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April O'Neil
Publication information
Publisher	Mirage Studios
First appearance	Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #2 (October 1984)
Created by	Kevin Eastman Peter Laird

April O'Neil is a fictional character from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics and all related media. In each of the many TMNT continuities, she is a good friend of the Turtles: Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo.

Comics[link]

In the original Mirage Comics storyline, April Harriet O'Neil^[1] (who originally sported a jumpsuit) was a skilled computer programmer and worked as an assistant for Baxter Stockman, helping to program his Mouser robots and demonstrating their operation. After she discovered that Baxter was using the Mousers to burrow into bank vaults and steal from them, she attempted to flee Baxter's workshop and found herself in the sewers running for her life, with several Mousers in pursuit. Three of the Turtles happened to come across her and save her; they later successfully fended off a Mouser invasion after Baxter programmed them to attack the Turtles.

April began to run an antique shop, which came under attack by The Shredder and the Foot Clan (who had come for the Turtles), and was destroyed in the ensuing battle. She and the Turtles retreated to a farm house in Northampton, Massachusetts where she later had dreams about the Foot Clan's attack. During the mid-90s, April became romantically involved with Casey Jones and the two eventually adopted a child named Shadow.

In Volume 2 of the TMNT comics, April was attacked and injected by a huge robot controlled by Baxter Stockman's brain (apparently, Baxter having escaped capture, had placed his brain in the body of a robot and sought them out in order to get revenge on April). It wasn't revealed until Volume 4 that April was injected by nanobots that seemed to have caused sterility as well as nearly killing her from the inside. With the help of the Utroms, the turtles sent turtle versions of nanobots to stop Baxter's versions and saved April before they would reach her brainstem. Despite this, April remained sterile.

This put an emotional strain on April, and she became a female version of Nobody until she was discovered by Casey Jones. It was with the help of Renet taking her back in time that revealed that April was really a living drawing, brought to life with the help of Kirby's crystal, drawn by her father, who at the time really wanted a daughter. This was before their own biological daughter Robyn O'Neil would be born. Unlike Kirby's drawings drawn with pencil that would vanish after a while, April's father used a pen, so it might explain why April lived past thirty without vanishing so far. Questions such as if she was real or not, whether she could live or die, or when she would eventually vanish were too much for her to handle. April bid farewell to Shadow and Casey and went to be alone with her thoughts in Alaska.

Fan reaction was mixed, as many believed her normality served as a good contrast to the fantastic nature of the Turtles. No other incarnation of April has shared this origin to date.

Unlike some of the other versions of her character, the Mirage Comics version of April has dark brown/black hair (though early color reprints of Volume 1 depicted her hair color as red/light brown). Most future incarnations of April that came afterwards are redheads.

April also appeared in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures comic produced by Archie Comics, which began as re-tellings of cartoon episodes but were eventually spun off into original stories. In this series, she began as a carbon copy of her animated counterpart, but the writers developed her into a competent warrior after training with Splinter. Years earlier in the September, 1985 re-printing of issue one, Mirage Studios artist Ryan Brown depicts April as a katana wielding ninja warrior in his back cover pin-up. Because of her frequent adventures with the Turtles, she lost her job at Channel 6 and became a freelance reporter. Archie also published 2 sets of 3-part April O'Neil mini-series. In the Winter 1994 Archie Special, April was mutated into a turtle herself. This made April become the first official female turtle introduced to the series, three years before Venus de Milo's debut.

The second issue of the Dreamwave Productions series (based on the 2003 animated series) focused entirely on April, consisting of a dream sequence showing how she had been pressured into a scientific career by her family despite having interest in journalism, an obvious homage to the 1987 cartoon.

Animated series (1987–1996)[link]

In the 1987 TMNT animated series, April O'Neil was a television reporter for Channel 6 News. She was employed by Burne Thompson, though she expressed frequent disagreement with his assignments for her due to her headstrong nature and passion for her work. She also butted heads on a regular basis with Vernon Fenwick, the director/camera operator whose enormous ego compelled him to scoop April on her stories whenever possible. April was best friends with Irma, the receptionist at Channel 6. Her Channel 6 News Van was a blue van that had classic headlights and the Channel 6 News logo on each side. April could usually be found wearing a distinctive yellow jumpsuit with white boots. She lived in an apartment in New York City, though during the course of the series, she was forced to relocate several times due to a variety of indirect Turtle-related mishaps.

