Author: Larry Heath

Director and Actor Mark Webber premiered his new film Flesh and Blood at SXSW earlier this month; a docu-style film which stars his own family and blurs the line between fact and fiction. I sat down with Mark, his mother Cheri Honkola, brother Guillermo Santos, and actress Madeline Brewer (Orange Is the New Black) to talk…

One of the films that made a splash at this year’s South by Southwest (SXSW) Festival in Austin, Texas was Robert Mockler‘s directorial debut Like Me. A film that was set around society’s obsession with social media, I sat down with the director to talk about the kickstarter campaign that made the production possible, its…

Australian Director Emma Franz‘s poignant documentary Bill Frisell, A Portrait premiered earlier this month at SXSW in Austin, Texas. The film is, as the name suggests, a portrait on the much loved musician Bill Frisell, both in his own words and through interviews with iconic artists like Bonnie Raitt and Paul Simon. I sat down…

One of the year’s most anticipated superhero films is without question WB’s Justice League, which is bringing together a slew of DC’s most well known comic book heroes into one film – based of course after the comic books of the same name. They are to DC what The Avengers is to Marvel.  And over…

Having already brought us one of the best black comedies of all time with In Bruges, and a memorable follow-up with Seven Psychopaths, it comes as little surprise that director Martin McDonagh has us excited about his new film, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. And with the release of the first red-band trailer for the…

The end of SXSW is the glorious culmination of a week of full on shows, barely any sleep and poor dietary choices, for the most part. While the hangover extends to all areas of your body, the time spent exploring different parts of Austin and connecting with bands from all over the world is well worth it….

Agnes Obel‘s time at SXSW brought with it some shows that had us reeling with emotion. The artist is no stranger to the way SXSW likes to roll, yet for many people seeing her for the first time at the festival, they were definitely treated to a one-of-a-kind experience. We were lucky enough to catch some…

Sydney’s Food Court are currently continuing their domination of North America, having had a fantastic debut at SXSW recently. While their time abroad has the band slaying in Canada at the moment, Larry caught up with Nic and Christian at the Aussie BBQ in Texas to find out how their US trip had been treating them so far. Welcome to…

Catching up with Josh Cashman, we’re landing time with the Melbourne musician just off the back of some incredible shows with one of Australia’s most exciting new exports, Tash Sultana. Cashman’s arrival in Austin, Texas for SXSW brought with it a run of shows and exposure that undoubtedly left him hungry to get back into touring back home. It’s…

For DJ and producer Throttle, North America is just getting a taste of his style and shows – for those lucky enough to see him perform at SXSW, the young gun came through blazing, leaving excited chatter in his wake. As he eyed up over a month on the road through the US, we scored some…

We discovered a lot of great music at SXSW 2017 – and had the opportunity to catch plenty of our favourite buzz acts live for the first time. But few of my personal discoveries have sat with me quite as heavily as Swedish artist Albin Lee Meldau, who sits as runner up in two of…

Just released on Netflix, the biopic The Most Hated Woman in America is the true story of iconic Atheist activist Madalyn Murray O’Hair, starring a brilliant Melissa Leo in the title role. The film had is world premiere earlier this month at SXSW and while there, I sat down with the film’s director Tommy O’Haver…

Adelaide outfit The Coconut Kids recently made their American debut at the annual South by Southwest (SXSW) conference in Austin, Texas. I sat down with Julian and Ash from the group while in Austin to talk about what took them to the iconic event, the experiences they’ve had over there and what’s coming next for…

Directed by Eshom and Ian Nelms, Small Town Crime is a neo noir that isn’t here to reinvent the wheel, rather attempt to perfect itself as a genre piece. Not that it can be pigeon-holed. Part western, part crime fiction, part family drama, and a lot of noir, the film doesn’t cut any corners for…

While at SXSW, we caught the brilliant documentary Through The Repellent Fence: A Land Art Film (read our review HERE). The film documents a Land Art project by Post Commodity, situated on the border between Mexico and the United States – the future home of Trump’s proposed border wall. I sat down with the film’s Austin based…

