Guides
Why a 1972 rock album found its voice inside a motel roomThe story of how a legendary rock record came to life in rented rooms above a car park, with traffic noise bleeding through the walls, has become one of…
The forgotten art of the rock double bass drum techniqueDrum kits have always been rock's engine room, but for a stretch in the late twentieth century, the roar of the double bass drum cut through the mix like a…
Honking anthems: how car horns became rock's wildest instrumentRock has always raided the toolbox for new sounds. Distorted guitars, screaming vocals, pounding drums — and yes, the humble car horn. From the garage bands of…
Rock songs that turn a bonfire into a night to rememberPicture a stretch of sand at Byron Bay, the sun dropping behind the lighthouse, an esky loaded with cold ones, and a pile of driftwood crackling into flame.…
Mallee Signal Turn Nature Into Rock’s New Weather SystemMallee Signal’s latest album, Weather Station, sounds like it was recorded between a suburban rehearsal room and the edge of the bush. The Naarm-based quartet…
How Fuzz Redefined Modern RockFew effects have altered rock as radically as the fuzz pedal. By flattening a clean guitar signal into a thick, spluttering wall of harmonics, fuzz turned a…
Rock music videos that made the wilderness legendaryThe marriage of rock music and untamed landscapes has produced some of the most visually arresting moments in popular culture. When a band heads off-grid with…
From petrol bowser to power chords: a band's studio transformationThree years ago, a four-piece rock outfit from Melbourne was hauling amps between Sydney and regional Victoria, wondering why their demos never captured the…
Rock festivals and national parks share a wild historyRock music and protected wilderness have a tangled, sometimes combative, sometimes beautiful relationship. For decades, organisers have coaxed amplifiers into…
Why the acoustic guitar still rules unplugged sessionsStrip away the amplifiers, pedalboards and studio polish, and the acoustic guitar still commands attention. Its wooden body, ringing strings and human-scale…