Tag Archives: Aussie Music
Throwing Shapes ‘Into The Void’ (Official Music Video)
PG Naylor Releases Latest Single ‘Move Like That’
“The song is based on my memories of my first visit to a strip club in Kings Cross in the mid 60s (the Pink Pussy cat – not Chinatown as mentioned in the song – Chinatown just seemed to work better musically). There was a well known ‘dancer’ there who attracted much interest for her ‘moves’. The verse about me being hauled onto the stage is entirely imaginary!!” – PG Naylor
A nod to the 60’s rocker with some modern brass and vocal touches make this mid-tempo song from PG Naylor instantly accessible. Right from the get-go its hooky, rhythmic and very sing along. There’s a cheeky element to the lyrics and vocals to set it all off too.
PG Naylor brings a new original visit to 60s classic rock music. All songs are written and performed by PG – who was there then in the 60s and is still here now! Although all the songs are new, they slot perfectly into a 60s rock playlist. PG has been playing in rock bands based in Sydney, Australia since the 60s, and after a life in the corporate world he has returned to his first love – 60s rock music. The title track to his album, Sanctuary, was announced as a semi finalist in the 2019 International Songwriting Competition, based in Nashville, USA; the tracks Sanctuary and Hollywood Road were both announced as semi finalists in the 2020 Voyager International Songwriting Competition based in Melbourne, Australia as well.
Demonstrating that there is still great interest in ‘old rockers’, since 2020 his songs have attracted over 80,00 listeners and just under 160,000 streams on Spotify (and still growing every day!)
Official Video:
Stream on Spotify:
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Luke Escombe Releases Single ‘Sacred River’
“Sacred River” is the pulsating second single from Luke Escombe’s forthcoming album “Whale Beach Road”. Starting with some very funky catchy bass (Tina Weymouth style), then once Luke’s vocals start this could be a Talking Heads song for sure. Up-tempo, hooky, and immediate, this one is a winner for radio. Written around the hypnotic bass and drum loop, played live on the recording by bassist Zoe Hauptmann and drummer Evan Mannell, the track builds a suspenseful narrative of a man on the edge.
Luke says: “The song was inspired by certain characters I would see on small flights up to Mackay, the FIFO workers leaving their young families for weeks on end to disappear into the company of other men, working in deserted places.”
Musically, “Sacred River” draws on one of Luke’s deepest musical influences: “One of my earliest memories is going to see Pink Floyd’s ‘The Wall’ live in concert at Earl’s Court in London when I was 4 years old. My Dad was working on the tour and showed me around the stage on the day of the show. I remember being really excited but then running out in terror as soon as the lights went down.”
Luke plays the lead guitar part on the track, recorded in one take at Damien Gerard Studios in Gosford through an old Fender Bassman amp that was, as Luke recalls, “cranked so loud I thought it was going to explode. I was sitting right next to it trying to manipulate the sound so it didn’t incinerate me with feedback. It was totally instinctive.”
Clayton Doley adds extra layers of swirling tension on the Hammond organ, and the epic choruses feature backing vocals by Sarah Belkner, Darren Percival, Alice Terry and Daniel Mifsud. It was recorded by Andrew Beck and Richie Belkner, mixed by Richie at Free Energy Device Studios in Newtown and mastered by Grammy-winning engineer William Bowden, who declared it his favourite track on the album: “hypnotic and awesome”.
About Luke Escombe
“Luke Escombe is a rock-soul singer, raconteur, blistering blues guitarist, comedian and songwriter, and very good at them all” – Sydney Morning Herald
Luke Escombe is an ARIA-nominated singer-songwriter who combines his blues, rock and soul influences with subversive humour, poetic lyrics and heartfelt storytelling. He is the creator of the internationally acclaimed one-man show “Chronic” and the writer and front man of multi award-winning Aussie kids band The Vegetable Plot.
Luke has released numerous albums and EPs with his band Luke Escombe and the Corporation and one album solely under his own name, 2017’s Skeleton Blues. The album was recorded direct to tape in a three-hour session at Damien Gerard Studios, featuring his smoky-voiced cover of Bob Dylan’s “Man in the Long Black Coat” alongside distinctive originals like Punctuation Blues and The Lipsi. A new Luke Escombe studio album, Whale Beach Road, recorded in between lockdowns with some of Sydney’s most in-demand session players, is set for release in 2022.
