classical | Musicosity

Tim McMillan & Rachel Snow

Tim McMillan & Rachel Snow
are a duo from Melbourne, Australia, based in Germany and currently immersed in an endless tour entertaining and delighting audiences across the world. Tim is a percussive fingerstyle guitarist and outlandish storyteller and Rachel an exceptional violinist and accomplice in Tim's whimsical narrative.

With over 120 concerts delivered every year across Europe, Japan and Australia, the duo's thirst for exploration and inspiration is growing. Their lust for travel seeps into the soundscapes of their live shows with some imagining the music as a moving soundtrack. Along with emotive moments the audience is captivated by athletic guitar stunts, interwoven violin antics and a magical blend of vocals. Tim's psychedelic and sometimes true stories of life on the road and tales from the Australian bush become increasingly eccentric and outrageous as the show unfolds. The audience leaves feeling that they have themselves been on a wonderful and colourful adventure. Tim and Rachel are versatile and perform an inventive mix of styles including Celtic rock, folk, metal & jazz. They accept the challenge of any stage and can be found performing at festivals, clubs, theatres and living rooms. They have opened up for fusion guitar legend Al Di Meola at the Dachauer Sommerfest in Germany and have also supported hard rock band Ugly Kid Joe on European and Australian tours in 2016/2017. They were main support for Motorhead's Phil Campbell tour in Germany in November 2018.

"Their instruments and voices blended perfectly... as well as being extremely talented musicians, the duo were quite the storytellers and had the punters in stitches with their wild tales and musical mash-ups" - Silver Tiger Media, Australia

"Tim displays a virtuosic tapping technique with percussive guitar alongside Rachel who merges classical violin with a Celtic flavour. The duo blend together folk, Latin, jazz and rock elements to create a bright and fun performance" - Acoustic Guitar World, Japan

"Brilliant and haunting" - Frankfurter Allgemeine, Germany

REVERIES: After many years performing and touring together, Tim and Rachel recently made their way into the studio to capture their entrancing style. In five days working with Arno Jordan of Castle Studios at Schloss Rohrsdorf, outside Dresden, their first fully collaborative work 'Reveries' came to life. The album features songs with beautifully fused vocal harmonies floating amidst a vibrant array of sound. Instrumental pieces reveal intricate and expressive guitar techniques embraced by stirring violin melodies that sing with a hint of Celtic lilt. 'Reveries' represents the beginning of a new and exciting partnership of music and songwriting for Tim and Rachel. 'Reveries' will be released in March 2020.

HIRAETH: Along with a brief appearance on Tim's first album 'Afterparty', Rachel also features on Tim's fifth album 'Hiraeth', which is a collection of instrumental pieces and songs composed and recorded while on tour throughout Europe. Hiraeth (Welsh) is a feeling of homesickness for a place or time to which you cannot return, or which maybe never was. The compositions on the album reflect on endless travel and distance from home, changing landscapes, changing feelings and acknowledgment that nothing ever remains the same. The future is full of endless opportunities and hazards.

The music is shaped by Tim's distinctive guitar and the first song 'Ecdysis' (meaning: the process of shedding the old skin) is immediately a trip to folklore with the introduction of Rachel's captivating melodies. Graceful and complex interplay between guitar and violin remains throughout the album. The blend of Tim and Rachel's vocals is placed somewhere in the sixties, with harmonies reminiscent of songs of the Byrds, especially the element by David Crosby.

Peaceful moments are found in songs like 'Owl Dance' and a wilder mood emerges in 'Zaxo' which features a variety of guest musicians from the rock world including members of Motörhead, The Sisters of Mercy, Ugly Kid Joe, Ghost and Mr Bungle.

