WEB INTERVIEWS
“I got out of comedy and went into serious ballads – songs about impotence and eczema with a Nick Drake feel. After being banned from the Grade 10 talent quest for being “too real”, I started piecing the comedy back into my act until I came up with the perfect balance of music and humour that today’s audiences know and tolerate.”
Paper Deer – June 2011
“I was having a Hottest 100 party with my band mates to celebrate an almost shoo-in top-50 placement but because it came in not as high as I thought, no one had even turned up at the time it played, it was the ultimate non-event. I was turning sausages by myself and swearing.”
Melbourne Leader – April 2011
“I think tram travel as like a detention for adults.” He muses. “For ten minutes you have to sit in this room with other people you don’t know and think about what you’ve done that day. I’m not saying it’s a bad thing really, I mean they’re pretty safe places to be when you think about it. It’s not as if someone’s gonna go nuts and hi-jack the tram and go for a joyride to Canberra.” He adds in a mock aggressors tone; “We taking over this tram – we’re going to Bundoora and then to docklands and then back to Bundoora again… And we’re gonna keep going back and forth until our demands are met!”
Beat Magazine - September 2010
“Life is strange enough, you don’t need to add too much satire. It’s more like a musical journalist presenting the facts; holding a mirror up to society, so that they can do their hair.”
The Brag - August 2010
“I think the old man at the end is a tribute to my Pop who passed away in 2006. While he didn’t speak that “Australian”, I do think of him every time I hear it. That concept of lying there, an 84 year-old paper mill worker who escaped from a POW camp in World War Two, looking up at your family as they sing an awkward but earnest version of “Yellow Submarine”, paralysed and unable to speak as a solitary tear runs down your cheek. The magnificence and the madness of it all.”
Music Vice - August 2010
“Nothing on Earth could prepare us for the Tasmanian shows,” he says with an echo of shell shock still in his voice. “No rehearsal, no schooling, no life experience could prepare you for 100-and-something highly pissed Hobartians on a Saturday night throwing frozen corn at us.” Frozen corn? Is that some kind of Tasmanian tradition? “I don’t know if I was being targeted specifically or if he was throwing them at everyone. It made a bit of a statement on the corny nature of my wordplay-based songs.”
Rave Magazine Brisbane - August 2010
“There’s a bunch of cameos in the clip including DC Root, Kram and Angie Hart. I really wanted Angry Anderson to be the mixer for Pose Tattoo but I think he’s in France beating up Phoenix.”
Radar Radio Blog - August 2010
“I’m fairly annoyed that national radio didn’t touch this. Too Melbourne-y? Not funny enough? C’mon – the chimney’s smoking and I got an armful of logs!”
Mess & Noise Track by Track - May 2010
“People want me to go down the Sufjan Stevens road and write an album per tram line for the next 50 years”.
The Vine - April 2010
“The Bedroom Philosopher has proved impossible to pin down for this article. Initially, his publicist gave me the run-around, posting me a phone book sized list of questions I wasn’t allowed to ask including ‘Who are you again?’ I then had to deal with his manager who insisted we do the interview by text message because The Bedroom Philosopher was having a ‘bad sideburn day’. After busting him in a record store putting his albums next to Sarah Blasko’s and making them kiss, the ‘manager’ turned out to be The Bedroom Philosopher himself with an American accent.”
The Big Issue - July 2009
“I’m like JT, only I’m bringing depression back.”
FasterLouder - March 2009
TV INTERVIEWS
ABC’S Collectors – “Salvos” – July 2011
ABC’s Collectors – “70′s Ties” – November 2010
Beat TV – January 2011
Studio A (Channel 31) – August 2010
Yartz (Channel 31) – March 2009
RADIO INTERVIEWS
ABC’s Conversation Hour - June 2011
Syn FM’s Shameless Self Promotion – July 2011
REVIEWS FOR SONGS FROM THE 86 TRAM ALBUM
“While painfully funny, Songs From The 86 Tram actually touches on some sensitive issues but deals with them in a humorous way.”
