Aside from the usual.

Ivan, Ambrose, Roman, Evan, Sean, Elwyn, Darius,

Alystair, Wyatt, Emilio, Hannes, Nikhil, Sacha.

Melissa Anna, Danika, Tyra-Lee, Harlee, Azaria,

Maxima, Livia, Dottie, Medina, Katrina, Elsa,

Thea, Jackie Anne, Tory.

Naturally I had to see Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian as soon as it came out. I mean, any movie that promises a three-story, marble Abe Lincoln strolling around DC has to be good right? In fact, I deemed it worthy of $70 Dendy Premium tickets…reclining, while wait staff bring food and drinks, and gourmet choc-tops. Mmm.

I actually enjoyed this one more than the first. Although I absolutely love the Museum of Natural History, the Smithsonian just has so much cool stuff! Plus having introduced the main characters in the first movie they were free to get on with the fun and general silliness.

I won’t give away the story, but it will be no surprise to find Abe full of wit, wisdom and of course coming to the aid of our hero and heroine.

Abe’s voice is done by Hank Azaria, who also plays Kahmunrah and does the voice of the Thinker. Hank is best known for his character voices in the Simpsons.

I liked Amy Adams as Amelia Earhart too, she is full of spunk.

theART: Steven (drums); Jak (gtr/vox); KJ (bass/vox); Azaria (vox/gtr).

Local dates:

Mar. 18, 2009, 2:30 p: SXSW 2009 – IndieHouston @ Co-Lab Space, Austin.

Mar. 20, 2009, 11 p: SXSW 2009 – Maggie Mae’s, Austin.

Mar. 21, 2009, 12:45 p: SXSW 2009 – Aussie Acoustic – Whole Foods, Austin.

Mar. 22, 2009, 8 p: IndieHouston.org, w/JAPANTHER, Houston

Mar. 23, 2009, 10 p: Saturn Bar – ALL AGES, New Orleans

Apr. 10, 2009, 10 p: Beauty Bar, Austin

Full tour schedule: www.myspace.com/theart

Dirt. Love. Androgyny. Machismo. Unknown. Massive. theART.

Newtown, Sydney, Australia was home-base and remains home. But the band has spent most of the past year in Los Angeles and doesn’t plan on leaving anytime soon. They toured Australia for 3 years straight, putting in the kind of work that still gets them a hero’s welcome despite their absence.

Newtown is like London’s Camden, and theArt’s group house there was an artistic ground zero. You can hear the influence in theArt’s music as clearly as you can see it in vocalist Azaria’s charcoal sketches. Sensations are depicted. Segments of reality explored repeatedly until the trees become the forest. Depiction of the whole becomes secondary as the segments fill one’s fields of vision and sound.

The band’s self-titled 5-song EP starts with ‘Love Bomb Revolution,’ which comes across as a modern Hanoi Rocks; filthy yet precious. Guitar walls mix with harmonies and build to a chant-along chorus, Azaria’s lead vocals dangerously perfect. ‘She’s Dead Wrapped In Fashion’ meanwhile sounds like a Cars demo before Roy Thomas Baker got a hold of them, complete with a disco bridge and staccato guitars, both eventually overwhelmed by grime.

‘Break’ makes things a little more personal. (It’s a heart, by the way.) Drums and vocals build, layer, hammer; creating a combination of force and exposure reminiscent of a punk Johnnie Goudie. ‘Christian Girl’s tentacles pull you in like Type O-lite, waiting for the bridge to break your face. The outro is classic gutter chic; girl vox parping over a sewer guitar line.

‘Happy Now’ stands out on the EP for its difference from the other songs. Written by theArt’s predecessor (the Follow) it is pure, mainlined, post-punk pop: without irony or updating, it sounds almost exactly like the Cure.

If you visit www.myspace.com/theart you can hear one of the band’s newest songs, hometown-tribute ‘Newtown,’ which combines aspects of all of the directions heard on the EP without diluting any of them. The growth obviously continues.

Azaria took some time Tuesday morning before heading to another 5-hour tour-prep rehearsal at the band’s L.A. space to fill GonzoGeek in on theArt’s plans to take over the U.S., the finer points of life as a woodshedding nerd, and being on the road as part of a co-ed rock machine.

GONZOGEEK: So the rehearsal space beckons?

AZARIA: We’re rehearsing with our drummer, who’s from New York but moved to Los Angeles. We haven’t rehearsed with him for a few months so we’ve been rehearsing everyday for the past few weeks.

GG: As tour prep?

A: For the tour there’re a bunch of new songs…a lot of stuff to go over. We’re getting our show together. Figuring out the best way to make noise and hurt peoples’ ears.

