Thrust

Australian funkjazz outfit Thrust was initially formed as a trio by bassist / vocalist Pete Jeavons in 1998 with Konrad Park (drums / vocals) and Luke Savage (keyboards / vocals). In 2001, the group expanded to a quartet, adding Simon Jeans (guitar and vocals) to its ranks.Thrust’s first residency was at The Attic Bar (Subiaco, WA) in 1999 but the band is perhaps best known, locally, for hosting the weekly event 'U.F.O' (Urban Funk Operations). U.F.O was possibly Perth’s first regular gig of original funk music, held every Thursday at the Paddington Alehouse (Mount Hawthorn, WA) for approximately three years from 2000 to the end of 2002. As well as those at The Attic bar, and The Paddington Alehouse, Thrust has held residencies at The Universal Bar (Northbridge, WA) and The Wembley Hotel (Wembley, WA) and has performed in numerous venues around Perth. Thrust was nominated for the Western Australian Music Industry’s most popular funk band award in 2001 and 2002 and was a heat winner in the 2002 'Next Big Thing' competition. Thrust released it’s debut album ‘Flotsam and Jetsam’ in December 2000 and also performed at the Stompem’ Ground Music Festival (Broome, Northern WA) in the same year.In mid 2003 Konrad Park, Thrust’s drummer, returned to his homeland Tasmania after some 12 years in WA. Later in 2003 the band toured Tasmania and has since made a number of appearances in WA (despite Konrad being based in Tasmania).Thrust launched their second full length album 'Survival Of The Funkiest' in April 2006 and performed in Albany in February, as part of the Perth International Arts Festival’s ‘Great Southern’ program.The band’s most recent appearance in WA was in September/October 2006 thanks to funding from Country ArtsWA and administration support from JazzWA. This tour saw Thrust perform right across WA’s top-end with shows in Broome, Kununurra, Fitzroy Crossing and Halls Creek. The tour also saw the band perform once again in WA’s great southern region (Denmark and Pemberton) and stage some shows in Perth itself.'Survival Of The Funkiest' was recorded at various studios from 2003-2006 and was pieced together at Poons Head Studio (Fremantle, WA) by Pete Jeavons and Rob Grant in the early part of this year, 2006. Supported by ArtsWA, the album journeys through a wide range of musical terrain and features a number of special guests. The 10 original tracks incorporate elements of rock, jazz, hip-hop, blues and of course… funk!The group will appear in WA once again in Feb 2007 and is planning a national tour later in the year with support from The Contemporary Music Touring Program, an initiative of The Department of Communications, Information Technology and The Arts (DCITA).