Monday, May 01, 2006
Charge Group are busy recording at the moment and doing a couple of low-key shows in the meantime. Sunday May 14 at PELT (Balfour St, Chippendale) with Seaworthy. Then there's one later in the month at the Hopetoun. Keep your eyes peeled.
The Instant seem to be moving closer to releasing that magnificent 'Notes & Errata' album of theirs. A sniff of a record deal. Nice. They've been fairly busy with shows too.
Monday, March 13, 2006
The Instant now have a website - theinstant.com.au. Check it out for their latest info. The band will be playing a couple of dates on the Tucker B's/Further 'Moody Prowl' tour happening in March/April: Cambridge Newcastle - Thurs March 23, Annandale Sydney - Fri March 24.
Charge Group are planning to record an album in late May, and are loosely planning some shows in late April. More news soon.
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
The following is a letter to us posted on Mess and Noise by glasshutch last year. We thought we'd share...
*****
Dear Purplenez
Many years ago, I stumbled across a second hand copy of SMH Days in that little second hand bookstore at the city end of Darby Street, Newcastle. It had a piece of lilac paper that some people would probably call a bio tucked into the cover, with a support slot for The Whitlams crossed out in permanent marker. I listened to it lots and lots of times, and somehow over the next couple of years aquired the rest of your fine rekkidz, which I also listened to lots and lots of times.
The first time I saw you play was upstairs at the Lucky Country, there were tealight candles and I got drunk on vodka and lemon squash. Before the show I bought a new pair of shoes, after the show I walked home. The next time I saw you play was at the Rosemount Hotel in North Perth, the crowd were melancholy and I got drunk on gin and tonic water. Before the show I listed to Ruining It For Everybody on my laptop in my apartment in Mt Lawley, after the show I decided to quit smoking. The last time I saw you play was @Newtown, the crowd was scurred by the Tucker B's and I got drunk on Coopers Pale. Before the show I told my bloke he was going to pooh his pants when he saw the Tuckers in full flight, after the show I realised the tube dress I was wearing underneath my top had slipped down, thus liberating my boobies from their fabric prison.
I will remember you as a band that were equally proficient at supplying a soundtrack for fighting, fucking, loving, hating, arriving, departing, thinking, stupifying, dancing and sleeping. But most of all I will remember you as a band that made songs that were good for drinking to.
So long, and thanks.
Hutch
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
Happy New Year and all that. We'll try to update this with our related news from time to time - hopefully with pauses not as long as the last one.
The latest news is that Audiophile have now settled on a name - The Instant. Armed with a sexy 10" vinyl release, the rejuvenated band (featuring Purps' bass player Adam and drummer Rosie) will be doing some launch shows in the coming months:
Sat 04 Feb - Northern Star, Newcastle w/ Poland
Sat 11 Feb - Hopetoun, Sydney w/ Skull Squadron
Stay tuned for more news on the long-awaited LP release, a Melbourne tour and a website!
Newcastle acoustic duo The Firekites (featuring The Instant's Tim) are currently working on their first full-length album, and they've enlisted the drumming talents of both Purps Matts Blackman and Rossetti. Think Pullman meets Iron & Wine or Nick Drake. Very nice. They're hoping to finish the album and play some shows in March.
Matt B's songwriting project has slowly been gathering momentum, including the blossoming of a golden musical relationship with violinist extraordinaire Jason Tampake. They've set to work piecing together the dozen or so songs of Blackman's and are preparing themselves to record an album, all proper like. Their name is Charge Group.
More news soon.
Thanks.
Monday, November 21, 2005
If you didn't manage to pick up a copy of Mess + Noise magazine Issue #3, you'll have missed out on the free CD that contained our exclusive track 'Dead Letter Offers'. The disc also featured 19 tracks from some of Australia's best independent bands. There's also an accompanying "Purplene R.I.P." full-page article written by Andrew Houston - read all about it at the Mess + Noise site.
We've updated The Band and Discography pages, as well as the Wikipedia profile.
In other heartwarming news, Pete Ottery just got married. Not only does he take world-class photos and build killer websites, he also looks A1 in a suit. Congrats, Pete, and thanks for everything.
Tuesday, October 18, 2005
The following is an email that was sent to us yesterday from a Canberran person going by the name of Yours Truly. We suspect we may know who this person is from the last time we played a show there. Anyway...
---
hello again. i have the cd. i got it for my birthday because i practically got down on my knees pleaded for it being the poor peasant that i am. one way or another i would be getting it. just a question, how does it feel to know that someone out there is listening to ur music right now and completely loving it??? must be rewarding. well i do love the cd. watch the watch is argueably the best song ever written by man. the rest of it is such a work of art. bravo to you guys. i aint kissin ur arses hehe its totally incredible. anyways i hope ur lives as individuals and not necessarily "purplene" is treating you well...but hey..if you ever wanna have a reunion gig, visit us in canberra, hehe. no im serious...
alright peace people.
Monday, September 26, 2005
The final show was arguably the best we've ever played.
We'll have some pics up on the site soon. We videotaped the night too, so we may have some video moments to share with you too.
Again, thanks. xx
Monday, September 19, 2005
ELEVENTH HOUR NEWS::
Our new special guests for this Saturday's show will be BLUEBOTTLE KISS.
Unfortunately, Adam Said Galore had to cancel their trip from Perth due to the football grand finals pushing air tickets up to the price of business class.