In the 1987 series, April was reporting a series of thefts of high-tech scientific equipment, apparently by a ninja, when she came under attack by a gang of street punks. Thinking quickly, she managed to squeeze into a storm drain and ran from the mob until she hit a dead end. The Turtles were nearby and defeated the punks for her. She was taken back to their sewer lair, where they explained their origins to her. At first, she believed them to be responsible for the equipment thefts, but they agreed to provide her with the true culprits if she provided her assistance and didn't tell people about them. April quickly became the Turtles' major link to the outside world, since their unusual appearance effectively precluded them from functioning above ground without some sort of disguise.

April's friendship with the Turtles resulted in the opportunity to film exclusive footage of their encounters with Shredder, but despite her intimate knowledge of the details of their lives, she tended to keep her professional news reports about them impersonal and mysterious. She was a vocal champion of their cause, despite the opinion of Burne Thompson that the Turtles were a menace to the city, and most episodes generally showed her attempting to convince Burne and the New Yorkers that the Turtles are not the criminals he is convinced they are; by the episode "Doomquest," she finally succeeds by exposing Lord Dregg's propaganda campaign and plans to take over the Earth to the public. April was frequently kidnapped by Shredder, quite often as bait in order to lure the Turtles out of hiding in order to unleash his latest attempt at destruction upon them. Turtles Forever exploited this plot device to comic effect when the 2003 Turtles arrived in the 1987 Turtles' dimension, with 1987 Donatello commenting that they saved April at least once a day to the extent that watches could be set by it.^{[citation needed]}

April revealed her age in the Season 3 episode, "Leather Head - Terror of The Swamp". While in Florida for vacation, the Turtles meet with her, and join forces with the Punk Frogs. They find a body of water contaminated with mutagen, which makes mutants feel youthful, while physically de-aging humans into 4 year old versions of themselves. Donatello does not allow April to enter the water, to which April laments, "Oh, great! I'm doomed to be a decrepit twenty-eight year old hag!"

Her Aunt Agatha ("Aggie"), who appeared in the episodes ("Case of the Hot Kimono" and "Sleuth on the Loose"), is a detective.

April was normally portrayed as a capable woman, but also filled the role of the typical plot device of damsel-in-distress. Her obsession with "getting a story" led to numerous instances of poor judgment which often resulted in her getting captured for the Turtles to save. The Turtles always rescued April before serious harm was done. April's innate curiosity and determination placed her in danger on several occasions as well. Her most important contribution to the Turtles was her experience in doing research on the Channel 6 computers and alerting the Turtles to trouble and possible case leads.

Following the destruction of the Channel 6 building in the eighth season April continued to work for Channel 6, but by the ninth season, April worked freelance for reasons never specified. During these three seasons, she exchanged her yellow jumpsuit for a brown leather jacket. She continued to help the Turtles, even after the defeat of Shredder and his subsequent exile to Dimension X.

April was voiced by Renae Jacobs. There was also a two-part OVA series in Japan, in which April was voiced by Emi Shinohara. In the 25th Anniversary crossover movie, Turtles Forever, she was voiced by Rebecca Soler.

Motion pictures[link]

[edit] Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990 film)

In the first TMNT motion picture, April (played by Judith Hoag) was a television reporter (though she worked for Channel 3 news in this case) working for Charles "Chuck" Pennington, and did a series of stories on mysterious thefts in New York City whose culprits vanished without a trace. One night when leaving work, she was accosted by teenage thieves in league with the Foot Clan, but the Turtles appeared and saved her by knocking out and tying up the teens under the cover of darkness. In the aftermath April discovered and grabbed Raphael's lost sai, but Raphael soon followed her and took back the weapon and saved her again when she was attacked by a group of Foot Ninja in the Subway and punched unconscious while trying to fight them off with her purse. Unsure what to do with her, he carried her unconscious to their sewer lair. Though her fearful reaction upon seeing the Turtles and Splinter initially got the better of her, she eventually came to regard the Turtles as friends, and even allowed them to live in her apartment after the Foot Clan discovered and destroyed their sewer dwellings. Chuck fired April for a while. Also, Casey Jones develops a romantic interest in her but at first she did not feel the same for him. By the end of the film, she realizes she loves him and then kisses him.

