I have been complaining lately that I couldn't find the right songs for summer. Which I now have to retract because I should've just picked up Julian Simonsz' debut self-titled EP! (It would've saved me the hassle and those people having to listen to my constant music-wallowing.) Simonsz completely lives up to his Justin Timberlake comparisons, but totally owns it. This album is a gem, my favourite track is number 4: an acoustic version of I Do It For You. Big love for this, I'm pumped for Simonsz' next offering! Read my chat with Julian HERE || http://juliansimonsz.com/
2// Shameem ~The Second City
This album blew me away. I'm not going to lie, this isn't my usual type of music, but Shameem is such a standout that I had to give it a try anyway! And I'm so glad I did. This soulful, enchanting collection, with a distinctive jazzy feel, Shameem hasn't messed around with this one. The lyrics were amazing; I was so relaxed by this album that it took me way too long to write a review at all! Upcoming artists are my favourite, Shameem offers such an honest, refreshing album. Definitely give this one a chance!
3// Timothy Nelson & The Infidels ~ Terror Terror, Hide It Hide It
I'm just going to say it: I really love this band. Honestly, this album is a great start of the day pick-me-up. In fact I'd set it as my alarm, but that's just a sure way to make me resent it after about three days. So instead it stays ready for me to dance once the sun's fully risen. Its upbeat, quirky feel - guitar, drums, violin, synth, cello and percussion - has never sounded this much a perfect mess. Terror Terror, Hide It Hide It shouldn't work this well, but it just does. Listen to it.
According to author Stephen Kingit is best to "write with the door closed, rewrite with the door open", advice that Gabrielle Tozer took to heart. Her first draft (of debut novel, The Intern) was written within five months and her sequel Faking It was released within a year of its predecessor.
This whirlwind, multi-talent has sub-edited and written for leading publications, including teen magazines DOLLY and Girlfriend. No one could ever accuse this girl of not working hard.
Gabrielle has kindly taken some time from her holidays and uber busy schedule to share her character love, hypothetical movie casting and sequel teasing with Love 'Em.
Well congratulations firstly! Writing a novel must be quite a labour of love. Why, thank you very much.
For those unfamiliar with the story, can you give us a brief overview of your first book? It would be my pleasure! THE INTERN follows the adventures of 17-almost-18-year-old JosieBrowning, a sweet and bumbling first-year journalism student from the country. She finds herself taking part in a fiercely competitive internship at a glossy magazine in the city, resulting in a total duck-out-of-water situation for the poor thing! On top of that, Josie's dealing with a few pretty heavy issues back at home, her and best friend Angel's friendship is going through some interesting changes, and there's a guy (or two!) hanging around, which makes things more complicated... Oh, and there's awkwardness galore. Lots and lots of awkwardness.
Any sneaky hints for the second that you can share? Talking about sequels without giving away too much is difficult! FAKING IT is set three months after THE INTERN and follows Josie on her next adventure (whichis revealed at the end of the first book). There's more chaos, more awkwardness, more fun, more guy drama and, of course, more cringe-worthy shenanigans! Josie's doing her best to fit into new surroundings and it's proving to be more difficult than ever...
I know when I read a book I get really attached to the characters I'm reading about. Do you find yourself doing the same for your own characters? You bet! I feel for them all in some way - even the bad seeds. When they get butterflies, I get butterflies. When they're cringing, I'm cringing. When they want to kiss that guy, I want to kiss that guy (shoutout to my husband JT for being so damn understanding!). As the Robert Frost quote goes, "No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader".
Who's your favourite character from FAKING IT? What makes you love them in particular? Tough question. I'm going to have to cheat by naming a few. I have soft softs for Sia, mainly for her boisterous and hear-on-her-sleeve nature, Kat for being as sassy and sharp as ever, James because he's just so damn goofy and loveable and, of course, Josie Browning - I've put her through a lot over the past year and, despite all awkwardness, she always manages to pick herself up again and carry on with things. It's a good quality.
Your background is journalism, why did you want to write a fiction work about this world? I never thought I would, to be honest! But when the time came to work on a first draft of a novel, it seemed like a natural placeto begin. The media is a fascinating, drama-filled industry teeming with creative, colourful characters, so I already had experiences I could draw on (and exaggerate the hell out of). Now, two books later, I feel ready to tackle a new world!
Was it easier or harder to write the sequel, over your debut novel? I love writing and can't imagine doing anything else, but writing both books came with plenty of difficulties. THE INTERN came hand-in-hand with so much self-doubt: Can I even write this many words? If I can, will they even be any good? If they are, will anyone even want to publish me? As for FAKING IT: I had conquered those initial fears, but had bred a new batch of them because I had readers counting down for a sequel! Someone really needs to invent an off-switch for writers' brains...please, please, please!
