Indie Rock

This land runs through Katherine Paul’s blood. And it called to her. In dreams she saw the river, her ancestors, and her home.When the land calls, you listen. And KP found herself far from her ancestral lands during a time of collective trauma, when the world was wounded and in need of healing. In 2020 she made the journey from Portland back to the Skagit River, back to the cedar trees that stand tall and shrouded in fog, back to the tide flats and the mountains, back to Swinomish.

It is a powerful thing to return to our ancestral lands and often times the journey is not easy. Like the salmon through the currents, like the tide as it crawls to shore this is a story of return. It is the call and response. It is the outstretched arms of the people who came before, welcoming her home.The Land, The Water, The Sky is a celebration of lineage and strength. Even in its deepest moments of loneliness and grief, of frustration over a world wrought with colonial violence and pain, the songs remind us that if we slow down, if we listen to the waves and the wind through the trees, we will remember to breathe.

There is a throughline of story in every song, a remembrance of knowledge and teachings, a gratitude of wisdom passed down and carried. There is a reimagining of Sedna who was offered to the sea, and a beautiful rumination on sacrifice and humanity, and what it means to hold the stories that work to teach us something.

Chord progressions born out of moments of sadness and solitude transform into the islands that sit blue along the horizon. The Salish Sea curves along her homelands, and when the singer is close to this water she is reminded of her grandmother, how she looked out at these same islands, and she’s held by spirit and memory.

The Land, The Water, The Sky rises and falls, in darkness and in light, but even in its most melancholy moments it is never despairing. That is the beauty of returning home. When you stand on ancestral lands it is impossible to be alone. You feel the arms and hands that hold you up, unwilling to let you fall into sorrow or abandonment. In her songs Katherine Paul has channeled that feeling of being held. In every note she has written a love letter to indigenous strength and healing.

There is a joy present here, a fierce blissfulness that comes with walking the trails along the river, feeling the sand and the stones beneath her feet. It is the pride and the certainty that comes with knowing her ancestors walked along the same land, dipped their hands into the water, and ran their fingertips along the same bark of cedar trees.

This is a story of hope, as it details the joy of returning. Katherine Paul’s journey home wasn’tmade alone, and the songs are crowded with loved ones and relatives, like a really good party.And as the songs walk us through the land it is important we hover over the images and thebeauty, the moments that mark this album as site specific. The power of this land is woventhroughout, telling the story of narrow waterways, brushstrokes, salmon stinta, and above allhealing.Let it take you. Move through the story and see the land through her eyes, because it is a gift, awelcomedsʔabadəb.

**The word “gift” in Lushootseed, the language of the Coast Salish people“

'Waliens' are a four piece indie-rock band from the bayside area of Melbourne. Their brand of music is bright and upbeat, and they will be celebrating the release of their first EP 'Line and Length' on April 20th, which is the product of over 12 months of work.

Imogen Clark is an Australian indie rock artist, hailing from the Blue Mountains of New South Wales. Her music ranges from the intimate to the arena-ready, rock anthems with the soul of a confessional singer-songwriter.

Despite the myriad challenges that 2020 brought to the music industry, Imogen had a banner year - she released a critically acclaimed EP, played a sold-out livestream concert series, performed back-to-back sold-out Sydney launch shows in September, dropped a nostalgic Christmas single, and wrapped it all up with an epic First Annual Holiday Hootenanny gig with her musical mates – including Montaigne, Jack Moffitt (The Preatures), Lindsay McDougall (Frenzal Rhomb) and more.

The 26-year-old has lost none of her momentum in 2021, with her powerful new EP ‘Bastards’. The six-track collection, begun in person in LA with a cast of rock legends, then later finished remotely over Zoom during the pandemic, is the most raw and intense music Clark has released to date.

“If The Making of Me was about embracing all of who I am, this album is about me confronting and process the impact my relationships with the people in my life have had on me – family, lovers and friends, losing people, being betrayed and learning how and when to cut the cord,” says Imogen. “I really put my heart through the meat grinder and challenged myself to make this record, and I’m so proud to put this music out into the world”.

Reteaming with LA-based producer Mike Bloom (Julian Casablancas, Jenny Lewis), Imogen builds on the rich, dynamic sound of her last EP, taking everything to a new level – the drums hit harder, the guitars are louder, the emotions more intimate and transparent. Across the six songs, Imogen sings about betrayal in love (Forget About London), a couple too afraid to end a doomed relationship (Casualty), her family’s history of addiction (Never This Time), the loss of her mentor to suicide (First Class Man) and the men in the industry who refuse to see women as their equals (Bastards).

Amongst the murderer’s row of collaborators on the record include Men at Work’s Colin Hay, Dawes frontman Taylor Goldsmith, Rilo Kiley’s Jason Boesel and Melbourne indie-pop artist Eilish Gilligan as co-writers, and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers keyboardist Benmont Tench and Elvis Costello and the Attractions drummer Pete Thomas lending their legendary chops to the recordings.

Cutting her teeth playing in local pubs in the Blue Mountains during her teen years before touring and recording around the world, from the US to Europe to the UK, Imogen brings the depth and confidence of a seasoned rocker to the stage despite her youth. Taking inspiration from legends like Bruce Springsteen and Joni Mitchell as much as contemporary influences like Gang of Youths and Phoebe Bridgers, Imogen’s music continues to dissolve the barriers between her emotions and her audience, even as her music and shows get bigger in size and scope.

Released in August of last year, Imogen Clark’s The Making Of Me EP garnered widespread acclaim both in Australia and North America. Praised for its raw honesty by fans and critics, the six-track offering showcased Imogen’s powerful vocal and reflective lyrics.

The Making Of Me features a star-studded line-up with players from some of the world’s greatest rock bands, and local artists Alex Lahey, Clare Bowen, Emma Swift, Anita Lester and more can be found across EP singles ‘Found Me’, ‘My Own Worst Enemy’, ‘The Making Of Me’, and ‘Paper Boat’.

2021 has already been the biggest year of Imogen’s career to date, including a sold-out Sydney residency, a packed-out secret EP launch show streamed around the world, regional touring, rave reviews for Bastards and now the release of her first ever live record Not A Little Girl, a tantalising taste of what to expect when she takes the stage with her electrifying band for headline shows in November.