MONTANA SHARP SHARES NEW SINGLE + VIDEO ‘SOMETHING WICKED’
Something delectable this way comes, with art-pop connoisseur Montana Sharp today releasing an emphatic new track Something Wicked; an edgier offering from the innovative Melbourne art-work dynamo following her coming-of-age 2022 debut EP Blood Moon, but one entirely in keeping with the ever-growing powerhouse status Montana commands. Putting a modern spin on the symbolism of wickedness and villainy via the accompanying music video for Something Wicked, also out today, this new track from Montana Sharp is an enticing blend of empowerment and soulful temptations.
Drawing inspiration from the likes of Evanescence, Paramore, Halestorm and Dorothy, aka Montana’s “hardcore queens of heavy music”, Something Wicked puts a sensuous and heavier spin on Montana’s perpetually slick releases. Self-described as “if hardcore punk-rock took a quick shower”, Something Wicked simultaneously showcases Montana’s robust vocals and clever sonic craftsmanship, while also signposting an exciting new chapter for the Melbourne artist. “Something Wicked plays on the idea that I’m not this sweet “nice girl” as I’ve initially been perceived as,” reveals Montana. “At the time, my writing was somewhat coded and contrived, as if I was afraid to expose my true thoughts and feelings even to myself. My mentor at the time (who also wrote the music to this song) said to me: “for once, I’d like you to stop writing about pretty things and show me something you’re afraid of”, and out I came with a poem inspired by Macbeth: ‘something wicked this way comes’ – a warning that Macbeth is about to become a monster. Something Wicked plays on the fear that we are innately bad in some way, and that if people get a bit too close, we will be exposed for who we truly are. I think we all share that fear to some degree.”
Boasting lyrics by Montana herself, music by Gerald Marko and production, mixing and mastering by Steve Vertigan, Something Wicked also finds Montana teaming up with Zac Harris from Hoodwolf Studios, who has also worked with NERVE, The Boys and GatsbyBoi, to bring to life the vivid and vivacious accompanying music video. “I was really drawn to the symbolism of a cherry as a sexier spin on the poison apple, something that looks enticing but is bad for you,” shares Montana of devising the music video for Something Wicked. “I had a vision of cherries in a bathtub – I’m not sure why! Perhaps I was enticed by the idea of bathing in villainy, embracing the wickedness in myself.”
Making the decision in 2022 to quit her day job and pursue her dream life as a working musician, Montana Sharp has continuously established herself as an eccentric and unapologetic purveyor of art-rock and sublime creative direction. Fusing complex classic chord structures and motifs alongside modern and innovative pop, Montana’s debut 2022 EP Blood Moon firmly showcased the Melbourne singer-songwriter’s classical background, innovative arrangements and mesmerising vocals, while also acting as a snapshot of the near-universal experience of life in your early twenties. Drawing acclaim from the likes of Katie Noonan, Kate Miller-Heidke and Kate Ceberano with her debut outing, as well as many others in and beyond the industry, 2023 is already off to a roaring start for Montana as she continues to wave her magic musical wand into new and exciting waters, including recently being booked to perform in the Middle East, and turning her gaze firmly to even more new tunes. “New year, new me! It feels wonderful to get back into releasing, and I feel a lot more relaxed this time round,” shares Montana. “Bar the obvious difference in levels of difficulty, I often liken releasing music to raising children – you’re often stricter with the first child because you’re the most scared and don’t know what you’re doing, and then with the rest that follows, you loosen the reins a bit and have more trust and fun with it.”
“It’s been quite a journey these past few months, filled with lots of great opportunities and growth, and lots of dangling carrots and disappointment,” Montana concludes. “One minute you’re getting rejected by Australian Idol and the next you’re getting flown out to the Middle East just to sing two songs. Being a working musician is erratic like that, and I’ve learnt not to get too invested in all the variables and to just enjoy the ride. I’m nowhere near where I want to be in my career, but I am 1000 steps further than being stuck in the wrong one.”
Something Wicked is out today, Friday February 24.
INOVO SHARE NEW SINGLE + VIDEO ‘SWIM ALONE’
Come and dive into the ambient, hazy realms of Brisbane alt-prog rockers inovo with the group today releasing a brand new single Swim Alone. An atmospheric and immersive outing that meshes grooves with moody textures, inovo’s new track also comes armed today with a visceral accompanying music video, drawing you deeper into the band’s sonic universe ahead of inovo officially launching Swim Alone in their hometown on Friday 31 March at BackDock Arts in Brisbane.
