QUAN… the amateur
Is this THE ONE you've been looking for?
Quan Yeomans delivered his amateur opus in late 2008 with a bouncing boot to the scavenged ribs of culture. Recorded in Sydney, London, Hong Kong, flight lounges, bus stops, doorways over a few years past... he wrote, played, recorded, produced everything on the album with a few friends Spod, Seja, Dan F sticking the boot in…and then on to making as many music videos as he can including the bogus download track ARE YOU THE BEAT? Are you the Beat? video here ...along with the creepster video he has made for THE ONE The One video here.
The album THE AMATEUR has blown its socks off and features The One, Gimme Gimme (with Spod), OMG!, And this is what she said, Year of the Jerk and more. Boots and ball... so from the hackstreets of Hong Kong with hot smokin' Chow chops comes QUAN live and kicking off the sweat stain of the debut solo album… having been invited to perform his debut tour in Australia as part of the 2009 BIG DAY OUT… he also was asked to play with THE PRODIGY on their Australian dates in JAN 09, along with additional shows in Brisbane with Z-Trip and Melbourne with Digital Primate. After various shows in Hong Kong - his current base… he is about to follow up with a festival in Vietnam in late April plus more upcoming Australian shows with RATATAT and the like.

Quan is a short extract from a love letter, an Amateur (from the latin 'Amator'-'Lover', from Amare 'to love') ineptly following the natural course of things since forever. Apparently a photon that begins it's life in the centre of the sun spends on average about 10 and a half million light years zigzaging to and fro as it slowly works it's way to the surface, a distance that if traveled in a straight line would take a mere 2.5 seconds. It then takes a further 8.5 minutes to reach the earth. Furthermore our Sun Converts Five Million tones of Mass (about the equivalent of a million elephants) into pure energy every second. These factoids remind me of two things: 1. The virtue of patience and 2. That the immolation of a human heart pales in comparison to that of a Star's. (Or is it the other way round?) Is this a foundation for Hip Hop? Yes.
Quan - The Amateur (Valve): QUAN Yeomans spent a keraaazy amount of time getting his debut solo album just right. Michelle Lau and Spod duck and weave vocals on the slamming Gimme Gimme, Quan’s “got plot like Jerry Bruckheimer” on Mouthin’ Off for No Good Reason and Regurgitator’s quirky pop and a Miss Kitten-alike are their foundations for And This is What She Said… Quan’s Big Day Out shows were a rocking revelation, flowing like a harpoon daily and nightly with only a drummer and his bag of tricks. His downright filthy yet highbrow lyrics are way ahead of most home-grown MCs. Too dope to cope. MC The verdict: **** In a word: professional. Mikey Cahill (published by HIT 5 Feb 2009)
BIG DAY OUT 2009 Gold Coast parklands 18 Jan 2009: Quan Yeomans, appearing on stage wearing a gigantic sneaker on his head, has lost none of his absurdist flair, but rapidly stakes a claim as the stand-out performer of the day. The little MC that could, Yeomans’ performance this evening is nothing short of revelatory. The Regurgitator frontman’s energy is ridiculous, while the decision to support his hip hop set with a live drummer only adds intensity to his ludicrously precise and engaging performance. (RAVE)

QUAN - back on the footwork 2009!!!

SAT 25 APR - MAG MUSIC FESTIVAL, American Club, Hanoi
A charity event to raise money for MAG (Mines Advisory Group) Vietnam, an international NGO that is dedicated to clearing unexploded bombs and mines, an enduring legacy from Vietnam’s decades-long struggle for independence. Features I Am David Sparkle (Singapore), Goo (Thailand), The Dorques (Philippines), James Harries (UK), Minuit (NZ) and Vietnamese artists Van Ho Ba an Recycle.

SUN 3 MAY - BYRON BAY The Great Northern
with RATATAT and DZ
Tickets from: the venue, www.thenorthern.com.au and consume.oztix.com.au

MON 4 MAY - BRISBANE The HiFi
with RATATAT, DEL TORO and Honky Kong DJ.
Tickets from: www.thehifi.com.au, tel 1300‐THEHIFI (8434434), Rocking Horse Records, Butter Beats , Sunflower Pacific Fair, Disaster piece, Mosh Pit Music, Kill The Music, Gooble Warming, Rockaway Records and consume.oztix.com.au

