19Aug2000
- The Killing Heidi
Realm: The Melbourne Forum show review <return to top>
Hey all, ..just got back from the forum show.
Pretty much the same setlist as the previous shows
of this tour; a nice addition being Superstar (w/ waz+adam), Teen
Angst Unrequited Love Song, and Hieroglyphic Alphabet.
Overall, a great show, but I think a little held back, perhaps due
to it being an under-age gig, hopefully though it gets better as
time goes by.
Also, KH appeared at an instore in Doncaster (Vic), which unfortunately
wasn't really publicised, but however was (perhaps) broadcasted
on the Fox radio station, I only got the last 15-or-so min when
they were signing autos. If anyone got this please let me know.
17Aug2000
- AUSTRALIA: KILLING HEIDI - Weir
family <return to top>
By DINO SCATENA.
Ella Hooper are the band are still coming to grips with fame, writes
DINO SCATENA
WHAT is celebrity? It's a question that has been flowing
in and out of Ella Hooper's mind for about a year.
But probably never more so than a few weeks ago while swimming fully
clothed in the pool of Courteney Cox-Arquette's mansion in the Hollywood
hills.
"Her house was amazing," Hooper says. "And she was telling us about
Brad and Jennifer's wedding. I was like: `OK - where's my hidden
camera when I need one?' "
Fortunately there were a couple of cameras to capture some of Killing
Heidi's latest excellent adventure.
The band was back in the US (their second trip there in a month)
to film an electronic press kit (an EPK), as well as a new video
clip for Weir in anticipation of the single's US release in a few
weeks.
The clip was filmed on Lake Powell in Arizona, scene of Planet of
the Apes, as well as Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee's infamous home
movie.
"Oh my God - I've never seen such a production," Hooper says. "It
was like: `Are all these people here for us?'
"We had a crew of 60, as opposed to 10 on the last few film clips.
It was just crazy, the amount of time and effort they put into their
clips. And the money. You could just see the money going on around
you with their equipment and everyone was so professional. We shot
heaps of film. We could have made Weir: The Movie."
Cox-Arquette's "million-billion-crillion-dollar house", as Hooper
describes it, was kindly lent to the band by its owner to act as
a backdrop for the EPK.
The Friends star, a Killing Heidi fan since seeing the band perform
an impromptu set in its American label boss's lounge room, even
got her face in front of the camera, playing the role of rock interviewer.
During their first trip in late May, Killing Heidi also got to taste
the less glaring, cooler side of American celebrity. It came after
meeting Rolling Stone magazine chief photographer Mark Seliger.
So impressed was Seliger by these vibey kids from Down Under that
he invited them to his birthday party on the other side of the country.
So exclusive was the do, Killing Heidi were among the only musicians
to get an invite to this Triple A-list affair.
"He was very impressed with our partying skills," giggles Hooper,
"and we were impressed by his."
Back in Australia, Hooper was quickly reminded of our own more colloquial
take on stardom.
There was the recent incident regarding her childhood bed.
The story goes something like this: Because her daughter is long
out of home, Ella Hooper's mum decides to return her bed to the
opportunity shop where she bought it years earlier for the princely
sum of $4.
THE op shop owner, realising the object had attained a greater cultural
and monetary value since it was last in the store, phones up the
mayor of Violet Town and suggests he auctions it off in the name
of a couple of local charities.
Fans from Melbourne drive up to be photographed with this newly
discovered piece of pop history.
Needless to say, young Hooper wasn't too impressed when she saw
virtually this exact story on the front page of her local paper.
"No, I wasn't really rapt," she says. "It was for a great cause
and everything (to help a children's charity and fund a local skate
park) and I love helping out the local charities, but that didn't
really have my consent. So that's pretty naughty.
"I don't like that celebrity thing where, `Oh well, because it was
mine, it should now be important'. It's just a bed."
Hooper got the bed back, replacing it in the auction with one of
her childhood guitars.
