| | | |  | Come with us now on a journey through time and space... and the power of the fusion lick. REGURGITATOR is currently Quan Yeomans, Ben Ely, Peter Kostic with Seja Vogel ..boards. Low fat version… Formed in March 94... Ben, Quan & Martin Lee started a band...
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| Interview | Access All Areas.net.au: You guys have had a big year, releasing album no. 6 in “love & paranoia” & doing massive australian tours. How is the band going at the moment?
Ben: Really great. we are all reunited back in sydney, rehearsing writing new song ideas and getting ready to go on tour supporting D E VO ! fun times. its good getting back together after a break as we seem to appreciate what we have a lot more. it feels great to be aa part of a band thats been around so long. feels a bit like family.
Access All Areas.net.au: Your latest album release, “Love & Paranoia”, seems to blend a range of 80’s inspired rock with your traditional indie & electronic based rock. Was this the direction you were looking for in the new record & were you happy with the resulting sound you came out with?
Ben: Well quan has been busy producing his debut hip hop album so all the songs that came up for this one were generally rock orientated. we were happy with the songs. i think its the first time we created an album that sounds like it was made by one band rather than a compilation of 115 different ones.
Access All Areas.net.au: The album was recorded in Brazil through mid 2007. Was the trip to Brazil enjoyable & in your opinion, beneficial to the band with regards to how the new record turned out?
Ben: Well yeah it was an amazing experience. all the guys at the studio were really encouraging and great to be around when recording the album. the night life was incredible also. lots of jamming and musos coming in and out of the place. a very relaxed vibe. especially compared to our last recording experience. and coming home i felt really inspired create new sounds. everyone there plays music. everyone is massively into percussion.
Access All Areas.net.au: On Love & Paranoia, this was the first record to feature your new keyboardist Seja Vogel. How do you feel the introduction of Seja to the bands music has he contributed to a new direction & do you feel he fits in well with you guys?
Ben: Yeah she fits in fine. ever since we created unit we have always played keyboards on our albums though not for a long time have we had a keyboard player live so its working out well. it also helps with the bands chemistry to have a new member as we have known each other for so long.
Access All Areas.net.au: In support of the record, you did an extensive national tour & dates on the national Big Day Out festival. Was these tours an enjoyable experience for the band & how did your fans react to the new material from you guys at the live arena?
Ben: Yeah it was aaaaaaaammmmmmmaaaaaaazzzziiiinnnnngggggg fun. its the 5th time we have played the big day out. the best festival in the country easily. really friendly bands huge fun crowds. days off. touring doesn't get better than this.
Access All Areas.net.au: In the near future, you will be playing at the annual EKKA festival in your hometown of Brisbane. How was it that Regurgitator came about appearing at the event?
Ben: Not really sure about this one. our mamnger booked it.
Access All Areas.net.au: The EKKA festival as I’ve stated is in your hometown of Brisbane. Will this show be a little more special being in front of your local fans in Brisbane?
Ben: Brisbane is always the best crowds. i think there is a little bit of a home town pride thing when we go there.
Access All Areas.net.au: Now at the show you are being supported by fellow Brisbane locals, Yves Clein Blue at your show on Ssaturday August 9. Are you excited to be playing alongside these guys at the show?
Ben: Sure. though i havent heard them. always keen to check out new music.
Access All Areas.net.au: With the show in mind, can the regurgitator fans expect anything new or different from the live show you will be putting on at the EKKA?
Ben: Yeah due to our devo tour we will have costumes and a new electro sound. ha ha. put on your red shoes.
Access All Areas.net.au: Once this appearance is done, what are the plans of Regurgitator, are there plans for touring in the works or other plans?
Ben: we have a tour in the uk in sept then a tour of asia in oct. hong kong, laos, vietnam then china. sweet.
Access All Areas.net.au: Well I would like to thankyou for your time today, I would just like to ask if there is anything else you would like to say today?
Ben: well thanks for the interview and see you at the show. yey!
Interview by Ben Coby |
| Biography | Come with us now on a journey through time and space... and the power of the fusion lick.
REGURGITATOR is currently Quan Yeomans, Ben Ely, Peter Kostic with Seja Vogel ..boards.
