Sacha Molitorisz (vocals, guitar), Jamie Williams (bass), Nick Sanderson-Gough (vocals, percussion), Christian Proksch (guitar), Chris Colquhoun (drums), Anna Hayward (flute), Anne Ossner (piano accordian)
Influences
Kim Deal, Tom Waits, David Bowie, Michael Jordan, James Joyce, Milla Jovovich, Johnny Depp and all our mums.
Sounds Like
A collision in sound - with the gentle touch of the Go Betweens, the psychedelic climaxes of the Underground Lovers filtered through the off kilter slacker-rock of Pavement.
It wasn't a dark and stormy night, but a bright and sunny afternoon, November 1997, when news broke that an unnamed Australian rock star had been found dead in a hotel room. By the time four of us were making "music" in a Newtown terrace, we knew the corpse belonged to Michael Hutchence, who had bowed out the same day Miss V had set aside for our first jam. (Not that we were known as Miss V then - first we had to pass through Splinter, These Cars Collide and The Magic Hour, among many others.)
At that first session, with congas, bass and two guitars, the "songs" were kinda instrumentals, mainly because we didn't have microphones. Nor a clue. Just shitty little practice amps. (Ever heard of a Ross? An Orbit?)
A year later, we played in Nick and Anna's backyard for a select audience of victims; a week or two after that, in August 1998, we played our first real gig, at a party at the Hollywood Hotel.
Afterwards we were flattered when Johnny Kilbey said he wanted to record us: "You have a sound now you won't ever have again." He was right: when Johnny finally hit the record button five years later, in August 2003, we were a different band, a sextet complete with flautist, drummer and extra guitarist.
Over one weekend, we recorded 17 tracks, but had enough fun (and beer) to inspire us to keep tinkering away on Saturday afternoons and the occasional weeknight for the next six months.
Rellies were bribed to play piano and piano accordion; friends with beautiful voices were flown in from interstate. Finally we asked musicians we'd always admired - including Steve Kilbey, Dave McCormack and Andrew Lancaster - if they wanted to contribute. Oddly, they said yes.
Slowly, amid charges of prog-rock indulgence and suggestions we change our name again - this time to The Wakeman Kill Switch - we finished it. Who would've thought?
Additional track courtesy of Karmic Hit
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Hey Nick, Thanks for trolling through the mess that is myspace to find the public archive. I'm hooked on the "Perfect World" track... the new tracks should also polish-up nicely - though it's nice to be able to indulge in the demos! Let us know when the next gig happens by. Regards Mark