How long does it take you to write a novel? There's not an easy answer to this! It can take some people a month, others 10 years. It takes as long as it takes to tell the story you're trying to tell.
How did this compare for you, from the fast-paced world of journalism? It was a completely different experience to go from working in a large team to being alone in a room for a few hours every day. While writing the books, I craved time on my own so I could hear myself think and dream and imagine - something that's almost impossible in an open-place office. I've always loved creative writing, though - I studied both journalism and creative writing at university, so am accustomed to chaining myself to my computer for hours and hours at ridiculous times of the day and night!
Imagining your books were to be made into a film, who would you cast as the leading lady? Tough question! A few readers have suggested Lily Collins and I could also imagine Ariel Winter or Hailee Steinfeld in the role. Happy to hear further suggestions - I love planning a hypothetical cast! A girl's gotta dream, right? The general consensus is James could be played by Dylan O'Brien and I'm happy with that.
Thanks for having a chat with Love 'Em! I can't wait to read FAKING IT! Thank you for having me stop by - it's been fun!
Gabrielle Tozer is an Australian author, journalist and editor. She has written for publications including Cosmopolitan, TV WEEK, Bride to Be, DOLLY and Girlfriend. Her YA novels THE INTERN and FAKING IT are out now.
Shameem is the spiritual, fruit-loving, soulful singer that my life has been missing, and I promise that you need this lady (or at least her music) in yours too!
This socially aware powerhouse is all set for the release of her second album, The Second City, and enjoying the drop of its first single, Under One Sun.
She's the type of person who likes to share, so audiences for her upcoming national tour are in for a treat - the stories and inspirations behind the songs.
So I'm going to let her introduce herself, meet Shameem.
Hi, I'm Shameem Taheri-Lee, better known as Shameem.
But you can call meSham, because that's easier to pronounce properly. I know that "Shameem" looks easy to say, but it's not; people always get it wrong!
I'd describe myself asa passionate, spiritual, rather workaholic musician.
Currently I lovesummer: the sun, the heat, the frangipanis, the fruit! Mmm, mangoes...
I'm a musician becauseI'm crazy about making music. And I think that music is a powerful way to get a positive message out there to a lot of people.
The first thing I do in the morning iseat some fruit. Gotta start the day with fruit. I'm most excited forJanuary 16 [2015] to roll around, as that's when I release my new album.
I can't wait to performin cities all around Australia in February - we are doing a national tour to support the album release. Yay!
I'm most proud of my younger brother, who took time off his studies this year to do volunteer work in Broome. The world would be a better place if people would give priority to serving others, and not just getting ahead in the rat race.
I'm excited for this album becauseI've been working on it for a long time, and it's been finished for a while now, so I want to release it and get it out there already! It's definitely a more mature and well-developed sound than my previous recordings, so I'm really keen to see what people think of it. I'm nervous thatI need to sell a lot of tickets for my album launch in Perth. It's at a really fantastic, big venue. These are the little things you worry about when you're a self-managing musician. Don't tell anyone but the first big concert I ever attended was 5ive - you remember, that British boy band? I was completely smitten with them when I was around 12-years-old and I still have two of their albums! At school I wasa floater who hung out with everybody: the geeks, the Asians, the white people, the musicians, the sporty people...everyone except the "cool" people; they didn't like me.
I couldn't live without my diary. I'm such a busy person, and my diary is like my lifeline.
I want to perform at Live Aid.
My biggest fan is a middle-aged man on Facebook. In fact, there are a few middle-aged men on Facebook who are super fans. They come to heaps of gigs, are always commenting on or sharing my online posts and are really supportive of my music! It might sound a bit strange - [a] young female artist with older male fans - but seriously they're all really lovely, nice people. I want to sing for Sting. He is my song-writing idol; I simply LOVE his music.
My favourite song ischanging all the time. I have a new favourite song at least once a week I think. Right now it's "Heaven" by Emeli Sande.
I love to watch Star Trek. Next Generation is my favourite series, followed by Voyager. I don't get much time to watch TV, so I rarely get to watch it, but I always hang out for it when it's on.
Right now I'm readingthe Qur'an. I'm not a Muslim; I just want to know what it says for myself, instead of getting second-hand information from either a fanatic religionist or up-jumped layperson who has no idea what they're talking about. When I'm not singing I'mon the computer, promoting my music like a good self-managed musician should do. When I'm on my phone I'mplaying solitaire to chill out and defrag my brain from all the things I have to think about all the time. Something not many people know about me is that I am a primary carer for my mum, who is rather disabled having been diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease 12 years ago.
