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.

Click here to watch on YouTube.

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.

Click here to watch on YouTube.

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.

Click here to watch on YouTube.