R&V Team Picks Of The Week – NZ Music Month 18/05/12
Posted by Izzy | Filed under R&V
Here are the picks of the week from us – NZ Music Month Edition!
Izzy Lo Iacono
Jess Fleet
Conor Beggs
Tim Richards
Hamish Pinkham
James Mason
Dan Dale
Peter Hall
R&V Team Picks Of The Week – NZ Music Month 11/05/12
Posted by Izzy | Filed under R&V
Here are the picks of the week from us. In honor of NZ Music Month, we have decided to pick only NZ artists! Enjoy…
Jess Fleet
Izzy Lo Iacono
James Mason
Tim Richards
Dan Dale
Peter Hall
Hamish Pinkham
Conor Beggs
Get Involved! Applications Open for City Showcase NZ
Posted by Izzy | Filed under R&V
Applications open for City Showcase: New Zealand
The search for new musical talent in New Zealand has begun with registrations now open for City Showcase, the live music event taking place in Napier from 6-8 July.
City Showcase: New Zealand was first held in Napier in 2010 and is based on the successful City Showcase in London, England. This year ‘s event will be held in conjunction with the cycle extravaganza, Napier – For The Ride Of Your Life.
The event acts as a showcase for new and emerging musicians who will be given the opportunity to perform at free gigs in and around Napier’s Art Deco city centre, with the ultimate winner scoring the right to play in London in 2013. The winner will also get the opportunity to have one-on-one sessions with some of the industry’s most influential executives.
A judging panel made up of leaders from the New Zealand music industry will be in Napier to judge the competition and the public will also have the chance to vote.
One of the events judges will be Mike Chunn, CEO from the Play it Strange Trust.
“The City Showcase concept is a wonderful opportunity for new music and top-flight performance. It’s about taking the music to the people and proving that young and emerging talent is there to be enjoyed. We live in special times – and NZ music has come of age” says Chunn.
City Showcase: Spotlight London has been launching new musical talent in the UK since 2003. The event is widely recognised as being one of the most diverse and high profile festivals in the world with over 200 musicians performing in central London, covering a range of musical genres.
It has launched the careers of Amy Winehouse, Gabriella Cilmi, Keane, Laura Marling, N-Dubz, Newton Faulkner, Ray LaMontagne, Razorlight, Hot Chip, Scouting for Girls and Seth Lakeman.
City Showcase organizer Kevin Murphy said New Zealand had a wealth of musical talent but musicians needed more high profile platforms to promote themselves. “This is a chance for talented Kiwis to perform for, not only the public, but also the leaders of the New Zealand music industry,” Mr Murphy said.
City Showcase London Director Nanette Rigg “This event presents a fantastic opportunity for the cream of New Zealand’s emerging acts to gain exposure worldwide and become stars of the future.”
Rhythm & Vines Festival Director, Hamish Pinkham says “City Showcase will provide an exciting opportunity to showcase up and coming acts in NZ. Providing a stage in front of industry and public alike is something young musicians can strive for and create a goal on the way to achieving future success.”
Want to be part of City Showcase: New Zealand?
If you want to take part in this exciting festival, and showcase your work, please send a web link, a brief biography, your full contact details and a photo to City Showcase, PO Box 3217, Onekawa, Napier.
Alternatively apply through www.sonicbids.com/cityshowcasenapier. One artist will receive a US$1,000 travel stipend towards their trip to City Showcase: New Zealand provided by Sonicbids. Sonicbids is the leading matchmaking site for emerging bands and music promoters. Its community of 325,000 registered artists use the site to connect with 25,000 music promoters – ranging from some of the world’s largest music festivals and conferences, to clubs, colleges, music supervisors
The deadline for applications is Friday 4 May.
