Regurgitator

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (March 2008)

Regurgitator
Regurgitator performing at the Big Day Out in Adelaide, February 2008.
Background information
Origin	Brisbane, Australia
Genres	Alternative rock, indie rock, pop, hip hop, rap rock, experimental, post-grunge, electronica
Years active	1994–present
Labels	Warner, Valve Records
Associated acts	Happyland, Pangaea, Broken Head, The Stalkers, Jump 2 Light Speed, Quan, Blox, Ben Ely's Radio 5, Front End Loader, Kryptonics, Hard-Ons, Nazxul
Website	www.regurgitator.net
Members
Quan Yeomans Ben Ely Peter Kostic
Past members
Martin Lee Shane Rudken (touring) Seja Vogel

Regurgitator are an Australian rock band from Brisbane, currently consisting of Quan Yeomans (lead vocals, guitar), Ben Ely (bass, vocals) and Peter Kostic (drums). The band formed in 1994, its original line-up consisting of Yeomans, Ely and drummer Martin Lee. Regurgitator's debut studio album, Tu-Plang earnt the band a significant following, before the release of their second album, Unit in 1997 propelled the band into mainstream success, winning the ARIA Award for Best Album of 1998 and going three times platinum.

Regurgitator have released seven studio albums and five EPs to date, and their most recent studio album, SuperHappyFunTimesFriends was released in August 2011.

History

Early years (1994–1995)

Regurgitator was originally a 3-piece indie rock band with Quan Yeomans (guitar and vocals), Ben Ely (bass and vocals) and Martin Lee (drums). The three had purportedly met on a bus in inner Brisbane. At this time, all three were already in several bands, some containing future members of The Resin Dogs, Wolfmother and George. Regurgitator at this time were not considered to be the main focus of any members, rather as a side-project to their other bands.

With the emergence of the Brisbane underground scene in the early 1990s major labels, such as Warner Music, generated interest in increasing its Australian music roster. A&R representative Michael Parisi initially pursued Pangaea, a popular and established band in Brisbane's underground that Ben Ely fronted. It wasn't until Parisi was supplied with Pangaea recordings by their manager Paul Curtis that he discovered Regurgitator, whose material was also presented to potentially launch the Valve label. Ironically, Parisi would push for the less-established band to be signed because "it was the hook that Pangaea, for all the excitement [it] had generated on stage, had lacked."^[1] The band signed with Warner in 1995, and its recordings were licensed to Reprise Records in the USA.

The release of its first self-titled EP led to a stirring of the Brisbane music scene that was well and truly interested by the time of the release of its second EP, New, which spawned the radio hits "Track 1" and "Blubber Boy".

Tu-Plang (1996)

Following the success of their first two EP releases, the band made an unusual move by traveling to Thailand to record their first full-length album at 'Center Stage Studios', a famed pop studio in Bangkok. Martin Lee pushed to record in Thailand because it was cheaper than recording in Australia and would keep their record company happy with a bigger profit margin.^[2] Calling the album Tu-Plang (ฅู้เพลง Thai for 'Jukebox'), it largely featured a rock/hip hop infusion, which was evident on the third single release "Kong Foo Sing". The band also experimented in a number of genres including techno, musak, surf rock and dub. Regurgitator had gained notoriety for songs, usually written by Yeomans, with obscene lyrical content. Amongst these, the controversial pop-rock tune "I Sucked A Lot Of Cock To Get Where I Am" was attacked by Australian radio identity Alan Jones, who campaigned to have it removed from airplay.^[3] Tu-Plang was a smash hit, winning Best Alternative Release and Best Debut Album at the 1996 ARIA Music Awards.

Unit (1997–1998)

After their recording experience in Thailand, the band chose to record in the comfort of their hometown Brisbane. Lee championed the idea of setting up a makeshift studio in a condemned warehouse in Fortitude Valley, affectionately named "The Dirty Room" by the band. In contrast with their rock-oriented works of the past, the band moved on with a more electronic and pop based sound on their second effort Unit. The band openly acknowledged their stylistic change with the album's opening track, ironically titled "I Like Your Old Stuff Better Than Your New Stuff". The band released "Everyday Formula" as the first single, with Yeomans and Magoo later admitting it was a conscious decision to ease their fans into the new sound with a heavier track.^[4] The single made a lacklustre impact compared with the following pop and keyboard style of the following singles, which were instant hits. From this album, "Polyester Girl", "! (The Song Formerly Known As)", and "Black Bugs" all gained significant amounts of airplay. Unit is Regurgitator's most commercially-successful album, going platinum three times in Australia. Whilst it no doubt increased the popularity of the band, fans of their first generation of work are still divided in their responses to it.^[5][6][7] It is also considered to be ahead of its time due to heavy 1980s referencing, well ahead of the popularisation of 1980s aesthetics which occurred post-2000. Unit won 5 ARIA Music Awards in 1998, including Best Album.

