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Australian Music Industry News: Autumn Festival Numbers, Cancelled Awards, Aussie Royalties & More!
Catch up on everything happening in our ever turbulent music industry!
AUTUMN FESTIVALS DELIVER CROWDS
After a healthy Australian summer during which 1 million tickets to concerts and festivals were sold, autumn looks like having the ultra buzz.
Fringe
Adelaide Fringe shifted 1,066,515 tickets, a 2.5% increase on 2024 and reaching the million tickets milestone for the third year in a row.
The box office total paid directly to artists and venues reached $26.7 million.
Fringe continued to drive tourism, with 60,500 national and international visitors attending.
Read all the latest product & music industry news here.
Bluesfest
This week’s Bluesfest opened its gates with 106,000 sales, and two days sold out and a third unexpectedly hitting the two-third mark.
The festival’s chief Peter Noble told Mixdown, “People who said festivals were over never ran a festival in their lives.
“There seems to be a revival in festivals. I’m not exactly sure why but it’s just good news for the industry.”
Ultra
Elsewhere ULTRA returned to Melbourne to 25,000 and the Gold Coast to 11,000.
Vivid Sydney has apparently moved 70 per cent of tickets before its May 23 opening.
Tasmania’s winter Dark Mofo, back after a year’s break, stunned organisers by flipping over 40,000 tickets on its first day of sale, leading artistic director Chris Twite to exclaim, “People are genuinely excited about winter”.
Investment
Noble hit out at insufficient investment in independent Australian-owned festivals, either on economic or cultural grounds.
Bluesfest could be worth $80 million to $100 million, has 2,000 workers on site this week, last year generated $235.1 million to the NSW economy, and keeps getting tourism awards.
Economic
Others also make their economic mark. Woodford Folk makes $28 million for the Moreton Bay region and $32 million across Queensland.
The Tamworth Country Music Festival which pulls a total 300,000 over ten days, puts $100,000 into the local economy.
Despite these figures, Noble says, independent festivals are “not valued and not invested in.”
Light
Alice Springs’ 10th Parrtjima – A Festival in Light set new records drew 23,500 to Desert Park, up from 21,000 last year.
The opening weekend saw the second highest attendance to date, while the closing set by the Darwin Symphony Orchestra set beneath clear skies and framed by the 300-million-year-old MacDonnell Ranges was the festival’s biggest night event, drawing 3,300.
Set beneath clear skies and framed by the 300-million-year-old MacDonnell Ranges, the Darwin Symphony Orchestra delivered a breathtaking performance to 3,300 festival-goers on Saturday – the highest nightly attendance in Parrtjima’s history.
Grove
In a slightly different tone, this long weekend’s four day non-approved rave Celestial Grove in regional Victoria was a sell-out.
But after complaints from residents, cops issued an injunction notice, leaving organisers scrambling to find another site.
AUSSIE ARTISTS TO GET UK ROYALTIES
After a 12-year freeze, Australian performers will again be paid from December 2025 when their music is played publicly in the United Kingdom.
Royalty payments were suspended in 2013 due to a lack of reciprocal protections.
But last December, the UK officially the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).
Strengthens
This trade deal strengthens cross-border protections and ensures equitable remuneration for performers.
As part of the changes, New Zealand and Singapore performers get paid for the first time.
Long Time
“This has been a long time coming, and it’s an important step forward for our clients and many artists across the Asia-Pacific,” said Susan Cotchin, founder and managing director of Good Neighbour.
“Artists like Pnau, Empire of the Sun, Amyl And The Sniffers, Split Enz, and Crowded House will now receive the recognition and compensation they’ve long deserved from the UK.”
AMIN SEEKING PROJECT MANAGER FOR NEW STRATEGIC VISION
The Australian Music Industry Network (AMIN), the national coalition of Australia’s peak contemporary music bodies, has unveiled a new strategic vision – and begun a national search for a Project Manager to oversee it.
The organisation’s 2025 –2027 strategic priorities includes the exploration of a new National Regional Touring Network.
The others including growing industry development opportunities across each state and territory, and building cross-border programs that elevate local music industries and drive regional engagement.
Based
The new Project Manager role is based in South Australia, with all details here.
Deadline is 11:59pm ACST Sunday May 11.
AMIN was established in 1998 and brings together MusicACT, MusicNSW, MusicNT, MusicSA, Music Tasmania, Music Victoria, QMusic and West Australian Music (WAM).
MUSIC VICTORIA DROPS AWARDS FOR 2025
After consultation and feedback over 18 months, Music Victoria pulled its awards for 2025, to reimagine them to “ensure they are reflective of and aligned with Victoria’s diverse music community while operating in a financially sustainable manner.”
“This short-term action gives us the opportunity to set up the Music Victoria Awards for a robust and sustainable long-term future,” says CEO Fiona Duncan.
“We need to take one step back to allow leaps forward.”
FOUR NEW TOOLS FOR MUSICIANS
YouTube Music Assistant
YouTube’s Music Assistant feature is an AI tool that allows the creation of instant copyright-free instrumental backing tracks.
A text field allows the user to choose details such as instruments, mood, and video context.
At this stage, it’s only available to creators who are in the YouTube Partner Program in the US.
TikTok For Artists
Australia is one of five countries with the soft launch of TikTok for Artists after a long beta.
It offers artists analytics tools to see how their music is performing, which content is pressing fans’ buttons and how to promote their music.
It is similar to offerings by Spotify (free) and SoundCloud.
Spotify Turn Up Aus
Spotify Australia’s new initiative Turn Up Aus is, it says, “more than a campaign — it’s a long-term, company-wide program designed to make Australian music unmissable, undeniable, and inarguable.”
It works in a number of ways:
A bold identity showcased across Spotify’s most high-impact assets, including out-of-home, social content and programming
Hub
An editorial hub, set to function as a dedicated, multi-shelf destination featuring solely Australian music, accessible via the Spotify search page.
Three artist fan experiences in 2025, bringing fans closer to their favourite Australian artists, starting with Spacey Jane.
Open door manager sessions and community meet-ups to foster collaboration and learning for industry pros.
Youth music education initiatives to support the next generation of artists and industry leaders.
DJ With Apple Music
Apple DJ subscribers get to can build and mix their own sets directly from its catalogue of 100 million songs.
It is integrated with DJ software and hardware platforms AlphaTheta, Serato and InMusic’s Engine DJ, Denon DJ, Numark, and Rane DJ.
There is also a dedicated page with DJ-friendly editorial playlists, and a curator pages for each DJ software and hardware platform that will showcase any mixes or sample playlists that can be used to practice.
SARAH MCLEOD CHAIRS AUSTRALIAN WOMEN IN MUSIC
The Superjesus singer/guitarist Sarah McLeod – and just as much, a role model for female and gender-diverse artists – has been made chair of Australian Women In Music (AWMA).
The ground-breaking association said: “McLeod will play a pivotal role in advancing AWM’s mission, focusing on addressing the significant gender research gap in the sector and expanding the organisation’s impact beyond its award ceremony, First Nations showcase, and conference.”
Remains
Former chair Jennie Sager remains on the board as a non-executive director.
Also welcomed was award-winning First Nations soprano, Nina Korbe, as Board Observer.
SIX WAYS TRUMP’S TARIFFS COULD AFFECT YOU
Things are still up in the air to make a definite call on what’s going to happen. But:
(1) There might be more rules limiting the entry of Australian and other foreign acts into the US, increasing the cost of work permits or complicating the entry visa process.
There might be greater shipping or customs fees and performance tax.
Gear
(2) The tariffs on musical gear between Australia and China is negligible at the moment.
China’s cheaper guitars might rise in price, and China might look more closely at flooding the Australian and European markets.
(3) US acts that tour here will need to get rid of their merchandise (if these were made in Asia or Mexico) before they return home as they’ll have to pay duty.
Touring
(4) According to IQ, Australian acts touring abroad could be affected by rising production costs, the possibility of less festivals stage as a result, and less disposable income for shows if markets go into depression.
(5) Vinyl prices are likely going to rise too, as the materials used to make them are from overseas countries, including PVC and their paper sleeves.
Complex
(6) The most complex issue is that musical instruments parts are from all over the world.
Peter Heath, former European head of Japanese music tech firm Roland told IQ, “If I’m a manufacturer and 75% of my business is in Europe and the UK, and 25% is in the US, then I’ve only got a 10% tariff on 25% of my business, so how can I spread that load?
“Can I bury that 10% across the whole of my business, or do I have to put it on the American side?
“Can I take a little less margin? Can I save a point by using a different component?”
HOYTS’ NEW ‘MAIN STAGE’ STREAMING MUSIC
Main Stage is one of three streaming platforms launched by HOYTS, which involves music-related releases.
It launched a UK performance of Jesus Christ Superstar Live, Imagine Dragons: Live from the Hollywood Bowl (with the LA Film Orchestra), Seventeen (Right Here) World Tour, Billy Elliot The Musical Live, and André Rieu’s 75th Birthday Celebration in hometown Maastricht.
Coming up is a Neil Young road doco Coastal (scheduled April 17), an enhanced 4K version of Pink Floyd’s 1972 At Pompeii- MCMLXXII (April 24), Bonnie and Clyde: The Musical (May 1) and A Night With Janis Joplin, The Musical (May 29).
KYLIE MINOGUE GETS APRA GONG
The 80-million album selling Kylie Minogue will be honoured with the Ted Albert Award for Outstanding Services to Australian Music at the APRA Music Awards on Wednesday April 30.
Performing on the night are hip hop supergroup Denni, Taija and Zaya, producers Dylan Atlantis, & FRIDAY, alt rockers Gut Health, social media star Jude York, Lior and Sarah Blasko, with Arnhem Land’s first all-female rock group Ripple Effect Band and Sydney’s indie-pop tiffi making their APRA Awards live debut.
