Features

8 acts you need to see at Hong Kong’s Clockenflap Festival

With ticket prices from Australia to Hong Kong at record lows, now would be as good a time as any to look into tickets to Hong Kong for the city’s long-running outdoor music and arts festival, Clockenflap. As one of Hong Kong’s signature music events, the festival features about one hundred different acts and will…

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Wake Up Call: W Hotels’ bold rewrite of what a music festival can be

You have to be careful when promised a luxury festival experience nowadays. One minute you’re proudly uploading Instagram stories and living your #bestlife, the next minute you’re stranded in The Bahamas being chased by rabid dogs, desperately downing questionable ham sandwiches, and watching through tears as your tent is used as fire fuel. Okay, maybe…

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7 tracks to get you ready for the 2019 Twilight at Taronga concert series

Quickly becoming one of the leading summer concerts in Australia, music lovers and animal lovers alike collide in the heart of Sydney’s Taronga Zoo for the annual American Express Twilight at Taronga series. Dripping in impeccable talent, the line-up boasts artists from Grammy Award nominated singer-songwriter Aloe Blacc, Australian favourite Vera Blue, 90s Icons You…

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Five Aussie acts set to make waves at SXSW Festival 2019 in Austin, Texas

South By Southwest (SXSW) Music Festival is an annual conference held in Austin, Texas, and is the number one hot spot for eyeing down your fav new artists. Mixed with a bunch of industry legends and newbies from around the world, artists perform in front of industry professionals, media and fans at venues ranging from…

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Meet 5 deserving acts who just scored their first ARIA nominations

Well well well, Amy Shark should be blushing a big right now. After writing her most recent hit “I Said Hi” about the music industry ignoring her until the release of her 2016 breakout hit “Adore,” the industry itself has just done her a huge favour, nominating her for nine different ARIA awards, the most…

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Interview: Dave Prowys of The Paper Kites (Melbourne) talks about imagining strangers’ lives on their new LP On The Corner Where You Live

Dave Powys’ one-and-a-half year old daughter has just returned home from day care and bounced into her father’s arms. “Oh, hello!” he greets her. “Hey darling, how are you?” She responds with a series of chirps while receiving kisses on her forehead. It’s a warm scene; one that could be part of the collage of…

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Exclusive Transcript: The embarrassing state of Sydney’s music scene put on International display at the Music Tourism Convention in Germany

At the end of August, I was invited to the Music Tourism Convention to deliver one of the day’s focus presentations. While most other speakers were tourism professionals who shined a positive light on their city, I was there with a different take: a cautionary tale of what can happen with industry and government don’t…

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4 more acts not to miss at Australian Music Week as 40 more artists and conference program details are added

Sometimes leading trends in music can become boring and predictable. From 7th to the 9th of November, Australian Music Week celebrates the artists going at it a bit differently, down at the Shire. Lather on that sunscreen and come feel the heat of Australia’s most accessible, grassroots music industry conference. With a focus on real…

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Five Tracks That Inspired Us: Hey Geronimo (Brisbane) and “Working For Google”

Earlier this month, Brisbane-based outfit Hey Geronimo released their new album Content. Off of it came the single “Working For Google”, which saw a video released around the same time as the album dropped. We asked the band to share with us five tracks that inspired the track: Boys Better — The Dandy Warhols https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dw0N0bIBKvc…

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Your Guide to Yours & Owls Festival 2018: Set Times, Map, Food, Footy and getting to Wollongong from Sydney

Next weekend, the long awaited Wollongong festival Yours & Owls will be kicking off. Watch your favorite Aussie bands go crazy on stage at Stuart Park on Saturday the 29th and Sunday the 30th of September from 11:30am until 11:00pm. We hope you have secured tickets because this major NSW festival is packing fans from all over…

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Laneway ‘19: Get to know the acts making their Australian debut at the Festival

St Jerome’s Laneway Festival has revealed its 2019 lineup. Amongst its diverse mixture of genres, genders and local and international acts, we’ve put together a little biography of the acts that have yet to visit our Australian shores before, and you definitely shouldn’t miss when they’re here. And for some, Laneway will be the only…

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Women That Rock: Ten emerging female musicians to watch

Weather you grew up to the sound of Janis Joplin, Amy Winehouse or Beyoncé, female talents have always been making us move, sing, laugh or cry. But the path to recognition is not always easy. Today, one month after beloved soul legend Aretha Franklin passed away, we are taking a look forward onto the emerging…

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BIGSOUND Interview: San Mei (Gold Coast) talks persevering and discovering her sound

Gold Coast artist Emily Hamilton, aka San Mei, has learned a lot about herself recently, including her stage name. “It’s my Chinese name,” she explains. “I grew up with my parents telling me it means beautiful flower. But recently I asked my aunty, who is Chinese, and she said San means three and Mei means…

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Sampology takes us behind-the-scenes of his new EP Mt. Glorious