Mirroring the Mirage Comics storyline, the Foot once again attacked the Turtles in the antique shop, prompting April, the Turtles (including a wounded Raphael), and Casey Jones to retreat to her family's farmhouse in Northampton, Massachusetts. She kept a journal documenting their forced sabbatical in addition to drawing sketches of the Turtles. During their respite, April also developed a kind of love-hate relationship with Casey Jones. She grew extremely close to the four brothers as well; Michaelangelo, who initially confessed to having a crush on April, later addressed her as "Sis," indicating the role she had come to occupy in the Turtles' family.

Second and third movies[link]

In the second and third movies, April was played by Paige Turco. In the second movie, she provided the Turtles and Splinter with a place to stay after the destruction of their lair in the previous film, subsequently helping them research the company that created the ooze that transformed the Turtles into their present state. In TMNT III, April was temporarily transported to feudal Japan, forcing the Turtles to travel back in time to rescue her.^[2][3]

[edit] TMNT: Coming Out of Their Shells

April also made a live-action appearance in the TMNT: Coming Out of Their Shells musical tour, during which her role was to incite the live audience to interact with the stage performers and encourage the Turtles when needed. She was played by Sherie Rene Scott.

[edit] TMNT (2007 film)

April appears in the 2007 film voiced by Sarah Michelle Gellar; following the continuity from the previous films, it appears that she and Casey Jones are living and working together in a shipping firm, engaged in a relationship. It is she who finds Leonardo in Central America at the start of the film, having been in the area seeking an artifact for Max Winters. No mention is made of her past as a journalist, but it is instead implied that she has taken up archaeology as a career.

She has taken up martial arts training from Splinter, purchasing a suit and armor from Japan and becoming skilled in the use of katana, apparently leaving behind her past as a 'damsel in distress'. This is demonstrated as April and Karai fight it out while Casey, Splinter and the turtles battle the Foot in order to save Leonardo. This appears to be corroborated in a collectible booklet packed in with her action figure for the film, which implies that she has become a master of the katana. The figure itself includes a katana, tonfa, and two shoulder armor pads; this outfit would be replicated for the film. It is also noted that in the beginning of the film, she wears something similar to Lara Croft's normal outfit.

Animated series (2003–2009)[link]

April got a costume change for the new incarnation of the animated series produced by 4Kids Entertainment, but her role was similar to that of the Mirage Comics character. Again, she served as an assistant to Baxter Stockman until his Mouser experiments got out of control, and after the Turtles saved her, she became a faithful friend, ally, and "big sister" to them. April makes much more use of her scientific expertise and she often uses her computer skills to aid the Turtles. This has also meant that she has developed a closer relationship to Donatello, who shares many of her interests. In TMNT: Back to the Sewer she sometimes helps Don in collecting Splinter's data bits. April is also shown to have an attraction to Casey Jones, though their contrasting personalities often make them bicker. By the third season, the two are shown to be dating and seem to have a serious relationship. In Back to the Sewer she and Casey get married. April also has developed a modest knowledge of combat skills after training with Splinter. She is also a strong boxer. In this series, she rarely plays the helpless damsel-in-distress role, and her quick thinking is often a key to the Turtles' survival. In the series TMNT: Back to the Sewers, her look is slightly changed to resemble the 2007 movie. She is voiced by Veronica Taylor.

Animated series (2012)[link]

April will be voiced by Mae Whitman in this new series.

Video games[link]

April has appeared in most of the TMNT video games, usually as the damsel in distress who has been captured by the Shredder. In TMNT IV: Turtles in Time for SNES, she kicks the story off with a brief report where Krang steals the Statue of Liberty and appears onscreen in the SNES version to encourage the Turtles to fight when the player characters are idle. She also appears as a playable character in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters for Sega Genesis, where her game character bears no resemblance to the 1987 cartoon likeness.

