Album Review: Kings Of Leon - Come Around Sundown (for The Music Network)

26 October 2010

by Poppy Reid

The only similarity the family Followill have in common with the Kings Of Leon of ‘08, is the latest album’s title, Come Around Sundown, which sticks to the five-syllable rule found in their past four releases.

Leaving behind singer Caleb Followill’s inaudible slur and the slow rock darkness of the album’s predecessor, Come Around Sundownwill be praised by those who don’t think 2008’s Only By The Night was the bands debut.

The first track is amusingly titled The End, delivering the softness ofUse Somebody without the ego. The lead guitar takes a backseat and the lyrics are earnest about the struggles of touring, Caleb’s trademark wail is still there but it’s more controlled and refined.

The first released single, Radioactive is the standalone track on the record. The choir backing and fast-paced chord progressions juxtaposed with Caleb’s bluesy hysteria, although repetitive, make for a bitchin’ driving track.

The other 12 songs seem to weave into one another. The sad, soulful moans of Pyro and The Face, along with the brooding bass in tracks like Mary and Beach Side where the bass is plucked like a lead guitar, all fuse together until you’re already eight tracks in and thinking about what’s in the fridge.

This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, Come Around Sundown can be played from start to finish, its atmospheric qualities bleeding into the background if you let it. However, if you listen closely to Caleb’s agonised lyrics and tone, you’ll see the record with new eyes. In Mi Amigo he sings “My little friend shoots me up and downtown, when I can’t get me drunk enough,” and for final track Pickup Truck Caleb sings about the violence of jealousy, “A little piece of a bloody tooth, just so you know I was thinking of you.”

On the surface, Sundown appears lacklustre, but hear the band out and you’ll find a nostalgic, unrepentant core. KOL have bared their soul and included all the ugly bits.

Live Review: Adam Lambert (for The Music Network)

21 October 2010

by Poppy Reid

Enmore Theatre, Sydney
Wednesday October 20

Adam Lambert transformed Sydney’s Enmore Theatre into Glam Nation last night with skin-tight leather, feathers, rhinestones and pelvic gyrations galore.

Opening with tracks Voodoo, For Your Entertainment and Down The Rabbit Hole, Lambert (or The Glambert as he’s affectionately known) looked like a P.I.M.P. in D.R.A.G. as his four dancers worshipped him through animalistic choreography.

“It’s time to step into the mystery, ladies and gentlemen,” he said. The crowd screamed as he pounded his fist to his crotch and body rolled all over bassist Tommy Joe Ratliff. On bended knee Lambert trilled into a fiendish version of Ring Of Fire. He grabbed Ratliff by the hair and recreated his 2009 AMA’s controversy for us; if only Johnny Cashcould see him now.

Lambert sang two more high-energy tracks with Fever and Sleepwalker seeing him switch between overt feminine poses and explicit rock-star swagger. One costume change and guitar solo (by Monty Pitman) later, Lambert took us to the lull of the evening.

“I want to sing to you about the light side of love and the dark side of love. Sometimes to get what you want you just have to ask the right questions.”

Love ballads Whataya Want From Me, Aftermath and Sure Fire Winners saw Pitman switch to acoustic guitar and Lambert switch to boring. His incredible voice was lost in the pantomime, we wanted vulnerable, but instead we settled for melodramatic. As if to spur him on, or possibly as just a show of their adoration, some overzealous fans began to rain the stage with their glow sticks.

“Quit throwing shit up here we got dancers. I know you mean well but when you throw things at us we think you don't like us, so be nice,” the glow sticks were cleared away and it was back to the glam-rock set we came for.

Lambert emerged, camp as ever, in a sparkling vest and tights forStrut, Music Again and final track If I Had You. His voice reached Freddy Mercury territory and the theatre began to look like a rave. Lambert stepped down into the audience, “sorry, I gotta get mine,” he said before kissing an excited male fan.

The crowd waited feverishly for an encore and Lambert's cover of T-Rex's 20th Century Boy (an apt choice) was well worth the wait. He flicked his tongue and slithered himself up like a snake, working the enthralled crowd. Channeling Khia’s explicit My Neck, My Back he maneuvered behind keyboardist Camila Grey and licked the sweat from the back of her neck, bringing the show to a teasing close. “Thank you Sydney. Rock n’ Roll!”