“REMEDY” COLLAB GETS 1 MILLION INSTA-VIEWS
A collaboration between hit-making LA-based Australian producer Rip Youth, buzz pop act Becks and ex-model Brandi Glanville of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills fame called “Remedy” has crossed the 1 million+ views across social media clips in its first month.
THREE VENUES CROWD-FUNDING TO SURVIVE
The Night Cat, Melbourne
With more residential buildings springing up in inner city Fitzroy, the City of Yarra instructed the Night Cat to undertake sound proofing or close.
“As an independently owned venue, we simply can’t shoulder these costs alone and continue to operate,” said owner Justin Stanford.
To pay for $60,000 work and to additionally hire expert acousticians to prove they are compliant with planning laws, the campaign is at https://www.gofundme.com/f/bulletproof-the-night-cat-against-development.
Elixir Music House, Cairns
After eight years of supporting live acts, Cairns’ last independent venue Elixir Music House, Sky Rixon and father Bill Shields have a problem.
The owners of the building want to sell but the two can’t afford to buy it and stay, as they can’t find somewhere else appropriate.
Quest
So a quest to stump up $1.2 million in three months is at https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-save-elixir-cairns-only-independent-live-music-venue.
The venue is also struggling with insurance up by 964% and harassment by various authorities due to a single complain by a resident.
The Bearded Lady, Brisbane
Operators of the venue admitted, “We’re fighting to keep this special space alive.
“Rising trading costs, inflation, and the increasing cost of living have made it harder to keep the doors open.
“Unfortunately, we’re at a point where we need help from the one group of people we know truly care about this venue and the music scene — you.”
Target
The $200,000 target is to “pay off some existing debt and make some minor improvements, upgrading the facilities and expand the overall floor space, that will allow us to keep the music flowing and the Bearded Lady alive.”
HAVE YOUR SAY ON COMMERCIAL RADIO
Mixdown readers get the chance to have their say on the Australian Communications and Media Authority’s public consultation on its first upgrade in decades on Commercial Radio Australia’s draft Code of Practice.
Deadline is May 18, go to https://cra.au/code-review.
Suggestions
The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) and the Phonographic Performance Company of Australia (PPCA) have already made suggestions.
- Play Australian music during prime time when people are actually listening.
- Stick to the quotas (25% for most formats) and lose the excuses.
- Play more new acts and tracks.
MUSIC EXECS JOIN GREEN MUSIC BOARD
At a time when the music industry pushed to get climate action in the election spotlight with No Music On A Dead Planet rallies that notified 50 festivals have cancelled since 2015 due to the climate crisis, Green Music Australia appointed three music biz figures to its board.
They were Georgie Martin, Operations Manager at live music venue and hospitality Corner Group, and a long-time advocate for environmental responsibility in music and hospitality industries; Mark Smith, Executive Director of MusicNT; and Joe Muller, Managing Director of MusicNSW.
CALL FOR DISABILITY ADVISORY GROUP
The Office for the Arts (OFTA) is establishing an Implementation Advisory Group to help implement activities under Equity: the Arts and Disability Associated Plan.
It will be made up of d/Deaf and disabled artists and arts workers from diverse backgrounds with experience in the arts, screen, digital games or cultural sectors as paid members.
Members will be paid for their time preparing and attending meetings.
Plan
The Plan was developed in collaboration with artists and art workers with disability, and will be delivered by the Office for the Arts (OFTA) and Creative Australia, in close consultation with Screen Australia.
It is looking for Expressions of Interest to join, by 4pm (AEST) on Monday May 5, more info at
NEW SIGNINGS
Pete Murray, Tim Hart & More @ Unified Artist Management
Pete Murray and Tim Hart of Boy & Bear – both managed by Aidan McLaren, Joe Miles and Rhett McLaren – joined Unified Artist Management, as did Azure Ryder, who will be managed by Will Stoeckel.
In addition, Matt Walters joined the division, bringing Emma Donovan and The Stamps with him.
Leah Flanagan @ Perfect Pitch
Clive Hodson’s Perth-based Perfect Pitch Publishing struck a licensing agreement with Darwin-based classically trained singer-songwriter Leah Flanagan, who is also Director of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Music Office at APRA AMCOS.
Folk Bitch Trio @ Jagjaguwar
Fast rising Melbourne band Folk Bitch Trio is now on the roster of US indie Jagjaguwar, alongside Bon Iver, Gordi, Sharon Van Etten, Dinosaur Jr, and Unknown Mortal Orchestra.
With a new single called “The Actor”, the label described them as “a band with an undeniable point of view, timelessly rich harmonies, and above all a lack of fear.
“Their work is lively, layered, and thoughtful. At times serious but never humourless.”
The Beths @ Concord ANZ
New Zealand band The Beths were not only on heavy play with Concord Music Publishing’s global executives but also with Barrack Obama.
The band has continuously toured the US where it has developed a following for singer and songwriter Liz Stokes’ literary style.
Coldwave @ Ground Control
Adelaide post-punk six piece Coldwave entered a deal with Ground Control Touring for North American booking ahead of its appearance at SXSW in Austin, Texas, and UK tour in February.
Stella Bridie @ ATC Live
Singer songwriter Stella Bridie is now represented by ATC Live for UK and Europe, as the masterful story-telling act plans to tour that part of the world in May.
These include stops at Focus Wales, The Great Escape and London Calling, after she did her debut US run earlier this year.
NORTHERN RIVERS REPORT
A landmark report Who We Are from Arts Northern Rivers (NSW) mapped out the insights, challenges and opportunities in the region for the first time in 15 years.
To learn more go to http://www.artsnorthernrivers.com.au/.
Takeaways
But takeaways included that cultural and creative businesses grew 27% from 2016 to 2021, the creative workforce expanded four times faster than the national average from 2011 to 2020, and the sector generated an estimated $900 million in business turnover in 2021 helped by an engaged audience that has a strong demand for cultural experiences.
It’s been hit by natural disasters since 2019 (bushfires, flood and storms) and has fewer paid employment opportunities in the sector, but with cultural tourism a key strength (with potential for revival and future growth) and needing strategic investment, funding models, and policy support essential for long-term sustainability.
VALE (THOSE WE LOST THIS PAST MONTH)
Graham Ford
Sydney guitarist Graham Ford helped form the Sebastian Hardie Blues Band in 1967 with Jon English as singer (it became dominant prog-rockers Sebastian Hardie) before leaving in 1973.
He went on the road with Johnny O’Keefe, managed Phil Emmanuel and made solo CDs.
Lee Conway
Country music singer songwriter Lee Conway, 85, was with Sweet Peach Records with his publishing at Blue Pie.
He notched up from the ‘70s enough global hits as “Wanted Man” and “All I Want To Do” (a high charter in the US and UK) respected albums as the multi-award winning The Stories We Could Tell, and enough road miles here and abroad, to have his own yacht.
Leanne Chock
Leanne Chock nee Cowie was drummer (“and beating heart”, according to frontperson Kim Salmon) with Perth-hailed band The Scientists.
She met them in 1984 when she was living in London and they relocated there, and she in fact started working for them as tour manager.
Chock’s minimalist but aggressive approach fitted in with the band’s own brash attack, while singer songwriter Penny Ikinger remembered her as “a trailblazer … (with) so much style in everything she did.”
John Van Boxtel
John Van Boxtel was a Melbourne drummer with the JVB Strings and owner of RAM Music store on Punt Road.
My Rig: Kate from VOIID and Sourpuss
The sounds and tones she pursues borrow from rock and grunge, with fuzzy, gritty distortion being blended with some classic guitar designs; she herself now being endorsed by Greco.
Kate, thanks for taking the time! Can you tell us a bit about what gear you’re currently using?
No, thank you! Currently I play a Greco SG with VOIID and a Greco Les Paul for my solo band Sourpuss. Both of these guitars are vintage but Greco just gifted me a new BGW22-SH with the endorsement which has an epic Telecaster vibe going on. I swap to my Fender Jazzmaster here and there when I want that specific tone, but Greco is where it’s at, I swear by those guitars. In terms of amps— Marshall JCM800 is my ride or die. They stay clean while being extremely loud and they don’t fuck with the tone that your pedals are creating. There’s nothing worse than when an amp does that, like Vox. Sorry to any Vox fans out there but I cannot stand them!
Read all the latest features, lists and columns here.
On the pedal front I have been slowly minimising my board for years now but my other ride or die is the Tym guitars Big Mud fuzz pedal. If you’re one of the lucky ones to have tracked one down you’ll know where I’m coming from. It gives the Big Muff a run for its money.
How does your gear live compare to what you’ve used in the studio? Does one inform the other?
I try to keep my live gear exactly the same as how I record. I want what people hear live to be as close as possible to what you hear when you’re listening to our music through headphones. I don’t really understand the point in changing everything in the studio and then going to play a show and it couldn’t be further from what you hear. It makes me feel inauthentic to what I’m trying to achieve. Not everyone works that way, some people enjoy separating the live and recorded experiences so that something new is created and that can also be cool.
Is there one piece you simply can’t live without?
Unfortunately it’s three things I can’t live without. My Greco SG, my JCM800 and my Big Mud fuzz pedal. I said they’re my ride or die haha! If I don’t have these it’s pretty grim for anyone involved.
Can you tell us a bit about your first guitar or first instrument?
My first guitar was an Ashton kids guitar. I still have it at home. My parents got it for me when I turned five or six. I would eventually just play my dad’s guitar even though my hands were still too tiny (still are, I have small hands). It’s funny, the day I got my first guitar was the day that music teachers went around the classes to see if anyone wanted to play drums for the school band. I tried out and they said I followed tempos really well and I should play drums but I didn’t, because I wanted to play guitar instead (I ended up playing saxophone in the school band lmao). I often wonder if I would be a crazy drummer right now if I decided to sign up that day.
