The Blurst of Times Festival

BLURST OF TIMES FESTIVAL

Written by Chris Langenberg

19.04.2016

Brisbane was blessed last weekend with a massive line-up of acts from all over Australia at 2016's Blurst of Times Festival. With a huge variety of talent reaching from the swooning tunes of Simi Lacroix to the thumping hearts of Bad//Dreems, Blurst of Times was a display of pure talent. We were lucky enough to meet up with a few of the bands to have a quick chat about milk alternatives and vomit. Also, our photographer was on hand to take some photos of the night. Check it out.

DEAFCULT

Deafcult is one of Brisbane’s largest, loudest and best bands at the moment. The 6-piece shoegaze outfit, consisting of 5 guitars and a drummer hit the Foundry stage during the last weekend’s Blurst of Times Festival. Every time I see this band, I can physically feel songs shake my whole body due to the amount of sound that overwhelms me from the stage. If you have seen Deafcult I’m sure you would understand. If you haven’t seen them, then you should wake up from underneath whatever rock you have been sleeping under and go to see this band because they are great. I had the chance to chat to guitarist and singer Stevie Scott before their set at the Foundry.

What is your ideal lineup with Deafcult on it?
My Bloody Valentine, Jesus and Mary Chain, Sonic Youth.

Who would win in a fight out of Deafcult and –
Deafcult

Teeth for toes or toes for teeth?
Teeth for toes, because that’s fucked up and would be so gross

Thoughts on dairy milk alternatives?
They give you boobs, I used to drink a lot of soy milk so I’m a living example.

What is the worst thing that has happened to you before or during a show?
I guess just standard things like gear breaking down and stuff, it's never nice.

Best vomit story?
I was playing once in Melbourne with another band we were up all night the night before and were about to start playing and 3 of us turned around and all puked at the same time. It was fucking horrible.

www.facebook.com/DFCVLT

YELLOWCATREDCAT

Yellowcatredcat have been kicking around Brisbane since 2013. Their gritty distorted riffs matched with energetic drumming blends nicely to fulfil their punk ethos. I caught up with Adam and Isaac at the Brightside before their set.

What is your ideal lineup with YELLOWCATREDCAT on it?
Adam Head: Us, Alex, Mitch, Chris

Who would win in a fight out of Yellowcatredcat or Bryce Schnieder band?
AH: Nicholas Cage

Teeth for toes or toes for teeth?
AH: Well it doesn’t really matter because Pianos become the Teeth anyway.

Thoughts on dairy milk alternatives?
AH: Cocaine is a nice one, mix it with some water then put it in your cereal. I mean, milk is alright but cocaine also works.

What is the worst thing that has happened to you before or during a show?
Isaac Rogers: I fell off the roof at Ric’s. I tried to put my arms over it and couldn’t hold onto anything and fell back onto Adam who was playing a floor tom on the floor at the time. Then they got really mad at us and we have been banned from Ric’s .

AH: They thought we were trying to destroy their backline.

Best vomit story?
AH: Oh man its so good. Isaac went to the toilet and was taking all of his clothes off for some reason. Then he realised that he has to vomit as well so he spins around completely naked crouching over the toilet looking like a little gargoyle. And there is a photo.

www.facebook.com/ycrcmusic

SIMI LACROIX

There are simply not enough words in a dictionary to be able to even begin to describe Simi Lacroix. The man has got skills that no one can match. His 80’s pop songs are backed up with charismatic performances featuring shredding guitar solos, inspiring dancing and even a saxophone solo from These Guy’s Joe Saxby.

What is your ideal lineup with Simi Lacroix on it?
Scritti Politti, Steely Dan, Michael Jackson

Who would win in a fight out of Kirin J Callinan and Mr T?
Kirin J man, every day of the week. He would just get freaky with him. No amount of ‘pity the fools’ is going to stop Kirin J from just fucking with you.

Teeth for toes or toes for teeth?
Teeth for toes, you know, you want to be able to eat.