In Konami's series of TMNT games based on the 2003 animated series, April resembles her cartoon counterpart. Like in the new show, she is no longer a mere damsel-in-distress but often shows up in various cutscenes to give advice and advance the plot of the game. In TMNT: Mutant Melee, April is once again a playable character and participates in multi-player battles. April is a playable character in Ubisoft's TMNT: Smash-Up.

Action figures[link]

In the TMNT toy lines produced by Playmates Toys, April O'Neil has appeared in several action figure incarnations. The first of these had a limited production run, notable for the lack of a blue stripe running along the side of her jumpsuit, and is considered valuable to collectors. The more common yellow-striped version quickly replaced it and had much greater circulation. (One item of note is that the badge above her breast pocket that read "PRESS" was removed after Playmates became concerned that children would interpret the text as directions for a gimmick and expect a reaction after following those instructions.) An alternate version of April was released in 1990, with a different head sculpt (closer to her cartoon incarnation) and orange boots and details was a further modification made to the original figure. Another April variation was released in 1993 packaged exclusively with the Channel 6 Newsvan vehicle, this April had the same sculpt of the '90 release although her jumpsuit is green and the boots yellow. At one stage, a 13" version was slated for production to accompany the other similar-sized figures, but was never produced. Other notable April figures include the 1992 version, dubbed simply "April," with purple accents on her jumpsuit; "April, the Ravishing Reporter," which was the first such figure to feature rooted hair; "April, the Ninja Newscaster," who came with one of each of the Turtles' signature weapons; and "Mutatin' April," part of the Mutations assortment in which April could transform into a humanoid cat (inspired by the original series episode "The Cat Woman from Channel Six").

For the new TV series, Playmates introduced two April figures, a standard sized April with bonus Mouser robots and a miniature April. There was also an April figure based on her appearance in the CGI TMNT movie, wearing her yellow ninja outfit. NECA is also stated to release an April figure based on her original Mirage comics appearance.

References[link]

External links[link]

	Comics portal
	Biography portal

• April's profile on Official TMNT website

This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (February 2008)

Jeanne Nicole "Nikki" Griffin (born April 16, 1978) is an American actress.

Life and career[link]

Though Griffin was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi, several years of her childhood were spent living in Germany. She came back to the United States at 8 years old and went on to attend high school at New Hanover High School in Wilmington, North Carolina.

In high school, Griffin developed a love for films. She took a film class at her high school, where she was taught by Marc Matney (who is known for his voice-over work in foreign films). After she graduated from high school, Griffin moved out to Los Angeles to try and make it in the entertainment business. She landed her first acting role on television's Dawson's Creek in 2000, and a larger role, also in 2000, in a part of the TV movie Darktales.

After a string of small roles in television and movies, Griffin landed a recurring guest-starring role on FOX's The O.C., in 2005, and then briefly in 2006. On The O.C. Griffin played party girl and drug addict Jess Sather, also known as 'Floater Girl'. In the summer of 2005, she played Katie Johnson in The Dukes of Hazzard, as the sexy college girl that caught the eye of cousins Bo and Luke Duke.

Griffin also had a very small role in the movie, The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, among some other, smaller films in 2006. In 2009, she played Lauren in The Tribe.

Filmography[link]

• Dawson's Creek .... Extra (1 episode)
• Darktales (2000) (TV) .... Liz
• Summer Catch (2001) (uncredited) .... Melissa
• Dr. Vegas .... Girl Gone Wild (1 episode)
• Jack & Bobby .... Cheerleader #1 (1 episode)
• Wild Things: Diamonds in the Rough (2005) (TV) .... Risa
• Eyes .... Alison Guralnick (1 episode)
• The Dukes of Hazzard (2005) .... Katie Johnson
• Secrets of a Small Town .... Christine (1 episode)
• The O.C. .... Jess Sathers (7 episodes)
• The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006) .... Cindy
• Monster Night (2006) .... Jessica
• Bar Starz (2006) .... Pennie
• How I Met Your Mother (2007) .... Lindsay (1 Episode)
• Deep In The Valley (2009) .... Babysitter 2
• The Forgotten Ones (2009) .... Lauren
• H2O Extreme (2009) .... Ashley (Main Role)
• The Penthouse (2010 film) (2010) .... Lexi