Brisbane producer Sampology put out an incredible EP last month in Mt. Glorious, which saw the acclaimed artist reach new creative heights. Sam recently took some time to take us behind-the-scenes on the making of the album. Enjoy this video and article from the artist himself: As my performing name is ‘Sampology’, this implies that…

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116 live acts added to WAMFest in Perth: Here’s 6 to get excited about

Being the most isolated city in the world, Perth has always fostered its own local music scene, recently sharing successes Slumberjack, Ruby Fields and San Cisco with the rest of the country and world. WAMFest is an annual celebration of emerging homegrown artists, bands and producers spread across multiple venues and on November 2nd and…

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Phantastic Ferniture and the Blue Mountains origin story

If you haven’t already rinsed Phantastic Ferniture‘s eponymous 2018 debut LP so much that you know the exact length of each song, you absolutely need to get onto that NOW. It’s without a doubt one of the best debut releases this year. Fresh from the Sydney underground music scene, the three-piece bring that raw flavour straight…

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Five Aussie acts you can’t miss at Falls Music & Arts Festival 2018/19

Every time New Years rolls around, Australians don’t turn to each other and say “should we go to a festival this year?” We good people of Australia turn to each other and say “oi mate, which festival are we hitting up this New Years?” New Years festivals like Falls Festival, Field Day, Lost Paradise and…

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5 Retrowave Artists to get you ready for Cyberpunk 2077

We still don’t know when Cyberpunk 2077 will finally land on retail shelves. Developer CD Projekt RED have indicated 2019 at the earliest, but they don’t want to rush it. Frankly, good choice, nobody likes a rushed game. But after that Gamescom trailer from a couple of weeks ago, we’ve got Cyberpunk 2077 on the…

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The Best of BIGSOUND 2018: Six discoveries who left a lasting impression

Brisbane’s BIGSOUND festival has long brought the best up-and-coming acts to the attention of the music world. For the 2018 edition, gig-goers took in as many as they could of the 150 scheduled acts that performed on 18 stages across Fortitude Valley. Past BIGSOUNDs have introduced the likes of Confidence Man, Alex Lahey, Tkay Maidza…

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Five acts not to miss at BIGSOUND 2018

BIGSOUND officially kicks off in Brisbane tomorrow, and our man on the ground this year will be Tim Byrnes. Tim has narrowed down his five must-see acts for the festival. Take a look: Wax Chattels Auckland, New Zealand trio Wax Chattels play bass guitar, keyboard, and a two-piece drum kit. But with those barest of…

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Hitting rock bottom to climb: Kanye West’s through lines in Ye and Kids See Ghosts

The recent Kanye West release schedule has brought happiness to skinny jean wearing hipsters, and serious hip-hop fans alike. Following the meteoric success of Pusha T’s Daytona, the focus shifted to Kanye’s solo album Ye, and his collaborative project with Kid Cudi. Ye was the first true Kanye project to come from the Wyoming era,…

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Five acts set to play Australian Music Week you need to be excited about

Taking over the sunny, vibrant Cronulla beaches this November, Australian Music Week is Australia’s most accessible grassroots music industry conference. Featuring a mixture of local and international acts, award-winners and promising new talent, this week’s first artist announcement paves the way for music discovery and bloody good times. With over 150 live showcases, 20 panels…

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5 speakers you need to know from Australian Music Week’s first announcement

Taking place at Cronulla Beach between the 7th and 9th November, Australian Music Week is Australia’s most accessible grassroots music industry conference. Bringing together an 80-strong speaker line-up, Australian Music Week is about discovering real music and relevant industry knowledge from the artists and insider professionals who live and breathe all things musical. Conference manager…

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Everything you need to know about Cal Jam 18; Dave Grohl’s music festival featuring Gang of Youths

They may have just announced – and then sold out – their own mini-festival in Brisbane, but before that happens, Sydney group Gang of Youths are heading to California in October to play Cal Jam 18, a festival curated by Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl. This is the second consecutive year the event has been…

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Meet the Aussie & NZ artists heading to play Music Matters Live in Singapore

The Singapore music festival Music Matters Live will be returning for its 13th year next month, returning to the city’s iconic Clarke Quay (among other venues), featuring more than 30 acts from 13 countries over 5 days – kicking off just as the Brisbane conference and festival BIGSOUND comes to an end. Taking place alongside…

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The best of the best at Lollapalooza 2018: The moments we will never forget

2018’s edition of Lollapalooza was very different from the ones that have come before. It was very much a music festival for the days we are in now. The lineup propped itself as a perfect capsule of what music is today with the biggest names in pop music, EDM and the best rock bands of…

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Why Queensland rapper ZEKIEL has a certified hit on his hands with debut single “Writing Away”

Clever worldplay and a banging beat is usually all you’d need to move a hit between the increasingly thinning lines that once divided hip hop and pop. “Writing Away”, the debut single from Queensland’s ZEKIEL has that in spades, but on top there’s also a genuine, earnest expression of lost love, plenty of character, and…

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