"I was so upset when I saw it (the bed) in the newspapers," she
confides. "It has `I love Bruce' inscribed on the bedhead. And I
did that when I was 12 and then it's all over the papers. I rang
up Bruce and was like: `Ha ha ha!' "
So Bruce was cool with it? "I think he was loving it."
Amid all the travel and celebrity status, Hooper is finding it slightly
more difficult to accommodate her more contemporary love interest.
But she is managing.
"That's probably the worst aspect with what I'm doing," she says
of her relationship. "It's really, really hard.
"Maybe it doesn't change with age but I know that, as a 17-year-old
girl, half your brain is totally focused on that 90 per cent of
the time. You go crazy about that sort of stuff.
"Even in high school everyone has their boyfriend and gets to see
them every day and you hang out with your friendship circle.
"And now my boyfriend and friendship circle can be miles away, across
oceans. And it's really hard. I can't just drive around or pick
up the phone and ring them up without it costing me $100." Reflector
(Roadshow) out now. Killing Heidi, 21 Arms Ballarat, tonight; Wool
Exchange Geelong, tomorrow; the Forum, Melbourne (under 18s only)
Saturday; 21st Century Dance Club Frankston, Sunday.
(C) 2000 Herald and Weekly Times Limited.
12Aug2000
- AUSTRALIA: Last band standing <return to top>
By BEN SHARKEY.
The latest batch of Unearthed winners have big shoes to fill, writes
Ben Sharkey SINCE its inception in July 1995, the inaugural Triple
J Unearthed program has discovered some of the nation's most talented
musicians. Endorphin, Grinspoon and Killing Heidi are just three
bands that have gone on to bigger things after winning Unearthed
competitions.
Without it, these bands would have had little chance of breaking
into a music scene that has diminishing radio opportunities for
local acts, few venues and almost no money.
So when Triple J announced it would be unearthing Sydney in July
(the only area to which the station broadcasts that hadn't been
unearthed), the anticipation about who would be discovered was intense.
If the tiny hamlet of Goulburn Valley could produce Killing Heidi,
what could Sydney (with a population of about 5million) turn out?
With more than 2000 entrants, the competition was intense. This
year's winners were announced last month. Sick Puppies, Aerials.Spans.Earth
and Blue took the honours.
On the night, Sick Puppies had the crowd of 2000 moshing with their
winning song Nothing Really Matters. Aerials.Spans.Earth's song
Mr. Kestler, a quirky dance congo fusion, was likewise well received.
The last Unearthed band to play was Blue, who got an Unearthed guernsey
with their jagged guitar pop number I Like Girls.
"We loved the crowd and I don't think we let anyone down," says
Blue vocalist-guitarist Rupert Jenna. "Being in a venue that size
(Sydney's Hordern Pavilion) allowed us to do what we love: run around
on stage and turn our amps up as loud as we want."
So what does it mean to these bands to win the event? The exposure
that comes with it is the biggest thing, says Sick Puppies' Shimon
Moore, who recently announced that the band signed to play at the
Homebake Festival, one of Australia's biggest concert events.
"We've gotten more gigs in the past two weeks than in our whole
career," he laughs.
At the concert, Blue were introduced to numerous record company
folk and, although no "Silverchair deals" were signed, the band
is opening for the greatest Unearthed success story, Killing Heidi,
at a gig in Sydney this weekend. Jenna sees this as a chance to
make industry connections and plans to ask Killing Heidi how they
turned their Unearthed victory into a number-one album.
Aerials.Spans.Earth's Daniel Cagan off described participating in
the event as an invaluable experience in terms of the time spent
working with the event's producers. "Being able to send your demo
to a record company with the credibility of being an Unearthed winner
is a big help," says Caganoff, who in the light of the band's newfound
success intends to write songs and play as many live gigs as possible.
"I've sent demos out to commercial stations and even Triple J, but
if your songs don't suit the station's demographic, you won't get
in.
