Nic Dalton
Encyclopedia
Nic Dalton is an Australia
n musician, best known as the bass guitar
ist for American band The Lemonheads
at the height of their popularity. In Australia, he runs the record label Half A Cow
, and has been a long-time member of the bands Sneeze
and Godstar with Tom Morgan, as well playing with Ratcat
and The Hummingbirds
.
, Dalton showed an interest in music in his teens, and formed an informal early band with Charlie Owen
. His early bands in Canberra were Girls With Money, Get Set Go and The Plunderers with Stevie Plunder
, which formed in Canberra but relocated to Sydney
in 1985, where they also played gigs and released records as Hippy Dribble and Captain Denim.
In 1989, Dalton founded the record label Half A Cow
, and opened an associated record and book shop in Sydney. In 1990, Robyn St. Clare, bass guitarist for The Hummingbirds
took leave from the band during her pregnancy, and Dalton filled in as the band's bassist during a tour of Australia supporting visiting American band The Lemonheads
. Lemonheads' lead singer Evan Dando
formed a friendship and musical collaboration with Dalton and his Sneeze bandmate Tom Morgan, and the results of Dando and Morgan's songwriting collaboration formed much of the Lemonheads' 1992 album It's a Shame about Ray
.
on bass and backing vocals as Dalton was unable to get to the U.S. in time for the album's recording schedule, and when Hatfield continued with her solo career, Dando asked Dalton to join the band as its bass player. Dalton agreed, despite having formed the bands Sneeze and Godstar around the same time.
Dalton played with the Lemonheads for two-and-a-half years, and played on the band's 1993 album Come on Feel the Lemonheads
. He co-wrote the song "Dawn Can't Decide" with Dando, the remaining songs on the album were written by Dando and Tom Morgan, except for the album's hit single "Into Your Arms
" which was written by Robyn St. Clare and originally appeared on the Love Positions Billiepeebup album (a collaboration between Dalton and St. Clare released in 1990).
After touring with the Lemonheads for the Come on Feel... album, Dalton left the band and returned to Australia. Dalton insisted there was no 'falling out' between him and Dando, just that he felt he had to get back to his family, friends and label in Sydney. He rehearsed with Dando and Dinosaur Jr. drummer Murph for the recording of the Car Button Cloth
album in 1996, but ultimately decided to decline Dando's offer to remain in the band.
Dalton played bass for Evan Dando during his 2003 solo tour of Australia, but fell seriously ill after one show in Melbourne. Reviews of the show noted Dalton's demenour, and reported that Dalton had been sacked and not replaced in the subsequent shows, but according to Dalton, he had suffered an undiagnosed brain hemorrhage the day before.
(near Cowra
in central west New South Wales
) with his girlfriend, writer Lucy Lehmann. He closed the Half A Cow bookshop, but continued to run the record label from the farm, while working on a second solo album. Dalton and Lehmann ended their relationship in April 2003, and Dalton continued to work on the album, setting himself a deadline of his 40th birthday for its recording. The album, titled Home of the Big Regret, was recorded between July and November 2004 with a bluegrass
band Dalton called the Gloomchasers Orchestra. Despite their breakup, Lehmann remained heavily involved with the album, having co-written several of the songs and writing the liner notes for the CD.
In 1998, Dalton played bass for Ratcat
at the Homebake
festival, at the Big Day Out
festival in 2003 and for a support slot with the Psychedelic Furs in 2006. Dalton moved back to Sydney in 2006, after a year in Melbourne, and formed a new lineup of the Gloomchasers, as well as joining lounge act the Handlebars.
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 musician, best known as the bass guitar
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
ist for American band The Lemonheads
The Lemonheads
The Lemonheads are an American alternative rock band first formed in 1986 by Evan Dando, Ben Deily and Jesse Peretz. Dando has remained the band's only constant member....
at the height of their popularity. In Australia, he runs the record label Half A Cow
Half A Cow
Half a Cow is an independent record label from Australia, established in 1990 by Sydney musician and music identity Nic Dalton.- History :In 1987 - 1989 Dalton ran a bookshop in the Sydney suburb of Glebe called Dalton's Books...