Hot on the heels of the news that the global streaming rights to his new horror film Madre had been picked up by Netflix at SXSW 2017, our own Larry Heath sat down with the film’s director Aaron Burns for a chat that spans his career-to-date,  his process, a never-ending desire to create and the influences that…

The second season of HBO’s animated series Animals just premiered, and in anticipation of its release I sat down with the series creators Phil Matarese and Mike Luciano at SXSW to talk about its return, Bill Cosby, warping minds, The Duplass Brothers (the series’ Executive Producers) and taking acid on 3-11. So I just came…

We’re excited to reveal the winners of the AU review’s 4th Annual SXSW Awards, which celebrates the best performances and events we caught at the Austin, Texas festival – and some of the disappointments too. BEST AUSTRALIAN GROUP All Our Exes Live in Texas There was no shortage of great Australian bands at SXSW this…

Norway’s own SLØTFACE came to SXSW with a fiery live show to be brandished and brandish they did over their trip to Austin. We were lucky enough to sit down and chat with the band – Halvard Skeie Wiencke, Tor-Arne Vikingstad, Haley Shea and Lasse Lokøy – to find out how their SXSW had treated them as well as their…

While SXSW continued to boast big name performances and branded events in 2017, it still remained a platform for new music discovery and for fresh artists from around the world to play their cards on stages right throughout Austin. One such artist is Jain. The Toulouse born singer came to Austin as one of the music festival’s…

When it came to the trends of SXSW 2017, there was a lot of take note of. Firstly, there were the hordes of concerts that championed nostalgia (Hanson, Weezer, Smash Mouth etc.). Then there was (what felt like) the larger-than-ever focus on hip-hop (T.I., Gucci Mane, Vince Staples, Wu Tang etc.); something that has been…

Now in its eighth year, BlenheimFest is a locally supported, volunteer run, not-for-profit festival, held on Good Friday at Blenheim in the Clare Valley, South Australia. This year they’re extending their event to two days – starting it on the Thursday – while they continue to raise funds for New Hope Cambodia and throw an…

One of the highlights among the many premieres at SXSW this month was the documentary Behind The Curtain: Todrick Hall, which took us on a behind-the-scenes journey of the creation of Hall’s record Straight Outta Oz, its music videos and a subsequent tour – all put together in an impressively short amount of time. While…

Canadian indie rock legends, The New Pornographers, were back in Austin for SXSW recently and we were lucky enough to get some time with vocalist and guitarist, Carl ‘A.C.’ Newman. No strangers to the chaos of SXSW, Newman reflects on his previous visits to the city with the band and the development of their music right through to…

Chances are, if you haven’t yet become familiar with the name Starley, you’ll know what she sounds like. Her single “Call On Me” has transformed from a pop hit into a club chart demolisher thanks to Ryan Riback‘s remix last year and since, the Sydney native has been embraced by territories all over the world. When we…

Jacob Collier may not have visited Austin, Texas prior to this month but best believe, the UK buzz artist left SXSW reeling with his presence. The 22 year old has been catapulted to global fame over the last year in particular; with two – yes, two – Grammy Awards to his name, the multi-instrumentalist and producer…

It seemed more than apt to be sitting down with Spoon in their hometown of Austin, Texas, at possibly one of the busiest times of the year – SXSW. The band has Australia firmly in their sights with shows on the east coast commencing this week, but before they make the trip out, Larry hung out with Alex…

Hot on the heels of winning the SXSW Audience Award for the “Visions” programming, we sat down with Aussie actor Josh Lawson, Director Josh Greenbaum and Australia’s own 007 George Lazenby to talk about the film Becoming Bond, which premiered at the festival last week. This pseudo-documentary tells the story of Lazenby, the only Australian…

It was a slightly different agenda for Pandora at SXSW this year as the digital radio service concluded their annual Pandora House at Austin venue The Gatsby earlier tonight. Running from Monday to Thursday and crossing into both Music and Interactive programming – as opposed to concluding on Saturday as in past years – Future…

For the past two days, the iconic Austin venue Mohawk played host to the annual House of Vans, featuring a mix of primarily rock and hip hop acts – some well established and plenty emerging. But it was the surprise addition of At The Drive-In during the event’s first night that proved to be the…