WED 6 MAY - GOLD COAST The Coolangatta Hotel
with RATATAT, ELKE and Action DJs Ben Rama and Ruftuck
Copresented by KClub, Dima Mak, Havefunclub, The Antijoy, Joy Hysteric and Bats Magazine.
Tickets from: the venue, www.thecoolyhotel.com.au, Disaster Piece Southport, Sunflower Pacific Fair, Rockaway records Springwood, Rocking Horse Records, Butter Beats , Mosh Pit Music, Kill The Music, Gooble Warming and consume.oztix.com.au

FRI 8 MAY - SYDNEY Manning Bar
with RATATAT , QUA, DEPT & PhDJ
Tickets from: the venue, www.moshtix.com.au (132 438 849) and consume.oztix.com.au

SAT 9 MAY - OXFORD TAVERN, Wollongong
plus guests Tickets from: the venue

SUN 10 MAY - CANBERRA Anu Bar
with RATATAT and QUA
Tickets from: the venue, Ticketek outlets and consume.oztix.com.au

SAT 23 MAY - HONG KONG Grappas Cellar
with RATATAT and DJs
presented by The Peoples Party
Tickets from usual outlets and www.thepeoplesparty.tv

SAT 6 JUNE - COME TOGETHER FESTIVAL, Sydney
with many... tickets on sale now.

And the website evolves in a future near you soon...
www.quantheamateur.com
QUAN on FACEBOOK

QUAN THE AMATEUR out now on Valve/MGM.

Featuring new single THE ONE.

For interviews, images and more contact brian@rishrecords.com or consume1@ozemail.com.au

Boot it!

QUAN

Boots and ball... from the hackstreets of Hong Kong with hot smokin' Chow chops comes Regurgitator's QUAN live and kicking off the sweat stain of debut solo album THE AMATEUR.
So awesome news... QUAN has scored slots on the Australian BIG DAY OUT tour as well hot spots with THE PRODIGY on the east cost and a few extra special sneakin' shows.

Featuring OMG! as favoured by Triple J, AND THIS IS WHAT SHE SAID, THE ONE, YEAR OF THE JERK, GIMME GIMME and many more of your childhood favourites.
Dates and reviews below. For spirited discussions and visual motifs please approach Paul Curtis (LABEL/MGMT) consume1@ozemail.com.au or BRIAN (RISH publicity) brian@rishrecords.com ph 02 9660 9119.

Get here to download the promo track ARE YOU THE BEAT?
www.quantheamateur.com

AMATEUR TOUR 2009
SAT 17 JAN - brisbane THE STEP INN with Z-Trip
SUN 18 JAN - gold coast BIG DAY OUT
TUES 20 JAN - brisbane RIVERSTAGE with The Prodigy, Simian Mobile Disco & Hot Chip DJ.
FRI 23 JAN - sydney BIG DAY OUT
SAT 24 JAN - sydney HORDERN with The Prodigy, Simian Mobile Disco & Hot Chip DJ.
MON 26 JAN - melbourne BIG DAY OUT
WED 28 JAN - melbourne NSC plus guests
THUR 29 JAN - melbourne PALACE with The Prodigy
FRI 30 JAN - adelaide BIG DAY OUT
SUN 1 FEB - perth BIG DAY OUT

Beat it!

Quan - The Amateur (Valve)

It's entirely possible that, without his history as a foundation member for Brisbane avant punk troupe Regurgitator, the debut solo album by Quan Yeomans would be arriving in a blaze of hype, with glowing puff pieces here, there or anywhere. He would be being called the finest exponent of Australian hip-hop to emerge since...well, possibly ever.

So good is 'The Amateur' that it seems ridiculous that, in all likelihood, it will go ignored by many who claim that the likes of the Hilltop Hoods, Bliss N Eso and other makers of the so-called 'skip hop' genre are pushing it forward in Australia. When their successful releases are held up against 'The Amateur', they truly pale in comparison.

More M.I.A. than TZU, eclectic beats and a sense of experimentation dominate throughout 'The Amateur'. From the chopped-up sonic delights of Gimme Gimme (featuring Sydney musician Spod, Quan's occasional collaborator in radness) to some cuts with the buzz-saw guitars more familiar to Regurgitator fans, much of this debut solo release brazenly showcases its four year development from an idea to a finished product, with a variety of sounds on show.