GG: Right. Right. I’m looking forward to seeing y’all live in Austin. The EP struck me really well. There’re a lot of influences on there, but at the same time it sounds really up to date. How did you get from ‘Happy Now,’ which sounds exactly like the Cure to the sound I’m hearing now? Was it a conscious shift? A natural evolution?

A: The EP is very schizophrenic. But as a songwriter I don’t like closing any doors. And I just remember presenting the band with all these songs, you know, ‘Let’s do this one, let’s do that one.’ We’ve been together for about 5 years, and from when we first started we didn’t ever want to release an album where every song sounded the same. We’ve naturally over time been on some kind of a journey and it sounds kind of funny to say but [the EP] sounds sort of like a compilation.

We were very ambitious at the start; the way we thought and the way we did our live shows. But over time we just sort of found what worked for us. We found our sound. When you’re just starting out I think it’s sort of natural for any band to be unfocused. We were just doing what was natural to us at the time.

‘Break’ and ‘Love Bomb’ are two kind of new songs, the other three we recorded a few years ago with Nick Launay (Nick Cave, INXS, PIL, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Arcade Fire, Silverchair). We put out an album back then as well. But now we’re more focused and it’s in the swamp rock kind of vein, like ‘Christian Girl.’

We’ve even taken it further. Our new album is a progression of that; a very dirty low-end groove based dynamic noise. We were very influenced by My Bloody Valentine, Bauhaus, and stuff like that.

GG: You can definitely hear the MBV influence in the guitar work, even on the EP songs. ‘Newtown’ though seems to confirm exactly what you’re saying. It’s almost a fusion of the other five songs I’d been exposed to up to that point. You can hear elements of your whole sound in there.

A: That’s a new one. We did it late last year. It’s on the new album we’re about to release.

GG: What kind of a place is Newtown? My Australian knowledge is a little limited.

A: Newtown was a place where as a band we had a big house. It was the kind of house where whatever bands would come through Sydney would stay. Like Amanda Palmer from the Dresden Dolls would stay.

It was sort of a big party house. Our band rehearsed there. We had two big lounge rooms; one was an art studio and one was a rehearsal studio. We just had really good people around us….artists. Our tour manager would come over and look after us, make sure the house was good while we were on tour for three years.

Newtown is home to us. It’s the artistic hub of Sydney where all the bands live. Kind of like Camden in London. That kind of vibe. A

Anywhere new is also our town. So it’s kind of like a play on the words. New town could be New York, or could be Los Angeles, or London, or wherever. It’s just a part of being a band that tours.

GG: After 3 years on the road in Australia it seems now the focus has shifted to the US.

A: It has. We haven’t played in Australia in over a year now. We had a going away party where we did an acoustic show. It was really amazing. So many people came. It was a private party, but….It’s weird. Everyone knows who we are in Australia, but we haven’t played there in over a year, so it’s a bit strange.

GG: Sounds alright.

A: Obviously I can’t wait to be over there. But we made a conscious decision to come here and have a break from what we were doing and try to find….We’re recording our album over here and we’ve really grown as people when we took ourselves out of our comfort zone and all of that kind of stuff.

We’ve got management here in Los Angeles. We’re just sort of setting ourselves up here so when we go back to Australia…The way we see it, we want to be citizens of the world and just tour it; spend out time doing what we’re doing, and for some reason we went to Los Angeles and this happened.

GG: The influences you list definitely give off that vibe: “The surrounding environment, friends, lovers, artists, and musicians who don’t follow the croud (and like their music loud).” It sounds almost as much a human exploration you’re conducting as a musical endeavor. The songs use love a lot as a theme.

A: We sort of touch on subjects we react to: love, lust, life. Four-letter words.

GG: But more than songs about love, or love songs, they look at some tiny aspect of what love is, and then follow that up with another look at some other little aspect of it. They actually reminded me of your charcoal drawings, where it’s not so much a big, ideal picture of anything as it is a description of some small piece of what you’re looking at. I got that out of the music as well.

A: Cool. The way I am as a person, I don’t think there’s one answer to anything. It’s all about perspective, and perspective changes over time. And you journey as well.

I don’t buy it when someone says, “Oh, this is what love is, and blah, blah, blah.” It’s something to explore and expand from different angles. Like having sex. You wouldn’t have sex with someone the same way every time. You’d want to explore all the angles; everything about them.

GG: Are sex and drugs an aspect of touring for ya’ll then? Or are they not necessarily part of the Art agenda?

A: It happens! (laughs). It’s nature. It’s life. But it’s not a focus of our band. Our focus is on being a family, having fun on the road and looking after each other. And meeting lots of people and having fun with them too!

