(core) Geoff Towner,
Bon
(past guests - various recordings/shows) Simon Wooldridge,
Tanith Sherman,
Sophie Glasson,
Lee Hillam,
Emma Hoy,
Bree Van Reyk,
Stephen O'Neil,
Penny McBride,
Laura Imbruglia,
Joseph Leonard
Influences
Various vices, the emotional ride that is love, the day-to-day.
Arab Strap, Syd Barrett, the Beatles, David Bowie, Captain Beefheart, Crow, Dirty Three, Fugazi, Gaslight Radio, Gerling, godspeed you! black emperor, Guided By Voices, the Hungry Ghosts, Low, Lunarcide, Mogwai, the Moles, Will Oldham, Pavement, Pink Floyd, Polvo, theredsunband, the Rolling Stones, Slint, Smog, Sonic Youth, Tyrannosaurus Rex, Underground Lovers, the Velvet Underground, Neil Young, etc. Oh, and Geoff really really loves '80s thrash metal. Honestly.
Sounds Like
A whole bag of everything & nothing thrown up into the air to see where it lands. Indie rock, country, folk, psychedelia, lo-fi, trip-hop, post-rock, math-rock & classic rock'n'roll.
* A Gold Star Secret are Geoff & Bon. We began as an experiment in July 1997 - to see if we could write & record an album in a week during downtime from our 'other' band el Mopa. We did it on 4-track, played all the instruments ourselves & sat on it for a few years. "Constella-Sheep" saw a ltd CDR release in late 1999 (100 only). It's now out of print but if you send us a loving message we can maybe work somethin' out.
* 1998 saw us begin and abandon an electronica album. We also teamed up with Tanith Sherman (Hummer/Centipede) to record a few tracks & play a one-off show as the instrumental 2-bass-&-drums combo Suburan (aka Tube Orange Tronfus). We also started work on our mythical 2nd album "Naked With A Blue Light" which has been finished since 2001 and still hasn't seen release.
* "Naked With A Blue Light" is 15 songs, 66 minutes & features guests Tanith, Sophie Glasson (Starboard Cast), Lee Hillam (SeaLifePark) & Simon Wooldridge (el Mopa). It was recorded on 4-track by Bon & mixed on computer by Emma Hoy (Rebel Astronauts/el Mopa/PBC). The artwork is STILL under construction (blame Geoff!) and yes it WILL see the light of day. For a pre-release burned copy, please message us.
* 1999 saw us play our first shows, with Tanith & Simon rounding out the band. 2000 saw us a trio with Simon. 2001 saw us back to a duo. By year's end we also began work on the projected 3rd album "Dead Love Songs" & in 2000 we also began work on a 4th album "Newspapers, Records & Girlfriends" & an aborted album of 26 A-Z titled songs called "Alphabet Soup".
* After a period of relative inactivity & the dissolution of his relationship, Bon decided to collate some of his songs intended for the above 3rd & 4th albums with some new tunes for a solo album under the name of the Baby Bees. See the Baby Bees page for more info!
* Geoff decided to follow suit & collated his intended songs for said albums, but decided to stick with the "Dead Love Songs" title & to release it as the 3rd Gold Star album. Initial 4-track recording took place in 1999/2000 & was resurrected in 2004 via fancy new computer recording techniques. It is nearly completed (most of the guests are yet to be recorded though) but it hasn't been touched since 2005 when newfound fatherhood took precedence.
* 2004 also saw some new Gold Star songs performed by Geoff & Bon with Joseph Leonard on bass. These songs are projected to be the 4th Gold Star album "The Whole Thing Is Poisoned!". There are demo tracks hastily recorded but nothin' else.
* What else...oh, we have about 2 CDs worth of aborted songs that don't fit the schematics of the projected albums mentioned above (the electronic stuff, some alphabet songs, pre-Gold Star 4-track songs, songs dropped from albums, unfinished tracks & other miscellanea.) We intend to release them as "Archive" CDs to giveaway or sell super-cheap at gigs, but since we haven't played in a year & a half or so, nothings really come of it!
* A Gold Star Secret WILL rise again though! We just don't know when...
* Geoff has previously pulled strings for the Dead Tree, Sal Paradise, el Mopa, Decoder Ring, the Darren Hanlon band & the Cannanes. He currently enjoys fatherhood & wishes he had time for Gold Star.
* Bon has previously hit things for Lustre 4, Godstar, Red For Go & the Darren Hanlon band. He currently does the same for el Mopa, the Cannanes, Joseph Leonard & the Family Fuse, KidCornered, the Woods Themselves, a gazillion other bands & wishes Geoff & he had time for Gold Star & he had time for the Baby Bees.
Hello!!! It's been awhile - sorry there hasn't been in any Australian shows for many months but we've been busy in Europe with a bunch of touring and we're now recording our new album in Berlin (scheduled for release in March). But to make up for it, here's a big (and silly) Merry Christmas from us (and from some hippos too) :
Some bold new artistic direction? Nah, Just us being silly!!! We did this track for our label's "Black Snow - the completely different Xmas compilation". (and of course, visit our youtube channel for a high quality version)
Wishing you a very silly Silly Season and we'll see you back in Australia sometime in 2010!
Feel free to leave your comments on my space www.myspace.com/mdg77. If you
like my music and especially my last track "Why The World Is Hard", I invite you
to vote for on www.radio-totem.net, you click on "new talent" and I'd be in the
top 20 selected. Thank you to you and good evening!
Hello everyone, Come see my new song "Why The World Is Hard" that I wrote in my Sudio registration. I interpreted the all voices and all sequences of synths. I count on you to pass this song to all your friends on myspace so ... Leave me your comments on www.myspace.com/mdg77. Thank you and goodbye. MDG
Yeah, I've been meaning to put some different stuff up.
Recently I found an old tape of the 1st demo's the 2nd line-up did ('Little Lambs', 'Scavenger Dance', 'Silver Dell', 'Young Girls', 'Birthday Baller', Mercury (an earlier, crappier version), Teenage Sperm (also a very early version). There was also a stupidly fast version of 'Woven End' that almost sounds like carnival country music, but I don't have that on the tape.
Unfortunately I don't have a decent tape deck to convert them to digital with, but I'd love to put 'Young Girls' up. It's classic Andy Marks - slightly subversive, sugar coated and insanely catchy. I'd put 'Little Lambs' up as well if I had a decent rip of it. I lost my copy of 'Half Life' years ago. Maybe you know someone with a copy?
Yesss! Great songs! And great to hear from you Geoff and/or Bon. So how about Midget playing again, hey? No shit! Very weird but actually not at all. It's been a pleasure thus far.
Hey there, thanks for accepting the add! You guys sound great, really love the tracks! Keep up the good vibes and take care! Cheers & peace, JoGa of meyoushe
good to hear from you. yr a dad geoff?? awesome! i just bought a house so that's kinda freaky as well. who would've thought?!?!?!
the EP's available from most stores... you'd probably have to ask/order it though (it's thru reverberation) unless you went to redeye etc. beware the copies with shit artwork (credits are illegible)... if you find a copy that is illegible let me know cause they shouldn't be ou there at all.
where are you living now? i'm in leichhardt.. we should catch up for BBQ/beers on my back deck.