The single guiding force is, of course, Quan himself. His verbal rhythms are amazing to hear throughout 'The Amateur', as he weaves tales of MCs battling on A Tale Of Two MCs, then loses those jokey ideals in favour of the bitter And This Is What She Said, which may or may not be directed at a certain paramour from a certain point in happier days. This album deserves to be heard by any fan of adventurous hip-hop - it may be one of the best releases in the genre for the year.
Andrew Weaver (dB MAGAZINE)

Quan - The Amateur (Valve Records/MGM)
Published by Adrian Elmer at November 23, 2008 in Reviews Issue 21.
There's been a deluge of Regurgitator related activity over the last couple of months - the band themselves performing shows; Ben Ely's Radio 5 has been active releasing and performing; sometime collaborator Spod has released his latest album, and now he appears as a guest on Quan's first official solo album. It has an obvious connection to all those other activities, and particularly shares much sonically in common with Superfrienz. However, this album, for mine, is the pick of the current batch. It's actually a little odd to think that this is Quan's first solo release - he's left a trail of side projects in his wake over the years, but never just on his own.

A few things could easily be Regurgitator tracks - 'Year Of The Jerk', 'And This Is What She Said' and 'OMG!' are the kind of electro-pop-rock that have become familiar over the years, though no less enjoyable. 'Year Of The Jerk', in particular, has Quan's trademark deadpan self-effacing lyrical content which is always a highlight of his work. But the main sonic touchstone here is hip-hop, and it's deeply steeped in 21st century r'n'b and hip-hop production values. But as accurate as the pastiche might be, Quan always places himself as the outsider (just look at the title), and the lyrical content generally uses postmodern cynicism to brutally attack that which has inspired it. And fair enough - there's no contradiction here. It is lyrical content, and the attached posturing and self-mythologising, that is being attacked. There is no reason the sounds can't be loved by the outsider/producer and used sincerely in this context. A brief track, 'But Then Jesus Told Me', uses the 'old-school' skipping rhyme in manner that places Quan directly in the lineage of Malcolm McLaren and his early 80s Duck Rock album. Not that this is going to be a money grabbing publicity exercise for Quan, but he's openly appropriating the genre, viewing it from the outside, rather than buying into its cliches and pitfalls. 'Just Like That' is the best example of using the form to critique the form. Using a deliberately Australianised accent, he is amazed at 'that JT guy' - 'he just smiles like he's not even trying/he's like a robot/how does he do it?/if i tried that, man, I'd totally screw it'. It's hilarious, scathing and completely deadpan at all times. Elsewhere, Quan utilises his often overlooked singing voice to similar effect, 'The One' could make a teenage girl swoon if put in the wrong hands.

The highlight of the album, though, is 'Reading The Script', which throws everything together - the r'n'b croon, the hardcore rapper, the bombastic production. It's a brag rap, except anyone who has followed his career knows that it's all actually true. From teenage experiences visiting the country of his heritage and being faced with his own (Western) culture's apathy and abuse, through a recall of Regurgitator's history and achievements, to his position as elder statesman. It undermines its target because any mythologising taking place has nothing to do with the putting down of others. It's actually sincere and touching without a trace of either bravado or saccharine.

While Quan has always been, and I dare say always will be, a supreme piss-taker, he succeeds precisely because he actually has something to say. He also knows his way around production, whether that's aggressive guitars or physically irresistible grooves. As with Spod, I still reckon the obscenities are a lazy cop-out option, but here they seem more appropriate. And with the displays of intelligence in all other aspects of the album, Quan has to get the benefit of the doubt. The thinking postmodernist's contemporary urban album of the year.
Adrian Elmer (CYCLIC DEFROST)

QUAN – The Amateur
WEDNESDAY, 29 OCTOBER 2008
(Computer Recording/Valve)
Him from Regurgitator flying solo.
If you liked Regurgitator in their less rocking songs, when they tended towards electro and hip hop and electro hop and those pure pop joy moments where Quan tried to sing like Prince, then this is the album you have been waiting for. The songs? The One is a gloriously overblown melodramatic R&B tune that steals and repurposes all those Justin Timberlake tricks for good instead of evil. The boy-band harmonies and the Timbaland-sounding production, it's all here and all awesome. Just Like That starts with marching boot-steps and the sound of the Russian Mordor military band warming up to play their anthem before the beat drops and Quan suddenly gets crunk while rapping about watching music videos and being jealous of the dance moves. A Tale Of Two MCs is a love song to a microphone written in Shakespearean dialogue and spoken over classical violin. So yes, it's weird. Quan's rapping won't go down well with hip hop fans obsessed with realness – as he admits, 'Only streets I know are ice-cream cones.' Regurgitator fans may hate it for not sounding like whatever their favourite Regurgitator album is. Your mum is unlikely to care for it very much. None of that matters, because an album this diverse – crass but intelligent, thoughtful but thumping – will find its audience and they'll love it for all its strangeness and charm.
****½ JODY MACGREGOR (RAVE)

