DISTANT LOCUST

The original band began in late ‘82 with an unashamedly dadaistic and avant-garde approach to creating music. This lineup consisted of Brian Purcell, creating lyrics, vocals and gizmo sounds, Matthew Bright on keyboards and synths, and Tony Lawrence on bass, echo and treated electronic instruments. The period 82-85 was amazingly productive in term of creating sonically challenging work, and eventually led to them playing live at obscure inner-city venues like Frenchs Tavern, and warehouses such as The Gunnery. 

Early gigs polarised audiences, either clearing halls or inspiring a dedicated fanbase; their unique electronic sound soon attracted mentors such as M Squared’s Shane Fahey, who recorded some of their early gigs at the Harold Park, Evening Star and Palace hotels. These live tracks were released on an independently released cassette, 'Lovely Infestation' in 1987. Later that year Tony Lawrence left to concentrate on film work and was replaced by Steven Moore, a skillful bass player and drum programmer, who gave the band a solid live sound. In 1988, their debut self-titled EP release attracted radio play of the song, 'Father’s Suit'. Eventually their mixer Timothy Edmonds created a music video for the track, which was played on Rage and later, MTV Europe.

In the late eighties, although their live performances became more popular – even famously attracting David Bowie to their audience – they were still too ‘avant-garde’ for local record companies. After releasing the 'Top of the World' EP in 1989, they resolved to sell all their belongings and travel to Europe in late 1990.  Soon they were signed by Contempo International, which released the album 'Chemical Wedding Feast' to rave reviews. Strangely this album never saw the light of day in Australia. They appeared on European MTV and toured Holland, Italy and Germany with industrial and techno icons Laibach, Clock DVA and Christian Death. On their return to Australia, the Sydney Morning Herald’s Shane Danielson described them as “the underbelly of the underground harbouring …a fascination with the subversion of technology, their music shaped … into a pounding machine pulse, complete with eerie vocal effects and skewed, repetitive melodies that verge on the mesmeric.”

Although they were scheduled to return to Europe and record with Contempo again, a financial crash and recession in Italy extinguished the company, and their hopes of further European releases. The band slowly wound down and effectively ended when Steven Moore left Australia to work in research in the USA at the end of 1995. Shortly before that, the band released its final CD, 'Fearful Pleasure' and Brian’s book, Lovely Infestation, both released on the independent label We Make U Sick.

The band’s importance was eventually underlined when they were included on the important compilation 'Closed Circuits: Australian Alternative Electronic Music Of The ’70s & ’80s', released in 2017. The Locust’s unique version of Georgio Moroder’s ''I Feel Love'' was included along with the work of bands like The Reels, Whirlywirld, Scattered Order, Models, Primitive Calculators, Machinations and Ya Ya Choral. Released by Festival Records/Warner Music, it’s the only instance of Distant Locust appearing on a record by a major Australian label. To complete the circle, the wonderful Timothy Edmond created a video of ''I Feel Love'' for the 2017 release, juxtaposing vivid textures while revisiting some of his footage from the shoot for the ''Father’s Suit'' video of 1989.

Members

 
Brian Purcell (vocals keyboards), Steven Moore (bass), Matthew Bright (keyboards), Tony Lawrence (bass, echo and treated electronic instruments)

EPs
'Distant Locust' 1988 Amo Records
'Top Of The World' 1989 Distant Locust

ALBUMS
'Lovely Infestation' 1987 
'Hot Curry Junior' 1988 Cosmic Conspiracy Productions
'Fearful Pleasure' 1995 We Make U-Sick

References

Music – Distant Locust – Brian Purcell Art