Def FX
Encyclopedia
Def FX was an Australia
n industrial
-dance
-rock
group, formed in Sydney
. The core of the group was keyboardist and vocalist Sean Lowry
(also a visual artist & writer) and vocalist Fiona Horne
(a famous Wicca
n and environmentalist).
Top 50 ARIA
hit "Psychoactive Summer" is exemplary of Def FX's music, combining elements of electronica
and heavy-metal
instrumentations and grunge
vocals. Their music throughout their career can be described as a fusion of elements of psychedelia, industrial, grunge
, electronica
, and heavy metal
, and in their early days, even reggae
and disco
. In fluctating degrees their sound has similarities to that of Pink Floyd
, Skinny Puppy
, Cliff Burton
-era Metallica
, Soundgarden
, Jesus Jones
, The Prodigy
, INXS
, Garbage
, Rammstein
, 1990s Wollongong grunge band Tumbleweed
, Marilyn Manson
, and current hit-makers Evanescence
.
ist Blake Gardner, bass
ist Martyn Basha, and Larry Van Kriedt
on saxophone
and programming respectively, the band released their first EP Water in 1990. The release featured the song "Surfers of the Mind", the band's first music video
. Their first album Light Speed Collision was released in 1992 (first as a vinyl-only release on the Phantom Records
label, followed by CD in 1992 through EMI
) and featured a cover both parodying and paying tribute to that of Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon
, with the title track also decidedly Floydesque. The album also featured supplementary vocals by New Zealand
singer Margaret Urlich
. For its release in the United States the band were forced to use the artist name "Definition FX" to avoid any confusion with US band Das EFX
.
The next album Baptism, released in 1993, was a compilation of the EPs "Water", "Surge" and "Blink" as well as the 12-inch "Surfers of the Mind" single. It also featured the single "Make Your Stash", which is apparently so rare that Horne had no idea of its existence when presented it for autographing by a dedicated Def FX fan. The single was rather atypical of Def FX, in that it had no cover art and no B-sides, which had characterised their EPs. The band usually preferred to make each release, be it album or EP, a conceptual work that made full use of the compact disc
format that had recently come into commercial prominence.
Weeks before the band's second tour of the United States, guitarist Gardner left the band to be replaced by Dave Stein. By the end of 1993, Martyn Basha also departed, replaced by long-time member Larry Van Kriedt.
Ritual Eternal (1995) was a more experimental album, featuring some tracks without the standard guitars, and others featuring Charlie McMahon
playing the didgeridoo
, with whom Def FX also toured. Recorded and produced almost entirely by Sean Lowry, following the cancellation of their contract with EMI, this album also introduced new bassist, Peter Tasker
, who was forced out of the band months later for his unprofessional behaviour. His replacement was Sean Fonti, formerly of Sydney act Caligula
.
1996 saw the release of Majick the band's most techno/metal sounding album. It spawned four singles, and became the band's only certified release, going gold in 1997. The band dissolved in May of that year, as Lowry had a plan to end the project. The split was announced by Horne on ABCTV's Saturday morning youth variety show Recovery
, many believed this to be premature as the band was still very successful. It was coincidentally during the same news segment as seminal Seattle grunge act Soundgarden
's demise was also made public.
and a solo single "Let's Go Out Tonight" before subsequently become a successful author, writing no less than 11 books, including two autobiographies and guides to the various Wicca rituals she practices. See her bibliography here.
She is also a known actor in reality television as both host and contestant; and regularly appears on the Hamish and Andy radio programme.
In March 2007 Horne released her first solo CD Witch Web, based on her spiritual practice.
Sean Lowry completed his Ph.D
in 2003 at the University of Sydney
. Lowry is now an academic, writer & visual artist.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n industrial
Industrial rock
Industrial rock is a musical genre that fuses industrial music and specific rock subgenres. Industrial rock spawned industrial metal, with which it is often confused...
-dance
Electronic dance music
Electronic dance music is electronic music produced primarily for the purposes of use within a nightclub setting, or in an environment that is centered upon dance-based entertainment...
-rock
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
group, formed in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
. The core of the group was keyboardist and vocalist Sean Lowry
Seán Lowry
Seán Lowry is an Irish retired sportsperson. He played Gaelic football with his local club Ferbane and was a member of the Offaly senior inter-county team from 1972 until 1983. He later went on to play for Mayo and won a Connacht Championships medal.-References:...
