Brand new documentary Descent Into The Maelstrom takes a look at the band Radio Birdman – a band which many people say opened the doors for heavy bands right across Australia. Dave Griffiths chats to Pip Hoyle, the Radio Birdman keyboardist about the band in general and what it was like being part of this documentary.
You can listen to or download our Pip Hoyle interview right here.
New suspense-thriller Allied is one of those films that has risen to notoriety before its release not because of what critics have been saying about the film but because of the rumours and innuendo that have surfaced about its stars – Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard. With all of those stories circulating it seems that everybody forgot that for the third time Pitt was starring in a fairly decent war film.
Pitt’s co-star Marion Cotillard says it only took her reading through the script to realise that this was a film that she certainly wanted to make. “When I read the script I wanted to see the movie,” she says grinning. “I thought that it was such a beautiful story. It was a mix of a very entertaining film and very deep emotions and questions about love; it’s really a beautiful, beautiful love story and it has this spirit of ‘old movie’ about it and knowing that it would be directed by a visionary like Robert Zemeckis made the project even more exciting. It is at the same time very entertaining and it talks about what are you choices in an extreme situation like the war, especially when your work is being a spy and you are pretending that you are somebody that you are not. In the beginning of the movie both of us are spies and they don’t know anything about each other and they pretend to be this loving couple and it is going to turn into this very extreme situation that the war creates, so part of the movie is very entertaining and part of it is very serious with all the questioning about choices and all the questioning about love.”
Cotillard also admits that one of the reasons that she was attracted to making Allied was because she was a huge fan of the film’s director, Robert Zemeckis. “He was really part of my desire to be an actress,” she says thoughtfully. “I’ve watched all of his movies, and I knew what he wanted to tell with this story because when we first met, he said ‘I’m not used to telling love stories like this one, this is really new for me.” It was very exciting to see him be so honest and so committed to doing something that he is not used to delivering and he was so good at it, all the questions that we had, all that we shared during the preparation time that we had. We had little more than two weeks where we all sat together, with Brad Pitt, with Robert, with Steven Knight who had written this amazing script, and to have this period of time where we could get to know each other, get to really understand what we wanted to tell with this movie was really fascinating and I was really fascinated by Robert on set because of all the movies that he had directed already and all the special effects that he has been part of creating. He has really changed cinema with what he has done and the movies he has done. So yeah I was in awe a lot and really fascinated by the way he directed this one.”
When it comes to the man himself, Robert Zemeckis, he says it was the characters that really drew him to want to direct Allied. “What I really liked about the project when I first read the screenplay was that this story had these two unbelievably well-written characters. These two characters were very complex and very passionate, that was what I was drawn to. The way that the screenplay was written so elegantly and these characters just really, really jumped right off the page, and that really attracted me as well. I think the question at the heart of the film is one that is universal, a universal question, which is – does love trump all? Is love the key driving emotion in everyone’s life and what happens when you love somebody and the circumstances get very, very complicated and what choices should we make? Those questions are all very universal and have been there all through time, and they are the ones that I think are very dramatic and very interesting. That is one of the things that I like to do and one of the things that I think cinema does very well and that creates tension and suspense. It is interesting in this movie that the tension and suspense come from the emotions of these two characters, and this incredible passion that they have for each other in these circumstances that are very, very complicated and dire. To have that much tension and suspense come from within characters was a wonderful challenge for me and something that I enjoyed doing.”
Zemeckis also seems genuinely excited when he gets to talk about having to recreate the past for the film. “I did a lot of research,” he explains. “It’s one of the things that movies do really well, they can evoke and re-create past periods of time and the way that you do is you do a lot of research and look at a lot of photographs, a lot of footage – a lot of historical footage – and then you talk to people that really know – people like historians – what was going on. We were lucky on our film because the Imperial War Museum were our consultants, so we had great people surrounding us.”
This leads to being asked what was it like working with two of the biggest movie stars of current day – Brad Pitt and Marion Cottilard. “Working with both Brad and Marion was a real thrill because they were both professional and very focused and very hard working. Brad also a very good attention to detail and I was very impressed that he went down so deep and gave such an emotional performance, one that I had never seen him do before, so that was a thrill. Marion is amazing, I mean she is one of the best and greatest actresses that I have ever worked with. She is one of those actresses that can make anything work and she pays such close attention to her character and does an amazing amount of work on her own preparing, so when she comes onto the set, she is ready to deliver and does.”
Allied is in Australian cinemas now.
Anna Murphy is back with her new band Cellar Darling and Dave Griffiths caught up with her to talk about how this exciting new project came out and they also talked in depth about Cellar Darling’s debut album – This Is The Sound.
