The Play That Goes Wrong, currently touring Australia, starts before you enter the room, as cast members walk around the foyer, greeting guests, engaging in arguments and letting you know that they’ve lost a dog from the second act – a sign that indeed, things are about to go…

The majority of videogame films are, for a lack of a better term, complete tosh. From catastrophes like Street Fighter, Super Mario Bros. and most of Uwe Boll‘s filmography to films that are close to viewer satisfaction like Final Fantasy VII – Advent Children and Ace Attorney, the reputation of videogame films is not something…

Last week we filled you in on the first films we picked for the annual Sydney Film Festival – but that barely scratched the surface on the amazing catalogue of feature and short films that will grace the event. So here’s another six films we think you can’t afford to miss at the 2017 event……

Though it was the late addition of Jay Z onto the Austin City Limits festival line up ahead of the likes of Red Hot Chili Peppers, Chance the Rapper, The Killers and sis-in-law Solange that has had everyone talking, a quick look at the mammoth ACL lineup for 2017 shows off an impressive list of Australian and New Zealander artists amongst…

While at Coachella last month, I caught up with Denver husband-wife duo Tennis, who in spite of releasing four breathtaking albums (their latest, Yours Conditionally, is out now), have never made many waves down here in Australia. We here at the AU think it’s about time they made some waves, so join us as we…

The 64th Annual Sydney Film Festival launched its amazing program yesterday, and over 12 days this June, there’ll be more film premieres and screenings than you’ll know what to do with. Over the next couple of weeks we’ll be letting you know plenty of our highlights – and we’re starting off with counting down the…

Hitting the road today on their national “Deficiency” single tour, the criminally underrated Sydney quintet Bad Pony were recently over on the other side of the world in Toronto, Canada for the annual music festival and conference Canadian Music Week. While there, I sat down with Jarred and Sam from the group to talk about…

Our very own Larry Heath had a one-on-one backstage at Coachella 2017 with emerging superstar Bishop Briggs to reflect on her amazing year, look ahead to her Australian debut for Splendour in the Grass this July, talk about her new tattoos and much more… You can watch our chat here: Don’t miss Bishop Briggs when…

Backstage at a sweaty second weekend of Coachella, we meet Koen van de Wardt of Dutch indie group, Klangstof. Their presence at the American music festival was one of large significance, with Klangstof stepping up to being the first Dutch band to ever appear at Coachella in the history of the event. Speaking with Koen, we find out more…

MS MR have long held a love-love relationship with Australia but when we catch up with one half of the band, Lizzy Plapinger, we’re in a different environment altogether. She’s at Coachella and as the world is getting to know her new music project, LPX, the vocalist and songwriter tells us about her new sounds and what’s in store…

Getting a release on Hulu today in the US is the hilarious documentary Becoming Bond, which screened at SXSW earlier this year. It takes a look at the life and times of Australia’s only Bond, George Lazenby, in his own words. The film takes the spirit of Drunk History to deliver an original and entertaining…

While at Coachella last month, we were able to catch up with Ryan Hahn and Nik Ewing, who had been impressing crowds with their new album Sunlit Youth, as well as a stomper live show. Taking some time out backstage, Larry chatted with the guys about their experiences on the growing festival stage and how their own live…

Anna Lunoe remained a standout artist of Coachella 2017 – from afternoon slam circles in the Sahara Tent to performances of new music, the Australian expat made sure her time out in the Cali desert counted. Backstage at Weekend Two, Jaime Lewis caught up with Anna to find out how the experience had treated her, and…

When we get the opportunity to sit down with our favourite artists, of course, it’s not something we take for granted. And then there are the opportunities we get when we get to speak with someone as legendary as Lee Fields, backstage at what he describes as one of the best, if not the best, musical…

While out in the decidedly colder climates of Toronto recently, we managed to link up with Tasmanian group, Heart Beach. One of the local Aussie highlights of this year’s Canadian Music Week, the band filled us in on their time in the city and what their plans are for moving the band forward in 2017. Welcome to…

