Category: music

Casey Barnes Continues Hot Streak With #1 Australian Country Album

Posted on by Matthew Wotherspoon

Casey Barnes is continuing a hot streak with his new album ‘Town Of A Million Dreams’ rocketing to the top of the charts debuting as the #1 Australian Country album on the ARIA Chart.

Celebrating a whole slew of wins, ‘Town Of A Million Dreams’ landed at #16 on the Albums Chart, #4 on the Australian Albums Chart and #2 on the Country Albums Chart.

‘Town Of A Million Dreams’ also took the top spot at #1 on the AIR 100% Indie Album Chart and #2 on the AIR Indie Label Albums Chart.

The album is the #1 album across all genres on the iTunes Chart, has already been streamed over 2.34 million times, and landed Casey on the front cover of Amazon’s Country Hits.

Casey is set to continue the celebrations later this week with four nominations at the Gold Coast Music Awards in the categories; Artist Of The Year, Live Act Of The Year, Song Of The Year and Video Of The Year.

‘Town Of A Million Dreams’ offers a much-needed hiatus of hope and happiness with a glorious injection of 10 superbly crafted tracks that meld slick country, pop and rock production with relatable lyrics that can’t help but make you smile.

The lead single Sparks Fly has ignited across Australia, holding the top spot on The Music Network’s Hot Country chart for four weeks out of five weeks, showing some strong competition against The Dixie Chicks latest Gaslighter, and rose to the top of Australian Country Radio’s Top 10 chart twice since release.

“Sparks Fly centres on that magical moment when you look at someone and they look at you and you both have that instant ‘spark’.  A feeling that’s hard to beat! It was inspired while on a writing trip in the U.S last year where I teamed up with Nashville based songwriters Brown & Gray and we tapped into the back story of when I first met my wife… and that initial chemistry between the two of us,” said Casey.

The album features the chart-topper A Little More, which has generated over a million streams and peaked at #2 on The Music Network Hot Country Chart, and a gorgeous number with Missy Lancaster, No Other You that Stack Magazine’s Jeff Jenkins called “one of the year’s finest ballads”.

“‘Town of A Million Dreams’ is an album title that leaves it’s interpretation up to the individual listener and that’s the beauty behind this album; how in essence everybody starts out in their own home town with hopes and dreams of where they want to be,” said Casey. “On a personal level, the title is a lyric drawn from one of the tracks on the album ‘Bright Lights’ which focuses on my ongoing relationship and love of Nashville over the last 10 years. It’s this incredible melting pot of talent, from all genres. Musicians, artists, producers all with their own unique story and dream. It just felt like the perfect title for the album.”

Continuing on with high energy, Casey has captured his fans with new and creative ways to stay connected during the harrowing atmosphere of COVI-19. His live-streamed performances and catch-up chats, hosted every Wednesday and Sunday are consistently reaching over 75, 000 fans.

Looking to the horizon, Casey is thrilled to head out on new dates for his ‘Town Of A Million Dreams Tour’, which will kick off September 17 and takes his stellar band across our beautiful east coast to venues near you.

LISTEN TO ‘TOWN OF A MILLION DREAMS’ HERE!

Here’s What The Used Had To Say About Their Upcoming Album

Posted on by Matthew Wotherspoon

The Used have officially announced they will be releasing their 8th full length studio album, ‘Heartwork’, on April 24th, after months of anticipation.

As an added bonus for fans, The Used have released the second single from the forthcoming album, “Paradise Lost, a poem by John Milton.”

The song carries emotion and imagery unique to the band, and ties in influences from one of front man Bert McCracken’s favourite authors.

“I’ve always been a bit obsessed with Paradise Lost,” shares McCracken.

“I really dug deep into the poem and its author, John Milton. As I was reading a lot of his political essays I realized that a lot of what ’Satan’ says in Paradise Lost are quotes directly from John Milton’s own mouth. A lot of people thought he was the devil back then. He had a huge problem with the show of opulence from the Church. He thought it was disgusting. His poem is about the failed revolution against the Church of England, which is Satan’s failed revolution on earth. And what’s more incredible or exciting than a failed revolution?” 

Fans can pre-save the new album and stream the new single today at theused.ffm.to/heartwork.

