While at SXSW earlier this month, I had the chance to sit down with Dublin musician Dermot Kennedy, just before he hit the stage at the Vevo House. We talk about his latest music, his time in Austin and about his highly anticipated debut visit to Australia (next week!). Listen to the full chat here:…
WA’s CALMLY have been touring and introducing themselves to a wider international audiences over the last year – we last saw them at Singapore’s Music Matters conference and now, we were lucky to catch these talented ladies performing at SXSW. Larry caught up with the band on ground in Austin to see how their American jaunt…
Last week at SXSW, the new Robert Rodriguez TV series Rebel Without a Crew (inspired by his book of the same name) launched at a special press event featuring Rodriguez and the five young directors who have taken part in the series. The series coincides with the 25th anniversary of Rodriguez’s groundbreaking film El Mariachi, which…
In the first scenes of Ethan Hawke’s new film Blaze, a biopic about oft Austin based, relatively obscure American musician Blaze Foley, we find out that this story doesn’t have a happy ending. Foley’s life was one cut violently short. It’s a choice that Hawke said was made to keep the film from being emotionally manipulative,…
Netflix has hooked up with Sacha Jenkins and several other directors to curate a new eight-part docuseries on hip hop. Premiering around the world at the end of March, Rapture will bring unique perspectives on the personal lives of various well-known and rising stars within the culture, from Nas and T.I to Dave East and…
After working together on The Hero last year, Brett Haley has once again teamed up with Nick Offerman for new drama-musical Hearts Beat Loud. The film has already screened at Sundance and SXSW Film Festival to critical acclaim, so we thought it best to sit down with both Brett and Nick to talk about how…
While at SXSW, we caught up with Evan Goldberg & James Weaver to chat about their work as writers and producers of the anticipated and acclaimed new comedy Blockers, which hits cinemas on Thursday. During our chat, the pair talk about casting an Australian actress (Geraldine Viswanathan) in the film, and go on to say that…
While at SXSW, we met Japanese actor (and film co-writer) Kunichi Nomura, to chat about his new film Isle of Dogs – the anticipated stop motion film from acclaimed director Wes Anderson. While on the red carpet, once he learnt we were Australian, he took the opportunity to let us in that he’d just flown in from…
At the 2018 SXSW premiere of Boundaries, Larry Heath caught up with Vera Farmiga and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, as well as the film’s writer/director Shana Feste to talk about the movie and its impact on each of the crew members. The film, in its world premiere at the event, touches on the struggles of family, drugs and animals as a…
After the premiere of Eddie Alcazar‘s latest film Perfect at this year’s SXSW festival, we managed to sit down with the cast and crew, including cinematographer Matthias Koenigswieser, as well as cast members Garrett Wareing, Tao Okamoto, Chris Santos and fellow Australian Courtney Eaton, to discuss the film itself, its experience and message, the attraction to working with such an experimental director, and…
With his new film Upgrade having its premiere at SXSW Film this past week (where it won a prestigious Audience Award), we caught up with Australian director and writer Leigh Whannell as well as cast members Logan Marshall-Green and Betty Gabriel to talk about the sci-fi horror and its wider implications. The film, which is…
We’re excited to reveal the winners of the AU review’s 5th 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 Bad Pony I knew Sydney indies Bad Pony were good live, I just didn’t know they were…
With one of eight episodes from forthcoming Netflix docuseries Rapture dedicated to her story, we managed to grab a quick chat with North Carolina emcee Rapsody during a preview screening at SXSW Film Festival. The new series from Mass Appeal and Sacha Jenkins looks at the personal lives and individual contexts of various hip hop…
Performers and now-fierce collaborators Sunny War and Micah Nelson (aka Particle Kid) have been bringing their own brands of rich music together in LA for a minute now, with SXSW being the latest platform for the artists to strut their stuff. And now they’re releasing a split LP under the name “Particle War“. With shows throughout the Austin festival…
Ethan Hawke‘s film about iconic country blues singer/songwriter Blaze Foley has been praised by critics since its premiere at Sundance in January, and last week it was Austin’s turn, with Blaze screening at SXSW. At that event, held in the city where Blaze lived for much of his life, we caught up with the Hawke…
