Take 5

Neko Case is a powerhouse of song. Over twenty years she’s crafted some of my favourite lyrics as a solo artist dwelling in Americana, and as a soaring pop singer in The New Pornographers. On her own records, Neko’s songs often dwell in the outside; whether she’s singing of foxes, or wild weather, you can feel and see the atmosphere she creates in every story. But there’s a deeply human element to...

Caiti Baker is one of my favourite Australian singers. I first came across her work as one half of Sietta. Then she stepped out on her own and cemented her spot as one of the great soul singers making music today in Australia. Caiti is a long time resident of the Northern Territory. As a kid she’d tag along on family road trips when her dad (also a muso) would drive from Adelaide to the Top End to...

Yumi Stynes is a name you know well if you grew up in Australia. She’s been on tv screens and in radio speakers for close to 20 years; as host on music network Channel V and MAX. These days she does a great podcast on sometimes taboo topics called Ladies, We Need To Talk . In between she’s also published a cookbook, written newspaper columns, and likes to do fun runs in her spare time. And, she’s...

Alex Kapranos is a Scottish national treasure. As lead singer of Franz Ferdinand, his frontman swagger has kept us dancing for more than a decade. As an interviewee, he’s an absolute delight; always generous, curious and charming every time he joins you behind the mic. On his most recent visit to Australia with his band, I knew he’d make the perfect Take 5 guest. And when I gave him the theme “mus...

Kimbra is a musical genius. From the moment I first heard her jazz vocals on her Unearthed profile, to seeing her explore wild ideas, sounds and personalities (and of course a few big collaborations), she is always someone who's music and ways of approaching it has fascinated me. Over the years, she's also someone who I've seen who thinks intensely about the art that she makes, and that her contem...

Eleanor Dixon is a born leader. I first met her a few years ago at a week long event called Bush Bands Business. It was a series of workshops for Indigenous bands throughout remote communities in central Australia, and Elly was the first woman to ever be involved, with her band Rayella. Her drive and grounded nature struck me from our first meeting, and so I wasn’t surprised to see her appear agai...

This is a Man’s Man’s World, sang Renee Geyer back in 1974. And despite equal numbers of women studying, making and showing a love for music, there’s still a vast inequality in the Australian music industry to this day. It’s a story often told, but in a brilliant new doco “Her Sound Her Story”, these tales are captured also as a celebration of the scene we have (both on and off the stage). Claudia...

I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who doesn’t have a soft spot for Soulwax. The Belgian band have been making us dance for years – and are known as much for their own music as their incredible remixes. Way back when I first starting doing the Take 5, they were one of my early guests. The year was 2007. They were touring Australia and I asked them to pick songs that took us on a European vacation....

Filth. Glue. Porno. Trainspotting. All books that have made waves, and all books by Scottish author Irvine Welsh. Like many Scots I know, he has a black sense of humour. And he’s a quiet observer; you can imagine him sitting in the corner of a pub, or watching from the street just to see how humans interact. Back in 2014 he came to Australia to speak at the Sydney Writers Festival, off the back of...

Zola Jesus is an unashamed goth, with a huge voice. In 2012, she visited Australia to perform at the Vivid Live Festival. I loved Zola’s art but also had an inkling she’d be a great Take 5 guest, so I asked her to come in and co-host with me. It’s been a few years since, but as we hit the depths of winter and rug up in our best black attire I thought it’d be fun to dig this one out of the archives...

Ice Cube is a godfather of West Coast Rap. He joined NWA as a teenager, and penned their most powerful song when he was 17. One album later, he left the group and set off on a solo path, and succeeded again. His first two albums are still considered to be defining records of the 90’s and while that was going on, in 1991 Ice Cube starred in his first feature film “Boys N the Hood”. Through the 90’s...

Ben Quilty is one of Australia’s most celebrated artists. Whether he’s painting the portrait of fellow artist Margaret Olley, of Australian soldiers in Afghanistan, of Jimmy Barnes or even of his old Torana, his style finds a heart and depth not often seen. I first met Ben when he working closely with the Bali 9 (particularly Myuran Sukumaran) using art therapy to help Myu as he sat confined in Ke...

I take you back in the Take 5 time machine to 2007, when Ian Mackaye did the Take 5. The frontman for Fugazi, Embrace and Minor Threat, he has been in countless bands and was – at the time – touring with The Evens. In Washington DC he heads up the DIY record label Dischord, started to support the DC bands he loved. Everything Ian does has strong ethics at it’s core. Everything he is, is grounded i...