Thoughts on dairy milk alternatives?
I prefer lemon cordial

What is the worst thing that has happened to you before or during a show?
I played this Cabaret gig, because someone asked me to and I didn’t have a good reason to say no. When I got up all of my equipment was fucking up and I was getting really frustrated but I don’t know if the crowd knew if it was an act or not, so it was really strange because I didn’t know if they thought it was part of the act or not. I guess that is true art.

Best vomit story?
Probably when another band I am in, Seahorse Divorce, toured and we were in Tasmania, the last show of the tour and we had been drinking every day of the week. Anyway, I was spewing off the top of this building where we were all staying and I was wearing a funny hat at the time. Apparently I said ‘at least I’m still wearing this funny hat’ while I was spewing everywhere.

www.facebook.com/similacroix

THE GOON SAX
After being signed to Chapter Music, playing at Laneway Festival and releasing their debut album, The Goon Sax sure have a whole lot of hype for a band that recently finished high school. The innocent, joyful pop that the trio play is something to easily fall in love with as so many people already have.

How was Sydney last week?
Louis Forster: Yeah it was really good, Flowertruck was great. I’ve listened to their EP a fair bit but they were really great live. The show went well and it was a really nice venue to play in.

What is your ideal lineup with The Goon Sax on it?
Bob Dylan, New York Dolls, Television, Velvet Underground, The Raincoats, Neil Young

Who would win in a fight out of Powderfinger and The Go Betweens?
LF: Powderfinger probably, they are very big men.
James Harrison: Once the guy from Powderfinger came to my school. That was good.
LF: I think most people would lose in a fight to Bernard Fanning.

Teeth for toes or toes for teeth?
JH: Teeth for toes, because no one has to see that. I mean you could probably pull your teeth out
LF: Yeah you wouldn’t be able to eat with toes in your mouth.

Thoughts on dairy milk alternatives?
LF: I’m actually vegan so I have soy milk. Bonsoy is a very good product. I was drinking really bad soy milk for a long time and I almost stopped drinking coffee because I hated soy milk, but when I found Bonsoy it just changed my life really.
JH: I trust Louis' decision.

What is the worst thing that has happened to you before or during a show?
JH: I have some pretty embarrassing things that I don’t really want to say, but once I was in the toilet (before a show) and you know, I finished and got a little bit of drip on my pants and I was about to go and play and thought it was going to be so embarrassing so I just wet my hands and made wet marks on my pants so it looked like I just needed to dry my hands. I don’t know if I want everyone to know that but I guess its out there now.

LF: James also took off his shoes while he was on stage and someone got up on stage and started to write on them.
JH: I said it was fine for them to write on them as long as she didn’t write on the sides but she did. And now the shoes are ruined.

Best vomit story?
LF: I was at a show in Germany when I was 13 and I got really claustrophobic. In Germany there was no ventilation and everyone was smoking and it was pretty horrible and I couldn’t breathe. I started to get really nauseous suddenly and turned around and vomited all over this woman and I had to move so I just ran and didn’t look back. But yeah, I still feel quite bad about that.

JH: My most recent vomit story is that I vomited twice on the plane back from Sydney like week ago. It was like a nightmare.

Did you spew in the vomit bag or in the plane toilet?
It was in the toilet the first time, and then it was in my personal bag the next time. I didn’t realise that there was bags to vomit in. I’ve had a few though, the week before I vomited up lots of beer nuts because I had a drink of water and it went down the wrong way and it didn’t end well.

I feel like I sound like an idiot in this interview with all of these dirty stories.
LF: All we do is piss on ourselves and vomit.
JH: I feel like we are relatively tamed, I don’t know.

www.chaptermusic.com/artist/the-goon-sax

The Goon Sax, Blurst of Times Festival, Grain

THESE GUY

These Guy made themselves known last year after a series of releases including ‘Suburban Restaurant', 'Over Before it Begins' and 'That Fucking Guy’. The band began as one of Joe Saxby's solo projects. Since then, 2 members have been added. The catchy, indie synth pop songs make me want to get naked and dance around in front of a mirror. I haven’t tried it yet, but maybe you should?

What is your ideal lineup with These Guy on it?
These Guy (opening), ah, I'll get back to you on that one

Who would win in a fight out of These Guy and Dorothy the Dinosaur?
Dorothy wouldn’t stand a chance I’m sorry. Fuck her.

