The Bhagavad Guitars

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The Bhagavad Guitars
Also known as Inner Circle
Origin Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Genres
Years active
  • 1987 (1987)–1998 (1998)
  • 2008 (2008)–2012 (2012)
Labels
Past members
  • Jeremy Butterworth
  • Kynan Hughes
  • John Kilbey (a.k.a. John Underwood)
  • Matt Kerr
  • Adrian Workman
  • Tony Locke

The Bhagavad Guitars were an indie-rock band which formed in 1985 as Inner Circle in Canberra by Jeremy Butterworth on guitar and vocals, Kynan Hughes on bass guitar and Matt Kerr on drums and John Kilbey (under the pseudonym, John Underwood, for their first three releases to distance himself from brother Steve Kilbey and his band, the Church) on guitar and vocals. Hughes was replaced successively by Adrian Workman and then by Tony Locke. They recorded three 12 inch extended plays for Red Eye before recording a studio album, Introversion, in 1991 which was shelved due to record company disputes until July 1996. Meanwhile they issued their first album, Hypnotised, in May 1992 via Karmic Hit/Shock, and disbanded in 1998. The group reformed in 2008 to record a new album, Unfamiliar Places, released in May 2011.

Steve Kilbey British artist

Steven John Kilbey is an English-Australian singer-songwriter and bass guitarist for the rock band, The Church. He is also a music producer, poet and painter. As of October 2014, Kilbey had 750 original songs registered with Australian copyright agency Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA).

The Church (band) Australian rock band

The Church is an Australian psychedelic rock band formed in Sydney in 1980. Initially associated with new wave, neo-psychedelia and indie rock, their music later came to feature slower tempos and surreal soundscapes reminiscent of dream pop and post-rock. Glenn A. Baker has written that "From the release of the 'She Never Said' single in November 1980, this unique Sydney-originated entity has purveyed a distinctive, ethereal, psychedelic-tinged sound which has alternatively found favour and disfavor in Australia." The Los Angeles Times has described the band's music as "dense, shimmering, exquisite guitar pop".

Karmic Hit was a record label based in Sydney owned and run by Steve Kilbey of The Church. It was founded in 1993. The label featured bands and musicians such as Steve Kilbey, Snog, David Lane and Halogen.

Contents

History

The Bhagavad Guitars were formed in 1985 as Inner Circle in Canberra by Jeremy Butterworth on guitar, vocals and flute, John Underwood (a.k.a John Kilbey) on guitar and vocals, Kynan Hughes on bass guitar and Matt Kerr on drums. [1] [2] As teenagers they had played together in a band while students at Dickson College. [3] In 1987 they relocated to Sydney and renamed themselves, the new name, "was derived from a pun on the title of the Hindu book Bhagavad Gita." [1] Butterworth later reflected, "We started off seriously interested in Eastern thinking, different philosophies, meditation... etc but now we're more cynical." [4]

Dickson College secondary college in Canberra, Australia

Dickson College is a public two-year secondary college located in the Canberra suburb of Dickson, Australian Capital Territory. It was established in 1976 on the former Dickson High School campus when it closed.

In July 1988 they released their debut five-track extended play, Foreverglades, which was produced by the Church's Steve Kilbey (Underwood's older brother) for Red Eye Records. [1] [5] Its "featured track, 'Just to Be Sure' became a radio hit in Sydney." [1] [2] They followed in October with a six-track EP, Headland, where Hughes had been replaced on bass guitar by Adrian Workman. [1]

Red Eye Records (label)

Red Eye Records was an independent record label started in 1985 in the rear of the pre-existing record store of the same name in Sydney, Australia. It had two sub-labels Black Eye Records and Third Eye. In 1990 the label entered a joint venture arrangement with [Polydor Records|to expand the label’s distribution and exposure.