(also a visual artist & writer) and vocalist Fiona Horne
Fiona Horne
Fiona Horne is an Australian singer, rock musician, radio and television personality, actress and author. She is famous for her public promotion of Witchcraft and as the singer in Australian band Def FX...
(a famous Wicca
Wicca
Wicca , is a modern Pagan religious movement. Developing in England in the first half of the 20th century, Wicca was popularised in the 1950s and early 1960s by a Wiccan High Priest named Gerald Gardner, who at the time called it the "witch cult" and "witchcraft," and its adherents "the Wica."...
n and environmentalist).
Top 50 ARIA
Australian Recording Industry Association
The Australian Recording Industry Association is a trade group representing the Australian recording industry which was established in 1983 by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing the Association of Australian Record Manufacturers which was formed in 1956...
hit "Psychoactive Summer" is exemplary of Def FX's music, combining elements of electronica
Electronica
Electronica includes a wide range of contemporary electronic music designed for a wide range of uses, including foreground listening, some forms of dancing, and background music for other activities; however, unlike electronic dance music, it is not specifically made for dancing...
and heavy-metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
instrumentations and grunge
Grunge
Grunge is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged during the mid-1980s in the American state of Washington, particularly in the Seattle area. Inspired by hardcore punk, heavy metal, and indie rock, grunge is generally characterized by heavily distorted electric guitars, contrasting song...
vocals. Their music throughout their career can be described as a fusion of elements of psychedelia, industrial, grunge
Grunge
Grunge is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged during the mid-1980s in the American state of Washington, particularly in the Seattle area. Inspired by hardcore punk, heavy metal, and indie rock, grunge is generally characterized by heavily distorted electric guitars, contrasting song...
, electronica
Electronica
Electronica includes a wide range of contemporary electronic music designed for a wide range of uses, including foreground listening, some forms of dancing, and background music for other activities; however, unlike electronic dance music, it is not specifically made for dancing...
, and heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
, and in their early days, even reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
and disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
. In fluctating degrees their sound has similarities to that of Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
, Skinny Puppy
Skinny Puppy
Skinny Puppy is a Canadian industrial musical group, formed in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada in 1982. The group is widely considered to be the founders of the electro-industrial genre....
, Cliff Burton
Cliff Burton
Clifford Lee "Cliff" Burton was an American musician, best known as the bass guitarist for the American heavy metal band Metallica....
-era Metallica
Metallica
Metallica is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1981 when James Hetfield responded to an advertisement that drummer Lars Ulrich had posted in a local newspaper. The current line-up features long-time lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo ...
, Soundgarden
Soundgarden
Soundgarden is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington in 1984 by singer Chris Cornell, lead guitarist Kim Thayil, and bassist Hiro Yamamoto...
, Jesus Jones
Jesus Jones
Jesus Jones are a British rock band. The Wiltshire-based group, formed in late 1988, recorded and performed in the late 1980s, throughout the 1990s, and into the 2000s. They are best remembered for their track, "Right Here, Right Now", an international hit and subsequently globally appropriated for...
, The Prodigy
The Prodigy
The Prodigy are an English electronic dance music group formed by Liam Howlett in 1990 in Braintree, Essex. Along with Fatboy Slim, The Chemical Brothers, and other acts, The Prodigy have been credited as pioneers of the big beat genre, which achieved mainstream popularity in the 1990s and 2000s...
, INXS
INXS
INXS are an Australian rock band, formed as The Farriss Brothers in 1977 in Sydney, New South Wales. Mainstays are Garry Gary Beers on bass guitar, Andrew Farriss on guitar/keyboards, Jon Farriss on drums, Tim Farriss on lead guitar and Kirk Pengilly on guitar/sax...
, Garbage
Garbage (band)
Garbage are an alternative rock band formed in Madison, Wisconsin in 1994. The group consists of Scottish singer Shirley Manson and American musicians Duke Erikson , Steve Marker and Butch Vig . All four members are involved in songwriting and production...
, Rammstein
Rammstein
Rammstein is a German Neue Deutsche Härte band from Berlin, formed in 1994. The band consists of members Till Lindemann , Richard Z. Kruspe , Paul H. Landers , Oliver "Ollie" Riedel , Christoph "Doom" Schneider and Christian "Flake" Lorenz...
