One of the first things you get to know about Audelio Flores, guitarist for hardcore punk band Set Your Goals, is just how aware this guy is of his place in the world and the responsibilities that come with it. Realising that fans are the source and reason for their continued existence, Audelio is both down to earth and conscious of the impact that their music can have on those who follow them… a rare combination in todays music scene.

Early difficulties with record labels drove home some difficult lessons for the band, but a shift to legendary punk rocker Brett Gurewitz’s Epitaph label finally gave them a home from where they remain passionate and driven about the message they want to get out with their music.

It’s been a bit of an interesting ride for you guys so far, just over 5 years together. What do you think has changed day to day as a working band, from when you started?

AF: We’ve just grown up a lot, y’know. Like, we’ve been fortunate enough to be able to travel the world and go to places we never thought that would ever be possible, by doing music, which is the one thing we all love. From all of that we’ve just grown to be more of a family with each other. Before we were just…like we’re still really good friends, but it was more like “Let’s just go out and play a couple of shows here and there”… but now it’s become more of a career for us, which is awesome. We’ve had a lot of bumps, a lot of ups and downs, but we all got through it together.

Do you think that comes out more in the music you’re writing now?

AF: I think so, ’cause like we’re very passionate about what we do, and we’re very passionate about what we want to say and what we talk about. And we’re passionate about our fans. We’re a fortunate band that even our fans look up to us and it’s kind of like, almost like a job for us to be a positive role model to a lot of younger kids.

Do you think this responsibility has come out in the music? Do you think your listeners hear this in the difference in the music between Mutiny and This Will Be The Death Of Us?

AF: I think so. A lot of bands say “We’ve matured”, but we hate using that… like ‘Oh, we’ve “Matured”’, quote-unquote… but, we definitely have on our way seeing the world. We want to keep carrying that message.

Like, to me, I love bands that have something to say and not just talk about some random girl that they’re in love with. I’ve always been a fan of bands that had something to say. Especially for us, we all grew up as part of the punk rock hardcore scene, and for those bands we grew up listening to, it was a responsibility, almost, that they had, and they have to keep carrying it with them. So that’s kinda how we see ourselves.

Is writing a collaborative effort or do ideas come from separate members?

AF: For Mutiny, it was more Jordan, Mikey and Matt. Because the band wasn’t completed …it was like more friends filling in. But for this one, four years ago, we finally got our set lineup and this record was more of a collaboration. Jordan would come up with riffs, or someone else would come up with riffs and we would just jam out. Jordan would take it to Mikey to get the basic ideas going… and Matt and Jordan would just brainstorm thoughts and ideas about what the band has been feeling or about what the band wants to talk about and just take it from there. So yeah, it’s definitely more of a collaboration.

One of the comparisons that have come up recently with the release of This Will Be The Death Of Us, is with Bad Religion, who set the standard for the genre. How do you fell about this comparison?

AF: to be honest, it’s amazing. We all grew up listening to that band, and when we signed to Epitaph, we knew that was gonna would be a home for us, especially after talking to Brett Gurewitz. We weren’t even nervous; we were more excited to be able talk to him as, like, a musician. We didn’t talk to him as a business guy. When we met up with him, we were like “This is one of the dudes from Bad Religion!”… a band that we all grew up listening to and a lot of us were inspired by. To be honest, we never thought we would sign to Epitaph and be compared to them. It’s awesome. To me, if we could be… not that we’ll ever be like Bad Religion… but if we could be the next type of Bad Religion, as a band, I would be happy.

Speaking of Epitaph, the move from Eulogy…other bands have gone thorugh similar label problems in their formative years. How did think that affected the sound of the second album?

AF: I know our record has more of a mid-90’s punk feel to it, but we try to bring the Set Your goals hardcore influences in to, but I don’t think it really affected the way we write or the way the band shaped itself, because we don’t want to be pigeonholed into being like a generic hardcore mosh type of band. We want to play… we all grew up skating and grew up listening to that style of music, and so we wanted to write music that’s gonna moves us and gets us excited and definitely it’s a coincidence that we ended up going with Epitaph and it sounds more like one of their earlier releases.