During the UnitShifter tour in late 1997 drummer Martin Lee had failed to appear at a second sold-out show at the University of Western Australia. After disappearing from a Perth nightclub, he was found the next day, unconscious, and was taken to hospital where he remained comatose for a week. No-one, including Lee once he had recovered, had any recollection of the circumstances that had landed him there. Jon Coghill of Brisbane rock band Powderfinger was his fill-in for the rest of the tour. Shane Rudken, who had contributed string arrangements on Unit, was added as a live session musician on keyboards.

Lee's departure and end of deal with Warner Music (1999–2003)

After a short break in 1998 working with respective side projects (Quan formed Happyland with Spiderbait's Janet English and Ben Ely reviving Pangaea the band moved into Wategoes Beachhouse at Byron Bay on the New South Wales coast to begin recording their third album, ...art. Having rebuilt "The Dirty Room" studio with the assumption it would be used for the recording, Lee felt undervalued when Yeomans made it clear he needed a change in working environment.^[8] Since the Unit sessions he had felt excluded from the creative process as his material would rarely be used and he was often replaced by a drum machine in the studio.^[9] After an extended absence during the album recording and a string of absences on the supporting tour schedule it was announced in late 1999 that Lee would be leaving the group due to 'creative differences'. He was replaced by Front End Loader and Hard-Ons drummer, Peter Kostic late 1999.

...art was followed by Eduardo and Rodriguez Wage War on T-Wrecks in 2001, a hip-hop-focused album that Yeomans and Ely recorded and produced in London. Despite the latter's musical proximity to Tu-Plang, both albums met criticism from many fans, who considered them lacking the creativity of the alternative and explicit Regurgitator from the mid-1990s.^[10][11][12] At the same time, the albums did not perform as well as hoped on the charts despite their success in Japan. This led into a turbulent relationship with their label, Warner, who were unable to grasp the band's lack of motivation and refusal to compromise just for the sake of commercial success.^[13][14][15] After the fourth album, discussions led to a mutual request to end the deal, and the compilation album Jingles (along with DVD Infomercials) was released - the title an obvious comment on the parallel of advertising and the focus on singles and their videos. Regurgitator would then go on to independently release further material utilising their manager's Valve Records/MGM distribution setup not resigning to any actual label.

Band in a Bubble and Mish Mash! (2004–2005)

Regurgitator created and participated in the Band in a Bubble project in 2004, a new reality TV-inspired media stunt sponsored and broadcast by Australian music channel, Channel V. The band entered a small glass recording studio, built in Federation Square in the centre of Melbourne, to record their new album. Pedestrians could look into most rooms of the "bubble" and could watch the band work, or tune in to a 24 hour digital cable television channel and watch their work on that. Nobody could enter or leave the bubble, a la Big Brother. In addition to the three band members, their longtime Australian producer Magoo, engineer Hugh Webb and Channel V host Jabba were all also locked into the bubble with the band. This project resulted in 2004's Mish Mash!.

The first single from Mish Mash! was "The Drop" and the second was "My Friend Robot". In May 2005 they released the "My Ego" single, which contains three remixes created by Quan Yeomans in his new home in Hong Kong. They then released the #?*! (or Pillowhead) EP which contained B-sides from Mish Mash!. Their album tour included a performance at the world's biggest short film festival, Tropfest, surrounded by 30,000 people.

Love and Paranoia and Distractions EP

Regurgitator took a break during 2006, with Ben working on his project Jump 2 Light Speed and Quan working on his solo career. The band also licensed their Band in a Bubble concept to Initial TV in the UK. In 2007 Quan released an EP with Sydney based musician Spod called Blox.

Their sixth album, Love and Paranoia was recorded in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil and was released in Australia on 15 September 2007. It features 80's style keyboard-driven poprock tunes, with new member Seja Vogel on keyboards. The first single from the album, titled "Blood and Spunk" received airplay on Triple J. Music videos for "Blood and Spunk", and the second single, "Romance of the Damned", have been released.

In 2008, Regurgitator released Love and Paranoia in the UK and Asia with a supporting tour. It was the first time in 5 years that the band had toured the UK. It was also their first visit to China where they played alongside New Pants, who had supported Regurgitator on their Australian tour in 2007. Simulataneously, Ben Ely and Quan Yeomans both launched solo projects with "Ben Ely's Radio 5" becoming his second solo project while Quan's album Quan: The Amateur was his debut solo album which was recorded in Hong Kong, where he lived until 2010. Quan played the Big Day Out 2009 tour in support of his album.

The group's Warner Music catalogue was finally made available after much delay on iTunes worldwide in August 2009. In September 2009 it was stated on the band's website that the band were talking about recording a new album in 2010.

At the beginning of May 2010, Regurgitator announced on the news section of their website that they had begun work on their seventh album. It is also known that they are recording it in the heart of Melbourne. These sessions led to the release of four-track EP "Distractions" that was released 8 September 2010 and was followed by a major-city tour of Australia supported by Rat Vs Possum and Laneous & The Family Yah. Seja Vogel is not credited on the EP, and did not tour with the band.