External links[link]

• Nikki Griffin at the Internet Movie Database
• Nikki Griffin Fan (fansite)
• Biography at Pop Star Plus
• Nikki Griffin Photos

This article about a United States film actor or actress born in the 1970s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

This article about an American television actor or actress born in the 1970s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Neil Denis (born July 13, 1987) is a Canadian actor. He is known for his role as Rya'c, son of Teal'c, a Jaffa in Stargate SG-1. His first appearance was in University Hospital in 1995 at the age of 8. He also appeared in the Canadian television series 2030 CE. He has provided the voice for Spyke in X-Men: Evolution. He is known for his portrayal of Jose Merel in A Girl Like Me: The Gwen Araujo Story.

Early life[link]

Neil was born in the Nairobi, Kenya. Then, he moved to Vancouver, British Columbia.

Filmography[link]

• Beyond Loch Ness (2008) (TV) Chad
• Alice, I Think Abelard (2 episodes, 2006)
• The Dead Zone Teenage Clerk (1 episode, 2006)
• A Girl Like Me: The Gwen Araujo Story (2006) (TV) Jose Merel
• Fetching Cody (2005) Sudden
• Stargate SG-1 Rya'c (6 episodes, 1997–2004)
• The Life (2004) (TV) Student #2
• Zolar (2004) (TV) Hanson
• Romeo! Stash (1 episode, 2004)
• X-Men: Evolution Spyke/Evan Daniels (18 episodes, 2000–2003)
• 2030 CE Robby Drake (7 episodes, 2002–2003)
• Living with the Dead (2002) (TV) Dennis Branston
• Tribe of Joseph (2002) Phillipe
• Freedom (1 episode, 2000)
• Frankie & Hazel (2000) (TV) Abdul, Pup
• First Wave (2000) Skater (1 episode, 2000)
• Out of Time (2000) (TV) Sean
• Seven Days Morgan (1 episode, 2000)
• Spooky House (2000) 2nd Audience Child
• Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century (1999) (TV) Leo
• Big and Hairy (1998) (TV) Kid
• Max Q (1998) (TV) Michael Daniels
• The Inspectors (1998) (TV) Will
• Golf Punks (1998) Thork
• Dead Man's Gun Arthur John (1 episode, 1998)
• Goosebumps Todd Erikson (3 episodes, 1998)
• RoboCop: Alpha Commando (1998) Additional Voices (unknown episodes)
• The Sentinel Carjacker Kid #1 (1 episode, 1997)
• A Call to Remember (1997) (TV) George Hicks
• The X-Files The Catcher (1 episode, 1996)
• University Hospital Danny (1 episode, 1995)

External links[link]

• Neil Denis at the Internet Movie Database

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (May 2010)

The Basics
The Basics at the Oxford Art Factory, 2010
Background information
Origin	Melbourne, Australia
Genres	Rock
Years active	2002–present
Labels	Independent, Albert Records
Associated acts	Gotye, Down Hills Home, Dog With Wheels, Blood Red Bird
Website	The Basics Official Website
Members
Wally De Backer Kris Schroeder Tim Heath
Past members
Michael Hubbard
Notable instruments
Lead guitar, drums, bass guitar.

The Basics ( /ˈbæzɪtʃ/ BAZZ-ich) are a three-piece band from Melbourne, Australia, formed by Wally De Backer and Kris Schroeder in 2002. Their style has been described as anything from 'indie-pop' to 'rock'n'roll' to 'pop-rock', though their records show they span a wide range of genres, including reggae, ska, country, and electro-pop. They are "recognised as one of Australia's hardest-working bands".^[1]

With close to 1000 shows in their ten-year career, their live performances are well-known for their sense of humour and energy.^[2]

Formation[link]

The Basics were formed after Kris met Wally at a party in Melbourne.^[3] The event was to see off the young aspiring producer, who was about to depart for Los Angeles, and together with a number of musician friends, the two jammed on some blues-rock standards. Later that night, they bonded over a mutual love of The Beatles, 70s and 80s cartoon theme songs and old Sierra adventure games.

