After one incredible performance, Hayden turns to the camera and says, “Was that all right?”  There’s only one thing better than an amazing artist, and that’s one who doesn’t know it yet.

A lot of people have been comparing Hayden to other established artists.  We think Hayden Calnin sounds a lot like Hayden Calnin.

At just 22 years old, with a background in film, Hayden turned his focus to music in the past two years.  And rightly so.

I first heard the song ‘Summer’ on triple j unearthed and knew he was unquestionably unique.  Soon after this I saw him play live at The Evelyn, supporting Eliza Hull and wandered over to Eliza before she went on stage and said, “We need to film him.”  So she organised it.

With such a different sound, I asked Hayden what his musical influences were and he said, and I quote, “Everything.  The good, the horrible, the doof doof.”  Exceptionally lyrically talented, it’s no surprise that his main musical influences are however The Swell Season, Low, Frightened Rabbit and Seekae; which all seem to fall under the ‘good’ category.

On a lazy Sunday afternoon, we set up in Hayden’s lounge room to capture him perform.  The cameras were rolling and we all struggled to keep our eyes behind the lenses when Hayden started performing his beautiful song, ‘Summer’.  His voice resonated through the entire house; it’s such a big voice, yet at the same time low and heart heavy.  Easily one of our most interesting shoots to date, whereby he live looped the entire song to an astounded little Large Noises audience.

This month Hayden will be supporting Matt Corby in three sold out shows at The Corner Hotel – on the 19th, 21st and 22nd of February.  Following this you can catch Hayden at The Toff in Town on February 25th with Dancing Heels and Them Swoops.  And on March 31st he’ll be supporting Mark Wilkinson at The Thornbury Theatre.

Keep your ears and eyes out for Hayden Calnin’s EP (featuring Summer) that will be released in the coming months.  Words can’t quite describe the excitement to pop my headphones on and listen to it.  Hayden Calnin is nothing short of a dream.

The above words were written by Charlotte Abroms.

Sat in my friend’s apartment before a night out, Jess said she had a treat for us, having just heard this song on the radio that afternoon.  As the emotive first lyric kicked in, “After leaving her apartment…” everyone turned their curiosity towards the screen, watching Young the Giant perform ‘Apartment’ on a grassy mountain somewhere far from that living room.  I had just recently decided to start a website filming bands play tunes in different locations (this one); and was further inspired by this video to continue – which, mind you now has over half a million views.

In turns out Young the Giant had a similar idea; starting a sequence of online videos called ‘In the Open’ where they play different interpretations of their songs throughout their travels, in various locations.  I pondered what the chances would be of doing a shoot with this unique quintet from across the seas.

And then there we were; (many thanks to their wonderful Australian rep at Roadrunner Records) filming Young the Giant at the Corner Hotel before they supported Grouplove earlier this year.  Since first hearing them, Young the Giant have always been on my radar, having also played shows with Marina & The Diamonds, The Futureheads, Neon Trees and Grouplove.  Seeing the band perform at the 2011 MTV Awards was a pleasant confirmation that they were on a lot of the right radars, including Morrissey’s, who referred to them as one of his favourite new bands.

Singer Sameer Gadhia has a trademark vocal delivery, crooning over the top of indie pop guitars.  I’ve looked forward to posting this clip since before we even shot it; Young the Giant are consistently beautiful in their delivery of this song.

The above words were written by Charlotte Abroms.

How often is it that you hear a song on a flavoured milk ad, write the lyrics in your phone and then look up the band later? For me, just this once.

Georgia Fair featured on a Big M ad in 2010 with their happy-go-lucky song ‘Picture Frames‘, that highlighted a group of laid back friends road tripping around Australia. And what better music to have as the theme of your summer than Georgia Fair? Thankfully to those of you living in the Southern Hemisphere, their debut album ‘All Through Winter’ was released just in time for summer; recorded in Asheville, North Carolina with Bill Reynolds (Band of Horses).

Singer/songwriters Jordan Wilson and Ben Riley are the Sydney duo behind Georgia Fair, now residing in Melbourne’s North, making waves supporting artists like Megan Washington, Lisa Mitchell and The Panics. Georgia Fair is a band that people are talking about; gaining a significant amount of industry interest, selling out popular venues, packing out their intimate gig at Pure Pop Records (where we filmed them) and soon to hit the road with The Howling Bells.