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Jack howard

Perhaps best known as the trumpet player in iconic Australian band Hunters and Collectors, Jack Howard is also an established solo artist and band leader in his own right. His recording and stage projects such as The Long Lost Brothers, Epic Brass, Bacharach and Beyond have proven to be music lover favourites. Additionally, Jack is an in demand session/tour guy, playing with high profile acts like The Violent Femmes, Rodriguez, You Am I, The Living End and many more. In 2017, he toured the world with Midnight Oil as their multi-instrumentalist. If that’s not enough, in between teaching music at Wesley College, he also recently released a wonderful memoir “Small Moments Of Glory”.

In June this year, Jack delivered another solo album, Lightheavyweight 2, a follow up to 2018’s beat and brass-driven record, Lightheavyweight. Lightheavyweight 2 is different but similar. Written and recorded during our lockdown year of discontent 2021, it’s a local variant, drawing mostly on Jack’s St.Kilda life. Says Jack – “The tunes usually begin with a drum and bass loop or some layered horns and then proceed along very spontaneous lines. There might be a full lyric or just a handful of words. Maybe instrumental. A lot of flugel horn this time around and swirling synths; plus some fine guest appearances from Barry Palmer on guitar, Ed Bates on pedal steel, Paul Williamson on tenor sax and Fiona Leonard on backing vocals.”

Australian Musician editor Greg Phillips caught up with Jack Howard, our musician of the month for July, to chat about his career, gear and the new album Lightheavyweight 2.

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Jeff Duff

In a flamboyant and often controversial music career Jeff Duff has released twenty-seven albums including a recent album with members of legendary British rock band Deep Purple.
When Duffo took refuge in England in the eighties, he had, as they say, worn out his welcome in Australian rock. He was simply too much of a handful, this ‘waif with a wharfie’s voice!’ camping it up out front of his trail-blazing rock ensemble ‘Kush‘. At the time, Jeff’s androgynous stage persona, dressed in leotards, garish make-up and a touch of the operatics was considered far too outrageous for many Australian audiences.

Jeff quickly established himself in the UK and became the darling of London’s new wave movement during the eighties staying one step ahead of his peers with his flamboyant performances. The exhibitionism and visual assault so integral to British punk culture could have been a sequence from Duffo’s own fertile imagination. Soon Andy Warhol was issuing forth his oft-quoted utterence: “Sinatra, Presley, Jagger, Popeye…and now Duffo” Duffo returned to Australia in the late eighties to re-introduce his powerful voice and unique style to the local scene. His recording and accompanying video of Lou Reed’s ‘Walk on the Wildside‘ helped re-establish his career in oz and has become an Australian classic.

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Shady Nasty

Shady Nasty, comprised of Kevin Stathis, Haydn Green and Luca Watson, have backgrounds in jazz and classical music yet are more recognisably affiliated with the alt-punk genre. This association does not determine the group, the trio incorporate elements of hip-hop and electronica. With a genre-bending sound, the group are transgressing the elements of what is considered modern alt-punk.

Shady Nasty’s influences have previously been evident in tracks such as "Get Buff" featuring a monotone dialogue resembling King Krule. Yet, in "CHEST HEIGHT", there is a real feel of experimentation and uniqueness. The group have incorporated a slight distortion in the vocals and an almost disorientation whirring backing to reiterate the internal conflicts of the lyrics.

Reflecting on the track’s meaning, the group explain that it “is about our collective experiences of dating app logic. It explores the temptation to see dating as a game with fixed rules, one which can ultimately lock you and your perception of others into cheap and isolating, yet extremely powerful categories.”

The band’s modern-day commentary appears to be a recurring theme within the trio’s discography. Their 2021 EP CLUBSMOKE dissected topics such as vlogging, clubbing, and clout. Their breakdown of modern culture, alongside rock-heavy elements allows for a listener to be immersed in their analytical expressions.

"CHEST HEIGHT" suggests a new era for Shady Nasty. Previous releases demonstrated the band’s capability to instantly switch from a melancholy almost peaceful song to a ferocious roar of guitars and bellowing vocals. However, "CHEST HEIGHT" has added a new string to their already pretty full bow, the introduction of vocal distortion demonstrates the malleability of the group’s sound, yet still leaving room for the intricate lyrics to be fully taken in.

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