Rave Review
“The Bedroom Philosopher has proved that, although he is a smart ass, he has the musical prowess to back it up.”
Music Feeds
“I was originally a bit skeptical about listening to music of this genre, but the facetious lyrics combined with the brilliance of musical composition makes Songs from the 86 Tram a success in every way.”
Au Review
“The wonderful acoustic strumming is never just a backdrop and I’d happily listen to these songs even if they weren’t funny.”
Rave Brisbane
“Needless to say, The Bedroom Philosopher absolutely nailed each impression.”
Beat Magazine
“….The Bedroom Philosopher’s hysterical skewering of meat-headed ticketing inspectors falls somewhere between a Fame-era Bowie slink and inspirational Hunners balladry. I like my musical comedy to, as the name suggests, be musically captivating first, funny second. Luckily, with Tram Inspector, both come equal first.”
TRAM INSPECTOR. INPRESS SINGLE OF THE WEEK DECEMBER 16, 2009.
REVIEWS FOR SONGS FROM THE 86 TRAM COMEDY FESTIVAL SHOW
“I implore, nay insist, that you see this quintessentially Melbourne show as soon as you can: it’s as close to perfect a comedy production as I’ve ever seen.” **** 1/2
Richard Watts, RRR
“We’ve previously called the quirkily tweedy Bedroom Philosopher ‘the Jarvis Cocker of stand-up’; and you can almost certainly add elements of The Kinks’ Ray Davies and, almost inevitably, Flight Of the Conchords to the mix.”
Steve Bennet, Chortle.
“Songs from the 86 Tram is drenched with a bring-spare-knickers level of hilarity. This is the most thoughtful, well-conceived show I’ve seen so far, replete with unique observation, heartfelt characters, and extremely skilful musicianship. This performance is ingenious, uproarious, a must-see. I give it my highest rating so far.”
Chuckle Factor: 9.5 / 10
Gemma King, Rabbit Hole Urban Music.
“…deftly observed, heart-felt and achingly funny. The show has beautiful wordplay, with a novelist’s ability to capture moments of truth through seemingly mundane comments. The show is an undeniable triumph and easily one of the highlights of this year’s festival.”
John Richards, Aussie Theatre.
“I love it when comedians do this. I love it when they produce shows that prove conclusively that comedy is an art form, and that, as an art form, it can scale great heights. The Bedroom Philosopher – Songs From the 86 Tram marks the coming of age for this talented comedian. There are still some moments of vintage Bedroom Philosopher surrealism, but what marks it out is the delicate structure which makes this such a terrific show.”
Annette Slattery, The Groggy Squirrel.
REVIEWS FOR BROWN & ORANGE
“There is a fine line between madness and genius, separated only by the thinnest of margins of subjective taste. From the opening lines of Strange Piece of Music, you are immediately introduced to the core elements of Brown & Orange. The shaky vocal delivery, self-referential lyrics and schizophrenic musical arrangements that move through folkish verses and flute solos only to end in a psychedelic sitar-driven outro. It’s a confronting introduction, and one that will deter as many listeners as it will entice to persevere further. But for the brave souls that weather the seven-minute introduction piece, there is a treasure trove of gems that unfold over the course of the album.
From the rollickingly jaunty Party In My Head and What Am I supposed To Be Doing? To the introspective For The Love I Have For You, Brown & Orange traverses a broad palette of styles, melting them down into a fine soup of entertaining and predominantly poppy moments. And sure enough, there are some fantastic lyrical moments, as evidenced from Jesus On Big Brother and the melancholy Circus Bear. But the highlight of the album comes with the penultimate track, YouTube “hit” Wow Wow’s Song. Over a verse progression that sounds eerily similar to Coldplay’s God Put A Smile On Your Face, The Philosopher adopts a Cookie Monster voice, only for it all to break down in the most ridiculously catchy chorus this century has produced. Six minutes chock full of sublime gimmick pop.