See you down at the Mandarin...
Friday, September 09, 2005
You can now buy PRESALE TICKETS for our final show. That should please the many peeps who've been asking... Get them in Sydney at Gifted Records - 10 Fitzroy Place, Surry Hills, NSW 2010 Ph: (02) 8356-9545. Tix are $12 + bf. Gifted Records is just near the Hopetoun...
Friday, September 02, 2005
Bedlam is now a DAD. He is the first DAD amongst the Purplene brethren. Ava Elizabeth Olive was born yesterday at 5:45pm - the first day of spring. Ain't it poetic? Warm congrats to the Ange, Dave and the new little lady...
Monday, August 29, 2005
There's a new DVD available that features our track 'Swords Down' performed live, along with loads of other national and international acts. It's called 'Fuck This, I'm Going To The Annandale', and was recorded (surprise, surprise) at the Annandale last year when we played with Bonny "Prince" Billy. The other bands are more on the harder rockin' variety, but the footage and sound quality of all the recordings are really good. Buy it from the Waterfront site.
If you missed Matt on the radio on Friday talking to Triple J's HACK people, you can listen to it here. If you check it this week, you can click on Friday's 'Stream programs from the past week'. Alternatively, click on the story entitled "Signing with a label VS taking out a bank loan."
Thursday, August 25, 2005
New photos from last Newcastle show added on photographs page, plus Perth maestros ADAM SAID GALORE are confirmed to play our final ever show, along with Marcus Teague (Deloris). Triple J's 'Hack' program will be airing an interview with Matt tomorrow from 5:30 - 6:00pm, talking this and that about the music industry.
Monday, August 15, 2005
We are feature album of the week this week on Belgian music site Derives. Check it out.
Cheers to everyone who came on Friday night - nice to sell out a show in Newcastle, nice also to have so many familiar and unfamiliar faces down the front. Full respect to the three lads who drove 14 hours from the Sunshine Coast to see us, then drove back at 5:00am the next morning armed with more CDs and T-shirts than anyone. Hope the three of ye you can make the 16-hour drive to Sydney in a month!
We'll have some pics from the other night up here soon, and stay tuned for an announcement on support acts for the final show. Soon.
Monday, August 08, 2005
Greetings, people.
After eight years of playing, performing and recording together - often at a slightly less-steady pace than most bands - PURPLENE have amicably decided to call it quits.
Sad news, I know, but news we all feel positive about at this stage in our lives. Matt Blackman has been busy working on his new HUNCH recording project in his Chippendale studio, while Adam and Matt Rossetti are getting set to return to the stage with AUDIOPHILE. Bedlam has himself a sparkly new home studio set-up, has a wad of new tunes under his belt, and is set to become a first-time papa bear within a matter of weeks.
So everything's looking bright.
We'd like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has ever lent us gear, floor space, favours, and creative talents. Thanks to everyone who's come to our shows, bought our records and told their friends about us or told us how much you like our music. Thanks to everyone who's ever written about us or played us on the radio or TV. Thanks to Aaron Curnow, Mel Lake, Steve Foster, Steve Albini, Baden Scarr and Stella Chambers for investing a spastic amount of time and effort into making our band better than most other bands. Thanks to Dave Hector for being our founding member/drummer and as nice a guy as you could ever hope to meet. Thanks to Pete Ottery for being there at our first ever rehearsal in August 1996 and for doing all of our photography, album art, posters, flyers and our website. And finally, cheers to all of you.
We're playing a couple of shows before it all ends and they're going to be a whole lot of fun. The first is only a week away. We'll be playing lots of songs. We'll be selling lots of shirts, CDs and maybe some DVDs. Hope you can make it along. And sorry, but it doesn't look like we'll be playing shows in any other cities at this point.
Cheers!
Matt, Adam, Bedlam and Rosie xx
==================
Friday 12 August
Gallipoli Club, Newcastle
NEW BUFFALO (with band)
PURPLENE
HOLLY THROSBY
FIREKITES (feat. Audiophile members)
8pm / $12
==================
..then what will most likely be our FINAL EVER show:
==================
Saturday 24 September
Mandarin Club, Sydney
PURPLENE
+ special guests
==================
Thursday, July 14, 2005
'Love: Western' will be playing within the first hour of ABC's 'Rage' tomorrow night - Friday 15 June. Even your parents can stay up for that one. Check the Rage website tomorrow afternoon for the exact time.
Monday, July 11, 2005
There's a surf/longboarding DVD you should know about, one that features tracks by Purplene and Ukiyo-e (the disbanded instrumental group that Matt Blackman played in). The movie, Lines From A Poem, is a nice piece of work - a fresh perspective on the kicked-back nature of longboard surfing, made by NSW film-maker/surfer Nathan Oldfield. Check it.
Tuesday, June 28, 2005
New show added. Our first show in almost a year. See above!
In other news, 'Love: Western' video should be ready for TV within a fortnight. We'll tell you where and when.
Wednesday, June 15, 2005
Exciting news for Purps fans - you can now see our new video for 'Love: Western' online at the Antville site. We've had hundreds of downloads already and people from around the globe (most of whom have never heard our music, they're just music video buffs) have been posting feedback on it. Check it out and feel free to add feedback of your own.
Obviously it's a compressed web version of the video, but hopefully it'll be screening in its pristine 16mm glory on Australian television screens within about three or so weeks. Huge thanks again to the cast, crew and everyone who gave their time - all mostly for free.