Pulsing with artsy alt-rock and explorative flourishes, Swim Alone firmly displays inovo’s love of unorthodox rhythms, a la Karnivool, Incubus and Tool, along with the colourful, textured storytelling of the likes of Tesseract, Devin Townsend and Thrice. With guitarist Rhys Tyack editing and tracking parts in the band’s studio, Swim Alone also reached its layered and dreamlike present state via James See mixing, and Steve Smartwrangling the levels for mastering. Moody, modern and sonically expansive, Swim Alone’s surreal qualities stem partially from an actual dream experienced by vocalist Declan Nicholls, with roots also flowing from a song devised by the band’s former guitarist. “It’s about a dream I once had about a gigantic humanoid entity drifting through space, swinging off of planets to change its trajectory,” shares Declan of Swim Alone’s origins. “In the dream I was a prophet on earth that had predicted its imminent approach to Earth, and wanted to warn everyone that it will be here soon and bring about the end of the world”. “Swim Alone is actually based off an old song our ex-guitarist Jamie created called ‘It Swims Above’,” adds Rhys.“We loved the elements but couldn’t perform it when we were reduced to a smaller group. It’s completely different but if you squint your ears during a full moon you can hear a glimpse of similarity.”
Perfectly complementing the glossy darkness and cascading grooves, the accompanying music video for Swim Alone marries the track’s lyrics of uncertainty and angst with riveting and disconcerting visuals. Shooting the video themselves over a series of weekends, special effects masks, costumes, body organs and props were made by guitarist Rhys, whose work as a cinematographer has seen him shoot music videos for Halfway,Sarah Stockholm, Daylight Ghosts and many more. Drawing together a team of actors, friends and crew, the clip ultimately oozes with sharp aesthetics and boundless imagination. “Declan writes all the lyrics which invokes a very vivid representation of the story and meaning,” shares Rhysof making Swim Alone’s music video. “I wanted the story to take some of that and combine it with the feeling I had when I wrote the track. In the video we incorporated quite a lot of symbolism and centralised the theme around confinement, while keeping a cosmic horror aesthetic. We wanted to create a visceral dimension to parallel our reality, or collective experience, relying on semiotics for layers of meaning. Every shot was storyboarded as we didn’t have a lot of time on-set once people had intestines glued to their stomach or full-faced latex masks muting sense receptors.”
Sharing a love for thought-provoking music and haunting tonalities, inovo started life when Declan, Rhys and drummer Jackson Caswell met at university before evolving into their present iteration, with bass player Karl O’Shea joining a few years later after meeting in a shared rehearsal space. Originally called Solus before changing to inovo, Latin for ‘in the egg’ reflecting the conceptual and embryonic nature of their songs, inovo is ultimately passion project dedicated to making music that each band member loves, with significant emphasis on storytelling, irregular rhythms and arrangements that pervade deep into your soul.
inovo’s live show is an equally memorable affair, with the band set to launch Swim Alone on Friday 31 March at BackDock Arts in Brisbane – and there may just be a few surprises in store. “We may have a few surprises coming up, maybe…” teases Jackson of the upcoming launch show. “We like to keep things fun and unpredictable,” adds Declan of inovo’s live performances. “We tend to move with the music, so one minute we might be chill, and the next minute really not so chill”.
A labour of love, Swim Alone is just the beginning of a huge 2023 for inovo, with the group primed to reveal even more musical goodness in the near future. “It’s very relieving to release Swim Alone,” says Rhys. “We’ve been working on these songs for quite some time so it’s exciting to release our child outside of our collective womb into the big wide world”. “We worked so hard on this song and the video,” concludes Declan, “and now that it’s finally going to be out there in the world I just hope it’s something people connect with and enjoy. We have so much more to show you guys, so if you like what we do – then watch this space. Also, I love you.”
Swim Alone is out today, Wednesday February 22, and the band will be sharing a new single every fortnight thereafter, leading into the album, Desmoterion, which is set for release on May 10.