When Distractions was released, Yeomans stated that the band would likely no longer release music in album format. Instead, they would release songs digitally, and consider pressed releases in a compilation-style format when they had enough material.^{[citation needed]} This was supported by the subsequent internet-only release of tracks "Born Dumb" and "Evil Eye" via the band's website in November 2010.

SuperHappyFunTimesFriends

After announcing in 2010 that the band would not release any full-length albums in favour of regular individual tracks, and thus forth compiling them on vinyl and cassette in conjunction with future tours.^{[clarification needed]} When management confirmed a tour and the required deadline to have vinyl etc. available, they realised the necessity of the "focused structure and disciplined approach" that comes with creating albums of music. This has led to the release of their 7th studio album, titled SuperHappyFunTimesFriends, on 5 August 2011. The lead single "One Day" was released in July 2011. The album features a version of the song "Born Dumb" that was previously released as the Nrob Bmud EP in December 2010. The album is set to be released on CD and digital formats, as well as non-traditional formats such as vinyl, cassette, and playbutton. It debuted on the AIR chart at #18 and the ARIA chart at #91.^[16]

Discography

Albums

• tu-plang – Warner (May 1996) (album title translates to "juke box" in the Thai language) (#3 Australia, #27 NZ)
• Unit – Warner (November 1997) (#4 Australia, #7 NZ) [re-released in October 1998 as Unit Re-Booted, containing bonus Computer Multimedia (5 music videos from the album)]
• ...art – Warner (August 1999) (#2 Australia, #12 NZ)
• Generic City Pileup [Remix album – Japan-only release] (November 2000)
• Eduardo and Rodriguez Wage War on T-Wrecks Warner (July 2001) (#7 Australia)
• Jingles: The Best Of – Warner (November 2002)
• Mish Mash! – Valve Records (November 2004)
• Love and Paranoia – Valve Records (September 2007) (#74 Australia)
• SuperHappyFunTimesFriends – Valve Records (August 2011) (#91 Australia)

EPs

• Regurgitator (aka Hamburger) (March 1995) (#45 Australia)
• New (August 1995) (#30 Australia)
• Generic City [Vinyl only] (September 2000)
• Crush the Losers (September 2000)
• #?*! (aka Pretty Girls Swear or Pillowhead) (August 2005)
• Distractions (September 2010)
• Nrob Bmud (December 2010)

Singles

• "Blubber Boy" (1995)
• "F.S.O." (January 1996)
• "I Sucked a Lot of Cock to Get Where I Am" [Vinyl only] (1996)
• "Kong Foo Sing" (March 1996) (#33 Australia)
• "Miffy's Simplicity" (October 1996)
• "Everyday Formula" (June 1997) (#41 Australia)
• "Black Bugs" (August 1997) (#32 Australia, #113 UK)
• "Polyester Girl" (February 1998) (#14 Australia, #16 NZ, #132 UK)
• "The Fourth Single from Unit" (September 1998) (#28 Australia)
• "Happiness (Rotting My Brain)" (June 1999) (#16 NZ, #44 Australia)
• "I Wanna Be a Nudist" (November 1999)
• "Freshmint!" (March 2000) (#44 Australia)
• "Crush the Losers" (September 2000)
• "Fat Cop" (May 2001) (#34 Australia)
• "Superstraight" (August 2001) (#55 Australia)
• "Hullabaloo" (January 2002)
• "Bong in My Eye" (July 2004)
• "The Drop" (October 2004)
• "My Ego" (early 2005)
• "Pretty Girls Swear" (2005)
• "Blood and Spunk" (October 2007)
• "Romance of the Damned" (2008)
• "One Day" (2011)

VHS and DVDs

• Regurgitated [VHS] (1996)
• Regurgitator: Live at the Brisbane Festival Hall [VHS] (1998)
• Jingles: Infomercials The Best of Videos [DVD] (November 2002)
• Nein Nein Nein Slumber of the Beast [DVD] (October 2003)
• Band in a Bubble - The DVD (January 2008)

Music videos

• "I Like it Like That"
• "Couldn't Do It"
• "Track 1"
• "Blubber Boy"
• "Kong Foo Sing"
• "F.S.O"
• "Miffy's Simplicity"
• "Everyday Formula"
• "Black Bugs"
• "Modern Life"
• "! (The Song Formerly Known As)"
• "Polyester Girl"
• "I Like Your Old Remix Better Than Your New Remix"
• "Happiness"
• "Freshmint!"
• "I Wanna Be a Nudist"
• "Crush the Losers"
• "Fat Cop"
• "Super Straight"
• "Hullabaloo"
• "C'mon"
• "Transformers Theme"
• "Bong In My Eye"
• "The Drop"
• "My Friend Robot"
• "Pretty Girls Swear"
• "The Game"
• "Blood and Spunk"
• "Romance of the Damned"
• "Destroy this Town"
• "One Day"

Other "mini videos" exist for other album tracks as seen on "Regurgitated" and "Jingles (Infomercials)".

Chart positions

Albums

EPs

Singles

References

External links

• Regurgitator's official website
• Regurgitator's MySpace site
• An extensive discography of the band's work