You can listen to or download our Cellar Darling interview right here.
When Dave saw Bad Girls at the Melbourne International Film Festival he gave it an amazing five out of five stars. Now Dave catches up with the film’s composer Warren Ellis to learn exactley what into putting together this amazing film.
You can listen to our Warren Ellis interview right here.
With new Australian thriller Crushed out on VOD this week Buzz’s Dave Griffiths caught up with one of the stars of the film Roxane Wilson. Dave chats to Roxane about what it is like acting in an intense film like Crushed and what it was like working with director Megan Riakos.
You can listen to or download our Roxane Wilson interview right here.
Dave Griffiths sits down and has a chat with the director of a hard hitting new documentary called Blue. Karina Holden talks to us about how this documentary came together and what the average Australian can learn from watching it.
Blue is in Australian cinemas on the 12th October.
You can listen to or download our Karina Holden interview right here.
Move over Evelyn Salt and James Bond because Charlize Theron is crashing through the spy pack with her brilliant portrayal of Lorraine Broughton in one of the films that is promising to be one of the big box office winners of 2017 – Atomic Blonde.
Based on a popular graphic novel Atomic Blonde sees Theron play a spy who gets involved in a little Cold War action when she is sent by MI6 to investigate rumours of a list that contains the names and identities of some of the world’s top spies falling into the wrong hands in Berlin alongside another operative, played by James McAvoy. Added to the mix is the fact that the film is directed by David Leitch, the man who co-directed James Wick.
For Theron though this really was a passion project as she was one of the brains behind the film as well. “I didn’t choose it,” she explains. “I saw potential in this graphic novel and I think I wanted to develop something that had a protagonist in it that was very close to what Lorraine was in that graphic novel. Somebody that could be a female protagonist that lives and breathes in a world that is mostly dominated by males and live in an environment where she can play by all the same rules that the boys do in that world. So, somebody unapologetic, interesting, layered, conflicted and you know somebody struggling with her own humanity. I think they were all the things that made me want to develop a character like that. I read a couple of the pages of the graphic novel that were sent to us, it was an unpublished graphic novel at the time and that’s what sparked the interest in wanting to buy the rights and develop Atomic Blonde.”
When asked to explain the character of Lorraine a little more deeply Theron laughs. “Well she works for MI6, she is very good at her job. She has made peace with the fact that she chose to live in this world, and it is a tough world to live in, especially for a woman, but she is good at it but she likes doing it and she carries the consequences of all of that… and I think there is something very empowering about her.”
With every critic talking about how intense the espionage storyline of Atomic Blonde it wasn’t much of a surprise to learn that Theron is a very big fan of espionage and spy movies in general. “I like the spy-thriller aspect of it,” she says. “I think I’m also fascinated about how you can take those stories and turn them on their heads a little bit because I think we’ve seen a lot of the spy thriller genre and we’ve seen how they go from act to the next act and I think I was interested in how you could take that, not only in the story but in the look and feel of what those movies normally look like and then turn that on its head and make it something super energetic and fun.”
Theron also admits there was a little bit of pre-planning that went into playing Lorraine as well. “I didn’t do any research into how they walked or silly things like that,” she says. “But I was really interested in finding out what kinds of people do that job, it takes a certain personality to do that job and I guess even to want to do that job. There were some interesting things once I started reading about things, especially during this time period when operatives would go into areas where their agencies would just abandon them and a lot of them at the time were more prompted to take the job if they were having issues in their family life or if they were dealing with alcoholism or something that would almost make them self combust – that was a really interesting idea. And once we started shooting it I was very interested in the ‘why’ because it is a tough, cold world to be in.”
Anyone that has seen John Wick knows that director David Leitch likes to make his fight scenes as realistic as possible so there is very little surprise to learn that he really put Theron and the rest of the Atomic Blonde cast through their paces and it sounds like she wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. “I wanted to do this in a way that was believable,” she explains. “I knew that is was going to take a lot of work to fight like that, but I never wanted anybody to say that a woman couldn’t do that so that was important and I think that was what drove me to want to be as capable as I ended up being as physical as I could be. I trained for two and a half months and then I kind of continued that as we made the film.”
Theron is quick to admit that working with Leitch who has previously been a stunt man himself had both positives and negatives. “There was a bit of both,” she says with a smile. “The positive was that he knew where to put a camera, he knew how to shoot stunts and do action. He is so comfortable in that world, that he as eye for it and he definitely has a passion for it, but yeah I think that in other hands I probably wouldn’t have been pushed as hard, but I wanted that… I wanted somebody to expect more from me and push me more, and he was amazing at that.”