Initially, they played around Melbourne as an acoustic guitar/drums combo, starting at The Opposition in Frankston and the House of Fools in Footscray, where in late 2002 they met Michael Hubbard and later invited him to join them on electric guitar.^[4] Though lacking any real experience with the instrument, Kris willingly purchased his first bass guitar, and the trio was born. During this time, the group start performing songs with more complicated three-part harmony.

During late 2002 and early 2003, The Basics recorded and released an album called Get Back through MGM Distribution. They began what was to become regular tours of the East and West coasts of Australia.

2004-2005: Current lineup[link]

Tim Heath joined the group in June 2004, after Michael decided to pursue his solo career, which has included being one half of Down Hills Home.^[4] Tim was reportedly the only person to reply to an advertisement in Melbourne's Beat Magazine looking for a new guitarist. Tim apparently answered the advertisement - which said the applicant "must have a love of 50s and 60s rock'n'roll" - thinking that he would be meeting "a couple of old guys to play with on the weekends over some beers". They soon recorded For Girls Like You.

The Basics in 2005 continued to tour and play small festivals, and after releasing For Girls Like You through MGM Distribution, they departed for a national tour of Australia, which lasted for two months and took them to every Australian state and territory. Stuart Padbury, a young Melbourne sound engineer, joined them on much of this tour. On returning, the band began demonstrating songs for a new album.

2006-2009: Touring and soundtracks[link]

In 2006, The Basics began recording what was to become known as Stand Out/Fit In. Taking several months, it was not completed until the end of the year, despite intentions to have it released in June. Instead, they held a successful 'album preview', where each of the tracks was demonstrated in 'rough form' accompanied by a music video for each (produced by Melbourne photographic artist James Bryans). The band also talked about the origins of the songs. This event brought a lot of attention to the band for the idea's originality. They pre-released a radio single 'Just Hold On' from the album. The band were invited to play the hugely popular Homebake Festival in Sydney, where they received a great response, after being introduced onto the stage by a short stocky Asian guy with big calves ("one of the highlights" wrote The Daily Telegraph).

In 2007, the band departed on a tri-state residency which saw them play Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane every week for the month of April - a bold move which brought further attention to the band for its original idea.^[5] Riding on the wave of this tour, Schroeder, De Backer and Heath departed on their first overseas tour which saw them performing 26 shows around Japan, Norway and the United Kingdom.^[6] They also toured twice more up the East Coast, one of which was with popular Japanese band The Bawdies. Their song 'Rattle My Chain' was used in a series of commercials for Volvo Australia. The song 'Hey There!' featured in the British film The Bank Job - starring Jason Statham - and was used as the backing for a February 2007 short film directed by Tim Longhurst called The Rip. Their song 'Better' was featured in a surfing documentary about the invention of the shortboard in 1967.

In 2008, the band appeared on Australia's Channel 9 for Australia Day celebrations, performing two of their songs - 'Just Hold On' and 'Hey There!' - to an estimated audience of 2 million. Securing an Australian Government grant, they embarked on a two-month tour of Australia, specifically targeting "culturally underprivileged groups" in rural and regional schoolchildren and Indigenous communities. The programme had them holding masterclasses and performing alongside Indigenous groups in the remote Northern Territory and Queensland.^[7][8] Their initiative also had them raising money for the charity Lifeline^{[disambiguation needed ]}, their contribution to which was recognised with a plaque at the end of the tour. Season two of Californication starring David Duchovny featured their cover of the classic 'Have Love, Will Travel', most famously covered by 'The Sonics'.

In 2009, The Basics for the first time enjoyed the support of Australian radio network Triple J, which had reportedly snubbed the band's previous material.^[9] The singles 'With This Ship' and 'Like A Brother' were added to the station's playlist, and momentum carried The Basics overseas for a second tour of the United Kingdom and Norway, and also a series of shows in Dublin, Ireland. They were joined by the longtime front-of-house engineer Stuart Padbury, who had been mixing them since 2005. The band was often seen in the Grafton Street Mall in Dublin, busking to promote their concerts there. Their second show in Oslo, Norway, saw the band perform with Hot Tub, one of the members of the Norwegian boy band "Boyzvoice", in his first performance for several years. Season Eight of Scrubs featured the song 'Lookin' Over My Shoulder'.