Have you got a guitar hero?
Billie Joe Armstrong has been my guitar hero since I was a little kid. I used to air guitar to Green Day songs shirtless in my front yard when I was a kid. I love how relentlessly he plays guitar, the power stance, the power chords. He has informed me as a guitarist pretty much my whole life.
Getting it right at the source with Warm Audio
There’s a handful of tools that can help you refine your sound before you even started mixing, a couple of these being very reasonably priced from companies like Warm Audio. In a world where our digital audio workstations can really handle a lot of heavy lifting after recording is done, it’s important to remember that you can only process what you’ve captured and, within reason, you can’t really synthesise too much additional information if you’ve missed it in capture. EQ doesn’t add low end per se, it just shifts the low end that exists within a source to be more exaggerated.
Sonics aside, it can serve an artist well to be hearing a great sound in their monitors or headphones, allowing them to focus on their performance and not the anxiety of how the end product will sound. In my own freelance work, I have a few of mantras that I use for myself and bands, a relevant one being “Record as if you’re not going to mix.”
Read all the latest features, lists and columns here.
A handful of extra tools on capture can get a sound really close to ‘finished’, as well as managing the expectations of a band or yourself on the resulting mix. A great mic is a given, but while there’s a whole slew of good and great mics available, maybe more so the focus should be the ‘correct’ microphone for the application. A ‘great’ ribbon microphone won’t serve a pop lead vocal, same as a high-end, bright condenser may not flatter an overly dry and washy cymbal. The choice of microphone can serve to either compliment or augment your choice of preamp, some preamps allowing for a little EQ, some impedance settings (again to match with your mic and interface/tape machine), and a compressor at the recording stage can help to level out any peaks, bring up any quiet moments and produce an overall more polished sounding result than directly into an interface or convertor.
Any audio interface with a preamp on board will work, we’ll give them that, but an audio interface’s design doesn’t offer as much as a dedicated external preamp, let alone compression not usually being available on interfaces.
Mic
Your choice of mic should be dependent on a few things: the sound you want or the sound you have. An overtly bright source that needs to be darkened could benefit from a darker, more vintage mic, while a dull source can benefit from a present studio condenser to help it fit into a contemporary mix. A good studio condenser is a great option as they’re so full-frequencied that they allow you to shape the sound however you like.
WA-47jr
The Warm Audio WA-47jr is a great solution as it features a little of the character and weight of a bigger studio condenser, but the absence of a tube or transformer means it responds well to faster transients. Use a mic like this to capture a true to source recording of just about anything you point it at in cardioid, or switch to Omni or figure-of-eight to capture more ambience of the space around the source.
Preamp
Your mic choice can be null without a great preamp after it, serving to both amplify the mic’s signal to line level for recording, as well as offering some tonal shaping options. The WA73-EQ is a great solution, Warm Audio offering some classic “British” sounding tone with a three-band EQ and high-pass filter to treat your source on the way in.
WA73-EQ
The Warm Audio WA73-EQ offers enough gain for both line and mic sources, and for you to really push signal into harmonic saturation if you wish— thanks to the output trim at the other end of the unit it can still hit your converters or interface at a healthy level. This way you can begin to shape the sound sonically so you won’t have to do so much work in the mix! The filter can easily get rid of unwanted low end, for example if you’re recording a guitar, vocal or piano that doesn’t always need that sub low end, allowing you to easily filter 50Hz up to 300Hz with a few steps in between. The three band parametric EQ offers the option to boost or cut lows, mids or highs, for a little extra sparkle in the top end or some extra thump in the lows. Augment the mids on a source or scoop ‘em— I’m looking at you metal producers! Additionally, the WA73-EQ has a ‘Tone’ switch that offers more impact from the colourful transformer within the unit. You’re also able to toggle an insert on and off, patched directly into the WA73-EQ, for example a compressor?
Compressor
A little compression can be a great way to tame a signal while recording, and while I should remind you to be careful, you can also go as hard or soft as you like! Compression can help your mix to feel more finished while recording, but it can also help you singer to perform at their very best—hearing themselves clearly and consistently.
WA76-A
The WA76-A is Warm Audio’s answer to one of the most popular and widely used compressors in history. Building on the original FET design, known for being supremely fast and clear, the WA76-A adds a high-pass filter as a sidechain circuit, as well as a Mix knob to blend some harder compression back in parallel. At slow attack settings, a compressor will allow transients through before the compressor clamps the rest of the source down, a great and very transparent way to record. This particular compressor allows various ratio settings, as well as the option to double down and go harder if you depress multiple ratio buttons.
Getting the sound right at the source doesn’t have to be as scary as it may seem; if you’re happy with what’s coming out of the speakers then who cares!? Having a well treated source with a little EQ and compression can have clients impressed, as well as saving time in the mix as the sound is already on its way to being ‘finished’. Compressors on every source can help to set everything in place, and a handful of EQs while recording can help things to poke out from the mix with a little brightness, as well as adding saturation carefully to different sources.
While your audio interface might have a handful of features for recording, some dedicated units that are designed for treating your sound will pay dividends. Getting it right at the source sets a standard for the recording, and it can be a simple process to zhuzh (or wrangle!) your sounds into place.
For local Warm Audio enquiries, keep reading at Studio Connections.
Calculating the legacy of Dillinger Escape Plan and Ben Weinman
The Dillinger Escape Plan are known as one of the most ferocious live bands on the planet, having built a reputation for their shows having people, including bandmembers, literally swinging from the rafters, the frantic energy of their music matched so perfectly with this visual element.
Their 1999 album Calculating Infinity was a turning point for the band, the band currently touring to celebrate 25 years of the iconic record. August sees them arriving in Australia, with shows across Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane— a far cry from the tiny clubs and venues that the band was playing in the 90s. Times have changed and so has the gear they’re using, technology having almost come full circle for guitarist Ben Weinman.
Dillinger Escape Plan Australia
“It’s interesting because Calculating Infinity was recorded all to tape.” begins Ben. “And it was done fairly quickly, we ended up doing a couple extra tracks using ADAT,” he explains, harkening us back to the beginning of digital recording.
Read all the latest features, lists and columns here.
“And now we’re live on stage, we’re actually using (Neural DSP) Quad Cortex, and I hadn’t really been a fan of digital modelling.”
“The fact that it has so many outputs makes it much more flexible. That’s really useful in the live context; our shows are very visceral, we’re often knocking over microphones miking up speakers and to avoid any possibility of those kind of things and affecting front of house is always a benefit.”
“Calculating Infinity, we used a lot of different amps and a lot of different sounds, we even used completely direct sounds as main tones, without any amplifiers.”
The routing of the Quad Cortex allows Ben and Dillinger to dial in tones closer to the record than they’ve ever achieved, including direct sounds. They can focus on the performance and not the mix or the stage.
“The way we recorded Calculating Infinity really lends itself to the live show. So gear wise the Quad Cortex is, while very digital, having all the options so that we can just perform lends itself well to doing this kind of music as well.”
Dillinger have had quite the career since the 1999 record, Ben himself having performed as part of Suicidal Tendencies, so surely it must be odd going back to perform something in its entirety from such an early stage of his career?
“In preparing for these shows,” Ben begins. “For one, it made me enjoy playing guitar again, like when I practice I was like ‘Man, my hands don’t do this anymore! I don’t really understand this anymore—I gotta learn it again.’ and in being forced to have to get in shape, I started to see progression.”
“Like when you’re young and you start playing guitar and it’s like a video game, like ‘I just wanna get home and play!’”
Ben continues, explaining that he felt himself levelling up and hitting new heights, but he also acknowledges that a few of the songs have been performed extensively throughout the career of the band.
“So they were pretty immersed in the band, not all of them but some of them.” he explains. “It is interesting to limit ourselves to old stuff and not play any newer stuff. The older stuff isn’t odd to play, but it’s odd to play only the older stuff, and bringing ourselves back to that time period.”
Ben explores this further, discussing the memories of jumping into vans, playing small halls and clubs, as well as generally being outsiders within a music scene; Dillinger Escape Plan have carved a niche for themselves and others now, but it wasn’t always that way.
We shift here to the recording of Calculating Infinity itself. Performing as a band with a diverse and unique sound is hard enough, and this can sometimes be exacerbated by an engineer who doesn’t understand a band’s intention and instead tries to fit them into a box.
Steve Evetts
“We were very lucky to find a producer, we worked with Steve Evetts, who really thought like us, a very musical guy.” explains Ben. “The bands we thought sounded the best in the underground hardcore scene— and it was very clear ‘cause there was these bands that sounded like they recorded on a four-track recorder, and then there was the band that to us, sound ‘real’, and it sounds like a polished real recording, but it’s an underground band.”
The person making these records was Steve Evetts who, in addition to Dillinger, has worked with the likes of Poison the Well, Sepultura, Saves the Day, Lifetime, Hightower, Story of the Year, Every Time I Die, Earth Crisis and more.
“We went to him ‘cause he was doing the albums that we loved the sound of. The benefit of that was not that he didn’t understand what we were doing, it was that he could easily tell when we needed to be pushed farther, because we were sounding like the other stuff he did.”
“He was like ‘I hear where you got this from, I did the band.’” says Ben with a grin. “‘C’mon, let’s push this!’”
Steve Evetts pushed the band to find their own sonic identity, pulling influence from their own world as well as Steve’s impressive discography.
“He got us out of that obvious influence.”
As main songwriter, Ben’s influences were on show, but Steve Evetts helped to shape and refine their sonic footprint into something that would change the trajectory of their careers and the lives of themselves as well as the audience who found a home in their fanbase; and that’s worth celebrating.
The Dillinger Escape Plan land in Australia in August to celebrate 25 years of Calculating Infinity. For more info, ticketing and dates, keep reading at The Phoenix.