Of course some of the most intense scenes that Theron had to create in Atomic Blonde was alongside actress Sophia Boutella who most people would recognise from her recent performance in The Mummy. Theron says she is brilliant to work with. “She is great, I absolutely love her,” she says smiling. “We were very lucky in finding her because the role of Lasalle was very tricky, it had to be somebody that had a strength about them but also an incredible vulnerability. In a way she had to be broken but fully functioning because of that story and that is tough to find somebody that has that and she has that in spades. She is so beautiful in this film.”
Atomic Blonde is in Australian cinemas on the 3rd August.
No conversation about Australia greatest songwriters is complete with the name Don Walker. Able to draw inspiration from suburban life to notorious hangouts and everything in between, any LP that has the name Walker in the writing credits is sure to feature some gems. Blacktop, a boxset featuring Dons solo work and Catfish is due to be released soon. As well as gigs with Tex Don and Charlie and the other band hes in, Mr Walker is certainly been busy. We spoke via telephone, me in Melbourne him in Brisbane.
Munster: A box set is about to come out called Blacktop, featuring four of your solo LPs for the first time on vinyl. Why did you decide to do a career retrospective at this stage of the game?
Don: It wasn/t so much motivated by doing a career retrospective its more motivated by the fact people these days like listening to music on vinyl and they cant listen to my albums on vinyl so we fixed that.
Munster: What do you make of the Vinyl resurgence during the digital age?
Don: I avent listened to a vinyl record for 25 years at least, so I cant tell. People who love vinyl tell me it sounds a lot better and i/ll take their word, bit I avent had a turn table in that time.
Munster: Do you use Spotify and other streaming sites?
Don: No I don/t use streaming sites. I listen to CDs in my car and look up YouTube thats how I find and listen to music these days.
Munster: Cassettes?
Don: no I avent use a cassette for a long time, since they put CD players in cars.
Munster: You ave this box set coming out and some shows to promote the release and you/ve been busy with Tex Don and Charlie and Chisel ave played a few gigs recently, you feel like your in more demand then ever?
Don: Uh I don/t think its a demand driven thing, its just those are the main three things I ave going, three of them rarely happen, but they just happen to all fall together, especially in the first few months of this year I don/t think that has ever happened before. in six weeks id done a few cold chisel shows six Tex Don and Charlie shows and a month of my own shows.
Munster: You played Clipsal 500 with Chisel and you/re playing arenas with them but also playing Theatres and clubs with your solo and Tex Don and Charlie gigs, do you prefer bogger or smaller venues?
Don: they ave there pluses and minuses. I love playing in small places because its like playing in a pressure cooker and you get a lot of energy in a confined space which disappears when you/re playing in a big outdoor crowd. But the benefit with the big outdoor crowd is better backstage facilities, theres no toft in the change room, and more money.
Munster: I remember seeing you at the Caravan Club a few years back, the first song you did wasKhe Sanh, was that your way of saying lets get this out the way?
Don: No. No I never get a request for a Cold Chisel song, the kind of request that every covers band gets and every band attempting to be original in the country gets to play Khe Sanh, im not dogged by that, and In fact I don/t feel sorry for them at all, but for some reason that doesn/t come at me. Sometime a few years ago I found I could do a creditable version of Khe Sanh with just me and a piano which is rare for a cold chisel song, I usually cant do a creditable version. I avent done it that often, and id say the crowd at the Caravan would ave been quite surprised for me to kick off with that.
Munster: When Chisel ending and you started your own projects were you comfortable being uo front and singing?
Don: no its something I had to figure out. I used to sing when I was a teenager and in my early 20s when I played in bands. Then when I got in a band with Ian and Jim I stopped doing that and they did that. They had better voices then me and spent the next ten years developing what they do and I didn/t sing at all. So when I can and tried to do it again in my mid 30s what came out was a bit of a squeak compared to what I thought I could do in my head. It took a awhile not only how to open up and do it, but also how to write songs that were suitable for what I could do as opposed to what Jim and Ian can do.
Munster: Shots your autobiography for me is an amazing book, and I loved how you focused on a certain period of your life and not a typical start to finish of your life, and you focused on places then people. I also loved how Louis Tillett was the only person you mentioned his last name, nad everyone was just a first name basis and Barnsey was just Jim, what gave you the idea to write the book like that?
