25-07-04 10:29 H-Block 101 Workers Wage By MIKE We're not doing anything new - so fucken what!? 1993 - all I see around me is grungy, heavy metal crap. No one cares about decent songs or pure energy - all they want is for it to be heavy, man... and to smoke some dope - OK, taking it a bit too far... but it all seemed pretty apathetic to me. Was I wrong... who knows? Key points * 1993 - 1995 Looking for members - no one is interested in anything vaguely 1977 in spirit. * Dec 1994 - Band forms as 3 piece * mid 1995 - 2nd guitarist added * late 1995 - 1st album 'New Inventions' released * early 1996 - Jason Mahony replaced on bass by Brent Millhouse * mid 1996 - Dave Culliford leaves unexpectedly * - rest of band forms 'Sub-Standards' to fill in time * Oct 1996 - Joe Piripitsi joins on drums * Nov 1996 - 'A Voice In The Crowd' ep released * Dec 1996 - Tour New Zealand with Smut * mid 1997 - 2nd album 'No Room For Apathy' released * mid 1998 - Matt Bodiam replaces Joe Piripitsi on drums * - 'Synergy' ep released * march 2000 - 'Koka-Kolonisation' single released The way to start a band in Melbourne when you don't know anyone is to put some ads up in Missing Link or Au Go Go, so... I put some ads up in Missing Link and Au Go Go looking for people to start a ≥Clash/Damned/Anti-Nowhere League sounding band≤ (thatπs what I thought my original songs sounded like the most). I listed a heap of other bands I liked as well. Applicants were few and far between. Got a call from a certain Brent Millhouse who played guitar and appreciated the fact that I was into Hanoi, Thunders, Manics and Ramones. Already had a bass player that Iπd rang from his notice in Missing Link. The three of us got together for a jam so we could work out some songs. The bass player was shit, things werenπt coming together and after one rehearsal Brent told me the music wasnπt really what he wanted to do. We remained friends though, which turned out to be fortunate. A few weeks later got a call from Dave Culliford, a drummer a few years older than me who knew just about everything there was about 77 punk. Had one rehearsal and at the end of the day when the bass player left I told Dave that Iπd give him a call when I found a real bass player - fuck that bloke was shit (sorry Aaron, but you really were). Few months later got a call from Tim out of Growing Concern. GC were calling it a day and Tim on bass and his brother Jay on drums were looking for a new band. They liked most of the bands that I liked and had supported Bastard Squad a few times, so it looked promising. Rehearsed for a few months - Londonπs Burning by the Clash plus about 10 originals. Just as we were about ready to play, Jay decides itπs not his cup of tea and leaves to join the police force! Search for a new drummer begins. Didnπt want to ring Dave because itπd been so long. He rings me in the end. I ring up Tim - got a drummer - ≥oh, I canπt be fucked, itπs taking too long≤. This was getting fucken ridiculous. By this stage I had become friends with quite a number of people in the ska scene as I had been just going up to anyone who looked like they'd be into the Clash or Sham 69 and asking if they wanted to be in a band (I thought rudies and skinheads had the right look for our punk band (this was 1994-95 when the majority of people at ska gigs were rudies and skins). Anyway, to cut a long story short - met a skinhead who needed guitar in his ska/reggae band, ≥Engine 54≤ and I joined, even if it was to fill in time. Enjoyed it alot and met some great people who helped us out later - blokes from Loin Groin, Area 7, Yeah Yeah, Living End, etc (even ended up living with a couple of them at various times during my residency at Albert St, Windsor). Played with Engine 54 for about a year. Great times, especially at the Tote! In mid 95, Dave rang me again. Letπs get this fucken band started! Put an ad for a bass player in the Age, of all places. Jason Mahoney replied and H-Block was born. First gig was at Nicholsons on a Tuesday night, 4 weeks after we formed, to 30 of our friends. Set had three originals (USA, 21 and Wasted Generation) and 8 covers (Londons Burning, Whatπs My Name - The Clash, Stranger, Boiler - 999, Drinkin about my baby - The Damned, Another Girl Another Planet - The Only Ones, Jet Boy Jet Girl (English version of Plastic Bertrandπs hit) plus one other that escapes me. Sorry to Westgarth for taking all our friends with us when we finished playing! Original H-Block101 line-up: Karl Mautner , Dave Culliford, Rick Munro, Jason Mahony Six months later I was introduced to a psychobilly - Rick Munro - who was interested in playing lead guitar for us (I always thought three piece bands were boring, plus I needed someone to cover my mistakes which were numerous). Rick made our songs sound like real songs rather than the amateur rubbish that I was coming out with. Things went well for the next twelve months. Started slow, initially only getting gigs at the Belgravia Hotel in Footscray, but gradually built up from playing once a month to once a week, thanks mainly to the Arthouse and the Tote and the demo tape ≥Jimmy Numbers≤ that we recorded on a 4 track in my lounge room. Most of our initial gigs were with ska and rockabilly bands, which was fantastic for Rick and myself, 'cause we absolutely loved that stuff. After awhile, being the token punk act wore a bit thin and we started getting gigs with hardcore punk bands. We've always appreciated the fact that bands in both scenes let us play with them. Released a 15 track CD ≥New Inventions≤ that at the time we thought was great, but looking back are bitterly disappointed with. The production is unbelievably bad, but I guess we were all excited about hearing ourselves recorded for the first time. Doing the whole thing in one weekend didnπt help I sπpose, but it was all we could afford at the time. After selling out the 500 we had manufactured, we decided not to press anymore. The recording didnπt represent what we sounded like at all. H-BLOCK101 'A Voice in the Crowd' line-up: Rick Munro, Karl Mautner, Dave Culliford, Brent Millhouse In the mean time musical and personal rifts developed between Jason and the rest of us. We played at Hell (now the HI Fi Bar) one night and Brent came along to see us with the bass player he was in a band with. I knew they had recently split up and I asked Brent if he thought his old bass player Emanuel would be interested in playing for us. He said he didnπt know, but heπd like to give it a shot. Within a week he had bought a bass and learnt about 10 songs. Fucken excellent. First gig for Brent was supporting SNFU to 1000 people at Joeys in Prahran - talk about nerve racking. Went great, though, and I think we all thought we had something here... until six months later Dave stopped turning up to reheasal. No explaination, no phone call, no nothin. Needless to say we were pissed off. Luckily we had recorded 5 songs with Dave that we would release as the $5 ≥A Voice in the Crowd≤ EP complete with Crass syle fold out cover. Joe Piripitsi had recently been kicked out of the Living End and I knew that he was one of the only drummers around that could play with the competence we needed. We approached him and he said yes. Toured New Zealand with Smut with Joe only being with us for about a month. After that we recorded ≥No Room For Apathy≤ experiementing with brass sections and keyboard. Came out OK, but mastering fucked the sound up. Oh well... Joeπs lifestyle choices were mentally taking a toll on the rest of us; he was holding us back and we were getting bitter about it, so instead of completely self destructing, we decided to get a replacement. The funny thing is, we didnπt tell him, cancelled a support slot we had with Mutiny, went to the gig anyway, and Joe didnπt even turn up. We would have been left in the lurch that time. Once again we were lucky that we had recently recorded some songs with Joe that would surface as the Synergy ep. Approached Matt Bodiam, drummer from Nihilistik View and all round thug from the Western Suburbs, to fill in for us on drums until we got a permanent replacement (another thought was Jay ex-Mid Youth Crisis). After about a month later, Matt tells us he wants the position. We made sure that the others in Nihilistik View were OK with this, but Matt basically said it was his decision. Jade went on to play in Oiska, Aaron is now married and Dave keeps the Nihilistik View flag flying with a whole new lineup. In the last 18 months weπve had a great time including playing with my favourite band as a teenager, Rose Tattoo. Met heaps of great people in Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide and Brisbane. Recorded a 22 track album that is almost ready to mix. ...and thatπs about it. Fucken long, hey. Links Related News www.hblock101.com   H-BLOCK 101 BURNING WITH THE TIMES PART.2 - Tuesday 14. of September Hblock101 - A Brief History... Forming in early 1995, HBlock101 started playing around the Melbourne pub scene and was starting to gain recognition as one of the more energetic and entertaining bands to come out of what was a seemingly dull music circuit. Playing distinctively untrendy late 70s inf... [more] By Mike, 14-09-04 12:50 Category: NEWEST VIDEO DEADLINE LAST NIGHT - Wednesday 1. of September DEADLINE It all started in London in 1999 when Liz stepped on stage during a GUNDOG show and went down a storm, her voice and presence left the crowd begging for more. She already knew how to sing, she already knew what name she wanted for her band, she just needed some reliable musicians to... [more] By Mike, 1-09-04 19:39 Category: NEWEST VIDEO H-BLOCK 101 BURNING WITH THE TIMES PART.1 - Monday 16. of August Hblock101 - A Brief History... 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Based on youth, energy, taste and a bag of tricks borrowed from 50´s rock´n´roll, 60´s garage-rock, 70´s punk rock and new wave and everything after. All this is then moduled into a sound ... [more] By Mike, 6-08-04 09:18 Category: NEWEST VIDEO H-Block 101 Truth - Saturday 31. of July We're not doing anything new - so fucken what!? 1993 - all I see around me is grungy, heavy metal crap. No one cares about decent songs or pure energy - all they want is for it to be heavy, man... and to smoke some dope - OK, taking it a bit too far... but it all seemed pretty apathetic to me.... [more] By Mike, 31-07-04 11:03 Category: NEWEST VIDEO H-Block 101 Workers Wage - Sunday 25. of July We're not doing anything new - so fucken what!? 1993 - all I see around me is grungy, heavy metal crap. No one cares about decent songs or pure energy - all they want is for it to be heavy, man... and to smoke some dope - OK, taking it a bit too far... but it all seemed pretty apathetic to me.... [more] By Mike, 25-07-04 10:29 Category: NEWEST VIDEO Johnny Cash The one on the right - Friday 23. of July Part country singer, part folk hero, Johnny Cash was one of the towering figures of American popular music. His effect on other musicians has been greater than his commercial success--and his commercial success has been huge (more than 100 top 40 country hits, plus a dozen pop hits). Johnny Cash has... [more] By Mike, 23-07-04 10:47 Category: NEWEST VIDEO H-Block 101 Group Dynamics - Thursday 15. of July We're not doing anything new - so fucken what!? 1993 - all I see around me is grungy, heavy metal crap. No one cares about decent songs or pure energy - all they want is for it to be heavy, man... and to smoke some dope - OK, taking it a bit too far... but it all seemed pretty apathetic to me.... [more] By Mike, 15-07-04 10:54 Category: NEWEST VIDEO RAY CHARLES GEORGIA ON MY MIND - Friday 2. of July Ray Charles was the musician most responsible for developing soul music. Singers like Sam Cooke and Jackie Wilson also did a great deal to pioneer the form, but Charles did even more to devise a new form of black pop by merging '50s R&B with gospel-powered vocals, adding plenty of flavor from contem... [more] By Mike, 2-07-04 09:27 Category: NEWEST VIDEO Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Next