Album Review: Bring Me The Horizon - There Is A Hell, Believe Me I’ve Seen It. There Is a Heaven, Let’s Keep It a Secret

by Poppy Reid

It’s the album with that laborious lengthy title, but three albums in, we’ve come to expect no less from UK hardcore band Bring Me The Horizon. There Is A Hell, Believe Me I’ve Seen It. There Is a Heaven, Let’s Keep It a Secret should come with a warning: BYO spine or don’t bother at all.

Just as the album title blatantly explains, this is a concept record exploring light and dark, screams and strings, grime and chimes.

The first two minutes of opening track Crucify Me showcase vocalist Oli Skyes indecipherable growls over some recklessly heavy guitar; but then comes the light with an interlaced chorus by Canadian pop singer Lights. This track sets the tone for the layered chaos to come.

The next track Anthem ties in perfectly to its predecessor. Skyes screams “someone call an exorcist and help me kill this curse” in time with the blunt bass strums. This track is a mosh-pit anthem for those who care more about guitars on smack than lyrical agility. The deadly pause halfway in recovers and seeps into a slow ending breakdown and a whisper - “I feel like my heart has been touched by Christ.” Lyric failings aside, this must be mentioned for the sheer metalcore that obliterates your face.

Another standout is the expletively titled track, Fuck. Skyes’ howls overlapped with vocals from Josh Franceschi of You Me At Six give the album some of the balanced audio feed it was going for. Electronic strings and chimes will only get you so far on tracks like Don’t Go (featuring Lights) and It Never Ends. Contrary to the track title, this is as close to a love song as BMTH are willing to get.

Bring Me The Horizon aim to take listeners to hell and back with a perceptible concept that blisters through fast-paced hardcore and metal; but sadly only stops occasionally to feed on a harmony of electronic strings. This injection of contrast would have worked better if it weren’t so subtle and easily dominated.

Album Review: Hungry Kids Of Hungary - Escapades (for The Music Network)

14 October 2010

by Poppy Reid

The only deception found on Escapades is in the band’s name; the Hungry Kids Of Hungary are in fact, not of Hungary at all. 

The hype behind the Brisbane boys’ debut album promises a mature reflective sound, and here is where they don’t disappoint. The nostalgia on the record could be because it’s partly a collection of the bands two EPs, with a few new tracks thrown in for credibility. 

Their breakout track, Scattered Diamonds, from the band’s second EP is reminiscent of The Kooks circa 2006 but the sweet ooh ooh’s and whoa oh’s that glitter the background add a delicacy The Kooks only have in their wet dreams. Set It Right, from the first EP conveys a perfect mix of light and shade; slow chord progressions interbreed with fast-paced percussion to make you want to listen thrice. 

As expected, it’s obvious which songs are more recent; No Returnssees lead vocalists Dean McGrath and Kane Mazlin deliver with Sting-esque wisdom whilst still maintaining that indie-conscious swagger. Again, the backing vocals from bass guitarist Ben Dalton and drummer Ryan Strathie are delightfully subtle throughout the 12-song record, without their atmospheric musings this track would be a mere filler. 

The other newer standout is Triple J favourite Wristwatch, the intermittent instrumental pauses have you holding your breath but the energetic lyrics fill the void. At just 1:51 this track is far too short, you’re left unsure whether this is pure laziness or artistic purpose. 

At 6:19, the final track on the record is The Window Shopper and although it exercises the bands instrumental and vocal variety, it’s a lethargic component and a surprising finale to a blissful debut album. This being said, the four-piece have contributed a solid debut of sundry songs, exploring the different shades of indie-pop and even tipping their hats to the artisans of the ‘70s.

Live Review: Alexisonfire (for The Music Network)

11 October 2010

by Poppy Reid

A fight broke out in the mosh and crowd surfers were bobbing past our heads before Alexisonfire had even finished opening track Young Cardinals; this was just the beginning of a raucous night at Sydney’s Roundhouse.