For further information: Kevin Murphy 027 2970238
napier@cityshowcase.co.uk
www.cityshowcase.co.uk
www.facebook.com/cityshowcasefestival
www.facebook.com/cityshowcase http://www.facebook.com/pages/City-Showcase-New-Zealand/163260840379369 www.twitter.com/cityshowcase
Just Another Day In The R&V Office…
Posted by Izzy | Filed under R&V
There are many elements that go into making a festival experience, from the Bars to the Production, VIP and Security, Camping, Ticketing, Marketing and then there are all the ones behind the scene that are often unheard from like Customer Service, Social Media Sponsorship and many more but there is one element of a festival that everyone is sure to have thoughts on and that is the Music.
Music is one of those things that people will always happily share their thoughts on and the R&V office is not short on thoughts especially when it comes to music.
Everyone in the R&V team has their own personal strengths that helps them to fore fill their role for the festival but one common thread across the team is a strong appreciation of music.
The next natural step for this appreciation of music is wanting to share it, and this is something the team does in various methods on a daily basis from playing in a band, writing for blogs, radio shows, dj’in or just simply sharing on their personal social media pages.
With that in mind here are some of the favorite tunes from the team in office at the moment.
Me
Hamish Pinkham
Izzy Lo Iacono
Jess Fleet
James Mason
Fenella Stratton
Peter Hall
Dan Dale
Conor Beggs
Sharing music in the office is something the team does allot of, passing links back and forth on Skype is a common practice but come Friday afternoon this common practice is taken up a notch as members of the team step up to the office DJ set up.
The office DJ set up consists of a Pioneer DJM250 mixer, Technics Turntables, Serato SL3 and Pioneer S DJ05 speakers. This set up may be small but it packs a mighty punch and has just as many options (if not more) than some of the set ups we have at the festival itself just in a compact package.
The eight audio inputs on the Pioneer DJM250 give means we can plug in everything from iPhones to Walkmans and everything in-between all at once and with the phono input we can dust off the 12″ records in the office and listen to them with ease as well. The balanced XLR outputs on the mixer mean this little number is more than capable for the times we are inspired to take the show on the road to a bigger stage.
The multiple inputs on the Pioneer S DJ05 speakers mean we can plug in 4 different sources directly into them and with the press of a button on the Control Knob we can switch Inputs as well as control the volume or even turn the system off all from one remote.
With Serato SL3 everyone in the office has access to an award winning Dj software that has done this country proud on a global scale with the simple plug of one USB cable they can play all the music on their laptop on the turntables!
The Rhythm and Vines team is built of various people with various skill sets that help them complete the job they do for the festival, but there is one common thread across the whole team and that is a love of various styles of music.
By Tim Richards
R&V and Rdio
Posted by Izzy | Filed under R&V
R&V are now on Rdio!
http://www.rdio.com/people/RhythmandVines/
Check out our past 10 years playlists….
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
Also, we will be adding more playlists, so keep an eye out!
Subscribe here for an account (first 7 days are free!): http://www.rdio.com/
For Luca
Posted by Izzy | Filed under R&V
Luca is a beautiful 3 year old who was struck down with Meningococcal Septicaemia in early January and his life changed forever…This horrendous disease ravaged every part of his body in hours and left him fighting for his life! With less than a 3% chance of survival Luca pulled through however he was not unscathed…
Luca lost both of his legs and all of his tissue, some muscle and skin below his hips. He has massive skin and tissue and muscle loss across his arms and shoulders and is now fighting to save his knees which have been severely damaged.
We will be assisting to raise funds to cover the huge costs of equipment and prosthetics giving Luca every chance to excel in every aspect of his future.
If you wish to help this inspirational little guy out, check out the following links:
Show your support by writing “For Luca” on your hand and posting a photo on Facebook –
https://www.facebook.com/ForLuca1
Or follow this link to donate money –
http://www.justgiving.com/forluca
BTV chats to R&V’s honorary kiwi, Netsky!
Posted by Izzy | Filed under R&V
Interviewing artists can be tricky sometimes. The ideal is obviously to have good sound, light, time, prepared gear, and a clear head for good chat. But this industry doesn’t always give you that luxury, particularly when backstage at a very loud and crazy fun drum n bass gig. My weakness…..