Check out the Previous Shows page for the setlist of Matt's Knitting Factory show in NYC. The band are still on hiatus...thanks for your continued patience...
Wednesday, May 04, 2005
Matt has a solo show in New York this coming Monday 9 May at the Knitting Factory - see details above.
Monday, May 02, 2005
We like making videos. A lot. Even though they are arguably a waste of money and a self-indulgent thing for an band on an independent label to do. But this one, which wrapped this afternoon, is going to be KILLER - the best one yet. Thank you to ALL involved. Can't wait to have it ready for y'all...
Hopefully we'll have some stills from the shoot on the site very soon.
Wednesday, April 27, 2005
'Love: Western', the opening track on the album, is set to be the next film clip project to be put in the hands of the same strapping melbourne video team (see Trainwreck 20:20 link below) that brought us 'The Battler'. This time we're shooting on super-16mm film, and it's being shot all this weekend on a few locations around Sydney. Fingers crossed it'll be ready for TV and web by the end of May.
Other news just to hand is Matt may be doing a show or two in NYC while he's there in May. Check the above 'Upcoming' space for updates.
Wednesday, March 30, 2005
We FINALLY got the 'Battler' clip up! See it in all its 13Mb glory on the VIDEO page over there... >>
Wednesday, February 16, 2005
No excuses, really. Sorry about the lengthy break in between drinks.
In the midst of deciding what to do next, while also planning the shooting of a 'Love: Western' video scheduled to happen mid-March. We're shooting this one on super-16, and with the same dynamic Trainwreck 20/20 duo that brought us 'The Battler'. By the way, apologies for the lack of accessibility to downloading the aforesaid clip from the site. There must have been some encoding problems which we'll endeavour to fix.
Both the Purps and Audiophile are taking touring/playing breaks to get some perspective on the whole game. I guess they're labelmates now - which is pretty dang nice - but check out The Arcade Fire's 'Funeral' record. It's a stunner. Out now on Spunk and feature album of the week on JJJ. Also, git on over and check out the new Sick Squid site. They're the Londoner kids who designed our Purps tees. More soon...
Tuesday, January 11, 2005
Hullo. We have three songs available to vote for in this year's JJJ Hottest 100. They are 'Swords Down', 'Second Shift' and 'The Battler'. You can vote now if you feel inspired to wave the Purps flag for us. Cheers!
Adam is closely guarding a copy of 'The Brag' (one of Sydney's street magazines) from a couple of weeks ago that had him listed at the top of Sydney's most eligible hot dudes, or something like that. A big photo of his mug, plenty of warm wind about his devilishly handsome appearance and many sexual metaphors to do with bass, rhythm sections...you get the idea. If anyone has a scan of the article, send it to us, 'cause we'd love to share it with the world.
In other news, Purplene are taking an extended break at the moment. Don't know when we'll be back on the scene, but at least not until a couple of months into 2005. Think it will be good for our sanity. Rosie and Ad are still busy with Audiophile, Bedlam's getting to work on building a manhouse-slash-studio out the back of his place and I'm attempting to prepare for a new recording of my own in the coming months.
Hopefully have a picture gallery of some NZ highlights on the site soon. Got a Purps shirt yet? Dang, they're sexy.
Catch you soonly.
MB x
Wednesday, December 15, 2004
BEDLAM'S NZ TOUR DIARY
Yeah so New Zealand...
Thursday 25th November 2004
We fly into Wellington like we own the joint, except not many people know us and those that do personally know us think we are a bunch of nancy boys primed to get a clip over the ear. Sorry – I’m channelling my school years again…
Wellington is, as they say in the meteorology game, windy enough to blow a tennis ball up a cat’s arsehole. And it’s the kind of cold wind that makes you long for the nice thick jacket that you left hanging on the back of your bedroom door. You know the fleecy one with deep pockets, a double foldover on the zip and that looks mighty fine now that you remember where you left it.
After assuring Blackers for the umpteenth time he will be fine without his Mum for at least three days, we head to the pub. I can’t remember what the pub was called but there were a bunch of people dressed in white period costume sleazing onto each other. Four pints of Monteith’s later (NZ finest by the way) stumps is called and we head back to the pavilion in our white period costumes to sleaze onto each other.
Friday 26th November 2004
We are so well known in this city. The first promo duty of the tour at RadioActive and they didn’t know we were coming in. We interrupt progressive electro show for an interview with four indie rock chaps – we have no record with us to play and we don’t know the venues we are playing at. Professional outfit this…
The drive between Wellington and Napier is killer. Ravines, mountains, all that crap.
We get into Napier. According to the Lonely Planet, Napier is one of the best examples in the world of fully intact Art Deco styled down. So there. It is also one the best places in the world to get looked after like kings by the kindly kids from Jakob. We’re talking A1 topshelf BBQ action with all your favourite food groups in the best house I’ve ever been put up in while on tour.
We have a good show after Avotor. They’re a great band and I couldn’t really describe them except to say that I felt them deep in my guts. I also felt Jakob in my guts but only cause they were so friggin’ loud. Loud like a freight train but in a good way, especially on their home turf.
We meet plenty of absolutely A1 locals.