It was a mish-mash set from the Canadian five-piece, new tracks We Are Heading For the Sun and Old Crows alternated with Crisis album tracks like We Are The Sound and This Could Be Anywhere In The World. A shredding rendition of No Transitory was also thrown in from the band’s second album Watch Out!

Frontman George Petit saw the anarchy taking place in the pit, kids were spilling over the barrier before security could catch them; he asked the crowd for mutual respect from fans and security.

“This next song is a love song and for every person on this room. This is for everyone on this Goddamn continent. We love coming here, this song is called Rough Hands,” with a cheeky grin, George introduced the crowd favourite.

Midnight Regulations followed and guitarist Wade MacNeil and bassist Chris Steele showcased the intricate skill in post-hardcore, making it look seamlessly fluent.

Alexisonfire played the title track from their new EP Dog’s Blood; the song was well received and proved the boys had not lost their heavy grit. Accept Crime from their fourth and latest album Old Crows/Young Cardinals seemed to be a little too much for the AOF zealots; three fans tried to fight their way onto the stage and one was successful.

However, his taste of fame was short-lived, he was crash-tackled and dragged backstage after knocking the seraphic-voiced Dallas Green’s mic stand over.

“I'm pretty sure that guy had an assault rifle and just came up here and started shooting,” said Petit.

Green was soon jeered back onstage and ripped us to shreds with This Could Be Anywhere In The World before the band vacated the stage.

Questioning the chants of “One more song, one more song” when the band emerged, MacNeil howled for the crowd’s approval that they had “four more Goddammit…it’s not that hard!”

Of the four encore tracks which included a haunting cover of Midnight Oil’s The Dead Heart, the bands Methodist hymn inspired track The Northern was an unequivocal highlight. Petit stood atop the amp, his arms wide open like a possessed effigy. Steele moved like a zombie about the stage as strings of saliva fell heavy from his beard.

For the final track Happiness By The Kilowatt, the crowd was treated to a 9-minute rendition with an impressive instrumental in the guts of it.

Petit spat his Mount Franklin water into Steele’s mouth before the band threw their towels in. Drummer Jordan ‘Ratbeard’ Hastings threw his sticks into the sweat-soaked crowd, and the band said Bonjour to another epic live show.

Live Review: Parklife (for The Music Network)

06 October 2010

by Mick Walsh & Poppy Reid

Every October Sydney siders dream of a beautiful spring long weekend, fit for a slew of international acts and good times in the sun to welcome the start of festival season with Parklife. Fortunately this year, despite the grey skies, the damp grass and those annoyingly timed showers, we were saved the predicted thunderstorms and were even spoilt with warming sunshine at times.

Making the most of their moment in the sun were New York surf-rockers Darwin Deez, who’s synchronised choreography and off-kilter indie folk were the perfect start to the sometimes-springtime festival. Just a little bit camp, the five-piece’s single Radar Detector, ignited sing-a-longs and hand clapping throughout the packed crowd, and proved their popularity as a live band.

By the time UK post-punkers The Wombats took the stage, the $3 plastic ponchos were out in full force, the teasing rain harking back to the lads native Liverpool, England. Opening with Kill The Director, the band ignited puddle jumping and raised hands, rocking the crowd into a frenzy with radio hits Tokyo and Backfire At The Disco, leading to the climatic finish with career defining tracks- Moving to New York andLet’s Dance to Joy Division.

Philadelphia hip pop duo Chiddy Bang, occasionally heralded as the new saviours of hip hop, struggled at times to translate the genius of their unique tunes to the soaked (yet adoring) fans. Nevertheless the masses bounced along to Truth (sampling Passion Pit) and obediently rhymed-along for Opposite of Adults (sampling MGMT) whilst a slew of industry peeps danced onstage at the duo’s beckon.

With the skies now clearing and the sun setting, 2 Many DJ’s stepped things up a notch and took Parklife clubbing. Remixes of AC/DC, MGMT and Guns N’ Roses were more than a welcome warm up for punters vying for an up close encounter with the one and only Missy“Misdemeanor” Elliot. With no less than 27 dancers in tow, Missy put her hands down flipped it and reversed it- a shining beacon of hip-hop excess atop a swarming crowd of loyal subjects.

