BUTTNUGGET

BUTTNUGGET = 'An untapped resource of musical splendour awaiting the inevitable insurgence of the ruthless billion dollar Canberra music industry giants, who in time, will set up mines in their insatiable quest to find the once frozen ancient rivers that still flow, untouched by man, deep beneath the metropolis of belconnen containing magical powers of fantastic musical brilliance' - Rolling Stone (addition unknown)'A bunch of immature dickheads.' - Unknown punter at last gig.Formed back in 1993 in the postcode region of 2614. Buttnugget consisted of Trev 'Dr Chauncey' Nation (ex-guitarist of Filth, ex - bass in Jester) on drums, Ant 'Antonio Laytanos' Layton (ex - drummer of Intravenous De Milo and belco metal legends Disinter) on bass and Matt 'Buzz' Busuttil (ex - guitarist of Jester and Daramalan freak alumni) on guitar. With none of the members knowing anything about vocals (Trev thought 'The 3 Tenors' was slang for $30) they acquired female vocalist, Jenn Buttnugget(aka Jenny Sillano - also 2614). Their first gig was in a Belco garage in front of a small but enthusiastic crowd most of whom sported an 'Ape drape' or 'mullet'.Wanting stronger vocals they acquired the services of long-time friend Matt Buttnugget (aka Matthew Higgins - also 2614) on vocals. While his vocal abilities were not the best, his on-stage antics where so offensive even Jello Biafra would have been disgusted. Unfortunately he soon left to travel the world, much to the delight of local music punters who did not appreciate his verbal abuse, spitting, and or ash tray throwing. Trev Buttnugget took over as lead vocalist (while still trying to learn drums), with Ant Buttnugget supplying the harmonies. Buzz Buttnugget was not allowed near a mic at this time (for very good reasons). Soon they recorded their first (dodgy) demo in a Church with Ant engineering.1994 saw the band record their first 'proper' demo at 2XX studio's. The recording which included a cover of the Lemonheads 'Glad' was never released in full. Around this time the band also scored support for the Hard-Ons on their Decade of Rock tour, their final tour. This was mainly due to the non stop persistence of Buzz, writing constantly to their management pleading for the support, offering services which won't be mentioned. His passion for the Hard-Ons is surpassed by none. They made some enemies that night with the audio engineer company supplying the PA when Ant dove into the drum kit at the end of their set. Buzz later worked for the same company. It was not long before he was recognised but fortunately he was not fired. They also played many a show in Belco & Civic with fellow Belcompton comrades 'Allthroth' and 'Golden Crop', all of them memorable, some for the wrong reasons.1995 saw 2 of the songs from the demo recording being released on the Elephant records compilation 'Killer smurfs attack legoland'. The comp included the tracks 'Kiss my butt' and 'Oprah'. They played more shows in Civic and Belco, and their first show in Sydney at the Sandringham. This was to be the last gig by Allthroth at 'The Sando' as they were banned for life after staging a 'coup d'Etat' on the bar staff, helping themselves to anything they wanted. Oh, the memories.In 1996 Elephant records asked them to record a full length CD. 'Tales from the unformed stool' was recorded, once again at 2XX. Events before it started, and during it's recording should of been taken as bad omens. Everything from the studio being overbooked, Buzz slamming a car door on his chord playing hand on the first day (less than 2hrs before recording began), the equipment failing to work during both the recording & mixing process, and the engineer accidentally erasing the guitar intro to their homage to college girls 'Mallage'. Buttnugget though did not believe in omens. Ben Brown, singer of Sydney legends 'The Hellmenn' and the artist responsible for the legendary Massappeal 'Nobody likes a thinker' album designed the artwork for the CD. 1996 also saw Buttnugget venture to the other side of the Tuggeranong Parkway to play the Southside for the first time. It was memorable gig which had Buttnugget and the B-sides playing a tag team performance. An incident also occurred that night with Canberra's Str8 edge punk police. While the band could not see any problem with drinking alcohol OUTSIDE the Youth Centre, the devout disciples of Ian MacKaye saw differently. Big difference pal. Go drink some water Dave Smalley, it's free. One show even had a song sung by