Saturday 27th November 2004
Ad-rock had wake up duties today. We drive back to Wellington for our next show at place called Bar Bodega. No highlights here until we play except a pretty decent gorge on the drive back down that everyone missed cause they were asleep and a more than decent burrito at what’s fast becoming our favourite Wellington cafe, Fidels.
We split without paying for our beer.
Avotor are again killer. The thing I like about them is that they have pretty much adopted every solid drum playing I’ve ever liked and crossed with some pretty interesting electronic trash (for want of a better word). We play good. Jakob play better in front of an almost home crowd. Booze, other stuff and a healthy dose of NZ hospitality see us home after daylight. Bedlam has wake-up duties – it’s what he enjoys and he’s so good at it.
Sunday 18th November
Sheeesh… to be honest there are only a few things I remember driving the nine odd hours between Wellington and Auckland:
- Bedlam’s superbly friendly wake-up call about two seconds after we get to bed.
- The mountains on the Des(s)ert Road – um...holy shit.
- Adza almost slotting a hole in one at the Lake Tapao golf pontoon. Quality effort…
Auckland. Smallish crowd, but fun all the same.
We scale to the heights of Auckland’s big peak thingie to check out our only sights of the city while we’re there. Yep, it’s a lonely game this rock thing.
Hamish treats us like kings again and gets us up at a ridiculous hour for a flight. I, for one, collapse for the entire duration until the plane hits the deck. Nice work.
Thursday, December 02, 2004
Found a nice little review of our recent Phoenix Bar show online. Check it
Monday, November 29, 2004
Purplene heart NZ. Could be the next T-shirt design.
Stay tuned for Bedlam's tour diary, photos and more news. Coming soon.
Tuesday, November 23, 2004
Almost ready to fly fly away to sunny New Zealand. Getting itchy feet. Maybe it's tinea. Bedlam is excited about the tour diary he'll be writing for the website, so we'll have that ready for you soon upon our return. We should also have news about what will be happening during our live show hiatus. Matt will be playing solo with Hayden (US) at the Hoey the week before Christmas along with two other solo Spunk Records acts. Check details above.
Monday, November 15, 2004
Nice to see some familiar and new faces at the shows on the weekend. We think these may have been the last shows in this country before an extended break of maybe 4-6 months. Maybe more.
'Twas brilliant to finally get to see Jakob - one of the most spellbinding performances of live music we've witnessed. Next stop for us is getting over there and playing some New Zealand shows with this sheeit-hot New Zealand band. We can't wait.
Oh, and 'The Battler' aired again on Rage last Friday. Nice...
Tuesday, November 09, 2004
Just a reminder about the fairly weird playing times for the shows this weekend. They'll be as follows:
FRI 12 NOV - Phoenix Bar (34 Oxford St)
$10/Doors 8:00pm
PURPLENE 10:05 - 11:00
JAKOB 9:05 - 9:50
CAPTAIN NEMO 8:10 - 8:50
SAT 13 NOV - Northern Star, Newcastle
$8/Doors 10:00pm
PURPLENE 11:40 - 12:40
JAKOB 10:30 - 11:20
These shows look set to be our last Australian shows for a good while - maybe up to six months - and definitely the last shows for 2004. See you there...
Wednesday, October 27, 2004
Matt will be performing solo shows at a couple of places around town in the coming week.
The first one is this Sunday 31st October at Space 3 Gallery - cnr of Cleveland and Regent Streets, Redfern. Entry By Donation. ALL AGES. Drinks and snacks available. It starts at 2pm and goes until 7pm. Other acts playing will be Registered Nurse from Melbourne, as well as Piano Gets Small and Jack Ladder. Come.
Then the following Thursday 04 November with The Rebel Astronauts and The Woods Themselves at the Hopetoun.
Please also note the venue change for the Friday 12 November show with Jakob - Phoenix Bar, Oxford St. Same building as Spectrum, but the bar below. Cheers...
Thursday, October 21, 2004
Apologies to those that received a bazillion old emails from ages ago this week. For some unknown reason the old mailing list host (which we don't even use anymore) decided to have a bowel rupture and spray forth its badness to all and sundry many times over. The subject line says 'Let The Musick Begin' - just delete it. Sorry.
The venue for the November 12 Sydney show has been slightly altered - we're now in the room below Spectrum, in the PHOENIX BAR. There was an almighty stuff up with the venue, the booker or something, but we're glad to say the show is still going ahead with the same bill.
Monday, October 11, 2004
Well done, Australia. How depressing.
Anyone wanna move to New Zealand?
Friday, October 08, 2004
Right, so 'The Battler' will be airing on RAGE tonight, along with new clips from Icelandic cuties Mum and labelmates Machine Translations. We're pretty excited about it.
Now, for Purplene's brief foray into politics. Tomorrow's election is in YOUR hands. When we vote, let's consider education (the cornerstone of any prosperous democracy), our unique natural environment, Indigenous Australians, health, and the arts. But more importantly, let's support the concept of doing and being GOOD. It's not just about personal wealth, it's about feeling good about being Australian when we're abroad, feeling good about our foreign policies, our attitude to refugees and to immigration. Let's vote for a GOOD prime minister.
Cheers!
As you were.
Blackman
Thursday, September 30, 2004
Word on the street is that 'The Battler' video may be airing this Friday night on Rage, but we'll let you know as soon as playlists and times are available.