It seems that everyone is starting to catch onto the sun drizzled acoustic-folk pop tunes of Georgia Fair; filled with beautiful harmonies and sing-alongs it’s hard not be instantly captured.

Large Noises were lucky enough to film Georgia Fair at Pure Pop Records in a courtyard packed wall to wall with fans; waiting to have their CD’s signed. Fellow Large Noises Producer, Eliza Hull, turned to me and said, “This is what music should be like.” With their relaxed and humble nature, the boys didn’t let the attention get to them and casually belted out their beautiful song, Halfway Gone.

The introspective lyrics and gorgeous harmonies meant that for one brief moment mid-shoot our whole team looked at one another and smiled. As if to say, “This is going to be a good one.”

The above words were written by Eliza Hull & Charlotte Abroms.

Fun fact: Robbie Williams says these boys are his favourite band at the moment, coining them “the next big thing,” before playing them on his radio show.

Occasionally at Large Noises, we do a shoot with an emerging band that you may or may not have heard of yet. Today, we look at Undercolours.

A few months ago, I went to watch Young the Giant and Grouplove play a gig at The Corner Hotel in Melbourne. After the show, I got chatting to Flynn Francis (singer of Undercolours) about our mutual appreciation for the gig. Flynn mentioned he too was in a band called Undercolours.

Coincidentally, the next day I read an amazing write up by trend-setters Neon Gold, describing them as ‘Australia’s next great hope for global pop supremacy.’ Woah. Listening to their song ‘Spirit the Ghost‘ explains the killer write up and the instant worldwide industry attention the band is receiving.

Undercolours have a sense of youthfulness about them that will appeal to a wide array of musical tastes; one I imagine will be slightly dominated by young girls who majorly crush on their poppy and energetic attitude. Although having only played a handful of gigs and more recently supporting Naked and Famous, singer Flynn Francis carries himself like a true frontman, which is downright appeal in itself.

There is something undoubtedly special about these boys; an unspoken and humble desire to succeed beyond their hometown, and success that will be achieved with the same excited, humorous and joyful attitude they brought to the shoot with them.

We’re looking forward to witnessing the success of Undercolours in the coming months. Managed by Parallel Management (The Presets, Strange Talk, Zowie) they are certainly in good hands.

Keep your ears out.

The above words were written by Charlotte Abroms.

Fire! Santa Rosa, Fire! are an experience.

I first discovered the band when I heard their song, “Little Cowboys, Bad Hombres” sometime last year. Looking back, this song made its way onto every playlist I made in 2010 – playlists I made for myself, parties, car trips and ones I made for friends around the world, it was a song that I could confidently send to people and think, “Thank me later.”

Being able to capture Fire! Santa Rosa, Fire! while they were touring was an absolute delight. We managed to steal some of their time between sound check and their performance at The Forum Theatre, supporting Kimbra on her national tour. We wandered towards the location we’d chosen, Hoboken Café in Melbourne, with a band of six and gear to boot, only to find that it had just closed. The benefit of turning up to a closed café with a full band meant that we caught the attention of the staff. With the limited time we had, they oh so kindly let us in for the shoot. Later we found out staff member Liv was a bit of a die-hard fan of Fire! from back in their hometown, Adelaide. Thank you, Liv.

What I noticed instantly was the dynamic between F!SRF!; their chilled energy, they came in relaxed, joking and laughing, jamming and even helping themselves to a couple of left over croissants from the café. They were down to earth. They chose to play their killer new track Panther Shrine for the shoot. The recorded version of this track was mixed by Gareth Parton from the UK (Foals, Holy Fuck, The Go! Team) and mastered by Nilesh Patel (The XX, Bjork, Air), and if you’ve ever listened to Australian radio station triple j, then you’ve probably heard it.

The light hearted mood changed as they started playing; I was blown away by the magnetic rhythm the band had created with clicks and claps. After quite some time touring and performing together, what stood out to me was the friendship that glued them together, these guys were tight and it showed both musically and socially. Youngest member, only female and lead singer of the band, Caitlin (21) has a voice that swoons. I loved her humble nature; throughout their performance she was honest and a little bit shy – I left feeling like I had witnessed one of the most real bands I’d seen in a long, long time.

This song has been stuck in my head since we recorded it. In a good way.

Read more about the band on the Viceroyalty website.

