On Friday 20th August 2010, the Oxford Art Factory are throwing a party to celebrate their third birthday, and you're all invited. The event showcases bands from Sydney and beyond who are making waves on the Australian live music scene right now, and true to form the OAF are presenting them all absolutely free.
The bands featured at the event include Parades, Howl, Guineafowl, Circle Pit, Traps, The Joysticks, Rapids, Whipped Cream Chargers, Sticky Fingers, La Mancha Negra, Puta Madre Brothers, Mother & Son and Dark Bells.
The past three years have absolutely flown for the venue, and have featured international distinctions such as being the first Australian venue to host Lady GaGa, holding a last minute and incredibly intimate show with the Dead Weather on their most recent tour, and hosting hugely anticipated sold out shows from triple j Hottest 100 winners of 2010 Mumford & Sons, and Princes of noughties indie rock Vampire Weekend.
On an Australian level it's really exciting to report that week in and week out we are selling out shows with killer talent from our own shores. Art Vs Science, Cloud Control, Cassette Kids, Bridezilla, Philadelphia Grand Jury, Yves Klein Blue, The Jezabels and the list could go on significantly longer - are all artists who we're bursting with pride to claim as our own.
Of course, the music industry isn't all about the glamour of a SOLD OUT banner next to a band's name, and the past year has seen a number of local artists develop a following through the Oxford Art Factory's Gallery program. As one of very few music venues who offer bands the chance to play shows and residencies with no cover charge, we take our mission of presenting the best of Sydney's upcoming talent very seriously. Several nights of the week, you can drop by for a free show in a really intimate room for a reminder of what it is that makes live music so much fun.
On a more serious note, the Oxford Art Factory currently has two variations to our DA in consideration with the City of Sydney Council, and have come under attack from local residents, who blame us for all the ills of Oxford Street. For more information and to lend your support for local music, visit here: http://www.oxfordartfactory.com/support/
We hope you can make it to our birthday party! No gifts required, your presence is our present
WHAT: The Oxford Art FActory's 3rd Birthday Party
WHO: Parades, Howl, Guineafowl, Circle Pit, Traps, The Joysticks, Rapids, Whipped Cream Chargers, Sticky Fingers, La Mancha Negra, Puta Madre Brothers, Mother & Son and Dark Bells
WHERE: Oxford Art Factory - 38-46 Oxford St, Darlinghurst
WHEN: Friday 20th August, from 7pm
HOW MUCH: Free
Parades are a young art rock band from Sydney who wisely choose to create their own music with no outside input or interference. Featuring Dan Cunningham, Tim Jenkins, Michael Scarpin and Jonathan Boulet – Parades' debut album Foreign Tapes is out now via Dot Dash Recordings.
The album is expansive and ambitious; a haze of pop harmonies, post rock guitars and electronic meanderings. Drum Media did a great job describing the band when they said:
"Parades create their homely tunes in a garage in Sydney's Northwest, but it might as well be Iceland or the moon. They have an ethereal, expansive sound that is sweet and understated"
- DRUM MEDIA
HOWL
To say that the 6 teenagers who make up Howl have had a busy 5 months would be a drastic understatement. After taking out the highly competitive competition for Triple J's Unearthed High the band have met a flurry of festival shows, tours, interviews and alike head on and have now finally emerged with their stunning self-titled debut EP which hits shelves on the 19th of February (through I OH YOU/SHOCK Records) and features the lead single and Triple J favourites 'Blackout' and 'I Hear Its Love' as well as new single 'Anyone But Us' which has just been added to rotation.
Having just completed an onslaught of frantic appearances at festivals such as Stereosonic, Field Day, Queenscliff Music Festival etc and their first east coast tour with good friends and all round nice guys DZ, the six friends showed no signs of stopping for a breather as they slapped the P-plates back on the tour van and head out for the 'ANYONE BUT US' tour to celebrate the release of the release of their debut EP and are now gearing up for national tours with both Yacht Club DJs and Har Mar Superstar.
GUINEAFOWL
Guineafowl was brought into conception only this year in Sydney. Starting out as a soloist, Guineafowl quickly grew into a sextet to help bring to life the quirky indie-tronic songs. The band manage to balance deep earthy harmonies with soft, electronic bubbles that are seemingly weightless.
Guineafowl have only recently made the jump from backyard performances to bars, yet are already selling out Sydney indie venues.
CIRCLE PIT
Circle Pit is the musical relationship between Angela Bermuda and Jack Mannix. Armed with the lyrical intelligence and life experience of people twice their ages, they make like reluctant heroes: a modern day Mick and Keith, with all the glamour, horror and neon sleaze to back it up.
Described as everything from "The best band in the country right now" (Drum Media/Beat - 9/6/09) to "A pout-faced bratty cunt and a perpetually smacked-out looking homo" (Negative Guestlist Magazine), it would be an understatement to say that this decadent troupe of delinquents polarise audiences, but therein lies the beauty of their spectacle.
Formed just over 2 years ago now in the backwaters of Sydney, Australia, they did not make their live debut until a year into their existence, instead focusing on the well-crafted songwriting that would later comprise their upcoming first record "Bruise Constellation". For this record, they have recruited members of Sydney's most notorious low-lives, Atrocities, to fill out their sound - culminating in a kaleidoscope of glam, garage, glitter and grunge; a kind of downer-boogie made effortless by stylish street kids.
Like the Velvet Underground covering Jimi Hendrix, these young outlaws possess the realised vision and creativity normally reserved for the art world, but execute it in a way that is refreshingly ambitious and deceptively youthful. Stories about deals gone bad, underage prostitution and the horror of addiction, all set to the kind of music that makes you want to dance, break the law and wish you were jailbait once again, just for the fun of it.