"Unless you have a record company backing you it's really difficult
to get anything on a station's playlist, especially on a commercial
station. No one I know from an unsigned band has managed to get
anything played on radio unless it's on [Sydney community station]
2SER."
In addition to the opportunities that have opened for the bands,
all three rave about the night itself and the experience of performing
live with Kiwi band Shihad, one of the industry's hottest gigs.
"I spoke to the lead singer of Shihad but I'd forgotten his name
so I had to call him `mate' for the night," laughs Jenna, who climbed
on to Shihad frontman Jon Toogood's back at the end of the gig for
a "riding on the back of Shihad's success" photo.
"Playing at the end of the set in front of expectant Shihad fans
with tired eardrums was a challenge, but we were happy just to be
on stage."
Moore described the leap from playing a handful of gigs - no matter
how good you sound it's hard to get a pub gig when you are under-age
- to being on the same stage as Shihad as like playing in reserve
grade all year only to be called up to the firsts for the grand
final.
The Unearthed competition strives to find new talent in all corners
of the country, first through soliciting demo tapes from particular
regions, then organising concerts for the best acts. It provides
young bands and musicians living in regional and city areas with
an opportunity to have their talents professionally recorded and
played on national radio.
Unearthed judge Louis Rogers says the program seeks to promote home-grown,
alternative rock music: "The chances of a band that doesn't play
Triple J style of music winning [Unearthed] is pretty slim," he
says.
"We get some folk entrants, but to win it has to be the sort of
stuff that our audience listens to."
Since its inception, Unearthed has visited more than 40 regions
in Australia, received more than 4300 entries, and unearthed more
than 70 bands.
The idea is simple. Towns and cities around Australia are chosen
by Triple J to be unearthed. Bands and musicians from that area
are invited to send entries in to the station. Three winners receive
national airplay, time in Triple J's recording studios and a spot
on stage at the all-ages Unearthed concert.
Some of the event's biggest success stories were discovered in rural
areas and small cities. Endorphin and Grinspoon were found in Cairns
and Lismore respectively and Killing Heidi were unearthed at the
tiny Violet Town Arts Festival near Goulburn Valley.
In terms of touring and record sales, each of these bands has been
hugely successful. Killing Heidi's first album, Reflector, is the
biggest-selling Australian album this year. Last month they followed
in the footsteps of Silverchair when they made their US debut.
Grinspoon, veterans of a 12-month US tour, have also had success
with their two albums Guide to Better Living and Easy. Endorphin
received critical acclaim when they won the inaugural 2000 Australian
Dance Music Awards.
And these bands aren't the only success stories. While not all Unearthed
winners go on to megastardom, almost all of them have gone on to
release CDs independently, and a good portion of them have received
publishing and distribution deals with record companies.
Lesser-known bands such as Soulcrusher, Pretty Violet Stain, the
Early Hours, Evolution and Ultrakeen may not be household names
yet, but all have released albums through record companies such
as Oracle and Shock.
In addition to fostering local talent, Unearthed has facilitated
a huge information exchange and networking experience between country
kids and members of prominent touring bands such as Killing Heidi.
Although winning Unearthed is not the only way to the top for rock
bands in Australia, it's a pretty good start. And with live performances
scheduled for the latest batch of Unearthed winners, we should soon
know if there's another Silverchair on the horizon.
(c) Nationwide News Proprietary Ltd, 2000.
Source:
AUSTRALIAN (THE) 12/08/2000
10Aug2000
- AUSTRALIA: THE C WORD <return to top>
By DINO SCATENA.
What is celebrity? It's a question that's been flowing in and out
of Ella Hooper's mind for almost a year now.
But probably never more so than last weekend while swimming fully
clothed in the pool of Courtney Cox's mansion in the Hollywood hills.
"I was like `Okay!' laughs the teenager, now safely back in her
Melbourne home. "Her house was amazing. And she was telling us about
Brad and Jennifer's wedding. I was like, `Okay - where's my hidden
camera when I need one?"'