On the topic of getting excited; you guys will be on the Soundwave Festival lineup next year. This won’t be your first visit to Australia. Anything you missed out before that you want to do here this time?

AF: We went two years ago on The Boys Of Summer (tour), and it was rad. The only thing that was a bummer, I guess, was that every morning we would fly out and so we didn’t’ get to see the outskirts of Australia. In the states we travel in a van still… we don’t have a bus… and you’re able to see the little towns, like the wilderness. That’s the one thing we didn’t get to see on the previous Australia tour, the last one with All Time Low. If we can, we would love to just see the culture side of things of Australia … just go to the beach and hang out. The simple things.

With the Soundwave festival coming up, there’s a lot of band on that lineup. Are there any in particular that you’re looking forward to seeing?

AF: We really hope we’re on the same day as Sunny Day Real Estate. Right now they’re touring and we just missed them and none of us got to see them. That’s one of our favourite bands, especially Matt Wilson… it’s his favourite band, so it’s a bummer that we can’t see them on this reunion tour that they’re doing, but, I hope we’re on the same day so we can enjoy it.

Any acts that you admire that you haven’t performed/toured with that you’d like to? Who would be your dream co-headliners?

We really wanna do a Bad Religion tour, y’know? We always joke around with Brett about doing that, because it’s kinda like more exciting getting to tour with bands we grew up listening to. Like when we did the Gorilla Biscuits tour. It was awesome… I love doing shows like that. When Lifetime did their reunion shows and we were able to play two of the shows, and when we got to play with New Found Glory, those have also been highlights. But if we could do an ideal tour that we would love to do, it would be Bad Religion and Rancid.

Six guys together on tour can get pretty intense… is there anything you take that you can’t live without?

AF: Now, because technology is so advanced, is our iPhones. More than half of the band has iPhones and just video games. iPhones, iPods and talcum powder. Because on those days when you’re chaffing, it makes it feel better *laughs*

Unfortunately, parts of Australia are really humid, especially the coastal areas, so it’s pretty intense like that.

AF: Don’t worry, we never travel without it. *laughs*

What can Australian audiences expect from you guys on stage this time out? More of the same, or do you have something new for us?

AF: It’s definitely too early for us to think of what to do, but we always try to change it up every time we go, just because we want to put on a show and have the audience interact with us. But you’re definitely going to see a lot of energy coming from us, as much as the crowd, because we always feed off the crowd. I hope there’s no barricade, which I’m almost positive there’s going to be, but if there isn’t, we want kids to just try come up onstage… like, “Our stage is your stage”, and without you guys we wouldn’t be able to go play.

Are you looking ahead to the next album? What have you got planned for us next? What’s on the agenda for Set Your Goals for the future?

AF: There’s been a lot of writing going back and forth between all of us. I don’t know if we’re going to do a full length album, right away, who knows. But, we’re talking about doing, maybe an EP… just to like get things going. But we definitely don’t want to wait three years to release another record. We were going through a lot of dark times at the time and didn’t feel like releasing anything, until the right moment was there. But we definitely have more stuff that we just want to get out… more energy, more… more punkrock music, I guess. Just change it up, like, whatever we’re into at the time… just try to bring whatever influence into it, but with a Set Your Goals twist to it.

Set your Goals Interview! is an article originally published on I'm With The Band

In 2004, Green Day unleashed American Idiot on the world. A boundary smashing, genre confounding work of art, American Idiot changed the face of music, welcoming a new generation of music fans to the cult of Green Day.

In 2009 Green Day returned to stamp their authority on the music world releasing 21st Century Breakdown. Hailed as the jewel in an already impressive crown, 21st Century Breakdown has confirmed Green Day’s status as one of the greatest rock bands in the world.

It’s with great pleasure The Frontier Touring Company announces Green Day’s return to Australia and New Zealand as part of their 21st Century Breakdown World Tour. This will be Green Day’s first visit since 2005’s explosive stadium and arena spectaculars.