TRAPS
Traps harness the dark and dirty to create songs of indie beauty. In 2008, Traps introduced themselves to Australia with the release of some demo tracks and then a limited EP which lead to an onslaught of live performances including with Deerhunter (US), These New Puritans (UK), Children Collide and Pivot.
In 2009, the band signed to Rice is Nice, releasing the limited 7-inch 'Standard Life' with the B-side Brainwasher displaying a new depth to their sound. After touring throughout Australia and New Zealand, late in '09 Traps released the digital single 'The Memento', a track of dark, lilting indie pop.
'The Memento' was picked up by Australian radio including triple j, FBI and PBS but also by international indie stations in the UK, US and Germany. Characterised by distinctive vocals and swelling guitars, Traps' releases so far have confirmed them as the highly skilled and strong song-writing band that they are. Each release has also been a testament to the band's continued development, each time pushing further, exploring and developing their sound. Traps' debut album due in 2010 promises to be another impressive step forward.
THE JOYSTICKS
The Joysticks are Sydney four piece Tom Riordan (Vocals / Bass), Edwin Morehead (Vocals / Guitar), Shea Duncan (Keyboard), Nick Meredith (Drums). The Joysticks started jamming in the Sydney beach side suburb of Tamarama in 2008 and started playing live in 2009.
Since then The Joysticks have played festivals such as Parklife & Playground Weekender, and notched up support slots for bands like The Holidays, Cloud Control, Parades & The Devoted Few. The Joysticks released their debut single "It Makes Me Sick" through iTunes in April 2010, which saw them on their first national headline tour, and won them a mountain of praise from fans and reviewers, especially for their offbeat and downright crude hand drawn (& limited edition) CD copies of the single.
RAPIDS
Rapids' debut EP was released late 2009 through Pedestrian.tv and has since been featured on Austereo's Radar Radio and described by US mega-blog 'Big Stereo' as "infectious".
A four-piece from all corners of Australia now living in a converted warehouse space in Sydney's inner-west, they have been filling venues with their catchy and unashamedly fun song writing. Rapids will be playing a residency at Sydney's Oxford Art factory during August, including a main-stage performance for the OAF's massive 3rd Birthday bash.
WHIPPED CREAM CHARGERS
It is rumored that their songs are actually written by a lost pocket sized Elvis found one night on Oxford Street. He'd left Memphis cause he heard he could learn to play guitar like Robert Johnson if only he sold his soul to the devil at the crossroads. Unfortunately he had confused the crossroads for Taylor Square and ended up a withered man, left with no other option but to try and sell his cold and broken body.
The Whipped Cream Chargers took pity on the thing, so they chained it to the hot water tank in their basement where he was given nothing but a guitar and some peanuts. After several grueling years he started writing songs, all of which they unashamedly take credit for. Whipped Cream Chargers describe ourselves as post-coital. We take liberty with swampy rhythms, garage-pop fyords, melodic frappes and were the first band to coin both the terms 'slothwave' and 'grindcore'.
STICKY FINGERS
Sticky Fingers ... some how managed to magically combine whimsical English folk, West Coast psychedelia, and classic dub reggae and makeit all work... surprisingly seductive.
The four piece Newtown misfits are mis-spending their youth while we watch. And it's as colorful as the reivew above suggests: melodic, mega-hectic, psychedelic reggae that'll have you throwing shapes around rooms with people you barely know, trading flat screens for a ticket to ride.
LA MANCHA NEGRA
La Mancha Negra; meaning "the black stain" formed in late 2008 mixing 60s surf garage rock with their love a old time blues, with raspy vocals, harmonicas and twangy guitars get ready to put your dancing shoes on.
PUTA MADRE BROTHERS
Greasier than a deep fry of nacho cheese and hotter than a jalapeno in the desert sun, these three dirt-faced gringo brothers from the bottom of the world, wanna-be Mexicanis, each strapped with a razor-edged guitar, a giant kick drum and a donkey-load of foot percussion pack a drunken punch of mariachi rock n roll soul music and lay claim to be the world's only surviving triple-one-man-band!. All at once, a three-headed one-man-band-band!
MOTHER & SON
Wollongong NSW's premium garage/surfabilly/blues two-piece, MOTHER & SON, have had a busy year so far with a few well-recieved stints in Melbourne, a 7" release and a number of killer shows on the east coast of NSW, they are finally ready to release their debut LP, 'Dengue Fever', this August.
The guitar & drums duo sound somewhere between The Black Lips and The Black Keys with a healthy slathering of reverb, dirt and fuzz, supplied with growling vocals and tales of misfortune. Make sure you get an ear-splitting, eye-raping face full as they preview their new tracks at the OAF's 3rd B'day Bash!
DARK BELLS
Ash Moss and Teneil Throssel started playing music in early 2009, after being close friends and coming out of other Sydney bands they decided to get together in the studio. After writing and developing musical direction together they started a run of shows throughout November later that year.
Then, taking some time to further develop their sound inclusive of dreamy yet mesmerising guitar sound held by bass lead lines they came to a collective musical conclusion and alongside this their demo song "Wildflower" has featured on the opening web page of new label "ManiaMania" in which they plan to collaborate creatively further in the coming future. With new recordings just being finalised there is expectantly more on the horizon for the group that is Dark Bells.
For more information, MP3s, hi-res photos and artwork,
Download the Oxford Art Factory third anniversary party media pack here.(73mb)