Despite all this promise, the band's album Keep Your Friends Close - produced and part-recorded by Peter Cobbin at London's Abbey Road Studios - though enjoying many favourable reviews,^{[10][11][12][13]} failed to impress Richard Kingsmill, music director of Triple J. This effectively ended the band's apparent upward spiral and the resulting album launch tour was reportedly "trying".

2010: Hiatus and live album[link]

In 2010, following the band's fourth stint at the Tamworth Country Music Festival, and the recording of a yet-unreleased live album, an indefinite hiatus was announced on the band's websites. This was in part due to the impending release of a new album produced by Wally for his Gotye project, and also to reported tensions within the band following the previous year's disappointments.

However, this hiatus was soon broken with a two-month residency at the Northcote Social Club in Melbourne, which saw an apparent return to form.^[14] The band's EP "Wait For You" enjoys airplay on Triple J.^[15] The Basics also played a one-off show at Sydney's Oxford Art Factory.^[16]

On 20 August 2010, The Basics released their fourth LP /ðəˈbæzɪtʃ/, available free and exclusively from their website for digital download^[17]. The band had reportedly moved to expand their listenership through this free giveaway, though 300 "Deluxe" CD/vinyl versions have been printed. /ðəˈbæzɪtʃ/ was recorded at the Northcote Social Club on 6 February, "in front of a live studio audience", and like the previous record, was mixed by Peter Cobbin at Abbey Road Studios. Technically a self-titled album, the phonetics spell out the accurate pronunciation of the band’s name. Kris Schroeder: "For years we’ve worked at bringing our live energy into the studio and thus far it’s been a bit hit-and-miss. Our trick this time was to pull a switcheroo and bring the studio to us instead; the result is the best and closest to us we’ve sounded yet."

Melbourne thespian and Dog With Wheels bassist David Bramble - friends with Heath from university days - has occasionally joined the band on tour, playing keys, often while sporting a large moustache. Other guests have included Jake Mason (saxophone), also of Cookin' on 3 Burners and The Bamboos^{[disambiguation needed ]}, Gideon Brazil (saxophone, flute), Simon Imrei (guitar and vocals) and Monty MacKenzie (saxophone).

Covers have often made an appearance from various sources: to date, some of the bands covered have been Cream, The Kinks, The Rolling Stones, The Police, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, New Kids on the Block, Richard Berry, Sonny Curtis and The Crickets, JJ Cale, Harry Nilsson, Bill Scott, Ryan Adams and The Coasters (via The Beatles for their cover of Three Cool Cats).

Members[link]

Current

• Wally De Backer - drums, vocals (2002-present)
• Kris Schroeder - bass, vocals (2002-present)
• Tim Heath - guitar, vocals (2004-present)

Former

• Michael Hubbard - guitar, vocals (2002-2004)

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

• Get Back (15 January 2004)
• Stand Out/Fit In (5 May 2007)
• Keep Your Friends Close (25 September 2009)
• /ðəˈbæzɪtʃ/ (20 August 2010)

EP[link]

• For Girls Like You (11 July 2005)
• Lookin' Over My Shoulder (10 February 2007)
• Like A Brother (5 June 2009)
• Wait For You (21 May 2010)

Singles[link]

• Call It Rhythm & Blues (20 August 2004)
• Just Hold On
• With This Ship (22 February 2009)

Upcoming projects[link]

The band is taking a three year hiatus, with an announced return to the stage together in early 2014. Wally De Backer launched Making Mirrors under his Gotye act in August 2011, Tim Heath will be touring and recording with Blood Red Bird, and Kris Schroeder recorded a solo EP titled, Patience in the Face of Control, before leaving Australia to work with the Red Cross in Kenya for a two year sabbatical.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official Website
• Myspace Website