Jonathan Zawada may not be a name you’re immediately familiar with, but his work has covered the albums of some of your favourite Australian artists. He’s behind every album, single and EP cover from The Presets , designed the iconic album cover for Flume ’s second album skin, and has created the visual mood for music by Mark Pritchard , Baauer , Canyons and more. His visual art can be as small as...

Jenny Zhang was born in Shanghai, but raised in New York City. With a foot in each world, it’s was often a challenge to find a community and keep one. This perspective runs through her brilliant debut collection of stories, Sour Heart. It was a book that caught the attention of Lena Dunham, who chased it to ensure it’d be the first book published on her new ‘Lenny’ imprint. Seven stories, written...

Belle and Sebastian have been making us dance with whimsy, for more than two decades. Their indie-pop is etched on our hearts, and their song are beautiful vignettes of the every day. Lead singer and main songwriter Stuart Murdoch has always had a way with words, and his faith has played a big part in his writing as well. More recently, he’s been taking an interest in Buddhism and it is this and t...

Thirty four years after the world was introduced to Spinal Tap, you can still pull out a quote from their rockumentary and everyone knows who you’re talking about. Spinal Tap reflected the heavy bands at the time; ask any artist still making music today, and the adventures and conversations on screen cut painfully close to the bone. Nigel Tufnel, David St Hubbins and Derek Smalls were, and are, li...

Sampa the Great is a self fulfilling prophecy. When Sampa Tembo first started making music, she gave herself a moniker. She may have only been at the beginning, but it was a statement of where she would head. Where she would be. Sure enough, as soon as Sampa started performing, we all took notice. She was picked by Kendrick Lamar as support for his arena shows back in 2016 with just a few songs up...

Tom Waits is an icon. Since the early 1970’s he’s sung us late night piano ballads in whiskey soaked bars, taken us into garages of found sounds and mysterious stories, and presented avante garde theatre through his songs. Over many decades, he’s develop his own ragged style and continually pushes the boundaries of the music he makes. Back in 2011 I had the rare opportunity to interview Tom on the...

Peaches has been blowing minds for almost 20 years. The Canadian musician, performer, and trailblazer puts on the kind of show you’ll never forget; a transgressive, free, openly sexual and often political display of her own utopia. Everything she does, is designed to make an impact, start a conversation. In the two decades she’s been making art, concepts around gender, freedom and sexuality have m...

Just a few years ago Leon Bridges was a relative unknown in Fort Worth, Texas. A chance encounter brought his beautiful voice out of that town and across the world. Everywhere he plays, people flock to see him, Barack Obama is one of his biggest fans. In the last three years Leon Bridges has toured Australia annually. On his most recent trip, he came in to share five songs that carry the torch. Mo...

Angel Olsen has been making music for years. As a collaborator she played with Will Oldham, and then released her own music back in 2010, debuting on cassette. But it was her 2016 record My Woman, that made the world sit up and take notice. Acclaimed all over, it marked the arrival of an incredibly powerful songwriter and when we saw Angel Olsen live, we fell in love even more. Her life since has...

As founding member for Grizzly Bear, Ed Droste has shaped the sound of modern indie music. Across five albums, the American band have layered intricate and nuanced guitar music with choirboy vocals and a lot of heart. Their breakthrough album was Yellow House, but since then they’ve held fans enraptured and toured Australia multiple times over the years. Their latest album is Painted Ruins, a reco...

Kamasi Washington’s tenor sax is all over music right now. The LA musician has spent a good part of his career collaborating with artists like Lauryn Hill, Chaka Kahn, Flying Lotus and Wayne Shorter, but it was his 2015 three hour long album “The Epic” that made the world stand up and take notice. In the same year, he worked closely with his friend Kendrick Lamar on “To Pimp a Butterfly”, as arran...

Beck Hansen is a ground breaker. Over 13 studio albums he's taken us from slacker indie, to cut n paste folk hip-hop, to all out funk, and kaleidoscopic pop. “Loser” may have put him on the musical map, but he's continued to push the boundaries in what he creates. All while crafting an incredible soundtrack for all of our lives. When he came in to Take 5, the theme I gave him was leaps in music -...