We’re teaming up with two great Brisbane artists, Blame Ringo and Claire Whiting, and we’re hitting the road and going places we’ve never been before.

The Broken Compass Tour sees us straying away from the capital cities and heading to regional and rural areas of Queensland and New South Wales.  It’s 9 shows in 9 days.

It’s a chance for us to play the songs from our debut EP to a whole new audience.  And brand new songs will undoubtedly have their first hit outs.  It starts soon, and we can’t wait.

Here are all the dates:

The Broken Compass Tour

Thursday, July 29th, The Troubadour, Brisbane

Pre-sale tickets available HERE – $10 pre-sale or $12 at the Door if available

Friday, July 30th, The Irish Club, Toowoomba

Saturday, July 31st, The Queensland Hotel, Goondiwindi

Sunday, August 1st, Moree

Monday, August 2nd, The Tourist Hotel, Narrabri

Tuesday, August 3rd, The Regal, Gunnedah

Wednesday, August 4th, Wests Diggers, Tamworth

Thursday, August 5th, The Armidale Club, Armidale

Friday August 6th, Pippi’s At The Point, Newcastle

This tour is being made possible with the help of the Contemporary Music Touring Program – An initiative of the Australian Government.

The Contemporary Music Touring Program aims to give all Australians, wherever they live, better access to some of the country’s best live contemporary music.  The Australian Government is proud to be associated with The Broken Compass Tour involving Montpelier, Blame Ringo and Claire Whiting.

One of our favourite bands, Frightened Rabbit from Scotland, is touring Australia very soon with shows in Melbourne, Sydney and an appearance at Splendour in the Grass.

We’ve just been announced as the support for the Melbourne show on Monday August 2 at The Hi-Fi.  Words don’t really describe how good this is.

Tickets available here: http://www.thehifi.com.au/events/frightened-rabbit-7762/

*TICKET SALES CLOSED*

On Friday 9 July Montpelier are playing at an awesome warehouse party with DZ, Comic Sans and a whole bunch of rad DJs.  It’s BYO, it’s at a warehouse in the Valley and there are very limited tickets.  Tickets can be purchased directly from us by clicking the link above.  Purchases are through PayPal.  No paper ticket – your name will be on the door.

When: Friday 9 July

Where: 10 Light Street, Fortitude Valley

Time: 6pm – midnight

Tickets: $25 (CLICK THE LINK ABOVE TO BUY TICKETS DIRECTLY FROM US)

The ticket price is slightly higher than usual but it’s BYO.  So grab some friends, get your tickets and come along for an awesome night.

In yesterday’s edition of Rave Magazine Dave was featured in the GEARED section.  In the interview he talks about Strats, effects and Brisbane made amps.  If you’re up for a bit of a gear session then check out the story online here: http://www.ravemagazine.com.au/content/view/21121/

In last week’s edition of Rave Magazine John was featured in GEARED.  In his player profile interview he talks drums, his playing style and how it took 10 years for him to decide on his Ludwig kit.  Have a read of the feature in the latest edition of Rave Magazine or online here: http://www.ravemagazine.com.au/content/view/21020/191/

News Unlimited were also at The Hi-Fi when we supported Biffy Clyro.  Here’s what they said about our opening set:

Montpelier (pictured above), a local Brisbane band, played superbly as the opening act. Their songs were refreshing and soulful, the melodies sweet and harmonic. Comparisons to Arcade Fire and Death Cab for Cutie were easily made, as Montpelier’s performance balanced pop with indie rock wonderfully. The boys were dressed slickly, and with an equally slick stage presence, they will be a band to watch out for in the years to come.

Read it online here: http://newsunlimited.com.au/2010/06/biffy-clyro-shake-the-hifi/

FasterLouder reviewed the Biffy Clyro show at The Hi-Fi on Tuesday night.  This is what they had to say about our set.

Local indie-rock 4 piece Montpelier is a slick choice of opener. Their classy offering of very original originals strike up giant-killer comparisons from Arcade Fire to Foals. Deliciously layered vocals soar while simple but sharp drumming keeps the seams tightly sewn. A slow funk-blues track mid-set throws what turns out to be a golden spanner. As the set builds to a climactic close, the steadily growing crowd is totally sold and as the Brisbane boys disappear from view, they do so with a stack of new fans.

You can read the review in context and also the write up of Biffy Clyro’s set here: http://www.fasterlouder.com.au/reviews/events/23806/Biffy-Clyro-Montpellier–The-HiFi-Brisbane-18052010.htm

Last night we had the awesome pleasure of opening for Scottish rock outfit Biffy Clyro who are on tour at the moment in Australia.  The show was at The Hi-Fi and playing that room was a hell of a fun 50 minutes.  A big thanks to the crowd for getting there early and being so amped for a band you didn’t know.  Here are some pics thanks to Kelh from FasterLouder.

Following their successful East Coast of Australia tour in support of the release of their debut EP, Montpelier are playing select dates in Brisbane and Sydney during May and June.

Thursday 6 May 2010
Lambda
Alhambra Lounge
Brisbane

Tuesday 11 May 2010
The Troubadour
Brisbane

Friday 4 June 2010
Sosume
Q Bar
Sydney

Check the shows page for full details.

In June last year we were fortunate enough to have the opportunity to fly over to the USA to make a record with a producer named Kevin Augunas who has made records with Cold War Kids, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes and Yves Klein Blue to name a few.  Don’t ask us why he wanted to work with a small, independent band from Brisbane, but we are incredibly grateful that he did.

Kevin worked out of an amazing studio called Fairfax Recordings in North Hollywood, Los Angeles, which was more like a museum of awesome vintage gear than any traditional studio we’d ever seen before.  We were over there for about 2 weeks and it was one of the best experiences a new band could possibly hope to have had when starting out I think.

Here’s a bit of a video of our time in the studio with Kevin making our debut self-titled EP.