Gareth Liddiard | |
|---|---|
 Liddiard performing live with The Drones at A Day on the Green, Hunter Valley, March 2013 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | Port Hedland, Western Australia, Australia |
Gareth Liddiard is an Australian musician, best known as a founding member of both The Drones and Tropical Fuck Storm. Musically active since 1997, he also released a solo album titled Strange Tourist in 2010.
Liddiard was born in Port Hedland, Western Australia. [1] [2]
His family lived in south-west London before returning to WA, where he started school in Perth. Initially his musical interest lay in jazz, and he began playing the saxophone, but he eventually found his way to rock and roll music. He started playing in bands during his high school years at Duncraig High School. As a teenager, Liddiard listened to the music of artists such as Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, Black Flag, and John Coltrane. [3]
At the age of 18, Liddiard gained employment with a concert lighting firm in Perth and remained in this role for seven years, working with festivals such as the Big Day Out and bands such as Kim Salmon and the Surrealists. Liddiard said in 2013: "Everything came together slowly and organically. It was only when Rui Pereira (high school friend) and I moved to Melbourne in 2000 that we thought of trying to make some money out of music. Before that I'd never considered the idea of being an entertainer." [4]
Liddiard was a founding member of both The Drones and Tropical Fuck Storm. [5] [6] [7]
He formed The Drones with Pereira in 1997 [8] and then relocated with the band to Victoria in 2000. [9] The Drones have released six studio albums since 2002 and have toured throughout the world, including music festivals. [10]
Liddiard released his debut solo album in 2010, Strange Tourist [11] [12] He completed corresponding tours with support from artists such as Sydney musician Loene Carmen. [13] The album earned him a nomination for a 2011 ARIA Award for Best Male Artist. [14] [15]
He has been praised as a songwriter, [16] [17] [18] [19] and The Drones song "Shark Fin Blues", penned by Liddiard and Rui Pereira, was voted by the band's contemporaries as the greatest Australian song of all time in 2009. [20] [21] [22]
Together with Pereira, who left the Drones line-up, Liddiard contributed to the production of a self-titled album by Perth band Gutterville Splendour Six in 2013. He played guitar on 14 songs, in addition to undertaking mixing and recording. All of the album's songs were recorded on an ADAT eight-track machine and the album was released as a vinyl record on Spanish record label Bang! Records. [23]
In 2021, Liddiard recorded and performed live with Jim White of the Dirty Three and Chris Abrahams of The Necks as Springtime. [24]
In collaboration with Dan Luscomble, Liddiard co-wrote the score for Warwick Thornton's 2021/2 vampire TV series, Firebite . Jim White, drummer of The Dirty Three, joined them to perform the music for the series. [25]
Liddiard has cited Dimitri Shostakovich, Igor Stravinsky, The Stooges, North African music and Olivier Messiaen as musical influences. He has named Dylan Thomas, Flann O'Brien, W. B. Yeats, Carl Sagan and Kurt Vonnegut as influences on his lyricism. [3] [26] Regarding his own lyrics, Liddiard stated in 2013: "I read but I'm not that widely read. I don't know. They're just words for songs. That's all they are. Yeah, they're sometimes funny. You've got to be funny; life's funny." [10] [4]
As of May 2019, Liddiard is a vegan and resides in the rural town of Nagambie, Victoria, Australia with Drones bassist Fiona Kitschin and two fox terriers. Prior to Nagambie, the pair lived in the rural Victorian town of Myrtleford. The Nagambie property, next to the Goulburn River, was the recording location for the 2013 Drones album I See Seaweed . Liddiard explained the location's attributes in a media interview: "It's as good as anywhere for writing, but the main thing is it's cheap, [...] There's a huge amount of room. We have a billabong, there's a swampland, a creek, we're on the river. It's nice." [10]
Liddiard was living in the same area as the Black Saturday bushfires of 2009 and subsequently obtained a 75 series Landcruiser Troop Carrier vehicle in the event of such an incident in the future. Liddiard explained in 2013 that "it's basically our ticket out of the next bushfire. In the last fires we had a 1990 Ford Falcon which wouldn't have been much use once a tree fell across the only road out of our valley." [3]
| Title | Album details |
|---|---|
| Strange Tourist |
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| Bong Odyssey: Recordings 1993-98 (with Rui Pereira) |
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| Springtime (with Springtime) |
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| Night Raver EP (with Springtime) |
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The APRA Awards are presented annually from 1982 by the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA), "honouring composers and songwriters". [29]
| Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | "A Moat You Can Stand In" by The Drones (Stephen Hesketh/ Fiona Kitchin/ Gareth Liddiard/ Dan Luscombe/ Mike Noga) | Song of the Year | Nominated | [30] |
| 2019 | "Paradise" by Tropical Fuck Storm (Erica Dunn / Gareth Liddiard / Fiona Kitchin / Lauren Hammel) | Song of the Year | Shortlisted | [31] |
The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of Australian music.
| Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Strange Tourist | Best Male Artist | Nominated |
The Australian Music Prize (the AMP) is an annual award of $30,000 given to an Australian band or solo artist in recognition of the merit of an album released during the year of award. The commenced in 2005.
| Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 [32] | Strange Tourist | Australian Music Prize | Nominated |
The Music Victoria Awards, are an annual awards night celebrating Victorian music. They commenced in 2005.
| Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Gareth Liddiard | Best Male Musician | Nominated | [33] [34] |
| 2019 | Gareth Liddiard | Best Male Musician | Nominated |
The National Live Music Awards (NLMAs) are a broad recognition of Australia's diverse live industry, celebrating the success of the Australian live scene. The awards commenced in 2016.
| Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 [35] | Gareth Liddiard | Live Guitarist of the Year | Won |
| 2018 [36] [37] | Gareth Liddiard | Live Guitarist of the Year | Won |
The Presets are an Australian electronic music duo of Julian Hamilton and Kim Moyes. Formed in 2003 and signed to Modular Records, The Presets released two EPs in advance of their debut album, Beams, released in 2005 to positive critical response. After two years of touring, including as the Australian support for Daft Punk, the band's 2008 release, Apocalypso, debuted at number one on the ARIA Albums Chart, and went on to win six awards at ARIA Awards 2008, including Album of the Year.
The Drones were an Australian rock band, formed in Perth by mainstay lead vocalist and guitarist Gareth Liddiard in 1997. Fiona Kitschin, his domestic partner, joined on bass guitar and vocals in 2002. Other long-term members include Rui Pereira on bass guitar and then lead guitar; Mike Noga on drums, vocals, harmonica and percussion; and Dan Luscombe on lead guitar, vocals and keyboards. Their second album, Wait Long by the River and the Bodies of Your Enemies Will Float By, won the inaugural Australian Music Prize. In October 2010 their third studio album, Gala Mill was listed at No. 21 in the book, 100 Best Australian Albums. Two of their albums have reached the top 20 on the ARIA Albums Chart, I See Seaweed and Feelin Kinda Free. The group went on hiatus in December 2016 with Kitschin and Liddiard forming a new group, Tropical Fuck Storm, in the following year.
Gala Mill is the third studio album by Australian band the Drones, which was released in September 2006. Recorded in an abandoned mill in Tasmania, it was their last album to feature founding member Rui Pereira and the first to feature Mike Noga on drums. The music, which makes "an epic leap beyond garage rock", adds influences from folk rock and contemporary folk music to their usual punk blues style. Gareth Liddiard's lyrics for the album are centered more on Australia's colonial and recent history, evident in tracks such as "Jezebel", "Words From The Executioner To Alexander Pearce" and "Sixteen Straws".
Wait Long by the River and the Bodies of Your Enemies Will Float By is the second album released by the Drones. Recorded "100% live", the album draws influence from the likes of Neil Young and Rowland S. Howard, though it has been described by lead singer/guitarist Gareth Liddiard himself as a punk rock album. The lyrics, penned by Liddiard deal with issues such as death, depression and alcoholism in its depiction of Australian working class life.
Adalita Srsen, known simply as Adalita, is an Australian rock musician who is a founding member of the rock band Magic Dirt and a solo artist. She released her first solo album, Adalita in 2011 and her second solo album, All Day Venus, in September 2013.
The Miller's Daughter is a compilation album released by Perth band The Drones. The album compiles outtakes from the band's first two full-length releases and their first few non-album singles.
Here Come the Lies is the debut album released by Perth band The Drones.
"Shark Fin Blues" is a double A-side single taken from Australian rockers the Drones' second studio album, Wait Long by the River and the Bodies of Your Enemies Will Float By. The single was released on 25 September 2006. It also appeared as a limited edition, 7" picture disc, together with the band's fourth album, Gala Mill.
Donald Hugh Walker is an Australian musician and songwriter who wrote many of the hits for Australian pub rock band Cold Chisel. Walker is considered to be one of Australia's best songwriters. In 2012 he was inducted into the Australian Songwriter's Hall of Fame.
I See Seaweed is the fifth studio album by Australian band The Drones, released in March 2013. The album marked the first appearance of Steve Hesketh on keyboards and the last appearance of drummer Mike Noga. Recorded by the band themselves inside a "demountable classroom from the '60s", the music on the album is more dynamic, darker and "expansive" in comparison to previous albums, while Liddiard's poetic lyrics were regarded as being more "universal" and humorous in exploring topics such as climate change, free will, conservative politics, socioeconomic issues, existentialism and the human condition in general. The song "How to See Through Fog" was released as the album's only single in early 2013.