If past tours are anything to go by, fans are sure to be thrilled as Green Day take to arena stages in Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Auckland this December.

Green Day Announce Tour! is an article originally published on I'm With The Band

This is probably the best Beyonce, Single Ladies cover I’ve seen / heard so far. It’s brought to us by a band called Pomplamoose from California, here’s a bit of their bio;

jack conte and nataly dawn started making music together in the summer of ‘08, and decided to form a band. pomplamoose thus represents the collaborative efforts of the two afore-mentioned musicians. it also means grapefruit in french.

Anyway, check it out…

Hat tip to The Inquisitr.

Pomplamoose – Single Ladies (Beyonce cover) is an article originally published on I'm With The Band

Following the unprecedented sell out of both SYDNEY Big Day Out shows, organisers announce a final 3,000 tickets PER SHOW will be available for purchase through an online ticket ballot via the Big Day Out website, www.bigdayout.com.

Here’s what you need to know…

Each week 300 tickets for the two 2010 SYDNEY BDOs will be made available on our website via an online randomly drawn ballot.

The ballot will be drawn at 9pm EST on the Thursday of each week, beginning Thursday 22nd October and finishing Thursday 24th December.

The weekly ballot ticket limit is 2 tickets per customer.

As the ballot of both Sydney Big Day Out events has a strict limit of 2 tickets per customer, if you have previously bought Big Day Out tickets to either Sydney event and if upon entering into the ballot you surpass the 2 ticket limit, no tickets will be allocated to you. This will be strictly adhered to.

Registering for the ballot

* Registrations will open tomorrow at 9am EST Thursday 15th October. * You will need to complete and submit the ballot registration page on the website. * Your registration will only need to be completed once and will last for the duration of the balloting weeks.

If you are successful in the ballot

An email will be sent to you within 2 hrs of the ballot draw. This will provide details of how to complete the order, ie, pay for your tickets.

You will be given 5 days to pay for your ticket order (until 9pm EST on the following Tuesday after the ballot). If in this time you have not paid for your order, these tickets will be forfeited and put back into the next week’s ballot.

CONDITIONS OF SALE AND ADMISSION

Selling tickets for higher than the face value is a breach of the conditions of sale. In an effort to ensure that our tickets are available to genuine punters at the price we have set, every customer will need to read and agree to our Conditions of Sale and Admission before they can purchase tickets. These can be viewed on our website now. Tickets sold on auction sites may be declared invalid and the ticket holder may be refused entry. You have been warned.

Good luck.

Stay tuned for the second round of acts to join the party plus solo show announcements for the international artists.

Please go to www.bigdayout.com for all line up and ticketing details.

Sydney Big Day Out ticket ballot! is an article originally published on I'm With The Band

Editors note: Every now and then we get sent an article from a punter, most of the time they’re just little rants and aren’t often worth publishing….however this one we received from Bronwyn caught my eye. There’s some interesting points here and I’d love to hear a bit of feedback from everyone else.

Cheers,
Ed

Saturday Night at the Hamilton Station Hotel two bands traveled from Sydney for the EP launch tour, The Fearless Vampire Killers and The Frowning Clouds. A well known reviewer for a Sydney music magazine couldn’t recommended enough that I go see The Frowning Clouds. He’s tagged them to be the next big thing. They have an extraordinarily unique sound. Trendy reminiscing is the hook; 60’s pop nostalgia.

The live-music scene in Newcastle has its ups and downs and Saturday night was a low. The music community of Newcastle needs their attention brought to an opportunity missed and that has most likely has made a rather bad impression on two bands who may prove to be the best new Australian sound out there right now.

Big Apachee, a well-known Newcastle music-entertainment promotions company organised the night. The venue proved totally wrong for what should have been a fantastic gig. With hardly any promotion, a lack-lustre support act, less than 10 people showed up. The Frowning Clouds deserved better and Big Apachee should apologise. The bands should have played at Bar on the Hill, the Cambridge or the Lass, or even headlining at the TINA festival. More people would of come if it had been a house party in Wickham.

