Sun:19-10-2008

- Skye Harbour Rock The ARIA Red Carpet!

Kickstart Winners Talk Victory, Hangovers, And Jesus Christ Superstar

Thanks to two solid days and nights of celebrating, Skye Harbourwere a little worse for wear when we rang up for a chat.  Still fizzingfrom the news that they had prevailed over 700 bands to become the MTV Kickstart 2008 winner,the Adelaide boys are feeling mighty chuffed with $15 000 cash in theirback pockets and a leg up from MTVs promotional and label-networkingarm that will help launch their careers into the stratosphere.   

Despitedoing little promotion during the voting period, Skye Harbour caughtthe ears of the judges and the Australian public with stonking tunesand catchy hooks.  Explains Frank, 'We were beatingourselves up about it because we really didn't put enough efforttowards the end of the voting period.  I 'spose we didn't really wannapiss anyone off, because we thought it may have had a bit of an adverseeffect [if we pushed too hard].   But once the voting period was closedwe found out that the Rocketsmiths and others had done heaps and heaps of promotion so we were stressing out.'

The Adelaide boys were convinced they'd blown it, so Josh, the lead singer, had the bright idea of calling Virgin Blue Airlinesto see if they'd been booked on a flight to Sydney. 'We thought we'dfind out that way for sure but they wouldn't tell us because we didn'thave a reservation number!'

So they were left to find out ifthey'd won the traditional way (i.e waiting for the announcement).  Theboys were completely blown away when they found out they werevictorious, especially because they didn't know they'd actually beenentered until it came time to play the Adelaide finals.

'Joshcomes over one day and says, 'oh yeah I just got this call from MTV,and oh by the way I put us in this competition called MTV Kickstartand we've just gotten down to the last five in Adelaide.' And you know,we thought we must be like one of the 5 bands that entered in thecompetition in Adelaide, turns out there was a few more we didn't knowabout! (laughs)'

Come time for the national finals, Skye Harbourby their own admission played the 'most amazing fucking night out ofall time', and their dedication to throw forth everything paid off. Their energetic set and clear talent resulted in the five-someprevailing over talented contenders Polo Club, The Moderns, The Mischief, Rocketsmiths, Emcee Able to take the winner's crown and also some warm accolades from the judges and punters attending the event.

Post-Kickstart,Skye Harbour had been playing in bedrooms and school band rooms aroundAdelaide for years.  'I left Adelaide some time ago to pursue my actingcareer in Sydney,' explains Frank, 'then the boys gave me a call afterabout six months and said we're going to move to Melbourne to make areal go of this band, thing do you want to be involved? And I was likefuck yeah! I'm in.'

Even though Skye Harbour are at thebeginning of a burgeoning tour, they are already well aware of thechallenges in an industry that is currently flooded with indie acts ofhigh calabre.   'It's funny, we pull much better crowds in Adelaide nowthan when we lived there. It's really great to go back and have thatkind of support, because in Melbourne, there's that many bands thatit's still extremely hard pull a decent crowd. So we were kind of inlimbo, being able to pull crowds back home but still struggling inMelbourne.

One year later, the band released their EP 'Houses'online.  As Frank explains, the cash injection from MTV Kickstart willhelp push the EP and hopefully help their mission to take over stagesand airwaves nationally.

'The money will go a long way withpromotion which is invaluable, also touring, our EP isn't released inphysical form it's only available online as a download so we're reallyinterested in pressing some copies and trying to put it in some shops. The other idea is to have a big Skye Harbour bar which would save costson touring!'

It seems the challenges that nearly every youngband experience when trying to crack the scene will be significantlyreduced for Skye Harbour.  Only a few days after taking out thecompetition, they've been fast-forwarded into the limelight with anappearance on the MTV At The 2008 ARIA Red Carpet, airing this Sunday at 6.30pm.

'Awman, this is so clich but we've been thinking about this moment [goingto the ARIAs] since we've started playing music.  This is exactly wherewe want to be and it's just amazing that it's happened this early andin these circumstances.' Asked who they most like to bump into, theanswer is not what one would expect.

