Most music fans will at least know of Anthony Fantano, the (self-professed) ‘internet’s busiest music nerd’, who since launching his website and vlog The Needle Drop in 2007 has fast become one of the most talked about music critics of today.
His musical knowledge and opinions have gained Fantano the respect from musicians, fans and professionals alike, with his positive reviews resulting in the signing of a number of acts including recently Clipping and Young Fathers (Inertia/ Sub Pop).
Currently in Australia having spoken at BIGSOUND last week, Fantano is about to visit Sydney for a series of intimate shows tonight and tomorrow. Having spent the past week or so in Brisbane and Melbourne, we chatted with the Connecticut local about some of the highlights from his time in Australia so far.
Though tomorrow night’s talk is completely sold out, there are a limited amount of tickets to his talk tonight at The Paddington United Church, Sydney (all ages) for more info visit the Facebook event page.
The Bands
“I saw some great artists while up in Brisbane, and a few of them completely floored me with great songs and performances. Heavy shout-out to All Our Exes Live in Texas, The Murlocs, Milwaukee Banks, LUCIANBLOMKAMP and The Bennies.”
Meeting Fans
“I met loads of fans of the show while I was walking around Brisbane and it still amazes me to see the videos are reaching overseas audiences. It’s a really humbling feeling, and it’s fantastic to be able to connect with music listeners all around the world through my reviews.”
The BIGSOUND Afterparty DJ set
“I played a DJ set at the Alhambra Lounge and it was absolutely nuts. I thought the crowd was going to pull the booth down while I played a Death Grips song off NOLOVEDEEPWEB. A special shout-out to all the goth girls there that night, you kept the darkness strong. Also, I’ve never seen so many sing along to Smash Mouth’s ‘All Star’ – yeah, I played that song, so what?”
Learning About The Australian Music Scene
“It’s interesting to see where some genres sit in respect to others in the music scene here. In America, hip-hop and pop reign supreme these days, and country plays a prevalent role in music culture in a lot of southern and midwestern states.
It feels like everything is in so much more of a balance here, and y’all seem to have a real passion and hunger for garage and psychedelic rock. You’re doing some interesting things with hip-hop and electronic music as well. It’s awesome to see y’all taking chances and carving out your own sounds. It makes me wish I could have stuck around longer and gotten to know some of the metal acts you’ve got running.”
Australian Radio
“I bumped into some interesting radio folks. Triple J, RRR, PBS, RTR: It’s all pretty freakin’ awesome. In America, we have college stations, community radio stations and NPR who do a fine job of providing alternative programming when it comes to news and music; however, it’s nowhere near as culturally relevant as many of the radio stations y’all have around here.
Plus, it’s always nice to know you can switch on the radio in the middle of the day and hear some legitimately experimental music or some fiery garage rock jams. It’s a wonderful change of pace from the putrid commercial stations that I hear most of the time in the US.”