Canberra punk legend Dave Death of the Bladderspasms. Around this time the band also started playing the odd show with Sydney misfits 'Nancy Vandal'. Spewy made up the first and only ever Buttnugget teeshirts at this stage. The cost of them was $15. Buzz bought himself one for $10 coz he was in the band. Buzz was happy to get a discount. The bag of teeshirts went missing one nite, and Buzz swapped his shirt with the drummer of Nancy Vandal for a Nancy Vandal teeshirt. Buzz is still on an endless quest to find that bag.In 1997 their CD was finally released on 2 labels, Elephant records and Intent records. A compilation 'Why stand when you can sit?' on Intent records was released which included the crude but catchy 'Clit sucker' and the unauthorized semi autobiography of the lead singer of Allthroth entitled 'Lock'. Both these songs were taken from their 1994 2XX demo. The compilation also included 'Mallage' from the album 'Tales from the unformed stool'. 1997 also saw Buzz purchasing his first amp thus ending the ritual of mooching off other bands. He now had people trying mooch off him. 'Why can't they get their own fucken equipment' he would often say. They played a great gig in Sydney with Nancy Vandal, and played Wollongong for the first time with local legends Fugg, a great bunch of blokes who shared Buttnugget's warped sense of humour. Intent also released 'promotional use only', another compilation with included the track 'Big prick'.There was also a Snowball compilation cassette going around with the same song on it. Buttnugget played 'live to air' that same year on 2XX radio, a recording which will NEVER be released due to undisclosed reasons. They also went on a brief and dodgy tour which had them play in Brisbane & Lismore. All three members of the band plus 2 friends piled into a Datsun and headed north for 4 shows (however 2 were subsequently cancelled). They were booked to, and played with what appeared to be a white supremacist band in Brisbane. While their sound was not dissimilar to the band 'Live', their appearance and lyrics were more akin to Skrewdriver. Probably not the best match up as Trev is half Fijian, Ant is Euro-Asian and Buzz half Maltese. Suffice to say the two bands did not hang out with each other after the gig. The band also recorded a demo at Lismore University with Adam 'spewface' Brozowski engineering. Back in Canberra, Buttnugget invited vocalists to join them on stage to perform the Ramones 'Blitzkrig bop'. One was Ben (Goons Hired Goons), and at another gig, no-one knows his name, but he was the vocalist of Adelaide band 'Cerveza y Putas'. Together they covered Blitzkrieg bop with the unnamed singer singing the lyrics in spanish.1998 saw the band play the 'Musical Youth 'festival. The show was good despite the fact that Buzz was clearly intoxicated. Eventually his alcohol was confiscated prior to performing. Something about being drunk before midday, right before they were going to perform did not sit too well with the other members. However, Buzz played as rad as he always did and was rewarded with the return of his beloved scotch. He was very happy. They played Wollongong a week later, which was their last show.Ant Buttnugget went on to drum for the bands Redletter (who he was drumming for during Buttnugget), the New Wave Failures, Triple J Unearthed winners the Tenants (who he still plays for), and the Golden Age. Through out these years (the tours of America & performances at Homebake) all he could think about was Buttnugget (he will deny this).Trev Buttnugget went on to play bass in Sai-Lo Ku6io, Dirty Sanchez, and Le Lait. He currently works in an office from 9-5pm co-writing dodgy band bios in his spare time.Buzz Buttnnugget has a lot of rumours about him spreading around. He admits to starting some of them. He went on to get a Diploma in sound engineering, failed his music business Diploma (surprise surprise), got a job, and currently works on his solo bands Prison riot & Kannibal Kebab.2007 - Having had jack of their day jobs and equipped with new material Buttnugget are back again. With Ant living in Sydney and Trev and Buzz still wallowing in the Nations Capital, it is a slow but progressive process. Who knows what the future has in store for them, A multi billion dollar record deal, or just having good time living in poverty punching out some great tunes. Either way the band is just happy to be back, although a multi billion dollar record deal is their preferred option. Oh, and they want dames..............