Pilerats, Journalist

Get to know Cali punkers Plague Vendor, celebrating their debut album.. California four-piece Plague Vendor have just released their debut album, Free To Eat, which packs a shitload of punk-rocking good times in all of 18 minutes. It's all killer, and definitely cause to get to know 'em a little better. You can grab their album HERE: Who are you? We are Plague Vendor. P-L-A-G-U-E-V-E-N-D-O-R, like the song on FREE TO EAT. We're from Whittier, California.  How’d you meet? We met some time early on in high school. All of us were in different bands at the time, except for Michael. He didn't start playing bass until we asked him to join P.V.  What kinda tunes we talkin’? Someone said "graveyard groove" recently. We dig that. FREE TO EAT is definitely 6ft under. I just can't tell if the next thing we do is going to head straight down to hell or dig it's way back up through the soil. Writing process: All four of us have to be together. Once one of us sniffs the slightest bit of bogusness in

Some sweet new beats outta Sydney.. We can't tell you a whole lot about Sydney beatsmith Raph Lauren, besides the fact one of his tracks, the so-far unreleased Home, featured in Ryan Hemsowrth's COOL DJ MIX a few weeks ago. When that one comes out officially we can't tell you for sure, but we're pretty excited to share today his first official release, Chicago. Coming from a hip hop background, his solo work is kinda like the midpoint between house/techno and trap, which doesn't really make sense until you listen to it, because it works real good: Be sure to follow Raph Lauren on SOUNDCLOUD // TWITTER to be onto new releases as they come, because it's frankly refreshing to hear something a bit out of the norm.

A three minute video that does better than our stupid words..

We talk the birth of Black Rat ahead of its May 2 release and a massive tour.. Currently tearing the UK a new one celebrating the upcoming release of their new album Black Rat, Shane from DZ Deathrays was kind enough to take a quick break to talk about the new album, SXSW, their expanded line-up for live shows and drinking wine/playing golf. Hi Shane, you have just come back from SXSW. How was it this time around?  It was good but very hectic this year. This was definitely the most intense year for us. We did 10 shows in four days so we were pretty ruined by the end of it all. You get a little bit sick of setting up all your gear, racing through songs, packing it all down and moving it somewhere else. We played a couple of really good shows and we saw some really good bands. We had a couple of days off which was nice to just kick back, eat food, drink beer, and hang out. You didn’t get kicked off stage for being ‘too loud’ this time like in 2012? No not this time, they put us on norma

All of the amazing.. After a seemingly endless wait, and about 1000 blog posts speculating on who would be on the line-up, who wouldn't, whose fake poster was the best and what Outkast were doing, Splendour In The Grass finally shut everyone the hell up and just announced the damn thing. And of course, it's all killer and zero filler. [UPDATED WITH NEW ADDITIONS - CHILDISH GAMBINO, HILLTOP HOODS & SAM SMITH) You can click on the pic above to get yourself along to the Splendour website so you may buy yourself some tickets on Friday May 2. As always make sure you're on it, because something about this line-up feels tighter butthole than last year. Outkast is of course a pretty big coup, but goddamn Interpol, City & Colour, Darkside, Kelis, Hoodoo Goddamn Gurus mate, Tune-Yards, Wild Beasts, Danny Brown... There's a lot to like... ...that also includes a super-special shout-out to our boy SABLE, who as far as we can tell is the ONLY Western Australian-based act on the whole, Aussie-stron

Mini are launching their new model with an interactive dancefloor that looks flippin' sweet.. MINI Australia is hosting three unique events across Australia this May to celebrate their biggest model launch in 10 years with the arrival of the Mini Hatch. And while many of us probably aren't in the business of buying new cars, we are in the business of party, and that you can with a new interactive dancefloor that lights up in time with peoples' dance steps/movement, along with the beat. Created in collaboration with Melbourne artist Darren Sylvester, and award-winning design practice Eness, check the teaser video down the bottom of this post. To make sure just not any old schmuck is in charge of getting everyone's feet moving, Melbourne duo Naysayer & Gilsun will travel to all three shows, joined by a heap of rad supports. THURSDAY 8 MAY - MELBOURNE PAVILLION w/ Naysayer & Gilsun, Astral DJs and Pelvis THURSDAY 29 MAY - SYDNEY CARRIAGEWORKS w/ Naysayer & Gilsun, Animals Dancing & Pleas

Drum and Bass isn't a dirty word.. Trap, Jersey Club, Moombahton etc - what one can take as flash in the pan genres that are fun, trendy and almost exclusively listened to by kids chasing the current in-thing whilst wearing tumblr-fresh and certified clothing. A genre that has been around for years, consistently growing and changing yet still remaining subversive and ostracised by most is Drum and Bass - which in Perth especially, has always had a large audience. Bright beaches, 'good life' and streets where the likelihood of not being stabbed (plus the fact that we've been the UK's dumping ground for centuries) have always attracted British expats, and with them they brought history, nostalgia, and the rave scene. Perth is known as the largest drum and bass city outside of the UK - from pick up map raves of the early 90's to it's current heavyweights such as Horizons Touring, and Inhibit for the darker stuff, Western Australia has been at the forefront of gigs, nights and producers su

A new agency on the scene featuring an old (see: wise) head.. Today sees the announcement of respected Aussie booking agent and general legend Alastair Green's new booking agency, MAKER, following his departure as head of electronic music at Artist Voice. According to Al, MAKER is a double-edged sword - one one side providing a highly-customised personal experience, on the other developing a community where artists can support one another and grow together... "We're utilising effective technologies and outsourcing administrative functions to industry specialists so we can focus on what makes us strong. We want to spend as much time as possible connecting with our family of artists to build, foster and develop new opportunities and maximise the potential of each artist we represent."  He'll be joined by the dapper-looking chap on the right in the photo above, Jon Debeere, who has worked with Al plenty in the past, touring a diverse range of internationals such as Bloc Party, DJ Funk, Br

A new photo exhibition from Perth photographer Daniel Njegich.. Daniel Njegich is a regular photographic contributor for our scaley selves, and he's about to launch his first ever solo exhibition. Entitled Victims Of Politics, it's a series of photographs Njegich took during a recent trip to Bangladesh covering the political unrest of a developing country, and the harsh reality it inflicts on scores of innocents. Taking place at Perth's Free Range Gallery from Thursday 17 April until Friday 25, and you can click the picture below for more info on the event, including opening times:

Where you'll probably not really learn anything, but hear some good music.. Who are Night Cruise? This little "Introducing" piece is probably not going to make you any the wiser. But hey, we'll embed some of their music into it, and you can at least get a good idea of what they sound like. Who are you?  We’re Night Cruise. designated drivers to your dreams. How’d you meet?  People probably can’t know that right now. Parts of the internet are still under secrecy codes and what not. What kinda tunes we talkin’? Future leaning-ish, down a tube of video-game nostalgia. Production/writing process: We just say "engine on.” and the rest is whooooshh. What do you do outside of Night Cruise?   Dusk cruise, dawn cruise. Any shows coming up? Yeah! Our first show's supporting one of the best in game Mr. Carmack on the 26th of April at Shape Bar, Perth (herro world). What’s the rest of the year have in store?  We’re just writing lots and doing essential cruising. Where can we hear more of your ge