Red Eye compiled the two EPs , leaving off "Shrine" from Headland, into a full length album, also titled, Foreverglades, in July 1990. [1] [2] They followed with a third EP, Party, with six tracks, in October of that year. [1] [2] Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, observed, "The band's brand of spacious, chiming guitar-based pop called to mind the likes of The Crystal Set, The Church and UK band Simple Minds." [1]

Ian McFarlane is an Australian music journalist, music historian and author, whose best known publication is the Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop (1999). As a journalist he started in 1984 with Juke, a rock music newspaper. During the early 1990s he worked for Roadrunner Records while he published a music guide, The Australian New Music Record Guide Volume 1: 1976–1980 (1992). He followed with two fanzines, Freedom Train and Prehistoric Sounds, both issued during 1994 to 1996. McFarlane's The Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop is described by the Australian Music Guide as "the most exhaustive and wide-ranging encyclopedia of Australian music from the 1950s onwards". Subsequently, he was a writer for The Australian and worked for Raven Records, a reissue specialist label, preparing compilations, writing liner notes and providing research. He fulfilled a similar role at Aztec Music from 2004 to March 2012. From July 2013 he has been a contributor to Addicted to Noise, writing a column.

The group's album, Introversion, was recorded in 1991 but did not appear until July 1996 on Karmic Hit/Shock Records. [1] [2] [6] It included, "a bonus 14-minute CD EP Extraversion." [1] [7] In 1992 Kilbey formed a record label, Karmic Hit, which issued the group's single, "Hypnotise Me" in February. [1] [8] They followed with their first studio album, Hypnotised, in May 1992 with Tony Locke on bass guitar and lead vocals for two tracks, "Romeo Error" and "Accident". [1] [8]

Shock Records is an Australian independent record label.

After the Bhagavad Guitars separated, Kilbey released three solo albums, Nothing More Than Something to Wear (February 2003) as John Kilbey, Catching Some Z's (2004) as J.L.K. [9] and Good Fortunes (March 1999) by the Penny Drops. [8] [10] Kilbey was part of a band, Warp Factor 9, which released an album, 5 Days in a Photon Belt, in 1993. [2] [8]

The Bhagavad Guitars reformed in 2008 and released another album, Unfamiliar Places, in May 2011. [11] [12]

Discography

Albums

Extended plays

Singles

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References

General
Specific
  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 McFarlane, 'The Bhagavad Guitars' entry. Archived from the original on 18 July 2002. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Bhagavad Guitars related entries at the Australian Rock Database
    • Bhagavad Guitars: Holmgren, Magnus. "Bhagavad Guitars". hem.passagen.se. Australian Rock Database (Magnus Holmgren). Archived from the original on 14 May 2011. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
    • John Kilbey/John Underwood: Holmgren, Magnus. "John Kilbey/John Underwood". hem.passagen.se. Australian Rock Database (Magnus Holmgren). Archived from the original on 14 May 2011. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
    • Warp Factor 9: Holmgren, Magnus. "Warp Factor 9". hem.passagen.se. Australian Rock Database (Magnus Holmgren). Archived from the original on 21 November 2010. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  3. ↑ "Snippets: Music from the Far East – Well, Bondi". The Canberra Times . 63 (19,517). 16 March 1989. p. 22. Retrieved 19 December 2017– via National Library of Australia.
  4. ↑ Chantal & Simon (23 April 1990). "Bhagavad Guitars". Tharunka . 36 (5). New South Wales, Australia. p. 23. Retrieved 19 December 2017– via National Library of Australia.
  5. ↑ Holmes, Peter (22 September 1988). "Treats and a turkey in Coogee". Sydney Morning Herald .
  6. 1 2 Molitorisz, Sacha (20 December 1996). "Sounds Right". Sydney Morning Herald.
  7. ↑ Bhagavad Guitars (1991), Introversion, Polygram Music, retrieved 19 December 2017
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 Fulmer, Mike. "The Bhagavad Guitars" . Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  9. ↑ Molitorisz, Sacha (21 February 2003). "Independent's day". Sydney Morning Herald.
  10. ↑ Buchanan, Matt (19 March 1999). "Sounds Right". Sydney Morning Herald.
  11. ↑ Molitorisz, Sacha (26 September 2008). "Relive the glory days". Sydney Morning Herald.
  12. ↑ "Lock it in If you haven't already, it might be time to invest in a 2010 diary...". The Canberra Times. 10 December 2009.
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