A team of us went down to see the Hospital Records crew in a little town called Folklestone in the area of Kent, about 2 hours out of London. For a little town, they happened to have an amazing venue called the Les Cliff Hall built literally into the cliff and looking out over the English Channel. Over recent years the hall has played host to some of the best music acts around such as The Rolling Stones, T Rex, Thin Lizzy, Judas Priest, Paul Weller, Ozzy Osbourne, Status Quo, Motörhead, Kings of Leon, Stereophonics, Queens of the Stone Age and Kaiser Chiefs.
BTV wanted to have a quick chat with Boris, aka Netsky, and get a little recap on his 2nd attempt at taking R&V into a new year. Although the plan was to roll some film, the reality was that this interview was going to be better transcribed after we finally got 5 mins with the man at 4am. Going back through the footage, this was for your own good! Although we did get a little shout out to give you some context of the environment…..
What is most important though, is that Netsky does have some news for us!
How was your New Years Eve mate?
The festival is amazing. It was the best set ever. I think the production team at the festival are really nice. They are a bit of a family now and I’ve only known them for two days. I get on with everyone there without even knowing them, they’re just a cool team. They want to bring good music to the people of New Zealand, which is amazing for me. I love it. I wish the whole world was like that. It’s not like that here in England!
How do you differentiate New Zealand’s Drum and Bass scene to the rest of the world?
The thing is… it’s a long flight! It’s on the other side of the world for me. It’s the furthest part you can go from Belgium, which makes it really interesting for me. Coz I love travelling and I love seeing other cultures. And the thing is New Zealand is like… Well, I’ve been to many places. And there are many places that create a culture shock for me… And there it creates a really big culture shock. But a really good one. You just arrive there and you feel like home. You feel really comfortable over there.
Everybody I’ve spoken to from in a pub to in a supermarket – everybody is really nice to each other and I really like that. And I’ve said this before to a lot of different people. I wanna move to NZ for a while as I think it’s a really good place to make music. If you look at Katchafire and New Zealand Shapeshifter and you look at all those people they make amazing music. It’s all about the vibe in the country and how people react to each other. And stuff like that. So different from where I live in Europe, so that’s why I’m going to do it. Definitely man.
And what are these rumours of the word Live after Netsky???
I’m working on this live show right now… we’re going to tour Belgium and the rest of Europe including England. With a little bit of luck we’ll be playing live stuff in Australia and New Zealand next year…
And what is your live show about. Give us a sneak preview.
I can’t really tell you much about it because we really want to keep it a secret… But we want to get some footage to show people instead of me saying it… But I’m going to do some interesting stuff. And people haven’t seen me do anything on stage except for DJ’ing and just playing records.
I’ve got a really good drummer… Actually an amazing drummer from Belgium, and two other people who are going to do incredible stuff on stage.
And have you got a piano?
Yeah. It’s not a piano, it’s like a synthesizer but there’s going to be all sorts. And that’s all I can say.
So back to Rhythm and Vines? It’s obviously a special gig for you… you’ve played a couple of times now. You obviously love it. And you mention you now feel part of the Rhythm and Vines family. Why is that?
It’s just a combination of everything. You can’t really discuss any particular thing about it. It’s just an amazing venue. If you look at the amphitheatre and you look at all the people… this year was like 30,000 people… there are people everywhere. And it just looks amazing. And whenever you go closer to the crowd and try and touch their hands it’s just an amazing atmosphere…It’s really hard to describe it. It’s just much more of a feeling. You just feel really good up on that stage. I just don’t get that feeling on any other stage in Europe. It’s just unique.
So Netsky, 10th Anniversary of Rhythm and Vines in 2012. What do you think?
I can’t see how I wouldn’t be there. I really want to be there. I hope everything sorts itself out for it to happen.
Dan Maas at Large
Conor Beggs: Sydney Sydney Sydney!!