In other news, Captain Nemo have been added to the bill of our next show - at Sydney's Spectrum with Jakob. Can't wait. If you haven't yet heard of Jakob, check out their stunning Mogwai-meets-HDU-ish sounds here - listen to the MP3s from their latest record 'Cale:Drew' in particular.
Friday, September 24, 2004
Got a few pics courtesy of Trent O'Donnell taken at the Bonnie show at the Annandale in Sydney the other night. Click here to see 'em! More of a substantial update soon...
Monday, September 13, 2004
Got a couple of shows coming up THIS WEEK you should know about. The artists we're sharing the stage with come from the USA as part of SPUNK Records' 10-year celebrations, and we're pretty excited and flattered to be asked to play with them.
The grand prince of weirdness himself, BONNIE 'PRINCE' BILLY, a.k.a. Will Oldham, a.k.a. Palace, is in town with his dark, yodellish, perfectly twisted tunes and full band. On these shores as well is MARK KOZELEK of Red House Painters and Sun Kil Moon fame. We're playing with both acts - check out the dates below.
-> -> ->
Thu Sep 16 - CORNER, Melbourne w/ Mark Kozelek + Wagons
Fri Sep 17 - PONY, Melbourne w/ Disaster Plan, Enola Fall (Tas) + Fragments (We're headlining this one...)
Sat Sep 18 - ANNANDALE, Syd w/ Bonnie 'Prince' Billy + Wagons
Sun Sep 19 - ANNANDALE, Syd w/ Bonnie 'Prince' Billy + Holly Throsby
Mon Sep 20 - TROUBADOUR, Bris (Matt solo) w/ Mark Kozelek
-------
Our new clip for 'The Battler' will be airing on television very soon - probably starting the Friday after next. Check these pages for the TV whens and wheres and a juicy downloadable web version. It features four actors (no band members), is shot in the glorious Blue Mountains, and is quite possibly the funniest clip known to mankind. Perfect for such a dark and depressing song.
The track will be gracing radio airwaves very shortly too, so feel free to ask for it if you get the chance.
Finally, in very special news for us, we can now announce our first (short) tour of New Zealand! It's happening late November, and dates are up the top there. None of us have ever been, so we're acting like a busload of giggling schoolgirls.
Fare-thee-well for now...
Sunday, September 12, 2004
Also, we'd like to spread the good word on the Document Music Film Festival, happening in Sydney 29-31 October at the Valhalla. Lots of great films from Wilco to Sonic Youth to the Fauves to Oasis and lots in between...
Monday, August 30, 2004
Went up to the Blue Mountains on Saturday to shoot a film clip for 'The Battler', and lordy, what a glorious film clip this will turn out to be. Big thanks to the dynamic creative duo of Matt and Jeremy for coming up from Melbourne to shoot it, and special thanks to Aaron, Liam, Matt and Sean - the four actors who played the greatest men's group never to have actually existed. Hopefully we'll have a couple of photos from the shoot up on the site soon.
Next Sydney shows are with the Bonnie Prince himself at the Annandale in a couple of weeks. We'll be in Melbourne for a couple of nights before that with Mark Kozelek, and Matt will be doing a solo thingie in Brisbane on Monday Sep 20, again with Kozelek.
The Deloris record 'Fake Our Deaths' is on record store shelves today. Buy it. It's frickin' good.
Wednesday, August 18, 2004
The latest issue of 'Rolling Stone' has a glowing four-star review of our record.
"The work of a band that's in love with the art of crafting the perfect song...truly impressive."
Big cheers to y'all for lobbing along on Saturday night to a sold-out Hoey show. Big thanks once again to New Buffalo, Rand & Holland and Steve Fostex Foster for another seamless mixing job. Hoping to make a clip for 'The Battler' within the next two weeks.
Saw a sneaky advance copy of 'Fake Our Deaths' - the long-awaited Deloris record on the weekend while Marcus was up for a solo show, and sheesh, don't it look a treat! It's finally out in a week or two. Nice one, gents.
Tuesday, August 10, 2004
We also have lots of NEW stuff on this here site. You can now listen to just about everything by clicking on the AUDIO link over there on the right. You can now view and buy our shirts and badges by clicking on the BUY link. You can also see our extensive picture gallery from the album launch tour by clicking on the PHOTOGRAPHS link, or just open gallery NOW!
Monday, August 09, 2004
We are now officially signed to Spunk Records here in Australia. Yep, in true indie fashion, the Purps go and release a record in stores, tour the country, and then take care of the legitimate biz later on. But we met up with Aaron in a restaurant in Darlinghurst, got wined and dined, signed the bit of paper, and for a small moment felt like semi-famous rock stars. Cheers! See y'all at the Hopetoun this Saturday.
Friday, August 06, 2004
A second Bonnie "Prince" Billy show just got added for September - check out the dates above. Should be lovely to have the Prince o' Weirdness back on our shores again, and it's damn fine to be on the same bill as him.
Also, check out the sexxeee BUY section over there -->> !!
Finally, you lot can check out our tidy selection of Purplene street wear and assorted garb. You too can look handsome in our cutting-edge rock haute couture. And we'll pretty soon have AUDIO on the site too! We're talking mp3 samples of EVERYTHING and select full mp3 tracks available for download.
Wednesday, August 04, 2004
Rand & Holland just confirmed for our Hoey show next Saturday night!
This is gonna be one cracker of a bill, ladies and gents...