Win tickets to the Fender MOD SHOP: MODIFIED IN MELBOURNE, a one-night-only VIP showcase!
To celebrate the launch of Player II Modified and the rich history of guitar modification, Fender will host a one-night-only VIP showcase event at a secret location in Fitzroy, Melbourne, titled ” MOD SHOP: MODIFIED IN MELBOURNE. “
Read all the latest product & music industry news here.
Don’t miss your chance to attend this Modified Live exhibit featuring on-site guitar works with famed industry techs Michael Harron (Harron Custom Guitars) and Warricke Newman (Tone Revival Engineering), plus a VIP cocktail event to follow featuring live music from Melbourne’s own Hot Machine! For some lucky evening attendees, there will also be a chance to win a brand new Player II Modified guitar.
More info and to enter for your chance to win, keep reading here. Click here for full competition T&Cs.
GRAND PRIZE
Win the chance to have your very own Player II guitar modded by one of two of Melbourne’s best guitar techs, and see how the pros do it! Interstate winners will be flown in from their closest capital city, with transfers and accommodation paid for by Fender.
TICKET PRIZE
WIN a double pass to the VIP event, Mod Shop: Modified in Melbourne.
More info and to enter for your chance to win, keep reading here. Click here for full competition T&Cs.
Gretsch announce Limited Edition G9202 Resonator
This round-neck Gretsch resonator guitar has all the same features as the wildly popular G9201 Honey Dipper, with the additions of aged white fingerboard binding, screened headstock graphic and a weathered “Bell Bronze” finish. Gretsch guitars have a history of offering unique tones and colours, primarily used for Americana, rock, jazz and blues, the resonator’s unique metallic tone being perfect for plucked and picked notes, as well as cutting through a dense mix for slide guitar and expressive tones.
Read all the latest product & music industry news here.
The vital feature of all Gretsch resonator guitars is the all-new Gretsch “Ampli-Sonic” diaphragm (resonator cone). Hand-spun in Eastern Europe from nearly 99-percent pure aluminum, the Ampli-Sonic diaphragm yields an impressive quality and volume of tone.
FEATURES:
- Bell brass metal body
- Gretsch® Ampli-Sonic™ aluminum biscuit cone
- Hard maple biscuit bridge with ebony and maple saddle
- Mahogany neck with Medium “V” back shape
- Bound padauk fingerboard
- 25” scale length
- Bone nut
- Aged pearloid headcap
- Grover® Sta-Tite™ tuners
For more info, keep reading at Gretsch Guitars.
Tom Thum and Paulina discuss collaboration, Ipswich and recording beatboxing
Collaboration is no mean feat; we’re all trying to have our say, and often we can find ourselves frustrated, misunderstood and back to square one. Not for vocalist Paulina and beatboxer Tom Thum though, whose viral collaboration “Focus On Me” helped to reignite Paulina’s workflow, while simultaneously pushing Tom into a new world creatively. The duo are back with “Jaded”, a more pared back track compared to “Focus On Me”.
Hey guys, thanks for taking the time. How did you initially connect and what made you want to collaborate?
A mutual friend of ours introduced us to each other back in 2021 at an event we were both at, and then we finally got in the studio together for the first time towards the end of 2022! We had such a fun time and basically have been creating together since. It’s also so dope that we’re both from Ipswich and that we only live like 15 minutes down the road from each other #ipswichrepresentttt hahaha
You’re both performers who are experienced at and able to improvise – how much of the new single “Jaded” was vibed out vs. more explicitly ‘written’ per se?
I remember coming into the studio to work on a different song with Tom but before we jumped into that session he pulled up this instrumental idea he’d started working on the night before. I instantly fell in love with it and hella vibed to it! I remember rushing Tom to pull up the actual Ableton session so I could lay some vocal ideas down because I had a tonne of melodic ideas come to me straight away that I didn’t want to forget. Everything just flowed so naturally with this song and was genuinely maybe the most fun I’ve ever had making a song.
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Tom, I see you use various mics to amplify and record yourself – what makes a microphone an ideal candidate for your use?
Oooh good question, well it depends what scenario I am using it in. For live I love something with a high SPL tolerance because I REALLY get personal with mics live haha. But generally I like a good bottom end response and a rounder smoother top end.
Paulina — do you find it difficult to trade off ‘lead’ parts with Tom?
No not at all! If anything I think we blend really well together and it feels really natural when we’re recording together. I think it’s because we’re both just so open to experimenting with all ideas and aren’t afraid to take the lead nor are afraid to let the other person just do their thing. Plus, I just think we both really appreciate what each other does, like I think so highly of Tom and I love to see all the random cool ideas he comes up with, which then in turn inspires me to go places with my parts where I perhaps wouldn’t usually go.
What does the recording process look like for recording beatboxing? Are you recording as you would perform or do you prefer to record parts isolated so you can have more control mixing?
Generally I will record everything in one go and then separate the elements out, i.e. splitting kicks/snares/bass and hats onto separate channels for more control. If I’m going for a more natural sound I generally compress it a fair bit and angle my face away from the diaphragm so I don’t get too much blow out (I don’t record with a pop filter), and then I’d use a transient designer and maybe roll in a bit of bass and just keep it all as one single wave.
Is there any thought of having to perform this live while you’re writing and arranging?
For our last track “Focus On Me” we were very conscious of that, however our latest tune is mostly sampled instruments and found sounds so it would probably be pretty hard to bring all the things we’d need around with us haha. So we just thought we’d stack it to high heaven!
Keep up with Paulina here, or follow Tom here.
Amp It Up: PRS deliver a bold update to its MT and Archon amplifiers
PRS drops a smooth update to the MT 15, adds vintage flavour with the Archon Classic, and goes big with a 4×12 cab. No frills—just great tone, done right.
MT 15 Amplifier Head
When PRS set out to create a more compact, high-quality amplifier, they knew it wouldn’t be without its challenges. But with the MT-15 update, they nailed it.
“We’re all blown away with how it turned out. It’s going to be great for someone to take it out of the box, set everything to noon, and have it sound great,” says Mark Tremonti about his first signature amp.
Read all the latest product & music industry news here.
The MT 15 is a two-channel powerhouse that punches well above its weight, delivering bold, clear tones perfect for both rhythm and lead. Though it’s designed with rock and metal in mind, its versatility makes it suitable for nearly any style.
With five pre-master stages, the MT 15 offers rich distortion, with the main channel delivering punchy bass and the clean channel staying bright and resonant. Push/pull overdrive and boost controls give you even more tonal flexibility. Whether you’re after a classic crunch or a modern edge, the MT 15 balances it all with a smooth, sweet tone that never bites. It also includes an effects loop and bias adjustment for easy maintenance down the line. At just 15 watts, it punches like a 50-watt amp, and the 7-watt half-power mode makes the experience even more versatile.
Archon Classic Amplifier Head
Not a replacement, the Archon Classic is a fresh take on the traditional Archon line. Its standout Lead channel delivers the gritty, midrange punch of the ’70s and ’80s, while the Clean channel offers up pristine tones that break up easily when pushed.
“This is the answer for those wanting an Archon with a hotrod vintage Lead channel gain structure without changing preamp tube types and a juiced-up Clean channel without having to use a boost pedal, all wrapped up in a retro-inspired cabinet design,” shared Doug Sewell, PRS Amp Designer.
The Archon Classic offers a three-dimensional tone with lush highs and tight lows, maintaining clarity and definition. A 3-band EQ and individual volume controls provide precise gain and level control, while switches like Bright, Presence, and Depth fine-tune your sound—from sparkling highs to a punchier low end. With a roomy layout and built-in effects loop, it’s perfect for pedal fans, and its sleek, road-ready design ensures it’s ready for any genre you play.
Archon 4×12 Cabinet
Bigger but staying true to its roots, the PRS Archon 4×12 packs a punch with its four Celestion V-Type speakers and closed-back design, similar to its 1×12 and 2×12 siblings. Covered in durable black vinyl and featuring a classic British-style woven grille, it brings the signature PRS look on a larger scale. As only the second 4-speaker cabinet in the PRS lineup, alongside the HDRX 4×12, it’s a perfect choice for players aiming to enhance their stage presence without losing clarity or tone.
Based in Stevensville, PRS has been crafting high-quality musical instruments since 1985, supplying renowned musicians worldwide. Driven by a passion for blending tradition and innovation, they are committed to producing the finest guitars, fusing timeless tone and playability with ongoing discovery and refinement.
For more info, and all local PRS Guitars enquiries, keep reading at ELFA.
Where modern meets modular: Justin Norvell on the Fender Player II Modified Series
Innovation by artists like The Ventures and Jimi Hendrix, right through to modern guitar heroes like Mk.gee and IDLES. Innovation on the guitar doesn’t necessarily mean virtuosic soloing and music theory, but to push the instrument forward. The innovation of Fender also extends to Leo Fender’s designs that launched in the 60s, Leo himself being a repairer primarily—who designed the early Telecasters and Stratocaster to be easy to service; he was sick of sourcing spare parts, or simple repairs being overly complicated because of inaccessible routing, electronics and switches.
Read all the latest features, lists and columns here.
The Player II Modified Series follows a long lasting legacy and culture of modification, customisation and serviceability into a comprehensive range that has something on offer for everyone.
“[The Series] is aimed at players who are looking for a little bit more than a base model,” begins Justin Norvell, EVP of Product at Fender. “Like if you were looking for a car, it’s got the deluxe package on it.” he adds with a grin.
“I think in the past we’ve had series’ that were maybe further afield, and we thought ‘Let’s pull it back to its essence. What do people want? What do people look for?’”
Justin continues, explaining that Fender sits in a unique space. Most instruments are modifiable, arguably they’re all modifiable with the right tools, but as we now understand, Fender are built to be modular.