Brown & Orange is a dense, multi-layered affair documenting, at least for the moment, The Bedroom Philosopher’s unique perspective on the world around him. It’s a lavish production and a thrillingly entertaining and equally exhausting listening experience. And while comedy concept records are few and far between in today’s marketplace, The Bedroom Philosopher may just be the dapper dresser to start a whole new fashion.”
Symon JJ Rock, Inpress.
“The Bedroom Philosopher, aka Justin Heazlewood, revealed himself as an hallucinogenic hybrid of Tripod and Syd Barrett on his 2005 cult hit I’m So Postmodern, inevitably putting him in danger of becoming a one-novelty-hit wonder. The BP’s second album Brown & Orange is less explicitly bizarre than the tune that brought him (sort of) fame, placing his eccentric streams of consciousness and oddball stories amidst an apparently earnest style of folk-rock and gentle experimentation (such as placing a taped ‘70s monologue alongside hypnotic Phillip Glass-style repetition).
The swelling orchestral ballad For The Love I Have For You sounds like a straight, serious song, but closer investigation reveals Heazlewood cramming lots of syllables into tiny song spaces, at one point blurting out “Okay, granted, that’s not a very romantic lyric”. Tongue still wedged in cheek, then. The spoken-word short story Jesus On Big Brother is fun as well (“More people watched Jesus than The Simpsons and the news and the CSIs combined”). The record is less successful when he goes deliberately ‘wacky’, such as the “comedy” Muppet vocals in Wow Wow’s Song (La La La). But the record’s charm is revealed in the almost Dylan-esque rant Party In My Head and the laid-back country-rock strum of What Am I Supposed To Be Doing?”
Matt Thrower, Rave.
“It is (like the man himself) entirely enjoyable, entirely likeable, and entirely odd. Only The Bedroom Philosopher would try and make brown and orange chic, only he would write the lyrics “I want a Missy Higgins film clip (for Christmas)/I want a long term relationship with an Irish optometrist”, and only Heazlewood would tell us all that “La, La, La, can only take you so far” (there are a lot more great lines, probably better than the ones here – just go and get the album to find your own favourites). Henceforth he proves that he is a master at word-smithing and clearly can’t get enough of being different. The surprise, highlight and almost religious experiences on the album are the tracks (Brown and (Orange), where The Bedroom Philosopher has sampled a recorded letter and joke, respectively, over simple music, and by doing so, the one and only, the wonder kid, The Bedroom Philosopher, has made Brown and Orange chic.”
Timothy Bocquet, BMA.
“The fact that The Bedroom Philosopher is a talented musician with a highly polished production is obvious from the first few bars. A folk-guitar style, the sound of fingers slipping from chord to chord along the strings throughout a ballad with seventies-style jazz flute (a double flute solo, no less) makes me want to weave daisy-chains and skip through the nearest field. The music jumps from song to song between seventies styles, raw old-school Brit pop, folk guitar chords, and psychedelic sounds created by the Philosopher and his Awkwardstra. I laugh out loud on at least four occasions during the first song (Strange Piece of Music) alone. I’m won over by the lyrics –one of a few songs on the album to employ story-teller narration, backed up with beautiful guitar.
The Bedroom Philosopher is a particularly talented and funny writer. As a listener I identify with every single word – which is the hook. But the usual brash take-the-piss Aussie comedy-music style is replaced by the gently hilarious musings of a poet. I almost fall in love. The original 1970’s home-recordings (apparently discovered by the Bedroom Philosopher in a Canberra Op Shop) peppered between a few songs make for some compelling listening. Really, really odd, and really funny.”
Emma Johnston, Artshub.