It was the wrong venue and is a travesty there was no promotion done. Not to mention local support act which in one word was forgettable. Though, it was rather poor form of the Cloudss and the Vampires to not sit through this set, and did mean they lost what local crowd of any there was. That aside, the Station was a horrid venue for these trendy cats. The Clouds let us know they were unimpressed, and been called fags. Well yeah, the Bogan factor in Newcastle takes some reconciling. But that is why you have to secure the right hotel and assure it has the suitable atmosphere for the bands.

I’m twenty-five, since turning 18 have been to countless gigs and am proud to be affiliated with a strong local music community. Big Apache has a pretty bad reputation amongst the DIY (do-it-yourself) music scene in Newcastle, and Saturday night was evidence why.

A promotions company that cared about live music would the right local support bands, and organise an unforgettable performance that would impress the audience hopefully the bands. It’s important that Big Apache’s mistake is pointed out. The two bands should be apologised to and urged to come back.

And here’s where both the bands shined: they played anyway, and they both played well. I was assured by the front man of The Clouds, Nick (who was frowning indeed), that it hadn’t been the bands best performance. If that was them not so good, the heights they must scale when it is good would be phenomenal. The music was fun, the beat was flawless and the band has those tunes that make for a happy night. The sound was tight. Each song was
enjoyable as the next.

I can’t say thank you enough – both bands could of easily packed up and gone back to Sydney. The night was most special, it was like being privileged to a rehearsal; a private performance for two newly acquired fans.

If ever music for music’s sake meant something, it meant something Saturday night.

by Bronwyn M

Shedding tears for The Frowning Cloud is an article originally published on I'm With The Band

Here’s the latest video from Camera Obscura, called The Sweetest Thing…and nope, it’s not a U2 cover thankfully! It’s off of their latest album My Maudlin Career which you can pick up on iTunes now.

Camera Obscura, The Sweetest Thing is an article originally published on I'm With The Band

One Fast Move or I’m Gone: Kerouac’s Big Sur, a new album featuring 12 original songs composed and performed by Jay Farrar of Son Volt and Benjamin Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie–with lyrics based on the prose of Jack Kerouac’s landmark 1962 novel Big Sur–is set for an October 20 release on F-Stop/Atlantic Records along with a feature-length documentary of the same title in which both Gibbard and Farrar appear.

Gibbard and Farrar, having never previously met, discovered a mutual kinship in their passion for Kerouac’s work while recording several songs for the documentary, produced by Kerouac Films.

After the initial San Francisco recording session in July 2007, they decided to develop the project further to create an album using Kerouac’s own words from the book as the lyrics. Big Sur is an evocative account of a time in Jack’s life when he’d “come undone,” both emotionally and spiritually. He escapes to a cabin in Big Sur to confront his inner demons and find a modicum of peace by the sea.

Gibbard stayed in the original cabin Kerouac wrote about, to compose songs for his band’s 2008 Grammy-nominated album, Narrow Stairs. For many years, Jay Farrar’s songwriting has been inspired and influenced by Kerouac’s compositional style.

Jim Sampas, (Badlands, Kerouac–kicks joy darkness) is executive producer of the album. The documentary, One Fast Move or I’m Gone: Kerouac’s Big Sur, is directed by Curt Worden and produced by Gloria Bailen and Jim Sampas of Kerouac Films. The film features appearances by writers, poets, actors and musicians including, Tom Waits, Patti Smith, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, and Sam Shepard. The album and film will be released on October 20, the day before the 40th anniversary of Kerouac’s death, as a stand alone CD, a CD/DVD package, a limited edition boxed set packaged with the novel, a 40-page book on the documentary and the CD/DVD. The album will additionally be released on vinyl.

Full track listing here:

1. California Zephyr
2. Low Life Kingdom
3. Willamine
4. All In One
5. Breathe Our Iodine
6. These Roads Don’t Move
7. Big Sur
8. One Fast Move Or I’m Gone
9. Final Horrors
10. Sea Engines
11. The Void
12. San Francisco

And check out the trailer below;

One Fast Move or I’m Gone: Kerouac’s Big Sur is an article originally published on I'm With The Band

Since the Big Day Out 2010 was announced and went on sale, we have had an unprecedented response!! SYDNEY, GOLD COAST AND MELBOURNE sold out in minutes and Adelaide and Perth events followed suit with website allocations selling out in record time and only limited tickets available via various outlets now available.