, 1990s Wollongong grunge band Tumbleweed
Tumbleweed (band)
Tumbleweed are a Wollongong-based rock group in Australia, popular during the grunge years of the 1990s. As an opening band for Nirvana on their 1992 tour of Australia, Tumbleweed reached out into the mainstream with their crunchy-psychedelica...
, Marilyn Manson
Marilyn Manson (band)
Marilyn Manson is an American metal band from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Formed in 1989 by Brian Warner and Scott Putesky, the group was originally named Marilyn Manson & the Spooky Kids with their uniquely theatrical performances gathering a local cult following in the early '90s. This attention...
, and current hit-makers Evanescence
Evanescence
Evanescence is an American rock band founded in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1995 by singer/pianist Amy Lee and guitarist Ben Moody. After recording private albums, the band released their first full-length album, Fallen, on Wind-up Records in 2003. Fallen sold more than 17 million copies worldwide...
.
History
With guitarGuitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
ist Blake Gardner, bass
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
ist Martyn Basha, and Larry Van Kriedt
Larry Van Kriedt
Larry Van Kriedt was the first bassist with rock band AC/DC. He was recruited at the time of the group's formation in 1973, joining Malcolm Young , Angus Young , Dave Evans and Colin Burgess...
on saxophone
Saxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
and programming respectively, the band released their first EP Water in 1990. The release featured the song "Surfers of the Mind", the band's first music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
. Their first album Light Speed Collision was released in 1992 (first as a vinyl-only release on the Phantom Records
Phantom Records
Phantom Records was an Australian independent record label established by Dare Jennings Phantom Records was an Australian independent record label established by Dare Jennings Phantom Records was an Australian independent record label established by Dare Jennings (founder of Mambo (Clothing) and...
label, followed by CD in 1992 through EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
) and featured a cover both parodying and paying tribute to that of Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon
The Dark Side of the Moon
The Dark Side of the Moon is the eighth studio album by English progressive rock band Pink Floyd, released in March 1973. It built on ideas explored in the band's earlier recordings and live shows, but lacks the extended instrumental excursions that characterised their work following the departure...
, with the title track also decidedly Floydesque. The album also featured supplementary vocals by New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
singer Margaret Urlich
Margaret urlich
Margaret Urlich is an ARIA Award-winning musician based in New South Wales. Urlich came to Sydney, Australia, in 1988 to pursue her singing career. Her debut solo album, Safety in Numbers, was highly successful winning Breakthrough Artist - Album at that years ARIA Awards, as was the follow-up...
. For its release in the United States the band were forced to use the artist name "Definition FX" to avoid any confusion with US band Das EFX
Das EFX
Das EFX is an American hip hop duo. It consists of emcees Skoob and Dray...
.
The next album Baptism, released in 1993, was a compilation of the EPs "Water", "Surge" and "Blink" as well as the 12-inch "Surfers of the Mind" single. It also featured the single "Make Your Stash", which is apparently so rare that Horne had no idea of its existence when presented it for autographing by a dedicated Def FX fan. The single was rather atypical of Def FX, in that it had no cover art and no B-sides, which had characterised their EPs. The band usually preferred to make each release, be it album or EP, a conceptual work that made full use of the compact disc
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
format that had recently come into commercial prominence.
Weeks before the band's second tour of the United States, guitarist Gardner left the band to be replaced by Dave Stein. By the end of 1993, Martyn Basha also departed, replaced by long-time member Larry Van Kriedt.
Ritual Eternal (1995) was a more experimental album, featuring some tracks without the standard guitars, and others featuring Charlie McMahon
Charlie McMahon
Charlie McMahon is an Australian didgeridoo player. The founder of the group Gondwanaland, McMahon was one of the first non-Aboriginal musicians to gain fame as a professional player of the instrument.He is also the inventor of the didjeribone, a sliding didgeridoo made from two lengths of...
playing the didgeridoo
Didgeridoo
The didgeridoo is a wind instrument developed by Indigenous Australians of northern Australia around 1,500 years ago and still in widespread usage today both in Australia and around the world. It is sometimes described as a natural wooden trumpet or "drone pipe"...