'We've all got a pretty mad crush on Johnny Farnham; he's really shaped what we've done.  Especially in Jesus Christ Superstar.' Surely they jest?
'Nah man I'm serious! Andrew Lloyd Webberis one of our influences. Jesus Christ Superstar really really has hada major influence in our songwriting and attitude to it all, so if wecould meet John Farnham who played Jesus in 1992 that would be prettyremarkable. And Johnny wasn't just any Jesus, but a Jesus with aformidable mullet.  Daniel Johns has also had a massive influence on our work and I just imagine that he'd be a super cool dude as well.'

Aspart of their ARIA experience, Skye will also rock up in a pimped outlimo, walk the red carpet with the biggest stars of Australian musicand be interviewed by MTV and a bunch of other media outlets, allbefore they sit down at a VIP table to watch the 2008 ARIA awards intrue rockstar style amongst their idols.

Looking forward, SkyeHarbour already has a clear plan of what the next five years willhold.  'In five years, hopefully we're at the ARIAs again!  We'd liketo have some releases under our belt and looking at taking our musicinternationally, that's very important to us.  Whether it be England,the US, Japan... Japan would be the best! The fans there take crazy toanother level.'

And who would be the ultimate act to support?   'We'd love to support Arcade Fire, that would be awesome. And Muse.  Can we support Kings of Leon too? Wicked, that would be great if you could hook that up (laughs).'

We'llsee what we can do boys!  Meanwhile, with fire in their bellies, freshsounds and a desire to rip the local and international music scene toshreds, we can be sure to see Skye Harbour as a formidable force on theAustralian music scene.  And MTV is stoked. 

By Penny Newton

To check out pics of Skye Harbour on the red carpet, click here!

TRACE Cyrus has looked on for years as his dad, Billy Ray, and younger sister Miley coped with fame - paparazzi, celebrity parties and gossip magazines.

Now he's learning what it's like himself as singer and guitarist for American pop rock band Metro Station.

"My sister (Miley), at the age of 15, I don't know how she does it cos it's so stressful and so crazy,'' he said. "Now that I am, like, 19, I feel like I am ready for it, at this point in my life.''

Gallery: Just can't stop thinkin' bout Miley Cyrus.

Metro Station rocked onto the scene a few months back with their hit single, Shake It, and self-titled debut album.

They're signed to Columbia/Sony BMG and, while Trace is proud of his younger sister - one of the biggest teenage pop stars on the planet and star of Disney's Hannah Montana - he doesn't want to be mistaken for something he isn't.

"I don't want to be thought of as something that is connected with Disney Channel or Hannah Montana because we are completely different to that,'' he said.

"People might think of us as this little kid pop band because our siblings are on a TV show but we are something completely different.''

Initially, Trace did his best to keep his family out of Metro Station, but is more comfortable with it now. In fact, Miley and Billy Ray make a cameo in the video clip for next single, Seventeen Forever

Drumming it up to the rafters

When he's not on the set of TV drama Packed To The Rafters, Angus McLaren can be seen gigging around Sydney.

The 19-year-old actor, who plays Nathan Rafter in the hit Seven family drama and also stars in Disney TV series H2O: Just Add Water, plays drums for indie pop rock band, Ballet Imperial.

With him in the band are H2O's Jamie Timony, Will Shepherd and Jeffrey Walker.

"Thank God I'm not the lead singer,'' McLaren tells Insider.

"I am happy being the drummer, so I can stay out of it a bit.''

The band played at Spectrum last week and are set to begin work on their second EP, with a record deal in their sights.

"Ideally, it's something we'd like to do down the track,'' McLaren said. "But at the moment, it's really about writing and concentrating on gigs.''

While in the early stages in Australia, H2O is shown in more than 100 countries around the world, which has helped the band develop a strong following overseas.