Don: a lot of the book was written before there was any idea of it being a book. A lot of it was written for my own private amusement. I called a data entry guy to type it up. When I had a lot of this stuff I was approached by Chris Feik, an editor at Black Inc publishing. He asked me if I had a book in me. I said I don/t think so but I ave this writing, but I don/t think it’s a book. And if you see the writing in Shots you/ll know what I mean, especially at that stage the writing had no punctuation. I enjoyed the writing as a sort of flowing surfing music kind of thing. I didn/t know if anyone else could read it. I gave it to Chris and he said yes it is readable writing but you know can we try a bit of punctuation. And he said you can always take out later (laughs)
Munster: what influences more Places or people?
Don: (pauses) Both. Im trying to think of a bar graph and see if places or people would be longer but I don/t think I can do that.
Munster: Are you the kind of person that can write anywhere like waiting for a bus you get the pen and paper out, or do you need to be at home or an office to do that?
Don: I can do that anywhere if I ave a space and I don/t need a notebook. I can just do it in my head. The problem with modern times its easier to pull out your phone and read the news.
Munster: Mark E Smith in his book mentioned every year he would try and write a song for England to enter in Eurovision but said he cant as it takes a special skill to write a hit or a radio friendly song. Im in Melbourne your in Brisbane im sure we could turn on the radio and we/d find a song you/ve written being played. Do you agree, it’s a special skill to write hits?
Don: Absolutely! That the ultimate skill. I was gonna say anyone can write a Mark E Smith song but thats not the case only Mark E Smith can do that. Writing a Hard Days night is really difficult, the best writers in the world ave been trying to do that for 50 years. Writing a radio song is a very difficult skill. Its good too, and I think I know what hes talking about because even if you don/t achieve that it makes you a much better writer for trying. It really cleans up you more literally writing.
Munster: You/re often mentioned in lists of great Australian songwriters, which other songwriters deserve to be in that list in your opinion?
Don: well that would be a long list. For my personal taste Harry Vander and George Young are head and shoulders above everyone else. The guy from Little River Band that did Reminiscing. Theres a guy that wrote a song that was namechecked by John Lennon and sang up Frank Sinatra. You can sleep well. Also Lewis Tillett. The usually people, Paul, sorry Paul Kelly, I gotta put in full names. I think Nick Caves a great writer, Ian Rilen is a favourite, Tex Perkins and all the guys from Chisel. So all my friends. Slim Dusty had great writers allround the country that worked with him from the 40s onwards. This is an endless list that when I look at later i/ll be like damn I let out such and such.
Munster: My favourite passage of Shots is when you talk about playing with Chisel in St Kilda. Last year you played at Memo with Tex and Charlie and you/re playing solo very soon there, does St Kilda ave a special place in the Don Walker story?
Don: for all my life Melbourne has been St Kilda. First time we drove into Melbourne, you know Cold Chisel in a car we drove to St Kilda. And we always stayed in St Kilda. Rose Tattoo stayed in South Yarra which is nearby. All the musicians in Victoria I later worked late in life with ave always been St Kilda musicians. I always stayed there and I didn/t know any other part of Melbourne other than St Kilda and that little strip up St Kilda Rd to the city. My daughter has been at Melbourne Uni for the last four years and she has opened my eyes to the North of the city. So in the last four years im learning more parts of Melbourne thanks to my daughter, but before than it was just St Kilda.
Munster: You lived in Kings Cross for a long period, are there many similarities between the Cross and St Kilda?
Don: there are some obvious comparisons but not really. Culturally very very different. Kings Cross is different in many ways, especially the decade or two I lived there. Its a bleaker place culturally. Theres the importance of aving the Naval base at the bottom of Kings Cross which is an element thats not in St Kilda. There are similarities but big differences. One of Paul Kellys songs which is one of my favourite songs is of course From St Kilda to Kings Cross. He took a bus to Sydney got off at Oxford Street walked to my place with his guitar over to my place and said he has a new song. It was wonderful for a first hearing.
Munster: Do you ave a favourite Fall LP?
Don: not by name but in the late 70s and early 80s I listened to the Fall a lot. i thought what he was doing was really free and interesting. There was no one like him, that I know of, maybe hes part of a genre I don’t know about and I don/t remember how I discovered them but I really liked it.
Don Walker plays MEMO in St Kilda Friday April 13. Blacktop boxset out now.
With Entombed A.D. about to embark on their Australian tour Dave Griffiths caught up with LG. Petrov to see what Australian fans have in stall for them… and we discover that they may do a little bit of bar hopping.
You can listen to or download our Entombed AD interview right here.
Finnish heavy metal band Battle Beast are about to release their brand new album Bringer Of Pain. Dave Griffiths caught up with front-woman of the band, Noora Louchimo to chat about the inspirations behind the new album and also how stressful it was to find a new member of the band.
You can listen to or download our Noora Louchimo interview right here.