Tag: Robert Lang Studios

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Australia’s Hockey Dad Releases an Anthemic 90s Alt Rock Inspired Song

Comprised of Zach Stephenson (guitar, vocals) and Billy Fleming (drums), the Windang, New South Wales, Australia indie rock duo Hockey Dad are lifelong friends, who grew up two doors apart — and as a result, they’re best friends first, bandmates second. With the release of their full-length debut 2017’s Boronia, the duo of Stephenson and Fleming quickly achieved a national and international profile for crafting infectious power pop: the duo wound up embarking on a sold out tour of their native Australia that included a number of shows with Dune Rats and the critically applauded indie act Wavves, some extensive touring across North America with stops at SXSW and elsewhere, before touring across the UK and Europe. 

Hockey Dad’s latest effort, 2018’s sophomore effort, the John Goodmanson-produced Blend Inn was recorded at Seattle’s renowned Robert Lang Studios, where Foo Fighters, Soundgarden, Death Cab For Cutie, Alice in Chains and NirvanaNirvana (who most notably recorded their last song ever there) all recorded seminal material. Interestingly, the Australian duo’s sophomore effort is a much more introspective effort. Blend Inn is the part of your head that you want to go to when you’re overseas and wishing you were back home, it’s within,” Hockey Dad’s Billy Fleming says. “We’re always just trying to be comfortable and semi blending in, so it’s the name we gave to that place you zone out to.”

Thematically, the album is centered around the trials, tribulations and uncertainties of young adulthood — but from the perspective of two young people, who have had an expanded mindset and much more experience in the world, while still retaining the playfulness and enormous hooks that won them international attention. Building upon a growing profile, the duo will continue a busy slate of national and international touring, including a West Coast Stateside tour through February. You can check out the tour dates below. 

In the meantime, anthemic album single “I Wanna Be Everybody” is centered around infectious, crowd pleasing hooks, thunderous drumming and even bigger power chords within an alternating soft, loud, soft song structure. Sonically, the song brings to mind 90s alt rock — in particular, I’m reminded of Local H and others.  

World Music by William Ruben Helms

Preview: Secret Solstice Festival 2017

With its inaugural run back in 2014, Reykjavik, Iceland’s Secret Solstice Festival has quickly become one of Iceland’s largest music festivals, featuring a diverse and eclectic array of established and internationally recognized artists, locally renowned acts and up-and-coming artists from all over the globe, performing in one of the most unique backdrops in the entire world – the roughly 72 hour period of near constant daylight Iceland experiences during the Summer Solstice, because of its proximity to the Arctic Circle. (After all, Reykjavik is the northernmost capital and administrative region of the northernmost country in the entire world.) Building upon its growing reputation as one of the world’s most unique music festivals, the fourth edition of the festival may arguably be one of the biggest and most diverse lineups to date as it includes Foo Fighters, Rick Ross, the UK electronic act The Prodigy, The Verve’s former frontman Richard Ashcroft, Pharoahe Monch, Chaka Khan, Foreign Beggars, Dubfire, Novelist, Rhye, Dusky and Chicago house music artist Kerri Chandler. Along with those artists, some of Iceland’s renowned acts, including Högni, Úlfur Úlfur, Amabadama, Emmsjé Gauti, GKR, Tiny, Aron Can, KSF, and Alvia Islandia will be performing. And adding to the 72 hour party vibe, the festival’s organizers have planned a series of electronic dance music takeovers and showcases featuring some of the world’s best party crews – including Ibiza’s Circoloco, Above & Beyond Records’ deep house imprint Ajunadeep Records’ dance floor collective Crew Love, ATG and Dubfire’s SCI+TEC among others.
Interestingly, for the second consecutive year, Secret Solstice is currently the only major music festival in the world to be certified CarbonNeutral®, as the festival sources almost all of their power needs from the use 100% renewable geothermal energy, hybrid vehicles provided by Toyota Iceland – and from offsetting any residual emissions through the purchase of high quality, verified carbon credits. Unlike any other festival I’ve attended or heard of, festivalgoers and artists alike can know that they’re being environmentally responsible while partying and catching some of the world’s most interesting artists. Of course, during a multi-day festival like Secret Solstice, it’s difficult and damn near impossible to catch everyone and everything, so consider me as a helpful guide – with some information on artists I’d love to catch while in Reykjavik.