PURPLENE
NEW BUFFALO
RAND & HOLLAND
Sat August 14
Hopetoun, Surry Hills
Doors 8pm / $9
Wednesday, July 28, 2004
Taking some time out to work on new material - still hoping to get some pix up from the big tour just gone. There was also the trip to Brisbane that didn't get covered in the tour diary, but it was ace. A very tidy book end to a superb tour. Thanks to Rik, the guys at the Rev, Tim Steward, the guys at Skinny's, and Ange Phillips for the sexiest tour van ever travelled in. And we never even came close to running out of petrol.
Just confirmed a top-shelf bill a couple of weeks away at Sydney's Hopetoun - on Saturday Aug 14 with Melbourne's New Buffalo. You'll have some e-propaganda coming your way mighty soon regarding that.
And we'll be heading back to Melbourne earlier than we previously thought, which is good, seeing as them dang Sonik Toothers were playing the same night as our launch down there in June. See dates above. Hopefully another Melb date will be forthcoming on Friday Sep 17, but stay tooned for that.
Then back to Sydney on the Saturday night for a date with the bonnie prince himself. Should be pleasant.
Hoping to have a new single and video clip ready within the next month. More soon...
Wednesday, July 21, 2004
Aw sheeit. Blonde Redhead just cancelled. Stay tuned for our next upcoming dates.
Monday, July 19, 2004
Album launch tour diary, part two
4. Playing music in Perth, with Adam
Thursday July 01 ::::
After a toss of the coin and getting accommodation sorted (thanks again to Simon, Charmaine, Geoff and Lakey) we packed the van and headed to our first Perth show at the Hydey. With the tough decisions behind us, ie: Steak Sandwich or Bangers and Mash for dinner, we sat and watched Andrew Said Ryan play some amazing tunes with a cello accompanying him. We then played a pretty short set of older songs and a couple of new ideas that we should be working on more. Was a pretty nice warm up for the rest of the shows. Mukaizake play some rock'n'roll songs, awesome as ever... Can't wait for tomorrow night.
Oh yeah, and then we went back to Geoff's for drinks.
Friday July 02 ::::
Made a trip into the city today looking for the ABC Radio National studios to play a couple of songs on a show called 'The Deep End'. Should have been called 'In Deep Shit', because after doing a pretty nice soundcheck then actually going live, that's what it turned to. Couldn't hear a darn thing in the headphones. Apparently it sounded OK on the radio, even if it was the glorious mono of AM. Thanks to the two sound guys who recorded for us, lovely chaps.
OK, off to the Rosemount. Mukai were up first tonight, theyareawickedbandandnufsaid. OK? Tuckers were back - thought we'd give them a couple of nights off, yo. They had the kids jumping down the front and us smiling up the back.
D-d-d deeeer, d-d-d-d-d deeeeer. Respect.
We played a pretty long set tonight to a pretty decent crowd, who we hoped enjoyed it. Thanks for coming even though it was 2 degrees and raining outside. Went back to Geoff's, again, for drinks, and watched film clips till about 10:00am. Was fun. I hope James is OK and it washed off.
Saturday July 03 ::::
Whoever thought it was a good idea to let me drive the car to Fremantle after the night before is an IDIOT. My decision-making skills are worse than usual tonight. (Thanks to Matt B and Spanna for ordering from the menu for me.) But after a few beers and a little rest, all was good. We got to see the Tigers and Adam Said Galore together tonight. Reckon they both did a pretty decent job as support bands. :) We played well, even had a few requests from punters that weren't our friends. They are now. Cheers.
It was Lakey's birthday that night too, so we all went back to Band Club (don't talk about it) and boogied till early the next afternoon. Thanks to DJ Jade (you rocked) and Starship for building this city.
Perth has four of the best bands in Australia. Thank you all for playing with us and letting us play with you...
Thursday, July 15, 2004
Behold...the album launch tour diary.
1. Newcastle->Sydney, with Bedlam
It all started with a meat pie. A Mrs Mac's Pepper Steak Pie. The only other thing us Purplene homes like to eat on tour are Tucker B's - usually for breakfast. They might look tough, but they taste delicous, just like fish fingers in tomato sauce. The only downside is that the Tuckers can't be grilled - they be cool as a cucumber under cross examination. Anyway...
Friday 18 June ::::
Hometown advantage - worth at least two goals. We all ate Mrs Mac pies to get our strength up for what we knew would be a tough night at Newcastle's venue o' rock, The Cambridge. Good shit beforehand from Dave Dappled Cities and a tidy set from our interstate bitches, the Tucker B's. I started to wish they would write some decent songs though. Is it too late to get someone else along for the whole tour? Damn them all to hell.
We played some songs - mostly songs off our new rekurd. Note to all: you should always play songs off your new rekurd when launching a new rekurd. It makes it more worthwhile, especially if you want to sell copies of your new rekurd. We also played some old songs and pulled 'Fab 14' out of the vault as an encore. The last couple of times we've played in this particular steel city we've played that number. We don't play it anywhere else. You Newcastle people should feel either proud that we only play it for you special people, or you should feel pissed off because no one else likes it except for you.
Thankfully, we didn't have to sleep in the same room as the Tuckers after the show. Bunking down with the Tuckers after the show always makes me depressed and makes me question why we do this stoopid thing called 'being in a band'.
