Interviews

'Little Richard: I Am Everything' tells the story of the black queer origins of rock' n’ roll, exploding the whitewashed canon of American pop music to reveal the originator, Richard Penniman. The documentary brings us into Richard’s complicated inner world, revealing the icon’s life story with all its switchbacks and contradictions. Director Lisa Cortés speaks to Annika about the documentary.

When French cellist Jean-Guihen Queyras was invited to join the Silk, Metal, Wood project, he leapt at the chance to work with one of Australia’s musical treasures, grand master of the Koto Satsuki Odamura. The pair then welcomed one of Adelaide’s young stars, cellist James Morley, into the mix, to create a trio of passionate musicians inspired by the love of their instruments. James joins Cas on The Modernist for an intimate conversation about this unique unique cross-cultural string trio.

Dual front men Valak Exhumer and Defiler of Melbourne satanic black metal band, Anarazel join Kene on Burning Bitumen as special guest programmers in celebration of their forthcoming album. Tune in from 10pm as it's going to get dark and blasphemic.

Desert Rock pioneers Yawning Man will make their way back to Australia this August to showcase their latest album 'Long Walk of the Navajo.' Tune in to Pojama People to hear the band's conversation with Chris.

Acclaimed US rock band The War on Drugs are returning to Australia in December for the first time since 2018. To make up for their lengthy absence, the band is bringing along for the tour two special guests: US indie favourites Spoon and Australian singer-songwriter Indigo Sparke. Frontman Adam Granduciel joins Claire Stuchbery on Firewater for a chat about their belated tour in support of their stellar 2021 album, I Don’t Live Here Anymore.

'No Excuses' was recorded live at the Thornbury Bowls Club on April 24, 2022 at a show dedicated to the memory of Nathan Ashworth who sadly passed away from brain cancer at the end of 2021. The day saw over $10,000 raised for The Cure Brain Cancer Foundation in Nathan's name and funds from this tape go directly to increasing that total. Grace Gibson from Rack Off Records joins David Pisker on Underground Love to talk about the label's new tape compilation.

One of Melbourne's newest independent labels, Beloved Recordings, aims to champion lyrically captivating and musically daring art-rock, indie-folk, and weirdo pop. Founded by Darvid Thor, the label has just signed Lewis Coleman who will be launching his new single 'Talking To Yourself' as part of the label showcase at The Evelyn on August 11th. Tune in to Homebrew to hear from both Lewis and Darvid as they chat with Brooke and play a couple of acoustic songs live in-studio.

Rosie Jones and Jason Byrne (director and producer) joins Roger on the Global Village to talk about their documentary 'Abebe - Butterfly Song,' which is about the extraordinary musical friendship between Sir George Telek MBE and Australian musician David Bridie. The film will premiere at the Melbourne International Film Festival on August 13, including an intimate performance from Telek, Bridie and long-time collaborator Phil Wales.

Catherine Britt and Lachlan Byrne formed The Pleasures through an unintended chance meeting in a Texan brothel. The Pleasures’ are readying themselves to release their debut album, which plots the lifespan of a fiery relationship from the start, through to the end and the aftermath. Catherine and Lachlan chat with Dave DeBrincat on Swinging Doors about The Pleasures’ debut album 'The Beginning of the End.'

Those Pretty Wrongs (Jody Stephens [Big Star] and Luther Russell) make their return to Australia. Tune in to Radio City as they grace PBS for a special Studio 3 performance ahead of their shows at Brunswick Ballroom on August 12 and Memo Music Hall on August 13.

Taking time out from recording her 6th album, Kylie Auldist will grace the Brunswick Ballroom stage on August 5 to play a one-off special show featuring heavy soul cuts from her last two solo albums and an all-star band. Kylie catches up with Lyndelle to talk about the gig.

The Meltdown is back with a new live record. Recorded at The Night Cat on April Fools' day 2021, it encapsulates The Night Cat heaving and sweating through an awesome night of music during a time where Melbourne had been locked down for several months and the excitement of being out in the world again jumps out of the speakers. Vocalist and keyboard player Simon Burke drops by The Afterglow to talk about 'Live at the Nightcat' and its launch at The Night Cat on August 4.

Ko Shin Moon was born in 2017, at a crossroads between traditional Eastern strings and electronic music machines. Ko Shin Moon creates otherworldly, hybrid melodies where psychedelia meets space disco. Individually, they are Axel Moon and Niko Shin.

Future Static's vocalist Amariah Cook and guitarist Ryan Qualizza drop in to the studio to chat about their cover of Daddy Yankee's 'Gasolina,' into an upcoming headliner at The Evelyn on September 8 and their upcoming tour of Europe.

I AM MORBID, the band featuring former Morbid Angel members David Vincent (bass, vocals) and Pedro “Pete” Sandoval (drums), will revisit the first four Morbid Angel albums on its upcoming Australian tour next month. David chats with Kene about celebrating the 30 year anniversary of the seminal album 'Covenant,' the enduring relevance of death metal, living in Texas and making country music.

Drummer for Norwegian black metal band Vreid, Jorn Holen (Steingrim) joins Kene on Burning Bitumen to talk about the band's new stand-alone single 'Flammen,' forming Vreid after Windir, playing on top of a Norwegian mountain overlooking a Fjord and the path forward.

LA-founded hard-rock hellraisers L7 will perform their landmark album ‘Bricks are Heavy’ in full when the original line-up bring their pure shock rock energy down under in December this year. Tune in to Firewater from 5pm on Tuesday afternoon to hear vocalist and guitarist Donita Sparks chat with Claire Stuchbery about the tour.

'Messages to God' is the eighth solo studio record by New Zealand-born, Melbourne-based Sarah Mary Chadwick. 'Messages to God' centres around Sarah's completely singular approach to song writing and storytelling, delivering one of her most dynamic records to date. Tune in to Underground Love to hear the multi-instrumentalist and vocalist catch up with David Pisker about the album.

Described as "soul soaked and heart healing," Velvet Bloom released her latest EP ‘Where You Are’ last month. Tune in to Homebrew from 3:30pm to hear a couple of tunes from Velvet Bloom.

La Mauvaise Réputation visits the Global Village to play a few tunes and talk about their new album which will be launched at JazzLab on August 5.