Posted by Izzy | Filed under R&V
Holy moley, Future music was an experience! I had a lot of preconceptions about how FMF would pan out but none of them matched up to the reality that was the 10th of March at Royal Randwick Race course, Sydney.
Putting aside the feeling of being totally emasculated by 87% of the crowd who look like jersey shore imports, I had a mental time!
First thing’s first, Future Music Festival is big! Like real Big! Around 45,000 people makes for a HECTIC day! I had my ideal day planned out but such is the music festival way it didn’t run totally according to plan. And I’m all right with that!
The Sydney crowd was feverish! So many people, all keen to have the best day of their lives. I could barely manage myself. But, there was work to so I got amongst the madness and made myself known. Bringing a camera out at a festie always comes with a few laughs and the ozzy crowd was happy to oblige. I spent most of my time at the Las Venus Stage, which featured the likes of Jessi J, Tinie Tempah and Chase and Status. If you needed and example of how crazy people get at FMF
Being a massive Chase and Status Fan since way back I had high expectations of what to expect from their live show. After all, I’ve spent hours watching YouTube vids of their Glastonbury performances etc so the bar was set quite high. I was a tiny bit disappointed, not because their performance was lack-lustre, but because it wasn’t so much a “live” performance, but a glorified DJ set. Only Liam Bailey from “Blind Faith” and a girl who covered “Time” were present. With Plan B and the other artists who featured on the album, “No More Idols”, missing made you feel a little bit short cut. @chaseandstatus
Skrillex has always impressed me. The Sydney crowd lapped up his performance with some even scaling the three story sound tower to get a better view. Skrillex is the biggest name in electronic music right now. The crowd for his set was one of the biggest of the day. I think the programme would have been better suited to have Skrillex just before Swedish House Mafia because 4:10 was just way too early. For a show like that you need the lights and lazers to make it complete. @skrillex
After getting a feel for the one trillion people at FMF I went for a wander through the masses! It was plain to see that future music is not all about the line-up, as is the case with a lot of festivals. People were having just as much fun at the foam cannon stage as they were during the Skrillex set. This meant that no matter where you went there was a real atmosphere.
The Flamingo stage featured more alternative acts like Friendly Fires, The Rapture and The Wombats. This stage was a little lost in comparison with the overwhelming electronic vibe of FMF but the acts were still enjoyed. I stopped by to catch some of The Naked & Famous’ set. They had a decent crowd and when “Young Blood” came on people were sprinting to the stage! @TNAF
Zane Lowe was an act I was very keen to see and so when 5.45pm ticked over at the “Knife Part stage” I was becoming overly excited. The BBC Radio one Dj has taken the role of messenger between the electronic musical gods, delivering us regular folk what’s hot in the scene. If you speak clearly when ordering a six inch sub people say you have a voice for radio but Mr. Lowe sets the standard. What a voice. @zanelowe
Knife Party played right after and have obviously become a top act in Australia because the crowd was jammed tighter than the wallet of a protégé who’s just been to Sydney. They played a banging set filled with the lazer beam sounds we now associate with them. A mosh pit opened up at the beginning of the set and quickly became a circle of pain as guys were calling each other out and clotheslining each other. I could not understand it.
High energy does not begin to explain the Knife Party sound and they are going to be a huge hit in the festival scene worldwide. They’re also pretty funny to follow on twitter, some witty stuff: @knifepartyinc
Last at the main stage was Swedish House Mafia. You may remember I was a little skeptical about them. All scepticism was laid to rest after the first fireworks shot out of the stage. The production value of their show is outrageous. There were confetti cannons, actual fire and smoke cannons! Do I need to say more? A nice touch was the mash up of Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used To Know” and SHM’s “One”. Worked surprisingly well! @swedishhousemafia
Future Music is a big operation that travels to every major city in Australia and entertains hundreds of thousands of people a year. It’s a slick operation. I kind of felt that it was missing a bit of soul? It sounds super cheesy but some festivals just hook you and make you feel like you’re in a different world. FMF felt like a big machine that you’re just a small part of. I think the venue was part of the problem, it seemed to be missing a bit of personality. Maybe more decorations could have helped.