For only the second time in the Big Day Out’s 18-year history, a second SYDNEY show taking place on SATURDAY JANUARY 23RD at SYDNEY SHOWGROUND was announced last week. After going sale yesterday, it has now SOLD OUT!!

Event co-producer Ken West said,

“Well I guess the recession is officially over.

For our first Big Day Out on January 25 1992 the first day’s sales were a grand total of 57 tickets. At the time I thought that was OK.

It is unbelievable that over 250,000 tickets would be snapped up in few days for the 2010 shows.
Thanks to everyone for believing in our festival. For us that faith and support increases our determination to produce the best festival experience we can deliver.”

Stay tuned for the second round of acts to join the party plus solo show announcements for the international artists.

Please go to www.bigdayout.com for all line up and ticketing details.

2nd Sydney Big Day Out is all sold out! is an article originally published on I'm With The Band

After much conjecture we can finally release the second round of artists for Soundwave 2010.

After fifteen years, six studio albums, ten million album sales, breakdowns, clean ups and the dizzy swell of global success, few will argue that PLACEBO are among the world’s great rock bands. For the first time in three years the guys will be bringing their swag of hits to the Soundwave stages in 2010.

One of the few heavy-metal bands to get consistently high critical marks, ANTHRAX, helped redefine the metal genre in the ’80s, stressing anger, speed, and emotional intensity over big hair and power ballads. After a huge campaign run by the fans John Bush will be back on vocal duties which has the Anthrax faithful worldwide frothing at the mouth!

Last seen wreaking havoc at Soundwave 2008, MOTION CITY SOUNDTRACK are back armed with a brand new album chock full of pop punk masterpieces. Of course the boys will be throwing in their catalogue of classics as well.

Once in a while, amidst the bullshit, half-assed, money hungry, no talent clone bands sucking their way to the top of the charts, there comes a band able to transcend that stereotype and bring some quality music to the masses. SHINEDOWN is one of those bands.

SET YOUR GOALS have been slaying crowds since 2004. In five years they’ve already achieved what most bands only dream about: toured the world, gained huge respect from their peers and achieved massive credibility among their wide-spread legion of fans. They will be bringing their kick ass brand of pop punk hardcore to Soundwave.

For those that witnessed ENTER SHIKARI on their Australian tour in 2008, they would remember the sweat and the smiles, the laser beams and the elegiac choruses. We remember the blur of flashing Shikari cygnet rings as somersaulting fists pumped the air; we remember the surges of serotonin up the spine into the lower cortex. We remember looking at the crowds and thinking: holy shit – this is a generational thing! We warned you.

When people think of environments that foster America’s best music imports, they usually think of the UK or perhaps Canada. They most certainly don’t think of Australia as a breeding ground for transcendent musical talent, but a closer look reveals that the opposite is indeed true. This is no more truer than with CLOSURE IN MOSCOW who have been taking the US by storm. This will be the guys first tour back in Australia in over a year and we are pumped!

Dont miss out your tickets! Few left!

Click here to buy now!

Soundwave Second Lineup Announcement! is an article originally published on I'm With The Band

With a difficult lineup to top from last year, the boys and girls at Future Music Festival have pulled out one of the best electronic line-up’s we will ever see. The first announcement of lineup for the Sydney gig includes:

The Prodigy

Empire Of The Sun

Franz Ferdinand

Booka Shade

John Digweed

Sven Vath

David Guetta

Erick Morillo

Above & Beyond

Dubfire

Boys Noize

Does It Offend You, Yeah?

And many more to be added!

This is not a festival to be missed boys and girls, tickets go on sale for the sydney show on the 21st October so dont miss out!

To purchase head over to www.ticketmaster.com.au

Future Music Festival 2010 First Announcement! is an article originally published on I'm With The Band