I would tell my thirteen-year-old self thatbuilding a career in the music industry is going to take time, so be patient! And don't wait for anyone to anything for you: you have to do it all yourself.
Tour diaries are my personal favourite (so maybe I'm a nosey person..). And the wonderful guys and gals from Forest Falls have been kind enough to share one from their recent tour with Love 'Em! Listen to their music and read their words; theirs' is a world I wouldn't mind visiting.
The Heavy Hearted Girl Tour was a departure from the norm for us. We have done the trip up the east coast before but this time round we did it without a drummer. The obvious drawback was there was no boom-tsh for punch lines during on-stage banter. However, we did find there were many pluses. Firstly, the car ride was infinitely more spacious. On our last trip one band member had to cuddle a floor tom in order for everything to fit in the car. More importantly we really honed the set during our percussion hiatus. Having no beats to hide behind meant that we were super aware of our parts and how the dynamics worked. We made a lot of alterations to improve the tunes and our performance as a whole. We'll be releasing some live tracks from the trek in the near future.
The first leg of the Heavy Hearted Girl Tour was action packed. Although the first show at the Wesley Anne was sweet and intimate, it was marred by an unfortunate event. We have so much gear at the moment, much of it newly bought in the latest stint of recording, all of it black and imperceptible like all music gear. Basically, I'm angling towards the fact that it's hard to keep track of it all. Sure enough we left our beloved Casiotone keyboard behind. I know what you're thinking, "what's the big deal? Just go back and get it!" and you're right, but our gig was on the eve of Melbourne Cup and we planned to leave the next day. Jon packed an alternative keyboard but was so paranoid that it didn't have a case that he wrapped it in a doona. We hadn't even left Melbourne yet and we were all a little edgy. When we arrived in Canberra all our worries just dissipated. We were blown away by just how lovely (and resourceful!) everyone was. Our friend Nigel at the Canberra Musicians' Club managed to track down a Casiotone keyboard and put us up for the night.
Before the gig at Smith's Alternative we stopped by the studio at 2XXFM for LocalnLive with Reuben Ingall. Reuben's silky smooth radio voice soothed our nerves and we played a couple of raw versions of Coming Home and Heavy Hearted Girl. It was recorded with three regular mics that we usually use for talkback. Even so, we were pretty content with the performance at the time. When we listened back later it sounded so bass heavy. Our eyes quickly fixated on Jez who sings the lowest harmony of the song. We soon found out that ironically Jez had hung further back from the mics in an attempt to lay low. While everyone else sung close to one microphone, he had unwittingly tripled his input by singing to all of them from further back. He maintains this was an accident, although I have a sneaking suspicion he was craving the spotlight. We'll have to fling him another recorder solo like the one [he had] in Julia to keep him happy.
A jam in a Canberra Garden
We met another of Canberra's loveable music industry icons when we arrived at Smith's for sound check that night. The venue's resident sound guy, Bevan, had a phenomenal presence in the city and was revered by all the acts, organisers and radio peeps we met. He had a fully digital set up and was eager to learn the inner workings or our set to ensure the best sound on the night. We felt so comfortable on stage and the relatively petite venue was filled to the brim with our tunes.
The next day we set off early to drive to Sydney. After a couple of hours on the road we eventually arrived at long-time Forest Falls' friends, Chris and Sarah's.The gorgeous couple had housed us twice before on other musical endeavours but had recently upgraded to a new pad. We were prepared for the tiniest smidge of floor space to sleep on but instead [we] were given the kapua-suite. A hidden loft that not even Chris and Sarah's real estate knew about - it was legit although scaling the twenty-rung ladder to get to bed proved difficult on the night of the show.
So, the show! The show went really well: Dylan Wright, who had supported us as a solo act, was headlining and he and his band smashed it. The opener, Forster Anderson, had an equally commanding presence on stage despite being but one man. We were so impressed by him in fact, [that] we asked him down to Melbourne for our last show of the tour and he said "yes" everyone!*
Road Trippin'
So after the show we embarked on the ten-ish hour long long drive to Melbourne. Things got a little loopy there for a while, especially when Gabe ("Mumbles") and Jon got on the CB radios together. Gabe relentlessly impersonated other commuters on various channels and Jon proudly sang Queen songs - acapella and in their entirety. Somehow we all made it home unscathed and still friends, ready for the next few shows in the city of Melbourne!
