Australian indie rock is part of the overall flow of Australian rock history but has a distinct history somewhat separate from mainstream rock in Australia, largely from the end of the punk rock era onwards.
Magic Dirt is an Australian rock band, which formed in 1991 in Geelong, Victoria, with Daniel Herring on guitar, Adam Robertson on drums, Adalita Srsen on vocals and guitar, and Dean Turner on bass guitar. Initially forming an alternative underground band called Deer Bubbles which split and formed into the much heavier, rock based group called The Jim Jims, they were renamed as Magic Dirt. Their top 40 releases on the ARIA Albums Chart are Friends in Danger (1996), What Are Rock Stars Doing Today (2000), Tough Love (2003) and Snow White (2005). They have received nine ARIA Music Award nominations including four at the ARIA Music Awards of 1995 for Life Was Better – their second extended play. Turner died in August 2009 of dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans. From 2010 to November 2018, the band were on hiatus.
Rock music in Australia, also known as Oz rock, Australian rock and Aussie rock, has a rich history, rooted in an appreciation of various rock genres originating in the United States and Britain, and to a lesser extent, in continental Europe and Africa. Australian rock has also contributed to the development of some of these genres, as well as having its own unique Australiana sound with pub rock and its indigenous music.
Ollie Olsen is an Australian multi-instrumentalist, composer and sound designer. He has performed, recorded and produced rock, electronic and experimental music since the mid-1970s. His post punk groups included Whirlywirld (1978–80), Orchestra of Skin and Bone (1984–86) and No (1987–89). Olsen joined with Michael Hutchence to form a short-term band, Max Q, which issued an album in 1989. He co-founded the alternative electronic music record label Psy-Harmonics with Andrew Till in 1993. In 2014 he formed Taipan Tiger Girls.
The Little Band scene was an experimental post-punk scene which flourished in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia from late 1978 until early 1981. Instigated by groups Primitive Calculators and Whirlywhirld, this scene was concentrated in the inner suburbs of Fitzroy and St Kilda, and involved large numbers of short-lived bands, more concerned with artistic expression than commercial success. Frequently changing names, swapping members and sharing equipment, the bands played in small inner-city venues, often pubs, and their music was recorded live and broadcast by radio announcer Alan Bamford on community station 3RRR. In the scene, the distinctions between performers and audience were blurred; many audience members were either in little bands or ended up forming such.
The Moodists were an Australian post-punk band. They were formed in late 1980 by Dave Graney on lead vocals, Clare Moore on drums and Steve Miller on guitar, all from punk group the Sputniks. They added bass guitarist Chris Walsh in early 1981, and in April 1983 added guitarist Mick Turner. They issued their sole studio album, Thirsty's Calling, in April 1984. Turner left in January 1985 and the group disbanded in 1987.
Rowland Stuart Howard was an Australian rock musician, guitarist and songwriter, best known for his work with the post-punk group The Birthday Party and his subsequent solo career.
God were an Australian punk rock band formed in 1986 by Sean Greenway on guitar and vocals; Tim Hemensley on bass guitar, drums and vocals; Joel Silbersher on guitar and vocals; and Matthew Whittle on bass guitar, drums and vocals. All four were 15-16 at the time. Their signature song, "My Pal", was released as their debut single in January 1988. Their sole studio album, For Lovers Only, appeared in December 1989 after the group disbanded. Sean Greenway died of a heroin overdose on 21 January 2001, aged 30. Tim Hemensley also died of a heroin overdose, on 21 July 2003, aged 31. Whittle curated their 2× CD compilation album, GOD, in February 2010.
The Meanies are an Australian punk rock band formed in 1988 by D.D. Meanie on lead guitar, Link Meanie on vocals and guitar, Ringo Meanie on drums, and VB Meanie on bass guitar and vocals. As from September 2015 the line-up is Link, Ringo and Wally Meanie on bass guitar and backing vocals. The Meanies had a hiatus from 1996 to 2006.
In-Fidelity Recordings is a record label founded in September 2002 by Bruce Milne and Steven Stavrakis.
Australian heavy metal music has its roots in both the Australian hard rock and pub rock tradition of the 1970s and the American and British heavy metal scenes. Since the mid-1980s, Australian heavy metal has been particularly influenced by foreign bands, particularly Swedish death metal, American thrash metal and black metal from Norway. Within Australia heavy metal has always remained part of the underground but since the mid-1990s many Australian metal acts have found widespread acceptance in overseas markets, particularly in Europe.
The Strangers were an Australian rock band, which existed from 1961 to 1975. The band started out playing instrumental songs in a style similar to the Shadows, with influences from Cliff Richard. The original line-up was Laurie Arthur, Peter Robinson, Graeme "Garth" Thompson (drums) and Fred Wieland. Robinson had previously played with fellow local band the Thunderbirds and went on to replace Athol Guy in the Seekers from the late 1970s.
Peter von Poehl is a Swedish singer-songwriter, composer, musician and director
Signs of Satanic Youth is the debut extended play by Australian rock band Magic Dirt. It was released in November 1993 on the Melbourne-based, independent label Au Go Go Records.
Life Was Better is the second extended play release by Australian rock band Magic Dirt. It was released in November 1994 on the Melbourne independent label Au Go Go Records. The EP originally peaked at number 71 on the Australian singles chart, selling over 20,000 copies.
"Shivers" is a song by the Australian post-punk band the Boys Next Door, who would later become the Birthday Party. It is the tenth and final track from the band's debut studio album Door, Door, released in 1979 on Mushroom Records. It was released as the album's only single in May 1979, backed with the B-side "Dive Position".
Fast Forward was a cassette magazine documenting post-punk music in the early 1980s. It was edited in Melbourne, Australia, by Bruce Milne and Andrew Maine, with graphic design by Michael Trudgeon. The cassettes interspersed interviews with music and were packaged with printed artwork and distributed in record shops around Australia and abroad. Thirteen issues were produced between November 1980 and October 1982.
Bruce Milne is a prominent figure in the Australian music industry, a long-standing member of the grass-roots Melbourne music community who, after getting his start publishing a punk fanzine in the late 1970s, has done practically everything since – been a writer, radio presenter, DJ, run record shops, book shops and record labels, run bars and venues, and worked in A&R and as a tour promoter.
Young Charlatans were a briefly existing Australian punk rock band comprising Janine Hall on bass guitar, Jeffrey Wegener on drums, Ollie Olsen on vocals and guitar and Rowland S. Howard on guitar. They formed in 1977 and disbanded in the following year.
Fellaheen Records was an Australian record label run by Steven Stavrakis and Stephen Pavlovic.