Teeth for toes or toes for teeth?
Teeth for toes, 100%.

Thoughts on dairy milk alternatives?
Joe Saxby: I think that if you have to substitute that, you should definitely do it. If your doctor has told you that you need to substitute dairy milk for something else, listen to that doctor. I would probably choose almond milk, because almonds taste really nice.

Eddie L'Estrange: I entirely agree.
Josh Coxon: I also agree.

What is the worst thing that has happened to you before or during a show?
JS: We played a show once where I tried to jump across the stage and fell onto the drumkit, but it wasn’t that bad, it didn’t hurt or anything. I sort of just got up straight afterwards and just rocked out.

EL: Yeah, he kind of fucked my shit up, but you know – we were in it together and it's better for it.

Best vomit story?
JS: I went to India to see my girlfriend and for one of the last nights we had together in Goa. It was supposed to be a very romantic night because it was the last time we would see each other in a really long time and I ate a Thai chicken curry, which was very spicy. We shared it at dinner and she couldn’t eat it and said, "something is wrong with this, please don’t eat it". But I was so hungry that I just ate it. Two hours later we were back at the hotel, in bed, etc. and I was just so sick and I vomited like 10 times. It just wasn’t a nice night.

EL: Ah, probably the last time I had a goon sack positioned infront of my face and I had a red hot go. I vomited, got naked and just swam in a pool for a couple of hours to refresh myself.

www.facebook.com/theseguy

KIRIN J CALLINAN

We met up with Kirin J Callinan and his band on the top of the carpark next to The Brightside and as I walked over to say hello I suddenly felt extremely underprepared. I wish I had better questions to ask him. Actually, I wish all of these interviews weren’t so stupid. Oh well, read on.

What is your ideal lineup with Kirin J Callinan on it? I heard last time you were in Brisbane you had a professional whistler…

Ah yes, we had Molly Lewis, the female world champion, professional whistler. She is from LA and won the International Masters of Musical Whistling, 2015 in Pasadena, California. I went to the International Masters of Musical Whistling in Pasadena, California and it was incredible. But that doesn’t answer your question.

Teeth for toes or toes for teeth?

KJC: I’d rather teeth for toes, hands down.
Tex: Teeth for toes

Thoughts on dairy milk alternatives?

KJC: I love my Bonsoy, I get right into that, you know, I like the taste, that’s the truth of it. I only really have it with coffee – I don’t drink milk otherwise. There’s something about the three bean mix between the coffee bean, the soy bean and the cacao bean when you order a soy mocha, that is the holy trinity of beans. So I’m soy all the way. That being said, almond milk makes sense in America, for some reason it doesn’t make sense here. It just curdles.

What is the worst thing that has happened to you before or during a show?

KJC: There was a time in Nottingham when a fan made some custom underpants for me and I shat them, before the show. The underpants had a picture of my face on the crotch.
So you essentially shat on your face?
Well, they were just full of shit. So yeah, that was a low point.
We have almost died on tour once, but I wouldn’t say that’s embarrassing.

Tex: There was this one time when we were in Oakland and an African-American guy came out and asked us to help him set up his stereo in his house. Kirin misheard him and thought he was trying to sell us a stereo and Kirin had a shaved head at the time and was dressed in army camouflage gear with big boots and the guy proceeded to launch a tirade at us.
KJC: He thought I was a white supremacist when I declined his offer and it escalated really bad.
Tex: Yeah there was gangs coming up the sidewalks
KJC: They said they were going to go get their guns and we were in Oakland. We weren’t in Kansas anymore.
Tex: We were also locked out of our place and couldn’t leave and things were just getting pretty dramatic around us
KJC: Yeah that’s probably worse than shitting myself in Nottingham.

Best vomit story?

KJC: I don’t make a habit of spewing.
Tex: I don’t throw up.

www.kirinjcallinan.com

METHYL ETHEL

After meeting Methyl Ethel backstage at the Brightside carpark stage, they invited us up to their van to conduct the interview. We spoke about a lot of things, including their recent trip to the US and all of the other pointless information that you didn’t want to know about. Thanks.

