Jake Robertson is an Australian musician from Central Coast,

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, who moved to

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River, ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

in 2010. He has released music as Alien Nosejob, and in the bands Ausmuteants, Hierophants, Leather Towel, Modal Melodies, Smarts, and The Frowning Clouds. Many of these releases are on

Anti Fade Records Anti Fade Records is a record label run by Billy Gardner based in Geelong, Victoria, Australia. The first release for the record label was a limited edition C30 cassette by The Bonniwells titled "Sunny Brick" in 2011, and they have since put out ...

Career

Jake Robertson formed Ausmuteants with Billy Gardner in 2011, after Robertson temporarily sat in as drummer for Gardner's band The Living Eyes. They were later joined by bandmates Marc Dean and Shaun Connor. The band first performed live together in 2012 and released a cassette ''Split Personalities'' that year, before releasing the album ''Amusements'' in 2013. Ausmuteants released three further albums, and received praise overseas, with ''Pitchfork'' listed them amongst their Best Underground Garage Punk Albums of 2016 list. A 2019 album ''The World in Handcuffs'' was written entirely by guitarist Shaun Connor. It was nominated for the

Australian Independent Record Labels Association The Australian Independent Record Labels Association (commonly known as AIR), formerly Association of Independent Record Labels, is a non-profit trade association which supports the growth and development of Australia's independent recording i ...

(AIR) Best Independent Punk Album or EP at the 2020 AIR Awards. In 2017 Robertson's band School Damage signed with

Chapter Music Chapter Music is one of Australia's longest-running independent record labels. Chapter Music has worked with a broad range of mostly Australian artists, in genres such as rock and roll, indie pop, post punk, country and western and folk. Between ...

, prior to the release of their self-titled debut album, and the preceding single ''Tall Poppies''. The band was formed in 2013 by Robertson and Carolyn Hawkins of

Parsnip The parsnip (''Pastinaca sativa'') is a root vegetable closely related to carrot and parsley, all belonging to the flowering plant family Apiaceae. It is a biennial plant usually grown as an annual. Its long taproot has cream-colored skin an ...

, before they were joined by Jeff Ratyand and Dani Damage. A second album ''A To X'' followed in 2018, also on Chapter Music. 2017 also saw the debut single from Robertson's solo project Alien Nosejob, which he self-released. The project was meant as an anonymous one-off release, but has grown into a four-piece band. While promoting Alien Nosejob's fourth album ''Paint It Clear'', Robertson revealed he was working with Violetta Del Conte-Race of

Primo! Primo! are an Australian indie rock band from Melbourne, which formed in the early 2010s. By 2018 the line-up was Violetta DelConte Race, Xanthe Waite, Suzanne Walker and Amy Hill. History The band was formed by Violetta DelConte Race (of Ter ...

. Their collaborative project Modal Melodies released a self-titled album in 2022 and entered AIR's album chart at #5.

Record labels

Robertson joined

Aarght Records Aarght Records (sometimes stylised AARGHT! Records) was a record label run by Richard Stanley based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The label was started in 2007 by Richard with Mikey Young, Per Bystrom and Jonathan Wilmott, who played togeth ...

in 2015 to run the label with founder Richard Stanley. The label released several albums featuring Robertson including Ausmuteants, but hasn't released anything since 2019. Since then Robertson has primarily released his music through Anti Fade Records, which is run by Bill Gardner who is also a member of Ausmuteants and Smarts alongside Robertson. Outside of Australia, albums by Ausmuteants were released by

Goner Records Goner Records is an independent record label and record store co-owned by Eric Friedl of The Oblivians and Zac Ives and based in Memphis, Tennessee. It is known for releasing albums by punk, garage rock, and more recently post-punk and synth-orien ...

in the United States, Hierophants and No Limit have been released by Goodbye Boozy Records in Italy, and Smarts and Alien Nosejob has also been released in the US by Feel It Records and Iron Lung Records.

Controversy

Robertson's song titled "Fran Drescher's Alien Abduction" appears on Ausmuteants' 2013 release ''Amusements''. Robertson explained the meaning of the song in a 2014 interview with

Vice A vice is a practice, behaviour, or habit generally considered immoral, sinful, criminal, rude, taboo, depraved, degrading, deviant or perverted in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character tra ...

, "It's about

Fran Drescher Francine Joy Drescher (born September 30, 1957) is an American actress, comedian, writer, activist, and trade union leader. She is known for her role as Fran Fine in the television sitcom ''The Nanny'' (1993–1999), which she created and produ ...

, she had a home invasion and was gang raped, they tied up her husband and forced him to watch." The song's lyrics also allude to Drescher's ex-husband

Peter Marc Jacobson Peter Marc Jacobson (born October 27, 1957) is an American television writer, director, producer, and actor. He is best known as the showrunner of the popular sitcom ''The Nanny'', which he created and produced with his then-wife, Fran Dresch ...

, describing Jacobson as a " fag". A 2014

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...

review of the album described the song as "reprehensible".

Discography

This is a partial album discography of bands featuring Jake Robertson. Ausmuteants * Split Personalities (2012) - Anti Fade Records * Amusements (2013) - Aarght Records * Order Of Operation (2014) - Aarght Records * Band Of The Future (2016) - Aarght Records * The World in Handcuffs (2019) - Anti Fade Records Hierophants * Parallax Error (2015) - Aarght Records * Spitting Out Moonlight (2019) - Anti Fade Records Leather Towel * IV (2016) - Aarght Records Smarts * Who Needs Smarts, Anyway? (2020) - Anti Fade Records Alien Nose Job * Various Fads And Technological Achievements (2018) - Anti Fade Records * Once Again The Present Becomes The Past (2020) - Anti Fade Records * Suddenly Everything Is Twice As Loud (2020) - Anti Fade Records * Paint It Clear (2021) - Anti Fade Records Modal Melodies * Modal Melodies (2022) - Anti Fade Records

AIR Chart positions

The Australian Independent Record Labels Association (AIR) charts track the sales of Australia's highest selling independent artists. Alien Nose Job * Once Again The Present Becomes The Past - #3 100% Independent Album / #7 Independent Label Albums (12 Oct 2020) * Paint It Clear - #4 100% Independent Album / #13 Independent Label Albums (22 Nov 2021) Smarts * Who Needs Smarts, Anyway? - #3 100% Independent Album / #4 Independent Label Albums (26 Oct 2020) Modal Melodies * Modal Melodies - #5 100% Independent Album #10 Independent Label Albums (23 May 2022)

Awards

2014 -

Music Victoria Awards The Music Victoria Awards (previously known as The Age EG Awards and The Age Music Victoria Awards) are an annual awards night celebrating music from the Australian state of Victoria. They commenced in 2006 and are awarded in Melbourne Music W ...

- Ausmuteants - ''Ausmuteants'' - Won: Best Heavy Album 2018 -

- Jake Robertson - Nominated: Best Male Musician 2019 -

Australian Music Prize The Australian Music Prize (often shortened to the AMP) is an annual award of $30,000 given to an Australian band or solo artist in recognition of the merit of an album released during the year of award. The award was made by Australian Music Pri ...

- Ausmuteants — Present The World In Handcuffs - Nominated 2020 -

- Ausmuteants — Present The World In Handcuffs - Nominated: Best Independent Punk Album Or EP

External links

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Robertson, Jake Musicians from Geelong Australian musicians Anti Fade Records artists Year of birth missing (living people) Living people