Low fat version… Formed in March 94... Ben, Quan & Martin Lee started a band around the other bands they had at the time – Pangaea, Zooerastia, Brazilia respectively – Regurgitator was an appropriate moniker to describe the assembled mass of styles, sounds & attitudes, fueled as much by their ironic & geek nature as their irreverent take on themselves, corporate culture and human social behaviour. From their early guest spots with Primus, Beck, The Buzzcocks, John Spencer Blues Explosion, Ministry, Pansy Division, TISM they quickly developed a strong following that led to signing a deal with the Warner corporation. The first self-titled EP was released in late 1994... quickly followed by the second EP New in 1995. Late 1995 they embarked on a European tour with Filter, followed by their first shows in Tokyo. After their first Big Day Out tour in Jan 1996, they relocated to Bangkok to record their debut album with Magoo. April 1996 the first single Kong Foo Sing broke the cookie jar - an ode to the humble fortune cookie and paved the way for the debut album Tu Plang (Thai for Jukebox) - a rubble of punk pop, hop-rock-beats & discarded sounds; this coincided with a national tour with the Red Hot Chili Peppers, followed by another with guests Japan's amazing Boredoms. The band was picked up by Reprise in the US, had their first USA tour as guests of God Lives Underwater and had a Sub Pop 7” vinyl release of I Sucked A Lot Of Cock To Get Where I Am. After a Japan/Australian tour together with CIV from NY and an incredible show with the Boredoms in Osaka at Wo..Hol, and the Japanese release of Tu Plang, they sold out Brisbane..s Festival Hall headlining Easy Cheese (with Powderfinger etc). After various Summer Festival appearances in Australia, along with shows with The Prodigy (Sydney) & Rocket From The Crypt (Auckland), they opened 1997 with another tour to USA and their only SXSW appearance, before embraking on an extensive tour with Helmet & The Melvins. Upon return, they set up their own studio The Dirty Room in a condemned warehouse in Brisbane..s Fortitude Valley backstreets to record the second album UNIT – it heralded a new direction with a strong pop ala 80..s electro vibe amid their ironic approach. UNIT was released in 1997 culminating in a national Australian tour with The Prodigy and their biggest single Polyester Girl. Unit ended up reaching triple platinum in Australia. This was followed by the Anti-Jabiluka Uranium mining protest for the Mirrar people with Midnight Oil & Coloured Stone at the blockade of the proposed mining site in the Kakadu National Park. A third tour to Japan is followed by the sellout Australia/NZ Caveat Emptour with TISM, that incorporated the usage of a large scale visual projection of computer animation. More dates in Japan and the UK (including the Reading Festival and the UK release of UNIT), ARIAs for Unit, their second Big Day Out tour before relocating their studio bits & pieces to a Byron Bay beach house to make ...art – the third album. After tours with Japan..s Audio Active, and the Art Tour with Custard & The Resin Dogs, drummer Martin Lee depart to be replaced by Front End Loader drummer Peter Kostic. After more Australian festival shows and tours over 1999/2000, the SNOOZER magazine presented Japan tour was their most successful so far, the album going on to sell 12,000 copies there. Quan & Ben commenced work in their home studios on their fourth album Eduardo & Rodriguez Wage War on T-Wrecks, relocating to London to mix with Andy Gill (Gang of Four). A quick trip to Japan for the incredible Fuji Rock Festival as the album was released in Australia, NZ, Japan, Singapore, Germany and Scandanavia in July 2001 along with Australian Canon Fodder tour with guests Gerling through Aug/Sept 2001. After an appearance at Brisbane..s 2001 Livid Festival, they headed back to Japan again with special guests The Zoobombs, followed by a New Years Eve show at The Falls with The Hives etc, and the 2002 Big Day Out tour in Jan/Feb (performing between System of a Down and Garbage on the mainstage). The highlight of this tour being the inclusion of Peaches and a duet on her track Rock Show.
In June 2002 they performed in London at the Fierce Festival to 20,000 people, along with Midnight Oil, Spiderbait etc. After ending their deal with Warner by releasing the JINGLES compilation in Oct 2002, a short Australian tour – Nein, Nein, Nein...the Slumber of the Beast led to a DIY DVD release of live tunes from this tour as their first independent release through Valve. In 2003 while Quan was based in Switzerland, Sweden and London, a UK tour and release of Jingles (independent label Kennel) took place. Following a second tour to the UK in early October, they performed at one of the first alternative music festivals in Hong Kong… the Rockit festival along with the 17 piece Spanish Harlem Orchestra from New York, Electric Eel Shock and Ride… This was when plans were hatched for the Band in a Bubble concept to take place in conjunction with the independently released fifth album MISHMASH! An idea suggested by their manager in 1999 and making sense when Quan witnessed david Blaine suspended above the Thames.
After various festival appearance including a very torrid night at the Sydney festival with Peaches and Spod, and a headline spot on the St Kilda Festival in Melbourne, and the Bong in my Eye tour with Spod and The Grates … the Band in a Bubble was born in Melbourne’s Federation Square August 2004. Regurgitator has a long history of trying hard to buck the system that feeds them but as of August 31, they gave themselves over to the system, exposing themselves to the machinations of the "culture industry". In partnership with Channel [V], Regurgitator sealed themselves in a transparent, "fishbowl" studio to record their next album and show the world how the creative process is ultimately both destructive and hypnotic, liberatory and constraining, beautiful and very ugly. By creating a panoptic platform for their public, they gave themselves over to their viewers/fans/citizens and allowed the intrusive eye of the public to pierce their "bubble" like no other band before. After the BAND IN A BUBBLE and the release of the album Mishmash! they escaped to another Australian tour (with guests Wolfmother), a second ROCK IT Festival appearance in Hong Kong, Homebake in Sydney (early Dec) and the 2005 Big Day Out tour. In September 2005 they release their latest EP *?! Featuring Pretty Girls Swear and set out on the Regurgitator Lives tour with friends New Zealand’s brilliant The Mint Chicks, and Snowman (from Perth). They performed at Earthcore in late 2005, where Quan & Ben were joined by Ben & Simon from The Bird, turning our drum & bass versions of their tracks. Feb’06 saw them perform at the Dusty Days Festival in Wagga Wagga and an awesome performance at the Domain for Tropfest2006. Mishmash! came out on Avex in Japan Apr’06. They headlined Come Together, Luna Park in Sydney in June 06 and followed this up with a periodic string of shows over the remainder of the year… Quan produced a fantastic animated video for The Game for the Japanese release.
Band in a Bubble, in conjunction with Valve Records, has recently been licensed to take place in London (now scheduled for early 2008) and in New York (May 24 - June 12 2007). Ben has recently released a solo project with his band JUMP 2 LIGHT SPEED and Quan is currently based in Hong Kong working on solo projects including the debut Ep for his project with Spod entitled BLOX. Regurgitator recently did an extremely fun tour over NSW, VIC and SA prior to Quan’s departure and have started working on new tracks for their next album due to be recorded in Brazil now.
Better a beast than a priest... Weird scenes from the Brazilian goldmind... |
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