J.P Shilo & T. J Howden - Hungry Ghosts (duo) + D.C Cross

Melbourne-based musician J.P. Shilo is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, singer and songwriter who thinks outside the box. He truly is a genre-defying shape-shifter with many sleights of hand and has been the ‘go-to’ man for artists looking for something different to complement their music in the 21st century.

Since the late-90s, J.P. Shilo has proved a cult figure of the Australian contemporary music world, lending his skills to creating the “sound” of numerous luminaries’ albums including Adalita’s award-winning debut solo album, The Blackeyed Susans Close Your Eyes and See, and six of Mick Harvey’s albums including the latest batch of Serge Gainsbourg interpretations. In one year, he supported acts as diverse as Leonard Cohen, Daft Punk & Blondie.

J.P. Shilo creates heart-stopping music without a clear genre. Fragile in its minimalist beauty, yet able to suddenly burst open with stabbing intensity.

He first appeared in the late 90s with his instrumental outfit Hungry Ghosts. Quickly capturing the attention of the late Rowland S. Howard who produced their first LP, they soon found themselves invited to the Sonic Youth studios in New York City to record a follow up album entitled Alone, Alone, which one reviewer described as “...blessed with the ability to utter a million words with a single instrumental phrase and to turn a melancholy passage into a triumphant climax.”

Working alongside Mick Harvey on the critically acclaimed Rowland S. Howard LP, Pop Crimes, JP’s unique approach and techniques added a new dimension to Howard’s songs, furthering his reputation as a highly sensitive and sought-after musician.

His debut solo album, As Happy as Sad is Blue, which AMG described as “... Underground music, Outsider Art at its best...” was featured throughout the Ghost Films Richard Lowenstein-produced biopic Autoluminescent on the life of Rowland S. Howard. It also featured a piece for solo violin entitled S L E E P. As well as creating the soundtrack, Shilo also lent his voice & narration skills at the request of Rowland S. Howard – reading excerpts from Howard’s unpublished novel ‘Etceteracide’.

Jehnny Beth (of UK band Savages) said of his piece S L E E P: “It captured perfectly the melancholia and beauty of death and it made me cry the first time I heard it. This was the most perfect piece of music I heard in a long time. It was written and performed for the funeral of Rowland S. Howard in Melbourne. There couldn't be a better music for that moment. It contained all the nuances of life, with repetition constantly evolving and dear to my heart.”

Whether it be through Hungry Ghosts; his work with Rowland S. Howard, Mick Harvey, Adalita, The Triffids and The Blackeyed Susans; his film score work; or his eponymous solo project which explores a rich,instrument-thick sound,

J.P.’s second solo LP, Invisible You, is an intriguing slab of dark rock and diverse weirdalisations. just when you think you know what it is, it changes gears and J.P. moves to croon; makes you weep, makes you

dance, makes you fall in love. For this album, J.P. stepped out from the shadows and into the spotlight. His band included Steve Shelley of Sonic Youth, ex-Bad Seed Mick Harvey, and a guest appearance by Kim Salmon (The Scientists/Beasts of Bourbon). With an uncanny ability to harness the spirit and channel any sounds he sets his mind to, J.P. has performed and lent his vocal chords to the last 3 volumes of previously unreleased songs by Jeffrey-Lee Pierce (The Gun Club) as well as Truckload of Sky: The Lost Tapes of David McComb (The Triffids).

Upon the request of the Rowland S. Howard Estate, he was invited to perform the legendary Birthday Party guitarists parts alongside Nick Cave, Lydia Lunch & Primal Scream’s Bobby Gillespie in recent tours with Howard’s group These Immortal Souls.

Shilo has also provided original scores for numerous short films including Kasimir Burgess’s Lily which screened as part of an Australian showcase at Melbourne International Film Festival, and subsequently went on to win a Crystal Bear at the Berlin Film Festival.

His latest album, Jubjoté (a French term meaning ‘to emerge from a dream without knowing the ending, and trying to return to find out how it does’) was commissioned by the City of Melbourne for the Melbourne Town Hall Grand Organ and is his most epic work to date. With almost 10,000 pipes, the organ is the largest of its kind in the Southern hemisphere, and Shilo deftly employs it to its full capacity. Shilo explores both the intricate and delicate, to the full majestic grandeur of “all stops out” as we can hear in the Overture – Mélodie de la Maladie. Born out of an actual dream Shilo had some years earlier, the story of Jubjoté reads alarmingly like a prophetic Omen of sorts; chillingly pertinent to our current global crisis. The album was released on June 25, 2021.

J.P. SHILO - JUBJOTÉ - Official Trailer - 

J.P. SHILO -"Mélodie de la Maladie" (Overture) from JUBJOTÉ - 

;J.P. SHILO – ‘Invisible You’ - 

Darren "D.C" Cross is an Australian guitarist and storyteller. Cross’ music is inspired by the 1960’s and 1970’s mainstays of American and British acoustic guitar (John Fahey, Roy Harper, Leo Kottke, Elizabeth Cotton, Nick Drake, Bert Jansch) but he is consciously forging his own musical identity within an Australian landscape. Cross has been creating music for the last 25 years, from Gerling to Jep and Dep, and has written songs with Kool Keith, Kylie Minogue. He played shows with artists ranging from Beastie Boys, Beck, and Happy Monday to Johnny Marr, Courtney Barnett, Ryley Walker, Smog, Will Oldham to recently Ed Kuepper and Jim White, Mess-esque, Marissa Anderson, Lost Ragas and the Apartments. Cross is fiercely independent, totally devoted, loves telling a story and is always threatening to conquer up something MAGICAL.