“Somebody said Sydney was the hottest place on the motherfucking planet,” Missy yelled.

Oftentimes it doesn’t take much, but it has to be said that no one knows how to work up a crowd quite like the supa dupa fly Elliot- although, once whet, for some reason she left us hanging- time and again building us up with the chorus or interlude of favourite tracks, and just when the crowd had lost themselves in Get Your Freak On orWork It, she would change course and leave us stuck awkwardly in the middle of our 1,2 Step.

If you were one of the many to finish Parklife with Groove Armada’s Black Light show, count yourself among the lucky, as you would have witnessed one of the last ever live performances from the storied UK dance duo. Newer tracks Paper Romance and History worked brilliantly around the light show, whilst singer SaintSaviour’s fur jacket and suspender shorts combo ushered the festival to a staggering,Superstylin’ close.

Naesayers and meterologist's take note, a week of bad weather and storm warnings isn’t going to stop an Aussie festival crowd. As Gene Kelly once put it- “What a glorious feeling.... Just singing... and dancin’ in the rain.”

Live Review: The Script (for The Music Network)

07 October 2010

by Poppy Reid

Most of the crowd were stuck in the ridiculously long line outside of Sydney’s Big Top at Luna Park for Michael Paynter’s support act. Those who did make it in could have easily mistaken the high-pitched Paynter for a female soprano before seeing the Aussie up-and-comer. Paynter finished with his radio release Love The Fall followed by an amicable rendition of Michael Jackson’s The Way You Make Me Feel and his ballad Let Go.

Girlfriends sipped on their Barcardi Breezer’s with one hand and dragged their reluctant partners close to the stage with the other. Opening with You Won’t Feel A Thing and Talk You Down this was The Script’s last show on their Australian Tour.

O’Donoghue’s hip hop monologue in their track We Cry seemed slightly juxtaposed against his soft choral counterpart but showed his vocal flexibility nonetheless. The Dublin frontman crouched down at the front of the stage and extended his mic toward a screeching fan, for us back-standers it sounded like a cat had just been pummelled with the mic.

"We have to put that into perspective, that's a brand new song," stated O’Donoghue after playing an aurally perfect If You Ever Come Back.

O’Donoghue switched back to the Roland and Sheehan switched to acoustic guitar for crowd favourite Before The Worst. By this time the Coke-sipping designated drivers had stopped pretending they didn’t know the words and had begun to sway along gaily.

The bands track about losing Sheehan’s mother The End Where I Begin was a highlight for the raw emotion apparent on the guitarists face. For an album written “in a very crappy shed” the Dublin boys drew a devout crowd, some even proved their loyalty by waving Irish flags.

Other stand-out tracks were I’m Yours written “pissed” at 4am and Nothing, about the pains of drunk-dialling.

"The moral to that story is, don't drink and use your fucking phone," said Sheehan.

Encore tracks For The First Time and Break Even, the bands most known songs at the Big Top were a worthy farewell, and the promise they would be back made it easier for some fans to leave.

Interview with Memory Tapes (for FasterLouder)

by Poppy Reid

After recording as Memory Cassette and Weird Tapes, the self professed nerdDayve Hawk has finally settled on a band name; Memory Tapes and won success through internet blogs for his remixes of Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Britney and even Michael Jackson.

Hawk is headed to Australia for the Parklife festival and because Hawk has no phone of his own FasterLouder caught him on his friend’s phone to find out about the tour, new album and what genre Hawk places himself in.

You’ve been placed under a few interesting genres and subgenres; glo-fi, chillwave and dreamwave to name a few. What’s the weirdest label you’ve been given so far?
Actually the one I always hear is the Chillwave, they’re all pretty goofy to me. I don’t actually know what any of them are about.

What genre do you put yourself under?
I’m not really too fussed with that whole thing. I understand that we need to place people under different types of music, but the genres for the different types of electronic music are ridiculous to me.

You now have your show at South by Southwest under your belt, how was that?
Pretty terrible. There were a couple of good shows; Pitchfork’s show actually was pretty fun. The whole thing at South by Southwest is definitely not for me. I have a friend that lives in Austin so I spent my time hanging out with him. I don’t know, not for me.