Player II Modified Series
“What would we do as players?” he muses. “Well— Noiseless pickups, different humbuckers, locking tuners and all of that, as well as visual modifications. But really important mods, tonally… the new bass preamp, for example, is something that we’ve wanted to do for quite some time, and we’ve put a lot of time into it.”
Justin explains that for all the modifications that the Player II Modified Series features, you can also use it to kickstart further modifications.
“[Leo] created the platform this way as an easy service concept.” he explains. “This design concept was considered crude back in those days,” he says. “Y’know screws and plastic! But what Leo decided was good for servicing was the ability to repair necks and swap necks and stuff like that, and it led to that culture of modification. Fender was not the first to put a humbucker in the bridge of a Strat.” clarifies Justin.
“It was players, it was people.”
Fender noticed people modifying their guitars, Justin citing Dave Murray (Iron Maiden)’s HSH Strat, as well as Jazzmasters and Jaguars with humbuckers in the bridge position.
“We had some Lead IIs and some things with odd pickups in ‘em for a while, but our first humbucker in a Strat wasn’t until the mid 90s.”
“You just think it’s so ubiquitous, so we just got a little less precious about the platform, and understanding that [a Fender] is what people say it is, this is what people are doing with our instruments. So we flipped at some point a couple of decades ago to just listening to people, and what they do and what they wanna do.”
“That’s led to instruments like these, but also the concept of our accessory business, and we say ‘Nothing’s more than a dozen screws away’.”
Fender understands people want to personalise their stuff, especially in the modern day where people are blending genres and pushing new boundaries on the guitar.
“Y’know, Mk.gee tuning a Jaguar to baritone tuning with flatwounds and playing through a four track.” says Justin. “This is all part of that, and everyone’s finding their way to get a sound and have their own thing. Whether you want to do it yourself or you want it straight from the factory that way, that’s what we embrace.”
The Player II Modified Series features additions like Noiseless pickups and upgraded electronics and wiring, as well as reasonably simple upgrades like modern string trees and locking tuners. Visually there’s some unique colours and pickguard finish options available, building on Fender’s classic designs and aesthetic. Justin is especially excited about the addition of an 18V preamp in the bass models, allowing for more versatility across a famously versatile bass guitar design.
Justin speaks further to the happy accidents that’ve happened over history because of people having the chance to experiment, distortion on a guitar being an accident, tremolo being intended to be a subtle ‘Spanish guitar’ style effect, not the hard volume modulation that it’s now famous for. The Floyd Rose as well was meant to be a supremely stable tremolo, but it was never intended to be for divebombs—ironically now what it’s most famous for.
“Musicians always find a couple new gears on the transmission and that’s the dream, really.” says Justin excitedly. “People can take it to the next place.”
IDLES
Fender has partnered with IDLES to help launch the new series, the British band being a perfect match for such a forward-thinking range of guitars.
“I think they’re so iconoclastic,” Justin says. “They’re not a blues band, or someone that’s going over previously paved road. They are sonically adventurous, they are not precious about gear and tools, and if they wanted to hack something out to put something else in, they will!” he says, smiling.
“I think the combination of the sonically adventurous, not all the riffs sound like typical electric guitar riffs. The same thing with Mk.gee— who’s sort of virtuosic, slow, but it’s tapping into that vein of inspiration, whether it’s high energy, low energy, anything is possible, and it’s outside the box.”
“IDLES, they’re a band that we’ve been following, and working with for a very long time, so we thought it was a perfect marriage.”
The modifications available from the factory in the Player II Modified Series are the result of Fender having their ear to the ground, as well as their eyes to the future, but also bringing their own experience and anecdotes as players and musicians into the fold for consideration.
“We talk to artists, we see what they like and what they don’t like, and then we have our opinions as well.”
“And things can get spirited, there’s definitely some radical ideas that get thrown into the pot.” concedes Justin with a grin. “We end up choosing something that’s a little more down the middle and not as radical, so these are upgrades that everyone would see as upgrades and it’s a good centre place.”
For local enquiries, keep reading at Fender Australia.
Tobias Forge of Ghost reminisces on the meat and potatoes of Skeletá
Tobias Forge is the frontman of Ghost, who’ve evolved from doomy, alternative rock into all-out anthemic stadium rock superstars. Known worldwide for their stage production, album concepts and the revolving door of frontmen; characters devised by Tobias who he takes the shape of for the tour and promotion of each record.
The forthcoming album Skeletá sees the arrival of newly anointed Papa V Perpetua, Skeletá being Ghost’s sixth full length studio album and one that comprehensively captures the expansive list of influences that Tobias has; but what comes first? Does the concept inform the music or is it the other way around?
“When it comes to making a record, I’ve never gone into the first song with a clean slate,” explains Tobias. “There’s always a— I don’t want to call it leftovers, but there’s definitely a starting point.” he says, referring to unfinished songs that didn’t make the cut of the previous record.
Read all the latest features, lists and columns here.
“Something in the material that hasn’t been used for a previous work, this sets a standard first— you have to start somewhere and in this case making Skeletá, the song that became “Satanized”… if you heard the demo from 2020 you would instantly recognise the song.”
Tobias explains that the shuffle feel of “Satanized” felt right, but it ticked a box in terms of making a comprehensive and cohesive body of work, explaining that he’s filled the role of a shuffle song, and a picture begins to form with gaps to fill, i.e. a heavier song, a ballad etc.
“Every new song feeds info about the rest of the content, and sometimes you’ll come up with a new song, for example ‘Song #7’ that pushes out ‘Song #3’, and all of a sudden you need to come up with a new ‘Song #7’ because it’s down to #6 [songs] again.”
Tobias compares writing a Ghost record to a Rubik’s Cube, sometimes having to jumble up your progress in order to move ahead, all in the interest of finishing the puzzle or project.
“Then conceptually, having written IMPERA that was shining a light onto outward factors like societal structures, I knew when I made IMPERA that I want to make another record that is completely— not devoid of criticism if you will, but the challenge was to make a whole record where there’s a certain degree of introspection going on.”
“It felt like a natural step after IMPERA, because I didn’t want to write an IMPERA II.”
Tobias is focused on an album’s ebb and flow, taking listeners on a journey, allowing a Ghost album to work as a whole cohesive project. Their sound has evolved over a few records, but Tobias comes back to the foundation of a song.
“You can write a song really quickly, and then of course you’re working on the minute of a track in detail up until the last second of mixing and mastering, basically.” he explains. “So there are things that can change, even though the basic recipe is the same.”
“It’s like meat and potatoes and sauce, that’s as simple as that. But you know how big a difference there can be in meat and potatoes and sauce, depending on who’s cooking it.”
“I know some artists that are almost helpless in their orchestration,” says Tobias. He refers to Bob Dylan here, whose music is so bare bones, a sonic signature, that it’s difficult to add too much on top of without drawing criticism. Tobias also refers to Ulf Lundell, an artist that he likens to the Swedish version of Bob Dylan or Bruce Springsteen.
“[Lundell] would come into the studio with a bare bones, strummed version of the song, and then the band comes in and makes it a big rock song.”
Tobias Forge
All of this is to say that Tobias absolutely does not work this way with Ghost, his ideas spawning from the core idea, though he begins to imagine and write the rest of the ensemble immediately.
“I’m much of a producer that way, but if I were producing another band I would implement the same methods. Not only how to write songs, but I would think conceptually of a record the same way.”
“The album starts at 0:00 and ends at 43:00, right?” he muses, and continues to discuss that the task at hand is filling the 43 minutes between start and finish with a journey for the listener.
A bare bones arrangement, however, is easy to produce live. Ghost’s anthemic, expansive productions are no mean feat, though Tobias has this in mind while writing and producing albums.
“There’s awareness,” he says. “I’ve always intended to practically arrange the songs so you can play it, but I think more so now when I know more practical solutions to orchestrating the song— how will this translate into an arena? And I don’t think that I’m unique in that, I think it happens to most band that play from clubs to theatres to arenas. Had Metallica gone to arena status at Kill ‘Em All, they might not have written “Master of Puppets”, they might not have written “Battery”.
“There’s a natural ambience [in an arena] that music over a certain tempo has a tendency to sound like a wreck in a bigger environment. I think that’s the same reason why even Iron Maiden does not play every song that they have— you play the songs that work, and flow ith the crowd and it’s a give and take.”
Tobias discusses further his relationship with the crowd, their enjoyment feeding his own happiness, and if he insisted on playing songs that don’t translate in an arena setting, the crowd wouldn’t enjoy it as much and vice versa.
“It’s much more fun to cook for someone that enjoys it, right? Rather than like ‘Oh, hm, this is an acquired taste!’” he says with a chuckle. “What kind of chef is that?”
“I think that the idea that anyone reading this, scoffing at the idea of writing for someone else, has kinda lost the point.”
Tobias continues, diving deeper into the details of writing and recording Skeletá, explaining that some tracks on the record remained through demo stages and were recorded on the day he wrote the song.
“But then there are other things recorded a year later on the day we were mixing.” he says. “There is a song on the record, “Cenotaph”, that was in the demo phase— that was written and done with lyrics and everything, the top line was all there, it had a really complicated arrangement.”
“It was really orchestral, like Queen, and it had already moved from demos to the real studios. I had one of those chills down my spine, where something had been troubling me for weeks and weeks and weeks, ever since we finished the demo.”
Tobias goes on to explain that after this chill he had approached Max Grahn, a collaborator, songwriter and producer involved in recording with Ghost, telling Max that he felt very strongly that “Cenotaph” needed to be re-recorded. It was too complicated, the lyrics were too profound.
“It was like killing a darling,” Tobias states. “I was the one who wanted it to be complicated that way, that was my idea.”
Tobias’ stroke of genius was this: he did a cover of “Cenotaph” with the intention of re-working the song into something more cohesive for the record. Excitedly, Tobias tells me they recorded this at Atlantis Studios, the same studio that ABBA performed Dancing Queen, and he recommends I check out the YouTube video of that performance. “That’s the room that were were in. Same console, same microphones, same room.”
