Nunbait
Encyclopedia
Nunbait are a punk
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
band from Australia
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...
.
History
Nunbait first formed in SydneySydney
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 1989. Butcher and Guthrie had been in bands in Townsville; Guthrie later joined Fraser’s Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
proto-grunge 60s garage punk-inspired combo Dementia 13 (1984–1988).
In the late-1980s, Butcher, Guthrie and Fraser migrated separately from Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
to the Sydney suburb of Newtown
Newtown, New South Wales
Newtown, a suburb of Sydney's inner west is located approximately four kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, straddling the local government areas of the City of Sydney and Marrickville Council in the state of New South Wales, Australia....
, where they decided to form a band with Doherty, a native of Mudgee, who took up drums despite very limited experience. It was Doherty who named the band, apparently as a pun on ‘jailbait
Jailbait
Jailbait is American English slang for a person who is younger than the legal age of consent for sexual activity, but physically mature enough to be mistaken for an adult and be considered sexually desirable...
’.
The band was variously referred to as “acid-psych” and “noise rock
Noise rock
Noise rock describes a style of post-punk rock music that became prominent in the 1980s. Noise rock makes use of the traditional instrumentation and iconography of rock, but incorporates atonality and especially dissonance, and also frequently discards usual songwriting conventions.-Style:Noise...
”.
The band’s first release was 500-copy run of a self-pressed single, “Track Trauma” (1990). After winning a battle of the bands at Sydney’s Lansdowne Hotel, Nunbait secured a contract with Australian underground label Waterfront Records
Waterfront Records
Waterfront Records was an independent record label based in Sydney, that released recordings by some of Australia's most influential bands of the 1980s and 1990s.-History:...
, which resulted in a mini-album, “The Hub” (named after a Newtown porn theatre), in 1990. The record contained six original tracks, albeit one (‘The Melting Hour’) which had its origins in “Dementia 13” days.
Nunbait opened for Butthole Surfers
Butthole Surfers
Butthole Surfers is an American alternative rock band formed by Gibby Haynes and Paul Leary in San Antonio, Texas in 1981. The band has had numerous personnel changes, but its core lineup of Haynes, Leary, and drummer King Coffey has been consistent since 1983. Teresa Nervosa served as second...
(Burland Hall Newtown, 1991), Mudhoney
Mudhoney
Mudhoney is an American alternative rock band. Formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1988 following the demise of Green River, Mudhoney's members are vocalist and rhythm guitarist Mark Arm, lead guitarist Steve Turner, bassist Guy Maddison, and drummer Dan Peters. Original bassist Matt Lukin left the...
(Phoenician Club Sydney, 1990), Einstürzende Neubauten
Einstürzende Neubauten
Einstürzende Neubauten is a German post-industrial band, originally from West Berlin, formed in 1980. The group currently comprises Blixa Bargeld , Alexander Hacke , N.U...
and The Beasts of Bourbon (Phoenician Club Sydney 1991), Nirvana
Nirvana (band)
Nirvana was an American rock band that was formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987...
(Selinas, Sydney, February 1992), Helmet
Helmet
A helmet is a form of protective gear worn on the head to protect it from injuries.Ceremonial or symbolic helmets without protective function are sometimes used. The oldest known use of helmets was by Assyrian soldiers in 900BC, who wore thick leather or bronze helmets to protect the head from...
(1991), Fugazi (1991) as well as performing tours/shows with Superchunk
Superchunk
Superchunk is an American indie rock band from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, consisting of singer/guitarist Mac McCaughan, guitarist Jim Wilbur, bassist Laura Ballance, and drummer Jon Wurster. Formed in 1989, they were one of the bands that helped define the Chapel Hill music scene of the 1990s...
and Australian underground acts including Tumbleweed
Tumbleweed
A tumbleweed is the above-ground part of a plant that, once mature and dry, disengages from the root and tumbles away in the wind. Usually, the tumbleweed is the entire plant apart from the roots, but in a few species it is a flower cluster. The tumbleweed habit is most common in steppe and desert...
, Cosmic Psychos
Cosmic Psychos
The Cosmic Psychos are a punk rock band based in Melbourne and rural Victoria in Australia. An underground band that has only ever achieved limited recognition.-Description:...
, and the Celibate Rifles.
A follow-up single, “Nowhere Fast”, mixed by Sub Pop
Sub Pop
Sub Pop is a record label founded in 1986 by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman in Seattle, Washington. Sub Pop achieved fame in the late 1980s for first signing Nirvana, Soundgarden, Mudhoney and many other bands from the Seattle music scene...
’s Jack Endino
Jack Endino
Jack Endino is a producer and musician based in Seattle. Long associated with Seattle label Sub Pop and the grunge movement, Endino worked on seminal albums from bands such as Mudhoney, Soundgarden, and Nirvana...
and Mudhoney’s Mark Arm
Mark Arm
Mark Arm is the vocalist for the grunge band Mudhoney. He is also credited with coining the term "grunge" to describe his style of rock music...
, was released on Waterfront in 1991, charting at #3 in the independent street music charts. Local label Survival released a 4-song EP, ‘Spinout’ in 1992 and the band’s final release, on tiny Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
label Hippy Knight, was a hastily-mixed album, ‘Busted’, the production of which left the members extremely dissatisfied.
The band reformed for a short tour (with The Hard Ons) in 2010.
Personnel
- Ian (Ivan) Fraser - Vocals (1989–1993)
- Shaun Butcher - Guitar (1989–1993)
- Mark Guthrie - Bass, Vocals (1989–1993)
- Jay Doherty - Drums (1989–1990)
- Mathew Fante - Drums (1990–1993)
Recordings
45s- Track Trauma / Blow Me Away (1990), (Masterbait Records), recorded at Sound Barrier, June 1990, produced by Nunbait with help from Amr Zaid ( of “RatcatRatcatRatcat 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:...
”) - 'Nowhere Fast / Head In The Jam (1991), (Waterfront Records, Damp163), recorded at Electric Ave. Nov 1990, with Adam Chapman (Mixed bat Reciprocal Studios Seattle by Mark Arm of Mudhoney and Jack Endino of Sub Pop)
Mini LP
- The Hub (1990), (Waterfront, Damp142), recorded at Tracking Station, Sept 1990, produced by Stu Spasm (of Lubricated Goat). Tracks: The Melting Hour, Rattler, Erotic Auto Accident, Super Charged, Creepy Crawl, The Hub.
Mini CD
- Spinout (1992), (Survival), Tracks: Bladder Mouth, Crack in Her Eye, Kill Kylie, Spinout.
CD
- Busted (1993) (Hippy Knight), Tracks: 7.30PM, Busted, Cease to Squirm, Cut it Out, Metal Gibber, Monoblaster, Point of no Return, Poor Henry, Track Trauma, Young Bloke Blues
Compilations
- Fresh from the Womb (1992), (Magnet), (10" mini LP). One track: Crack in Her Eye
- Various - Self Mutilation Volume Three (1993), (Hippy Knight Records, Creep 012) (USA), (7", EP, Sampler). One track: "Shit for Brains" (recorded late 1992 at Troy Studios, originally recorded by The Bastards).
External links
- http://www.myspace.com/nunbaitaustralia
- http://www.whiteroom.com.au/howlspace/whoswho/PHPTracks.php?Band_ID=152340