Fortunately, there were a couple of cameras around to capture some
of Killing Heidi's latest excellent adventure.
The band was back in the States (their second trip there in a month)
to film an electronic press kit (an EPK), as well as a new video-clip
for Weir in anticipation of the single's US release in a few weeks'
time. The clip was filmed on Lake Powell in Arizona.
"Oh my God - I've never seen such a production," says Hooper. "It
was like, `Are all these people here for us?'
"We had a crew of 60, as opposed to 10 on the last few film-clips.
It was just crazy, the amount of time and effort they put into their
clips. And the money. You could just see the money going on around
you with their equipment and everyone was so professional. We shot
heaps of film. We could have made Weir The Movie."
Cox's "million-billion-crillion dollar house", as Hooper describes
it, was kindly lent to the band by its owner to act as a backdrop
for the EPK.
The Friends actress, a Killing Heidi fan since seeing the band perform
an impromptu set in its American label boss's loungeroom, even got
her face in front of the camera, playing the role of rock interviewer.
During their first trip in late May, Killing Heidi also got to taste
the less glaring, cooler side of American celebrity. It came after
meeting Rolling Stone magazine's chief photographer, Mark Seliger.
So impressed was Seliger by these vibey kids from Down Under that
he invited them to his birthday party on the other side of the country
a week later. So exclusive was the do, Killing Heidi were among
the only musicians to get an invite to this Triple A-list affair.
"He was very impressed with our partying skills," giggles Hooper,
"and we were impressed by his."
Back in Australia, Hooper was quickly reminded of our own more colloquial
take on stardom.
There was, for instance, the recent incident regarding her childhood
bed.
The story goes something like this: with her daughter now long out
of home, Ella Hooper's mum decides to return the bed to the op shop
where she bought it years earlier for the princely sum of $4. The
op-shop owner, realising the object had attained a greater cultural
and monetary value since it was last in the store, phones up the
mayor of Violet Town and suggests he auctions it off in the name
of a couple of local charities. Fans from Melbourne drive up to
be photographed with this newly discovered piece of
pop history.
Needless to say, young Hooper wasn't too impressed when she saw
virtually this exact story on the front page of her local paper.
"No, I wasn't really rapt," she says, not laughing at all. "It was
for a great cause and everything [to help a children's charity and
fund the construction of a local skate park] and I love helping
out the local charities, but that didn't really have my consent.
So that's pretty naughty, I think.
"I don't like that celebrity thing where, `Oh well, because it was
mine, it should now be important.' It's just a bed."
Hooper got the bed back, replacing it in the auction with one of
her childhood guitars.
"I was so upset when I saw it [the bed] in the newspapers," she
confides. "It has `I love Bruce' inscribed on the bedhead. And I
did that when I was 12 and then it's all over the papers. I rang
up Bruce and was like: `Ha-ha-ha!"' So Bruce was cool with it? "I
think he was loving it."
Amid all the travel and celebrity-ism, Hooper is finding it slightly
more difficult to accommodate her more contemporary love interest.
But she's managing.
"That's probably the worst aspect with what I'm doing," she says
of her relationship. "It's really, really hard.
"Maybe it doesn't change with age but I know that, as a 17-year-old
girl, half your brain is totally focused on that 90 per cent of
the time. You go crazy about that sort of stuff.
"Even in high school, everyone has their boyfriend and gets to see
them every day and you hang out with your friendship circle.
"And now my boyfriend and friendship circle can be miles away, across
oceans. And it's really hard. I can't just drive around or pick
up the phone and ring them up without it costing me $100."
So let this be a lesson to all you kids out there - celebrity isn't
all the diamonds and pearls it's made out to be. Well, not all the
time, anyway.
killing heidi plays bathurst uni tonight, wollongong uni tomorrow
night, the palais in newcastle on saturday, and an all-ages show
at the metro on sunday.
7 Days.
(c) Nationwide News Proprietary Ltd, 2000.
