Take 5

Jake Shears is a boundary breaker. As frontman for Scissor Sisters he and his band pushed queerness into the mainstream, way before it became the norm. Their flamboyant performance paired with killer pop songs, and with his falsetto voice Jake Shears became bigger than even he himself could imagine. The Scissors called it a day in 2012, and Jake went through plenty of other life changes. He split...

In 2018 Christine and the Queens broke through. Already a big star in her native France, it was her second album Chris that made her a household name everywhere else; a big, late 80’s and early 90’s pop album full of lyrics about sex, gender identity, and every grey area in between. It was one of the best albums of the year. With it’s success, came finally an Australian tour, and while she was in...

Mia Dyson is one of those people I could talk with all day. It’s not just the timbre of her voice, it’s her stories; filled with pinch yourself moments and gratitude for the experiences she’s had. Her last album was recorded at the legendary Muscle Shoals studios in Alabama, a place where Bob Dylan, The Stones, Aretha Franklin and many more have layed down songs. It’s a place where the sound, and...

One of my favourite artist discoveries of the past few years, is Gordi. From the get go, her music has always been beautifully textured; she dances with layers and effects and takes you into this sonic quilt with every song. But strip it back, and at its heart is incredible writing, and a perspective that gives each song new light. That’s what we played with, when I asked Gordi to come in and Take...

Murray Cook is one of the most watched and loved musicians in the world. As a founding member of The Wiggles, he would don the red turtleneck and entertain millions, but his love of music and entertaining stretches way back. Murray played in bands before, and after his time as the Red Wiggle, and when he’s not on stage, he’s in the crowd; constantly out seeing bands and supporting live bands big a...

As soon as Parquet Courts dropped their new album in 2018, I was all ears. The New York band have always been prolific, and political, but this album more than any other was responding very directly to the times. When frontman Andrew Savage joined me for the Take 5, I knew what to do. Spouting strong messages throughout his own music, I gave him the theme “songs to rally around”. Music that, lyric...

I Love Rock N’ Roll, Crimson and Clover, Bad Reputation. These are the songs that soundtracked 80’s rock and roll and the woman behind them? Joan Jett. She started a band called The Runaways with Cherie Currie, and became an icon in music; particularly for young women who until then, hadn’t seen themselves up there on stage playing guitar. A solo career and the Blackhearts would follow, and for de...

Neneh Cherry is an icon. In 1989, this young Swede based in London caught all of our attention with her debut album Raw Like Sushi, and through the 90’s she’d hold it, with two more albums before taking a breather from music. But her creative life began way earlier. With an artist mother and jazz legend Don Cherry as her stepfather, Neneh’s childhood was a life less ordinary. She split it between...

2018 has been a big year for the Take 5. So before I take a little break, I thought it was worth celebrating some of the greatest moments of the last 12 months, and Frankenstein a Turbo co-host. It’s honestly hard to keep the list to 7, but these conversations capture what I love about the Take 5. They can be at one moment hilarious, at another, devastating. What they always reveal, are the musica...

If you grew up in the 90’s, you grew up with The Offspring. The Cali punks may have formed in the 80’s, but it was their 1994 album Smash that helped them break through; quite literally, it holds the record for the highest selling independent album, 11 million copies worldwide. Bad Habit, Self Esteem, Come Out and Play… these are the songs that soundtrack our youth, that we yelled back at when the...

King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard are as prolific with their albums as there are letters in their band name, or shows on their tour run. The seven piece released five albums in 2017, and for much of 2018 they toured through Australia and the world. To cap off Ausmusic Month, I thought we could have some fun. And some pun. King Gizzard and the Lizard of Oz; five songs that make them click their he...

It’s fair to say that when I mention the name Patience Hodgson, you’re likely to break into a smile. That’s because the front woman for The Grates has always had the kind of energy that’s infectious. Whether you see her live, follow her on social media or hear her chatting on her podcast or in an interview, the joy that radiates from Pae is undeniable. Over more than a decade, Patience has enterta...

It takes a strong band to stick together for almost three decades. But through ups and downs, and even near bankruptcy, Northern Ireland trio ASH have done just that. The band got together when they were teenagers; they were still finishing high school when they first got signed. With catchy songs like Girl from Mars, Kung-Fu and Shining Light, they’ve become the soundtrack to every indie rock fan...