‘Heartwork’ marks the return of John Feldmann to The Used family as he is producing the album and also the head of A&R at Big Noise.

“I couldn’t be more honored or grateful to have one of my favorite bands of all time at my record label! They are one of the most influential bands of the last 20 years and we are making a career-defining album at the  minute,” shares Feldmann. “They are one of the best live bands I’ve ever seen and Bert is quite possibly the best singer I’ve ever worked with. This has been a dream of mine since I met them in 2001.”

Feldmann signed The Used to Reprise Records in January 2002, one year after the band formed in Orem, Utah. He also produced some of the band’s most monumental albums including their self-titled debut, ‘Maybe Memories‘, ‘In Love and Death‘, ‘Lies for the Liars‘ , ‘Vulnerable‘ and ‘Imaginary Enemy‘.

According to McCracken,

“The new album plays on the emotions, the sincerity, and the vulnerability of the first record and In Love and Death, with a little bit of the flair from Lies for the Liars.“”Standing in the streaming circle pit with Kesha and Halsey, the album is just as modern sounding. John Feldmann’s production is that professional. It sounds really good. Those are two really random examples, but I think if you listen to both of those records, the songs are all over the place: dance, pop, actual punk rock riffs and drums. I think music is so all over the place right now that The Used fits in perfectly.”

It’s been almost twenty years since The Used blessed the alternative-rock scene with their high energy live shows, gut wrenching relatable lyrics, and melodies that blended pop sensibility and hard rock.

For more information about The Used, go to www.TheUsed.net.

Harroway vocalist opens up about band’s origins

Posted on by Andrew Sorensen


Originating from a musical background, 26-year-old Sydney based vocalist Matthew Banks formed Harroway due to a passion for music.

Before he started his band, Mr Banks’ father had an assortment of guitars around the house.

“Dad always had guitars around the house, but he never really played to us.

“They were just there.”

However, this all changed once his older brother started high school and chose music as an elective, which meant the guitars found usage.

Soon, Mr Banks was approached by his brother to play the bass, where he learned to play the instrument and “progressed into vocals from there,”

His first foray into the world of metalcore was with the album “in love and death” by used, along with Eminem.

Mr Banks was blown away by what he was listening to.

“I’m really digging these aggressive screams with this clean beautiful vocals.”

Soon, his brother introduced him to Trivium, which made him realise that “this is where metalcore is at.”

When he started high school, Mr banks joined a metalcore band.

 “All the members have been part of a band throughout our teenage and young adult lives,

“Me, Marcus and Jordan were originally from a band called Maybe I’ll live Forever and Jesse was from a band called Like Royals and Alex was from a band called Isotopes.”

Harroway soon evolved from Maybe I’ll live Forever after two of the band members left.

At the time, Mr Banks was between bands and was shown a sample of the band’s music by Jordan, who he met at a local chicken shop.

“A day later, he hit me up and was like ‘hey, our vocalist is leaving, do you want to join?

“Well, I am not doing anything, so **** it, why not?”

The band soon decided to go for a professional approach.

“When I go into these things, I like to do them as best as I can, in a professional sense.

“It’s a more mature and evolved sound.

“It was a massive step up from what we were doing back then.”

As such, Mr Banks said that Maybe I’ll Live Forever “helped us hone our craft and the execution.”

Speaking on the process of song creation, Mr Banks admits that the writing process “stretched out over a good couple of months.”

“if we’re not 100% happy with the execution, we’ll do it again and again until we get this out.”

This saw the whole band work together to create a song, which involved Marcus writing the riffs, Mr Banks writing the lyrics and melodies and Jordan serving as an aide.

The band sat in a room and worked together to create ideas from a variety of topics.

“I’m trying to branch out and take a more rapper approach with how I write lyrics,

“They don’t just write about themselves, they can tell stories, they can do everything.”

Some of the topics involve the struggle of humanity, relationship issues and “stuff on blackholes and outerspace.”

“I don’t want to be limited to what I can do and what I can write about.

“A lot of my inspirations comes from wanting to fix my mental space.

“I’ve been struggling with depression my entire life and never got away.

“It’s not one of those things were it’s situational and my brain doesn’t register emotions properly.”

“Everything is my inspiration.”

Harroway is currently creating more songs and is working on their timeline on when to release.

