Peter Hardman (Member 1993 - 2003)
Live - Vocals, Guitar, Harmonica, Keyboards
Recording - Vocals, Guitar, Bass, Harmonica, Keyboards, Percussion
Annie Beckerling (Member 1993 - 1997)
Live - Bass
Recording - Bass
Jason Stacey (Member 1993 - 1998)
Live - Drums, Sequencing
Recording - Drums, Percussion, Keyboards, Piano
Max Beckerling (Member 1993 -1994)
Live - Guitar
Cobina Crawford (Member 1997 - 1998)
Live - Bass
Recording - Bass
Justin Kahl (Member 2000 - 2001)
Live - Bass
Brody Kahl (Member 2000 - 2001)
Live - Guitar
Rob Terriaca (Member 2000 - 2003)
Live - Drum, Sequencing
Peter Twiby (Member 2000 - 2002)
Live - Bass
Michael Boddington (2000 - 2002)
Live - Guitar, Keyboards
Kal Tonuma (Member 2002 - 2003)
Live - Bass
Recording - Guitar, Bass, Keyboards, Percussion
Influences
Pixies, The Cure, David Bowie, The Smiths, The Go-betweens, Throwing Muses, Kristin Hersh, Cocteau Twins, The Church, Talking Heads, Violent Femmes, Velvet Undergound, R.E.M., Joy Division, Bob Dylan, Jane's Addiction, Ride, Sonic Youth, My Bloody Valentine, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Smashing Pumpkins, The Cars, Weezer, Radiohead, Blur, Suede, Nirvana, The Breeders, Belly, Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Doors, Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, Blondie, Pink Floyd, Lou Reed, Kim Salmon and the Surrealists, Curve, The Jesus and Mary Chain, New Order, Fleetwood Mac, The Birthday Party, Tom Waits...
Sounds Like
Pixies, The Cure, Throwing Muses, The Cars, Smashing Pumpkins... familiar, but not quite like anything else...?
Effigy was formed in 1993 by myself, Peter Hardman (Vocals and Guitar), and Annie Beckerling (Bass), in the town of Perth, Western Australia. Jason Stacey joined on drums shortly thereafter. Up till that point, Annie and I had played with a drum machine, a bit like an indie-pop Sisters of Mercy, or JAMC circa Automatic. Annie's brother, Max Beckerling, also joined the line-up on guitar for a brief period of time, but unfortunately things didn't quite work out and Annie, Jason and myself went back to being a three piece.
We played lots of shows around Perth and after a few years Effigy became quite popular in the local scene - partly because we were good live, partly because of our management/booking agency, Naked Ape. Also the support of community radio like RTRFM, streetpress like X-press magazine, and all the cool bands we play with like the Rosemary Beads, Ammonia, Jebadiah, Thermos Cardy, Flanders, Humbug, Lamia, Cinema Prague, Storytime, Mountain Hope, Spank, Header, Sugarchild, Yummy Fur and many more. Not forgetting all the cool venues, like the Habourside, the Orient, the Loft, the Planet, the Hyde Park, the Chelsea, the Newport, the Grosvenor, the Arcadia, the West End and a lot more besides. Plus the WAMI organisation of course.
However, we didn't know where to go from there.
Fortunately, we got a record deal with Roadrunner Records with the help of the fantastic band Non Intentional Lifeform who had also just been signed to RR, and our manager at that time, Heath Bradby(Jebadiah). We moved to Melbourne, Victoria and recorded our first album in August and September 1996 at Kiss Studios in South Yarra with producer, Paul Kosky. We played some live shows too.
Eventually, at the end of '96, Effigy released their first single, "Lovers". It did rather well on alternative radio. The film clip is hilarious. We also played lots of shows around the country.
In early '97, the self-titled album, "Effigy" was released, followed shortly after by the second single, "Small". The film clip for "Small" was a bit grungier, and we all agreed that it was also a lot more fun.
More touring. More interviews. We also went television for the first time - a show called "Recovery" on the ABC. More touring...
When it came to do the second album, Annie decided to leave the band - mainly because she didn't like where the new songs were going, and because she wasn't enjoying the whole experience anymore. That was the end of the first "Effigy".
Around that time, one of our songs, "I give in", was being played constantly on Triple J despite the fact that it wasn't even a single. It even made it into the Hottest 100 that year - at 100...! Ha! Still counts...
This is when Cobina Crawford joined the band on bass. Jason and I met Cobina at a nightclub when we were playing pool. She had a lot of music experience already, having been a member of the Melbourne band, Sourpuss. We all clicked and so we went to the studio and got to work.
This time, our producer was Kalju Tonuma. Working with Kal was awesome, but there were so many problems with the actual studio that the sessions became unbelievably stressful. I won't go into it, but there were lawyers and police and scary repossession dudes and more lawyers... sometimes while we were tracking and mixing. People were actually trying to take stuff away while we were still using it. It was insane, and eventually we moved to a different studio and the whole album ended up taking months longer to do than expected.
It wasn't anything to do with Effigy - we were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Not for the first time either...
"Suspicion Bells", the first single from was release around July '98. The accompanying film clip was definitely the best we made. "Suspicion Bells" did very well on the radio - even commercial radio to some extent. In the top 50, anyway...
Then lots of touring etc...
"Century Collapsing" was release mid '98. We appeared on shows like Hey Hey its Saturday and In Melbourne Tonight. We were even lucky enough to get a support slot with The Mavis's on their national tour. That was very cool.
Unfortunately, things started to become tense between myself and the rest of the band, between myself and the record company, between myself and the... well, everyone. You get the idea.
So that was the end of the second "Effigy" - our last gig was in front of thousands of people at Pushover at the end of '98. Pretty cool last show...
I went back to Perth. I painted and had an exhibition. All the while still writing songs.
Then after a year or so I got the bug for performing live again.
"Effigy" version 3.0 came on the scene in 2000 with the help of the excellent and extremely original Perth band, Hi-falutin'. Extremely talented musicians, Hi-falutin' were able to help me get things going again in the live sense very quickly. The new line-up consisted of Justin Kahl on bass and backing vocals, his brother, Brody Kahl on guitar, and Rob Terriaca on drums... and myself doing the usual. Unfortunately, they had to put their own band on the back-burner. This is a difficult thing for musicians to do, and consequently, this line-up didn't last more than a year. It seemed like a good idea at the time...
So in 2001, "Effigy" the fourth came into existence with Michael Boddington on guitar, Peter Twiby on bass, and Rob Terriaca, who had decided to stick around.
This line-up, I am told, was the most professional sounding of all the "Effigys". My favourite Effigy however would be the first one, simply because I have the most nostalgia about the early days, playing around Perth as a teenager, talking shit about riding in limos and having our own jet. But I think they were all good in different ways.
We all moved to Melbourne, but this line-up didn't last long either, and in 2002, Michael Boddington and Peter Twiby left the group. Band tensions again - but that's rock and roll...
Rob stayed, and the producer of the second album, Kalju Tonuma, joined on bass. So once again, Effigy became a power trio - Effigy 5.
This Effigy was by far the most relaxed. Kal, Rob and myself had heaps of fun and did quite a few shows and a little interstate touring. But, once again, I had to stop. Don't quite know why.
Anyway, that was pretty much that. Sorry if I've left anyone out or annoyed anyone. This isn't the whole story - just the basics. Looking back, for the most part, it was good fun.
Peter Hardman - August 2008