POND have become one of Australia’s most popular exports, particularly when it’s come to the international festival circuit. Of course, being cut from the same cloth as Tame Impala has long driven much of the press surrounding the WA band but in recent years and over their last few albums, the Nick Allbrook led group has really stepped…

The Sydney Comedy Festival has been around for thirteen years and has amazingly grown from a festival with humble beginnings, into a force that itself has grown to a major arts festival in Australia. Director of the festival for all that time, Jorge Menindis details the history while making some last minute plans prior to…

Dark Mofo hits Hobart in June, a winter festival that has fast become a favourite and mainstay of the national circuit; attracting incredible music, arts and food events, and an iconic nudie run that is always the talk of the town. There are a lot of ways that punters can get to the event from…

The annual music industry festival and conference Canadian Music Week brought with it a slew of incredible talent, from Canada, Australia and around the world. One act that caught our eye in particular ventured to the Toronto based event from Dublin, Ireland, and made a splash with a series of showcase performances, while also closing…

We spent the weekend backstage at Coachella Music & Arts Festival in California, and while there, Jaime Lewis grabbed some Polaroids of a tonne of our favourite artists backstage. Take a look through the photos below – from the legendary Lee Fields, to Local Natives, Tennis and up-and-coming artist Bishop Briggs – and many more……

The second weekend of the 2017 Coachella Music & Arts Festival wrapped up in Indio, California last night, with an eclectic mix of performances around the festival. On the main stage, New Zealand pop star Lorde and headlining rapper Kendrick Lamar closed the festival with big budget sets full of pyrotechnics, fire and a slew…

This past weekend, Jaime Lewis and I enjoyed our first ever Coachella. Having desired to attend the festival since its inception 18 years ago, the well-organised, well-oiled event proved itself worthy of the hype, and indeed worth the wait. From the picturesque, desert oasis that made up its location, to the quality of the bands…

When you replicate a lineup of a festival across two weekends, generally there aren’t too many surprises left for punters – especially when that event live streams the first weekend to the world. But Coachella’s diverse lineup proved that they had plenty of tricks up their sleeves with several surprises throughout the day. Arguably biggest of…

As their British tour kicks off (with our own Jack Carty) in support of their new album Almost Home, we catch up with Matthew Lowe of the Keston Cobblers’ Club to find out more about the fitting follow on record to Wildfire.   Congrats on the new album! It’s fair to say that things feel a bit more stripped back on Almost…

Aziz Ansari’s Emmy award-winning comedy series Master of None is returning to Netflix next month, and the streaming service are teasing us with what to expect via an all-too-brief 70 second trailer that was released earlier this month. After traveling abroad, the show’s second season sees Dev (Aziz Ansari) return to New York to take…

Iconic director Oliver Stone is heading to Australia later this year for an exclusive appearance at Vivid Sydney, as part of the Vivid Ideas Game-Changer Talks Series, as well as at global creative forum Semi Permanent. The prodigious director has written and directed more than 20 full-length feature films over the last four decades, including…

The Australian Director’s Guild (ADG) has announced the nominations for their 2017 Awards, and this year the awards are guaranteed to recognise a new talent, with all five nominees in the category of Best Direction in a Feature Film having made their feature film debut. That’s Garth Davis for Lion, Simon Stone for The Daughter,…

While he was in Australia last week for a pop-up Los Pollos Hermanos in Sydney, we sat down with the fast food chain’s proprietor Gus Fring – expertly played through Breaking Bad‘s fourth season by Giancarlo Esposito – to talk about the character’s anticipated return in the third season of the Breaking Bad prequel series…

Best known for his role as Emmett Cullen in the Twilight Saga films, Kellan Lutz will be in Australia this week to attend the Gala premiere of the new sci-fi film The Osiris Child: Science Fiction Volume One, at the 2017 Gold Coast Film Festival. In addition to the premiere, Lutz will also pop into…