"We have more fans internationally than we do here,'' Jamie Timony said. 

Out of the Hayes

DARREN Hayes has created an animated version of his last album, This Delicate Thing We've Made.

Hayes has remixed 13 songs with matching animated clips for the DVD, which he has given the rather obvious title of This Delicate Film We've Made. It will be released on December 1.

Hayes' partner, Richard Cullen, directed the project. The DVD pack will include a 48-page book and 3D glasses.

"I am really proud of it ... my partner, Richard, did most of it. It's a little bit like Pink Floyd's The Wall in that it is a loosely conceptual, animated thing.''

Andy calls it a day

RADIO and television presenter Andy Lee has given up playing in Melbourne band Zoophyte.

The man from Austereo's Hamish and Andy Show, (who is also DJ's ambassador Megan Gale's boyfriend), says he doesn't play trumpet, didgeridoo and percussion with the band any more because he simply isn't good enough.

The Melbourne-based folk-funk group is fronted by Lee's brother, Cam, and will play at a VIP launch for Oakley at Manly this week.

"I'm actually not playing any more as they all got way too good for me,'' Lee said, in an email to Insider.

Sweet justice

HIS dad Gary Sweet didn't do Billy Thorpe's classic Most People I Know (Think That I'm Crazy) much justice, so let's hope Frank Sweet is more in tune with his musical side (Sweet snr sang the Thorpe song at the Logie Awards back in the 1990s).

Sweet jnr is in Adelaide band Sky Harbour, which is a frontrunner to win MTV's Kickstart talent competition.

More than 700 bands auditioned for the competition, with the winner to be announced on October 15. The winner will score $15,000 in cash and a performance slot on the red carpet at this month's ARIA Awards.

A source at MTV's Sydney HQ says there are only a few votes between Sky Harbour and Brisbane outfit Rocket Smith. By contrast, Sydney's The Mischief are well behind.

Wenner will it be so

POWDERFINGER will crack the US market if legendary Rolling Stone magazine founder Jann Wenner has anything to do with it.

Wenner was in Sydney last week to re-launch the Australian title, hosting an exclusive party at the Hordern Pavilion with performances from Powderfinger and The Living End.

KICKSTART FOR SKYE HARBOUR
Young rockers Skye Harbour are a band on the rise. They've just taken out the Adelaide final of MTV's Kickstart competition. But more on that in a minute. Before Hype gets to that, you can download their EP Houses for free off the band's website and Hype can highly recommend it. The band has really honed their brand of keyboard-fronted rock. In exchange for the EP, the only thing the band asks in return is you support them by adding them on Facebook or MySpace. Hype would like to make an addition to that on the band's behalf. Head along to and show the boys some love. Because the band took out the Adelaide Kickstart heat they will now battle with the rest of the state finalists in Sydney on Tue Sep 9. Then public vote decides the winner, so get your vote on. So you can get a bit of an insight into the minds of this upcoming band, we put them under the spotlight for some quick questions.

If you had to cover one song in the final, what would the song be? 
S Club 7 - Bring It All Back

If you could pick one artist to be the judge for the Kickstart final who would you want to be playing to?
Rob Thomas

What's the most rock'n'roll moment that you dream of happening to you one day as a band?
Playing in space - Skye Harbour live from the moon.

What's the most rock'n'roll moment you've had as a band so far?
The time we smoked cones with Dizzee Rascal and then Beefy said, "What up?" and Dizzee Rascal said, "Word".

Is there anything you're going to differently for the final? 
We're going to get perms.

What are you going to spend the money on if you win?
New suits. And more perms.

'Shoot the breeze with Adelaide's Kickstart kings Skye Harbour

1] Do you have any special strategy for the grand final?

9:00am: Wake up, have a continental breakfast. Macchiato's all round.

10:00am: Perms. We have a guy in Sydney who knows what we like.

12:00pm: Kick a goal. Literally. We always play a bit better after a tumble with our mates.

2:00pm: Have a chai latte and get inspired by Tony Robbins. He's a messiah, man.