We’re also quiet and nerdy. The reason we had a space at home where we’d rehearse is because we’d just wake up every day and rehearse. We weren’t that interested in like going out and scoring some girls. We had an intrinsic magnetism towards making music and moving our environment.

GG: More into the art end of it than the rock star end of it…

A: Yeah. But at the same time, that other stuff just happens! It’s not our intention, but…(trails off).

GG: The live clips I saw show a full-on rock experience. When you describe yourselves as the nerdy guys holed up in the rehearsal space, there’s certainly a counter to that coming out live on stage.

A: Before we go on stage we get a hold of reality, and then we just let go. That’s the moment in life where anything can happen. That’s why I make music. That’s why I’m more interested in playing live than in all the other processes. Because there’s always that element of creating something unknown. I like that you could accidentally smash your guitar into your face and bleed all over the audience. Some people may love it. Some people might try to sue you. F ‘em.

I think it’s really fun to get a bunch of people from all over the world in one room, or from different places and upbringings, to all congregate to see music. There’s more to music [than people realize], and I guess it’s apparent in the live show.

GG: But you are making a record right now as well. Are you working with Nick Launay again?

A: Nick’s working with another band, so we’ve done a little bit with him, but we’ve mainly been working with Manny Nieto (the Breeders, the Health). He’s really good. He’s kind of got a dirtier sort of sound and he’s trying to draw a bigger sound from us, and we’re loving that at the moment. He produced ‘Newtown.’ So he’s staying the vein of what Nick was doing as well. It’s what we’re doing. It’s our vision.

GG: So, Steven’s in the U.S. Is he a new drummer or did he just transplant himself over here before the rest of you?

A: Yeah, he’s the only new member. The core of this band has been together about 5 years. Our old drummer just went on his own path. We’re still friends, but we found Steven on our last American tour early last year, and we had a chat with him and fell in love with him. It was a group decision. Our drummer was like, “Well, why don’t you get him?” And we said, “Yeah, we will!” We’re still mates though.

The core of the band is me and KJ and Jak. We just sort of sit back and think this is something we’ll always do. We’re having too much fun. When you’re in a band like that you rely on each other.

GG: Have yourself or Jak ever been involved with KJ as a couple? Or is that sort of tie off limits?

A: Ummm. (Clears throat). Well you see, to get into this band you have to have sex with me.

Both: (Laughter).

A: I’m just kidding, man. I just wanted to float that out there.

GG: I’ll have to ask Jak about that.

A: I can just see my band members start freaking out.

I’ve known KJ for like 10 years. So I guess, in that 10 years there may or may not have been a romantic….I don’t know. There was some stage where I was living at the Newtown house and all the girls that lived in the house were my ex-girlfriends. So that might tell you something about the chaos of our life in Australia.

GG: Well, based on the clips I’ve seen and the music I’ve heard, it seems like you’ve got a really good, cohesive unit going on. You’re the songwriter of the outfit, but it definitely has an organic/band real feel to it. So it seems things have come together well over the years for you, chaos or no.

A: Yeah. Thank you. Beyond the chaos and confusion there’s a clarity. That’s always nice.       

It doesn’t really need to be said as we all know The Veronicas are the faux alternative glampop bitches who made a deal with the devil for success. I can’t see how anyone can like them and everyone I know can’t figure it out either – their tunes aren’t even catchy, they’re just bland mediocre shit. Anyway, I was on the cusp of doing a bad write up for them, knowing full well it was a waste of time, but still, I jumped onto their myspace and just can’t get over the fact that all their songs except one are in “preview” mode. For those who don’t know what that is – it means you can only listen to maximum 40 seconds of it before it stops. Fucking marketable corporate swiney slags with no real intention of delivering something good into the music world. Just a greedy hunger for dirty money. Their MySpace even has an ad to get Veronicas ringtones on your mobile – a disgraceful act beyond words.

Russel Brand imitator - Azaria from TheArt

Another disgusting thing is that a band I once enjoyed previously known as The Follow – now called TheArt – are in their top friends and vice versa. The reason? I can’t figure it out because I never would have thought Azaria would like something so banal with sights set on the mighty dollar. It goes to show that his entire presence in the music world has all been for the glory, the buck and any passion he once had has been stripped from him and replaced with a demon shell, sweating syphilous from his pores. Of course, he still believes that he’s got it and his passion is clear and decisive and he knows what’s going on. It’s clear to us, however, that he’s become deluded and is no longer worthy of praise. Which is a fucking damn shame because if you listen to his songs, you get the impression he could have done something good. Instead – we find this fucker hand in hand with these slimey scatmunchers probably to progress in his own career. Respect drops – interest drops – and we realize it was all a jib. I, for one, feel quite ripped off.

