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Jenny Valentish

Jenny Menthol is a pseudonym for Jenny Valentish
Jenny Valentish

Hurtling headfirst into the fanzine world aged 16 brought Jenny some sweet relief from the pain of living in Slough (although proved a nuisance to every early-’90s indie band heading through the Thames Valley region) and led to a first job in music publicity. For a time she hawked the wares of Swans, Cat Power, The Afghan Whigs, The KLF and hundreds of American college bands nobody's heard of now and didn't want to hear about then.

In between stints at dubious men’s magazines, Jenny has freelanced for the NME, Sydney Morning Herald, Rock Sound, Tank Girl, Australian Guitar, Men’s Style, Frankie, Cleo, Chik and Inpress, as well as dropping anchor at Guitar & Bass, RALPH and now triple j radio’s magazine, jmag– which she edits in Melbourne.

 

22 articles

List of articles in the library

By date | By artist | Most recently added

Steriogram: Territorial Pissings

Profile and Interview by Jenny Valentish, Rip It Up (New Zealand), 2004

Having successfully become America's Most Wanted, Steriogram have moved on to the toughest nut to crack: the UK. In an abrupt departure from full-on rock ...

The Birthday Party, Rowland S. Howard, You Am I: Want To Rule Britannia? Australian Bands Breaking The UK

Report and Interview by Jenny Valentish, Drum Media, 2005

As a rash of homegrown bands start to make waves overseas, Jenny Valentish looks at the long and bloody history of Australian bands and the ...

Juliette Lewis and the Licks: Natural Born Triller: Juliette Lewis

Interview by Jenny Valentish, Frankie, May 2005

THE BACON BROTHERS were critically acclaimed in the Kevin Bacon household, we hear. Bruce Willis and the Accelerators went down a storm at the private ...

The Alarm, The Birthday Party, Flesh For Lulu, Sisters of Mercy: Goth: Back to the Batcave

Overview by Jenny Valentish, Australian Guitar, October 2005

"WE HATED BEING called goth," muses the impeccably suave Flesh For Lulu frontman Nick Marsh. "If they called you a goth then you couldn't be ...

You Am I

Interview by Jenny Valentish, Australian Guitar, 2006

Convicts is a chewy knuckle of an album, straight out of the bar rooms and into your ears. Jenny Valentish prods the guts, nuts and ...

Freebass: Big Bottoms: Freebass

Report and Interview by Jenny Valentish, Inpress, January 2006

One harebrained scheme, two dozen pints, three legendary Mancunian bassists and a love of Spinal Tap = one very drunk bass supergroup. Jenny Valentish gets ...

Richard Hell: CBGB: The Venue from Hell

Retrospective and Interview by Jenny Valentish, Inpress, January 2006

It seems like every other prepubescent has a CBGB T-shirt these days, but over in New York, the old guard are fighting a losing battle ...

The Raveonettes: Rock 'N' Rollmop: The Raveonettes

Interview by Jenny Valentish, Inpress, March 2006

QUITE APART from the bitter chill, Denmark's not a happy place to be right now. But this slightly bewildered, historically neutral nation (their coins even ...

The Birthday Party, Rowland S. Howard: Rowland S Howard: Storm Und Twang – The Prophet Of St Kilda

Interview by Jenny Valentish, Australian Guitar, May 2006

From icy reverb to noirish twang, Jenny Valentish pays tribute to Australia's most influential guitar fiend, Rowland S Howard... ...

The Raconteurs

Interview by Jenny Valentish, Inpress, May 2006

WE'RE AT ONE of those post-modern hotels you could only find in the most pretentious corner of London, with perplexing paintings and an oval lounge ...

The Triffids: Day Of The Triffids

Report and Interview by Jenny Valentish, The Australian Times, June 2006

Legendary perth band The Triffids are being hauled out of retirement by rabid fans. Guitarist Graham Lee tells Jenny Valentish how he's "lying awake at ...

The Sleepy Jackson: Divine Intervention: The Sleepy Jackson

Interview by Jenny Valentish, The Australian Times, June 2006

LUKE STEELE LEAPS from the stage and hits the dance floor running, executing some neat Prince slides and spins and grinning at the assembled journos ...

The Church: High Priests Of The Old Order: The Church

Interview by Jenny Valentish, The Australian Times, June 2006

"MY BIGGEST FEAR in the world would be if I lost my Australian citizenship and had to live in England forever," Steve Kilbey shudders. Despite ...

Paul Kelly (singer-songwriter): Paul Kelly: Folklore and Fervour

Report and Interview by Jenny Valentish, The Australian Times, June 2006

Under numerous guises Paul Kelly has been releasing albums for the last three decades, and is now over here for an intimate acoustic set. Jenny ...

Dirty Pretty Things, The Libertines: The Liberation Of Carl Barat: Dirty Pretty Things

Report and Interview by Jenny Valentish, Inpress, June 2006

IT'S LIKE THE dressing room of the Ziegfield Follies in here. Members of Dirty Pretty Things are shimmying around the photo studio, trying on jackets, ...

Radio Birdman: Blood Brothers: The Return Of Radio Birdman

Interview by Jenny Valentish, The Australian Times, 15 August 2006

Radio Birdman guitarist Deniz Tek always had chiselled good looks, but over the last few years he's become the James Bond of garage rock. He ...

The Triffids: Still Growing Strong

Interview by Jenny Valentish, Australian Guitar, September 2006

Evil Graham Lee brought a ripe swoon to The Triffids' music with his pedal steel guitar. Now, seventeen years after their split, he's witnessing a ...

Joan Jett: Unvarnished

Interview by Jenny Valentish, Time Out Melbourne, 9 September 2013

From mumbling at Dave Grohl to yelling at reality TV, it's been an interesting writing process for Joan Jett this time around ...

Sky Ferreira

Interview by Jenny Valentish, Time Out Melbourne, 23 July 2014

Ferreira returns to Australia to show why the night time is her time ...

A-ha: The Highs and Lows of being a-ha

Retrospective and Interview by Jenny Valentish, Financial Times, 18 March 2016

How many farewell tours can one band have? Magne Furuholmen talks about stardom, group therapy — and why his music is more than just fluff. ...

Sampa the Great: After the Australian Music Prize, Sampa the Great wants to set her story straight

Interview by Jenny Valentish, Sydney Morning Herald, the, 5 April 2018

SAMPA THE GREAT didn't get the memo that artists should be of the tortured persuasion. She peppers her speech with gales of laughter. She wants ...

Courtney Barnett on coping with fame, homophobia – and thinking she still sucks

Profile and Interview by Jenny Valentish, The Guardian, 17 May 2018

The Australian musician has gone from indie darling to global star, but she's still uneasy in the limelight and wracked with self-doubt – even self-hate. ...

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