“I said ‘Let’s make it really simple, same melody, same chord progression, but let’s make it Meatloaf, boogie woogie, Status Quo, ZZ Top— and let’s see if it holds, if it carries its weight that way.’ And half an hour later, we re-recorded everything in an oversimplified way. And that song, every time we played it in the studio, everyone started smiling.”
To wrap up, Tobias explains a bit about the mixing process for Ghost, though admits that he’s always focused on getting things right at the source.
“If I were more of an engineer, which I am not, I might’ve been better at it.” he says, referring to his ability to navigate the software and digital world of recording. “There’s a discrepancy between what I know that the program can do, and knowing how to do it.”
Tobias explains how frustrated he gets having ideas that he can’t bring to fruition without navigating a menu or installing an update.
“I’ve been blessed with so many engineers,” he explains. “And therefore I know I cannot become that great of an engineer, but if I were an engineer, my mixing process would start second one, because I hate working not knowing what we’re doing.”
The new album from Ghost, Skeletá, is out April 25 via Loma Vista Recordings.
Alesis unveil new 7-piece STRATA CLUB Kit
The Alesis Strata Club is the ultimate electronic kit for any groove based drummer looking to transform their practice, performance and studio capabilities. Whether you’re on a budget, short on space, or looking for a compact e-kit to help spark inspiration, the Strata Club will deliver on all fronts.
Read all the latest product & music industry news here.
The brain that powers the Strata Club is the Core drum module—a compact control centre that gives players access to over 75 different kit presets with 370+ kit pieces, 800+ articulations, and countless parameters and effects at their fingertips. Thanks to the intuitive design and wildly capable processing power of the Strata Club, you can finally quit worrying about your gear and start focusing on what really matters groove, feel, and authenticity.
Strata Club
The Strata Club was designed with playability, dynamic response, and ability to emulate a realistic drumming experience at the forefront. All drum heads featured on the Club are made of high-quality mesh with adjustable tension, allowing players to dial in the perfect amount of rebound. Thanks to Strata’s patented anti-hotspot sensor system, the Club’s playing surfaces are natural and expressive. Both the Ride and Crash cymbals feature ARC Technology, offering a 360-degree playing surface that allows users to play across the entire cymbal without any worry of dead zones or a need to perfectly aim your drumsticks. Players can also choke any cymbal by grabbing the edge, allowing for the sort of dynamic flourish that used to only be possible on an acoustic kit.
Active Magnetic hi-hat
The Active Magnetic hi-hat is a stand-mounted system that gives players complete accuracy and control. This module-powered unit can be used with a variety of standard hi-hat stands and playing styles. Players can utilise the bow, bell, and edge of all Strata Club cymbals to trigger standalone samples thanks to triple zone capabilities.
The Strata Club comes ready to integrate with standard acoustic drum hardware allowing users to mesh individual components of this powerful e-kit’s technology with their existing live or studio setup. Through incorporating the Strata Club’s revolutionary sound catalog and triggering capabilities in their acoustic set up, drummers can elevate their live and studio capabilities to new heights. Conversely, for players who are looking to beef up their existing Strata Club with third-party gear, the module comes equipped with powerful preset compatibility that makes integrating external drum triggers an intuitive and simple process.
For local Alesis enquiries, keep reading at ELFA.
Review: Fender Limited Edition Player II Sparkle Precision Bass 3-Colour Sunburst
The Fender Player II Precision Bass is a contemporary classic with upgrades that matter. It’s a refined take on a legacy design, blending bold style with punchy tone and elegant simplicity. A gig-ready workhorse, it’s ideal for both blossoming bass players and seasoned P-Bass aficionados ready to step into the modern world of ergonomic comfort, without going active. Now available in swaggalicious ‘Sparkle 3-Colour Sunburst’ finish, the Player II P-Bass is one of those instruments that feels immediately familiar and welcoming the minute you pick it up, like it’s been waiting for you. Who knows; it might just be your next favourite instrument.
Catch up on all the latest music gear reviews here.
Believe it or not, the prototype for the Fender Precision Bass—affectionately known as the P-Bass—even predates the ubiquitous Stratocaster. Designed by Leo Fender in 1950, the P-Bass hit the market in 1951 and went on to become one of the most iconic instruments in contemporary music. Over the 20th century, it has appeared in countless iterations, from the American Standard and American Deluxe to the Road Worn, Blacktop, and American Professional Series. A staple in Motown, metal, indie rock, you name it, chances are there’s a Fender P-Bass somewhere in the mix.
In 2018, the Player Series superseded the long-running Made in Mexico Standard line. The upshot was, the P-Bass got a modern refresh: a Modern “C” neck, 9.5” fingerboard radius, Alnico pickups, synthetic bone nut, and open-gear tuners, in Pau Ferro and Maple fretboard options.
Fast forward to 2024, and the Player II Series lands boasting even more thoughtful upgrades Rosewood is back, offering a little more warmth in your tone, and a little more vintage appeal. The edges of the fretboard are rolled for comfort, taking all the friction out of those long sessions and those fast transitions. The Player Series Alnico V Split-Coil Precision pickup arms you with that iconic tight P-bass thump in the low-end, some nice aggressive bark in the mids, and a shiny, responsive top-end. If you’re a fan of elegant simplicity, look no further, because the electronics in this bad boy are as simple as it gets: there’s one set of split-coil pickups, one dial for volume, one dial for tone, and that’s all she wrote. But honestly, when the pickups sound this good—rich, defined, and cutting in all the right ways—what more do you need? It’s giving aesthetic minimalism with maximum impact.
The bridge—fitted with four Single-Groove Steel “Barrel” Saddles—is rock-solid, and will guarantee you stay in tune even if you’re moshing all over the stage like it’s the last show on earth. The vintage style open-gear tuners give an aesthetic touch while keeping the pegheads light and squeezing a little more resonance and vibration out of the modern “C” shaped neck. The contoured alder body offers a stunning amount of resonance—so much that my girlfriend heard me plucking away from the opposite end of the house before I’d even plugged in—and I’m imaging the glint and sparkle from that Sparkle 3-Colour Sunburst paint job would be glorious to behold under some hot, bright, strobing stage lights. The finish is a stunning addition to the P-Bass colourway arsenal, lending some flair to an instrument that has traditionally been a little more reserved in its dress.
Despite its stripped-back controls and vintage sensibility, the Player II P-Bass is no one-trick pony. It adapts effortlessly to a wide range of styles and playing approaches. I like to dig in hard with my pick, and the Player II P-Bass thinks nothing of it. If you’re more of a fingerstyle groover, or you have the guts to slap out the occasional funk riff, this bass won’t bat an eyelid. It’s the kind of instrument that disappears beneath your hands, enabling you to focus on playing. Because no one likes that feeling that you’re fighting with your gear.
If you’re a newer player looking to invest in a bass that’ll grow with you, the Player II Precision Bass will reward you with not only the confidence of owning a Fender, but with just enough sparkle—tonally and visually—to keep things exciting. If you’re a long-time P-Bass player, the subtle upgrades might not feel revolutionary, but they do feel buttery and sleek under the hands, especially the rolled edges and vintage-leaning aesthetic. This is the perfect “grab and go” bass: simple controls, reliable tuning stability, and a sound that can hold down any mix from punk and rock to funk and soul. It’s also a solid choice for working musicians who need a reliable backup, or even a new number one, that’s stage-ready, tour-tough, and dressed to impress.
The Player II Precision Bass proves that you don’t mess with perfection, you just polish it. Fender has taken everything players love about the P-Bass formula and made it smoother, sleeker, and just a little bit sexier. It’s got vintage soul, modern sensibility, and tone for days. Who says workhorses can’t sparkle?
For local Fender enquiries, keep reading at Fender Australia.
Orange Amplifiers release ‘O’ Edition MKII Noise Cancelling Headphones
‘O’ Edition MKII Noise Cancelling Headphones from Orange have been developed for fully personalised, high-fidelity audio. With a new range of customizable features, they put the user in complete control of their listening experience. Engineered for sonic precision and with powerful 40mm close voice-coil drivers, the headphones deliver excellent dynamic range and depth with well-defined, flawless, high-quality sound.
Noise Cancelling Headphones
The ‘O’ Edition MKII Headphones feature Active Noise Cancellation (ANC), with 3-presets that block out unwanted noise. It can be operated at the touch of a button or with the Orange Amps App which offers full ANC personalisation, so users can stay aware of ambient sounds.
Read all the latest product & music industry news here.
The easily accessible Touchpad Control on the right side of the headphones allows users to quickly pause, play, skip music tracks or answer calls. The touchpad volume control, in conjunction with the built-in mic, provides clear conversation at home, office or on the move. Using ultra-fast, stable Wireless Bluetooth 5.2 technology, the headphones pair quickly and seamlessly and include a 3.5mm AUX cable for additional connectivity options. The headphones have up to 50 hours of battery life, and a rapid charge option which will deliver up to 7 hours of playback time with just a 15-minute charge.
The headphones are lightweight and comfortable with soft rotating cushioned ear cups with an adjustable and secure headband. They fold easily into the supplied carrying case and come with a USB-C charging cable.
For local Orange Amplifiers enquiries, keep reading at Australis Music.
From across the pond: Pest Control from Leeds help launch the Jackson American Series
Pest Control are making a name for themselves, their pointy, aggressive style of crossover thrash being as pointy as the Jackson guitars they’re now sporting on stage. Partnering with Fender and Jackson to help launch the new Series Soloist SL2 DX, we caught up with the band about their passion for Jackson.
What makes the Jackson American Series and SL2 specifically a great pairing for Pest Control?