The above words were written by Eliza Hull and Charlotte Abroms (they alternated between letters)

Early last year Ryan Rabin (drummer of Grouplove) sent me a link to a song he’d recently produced and drummed on, called “Colours.” Within seconds of listening to the song, I got that feeling that I so rarely get; a combination of excitement and appreciation when you hear something that somehow sounds right. The unique sound of Christian Zucconi’s voice, combined with the clever and cryptic lyrics, and the underlying pop vibe makes you just want to dance or jump or move.

Around the time the EP was released last year I went to Los Angeles (hometown of Andrew Wessen and Ryan Rabin) and met the band. I noticed immediately that there was something more than a mere musical connection between these guys (and gorgeous girl, Hannah Hooper). All having come from different backgrounds, in some cases different cities, and in bassist Sean Gadd’s case, a different country – it was like a bizarre twist of fate that brought these exceptionally talented artists together, to finally make an explosive entrance onto the international music scene.

As I was leaving that week, I just missed Grouplove playing the Troubadour. Ryan was going to keep me posted on their progress. Upon returning home and with a slight case of post-holiday blues, I stepped into my little office in Melbourne, Australia and flicked the radio on. There it was, “I am a man, man, man, man, up up up in the air” and somehow Grouplove had beat me back here. The theme song of my summer had made it to my hometown, sooner than I had expected, thanks to Triple J.

Exactly one year later, August 2011 I found myself in the audience at Australian music festival, Splendour in the Grass, watching the band attract a crowd of loyal Australian fans.

Grouplove aren’t just a band; they are a family, having all found what appears to be their calling in life, simultaneously. This sense of love and family extends right out to their management team (Berger Management) and ultimately to their fans, to every little face in that crowd. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to be a part of their family, even if it was just a distant Australian cousin.

If you ever get the chance to go see Grouplove live, do it.

The above words were written by Charlotte Abroms.

Eliza and I have a special story. We run Large Noises together, along with Jono Steer and Davey Sams. Jono, who you may notice also plays the keys in Eliza’s band.

Sat next to one another in our first year of university, Eliza and I bonded over, well, not really knowing what we were doing there. We chatted music. And we’ve pretty much only chatted music since. I discovered Eliza fronted a band called Describe Eliza, so I went home and had a little listen to her tunes. Without any industry experience, the next day I asked Eliza if I could manage her. That didn’t happen.

My point is that Eliza’s music moves people. With her humble and sweet personality, one would expect Eliza to have a soft, mellow voice to accompany it. She has a strong, powerful voice that carried throughout the Northcote Uniting Church and even attracted a small crowd of passers by from the street, including the crew from Small Werld who wrote a flattering article about her. When Eliza sings, people freeze, mesmerized by her voice and her performance.

It was people like Eliza who I wanted to film (if I couldn’t manage her), the ones that are about to break out and become something huge, the ones that don’t know it yet. So we combined our love for music, for film, for the written word and for supporting all of the other Eliza’s out there (they are far and few between) and we started Large Noises.

Listen to Eliza’s single here and let her voice take you away at her single launch.

September 15th, 2011
Northcote Social Club
7:30PM

The above words were written by Charlotte Abroms

ALPINE: // (say ‘alpuyn)
adjective
1. of or relating to any lofty mountain.
2. very high; elevated
…….

Cramming six people into a small bathroom is quite a challenge on the best of days. Add into the mix a keyboard, two guitars, percussion, a bunch of microphones, and a camera and things get cosy quite quickly.

On a cold Melbourne evening, after having our initial shoot location double booked, we were forced to improvise and decided to cram the 6 piece Melbourne indie-pop sensations into Eliza’s very small, very normal bathroom. What was to transpire was however, far from normal. Alpine delivered a stunning performance which had all of those things that make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. Their song “Villages” (which recently reached over 100,000 views on YouTube) echoed down the hallway to the kitchen where I was monitoring the recording and the intertwining vocals of Phoebe and Lou sucked me in immediately.

This was the first time I’d had the pleasure of seeing Alpine in the flesh, and they certainly lived up to the praise that I’d heard for them around town.
They definitely left all of us at Large Noises feeling very high; elevated, but I’d like to add another definition of my own…..

ALPINE:
noun
3. Must see, indie pop-genius from Melbourne.

Check them out on Facebook and get lofty!