Mother fucker.

–
DN

It seems that The Follow have gone AWOL. Well, Azaria and KJ at least.

Theyre meant to all be out in California recording stuff for their new album with Nick Launay – at least thats where Azaria said he’d be in the interview he did with LN&P a little while back. Since the interview, there have been regular posts on ZaR’s myspace page updating fans about shows The Follow, as well as his solo gigs around the California area. But if anything tabloid media has to say about things is true – there have been internal tensions and things may have taken a turn for the worse. According to their management:
“Azaria had been seen in Hollywood on Saturday night, I know they were stressed out to the max, I talked to Azaria on Wednesday and he broke down and told me that there was a lot of tension in the band. Please everyone, put out good vibes about this and stay positive! I know in my heart that they’re alright. I’m sure they’ll ring me soon.”

Guitarist JaK and their manager Gabe Deluc have asked fans to let on if theyve spotted Azaria and KJ, as family and friends are becoming increasingly concerned.

As posted on the Follow’s myspace page:
“WE’VE BEEN INFORMED THAT AZARIA AND KJ HAVE BEEN MISSING SINCE FRIDAY AUGUST 22ND. IF ANYONE HAS ANY INFORMATION ON THEIR WHEREABOUTS, PLEASE CONTACT US. KJ AND AZARIA WERE LAST SEEN IN NORTH HOLLYWOOD AT THE CORNER OF BURBANK & VINELAND. CONCERNED FRIENDS AND FAMILY MEMBERS SHOULD CONTACT JaK COLEMAN FOR MORE INFORMATION.”

My guess would be that they have gone out to the desert to ‘find themselves’ Doors style.
Stay safe kids!

 

KJ has been found safe and sound!

According to their myspace (home of all info!) she was at a friends place.
AzaRia is still nowhere to be found however.

The search continues!

Strangely two members of the Australian group The Follow have gone missing. The band has been recording their debut album in Hollywood California. Two of its members Azaria and K.J. were seen last on August 22nd in Northern Hollywood. A quote posted on the band’s myspace reads

“We should disclose that the band has been going through some hard times recently, both as a band and as individuals. Working on the new record was the final breaking point for an already unstable band.
“All of The Follow’s family and close friends have been contacted, we’ve filled a missing person’s report, and have reached out to the Australian Consulate for guidance.”

Yikes.. missing people. That’s never good.

]]> http://loudnoiseandpictures.wordpress.com/2008/07/07/the-follow-here-there-and-everywhere/ Mon, 07 Jul 2008 10:41:16 +0000 tragicether http://loudnoiseandpictures.wordpress.com/2008/07/07/the-follow-here-there-and-everywhere/

Despite some limited success and a few shows supporting big names like Sonic Youth, Eskimo Joe and Nine Inch Nails, The Follow are still one of Australia’s best kept secrets. They have recently returned from the United States, playing shows throughout L.A. and New York, recording with producer Nick Launay (Silverchair, Arcade Fire, Nick Cave) and generally spreading Followy goodness across America.

Between houses, between countries, between shows and between recording sessions, Azaria, The Follow’s guitarist/vocalist allowed us to quiz him on the bands travels and upcoming album. 

Loud Noise and Pictures: The Folow’s line up has seen a few different faces come and go since the last album, how is the band’s chemistry at the moment?

Azaria: Well the first album was recorded by me alone. I then got my close friends from high school to join the band and make the album come alive. Since then until now, we have put out an EP through Warner and toured with NIN, Sonic Youth and Amanda Palmer [Dresden Dolls], and touring up and down the east coast of Australia for 3 years. Released and toured ‘Smashed Heart’ in the UK and toured America… You’re bound to lose a member or two after all that. However the band is at its strongest at this point in time because we’ve been lucky to have found people who can sustain the road and maintain the ability to have a creative journey. Its been five year’s and I guess KJ (bass and Vocals) and I are the original members still standing.  We’re really proud of everything we’ve been through. Our latest guitarist Jak was our guitar tech who toured with us for a year, and naturally, joined when it was time. And we met our new drummer (Steven) in NYC when we toured there.

.

LNaP: What were you expecting to happen when you headed over to America? And did everything live up to expectations?
Azaria: We expected just to play a few shows, maybe get an agent or a manager as we’re in between management at the moment – and to record with Nick Launay. The States gave us more then we had expected. We’re releasing a new EP from America to everywhere in the world except for Australia/New Zealand (as Warner owns the rights to release us here). We recorded ‘Love Bomb Revolution’ and a new song called ‘Break’. We found many management offers and agent offers after playing a few shows. But the best thing was all the help and love our fans gave us. From accommodation, to lending us a BMW – thank you. There was something for us to do every night in Los Angeles. It was a fun trip.

