Dust

"Lazy accoustic based tunes with a vocalist recalling Nick Cave at his best and an understated band that perfectly supports some dark tales of woe." The Form Guide, September 1995........................................................ ......................................... ............................................................ ....................................................... Dust were formed in 1995 in the middle of a Hobart winter that followed one of the cities most exciting Summers. Summer of '95 heralded a new age for Tasmania, the isle was invaded by ferals and freaks. Young people who gave a shit, took to much shit and were filled with enough of the brown stuff to make beautiful flowers grow. Obsessed with Cohen, the Beatles and the extraordinary dirty, fucked up, highly original music of Australian bands like Nick Cave, the Go Betweens, the Scientists, the Triffids, Crime & the City Solution a then young Lucien (me) grabbed a handful of his dark accoustic songs and banged them together with Jim White inspired drummer Stu Purr and ex-Tall Tales and True violinist Simon Alcorn. Their sound fell between the cracks, predicting the Dirty 3 but neither fol, punk, rock or pop, the scene confused got into it but didn't know why... not yet anyweay........................................ ............................................................ ...................................................... Within weeks of forming Stu Purr (Braun) and Revolucien (AKA Lucien Simon) decided to tour Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne. They hastily recorded a demo (jockingly titled "Thus spake Zarathustra") one afternoon, at Round Midnight Hotel, scoring rave reviews for its melancholic soul from the Form Guide. Simon skipped citing sanity as a hobby and left the floating ship. On the mainland David Branson (RIP) guested on tour, a tour where they played at the legendary Punters and Annandale hotels. On their return bass player Wayne McLean AKA Johnny Gritz joined the fray as did sonic violinist Immy Lidget AKA Immy Tate........................................................ ......................................... ............................................................ ....................................................... "Recently Dust returned to Hobart with a brand new line up fresh from their tour of the mainland. Featuring Immy on violin they now boast a sound bigger than the Velvets and as dramatic as a Nick Cave arrangement. Luciens songs really shine like cut diamonds now rather than obscure lozenges of unhewn material. Definetely destined to be one of the most interesting bands to emerge this year."Dwelve October 1995 ............................................................ ..................................... ............................................................ .....................................Immy, well, Immy kinda imploded one gig, Ausmusic Day at the Archive, barely able to stand her violin roar overwhelmed as did the consumption of alcohol. It was a sad day especially as it had followed a successful tour of Sydney and Melbourne playing the Espy, the Punters (Immy's rep attracting the legendary Warren Ellis) and the Sando in Sydney. ............................................................ ..................................... ............................................................ ....................................................... "From listening to your tape (Detroit F***ing Blues) you remind me more of the English band Gallon Drunk insofar as that staggering sort of method-in-the-madness sound."Beat, May 1996 ............................................................ ..................................... ............................................................ ....................................................... Another summer came and brought another batch of freaks and misfits to the beautiful Isle of Tasmania. Coming down from Brisbane and a three month acid binge was Aaron Gorden AKA Forbes Agitata, described by Martin Craft (ex-Sidewinder) as the best guitarist he'd ever seen. Forbes existed on the fringes of reality, morality and musical wonder - he joined Dust and instantly drove the sound into another planet. ............................................................ ..................................... ............................................................ ....................................................... Dust were starting to gather steam, they recorded the demo Detroit F*cking Blues and set sail for the mothership once again. They played with the legendary Roland S Howard and stormed the citadel in Sydney headlining and packing the Sando in Sydney. The concert was watched by a veritable who's who of Sydney JJJ darlings and Rock Royalty. Sony sent along a A&R rep who, impressed, went back to the office with a copy of Dust's demo. On listening to the recording she was asked by her superiors if she was serious about keeping her job, she was supposed to find bands that sounded like Green Day, Alanis Morriset or Oasis, this Dust stuff sounds nothing like this. She never returned our calls after that........................................................ .......................................... ............................................................ ....................................................... "Dust were charged with the responsibility of firing the crowd up and their hard aggressive edge soon whipped them into a frenxy. The combination of concentrated percussion, heavy bass and raw vocals drove the crowd into a mad pulsating throng as the energy level rose." Togatus review of Dust playing support to the Tea Party, June 1996 ............................................................ ..................................... ............................................................ ....................................................... At this point the sound was furious and tight, we came back to Hobart and played support to Tea Party in front of 1500 folk - that was fun. But the fund does not last, Forbes found he missed his acid life and waanted to play music without frontiers. Though known for our free form and impro approach to songs Forbes wanted to remove songs - so he left the band and Johnny, convinced the band was doomed without Aaron, followed... ............................................................ ..................................... ............................................................ ....................................................... "So, this guy Chris Richards...." We had a tour booked so, we grabbed a drunk from the pub who had a guitar and went back on the road... it was the most shambolic tour ever. The highlight being a St. Kilda gig at Joey's where we watched dancers through the clear glass of the adjoined disco. On return we picked up Adam Illman on bass and started to once again create a sound - this time - the groove took root and the comparisons to Nick Cave and the Dirty Three started to include bands like Primal Scream. We hit the road to Launceston with good friemds Purple Shag and played a rocking gig at the Trades. There the owner of Woodford studio, liking what we were doing, offered us free time with his gear. ............................................................ ..................................... ............................................................ ....................................................... 1997.... The recordings were supposed to accompany a gradual move to Melbourne for the band, and though Chris and I moved there and though we played our most successful shows in Melbourne, thats where it ended. Chris ran off with an ex-girlfriend (to Spain) and I, Lucien. ran out of steam... the will... ............................................................ ..................................... ............................................................ ....................................................... BUT NOW: Stu, Chris, Johnny, Adam and I are all in AUstralia, for the first time since 1997 and there is talk of a reformation.Listen to the tracks... and send us a message... d'ya wanna see us on the road again.... well... do ya?

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