, with whom Def FX also toured. Recorded and produced almost entirely by Sean Lowry, following the cancellation of their contract with EMI, this album also introduced new bassist, Peter Tasker
Peter Tasker
Peter Tasker is a former suffragan bishop in the Anglican Diocese of Sydney and was in charge of the diocese's Georges River region.Tasker was educated at Moore Theological College and ordained in 1964. After curacies in Woollongong, Chatswood and Engadine he was Vicar of St George's Penang in...
, who was forced out of the band months later for his unprofessional behaviour. His replacement was Sean Fonti, formerly of Sydney act Caligula
Caligula (band)
Caligula were a band from Sydney, Australia, who produced techno-grunge music in the early 1990s and achieved some national success.Caligula was composed of five members: vocalist Ashley Rothschild, guitarist James McKinnon, drummer Dave Macken, Jamie Fonti , and bass guitarist Sean Fonti...
.
1996 saw the release of Majick the band's most techno/metal sounding album. It spawned four singles, and became the band's only certified release, going gold in 1997. The band dissolved in May of that year, as Lowry had a plan to end the project. The split was announced by Horne on ABCTV's Saturday morning youth variety show Recovery
Recovery (TV series)
Recovery was a music and youth interests television series broadcast by ABC TV in Australia. It was aired each Saturday morning from 9:00am to 12:00pm following Rage. It aired from 20 April 1996 to its last show on 29 April 2000...
, many believed this to be premature as the band was still very successful. It was coincidentally during the same news segment as seminal Seattle grunge act Soundgarden
Soundgarden
Soundgarden is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington in 1984 by singer Chris Cornell, lead guitarist Kim Thayil, and bassist Hiro Yamamoto...
's demise was also made public.
Post-breakup
Fiona Horne followed her stint with Def FX with musical releases 'Shut Up and Kiss Me' with Paul McDermottPaul McDermott (comedian)
Paul McDermott is an Australian comedian, actor, writer, director, singer, artist and television host. He currently hosts the satirical news-based 'Good News World' a follow up to quiz show Good News Week which airs in Australia on Network Ten...
and a solo single "Let's Go Out Tonight" before subsequently become a successful author, writing no less than 11 books, including two autobiographies and guides to the various Wicca rituals she practices. See her bibliography here.
She is also a known actor in reality television as both host and contestant; and regularly appears on the Hamish and Andy radio programme.
In March 2007 Horne released her first solo CD Witch Web, based on her spiritual practice.
Sean Lowry completed his Ph.D
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
in 2003 at the University of Sydney
University of Sydney
The University of Sydney is a public university located in Sydney, New South Wales. The main campus spreads across the suburbs of Camperdown and Darlington on the southwestern outskirts of the Sydney CBD. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and Oceania...
. Lowry is now an academic, writer & visual artist.
2012 Possible Reunion
Fiona Horne announced on her Facebook page that “a Def FX reunion tour is starting to look real… Australia September 2012…. Look out!” This message was followed by further updates including a note that revealed that Horne had spent two hours on the phone with Marty Basha, Def FX’s original bass player, speaking to him for the first time in 15 years. According to Horne “he is as sweet as ever! We’re super excited and wanna play for you again.”Discography
| Title | Album Information | Track Listing |
| Water | Released: Jun 1991 Phantom Records Phantom Records was an Australian independent record label established by Dare Jennings Phantom Records was an Australian independent record label established by Dare Jennings Phantom Records was an Australian independent record label established by Dare Jennings (founder of Mambo (Clothing) and... Industrial rock Industrial rock is a musical genre that fuses industrial music and specific rock subgenres. Industrial rock spawned industrial metal, with which it is often confused... |
|
| Surge |
Released: 1991 Phantom Records Phantom Records was an Australian independent record label established by Dare Jennings Phantom Records was an Australian independent record label established by Dare Jennings Phantom Records was an Australian independent record label established by Dare Jennings (founder of Mambo (Clothing) and... Industrial rock Industrial rock is a musical genre that fuses industrial music and specific rock subgenres. Industrial rock spawned industrial metal, with which it is often confused... |
|