Luke received his early musical education in London, where his father’s job in the rock and roll industry enabled him to see hundreds of legendary performances by artists like Freddie Mercury, Prince and Bruce Springsteen while he was just a boy. When he’s not channelling his childhood idols, Luke is an ambassador for a number of health charities, a member of the NSW Arts Advisory Panel, a teaching artist with the Sydney Opera House’s Creative Leadership in Learning Program. He is also a song writing mentor with the Sydney Children’s Hospital’s Chronic Illness Peer Support program [ChIPS] with whom he wrote and recorded the track “Wake up Call” in 2021. He believes strongly that music and storytelling can play a transformative role in health, education and society. Among his more obscure awards is the title of “Sydney’s Sexiest man voice”, which he won in a competition on a once-popular Sydney radio station.
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Throwing Shapes Releases Single ‘Into The Void’
The track begins slowly and builds with a fat bass line and fast beat. There is a duality between the slower chords and melodies, and the busy drums, that makes this track interesting and a little unique. This track is about meditation, diving deep ‘Into The Void’ of your own mind and soul.
Some slow piano begins this track with an almost ambient flavour, but wait. Full arpeggio keys, drums and bass hit hard creating a dance floor smash. There’s a breakdown back to the chilled vibe before stretching back into the frenetic uptempo vibe that is Throwing Shapes’ signature.
About Throwing Shapes
Throwing Shapes is Fox Shannon: a musician, DJ and producer from Perth, Western Australia. Unique and forward thinking electronic music. With influences from Pendulum, Sub Focus and Shock One to Disclosure, Deadmau5. Pink Floyd and David Bowie.
Throwing Shapes have performed alongside other well established D’n’B artists such as Terrence & Phillip at local dance music festivals such as Reawakening and Back2Funk. Their energetic performances and catchy dance floor hooks have seen them feature on numerous compilation and won growing interest from community radio, with air play around the country and some US stations.
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Throwing Shapes – Project 3 Mind Filter(Official Music Video)
Throwing Shapes Releases Single ‘Mind Filter’
An up-tempo drum & bass track with an edge. A heavier rock vibe to this track with soaring synth lead lines and pumping rhythms – a fusion of rock and dance music. It’s about how we tell ourselves certain stories about our own lives, which aren’t always true. Sometimes they become an observation of life through a tinted glass or a ‘Filter’ for the ‘Mind’, distorting our view of the world and preventing us from seeing the truth of our own lives.
About Throwing Shapes
Throwing Shapes is Fox Shannon: a musician, DJ and producer from Perth, Western Australia. Unique and forward thinking electronic music. With influences from Pendulum, Sub Focus and Shock One to Disclosure, Deadmau5. Pink Floyd and David Bowie.
Throwing Shapes have performed alongside other well established D’n’B artists such as Terrence & Phillip at local dance music festivals such as Reawakening and Back2Funk. Their energetic performances and catchy dance floor hooks have seen them feature on numerous compilation and won growing interest from community radio, with air play around the country and some US stations.
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Steve Williams Releases New Single ‘Pump’
Steve Williams releases the new single from his forthcoming album today and had this to say about it
‘Pump was actually written about a friend who went to jail for the crime of fraud. 4I’ve never been in jail but was locked up for a few hours once due to unpaid parking fines in the late 80’s en route to a support with Cyndi Lauper in Brisbane.t It’s my version of a modern day blues I guess.’
About Steve Williams
Steve Williams came to prominence as the lead guitarist in the 80’s pop group Wa Wa Nee, who had top 5 hits and ARIA Nominations in Australia and chart action in Europe and the USA. Following Wa Wa Nee’s breakup Steve worked with prominent local artists, James Freud and Richard Clapton, before relocating to Europe.
In London, Steve built a successful career as a session guitarist working with Jon Lord from Deep Purple, Ray Parker Jr, Real Life and many more. He returned to Australia in 2005 and continued session and production work including musical theatre and television appearances playing with The Choir Boys, Matt Finish and others.
In 2020 Steve released the ‘Surry Road album’. All the tracks were co-written with musicians that he has worked with over his many years of touring and recording. Tracks feature guest vocals from Pat Powell (Melbourne Ska Orchestra and many more) and other well-known vocalists such as: John Kenny (Rockmelons), Tim Watson (Taxiride), Vince Contarino, Terry Slesser (UK) Louise Person as well up-coming Melbourne singer Nic MC.
Steve’s new album ‘Déjà Vu’ is scheduled for release later in 2022. All songs were written by Steve except ‘Pump’ with Pat Powell and ‘Ronnie’ with John Kenny. Steve played all instruments but with help of a few very talented guests: Gus Fenwick, Nic MC, John Kenny, Pat Powell , Glen Muirhead, Ralph Franke, Raechel Summers, Mac Johnson.
The album was mixed by Steve with the exception of ‘Bouquet Of Life’ which was mixed by Russ T Rock.
