Issue #08 (June, 1989)

Sydney was moving a long quite nicely by the end of 1989. A lot of good stuff was happening, - particularly at The Hopetoun and The Sydney Trade Union Club as well as venues in the inner west such as The Sandringham in Newtown. Much could also be said for the USA as well - bands like The Melvins, Mr T Experience, Fugazi, Butthole Surfers etc a few years later this would all be commodified w/terms like 'alternative' and 'indie'... even (shudder) 'grunge' to describe such prominence. On the back of 'Voices From The Cellar' our compilation cassette, it really was an exciting time both locally and globally.

This issue captured that energy - a fire of creativity from all corners of the world. So, where are they now?

Mr T Experience hailed from the west coast of America and have existed since 1985. From what I can see they have been active/inactive for periods of time, more so in the last two decades. For the interested : click here. 

Celibate Rifles

These guys were one of Australia's most celebrated bands and deservedly so.  I remember seeing them in about 1984 at the Sydney Trade Union Club and although they looked a bit like a 'fish out of water' in a 'sea of black' - they were earnest and daggy enough for me to think that they were cool. It was a sad day when Damien Lovelock passed away in 2019. There really was no one like Damien and the contribution of this band was second to none, both locally and globally. Other members, ie Paul Larsen (drums) can be seen in bands like The New Christs, Jim Leone (also No Mans Land) was doing a thing with Rod Radalj in The Surfing Caesars. Dave Morris lives in northern NSW whilst Kent Steedman has released solo work and recorded many a local Australian band. A very impressive 'Damo The Musical' was released on vinyl. For a more complete reference on the band go to their Wikipedia page. 

The Aftertaste

I was lucky enough to have these three ratbags as my house band in Ultimo for in the latter 80s. Thease days, Paddy Manning, the band's vocalist/guitarist,  does the odd open mic night around town and has also stepped into a journalist career which has coincided with the release of some great books (half a dozen so far) that chronicle the lives of people like Lachlan Murdoch and also Malcolm Turnbull. Adam Lill is living interstate by the looks of it whilst highly sought drummer Lachlan Dengate has played in a whole bunch of bands including Panacea, The Shouties, Carbunkle Shack and rockabilly faves The WhiteLiners.

Las Empaladoras

A band that came and went quite quickly but not forgotten. Steve 'Bones' Martin (also played in Deadly Hume) teamed up with Maria Govorko (RIP) + Dave Briggs and Mark Crasti who were the formidable rhythmn section of both Queen Anne's Revenge and CHAOS.  - some of their material existed on the great Bulb Records label 

Cosmic Conspiracy Productions (CCP)

Set up by Alex Karinsky, this cassette label released a lot of material from bands like Distant Locust, Ministry of Love/Filth, Warwick Factor (These Cars Collide) and Subcutanneous Theatre. Still in touch these days Alex relocated to the USA sometime back - here's a sample of the kind of material CCP were releasing