Source:
DAILY TELEGRAPH (SYDNEY) 10/08/2000
10Aug2000
- TPA: Gig report 10.08.00 <return to top>
Killing Heidi in Bathurst @ Univ sold weeks in advance
great gig 1st time in the region. New light design & show by
Kait is amazing!
08Aug2000
- AUSTRALIA: Getting a Friend-ly hand
<return to top>
By PETER HOLDER, JO CASAMENTO.
AS Confidential reported last week, rockers Killing Heidi are getting
by with a little help from a famous friend - Friends actor Courteney
Cox.
The star has interviewed the chart-topping band for a promotional
video for the US media.
Cox met Killing Heidi through the head of their US record company,
who signed them this year.
"Courteney went to a private gig and even wound up crowd surfing,"
a band spokesperson said.
"Now she is a fan of the band.
"She's connected with them and that's why she interviewed them."
The Friend-ly connection is expected to greatly help the band in
their US push, which starts next week when their single Weir is
sent to US radio stations.
The band recently filmed a new video for the single at Lake Powell
in Arizona.
Frontman Ella Hooper is now well acquainted with the ridiculousness
of fame - her old wooden bed was auctioned in her hometown of Violet
Town on July 28 to build a local skate park and benefit a children's
charity.
Her mum, Helen, originally gave the Queen Anne-style, single-bed
frame to a local op shop after a spring clean.
(c) Nationwide News Proprietary Ltd, 2000.
Source:
DAILY TELEGRAPH (SYDNEY) 08/08/2000 P16
05Aug2000
- AUSTRALIA: Friendly push for band
<return to top>
By CAMERON ADAMS.
MELBOURNE rockers Killing Heidi are getting by with a little help
from a famous friend - Friends actor Courteney Cox-Arquette.
The star has interviewed the chart-topping band for a promotional
video to be sent to US media.
Cox-Arquette met Killing Heidi through the head of their US record
company, who signed them this year.
"Courteney went to a private gig and even wound up crowd surfing,"
a band spokesperson said yesterday. "Now she is a fan of the band.
"She's connected with them and that's why she interviewed them."
The Friend-ly connection is expected to greatly help the band in
their US push, which starts next week when their single Weir is
sent to US radio stations.
The band recently filmed a new video for the single at Lake Powell
in Arizona.
(C) 2000 Herald and Weekly Times Limited.
Source:
HERALD SUN 05/08/2000 P3
xxAug2000
- The
Killing Heidi Realm: Killing Heidi to co-headline Word Reconciliation
Day concert <return to top>
Killing
Heidi, along with Ruben Carter, Christine Anu, and Paul Kelly are
to feature at the World Reconciliation Day on Friday, 8th of September
2000 at Colonial Stadium.
Tickets through Ticketmaster {expect tics. to be $100 +}
Fortunately,
the World Reconciliation Day Concert will be ecast live (broadcasted
live on the 'net), from Colonial Stadium, Melbourne, Australia at
7.30pm on Friday 8th September 2000, Melbourne time
xxAug2000
- The Killing Heidi Realm:
Great reviews from the USA<return to top>
A Feast for the Eyes and Ears..
I
have to say that this was one of the coolest shows that I’ve seen
in Hollywood in a long time. Killing Heidi was none of the same
old “hey look at me” shit that you get in LA these days. Maybe it’s
because they’re from Australia or maybe it’s just because they’re
badass, but this band has something different. [click
to read full article]
xxAug2000
- The
Killing Heidi Realm: Killing Heidi to headline 'Night before Olympics
2000' party<return to top>
Killing Heidi are due to headline the 'Night before the Olympics'
party in The Domain, Sydeny City. This is a free concert, with a
capacity of 50,000, with KH to be on around 10:30 - 11:00pm on Thursday,
14 September. Due to the magnatued of this event, hopefully
it will be televised, not only in Australia, but world-wide, and
if so, is bound to make an impact as one of the worlds newest rock
bands.