The above words were written by Jono Steer

After realising that Gossling was the musical project name for singer Helen Croome, I was pleasantly surprised that I in fact had known Helen for quite some time. I had passed her in the High School corridor several times, as she came to my school to perform in the musical projects the school had to offer. This connection made her music even more personal for me. As fellow Albury-Wodonga (a small country town in Australia) residents, her voice became extremely special and her first EP, “If You Can’t Whistle” was one of my favourites to drive with; reflective and heartfelt.

Now Gossling is a name that people recognise, she is being compared to some of Australia’s greatest female singers and her songs continue to get the support they deserve. Her music is one you put on when you feel like being taken away for those moments; I often put it on when it’s raining and make myself a pot of tea.

Her voice is strong, original and raw with emotion and her song writing is striking, and lush. She is proving to be an artist to watch. Recently Gossling performed her recent single ‘War’ from her sophomore EP, “Until Then”, for Large Noises and she positively blew us all away with her feeling, and musicality. We were left with tingles from the powerful raw high notes she gave.

Her voice is definitely one that raises the hairs on your neck and brings you to that reflective state. With lyrics like, “I want to know if a crashing wave feels like war?” it seems Gossling, as an artist is one to reflect also. With emotive lyrics, and a voice that matches, she really has captured my heart.

The above words were written by Eliza Hull

My first listening experience with The Hello Morning was in my kitchen.  Rummaging through a pile of demos on the counter, I came across these soulful sounding country boys.  Surprised to find out that they weren’t forty year old men (singer Steve Clifford has an extremely mature voice), and were in fact dashing young fellows, I began listening to their songs more regularly (and became their number one fan).  Seriously.  These boys have something.

One relaxing Sunday afternoon, the band got together and played some tracks off their upcoming album (due for release later this year) in David Bromley’s studio.  After watching Mr. Clifford sing a delightful stripped back version of “Drive You Home” featuring Bertie Blackman, cameraman Davey Sams and I said we needed these guys in our cameras and on our website.

That evening we were lucky enough to film and record one of the most beautiful, intimate performances I may ever see.  We set up our cameras to film  The Hello Morning play their cover of “Don’t Let The Green Grass Fool You” (originally sung by Wilson Pickett) but we were just waiting on Dan to arrive. Assuming Dan may be a mysterious member of the six-piece that I hadn’t yet met, I didn’t ask questions.  And in came Dan.  Dan Sultan, one of the most renowned artists on the Australian music scene at the moment.

The sense of pride in watching these young Victorian boys grow into such professional, seasoned musicians was no less than overwhelming.  With Joe Cope on keys, Steve Clifford on guitar on vocals and Dan Sultan stood casually with his hands in his pockets, these young men belted out an outstanding performance.  One could have sworn it was a Sultan Vs. Clifford sing off.  Not such a bad thing, I can assure you.

I can still confidently say that this is one of the most special performances I’ll ever see.

“Like” The Hello Morning on Facebook to listen more.

The above words were written by Charlotte Abroms

I first heard about Big Scary whilst sipping on a beer at the Great Britain in Melbourne watching Tom Budge perform a mind blowing set.  Sat next to singer Tom Iansek and drummer Jo Syme, they oh so casually told me about a band they’d started.  Soon after I found myself at Lentil As Anything for their EP launch.  Playing to a small group of people and selling their “The Mini EP” (2009) for all of about $10, I fell in love with Big Scary.  I described Iansek’s voice as an immense combination of Bono, Matt Bellammy and Jack White.  A compliment.

Skipping forward to 2010, I strolled through the city listening to their hit single “Falling Away” on repeat for a good 45 minutes.  Tom’s sweet, soft voice singing the lyrics, “They say it’s fractions and wholes, they say it’s pushing a stone up a hill and let it roll, they say it’s pleasure and pain, they say it’s freedom again, do we know now?” is enough to make anyone feel.

When we shot Big Scary for Large Noises, Iansek admitted he’d never been to a festival before.  One month later, not only had he been to a festival, but he was playing one. One of the most renowned festivals in Australia – Falls Festival.

The chemistry between Tom and Jo is beautiful, their humble nature is what makes them so attractive.  Their music is sensational; eclectic.  If you haven’t had a chance yet, go marry Big Scary.  You can buy their tunes via their website.

Check out Tom Iansek’s solo project “Dads” here.  His song ‘Life, Oh Life’ was  (unsurprisingly) the featured song on Triple J Unearthed earlier this year.

Big Scary’s album is due to come out in October, 2011.

The above words were written by Charlotte Abroms