Huh... just realised we have made no mention of the show in Vietnam this weekend... not that most of you will be up for getting to this one. Yes Regurgitator courtesy of the HiFi Bar in Melbourne are heading back to Vietnam in the space of 2 months to play the LORETO FESTIVAL in Ho Chi Minh City on SAT 29 NOV. If you live those parts please come along and check the Viet-action out at RMIT CAMPUS Saigon South Motorway, Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam from 2.00pm to midnight. We had an awesome show in Hanoi in October so here's hoping this one has the same impact.

Then ending 2008 with a great spot at the MEREDITH FESTIVAL on FRI 12 DEC between Man Man and Holy Fuck. Should be a fun ride for all down that way. And beginning the new year at the Brisbane RIVERSTAGE for HEAR&NOW with Pnau, Spiderbait, The Herd and more. Tickets on sale now.

Who knows what 2009 bringeth...



SAT 29 NOV - LORETO FESTIVAL, RMIT Campus, Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam
FRI 12 DEC - MEREDITH FESTIVAL, Victoria
SUn 25 JAN - HEAR & NOW, Riverstage, Brisbane

QUAN! new website free download... yeah way to go get in a rip it!
QUAN's new website is up and a free download of ARE YOU THE BEAT I'M LOOKING FOR is now available www.quantheamateur.com

QUAN
The Amateur
(Valve/MGM)
Statement of intent: to review this new album of Quan's without referring to that band. You know. The one starting with R. Not gonna happen. "Why oh why, reviewer of mine," you ask? Well, because this is a different creature. The Amateur is quite clearly a hip hop record. On top of that, it's one of those rare Aussie hip hop releases that, thankfully, don't sound particularly Australian. Quan's voice may sound familiar here and there, and the sense of humour is still there (eg: "I got a cock and I got a vagina/ I got plot like Jerry Bruckheimer"), but production wise you're looking at some of the most original sounding stuff since Pharrell was actually a producer and not a celebrity.
Here's a quick rundown: you've got the opening, Spod-featuring 'Gimme Gimme' with its double time beat and slightly awkward flow that's begging for a festival crowd (Is this even intended to be played live? Let's hope so.), the Phantom of the Opera on minimalism 'Mouthin' Off For No Good Reason', the Japanese robot slaughtering The Presets 'Year Of The Jerk'. You getting the idea yet? It's not all bleepy though; there's a decent Tone-Loc sort of guitar vibe going on in '…And This Is What She Said', and a sort of electric motorcycle revving backing up the clearly R&B 'The One' (a tune that sounds so 'normal' that I listened intently twice through waiting for the joke. Oh there it is.)
Hopefully The Amateur is a sign of things to come for Australian hip hop; something genuinely original and still incredibly listenable. Dig it.
HHHH Tal Wallace (TIME OFF Oct 2008)

http://www.rhum.org.au

Time to dig out your dancing Cons kids, Ben Ely's Radio 5's debut album is a cracking rock'n'roll bundle of joy! This album will have you jumping around the room like a maniac, beer raining down on your stupidly grinning head. Rockin' guitar and tom-toms with a dash of electro, Ely is still king of the synthesizer

-- and a funny fucker to boot. A concept album set 1000 years in the future: it takes us on a journey from the hyperactivity of getting pumped to go out and kick it through to all the joys, highs and and awkward moments that are all part of the emotional roller-coaster that is party time. The pick-up through to falling in love and even the run-away-together part -- including a fabulous one liner liner: "I love you more than my guitars", swoon! And with an apocalyptic track titled 'The Radars Are Alive With Aliens', you have your party finale. This one will make your speakers sweat this summer and if they'd saved the release date for Halloween it would have caused War of The Worlds style panic; Orson Welles eat your heart out.

Stand-out tracks: You're Hot, Nightmare Kid, Do It!, The Radars Are
Alive With Aliens

...