That can’t take away from the amazing time I had at Future Music though. The thing is a musical beast that lets you go crazy for a one day a year. And the best thing is it all wraps up at 10pm so you can go crazy but still get up for work the next morning! The vibes from the people were amazing and in the end, if the music’s good and people are having a good time and you still get 8 hours sleep, what’s not to love?!
Future! I WILL BE BACK
The Protégé Review – R&V presents Fatboy Slim, Skrillex, Die Antwoord & Porter Robinson
Posted by Izzy | Filed under R&V
I’m pretty happy to be reviewing this gig because when I heard the line-up for this I took up the role of town preacher! Dedicating myself to spreading the word to all of my friends because I knew that this gig was going to be and to quote Ninja from Die Antwoord, “Fokken out of contraaaoool”. You try and type in a South African accent!
I had an outrageously good time! Loved every act and at the end of the night I could scarcely pick my favourite, and I mean that, honest bro.
The Amalgamation (LOLword) of FBS, Skrillex, Die Antwoord and Porter Robinson in a one night gig left me frothing with excitement, if not a little confused as to how the night would play out. I mean, in their own right, they are all very good acts but I did wonder how successfully they would play out one after the other, not to mention the very diverse audience they would attract.
“Sucks that it’s all ages!! I’m not going!” – yeah I’ll get to you in a second buddy!
But as it turned out the electronic symphony that rang out over the capacity dance floor at Vector Arena could be compared to the sensation felt by the guy who first put vanilla in coke. It was excellent.
Porter Robinson is a producer who I’ve been into for a wee while now (electroindi101) and is pretty big in the States. The guy’s only 19, which physically hurts me because he’s doing everything I wish I could. What’s funny is he learnt to produce music before he learnt how to DJ, so props to him because the set he played was banging. Literally. The bass in his set was hard and heavy and for a “support act” he might’ve overdone it because I saw people walking towards the bar after he finished looking truly parched indeed.
Next up was Die Antwoord. Holy Shit, these guys are some loose individuals. I was lucky enough to be in the photo pit for the first few songs and I saw up Yolandi Vi$$er’s nose. Their energy is so extreme. If you need an example of this, how about when Ninja did crowd dive two songs into the set?! He practically jumped right over me. Reminded me of the scene in Free Willy (Whale Rider Pakeha Edition) where Willy jumps over the boy on the pier, except the killer whale was replaced with a mad South African. “Niiiiiinjaaa”, it was all very slow motion, kind of romantic. I was dead impressed with the front row of the crowd who seemed to know every word to the songs, even if they didn’t realise they were speaking Afrikaans for some of it. And how was DJ Hi-Tek?! Didn’t realise he was an ex Springbok because that dude is BUILT!
Skrillex was undoubtedly the act most people came to see because as soon as my boy Skrilly came on stage the crowd seemed to double. Skrillex has got his haters and even the biggest of fans can understand why, but when you see him perform live, simply the amount of energy he puts in can make you appreciate him a bit more. That man did not stop moving and it must have been contagious because neither could I! Tracks from his most recent EP “Bangarang” went down a treat. The combination of Skrillex’s crazy set with the sick visuals meant the crowd were in electronic heaven. Special mention to the Mortal Kombat graphics that played for some of it. My mate was at the bar at that point so I was all like “GET OVER HEEERE…and look at this”. His performance would have been perfect if he had his “Cell” lighting set up with his motion suit. New Zealand often misses out on the “whole show” with electronic artists. Deadmau5’s cube is an example from last year. I guess we’re just a little bit out of the way. Skrillex’s “Cell” can be seen here:
A visual bonanza!