FRI 31 MAR | BACKDOCK ARTS, BRISBANE QLD | 18+
Tickets available from https://www.tickettailor.com/events/backdockarts/860530
ULTIMATE AUSSIE ALT ROCK FESTIVAL SPRING LOADED ANNOUNCES SANDSTONE POINT HOTEL EVENT ON JUNE 3
ULTIMATE AUSSIE ALT ROCK FESTIVAL
SPRING LOADED
ANNOUNCES SANDSTONE POINT HOTEL EVENT ON JUNE 3
HEADLINED BY SPIDERBAIT, ESKIMO JOE, RATCAT, SHIHAD, FRENZAL RHOMB, MAGIC DIRT, BODYJAR, SCREAMFEEDER
After rocking its way right around the country last year, the Aussie rock revolution that is Spring Loaded is back for 2023, with its first event (of many) set to shake up Bribie Island’s Sandstone Point Hotel (Queensland) on June 3. Boasting yet another reliably colossal lineup drenched in 90s Aussie alt rock nostalgia, 2023’s incarnation will host a haul of the decade’s most celebrated acts, including Spiderbait, Eskimo Joe, Ratcat, Shihad, Frenzal Rhomb, Magic Dirt, Bodyjar and Screamfeeder.
Tickets to Spring Loaded at Sandstone Point Hotel will go on sale at 10am AEST on Friday 24 February through Ticketmaster and Oztix, with a 48 hour presale kicking off at 10am AEST on Wednesday 22 February.
“What a great lineup, we are so stoked to be headlining, will be awesomely awesome!” says Kram from Spiderbait. “A lot of great memories for us playing with amazing bands like Magic Dirt & Screamfeeder – to have 3 legends like Janet, Adalita and Kellie all on the same show will be brilliant and beautiful, and all the other great bands of brothers as well, we can’t wait!”
Keen to be getting in on the action, Eskimo Joe frontman Kav Temperley explains, “When I see lineups like the upcoming Spring Loaded festival, I get so excited, these are all bands that have influenced our band in a major way, so to be included in this stellar lineup is just such an honour – Spiderbait, Ratcat, Shihad, Frenzal Rhomb, Magic Dirt, Bodyjar and Screamfeeder, seriously, who could ask for more?”
Excited to be back for another round, Magic Dirt’s Adalita enthuses, “We’re mega excited to be rockin’ the Spring Loaded stage again this year. Back with our good mates, back with the awesome fans and ready to rock out! And this time we get to play with one of favourite bands that totally influenced us as kids – RATCAT! We can’t wait!”
The man behind it all, the vibe creator, Empire’s Marc Christowski says, “We are so stoked to announce this first Spring Loaded show for 2023, again we’ve assembled a killer lineup, the bands are pumped and so are we, it’s going to be a non-stop throwback to the good old days of Homebake and the Big Day Out… bring it on!”
Covering all bases, the festival will be bustling with craft beer and an enviable collection of the locale’s cherry-picked food trucks. Spring Loaded is a fully licensed 18+ event, strictly no BYO food or alcohol. The outdoor show will go ahead rain, hail or shine. No tables, tents, sun shelters or umbrellas are permitted, punters are urged to bring ponchos/raincoats and gumboots if rain is forecast. Picnic rugs and low camp chairs are permitted, as are sealed bottles of water, and there will be water refill stations.
VIP tickets will be available for the VIP Bar offering a premium viewing area, exclusive VIP entry, private bar and food area.
Spring Loaded will be making its way around Aus again this year, so keep your eyes peeled and your ear to the ground… or you can just keep up to date on all things Spring Loaded by visiting https://linktr.ee/springloadedfestival
SAT 3 JUNE | SANDSTONE POINT HOTEL, BRIBIE ISLAND | QLD | 18+
Tickets available from www.ticketek.com.au | 1300 364 001 | All Ticketek Outlets
Tickets available from www.oztix.com.au | 1300 762 545 | All Oztix Outlets
ABOUT EMPIRE
Empire Touring is a widely respected entertainment, promotions, marketing and events company. We have been producing live entertainment across Australia since 1982 and will continue to do so because WE LOVE ROCK ’N ROLL.
ABOUT SANDSTONE POINT HOTEL
Located on the glistening shores of Pumicestone Passage, overlooking Bribie Island is Sandstone Point Hotel. Take a trip to Queensland’s most iconic waterfront entertainment venue, just 45 minutes between both Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast. Offering return buses from a range of locations as well as on-site accommodation at BIG4 Sandstone Point Holiday Resort.