Hittin' The Gubba

If you have been following Jonathan Boulet before now, rest assured that you have NOT been following Jonathan Boulet. More known for his sojourns into atmospheric rock with Sydney band Parades, or his "shouty-indie" solo fare (especially on the success of 2012's sophomore effort We Keep The Beat, Found The Sound, See The Need, Start The Heart). But Boulet and his band have bigger, doomier riffs to fry, and third album Gubba is about to shatter whatever preconceptions you may have had of the band before now. You see, Boulet is all about stretching parameters as far as they can go whilst getting the crowd/listener to collectively use it AND lose it. Gubba is a hodgepodge of rock explosions a la the best of John Dwyer's Thee Oh Sees efforts, just with added dirge and a tongue parked permanently in cheek. It's funny, heady, silly, heavy, and cool. In short - this is the Jonathan Boulet we've been waiting for all this time...


Gubba is out now through Popfrenzy in Australia, with Europe to follow suit later this month. Boulet is based in London nowadays (lucky me!), but is launching the album throughout August, with a show in Brisbane at Black Bear Lodge.

Brisbane Is Big With The Sound

Next week over three days (September 7-9) Brisbane becomes a convergence point for all important Australian musical media. When I say important, Im not referring to The X Factor either. The biggest music conference in the Southern Hemisphere, BIGSOUND draws top national and international industry talent, forming a vibrant collection of musicians, buyers and industry experts to create an environment of new music discovery.

The three-day BIGSOUND conference program is already gaining a substantial reputation around the world for its cutting edge topics and down to earth approach in tackling issues in what is one of the world’s most rapidly changing industries. This year's speakers include Creation Records creator Alan McGee, Pavement guitarist Spiral Stairs, Aussie music entrepreneurial wunderkind Michael Chugg, Lachlan Goold (AKA uberproducer Magoo), triplej stalwart Richard Kingsmill, plus a gamut of the industry's movers and shakers from home and abroad, all with varying degrees of valid things to say about everything. Yep, everything. You name it, they are mumbling about it. Timetable of events here...

2011 marks the third year since BIGSOUND launched its expanded showcase program concept, BIGSOUND Live, to the public. The new look BIGSOUND Live program allows the public access to live and original music in a huge variety of Fortitude Valley clubs and venues across two nights (September 7-8), with 80 of the "best" emerging acts appear for one of the most exciting industry festivals and showcases in the Southern Hemisphere. TO be fair, its got some amazing acts - alongside bands already mentioned here at SM (The Laurels, DZ Deathrays, Bleeding Knees Club, Guineafowl, The Mercy Beat) there are the likes of Ben Salter, Belles Will Ring, Eagle & the Worm, Velociraptor, Intercooler (making a much-anticipated comeback!), Jonathan Boulet (of excellent Sydney act Parades), Mike Noga, Little Scout, Mosman Alder, SEALS, Stonefield, The Vasco Era...pant...and that's just the tip of this sonic iceberg!

You can get tickets here for either the Wednesday or Thursday night, or a two night pass.