HISTORY OF AUSTRALIAN MUSIC FROM 1960 UNTIL 2000: CUSTARD

Sunday, 29 December 2013

CUSTARD

The band was originally known as Custard Gun and featured David McCormack on vocals and guitar, Paul Medew on bass, James Straker (later in The Melniks) on guitar and Shane Brunn (who later formed Hugbubble and Vanlustbader) on drums. After a few shows and lineup changes (namely Straker being replaced by Matthew Strong) Custard Gun morphed into Custard.

Custard's first release was the four-track vinyl EP 'Rockfish Anna', which was issued in November 1990. A fire breathing Elvis impersonator was part of the EP's launch festivities. Custard's debut album, 'Buttercup (Bedford)', was recorded in 1991. It was meant to be released on CD in March 1992, but things went awry. Unfortunately, the CDs never turned up on time for the album launch - forcing them to give away copies of the album away on cassettes to keep the punters happy. It wasn't until the end of 1992 that the band finally got their hands on the elusive CDs. By this time Custard had signed to Ra Records and had released their first major label EP called 'Gastanked'.

'Gastanked' did very well for the band, peaking at #41 on the ARIA singles chart. It was followed in 1993 by another EP, 'Brisbane', and two singles - ''Casanova'' and the double A-side ''Singlette/Flanelette''. By this time the band was onto its third drummer - Shane Brunn had been replaced by Gavin Herrenberg, who had subsequently been replaced by Danny Plant. Custard's debut major label album 'Wahooti Fandango' was issued in 1994. The video for the album's first single, ''Aloha Tambourinist'', was the only Custard video to ever get played on Video Hits. The video, set on a beach, featured male models pretending to be Custard, while scantily clad women roll around in the sand.

'Wahooti Fandango' was critically acclaimed, being nominated for 'Best Alternative Release' at the 1995 ARIA awards. However, the band's breakthrough hit didn't come until October 1995, when they released "Apartment", the first single lifted from 'Wisenheimer'. "Apartment" received a high rotation airplay on triple J and was voted in at #7 in the 1995 Hottest 100. At the time, it was the highest ever placing by an Australian band. 'Wisenheimer' was recorded in San Francisco, being produced by Eric Drew Feldman (Captain Beefheart, PJ Harvey, Pere Ubu et al.). The album also spawned the singles ''Sunset Strip'', ''Lucky Star'' and ''Leisuremaster''. After 'Wisenheimer', Danny Plant was replaced by Glenn Thompson. From around 1995, Custard music video director Andrew Lancaster would sometimes play keyboard with the band at their live shows.

On 24 November 1996, Custard performed on the forecourt of the Sydney Opera House as part of Crowded House's Farewell To The World concert, alongside You Am I and Powderfinger. Estimates of the audience in attendance range from 100,000 to 250,000 people. 1996 and 1997 were big years for the band, touring Australia with Weezer, Frank Black, Beck and the Presidents of the USA, and venturing back to America (where 'Wisenheimer' had been recorded) to play more shows with the Presidents. While in the USA the band also recorded album number 4, 'We Have the Technology'.

''Nice Bird'' was the first single to be lifted from 'We Have the Technology', followed by ''Anatomically Correct''. However, it was the final single, ''Music is Crap'', that captured the public's attention. The song was written and sung by Thompson and reinvigorated public interest in Custard. The next single, ''Girls Like That (Don't Go For Guys Like Us)'', became the band's biggest hit. It peaked at #52 on the ARIA singles chart and came in at an impressive #3 in the 1998 triple j Hottest 100. The song's film clip won the 1999 ARIA Award for Best Video. The album that it was featured on, 'Loverama', went on to become the band's most commercially successful. Custard went on a six-month hiatus at the end of 1999, before eventually disbanding.

Custard reformed for an event on 10 December 2009 to celebrate Queensland's 150th birthday, appearing alongside Powderfinger and a number of other local acts. Since reforming, the band have played one or two gigs per year. In 2010 they appeared at the Meredith Music Festival. They also performed as a headliner act for Float On: A Brisbane Flood Relief Benefit in February 2011, a show to raise money for the victims of the floods in Queensland. In 2011 Custard were featured as part of the Brisbane Festival. Custard released their first album of new material since 1999’s 'Loverama', on 6 November 2015. The band had lost none of their sense of humour: it’s called 'Come Back, All Is
Forgiven'. The album was released through ABC Music on CD, vinyl, and digitally.

In 2017, Custard released 'The Common Touch', the follow-up to 'Come Back, All is Forgiven', featuring the singles "In the Grand Scheme of Things" and "2000 Woman". In August 2018, to promote a short tour the group undertook that September, the group released 'The Band: Live in the Basement', a recording of a concert performed on 9 November 2017 at the Basement club in Sydney. The album was released on all digital services. On 19 March 2020, Custard released the new single "Funky Again", and announced their eighth studio album 'Respect All Lifeforms'. The album was released on 22 May. On September 2023, Custard announced on their social media pages that pre-production on a new album has started.

Members

David McCormack (vocals, guitar), Paul Medew (bass, vocals), James Straker (guitar),
Matthew Strong (guitar, vocals), Glen Thompson (drums, guitar, vocals), Shane Brunn (drums), Gavin Herrenberg (drums), Danny Plant (drums)