Ben Ely hits the road with Children Collide on their upcoming album release tour...
FRI 14 NOV - REVOLVER UPSTAIRS Melbourne with Children Collide and Sailors & Swine
SAT 15 NOV - PRODUCERS BAR Adelaide with Children Collide
THUR 20 NOV - ALHAMBRA LOUNGE Brisbane with Children Collide
FRI 21 NOV - ANNANDALE HOTEL Sydney with Children Collide and Traps

Straight through the future on the crest of a garage rock fury…
TRANSCENDING REALITY out now on Valve/MGM – featuring I'm Psyched, get on the Mic and Ride it like a Bike and more...

So here I am reporting from Vientiane, Laos where Regurgitator played a show last night in this old Russian Circus Building.
See below for news on REGURGITATOR tours... new albums by QUAN from Regurgitator and HOLDEN from France... plus tours from BEN ELY'S RADIO 5 and SPOD around their new albums, an Australian tour for LLOYD & MICHAEL... plus another US tour for AN HORSE.

Weather is good here and Laos people are sweet... the food is great!
Off to China tomorrow...


REGURGITATOR
As mentioned Regurgitator are in Vientiane, Laos playing a show in this old Russian Circus building with 4 Laos bands on the bill includi. Yesterday afternoon we all visited the headquarters of COPE - a private organisation set up in Laos to provide prosthetic devices and deal with amputees that have mainly resulted from the secret war that unfolded from 1963 to 1975 when the US dropped millions of clusters bombs on Laos around the Vietnam and Cambodia war... the unexploded ordinance continuing to reek havoc on the people here. Their work here is exceptional and Regurgitator's performance here in conjunction with Tiger Beer has resulted in a donation of 30 million LaoKip or approx 70 replacement legs.

This show is part of an unfolding tour that includes shows in Hong Kong on Saturday past in a 15th floor warehouse. It was a strange wild night with Macy Gray also performing along with some local DJs. Regurgitator were unfortunately unable to participate in a show at the Fringe Clun with Beijing punk rock band Joyside due to a late flight arrival but after the HK show flew direct to Hanoi for our first ever Vietnam show. With an amazing 1500+ turnout at an open air venue on the site of the original US embassy there it was a fun time all round. After the Laos show we head to China for a string of shows in Beijing, Shanghai and Wuhan with chinese bands NEW PANTS, HEDGEHOG and more...

Once we return to Australia in late Oct we go straight into some Australian performances possibly the last ones for some time as we wind up a 2 year or so schedule of touring and releases... as well as both Quan & Ben release new solo albums. There will also be a return visit to Vietnam for a show in Ho Chi Minh in late November.

LIVE DATES:
SAT 11 OCT - HONG KONG Warehouse plus Macy Gray
SUN 12 OCT - HANOI American Club plus Ngu Cung, My Favourite Uncle & Holy Red Cross
TUES 14 OCT - VIENTIANE Russian Circus plus Uluvus, Lunaticz, Tuxedo & Secret
FRI 17 OCT - BEIJING Mao Livehouse plus Hedgehog
SAT 18 OCT - SHANGHAI Logo plus Sulumi
SUN 19 OCT - SHANGHAI Yu Yin Tang plus Echo Rush
WED 22 OCT - BEIJING Yu Gong Yi Shan plus New Pants
FRI 24 OCT - WUHAN Vox
FRI 31 OCT - CANBERRA Stonefest plus lots more
SAT 1 NOV - SYDNEY Manly Fishos plus Jezabels & Ouch My Face. Tickets on sale now www.moshtix.com.au (ph 1300 GET TIX)
SUN 2 NOV - NEWCASTLE Fat as Butter Festival with Dandy Warhols, The Herd & more
SAT 29 NOV - HO CHI MINH CITY Loreto Festival
FRI 12 DEC - MEREDITH FESTIVAL

For interviews, images and more contact consume1@ozemail.com.au www.regurgitator.net www.myspace.com/regurgitators

QUAN
Quan is a short extract from a love letter, an Amateur (from the latin 'Amator'-'Lover', from Amare 'to love') ineptly following the natural course of things since forever.

Apparently a photon that begins it's life in the centre of the sun spends on average about 10 and a half million light years zigzaging to and fro as it slowly works it's way to the surface, a distance that if traveled in a straight line would take a mere 2.5 seconds. It then takes a further 8.5 minutes to reach the earth.

Furthermore our Sun Converts Five Million tones of Mass (about the equivalent of a million elephants) into pure energy every second.