Finally, after the grasshoppers and young padawans had shown their skills, it was time for Yoda. Fatboy Slim is my dad’s age and, sorry Billy, but he’s the coolest man in a Hawaiin Shirt I have ever seen. Also, Sorry Tom Selleck Magnum P.I, you’re second now. His set was very, very good! After the three big acts before him he let his experience handle the situation and played a banging set that had Vector jumping, fist pumping, and sometimes krumping (I saw it myself!). There were so many big tracks but the one that stuck out for me was, “We just strut. What the F**K!” I would have liked to see him play his hits like “Praise You”, “Weapon of Choice” and “Rockafella Skank” and so on in their entirety, but he obviously didn’t for a reason. Perhaps the same reason Skrillex didn’t play “Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites”.
Now, onto the all ages thing that a lot of people were fussing about. There were a lot of under 18 year olds there, everyone could see that but honestly, it didn’t change how the night went for me. Plus, if they’re at the gig they obviously appreciate the tunes just as much, if not more than an 18+ so what’s not to love? I didn’t see any toddlers about so it was not an issue.
Friday the second of March was a very good night!
I like to finish my blogs with a moral lesson but in the case there isn’t one as one of these cups is probably mine.
P.s. If you are the guy that peed on the back of my mate’s leg. Gross dude. You’re sick.
One time I was all like…
Posted by Izzy | Filed under R&V
One time I was all like “HOLY CRAP I AM SO KEEN FOR FUTURE MUSIC FESTIVAL SYDNEY!”
Then one day Hamish told me we were going I was all like “sweet”.
The reason I say “sweet” is because Future Music Festival is going to be amazing. The line-up in itself is phenomenal.
Here’s the link to the artists who will be strutting their stuff in Sydney on the 10th of March.
http://www.futureentertainment.com.au/futuremusicfestival/artists?city=Sydney
See what I mean? Ridiculous stuff.
I am one part of a four man Rhythm & Vines army that is going to take Sydney by storm with our good looks, respectable table manners and passive aggressive dress sense.
I am most excited for Chase & Status Live. I’ve watched pretty much every youtube video of their live performances and it is looking like it will be the best hour and a half of my life. I’ve been a huuuuuge C&S fan since I heard them about five years ago. Their old stuff is still banging and everybody knows how good their recent tracks have been. The album “No More Idols” is pretty much flawless. Seeing them at Rhythm & Vines in 2010/11 changed me.
Knife Party should be a medley of lazer beams and “woop woops” on a level never experienced before. I haven’t heard music as energetic as Knife Party’s before. It’s going to be truly chaotic.
There are tonnes more artists I want to see. Swedish House Mafia being one. So much hype has been built around their live shows that it would be a sin to miss it. I’m stepping out a bit here but I think they might not be as good as everyone seems to think. No doubt, as individuals they are super talented djs and they are probably the first electronic super group, if that is such a thing. But they’ve only been majorly successful since 2010 and had three big songs (One (Your Name), Miami 2 Ibiza, Save the World,). Don’t get me wrong though, I am looking forward to a huge show with mind boggling visuals and it could change me like huge gigs often do.
And as if the electronic music Gods sent me a sign, I just found this video of SHM at Madison Square Gardens playing “Antidote”. Yep, I think they will be good!
What do you know about excessive lazers!??!?!
It’s meant to be tipping it down big time when we arrive in Sydney, which is proof that music festivals can’t have it all their own way. At least we’re experienced though right?
Usually with lineups this good there are timetable clashes that can really hurt your feelings. I’ve analysed the Sydney timetable and if there is a god, he has really helped me out on this one. I almost had to choose between Fatboy Slim and Knife Party. What a shocker that would have been! And then, yep, there’s more, I almost had to pick between Skrillex and Kill The Noize. But alas, like the guardian angel Rhythm & Vines is, I saw them both on Friday night at Vector. Talk about good luck. Love it!
As well as getting amongst the madness I’ll be doing that thing where I talk to a camera for a little bit, documenting our family trip if you will. We’ll post the finished product on the R&V Facebook page so hang on for that one. Should be a goodie!
Catch y’all when I get back for an epic recap. LOL (lots of love).
