AAA Backstage

Rewind to August last year - CALLING ALL CARS released their second album, the ARIA charting “Dancing with a Dead Man”, and set off on a tour cycle around the country. Taking their triple j featured album to the masses on the back of national airplay and hot supporting cast that introduced Redcoats and Boy In A Box they played to sold out rooms and stamped themselves as one of Australia’s most incendiary, young, live rock bands.

Calling All Cars finished 2011 in a blaze of glory supporting their new best friends’ the Foo Fighters and being added to the East Coast run of The Big Day Out. After an unexpected blow to the jaw of lead vocalist Haydn Ing prematurely ended their Sydney BIG DAY OUT performance earlier this year Melbourne’s CALLING ALL CARS have bounced off the rock& roll canvas and are ready to rumble!

Following a month-long tussle with the Department Of Immigration And Citizenship, Sydney trio SET SAIL are pleased to announce the return of their lead singer Brandon Hoogenboom. Brandon, who had been deported to the United States after mistakenly playing shows on the wrong visa in January, has now been allowed to re-enter Australia. He has been granted a new visa sponsored by Sydney entertainment company The Harbour Agency that allows him to record and tour with the band once again.

After news of his deportation on January 13, the remaining members of the band rallied support from the Australian public and the music industry. They ran a Facebook petition that involved more than 80,000 people; reached out to metropolitan newspaper mX, who ran two cover stories on the episode; and sought help from The Harbour Agency, whose support eventually got Brandon’s visa over the line. The band wish to thank their fans and everyone else involved in bringing Brandon back to Australia.

After a massive Australian tour in 2010, California’s renowned roots reggae band Groundation return to celebrate the release of their seventh album Building An Ark. Saying that Groundation is a reggae band is merely scratching the surface; the band’s sound is an organic fusion of classic roots reggae, heavy funk/jazz fusion, and transcendental dub. Their live shows are synonymous with high-energy positive communal vibrations, combining the message and determination of the best reggae music has to offer with perpetually fresh jazz-inspired improvisation.

“Aussie audiences can expect new music from our forthcoming album Building An Ark,” says band leader Harrison Stafford. “There will also be some old classics from the past six albums, and who knows, maybe a Bob Marley, Burning Spear or Culture track. Of course, there will be lots of improvising, long extended solos, dub sections and just musical parts where we can stretch out and try new things. We are a band that truly plays ‘in the moment’, each show is different, each performance is special. We feel the albums are like a painting someone will have in their home and continue to see new things in. There there’s the live show, which is a special 90-plus minutes where we come together with a few thousand of our friends and share a vibe.”

As 2011 closed, BLUEJU!CE dropped their third album “COMPANY” and it turned out to be one of the best reviewed records of the year. The album is a high energy, brilliantly crafted, pop music anthology that stands BLUEJU!CE aside from both their peers and current music trends. It left behind the inconsistency and genre hopping that some felt had compromised their earlier records, and it delivered on the long term live appeal of the band.

“COMPANY” was the first BLUEJU!CE album to be featured on triple j, and it received 4 star “album of the week” nods from the gatekeepers of critical acclaim in this country including SYDNEY MORNING HERALD ★★★★, THE WEST AUSTRALIAN “ALBUM OF THE WEEK” ★★★★,  BEAT “ALBUM OF THE WEEK” ★★★★ , THE BRAG “ALBUM OF THE WEEK” ★★★★, THE MUSIC NETWORK “ALBUM OF THE WEEK”, RAVE MAGAZINE ★★★★.

"A no-frills gritty power-pop tune. It does what it does very well." - Dom Alessio, triple j

"Hook after hook – all within the one song."- Billy Geary, the 59th Sound

"Bakery is a brooding bundle of urgent energy." - sludgefactory.com.au

In May 2011, Celadore entered Melbourne's Red Door Sounds to record their sophomore EP, solely intent on leaving with a recording that captured them at their very best, as a live band.

Released in October 2011  through Popboomerang Records/MGM, 'The Bright And Blue' EP has received widespread critical acclaim. Beat Magazine proclaimed it as "an EP that could easily be a late contender for one of the best local releases of the year", while The Dwarf echoed those remarks calling the EP "one of the year’s most exciting local releases". 

Fremantle's indie-popsters San Cisco are jumping aboard their rocket ship this April and May for a string of side shows to coincide with their Groovin' The Moo performances. The San Cisco Rocket Ship will be landing in Adelaide, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Melbourne, Sydney and Perth delighting fans with their lively jangly pop tunes.

After whetting the appetite of Australians on their SOLD OUT national tour with The Jungle Giants, San Cisco will be taking to the road again. This time revealing a few new tunes as well as 'Awkward' the song that landed them at #7 in triple j's Hottest 100 countdown. The band haven't stopped since releasing their sophomore EP, Awkward, which rocketed to GOLD status.

Australia’s favourite Leeds lads the KAISER CHIEFS are returning to rock our shores this May for a string of exclusive shows to coincide with their Groovin’ The Moo headline dates.

Hot off the back of their Splendour in the Grass appearance last year, Kaiser Chiefs have released their brand new single, ‘On The Run’ which bears that trademark Kaiser Chiefs sound and has a chorus filled with enough hooks to have you singing along for days. 

There is no question THE MEDICS are amongst the most uniquely exciting live bands in Australia today.

Originating from Far North Queensland and now well and truly part of the fabric of the Brisbane music community, THE MEDICS have started 2012 on fire.