L*S*B (1992), FRIENDLY FIRE / DIRECT ACTION (1992)
/ WIDE OPEN BEAVER (1992)

Although I had been writing to Andrew of “Stumpy” zine for a few years, we finally met in mid 1992.
He was a witty, crazy and intelligent guy who shared my passion for irreverent punk rock, and we inadvertently played a couple of one-off shows together before Andrew devoted his time more exclusively to his passion for films and the launch of his store “Trash Video”.

L*S*B (1992)
The first project we formed came about accidently.
L*S*B (aka Leo’s Stumpy Bollox) was a mad avant-garde punk band, combining SONIC YOUTH with FRED NEGRO, BIG BLACK and the BUTTHOLE SURFERS.
It was also a lot of fun!
Stumpy and I wrote a bunch of originals, and some choice covers, and recruited Leo Fatseas (ex-Kylies) – this time as our guitarist. Leo relished the chance to get out front and away from the drumkit, and the three of us tackled the group with a good sense of humour and plenty of punk rock energy.

Apart from the music being so different from all the wannabe Sub-Pop clones that Brisbane had become full of, we also wanted to make the group visually exciting, so we trawled the Woolloongabba op-shops for suitable stage attire.
I found some oriental and chic hippie kinda threads, which I soon customised into my own punk rock vision. Andrew (aka Stumpy) donned surgical theatre clothing and a real WW2 gas mask, with Leo finding a lovely mini-skirt, wig and transforming into “Leonie” for the show, like he had time-warped from a New York Dolls gig at Max’s Kansas City from 1972!

I can’t remember any of the song titles, but they were all noisy and avant-garde, imagine PiL mixed with Sonic Youth and Big Black!
We played a goth bar on Elizabeth Street, and our payment was a large plate of vegetarian lasagne each!
I wore dark shades so it was like playing the set blind-folded, and I mostly played bass, but occasionally played extra guitar, swapping between the instruments for different songs.

There was a small but appreciative crowd there, and I remember we all had a bunch of fun. I enjoyed playing live with Leo again, and of course it was a treat to be on stage with Stumpy, being the consummate performer that he is.

LINEUP
Andrew Leavold (aka Stumpy) – drums, vocals
Leo Fatseas (aka Leonie) – guitar, vocals
Cameron Borg (aka Bollox) – bass, guitar, vocals

ORIGINALS
Unfortunately I can’t recall any of the song titles, but I’ll make enquiries with Leo and Andrew, maybe they still have a copy of the setlist??

COVERS
Hey (Butthole Surfers)
Mildred Pierce (Sonic Youth)
Cables (Big Black)
Jordan, Minnesota (Big Black)
Lisa Says (Velvet Underground)
Sorry, gone blank again. I’ll make enquiries and keep you posted!

GIGS PLAYED
Bohemia Café, Elizabeth Street, Brisbane June or July 1992

PHOTO CREDITS
Photos © Helen Bernhagen 1992

RECORDING SESSIONS
“Ha ha ha” & “Sister Ray” recorded at Milton School of Audio Engineering, Brisbane 1992 (both unreleased demo’s)

FRIENDLY FIRE / DIRECT ACTION (1992)
Returning to Rockhampton after the L*S*B gig in Brisbane was like returning to a cultural wilderness.
It did seem to mark the start of some “wilderness” years for me musically.
There was no-one who wanted to play anything remotely original, everyone was looking back to the early 70’s for music and attitude, it was almost like punk never existed.
Grunge was rearing it’s ugly head, and was marketed aggressively by the corporations in Australia – in a bid to exploit teenagers and water down the purist punk ideals. Looking back it was easy to see that NIRVANA were victims of their own success, but at the time it seemed as though they were spearheading a corporate takeover of what was independent music, watering everything down for mainstream mentalities.
When rednecks in Rockhampton were listening to NIRVANA and Nick Cave – I knew something was seriously wrong.

About this time I met a bunch of guys, many who were just kids when The DOG-CHAIRS played that matinee show at Blue Stein in late 1991. I didn’t realise the impact that show had on turning a bunch of teenagers onto punk rock.
Three of the guys wanted to form their own punk band, so I gave them them various assistance and encouragement, from lending my musical gear, and sitting in on practices if they were short a bassist or guitar player. I helped them to learn the crappy mechanics of playing in a band that no-one ever showed me, hopefully fast-tracking their music careers, and avoiding some of the pitfalls I’d encountered.

The guys named themselves FRIENDLY FIRE, which they later changed to DIRECT ACTION. The main players were Garth Henderson – vocals, Andrew Briggs – guitar, and Bryson Carolan – bass.
For the only gig I played with them, I helped out on bass as Bryson had some serious health issues at the time, and Andrew Leavold guested on drums, as he was up in Rockhampton, visiting from Brisbane.
We played at the Blue Stein, and to be honest I can’t really remember anything about this gig, I know we played a bunch of originals written by Garth and Briggsy but that’s all I know.

Garth and Andrew Briggs at this time were fervent straight-edgers, within a year they were both living in Brisbane and formed INEBRIATED with Garth Anonymous, a full-on crusty alcoholic punk band! INEBRIATED released a couple of cassette albums on Andrew Brigg’s own d.i.y. label DOG-SHIT TAPES and gained quite a reputation around Brisbane.
Bryson Carolan stayed in Central Queensland, and we formed MILDRED together in 1994.

LINEUP
Garth Henderson (aka Garth Pig) – vocals
Andrew Briggs (aka Andrew Arsebreath) – guitar
Bryson Carolan – bass
Cameron Borg (aka Bollox) – bass (one gig)
Andrew Leavold (aka Stumpy) – drums (one gig)

WIDE OPEN BEAVER (1992)
It seems Stumpy and I had one more musical throw of the dice left in 1992, and we decided to play as a duo at The Blue Stein in Rockhampton, playing on the same bill as DIRECT ACTION (who we helped out that night), and a touring Brisbane band.
We worked out our setlist and between us came up with a bunch of tunes that reflected our tastes at the time.
Andrew also came up with the idea that we would wear life-size paper masks of Kim Gordon and Lydia Lunch! Which of course we did, so I got to play another gig with Stumpy and not being able to see a single thing all night!

I played bass and brought along my distortion pedal too for good measure to torment the audience with! Andrew played guitar and handled 90% of the vocals.
We recorded the whole set, and talked of releasing it one day as a live album.
Luckily it remains locked up in the archives for now at least!
Andrew and I stayed good friends for many years, and it wasn’t until 1995 that I would be able to share a stage with him again, the next time in a West End bar in Brisbane with his legendary Brisbane punk band MR BASTARD!

LINEUP
Andrew Leavold (aka Kim Gordon) – guitar, vocals
Cameron Borg (aka Lydia Lunch) – bass, vocals

ORIGINALS
Info being sourced

COVERS
The Shah sleeps in Lee Harvey’s Grave (Butthole Surfers)
More info being sourced

GIGS PLAYED
Blue Stein, Rockhampton 1992

PHOTO CREDITS
Being sourced

RECORDING SESSIONS
Live recording complete set @ Blue Stein Rockhampton 1992
(Unreleased album “John Wesley Hard-On”)

DISCOGRAPHY

COMPILATION TRACKS
NEVER MIND NIRVANA HERE’S BOLLOX
Cassette (APiTO 020)
“The Shah Sleeps in Lee Harvey’s Grave”
Recorded live @ Blue Stein, Rockhampton 1992