These factoids remind me of two things: 1. The virtue of patience and 2. That the immolation of a human heart pales in comparison to that of a Star's. (Or is it the other way round?)

Is this a foundation for Hip Hop? Yes.

Quan Yeomans from Regurgitator finally delivers his 4 year labour of love on again off again requiem to those heady amateur days. Recorded in Sydney, London, Hong Kong, flight lounges, bus stops, doorways... and now making as many music videos as he can. Features The One, Gimme Gimme, And this is what she said..., Year of the Jerk and more. Touring in 2009.
Is this the beat you been looking for?

QUAN THE AMATEUR out now on Valve/MGM. For interviews, images and more contact brian@rishrecords.com or consume1@ozemail.com.au www.quantheamateur.com

BEN ELY'S RADIO 5
Ben Ely trips into the futureworld, inspired by a radio show 100 years ahead of our time… with his new solo album Transcending Reality. Garage rock with a twist of the future.

Ben Ely returns from the zone with new project Ben Ely's Radio 5. A garage crazed transmission from the future worlds... emerging after his first broadcast at the Gallery of Modern Art's Warhol Uplate in March. In between bouts of Regurgitator Ben recorded this solo album at his Studio Wow! in Sydney and Jonboyrock joined the melee to mix. Ben stands to attention, kickstarts the stand, revs the mic as Stephen Bourke and Marihuzkha Larenas shuffle their wares to the beat on a twin six string psych attack. Cheap, nasty and freaking dynamic!!!

The idea for this project came about in mid 2007 when Steve, Marihuzka and I were chatting after a show late one night at Spectrum joking around with the idea of starting a group with just the three of us doing a stripped back thing with a very small kit like Mo Tucker (from the Velvet Underground), an acoustic guitar and Steve playing electric. We were a little drunk just mucking around with the idea. Then months later when I came off tour on the BDO with Regurgitator I felt really inspired by all this amazing music I had soaked up over that trip though I didn't have any plans to make any music. I actually had my heart set on the idea of doing an art exhibition so I set those wheels in motion, but as I started painting in the silent space of a spare room in my house songs came to me. In the silence they came… one after the other. I would put down my brushes sing the riffs, melody and lyrics into my dictaphone saving them up, storing them for something down the track without wasting time on elaborate demos. Then I ran into Marihuzka and Steve out again one night in March 2008 and the idea came up again. They had some free time and we decided to get together at a local rehearsal space. I brought long my dictaphone and translated some of these rough sketches to the other guys. We all had a total blast with what came out. Our 4 hour rehearsals seemed to fly by with each of us so rapped up in what we were doing. It was raw exciting and fresh. We started with a bunch of instruments - synths, basses, acoustic guitars - then stripped the sound back to just stand up kick and snare with tamborine and two electric guitars. Anything else was just cluttering up the sound. We pieced all the songs together and before we knew it we had enough material for 2 albums so we went to a friends studio and put Transcending Reality together. Four months after our first rehearsal we had the mastered version of our album in our hot sweaty little paws. It was so easy. No epic struggle with the songs. Not too many hours wasted on production. Isn't the best music made this way?
After shows with Peaches, single of the week for I'm Psyched on iTunes, and a few album launch shows prior to the Regurgitator Asia tour... Ben Ely hits the road with Children Collide on their upcoming album release tour...
FRI 14 NOV - REVOLVER UPSTAIRS Melbourne with Children Collide and Sailors & Swine
SAT 15 NOV - PRODUCERS BAR Adelaide with Children Collide
THUR 20 NOV - ALHAMBRA LOUNGE Brisbane with Children Collide
FRI 21 NOV - ANNANDALE HOTEL Sydney with Children Collide and Traps

Straight through the future on the crest of a garage rock fury…
TRANSCENDING REALITY out now on Valve/MGM – featuring I'm Psyched, get on the Mic and Ride it like a Bike and way more than the head can hold… roar! For interviews, images and more contact brian@rishrecords.com or consume1@ozemail.com.au

REGURGITATOR
As Ben and Quan get great new solo albums out over the coming months... Regurgitator continue on their merry way playing things the way they love to. After the highly coveted tour with DEVO over August culminating in an invitation by Mark Mothersbaugh to come on stage for the Beautiful World finale in Perth everyone was left in tears of sweet rapture. Last week they were dragged back to gritty reality with their first UK dates in 5 years and the release of Love and Paranoia on Valve there... and were greeted with huge receptions in Glasgow and London with their London show being one of their best. Following this they then do a tour through Hong Kong, Vietnam, Laos and China over October finishing in Australia to play Stonefest in Canberra on OCT 31, Fat as Butter Festival in Newcastle on NOV 2, and Meredith Festival on DEC 12.