| Blink | Released: 1992 Phantom Records Phantom Records was an Australian independent record label established by Dare Jennings Phantom Records was an Australian independent record label established by Dare Jennings Phantom Records was an Australian independent record label established by Dare Jennings (founder of Mambo (Clothing) and... Industrial rock Industrial rock is a musical genre that fuses industrial music and specific rock subgenres. Industrial rock spawned industrial metal, with which it is often confused... |
|
| Light Speed Collision (Aus Release) |
Released: 1992 Industrial rock Industrial rock is a musical genre that fuses industrial music and specific rock subgenres. Industrial rock spawned industrial metal, with which it is often confused... |
|
| Baptism | Released: 1993 Phantom Records Phantom Records was an Australian independent record label established by Dare Jennings Phantom Records was an Australian independent record label established by Dare Jennings Phantom Records was an Australian independent record label established by Dare Jennings (founder of Mambo (Clothing) and... Industrial rock Industrial rock is a musical genre that fuses industrial music and specific rock subgenres. Industrial rock spawned industrial metal, with which it is often confused... |
|
| Light Speed Collision (US Release) |
Released: 1993 |
|
| No Time For Nowhere | Released: 1993 Industrial rock Industrial rock is a musical genre that fuses industrial music and specific rock subgenres. Industrial rock spawned industrial metal, with which it is often confused... |
|
| Something Inside (No Time For Nowhere) | Released: 1993 Industrial rock Industrial rock is a musical genre that fuses industrial music and specific rock subgenres. Industrial rock spawned industrial metal, with which it is often confused... |
|
| Space Time Disco (Aus Release) |
Released: 1993 Industrial rock Industrial rock is a musical genre that fuses industrial music and specific rock subgenres. Industrial rock spawned industrial metal, with which it is often confused... |
Mark Picchiotti Mark Picchiotti is a club DJ, producer and songwriter based out of Chicago, Illinois.Picchiotti has been active in the dance music scene for over 20 years, establishing his reputation as a house, electronica and pop music DJ at Chicago clubs such as Shelter and Crobar. He has remixed songs by a... , Teri Bristol |
| Space Time Disco (Us Release) |
Released: 1993 Industrial rock Industrial rock is a musical genre that fuses industrial music and specific rock subgenres. Industrial rock spawned industrial metal, with which it is often confused... |
|
| Make Your Stash |
Released: 1993 Industrial rock Industrial rock is a musical genre that fuses industrial music and specific rock subgenres. Industrial rock spawned industrial metal, with which it is often confused... |
|
| Post Moronic | Released: 1994 Industrial rock Industrial rock is a musical genre that fuses industrial music and specific rock subgenres. Industrial rock spawned industrial metal, with which it is often confused... |
|
| Kill the Real Girls | Released: 1995 Industrial rock Industrial rock is a musical genre that fuses industrial music and specific rock subgenres. Industrial rock spawned industrial metal, with which it is often confused... |
|
| Psychoactive Summer | Released: 1995 Industrial rock Industrial rock is a musical genre that fuses industrial music and specific rock subgenres. Industrial rock spawned industrial metal, with which it is often confused... |
|
| Ritual Eternal | Released: 1995 Industrial rock Industrial rock is a musical genre that fuses industrial music and specific rock subgenres. Industrial rock spawned industrial metal, with which it is often confused... |
|
| Deja Vu / Headfuck | Released: 1996 Industrial rock Industrial rock is a musical genre that fuses industrial music and specific rock subgenres. Industrial rock spawned industrial metal, with which it is often confused... |
|
| I'll Be Your Majick | Released: 1996 Industrial rock Industrial rock is a musical genre that fuses industrial music and specific rock subgenres. Industrial rock spawned industrial metal, with which it is often confused... |
|
| Majick | Released: 1996 Industrial rock Industrial rock is a musical genre that fuses industrial music and specific rock subgenres. Industrial rock spawned industrial metal, with which it is often confused... |
|
| Spell On You | Released: 1996 Industrial rock Industrial rock is a musical genre that fuses industrial music and specific rock subgenres. Industrial rock spawned industrial metal, with which it is often confused... |
External links
- Fiona Horne's official website
- Def FX at DiscogsDiscogsDiscogs, short for discographies, is a website and database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. The Discogs servers, currently hosted under the domain name discogs.com, are owned by Zink Media, Inc., and are...
- Fiona Horne interview at WickedInfo.com
- http://www.seanlowry.com