by request
Artist Biography
by Ed Nimmervoll
Australian punk/grunge/funk band Grinspoon
hail from the North Coast of the State of New South Wales, an area
noted for attracting an alternate lifestyle community to its rural
seaside setting. Guitarist Pat Davern
and bassist Joe Hansen met vocalist Phil Jamieson and drummer Kris
Hopes in 1995 on jam night at the main hotel in Lismore, the major town
in the area. They decided to form a band specifically to enter a
national competition looking to unearth new music. The contest was the
first of its kind being run by the government-funded national youth
radio network, Triple J. They won the competition with "Sickfest," the
first song the band had ever written. The name Grinspoon comes from pro- marijuana activist Dr. Lester Grinspoon.
On the back of their Triple J success Grinspoon
began touring and recorded a self financed five track CD "Licker Bottle
Cozy" in July 1996. They were then signed to MCA 's Australian
subsidiary Grunge, recording another EP before the September 97 release
of the band's first album Guide To Better Living,
named after a Sunbeam booklet of whitegoods from the 60's. They
insisted on recording their album locally in Byron Bay rather than
heading for a big city studio. The album reached #3, spent 26 weeks on
the national charts, achieved double platinum status, and generating a
number of hit singles. After extensively supporting the American release
of Guide To Better Living with live performances, the band re-entered the studios in Sydney with expatriate American producer Jonathan Burnside (Nirvana, Melvins) to record the second album Easy, released in November 1999.
The group's style is variously described as Helmet meets Bush, or going from Helter Skelter type Beatles and Radio Birdman, to Fugazi and Ween.
Tracklist
| 1 |
More Than You Are |
2:25
|
| 2 |
Sickfest |
3:16
|
| 3 |
Save Me |
3:39
|
| 4 |
Let It Go |
3:22
|
| 5.1 |
Point Of View |
9:02
|
| 5.2 |
Dr. Grinspoon |