“Shine” is available now on all major streaming platforms.

Gulgong lights up with New Year’s Eve festival

Posted on by Andrew Sorensen


With New Year’s Eve around the corner, a folk festival is being held down at a New South Wales town called Gulgong.

Called the Gulgong Folk festival, live folk music is offered in intimate venues amidst the backdrop of a town rich in gold mining history.

Playing at the festival is a well-known bush band called the BushWackers, who will be heading the festival.

With the majority of their music based on traditional folk and working songs from the early 20th century, the band have incorporated Celtic instrumentals and contemporary original songs such as ‘Leave it in the Ground.’

Appearing alongside BushWackers is Bethany Jolly, a singer-guitarist from Brunswick Heads and Luke Robinson, who has a reputable bass voice and originates from Mullumbimby..

With a variety of workshops and market stalls available, the festival has plenty of entertainment to offer

The festival starts on the 29th of December and finishes on the 31st of December.

For further information, visit www.gulgongfolkfestival.net.au

Harroway “shine” with debut single

Posted on by Andrew Sorensen


With intricate guitar work, heavy vocals and catchy cleans, Sydney based metal-core band Harroway have released their debut single ‘Shine’.

The single was recorded in Belleville, New Jersey through Graphics Nature Audio.

‘Shine’ was written as a reminder for both the band and listeners to never give up on their passions and aspirations, no matter how hard life gets.

Harroway vocalist Matt Banks said that the riffs, structures and his mood changed as the song was written.

“The verse became an outlet for the dark personal things I was dealing with at the time – which was basically feelings of not being good enough,” he said.

“I reflected back on all the positive words of encouragement I had received over the years while trying to follow my dreams.”

The single will be released with an accompanying music video that is directed and conceptualised by Third Eye Visuals.

Harroway consists of members originating from bands such as Maybe I’ll Live Forever, Isotopes and Like Royals.

As such, the line up consists of Matt Banks as the vocalist, Marcus Cunich as guitarist and vocalist, Alex Maybury on the guitar, Jordan Sheriff on Bass and Jesse Gallagher on the drums.

‘Shine’ is available now on all digital stores and streaming platforms.

Reside win competition to open Unify 2020

Posted on by Andrew Sorensen


Melbourne based alternative rock/emo five-piece Reside won a Triple J competition to play at the opening of the 2020 Unify Gathering.

Reside will play at the festival alongside The Ghost Inside, Architects, and many other bands.

Unify Gathering will take place at Tarwin Meadows in Gippsland, Victoria and will run from January 9 to January 12.

The event will showcase some of the best bands in rock, metal and punk.

Reside will be playing their EP “The light that I found” on the opening stage of Unify.

They came to attention after their single “replace me” received high praise from Triple J hosts and was immediately added to Spotify playlists, “new punk tracks”, “The scene” and “rock out”.

Triple J staff praised the band for their music, with David Ruby Howe highlighting his love for the band.

There’s a familiarity to their melodic, emo-grun that’ll allow this to slip super easily into your playlist.”

The single has recently been streamed on spotify over 100,000.

However, an EP followed shortly after and proved to be popular, with the launch show at Melbourne’s cherry bar sold out.

Reside soon embarked on a national tour with Emo band Eat Your Heart Out, alongside securing tours and spots for the likes of Palaye Royale, Windwaker and the Beautiful Monument, among many others.

Tickets for Unify Gathering 2020 are on sale now at Moshtix.

A chapter called Children of Bodom

Posted on by Andrew Sorensen


After 25 years playing with Children of Bodom, Bassist Henkka Blacksmith, Keyboard player Janne Warman and drummer Jaska Raatikainen will leave the band on December 15.

“2019 will be the last for Children of Bodom with this line-up,” the band said in a statement.

Best known as Finland’s top-selling melodic death metal band, the band have thousands of shows and 10 albums underneath their belts.

When asked for the reason, the three band members said they have decided to change the direction of their lives.

Regarding the future of the band, lead guitarist and vocalist Alexi Laiho and guitarist Daniel Freyberg will announce their plans to in due time.

Mr Raatikainen was saddened by the news and wished the update was different.

“I feel so bad for you all, yet so grateful to have seen so many of you.

