King Gizzard on the Melbourne scene, their upcoming albums + the perfect vegemite sandwich

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Cook + Eric enjoying cheesesteaks in Philly 
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King Gizzard at Johnny Brenda’s 9/13/2015 

Photos from Pooneh Ghana (@poonehghana)

Before their show at Johnny Brenda’s, DJs Kirsten and Shannen caught up with Lucas Skinner (bass) and Eric Moore (drums/manager) of King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard to talk about everything from poisonous spiders and the Melbourne DIY scene to their new album, Paper Maché Dream Balloon (out November 13th).


First question, cup of blood or shot of shit? 

Lucas: What?

If you had to drink one.

Eric: Is it my own or someone else’s?

Someone else’s.

E: I think definitely blood.

L: I think you’d get more sick if you eat shit.

E: If it was my own, I’d go with blood. I always just drink my own blood anyway, like when I get a cut.

Right, delicious. What are some of your favorite hair products?

E: I used to use Surf Paste in high school. That was a long time ago.

L: I use oils on my beard.

This is the second to last date of your US tour, which city has been your favorite?

L: We’ve done a few places we haven’t been before, New Orleans was one.

E: All the ones up the west coast were cool. Portland was my favorite place. The scenery is so beautiful and the drives are amazing up the coast.

Did you guys do any traveling before KGATLW?

L: We did a tour about three months ago in the states and Europe and most of us went home for a month but Stu and Ambrose and their girlfriends went traveling through Europe and Eric went to LA for a month.

E: Yeah I’ve been away for ages.

L: But before the band we did a US road trip up the east coast starting in Austin and going up to New York. That gave us a good idea of the landscape and how to get around.

What is your favorite thing to do on a date?

L: My girlfriend and I for our first date we went walking our dogs on the beach.

E: Luke is the sweetheart. Mine would just be something lame like going to a bar or a movie. But I haven’t been on a date in a very long time.

L: Eric’s the only one without a girlfriend in the band. Everyone else is kind of settled down. He’s the wild card.

 So you work a lot with artist Jason Galea and your shows have such a strong visual component, is he going to be involved in music videos in the future? 

E: Yeah Jason’s here on tour with us. He does the visuals and is working on heaps of stuff.

L: He’s the creative director, does all our visual stuff, artwork, t-shirts, videos. We’re actually making a video with another friend at the moment because Jason’s a bit busy, that’ll be the first one we’ve done without him. Continue reading “King Gizzard on the Melbourne scene, their upcoming albums + the perfect vegemite sandwich”

Mad Decent Block Party Friday Photo Re-cap

Mad Decent Philly Block Party Friday photo re-cap

Diplo and Mad Decent crew have come a loonggg way since they first set up shop at what is now PHILAMOCA in the early 2000s.

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A trip down memory lane for Diplo, where the sidewalk outside PHILAMOCA still bears the Mad Decent stamp.

The Mad Decent Block party, which originally was a raucous street party that closed down the five-point intersection at 12th Street, Spring Garden, and Ridge Avenue, has exploded into a nationally touring summer sell-out.

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Big up to Sean Agnew (pictured here in Elmo costume with a handle of Captain Morgan, also a former WKDU DJ) and R5 Productions for their biggest show to date, and for handling the event like the champs they are.

We took in the sights and sounds of the Friday madness, catching sets from Major Lazer, Philly’s own Dirty South Joe, Zeds Dead, Keys N Krates, Allison Wonderland, and Giraffage.

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You’ve got to assume that Diplo is used to this at this point.

All photos by Frank Kinyon.

  Continue reading “Mad Decent Block Party Friday Photo Re-cap”

Saved from the Stacks #2

Adam B. from Ultrasound Radio USA is wading through mountains of free promos and forgotten releases collected over a lifetime in journalism, radio, and music retail. Here’s a selection of what he’s found that’s new to him and worth it to you to seek out, including funk and jazz discoveries, squirrelly digital pop, and symphonic industrial… Continue reading “Saved from the Stacks #2”

New Music Discovery: Getting Back in Shape

By Esmail Hamidi

All the CDs in my car skip now.

I bought earbuds so I could listen to music on my walks home, but I maxed out the data on my phone. Dead hard drive in my old iPod Photo, dead batteries on my old iPod Nano, dead batteries on my cassette Walkman. YouTube blocked at work. Mouse chewed through the cable on my kitchen speaker. No time. Obligations. Bad radio. Wack DJs. The rat race.

All these forces seek to destroy my relationship with new music. I’m feeling closer to 33 every day. Especially deep in the dusty record bins on Toilet Radio.

But no! At WKDU, I am still capable of falling in love with new music of all kinds.  This list is proof. Enjoy.

  1. Girlpool – Ideal World

This cut off of Girlpool’s debut really impresses me. Minimal production, rock-solid guitar tone, and their growing aptitude for harmonies make this song an ear-perking jam. Heroin, anyone?

  1. Blacksage – Basement Vows

[bandcamp width=100% height=120 album=717950818 size=large bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 tracklist=false artwork=small track=3388504126]

Soulful triplet feel on Baltimore’s Friends Records. Cool.

Continue reading “New Music Discovery: Getting Back in Shape”

Making Time History with Dave P

Last week, we had the honor and pleasure of hosting the ever-RAD Dave P in our studios to help him celebrate FIFTEEN YEARS of legendary Making Time parties. Our station actually goes way back with Dave, as he made his FIRST EVER RADio appearance on WKDU to promote the VERY FIRST Making Time in 2000.

Dave P instagram

Continue reading “Making Time History with Dave P”