Was that because it was South by Southwest or are you just not into festivals?
It’s that kind of festival. I don’t mind festivals that are like a concert kind of festival but they’re sort of music industry, whatever you wanna call it, like CMJ, South by Southwest, it’s the press and the labels and the A and R and you can’t get anywhere, you know what they’re like.

Now you’re heading to Australia to play Parklife later this year. How are you feeling about your live act?
I actually have a live drummer to play with me and I’m going to be on guitar, and I’m gonna be on time, it’s cool. I would like it to grow beyond what it is now but we’ve got so many sideshows here and there so I think it should be cool. [The drummer] Matt Maraldo, he actually is one of my best friends and he was in a band that I was in before called Hail Social, the drummer of the band. Now he’s my drummer so it worked out well.

Do you think your time fronting Hail Social has affected your live show?
Yeah sorta, it taught me what not to do. Hail Social was kind of a bad situation and I learned a lot about what I don’t like.

Will your Parklife set feature mainly Seek Magic songs or will you play a few from your new album?
It will mostly be stuff from Seek Magic but different versions of them when I play them live. I’ve totally reworked some of the songs to the point where they’re completely different songs. I may have time to work in some of the new tracks. It depends on the drummer and if I can teach him, he’s in New Jersey or traveling so I dunno we’ll see.

Speaking of the new album, it’s your sophomore effort under Memory Tapes. Do you feel that pressure that often comes along with the second album or does it feel different because of your past work under Weird Tapes and Memory Cassette?
Luckily I made the record before Seek Magic came out, I haven’t completely finished it yet but the bulk of it was before the first record came out so any kind of pressure that I feel wasn’t really present in the making of the record. It doesn’t really matter to me whether it succeeds anyway. I feel a little kind of pressure, it’s a little different, I’m sure people will be scratching their heads and there’s usually that kind of back lash that I’m sure is coming my way. I won’t fall to the floor, I kind of just expect it so, it’ll happen and I’ll keep making records.

Does the new record have a name yet?
No. It should come out in December but I haven’t really finished it. The date keeps getting pushed back because I haven’t been around enough to finish it. I’ve been over in Europe and stuff like that. It will hopefully get finished up in August when I have some time off and then maybe it will come out near the end of the year or January.

How long has this new album been in the works?
I haven’t been working on it for that long. It’s basically that I’d finished Seek Magic quite a while ago, I recorded that album May-June of 2009 and probably shortly after that I started working on this record. But probably the bulk of it for maybe six months. Once Seek Magic came out and we started touring and all the rest of it, it just got so busy that it’s been hard to finish the record so it’s kind of just been on hold but now it’s pretty much done.

You grew up in Southern New Jersey, not really famous for a lot of music, unless you count The Misfits and Bon Jovi. What was it like growing up in that environment?
I find South Jersey fairly rural in a kind of a foresty, piney, pine trees kind of way. I didn’t know any other musicians there to learn from so it pretty much turned me into an introverted music nerd I guess. I ended up playing guitar, drums, recording and doing that kind of thing by myself because there weren’t any other kids that were into music, no one was getting into punk bands or anything like you would normally do growing up. Yeah how weird are they…

You use a lot of guitar on Seek Magic, what was your writing process like? Which came first the synths or the guitar?
Guitar. I start playing on guitar, then drums. At first I started playing on drums and then guitar but that’s usually what I’ll write the songs on. I’ll put them on with the piano and then record them and build them up with the synthesisers and all that and just blare ‘em up. I write the songs in a fairly traditional kind of just the way.

In an interview with Exclaim! You said you are ‘pretty terrible with career decisions,’ in what way?
I tend to get yelled at a lot by labels, management and people like that. I won’t accept jobs that they tell me I should do or if I won’t go on a tour that they want me to go on and I won’t. Or I’ll release records not when they think I should, stuff like that. There’s a lot to being a successful musician and I guess I don’t have the patience to do them right [his label – Acephale/Something in Construction] so I anger them with that. I just like to do my thing, I mean I appreciate any success that comes with it but I don’t like making the decisions.