.

LNaP: How receptive were the U.S audiences? How different is the Australian scene to the U.S. scene?
Azaria: The Australian scene has always been welcoming to us. I guess the only difference is that there s more people over there. And you could play every night around California and meet new people and scenes. Where as in Australia, a band like ours could only really play once a month in every major city in Australia. The main reason we found ourselves in L.A. was because of the support that Nick Launay has given us and gave us when we were over there.

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LNaP: Was there a great deal of difference between the New York and L.A. crowds? Which was better to play for?
Azaria: Well we played 6 shows in 5 days. On our last night we played in NYC and we jumped in the cab to go to our next show in Brooklyn. Everyone from the first show came across the bridge with us, even the bar guy. The Brooklyn show was on at 1pm on a Sunday night and the place was packed. We made some loyal fans in NYC. And I got to meet Anton [Newcombe] from The Brian Jonestown Massacre and he gave me his red glasses. It’s nice to see the world through another’s perspective.

.

LNaP: Did you get to play with any good bands audiences may not be aware of? Did you happen to play with any bands that we may already know?

Azaria: Yes we played one show in N.Y.C. and L.A. with The Veronicas. They are more underground over in the States and it went down well. That was fun and they’re such a good band. We played a show with Dizzy’s band from Guns ‘n’ Roses too. We played about 15 shows all up over there; we were more concentrating on our recording. But were lucky to pick up the shows we did along the way

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LNaP: How is it coming back to Australia? Does it feel like its good to be home, or do you wanna go back to the circus?
Azaria: We have a lot of people back here that we dearly missed, so it’s been good meeting up with them. We’re just taking things a bit easy here and not playing shows. We’re kind of homeless at the moment, Jak’s in Newtown borrowing a room, KJ’s out of town and I’m in Brisbane visiting my granny. Being scattered around has been fun but we’re looking forward to going back to the states in a month to complete our recordings and play more shows.

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LNaP: You’re playing again soon in Brisbane, has The Follow’s live shows changed at all since you last played on Australian soil?
I was just doing an acoustic show. But I think every time we tour we learn something new and refine our show. Plus we have lots of new songs now.

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LNaP: The Follow has been recording again with Nick Launay, how is it different this time around?
Azaria: It’s more focus and from both sides we’re working faster and creating more than before. We have developed a really good relationship with him inside and outside of the studio and recording process. So we have become very comfortable with him. And like a film maker loves to film on film rather then digital, we are the same in that since recording with Nick both times, we’ve recorded live as a band to tape. It’s all sounding better then ever, because the band’s at its strongest level then it’s ever been.

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LNaP: What can we expect from the new album – and more importantly – when can we expect it to be released?
Azaria:  I’d say it will probably be out in the States before Australia. Early next year we think. But it has a very focused direction, unlike the schizophrenic first album, I guess playing for so long, we’ve kind of developed our own thing now. We still try new things, but the first album was like every idea into 12 songs. It kind of sounded like a compilation album. But I was young and had a million ideas. And I’m glad I got it out of my system back then.

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LNaP: In the past you’ve performed on stage with Amanda Palmer (from The Dresden Dolls), how did that come about – and who else would you love to perform alongside with?
Azaria: I’m actually playing a solo acoustic show in  Los Angeles with her next month…like Trent [Reznor] from NIN someone had played our music to her and Amanda contacted us through a friend. She’s the kind of artist that picks and chooses who she wants to play with. Which is refreshing because mainly agents decide, but we have been lucky, Sonic Youth, NIN and Amanda Palmer have all hand picked us to play with them. And we are very honored of course… we’d love to play with the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s, KJ wants Hole to get back together (me too) but it can t be 1995 forever.  Nick Cave is touring America later this year too. But he always gets a more subdued band to support him. But a kid can dream. We’re just dreaming and liking reality of a dream…

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LNaP: What are The Follow’s plans for the rest of the year?
Azaria: We’re going back to America to finish our album and get it ready to release and we’ll be back in Australia for a tour in December.

Plenty of kind thoughts go out to Azaria for his time and effort.
I strongly recommend you all Follow your heART and see the band in action if you are in the Brisbanian or Californian regions – and keep an eye and an ear out for their new album when it drops.

 More Cowbell!

I just had some plastic surgery done on my face over at Putty Face. Amy thinks I look like Hank Azaria. Deanna says Oliver Platt…

Who do you think I look like?