, and has been a long-time member of the bands Sneeze
Sneeze (band)
Sneeze is a music group from Sydney, Australia consisting primarily of Nic Dalton and Tom Morgan from Smudge. They have had many extra band members including drummers Lara Meyerratken, Russell Hopkinson from You Am I, Simon Gibson from Half Miler, Evan Dando from The Lemonheads and Andy Calvert...
and Godstar with Tom Morgan, as well playing with Ratcat
Ratcat
Ratcat were an Australian indie rock band of the late 1980s and early 1990s fronted by vocalist Simon Day. Their combination of indie pop songwriting and energetic punk-style guitar won them fans from both the indie and skate-punk communities.-Waterfront:...
and The Hummingbirds
The Hummingbirds
The Hummingbirds were an indie pop or jangle pop band from Sydney, Australia formed in 1986 from Bug Eyed Monsters. They were one of the most highly touted outfits to emerge from Sydney's inner-city scene during the late 1980s and were an early signing to the rooArt label. The Hummingbirds' single...
.
Early bands
Born in the Australian capital of CanberraCanberra
Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...
, Dalton showed an interest in music in his teens, and formed an informal early band with Charlie Owen
Charlie Owen (musician)
Charlie Owen is an Australian guitar player who lives in St Kilda Melbourne Australia. He is a member of Tex, Don and Charlie, The Beasts of Bourbon, Tex Perkins and The Dark Horses, Large Number 12s, Maurice Frawley and The Working Class Ringos, Tendrils, the Divinyls and Tex Perkins and his...
. His early bands in Canberra were Girls With Money, Get Set Go and The Plunderers with Stevie Plunder
Stevie Plunder
Stevie Plunder was an Australian guitarist, singer and songwriter, best known as founding member and guitarist for Australian piano-based rock band The Whitlams.-Early years:...
, which formed in Canberra but relocated to 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...
in 1985, where they also played gigs and released records as Hippy Dribble and Captain Denim.
In 1989, Dalton founded the record label Half A Cow
Half A Cow
Half a Cow is an independent record label from Australia, established in 1990 by Sydney musician and music identity Nic Dalton.- History :In 1987 - 1989 Dalton ran a bookshop in the Sydney suburb of Glebe called Dalton's Books...
, and opened an associated record and book shop in Sydney. In 1990, Robyn St. Clare, bass guitarist for The Hummingbirds
The Hummingbirds
The Hummingbirds were an indie pop or jangle pop band from Sydney, Australia formed in 1986 from Bug Eyed Monsters. They were one of the most highly touted outfits to emerge from Sydney's inner-city scene during the late 1980s and were an early signing to the rooArt label. The Hummingbirds' single...
took leave from the band during her pregnancy, and Dalton filled in as the band's bassist during a tour of Australia supporting visiting American band The Lemonheads
The Lemonheads
The Lemonheads are an American alternative rock band first formed in 1986 by Evan Dando, Ben Deily and Jesse Peretz. Dando has remained the band's only constant member....
. Lemonheads' lead singer Evan Dando
Evan Dando
Evan Griffith Dando is an American musician, most famous for fronting the alternative rock band The Lemonheads. He is the only original member left in the current Lemonheads line-up, having served as lead singer since the band's original formation in 1986...
formed a friendship and musical collaboration with Dalton and his Sneeze bandmate Tom Morgan, and the results of Dando and Morgan's songwriting collaboration formed much of the Lemonheads' 1992 album It's a Shame about Ray
It's a Shame about Ray
It's a Shame about Ray is the fifth album by The Lemonheads. It was released on June 2, 1992 . Tom Morgan of Australian band Smudge helped author the album, while Juliana Hatfield played bass and sang backing vocals on some songs....
.
The Lemonheads
It's a Shame About Ray featured Juliana HatfieldJuliana Hatfield
Juliana Hatfield , is an American guitarist/singer-songwriter and author from the Boston area, formerly of the indie rock bands Blake Babies and Some Girls. She currently lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts....
on bass and backing vocals as Dalton was unable to get to the U.S. in time for the album's recording schedule, and when Hatfield continued with her solo career, Dando asked Dalton to join the band as its bass player. Dalton agreed, despite having formed the bands Sneeze and Godstar around the same time.