Saturday 19 June ::::
I wish to announce that Sydney has no such venue as @Newtown. It's the Newtown RSL, you dimwits. It don't matter how much you dress it up, the old girl will always be a rissole. Even if the drinks are expensive, they take down the picture of the Queen and no-one stands to attention at 9:00pm anymore. It's still an RSL and no fancy name change or fancy lights or schmicked up interior will change it. It makes me wanna cry that we don't respect our diggers anymore by drinking in establishments that feel slightly dingy and entirely trendy. Weary Dunlop would be turning in his grave.
Anyway, we had a cracking night. Sound (trademarked and copyrighted by Mr Matt Maddock) was suberb, the crowd was super and, as per always, Dappled Cities Fly were top-shelf shit and the Tuckers launched a sonic assault like no other band, alive or dead, can. What else can I say? I had the most fun I've had since Hector was a pup and here's to hoping everyone else there did too.
Next stop: our nation's capital.
2. Canberra->Melbourne, with Rosie
Wednesday 23 June ::::
We set off for the cold where Canberra's Church Bar offered us cheap drinks. It was a smallish show, but those tend to be the most enjoyable. We shared a dorm with those girlfriends of ours the Tucker B's, which always makes for a hazey evening. I wonder if the Purp's T-shirt still sits on that building awning, being thrown up there on a late night food run. Also cheers to Shoab for coming along and shouting us a carton of Cold...
Thursday 24 June ::::
We rested up and the next day took a slow drive to Melbourne where the Rob Roy greeted us. The crowd again was smallish but i think Sonic Youth (who are they?) may have had a little to do with it. Mr Maddock pulled some sweet sounds out of the room, as he always does, and thanks to Marcus Teague for singing on a track for us. It ended up being a late night for some, watching the soccer (England got done by Portugal) till 5:00am.
Friday 25 June ::::
The following day, afternoon drinking and word games hit the spot. Matt Maddock and girlfriend treated us to some fine Japanese dining. Damn it was good. Good to catch up with the Deloris boys too. With our bellies full, it was time for a kip and to prepare for the drive to Adelaide.
3. Melbourne->Adelaide->Perth, with Blackman
Saturday 26 June ::::
On the road from Melbourne after a welcomed day of rest and good non-servo food – that being some of the best Japanese of recent memory – it was back in the van to Adelaide. It’s still raining. The obligatory stop at Keith was made, where there’s pretty much nothing worth stopping for except for the fact that the town is indeed called Keith. Hell, not only is it a kingly name for a human being, but let’s call a whole damn South Australian town after it. Needless to say we necked a cheeky sandwich at Keith Bakery, then set about trying to catch up with the Tuckers van which had somehow taken the lead for the first and last time of the tour.
After I damaged our van in the narrower-than-shite carpark of our kinda fancy and not-very-rock accommodation, then coming to terms with having to pay a stupid amount of money to fix the frickin’ thing, I got to Adelaide’s Jade Monkey. Maui Tucker (not to be confused with Velvet Underground drummer of similar spelling) got a little bit crook in the gut region and had to be airlifted home via Qantas to Perth, leaving Mr Rosie and myself to fill the drumming gaps in whatever Tucker B’s songs we could make up on the fly. Seemed to do reasonably well, as did the band themselves yet again. Oh yeah, they played after the band Wolf & Cub, a young Adelaide group of apparent next-big-thing status who seemed like nice gents.
We played a good show, also pulling out ‘Fingers X’d’ for the first time, at the request of Houston Tucker, who was now hoping he wouldn’t lose another one of our sexy T-shirts and/or crack a taillight on his van like we had done. It was nice to play in Adelaide, because we hadn’t played there before and the people that stuck around seemed like they enjoyed listening.
Sunday 27 June / Monday 28 June ::::
We had another day off on Sunday and larded about in our not-very-rock accommodation like exhausted sloths. It’s still raining. I did some phone interviews for Perth, and Ad caught up with some relatives of his. Houston and his hot rocker lady drove one of the vans back to Sydney, along with all our amps and drums and stuff which we couldn’t take on the plane to Perth. He’s a nice boy, is Houston, and reasonably handsome for a Tucker B. Then on the Monday, we drove to Adelaide airport with an extremely careful amount of time to spare, dropped off our damaged van and flew flew flew to Perth.
We like Perth more than any other city in Australia. We also like Rudi Tucker and Simon Strutter, the boys who came and picked us up. But we had to leave Perth early the next day to go south to our favourite coastal spot from last time.
Tuesday 29 June / Wednesday 30 June ::::
Now with a freshly smelling Perth van and the fresher-smelling addition of Lozenge and Spanna to the mix, the six of us drove south to Yallingup and stayed in very nice and not-very-rock accommodation for a couple of nights to breathe in the lovely airy air, drink in the world-class Margaret River wine region for a not-very-rock wine tasting expedition, and play pool at the Yallingup pub. It’s still raining. We saw a possum and fed it chips or something else it’ll probably struggle to digest. Did a few phone interviews for Brisbane, even found an ‘internet’ and some ‘nice’ coffee in downtown Dunsborough, then headed back to Perth to begin thinking about band stuff again.
Monday, July 05, 2004
Back home and preparing for Brisvegas...
We're in the process of putting together some sort of tour diary of sorts from Newcastle all the way to Perth, and the only thing we have in mind is to make it nothing like the Tucker B's effort of the same type. Nah, jokin'. Check it out. But ours will be up on this here site soon, complete with evidence pics. Once again, thanks to everyone who helped and came along to one of our launches. Looking forward to seeing you Brisbanites.
