Regurgitator

Infobox musical artist
Name = Regurgitator


Img_capt = Regurgitator performing at the Big Day Out in Adelaide, February 2008.
Background = group_or_band
Origin = Brisbane, Australia
Genre = Alternative rock
Indie rock
Pop
Years_active = 1994–present
Label = East West Records
Associated_acts = Happyland
URL = [http://www.regurgitator.net/ Official website]
Current_members = Quan Yeomans Ben Ely Peter Kostic Seja Vogel
Past_members = Martin Lee Shane Rudken (touring)

Regurgitator is an Australian rock band from Brisbane, currently consisting of lead singer/guitarist Quan Yeomans, bassist Ben Ely, drummer Peter Kostic and keyboardist Seja Vogel. A blend of rock and electronica, they captured a devout following and have been credited for invigorating the Australian indie pop scene in 1996 with their debut album titled "Tu Plang".

The band are popular for their 3D animated videos which were created by Quan and his longtime partner (now ex-partner), Janet English (bassist and vocalist of Spiderbait). Quan and Janet originally worked together under the name of "The Shits" but were forced to change the name to "Happyland" on the release of their first album.

History

Regurgitator were 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. Regurgitator at this time were not considered to be the main focus of any members, and were recognised only when Ely provided a demo of one of his other bands, Pangaea, to Paul Curtis of Consume Management. The flip side to the Pangaea demo contained tracks put down with Yeomans and Lee as Regurgitator. The release of their 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 their second EP, "New", which spawned the radio hits "Track 1" and "Blubber Boy". After smash hit success from their rock and hip hop infused debut "Tu-plang" which featured the tracks "I Sucked A Lot Of Cock To Get Where I Am", "Kong Foo Sing" and "F.S.O", the band moved on with a more electronic and pop based sound on their second effort "Unit". Surprisingly, the first single "Everyday Formula" made a lacklustre impact compared with the following pop and keyboard style of the following singles, which were instant hits. During the tour for "Unit", Shane Rudken was added to the band on keyboards. From this album, "Polyester Girl", "! (The Song Formerly Known As)", and "Black Bugs" all gained significant amounts of airplay. "Unit" is widely regarded as their finest work, although it is ritually dismissed by many fans of their first generation of work. 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.

"...art", Regurgitator's third album, was the last time drummer Martin Lee appeared with the band after some creative difficulties. He was replaced by Front End Loader and Hard-Ons drummer, Peter Kostic late 1999. "...art" and its follow up "Eduardo and Rodriguez Wage War on T-Wrecks" met criticism from the fans, who considered the albums to have been recorded specifically for the commercial industry, in opposition to the earlier alternative and explicit Regurgitator from the mid-1990's. 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. 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 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, Australian producer Magoo, engineer Hugh 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.

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.

Their 6th album, Love and Paranoia was recorded in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil and was released in Australia on September 15th, 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.

Discography

Albums

*"tu-plang" - Warner (May, 1996) (album title translates to "Juke box" in the Thai language)
*"Unit" - Warner (November, 1997)
*"Unit Re-Booted" - Warner (October, 1998)
*"...art" - Warner (August, 1999)
*"Eduardo and Rodriguez Wage War on T-Wrecks" Warner (July, 2001)
*"" - Warner (November, 2002)
*"Mish Mash!" - Valve Records (November, 2004)
*"Love and Paranoia" - Valve Records (September, 2007)

EPs

*"Regurgitator" (aka Hamburger) (1994)
*"New" (1995)
*"Miffy's Simplicity" (1996)
*"Crush The Losers" (2000)
*"#?*!" (aka Pretty Girls Swear or Pillowhead) (2005)

VHS and DVDs

*"Regurgitated" (1996)
*"Regurgitator: Live at the Brisbane Town Hall" (1998)
*"Jingles: The Best Of" (2002)
*"Nein Nein Nein Slumber of the Beast" (2003)

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" (live footage)
*"The Game"
*"Blood and Spunk"
*"Romance of the Damned"

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

Chart positions

Albums

External links

* [http://www.regurgitator.net/ Regurgitator's official website]
* [http://www.myspace.com/regurgitators Regurgitator's Myspace site]