5:30pm: Watch some Deal or no Deal and reminisce about how good Burgo's Catch Phrase was.

GIG O'CLOCK: Express our emotions through the majesty of song.

2] Describe your sound for us

We perform bombastic feats with poptastic treats.

3] Which band do you think is your biggest threat? Why?

Dude,Josh went out with Kevin from Backstreet Boys, thinking it was justcoffee. When he politely declined, Kevin got mad and we've beenwatching our backs ever since.

4] If you had to blow the cash on one ridiculously useless object what would it be?

One $15,000 hooker. Or 15,000 $1 hookers. 

5] If you had to drop a cover into your set what would it be?

Mozart's Symphony no.40 in G minor.

6] Where do you see yourselves in 5 years time?

In the smile of every child, in the petal of every rose.

7] What would winning MTV Kickstart mean to you?

See question 4.

 8] When you're a rich and famous lord of rock/ hip hop, what will you request on your rider?

Banana Walnut Cake

Ingredients:

90 g (3 oz) butter
1/3 cup sugar
1egg
1 large banana
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 ¼ cups self raising flour
pinch salt
1/3 cup plain yoghurt
2 tablespoons finely chopped walnuts

Method:

Beatbutter and sugar until light and creamy. Add lightly beaten egg, beatwell. Stir in combined peeled, mashed banana and lemon juice. Fold insifted dry ingredients alternately with yoghurt. Stir in half thechopped walnuts, mix until smooth. Spoon mixture into greased andgreased paper lined 25 cm x 8 cm (10in x 3 in) bar tin, sprinkle withremaining walnuts.

Bake in moderate oven 40 minutes or untilcooked when tested. Allow cake to cool 5 minutes in tin, turn out andcool on wire rack. When cold, cut into slices, serve with butter.

Skye Harbour - dB magazine issue #447

1. Growing Up

I started learning the piano when I was seven. I was a sensitive kid and it was a tactic devised by my teachers and parents to help me deal with school, and I guess that's what music became for me - a personal, cathartic thing. My music study was fairly conventional until adolescence, when I decided piano wasn't cool anymore and started guitar. Basically I discovered that being in a band was pretty much the best thing you can do. Eventually I rediscovered piano however, and it's what I play in the band now.

2. Inspirations

As most kids are, I was brought up on my dad's record collection. I remember listening religiously to Meat Loaf, ELO, War of the Worlds and the Australian recording of Jesus Christ Superstar, which probably contributes to a lot of the band's bombast. Different bands inspire me for different reasons. The Beatles and Queen managed to tread the line between pop and creating something progressive and original, which is pretty amazing.

3. Your Band

Jack and I actually met when we were 14, over MSN through friends of friends. We realised we listened to similar music and he mentioned he was starting a band and asked me to come over. We then picked up Beefy, as I mentioned. I was doing composition in Year 12 with Frank and we bonded and eventually I asked Frank to play drums for us. Matt came later - we wanted more power to create interesting arrangements (I'd been listening to a lot of Queen and really wanted to have two part guitar harmonies). We met him through friends and connected really well so we asked him to join and move to Melbourne with us.

4. The Music You Make

We've just released our second EP, Houses, which we recorded with a producer in Adelaide, Matt Hills. The end product essentially sounds like a culmination of our influences. You'd listen to it if you liked Arcade Fire, Muse, Death Cab for Cutie the new Silverchair stuff or Battles...... ok, maybe Panic at the Disco. That's right, I went there.

5. Music, Right Here, Right Now

The scene in Melbourne in vastly different from what we were used to in Adelaide. In Adelaide, if you have a thousand Myspace friends and play a gig every month or so then you're instantly one of "the" bands. If you're into local music, you're probably aware of most bands. The Melbourne scene represents a large part of the national scene, however. Everyone says it's all about contacts, and we rocked up with our instruments basically knowing no one. We're getting there though, we've played some good gigs and met a lot of cool people.