The album Love is Paranoia is being released by Modern Sky in China with Chinese version cover art done by Pang Kuan from indie superstars New Pants.

SAT 11 OCT - Hong Kong WAREHOUSE
SUN 12 OCT - Hanoi, Vietnam AMERICAN CLUB
TUES 14 OCT - Vientiane, Laos RUSSIAN CIRCUS
FRI 17 OCT - Beijing, China MAO
SAT 18 OCT - Shanghai, China LoGO
SUN 19 OCT - Shanghai, China YU YIN TANG
WED 22 OCT - Beijing, China YU GONG YI SHAN
FRI 24 OCT - Wuhan, China VOX
then...
FRI 31 OCT - STONEFEST, Canberra
SAT 1 NOV - MANLY FISHOS Sydney
SUN 2 NOV - FAT AS BUTTER FEST, Newcastle
FRI 12 DEC - MEREDITH FESTIVAL, Meredithand you know I reckon that might just be it for 2008!

LOVE and PARANOIA out on Valve/MGM features Blood & Spunk and Romance of the Damned.

BEN ELY'S RADIO 5

Ben Ely trips into the futureworld, inspired by a radio show 100 years ahead of our time… with his new solo album Transcending Reality. Garage rock with a twist of the future.

Ben Ely returns from the zone with new project Ben Ely's Radio 5. A garage crazed transmission from the future worlds... emerging after his first broadcast at the Gallery of Modern Art's Warhol Uplate in March. In between bouts of Regurgitator Ben recorded this solo album at his Studio Wow! in Sydney and Jonboyrock joined the melee to mix. Ben stands to attention, kickstarts the stand, revs the mic as Stephen Bourke and Marihuzkha Larenas shuffle their wares to the beat on a twin six string psych attack. Cheap, nasty and freaking dynamic!!!

The idea for this project came about in mid 2007 when Steve, Marihuzka and I were chatting after a show late one night at Spectrum joking around with the idea of starting a group with just the three of us doing a stripped back thing with a very small kit like Mo Tucker (from the Velvet Underground), an acoustic guitar and Steve playing electric. We were a little drunk just mucking around with the idea. Then months later when I came off tour on the BDO with Regurgitator I felt really inspired by all this amazing music I had soaked up over that trip though I didn't have any plans to make any music. I actually had my heart set on the idea of doing an art exhibition so I set those wheels in motion, but as I started painting in the silent space of a spare room in my house songs came to me. In the silence they came… one after the other. I would put down my brushes sing the riffs, melody and lyrics into my dictaphone saving them up, storing them for something down the track without wasting time on elaborate demos. Then I ran into Marihuzka and Steve out again one night in March 2008 and the idea came up again. They had some free time and we decided to get together at a local rehearsal space. I brought long my dictaphone and translated some of these rough sketches to the other guys. We all had a total blast with what came out. Our 4 hour rehearsals seemed to fly by with each of us so rapped up in what we were doing. It was raw exciting and fresh. We started with a bunch of instruments - synths, basses, acoustic guitars - then stripped the sound back to just stand up kick and snare with tamborine and two electric guitars. Anything else was just cluttering up the sound. We pieced all the songs together and before we knew it we had enough material for 2 albums so we went to a friends studio and put Transcending Reality together. Four months after our first rehearsal we had the mastered version of our album in our hot sweaty little paws. It was so easy. No epic struggle with the songs. Not too many hours wasted on production. Isn't the best music made this way?

TOUR DATES
SEPT 21 BEACH RD HOTEL, Bondi with Flamingo Crash
SEPT 27 RICS, Brisbane with The Zrays
OCT 1 PALACE THEATRE Melbourne with Peaches & Hawnay Troof
OCT 2 THE ESPY Melbourne with guests
OCT 3 ENMORE THEATRE Sydney with Peaches & Hawnay Troof

Straight through the future on the crest of a garage rock fury…

TRANSCENDING REALITY out September on Valve/MGM – featuring I'm Psyched, get on the Mic and Ride it like a Bike and way more than the head can hold… roar!

www.myspace.com/benelysradio5