We play hard and fast, so having a guitar that feels like it can take that is important. The stainless steel frets on the SL2 DX are super smooth and feel like they’ll withstand years and years of play. I spend a lot of time higher up the fretboard so the 12-16” compound radius is ideal for me. The 1500 Floyd Rose is a big part of it too I think: between us, Joe (Williams, other guitarist) and I do plenty of divebombs and silly noises, so having a high-quality, well set-up bridge system we can put through its paces is really important. We tour a lot so having a premium quality guitar that feels solid and reliable helps us feel like we can step onto a stage and play with confidence. The SL2 DX feels like a pretty appropriate pairing for what we’re trying to do musically too: respect for the past but forging ahead with something new!
Read all the latest features, lists and columns here.
Favourite Jackson body shape of all time?
I know I can’t say “anything with that iconic headstock” as that doesn’t really narrow it down. Don’t make me choose! You can’t argue with the no-frills, built-for-speed look of the Dinky but I really love classics like the King V and all the spiky outlandish shapes like the Kelly. But really for me it would have to come down to either the Warrior or the Rhoads. Or maybe the Kelly Star. Or the Fury. Okay, next question!
How do you find the JB + ’59 pickups respond to your high gain and precise playing?
They’re fantastic. The JB is super responsive and punchy and has plenty of output, it’s probably my favourite passive pickup for metal. I love how the ‘59 can cut through and still be fat and warm sounding as well. I’ve been stepping out more into the coil split sounds that the SL2 DX offers too, and it’s great to have the option of single coil sounds when I’m shredding too. I will say that I’m agnostic when it comes to the active versus passive “debate” – they’re both awesome, and neither are as important as the player.
Can you recall the first time you saw something playing a Jackson? Tell us about it!
The first time I saw someone playing Jackson guitars, it was a triple whammy. I was up late as a teenager watching Kerrang or similar and they played the music video for Megadeth’s ‘Holy Wars… the Punishment Due’. Dave Mustaine with his King V, Dave Ellefson with his Concert Bass, Marty Friedman with his Kelly. The coolest thing I’d ever seen. I then went on to see Trivium a bunch of times and Corey Beaulieu always had a King V, and the same with Phil Demmell whenever I saw Machine Head. Clearly had a big impact on me because I bought my first Jackson (a PS4 Performer) on eBay during lockdown, now here I am!
Pest Control have been touring pretty extensively, how have your Jacksons fared on the road?
They’ve been great! My favourite features when it comes to touring are the glow-in-the-dark Luminlay® side dots (great for dark stages!) and the Gotoh® MG-T locking tuners, which are perfect for quicker string changes between soundcheck and show time. I’m our guitar tech, so I take good care of our Jacksons on the road and ensure they’re in good condition. Once the setup is dialed in before a tour, every 3 shows I just clean, restring, stretch out, retune, lock them down and they’re good to go.
Notes from the Underground: Diploid – Mantra
Last year I had the pleasure of heading down to the late great Head Gap recording facility to track Mantra, the 18th release for Diploid. This was the 3rd time we had worked together collectively on something, so Diploid and I have developed quite the bonhomie.
Principal tracking was an ensemble of drums, guitar, bass and vocals at Head Gap with additional guitar recording and mixing performed at my facility Underground Audio up at Meanjin. For those unaware, Head Gap was recently completely razed by a devastating fire. After close to 20 years of being a critical resource to the music community it’s looking like they will hopefully be building from scratch again at a different premises, but for now it is quite heart wrenching. As a studio owner I can’t imagine the loss, but it’s been reassuring to see Finn and Rohan move onward and keep the ball rolling.
Read up on all the latest features and columns here.
Head Gap always stood out to me as a defining marker of Naarm’s musical identity. It was one of the first studios I ever worked in, and it cracked something open in me technically and creatively. The ideas, the workflow, even the way I approached acoustic design in my own space were all somewhat shaped by that room.
The drum recording for this record was akin to how I normally approach congested music. The difference with Diploid is they routinely have parts that are so fast that the transients are almost blurred into each other, directly littered amongst atmospheric 50bpm sludge. Capturing this is about tuning the drums for the right amount of resonance, which is actually not much, and balancing strategically placed close microphones amongst various distantly spaced room and boundary microphones that have automated pre delays (taking advantage of the Haas effect).
We didn’t use any drum samples or guitar amplifier modelling on the record as Diploid generally shoot for a raw aesthetic. The words “raw” and “organic” are used habitually in the arena of aggressive music, further in the camp of DIY spaces where it’s almost worn as a badge of honour to not enhance or manipulate the ensemble performance of a band in any way.
I personally have no rules against drum samples, guitar amp modelling or any of the numerous procedures undertaken in most modern productions. What I want as a listener and what many of the artists I work with want out of a record is for there to be a connection between their personalities and idiosyncrasies and what comes out of the speakers. For me this usually means not using samples and other enhancements, but there are no clear cut rules.
This argument often gets flattened into a binary: either you make something hyper-polished and synthetic, like it rolled straight out of a laptop, or you chase the grit of something raw and lo-fi. But for me, there’s a whole terrain in between and that’s where I tend to work. With a band like Diploid, the goal is for it to feel like you’re standing dead-centre in front of their best performance. That’s what they want too, which makes the recording process feel intuitive and straightforward. At least, for me — the one behind the desk, not the one purging demons. I’m sure for them it was anything but easy.
I’ve worked on records where we made things neater and tidier, and it just felt less urgent and less dangerous, which for a band like this, would be the worst possible outcome. I grew up going to shows that were claustrophobic and sweaty with an imperfect wall of sound which all the individual personalities bled through. The way the drummer’s hand drags strangely between fills, the guitarist mashing their hand onto the pickup, pinning the strings to wring out shrieking, unhinged feedback. Vocals clipping the inputs of a little Behringer mixer, distorting in a horrible way. These are the signatures of a group of people making something together. It doesn’t mean the record has to sound exactly like a live show. It just means my job is to find those specific mannerisms and characteristics and make sure they’re not lost. Otherwise, we risk making something that just dissolves into the stream of homogenised, sanitised contemporary heavy music.
I’ve included an input list below for the primary tracking, which doesn’t amount to anything too out of the ordinary. Something of note is that I don’t use much compression or limiting with a drummer like Scarlett. I will however limit the overheads to tuck the snare drum in, which is commonplace for a drum sound where I will be using the close microphone sound source of the snare drum more than usual. Despite the tom microphones having a nulled effect, there are so many open microphones that I end up gating these manually. I don’t experiment much with microphone preamplifiers, I just favour transformer coupled preamps for full bodied close sources such as bass drum and snare. Tracking Scarlett is a pleasure, she really is a fantastic player (and vocalist).
Recording guitar and bass
The bass we ended up using was an EGC series 2 bass guitar into a Verellen Meatsmoke. For the kinds of bass and guitar tones Diploid pursue, it’s about pushing volume into the amplifier to tighten up the sound and make it go chug. I’m not a fan of high gain metal amplifiers that go chug by themselves as they always sound boring tonally. I’d rather find the right open sounding mid voiced tube amplifier and stack a pedal or two in front of it. I’m not a pedal snob and have had luck with fancy boutique drive pedals and $50 ALDI crunch pedals. It’s about being free of noise and pushing the desired mid-range textures into the amplifier, which is doing most of the heavy lifting.
The guitar we used was a Caparison Dellinger 2 into a Hiwatt DR103 or a JMP copy by Ceriatone. Again, various RAT pedals auditioned until the right chip was talking.
Recording vocals
For the vocal tracking, everybody contributed but we ended up using the same microphone for all vocalists, a Neumann U48. I routinely use room microphones with a pre delay and expander inserted, but this may have only occurred for the first song on the record. These microphones are usually in the same as the drum rooms so that it sounds like vocals are happening in the same space and time as the ensemble tracking. This is common for me with guitars and even bass guitar.
I’m proud of how far Diploid have come, not just musically, but as people. A healthy band is one that doesn’t get lost in the minutiae of gear and tech, but instead channels its energy into making the most honest and compelling music possible. They’ve stayed focused on that, tuning out the shifting trends of the scene, the market they’re often boxed into, and the external expectations of what success is supposed to look like.
| Tie | Instrument | Microphone | Pre amp | Outboard #1 | Tape/D/A |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Over left (spaced) | Neumann KM184 | Flickinger #1 | Hairball FET500 | #1 |
| 2 | Over right (spaced) | Neumann KM184 | Flickinger #1 | Hairball FET500 | #2 |
| 3 | Bass drum batter side | Shure SM98 | Vintech X73i | Distressor #1 | #3 |
| 4 | Bass drum resonant | AKG D12 | Vintech X73i | Distressor #2 | #4 |
| 5 | Snare top | Beyer M201 | Neve 1073 | #5 | |
| 6 | Snare bottom | Beyer M201 | Neve 1073 | #6 | |
| 7 | Tom 1^ | Oktava MK012 | Neotek #7 | #7 | |
| 8 | Tom 1v | Oktava MK012 | Neotek #8 | #8 | |
| 9 | Tom 2^ | Oktava MK012 | Neotek #9 | #9 | |
| 10 | Tom 2v | Oktava MK012 | Neotek #10 | #10 | |
| 11 | Tom 3^ | Oktava MK012 | Neotek #11 | #11 | |
| 12 | Tom 3v | Oktava MK012 | Neotek #12 | #12 | |
| 13 | Hi hat | Shure SM7 | Neotek #13 | #13 | |
| 14 | Ride | Rode NT4 | Neotek #14 | #14 | |
| 15 | Overs behind L | Coles 4038 | Hairball Gold | #15 | |
| 16 | Overs behind R | Coles 4038 | Hairball Gold | #16 | |
| 17 | Boundary L | Line OM1 | Neotek #17 | #17 | |
| 18 | Boundary R | Line OM1 | Neotek #18 | #18 | |
| 19 | Far room L | AKG C414 | Neotek #19 | 1178 | #19 |
| 20 | Far room R | AKG C414 | Neotek #20 | 1178 | #20 |
| 21 | Mono close room | Neumann U48 | Hairball Lola | 1176 | #21 |
| 22 | Bass drum sub | Unidentified ribbon | Hairball Lola | 1176 | #22 |
| 23 | Bass amplifier | EV RE20 | Neotek #24 | #23 | |
| 24 | Bass DI | REDD DI | N/a | Retro176a | #24 |
| 25 | Guitar dark | Royer 121 | VP26 | #25 | |
| 26 | Guitar Bright | Heil PR40 | VP26 | #26 |
* Note that the bass drum starts on track 3 and 4. This is a custom of analog recording in which the edge tracks (track 1 and 16, or 1 and 24) tend to be thinner sounding. We tracked this record into a computer but it’s a habit that I tend to fall into absentmindedly.
