Two Steps on the Water is a Melbourne-based emotion punk/heavy folk trio making sad songs soft and loud

Kontakt: bookings@joelsarakula.com

'The new album The Imposter is dreamy and Bowie-esque... It's a really engaging and adventurous record, I would highly recommend it', Lauren Laverne, BBC 6 Music (2015)

'This is a really cool new release by talented Aussie singer-songwriter Joel Sarakula... I love this actually... It's like modern Northern Soul', Craig Charles BBC 6 Music (2015)

Joel Sarakula (AUS/UK) writes, produces and sings Soulful Pop, gazing out at his 60's and 70's tinged world through vintage glasses... imagine Ray Manzarek fronting a 70s soul band. Born in Sydney and now based in London, his current album THE IMPOSTER has racked up generous plays across BBC Radio 2, BBC 6 and has been play-listed on national radio in Germany, The Netherlands, Belgium and Italy. He is a regular fixture on the festival and club circuit in the UK, Europe and Australia, including appearances at Scala, Latitude, Glastonbury, The Great Escape, V-ROX Vladivostok and Reeperbahn Festival Hamburg. Sarakula is a songwriter who has travelled the world in search of his muse, experiencing everything from being the victim of Caribbean carjackings to performing in the remote fishing villages of Norway, via the dive bars of Europe and the US. It was the hodge-podge musical tapestry of England’s capital that finally drew him to a settling point.

With personal tastes that span from the more avant-garde to soul and pop greats like Sly Stone, Todd Rundgren and Elvis Costello, there are clear nods to contemporaries like Beck and Erlend Øye in terms of ambition and style.

His previous single Northern Soul racked up 150,000 views within the first few months of the online and limited edition 7" vinyl release by mod and soul specialists Heavy Soul Records (UK) - Sarakula has definitely touched more than a few Northern Souls. The remix of his latest single European Skies (due Aug 19, 2016) teeters on the edge of a decadent night in 1980s Ibiza before unashamedly losing itself in Euro Dance-Pop.

Both songs are from current album The Imposter (Elevate Records), where Sarakula lovingly indulges his late 60s and early 70s references while executing them with a colder, contemporary vision. Ever the internationalist, Sarakula recorded The Imposter in studios spread across London, Berlin and Sydney with a host of his musical comrades appearing on the record. It's a fitting album title for a man unafraid of playing his various roles as singer, artist, writer and producer. Joel Sarakula is THE IMPOSTER.

Naked Bodies are a Melbourne Garage Band featuring:
Quang Dinh
Will Lopez
Brendan West
Cameron Potts

Naked Bodies are a schizophrenic throwback to primordial times. Crocodiles with their switchblade razor pupils sneaking out of cesspool shit rivers. Bloodshot eyed chimpanzees swinging from billboards, spilling hot drool from dangling hemorrhoid tongues. Dire wolves crunching redskin treetrunk piranha flesh. Holy Brahman drives its convertible and blinks one one eye at the menagerie and blinks one one eye into its black hole TV arsehole and witnesses for the infinith time half on nothing. Naked bodies are unmaskable pathetic ugliness, bare stupid hope, skins of idiot self-loathing and Neanderthal confusion.

New single Everything's Beautiful out now!

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2b9xzDkNwtXoMVMZOngpKr
More free downloads:
www.facebook.com/WonsPhreelyMusic
www.wonsphreely.com
www.youtube.com/user/wonsly

'This Is How You Do It' album out now on 2LP / CD / DIG


Bandleader Lance Ferguson and his nine piece Melbourne outfit The Bamboos have come a long way since forming in 2001. Initially inspired by the instrumental raw funk of the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, they made waves internationally and were quickly labelled as one of the greatest funk and soul bands of our time. But while many would be happy to simply soak up the praise and keep on keeping on, The Bamboos have proven that they are more than meets the eye; over five acclaimed albums, their evolution in sound and style has consistently confounded and exceeded expectations, pulling the rug from under the feet of those who like to pigeonhole. 

The band signed to respected Brighton (UK) indie label Tru Thoughts in 2005, where they remain a cornerstone of the roster. Across their five studio albums to date - ‘Step It Up’ (2006), ‘Rawville’ (2007), ‘Side-Stepper’ (2008), ‘4’ (2010) and 'Medicine Man' (2012) – the metamorphosis of The Bamboos has been full of twists and turns, and it continues apace. A seasoned DJ, solo producer (aka Lanu) and all-round insatiable music obsessive, Ferguson's myriad influences and passion for pushing things forward ensure that each new release is a discovery for devout fans and newcomers alike.

Their fifth long-player ‘Medicine Man’, released in June 2012 was a watershed - a forward-looking record brimming with fresh ideas, stellar turns, classic songwriting and a brand of multi–layered pop they can truly call their own. Guest vocalists Aloe Blacc, Tim Rogers (You Am I), Megan Washington, Daniel Merriweather, Bobby Flynn, alongside resident singers Kylie Auldist and then newcomer Ella Thompson helped make the album their biggest at home to date. Lead single "I Got Burned" feat. Rogers was a sizeable radio hit, made it to #54 on radio station Triple J's Hottest 100 listeners poll (the biggest publicly voted song poll in the world) of the top songs of that year.

Like its predecessor, the band's sixth album 'Fever In The Road' was co-produced by ARIA- nominated, multi-instrumentalist studio wizard John Castle – whose work with the likes of Washington, Josh Pyke, Gossling, Pez and Kate Miller-Heidke has ranked him amongst the first-call producers in Australia. The new record (the first on Ferguson's own Pacific Theatre label) sees Castle and Ferguson venturing into sonic landscapes The Bamboos have previously touched on but never fully inhabited. There is a sense that the music is leaner and more muscular, yet upon closer inspection the tracks reveal themselves to be densely multi-layered in a 'Wall Of Sound' style. And it's this aural complexity and depth that allows darker moods to roam through the album, taking their sound to a new place. The songs career from the wondrously anthemic ('Avenger', The Truth', 'Rats', 'Jump My Train'), to the dreamy and psychedelic ('Looking West', 'Harbinger') and the darkly fragile ('Killing Jar', 'Before I Go'). Choosing this album to reflect the band as it is on stage, the vocals are split between Kylie Auldist and Ella Thompson. And each bring contrasting styles that complement each other magically, but show The Bamboos to be utterly unique.

Their songs have been regularly on playlists of national radio stations in Australia, the UK, France, the US, Japan and beyond. The unshakable charm of their songs has also seen them licensed to hit movies including Crazy Stupid Love, the soon to be released  Adore - Naomi Watts & Robin Wright. and TV shows such as Grey’s Anatomy, CSI New York, One Tree Hill, Ugly Betty and Australian shows such as Underbelly, House Husbands, Offspring, Packed To The Rafters.

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