Feed the Rhythm Inside

Right before the new year I was involved with an event in Philly called HiJinx. The night before working my role for the small festival I stayed at my friend Noah’s house. We hung out with his friend Lou, had a few drinks, and played a dice game called Yamslam. He put on some background tunes while we chilled and then suddenly I heard a song that really caught my interest. It had an upbeat electronic pop sound. It made me want to get up and dance or crush a work out right there. I asked Noah who it was and he goes, “Client Liaison!” I never heard of the band. Flash forward 8 months later and now I’m a Client Liaison fan as well.

Client Liaison is an Australian indie pop duo. The group is comprised of Monte Morgan and Harvey Miller, who attended Grammar school together in Melbourne, Australia. Along with their tunes, the duo is well-known for their high quality music videos. Their first was for their first single “End of the Earth.” The song and video was released in 2012. It wasn’t until 2014 that Client Liaison released a debut eponymous EP. They began touring around the same time in support of Miami Horror and later joined Flight Facilities on tour. They began playing some Australian summer festivals in 2015 and 2016, but also made their U.S. festival debut at Firefly in 2015.

The band released their debut album Diplomatic Immunity in November of 2016. The music video for the track “A Foreign Affair” earned Client Liaison a J Award in 2017 for Australian Music Video of the Year. The band has yet to break into success in other parts of the world like the U.S. and Europe, but I feel like it’s only a matter of time before they do. Since their debut album, the band has released the singles “Survival in the City” in May 2018 and “The Real Thing”, which debuted 3 weeks ago. They will soon be releasing their second album and already have a fall tour in their homeland of Australia planned.

Client Liaison’s sound combines indie pop and electronic music. It has a very 80’s/early 90’s feel as well. That style is replicated through the band’s appearance and music videos. The song that hooked me on the group was “Feed the Rhythm” off their self-titled EP. Most of their tracks have an upbeat groove similar to that song.

Unfortunately I’m not sure if or when I’ll have the opportunity to see Client Liaison perform because their music has yet to take off in the U.S. I keep hoping they’ll either tour here or gain a few more fans in the States that really up their U.S. cred. For now, I’ll just keep listening and trying to spread the word about this duo from down under. So check these guys out! “Turn up the treble to the level and the speakers to the sky”, they’ll keep feeding the rhythm and they’re definitely full of good indie pop vibes.

Coachella Band Preview: Tash Sultana

Because I forgot to post last week’s blog after I wrote it and instead posted it this week, you’re getting two band previews this week! We’re almost near the end of January. We’re still a while away from Weekend 1, but I can feel it looming. Can’t you?! Since I already gave you plenty of Kygo to listen to this week, I thought I’d preview an artist who has a little less music to listen to. What she does have out is pretty awesome and original.

Natasha “Tash” Sultana is an Australian musician/singer/songwriter who grew up in Melbourne. She took to music at the age of three when she received a guitar from her grandfather. Now at age 22, she can play over 10 instruments. 2016 was her breakthrough year, but until then Tash struggled to find regular work and used street performing as her way to get by. She was however the lead vocalist of the band Mindpilot from 2008 through 2012.

She started receiving attention in 2016 through social media and the internet. She also released her first EP, Notion on September 16th independently through her own label Lonely Lands Records. The EP peaked at number 4 on ARIA Australian Albums Chart. It included two songs that were voted to Australia’s Triple J Hottest 100, “Jungle” (#3) and “Notion” (#32). She also embarked on a world tour in support of Notion.

In 2017, Tash continued to tour and also announced that her debut album would be released in the spring of 2018. She released the singles “Murder to the Mind” in April and “Mystik” in October along with being nominated for 4 ARIA Awards (Breakthrough Artist, Best Independent Release (Notion), Best Blues and Roots Album (Notion), and Best Australian Live Act).

Her rock music style features elements of reggae and psychedelic music. Her style can also be classified as indie rock. Each of her tracks have a different sound and her vocals are mesmerizing. It’s the kind of music you can just chill to. I love it because the sound meshed with her vocals is unique to my usual listening tastes.

I first found out about her in early October after my friend worked at All Things Go Fall Classic in Washington, DC. A patron at the festival told her about Tash Sultana so she checked out Tash and told me about her as well. Then I checked her out and enjoyed what I heard. My friend then saw her perform a week later at Austin City Limits. I wasn’t so fortunate. She is relatively new to the music scene and is just starting to get some attention in America. She recently performed on Late Night with Seth Meyers in October. That makes me think I’ll have plenty of time to get to see her live, especially if I get to be a part of Coachella this year and can catch her set.

She plays Saturday at Coachella. In my opinion Saturday’s lineup is stacked. I would expect to see Tash play an earlier set on Saturday. You never know though. She might end up with a mid-afternoon spot at the Gobi or Mojave Tent. If you have a chance, I would check her out though. She’s under that “up and coming” title for the festival this year. She’s also got a debut album coming out soon. Here’s what you can check out by her so far though:

1. Jungle
2. Mystik
3. Notion
4. Gemini
5. Synergy
6. Murder to Mind
7. Big Smoke (Pts. 1 & 2)