Does that get frustrating?
I think that’s part of it, you know that age-old thing where the artist hates the label and the label hates the artist. You have a lot of that adversarial kind of thing where you wanna do what you wanna do and they wanna do what they wanna do and as long as they don’t cross any kind of a line and are honourable with their reasons then ultimately you get to do what you wanna do.

So you’re not a rockstar type that spends his first paycheck on extravagant, frivolous toys like cars?
Na, na most of my money goes on fixing my daughters teeth. I don’t even know hwo to drive so I wouldn’t use a car.

Will your daughter come to Australia with you?
She’ll have to stay behind, I don’t think she could handle a tour. I’d like to take her eventually, but I’d have to make her comfortable. The way I tour now [wouldn’t suit her], sleeping on peoples floors and never eating.

Does she like your music?
She does. I try really hard to not get her into music I don’t wanna be that kind of dad. She hears it all the time though and she’s always commenting. She said she likes Black Sabbath better.

You gained a lot of kudos leaking your remixes onto your Internet blogs. How important do you think social networking sites are for artists today?
I can’t decide. I’m sure that it is, I’m sure that having those things allows your fans access to tap into what you’re doing. I’m not sure how else they could be that well informed about what you’re doing. At least here a lot of music magazines and record stores spend more time, not a lot, [uploading information] on the Internet. I think it’s probably pretty important, I can’t get super into some of it. It’s one of my bad career decisions, I get yelled at a lot about how I need to go onto Twitter more. I’m like ‘yeah sure’ and just put a whole heap of random stuff on there.

Short Stack: Leaving The Haters Behind (for The Music Network)

05 October 2010

by Poppy Reid

For every gaggle of hysteric tween girls obsessed with central coast trio Short Stack, there’s at least one website, Facebook group or MySpace page dedicated to hating on the pop-rockers.

Frontman Shaun Diviney is well aware his band isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but with their new album This Is Bat Country out next month and a brand new sound, he’s got more important things on his mind.

“[The haters] were a problem we thought about for a while. We sort of dwelled on it a bit too much because no one wants to be disliked," he tells TMN. "When we first came out I was 18 years old. Being 18 years old and having pages on Facebook that people hate me it sort of puts you down a little bit.

“Now I laugh at it because it’s interesting to go on the websites and read stuff that say ‘I hate you’, ‘die’. I looked up this guy and he was 24, divorced, three kids and I was like 'yeah it sucks to be me hey buddy,'” he says with the last laugh.

When Diviney speaks to TMN, the band (Diviney, bassist Andy Clemmensen and drummer Bradie Webb) are in the midst of an 11-day signing streak, hitting up every Sanity store across Australia to promote their lead single Planets. The shrieking youths were out in droves and the band's drummer was almost abducted.

“Someone handcuffed themselves to Bradie. I think it was a girl but I can’t remember, it might have been a boy,” laughs Diviney.

Given the obvious immaturity of Short Stack’s fan-base, the boys had a hard time when it came time to write This Is Bat Country. They felt pressure to replicate the first album's success but didn’t exactly want to sing about princesses anymore.

“When I wrote the last one, I was only 17 years old so you don't expect to be playing those songs for more than two weeks,” explains Diviney.

The sophomore album has a more adult theme with the boys taking inspiration from Hunter S. Thompson’s classic novel, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. For them, it's not about the copious drug use and consequential hallucinations in the book; it’s more a social commentary on the American dream.

“There are some things which continue to appear on the album like the American Dream…It was something that made its way onto the album subconsciously, something that we were really surprised at in the end. So we’re following the Thompson thing, the American dream,” he says.

It's an interesting theme for three boys from Budgewoi, a small town just north of Sydney, but Diviney assures us there are obvious parallels between the two.

“Budgewoi's quite a small beach town so you get the white picket fence, you get married at 25, and we sort of broke the mould I guess, because we did something a little bit different, “ Diviney beams.

Something different is also what Short Stack wanted to do on This Is Bat Country. In comparison to last year's chart-topping debut albumStack Is The New Black, the new material promises to farewell the whiney pop hooks and welcome a more retro, raw sound.

