Night Terrors

In 1950s film, there was one instrument that signified psychosis, fear and alcoholism. Today it's celebrated as the granddaddy of electronic music. The theremin is an instrument that requires no human contact, only precise hand gestures that pass through airborne frequencies. It's become one of the most intuitive musical instruments we've ever built and it's currently featured on The Night Terrors' latest album Back to Zero. According to Miles Brown, the theremin maestro of The Night Terrors, it requires more than just hand movements: "It's your body, it's everyone else's body, the electrics in the room, and the humidity in the air – this all influences how it works."

Miles recently returned from a two-month trip to Europe courtesy of the Australia Council grant. There he met with Lydia Kavina, the grandniece of the inventor of the theremin, Leon Theremin. Having learnt from her great-uncle, Lydia is now one of the foremost theremin players in the world. (For something that will knock those puny acoustic guitars out of your hands, click here). While the theremin is most commonly played in fiercely controlled environments for classical or jazz music, Miles has married it to prog-rock with bandmates Ianto Kelly and Marika Bardin.

As the theremin is so influenced by every shift of its environment The Night Terrors have had to adapt to the beer-smattered walls of the dingy rock venue. "When you're playing rock shows you never know how good the foldback's going to be, or how close the audience is going to come", Myles explains. If audience members start to get handsy, they can interfere with the frequencies and ruin the song – much like an audience member getting up on stage and banging the drums with their own sticks. "At our album launch the other week, people got really interested. They got really close and started putting their hands out in the air. You've just got to push them out of the way."

And why the name? A night terror is a parasomnia condition that causes people to act-out their dreams, moaning and screaming violently. Miles knows this all too well. "I had them really bad when I was about 18", he says. "When I was a teenager I'd grab knives, say very unusual things to my parents and wander off into the street." When asked whether his night terrors have influenced his music, Miles said: "we wanted a nice evocative title. At the beginning we were just this meandering indie band and the new name probably put us in another direction. The theremin has a certain supernatural vibe to it, so we thought it'd be appropriate."

The Night Terrors' album, Back to Zero is available here

See them play May 29 at the John Curtin Hotel.

www.myspace.com/thenightterrors

PROFILE:

MONKEY, NEWTOWN WORKERS CLUB

Monkey is an old-timer. If St Jeromes was an RSL he'd be the oldest tea-drinking, Two-Up-playing, cane-shaking coot there was. Monkey has seen many boozy nights and has often been the cause of them. He painted most of the walls at ye olde St Jeromes and has DJed there more times than he can remember. Now he's compiling a book for St Jeromes to commemorate - as he puts it - "six years of misplaced hangovers and misspent youth."

When did you start getting involved with St Jeromes and how?
I met Jerome's sister's mates Fiona and Skye - while drunk and waiting for a tram back to Essendon. It was one of those awesome mid-week drunken tram conversations that ended up with me promising I'd come down to this bar that they were building, to paint the sign for some guy's front door, in exchange for beer... that bar was St Jeromes.

How do you think Jerome's new bar Newtown Workers Club will grow?
Like a new pair of boots, or a leather jacket; it'll take time and a little bit of breaking-in - but once it's worn, it'll be vintage.

Favourite part of your job?
I get to do whatever I want - mostly. It's like the first time you moved out of home and realised you could buy Coco-Pops all the time, or use the toothbrush with all the fancy bits coming off it.

Jerome gives you a blank cheque and tells you to build a brand new venue. Describe it:
It happened once - turned out to be Sister Bella.

Where have you stumbled across your favourite records?
It was from Northside Records on Gertrude Street. I'd walk in on a Wednesday, which was payday, blackout while I was in there, and walk out with a stack of records and sans $300. That happened so often it wasn't funny. But now I've got a super record collection.

List your top five tracks and explain what they mean to you:

5. 'I've Got What You Need' - Mary Jane Hooper.
There's a killer drummer playing on this song. It's super-fast and super-deadly. I've just found her album, but I've got this song off a compilation called 'Let's Boogaloo Vol. 3'

4. 'Move on Up' - Curtis Mayfield.
Always a crowd pleaser whether it's from behind the decks or behind the bar. Josh who used to work at Jeromes knew all the words and all the moves.

3. 'Hang up Your Hang-ups' - Herbie Hancock.
I stole this record off my brother, and then I lost it. It's six or seven minutes of jazz-funk build up.

2. 'Ready for the Floor' - Hot Chip
It's the best track I've ever played to link between me and other DJs. And it's on like 300g vinyl, gatefold sleeve - cost me 10 quid from Sister Ray's in London and is totally badarse.

1. 'Rock Me Again & Again & Again & Again' - Lyn Collins
This is the best funk song ever. It has James Brown rambling indecipherable shit - a midway breakdown - and Lyn Collins belting out the dirtiest funk lyrics of all time. It gets everyone every time. And I finally tracked it down on vinyl somewhere in England. It's from a 'James Brown's Funky People' compilation.