Dalton played with the Lemonheads for two-and-a-half years, and played on the band's 1993 album Come on Feel the Lemonheads
Come on Feel the Lemonheads
Come On Feel the Lemonheads is an album by The Lemonheads. It was released on October 12, 1993 .Although the album did not maintain the same popularity as the previous album, It's a Shame About Ray, Come on Feel the Lemonheads reached number 56 on the Billboard 200, making it the Lemonheads'...
. He co-wrote the song "Dawn Can't Decide" with Dando, the remaining songs on the album were written by Dando and Tom Morgan, except for the album's hit single "Into Your Arms
Into Your Arms
"Into Your Arms" is a song by alternative rock band The Lemonheads. The song is included on the 1993 album Come on Feel the Lemonheads. It reached number one on Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks chart in November 1993...
" which was written by Robyn St. Clare and originally appeared on the Love Positions Billiepeebup album (a collaboration between Dalton and St. Clare released in 1990).
After touring with the Lemonheads for the Come on Feel... album, Dalton left the band and returned to Australia. Dalton insisted there was no 'falling out' between him and Dando, just that he felt he had to get back to his family, friends and label in Sydney. He rehearsed with Dando and Dinosaur Jr. drummer Murph for the recording of the Car Button Cloth
Car Button Cloth
Car Button Cloth was alternative rock band The Lemonheads' last album before the band's 8-year breakup from 1997 to 2005. The album, originally released in 1996, was also the band's last studio album until the 2006 release of The Lemonheads....
album in 1996, but ultimately decided to decline Dando's offer to remain in the band.
Dalton played bass for Evan Dando during his 2003 solo tour of Australia, but fell seriously ill after one show in Melbourne. Reviews of the show noted Dalton's demenour, and reported that Dalton had been sacked and not replaced in the subsequent shows, but according to Dalton, he had suffered an undiagnosed brain hemorrhage the day before.
Solo work and other bands
In 1998, Dalton left Sydney and moved to a farm on the outskirts of the village of MoronglaMorongla Creek, New South Wales
Morongla Creek is a small town, or hamlet, in New South Wales, Australia, in Cowra Shire. It is 13 km South of Cowra by road. Other near-by districts and/or villages are: Neila Creek, Cocomingla, Cucumgilliga, Wattamondara, and Noonbinna. Just south of the village rises the well-known...
(near Cowra
Cowra, New South Wales
Cowra is a town in the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia in the Cowra Shire. It is located on the Mid-Western Highway, 317 kilometres west of Sydney on the banks of the Lachlan River at an altitude of 310 metres above sea level. At the 2006 census Cowra had a population of 8,430...
in central west New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
) with his girlfriend, writer Lucy Lehmann. He closed the Half A Cow bookshop, but continued to run the record label from the farm, while working on a second solo album. Dalton and Lehmann ended their relationship in April 2003, and Dalton continued to work on the album, setting himself a deadline of his 40th birthday for its recording. The album, titled Home of the Big Regret, was recorded between July and November 2004 with a bluegrass
Bluegrass music
Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
band Dalton called the Gloomchasers Orchestra. Despite their breakup, Lehmann remained heavily involved with the album, having co-written several of the songs and writing the liner notes for the CD.
In 1998, Dalton played bass for Ratcat
Ratcat
Ratcat were an Australian indie rock band of the late 1980s and early 1990s fronted by vocalist Simon Day. Their combination of indie pop songwriting and energetic punk-style guitar won them fans from both the indie and skate-punk communities.-Waterfront:...
at the Homebake
Homebake
Homebake is an annual Australian rock festival, featuring an all-Australian lineup . The festival was first held on 4 January 1996 at Belongil Fields in Byron Bay, on the far north coast of New South Wales...
festival, at the Big Day Out
Big Day Out
The Big Day Out is an annual music festival held in several cities in Australia and New Zealand in late January. It started in Sydney in 1992, spread to Adelaide, Melbourne and Perth by 1993, with the Gold Coast and Auckland joining in 1994...
festival in 2003 and for a support slot with the Psychedelic Furs in 2006. Dalton moved back to Sydney in 2006, after a year in Melbourne, and formed a new lineup of the Gloomchasers, as well as joining lounge act the Handlebars.