You can catch Diploid on tour in the States this month and listen to the record here.
Five tips to speed up your progress on bass guitar
Bass guitar has an odd reputation as an instrument that easier to play than others, often relegated to a friend who can’t play anything else. The make or break for a good band, however, is the bass guitar. Many musicians cruise along doing whatever and just working on things here and there, and often get frustrated at a lack of progress and wonder why they aren’t improving. We all know there aren’t any real shortcuts when it comes to improving as a musician, but here are three great ideas that can help focus your playing and get quicker results.
1. Get some structure
I’m all for digging deep musically and diving between as many styles as you like. However, sustained practice on a single area is one of the best ways to really achieve results.
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This might include making a list with some practice topics and keeping track of your playing and time spent learning, while for others, it could be just playing the instrument for at least 20 minutes each day. Whatever it is, actually writing down this structure and making a plan can be enough to keep it relevant and in your mind.
2. Get feedback
Yes, listening to yourself playing is good. Unfortunately, really paying attention is often harder than you think. Of course you can hear what you’re doing, but the reality is that it’s really hard to hone in on your technique with great detail whilst physically playing the instrument.
‘Feels and Reals’ is a term used in some sports coaching to differentiate between the ‘feel’ of what you’re doing and you are ‘really’ doing. Plus, as soon as you’ve played a phrase it’s often gone from your memory.
So, what’s the answer? Record yourself! It sounds so obvious, but how often do you actually record yourself practicing and listen back with a critical ear? Time, articulation, tone – all of these are great to zero in on to hear if you’re sounding how you think you are when you’re playing
It doesn’t need to be a pro level recording DAW setup to get it done: record practice sessions
on your phone, set up a little rig for gigs, rehearsals, whatever. So many great players have done this as a way of analysing their own playing and then refining what they don’t like.
3. Be accountable
A good teacher is quite possibly the best thing you could do for your bass guitar playing. This is someone that can help with the previous two points, as well as giving you relevant material to work on and be someone that can inspire your development.
I still think you can’t beat a dedicated teacher (in person or online) that you see regularly to make you accountable. Hopefully they inspire you to practice and you feel the drive to do the work for yourself. Share ideas with them, rehearse with them, share your practice routine and get them to check in on your progress.
Having the extra push to do the work can make a huge difference. If the end game for you is to improve, put some processes in place to help it really happen!
4. Join a band
This might sound like you’re diving into the deep end and, well—it is. Sometimes a great way to learn is to sink or swim, and we have faith that you’ll swim! While it’s all good and well to practice at home, playing along to songs, you’ll learn really fast once you’re in a room with other musicians, partly because you have to learn quick. The other part is because the focus of your playing shifts from reading off a tab or the page of a music book to reading and vibing with other musicians. You’ll be surprised how quickly you commit the notes and riffs to muscle memory, instead practicing the feel and pocket of a song.
Once you’re vibing and jamming, you’ll also find yourself having the brain capacity to improvise and think about what’s coming next, instead of what’s happening.
5. Take it off the page
If joining a band feels like too much of a jump, that’s okay, but you can begin to use some of these bass guitar skills but working to take your playing off the page. What this means is that, while it’s all good and well to use a tab or sheet music to learn a song, the faster you can learn it enough to not need to read the music, the better. The same skills and rationale apply; you’re working to focus on your playing rather than reading, and again, you can think about groove, feel and timing rather than the correct notes.
Much like diving in head first to a band, taking your playing off the page allows you to actively think about where you’re at and the notes coming up, rather than using half of your attention to read— or flip pages!
13 of the most iconic and best band t shirts of all time
Ever walked out of a gig so high on energy or still so captivated with whoever you saw you thought you just had to savour the moment with a t-shirt as memento?
You might also remember that feeling you got after you washed it, realising it had shrunk and was forever banished to the bottom of your pile.
Now we get it, it’s a very restrictive list and with so many to choose from, literally countless designs, we decided to choose the iconic designs that transcended the merch stand and entered popular culture itself.
Read all the latest features, lists and columns here.
Pink Floyd
You can’t have an iconic band t-shirt list without Pink Floyd because like many on this list, they have too many to pick from. The increasingly-popular 1973 record The Dark Side of the Moon and the t-shirt design that followed has since transcended the band t-shirt community.
The triangular prism logo itself has surpassed that community and popular culture itself, and I mean with hits like ‘Breathe’, ‘Time’, and ‘Money’, the album is pretty bloody good too!
Ramones
If this tee doesn’t scream America then I don’t know what does. The Presidential Seal and a bald eagle holding a baseball bat? I mean, come on!
Nonetheless the logo is iconic and I’m sure almost every small market stall has ripped it off at some point because with how often I see it and on the demographic I see it on, there’s no way this many people have original shirts from the time.
Run-DMC
The design, colourway, and lettering are so simple, but this loud tee is instantly recognisable as it arguably pioneered simple t-shirt designs everywhere, notably in the sport-fashion industry.
Run DMC became a wildly popular Hip hop group and became the first non-athletic entity to receive a major endorsement from a sports apparel company, Adidas.
Sonic Youth
The cover of Sonic Youth’s 1990 album Goo features an illustration from Raymond Pettibon based on a photo of Maureen Hindley and David Smith, key witnesses in the 1966 trials of the Moors Murderers Ian Brady and Myra Hindley.
While it isn’t the most obvious image to become a cult classic, the album features their hit ‘Kool Thing’ which peaked at number 7 on the US Alt charts.
Aerosmith
Wayne’s World introduced one of the best band tees ever in Garth’s ‘Aero Force One’ shirt, but unfortunately it is no longer available, so we’ve found a suitable number one option, their 1977 record Draw the Line’s album cover.
Celebrity caricaturist Al Hirschfield drew the cover, and it was the band’s fifth studio album, reaching number 11 on the Billboard 200 in America.
The Rolling Stones
I know what you’re thinking, where’s the tongue?! Did I just get Rick-rolled?
Well, yeah. This list would be pretty boring and predictable with the classic tongue which is possibly the most iconic band logo of all time, but the album cover for Tattoo You is a great piece of work itself which celebrates 40 years on the market this year! The album kicks off with ‘Start Me Up’ which is one of their many, many most popular songs.
Also, do you know how hard it was to find another iconic Stones tee that could even shape up to the raft of tongue designs?
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin deserves a spot on any list involving the words ‘best’ and ‘band’, but this t-shirt is particularly important as it signalled the band’s eleventh and final concert tour of North America.
If you own an original, I’m willing to lay down an offer but like a lot of us, I wouldn’t get the pleasure of experiencing one of their final shows which must be a wild thing to have stored in your memory bank.
Wham!
When George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley wore the ‘Choose Life’ tees in their music video ‘Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go’, it became an instant classic. The slogan is promoting an anti-drug and anti-suicide campaign and was also worn by Queen drummer Roger Taylor in the band’s video for ‘Hammer to Fall’.
English fashion designer Katharine Hamnett designed the shirt and has since become famous for the invention of the slogan t-shirt which is printing political messages in large block type onto simple t-shirts.
Frankie Goes To Hollywood
Journalist and co-founder of ZZT (Frankie’s record label) Paul Morley designed the tee as a conscious rip-off of Hamnett’s ‘Choose Life’ design, and boy it took off.
The BBC banned the group’s 1983 debut single ‘Relax’ in 1984 while at number six in the charts and it subsequently topped the UK Singles Chart for five consecutive weeks, going on to enjoy prolonged chart success throughout that year and ultimately becoming the seventh-best-selling UK single of all time.
Nirvana
Many believe Kurt Cobain drew Nirvana’s logo which if you haven’t seen the same colour way or design, you’ve probably seen it worn several other ways on t-shirts no matter where you’re from.
The logo is simple but tied with the Nirvana name makes it even more iconic. Some of Cobain’s handwritten notes and drawings eventually went to auction and displays more of his ‘artwork’.
Grateful Dead
Depicted with a red, white, and blue colour scheme Grateful Dead’s ‘Steal Your Face’ logo was known to others as the ‘lightning skull’ shirt and is one of the shirts that stands out the most on this list.
The logo was developed in 1973 and began appearing on Grateful Dead merchandise that same year.
The Velvet Underground
If you want to be a little different and not wear a The Velvet Underground t-shirt with the iconic Andy Warhol banana on it, Nico’s lips drinking a coke is an incredibly stylish alternative.
The Pop artist became their manager in 1966 and they served as the house band at Warhol’s art collective known as ‘The Factory’. Andy Warhol, Nico, and Lou Reed. Iconic names, iconic t-shirt.
AC/DC
Do we really need to say anything here? It’s an honorary position because their lightning bolt logo is so damn iconic it’s just a natural part of life now. The Aussie rockers are a band that you don’t seem to learn about, you’re just born knowing they exist.
They pip KISS on this list with the honorary iconic logo position due to my subjective position on their album covers being superior in aesthetic. Yeah, I said it.