Just found Dave & Matt's JJJ radio interview with Caroline Tran on the web for your mp3 listening pleasure. Listen to it here. We'll also put a few more interview and review clippings from around the country up on the site this week...
Cheers!
Wednesday, June 30, 2004
Greetings from Perth. News just in that we'll be performing live on ABC's Radio National 'Deep End' show this Friday evening at 8:30pm. Tune in and check out the live set and interview - we'll be recording it at Perth's ABC studios, just before heading down to the Rosemount to launch our album with the Tucker B's and Mukaizake.
For those back home on the east coast, tidy reviews of the self-titled Purplene record came in this week from Brisbane's 'Courier Mail' and 'Rave' magazine, as well as Sydney's 'Brag', where we got Album of the Week.
In other exciting news, we nabbed the Blonde Redhead support for Sydney. Dates soon.
More soon...
Tuesday, June 22, 2004
Hot off the minilab presses are the photos from Saturday night's album launch.
Get 'em while they're hot. I missed getting any shots of Tucker B's, doh, busy doing lights - but did get a few of (the superb) Dappled Cities Fly. Pete
Monday, June 21, 2004
heya, some other recent clippings - an article in The Metro liftout from the Sydney Morning Herald & a warm review of the album in The Australian. Photos from the album launch (which went off with a bang) coming tomorrow. pete
Tuesday, June 15, 2004
Look Ma - our first cover!Thats right, our heads feature on the front of The Drum Media this week. Heres a scan of the article inside. Also appearing around the place was a writeup in The Newcastle Herald last week, and also an album review in the Sydney City Hub.
Monday, June 14, 2004
Warm salutations once again.
This is the week that it all begins...kind of. Our national album launch tour starts in Newcastle this Friday June 18, then takes in Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth, then Brisbane. And all shows except Brisbane are with our strangely handsome Perth brethren - The Tucker B's. Come along and git amongst it - it's gonna be B I G. We have new T-shirts, badges and fresh jewel-cased 'Songs From The Marketplace' CDs that will all be available at the launches, as well as copies of 'Ruining It For Everybody' and the new self-titled album, obviously. Unfortunately the 'Swords Down' single/EPs are all sold out...
There's a fair bit happening on the radio and in street press this week, so keep an eye out for more misquoting, typos and interesting radio edits. That was a joke. We love you sex-ee media people, truly. Oh yeah, and if any of you folk in non-Sydney cities would like to watch for reviews and stories in street press, mags or papers, we'd gladly exchange badges for scanned/emailed copies of articles we don't already have. Cheers.
See you at the bar...
Thursday, June 03, 2004
A slightly edited version of 'Second Shift' is the latest of our tracks to get some JJJ airing. Hope ye dig...
Monday, May 31, 2004
A lovely (french - oo la la) review of the Songs from the Marketplace EP has popped up over at derives.net - which looks like a french music review website... i cant read french. Alta vista can though, here's a translated version of the review (translated using babelfish - http://babelfish.altavista.com/). The original review appears here.
Wednesday, May 26, 2004
Here's a review of the new album which appeared on The Electric Newspaper site
Monday, May 24, 2004
wo, 2 weeks in a row! here's an article that was in Brag - Matt talking about recording with that guy. A bunch of typos and errors (namely the label release info), but whatev'...
Friday, May 21, 2004
Here's Adam talking about recording gear and stuff in Brag mag this week. Speaking of Brag, a few months ago they "re-launched" and by gee, if they dont have the sexiest design now I'll be buggered. kudos to them and that. design worthy of a paid publication. later.
pete
(that unofficial 5th member guy)
(not affiliated with brag :).
no, seriously.
Wednesday, May 19, 2004
So there's been a few press clippings and reviews that have come out in the last few weeks, notably an article in Rolling Stone, a review for the Swords Down single in the Daily Telegraph, and a review of the new album in Lucky Mag from Melbourne. You'll also find them all tucked away nicely in the "reviews/clippings" section - on the right there. rock on.
Monday, May 17, 2004
PURPLENE, the new self-titled album - in stores today!
And here's to the new spunky Purps site. Big thanks once again to the wonderful and tireless work of Pete Ottery for getting this sucker up and running. Quite a bit of stuff is new, so have a gander around. Thanks to everyone. Go buy the record and tell us what you think.
Sunday, May 09, 2004
Been a while in between postings. Latest movements in the Purps camp:
* There's an interview piece on the band in the latest issue of 'Rolling Stone' mag.
* 'Purplene', the new self-titled album, is in shops on Monday May 17 on Big Dipper/Spunk.
* Our national tour begins on June 18, and dates and venues will be available shortly. The tour will be with Perth's Tucker B's.
* 'Swords Down' continues getting solid airplay on JJJ and most capital city community radio stations.
* We're in the process of overhauling the site - should have a tasty new one fairly soon.
Thursday, April 15, 2004
'Swords Down' soared in at number 31 in the national yoof broadcaster's Net 50 this week. Help us get EVEN more popular by voting here.
Wednesday, April 14, 2004
See the clip? We'll hopefully have some or all of it up on the site as a Quicktime soon.
Friday, April 09, 2004
We're on Rage just after 2:30am tonight (Fri 09 April). ABC TV. Watch.
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