*Just quickly, Gabe is emphatic that we shout out to Satellite Cafe in Newtown. He swears it's the best coffee. Reuben: juice, second coffee and muffin he's ever had in one sitting.
She's the red-headed powerhouse whose name you should familarise yourself with.
I may be a blogger, and in turn a writer, but sometimes my words really can't justify something. So instead, read Anna's and listen to her music. I'm sure that you'll love her just as much as I do.
Mahalia: Congratulations on the new single! How are you feeling? Anna: Thank you! I am so stoked with how well Symphony has been received so far, and excited to see where it goes. M: What's it been like working on Symphony? A:Symphony was the last track that I wrote for the EP and it was a very last minute addition. In terms of writing, it came together quite quickly, but we spent a fair bit of time on it in the studio. The team [of people] I have around me are unreal; my producer, Rhys Machell, put the bulk of the tune together, with the help of my guitarist, Simeon Nelson. Then it was sent off to Karl Cashwell, who added in the amazing string parts and some extra ear candy. It was so cool hearing each new mix as the song developed and I knew it was the right song to release first.
M: What were you feeling once it was released? A: I was really keen to get the song out, but once it was out I tried not to put too much expectation on it.
M: Did it get the initial response you were hoping for? A: The response Symphony has been getting is so much bigger than I could have hoped for. I'm feeling really good about the direction my sound is taking, and that's been confirmed for me in so many ways, which is nice! Getting featured on HillyDilly a few days after I put the song up on Triple J Unearthed was definitely a highlight and has opened up some really great opportunities for me - but you'll hear more about that soon!
M: What's happening for you now? A: At the moment, I'm just under a week out from the single launch show of Symphony at Amplifier Bar on Saturday (December 13th). So I am currently in rehearsals for that and preparing to hit Sydney and Melbourne with a couple of shows in January. There's a few other exciting things on the horizon, but yet to be announced, so keep an eye out! M: What should people know about your upcoming EP? What should they expect? A: I'm yet to settle on a title for the second EP, but people can expect a shift in [the] sound from my first release. I would say it's less pop and more electronic sort of vibes, but there's still lots of similar elements in the melodies, vocal layers, and beats. Lyrically this collection of songs are based much more around storytelling than personal experience. I wanted to communicate particular emotions and explore different concepts that haven't necessarily happened to me but are common human experience. I'm really with how the tunes are coming together and can't wait to release them to the world next year!
M: What inspired you to take up music? A: I've always been drawn to music, and I've never loved anything else enough to stick at it. It's like I have this deep-seated knowing that music is what I'm meant to do, and I've never been able to shake it..so here I am!
M: And just because it's nearly Christmas - are you a candy cane taker or leaver? A: I feel like such a party pooper to say it, but I'm not a massive fan of candy canes. Give me Mum's Christmas roast any day.
A diverse mix or indie and rock, Daniel J.C. and Roy Amar, The Horns are an exciting new Melbourne offering.
Metalhead, multi-instrumentalist Amar and Electro/Rock 'n' Roll vocalist Daniel, mightn't seem like the right fit, but give it a listen and you'll see why opposites attract. It definitely works.
The Horns started as a playful joke and an indie-loving girlfriend in need of a break from metal, but it's grown to be amazing in its own right.
With their debut single having just been released and their debut EP looking very strong, it's about time you became acquainted with The Horns, don't you think?
Mahalia: Play With Fire is your single, what's the process been like for you guys? Daniel: It's been amazing and unlike anything we've done before. We started this project with the overall goal to really perfect the recorded songs before anything else, which is sort of backwards to how we've done it in the past. It's always been write some songs, play some shows, record said songs so by the time your product is out there, your first impression has kind of been lost and you can become jaded by the project before you've even released a thing. This way, above all else, we've really worked on the recorded material and I think it really shows in the music.
M: So it sounds like The Horns became a thing in quite an unusual way. Can you tell us about this? D: Yeah, absolutely. I guess it came out of a need to try something completely new.Roy loves his metal [music] and I'm into all things electronic so we have never actually written pop music before, which I think is our biggest asset. It's still all so new to us and super exciting. The whole thing, funnily enough, started out as a bit of a joke. Roy, who had only ever written hard rock and metal songs, thought it would be funny to write a happy pop tune for his girlfriend, so he did. Unfortunately she loved it and wanted more so he kept going it all kinda spiralled from there.
M: How would you describe the music that you're making now? D: It's always incredibly hard to describe the music you make but I'd say, it's pop music with a bit more substance I guess.I've always been really inspired by the darker, more sombre sides of life too so there is more than a little melancholy hidden beneath the romanticism and happiness of the songs.
