For the artist Liam Hayes and Plush, please see Liam Hayes

Liam Hayes

Liam Hayes, professionally known as Plush since 1992 is a songwriter and performer from Chicago.His discography includes three critically acclaimed records: More You Becomes You , Fed , and Bright Penny ....

. This article concerns itself with the South African band Plush.

Members

Rory Eliot is lead singer and rhythm guitarist. He was born in Durban

Durban

Durban is the largest city in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal and the third largest city in South Africa. It forms part of the eThekwini metropolitan municipality. Durban is famous for being the busiest port in South Africa. It is also seen as one of the major centres of tourism...

 in 1980. He began singing at age 8, got his first guitar at 15 and then combined music and words to create his first song Far Beyond, which is featured on their debut album. He studied dramatic art in Johannesburg

Johannesburg

Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...

 at AFDA.He has a Masters in Songwriting from the University of Bath. He is married and has a daughter.

Emelio Gassibe plays bass. He is married and has a daughter.

Carl Wegelin plays guitars. He grew up on a wine farm just outside Wellington in the Western Cape, and pursued his passion for music professionally after moving to Cape Town to study engineering. Wegelin and Gassibe all play in another South African band, jacSharp.

History

Performing together since 1996, Plush turned professional in 2000 and in 2002 won the National Battle of the Bands competition, against over 500 bands from across the country. The name "Plush" was given to them by Natal south coast fans who thought their performance was plush, a slang

Slang

Slang is the use of informal words and expressions that are not considered standard in the speaker's language or dialect but are considered more acceptable when used socially. Slang is often to be found in areas of the lexicon that refer to things considered taboo...

 word meaning awesome.

Plush first flickered on the national South African music map back in 2003. The song "Tainted" reached number 1 on TuksFM, and "Today" and "My Baby" received regular radio play, the latter getting airtime on MTV.

Together they were described as "so unbelievably tight that they sound as though they are one masterful musician, playing two guitars, with four arms and one almighty voice".

Death of Chas Smit

In September 2005, whilst crossing a street in Pietermaritzburg, Smit was knocked over and killed by a drunk driver.

Eliot was quoted by the Daily News as saying, "He was like a brother to me. I am not sure what the future holds for me, or for the band. I will have to think about it and what Chas would have wanted." Soon after, the Plush website announced that the band would not be continuing. Today, he remembers the time as his darkest season.

Memorial services took place in Pietermaritzburg

Pietermaritzburg

Pietermaritzburg is the capital and second largest city in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It was founded in 1838, and is currently governed by the Msunduzi Local Municipality. Its "purist" Zulu name is umGungundlovu, and this is the name used for the district municipality...

, Cape Town

Cape Town

Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...

 and London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

.

Comeback

Suffering tremendous grief, Eliot took a six month sabbatical before returning as a solo artist, determined to fulfill a promise he'd made to Smit that they would make it. Soon Peters and Gassibe joined the newly-reformed Plush and their loyal fans began to spread the word of a comeback.

The group released their first single in two years, "When Grace Grew Tall" in early 2007 after and they went on their first Gauteng tour since Chas' tragedy. "When Grace Grew Tall" went to number 1 on 5fm's Hi5@5, where it remained for four weeks.

The national effort went global in August 2007 when the band embarked on a tour of the United Kingdom in August 2007. Focusing primarily on London, the band played nine shows in 10 days.

In May 2011, Plush embarked on a nation-wide tour, launching their new, self-titled album. Welcomed by full-houses in Grahammestown, Pretoria, Johannesburg, Stellenbosch, and Cape Town, Plush made yet another come-back after 2 years of song-writing and recording behind the scenes of the South African music industry. The Band plans on a second tour in 2011 focusing on Elliot's home province of Kwa-Zulu Natal, as well as other locations around South Africa.

Discography

All That Is Should Be

All That Is Should Be

All That Is Should Be is the début album of South African band Plush, released on 1 March 2004. It features 12 acoustic tracks by the band. Tainted reached no...

(released 9 March 2004)

• "Trouble"
• "Today"
• "Like Planes"
• "Erla"
• "Fits of Life"
• "Tainted"
• "Iris"
• "Damn the Fire"
• "Tata Jozi Tata"
• "Far Beyond"
• "My Baby"
• "Jet Life"

A Few Blinding Views (released 5 August 2005, Us Productions)

• "Today"
• "What I'm thinking about"
• "Wishing Well"
• "Able"
• "Postcard"
• "Impressive Sun"
• "Ta ta, Jozi, ta ta"
• "I wonder of you"
• "My Baby"
• "Love away the days"
• "Halo" (live)
• "Sky Fire" (live, unplugged)

A Few Blinding Views was produced by the Grammy nominated composer, drummer, arranger and producer, Cedric Samson and was engineered by Nic Els and mastered by George Marino at Sterling Sound in New York.

The recording features Dominic Peters (bass & keyboards), Sean ou-Tim (drums & bass), Cedric Samson (drums and percussion) Waldo Alexander (violin), Eddie Mclean (cello), Simon Bates (sax), Ross McDonald (trombone) and Lee Thompson (trumpet) with Rory Eliot (lead vocal & rhythm guitar) and Chas Smit (lead guitar & backing vocal).

Rage On (released 29 November 2007)

• "When Grace Grew Tall"
• "Freedom Town"
• "Lucky Fish"
• "All For the Better"
• "Warfare"
• "These Days"
• "Hope"
• "Right Here"
• "Seeking"
• "Last Breath"
• "Rage On"

Rage On was produced by Rory Eliot and was engineered and mastered by John Lindemann at JSL Productions in Johannesburg.

The recording features Dominic Peters (keyboard & piano), Justin Taylor (guitars), Josie Piers (backing vocals on selected tracks) and Dale Orchard (bass guitar) with Rory Eliot (lead vocals & guitar), Emelio Gassibe (lead bass guitar), Ben Peters (drums and percussion) and Carl Wegelin (lead guitars on selected tracks). Track 10, "Last breath", was performed and recorded by Chas Smit before his death.

A Deluxe Edition of 'Rage On' was later released that included two bonus tracks "Life" and a full band, electric version of "Halo"

Plush

• "Dancing in a storm"
• "I am Frank"
• "What he fancies"
• "Out of body"
• "1999"
• "Carousel"
• "Always awake"
• "Alive and well"
• "Conundrum"
• "Belong"
• "You-Boat"

The recording features Domenico Benigno (keyboard, piano & accordian), Devin Jones (drums) with Rory Eliot (lead vocals and rhythm guitar), Carl Wegelin (lead guitars and vocals) and Emelio Gassibe (bass and vocals). Plush collaborated with Brian O'Shea (SAMA winning producer) and Sean Gunns (Vuka award winning engineer) to create this album. Contributions were also made by Vance Powell (Grammy winner and engineer, The Raconteurs, Jack White), Neal Snyman (Collective Soul, Crowded House) and Matt Allison (SAMA winner).

External links

• Plush official website