“I salute you for your support towards me.” Mr Raatikainen said.

The last show will be on December 15 at Helsinki Ice Halls, with the 2020 special show of Hate Crew Deathroll at Tuska cancelled.

For further information, visit www.cobhc.com.

Outloved release debut single, ‘Dying To Leave’

Posted on by Andrew Sorensen


Arriving on the scene with their debut single ‘Dying To Leave’, Melbourne-based band Outloved have released a music video to compliment the single.

‘Dying To Leave’ uses contrasting soft melodic interludes with heavy hitting segments and a driving beat throughout.

Outloved tackles themes of mental health and opens up the conversation about breaking free from burying emotions and staying silent.

Vocalist Jaydon Colvin says the meaning of the song is “to check on your friends and family.”

“They may be wandering off down a path of negativity and need your help to get through and out of it,” Mr Colvin said.

Melbourne’s Redwood Forest helped film the music video with cinematographic help from Ionei Heckenberg and Albert Lamontagne.

An eerie environment was used to portray the songs narrative of a character fleeing from their issues and running deep into a forest until they’re ready to be found and face their emotions.

Forming just this year, Outloved consists of Jaydon Colvin as the vocalist, with Luke Bakker on the drums and Conor Kelly and Michael Beane on the guitar.

The musicians have previously played in a number of bands throughout regional Victoria.

‘Dying To Leave’ is available now on all digital stores and streaming platforms at https://ffm.to/outloved_dyingtoleave.

For further information, visit https://www.facebook.com/outlovedau/.

Didirri releases music video for ‘Blue Mood Rising’

Posted on by Andrew Sorensen


Shot in the surrounds of London’s Ennismore Session House Hotel, ‘Blue Mood Rising’ is exploring a number of rather elusive characters.

The Melbourne based musician Didirri recently released the music video to follow up on the new single.

“We wanted the clip to reflect the feeling of trying new versions of yourself, of playing with the characters of who you are and who people think you should be.

“We were sitting on the grass in West Ham when the idea for the music video happened,” said Didirri.

The song approaches complex thoughts and feelings with charm and raw power.

As such, the song was written to captivate listeners, magnify important issues and engage crowds to feel, move, think, heal and singalong.

‘Blue Mood Rising’ uses lush guitar tones, slow building drums and a harmony of backing vocals building to a crescendo led by Didirri’s soaring voice.

Following the release of his debut EP ‘Measurements‘, Didirri has enjoyed a massive 12 months playing in major festivals such as Splendour in the Grass, and touring the United States of America and the United Kingdom twice in under six months.

Didirri will be joining Middle Kids on tour from October 26 onwards in Australia.

‘Blue Mood Rising’ is available for download on all major platforms now.

Sydney metal-heads, IntrØspect, announce brand new single, ‘Sovereign’

Posted on by Andrew Sorensen


To prepare fans for the release of their upcoming EP, Sydney-based progressive metal band, IntrØspect, has just announced the imminent release of a brand new single.

Set to drop October 18th, ‘Sovereign‘ will give audiences a taste of what’s to be included in their upcoming EP, ‘Ad Astra‘.

IntrØspect uses soaring vocal melodies, complex riffs and heavy grooves to create a landscape drenched in emotion and rife with passion and hope.

The band is wanting to take the audience on an emotional and spiritual journey from ecstatic bliss to the depths of despair and back again.

According to IntrØspect vocalist and frontwoman Felicity Jayne, ‘Sovereign’ is “the heaviest song on the ‘Ad Astra’ EP and draws inspiration from Carl Jung’s conception of the shadow.”

“’Sovereign‘ is a reminder that each of us has a darkness within, and we are not truly empowered until we’ve reckoned with it, and integrated it.” Ms Jayne said.

‘Sovereign‘ features a fierce vocal performance from Above, Below’s Jacob Wilkes and is the first track to have screamed vocals.

Mr Wilkes vocals work alongside Ms Jayne’s voice and creates a haunting atmosphere that is underscored by heavy riffs and crushing breakdowns.

The EP will be launched alongside Glass Ocean and Opus of a Machine in Sydney on November 30 as a support at Factor Floor.

‘Ad Astra‘ is available October 18 and can be pre-ordered at https://listen.introspectmusic.co/adastra