IF you’ve listened to anything from Newcastle’s emerging indie-punk scene the chances are you’ve heard Fraser Marshall’s work. His fingerprints are everywhere.
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Marshall have either recorded or mixed Raave Tapes, Pals, Fritz, Grace Turner, Bodie, William John Jr, Lachlan X. Morris, Nicholas Connors, Altai and Split Feed in the lounge room of his New Lambton Heights home.
The music industry outside Newcastle are also finally taking notice. Last Thursday triple j’s Home & Hosed presented a special on the “Newy sound” in their Neighbourhood Watch series.
Of the five tracks played by Gooch Palms, Trophy Eyes, Raave Tapes, Grace Turner and Paper Thin, two were recorded or mixed by Marshall.
“It really goes to show Newcastle has this really DIY ethos,” Marshall said. “It’s not about the most produced music, it’s all about having that energy.
“I think that comes from the rawness of recording it in a humble little lounge room. You can really hear the rawness and power in the music.”
Marshall, who also plays drums in Pals and for Lachlan X. Morris, graduated in 2015 with a Communications degree from the University of Newcastle. But it was the sound production course within the degree that caught his interest.
“That class helped me push it forward, that producing was something I wanted to get into,” he said. “Because at that point I was just mainly playing in bands.”
Through word of mouth Marshall has since began working full-time in sound production, either at home or at Sawtooth Studios.
Earlier this week he was recording Raave Tapes’ next EP and he has albums by Morris and William John Jr due for release this spring.
“It really works,” Marshall said. “You don’t need a massive room to make massive records.”
FRITZ ON HOLIDAY
NEWCASTLE indie teen queen Tilly Murphy, aka Fritz, channelled her first heartbreak into her latest single Summer Holiday. The track debuted on triple j’s Home & Hosed on Monday and its nostalgia-dripping video, filmed by Lazy Bones, was released on Tuesday.
While her last single Biggest Fool In The World mixes elements of ’60s doo-wop with indie-pop, Summer Holiday embraces a more English ’80s indie vibe.
“It’s very over dramatic and naive though, considering I’m only 18 and basically singing about how being dumped by my first boyfriend was the worst thing that has ever happened to me, when really it wasn’t,” Fritz said.
DAVE CAFE LAUNCH
DAVE will venture into new territory when they launch their latest EP at Mayfield cafe Equium Social on September 29. The venue is the former Peppertown Cafe, the one-time home of the popular alt-country Peppertown Jam.
Dave’s Never Yoch Alone was released on Monday and features the singles Juice and Lump In Your Throat.
After their EP tour, dave fly to Chicago to record their debut album with Nirvana producer Steve Albini.
SUN GETS HOTTER
THE inaugural Turn Up The Sun festival has bulked up its line-up by adding Stonefield, Pist Idiots and Winterbourne and Newcastle acts Vacations and Fritz. Turn Up The Sun hits the Market Street Lawn in Newcastle on December 22.