M: Where are you hoping to go with this new project? D: Everywhere! Roy and I have been making music for most of our lives and it's kind of all we know so if we can find a big enough audience to us support that, nothing would make us happier.
M: You've got an EP coming out in 2015, can you give any hints about what we can expect? D: Big pop tunes with a lot of layers. It's also a perfect representation of everything that we are. We got one of the first songs we ever wrote on there and also have a track that we wrote on the fly in the studio, so I guess it captures where we were and the very beginning and where we are headed.
M: Who are you currently listening to? D: We are launching our debut single, Play With Fire at The Railway Hotel, Brunswick, on the 5th of Decemberso I'm essentially just listening to our own music and getting a few brand new tracks ready for the show. Although my girlfriend just bought me Nick Caves' second record, The Firstborn Is Dead, on vinyl so [I've] definitely been giving that a good listen.
M: How would you describe the dynamics in your duo? D: It's actually pretty ridiculous. Roy and I are very close friends but we're opposites in every sense of the word and in absolutely every way. Somehow though, when it comes to creating music, we just click. We are kind of like the ethnic version of the odd couple but hey, it works!
I am going to be honest with you, I am NOT a Twilight fan - not really. I devoured the books (but honestly there isn't many that I don't) but the movies never captured me the way they did the masses. I am not a Twihard.
But the soundtrack, that I am willing to admit my love for.
Ryan O'Neal scored (pun not intended, but yep..) the gig of the highly anticipated and oh-so-important wedding scene. Not a bad job really.
And the very talented O'Neal has continued strongly since then, with a so many yet-to-be-announced projects. He was a pleasure, as is his music.
Mahalia: So it was a few years okay but can you tell me a little about how the chance to be on Twilight's soundtrack came about? How did that process work? Ryan: I've always been a huge fan of the Twilight soundtracks, so about a year before Breaking Dawn Pt. 1 came out, I decided to take a chance and try to write a song for the film. I watched all of the previous Twilight films back to back...and read a bit of the Breaking dawn book to see how the story was going. So I began to write...after sitting down at the piano for a while, I came up with the first few chords of what became Turning Page and to me, it felt like a wedding march. I leaned into that and wrote a love song. I completed my song and recording and sent it over to my publishers and crossed my fingers that somehow it'd make it into the hands of the filmmakers. After several months of silence I had assumed it was a no go. And then I got a phone call from the [Twilight] music supervisor [saying] she had good news - that my song would not only appear in the iconic wedding scene, but that it would be reprised in the honeymoon scene as well. I was completely blown away! Life changing for me!
M: What've you been up to of late? R: I've been working on the nest phase of my music series, Atlas - which is an ongoing series of new music inspired by the origins of the universe and the life inside it. I completed the first year of the project, 30 songs, and am about to begin year two! In addition to that, I started a new company called, Emphasis. It's a website where music fans [get] to hand-pick their favourite lyrics from their favourite bands and make a custom t-shirt. A dream come true for me, as it was an idea I had long ago - so to finally see it turned intoa real thing has been so fun!
M: How would you describe your music to someone who hadn't heard it before? R: I'd say it's generally quiet music...lots of acoustic and orchestral instruments. I love film scores, so there's a lot of that influence there and I love pop song structure, so that's in there too! It's a little bit folk as well.
M: If you could play a show anywhere in the world, where would you perform? R: There are SO many places I have yet to play and see!! I'd love to play a show in Iceland. And Paris... M: What does a day in your life look like at the moment? R: I wake up, spend a little time with my wife, Cayt and new baby girl, Lily. Then I begin work, which is different every day! If I'm writing, it means sitting at my piano in my studio and working on lyrics or melodies for the new song I'm writing and recording. Other days it's music "business" stuff...like planning out the months ahead with my manager, or preparing announcements, blog posts, etc. Or sorting out new merch. It's alwaysa little different, but every day I try to write a little bit. That's my anchor.
M: What's the plan for 2015? R: Continuing on with Atlas: Year Two (which will be about 24 new songs!), I'll be writing a film score for an upcoming documentary and I've got a whole bunch of other plans I can't announce yet! Can't wait!
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I'm just going to say it: I really love this band. Honestly, this album is a great start of the day pick-me-up. In fact I'd set it as my alarm, but that's just a sure way to make me resent it after about three days. So instead it stays ready for me to dance once the sun's fully risen. Its upbeat, quirky feel - guitar, drums, violin, synth, cello and percussion - has never sounded this much a perfect mess. Terror Terror, Hide It Hide It shouldn't work this well, but it just does. Listen to it.
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