Monthly Archives: November 2024

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News and Touring

Paul Scott Releases New Single ‘The Angry Boyz’

Musically the track is somewhere between pop, punk and disco, which I have never referred to as ‘posco’. Lyrically it went like this: I was witness to a statement purporting to be fact that was so egregious in it’s falsehood and so inept in it’s delivery, it made me laugh. A comic manifesto for the angry boys. That’s how it starts, not just the song, but also the trouble. ‘Garbage truckers’ is not a reference to the good people of our cities’ sanitation departments, it’s the gossip we drown in.

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Paul Scott began his career in music, writing and playing bass in angular NZ group Pop Mechanix. Despite court cases, a revolving cast of singers and multiple record labels, their single ‘Jumping Out A Window’ became a staple of New Zealand pop culture.

Relocating to Australia, Paul formed Montana with Ken Stewart (Mr Blonde), Michelle Margherita and Steve Melville. Their first release featured ‘Koolest Band’ which received national airplay and high rotation on JJJ. A brief tour of the USA and a performance at SXSW, led to ‘Koolest Band’ being included in the Hollywood movie ‘You Drive Me Crazy’. The subsequent album ‘Bubblegum Love’ was released in Australia, Spain, France and the USA.

Scott has since plied bass for various Australian acts, playing everywhere from community halls and malls in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane to the Sydney Opera House. Teaming up with Steve Melville (ex Mr Blonde and Montana) Paul and Steve have established a studio production relationship, playing on each other’s tracks (Stewart and Melville, The Likes of You) and coproducing The Insufferable Paul Scott’s well received 2021 album ‘Tea and Medals’ (which Melville also mixed).

Their most recent project is a closer collaboration with Melville adding drums, percussion and keyboards to Scott’s voice, guitar and bass, a line up very close in sound and feel to their youthful unit ‘Montana’. “I was looking for the kind of pop thrill I used to get from great Aussie indie bands such as The Falling Joys, Smudge, The Hummingbirds, pop thrills… you know?” says Scott.  An album has been completed and tracks will be released over the next few months on Foghorn, home to most of their releases to date.

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News and Touring

Big Merino Release Single ‘Long Time’

Composed in the aftermath of the rejection of the Voice Referendum, the song reflects on the dispossession of Australia’s indigenous people. The vote seems an attempt to deny the truth, the theft of land and resources. Alex “To me, the referendum was a gentle request for respect and inclusion. The fact that it failed demonstrates how far we have to travel as a nation and asks the question, how long will that process will take? Going on past experience, I would say it’s going to take a long time.”

Alex worked doing photos on APY lands some years ago. The cover image, taken during those sessions, is of a church in Indulkana. The hometown of the famous portraitist, Vincent Namatjira: Archibald Prize Winner and Gina Rinehart’s least favourite artist. In the recording the band tried to get a sense of space using acoustic instruments to reflect the feeling of the vastness of those places.

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About

Formed in 2017, Big Merino play original music that blurs the lines between country, blues, roots, rock and pop. Despite an obvious passion for what’s often called ‘Americana’ their songs somehow manage to be very personal and quintessentially Australian – the words and sound shaped by the landscape and their own stories.

Their live sound is a classic combination of acoustic and electric guitars, vocals, bass and drums. Their recordings are fleshed out with multiple guitar layers, gospel style harmonies, Hammond organ, piano, horns and percussion.

 In 2018 the band released their debut album ‘Suburban Wildlife’, made two cinematic film clips with director Alan Harca, and performed all around Sydney. The band has done numerous Interviews & live-to-air performances including ABC 702 & RN, 2SER Dirt Music, Radio Skid Row, Eastside Radio, Aussie Music Weekly and 2BBB. The single ‘Black Cockatoos’ was top 10 on AMRAP Metro and Regional playlists.

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News and Touring

Gareth Koch Releases Single ‘La Rumba Flamenca’

 The joyous flamenco rumba is an immensely popular style, stemming from Cuba by way of the port of Cadiz in Spain. There are many types of Rumba which often share the characteristic of incorporating popular musical themes within their structure.       In ‘La Rumba Flamenca’ the traditional melody Spanish Romance is integrated into the opening measures.

Set in the traditional format of three repeated sections, ‘La Rumba Flamenca’ can be described as an erotic, mischievous and salsified dance.  Rumba is closely related to the flamenco tango and is one of the most accessible flamenco styles, danceable and lighthearted.

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About Gareth

Gareth Koch is an ARIA Award winning multi-instrumentalist, recording artist, guitar soloist, composer & songwriter. He has recorded a sizeable repertory across multiple genres spanning works for classical guitar, flamenco, original compositions, arrangements, medieval projects, rock & songwriting. He has appeared at major festivals within Australia, Europe, Asia and North America.

Born in Milan, Gareth began his musical studies on piano and clarinet, and at age 12 was accepted into the Mozarteum in Salzburg. He received his Bachelor of Music degree at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music before winning  scholarships for advanced guitar study at The Royal Madrid Conservatorium & the Vienna Academy of Music. He holds a PhD in Music & has lectured in music across Australian & European universities.

 In 2002 Gareth formed the first guitar supergroup with Karin Schaupp & The Grigoryan Brothers, Slava & Leonard.  Saffire – The Australian Guitar Quartet soared to #1 on the Classical Music Charts and even featured on ARIA  pop charts. The quartet released a total of 3 best-selling albums & was Australia’s biggest selling classical act for several years.

Gareth is involved with many cross genre projects & has released a succession of collaborative albums with Martin Kennedy & with ARIA Hall of Fame inductee Steve Kilbey (The Church). His recent release ‘The Guitar Player’ received a coveted 5 star review from The Sydney Morning Herald. Gareth’s current output has a strong rock bias with classical overtones & his writing is increasingly focussed on the ethereal nature of music.

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News and Touring

Kalen Hogan Releases New Single ‘Mindless’

Kalen is moved by the gritty side of life and respects those who are struggling with inherited or self-induced negative states of mind. ‘Mindless’ comes from that state of mind, lost, isolated, describing hallucinogenic episodes and schizophrenic-like symptoms.

Kalen says ‘‘Mindless’ is a song about mental illness. It describes hallucinogenic episodes and schizophrenic like feelings. We are taken on a journey with a person who is well into literally losing their mind.’

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About Kalen

Kalen Hogan debuted onto the local Central Coast music scene in late 2022 and proudly launched his debut album ‘Isolation’ in May 2023. Keen to kick off the new year with new singles, he released ‘On The Phone’ and ‘Right There’ earlier this year.

As an alternate indie rock singer-songwriter, Kalen proudly admits to being inspired by the 1990’s grunge movement, with a real reverence for bands like Nirvana and Alice in Chains. Kalen sings about the complexities of everyday life, with an open heart and keen observing eye. His pure vocal tone has been described as sounding reminiscent of Thom Yorke from Radiohead and the late Jeff Buckley.

You can catch Kalen performing live at various venues and events across the Coast.

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