Over nine nights in Austin this month, I caught dozens upon dozens of live performances from bands from all over the world. This year I found myself discovering more talent than I have in the past few years – both at the SXSW Festival, and at Willie Nelson’s Luck Reunion event, which happens at his…
Talented singer and songwriter Fatai has been calling Chicago home for some time now, but the Melbourne-born artist has maintained strong links with home, even from the other side of the globe. A newcomer to the SXSW fold, Fatai caught up with Larry recently to touch base and share her experiences in the States. What are the…
Melbourne’s Pretty City recently packed their bags for another short sojourn to the USA where recording of new music, as well as a cheeky stop at SXSW awaited. The band’s new album Cancel the Future is out tomorrow and in coming months, Pretty City will be out on the road (in Australia and abroad) with this new bad…
Mallrat is a name fast gaining traction and renown amongst Australian music fans but for Texans and those visiting SXSW this year, this was a perfect introduction to the Aussie currently preparing to take more international sectors by storm. We caught up with Mallrat to find out more about her time in the US, and what’s…
SXSW has always been a massive melting pot of musical influences and a platform for musical discovery but in the last few years in particular, the festival has played host to an enormous hip hop, R&B and soul community that has come together from all over the world. Whether they be some of the biggest names…
Last night, Isle of Dogs held its premiere as the Closing Film of SXSW. We briefly caught up with actor Jeff Goldblum on the red carpet to chat about talking with Director Wes Anderson, while Goldblum briefly muses about his time filming Thor in Australia and Menulog. Watch the chat here: Isle of Dogs hits…
Though the big annual jam by The Roots and friends (with rumours of SWV, DMC, Dermot Kennedy, Nathaniel Rateliff, Jessie Reyez and Rapsody being the unannounced guests) was cancelled due to a credible bomb threat, the final night of SXSW left no music lover wanting for more. Those scoping out the remainder of SXSW Film…
While at SXSW, we caught up with Albert Hammond Jr. – an artist who needs no introduction. What was being introduced during the festival however, was AHJ’s fourth studio album Francis Trouble, an album that has recently seen him on tour with The Killers and further expanding his live set up on huge stages. I think the last time…
The SXSW Interactive Innovation Awards is one of the biggest and most comprehensive awards nights of the entire festival. A moment in the spotlight for just about every facet of the tech and interactive side of the industry, this year’s awards were big on AI, smart tech and wearables. Hit the jump for the complete…
Australia House and G’Day USA weren’t messing around when it came to this year’s The Aussie BBQ, kick starting the annual showcase event with nothing but top quality Australian music, sweeping through everything from one of the country’s most dynamic (and intense) indie-rock acts Bad Pony on the Backyard Stage to the delicate sounds and…
Hip hop fans were very well taken care of on SXSW’s second last day. Fader Fort revealed their surprise guest as Rae Sremmurd, with the duo also playing their own “announced at the last minute” showcase event with the likes of it producer Mike WiLL Made It and buzz acts like Duckwrth. Though the Rae…
The original Sandinistas (AKA the Sandinista National Liberation Front) were a group with the odds stacked against them. By their own admission, they were a bunch of “Poorly armed kids.” But they successfully overthrew the Nicaraguan president in 1979. A large number of the Sandinistas were women. Society had expected these women would marry and…
There’s something very sincere and heart-warming about Tray, the character played by Tracy Morgan in new TBS show The Last O.G. The forthcoming series, backed by John Carcieri and Jordan Peele, is a welcome return for the endearingly 30 Rock star, who still very much embodies the on-screen personality often attributed to him but grounds…
It was a jam packed Wednesday at SXSW in Austin, Texas. Here’s a look at just a few of the many highlights… Kicking off numerous showcases at SXSW this week, Tinashe hit up Vevo House for her second performance of the night and – to no one’s surprise – completely owned the smoky jungle-like stage…
Larry Heath sat down with co-directors Paulinho Caruso and Teo Poppovic alongside star Daniel Furlan to talk the Brazillian comedy Neurotic Quest for Serenity, which premiered this week at SXSW. The trio talk about the making of the film, how Brazilian humour differs from the rest of the world, and why anyone, anywhere in the…