So, you guys just got back from America for SXSW.
Jake Webb: Which happens to be where our first van interview was.
Has that set a precedent now?
JW: Well I mean, it’s just the most practical place to do this sort’ve thing you know? I mean have you guys slept in your car before?
Chris Wright: Yep
Thom Stewart: I have a wagon man, why wouldn’t I?
JW: A car is almost like a house on wheels
TS: It’s a safe zone.

So how was America? What was your favourite stop?
JW: I think every place had its own little magic-
CW: I think I know what Thom’s favourite places were
TS: Yeah, I liked Seattle and Denver, coincidently.
JW: As a side note – they happened to be the only 2 states that we travelled to where marijuana is legal.
TS: Yeah so it’s recreational there so we went to the marijuana store and bought weed from a menu
JW: When it happens in Australia one day, it will be a pretty bizarre experience, to go to a store and buy weed.
TS: Yeah its cool, just the experience was cool though… nothing else…

JW: New York was really great and LA was really cool this time. But everywhere after that was our first time playing a gig everywhere.
Did you have a good reception?
JW: Yeah it was surprisingly good, half of the shows were just SXSW shows and another few was festivals here and there and all the others were our own shows, which we thought – who the fuck is going to come and watch our own show in San Francisco or in Denver or anything like that, but surprisingly people came. So that was really nice and weird at the same time.

What is your ideal lineup with Methyl Ethel?

JW: Maybe we wouldn’t play.
CW: We would just work the bar or something or stage-manage our dream festival.
TS: Ice Cube would play and he would come and do a rap in our set as well.
JW: Maybe Outkast, George Clinton could come and play some P-funk songs. Phillip Glass.

Who would win in a fight out of Methyl Ethel or Coldplay?
TS: Oh I’d smash those guys, fuck those guys.
CW: We would play so dirty.
JW: I think we’d definitely take them. As a matter of fact, let’s hook this up we will get in a cage with them.

Teeth for toes or toes for teeth?
TS: Maybe teeth for toes. I don’t want toes in my mouth. But toe teeth would be pretty funny though.
CW: Yeah teeth for toes for sure, it could be pretty handy. Like, number one – you don’t have to trim your toenails ever again. Although you’d have to floss your toes.

Thoughts on dairy milk alternatives?

TS: Oh man, I just found out that dairy food products aren’t gluten free anymore and I can’t eat gluten so I’m all about the dairy alternatives.
JW: Wait are you talking about chocolate?
Real milk...
JW: I think soy milk tastes like weet-bix to me. Of all of them, I’d say either rice milk or almond milk is the most milk-like substitute.
TS: There is no substitute, it’s full cream or nothing, I reckon.
CW: I used to drink Hi-Lo when I was a kid.
JW: Oh man, Hi-Lo is like when you clean out your milk bottle with water and there is all that milky water. It’s fucked.

What’s the worst or most embarrassing thing to happen before or during a show?
CW: There was that time that Thom stepped in human shit.
JW: Yeah but that wasn’t anywhere near a show.
CW: Yeah that’s true.

CW: I had to go to toilet for the whole set last night, and I was rationalising whether or not I would have to pee myself on stage, and I was thinking – our accommodation is just 2 doors down the road, I can just pee my pants, finish the set, walk home, get changed, come back, no one would know. But I didn’t have to do it and I held it in.

Best vomit story?
TS: Well, there has been a thing now where I am the only one that hasn’t vomited when we have been on tour. One time Chris and Jake both vomited within a few days of each other and I just want my get out of jail free card where I can get drunk and vomit, and these guys have to look after me for once. Because I have looked after them plenty of times.
CW: Thom seems to be immune to everything.
JW: Except he copped a door to the face last night.
TS: Yeah that’s true. I might not vomit but I’ll get drunk enough to walk into doors.

JW: I mean there is nothing wrong with a good spew.

TS: Chris has sneaky voms all the time.
CW: Hey, not all the time.
TS: Yeah all the time, he just doesn’t want us to make fun of him.

www.methylethel.com