REVIEWS FOR BEDROOM PHILOSOPHER LIVE
“The shoeless and emerald-shirted Bedroom Philosopher comes across like a hurricane of inspiration and witticisms. It’s lucky for us that his musical chops are strong enough for him to leave behind the go-for-the-gags hilarity and move into the more observational folk rock as proved by songs like What Am I Supposed To Be Doing, For The Love I Have For You and The Happiest Boy. Thankfully the laugh factor and songwriting skills see the therapeutic effects extend to the audience and judging by this show, his forthcoming album will be a corker.”
Inpress (2007)
“The Bedroom Philosopher, AKA Justin Heazlewood, turns in a cracking performance at the Bosco; sparklingly funny songs, stage banter that provoked audience responses from chuckles and belly-laughs to “deep growls”, and an increasingly sophisticated musical repertoire combined to form an excellent show. In another country Justin might be the driving force behind a Belle & Sebastian-style indie pop group, which combines humour, delicate pop melodies and sensitivity. Clearly in this country that would make you a bloke of questionable manliness and when one is so gifted with actual wit, fey and foppish abilities as BP, you’d better put yourself out there as a ‘funny guy’. He is extremely funny. Of course there was I’m So Post Modern, which he almost seemed embarrassed to play, it being as close to a ‘hit’ as you could expect to hear tonight. At one point he described the best alien economy I’ve ever heard of: they buy things with hugs, “and make change in kick-boxing”. Endearingly sweet, hilarious and occasionally heartbreakingly sad in a glitteringly beautiful way.”
DB Magazine (2007)
“A blend of musical comedy and measured theatrics presents a heartbreakingly funny, touchingly awkward and delicately offbeat retrospective of life, love and lego men. In the small and intimate space of the Lithuanian Club’s loft, you’re close enough to the stage to catch every inflection and nervous glance behind his thick coke-bottle bifocals and identify with his self-conscious imperfections as if he were singing your own. Yet the performance never gets bogged down in too much self-criticism, rather it’s kept light and fanciful with a hint of irony. Singing whimsical reflections on pop culture references, we share the pain of a childhood trauma experienced from the Neverending Story, a parody of Thom Yorke’s depressed persona through a song titled ‘My Nan Really Likes Radiohead’, and the understandable tragedy of a bad haircut. Sweetly socially awkward and at times hilariously relevant, The Bedroom Philosopher is sure to tap into the acoustic folk funnybone of your inner-indie whimsy.”
RRR Radio (2006)
“If Bob Dylan had spent his time growing up in Berwick he might have more in common with the Bedroom Philosopher…one of the few artists making a genuine attempt to explore the oddness of our age.”
The Age (2005)
“A champion of geek chic, the gawky, shy and awkward Bedroom Philosopher is the Jarvis Cocker of stand-up. With so much time on his hands, this self-confessed ‘snooze-button junkie’ becomes delicately introspective, reminiscing about schoolboy loves or endlessly replaying bad comedy gigs through the medium of song. As a show, Pyjamarama is a flimsy shambles, a jumble of deliberate and accidental fluffs giving it a delicate fragility; as if it’s always on the verge of utter collapse. It’s all wonderfully touching, quirkily individual and always unexpected, perhaps a product of living in the hinterland of Tasmania. His folksy songs vocalise his misfit angst, with self-effacing titles like I’m So Over Girls or I’m So Postmodern, a keenly observed take on a life where everything becomes ironic. If you liked Flight Of The Conchords, you’ll love this. And there’s a visual treat, too, in the fantastic display of maladroit physical comedy as he performs the most flamboyantly unsexy come-on dance around. This boy is possibly the worst erotic dancer in the southern hemisphere, and proud to prove it. It’s a miracle that this odd juxtaposition of delicate songs and such over-the-top stage antics works at all, given that it demands the BP be both modest and a shameless show-off simultaneously. But that it’s such a delightful piece of whimsy is entirely down to his irresistible self-mocking charm.”
Chortle (2005)