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PG Naylor’s Latest Singles ‘Better Left Unsaid’ and ‘Sensible’
PG Naylor brings a new original visit to 60s classic rock music. All songs are written and performed by PG – who was there then in the 60s and is still here now! Although all the songs are new, they slot perfectly into a 60s rock playlist. PG has been playing in rock bands based in Sydney, Australia since the 60s, and after a life in the corporate world he has returned to his first love – 60s rock music. The title track to his album, Sanctuary, was announced as a semi finalist in the 2019 International Songwriting Competition, based in Nashville, USA; the tracks Sanctuary and Hollywood Road were both announced as semi finalists in the 2020 Voyager International Songwriting Competition based in Melbourne, Australia as well.
Demonstrating that there is still great interest in ‘old rockers’, since 2020 his songs have attracted over 80,00 listeners and just under 160,000 streams on Spotify (and still growing every day!)
The releases for 2022 so far include -
Better Left Unsaid – Hate to be a name dropper but I was having lunch with Mike McClellan at the Greengate Hotel in Killara (he was an old schoolmate of mine) and he told me he’d just written a song about seeing a lady at the airport and wondering who she was waiting for. He also thought he knew the lady but couldn’t place her till after she’d left. It turns out she was a well known personality but he wouldn’t reveal who.
Anyhow, I was searching through my old songs and I found this song that I’d written 20 years before for my wife’s birthday which sounded pretty catchy. So I adapted Mike’s idea to a railway station – changed my old lyrics to a tale about being tempted to say something to a lady at the station but deciding – ‘better left unsaid’.
Sensible - Was written about 20 years ago about my frustration with people who procrastinate instead of ‘just doing it’. It also started with some more fiddling around that Em7 chord to which I added a sequence of G, Bm and C followed by a C#dim to link to the chorus. It made, I thought, a nice melody with a ‘sing along type’ chorus. But my demo and Kim’s original tracks were all guitar-based. John Roy had other ideas.
He has a grand piano in the middle of his studio and he decided to record a sole grand piano track – he and Kim sent it to me for my reaction and I was blown away. Some guitar, bass and drums plus vocal and harmonies were added and voila! there we have Sensible as you hear it today.
Producer Kim Humphreys(John Farnham Band, Ted Mulry Gang) on working with PG
I really enjoy shaping Phil’s demos and seeing them evolve into what you can now hear, having taken the songs beyond the boundaries PG considered.
His songs all have a ‘’Back to the 60’s’ slant . . . the period which continues to inspire my own approach to guitar playing ,recording and producing.
If this was the mid 60’s he would no doubt have Top 40 hits on his hands!
Recent International reviews
“Sensible is a beautiful, serene piano number with PG Naylor’s subtle vocals. It’s interesting in the 1:00 minute that the song takes a different turn as if we were stepping into a musical and later being embraced by guitar riffs”- TECO APPLE
“Showland ProductionsI really enjoyed the smooth and mellow entrance to Sensible. The instrumental is extremely catchy, and ready for a scene in a major motion picture. The tone and cadence in your vocals are soothing and perfect for singing along with.”
“PG Naylor is able to make something refreshing and retro while staying as clean and crisp as modern music can be. An A+ effort.” James McQuiston, Neufutur Magazine
Stream on Spotify:
Better Left Unsaid
Sensible
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Gareth Koch Releases Single ‘Flamenco Arabe’
More sublime Spanish Flamenco Guitar from Australia’s very own Gareth Koch.
Moorish influence in flamenco music goes back thousands of years, but it was the Islamic invasion in 711, that determined the musical influences from North Africa. The Moors and Arabs brought their musical forms to the Peninsula. The Emirate, and later Caliphate of Córdoba became a centre of influence in both the Muslim and Christian worlds where it attracted musicians from all Islamic countries.
This flamenco piece starts with a Tabor drum and includes some bass guitar filling out the lower frequencies. The song evokes a Middle-Eastern as well as a flamenco mood and as always the playing is superb and is a worthy addition to the monthly single releases Gareth is undertaking.
About Gareth Koch
Gareth Koch is an ARIA Award winning recording artist, guitar soloist, composer & songwriter. He has recorded a diverse repertory across multiple albums spanning works for classical guitar, flamenco, original compositions, arrangements, medieval projects & songwriting. He has appeared at major festivals within Australia, Europe, Asia and North America.
Born in Milan, Koch 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 a scholarship for advanced guitar study at the Vienna Academy of Music. He holds a PhD in Music.
In 2002 Koch formed what might be termed the first guitar supergroup. Saffire – The Australian Guitar Quartet soared to number 1 on the classical music charts and appeared on the pop charts. The quartet released a total of 3 best-selling albums.
Gareth is involved with many cross genre projects & in 2020 released two collaborative albums with ARIA Hall of Fame inductee Steve Kilbey (The Church).
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