Gang of Youths are an Australian alternative rock band, which formed in 2012. Since 2020, the group consists of David Le'aupepe on lead vocals, rhythm guitar and piano, Max Dunn on bass guitar, Jung Kim on guitar and keyboards, Donnie Borzestowski on drums and Tom Hobden on violin, rhythm guitar and keyboards. They relocated to England in 2017. Founding member Joji Malani, on lead guitar and backing vocals, left them in 2019 to return to Australia. The band's debut studio album, The Positions (2015), received multiple ARIA Award nominations and peaked at number five on the Australian albums chart. It provided the single "Magnolia", which has been described as their breakthrough hit and was certified platinum in 2018.
Julia Jacklin is an Australian singer-songwriter from the Blue Mountains region of New South Wales. Jacklin's musical style has been described as indie pop, indie folk, and alternative country. She has released three studio albums, Don't Let the Kids Win (2016), Crushing (2019) and Pre Pleasure (2022). Jacklin has also performed with the band Phantastic Ferniture, with whom she released the debut single "Fuckin 'n' Rollin" and a self-titled album in 2018, followed by subsequent singles.
Feelin Kinda Free is the sixth studio album from Australian band The Drones, and their final one before going on hiatus. Having grown tired with the more rock-oriented sound of the band up until that point, frontman Gareth Liddiard became fascinated with both vintage and modern electronic equipment - ranging from drum machines and samplers to the Teenage Engineering OP-1 synthesizer - in conceiving the album's sound. Its genre-defying musical style has been described as visceral and ominous, featuring a relative absence of guitars and a prominent use of electronic textures. Its sessions also marked the first appearance of drummer Christian Strybosch since 2005's Wait Long by the River and the Bodies of Your Enemies Will Float By.
Daniel Francis Luscombe is an Australian guitarist, producer, and composer. He has collaborated with many musicians, been a member of several bands, including The Blackeyed Susans, The Drones, and Dan Kelly and the Alpha Males, and has composed music for films and TV.
Tropical Fuck Storm are an Australian rock band and supergroup from Melbourne, Victoria, formed by Gareth Liddiard and Fiona Kitschin from The Drones. Lauren Hammel, from the band High Tension, plays drums, and Erica Dunn, from the bands Mod Con, Harmony, and Palm Springs, plays guitars, keyboards, and other instruments. Their sound is characterised by elements of art punk, noise rock and experimental rock.
A Laughing Death in Meatspace is the debut album of Melbourne-based supergroup Tropical Fuck Storm, formed by members of The Drones, Palm Springs and High Tension. The band, wishing to step away from the more rock-centric sound that The Drones were known for prior to their final pre-hiatus album Feelin Kinda Free, utilized a range of obscure digital guitar effects, synthesizers, drum machines, and DAW software such as ProTools to create the music. Finished less than eight months after their first few live performances, the speed at which the album was recorded also had a heavy influence on its idiosyncratic sound, which combines genres such as punk blues, art punk, psychedelic rock and noise rock with influences from pop and electronic music. Written by Liddiard with contributions from other members, the lyrics have been described as apocalyptic and darkly humorous; tackling subjects such as technological advancement, political polarization, socioeconomic inequality, xenophobia, culture wars and many others. The album title links a Silicon Valley slang for the physical world with the neurodegenerative disorder of kuru found in the Fore people of Papua New Guinea.
Strange Tourist is the debut studio album from The Drones and Tropical Fuck Storm frontman Gareth Liddiard. The album was recorded inside Blackburn Castle in New South Wales over the first half of 2010, and was produced with the help of Burke Reid. Its minimal, "austere" and "meandering" acoustic songs instrumentally consist entirely of Liddiard's guitar-playing, and are topped with his versatile and heavily-accented vocals. Exploring themes such as isolation, jealousy, guilt, colonialism, wartime collaborationism, radicalism and many others, its detailed, narrative-based lyrics have been characterized as "dark and grinding", and are set in various periods of time as well as locations.
Braindrops is the second studio album by Australian supergroup Tropical Fuck Storm. It was released on 23 August 2019 through Flightless Records in Australia and Joyful Noise Recordings worldwide.
Deep States is the third studio album by Australian group Tropical Fuck Storm. It was released on 20 August 2021 through Joyful Noise Recordings. Recorded during the COVID-19 pandemic, the recording process for the album was unconventional and involved heavy experimentation. The music features a range of diverse influences and has been variously labelled as art rock, noise rock and psychedelic rock. Lyrically, the album deals with the social and emotional impact of the pandemic, with many songs also diving into subjects such as conspiracy theories, social media polarization, corruption, death and occasionally even feature science fiction themes.
Springtime is the eponymous debut album from Australian supergroup Springtime, consisting of Gareth Liddiard, Chris Abrahams and Jim White. Recorded over 15 days at Liddiard's home studio in Nagambie, the largely-improvised album features lyrics from his uncle Ian Duhig, in addition to a Will Oldham cover and a reworking of a track by The Drones. It was released in Australia through TFS Records and in the US through Joyful Noise Recordings to largely positive reviews.
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