Brendan Huntley is a wild man. As the lead singer for Eddy Current Suppression Ring, many of us first met him as we watched, or heard him spit visceral lyrics and crawl across stages. One of the most exciting bands to see live, his pacing back and forth and the abandon he would approach each show with, made every Eddy Current gig memorable. He plays with Melbourne band Boomgates too, and when he’s...

If you ever asked me to recommend a live show that you could dance to, singalong with and that’d fill your heart with joy? I’d tell you to go and watch Mama Kin Spender. The duo of Mama Kin and Spender collaborated earlier this year on their debut album; combining rousing, heartfelt songs with group singing and driving drumbeats. They’ve both had a long history of solo music making but in 2018 the...

It’s fair to say there’s no one in the world like Bruce Dickinson. He’s the long time lead singer for Iron Maiden; a band who have been playing together for 40 years, who’ve sold 100 million albums and who still sell out arena’s worldwide. Being the frontman for one of the world’s greatest heavy metal bands would be enough for most. But over the past four decades, Bruce has dabbled in plenty more....

If you’re a fan of Australian music then Kevin Mitchell is like a big brother, or best mate. He fronted Jebediah for years, and with them, wrote some of the biggest anthems of the 90’s. Then Kev started making solo music, under the moniker Bob Evans. We got to see a pop and Americana side of him that we’d not witnessed before. And before we knew it, he’d been doing that for almost 20 years. When h...

Holly Throsby is one of my favourite people to chat with. As a prolific songwriter, she’s put out five solo albums, as well as a kid’s record and the Seeker Lover Keeper project; a collaboration with Sarah Blasko and Sally Seltmann. Over the years I’ve had the chance to sit down with Holly and talk music and writing many times, and she’s forever inspiring in the way she sees, and then writes about...

One of the joys of having such a long running segment like the Take 5, are the archives. Off the back of a handful of Take 5’s reflecting back on the 90’s, it got me thinking about all the conversations I’ve had with artists over the more than 12 years I’ve been doing this. People for whom that decade has had a lasting impact, as a performer, or fan, or both. So I Frankensteined a monster Take 5;...

If you were a teenager watching TV in the 90’s, then Recovery was like church. Every Saturday morning no matter what, you’d flop on the couch and watch this ramshackle live music TV show; three hours long, with characters like the Enforcer lurking about, shaky handheld camera shooting, and all hosted by an eyebrow ring bearing firecracker, called Dylan Lewis.  It was the kind of loose TV we hadn’t...

Christine Anu is a legend in Australian music. We first met her in the mid 90’s, when her debut album Stylin’ Up came out and went platinum. It was filled with hits like 'Monkey & the Turtle and Party', and featured Christine singing in English and traditional language on a pop record. This was 1995, and while Yothu Yindi and the Warumpi band had paved the way, singing in language was far from...

TISM were one of the biggest Australian bands of the 90’s. They were the godfathers of musical comedy, captains of satire and frankly, a band that when I listen to today, I’m still gobsmacked by. They hailed from Melbourne but played all over; masked men who would put on insane shows full of bizarre concepts and songs like “Defecate On My Face” and “Saturday Night Palsy”. TISM were the ultimate sh...

The Big Day Out was one of our most iconic festivals. Born in 1992 when the Australian festival calendar was way less crowded, this is where many of us return when we think about discovering our favourite bands, and our tribe, in the 90’s. It’d always be hot, you’d spend ages planning your outfit and organising your friends. And even if you had a mental list of the bands you were desperate to see,...

Tim Minchin is a bit of a renaissance man. An actor, singer, comedian, writer and the fella behind the hugely successful musical adaptation of Matilda. In between his time writing perfect songs on piano, Tim played Atticus Fetch on Californication, and has starred in Australian TV productions like The Secret River, and Squinters. After a decade away, Tim has returned home to Australia. So I asked...

Andrew W.K. is a man with a clear goal: to make the most of every moment we’re lucky to have. Through music, motivational speaking, writing columns, even starting his own political party he lives by and for the party. Beyond the glam and punk rock though, lies the heart of a fan. This is about the music that affected him from a young age, that really made him fall in love with music. From rock ope...