Interview : Brooke Fraser

Posted By: Kershia Wong

So some of you may not have heard of the name Brooke Fraser. Hailing from New Zealand, this humble and lovely songbird has already made quite a name for herself in the Pacific region. The album Albertine was released in the U.S not too long ago, and she’s currently on tour. I managed to speak to Brooke over the phone while she was preparing dinner for some friends to just have a chat about her music, love life, and the debate about the best coffee in the world.

ZME Music: Tell me more about yourself?

Brooke Fraser: I’m from Wellington in New Zealand and I’m one of 3 children but I’ve been living in Australia since 2004 and currently we’re over in the States touring for about 5 months so at the moment we’ve escaped the winter and we’re in LA

ZME Music: How long have you been playing music for?

BF: I’ve been playing music for I would say, in terms of playing my own songs, on a basic scale since about 13, then more properly when I was 15 or 16, and I was fortunate enough to be signed straight out of high school, and so I’ve been playing music ever since as my full time occupation

ZME Music: How would you describe your music?

BF: I’d say my kind of influence in terms of other artists tend to lean more to the folk side of things. But I like to write songs for everyday people, and so it’s almost like a folk but with a decent sprinkling of traditional popular music to make that accessible to the wider public I suppose you could say.

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Tags: Brooke Fraser Interview

Interview : Ludo

Posted By: Tibi Puiu

Some of you may remember when we wrote, in our Bands to Watch feature, about a nifty and emerging St. Louis pop-punk band, called Ludo. Their latest record “You’re Awful I Love You,” hit every respecting store on February 26th and was quickly embraced by their fans and new listeners alike. Recently I had the chance to have a short chat with two of the band members, frontman Andrew Volpe and synth master Tim Convy, about various aspects, like the band in general, the new album, the band’s musical directions and other fun stuff.

ZME Music: Aloha fellow rockers. What’s rollin’ ?

Andrew Volpe: Well hello there, good friend. Not much. You know. Keeping it real. Representing. How are you doing?

ZME Music: I’m doing great myself, thanks for asking, let’s just kick off the interview and find out some interesting stuff. Firstly, could you please introduce yourself to the more ignorant people reading this and not aware of your existence (i.e. Our readers)? You could start off by telling us how the band came together.

AV: Ludo formed as an acoustic duo in St. Louis, when Tim Ferrell and I (Andrew) met in the summer of 2000. We were a full band in our minds though - we just needed to find the right people to round out our super-team. After college, we moved to Tulsa to get away from all distractions. Tim Convy and Ferrell knew each other from playing in bands in high school, so he joined us in our acoustic tour. In the summer of 2003, we put ads out all over the internet to find Ludo’s bassist and drummer. Marshall from Omaha and Matt from Houston, respectively, answered the call, and moved into our tiny, crappy house in Tulsa. Three weeks after meeting each other, we recorded our debut album in St. Louis, immediately hit the road, and have toured basically non-stop since then. It’s a real man-bites-dog story. Not sure I used that term right…

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Bowie Covered By Indie Artist In Lates Compilation

Posted By: Tibi Puiu

After they’ve released a more or less successful Prince cover compilation record, in the form of Controversy, a while ago, the fine folks from Rapster are back with yet another cover song compilation LP, this time featuring artists influenced by the great David Bowie.

Matthew Dear, Carl Craig, Kelley Polar, Au Revoir Simone, Joakim, and the Thing are just a few artists who cover the Thin White Duke on “Life Beyond Mars: Bowie Covered“. The songs covered come in different “shapes and sizes,” most off Bowie’s more popular albums like Low, Hunky Dory, and Scary Monsters, but also lesser-known material such as the 1986 soundtrack to Labyrinth, in which David played a part.

Life Beyond Mars is available on iTunes now, and will hit shops in CD format July. Today it was mailed for free with the latest issue of the Sunday Daily Mail, where Bowie also is featured in an article, in which he talks about the new cover album, detailing how the 12 track selection went and confessing which songs came closer to his heart. You can read the whole article here. Tracklist right after the jump.

Life Beyond Mars: Bowie Covered:

1. Au Revoir Simone: “Oh! You Pretty Things”


2. Heartbreak: “Loving the Alien”


3. Kelley Polar: “Magic Dance (Harold and Baby O in Italy Version)”


4. Leo Minor: “Ashes to Ashes”


5. Carl Craig Presents Zoos of Berlin: “Looking for Water”


6. Drew Brown: “Sweet Thing”


7. Matthew Dear: “Sound & Vision”


8. Susumu Yokota: “Golden Years”


9. The Emperor Machine: “Repetition”


10. Joakim & the Disco: “A New Career in a New Town”


11. Richard Walters & Faultline: “Be My Wife”


12. The Thing: “Life on Mars”

http://www.zmemusic.com/news/bowie-covered-by-indie-artists-in-latest-compilation/