“It’s really ‘rocky’ and it’s got a lot of balls. Then again we did do a lot of the Queen stuff so it has that Queen style harmony but it has the really beefy sort of Billy Idol guitars, so yeah balls in tight jeans.”

According to Diviney, the album also features "so much piano" and strings that were recorded in the Sydney Opera House. “We broke the mould of sticking to the dynamic of the drums, bass and guitar. As soon as we got in there we were like fuck’n yeah this sounds so good so we ended up having them on six tracks,” says Diviney.

Short Stack are mindful the new album may not win over the many haters still clogging up the search engines, but they're more concerned with winning over the hearts and minds of their listeners.

"We want our message to be that we’re kids from small towns. We’re not the most interesting people in the world but we believe in ourselves and we want the kids to believe in themselves as well because night after night, we find ourselves playing shows to people in small towns that we were similar to," he says. "If we can give them the push that they can follow their dreams, whether that’s music or whatever that’s cool, 'cause at the end of the day we can do it so anyone can do it."

This Is Bat Country drops November 12 on iTunes but you can catch them at the Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards this Friday (October 8) where they'll perform Planets.

Mike Posner: Ready For Takeoff (for The Music Network)

27 September 2010

by Poppy Reid

Mike Posner is every record label's dream. At just 22, he has written and produced two mixtapes, generated a substantial internet followingand procured an eclectic celebrity backing including Big Sean, Travis Barker and Kid Cudi. All this while majoring in sociology and business at Michigan’s Duke University.

Not surprisingly, it didn’t take long before Posner was snapped up by Sony's J Records, who saw him as an all-inclusive package ready for delivery. His debut album 31 Minutes To Takeoff is written, produced and sung by the man himself (he has been doing all three since the age of 13) and despite his access to some of the industry’s biggest hit makers, the album is his first solo effort.

“It was really important for me to make a great album, by myself for the first time and that’s what I did. So I didn’t try to get Jay-Z or Kanye West, not that those aren’t incredible artists that I’m not a huge fan of, but I don’t wanna trick people into liking my music,” says the 22-year-old.

In some ways, Posner is an accidental pop star; he initially pitched his songs to record labels with the intent to sell them, and although he’s happy soaking up the limelight now, he didn’t always feel that way.

“I didn’t know I could sing. It wasn’t until I failed to sell the songs that I really believed in, songs such as Cooler Than Me,” he explains. “I started off shopping that song to labels in America with the intention of another artist singing it and all the labels told me no. It wasn’t because they didn’t like the song it was because there were no artists around at that time that that song really fit with, and that’s why I started singing, there was nobody that could really pull off the lyrics.”

Posner’s unique raspy tone has now become his trademark and everyone from Bruno Mars to producer/songwriter Benny Blanco have stood up to take notice. In fact, it was an email from Blanco that got him the hook up with J Records. Posner’s career has been so fast-tracked that it’s easy to forget that the signing, and consequent sold out shows all happened just after his third year at university.

“I found myself living a double life for a while where I would go to school for four days a week, I would then fly out and do shows all around the states and at the same time I made my second mixtape [One Foot Out The Door],” Posner says. “I really wanted to build a base up from nothing and not just kind of appear out of thin air to people.”

The fan base Posner has now started from a groundswell Internet following, mostly friends of friends who downloaded his tracks free from iTunesU in March of this year. He still maintains his involvement in all aspects of his career and part of his success can be put down to his hands on approach to his social networking sites; “I wouldn’t let anybody touch them,” he says.

With a career in music set in stone, Posner could have easily quit his degree to pursue stardom full-time but his mother had other ideas. “My mother made it very clear to me that I was gonna be returning for my fourth and final year,” laughs Posner, also admitting he felt he owed it to his family to finish, even if the balance between school and music wasn’t exactly 50/50.

“They didn’t really know how to figure out my website until like a month or two into the semester, and I would tell them that I was studying hard and working and then they would go online and see that I was in California and New York and all these different places and they would get mad at me.”

But with a finger in every pie, Posner is actively in charge of his career, controlling everything from production and tour schedules to the making of his music videos.

“You always hear horror stories of people that end up with nothing after they’ve done all this great work, so I don’t wanna be one of those horror stories. I own the reins!”